Experience of Nature

Enjoy this full episode of Human Planet, episode One, about how humans are able to survive with nature.

Writing about Science

Science and poetry may not seem to be obviously linked, but the mysteries of nature have often inspired writers. Watch this video about the chambered nautilus:


 And now read this poem about this creature.

The Chambered Nautilus
BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES SR.
This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
   Sails the unshadowed main,—
   The venturous bark that flings
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
   And coral reefs lie bare,
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.

Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
   Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
   And every chambered cell,
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
   Before thee lies revealed,—
Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!

Year after year beheld the silent toil
   That spread his lustrous coil;
   Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year’s dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
   Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
   Child of the wandering sea,
   Cast from her lap, forlorn!
From thy dead lips a clearer note is born
Than ever Triton blew from wreathèd horn!
   While on mine ear it rings,
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:—

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
   As the swift seasons roll!
   Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
   Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea! 

Beautiful Words for Beautiful Nature

Here is a sampling of famous poems about the beauty of nature, read set to lovely images. Gerard Manley Hopkin's poem, "Pied Beauty" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Snowflakes" And his "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls" Now as you watch the videos below, describe what you see, hear, feel and experience in the comments.

Spelling Quiz 31 Week of March 25, 2013

Seeing the Future

What is in our future? What do YOU feel positive and optimistic about?

Help for "Type of Plot" Reading Journal, March 25

Your reading journal this week is to identify the type of plot the author uses to tell the story of your book.

First we have to remember what a plot is, right?

Simply, the plot of your book is WHAT HAPPENS IN THE STORY.

For example, the plot of "Cinderella" is: FIRST Cinderella (the PROTAGONIST)  is mistreated by her step-family (the ANTAGONISTS), THEN her fairy godmother gives her magical help that allows her to go the ball, THEN dances with the prince, and has to run off at midnight, leaving only one shoe behind. THEN the prince uses the shoe to find her again, and LASTLY they live happily ever after.

People have been telling stories for as long as we've been speaking-- so roughly 500,000 years. That means trillions of stories have been told-- and these stories' plots fall into patterns. 

Here are SEVEN basic types of plots that you can use to describe almost any story, movie, tv show, or even personal anecdote. 

You can use these seven to compare to your book. Does the plot of the book you are reading match one or more of these? Explain which one, and give evidence from your book to prove that it is a good fit. 

These plots are widely recognized, but I got these specific descriptions from: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSevenBasicPlots

1. Overcoming the MonsterHero learns of a great evil threatening the land, and sets out to destroy it.
2. Rags to RichesSurrounded by dark forces who suppress and ridicule him, the Hero slowly blossoms into a mature figure who ultimately gets riches, a kingdom, and the perfect mate.
3. The QuestHero learns of a "great MacGuffin" (some valuable item) that he desperately wants to find, and sets out to find it, often with companions.
4. Voyage and ReturnHero heads off into a magic land with crazy rules, ultimately triumphs over the madness and returns home far more mature than when he set out.
5. ComedyHero and Heroine are destined to get together, but a dark force is preventing them from doing so; the story conspires to make the dark force repent, and suddenly the Hero and Heroine are free to get together. This is part of a cascade of effects that shows everyone for who they really are, and allows two or more other relationships to correctly form.
6. TragedyThe flip side of the Overcoming the Monster plot. Our protagonist character is the Villain, but we get to watch him slowly spiral down into darkness before he's finally defeated, freeing the land from his evil influence.
7. RebirthAs with the Tragedy plot, but our protagonist manages to realize his error before it's too late, and does a Heel Face Turn to avoid inevitable defeat.

_______________________________________

Here's a graphic way to describe the motion of all plots: Beginning, Complication, Middle, Crisis, Denoument, Resolution, End.

_____________________________________

If you are feeling like a real sucker for punishment, you can choose from one of these THIRTYSIX types of plots. 
Here is an interesting list of the 36 basic plot types, as described by Georges Polti:

The Basic Plots

Each short plot description starts with the title of the plot pattern. After a hyphen the main characters to be found in the plot are given, separated by commas.

