Henry Sanderson

The Ebola outbreak that started in West Africa became a global issue as the number of people infected grew and spread to the citizens of America and Europe. In Liberia a West African country, there were 4,769 deaths from Ebola. The disease takes 21 days of incubation which means you would not know if you have it until 21 days after you contract it. The first Ebola case was reported in Guinea when researchers found a 2 year old boy that had died from it in December 2013. Nine months later, on September 30, 2014, the first Ebola case in the USA  had been reported. 

There has always been a little fear in the world of a global pandemic, but the recent Ebola outbreak really sparked it.  At the extreme, a pandemic across the world could spread and kill millions of people. This potentially disastrous event didn't effect me directly but indirectly. My aunt works for the CDC and went to Sierra Leone as a researcher and worker. When she returned, she had to be quarantined for a few weeks to make sure she didn't have Ebola. In addition, the Ebola outbreak has affected my dad's travels. Airports began to check to see if passengers had a fever to make sure they weren't carrying a disease that could infect another country. The world now has a much greater awareness of Ebola and the effects of it. Also, concerns of a potential worldwide pandemic increased.

The Ebola disease has given me a much deeper understanding of how quickly one can die after being diagnosed with the disease. In conclusion, this makes me and many others think how fragile life is and how I appreciate the amazing health care we have in America compared to other countries. Fortunately, this did not result in a global pandemic and only four USA citizens were infected and one of them ended up dying.

Henry Sanderson
11/5/14
Steinbeck Comparative Essay

The Pearl and Of Mice and Men are both parables written by John Steinbeck with many similarities. In The Pearl story there is a poor family that finds a large pearl and they have many dreams from what the pearl will give them but in the end the exquisite pearl destroys Kino's family. Then in Of Mice and Men there are two men that travel from place to place looking for a job to get enough money so they can achieve their dream of owning a little ranch. The thing that is so similar about the two stories is the characters. Each character in the two parables have similarities with a character from the other story. The three pairs of characters that are alike or have the same role are Kino and George, Coyotito and Lennie, and Juan Thomas and Slim.

The first characters who are the most similar from the two novels are Kino and George. Their role in the parables is that they are the fatherly figures. Kino actually is the father of Coyotito while George is not a father but is a fatherly figure for Lennie. Lennie is mentally ill and can not make decisions for himself. For example, when Curley attacks Lennie, Lennie does not know what to do, so Lennie says "make him leave me alone George, (pg. 63)." George has to tell him what to do and when to stop. If George had not been there, Lennie would have gotten in huge trouble. Another reason that Kino and George are alike is that they both ended up killing or getting the person that they take care of killed. For example, George, Lennie's protector shoots Lennie in the back of Lennie's head because Lennie has done many bad things inclusion murder and George knows he will be better off in Heaven. But, in Kino's case it's Kino's greed that causes His baby to be shot in head. Lastly, Kino and George are alike because the whole story is about them trying to achieve their dream and protect who they care for.

Next, Lennie and Coyotito are very similar. There are a few pieces of evidence that Lennie and Coyotito are alike. First, both are babies or act like one. Coyotito is actually a baby and his dad is Kino. Since Coyotito is a baby his parents take care of him and thats how babies are supposed to be. But, Lennie I Lennie's case he is mentally ill and acts like a baby thus he needs a protector. Secondly, they both get shot in the head because of there protector or their protector actually shots them. For example, when Kino wants too much money for the pearl, people start attempting to kill him for it. So while they are running away, one of the trackers kills Coyotito. This is Kino's fault because if he had just sold his pearl for a lower price his baby would still be alive, "Kino was in mid-leap when the gun crashed and the barrel-flash made a picture on his eyes."(pg. 86). Similarly Lennie is killed by his protector when he is shot in the head. The last piece of evidence that proves Coyotito and Lennie are alike is that they have to have a father or a fatherly figure look after them. An example of this is in the parable Of Mice and Men, George is always telling Lennie what to do. It shows this when George and Lennie are going to talk to the boss, George has to tell Lennie that he can't say anything because he will mess up the interview because he will say something stupid.

The last pair of characters that match in the two stories are Juan Thomas and Slim. They are alike because they are both brotherly figures. Both demonstrate this by helping the two main characters Kino, and George achieve their dreams. An example of this is when Kino and his family is supposed to be dead but, Juan Thomas hides Kino and his family in his house and gives them supplies to escape in the night to another city to sell Kino's pearl for more money. Another example of being brotherly is in Of Mice and Men, when Slim makes Curley not tell his dad about the fight and tells Curley to convince his dad that his hand got caught in a machine. Slim does his because he knows it wasn't Lennie's fault that the fight started and Lennie accidentally broke Curley's hand "I think you got your hand caught in a machine. If you don't tell nobody what happen, we ain't going to. But you jus' tell an' try to get this guy canned and we'll tell ever'body, an' then will get the laugh (pg. 64)." Slim can do this because Slim is the big guy on the ranch and Curley's wife has been giving Slim the eye. This means that the boss won't find out about what happened with Lennie and Curley. The reason Lennie and George would lose their jobs is because the boss is Curley's dad so he would have listened to Curley. So Slim did this so Lennie and George wouldn't lose their jobs and they will be able to earn enough money to achieve their dream of having the ranch.

