A Typical Day for Tyler Declerck (character sketch)

Just Another Day

“I have to go back!”

“Why, it’s just about dinner time!”

“You won’t understand okay, you just won’t.  I’ll be back soon, I promise!”

Be back as soon as you can, I heard my mom say as I sprinted out of the house as fast as I could.  Forgetting that it was the middle of the winter, and it was close to 20 degrees outside; I completely forgot to put on any kind of winter attire.  I’m sure if my mom saw what I was wearing, which was a pair of shorts and a t-shirt she wouldn’t be very happy, but she simply wouldn’t understand.  I sloshed my way through the 6 inches of snow to my car which unbelievably had frosted over within the few minutes I was inside.  Considering that it was nearly impossible to see ten feet in front of me, I drove reasonably slowly regardless of my extreme urge to get back.  After several minutes of slow, sluggish driving I arrived, back to my second home, the baseball field.  As I pulled into the parking lot, I soon realized that I was about to spend more time trying to part than it actually took me to get here, due to the giant piles of snow located in the most in inconvenient places.  Finally, after finding a place to park, I made my way over to the batting cage.  After only being there for several minutes I was already colder than I had ever been before, so it made me question how on earth has he been standing out here since the end of school with only a shirt and shorts on. 

“Declerck, what on earth are you doing?”

“You wouldn’t understand” he replied

“No, please explain.”

“All I want is another Sectional Championship”

Sensing that he wasn’t exactly in the “talking” mood I turned right around and headed back to my car, because honestly, I had no desire to be there.  As I got close to my car I heard a hushed mumble coming from Declerck. 

            “You should want it too”

            “You don’t understand my friend, you don’t understand”

Now, that cold, wintery day slipped my mind to say the least, and to be honest I forgot just about everything he said, or lack of what he said.  What I’m getting at is that that conversation did not reoccur to me until our second night game of the year. It was just like any other baseball game, calm but intense, exciting but unenthused but nerveless we walked out of there with a victory.  The postgame was just like any other as well, until I got home.  It wasn’t a big problem, but I did realize that I left my equipment in the dugout.  The likelihood that someone had picked it up from my team was good, but I figured I showed head on back there to make sure.  Returning an hour or so after everyone had left; I figured that I would just grab my equipment and leave.  As I entered the dugout I heard the all the sounds of a batting practice.  I turned around and in complete awe; Declerck was standing just beyond left field, taking what appeared to be a rigorous batting practice.  Realizing that it was late, I contemplated going over to him, or should I just go home.  I decided to just go home because I didn’t really think he would be in the mood to talk.  He tends to get into the “zone” during baseball and in a way blocks pretty much everything out but baseball.  The following day at school, as we were sitting together at lunch, I brought it up. 

“What on earth were you doing out there last night?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” He said

Being extremely curious, I in a way forced him to answer the question.

“All I want is another Sectional Championship.”

I should have known that’s all I was going to get out of him, but deep down, I really wanted to know what made him do the things he did.  Knowing him for so long, I was aware that that wasn’t an appropriate question to ask him, so I carried on.

            Although I had little to no recollection of our first conversation that cold, and wintery day, the second and most recent conversation stuck with me.  Being a senior last year, he has since moved onto college leaving our team without our captain and our leader.  Despite being without our captain, his qualities have stuck with us.  At the time of his simple remark “All I want is another Sectional Championship” I did not really understand why he could not give me a more detailed response.  But after time to think about it, I realized that he gave the best and most influential response anyone could ever give.  

  

My character sketch is about Tyler Declerck and how he worked extremely hard to accomplish the goal that he had in mind.  I think that this is one of my better papers as I give really good examples of how he was a hard working individual. For example, I talked about how after one of our night games he remained at the field for several hours to work on his skills. This is a strong example that shows what a hard working individual he is. As for things that I think I need to work on, I'm not sure that my thesis is clear. I feel like I really know what I'm trying to talk about, yet there's a chance that some readers may not understand what I'm trying to say about him. Next, do you think that it is a good idea to open the story with some dialogue?

Other than that I feel like my paper is pretty good.

