Theme 8

Matt Soffer
5/26/2009
Mr. Juliani
Theme 8
“Swoosh,” Riziki loved that sound, nothing but net. The home crowd roared with joy and excitement. Riziki stepped to the line to take his second foul shot. The entire arena grew silent in anticipation. Riziki loved being the star of the team and receiving all of the attention. He dribbled the ball twice and then put it behind his back. This was his sacret ritual. He did this before every foul shot. It helped him block all of the noise and put his mind at ease. The second foul shot was up; It rolled around the rim like a flushing toilet and eventually went through the net. It seemed like the ball was sitting on the rim for hours on end. Riziki pumped his fist to entice the audience. The home crown roared with extreme pleasure and tenacity even louder than they had before. Riziki slapped five with his teammate Lupe. The game was practically iced. Riziki’s foul shots put the Miami Jam up by one point with 1.8 seconds left in regulation.
The opposing team, the Seattle Defenders called a twenty second timeout. In the Jam’s huddle, Coach Ford was screaming, “Don’t Foul, they only have 1.8 seconds left!” The members of the Jam were encouraging the crowd to make some noise. The crowd started a Defense chant that got increasing louder.
The Defenders impounded the ball to an open man. They want to run a set play but there was not enough time on the clock and there was too much chaos. Reggie Johnson, the Defenders star player, heaved up a prayer which clanked off the backboard and was no good. The home crowd started cheering and waiving their arms around like savages.
When all of the celebration ended Riziki and his teammates headed back to the locker room. A reporter was chasing Riziki back to the locker room. The reporter, with her microphone in hand, got a hold of Riziki. She asked him, “Can you describe how significant of a win this is.” Riziki responded, “It was huge for us, our playoff hopes our still alive.” The reporter could sense that Riziki wanted to hed back to the locker room so she rapped up the brief interview by say, “Thank you and good luck” to Riziki. He smiled and scampered back to the locker room.
The Miami Jam were tied with the Dakota Sparks for the 8th and final playoff seed in the USBA (United States Basketball Association) League. Ironically enough, the Jam’s last game of the regular season was against the Sparks. “Win and In” is the motto coach Ford echoed to his team. The team had to get directly onto a plane because they did not have layoff in between games.
Riziki received pats on the back because of his clutch performance at the end of this critical basketball game. Riziki took off his shooting sleeve, wrist bands, knee braces, headband, USBA socks, and his lucky wristbands. He was known around the league for the illustrious equipment that he wore for every game. The team equipment manger, Kevin Jones was the team equipment manager. Riziki was always hassling Kevin with all of the equipment that he wore. Riziki hit the showers and got prepared to go to the Miami airport with his team.
At the airport, fans of all ages were chanting Rizikis name. Little boys came up to the entire team asking for autographs. An older fan came up to Riziki and asked if he could have a picture with him. “Why not,” Riziki responded. The fan handed his camera to his wife and posed next to Riziki with a gleaming smile on his face. Riziki’s teammates were already waiting at the terminal so he quickly grabbed his bag and hurried down to the terminal.
On the flight, Riziki reclined his seat all the way back and listened to his Ipod. He dreamt about his game winning foul shots against the Defenders.
Riziki was rummaging through his bag roughly five minutes before the start of the game. He couldn’t find any of his equipment. When he realized what had happened he froze. He had accidentally swapped bags with the man in the airport whom which he had taken a picture with. The bag contained all of his fashionable equipment (shooting sleeve, etc)
“Hey, you guys got any extra equipment, I can’t find mine” Riziki said anxiously. None of his teammateseven wore such flashy equipment. One of his teammates said, “Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine.” Riziki wished that were the case, but he did not feel confident without his extra accessories. He had worn this flashy equipment since his high school days.
As the team huddled up, Lupe gave a motivational speech in t he locker room. “This is our game!” He shouted.
The Jam took the court confidently. The game was a tight fisted affair. It was evident that Raziki was struggling. He could not buy a bucket. The hoop seemed shrunken to him, almost like a Cheerio.
The Jam had a 1 point lead and the ball with 7.1 seconds to go. The Sparks would immediately foul the man to catch the inbound pass to stop the clock and send the Jam to the free throw line. Due to Raziki’s poor game, the coach did not want the ball imbounded to him. Raziki was supposed to srt a screen but instead he ran to an open spot on the court and called for the ball. The defense has lost him. Lupe was wide open up court. Instead Raziki helf the ball himself and was fouled. A pass to Lupe could have iced the game for sure because there was no one with in 15 feet of him. The clock read 4.2 seconds.
Raziki wanted seal the deal for his team. He also wanted to increase his scoring total; he had only scored 8 points that game. Raziki stepped to the line and completed his sacred ritual. He let the first foul shot go and it clank off the front rim. The Spark’s crowd cheered. The Sparks fans were screaming and waving their arms back and forth to distract Raziki. Raziki air balled the second foul shot. Thus the clock had not started and still read 4.2 seconds.
The Sparks immediately called for a 20 second time out. As Raaziki walked to his huddle Coach Ford shook his head in disgust at him. “Play tight defense, no fouls!” Coach Ford said.
The Sparks in bounded the ball, The other teams best shooter, Scott Jones, weaved in and out of defenders and pulled of for a three pointer, swoosh! The buzzer sounded as the ball went through the hoop. The swoosh sound pierced the ears of every Jam player.
The Sparks crowd screamed with exultation. As Raziki walked back to the locker room, he didn’t hear anything except the sound of that swoosh.

