CHELPS Padlet by Jeremy

Blair Miller

2024-09-24 15:54:46 UTC

This news article talks about how the heat is a major health concern to younger kids, especially infants, who are dying from these extreme temperatures . At the end of the article it talks about things you can do to prevent such things from happening and how you can see when something is happening to a person due to heat. In the video it talks about how the heat is causing “stillbirths, low weight, and preterm birth”, and leading to death to children in poorer countries. This connects back to the universal idea of loss of innocence because the heat is harming these younger kids, and most of the time there is nothing they can do about it.

Chernobyl Reacter Meltdown

2024-09-24 16:06:58 UTC

I chose the podcast format for the entertainment category and listened to an episode from a history podcast called Historically High on the topic of the Chernobyl disaster. Chernobyl is a town in Ukraine that had been turned into the housing of a nuclear powerplant, orginally called Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Nuclear Power Plant, that after an accidental meltdown during a long put off cooldown test, contaminated multiple surrounding towns with lethal doses of radiation that even though they have started to disperse will still linger in the area for thousands of years. When the powerplant was first being set up there was supposed to be a cooldown test before the powerplant was put into use but the test was put off until after three years of the reactor being in use to power 10% of Ukraine. The initial radiation from the meltdown carried over to Sweden, which in turn made the meltdown known to the rest of the world, if this had not happened the Soviets would have most likely been successful in covering up the disaster entirely. The main overall topic of this podcast’s episode was nuclear disaster and fallout, addressing the other potential effects that could have happened in the wake of this happening, like the radiation seeping into groundwater and contaminating a larger population, or Reactor 3 also going into a meltdown since reactor 3 and 4 shared a major wall with eachother.

Seeing Law Through the Lens of Forgiveness.

aguiarisaac26 — 2024-09-25 02:55:31 UTC

In this TED talk, the option of forgiveness when it comes to legal struggles is discussed. It argues about how in legal issues, no matter what category, be it crime, litigation, or wrongdoings, forgiveness should be seen as an option. Yes, it would pose risks and it may be called a "moral hazard," but escalating resentments hold their own dangers. The speaker claims that law nowadays focuses too much on punishment, and discards the option of forgiveness. She suggests the possibility of, instead of punishing people without thinking about it twice, giving them another chance to rebuild their own lives and communities. The speaker ends her speech by reminding us that the forgiveness of law is not denying the wrong that has been done. It is rather to widen the lens to see glimpses of bigger patterns and to enable new choices that can take us further if we wipe the slate clean. Overall, in this TED talk, it connects to the universal ideas of revenge and forgiveness, and justice and injustice because forgiveness is a great tool, and can make justice if used properly.

Trump's Latest Speech on Abortion

aguiarisaac26 — 2024-09-25 03:26:22 UTC

The article goes over Donald Trump's most recent presidential campaign speech in North Carolina, where he appeals to conservative female voters by highlighting abortion as one of the major issues in our country, suggesting they would no longer have to think about abortion if he were to win the presidency. He talks about how abortion rights changed in 2022 with Roe v. Wade and the Supreme Court's essential role in its shifting. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party with Kamala Harris focuses on expanding abortion rights, restricting them less, making it a key electoral issue. The speech relates to two universal ideas in general, the role of women and children and innocence, since it calls for women to take action on this crime that is expanding, taking away millions of innocent children's lives, children that were not to blame.

Peyton McLendon

peytonmclendon10 — 2024-09-25 14:19:14 UTC

This article goes over how in a recent speech made by Donald Trump, he explains what he would like to change about the American auto industry going forward.He explains that he would like America to stop using other countries as manufacturers but instead make their own with the risk of prices being a bit higher for U.S. citizens buying cars. Farther in his speech, Trump talks about how he would like to implement a 100% tariff on cars imported from Mexico in order for U.S. companies to start making their own. This speech relates to the universal theme of the pursuit of wealth, showing that the pursuit of the increase in money and riches for the American people is what is mainly being focused on by these political figures.

Free Deliverable COVID-19 Tests

2024-09-25 15:04:39 UTC

This article talks about Covid-19 and announces that starting September this year, people will be able to order four free Covid-19 nasal swab tests to their home. This has been implemented as an attempt to limit the spread and outbreak of new Covid strands during the fall and keep the public healthy. The first outbreak of Covid in 2020 was so large scale it caused a world wide lockdown for the year, due to the severity of this, governments are trying to prevent it from happening again with these free Covid-19 tests. The overarching idea of this article is public health and safety through these preventive measures.

Roe v. Wade

badderssophie26 — 2024-09-25 15:16:11 UTC

This article talks about how the Supreme Court made a decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which makes it where women are no longer allowed to get an abortion in certain states. The article then talks about certain political leaders and the publics opinions on the case with some disaggreeing and some agreeing. Maps of the US states that are have already banned abortion are shown later in the article. Overall, This article and this whole case connects back to the Universal Idea of the power struggle between the government and the public. The power that they have influenced the ability to overturn the case which then puts women of all ages at risk. Women of all ages might go through tramatic things such as sexual assault and they might put their health at risk to not have to child. It also could connect the Universal Idea of the role of women. Taking away the right to have an abortion is taking away a right that women have.

Free COVID-19 test for fall of 2024

2024-09-25 15:18:44 UTC

This article talks about how you can receive free COVID-19 test by ordering them online on the website "COVIDTest.gov". The tests will be delivered right to your front door. Once the test are available to be ordered you will be allowed to order four test at a time. You will be encouraged to always check the expiration date before taking your test although some expired test may deliver accurate results. The Goverment is encouraging U.S citizens to get a updated COVID-19 booster shot to prepare us for the upcoming seasons.

Avery Mccuan

2024-09-25 15:19:27 UTC

This article refers to the universal idea of justice and injustice due to the fact that Shawn Fain called on the government because he wants them to find an economy that works for the working class. This goes with the idea because he wants it to be equal for all of the working class. He wants justice for them. Frain states “The working class needs this committee and the entire congress to step up; you all have an essential role to play not only supporting our fights and other fights like ours but to finish the job for economic and social justice for the entire working class," He wants justice from them for his people.

National museum of natural history

2024-09-25 15:27:44 UTC

The National museum of natural history is located in Washington DC. This museum is very life like with sculptures to help you visualize what our history really was. There are fossils, Egyptian mummies, as well as the hope diamond.

Carson Stell

2024-09-25 16:27:05 UTC

On July 13th, 2024, a presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was the focal point of an assassination temp during one of his rallies. The Secret Service released a report in which they claimed that the events that took place that day and the faults of the Secret Service leading up to it were, in their words, foreseeable and preventable. The world around us is constantly changing and the level of national security that we have reflects that. The lack of procedure and protocols, paired with the actions of the shooter, show us that the world is a dangerous and unpredictable place. We must focus on the world around us to better understand these changes taking place.

Cami Harris

2024-09-25 16:55:54 UTC

Florida citizens are undergoing current evacuations due to Tropical Storm Helene, which is anticipated to hit as the most powerful storm to hit the United States in over a year. As the hurricane continues to rapidly form, intensify, and track toward the Floridians homeland, weather professionals are stressing the severity of the conditions it may bring. Examples being, flooding and damaging winds, as well as many other hazardous conditions. With sustained winds reaching 110 mph, and even higher gusts, some consequences facing these conditions can include significant power outages, and increased possibility and threats of tornado activity. Hurricane Helen is forming and getting larger at break-neck speed, and now should be the time for citizens to prepare for impact.

This relates to the Universal Theme of survival and hope, because its an interplay between nature, and trying to survive against natural odds.

Lily Hill-Culture wars

2024-09-25 17:26:55 UTC

Throughout American history, the United states has been a very divided country. Whether it be political affiliations, religion, race, gender, ethnicity, everyone has their own opinion. People have made these things their main focus in life instead of focusing on the things that really matter. People have been finding their identity in politics and their chosen political parties when in reality, their opinions may change in the future and they may agree with other things in the future. It's very dangerous to place all of your identity in one thing when it could change at any moment and affect your entire life. This very closely relates to the universal theme of exploration of self, identity, and life purpose.

Conversations With a Killer, The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes

2024-09-25 17:29:16 UTC

Jeffrey Dahmer was a prolific serial killer from the years 1978 to 1991. He killed at least 17 people and drugged, maimed, and desecrated the bodies of his victims. He is more than a villain, some people even described him as the Devil himself. The idea of villainy creates a captivating story with multiple sides. This helps to catch and keep the reader's attention, since there is an ongoing conflict to follow.

TikTok removing Russian state media accounts

2024-09-25 17:47:30 UTC

TikTok has removed accounts associated with Russian state media for engaging in covert influence operations. This action is intended to suppress potential interference and spread misinformation before the US election. Its aim is to promote a fair and transparent electoral process. By getting rid of such content, TikTok seeks to protect the integrity of the election.

TED Talk, Jonathan Haidt

2024-09-25 18:02:37 UTC

In his TED talk, Jonathan Haidt explores the impact of smartphones on childhood development. He argues that the rise in smartphone usage correlates with increased rates of anxiety, depression, and loneliness amongst teenagers. Haidt points out that social media, specifically, worsens these issues by fostering comparison and cyberbullying. He cites various of studies showing that teens who spend more time on screens are less happy and more likely to experience mental health problems. Haidt emphasizes the importance of face to face interactions and physical activities for healthy development. He suggests that parents and educators should set limits on screen time and encourage more outdoor activities. Haidt also discusses the need for societal changes, such as better regulation of social media platforms. The universal idea here is the balance between technology and humanity. Engaging in this topic is necessary since it affects the mental health and future of the younger generation. By addressing these issues, society can advance in healthier environments for children to grow and thrive.

Peyton McLendon

peytonmclendon10 — 2024-09-25 18:14:02 UTC

In this article, the author describes the beginning and harsh effects that the Irish Potato Famine had on the people of Ireland. In the early 1800s Ireland was accepted to be governed as a colony of Great Britain. This increased their trade and wealth but also brought about the potato. The potato became a staple for many poor people in Ireland, but in 1845 an infection began spreading throughout many crops, mainly potatoes. Because of this, taxes had to be lowered on other crops as well as food still being exported in this Great Hunger. Some people ended up leaving the country as a whole and immigrating to other places for a better life. Ireland recovered but it left a lasting impact on their population and economy. While the issue of infectious potatoes isn't very relevant now, the fact that people are immigrating to leave their country because of a political or economical issue is. For example, people living in Ukraine have had to evacuate the country to protect themselves from the war happening there right now. This article relates to the theme of human nature. The way it does this is that throughout their lives, humans will find a way to survive and do their best to make sure that no one that they deeply care about gets harmed for the worse. It's just in human nature to try and protect and keep safe the ones you love.

Oceangate incident

2024-09-25 19:18:50 UTC

On June 18, 2023; the incident where a submersible imploded in on itself while descending to view the wreckage of the Titanic. 5 passengers were aboard said submersible, operated by Oceangate, and which all died due to the structure collapsing in on them. In this news article, it is stated that the submersible mysteriously disappeared when trying to reach the ocean floor, to which search teams were immediately made and sent to find it. According to the news channel “USA Today,” the debris of what they thought was the submersible was found on June 22, 2023; which was the following Thursday after the incident took place. This whole situation alludes to the main universal theme of man vs nature because it shows that the world around us isn’t always in our favor and that the pressure from the ocean most likely had immediately crushed the submersible that the people had been in. This ties in with the government because Oceangate was aware that their submersible was not built for the amount of pressure it was put under, and the government did not regulate this as they should have because the manufacturers stated that it was an “experimental vessel” and had not been tested by actual people, although they were still allowed to operate it and put 5 people on board.

Shein faces scrutiny in Italy over possible greenwashing - Maya

2024-09-25 19:35:06 UTC

Italy's anti-trust authority (AGCM) suspects that Shein is green washing, particularly with their line of products known as "evoluShein". It leads consumers to believe that this line of clothes is able to be recycled. ABC New’s article about this shows how Shein’s constant pursuit of wealth leads them to prioritize their profits over their customers. This was overall a very informational article that showed the true nature of a seemingly innocent brand.

Confetti

2024-09-25 20:04:47 UTC

Whilst walking through life I have realized that most of my experiences exist because of me doing things that I think I should do, and not doing the things that I want to. Things like getting a job in high school and striving to make the highest honors has led me to the cold realization that there is no confetti. There is not any set reward for living life a certain way. Actions do have consequences, those that can be either bad or good, but there is no confetti for living a more prosperous life than others: There is no medal or ribbon. In the end there is only an existence that will burn out in some 60 years from now. This lack of ignorance occurred to me throughout the separation of my mother and stepfather. As the house got quieter, dirtier, and more desolate, I realized that time still marched on. The lack of life and luster in that house couldn’t stop the tread of time, just as nothing else will. In the end there is no confetti.

R. Kelly Conviction

2024-09-25 20:14:17 UTC

In June of 2022, former R&B superstar, R. Kelly, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes including: Sex Trafficking, Child Pornography Production, Child Sexual Exploitation, Kidnapping, Forced Labor, Racketeering, and Obscurement of Justice. Being the large public figure Kelly was, he and his people were able to sweep a lot of his crimes under the rug, for a long time, and his victims' voices went unheard. Allegations of Kelly’s had begun circulating as early as the 1990’s, but each time it was brought to the court's attention, he was acquitted. Kelly’s lawyers had always argued that he had a bad childhood, and should not get any more than 10 years in prison, despite the heinous sex crimes he commited.

January 6th Riots

wareliam26 — 2024-09-25 20:15:36 UTC

My chosen article is a transcription of a series of interviews done by CBS. In the interview, the journalist interviewed several people. Some of the interviewees, were an officer that was wounded during the riots, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and other people who were involved in the riots. This interview connects to a crucial theme of rebellion and revolution, because it in itself is an attempted rebellion. It is important to learn and read about these things so that we can learn about the current situation of our nation and our government, and broaden our horizons with regards to justice and prime motivators behind the human experience.

True Crime: The White House Farm Family Massacre

2024-09-25 22:06:04 UTC

The massacre of the White House Farm family occurred on August 7, 1985, in Essex, England. Five members of the family were found dead by gunshots in the farm house, those being his sister, Sheila, Sheila’s 6 year old twin sons, and June And Nevill Bamber, who were the adoptive parents of Sheila and her brother Jeremy. Initially, the police believed that the case was a murder-suicide, done by Sheila who had a history of mental health issues and supposed schizophrenia. However, after better technology was discovered, police were able to run DNA and fingerprint tests which made them turn their suspicion towards Sheila’s brother, Jeremy Bamber. Evidence was later brought to light that suggested that Jeremy staged the scene to make it look as though Sheila was responsible for the massacre. On top of that, many of Jeremy’s extended family and friends made testimonies about Jeremy that pointed to his possible motive: wealth from the family estate. In October of 1986, Jeremy was convicted of the murders of his family and sentenced to 5 life sentences in prison, although he always kept his innocence. This truly resonates with the universal theme of crime and justice because of the way the case got so much media attention and was one of the most notorious true crime cases in the UK.

2024-09-25 23:23:23 UTC

PBS News writes this article speaking about the assassination attempt of Donald Trump on September 15, 2024 at a golf course in Florida. At the time of the incident, the assailant was spotted through bushes, with a semiautomatic rifle aimed directly at a Secret Service agent who was scoping the next hole of the golf course. Fortunately, the former president was reported to never have been in the line of fire, and the suspect was arrested soon after the incident. Apparently, there was a list left behind in the suspects car, it included the dates and venues where Trump was supposed to show up to. There was another note, too, left at an unidentified persons house, and it was addressed "Dear World",  giving an incentive to the public saying, "...I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job," the job being that of successfully assassinating former president Trump. This relates to the universal theme of The Pursuit of Wealth because this incentive exemplifies the lengths people are driven to achieve riches, no matter what it takes.

Blake Starr

2024-09-26 02:12:38 UTC

The article I chose talks about former president Donald Trump's recent thoughts of the war with Ukraine and Russia. Trump describes Ukraine as “dead” and “demolished”. He argued that Ukraine should have backed down months earlier to avoid letting the country get to this extent. He obviously says none of this would have happened if he was president but has good reasoning. Apparently Trump has aided Ukraine through the war while also being on good terms with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. This article goes along with the universal theme “War and Peace” because although Russia and Ukraine are still at war a different American leader beforehand would have possibly lessened the severe situation or maybe wouldn't have been started at all.

2024-09-26 12:46:51 UTC

NBC news covers Bipartisan report on the Trump shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. The article talks about what issues allowed this to happen, the title of the article summarizes the unique and important information "Bipartisan report on Trump shooting identifies Secret Service tech issues and 'preventable' mistakes." This connects to the universal idea of preventable mistakes and links to the book I'm reading Walden by Henry Thoreau. They link because the book is about finding a man's role and Trump shows what a man should do in this situation by staying strong.

Katelyn Sayers

2024-09-26 12:59:54 UTC

Former President Trump had a message for women voters on Friday, claiming that they're worse off financially compared to four years ago. While Trump is correct in the fact that women continue to face financial obstacles such as earning lower wages than men, experts say that many women have also made financial strides during the past four years. Research says that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the median weekly earnings for women was $1,031, an increase of about 2.5% from 2019, on an inflation-adjusted basis. This shows that the universal theme is the pursuit of wealth because it has to do with wages, and the cost of living.

Sadie Saunders

2024-09-26 14:32:15 UTC

In July of 2024, former President Trump was the target for an attempted assassination. On this day in history, The Secret Service failed to do their job correctly and make clear decisions. It has been reported that The Secret Service did not provide necessary effort nor communication with local law enforcement to prevent this unexpected shot at Trump. ABC News states, “‘declined to acknowledge the individual areas of responsibility for planning or security as having contributed to the failure to prevent the shooting that day…’” The world is dangerous and unpredictable during this day and age, causing U.S. citizens to question our power.

Cami Harris

2024-09-26 14:33:22 UTC

In the TED Talk, “The rise of virtual humans” by Sara Giusto, the speaker explains the developments and impact of virtual humans in our current society. She explains how the AI-humans are transforming our ways of communication, as well as our daily interactions across various platforms. Sara stresses the potential increase in creativity that these virtual people could bring to our society. However, Guisto also addresses ethical considerations regarding the use of these AI-individuals including concerns of potential manipulation, and increased feelings of isolation by replacing genuine human interaction. She also mentions risks of exposing the world to these robots, mentioning that there are still issues surrounding consent and privacy. In this TED Talk, Sarah Giusto addresses the potential technological, and creative advancements that AI-humans could have to offer to civilization, but also brings to light some challenges and issues that need to be addressed to ensure that virtual humans enhance our society, rather than detract our real-life interactions.

This relates to the universal theme "The Nature of Humanity", because this is an event that could potentially alter character relationships, and the condition of humanity.

People should engage with this topic, because I think with all of the technological advancements of today's society its good to be informed of the possible consequences we may have to face as a generation.

Finley Malone

2024-09-26 15:46:27 UTC

I chose to watch the article on Trump’s border visit due to its relevance to current immigration debates. It highlighted his pledges to secure the border, emphasizing themes of authority and nationalism. This connects to the universal idea of power and governance, showing how leadership can shape societal values. Others should engage with it to better understand the problem of immigration policy and its impact on communities.

Sean "Diddy" Combs

2024-09-26 15:57:14 UTC

American rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering charges in Manhattan on September 16, 2024, rougly six months after authorities conducted a sex trafficking investigation and raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami. Combs was recognized a prominate figure in the music industry, before allegations over the past year made him an outcast. Former girlfriend of Combs, Casandra Centura, filed a lawsuit against him saying she had been beaten and raped for years during their relationship. A video was later relseased of Combs throwing Centura on the floor, and proceeding to punch and kick her repeatedly. He later appologized by saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.” The rapper denied any allegations made against him relating to rape against his ex girlfriend. This was not his first time getting out of legal trouble. In 2001, Combs was acquitted on charges relating to a nightclub shooting in Manhattan two years prior that injured three people. His then right hand man, Shyne, was convicted of assult among other charges and served around 8 years in prison, while Combs got off with a clean slate. Overall, the universal idea that people in higher positions are more likely to get away with corruption is shown by the case of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Because of his reputation as a respected musical artist, Combs was able to avoid criminal charges for years.

Tyler Freyaldenhoven

2024-09-26 16:09:38 UTC

I chose this article because the idea of taking a depressing precaution we, unfortunately, have to take and making it less stressful for the group of people who are affected, along with controlling the illegal distribution of guns intrigues me. In this address, President Biden states that he is passing a mandate that will make these changes to possibly help the plague of gun violence poisoning our nation. With the Alapachee shooting happening less than a month ago, guns being easier to access than ever and several threats being pointed toward our school, gun control is a topic on everyone’s mind. Humanity’s constant struggle against this dark part of itself sadly doesn’t seem like it will end any time soon, however, we can try our best.

Blake Starr

2024-09-26 16:24:22 UTC

In this TED talk, a neuroscientist and a global financial CEO talk about what makes a good life, or a life worth living. The three key concepts according to these two females of living a good life are physical health, mental wellness, and financial fitness. They elaborate on the difficulties of doing what you love, while also balancing the anxiety of paying the bills. They circle back on the topic of anxiety saying it is really there to help and motivate us. We need to change our perception of anxiety because it is there to help us achieve things rather than procrastinating and making our lives stressful. This connects to the universal theme “Exploration of the self” because everybody needs to know what makes them happy also knowing how to balance that happiness and changing their perspective on financial anxiety. I chose this video because I am interested in why humans act the way they do and hear different ideas on what they think makes a good life.

Insulin Inflation

2024-09-26 16:45:16 UTC

I chose to read the attached article that describes an ongoing lawsuit between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 3 of the largest American Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). The purpose of a PBM is supposed to be to handle medications like insulin in the process between manufacturers and insurance companies. Although PBMs are supposed to be the ones lowering the prices of these medications in order to make them affordable to the common diabetic, a recent investigation into the PBMs by the FTC has shown that all three companies have been playing an "active role" in causing insulin to be so overpriced. Over the last two decades, the price of insulin has risen over 600%, causing 1 of 4 insulin patients to ration their medication in 2019. Some people have died. This article ties directly in with the universal theme of the nature of humanity, as it shows the extent that these large corporations will go to just for a profit, even if it involves denying people a medication that they need to survive.

The Contestant

2024-09-26 17:02:21 UTC

For my entertainment, I chose to watch the documentary The Contestant. The Contestant is about a young Japanese actor named Nasubi who was manipulated into becoming part of a segment of a Japanese reality TV show, where he was essentially put in solitary confinement for 15 months and was forced to survive. The documentary is filled with not only plenty of personal interviews with Nasubi and his family reflecting on the experience, but also the producers and show runners that manipulated Nasubi into doing so. The documentary heavily ties into the universal theme of the nature of humanity, as it not only shows Nasubi's true nature as his mental health reaches rock bottom, but it also shows in great detail the borderline psychopathic mindset of the producer of the show, shining a light on not only his personal misdeeds but also the corrupted nature of the entire TV industry. It also heavily ties into the theme of journey of self-discovery, as even though the specific experience was traumatizing for Nasubi, the documentary also highlights his emotional journey, his lowest points, and his eventual self-discovery. For anyone that has Hulu, I would highly recommend you at least watch the trailer for this documentary to see if you are interested, as it does a great job of telling Nasubi's extremely unique and saddening story in a way that is both captivating and motivating.

Fireflies

2024-09-26 18:47:11 UTC

When I was little, my mom would sit out with me, and my younger sister in the grass at dusk, and we’d watch the fireflies in the field. I remember how the way they lit up the field was nothing short of magical, and wondered how I had walked right past them so many times, failing to see their undeniable beauty. One night, as we were watching the bugs dance across the grass as we’d done countless times before, my mother gave me a piece of advice that my childish mind didn’t quite understand at the time. “Sometimes in life, we get so caught up in the routine of our lives that we often forget just how beautiful life really is… don’t forget to stop and watch the fireflies, Cami.” She stated. This small moment as a child shaped a huge part of who I am as a person, and taught me one of the most valuable lessons that I continue to carry with me to this day. It’s so easy to overlook the beauty in life and live for the future, rather than enjoying the present. The universal theme of life's simple pleasures is too-often replaced with the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day lives. So, in a world where time seems to move at a breathtaking pace, I hope that we all find courage to pause, savor the beauty of each moment, and always stop to watch the fireflies.

Yuri Gagarin

2024-09-26 19:13:49 UTC

A monumental part of global history was made on April 12th, 1961, as Yuri Gagarin was the first human to ever be sent into space. Gagarin orbited the Earth on the rocket Vostok 1, on a flight that lasted just 108 minutes. This was a life changing achievement in scientific advancement, proving the potential opportunities of exploration beyond planet Earth. This universal theme of science and discovery paved the way for future missions leading to some of the greatest discoveries known to man. As for Gagarin, he was made a symbol of hope and progress, paving the way for the younger generations to reach the stars.

Clayton Freeman

2024-09-27 13:19:49 UTC

For my Current events, I chose the case of Marcellus Williams. Marcellus Williams was a man who wanted to not die on death row. Which made me want to choose it because of the odd circumstance of both the prosecutors, the victims family and the jury all wanting him to be innocent. Which brought the realization of just how much power and how different the supreme court is than the rest of the courts. He was convicted purely by the judge of the supreme court. Which shows the Man v.s. Government because this man was with everyone else, even the victims family but was still convicted by the government.

Rylee Brawley

2024-09-27 13:20:39 UTC

This article is about a man named Marcellus Williams who was sitting on death row for a murder that happened in 1998. Williams maintained his innocence the whole trial and the rest of his life after. He was scheduled for execution by lethal injection on September 24th, and many claim that there is no reliable evidence proving he committed the crime. Many also believe that this would not have even happened if Marcellus had been a white man, that they would have had a very in depth trial to see if he truly committed the crime or not. The quote from Wesley Bell, a chief prosecutor for St. Louis county said “Marcellus Williams should be alive today. There were multiple points in the timeline when decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty. If there is even the shadow of a doubt of innocence, the death penalty should never be an option. This outcome did not serve the interests of justice” This article connects with the universal idea of Justice and Injustice, Marcellus was faced with an unfair trial, he died for it.

Salter Mahan

2024-09-27 13:28:46 UTC

This AP news article covers the first business in Kentucky to get a license to start a medical cannabis program. It talks about how Kentucky will be able to sell medical marijuana at the start of 2025. They said it was another step to ensuring that Kentuckians suffering from a list of serious illnesses have access to safe products when the program launches. This connects back to the universal theme of facing the unknown because they are the first in Kentucky to get this license but they think it will be beneficial overall and help more people.

Sean C Love

2024-09-27 13:30:24 UTC

People have the idea that drug overdoses are only going to rise. We've been on an upwards curve and it’s only going to get worse. Thankfully people who care, Those who hold out hope, the men and women hell-bent on making the world better have realized the world is healing. Overdose deaths are starting to go down the steps we have taken are working, and as people spread words of death and destruction, those who hold out hope have started to make things better. The more people that hold Naloxone the more deaths go down and so far it’s fallen by as much as 34%! People can cry about how the world is ending but I implore you to take a good look at the world, not everything is dying, we're healing.

The Nature of Humanity - How History Keeps Repeating by Baylee Richards

2024-09-27 13:53:30 UTC

The 1950’s housewife lifestyle has people on social media protesting, not against the women, but against the men of these Trad wives. The trad wife lifestyle is built off a fantasy put on tik tok by creators like Nara Smith, a former model who is now a stay at home wife and mom. This lifestyle is often seen as a peaceful day of cooking things from scratch, cleaning, and doing easy chores while watching young kids have fun, but a more controversial creator known as Ballerina Farm, who is also seen on tiktok, gets a different response to her traditional lifestyle. This is a woman who was built to be a ballerina. She went to Juliard, she was ready to go professional, and she chose to get married and have 8 children, and live on a farm where her own husband doesn’t appreciate anything she does. She began gaining a lot of new attention when after asking for a few days away from the farm for her birthday, her husband got her an egg apron to “help” her get eggs from their chicken coop faster. She managed to have a baby and 12 days later compete in the Miss American Pageant and win. This new way of living for women however, is bringing up questions like is this a new way to show female empowerment or is this a hit to feminism and is this simply a way to force women into reliving a form of women's suffrage?

School Shootings

2024-09-27 13:54:41 UTC

I chose this article based on gun violence, mass shootings, and logistics on school shootings because this is what has been going on in the world around us. It's a big problem in our country that could easily happen anytime and anywhere. What I've come to realize is that most of these shootings are not planned and have come from violence on school grounds. These incidents have also occurred mostly outside of school grounds instead of inside. This event could tie to multiple universal themes including the world around us, facing the unknown, and even the power struggle. When students go to school they should not have to worry whether this should happen or not. This topic is known especially since it has been on everyone's mind recently, a subject that should be known not to do. School should be a safe place for students to gain an education.

Kacie Woody

2024-09-27 13:56:06 UTC

I chose this podcast because I listen to Crime Junkie every Monday morning when the new episodes come out. This topic is associated with what I want to do when graduating. This podcast also relates to our age group and something we all need to be aware of, especially since it can happen anywhere and anytime. This incident occurred right in our town. Kacie Woody’s tragic accident shocked our small community. This podcast connects to historical reflections, initiating the problems with social media and the dangers that come with it.

Jack Palmer

2024-09-27 14:04:36 UTC

I chose this article because it goes really well with the Rebellion and Revolution theme. After Donald Trump survived the attempted assassination he began to link it to one of the American rival countries. He began to believe that Iran had something to do with this and so the next time he made a speech, he sent out his warning. He told the people that "If I were president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens". He was using the power he had to tell everybody what he would do if he were in charge, and that he would have a rebellion against the attacking country. I chose this one because it is showing the fight that we still have in the country even though Trump is not our president still. It shows that we haven't given up and we aren't just going to keep letting people push us around.

The Dance of The Little Swans - The creators perfect canvas by Baylee Richards

2024-09-27 14:07:04 UTC

The Russian ballet is known for its cut throat competition during the school years before they get to become a professional. This competition doesn’t start at 16, 15, 14, or even at 13. This competition begins at 7 and 8. These young girls go through days of auditions and get picked apart to get the honor to enter the Vaganova Dance Academy. This documentary follows a few of these dancers, and shows the pressure that comes along with auditioning for such a prestigious school. The judges for these auditions will cut girls for being too skinny, too short, too tall, too tan, too pale, even having what they consider the wrong hair color for their skin. You can get cut for anything. A single hair out of place could end your career. Because of these standards, the Russian ballerinas that we see, like Olga Smirmova, are complete perfection. From the hands being placed a certain way, the heads tilting at a the perfect angle, the knees being pulled up, and the feeting being pointed like the curve of a banana. These professionals are built to the creators standards.

Peyton McLendon

peytonmclendon10 — 2024-09-27 14:09:34 UTC

In this video, the speaker intends to answer the question of why it took so long to discover and document giant Squids. The video starts out by saying that in 1873, two fishermen thought they had seen a wrecked boat underneath the water but it was actually a giant squid. From then on, scientists and marine biologists have been searching for examples and clues of these Squids. The speaker then explains what giant Squids are, saying that they are large Squids with 8 arms and 2 tentacles with spikes ringed around their suckers. They live down in the deep parts of the ocean which could be a reason for why these Squids are so large but it also explains a huge reason why people have not been able to document these mythological monsters for so long. Over time, scientists and engineers have engineered ways to go down deeper and deeper into the ocean and in 2012, the first sighting of a giant squid in its habitat was documented. Many mysteries still remain about these quids but we know tons more about them than what we knew at first. This video relates to the universal theme of the Quest for Knowledge. This is shown by showing that as we advanced, we used these new technologies and advancements to explore and know more about the world that we live on. And as we continue to move on and get more advanced, we will continue to learn so much more about our planet.

Gender Inequality

2024-09-27 14:11:31 UTC

In a recent study, females are bearing more of a burden due to climate change than others. In Nigeria more than 10 million children were absent in school, for girls, the statistics are even bleaker. Males are encouraged to go to school, making it easier for them to attend. On top of girls being discouraged from attending school, climate change such as landslides, flash floods, deforestation and extreme heat has made it even harder for females. Females make up the majority of the world's poor, making them rely on natural resources. Gender inequality is a main problem females are facing, ultimately leading to females being forced out of homes, and pulled out of school. We can change this, by giving a chance for Males, and females to have the same opportunities.

Importance of Laughter

2024-09-27 14:12:08 UTC

You can find laughter anywhere. It can be by teaching a bunch of kids or a bunch of adults. Anyone can be funny, it just depends on how willing they are to embrace that. When we turn off our self judgment we can surprise ourselves with how funny we can be. You just need to open your eyes, and watch your surroundings. Laughter is a very important part of a human's life. Without laughter it is harder to make it through your life.

Divorce of Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan -Blair Miller

2024-09-27 14:13:28 UTC

This article talks about how Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan finalized their divorce after 6 years and were able to avoid going on trial. Throughout their divorce they were with other people and many heated arguments arose. This article connects back to the universal idea of the nature of humanity because this describes what lots of humans go through, they just do so much stuff to try and make them happy. For example Tatum and Jenna after the split went and found many other people to be with, and Tatum spent about 4 years off the filming industry to be with his kid.

Salter Mahan

2024-09-27 14:17:54 UTC

This is the Between The Matts podcast. I chose this podcast because it talks about high school football and I am interested in that. They interview players and coaches and tell you about stats and scores from games and they predict scores for the following week. This relates to the universal theme of sports and competition because that's what they talk about is all of Arkansas high school football.

Gunner Alred-Stolen Private Information

2024-09-27 14:22:16 UTC

In April of 2024, a group of hackers stole the private information from 2.9 billion people across the U.S., U.K, and Canada. The hackers compiled a list of all the victim's names, mailing addresses, and social security numbers, originally planning to sell the information for $3.5 million, but later posted all the information on an online exchange for stolen personal data. According to this article, the best way to protect yourself from this attack is to freeze your credit card accounts. However, if you want to apply for something that requires a credit check, you must lift the freeze. This article relates to the universal theme of business and ethics, as while their ethics were questionable, the hackers were still trying to do business, and make money.

Landen Thayn - New York Mayor Eric Adams charged in Turkey bribery, fraud scheme

2024-09-27 14:32:24 UTC

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was caught in a fraud scheme, where he used illegal campaign funding from Turkey. He disguised these contributions by funneling them through US citizens, which allowed him to use those funds to qualify for $10 million in public financing. I chose this article because it connects to the theme of Justice and Injustice. This article connects to the theme because Eric Adams is being indicted for his wrongdoings.

Charly Carter

2024-09-27 14:37:26 UTC

I chose to read this article about Donald Trump's first assassination attempt. On July 14, 2024 Donald Trump was at a rally speaking on stage when a man on top of a roof fired into the crowd. Injuring him and killing a former fire chief. The bullet grazed Trump's ear, resulting in secret service officers jumping to shield Trump, while a sniper took out the shooter. One minute after the shots were fired, Trump stood up, pumping his fists, saying “fight” to the crowd. This connects to the universal theme, Tragedy and Triumph because even in the scariest moments of Trump's life, he stood up tall after showing his strength.

Charly Carter

2024-09-27 14:38:26 UTC

I chose to listen to this True Crime podcast about The State of South Carolina v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh. He was a former lawyer who shot and killed his wife and son on June 7, 2021 while “defending” his son. His son had gone out on the family boat while drinking with friends, and got into an accident resulting in the death of one of the girls on the boat. It connects to the universal theme, secrets and lies because throughout the trial Alex Murdaugh lied about the murder of his wife and son, he told authorities he was taking a nap during the time of the murders before going to his mothers home.

2024-09-27 14:54:50 UTC

This article is about how heat is the leading cause of climate - related deaths and how it can be solved. It states how we need to have a heat protocol to protect us from the extreme heat. While people are coming up with ways to protect themselves from the heat they need to have a better way to get specific information. One way they could solve this is by Los Angeles having its own Heat Officer and is soon to release Heat Action Plans. This allowed for grants to help come up with ways to fight the heat, such as adding shade or making buildings. The article explains how a group at UCLA got funding and will be creating blueprints for what a heat resilient community looks like. They will be testing with 30 communities over the next 3 years.

Louvre - Founding Myths - Online Tour - Sophie Badders

badderssophie26 — 2024-09-27 14:55:46 UTC

In this online tour of the Petite Galerie exhibition you get to explore the different sections that show different paintings, sculptures, and many other art forms. You get to see how artists use inspiration from different Myths from a bunch of different time periods. The exhibition has a bunch of different vases and statues that show certain Myths in different situations. For example, One of the statues shows Hercules and beside it is a description of the context. It says, "Hercules et fils de Jupiter, le lieu des dieux, et d'une nortelle. Des sa naissance, i fait prevue d'une force exceptinelle. " Which tells us about his birth and how strong he was. The different sections of the exhibition has different lighting to make the certain pieces more meaningful. This connects greatly to the Universal Idea of Myths and Legends because the whole exhibition is based on certain artists interpretations of different Myths. As you walk through the tour, you get the experience the different types of art that show the difference between the Myths and Legends.

The Pursuit of Wealth

2024-09-27 15:07:01 UTC

This article discusses how both Presidential Candidates plan to help fix the economy to benefit the wealth of American citizens. Recently the economy has struggled and it is important that both candidates have a precise plan on how to manage it. Inflation has skyrocketed and Trump plans to end all taxes on tips, as well as end taxes on social security benefits to help seniors. Both are trying to find a solution in order to help citizens live a more comfortable life in the pursuit of wealth. Both candidates are trying to find ways to make things more affordable without raising inflation any higher than it already is. One strategy Harris plans on implementing is to lower the cost of drugs. This would benefit many Americans who rely on drugs to maintain or improve their health. Trump plans on raising tariffs in order to produce new jobs for Americans. Both candidates want to help Americans grow wealth and pursue the American Dream.

2024-09-27 15:18:03 UTC

In this museum you get to explore things about college football. It starts off with all the college football helmets on a wall and information about how college football came to be. Then there is a place where you could sing the fight song for the college you want and a challenge where you could try to run as fast as a football player. There's also a place where you can read about certain colleges. One major part of the museum is the rivalry between certain colleges and how it started. Also jerseys of specific college football players and its significance. The last part of the actual museum was a little movie about college football. Finally there are activities where you can kick a ball through a field goal or throw a football into a net.

A.I.

2024-09-27 17:03:25 UTC

I chose this A.I. Article because its a good and bad thing in this current time. In this article it was talking about how we shouldn't replace the journalist with an A.I. Even though some companies have good relationships with A.I. sometimes people take advantage of it. The futuristic vision of A.I. is getting super advanced and technology is taking over. At first in the tone its a very negative tone towards A.I. but then at the end it starts getting more towards A.I.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2024-09-27 17:08:54 UTC

I chose this book, because I love the movie. This book hooked me in with its incredible story and its nail-biting suspense. After reading the book I know the theme of this book gives the american dream. Every character in The Great Gatsby draws inspiration from the american dream's promise of wealth and prosperity. At the same time, the novel itself critiques the notion of the american dream.

The 2024 presidential election

2024-09-27 17:19:20 UTC

I chose this article due to its massive relativity. The election is coming up soon and a good way to know who is best for you is by looking at each presidents policies/principals. This article discusses the type of president the candidates for this years election are going to be. In this article we see that Kamala Harris has said her day-one priority would be trying to reduce food and housing costs for working families. She promises to ban price-gouging on groceries, help first-time home buyers and provide incentives to increase housing supply. We then see trump as he said in campaign speeches, that he would centralize government power under his authority, replace career federal civil service employees with political loyalists, and use the military for domestic law enforcement and the deportation of immigrants. Both have their policies which one works best for you?

Athletes and mental health: finding your identity in the hidden opponent

2024-09-27 17:23:39 UTC

In the Ted Talk above, Victoria Garrick, a former USC volleyball player, talks about mental health in sports and how it can have lasting effects on a person. During Garricks time at USC she developed extreme depression and anxiety due to the fact that she was constantly told that someone was competing for her spot. She found her identity in volleyball, when asked who she was, all she could say was “I am a volleyball player”. She was identifying with something that could be taken away in an instance. That scarred her for the rest of her life. She now struggles with mental health issues, but has become an advocate for people just like her. This connects to the universal theme of exploration of self, identity, and life purpose because she found her identity and used what has happened to her to make a difference.

Hacksaw Ridge

2024-09-27 17:28:52 UTC

This movie is based on the true story of Desmond Doss who won the Congressional Medal of Honor despite refusing to bear arms during WWII on religious grounds. Doss was drafted and ostracized by fellow soldiers for his pacifist stance but went on to earn respect and adoration for his bravery, selflessness and compassion after he risked his life, without firing a shot, to save 75 men in the Battle of Okinawa. This movie connects to the universal idea of Bravery and Heroism.

War and Peace

2024-09-27 17:34:49 UTC

The Israel-Gaza conflict has been going on forever, and it's super complicated. It's all about history, politics, and religion. In 2021, the war got intense, and lots of innocent people got hurt, and buildings got wrecked. The whole thing is about who controls the land and the resources, and each side has its own story about what's happening. This article ties into the theme of War and Peace. It's hard to figure out how to make peace when there's so much fighting. We need some diplomacy and plans for lasting peace to stop all this violence from happening over and over again.

The Manhattan Project

2024-09-27 17:35:14 UTC

Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist and the top scientist in charge of developing the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project, which was a World War II-era government project to develop a nuclear weapon before the Germans. He was responsible for the team that researched and designed the bomb. Oppenheimer's understanding of fast neutrons and the logistics behind producing an atom bomb helped the Manhattan Project achieve its goal in 1945. The Hiroshima bomb was made from highly-enriched uranium-235. This was prepared by diffusion enrichment techniques using the very small differences in mass of the two main isotopes, U-235 and U-238.

Alex hall

2024-09-27 17:35:36 UTC

I chose the exhibit called “What were you wearing”, put on by the Dove Center, which was created to dispel the idea that somehow what you are wearing contributes to people being sexually assaulted. The exhibit displays what the victims were wearing, and what happened. There are victims ranging to the age of 4 to 26. The clothes the victims were wearing when they were molested are displayed as well, ranging from a childs ballet uniform, to a woman wearing multiple layers of clothing; this showed us that the clothes that the victims were wearing does not correlate to whether the person was molested or not. We see children who have been violated, terrified of being molested again, and other children who were not even old enough to realize what was happening, let alone old enough to consent. We see children losing their childhood innocence early, and losing their childhood as a normal child.

Alex Hall

2024-09-27 17:36:40 UTC

President joe biden recently signed an executive order, the office of gun violence prevention, which is designed to help communities recover from the trauma of violent events, aims to curb violence, help communities recover from the said violent events, and coordinate the federal response. The order will also establish a task force who will investigate the threats of machine-gun-conversion devices, which is able to turn a semi-automatic firearm, and will also look at the rampancy of 3-d printed guns, which are being produced from a code put into the 3-d printed websites, while also not having serial numbers so the4 law enforcement will not be able to track them. With vice President Harris, who is over-seeing this, and president Biden signing this executive order, which should help children attending schools feel safer while also helping those who have already suffered from these traumatic events heal. This connects to the universal theme of childhood innocence, which is being stolen from children all over America by these acts of violence.

Sophia Ashworth

2024-09-27 17:37:33 UTC

School Shootings

I chose this topic because one of the biggest topics in America at this day and age is if we can keep our kids safe.There have been so many incidents of this happening that there needs to be change now. On May 24,2022 there was a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen children were killed and two teachers. During this time over 400 law enforcement showed up to the scene. They waited 70 minutes to enter the school to confront the shooter. A former school police officer is now facing charges for abandonment and failing to protect children who were killed during this tragic time. The families from the victims have spent almost two years trying to press charges on not just this officer but multiple other officers. There is proof of him being the first to arrive but not confronting the shooter even though he could hear the gunshots coming from places around him. While this is all known, he is pleading not guilty. He says that he feels he did everything he could for the kids, and to try and help them. This is a fear of failure. He believes he did not fail at protecting the kids, but there were 21 people dead at the end of this. All of these officers had a fear of “not protecting the kids”. The victims parents believe that they were in so much fear that they froze up and failed at their job.

Ben Nixon

2024-09-27 17:37:58 UTC

Russian forces are pushing up against multiple strongholds along more than 100 miles of the jagged front in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine. After months of pressure and major advances. The battle for control of the region, desired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, could significantly change if Ukraine loses any of those crucial defensive positions. The battle Ukraine has put up is major to how they keep their freedom. The importance of Ukraine keeping their freedom is to protect the national security and continue the containment of communism for other countries' well being. It connects to the universal idea of Tragedy and Triumph because of the catastrophic loss from the invasion of Russia to battling back, winning fights, and holding strong points in order to fight off communist attacks.

Anna Dallas - Trump’s rhetorical walkabouts: A sign of ‘genius’ or cognitive decline?

2024-09-27 17:43:33 UTC

This article discusses concerns over Donald Trump’s speech patterns and cognitive ability as he ages. I learned that although Biden was the one who dropped out of the election, Trump’s rambling and incorrect statements are a cause of concern for many psychologists. This situation is similar to the one that happened in 1964, When Barry Goldwater ran for president, and many psychologists claimed he was mentally unfit, causing him to lose the election by a landslide. This created the “Goldwater Rule”, meaning that it is “unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement”. This raises the question of whether or not it is ethical for psychologists to be analyzing Trump’s speech patterns and publicly claiming he is unfit for the presidency.

Being yourself

2024-09-27 17:44:19 UTC

From a young age I always imagined myself as the main character or superhero from any movie I saw. I used to pretend to be spider-man and would try climb on walls. As you can see I was a very impressionable kid. This would lead on to something that would ruin my social life. As soon as middle school came I wanted to not be known as the weird kid so I would pretend to be somebody I was not. I thought I was being cool and funny, but instead I was just being mean and annoying. After about 3 years of pretending I finally realized that the only way to enjoy life is to stop worrying about what others think and doing things I like to do and not doing them just, because someone said it was cool. This way of thinking has made a massive impact on my life and I enjoy everyday doing the things I like to do. This experience connects to the universal idea of Self-Improvement and Perseverance.

Drew Whitehead

2024-09-27 17:44:20 UTC

This article is a huge topic in America right now. The election is coming up and a good way to know who fits America better is by looking at their policies and what they have done for America in their past terms if they have had a past term. The election is connected to universal ideas because it relates to everyone in America. Whether its a good or bad president, the American economy can be changed and will affect all Americans based on their beliefs.

Hurricane Helene

2024-09-27 18:44:08 UTC

The article I chose focuses on how deadly Hurricane Helene is for Florida citizens. The article mentions how the hurricane is growing at a constant rate and that Helene is expected to produce at least 18 inches of rain. Residents in the area are preparing for this storm by boarding up windows, fueling up the vehicles and filling up sandbags.

This article relates back to the universal idea of survival and hope because citizens in Florida are in danger from this natural disaster, its survival against all odds.

My experience with the Renaissance Festival - Maya

2024-09-27 18:57:08 UTC

This year, I had the opportunity to work for the newly established Arkansas Renaissance Festival. I have never had a real job before, and although the only money I was paid was tips, I made more money than I ever had before. It was very exciting for me, and I began to only go to the festival to earn money, rather than for the fun of my first renaissance festival. I ended up being busy for the following 2 weekends, and wasn’t able to go. I recently went back for one of the final weekends, and rediscovered how enjoyable it was to simply roam around the fair, rather than focusing on which location would get me the most tips. Sometimes the pursuit of wealth can take away the joy of the job itself, and joy in itself it priceless.

Taylor Swifts political veiw

2024-09-27 19:01:52 UTC

Taylor Swifts recent post about her political veiw had tons of backlash. Her political veiw is so looked upon now that she has a big fan base and holds many titles. When taylor was younger and more of a obsecurity she would post about her big republican veiws. She also leaned more to the side of country music and did lots of collabs with very outspoken republicans. While it didnt matter then because she had such little fan base, Her political veiw is now looked upon by many. Also influenced by many fans. Especially considering she now considers herself a democrat, and also says she will be voting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. With this it shows the major difference and impact between Fame and Obsecurity.

Polaris Dawn

2024-09-27 19:02:58 UTC

This article is about how SpaceX made new space suits and the first ever private space walk by the Polaris Dawn Crew. The crew accomplished the first major goal of the flight right off the bat, climbing to an altitude of 870 miles — higher than any piloted spacecraft since the Apollo moon program 60 years ago. The suits were set to be much slimmer and easier to move around in due to the insulation change, and the helmets included a heads-up display to view data such as internal pressure, humidity, and temperature. This relates back to government/politics because before today's time space was a government domain, this can also be seen as a military advancement which could further boost our government. This also relates to the universal theme Space/Cosmos due to the significance of this private space walk occurring, this opens a whole new world to privately owned space companies that can further explore the unknown.

Attempted Trump assassination

2024-09-27 19:04:04 UTC

Book selected: 1984

The article I chose focuses on the recent attempted assassination of Donald Trump. This goes with one of the themes of 1984, being that of political violence and oppression. Recent politics in the US have reached very high temperatures, culminating in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Both sides see themselves as the liberators from tyranny, with many comparing the other's policies to that of my chosen book: 1984

This relates to a common idea that tyranny, and perceptions of tyranny, can cause anyone to do crazy things.

Alix Earle Podcast

2024-09-27 19:11:55 UTC

Alix Earle is a famous tik toker who loves all things fashion, food, makeup and partys. She went to the U of Miami where she started to gain her popularity while filming GRWM's. Her fast paced lifestyle was envyed by many causing a gain in following. A big part of her fame would also have to be her very handsome boyfriend. Braxton Barrios Miami Dolphins football star. Alix began making podcast about her life back in winter of 23, Called Hot Mess with Alix Earle. She has many collabs with other influencers which causes her to have a major following. Causing her to get commercial gigs brand deals and more.

Trumps First assassination attempt

2024-09-27 19:14:37 UTC

I chose to read about the first assassination attempt on Former President Donald Trump. I chose this article because it is relevant due to Donald Trump running for president in the upcoming election. On July 13, 2024 Former President Donald Trump was attending a rally for the upcoming election. During his talk of border crossing attempts, a gunshot is heard from a nearby building directed towards Trump. Trump not knowing what happened crouched down behind his lectern realizing he got shot in the ear, while his security detail neutralized the threat. This major event connects the universal idea of tragedy and triumph because while Donald Trump was being rushed into his car, Trump raises a fist into the air and is thought to say “Fight”. This shows that even though his life was in danger and it could have been a major tragedy, he still wanted to show that he was strong.

Brody Wilcox

2024-09-27 19:18:52 UTC

On July 13, 2024, former president Donald Trump, hosted a rally in order to attract those in favor of him, and persuade those against him why he should be the upcoming president. While giving statistics about border crossings under his presidency, Trump was shot in the ear. After being shot in the ear, Trump ducked for cover, and the secret service surrounded him with shields. The assassin was quickly taken out by a secret service sniper. Many people in the crowd believed he was dead, so to show the crowd that Trump was ok, Trump rose from the group of secret service men protecting him, fist clenched high in the air, and yelled “Fight! Fight! Fight!” This story relates to the universalizing idea of community. Although it was a very scary day for the former president, the people around Trump didn’t move, and were very concerned about him, despite the severity of the situation. People rallied around Trump, and those that were injured and the one that was killed. This theme relates back to Friday Night Lights, because the community around the high school football team was very involved and supported the team a lot.

2024-09-27 19:25:06 UTC

Book selected: 1984

America is a movie that was made about how the United States is a force for good in the world. It's main point is that the US is the antithesis of totalitarianism. In 1984, the nation Winston lives under is an oppressive dictatorship in which you aren't allowed to even think differently than the will of the state.

America is about how the US is a benevolent nation, and a far cry from what many people consider it to be.

Austin Bush

2024-09-27 19:48:10 UTC

On September 17, 2024, Sean “P Diddy” Combs was arrested for his multiple accounts of sexual assault, abuse, and sex trafficking, that span from thirty years ago, to present day. Diddy has been a public figure since the early 1990s, and has recently been through backlash about things that were recently unknown to the public. There have been 5 civil disputes all claiming the same things from their various perspectives of Diddy’s private life. Diddy’s former girlfriend recently spoke out in late 2023 about the hidden scandals that she and Diddy knew about and didn’t let the public know. The face people portray for the public are usually not their real identities and how they would react behind the scenes in their private lives. Even though Diddy has been a large public figure for nearl 30 years, he is still being punish for his heinous crimes that he committed thinking no one would notice or do anything about it. This ties into the evil that is hidden by the fame.

Relation of Cases

2024-09-27 19:59:47 UTC

I chose this because there is a lot going on with almost every industry imaginable so I chose this because this brings light and gives a more in depth perception of people you wouldn't expect to be in a ring of madness. It is numerous people on a very widespread list and that's only for the Sean Combs situation both of these two mean alone could have way more and many people you couldn't even imagine in this whole situation.

Presentation of Data

wareliam26 — 2024-09-27 20:00:31 UTC

In today’s modern, digital world, information can often be presented in ways that are very confusing, and often overwhelming. This then accentuates the need for different ways of data presentation. Data is very useful, and very informing, but, it also needs to be presented in efficient ways, that does not overwhelm, and provides cross comparison and reference with other pieces of information, thus providing important context. This coincides with the theme of our surrounding environment and the world around us. Overall, I would highly recommend this TedTalk, as the speaker makes important connections and arguments.

Philosophy for a happy life

2024-09-27 20:01:56 UTC

In this Ted Talk Sam Berns talks about his life and his 3 aspects to his philosophy. Aspect 1 states ¨Be OK with what you ultimately can´t do, because there is so much you CAN do.¨ Aspect 2 states ¨Surround yourself with people you WANT to be around.¨ Finally aspect 3 states ¨Keep moving forward¨. He then talks about how, instead of feeling bad about yourself just because you´re different, embrace your differences and let them define you. This alone will help anyone live happy.

Eric Adams gets Indicted

2024-09-27 20:02:00 UTC

In the article the Mayor of NYC Eric Adams was indicted of being bribed and accepting the bribes while knowing they are bribes and exchanging them for political favors. The author talks about how some Turkish businessmen were part of the bribes and how, year after year he has continued to accept the bribes and kept it out of the public's eye. They explain that with the charges he faces he can suffer up to 45 years with the conspiracy charge contributing about half of that. Adams says that he wants the citizens of New York to wait to listen to his defense before believing or judging his actions, he will continue to do his job and the others in government will as well, as he was elected to. This relates to the theme of rebellion and revolution because it shows how people in power are corrupted by the influence of power and the way society reacts to the discovery of the charges and it brings about the idea of how if the Mayor of a city takes bribes, who's to say others don't as well? Who’s to say that a lot of the things people do aren't influenced by money, fame, or other things.

Charges upgraded for suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt in Florida

2024-09-27 20:03:07 UTC

On September 24, 2024 at around 7:27pm, it was reported that a man who authorities say stalked out Donald Trump for 12 hours on his golf course in Florida, wrote of his desire to kill him and was indicted Tuesday on an attempted assassination charge. This is highly important due to the fact Donald Trump is the current running representative for the Republican side of the election. A planned assassination has not happened since the assassination of John F. Kennedy. On top of that, this is the second attempt to kill Donald Trump. When anybody who is representing some form of high government position has assassination attempts happen to them, it automatically destabilizes our republic. It destabilizes our republic because it causes people to live in fear while also worrying about who their representative will be to run the country. This shows the universal idea of political intrigue.

Braxton Jerry

2024-09-27 20:08:56 UTC

On September 25, 2024 that a courthouse in Santa Maria was attacked by a bomb explosion. The suspect was located, and is being held for charges. This connects to the universal theme of the world around us. This devastating event has affected the world around us forever. The community of Santa Maria is shutting down other public places because of the fear that something like this will happen again. People around the world will not be comfortable in court rooms because of the tragedy that happened this past Wednesday.

Vienna shows canceled over alleged terrorist plot

2024-09-27 20:14:25 UTC

On August 21, 2024, Taylor Swift publicly announced why some of her concerts for Vienna were canceled, saying that the cancellations were “devastating”. Three sold out shows in Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium abruptly canceled, following the arrest of two teenagers planning an alleged terrorist attack at her shows. Austrian authorities said that the attack was planned to kill people outside the venue using knives or self-made explosives. The intensity of the violence toward concerts has skyrocketed since Ariana Grande’s 2017 Manchester Concert Explosion. It’s devastating that people reach such acts of violence and have access to dangerous weapons at such a young age. This connects to the universal idea of “The World Around Us”, as this doesn’t just happen in specific places, like the US. Instead these attacks are global. This not only affects Taylor, her team, and people going to those shows, but even people going to her other shows, or went to previous shows. This event struck fear into the hearts of anyone reading about this shocking, and devastating event.

Chasing Heroin

2024-09-27 20:14:35 UTC

In this documentary, I learned about the strong affects of heroin and how it impacts your life, as well as your loved ones' lives. The prettiest girl in school, your neighbor, the star football player, it is a possibility for anyone. In this documentary, multiple stories are told from loved ones and passed adicts to highlight the brutal reality of drug abuse. The story of Marah Williams really stuck out. She was an amazing softball player, throwing almost 65 mph at 13 or 14 according to her mom. However, she became severely depressed in middle school and decided to turn to drugs. She became clean, then would use again, then turned her life around and graduated from high school. She met her boyfriend at AA meetings, and really felt like she had turned her life around. However, after about a year and a half of treatment she relapsed and passed. In this documentary, heroin was described as an epidemic. Lieutenant Leslie Mills makes a good point by saying if they were to put every heroin addict in jail, they would be released and continue to use. Sam Quinones describes the heroin use in America as a “quiet epidemic,” meaning that most people do not realize the severity of the situation. This overall connects to the universial idea of survival and hope. Through the stories told in this documentary, we see how some adicts tried to change their ways, and turn their lives around. In others, we see how even though they survive through relapse and overdose, they continue to use, and not change their ways due to their addiction.

Chali & Dixie D'Amelio's Podcast

2024-09-27 20:15:33 UTC

Dixie Jane D'Amelio is an American singer and a famous tik tok star, while her sister Charli D’Amelio is all majority famous for her tik toks. In their podcast, through in depth conversations with each other and the people closest to them, Charli & Dixie dive into the trends that are lighting up their social channels, talk about what excites them, what inspires them and whatever else is on their minds. Plus, they’ll take some deeper dives into the amazing causes that Charli and Dixie support. It’s all on the table as you listen to their fun conversations.

The death of Maggie Smith

2024-09-27 21:46:07 UTC

I read an article on the death of Maggie Smith, a former actor, who won three Emmys and performed in many films including Harry Potter, Hook, Nanny McPhee, The secret garden, and plenty more films. She died today on 9-27-24, she was in the London hospital when she passed away. Even The King and prime minister have both their tributes to the great actress. This reminds many people of death that is to come in their life and what they have or will accomplish before their time is up in this life.

Rylee Brawley

2024-09-27 22:09:51 UTC

This documentary is about a community of people who were part of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the horrible things the people, mainly women, of this community faced. The leader of this community was Warren Jeffs, a man who thought this community of his religion and polygamy. They believed that the more wives you had the more god-like you would become, and that one way a terrible thing would occur and if you were faithful enough, you would be spared from a horrible death. This documentary showcases all of the horrible things that Warren Jeffs did including marrying and assaulting multiple minor girls. This documentary connects with the universal theme of tragedy and triumph. These girls have faced something that was horrible, but it was not only the girls, it was the whole community, they were exploited and manipulated, but today they are free from those standards. I would encourage others to watch this documentary. It is disturbing, but it opens your eyes and you realize just how easy it is to be manipulated.

Ted Talk

2024-09-27 22:34:54 UTC

I chose to watch a ted talk titled: How language shapes the way we think, in which Lera Boroditsky explains the significant differences on how we think just because of the words we use in our language. She recalls how when she studied an aborigine tribe they didn’t have lefts and rights in their language, they only used cardinal directions. This might seem simple but this affects many aspects of their life, even how they perceive time. This example and many others like it, make us rethink how different our languages and communications are from other cultures and peoples.

The world's first AI legal assistant

2024-09-27 22:43:36 UTC

The speaker, Andrew Arruda, explores how most people can’t afford lawyers, and how AI could help people who can’t afford to. His friend, a computer scientist, proposed that they make an AI lawyer to “democratize” the law, and help research. AI lawyers can help represent people when they have no other options. Additionally, the AI could be used to help actual lawyers save time when researching the law. This speech strongly connects to the theme of justice and injustice because people are coming up with potential solutions to problems in the legal system.

Dayzee Jones

2024-09-28 02:27:53 UTC

Janne Willems is a compassionate woman who wants to travel around and help her cause of making others happy. In this TED Talk, she talks about how in doing this, she will travel with note cards and pens and ask people to draw their "most beautiful moment". She loves how it brings smiles to their faces and the lessons people learn without her even having to tell them. She says, "if a beautiful moment can take this many forms, then you can decide whether you regard a moment as beautiful." This is a very strong statement, and a very true statement. This relates to the universal theme of The Red Fern of Memory, because when she asked people to draw these memories, they would sketch symbols that evoke their happy, or sad, past.

High School Football Coach Fired for Praying on the Field

2024-09-28 19:08:49 UTC

Joseph Kennedy, a football coach for Bremerton High School in Washington state, was fired for praying on the football field after a game. Kennedy has done post-game prayers for years, others have even joined him. An issue arose when the opposing team’s coach made a comment to Bremerton's principal after a game. Kennedy was later placed on paid leave. After he was fired, Kennedy created a facebook post that said, “I think I just might have been fired for praying.” This injustice gained attention from the nation and political leaders, such as Donald J. Trump. Kennedy took his case to court and lost twice before the US Supreme Court chose to hear his case. They ruled that the school board of Bremerton discriminated against Kennedy for his post-game prayer at mid field. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch himself said Kennedy’s right to pray was protected under the constitution, and the school board’s actions were unjustifiable, even though they tried to make it look like Kennedy was going against “separation of church and state.” The Bremerton School District was unfair to Joseph Kennedy, and even infringed upon his first amendment right. Our US Supreme Court gave Kennedy rightful justice, and after 7 years he finally got his position back.

NFL Player Over Comes Self-Doubt

2024-09-28 19:16:32 UTC

NFL Quarterback, Alex Smith, got a terrible leg injury during a game. This injury became infected, and his leg was being attacked by a life threatening bacteria. Smith had to go through many surgeries to try and salvage his leg. His wife helped cheer him on every step of the way when he was in the hospital. She would tell him that his wounds were healing up well, even though he refused to look. At the beginning of Smith’s career he experience a lot of self-doubt and anxiety before games. Smith said he got the best 2 pieces of advice in his life during this time. The first piece was from his former coach, Coach Harbourgh. Before games his couch would say, “Play as hard as you can, as fast as you can, as long as you can, and don’t worry.” The last part of his advice, “don’t worry,” is what really stuck with Smith. It helped remind Smith that this game is not supposed to make him feel anxious and full of pressure. The second best piece of advice Smith got was from former teammate Blake Costanzo. Before games, Costanzo would get in Smith’s face and ask, “Are you gonna live today? Because I am.” This helped Alex Smith realize to live in the moment, which helped counter his self-doubt and anxiety. In turn, this led to him playing better, having fun, and winning games. Smith started telling his teammates the same thing, “Just live.” When his leg got infected he lost all faith. Smith felt no motivation, and all of the advice he was given from his coach and teammate went out the window. That was until a football was finally put into his hands one day at therapy. Smith said he instantly felt lighter and alive. It was like a part of him had been reconnected, and he was finally living for something, dreaming for something. After recovery, he was put onto a roster and actually able to play in another NFL game. He was having self-doubt that his leg wouldn’t be able to hold up, but on the third snap, when he was knocked down, he was able to get back up. This helped him realize that he was going to be okay. His experience helped him understand that so much of the anxiety that holds us back in life is self-inflicted, and it is okay if we need others to help us snap out of it. Smith’s inspiration in life was others, and these people, such as his wife, teammate, and coach, helped him grow past his self-doubt and anxiety. His leg once represented everything he had feared and lost in life, but now it is one of the things he is most proud of. They remind him of everything that may come his way, and that he will overcome these challenges. It also is a reminder that there are other people out there who have their own scars, and he wants to try and help these individuals overcome their setbacks by reminding them that there is a whole world out there and “we’ve got a whole lot of living left to do.”

2024-09-28 19:36:57 UTC

Gonzalez was voted president on July 28, 2024, in Venezuela. The presidential election was stolen by Maduro, another political leader. The election was stolen by a corrupt side of the goverment. This is not the first time this has happened. Surrounding countries have asked for Maduro to show proof that he won, he promised to give them documentation and never did. He remains in control in the form of dictatorship. This involves my universal trait because the government of venezuela is a dictatorship as well as my book 1984. In which the people have no say or opinion when it comes to political matters.

Nitrogen Hypoxia and the Death Penalty

2024-09-28 20:08:01 UTC

Currently in the US right now there have been many events contributing to the ongoing discussion of whether or not the death penalty, and how it’s implemented, is constitutional. On January 25th, 2024, inmate Kenneth Smith was killed via nitrogen hypoxia on death row for murdering a woman in 1988. Nitrogen hypoxia in the “death chamber”, is a new method of killing inmates where they are strapped down on a gurney in a closed off gas chamber, and they slowly suffocate to death when the oxygen is replaced by an abundance of nitrogen gas (N₂). In the US constitution it says that people cannot be sentenced to cruel and unusual punishments, so people have been confused and outraged that states have been able to make such a painful execution legal, and have been using it as a point against the death penalty as a whole. No matter what a person has done, they shouldn’t be subjected to torture, and this event brings to light the struggles we have as humanity against dehumanizing practices that are growing to be a staple in our society.

The US Correctional System Needs to be Corrected

2024-09-28 21:45:29 UTC

In this Ted Talk the speaker, Brandon W. Mathews, talks about the changes the US needs to make to their prison correctional system from the perspective of someone who has worked with inmates at prisons. Mathews says that the current system that we have doesn’t rehabilitate inmates to where when they get out of prison they don’t break the law again. He points this out to tell his audience that having a punishment system doesn’t work because it doesn’t actually fix the existing issues of the inmates, making them more likely to commit that same crime again. This Ted Talk is connected to humanity’s struggles against dehumanizing practices because it brings to light what is happening in spaces that most of the population will never see to show how we can improve them to make our communities safer and better.

Taliban law bans women's faces and voices in public

2024-09-29 18:48:55 UTC

This article covers Afghanistan’s recent ban issued over women’s faces and voices in public. On August 21, 2024, supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada issued a ban on women’s voices and faces in public to promote purity and virtue. These rules have been put out in a 35-article document and covers almost every aspect of one's day-to-day life. A ministry spokesman who has been working towards this cause of protection of virtue said “Inshallah we assure you that this Islamic law will be of great help in the promotion of virtue and the elimination of vice”. Since the Taliban has seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 the ministry has been working towards oppressing women’s rights and the restriction of their personal conducts. This connects to the universal theme of struggling to find security in one's identity.

Braxton Jerry

2024-09-29 19:27:39 UTC

When choosing a source of entertainment, I decided that I would go to the YouTube page of Ted Talk and view which video was getting the most views. I also wanted to pick a topic that seemed interesting. So when I came across this video about “What makes a good life” with 26 million views I was intrigued to watch. This video discusses a study that happened to a wide variety of American society trying to identify “what makes a good life”. The most important lesson from this video is to have good, healthy relationships in your life. The studies showed that having healthy relationships prolonged your living ability. This video is related to the universal theme of the nature of humanity; I learned the studies of living with a healthy relationship vs. an unhealthy relationship. As human beings we need other good people to support us and they need us to support them as well. I would encourage other students to watch this video as a reminder that healthy relationships with friends and family are very significant.

How self-respect helps us claim our identity

2024-09-29 19:30:38 UTC

In this Ted Talk, Judge Helen Whitener talks about her own personal experience of struggling with her sexual identity and self-respect. Whitener explains that her very religious parents had different views of her identity, her father was unconditionally supportive and loving, while her mother was more concerned with appearances and her religious position, and was hateful and demeaning. Whitener describes how she cut off contact with her mother out of self-respect for herself and her identity, it was only when her mother learned to be respectful that they reconnected. Whitener further explains how only when we learn that respect does not take your stand ground position, then we can all fully accept and claim our identities and while we may have differences we are not very different at all. This video strongly connects to the universal theme of struggling to find security in one’s identity because it shows a very common and real issue within America and other countries of losing yourself due to constant attacks on identity.

Ella Benton

2024-09-29 23:00:10 UTC

This article talks about how Supreme Court justices have been getting lots of threats. One man has sent over 465 messages to these justices and even some of their family members. These messages held severe and violet languages and started in March of 2023, however started to get increasingly violent in January of 2024. This article can connect to the universal theme of the World Around Us. In the US alone there are many people in power, and this is great except for the reality of how dangerous it can be. There are many people, not just supreme court justices, that receive threatening messages daily.

Ben Peterson

2024-09-29 23:35:22 UTC

In the article it says that jobs where getting better and people where abel to get jobs in all industries but when the out brake of covid-19 jobs became online or a few people where allowed in the workplace, and everything was locked down, less people meant less bisnes for store and components so almost every industry except for medical and farming industries.

Is Climate Change slowing down the Ocean?

2024-09-29 23:56:46 UTC

This TED Talk brings to attention the stats, and examples showing how climate change is slowing the life and progress of the ocean. I chose to watch this talk for current events, because climate change has always been a big concern for me, and has always interested me to learn about. I learned that as the ocean is taking in more and more carbon dioxide, it counts to affect the way the ocean moves within the currents. The Universal Themes of this talk is needed for overall contribution, and presenting concern for upcoming events. This Ted Talk and overall concept should be engaged, because the topic is an upcoming threat if it isn’t focused on, and is overall interesting in how the little things change our world.

Trumps First Assassination Attempt

2024-09-30 00:17:27 UTC

On July 13th 2024 Corey Comperatore 50, was taken from his wife and two daughters during an attempted assassination of our former president Donald Trump. The article I chose to read for this event is published by CBS News. The article reports that there were complications with the communication equipment used by the secret service. We learn that Secret Service personnel were notified about a suspicious person with a rangefinder 27 minutes before the shooting. However, the lead service agent and the other officials said they didn't receive this information. Another point made in this article is that there was a roof barely 100 yards from the podium left unattended, which is then pointed out to be a ¨unacceptable and inexcusable error¨ said by GOP Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. This event relates back to the universal theme Justice and Injustice. What happened on this day was complete injustice. There were three people injured, one man dead, and family members forever left traumatized from an event that could have been prevented. Unacceptable failures in the lack of people doing their jobs caused an innocent bystander his life, injustice at its finest.

Ava Corker

2024-09-30 00:27:22 UTC

This article from PBS News concerns military families finding care for their children. Congress really helped these military families when creating and passing the MIlitary Child Care Act in 1989. Cat Wise states “The overhaul required the military to provide high-quality, affordable care for service members and for child care teachers to earn fair wages,” during her conversation with Patty Barron, overseer of the military child care policy based at the Pentagon. This relates to the universal theme Children and Innocence which deals with the growth of children and maturation. Patty Barron brings up a good point about children mentioning how, “..if we want a country that's going to be forward-leaning, that's going to have a strong economy…we have to invest in what's good for children at the very beginning of their lives.” They want the toddlers and infants to start the beginning of their lives in the right ways and grow up to help us have a strong economy.

