Les Misérables Preface

So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century—the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use.

I think it is very interesting that all these problems-crippling of children, corruption of woman, and degradation of man- are all because of the laws and customs made by society. The laws and customs are creating ignorance and poverty. All those problems would be fixed if the society fixed the laws and customs.

So long as there shall exist, by the want for independence, children growing up too fast, creating teens having sex, and adding to cyber bullying; so long as the three main issues of today’s children—the committing of suicide, the need of fitting-in, the want of drugs/alcohol—are unsolved; so long as childhood becomes shorter; —in other words, and still with a wider significance, so long as children stay children, parents taking time to enjoy their child’s childhood cannot fail to be of use.

List at least two symbols that the author uses. Provide a passage that includes a great example of how the writer uses symbolism in the novel. In at least one well-developed paragraph, write about the importance of this symbol in the book.

            Symbolism is used in the novel  And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie a few times. The main one was the storm that goes on for the majority of the story. Another symbol was the poem titled Ten Little Indians that hung in each bedroom.

Agatha Christine uses the storm to symbolize the disorder of the visitors on Indian Island. The beginning of the novel it is a hot and humid summer day, which causes a physical discomfort that is already felt internally by each of the novel’s characters. As the murders begin, the weather gradually gets worse until a storm breaks out as General Macarthur’s body is found. “The storm broke just as the old man’s body was borne in through the door. The others were standing in the hall. There was a sudden hiss and roar as the rain came down” (chapter 9). The fierce storm cuts the island off from the outside world.

Ten Little Indians is a nursery rhyme that was posted in all ten of the guest’s rooms. The poem is symbolic because it shows how the crazy murderer followed strictly to the nursery rhyme to carry out the murders. The murderer wanted to make the murders resemble the poem as closely as possible.

Dense Question: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Text- Why is William so passionate about getting an education?

Other Literature- How is Equality’s passion for getting an education similar and/or different from William’s?

Reader- Do you think someone’s passion towards getting an education can be affected by others? Does the person’s relationship with someone else make a difference? Why or why not?

In both Anthem and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Equality and William had a passion for learning, more specifically a passion for electricity. They both wanted to learn as much as they could.

At the age of 14 William had to drop out of school because his family couldn’t afford to go, but William didn’t give up. He had to walk to the village library to get an education to help his family and he wanted to make a difference in his village. Education was a huge part of his life without it he wouldn’t have made the windmill.

Equality has a hard time getting an education just like William. Equality wants to learn and discover unknown things and to find answers to hard questions, but his society limits education. His society only tells them what they want them to know. Both William and Equality had to work to get books. Although it was easier for William to get them, all he had to do was walk to the village library. For Equality he didn’t get access to books until the discovered the house with The Golden One. They both put their education to use with their inventions.

I definitely think a person’s passion for education or anything else can be affected by others, and the relationship the two people have also affects their passion. I have a strong passion for working with the FBI when I’m older, but I am unsure about going to college worried about the cost burden. I then decided to discuss this with my dad, who I have a really close relationship with.  He said that I shouldn’t let that stand in the way from pursuing an education.  I also approached my friend’s mom, who I don’t know that well, with the same question.  She said the same thing.  I would be more likely to change my mind because of my dad’s comments because we are closer plus he would help pay the cost.

Education affects everyone in either a positive or negative way. Others can influence a person’s passion for wanting to get a good education. Education impacts the whole world.

Research Writing Anthem

In Anthem Equality observes that “At forty, [men] are worn out. . . . [and] are sent to the Home of the Useless, where the Old Ones live. . . . The Old Ones know that they are soon to die. When a miracle happens and some live to be forty-five, they are the Ancient Ones, and children stare at them when passing by . . .” (p. 28). According to the World Health Organization’s ranking of 191 countries, (www.who.int) there is a huge discrepancy in the average life expectancy of various nations; it ranges from a high of 74.5 years in Japan to a low of 25.9 years in Sierra Leone. Why does life expectancy vary so greatly around the world? What are the main factors that determine life expectancy in a given country?

Select several countries with high, medium and low average life expectancy, and briefly research their political systems. Consider the following questions:

• How are their leaders chosen?

• Do citizens enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of mobility and of religion? Do they have the right to life, liberty and ownership of private property?

• To what extent does the government control and regulate the economy?

• Is the primacy of rule of law acknowledged?

Write a paper on your findings concerning the causal impact that a country’s political system has on the life expectancy of its citizens.

There is an enormous gap between the country with the highest life expectancy and the country with the lowest. Japan, with an overall life expectancy of 82.6 years, has the highest. At the same time Swaziland has the lowest with an overall of 39.6 years (List of Countries… Pages 4 and 11). Access to clean water, notorious food, a good education, access to a medical system all have a big part in the life expectancy of a country. How often or how common a disease is can also affect the life expectancy especially if the country doesn’t have a way to cure the disease. In Anthem there weren’t any social problems or wars. We don’t really know about the economy.

At 81.7 years as the life expectancy of the country, Switzerland has the fourth highest overall life expectancy (List of Countries… Page 4). With a shortage of raw materials and restricted agricultural production, Switzerland was forced to advance their economy built on the change of imported raw materials into high-added-value finished products primarily designed for exportation. The economy is greatly specialized and supported on global trade (Countries and Their Culture- Switzerland Page 12). Switzerland is safe, with a low rate of homicide. The most common crimes are infractions of the traffic code, infractions of drug laws, and theft. The people respect the court because a large number of the population lives in communities where informal social control is powerful. Switzerland is a neutral country so the army is purely defensive (Countries and Their Culture- Switzerland Page 12).

