3 Types of Literature

 Lesson 55 Essay

   When you hear the word “literature”, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Is it a novel? A short story? Or maybe a novella? In literature, there are five major forms: novel, short story, novella, drama, and poems. This essay will cover three of these types of literature.

    Novel: A novel is the most commonly thought of types of literature. It also happens to be the longest. It's a normally a long prose narrative that describes

the life of fictional character and events. Novels are often in the form of sequential stories or series. A few examples of novels are: The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

    Short Story: The term “short story” often conjures up the thought of a set word limit. However, there is no limit to how long a short story should be. Like novels, short stories are written in the prose style. A short story makes use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components to a greater degree than an anecdote, yet to a far lesser degree than a novel. Some famous short stories include: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, To Build a Fire by Jack London, and The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe.

    Novella: Novellas, like short stories and novels, are fictional stories. Novellas usually feature fewer conflicts, unlike novels, which have more conflicts to span across a longer story. Novellas often focus on just one conflict. The story of a novella is longer than a short story, but has a far more simplified plot line than a novel. Examples of novellas include: Call of the Wild by Jack London, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway.

 

Knighthood: The Origin of Knights

  Lesson 45 Essay

 The word “knight” was the title given to a person honored by a king or a monarch for a service. Originally, however, a knight was a mounted soldier and was considered a lesser noble. Knights eventually became just honored people, and they were recognized for noble deeds outside the military. In the Middle Ages, knights were part of two systems:

–The Feudal System hierarchy

–The service of the king's army

  The whole idea of “warriors on horseback”, came from the Franks after the fall of Rome and was expanded by Charlemagne. Any person who could ride and owned armor was considered a knight in these early times. Eventually, knighthood became a more refined position in the Feudal system. Knights were of the lower class nobles, and though they rode horses into battle, they were still distinct from the cavalry.

  An important part of knighthood was chivalry. The knights took this very seriously, even getting to the point where they organized a code for it. Chivalry was an ethical standard that all knights had to adhere to. When they weren't needed for battle, knights would live in castles or large fortified houses. Knighthood and chivalry was influenced by Christianity. Knights tried to pursue the values of “faith, hope, charity, justice, strength, modesty, and loyalty”. Chivalric ideals were popular in medieval writing and were often combined with romance in the Renaissance. The stories of a knight saving a damsel in distress is still very popular in modern culture.

  However, knighthood and chivalry was forgotten during the Renaissance. Knighthood is still granted in some societies today. Knighthood now is granted for doing great deeds.

King Alfred the Great

  Lesson 40 Essay

       Alfred the Great was one of the most notable kings of England's history. He ruled England from the 871-899. He was the the only English monarch to be called “the Great”.

        Alfred, at the age of four, was anointed to be king by the Pope in Rome. This was a strange act, seeing as Alfred had three older brother who were eligible for the crown. But, over time, each of his brothers were crowned as king and died shortly after. After this, Alfred became king.

        The reign of Alfred took off on a shaky start as the Danes were invading Wessex at the time. Even though the Danes were very strong, King Alfred eventually beat them. The Danish king, Gurthrum, was converted to Christianity at the peace treaty that Alfred proposed. This conversion to strengthened the ties between the two territories. In 866, Alfred the Great marched into London and reclaimed it from the Danish control. This reclaiming of London further unified Southern England.

        When Alfred wasn't fighting, he was busy reorganizing the military and setting up a fleet of longships, similar to the ships the Vikings used. Alfred also spent a lot of his life working on better education for his people. His greatest achievement as king was reviving education as a crucial part of English culture. He sought to have every young man in the country educated, regardless of their station.

        Throughout his life, Alfred dealt with much sickness, and he died in the year 899. His son, Edward, succeeded him on the throne.

 

The Theme of Treasure Island

 Lesson 35 Essay

      The book Treasure Island is a great story. There's pirates, parrots, treasure maps with black Xs. And, a theme.

        I think the theme of Treasure Island is: Be wary of the company you keep. In the book, Jim Hawkins finds himself amidst some very bad people who try to kill him.