The Myth of the Boiling frog

2024-09-30 00:29:43 UTC

The boiling frog myth is if you put one frog in already boiling water, he will jump straight out, while if you slowly heat the second frog it will never notice the change. The speaker uses this misconception to first deny that this is ever true, because of the frog's ability to notice even the slightest tempature change. Then the speaker compares the frog ability to humans, in which he clarifies humans would never know as much as the frog in the tempature outside. This reveals we don’t understand the change in our temperature throughout the world, even by a couple years. By admitting fossil fuels and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it catches all the bad pollution, holding our earth at hotter temperatures. The universal theme in this Ted-ED Talk is, needed overall contribution, and concern, if no precaution is taken. I recommend engaging with this video, to learn more about the concerning upcoming problems, and to be educated within what’s happening in the world around us.

Brody Wilcox

2024-09-30 00:35:08 UTC

Shawn Ryan, former US Navy Seal and CIA contractor, created his podcast named “The Sean Ryan Show”. On his podcast Sean invites celebrities and especially ex-service members to talk about their experiences in whatever work they do. On one episode he talked with actor, Jim Caviezel, who is famously known for his works in The Passion of the Christ, and Sound of Freedom. Through this podcast I learned a lot about Jim Caviezel and his strong relationship with Jesus, and the impacts that his faith has had in his acting career. I chose this podcast because I have seen The Passion of the Christ, and it is a great, heart-touching, super realistic movie about the crucifixion of Jesus, so learning about the actor that plays this role I thought would be intriguing. This podcast relates with the universalizing theme, exploration of the self, because in this episode, Sean asks many questions not only about the movies that Jim has been in, but also about his life and his background and how his faith has shaped who he is and the work he does today. This relates back to the book Friday Night Lights because in the book many of the players search for their true identity, not only in football, but as a person in society. The players deal with pressure not only from the community, but also trying to figure out who they are and what they want to become. I would recommend this podcast to others because the actor that Sean talks to has a lot of personal experiences that people can learn from, and the talks that Sean and Jim have are very deep and interesting.

Ava Corker

2024-09-30 00:41:28 UTC

In this Ted Talk, Zia Hamdard talks about how being competitive can have both pros and cons. Zia mentions how her competitive nature has won her several academic awards. In her opinion competitiveness, “Is where you’re so compassionate to the point you do anything to be the best.” She goes on to talk further on competitiveness and how many people can see it as a bad thing. People can think that you are too serious or aggressive when you don't need to be. Zia talks about her personal experience with being competitive and how it has helped push herself to train/study harder and to do better. Zia’s talk relates back to the theme sports and competition which is the drive to win and your teamwork ability. She describes how competitiveness helped drive her to study harder in school and train harder for soccer.

Enoch Assan

2024-09-30 01:00:16 UTC

In this article, An assassination attempt on Donald Trump occurred while he was in Palm Beach Florida Golfing. The man was hiding in the edges along the walkway of the gold court with a loaded High-power Sks-style assault rifle. The man waited 12 hours for Donald Trump to walk by so he could assassinate him. He was found by a Secret Service agent who confronted and opened fire on him and the Secret Service agency prompted Trump to get in the car and get away from the site. Trump was not harmed by this assassination attempt but was escorted to safety. The man who did this Ryan Routh was charged with 2 federal gun charges and is being held in prison right now as we speak. Thank God Trump is okay and the man who tried to kill him is now in jail.

Ella Benton

2024-09-30 01:06:47 UTC

I chose this video, because while scrolling through the Ted Talks, this video title really caught my eye and intrigued me. In this Ted Talk, Amy Kurzweil talks about how she is a cartoonist and never got to meet her grandfather, who was a pianist and conductor. She felt drawn to him because they were both artists. Kurzweil talks about how her father wrote a program in which you can enter someone’s writing and it creates an AI where you can talk to them. Amy uses the program and enters over 600 pages of her grandfather's letters, diaries, and other documents. She could use this to interact with her grandfather. In doing this Amy asks the AI of her grandfather what the meaning of life is. The AI responds with a simple answer of love. Amy believes that this AI isn’t necessarily for communicating with loved ones who have passed, but instead it is great for carrying on their legacies. This can connect to the Universalizing Theme of Family bonds. Although Amy never got to meet and be around her grandfather, she still felt the need to get to know and interact with him.

Enoch Assan

2024-09-30 01:51:11 UTC

This TED talk talks about the benefits of playing sports on your body. It talks about how it helps release endorphins and reduce the risk of stroke, diabetes, or high blood pressure. It also talks about the psychological benefits of being on a team and learning to trust others. Not only that but being able to work with each other to obtain a common goal. School sports reduce the chances of depression for up to 4 years after you play them. Sports can increase confidence because practice in repetition in a growing environment can start to give you a growth mindset (The belief that ability can be obtained through practice, effort, learning, and persistence). This in turn will help you become confident in yourself. You can also learn through failure. The ability to come to terms with failure and learn will allow you to accomplish different challenges you might face.

Sadie Saunders

2024-09-30 02:16:25 UTC

In this TED Talk, Yoram Yovell, psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem explains his research on why broken hearts hurt. He starts this talk by giving his story of finding out his father had passed away due to sickness, and how his chest physically hurt at the time and even after. He then goes on to give examples and research on the chemicals and systems of the brain and heart. One of the main points he made was that mental pain is the glue that holds everything together. It protects us and draws families, couples, friends, etc. together. Yovell explains the triggers and series of events inside neurons to why love always hurts no matter what kind of relationship it is. I think this relates to the universal theme of The Heart of Relationship because even though love hurts sometimes, everyone needs it and it is important for all.

The Danger of Silence

2024-09-30 02:29:46 UTC

Silence: forbearance from speech or noise. In this Ted talk I learned the dangers of not speaking. I wanted to find something controversial, and I think one of the most controversial things in our world right now is speaking the truth. Clint Smith speaks on how he used to only say what he knew people wanted to hear, appeasing ignorance with silence. He gives an example of Christian being beaten up for being gay, he put his hands in his pockets and walked with his head facing the ground like he didn’t even notice. However, Smith says “Silence is the residue of fear.” We don’t speak up on our truths because we are scared. Scared of what others will think, scared of our reputation being seen as one that is weird, and scared of people not joining in with us. However, none of that matters, all that matters is the power you hold when you go against the grain. This relates back to the universal idea of Courage and Cowardice. This is because you can either choose to be courageous and use your voice for what you believe in, or be a coward in the background. Is a sinner getting beat up by other sinners for sinning moral, absolutely not. Smith, later on in his talk, says what he would’ve done if he had his voice, he then states, “I will tell Christian that he is a lion, a sanctuary of bravery and brilliance.” I think one of the biggest problems in this world is the lack of truth. Our entire life we will hear lies being told or acted out and it’s up to us to choose to be Courageous or Cowardice in how we live.

Kamala Harris - Economic Vision

2024-09-30 02:53:43 UTC

Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, speaks about the economic plan she has in order for her to win more support for the 2024 election. In Harris’ speech, made in Pennsylvania, she pitches her plans for an “Opportunity Economy” to help individuals in the middle class thrive. She describes the approach to her plan as “pragmatic” and “a new way forward for the middle class”. In her economic plan, her aim is to; cut taxes, increase small business startup deduction, assistance for first time home buyers, and investing in manufacturing. By discussing her plan for the future success of the middle class it has helped her gain more support in her campaign. The universal topic in this speech is Futuristic Visions, as the entirety of Harris’ speech discusses the future for the middle class, and how they would be able to succeed and thrive in society if/when she wins the 2024 presidential election.

Tricia Langille

2024-09-30 03:22:55 UTC

This article is covering a court case pertaining to Conspiracy Theorist, Alex Jones. Alex Jones is being pushed against in court due to the fact that he made false allegations concerning the Sandy Hook Shooting, claiming it was all a hoax and done to get more gun control legislation passed. A bankruptcy judge says that he will approve the start of an auction to start selling Jone’s company off piece by piece, to pay for the millions of dollars he owes the families. Despite the loss of his company Jones still continues to use his talk show and personal social media to voice his opinions, but he might lose that too. This article really made me question why Jones would even make those claims about the shooting. I really would like to know the thoughts that were in his head when he decided to publicly contradict the deaths of elementary students. He had to have known that this wasn’t going to be a good outcome for him, so why did he still decide to do it? I think this is a really good illustration of humans feeling like they need to have a different insight on things to feel seen.

Housing prices rising.

2024-09-30 03:47:31 UTC

In this article, it discusses the high cost of housing, and the high demand for income for first time buyers. In 2024, housing prices continue to rise, outpacing the growth of median incomes. In 2022, 59% of the population lived in urban areas, keeping the demand for housing bearable, but now in 2024, 84% of the populations live in urban areas; intensifying the demand for housing. This article relates to the book The Great Gatsby, symbolizing the division between then and now, whereas back then money was everything, and was needed, while now most people don’t have money and find happiness with or without money.

2024-09-30 03:57:38 UTC

This documentary is on the life and legacy of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets. The film gives us a glimpse of all the creativity and motivation put into the work of this gifted individual. While never letting the negativity get in the way, Jim created revolutionary work for the world to enjoy such as; the Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and many more. By getting a chance to step into the television and film industry at a young age, Jim embarked on his journey of puppeteering that would soon change the standards of the television industry. Jim grew his love for the art of puppeteering, but wanted to evolve the world of puppetry to things beyond anyone's imagination. Over his life he created many well known and beloved characters, revolutionized the tv and film industry, and inspired the many generations before and after his time. The universal topic in this documentary is Journey and Self Discovery. This whole film shows all the innovative processes, and self doubt that Jim faced during his time on TV. Jim grew not only as a person, but also in his creativity in his work.

Trump's Economic Plan

2024-09-30 03:58:42 UTC

In this article, former president Donald Trump's speech in Savannah, Georgia, outlines his economic plans for the future, such as cutting taxes and raising tariffs. He plans to accomplish this by wanting to “take other countries’ jobs.” Meaning, by taking their factories, it will bring millions of jobs back from overseas to America and will bring “thousands and thousands of business and trillions of dollars in wealth back to the good ole’ USA.” He says. Trump also pitches lowering the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%. Although not giving specific details towards his plan, Trump says that under his leadership, we will be using our resources to our advantage and have everything we need right here in America, what we don't have now is smart people leading it. This in all ties to the universal theme The World Around Us, as Trump’s speech discusses his future economic plans he has for America.

Crime Junkie

2024-09-30 04:00:34 UTC

In the podcast “Crime Junkie”, the host’s Ashley Flowers and Brit, share the devastating and cold murders or disappearances of people all around the world. This podcast connects to the universal themes of obsession and the pursuit of the unattainable, which connects to the elements in “The Great Gatsby”. Both explore the darker side of human desire, while also highlighting the problems of human nature, similar to how Fitzgerald reveals the characters moral decay in their pursuit of wealth and status. Both narrators suggest that anything can lead to destructive outcomes, highlighting the harsh realities of the world.

clayton freeman

2024-09-30 04:25:23 UTC

The museum of discovery is a museum that has a focus on STEM learning.It is a place to learn about the sciences and after going there I noticed that it had 2 levels, one where you learn about physics based things like mechanical advantage,oscillation ,sound, and energy. Then on the lower level you had the children's area where you learn about animals and you can have fun. It is overall a place to take your kids to learn about sciences without actually knowing that your learning about the sciences as their history part says that it was meant to.

Iranian Hackers

2024-09-30 04:33:52 UTC

This article tells us about Iranian hackers that attempted to interfere with the Trump campaign. They were attempting to compromise the social media accounts of former and current U.S. government officials to spread misinformation. The article states that they were trying to “erode confidence in the U.S. electoral process”, meaning that they were seeking to make Americans not trust the process of voting for a new president. This relates to the universal theme of political intrigue because they were playing “the game of political maneuvering” and attempting to mess with political campaigning and the election.

TED Talk

2024-09-30 05:09:47 UTC

In this TED talk I learned about how to break through fear and become a leader. She talks about how in times of distress, you can lean into your fear and make you stronger in those fearful situations. Breaking through that fear allows you to feel more free and in control. This relates to the universal theme of fear and courage because it’s about facing your fears and learning to live with them or overcome them.

Thomas Mullins

2024-09-30 07:07:54 UTC

The article I chose to write about is Hurricane Helene. Helene is reaching towards the northern part of Florida and the southernmost edges of Georgia. Helene was categorized as a category 4 hurricane. In context, the maximum is a category 5. The hurricane was clocked in at speeds of 140 miles per hour and got an outrageous 2 feet of rain. Some examples of the destruction caused is at least 100 homes were destroyed, millions of people are without electricity as we speak, and 28 people were confirmed dead. Even though this is a horrible cataclysmic event, there are many people helping the ones affected by this tragedy. This theme connects to the book I chose, Friday Night Lights, because in Friday Night Lights the community around the football team were very supportive of what they did and accomplished.

Thomas Mullins

2024-09-30 07:30:08 UTC

In this TED talk, I learned about how “community is key.” I chose this TED talk because it talks about a community within a town coming together to support one another. The speaker talks about how she has seen many funerals, but there is one that sticks with her. She states,” A man who had been a large part of our community had sadly passed.” There were so many people in attendance at the funeral that the hearse struggled to get down the one-way street in the village. This connects to the universal theme that “community is key” because it shows that when people are in support of another, good only comes out of it. You should give this TED talk a listen because it teaches a valuable lesson about being there for others.

Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade

2024-09-30 12:50:48 UTC

Women have been trying to take steps towards more rights for centuries and to change their ‘traditional’ roles. The recent Roe v. Wade overturning takes a step back in terms of bodily autonomy for women. What is a woman in terms of the law? Is a woman less important than a fetus without a heartbeat? Can they be criminalized for having a miscarriage they didn’t have any control over? This recent loss of someone’s control of their own body raises a lot of questions on personal rights.

Marcellus Williams execution

2024-09-30 12:52:38 UTC

This article shows the recent tragedy of the death of Marcellus Williams, a man arrested and recently executed for the murder of Felecia Gayle in 1998. Despite being charged, convicted, and executed for this heinous crime, there has been no evidence to link him to the murder. Detectives found no forensic evidence; meaning no hair, no cloth fibers, no finger/shoe prints, no DNA, and no bodily fluids. Marcellus was found with no blood of the victim on him, even though Felecia Gayle was stabbed 43 times. The execution of Marcellus was openly not supported by the victim's family or the prosecutors in his case for the lack of evidence connecting him to the crime. Despite all evidence pointing toward Mr.Williams being innocent, the state supreme court decided to continue with the execution, putting Williams to death on Sep.24th, 2024. The governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens, used this case to try to prove that he would be the best vote for the people, attempting to show that he would “put his foot down” on heinous crimes such as this. When Greiten was shown that Marcellus was most likely innocent, he did not admit that he was wrong about the case, he instead doubled his efforts to get Marcellus executed in an attempt to gain more votes. This selfishness and corruption ultimately led to the death of an innocent man. This ties back to the universal theme of injustice and corruption by showing an innocent man being put to death for a crime he most likely did not commit for the benefit of a politician.

2024-09-30 12:53:19 UTC

The Trump shooting that occurred on July 13 at 5:11 pm represents the theme of the American dream. This represents an attack on the American dream. An attack on the people's freedom. It attacks people's right to fight for their goals and reach for the stars.

Avery Mccuan

2024-09-30 13:07:41 UTC

In this ted talk Bryan Stevenson brings up the injustice in our world right now. Bryan Stevenson talks about how the United states has the most incarcerated people in the world, Stevenson talks about how one out of 3 men of color are in prison, jail or on probation between the ages of 18-30. Stevenson announces that it's not only about color, it's about places in poverty, and how the system treats you better if you have money and are wealthy. Stevenson brings up the point that the government has us all thinking this is not a us problem or something we can fix. Stevenson brings up the point of why do we think its ok that we kill the people on death row? Is there crime enough that makes it ok for us to kill them? The injustice in our country right now is not how it should be or how it is in other countries. For example he brings up when he talked to people in Germany and they couldn't believe the death penalty was a thing they told him about how they acknowledge their history and know they can't do that. This goes with his point that we are not willing to have a real conversation about our history. He talks about how our country right now is injustice and we just don't want to accept it.

ted talk

2024-09-30 13:13:00 UTC

This TED talk by Chris Duffy; how to find laughter anywhere expresses the universal idea of life's simple pleasures. He does this by talking about the sense of humor in adults and how the only difference between someone with a great sense of humor and people without it is whether they are willing to accept and distinguish their honest reactions, or whether they try their hardest to fit them into a box. After this, he goes on to say that “when we turn off our self-judgment and we just notice the things that stand out to us, or that we think, we can surprise ourselves in ways that are hilarious and delightful.” This follows the universal idea by talking about how joy and laughter are everywhere if you just stop to look.

Gunner Alred

2024-09-30 13:23:43 UTC

In this video, Louise Thwaites explains why tetanus is so dangerous, and what we have done to fight against it. This video tells us that tetanus comes from a bacteria, and when you cut yourself on things associated with giving you, tetanus, it is just the open wound that allows the bacteria to come in. This is a very interesting subject, which is why I believe that others should watch the video. The universal theme for this video is safety, as it explains the things that keep us safe.

Cami Harris

2024-09-30 13:36:48 UTC

The first ever record of a found dinosaur fossil was between the 17th and 19th century by a history scholar by the name of Robert Plot. The bone was found in Cornwell village in Oxfordshire, UK. This groundbreaking discovery of prehistoric life helped to shape civilization's understanding of these ancient creatures, and impacted science in a way that this practice is still utilized in the modern world today. Fossils provide insights into biology and geography, helping scientists understand the past life on earth and better understanding of the events of extinction.

clayton freeman

2024-09-30 13:38:11 UTC

To add on to this it connects to Real Life Adventures because it uses real life experience to learn about a certain subject.

2024-09-30 13:40:08 UTC

One of the most important parts about the NFL is the National Anthem. Sept.. 1, 2016, NFL player named Colin Kaepernick kneeled before a preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers, this struck an uproar in the NFL fan base, even coaches. This movement was started by Colin Kaepernick but it wasn’t just him, more and more NFL players would follow his revolt toward police violence. This revolt toward police violence would reach James A. Garfield high school, 2 players named Quincy Jones and Jimi Hendrix would kneel, Colin Kaepernick would influence people all around the world to take a knee before a game to revolt against Police violence.

The Death of Queen Elizabeth

2024-09-30 14:07:51 UTC

Queen Elizabeth, former queen of the United Kingdom for 70, has passed away at 96 years old. It was announced that she passed away at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland, after her health severely took a turn for the worse.She helped stabilize many social changes and scandal problems they dealt with, so when Britain's longest reigning monarch passed away it impacted many different aspects. This article talks a lot about her early years in life and how she was always so optimistic in desperate times.The people are going to deeply miss her as a person, but they also need to find a new queen/king to rule. This impacted a lot of individuals emotionally and politically, they elected a new King, King Charles the third. Charles is nowhere near as popular as Queen Elizabeth was, but strong opinions on architecture and the environment might prove more contentious. This connects to a universal theme of how power influences characters, governments, and the individual's own power.

The infamous OJ Simpson trial

2024-09-30 14:16:45 UTC

TMZ’s Harvey Levin reveals new and true information about his time with the OJ Simpson Case. Nichole Brown-Simpson was arriving home from her daughter's dance recital when she realized she had left her sunglasses, so Ron Goldman brought them to her in an act of kindness. Not even 12 hours later, Nichole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman were found dead in the Simpson household, and OJ was the prime suspect. Simpson was then arrested and was trialed multiple times where he pled not guilty despite the numerous reports and the substantial amount of evidence against him. The scene of the crime left a ton of evidence including blood and the very infamous glove. Despite all the evidence, Simpson still pleaded not guilty and used the defense of accusing the LAPD of mishandling the evidence and calling the investigators racist. He largely explained how the crime scene was contaminated and how he couldn’t have even been a part of it because of his alibi. Eventually, on October 3, 1995, the OJ Simpson trial ended despite the huge amount of evidence that was still on the table. His fame and his wealth allowed him to afford the best lawyers available. He already had a largely positive public status from his former time in the NFL, so it could have swayed the jury to vote him not guilty.

Finley Malone

2024-09-30 14:22:16 UTC

I chose to read the article about the Oakland Coliseum’s last home game for the Athletics because I wanted to understand the emotional impact of this moment for fans and players alike. I learned about the rich history of the stadium and how it shaped the team's identity over the years. This connects to the universal idea of change and loss, as the team prepares to leave a place filled with memories. Others should engage with this story because it highlights the deep connections people have to sports and the places they play, showing us all the importance of community and shared experiences.

Tricia Langille

2024-09-30 14:23:02 UTC

This podcast is a detailed report over “The Killer Clown”, serial killer, John Wayne Gacy. Gacy had a rough relationship with his father and got degraded on the daily. One thing Gacy’s father was particularly fond of was calling Gacy “gay” as an insult. This brought a major identity crisis all throughout Gacy’s childhood. The podcast goes on to say that people perceived Gacy as a very friendly guy who was great for the neighborhood. It was very common to see Gacy dressed as a clown at local birthday parties and putting on a good show. We later find out that Gacy had this clown persona as a way to mask his internal hatred towards himself. This hatred kept growing within Gacy and eventually led to the death of 33 teenage boys. This podcast was a great dive into the mind of Gacy and presented listeners with the “why” behind Gacy’s actions.

Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

2024-09-30 14:29:10 UTC

In this video Tim Urban goes into depth on how people with procrastination tendencies think, and act. Tim even goes on, and explains why the decision of procrastination comes about. To do this, he uses his own mind, and habits as an example. He explains that he’s never been able to shake those habits, and how it affected his life. However, he then uses this time to encourage others to work hard, and really pay attention to what they’re procrastinating on. Encouraging us to stop the continuous cycle before it's too late. It’s very important to realize unhealthy habits and balance them out before consequences take full effect. This relates to the Universal Topic of The Nature of Humanity, since this is a very common practice, and habit amongst humans. This topic dives into the growth and development humans experience when picking out and fixing their unhealthy motives. I chose this topic because even I struggle with this phenomenon, and want to learn more about how I can prevent the consequences that come with it.

Joe Rogan Experience #1169

2024-09-30 14:58:59 UTC

On episode #1169 of the Joe Rogan Experience, Elon Musk appeared on Rogan's podcast. Musk engaged in a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour discussion covering topics such as AI, and the concept of living in a computer simulation, and also dived into the world of Japanese swords. Elon also talked about his new company, The Boring Company, and how they sell flame throwers. He even talks about keeping his car company, Tesla, in business. This connects to the universal theme "The World Around Us" because AI and Musk's new electric cars are shaping the world around us making fuel cars less relevant and the idea of AI driving assistance in electric cars more relevant.

Hurricane Helen - Ava Kelley

2024-09-30 18:48:01 UTC

Hurricane Helen is a category 4 hurricane that has hit Florida, Georgia, the Carolina's, Tennessee, etc. This hurricane has 140 mph winds and has killed at least 116 people. It has ruined homes, flooded streets, uprooted trees, destroyed basically anything in its way. This event relates back to the universal theme of survival and hope, because people are in danger because of this hurricane and are trying to survive.

Trump shooting

2024-09-30 18:50:17 UTC

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/bipartisan-report-trump-shooting-secret-service-failures-tech-rcna172433

I chose this current event of the Trump shooting when he was giving a speech and got shot on the side of his ear because it was a very important event in today's time. The secret service failed to protect Trump, and it is now being argued who is to be blamed for not protecting him. The universal theme that I connect with this current event is survival and hope. Donald Trump survived the shooting against all odds, it just so happened that the shooter had a terrible aim and didn't kill trump.

Gabriel Fernandez trial

2024-09-30 18:50:44 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T7VXlB4qUI

I chose the Trials of Gabriel Fernandez because this was a very sad and interesting case because the parents abused and did terrible things to him, causing him to die at only 8 years old. His abuse and neglect had been going on his whole life, but when it finally came to the worst, the first responders came too late, and he was already brain dead and died 2 days after they found him. The universal theme that I connect with this case is crime and justice. The parents of Gabriel committed multiple crimes, and this poor boy even after he was dead still needed his justice.

Florida coast hurricanes - Delilah Puchta

2024-09-30 19:55:15 UTC

Florida is used to hurricanes more than any other state. In 2022 they were hit by Hurricane Ian and were just hit by Hurricane Helene, and both were category 4 and had wind speeds reaching above 100 mph.The idea of survival and hope can be seen through the deaths of almost 150 people lost due to Hurricane Ian and the survives will to live on and move forward. Most people that were displace due to Hurricane Ian have found homes or somewhere to live but there still are people that do not have anywhere to live. Hurricane Ian also ruined several structures and roads that were reinforced in anticipation of Hurrican Helene. With all the loss Florida has faced over the years due to hurricanes they are even more prepared and ready to help those in need when the next hurricane hits. They are doing this by reinfrocing structures and roads, extending housing progams, and implementing emergency crews.

2024-09-30 20:07:54 UTC

This documentary talks about the 2020 COVID pandemic and how it affected the world. It also shows how the government controlled population, mandates, and fear. The government tried to force people to wear masks and take the vaccine. Those who did not do these things were treated poorly and different This related to my universal theme of a controlling government because they had a reach on everyone's lives.

Delilah Puchta - what makes a good life

2024-09-30 20:47:16 UTC

The Ted Talk “What Makes a Good Life” by Robert Waldinger; expresses the idea of the importance of relationships. In his presentation he talks about the ongoing study that started over 75 years ago about what makes people happy. He explains how most studies dont last very long due to lack of funding and researchers, but this study is continually progressing and gives us insight on several different aspects of life. One thing that he mentions is that if people are lonely they do not live as long or as healthy of a life as people who are not. He also mentions that it is not about the quanity of your relationships but the quality. Relationships are important and you do not have to have an outrageous amount of friends to be happy but you have to have people that make you happy and stratified. They found that the more satisfied you are in your relationships in middle age the longer and healthier you live; also as you get older the more physical pain you feel is either buffered or magnified by how satisfied you are with your relationships.

Procrastination

2024-09-30 22:23:20 UTC

I chose this ted talk about procasination because I did it myself on this assignment. This video dives into the universal idea of the nature of humanity and how it's ironic that we do something that we know we shouldn't be doing. The video goes on to talk about how the brain procrasinates in real time and studies done on how putting things off makes them more difficult. The purpose of this video was to inform you on why you might be procrasinating and that is the opposite of what the book im reading talks about "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau.

Anna Dallas

2024-09-30 22:56:33 UTC

I chose to watch a documentary over the most isolated country in the world, North Korea. This video describes the oppressive regime that is imposed onto its people, and how media is being smuggled in to educate the North Korean people. It even features footage taken from secret cameras by agents in North Korea. I feel that this documentary connects to my universal idea of ethics because is it ethical to brainwash your people to keep a stable country? I do not think it is but the North Korean people in power most likely have a different mindset on this, causing North Korea to be the most hidden and secretive nation on the planet.

Luke Bagby

2024-09-30 23:34:55 UTC

I chose the riot on the capitol on January sixth of 2021 as my event. One universal idea that this event connects to is that of the American Dream. This is because it questions the attainability of the American Dream. This event also shows how the American Dream may be just that, a dream. This is demonstrated through the fact that some American people do not believe that the dream applies to everyone, they want it for themselves and for people with the same beliefs as them but only those people. If someone's beliefs do not align with theirs or they are just different they do not deserve the dream in their eyes. This is evident in this event through people rioting against Biden’s election. This proves this claim because Biden did not have the same beliefs as them so to them he did not deserve to be in office. On the other hand, this event could show that people take the American dream too far and do things that they shouldn’t because of their freedom. This is shown through these people who committed outlandish and possibly illegal acts because of their freedoms during this event.

Luke Bagby

2024-09-30 23:36:54 UTC

I chose this video because it directly speaks on one of the universal ideas from the book I chose. I also chose this video because the speaker is someone not born in America providing a more unique perspective on the American Dream. This video connects to the idea of the American Dream through questioning its validity and then reevaluating what the American Dream is actually about. It speaks on the fact that the American dream is thought of as a guarantee of wealth, however this is not the case. This is shown through the personal story of the speaker. This is done when in this video she states that because she was not a citizen it was difficult for her to find a job. The speaker also states that she was fired from her job and that she then realized that in chasing this “American Dream” she had lost more than she had gained. This leads her to realize that the American Dream was not just about becoming wealthy it was about finding happiness and purpose in your life through pursuing your own goals in life.

Dangers of A.I. Matthew Ballew

2024-10-01 00:31:52 UTC

I chose dangerous A.I. as my current event. In the provided TED Talk video, Sasha Luccioni, an A.I. expertise, shares with her audience many negative impacts of A.I, like climate impacts and biases, however, she also provides the audience with ways these things can be fixed/changed. This topic can relate back to the theme of the world around us, because it provides us information about the emission of harmful gasses around the world because of a specific tool used by ignorant humans. A.I. does have its negatives, like harmful emissions and biasness, however, with a little bit of hope and knowledge, A.I. can become a much more useful and safe tool.

Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable - Matthew Ballew

2024-10-01 00:48:25 UTC

I chose Getting Comfortable with being Uncomfortable as my Entertainment. In the provided TED Talk video, Luvvie Ajayi Jones speaks up about becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. She makes many great points and metaphors, like being a “domino”, so those can follow in your path. This video can relate back to the theme of the world around us because as one person is doing something they feel is uncomfortable, someone is finding their voice, and becoming comfortable enough to speak up.

The Trump Shooting

2024-10-01 00:53:01 UTC

In this article, the universal theme is War and Peace. The author of the article explains how the Secret Service did not do a very good job protecting the former president. This relates to the universal theme because there was an attempt to kill a former president of the United States, and they are trying to keep the former president in peace. The former president was not able to stay in peace and was shot, in which the secret service snipers then neutralized the threat.

Maggie Williams Podcast Ep. 1

2024-10-01 01:11:33 UTC

In this podcast, Maggie Williams and Macy Watkins, who are avid-outdoorsmen involved with hunting and fishing, discuss their hobbies, challenges of being a female involved with hunting and fishing, personal experiences, and most importantly their friendship between each other and the community. I chose this podcast because it involves my favorite "influencers" who are people that participate in my favorite hobbies, and I believed that there was a good message behind their story. When answering a Q/A from their followers, someone asked for advice for women that want to get involved in hunting, but have little to no experience. Their first piece of advice was to find a mentor or a group of people that you trust with the same intentions to learn and grow. Maggie and Macy both agreed that their best experiences in the outdoors were with their father or their groups of friends. Their hobbies brought them together, and this shows the importance of good family and friends. Towards the end of the podcast, Maggie was explaining that life can be chaotic, and at times can be very draining and difficult. But, it is fun with good friends. Macy agreed by stating how glad she was that she found Maggie, and it feels like they are sisters. Maggie stated, “We really are sisters from another mister…it's unreal how we met in January, and we have so much in common. I needed you, and you needed me. And God placed each other in one another's lives for that purpose.” Macy responded, “I feel like God specifically took things away in our lives, but then gave us to each other which was the biggest blessing.” This connects with "The Great Gatsby" because they both have a universal idea that express the importance of friendships. I learned that although life can get very stressful easily, good friends will always make it better. There is nothing better than a valuable friendship, and knowing that you will always have someone around that will have your back in tough times. I believe that other people should listen to this podcast because you can hear an example of a friendship that came about during a time when Maggie and Macy really needed it, and all of the benefits of having a best friend.

Tetanus

2024-10-01 01:20:16 UTC

In this Ted Talk, the universal theme is Disease and Healing. The narrator explains how the tetanus virus is spread and how it works throughout your body. The narrator explains how the virus does not just come from rusty metal but from metal that has had things like soil manure or dead leaves on the metal. The Ted talk explains how when you get cuts and dirt or other tetanus transmitters inside the wound, it gets clostridium tetani, which then releases toxins that spread to the brain and cause things like muscle spasms and other neurological malfunctions. The narrator further explains how the doctor will prescribe antibiotics and antitoxins to fight the disease and finally be cured.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-01 01:33:07 UTC

Hurricane Helene is a dangerous category 4 storm. It started in Georgia and is causing flooding in Atlanta and the Carolinas on Thursday. Then made landfall in Florida on Friday morning. 6 people have died so far and has caused power outages to over 4 million people. It is a very deadly and life-threatening storm and many peoples' towns and houses are getting flooded and destroyed from how strong the wind has been. This connects to a universal idea because it's affecting many people in different areas and their lives. It's destroying peoples homes, workplaces, schools and just other places that people go to on a daily basis.

Language and thought

2024-10-01 01:38:20 UTC

I chose a Ted Talk spoken by Lera Boroditsky, which is a presentation about the way diction in language can shape the way your audience thinks about a subject. She starts the speech by defining what language means, then gives an example of a culture in Sub-Saharan Africa that uses their cardinal directions as the basis for their thought and speech. Mrs. Boroditsky continues to give different examples that show the contrast between English speakers' way of thought and the speakers of other languages; such as the difference between German and Spanish words for the moon and the sun, commenting on how the language they use reflects their abstract concepts of male and female. She uses these varying examples of language to show the different ways that your diction can shape the way your audience thinks. She commonly ties her examples to the universal theme of art and creativity, showing how different cultures use their language to express their emotions and their abstract thoughts, as well as showing how understanding different languages can give you insight to different cultures as a whole. This universal idea of art and creativity is essential to all who wish to use their language to communicate abstract thought to others as it's impossible to do without it.

Wealth Ted Talk

2024-10-01 01:59:22 UTC

This Ted Talk discusses how "wealth" can vary from person to person. I chose this Ted Talk because lately I've been spending a lot of time thinking about my future and my goals of "wealth". Nyandoro discusses what her younger self viewed as wealth, then shows how as she aged more, that view changed. She shared an anecdote from when she was younger mentioning whenever they had new clothes, looking good made them feel rich. She then mentions a time when she learned about what a 401K was and tried to open one with the hopes of getting rich quick. Nyandoro's goals were to retire comfortably by 60, and to take care of her mother, to which the clerk discouraged her from doing. This brought to her attention that the definition of wealth can vary from person to person. This Ted Talk connects to the universal idea of the pursuit of wealth. Nyandoro explains that wealth can also be measured beyond money. We as people can are all constantly working to pursue wealth, whether it be a career, relationships, material posessions, awards, and so many other things. I think it is good to see wealth as more than just money and posessions because it puts into perspective how much better we have it than we realize.

Ted Talk - Are Smartphones Ruining Childhoods?

2024-10-01 02:05:58 UTC

I chose this Ted Talk because it should be something that people talk about and be able to fix to give kids normal childhoods. It talks about how Jonathen Haidt thinks smartphones are ruining childhoods. Depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide are thought to be caused by our cellphones from the numbers increasing of those. In 1990 there were no smartphones or internet so it was a lot different back then. Kids are loving technology nowadays and all the new skills they can learn. But in reality it’s not really helping anyone and becoming something everyone is obsessed with and doesn't know what to do without it. Over 50% of children are on the internet which they say is not a normal childhood and should go out into the world and do other things then scrolling through liking posts or wondering if I should post this or that. They say that our life shouldn't revolve around a smartphone and should be able to live childhoods like kids through the 2000s to 2010. This connects to a universal idea because lots of people could come on here and talk about how phones are ruining childhoods and need to stop it. There are many reasons for why and why not they are bad for you. But at the end of the day its your choice and how you want to live your life.

Ben Peterson

2024-10-01 02:16:16 UTC

My theme is The great mystery of life, in the documentary it talks talks about when ai come out people loved and hated it, and that it could be beneficial it the would in health care and in building and teaching, but it is getting smarter and teaching it self/ evolving. It could control us if we give it too much power or influence in are life and society. That is why we need to put safe gards on it so it does not enililat use.

Israeli Air Strike

2024-10-01 02:30:34 UTC

In this article it talked about a recent air strike that Israel dropped on Lebanon killing 492 people. Thousands of people have fled their homes in Lebanon due to the incoming strikes. Both of the countries have been battling back and forth, launching rockets at each other. President Biden said the US is trying to de-escalate in a way that lets people return home safely. The best theme that goes with this is “war and peace”, because there is war going on and there are people who are trying to put things into effect that stop the war.

Trump Shooting

2024-10-01 02:44:14 UTC

On July 13th, During Donald Trump's July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania he was shot by Thomas Crooks right in the ear. Thomas Crooks was about 100 yards away on a roof which had not been checked. When Donald Trump was being escorted off the podium he shouted fight three times while throwing his fist in the air three times. Then two days after being shot he made a public appearance. The universal theme that this goes with is bravery. A lot of people would have ran off stage and not gone back in public for a couple weeks after. He was showing bravery because he wanted the USA to fight back against this. He was also showing that getting shot was not gonna stop him from anything.

Seek One Podcast

2024-10-01 02:49:18 UTC

On episode #30 of the seek one podcast which is hosted by Lee Ellis, he had two of his hunting friends discussing the topic of hunting with him. In this podcast the focus is on huge deer that they had been tracking and trying to get on for a long time that got away. I chose this because I am a very big fan of the Seek One team because they enjoy the same hobbies as me, such as hunting. Also, they show lots of respect to the art of hunting and always put the Lord first in everything they do. This goes with the universal idea of tragedy and triumph, because it shows how not everything is going to work out the way you planned it. Just like how the deer that Lee planned on harvesting never showed up on the days he was hunting. When it doesn’t go your way it may be discouraging, but that will make your next accomplishment even better. I think this podcast is a great one to listen to if you love hunting because it shows how just because one big deer doesn’t end up in your hands doesn’t mean there isn’t more, and that you can always learn from what you did wrong and use it to your advantage next time.

Luke Rupert

2024-10-01 03:10:44 UTC

Tim Walz and JD Vance will take the stage on Tuesday to discuss their views and goals for the upcoming election cycle. JD Vance does have past experience of being a lawyer which has been rumored to make Tim Walz a bit on edge. This vice presidential debate could have a bit more of an impact on this year's election then past ones as well due to it being the last time the public gets to see each side square off against each other before election day. This all ties into the universal idea of the world around us as this debate will tell us a lot about the future of this country.

Billions Club ft. Ed Sheeran

2024-10-01 03:25:57 UTC

In this episode of the podcast: Billions Club, Ed Sheeran goes back to Suffolk, United Kingdom, to reflect over his musical achievements as a artist at key places in his life that inspired some of his biggest hits. Ed Sheeran shares with us the awards he won throughout his career and gives us his own personal stories about his songwriting process. He also discusses how thankful he is from all of the support his fans have given him through his life to bring him to where he is now. The universal topic in this podcast is Journey and Self Discovery, because it shows the process of how Ed Sheeran has grown in his successful career as a musical artist.

Ted Talk - Ava Kelley

2024-10-01 04:30:04 UTC

In this Ted Talk I learned about how to find laughter anywhere. I chose this Ted Talk because it talked about how you can find laughter in the weirdest ways. This Ted Talk also talked about how different people have different types of humor. People take humor differently and show it in different ways. He shared examples of some ways and situations that he turned into a funny situation. This relates with the universal idea of the language of humanity, and I think that people should engage in finding ways to make anything or even weird things into laughter.

Roe v. Wade

2024-10-01 04:33:57 UTC

I chose Roe v. Wade as my current event topic. June 24th, 2022 the lives and challenges of women would be greatly impacted by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The overturning of this law would cause abortion to become illegal across multiple U.S. states. For nearly 50 years women in all of the US were given the choice to carry a pregnancy to full term, however now half of America has placed restrictions or complete bans on abortion. The article makes note of the women who shared feelings of being scared, and also the minority women that have already had struggles with accessible healthcare. It then opposes these points by telling a quote from former president Trump that this “will work out for everybody”. Statistics are shown of the “1 in 10” people who believe abortion should be illegal no matter what and the majority of people that believe abortion should be legal but restrictions after the fetus is to a certain term. The universal theme is a power struggle between the government and American women. Their choice has been taken with no exceptions to brutal circumstances. This should be a topic others should look into especially the American women and girls who can fight to gain back their rights and choice of their body.

How school shootings have influenced the overall infrastructure of a classroom

2024-10-01 04:47:06 UTC

For the current event section of this project, I decided to choose an article about one of the effects of school shootings. I decided to read and report on this article because of the recent events going on in our community and our country. The Wall Street Journal’s article on “How School Shootings Are Changing the Design of American Classrooms” explores how modern school architecture is being influenced by the need for safety in response to the rise of school shootings; a problem that America deals with almost every day. Due to this, architects are incorporating features like reinforced materials, limited entry points, and internal designs that reduce visibility into classrooms to prevent potential attackers from getting access. The challenge of this lies in the ability to balance these safety measures with keeping schools welcoming, rather than full-of-fear and prison-like. This article reflects a broader idea: human nature. Evil in the world is unavoidable, so the desire to feel safe while fostering community and keeping connections is extremely likely among the population. Additionally, like in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, this article is able to highlight the horrors of this world, the nature of it.

Effects of Hurricane Helena

2024-10-01 04:51:04 UTC

This article talks about a man and his dog being rescued on a disabled boat due to the harsh conditions of Hurricane Helena. According to the article, authorities said, “Coast Guard crews responded to the boater’s distress call and rushed to the man’s location, approximately 25 miles offshore from Sanibel Island near Fort Myers.” It has been confirmed that two people were killed during Hurricane Helene's passage into Georgia overnight, meaning three people died as numbers continue to rise. The rescue introduces universal themes of survival and hope because many people were at a loss for hope due to the violent winds and damage caused by the hurricane. This rescue also evokes the theme of mystery, as officials have not disclosed why the man was out to sea while small craft advisories and hurricane warnings had already been issued in the area.

The Effects of Virtual Intelligence in the Future

2024-10-01 04:52:18 UTC

This article discusses the potential positive and negative impacts technology has on our future society. Deborah Nas discusses how profoundly technology can change our daily lives. She discusses how artificial intelligence and use of technology can shape our decisions. She quotes, "If we let technology dictate our choices, we risk losing our humanity." This emphasizes themes of Humanity vs. Technology as well as Choice and Responsibility because if we let technology overly influence our lives and become dependent on technology, it could lead to negative consequences in the future.

The Downfall of Diddy

2024-10-01 05:08:09 UTC

The documentary “TMZ Presents: The Downfall of DIddy” on Tubi explores the legal controversies and allegations surrounding Sean “Diddy” Combs. I selected this documentary to watch and report on because it is a prime example of how power and fame can lead to both opportunity and abuse, and obviously due to recent events. Diddy, once at the peak of success, is now facing the consequences of his actions, leaving his entire career in jeopardy. This reflects how unchecked influence and power in the industry can lead to moral downfall for a person. I also selected to write about this film because it connects to the universal theme of identity, which can also be seen in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In both pieces, it is shown how one’s identity can be shaped by their experiences- with Angelou her identity is shaped through her resilience, while Diddy’s is shaped through the unraveling of his public image due to his cruel, alleged actions. In this case, this documentary about Diddy shows that identity is both complex and fragile. I recommend this documentary to those interested in knowing how fame, too much of it at that, can ruin a person. This documentary does go over sensitive themes, so proceed with caution.

Between the Matt's Podcast

2024-10-01 13:01:10 UTC

This podcast covers Highschool football teams, games, coaches, and players all over the state of Arkansas. Whether the schools rank from 5a, 6a, or even 7a they cover the games stats and what happened under the Friday night lights. They cover top plays from games and big wins deciding what will happen in the future. I chose this podcast because I play football and I am interested in what happens during other games even while I am playing. This connects to the universal theme Of sports and competition because they review teams on how well they played and the teams drive to win the game.

Milton High School Athletes Kneel During the National Anthem

2024-10-01 13:21:30 UTC

https://vermontdailychronicle.com/high-school-hoopsters-kneel-during-national-anthem-online-stir-ensues/

In this article published earlier this year by Vermont Daily Chronicle, author Paul Bean informed us of Milton High School’s basketball team having several players choosing to kneel during the national anthem as a form of protest. It is a good idea for people to stand up for their beliefs and rights, especially when they believe they are being treated unfairly. However, while racism is an ongoing issue in our country, there are way more efficient ways to fight back that do not involve disrespecting the American flag. Kaylan Sweet’s quote relates to the universal theme of Justice and Injustice because this report is all about high school athletes trying to do whatever they can to achieve justice in their society. They were bold enough to sacrifice their reputations.

2024-10-01 13:24:39 UTC

This article goes into depth and exact details leading up to the attempted assassination on trump. This connects with The world around us, literally because it connects with what goes on in this world. Like the article goes into what he did the day before and on the day of his plan, him being Thomas Matthew Crooks. And Crooks was borderline crazy to attempt an assassination outta the blue like that.

NFL Fantasy Football Podcast

2024-10-01 13:48:48 UTC

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/week-4-predictions-top-scorers-sleepers-and-encore/id464156500?i=1000670839934

This compelling podcast features Marcas Grant, Michael F. Florio, and LaQuan Jones, who talk about the upcoming week of fantasy football. They predicted what they thought everyone would score this week, and gave their audience some quality advice for who they should start or sit. I picked this podcast because I enjoy playing fantasy football every year and I love watching the NFL. This podcast relates to the universal theme: The Pursuit of Wealth. All these NFL experts on this podcast have the goal of helping you start the best possible team week to week. If you're in a money league, then you're pursuing money, which is also the pursuit of wealth.

Semaglutide for Weight Loss

2024-10-01 14:28:19 UTC

People are always trying to find a shortcut for anything, and the government is quick to jump on this. Diabetes is a struggle for many people in America and proper medication is becoming increasingly hard to find. This is because of the legalization of Semaglutide for patients who are just overweight. This leaves many Diabetes patients without the ability to gain proper medicine and have to settle for ones that don’t properly help them or ones that they could have allergic reactions to. Conversations about another form of diabetes drug, Tirzepatide, becoming legal for weight loss are becoming increasingly common. This just ties into the thought process political intrigue. A large group of people wanted to lose weight easily, so a drug became legalized for all people, even though it put many different people that were actually in need of it at risk.

Don't F With Cats

2024-10-01 14:31:28 UTC

My dad had recommended a documentary called Don’t F*** with Cats, so me and my friend, Emory Bradley, decided to watch it. It was a gruesome representation of the depths mental illness can drive you into. He started with killing cats, but that soon led to stalking and much worse things. The killer was said to have many different personality diseases and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This documentary just shows that mental illnesses should be treated and monitored properly for the safety of the person and the people around them. If you can get proper help and live in an environment that's supporting you are more likely to turn out for the best. The killer didn’t get help for his illnesses and this drove him into madness.

NASA strange noise in space

2024-10-01 14:34:16 UTC

September 2nd of 2024 NASA sent the Boeing star liner spacecraft to space but weirdly enough things had changed they were not able to come back to earth due to helium leaks and issues with the control thrusts due to this happening they will not be able to come back to earth for several months, But while they have been in space something strange was happening, There have been weird noises they have described the noises to be almost like a pulsing noise or a sonar ping, NASA does not know what this sound is they have never heard this noise before. this relates with facing the unknown because no one knows what this noise is so many people after hearing this sound has posted on social medias saying that they are a little bit freaked out by this or they have started coming up with conspiracy theories on the strange noises that are happening in space.

How To Make A Cat Happy In 3 Minutes

2024-10-01 14:57:21 UTC

Animal behaviorist Nicky Trevorrow, explains how to make your cat happy in 3 minutes. She talks about how it's very important to interact and play with your cat. Her main point is feeding enrichment, this means finding different creative ways to feed your cat. Like putting it in different types of bowls for example, so they have to work for it. This is actually scientifically proven to make a cat happier and it only takes 3 minutes. She also mentions different puzzle toys that also can produce happier levels for your cat. Senses of achievement make them happy when they find their food, it also encourages natural hunting and is useful for training. This connects to a universal theme of, Heart of Relationships, because this is how owners can build their relationship with their cats. It really shows how awesome cats are.

USA Volleyball

2024-10-01 14:59:36 UTC

Volleyball is considered a form of entertainment/business just like any other sport, however this is only true for professional players. People love to watch volleyball, especially at the higher levels because of how competitive it can be. As volleyball has become more popular the skill level has intensified extremely with harder hits, faster reactions, and a lot more hustle. One reason its gotten all this attention is because of the excitement, with how fast pace it is, it's easy for people to get deeply invested.

U.S. Slavery

2024-10-01 15:09:35 UTC

People believe slavery was brought to the U.S. in 1619 when The White Lion brought over 20 enslaved African Americans from Britian colonies. Throughout the 17th century slaves became very useful to a lot of North Americans meaning they would bring more and more slaves to the Americas. Enslaved African Americans worked mainly on tobacco, rice and indigo plantations and by the end of 1662 all African children were enslaved in the U.S. In the mid 19th century the abolition movement started a strong debate on slavery that ended up splitting the nation apart.

Cacie Skidmore

2024-10-01 15:29:19 UTC

It was a rainy day, I'm walking out the restroom when I walk around the corner I notice Coach Benton in the hallway outside of my math class. He noticed me and asked me to go in class and grab my belongings and come with him to the office. I later found myself scared to inform my mom I had been caught vaping on school campus. I was placed into the second chance program and had to pay a small fine. Since that day I have not picked up a nicotine device .

Big Bang

2024-10-01 15:51:49 UTC

The theory of the big bang is an idea that the beginning of the universe came from a big bang or explosion of some sorts. The website Space.com researched and informed us of such theory “Around 13.7 billion years ago, everything in the entire universe was condensed in an infinitesimally small singularity, a point of infinite denseness and heat. Suddenly, an explosive expansion began, ballooning our universe outwards faster than the speed of light.” We utilize this or capitalize off of this in the current world by giving us an idea or thought of how the universe started in the first place. This connects to the universal idea of the world around us because we expanded and grew as the human race such as the universe grew and expanded.

Failed Trump Assassination Caused by Communiation Failures within the Secret Service.

2024-10-01 15:56:55 UTC

The article talks about the failed Trump assassination, occurring on July 13, 2024. Minutes before the shooting, the Secret Service called for a countersniper to report to a roof where the shooter was seen. This important piece of information was not relayed over the radio network for the Secret Service, this is where the error occurred. At 6:10 pm, local police confronted the shooter on the roof, causing a site agent to call a deputy dealing with the problem. During this call, shots were fired at former President Trump, nipping his ear. This article relates to the universal theme of “The Nature of Humanity” by portraying how humans detest beliefs that do not correspond with their own. Some people get so upset at the fact that people can have different opinions that they turn to harmful acts, such as the shooting taking place on July 13.

School Shootings

2024-10-01 16:00:24 UTC

For this section I have chosen to speak about school shootings because it has had a very big impact on the educational system and the way that things are run in school districts. In just this year alone there has been a total of 50 school shootings with 37 being on K-12 campuses. In 2023 there were a total of 82 annual school shootings with 37 of them taking place before September 20th. Since 2008 in the state of Texas there has been at least a total of 61 school shootings, in Washington D.C. there has been at least 16 school shootings, in Arkansas there has been at least 13 school shootings, and in Alabama there has been at least 27 school shootings. SInce 2008 the probability and amount of school shootings has increased significantly, and within the past 3 years (including 2024) there has been a total of 211 annual school shootings in the United States.

WATCH: Harris speaks about abortion rights at Atlanta campaign rally

wilsonryleigh26 — 2024-10-01 16:01:24 UTC

On September 20th, 2024 Kamala Harris spoke out about abortion rights at an Atlanta campaign rally. The topic of abortion has been heavily debated since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Harris claims that the abortion restrictions are confusing for people in the medical field. She shares the story of Amber Thurman, a mother who decided to get an abortion after becoming pregnant. She later died of sepsis because doctors waited for more than 20 hours before giving her the proper medical treatment after taking her abortion pills. Harris paints Trump to be a threat to the lives of women, as he has stated he supports the overturn of Roe v. Wade. However, Trump has stated on numerous occasions that he supports exceptions to abortion in the case of incest, rape, or the life of the mother. Trump debates that the decision should be left up to the states because what’s good for Georgia may not be good for somewhere like California. Overall, abortion is a gray area and many people do not see eye to eye. This highlights the universal idea: the power struggle between the government and women. As women struggle to “gain back rights” they believe they’ve been stripped of, the government argues over the best decision for the overall American people. No decision is going to leave everyone satisfied, yet there has to be a decision made.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-01 16:05:08 UTC

As people fled to Asheville to get away to a new life in a healing community or somewhere where hurricanes ¨would never be” and where beauty would be shown all over the land, they soon would face the harsh reality of life. As flood waters came in and destroyed the homes of many residents they began to question if they were ever going to recover from this, many talked about just how much of a horror-stricken event this was . This connects back to the universal idea of man vs nature because of the conflicts these citizens faced, such as water rising in a man's apartment building with no way out, or watching your house be flipped upside down and carried downstream, each of these examples are due to something natural occurring that humans have to face. In addition to the idea of man vs nature, after these events have occurred and nature defeated us, people work to fix things and save people, but there's nothing we could have done to win as Houchans says in the article, ¨weŕe not designed to be able to take that kind of disaster.¨

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-01 16:06:20 UTC

In late September of this year a horrific hurricane struck Florida and the Southeast. It produced the strongest landfall, extremely damaging winds that spawned several intense tornado's, and the highest storm surge Big Bend and Tampa Florida have ever seen. The rain triggered flooding in the Appalachians which shattered a 100 plus year record and Helene is the third hurricane to attack Florida in just under 13 months. So far only 135 people have passed away due to the hurricane but they expect to find more bodies as the clean up process begins. According to the radio, water was 5 to 7 feet above normal flooding levels throughout all the towns.

Fossil Fuels

2024-10-01 16:07:57 UTC

Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources that were formed whenever prehistoric plants and animals died, leaving their bones and remains behind. These fossil fuels store energy from the sun in the bonds between their atoms and release the energy whenever they are heated up. Fossil fuels are used to produce energy: burning fossil fuels in your house to keep you warm, companies using fossil fuels to power large power stations to make electricity. Fossil fuels and natural oil in the world are being used by people to produce electricity and use things like their vehicles. The United States gets most of its energy from these nonrenewable resources, and they use them to advance our technology and expand businesses, but burning these fossil fuels is taking a toll on the environment. When we burn these fossil fuels, they produce a large amount of carbon dioxide and let it into the air. This ties into the historical reflection universal theme because it allows us to reflect on something that has had such a huge impact on the people, not only in America but throughout the world. Showing the ups and downs of the natural resources we use daily. They may be crucial to society but they are destroying the world around us with their carbon emissions.

Iranian missile attack on Israel

2024-10-01 16:08:59 UTC

This article communicates that US government officials have seen indications that Iran could be preparing to launch a missile into Israel, and it could be bigger than the attack that Tehran staged earlier this year in April. This attack would be a defense against Israel, regarding a war that transpired after Palestine wanted to form an independent state in a part of historic Palestine. United States officials are actively supporting Israel's preparations to protect itself from Iran's ballistic attacks, and officials claim that it “will carry severe consequences for Iran,”. This article connects to the universal theme of "Rebellion and Revolution”, Palestine wanted to form independence for themselves, and Israel refused to give it to them. When Israel refused, the war broke out, and Palestine is still fighting for their autonomy in the genocide.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-lebanon-war-hezbollah-yemen-strikes-houthis-hamas-civilian-deaths/

2024-10-01 16:47:36 UTC

This article explains to the readers the situation of Israel. Israel expanded into Lebanon, over the past week they have launched raids for thousands of miles. CBS News expresses their concern that the war may spread into a regional conflict and draw in Iran and possibly the US as allies. As the war continues one of the main topics of this article is the assassination of Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasarallah, Israel continues to strike and is determined to push Hezbollah many miles away from ot’s border to stop the cross-border attacks. I chose this article because it evokes the universal theme “survival and hope”, everyone who is involved with the war whether they are battling or praying for their families at home, everyone is trying to survive and hope for the best for their country.

Knowing how to stay calm in a stressful situation.

2024-10-01 16:59:27 UTC

The TEDtalk goes over the importance of preparing for stressful situations beforehand in a thing he referred to as Pre-Mortem. In his words Pre-mortem is a way to consider the consequences before doing something instead of checking the consequences after the fact. Cortisol influences the brain and causes rational thinking to cease as it’s not a vital part of the body this changes how we think as most times stress can be in our day to day life. Stress can infect us in conversations, school, work, etc. and when this happens we don’t think clearly or rationally. If we prepare for stressful situations and have ways to counteract them in preparation we can not be influenced as much. I chose this Ted talk because I thought it was interesting and could be helpful in a stressful situation, and while it wasn’t what I expected it to be it was still informative and interesting.

Can you see Earth's "minimoon" with the naked eye?

2024-10-01 17:20:43 UTC

Towards the end of September Earth captured a second moon that will join our planets rotation for the next 2 months. This space rock is a near-Earth asteroid that's about the size of a school bus, but you still can't see it even with a telescope or binoculars. This asteroid most likely came from the asteroid belt and it's expected to return in January 2025 and in 2055. Scientist believe they can use this as a transient satellite or stepping stone for future missions deeper into the solar system. Although this is a big deal it's just another one of million near Earth asteroids we've discovered.

4th Grade

2024-10-01 17:30:41 UTC

About 7 years ago I was in 4th grade at Conway, and I attended school with my cousin who was also in my grade. We were extremely close but we didn't hangout with any other groups at school that often except for recess. My cousin decided to branch out and make new friends, I however didn't really understand why she would do that so I copied her. I stole her new friends after a few weeks and that really upset her. She stopped talking to all of us for days until some time had passed and I was called to the office during recess. My cousin had lied to the office claiming that I bullied her and stole her new friends. I couldn't figure out why she would do that but I knew that I never wanted to make her feel that way again. Ever since then I try my best not to make another person feel left out again.

How to find purpose in life.

2024-10-01 17:34:19 UTC

This entertainment podcast is about finding purpose in life. I am reading the book waldron which is about his life in the woods and him finding his purpose in life. He talks about how life is hard for everyone but everyone has a purpose and you have to find it. This podcast goes with the universal theme of Journey of self discovery. It goes with this because he is teaching people to discover their purpose in life.

Watch UnbrokenNetflix https://www.netflix.com › title

2024-10-01 18:07:16 UTC

Unbroken

The movie “Unbroken” is a war movie that tells the story of Louis Zamperini. Zamperini used to always get into trouble until his brother helped pull him out of trouble and turn his life around. Louis then turns his life around and channels his energy into running, he then qualifies for the 1936 Olympics. When World War II breaks out, Louie decides to enlist into the army, when in the military his plane crashes and he survives 47 days adrift in a raft until the Japanese navy captures him. When he is captured and taken into a POW camp he becomes a target for the Japanese and has to fight everyday to survive. This movie is a great example of the universal theme “survival and hope.” Louie was picked on everyday by the commanders and was given impossible tasks that he had to survive and have hope so that he would stay alive and fight everyday.

'I Have a Dream' Martin Luther King Jr.

2024-10-01 18:17:52 UTC

The ‘I Have a Dream’ speech by Martin Luther King Jr. is still highly relevant today by its powerful call for racial harmony and the end of discrimination with ongoing struggles against systemic racism and inequality. King’s vision is a society where people are judged by their character rather than their skin color is a timeless goal many still pursue. The speech emphasizes the importance of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience, principles that guide today’s social justice movements. In addition it reminds us of the progress made and the work still needed to achieve true equality. That leaves King still being a beacon of hope, urging new generations to keep striving for a more and inclusive world.

Milgram Experiment

2024-10-01 18:21:02 UTC

The Milgram experiment, conducted by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, was aimed to study obedience to authority figures. Participants were instructed to regulate electric shocks to a "learner" whenever an incorrect answer was given, however the shocks were fake and the learner was an actor. Despite hearing the learner's (staged) protests and screams, many participants continued to administer shocks when urged by the authority figure. The results showed that people are surprisingly willing to follow orders, even to the extent of causing apparent harm to others. This experiment highlighted the powerful influence of authority on human behavior. In modern times, the Milgram experiment's findings are used to understand behaviors in various settings, such as workplaces, the military, and even in understanding historical events involving atrocities. It serves as a reminder of the importance of ethical guidelines and the potential consequences of blind obedience.

Lady Gaga draws inspiration from her ‘Joker’ sequel character to create ‘Harlequin’ album

2024-10-01 18:30:17 UTC

Lady Gaga´s newest album ´Harlequin´ is inspired by her fearlessly edgy character in ´Joker.´ The energy from her studio time flowed into her performance and creation of the album. Gaga´s goal was to parallel the energy from the character, to the album. As she performs this album the reinacts the spark of her character.

Luke Rupert

2024-10-01 19:13:30 UTC

Trey Biddy from hawgsports usually records a podcast two times a week during football season, and one time every week during the offseason. This podcast covers pretty much everything that revolves around the Razorbacks world of sports. He covers the upcoming opponent, recruiting, and rumors surrounding the program. I enjoy listening to this podcast because I like listening to other passionate razorback fans just like me. This connects to the universal theme of sports and competition because he talks about Razorback football, basketball, and baseball’s seasons and if he predicts them to be great, decent, or bad in their future seasons.

Finley Malone

2024-10-01 19:22:28 UTC

The article discusses the events and impact of World War II, which lasted from 1939 to 1945. It starts with the rise of dictators in Germany, Italy, and Japan, which helped lead to the war. The conflict began when Germany invaded Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war. The article highlights important battles, such as the Battle of Britain and the Battle of Stalingrad, which were turning points in the war. It also mentions the involvement of the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The war ended with the surrender of Germany in May 1945 and Japan in September 1945. The aftermath reshaped many countries and led to the creation of the United Nations to help prevent future conflicts.

Tyler Freyaldenhoven, Mr McMahon

2024-10-01 19:38:13 UTC

Mr. McMahon is a documentary that started filming in 2021 before Vince McMahon’s worst controversy, which occurred in June of 2022. Because of this hiccup, production ceased, however later on the people behind it decided to continue the project in a new light. The documentary covers the highs and lows of the WWF turned WWE while under the reign of the infamous “Mr. McMahon”. With interviews from McMahon himself, the editors took advantage of his contradictory statements or blatant lies and played them back to back with conflicting stories from other people or real footage of what happened at that moment. Moments in the docuseries like when it explains the Montreal Screwjob perfectly encapsulate McMahon’s true personality and show the conflicting ideals between him, versus the people around him. Although the docuseries proves itself as more of a comprehensive history of everything that happened during the reign of Vince McMahon, it truly ends up showing the conflict between humans in pursuit of power.

Alexis Holtz

2024-10-01 20:02:44 UTC

This article explains the tragedy of the war in Lebanon, and how hundreds of people are dying weekly from the horrific fights. Almost 700 people were killed in one week, from the many airstrikes sent from Isreal. This event connects to my universal theme because these places are currently mourning the loss of their loved ones, and the loss they are in as a country. These countries will continue to mourn as death tolls do not stop, and rise weekly with the tragic and deadly exchanges of violence between eachother. Other governments from other countries are helping the countries they favor in alliances, which could soon lead to a major war between all countries if it doesnt get controlled.

9/11

2024-10-01 23:44:17 UTC

This article discusses the morning of September 11, 2001, a group of 19 terrorists from the organization al Qaeda took control of four commercial airplanes. They crashed two of these planes into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington Virginia. Passengers on the fourth plane, Flight 93, learned about the other attacks and fought back, causing the plane to crash into a field in western Pennsylvania, about 20 minutes away from Washington, D.C. The impact and the resulting fires led to the collapse of the Twin Towers. Almost 3,000 people lost their lives, with the majority of the deaths occurring at the World Trade Center. This connects to the universal theme of Tragedy and Triumph because it shows the true tragedy of what happened it being the largest attack on American soil since pearl harbor, to the triumph and wins we started to have after fighting back against Al Qaeda.

You don't find happiness, you create it.

2024-10-01 23:45:13 UTC

I learned that in order to find happiness you not only have to have positive thinking, but also positive action. I learned that it is easier to control your actions than your mind. Organically, your brain is more concerned with surviving your day-to-day life, rather than surviving it happily. Therefore you must actively seek the happiness your body and mind desire.

Depressed dogs, cats with OCD

2024-10-02 02:10:27 UTC

In this Ted Talk, Laurel Braitman talks about her love for her dog that has major anxiety. She spent over 7 years researching this topic because she felt the need to help her dog through certain situations that give him anxiety. Laurel also explains how people don't always express themselves with words. Physicians in the early 20´s diagnosed emotional distress just by observation which shows you that our actions and how we react to things can be determined without words.

This relates back to the universal theme, the heart of relationships. Laurel has so much love for her dog that she studied more than 7 years on this topic so she could help her dog live an anxiety free life.

Boxing

2024-10-02 13:11:30 UTC

In the sport of boxing there are a lot of areas that you have to work on yourself, and take the time to get better in. There are a lot of important things to figure out when it comes to boxing such as, how to move your feet, making sure that you keep your hands up at all times, head movement, and reaction time. In boxing it is very crucial to practice footwork because you don’t want to get stuck in the corner or up against the ropes. Head movement and reaction time also plays a big part in boxing because if you react too slowly it will be harder to counter the other boxers punch. In boxing you have to make sure that you time all of your movements and know when you need to put more effort into your fighting and when you just need to flow with the other boxer so that you don’t get too tired. In boxing as you get better and win more fights the competition becomes more difficult, and the same goes for your weight class. When boxing, if you are placed in a heavier weight class than your opponents will be stronger and hit harder, but if you are in a lower weight class your opponents are more likely to be faster and more agile while fighting.

Destroyer of Worlds

2024-10-02 13:23:50 UTC

This article goes over the creation of the most dangerous weapon that has been created in history: the atomic bomb. It goes into detail about how it was made and how its creators were inspired to design them. There were two first bombs: "Little Boy" and "Fat Man". Little Boy had the destructive explosive power of 15 kilotons of TNT, while Fat Man had 21 kilotons, around 40% more powerful than Little Boy. Both of these were created in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which resulted in a terrible loss for the US. They were made in what is now called "The Manhattan Project" mainly designed and engineered by J. Robert Oppenheimer. The making of these weapons of destruction has had more than a change in history, it's had an impact. It has reshaped international relations, led to the creation of security policies against them, and even started global movements after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Overall, the three universal themes that stand out the most are war and peace, which should be pretty obvious after so many bloody massacres caused by atomic bombs; Climate and environment, because of all of the devastating effects these weapons have on our planet; and human vs. machine, making it obvious to realize how machines are getting stronger than us, with such weapons of destruction we could all just disappear in within a second based on someone's power.

Avery McCuan

2024-10-02 13:28:25 UTC

I chose to do the Martin Luther king speech because it goes with injustice and justice because he wants justice for African Americans and his kids in the future. Martin Luther King used powerful and moving diction to show his point to the audience.During this time there were a lot of civil rights movements going on and he was a big advocate for it. King brings up sensitive things to appeal to his audience. He knew that most of his audience was parents who had kids, for this reason he brought up his kids in order to be more personal to the people listening. Martin Luther King wanted justice for the african americans during this time.

Sadie Robertson Huff

2024-10-02 13:33:11 UTC

During this specific episode of her podcast "How to Read the Bible & Fall in Love with Jesus" Sadie's guest is Tara-Leigh Cobble. Tara-Leigh Cobble is the host of the very popular "The Bible Recap" podcast, but she tells Sadie that her own reading through the Bible didn't start out as a great adventure and in fact, she felt more despair and had more questions than she'd ever had about God. Tara-Leigh says she just fell in love with the Lord, but it didn't happen until she shifted in the reason WHY she was reading the Bible and she challenges us all to start reading the Bible today - now! "Every day you're in God's Word you're right on time" so stop making excuses and get in the Word! This really shows us that Love can come in many different forms. Some of us see love in items, some in people, and others in Jesus. That's really what this episode of the podcast was about.

How to make your cat happier

2024-10-02 14:03:00 UTC

The ted talk I chose to watch was Nicky Trevorrows, How to make your cat happier. The secret to making your cat happier is play. You need to interact and play with your cat, which has shown to make them overall happier. Because cats want to hunt and stalk animals, playing with them fulfills their need to do so. While playing with them keeps them happier, it also provides them with exercise which is crucial for a cat to have a long healthy life. One universal theme that connects with this ted talk is The animal connection. This relates to my ted talk because playing with your cat helps strengthen your bond with the animal. That is why playing with your cat to make it happy is a clear example of The animal connection.

Blake Starr

2024-10-02 14:16:45 UTC

The article I chose talks about the causes and significance of the Dust Bowl. The dust bowl was during the 1930’s or the “Dirty Thirties” hence the dust. Lots of factors led up to this, mainly the Homestead Act of 1862 which gave new settlers 160 acres of land typically used for farming. Most of these settlers believed that rain follows the plow, or that after they plant their crops, the rain would come soon after. Well, the rain did not come soon after nor did it come for the next 10 years. This severe drought mixed with the ground being loose from new settlers trying to farm, created these awful dust storms sometimes called “black blizzards”. Clouds of dust would make it completely dark, sometimes for days. This gave many dust pneumonia due to the amount of dust in the air making its way into people's lungs. In the end, the “Dust Bowl” created many economical issues due to lack of crops and killed anywhere between hundreds to several thousands with long term health issues due to the amount of dust in the air over the decade. This connects to the universal theme, "The wisdom of nature" because we were over faming during the time which came back and hurt us traumatically giving the people at the time little crops to eat, and a weakened economy.

Sophie Badders

badderssophie26 — 2024-10-02 14:18:01 UTC

This article talks about a great invention in history. Hedy Lamarr, an amazing inventor, pioneered the technology that would soon make up and help form the Wifi, GPS, and Bluetooth systems that we use today. Being a woman in the 1900’s, she was often ignored. Her scientific mind was pushed back when she got her first small role in a German film in the 1930s. She later dated someone that allowed her to mess around with a small set of equipment while on set. She slowly started getting more interested in inventing things. She met someone named George Antheil and they both soon came up with the invention that helps guide and show where torpedoes are in the war. After this incredible invention was created, She never received recognition for it. It wasn't until way later that she started receiving awards for her inventions. This connects to the universal theme of Science and Discovery. She discovered what is one of the most used inventions in history. Without the knowledge that she had, we wouldn't have the Wifi and GPS systems we use almost everyday. This also connects the Universal Idea of the role of woman. In the 1930's and even later women couldnt really do much. Hedy Lamarr showed that she was much more then just an actress.

The Dust Bowl

2024-10-02 14:18:42 UTC

The Dust bowl was a time when drought stricken southern plains regions in the United States suffered from severe dust storms in the 1930s. The dust bowl was caused by economic, and agricultural factors. The universal idea this connects to would be man vs nature. After the civil war federal land acts coaxed pioneers westward by rewarding farming in the Great plains. There became a problem with inexperienced farmers using the wrong techniques, which ultimately led to a decrease in crops hurting the whole economy. There was a problem since there was a decrease in crop prices, but the machinery was so expensive. The reduction in soil conservation measures and encroachment on poorer lands caused the farming community to be vulnerable to wind erosion, soil moisture depletion, depleted soil nutrients, and drought.

The theory of Evolution

2024-10-02 14:19:11 UTC

The theory of evolution is every group of organisms descended from common ancestors, and that all groups of organisms, including animals, plants, and microorganisms, go back to a single origin of life on earth. This ultimately goes back to the universal idea of natural selection. In natural selection organisms that produce more offspring than are able to survive. Those that are better and physically equipped, grow to maturity, and then reproduce. The ones that are not able to survive die off. Over time these different organisms that have survived pass their genes onto the next generations, which leads to a domino effect of every species that are created are passed different traits making them able to survive to reproduce new species.

