Marcus

(tinypic.com)

What is a hero to me? A hero is someone who has nothing but good intentions toward people. Someone who loves and cares for everyone. A hero is someone who has integrity and tries his or her hardest not to let anyone down. A hero knows right from wrong. A hero is someone you can look up to. Someone who might not literally be there, but can make you feel safe. A hero is someone who is important, and can make a huge impact on someone's life.

It is important to have a hero because we all want someone to make us feel safe, like no harm will come our way. We want to feel like someone who is intelligent and goodwilled is out there helping us. If we don't have a hero, think about how would that make everyone change if they didn't feel safe anymore?

In the book, When You Reach Me, the hero is a young boy named Marcus. Though he does not even know it yet. He writes letters to Miranda trying to get her to understand what is going to happen in the future, but he wants her to find out on her own. One of the notes says "I am coming to save your friends life, and my own" (Stead 60). Also, he was trying to get Miranda to understand that time traveling is possible. That was kind of foreshadowing to him coming back from the future to save her friends life. Lastly,

Marcus is a great hero. He came back from the future, to when he was a kid, to correct a mistake that he made. He chased this kid, named Sal, to tell him that he was sorry that he hit him. Sal was already afraid and ran away into the street, where it was busy. The crazy guy, known as the Laughing Man, ran into the street and pushed him out of the way. He got killed, but the kid lived. Little did people know, the laughing man was Marcus from the future.

(tinypic.com)

1. Who is your personal hero and why?
-My personal hero would have to be the military. They fight for us to keep our freedom and so we wont get hurt.
2. What is a hero?
-A hero to me is anyone who has good intentions towards people. They always strive to help someone. They don't give up, until they have accomplished great things.
3. What traits does a good hero need to have?
-A good hero has to be caring, generous, has the ability to understand things quickly to react to the situation, and realizes right from wrong.
4. Can anyone, in general, be a hero?
-I believe that if you help someone, in general, anyone can be a hero.
5. What advice would you give someone that wants to be a hero?
-Never give up. If you give up on things, its just quitting. A hero cannot give up on someone or something. It looks bad.
6. Why do people look up to, and admire super heroes?
-They exhibit great strength and nobility.
7. Does a hero set out to be publicly recognized?
-Not all the time. I believe great heroes don't strive to be recognized by everyone. They just want to be there for someone, and help. A real hero does not care if he is publicly recognized.
8. What is the ethical responsibility of a hero?
-To protect people at any costs.
9. Can a hero live up to those responsibilities on a daily basis?
-Not all the time. It's hard to know how, and when someone needs saving. We can't always predict things that are going to happen.
10. Once defined as a hero, do you have standards to live up to?
-Yes. All heroes have standards to live up to. People expect the best from their heroes. They don't want to see their hero mess up or do something bad.