An interesting twist on 7 Deadly Sins Conclusions

 Original Conclusion for Beyond The Game

When you go to a sporting event or more specifically a baseball game, you’re going to want watch the game and I understand that. But I ask you this, the next time you’re at a game and it’s not fulfilling all of your expectations then just take a look around see what’s going on, you may be pleasantly surprised that the game you’re at isn’t the most exciting thing going on.

This is my first conclusion to Beyond The Game which in my opinion is the best. I really tried to make it so if for some reason the reader didn't exactly understand what I was talking about, the conclusion would clarify it for you!

All of my possible conclusions for this paper give generally the same point. The wording in all of them is obvoiously different however the point is the same and that is that if you aren't interested in a sporting event, look around you may be surprised what you see.


Here are two more possible conclusions for my 7 deadly sins paper

During every sporting event, the actual sporting event isn't the only thing going on. You could be counting down the minutes to the final whistle of the game when you look down a few rows and see a middle aged man sound asleep. You may think to yourself, how is this relevant? Well, this new found sleeper at the sporting event may give you something to laugh at for the remaining minutes of the game you're at. All I ask is that next time you're at a sporting event and you have lost all interest in what's going on, take a look around and take note of what you see, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Now, I completely understand that not ever baseball game is going to hold your attention for over two hours and I've come to accept that. Being a baseball player myself I even find it difficult at times to actually sit down and watch an entire game, I can even remember a few instances where I actually stood up and left the game because it was just too much to watch. If you are relating to what I'm saying right now and you find yourself standing up and leaving in the middle of sporting events that you spent your hard earned money for then I ask you to do one thing. Next time you're at a sporting event and you're thinking about standing up and going home early, take a look around first, a lot of times you will see things that will grab your attention and keep you interested in the game for just long enough for the game to be completed.

Beyond The Game (7 Deadly Sins)

When I was first thinking about this paper my first thoughts were how to make this as creative as possible. I wanted to think of a story line that held the readers attention for the entire story. By adding in details and humor when necessary I think that I did accomplish my overall goal and made this fairly interesting. As I was writing the first draft I thought that it was actually an interesting topic to write about, there were so many different topics you could write about. Literally you could write about anything from sporting events to dining at a restaurant, anything at all, written well will hold a readers attention for the majority of the story. As interesting as this topic was to write about, I did have some problems The thing I struggled with most was actually thinking of a creative idea to write about. I really pressured myself to write about something interesting enough to hold the readers attention, so I was really focusing on thinking of something good which did take some time. After I figured out that I was going to write about a baseball game, the creative ideas started to come more easily. Like I said before my main struggle for me was to think of an idea but after that it was all generally simple and I started to write down ideas more quickly than I could think of them. That's when it was the easiest for me, the actual part of writing down my ideas. Throughout writing this I learned that exemplification was all about writing and explaining what exactly you were writing about. Its about giving details to make it clear for the reader what message you're trying to get across.

When I re read my draft over again, I realized that it wasn't that great. I spent some time rewriting it and making it better and more acceptable. I believe that my greatest strength in this paper were creative ideas. For example, for my gluttony example where I was talking about the man next to me with a ridiculous amount of food. Well, I think that is a very interesting topic and will grab the readers attention for at least that part of the story. I really tried to think of situations that were creative and ones that the reader would find interesting. My weaknesses would probably be lack of detail in some areas. I feel that in a couple of my examples I left them without some details. For example for some of my examples such as lust, my situation had potential but I feel like I just didn't have enough detail to really make it interesting enough to the reader. So, I feel like if some details were added the reader may be able to make a better connection to what I'm talking about. I feel like I need to work on just re-editing my paper and making it the best it can be.

Beyond the Game
Have you ever looked around during a baseball game and really admired what everyone was doing, often times questioning as to what exactly they’re doing. Well if your answer is no, go to a baseball game or any sporting event and take a look around at all the different types of people ranging from the athletes, officials, fan and even the coaches and take notice of what each of them are doing. In this particular example there was a rivalry baseball game between two professional teams. Being a rivalry game I wanted to be there to get a sense of the atmosphere and the mood amongst the stadium. However, after the baseball game ended I thought to myself and realized that the actual game itself may not have been the most interesting part.