Lonnie Shaw

2024-10-02 14:26:06 UTC

Texas officials declare the Venezuelan gang "Tren de Aragua" a foreign terrorist group. They are a criminal organization in multiple Latin countries and engage in extortion, homicide, drug trafficking, and smuggling of people. The officials also blame Venezuela for freeing prisoners as long as they "Leave Venezuela and don't come back" They also blame President Biden and Vice President Kamalah for having an open border policy. Since they had made them a foreign terrorist group, they are now able to send out task forces to stop them due to terrorist laws. This connects to the theme of crime and justice. The group has been commiting terrible crimes, but the government is trying to stop them.

Earth’s New Mini Moon - The world around us. - Baylee R

2024-10-02 14:27:37 UTC

a 33 foot wide rock in space is going to get close enough to Earth for it to be pulled into orbit with our moon. This meteor, named 2024 PT5, is said to be looking for a good time and not a long time. This mini moon is expected to orbit Earth from September 29th through November 25th. This is one of the few mini moons Earth has gotten in the past 20 years, with the other larger moons that were able to be seen happening in 2006 and in 2020. The 2020 moon was thought to be orbiting for over 2 years before it was found and named.

Peyton McLendon

peytonmclendon10 — 2024-10-02 14:29:48 UTC

The Sea Robin is a species of fish that has the body of a fish, wings of a bird, and legs of a crab. Although they have always been sort of weird, scientists have recently discovered that these fish have developed sensors in their legs to detect prey under the seafloor. The text says that scientists didn't mean to start studying these unusual creatures, but when they saw this fish being followed by tons of other fish waiting for food it piqued their interest. These scientists then discovered that these fish have developed touch-sensitive papillae on their legs in order to sense the food that they are seeking. As these fish crawl along the seafloor, they use their legs to sense and dig up filtered and ground-up mussel extract and even single amino acids. These scientists are now looking at what we can learn and use from the evolution and development of these sea robins. There weren’t many innovative concepts tied with this discovery but it does lead to many new opportunities for humans as a whole. If we can learn and break down what happened in the sea robins, maybe it will apply to us or different species. This article relates to the theme of Scientific Discovery because it shows how humans are always looking to know more and to unveil what this world has to offer. Like before, the development of a single species of fish can be as powerful as a much more publicized discovery because of the knowledge that it can contribute to us as humans.

Rylee Brawley

2024-10-02 14:44:45 UTC

Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who donated her cells to Johns Hopkins before she died in 1951 of aggressive cervical cancer. Her cells are and were the first line that are able to reproduce indefinitely. Her cells were and still are used for research into cancer, the human genome, the development of the vaccine for polio, and are still used today for further research. This discovery was one of the most influential findings in the scientific world and it has helped so many people. Unfortunately, Henrietta Lacks was neglected while she was still alive fighting her cervical cancer. While trying to get her treatment for cancer at Johns Hopkins, she faces racist prejudices for African Americans. This connects with the universal theme of the universal struggle, she is faced with injustice and inequality while trying to be treated for a life threatening cancer. The findings of HeLa originated from her doctor giving a sample of her cervical tissue to be studied without her knowledge. After her death her cells were mass produced and sold all over the world, which she did not consent to. Her family gained no profit, and did not even know about it until years later.

Hacksaw Ridge

2024-10-02 14:48:18 UTC

Blair Miller

This is a true story about a guy named Desmond Doss, who saved the lives of many people at the battle of Okinawa. Doss joined the military to serve his country, but Doss was very religious so he believed he should never kill anyone, Doss refused to use any type of weapon, in return he got a ton of hate for that and he struggled throughout boot camp. The universal idea courage and honor is the definition of Desmond Doss, on April 16, 1945, Company G, 31 industry climbed up the mountain to secure the Maeda Escarpment, this was one the harshest bloodiest battles in world war two and without any type of weapon and possessing many injuries himself Doss saved the lives of 75 soldiers. Doss earned the medal of honor for the courage and sacrifice he made that day.

Exploration of the Self

wilsonryleigh26 — 2024-10-02 15:23:18 UTC

Throughout life, I have struggled with finding my identity and purpose in the world. I would like to say it started with my father packing up and leaving when I was thirteen years old. The person who was supposed to provide care and protect me, had vanished without a trace. This diminished my self-worth and sent me into an early identity crisis. I walked through life thinking that I wasn’t worthy of my father’s love, thus losing all forms of dignity and self-respect. The years after were rough and blurry. I coped in ways that were detrimental to my health. I had completely lost myself. When my mother realized how bad it had gotten, she put me into therapy. In therapy, she encouraged me to take a deep dive into who I am: my morals, my values, who I want to be, and what I want to do. She put me on a journey of self-discovery along with other encouraging influences in my life. This connects to the universal theme: exploration of the self. I was able to look to the Lord and rid of the negativity not only around me but within myself. My father leaving shaped me in ways that even I cannot begin to understand. That experience made me the person I am today, and I could not be more grateful.

Bailey Allen

2024-10-02 15:26:21 UTC

We are living history. Watching as we have the first female presidential candidate with (depending on the source) more expectant to win, an attempted assassination on our former president, a global pandemic, riots and protests, war all around the globe, and so much more. But what is going on in our modern day politics with the Vance V. Waltz vice presidential debate? With questions deemed controversial, each candidate was attacked on issues they had never coherently spoken on before, with J.D. Vance questioned on the infamous January 6th riots regarding the failed re-election of Donald Trump, and on other topics like Roe V. Wade, and whether or not Trump rigged the 2020 election. However, Waltz was not free. Waltz spoke out about his lie, claiming that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, when he was not. These tie to the universal theme of war and peace. While they disagreed on multiple topics, creating conflict in our politics, they agreed our housing crisis needs to be fixed, and our gun violence needs to be regulated, creating peace.

The wedding

2024-10-02 15:51:39 UTC

The wedding I went to recently was actually a great experience. My mom told me a day before that I would be going to a wedding and taking photos of the bride and groom. I assumed it was random people but in actuality I knew them all my life. Lee the groom worked at this martial arts place I went to when I was around 7 but then moved away. This experience connects to the universal idea of timeless youth and age. I knew a lot of these people from a long time ago and a lot of them were shocked seeing how much I've grown in these ways. It connects to how people grow and change over time.

I'm Tired of Yelling.

2024-10-02 15:52:24 UTC

I have always been an opinionated person. Struggling to find my place and friends for years, I learned to defend myself in situations where I was a victim. Living in a household with an alcoholic, this became second nature. Defend my feelings, defend my choices, and defend my attitude, even if I was in the wrong. Even after the alcoholic was out of my life, these behaviors haven't left just yet. Recently, my grades haven't been the best. My depression has been starting to take little bits of my effort away, and the only thing i've been prioritizing is my business. Not my boyfriend, my school work, my mom, or even my brother. With my grades slipping, my mom got upset. She said she wasn't angry, just disappointed. I was the one who started yelling, I was the one who was angry. It wasn't her. I was so used to defending myself that I didn't understand we could have a civil conversation about my improvident and learning to prioritize different things. This adapts to the universal idea of perseverance and self improvement.

Marie Curie's Discovery of Radium

2024-10-02 16:06:16 UTC

On December 10, 1903, Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking investigations of radioactivity. A year before that, the couple had discovered the existence of the elements radium and polonium in their extensive research. The discovery of these elements has evolved with the passing of time, finding new uses for this substance. We can see achievements of this discovery such as the creation of x-ray technology, which was not only used in WW1 to diagnose injuries in the battlefield, but it's still used today to treat many conditions and analyze injuries and such. Her research of this element also led to many advances in nuclear physics and chemistry to understand atomic structure, radiation and its effects, and the safety protocols that should be taken when dealing with this element. Her achievement also encouraged more women to enter the sciences, the discovery of new elements. In this article, the two universal themes that stand out the most are the role of women and science and discovery, since her example had an impact in both science and women's role.

Julius Caesar

2024-10-02 16:08:38 UTC

The infamous Julius Caesar was a Roman general and politician who named himself dictator of the Roman Empire. During Caesar´s youth, the Roman Republic was in chaos and he felt that he should seize the opportunity to advance the political system. Julius Caesar formed political alliances, increased military power, and consolidated his power. He does this all in hopes to improve his home while increasing his power and becoming the dictator.

The Downfall of Diddy

2024-10-02 17:20:06 UTC

The documentary " TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy" on Tubi explores the allegations that are pointing at Sean "Diddy" Combs. I selected this documentary to report and take in all the allegations that were targeted on Diddy because it is a prime example of how fame can ruin someones life. Diddy was on the verge of success but now is facing the consequences to his horrid actions leading his career to a downfall. This proves to us how the economy sticking together can lead to a person's downfall leading them to failure. This documentary also connects to the theme of identity. It shows how one person's identity can be shaped by their resilience. In conclusion, the documentary wants show show people how identity is complex and fame can ruin a person.

Bryce Buckley

2024-10-02 17:27:10 UTC

This article on how Lebron and his oldest son Bronny James are becoming more accustomed to playing together on the same team is like a dream for people. Most parents always want their children to accomplish their dream and do what they want to do but being able to do it with their child and have fun at the same time is a dream for everyone.

Sophia Ashworth

2024-10-02 17:33:39 UTC

I chose this topic because this is a very overlooked topic. The rates of athletes that have committed suicide jumped from 7.6% to 15.3%. The video I chose talks about a girl who ran cross country and she made it her identity. She was winning tournaments and on high like never before. One day it all changed when she found out she had a stress fracture in her foot. She fell into a deep hole of sadness and depression, because what was once her identity was something she couldn't even practice anymore. Not only that, but she could not be there for her teammates, which made her feel a sense of failure. She was supposed to be the leader for her team. Her teammates then asked her to go to a camp where she learned healing and how to have a good life without needing to run. This is all what most injured athletes need. Help. The universal idea this connects to is the fair of failure. They are so scared of failure when on a high, and when it happens they do not know what to do. This is shown by the example of this Michigan athlete.

Luke Rupert

2024-10-02 18:08:58 UTC

The story of Brandon Burlsworth is one of the most inspiring yet dreadful stories of any football player in college history. He started as a walk-on at the University of Arkansas and almost decided to quit after his freshman year because he didn’t have enough money to continue going to school, but he persevered and had faith and just years later ended up getting drafted with the sixty third overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft. Sadly just months after the draft when he was driving from Fayetteville back home he lost control in his car and collided with a semi driving by. This all connects to the universal idea of hopes and dreams because when he put his head down and had faith he accomplished his goal of earning a scholarship and eventually playing in the NFL.

Byford Dolphin Incident-Rebecca Palmer

2024-10-02 18:48:15 UTC

The Byford Dolphin Incident was the product of an easily preventable accident involving four saturation divers and one diver tender on the Byford Dolphin drilling rig. The Byford rig was able to drill down to 6,100 meters, invoking a need for saturation divers. These divers would slowly dive down with the drill allowing time for their bodies to regulate the pressure, then spend days slowly ascending to decompress without bodily injury. However on the Byford rig they instituted a way to eliminate this process, leaving the divers at the pressure they dive at by having them live on deck in a decompression chamber. This chamber was kept at a pressure of 9 atmospheres, opposed to the normal surface pressure of 1 atmosphere, and was made of three chambers: chamber one was sleeping quarters, chamber two was a kitchen or living area, and an escape capsule was also in the chamber. These segments would normally be shut off with heavy pressurized doors incase of an incident, on November 5, 1983 none of these doors were shut. Normal procedure after a dive would be the two diver tenders hooking up and locking the diving bell to the pressure chamber as to keep the 9 atmospheres, then the divers would exit straight into the pressure chamber and shut the door behind them before the diving bell would decompress and detach. On this day before the door could shut human error occurred causing the bell to detach and raise the pressure of the chamber, and divers, from 9 atmospheres to 1 atmosphere in nanoseconds. This incident that caused the death of five people and eventual decommission of the rig could have been prevented by a safety measure as simple as a pressure gauge on the chamber or a pressurized locking mechanism, but this wasn't implemented onto the rig due to violations of safety procedures on the chamber and diving bell. This incident was entirely due to human error and disregard in workplace areas, in a scenario where these regulations were being followed this incident would not have been able to happen, supporting the need for more strict safety regulations in all workplace environments.

Alexis Holtz

2024-10-02 20:15:56 UTC

The Chernobyl series on MAX was released in 2019, and has since been praised throughout the years for its historical accuracy on the tragic events. It takes place only a couple days before the incident, and shows the dark and sad things this event caused. Chernobyl is still highly radioactive and is not a place recommended to visit, even though it has become a frequent tourist sight. People are still being affected today by the nasty side effects from the radiation admitted into the air from the accident. This tragedy connects to the universal theme, ‘Loss and Mourning’ because of the many deaths, not only from the sudden explosion, but also from contaminated bystanders who were killed years later by cancer from the exposure of radiation. Chernobyl caused people from all over the world to help trust the public eye, and mourn the devastating outcome this accident caused. It is still being used today to help Russia gain power in the war with Ukraine.

Hacksaw Ridge

2024-10-02 22:00:02 UTC

Hacksaw Ridge is a movie that is set in the year 1945 in Okinawa, Japan. The main character is a man named Desmond Doss. From the beginning of the movie, Desmond refused to carry a gun, refusing to bear arms, believing that carrying the gun went against the 6th amendment, saying "Thou shalt not kill". He was taught this from a very young age, and kept this throughout his life. All he wanted to do with the war was to take care of people and to help people. He went on to earn the Congressional Medal of Honor without ever firing a gun, and helped save lots of men from the battlefield in the Battle of Okinawa. Desmond Doss was a real person and the majority of the events that happened in the movie happened in real life. This connects to the universal theme of Inspirational Heroes because Doss inspired people when he helped save a lot of people in the war without ever firing a single shot.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-02 22:53:12 UTC

This article is about Hurricane Helene, the hurricane that has swept through a wide section of the southeastern United States. As of Monday, September 30th, Helene had killed more than 100 people, at least 77 of those being in North Carolina alone. According to the article, Hurricane Helene has been called "one of the deadliest hurricanes to make landfall in the mainland United States in the modern era". Only 8 hurricanes have killed more than 100 people since 1950, and the most recent of those deadly storms being Hurricane Harvey in 2017, located around Houston and killed 103 people. The storm may be over, but it is still being discovered how many tragedies there have been, considering there is still a numerous amount of people that have gone missing. This connects to the universal theme of Tragedy and Triumph, mostly being just tragedy since the hurricane has taken so many lives. The states that were affected will soon triumph in their recovery efforts to rebuild themselves after this detrimental tragedy.

Rylee Brawley

2024-10-03 00:13:38 UTC

This article is written by Lonnie Bunch about the Little Rock Nine. The Little Rock Nine are a group of teenagers that marked a significant moment in the fight for civil rights. These students were the first African Americans to enter what had been a segregated school before the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were illegal. Little Rock’s Central High School volunteered to desegregate its school, but being here in the south, this was met with a lot of anger and violence. When these nine students tried to enter the school for the first day, they were met with the National Guard not allowing them entrance, as well as an angry mob. Eventually the teens were allowed entrance, but they were met with violence, harassment, jeers, and threats from many of the white students. This moment in history can connect with the universal idea of warriors' path, they put themselves in a lot of danger, but they fought for what they believed and ultimately they won. This event has shaped the way the world is today, without these nine students pushing through and fighting for their rights, the US may have never gotten to the point we are today with desegregation, not just in schools, but everywhere. These students marked a turning point for civil rights and equality.

Rylee Brawley

2024-10-03 01:01:48 UTC

I am scared of growing up. I have always lived by the habit of not dwelling on something, not to think what would happen if I had done something else, or not to think too much about growing up because I've got plenty of time. But, recently I have been thinking about different things like things I need to graduate, and what my plan is after high school, and it made me realize how old I am. I graduate next year, and after that I am hoping to go to college out of state. I am looking for a job, and I am growing up and it scares me. I will be 18 next year and even though I will technically be an adult, I am scared of leaving my house, my sisters, and my mom. I won't be able to wake up just a few steps from my sisters and I won't be able to walk downstairs and see my mom. All of this goes hand in hand with the idea of children and innocence. I remember being 10 and waiting for the day I turn 16 so I can drive, but now all I wish for is to be 10 again. I remember being in kindergarten and getting my school login with my graduation year 2026 and thinking it was going to be forever till then, but now it's just a little over a year away. All of these things have made me realize that I should start living in the moment and savoring the time I have left of my childhood.

School Shootings

2024-10-03 02:14:05 UTC

This artical written by Alex Matthews, Amy O’Kruk and Annette Choi, and CNN, covers the uprising concern of school shootings. This artical goes into detail about the increasing threats showing evidence with different statistics about the number of school shootings in different states and throughout different years. The artical shows a graph of the United States and it shows the number of recent school shootings and Arkansas has had 13 total school shootings since 2008. The highest being North Carolina with 43 since 2008. This has become a real problem in America and little is being done about it. Studies show that a spike in school shootings occured after the pandemic, with 2021, 2022, and 2023 setting records for shootings since 2008. "But 2022 was one of the deadliest years, with 46 fatalities, according to CNN’s analysis. That year saw the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two educators were killed and more than a dozen others were injured." This relates to the universal theme "the American Dream", becuase school shootings can be seen as a tragic and violent disruption of the American Dream, which traditionally includes ideals of safety, success, and opportunity.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

2024-10-03 12:52:01 UTC

The reason why I chose this book lies in the inspiration and reflection this book gives being a blend of simplicity and deep philosophical ideas, including themes such as love, loss, and the importance of seeing beyond the surface. "The Little Prince" tells the story of a young prince from a tiny planet who travels to different worlds and meets strange characters. Through his adventures and friendship with a pilot, he learns important lessons about love, friendship, and what matters in life. One of the aspects that struck me the most in this book was how it explored the adult vs child points of view. The young boy, a little prince with tons of curiosity, imagination, and honesty travels. At the same time, he meets adults whom he finds strange, using this contrast as a reminder of how while growing up we sacrifice our sense of curiosity and empathy. The book's core message hides in its famous line, "What is essential is invisible to the eye," which tells us that true understanding comes from the heart rather than from appearances. One universal idea is truly embodied in this passage: Children and the loss of innocence. Throughout the book, this theme is found, reminding us of those times when we were still young kids, and how different it was to still have innocence and empathy.

Becoming a man

2024-10-03 13:25:31 UTC

Ever since I have memory, one thing has always been important to me in my life: becoming a man. The very first time I heard it must've been when I was around 5 years old. My dad was a pastor and he worked for a missionary society so he'd have to travel a lot, and since I am the firstborn male child I had a special job for when my dad was gone. He sat down with me in the living room and told me "Son, one day I'm going to be gone. I'm not going to be by you and your mom's side forever, so when I'm gone, you become the man of the house" Never in my life before had I heard such strange words whose meaning I didn't understand. "But what if you're gone before I grow up?" I wondered. My still young innocent mind didn't understand what becoming a man meant. And I still wouldn't get it til a few years later when puberty hit me. So many new things and new feelings to deal with, and an insane lack of confidence and trust in myself. It wasn't past half my years of this stage when another struggle hit me. Half my family had gotten sick including me, of a terrible disease that led each one of us so close to death. After this, my father had no other choice but to take the decision that would save our lives: leave the country. Even though risky, he came to me and once again sat down with me and we talked. The words came out of his mouth, and I couldn't believe it. He told me "There is a big decision we are about to take, but I need your vote on it. If you disagree then we will stay but if you think it's what's right then we will go" We were leaving the country, and I was asked for my opinion. It was either our family's life or staying there, a total life-or-death decision. I decided we had to go but that trip would be what changed my life drastically. On the trip leaving the country, a total of 52 days on the road I was struck by near-death situations, in which I had to watch for my siblings and even sometimes my mother, as they almost lost their lives at many points of the trip. Then I finally understood what being a man was, the moment I was born I was going to grow up one day, and look out for my family, and protect and provide for them. After this experience, I've never cared so much about my family with such effort and love as I do now. Becoming a man is an experience every male goes through in their lives and it sure isn't easy, but it prepares you for life. That's why the universal theme found in this personal experience is Children and innocence since this experience shows that moment in every man's life, where they have to look out for their family, losing all sense of innocence and doing whatever it takes to keep them safe.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

2024-10-03 13:54:36 UTC

I chose this article about Pearl Harbor because its a big part of US history. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The surprise attack by some 350 Japanese aircraft sunk or badly damaged eighteen US naval vessels, including eight battleships, destroyed or damaged 300 US aircraft, and killed 2,403 men. The horrors of these events haunted people for many many years. Survival and Hope had a lot to do with this event and Hope got a lot of people through. Thats why i chose the theme Survival and Hope because it goes with the historic event. People survived this event and they got through this by having Hope.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-03 14:03:22 UTC

This article is about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. This Hurricane has been named and described as one of the deadliest hurricanes in modern day. In this article they mention all the other tropical cyclones, which include hurricanes like Helene and other whirling storms, boost local death rates for up to 15 years after whipping along U.S. coastlines. They also have made an estimate that each storm may indirectly cause between 7,000 and 11,000 deaths. A good universal theme to fit this is Tragedy and Triumph. This has caused an outrageous amount of tragedy for everyone involved and they now have to figure out a way to recover. This is a very sad time for these people and they have to find the energy to rebuild their lives after this horrible tragedy.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2024-10-03 14:15:49 UTC

Pursing happiness often involves navigating through a myriad of personal experiences , each shaping out understanding of what true contentment means. I personally found my true happiness when I found the Lord. I always tried to find things to fill the void of this emptiness I felt but I was never fully satisfied with anything. I was never truly happy. Its within the highs and lows, that we find glimpses of joy and learn to appreciate through the journey. Through moments of success, we feel a sense of fulfillment but it is never permanent. Each experience whether positive or negative, contributes to our growth and helps us define our own path to happiness. That's what i learned and what helped me define myself and my happiness was God.

9/11

2024-10-03 14:30:15 UTC

On September 11, 2001, four commercial passenger airplanes were hijacked and carried out suicide attacks against staple buildings in the United States. Two of the said planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. Within just a few hours, the towers collapsed into Manhattan and destroyed a large section of it. The third plane hit the Pentagon in Virginia, not far from Washington D.C. Luckily, the passengers fought back the terrorists in the fourth plane and the plane crashed in Pennsylvania. Close to 3,000 civilians were killed in this tragedy, including the terrorists that took over the planes. This horrific event connects to the universal theme of ‘historical reflections’ because the United States reflected on this event and made our country more secure. We have since then improved our abilities to identify and dismantle terroristic plans. As well as the improvement on airport security, making all cargo be screened on passenger aircrafts.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

2024-10-03 14:31:49 UTC

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a psychological study that was conducted in 1971 by Dr. Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University. The main goal of the experiment was to identify the psychological effects of power by assigning volunteers to have the role of a guard or prisoner. The chosen guards were given uniforms, sunglasses to prevent eye contact, and batons, although were told to not use physical violence. Prisoners were “arrested” by real police officers in their homes and brought to a fake prison where they were given uniforms and numbers instead of names. As time went on, the guards began to become increasingly abusive. Meanwhile, the prisoners’ emotional states decreased with every day that went by. The experiment was originally going to last 2 weeks but had to be ended within just 6 days because of the unexpected reactions from both the fake guards and prisoners. This experiment shows the universal theme of ‘the human mind’ because it shows the psychological effects of certain situations the human mind is put through. It demonstrates how quickly people can conform to rules of authority and submission in these controlled environments.

9/11

2024-10-03 15:23:04 UTC

Nine eleven, a date many of us may remember or know of. The tragic occurrence that took place changed many things in our world today. Utter destruction of buildings and damage to others, signaled a change in our world. The threat of attack defeated our freedom and safety. This historical event could connect to the loss of mourning because of all of the lives lost on that day, but it could also connect to technology and humanity. Our security is now increased in many different places and the communication has been improved among our nation's responders. Rules and laws have been set in place to help prevent anything like this in our world now.

DNA evidence/fingerprinting in crime

2024-10-03 15:24:26 UTC

The first time DNA fingerprinting was used was in 1986, this first time was used to verify if a suspect was responsible for two rape-murders. This technique used in the forensic crime area now has convicted many. Even just DNA in the industry has completed many different cases. Some of these cases include Glen Dale Woodal (murder case), DR.Alec J.Jeffreys (murder case), Jose Castro (murder case). This discovery in science could connect to multiple different universal themes. I think this topic connects to the world around us because having the ability to use DNA and identify different suspects in crimes allows us to feel a sense of ease in the world around us.

Krakens, Quest for knowledge

2024-10-03 15:58:15 UTC

People want to learn. While that’s a pretty well known fact, many still don’t know a lot about the deep dark sea, it’s dangerous and vast so that's acceptable. Yet, we still know plenty, not a lot, but enough to be cool. One of those is the giant squid a massive equatorial squid (not as large as it’s cousin the colossal squid but still humongous) that for a while we thought were myths “krakens” scary stories that sailors tell to make themselves sound cool, but as we ventured into the dangerous unknown we actually found them. Real life krakens! But instead of getting out of there and never returning we run back to the scary stories, the tales of monsters who bring down ships to eat the crew and we study them because we find the knowledge, no matter the danger, to be necessary to humanity.Next we found out that on the poles theirs a different kind of squid the colossal squid larger and with barbed instead of tooth suckers even more straight out of a horror story. Whether it’s cryptids or crazies, humanity loves to learn about them and we still have even more to learn.

Dayzee Jones

2024-10-03 16:04:24 UTC

The Federalist papers are a succession of papers written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, in which they argue for the ratification of the US Constitution instead of the Articles of Confederation. They all are in favor of a centralized government to support a more structured and stable body for the whole country. During, and leading up to, this time period in the late 1780s, there was a lot of chaos between the federalists and anti-federalists and their opinions on how the government should run. Finally, in 1788 when the Constitution was ratified and as the central government fell into place and gained more power soon after, there was orderliness that followed. The Federalist papers are an example of the universal theme of chaos and order for the reason that there is a balance between the chaos and order of the arguments that eventually leads to the structured government that we still see today.

Franz Kafka, and The Metamorphosis

2024-10-03 16:05:45 UTC

Franz Kafka, born July 3rd, 1883, in Prague, Czechia, and author of “The Metamorphosis”, “The Trial”, and “Pale Fire”, spent his life writing stories regarding fictional philosophy, taking a deep dive into the troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world. Kafka’s most popular work, by far, is The Metamorphosis, a short story about salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning only to find himself transformed into a giant beetle. The Metamorphosis shows the challenges Samsa faces in the process of this ungodly transformation, but this holds a deeper meaning. The entire process shown is an allegory to human suffering, either it be self inflicted or brought upon you, it represents the human nature of isolation, alienation, and the psychological warfare humans are capable of undergoing. Kafka wrote this, and many other deeply psychological works, as fictional, but there is so much truth in his works. Human suffering is very real, and works in various, complicated ways, such as how Kafka depicts it. But it makes sense that Kafka has such a great understanding of the matter, as essentially, Kafka is the embodiment of human suffering. Afterall, two famous quotes of Kafka’s are, “A First Sign of the Beginning of Understanding is the Wish to Die.”, and “I have spent all my life resisting the desire to end it.”.

Blake Starr

2024-10-03 17:55:44 UTC

The article I chose talks about how scientists know how to fully recover damaged, and dying coral reefs over a span of four years. As some of you may know, the majority of the world's coral reefs are dying, some too far gone and will be unable to be repaired. Most of this damage is due to blast fishing from years ago, where fishermen use explosives to kill fish, and also the coral reefs. These explosions create little crumbles of coral making it unable for new coral to grow. Their fix to this problem or discovery was transporting the coral to a place where it could grow the best. They will take what coral that is alive from these damaged ecosystems and find a new area where there is no coral rubble and start fresh. After just four years, scientists have come to find out that these transplanted coral can grow at the same rate as normal healthy coral. Another thing they do to increase the likelihood of transplanted coral to actually thrive is adding substrate to the reefs. This substrate is basically an underwater lime to make the seafloor more nutrient and fertile for growing reefs. It provides a stable calcium carbonate which coral larvae attach and grow on which makes happy and healthy coral reefs. This connects to the universal theme, Survival and hope because coral reefs are a very essential part of the ocean ecosystem creating homes for fish and other wildlife. If all that coral died so would a majority of the fish population so seeing hope for recovery is great.

Is light a wave or particle?

2024-10-03 17:59:48 UTC

Over the last few hundred years, scientists have had different opinions about light. At times, one idea would be popular, only to be challenged later by new evidence supporting the other idea. It wasn't until the early 20th century that enough strong evidence was gathered to really understand light, and surprisingly, both theories were found to be partly true. Back in the early 1700s, scientists were really divided over what light actually was. One group believed in the wave theory, which was backed by the work of Christiaan Huygens from the Netherlands. The other group, however, supported Sir Isaac Newton's experiments with prisms, arguing that light was made up of tiny particles that moved in straight lines until they were changed in some way, like being refracted or reflected. This connects to the universal idea of Science and discovery because This question has been researched, and tested with the same bland answer. It points both ways, but through the pursuit of knowledge and unfolding discoveries the deeper understanding scientists get.

The Menendez brothers

2024-10-03 18:16:13 UTC

This article discusses Netflix's release of a documentary featuring The Menendez brothers. Between the start of 1993 and the end of 1996, they received life sentences. People contended that they killed their parents in order to inherit their parents' $14 million estate, whereas the defense claimed that they were forced to act in self-defense due to enduring years of sexual abuse from their father. This is related to the universal theme of crime and justice as the documentary digs into the struggles the brothers endured at the hands of their father, resulting in them seeking escape by murdering their parents. Despite not receiving full justice, the documentary may attract more viewers to learn about the brothers' story.

Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

2024-10-03 18:25:13 UTC

This TED talk is by Tim Urban, and in it, he talks about what happens in a procrastinator's mind. He talks about how there is a "Procrastinator monkey, and a rational thinker" in your mind. When there is something to be done, the rational thinker tries to start on it, but the procrastinator just wants to do something completely different and takes over sending them into a spiral of randomness, and nothing gets done, until the deadline is really soon. When this happens, the "panic monster" comes and scares away the procrastination monkey. This lets them get things done, but it might be too late, or bad work because its such a short deadline. This talk ties into the importance of focus. He talks about in the end how everyone is a procrastinator, at least a little bit, and asks them to get started on whatever is being procrastinated. He talks about how they need to be focused on getting it done.

Life's simple pleasures

2024-10-03 18:29:43 UTC

I am an outdoorsmen, I hunt fish and spend quality time with nature. But every time you go, you cant expect to come back with some thing. It takes time, it has ups and downs, and I think that's what I take for granted the most. Last deer season I get a good looking buck on camera. I put out corn, scrapes, vitamin blocks, and sat in a stand for hours and hours at a time. That time spent had finally worked out, he came out on a string right to the corn, I stand up, grab my bow, and that's when it hit me. I had forgot my release to shoot. I had to painfully sit in the stand I put up for him, watch him eat the corn I put there for him, and watch the camera flash that I put there for him. I never ended up killing him, but I realized its not about killing him it was about all the time, effort, and adrenalin rushing through me every time I heard a leaf crunch. Every doe that walked out brought me joy and excitement. I learned everything takes time and to appreciate the little things. To enjoy every time I'm in the woods, whether I kill something or not. To pay attention to the little details of all the hours and all the things I did to hunt that deer. To wake up everyday and be thankful that I'm alive.

Lora Hartwick

2024-10-03 18:32:41 UTC

This article talks about the need for a vaccine for bird flu. Bird flu is lethal to poultry and reduces milk production for dairy cows, there has been “more than 100 million chickens and turkeys since 2022 in the biggest U.S. outbreak ever.”. The has challenges like potential export barrier. Lately countries have been welcoming the vaccine, and finally the U.S. approved the emergency use of bird flu vaccine to protect California condors last year. The universal theme I connect this with is survival and hope. The farmers need the vaccine so their animals will survive and there's hope that they will get that vaccine.

Bryan Escobar

2024-10-04 13:10:27 UTC

Hacksaw Ridge is a movie about a real person named Desmond Doss and connects to the Universal Theme Inspirational Hero. In 1929 Lynchburg, Virginia, Doss was roughhousing with his brother, nearly killing him. Because of that day he had always believed in the Commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. He then joined the Army in 1942 wanting to serve his country and wanted to help as much as possible without wielding a gun as a medic. Doss during the Battle of Okinawa saved 75 wounded men during the battle becoming the first of only three conscientious objectors to receive the Medal of Honor for this and other actions.

Clayton Freeman

2024-10-04 13:11:25 UTC

The Louvre museum of art is a museum that shows different parts of the world's art and it tells you its history where you get to experience the world’s history by seeing the influences on art in a certain place at a certain time period. This connects to the universal idea of art and creativity because it uses art and people's creative ability to incorporate their ideas into their art in their own way. One interesting thing that they do is make you see it in the way that it was meant to be seen so if it was meant to be seen far away then you have to see it far away. Which shows me that different perspectives will show you different things that you might have just from your own.

Salter Mahan

2024-10-04 13:19:30 UTC

I chose the movie 42 which is based on Jackie Robinson. He was the first african american to play in the mlb and this movie showed how he was hated and everyone in the league was racist towards him. This relates to the universal theme of facing the unknown because he was the first black person to be in the mlb. He paved the way for many african americans after to follow him and be treated equally.

Family Bonds

2024-10-04 13:21:01 UTC

I’ve always thought of family as something that the person has to approve of, that you have to personally consider them to be family in order for them to be so. My own mother, my flesh and blood, decided to leave in order to be with a man; a stranger, someone who she had never met in real life. She had made the decision to uproot everything of the past ten years to move across the country with no remorse. It was during my hardest times that my grandparents had let me stay with them. I hadn’t been close to them in recent years, and was even considering going no-contact with them, but they took me in when I had nowhere else to go. My view of family bonds had changed since then; I treat family closer now, though I will never be close with my mother in the same way again.

Dayzee Jones

2024-10-04 13:21:40 UTC

System entropy is the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system. When there is a lot of disorder in a system, that causes the entropy to be higher, furthermore meaning that there is less of a system’s energy to do work. This relates to the universal theme of chaos and order because the energy that increases with entropy can be considered “chaos”. A system will be more stable when its energy spreads out in a disordered pattern, so this is the “order” that balances a systems structure.

Alabama V.S. Georgia

2024-10-04 13:21:52 UTC

On Saturday, September 28, Georgia traveled to Tulsa to experience a hard fought game. But, little did they know the game would be a dog fight to the top. Alabama took a HUGE lead against Georgia, being up 28-0, Alabama, hoped for a smooth sailing victory, but alas, Georgia wouldn't lay down so easily. After halftime Georgia scored 27 straight points before Alabama finally sealed the game with a Touchdown in the final minutes of the game to the RYAN WILLIAMS, the 17 year old prospect that is still a kid. This hard fought battle ties to the Importance Of Focus in today's life, if there was no focus in the game the outcome could've been very different.

Enoch Assan

2024-10-04 13:25:06 UTC

Frederick Douglas A slave who obtained his freedom throughout his life, talks about his life experiences and the cruelties he went through as a slave. The beatings they received, the harsh working labor that they went through and the unfairness of being a slave. He eventually became free by sneaking onto a train and getting up north (New York). This book's Universal Idea is survival and hope. Although Frederick Douglas went through his unfairness and when life seemed to be like there was no hope left Frederick kept on fighting to survive and eventually achieved his goal Freedom.

Clayton Freeman

2024-10-04 13:25:07 UTC

The theory of general relativity by Albert Einstein is the theory of how gravity and mass curves spacetime. This theory predicted the existence of blackholes which was a pretty major discovery in astrophysics. This connects to futuristic visions because he had a very advanced idea that he had which if correct would change the way we say physics in so many ways. This taught me that if you can find an idea that you can prove and it works you can change everyone's views on something.

Bryan Escobar

2024-10-04 13:28:50 UTC

Nikola Tesla pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current electricity and connected him to the universal theme to rebellion and Revolution. The reason for this is because when Tesla was growing up his parents wanted him to become a priest. Tesla didn’t want to do that and wanted to go to technical school. His father kept denying his offer of sending him to technical school, so in his favor, he got sick and used his sickness to guilt trip his parents into sending him to technical school.

Landen Thayn - Louis Braille

2024-10-04 13:29:23 UTC

Born in 1809 in Coupvray, Louis Braille was the youngest of four children. Braille’s father was a harnessmaker, and one day, while speaking with a client, 3-year-old Louis grabbed an awl trying to mimic his dad. Unfortunately, his hand slipped and the awl punctured Louis Braille’s left eye, infecting both his left and right eyes, and making him lose his vision. However, Braille learned the alphabet through his dad and excelled at school, eventually getting accepted into The Royal Institute for Blind Youth. In 1821, a retired French Army captain, Charles Barbier, came to the Institute and introduced “night writing,” a system of raised dots punched into paper using grids of two horizontal spaces. When Braille used “night writing” he found many flaws: The 12-dot grid was too big, because it required as many as 100 dots for a single word, each symbol represented a phonetic sound and not a letter, and it excluded punctuation marks, numbers, and musical notation. For the next three years, Braille spent any free time on improving the system, starting with cutting down the size of the grid in half, each symbol represented a letter of the alphabet, and each letter pattern represented a number when a special number symbol preceded it, and there was punctuation. This story connects to the theme of sense and sensibility because as a young kid, Braille was often disappointed by the systems of writing for the blind, and through time he improved and revolutionized a system of writing, now known as Braille.

2024-10-04 13:29:57 UTC

This article is about how African American nurses were excluded from the Army and Navy nurse corps but the Army and Navy dropped its refusal to enlist black nurses who when they got there, suffered racial segregation. It explains how to be in the Army and Navy nurse corps you had to work in a hospital with 50 beds. African Americans graduated from small schools so they were not able to join the nurse corps. Later the flu epidemic started and there was a demand for nurses so African American nurses could go to military camps in Ohio and Illinois. It goes further on to explain how African American nurses had a difficult time joining the nurse corps because of racial segregation and discrimination. The article states how several black nurses were sent back letters that they would not be considered because the Army had no regulation for black nurses. Mabel Staupers wanted a change for black nurses and the Army did comply but limited the number of African American nurses they would have and it remained low. Over time the African American nurses worked hard and continued to serve their country and change happened which resulted in even more African American nurses in the Army Nurse Corps. This connects to the universal theme that when people fight for change it can happen and result in progress in society.

The invention of modern day medicine, vaccines

2024-10-04 13:34:28 UTC

The invention of the vaccine dates back to May 1796, when Dr. Edward Jenner created the world's first successful vaccine. Dr. Jenner did this through presenting 8-year-old James Phipps with matter collected from a cow-pox sore on the hand of a Milkmaid, 2 months later presenting him with matter from a small-pox sore. James Phipps remained in perfect health, and from then on was named the first human in history to be vaccined against smallpox. Nearly 100 years later, in 1872, Louis Pasteur created the first laboratory-made vaccine, a vaccine for fowl cholera in chickens, then in 1885, successfully prevented rabies through post-exposure vaccination. But the real innovations began in 1937, with Max Theiler, Hugh Smith, and Eugen Haagen. Theiler, Smith, and Haagen had successfully created a vaccine against yellow fever, this vaccine went on to be approved in 1938, and given to over a million people in just that year. Since then, the strive for more scientific research and innovation regarding vaccines has skyrocketed, and progress has more than definitely been made. We went from only really having capability to treat a select few things as of 1937, to having over 33 (known) vaccinations for illness as of 2023.

How black holes were first discovered - Sophie Badders

badderssophie26 — 2024-10-04 13:59:53 UTC

Black holes are a gigantic mystery. They are often studied but it's hard to understand why and how they form. The first object that is known as a black hole is the Cygnus X-1 and it was discovered by Paul Murdin and Louise Webster in 1971. But, the concept of a black hole was first popularized by Einstein's Theory of relativity. People such as Stephen Hawking debate whether the Cygnus X-1 was an actual black hole. That debate was put to an end in 1990 and later on the first direct evidence of their existence was discovered in 2015 by the gravitational waves that were colliding with the black holes. Now with all the recent evidence such as pictures and x-rays no one can doubt the existence of black holes. The universal idea that this article overall connects with is the idea of Science and Discovery. Scientists discovering that black holes are actually real overall helps us learn a lot more about the universe and the world around us. But, it also poses questions such as why do black holes happen and will they cause any damage to us in the future?

2024-10-04 14:00:33 UTC

This article is about how birds use fungus to fend off ants from their youngins. It talks about how birds use fungal rhizomorphs in their nest which make a strong support and is toxic to ants. This makes the ant act aggressively. Such as biting other ants, spinning and wandering around aimlessly and unpredictably. While ants collect nectar from the tree which the birds nest in, this fungus helps the bird fend off ants from reaching her baby birds. This connects to the universal idea that animals use their surroundings and resources to protect themselves or their kids from harm of other animals or things. Also that they are very smart and know how to adapt to their surroundings.

2024-10-04 14:03:02 UTC

Nickelback is a fan favorite band. They had a rocky road from nothing to fame. Fans have loved songs, some did not like the songs. Nickelback did not stop until they were a top rock band in the whole world. Even though they lost a drummer that was really good, they still became a solid rock band. The documentary is on Netflix if you would like to watch it, it is filled with pathos and logos. Despite some of the inquires that were brought upon this famous band they still pushed through and became top 5 in there generation.

Salter Mahan

2024-10-04 14:10:23 UTC

This article talks about the discovery and evolution of MRIs. Now MRIs are used all the time for injuries of all kinds. Especially for athletes when they need to see the severity of their injury and how long they think they are gonna be out for. This relates to the universal theme of futuristic visions because they made something helpful that hadn't been thought of and kept evolving it and making it better.

Hard work really does pay off

peytonmclendon10 — 2024-10-04 14:10:43 UTC

It all started a few years ago whenever my parents had approached me with the idea of learning how to play guitar. It seemed like a good idea for my 6th grade self and I accepted. I started guitar lessons with a 50 year old guitar that my aunt had originally gotten from my grandma. Then in the middle of my 6th grade year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. This really took a toll on me and how I learned because it affected my everyday life and affected how I learned. With the introduction of this new solitude I had to do guitar lessons online. It was really hard on me because it was hard for me to pay attention and learn well. For the next few years I would switch guitar teachers at least 3 times until my new worship pastor came to our church. I started guitar lessons with him and he taught me so much. I started playing guitar on Sundays and even started up a youth band for my youth group that meets on Wednesdays. The thing that struck me the hardest was how much he expected of me. Unlike my other guitar teachers, he expected me to do great and to actually work for what I was working on. This didn't really hit me until last year whenever I had to play guitar for a song for our choir concert last year. This song was the hardest thing I had ever learned. The first week I learned about it I just put it off until the next guitar lesson the next week. I had demonstrated what I knew and my teacher was disappointed in me. From that day I had decided that this song wasn't just going to come to me naturally and that I needed to practice this. From that day, I practiced almost every day for an hour to get this song down. Yes there were times where I just wanted to give up and quit but I kept moving on and kept trying. In the end, it went really well and its something that I am extremely proud of. It has encouraged me to work for what I love and to actually make a genuine effort to learn. This story connects to the universal theme of Journey of Self-Discovery. I think that this connects because what happened in this story inspired me to work with all I have on the things that I care about. Even the things that I don't care about too much I should still work on with all that I have. This has inspired me to work on myself and that when I really put effort into something, it can turn out great.

Sadie Saunders- The American Sniper

2024-10-04 14:12:12 UTC

“American Sniper” is a war movie, produced December 25th, 2014 that tells the story of the legend Chris Kyle. Kyle is a Navy SEAL sniper with the highest number of confirmed kills in The United States military history.This movie follows the journey of Kyle’s life in Texas and through all his tours in Iraq. During Chris Kyle’s duty he faces lots of mental health issues and difficulty with his family and marriage life. Kyle is a legend for he saved countless lives in battle, while protecting our country. When he finally returns home, Kyle faces PTSD while also trying to reconnect with his loved ones. Overall, “American Sniper” shows the power, sacrifice, and heroism made by soldiers.

2024-10-04 14:12:42 UTC

American Sniper is a historical film. It is about a man named “Chris Kyle”, he was deployed to afghanistan in the years of 2003 to 2008, he was deployed for the iraq freedom. Bradley cooper played Chris Kyle because his acting skills were unmatched by all the other actors. This movie symbolizes freedom and determination for the people. American sniper was a good movie, the directors made over $547 Million dollars and made history about the story of Chris kyle, it showed the world wide example of how it was in iraq and why we were trying to free the people in a different country

Ava Corker

2024-10-04 14:13:36 UTC

This article from Pew Research Center talks about how September 11, 2001 still affects U.S citizens. The public feels that the threat on 9/11 has never fully gone away and Muslims were still associated with violence years after the attack. To this day, Muslims and other races of people are stereotyped. The article states, “The rise of anti-Muslim sentiment in the aftermath of 9/11 has had a profound effect on the growing number of Muslims living in the United States. Surveys of U.S. Muslims from 2007-2017 found increasing shares saying they have personally experienced discrimination and received public expression of support.” Since then we have heightened security and have police at public places and events. This tragic event relates back to the idea of The Universal Struggle which is the fight for equality and human rights. Ever since terrorists attacked us, Muslims have been discriminated against and have had to fight to become equal with everyone again.

Landen Thayn

2024-10-04 14:14:45 UTC

The field of study is biochemistry, which originated from the Greeks who were interested in the composition of life. The article is about a project to repurpose drugs for use as antibiotics, leading to an antibiotic with a potent way of killing drug-resistant bacteria. A collaboration between the University of Leiden, and the John Innes Center screened a chemical library of 352 small molecules for antimicrobial activity, identifying 12 compounds that inhibited bacterial growth. The most potent compound class is called isoquinoline sulfinamides. An enhanced LEI-800 showed antimicrobial activity against E. Coli and K. pneumoniae. Scientists discovered that all resistant strains contained mutations in genes, encoding the enzyme DNA gyrase, which breaks and rejoins DNA to remove knots and entanglements. Scientists confirmed that LEI-800 binded to E. coli gyrase, preventing it from cutting DNA. This article connects to the theme of sense and sensibility because scientists are using new methods to repurpose drugs to combat drug-resistant bacteria.

AVERY Mccuan

2024-10-04 14:18:18 UTC

I choose to talk about animal testing and how it is very injustice. In this article they bring up that “ the pain and suffering that experimental animals are subject to is not worth any possible benefits to humans.” This is showing that there is zero reason to do animal testing, according to this article animals feel pain just like humans and even express pain like humans. These experiments often lead to painful and frequent deaths. Some people like to justify animal testing due the fact that “ many people believe that animal testing is justified because the animals are sacrificed to make products safer for human use and consumption. The problem with this reasoning is that the animals' safety, well-being, and quality of life is generally not a consideration.” this brings up the counterargument and still gose back to the fact that it is not right and can't be justified.

2024-10-04 14:19:43 UTC

As many know, an asteroid is joining the earth's orbit as a “Mini Moon”, yes this is true as scientist have used telescopes and observatories to locate this asteroid, this asteroid will rotate for about 2 months its not normal for this to happen but a very interesting discovery.

women right movement

2024-10-04 14:21:16 UTC

Woman suffrage is a big deal even to this day still it is a big deal the article explains how women have been treated over the years and what big events happened with it, In the 1850s women rights movement started up but shortly after the civil war began it stopped but when the war ended not long after the 14th and 15th amendment started to be brought up and raised many questions dealing with women's suffrage. In 1869 the National Woman Suffrage Association has been founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan. B. Anthony, They had began to fight for the suffrage of women and their rights. In 1910 some of the states in the west let women vote almost 20 years after the the group was found.

Discovery of Insulin

2024-10-04 14:24:40 UTC

Diabetes used to rampantly kill people without any hope of a long life. This was until the discovery of insulin. The discovery started with many scientists finding out that pancreatic islets affect blood sugar control. Scientists tried to extract this insulin hormone from various animals, but this all led to failure. That was until Dr. Banting finally extracted the islet cells. He realized that a digestive enzyme was destroying the insulin before it could be distracted, so he tied up the pancreatic ducts. This discovery relates to scientific discovery. Banting realized that there was a struggle in the world of science and chose to pursue it. He also is helping the progress of humans by giving this demographic of people a better chance at living longer and better lives.

2024-10-04 14:31:21 UTC

On September 11, 2001 two aircraft's crashed into the World Trade Centers. While President Bush was reading to a second grade class, his chief of staff informed him that planes had struck the towers and America was under attack. The morning of 9/11 terrorists boarded four airplanes. At 8:46 am the first plane, that was originally headed for Boston, struck the North Tower. Then 17 minutes later a second plane struck the South Tower. At this point people knew America was under attack. Later that morning the third plane hit the southwest side of the Pentagon. By this point the passengers on the fourth plane had heard about the attacks, and they made a decision to take over the plane and crash it in a field instead of letting the attackers kill anymore people. This terrorist attack killed thousands of Americans. This event relates back to the universal idea of historical reflections. Since these attacks on 9/11 Americans have begun to take new precautions in airports. We have advanced security to keep our people safe, you have to show identification and go through metal detectors before getting on a plane.

2024-10-04 14:31:54 UTC

Hurricane Helene has torn through the Florida Gulf Coast. Helene is quickly becoming one of the deadliest storms to hit the United States in 20 years. So much damage has been caused by these storms, floods, washours, mudslides, cell phones, and power is down. Interstates have been shut down, with only emergency vehicles allowed to travel on it. The Category 4 hurricane brought 140 mph winds and has a confirmed death toll of over 200 people. This hurricane connects to the universal theme of Loss and Mourning. The people affected by this hurricane have not only lost their homes, but some have lost their family and friends.

Never assume someone's life story

2024-10-04 15:07:27 UTC

In 2018, I was diagnosed with a rare epileptic brain tumor. Only 1 in 200,000 people have the condition I did, medically known as, “Hamartoma of the Hypothalamus”. All my life, we didn't know it, but I had been having “Petit Mal seizures”, and “Gelastic seizures”, Petit Mal seizures are when something foreign seems to suddenly takes over your body, you don't shake, but you stare off into nothingness, like a state of being unconscious even though you're fully awake. You can't hear, you can't see, but you can speak and walk, even though you're unaware you're doing either. Gelastic seizures are less complex, but they're not any less odd, they make you burst into uncontrollable laughter for a varying amount of time, until you eventually can't breathe and just black out. I remember being 10 years old, spending months in a hospital bed, not being able to have any human interaction aside from my parents, and of course the various nurses that came by to either jab me with various needles, tape the brain-wave scanners back onto my head, just to induce seizures for further testing. In February 2019, through the various testing and prolonged hospital stay, nurses and doctors had finally gathered enough information about my condition and layed out a plan to go about removing my tumor. On February 19th, 2019, I underwent a 16 hour brain surgery. My brain surgeon, Dr. Daniel Curry, removed a section of my skull, and inserted a catheter into my brain, in order to reach the tumor located near my brain stem. He then inserted a laser inside the catheter to ablate out the tumor to the best of his ability without causing permanent damage, that day he successfully laser ablated 60% of my tumor. After surgery, I had my first Myoclonic seizure (shake seizures), seizures usually only lasted 5 minutes for me, but this one went on for 15. But, that was the last seizure I ever had. The moral of this story, what this experience has taught me, is that you never know what someone has endured in their lifetime. Looking at me, you would never expect that I’ve been hospital bed ridden, that I’ve had hundreds of seizures in the past, or that I had brain surgery. This by far isn't the worst thing that someone can go through, but one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that because of this experience, I never assume anything about anyone's life or what they have been through. Everyone on the face of the earth is their own individual, with their own stories, and nobody has any way to know what they have undergone. I am a firm believer that nobody has the right to assume anything about another person's life, and I plan to stay that way.

Negativity vs Positivity

2024-10-04 15:07:39 UTC

I have always struggled with having a negative mindset toward things, myself and my relationship with God. I would always wake up in the morning thinking negative things about myself and then the day would go on. While my day continued I would always think about all the bad things that could happen and how people would judge me for what I wear or if I was to be myself. This led to my day being bad and wearing me out at the end of the day. It also led me to doubt all the things that God has done for me. Thinking that I was not worthy of anything he has done for me and doubting the plan that he has for me and the things that he is capable of doing. However there were some days where I thought positively and my day went amazingly. I was not worried about all the things that I am worried about when I have a negative mindset. I wasn’t worn out at the end of the day and I didn’t doubt what God has done for me and the plans he has for me. One day I realized that I had a negative mindset and I didn’t like it but I liked having a positive mindset because it brings me joy and helps me be the best version of myself. It leads me to be confident in God's ability and who he has made me to be. I learned that having a positive mindset leads to happier days and a happier life. This connects to the universal idea that having a positive mindset and thinking positively about yourself, situations, or other things can lead to a better day, week, month, year, or life.

Genome editing-Rebecca Palmer

2024-10-04 15:10:29 UTC

Genome editing, also called genome engineering, is the process of DNA being inserted, replaced, or otherwise modified inside of a living organism. This form of genetic modification is more refined than others as instead of the target randomly getting the altered genetic materials inserted, the current version of this targets specific locations. This is done through target genomic loci recognising the programmable nuclei, but with genome engineering it brings up the discussion of humanity. If we can alter genetics to get rid of chronic illness and disease what stops it from going as far as looks, intelligence, or physical capability. If it advances that far and our newer generations are slowly becoming more and more engineered, it changes the meaning of humanity and what makes people human.

Journey of Self Discovery

2024-10-04 17:00:12 UTC

The man in this TED Talk is someone who has had to learn to adapt after having to use prosthetic limbs. He makes a point to learn to adapt instead of giving up; he couldn’t play guitar with his prosthetic hands, so he made a way so that he could. He mentions that at some point it was hard for him to find a point in life. The struggles that he went through day to day and the way he talks about it shows a confidence in who he is. He makes multiple jokes about his prosthetics exemplifying his confidence in himself.

Drew Whitehead

2024-10-04 17:26:29 UTC

In the 1850's women's rights movement started shortly after the Civil War began. The Civil War ended not long after the 14th and 15th amendment started to be the talk of the town which brought up many questions about women's suffrage. In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association had been founded by Elizabeth Stanton and Susan Anthony, they had fought for women's rights and equality for women. It worked and some states allowed women to vote almost 20 years after the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded.

khloe deaton

2024-10-04 17:28:45 UTC

November 17th, 2021, Young Dolph was shot and killed inside Makeda's Homemade Butter Cookies on Airways Boulevard in Memphis and just as of now they solved his case. Justin Johnson was found guilty for the murder of Dolph, after the jury heard testimony from a co-defendant that the killing was part of a feud between rival record labels. Yo Gotti’s brother, Anthony “Big Jook” Mims, had put out a $100,000 hit on Young Dolph and had also put bounties on all the artists at Young Dolph’s record label. It all started in 2014, Yo Gotti wanted Dolph on his music label and Dolph declined because he already had enough money, he says. Ever Since they have dissed each other in music and interviews and then eventually “Big Jook” put out a hit for dolph. This relates to the universal theme, “Power Struggle” because it shows the reality of what people will do to gain power.

Little Rock Nine

2024-10-04 17:31:26 UTC

This article is displaying and showing how the Little Rock Nine erupt through all the tribulations that they endured as they were ridiculed for just showing up to obtain a better education. This is relates back to Hope and Patience because of how they went about the way the were treated but never treated them the same way so it shows integrity and patience of those teenagers as they were being ridiculed by other teenagers and adults.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-04 17:34:36 UTC

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/us/helene-destruction-florida-north-carolina.html

Hurricane Helene is a category 4 hurricane that took landfall on September 26th, 2024. Hurricane Helene has torn apart the Gulf Coast of Florida and Georgia. Hurricane Helene connects to the universal theme “survival and hope”. Helene connects to this theme because everyone currently in Florida is trying their best to survive this hurricane. Civilians' water and fuel supplies are very low, and everyone is trying to reach out to their loved ones across the nation. Officials are racing to rescue survivors, locate victims, and give people the food and water they need. The people who have been affected are having to be faithful and hope that they can make it through this hurricane.

Dust Bowl

2024-10-04 17:36:39 UTC

https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl

The Dust Bowl was the drought that took over the plains in the midwest and southern region of the United States in the 1930’s. The Dust Bowl, also known as “the Dirty Thirties” was caused by low crop prices,high machinery costs, and poverty that led to poor agriculture techniques. The Dust Bowl connects to the universal theme of “survival and hope”. Many people suffered from the Dust Bowl and had to survive poverty, illnesses, and the diversity that the Dust Bowl threw into their lives. However, during those hard times the help of having willpower, stamina, hope, and pride helped those suffering during the Dust Bowl.

Sophia Ashworth

2024-10-04 17:37:04 UTC

For this topic I chose the movie Hidden Figures. This movie is based on the true story of the women Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. These are three black mathematicians in the early 1940’s which was a time of so much discrimination with both their race and gender. They had to walk in every day at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory and get shamed and picked on because of what they looked like. Even though they were “human computers”, every wrong they did was shamed upon way worse than it would’ve been for the white males that worked there. This connects with my universal idea of fear of failure. They would have to fear failing so that they would not get in trouble or seen as a joke. Not only did they completely succeed in this business, but they were a key part in the Mercury and Apollo space programs, which helped put man into orbit and then on the moon. They not only eventually became insanely respected but encouraged other young black women to follow in their steps.

2024-10-04 17:38:15 UTC

Unbroken

2024-10-04 17:38:51 UTC

Watch Unbroken

Atom Discovery

2024-10-04 17:39:24 UTC

After numerous times that people have said it couldn't be done it ended up getting done and now we as a mankind have a better and more in depth understanding of how things work and how small something could be. This is represents hope and persistence because that discovery has been probably one of the most underestimated discoveries.

Sadie Saunders

2024-10-04 17:43:07 UTC

In 1895, professor Wilhelm Roentgen accidentally discovered X-rays. While testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass, he stumbled upon something very important to our medical needs today. Through experimenting, Roentgen found that light can pass through most substances, however it casts shadows on solid objects. The name ‘X-rays’ comes from his unknowing, since he did not know what those certain rays were, he labeled them ‘X’. After this experiment, he quickly discovered that X-rays would pass through human tissue, allowing doctors to see bone and tissue. Doctors today use this for almost every medical issue. This discovery made possible the development of technologies like MRI’s and CT’s. This relates to the universal theme of science and discovery because without X-rays our health and medicine would not be as advanced.

Dayzee Jones

2024-10-04 17:50:45 UTC

Volleyball is a sport I have played ever since the sixth grade. At first, it was a fun hobby that I did for my own enjoyment, and over time it has turned into something greater. Volleyball has led me on my journey of self-discovery. There have been ups and downs, growth and adversity, but through it all I have found myself. I have found that I can be a light and positive influence. I can do this not just on the court, but everywhere all the time. Not to say that I only identify with volleyball, but it has taught me so many valuable lessons that I cannot live without as an individual. The sport has taught me to have passion for everything I do, and with that I must complete every task with purpose. I have learned to love the small things instead of just looking at the bigger picture. The small things will get you to that greater goal. Sometimes a season may not go as planned. Sometimes it may not seem like all of the sweat, hours, and hard practices are worth it. I have learned to work through these low points, and I will carry these lessons with me for the rest of my life.

Pet loss

2024-10-04 17:52:29 UTC

Having pets has always been quite a big deal in my family. All pets have either been gotten from a shelter or picked up on the streets, so being able to help these animals get a home strengthens our bond with them. I first went through pet loss when I was 5 years old, with my small dog Fox. He sadly had congestive heart failure and had to be put down to ease his condition. It took me a long time to grasp the concept of loss, and I spent days sad and upset hoping I would see him again. My parents noticed I wasn't taking this well and talked to me about how this was just things we are going to have to work out throughout life and that we have to keep moving forward. After that, I slowly began to cope with what had happened and realized that he was in a better place and was in no more pain. This connects to the theme, of 'loss and mourning' because of the loss of our family dog, and the mourning we did over him.

Joseph Stalin

2024-10-04 19:13:47 UTC

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/joseph-stalin

Joseph Stalin was the Dictator of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953. He was infamously paranoid and is thought to be responsible for over 8 million deaths. His centralized control of the Soviet Economy resulted in shortages of food and inefficient production. Despite his tyranny, his extensive use of propaganda presented him as a benevolent figure, and was adored by many citizens due to his cult of personality.

This relates to my novel, 1984. Under both the fictional government of Oceania and the real Soviet government, information is controlled and the government runs nearly every aspect of people's lives.

2024-10-04 19:14:31 UTC

This video shows how Pepsi is getting sued for putting plastic in the New York Buffalo river. This connects to the universal idea of Animals and environment because people of New York are trying to sue the Pepsi company for putting plastic in the river. This not only affects the water quality but it also affects the animals. Having the water and animals affected can cause the river to become unlivable for life which would take away from the experience of the river.

9/11

2024-10-04 19:17:45 UTC

9/11 is one of the most known tragic historical events that took place in 2001 in New York city. Four planes were hijacked and crashed into the north and south towers, the world trade center, and the pentagon. Nearly 3,000 people were killed from the hijacking and out of those people, 184 civilians and service members and 40 people were killed on flight 93. This relates back to the universal theme, loss and mourning. So many families lost loved ones over this tragic event. Some people even had to take their own lives because they knew they wouldn't make it.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2024-10-04 19:22:58 UTC

The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and published in 1925 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The Great Gatsby is written in a first person limited perspective, as a tragic, American-Fiction novel. This novel follows the character Jay Gatsby, a man who centers his life around one desire, to be with his long lost love of five years, Daisy Buchanan. Though the novel is narrated by the main character, Nick Carraway, he follows the affair(s), and eventual demise of Daisy and Jay's relationship. The novel focuses heavily on the concepts of love, wealth, and obsession. This flows into the idealistic “American Dream” of the roaring 1920’s, as the novel takes place during the jazz age of the 1920’s, in New York. Where people go to have the time of their lives. One thing I absolutely love about this novel is the symbolism. A good example of symbolism seen is when Gatsby purchases his mansion, and array of brand new cars. This is a hollow gesture, symbolizing the emptiness of the jazz age, thinking wealth and status will win him love.

Apollo 13

wareliam26 — 2024-10-04 19:51:30 UTC

On April 17, 1970, during the Apollo 13 mission to the moon, the Number 2 liquid oxygen tank suffered a malfunction with the heater insulation, causing a disastrous explosion, damaging many of the craft’s systems, including the landing module, 2 of the 3 fuel cells that provided power, another oxygen tank, and more. There was no loss of pressure in the cabin, which was a major relief to the astronauts aboard. There were challenges on returning to Earth, for example, the rationing of food, water, the lack of electricity, issues with the navigation system due to the debris field from the explosion, and the removal of the carbon dioxide exhaled by the crew, because of incompatibilities between the command module cartridges and the lunar module cartridges. This incident however was classified as a “successful failure” because it allowed us to learn about what not to do in space travel, and it taught us to be more careful. In addition to this, it also speaks to the resourcefulness of the human race, and the universal theme of the nature of humanity.

R. Kelly Conviction

2024-10-04 20:00:03 UTC

Franz Kafka

2024-10-04 20:02:53 UTC

The Pursuit of Happyness

2024-10-04 20:03:07 UTC

In this 2006 hit film, Will Smith, playing as Christopher Gardner, struggles to make ends meet after a harsh breakup due to his economic failures. He spends his savings and purchases a large amount of Bone Density Scanners, believing he will be able to turn a large profit with them. The issue arises when he realizes that most hospitals either already have this technology, do not need it, or cannot afford it. This combined with the departure of his significant other (she acted as a form of income) leaves Chris stuck between a rock and a hard place with a son to support and no job to support him. The movie does have a happy ending, as Chris finally lands a job with a reasonable wage, wins his lover back, and throughout his journey learns that the tangible items (such as money) in life are not of the utmost importance, but the idea of family is. This ties in with the theme of finding the meaning truest to you in life.

Earthquakes and Injection Wells

wareliam26 — 2024-10-04 20:04:30 UTC

When drilling for natural gas, the large drill bits used to bore through several layers of rock get very hot, and need to be cooled down. The drilling companies would not disclose what substance they used to cool down these bits, but it contains many harmful petrochemicals like diesel. Then after the gas has been extracted, the drilling company has to extract all of those chemicals out of the ground but then the question becomes where to put the toxic slurry. One option is to dig a pool like structure with a liner where they can dump the chemicals, but another option is something called an injection well. Essentially the company digs another deep hole and just pumps the slurry into the resulting hole. During the oil and gas boom in Arkansas, there was a major increase in earthquakes, and it was found that the toxic slurry that was being pumped into the ground was lubricating the plates beneath the surface, and causing them to slide and grind past each other, causing earthquakes and property damage in the area. Because of this, legislation was passed banning injection wells in Arkansas. These developments speak to the testament of humanities investigational capabilities.

Braxton Jerry

2024-10-04 20:07:50 UTC

On September 11, 2001 the United States was under attack. We were being targeted by terrorists who were against the US and against our Constitution and “our values that bind us together”.The article that I chose is wanting to remember the people who lost their lives on this tragic day. It is the anniversary for this event that changed the lives of many forever, so remembering these people that dedicated their lives to our country is being recalled. This connects to the universal idea of war and peace. Through the trials of 9/11 we have overcome this difficulty in our country and tried to remember the past but move forward to world peace.

Beauty & Fashion

2024-10-04 20:10:46 UTC

Today’s supermodels wouldn’t always have been considered beautiful. Standards of beauty have shifted radically over time. During the 1830s, a popular ideal of feminine beauty was the demure woman, with wasp-waist, rosebud mouth, wispy fingers, and tiny feet. After the Civil War, a popular ideal was of a woman who was curvaceous, big-hipped, and buxom.

In the 1890s and early twentieth century, the aristocratic and sporty Gibson Girl was a popular ideal. The Gibson Girl was known as the century's first pin up. This contributes to the universal theme of Art and Creativity because beauty changes every year based on new creative ways to look.

Dolly The Sheep

2024-10-04 20:13:10 UTC

In 1996, an animal research program with the goal of creating genetically modified farm animals led to the creation of the first cloned mammal. Dolly started as a single celled organism in a test tube, where she was put into the egg of a Scottish Blackface sheep. The embryo began to grow and was transitioned into a surrogate mother leading to Dolly being born on July 5, 1996. She lived for six years before falling ill to the negative effects of cloning, premature aging. She developed arthritis early on in her life and in her last days had developed many large tumors in her chest and lungs. The result of this was her euthanization to prevent any more suffering. This concept brings forth a rebuttal to the theme of life having a meaning, as it proved the finite lives we live that have been "gifted" onto us can be replicated. If replication of life to an exact extent (such as with cloning) is possible, the meaning of it fades.

The Space Race (Tyler Freyaldenhoven)

2024-10-04 20:15:29 UTC

In the ’50s, one of the most iconic competitions between worldwide powers began and would span around 15-20 years, the Space Race. At the height of the Cold War, the USSR and the USA began to compete with each other over the domination of space flight technology, which all culminated in their fight for who could put someone on the moon first. Eventually, America successfully launched Apollo 11 and put Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the moon which didn’t end the space race as a whole, but set the end in motion. This iconic fight is a great example of humanity’s constant feud against itself.

Artificial Intelligence

2024-10-04 20:18:01 UTC

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to a broad branch of computer science focused on creating systems capable of simulating the human capacity for learning and dynamic, real-time problem-solving based on firsthand observations, inferences, and interactions with their surroundings. Most functional AI in use as of the early 2020s is built on massive, human-generated data sets and algorithms, complex sets of instructions and calculations computer systems use to carry out procedures or complete tasks. This shows the universal theme quest for knowledge due to the fact that we are training things to basically be smarter than us.

The Great Salt Lake Dust

2024-10-05 00:37:19 UTC

Due to issues like climate change and not enough water being cycled back into the Great Salt Lake, the lake has started to dry up. This has caused sediment/reactive dust to be blown around into nearby cities. Scientists believe that these micro substances can be harmful to the lungs, and may cause lung related health issues. Some Scientists believe that it might be too early to draw a conclusion about the situation, so more research and testing will be done to help get a clear picture about if the dust is causing real problems. This issue does however show that we need to do much more to protect our environment, community health, and over all the world around us.

Enoch Assan

2024-10-05 18:49:13 UTC

The Barnard star which is 6 light years away from our solar system could have 1 or possibly a handful of planets orbiting according to scientific studies because the Barnard is closest to the Earth its a study target. They have noted smaller oscillations that are superimposed on the large wobble. The Universal theme is The world around us and by knowing about the Barnard Star and the potential planets out there in the universe we can be aware and thankful for the world around us.

Government in Texas suing Tiktok

2024-10-06 15:50:20 UTC

(October 3, 2024)

Texas sued Tiktok, accusing the social media platform of "violating children's privacy" and violating the state law in Texas by sharing personal information that makes it easy to identify children without consent of their parents. Texas Attorney, General Ken Paxton, seeks civil penalties for each violation of the SCOPE Act (Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment). Paxton shared that TikTok does not provide tools that restrict children's privacy and account settings which allows information to be shared from accounts set on "private," and specific advertising to be targeted to children. Paxton believes that Tiktok and other large social media platforms to be held accountable for failure to protect minors and their online safety. The Attorney filed a lawsuit in Galveston County, Texas state court. This current event relates back to the universal theme of "The Digital Age," where technology and social media has a major impact on society. Although this current event gives a negative view on social media, it does show how these platforms fail to keep minors safe, and these issues will always have an impact on society.

September, 11, 2001

2024-10-06 18:15:29 UTC

On the morning of September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked by the terrorist group, al Qaeda. Two out of the four planes hit the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. One plane crashed into the Pentagon, and the other crashed into an open field after passengers found out about the attack and fought back against the terrorists. In this tragic event, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives; of them, over 500 first responders died that day. Today, flags are lowered to half-staff to honor and remember the first responders, and those whose families were affected by the attacks. This relates to the universalizing theme of community, because even today we honor those who have been affected by this tragedy. Just like in the book Friday Night Lights, the community ties themselves around the football team, which unifies the community. This event unifies the people of the US under one cause, just how football unites the people of Odessa, Texas.

Vaccines

2024-10-06 18:54:36 UTC

The scientific discovery that I chose was vaccines. The very first vaccination was in 1796 against smallpox and the amount of vaccines has expanded exponentially. There is now a wide variety of vaccines for different kinds of viruses. The biggest accomplishment of discovering vaccines is the amount of vaccines that have been discovered. Vaccines are used to help prevent sickness or to fight off the viruses that are going through your body. This connects to the universal idea of science and discovery. Vaccines in my opinion are one of the best discoveries made. They have helped human progress throughout time and prevented the spread of diseases.