Inter of Maladies- Point of Veiw Change

Ronny was busy looking at the hidden monkeys in the trees. Ronny thought the monkey's were the cutest animals he had ever seen. "I wish I had a monkey to take home with me," is the thought that kept replaying itself over and over in Bobby's head. It was like a broken record player. By this time, Mr. Das and Ronny were in the distance. They were roughly 30 to 40 yards away. Bobby could see his father taking pictures of the beautiful scenery. He observed as Mr. Das was shoving Ronny into position so he could get a good picture of him. Mr. Das typically used these family photos on postcards. Ronny heard a sound coming from the bushes. He approached the shaking bush in which the sound was coming from. He was flattered when he realized it was monkey. He felt like he had won the lottery. He was thinking that this was the best day of his life. Bobby approached the monkey and stroked its short hair because he thought it was the coolest creature he had ever seen. In a flash, Bobby was surrounding by monkeys. Bobby began to worry. He said, "be nice monkeys." The monkeys did just the opposite. The monkeys surrounding him and began beating with sticks and harassing him. Bobby could feel his heart pounding, he was so afraid and defenseless. Suddenly, out of nowhere came Mr Kapasi. He chased the monkeys away. Bobby, "are you alright," shouted Mrs Das. Bobby was so gratuitous towards Mr. Kapasi although he did not know how to show it.

