Short stories

The Veldt
The Short Happy Life of Francis MacComber
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Sredni Vashtar
Young Goodman Brown

Oct 27 2010

Read this poem aloud, as if you are acting the part.

The speaker is Ulysses (Odysseus) whom you know from the Odyssey. Write a couple of paragraphs and describe what is going on in this poem. Due to me tomorrow.



Ulysses by Alfred Tennyson

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d
Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour’d of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!
As tho’ to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro’ soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Agriculture

On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 10:02 PM, Sheridan Turton wrote:
> Agriculture was extremely important in the past. Many regions had it, such
> as, Mesopotamia, Nubia, Egypt, and many other places. However, there was one
> region which had agriculture later than other regions, and that is
> sub-Saharan Africa. There are three reasons to why agriculture spread to
> sub-Saharan Africa later than other regions. The climate was bad, the Bantu
> people were migrating all over the place, and they did not have enough
> supplies.
> The first reason why sub-Saharan Africa had agriculture later than other
> regions is because of the weather. It had a poor climate, and it had become
> a desert. It became increasingly hotter and drier. Thus it was more
> difficult
> to grow plants and gather food because of the poor arable land, and they
> had
> to rely on hunting. It also drove the humans and animals to the lakes and
> rivers to collect water.
> The Bantu people were also migrating across Africa around 2000 B.C.E. They
> were busy
> doing many things, including hunting, gathering, and trading with other
> people. They kept goats, donkeys, and raised guniea fowl. They lived in
> forests and interacted with other peoples.
> They also did not have enough supplies. They had to rely on trade and
> imports and exports. By the time the weather became good, they started to
> farm and domesticated animals. One day, the Malaysians came and gave the
> Bantu seeds, yam, and other foods. The Bantu took it and ran.
> T]here are three reasons for why agrilculture came later than other regions.
> The climate was poor, the Bantu people were migrating all over the place,
> and they did not have enough supplies. After the weather past, and the
> tradings began, they soon started to farm, plant, and gather. So after
> agrculture, they started to have their own life.

Zeb on rivers

A river, is a natural watercourse where freshwater travels along toward a body of water, such as lakes, oceans, and rivers. Water within the river is usually collected from springs, glacier melting, rain drainage, and snow melt. The water usually flows along the bed leading to the other body of water, though it tends to overflow which leads to flooding. Ecosystems usually are found all along a river.

Now imagine a river from today's world. Lets pick the Indus River which orginates high up in the mountains in Tibet. The river itself relies on runoff from the mountain during the spring. However, the Indus river loses most of its water during the winter, resulting in its "death" since there is little-to-none water flowing down the channel. This also results in the local river ecosytem receiving severe damage, if not complete destruction, due to the lack of water for the local organisms.

During the Spring, as it gets warmer, the snow begins to melt and the runoff goes into the dry river bed, resulting in the "rebirth" of the river. The ecosystems along the river again grow and spread. The local human population might use the water for irrigation also since it is also planting and harvesting season. The runoff continues through the summer, as the hot weather causes more snow runoff, and rainstorms. When the river dies in the winter, it will be reborn again in the spring.

Sometimes its not that simple, especially with the largest rivers in the world. For example, the Amazon River never seems to disappear because of its sheer size and the huge amount of rain that falls on the area all year around, further helped by runoff from the Andes during the spring and summer, the numerous rivers that feed into the Amazon river.

In summary, that is the "death" and rebirth cycle of a river. "Dies" in the winter or of a drought which does happen occasionally and is reborn during the spring from runoff or rain. This is a natural process that continues over the years, though recent human activity may have affected the life and "death" river cycle enough to have an effect in the future.

May 26

Dear Mom and Dad,

Well, now it has been eight years since we moved from America to come and live in Taiwan. This place is really great. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, and the markets are amazing.

Whenever I passed by someone, sometimes they look at me and smile. When Taiwanese realize I am part American, they try to speak English to me. Small kids point at me and say "Foreigner" in Chinese. It is really cool, but sometimes can be a bit annoying.

The food is awesome. They also have all kinds of vegetables. There are small food stands around, and they are usually delicious. I love the food here.

Unlike America, Taiwan has morning and night markets. The morning markets sell fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat. There are many stands. The night markets, unlike the morning ones, have games and small tea stands. It is very cool.

My experience: Taiwanese are friendly, the food s delicious, and the markets are amazing. Everything is wonderful. I love Taiwan!

Love, your daughter, Sheridan

(This is from my writing book! It had 5 topics and I picked this one: to write a letter.)

Week of April 19-23

Mon/Wed/Fri
-- big math/writing

tues/thurs
chem

Every Day:
Traditions and Encounters
Chapter 1. Foundation of Complex Societies
Go to the website
Have a look at the primary source material
For this week, for the essay questions -- do a paragraph or two on any two of the essay questions. Do all the other quizzes and email the results to me using the form on the bottom when it is completed.


Reading for pleasure and learning!
Zeb: Heroes Die!
Danno: Red Mars

Zeb: Chinese characters

Dan dan

1. Book report on Watership Down. From last week.

2. Readings about the 1950s. Read about Brown vs Board of Education.

3. PHysics and math and chemistry!


Zeb

1. We're beginning a unit on colonization in Africa. These processes you go about today go in in the US and in Taiwan. Read this webpage. Answer the questions in Student Journal Activity, and write the one-page essay at the end.

2 physics and chemistry and math.