Dear people of Wherton,
I have wanted to write to you for a while but could not since I was on my journey to the White Mountains. You may be wondering why I left you without an explanation. Now it is time to explain.
Mostly it was because of a vagrant, his name is Ozymandias he had not been Capped and was free of the Tripods wrath. He told me that the Caps are “the means by which they keep men docile and obedient to them." It was a moment of truth for me. I had never realized that what seemed to be a ceremonial event was actually abduction. I also left you because of my cousin Jack. Jack was once my friend until he was taken from me by the evil might of the Tripods. After he was Capped he barely paid any attention to me and only the other Capped people. Capping changed him so he is now ignoring me and other people who are Uncapped. It made me understand that Ozymandias was giving me the chance of freedom.
When I left you I was forced to bring Henry with me, or he would have raised the alarm. I did not trust him at first but thought better after he helped me with my ankle when it was sprained as I ran away from our pursuers. I suggested he go on without me, saying “My ankle... I think it's broken. You'd better get on. They'll be here any moment." But Henry responded "I think they're here now.”
We found out that what we thought were pursuers were actually sheep that were just curious to see us running away from them. We had to hide in a barn so I could recover. We slept there for the night, but when I woke Henry was gone and I could not find my bag containing food and water in it. I thought, "Henry it seemed clear had abandoned me, and taken the rest of the food with him." But later I realized that Henry had never left me and had only gone to steal more food from a house down the road. I asked him about not leaving any food for me but his response surprised me because he told me that he had left the food on the shelf in the barn but I did not see it.
We then journeyed down to the dock and got on a ship called the Orion. This was the ship that would take us across the sea to the next country, so we would be able to walk to the White Mountains. Henry and I had met another person who was from that country but could talk English. His name was Zhan pole but we just called him Beanpole. He could not pronounce some words properly. For example, when he said, "matter" he pronounced it like "mat-air". Beanpole told us how he had taught himself English from a book and how his vision was not good so he invented a glass metal thing to put over his eyes so he could see better.
Beanpole showed us a horse pulled carriage called the Shmand Fair that we could ride a short distance but faster and closer to the White Mountains. We then traveled through one of the Ancient Cities where we found the skeleton of one of the people that lived in the city. He seemed to be inside of a type of vehicle, a horseless carriage. We then found metal eggs in an underground cavern named "Metro" that would explode seven seconds after you pulled the ring.
After resting in the city we moved on. We had begun to continue the rest of our journey to the White Mountains, but then the Comte and Comtesse of the country kidnapped us. They gave us luxury and good hospitality. We stayed for a while but then my friends decided that we should not stay much longer. I however had fallen in love with the Comte and Comtesse’s daughter, Eloise. I told my friends to go on without me so I could stay with Eloise. At first they were against it but I persuaded them that if I stayed and were Capped then I could remain with Eloise.
Later Eloise gave me some heartbreaking news. She was to move away forever to one of the Tripods Cities. She said that she was looking forward to it. But I really stopped loving her when I took the turban off her head. Women traditionally wear them but when I saw the cap underneath and on Eloise’s head I realized that even if she was nice and the Comte and Comtesse generous it meant nothing, nothing because they were just slaves. I continued on my journey, stealing a horse to make my escape.
A Tripod soon caught me, I thought it was dream since I was very tired but I’ll soon explain how I found out that it was all too real. I managed to find my friends but they were not surprised to see me. We were running out of food and began to realize that every now and then there was a Tripod about a mile away in the distance just standing there. Henry, Beanpole and I wondered how it had followed us, but then one day as we rested the others saw that I had a type of metal disc under my armpit. My earlier encounter with a Tripod was actually true and it had planted a tracking device on me. Beanpole decided we had no option but for it to be removed if we were to go on undetected. Henry put a leather strap in my mouth so I could bite on to it as Beanpole used a knife to cut the device out.
We were close to our destination now but our terrible journey was far from over. As we got closer and closer to the White Mountains we heard a very loud noise. The same Tripod had come back and was tearing trees out of the ground looking for us. We quickly hid behind some bushes but it came too fast and it saw us. Beanpole remembered that we still had the metal eggs so we started throwing them at the Tripod. But they had little effect on the Tripod’s legs. The Tripod came closer and wrapped me in one of its tentacles. It opened a mouth in the hemisphere and I blindly threw one of the eggs inside. I heard a hollow explosion and the tentacles came loose. I thought I would fall to my death but I held on to the tentacle for dear life and managed to survive, unlike the Tripod.