Theme 7 Final copy and analysis

Nike’s Excellent Fortune
Nike has been a leader in athletic apparel since it started out as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964. Its founders were Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. In the beginning, Nike produced comfortable and versatile track shoes. What is the key to Nike’s success? Could it be the crafty swoosh logo created by Portland State University graduate, Carolyn Davidson? Nike has become a worldwide phenomenon. They produce variations of clothing, accessories, shoes, and athletic equipment. However, Nike’s true success can be attributed to one man. This man is a 5 time National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player, a 6 time NBA Champion, and a Slam Dunk Champion. Michael Jordan was the greatest thing that ever happened to Nike. Jordan single-handedly turned Nike into a multimillion dollar corporation. Jordon immediately impacted Nike in a positive manner by getting Nike up and running as a young stud coming out of North Carolina University accepting the role as the face of Nike, and helping produce a successful sneaker and clothing company.
Jordan came out of college as one of the top prospects in the NBA draft. Bowerman and Knight saw Jordan’s NBA potential and gave him a Nike endorsement instantaneously. Phil Knight hoped that this endorsement would help increase Nike’s popularity. The deal did just that; Jordan won the rookie of the year award in his first year in the NBA. He averaged over 28 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. It was obvious from early on that Michael Jordan was destined for greatness. Revenue increased to $946,371 in the first year alone. By 1986, Nike’s Revenue had exceeded the $1,000,000 barrier. All of this success helped Nike expand overseas and to form Nike-Japan. Nike knew from that point on that Jordan was someone special. As Jordan became more successful in the NBA, Nike became more successful in the market place.
After Jordan’s extraordinary rookie campaign, he became the face of Nike. Jordan’s contribution to Nike came well before golf mogul Tiger Woods (who is also very popular today). Jordan’s face was everywhere. Jordan had a television star-like personality, and was a very natural actor in all of his commercials. When kids of all ages see someone they idolize on T.V, they want to be just like that person. If Michael Jordan was seen wearing Nike products, everyone wanted to wear Nike products. All good figureheads are idolized by many which contribute to increase sales. Michael Jordan also appeared in a plethora of commercials for Nike throughout his career. The most famous commercials he appeared in were the series of commercials with Spike Lee. He acted superbly in all of the commercials he appeared in. These commercials were all over T.V at the time. They were as popular as the Geico commercials are today. Jordan’s face was on billboards around the world. Believe it or not, Jordan had his own scent; it was called Michael Jordan cologne. The thinking behind this product was, if you can’t play basketball like Michael Jordan; why not smell like Michael Jordan. Nike also sponsored Michael Jordan’s own company known as Jordan.
The Jordan brand first burst onto the scene in 1984. In its first year, Michael Jordan’s brand sold nearly $130 million in merchandise. These numbers are among the highest for any company in its debut selling sportswear. Jordan (the company) started out primarily producing athletic shoes. Jordan’s first shoes were the Jordan 1s, which were made in 1985. Twenty one other models of shoes would hit the market from 1985 until present day. After the company tasted great success, it began to sell clothing and accessories as well. Today, Jordan also manufactures sunglasses, watches, wrist and head bands, socks, shirts, shorts, warm-up gear, and more. In 1998, Jordan earned $2.6 billion for Nike. Jennifer Black, a footwear analyst, estimated that the “Jordan Effect” has been valued at around $9.53 billion. These numbers are the largest contribution of any individual endorsement deal in the history of athletic retail. After Jordan’s retirement in 2003, talk arose about the Jordan brand fading because he would no longer be on the court. However, since his retirement, Nike sales have actually doubled around the world and there is no slowdown in sight, says Nike founder Phil Knight. New ideas from the Nike marketing division are arriving each year to keep the Nike brand name fresh. To keep success alive, Nike has developed ways to connect the Jordan name with many young and prominent stars in today’s sports world. Some of these names include Derek Jeter, and Roy Jones Jr., as well as rising basketball stars, Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James. Athletes have embraced the Jordan name by incorporating its logo on their own personal athletic shoes.
If you flip on the television today, you will most likely find a Jordan advertisement. He is considered by many to be the greatest NBA player of all time. Jordan’s skills on the court and his personality off the court are what helped Nike become one of the most successful companies of all time. He was able to help Nike build its name when he was a young star coming out of North Carolina. He was a tremendous face for Nike for many years, and his shoe/clothing company helped skyrocket Nike’s sales.


Analysis

My story started out with a solid focus. I stayed on point for most of the story. I just added a more concise explanation about why Michael Jordan’s role as the face of Nike. I got a bit off topic but I fixed it.

The content is now great in my paper. I use a lot of detail to try and give the reader the clearest picture. I added more content about the particular products that Jordan advertised for. For example I mentioned the cologne that he made. I also added info about the commercials that he appeared in with spike lee.

I feel that the structure of my paper needed a lot of work. I had a lot of ideas jumbled up in a paragraph. I would hit on a point then go to a new point but then I would reference back to the first point. It was very confusing for the reader of my essay. I took all of the ideas the were scrambled up and I organized them in an order that made more sense.

I used the style packet to make every word tell. I tried not to use any pointless words. I usually get in a habit of doing that. I feel that my paper has a good style/attitude because that is the way I write. Theme readers have always commented positively on my writing style. I like to use very descriptive words.

My Conventions needed a lot of work. I did not read through my rough draft very well and I found a lot of errors that I fixed. They were mostly simple mistakes like missing commas or periods. There were some spelling errors and some words with the incorrect tenses. The conventions should be close to perfect now.

