"The Red Pony" Summary

The Red Pony

By John Steinbeck

The Red Pony is about a boy named Jody Tiflin (10), who is involved in four different stories (The Gift, The Great Mountains, The Promise and The Leader of the People).

The Gift:

Jody becomes a gift from his dad Carl Tiflin, a red pony. The pony, called Gabilan, by him is very important to him and he cleans it every morning. Shortly before he would get to ride it, the horse catches a bad cold. He and Billy Buck (a helper on the farm) tried to heal it. But one night the horse ran away, and Jody found the dead horse in the corps the next day. He and his dad are having an argue, because Jody promised his dad to take care of it, but Billy defended Jody.

The Great Mountains:

Jody is hanging out on the ranch, being bored, when suddenly he saw an old Mexican, named Gitano coming from the great mountains. Gitano claimed that he was born on the farm and said that he is going to life there until he dies. Carl only allows him to stay for one night. That night Jody went to Gitano, and saw him with a sword. He asked him if he knows something about the great mountains. Gitano said:” yes but very little”. The next morning he was gone, a neighbour saw him holding the sword riding towards the great mountains.

The Promise:

Carl and Billy decide that Jody should raise his own colt. Jody agrees, but is worried that Billy will make mistakes again just like with Gabilan. That made Billy sad. They picked Nellie as the mother of the colt. Finally the birth happens. But something goes wrong, Nellie gets sick, Jody doesn’t know what to do. Billy discovers a mistake with the birth, and is forced to kill Nellie to get the colt alive.

The Leader of the People:

Jody’s Grandfather told the family that he was going to visit. Jodys parents are annoyed about it, because grandfather always tells stories about him crossing The Great Plains. Jody goes to greet his Grandfather. This dinner the stories started, but Carl managed to shut his mouth, but the next morning, Grandfather woke up late and Carl argued about the stories again, as he walked to get breakfast, he heard everything. Later he and Jody talked about how he felt, he said:” It’s not about me crossing the Plains, it’s about leading them”, Jody said that he will be like him and leading people.

"A Samurai Never Fears Death" Summary

A Samurai Never Fears Death Summary

By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Seikei (16), was adopted from the well-known grandmaster Ooka, when he still was a boy. Now that things started to settle, he finds out that he will get to return to his original family, in the name of Ooka. He of course is happy to see his parents and siblings again, but it turns out to be a nightmare. He finds himself, in a string of murders. His sister fell in love with a student of puppet-mastery, who is accused of murder, and his brother being involved with a gang using, their fathers tea-shop for smuggling-goods. He needs to make a decision between his new and old family, and find the real murderer.

I personally found this book quite thrilling, but I expected more action, for a book with the words “Samurai” and “Death” in the title. It was not a bad choice reading this book, and I will probably read on of the earlier books of the series.

Free Writing 13

...Friedrich junior thought his sister had the poster just because of the good-looking guy, but he had also heard the word Nazi. Mainly the nearly adults in school spoke about it and laughed about the Jews, Russians, British, Americans and French people. Friedrich’s life was a bit boring, but that all he was complained about. His mother told him that his life lives a dream compared to others. He didn’t understand that, because the fuehrer had a really nice Mercedes 770K car and huge office. It looked so good, compared to the 12 square-meter office of his father. One day his father got an office somewhere else. But Friedrich senior told his son that it was only 45 minutes away, somewhere in the countryside of the Nazi-Germany. This wasn’t true. It was actually somewhere in France, and his father had to fight and tell his soldiers what to do on the frontlines. He said that he wouldn’t come back every night again like before, because of his new job, because he was doing something very important for the Fatherland. Life was very confused for Friedrich junior at that time, because he felt like no one was telling him the truth about what was happening. Then one day when he was bored, he explored the unknown myths about their cellar, because he wasn’t allowed to go down there...

Free Writing 12

...His father didn’t like that school, because there were only two good teachers. “The rest is stupid”, his father told him. Friedrich was also able to keep his old friends. Their house was really big and nicely cleaned. The young boy often thought why so many cleaning women cleaned the whole day, also if it really wasn’t necessary. And they never talked. Once his dad told him that they weren’t worth anything and that they were the enemies of the Fatherland. But he didn’t understand. They seemed to be the same or better than his father, because they also had the arm-bands like his father and all the soldiers, except theirs were white instead of red. And both had symbols on them, so technically they could have been better than all of the people in their house. His mother Barbara seemed a bit different to him in the past. Once he heard her saying things to herself, about times being much better before and that all these NAZI things are just madness. She seemed very disappointed with her husband, and she wasn’t doing things that much anymore. All she did was cooking with the help of the “enemies”, what didn’t make sense in the young boy’s eyes. His sister was a bit weird. She was studying all day about the Fatherland and her loyalty to the things her dad did. She had a poster of a blond good-looking soldier doing the special handshake, and the word NAZI was coming out of his mouth...

