This I believe speech - Michael Hoover

This I Belive Speech
Michael Hoover




                                                      "Why you should always help"
                                                                 Michael Hoover

   Final paper

I remember I was walking home on a Friday afternoon irritated from what happened earlier that day In school. It was brisk and cloudy outside, the clouds reminded me of waves and how everybody was so miniature compared to the universe. I knew that I had time to kill given that I lost my keys early in the year and my sister and mother always go out on Friday.

When I saw them I knew it would be a struggle for them. They looked almost eighty four and I knew it would be easy for me to lift the groceries up their old steps. My mother established never to talk or help anyone I didn't know no matter who they were. I believe that helping people, even the ones you don't know will make you a better person. I walked over and helped them with their groceries up the steps to their house. A feeling was imprinted on me for the rest of that day and through the week.

I know my neighbors really well now, they live five houses down our block. Thier names are Kelly and James. James is a war veteran and always wears the same cap everyday, murky green with a American flag pasted on. Kelly I don't know that much about, and she likes to stay to herself when I am there. I believe that helping people, even the ones that you don't know is a very important skill to have.

end of the year reflection blog - Michael Hoover

End of the year reflection blog
Michael Hoover
5/22/16
Prompt:




[What are the three most important things you learned this year?]


I feel like we learned everything last year, but the three most important lessons/things learned would be, is mercy killing justified. The second really important thing that I learned this year was that we can prevent bad things from happening in the future after learning it happened in the past (Holocaust). Last but not least the third thing that I think was important and I will carry to high school is you should never hurt anything in any way if that person/thing has never hurt you before (TkAM).


 [What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?]


Something that we did this year that I think I will remember for the rest of my life is hiding in the dark for Nick and Evie to come in late for class. :) I don't know why that was so funny but I remember everyone that day was in such a jolly mood.
I feel like next year I will be sitting in some class and that will just pop into my mind and I will just think about me writing about that happening right now, I will just be like WOW. That was a confusing sentence to write.


[What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?]


I remember the nicest thing that somebody did for me this year was giving me the answers during the test (just kidding).
The nicest thing that somebody did for me this year was wrote that problem letter. I remember we had that assignment where we had to write down a problem that we were facing in our life and we put it in a hat and they got passed out to different people. The letter that I got back made me tear up, I thought it would so I did not read it until I got home, I still don't know who wrote it but thanks if you somehow read this.


[What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?]


I don't think that I taught my classmates or teachers anything this year. Maybe I did but I am pretty sure I did not.




[In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?]


I feel that I made my biggest improvements in reading. I did not read that much in the beginning of the year but now I have started to read a lot more and I hope I keep it up through the summer. Some thing that I accomplished this year that I am proud of is getting the Participation award in battle of the books because who does not want that reward, right. Another thing that I am proud of this year is getting in most of my assignments on time and not getting that many falcon fowls.




[What was the most challenging part of this year for you?]


The most challenging part of this year for me was doing my homework early in the day and not at night because that is not a good habit. I don't know why I would always do that, I guess I am just good at postponing things. I started to change that habit towards the end of the year but I know that I should have done it earlier.




 [What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?]


In my opinion the best piece of writing that I have done this year is this blog. I took a lot of time on it and I enjoyed the work I put into it. I also remember that last year this was one of the hardest blogs to write but now that I have been in the class for basically two years it is way easier to do. I wonder if it was easier for anybody else, I think it probably was for a lot of people.



 [Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?]


Out of the books that I have read this year, my favorite was "Ripper" by Stefan Petrucha. It was very suspenseful and well written and had you on the edge of your seat every page you read. I read the second book to TkAM and was disappointed. The reason I think that book did so bad with ratings and sales is because the book was written about a time that it was not it so people were not interested in it.


[What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?]


 This is more of a fun and beneficial class so you want to stay in it. Always get your homework in on time so you don't get fowls and detentions because some teaches show no mercy with fowls. Apparently your first high school literature class will be easy compared to this one that you are in right now. So work hard and don't give up. You wont regret it.

Morrie Aphorism project

Michael Hoover
Final Aphorism project
10/12/16

"With out love we are birds with broken wings," - Morrie Schwartz
What this quote means is that we are alone and depressed without love. It means that we are restricted and can't reach what we want just like a bird can't reach its nest with broken wings.
Morris main message was that life is much easier when you have somebody to enjoy it with you. I think that what this meant to Morrie was that dying would be way harder for him if he did not have his wife and family to be by him.