We continued our journey across a river but then we heard many other Tripods coming. They had probably sensed that one of their kind had been killed. We had no option but to hide behind a very small rock. I was terrified of being caught and Capped by the Tripods. We had to wait several days because the Tripods kept coming. Luckily we were right next to a river that gave us a steady supply of water.
After the Tripods stopped patrolling, we set off again and this time there were no obstacles and we could go straight on to the White Mountains.
My dear Wherton let me tell you what I have learnt about freedom. My long and troubled journey has taught me it is not an easy thing to get but it is all worth it now that I have it. It gives me the good sense of being unique and not the same as everybody else.
I hope my story can also mean something to you and you will make your own journey one day.
From, Will.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
White Mountains Blog 4
"The bitter thing was all the spirit, all the gallantry, was wasted. For even more than inferiors, they excepted and looked forward to being Capped. It was a part of becoming a knight, or of turning from a girl to a lady. Thinking of this, I saw how good things could be meaningless in isolation. What value did courage have without a free and challenging mind to direct it?"
In this quote Will is thinking of how the people who live in the castle do not have free minds and how meaningless the spirit and gallantry was. Will is also thinking about how, if he were to be Capped, he would be happy and 'free' in one sense because he would not know that he was brainwashed. But he says it does not mean anything "in isolation" I think he means that if you are good or do something good then it does not matter unless you make a free choice to do a good thing. For example if I give money to charity but am being told to by the teachers and not my on will I will not have my own free and challenging mind to guide my actions.
I think this relates to the theme freedom that is explored in the rest of the chapter because Will gets to know the Comte and Comtesse and Eloise but finds out that they are really nice. Until he realizes that they were actually slaves to the Tripods. The turning point in the chapter was when Will pulled of Eloise's turban and he sees her Cap and realizes that he must, "forget about it and concentrate on the important thing, which was getting to the White Mountains." (page 117) But then Comtesse asks him to stay and become a knight and Will is tempted. "Was I to abandon my hope of freedom, surrender the mastery of my mind, for the sake of wearing jeweled leather and having other men touch their caps to me?" (page 121) At the end of the chapter Will is not sure about it but he stays and says goodbye to Henry and Beanpole, because he does not know whether to be loyal to the people that he knows and are kind to him in the Red Castle who were brainwashed or to the people on the White Mountains who do not even know who he is. This shows that he is exercising his free and challenging mind in his own way.
In this quote Will is thinking of how the people who live in the castle do not have free minds and how meaningless the spirit and gallantry was. Will is also thinking about how, if he were to be Capped, he would be happy and 'free' in one sense because he would not know that he was brainwashed. But he says it does not mean anything "in isolation" I think he means that if you are good or do something good then it does not matter unless you make a free choice to do a good thing. For example if I give money to charity but am being told to by the teachers and not my on will I will not have my own free and challenging mind to guide my actions.
I think this relates to the theme freedom that is explored in the rest of the chapter because Will gets to know the Comte and Comtesse and Eloise but finds out that they are really nice. Until he realizes that they were actually slaves to the Tripods. The turning point in the chapter was when Will pulled of Eloise's turban and he sees her Cap and realizes that he must, "forget about it and concentrate on the important thing, which was getting to the White Mountains." (page 117) But then Comtesse asks him to stay and become a knight and Will is tempted. "Was I to abandon my hope of freedom, surrender the mastery of my mind, for the sake of wearing jeweled leather and having other men touch their caps to me?" (page 121) At the end of the chapter Will is not sure about it but he stays and says goodbye to Henry and Beanpole, because he does not know whether to be loyal to the people that he knows and are kind to him in the Red Castle who were brainwashed or to the people on the White Mountains who do not even know who he is. This shows that he is exercising his free and challenging mind in his own way.
Friday, March 25, 2011
White Mountains Blog 3
How were the Tripods able to control the people?