        Also, another theme I think could fit in the story is: Money. Those bad people that Jim is traveling with are seeking the great amount of treasure marked on the map. They go so far as to kill most of the crew, just to get what they want.

 

Canute the Great

  Lesson 35 Essay

       Canute the Great lived during the Viking times. Unlike previous Vikings before him, Canute wasn't Anglo-Saxon. He was born to a Scandinavian prince and was the grandson of the first Scandinavian king to accept Christianity.

       Canute's older brother, Harald, was the crown prince and became king of Denmark in 1014. Knowing that he wouldn't become king for a while, Canute set out for England to make a name for himself. He sailed in ships full of soldiers. Canute fought numerous battles against England's king, Edmund Ironside, with Vikings from all over Scandinavia. Canute eventually forced Edmund to work out a peace treaty with him after he besieged London. This treaty stated that Canute would become king after Edmund died, which conveniently happened just three weeks after.

        To further strengthen his claim to the throne, Canute married Emma of Normandy. Wary of being overthrown, he killed any Saxon who had any claim to the throne. He named his son Harthacnut, as the the designated heir. When Harald died, Canute moved back to Denmark to assume kingship there. Canute was now king of England and Denmark. He attended the coronation of Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

        Kings who appeared to be on good terms with God often had happy, prosperous reigns during this time. Canute strove to reconcile himself with the church and his people after his harsh invasion.

        When he got back from Rome, Canute decided to conquer Norway and crown himself king of Norway. However, he was overthrown after imposing taxes there. Canute died in England in 1035, and was buried in Winchester. His son continued to rule the kingdom until his own death in 1042. The combined kingdoms, England, Denmark, and Norway, over which Canute ruled, returned to their former rulers.

Wulf the Saxon: A Review

 Lesson 30 Essay

        The book Wulf the Saxon, by G.A. Henty, is a great piece of literature. Let's take a review of this story

        It begins with a boy named Wulf. He is a Saxon thane in the service of Harold. In the first chapter, Wulf crashes into a young man named Walter Fitz-Urse. Walter, a Norman freeman in service to the bishop, demands an apology. Wulf gives his apology, but, when Walter doesn't accept it, Wulf exclaims that he wished all the Normans were out of England. Harold punishes Wulf for being rude by banishing him to his lands for a while.

        Osgod, Wulf's man, accompanies him. Leof, Wulf's teacher, teaches Wulf about keeping his lands and people in good condition. He is taught how to throw an axe and to fight. Wulf grows to be a strong man and wise battle planner. It is a year before Wulf is called back to court. Sometime after Wulf's return, Harold is captured by Duke William and held captive. Wulf is able to get back to England and free Harold with the help of a friend named Guy de Burg. Wulf starts suspecting that his old adversary, Walter Fitz-Urse is plotting to kill Harold so William could become king instead. He sends one of Osgod's friends to watch Walter. Wulf's suspicions come true as he sees Walter sneak up to Harold's room at night. There is a fight and Walter dies.

        Battles continue to happen after this, and these such battles eventually lead up to the Battle of Hastings. (This is a very important and very true battle in history.) Off in another mini battle, Osgod loses his arm. Wulf tells him to stop fighting and wait until he's needed. 

      Harold, who is king by now, is shot with an arrow and is killed. Wulf and Beorn are about to be killed as well when the Lord de Burg jumps in front of them. He pleads for their life, and in exchange William will become king. William agrees and he is made king. Wulf, Osgod, and Beorn are made prisoners and are put in the care of the de Burgs. Once the Lord de Burg has them under his roof, he tells Wulf that he can marry his daughter, Agnes. Wulf accepts the offer, and they get married and have a son. But after this, sadly, Wulf attends the burial of Guy de Burg. Guy had been badly injured at a previous raid on Harold's camp, and had never recovered fully.

        This book is indeed very sad, but also has a very good look on Saxon and Norman culture and lifestyle.

The Life of Charles Martel

  Lesson 30 Essay

       Charles Martel was born the son of Pepin of Heristal, the Mayor of the Palace of France. This position of “mayor” serves as the active ruler, while the “king” is more of a figurehead. Pepin was a very cruel mayor and he abused his power. When he died in 714, Pepin's wife tried to take the position of mayor for herself, even going so far as to hide away Pepin's illegitimate heir son, Charles.

