Book Summary: Summer Ball

In the beginning of chapter 5, the author talks about how the things that revolved around him was school and church. Outside school and church there were the endless street games on 122nd street. The block was safe to play on under the watch of housewives. Plus on page 39, Walter and his friend decided to hang Richard Aisles. Fortunately, the pastor came there and stopped the whole thing. Finally on page 45, he starts to read books instead of comic books, and becomes really great at writing poems.

In the poem “The Ex-Basketball player” by John Updike, personification, metaphors, and imagery tone all contribute to the theme of the poem. In the poem, the main character is Flick. Flick, had great talent while he was on the basketball team then later on in life, he ends up working at a gas station. The poet tells the reader about how Flick played basketball. The thing is, Flick doesn't play basketball anymore. Flick’s basketball career and skills went to waste. He regrets it all went to waste.

In John Updike’s poem “Ex-Basketball Player” the poet uses literary devices to depict the existing way of life of a once-famous sportsperson. Flick Webb was in before times a gifted athlete on his high school basketball team, and he was commendable of much awe. However, Flick never acquired any other skills to prepare him for a future. Accordingly, he now is locked into an unskilled job and his former glories have pale to all but Flick himself. Updike has created a character that is at this point in time going nowhere and spends most of his time thinking about his former days of glory. Flick dwells more restricted by the past than the present because the past was much brighter for him. Flick’s emotional retreat into his earlier period is exposed

“Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” by Jessica Statsky is a thoughtful insight on the competitive sports for children. She is of the view that the competitive sports can ruin the enjoyment that games are supposed to provide. These methods of playing the games like adults can prove to be lethal for physical and psychological health. The author quotes from an authentic source that “Kids under the age of fourteen are not by nature physical.” (Tutko) This means that the games for children need to focus more on their pleasure and enjoyment rather than on the competition. Competition only makes children bound to be winners. It also discourages sportsman spirit. Instead of being a source of healthy growth, these competitive sports have started becoming the source of depression for children when they don’t fulfil the expectations of their parents. These sports should enhance the sportsman spirit in children and must be beneficial for their mental and physical health. Concentrating on winning or losing spoils the fun that games hold. In addition, equal chances should be provided to every child to participate. Competitive nature can assist the children in their life later on, but the focus should be on better mental and physical health. (204 words)

When society thinks of the word “childhood,” they imagine it as a precious time for children to be in school and freely play, to grow and learn with the love and support from people dear to their hearts. It is also known to be a cherished period where children are to be innocent and live carefree from fear. However, in the context of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, childhood is viewed as a tough hardship that Jeannette and her siblings have overcame, and the memories they carry has greatly impacted their lives that it has molded them to who they are

“Ex-Basketball Player” is a poem by John Updike in which a former high school-athlete Flick Webb’s life has been described. Flick was a high-school basketball star but as he got older he couldn’t live his dream of becoming a basketball player, and instead became an attendant at a gas station, which was the furthest he could go with his career. This poem explains how life changes as one gets older and at times it doesn’t go exactly as we plan it, where Updike exemplifies many poetic devices of imagery, personification and metaphors.

John Updike grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, just across the river from the city of Reading (Cole). Last month, the Reading High School boys’ basketball team won their first-ever state championship. Students and residents alike all came together to root for their Red Knights and the team pulled off the biggest win of their lives. This gritty city celebrated something positive for a change, and the players took their place in the school’s history. In John Updike’s poem, “Ex-Basketball Player,” the darker part of a similar story is told. In this poem, the speaker is a big admirer of former high school basketball star Flick Webb. However, by the end, the reader and the speaker

“ Heroes represent the best of ourselves, respecting that we are human beings. A hero can be anyone from Gandhi to your classroom teacher, anyone who can show courage when faced with a problem. A hero is someone who is willing to help others in his or her best capacity.” - Ricky Martin. There is one thing that these three characters or people from short stories or real life have in common, they are all considered heros. Robin Emmons is a woman from North CArolina who has given up her career and her backyard to help people in need. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a short story about a little boy Doodle who has trouble doing everyday things and how he pushes through his fears. And Margot from the short story “All Summer in a Day” is about a group of children that have moved from Earth to Venus and have attempted to start a life there, and how the hero Margot is ostracized by her classmates. A hero is someone who fights for the greater good; Doodle, Margot and Robin Emmons are all heroes who put other peoples needs before their own.