Russia’s life expectancy is 65.5 years. They are ranked 137^th out of 195 countries (List of Countries… Page 9). The Soviet command economy provided a secure living standard for the entire population. Production systems were highly developed, technologically specialized, and spread strategically throughout the country. Almost all consumer and industrial products were produced within the nation or in the Soviet bloc countries, but that all collapsed when the state support stopped in 1991. This caused many factories to be sold off. Some sectors, like food processing and distribution industries, are slowly returning. The chronic shortages led many people to produce for themselves. The current poverty has increased the importance of this practice, with a significant portion of the population partially dependent on their own produce (Countries and Their Culture- Russia Page 13).  Theft is a common crime. The economic and society liberalization in the late 1980s arranged the stage for a burst of illegal activity. Mafia-organized contract killings have become common in the cities, and thousands of political leaders, businesspeople, and journalists have been murdered. Because law enforcement is weak and efforts to reduce its influence have been ineffective. Weak legislation, a judiciary that is underfunded, overwhelmed by cases, and plagued by corruption and overcrowded jails has created a society whose regulatory mechanisms cannot deal with the current conditions. Most people see no point in appealing to the law for assistance or protection (Countries and Their Culture- Russia Pages 13 &14).  Russia has been involved in many wars like World War II, the Korean War, and the Great War.

            Malawi, with an overall life expectancy of 48.3 years, is ranked 180^th (List of Countries… Page 10). Now that the value of the kwacha has gone down in the last decade, Malawi’s economy has gone downhill. They now rely on crops supplied by the Western nations (Countries and Their Culture- Malawi Page 1). The most serious crime is robbery, which generally occurs in the major cities and in tourist areas, although murder is not unknown. The police are conspicuous by their lack of weapons and vehicles. Local justice often is meted out on the spot. If a criminal is caught by local residents, he often is taken to the police station and beaten on the way while those around him sing and mock him. These beatings have caused death on occasion. Malawi’s military is a total of around ten thousand. The army is by far the largest branch; the air force is small, and the navy is practically nonexistent (Countries and Their Cultures- Malawi Page 15).

The amount of income a country has plays a really big part in determining the country’s life expectancy because countries with higher income can afford safe drinking water and nutritious food. The amount of notorious resources a country has makes it so they don’t have to buy from others, instead other countries with be buying the resources from them which means that country will have a bigger income.

Works Citied

"Countries and Their Cultures." Culture of Russia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Russia.html>.

"Countries and Their Cultures." Culture of Switzerland. JRank.org, 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Switzerland.html>.

"DEPweb: Life Expectancy, Print Version." DEPweb: Life Expectancy, Print Version. DEPweb, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2012. <http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/modules/social/life/print.html>.

"List of Countries by Life Expectancy." Enagic.com. United Nations, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.

Write a brief letter to Ayn Rand about Anthem. You can state your reaction to the text (What did you find particularly surprising? Exciting? Moving?), ask about aspects of the novel that puzzled you and relate the novel to personal experiences, etc.

Dear Ayn Rand,

            Your novel, Anthem, was a real eye opener for me. It made me realize that it is ok to disagree with what other people believe. The novel also made me realize that if you don’t believe what others do you will probably get judged for it, but you just have to stay strong through the hard times. There will probably be many nights when you are at home and your “friends” are all hanging out without you, but if you have faith in what you believe you can get through even the hardest times, although it will not be easy you can get through it as long as you stay strong.

            I didn’t understand the novel as I read it, but after I related parts of it to personal experiences of mine that was when I started understanding it better. There were some things that surprised me and some that moved me, but there were even more that confused me. I thought it was surprising that the Council wanted so much control over everyone. I don’t understand why someone would want to be like everyone else. I was also confused about why more people than Equality didn’t go against what the Council of Vocations said. I really liked how the Golden One ran off to the Uncharted Forest to be with Equality. She risked her life to be with him.

            There are some things I am curious about. Does Equality believe in only doing things for others if it benefits one’s self just like you? I was also wondering how they got their names. Were they chosen random or do they mean something?  The thing I really don’t understand but would like to is why did the Council say the Uncharted Forest is forbidden but at the same time they were telling everyone that the rumors about there being a beast in the forest that would eat you weren’t true even though the rumors would of scared them from going in the Uncharted Forest?  That really interested me.

 

            I can relate to Equality in some ways like in school. I have had a few times where the teacher was asking for answers to the questions and I was the only one that was raising my hand the whole time so after about three or four questions she told me not to raise my hand to give others a chance to answer the questions.

            Once I understood most of the novel I really liked it. Although at the beginning I didn’t like it at all, but I think that’s because I didn’t understand it. Overall I thought it was a very good novel. I hope you consider making a sequel to this novel.

Sincerely,                               

Samantha McIver

Anthem!!!! :)

Can you see any elements of our society

that are similar to Equality’s beliefs?

           In Anthem, Equality believes in only doing things for one’s self, but at the same time his society is telling him to never think of himself as an individual because everyone is equal.

        In America there are many people that have the same sort of mine set. For example a ton of wealthy people buy HUGE houses that would be able to have like ten people live there and only four people end up living there. They buy really expensive clothes and jewelry, while there are millions and millions of people that don’t even have access to clean healthy water.

I am guilty of not wanting to help others and putting myself first too. The most recent example has to do with not wanting to donate to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts because I want to use that money to buy me something that I don’t even need. So there are quite a few similarities between our two societies.

Multiple Intelligence Results

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/results/results.cfm                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ctj4942229zvg


I think for the most part it is really close to being accurate. The part that I think is that accurate is the Linguistic because I'm not very good with words. At the same time I think it got Logical and Visual/Spatial correct. I am a math person and I love doing puzzles.