        Charles escaped from his mother and began organizing support from the nobles of the kingdom. Charles was called to be the army's leader when a rogue band of Franks attacked the kingdom. 

      However, even though Charles led a magnificent battle, his army was outnumbered and Charles wisely withdrew the army. This loss turned out to be the only defeat of his military career. Charles retaliated on his enemies later on at the Battle of Amblive.

        He won the Battle of Amblive by using three tactics that would become his trademarks:

 -Appearing where his enemies least expected

 -Attacking where his enemies least expected

  -Attacking how his enemies least expected

        After winning this battle, Charles took over government of France. He never claimed the title of king, but instead served in the position of mayor of the palace for the rest of his life. Charles showed mercy to the people who imprisoned him. From the years 718 to 728, Charles had many victories, gained the loyalty of surrounding nations, and conquered part of Southern Germany. In 731 he began preparing to battle the Muslims who

invaded Iberia and conquered the Visigoths there.

        The Battle of Tours: The Muslims had already taken Iberia, and so they invaded France. In 732, Charles staged a surprise attack on the Muslims. The Battle of Tours lasted seven days of skirmishing, before the Muslims were eventually beaten back by the well trained and equipped Frankish army. It was this hammering of the Muslims and repelling them, that gave Charles the name “Martel”, or Charles the Hammer. This battle is credited as saving Christendom from Arab/Muslim conquest. Although the Muslims had been previously conquering unchecked, this defeat kept them from expanding.

        Charles Martel died in 741, leaving behind a legacy that grew in his son, Pepin the Short and his grandson, Charlemagne.

When Hurricane Ike Hit

 Lesson 25 Essay

       It was just an ordinary day in September 2008. My siblings and I were watching a movie when we heard thunder and really loud wind. It got dark and all of a sudden it was pouring rain. Mom said this storm was the remnants of Hurricane Ike that came up from Texas. The winds were going up to more than 70 miles per hour!

        We live on a farm in Ohio, and we have a silo. When we moved to this farm, the silo had a little piece missing from the top, and when the storm hit, the wind blew the rest of the top off. I remember that it was dangerous to go outside because the metal pieces of the silo top were flying around. In fact, some of the pieces actually sliced into our pool that we had in the yard.

        The terrible winds cut out the electricity for five days straight. We carried buckets of the pool water to feed our animals, wash hands and dishes, and to flush toilets. Mom made trips to town to fill gallon tanks of water for cooking and drinking. Dad borrowed a generator from a friend to power the refrigerator and some lights. He also put heavy blankets around our box freezers to keep the food from spoiling.

        It was very terrifying because of the deadly pieces of flying metal that could've hit something less replaceable than a pool. We are very thankful to God for keeping us safe.

  

The Life and Works of Muhammad

  Lesson 25 Essay

       Islam is one of the biggest religions in the world and it's only second to Christianity. I'm going to tell you how Islam came to be one of the most popular religions to practice.

         It all started with a man named Muhammad. Muhammad was born in 570, in a city called Mecca, just three years after the treaty between Byzantium and Persia was signed. Mecca was located near the ancient shrine called Ka'ba. This shrine was said to have been built by Abraham, whom the Muslims claim as the “father of Islam”. Anyway, Muhammad's father died shortly after his birth and his mother died by the time he was six. Muhammad's uncle took him in and raised him. At the age of 24 Muhammad married a wealthy widow and became a successful merchant.

       In the year 610, at the age of 40, Muhammad had his first revelation. These messages told him he was the prophet of a new religion and that he needed to prophecy to the world. These first proclamations make up the first few passages of Islam's holy book, the Qu'ran. Muhammad started preaching to the people of Mecca and tried to convert them to his new religion. But his family shunned him and some people tried to assassinate him because of his strange, new message.

       In 622, Muhammad moved Mecca to a city called Medina for safety and began witnessing there. This new city welcomed Muhammad and his religion and soon became the first Islamic community. He became the leader of Medina shortly after. Not long after Muhammad came to Medina, wars broke out between the two cities. Muhammad eventually captured Mecca, banned the idolatry, and set up Islam as the new religion there.