The Tripods mostly controlled the people with the caps, but only the men, I believe the men persuaded the women that it was fine and the Tripods were friendly which the women gave into and trusted the Tripods and men. The Tripods also controlled the people because they were just very used to the Tripods capping people when they are going through puberty, and treated it as a ceremonial event, because it only happens once every year. I also think the Tripods controlled people by giving them luxury and hospitality which the people liked.
Here is a quote from the text to show what I mean: "They were Capped, they accepted the Tripods and all they stood for, but that did not prevent them from being, as I had seen in the Comte and Comtesse and Eloise and now in others, warmhearted, generous and brave. And happy." (page 122)
This shows how the humans give into the control of the Tripods and think everything is happy but in reality the Tripods are aliens taking over the world.
Find evidence (quotations from the novel) to show that even though Will is comfortable living in the castle, he is frustrated that Comte, Comtesse, and Eloise have been capped.
"More and more I had come to see the Capped as lacking what seemed to me the essence of humanity, the vital spark of defiance against the rulers of the world. And I had despised them for it - despised even, for all their kindness to me and their goodness, the Comte and Comtesse."(page 116) This is when Will is thinking about how even though the Comte and Comtesse have been so kind to him he hates them for letting Eloise go and being slaves to the Tripods. The author uses the word "despise" twice to describe how Will feels, and shows how Will does not even think the Comte and Comtesse are human.
"With me, what had emerged was not uncertainty, but the reverse. Nothing could come of my friendship with her: a hard black line had been scored across it. The only thing to do was forget about it and concentrate on the important thing, which was getting to the White Mountains." (page 117) This sentence comes after Will has tried to pull off Eloise's Cap. This event is important because it shows that Will has decided to go to the White Mountains instead of staying in the Red Castle, because Eloise is going away and has just been Capped so now she is a slave to the Tripods. Will had thought that love was freedom so he stayed with Eloise until he found out that she was going to the City of the Tripods. So now he knows that escaping the wrath of the Tripods and not being Capped is the real freedom.
Find Evidence (quotes) to show how Will feels about being capped.
"Before Capping there might be doubts and uncertainties and revulsion; perhaps these people had known them, too. When the cap was put on, the doubts vanished. How great a loss was that? Was it a loss at all? The Tripods, apart from the act of Capping itself, did not seem to interfere much with men." (page 123) At this part of the novel Will is convincing himself that Capping might not be that bad and he might be willing to get Capped to be with Eloise. He still thinks that the Capping might be fine and questions whether losing "doubts and uncertainties" are a loss at all. He is asking himself these questions so I would say that he wasn't too afraid of getting capped by the Tripods at this point.
"More and more I had come to see the Capped as lacking what seemed to me the essence of humanity, the vital spark of defiance against the rulers of the world." (page 116) In this part of the book Will is slowly starting to realize just how evil the Tripods are and how inhuman the Capping is. The author is using strong words like "essence of humanity" and "vital spark of defiance" to describe how Will is getting more power in his feelings about the situation.
The Tripods mostly controlled the people with the caps, but only the men, I believe the men persuaded the women that it was fine and the Tripods were friendly which the women gave into and trusted the Tripods and men. The Tripods also controlled the people because they were just very used to the Tripods capping people when they are going through puberty, and treated it as a ceremonial event, because it only happens once every year. I also think the Tripods controlled people by giving them luxury and hospitality which the people liked.
Here is a quote from the text to show what I mean: "They were Capped, they accepted the Tripods and all they stood for, but that did not prevent them from being, as I had seen in the Comte and Comtesse and Eloise and now in others, warmhearted, generous and brave. And happy." (page 122)
This shows how the humans give into the control of the Tripods and think everything is happy but in reality the Tripods are aliens taking over the world.
Find evidence (quotations from the novel) to show that even though Will is comfortable living in the castle, he is frustrated that Comte, Comtesse, and Eloise have been capped.
"More and more I had come to see the Capped as lacking what seemed to me the essence of humanity, the vital spark of defiance against the rulers of the world. And I had despised them for it - despised even, for all their kindness to me and their goodness, the Comte and Comtesse."(page 116) This is when Will is thinking about how even though the Comte and Comtesse have been so kind to him he hates them for letting Eloise go and being slaves to the Tripods. The author uses the word "despise" twice to describe how Will feels, and shows how Will does not even think the Comte and Comtesse are human.
