Ender's Game Anticipation Guide

Lying is justifiable if it's for the greater good.

I rated this a 2 because I can't really agree on this subject, lying always leaves someone hurt and if it's for the greater good and you get caught, then the person or persons don't trust you anymore than they already did. Although sometimes lying is for the greater good like to protect somebody or save someones life, then I would understand.

Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem.

I rated this a 3 because I kind of agree on this, if it's about a stupid subject, like fighting over a toy or something, then the best way to go about it is to talk, but if there is a terrorist who's threatening to blow up something, then maybe violence is the way to get the answer. That isn't true all the time though, usually talking is the way to go.

It's okay to kill someone in self-defense.

Only if they are attacking to kill you. If they are shooting and attacking you, then I would think, I have to kill this guy, but if you think you will survive, like if someone punches you, then I, or someone else, wouldn't kill them. So I kind of, not really agree, so I rated it a 2.

Words are stronger than fists.

Sometimes, not all the time. Words can definitely harm and hurt someones feelings, but they can't kill you. Punches can kill you if the person is being punched enough, but if you shout hate at someone, it's not going to kill them, it's just going to make them feel bad and lower their self esteem.

Bullies hurt others because they have low self esteem. 

Once again, not all the time, maybe they hurt others because they are having family problems, or home life is tough, but it still isn't right to hurt others regardless. They might hurt others because they have low self esteem, but I don't see how they would channel something that makes them sad, into anger to other people, and then they hurt people, but I still don't see how.

Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nation's leaders.

I strongly disagree on this passage, not only because the brightest students get better education, but even slow kids could get a great education and go on to become a nations leader with the right education. They still have a chance, and because they are slow doesn't mean anything, it just means they are different, not that they don't have a chance at the best education. The brightest students don't always want to become a nation's leader, maybe they want to become a scientist, or whatever they want. They shouldn't be forced to do something they don't want to do.

Revenge is never justified.

Well it depends on how you define revenge. If someone punches you and your revenge is to kill them, that is kind of too far, but if revenge is, like, you hitting an ice cream out of their hands, then your revenge is justified, or if you have a peace treaty or something along those lines.

Crying is evidence of weakness.

No, it is a sign of you being yourself or being human. Crying is an emotion, not a weakness. People who cry are just showing how they are human. Even if it would be out of fear. It still is an emotion.

Any action is acceptable in war.

I think only a complete pyromaniac would think this. I mean, there is such thing as being to much on the offensive side. If you put others that you know or they are on your team in danger, then that is an unacceptable action that I would think is frowned upon during a war or fight. 

Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves.

I disagree with this because what if the teenager can control themselves? Then what? Do you still discipline them and reprimand them? I would understand this if the teenager has certain issues or anger management. Then I would understand that you would want certain rules and disciplinary actions toward the teenager, but not just to make up rules and boss them around. 

Only though personal sacrifice can someone create positive change.

You can create positive change from doing positive things, not from personal sacrifice. Maybe you could create positive change through personal sacrifice but I'm just saying not all the time. 

Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace.

 Nope, you can create peace with your enemies by not attacking them and trying to see things through with them. You could do something that can benefit both of you, not just one. I could see how creating compassion for your enemies is ONE way to create peace with your enemies but it's not the only way to. 

History Essay Rough Draft

The Telegraph Rough Draft

Finn Clark

1/23/13

On July 1, 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act was signed by Abraham Lincoln to deliver mail by train, but sometimes the trains would break down, they were slow, and if they went too fast on a curve, they would crash. Then in 1848, gold was discovered in California. By 1850 it had become a free state and had 380,000 people living in it and that number was still growing. The demand for faster transportation was even larger as the Civil War was beginning. As the Pony Express was becoming slower, people started getting new ideas, and that’s where it led them to the idea of the telegraph.

The first person to technically make the first telegraph was Professor Joseph Henry. He created the telegraph and set the telegraph lines from his home to his laboratory, so he could work at home and send his results to his work. He also helped the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and became a member of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science. He was born on December 17, 1797 and died on May 13, 1878. This was one of the many people to revolutionize America with the telegraph, but we haven’t gotten to the main person yet.

