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.