"With me, what had emerged was not uncertainty, but the reverse. Nothing could come of my friendship with her: a hard black line had been scored across it. The only thing to do was forget about it and concentrate on the important thing, which was getting to the White Mountains." (page 117) This sentence comes after Will has tried to pull off Eloise's Cap. This event is important because it shows that Will has decided to go to the White Mountains instead of staying in the Red Castle, because Eloise is going away and has just been Capped so now she is a slave to the Tripods. Will had thought that love was freedom so he stayed with Eloise until he found out that she was going to the City of the Tripods. So now he knows that escaping the wrath of the Tripods and not being Capped is the real freedom.
Find Evidence (quotes) to show how Will feels about being capped.
"Before Capping there might be doubts and uncertainties and revulsion; perhaps these people had known them, too. When the cap was put on, the doubts vanished. How great a loss was that? Was it a loss at all? The Tripods, apart from the act of Capping itself, did not seem to interfere much with men." (page 123) At this part of the novel Will is convincing himself that Capping might not be that bad and he might be willing to get Capped to be with Eloise. He still thinks that the Capping might be fine and questions whether losing "doubts and uncertainties" are a loss at all. He is asking himself these questions so I would say that he wasn't too afraid of getting capped by the Tripods at this point.
"More and more I had come to see the Capped as lacking what seemed to me the essence of humanity, the vital spark of defiance against the rulers of the world." (page 116) In this part of the book Will is slowly starting to realize just how evil the Tripods are and how inhuman the Capping is. The author is using strong words like "essence of humanity" and "vital spark of defiance" to describe how Will is getting more power in his feelings about the situation.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Ancient Egypt Diary
Noble Prize winning archaeologist Gabriel Phillips has recently found an ancient Egyptian diary under a building in Giza. He found that the name of the ancient Egyptian was Iskandar and he was a peasant, he was 30 years old and lived in the 18th Dynasty. Most of the diary was found in good condition but other pages were missing or damaged beyond repair. In the diary he discovered that the Iskandar did not write the diary himself, but his companion, a scribe, wrote it down for him. This diary is one of the most valuable artifacts you could ever come across. If you want to know the untold story of an ancient Egyptian peasant, then read on...
Chapter 2
I woke up at the sound of roosters crowing. My eyes opened slowly with tiredness and I saw that the Sun was coming over the horizon bringing a light orange glow that was warming. My stomach rumbled as I sat up on the straw roof of my house. I got off the roof but on the dismount I slipped and fell on a rock the size of a jackal head and got a big cut on my chin, “@#$%!” I swore as the blood started to flow through the earth. The cut was big and could easily get infected so I went to the doctor. A few minutes later I was at the doctor. His name was Ramose,when he saw my cut he said,”Woa, that’s one big cut!” He later bandaged my chin for a trade of 2 mints. I ran home so I could quickly try and harvest my crops.
When I got to my fields I had to start quickly because the sun was coming down. I ran past my house , nearly stepping on a snake (dodge by jump). Although it was not a really smart idea, when I landed I slipped on some jackal droppings and hit my head, I blacked out. I woke up looking at the stars, for a second I thought I thought I was on my roof, but soon realised my head was bleeding. I sat up groaning and looked around for any help. Duh, of course not I’m in the middle of a farm and the doctor’s is closed. I suddenly started to think about the scorpions and snakes. Very slowly I turned my head to see if there were any snakes. When I came to see a scorpion on my shoulder. When it saw me it raised it’s sting. The only light source I had to see it was the moon, I could only see the reflection of light off its shell. I slowly got into a squat position and froze every time the scorpion made movement. I eventually got into standing position what seemed after hours. The scorpion and I locked eyes and then it pinched my cheek.
I yelled out in pain and swung my head around until the scorpion let go and flew flying at a mud wall of my house, I heard a splat. The pain in my cheek spread across the right side of my face, it felt like it was on fire. My screams woke a lot of people up, some ran to my aid most of them not sure what to do but comfort me and others ran to spit on me because they were higher in the pyramid and did not like being woken up at two in the morning, I eventually slept in pain. When I awoke I was at Ramose’s house. He was treating my head and scorpion pinch. The light was flooding into the room through the windows and I could smell the dung of animals. I was lying on a bed that was quite comfortable, but I think it was because of what I was used to, a roof of straw and rock.