         Later, in 632, Muhammad led the first Islamic pilgrimage as he walked from Medina to Mecca to visit the Ka'ba shrine. This shrine is the holiest place in Islam and is today located inside of a mosque in Mecca for protection. At the end of the pilgrimage, Muhammad gave his famous farewell sermon. Muhammad fell ill and died several months after.

        By the time of Muhammad's death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam and he had united Arabia into a single Muslim religious nation.

        To conclude this essay, Muhammad had no idea how famous he would become and how quickly Islam would catch on. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions to this day.

 

Burning Nails

Here I'm going to show you how create "fire" on your fingernails.

I had this idea to see how I was with delicate designs on my nails, so this is a first try.

You can try for yourself!

To create this nail art you will need the following:

 What you need

-Yellow nail polish

-Red nail polish

-Orange nail polish (optional)

-Clear top coat

-Very fine tip Sharpie marker

Step One: Give your nails 1 coat of yellow polish

Step 1

Step Two (optional-depends on type of polish): Give nails another coat of yellow. This color I'm using in Sheer so I put two coats on. You might not have to if your polish is thicker.

 Step 2

Step Three: Draw flame waves on nails with Sharpie marker

  Step 3

Step Four: Paint under drawn flames with red nail polish. After this step you can splotch the orange polish on the red coat if you want. It's totally optional.

Step 4

Step Five: Use clear top coat to protect your nails

Step 5

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial and you can make your own designs in the future! :D 

Justinian the Great

  Lesson 20 Essay

        Ok first off, I'm gonna say that Justinian is an epic name. Now that that is out, I'm going to tell you about Justinian's life and how he rose to power.

       Justinian began his life as a shepard boy in the Eastern Roman Empire in 482 AD. He lived a mostly calm life but at the age of sixteen he walked all the way to Constantinople (the capital of the empire), where he met his uncle, Justin, who the commander of the emperor's guard. Justinian's uncle received him well (unlike other uncles I've read about), and gave him a good education. Justinian was a relatively good looking young man and he quickly became well known throughout the empire.

        The emperor at this time was Emperor Anastasius. When Anastasius died, Justinian's uncle Justin became the new emperor with much help from his nephew. As Emperor Justin grew older, Justinian started co-ruling the empire with him. Eventually, Justin appointed Justinian as Co-Emperor just a few months before Justin died. Justinian became the sole emperor in 527 and he ruled for the next 40 years. He became known as Justinian the Great through his impressive accomplishments .

        Justinian was an exceptional ruler and often appointed efficient officials to government positions; some of these were unpopular because they were too efficient. The people of Constantinople revolted in 532 and much of the city burned and 30,000 citizens died. These revolts are known as the Nika Revolts.

        Justinian had two generals named Belisarius and Narses. Belisarius oversaw the expanding the empire to include North Africa. Justinian made improvements to Constantinople and the general culture while the military was reclaiming parts of Italy from the Ostrogoths in 552. This was the beginning of what is known as the Byzantium Empire and it lasted for 1,000 years.

        One of the things Justinian is known for is the Hagia Sophia, a magnificent cathedral, in 537. It remains mostly intact to this day. He worked on at least 34 other churches.

        The first certified Roman Law was organized by Justinian and it became known as the Code of Justinian. This code laid out the basis of imperial law in Byzantium until 1453 AD. During his reign, Justinian encouraged new industries and education; he began silk production and factories were started.

        Justinian remained a strong and active emperor until his death in 565AD, at the age of 83. His legacy in the empire lasted 1,000 years. However, after his death, the empire did not last that long and began weakening shortly after his death.

        To conclude this essay, Justinian the Great was the best emperor in the Eastern Roman Empire, and is largely responsible for bringing Byzantium to it's peak.

My Family

  Lesson 15 Essay

        My name is SadieAnn Romeo and I'm 15. I have the most wonderful family I could ever ask for. With 9 siblings and a mom and dad, I'm never without anything to do!

