Titanic by Robert D. Ballard

Titanic has a lot to do with the theme"Courage helps big challenges". The most important person is the captain who definitely shows courage in this story. He thought about everybody else and not himself because he was trying to get people to retreat to the boats. Captains sink with their ships and that's what the Titanic's captain did that day. To this day he is remembered as Captain Edward J. Smith. Smith didn't want to show that he was afraid because if he did and when everybody saw than everybody on board would freak out. It might have took him a while to get them to calm down. We should all remember him to this day.

Not only did the captain show courage, but the passengers showed courage as well. They didn't go over board with the screaming and crying. One thing they kind of went over board is when they started shoving and pushing. We know that it's dangerous to do that in that particular situation because a lot of people could have stop on or even worse. All and all that was a dangerous decision that the people made. Everybody could understand why the passengers and the workers were so frightened by what was happening. People today might have said, "I can't believe that happened to such poor innocent people that just wanted to go to America. If I was in their place I would be so scared and I wouldn't know what I would do or what to do. They were so brave". Our opinion is that we agree on this story and how it ended with a sad ending. Of course this really happened. As you can see there are a million reasons why they are brave and shows courage. When the boat broke apart many died and many survived. Can you believe how tragic this time of history had been for the people families and on the people of the United States? No, because no one has went through what they had been through.

We are sure that the boat was very expensive to lose, but that wasn't what people thought about it. They thought about how this tragedy was extremely upsetting. This story is now in school literacy books and in library books. You can study them or even just learn what happened. Teachers points out things that you would never ever guess was there. Including how they show courage. Our opinion is that they made a good choice to let or make us read this story. We advise whoever didn't read or know about Titanic to read it as soon as they can. Worldwide knows about what happened and believe that there was some courage in the passengers on board and the workers who risk their lives. Families would cry over their lost ones. Honestly we would too because no one wants to lose a family member in that situation. Would you be upset if that happen to you? Do us a favor and think about it please!

The Last Dog (short story) By Katherine Paterson

                The Last Dog (Short Story)

                    By Katherine Paterson

 

     Most people say that the short story “The Last Dog” is an interesting story to choose for the theme courage, but my partner and I say it’s not. We chose this story because the main character Brock showed a lot of courage when he got Brog and him out of the facility. The scientists were going to do testing on Brog. We forgot to tell you that Brog is the last dog on the Earth (future Earth). Brock (a human) looks at the computer, which has a list that tells what kind of diseases a dog can have. Brock saw that rabies was one of the diseases so Brock bit Brog and… well you can find out the rest by reading the story.

 

    Brog, as we told you is the last dog on the (future) Earth because her mom died. Brock discovered her when he went out of the dome to do research. Brog was by a little creek when she was discovered. Brock did know what she was but we think he was a little scared of her at first. Brog is a Labrador and we don’t know how old she is. And that is all we know about her.

 

      Brock, as we told you is a human who helps fight for Brog’s freedom and his freedom too. Why does he need freedom too someone asked us? We told them and are telling you that Brog needs someone to take care of her. The scientists think he has rabies also. This is what we know about Brock.

Retrieved Reformation By O. Henry

            Retrieved Reformation

                                                      By O. Henry

         Jimmy Valentine was showing courage when he saved the little girl from the safe at the bank and risking showing his past. He used his to lock picking kit from when he used to pick the locks of safes. When he was set free from prison he tried to become a new person when he moved to Elmore and changed his name to Ralph D. Spencer. “Ralph” (Jimmy) fell in love with a lady named Annabel Adams. Jimmy didn’t want her to find out about his past because he was afraid of her leaving him and the fact that her dad owns the town’s bank. Valentine was basically the non-rich person and Annabel is the rich person in this story. Spencer (Jimmy) liked to buy her nice things, but that trip was his first time going to the town. The money he had was not enough to get her a perfect gift, but he got her a nearly perfect gift. Really the truth is that the thought is what counts. Adams could have been thinking that and was extremely happy to know that he was thinking about her. Everybody could tell that Annabel and Ralph were really happy together. No one could probably be compared to their love that they had for one another. For “Ralph” it was love at first sight, but for Annabel Adams no one could really know because it was not in her point of view and it did not say.

