LITERATURE ANALYSIS #1

TOPIC(S) AND/OR EVENT(S)

1. The Blind Side by Michael Lewis is a very inspiring story. It's a story about a kid named Michael Oher who had very little parental support and was poor. Big Tony was a man who sort of watched over him. Big Tony enrolled Michael and his son into Briarcrest Christian School, a school who set standards for their students. They both made it into the school, but Michael had a 0.6 GPA. The only reason he was allowed in the school was because of his athletic potential, considering he was six foot four and 315 pounds. It was their where his new life began. One night Michael was walking down the street in the rain all by himself. The Tuohy family, whose kids attended Briarcrest, happened to drive by and decided to give him a place to stay for awhile when he told them he was heading to the school gym to keep warm. Michael began living with the Tuohy family. Back at Briarcrest Michael played football and got tutored to improve his grades. At first Michael wasn't good at football even with his size, but once he learned the rules he became spectacular. College coaches began coming from all around the country to watch him and everyone began trying to recruit him. The Tuohy family later adopted Michael with his mom's consent. Michael then had to work extremely hard to get a 2.5 GPA to attend the college he wanted, Mississippi State University. He ended high school with a 2.52 GPA and got to attend Mississippi. After a good career in Mississippi, Michael Oher was drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009 and still plays on the team today. Basically the story is about a kid who's life was a mess, but was given a second chance by a family and took advantage of the opportunity he was given.

2. Michael Lewis chose to write about Michael Oher's story because it was incredible knowing that a kid who had almost nothing came out of nowhere and became one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL today.

3. I chose this book because I enjoy football and it was somewhat of a current event. The brief description in the book also appealed to me when I read it. Once I began reading I didn't want to stop because it was very interesting.

4. Of course I found this book to be realistic. I have heard of success stories similar to the one described in this book and there wasn't really any unrealistic scenarios.

PEOPLE

1. Although the author didn't create the characters in the story, he did paint a picture in my head of how the characters looked. When I looked up pictures of the characters in real life, they weren't quite how I expected them to look so in a way Michael Lewis did create characters.

2. One character in the story was Michael Oher. He was a shy black male who weighed 315 pounds a stood 6 feet, 4 inches tall. To describe Michael as a fictional character, I would use indirect characterization. .A second character in the story was Sean Tuohy. He was a rich man who made his money by opening fast food chains around Memphis. As a fictional character I would use direct characterization to describe him. Lastly, a third character from the story was Leigh Anne Tuohy. She was an attractive former cheerleader with a tough attitude and I would use indirect characterization to describe her as a fictional character.

3. All these characters were interesting enough to write about because they all contributed a lot to the story.

STYLE

1. While reading the story I couldn't identify any tools from fiction writing that Michael Lewis used.

2. Michael Lewis used a lengthy description to describe Michael Oher, but for the most part he just focused on action and dialogue. Personally I liked that he focused more on the action and dialogue.

3. Michael Lewis demonstrated tone and created mood through the use of dialogue.

4. I think the author's attitude to toward the audience was informative. I think he just wanted to write about what happened in Michael Oher's life and inspire others with the story.

5. The author didn't offer any resources but I did end up doing a little research on the story. It just reinforced my understanding of the story.

ENDURING MEMORY

1. The message I got from the story was, no matter what situation you are in anything can happen to change your life. This can be seen as either a positive or negative thing, but I like to view it as positive. Anyone who is in a bad situation in life right now can relate and just hope for the best. I will definitely remember this in the future.