As I sit down into my chair in the top of the first inning and about to get comfortable, I feel a rather disturbing feeling beneath my feet. Looking down I notice five uneaten hot dogs. Questioning as to what exactly they’re doing there I turn to my right and to my surprise I see a rather large man holding four cheeseburgers, three bags of popcorn, the biggest cup of soda I have ever seen, seven candy necklaces around his neck, a candy ring on each finger and to top that all off apparently I had just stepped on his five remaining hot dogs. Sensing an awkward situation coming on I turned the other way and prepared for the game to begin. Now I had a little predicament. Do I turn to him and apologize or just ignore the situation and pretend like nothing happened? Feeling bad that he may have been looking forward to those hot dogs, I turned to him and offered to buy him four more. He politely turned to me and asked me what I was talking about. So it turned out that those weren’t even his hot dogs. I was worrying over nothing and now I can just enjoy the game.

As I mentioned before I have these five hot dogs sitting below my feet, so of course I’m going to get hungry. I waited a half an inning and then go towards the concession stand. I stand at the end of the line and attempt to read the menu. The disturbing picture of stepped on hot dogs turned me in the exact opposite direction of anything that had to do with hot dogs and instead  decided to enjoy a nice bag of popcorn and a small soda. As I pay for my snack, I notice that behind me is a little stand that has the butter for my popcorn and a container that holds straws. As I approach the stand another excited fan cuts in front of me with a bag of popcorn about 5X the size of mine. He stepped up to the butter machine and stood there for seemingly an hour. After he finally stepped away it was my turn. I set my bag of popcorn underneath the machine and press the button. Of course there wasn’t any butter left, so I returned to my seat with butter less popcorn.

During many baseball games, in between innings there may be activities for children or performances by different groups to keep the fans interested in the game. Keep in mind that we are attending a rivalry baseball game so it is unbelievably loud so more or less I can’t even hear myself speak. As I sit in my seat enjoying my popcorn, the stadium goes completely silent. Immediately being a baseball player myself I think that someone must have gotten hurt because surly that is that only time that a baseball game or any sporting event is quiet. Turning towards the field I notice that a very attractive young woman is walking out on the field. When I say everyone’s eyes were on her, I’m not exaggerating. However to everyone’s disliking the young women walked off of the field as fast as she walked on. I would also bet that the majority of the crowd doesn’t even know what she did when she was on the field; they were too busy starring at her.

It’s now the fifth inning and the game is not all that it was expected to be. There is no score and aside from the pitching duel there isn’t that much going on. As I sit in my seat I notice a young man walking by with a game worn jersey on. You may ask why how I know that he is wearing a game worn jersey? Well the dirt stains from sliding gave it away. Anyways, I stand up to try and see whose jersey he is wearing, and as I get closer I notice that not only is it a game worn jersey which is cool in itself, but it is signed. Now I’m just about touching the guy I’m so close, when it comes to me that it’s my favorite player. I realize that I’m too close for comfort so I take a few steps back and return to my seat. I now sat in my seat for about ten minutes and didn’t say anything; I was at a loss for words.

Top of the seventh. It’s at the point of the game where everything counts and every little mistake is costly. The bases are loaded with two outs so needless to say they need to get out of the inning without letting up a run. The count goes to 2-2 and the next pitch is on the way. Everyone can tell that the ball is on a downward angle towards the dirt and sure enough it does. As the ball skips in the dirt the catcher tries to scoop it and it gets by him. When a catcher tries to scoop the ball rather than trying to actually block it, well that could be the worst thing that the catcher can do and every catcher knows it. Now if you have ever been to a baseball game you would know what a normal dugout looks like. Each player has a glove, several bats, batting gloves, there is catchers gear, hats, endless packages of gum, several buckets of baseballs, three or four coolers of water and that’s just the beginning. The point I’m trying to get at is that dugouts are crowded and full with equipment. Now I want you to think back to what just happened, the catcher tried to scoop the ball. Out of the corner of my eye I see cooler of water fly towards the plate, followed by a bucket of balls and a glove. Fearing that something is going to hit me I bend down beneath my seat for cover. When I thought it was safe to stand up I did so and noticed that the dugout was completely empty and the entire team was huddled together in the corner. Needless to say the coach was quite upset.