The main person who contributed to revolutionizing America was Samuel B. Morse. Samuel B. Morse had the idea of the telegraph in 1832 and created the Morse code on a boat trip back to America. He was also a professional artist from the years 1829 -1832 creating portraits of people, while he was in France doing what artists do, he came across Semaphore stations that would send signals far and wide that would be sent to other stations for important news, such as a wind storm, but Morse contradicted the idea for if it is too dark out, the news wouldn't spread. There he came up with the idea of the telegraph. When he made the telegraph the first message he sent was to the president and the message was, “ What hath god wrought” (Book of Numbers 23:23). After his telegraph was selling, about 60 people had claimed of building the first telegraph, but Samuel was the first to get political backing on his. He was born in Charleston, Massachusetts April 27. 

The Pony Express revolutionized America before the telegraph came into thought. The Pony Express was a mail delivery service that distributed mail by means of horseback, hence the Pony in Pony Express. The Pony Express could deliver mail about 10 days faster than the train, because the train took different routes and could go only by rail, it took longer. Some of the trains could break down, causing even more frustration when someone wants to get mail somewhere fast. It was where the train was weak, the Pony Express was strong. The telegraph ultimately destroyed the meaning of the Pony Express and was discontinued 2 days after the release of the telegraph. 

The telegraph was a very great piece of machinery, it was what revolutionized America the most. The telegraph would write 30 characters a minute and was the original instant message machine. On May 1845, the  Magnetic Telegraph Company ordered a form to build lines between New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Mississippi, but the first transactional telegraph lines were put up between Baltimore and Washington as a test for the telegraph. The first message was sent to the president, and the message was “What hath god wrought?” (Book of numbers 23:23) The first poles were put up on July 4, 1861, and each worker contributed at least 10 to 12 miles up cables during the time they were working. The telegraph lines were introduced to Copenhagen in 1850 and the United Kingdom in 1851. When the workers were working, president Lincoln said “I think it is a wild scheme. It will be next to impossible to get your poles and materials distributed on the plains, and as fast as you complete the ling, the Indians will cut it down.” Which was a very true quote because the Indians did cut down a lot of telegraph poles.

Before the Pony Express was the train, and before the telegraph was the Pony express, we evolved from livestock to technology. We must give Samuel Morse and Joseph Henry thanks for contributing their skills to create machines that would revolutionize America and make them want to build more things that would help us in the years to come. Later, we made the car, the cell phone, the typewriter, and the airplane. All things to help us in different ways, whether it is to travel, to talk to someone, or to troll someone, they have been there to do just that. I believe that will make things more complicated and technological in the many years, and all we have to do is wait.

My Learning Styles

You Are a Verbal-Linguistic Learner

Your mantra: Tell me in words -- written or spoken -- and I will understand.

Verbal-linguistic intelligence (along with logical-mathematical intelligence) is often associated with doing well in school. You have the ability to use words effectively for reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The poet has been described as the epitome of verbal-linguistic intelligence

I kinda agree with this. I read a lot, but I try not to speak too much. I wouldn't say I'm one to write a lot, like, I don't write just to write, I usually write when doing work or something at home. I often when bored, start drawing so maybe that has something to do with being Linguistic, maybe. 

You Are a Logical-Mathematical Learner

Your mantra: Why? Well, because it's logical.

Logical-mathematical intelligence is often what we refer to when we call someone -- such as a mathematician or an engineer -- smart. You possess the ability to understand complex problems, both logical and mathematical. This intelligence asks questions, finds solutions, and reflects on the problem-solving process.

I think this describes be somewhat. I try to think of things logically before I go on to do them. So maybe that's why I got a 69% on this. Other than that I can do problems with logic and mathmatical skills but most of the time I think of doing them logical. 

You Are a Visual-Spatial Learner

Your mantra: What you see is what you get.

