In this book, The Contender there is one main character and his name is Alfred Brooks.

He becomes a boxer that can move upon that and that is what you call a contender. But he

struggles throughout this whole entire book. In this scene, Alfred is in his first match. Mr.

Donatelli tells him to ignore the crowd because all “they just want to see is blood and pain.”

(Page 177, Chapter 14) Alfred was focusing on what the people in the crowd were saying. Mr.

Donatelli told him to just get his head in the game. Because without focus, Alfred would be

knocked out already. This quote compares to the song “I’m the man” by Aloe Blacc. This goes

together because it both explains the exact things that are going on. It goes along with the song

because Alfred is now trying to accomplish his first match. He’s been doing well so far. So Mr.

Donatelli considers him as the man. The man that is trying his hardest. And is trying to improve.

That’s what Alfred has been doing. And the song represents his actions. A quote from the song

that also ties it together is “somewhere I heard that life is a test. I been through the worst but still

give my best.” This quote goes with the quote from the book because it said that Alfred should

be a bigger and better person, to focus more on his match then those who are in the crowd trying

to get his attention. And the song is saying that Alfred is the man. He should be more focused on

what is more important than what others are saying towards him.

In this scene, the fight had just started and it was between Alfred and Rivera. His

opponent was some who had to be tough and big. The reason why is because Alfred needed a

challenger was because he needed someone who was more competitive so that he can get better

at boxing. At this point, Alfred feels pretty confident about this fight. As it gets to the end of it

Rivera is on the ground. Once the referee counts for him to get back up, he doesn’t move at all.

So Rivera had one eye open when “He looked up and the Referee was standing over him,

wagging a finger.” (Page 173, Chapter 14) At this time, Alfred is fighting someone new and

tougher. Alfred got his hits in, and it is about to end because Rivera his opponent got hit by

Alfred. And if Rivera does not get up then it is over and Alfred wins the match. A song that

represents this quote is called “The show goes on” by Lupe Fiasco. A quote that goes with the

quote in this chapter is “ One in the air for the people ain’t here, two in the air for the father

that’s there, three in the air for the kids in the ghetto, four for the kids that don’t want to be

there.” These two quotes go together because they both mean and represent the same meaning.

And what I mean by that is the quote is saying how during this match, the referee was over one

of the two boxers. What he did was count and gave the guy enough time to get back up. But if he

didn’t then it would be over, and one of the two would lose. So, how the song and quote from

“The show goes on” explains that even though one loses. The show and spotlight still is going

and shining on em.

In this chapter, Alfred is practicing with Mr. Donatelli. It’s his first week in the gym and

he is already tired. He isn’t use to this because it’s his first trying out for boxing. At this point,

Alfred is working hard with his main coach, Mr. Donatelli. He wants to stop, but instead

Mr.Donatelli says let “The sweat roll off your forehead and flood your eyes, but they wouldn’t

let him stop to brush it all off” (Page100. The explanation for this quote is that while Alfred is in

the gym. His main foclus is to keep up even though it’s his first day and time. He is trying hard

to stay with the warm ups. But he wants to stop. And he can’t, because stopping him will make

him lose the good energy he already has. There is a song that also goes along with this quote

from the book. And it is called “Sign of a Victory” by R Kelly. This relates because the meaning

in them both, make senses to me. And I could understand why I chose these two together. What I

mean by that is the song lyrics have a meaning. The most important part of the song that goes

with the quote from the book is “That’s it, when you keep on fighting, after you lost the strength,

that’s the sign of a victory.” This means he needs to maintain and keep his head in the game.

Practicing more just makes him better, and that makes him stronger in all of his matches.

Final Grade: 4

You have clearly developed ideas. Your analysis is strong and you clearly have an understanding

of the story and your songs. In the future we will work on proofreading and grammar but overall

your writing has improved.