Unfortunately the ending of the baseball game is all kind of a blur to me. Actually to be honest I couldn’t even tell you what happened other then the fact that one team won. I’m sure you’re asking yourself how to do you possibly not know what happened. Well I’ll put it like this, the game went nearly 6X longer than anyone had ever expected and the game wasn’t won until the bottom of the fifty seventh inning so I was sound asleep by that point. However, when that winning run did score I can honestly say I was awaken by the loudest noise I have ever heard. As the crowd rushed the field, I remained in my seat as I wasn’t completely sure what was going on due to the fact that I was sound asleep a few seconds ago. Thousands of people were on the field and to sum it up I’ve never seen so much happiness before.

 When you go to a sporting event or more specifically a baseball game, you’re going to want watch the game and I understand that. But I ask you this, the next time you’re at a game and it’s not fulfilling all of your expectations then just take a look around see what’s going on, you may be pleasantly surprised that the game you’re at isn’t the most exciting thing going on.

Interested In Not Writing This Paper? (How to)

My initial thoughts of the assignment were alright. After finding out about this assignment I realized that thinking of an idea to write about wasn't going to be as easy as you would think. So, my partner and I sat down and tried to think of the most creative ideas possible. After several minutes of few good ideas, we came up with the idea to write about ways to get out of writing this paper. The only real obstacles we had in drafting this paper was actually thinking of something to write about. However, the actually writing down different ideas came pretty easy to us. It was easy for us to think of ideas to get out of writing this paper. After all we are seniors and high school and we do at times think of ways to get out of writing a paper or doing an assignment. As for revisions, we have to come up with a conclusion. Aside from a conclusion, adding a few more details here and there could go a long way in making our paper that much better. Also, maybe if we give actual examples of times we have used these techniques, they will sound much more believable.

Lets Try These Introductions Again..

This blog entry is about rewriting introductions. In class we are learning how to write introductions that really hook the reader and draw them into what you're talking about. So for this assignment we were told to forget about our original introduction, even if we really liked it and go ahead and write some new ones using the new skills that we have been learning in class.

After reading over my food paper I realized that my introduction just wasn't what it needed to be, so I did some revising. I thought to myself that there was a few parts that each introduction needed to be appropriate. I thought that each one needed to express my feelings about how I felt about Chocolate Companies, this way the readers will right away know what I'm trying to talk about in my paper. Talking briefly about my topic before actually getting into the paper will give the reader a little head start to whats ahead in the paper. 

Original Introduction

Chocolate is one of the most universal and sought after snacks to ever be consumed. The vast amounts of choices you can select from make it nearly impossible for one not to have a strong desire and attraction for this snack. Milk, semisweet, bittersweet, unsweeted are all varieties of chocolate produced by chocolatiers. Not only is there an incredible variety of types, there are a seemingly endless variety of brands.  Dove, Lindt, Hershey’s, as well as Godiva are four of the most well-known and sought after chocolates in the world. Although there are a seemingly endless variety of brands, it seems like every one tastes the same.

Actually when we were first assigned to rewrite some new introductions, I was not actually a fan of writing new ones but after some thought and writing I realized that I could use a new introduction so this assignment did help in the end.

Another Attempt on Introductions..

1. A seemingly endless variety and brands of chocolates make it nearly impossible for someone not to like chocolate. A vast variety of packaging ranging from different packaging styles and writing styles set each company apart from each other. However the difference in packaging does not mean the chocolate itself is different. All chocolates ranging from milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate taste just about the same regardless of what brand it is.

2. One of the oldest snacks known is chocolate. Since the beginning of time chocolate has been experimented with in order to produce different and more unique types to please consumers. Companies pride themselves in making a product that will completely set them apart from any other company. Aside from different types of packaging and such, chocolate does not range much and to many all chocolates take taste the same.

3. Chocolate is one of the most sought after and desired foods. To many, chocolate is a comfort food and eaten in times of stress. People go to the grocery store and stand in front of all the different brands of chocolate and think to themselves what kind they should buy. Well if you actually think about it, all of the chocolates taste the there really is no major difference between them. So basically the thought needed to decide what type of chocolate you're going to get may be completely unnecessary.