Theme 7

Nike has been the face of athletic apparel since it started out as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964. Its founders were Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. Nike started out producing comfortable and versatile track shoes. What is the key to Nike’s success? Could it be the crafty swoosh logo created by Portland State University graduate, Carolyn Davidson? Nike has become a worldwide phenomenon. They produce variations of clothing/accessories, shoes, and athletic equipment. However, Nike’s success can be attributed to one man. This man is a 5 time NBA MVP, a 6 time NBA champion, and a slam sunk champion, Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was the greatest thing that ever happened to Nike. Jordan single-handedly turned Nike in to a multimillion dollar corporation. Jordon immediately impacted Nike in a positive manner by getting Nike up and running as a young stud coming out of North Caroline University. Jordan accepted the role as the figurehead of Nike and helped produce a successful shoe/clothing company.
Jordan came out of college as one of the top prospects in the NBA draft. Bowerman and Knight saw Jordan’s NBA potential and gave him a Nike endorsement. Phil Knight hoped that this endorsement would help increase Nike’s popularity. The deal did just that; Revenue increased from $919,806 to $946,371 in the first year alone. By 1986 Nike’s Revenue had reached the 1,000,000 dollar barrier. All of this success helped Nike expand overseas and it became partners with Nike-Japan. Jordan won the rookie of the year award in his first year in the NBA. He averaged over 28 ppg, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. It was obvious from early on that Michael Jordan was destined for greatness. Nike knew from that point on that Jordan was someone special. As Jordan became more successful in the NBA, Nike became more successful in the market place.
After Jordan’s extraordinary rookie campaign, he became the figure head of Nike. His face was everywhere. Jordan had a great personality and was a very natural actor in all of his commercials. When kids of all ages see someone they idolize on T.V, they want to be just like that person. If Michael Jordan was seen wearing Nike products, everyone wanted to wear Nike products. All good figureheads are idolized by many which helps increase sales. Michael Jordan also appeared in a plethora of commercials for Nike throughout his career. He acted superbly in all of the commercials he appeared in. These commercials were all over T.V at the time. They were as popular as the Geico commercials are today. Nike also sponsored Michael Jordan’s own company known as Jordan.
The Jordan brand first burst onto the scene in 1984. In its first year, Michael Jordan’s brand sold nearly $130 million in merchandise. These numbers are among the highest for any company in its debut selling sportswear. Jordan (the company) started out primarily producing shoes. Jordan’s first shoes were the Jordan 1 which was made in 1985. Twenty one other models of shoes would hit the market from 1985 until present day. After the company tasted great success it began to sell clothing and accessories as well. In 1998 Jordan earned $2.6 billion for Nike. Jennifer Black, a footwear analyst, estimated that the “Jordan Effect” has been valued at around $9.53 billion. These numbers are the largest contribution of any individual endorsement deal in the history of athletic retail. After Jordan’s retirement in 2003, talk arose about the Jordan brand fading because he would no longer be on the court. However, since his retirement, Nike sales have actually doubled around the world and there is no slowdown in sight, says Nike founder Phil Knight. New ideas from the Nike marketing division are arriving each year to keep the Nike brand name fresh. To keep success alive, Nike has developed ways to connect the Jordan name with many young and prominent stars in today’s sports world. Some of these names include Derek Jeter, and Roy Jones Jr., as well as rising basketball stars Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James.21 These athletes have embraced the Jordan name by incorporating its logo on their own personal athletic shoes.
If you flip on you television today, you will most likely find a Jordan advertisement. He is considered by many to be the great NBA player of all time. Jordan’s skills on the court and his personality off the court are what helped Nike become one of the most successful companies of all time. He was able to help Nike build a name for itself when he was a young star coming out of North Carolina, he was a tremendous face for Nike for many years, and he his shoe/clothing company helped skyrocket Nike’s sales.

How To... Take an Order At Manhatten Bagel (my work)

I work at the Manhattan Bagel located inside of the Super Fresh market. I have multiple responsibilities to fulfill. One job in particular seems to be an art. Although it may seem simple, taking and order at Manhattan Bagel is actually quite a complicated task. There are several things that must be done to get the correct order and please the customer.
When taking an order at Manhattan Bagel you let the customer take a quick look at the menu. They will usually glance at it for around a few seconds and they make their decision. The cashier should start out by ask a question such as “How’s it going?” As the customer responds, the cashier the cashier must get his pen and pad ready in order to take the order. The next question the cashier should ask is, “May I take your Order?” As the customer places his order the cashier must write down the order on the notepad. There are different symbols to represent each bagel that the cashier and cooks must have committed to memory. These symbols make it easier to take the order as opposed to writing down the whole word. For example, a bacon egg and cheese on a plain bagel toast would be represented by: bec pl (t) It is key that cashier converses with customer to see if he or she would like the bagel toasted. The cashier should also make recommendations such as coffee, orange juice, or cream cheese tubs. Next, the cashier must receive the name of the customer and find out if the customer would like the food to be packed “for here or to go.” This information tells the cooks how to package the food and the name of the person that the food belongs to. You must then “ring up the customer.” At Manhattan bagel there is a white laminated booklet that contains the bar code at every item at Manhattan bagel. The cashier must quickly scan the necessary bar codes. Before the cashier totals up all of the items in the order he must take the order off of the notepad and give it to the cooks. This gives the cooks more time to comprehend and prepare the orders. Then the cashier must type in the code to unlock the register and tell the customer his total. The customer can choose to pay with a credit/debit card or with cash. If the customer gives you cash, you must type in the amount given on the register and then press the cash button. The register will calculate the change that must be given to the customer. The cashier will hand the customer his or her change and offer them their receipt (often time the customers do not want the receipt). That is all that must be done with the actually ordering taking process.
The order will be taken care of by the cooks and promptly delivered to the customer. The person that delivers the food to the customer will commonly use a phrase like, “Thank you, and have a nice day.” Hopefully the customer is pleased with the service and food and would like to come back again sometime.

