Presntation of "The Twelve"

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Cry , The Beloved Country

 Paton makes Stephen Kumalo a round character throughout book one. He demonstrates this in many ways. He makes the character realistic, and has a good personality.

                Kumalo is an elderly man who has lived all his life in the village of Ndotsheni. He makes Kumalo realistic by giving him flaws that most people have. Most authors give characters weird flaws if any. Kumalo will give in and lie if he has to even though he is a priest. He has a good heart also. Even though it was his son that got caught and admitted that he killed father Jarvis in chapter 14 he told Father Vincent that his son would not need a lawyer because he has already confessed. He also erupts in anger occasionally. He erupted in anger when he figured out it was his son who killed Jarvis.  He erupted in anger at father Vincent but on the other hand he showed his good side later by apologizing for his harsh words toward Father Vincent. So although he erupts in anger occasionally By praying to god  he always repents whenever he speaks unfairly to others.

                Kumalo is also realistic because he has a good side too. Like every human we all have a good and a bad side to our personality. This just makes Paton’s character even more realistic.  He is a quiet, humble, and gentle man with a strong moral sense and an abiding faith in God. He is not perfect, however, and occasionally gives in to the temptation to hurt others with harsh words or lies. Kumalo and his wife are middle class and live in a house with many rooms. They also struggle to pay for their sons schooling and try to afford a new stove. Even though all of this is going on in Kumalo's life he still manages to take care of the people in the modest church of the village he calls home. His determination to help his people in spite of his limitations, make him the moral center of the novel.

                The experience of his son’s wrong doings also changed his character. Kumalo questioned his belief in god. This was his rock bottom point that most people go through in life. That made him more realistic. He questions his belief in god because he claims he hasn't answered his prayers and questions, But later on notices that he was just at a low point in his life. So just like other real people he questions his beliefs and why he thinks certain ways.

Paton does a great job making Kumalo a round character in Cry, The Beloved Country. He gives him characteristics both good and bad he makes him humble and despite his limitations he tries to help other people even though his living isn't that good either having to try to pay for his sons schooling and afford a new stove. He even lets the character hit  a rock bottom in the story when he questions his belief in god. Overall Stephan Kumalo is a great round character.

My Number One Fan

Jacob Townsend

19 November 2012

Ms. Harmon

Pre AP English 10

My Number One Fan 

            November 13, 2012. I walk out of the locker room pumped for the first game of my high school career. Something is missing. My grandpa, My number one fan. He wasn’t anywhere to be found in the gym. He has been at all of my games, Even my first game.

It’s the 4^th quarter. Sweat drenches my face as I wait to hear my name called to go back in the game to finish what we started. The clock reads 1:00. I lose all hope in scoring my first ever points then I hear my name called from down the line.

“Townsend!” He yells, “Get in the game we’re going to let Joseph rest he’s played the whole game we got this one just go out there and pad your stats”

Then a thought comes to my head. What stats?

Joseph says to me “Go out there and score one for me will ya?”

I nod to him then I look up in the crowd and see my grandpa he smiles at me as I tuck in my jersey. I turn around and go on the floor I hear a familiar voice yell.

“Go get’em Jake!!”  The voice screams. It was my number one fan, my grandpa. That’s when it hit me. I've got to score my first points today. I go on the floor the point guard calls Gator. The play That I score off of in practice. I come off the screen and catch the ball. Time slows down. I raise the ball in the air and shoot it as have been taught since I could hold a ball. The ball spins in the net. Swish!!  I went crazy the time ran out it was a blow out on the scoreboard, But in my mind I just hit a game winner. I was easily the happiest eight year old in the gym. I hear the same voice from the crowd.

“There’s more where that came from!” My grandpa yells with the biggest smile on his face.

The ball Bounces in my hands in warm-ups. Still no sign of my grandpa though. I still warm up normally I act as if the time is running out in the biggest game of the season. I shoot the ball and act as if I hear a buzzer sound.

            I hear the buzzer go off as we come out of the timeout. There is ten seconds left on the clock . I hear screams and cheers from the student section. Then I look up and see my grandpa yelling with them. I looked back at my teammates and could tell they meant business.

The point guard put his hand in the middle of us and said,” Let’s do this guys this is our game we win this and the conference is ours.”

Then the coach chimed in “Let’s get it men team ball on three.”

The whole team put their hand in the circle and yelled, “One-Two-Three TEAM BALL!!”