In the end I decided on using my first introduction, the original one that I wrote when we were first given our food paper assignment. My reasoning for this was because I think that it really made my point clear. For example I wanted people to understand that whether or not Chocolate Companies display their product differently, they all generally taste the same and I strongly believe that this introduction allows readers to see that.

Food Paper

In order to draft this paper I had to have some basic knowledge of the types of chocolate we tried.  Not only did i have to have a little background of each of the companies history, I also had to no how they tasted.  Once I had some notes on the taste of the chocolates, I did some research on the history of the four brands to get a better understanding of when they started, how they started, etc.  The first draft was difficult to start, I wasn't exactly sure how to start and organize it, but after some thought I figured it out, and it was fairly simple.  The easiest part of the draft was to talk about the history of each of the brands.  All that needed to be done was to go online and do some research.  The part that frustrated me the most was organizing it.  At first I wasn't exactly sure how to start the paper, how to organize it, etc. To develop this draft I mainly used descriptive words because I talked about three or four separate brands of chocolate and what were similar and different about each of them.

In my first draft I liked how I talked a little bit about the history of each company so the reader had a basic background.  After first reading over my draft, I made some changes to the intro. I noticed that it was very confusing and needed a lot of editing, so I went through and made some appropriate changes when needed.  I also thought that I needed to add a few more details about each of the chocolates characteristics, for example how each one tasted compared to one another.

Based on my partners feedback, my intro was good for the most part. 

To revise my paper I'm going to back through and edit everything but the intro (I have already worked on editing that.) I want to give more specific and descriptive details on each of the chocolate companies as well as my conclusion to make sure that it sums up my paper. 

They All Taste The Same!
Chocolate is one of the most universal and sought after snacks to ever be consumed. The vast amounts of choices you can select from make it nearly impossible for one not to have a strong desire and attraction for this snack. Milk, semisweet, bittersweet, unsweeted are all varieties of chocolate produced by chocolatiers. Not only is there an incredible variety of types, there are a seemingly endless variety of brands.  Dove, Lindt, Hershey’s, as well as Godiva are four of the most well-known and sought after chocolates in the world. Although there are a seemingly endless variety of brands, it seems like every one tastes the same.

Dove, Lindt, Hershey’s and Godiva are all world famous brands of chocolate.  Each one of these brands has their own characteristics which make them well known.  For example, inside of each piece of Dove Chocolate, there is a saying such as “find your passion,” or “smile at yourself.”  These sayings set Dove apart from every other brand.  The majority of the population would see these sayings and immediately know that they are eating a piece of Dove chocolate. 

A distinguishing characteristic of Lindt Chocolate is its overall packaging and language. Lindt Chocolates are wrapped in bright and shimmering packaging that surly few other chocolate brands come close to matching. If the packaging doesn’t give it away, maybe the elegant and fancy writing will. Generally, Lindt labels their packages with a cursive style of writing that will set it apart from other companies. 

The bold letters and darker colors of all Hershey packaging lets people immediately know that you are eating Hershey’s.  A lot of the well known chocolate companies use cursive and elegant lettering to display their product.  However, Hershey’s took a completely different approach.  On every one of their packaging you will see that Hershey’s uses big and bold displays which will stand out to potential costumers.  Also, a lot of companies use bright and vibrant colors.  Again, Hershey’s took a separate approach by using darker shades to really set them apart. 

Godiva took a similar approach to that of Hershey’s. Bold lettering and dark shades on every package of Godiva chocolate are both distinguishing characteristics.  Even though Hershey’s and Godiva both have bold lettering and use darker shades they are still easily separated on the shelf at a grocery store.

    Chocolate companies all over the world pride themselves in making their own product that nobody else has and one that everyone wants. Apart from the fact that each company has distinguishing characteristics as far as their packaging and marketing styles go, to many chocolates all taste the same. All milk chocolates taste the same; all dark chocolates taste the same and all white chocolates taste the same. You can not possibly tell me that you if you eat a piece of Godiva milk chocolate and a piece of Lindt milk chocolate you will be able to finish eating them and then tell someone what brand that was, there just isn’t that much of a different between them.

