1. Many people are convinced that violence on TV influences children and teens to be violent in real life. Do you think that this is true? Do you think that the violence on TV is responsible for increased violence among today’s youth? Take a stand on this issue, and write an essay to convince your reader of your position on whether TV causes violence in real life.  Write your thesis.  Write One fully developed supporting paragraph. Insert your ‘voice’ in your writing

2. Title and author: The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan Quote: ‘In a way, it’s nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you’re walking away from a bus that’s just been attacked my monster hags and blown up by lightening, and it’s raining on top of everything else, most people think that’s just really bad luck; when you’re a half-blood, you understand that some divine force is really trying to mess up your day.”

3. The quote’s appeal : I love that this story is told from the point of view of the protagonist, Percy Jackson, and I love his strong sense of voice, his attitude shown through sarcasm in this paragraph. Percy and his two friends have just been through a horrific disaster with someone is trying to kill Percy. But he just breezily explains the day away, as no big deal, when you know, as the reader, he barely escapes alive.

4. Connect the quote to a theme, event, or character: As I reread this quote I start to realize Percy’s deep sense of injustice, and how he will sacrifice himself to help his friends and do what is right. He doesn’t whine, like some teenagers today, but he sets out to make things right. Percy could have escaped off the bus and saved himself, but he doesn’t. He stays and fights. And he doesn’t need the credit for what he does. Maybe we all need a few more heroes in our lives today.

5. Connect the quote to your life or to another book: This reminds me of other reluctant heroes in several books, Harry Potter for one, and Jonas from The Giver. And although these are fantasies, the characters represent someone I admire and wish the world had more of. Actually, these heroes remind me, too of Captain Sully from the flight that made a crash landing and survived. All of the people have humility and strength of character.