In the movie Forrest Gump, the main character Forrest is lonely until he finds love. Most of the movie when he is alone there is a overall sad feeling and then he finds the women he loves and the movie gets all positive and happy. The way that this movie can relate to Morris's quote is because Forrest was like a bird with broken wings and he was lost and then he found wings and got love and found himself.


I honk that this quote is a little bit wrong because somebody can be alone and still be happy. The reason that I think this is because I know some really happy and healthy poeple that are all alone. Overall I do think that the quote makes sense in the way that having family is great. In the book it states "dieing would be much harder if I did not have the people I love around me." I think that the way he says it can make it mean more sense to people than it would written down on paper.

Morrie reflection blog

Michael Hoover
Morrie reflection blog
5/3/16
Prompt: Explain how the past four Socratic Seminars have influenced your thinking about Tuesdays with Morrie and life in general.

What trends did you notice with yourself and your personal goals for each seminar? How did your personal goal(s) change and what did you actively do to change throughout our last four discussions?

What trends did you notice with the class for each seminar? What did you notice that helped or hindered a specific seminar?


The way that the past four Socratic seminars changed my view on Morrie was in the way he helped people. What I mean by this is that at first we learned that yeah Morrie was a good person. Second seminar we learned a little bit more about him and how he would help people even more. An example of this is during the war when students that did not pull their grades were getting drafted, Morrie gave them all A's. Then in the third and fourth Socratic seminars we learned that when he slipped into a coma he waited until there was nobody in the room that he was in and then he took that as his chance to die. Something that I have learned in general about life from the four Socratic seminars that we did was to appreciate everything that I have, really appreciate. I know people in a lot of cases say that they are so happy to be alive. Then they never really realize how precious  it is until they get a taste of it going away whether that be sickness or a near death experience.

The trends that I noticed in my personal goals was that I reached most of them and also that I could have made them a little bit better. The way that my personal goals changed was from like talking more to actually trying to guide the conversation a little bit with the class. Things that I did to be active in the last three Socratic seminars was buy coming up with more engaging questions to try to bring people into the conversation and also to have myself think more.


Some trends that I noticed with the class was that some people did not really get the chance to talk a lot. I know that the person next to me tried to talk a lot more then she actually did. Another trend with the whole class was that people really only stayed of the same topic sometimes like when we talked about dying that was basically what we talked about for most of the Socratic seminar. A thing that helped the seminar was when somebody spoke up and was actually able to change the topic. one thing that I noticed that did help the seminar was when people were actually relating to Morrie with their personal life's. I think that this really brought people into the conversation because everybody was paying attention.

Tuesday's with Morrie Blog

Michael Hoover
Morrie blog
Prompt: Based on the 6 Tuesdays you have read about in Tuesdays with Morrie, choose which topic (The World, Feeling Sorry For Yourself, Regrets, Death, Family, or Emotions) that has had the most impact on you or inspired you. On your blog discuss the importance of this topic with your own opinions, including textual evidence (direct quotes) from the book. 

The Tuesday that had the most profound effect on me would be the Tuesday where Morrie and Mitch discussed family. The reason this had the biggest impact on me was because Morrie said that with out family dying would be way harder. " "If you don't have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don't have much at all. Love is so supremely important." pg.91. I think that this opened Mitches eyes about his brother and that he should probably go see him in case the cancer comes back. 
I also kind of thought about not having any of my family and dying alone and it is really scary to just think about. 

I feel like many people don't take family into consideration until they are dying and or close to it. Sometimes when people get older they start to separate from family to establish their own life and family like a fresh start. When you start to die you want everybody that you love to be around you. I think that it's really sad that in reality what brings people together the most is death. A example of this that is current is like when Prince died last week and all media apps like Fox and Aol had a lot of articles about him because he had died. This happens all of the time and we don't really notice or give any attention to it because it is so regular in everyday life. 


One more tueday that had an impact on me was the Tuesday where Mitch and Morrie talked about death. Mainly due to the fact that when asked if he was afraid of dying Morrie responds no. He then says how he feels lucky to be able to die over the course of time and that it gives him time to say goodbye to everybody. "No I'm not afraid of dying, it gives me more time to say goodbye to the people I love and care about..." I've never thought about having a terminal illness in this way and how it could be lucky.  I think it's crazy how Morrie can basically make everything seem like a gift, it's like his own unique special ability.