Chocolate is one of the most desired and sought after snacks in the world. Each company has their own signature style that sets them apart from one another. However, if you take a look beyond the display there isn’t a whole lot different between them.               

 First Draft

Dove, created with love was founded by Leo Stefanos in the 1950’s.  Dove Chocolate is 100% Pure Cocoa Butter, it has an irresistible scent and a rich taste that they say can not be compared by any other chocolate company.  Dove has been known to direct and advertise its products mainly towards women.  The packaging is a sure give-a-way of this, because inside every piece of chocolate there are sayings,” Smile at yourself,” and “Find your passion.”  Not only does each piece of chocolate carry a catchy saying with it, but the writing on the packaging is very elegant, graceful, and appropriate for the category of consumer their product is directed towards. 

Lindt, Master Swiss Chocolatier, since 1845, began with David Sprungli-Schwarz and his son Rudolf Sprungli-Ammann.  The Lindt chocolate company began in a small confectionery shop in the Markgasse of Zurich’s Old Town.  With the help of many, Lindt and Sprungli continue to flourish today.  The company has gone international being sold in over 80 countries.  Milk, Dark, White, and Unique blends of chocolate are all types of chocolate sold my Lindt Chocolatiers all around the world. 

Hershey’s Chocolate basically began in 1893 when Milton Hershey discovered the art of chocolate making.  From then on Hershey and his company have developed different types of chocolate while expanding their company to where it is today.  Currently Hershey’s have locations in over 90 countries around the world.  Hershey’s chocolate sold to a more wide range of consumers.  It is not necessarily directed towards specific group of people like Dove and Lindt.  Hershey’s logo and packaging has not changed much over the years as they continue to direct it to the same group of people. 

For any industry, not just chocolate, companies pride themselves in producing and creating different and more innovative forms of their product.  Any industry could have products directed towards specific groups of people like the some of the chocolate companies do.  However, some industries are directed towards one group of people and that’s it.  All these decisions are made by the companies, and are run how they want them to be run. 

One of the most universal and sought after snacks to ever be consumed is known as chocolate.  So many varieties make it nearly impossible for one not to have a strong attraction and liking for this snack.  Milk, semisweet, bittersweet, unsweetened are all varieties of chocolate consumed all around the world.  Not only is there an incredible variety of types, there are a seemingly endless variety of brands.  Dove, Lindt, Hershey’s, as well as Godiva are four of the most well-known and sought after chocolates in the world. 

Dove, created with love was founded by Leo Stefanos in the 1950’s.  Dove Chocolate is 100% Pure Cocoa Butter, it has an irresistible scent and a rich taste that they say can not be compared by any other chocolate company.  Dove has been known to direct and advertise its products mainly towards women.  The packaging is a sure give-a-way of this, because inside every piece of chocolate there are sayings,” Smile at yourself,” and “Find your passion.”  Not only does each piece of chocolate carry a catchy saying with it, but the writing on the packaging is very elegant, graceful, and appropriate for the category of consumer their product is directed towards. 

Lindt, Master Swiss Chocolatier, since 1845, began with David Sprungli-Schwarz and his son Rudolf Sprungli-Ammann.  The Lindt chocolate company began in a small confectionery shop in the Markgasse of Zurich’s Old Town.  With the help of many, Lindt and Sprungli continue to flourish today.  The company has gone international being sold in over 80 countries.  Milk, Dark, White, and Unique blends of chocolate are all types of chocolate sold my Lindt Chocolatiers all around the world. 

Hershey’s Chocolate basically began in 1893 when Milton Hershey discovered the art of chocolate making.  From then on Hershey and his company have developed different types of chocolate while expanding their company to where it is today.  Currently Hershey’s have locations in over 90 countries around the world.  Hershey’s chocolate sold to a more wide range of consumers.  It is not necessarily directed towards specific group of people like Dove and Lindt.  Hershey’s logo and packaging has not changed much over the years as they continue to direct it to the same group of people. 

For any industry, not just chocolate, companies pride themselves in producing and creating different and more innovative forms of their product.  Any industry could have products directed towards specific groups of people like the some of the chocolate companies do.  However, some industries are directed towards one group of people and that’s it.  All these decisions are made by the companies, and are run how they want them to be run.