Ramose was a good doctor and always made funny comments,”Hello, I see your here again.” Yes, that is how funny he is. He told me that I got a concussion and the pinch would leave another big scar. He also gave me some tips,” You shouldn’t run around with snakes like that.”
And so on so forth. He said that I should rest at his house for the night, but I refused, since I had not harvested any crops in a day. I headed to my farm thinking of how I got into all of this trouble. I came to that the gods did not like me and were showing no pity.
When I had miraclously gotten to my fields without getting physically damaged, I started to reaping. As I did this, with perspiration running down every inch of my body, I wondered why? The sun was beating down on me like a hammer of heat. Why were the gods angry at me? My legs felt weak after four hours of work. Why was I at the bottom at the pyramid and not a vizier or scribe? I had to stretch my back every two minutes because of so much bending. Why couldn’t I be like them? Why wasn’t I born higher? When dusk came I went back to my house and climbed up my mud walls to my roof. Well I guess I will never know. I lay down on the roof and tried to find a comfortable position but could not.
I awoke early and stretched my arms and sat up. I observed my surroundings. It was still dark so I had woken up quite early. I climbed down my house and yawned as I landed with a,”Ploop”, of mud. My eyes were still crunchy with sleep, I rubbed my eyes and went inside. When I got in to my house my first reaction was to go and get some breakfast. I trodded to the table and it had some vegetables. I picked one up, I don’t know what it is called but I know what it tastes like. I took a bite and shiver ran down my spine, it was the most horrible thing I have experienced, and I live off it!! It looks green and has a oval shape, I can only afford vegetables, only sometimes meat, but very rarely.
Iskander
Chapter 3
I had a dream last night about being the pharaoh. I was sitting in a large throne with a cushion eating green grapes. This amazed me because I can only eat turnips and I have never experienced such royalty before. The throne was six cubits high and painted gold with symmetrical patterns of wings. I was wearing a silk gold and silver kilt, I stroked them in wonder, and I had never felt such silk. I was in a humungous room that was like a long hallway and towering doors at the end with some thing waiting to be found. The hallway was approximately ten meters in length and four meters in width I am usually in a small house so I got agoraphobia. There were huge stone pillars approximately 37.68 centimeters in circumference, holding the ceiling up. There were 16 windows, eight on each side, which blew in air. There was a candle next to each pillar, which smelled of fragrant flowers. It must have been the throne room and it made me feel very royal and important. I got off my throne and started to walk down the hall. I noticed that there was a long carpet along the floor of the huge room, it was made of fine gold silk and it felt smooth under my bare feet. When I reached the doors, I realized they were so tall they could have fit four grown men standing on each other’s shoulders. I pushed the door open; surprisingly enough it only took a light nudge. I looked out and a blinding light burned my eyes. I sat up and I was on the roof of my house.
I had woken up staring directly at the sun. I sat up quickly and put my hands over my eyes to cool them. There were red spots in my eyes, so I could not see much. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to try and get them out. I managed to get rid of most of them out so that I could see and coordinate myself, but there was still a big red bit on the left side of my eyes. I faced the reality of my life. Pulling myself up out of my dreams, I looked around me and saw the stone and straw roof of my brown mud made house. It smelt like cow dung and earth baking in the blistering heat. I yawned, and stretched my arms and legs as I realized to my horror that it was way past dawn.
My dream of luxury and wealth had robbed me of precious hours of work. I was no pharaoh but a wretched peasant destined to serve out long days beginning in the dark hours before sunrise so that I could tend my crops. Mine was a life of hard labor, tied to the seasons of the great river Nile. Without its inundation I would have had even less because the waters were the only reason my crops and myself could stay alive. Even with the help of the Nile River I still could not eat meat, only vegetables and bread made from wheat. I looked down and saw the body of a man used to working hard in the sun. At least I had slippers unlike many of my friends. But even so my feet were rough and covered with blisters and insect bites. My slippers were like my version of treasure; at least they protected my feet a little. Gone was the gold and silver outfit of my fantastic dream. I was now in my rags, half-naked. My life was just like so many others in my land not important like the Pharaoh’s. It didn’t matter if I lived or died just that I worked and survived.
