October Sky is set in the small mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia during the 1950s, the time of the space race between America and Russia. The film tracks Homer Hickam, a young boy interested in creating and building rockets. Homer eventually gets a group of three friends from school to help him create a rocket. Unfortunately, Homer faces a lot of challenges including trouble getting the right materials for the rocket and he faces pushback from his father who disapproves of his dream of building
October Sky is based on a true story where a small town boy from a coal mining town in West Virginia, Homer Hickman, is inspired by the Russian satellite Sputnik. He dreams about building rockets. People in his town fail to support Homer, including his father and older brother. Homer changes from a kid without an identity into a successful man because of his success of a rocket engineer. Most young boys in Coalwood have the expectation growing up and becoming a coal miner, or being a great football
October Sky is an uplifting film directed by Joe Johnston. It is a true biographical story of how Homer H. Hickam, Jr., went from being a coal miner’s son to NASA engineer. The setting takes place in Homer’s home town of Coalwood in West Virginia. Homer (played by the talented Jake Gyllenhaal) starts out as being sort of an unpopular kid in his high school. In his town, kids were destined to either earn themselves a scholarship from sports or do what most families did and work down in the coal mine;
Homer Hickam was a teenage boy from a mining town in West Virginia called Coalwood. He inspired to build rockets when he seen the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, streak across the stars. With his friends and the local nerd, Homer sets out to do just that but with many errors and trials. Along with the town, Homer's father thought they were wasting their time with their rockets. He wanted Homer to be a coal miner just like everyone else but Homer knew he didn't belong there. As time went on,
case, in the movie October Sky, it was the relationship with his father that fell apart. Homer had dreams of building rockets, and winning the National Science Fair; doing anything to escape the harsh life of coal mining in the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia. As a result of this disagreement, Homer grew even farther from his already estranged father, and even threatened to run away forever. (Johnson, October Sky) In the case of Derek Halpern, it was the relationship with his mother that was risked
The movie “October Sky” is basically about a high school student Homer Hickam and three of his friends inventing a rocket which can actually fly for a long distance. Homer and his friends named each other the rocket boy. Homer Hickam talks about how the rocket boys got inspired, what problems they faced and how they were able to prove themselves innocent. Homer got inspired by watching sputnik go into space. Since, then he got inspired to create his own rocket which can go into space. He was all
final assignment in the Adult Learner and Portfolio Instruction Class, I have chosen to do a movie review on October Sky. October Sky, directed by Joe Johnston, is based on a true story about a young Homer Hickam, who lives in a mining town named, Coalwood. Homer is a young man whose life is ultimately fated by his father, a foreman at the coal mine. His father’s plan is for him to one day become a coal miner, as well. But, that all changes in October 1957 when the first artificial satellite, Sputnik
why a lot of people actually started supporting the rocket boys was because they had never seen anything like this in Coalwood before. All everybody was ever used to, or comfortable with was mining and football. When the idea of rockets came up, most everybody in town was hostile to the idea of it because it was different. Different was not necessarily welcome to the town of Coalwood, but Sonny and his mom saw it as a way out. This is an... ... middle of paper ... ...ctober Sky, but the one that
In the movie October Sky produced by Larry Franco, Homer Hickam faces many sacrifices to pursue his dream. Homer lives in a small town, he spends his time with his friends Roy Lee, Odell and a later friend, Quinton. Homer lives in a home where he’s expected to work in the coal mining industry after his dad, but he has bigger plans, as big as rocket science, literally. Homer was inspired by mrs. Reiley his science teacher to build a rocket with his friends while making big choices along the way.
October sky essay Recently in class we have been studying October sky set in a town called Coalwood, West Virginia in the 1950’s and at the end of the rock and roll era. Singers such as Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran were famous at the time and were featured in this movie. Coalwood is a very small town in which the main character called Homer Hickam lives, where almost every boy apart from a select few of scholarship winners escape the main occupation of mining until they are unfit to work. Homer
greatest" and "I'm young, I'm pretty, I'm fast, and no one can beat me." In Louisville on October 29, 1960 Cassius Clay won his first professional fight. He won a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker, who was the police chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia. From 1960 to 1963, the young fighter amassed a record of 19-0 with 15 knockouts. He defeated such boxers as Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Duke Sabedong, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, and Lamar Clark (who had won
West Virginia is a land of natural beauty. Often described as “wild and wonderful,” the state’s fall foliage, scenic rivers, and abundant wildlife inspired the composition of a ballad. The song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” portrays West Virginia as “almost Heaven,” and the phrase is difficult to refute (Danoff, Denver, & Nivert, 1971). According to the West Virginia Department of Commerce (2009), the state ranks among the lowest in the nation for the cost of living, the employee turnover rate
High school basketball is not only a mental sport, but, also, a communication game. You must be able to communicate very well to play in Morgantown, West Virginia, especially at University High School. To make the team, you have to be basketball knowledgeable, talented, physically fit, and vocal. After four years of playing varsity basketball, the vocal part of the sport has helped me out in the long run. There are five positions in basketball: point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power
by their shape and size, and are most common any place they can find a warm wet place with food (Arnett 145-6). There are about 4,000 different types of these pests throughout the world (Blattodea 1). According to a professor of entomology at West Virginia University, "The American roach is considerably larger than any of the others" (Peairs 477). The do... ... middle of paper ... ...this pest. If these suggestions are not heeded to before the problem gets too out of control, the roach population
mom continued to tell me everyday that I needed to re enroll and complete my teaching degree. I feel that as minority it is very important for me to complete my teaching degree, there is a small percentage of minority teachers in the state of West Virginia. I feel that I will be a role model for children of my nationality and for all nationalities, by making a difference in their lives and showing them on a daily basis how important a good education is for all, and especially for minorities. From
Matewan In the film, Matewan, director John Sayles paints a 1920’s picture of a small, West Virginia coal-mining town. Over the course of the film, this seemingly American Township reveals itself as the site of feudal hardship for its citizens. The Stone Mountain Coal Company was the sole employer in Matewan. The company’s laborers struggled for autonomy and for freedom from the company’s grasp. The ideal method for this achieving such autonomy was organization of a union. This idea of union
Matewan The citizens of Matewan, a coal -mining town in West Virginia lived amidst a feudalistic class process. One may think of medieval times in connection with feudalism, but the film “Matewan” directed by John Sayles was based on historical events that took place in 1920. The feudal lord was not a European king, and the serfs were not farming his land. Nevertheless, feudalism existed in this southern town, as the workers did not have the ability to choose their employer. Unlike Capitalism
Matewan: A 20th-century Form of Feudalism Matewan, in which the action takes place in the 1920s in West Virginia, gives a clear and realistic picture of the economical situation of the given place and time. This has been a purpose and an idea which the director of the film, John Sales, has paid a particular attention to. The film elucidates a 20th-century conflict between two economical systems: feudalism and capitalism, with feudalism clearly dominating the economical status of the small town
easy to read conspiracies and invasion plots into every new computer advancement. It’s also easy to feel that we’re caught in a dangerous tug-of-war, and that the machines are winning. My father, Vernon, is the head of the chemistry department at West Virginia State College, and he refuses to use computers any more than the bare minimum his job requires. While the rest of his department (and the rest of the world) fire off quick e-mail notes and memos to one another, he still writes with pencil and paper
The American antebellum South, though rich in pride and raised in military tradition, was to be no match for the promising superiority of the rapidly developing North in the coming Civil War. Their lack of readily trained men, in conjunction with social and economical issues, made the Civil War a joke for the North, and a disaster for the South. The paramount reason the South fell well short of a victory was the obvious difference in population between the South and the North. The North at the time