Abraham Lincoln: The Poem

A Final Reflection

This has been an amazing class and semester. Etymology challenged me to read 1362 pages! When I first started this class I was not much of a reader. I was independent at most of my work and this class increased more of my skills for independency. During the course of the semester I read mystery books. Almost all of the books I read were written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. I was lucky that I could stick with his books and be able to finish all of the Sherlock Holmes books. The weekly page quota helped push me to read although most of the reading was during the last few days of the week. Most of the time when I read, i'm in a quiet room. I am not able to read and listen to music at the same time or I will get lost in the story. Every once and a while, I do talk about what i'm reading to my friends and teachers. It is the end of the semester and I feel it is safe to say I have changed as a reader. In the beginning, I barely read any books and now i'm a faster and happier reader. I think this class has made me more likely to read overall and might make me want to pick up a book during the summer although i'm not sure what yet. Towards the beginning of this semester, I had no taste for poetry, but now I believe that it is an amazing art of this language we call English. This class had me look at poetry in a different point of view than my other classes. We were able to look at poetry and analyze it ourselves weather we were right or wrong. We could even choose the poems we want to read. So yes, this class has changed my view toward poetry for the better.

The Da Vinci Code Prologue-Chapter 6 (p1-39)

The Prologue of this book is very short and shows a creative beginning. It starts with a man named Jacques Saunier who was running from an albino man with a gun. To try to protect himself, Jacques was in a museum and took a painting off the wall. This triggered the alarm and brought bars down so the albino man could not get to him. Although they were separated by bars, they could still communicate. So, the albino man ended up asking him were 'it' is. Jacques tried lying but that didn't work because three other men approached by the albino said the same and died. He ended up getting shot. The rest of these pages showed that he had a secret and did not want it to be lost with him and that he had to find a way to pass it on.

In chapter 1, a man named Robert Langdon was sleeping in his hotel in Paris when the concierge called and said that someone was waiting to meet him. Langdon thought that it was someone mad at him from the speech he gave that day, so he told the concierge to send the man away. Later, his phone rang again and Robert found out that it was the French Police. and they went to his room and asked him about his plans to meet Jacques after his speech that didn't happen. Langdon said that Jacques never showed up so he just went back to his room. After that, the Police told him that he died and the picture showed that Jacques' body was arranged in a specific way to show a symbol.

In chapter 2, we find out the albino man's name, Silas. He ends up going to his bedroom and calling a man that he calls The Teacher. He told 'The Teacher' that he had killed Jacques and that him and his three other companions that died all said that the keystone that Silas and his men were looking for was at the Church of Saint Suplice. So, The Teacher told him to go there and get it immediately. But before he left he punished himself by whipping himself. He said that it was for his sins.

In chapter 3, Langdon went with the Police to the museum. He talked about the structures there like the pyramid and also met Bezu Fache, the police captain.

In chapter 4, the captain took Langdon to Jacques body. There, Langdon finds out that Jacques was a connoisseur of goddess iconography which is the worship of the feminine. What I didn't say before was that Langdon specializes in icons and symbols which is one of the reasons of why he is there.

In chapter 5, a man named Bishop Manuel Aringarosa, in charge of a group called Opus Dei, left New York and went to Rome. When he was in the plane he took a call and found out that Silas found out that the keystone was in the Church of Saint Suplice. So, Manuel said that he would find a way to let Silas get access to the church. The rest of this chapter was about Silas past and his joining of the church.

In chapter 6, Langdon was telling Fache that Jacques arranged his body in a certain way for a reason. He also explained that he drew a pentacle on his stomach with his own blood and that this sign symbolizes the Venus goddess. They also found out that he had a glow in the dark marker and found that Jacques left a message. They had no idea what it meant and Fache said that is why they needed him. At the end of this chapter, Lieutenant Collet set up a recording system to record the conversation going on between Langdon and Fache.

Lego-style apartment transforms into infinite spaces

this is revolutionary and very interesting i wouldnt mind living here

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes Adventure of the Veiled Lodger & Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place & Adventure of the Retired Colourman(p1290-1323)

In The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger, a woman named Mrs Merrilow went to Holmes because she saw a lodger's face that never showed it and became scarred and even called her a murderer. Her name was Mrs. Ronder and Merrilow did not want the police to be involved, so thats why she went to Holmes. Holmes ended up knowing this lodger from another case where a lion was let loose and one person died while the other's face was disfigured. Mr Ronder was the other person attacked by the lion that died. At the end of the story, Holmes found out the Mrs Ronder was in love with a man other than her husband named Leonardo and they planned to get rid of Mr. Ronder with a distraction for the people (lion) and a club with five nails to his head. But that same day the lion turned against Mrs. Ronder and bit part of her face. She felt suicidal but Holmes convinced her not to kill herself.

