Engineering Summer Programs - High School Programs
Box 7904 NCSU
Raleigh, NC 27695-7904
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
February 24, 2010
Christopher Columbus
[Address Line 1]
[Address Line 2]
Dear Christopher Columbus,
My name is Forrest Heck, and I attend Isaac Bear Early College High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. My school went on a field trip recently and saw your movie The Lightning Thief. I think that it was a relatively good film. Having read the books, I have only a few major complaints.
My first complaint about the movie—and probably the most obvious one—is the age of the main characters. In the movie, the characters are portrayed as late high school students, while in the book Percy is 12. Although it fits the plot of the movie, this “aging” of the lead roles kills off any possibility of sequels following the plot of the book; the most important factor in the later novels is Percy approaching the age of 16.
The removal of several key characters is another part that I disliked. Ares and his progeny were written off, and half of the book disappeared into thin air. With characters such as the oracle removed, the plot of further books is also crumpled. The fact that Luke dies in the end of the film also ruins any possible sequel following the books; he’s the main antagonist.
The last part that I didn’t like about the film is that the application of logic wreaks havoc on how the scenes play out. For instance, the whole capture the flag scene: after Percy defeats Annabeth, why does the red team allow his to take their flag? Also, since most of the blue team was watching the fight, why hadn’t the red team struck at the blue flag? During the hydra fight, why didn’t Grover pull out the medusa head at the start? I know that the scene would have ended before it began, but did the characters have to fall back on normal arms when they had a superweapon in their possession?
Other than these gripes, I enjoyed the movie and will probably attend any sequels that are released.
Respectfully,
Forrest Heck
PS: I love your name.
Christopher Columbus
[Address Line 1]
[Address Line 2]
Dear Christopher Columbus,
My name is Forrest Heck, and I attend Isaac Bear Early College High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. My school went on a field trip recently and saw your movie The Lightning Thief. I think that it was a relatively good film. Having read the books, I have only a few major complaints.
My first complaint about the movie—and probably the most obvious one—is the age of the main characters. In the movie, the characters are portrayed as late high school students, while in the book Percy is 12. Although it fits the plot of the movie, this “aging” of the lead roles kills off any possibility of sequels following the plot of the book; the most important factor in the later novels is Percy approaching the age of 16.
The removal of several key characters is another part that I disliked. Ares and his progeny were written off, and half of the book disappeared into thin air. With characters such as the oracle removed, the plot of further books is also crumpled. The fact that Luke dies in the end of the film also ruins any possible sequel following the books; he’s the main antagonist.
The last part that I didn’t like about the film is that the application of logic wreaks havoc on how the scenes play out. For instance, the whole capture the flag scene: after Percy defeats Annabeth, why does the red team allow his to take their flag? Also, since most of the blue team was watching the fight, why hadn’t the red team struck at the blue flag? During the hydra fight, why didn’t Grover pull out the medusa head at the start? I know that the scene would have ended before it began, but did the characters have to fall back on normal arms when they had a superweapon in their possession?
Other than these gripes, I enjoyed the movie and will probably attend any sequels that are released.
Respectfully,
Forrest Heck
PS: I love your name.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Art Stuff
Transcendentalism
Thesis: Transcendental art emphasized natural areas, looking to the viewer to provide meaning to the specific parts of the pieces.
The Spirit of War - Jasper Francis Cropsey
Fisherman's House, Greenwood Lake - Jasper Francis Cropsey
The Garden of Eden - Thomas Cole
Heart of the Andes - Frederic Edwin Church
Romanticism
Thesis: Romantic art is a style that conveys emotion through the art; thus, pieces from this era show scenes likely to produce strong emotions in viewers.
The Burning of the Houses of Parliament - Joseph Mallord William Turner
The Haywain - John Constable
Jacob's Ladder - William Blake
Life-boat and Manby Apparatus - Joseph Mallord William Turner
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, December 4, 2009
1. ““They can’t any of them speak English, except one little girl, and all she can say is ‘we go Black Hawk, Nebraska.’ She’s not much older than you, twelve or thirteen, maybe, and she’s as bright as a new dollar. Don’t you want to go ahead and see her, Jimmy? She’s got pretty brown eyes, too!””
This quote is foreshadowing that refers to the future romance/friendship between Jim and Ántonia.
2. “I had the feeling that the world was left behind, that we had gone over the edge of it, and were outside man's jurisdiction" (Cather 5).
This quote from the beginning conveys the author's initial tone of how confused the main character, Jim, is about his fate and his "new life," so to speak.
3. “I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness, to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep" (Cather 11).
This passage shows how the author writes about the contentment of those living life to its fullest, and it reinforces the tone of how sometimes it’s the simple things that bring happiness.
4. “In the afternoons, when grandmother sat upstairs darning, or making husking gloves, I read The Swiss Family Robinson aloud to her, and I felt that the Swiss family had no advantages over us in the way of an adventurous life” (Cather 37-38).
This quote helps reinforce that Cather is writing a very romanticized version of the “frontier life,” where the characters feel fairly unburdened. This seems to be a subtle breakage of the fourth wall, where Jim Burden compares himself to fictional characters and sees no important differences.
5. “Whenever I saw her come up the furrow, shouting to her beasts, sunburned, sweaty, her dress open at the neck, and her throat and chest dust-plastered, I used to think of the tone in which poor Mr. Shimerda, who could say so little, yet managed to say so much when he exclaimed, “My Án-tonia!”” (Cather 71).
This passage shows how Jim feels affection towards Ántonia, and he likens it to the emotion-filled tone of her father, who can’t speak much English but still manages to say a lot in few words.
This quote is foreshadowing that refers to the future romance/friendship between Jim and Ántonia.
2. “I had the feeling that the world was left behind, that we had gone over the edge of it, and were outside man's jurisdiction" (Cather 5).
This quote from the beginning conveys the author's initial tone of how confused the main character, Jim, is about his fate and his "new life," so to speak.
3. “I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness, to be dissolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep" (Cather 11).
This passage shows how the author writes about the contentment of those living life to its fullest, and it reinforces the tone of how sometimes it’s the simple things that bring happiness.
4. “In the afternoons, when grandmother sat upstairs darning, or making husking gloves, I read The Swiss Family Robinson aloud to her, and I felt that the Swiss family had no advantages over us in the way of an adventurous life” (Cather 37-38).
This quote helps reinforce that Cather is writing a very romanticized version of the “frontier life,” where the characters feel fairly unburdened. This seems to be a subtle breakage of the fourth wall, where Jim Burden compares himself to fictional characters and sees no important differences.
5. “Whenever I saw her come up the furrow, shouting to her beasts, sunburned, sweaty, her dress open at the neck, and her throat and chest dust-plastered, I used to think of the tone in which poor Mr. Shimerda, who could say so little, yet managed to say so much when he exclaimed, “My Án-tonia!”” (Cather 71).
This passage shows how Jim feels affection towards Ántonia, and he likens it to the emotion-filled tone of her father, who can’t speak much English but still manages to say a lot in few words.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
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