The main character of this story is an old man named Santiago, and the other two main characters are the boy who is Santiago's friend, and the huge fish Santiago catches. In the beginning of the story the old man hasn't caught a good fish in eighty-five days and the only thing keeping him alive is the young boy who is his one true friend. The old man never loses faith that there is a big fish out there for him and he just has to keep fishing enough to catch it.

During most of the story Santiago goes out in his boat and hooks a huge fish and is being carried by it. The only companion Santiago has is his mind and the fish he is trying to kill. Probably the only thing that kept the old man going was thinking of his hero De Maggio the baseball player. Whenever Santiago was getting to the point of give up he always thought about if De Maggio would and that would make him struggle on.

When Santiago finally catches his big fish he has to tie it to the side of the boat because it is larger than the boat itself! As Santiago finally starts his journey home he is satisfied but worried about the shark infested waters. When he enters the shark infested waters many sharks attack his fish and he does his best to kill them all but only gets a few. Eventually when he gets home his fish is ruined and gone.

All together this is one of the most intense and sad books I have read in a long time. It shows the thoughts you think instead of the actions you take in a situation. It shows the courage of an old man on his last string of life trying to achieve one more great thing.

I usually don't like autobiographies but this book inspires me. It has truly touched me. It is amazing how much one person can accomplish if they put their mind to it. Reading Three Cups of Tea has made me want to help the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan become educated. Someday I hope that our school can help build a school for them over there. I can't say that I really like his style of writing, but I defiantly like the book! I thought that it was pretty interesting when the authors used actual quotes from people. It was surprising to read that children took the first step in building Mortenson's school.

It just goes to prove that anyone can make a difference if they try hard enough. The only thing I don't like about the book so far is how little some people are willing to help promote education. There is this one quote from the book that I really like. It is actually quoted from another book called Schoolhouse in the Clouds. The quote is “slowly and painfully, we are seeing worldwide acceptance of the fact that the wealthier and more technologically advanced countries have the responsibility to help the undeveloped ones.” have really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it to anyone.

For most of the novel Sam is very confused. Sam unwittingly becomes involved with Calle, a high school classmate. It is apparent Sam would like to be a part of Calle's life, yet he tells her they can not be together. He states his life is too frustrating and confusing right now, and expects Calle to understand and accept that. Having a clinically depressed mother only adds to Sam's confusion. He feels it has become too hard to take care of his mother at home, as his father refuse to help. Although Sam feels it is hard taking care of his mother, he is reluctant to commit her to a mental hospital. To top it all off, Sam discovers the girl Sam and his group make fun of at school is really his step-sister! All this upheaval has left Sam feeling as if the rug was pulled from under his feet. One way Sam minimizes the mounting confusion in his life, is by keeping things the same. Such as, staying with his girlfriend, Amber. They have been going out on and off since he was in the seventh grade. As Cass says, "He doesn't really like Amber, she's just a habit” (pg 176). Though by doing this, Sam only causes more confusion in his relationship with Calle.

Sam's reluctance to leave behind what he knows is a sign of his insecurity. He stays in a bad relationship and stays with the group of kids he is popular with, even though he no longer feels like one of them. Sam shows great affection towards Calle, but because Calle is not popular he will not accept her into his public life. "Who's that?" Sam's friend asks. "I don't know. A girl from English," replies Sam (pg. 71). Sam pretends not to know Calle when his friends are around, as he is afraid of being ridiculed or rejected by his "popular" friends. In addition, Sam will not acknowledge his step-sister, Cass, in public because of her social status as the "Loner". But he is willing to meet her in the privacy go Lucky's bar every Friday. Sam cares more about his reputation and popularity than going after what really matters to him.