Free Writing 11

In the year 1943 Friedrich Steiner (a little polite seven year old kid) lived with his family in Steinbrechergasse, Berlin. He had a sister three year older named Anna, a 45 year old mother named Barbara, and the main person of their family, his father. He was 42 year old, named also Friedrich (it is a long tradition in their family) and worked for the German SS-army. He had been promoted to a storm-officer. That means that the fuehrer had visited their house already and personally wished him luck for his new career. Friedrich junior had no idea who the fuehrer is. His father told him that he should be really polite and do the “best special handshake” with him (raising his arm straight in the air). But he was close laughing when he first saw the fuehrer, because he had a really strange moustache and haircut. For him it seemed like this was the most important day in his dad’s life. Everything had to be perfect and this wasn’t the first time that his boss was having dinner in the house. On those days, things had to be good, but not like that evening. For Friedrich junior this whole new life was not a big change, because he could stay at the same house in Berlin, and go to the same public school (the Beethoven-Gymnasium) in Berlin...

Free Writing 10

Free Writing 9 continued

Josh is really tall, he is about 195cm big and he is 24 years old. He is thin and sportive. He has really short blond hair with two stripes in it. He has a lot and big muscles. He mostly wears hockey dresses, also in his free time. He says he likes them because they are not to tight and he hates tight clothes. He is pretty well-known as the sunglass-guy because he always wears sunglasses. He says because of the light but nobody thinks like this. Of course he does because of girls. One of the best things about Josh is that he is one of the best dads I have ever seen. Yes I know he is only 24 but he has a 4 years old son. His girlfriend left him one year after the boy named Simon was born. Nearly every weekend he and Simon are doing something together. I mean he is only 4 years old but he is able to go to hockey, soccer and football games. They both just enjoy their lives as they should. Josh not only told me, he showed me to never give up in live and that’s the way I do it today. I don’t think of everything I just do it and actually I am quite sure that I got my job because of him. Because I got fired 10 times in a row without even having a job for a year. But I didn’t give up I stayed looking for a job and finally found one. Now I am artist drawing for a company which makes video games. Josh won’t be able speak with his mum anymore but at least he still can make her proud.

Free Writing 9

The best friend of my neighbour, named Josh has always been nice and especially sportive in hockey. So one day he was at my place with my and my neighbour and his dad called him which he actually never did before because of something which he didn’t want to tell us. So Josh had to go home and he kind of was really mad at his dad, because we had fun and didn’t want to leave. The next day my mom told me that Joshs mom died. So hockey was the last thing he had (because he didn’t like his dad). He kept playing hockey every day and got very got at it. Today he is a professional hockey-player. He plays goalie for the Toronto Maple Leaves. That is something what I really like about him because a lot of people don’t want to be goalie because they are afraid of the hockey puks. And the best thing about that is: that he follow his dreams till he actually reached them and he didn’t give up. His thinking behind that was first, that he just did this because of his mum and in the end he did it because of money and fun.

Free Writing 8

My Lonely Island continued...

.....From up there in the far, far horizon I can see a little bit of a second island and my turn point if I go swimming in the sea. A hill which is a bit looking out of the water so that a very small island reaches over the surface of the sea. If I swim I go up there and take a small break for 5 minutes and then swim back. If I am bored I am going diving in the riffs of my coast, in the blue, aquamarine type of coloured water. I take a small bamboo peace as a snorkel and start diving. There are multicoloured fishes, thousands of them, and rays and jellyfishes. There are also corallines. They are from yellow to purple to red they have every colour in the world. But the best thing about the diving is a sunken ship. I need to swim 500 meters to it but then I can explore it. It is totally rusty and destroyed its wrack is just 4 meters under me so I do not get tired of swimming. And in case the top of it (the watching point) reaches out of the surface so I can stand on it. I have no idea why but it is a German-delivery-boat from the Second World War (because it has a swastika on it). It has huge holes on its bottom so I guess a torpedo of an American submarine hit it. All in all my island is special, and that is what I like about it.