1. Supplication - Persecutor, Suppliant, a Power in Authority
2. Deliverance - Unfortunates, Threatener, Rescuer
3. Revenge - Avenger, Criminal
4. Vengeance by Family upon Family - Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Relative
5. Pursuit - Fugitive from Punishment, Pursuer
6. Victim of Cruelty or Misfortune - Unfortunates, Master or Unlucky Person
7. Disaster - Vanquished Power, Victorious Power or Messenger
8. Revolt - Tyrant, Conspirator(s)
9. Daring Enterprise - Bold Leader, Goal, Adversary
10. Abduction - Abductor, Abducted, Guardian
11. Enigma - Interrogator, Seeker, Problem
12. Obtaining - Two or more Opposing Parties, Object, maybe an Arbitrator
13. Familial Hatred - Two Family Members who hate each other
14. Familial Rivalry - Preferred Kinsman, Rejected Kinsman, Object
15. Murderous Adultery - Two Adulterers, the Betrayed
16. Madness - Madman, Victim
17. Fatal Imprudence - Imprudent person, Victim or lost object
18. Involuntary Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, Revealer
19. Kinsman Kills Unrecognised Kinsman - Killer, Unrecognised Victim, Revealer
20. Self Sacrifice for an Ideal - Hero, Ideal, Person or Thing Sacrificed
21. Self Sacrifice for Kindred - Hero, Kinsman, Person or Thing Sacrificed
22. All Sacrificed for Passion - Lover, Object of Passion, Person or Thing Sacrificed
23. Sacrifice of Loved Ones - Hero, Beloved Victim, Need for Sacrifice
24. Rivalry Between Superior and Inferior - Superior, Inferior, Object
25. Adultery - Deceived Spouse, Two Adulterers
26. Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, theme of Dissolution
27. Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One - Discoverer, Guilty One
28. Obstacles to Love - Two Lovers, Obstacle
29. An Enemy Loved - Beloved Enemy, Lover, Hater
30. Ambition - An Ambitious Person, Coveted Thing, Adversary
31. Conflict with a God - Mortal, Immortal
32. Mistaken Jealousy - Jealous One, Object of Jealousy, Supposed Accomplice, Author of Mistake
33. Faulty Judgment - Mistaken One, Victim of Mistake, Author of Mistake, Guilty Person
34. Remorse - Culprit, Victim, Interrogator
35. Recovery of a Lost One - Seeker, One Found
36. Loss of Loved Ones - Kinsman Slain, Kinsman Witness, Executioner

__________________________________

Ecclesiastes 1:9

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ 

What has been will be again,

    what has been done will be done again;

    there is nothing new under the sun.

_______________________________________

More on the usefulness of categorizing types of plots: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/types-of-plots/

A fascinating tool for writers to create interesting plot complications:

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/plotting-made-easy-complications.html

A complicated and sort of brilliantly crazy guide to the 36 types of plots, as applied to RPG games!

http://www.rpglibrary.org/articles/storytelling/36plots.php

Utopia/Dystopia

What is a Utopia? What would a perfect world for you? What would a dystopia look like for you?

Spelling Quiz 30!

Purpose of History

Why does it matter that we know history? What are the best points that this video makes?

 And is "avoiding looking stupid" a good reason to know history?

Hey! Our Mortician friend is from Hawaii!

Spelling Quiz Week 28

Love: How to make it work?

Are there ways we can avoid heartbreak? How DO you have good relationships? For teenagers:

 

 Here is Dr. Chapman talking about the five love languages he describes. Sometimes the way you SHOW love isn't the way they are able to FEEL loved.

 

 Doctor Jon Gottman can predict accurately which relationships will fail and which will succeed by looking at this ratio. How positive are you towards your friends and loved ones?

 How to build trust:

Love: Yes Please

Do we need love? And is it our brains, not our hearts that define our experiences with love?

Week 26 Spelling Quiz

Love? No Thanks.

Listen to this story about Joe, a kid who has decided he will never fall in love.

 

 What do you think? Is he right? Does love make you stupid? Is it possible to just say, "No Thanks" to the whole love thing?

Reversed Poem: Hate

What is hate? Can we reverse the habit?

 

The Lost Generation-- Which way is true for you and your generation?

 

 And anger-- can you reverse it?

 

Types of Analogies

There are specific types of analogies! Watch both of these videos. In the comment form, generate 5 of your own.


 

Spelling Quiz Week 23, January 24

Ask a Mortician!

Death is something we avoid talking about, but what is it like for the people who deal with death every day? Should we talk more about death? Watch this video and leave a comment about your thoughts.

 

 And how do you talk to someone who has lost someone? Warning, says the S*** word.

 

Journeys to the Land of the Dead

Many cultures have myths about Gods and Heroes that go to the land of the dead and are able to return safely.

This sight lists myths about the Underworld from a variety of cultures.
http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Tr-Wa/Underworld.html

Aztec story of the Journey to the land of the Dead The story of the Egyptian land of the dead, from the website "Ancient Egypt: The Mythology" :

http://www.egyptianmyths.net/mythlanddead.htm

The story of Persephone and her marriage to Hades, the King of the Dead.
The death of Baldur, son of Odin. http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=mabie&book=norse&story=balder The descent of the Egyptian Goddess Inanna to the land of the dead http://www.mythandmore.com/the-descent-of-inanna/ Orpheus and Eurydice


 Joseph Campbell talks about rituals and the way they act out descent into death and back into life.


Want to read more about myths? Here are some more myths sites:

Myths from around the world:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/myths.htm

fun myth games:
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/wingedsandals/


Interactive myth and legend retellings:

http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/

Build your own myth!
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htm

Explore Greek and Roman Myths
http://www.museumnetworkuk.org/myths/index.html