Tuesday, November 2, 2010

How can da Vinci be characterized as a true Renaissance Man?


Leonardo da Vinci can be characterized as a true Renaissance man because he achieved almost everything possible. Leonardo da Vinci painted the world's most famous painting, The Mona Lisa. Leonardo da Vinci made military equipment for Milan, he went beyond anything.From 1485 to 1490, Leonardo produced a studies on loads of subjects, including nature, flying machines, geometry, mechanics, municipal construction, canals and architecture. He got to travel with his patron Cesare Borgia as a military engineer. When traveling with Cesare Borgia he got to meet Niccolo Machiavelli. Leonardo da Vinci has lived the life of a true Renaissance man, getting to meet famous people, discovering loads of new things, and creating great works of art. Leonardo da Vinci is a true Renaissance man.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Brunelleschi's Dome

I think courage is the most important of all things that helped Filippo Brunelleschi build the great dome. Even if he had the skill and the right ideas and the knowledge to do build the dome, if he didn't have courage he would never have even consider completing the dome. Building the dome that no one has took on for over one hundred years is a great challenge and puts a tremendous amount of pressure on you. What if he failed? What if it won't work? He never considered those questions, instead he looked at the prize when he did finish it. He would be praised by everyone and he would be remembered for thousands of years as a famous and talented architect.
His courage and overconfidence drove him to build that dome and become one of the greatest architects of all time, if not the greatest.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Where do New Ideas Come From

New ideas come from various places, things, or people. You may get an idea for a math or science project from a place you went for the holidays. For example, if you go to the beach you see waves instead of flat water. That may get you thinking, maybe I could talk about the gravitational pull on the ocean from the moon. Or you may be in a conversation with a friend and something he says gives you an idea on what you will do over the weekend. Your may have been talking about a trick, and you thought that was a great idea and you will try this at home over the weekends. Ideas come from various places, and at various times.

Monday, September 6, 2010

My Favorite Story - What Makes a Good Story

Throughout this whole unit, the short story unit, my personal favorite was "The Sniper". My favorite short story was "The Sniper" because of the dramatic climax and resolution. The story shocked me when the sniper ruthlessly killed the old lady and the man in the turret. I was surprised that people had the guts and the nerve to kill another person feeling proud of themselves. And then after the sniper had cleverly faked his death and then killed the opposing sniper I didn't think it could get more dramatic and exciting than that, but I was wrong. At the very end when the sniper felt he needed to take a look at who he murdered, it turned out to be his brother. The thing that makes all stories interesting is their climax. Without it, it would just be a build up of tension and then immediately go to all calm and as if nothing had happened. The climax makes the story exciting and more interesting. This shows how badly families were against each other just because of two different sides.