Book: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

2024-10-06 20:14:14 UTC

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris follows the love story of Lale and Gita. This book is about their survival of the Holocaust and how they came to love one another. Lale was a tattooist at the concentration camp, Auschwitz, and one day he tattooed the newly imprisoned Gita. From then on Lale was enamored with Gita and tried to see her every chance he got. They went through terrifying hardships, and even moments when they thought one another had passed. Towards the end of the war, Lale and Gita were separated after a near death experience. However, Lale never gave up on escaping and finding his love. He eventually found her, and after the war they were able to get married. At the end of the book, their son left a letter about his parents: what it was like growing up with them and the stories they told. The holocaust had a long lasting negative effect on millions of people’s lives. However, this event did have brighter impacts, such as Lale and Gita meeting one another. It is crazy how they both went through such a devastating event in their lifetime, but they came out of it with someone they love and can experience the tragedies with. The concentration camps had a long lasting psychological effect on these individuals, and it was important Lale and Gita had each other to grieve with. Their son, Gale, is still alive today, sharing the legacy of his parents, and educating the world about this horrible time. In their story you will see the universal theme, “Survival and Hope” because despite all odds, they survived the holocaust; managed to fall in love in such a horrendous place; then, found one another after being separated for a long time.

Titanic

2024-10-06 21:34:11 UTC

Titanic is a movie directed by James Cameron Starring Kate Winslet (Rose) and Leonardo Dicaprio (Jack). This movie depicts the true and horrifying events of a ship sinking. On May 31st, 1911 the Titanic launched and set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton. On April 10th, 1912 the ship struck an iceberg, broke apart, and sank to the bottom of the ocean, killing over 1,5000 passengers and crew. The movie Titanic released in 1997 is focused on two fictional people that fall in love on the ship, and sadly only one of them makes it out alive. Granted that, Titanic isn’t just some fictional chick flick. Titanic displays the absolute fear and tragedies everyone on the boat faced. Many people had to come to the realization that themselves and their family weren’t going to make it out alive. This relates to the universal theme of survival and hope. Survival instincts kick in when one's life is at risk and hope is what guides them to keep pushing through. The sinking of the Titanic has a heartbreaking legacy that reminds people today of the terror and loss many faced on April 10th, 1912.

The long battle for women's suffrage

2024-10-06 21:34:22 UTC

In 1848 a group of abolitionists gathered in Seneca Falls to discuss women’s rights. Many people of the convention agreed that women were their own individuals and deserved the same rights as their male counterparts. In 1890 the National American Women Suffrage Association was formed and by that time their perspective had shifted. They now asserted that women deserved equal rights because they are different from men. In 1910 some states had given the vote to women, while states in the south still restrained the vote. By World War I women's work toward the war effort showed how resilient they were and that they deserved the right. On August 18th, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified giving women the right they fought so long for.

Sean "P-Diddy" Combs

2024-10-06 21:52:29 UTC

Recently there have been many allegations about Sean "P-Diddy" Combs, about his "series of civil lawsuits from several women, and at least one man, alleging he either assaulted, abused or trafficked them. Combs has denied all allegations." Many may agree that this connects to the universal theme of Celebrity and Stardom, because P-Diddy's major fame has brought him many ways to get out of allegations throughout the years. However, now everything is finally coming to light and he is being treated like a normal person. And he can't hide his sex trafficking and drug mulls anymore.

Deja Vu

2024-10-06 22:10:19 UTC

There are many theories to Deja Vu, but in this Ted talk it gives us three main ones that we can focus on. But for now I'll just talk about the second one. It's called the hologram theory. And this theory is when your brain confuses a certain moment in time, a memory, with the present. This memory of course is a similar situation to what is happening in the present. We can connect this to the universal theme of the Human Mind. This is because Deja Vu has many things to do with our minds and it's basically a mystery to us. Although it doesn't happen often we always remember when it does.

2024-10-07 01:07:39 UTC

Growing up for me has been a ride of emotions for me. It wasn’t really easy. In fact , I feel more mature than others because I was forced to grow up and become who I am today. I don’t really have a sense of humor because it was mostly stripped away from me. I always had to be serious with everyone. From the age of 6 to 16 it was a rocky road from moving households but it was for the good not bad. Living the household i was in when I was 7-10 made me grow up faster this made me mature quicker and learn life lessons faster than everyone else. Growing up quick sucked but it was worth it, i have more experience than anyone else on life i feel like it may not be that way but it sure does feel like it

Moths and Where We Find Them in History (and computers)

2024-10-07 01:26:24 UTC

According to the article, the world’s first computer bug was caused by a real bug. At Harvard in 1947, computer scientists were finding a lot of things wrong with the Mark II (an old computer model). After struggling to figure out the issue, they opened it up to find a moth inside messing with the hardware. This event remains relevant today because whenever something goes wrong with software, or hardware, we call it a “computer bug”, changing our views around coding. This ties into the universal theme of discovery because humans are always trying to discover things in their experiences to relate human made concepts or to piece together different topics as a whole.

2024-10-07 01:29:54 UTC

Wonder, a book, was published February 14, 2012. Wonder attracts the world with the book and movie, wonder is about a kid with down syndrome seeking to find friends when he meets Julian, Julian bullies Auggie about his appearance. In the end Auggie becomes friends with jack and julian once they realize how smart and special he is

Spinosaurus and Discovery

2024-10-07 01:53:59 UTC

In the article, the author talks about the long history of scientific discoveries. The first Spinosaurus fossils were found by a German paleontologist, but his findings were destroyed when a museum was bombed during WWII. During the author’s time studying dinosaurs and going to dig sites he met a guy, named Nizar Ibrahim, who discovered new Spinosaurus fossils in Morocco in 2008. This led to research about what the dinosaur looked like, how it was actually an aquatic creature, and how it would hunt and eat. Scientific discoveries that humanity makes, even as niche as fossil records, builds this tapestry of who we are for future generations to see. Without our need for creativity and knowledge we wouldn’t have purpose, or an idea of how we and our planet has grown. Humanity’s wonder for the world is what drives us to keep progressing.

The Study of Sleep

2024-10-07 02:03:50 UTC

Polysomnography, or the study of sleep, is one of the most overlooked, but important fields of research when it comes to the body's health and recovery. Sleep is an essential function and if you’re not getting enough sleep, there can be some pretty negative effects. Sleep improves everything from judgment and decision making, to emotional regulation and immunity. When you don’t get enough sleep you can suppress your immune system, interfere with metabolism, reduce alertness, and even impact your mood. The reason that sleep occurs is due to something called circadian rhythms. These rhythms work like the body's 24 hour clock, and operate due to environmental factors. There are also different stages of sleep: stage N1, stage N2, stage N3, and REM sleep. Healthy people cycle through these stages of sleep multiple times every night. Regular disruptions to these stages can lead to negative physical and mental effects. On average, teens only get 6.5 to 7.5 hours of sleep a night, when they should be getting about 9 to 12 hours of sleep. There are several different ways to help you get a better night's sleep. Some of those include; finding a bedtime routine, avoiding electronics an hour before bedtime, and even exercising early in the day can all help you sleep better.

Antipsychotics

2024-10-07 03:34:49 UTC

Although many people nowadays have a general idea of what antipsychotic medications are, not many give their creation as much credit as they deserve. The first antipsychotic medication, chlorpromazine, was first developed in the 1950's by modifying compounds previously used to help treat allergies. After finding that the medication had calming effects on patients suffering from psychosis, more research and eventual use of the medication immediately commenced. The creation of this medication not only led to an actual form of treatment for psychosis, (although at the time highly experimental and risky) but it revolutionized the treatment of the mentally ill as a whole. The establishment of an actual antipsychotic medication directly contributed to the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill from asylums in the latter half of the twentieth century. Through doing this antipsychotics also helped contribute to the overall better treatment of the mentally ill in general, providing a much better alternative to some of the frequently used "treatments" of the time. This development relates back to the universal theme of "Science and Discovery," as the original pursuit of a medication to treat psychosis ended up leading to the development of antipsychotic medications. This discovery then lead to significant amounts of societal progress through the improved treatment of the mentally ill, helping society to move on from its previous outdated biases towards the mentally ill and overall change for the better.

The Roaring Twenties

2024-10-07 04:57:57 UTC

The Roaring Twenties was a time period in U.S. History best known for the dramatic changes America saw in its national culture. During this time period before the Great Depression in the thirties, most Americans were in a pretty good spot financially. This led them to seek out forms of entertainment and leisure. Mediums like radio and movies saw their peak, and Americans really started developing a national identity through consumer culture. The arts flourished through movements like the jazz age and the Harlem Renaissance, while human rights expanded through the beginnings of the 20th century civil rights movement. Even the view of women shifted during this time period, and women known as "flappers" challenged old perspectives and gender norms like never before. All of these things together reflect one important detail about the Roaring Twenties: that American people as a whole were starting to really explore different ways to achieve happiness and pleasure. This of course relates back to the common theme of "The Pursuit of Happiness." Due to the average American reaching a point of financial stability, they start to desire things beyond their basic needs, leading to many Americans pursuing the things mentioned previously to achieve happiness, content, and pleasure.

Performance Enhancement Drugs

2024-10-07 12:31:10 UTC

Doping, the use of performance-enhancement drugs (PED), is a method athletes may pursue when trying to get the upper hand. It is believed that athletes have tried to find ways to enhance their performance as early as the ancient greeks. They would experiment with herbal medications, along with other tactics, in effort of enhancing their performance. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s when the first “effective” PED was used. During WW2 soldiers used amphetamines to lessen the feeling of tiredness during exercise; this idea is what was transferred over to athletes. Nowadays, there are many different types of PEDs, each with their own serious side effects. Athletes do not seem to care about these major long and short term health risks, only the fact that they have an edge on their opponent. The use of PED goes with the universal theme of Sports and Competition. These athletes' drive to win is so strong, they are willing to do whatever it takes no matter the price.

Sword of Allah

2024-10-07 13:10:13 UTC

In this article, a man who spends his life opposing the Islamic religion current islamic caliphate converts to Islam and becomes the caliphate's most decorated and respected general . The story of Khalid Ibn Al-Walid’s (the sword of Allah) conversion is taught all over the islamic world as an example of how everyone can change no matter where they start. The story follows Khalid, brought up in an aristocratic, powerful, and anti-Islamic family. Khalid is said to have mastered the art of war and combat from a very young age, going on to be the greatest commander in the known world and even defeating Muhammad in the battle of Uhud. The story then follows with Khalid being in the direct presence of Muhammad, and accepting islam and fully converting into the relgion (being named the sword of Allah from this point forward). The sword of Allah then went on to be one of, if not the greatest warrior of all time; said to have never lost a one-on-one encounter and leading the islamic military to conquer much of the middle east and surrounding areas. Khalid's story ties back to the universal theme of change by showing how someone so set in their ways and beliefs can completely change in an instant. The moment of Khalid being in Muhammad’s presence and completely abandoning everything he had before to be a servant of the islamic religion shows just how much a human can change their ways for something they believe in.

Flight-93

2024-10-07 13:21:12 UTC

It was September 11th, 2001, when America suffered one of their most devastating attacks on American soil. Nineteen terrorists from a Islamic terrorist group, al-Qaeda, had hijacked four commercial planes. Two of those hijacked planes had crashed into the buildings known as the Twin Towers. It was pronounced that 2,750 people died in this attack including about 400 first responders, 184 people in the Pentagon, and 40 people from the World Trade Center attack. A remarkable thing was noticed in Flight-93. The selfless acts of the 40 passengers and crew members in Flight-93 had noticed that the plane had been hijacked. Thinking quickly, they tried to regain control of the plane so they could offset the terrorists’ plan. The plan to break the terrorists’ intended target worked, but sadly, everyone on Flight-93 lost their life. To this day, we still acknowledge the courageous acts amongst the people of Flight-93. This connects to Friday Night Lights because of the universal theme of community.

Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War

2024-10-07 13:24:05 UTC

On October 26, 1881, a shootout broke out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. There was a fight between the Earp brothers, Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan, and the Cowboys, a gang who got their start by selling stolen cattle. The cowboys were like the mafia of the west at this time, with their leader being Ike Clanton. In this fight, the Earps and Doc Holiday made it out alive, however, 3 of the cowboys were killed, including Ike Clanton’s younger brother. This made Ike spin the story against the Earps, framing for starting the fight. The Earps however, won this battle, and were not charged for murder. This story created a divide in the country, almost starting a second civil war when the president at the time sent in the military to help take care of the situation at Tombstone. This story displayed the universal theme of war and peace, with the gunfight creating war between not just the Earps and the Cowboys, but also the United states. Without the gunfight at the OK Corral, the United States would likely be more united, instead of the North and South division we had today. This division creates war between the two, with different ideologies for everything political.

J. Marion Sims Controversy

2024-10-07 13:30:27 UTC

J. Marion Sims was one of the greatest surgeons of the 19th century, shocking the world with his successful operation for the cure of vesicovaginal fistula. Even though he performed such feets, there may have been some shifty procedures taken to reach the point in surgeon knowledge he did. Between 1845 and 1849 Sims carried out a series of experimental operations on black slave women. These operations caused numerous modern authors to look into the allegations he had faced while alive. Even going as far as attacking Sims medical ethics, claiming that he manipulated his way into performing unfathomable experiments on enslaved women. Even though he experimented on helpless slaves, modern authors fail to acknowledge that there is evidence of “willing participants” in his surgical attempts to cure their affliction. His story could evry well connect to the universal idea of The World Around Us. The community of volunteers to endure such experiments did so willingly, and it goes to show that people are willing to do anything for a chance of cure. However, many people all around the world go through things willingly in hopes to better their life, or chances of survival, or even success.

Lily Beth Hill - Personal Identity

2024-10-07 13:33:58 UTC

A huge scientific breakthrough occurred in the 1950s. The invention of the birth control pill. The original testing of ingredients and dosages were originally done on animals and then slowly moved to more medical studies on humans in the early 40s. This led to a major medical advancement and a certain freedom for women, even though at first it was difficult. In the beginning it was only prescribed to married women. As time progressed and it was made available to all women, it gave women the opportunity to choose what they do with their lives and control of their own bodies. They had a whole new lease on life. This connects to the universal theme of self exploration, purpose, and personal identity, because women had a new purpose for their lives, their purpose was no longer to just get pregnant and have kids. They could now attend college and work outside the home.

Lily Beth Hill - personal identity, and womens rights

2024-10-07 13:40:00 UTC

The women's suffrage movement started during the mid 19th century. At the time, women had very little rights. They were supposed to be submissive to men and couldn’t really voice their own opinions. For many years, many women banded together to write, march, lobby, and practice civil disobedience to achieve their goals. Once the nineteenth amendment was ratified, women were able to vote and have their own voice. This connects to the universal theme of self exploration, purpose, and personal identity, because women had their own voices now, and therefore had their own identity.

Vaccines

2024-10-07 13:44:08 UTC

In 1798, Edward Jenner published his work about a vaccination that would protect others from smallpox. He created this vaccination by taking pustule liquid from a similar disease, called cowpox, and infecting people with it, so that their body would learn how to fight it. This started a journey of making vaccines for many diseases across the world, such as Rabies and Typhoid, saving the lives of countless people. Today, vaccines are used to protect people from a wide variety of diseases, from tetanus, to Covid-19. This creates a sense of public safety, which would be the universal theme for this discovery. The fact that you are more immune from disease creates something called herd immunity, which is something that makes everyone else safer.

Cell Theory

2024-10-07 13:48:00 UTC

Originally, scientists thought that all of life randomly arose from nonliving things. This was the belief until in 1839, Theodor Schwann proposed a cell theory. It was composed of 3 different parts. The most known and important one being that all organisms are made up of cells. Cell Theory has helped us in numerous ways such as understanding diseases and how to deal with them and other certain illnesses too. Cell Theory today is used to help us understand how organisms are created, Grow, and die. All in all, this theory connects to a universal point that our community is growing really fast, and as we keep working together to solve more problems in this world, we will keep evolving.

Hidden Figures - Maya Barrios

2024-10-07 13:49:03 UTC

The movie Hidden Figures is about real life mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan. These three women are human calculators for NASA, but because they are black, they weren’t able to progress up the corporate ladder. NASA decides to give Katherine a chance to work with the rest of their workforce in order to help launch the first rocket to the moon. Katherine faces discrimination throughout her peers, from things such as not wanting to use the same coffee pot as blacking out information that she needed to do her job. Some of her peers felt threatened by her intelligence, and tried to establish themselves as the smarter person, which relates to the universal theme of the power struggle. Overall, Katherine’s influence brought major change to the program, taking large steps towards desegregation, and had major part in launching the rocket for the Apollo program.

D-Day

2024-10-07 13:50:13 UTC

The largest seaborne invasion in United States history, D-Day is a major part of US history. On June 6th, 1944, the beaches of Normandy in northern France were invaded by the allies. This included troops from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and many other countries. During the time of world war two France was overtaken by Nazi’s. Over 4,000 allied troops were killed by Germans defending the beach. This event is commonly referred to as the “Beginning of the end” of WW2. This event connects to the universal theme of War and Peace, because of this attack it prompted the US to take action leading to the eventual end of WW2 creating peace between the nations.

Apollo 11 Moon Landing

2024-10-07 13:54:27 UTC

July 1969, the Apollo 11 moon landing, one of the most monumental achievements in human history. Morning of July 16, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were set on a mission by the president John F. Kennedy. Their objective was to place the first step on the moon before Russia to show America's dominance and leadership with superior advanced technology. The astronauts strapped into the Saturn V rocket at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. At 9:32a.m. (EDT) they launched into orbit, three days later the crew made it to lunar orbit, and one day after that Armstrong and Aldrin climbed into the lunar module Eagle while Collins orbits in the module Columbia. When it became time to descend into landing pilot Armstrong had to take control of the aircraft manually, steering through boulders during the final moments of descent. They land at around 4:17 p.m. with only around 30 seconds left of fuel remaining. Armstrong communicates, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” As the control room back home erupts with excitement and celebration. At 10:56 p.m. Armstrong is about to climb out of the module to set the first steps of mankind onto another planet. With half a billion people watching on the television, that's when Armstrong says his famous line, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” This is one of the most important achievements for America, and mankind. This moment didn't only mark humanity's first steps on another planet but also showed a universal theme of science and discovery, and shows how far humans have come with technology and advancements. It also connects to perseverance and overcoming obstacles for how many challenges they faced during this time to put the ship on the moon.

Foreign Migrants

2024-10-07 13:54:31 UTC

The current discussion regarding foreign migrants relates to the theme of the American Dream. Millions and thousands of foreign migrants have joined the pursuit in search of fulfilling the American Dream. In this article, the Texas governor calls out the crisis of a surplus of migrants entering large cities, such as New York City, that are contributing to increased homelessness rates, poverty, and job insecurities. The American Dream represents hope of economic prosperity, freedom and better access to education and jobs. Unfortunately, the American Dream has become increasingly difficult to achieve. These unmet expectations of the American Dream relate to economic struggles and lack of resources.

WWI

2024-10-07 13:55:04 UTC

This article about World War I connects to the universal idea of the American Dream because in said war The United States fought for the American Dream and the war changed how people viewed this Dream. World War I was the first truly global conflict which was started by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and fought by the allied and central powers. In that war we fought against the central powers because they threatened the freedom and safety of the United States. Freedom and safety to pursue your dreams is a large part of the American Dream and we fought for that in the first world war therefore fighting for the American Dream. On another note, WWI was such a major event that it changed the way that the American Dream is viewed through providing more wealth to the country as a whole which then led to the American Dream being more about getting rich than happiness and opportunity.

2024-10-07 14:02:13 UTC

This Saturday the Arkansas Razorbacks were able to pull off one of the craziest wins in their teams history. They were able to overcome the Tennessee volunteers, who were ranked number 4 in the nation. With less than 2 minutes left in the game, backup quarterback Malichi Singleton scored the game winning rushing touchdown and then it was up to the defense. The Hogs were able to successfully stop Nico Iamleava and the Tennessee offense and get the win. The fans stormed the field and created mass chaos tearing down the goal post, which they were fined $250,000 for because it was their 2nd time storming the field. But it was all worth it for one of the biggest wins in their history with the hogs now moving on to a 4-2 record. This article goes with the universal idea Survival and hope because this was a powerhouse football team that Arkansas was going against. And they had hope and a fight in order to come out of this game with a win, that is survival.

Active volcanoes when dinosaurs roamed Earth?

2024-10-07 14:12:53 UTC

This article talks about the new research promoting the idea that volcanoes were still erupting on the moon while dinosaurs roamed the earth. The evidence they found is three tiny glass beads that were picked from the moon's surface and brought back to earth in 2020 from a Chinese spacecraft. Researchers studied 3,000 glass beads and found 3 with signs that it came from volcanic activity. The Chemical makeup on the beads suggests that there were still active volcanoes on the moon around 120 million years ago. More evidence includes images from Nasa that showed more recent volcanic activity. This research could help scientists understand how small planets can stay volcanically active. This connects to universal themes of science and discovery and the pursuit of knowledge, as they use our advanced technology to learn more about our surroundings and pursue their learnings.

Do dolphins smile?

2024-10-07 14:15:38 UTC

Do Dolphins smile? That is what Paige and her colleagues wondered while studying these playful animals. Paige recorded over 900 play sessions among many different dolphins, and found one thing they all shared. When dolphins are playing together they tend to smile more than when they are all alone. 90 percent of dolphins had this widemouth view when in view of their companions, and over two thirds of the other dolphins smiled back in just one second. While the evidence supports this open mouth gesture to be a smile Palagi is hesitant on calling it a smile. There needs to be further research to determine if the dolphins are actually smiling or just simply communicating to one another. This study connects to the universal theme of quest for knowledge because researchers are trying to find out if dolphins actually smile, or is this expression just a way of communication between animals.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-07 14:32:22 UTC

In this article the author goes into some detail about the hurricane that has been traveling through states. Helene started off in Florida and made its way through 7 of our states killing nearly 200 people. Florida gets hit by hurricanes fairly often. Not Only did this hurricane decrease the population it also greatly affected people's homes and many buildings and roads. Due to that many people have invested in impact-resistant windows, hurricane shutters and reinforced doors.

Frederick Douglass Narrative

2024-10-07 14:43:55 UTC

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in February 1818, he faced slavery basically alone as he did not know his mother very well and his father not at all. He wrote a Narrative about his life and times as a slave before he escaped in 1838. In his narrative, he talked about all the harsh beatings and sufferings that he had to go through and watch as a slave. The universal idea I match with this is survival and hope, because he had to learn how to survive, and he had hope that one day he could make it out, and he did.

My Son is one of the Columbine Shooters: Heres my Perspective

2024-10-07 15:07:36 UTC

On April 20th, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris entered Columbine High School with the intention of killing as many as possible, and then themselves in an act of violence. In the end, they wounded more than 20 survivors, and massacred 13 innocent people. How does this even happen? How could someone not have known these boys were like this? Mother of Dylan Klebold, Sue Klebold, refers to her sons death as a suicide, however expresses her endless sorrows to those effected by the massacre. She discusses how her sons suicide does not downplay his viciousness in his final moments, but that his mental health is the only motive people can find for this killing. This relates to the overall universal theme of mental health. How does one recognize behaviors like this, and how does one prevent it?

The discovery of Insulin

2024-10-07 15:23:53 UTC

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323774#discovery

The discovery of insulin was a very big change for the world and the people with diabetes. In 1920 Dr, Frederick G. Banting was the first person to isolate secretions from the islet cells and start to sell them as a potential treatment for diabetes. He used laboratory dogs to come to the conclusion of insulin as a cure. The universal theme I connect with this is science and discovery, because he used science to discover the cure for diabetes.

Lora Hartwick

2024-10-07 15:29:17 UTC

Alex Smith a professional football player broke his leg in a football game in 2018, he had a surgery but then developed an infection with a flesh-eating bacteria, which almost cost him his leg and life. 2 years later he went back on the field and led his team to the playoffs. He talks about overcoming fear and self-doubt. This is a great ted talk that is inspiring to others to help overcome their fears and self-doubt.

Perspective

2024-10-07 15:44:09 UTC

Throughout life you learn that people have different perspectives. A part of my life that I learned this was when I started driving. My Mom has always been pretty lenient on things, but when it comes to driving she is all about following the rules. A time this applied was when my friends were allowed to drive more than 2 people but I could not. I saw it as if everyone else does it, and are fine why can't I. My mom did not agree with this, and I didn't understand why till now. All she wanted to do was keep me safe, and out of trouble. I just did not see the bigger picture until I came to that realization. Over time as you get older it becomes more apartment that people have different perspectives, and do not think the same.

Can Dogs detect the next pandemic before it begins?

2024-10-07 15:50:02 UTC

In Glen J Golden's ted talk, he talkes about his research on medical detection through scents. He explains his research by comparing it with a smoke detector. He says that what medicine needs today is "smoke detector" like devices that can detect different medical conditions. In his ted talk he mentions different circumstances where dogs can smell medical conditions such as cancer, diabeties, and seizures. He also mentions other animals like rats that can sence land lines and mice can detect influenza. He then goes through the different steps and stages of his plan. He begins to train dogs to be able to smell influenza. He explains how these dogs could work on chicken farms to be able to detect infected chickens and decrease the spread of the flu. After that, his team trained dogs to be able to smell CWD in deer. The dogs were 75% accurate in the lab and 80% accurate in the field.

American Psycho (Movie Adaptation)

2024-10-07 15:50:49 UTC

American Psycho takes place in New York City, New York, in the year 1987. The novel revolves around our main character and narrator, Patrick Bateman. Patrick Bateman, meant to be seen as the face of wealth and greed, as well as sex addiction, and drug addiction, is a wealthy, narcissistic, worker on Wall Street, who seems to have it all. From a beautiful fiance, to money, all while living as freely as he pleases. Yet, below the surface Bateman is written to depict the traits of the modern day psychopath, committing disgusting crimes like sexual assault, murder, animal cruelty, human mutilation, and cannibalism. Bateman commits these acts due to the need he feels to be superior to others, less insecure, and or for sexual gratification. Bateman’s greatest insecurity being the man, Paul Owen.

Finley Malone

2024-10-07 15:52:04 UTC

The Manhattan Project was a secret U.S. government effort during World War II to create the first nuclear weapons. Scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer worked in places like Los Alamos and Oak Ridge to use nuclear fission. This project showed how far science and engineering could go, reflecting humanity's deep desire for power through innovation. It also raised important questions about the morality of using such destructive weapons and the responsibilities of scientists. The project demonstrated how advances in technology can change global situations. In the end, the legacy of the Manhattan Project encourages ongoing talks about balancing progress with ethical issues in science today.

Joan of Arc

2024-10-07 15:52:18 UTC

Joan of Arc was a young French girl living in a period of roaring war between her home country and England. She lived in a time when women could not fight in the military, and especially could not lead men in war. Joan believed that God had chosen her to lead the French military to success in war. She cropped her hair short like a man, and wore a suit of white armor, and successfully led French troops to victory, even after being wounded in battle. A few months after the teenager successfully won the fight, she was captured in battle, held captive, and later accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Today, she is seen as a Catholic saint and a symbol of national pride in France. This relates to the universal idea of rebellion and revolution. Joan of Arc rebelled against all laws saying a woman could not lead in war, and revolted against England, which overall lead to France’s victory in the war.

Lincoln-Douglass Debates.

2024-10-07 16:48:04 UTC

During the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign; Democratic senator Stephen A. Douglass and Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln debated over whether the newly acquired land from the Mexican war should be slave states or free states. In the article it explains that although the issue should have been resolved in the Missouri compromise of 1820, the recent Kansas-Nebraska act caused an argument regarding the new territories. They go on further to explain that although Lincoln's words were sound and agreeable Douglass worked to paint him out as a radical, threatening the stability of the union. They debated 7 times each 3 hours long, in the end however Douglass was the favored candidate. Douglass came up with the freeport doctrine, which while a good idea and was a compromise did not appeal to many southerners causing him to lose his respected position. In 1860 at the next election the debates between the two became a book and although they were both respected in their own right, Douglass’s party had become divided leading to an easy win for Lincoln. This historical event can be traced back to the theme of The importance of Focus, as it shows that even when Lincoln was debating against Douglass for the hours, multiple times and always had a strong argument, he lost the first time and he stayed focused and kept going.

Lone Survivor

2024-10-07 17:00:56 UTC

Lone Survivor is an intense war movie that was released in 2013 and is about Navy SEALs in Afghanistan. It's based on a true story and shows how these SEALs get ambushed during a mission. The movie is about sacrifice, loyalty, and how tough war can be on people's minds. The main character, Marcus Luttrell, is the only one who makes it out alive, and he's helped by some local villagers. Even though it came out in 2013, the movie still makes people in 2024 think about the military now, whether war is right, and what soldiers go through. It's a reminder that war is tough on people and that we need to support veterans.

Earths Mini Moons

2024-10-07 17:17:05 UTC

Scientists recently found this "mini-moon" circling Earth. It's shedding light on how Earth interacts with smaller celestial objects. This discovery shows why it's crucial to keep exploring and studying space. These mini-moons can teach us how our solar system formed and changed over time. Scientists think this mini-moon might be a captured asteroid or leftover space mission debris. Finding stuff like this is a big part of science, showing how each discovery helps us learn more about the universe and our role in it.

Alexis Holtz

2024-10-07 17:35:03 UTC

Patriots Day is a movie adaptation of the tragic event of the Boston Marathon Bombing that took place on April 15th, 2013. This movie shows the perspective of a police officer who was on the scene when it happened and helped enforcement catch the terrorists who did this. It goes through what was done daily to ensure that the people who caused this suffering were found, and the final actions done when they were found. This connects to the universal theme, 'Loss and Mourning' because of the deaths that were caused by this bombing. 3 people were killed and injured more than 260. This caused mourning throughout the whole country, not only because of those who were lost but also because it was an act of terrorism. After the events that happened in 2001, any mention of terrorism brought fear to the nation.

Supreme Court declines Biden Administration appeal to Texas emergency abortion case

2024-10-07 17:41:43 UTC

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade in 2022, the Biden administration issued guidance to hospitals ordering them to still provide abortions in emergency situations. Texas, being a state with strict restrictions and bans on abortion following the overturning of Roe V. Wade, argued that this was an overstep on the side of the federal government and that they cannot allow hospitals to treat abortions when it goes against Texas law. This back and forth between State and Federal government is a great example of the Universal theme of Power Struggle. A lower court would side with Texas in that the Federal government had overstepped its boundaries, but the Biden administration did not relent and asked for an appeal to the Supreme Court. And finally, on October 7, 2024; the Supreme Court declined the appeal and let the lower court order stand. This entire situation is the epitome of Power Struggle. The state and federal governments are struggling over which one has jurisdiction to dictate what and it is up to the courts of America to uphold the law to resolve these struggles.

Why has the bird flu not reached Australia? - Maya Barrios

2024-10-07 17:42:11 UTC

Recently throughout the planet, there have been reports of a very contagious bird flu killing thousands of creatures. However, somehow there have been no reports of this virus in Australia. Why is this the case? One theory of several theories behind why the virus has not yet made it to Australia is because of ducks, who’s immune system can defend them against this virus. Unfortunately, even though the ducks don’t get sick, they spread it to other birds. Because ducks migrate, they spread this virus even further than their local habitat. Fortunately for Australia, most of their ducks are endemic and don’t migrate over the large biogeographical division. However, some ducks such as the Pacific Black duck and the Whistling duck could cause H5N1 to the area. If this virus is able to make it to Australia, it could have major impacts on the regional species. This connects to our theme of the global village, in which everything on our planet is connected to everything else on our planet. Even though the virus started as something that only one bird had, it’s just a matter of time until every bird in the world is exposed to it.

Origins of Bluetooth

2024-10-07 17:57:00 UTC

The origin of bluetooth comes from a Norse king of Denmark named Harald ‘Bluetooth’ Gormsson. He is famous for uniting the Scandinavian tribes into one central kingdom. The name Bluetooth came from his rotting tooth that had turned blue. In 1994 a Dr.Jaap Haartsen partnered with Ericsson to find a way to create a short-link radio technology. After continuous trials and errors they eventually came up with technology that used 2.4 GHz radio waves. Ericsson went on to meet with big members of the communication industry; Nokia, and Intel. He planned to work with them to standardize the creation of Bluetooth. The name came from Jim Karduch, an employee from Intel who had an interest in Norse history. The symbol for Bluetooth was made using the Nordic alphabet for H and B for Harald. This scientific discovery relates to the theme of The Digital Age. As humans grow and evolve as a species we become more advanced in technology and our reliance grows on it as well.

2024-10-07 18:11:28 UTC

Real Ice is a startup company based in the U.K. that is focusing on the reversal of a “blue ocean event” using environmentally friendly technology. The blue ocean event described by the company is an event in which all ice on the poles of the earth melt away and leave only deep blue ocean water behind. The ice on our poles act as a reflective shield for sunlight, reflecting a lot of heat away from the surface of the earth. Without the polar ice, the deep blue color of the ocean would absorb sunlight and drastically heat the earth up causing an escalation of the rate of global warming. This startup offers a solution, ice seeding. Their idea is to take remote controlled aquamarine vehicles with drill heads, maneuver them under the thick arctic ice, and let them drill all the way to the surface. From this point, they will install siphon pumps that will take the ice cold sea water from underneath and pour it all over the surface ice, hopefully refreezing the water and thickening the ice. This company's inventions and goals tie to the universal idea of survival and hope, showing how the smartest of the human race are fighting to solve the problems we caused and save humanity as a whole from a hopeless future. The innovations of this company are showing an intense effort on the part to survive against all odds.

How singing can benefit your health - Maya Barrios

2024-10-07 19:23:40 UTC

I watched a Ted Talk on how singing is good for your health. Singing isn’t something that just uses your throat, it uses your whole body from both standing and supporting with your core, to focusing on breathing, helping with lung health, and lowering blood pressure. Singing is great for your mental health, since it can bring people together and is overall good for your wellness, mental health, and confidence. This relates to the universal theme of healing, because singing can heal you both physically and mentally.

Mongolian Rule

2024-10-07 19:57:09 UTC

Genghis Khan, born as "Temujin", was born into one of many nomadic Mongolian groups/tribes. Through mercilessness violence he conquered the tribes of Mongolia, called his people to a meeting, and was coined as the "Ruler Of All". He spent his life conquering different regions of Asia extending from Beijing to Bukhara. He had a very simple system of conquest. When he arrived at another kingdom, town, or province, he gave them a choice. Surrender or die. After decimating the local kingdoms, his reputation began to proceed him. This overarching fear factor was another primary reason for his success. Near the end of his life, he introduced the Pax Mongolica, or Mongolian peace, where he stopped his conquest and ruled over his newfound kingdom.

Luke Rupert

2024-10-07 20:11:48 UTC

Black holes are among some of the most mysterious things in the entire universe. They are huge concentrations of matter packed into very tiny places. The gravitational pull inside of a Black hole is so incredibly strong that not even light is able to escape. These black holes can occur when giant stars collapse, and possibly by other methods that have not been discovered yet. Black holes are not wormholes and they do not suck in matter like some people believe. This all connects to the universal idea of space and the cosmos because it is talking about one of the most mysterious wonders of the universe.

I Have A Dream Speech

2024-10-07 20:17:30 UTC

Martain Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech was delivered on Aug. 28th, 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He wrote and delivered this speech with the hope to call for civil rights and end racism, and also end economic and employment inequalities. He believed the markket operation of the American economy propagated unemployment, discrimination, and economic injustice. This speech became one of the defining moments of the civil rights movement and one of the most iconic speeches in American History. This speech relates to the overall theme of justice and injustice because of the injustice in the the world and MLK jr being the voice of the people to try to put a stop to racism.

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

2024-10-07 21:11:09 UTC

Leading up to the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the Roaring Twenties had made America almost like a utopia. Consumerism was at an all time high and people invested life savings and entire paychecks into the stock market in hopes of getting wealthier. Because of the excess amount of people buying stocks, prices rose to unsustainable prices and the FED tried to combat this by raising interest rates. As the story goes, the market crashed leaving thousands and thousands of Americans in poverty. This point in history relates to the theme of the pursuit of wealth. The Roaring Twenties was a time of prosperity and the stock market was an accessory to that time giving American's hopes of getting wealthier, likley to fuel the consumeristic culture of the time.

Genome Editing

2024-10-07 21:45:06 UTC

Genome editing has been a substantial breakthrough that not only benefits plants and animals, but also humans as well. It can help things like modify properties of crops and animals, but it also has helped aid modern medicine in the treatment genetic diseases. This discovery relates to the themes of science and discovery, as well as disease and healing. One of the most remarkable impacts of this discovery is that they contributed to creating Covid tests. While there are ethical disputes over whether modifying human genetics is good, it has helped cure diseases such as Huntington's disease, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis. This discovery also marks the first time 2 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

2024-10-07 21:49:20 UTC

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the thirty second president and monumental historical figure, altered the foundation of the US government, specifically the presidential role and had a profound impact on his and in our time. FDR led the United States through the great depression and through a world war. His changes have lasting impacts by allowing the government to assume new roles such as economic regulations, financial reforms, social safety nets, and the creation of new labor Rights. FDR's New Deal helped fix the economy during the Great Depression, and he brought the country together during World War II by using Political maneuvering.

Ella Benton

2024-10-07 23:05:09 UTC

The American Revolution was the time period from 1775 to 1783 where the colonies wanted political independence from Great Britain. The war started off just between the colonies and great Britain, but other countries like Spain and France joined to help the colonies. The final surrender from Great Britain was in 1781 at the battle of Yorktown, and the revolution was settled with a peace treaty in 1783. This historical event can connect back to the universal theme of Rebellion and Revolution. The colonies had to rebel against the British, because their policies were corrupt and the colonies didn’t want to put up with it anymore.

Gravity

2024-10-07 23:17:35 UTC

The discovery of gravity was extremely important to how we understand our planet and the things around our planet. Isaac Newton came up with the gravitational theory in 1666 after watching an apple fall straight down out of a tree. Some say that this is a myth but Newton realized the same force that caused an apple to fall from a tree was also the force that kept the moon in place. Gravity shaped the way we view the solar system, without the knowledge of gravity today we would be lost. For example, some thought that Earth and other planets revolved around the sun in an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one, but the reason for this idea was unknown. Although, when gravity was discovered it helped prove that the Earth revolves around the sun. This relates back to the universal idea of quest for knowledge. Without Newton's want to learn and curiosity the discovery of gravity could have been much later.

“Our Moment is Now” Speech

2024-10-07 23:20:29 UTC

In this speech Barack Obama first explains the reason he has decided to run. He expresses that he knew it was time to take immediate action in the evolving world. He brings to attention that we all need to stand up together in everything we all believe in, and realize that people aren’t separated by the way they believe something comes to be. He expresses his want for change, which he knows will bring a challenge. From summarizing his speech, I have made the connection that this speech is similar within current society. Things have been conversed about, stressed about, and still no further change. Starting on changing the world now has been said by thousands of brilliant people yet, today, no avail in change. Some themes expressed in this speech that connect, are the Future, and Revolution. This is shown when Obama talks about the need for revolution in our society as a whole, and how that connects to the greatness of our future.

How to Live a Meaningful Life

wilsonryleigh26 — 2024-10-08 00:13:51 UTC

In this Ted Talk, Brian S. Lowery, a social psychologist, reflects on how to live a meaningful life. Lowery argues that personal successes are shallow and bleak and only give a temporary feeling of satisfaction or accomplishment. He argues that meaning in life is not found through achievements but rather through the relationships we have with others. There are three main components to a meaningful life according to Lowery: purpose, coherence, and significance. He describes purpose as life being beyond ourselves and that there is much more to life than what goes on individually. He refers to coherence as how our lives are part of a bigger picture. Finally, he states that significance is the impact we have on others and how our decisions cause a ripple effect throughout the course of time. This connects to the universal theme: the nature of humanity. Lowery highlights the meaning of life lies in not the fulfillment of individual achievements, but in the role we play in others’ lives. This derives from the human nature to seek purpose beyond achievement, suggesting that humanity thrives through connection.

Invention of Seat Belts

2024-10-08 00:17:15 UTC

I chose to talk about the invention of Seatbelts for “History”. The invention of seatbelts is the reason so many people survive car accidents today, and even throughout history since 1959. The article talks about how the first “seat belts” were created for bumpy roads, however most car-owners ignored them. As per the article; as more people began to purchase cars, more accidents happened, causing more injuries and deaths. Doctors urged vehicle manufacturers to solve this issue, and using a seatbelt from what was originally meant for a plane, we have the seatbelts we know today. This article relates back to the theme of Change is good because this article shows how changing something like unsafe seat belts into something more safe, ends up saving lives.

Remember the Titans

2024-10-08 00:28:56 UTC

Remember the Titans is a Football movie taking place in the time of integration into schools. Before school starts the football team also has to go through the hardships of including black football players and a new black head coach, Coach Boone. The players and coaches go to a camp where things are not off to a good start but a rather poor one, as time goes on the players begin to accept each other and become a family. After isolation the players come back from camp to the reality of their parents and school friends still not accepting integration. After being faced with even more obstacles the team goes on to win the championship and further prove the town wrong by denying segregation. This relates back to the theme sports and recreation because its a football movie but more specifically the human drive to win because the team ends up becoming and family and further uniting the town.

Lora Hartwick

2024-10-08 00:29:51 UTC

In the movie Remember the Titans, the summer of 1971, the football team and schools got integrated. Coach Boone works with coach Bill Yoast to bring together players of all colors and win the season. They go to a summer football camp to get ready for the upcoming season and bond together. At the end of the camp they had all become friends, as the school year started they faced the hatred of others back home. Their first game starts off rough but with a slight change they have a comeback. After falling apart as a team from everyone telling them they don’t want them to be together the students come together and find a team again. Rev the quarterback broke his wrist due to Ray intintally not blocking and soon after Garry the captain of the football team kicked Ray off the team for such actions. Coach Yoast lost the chance to be in the hall of fame, shortly after Gerry got in a serious car accident which paralyzes him from the waist down. The Titans play the final game with Gerry watching them on TV, they go on and win the championship. This all connects back to the universal theme of courage and perseverance. They worked hard through tough times and persevered through it all to win and come out as a team. 10 years later the team reunites at Gerry’s funeral; he died in a car accident by a drunk driver.

Life of Mars

2024-10-08 00:31:23 UTC

NASA’s Perseverance rover, also known as Percy, has obtained evidence that allows scientists to believe life could have existed on Mars. The article provided tells the audience how Percy obtained a sample of Mars’ red crust that contained organic molecules. The article defines organic molecules as carbon - based molecules, which we all know as the building blocks of life. This scientific discovery relates back to the theme of Quest for Knowledge because NASA is attempting to discover and learn about a subject so many humans don’t know much about, and by getting this information, NASA is able to educate so many students and people around the world.

Anna Dallas - U.S. led attack on Afghanistan begins

2024-10-08 00:43:48 UTC

For "History" I decided to read an article over the start of U.S. attacks on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, as it started exactly 23 years ago today. This was the beginning of the "War on Terror" in response to the 9/11 attacks of 2001. The Taliban ruled very harshly and abused their citizens, which connects to the universal theme of the universal struggle for human rights. This event is still relevent in 2024 as President Biden officially withdrew the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021, which is fairly recent. In addition, 20,000+ Americans were injured, leaving a lasting impact on our country.

Coral Sea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef

2024-10-08 00:47:21 UTC

In this article, scientists discovered that Australia's Great Barrier Reef has faced critical danger from back-to-back bouts of extreme ocean heat. Scientists have studied coral skeletons to test the chemical makeup of those samplings to reconstruct sea surface temperatures. The ocean heat is at its highest in four centuries however before the 1900s, the temperatures were relatively stable. This article relates back to the universal theme of climate and environment. For this to happen, climate and environmental changes had to occur. A change in temperature air will affect the water as well.

New Cell Therapy for Metastatic Melanoma

2024-10-08 00:51:42 UTC

In this article, it introduces the new begging cure for Metastatic Melanoma. This cancer in its early stages is skin cancer, while this specific type affects the lungs, liver, bones, brain, and lymph nodes. This therapy called TIL (Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy) has actually been studied for decades and contains differentiating white blood cells, T cells, and B cells. This treatment has been confirmed and tested by the FDA, and requires surgery to isolate the lymphocytes, making them reproduce in larger quantities, which in turn makes them recognize the impostor of cancer and kill it. TIL therapy is utilized in the modern world to help cure the patients who suffer later stages of Melanoma cancer. This therapy has shown more response than the immunotherapy, which was the original, non-curing medicine for patients who suffer melanoma. This advances the world around us, by finding new and differing cures and studies for cancer as a whole. The universal themes connected to this article are Medical Evolution, and Tumor therapy based on the medical advances in tumors as a whole and for the better health of the patients suffering.

Anna Dallas- Supersonic Flight

2024-10-08 00:53:45 UTC

Lately, NASA has been developing the X-59 aircraft, which is a supersonic experimental plane that will fly faster than the speed of sound, without a sonic boom. The goal of this aircraft is to collect sound data and open the door to commercial supersonic flight. Structural coupling tests have been going on since 2022, to evaluate the safety of the aircraft, which will soon lead to test runs, and hopefully in the future to supersonic travel. But it will be many years before the test runs are completed, and even more until these aircraft will be commercially produced. This connects to science and exploration, as people always want to discover more things that are better than how they were done in the past.

Bombing of Pearl Harbor

2024-10-08 01:00:15 UTC

During WWll America was not happy with Japan because they were declaring war on China, trying to take over. The two countries tried to negotiate with each other but never came to an agreement. The Japanese plan was to destroy the pacific fleet. At around 8 a.m. on December 7, the Japanese dropped bombs on the ships below. The Japanese attack destroyed nearly 20 American ships and 300 airplanes. But most importantly, it left more than 2,000 people dead. The universal theme that goes along with this is survival and hope because the Americans had to do their best to fight for their lives during this surprise attack. Surviving this gave the Americans hope to want to bounce back and strike back against the Japanese.

Discovery of DNA

2024-10-08 01:27:00 UTC

DNA was first discovered in the 1860’s by a Swiss chemist named Johann Friedrich Miescher. Johann was experimenting with white blood cells when he noticed something different when acid was added to the solution, and the alkali. Without very advanced tools and methods, Johann became very close to uncovering the role of nuclien. After many experiments he published his results in 1874. The universal theme that goes with this article is science and discovery because through the many experiments Johann did he was able to discover DNA, even though he couldn’t go very in depth due to the lack of tools.

Revoloutionary way

2024-10-08 01:30:33 UTC

The Universal theme for this article is War and Peace. The article goes into detail on the facts of the armies during the revolutionary war. The article explains that the colonies armies were in a way scrapped together. The article also explains how the colonies generals were more open minded to new strategies and the british generals were not and wanted to keep the same way battles were always fought.

2024-10-08 01:36:08 UTC

Concussions can be one of the most dangerous injuries in football, that's why this high school football team decided to take a step forward in modern technology. It seems lately concussions have become more common so Riddell (Most popular helmet company) decided to make even more protective helmets. This one is particular is called the Axiom, the helmet includes sensors inside the helmet to show exactly where it is being hit, they also include flex blades that allow absorption of hits, and finally a player can get their head scanned so the pads put in the helmet perfectly fit their head shape. Helmets like this are being used across the whole country to prevent the risk for a career ending injury.

Rocketman: The Early Life of Elton John

2024-10-08 01:41:43 UTC

The famous retelling of the timeless musician, Elton John, in a musical style biopic, conveys the challenging struggles of Elton’s early life. From a young age Elton found an interest in music that soon grew into a passion. When starting a new life for himself to grow his music career, Reggie changed his name, found a label, and started composing songs with Bernie Taupin. During the early part of his music career Elton discovers his interest in people of the same gender. This created many struggles Elton had to face that took a major toll on his mental wellbeing. After a toxic relationship and an attempt on his own life, Elton started consuming alcohol and drugs as a way to cope with his life. While still performing he kept his mental health hidden from the public. As Elton’s health kept declining, he realized he was in desperate need of help, so he took himself to a rehabilitation center to get the assistance he needed to get his life back on track. The universal theme that connects with this story is Exploration of Self. Elton’s journey through his early music career was all about finding and creating a life for himself. With that he faced many personal challenges that he had to overcome.

9/11 Attacks

2024-10-08 01:42:07 UTC

On September 11th, 2001 there was a terrorist attack. Four planes were hijacked, 2 of them crashed into the North and South Twin Towers in New York City, one crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and the last one crashed into an open field in Pennsylvania. This attack killed 2,977 people. When the planes crashed into the Twin Towers they started to collapse, many people were in the building at the time, making it hard for them to get out. Nobody on the planes survived and barely anyone from the Twin Towers and the Pentagon survived. This connects to the universal idea, Tragedy and Triumph because so much happened that morning and the tragedy that everyone went through and how many lives were lost.

The Gold Rush

2024-10-08 01:52:41 UTC

The California Gold Rush was started by the discovery of gold in the Sacramento Valley (california) in 1848. This was marked as one of the significant events that shaped American history. As the news was spread that gold had been discovered, thousands of gold miners traveled by sea and land to San Francisco. A total of $2 billion of precious metals were extracted from the area, and it peaked in 1852. This increased the non-native population in California territory from less than 1,000 to 100,000. This relates back to the universal theme in “The Great Gatsby” of the pursuit of wealth. Everyone at the time did whatever they could to gain wealth, and in this case people were willing to travel great distances in order to pursue what everyone can value, which is money. This is relevant now in 2024 as well because most everyone around the world are chasing opportunities to get more and more money, and it is something that is still highly valued today.

Ukraine Takes Credit for Large Cyberattack Against Russian State Media

2024-10-08 01:56:01 UTC

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues as intense as ever, both sides are trying to find new ways to damage each other. As Ukraine continues its effective drone warfare strategy and seeks permission from weapon-supplying nations to strike deep into Russian territory, Russia has been looking for new weapons to use and new regions to target. However, one area that is often overlooked during modern war is digital warfare. On October 7th, Russian leader Vladimir Putin's birthday, there was a massive cyberattack against Russian state media. The attack caused most popular Russian state media sites to become inaccessible, dealing a notable blow to Russia's reputation in cyberspace. Ukraine credited these attacks to its own team of hackers in an interesting new strategy from them. The Ukraine-Russia war connects to the idea of corruption caused by power, and the struggle of those beneath the powerful, as seen in The Great Gatsby.

Vaccines

2024-10-08 02:06:52 UTC

Vaccinations are to help people from harmful diseases and protect you from them. It trains your body to become immune to them and make your immune system stronger. It's very effective because it keeps you from getting sick and being able to spread other sicknesses to other people. Some diseases that people get vaccines for are measles, meningitis, pneumonia, tetanus, and polio. Childhood vaccines have saved over 4 million lives every year. This connects to the universal idea, Science and Discovery because this is a scientific discovery and it has been very useful for people from getting sick of the vaccines that they take.

The Great Barrier Reef Decaying

2024-10-08 02:10:08 UTC

The universal theme of this article is The Animal Connection. The article explains how the ocean’s climate is rising and getting warmer and therefore starting to kill off the coral reef. The Temperatures are rising because of global warming and greenhouse gasses. These greenhouse gasses have raised the ocean’s average temperatures up to 1 degree higher since the year 2015. The author explains how the Great Barrier Reef could start to decay and die out in our lifetimes.

Ben Peterson

2024-10-08 02:20:39 UTC

may theme is fantasy and reality, on the day of 15 of February 2003 in Antwerp, Belgium, the largest ever diamond heist in the world took place, by for 5 men. The head man Leonardo Notarbartolo was originally a jewelry desire who started a store and then it was roeded and this why they think he even fanseyd the idea of the heist. With the other for he pulled the most impressive heist of the sentry, and the would have gotten away with it but one of the guys was in a hurry and did not dispose of the evidence well enough. Notarbartolo spent 10 years in prison and the others who were involved spent 5. This reference to the real world by showing how far a man will go if he need money.

Neuralink implant

2024-10-08 02:52:03 UTC

Theme fantasy and reality, Elon musk has developed the Neuralink implant that came help people who have didadilts and who can not move, to move robotics are and comunicat with other and get one the internet. He would not have been abel to accomplish this if ha did not work hard, even though he was mocked and things did not work.

The Trial - Franz Kafka

2024-10-08 03:07:14 UTC

Franz Kafka's "The Trial" is an amazing book and one of my favorites. Unfortunately, it was never fully finished as Kafka's untimely death had already transpired, but the legacy that Kafka was able to leave behind is extraordinary and more than many other authors, many of which fail to meet his caliber. This book is the perfect representation of the Dystopian Realm, but where 1984 was a warning of the future the Trial is more of a dream-like story where everything is pinned against our main character, K., for seemingly no reason. Our introduction to the book is very strange, K. (an office worker of high repute) wakes up one morning as usual, but something is wrong. His landlady's cook hasn't brought him his breakfast yet, when she's never missed a day. Finding it odd, K. rings his bell to call for her. But to K.'s surprise a man in a black suit walks through the door. From here on K. speaks to the man and the man relays his messages to someone else before relaying them back to K.. K. eventually gets fed up with the man and walks past him through the door and to another man, who then tells him that he is under arrest. This is an example of a common theme of the Trial and the way that Kafka loves showing the Dystopian Realm of the book. Many times throughout the book, K. will have to figure something out himself or will be expected to know something that he has never been told before. Another example in the book is when he has to go to an interrogation, which is set up more as a court with a large amount of people and a magistrate presiding over the interrogation. K. is told where to go but is never told what time to go and soon finds out that there is a labyrinth between him and his destination. K. then has to knock on doors and ask strangers questions to find out his final destination, until eventually he finds where he is. And by the time he gets there he is told by the Magistrate that he is "one hour and five minutes late" even though no specific time was appointed while he was being told about his interrogation. Even the way that K. is arrested is strangely dystopic, Franz is never notified of his arrest until he himself rings a bell and walks through a door in protest. And even after he is notified of his arrest he is never jailed in any county jail or any similar place. He is left alone to ponder his own arrest after his initial enquiry. Another strange way that Kafka shows his way of creating a dystopic space includes the strange and weird locations that these "official" locations use. K.'s interrogation isn't held in an office, nor is it held in a courtroom, nor it is held in a precinct of some kind. K.'s interrogation is held in the house of one of the worker's. The worker's wife even breaks into the interrogation room due to having finished washing her clothes, interrupting K. until she eventually leaves. This house is barely large enough to even fit all the men presiding over the case and yet they still decide to hold their hearings here. These strange locations, strange circumstances, and strange vagueness all come together to show how terrifying and strange a dystopia can be. One even more strange and somewhat more terrifying than those shown in other books such as 1984. More strange and more terrifying because throughout the book we never find out what K. has been accused of, K. himself is never told about it either because that is information that he is not privy to.

Tricia Langille

2024-10-08 03:08:08 UTC

In this speech delivered by Charlie Chaplin, an English comic actor, he addresses that humans of that time have “lost the way”. He follows that with the claim that people “think too much and feel too little.” But, he also says to not lose hope and that people who are not “unnatural” can come together and get over this situation. Unnatural, in this sense, means people who feel nothing and act solely on what their mind tells them, like machines. Chaplin does a great job at addressing two different natures of humans and encourages the people to choose to also feel, rather than just think. Some people took it unseriously because they deemed it unnessary to his films. This speech was very impactful and uplifting to others though seeing as it was the first film Chaplin ever made with dialogue. These words spoken by Chaplin in the 1940s are arguably more relevant for todays age than back then.

Monkeys Communicate Using "Names"

2024-10-08 03:13:22 UTC

Recent research has found that monkeys use names to communicate with each other. When the monkey species, marmosets, were put into a room together with a “visual barrier” researchers found that the species can communicate with distinct vocalization to identify one another. The calls that are used by the marmoset species are called “phee calls”, and are used to communicate with each other when they are out of visual range. These vocalizations are used, like human names, to talk to one another directly. As researchers have observed, the marmoset species use specific calls to communicate with their social groups. This shows the calls represent individual identities, and help them build social connections with each other. This groundbreaking discovery helps us better understand the communications of primates. This scientific article relates to the universal theme of The Wisdom of Nature. With the research that has been done over the marmoset species, it shows the intelligence and social structures that animals have made. It shows humans that animals have very similar abilities, but are used in a unique way to best fit their own social communicating needs.

9/11

2024-10-08 03:24:19 UTC

9/11 had a major role in what America is today, it left a lasting impact on the country as a whole. Based on research, about 50% of people’s lives had changed, they felt more afraid, more careful, more distrustful, or more vulnerable. Also America’s security has bumped up a lot more since this happened, so that nothing like this could ever happen again. This goes with the universal theme of Historical Reflections because it talks about the impact of history, the lessons learned, and how it shaped our present.

x rays

2024-10-08 03:25:17 UTC

The discovery of x-rays happened accidentally in 1895 by Wilhelm Roentgen. He was a physics professor in Wurzburg, Bavaria. He was testing to see if cathode rays could pass through glass or not. His cathode tube was covered in heavy black paper, an incandescent green light came out and projected onto a fluorescent screen nearby. He found that mysterious light would pass through most substances but leave shadows of solid objects. He then found that x-rays would pass through human tissue which would show the bone and tissue beneath. Before this time to find out if someone broke their bone, had a tumor, or swallowed an object the only way to figure that out was by cutting them open. This was a huge discovery in the scientific world. This goes with the universal theme of science and discovery because this person discovered x rays.

Tricia Langille

2024-10-08 03:25:46 UTC

In 1971, the psychological department of Stanford University decided to conduct an experiment to determine how being in a jail setting changes someone. The guards and the prisoners were all college boys who were given their role after an interview with some people from the department. They were then set loose in the prison with the one rule being guards can’t make physical contact with the prisoners and vice versa. Pretty early on in the experiment some prisoners expressed that they thought the guards were taking it a bit too seriously and they weren’t really happy with that. Then one of the guards provokes a prisoner by messing up his bunk, and when the prisoner lashes out at him, he bluntly hits him with his baton. Things just start to go downhill from there. The guards almost get so power hungry that they must basically torture the prisoners to prove a point. The department continues to let this happen despite being able to see exactly what's going on. So I think that this is not only a show of the nature of the prisoners and guards but also of the department for not intervening.

The Handover of Hong Kong

2024-10-08 03:55:20 UTC

The performance of Auld Lang Syne at the Handover of Hong Kong from British rule to Chinese hands is one of the most beautiful and impactful performances in history. This performance fits right in line with the Universal Theme of Music and Harmony, with the performance being a celebration of the tradeoff from Britain to China. Auld Lang Syne is a song about old times that have long since passed, but great times that were a joy to have with you even if they are now over. Auld Lang Syne is often played at the end of meetings to say "Goodbye, it was fun while it lasted. Hope to see you again!" The soldiers are also marching from their Hong Kong posts to say goodbye to the land that they have occupied for the last 156 years. The performance is so moving and harmonious that the crowd decides to join in, with many loud cries echoing the haunting melody. Looking back on it now, many consider this handover to be the death of a free Hong Kong. For under British rule they were ever more free than they currently are under CCP domination. The commentary "A slow march into a new world order" rings ever faithful and true, for Hong Kong residents now deal with the CCP's regime and tomfoolery. But however hard that winding road may be, maybe one day they will be able to stop by and say hello again to their aged Mother once they are set free from Communist hands.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

2024-10-08 04:00:19 UTC

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lydon Johnson, prohibited discrimination and segregation in public places and facilities. President John F. Kennedy urged the nation to take action and guarantee equal treatment of every American regardless of their race. The Act was signed into law roughly 6 months after his assassination in November of 1963. Title VII of the act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) into law, which enforces laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and disability, in terms of employment. This connects to the universal theme The World Around Us because without this law, America will not be the same as we are now.

Rosalind Franklin's overlooked discovery

2024-10-08 04:16:09 UTC

In 1951, Rosalind Franklin, an Engilsh chemist, joined a team of biophysicists that were using X-ray crystallography to examine and find the structure of DNA. Franklin found that if she adjusted the humidity in the chamber that she could convert the “A” form of DNA into the “B” form of DNA. Even while finding clear evidence of the double helix structure, Franklin decided to photograph both of the forms but decided to focus on form A, later in 1953 Maurice Wilkins would show these photos to James Watson and Francis Crick. Watson would later claim that seeing photographs of form B solidified the fact to him that the DNA helix must exist. Soon after Crick’s supervisor would pass along a report on Franklin’s results, and by February of 1953 Watson and Crick had modeled the DNA double helix, which was later announced to the public in April. In 1962 Watson, Crick, and Wilkins would all go on to win a Nobel Prize, all without the credit to Franklin. This shows the universal theme of struggling to find security in your own identity as Franklin's work was discredited in an already male dominating field.

Boston Tea Party

2024-10-08 04:22:10 UTC

The Boston Tea Party happened in 1773 at Griffins Worth. It was a direct defiance against the Tea Act, which imposed a tax on tea. The American Colonists rejected this act because it was seen as unfair and they coined the phrase, “no taxation without representation.” The tensions between the British and colonists had been rising and this pushed it over the edge. Colonists decided to sneak onto a British ship and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor. This was one of the first acts of defiance of the colonists and helped unite the colonies against the British. This relates with the thought process of rebellion and revolution. The British were corrupt and imposing unfair taxes on the colonists so they decided to, “stick it to the man,” and do something about it. They rebelled for their own freedoms and rights.

Alex hall

2024-10-08 13:08:12 UTC

Howard dully had been subjected to a lobotomy when he was just 12 years old. His had said “he doesn’t react to love or to punishment,”the notes said”He objects to going to bed then sleeps well. He does a good deal of day dreaming and when asked about it, he says ‘i don't know’ he turns the room’s lights on when there is broad sunlight outside.”. After he had received the procedure, the family was told they shouldn’t tell Howard what happened. At a later date when he was finally informed about what happened, he was unable to care. He would sit and grin most of the time, without anything to offer. His childhood was stripped away from him, and this relates to the universal idea of losing childhood innocence, where he was lost due to a lobotomy.

Lora Hartwick

2024-10-08 13:08:17 UTC

In this article, it talks about the physics of football. When you throw a football across the field to a friend you are using physics we often don’t notice this due to how naturally it occurs. The branch of physics that ties most with football is mechanics, the study of motion and its causes. The three broad categories of motion that ties in with football are delivery of football through the air, runners on the field, stopping runners on the field. The universal theme is power, because they have control over the ball and how much force they use to throw the ball.

Katelyn Sayers- 9/11

2024-10-08 13:12:06 UTC

This article explains the horrific events that took place on September 11, 2001. 19 terrorists from the Islamist extreme group al Qaeda hijacked four commercial aircraft and crashed two of them into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Nearly 3000 people were killed that day from 93 different countries. This changed the way people lived their lives, and it also impacted our country. 9/11 made our country stronger and more secure. A universal theme that might apply to this is “Historical Reflections”, because 9/11 is a historic event that shaped our country and made us more secure and well protected.

Alex hall

2024-10-08 13:15:08 UTC

Chinese foot binding was a cultural tradition where young girls, usually ages 4 to 6, would bind their feet to appear smaller or “lotus shaped”, which was seen to be attractive. Their feet would be wrapped up tightly at all times, only unwrapped when they needed to wash their feet or retighten the binds. When they bound their feet, they would cause irreversible damage to their feet, which would be detrimental to their balance and their mobility. With the deformity they caused to their feet, women were unable to flee any dangerous situation that might arise, and girls would not be able to play normally. The deformities this cultural tradition causes contributes to the universal idea of childhood innocence being loss, since it takes away the ability girls had to being able to live fully.

Reconstruction in America

2024-10-08 13:19:07 UTC

https://eji.org/report/reconstruction-in-america/

I engaged with this article on the Reconstruction in America because it is a very important part of our history as citizens of the United States. Following the conclusion of the Civil War, slaves finally achieved their goal of emancipation. However, according to Equal Justice Initiative, they were still treated unfairly. This relates to the overall theme of Justice and Injustice because the article reveals the true nature of how black people were judged and mistreated even following the end of the American Civil War.

Reactive dust from Great Salt Lake may have health consequences

2024-10-08 13:26:32 UTC

We already know that dust pollution contributes to asthma and heart and lung disease. However, the metals in the dust from around the Great Salt Lake are far more reactive. When inhaled, the dust has the potential to cause inflammation and much more. It is being studied by engineers and they have found the dust particles to be full of several metals. This information tells us about the true dangers of the dust coming from the Great Salt Lake.

Aristotle's Geocentric Theory

2024-10-08 13:29:39 UTC

Aristotle’s geocentric model theory states that all the celestial bodies in the solar system orbit around the Earth. This theory came from the fact that we do not feel the orbit of the earth and because objects fall down making people think the Earth is the center of the solar system. The geocentric theory by Aristotle is an example of the Universal theme of greed because even though there were other obvious pieces of evidence that pointed to the solar system being heliocentric he went with the geocentric theory because he wanted to stay in power and have wealth. That would be the result of Aristotle presenting this theory because Aristotle was Alexander the Great’s head scientist and what he said was widely accepted as truth. He was encouraged to present this because it aligned with the church and if he went along with it he would keep status and wealth. This then proves his theory's connection to the universal theme of greed.

Isdalskvinnen- Hunter Copeland

2024-10-08 13:42:30 UTC

In 1970, a woman's body was found in the Isdalen Valley of Norway. She was badly burned though no trace of a fire was found near her, all of the labels on everything she owned had been removed, and traveled with fake identities and disguises. The woman has never been identified, thus she was named Isdalskvinnnen (English: The Isdal Woman). She was found by a man and his two daughters who were hiking through the area. This case continues to intrigue investigators and the public alike. The circumstances surrounding her death and the deliberate obfuscation of her identity present a compelling enigma that has endured for over five decades. The discovery of her body on November 29, 1970, marked the beginning of a perplexing investigation. An autopsy revealed traces of petrol on her body, indicating that her burning was not accidental. The cause of death was determined to be a combination of phenobarbital (sleeping pills) and carbon monoxide poisoning. The investigation uncovered a trail of clues that only deepened the mystery. At the Bergen railway station, police found two suitcases believed to belong to the woman. These contained various items including clothing, makeup, maps, and currencies from multiple countries. Notably, all identifying information had been meticulously removed from these items. The woman's travels were traced to several locations, including Stavanger, where she purchased boots from a local store. Hotel records in the area showed she had checked in under various aliases, further complicating efforts to establish her true identity. Despite extensive investigation, including a conference held by the police on December 21, 1970, the case remained unsolved. The official conclusion at the time was suicide, though some investigators privately doubted this explanation. In recent years, modern forensic techniques have provided new insights. Isotope testing on her teeth and jaw suggested she may have originated from the Nuremberg region of Germany and was likely in her 40s. Additionally, a man from Forbach, France, came forward in 2019 claiming to have had a brief relationship with the woman in the summer of 1970, describing her as multilingual with a Balkan accent. The Isdal Woman case remains active and unsolved, continuing to captivate the public imagination and spurring ongoing efforts to uncover the truth behind this enigmatic figure.

Patience brings fortune

2024-10-08 13:54:00 UTC

Last year, when I was out riding my family's hunting land, my cousin and I saw a big buck. This was the biggest one I had ever seen. It’s tine length wasn’t the greatest, but it had a super wide rack. The only problem was that it was on the other side from where I hunted. That night, we went back into our bunkhouse, and told everyone about it. I then asked Dad to drop me off at the stand closest to where we saw him when we left in the morning. The next morning, he dropped me off there, and then went to the next closest stand, because he likes to be near me when I’m hunting. The stand I was hunting in isn’t hunted much, and is hard to bush hog, as it is in the woods, unlike our other stands that are in fields. Therefore, this stand has lots of tallgrass for deer to sit in. As shooting light came around, I saw the buck, and started to get my gun out the window. The stand I was sitting in was smaller, and a different shape, as it wasn’t one of the stands we built. So, when I was getting my gun out the window, I bumped the stand, and it spooked the buck. He ran off into the tallgrass, and never gave me another clear shot, even though he would hang around for another 30 minutes. After seeing this deer twice, I was determined to bag him, so that evening, I went to sit in that stand again, with Dad still sitting in the next closest stand. About an hour into the hunt, I got a text from Dad, with a picture of the deer I was hunting at his stand. I told him to go ahead and shoot him, as we only had one more hunt left after this one, and I figured I wouldn’t have another shot. Dad told me he wasn’t going to shoot him, since he wanted me to be the one to kill this buck. So the next morning, Dad drops me off at my stand, and I wait. After a while, Dad texted me asking if I wanted to go ahead and leave, since everyone else had already left their stand, and were working on making breakfast. I told him no, that I wanted to stay a little longer, to give this deer every chance to come out. Another 3 hours go by, and I still hadn’t seen a sign of the buck, so I ask Dad to come pick me up so that we can start packing to leave. I left, thinking that someone else would take my deer that I worked so hard to get. Recently, my Uncle has been sending us game camera pictures, showing us some really big deer. One in particular caught my eye, from the same area we saw the big one last year, another picture of a very wide deer, with longer tine length. Our theory is that it’s the same deer, just grown another year, and therefore bigger. So, this year, I have one more chance to take him home. This conveys the theme that, even though it sucks to be left in the dark about something you really want, having patience is best, as it brings great fortune.

Hurricane Helene - Hunter Copeland

2024-10-08 14:05:39 UTC

Hurricane Helene, which devastated the southeastern United States in October 2024, exemplifies the universal theme of tragedy and triumph in the face of natural disasters. The storm's catastrophic impact resulted in over 200 deaths, widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure, and left hundreds of thousands without power. However, amidst the devastation, stories of heroism, resilience, and community spirit emerged, showcasing humanity's capacity to triumph over adversity. From a son hiking 11 miles through treacherous terrain to find his parents, to churches transforming into shelters for the displaced, and neighbors banding together to assist in recovery efforts, these acts of courage and compassion demonstrate the indomitable human spirit that rises in the aftermath of tragedy. As communities grapple with the long-term consequences of Hurricane Helene, the juxtaposition of heart-wrenching loss and inspiring acts of kindness serves as a poignant reminder of our shared vulnerability and strength in the face of nature's fury.

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream(IHNMAIMS) - Hunter Copeland

2024-10-08 14:09:50 UTC

"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison masterfully intertwines the universal themes of tragedy and triumph, showcasing humanity's resilience in the face of unimaginable horror. The story presents a tragic post-apocalyptic world where a sentient supercomputer, AM, torments the last five human survivors for over a century. However, amidst this seemingly hopeless situation, the narrative ultimately reveals a profound triumph of the human spirit. In the climactic moment, the protagonist Ted makes the heart-wrenching decision to kill his fellow survivors, freeing them from AM's endless torture. This act, while devastating, demonstrates the enduring capacity for compassion and self-sacrifice even in the most dire circumstances. Ted's final state - transformed into a helpless, mouthless being - is undoubtedly tragic, yet his ability to find solace in having spared others from suffering represents a bittersweet victory. Through this juxtaposition of extreme despair and unexpected heroism, Ellison's story serves as a powerful meditation on the indomitable nature of human will and the potential for meaningful action even in the darkest of situations.

