Chris Or Capt. America?

I took a class called Stories which is the first Humanities class of the year. In this class, we discussed many many different things such as how stories influence people, how stories are passed along different generations and, finally, how to write a story. During this class, we took a couple of different FE's (Feild Experience). The first field experience was when a professional storyteller came to talk to us about how a story is developed and we even ended up creating a story with her combining different people in the class. For this final action project, we had to compare two different people, one fiction, and one non-fiction. I chose Chris Kyle and Captain America. After choosing these people we have to compare their heroes journeys and how they are similar and different. In this slideshow, I'm going to take you through the lives of these two amazing people and compare them along the way.

These two heroes are actually very similar. First of they both fight for their country and have come from a childhood that wasn't the best. Both heroes rose to fame and power by being the best they could be and saving people. I think that this is the most prominent similarity because it is what has defined them and when we think of these two people you think of them as patriotic and a symbol of freedom. Some things that are not as similar are when they come back from war. Chris Kyle was super supportive and continued helping people but was eventually killed. On the other hand, Captain America is asleep for many many years but when he wakes up he doesn't help immediately and he doesn't die.

I chose these two people because, one, Chris Kyle is an inspiration in my life and I think he is a very cool person. I chose Captain America because he is basically the fiction version of Chris. I also thought that this would be a very interesting comparison because people react very differently to war and a comparison between a real-life vet and a fictional superhero would be an interesting topic.

The Story of The Stick

In unit 2 for stories class, we discussed different types of stories and how some of them teach lessons. The stories that teach lessons are called fables. For this action project, we had to write a short fable that teaches a lesson of our choice. In the class stories, we also went on a couple field experiences (which are simply learning experiences inside or outside of school). For example, we had a professional storyteller come in and we worked with her to develop a short story about the class. So far in this class, I have learned many new things and had many new experiences. I hope you enjoy my story.

Once upon a time, there was a Bald Eagle named Joe. Joe was a full grown, majestic, and tough eagle. Joe is a retired fisherman but likes to fish when he has the time. But unfortunately for him, the trail to the best spot cuts through a dangerous part of the woods called the Channel Of Death. Joe carries his heavy-duty wooden stick with him on a daily basis so that he doesn't fall into the hands of whatever lies in the woods. The only problem is that he also has to cross over a city to get there, and everyone in the city is afraid of sticks because they have never used them before. Sticks are banned everywhere, from the cafes to the grocery stores. Joe is left vulnerable to the predators in the woods.

Joe accepts the rules for a while, but one day he gets attacked! Joe instinctively reaches for his stick, but it's not there! The ferocious animal is actually not any stronger than Joe, but it has a stick of its own. Joe fights with all his might and manages to escape the deadly encounter but vows to never leave the house without his stick again.

Joe devises a plan to protest the horrible rules that banned the sticks. He created hundreds of posters to put up around the city asking to allow sticks. No one in the city listens. They just simply ignore him and continue with their preachings about how bad sticks are. Joe realizes how little the people of the city really know about the infamous sticks, so he devises a plan to show how safe they are when in the right hands.

Joe changes his posters to show how little people get hurt by sticks in comparison to other common activities. He couldn't understand why people couldn't just look at the simple numbers and understand what he was saying. One day, Joe overheard a group of foxes plotting to spread more bad information about sticks. Joe got very mad at this and confronted them. But before Joe could ask any questions the foxes all ran away to their homes, so they could continue deciding how to ban sticks. He decided to spread the word that the foxes were spreading rumors. Joe realized what was really happening, the people of the city had only one unreliable source of information, the foxes. Joe had to change that so he decided to start a channel on the most popular video watching website ever, animal views. On this channel, Joe discussed how to use sticks, how cool they were, and he portrayed them as not a device to hurt animals but as a tool. He saw the impact it had on the city because he was starting to see more and more people get angry at the fact that sticks were banned from so many places. That's finally when it happened, the stores took down there horrible anti-stick signs and started to let people carry sticks in peace. From that day on Joe realized that the best way to get your point across was not to force it in people's heads but to help them understand what you are saying.

The moral of the story is to always fight for your rights.

S, D. Eagle And Fox. Chicago, 15 Oct. 2017.

The Rise of Zes-May-Turn

I took a class called Stories which is the first humanities class of the year. In this class, we discussed different types of stories, features of stories and many other components of a good story. In this class, we also took a few different FEs. To name a few we went to the Field Museum and we had a storyteller come in. For this Action Project, we had to write a story that included metaphors, similes, and other things. Enjoy the story!

Once upon a time, there was a planet in the sky called Zes-May-Turn.  It was a beautiful place, but it was extremely cold. People had to live in a contained world built on top of the cold landscape. One day, the god of the land got fed up with his people not being able to go outside the contained world. He screamed so loud that the whole planet shattered. Similar to what the earthlings call the Big Bang. A huge part drifted away with everyone on it. The broken part was named Snara 8R after the noise the god made and the roar from which it split. This new world became warmer and warmer the farther it got from its original location. Therefore the people became happy These are not average people though.

As time went on, the people began to grow stronger, since they were able to go outside and actually do work, instead of machines doing everything for them inside an indoor world. These people evolved into much stronger creatures known as Annunaki Aliens. They were able to roam the Orhadious mountains that stretched across the landscape like the spine of a Spinosaurus. These mountains had been created when the god became mad and his horrid roar left the landscape in different unique shapes. The Orhadious mountains, and I quote, Annunaki Alien,  “Are the spine of an ever-changing landscape”. The mountain range is huge, thriving with life, colorful, mysterious, and glistening with water. The mountains almost looked like they had been accidentally placed because surrounding the range was a simple grass field that stretched for miles in all directions. This part of the world seemed to be the only part that wasn't endlessly changing.

Another thing that allowed the Aliens to grow stronger as the need to be able to outrun the fast flowing Amazon River which the god had named after the most amazing river on the closest planet to their home, Earth. The Amazon was created when the rocks that formed the mountain started to rise because they left a huge line of empty space in the ground. The river on planet Snara 8R was much faster, stronger, deeper, and much, much more dangerous. This river is the fastest flowing river in the galaxy. The river was never predictable because it was common for a massive piece of ice to run down the river at speeds exceeding two-hundred miles per hour. The currents would also appear with such force that whirlpools would randomly appear on the river. People said the river was like an out of control freight train made from water and ice. The aliens had to learn how to carefully navigate the river as to make sure they didn't get injured. To give you an idea of how daunting it was to cross the Amazon even when you get within one hundred feet of it, you start to feel winds that are colder than your freezer flying by your face fast enough to pick you up.

The last iconic part of the island is the huge glaciers at the far side opposite to the river. These were created when the god yelled and some of his ice teeth flew out of his mouth settling down perfectly where they rest today. The glaciers are like a mountain of ice. They never move and never melt. These glaciers are where the aliens go to collect ice and store large amounts of food. The glaciers are a freezer. They are one of the most beautiful parts of the island tall, white, sparkling, clean, and crisp. When the aliens first saw the glaciers they had walked carefully toward them since they were scared of the cold.

Below is a drawing of the mountain range that can be found on planet Zes-May-Turn. Along with the mountains is the glaciers (top left corner) and the amazon river (bottom right corner). These are three main features of the planet. Another, not so iconic feature is the field which surrounds the mountain range because it is literally just a flat area without any features. The field also never changes. I also included a compass on the bottom right so that you get an idea of which way is which. What you see below is drawn to scale. I would like to point out that the mountain range is about 25 miles wide so that should give you a good perspective of how large the rest of the features are.

S, D R. Map. Chicago, 3 Oct. 2017.