I could feel the butterflies come in my stomach. I gazed up at my grandpa and they were gone I knew we could win this game. The play starts the ball crashes into my chest. Time starts ticking off the clock. Tick. Tick. Tick. I see my teammate wide open in his spot behind the three point line. I throw the ball right where he called for it. He takes the shot. The shot to win it all. The shot to lose it all. The shot of the year. The ball spins with perfect rotation. The gym is dead silent when the buzzer goes off. The ball dances on the rim and finally drops down into the net. Sound erupts from everyone in the gym.  The student section, my grandpa, my mom everybody was ecstatic and jumping for joy. We won the game we won conference.

Then the buzzer sounds again the coach calls us over and tells us how close the junior high school came to winning conference last year and points to a banner that reads, 6A East Runner ups!! Record 21-1. The loss that stung in our hearts. The loss that stung in our soul. The loss that will haunt us forever.

I hear the buzzer for the game to start. I pull off my warm-up top to get ready for my first hight school game that thought still in the back of my head. What if he’s not here? We go to half court to tip off and I see him standing at the top of the arena with the same smile on his face from the first game.

Then just like the first game he yells, “Go get ‘em Jake!!”

The Need to Read

           I remember as a child watching my mom hold up a big rectangular figure and stare at it for hours. I used to wonder every day what is she doing. Then one day I finally got the courage to ask her. She said she was reading. I looked at her like she was talking in a foreign language. Then she offered to teach me how to read.
           I still remember sitting in her bed reading stories every night before bed time. Then I would read as much as I could. I read to my grandpa, my sister, my dad, my brother, my mom has even told me stories about me trying to read to the dog. I always had a book with me when I was younger it was fun to read because I could read whatever I wanted.
        
           I also remember trying to read what my sister read because I basically idolized her. I still remember her getting mad for me grabbing the same book as her in the book store and throwing the book out of the cart when our mom wasn't looking. That's when I decided to get books that interested me instead of what my sister got. That's when the harry potter phase kicked in. I read the first three harry potter books. Then something stopped me from reading the others.

         The evil came. Third grade we started AR. They forced us to read and we had to get a certain amount of points every nine weeks. It basically forced us to read bigger books because they were worth more points. So I never got to read the rest of the harry potter books. I had to resort to reading captain underpants and Junie B. Jones books. I loved both of those series of books. They always helped me meet my point goal by the end of the quarter.

          Then after That in junior high we had a summer reading assignment. Every summer after that I've had a reading assignment. That's basically what killed reading for me. once i was forced to read i haven't liked it since. Every time I see a book I cringe. It makes me sad because I cant read what I want to anymore because I'm either at band practice basketball practice or doing a reading assignment for one of my classes.

          I wish I could go back in the past and just lay in my room and get lost in a book. Those were the great days. I remember sitting in my room with a book a juice box, and a carton of goldfish crackers. When you could just sit at home all day and read a book and get lost in your imagination.

         Now the only thing I do when I see a book is cringe at the thought of what I have to do with it. Write an essay, answer questions. It just doesn't catch my eye anymore. It seems more as a punishment then a privilege. That is how I learned to read and how I feel about it now.

I Am....

  I am a clutz who likes to take chances.
  I wonder how the future will be.
  I hear the worlds music.
  I see the world as my playground.
  I want to be the best.
  I am a clutz who likes to take chances.


  I pretend I dont care
  I feel the pain the world brings.
  I touch the funny bones of people.
  I worry about my future.
  I cry when i am in pain.
  I am a clutz who likes to take chances.


  I understand I am not the best.
  I say what i think.
  I dream about hte future.
  I try to make people happy.
  I hope i can look back and be happy with my life.
  I am a clutz who likes to take chances.

The Golden Rule

It's Pretty crazy how people treat each other nowadays. People should just treat others how they want to be treated. By reading the text i am one hundred percent sure that the people in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings didn't understand The Golden Rule.

In the story they treated the man with wings like a monster. Even if he was different because he had wings that was no reason to pluck is wings or keep him locked up in a chicken coop and have people look at him like he was a circus animal.They also threw food scraps at him. I wonder if the people that treated him this way were in his shoes, would they treat him this way..... Most likely not.

I try to treat my friends, my family, and even strangers with as much respect as i can every day. I don't want people to be mean to me so i don't like to be mean to people.

In conclusion, Just treat others how you want to be treated. otherwise if your mean to people people will be mean to you. That's The Golden Rule.