Leonardo da Vinci: A True Renaissance Man.

Leonardo da Vinci can be characterized as a true renaissance man because he was a great leader as he was one of the artists to start the rebirth of art in his time. He mostly started the change of art by using all of these different techniques that weren't used before like sfumato, anatomical accuracy, shading, and more. I would also call him a true renaissance man because the renaissance is all about discoveries and Leonardo invented many things in his time. These inventions helped the renaissance develop and are still used today. One of Leonardo's biggest inventions was the first flying machine which is a big thing in that time and inspired many others to start inventing new ideas. One of leonardo's famous paintings is the Last Supper which inspired many other renaissance artists into painting because it was a religious painting, yet it wasn't focusing on Jesus that much it focuses about all of the men's expressions around the table. If Leonardo da Vinci hadn't become a true renaissance man, the renaissance wouldn't have developed as fast without his ideas and artwork.

Brunelleschi, and the Key to the Great Dome.

It took many different types of skills for the great artist, Fillipo Brunelleschi, to construct his dome. But, I think the main reason the Florence Cathedral Dome was a sucess was because of Brunelleschi's risk taking. His whole plan was a risk that many thought was sure to fail, but if he didn't take the risk of his design, then the dome could never had been built. The great builder also took a risk to travel to Rome for inspiration and ideas while his competeters could have taken his jobs. Brunelleschi's idea on building an inner and outter dome could not have happened if he hadn't had trusted himself and took that huge risk of complete failure.

Where do new ideas come from?

I think that new ideas can mostly come from group discussions. I think so because many ideas are thought up of in class discussions. Also in group disscussions people can share their individual ideas and maybe imrpove their original idea. Also, If say a person wanted to think of ideas for a piece of writing they could brainstorm on a sheet of paper and just jot down any ideas that come to mind and then one would critique it later. As for ideas in our world, most of the world ideas our in meetings with world leaders and they discuss many problems and brainstorm how to solve them.

What Makes a Good Story?

I think that my favourite out of the three short stories we worked on was 'The Sniper' by Liam O'Flaherty. I think it was the most interesting as I didn't know anything at all about the Irish civil war, which is the setting of the story. I thought it was interesting to learn about the free staters vs. the republicans and their dispute. I enjoyed the plot of this story and how it really showed how soldiers can change during the war. For example when he shot the old lady because she was giving away information. My favourite part of the story was the climax when the sniper tricked the enemy sniper by making im think he was shot in the head. I also didn't expect the twist at the end of the story. The sniper killing his own brother is a good way to show the story's theme that wars, especially civil wars, can split up families.

What I believe

I believe that when I am giving my best I can go beyond what I am capable of doing. I learned this while playing hockey. I started ice-skating when I was little and then started playing hockey when I was 7 and first moved to Norway. After playing hockey I decided that this was my favorite sport. Next after two years, I moved here to Malaysia and joined a hockey team. I started as the best player on my team and I stayed on my team and was still one of the best players until I went to 7^th grade. At that point I thought I was as good as I could possibly be for my age. But then my current coach suggested that I joined a more advanced team of a higher level. During last December I joined my new team and I found out that everyone in that league was at least 18 or older, there is even my friend’s dad! I felt proud to be in the same team with all of these players and it made me realize how much better I can become and how if I work my hardest I can improve and compete with even the best of the players in my new league. But now the season has ended and my team got to the finals only losing twice to a team called the Vipers. In the finals we were scheduled to play that hated team, they were our rivals. The game ended in us winning the finals the final score was my team, the Warriors had 5 goals and the Vipers had 4 goals. It was one of the best games I had ever played. The other team was winning 4-3 and with one thirty seconds left our best player, who plays on the Malaysian national team, tied the score. After that we took the game in overtime and won the gold medal and the league title. This certain experience showed me that you could always get better and improve on whatever you are doing whether it is sports or schoolwork.

Rose Blanche and Boy and the Striped Pyjamas, Response

The books “the Boy in the Striped Pajamas” and “Rose Blanche” both take place during the holocaust and they both have a curious child who helps Jews but isn’t quite knowing about the war, holocaust and the Nazi’s hatred against Jews. I think that it is right to put our friends and family in danger if it can save lives like standing up for the Jews. If a person just accepts the situation then everything will not be fine because then the could be controlled by someone of higher power, like during the holocaust when the public excepted the situation of the Nazi party and then the Nazis controlled them. Also, I believe that an individual should always stand up when he or she thinks that something is unfair because a persons opinion needs to be heard so that there is justice and therefore prejudice will be objected. Both the characters in these stories show courage and they both deal with bystanders like the german public and a bit of Hitler's propaganda. I learned from the books that some decisions can cause consequences like Bruno helping the Shmuel in the concentration camp by giving him food and a friend to care for, but then Bruno goes into the camp and suffers from the decision.