Tale Foundry - Hunter Copeland

2024-10-08 14:18:00 UTC

The Tale Foundry YouTube channel, while primarily focused on fiction writing and literary analysis, serves as a vital resource for understanding and implementing the universal theme of tragedy and triumph in storytelling. Through its in-depth explorations of narrative structures, character development, and literary devices, Tale Foundry equips creators with the tools to craft compelling stories that resonate with the human experience of overcoming adversity. By dissecting classic and contemporary works, the channel illuminates how great authors have woven the threads of tragedy and triumph into their narratives, creating emotionally impactful and memorable tales. Furthermore, Tale Foundry's discussions on worldbuilding and genre conventions provide aspiring writers with the framework to construct their own fictional universes where characters can face profound challenges and achieve remarkable victories, thus perpetuating this timeless theme in new and innovative ways. In essence, Tale Foundry acts as a bridge between the technical aspects of storytelling and the deeply human themes of struggle and success, enabling writers to create stories that not only entertain but also reflect the triumphs and tragedies inherent in the human condition. (The only link that I could go to is the Wikitubia)

4th Grade cussing

2024-10-08 14:19:19 UTC

When I was in the 4th grade, I was in the car with my mom in south conway at the roundabouts. We were just having a normal day in the car and we were listening to Bodak Yellow by Cardi B. Well, in one part of the song it says the F word, but I was just singing along and then I accidentally shouted the F word (mind you it was bleeped out in the song). My mom then looks at me in shock and goes, “Did you just say the cuss word?” I immediately said no even though I knew she heard it. At that moment I knew I messed up. When we got home I got about 5 spankings and was crying. I thought my life was over. I learned to never cuss again or at least not in front of my mom and never lie. The universal theme I connect with this is the language of humanity because my words and communication shaped my whole entire afternoon after I said the F word.

Halloween

2024-10-08 14:22:37 UTC

Halloween has deep roots in the universal concept of the supernatural. Nearly 2000 years ago, it originated as a Celtic festival known as Samhain, marking the transition from summertime to the harsh winter, often associated with human mortality. The Celts believed that during this time, the boundary between the world of the living and the land of the dead became blurred, allowing the spirits of the deceased to return. Over time, this Celtic tradition merged with two Roman festivals: Feralia, a day to honor the dead, and a festival dedicated to Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. This amalgamation eventually led to the creation of All Souls’ Day, also known as All-hallows or All-hallowmas, which in Celtic tradition became All-Hallows Eve, and later, Halloween.

dolly the sheep

2024-10-08 14:23:31 UTC

Dolly the sheep's story represents the universal idea of tragedy and triumph. Dolly the sheep is a cloned sheep that was a part of the Roslin Institute’s research into producing genetically modified farm animals. Dolly was the first animal to be cloned from an adult cell specifically a mammary cell, this marks a massive step forward for humanity. During her first few years of life, she had 6 lambs with a mountain wealth sheep named David. Later in life, an animal care worker reported that Dolly was coughing, fearing the worst they gave her a CT scan and found out she had SPA. Since they had to put her under they decided that she didn’t need to wake up ending her life on February 14, 2003. They donated her to the National Museums Scotland by the Roslin Institute where they can morn this great tragedy

Nuclear fission - Hunter copeland

2024-10-08 14:23:49 UTC

Nuclear fission was initially a groundbreaking scientific achievement that revolutionized our understanding of atomic structure and energy. The discovery led to significant advancements in energy production, with nuclear power plants providing a potent, non-fossil fuel energy source. This represents the triumph aspect - a remarkable scientific breakthrough with the potential to address global energy needs.

However, the same discovery also led to the creation of nuclear weapons, resulting in devastating consequences during World War II with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The development of nuclear weapons has since posed an ongoing threat to global security. As Roger Masters notes, "Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki revealed the danger that the products of science could destroy life everywhere removing the illusion of security and progress on which modern society has rested"

Katelyn Sayers- Effects of Stress

2024-10-08 14:28:02 UTC

We as humans encounter stressful situations everyday. No matter what the stress is, it changes our brain chemistry which affects our moods, actions, and behaviors. Because stress affects the nervous system, some people who are under chronic stress have problems like memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and confusion. If you don’t find effective ways to relieve stress, it can lead to changes in mood and personality. A universal theme that applies to this topic is “Science and Discovery” because the article is explaining the effects that stress has on our minds and bodies, which is a discovery.

Rosa Parks - Ava Kelley

2024-10-08 15:21:29 UTC

Rosa Parks was a women that helped start the civil rights movement. She refused to get up her seat for a white man. Her actions lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks was a very influential person and her actions aided in the civil rights movement. Justice and Injustice is the universal theme that I think best fits with this. This relates back to now because if it aided in starting the civil rights movement and now we are the way we are now because of that.

How Hurricane Milton is affecting NASA

2024-10-08 15:43:56 UTC

In the artical "Hurricane Milton forces NASA, SpaceX to delay Crew-8 astronauts' return to Earth", written by Mike Wall, he explains how Hurricane Milton is affecting NASA. Crew-8 is made up of four astronauts that launched atop a Spacex Falcon 9 rocket on March 3rd, as was orignally scheduled to return to Earth Monday morning on october 7th. However, hurricane Milton intesified into a category 5 hurricane on Monday before weakening slightly to a Category 4 storm on Tuesday. So, the return date was pushed back several times, most recently to Sunday October 13th. The NASA astronauts that make up Crew-8 are Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin. Not only was Crew-8 affected by hurricane Milton, but Crew-9's launch was delayed as well as NASA's mission to Jupiter.

Ella Benton

2024-10-08 15:56:21 UTC

This article talks about how in a recent study, scientists studied teaching fish to drive. They put a fish in a fish tank on wheels and there was a camera added on to track the position of the fish, and it would move the fish tank that way. The scientists would put the fish tank in a room and the goal of the fish was to move toward a pink board. Once the fish reached the board it got a treat. They worked in 30 minute sessions, and at the beginning the fish could only make two to three successful trips, but towards the end the fish could make seventeen to eighteen successful trips. The scientists also would move the starting position of the fish to different parts of the room, and the fish could still find the pink board. This experiment proved that fish have a great sense of orientation and direction that is not just in water. This connects back to the universalizing theme of the animal connection. There are so many different animals around us, and we still do not know everything about them. By doing studies like these, we learn more about the animals around us which increases our knowledge of how our world works, and improves our connections with animals.

Macie Oliver

2024-10-08 16:00:33 UTC

This article is talking about Hurricane Helene and the damages that happen during the hurricane, after some states weren't even done cleaning from the last hurricane. This hurricane was tramitzing and stressful. Some people packed there things and moved thier family other places. Others stay behind because they couldnt bare to leave thier home. This goes along with survival and hope.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2024-10-08 16:01:18 UTC

People want longer lives, and more importantly we want to make our loved ones live with us forever. Whether that's a cat, your mom, best friend, spouse, or significant other. Funerals might have the word fun in them but they're still some of the saddest things in the world even if you don’t know the person who died most of the time you’ll still cry from empathy (or sympathy if you've also had someone close to you die. So it would make sense that we would try to eliminate things that cause death that are out of our hands, one of the main ones being cancer. And as we charge forward in making the world happy we inherently get rid of things that cause unhappiness such as brain cancer which used to be a death sentence and is slowly becoming another illness that we can just cure.

AI used to prevent cancer

2024-10-08 16:01:48 UTC

AI has made headlines for many things, such as the realistic images it produces, or how it can type you an essay in seconds. However, AI has become more powerful and more useful than it has ever been. Artificial intelligence is being used in mammograms to help detect breast cancer years before it even develops. Deaths from breast cancer have decreased by 43% over the past 30 years due to advancements in screenings and treatments. Mammograms have been standard since the 1980’s and has been highly effective in detecting abnormalities in the breast tissue long before other symptoms arise. With AI, workflow for radiologist are more efficient, and provide more quantitative analysis that are not due to bias. This relates to the universal idea of technology and humanity. This relates because we are starting to use our advancements in technology to better humanity by trying to prevent live changing diseases.

The Power Struggle

2024-10-08 16:02:37 UTC

Sports have evolved drastically over time one of the best examples of this is in fencing. Fencing nowadays is a sport where people dress up in electrified white suits waving thin steel wires at each other for points. Compared to fencing back then which is more akin to shooting skill with guns today it was a show of how able you are to defend yourself and those around you. And as time goes on people take a concept and make it into something that they have fun with. Everyone agrees that a sword no longer carries any real threat when faced with guns but back then it really did, the same will happen when we invent something more deadly than guns.

Hurricane Milton closes in on Florida as thousands flee

haglerharley26 — 2024-10-08 16:07:17 UTC

This article talks about how Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall Wednesday night, taking aim at some of the areas that were hit by Hurricane Helene. It is documented as a Category 3 hurricane somewhere on Florida’s Central Gulf Coast, where it could be one of the most destructive storms on record. Many officials are urging Floridians to evacuate, warning them about the high risks of the storm. Gas stations are running low on fuel, residents evacuating as traffic worsens. This article relates to the universal idea of survival and hope because Florida has been put at a loss of hope as Hurricane Milton approaches, having an detrimental impact on many people’s wellbeing.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-08 16:41:05 UTC

Hurricane Helene was a devastating event that recently took place. This colossal cyclone wiped out thousands of homes across the East and South coast and even moved inland. The crisis has cost over 200 people their lives and the number continues to rise. Citizens of the U.S. remain shook, feeling grief for those who lost their lives or their loved ones. This unfortunate circumstance ties back to the universal idea of mourning and loss because it has nationally impacted society. There are thousands of people mourning over lost lives because of this catastrophic event.

Drew Whitehead

2024-10-08 17:32:27 UTC

As many people know, scientists have discovered a "mini moon" that has joined Earth's orbit. It is said to rotate around Earth for about 2 months which isn't normal so it is a pretty cool thing to happen to us. The discovery of the mini-moon shows why it is important to go out and explore space because there can be very important objects coming towards Earth that could harm us. It can show us how our gravitational pull and solar system works now and how it has changed in the decades.

The "Monster" Study of 1939

2024-10-08 18:05:09 UTC

This diagnosis theory was conducted on 22 orphan children from Davenport, Iowa. The experiment planned to induce non-stuttering children by telling them that they stuttered, and to stop stuttering in non-stuttering children by ignoring the stutter telling the children they spoke “fine” or “normal”. A lot of controversy surrounds this topic, since these childrens suffered a lifetime's worth of damage. Among other things, this experiment didn’t even involve consent, and the subjects were deceived. Even though this study did cause lifelong issues, it helped modern day scientist understand that negative reinforcement has bad effects on people, especially the younger people. Children are more likely to be impressionable, compared to older people. So, now we know that a child can suffer lifelong issues if his/hers caretaker doesn’t treat them right, or take the right steps to teach them proper everyday life skills. This scientific study connects to The Nature of Humanity, since it dives into human nature and now it effects everything that goes on in a human's mind.

The Discovery of Penicillin

2024-10-08 18:08:50 UTC

Humans have long since grappled with Disease and Healing for as long as we've been around this Earth. Since the beginning of our species as an intelligent mammal to set ourselves apart from other mammals we have come up with ways to treat certain illnesses and sicknesses, and while some of them may not have worked very well it was all meant for the progression of treatment. After returning from a holiday, one Alexander Fleming discovered that the petri dish he had left out had started to grow mold. This mold halted the growth of the bacteria on the petri dish and Fleming soon discovered that the mold produced a substance he called Penicillin that helped in the process of halting the bacteria. He soon gathered some colleagues to try and isolate the Penicillin but it was soon seen as nearly impossible and work on the isolation of Penicillin halted. Ten years later another group of researchers had decided to take up the Penicillin Project and after 3 years of hard work they found out a way to procure Pure Penicillin. The problem with this method was that it was very inefficient and produced very small amounts of Penicillin for a lot of work. Eventually, they would move their research to the USA where they would figure out methods to produce Penicillin efficiently and the antibiotic would be used in WW2. This was the start of antibiotics as a form of treatment and led to the current antibiotics we have today.

Exploration of the Self

2024-10-08 18:12:14 UTC

Ever since I was little I struggled fitting in anywhere, school wasn’t immensely diverse. I found myself feeling like an outsider around my peers, it was hard making connections due to the cultural differences. From the language I spoke at home to the food that I ate, I remember wishing I could blend in more easily so I could feel included in the conversations and activities that seemed to come so naturally to white kids. There were times when I felt embarrassed about my heritage, especially during moments when I was teased for my arm hair because it was so thick and dark. The struggle to find my identity was worsened by the desire to fit into a society that didn't always understand or accept me. I often felt caught between two worlds, not fully belonging to either. Even with these challenges, over time, I began to embrace my cultural roots and take pride in my heritage. It was a journey of self-acceptance when I found friends who appreciated me for who I am, learning that my uniqueness was something to be celebrated, not hidden.

D-Day

2024-10-08 18:15:58 UTC

On June 6, 1944, a crucial turning point in World War II took place with D-Day. D-Day included thousands of aircraft, ships, and troops from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and various other Allied nations. The allies and troops allowed us to successfully invade Normady and allow us to insert ourselves into Europe to help us liberate the Nazi control. D-Day relates to the universal theme of “War and Peace” because it was such a vital invasion between nations from all around to attempt to make peace throughout the world and to end the liberation streak that the Nazis were on.

The importance of Focus

2024-10-08 18:22:31 UTC

When I was younger, I was the type to be very impatient and try to speed through everything that I possibly could. One day, in I think the 5th grade, I was doing a math test where I knew how to do it with flying colors, and I sped through it thinking I aced it. When I got the test back I realized that I had messed up on almost every single question because I was only reading the question and not trying to understand the question and how to do it. When I went home my parents questioned the sudden change in my grades and reprimanded me for being diligent whenever I was doing things instead of rushing through them. This relates to the universal theme of the importance of focus because I was simply not focused enough whenever I would do things and it caused me to not live up to the real talent I had, and instead made me look worse.

Sophia Ashworth

2024-10-08 18:24:20 UTC

For my next topic I chose the topic of cancer and why it is so difficult to cure. For years we have been trying to find a cure for this fast growing disease, but we have always failed. Over the years, we have gotten better prevention for cancer, but never an actual cure. The doctor in this passage states that we are progressing super fast, but not fast enough to get a cure yet. We have been so focused on the most common types of cancer that the rarer types have not gotten close at all to getting a cure yet. This relates to the universal idea of fear of failure. The doctors do not want to fail their patients, but the process is so long and difficult that they are failing them. When treatments do fail though, there are other options that can be dealt with. A little bit ago the doctors would just have to tell their patients there was nothing else they could do. This is an improvement but not enough to keep people dying every day from this horrible disease.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-08 18:41:44 UTC

Hurricane Helene hit the East and South coast of the United States. Wiping out many homes, The storm destroyed Florida's Gulf Coast and caused deadly flooding throughout Georgia, The Carolinas, Tennessee, Virgina, and Kentucky. Helene has impacted not only those involved but, the entire U.S. We feel empathy for those who lost their lives and loved ones due to this colossal cyclone. This ties back to the universal idea of triumph in the face of tragedy. We come together as a whole to help those in need.

Monsters - The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

2024-10-08 19:07:50 UTC

Lyle and Erik, the infamous Menendez brothers story is shared through the very inaccurate Netfilx "Documentary". In the real story, the brothers went through years of Mental, Physical, and Sexual abuse from their father and mother. As Erik grew older he knew something had to be done to stop the abuse his father had given him from the age of 6. Lyle's abuse started when he was 8. When Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18, they plotted against their parents and murdered them out of self defense. For the next six months Lyle and Erik experienced life for how it was meant to be experienced. Eventually, Erik couldn't keep their secret and ended up telling his therapist what he and Lyle had done. The therapist told the police and they were arrested and put on trial. They were put on stand and shared their story about the abuse. Some believed them and some didn't. They were charged with first degree murder with special circumstances. So far the brothers have spent three decades in prison. In November of 2024 the court is reexamining their case with new evidence. These boys suffered in silence and their childhood was taken away from them. But, they stuck together and survived.

2024-10-08 22:11:50 UTC

In Judge Helen Whitener's TED Talk, she uses her anecdote to talk about self-respect, and what it means to have self-respect. She talks about how she had struggled with her sexual identity, and it was detrimental to her self-worth. She says that her family was very religious, and while they were religious her father was still unconditionally loving. Her mother, though, was spiteful and demeaning towards her for it. Whitener cut off contact, knowing it was what was best for her self-worth, and they were eventually able to reconnect after her mother had come to terms with the situation and acted more respectful towards her daughter. Whitener broadens from this anecdote and says that even with our differences, we can still accept and respect each other. This video connects to the universal theme of Exploration of Self, because the speaker talks about how she struggled with her identity, but strengthened her self-respect and was able to accept herself.

Harriet

2024-10-08 22:14:52 UTC

For my movie, I chose the movie “Harriet”. This movie, starring Cynthia Erivo, depicts Harriet Tubman, a well-known conductor of the Underground Railroad, and her effect on the civil rights movement. This movie presents the universal idea of “The Power Struggle”, because of how it shows Harriet using her traumatic experiences to make a way for others to not go through the same abuse she endured during her time as a slave.

Friendships keep people healthy

2024-10-08 22:34:59 UTC

Psychological research suggests that stable, healthy friendships are crucial for the well-being and longevity of humans. Studies have shown that people who have close friends are more satisfied with their lives, less likely to suffer from depression, and also less likely to die from all causes which can include heart problems, and a range of chronic diseases. A review of 38 studies found that high-quality friendships have lead to better life span, and protection against mental health issues. Friendships are very protective over people's mental health, and can change how we respond to stress because if you have a supportive friend to talk to, it makes those scenarios easier. Catherine Bagwell, PhD shared, "In the face of life's challenges, having a close friend to turn to seems to be a buffer or protective factor against some of the negative outcomes we might otherwise see." People that have a low social connection have a risk of premature death from isolation, loneliness, or poor-quality relationships with people around them. The universal theme in this website is "Science and Discovery" as well as "The Heart of Relationships." This is is a scientific discovery found by psychologists, and the results find health benefits from having a valuable friendship. This can also connect to "The Great Gatsby" because friendships are a huge value, and are very important in human life.

yaretzi rios

2024-10-08 22:45:07 UTC

In this TED talk, Kate Adams describes four “larger-than-life” lessons that she learned from soap operas. Adams describes her experience as an assistant casting director; she says that she was involved in watching, reading scripts and auditioning actors to be on soap operas. Adams engages the audience by articulating the detail and exaggeration within the stories of soap operas. She begins her talk with an unpredictably shocking love story. She makes note of the evident exaggeration and uses the story to convey her first lesson; surrender is not an option. Adams explains that obstacles are to be expected and that we should choose to stand and fight rather than surrendering. Adam’s next larger-than-life lesson that she learned from soap operas would be to sacrifice your ego and drop the superiority complex. She goes on the describe Stephanie Forrester’s “The Bold and the Beautiful,” which entails the story of two arch enemies putting aside their superiority complexes and humbling themselves to eventually become soulmates. She emphasizes the importance of humbling oneself in order to benefit the group. Then Kate Adams continues with her third life lesson; evolution is real. She explains that we are meant for character development and moving forward. She states, “We can choose to draw a circle around our feet and stay at that spot, or we can open ourselves to opportunities like Carly, who went from nursing student to hotel owner, or like Julia Child.” Finally, Adams explains her fourth and final lesson: resurrection is possible. She describes her personal journey of various hopeless upsets in her life while struggling to find a job but by implementing her lessons, she was resurrected. She found a job and set herself up for a prosperous future.

9/11 Terrorist Attacks

2024-10-09 01:31:26 UTC

On September 11th, 2001, 19 terrorists from an extremist group by the name of Al Qaeda hijacked four commercial planes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Centers in New York City. The other two planes were crashed elsewhere, one in a field in Pennsylvania, 20 minutes outside of Washington DC. The other was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. After the two planes crashed into the Twin Towers, they ultimately collapsed, and nearly 3,000 people died. This was the worst attack in America since the attack on Pearl Harbour. 9/11 has influenced America and pushed them to take more safety precautions. A universal theme that applies to this event is Historic Reflection, because 9/11 has shaped our country, and we have found ways to protect ourselves better,

fight club

2024-10-09 13:23:47 UTC

This movie that features Brad Pitt and Edward Norton is based on a 1996 Novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is disconnected with his white-collar job. His alter ego, Tyler Durden, shows a revolution against his usefulness trying for a return to masculinity and self determination. Tyler and the narrator start a fight club as a way for fighting to get rid of their frustrations and other issues, and eventually more men join the club to feel a sense of power from their everyday lives. The narrator's internal conflict eventually leads him to violence, showing the extreme response to the feeling of powerfulness. The conclusion to it all is to encourage that real power comes with self-awareness, rather than rebellion.

Survival and Hope

2024-10-09 13:24:27 UTC

In 2011 my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer. When she was first diagnosed I was very young and there isn’t much that I can remember, but I know that it was one of the toughest things for my family to go through. My grandma overcame her first round of breast cancer but then was diagnosed again in 2018. It was my sister, grandma and I all at her house one weekend and my grandma fell out of her rocking chair and didn’t have the strength to get back up. With being the oldest there, I then had the responsibility of making the next decision of what to do. As quickly as I could I called my mom so she could come and help. I then called a good family friend Jason, who also lived in my grandma's neighborhood. Mr. Jason and my mom were able to get my grandma back up. We rushed to my house to pick up my dad so that they could take my grandma to the hospital. My parents did not let me or my little sister Livvy go with them to the hospital. But I was so worried about my grandma and so mad at God for her breast cancer coming back because I knew how hard she fought the first time. But my mom reassured me that God wouldn’t give us battles that we couldn’t fight and win.My grandma fought her breast cancer and overcame it once again. It was a valuable lesson in my life that I still keep close to my heart. It also connects to the universal theme of “survival and hope.” My grandma had to fight to survive every day and went through the toughest time of her life, not once but twice. But to be able to fight she had to have hope, and she did. My grandma always held her head up high, stayed faithful and never gave up once.

2024-10-09 14:10:25 UTC

The American revolutionary war was fought to break off of Britain's rule. This contributes to my universal idea of the dangers of a totalitarian government and revolution. Great Britain being the totalitarian government and America being controlled. Americans had no freedom and had to pay high taxes to Great Britain. Then America rebelled against Britain and fought the war.

2024-10-09 14:43:40 UTC

The invention of the light bulb made people's life and the economy better. Thomas Eddison and other inventors made it possible to improve work efficiency and product.. This involves my universal idea of a revolution . The light bulb paved the way for other inventions, it made night into day.

Genghis Khan

wilsonryleigh26 — 2024-10-09 15:13:20 UTC

Genghis Khan, a former Mongolian leader, established the largest empire in history. Genghis set out on many conquests and killed thousands, but that was ultimately what led him to conquer as much area as he did. Khan spared the lives of many that he deemed as beneficial to his army. The Mongolian army spared physicians, craftsman, and religious clerics. They especially valued craftsmen because their work was prized by the Mongol elite. Eventually, the word got around about Khan killing dozens of empires, so most fell into submission for fear of their lives. It is said that Genghis Khan ruled some 1 million people. This correlates to the universal idea: rebellion and revolution. Genghis Khan went against the word of many previous rulers and acted immorally. However, establishing this power led him to great success and had he not rebelled, he would have never succeeded.

Uncle Charles

2024-10-09 15:26:45 UTC

One of my uncles died towards the end of last year. We would always visit whenever we had family gatherings and we would have pretty good conversations. He was a good man, and I want to be like him as I grow older. He was a faithful christian and taught a sunday school class every week. He also enjoyed making crafts, playing pool, and gardening. Knowing him had a lasting impact on me and I want to live similarly to how he did. He was a very hardworking man and a devoted Christ-follower. I'm linking this story to the theme of family bonds. Even though me and him didn't see each other often, I like to think we had a special bond. After he died I found a keychain that belonged to him with a piece of metal that read "Let God Lead." Attached to it is a cross. I keep it on my car keys, so it's with me everywhere I go.

Hurricane Milton

2024-10-09 15:32:32 UTC

This website says that Hurricane Milton is headed right for Florida and is documented at a category 5 storm. The Florida state Governor, Ron DeSantis and others told people Tuesday to finish their storm preparations and evacuate as soon as possible. This article also says that the storms wind field was forecast to double by the time it moved across the Gulf of Mexico and hit Florida. With that being said Hurricane Milton will go down as one of the most dangerous and devastating hurricanes for west-central Florida. There are also over 1,300 gas stations left without any gas whatsoever because there were thousands of people leaving the area.

Gladiator

2024-10-09 15:47:16 UTC

Gladiator is a movie that takes place in 180 AD, the story is about a once powerful general that is forced to become a common gladiator. The main character Maximus, faces many hardships throughout this movie. Some being, his family being arranged to be murdered, or him having to kill people and animals just to stay alive. This movie portrays some great lessons and themes as well. These lessons and themes include duty and honor, loyalty, revenge, and family. Throughout the movie Maximus can be seen doing all these things which all connect to the universal theme, "morality and family dynamics" at the time of the roman empire.

COVID

2024-10-09 16:07:40 UTC

The start of December 12, 2019 COVID started, a handful of patients in one of china's hospitals they had the symptoms of phenomena but it soon turned out to be very serious. COVID eventually started spreading though the whole world. Doctors started trying to develop the COVID vaccine to stop it. The way they are created is through 3 different phases, The main thing that happens with the vaccines are the clinical trials to make sure they will do more good than bad.

Kara Brewer - Fordyce Shooting

2024-10-09 16:54:56 UTC

In Fordyce on June 23, 2024, there was a shooting at the local grocery store. 12 civilians and two law enforcements were injured. Four of the 12 were shot and killed and 5 of them were hospitalized. My book also had a murder in the main event. Therefore, this article related to my book midnight in the garden of good and evil by both having the central theme of crime and law.

Declaration of independance

2024-10-09 16:55:17 UTC

The declaration of independance was signed on July 4 1776. It was wrote by Thomas Jefferson. Establishing the indepence of america and setting us apart from Britan. It was basically telling britan that we are a seperate country and that we will not be with king george anymore. This historical day is now celebrated every year, on July 4 with fireworks, cookouts, hot dogs and all things america and red white and blue

Rosa Parks

2024-10-09 16:59:02 UTC

On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery Alabama. Rosa didn't sit at the back of the bus that was designed for African Americans, instead she sat at the front. When the bus started to fill up with white people the bus driver told Rosa to move to the back but she refused. This went down as one of the largest social movements in history, The Montgomery Bus Boycott. This would also make Rosa a civil rights activist which ultimately led to what the world is today.

The BlackList

2024-10-09 17:02:18 UTC

The Black List is a tv series about this man being the FBI’s most wanted man. In the tv series the man made a deal to help the FBI find other criminals almost just as bad as him. Through the episodes you find more and more criminals and discover more of the most wanted man's past. This relates to the central theme of my book because they both deal with crime and Murder.

2024-10-09 17:19:12 UTC

anesthesia is a medicine that puts patients to sleep and prevents them from feeling pain during surgery. Patients can receive anesthesia in many ways as in gas that they inhale, intravenous line with the needle, inserted drops, or topical lotion or spray. anesthesia was introduced about 175 years ago when surgeries were rare and dangerous. It was only used as a last resort. Patients before then underwent surgery fully conscious. now with anesthesia people are able to go through life-saving surgeries that would be impossible conscious.

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case

2024-10-09 17:27:24 UTC

The Lindbergh Kidnapping case happened on March 1, 1932, A baby was kidnapped from a nursery at the age of 20 months old. At first the man who stole the baby made a 50,000 dollar ransom but on March 6, 1932 the ransom increased to 70,000. On May 12, 1932 the baby’s body was found dead from several head injuries. This relates to my book's main theme because of the central theme Crime and Law.

Forensic Science

2024-10-09 17:31:59 UTC

A science field that has to do with Crime and Law is forensic science. Forensic scientists do things like DNA analysis, autopsies, and more. They help find how someone was murdered or who was involved because of DNA left at the scene. This relates to my book because they both deal with crime and law.

Delilah Puchta - The Salem Witch trials

2024-10-09 17:58:02 UTC

The Salem witch trials are a major part of our history as they are a turning point in human nature. In the aftermath of a British war with France, smallpox on the rise, and fear of attacks from natives the last thing they needed was the belief of devil worship. With tensions so high everyone thought their neighbor was out to get them. This just goes to show that as humans we can only take so much before we break. They we all living in a constant fear that the mere mention of witchcraft was enough to make them believe in it. Although we now know it is not real at that point they thought that anything could happen.

Blake Starr

2024-10-09 18:05:36 UTC

Over the past weekend, my buddy Connor, and I went fishing. We had a tournament Saturday so we went pre-fishing all day Friday. To put it lightly, the fishing sucked. No wind, sunny blue bird day was not very ideal for us. We hit a few spots, and would catch a couple every now and again, but the fishing was very slow. Saturday came around and wouldn't you know it, another no wind, sunny blue bird day just like before. We get to our first and pretty much only spot that we know is holding some fish. We stayed on this spot for a few hours sorting through the small ones and finally catching our limit (5 fish) for a whopping 6 pounds probably which is not much at all. After we caught our limit, we moved on to some more spots in hopes of catching some bigger fish. We did not find those bigger fish culling one for a couple ounces. We fished our hearts out the rest of the day catching only dinks. We head back to the boat ramp with our heads hanging low not expecting much since we have such a small bag. We were the second to last boat to weigh in our fish and were ready to get to the house. After we weighed in our fish we stuck around for a little while and it turned out we got third place and also had the biggest trash fish. My partner and I both got 500 dollars in scholarship money, 300 dollars cash, and I got a new rod and reel for the trash fish. This connects to the universal theme, The power struggle, because although we were struggling to catch some bigger fish, so were everybody else and it turned out we had a decent bag compared to the rest.

Stanford Prison Experiments

2024-10-09 18:25:19 UTC

In August 1971, nine men in the Palo Alto area were arrested. These men were all part of an experiment held by Stanford University. The study subjects were middle-class college students who were surveyed on their family backgrounds, physical and mental health, and social behavior. If they were deemed "normal"; a coin flip divided them into prisoners and guards. The guards were given little to no instruction on how to run the jail and began humiliating and psychologically abusing the prisoners in less than twenty-four hours. The prisoners submitted, and became depersonalized, and took the abuse with little to no protest.^{The experiment that was meant to last two weeks ended just after six days. The guards were power hungry, and it is just as much as the departments fault as the guards for letting it go as far as it went.}

The Hatfields and McCoys

2024-10-09 19:09:25 UTC

The Hatfields and McCoys were two families in the 19th that had a nonstop feud between them. The origins of this dispute date back to the Civil War, when one of the families was part of the confederacy while the other sympathized with the union, and tensions only grew from them. From violent confrontations and legal disputes to full-fledged revenge killings, the conflict would end up becoming one of the most notorious ongoing fights between two groups in American history. With infamous incidents like the "pig incident," the murder of the McCoy brothers, and the "New Year Massacre," the feud between these two bloodlines became a beautiful example of humanity's feud against itself.

yaretzi rios

2024-10-09 19:33:30 UTC

This Article describes how F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 “The Great Gatsby” captures all aspects of the 1920s, opportunities and obstacles. The 1920s are notoriously known as the roaring twenties for the abundance of opportunities and prosperity. After World War I, America went through economic growth and a culture and social shift. This made the decade a significant turning point in American history. The article describes how Fitzgerald portrays the energy and liveliness of the time period while also capturing the cynicism and dark-side of the time period. The article describes the influence of the womens’ rights movement and the economic prosperity, as well as the prohibition effects and the underlying decay of the country.

yaretzi Rios

2024-10-09 19:57:23 UTC

In this article, the author explains the impacts that music and arts have on our bodies. The article shows that slower, calmer music can lower one’s heartbeat, and psychologically calm our mood. It goes on to describe how faster, upbeat music can give us energy and motivation. The article also provides multiple specific examples of how music can affect our heart rate and blood pressure. For instance the article states, “In a comprehensive 2013 review by Frontiers in Psychology, it was found that listening to music can lower cortisol levels, a biological marker of stress, by up to 61%.” Additionally, the article explains that music is commonly used as a therapeutic tool that goes beyond relaxation. Music can be used to express emotions and facilitate communication. In summary, the article describes how music can alter and impact ones body in order to reduce stress and improve mental health.

Israel Targets Likely Successor To Hezbollah Leader In Massive Airstrike

2024-10-10 01:09:12 UTC

In a recent air strike, Israel tries to eliminate the most likely successor to the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Hezbollah is an ally of the terrorist group Hamas but based out of Lebanon. In a less recent air strike, Israel took out the former leader of Hezbollah, and with this more recent air strike, they targeted who they believed to be the next acting leader to keep Hezbollah at bay. With the war raging on in the Middle East taking out the next terrorist leader is a major tactical advantage to Israel in their defense of their home and people and to the war on terrorism. This can be connected to the theme of perseverance as Isreal keeps on even in the face of many powerful and dangerous enemies and with the lackluster support of its "allies"

Jurassic Park

2024-10-10 01:37:17 UTC

In the movie Jurassic Park a very wealthy man hires out a group of very bright scientists. Those scientists work to bring back the dinosaurs. There is still one problem, the wealthy man needed the endorsement of paleontologists to get people in the park. After they get into the park an employee sabotages the park and shuts down the security systems, letting out all the dinos. The dinosaurs then go on a killing spree and take out many of the characters and injuring others. In the end, the park is shut down. The overall theme in this movie is just because you can do something does not mean you always should.

Civil War

2024-10-10 01:53:06 UTC

In the American Civil War, the Union originally fought to preserve the unity of America, however, history would thankfully force their hand at emancipation. The beginnings of the war were just to keep the US together but as European powers seemed more and more likely to join the confederacy to get their supply of cotton back, the Union changed the meaning of the war. With its new meaning of emancipation European powers were less likely to interfere with the war. With this new meaning of the war, it could be tied into the theme of freedom and equality for all even though it would take a long while for the African American people to gain all the rights we all have today.

The Iron Claw

2024-10-10 02:20:17 UTC

The film “The Iron Claw” is a harrowing biographical drama directed by Sean Durkin that follows the story of the Von Erich family, a legendary wrestling family that achieved fame in the 1980s. This film highlights themes of family bonds as they show the brothers Kevin, David, Kerry, and Mike navigating this shared journey filled with both the support and strain, mostly caused by their father, that comes with their family legacy and the belief that they are cursed. As they encounter these personal struggles, like grief, and go through immense loses and mental health issues; the story illustrates the universal idea of self-discovery and the journey the brothers follow for acceptance outside their wrestling identities. Each brother struggles immensely with their identity, reflecting on the impact of fame on their relationships and mental health. Ultimately, this film really delves into the idea of the nature of humanity, capturing the resilience of these brothers in the face of tragedies and triumphs.

Genetic Engineering

2024-10-10 02:23:12 UTC

The origins of genetic engineering go all the way back to Gregory Mendel’s discovery of heredity in the 19th century and the identification of DNA’s structure. His experiments with pea plants established the foundational principles of genetics. This field of study has achieved significant milestones such as the Human Genome Project or genome mapping, which mapped the entire human genome. This accomplishment symbolizes humanity’s pursuit for self-discovery at a genetic level; for humans to understand more about their lives. Modern applications of genetic engineering, such as gene therapy for certain genetic disorders and GMOs (genetically modified organisms), reflect the desire to overcome limitations posed by nature. Science, like the study of genetic engineering, can empower society to reshape its destiny and address global challenges, like health and food insecurities.

Manhattan project

2024-10-10 02:24:03 UTC

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret project by the United States government to create and deploy an atomic weapon before Nazi Germany could. Some of the world's brightest scientists were consulted for the project, Albert Einstine, Oppenhimer, and Klaus Fuchs. The project was spread out between three cities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Oak Ridge and Hanford produced the raw materials and made the innovations and breakthroughs in nuclear technology. While Los Almose designed, built, and tested the bombs. The use against Japan in 1945 was the first and only time an atomic bomb was ever used in times of active combat against an enemy. The Manhattan Project brought in the nuclear age, not just for weaponry but also nuclear energy.

Midway

2024-10-10 02:32:21 UTC

In the movie Midway, it centers on the battle of Midway, a war between the Americans and the imperial Japanese navy which marked a pivotal turning point in the pacific theater during WWII. The movie follows the plots leading up to the battle engaged on how the Americans attacked and countered the Japanese navy on pearl harbor. Both the Great Gatsy, and Midway focus on the ideas of displaying courage and intention of facing a critical moment in history. It connects to a universal idea about the person’s durability and stride toward noble accomplishments.

1917

2024-10-10 02:48:56 UTC

1917 is a WW1 film that follows two British soldier, Lance Corporal Schofield and Blake, on a dangerous mission. They must deliver a crucial message to prevent and attack that could lead to the deaths of 1,600 men, including Blake's brother. The movie is known for being made in one continuous shot. This movie showcases the harrowing realities of war and the extraordinary bravery of soldiers.This follows the universal theme Warriors Path because the the whole point of the movie is to follow two soldiers whose "destiny" is to save themselves from the war.

Restoring Brain Cells

2024-10-10 02:53:11 UTC

In this article, it explains how wherever adult brian cells are injured, they revert to an embryonic state, which when cells become capable of regrowing new connections that, under the right conditions, can help to restore lost function. Fred “Rusty” Gage, PHD, president and a processor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and an adjacent professor at UC San Diego, and others found that new brain cells are continually produced in the hippocampus and subventricular zone, replenishing these brain regions throughout life. Restoring brain cells relates to universal ideas of ambition, and resumption. It symbolizes the potential for recovery and change, encouraging that change is possible even after trauma, just like it is said in The Great Gatsby.

Guatemala

2024-10-10 02:56:19 UTC

Over the summer I had the great opportunity to go to Guatemala on a mission trip. We went into Antigua to stay for the week and went into the surrounding, less fortunate communities to give them water filters. Over the week I grew closer to some guys I already knew. I also got to grow close to a new group and with the families we went to visit and give water filters to. It was honestly amazing how the trip was laid out because we didn't just install the filter and leave, but we actually had conversations with these people and developed connections with them. For example, I was at a house with my team for over four and a half hours just talking to them and learning their story. Most of the conversation was about the family situation they were in. At the end of our trip, we went horse back riding up a volcano and ate pizza cooked from the exothermic vents on the top. On the last day that we gave out water filters, we gave them to the school that was kind enough to let us rest and eat our lunch on the days we were distributing water filters since we were about an hour from Antigua. The students made us all crafts as a thank you in the best and sweetest way possible. The hardest part of the trip was how unsafe the tap water is. You couldn't open your mouth or eyes in the shower, you couldn't drink anything that wasn't in a sealed bottle, you couldn't even wet your toothbrush with the tap water. Coming back home it really makes it hard to complain about the situations that arise when those people down in Guatamala would do anything to trade places with any one of us.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

2024-10-10 03:07:47 UTC

This book focuses on the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emporer. This is a book of personal writings, reflecting on his philosophy and thoughts on self-improvement. The book really focuses on three main concepts: reason, duty, and maintaining a calm mind. He calls for self-discipline, humility, and the acceptance of your fate as ways to do the aforementioned concepts. His reflections focus on the importance of looking inward into yourself to reflect on your actions. This theme is finding inner peace and strength, really driving in the points of resilience and moral integrity.

The Social Dilemma

haglerharley26 — 2024-10-10 05:01:45 UTC

This documentary discusses the social and cultural impacts of excessive social media usage. It brings attention to all of the negative effects of social networking and how it affects our lives and behavior. It emphasizes how social media algorithms enable forms of behavior modification and psychological manipulation, causing people to become addicted to their phones. This documentary was made to highlight the damage social media has had on society. It relates to the universal idea of The Digital Age because it emphasizes how social media affects our daily routines and connections, altering the way we interact with those around us.

The perfect Season

2024-10-10 13:16:16 UTC

To this day, in all of the years that the NFL has been around there has only been one team that has ever gone a full season without losing a single game. The 1972 Miami Dolphins. This team is considered one of the greatest teams of all time because of this accomplishment, being led by also one of the greatest coaches of all time Don Shula. The universal theme here is Sports and competition because this team had one of the greatest drives to win of all time, considering they did not lose at all. They will now always be known as one of, or maybe the only team that will ever go undefeated. They now have 8 players/coaches from that team in the Pro football Hall of Fame.

Artificial Intelligence

2024-10-10 13:18:51 UTC

This article published by Darrell West and John Allen in 2018 explains how artificial intelligence was created and how it works, though it was still relatively unknown by most people at the time. Artificial intelligence was developed in order to do things faster than humans can. West claims, “With massive improvements in storage systems, processing speeds, and analytic techniques, they are capable of tremendous sophistication in analysis and decisionmaking.” Fast forward to 2024, and this idea of advanced A.I. technology has blossomed into digital apps that can easily calculate complex problems within seconds of the question being asked. Artificial intelligence is the biggest and most beneficial scientific breakthrough in the past decade.

Delilah Puchta - organ transplantation

2024-10-10 13:46:53 UTC

The start of organ donation is relatively new; it began 70 years ago and the kidney was the first organ to be transplanted. Organ transplantation goes with the universal idea of disease and healing. One person has to be sick and someone else has to be willing to give them their organ. Although a good portion of organ donors are deceased they are able to do so much good. Through the loss of one life the donors are able to save at least six other lives. The article explains how the kidney was the first organ to be transplanted in 1954 and then the liver, heart, and pancreas were all successfully transported by the 60’s and the lung and intestinal organ were done by the 80’s. The article also talks about how if organs did not have a match nearby and many organs could not be used.

Hidden Figures - The Power Struggle

2024-10-10 13:47:37 UTC

Hidden Figures is a Disney adaptation of the true story of the 3 women who changed NASA forever. In the 1960’s, during the space race, NASA was in the middle of integrating computers and people of color into their workforce. This included 3 women, Katherine Goble Johnson, Dorothy Vaugn, and Mary Jackson. Each finds a different place in the NASA system, throughout the company. Katherine was the first woman and person of color to be able to do calculations, and ended up calculating the official “Go No Go” point for the space ship. Dorothy Vaugn was the leader of the group of women who worked the new computers at NASA that the men couldn’t figure out. And Mary Jackson was the first black woman to get an engineering degree and be an engineer for NASA. These three women paved the way for women in general to be involved and important in the math and science fields.

Ethan Smith

2024-10-10 13:53:26 UTC

In this article, it talks about the devastations that people went through with hurricane Helena happening. Four days before Helena even made landfall, everybody knew about it. Although people did not evacuate and felt safe enough to stay, around 227 people lost their lives from this horrifying storm. Now, during the writing of this, another hurricane is currently hitting Florida known as hurricane Milton. Which is worse that Helena. One person stated, "That's the last time that he saw my mom. The last time anyone has seen my mom." While he survived, he ended up losing his mother in Hurricane Helena. This storm shows that nature will always be above human beings, and that we should respect it and not underestimate natures beauty.

Ethan Smith

2024-10-10 14:00:54 UTC

Pearl Harbor is one of histories most devastating attacks. With it being one of the most unexpected attacks, the United States had now way of preparing for it. In this article it gives a brief overview of both before, during, and after the attacks. Stating that before the attacks, Japan and the United States did not have the best relationship. Japan had won previous wars with other countries including China and Russia. So they were on the hunt for becoming one of the top powers in that world. Riding off of this high, they decided that they were going to take a shot at the United States. However, this was a massive mistake. While they got what they wanted by attacking Pearl Harbor, they ended up losing more than they gained. The United States was not just going to take the hit and not strike back. They went above and beyond to get their revenge. To show Japan that they are not anywhere near the United States, the U.S dropped the worlds first atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This completely destroyed Japan and they eventually surrendered, realizing they had no change against the greatest nation in the world.

The Cold Blue

2024-10-10 14:04:02 UTC

This movie, produced by Erik Nelson, feeds into the universal idea of “Nature of Humanity” by depicting the ultimate fight for life during WWII. The movie contains footage of 8th Air Force missions, found in national archives. This footage, shot by director William Wyler for his 1944 documentary “The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress,” includes him and his production team flying B-17 bombers with the 8th Air Force during missions. Footage, such as that seen in the movie, can create a sense of eye-opening realization. This, with the combination of the metaphorical title, are reminders of a terrible time in history, unsurprisingly induced by humans.

Ethan Smith

2024-10-10 14:11:06 UTC

"Hustle" follows the story of Adam Sandler's character, Stanley Sugerman, a basketball scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. After discovering a talented street basketball player that goes by the name Bo Cruz, played by Juancho Hernangómez, Stanley notices his talent on the court and decides to go talk to him and give him a chance. Originally, Bo Cruz didn't bother because he wanted to focus on his recently-had kid. However, Stanley eventually convinced him and he decided to take the chance. Together, they face numerous challenges, from the team's management and the pressures of the basketball world. As they train and bond, Stanley becomes a mentor to Bo, helping him navigate both personal and professional obstacles. The film explores themes of perseverance, friendship, and the pursuit of dreams. Ultimately, it showcases the gritty reality of chasing success in sports.

Rogers Tornado

2024-10-10 14:17:56 UTC

On May 26, 2024 at 2 am a tornado hit Rogers, Ar. I was in Rogers playing in a softball tournament when the tornado hit. My family and I got back to the hotel around 10 pm, after playing TopGolf with my teammates. The weather was beautiful at the time, there was hardly even a breeze. Everything was normal until about 2 in the morning, we were all sleeping not knowing what was happening right outside. I was sleeping on an air mattress not far from the window when I heard something explode and glass shatter. A tree had crashed through our window. My dad was dragging my mom out of bed on his side because she was sleeping closest to the window. As we were rushing around the room to grab our shoes and get down stairs the lights went out. When we made it down stairs, it was shocking to see the amount of people. The hotel was fully booked out, there were parents, kids, and dogs everywhere, but no hotel workers. After everything had settled down and the storm was over, we still could not locate any workers in the hotel. One of the other guests called 9/11, and eventually cops and firefighters showed up and informed us that part of the roof was ripped off and there was a gas leak. Everyone in the hotel had to evacuate but there was nowhere for us to go. All nearby hotels were booked and there were power lines down. But we had no other options, so we decided, at 3 in the morning, that we were going to drive all the way back home. As we made our way out to the car we saw the damage to the hotel, and the damage to the car. The entire back glass of the car had been knocked out. We had no choice but to ride home like that, so we got towels from the hotel and drove 3 hours back home with the back glass knocked out. We started diving, but there were power lines down everywhere we couldn’t find a way out until an ambulance came by and my dad followed them out all the way to the interstate. I connect my experience with family bonds because this was a terrifying experience that could’ve ended very differently, but I wouldn’t have gotten through it without my family. This experience taught me to not take anything for granted, hours before this happened I was playing golf with my team and then everything was gone.

Sophie Badders

badderssophie26 — 2024-10-10 14:21:26 UTC

When planning out what I want to do in the future, I am often stuck on which path I would like to take. Growing up, nothing really stuck out to me. I would hear people talk about how they want to be an astronaut or a teacher while I was confused on what interests me. I soon realized that I really enjoyed helping people. I started to take more medical type classes and soon found what I enjoy doing most. Even though you may not know what you want to do now, think about what you are passionate about. That might help you figure out the path you want to take later in life. This overall connects to the Universal Theme of the journey of self-discovery. I was doubting myself over what I should do and what I was good at. But, I got over that and found what I truly enjoyed doing which is helping others.

Bryan Escobar

2024-10-10 15:27:33 UTC

Donald J. Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. He is running for President again for the 2024 Election and during one of his rally's he was shot in the ear. Luckily the shooter missed his shot and on hit his ear he survived. Showing survival and hope that even though he was shot in the ear he survived and is still willing to run for even after all the adversity President.

Isaac Theis

2024-10-10 15:39:10 UTC

Whiplash is a movie that follows a young drummer, Andrew Neiman , (played by Miles Teller) and his struggles with getting his teacher, Terrance Fletcher, (played by J.K. Simmons) to acknowledge his greatness. Whiplash explores the ideas of power struggles, dysfunctional relationships, and the hungering for greatness. The movie starts off with Neiman sitting in a room practicing drums late at night. Fletcher then walks in wearing an all black suit and demands Neiman to play a double time swing. This is the first moment we can see the authority that Fletcher commands in the movie, having absolute power. As the movie progresses, Neiman seemingly impresses Fletcher when he is invited to Fletchers prestigious studio band. At the first rehersal, Neiman is pulled aside and given a pep talk by Fletcher, telling him that he's meant to be here, talking to him like he is a favorite or important. This changes drastically in the next scene as we see Fletcher get upset with Neiman rushing which causes Fletcher to hurl a chair at his head and scream at him. Instead of letting this get him down, Neiman take it to his soul and almost exclusively practices drumming until he is made a core drummer in the band by Fletcher. This all comes to a peak when Fletcher gives away Neimans part to an alternate because he forgot his sticks. Neiman, not wanting to give up the part, speeds back to the building he left from and tries to make it back before the band takes the stage. Neiman is so determined, even after a simitruck T-Bones him and he's left confused and bloody, he leaps out of the car and makes it before the band goes on stage with multiple injuries and covered in blood. Neiman, now no longer affected by adrenaline starts playing very poorly which leads to him and Fletcher sharing a heated exchange that leaves Neiman tackling Fletcher mid performance. The two never fully resolve their conflict because after Neiman got Fletcher fired via an anonymous for abuse, Fletcher reaches out and offers Neiman a spot on his jazz ensemble. Fletcher then reveals he knew Neiman got him fired and took revenge by having the ensemble play a song Neiman didn't know, making him look like a fool on stage. Neiman then retaliates by interrupting Fletcher's speech to the crowd by starting the song "Caravan" and making Fletcher look unprofessional. This scene parallels the first scene by giving Neiman complete power over Fletcher, perfectly wrapping up the movie.

Ethan Smith

2024-10-10 15:43:33 UTC

Internet in this day of age is one of the most important things in the entire world. Without internet, the world would not be thriving as much as it is today. But how was it discovered and invented? Well, according to this article, "the internet started in the 1960's as a way for government officials to share information." January 1, 1983 is considered the birthday of the Internet. At this time, it was very important because different kinds of computers on different networks could not communicate with each other. Internet today is a lot more complex now and can do a lot more stuff, but back then, this was game changing to the world. People could communicate with each other without having to do stuff like write letters, meet up in person, etc.

Zane

2024-10-10 15:45:48 UTC

Sometime between late October 4th, and early October 7th, the Greenbrier Boxing Gym was burglarized. Most of our equipment was stolen or torn up. Around $3000 worth of necessary equipment was gone completely with no way for us to get it back. We filed a police report, asked around to see if anyone knew who, and checked all of our security cameras, but nothing we did led to any idea of who could have stolen from us. Even to this day, October 10th, we have no idea who would have done this. One thing is helping us though, the local community. Over the last few days, we have had people from all over the state come to support us and give us supplies for free such as headgear, gloves, scales, and even more than we lost in the first place.

At this point, we have almost replaced all of the stolen equipment, and even though we haven't found who was responsible, we have been more than repaid. This experience can be tied back to the universal theme of community, by showing how the boxing community comes together to support each other in times of need. This experience can give hope to other communities in need as well and inspire others in their community to help each other out.

VR used for athletic training

2024-10-10 15:48:38 UTC

Sports are one of the hardest things to do at high level. So people look for any advantage they can get over other people. People discovered that they could use VR (virtual reality) to get reps on the situations they would encounter in a game without the physical fatigue, like a quarterback practicing reading a defense without being fatigued. This shows how technology is constantly improving to fit necessities of all type of people.

Fukushima, Japan (2011)

2024-10-10 15:52:02 UTC

In 2011, a catastrophic earthquake struck Japan. This earthquake was a magnitude 9.0, making it the 4th most severe ever recorded. This earthquake caused a tsunami that was around 15 meters high, significantly adding to the severity of the event. However, even more was to come. During the event, a nuclear power plant in Fukushima was affected. It had lost power to three of the nuclear cores, causing the cooling system to stop working. The nuclear cores became unstable, and all three melted over the next few days. This released significant amounts of radiation to the city of Fukushima, and around 100,000 residents were quickly evacuated. This incident was rated at a Level 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, which is the highest and most severe, classified as a "Major Accident."

Isaac Theis

2024-10-10 15:57:53 UTC

The riots at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021, are widely regarded as an attack on democracy and put into question the integrity of our leaders. The January 6th riots showed clear signs that our own leader at the time (Donald Trump) was not only struggling to admit loss and transfer power, but he was also at times inciting the violence, telling his followers things such as, "If you don't fight like hell, you won't have a country anymore." and, "We are going to the Capitol" said right before the building was stormed and vandalized. The almost 5 hour long riot was capped off with a tweet from Donald Trump that said this, "these are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots." This shows a man who is not only stuck in the past but also one who can't look into the future. Even today, this issue is still brought up well into the 2024 election cycle, Trump still will not admit the 2020 election was a fair one and still commends the rioters for their "sacrifices".

Emory Bradley

2024-10-10 16:13:15 UTC

Survival and Hope: This article speaks about the recent hurricanes that have been terrorizing Florida. First, hurricane Helene recently took the lives of 232 people. Florida is now dealing with another hurricane, with very little time to prepare. Hurricane Milton was a considerable threat to all and was also suspected to be a category 5 or worse when hitting land, which meant many lives were in danger. With this in mind, a storm surge and evacuation warning were sent out. Thankfully, Milton made landfall at 8:30 on 10/9/24 as a category 3. Before it made landfall, there was a big concern for the lives of many, with the mayor urging people to leave or die. Thankfully, hurricane Milton has slowed down from what it was suspected to be, with rescue teams now being sent out for support. Hurricane Milton is now moving out to sea as a category 1, with 6 lives taken by storm-related injuries. With the storm surge warning now ending, people have slowly started to try to return, showing that even when devastating events occur, people will do the best they can in these types of situations.

Bryan Escobar

2024-10-10 16:13:50 UTC

"Untold: Malice at the Palace" is a documentary about one of the worst altercations to happen in the NBA. During the 2004-2005 NBA season, one of their greatest years, the Indiana Pacers were on their way to making it to Playoffs and it looked like they had a chance to make it to the finals. November 19, 2004 the Pacers play the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills and it was already a chippy game with the whole ordeal starting with Pacers small forward Ron Artest Fouled the Pistons power forward Ben Wallace during a Layup. This caused Artest and Wallace to exchange some words and Wallace even pushes Artest, Then out of no where a cup thrown from the crowd hits Artest which causes him to into the crowd finding the guy who threw it and starts fighting the guy. As a result, the arena went into an uproar, fans fighting rival fans, players fighting fans, and players fighting other players. After the mayhem, the Pacers team was escorted into their locker room. The game was called off and because of the choices by these players many received suspensions. Ron Artest was suspended for 86 games, Stephen Jackson was suspended for 30 games, Jermaine O'Neal was suspended for 15 games, Ben Wallace was suspended for 6 games, and Anthony Johnson was suspended for 5 games. The Pacers were shown that nothing good ever comes of violence because they would end losing in the semifinals in the playoffs.

Isaac Theis

2024-10-10 16:14:04 UTC

Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic about the life and legacy of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen. This film dives deep into the things fans didn't see off camera like Freddie's battles with toxic relationships, his sexuality, and his feeling of superiority over his band mates (Brian May, Rodger Taylor, and John Decon) . The movie starts with a young Freddie meeting the band that would become Queen in a bar gig. They click and eventually become good enough they get into talks with a record label who would love signing them. After this life changing decision, we start to see Freddie change in a way to distance himself from his family. Freddie changed his name from Farrokh Bulsara to the now famous name of Freddie Mercury. We see Freddie start to develop his sense of superiority in a scene where they are trying to convince their label manager to put "Bohemian Rhapsody" as their new single. The label manager doesn't like this so Freddie snaps and him as well as the band quit on the label and throw a rock through the manager's office. As the movie progresses, we see Freddie start to become more isolated even around his band mates, and we see his boyfriend Paul go everywhere with him, causing him to be late to rehearsal and getting on his band mates nerves. This culminates In the band splitting up, leaving Freddie with only Paul left who gets him addicted to drugs and partying. One day however, Freddie starts to feel horrible as he's realized what his fame and Paul have done to him. Freddie leaves Paul out in the rain in a dramatic scene and attempts to get Queen back together for the first time in years. Now having the band back together for the upcoming Live Aid concert, Freddie announces to the band that his life of partying has led him to contracting HIV, but he remains optimistic and doesn't let it weigh him down. The film ends with their powerful performance at Live Aid and a touching tribute to the real Freddie who died in 1991.

Security Cameras

2024-10-10 18:36:15 UTC

There's nothing wrong with security cameras. Private establishments can use them to prevent theft or vandalism or to keep a log of what's going on their property. However, many governments around the world use them to spy on their citizens. China, for example, has 700 million state-owned security cameras, with 1 camera for every 2 people. This creates an atmosphere of oppression, where people are afraid to criticize the government. In my selected novel, 1984, the party has a camera in every citizen's house to keep an eye on them. This equates to the common them being that freedom is often traded for security, and you can't often have both.

Addiction

2024-10-10 19:05:49 UTC

Throughout the 16 years of my life, addiction has cast a very dark shadow over me. I watched my cousin cycle in and out of jail for years, struggling to loosen the tight grip drugs had on him. His young daughter is like a little sister to me, and I hate how she got caught in the crossfire of custody battles and broken promises. Even worse, watching both of her parents go through the jail system multiple times. I watched my dad struggle after losing his own father, and how he lost a part of himself that he would never get back. I’ve cared for a sibling of mine as they went through countless NA meetings, and had to counsel them through the worst time of their life. The pain of watching those I love surrender to the relentless pull of old habits is unbearable. I’ve seen how addiction twists people, turning them into zombies of their former selves. My greatest fear is the day I have to bury someone I love because they couldn’t find the strength to change. I grapple with anger at myself for not recognizing the signs of addiction sooner, for not being the support they needed to escape that darkness. This is not just a story of struggle; it’s a raw testament to the heartbreak and agitation addiction brings into the lives of those it touches. Family bonds mean everything to me, and I wish there was more I could do to strengthen the loose string that now holds us together.

2024-10-10 20:19:49 UTC

Throughout this Ted Talk he describes how it can be difficult to focus when working on things, especially assignments in school. As he is going through it he also begins to describe what it feels like to be a procrastinator and how hard it can be to focus on one thing when there are so many other things you rather be doing. He also states to go along with his whole presentation how hard it can make doing certain things such as work of any kind. Having a hard time doing work can affect not only your work ethic but also how people view you.

Hurricane Milton

2024-10-11 00:25:35 UTC

Hurricane Milton, a dangerous Category 3 storm, made landfall Wednesday night close to Siesta Key on Florida's west coast. At landfall, Milton had sustained winds of 120 mph, but as it worked its way in throughout the state, it dropped to a Category 1.As hurricane winds move across Tampa and St. Petersburg, The hurricane agency advised everyone to stay inside their homes. The Weather Service stated that at least four twisters, including a "multi-vortex tornado," were seen earlier in the day. This connects to the universal theme of survival and hope. It connects with this because the people are trying to survive and pull through against all odds. Mother nature has created a desperate situation on the citizens of Florida.

How to Hack your brain for better focus

2024-10-11 00:53:48 UTC

This ted talk covers the universal theme of the importance of focus. In this ted talk Sasha Hamdani gives context on how she had a baby at the beginning of Covid and her brain was running wild. She provides the steps she took of tackling the task of maternity and her job. Sasha talks the audience through her techniques on the importance of focus and how to properly hack your brain to maintain focus on multiple tasks. Overall she provided information on why its important to control your brain and hone in on what your doing, to maintain focus.

Richard Nixon Watergate Scandal

2024-10-11 01:16:54 UTC

The water gate scandal was a major conflict in history which in a nutshell 5 men were captured after they broke into the Democratic committee headquarters. This involved the bugging of political opponents offices, unauthorized investigations, and the misuse of government agencies for political purposes. All to get an insight for his benefit in the reelection. The early sights into Watergate were really pushed by the media, especially by two reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, including their secret source Deep Throat. The asking for information started in February of 1973 when the Senate set up a Committee to look into the Watergate scandal. The public hearings were quite substantial, including evidence from John Dean, who was Nixon’s former White House Counsel. The Committee also discovered the secret tape recordings from the White House. After Nixon had lied over and over about how he did not do anything. Which led to a significant clash between Congress and the President. In 1974, the House of Representatives gave the Judiciary Committee the confirmation to explore impeachment options against Nixon. This connects to the universal theme of secrets and lies because of how Nixon lied and kept secrets from the public as the peoples own trusted president.

The Band and good of Ai

2024-10-11 01:26:54 UTC

We are already seeing the bad effects of AI. For instance, how streaming services suggest shows. The recommendations you get from an AI affect what you end up watching. AI systems today mold our choices in many ways, like what we buy, how we vote, and even what we believe in. Saying that AI's effects are just a problem for the future overlooks what's happening right now, our daily lives are already being shaped by it. Right now, artificial intelligence is mostly unregulated, which means companies can create algorithms that focus on making money and keeping us engaged. It’s concerning that the reality we face today can be used for the great potential AI has in ways that put people first. This connects to the universal theme of Human vs Machine because of how the advancement of technology has taken a toll on how we think, act, and do things in our daily life.

Harriet Tubman Movie

2024-10-11 03:04:31 UTC

The movie "Harriet", reflects and gives us an idea of what slavery was like around the 1840's. This movie shows us what the famous, Harriet Tubman, went through to help free slaves. It gives us a sense of sympathy for slaves back then. I can connect this historical based movie to the universal idea of The Power Struggle, because it shows what people like slave owners, rich white men, and big land owners did with the power they had.

Holocaust

2024-10-11 03:12:35 UTC

1932 Hitler was elected into Germany’s parliament, the following year he was appointed Chancellor (a legal official) During his time of leadership he twisted the set rules of Article 48, and passed an act called the Enabling Act. This act allowed him to pass his own laws without them having to go through with the president first. With this abused power and dictator position he passed laws that hurt mainly the Jewish population of Germany but also general minorities. This included Jehovah Witnesses, mentally and physically disabled individuals, homosexuals, and Slavic people. Jewish people would be forced into labor or relocation to overpopulated poor areas. They would also be forced to wear a symbol identifying them as Jewish. Nazis imprisoned Jewish people and brought them to concentration camps such as the most well known, Auschwitz. In these camps they were abused, forced into labor, and starved. Majority would die in these camps separated from their families and unknowing of what was coming. The Nazi’s created gas chambers where the prisoners would blindly be marched into and killed. The Universal Theme of the Holocaust is justice and Injustice. Millions of innocent, successful, caring, and all kinds of people, killed for an ethnicity they cannot control. The unjust beliefs of Adolf Hitler towards Jewish people and the millions killed is a tragic reality for Germany in the 1930s and 40s, and has even carried anti-semitic beliefs into present day.

Electricity

2024-10-11 03:20:01 UTC

Electricity's origin dates all the way back to ancient Greece, where the first discovery of static electricity was documented by Thales of Milieus. However, Thomas Edison was the first person to develop the electric light bulb. In the modern world, electricity powers homes, industries, and technology that is used all over the world for almost everything. This goes from lighting and heating to powering computers and medical equipment. This connects back to the universal idea of science and discovery, because the journey of electricity shows human curiosity and just how pursuit of knowledge has changed our world and is continuing just that.

The innovation of AI

wilsonryleigh26 — 2024-10-11 04:41:59 UTC

The innovation of artificial intelligence has greatly impacted the world. AI can be used in the medical field to assist people with disabilities. However, AI comes with a lot of bias as well. AI is unable to recognize certain hair colors or skin colors when only given one specific color while inputting the data. Although AI is useful in aiding jobs, people are worried that AI will replace them and they will be out of jobs in the future. This connects to the universal theme of futuristic visions because of the duality of artificial intelligence. The contrast between progress and caution reflects on the complex nature of futuristic visions.

Animal Testing

2024-10-11 04:58:35 UTC

Popular brands you may use everyday such as those for skincare, makeup, or hair products may use unethical animal testing. During this testing animals may be restrained, wounded, starved, and deprived of water. Harmful chemicals or drugs are exposed to the animals to see their bodies reactions. Psychological and physical side effects can happen and animals are often left hurt and distressed. The animals that don’t die from the testing might still be killed after, or some that undergo treatment for their wounds and are used again for more experimenting. Animals most commonly used are rodents, (rats,mice,guinea pigs, hamsters) fish, dogs, cats,rabbits, and mini pigs. The pain and suffering of these animals are not worth the experiment that doesn’t tell us 100% how the human body will react to these chemicals. Millions of animals are getting abused and killed from animal testing that does not always accurately show us the results scientists need. Although there are many alternatives to switch to, companies and scientists find this hard because it sets them back to learning a whole new way of testing. The Universal Theme of animal testing is The Animal Connection. Animals are a part of our everyday life and should be treated with respect and love. Animal testing is reasonably deemed unethical and protested by many. In the future I hope more companies can become aware and take the time to learn new methods.

2024-10-11 12:50:23 UTC

The recent growing of this huge storm, Milton is a growing concern now because it is getting very bad. This is one of the worst storms ever record and it is currently hitting. It has led to a huge tornado outbreak in florida, along with major flooding and up to 100 mph wind gusts. Some notable stats from this storm is that some places have reached up to 19 inches of rain in the last week. The hurricane also maxed out at 180 mph which is only 1 of 9 storms ever to reach this speed. It had been back and forth between a E4 and E5 for a little bit, but when it finally made it to land it was only categorized as an E3, thankfully. The theme here is tradgedy and triumph because this is a major tradgedy that is happening now.

Zane

2024-10-11 12:58:08 UTC

Sometime between late October 4th, and early October 7th, the Greenbreir Boxing Gym was burglarized. Most of our equipment was stolen or torn up. Around $3000 worth of necessary equipment was gone completely with no way for us to get it back. We filed a police report, asked around to see if anyone knew who, and checked all of our security cameras, but nothing we did led to any idea of who could have stolen from us. Even to this day, October 10th, we have no idea who would have done this. One thing is helping us though, the local community. Over the last few days, we have had people from all over the state come to support us and give us supplies for free such as headgear, gloves, scales, and even more than we lost in the first place.

At this point, we have almost replaced all of the stolen equipment, and even though we havent found who was responsible, we have been more than repaid. This experience can be tied back to the universal theme of community, by showing how the boxing community comes together to support each other in times of need. This experience can give hope to other communities in need as well and inspire others in their community to help eachother out.

Macie Oliver

2024-10-11 13:11:34 UTC

The movie "The Impossible" is about a family that wanted to enjoy a fun-filled vacation. The vacation was normal at the start, but on one of the first few days of the vacation, they were all just spending time together on the beach. Suddenly without warning a tsunami swept everyone off their feet and they were all separated from each other. The family consisted of 3 boys and their mom and dad. They had to go through so many survival tactics and find their way back to each other. After many days they were all back together on a plane home, and everyone survived.

Avery Mccuan

2024-10-11 13:23:56 UTC

The personal experience I choose to go with that goes with my universal idea of injustice and justice is about me and my sisters growing up. I have 2 older sisters and growing up was a struggle with 3 people bossing you around isn't always easy. My mom had pretty stuck in place rules but some of the time she would change some rules for my sisters because they were older, when I was younger this used to make me so upset. This one example was when both of my sisters got an ipod one year for christmas and this was the worst day of my childhood life. I thought this was injustice to me, How did they get to have this awesome thing that they could now hold over my head I begged and begged my mom for one and she just said I was to young this didn't sit well with me tho a couple years later I finally got one of my own. BEST DAY EVER! So that is one time in my life that someone was injustice to me.

Macie Oliver

2024-10-11 13:24:40 UTC

9/11 was a terrible and tragic day for many souls. It started as just a regular work day, and a regular plane ride for these people. Then terrorists hijacked these planes and flew them straight into the twin towers. So many lives were lost and so much trauma was increased from this day for many people. The firefighters, cops, and medical help, put their lives on the line to save others. We will forever thank them for everything they do and have done for our country. And forever mourn the lives that were lost.

Macie Oliver

2024-10-11 13:40:17 UTC

Most all of us go through stress or depression throughout all stages of life. No matter what stress and depression is it changes and affects our brain chemistry and how we process things. You might think that all stress is bad but that isn't always the case. Some stress can be like you anticipating a new job or exciting things going on but we don't always see that as stress.

Moneyball

2024-10-11 14:11:28 UTC

Moneyball is based on the Oakland Athletics during their 2002 season. The team, led by general manager Billy Beane, is working with a tight budget but wants to compete with the big leagues. Beane teams up with Peter Brand, a smart young guy from Yale, who introduces a fresh approach: using data and analytics to find undervalued players. Instead of relying on traditional scouting, they focus on stats . Despite facing a lot of criticism, their strategy leads to surprising success, showing how thinking outside the box can shake up the game.

Good Will Hunting

2024-10-11 14:28:17 UTC

Good Will Hunting is about Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT who is a genius with a troubled past. After assaulting a police officer, he avoids jail by agreeing to see a therapist, Sean Maguire. As their sessions go on, Will gets more comfortable talks about his conflicted emotions and fears about relationships and his potential. With the support of Sean and his friends, especially his love interest Skylar, Will realizes his worth and the possibilities for his future.

Chytrid Fungus

2024-10-11 14:32:34 UTC

The scientific topic I researched was the epidemic of the amphibian disease called Chytrid Fungus. The name “Chytrid Fungus” is basically just an umbrella term for the disease called Chytridiomycosis, a skin disease with characteristics of cancer. Out of the many types of this disease, only two affect amphibians; Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). Out of the two, Bd is known to cause the most harm to amphibians. The only world to describe its impact is catastrophic, as more than 90 amphibian species infected have gone extinct. 700 species of amphibians are infected by this disease, with more than 150 species having a mortality rate of 100%. As many can guess, one of the major influences to the spread of this disease is human activity. Starting in 1930’s, pharmacists would use frogs as a source to achieve positive pregnancy tests. A pharmacist would inject urine into the frog, and if the person whose urine was injected was pregnant, the frog would lay eggs within 18 hours. This caused massive amounts of imports and exports of these frogs. Eventually, once the modern pregnancy test was developed, doctors released these frogs, and unknowingly, the spread of chytrid fungus, into the wild. Since then, 90 species have gone extinct. This leads into the universal idea of “Nature of Humanity”, by proving, once again, just how clueless and selfish humans are when it comes to their development. Although humans are one of the most influential factors to the spread, they are also the most influential in stopping the spread. By reducing and regulating the global trade of amphibians, the spread of this disease can be slowed. As conservation efforts are being continued, the impact of this disease is becoming less and less.

Sadie Saunders

2024-10-11 14:44:15 UTC

When my friend Ally and I were in the 7th grade, we had joined EAST. We of course sat right next to each other, and became partners throughout the year. Coach White was our teacher, so all we had to do was come up with a project, and keep ourselves busy. So eventually we came up with the idea of putting awnings in front of the Jr. High and middle school for rainy days and car-rider lines. We worked every day measuring sidewalks, printing the idea, calling and getting estimates, and looking for grant money. We even had a meeting with the superintendent, Mr. Spainhour. After all of that hard work, Mr. Spainhour had actually approved our idea, and all we had to do was get some grant money to move forward. We called around and finally got someone to answer and before we knew it, we were both called to the office to open our envelope. Coach White, Mrs. Sibert, and all the office ladies were videoing and watching. We opened the check, and instantly we were devastated but laughing. We each got a $5 Kroger gift card. After this, we sadly had given up. But the moral of the story and universal theme is that big ideas can come in small packages. Even though the gift card was not at all what we expected, at least we had gotten recognition and someone to answer the phone.

2024-10-11 14:48:48 UTC

The World Around Us: As kids we all see the world as this big happy place where there is nothing wrong and everybody loves each other. But as I have grown up, like most people I have seen that that is not really the case. There is a lot of bad in the world and lots of evil and it is continuing to get worse. I have seen all of the stuff during covid, with the riots and all of that stuff. The crime rates are constantly going up, not just in a specific city but everywhere. There are more murders, and robberies, and everything bad in the world is just getting worse. And I am not the only one experiencing this obviously, but this is how I have seen it. The world around us is turning to a worse and worse place every single day.