I was thirsty and I needed to keep water for my crops and the Nile was a kilometer away. I picked up my clay barrel and started to heave it to the Nile. My muscles were aching and I was dripping with sweat when I reached the Nile. I filled my barrel with water and dragged it back to my house, sipping some when I walked. I was wheezing when I got back. I drank some of the water and went to my fields to pick lentils and dates. It was getting dark and I was still picking.
It was seven o’clock, and the stars were coming out, so I decided to get to my roof. I put my scythe against my house and started to climb the mud house. When I got to the roof I saw a rattle snaked curled in the middle sleeping. I slowly moved towards it and picked it up. I could feel the scaliness of the animal and its muscles moving around. It slowly lifted its head and looked at me. We made eye contact for a brief moment, both of us not sure what to do. Then the rattlesnake hissed and shook its rattle. I flung my arm into the air and the snake followed through, gliding through the air before I heard a thump/splat somewhere in my fields. I tried to settle down after that episode of cardio acceleration.
Chapter 2
I woke up at the sound of roosters crowing. My eyes opened slowly with tiredness and I saw that the Sun was coming over the horizon bringing a light orange glow that was warming. My stomach rumbled as I sat up on the straw roof of my house. I got off the roof but on the dismount I slipped and fell on a rock the size of a jackal head and got a big cut on my chin, “@#$%!” I swore as the blood started to flow through the earth. The cut was big and could easily get infected so I went to the doctor. A few minutes later I was at the doctor. His name was Ramose,when he saw my cut he said,”Woa, that’s one big cut!” He later bandaged my chin for a trade of 2 mints. I ran home so I could quickly try and harvest my crops.
When I got to my fields I had to start quickly because the sun was coming down. I ran past my house , nearly stepping on a snake (dodge by jump). Although it was not a really smart idea, when I landed I slipped on some jackal droppings and hit my head, I blacked out. I woke up looking at the stars, for a second I thought I thought I was on my roof, but soon realised my head was bleeding. I sat up groaning and looked around for any help. Duh, of course not I’m in the middle of a farm and the doctor’s is closed. I suddenly started to think about the scorpions and snakes. Very slowly I turned my head to see if there were any snakes. When I came to see a scorpion on my shoulder. When it saw me it raised it’s sting. The only light source I had to see it was the moon, I could only see the reflection of light off its shell. I slowly got into a squat position and froze every time the scorpion made movement. I eventually got into standing position what seemed after hours. The scorpion and I locked eyes and then it pinched my cheek.
I yelled out in pain and swung my head around until the scorpion let go and flew flying at a mud wall of my house, I heard a splat. The pain in my cheek spread across the right side of my face, it felt like it was on fire. My screams woke a lot of people up, some ran to my aid most of them not sure what to do but comfort me and others ran to spit on me because they were higher in the pyramid and did not like being woken up at two in the morning, I eventually slept in pain. When I awoke I was at Ramose’s house. He was treating my head and scorpion pinch. The light was flooding into the room through the windows and I could smell the dung of animals. I was lying on a bed that was quite comfortable, but I think it was because of what I was used to, a roof of straw and rock.
Ramose was a good doctor and always made funny comments,”Hello, I see your here again.” Yes, that is how funny he is. He told me that I got a concussion and the pinch would leave another big scar. He also gave me some tips,” You shouldn’t run around with snakes like that.”
And so on so forth. He said that I should rest at his house for the night, but I refused, since I had not harvested any crops in a day. I headed to my farm thinking of how I got into all of this trouble. I came to that the gods did not like me and were showing no pity.
When I had miraclously gotten to my fields without getting physically damaged, I started to reaping. As I did this, with perspiration running down every inch of my body, I wondered why? The sun was beating down on me like a hammer of heat. Why were the gods angry at me? My legs felt weak after four hours of work. Why was I at the bottom at the pyramid and not a vizier or scribe? I had to stretch my back every two minutes because of so much bending. Why couldn’t I be like them? Why wasn’t I born higher? When dusk came I went back to my house and climbed up my mud walls to my roof. Well I guess I will never know. I lay down on the roof and tried to find a comfortable position but could not.
