Prompt

Did you enjoy the ending of your book? Why or why not? Describe an alternate ending and why it would or wouldn't be as good a choice as the ending the author chose.

This post is due by Friday, 5/20, at 3:15 p.m.

Seniors: Book Trailer due 5/18
Juniors: Book Trailer due 5/25

NO LATE POSTS ARE ACCEPTED FOR CREDIT.

I strongly encourage you to respond to questions asked in comments to your initial posts. Use the blog as a venue for discussion.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Every Second Counts
By Lance Armstrong
Pg. 41

Lance Armstrong begins with "So, it looks as though I'm going to live-at least for another 50 years or more."(pg. 1) He gives a synopsis of his cancer that nearly killed him at age 25. The cancer was advanced choriocarcinoma that spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain and it required two surgeries and four cycles of chemotherapy to get rid of it. The best way to summarize Lance's attitude toward the way cancer shaped his life and helped him learn the true meaning of life was by this quote: "But the fact is that I wouldn't have won even a single Tour de France without the lesson of illness. What it teaches is this: pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." (pg.3-4) I have read this quote over and over because it stands out to me. I think its important because it is inspirational to me. Lance has a wife, Kik, and three children: Luke, Grace, and Isabelle. He also has a cat named Chemo. Lance is always on the road riding so he is away from his family a lot. Lance trains everyday. The one thing I find interesting about him is when he is finished with a climb, usually a stage in an upcoming race that is uphill, and he isn't comfortable with it and he doesn't feel he has mastered each part of the climb, he will go back down to the bottom and climb it again. The average climb for Lance is about 1 hour uphill and he is followed by his coach in a car. Then it is usually 30 minutes back to the bottom in the car.

Prediction: I think he will talk about how his mother influenced him and his experience through cancer. In the other book I read before my current book, It's Not About the Bike, he described in detail about how his mom was the reason he wanted to beat the odds of cancer and continue living. He could have just given up, but his mother said he still had too much life left to just let it slip away from underneath him. I would like to read about how his mother was his inspiration to live.

(So far, I love this book because I like reading about people's hardships and how they made it through. I think these types of books are inspirational and help me set goals for my own life.)

3 comments:

  1. I agree with you Amy! I like reading about people's lives and how they handle their troubles. It helps people learn lessons they can use on their own life. Sounds like a great book! Would love to read it or hear how it ends!

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  2. I agree. It does help people learn different ways to handle problems or set backs in their lives. I will keep you posted on how it ends. I also don't want to spoil it for anyone who might want to read the book so I will leave some parts out. :) But then I can fill you in sometime later if you want me to or you can just read this fantastic book yourself. Your choice. :)

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