What I Learned Today 9/10/14

By Sage Hamilton

The Big History Project

In The Big History Project, I learned about Before Earth, or the Hadean Eon. Named after the Greek god Hades, the Hadean Eon happened around 2.4 billion years ago. Like in one of the videos, if you went through a time machine and took a walk down earth in the Hadean Eon. First of all, the whole entire world is made of lava, so that can't be fun.

 

Lord of the Flies

Today I watched the Lord of the Flies movie, and I think that the book is much better. Everyone already knows reading a book is better than first watching a movie. I think so because a book can have lots of detail, but a movie is only 1-2 hours long, so it can’t put as much into it, like Harry Potter for example. When I tried to read that book I didn’t like it as much because it felt to me like it was the same thing repeated over that I'd already watched.

 

I had to answer questions about the theme of PRIMITIVISM in Lord of the Flies:

1.How does Piggy justify or explain Simon’s death?

Piggy justifies it by saying, “it was an accident, a terrible accident. It wasn’t our fault.” To make himself feel not guilty from staring out at the enraged group that slaughtered Simon.

2.Does he end up convincing himself he’s really not responsible for it?

Yes, he does. By creating constant repetition in Ralph’s and his own mind he was able to get his fear behind him.

3.Whose fault is it that Simon and Piggy are killed?

Jack’s tribe of savages were most definitely their fault. Simon put them at fault when Jack gave everyone the thrive to kill. And when Simon came crashing down the hill, they were scared, so they unconsciously killed Simon. And Rodger literally threw a boulder at Piggy breaking his head! He and Jack’s tribe were definitely at fault for that.

4.Is there a difference here between being at fault and being responsible for it?

Yes. Everyone except Ralph and Piggy were at fault for killing Simon but none of them were really responsible for it. But Piggy, when he died only Rodger was at fault and the only one responsible.

5.Who is the most savage character on the island? (Besides Roger.)

Jack is the one who started all of the later death and violence, so I believe he is the most savage out of all of them.

6.Who is the most civilized?

Of course the one who went out for the team, Piggy. If Ralph hadn’t had Piggy then there would be no “brains” in the group. The story would’ve gone much differently if it weren’t for him.

7.How do we know the difference?

Well, Jack and Rodger have done things that would represent him to everyone else as “savage”. Piggy and Ralph always did the right thing that would help everyone in the long run. So they are “civilized”

8.Does William Golding ever question what it means to be “civilized” and “savage.” or is he pretty comfortable with the categories?

I don’t think he hesitated when he said if something is civil or savage, so I’d say he is pretty comfortable with it.

Java Programming (Minecraft Mod Design)

I created a pickaxe and a sword in my Mod Design class. I learned how to create different shades of colors for each pixel using hex codes. I created a sword and pickaxe of harmony using the My Little Pony crystal colors. It took a long time, but it was really fun.