Thank you M'am By Langston Hughes

Ask yourself what would you do when someone tried to rob you? Well this story has to do with a boy named Roger who tried to rob a lady named Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones didn’t expect to get robbed that day Roger tried to rub her. She showed courage by risking her life facing a robber because he could have had a weapon.  We found out that Roger really wasn’t a very mean boy. He just wanted new shoes. So he tried to steal the money from Mrs. Jones.  Our results to why he did it is because he didn’t have any family to buy him nice things he wanted and needed. 

Mrs. Jones was taking a risk-taking decision by bringing Roger into her house because he could’ve stolen her valuable possessions. She taught him a lesson by not asking before he took something. Luella  (Mrs. Jones) made Roger clean himself up and made him eat some Lima beans and ham. Mrs. Jones was an old, large woman. She retired from a hotel beauty salon. She lived with more than one person. That is a little background on who she is and what she did about the situation. 

         The reason why we chose this short story for the theme (courage helps people face big challenges) is because if Mrs. Jones didn’t have courage she would have been robbed and Roger would still be acting like the way he used to act.  Roger learned his lesson to never steal from anybody ever again because of Mrs. Jones. Pretty much he felt like he was important because of what she did, but he didn’t want to go through that situation again. Anybody who wanted to mess with Mrs. Jones she would set you straight in the right direction. If one of us were in Roger’s situation we would sure be happy to change because we could make something out of ourselves instead of steal people’s belongings. Everybody in the community should thank Mrs. Jones because of what she did. She did everyone a big favor. This is an inspiring story for everyone to read and learn from.  Also this book would be good for teaching or a theme on courage (that is why we chose this story for courage. Did you notice?).  Many people say oh I know what courage is and you don’t, well they don’t and neither does you not until you actually experience courage. Thank you M’am is what you call courage. If you were to say this story is nothing compared to real life, then you wrong because what happens in this story could happen to anyone in real life including you.  So, think twice before you judge this story. Honestly there are more opinions that disagree with your opinion. If there were to be a debate on this subject there would be a lot of talking and it would take probably take a long time. This is our opinion on based on this story.

 

Dirk The Protector By Gary Paulsen

My partner and I decided that this story is related to the theme " Courage helps people achieve big challenges". We believe that it is an example because Gary Paulsen could have been so scared to face Dirk and ran off and let him starve to death,but he didn't he looked pass the raged look in his eyes. when he first saw Dirk he heard his growling and he was startled by him as well. Mainly Dirk was the bravest character in this story because he could have let Happy's gang beat up Gary instead of having to risk his life for him. Not only does he show courage but also kindness,loyalty, respected Paulsen for giving him food to eat when no one else would. Gary really didnt have to feed him, but he did which meant that he cared about Dirk.

We also think that "Dirk The Protector" is a good title for this book because he has something to do with what Dirk protected and other things that has to do with the story. It can be compared to other heroic stories similar to this story. One book I can say is very similar is "Little Red Riding Hood". You may ask why did we pick that story, but we can answer that question. My partner and I believe that both stories have to do with courage and making a big challenge. The evidents that backs this answer up is because they both had a hero if that's what you would like to call it

This book would be a really good book to be an example for kids my age and older not to do what Happy's gang did, but to help people when they are in trouble or other things that they look like they are scared just like Dirk. There is a saying that goes like "Bad things always happen to Good people" that is not true because Paulsen is a good person and he was saved by a dog and now he's a famous author. Think about if you were in Gary's situation what would you feel? What would you do? Would You abandon the dog if it followed you? Those are questions you should ask yourself every time you read the story. Our opinion this book can be a very touching story to people all over the world who read it whether you are a man or a woman. We believe that if you really read you can understand the message that the story is trying to tell you. If you try hard enough soon you will it why it relates to the theme and everything else. For the first time people can read a book and relax and actually learn some things that can be courage. People think they know what courage is, but they really don't not until they fully understand what it means. It's not about getting money or getting rewards, but its about how happy you make someone feel when you saved them or someone they really cared about.