The da Vinci Disappearance Leonardo da Vinci strolled through the crowd slowly with his mind on how to improve his new flying machine. Ever since he was a child he had pondered about how things worked, while all the other children were playing games. His biggest dream was to invent something that would Read more…
The author for the state of Alaska is Paul Greenberg, a critic and editorialist for the New York Times. As he travels through Alaska, Greenberg provides his story and goes into fine detail to describe to the reader what he sees. At times, the story seems promising. When Greenberg lands in Alaska, he encounters a Grand Aviation dispatcher who tells him, “If you’re here to write an article, you’ve got a lot of material.” The reader is filled with hope. What will they learn about the largest state in the United States … what does “a lot of material” refer to? Unfortunately, Greenberg does not pursue Alaska’s scope and variety any further; instead, he chooses to focus on the two friends that he meets in Alaska. Greenberg goes simply through his journey in Alaska: his conversation with Jac upon arrival, his meditations on Alaska’s Yu’pik Eskimos and nature, his fishing journey with Jac’s friend Ray’s family, his conversation with Jac after his return, and his departure from Alaska. This essay seems like a casual run-down of events relayed by Greenberg to the reader – in fact, it seems more like “Why I Live at the P.O.” by Eudora Welty than an informative essay.
Hi students! I am writing this from Istanbul, Turkey, a city so incredibly rich in history and in the arts that my new wife and I are truly inspired. We traveled to a region called Cappadocia and viewed the tremendous cave communities from a hot air balloon, rising to 6,000 feet; later we went to Read more…
Xue Tao and Yu Xuanji: Female Poets of the Tang Dynasty China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and it has been a patriarchal society ever since several millennia B.C.E. In the agricultural system of the Tang dynasty, at least, men held power over women. The Tang Dynasty Read more…
State by State is a collection of 50 mostly personal essays, each about one of the 50 states of the U.S. According to one of the editors, Matt Weiland, “This book started with a hunch and a conviction.” While there are numerous blogs, books, documentaries, and songs about the American states, it still takes a disaster of some sort to remind us about the rest of the country, not just where we live. For example, it took 9/11 for us to remember the fragility of the Twin Towers, the Great Depression to remind us of our erratic stock market, and the effects of Hurricane Hugo to remind us of the seemingly indestructible architecture in South Carolina’s capital. Upheaval is revealed to be a changing force in our lives. For example, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the lifestyles of the people of Louisiana until they were able to reconstruct the thousands of buildings destroyed during the Category 5 hurricane. For the people of South Carolina, more specifically Charleston, this hurricane was Hurricane Hugo.
Ice Cream in Hong Kong “Can we go now?” my mom asked impatiently. “Not until this is over,” my brother Oscar replied. After ten long minutes the show was finally over. “Let’s go?” my mom asked. “Sure, but first, where are we going?” I questioned, my face looking hopeful that we were going for Read more…
TV Shows and TV Production Jessie is a great show. A nanny named Jessie is going to New York City to follow her dreams in being a pop star. When she gets thrown out of the taxi (because she had no money), she meets this little girl named Zuri, walking out the door Read more…
Plastic Bottle ==>Fabric There is a company in Hong Kong that shipped 30,000 blankets to Japan in 2011 to help all the people that lost their homes in the tragic earthquake and tsunami that hit the country in 2011. Why and how did they do this? The answer to this question can start in Read more…
Having read a biography of Leonardo Da Vinci, and interested in a side-by-side exploration of history and fiction, Jonathan wrote this short story about marsh tern innovations in bug-catching, unwittingly inspired from the master’s ‘greasy hands’. Marsh Tern It was a fine day in the Pontine Marshes while the fresh Read more…
I was watching the comedy show on a cruise with my friends when the comedian asked for a volunteer. I watched to see if anyone would raise his or her hands. There were many but I was not one of them. Then the comedian went into the audience and picked out a person – that Read more…