Night and The Merchant of Venice- Vompare and/or Contrast

The novel Night by Ellie Wiesel can be compared and contrasted with The Merchant of Venice in a multitude of ways. Characters and reoccurring themes can be compared through out both works of litterateur. The Merchant of Venice is a classic Shakespearian novel which has the usual characters and the common “happy ending” love story. Night, on the other hand is a holocaust story told in first person that references to the experiences of an individual who lived through the Holocaust. There are literal and figurative comparisons that can be drawn from both stories. These two sorties may sound very different but they actually have many similarities.

Racism towards the Jewish religion was a very evident issue in both of the Novels. Although Racism was much more evident in Night, Shylock, an important character in The Merchant of Venice was discriminated upon in the Shakespearian play. He was depicted with the stereotypical Jewish looks/features. He was shown as a very greedy man who even bargained to get a pound of flesh at one point in the novel. Shylock was often times compared to or thought of as the devil. This can relate to Night because all of the Jews in Europe (including Ellie) were forced to work in concentration camps. They were being killed by the thousands. Hitler’s goal was to eliminate Jews from the face of the earth. In both stories, the Jews were discriminated upon by perpetrators. (Actual people were perpetrators in Night, while Shakespeare was somewhat of a perpetrator in The Merchant of Venice)

Another comparison that can be made between the two stories was the character comparison of Portia and Ellie. It seemed that both of these two characters took on the role of both savior as well as victim. Ellie was forced to leave his home and everything he loved and was put in to a concentration camp. He was in a camp with his father and was separated from the rest of his family. Ellie was a victim of the Nazi’s and SS officers. At times he also took on the role of Savior. He tried to protect his father and encouraged him to look his best for inspection days. With out the support and love Ellie’s father receives from Ellie, he may not have had the faith to continue living. So in a sense, Ellie was a savior. Portia also takes on similar roles in the Merchant of Venice. She is not treated like a victim to the same extent that Ellie is, but she faces some difficulties in her life as well. Her father has designed Portia’s marriage so that her suitor must choose a casket which has a picture of her in it. This may not allow her to marry the man of her dreams. Later in the play, Portia appears to take on the role of savior. At the court, where Antonio must give Shylock a pound of his blood, Portia arrives as a lawyer and influences the case greatly. Antonio is the best friend of her new husband, Bassanio. If Antonio were to be killed, it would place a great burden on the marriage of Portia and Bassanio. She brings up during the case that the deal made between Antonio and Shylock does not allow Shylock to spill any of Antonio’s blood while he takes his pound of flesh. Thus, Shylock does not know what to do and ends up losing the case as well as a lot of money. Portia saved the life of Antonio and he was very gratuitous to her.

The next comparison that can be made between these to stories is the fact that both stories end positively and with a conflict that has been resolved. At the end of Night, The Nazi’s plans were spoiled by the Americans and all of the Jews were free. Ellie went on to live in freedom. In the play Merchant of Venice, Shylock lost his case, which was a positive for the protagonists in the story. All of the characters “lived happily ever after”

The last comparison that can be made between the two stories is the simple fact that they were both tenth grade level books that are being read in Mr. Juliani’s language arts class. All though Night and the Merchant of Venice seem like two completely different stories they have a lot of similarities. (Don’t get me wrong, they also have a ton of differences as well). The plot of both stories was captivating. Both stories were very intriguing and taught many valuable themes.

By Matt Soffer

3 Things You Don't Know About Me

1. My favorite Food is Tacos

2. I Like listening to tracks/mixes

3. I like watching/playing sports