Although in the novel Sam makes some unkind decisions he is, at heart, a kind person. Sam's kindness is noticed when he shows concern about Calle's relationship with her missing father. Sam shows great patience as Calle vents her feelings about her father numerous times. Sam even goes as far as arranging a job for Allison, Calle's mother. He talks his father into hiring Allison at the family business, a grocery store. His father also helps make arrangements for a new apartment for Calle and her mother to move into. In Sam's interaction with own his mother, Sam's kind side presents itself. He tends to her with the utmost tenderness and compassion. At one point his mother is crying hysterically, saying she does not want to be taken away again. Sam patiently and compassionately takes her back to her room, calms her down, reassuring her she will not be taken away. Despite what Calle thinks, Sam is not purposefully mean to her. Sam has great affection for Calle, but with all the turmoil in his life he can not commit himself to the development of their relationship. Sam slowly realizes his mistakes, maturing in the process. He forgets about what the popular crowd would or would not approve of, and goes with his own feelings. In so doing he renews his relationship with Calle, and accepts Cass into his social life.

Sam has a very complex and multi-dimensional personality. As with most people, Sam can be kind and caring, and the next minute he can be heartless and mean. Most teenagers try desperately to find their unique place in the world. Unless someone of Sam's age has a lot of self-confidence and a good support system, being different or having a different opinion is awkward. This can lead to the confusion and insecurity Sam experiences in the different situations he finds himself in. Despite Sam's insecurity and confusion, he is ultimately a strong and caring person. He is continuously growing and maturing throughout the novel. His true personality is finally not afraid to show itself.

One of the ways the fairies affect the natural world is by their arguing. When the Fairy Queen and the Fairy King argue, storms break loose, seasons become intertwined, fog envelopes everything, rivers overflow, diseases spread throughout the land, crops refuse to grow. As Titania says “ The spring, the summer, The childing autumn, angry winter, change Their wonted liveries, and the maxed world, By their increase, now knows not which is which.” (Act 2, Scene 1, Pg. 21 line 111-115)

The fairies also affect people falling in love. The fairies possess a magical flower . The person whose eyes the flowers juice touches , will fall madly in love with the next thing they happen to see. This flower has been struck by one of Cupid's arrows. “It fell upon a little western flower, Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound, “.(Act 2 , Scene 1, Pg. 23, Line 166-167)

The final way fairies affect the human world is by taking changelings. In A Midsummer Night's Dream the term “changeling” is used to describe stolen or exchanged children. Fairies take human children for entertainment and company. Titania's Indian boy was the main reason for all of Oberon's and Titania's arguing. In fact, Oberon got so jealous of the changeling, he put the juice of the magic flower into Titania's eyes so she would fall in love with a beast. This was so Oberon could have the changeling as his own page.

As demonstrated above, fairies can have much impact on both nature and humans. Therefore humans and fairies alike must get along and work together for the good of the world.

One of the things that I love about books is that you can actually get into the heads of the characters. That is exactly what this book lets you do. It's as if you know the characters on a personal level. Another thin I love about books is the details. I love the fact that I am not being projected an image, but an image is being projected from my mind.

That is probably why I love science fiction books so much. (That and the fact that I inherited my dads love for sci-fi) This book is very intriguing it is also very sad. When Setsuna's, the main character, sister, Sara, is brutally murdered I almost cried. It is amazing how much emotion can be put into words. I am not even close to finishing the series, even though I have already read five books, and I still have ten left to read!

For my Christmas break I went up to Rocklin to see my cousin. When my mother and I got there, he informed us that the Borders book store in Rocklin was going out of business and the books were up to 75% off. And of course after hearing that we had to go and buy some books! Well we bought way more books than we expected to buy. We can home with eight bags full of books! One of the books that I bought was a book called Where Peace Lives. In this book Peace is an angel, and she has been locked in a glass box.

From being locked in this glass box, Peace's wings have started to droop and the Peacedust has begun to fade. I think the reason I liked this book so much because the author took non-living thins and turned them into living characters. When reading this book, it almost felt as if I was in the book itself. Although this book sounds like a childrens book, I think that all ages would be able to enjoy this book. And I do have to say, the illustrations are beautiful. One thing that I find really interesting about the book is at the end of the book there is a space to write your own peace journey.