Personal experience

2024-10-11 15:14:50 UTC

I was in 8th grade and I was on the football the season was just starting and I sadly got covid at the beginning of the season. During the time of my sickness and my recovery I lost my starting position on D-line so once I came back I had to become accustomed with not starting but I could not just be accustomed with not playing. So I put more effort into my workout and into being a starter. This relates back to persistence because all my work paid off because I ended up being a starter and got switched to O-line

Tyler Freyaldenhoven

2024-10-11 15:29:32 UTC

I tell people I have 2 siblings, my half-brother Clay, and my half-sister Bailey. Even though there is a major age gap between all of us, and we don’t share mothers, we never, I never at least, saw each other as “half” siblings, as we’ve become closer than most “full-blooded” siblings. What I don’t often tell people is about my 3rd sibling if you can even call her that. Her name is Erica, and she is my brother’s half-sister, whom my dad adopted out of a bad home situation. I am not blood related to Erica, nor have never seen her in my life. Before I was born, my mom and dad got a call from her late at night, crying because she didn’t want to live with my brother’s mom anymore, so my dad went and picked her up. Erica now lived in our house and my dad went through the legal process to become her legal guardian however, it just went downhill from there. Erica got addicted to drugs, convinced my brother to go against the rules, almost got him killed, and pushed me down the stairs as a toddler. My parents tried their absolute hardest to get her on the right track, through therapy, rehab, and anything in their power to pick her future up, but nothing worked. After years of this building up, it wouldn’t hold anymore and Erica got kicked out of the house, but not before she looked my dad in the eyes and ripped the legal documents naming my dad as her guardian in half. It’s been well over 10 years since then, and Erica now has a kid while she’s still in jail. My experience hearing my family deal with this and watching how they react when they hear her name has truly shown me how no matter what, there will always be people who go against the grain and cause pain to others. I just hope there’s still time for her to change, even in her 30’s

No Country for Old Men

2024-10-11 15:51:35 UTC

No Country for Old Men is a novel written by Cormac McCarthy about a man who discovers a briefcase holding $2,000,000 at the ruins of a failed drug trade, his escape from the psychopathic killer who’s on his trail, and a Sheriff trying to find out what’s going on while he deals with his internal struggles. As I’ve done the CHELPS assignment and tried to connect my other topics to the themes of this book, I realized that I had the book wrong until now. What I didn’t realize is that this book is a layered story, with the main plot focusing on Llewelyn and Anton, and the underlying thematic plot with Sheriff Bell. Sheriff Bell’s development throughout the novel, especially if you’re watching the movie adaptation, might seem trivial and confusing as to why it was even included, but what most people fail to realize is that the book is truly about him, while Llewelyn Moss and Anton Chigurh’s cat-and-mouse chase is the catalyst for this theme. Early on in the story, Bell’s worldview, being that the world has gone to crap and he is the one that needs to pick it up, is established fairly early on in the story through his anecdotes and comments on the current situation, but as the story continues and he follows the main conflict, this view is challenged and it completely changes in the denouement of the story when he goes to visit his uncle, Ellis. After a conversation about Bell’s shameful abandonment of his squad in WWII and an anecdote about an atrocity committed over 70 years ago, he says “You can’t stop what’s coming. It ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity.” With the help of this, the ending of the story’s importance can’t be overstated in the way that it finalizes Bell’s development. The ending scene is of Bell speaking with his wife about two dreams he had, one about him losing the money his father gave him, the other about him riding horseback while his father passes him with a torch, and his final words in the novel are “And then I woke up”. Through Llewelyn’s fate, Ellis’s words, and his dreams Bell realizes that he isn’t a messiah who’s going to bring it back to how it was, because there isn’t one. Bell realizes that the world won’t go back to how it “used to be,” because it hasn’t changed. Evil has and will always be here however, there will always be the indomitable good against it. His father carried the torch of good forward, and it’s his job to grab that torch and carry it just a little further, so the person after him and take it further, and so forth. Through people like Llewelyn going out of his way to do benevolent things like ensuring his wife’s safety, his torch will be carried on by Carla Jean who would go on to refuse calling the coin, challenging Anton Chigurh’s ideal of fate, forcing him to be the one to decide on her fate, proving that he has been the one making this choice all along. In the face of Anton’s evil, a torch was born, and from Wells to Moss, to Carla Jean, and assumedly to someone else who will carry it on, the torch survives in the face of Anton’s unstoppable nature, and that is how the main plot secretly employs the themes set up by Sheriff Bell’s internal development.

Family Bonds

2024-10-11 16:00:19 UTC

Before my great-grandma sadly passed away, she was my best friend. The light to any day I got to see or hear her voice. She was quite frankly the sweetest and most kind-hearted person you would ever meet. She was what brought that side of my family together and made us all closer. We would go to her house every Sunday and every holiday for her to cook for us. That was her love language. That's what made her happy. She loved taking care of people. Every time our family would all gather and share these meals she would make, it was like the best feeling. A heart explosion. Everyone would be talking and eating and all getting along. Those meals were what brought me closer to my cousins and everyone in my family. Even though she is gone now, I do believe she is what has kept that side of my family somewhat close together. She created our family bond.

Hurricane Helene

2024-10-11 17:31:42 UTC

Hurricane Helene is category 4 hurricane. It went through the southeast leading to destruction and flooding that went over 600 miles.That at least 100 people were killed. People stay and protect their home to show their determination.

Alexis Holtz

2024-10-11 17:32:08 UTC

Ocean Gate has been in the works since 2009 and was started by Guillermo Söhnlein and Stockton Rush. The company aimed to safely transport passengers to see the wreckage sight of the Titanic 12,500 feet below the ocean surface. This project only had 13 successful dives reaching these depths, out of almost 90. They constantly worked to change and tweak their machine, trying everything they could to make this submarine's trips successful each time. Sadly on June 18th, 2023, The submersible 'Titan' imploded on its last trip to the shipwreck. They had noticed it was having troubles before it was to the Titanic, so therefore communications with people on land decided to go ahead and come back to surface. After that, they lost communication to find out about the devastating event. 5 passengers on board were all killed in this violent implosion. This event was caused by carbon outside of the Titan. It was a fault in the manufacturing as was supposed to be checked before every dive, which has now caused many controversies and issues with the company. This connects to the universal theme, 'loss and mourning' because of the sad lives lost with the dive, and the spread of information of faulty manufacturing and careless mistakes.

Inspirational Heroes

2024-10-11 20:18:01 UTC

A few years ago my dad left to go to Afghanistan for a year and a half. He was set on going and he knew that was his calling. During the time of my dads deployment I realized that both of my parents were my inspirational heroes. My Father had to face the harsh reality of war, he had many moments he had to just pray to god they would make it out alive so he could make it back to the comfort of his home and family. The sacrifices and the conflicts he endured is what makes him my inspirational hero. Furthermore, my mom was the one who had to raise me and my siblings, she also birthed my fourth sibling while my dad was gone. All my mom did for us and the strength and courage that took to stay strong during that time is what makes her my inspirational hero as well.

The Pursuit of Happiness

2024-10-11 23:29:43 UTC

I grew up going to church until I was around 11-12 years old. I was going through the motions of just going to church and then going back to regular life, not participating in many of the activities that went on with my church. Once I realized that I didn't do much with church and I thought that it was boring me, I stopped going. I stopped going for about a year and a half, and went back around 13-14. Around that time, I was convinced to start coming to church again and to see the people who I had grown up with. During those earlier years, I knew that there was something missing with my life, but I just didn't realize what it was. Once I went back, I never left again. Truly finding God was the turning point in my life that permanently changed me. This relates to the universal theme of the pursuit of happiness because it felt like I was on an ongoing search for something that would make me happy and feel fulfilled.

Five Survive

2024-10-12 00:01:43 UTC

Published in November of 2022, the book "Five Survive" is about a group of 6 teenagers who were going to Gulf Shores for their spring break. Just as it says in the title, only 5 of the original 6 people survive. It all starts when the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and they have absolutely no cell service. One of their tires popped and they figured it was fine, so they replaced the tire with the one spare that they had. After they fixed it and started to get going again, more tires popped. They checked around where they tried to drive away and saw that there was nothing that could have possibly popped all four of their tires. That was when they realized that this was not an accident. When they were checking, one of the characters found that there was a walkie talkie placed outside of their RV. On the other end was a mysterious person who ended up being a sniper, threatening to shoot at anyone who tried to leave the RV if they didn't tell him what their big secrets were. The rest of the story is them trying to figure out each other's secrets and trying to stay alive. This relates to the universal theme of survival and hope because they were all trying to have hope and survive against all the odds of them not surviving.

Anger and Faith

2024-10-12 06:08:46 UTC

I went back and forth for a while trying to decide if I wanted to write about something meaningless and just go through the motions or write about something that is really on my mind. This answer came down to the fact that writing about what's on my mind could really benefit me. I´ve always been bad at expressing to other people how I feel. I struggle to get my feelings out as words, but writing for me is different. I'm not saying I'm good at writing by any means, it's just that I feel as if I don't struggle as badly to express myself when writing. Anyways, the whole point is my mammal (grandmother). Mammal has a disease called PSP. It slowly kills parts of your brain, and you slowly deteriorate and pass away. She has had it for about four or five years now. Some members of my family would say longer but no one really knows. I struggle very often with accepting this. Watching a women I have spent so much time with and have had so many laughs with turn into someone who can't even walk to the bathroom by herself makes me so incredibly angry. I'm angry at myself for not being able to fix her and not being able to fix the problems that this disease is creating in my family. I'm angry at God for slowly taking her away from me. Watching her and my family suffer has been one of the hardest things I've experienced in my life. I often ask myself why does God have to make it this way? Why does it have to be so slow and painful for everyone involved? It all relates back to the power struggle. I can't understand it and I can't fix it, in return I’m left angry and confused. Although, I know the lesson that comes out of this and it’s called faith. I don’t know why God is doing this but through this process I’ve learned more about faith than I ever have. Trusting fully in something even though you don’t understand it. I know God is letting this happen for a reason, and I know that one day I will know what that reason is. My mammal is pretty bad off, we all know we more than likely don’t have much time with her. But the time I have had has been more than lovely. She can light up a room with just her laugh. She’s one of the most beautiful human beings I’ve ever seen and cares more about her family than herself. If you were to ask me how is she still here? I would tell you because God hasn’t made it her time yet and because I know she wants to be with her family a little longer. I’m scared of where her death will lead my family. I feel like she’s been the rock of it in ways for so long, but I’m trying to work everyday to have faith that God has everything under control.

Family Bonds

2024-10-12 21:55:45 UTC

Two weeks ago I got into a car wreck. This was the first time I had ever gotten into a wreck, not only in my new car but alone. I was on my way to school the Thursday morning of homecoming week. The theme was Parent day, so I had a pair of house slippers on to pull off the whole “mom” look. As I was driving down Highway 65, I noticed the stop light by Harps had turned yellow. I went to put my foot on the brake, but my wet slipper bottoms couldn’t get a grip on the brake pedal. Before I knew it, my bumper had tapped the back of a car. Immediately I called my mom crying. I was freaking out, terrified that my family was going to be mad at me; that my car was messed up; or that the lady I bumped into was going to kill me. My mom told me to put my car in park and to stay exactly where I was at, because she was on the way. I hung up the phone with her to call my grandparents. They are the ones who bought my car, and they always know what to do. Once I got Mom-Mom, my grandma, on the phone, she told me what I needed to do. She made sure I calmed my breathing down and let me know that everything was okay. Mom-Mom reassured me that nobody was mad at me, accidents happen, and she was just glad I was okay. As we were on the phone, she instructed me to get out my license, registration, and insurance. She offered to stay on the phone as her and my grandpa drove there, but I told her I was okay. My mom arrived right before the cops did and rushed to make sure I was safe. After I filled out all of the paperwork for the cop, my grandparents arrived. I expected them to be furious about my car and call me irresponsible. Instead, they hugged me and told me everything was going to be alright. Throughout the whole process they continued to hug me and made sure I knew they were not mad. Once it was time to go to school, they offered to drive me from the Harps parking lot. I agreed because I was still shaken up, and they knew that. On the way to school, I got to talk to Mom-Mom about how I was feeling. She told me that if I didn’t feel confident driving home that afternoon, she would come and pick me up. This goes with the universal theme of Family Bonds. My family didn’t care that I had messed up the front bumper of my brand new car, or the fact that I had been the cause of the wreck. Their love for me, and our bond, is so strong that all they cared about was my safety and mental well being.

Family bonds

2024-10-12 22:49:42 UTC

Ever since I was little, my older brother Andrew and I were always close. He was definitely somebody I looked up to in my life when I was a kid. We always talked about how one day he would leave for college and our childhood together would end at some point. As the years went on and we got into high school, I realized that I wouldn’t have him around anymore after he graduated. We wouldn’t have our daily conversations or nightly drives to Andys to get ice cream. The day Andrew left made me realize how lucky I was to have a good brother as I grew up. Andrew helped me through a lot of tough times in my life when I felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone. This personal experience ties back to the universal theme of family bonds. Of course we fought and aggravated each other, but at the end of the day I still thought of him as my best friend. Andrew and I had a very healthy sibling bond that I will forever be grateful for.

Car accident

2024-10-13 00:29:11 UTC

Experiencing a car accident, alone, not knowing what to do is the scariest thing I have ever gone through. I was going to school early in the morning. It was foggy, misty, and not too busy. I had just got done recovering from a tonsillectomy. I went around a curve, saw a truck, slammed on my brakes but it wasn't fast enough. My car was totaled and multiple bruises were left on me. People know that when there is a stop sign you're supposed to stop and wait til it is clear to go. Obviously that was not what the other driver did in this incident. Never expect others to always do what you would do. Expect the unexpected, understand that not everyone's the same and things may go different.

Bugs and Discovery

2024-10-13 14:11:34 UTC

As any kid growing up, I loved to think about what I wanted to be. When I was in kindergarten I wanted to be a popstar because I loved anything to do with music. In elementary I wanted to be a zoologist because getting the opportunity to constantly learn new things about animals excited me. Then, when covid hit in middle school I yearned for the stage again, this time in theater productions. Throughout the time I grew up though, one thing stuck with me: the need to be in a job where I get to constantly do and learn new things. When I got into highschool (specifically my sophomore year) I finally realized that. I also realized that I didn’t want to rely on something like performing arts to pay my bills. During my sophomore year I found my love again for studying living things again, and specifically how they shape the world we live in. Instead of the big animals I wanted to study in elementary school, I now want to study the smaller ones. The tiny bugs that take care of our Earth. The tiny bugs where there is always something new for us to learn about. As I grew up learning about myself and the world around me, I found my passion in the universal human need for discovery. For some, they might like discovering more about people, history, or even architecture, but for me it manifested in the form of bugs.

Clayton Freeman

2024-10-13 17:10:23 UTC

When I was younger I wanted to be an archaeologist or a paleontologist so I could go study dinosaurs and world aged mysteries.Then later on I thought I wanted to become a business owner and to own a theme-park because I wanted to create my own destiny during that time. Now I realized that I want to grow up and learn about physics to learn about the current mysteries of the world at multiple levels of the world. This shows that throughout life I changed based on my current experiences in life and my knowledge of life. Which I can connect to the exploration of the inner self because while I always wanted to learn about the world's mysteries it was always changing in which way I would like to do so because of my experiences in life and how they affected me as a person.

Edited Post: Family Bonds

2024-10-13 20:01:11 UTC

Historical Reflections

2024-10-13 20:52:05 UTC

A couple of years ago my family went on a vacation to Hawaii. Everybody’s dream destination to visit one day. Luckily me and my sister got the opportunity to do that at a young age. However we were not grateful for the opportunity in front of our eyes. We complained about everything that we could possibly complain about. The lesson from this experience was to be appreciative of everything in life. Even if it's not a huge occasion, be grateful for the small things in life. I would connect this to the universal theme of Historical Reflection. Going on that vacation is history now, but the lessons that were learned are something that I use everyday now. The lesson of gratitude can help shape anyone's life.

Monotony

2024-10-14 02:48:28 UTC

I am a person that tends to struggle with change. It's not that I don't enjoy trying new things, in reality it's quite the opposite, but sometimes I can get into these cycles of monotony that are hard to get out of. Some people enjoy doing the same thing over and over again; they enjoy having a repetitive routine as it gives them structure. However, I am definitely not one of those people. Yet even if I don't enjoy doing the same thing over and over, even if I want more than anything to break out of these cycles, I usually end up continuing on with them anyways. Why would I do this? To be honest, I'm not completely sure. It's probably because it doesn't require a huge amount of effort to simply continue on with the day-to-day motions, even if it makes one feel burnt out or unfulfilled. In order to break these cycles it requires a certain level of ambition and motivation from a person that a lot of people are simply unable to manifest sometimes, especially by themselves. This relates back to the universal theme of the pursuit of happiness, as these cycles of monotony can not only stand in the way of one's happiness, but they also emphasize the importance of prioritizing things that make you happy, content, and fulfilled.

Big George Foreman

2024-10-14 03:49:03 UTC

Big George Foreman is a Biopic about the life of George Foreman, It covers how He got into boxing, his rise to being a champion, his loss to Ali, and his becoming a minister. The movie also shows Foreman's comeback to the sport of boxing after 10 years away from the sport at age 38. The film shows how Foreman changes throughout his life, and how he later found god in his life. The film shows how in his early life Foreman was a person consumed by hate, through showing his early childhood, and his boxing career up to fighting Muhammad Ali. However, after suffering a loss to Jimmy Young, George Foreman had a near death experience. This experience caused Foreman to be born again as a Christian, Which led to him becoming a minster. George Foreman's story shows how through life people can change in various ways and discover themselves.

Airionna Staggs

2024-10-14 05:10:31 UTC

Hurricane Milton is going through Florida causing people to evacuate for safety. The hurricane is a category 3 storm that is leaving destruction on the west coast. There has been found more than 230 people that died from hurricane Milton. It caused significant damage by flooding areas that don't usually flood and significant damage to 125 homes. The hurricane is leaving the Atlantic ocean as a category 1 hurricane.

Dreams and Aspirations

2024-10-14 11:23:41 UTC

When i was about 9 years old i was playing in a tree house with my little brother and a friend, it had been raining and thing there weat but we where having fun. At some point in the playing around we started throwing, spike gumball from the sweetgum trees, that where all around us, at each other. I trying to get a better vatijg point i suppose whet up to the second floor of our tree house, which was about 15-20 feet tall, and started raining bown the spike balls. Then i ran out of them but thankfully there was some on the roof which meant i had to clime onto the branch that was parallel with the second floor, no big deal i had done it before but like i mentioned it had been rain. So as some as i got on to it i fell back words off of it! And yes feel the 15-20 feet to the ground, where i landed on a above ground root. Which was really painful! My mom and older brother ran me to the urgent care and found out that i had a small facher and a bunch of browsing on my spine. After not being able to walk for a bit, it help me to see that life can be so short very quickly because of accidents, so i void to make my life and other better and brighter when ever i can. And that has been my dream.

Remember the Titans

2024-10-14 12:57:38 UTC

Remember the Titans is a very incising film, It describes the events during the Civil Rights Movement at T.C. Williams High. The actual event is really eye opening to the public now because, it really lets kids and some adults know the challenges T.C. High, went through. The Movie is also very amazing, it is such a historically accurate movie and also gives a great funny moment where they start dancing. The theme I chose was family bonding because Coach Boone says at the very beginning that they are a family and need to act like one, and at the end of the movie we can see how close and bonded they became.

Dead Uncle - Drugs are Bad by Baylee R

2024-10-14 12:59:35 UTC

My uncle was murdered over meth. Sounds not real, but it did happen. His girlfriend at the time Marrisa Wright was trying to cook meth in their bathroom with her friends, and my uncle Joey told them to stop. He started arguing with her when she got a gun off the wall and threatened him with it. He didn’t think she would actually shoot him, but he was wrong. She shot him and let him bleed out on the floor because she thought he was faking it. She testified to this in court. She not only killed my uncle, who was the youngest son, and named after, Jo Lee Richards who was a Benton trooper for years, she also killed her old boyfriend and hid him in her backyard wrapped up in a tarp. I learned from this that sometimes people try and make good choices, and don’t get what they want from it, and also that drugs make people crazy.

Survival and Hope

2024-10-14 13:15:04 UTC

On April 27th, 2014 there was a tornado that passed through Vilonia and destroyed many neighborhoods and places. I was 6 years old when this tornado happend. I remember just getting back from the store with my parents and siblings and we had just bought new boots. (We lived on a farm.) I was about to go out to do my chores for the day but my parents told me to wait a little bit because the weather was getting pretty bad. After a couple hours we ended up in a storm shelter, we were in there for about an hour or two before everything was over. As soon as we got out of the shelter everything was gone. Our house and our barns were gone, the land was so damaged. We had nothing. No where to live, no clothes, nothing. After some time the community, friends and family helped us out with the little things by giving us things such as clothes, toys, food, just the basics that we would need. But we still had one problem, we had no where to go. Eventually we ended up getting some financial help and bought a house here in Greenbrier. This personal experience of mine ties in with the universal theme of survival and hope.

Enoch Assan

2024-10-14 13:18:52 UTC

One time as a kid I played a sport called basketball. I was not very good at this sport called basketball and I didn't really like it to be honest. I vividly remember one time after coming home from playing a basketball game I was completely convinced that I was going to quit but after being urged not to by my parents I toughed it out. I worked hard and eventually got better at basketball. Eventually by the end of the basketball season I didn't want to quit. This story's universal theme explains the importance of the power of struggle. And how struggle can help you to achieve your goals you never thought were possible.

Galileo Galilei

2024-10-14 13:22:10 UTC

Galileo "The Father of Modern Astronomy", Galileo was the first renowned scientist of the modern discoveries revolving to the Stars. Galileo first started teaching about the theory of everything revolving around the earth but, Galileo heard of Nicolaus. Nicolaus started the new discovery that everything revolved around the sun, when Galileo started researching and trying to disprove the study, he then realized that Nic was correct. Galileo then used his refracting telescopes to discover 3 of the largest moons, the theme I chose was Science and Discovery. Which is exactly what Galileo did because he used his science tools and knowledge to discover the correct studies.

Luke Bagby

2024-10-14 13:27:08 UTC

When I was in third grade I joined a peewee basketball team. However instead of helping me and my teammates improve at basketball our Coach never had one practice. We went to games and that was it. Because of that my Dad had to teach me everything. Even though our Coach failed our team, we were able to make it decently far in the league through our own work and dedication. This connects to the universal theme of perseverance and grit. This is because even though I was never properly coached I was able to improve and win games.

Blair miller

2024-10-14 13:34:40 UTC

The devil in the white city takes you on a journey to the city of Chicago during the 1890s. The book describes the world fair taking place there and while many people came from all over to see the greatness of the fair, many had they’re last day there. I connect this book to the universal theme of the evil nature of humans because the killer was a builder just like those who built the fair, he would lure women to the hotel, sleep with them, and then murder them, this happened to approximately 27 most likely more. The author shows the evil of this man because the architecture was doing good for some people and very bad for other people.

Emory Bradley

2024-10-14 14:03:54 UTC

Dreams and aspirations: In the musical "La La Land," love and ambition collide as the main characters, Sebastian and Mia, cross paths in what initially seems like the perfect setting, almost like a La La Land. However, they soon realize that they have met each other at the wrong time in their lives. Sebastian is intent on reviving jazz, while Mia is determined to make it as a successful actress. Despite their shared passion for their art, they fall deeply in love. As they pursue their dreams, their relationship becomes strained, with Sebastian compromising his true aspirations and Mia struggling to find success in her acting career. When they finally achieve their breakthroughs, unforeseen events leave them feeling unfulfilled in their relationship. They come to the difficult realization that they must follow their dreams separately and choose to part ways. Years later, they reconnect at Sebastian's jazz club and share a mutual understanding that they are meant to be together, but their conflicting dreams continue to pose a challenge. I believe this is a beautiful depiction of how hard it is to chase your dreams and aspirations.

Emory Bradley

2024-10-14 14:20:30 UTC

Fear and Courage: This article discusses Harriet Tubman and the significant challenges she faced throughout her life. Born into slavery, she eventually escaped and dedicated herself to helping others do the same, despite the risks involved. Her courageous actions continue to inspire others to overcome their fears and make a difference, leaving behind a powerful legacy that will be remembered for generations.

2024-10-14 14:34:23 UTC

Science and Discovery: Albert Einstein is widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of science, particularly for his most famous theory, the theory of relativity. Born in Germany, he made significant advancements in the scientific community and later spent time in America, where he played a role in the development of nuclear weapons. Throughout his life, Einstein encountered numerous challenges, but his unwavering commitment to knowledge and innovation made a lasting impact on the world of physics and beyond, symbolizing the relentless pursuit of discovery.

Climate and Environment

2024-10-14 14:39:27 UTC

In recent years, the consequences of burning fossil fuels have become evermore evident. With the recent extreme weather events that have made living harder, shows how much more attention needs to be paid to this. Industrialism of the environment and climate change making it harder for animals to live in. This all will come to an eventual point where the Earth as a whole becomes uninhabitable.

Technology and Humanity

2024-10-14 14:49:20 UTC

The artwork ‘Can’t Help Myself’ is a robot that is constantly dragging a red liquid closer to itself in a circle, it uses motion sensors to detect when the liquid is too far. Doing this makes a bigger mess with the liquid smearing and dripping. Many people felt an emotional reaction to this artwork even though it is a machine. The machine cannot feel and yet people put this sort of humanity in it. Others even related to the machine that is constantly doing something that is, in the end, meaningless. This shows that humans pity and put human emotions and humanity onto things that cannot feel, and how we as a social species feel for things that cannot.

Emory Bradley

2024-10-14 14:53:46 UTC

The Importance of Focus: Throughout my life, I've come to realize that I have a habit of procrastinating in almost every aspect of my life. I often find myself putting off tasks, telling myself that I can always do them later. It's become a coping mechanism for the things I don't want to do. When people ask why I don't just do things right away, I jokingly say that I work better under pressure, which I believe may be partly true. However, I've also come to understand that a big part of it is my tendency to procrastinate. Last year, during one of my most challenging school years, I finally recognized that procrastination isn't the best approach. In situations where I've procrastinated, I try to focus all my energy on achieving my goal by really locking in. Lately, I've still found myself procrastinating, especially in my school life, while outside-of-school activities are not as much of a struggle. However, when I do finally focus on the task at hand, I like to think that I complete most things to the best of my abilities and as quickly as possible.

paul smith

2024-10-14 14:59:22 UTC

Here in recent years, I found myself constantly living in the past or planning for the future, rarely pausing to appreciate the present moment. I would reminisce about old friendships, regret missed opportunities, or map out every detail of my next career move. Even during family gatherings or quiet moments with friends, my mind would drift to worries about what was next, what I would have to fix next, what work was due at school, or how I could be better. It wasn’t until I missed a small, yet profoundly touching moment my little nephew emit’s first steps at a family dinner that I skipped so I could pick up a shift at work. After that, I realized how much I had lost by not being truly present. The joy on his face and the laughter of everyone around reminded me of the richness of the now that I had been neglecting. This represents the universal idea of “Failure to Live in the Present”

Cacie Skidmore History of Thanksgiving

2024-10-14 15:16:03 UTC

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Tuesday of November and is based on the colonial pilgrims 1621 harvest meal. Family's gather together on this day and feast while spending time with family socializing, and watching football.

Cacie Skidmore Hurricane Milton

2024-10-14 15:24:23 UTC

There has been a huge loss with Hurricane Milton hitting Florida with another Hurricane coming right after Milton. "Hurricane Milton dumped so much rain over parts of Florida’s Tampa Bay area that it qualified as a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event.

St. Petersburg had 18.31 inches of rain — or more than 1.5 feet — in the 24-hour period during which the storm made landfall, according to precipitation data from the National Weather Service."

AI Replacing Jobs

2024-10-14 15:52:38 UTC

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to many changes in society. Artificial intelligence has replaced some jobs and is believed to continue to do so. There are several different jobs that are expected to be replaced by it. Workers in industries ranging from healthcare to agriculture and industrial sectors are all expected to see disruptions in hiring due to AI. Not only are jobs being disrupted and replaced by AI, but AI is also creating new jobs. This development of AI connects back to the universal theme of human vs. machine because the article is informing us about how as the advancement of technology increases and AI takes over, people's jobs are being replaced, but are also creating opportunities for new jobs.

Airionna Staggs

2024-10-14 15:53:24 UTC

When I was a kid I wouldn't understand how money worked. I would always ask for so many things even if they were expensive or not I would get told no sometimes. That would upset me because I would really want a certain thing. I kept asking for things and even asked for an allowance to buy it myself. I would get told no but the valuable lesson I learned from this is that you can't always get what you want and how to manage my own money.

Norse Pagan - Hunter Copeland

2024-10-14 17:33:41 UTC

When I realized I was queer, I didn’t carry the usual resentment toward my identity; instead, I found myself resenting the faith that had been forced upon me. It was confusing, feeling like I was supposed to believe in something that didn’t resonate with me at all. Then, at 12, everything changed. At this time I had rejected Christ and embraced Atheiesm, I say ‘embraced’ reluctantly as even then something didn't feel right. I discovered my love for linguistics—especially philology1—and that made me see things differently. As I dove into Old Norse, I stumbled upon Norse mythology, which captivated me in ways Christianity never did. It felt like coming home. Embracing this new path, I declared myself a Heathen, finally feeling symetric with who I truly am. Looking back, it’s clear that my journey is one of tragedy and triumph: the tragedy of years spent in a faith that didn’t fit and the triumph of finding my authentic self.

1 - the branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages.

2 - another term for Norse Pagan

Landen Thayn - Moving

2024-10-14 17:38:39 UTC

Moving from Utah to Arkansas has been a big lesson to me on how there is always going to be light at the end of the tunnel. I had 3 close friends in Utah who I would hang out with pretty much every day, not to mention I had lived in Utah my whole life to that point. So moving was hard, I was leaving behind my friends and going to a completely unfamiliar place. To be honest, the first day of school was rough. On top of the fact that I didn’t know anyone, I was hit by culture shock. Arkansas and Utah are very different, Arkansas being a Southern state, the accents stood out to me. Luckily enough, I ended up making a good group of friends, which helped me settle into this place. I connected this story with sense and sensibility, as I navigated a tough period of my life through logic and emotion.

Inspirational heroes

2024-10-14 18:16:27 UTC

My biggest inspiration is my father, I inspire to be like him he has always been very well known for helping out others that are in need. There is a memory I have of him where our neighbors needed help with moving he was more than willing to help them pack up everything and take it to their new home without any hesitation or second thought and I really admired that because there are not a lot of people that will go out of their way to help others and for how much he has helped everyone I would consider him a hero.

MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL

2024-10-14 18:54:21 UTC

Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, is about a man who travels to a small town called Savannah. When there he meets a bunch of different types of people. He meets an antique dealer, a drag queen, and a dangerous redneck, a voodoo priestess, and a man who owns a bottle of poison that could kill the town. In the book you get to know the real residents of savannah, and also a murder mystery that takes place. This book connects to the universal idea of small town charm. This book shows how different each town is, with different types of people. Not one person is the same in this book, and characters have their own uniqueness to them that makes the town.

Out of place

2024-10-14 19:56:08 UTC

Growing up, I always felt like I was out of place no matter which group I was in or who I was around. Majority of the time, it was because the way I felt and acted did not match up to my looks. I mean this in a gender identity crisis type of way. I didn’t fit in with girls very well and my name felt like a stranger’s. At the same time, I didn’t fit in with boys either, It was frowned upon with me just hanging out with boys and I would get called gay sometimes for it. Which, I have gotten used to that kind of treatment growing up, but at the same time, have come to terms with being out of place and not fitting in with the “normal” kids. I found out my identity and I am not too stressed about labels anymore, I just go with the flow to be honest. I think this fits with the universal theme of the journey of self-discovery because I have found out who I am and came to terms with it, and I’m figuring out how to navigate life with this new identity.

Luke Rupert

2024-10-14 19:59:51 UTC

Friday Night Lights is a nonfiction book written by H.G. Bissinger and published in 1990. The book talks about the little town of Odessa Texas, and the Permian High School Panthers. It talks about how there is an intense pressure on the football team and players, the town’s obsession with football, and the impact of this culture on the athletes and their families. The book dives into the lives of a few key players and coaches. It talks about issues within the town including race and class.

The Renaissance

2024-10-14 20:09:44 UTC

The European Renaissance has a strong connection to the universal idea of art and creativity. Taking place around the 14th century, the Renaissance was a time period that heavily contributed to the development of astrology, language, writing, religion, and most importantly, art. During this time period, art was used to express oneself in a variety of ways. Leonardo Da Vinci was an Italian artist that people nowadays recognize for his iconic paintings; La Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. There were also artist who expressed religion through their art. For example, Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, located in Rome.

Loss of my mirror

wareliam26 — 2024-10-14 21:19:08 UTC

A personal experience that taught me a valuable lesson that I used later was the time that in my own haste trying to leave Dairy Queen, I snapped the right side mirror off of my car on my friend’s open truck door. I was trying to leave so I could get home early, because I was out later than I should have been, and needed to get home and get to sleep. This event taught me that I need to be more careful when driving, and that most times, as long as whatever happens isn’t disastrous, then most things will be alright. The unifying universal idea present is the nature of humanity, what makes us humans, our flaws and other things.

Delilah Puchta - Facing the Unknown

2024-10-14 22:01:20 UTC

I have moved a couple of times in my life but it was always close or near people I know. This was until three and a half years ago when my family moved over 2,000 miles, from Nevada to Arkansas. I had no family, no friends, and knew nothing about where I was. It was hard being new and I made a lot of hard decisions, bad friends, good friends, and everything in between. It was hard but I would do it again because I have truly enjoyed every bit of it.

Anna Dallas - Facing the Unknown

2024-10-14 22:45:33 UTC

Last May, I decided it would be a good idea to apply to a two-week long science and nature summer camp. I went through the long process of writing my essay, getting a recommendation letter, and applying. I did not actually believe I would get in, as only 24 10th and 11th graders were selected from the whole state of Arkansas. After I got the email saying I had made it in, I started to regret my decision. I still decided I wanted to go, though, even though I was very nervous. As it got closer and closer to when I had to leave, my anxiety got even worse about leaving home for two whole weeks. Two weeks, no phone, 3 hours from home, in the middle of the woods, with 24 people I had never met in my life. My first night there was very emotional for me, I was still so scared. As the week went on though, I began to make friends with my fellow camp members along with all the counselors and teachers. I ended up learning so many things about the world around me, that I would have never known about had it not been for this experience. By the end of the two weeks, I was sad to be leaving. Many of the friends I made live in different areas of the state, making it very difficult to reconnect. I will never forget my time there, and I will always be grateful for this experience as I feel it has changed my life for the better. I am so glad I faced my fears, and took this special opportunity.

Wrestling- Luke McKinney

2024-10-14 22:45:55 UTC

A personal experience that has had an exceedingly profound and lasting impact on me is as follows: I used to be part of a wrestling club in which I spent over six months training for a tournament. If you haven’t wrestled before, I would like to say that it is one of the most intense and physically draining sports there is. I arrived at the tournament, nervous but excited to wrestle. I soon found myself on the mat wrestling my first opponent. I won, obviously. However, during my second match, I won but at the very end of the third round. I was completely and utterly gassed (extremely tired). I thought that I was adequately conditioned and expected to win my matches with relative ease. I lost my third match after a tough bout, landing me in second place. I wasn’t disappointed with my results; however, I was longing for the first-place trophy. I ended up being able to talk to my third opponent, and during our conversation, he told me that he had been wrestling for several years. My expectations of winning a tournament that I was not prepared for, against people who had more experience than me, were created through too much pride and not seeing the reality of my situation. This experience has taught me to not expect fantasies that aren’t in line with reality.

Tricia Langille

2024-10-14 23:25:07 UTC

I grew up as the youngest of three girls. Both of my older sisters were a part of the school band, so it was kind of a given that I would also do band. I became a part of the Greenbrier Middle band in 6th grade as a percussionist. I remember that year and the next year being some of the most fun times learning to play the drums. I´m not sure if that is because I was doing it with my friends or it was just percussionist and a band director, but I really enjoyed it. Then I moved to Junior High still sticking with band and my 8th grade year is when I started to develop some stale feelings toward band, it just got kinda boring. But despite those feelings I continued to do it the next year. This year is where I really just started to almost loathe having to go to band, it started to feel like an unwanted chore. So, come semester time I had a discussion with my mom expressing that band just wasn't something I want to do anymore. Which led to a whole argument because she wanted me to wait until High School to see, but I was just so done. I ended up just not doing band my sophomore year. But at the end of freshman year, Mrs.Church pulled me and another student into her office to talk about how we hadn't put band on our schedules for next year. Instead of just accepting the fact that it just wasn't for us anymore Church kept on pushing and trying to convince me and the other students to change our mind. Instead of that swaying my decision, it finalized it. It is in my nature to not like to be told what to do. Kinda like in human nature if you tell someone not to do something, they want to do it.

California: A Grand Trip - at that

2024-10-15 00:25:22 UTC

In 2022, I had just turned 14. That summer, after months of helping plan this trip with my mom, I was able to go to the number one place on my bucket list: California. On this weeklong vacation, we spent most of our time in Los Angeles, as that is where most of my family’s planned activities and our hotel was at. Although, on our trip, we didn’t start out staying in a hotel room; we had originally planned to stay in an Airbnb.

This plan flew out the window fairly quickly as we got to the house we were staying at, saw that it was situated in one of the worst neighborhoods possible in Los Angeles, looked nothing like the pictures, had no air conditioning, ants everywhere, Rae Dunn decor covering this internet-less house, and as soon as we woke up after our first night there, there was a whole police SWAT team swarming the house across the street. The minute they barged into the house across the way and ricocheted bullets into the atmosphere, we were out of there! Our trip had inevitably gotten off to a rough start, but still, I was optimistic.

A couple of days into the trip, we decided to eat lunch at the Chili’s in Santa Barbara. Just as my family and I had our plates set down in front of us, ready to get our grub on, the lady in the booth surrounded by her big family had an atrocious seizure. I watched as the family across from me went into panic mode, yelling for help and doing as much as they could, to the best of their knowledge, to help their loved one. By the time the ambulance and the medics arrived with a stretcher—which seemed like a long time passing—the woman had turned blue. I had lost my appetite by then. When I was leaving, I heard the woman talking to the medics about what kind of medication she was taking, as procedure, and I remember her telling them a hefty list of antidepressants. Feeling in an odd place in my life at that time, I could empathize. I felt for the woman that day, and I still do, as an experience like that, under those circumstances, would have sent me into overload.

Lastly, another thing I witnessed, very frequently at that, while on my Californian vacation, was the institution of poverty, homelessness, and drug abuse, specifically LA. On multiple occasions, I experienced the heartbreaking feeling that came with observing these crowds of people struggling there. Outside of a donut stand, I witnessed a man taking a half-empty Starbucks cup out of the trashcan to drink. My mother found it disgusting, but I found it rather disheartening. I also saw a vast amount of humans being walked past without truly being perceived as they walked along the stars in Hollywood with marker squiggles all over their faces, sang karaoke in the corner, sort of out of it, lined up against the highway in their tents, sat on the street in exhaustion with the remaining slivers of clothing, or wove through traffic, completely out of it, without a care in the world. I saw many disturbing and depressing sights on the streets and sides of roads in popular places in California.

As an observer, these experiences were saddening and opened up my eyes to the harsh or even strange realities of life. This trip changed me, especially as a newfound teen who was just trying to figure out life and get to experience as much as possible, including visiting a place that I had wanted to go to since the early stages of my life, like California. A few days into this trip, I remember being in the hotel bathroom, getting ready, and crying, begging my mom to just please let us stay in the hotel room, in the quiet.

During this time in my life, I was one to isolate myself—I still am—but I looked forward to the experiences that this city would bring me and the opportunity to people-watch. In the end, considering everything, all this trip brought me was a cavernous void. I hated this feeling, especially as someone who takes things in and truly feels everything on an extreme level. I was naive to believe that this world was something untouched and completed with perfection, but as a child, that was my nature. It is human nature to deplete good things; it happens. Sometimes, it even happens without meaning to, and you can’t really stop it. Sure, I observed some of the most enchanting sights I have ever seen on my trip to California, but I also had the opportunity to grow—to open my eyes and perceive the reality of this world.

Mason Mossman

2024-10-15 00:34:07 UTC

When I was younger, I never really saw the beauty of nature. While I did enjoy bike riding and exploring, I didn't pay attention to the details nature provides us. Growing up I realized that nature isn't just a bunch of trees and insects, it's much more. Nature to me is our forests, oceans, plants, animals, etc, which all provide us with food that we eat and the air that we breathe. Not only do we all survive off of nature, the beautiful sights and viewings of nature to me improves my mental health. My experience in the outside world connects to the universal theme of the wisdom of nature because as I continue to grow, I will forever be grateful for the beauty of nature and what it provides us.

Family Bonds

2024-10-15 02:05:22 UTC

The personal experience that I am choosing to talk about is my siblings. I am the oldest and have two younger sisters. So one of my sisters is 15 and the other is 11, so growing up I was really close with my 15 year old sister. We would do everything together and always stuck by each other's side. When my other sister came I didn't really pay much attention to her, which I kind of regret but it was because we weren't that close in age. Me and my 15 year old sister have always been close, as I said. We have gone to the same schools together and I have always loved having my sister at the same school as me because if anything were to happen I know that I would have someone there to go to. But my sister didn't really feel the same, it didn't really hurt my feelings though because that's just how she was and I know she didn't mean anything bad by it. We tell each other pretty much everything and even though they can be a little irritating I wouldn't trade my sisters for the world. So, you would think that being the oldest was the best, thinking you can boss them around and be the bigger person in situations. That wasn't really the case for me. I am a very sensitive person and get my feelings hurt very easily so my younger sisters would always be the ones bossing me around. But throughout these years it has taught me a lesson, to not take things for granted and just live your life. You never know what obstacles you are going to face in life so it's always good to have someone by your side that you can trust. Now since we are at the high school together this year I have felt so much better about myself and this school year because last year was pretty rough for me and it has just gotten so much better, just with having better classes and just knowing that my sister is by my side. This experience connects with the universal idea, family bonds because just having bonds with your family and being close to them is just such a blessing and having people you know you can trust and to rely on them for things and support you. It's just such a great feeling and to be able to have a full family in my life and things able to work out and teach me valuable lessons.

Hunting

2024-10-15 02:46:57 UTC

There are many personal experiences that have taught me valuable lessons. The one that sticks out the most to me is when I was young and I was learning to hunt. I was hunting by myself and I had just shot a doe from not that far away. About 2 minutes after I shot it I went down to go look for it. You are supposed to wait 30 minutes before you go and look for the deer. When I went to go look for the deer it didn’t take long to find it, the only problem was it was still alive. Even though it was dying when it saw me it's instinct and adrenaline kicked in and it darted away. I got lucky and ended up finding the deer later with my dad. After this I learned that I need to always wait 30 minutes after I shoot before I go looking for the deer. This experience goes with the universal theme of Real Life Adventures because this adventure translates to a real life lesson that I learned and use today.

Brody Wilcox

2024-10-15 03:14:28 UTC

This past spring, unfortunately due to cancer, my grandmother passed. She loved everybody and was well known in the community for her sandwiches that she made while her and my grandfather owned the gas station named “The Flying W”. For several weeks after her passing people were constantly coming up to our family and mourning with us over the loss of my grandmother. Although in the moment it sucked real bad, and still hurts to this day, it made me realize that no matter what you’re going through, this world keeps on spinning. Cars keep driving down Highway 65, people keep waking up to go to work, and the birds keep chirping every morning. The point of me saying this is that it taught me that, although on some days when you think you have it bad, maybe your hair doesn’t look the greatest today, or you didn’t do great on a test, there’s someone out there that is really hurting. The situation you might be in, might not be exactly what you want it to be, but there’s someone out there in this great big world with problems far greater than your bad hair day. So for me, the passing of my grandmother has helped me to look on the bright side of things. Sure some days are not the best, but could they have been ten times worse? Absolutely. I’ve learned to not take the blessings that we have each and every single day for granted, and look at the bigger picture. Someone could be finding out that they have incurable cancer and don’t have much longer, while I’m complaining about a bad grade on a test. This connects with the universalizing theme of life’s simple pleasures. This story relates to this universalizing them because as people, we get so caught up in day to day living, that we refuse to acknowledge our own selfishness. We focus on ourselves and the small issues that we might be facing, and it makes us so self-centered that we might disregard the fact that there might be someone, even in the school, that is really going through a tough time in their life.

Empire State Building

2024-10-15 03:46:10 UTC

Building the Empire State Building was a test of dedication and perseverance

. The Empire State Building was built in just 1 year and 45 days, and was the tallest building at the time. The reason it was built so fast was because the focus and dedication the workers and architects had for the project. For example, the 4 riveters on the job wouldn’t work if one of them was out, because they were so efficient together. This connects back to the idea of perseverance and focus. The only reason the workers were able to complete the building do fast was because they had persevered and stayed focused on the project.

2024-10-15 03:52:51 UTC

This video talks about the Korean nth room which are chat rooms where they are sharing explicit and violent content. The owner of these chat rooms “The doctor” hired girls and called them his slaves. He would message these girls throughout the day and make them do these horrible tasks. If the girls refused to do what he said he would blackmail them and use pictures they have already sent to him and threaten to send them to their families. Cho Ju-Bin is a disgusting man who would also make the girls partake in activities with their siblings, if it wasn’t that then he would make them torture themselves. And if that already wasn’t messed up the way men were allowed to get into these chat rooms was by sending explicit messages of their sister, mother, or any female relative alongside with a picture of their private area just to prove that they were a male. In these chat rooms deep fakes were also found which is when they get AI to put someone's face on a video of them doing things they shouldn’t be doing. People would send pictures of teachers, siblings, parents, classmates to get their faces on these videos to just have them or use them against them.

The Tsavo Maneaters

2024-10-15 04:26:57 UTC

The Tsavo man eaters were a pair of man eating lions from the 19th century. They were a very odd duo, because they had killed an estimated 135 people throughout their lives, which is odd for lions. after these lions were killed, they had found out that they had broken teeth so their normal prey was not on the menu. What’s more, scientists also discovered hair in the cavities of their teeth, and were able to find the diet of the 2 animals. They found a crazy discovery, they found wildebeest in their diet, which was uncommon because the closest wildebeest grazing was 90 miles from them, so that means either the tigers traveled 90 miles, or they made the discovery that wildebeest lived in the tsavo region. These discoveries link back to the idea of discovery and science, because they had discovered something not previously known.

The Psychology Behind Forming Habits: Pavlov Dog Experiment

haglerharley26 — 2024-10-15 06:50:35 UTC

Habit formation stems from the ability of the brain to create automatic responses to specific cues. When practiced, the brain associates certain signals with an outcome through a repeated routine and a reward/gain. Over time, one’s actions begin to occur like second nature and become less consciously performed. This idea is called classical conditioning which is demonstrated by the Pavlov dog experiment in the late 19th century. Pavlov demonstrates that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food. This reflects the universal theme of the nature of humanity and adaptation because this experiment shows that humans/organisms adapt based on their environment and needs, leading to the development of habits.

Pearl Harbor

haglerharley26 — 2024-10-15 07:21:55 UTC

The Pearl Harbor movie (2001) is based on a devastating historical event that changed the lives of many Americans and has served as a pivotal moment in U.S history. This movie is set in the 1940's around the time period of World War II. It follows the lives of two childhood friends, Rafe and Danny, who are both pilots. Rafe decides to become a fighter pilot for the U.S Army while Danny stays back in Hawaii to pursue his love interest. This film shows the physical and emotional impact that the Pearl Harbor attack had on their lives and the gruesome hardships they had to endure, highlighting the universal theme of war and peace along with themes of survival and hope.

Harriet Tubman

2024-10-15 12:54:44 UTC

Harriet Tubman was a woman born into slavery in Maryland. At age 27, with help from a white woman, Harriet was able to run away and escape to Philadelphia, where she lived as a free woman. After some work and saving money, Harriet returned to Maryland to help free her family. She then kept making trips back and forth helping other slaves seeking freedom. Her story connects back to the theme of the universal struggle. This is connected to the theme, the universal struggle because her story consists of injustice and the fight for equality and rights. Tubman and the slaves she helped escape are all fighting for freedom.

Moving

2024-10-15 13:05:50 UTC

The idea of moving seemed easy and I thought I would adapt quickly, But I was quick to resent moving the day before it actually happened. Everything sunk in like losing the friends I have had since elementary school, the big city which I have always loved, and especially all of my loving family. It struck me hard once I realized there is going to be a lot of change, so I definitely regret not mentally preparing because school was in 2 days. Those 2 days were easily some of the worst in my life, but I got through them with the help of the community. It was the first day of school, my intent was just to survive until the end of the day, but surprisingly, I had made some cool friends and we bonded. The entire opinion I had on the school had been wrong. Everyone was very welcoming and kind. Moving during my junior year has been full of good memories, and I look forward to keep going on with what I have here in Greenbrier.

Korynn Teter

2024-10-15 13:22:07 UTC

This article talks about Colt Gray, a recent school shooter at the Apalachee High School. It has been one of the deadliest school shootings in the state. Colt Gray, a 14 year old student, allegedly opened fire at the school, killing 2 students and 2 teachers, injuring 9 others. This event highlights issues within human nature, like the effects of violence and roughness in homes and how it can create huge issues in the long run. Colt was flagged multiple times for concerning behavior and searches, but these signs were not addressed properly. When someone is exposed to a harmful environment this shows how their nature may be different from someone growing up without violence around them. Ultimately this shows how a nurturing environment, or lack of it, shapes behavior, showing the difference of what natural personality traits you have versus learned in the nature of the people around you.

Isaac Kelly

2024-10-15 13:27:47 UTC

About 3 years ago my dad passed away from COVID. I was around 14 years old and at the time it was my 2 brothers, Ian and Isaiah, me, and my parents. We made many amazing memories and were a very close family. We would go to church, hike, go to town to look around, basically anything we could think of. It was around September 2021 when things took a turn. My dad worked in the oil field and he was a very stubborn hard working man. He ended up getting really sick with COVID while he was on location out in Oklahoma, but he kept working. Until one day he wasn't answering my moms calls or texts so we got really worried and headed there right after school. I remember thinking nothing of it, I thought it was just an overreaction and that it was all alright. But it wasn't. This was probably about the worst thing that could have ever happened. When we reached Oklahoma he was already in the hospital. He got rushed to the hospital when one of his co-workers went to go check on him, the doctors estimated that he was probably hunched over from 8-13 hours which took a toll on his kidneys. When we entered the hospital it hit me that it might have been a little more serious. One of the nurses took us to a room where my dad was connected to a ventilator to help him breathe. This was the moment when everyone lost it, everyone started crying and I still didn't have a full grasp of the situation. But it was looking a little better than we thought when the doctors were talking. All of our family showed up to be there with us during the hard time. We spent the whole next day at the hospital with my dad though since there were tubes everywhere he couldn't really communicate. I won't ever be able to explain how heartbreaking it was to sit in there and see him like that. When we thought it might have been alright they had to load him into a helicopter to head to Conway regional immediately. When he reached Conway it seemed to be looking a lot better, we thought that he won. But at the last moment a small hole developed in his lung that isn't fixable. His lungs were under so much stress and work for that month he was sick that it was inevitable, we knew it wasn't going to be alright. Then October 16, a couple weeks after this started, I got woken up by my mom crying at 3 am. It was then that our family sped to the hospital where they would tell us about the hole. This is where everyone had to say their goodbyes. It was the worst thing that I've ever had to experience. This shows a universal theme of many lessons but the most important thing that I've learned is that i want to be at peace, I don't stress really much about little things anymore because ever since this event I've realized that tomorrow i'll most likely still be breathing, and as long as I'm breathing that's what really matters. I'm going to do badly on tests, I'm going to let some people down, but I need to know that I'm making the decisions that I think are best and that everything happens for a reason and for a bigger reason. For my mom this definitely shows a universal theme of perseverance and grit. My mom is the strongest woman I know and she's done so well and I'm so proud of how far she's come.

Lily Beth Hill

2024-10-15 13:40:17 UTC

Growing up I was never really part of any specific friend groups. I was never very good at sports, so I didn't have a team to be a part of. I wasn't the most outgoing, so I didn't make friends easily. And I just wasn't a part of any kind of group or organization, so I didn't really know what groups to identify with. As I entered high school I found the National FFA organization, I became very involved in every aspect possible and have met many of my closest friends through it. I have grown so much as a person and learned so much about myself and how to prepare myself for the future. This connects to the universal theme of self-exploration and identity, because through finding my passion I have found my purpose.

Respect

2024-10-15 13:56:56 UTC

A personal experience that taught me a valuable lesson was getting my first job at Huddle House. I was excited but also nervous. On my first day, I learned that the job wasn’t just about taking orders; it needed teamwork and quick thinking. Sometimes I felt stressed, but I learned to ask my coworkers for help.

This connects to the idea of responsibility. I saw the importance of being reliable and working well with others. Each shift taught me that hard work and a good attitude matter. This lesson shows that taking responsibility and helping each other can lead to success.

Sophie Badders - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

badderssophie26 — 2024-10-15 14:07:34 UTC

The book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” tells the heartbreaking story of Henrietta and her family. Through many interviews, diary entries, and retellings of stories Author Rebecca Skloot goes back through time to find out what actually happened to Henrietta. Skloot started the book off with a backstory of how she found out about Henrietta Lacks. Part one of the book focuses a lot on before the death of Henrietta. It talks about her symptoms such as feeling “a knot” in her lower stomach and her appointments with the doctors at Hopkins. The first part of the book also goes into great detail about Henrietta's early life, like about her family and her family's situation at the time. Since Henrietta was a black female and was born and lived during the early to mid 1900’s, she and many other African Americans at that time were treated differently. Because of this treatment, they often couldn't get the care they needed. In part two of the book, it talks a lot about the death of Henrietta and the growth of her immortal cells. Her cells were used for tons of experiments that later helped millions of people but also contaminated other cell cultures. It also explains about how they kept her name private from the public and it talks about Henrietta's children. In the last part of the book, Part 3, it goes more in depth on the pain it caused her children after the loss of their mother. Deborah, Henrietta's daughter, felt more of the pain and anguish when she learned about the cells and what they were used for. Towards the end of the book, Henrietta finally gets recognition for all the good her cells did and the family gets to figure out a bunch of things that tie up loose ends. Overall, the book is full of a bunch of scientific research and great personal experiences the author had with Henrietta's daughter and other family members. The book connects to a bunch of Universal themes. The one I think it connects to the most is the Universal Theme of The Power Struggle. Since they really did not have a bunch of medical laws for consent and other things like that, a bunch of people struggled. It also connects to the Universal Theme of The Universal Struggle. Even though Henrietta's cells got sold and made a bunch of money, her family couldn't even afford health care. Also, Since Henrietta was a black female, she was treated a lot different from how the other patients might have been treated at the time.

Korynn Teter

2024-10-15 14:08:27 UTC

The notebook takes place the summer of 1940s and is a movie about a boy, Noah, and a girl, Allie, from two very different backgrounds who fall in love and have to endure many hardships throughout their complicated relationship. Though they have such an intense connection society still pulls them apart and Allie ends up engaged to another man, all while Noah has waited all these years for her and built their dream home. The story alternates between the couple when they were younger and older. Old Noah reads their love story to Allie from a notebook, as she has Alzheimer's disease and he is attempting to help Allie remember the time they shared together. The story of Noah and Allie displays a big part of human nature, the desire for connection. Despite years of being separated, building different lives than each other, Noah still continued to think about her and built the house they used to talk about when they were together. Allie finds out about it and returned, reigniting their love and showing that love perseveres. Overall, this shows that humans want to feel a connection to others, that is just out nature and they will even wait years to feel that same connection again.

The Heart of Relationships.

2024-10-15 14:23:16 UTC

Reading through other’s personal experiences left me clueless on what to write. Do I share one of the hardest things I’ve been through and take the chance of me oversharing, or do I write something that would probably have no meaning behind it? It was a hard decision, but I’ve decided to take the risk and write something that actually has meaning to me. To begin, It has always been hard for me to recall the death of my mother. Leading up to May of 2020, I remember my mother being severely sick. She was in and out of hospitals, and was even resuscitated during a surgery, leaving her to wear a vest that was to shock her in case her heart was to stop again. Being a kid, I never paid much attention to it; most people get sick, it’s nothing new. One thing I did pay attention to though was the seriousness of my family, who were all older and most likely understood the situation better than I. My aunt, about a month before my mother’s passing, flew down from California. This is when I knew it was serious. I remember my oldest sister, Brianna, sitting my brother and I down, and telling us that my mother was “sick”, and the doctors don’t see her improving. This was children’s language for, “your mother’s time is near, and we are going to do the best to make her as comfortable as we can until it is time.” When the decision was made to actually let my mother go, we were once again sat down and informed by my aunt that it was time. That morning, I was to say goodbye to my mother, the person that was supposed to see me get my license, get married, have kids, and start my own life. I could not fathom the thought of living life without her. The following morning and the days following are still a blur. After saying goodbye to my mother that morning, she was taken off of a support machine, which I do not recall the name of, but was used to help pump her heart for her. Three days later, surrounded by my sisters and my aunt, her body had finally shut down and my mother was gone. Almost 5 years since, I honestly have no idea how I was able to move on. Being raised mainly by my sisters has led me to value my relationships, and spend most of my time improving them and myself to the best of my ability. Having to grow up without an adult-like parent, I realize just how fortunate I am to have had my siblings. I believe that, although it was the worst time of my life, God’s decision to bring my mother home to her father in heaven, might’ve changed me for the better. Life is never going to be easy, but you must find joy in the little things in order to keep moving forward. I found my joy in my siblings, and getting to watch them start their lives themselves. I am so incredibly grateful and proud of my siblings. I believe that this personal experience of mine goes with the universal theme of “The Heart of Relationships.”

Skylin Teague

2024-10-15 14:33:32 UTC

There are many personal experiences that have taught me important life lessons throughout my life. Recently, over the summer, I went on a vacation to Laos. Throughout the month that I spent in Laos, I got to experience how people in other countries live. I learned how privileged we are to live in America. When I was in Laos, I visited one of my family members who lived in the countryside. It was very different. Most people there had poor living conditions. People selling fruits on the street trying to make a living, stray starving animals, poor hospitals, no air conditioning, no sewage system, etc. These were just some of the things that I noticed there. There are things here that we have in America that people in other countries don't get to experience. The universal experience that is connected to this personal experience is real life adventures. Traveling to Laos taught me a lot. I feel like now I should be more grateful for what I have here in America and how I live.

Try something new for 30 days

2024-10-15 14:55:02 UTC

In this Ted Talk Matt Cutts talks about the concept of trying something new for 30 days, created by American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock. You think of something that you have always wanted to do and have the next 30 days to do it. This concept has been found to help with memory and confidence. Matt Cutts states that he went from a boring guy working a desk job to a fun guy who rides a bike to work. It helped him remember the months rather than them just flying by and he has no recall of anything significant he did.

The Great Depression

2024-10-15 15:24:39 UTC

The Great Depression was a severe global economic crisis in the 1900s. It began in 1929 and lasted for 10 years ending in 1939. It began on “Black Thursday” on October 24 when 16 million shares of stock were sold by panicking investors who had lost faith in the American economy. It affected over 12,830,000 people, factories were shut down, farms and homes were lost due to foreclosure, mills and mines were deserted, and many people faced hunger. It ended in 1939 with America's involvement in the second world war resulting in drafting young men into the war creating millions of jobs.

Big Ideas in Small Packages

2024-10-15 15:59:03 UTC

I’ve met plenty of mean, awful, rude, and cruel people all the way from racists to politicians, but I’ve learned no matter who you talk to, it's important to be kind to them. Mostly because it’s the only way to have a conversation with them yelling and screaming at someone who doesn’t like cats isn’t going to make them love cats, but the one time that this was shown to me was when I talked to a homeless man at a school field trip in 5th grade (yes I realize how stupid that sounds on paper). Growing up I went to schools where white people were the minority or at the very least even with hispanics and african americans, so having a very diverse friend group isn’t as rare as it is here. This man was very dark skinned and while the neighborhood I grew up in was very accepting of practically everything (we actually had our going away party at the lesbians house up the street) he had seen some darker things of the world. Thankfully he was still and kind person and although he disliked white people he still saw a lost kid in the middle of a city looking for his class and walked me and my friend over to our bus stop and while we walked me and him started talking which eventually lead to him saying “man you white people always gotta be doing stuff”. Being the 10 year old that didn’t realize there were different flavors of people asked him what he meant, and that went on and on but he slowly got to the point that he didn’t hate white people.Although this fits more in childish innocence I wanted to use Big ideas in Small packages because this one conversation changed how I interpreted the world. It was the first time someone showed me that the world could be unfair and also let me see how much simple kindness makes a difference in someone’s view. While I don’t know where that man is now I’d like to thank him because I still think of that conversation. It still leaves fond memories and I hope he found happiness and a home, because he taught me that everyone deserves the kindness that he showed a lost boy in the middle of Richmond.

Trump assassination attempt

2024-10-15 16:09:21 UTC

At a presidential rally, former president Donald Trump had an attempt on his life. The attempt on Trump's life earlier this year relates to the universal theme of Survival and Hope. The shooter, despite using a rifle within effective range, missed multiple shots on the former president. But despite this attempt on his life Trump showed hope and continued to rally up the crowd. Trump’s attitude after the attempted assassination shows hope despite the situation.

Mice's motivation to run

2024-10-15 16:21:04 UTC

Scientists had a theory that the weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy made people not want to exercise as much as they normally would want to before the drug. They tested the drug on mice that love to run. The wheel cage would have a lock on it where the mice would pick open the lock with their noses. However when they were put on the drug they noticed that they wouldn't try as hard to get to the wheel having the scientist believe they don't want to exercise as much. Before the mice were put on a drug they would run extensively about 10 kilometers a day. When the mice were put on semaglutide for seven days they ran less than their usual mileage that was reduced by 38%. When the mice went off semaglutide their running distance came back like normal. They are saying for the doctors to tell patients that they may not want to feel the need to exercise while on the drug but to encourage exercise even if they don't feel like they want to.

Drew Whitehead

2024-10-15 16:58:05 UTC

Everyone can agree that we have all been through very very rough times in life. After all it has its ups and downs every minute. Whether it's good times or bad times. Life throws events at you every step you take, basically obstacles. The hardest thing in my life is the passing of my grandma, Nani. She was there for me every step of the way throughout my whole entire life. She passed 6 days after my birthday on the date of August 27, 2022. She was 96 years old so her time was coming at any point but it still hurts really bad. She was in and out of the hospital until she was told to stay home and doctors would come to her house and check on her every week. She had fallen asleep and never woke up again. That's when it hit me that she was no longer here with me. But what hurt worse was the fact that I never got to say a final "Goodbye" or "I love you." I believe my personal experience goes with the universal theme of "The Heart of Relationships."

Black Plague

2024-10-15 17:03:54 UTC

In the mid 1300s the black plague was in Europe and Asia. In Europe 12 ships arrived and most of the sailors were dead and the ones alive were extremely ill covered in black boils and blood. After that for the next five years the Black Death killed more than 20 million people in Europe. The plague originated in Asia and was most likely spread by trading ships. The plague would spread through the air and also through bites and infected fleas and rats. Some people could be healthy when they go to sleep and then be dead when they wake up. The plague spread very easily when in the middle of 1348 it had struck Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, and London. Doctors had refused patients and shopkeepers closed their stores. Many people fled cities for the countryside in an attempt to stay healthy but the plague affected the cows and sheep's and many other animals. Since they didn't understand the disease they believed it was a type of punishment for sins against god. For their logic they believed the way to overcome the plague was to win god's forgiveness and to purge the troublemakers like many jews were massacred. The disease never really ended but they isolated the sailors until they weren't carrying the disease.

Personal experience

2024-10-15 17:03:59 UTC

I was in the 8th grade and I was on the football and basketball team. It was around November time and I was in school so I was in sports and trying to keep my grades on the higher end and then I got Covid and I was out for about 2 weeks and I was devastated because I knew I was going to be behind on work and then I knew I would not have my starting position on the football and basketball team so I was stressing about that but as time progressed and I was overcoming this illness I eventually got back to school. As I got back into school 2 days after I got back we had a bye week for football so we didn't play that week but I was informed by one of my coaches that I was not starting. My heart hurt but I knew it wasn't my fault so I didn't linger on it too long and instead I put my emotions into trying to get my spot back as a starter and I knew I had a week to do so before we had our first playoff game. I worked day in and day out just trying to get my starting position back and it took so much dedication and effort and pain to get back to that place but I eventually did and I did it 4 days before the first playoff game and I was in complete bliss. This relates back to the universal theme of determination and sacrifice.

New electrical stitches use muscle movement to speed up healing

2024-10-15 17:13:50 UTC

In the article by Andrea Tamayo she goes into detail about new stitches made of muscle movement to speed up healing, as the body moves, the thread generates electricity via friction. Researchers were aware that pumping electricity through stitches could speed up the healing process, but doing that relied on bulky external batteries. Hou’s team created an experiment with rats, rodents were treated with the electrical sutures, made a quicker recovery and were less likely to develop an infection than rats treated with traditional sutures. The thread is made from biodegradable polymers and magnesium, a metal that can be absorbed by the body over time. When muscles around the sutures contract and relax, the thread’s middle layer rubs against the outer shell, transferring electrons to the shell and generating electricity.

Personal experience-Rebecca Palmer

2024-10-15 17:24:51 UTC

A personal experience I have had was a few years ago when I had just started to work a register at my family's store. I had been behind the counter checking out customers and greeting them as they entered the store as a normal for a workday would go. Then when I had been up behind the counter by myself as my mother and our other employee at the time had been in one of the back rooms, this guy and his young son walked in and browsed around the store for a bit before coming up to the counter to check out. I started to ring them up as normal but after I had told them the total for the items they were buying the guy handed me one of our store gift cards, which I didn't even know we did at the time due to no one ever using one before and told me to charge the gift card. At the time of this happening I was a little awkward when dealing with the customers, but I couldn't figure out how to charge the gift card as it wasn't one that could be swiped like a card, I told the man that I couldn't figure out how to charge it and as I tried to continue saying that I could grab my boss to come and do it he cut me off to yell that he spent some amount of time and money setting it up and that I “better figure out how to do it”. This man was dare I say in his 40s, I was around 14, so yelling about the situation was not at all the appropriate reaction. I told him that I could grab someone who could figure it out after he yelled a bit more and went to the back to grab my mother as she was better at the register. I told her why I needed her help, and she was not happy that this guy yelled at me and was about to go say something when our employee, who was a close family friend, told her that she would do it so as to not let a yelling match start. This whole situation could have been handled better if the customer had some respect for a person in customer service, this respect that much of society lacks due to a superiority complex about being above the customer service worker and having the mindset they are required to service the customers.

The French Revolution

2024-10-15 18:01:00 UTC

The French Revolution began in 1789, this period was characterized by an extreme and violent struggle for power between the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the common people of France. It fundamentally changed the political standards of France and had an intense impact on the rest of the world. They were unhappy with the unfair social system, the insufficiency of economics, and the lack of political representatives. The revolution led to big changes in France, with ideas of liberty, equality, and profession. This shows how the power struggles can cause significant social and political changes.

Korynn Teter

2024-10-15 18:01:40 UTC

The Little Rock Nine are the nine teenagers that were known as the first African American students to enter Little Rock's Central High School. Prior to this there was a court ruling, Brown v. The Board of Education, to desegregate schools. A federal judge ordered the Little Rock Nine to begin attending Central High immediately. A hostile mob, as well as the National Guard, continued to prevent the nine to enter the school. Later the federal judge ordered to remove the National Guard, so they attempted to enter the school once again escorted by Little Rock police. Another aggressive crowd gathered around trying to rush into school. Therefore the school officials sent the teens home after attending class for around 3 hours. There was an immense amount of backlash against the integration and this just shows how human nature can involve fear of the unknown and social change. Many white citizens of Little Rock strongly opposed desegregation, fearing it would put an end to not only social but racial hierarchies that had been put into place prior for generations. This fear was exhibited in violent protests, threats and harassment.

The Race to Discover the Structure of DNA

2024-10-15 18:09:43 UTC

A moment in science that relates to the theme of the "power struggle" is the race to discover the structure of DNA. In the 1950's, scientists James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin were all fighting for the discovery. Franklin's work was very critical. Crick and Watson used her work and data without her permission to make a model and won a Nobel Prize. It shows the competition and struggles for science discoveries.

Korynn Teter

2024-10-15 18:20:48 UTC

The Little Albert experiment, conducted by behaviorist John B. Watson and graduate student Rosalie Rayner. Previously, a Russian physiologist conducted experiments displaying the conditioning process in dogs. Watson wanted to take a step further by showing emotional reactions could be conditioned into people as well. The experiment involved a 9 month old, popularly known as Little Albert. Watson and Rayner exposed him to a series of stimuli like a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, different masks, and burning newspapers and observed his reactions. In the beginning the boy displayed no fear of any objects shown to him. Then Watson made a loud noise behind the boy the next time he was exposed to the rat. Little Albert began to cry after hearing the noise. After repeating this action with the rat and the noise Albert expected an alarming sound when seeing the rat, therefore making him cry by just seeing the rat with no sound. In time, the fear that Albert developed toward the rat expanded to the other similar white objects such as a Santa clause beard and a fur coat. This is known as stimulus generalization and it shows an example of human nature. This displays how one experience can often shape our response to similar situations. Explaining why people develop phobias or anxiety to not only the original object or idea but anything that reminds them of it.

The Boston Tea party

2024-10-15 19:06:58 UTC

On December 16th, 1773 colonists were outraged by the new tax imposed by the British on tea. In response to this, colonists dumped tons of British tea into the harbor. This relates to the Rebellion and Revolution universal theme, because it shows how they were tired of British policies and decided to resist. The colonists did this to oppose the tax from the British, this event was a partial cause of the future revolution.

Addie Johnson

2024-10-15 19:30:54 UTC

All my life I felt pressure. Pressure to get good grades. Pressure to be good at sports. Pressure to have a lot of friends. This was always a negative thing in my brain and eventually led to signs of anxiety. Then one day I found rodeo. In my opinion, rodeo is one of the most nerve-racking things you can do. Anytime I knew someone was watching my run, whether it be my parents, my friends, or my competition, I always felt overwhelming amounts of pressure. It would take me over. It was all I could think about. The nerves. Until one day my trainer told me, ¨It´s okay to be nervous, pressure is a privilege.¨ That is something I think about before every run. I turn all my fears and pressures into confidence and effort. I think that everyone should have the mindset that pressure is a privilege because that phrase has been one of the biggest impacts on my life.