In The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place, a man named John Mason from Shoscombe Old Place was a horse racer and went to Holmes about his master, Sir Robert Norberton. His sister owns the stable and it will be his brother in law's when she dies. So, Holmes agreed to investigate and found out when they got there that the innkeeper owns Norberton's sister's dog. So, Holmes offered to take it for a walk and went to Shoscombe and let it go infront of her carrage. Once, the dog noticed there was a man in it, he ran away. Later, Holmes found a coffin and John found bones that disappeared soon after he found them. After that, Sir Robert found them and explained everything. His sister died a week earlier of dropsy and he just wanted to keep it a secret for a short time so he wins his race. So, he hid the body and wore her clothes but did not show his face. Then, Holmes ended up telling the police and Robert won the Derby and didn't get into any trouble while becoming rich.

In The Adventure of the Retired Colourman, a former art supplier named Josiah Amberley went to Holmes for help in the missing of his wife. She left with his neighbor, Ray Ernest and took cash and other items with her. Holmes was busy at the time and told Watson to see what he could. Watson found that Amberley was painting his house and also found his wifes unused theater ticket. It turned out that she and the neighbor left while Amberley was at the theater. His wife didn't go because of a "headache." So, when Watson was going back to Baker Street to tell Holmes what he has, he bumped into Holmes' rival detective Barker, whom was hired to find Ray Ernest. When Holmes finds out the information he needed, he told Watson and Amberley to go do an errand and while they were out, he searched the house and Barker ended up joining him. Then when Amberley came back, Holmes asked what he did with the bodies. He found out that Amberley killed his wife and Ernest out of jealousy. Holmes found the bodies in a well in the garden and Amberley was taken by the police.

Introducing the Chromebook

This is a revolutionary new idea which may even turn into the norm in 5 or so years

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes The Problem of Thor Bridge & The Adventure of the Creeping Man & the Adventure of the Lion's Mane (p1242-1290)

In The Problem of Thor Bridge, a man named Neil Gibson from the U.S. went to Holmes for help in an investigation of a murder his wife Maria. His marriage was not the best and he treated his wife badly and also became attracted to a woman named Miss Dunbar, but because he was married, he only tried to please her by helping people in worse situations than himself. His wife Maria was found on Thor Bridge with a bullet through her head and a not from Miss Dunbar agreeing to meet there. Also a gun that seemed to be recently fired was found in Miss Dunbar's wardrobe. After some time, Holmes solved the case and showed what happened using Watson's gun. He showed the Mrs Gibson was jealous of Miss Dunbar's relationship with her husband so she committed suicide and made it seem like Miss Dunbar did it.

In the Adventure of the Creeping Man, a man named Trevor Bennett went to Holmes because he is a professor's secretary and engaged with his daughter, Edith. He also found out that the professor had been to Prague and that his wolfhound was attacking him (which is bad). The professor also had letters that passed through Mr. Bennett which he was not allowed to open. He acted stranger too, with mood swings and habit changes, and even crawled on his hands and feet through the hallway. While Bennett was telling Holmes this, his fiancée walked in and said that she saw her dad once go to her 2nd floor bedroom window at 2 AM. So, the next day, Holmes and Watson went to visit the Professor but were kicked out because they had no appointment. But, just in time, Bennett found the address of the person the professor was writing to. In the end, Holmes found that every 9 days, the professor takes a drug that changes his behavior and he became addicted to it in Prague.

In the Adventure of the Lion's Mane, Holmes is at the beach and meets his friend Harold Stackhurst, the headmaster of a school. When they met, a science teacher went up to them. with red welts on his back that were made with a flexible weapon and died. A math teacher also showed up and Holmes found out that they were friends. So, to find more information, Holmes and his friend went to a woman named Miss Bellamy because she knew the science teacher but when they got there, so did the math teacher. Over there, they find out that Maud Bellamy and the science teacher were engaged and Holmes thought that the math teacher was had jealousy and killed the science teacher. Later, the science teacher's dog was found dead in the same spot as him. At the end of the story Holmes found out that the killer was just a jellyfish that was deadly so he took a rock and killed it.