I also like how at the end of the book, before “your peace journey” there are pages telling you about the historical people who promoted peace. Such as Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ etc… I really enjoyed reading this book and watching terms such as; Peace, Acceptance, Love, Forgiveness and Bitterness become characters. Although it is a fantasy book the way the author makes it sound so real is amazing!

“But I must never love again.”(Goldman 56) Buttercup says in chapter one, (after she gets news of Westley being killed by dread pirate Roberts) is a perfect example of how “Life isn't fair” However, not too much later, in chapter five, William Goldman states that both Buttercup and Westley, once they are reunited, (after Buttercup found out Westley wasn't dead) admitted that, “Without any qualifications whatsoever, they were a little more than glad to see each other.”(Goldman 154) Which disproves William Goldman's statement that “Life isn't fair” Therefore I believe that the remark “Life isn't fair” in an inconclusive statement for this book.

In the book The Princess Bride there are a lot of events that make it seem like life is going to be perfect and Buttercup and Westley are going to live happily ever after. For instance when Buttercup finally realizes that she loves Westley and then Westley tells her that he had loved her sense the day he had meet her. On the other hand, William Goldman makes it seem like life cannot go on when buttercup is in the prince room trying to decide which knife to kill herself with “She pulled it from the wall and put it to her heart.”(Goldman 272) This consequently shows that William Goldman's book is just like the ups and downs, or the tide, of real life.

In the end of the book(where Inigo, Fezzik, Buttercup, And Westley are being chased by prince humperdink, and prince hupmerdink is a lot closer than they thought he was) When you fist read it, it seems to lean more towards proving life's not fair. Though if you really just take a minute to think about it. It happens to be a great example of the fairness and unfairness, ups and downs, of life. “They were, admittedly, startled, but there was no reason to worry…However, this was before Inigo's wound reopened; and Westley relapsed again; and Fezzik took the wrong turn; and Buttercup's horse threw a shoe.”(Goldman 282) Therefore I do not believe The Princess Bride adequately shows that “Life isn't fair.”

The main lesson in this story is that instead of intelligence, what the world needs is kindness. This story is about a mentally challenged man named Charlie, who gets to experience knowledge. He learns that intelligence has its advantages but even more disadvantages.

Charlie' operation had an enormous impact on his life. He even lost his job because of the operation. “I got driven out of the factory, now I'm more alone than ever.” (Page 60) This quote proves that Charlie's peers are frightened by his sudden intelligence. They underestimated Charlie so much they didn't even want to work with him.

After Charlie started to become smarter, he started to feel attracted to Ms. Kinnian. “The thought of leaving her behind made me more sad than ever, I'm in love with Ms. Kinnian.” (Page 59) They both know that the relationship will only end in heartbreak. As the story progresses, Charlie will pass Ms. Kinnian in intelligence but then will go back to the way he started.

Charlie was kind when he was mentally challenged because he had no knowledge of good or bad. “It was evil when Eve listened to the snake and ate from the tree of knowledge. It was evil that she saw that she was naked. If not for that none of us would ever have to grow old and sick and die.” (Page 60) The story of Adam and Eve is a perfect symbolic example of Charlie. The retarded Charlie is Eve and the fruit was knowledge. Charlie got smart, or ate the fruit, and his world came crashing down after realizing all the things that he never could realize before.

“I remember hearing Burt say that Dr. Demur had a shrew of a wife who was pushing him all the time to get something published so that he could become famous. Burt said that the dream of her life was to have a big shot husband.” (Page58) This quote is about valuing intelligence and fame rather than love or kindness.

“Algernon died two days ago.” (Page 68) This quote symbolizes Charlie, in a way, because Algernon had the operation too. The impact of the operation on Algernon foreshadows that Charlie will probably die also.

Before I read this story, I would feel sympathetic and bad for a mentally challenged person, but now, after reading this story, I realize they are the lucky ones. They know nothing of violence, or rudeness, or meanness. People who try to fix the world with technology or intelligence should really just try to be kinder, because that's really what the world needs.