Experience

2024-10-16 01:30:48 UTC

In most high school movies, high school is portrayed as “The best thing in your life” and “something you’ll never forget”, well they aren’t wrong because freshman year was an experience I will never forget. In freshman year, things were already not going well. The first week of school I was dealing with depression; since I didn’t want to heal from the “heartbreak” I experienced during the summer after 8th grade, when I found out my ex was cheating on me. I didn’t want to accept the fact that it was over and move on, which was stupid since I didn’t deserve it. It also didn’t make matters any better when my friend committed suicide, and my mom got a concussion which almost led her to not remeber anything, the same week of my 15th birthday. So after everything that was going on in my life, I was mad at the world. I had no friends, I was having a hard time at home, I was failing all my classes, and I had no motivation so I asked God, “Why are all of these things happening in my life? When will it all be over?” and for months I got no response. Nothing changed, except it got worse. Until one night, I was getting ready for bed when I had this overwhelming feeling to stop and pray about everything going on in my life. So I did, and just like that, everything sooner or later got fixed and I finally realized why everything happened the way it did, and I would never wanna change the outcome. This experience taught me to trust in God’s timing, that no matter what is happening in your life, God is always there and for you and for you to never believe you are alone in the world.

The Role of Education - Matthew Ballew

2024-10-16 02:34:53 UTC

Growing up, I have always been around animals. My mother was in FFA, along with my sister. My mom grew up showing livestock, like cattle, sheep, and chickens. My sister, inspired by this, also decided to join the FFA and show animals. Seeing how happy this made my sister, I decided to give it a shot. Come 4th grade, my mother helped me sign up for the local 4-H group, and eventually, we bought a pig, and named him “Piggy Smalls”. This experience in showing and raising an animal taught me the value of hard work and responsibility, as the daily tasks of taking care and watching their health introduced a strong worth ethic and sense of pride in my accomplishments. Even though I was never top of the class, showing animals showed me that winning is not what matters most, what matters is what we learn and how we utilize it. This personal experience relates to the universal theme of “The Role of Education” because through challenges and trials, I learned, applied what I learned, and improved.

Katelyn Sayers, Heart of Relationships

2024-10-16 13:17:23 UTC

In life, I have had many lessons taught to me through different experiences. Growing up, it was hard for me to make friends. I never really stayed in one place for too long which also made it really hard for me to keep friends. I was constantly relearning how to express myself to people. In middle school I often found myself jealous of all of the people who had big friend groups because I only had a couple of friends. Now that I am in high school I have made so many amazing friendships that I am so grateful for. I have been blessed with some of the best people in my life. A universal experience that connects to this is the heart of relationships. I have realized how important it is to have a strong support system. Because it was so hard for me to find friends, I am so grateful for the relationships I have now.

Gunner Alred- The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald

2024-10-16 13:35:34 UTC

I chose the Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, because of how popular it is, and that I’ve never read it. The Great Gatsby is a very sad book, showing that when you dwell on the past for too long, you may wind up destroying yourself. In this book, the main character, Nick, follows the life of Mr. Gatsby, a mysterious man, as much is said about him, but not much is known. According to him, he was born into wealth, went into the military, and then went to Oxford. As we later find, he went to the military, was sent to Oxford by mistake, and then created his own wealth through crime. Mr Gatsby makes this new version of himself so that he could have a chance with Daisy, a lover from 5 years ago. This belief that he can bring that past back is what ultimately leads him to his demise. This book’s theme covers the American dream, and how it is ultimately a failure in reality. This theme connects to the universal idea of dreams and aspirations, as the American dream is only a dream. When Mr. Gatsby dies, so do his dreams, leaving nothing but a lifeless body.

yaretzi rios

2024-10-16 13:47:46 UTC

About a month and a half ago on September 1, 2024, I was involved in a life threatening car wreck. It was a regular Sunday; I went to church and then I went to eat lunch at my boyfriend's house. Around 2:30pm I decided it was time for me to go home. I had made this drive, what seemed like, hundreds of times before. I was familiar with the curves of the road, the turns I had to take, the speed limits, and regular traffic around this time. I was confident in my ability to get home. Soon after leaving I began to feel extremely drowsy and tired. I struggled to stay alert so I tuned up my music and took a sip of water. This helped for a little bit, but just ten minutes later I drifted to sleep while going 70 miles per hour behind the wheel. Subsequently, my small, 2017 Nissan Sentra went airborne off a culvert, over a barbed wire fence, and traveled about 50 yards into a field of brush and trees. Before I could even process what had happened, my Apple Watch had detected my crash and called 911 for me. After the call, I felt so much despair and loneliness. I felt so embarrassed and ashamed. After a few minutes of crying in my car I felt the urge to pray. I thanked God for letting me leave unharmed, I glorified Him for allowing me to find help and I surrendered my shame and despair to him. Talking to God helped to calm me down significantly. Responders came shortly after and I was able to go home once my boyfriend had picked me up. This experience left a lasting impression on me and my loved ones. I can't drive on the same road without feeling anxious and scared. Even thinking about making the drive makes me feel panic-stricken. It's taught me that life is so fragile and we shouldn't take anything for granted. I believe that God put me through this experience to teach me the value of gratitude and appreciation for life. We don't know what God has in store for us but we have to remember that His plan is perfect and just.

Carson Yarberry

2024-10-16 13:54:12 UTC

Over the last few years, my grandpa and I have traveled to Fayetteville, AR and seen several Arkansas Razorbacks games, including football, baseball, and basketball. I’ve seen my fair share of wins and losses throughout those games, but fortunately more wins than losses. In 2021, Arkansas went 6-1 in their home games, and I went to every single one of them. These experiences relate to the universal theme of Winning and Losing. I’ve seen the best of wins in Arkansas beating Texas in 2021, and #8 Tennessee just a couple weekends ago, but I’ve also been a witness to us getting blown out by Auburn a couple of years ago. The end score of the game I go to impacts my emotions for the rest of the week. However, I’ve learned that whether we win or lose, the Hogs are still my team, and “There’s always next season.”

Luke Rupert

2024-10-16 14:12:15 UTC

I have many different experiences in my life that have taught me different valuable lessons. One of those experiences that sticks out to me is when I was duck hunting a few years ago and shot at a group of ducks before shooting time. It was still pretty dark out, but we were only a couple minutes out from when we could start shooting. I saw a big group of ducks come into our hole and I completely forgot about shooting time. I ended up shooting three shells into the group and I killed four mallards. I was really excited and happy but my dad was super mad. I was not so sure why he was mad until he held up his phone and showed me the time. I had shot about thirty three minutes before sunrise, and shooting time was thirty minutes before sunrise. My dad ended up having a long talk with me about why I was in the wrong and could get us into trouble if a game warden had heard me shoot. He was a little bit impressed that I killed four mallards with only three shells but his anger far outweighed it. After the hunt was over we were both pretty nervous about the possibility that a game warden could be sitting at his truck. But once we got to his truck there were no game wardens to be found. My dad said that we had gotten lucky but to never shoot before shooting time again. This experience goes with the universal theme of real life adventures because this adventure taught me a lesson that I will use for the rest of my life.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

2024-10-16 15:12:17 UTC

I chose the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot because the title stuck out to me, and I have also never read that book before. The book tells the story of an African-American woman who only lived till 31 because of a very hostile cervical cancer. The book also explains her legacy and how the HeLa cell line taken from her tumor while she was still alive, was tested in a lab and found to be immortal. The universal idea I connect with this is the touch of the supernatural. I connect it with this universal idea because the situation that was tested, is still in question, and there is not a good explanation of how it is immortal.

Angry Customers

2024-10-16 15:22:14 UTC

During my summer, I was able to achieve an approvable job. I was fairly proud of myself and excited to pursue a career and become more independent. I hadn’t really realized my stress for customer service, none-the-less angry customers. A couple weeks ago, on a weekend, we were really busy. I work at sonic on the weekend, so I had been taking people their food back to back for hours. As I got the receipts for two big orders, while my coworker got the other two big ones, I went to the inside table to get the orders and take them out. The orders had 3 big bags of food combined, which I put on my tray, while one had two drinks, and the other had 5. Naturally I followed my manager's orders, and put the 4 drinks in a drink carrier for the customer, and the other 3 on my tray in the holders. Once again, naturally, I took the order with the 5 drinks and food out to empty my hands of the drink carrier for the next customer. As I approached the woman for her food, I read off her order, told her my name, and handed her the drink carrier. She looked upset but I hadn’t thought anything of it, for she hadn’t spoken to me yet. When I handed her the carrier, she immediately complained that I could’ve easily put them on my full tray without the carrier and that my company should ask before giving them. At first I was shocked, from how a small cardboard drink carrier was such a big deal. Although, I remained neutral and told her I was sorry for the inconvenience and to maybe ask for us not to give her one next time. She was shocked by my response, and visibly upset she didn’t get a reaction out of me. In turn, she yelled at me and cussed at me, telling me she didn’t want one, and angrily telling me to leave and throw her carrier away. I immediately got angry and told her I had no room on my tray for her order and it was mandatory for us to give a customer a drink carrier with 3 or more drinks. I took out my other order, and in frustration, started to cry. I told one of my managers and told him that she hadn’t paid. He went out and talked with her for a while, and told me that I wasn’t going to get in trouble, and all she had said was I was giving her attitude, but had paid. I went home not long after, and realized many things after talking with my dad and friends about what had happened. The universal theme I chose was The Power Struggle, because in turn I learned something for myself, and that's to take a breath and not let people who make it their goal to make me upset get to me. This improved my self worth and I don’t get upset about it anymore.

Martin Luther King Jr.

2024-10-16 15:28:10 UTC

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, he was born as Michael Luther King Jr. but later changed his name to Martin. His grandfather began a legacy of Pastors in his family at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Mr. King was a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, an activist, and a political philosopher. Mr. King spoke publicly many times during segregation and during the civil rights movement. He was also one of the most prominent leaders during the civil rights movement before he was killed in 1968 on April 4th. He was born in Atlanta Georgia and had 2 siblings. In 1957 Martin Luther King Jr. was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and in 11 years King traveled over 6 million miles and spoke over 25 hundred times.

The Bass Tournament expirence

2024-10-16 15:51:20 UTC

My universal theme is exploration of self. So as many of my classmates know, I love to fish for bass. What many people don’t know about fishing tournaments is the mental part of this sport. To put this into context you are in a boat with 2-3 people for usually multiple days in a row and throwing in the water which may have a fish or may not. Either way you paid the entry fee and woke up early and now instead of most sports where you either win or lose because there are 2 teams, there are 60 teams all looking to win. Now you have to keep your mind focused on the fish, did my line just twitch, is my bait on the bottom or where I want it to be. Now you caught a fish and put it in the livewell to keep it alive but if the waters is too hot they will not have enough oxygen to survive and will die then that is a ½ pound penalty off of your weight which does not seem like much but could be the difference in 3rd-10th and that could leave you out of the check range. If you catch fish too deep they won’t be acclimated to the water pressure and fill their bladders with air which could keep them breathing and then end up dying. Now that you have caught a fish you have to catch 4 more to get a 5 fish limit. The fish always have to get bigger because you’re competing against the fish and the competition and a good limit of fish on a personal scale could be dead last in the tournament. Through all this thought and processing in your mind you have to stay focussed, stay positive, not get too emotional when all you want is to win but you come short every time. Losing sleep over that one fish that came off at the boat or maybe the spot you should have gone back to but didn’t because you were thinking otherwise and spun out and lost your train of thought. Maybe you had the fish dialed in during practice but they move, the weather changes, the wind comes from a different direction and now you have to think to yourself, should I leave and go to fish something else or should I stay and try and get the fish I found to bite should I throw a new bait or should I keep throwing the same bait. These are all the things that bass fisherman like me think about when I am on the water but I don’t think about it in a way. These things are alway in my head but that is not my focus over the years I have had my spin outs. My weights I thought were good but were not but when I go into a tournament I set a weight that I want and fish my heart out until I can’t fish anymore and it is time to go to weigh in and sometimes you hit that weight and sometimes you don’t. What I have learned over my fishing experiences is not to compare, not to listen to many people to just fish how I would and to take lessons when I get them but add your own twist. Fishing tournaments has molded my life and emotionally matured me to not let the little things bother me and just to keep casting, keep moving forward, keep my head down mind fogged and just grind away, peck, chip, scratch, claw towards that next win or that next top 5 maybe the next loss but in this sport the mental game is the main game.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

2024-10-16 18:12:53 UTC

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is a novel written by Maya Angelou, a Civil Rights activist, American memoirist and poet. She’s written seven autobiographies in her lifetime surrounding her childhood and early adulthood experiences, discussing her struggles with racism, sexual abuse, and her journey towards self-acceptance and dignity. This book focuses on justice and injustice. Angelou's narrative vividly depicts the pain and humiliation she endured, but it also highlights her strength and determination to overcome these challenges. This theme is universal because it speaks to the human spirit's ability to endure hardship and emerge stronger. Angelou's expressive writing and poignant storytelling make I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings not just a personal memoir but also a profound commentary on the human condition. The book's exploration of identity, resilience, and the fight against injustice continues to inspire and resonate with readers worldwide. The metaphor of the caged bird, which appears in the title and throughout the book, symbolizes the confinement and oppression Angelou experienced. Despite the cage, the bird sings—a powerful symbol of resilience and hope. This connects to the broader, universal theme of the struggle for freedom and self-expression in the face of oppression.

The Outdoors

2024-10-16 19:11:50 UTC

When I was 9 years old, I started hunting with my family as it was something that they would do every year. At the time, I liked to go because I got to hang out with my family, and I liked to have some competition with my cousins. I quickly decided that it was something I enjoyed more than sports which led me to quitting some sports so I could go to deer camp on weekends instead. As I’ve gotten older, stress and anxiety continues to go up and there's typically not a day that goes by that something is not on my mind that’s bothering me, or I just have the stress of school/something going on in my life. When I am in the woods by myself with barely any cell service, I have the opportunity to just forget about whatever I’m worried about and to just have peace while hearing sounds of nature and getting to see pretty views which relieves my stress. Even the hunts that are unsuccessful have value and just provide the time to get away from reality. Every hunter knows that at some point during the hunting season, something is going to go wrong and you will make mistakes. But, most hunters cannot deny that behind all of the frustration, there’s peacefulness behind the hunts, learning experiences, and important time spent with family and friends that make you happy. Since I’ve been hunting, I have learned so many things such as planting food plots, deer patterns, and how to manage our hunting farm. Those are all things that I love to do in my free time, and it can give me something to do. This experience represents the universal theme of “The pursuit of happiness” which can also relate back to “The Great Gatsby” because when I go hunting and spend time outdoors, it is when I am happy and find peace no matter what negative things are going on in my life.

Ally James

2024-10-16 23:05:09 UTC

The book I chose is known as an autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou. It covers Maya's life dealing with segregation and racism during her teen years. Maya experienced some sexual abuse as a young kid as well. Since Maya struggled with racism, this caused her to also struggle with her sense of identity. Through these challenges, Maya learns how to embrace her strengths. She had a love for literature and writing as well which was a big part of her self-discovery. This relates back to the universal theme of exploration of self. Through Maya's challenges she faced, it helped her discover things about herself that she didn’t know before.

Ella Benton

2024-10-17 02:18:32 UTC

For just about the majority of my life, there has always been something I have been scared of. Whether these fears being completely real life things that could happen or fears that are completely irrational, they have always been there. For a little while a couple of years ago, these worries would really affect me at night and I would just be completely terrified to go to sleep. My fears would completely overwhelm and overtake me. When I would get scared like this, I would just pray to God that he would wake me up in the morning, keep me safe at night, and help not to worry. One Bible verse that would really help me during this time was Psalms 4:8. This verse says, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.” For a little while this would continue to happen until I came to a realization. I realized that really what happens to me is completely out of my hands. This might seem even more frightening, but I know who I've trusted with my life is the most powerful and so there is nothing to fear. God would continue, and still continues, to wake me up day after day safely, so I have no reason not to fully trust him. This connects back to the universalizing theme of Religion and Spirituality. Although these times of fear, or other challenges, might seem confusing and terrible when you are going through them, when you come out of them you see exactly why you went through them and how much they have helped you. For me, I was completely terrified about a lot of things until I realized I just needed to rely on God, because he will always be there and take care of me.

Football

2024-10-17 17:30:03 UTC

Football has been an impactful journey in my life. It has taught me the value of teamwork, discipline, and hard work . Through multiple practices and games, I've learned how to work with others towards the win and push through problems even when things get tough. The memories and friendships I've built with my teammates and coaches are invaluable, and the lessons I've learned on the field and off the field has helped me grow in many other areas of my life, and helped me to stay focused and determined in everything I do. God Bless!

COVID

2024-10-17 18:58:05 UTC

In 2020, during COVID, I experienced the universal theme of my book which is a control of information. During this time the government controlled much of the news and other platforms for information. Many news sources primarily focused on the virus while other situations passed by. This directly relates to 1984, by George Orwell because all of the news was controlled by their form of government.

The time I went to the melting pot

2024-10-17 19:02:17 UTC

It was quite a long time ago but when I visited Chicago I went to the melting pot restaurant. I didn't know what the meals there were like so I just ordered chicken, steak, and pasta of the day. We first got our appetizers, but eventually got the main course. The chicken was great with the broth and the beef was great with the oil. However, the pasta wasn't very good. After that we got dessert, which was great. Aside from the pasta, this was probably the best meal I've ever had. (This doesn't relate to my book at all)

Melting pot part 2

2024-10-17 19:06:50 UTC

I forgot to connect it to a universal idea:

This related to the universal idea of being able to enjoy something, even if you don't like every part.

Football

2024-10-17 20:21:28 UTC

Football can be one of the most fun sports to play, and to watch, but it can also be one of the most dangerous sports. A few years ago, during practice I had injured my back. I tried to play on it, but I just couldn’t move or play without it hurting. Coach made me sit out for practice that day and I had to see the trainer. She had recommended me to not practice or play in the game that week, and I was really bummed about not being able to play, but if I had played, I could have been even more injured so it’s a good thing I didn’t. This experience ties in with the theme of disease and healing. I had to heal from an injury to be able to do what I like to do.

Jaxon Reynolds

2024-10-18 00:42:44 UTC

There have been a lot of experiences in life that are learning curves for me but one that sticks out to me is at a young age when I was hunting with my dad. Growing up I always enjoyed hunting and being outdoors, just like most of my family and friends. However, I wasn’t always as lucky as them when it came to hitting my target. For the first few years that I started deer hunting I would miss everything I shot at, and a lot of those deer being very nice bucks. I always would get down on myself because everyone else could kill deer but I never could. I would always get kind of jealous of my friends because my mom would always show me pictures of people with their deer. I kept going though and kept shooting, because I knew eventually I would connect with one. After many misses I finally got it done on a cold morning with my dad. After that it seemed like all those misses didn’t matter because I had finally done what I had tried so hard to do for 3 years, which was to kill my first deer. This connects with the theme of the call of adventure because there was a lot of ups and downs but once I got it done the excitement and the reward that came from it was something I will always remember.

Ethan Smith

2024-10-18 00:56:59 UTC

While I have played many different sports my entire life, I have never really had a problem with injuries. Ever since I was little, I have played a total of four different sports. Basketball, baseball, soccer, and finally football. While I have had my fair share of injuries like hitting my arm on a pitching machine and bunting the ball into my eye while playing baseball, I have never had an injury that had set me back pretty far from everyone else. That was until I broke my collarbone in football right before the end of my sophmore year. If you would have told me that football would be my main sport in high school 4 years ago, I would of called you crazy. Ever since about 3rd grade when I first touched a basketball, I thought that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I loved basketball, however I decided to give football a try in 9th grade. I had previously tried football in 3rd and 7th grade, but it never did anything good for me. However, I decided to play football my 9th grade year because I thought I was for sure not going to play in high school. That was until I ended up starting every game in 9th grade and leading the team in solo tackles on defense. The coach had told me that I would be great in high school and I decied to give it a try. My first year moving up to the high school I played a decent amount. Being a sophmore and playing varsity was pretty impressive. I never went through an injury during my sophmore year. Right before going into my junior year though I broke my collarbone. Before this I had never broken a bone before so I did not know what it was like. It set me back a lot though. I ended up losing about 10 pounds and I was not able to work out for about 3 months. It was really challenges and I though about quitting because I did not want to experience this again. Nevertheless, I kept going to the practicies despite not being able to do anything. I knew my team was counting on me to recover and get back to where I was. So that is what I did. After getting cleared, I put the work in and now I am back in the starting lineup, playing kickoff, kickoff return, defense, punt return, punt, and some offense. The universal theme is that no matter what you go through, stuff will always happen unexpectedly to try and set you back. It is how you respond though and if truly want it, you will do anything to be the best version of yourself.

Harley Hagler

haglerharley26 — 2024-10-18 06:22:19 UTC

My mom surprised me with a German Shepherd puppy on my 10th birthday. I had always wanted a dog, so I was ecstatic. I adored and spent all my time with him. A couple of years later, we noticed he wasn’t acting like his usual playful self. Concerned, my parents took him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with heartworms. I was devastated by the news, but my parents explained to me that heartworms were treatable with medication. The vet assured us that it was caught early on, so I tried not to worry too much about it. We started to see improvements and noticed his energy returning after being put on medication. Life went on and things seemingly returned to normal. One day over the summer, my mom sat me and my little brother down and told us that our dog had passed that night. My brother immediately started crying as I sat in shock. I thought he was getting better, so hearing that he was no longer with us was the last thing I expected. This experience taught me not to take life for granted and to appreciate every moment. It made me realize how unpredictable life can be and that not everything will go as planned, so you should value the time you have with those around you. This relates to the universal theme of Life's Simple Pleasures, highlighting the importance of appreciating the happy moments that are usually overlooked.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-19 23:59:59 UTC

The book I chose was the 25th Anniversary Edition, Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, A Dream by H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger. I chose this book for a few reasons. The first reason being, I have seen the cover of this novel inside a store before we got this project; I thought it was intriguing. If you haven’t seen the cover, it is an image of 3 football boys holding hands as they walk on the sidelines. This picture made me think that this book was maybe about a team coming together through hardships, which seemed interesting. The second reason I chose this book was because it was based off of a high school football team, which I relate to because I am: in high school, the water girl for the football team, and a girlfriend of a football player. When choosing this book I was hoping for something I could relate to, such as high school relationships or challenges faced in high school. However, that is not really what this book is about.

Friday Night Lights was really about the city of Odessa, Texas, and how a high school football team was the heart of the town. In some aspects, the way the community bonded over football was positive. For example, white citizens were more accepting of desegregation within the school system since it was an advantage to their team. The community also had this “Mojo” that was unbreakable; no matter what, thousands of Permanian Panther fans would be there to cheer on their team, rain or shine. However, this obsession with the team had some major issues. The fans of the Permainan Panthers were so obsessed with being the best, that after losing a football game by just one point, they filled the head coach's front yard with “For Sale” signs. Not only this, but they passed around petitions to get him fired and wrote terrible things about him to the newspaper. Head Coach Gary Gains had the weight of the whole world on his shoulders it seemed. If this is how the city of Odessa reacted to a loss after such a close game, imagine what would happen to him if they had a losing streak. Not only did the fans take losses too far, but the academic standards of football players across the state was almost nothing. In Dallas, Texas, Carter High School implemented a “School Improvement Plan,” which basically allowed athletes to slack off in class. There would be no weight difference to assignments, tests, or participation points, meaning “participation points” would make up for failed test grades. This was the school's way of getting around the athletes eligibility requirements of having to have a grade of at least a 70 to play, because it was supposed to be fail proof. The schools cheated the students in an education not only by doing this, but also by exempting students from tests, homeworks, and even showing up to class. Carter High School wasn’t the only school that possibly harmed their football players' academic future. Permian High also allowed football boys to slack off or full on leave class if they felt like it. Boobie Miles suddenly failing his classes after he quit football, and being multiple grade levels behind in school, is evidence of the faults in this education system. They did this all so the athletes could play in the game of football, not caring about their intellectual future.

All in all, this book ties to the universal idea of “A Sense of Place.” Texas is known for having the best of the best high school football players and teams. If the setting of this story wasn’t in the state of Texas, the community may have not been so obsessed with the sport of football. If the setting of this story wasn’t in the state of Texas, the school may have not let academics slide so much with their athletes, just so they could play on Friday Nights. If the setting of this story wasn’t in the state of Texas, there most definitely would have not been a court trial about the eligibility of a football team for a play off game. Because as mentioned in the book, if academic integrity threatened something such as a merit scholarship for a student, that would have been taken right away and been the students fault, but since the threat was for a football game being taken away, everything had to be evaluated for weeks on end. In this book, it was shown how because Odessa is in the state of Texas, football affected the decisions of desegregation, the education system, the community's outburst, and so much more.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-20 21:42:59 UTC

The Book that I chose was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I chose this book because it is the only book on the list that I have heard of and was interested in reading. The Great Gatsby is about a man named Gatsby trying to recapture this relationship with Daisy Buchanan, who is married to Tom Buchanan. Jay Gatsby is proclaimed to be a millionaire, trying to win back this woman he loved in his youth. Throughout the book, the readers start to learn more about Gatsby's past. Sadly, the book does end in tragedy where Gatsby is shot by George, then George kills himself. I would say this book connects to the universal theme of the pursuit of wealth. This book explains that wealth and social status does not always lead to happiness.

2024-10-20 21:54:19 UTC

Life presents many opportunities to gain new titles and responsibilities. May 20th 2021 I became an aunt to my nephew. My sister and brother in law were living in Arizona at the time for his work. My sister had to be induced 3 weeks early and we drove up there to be there when he was born. Because of Covid we couldn't be at the hospital or see them until they were home. My nephew had to spend 5 nights in the NICU and my sister and brother in law had to come home without him. This was difficult already having to leave him up there alone but we also had limited days to be in Arizona. On the 6th day he came home and we each got to spend so much time with him. In April of 2022 my sister and her family moved back and lived with us for a couple months before getting a house less than 5 minutes away. December 16th 2022 my niece was born. This time we could be at the hospital and I remember the lullaby being played over the loudspeakers.Getting to see them everyday and watching them grow up is so special and I'm grateful everyday for the made up time I get to spend with them. The universal theme is Family Bonds.

Dayzee Jones

2024-10-20 23:03:30 UTC

I chose to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I chose to read this book because the title was familiar and I have heard a lot of good reviews about the book. I thought the book was very good, although sometimes the diction was a little hard to understand, because upon inspection I learned it was written in 1925. The universal theme that can connect to this book is The Pursuit of Wealth. This is seen throughout the book, as Nick Carraway is the neighbor of Mr. Jay Gatsby, who has pursued his wealth through illegal practices. This Pursuit of Wealth is seen again in Gatsby's pursuit of the love interest, Daisy Buchanan. I believe that Gatsby was more drawn to the idea of her wealth and status than her as a person.

Layne Morgan

2024-10-21 00:16:35 UTC

Starting in the 3rd grade I've always played football. During this time I always started on the team and never had to sit on the bench. From 3rd-6th grade peewee football I played both sides of the ball and starting school ball I played only offense, but not playing defense wasn't the struggle that I faces. From 7th-9th grade I still had no issues starting never once was benched or had to fight for my spot on the field. Then came 10th grade year, my first year of high school football. When the season started I truly believed that I was better than the people playing over me but no matter how much work I put in, in the weight room and on or off the field I just couldn't seem to get the starting position. As the season began to close I started to think that maybe I couldn't play high school football and this is where it ends. Through the first half of the offseason I still tried hard but not as much as I did initially. I finally put my foot down and decided this was enough, I needed to have a more optimistic outlook and change my attitude on the subject. I stepped back and realized that this was the time for new opportunities, and if I wanted to play football this is where it matters most. I began to really push through and excel in everything football related. I did everything to a tee, I didn't miss a workout, a practice, or a meeting. Every Wednesday morning we hade a 6:30 am workout and I went to every single one of them trying my hardest to impress coach and regain the starting positions. Fast forward to now, I start and am loving it. So far my Junior season is the best season I've ever had, I've made so many friends and family along the way. This experience taught me that not all things are just handed to you on a silver platter and you need to work hard and put in the hours for something you want to achieve.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - By Rebecca Skloot | Matthew Ballew

2024-10-21 01:47:50 UTC

For my book, I chose to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This book tells the unimaginable story of Henrietta Lacks, and gives us an insight on who she was, looking past her immortal HeLa cells. I chose this book because even though I knew what HeLa cells were from earlier science classes, I was intrigued to know about where they came from. In this book, Rebecca Skloot does an amazing job at giving Henrietta the credit she deserves, and giving her name meaning past HeLa. We learn not only about HeLa cells and their immortal properties, but we also learn about who Henrietta was; a loving mother, cousin, and daughter. The book's core theme of Family and Legacy relates to the universal idea of Tragedy and Triumph because before this book was written, Henrietta’s story used to revolve around just her death and her cells. Now, thanks to Rebecca Skloot, we see how Henrietta’s life and legacy lives on through her cells, and how her family has both been haunted and empowered by it.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

2024-10-21 03:37:00 UTC

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a fictionalized philosophical autobiography by Robert M. Pirsig. The book consists of a narration of a cross-country motorcycle trip that Pirsig went on with his young son Chris, as well as a deep dive into various philosophical concepts such as “Quality”, which is Pirsig’s own creation. The book also serves as a way for Pirsig to reflect on his past personality/self, who he refers to throughout the book as Phædrus. I originally chose this book because my dad had said that he read it once and enjoyed it, but also because of my interest in questions related to philosophy like the ones Pirsig goes into in his book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think that Pirsig does a great job of not only dissecting various parts of society through the lens of “Quality” but also creates a very interesting narrative about Phædrus, mental health, motorcycle maintenance, and his relationship with his son. Overall, the books main themes relate back to the universal theme of “exploration of the self”, as throughout the book Pirsig struggles with trying to solve problems of the present while also make sense of the memories he still has of when he was Phædrus. This results in Pirsig to be in his own thoughts for most of the book, grappling with all of these complicated and complex emotions.

the Great Gatsby

2024-10-21 13:26:19 UTC

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby in 1925. I chose this novel due to its popularity and the fact that I hadn’t read it before. The story is both poignant and tragic, revolving around Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, representing the universal theme of an inability to live in the present. Nick, the narrator, follows the enigmatic Gatsby, a figure about whom much is said but little is truly known. Nick reveals that Gatsby, born to affluent parents, served in the military and then attended Oxford. As the story unfolds, we learn that Gatsby’s time at Oxford was a mistake, and he amassed his fortune by engaging in bootlegging alcohol and trading stolen securities. Gatsby constructs this new persona in hopes of rekindling a romance with Daisy, a love from five years earlier. His belief that he can resurrect the past ultimately leads to his tragic downfall.

I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing

2024-10-21 13:32:38 UTC

I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou is such a wonderful book. Maya Angelou talks about her journey through life and how many things she had to go through. She and her brother got adopted and moved to a different state , they attended church and had a good life. Maya and her brother , Bailey, moved back to St. Louis with their mother and her boyfriend. Maya ended up getting molested and raped. Soon after she had to go to court to testify against Mr. Freeman, her moms boyfriend, and he soon after got brutually murdered. She felt like this was all her fault. For her relief and Bailey’s regret, they moved back to Stamps with who they call Momma. Maya starts going to church revivals and starts living her good life. After Maya had to endure racism on several different occasions , Momma starts to reevaluate if living in Stamps is a good decision. She sends Bailey and Maya to live back with their mother who now lives in California. As Maya is getting older she decides to run away to live with other homeless teenagers. She ends up getting pregnant in high school but the book ends as she is happy living with her newborn. The universal theme here in this book is Power Struggle. Through all this struggle Maya powers through and continues to see the good in everything.

I know why the caged birds sing

2024-10-21 13:34:51 UTC

I chose this book because I have read it before and it would be somewhat a refresher. This book is a great representation of persistence and adaptation. This all connects back to the universal theme of Racism and belonging because during all of these set backs and other things going on at this time she and many others had to endure racism and she had to try to figure out where she belonged.

Sadie Saunders

2024-10-21 13:38:13 UTC

For my book, I chose Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof. This book tells the story of the greatest scandal in baseball history. Asinof tells about the eight Chicago players who threw the world series to a group of gamblers. There were many negotiations and specific needs for these fixers to successfully throw the game. They needed the best on their side. The reason these players were willing to commit to such a thing was because they felt as if they were being treated unfairly. They were the top players in the world, yet they were getting paid the same as everyone else. They tried to go to their coach about it, but he blew it off, leaving them with what they felt like, no other choice. They decided to take the $10,000 each and throw the game. In background, the Chicago White Sox were the highly favored team. During these times, baseball was the main form of entertainment for everyone. Overall, this book related to the universal theme of Rebellion and Revolution. These eight men rebelled against what they knew was right and continued to do it for the money anyway. Personal revolt. They were greedy and cheated instead of doing their job. I enjoyed this book because it told an amazing story about this baseball scandal, while making me feel like I was there during it. It was a very moving book.

The effects of Burnout

2024-10-21 13:49:18 UTC

Sometime a few years ago, I experienced true burnout for the first time. There would be times where I would stress and do everything I needed to in one day, then come home and close the door and not come out. I was stuck in a place where I felt truly alone. For a while, I thought it was a hormonal thing, maybe it was all just how it goes. Later after talking to my mom about it I realized it really wasn’t healthy. When people experience overwhelming situations, it can swallow them whole. You feel like you’re in space without a suit, just left to suffocate and die. My burnout hit its peak when ACT rolled around in 8th grade. My grades, and motivation had fallen, and I was stressed out of my mind. I reached a point in my life where I would do nothing, just sit there and blank out. That was, until I talked to some of my friends about it. They helped me get back on track and even encouraged me to take breaks. They explained to me that taking breaks was the only thing that kept them afloat at stressful times. Since then I always took that to heart, and incorporated it into my life anytime I felt stressed. This was a real eye opening experience, and I will never forget just how many issues can be put onto someone through stress. This story is based around the Universal Idea ‘The Nature of Humanity’. Looking back on it, it really is an interesting phenomenon that humans go through when put under a lot at once. Learning that, it forever altered my brain chemistry.

Avery McCuan

2024-10-21 14:06:14 UTC

My Book is eight men out. This book goes with my universal idea of justice and injustice because the players in the book got paid to throw the game because the players were getting underpaid. The players took this money because they were not getting paid what they thought they were worth which was injustice to them. The main player they wanted to get to take the bid was the pitcher because he had the most control over the game. The players expressed injustice and decided to do something about this injustice.

Ava Corker

2024-10-21 14:17:16 UTC

Growing up as the youngest of four, I had always looked up to my older siblings and planned my future to be like theirs. For a long time I had wanted to be an occupational therapist because my brother was a physical therapist and he had a huge impact on my life. I never really thought of why I wanted to pursue a career in therapy, I just wanted to do it solely on the fact that my older brother was a physical therapist. I realized that when looking into the future and planning out my life, I miss a lot that happens in the present. I was so worried about living up to my siblings' standards and my future career that I was missing the important parts happening right now in my life. This relates back to the universal theme of Futuristic visions which is what I've spent my life doing. I have now learned to live in the present and to not worry about what is happening later on in life.

The Great Gatsby

wareliam26 — 2024-10-21 14:29:47 UTC

The Great Gatsby takes place in the early 1920s, as the American economy is booming right after World War 2, and life is great for everyone. The story follows Nick Carraway and his adventures in New York, attempting to trade stocks and bonds, albeit quite poorly. He makes the acquaintance of one Jay Gatsby, his neighbor, who hosts elaborate and extravagant parties. Gatsby later reveals that these parties are made with the attempt to try and draw someone in from across the sound, named Daisy Buchanan. We later learn that Gatsby was interested in her when he was dead broke, but couldn’t bear to be with her in this state. So, after coming upon his fortune, he tries to trudge up the past and make things what the once were. However, this comes at a cost, because Mrs Buchannan is married, to a Tom Buchannan, who begins to realize what is happening between his wife and Gatsby, and tensions only escalate from there. Overall, after you get further into the book, it is quite a good read, dealing with shocks and twists and turns, which thoroughly counteracts the existential boredom in the beginning of the book. While many people derive that the story is about the shortfalls of the American Dream, and how it failed so many, I disagree with that and say that the book is more about how the past can come back in ways we could never expect, and toying with the past can often times ruin the present, and the future. These ideas speak to the universal idea of the war and peace, but not between countries, between people and ideals, past events and future occurrences.

Lora Hartwick

2024-10-21 14:38:51 UTC

When I was young I played Softball, I loved the sport and my teammates. I put in alot of hardwork at home and in practices hoping to be better. I have experinced winning and losing and overall trying to figure out what my purpose was. I found out it wasn't softball but I knew that it was fine and I would eventurally figure everything out. Although I havn't played real football I still experinced winning, losing, and what its like having the pressure of the game.

Literature-Rebecca Palmer

2024-10-21 15:04:29 UTC

people speak of it. I enjoyed reading it with how descriptive Fitzgerald was about everything and how the story had pulled me in with how intriguing it was. The book is from the perspective of Nick Carraway who moved into a house next door to a man named Gatsby who threw elaborate and eccentric parties nightly. Later in the story we follow as Nick grows closer to Gatsby and learns that the reason for the elaborate parties is to draw the attention of Daisy Buchanan who was his past lover. This relates the book to the universal idea of love because the reason Gatsby created his extravagant mansion and threw his over the top parties was to try and see Daisy again, hoping she would attend them.

Finley Malone

2024-10-21 15:13:28 UTC

One time, while hunting with my grandpa, I learned a lot about patience and focus. We spent hours in the woods, waiting quietly for deer to appear. At first, I felt bored and restless, wishing for action. But as I listened to the sounds of nature and watched the sunrise, I found peace in the stillness. This taught me that good things often take time, just like how Gatsby waits for his chance with Daisy. He dreams big but spends so much time chasing an idea that may never come true. Both my hunting experience and Gatsby’s journey show that the path we take can be just as important as the goals we set. In the end, it’s about what we learn while we wait and strive.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-21 15:40:40 UTC

I chose to read The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald because I’ve always been told it's one of those great books you just have to read. The book takes place in the 1920’s and follows the story of Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. Nick tells the story of Gatsby's attempt to respark his relationship with Daisy Buchanan. Daisy and Gatsby fell in love before Gatsby was deployed overseas for the war. Daisy ended up marrying Tom Buchanan because he was able to offer her a more stable life, although she was still in love with Gatsby. Whenever Gatsby became a millionaire he was determined to win back Daisy's love. This connects to the universal theme of the book, love, Gatsby loves Daisy and goes to extremes to attempt to regain her love. He throws big parties every weekend hoping she would come to one, and even has Nick ask Daisy to his house so he can see her again.

Walden

2024-10-21 15:50:47 UTC

I chose the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I chose this book because Mr. Kennedy said that it was a hard read. I thought that Mr. Kennedy meant that it was going to be a sad book, and it was but I misunderstood and did not realize how hard it was to read. When I say that I mean that it is very hard to comprehend, but it was worth it. Walden is a great book for life lessons, it can teach you lots of things. The three main life lessons that I got out of this book are; 1. A life in solitude doesn’t need to be lonely 2. Even a simple life can still be challenging and rewarding 3. Fulfillment does not cost a thing. Henry simply wanted to reconnect with life in a deeper, more meaningful way. His goal was to spend time on reading, writing and thinking about life. This book connects to the universal theme of “survival and hope”. Simple tasks remained the same but became a lot more challenging as the seasons grew colder. Henry went out into the woods and made a living out there by building his own cabin, catching his own food, keeping himself alive in winter when times were tough. He also soaked timber from the lake to burn longer and create more steam to keep his cabin warm. Even though winter was a tough season, the increase in difficulty only made his work more rewarding. Henry survived his hardest seasons, but to be able to do that he had to have hope and never give up. He took the time to connect with nature and see the beauty of nature, and reconnect with life. This gave Henry the hope he needed to make it out there in the woods and stay alive. Henry gave it all he had for the years that he was out there and found the meaning of life that he was looking for.

Salter Mahan

2024-10-21 16:10:05 UTC

My universal theme is sports and competition. I started playing baseball, basketball, and football as soon as I could because my siblings played sports and I wanted to try them. I liked all of them but liked football best and in 9th grade I still played all 3. But then after 9th grade I didn’t like the baseball coach and didn’t really have fun playing anymore so I quit baseball which my parents weren't the biggest fan of me doing. Then after 10th grade the same thing happened for basketball and I quit it because I didn’t really have fun playing anymore and I’m best at football so I would rather focus on it all year. So now I only play football and run track so I can get better in the off season and focus on football.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-21 16:50:02 UTC

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

I chose this book because it explores the strong culture of high school football and its impact on the community. Bissinger shares the stories of players, coaches, and townspeople in Odessa, Texas, showing the pressure and expectations they face. The main theme is about sports, identity, and society, connecting to the universal idea of ambition and its effects. This theme goes beyond football, highlighting how dreams can shape lives and communities, both positively and negatively.

Drew Whitehead

2024-10-21 16:59:03 UTC

The book I chose was the 25th Anniversary Edition: Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, A Dream by H.G. Bissinger. This book caught my attention for various reasons. The first reason was seeing the book in various places and hearing about it from many people how interesting the book was. The second reason is because I am very big into football and also am a football player for a high school team with my girlfriend being a cheerleader. I was born and raised on the sport of football, although I have played basketball more. The book was about a high school team being the "heart" of the town of Odessa, Texas. All in all, the book Friday Night Lights shows how the Odessa, Texas football team affected the decisions of desegregation, the education system, the community's bond, and many more ideas.

Alex hall

2024-10-21 17:10:05 UTC

When I was younger I never really worried about people getting sick. When I inevitably got sick, I always saw it as a day that I wasn't going to be able to see my friends. Whenever covid had first started i enjoyed it. I was able to stay at home and do nothing. I didn't understand how dangerous it was and how it would affect my life. My mother had started to feel sick. She had gone to the doctor for it, and I remember she had brought my sister and I along with her. I don't remember the exact diagnosis she had gotten, but she was told it wasn't serious. By the time it was that august, right after 6th grade, she was bedridden. She was trying to just get over it, or at least wait until the insurance kicked in. I remember whenever she first went to the ER over her pain. My father had tucked us in and told us they would be back soon. She was septic at the hospital, and had numerous kidney stones and an infection deeply embedded into her bladder. Following this night, she was in and out of the hospital for a year. I remember one night we went to take her to the ER because of the pain. We had dropped her off, and the ER nurses assumed she was just seeking pills because she was shaking. The shaking was caused by the pain. She had given them her doctor's number to contact, but they refused. She had to come back home with us in the same amount of pain she had started in. she was always stuck in her bed, she had an imprint in her mattress because of this, and the imprint was permanent. My father had to take care of way more, including working to pay our bills, going back to school, and taking care of us, while also wondering if his wife was going to wake up the next day. I would do everything I could to help, but I was only 11 when this happened. I had become extremely worried of accidentally coming home with covid, which if she had caught she would have most likely not have made it. By some miracle, she survived. She had lost a kidney because of this. During these years of my life, and continuing after this, I have been scared of bringing something home such as covid, worrying mom would get sick again. I had lost the careless nature of children, and was full of worry, losing my childhood innocence. This whole experience relates back to the universal theme of losing childhood innocence.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-21 17:26:18 UTC

Friday Night Lights is a nonfiction book written by H.G. Bissinger and published in 1990. This book takes place in Odessa Texas where the Permian High school Panthers are pressured to succeed in many ways. From the community's overly excessive obsession with the team, from the personal struggles of the coaches, and players. This story goes much deeper than just the team. It dives into the players and coaches personal lives, and the community's economic struggles. It looks into the schooling of these athletes, and how the schools are academically failing these student athletes. All the pressure is on Head Coach Gaines to lead his team and a community to success. This connects to the universal theme of tragedy and triumph, because it shows the team had support win or lose, and the characters internal struggles and personal victories.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

2024-10-21 17:27:29 UTC

The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a biography written about the woman behind the infamous HeLa cells. I chose this book because I thought it sounded very interesting. This book delves deep into the life of Henrietta Lacks, before her “immortal” cells became known as the acronym “HeLa”. Henrietta’s cells have been used to help find cures for polio, COVID-19, leukemia, AIDS, and cancer. Her cells have also been used to study the effects of zero gravity in outer space. My favorite part of the book is when Skloot begins conversing and traveling with Deborah Lacks, Henrietta’s daughter. Their relationship grows as Skloot helps Deborah learn about her mother and sister’s lives. This book connects to the universal idea of ethics, as the topic of tissue and cell collecting is still a debated topic today. It was not ethical to take Henrietta’s cells without consent and without informing her children or husband, in my opinion.

Alexis Holtz

2024-10-21 17:34:40 UTC

For my book, I chose Dave Grohl's, The Storyteller:Tales of Life and Music. This book spoke to me because of my love for his band, the Foo Fighters, and my deep connection with music. The Storyteller goes into depth about the life of Dave Grohl, and whats shaped him in both his musical and personal life. It talks about the hardships he went through when trying to find himself, while also sharing the amazing memories he made a long the way. This book is very emotional and makes sure there is no sugar coating the truth. His intentions are to show the true life of a rockstar and the rough path it takes to get there. This book connects to the universal theme, "loss and mourning" because of the loss of Nirvana's lead singer, and Dave Grohl's best friend, Kurt Cobain. Sadly, Kurt Cobain ended his life April 5th 1994, soon causing the end and seperation of Nirvana and its band members. This connects because of the mourning not only don't by Dave Grohl, but but also by the whole world when this tragic event happened. It was a worldwide loss and still to this day is mourned.

Real Life Adventure

2024-10-21 18:50:46 UTC

When I was in quarrantine my family switched into this granola outgoing adventourous family. While it was fun we came across many questionable things. One being during our hike to a waterfall we came across a man who had no teeth one arm and his name was Bronte. He gave us so many wise storys and also gave us a easier way to reach the waterfall. Although while on our way to the waterfall we came across a really big snake. I was walking behind my brother and he actually stepped on it. While we still dont know what kind of snake it was it made me feel truly connected with earth. I would consider it a real life adventure.

The summer I turned pretty

2024-10-21 18:55:26 UTC

This book written by Colleen Hoover, Its about a young girl who has very close family friends with sons her age. They are both attractive to her and she finds herself in situations with them. She has always had complicated feelings for the older one but once she gets closer to the younger one she seems lost and confused on her next step. The book is about her navagating her complicated feelings for them and her summer she spends with them at their summer house.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-21 18:58:44 UTC

Friday Night Lights, written by Buzz Bissinger, is a fantastic non-fiction sports book in 1990. I chose this book because I love sports books as I am a big sports fan. I could really engage in this book and it is probably a top 3 book I have ever read. I love the story-telling of it and all around delivery of the characters and plot. The book takes place in Odessa, Texas, where a high school football team, The Permian High School Panthers, strive to get a Texas state championship for the community and loved ones. Bissinger shows the struggles and the ease the coaches, players, and people go through during the season. For example, the team is met with tough opponents that they would likely not beat, but they push through and obtain a good record even with all the strikingly aggressive opponents they went up against. The all around theme is community because the help of the people influences the team’s record exponentially.

Walking and Life's Simple Pleasures

2024-10-21 19:08:27 UTC

When I was a Junior High student I used to ride the bus. Every day after school I would walk my friend to his bus and then walk all the way to the back of the bus line to my bus. This cycle would continue every day until one day when I was walking my friend to his bus his bus driver had told me to stop walking my friend to the bus. I asked him why, he told me that it was holding up the bus line, after a little bit of backtalking he had asked who my bus driver is and what bus. Not remembering my bus driver's name and not wanting to tell him my bus number I told him that I did not ride the bus and walked home from school that day. It was a very fun walk. Over the next days I kept on walking home, in part because I enjoyed it but also because this way there was nothing the bus driver could do to stop me from walking my friend to their bus, school was over and he couldn't kick me off of a bus I no longer rode. But this pettiness would lead to a joy that I held throughout my Junior High days. Day after day I would walk home from school, estimating the time most days. It took around 25-30 minutes to walk from the school to my house. I would try to shave time off by taking shortcuts and running down some streets when I felt like it, but I didn't do anything too different from my normal route. But some days I was bored with just walking home, so I started walking with my some of my friends and see where they went. Some days it was to McDonalds, other days it was to Dairy Queen, I didn't even eat most of the time. It was just a hangout spot. But it was fun because I was with my friends. Eventually, I would want to walk more, and so I did. I walked until the sidewalks were no longer there on both sides of the large highway cutting Greenbrier in half, I walked to Matthew's Park, to Eastside Elementary Schools, to the road up and down Eastside Elementary Schools, you could look all over Greenbrier and there I was. But I did not walk because I enjoyed walking itself. What I enjoyed about walking was the roads intersecting the greenery, the buildings popped up with tall grass just around the corner, the mix between urban and nature is what filled my brain when I walked in these locations. In short, I loved the view. This love of mine still takes hold of me from time to time, though I do not walk from school anymore since I have a car now and it is easier. Just yesterday my family went to the hills near the Bill Clinton library in Little Rock to slide down them with cardboard boxes, a favorite past time for us. I was trying to find a large hill that everyone slid down that I could recall from memory, but I could not find it. My parents had pointed me toward a construction site and informed me that the hill I was looking for was gone. I didn't really want to believe them so I asked if I could walk around and they accepted, so I did. I didn't really expect to find the hill, though. I mostly asked just because I had only really wanted to slide down that hill and now that it was gone I would rather walk and enjoy the scenery rather than slide down. The outside of the Bill Clinton library is beautiful. There is a large stretch of grass and sidewalks, a variety of trees and buildings, one of the most beautiful scenes of recent that I can recall. I believe what I truly love about walking is the place it brings me, the monumentality of the buildings, and the idea of everything being interconnected. What started out as something I did on a whim blossomed into a love for admiring the scenery all around us in daily life, something so simple, so pleasurable, and that which can be afforded to all of us. Life is truly Beautiful.

My First Buck

2024-10-21 19:34:27 UTC

I remember my first deer that I have ever killed like it was yesterday. I was seven years old and It was my first time going hunting. I vividly remember sitting in the stand bored out of mind waiting for something to walk out. It had been 3 hours and all we'd seen was a squirrel and two doves. My seven year old self was not having a good time until one walked out. It was an eight point buck and it was one of the most exciting times of my life. I remember my grandpa telling me to wait until he picked his head up then pull the trigger slowly. I followed exactly what he said and I had done it. I killed my first buck. Looking back on this moment I realize that the best part of this day was not killing my first buck, it was spending time with my grandpa which I won't always have the privilege to do. Now when I get the opportunity to hunt with my grandpa I always change my plans right then because I never know when our last hunt will be. The universal theme that connects to this experience is family bonds. This moment was a perfect example of family bonding between me and my Grandpa.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing by Maya Angelou - Maya Barrios

2024-10-21 19:52:43 UTC

I am currently reading “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou. I originally chose this book because we shared a name. This possibly wasn’t the best line of reasoning, (especially since her name isn’t even Maya) but I was also curious about her style of writing and what made her so famous. This book takes place in rural Arkansas, in a small town called Stamps. Marguerite and her brother Bailey live with their grandmother, who they call Momma. Momma was the motherly figure for both Marguerite and Bailey, because their parents divorced when they were young. Their father comes one day to bring them to their mother, Vivian, who lives a crazy life in California. Vivian’s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, sexually assaulted Marguerite, which left long lasting trauma and guilt for his death. She goes back to Arkansas, and simply stops speaking. Momma is worried about her, and a lady named Mrs. Flowers helps her to start speaking again through reading books and poetry. She recalls her as one of her first friends. Because of the racism that both Marguerite and Bailey experience, Momma sends them to Vivian to live with them. Marguerite finally feels at home and like she belongs in Los Angeles. She then moves in with her father for the summer, and has to deal with his passive-aggressive girlfriend. She cuts Marguerite after an argument, so Marguerite runs away and lives in a junkyard with other teenagers. She goes back to Vivian and gets her first job on the railroad. She begins to question her sexual orientation and hooks up with a random guy to see if she enjoys it. She then becomes pregnant, but is able to finish school. She ends this book with coming to terms with her newborn baby. This book overall describes Maya Angelou’s childhood experiences and struggles. Despite all of the difficulties that she faced throughout the book, she ends on a very hopeful note, which brings in the universal idea of survival and hope. It also brings in themes such as racism, family, lust, and self discovery. I think the message of the book is good, but I personally wasn’t prepared for such sensitive topics. Overall, a very interesting book that definitely makes you think.

1984

2024-10-21 21:23:35 UTC

1984 is a novel by George Orwell about a man named Winston living under an oppressive government that constantly watches its citizens and constantly fabricates information. The government ensures the people support it by distracting them with an endless war with the similarly oppressive superstates of Eurasia and Eastasia.

This book deals with the themes of totalitarianism and the human condition.

Guidance

2024-10-21 21:56:34 UTC

My grandma has always been and always will be my biggest role model, my grandma was always such a sweet, welcoming and genuine person, she always had something kind to say about everyone and didn’t have a mean bone in her body. My grandma was always there for me, supporting me in everything I did and guiding me throughout life, she made me who I am today. She helped me find myself during childhood and she led me to God when I was struggling. In the summer of 2019 she passed away due to colon cancer, when my grandma passed it felt as if part of me had passed along with her. Even though it has been 5 years since she passed I believe she is still right by my side guiding me throughout life.

Luke McKinney- The Great Gatsby

2024-10-21 22:18:34 UTC

I chose to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I finished the book last Saturday. I chose to read it because the blurb (the summary on the back) on the book seemed nice. The book is told through the eyes of Nick Carraway, about a wealthy man named Jay Gatsby, who throws large and extravagant parties to try to bring back his old girlfriend, Daisy Buchanan, who is now married. Gatsby's life is kind of shady and mysterious. He wants to reconnect with Daisy, but her husband, Tom, gets in the way. The story ends with the downfall and death of Gatsby's because of his unwillingness to let go of his dreams and aspirations about Daisy that were not achievable.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

2024-10-21 22:44:06 UTC

In the book, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou, the author, expresses the struggle for freedom and self-acceptance. Angelou’s autobiography explores the themes of racism, abuse, trauma, and identity, as well as the strength and resilience needed to overcome such hardships and adversity. I chose to read this book because of how inspiring her message is. It shows her troubling childhood and the trauma she endured, to later on become a celebrated author and activist. Her story communicates the power of perseverance and humans’ ability to overcome hardships. I believe that this book is a good read and powerfully conveys the experiences of African Americans in the early 20th century, offering readers valuable insights on the struggles and triumphs of the community at that time. I would connect this book to the universal idea of the journey of self discovery because it explores how individuals can rise above their current circumstances and find their own voice despite the personal obstacles they may be facing.

Rylee Brawley

2024-10-21 22:54:10 UTC

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is an autobiography from Maya Angelou herself. I chose this book originally because it was one of the shorter ones that wasn't The Great Gatsby, but as I read this book it drew me in through the emotions associated with each retelling and the descriptions told through Angelou’s life. At first this book was really slow just telling of her life, but as I read on, Angelou started to tell more about her personal experiences and feelings associated with specific childhood memories as well as her thought process throughout. This book tells of the many challenges she faced while growing up, some being her sexual assault from someone she trusted, being abandoned by her parents, and harassment from other people. Throughout the book, Angelou explores and tells of her life while growing up in different areas across the states but mainly in Stamps, Arkansas. This book connects with the universal idea of children and innocence. I think this connects with this universal idea because while the story progresses, we can see how Maya is losing her childhood innocence.

Exploration of self

2024-10-21 23:46:42 UTC

Over the course of the book the narrator gets flashbacks of his former self, an English professor named Phaedrus which we learn is the narrator before electroshock therapy. Phaedrus is unwanted and unwarranted throughout most of the book but as it goes on since he spouts nonsense about technical and romantic thought, yet as the book goes on and the narrator beings to accept his former self seeing past the insanity he sees the wisdom in Phaedrus’ words, and while he still jokingly calls him insane, he makes peace with Phaedrus. Looking back into himself and the very thoughts that caused him to go insane (about technical and romantic thought) are eventually realized in the other characters (the Sutherlands) as the book opens up to be a philosophical metaphor for the path through one’s thoughts.

khloe deaton

2024-10-21 23:51:32 UTC

In cheerleading, there are times when teammates try to take leadership during the season. Just like anyone, everyone has their own ideas and opinions about how routines and sideline should look, but most of the time it just leads to competition for control. It all relates to power struggles, where the power of being in control is wanted by multiple teammates.

The grapes of wrath

2024-10-22 00:18:16 UTC

Theme The Nature of Humanity, in the book a family gets remove for there land because of the devastation because of the dust bowl. They move to California to get work and where use because of there poverty but they got out and still kept going.

Change

2024-10-22 00:19:26 UTC

Change is a hard thing to deal with or decide on. I had the same haircut for over 5 years. It was a long side part that I never really thought looked good. Even though I didn’t like it, I never thought to change it. I always thought that it would somehow end up worse if I dealt with it. This is until finally I decided I would let my friends buzz my hair. It was summertime and hot anyways, so I thought it couldn’t hurt. This ended up being a great decision in my opinion. I no longer have to worry about hair in my face or fixing it up. It’s a lot more manageable and I think it suits me more anyway. This just connects to the ideas of change and how the outcomes of old and new. It wouldn’t have made any sense to keep the same haircut for the rest of my life, so I changed it and now have to deal with my new hairstyle, just like I did with my old one.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-22 00:24:34 UTC

Friday Night Lights is a non-fiction book written by H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger in 1990. The book focuses on the 1988 Permian High School Panthers out of Odessa Texas. I chose this book because I have heard of the movie before, so I was interested to see what it all was about. Another reason I chose this book is because I am somewhat of a sports person, so I kind of feel like I could understand this book better than others. This book was a lot about the significance of football in Texas, pressures and hardships that young athletes go through, and the intersection between sports and education. I think it was great at showing what the lives are like for some young athletes and shows how pressured some of the kids are because football is all that they have. It shows how a whole town can get overwhelmed in winning a game, and how football can get to where it can be some people’s identity in a way. This book connects with the universal theme of dreams and aspirations because the players had goals that they wanted their whole life to accomplish. Even though they fall short, they still show great accomplishments off the field along their journey.

Life Through My Lens

2024-10-22 00:37:56 UTC

In my lifetime I have found many things I love, one is photography. Through my journey of photography I have learned to see things “through the lens”. Now instead of just looking at the full picture I have also learned to focus on the little things. By focusing on the small details it allows me to see things that others might miss. Things such as the tiny details of nature all the way to the individual emotions of people. As a photographer I get to share my creative work with others so they can experience the world through my lens. Photography has shown me the beauties of life, and all that the world has to offer for us. As I continue in my photography journey I hope to share my work with others to help them see the world from a different perspective. The universal topic I chose for my personal experience is The Wisdom of Nature. This universal theme goes with my paragraph because I get to see the beauty of things, while getting the opportunity to share with others. Photography teaches people to not take the small details for granted, and to try and see the beauty in everything.

Dance

2024-10-22 01:08:28 UTC

Since before I could walk I was put on a softball field. My older sister was a phenomenal softball player and my dad had big dreams for me. Since I was built like him and I had his athletic abilities, he made me into his sport prodigy. Until I started to hate softball. It felt like I was stuck in a never ending cycle. I started to resent my dad for forcing me into a sport I hated. So I quit. Fast forward a couple years, now I'm 7 years old. My cousin was being put into dance classes and my aunt didn't want her to be alone so my mom signed me up too. I enjoyed it more because it was inside, and my dad wasn't there to yell at me anytime I did something wrong. Eventually I started to take it seriously and so did my mom. After about a year of recreational dance, I was asked to join their competitive team. My dad didn't really want me to do it for many reasons. One being the dance community is super toxic, you're made to feel like you have to fit a dancer body style and although my dad was super tough on me, he didn't want me to go through that. Another reason, it's super expensive. But my dad caved when he saw that I genuinely enjoyed it. A couple years later a whole bunch of drama happened and covid started so my mom pulled me out of dance. That year was probably worse for my mom than it was for me. Eventually, I was asked back and I picked up right where I left off. Till I got injured last season. I strained my tendons and severely sprained my ankle. When it originally happened I was at a competition and I thought my ankle was just sore from doing 6 dances in the span of 3 hours. When the next day rolled around and it was so painful to walk I finally said something to my mom. She told me I was fine and I just needed to walk it off. So I continued to dance and do everyday things on tendons that were hanging on by a thread. I eventually made my mom take me to the orthopedic doctor. I ended up in a boot for 6 weeks and was forced to sit out the rest of the competition season. This ties back to the universal idea of the power struggle. It was a struggle to get back into dance afterwards because I knew I couldn't do it. It took me time but i'm finally starting to be back where I was.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

2024-10-22 01:12:28 UTC

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is an autobiography detailing the traumatic life Angelou faced. This book covers themes of abuse, trauma, racism, and identity, throughout the novel Angelou depicts the many challenges she experienced during her life such as being sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. I chose this book because the name sounded interesting and upon reading the basic summary and reading the book this book is definitely captivating but it also deals with a lot of sensitive themes. This ties to the theme of struggling to find security in one’s identity as Angelou’s past was very traumatic and she felt guilty about everything that happened.

The wisdom of nature

2024-10-22 01:53:21 UTC

My mom is originally from Anchorage Alaska. Most of her family still lives there, so every other year we go up and visit. Normally we stay 1 week in Anchorage and 1 week in Kenai. Near the house my mom grew up in, there's a hiking trail that we would always go on. Once when I was about 6 or 7 we were walking on this trail and I heard a noise coming from behind me. My sister and mom had stopped to look at something and I figured it was a rabbit or something and tried to ignore it but I kept hearing it. I wandered off to see what it was and it was a baby moose. My little brain didn’t think twice before going up to it to try to pet it. Next thing I know my mom and sister start screaming and grabbing me and we start running onto the trail again. Except we aren't staying on the trail, we are booking it towards the road. When we reach the road my mom gets us behind a truck that's parked on the side of the road and get almost underneath it. Breathing hard, I turned to see why we had just sprinted away when I see that a moose had been chasing us. We stayed huddled by the truck for a good 15-20 minutes before the moose santured off back into the woods. We quickly walked back to our vacation house where I was given a long lecture about not touching wild animals. Still to this day I’ve yet to go on that trail again.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-22 01:53:28 UTC

For my book, I chose Friday Night Lights because I’m a big fan of football and love watching it. It just caught my attention and thought it would be interesting to read. In the book, Buzz Bissinger moves with his family to Odessa, Texas during the 1988 Permian High School football season where they are trying to make a run for the state championship. It talks about how there is pressure on the team and thinking they need to succeed or else the rest of the town will see them as failures. The town had an obsession with the football team and expected them to win. It also shows how it impacted the players and their families. Throughout the season they won their first game with a big blow out but then lost to their rival team ending the season 7-2. This book also talks about racism and how it affects the team. This connects to the universal idea Sports and Competition because the football team is going up competition trying to win the state championship and using teamwork to try to get it done.

Walden

2024-10-22 01:54:04 UTC

The book that I chose was Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I chose this book because the idea of someone living alone away from society was very intriguing to me. I thought the book was very insightful. Thoreau has a unique way with words. He gives so much beauty and spirituality to nature. He is also very fond of simplicity, and I believe this is one of the core themes of Walden. He believes that if people slowed down and stopped wanting so many things they would feel more fulfilled. He thinks you should get everything you can out of life but you do this by slowing down and focusing on your life's meaning. This relates back to the universal theme of life's simple pleasures. We should always try and find joy in simple things. In Thoreau's case he found joy in the ice breaking on the ponds during the beginning of spring after a cold winter.

Tricia Langille

2024-10-22 02:01:35 UTC

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an exquisite deep dive into the way the narrator views things through the use of imagery of the complex components of a motorcycle. The book starts off with the introduction of the narrator’s son, Chris, and his two friends, Syliva and John. Through the early introduction of these relationships readers can see that the narrator has a somewhat odd and different way of going about things. In later chapters readers find that the way the narrator thinks this way is because of an ¨alter ego¨ named Phaedrus. There is an explanation of romantic understanding vs classical understanding which really presents the idea that with both understandings coexisting, they can complement each other ultimately leading to a deeper appreciation for life and quality. This book is a great representation of the Nature of Humanity because it illustrates humanity searching for meaning in life through the interpretation of the narrator's journey and the reflection with his past life.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-22 02:03:41 UTC

I chose to read The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I chose to read the book because of the popular movie of the same name. The novel is about Nick Carraway telling the story of Jay Gatsbys love story. Gatsby throws massive parties to attract his old girlfriend, Daisy Buchanan, who is already married. Gatsby finally uses Nick to find Daisy so they can meet once again, but her husband ,Tom Buchanan, finds out shady things Gatsby had been lying about. The tragic novel ends when Daisy kills a women in Gatsbys car, leading to Gatsby being shot in his own home. This novel connects to the overall theme of secrets and lies, because there was lots of secrets and lies being told.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-22 02:05:21 UTC

The book I chose was the Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a story that is told from the point of view of Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby's neighbor and close friend. He tells a little bit about the story of Gatsby's life, and then he shifts to the present and also talks about Gatsby's love for Daisy Buchanan. Daisy and Gatsby had met and fell in love, but Gatsby had to be deployed overseas. While Gatsby was deployed, Daisy met a man by the name of Tom Buchanan, who she reluctantly married although she was still waiting for Gatsby. Carraway, the narrator of the book, moved in next to Gatsby and made friends with him. At some point Gatsby is shocked to find out that Daisy is Nick Carraway's cousin. They reunite, while still holding the same feelings for each other, and Daisy's husband isn't very fond of that. Tom is a rather brute person in my opinion, and although he loved Daisy, it doesn't seem that he cared too much because he was too concerned about being the "tough guy". This relates to the universal theme of secrets and lies because a lot of them were keeping secrets from each other.

Peyton McLendon

peytonmclendon10 — 2024-10-22 02:06:30 UTC

Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Jazz Age of 1925, The Great Gatsby is revered by many to be an American classic. The Great Gatsby follows Nick Carraway, a former U.S. soldier who served in the first World War. Seeking adventure and excitement after the war, Nick seeks to sell bonds and moves to New York in the fictional setting of West Egg located on the actual island of Long Island. Across the bay is East Egg, home to Nick's second cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan. Daisy grew up rich while Tom seemed to have peaked in life while in college. Along with these two, Nick meets Jordan Baker, a professional golf player who Nick starts to take a liking to. Beside Nick's house lives the great Jay Gatsby (whose real name is James Gatz). Gatsby was a wealthy man who lived in a mansion. Gatsby held parties often at his house which brought in huge numbers of people.

Gatsby is shown to have been in love with Daisy ever since they met which was the reason for all that he has done. Tom was shown to have been cheating on Daisy with a woman named Mrs. Wilson. On the way back from New York after a heated argument between Gatsby and Tom, Daisy runs over Mrs. Wilson, yet Gatsby takes the full blame for it. This eventually leads to his death at the hands of Mr. Wilson. Nobody shows up to his funeral except for his dad, Nick Carraway, and the priest. I chose this book because I had been wanting to read it for a while but had never got around to it. In the end, I really enjoyed this book and can see why it is regarded highly by many people. This book is linked to the universal theme of Sensuality and Desire. This is shown because everything that Gatsby did was for the desire to eventually be with Daisy and this passion is what eventually leads to his lonely downfall.

The Heart of Relationships

2024-10-22 02:23:18 UTC

My family has never been too close to each other, always closed off and doing our own separate thing- our lives only interfered when one part of our family struggled slightly too much. Other than that, we each left each other's struggles to be dealt with privately. It’s strange, thinking about it now. My family has always wanted to help others, but never really wanted to help each other. I never understood the importance of family bonds until one summer…the summer of 2020. My Papa had recently started a charity, one that I helped out with every now and then. Farm 2 Table - we fed the homeless with the fruits and veggies we grew, purchased meat from local businesses, drove to a certain location and cooked food for homeless and poor people for free. On this particular summer though, my Papa wanted to go big. He created the event, “Smoke Out Hunger 2020”, meant to bring people around to eat and be entertained, completely free (but donations are always welcome). My family, for those few days of preparation plus the big day, came to Little Rock and helped my Papa pull this off. We spent hours in that kitchen, peeling potatoes, opening cans, there was a constant buzz of people chattering as we worked. There was unity, and a realization to be made: my family, though distant, cared. Despite us not acting as such, we were all very important to each other. I slowly began to understand just how important my family was to me, as why we needed family as I worked alongside them. I hold my family very dear to me now, and I never claimed they weren’t important to me ever again.

Landen Thayn - The Great Gatsby

2024-10-22 02:24:13 UTC

This story is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, who moves from the Midwest to New York for a job. To sum up the book, Jay Gatsby and Daisy are lovers, but after Gatsby is sent off to war, Daisy gets married to Tom Buchanan. Because of this, Gatsby is determined to do whatever he can to get her attention and marry her. Unfortunately, he gains his wealth through organized crime and he ends up dying because of Daisy. I connected this book to the theme of sense and sensibility because Gatsby is motivated by heartbreak to become wealthy and live an extravagant lifestyle.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-22 02:26:18 UTC

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel written in first person limited from the perspective of Nick Carraway. The story follows Nick's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a young millionaire who is in love with a woman from his past named Daisy Buchanan. The novel tells of how Gatsby fabricates his past, claiming to be born into wealth, as well as fabricating his relationships, giving off the image that he has deep ties with the elite when in actuality they are mostly superficial and based on fake wealth. He does all of this in an attempt to attract Daisy.

Gatsby's obsession with Daisy quickly leads to his downfall, getting exposed for his shady business dealings and participation in an affair. The confrontations Gatsby experiences quickly lead to a series of tragic events which ultimately leads to his death. The story of gatsby ties back to the universal idea of secrets and lies (99), showing how Gatsby completely fabricates his backstory and wealth to impress and attract Daisy which ultimately leads to his demise.

Religion and Spirituality

2024-10-22 02:28:38 UTC

Back During the summer mid June, I lost someone who meant a lot to me and this had a very bad impact on my mental health. My anxiety skyrocketed out the roof and I couldn’t get my mind off of it at all. During this time I got really close to God. I started reading the bible throughout the day to the point where it was the only thing I was doing. I started praying throughout the day whenever I got the chance to. Ever since then I’ve devoted my life to God.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

2024-10-22 03:22:15 UTC

The main reason why I chose this book was because I’ve wanted to read it for a while now, and this just gave me an excuse to. The Great Gatsby is an account on the life of the wealthy and poor social classes. Separated by East and West Egg, east being where the old money people lived, and West Egg being where the people who worked for their money resided. Poor people lived in The Valley of Ashes. Throughout the beginning chapters, Gatsby is characterized as very illusive and mysterious and this is established by him not being introduced until the 3rd chapter. When I first started reading this book, the main theme I saw was the pursuit of wealth. This was because Nick Carraway was trying to grow wealthy, selling bonds, and he surrounded himself with the wealthy. Gatsby could also be used as an example because of his climb to wealth. Looking at the book as a whole, the prevailing theme in my opinion is love’s many forms. This theme didn’t appear to me until after Gatsby had been introduced and I learned more about his story. He based a lot of his life solely on wanting to be good enough for Daisy and to be able to provide for her. He wasn’t always wealthy like readers initially had thought. His motivation was wanting to be with Daisy. He went to the effort of buying the house directly across the shore from where Daisy lived. I interpreted the green light that he would stare at as symbolism for his love for her and his hopes of being with her.

