Fighter Essay

“CLOZE” Essay:

Characterization in The Fighter

“The Fighter” is a short story written by Walter Dean Myers. The story is about a man named Billy who is a young father and husband living in New York City. Billy seems desperate to earn money for his family. Even though his wife does not approve, he participates in boxing matches in order to make extra income. Myers presents both Billy and his wife, Johnnie Mae, as strong characters with distinct traits: Billy is a dishonest man while Johnnie Mae is a caring person.

Billy is clearly a dishonest man. First of all,"Billy Giles told his wife that he was just going to the gym to work out." This is a very disturbing because instend of going to work out, he is actually going to a potentally life or death problem. Second of all, "He had told Johnnie Mae that he did not finish high school but he really hadn't." Billy is ashamed to tell Johnnie Mae that he did not finish high school. Third of all, "Later he would have to tell Johnnie Mae that they couldn't buy the the t.v. because he culdn't back out of the game." He has too large of an ego to back down from the deal and doesn't want to be honest about what he can afford. As readers, however, we are able to empathize with Billy because everyone lies for a reason.
Johnnie Mae appears to be an incredibly caring wife and person. Firstly, "Johnnie Mae was awake. When she saw him she knew that he'd been fighting and that he'd lost." She is caring because she doesn't want to make him feel bad because he'd lost. Secondly," Billy took the money out of his pocket and threw it on the table. She thrown the money on the floor, then realizing that she had hurt him she picked it up and placed it on the cabinet." She cares more about his health than the money. Third of all, "I love you baby," she said. " I love you so much." She still loves him after all the lies he had told her.

Short Story

As Matt was walking down the street. He saw trash on the floor next to a trash can. Looking with sadness. Without watching where he stepped he might have step on something that wasn't from the floor or trash it was a piece of poop from a human or an animal. While he walk home with poop on his shoes he can hear a police car chasing down a criminal. Stopping by a sandwich store buying it to eat, as he walked through a park remembering about the poop on his shoe ran home to wash it off. As he ran home he thought to himself "There goes my lunch time without the noises at home ." Picking up one or two pieces of trash while he runs, putting it in a trash can feeling good about what he is doing didn't worry about anything else. Knowing that this might be the best neighbor to live in it doesn't matter to him because he had time for himself and nobody else.

Words I Added

loud=an earful
yelling=shouting
talking=in conversation
use=view
food=ethnic
best mouth watering
made fresh
favorite dedicated

My Neighborhood

My neighborhood is loud, like a group of dogs howling and barking all together. When you walk, you can hear people yelling randomly and people talking together making the sounds. When I am at home, I can hear the sirens of police cars with police in them chasing criminals. It just makes me want to put a pillow over my head.

My neighborhood has trash cans, but people don't use them. They use the streets as a thrash can. They throw the trash everywhere from the sidewalks, to the streets. The sidewalk sometimes have a brown, smelly surprise waiting for both people and animals. It is like a swamp with an alligator waiting for dinner.

There are many types of food restaurants to at here. For example, Vietnamese, Mexican, corner stores, Mongolian, and many more. I like this one store called "Saigon Sandwich", because they have the best sandwiches in my opinion. Their sandwiches are always fresh and the workers are very polite and kind. If you go there very often, they will know you are one of their favorite customers. You should try eating at their restaurant. You are going to want to comeback for seconds. Finally, when you are done eating, you will be as satisfied as a happy monkey with a banana.