Revolutionary Summer by Joseph J. Ellis begins in the spring of 1776, a year into the fighting between Britain and the colonies. The battle at Bunker Hill had resulted in the death of more than 1,000 British soldiers and American deaths in the hundreds. After the British raided several New England towns, American soldiers led by Benedict Arnold trudged through the wilderness of Maine in winter, “suffered a crushing defeating in the attempt to capture the British stronghold at Quebec” (Ellis, 2013, p.4). The leader of the radical party in the Continental Congress was John Adams. Many of his colleagues found him obnoxious. Adams did not mind this as he believed

“A group of big-city mayors released a study showing that in 2000, requests for food assistance from families increased almost 20 percent, more than at any time in the last decade. In Quindlen's essay “Schools Out for Summer” she addresses many of the food struggles happening not only in other places but right under our noses. During school months it's much less of a problem because of the students going to school and the food programs. So the question is how many kids during the summer are getting the necessary amount of food.

Can uncontrollable self accusations eventually overtake over your everyday mental state? Can your thoughts really in time take full control over you, your entire body and each and every judgment in life? In Laurie Halse Anderson novel Wintergirls we are transferred into the protagonist's mind of Lia. A young 18 year old high school student that suffers from an eating disorder. Lia is tortured so severely from her disease that her day to day ambition is her own weight. Not only the foundation of Lia's eating disorder is this control she believes that has been maintained, but also restricting her food intake presents her with a sense of strength. This everyday high off Lia's self control is so important because of the lack of many unmanageable

Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan is the story of how Magnus Chase, a son of the Norse God Frey, meets his untimely demise at the hands of the fire giant Surt after learning of his heritage. After being revived in the Norse afterlife, Valhalla, Magnus is taken back to the world of the living to fulfil his destiny as being the harbinger of the Wolf. Along the way Magnus meets many mythical creatures including: a talking goat, a deaf elf, and a tall dwarf. In the end Magnus and his new found friends rebind the Wolf Fenris and defeat the fire giant Surt. The Theme of Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer is that when things are at their worst it can always get better.

Suspense. It's what makes us sit on the edge of our seats at movies, or has us biting our nails as we read. It’s the backbone behind any classic horror film where the babysitter keeps getting unknown phone calls about checking the children and she asks the police to trace the call only to get a call back saying it's coming from upstairs. Suspense is used in literature to give off a feeling of uncertainty. In W.F. Harvey’s story “August Heat”, he writes about our protagonist James and how he meets a bizarre character named Mr.Atkinson who he feels is an unnatural person and feels uneasy with him. Later when he is invited to stay the night, Harvey finished the story off with James saying he will “be gone in less than an

In life, people never truly realize what they have, until it's gone. Imagine having to wait seven years for the sun to come out again, but only for a few hours and then disappearing again for another seven years. Well for the kids of Venus, that is typical life. Ray Bradbury's All Summer in a Day uses a variety of author's craft such as imagery, similes and metaphors to show readers the childrens deep need for freedom away from the rain that consumes their lives. The short story All Summer in a Day is about children growing up on the planet Venus were it rains nonstop. The sun makes an appearance only once every 7 years. Majority of the kids living there don't even remember what the sun looked and

Summers have an air of relaxation to them for most people, but for me I can barely find a moment's rest. Because I work in the hospitality industry, summer is the busiest time of the year. My apartment is a 3 minute walk from the beach and yet I only rarely get to enjoy it. Although there are days, there are precious days, when I can just stop and smell the ocean. Where I can just sit there all day, seemingly without a care in the world. They don't happen often, but that's what makes them even more special.