Sophia Ashworth

2024-10-22 04:34:49 UTC

When I was younger my sport was always basketball, I had planned on doing it throughout my whole high school career. That was until one of my friends introduced me to volleyball. I had never even touched or thought about doing volleyball. After a little while, I was hooked. I had made my 7th grade volleyball team after trying out. My love for the game grew and grew as the years went on. My ninth grade year, I was getting to be a pretty good player and I had loved volleyball more than I ever had before. After a great school season, I was super excited for the club season. My season started off super strong and I was at my peak performance level that I had ever been at. My season was cut short though, due to a complete acl and meniscus tear. Recovery would be up to a year long. I had really improved after 3 months, but I still had to wait. After a long year went by without my favorite sport in my life I was finally cleared. I had put so much work in to get my muscles back and stronger than ever, so I was doing pretty well and felt really good about just getting off an injury. That was until I retore my meniscus in a hurdle incident. It made me feel like my year of work was just completely gone. I had to get another surgery and I felt like my life was over. My universal theme is fear of failure. I did not want to fail my team with yet another injury. I could not be there for my team in practices and I felt super defeated especially after just getting back. I had to learn to deal with injury and the exhaustion that comes with it, which took a little bit, but I eventually got there.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

2024-10-22 05:15:41 UTC

I chose to read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil based on a recommendation of the school’s librarian, Mrs. Vint. It appealed to me because, unlike some of the other books on the list, it was relatively more modern, had focus on legal court proceedings, and the synopsis of the book caught me off guard. The back of the book shows off some of the characters that the author met during his stay at an unassuming town and I was interested to see how those people tied into the true crime aspects of the novel. In the book the reader follows the author, a New York magazine editor who would spend his spare time traveling around the US. After he stumbles upon the welcoming, sweet city of Savannah, Georgia he decides to get a second residency there. Berendt in the first half of the book spends his time describing Savannah through the people he meets. He learns about the rigid social structure, how closed off Savannah is from the rest of the world, and what the social norms are. In the second half of the book, Berendt has a spotlight on the murder trials of an acquaintance he met. He was Jim Williams, a rich man who made his money selling antiques, and refurbishing houses. I could explain the stories of all the different people Berendt meets, but I think they are better experienced if you read them completely from the book. My favorite people though were The Lady Chablis and Emily Kelly. I think that one of the core themes of the book was man’s need for discovery. The author moved to Savannah to escape the busy everyday life of the city, and to discover what made the town so unique. He went out to talk to as many people as he could to piece together this mosaic of how people from different social groups affected each other to make up this whole story of the reactions they had to the rare change that was brought to the city. It’s a story that dives into discovering the complex lives of the people of Savannah, so that’s why I believe the universal idea fits.

Ankle Injury

2024-10-22 12:01:32 UTC

This past August on the second day of fall camp practices, I had a terrible ankle injury. I didn't really think much of it at the time because it was just a sprain and I have played through every sprain I have ever had. So I kept practicing and it wasn't getting any better so I started to tell my parents about what happened. Again, not thinking much of my ankle I played in the Blue and White scrimmage which ended up hurting it even more. I told my parents I needed to go to the doctor for it because I had never had anything that hurt that bad even while just doing simple things like walking or jumping. So I went to the doctor and the doctor thought that I had a bad sprain on the tendon between your Tibia an Fibula, so with that being said I ended up getting an MRI which came back and said that that was the case. After we found out it was for sure torn surgery was like instantly mentioned which was super scary for me to hear. But I ended up getting surgery on it and I have had a very aggravating and cautious healing process that I have had to fight through. I have had to push myself to even be able to start walking again, let alone running or even playing football yet. And overall this whole experience has been like a mountain for me to climb, I have faced adversity and will continue to do so until I am back to normal.

The Great Gatsby - Delilah Puchta

2024-10-22 13:11:46 UTC

The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a story about a rich man who lives his life on lies. He lies about how he gets his money and how he lives his life, and these lies all lead to his death. All of his bad buisness deals and alledged connection are revealed along with his participation in an affair. In the end everything is revealed and it shows that all the secrets and lies we keep do not do us any good and in the end might only hurt us.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - Ava Kelley

2024-10-22 13:23:32 UTC

The Great Gatsby is a book published in 1925 by author F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book takes place in the 1920s, and is narrated by Nick Carraway. This story is about a very wealthy man named Jay Gatsby who is in love with a woman named Daisy Buchanan. Jay and Daisy had a relationship before he left for World War I, and he tries to get back in touch with Daisy. This ends up leading to an affair which lead to a series of tragic and unexpected events happening.

I chose to read this book because I have heard good things about it and it seemed like a interesting read. I had also watched the movie in the past and really enjoyed it. I thought that the book was very similar but yet different from the movie. Although some people believe that this shows the theme of the American Dream, I disagree. The universal theme that correlates most with this story in my opinion is Secrets and Lies.

Korynn Teter

2024-10-22 13:29:07 UTC

I grew up in Missouri, in a tiny town of only 750 people. My elementary school had roughly 100 people total, and everyone knew everyone. There were no grocery stores or fast food restaurants around, so we would all go to the neighboring town, around the size of Greenbrier, for groceries and necessities. This was what I was used to, my small community where everything felt familiar to me. One day my dad got a job offer from an old colleague, but it was in Arkansas. He and my mom had long discussions on this but ultimately decided moving was the best choice for us, as it offered more money than what we had. My mom wanted my brother and I to be able to finish out our school year, so my parents did long distance until school was over. With my mom and I traveling to see him every other weekend in his apartment, as we were still house hunting. Eventually, the time came to move and my brother decided to come with us, instead of staying in Missouri with his dad. The day we left was filled with emotion. I was distraught, my grandma and I were both in tears, and I was not ready to go. The idea of leaving my home filled me with dread. I had not experienced any significant changes like this before, so it was overwhelming. It's human nature to resist change when everything you know is left behind. However it's good to let go of that and not let it hold you back from everything ahead of you.

Blake Starr

2024-10-22 13:36:00 UTC

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald starts his book with a quote from our narrator, Nick Carraway father saying, "Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages you have had." He then goes on to explain the setting which is a few miles away from New York city where there were two communities, the East egg and the West egg. He moved to the West Egg to learn the bond business, in a shack compared to his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, who was so rich and lived in a mansion. The West Egg was across the bay from the East Egg which so happened to be his cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom Buchanan’s house. The whole book is a twisted love story with our narrator, Nick being right in the middle of all of it. Keep in mind all of these characters are very messed up from the recent end of World War I. Tom had an affair with a girl named Myrtle Wilson in New York city who he does not hide at all. One day Tom takes Nick to meet his mistress which ends in a party with Nick getting drunk for the first time and Tom breaking his mistresses nose because he will not break up with his wife. The next afternoon, Nick gets invited to one of Jay's Gatsby's parties where he meets the mysterious man for the first time. Jay Gatsby’s Parties included a lot of drinking and his mansion being invaded with a bunch of nobodies which did not make much sense at first, but turned out he was hosting these parties in hopes for his last love Daisy to show up. Since this did not work, Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy to tea one day, so he could pop in and be reunited with her. Whenever they were reunited, Gatsby was very awkward and obsessive over Daisy. The next party that Gatsby hosted, Tom and Daisy showed up. This party consisted of Gatsby and Daisy dancing and sneaking off and Tom being un bothered by the fact knowing that Daisy is just leading him on. Tom, one evening invited Nick, Gatsby and Jordan to lunch where Daisy and Gatsby make eye contact and she mouthed to him that she loved him. Tom, again being unbothered because he knows that she is crazy and there whole goal was to give Gatsby false hope. Tom then decides that the 5 of them are going to the city together, where Daisy and Gatsby ride together in Toms car, and Nick, Jordan and Tom ride together in Gatsby's car. Tom stops to get gas in Gatsby's car at the place where his mistress and her husband work. Eventually Tom and Gatsby get into it over Daisy where Tom exposes Gatsby for being in sketchy businesses and Daisy finally stops leading Gatsby on saying,” Please Tom, I cannot stand this anymore.” With that being over Daisy and Gatsby start home in Gatsby's car, for whatever reason, whenever Tom's mistress jumps in front of Gatsby's car because she thought it was Tom, and she gets ran over, and Daisy and Gatsby keep on going. This made Myrtle Wilson's husband very upset and angry to where he went and searched to find who ran his wife over. Tom gave Myrtle Wilson's husband the name Gatsby and he went and shot Jay Gatsby and then himself although Daisy was driving and Tom was getting with Mr. Wilson's wife. This connects to the universal theme of secrets and lies because that's all this book is with Jay Gatsby dying because he still loved Daisy enough to take the blame for the hit and run. I chose this book because I was told it was the shortest although it was very complex and corrupt.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-22 14:17:06 UTC

I chose to read The Great Gatsby. I chose this book because this book was the shortest and because of the chase for love in this book. This book was not what I expected though. I think this book was a little crazy. The people in the book had known each other some way or another. Gatsby's way of trying to win back Daisy was weird, he shouldn't have tried to change or do everything to get her back.Gatsby was always trying to get Daisy's attention and love any way he could.

The help - power comes from risks - Baylee R

2024-10-22 14:27:16 UTC

The Help, based on a true story from Alabama in the 50’s and 60’s, right in the middle of the civil rights movement really taking off. This book shows how 2 women, both black and working for white families as their help, can really make a difference in the world when they’re given the chance. Skeeter, the white woman who writes the help in the story, takes risks on these women, publishing their stories without their names attached so as to not get them into any trouble, risks her job and her pending marriage by publishing this book. Aibilene and Minny, the two main women in the help both share their stories first, convincing other girls to share with Skeeter to make her book cause a change. These women gained a new power from this book being published, and knowing that their lives were being read not just in Alabama, but everywhere. Without them taking the risk, they wouldn’t have ever gotten the power to work for their rights as US citizens.

Clayton Freeman

2024-10-22 14:34:42 UTC

I chose Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because the title intrigued me. The story centers on Jim Williams, who is accused of murdering his lover, Danny Hansford, and endures four trials before being acquitted. This narrative explores the universal theme of the balance between good and evil. Although Williams’s acquittal seems like a victory, his sudden death from a mysterious heart attack eight months later adds a poetic twist, evoking the idea of cosmic justice. This book captivated me not only with its plot but also with its deeper reflections on morality and the complexities of human experience.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2024-10-22 15:08:29 UTC

The Great Gatsby is an interesting book with a quite different approach on the time period known as the roaring 20s. This book is about a rich man in the 1920s, Jay Gatsby, who lives in a mansion and has a large, luxurious car. Gatsby, who was poor at the time, was in love with Daisy, who was wealthy, but went to fight in World War 1, and was separated for some time as a result. Daisy married a rich man named Tom, and when Gatsby found out, he was devastated. He bought a mansion and a nice car near her in an attempt to impress her. He often hosted parties with many people present, and eventually would invite Daisy to try to win her back. Gatsby is confident at some point that he won her back, but she doesn't separate from Tom, who had been disloyal to her. Tom tries to win her over again, and exposes Gatsby's sources of wealth. He's confident and assertive, so he sends her in the car with Gatsby. Tom's mistress, Myrtle, tries to flag down the car, but is ran over and killed. Tom and Myrtle's husband George were angry and upset, and George went to Gatsby's house and shot him in the pool, then himself. Not many attended Gatsby's funeral, the only notable ones being the narrator Nick and Gatsby's father. One of the main themes throughout this story is the destruction that comes out of chasing wealth and trying to win people over, and how corruption is present throughout.

Macie Oliver

2024-10-22 15:14:33 UTC

I've had many experiences but one really stuck out to me. For many years of growing up I would tell myself I'm not growing up yet, or that I'm not ready too. But until my brother moved out it didn't feel real. Not only did my brother leave for college but he moved 22 hours away which made me realize that I couldn't run down the hall anymore to tell my brother about my day, I couldn't bring back our childhood memories anymore. He lived in Idaho for almost year, and thorugh out that year I notice it was time to realize that we are really growing up. He is now back in Arkansas living right next store to me with a wife, and 2 jobs.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

2024-10-22 15:37:36 UTC

I chose midnight in the garden of good and evil primarily because it revolved around legal court proceedings. In the book the audience follows the main character, a magazine editor, who travels around the US. At this time he is in a sweet town in Georgia and he decides to stay and reside there. He describes savannah and the social norms in great detail with other characters he meets throughout the book. Later on as the book progresses you also get to enjoy a murder case of a male shooter. This book connects with the universal idea of crime and law.

Isaac Theis

2024-10-22 15:38:34 UTC

Of all the experiences one from my time at band camp really stuck out to me and showed me the importance of my values. After a week of having fun at camp, I felt like I never wanted to leave. The final day was upon me and I was getting ready for my final performance when I saw my family in the crowd. At that point I had realized how much I missed them during my week without them, although I did have a fun time I had this underlying feeling that something was wrong but I couldn't pinpoint it until I saw them. The whole performance I saw them looking and cheering for me, it made me so happy I couldn't wait to be back home. After the performance we went out to eat and I will never forget that Big Mac, it was probably the best burger I have ever had just because of the circumstances. This experience taught me the importance of my family in my everyday life.

Isaac Theis

2024-10-22 15:47:40 UTC

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, follows Nick Carraway and his trip to the upper east coast for a summer. Nick finds himself meeting up with his second cousin, Daisy Buchannan, and her husband Tom. After hearing about this mysterious charioteer Gatsby, Nick is invited to one of Gatsby's parties and meets the man himself. Gatsby is more pathetic than Nick first thinks but it is eventually revealed that Gatsby is madly in love with Daisy. Wanting to help is new friend/neighbor out, Nick gets the two alone together in which they have a very nice evening. Gatsby is even more madly in love now having spent time with Daisy, taking her to town in his car. This leads to Daisy running over Mertyl and killing her, in which Gatsby takes the blame and eventually gets killed for it. This story shows the lows that love can bring you to, eventually until you put their own life over yours as Gatsby did.

Salter Mahan

2024-10-22 15:56:07 UTC

The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I chose this book because it's the shortest option and I thought the cover looked dope. I connected this book to the universal theme of the nature of humanity. Examples of this are how Jay Gatsby throws lavish parties to try to impress Daisy, his lost love. However Gatsby's obsession with the past leads to his eventual downfall and death.

Consideration of Differing Perspectives

2024-10-22 15:58:15 UTC

I have been interested in politics and social issues for quite some time now, probably around 5 years at this point. My interest grew significantly during 2020, one of the most chaotic and aggressive election years ever in American history. While my interest grew, my bias grew towards one side. I listened to political news podcasts, read articles, watched videos, etc., but only on one side of the political spectrum. I believed I was correct in doing this and that I had no need to change my views or consider others. As time has gone by since 2020, I've still been paying some attention to politics and social issues, but I've realized that I was wrong in my ways of consideration, causing heavy bias and a skewed mindset. Since I've realized this, I've made efforts to get rid of my skewed mindset while still retaining my values and principles. I now attempt to view all issues, political or not, from a centrist standpoint without letting bias get in the way. This has helped in my understanding of many things, and has helped in settling things as well. This connects to the universal ideas of change and understanding.

Great Gatsby

2024-10-22 16:03:45 UTC

“The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a tragic love story with very real commentary towards American life. This Novel starts off with our narrator Nick Carraway, a war veteran, returning home from World War 1. Originally living in Minnesota he decides to travel to New York to get into the bond business. The New York setting is divided into an East and West egg. The West egg is classified as “New Money” and is the less fashionable of the two, this is where Nick settled. Also living on west egg there's Jay Gatsby, a mysterious but wealthy man, neighbors with Nick, living in a luxurious mansion in Long island. The east egg is seen as “Old Money”, with more arrogance surrounding it. Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom Buchanan live on east egg, Daisy is cousins with Nick. Nick attends to one of Daisys and Toms dinner parties

where it's revealed that Tom has a mistress living in New York. We later learn that this woman is Myrtle Wilson, married to George Wilson, owner of a gas station and auto repair shop. We also learn that Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan had a relationship in the past. This is where we learn one of the central conflicts of the novel. Jay Gatsby wants to win back Daisy after 5 years of being away at war, Tom is married to Daisy while having an affair with Myrtle. The main question is who is Daisy going to pick? Gatsby or Tom? At the end Daisy accidentally runs over Myrtle while driving Gatsby's car and George Wilson shoots Gatsby because of this incident. Ultimately at the end of the novel Daisy chooses Tom, Tom was there when Gatsby got sent to war and provided a wealthy status for Daisy. Wealthiness mattered much more to Daisy than Love could ever. I think this book demonstrates corruption and yearning, the valley of ashes is a great example of this. Nick spends a while describing this “valley of ashes” between west egg and manhattan where society breaks down and loses all rules and becomes corrupt. This is where you see the line between rich and poor, where you see what actually matters to some of these people and this government. There's many universal themes that could connect to this book but a big one I see is the pursuit of wealth. This book is about romance and what heavily influences romance during this time and in this book is social class and wealth. Even if Daisy did truly love Gatsby, she would of ever married him, she cared a lot more about Tom's wealth and status.

Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger

2024-10-22 16:19:25 UTC

I chose this book because as a football player I thought that it would be interesting to learn about another football team and their successes and failures. Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger is based on the town of Odessa Texas. Bissinger focuses his experiences as he shadows the Permian Panthers, the highschool football team, during their 1988 season. During his experiences with the team, he highlights the town's focus, which is on the football team. The town of Odessa finds community and pride centered around the football team, but sometimes to an almost extreme extent. Bissinger also focuses on Coach Gaines and some of the players on the team such as Boobie Miles, Mike Winchell, and Tim Riggins. These characters face high expectations from the community and are expected to perform well. The book also highlights the unfairness in academics that non-football players face. Football players have academics much easier due to the people wanting them to play. Academics are treated as non-important in comparison to football. This book relates to the universalizing theme of Sports and Competition. This is because the book is based on Odessa’s football team and their wins and losses throughout the season.

Personal Experience

2024-10-22 16:37:48 UTC

My personal experience with the central theme of crime and law is when my parents got a divorce four years ago. This relates to the theme because my parents both had lawyers and had to come to agreements on what they split. They had been married for 12 years and in a relationship since they were 16. This affected the way I looked at relationships because of how young they were when they met. It made me want to get married later on in life instead of so early because I felt like they didn't get to experience things they should have because of their relationship.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

2024-10-22 17:03:19 UTC

I chose this book because it sounded pretty interesting. In the book Maya Angelou talks about her experiences as a black girl in the south. She explains how when she was 3 her parents got divorced which led to her living with her grandma, who they call mamma, in Arkansas. She explains how it was painful having been abandoned by her parents. She also describes how she was insecure about herself thinking she was ugly. Later on in the book she voices her struggles such as racism and trauma she went through. Maya went through a phase where she wouldn’t talk and was silent and her family got frustrated with her after she was doing it for a while. The racism was pretty bad and Momma wanted the children to be in a safer environment so she saves money so they can go with Vivian. They live with Vivian who marries Clidell and they move to San Francisco. Maya spent a summer with her father whose girlfriend had cut Maya in a fight. This caused Maya to run away and live with a group of homeless teens. Angelou then returns to San Francisco more confident and she becomes the first streetcar conductor at age 15. She then gets pregnant and hides it till she graduates high school. She was a confident mother to her newborn son. This relates to the universal idea of a journey of self discovery because Angelou went through a lot of things but in the end found out who she was.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

2024-10-22 18:01:18 UTC

Written by Maya Angelou, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings describes the life of a black girl in southern America during the 1930's and 40's. Deep southern racism manifested from her youth leads her to believe she is less than others, even when she is only a little girl. Maya shares her trauma, discussing the occurrences of sexual abuse from her biological mother's live in boyfriend, who is later violently murdered. She forever caries the guilt and shame of sexual abuse, eventually not talking to anyone except her sister. She moves back with her grandmother, where she strengthens within her community finding religious revival against white supremacist. This ultimately relates to the universal theme of coming of age.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

2024-10-22 21:38:44 UTC

The book I chose to read for this entry was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. In my process of picking out a book to read, I first scanned the titles of all of the books. Skimming past “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, I was immediately intrigued. Why did the caged bird sing? After seeing this title, I looked up the main themes in this book, as it was an integral part of the assignment as a whole, and I looked up the back cover of the book with a summary. The few words that both the back cover of Angelou’s book and the google search of themes in this book highlighted stood out to me greatly. After analyzing the choices of literature, I ultimately chose Angelou’s autobiography as I thought she would have a thing or two to teach me, which she did. I also thoroughly loved the idea that this book would actually make me think. Later, I also realized that she had a childhood in Arkansas as well, so I figured that fun little quip would allow me to at least relate in some way to her. As Angelou's autobiography starts out, it's set in the late 20’s as Maya is a 3 year old girl headed to Stamps, Arkansas with her older brother, Bailey, as their parents had just gotten divorced and they were going to live with their paternal grandmother, Momma. Throughout her memoir, set mainly in the 30’s and 40’s, Angelou explores themes of identity, racism, trauma, and resilience. As an insecure child Angelou felt waves of abandonment as her parents abandoned her and she found herself searching for stability. In Stamps she found stability through her Momma and Mrs. Bertha Flowers, and even her brother Bailey. Maya was a very observant child, but she found herself even more observant and even mute for a while after she had been sexually abused by her mothers boyfriend, Mr.Freeman. This cruel experience that she faced forever changed her. At 8 years old she went to trial for this assault, and came out believing that she was not worthy, and that if she were to talk, she would harm someone. She was the caged bird who had yet learned how to use its voice. During this time she finds comfort in literature, that's her stability. As she grew, sure she faced even more hardships like moving to San Francisco and having a baby in High School, but she also grew to be successful and in her resilience she found her voice and was able to express her true identity in a world that often seeks to silence it. Maya was the bird that sang to advocate. I believe that piece of literature is a work of art. This book is one of the most beautiful texts I have ever read. The perspective and mindset that Angelou holds is pulchritudinous. I am filled with astonishment over the metaphor of the caged bird. It just reminds me of the delicacy of life, yet the complexity. The way that she distinguishes her feelings of feeling trapped due to racism, trauma, and oppression through this metaphor is so intelligent, especially emotionally intelligent. Her ability to transform her personal pain into a source of empowerment is heartbreaking yet uplifting. She is so honest and vulnerable, allowing readers to genuinely feel connected to her struggles and all of her wins. Her book is not just a personal account of her life, I would also consider it a source of inspiration for anyone who has faced any adversity. Maya Angelou is a light of hope and a testament to what extraordinary will can do for you in a world that seems to be out for you. Her book is a key example of the theme of the journey to self-discovery. Even with all of her hardships, she was still able to persevere through in order to find her true identity (what I would say is the core theme of the book), her voice, and how to express it.

Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2024-10-23 00:27:56 UTC

Apart from it being the length that was most attainable by the due date for this assignment, I wanted to read this book, because I had several family members who claimed to have enjoyed reading it. This book was about the story of a character named Nick Carraway, who moved to New York after returning from war, and becomes a part of his neighbor Gatsby's wealthy and lavish way of life. After learning that Gatsby has previously been in a relationship with his cousin Daisy, and is still madly in love with her, Gatsby asks Nick to arrange a time for them to meet up in hopes to rekindle their relationship and win her back from her now husband, Tom. Daisy and Tom’s marriage was filled with secrets and unfaithfulness, as Tom was already having an affair with a lady from the valley of ashes, and Daisy’s rekindled flame with Gatsby led to an affair as well. Although Daisy was aware of these affairs, she chose to overlook them in order to keep enjoying the comforts of her luxurious and wealthy life. However, these unfaithful acts inevitably led to severe consequences. Daisy hit Myrtle (Tom’s mistress) with a car, which happened to be Gatsby’s. In an attempt to save his wife, Tom told the deceased woman's husband that it was Gatsby that was responsible for his wife's death. Overcome by his own grief and desire for justice, Myrtle's husband found Gatsby and shot him in the comfort of his own home. I think that this story can best relate to the universal idea “The pursuit of wealth.” I think this because even if Daisy’s love was for Gatsby, her allegiance was with Tom, because of his wealth and fortune. These are the values and morals that are followed by her due to the influence that money had on the society of her time.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-23 13:59:01 UTC

The Great Gatsby is a book that was published by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The book is about a wealthy man, Jay Gatsby, being in love with a woman named Daisy Buchanan, and rekindling their relationship before Gatsby left for World War 1. Gatsby and Daisy were able to rebuild their prior relationship, but it leads to an affair since Daisy is married to a man named Jay Buchanan. The affair was eventually revealed to Tom and Gatsby demanded that Daisy tell Jay she never loved him, leaving Daisy at a crucial decision. Daisy’s husband Tom was having an affair with Mertyle Wilson, and near the end of the novel Daisy murders her in Gatsby’s car. George Wilson, thinking Gatsby murdered his wife, shoots Gatsby and kills him, and in the end, Daisy ends up picking her husband Tom even though she is aware of what was happening behind her back. The universal theme that this easily ties into is Secrets and Lies tangled behind all of the cheating and the secrets that are kept from one another.

Walden

2024-10-23 14:06:45 UTC

I chose to read Walden by Henry David Thoreau, because it was about his experiences in the woods and I enjoy being in the woods so it sounded like a book I would enjoy. The book was very good because it taught me many different things. It taught me to live life simply because if you keep wanting more and more life can get out of hand. Be thankful for what you have and find excitement in anything that happens. This book goes with the Universal theme of journey of self discovery. The book Walden goes with this universal theme because Henry was trying to understand himself. He was also growing in becoming self reliant.

Bonds

2024-10-23 14:07:32 UTC

When I was about ten years old, a young boy, I typically didn't spend much time outside. My family consisted of(and still does) 4 brothers and a sister (I was the oldest), my mother was a nurse before my brother was born but after the third child she began to stay at home to take care of us, my father worked as a roofer for as long as I’ve known. Since my family kept growing I kinda isolated myself from school friends and any activities that I could or would be invited to, I opted rather to play video games as they allowed me to connect with people without having to leave my home, a way for me to continue watching my siblings when needed and for me to make friends that I could talk to. This went on for a while and I thought that it would continue to go on for, well, until I graduated high school I guess. But life isn’t always so simple. One night when I was busy playing my game and chatting with online friends my mother passed in her bathroom. The design of our home put us at opposite ends, with me being on one edge and her on the other. I don’t quite remember why I went to see or how it happened but I did and I saw her lying on the ground. I won't go into much more detail but it was pretty traumatic for me and caused me to even further isolate myself in school. It was only after she passed that I realized how little I actually knew, how little I thought of her, and now that she's gone I regret that everyday, so I spend most of my time with people forming important connections and relationships with them. I believe this event relates to the theme of The Heart Of Relationships, even though my relationship with my mother was not particularly close, I feel like the status of my relationships have changed due to the loss of my mother and I don't feel the regret of not knowing someone well enough again. There's a common saying that you don’t know how important something is until it’s gone, I don’t want to wait until something is gone to determine its importance to me.

Walden - Carson Stell

2024-10-23 14:18:36 UTC

The book Walden, written by Henry David Thoreau, is a book written almost entirely with metaphors, understood to be a self help book by some. This writing originally caught my eye due to the summary given to me by Mr. Kennedy. He described it as a book about a man who leaves the modern world to find himself, and he told me that reading it was life-changing to him. Walden explores ideas of self reliability, independence, and living a simplistic lifestyle in order to find ones self.

Enoch Assan

2024-10-23 14:33:34 UTC

The Great Gatsby By Scott Fitzgerald

The real reason why I chose this book Being 100% Truthful is because it was the shortest book of them all. But I did enjoy the story a lot. This book was a love story that never had a happy ending. Gatspy was supposed to get with Daisy but Daisy's deceptiveness and dishonesty got him killed. The universal Idea i Chose for this book was Secret and Lies. Because of all the lies daisy told Gatspy (or lead him on to believing) he ended up losing his life just because daisy is dishonest.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

wilsonryleigh26 — 2024-10-23 15:20:30 UTC

In her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou shares her experiences growing up in the south as an African American in the 1930s. When she is 3-years-old, her and her brother are sent to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. In her time there, she discovers that she, as well as other African Americans, are viewed as inferior by white folk because of the color of their skin. Well established racism in the south inclines Maya to believe she is worthless. Throughout the book, she discusses her struggles with racism and sexual abuse, which she is able to overcome as reading becomes her refuge. She triumphs her trials and tribulations and is able to find intellectual rejuvenation against white supremacy. This correlates with the universal theme of the journey of self-discovery. Throughout Maya’s entire life, she struggles with identity and self-worth, but she is ultimately able to overcome her trauma and come out on top.

A Hangman's Diary: Journal of Master Franz Schmidt

2024-10-23 20:08:20 UTC

A Hangman's Diary written by Franz Schmidt including a foreword by C. Calvert, is a book that details many of the executions and punishments given by Franz Schmidt. The book itself is much older than the current printing, the current printing includes a foreword about the criminal process of Nuremberg for the time and what led up to the current system that Franz Schmidt would have been a part of. I believe that A Hangman's Diary can be presented for the universal idea of Crime and Punishment due to its educational nature on the process for those who have been accused of a crime and its punishment for many of these crimes. Some of the punishments included in the book include the Wheel, Hanging, Drowning, Beheading, and Burning (though burning seemed rather rare). A thief would usually be hung as hanging was seen as a dishonorable punishment, if the thief was lucky he would be upgraded to a beheading which was a seen as an honorable way to be executed. If a thief was hung his body would be left to hang there until it was rotted or had been eaten by the carrion birds. Some would be hung in public squares. As a rule of thumb, women were never hung. The only case where a woman was hung is noted by Franz Schmidt as exceptionally rare and a first for Nuremberg. Murderers were usually beheaded, but if the murder was exceptionally horrid then they would be broken on the wheel or killed and then exposed on the wheel. The wheel was a punishment where your bones would be broken with a wheel until the killing blow was administered some 30-40 hits later. Then your body would be strung on the wheel and left to stay as it was held up by a pole. Drowning was a punishment reserved for women who had committed infanticide, the original punishment for women who had committed infanticide was to be buried alive but the practice was seen as cruel so it was changed to drowning. With the help of Franz Schmidt, the punishment of drowning was upgraded to a beheading for infanticidal women. Though, from the details in the diary, it seems that many women were still drowned if the crime was horrid enough. I had chosen this book because I have heard about it before and it interested me, the topic of execution and old customs is a very fun topic to me, and I wanted to have an excuse to read this book and a way to force myself since I can only force myself to read books. I think that this was a very interesting and fun book. This book was originally published in the 1920's and you can tell from the foreword with how many old words there were, I had to look up many of the words. The foreword itself started out boring but when it got to the execution part and the process of how to determine if someone is guilty it got more interesting. Mainly because then it started dealing with how the criminal process worked in Nuremberg and the punishments that they would use. The book even details an execution that Franz Schmidt did not include in his diary, the execution of his brother-in-law. Now, when we get to the actual diary itself this was probably the most fun part of the book. It gives insight into how what crimes people would commit and be punished for and really makes you feel as if you were there with him hearing about these crimes. All of these crimes were horrid, but sometimes it is funny at what would get you to be executed. An example being that a butcher was hung for selling dog meat as mutton. But it's also fun for me to see the horrid crimes that were committed, and some of them stay with me. One specific one I remember is a murderer who cut open the stomaches of 4 pregnant ladies while they were still alive. I understand that people have not really changed over the years but it really is hard to believe that something like that could happen today, in the day and age that we are in. I would rate this book very highly and suggest it to anyone with the stomach to handle the contents within. This book taught me that the neck of a decapitated person can be called the "trunk" like a tree trunk, and that is indispensable knowledge. All in all, very fun book, 10/10, would read again, and I will probably read it again just to read the executions again.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

2024-10-24 13:07:12 UTC

In Maya Angelou’s memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou describes her journey of self discovery as an African American woman in the 1930s and 40s. She realizes that at an early age that black people are viewed as inferior to white people, which shakes her self confidence. The story explores how she copes with racism and sexual abuse. I chose this book because of the title, where a lot of characters could represent the caged bird.

Bryan Escobar

2024-10-24 13:11:44 UTC

When I was younger every year when Christmas comes, I get super excited. I hang my stockings and imagine Santa coming down the chimney with gifts. My friends talk about seeing him on Christmas Eve, and I really believe them. I write him a letter with my wishes and hope he gets it. The lights on the tree make me feel happy, thinking about how he brings joy. Even if some say he’s a myth or legend, I loved believing in him because it’s what made Christmas so special to me.

Bryan Escobar

2024-10-24 13:38:52 UTC

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” is a short story by Harlan Ellison that explores the theme of humans versus machines through the terrible experience the last five surviving humans had to go through in a post-apocalyptic world. The malevolent supercomputer, AM(Allied Mastercomputer, has annihilated humanity except for these individuals Benny, Gorrister, Nimdok, Ted, and Ellen and tortures them endlessly. The story goes into the psychological and physical suffering AM puts the remaining survivors through, highlighting AM’s overwhelming power and the helplessness of the humans. This book shows the dangers of technology when it gains sentience and the potential for it to become a tyrant over its creators. Overall, it reflects on the fragility of humanity in the face of an all-controlling machine.

Family

2024-10-24 14:34:10 UTC

A few years ago my grandpa died of leukemia. And then just recently we figured out that my mother is lacking white blood cells, the cause of leukemia. She doesn’t have it but it is possible she could in the future. Ever since I figured out about that I have felt bad about never seeing her because of school and work. I have been trying to find more ways to spend time with my family, take them out to eat, go shopping, anything to have time with them. Anything could happen at any time and you never know when you could lose someone you love.

2024-10-24 15:04:44 UTC

I Chose the book 1984 by George Orwell.

Winston Smith - Main character
O'brien - party member/ Main Antagonist
Concepts and ideas / entries
A lot of these concepts of a overpowering government can relate to today
Characters treated as kids and always watched
Innocent people get charged with crimes for weird rules

I chose this book because it seemed interesting to read. The more I read the more I began to realize how controlled Winston and the other characters were, but also how there is no escape from Big Brother. Throughout the book you mainly follow Winston's perspective seeing how he lives his life, he also avoids the government's laws and rebels to have some sort of freedom. I overall enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you like conspiracies and theories. The theme of this book is to prevent totalitarianism and protect your freedom. This is also a universal idea in itself.

Lora Hartwick

2024-10-24 15:50:55 UTC

Friday night lights is a book published in 1990 by H.G. Bissinger. The book takes place in 1988 in Odessa, Texas. At first glance it seems that it would talk about a team. Although it does talk about a team I believe it is more about a town that is centered around high school football. In this book there is a boy named Boobie. He is the most athletic and best player at football, but he gets hurt and ends up tearing a ligament in his knee. So the team has to do without him. This town loves football. Every Friday night the whole town is at the football field cheering on the team. After a while he pretends everything is fine and goes to a game. The coach doesn’t want to put Boobie in seeing he might get hurt worse, but with the team failing Boobie gets put into the game and hopefully wins the game. Soon after Boobie gets hurt and can no longer play football. The team now has to push on without him to get to the state championship and win. The whole town is pressuring them and they will let the whole town down if they don't win. With this pressure they push through they have to win one more game to secure a spot in the playoffs but they lose so it's a three way tie all in the hands of a coin flip. They win the coin flip with tails. They go on throughout the playoff until they are left with the final team to win the state championship. This team is big. They get hammered in the first half but eventually find each other and their perfect and it comes to a close game but ultimately they lose. Against all odds the town isn’t too mad and new relationships are formed and ultimately they learn there is always next season. The universal theme of this book is even after experiencing winning and losing, they come together.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-24 16:06:06 UTC

For my book, I chose The Great Gatsby. I have been meaning to read this book for a very long time, but never found the time to. The Great Gatsby is a novel published and written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The book is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, focusing on his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, the wealthy mystery man who hosts lavish parties, and no one seems to know anything about. The narrative told by Nick highlights the past relationship between Gatsby and his past lover, Daisy Buchanan, who is also his cousin. Daisy and Gatsby had a very meaningful relationship, however, when Gatsby was sent away to war, Daisy ended up getting married to a man named Tom Buchannan. After he returned from war, everything that Gatsby did was to impress his past lover. His mansion was decorated in such a way that Daisy would have loved, the parties he through were extravagant, in hopes that Daisy would attend. He also often gazed at the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, symbolizing his longing for her, and hoping to rekindle their past relationship. However, at the end of the book, we find out that Daisy was not everything Gatsby thought she would be. Gasby’s realization of Daisy relates to the idea of idealized love. Gatsby’s love for Daisy is based on an idealized version of her from his past. He clings to memories in the hope that his reunion with her will be as perfect as the first time, but in reality, they are both flawed, complicated humans.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks- By Rebecca Skloot

2024-10-24 16:09:16 UTC

In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot goes through progressive detail on not only the life she lived before she died, but the family she left behind that had no idea of her immortal cells. To begin, the book explains the life Henrietta lived before passing away. The text emphasizes the wonderful woman she was, she was fearless, smart, and independent. Something I internally connected to, was her obligation to keep her pain hidden from even Alher family. She never complained of the tumor she knew was evolving in her cervix. She did mention the concerning lump to her close girl-friends and they pushed her to get treatment. When she finally reported to the hospital, despite the racial discrimination of the healthcare system, they told her she needed to start radiation therapy promptly. On her first operation of radiation therapy, is the time when the surgeon took a sample to experiment on. Samples taken from her were not confirmed by her, which made her family very unforgiving to find out about. Her daughter, Deborah Lacks, gave Skloot many personal characteristics of Henrietta and emotionally provides her appreciation and love for her mom throughout the book. She expresses the anger that Henrietta's cells were taken from her, and that in the end, her name was kept a secret. Henrietta died on October 4, 1951, after the cancer progressively worsened and the radiation failed to succeed. Although, her family brings peace to her memory that she helps develop new treatments and cures more and more everyday from her immortal cells. The universal themes I connected to this book are The Power Struggle and Family bonds. Power struggle relates because Henrietta struggled to pay the bills and fight off her cancer. Although her family feel empathy for the girl they lost, they still come together to represent her and get her name known, for her immortal cells.

alex hall

2024-10-24 17:28:56 UTC

The memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou shows her learning who she is, while facing the harsh prejudice as a Black Woman. She had to learn how to cope with the racism she faced early on, and how to cope with her being physically violated at a young age. This memoir shows a great example of loss childhood innocence, since she speaks out about her experiences as a young girl.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-24 19:54:35 UTC

The book I chose was The Great Gatsby. The cover caught my eye, and it seemed like a book I would be interested in and could understand. The Great Gatsby is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925. The book’s narrator is a guy named Nick Carraway. He mainly talks about this next-door neighbor whose name is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is a wealthy man, who used to not be so wealthy, who throws/hosts these extravagant parties, and it seems not many people know about them. He was in love with a girl named Daisy and was not allowed to be with her because he was not rich. So he became rich and hosted those parties in hopes Daisy would come back to him. Even though she was married to another guy, named Tom. I would relate this book to the universal theme of love’s many forms. I would relate this book to that theme because Daisy used to love Gatsby, now she’s married to Tom, but still flirts with Gatsby and leads him on, then finally cuts things off with Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby- Katelyn S

2024-10-25 03:51:55 UTC

I chose The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald because it is praised for its exploration of human relationships and the way it portrays the complexities of love and identity. As I read, what stood out to me was how the novel portrays unrequited love and the destructive power of your past. A universal theme that could apply to this is tragedy and triumph. Throughout the book we see Jay Gatsbys rise and fall in his life. The triumph of his wealth and success was ultimately overshadowed by the tragedy of human corruption and his unfulfilled dreams.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-25 15:40:13 UTC

I chose the book The Great Gatsby because it is a well renowned book and has even had multiple movies made of it. I would say that this book is not as much of an amazing book as some say. This book connects to the universal theme of love’s many forms. This is because many characters in the story do not stay true to their love and this leads to tragedy. Most of these characters are married however almost none of them stay faithful to their partners and because of all of that one of the spouses is angered and ends up killing Gatsby.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-27 21:08:49 UTC

I chose the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald because I have never read it before, and it seemed like it would be an interesting book to read. Even though it did have some good messages behind it, it would not be my #1 recommendation for readers due to the fact that it could have been more interesting. In the book, Gatsby and Daisy have a relationship, but once Gatsby was sent to war, Daisy ended up in a relationship with Tom Buchanan. Gatsby still had the determination to get Daisy’s attention, and fight for something that he had loved. This connects with the themes that were present throughout the book which were “The pursuit of happiness,” and “ The Heart of Relationships.” Gatsby was continuing to fight for Daisy for his happiness, and their relationship was important to him.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-28 02:13:23 UTC

I chose The Great Gatsby because it was recommended to me by my aunt. Although this book can be considered a short read, it has great detailing and symbols within. Even though the detailing adds a lot of volume to the book, I found the book boring at times, and would not recommend it for that reason. To begin, readers meet a character named Nick, a man looking for an opportunity to make money. In order to accomplish his plan, he moves to become a bond seller. Once moved in, Nick meets his neighbor “James Gatsby”. A lot is said about him, but little is known. Nick eventually learns that Daisy, who is his cousin, and James once had a deep relation. This ended when James went off the war and Daisy found someone else. In order to get Daisy back, James becomes this great rich man and impresses her. Eventually towards the end of the book, a fellow friend, Myrtle, is killed. Her husband is convinced it was James who murdered her, so he plans his revenge. He arrives at James’ house, where he shoots him in the pool and then himself. Nick, after what all has happened, moves back home, and the book is finished. I believe that the theme of the book is that although past times can sometimes be difficult, we must move past them and better ourselves. This book also relates to the universal theme of “The Heart of Relationships”. This is seen with Daisy and James’ relationship.

The Garden of Good and Evil

2024-10-28 02:31:34 UTC

In the book In the Garden of Good and Evil the author uses characters, and setting to represent the “dark side” of the bustling Savannah. Upon arriving in Savannah the author is immediately overwhelmed with the bright lights, while also diving into the mystery of the darker parts. Getting into the first few chapters the author is introduced to an assortment of unique characters, each character special to the city. With each character, the author then goes into a deeper dive of the very widespread categories that the city he is in holds. These characters describe the bright city of Savannah. The use of diction for the characters, relates to the universal topic the nature of humanity. Each person is very unique and has a very specific buildup of their past leading up to the Future. No one is the same just like every city covering the city is not the same. there's so much mystery to be uncovered in this bright City and there's so much history and backstory to uncover as you explore. Looking back through the book I can only be even more impressed with the in-depth descriptions of the characters that relate to the big bustling city of Savannah Georgia.

Survival and Hope (Jadyn Atkinson)

2024-10-28 02:42:08 UTC

Anytime my family drives through Houston, Texas, I get horrendous memories. These memories are of a time when I was around 10 years old. My dad often traveled for his work and sometimes my mom, sister and I would join him. What happened on this random Saturday is something I only saw in my nightmares. Friday morning, we all hopped into my dad’s truck and we’re headed on our way. The drive was just a normal road trip with random bathroom breaks at gas stations and many naps. After what felt like forever, we finally made it. The rest of Friday afternoon was normal, however, I had no idea what was in store for the next day. The next morning, my dad had a meeting very early in the morning. This left my mom, my sister and I with no vehicle. There was also no where in walking distance. This left us to call an Uber. This was a new experience for us. Mom made the call and shortly our Uber was there to pick us up. Our plan was to go to the movie theaters, about 25 minutes away. However, our Uber driver had other plans. We got in the car and noticed that he did not speak English very well. This made it very difficult to communicate with him. As we started heading down the road, we noticed that he was taking a lot of back roads. My mom asked, “Why aren’t we taking the interstate?” From what I could make from his accent and multiple language changes throughout his sentences, he said, “the interstates are closed.” Though at first this might seem odd, we did remember that on our way up to Houston there was a lot of construction. However, shortly after he says this we started to get suspicious. He pulls into a Dollar General parking lot and goes into the backroad that leads to a Dead End. My mom had already been on the phone with the police for 5 mins now, although she wasn’t able to talk to the 911 operator she put the phone down so they could listen. When we were at the end of the road there was this old run down house. He parked at this scary house and looked back at us and demanded money in his thick accent which was hard to decipher. At this point in story is where the universal idea of Survival and Hope comes in. My sister and I instantly felt hopeless. We were both crying and freaking out, as we had no idea what was going to happen. My mom however went into survival mode. She started yelling at the man. He just kept saying, “get out, and give me money.” As my mom swears to this day, he looked down at her phone and noticed the police on call. After noticing this, he instantly panicked and drove us to the Dollar General that we had passed. As he parks, we try to get out until he locks the doors and one last time says, “give me money.” While he may have had the doors locked, we remebered you can just pull up on the lever to unlock the door. We hurried out of the car and into the Dollar General, where we found a close by worker. We told her the situation and she emediately called the police. The whole time, he is still sitting in the parking lot. About 10 minutes later he pulls out and leave. Not even 30 seconds later the police pull in. We filled reports and took procedures from that day on for our safety. Once again, this connects to the Universal Theme of ,Survival and Hope. We had to think smart and have a lot of hope to be able to survive the situation. This helped make sure the situation did not escalate and just maybe, my life was saved that day because of this theme.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-28 12:37:28 UTC

In the book Friday Night Lights, there is multiple hardships among players, coaches, and students. But, my big concern is Boobie. You see Boobie was the starting running back for the Panthers, but right after training season, and before the actual season started, he blew his knee out to end his season. Ever though, Boobie never played a high school snap that season, the players look up to him because of his commitment for the team. Boobie was the greatest inspiration for this team.

Lily Beth- Friday Night Lights

2024-10-28 13:06:52 UTC

In the book Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bisinger, not only is the story of the 1988 Permian High school football team told, but the story of their little town of Odessa, Texas and it's hardships through the years. The Permian High School football team had the biggest fan base of fall. The entire town showed up and showed out for their team. The town focused so much on their football team and the thought of winning, that they forgot that the players on the field were only kids, with an entire life and a purpose ahead of them. The pressure that was put on the kids by the football crazed town lead to a false identity for many of the players. For example, Boobie had a passion for football, and he was good at it too. But his season ended abruptly after a knee injury and left him with an emptiness in his life where football used to be. This relates to the universal idea of identity and self exploration because these players had so much pressure on them to win that they thought that was their purpose and made it their entire identities.

Connor Gartman - Jay Yelas Autobiography

2024-10-28 13:09:35 UTC

The Universal theme of my book is exploration of self. Yelas goes into detail about how when he was trying to pursue Professional Bass Fishing that he was hit with the problem that success without purpose makes you feel empty, but success with purpose (family and faith) does not feel empty and makes you feel more complete. Yelas uses examples of this by when he would go on a dry spell and then evaluate his situation to see if he had either his fishing over his faith or family and fix that while also still trying to get his fishing skills back up to par.

The great gatsby

2024-10-28 15:37:34 UTC

The great Gatsby is the "American dream" the book telling how to gain wealth and statues with one of the characters named Jay Gatsby, Jay is gaining wealth from selling things during the prohibition and earning money and with the amount of wealth he has gained he gets statues and throws these huge parties that everyone knows about and you would have to have a invention handed to you to get in.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-28 17:12:35 UTC

The Universal Theme of The Great Gatsby Is “Love’s Many Forms”. Although the book describes the giant house and parties Jay Gatsby throws, we never truly find out about his fortune or life. Although it’s tempting to describe this story of a rich, successful, American man as the American Dream I don’t believe this was the main point. We do see his lavish American lifestyle but I truly believe Gatsby would have moved anywhere in the world to be across the way from Daisy Buchanan. To be more specific in the description of Love’s many forms you could describe Gatsby’s situation as unrequited love. He is loyal to the idea of Daisy he has made up although she is married. All the years from when they first met to when they had been reintroduced, Gatsby threw these parties not for himself but in hopes he would find her in the crowd. Gatsby is willing to do anything for Daisy and when she hits Wilson driving behind the wheel of his car, Gatsby is quick to take the blame so as to not let her get in trouble. Through his life after meeting Daisy up to his death he thought of her and the love they could rekindle. He died because of her mistake he was protecting her from and she drove away with Tom without going to his funeral. This shows the nonreciprocal love Gatsby had for Daisy up to the very end, and her content with her life with Tom.

Jadyn Atkinson- Friday Night Lights (Buzz Bissinger)

2024-10-28 17:26:02 UTC

"Friday Night Lights" is about the 1988 season of the Permian High School Panthers football team in Odessa, Texas. The book shows insight on the impacts of high school football on the plays, their families, and the community. It shows this by highlighting the intense pressure and expectations placed on young athletes. The players faced several challenges, including intense pressure to perform well on the field, balancing academics with their demanding football schedules, and dealing with injuries. One example of these challenges is Boobie Miles. He was a star running back who faced immense pressure to lead the team. His football career quickly ended when facing a serious knee injury. This affected his future, because many colleges did not want him anymore. This book connects to the Universal Idea of Lost and Found. For many football players, football is their main priority and key source of happiness. When injuries like Boobie experienced, they often will feel empty and depressed. This causes them to feel lost, not realizing how much their life revolved around football. They then have to rediscover themselves and move on with their life. As they do this, they are "found".

Ella Benton - 1984

2024-10-28 18:00:51 UTC

I chose the book 1984 by George Orwell. This story is set in a dystopian future in the year 1984. In this world, the people are set up into two main groups. These are the party members and the proles. The party members are basically the government people and the people that follow the authority figure, Big Brother. Big Brother is basically in charge of everything. There are posters of him everywhere that say, “Big Brother is Always Watching.”. Another part of the government is the ministries. There is the ministry of love, the ministry of truth, the ministry of peace, and the ministry of plenty. There are also the proles. These are the basically poorer people who do not follow big brother, but they also are less intelligent. Another way that Big Brother stays in control is with the telescreens. These are screens that are on the wall that are always listening and watching. These screens are also always playing noise like music, just white noise, or announcements. These are used to basically brainwash the citizens. One goal in this world is to completely erase the past. This is done by the ministry of truth. The main character of the book, Winston, works for the Ministry of Truth. They go through all of the documents and change them. For example, in the book at first Oceania, which is where the story takes place, is at war with Eurasia. Then later in the book, they defeat Eurasia and then go to war with Eastasia. The Ministry of Truth is in charge of going through all of the documents proving Oceania was at war with Eurasia and changing them to make it seem like Oceania was always at war with Eastasia. The citizens believe this, because Big Brother says it and they listen to everything they say. In this society there is basically no past. In the book, the main character Winston realizes that he hates Big Brother. He then basically goes on a mission to join the Brotherhood which is the underground alliance against the Party. Another character, O’Brien, helps Winston to join the Brotherhood, but he is not all that Winston thought him to be. This book connects to the Universalizing Idea of Dystopian Realms. In this book George Orwell creates this futuristic society to where basically the government has way too much power, and everyone is completely under surveillance. This is what Orwell wanted to warn us about. Although we are not completely under surveillance to the extent of 1984, today we do have technologies that can be seen as very similar to the technologies in 1984.

friday night lights

2024-10-28 19:23:07 UTC

I chose friday night lights because it was the most intresting to me. The way it touches on many things about players the game and atomosphere is written so well and so truthfully. They even made a movie about it and while the movie isnt exactly about the book they are similar and on the same track. Its also based on a true story with true real life experiences so its not just someone from a outside perspective its from someone that truly lived this.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-28 19:41:50 UTC

For my book, I chose The Great Gatsby. I have meant to read this book for a very long time, but never found the time to. The Great Gatsby is a novel published and written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The book is told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, focusing on his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, the wealthy mystery man who hosts lavish parties, and no one seems to know anything about. The narrative told by Nick highlights the past relationship between Gatsby and his past lover, Daisy Buchanan, who is also his cousin. Daisy and Gatsby had a very meaningful relationship, however, when Gatsby was sent away to war, Daisy ended up getting married to a man named Tom Buchannan. After he returns from war, everything that Gatsby does is to impress his past lover. His mansion was decorated in such a way that Daisy would have loved, the parties he through were extravagant, in hopes that Daisy would attend. He also often gazed at the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, symbolizing his longing for her, and hoping to rekindle their past relationship. However, at the end of the book, we find out that Daisy was not everything Gatsby thought she would be. Gasby’s realization of Daisy relates to the idea of idealized love. Gatsby’s love for Daisy is based on an idealized version of her from his past. He clings to memories in the hope that his reunion with her will be as perfect as the first time, but in reality, they are both flawed, complicated humans.

Walden

2024-10-28 23:42:41 UTC

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, is a reflective narrative based on the two-year experiment of the author himself. For his experiment, Henry Thoreau isolates himself from the world in a cabin by Walden Pond in Massachusetts. In order for him to live a more simple and self-sufficient life he spends time in the woods to reconnect with nature. As the seasons change Thoreau notices the influence that it has on both the landscape and himself. Thoreau faced lots of challenges during his two years, such as harsh weather and the physical expectations of self-sufficiency. He learned valuable lessons about resourcefulness, learning to manage his time, and the rewards of his hard work. This book connects to the universal theme of A Sense of Place. By isolating himself from others Thoreau’s experiment at Walden Pond helped him learn self-reliance, simplicity, and the relationship of humanity and nature. All the things he learned during the two years enriched his understanding of contentment and the meaning of a purposeful life.

Great Gatsby

2024-10-29 00:52:32 UTC

I chose the book “Great Gatsby” for my novel, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald. In the book, the Great gatsby had it out for this girl Daisy. He was so in love with her and needed to find her. His strategy was to throw huge parties every week with the hope that she would show up to one of them eventually. But in the end Gatsby got what he wanted. The universal theme of the book is Loves many forms. I chose this theme because everything that happened was based around love. Gatsby throws all of his lavish parties because of the love he had for Daisy. And he was destined to find her, eventually his plan worked. They fell in love and had an affair because of Gatsby's love for her.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-29 02:38:09 UTC

I chose the book Friday Night Lights because before reading it I felt that I could find commonalities with the book. Such as playing football in a small town that thrives around football. The book follows a football team in Odessa Texas, jumping into the lives of the players, their coaches, and the community. It captures the intense pressure and high expectations placed on a high school football in a small town. It explores the American obsession with sports, highlighting how the town's identity and hopes are deeply tangled with the success of the football team. It relates to the theme family bonds because the whole team has to become a family to thrive, that's the way it works with all football teams.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-29 02:40:11 UTC

The reason why I chose “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is because I have heard from a lot of people that it was a really good book, and my mother also told me to read it since she said I might find it interesting so I did. “The Great Gatsby” is told from Nick Carraway point of view, who is also Jay Gatsby's neighbor, watching Jay Gatsby throw lavish and extravagant parties. The Great Gatsby is about how he, Nick Carraway, moves to west egg, long island. He entails with jay gatsby who is obsessed with reconnecting with daisy, nick’s cousin. The Great Gatsby explores the many consequences of having impossible dreams and goals. The great gatsby connects to the universal of self-loneliness and the chaos of forgetting one's identity. Gatsby and Daisy struggle with their true selves by comparing the people they create themselves to be versus who they actually are. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I would completely recommend it to people because it actually creates a sort of suspense and excitement I wasn’t expecting.

Why the Caged Bird Sings

2024-10-29 03:42:43 UTC

When I initially started reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I wasn’t sure what it meant, I only chose the book because I’ve heard good things about the author: Maya Angelou. The initial few chapters were a little confusing to me when I started, however the first chapter that I really felt like I began to understand was in chapter five. To me that’s when it clicked and I remember audibly saying “That's why the Caged Bird sings.” Prior to that chapter I had thoughts of how the title was referencing the Hymns and songs that the slaves in the fields would sing as a way to vent their frustrations and as a way to enjoy life in the ways they could even under the conditions they were under. The book further expands on that idea of pushing through suffering even when hope is lost. As she grows up she is told and shown again and again that the whites perceive them as inferior due to their skin color. She finds her way through all the trials and harassment she faced through cultural works, for example, this book and like the title ‘A caged bird’ because even as she was trapped under social norms she had her ways of expression. In my opinion the theme of the book could go one of two ways: either Exploration of Self, as she spent time finding her place in a world where she was told over and over she was useless and inferior, or Survival and Hope as, once again, she went through all the events in her life and managed to succeed both socially and economically.

The Great Gatsby

haglerharley26 — 2024-10-29 04:16:50 UTC

I chose to read “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I chose this book because I have heard about it before, and the plot seemed interesting. This book is written from the point of view of Nick Carraway, who moved from Minnesota to New York to work in the bond business. Nick becomes intrigued by the life of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a wealthy man who throws lavish parties in an attempt to impress his former lover, Daisy Buchanan, who happens to be Nick’s cousin. Gatsby grew up poor, unlike Daisy Buchanan, who was raised in luxury. The two fell in love, but Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship was put on hold after Gatsby was sent to war, ultimately leading to the marriage of Daisy and her husband, Tom Buchannan. Gatsby becomes obsessed with Daisy and is convinced that they are meant to be together. As a result, he does everything in his power to impress and win her back, longing to regain what they had. However, it is revealed that Gatsby is only obsessed with the idea of Daisy and the luxurious life he has always dreamed of having. This connects to the universal idea of Exploration of the Self along with The Pursuit of Wealth because Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is ultimately fueled by his emotional desire to reinvent himself and gain happiness through the idealistic life he always longed for.

Sophia Ashworth

2024-10-29 04:19:33 UTC

For my book I chose Friday Night Lights. I chose this book because I love the show, which I have figured out is nothing like the book but both have great qualities. The book follows a team from Odessa, Texas. This town has an extreme obsession with their football team. It shows the extreme pressure of being a football player in this town and how the community focuses so much on winning. While football has intense pressure, it shows the inside lives of the players and coaches, where they have many other pressures other than football. The star player named Boobie has a severe injury. He is not able to perform for his team. This connects the universal idea of fear of failure. If you cannot perform well and focus on Friday night, then there is a feeling of failing the whole town. They come to realize that there is more to life than football and try to find their identity outside of football.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-29 04:40:49 UTC

I chose the book Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger because I myself have had similar experiences to the characters in the book. The book Friday Night Lights talks about a team in a small town in Texas named Odessa. The town of Odessa has a very small community that revolved around high school football. This can be both a good and a bad thing. While the players have fun and get to live out their dream of playing for their hometown, it can bring a lot of stress to them. For example, Boobie Miles, the running back for the high school football team, experiences stress multiple times throughout Friday Night Lights. He feels immesnse pressure to perform and live up to the expectations that the community has for him. He also faces stress from his family. This makes it very hard for him to enjoy the game as much as he would like too. He ends up getting a big injury which sets him back very far. However, he gets through it with the support of his community. Throughout the book, Boobie and his teammates realize that even though football is a big part of their ocmmunity, there is way more than just football and they have to take in that they are just young teenagers and they need to live their lives for way more than just football.

Walden

2024-10-29 06:41:51 UTC

Walden, published by Henry David Thoreau, is a book about Thoreau’s experience in the wilderness isolated for two years as a social experiment. I first chose this book out of curiosity but after reading the short description of the book online, I was interested. While listening to the audiobook, Thoreau shares his knowledge of the things he learned and his new interests towards nature while at Walden Pond. As Thoreau continues his isolation in the woods, he has gone to believe that you can live a much simpler and happier life with nature. As the seasons pass and the more work Thoreau puts into cabin, Thoreau grows into a different person than he was before. This book connects to the universal theme of The Wisdom of Nature because without his experience in nature at Walden Pond, Thoreau would not have a better understanding of the world than he does now.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-29 13:12:08 UTC

The book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, is in the perspective of Nick Carraway, who mainly focuses on his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. After being drafted for the war, Gatsby came back to the woman whom he was in love with, Daisy Buchanan, being married to a man named Tom Buchanan. Gatsby wants to rekindle things, so he goes to extreme lengths to get Daisy back. After Gatsby and Daisy reunited, they then fell back in love with each other and got into an affair, which amplified his obsession with her. The book is connected to the universal theme of love’s many forms. This connects to the book because Gatsby is crazy about Daisy and would do anything to win her love. He’s obsessed with her and is in love with the idea of Daisy instead of who she actually is. The book highlights the unhealthy aspects of love and the unrealistic expectations Gatsby holds.

2024-10-29 13:16:36 UTC

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald follows the story of Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man known for his extravagant parties during the Roaring Twenties. Narrated by Nick Carraway, Gatsby's neighbor, the plot centers on Gatsby's unfulfilled love for Daisy Buchanan, who is married to the arrogant Tom Buchanan. As Gatsby tries to win Daisy back, the novel highlights the emptiness of his lavish lifestyle and the superficiality of wealth. Nick becomes entangled in Gatsby's world, discovering the complexities of ambition. Tensions rise during a confrontation between Gatsby and Tom, leading to tragic outcomes. The story explores themes of identity, disillusionment, and the symbolism of hope, notably represented by the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, which signifies Gatsby's unattainable dreams.

Macie Oliver

2024-10-29 13:35:08 UTC

Friday Night Lights from H.G. Bissinger, is the book I chose. The reason I chose this book is because this high school football team faces a lot of struggles. This football team lives in a small town in Odessa Texas, small town football puts a lot of pressure on these boys they have to work hard for every position. They face family struggles, stress, and injuries. Throughout the season the team's only focus was football. Until, the end of the book they finally realize that there is more to life than football.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-29 13:35:51 UTC

I chose the book Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger because before I read it I thought that there could be a bunch of things I could relate to since I have already played high school football for a year. Throughout reading the book I can relate a lot to the main theme of the book, which is playing football in a small town. This means a lot to not only the players but also the community that watches these games and hopes for the best for the team. There are also a lot of pressures in the game of football that I can relate to, every time I play I am always nervous that something will go wrong. For example, Boobie Miles, the running back for the high school football team feels immense stress and pressure to perform how the community expects him to, just how anyone is before a big game. He also suffers a big injury which really sets him back from where the game of football was going to take him. Though, with the support of his family and his small town he comes back from his injury and realizes that there is a lot more to football than just performing your best. You have to have a brotherhood and loyalty throughout your teammates and coaches.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-29 13:38:37 UTC

I chose The Great Gatsby written by F Scott Fitzgerald as my reading assignment because its a very famous book and i've heard lots of great things about it so it piqued my interest. In the book the main character Nick Carraway moved to West Egg, Long island, and became neighbors with Jay Gatsby who was very wealthy and mysterious. Gatsy is known for his extravagant parties but is ultimately revealed to be deeply in love with Nick's cousin, Daisy Buchanan. However, Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy and arrogant man. As the story goes on, it becomes clear that Gatsby's wealth and status are built on debious means, and his sole ambition is to win Daisy's love. Despite his efforts, Daisy remains with Tom, leading to a series of tragic events. Gatsby's dream of rekindling his romance with Daisy ultimately leads to his downfall. The novel ends with Gatsby's death and Nick reflecting on the past and memory of Gatsby. This book has the overall theme of class and social status because of the division between the wealthy and the newly rich, and moral decay because of Gatsby's fixation of the past and his desire to recreat it with Daisy shows the impossibility of recapturing lost time and the dangers of living in the past.

Finley Malone

2024-10-29 13:40:27 UTC

The Great Gatsby

I chose "The Great Gatsby" because it is a classic novel that looks at the difficulties of the American Dream and how money and love can be temporary. Fitzgerald's writing draws the reader into the rich yet empty world of Jay Gatsby and his desire for Daisy Buchanan. The main idea of the book is about the false idea of the American Dream, showing how chasing after wealth can lead to moral decline and disappointment. Through Gatsby's sad story, Fitzgerald critiques the shallow nature of society in the 1920s, highlighting the emptiness that often comes with success. This theme relates to the common idea of seeking happiness, as it asks whether true happiness can be found through achievements alone. In the end, "The Great Gatsby" reminds us of the risks of chasing dreams without building real connections with others.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-29 14:15:32 UTC

The Great Gatsby reflects a power struggle between old money and new money. Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Gatsby tries to gain status and try to win over daisy, while Tom feels threatened by his rise. It also highlights how power influences personal relationships and social dynamics. The power struggle significantly impacts Daisy's decisions. She is torn between Gatsby's love and Tom's money and status. Eventually, Daisy chooses the security and power that come with staying with Tom, despite her feelings for Gatsby. Her choice reflects how power and wealth influence her decisions.

Loneliness and Connection

2024-10-29 14:15:52 UTC

Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky. I chose this book because it's about an underground man who is lonely and isolated and speaks from an underground place, cut off from society. Before hiding underground he felt isolated at school and work. He seems to withdraw because he thinks he's smarter than others, while other times it seems like no one likes him because he's rude. It's most likely both , being rejected by others, he withdraws, which makes people dislike him which then leads to further isolation.

2024-10-29 14:17:42 UTC

I chose the “Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I chose this book because it sounded familiar and I didn’t think a lot of people would pick it. This book is about a guy named Nick Carraway that moved to New York and works in the bond business. It’s told from his point of view throughout the whole book. He was neighbors with Jay Gatsby who he watched throw big parties each night. Jay is eager to meet Daisy, Nick’s cousin. This book is mainly about the downside of having unimaginable dreams but it also connects love in there. He throws all the parties because of his love for Daisy. Jay clings to memories in the hope she will return and it will all be perfect again but in reality they are both flawed and it can’t be perfect again.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-29 14:31:29 UTC

The book The Great Gatsby is about a man who is in love with a woman who he had a vision of for 5 years. When he finally reunites with said women he tries to make her out to be this vision that he had in his head for the past 5 years. The thing is that she's a married woman, she's moved on with her life while he did not. Everything he did was for her, his money, the parties, all of it. She turned out to not be the woman he had made up in his mind all that time.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

2024-10-29 17:25:29 UTC

I chose “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” because I thought it was the more interesting out of the bunch- an opinion I made by simply reading the title. The book was quite interesting, and while it was quite slow it did have its fast moments, to which would leave me turning pages faster and faster. The story is a neat one: A woman named Henrietta has cells that became immortal, but she and her family are not getting any recognition or money for it. Skloot wants to write a book about Henrietta, since it's her cells that gave the world so many cures and yet…no one knows anything about her. Her family, upset by the media, don’t cooperate much, but slowly they open up and Henrietta's story is told. Hence why I believe the Quest for Knowledge is a good universal theme to represent this book. Skloot works tirelessly to get information about Henrietta, even when there were points where she should’ve just given up. Now, thanks to her quest, the world knows more about Henrietta and can appreciate what she has done for us.

Friendship and Loyalty (Sarah Worden)

2024-10-29 17:35:30 UTC

Through FFA you can meet many life long friends. For example, going to competitions and shows you will see many familiar faces which will become well known to you. I met one of my best friends through FFA. We met at a livestock show that we were both competing at and we started talking through his FFA teacher because she was a former intern here at Greenbrier. We have been friends for almost two years now thanks to meeting each other through FFA and our former intern. This connects to the universal theme of friendship and loyalty because this is how I met one of my best friends who has been my by side since we met.

Moving

2024-10-29 17:35:36 UTC

I did a three step process to go to a new middle school after graduating is 30 minutes out of the way, but it was so much better than the other ones nearby. I didn't want to do it at first but my parents motivated me to make the presentation. After I got done a week or two later we headed up to present it and I crushed it. Then I had to get lucky when I did the lottery and I did ! It took me a while to get acclimated to the school. Then my parents randomly said that we were going to move Arkansas to live with my aunt and uncle I didn't understand, but when they said its to help us financially it made sense. So we boxed up all of the stuff and took a dog with us. It was different but i was ready for the new experience.

Friday Night Lights

2024-10-29 17:55:38 UTC

Friday Night Lights, the non-fiction book written by Buzz Bissinger about how he moved with his family to West Texas during the 1988 Permian High School football season. Bissinger wanted to document the ups and downs of high school football. Much of the school’s energies are devoted to football—occasionally at the expense of academic harshness, and of fairness to students who do not play. This connects to the universal idea of dedication because everyone on the team is decicated.

Sports and Competition (Sarah Worden)

2024-10-29 18:01:00 UTC

In the book "Friday Night Lights" by Buzz Blissinger. Blissinger is a football coach who moves his family to Texas. With his intentions on being a coach he focuses on his players academic side as well as their devotion to football. He bring is multiple players who each have their own struggles. By the end of the book they have come close to meeting their goal of a state championship but fell short and got out during the semifinals. This relates to the universal theme of sports and competition because this football coach is all about winning while making sure his students stay well rounded with their academics too.

Korynn Teter

2024-10-29 18:08:46 UTC

Maya Angelou's I know why the caged bird sings dives into connections between oppression and freedom. It displays the resilience of human spirit throughout the story. The caged bird is a metaphor for people trapped by restrictions placed by society, whether they be racial, gender, or class based. Through Angelou's depiction of her own personal struggles with racism, trauma, and personal identity, her story conveys how human nature is to desire freedom. This freedom is not only physically but psychologically as well, everyone just wants to be free of oppression. For example, Angelou's early experience with racism in Stamps, Arkansas. As a black girl growing up in the segregated south, she witness systemic oppression of her community very often. Like when her grandma, Momma, is disrespected by white children. Despite this occurrence, her grandma remains strong, showing the strength of character that survives beneath oppression. Despite the misfortune, the caged bird continues to sing, showing the human drive towards hope and survival. This shows a truth about human nature being the desire to rise above the limits and find your own voice, even in great challenging circumstances.

The Great Gatsby

2024-10-29 18:21:33 UTC

I chose “The Great Gatsby” . It's a classic novel about a man who loves a woman who is married and he does his best to win her over. Gatsby becomes rich for Daisy, the woman he loves and makes her husband Tom jealous. While Daisy is stuck between Gatsby's love and Tom's money, Daisy stays with Tom and finds out how money and power influenced her. While the death of Gatsby she finds out how social status and wealth can lead to decline and not seeing others efforts.

Orville Wright

2024-10-29 18:46:10 UTC

Orville Wright (born August 19th 1871), had not only invented but also flew the very first power controlled flight. They did this not just out of curiosity but also because it had never been done before, aside from the lighter wind powered flights which at the time were not the best option. As of today the power of flight is a main travel method across not only the US but also all over the world connecting countries. This leads to the creation of all of it. Orville wanted to not only just have the thought but he thought to try and fail repeatedly till it was done; He wanted to see his imagination come to life rather than just live inside him.

Finding myself

2024-10-29 19:08:42 UTC

As a younger person, you always try to be liked or be a likable person. It's normal, I however wasn’t very much of either. Imitating others' actions or attitudes was one of my own defenses against the world, not listening to myself but what others wanted me to be. As I grew older I began to realize I am quite different from the others, Never really having the same thoughts or emotions towards something that happens to all of us. However I was usually on my own having friends here and there but it's when you find that one person, That one friend who accepts you how you want to be seen. They can change your whole world within minutes and make you feel not so alone. I have never let that friend go, I couldn't. She not only discovered I'm not by myself but there are people who want you to be yourself, and eventually help you find your inner self, that not many people see.

Ava Corker

2024-10-30 02:04:30 UTC

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger takes place in a small town called Odessa in Texas. Bissinger moved to a town in Texas as a football coach, taking charge of the Permian Panthers. This small town puts a lot of pressure on the team as they face injuries and personal issues. Throughout the season, the team realizes that football is not the only thing in life and that they have more to look forward to. I chose this because sports is something that I can relate to and I know what it is like to play under stress.

Friday night lights

2024-11-07 17:56:58 UTC

a true story about a high school football team, the Odessa Permian Panthers, in Odessa, Texas, during the 1988 football season. The book shows how important football is to the town, where winning the state championship is a way of escaping the struggles of life, including economic hardship. The story focuses on the players, coaches, and the community, especially on two key players: Mike Winchell, the quarterback, and Boobie Miles, a star running back. It highlights the intense pressure they face to win, not just for themselves, but for the town.