I awoke early and stretched my arms and sat up. I observed my surroundings. It was still dark so I had woken up quite early. I climbed down my house and yawned as I landed with a,”Ploop”, of mud. My eyes were still crunchy with sleep, I rubbed my eyes and went inside. When I got in to my house my first reaction was to go and get some breakfast. I trodded to the table and it had some vegetables. I picked one up, I don’t know what it is called but I know what it tastes like. I took a bite and shiver ran down my spine, it was the most horrible thing I have experienced, and I live off it!! It looks green and has a oval shape, I can only afford vegetables, only sometimes meat, but very rarely.
Iskander
Chapter 3
I had a dream last night about being the pharaoh. I was sitting in a large throne with a cushion eating green grapes. This amazed me because I can only eat turnips and I have never experienced such royalty before. The throne was six cubits high and painted gold with symmetrical patterns of wings. I was wearing a silk gold and silver kilt, I stroked them in wonder, and I had never felt such silk. I was in a humungous room that was like a long hallway and towering doors at the end with some thing waiting to be found. The hallway was approximately ten meters in length and four meters in width I am usually in a small house so I got agoraphobia. There were huge stone pillars approximately 37.68 centimeters in circumference, holding the ceiling up. There were 16 windows, eight on each side, which blew in air. There was a candle next to each pillar, which smelled of fragrant flowers. It must have been the throne room and it made me feel very royal and important. I got off my throne and started to walk down the hall. I noticed that there was a long carpet along the floor of the huge room, it was made of fine gold silk and it felt smooth under my bare feet. When I reached the doors, I realized they were so tall they could have fit four grown men standing on each other’s shoulders. I pushed the door open; surprisingly enough it only took a light nudge. I looked out and a blinding light burned my eyes. I sat up and I was on the roof of my house.
I had woken up staring directly at the sun. I sat up quickly and put my hands over my eyes to cool them. There were red spots in my eyes, so I could not see much. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to try and get them out. I managed to get rid of most of them out so that I could see and coordinate myself, but there was still a big red bit on the left side of my eyes. I faced the reality of my life. Pulling myself up out of my dreams, I looked around me and saw the stone and straw roof of my brown mud made house. It smelt like cow dung and earth baking in the blistering heat. I yawned, and stretched my arms and legs as I realized to my horror that it was way past dawn.
My dream of luxury and wealth had robbed me of precious hours of work. I was no pharaoh but a wretched peasant destined to serve out long days beginning in the dark hours before sunrise so that I could tend my crops. Mine was a life of hard labor, tied to the seasons of the great river Nile. Without its inundation I would have had even less because the waters were the only reason my crops and myself could stay alive. Even with the help of the Nile River I still could not eat meat, only vegetables and bread made from wheat. I looked down and saw the body of a man used to working hard in the sun. At least I had slippers unlike many of my friends. But even so my feet were rough and covered with blisters and insect bites. My slippers were like my version of treasure; at least they protected my feet a little. Gone was the gold and silver outfit of my fantastic dream. I was now in my rags, half-naked. My life was just like so many others in my land not important like the Pharaoh’s. It didn’t matter if I lived or died just that I worked and survived.
I was thirsty and I needed to keep water for my crops and the Nile was a kilometer away. I picked up my clay barrel and started to heave it to the Nile. My muscles were aching and I was dripping with sweat when I reached the Nile. I filled my barrel with water and dragged it back to my house, sipping some when I walked. I was wheezing when I got back. I drank some of the water and went to my fields to pick lentils and dates. It was getting dark and I was still picking.
It was seven o’clock, and the stars were coming out, so I decided to get to my roof. I put my scythe against my house and started to climb the mud house. When I got to the roof I saw a rattle snaked curled in the middle sleeping. I slowly moved towards it and picked it up. I could feel the scaliness of the animal and its muscles moving around. It slowly lifted its head and looked at me. We made eye contact for a brief moment, both of us not sure what to do. Then the rattlesnake hissed and shook its rattle. I flung my arm into the air and the snake followed through, gliding through the air before I heard a thump/splat somewhere in my fields. I tried to settle down after that episode of cardio acceleration.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
White Mountains Blog 2
How will Beanpole help Will and Henry on their journey to the White Mountains?