        Mom and Dad are the best parents ever and have helped me so much over my life. Mom is so supportive and she's always there when I need to talk to her, especially when times get really tough. Having Mom just upstairs is a joy. Her being our homeschool teacher is a huge blessing. Dad is a self-employed woodworker, which means that he's always close by in his workshop at our house. Every morning dad wakes us up at 7:30 and then does our daily Bible study. Every day I can hear him praising God for everything we have.

        My 5 sisters are amazing. My older sister Natalie, who is 17, is so fun to talk to even though she can be a little irritating. We like most of the same stuff so we're rarely without anything talk about.

        My younger sisters Olivia, Hannah, Ariel, and Lucy are great siblings. Olivia (12) is my go to person when I need to talk. Hannah (10), Ariel (6), and Lucy (3), get really close when they play dress up and that makes me smile.

        Benjamin (16), Jacob (13), and Calvin (8), are my brothers. Ben and Jake are always making sure the daily chores get done. Everyday Ben has a new tidbit of something to say and Jacob is so interesting to play with.

        All in all, our family is always there for each other. Getting through this year has been hard after my brother Max (19), died last year in a car crash. Max's girlfriend, Chelsey, has become part of our family and she's a great friend. My church family has been super supportive in all that's happened and I know I can trust my friends to help me in my life.

State Fair Worthy

 This picture was drawn with mostly charcoal. I took this to the county fair and won Best Creative Art Project. I then took this to the state fair.

 I drew this with red colored pencils. I took this to the county fair and won Best Creative Art Project. I then took this to the state fair.

This is drawn with regular graphite. I took this to the county fair and won Best Creative Art Project. I then took this to the state fair.

Pencil Horse

I drew this from a lesson book on drawing.

Summer of Suspense: Review

Lesson 10 Essay

 

When Phil, Abbey, Andy, and Tom Baker hear that their cousin Millie will visit their farm for the summer, little do they imagine what a dreary time they will have with the snobbish girl. But when Millie disappears, life quickly becomes anything but dreary.

         A Summer of Suspense, by C.R. Hedgcock, is just one of the many books in the Baker Family Adventures. This is a very good book about family and friendship.

        The exposition, or introduction to this book happens in the first chapter. This chapter introduces you to the Baker family and their customs. You learn that the family loves horseback riding and often competes in county fairs.

        The rising action begins in the second chapter and continues to build tension until the climax in chapter nineteen. Here's a quick recap of what happened in those chapters.

        Millie Drake, the Baker's cousin, arrives and is immediately wanting to go home. Then the horses start getting out and the Baker kids accuse Millie of letting them out. Calvin, Millie's horse disappears and Millie leaves to go find him. She doesn't come back and the kids get worried. They go to the fairgrounds thinking Millie has gone there. Instead, Abbey Baker is kidnapped. Millie's dad, Uncle Clive, hires a detective to find her. Abbey is brought to a house where she is locked in a dark room. She discovers that Millie has been kidnapped and is in the same room with her. By now the detective has realized that the kidnapper is Miss Trina Verton, a famous jewel thief. Abbey and Millie unlock the door by using Abbey's braces and escape by riding the kidnapper's horses. Phil Baker and Detective Jones find Miss Verton's lair and make a plan to capture her but end up being discovered by Verton's bodyguards. Meanwhile, Abbey and Millie somehow end up at the lair. They are found out by an employee named Jigson who helps them find Phil and Detective Jones. Jigson gets a plan together to rescue Phil and Detective Jones by knocking out Miss Verton and calling the police. All they have to do now is get out without being caught.

        As I said before, the climax happens very quickly in the nineteenth chapter. Here, Abbey, Millie, Phil, Jigson, and Detective Jones all work together to get out safely and unnoticed. While the girls hide in the kidnapper's car trunk, Detective Jones and Phil tackle the guards stationed at the door. Jigson opens up the door of the lair to let in the police cars. The police quickly handcuff the guards. That pretty much wraps up the climax, so now we'll move onto the resolution.

        The resolution finishes up this book from the twentieth chapter to the last chapter. The Baker kids and Millie Drake arrive back safely at the farm. Jigson and Jones explain what happened and how they captured the jewel thieves. And then, two days later, the Baker family competes in the county fair.

