Lit Analysis #2

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

The Eleventh Plague is about the aftermath of a nuclear and biological war waged between two superpowers. Not only does the war affect the two nations involved it takes its toll on the rest of the world also. The main characters Stephen and his father, Jack, are scavengers in a wasteland America trying to survive. While out scavenging they come across an old bomber that had crashed and find some food inside. While there they encounter some bandits that try to kill the two. They escape the bandits but not danger when Jack falls down a gorge into a river severely injuring himself. Stephen saves his father and takes him to him safety of a cave where they are found by a guy who invites them to stay at a village to get medical help with Jack’s injuries. They end up staying in the village once Jack awakens from the coma.

I found that the theme for this book is that no matter what the circumstances are people will always want the help those in need. In the story another scavenger from Settler’s Landing offers to help Stephen and his dad with injuries and give them a place to stay. During Jack and Stephen’s stay in town the town’s folk offer to teach Stephen at the school that was founded in the town. In the end the people of Settler’s Landing offer to allow Stephen and Jack to stay with them.

The tone of the book is more of a positive outlook on even to worst of situations in life. Violet, the town doctor, treated both the wounded on her side and also the wounded enemies in the battlefield. Both groups found a way to put down their arms and to try for a better life by working together. They all had realized that this was the best solution for the future.

Stephen goes from a life of scrounging, wandering, and trading to try and survive alongside his father to bringing together two groups of enemies to build a better town and future for everyone. He is able to do that by drawing on the inspiration of taking a leap of faith to trust the people of Settler’s Landing when they offered to help him. This allowed him to see that there is a better way for people and he used that to convince them to stop fighting.

I would have to say that I had just met a real person due to the fact that he had grown as a person from only going by what his grandfather had always told him to completely contradicting what he had said to bring a bunch of people together who were going to kill each other off. He had become his own person and began to make his own decisions instead of what he thought his grandfather would have wanted him to do.

Lit Analysis #1

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms is a book about a medieval and magical period of time. In the book there are three main kingdoms that rule over the land. The northern-most kingdom is a cold and gloomy place, much like the kingdoms leader, King Gaius. The southern-most kingdom is a warm and prosperous place ruled by a naïve king who doesn’t realize the troubles growing in his own kingdom and the others around him. The middle kingdom is a very poor place and the land is slowly dying off along with the people. This kingdom is ruled by a “god-like” chief that no one has ever seen, Chief Basilius. The conflict starts when a young noble goes to the middle kingdom to buy wine and ends up murdering the son of a famous winemaker. After King Gaius hears news of the murder he plots a way to take all three kingdoms for himself. To do this he gains the trust of Chief Basilius and combines forces against the southern kingdom. Once the southern kingdom is taken King Gaius kills Chief Basilius and is then the only leader in the land.

I found that the theme of the book is to not take things by force because in the end no one really wins. Even though this is the first book in a series I feel that the daughter of King Corvin will get her revenge on King Gaius for killing her father.

The tone is one of vengeance and retribution. In the beginning when the winemakers son is murdered his brother wants to kill the noble, Aaron, for killing his older brother in an already tough time. King Gaius’s son, Magnus, is seeking revenge on his own father for his brutality to him when he was young. Princess Cleo wants to kill King Gaius for killing her own father.

Princess Cleo is a character who goes through a number of struggles with the other characters. Through these struggles the reader can see her for who the author really wants her to be. When Aaron kills the winemaker’s son she gasps and this shows her compassion for others. During the attack on her palace she is trapped inside with no escape but she knows her home and is constantly trying to find a different way out past the constant waves of enemy troops storming her palace. This shows her willingness to survive even under the most severe circumstances.

Cleo changes from a more innocent girl in the beginning of the book to a more vengeful and quick witted character in the end. She also has a number of character traits that include kindness, bravery, and compassion. Her compassion really shines through when her older sister is dying literally of a broken heart and Cleo goes back to the middle kingdom to try and find a supposed witch to try and save her sister.

I feel as though I have actually met Cleo mostly because of the large part she played in the book but also because she was so vividly described as a character. The author had used enough details in describing the characters and what was happening that it made me feel as if I was actually in the book next to them witnessing the events taking place.

THE DECISION

First off  I would like to appolagize for not posting anything for a while but I've been doing a lot of thinking about the path I chose as my masterpiece project and realized that it was becoming a chore more than anything and I've always had a strong love for long boarding and have decided to base my master piece around it. I'll hope to have a couple videos from my ride today up tonight.

WELCOME TO MY NETWORK

My big project is engineering and I am looking for people to come into my network. Please comment invites.

MASTERPIECE ESSAY #1

            Ever wonder if your surroundings affect the way you think? Ever wonder how the rooms in your house affect your thinking? Ever stop to think that even the colors or architecture you are exposed to can influence you to be more creative or even learn better?

            The architecture and color of rooms and buildings are there for more than just looking good, they’re there to influence how we think and go about our daily lives. There is even the possibility that colors can even help with ADD and even help with brain functions in the elderly.

            The design of a room can greatly affect the way people look at not only the room but also the way that they think while they are inside. Rooms with higher ceilings are more beneficial towards thoughts about “limitless ideas” and relating thoughts. The opposite goes for lower ceilings; they encourage more thoughts about limiting factors and problems. Lofted ceilings influence more open ideas and allow for more free thinking.

            The color of a room similarly works in the same way as ceiling heights do. People’s primal instincts use colors to help with distinguishing day and night. This is done through colors of shorter wavelengths like blue violet and indigo. When people see these colors in larger amounts it helps them wake up in the morning and opens up creative thoughts by allowing us to think of the beach and the sky and its limitless possibilities. Longer wavelength colors like red and orange signify danger and caution. These colors make our rods and cones in our eyes fire at a higher rate than shorter wavelength colors. The higher neuron fire rate causes people to be more alert than normal. Green colors help to promote learning. This comes from nature being green and our ties to nature and its tranquility. It has also been shown that green helps those with ADD focus better in school and at home.

            One of the biggest and most important things that affects people’s learning is the amount of sunlight we are exposed to. It is shown that sunlight helps to stimulate the brain function and help learning. For instance students who see and are exposed to more sunlight in a school day learn better than those only exposed to artificial or dimmer light did not learn as well. Sunlight also was proved to affect the elderly in similar ways. Those exposed to more sunlight show a slower rate of mental deterioration than those exposed to less.

            In building the use of corners and curves affect how comfortable a person is in a room. People have distinguished curves to be safe and comforting and corners to be sharp and dangerous. This is why most buildings try to refrain from corners and rely more on curves to help with the comfort of the inhabitants of the buildings. The other bonus of curves is in building with arches and the natural strength of an arch over a more square or rectangular building style.

            Now knowing this and if I were given the chance to redesign the school I would definitely incorporate more trees and plants and almost give a nature feel to the campus. I would make class rooms more spread out and not so bunched together and possibly make it a two story school so that the hallways could be more open and have more light in through them. In first floor classrooms there would be larger windows to allow more light in the classrooms and help to facilitate learning. In second floor rooms I would have 5 tube lights put in to allow a more natural light source for a better learning environment. For a study/ lunch area I would want a place where it was almost a flower garden with a number of shade trees to allow for a relaxing area to sit and enjoy afternoons. Overall just these few modifications would allow for a better learning environment and a better campus.