My group and I have read to Chapter Six of The White Mountains. The book is about how Will and Henry are trying to get to the White Mountains or as we commonly know them, The Alps. Will and Henry are trying to get there because they do not want to be capped and would like to escape from the Tripods' wrath. We have found out some things about the characters. Will is a bit paranoid around his companions because he was the original person that was given the quest and his partners are just coming with him, but he is trusting them more and more as their journey gets longer. Henry is being more social with his partners, before he did not talk that much with Will until Beanpole came. Beanpole has been sharing his past and thoughts. Beanpole is the newest member of the group and is the smartest of them, he had 'invented' glasses, taught himself English and found out how heat rises. Will and Henry met Beanpole when they were in France, he was the only person there they found that could speak English and could guide them to the White Mountains. Beanpole's real name was Zhanpole which is translated to Jean Paul, his parents died when he was a baby so he was taken in by his aunt and uncle.
How will Beanpole help Will and Henry on their journey to the White Mountains? Well, Beanpole helped them by showing them to Shmand-Fair which was a coach wagon that they rode on to get closer to the White Mountains at faster speed. Beanpole also helped emotionally by persuading them to go outside their comfort zone by going into the City of the Ancients, the reason why Will and Henry are uncomfortable is because they have been told in their village that they were built by the ill and sick, and are overall 'haunted' but not in a ghost way, more like a loneliness way.
My group and I have read to Chapter Six of The White Mountains. The book is about how Will and Henry are trying to get to the White Mountains or as we commonly know them, The Alps. Will and Henry are trying to get there because they do not want to be capped and would like to escape from the Tripods' wrath. We have found out some things about the characters. Will is a bit paranoid around his companions because he was the original person that was given the quest and his partners are just coming with him, but he is trusting them more and more as their journey gets longer. Henry is being more social with his partners, before he did not talk that much with Will until Beanpole came. Beanpole has been sharing his past and thoughts. Beanpole is the newest member of the group and is the smartest of them, he had 'invented' glasses, taught himself English and found out how heat rises. Will and Henry met Beanpole when they were in France, he was the only person there they found that could speak English and could guide them to the White Mountains. Beanpole's real name was Zhanpole which is translated to Jean Paul, his parents died when he was a baby so he was taken in by his aunt and uncle.
How will Beanpole help Will and Henry on their journey to the White Mountains? Well, Beanpole helped them by showing them to Shmand-Fair which was a coach wagon that they rode on to get closer to the White Mountains at faster speed. Beanpole also helped emotionally by persuading them to go outside their comfort zone by going into the City of the Ancients, the reason why Will and Henry are uncomfortable is because they have been told in their village that they were built by the ill and sick, and are overall 'haunted' but not in a ghost way, more like a loneliness way.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
White Mountains Blog
How is Will like me?
In Humanities my group and I have read two chapters of the The White Mountains. The author of the White Mountains is John Christopher who wrote the Tripod series(The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, The Pool of Fire). The Tripod trilogy genre is Science Fiction, the main character is Will who lives in the future and the human race is ruled by big machines that have three legs and three tentacles and are called Tripods. So far my group and I have found out that every child when they turn fourteen gets 'capped', being capped is when a Tripod takes you away and puts a metal cap on your head that stays there for life. The reason for the cap is to trap independent thought and imagination so that the humans won't rebel, Will is only thirteen but his cousin Jack has already been capped so he is not communicating with Will that much. Shortly after Will meets a hobo called Ozymandias who is not capped but is wearing a fake one so he could be free from the Tripods. Ozymandias persuades Will to go to the White Mountains and seek help away from the Tripods.
So, back to the question, I think Will is like me because we are both experiencing changes, socially and physically such as, socially friends are acting differently around me and are interested in different things like we used to like Pack Shack burgers but now we do not like them that much anymore.
Both Will and I are confused about what is right and what is wrong and now we are both learning those things. For example in Health I have learnt smoking is unhealthy because cigarettes have thousands of chemicals and hundreds of them cause cancer. In the book Will learnt from Ozymandias that the cap trapped thought so you could not think outside the box.
We both had 'friends' that are now acting differently and not socially interacting with us. Will's cousin Jack used to be his best friend but once he had been capped, Jack only talked to others who have been capped and rarely talked to Will. But for me most of my friends are now a lot more competitive physically and academically.
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