October Sky
Homer Hickam was a young boy from a West Virginia mining town who hungered for his father's approval. He knew he could earn it by following in his father's footsteps and spending his life down in the mines. But Homer had a dream-to go to college and to devote his life to rocket technology. October Sky was the true story of the pivotal events that led Homer Hickam to move closer to his two goals of reaching for the sky and gaining his father's respect. The title of October Sky is very significant. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first man-made satellite, in the sky on October 5, 1997. Hence the name of the movie October Sky. In the Soviet Union's announcement about the launch of the satellite, they said "the world could now see how the new socialist society turns even the most daring of man's dreams into a reality." After the launch of Sputnik, everything changed in Homer Hickam's life: his social life, intelligence, leadership, and his future. The launch of Sputnik captured the public's imagination and influenced many people as well as Homer to learn more about the satellite and space. It was in the October Sky that people around the world finally realized the capabilities of mankind; they realized man can tu
rn his dreams into reality, just like Homer did. His dream to fly off into the October Sky was an influence for him to become a NASA engineer. The dream then became developed into a reality. October Sky is based on the triumphant true story of Homer Hickam Jr., a high school student in a rural West Virginian town, who seemed destined to follow his father's harsh life in the coal mines until he turned his attention to the skies. His ambition to exceed all for his passion influences him to go to a good college. With his support from his friends, classmates, his teacher, and even his family, he is destined to win the national science fair by learning calculus, advanced trigonometry, and even physics by himself, in order to do what he wants to do the most- work with rockets. At odds with his father, determined to surpass himself and inspired by the dawn of the space age, he leaves on a visionary mission that changes his life forever. In October Sky, one of the main characters said," People in Coalwood are more interested in what is below the ground than above the ground." This meant that the civilians in Coalwood heavily relied on their coal, which was mined under-ground, to keep their town alive. To the people, Coalwood was more interested in the coal producing than almost anything else not related to mining. When there was a strike from the miners, people were very concerned because if they didn't have anyone to mine coal, their town would have been in a lot trouble. The remark affected Homer greatly. He didn't want to believe that he was living in a town where coal was their obsession. He wanted to change the way of the town where every single p
Some common words found in the essay are:
Homer Hickam, People Coalwood, October Sky, West Virginian, Miss Riley, Coalwood Homer, Miss Riley's, West Virginia, Homer Hickam's, Soviet Union's, october sky, college scholarship, homer hickam, homer decided, miss riley, college scholarship try, rocket technology, science fair, forest fire, national science, homer friends, starting forest fire, national science fair,
Approximate Word count = 1124
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|