Visual-spatial intelligence allows you to see and modify things in your mind. With an understanding of the visual world and its relation to physical items, you are good at solving spatial problems, designing, and doing crafts. Interior designers have remarkable spatial abilities, as do painters.

I could kind of see how this is like me. Whenever I doing problems like how many sides are on a square, I would imagine a cube and having it split up into different squares. So I could understand it. I'm not sure what spatial problems are, but I could be good at designing and doing crafts. I usually do crafts with my mom and family. I'm not so much of a painter as I am a pencil sketch/drawer. 

The Time I Fractured My Skull

 The Time I Fractured My Skull

Finn Clark

12/4/12

I got scared, and that’s where things went awry, I swung involuntarily and then let go and began falling. Upside down. I saw the sky, and my cousin with his curly mess of hair and a surprised look of concern and fright as I hit the ground,  then everything went black.

It was the summer of 2009, I was 10. I was visiting my father on the east coast and I was messing around with my cousins. Him, a couple of friends, and I were all dunking basketballs into a basketball hoop off of a 4 foot high ramp. The basketball hoop was a Spalding portable hoop that was all black and had a fiberglass backboard with the Nike and the NBA symbol on it. The ramp was old and flaking its baby barf green paint, it looked like a death trap waiting to happen. The other ramp across from this one already had a hole in it. Anyways, we all were dunking with having the hoop at an easy 8 feet, the limit any of us could go. I had to just be the one who pushed it.

“Move it up to 10 feet.” I said with great confidence as I thought this was going to be easy.

“You sure? That’s kinda high, I don’t think your going to make it.” One of my cousins said uncertainty.

“I’ll make it, just do it.”

He moved the hoop up to 10 feet, and suddenly I felt small. Like a lion compared to a mouse, but I would conquer this lion. I tried to not look scared or nervous but I knew they could see it in my face. I began running to jump off the ramp and when I realized I don’t have to do this, but I jumped anyway and I went up grabbed but found what I grabbed wasn’t the rim, it was the net.

Luckily I didn’t feel myself land or remember the excruciating pain, I don’t remember laying on the ground as my cousin rushed to get my dad, I don’t remember moaning or throwing up in the car on the way to the hospital, all I felt was darkness. What felt like darkness was actually two days, and during those two days I felt like I was sleeping, but without a dream, I was just waiting to be woken up. I went into a coma with a concussion AND a fractured skull. I woke up in a bed in a hospital and I became really confused on where I was and why I was there. The sterile smell was what surprised me the most, it was clean, too clean, when I was unconscious, it was the dirty, welcoming smell of plants and the outdoors, now, it smelled like nothingness.

When I woke up I heard cries of joy and was even more confused. Everything was white, the walls the machines, even the patients, I didn’t remember where I was or who these people around me were, but I was rushed to take an MRI, which is a body X-Ray device, and then I was on my way home. Funny thing was I didn’t even remember leaving. I just went to sleep and woke up in my grandmothers house. I thought it was all a dream, like most people would if they were me.

A couple of weeks later I go to get myself checked out to see if I could do anything like sports still and the doctor said absolutely, positively, no football, for the fear of my reopening my fracture. That’s when I got really scared.

“What about soccer?” I asked with fear in my voice.

“Of course, but your going to have to wait a little bit.” He said with not a trace of doubt.

“Awesome.”

I flew back to California and couldn’t wait to be with my family again. I get there and still can’t play any sports, that was kind of a let down, but hey I’m still alive aren’t I? After a while of just waiting to do things I still was let down of not playing any sports at all. I get a call from the doctors office to go there and get CT scan to see how my skull is doing with the recovery of not doing anything. It was boring for me but good for my skull.

I went and got the CT scan and I was doing a lot better than from where I started. The doctor said I was making a fast recovery and that anytime soon I could be playing sports, but no football. I was going back to school by then and was doing well, I remembered everything I learned from the previous year and my life was going to be back to normal from there on out and to think that all within a year I fractured my skull, was really close to becoming disabled, and then recovered. Sometimes I think to myself, I was very lucky to have survived.