There are many similarities between the characters in both novels. First, there are Kino and George. Kino and George are the fatherly figures. Next, there are Coyotito and Lennie. Coyotito and Lennie are the child figures. Lastly, Juan Thomas and Slim are the brotherly figures. In conclusion, this shows that the characters are similar in both stories because all of the characters are created by John Steinbeck and written by John Steinbeck.

        It was a dark and frosty night in a empty parking lot. I had a good taste in my mouth from my cake batter yogurt that I just ate from Toppings. I was 13 years old. I had my seat warmer on high. I put my hands on the wheel just like I do when I drive a go cart. I put my foot on the pedal. I push down ever so slightly. Soon enough I was going 3-5 mph. It may not seem to fast but it was my first time driving. I was 13 years old, my sister says, " Go Henry." After driving a few times around the lot I park the car. Then my sister takes the wheel, she drives a little faster than me, and we go home and I don't tell my parents.

        My sister, Emma Sanderson is chill and smart. She is 5' 9", has brown hair and a good sense of humor. Occasionally she has outbursts when she gets mad at me as I do to her too. We also have a good connection through our love of sports, especially soccer. We both love to play soccer and watch it. We both love to have fun. Every time I'm with her I feel like we're having fun. My sister loves to say,  "true dat." She used to say it million times a day and then I started saying it too. I don't remember too far back with her but one of my earliest memories is when I was ten. She and I went on a walk with are parents to the beach. So we brought a soccer ball and the whole way to the beach we passed and had fun.

        My sister is as smart as a rocket scientist. When I was 12, I would always be so confused with my math homework. So I always would wait till she got home to do it and have her help me. She would always help me and teach me these math methods I haven't been taught yet that are so much easier. My teacher would always say how do you know this? And she would always be so impressed. But now that she's at Stanford University, so I don't see her much anymore. So now I have to wait for her to come home on a break and help me with my hard weekend homework. She means a lot to me because I have known her my whole life and have been great friends with her. She would always help me when I need help and I would help her when she needs help. In conclusion, my sister is the best sister ever because we have connections through everything and have so much fun we have together.

I am from an ocean
from the paint smell of my house.
I am from the waves.
I am from a soccer ball
the taste of california.
(paradise)

I'm from my family
       from a great school
I'm from getting up early and
having a bowl of cereal.
I'm from smarties to dumbies.
       to politicians to hippies.
I'm from my fitbit
       my dog.


Laying on the soccer field
thinking where I'd be if
I wasn't here.
I am from when you have to
wake up to go to school and
those moments when you get a
good grade. 

1. Henry David Sanderson a name with flow. This is my name and it definitely represents me. My name is a semi common name kinda like I'm a semi common person. The letter "H" stands for humorous because I have a good sense of humor and I'm always looking for a good laugh. The "E" stands for energetic because I'm always up for doing something. The "N" stands for nice because I'm always helping people out. The "R" stands for running I am always running and there's no off button on me. The "Y" stands for "Yaking" because I'm always talking and being social.

2.When people describe me they use the words energetic, kind and a good friend. I like what they already think of me.

3. I would not change my name because it fits me.

Henry Sanderson

     An Urban Legend is a story that is humorous or horrific. They come about when people don't know something or they have questions about something and they start a giant rumor that turns into a false story that is an Urban Legend. A few examples of Urban Legends are Bloody Mary, Pokemon Lavender Town Tune, and in the book To Kill a Mockingbird that Boo Radley eats cats. 

     Firstly, Bloody Mary Urban Legend is a very scary legend that I've tried and I was so scared. This Legend is when you  go in the bathroom turn off the light and put water in the mirror a so call person named Bloody Person appears in he mirror and kills you. The legend is really just a story that is not true that comes from a silly movie.

     Secondly, Pokemon Lavender Town Tune is a tune in Pokemon for the town Lavender Town. This Legend is that this tune in Pokemon made about 100 kids from the age from 10-15 suicided after they listened to this song for a certain amount of time. This legend is really just a tune in Pokemon that is weird and goes along with your heart beat but there may or may not have been kids that killed them self because of it.

     Lastly, this Urban Legend is from To Kill a Mockingbird that is about Boo Radley. This legend is that this creepy man named Boo Radley never comes out of his house except for night and when he comes out he eats cats. This legend is not true because later in the book Scout meets him and understands why he never comes out. This legend came to be because he never came out of his house and many kids started rumors and the story of how he eats cats at night came to be.

     In conclusion, the examples Bloody Mary, Pokemon Lavender Town Tune and that Boo Radley are good examples of Urban Legends. The results of an Urban Legend can be harmful or harmless. They are funny, scary and dumb stories to scare kids and sometimes to teach them lessons.