I think this was an excellent book. During Abbey's and Millie's time imprisoned together, they became fast friends. All throughout this book, everyone always found time to pray to God.

The Teotihuacan and the Olmec Peoples

Lesson 10 Essay

         Mesoamerica, or Central America, extended to the south and to the east of central Mexico. Mexico had many civilizations including the Teotihuacan and the Olmec people. Although these civilizations were in Mexico, they didn't develop the same, but they had a few similarities. Let me explain.

        The Teotihuacan, established around 100 BC, were located in the valley of Mexico. They built very grid-like cities with streets going north-south and east-west directions. They continued to build their cities until around 250 AD. The city was, at it's peak, much larger than the city of Rome. They built adobe huts for the poor and the richer people got single story houses.

        The Teotihuacan were very famous for the stepped pyramids with temples at the top that they built. The largest of these temples is the Pyramid of the Sun.

                                                                Pyramid of the Sun

        They also had multiple trades: They were very agricultural. They were merchants in the salt trade. They were also very good potters; they had a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica. They made weapons and tools from obsidian. Onyx and jade were used for decoration, along with carved shells and ear spools.

        Sadly though, the Teotihuacan civilization was destroyed by fire in 750 AD. They left no written records except calenders.

        The Olmec people were the first major civilization in Mexico. They lived in a tropical, jungle region of South-central Mexico. They had three major religious centers: San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes. The Olmec also built stepped pyramids with temples on top like the Teotihuacan. Their gods were animal heads carved out of of stone. These heads can be found on the walls of the temples.

        The Olmec are most known for their huge, artful head statues carved from volcanic rock. Their writing was much like the Egyptian writing. They used hieroglyphs, but, instead of one hieroglyph per one word or phrase, the Olmec used one hieroglyph per syllable.

                                                              Olmec  statue

        The majority of the Olmec people lived in villages. These villages were located on higher ground and consisted of several scattered houses. A modest temple may have been associated with the larger villages. The individual dwellings would consist of a house, an associated lean-to, and one or more storage pits. They traded for obsidian, basalt, and jade.

Week One Essay: The Ancient Egypt Civilization

 Lesson 5 Essay

      Rule of Egypt: Ancient Africa had several civilizations, some of them strong and some of them weak, but the strongest and most well known of them was Ancient Egypt. The pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx of Giza are Egypt's most notable structures. For most of its existence pharaohs ruled over Egypt. The country was formed as an agricultural society based around the Nile River. The Nile is really unique because it is the longest river in the world and it runs from south to north.

     The history of Egypt is divided into a series of stable kingdoms, separated by periods of instability known as Intermediate Periods, because their power fluctuated from strong, to weak, to strong again. The Middle Kingdom, one of these periods, marked the point where Egypt was reunited and became strong again. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians at this time.

     Nearing the end of the Middle Kingdom the Hyksos, another civilization, invaded Egypt. However, the Hyksos were easily defeated and the New Kingdom began. This was Egypt's Golden Age, the pinnacle of Egypt's power. With their new-found glory, the Egyptians expanded their territory. But as soon as the strong line of pharaohs died off, Egypt slowly fell into an enormous decline in power that it never recovered from. Assyria, another civilization, eventually took over Egypt and then later the Persians ruled.

     A man known as Alexander the Great, king of Macedon in northern Greece, came to Egypt and conquered one of its cities. He named the city Alexandria, after himself. One of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy Soter, established himself as the new pharaoh of Egypt. This Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years until 30 BC, when, under the pharaoh Cleopatra VII, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province.

                                                             The Pyramid and Sphinx of Giza

    Egyptian Culture: There was a huge contrast in the rich and poor citizens of Egypt. The poor had to work for their food and housing. Food was probably very scarce for most people in the lower parts of Egypt. While the poor were busy with their own lives, they also had to serve the upper class which included the nobles and the pharaohs, which were worshiped as gods . Egypt invented "papyrus" as an early form of paper for writing scrolls. They also invented "hieroglyphics", a complete form of writing.

                                                                  Egyptian hieroglyphs