Free Writing 7

My lonely island:

I am living here in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I am lying in the hot shinning sun and listening to the waves from the sea just, 5 meters away from me. How they slowly and calm reach the edge of the beach and sometimes pass it and touch my cold feet. While the soft sand is touching me and gives me a good place to lay on. In the deep, unexplored jungle, I am listening to the wild and weird sounds of animals jumping around. How the wind slowly stripes the leafs on the top of the huge trees for the palm trees. The western our eastern world wouldn’t do that but I am living in a very small tree house. About 30 square meters, no toilette, no shower the only thing which is in there is my bed, made out of bamboo and leafs. It is very high up about ten meters so that no wild animals can reach it. The general building is also made out of bamboo, leafs and lianas. I just bound the lianas on trees and hang my house onto it. On my island there is on cliff, I go up there and in the evening watching the most beautiful sunsets in the whole world. But if it is daylight I am sitting on the about 20 meters high cliff, out of hard and heavy stones.

Free Writing 6

Living in New York continued

From the outside it looks more like a barrack. It is wooden with a 10 square yard garden. But my life hasn’t always been like this. Before my father died, my life was, well let’s say acceptable. My dad kind of was the money maker in our family. I don’t say that he was a top manager or something like that but he brought enough money in, to closely buy the rent of our apartment and the food that we needed. Yes, I said apartment, I was living in there for 11 years. As much as I see of the 15 inch TV in my neighbours cellar while working, that apartment was not the typical the dream of an average American, but compared to the house where I am living in right now there is one definite winner. Actually my dad worked in an iron-factory. They produce iron-bars made for pretty much everything on this planet. My dad drove a pallet-jack, every day 8 hours, taking the already finished iron-bars and drives them to a big truck and unloads them in its trunk. He was a nice guy, every 2^nd Wednesday we played our favourite card-game together. It was Poker. Sometimes also mom joined our match, because we annoyed her 15 minutes straight that Poker is boring with only 2 people. But back to present you will not belief what is happening right now…

Free Writing 5

Living in New York

Hi, I’m Jakob. I am living here since my dads death. Here in the ghettos of New York. In the last 3 years everything changed for my whole life. I am hoping every day that my mom comes back home with some eatable food in her arms. I’m only 14, so I’m legally not even allowed to work, so I cannot help her. Well sometimes I am working with some illegal Mexican immigrants, in our neighbours’ cellar. Mainly we are washing clothes, sometimes but really rare we are washing cars. Yes, I am exited about this, because washing cars equals a lot of work so I get a lot of money. I mean 3.25$ an hour might not be enough to buy a ship but it is a good sandwich or burger. Then also my mom is pregnant by some unknown guy, well I don’t know him and he was never and I guess he won’t ever come to our house again. Still my mom is going into the city every day to get money. Mainly she is bagging in subway-stations hoping that someone fells mercy to her. God I am afraid of the birth of that kid. I hope that my mom doesn’t give the baby to birth in our house. So, if I’m not working, I sometimes go to public school or just stay at my house. It is not big just 4 rooms, a bathroom(only with cold water), my room( simply a bed, a table and a chair), my moms room(same as mine just a bit bigger) and the kitchen, which no one ever uses…

Free Writing 4

Random Hunt continued

… he knew that he was in his territorial, so he stopped running and went into the cops

direction. He expected that one of his gang members would hit the cop from behind while he

was talking to Fernando. But they didn’t just hit him they took a handgun and fired more than

5 bullets on the cop, who fell down on the ground. Fernando was shocked he couldn’t believe

what just happened. He didn’t say one word, he just ran away. He thought of that one

policeman who just died because of doing the right thing. Since that day he recognized that

what he did in his whole life is wrong, that the others, the enemies are doing it right. After

thinking about that a while he joined the Rio de Janeiro police. He mainly did his job well and

he didn’t feel like doing something childish he felt like an adult having a job. After 5 years

working there he bought a nice house not like his old barrack in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.

Living nice and having a better life.

