Nanda+Maiki


 * Assignment #1 My Hero**



A hero, according to Joseph Campbell, is "someone who dedicates their life to something bigger than themselves." A person who goes under that description is Nelson Mandela. Mandela led a movement unify his segregated nation with patience, wisdom, and integrity. I think he is a hero because he stood up against the apartheid and fought for the liberation of South Africa from colonialism; a feat in which he was imprisoned for twenty-seven years. Mandela believed that he could change the country with legal and political methods, so he joined the African National Congress. He continued to study the nonviolent resistance methods of Mahatma Gandhi until he and his National Party were arrested for high treason. However, Mandela turned to militant action after sixty-nine peaceful protesters were brutally killed during a huge protest in Sharpville. His use of violence continued until 1962, when he arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for actions against the government in 1967. Mandela chose to learn from his mistakes throughout his life rather than repeat them. So after and during prison, he uses nonviolent methods to resist the prison guards and uses creative ways to keep the other prisoners minds sharp even though their bodies were under pushing working conditions. On February 10, 1990 F.W. de Klerk, the new president, grants Mandela freedom, and Mandela uses peaceful negotiations to eventually end the apartheid a few years later. I consider Nelson Mandela a hero because of his determination to never give up and stand up for what he believed in.

Sources: http://moralheroes.org/nelson-mandela http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography Image: http://blogs.metrotimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1920x1440-nelson-mandela-in-jail-desktop-wallpaper-hd.jpg


 * Assignment #2 My Perfect World**

My perfect world would on a huge sunny island all to myself. The island would have a huge mansion with lots of servants, maids, and a butler. In the mansion there would be a very large and spacious library filled with tons of books, and a living room with big flat screen TV's. Outside the the beach would be vast and wide. The ocean would be glittering in the sun, and there will be palm trees everywhere. It would be a perfect scene for pictures. But even though the island is to myself, I like people and parties. So friends and family would be welcome to come and stay at my beach house anytime, and we would have parties everyday. In my perfect world, I would never have to work and I enough money to pay my servants, for my house, and for recreational activities. There would be no violence and disease on this island; everyone would be living in complete peace.

Image: http://www.cntraveler.com/hotels/caribbean/st-vincent-the-grenadines/palm-island-st-vincent-and-the-grenadines-palm-island-st-vincent-and-the-grenadines

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 * Assignment #3 The God Teacher **

An example of a two-edged gift that I have gotten the past year is my iphone. This is a positive gift because it gives great pleasure. Not only do I use it to contact my family after school, but I also use it for school. I have my school e-mail connect to my phone so that whenever I get an important school e-mail, I can go ahead and check it. Texting my friends and social networking can be really fun, but sometimes it can interfere with my sleep and academic grades. I find myself surfing through my phone late at night for hours, not realizing how much time I'm spending, and this causes me to lose much needed sleep. I fall asleep in class and miss the lesson, and it causes me to have more homework at night. I think I'm addicted. Sometimes I don't finish my homework until really late at night because I am on my phone too much. Although my phone is a great device and useful in many ways, I can become obsessed, and it will hinder my peformance at school and my grades.

I am to get an I phone soon. I will see how much it distracts me!


 * Assignment #4 The End of Childhood**

One instance in which I have lost part of my innocence is when I entered middle school. It is a huge change from elementary school to middle school. Not only are the classes significantly harder, but your level of responsibility and freedom increase. First of all, responsibility is a very important factor to have when coming into middle school. In elementary school, students just got a NO HOMEWORK warning when they did not do their homework, but in middle school, when do not complete your homework, you get points taken off your grade. Also, you have to be sure to keep up with all your school items and materials because the teachers in middle school are a lot more strict when it comes to having your materials in class than the lower school teachers. Teachers will treat you more like adults in middle school throughout high school and college, and they will not tolerate if you misbehave like elementary school teachers. If you are doing something you are not supposed to do, they will issue you detentions and on extreme conditions, expulsion. Entering middle school shows that you are becoming an adult because there is more freedom. This shows that the faculty of the school trusts that you can do more things by yourself than what teachers would let you do in elementary school. Since the classes are harder, it is our responsibility as middle schoolers to study thoroughly and diligently in order to maintain good grades and be prepared for high school Overall, middle school is a great leap from elementary school because you are growing from a child to a teenager and into an adult.




