Genre: Grade level

MICHAEL LIN

Setting: A story’s support and meaning  By Michael Lin “Authors use setting to create meaning, just as painters use backgrounds and objects to render ideas.” ~Eudora Welty  Often overlooked and brushed past, setting is the main supporting column of any great story. Without setting, the characters wouldn’t have a place to be at all, anywhere, Read more…

Theo Rao

The Mysterious and Captivating Saola In the 20th century, there were only a few discoveries that rocked the zoology field, and one of these occurred at nearly the end. An antelope-resembling cousin of the cow was recently discovered. In 1992, a team of biologists and zoologists set out on an expedition to survey a newly-established Read more…

LEONA ZHOU

The Character Development of Gollum   The first time we ever met Gollum is in The Hobbit. And even though he has been discussed in The Fellowship of the Ring, he was never really shown up. We finally get to meet him again in Book Four, Chapter One, where he has been tailing Frodo and Sam Read more…

JASON QIN

Jason is just beginning Intro to Rhetoric which uses State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America as textbook. Many years ago (10) another student wrote an essay on Joe Sacco’s inimitable style, but in Jason’s foray into the unit, he hit a line drive that kept on sailing until … HOMERUN! One of the Read more…

LEONA ZHOU

Saruman was first mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien in Chapter 2, The Council of Elrond. It was where everyone meets up, including Bilbo, and talks about what to do next about the great evil rising, and what to do with the Ring. Gandalf tells his story about Saruman’s Read more…