Free Writing 3

Random Hunt

Fernando was running behind his own gang. The policemen were still hunting for them but

everyone was taking different turns in the tight streets of Rio de Janeiro. So the whole gang

split up in less then 3 minutes, only 4 gang-members were caught. But still one more

policeman was looking for Fernando, who was hiding in a blind alley behind some old

cardboard-boxes. He knew that in case that he‘d get caught, there wouldn’t be a way out of

the prison the next 5 years. So suddenly the policeman stopped just in front of the alley and

looked around. It seemed like he has spotted someone. Fernando’s heartbeat raised, his normally light-brown skin turned pale white. A cold water drop was running down his back.

He didn’t move, the policeman got closer and closer and he found one of Fernando’s piercings, he knew he was close. Then Fernando couldn’t deal with the pressure anymore.

He stood up and got out of his hiding-place, then he kicked the policeman on his legs, who

fell down to the ground afterwards. Fernando ran as fast as possible, as he has never before,

just to get away from the police. But what he did next changed his life…

Freewriting 2

Libya in Troubles (2010)

Libya:

Recently the American Government has sent their first airstrike against the Libyan soldiers, which are supposed to attack the Libyan rebels. The American Government couldn’t take it anymore because Libya was killing its own people and civilians. Other important nations refuse to help out in the critical situation. The meanings in the EU are also split; the United Kingdom agreed with the United States and they are about to send Support for the Rebels. But other counties try to act like they are not involved at all in this, like Italy. The Italian population has mainly refused to send troops into the war, because they don’t want war on their own. 47% of the American population agreed that the air striking was the correct thing to do and only 36% said that it was wrong. And even at the general international aim the American population is disagreeing; 46% said that Qaddafi should be removed and 43% said that the lives and the security of civilians are more important than Qaddafi. The consequences of the air strikes are not known yet and hopefully make Qaddafi clear about what he is doing.

Freewriting

Random Country 1 (Cameroun)

Cameroun, that’s where you want to be!

The beauty of the Cameroun coast and mountains like the Mount Cameroon with an elevation of about 4km, is nearly indescribable and amazing. Enjoy an awesome flight system with almost no traffic at the airports, the always shinning sun, the uniqueness between about 250 different ethnic groups and also excellent currency exchange rates. Very recommendable are for example the cities: Douala, Yaounde, Buea, Bamenda, and much more, all this beauty of course increase the tourist and their whole economy. But the best part about Cameroun is its good and large petroleum, coffee, cacao and cotton recourses. They still have unexplored oil-reserves somewhere in their country which is going to help them out now that the crisis in Libya blocks the oil-recourses of Libya.

Dream Boogie Parody (originally by Langston Hughes)

Loud Boogie

Good morning, mom!

Ain't you heard

The workers

of the new house?

Listen closely:

You'll hear them shout

Cutting steel and drilling wo--

You think

It's an annoying beat?

Listen to it closely:

Ain't you heard

Some more at the roof

Like a---

What did I say?

Whatever,

I can't change it!

Just gotta live with it!

Drill, drill!

Cut, cut!

Boom!

NO!

Greatness (Poetry)

Great Poetry

How Do I Love Thee?

By Elizabeth Barett Browning (1806-1861)

This poem is about how the author/reader works for both, loves someone/thing. She talks about all that she would do and give to love its love and all she would do to show her love to the other one. I think this poem is a “great” poem, because it has so much good imagery, in which u can feel and think of something in every line.

“I love thee to the level of everyday’s most quiet need, by sun and candle light.” This line is about how she would loves him, no matter if its day or night (sun or candlelight), and also how she loves him 100% the way he is, so she loves him simply the way he is.

“if, god choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”, this line means that if she would be assured that she could love him after she would be death, she would even kill herself for him to love him even more.

I find this poem very touching, and also a very good love poem since most of them are kind of boring and odd, but as I said before, I like the imagery and I think the author did a great job, so this is my poem of greatness.

3/3 poem Reading

Reading, its hated and loved,

for some it is a new world with endless possibilities,

for some it is a one-way-street,

people read to let go,

and to enter a new world,

tough many can't agree with that,

because their fantasy and creativity are like deep holes,

They are lost in their own small world.

Poem 2/3 My Skeletonic

Music, it spreads around,

with every sound,

people scream and shout,

they're feeling the crowd,

the people are loud,

the freaks are proud,

cause they know the sound.

Poem 1/3 Love is a slippery fan

Love is a slippery fan,

It is dangerous as a wet, slippery rock.

Like a fan it spreads around fast,

and people enjoy it, in present and past.