 * Assignment #5 The End of Time**

The end of the world is coming Man's anger, hatred, and violence finally have a consequence No one will live because of the chaos so deep Man's greed and desire

I stand above On top of the world Looking down at the world that used to love Being engulfed in darkness till' it is no more

But let us have hope Let there be one tiny spark of life That may grow so that it may cover earth once again And fill it light and love again

Let us begin a new era of time A new era of history A new era of humanity




 * Assignment #6 Changes in the Stories**

The myth of Baucis and Philemon is a story that has the archetype of change. One change in this story was the transformation of the Phrygian hill country. After the Zeus and Hermes are well-treated by Baucis and Philemon, they decide to reward the couple by turning the town into a great lake and their poor house into a grand temple. This change could also be considered a punishment to other townspeople for their rude and unwelcome nature. Another change is the change of Philemon and Baucis themselves. After the gods transfigure their town, they tell the old pair that they could have anything they want. The two decide that they want to guard the temple and become the two gods' priests, and they want to be able to stay and die together. So when they couple grow extremely old and are about to die, they are turned into trees. One became a linden and the other became an oak, but they were still connected with a single trunk.




 * Assignment #7 Changes** **in** **our World**

A change in our world today would be the change of human behavior throughout life and the end of childhood. When someone is a baby, they are as innocent as one can be. They giggle when something is amusing to them and cry when they are upset or want something. Babies don't know how to communicate, so they cry and wail as a sign to tell their parent that they are in need of something. As the baby grows to a young child and their language develops, they are a little more experienced, and they know how to communicate and respond to others. The child, however, is still naive and is oblivious to the dangers of the world. The child then becomes a teenager. A teenager is more aware of the world and its dangers because of school, their parents, and the lessons they learn in life. Being a teenager causes the human to have a kind of "I'm always right" attitude, which causes lots of the teenagers today to make stupid decision. By the time a teenager is an adult, the human should know fully well how to communicate, make choices, and respond to others. Finally, when one becomes old, they are fully aware of the world around them. They have tons more knowledge than they had when they were children. Old people also become nostalgic when they look back at the past and reflect on how much they have learned and seen. "Loss of innocence" and "the end of childhood" are great changes throughout human life that will determine how a human will behave as he or she grows up.




 * Assignment #8 My Favorite Season of the Year**

My favorite season of the year is winter. This may seem unusual to most, but winter has always been by favorite season since I was little. I love winter mostly because of the holidays. I love all the Christmas lights and songs. Overall, Christmas is my just my absolute favorite time of the year. My birthday is also on Christmas Day, so it is nice to be surrounded by Christmas spirit on that day. New Years is also a very fun celebration when I'm spending it with my whole family. Another thing I like about winter is the need to dress in warm clothes because of the cold weather. I don't know why, but I just love to be dressed in sweaters and lots of layers. Winter, in my opinion, is more like the start of something new, a whole new year, rather than end of life and miserable cold.




 * Assignment #9 What Have I Learned?**

I have learned many things from our study of mythology. We have learned that we need patterns and a list of set goals in life so that we will be able to succeed in life and get through it. Humans have a set of ideas on how the world was created, and how the world has changed since then. "The Four Ages" have showed how the world has changed since the golden age with the seasons, and how people are the cause of the world coming to its worst. We have also learned that all men will lose their innocence at some point, and we will all die and there is no preventing it. All concepts are portrayed in the myths we have read. The sections that were most significant to were the god teachers, the end of childhood, and the cataracts of heaven. The god teachers taught us the relationship between gods and humans, and how they taught us how to survive and how to take care of ourselves. The end of childhood taught us to be careful about the decisions we make, and we need to listen to our elders and "god teachers" because what they say is usually very important. The myths that told of the end of the world taught us that we as men have caused the destruction of the world and we need to do what we can to make it better.This lesson has taught me that everyone has a part in this world, and we all need to do our part to keep it from dropping into total chaos.