hopestanton9397 HISTORY

Lesson 60 essay

Marco Polo

Marco Polo is one of the greatest explores in history and is famously known for his book, “The Travels of Marco Polo.”

Marco Polo’s story really begins with his father and uncle. They were two merchant brothers from Venice. While on a merchant trip in the middle east, they blindly walked through a battle zone and were taken captive. But, the famous Chinese emperor, Kublai Khan’s men recued them because they knew the Khan had always wanted to meet men from Europe. In that time, no European man had been to China so, this was a big thing. When the brothers arrived in China, the were marveled at everything and the Khan treated them like royalty. But, the time came when the brothers had to leave for Venice. Before they left, Khan asked them a favor for, letters from the Pope, 100 holy men to teach his people and, oil to anoint himself. The two brothers did what he asked when they got back and, Marco’s father got to meet his son for the first time.

Marco Polo was born in 1254, probably in the city of Venice. When Marco was just seventeen, him, his father and, his uncle left for a journey back to China. It took them two hard years to get there but, they made it. The Khan had a huge welcome for them and let them have anything they wanted! He was also very fond of Marco. In fact, he liked him so much he made him his take part in his Rivy Council in 1277. While Marco was there, he toured much of China and explored the land while writing about it. He was amazed at the wonders. Then, after seventeen years later, after arriving, the Polo family saw how the Khan got old and weak. They realized that if a new Khan rises, they may not be able to go home so, they asked the Khan if they could leave. At first, the Khan didn’t let them. Who wouldn’t want his favorite subjects to go? But then, the Polos made a deal with the Khan. They would help escort a Mongol Princess on her way to marry a Persian Prince. After doing this, they started on there way home but, it was a very rough adventure and it took them two years to get back to Venice.

When Marco was in Venice, he got married and had children. Then, war broke out and Marco became a galley ship captain. While at war, he was captured by the enemy. While in prison, he told the stories of his adventures in China. There was one prisoner there who was greatly moved by these stories and wrote them down in a book. After the war was over he was released and went back to Venice and published his book.

“The Travels of Marco Polo” was not a big hit when it was published in fact, people call it “The Million Lies.” Nobody believed Marco Polo, they just thought he was making up a fairy tale.

Marco Polo never went back to China but, I’m sure the Khan never forgot him. It wasn’t until long after his death when people actually believed Marco Polo’s adventures for themselves when someone else actually went to China himself.

Marco Polo is still remembered today as one of the greatest explores today and he helped inspire the pathway of Christopher Columbus’s travels.

hopestanton9397 English

Lesson 60 essay

The story of Robin Hood and how he forgave the Sheriff

In the time of the Third Crusade, there lived a man named Robin Hood whom was an outlaw who lived in Sherwood Forest near the town of Nottingham. He was barely an outlaw, the only reason why the sheriff so badly wanted his head was because he was the best archer in the area and was always getting the fame and glory of it. The sheriff was so raged with jealousy that he made up a crime that Robin did, but didn’t do. The Sheriff claimed that the reason why Robin was so good with the bow was because he was going to assassinate the Sheriff! After Robin heard this, he fled to Sherwood forest to escape the evil Sheriff meanwhile, the Sheriff was in “fear” that Robin might kill him in bed.

The people of Nottingham did not believe the sheriff and tried to convince him that Robin would not do such a thing because they knew that Robin was a very kind man and did not want to kill anyone. The Sheriff didn’t want to kill Robin Hood himself because he was to scared to do so, and so, he tried hiring someone to kill Robin Hood but, nobody took the offer no matter how much they would be payed.

One night, the people of Nottingham came together to see Robin Hood. They had always hated the Sheriff and they found that this was the perfect time to get rid of him! They wanted to make Robin kill the Sheriff. They said that they would make Robin the Sheriff if he did so. But Robin didn’t want to kill the Sheriff. Instead, he wanted to forgive him. This made everyone confused. How could someone forgive a man like this? Well, it seems as if Robin was the only one who could.

That night, Robin went to the Sheriff’s house and sneaked into his bedroom then and tapped the shoulder of the sleeping Sheriff. The sheriff woke up startled. I cant believe he really does want to kill me, he thought. Then, without thinking he said;

“No! Don’t kill me!”

“I don’t want to.” Robin said. “I am here to forgive you from all of the things you have tried to do to me.”

The Sheriff stared into the darkness for awhile. Robin Hood wanted to forgive him? Then, there was a little tear in the sheriff’s eye, he was then very moved by this act. He thanked Robin Hood for this then made things right by making Robin the deputy of Nottingham and by being kinder to the people. Robin then taught the Sheriff how to get better with the bow then, over time, the Sheriff was just as good as Robin Hood.

And that is the story of how Robin Hood forgave the Sheriff of Nottingham.

THE END


hopestanton9397 Horses

My favorite breeds

I have a lot of favorite breeds, of course, I probably like every breed I see but, here is my favs:

I will be adding more as I find more! Hope you like it!

P.S. The horses’ names have links to them to see pictures of the certain horse!

hopestanton9397 Baking

Cake mix cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 bag of any kind of cake mix
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. On a cookie sheet, spray cooking spray.

In a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients together until well mixed. Roll dough into balls that are a inch to a half an inch thick. Place on to prepared pan. Place in oven and cook 10-12 minutes Let cookies cool before eating! I hope you enjoy!

Idea

Mix together 1/2 cup of butter, 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tsp vanilla extract to make frosting. Don’t forget to add sprinkles!

P.S. This idea will works better for vanilla cake mix, birthday cake mix or, something like that because, I don’t think it would be good on chocolate…

hopestanton9397 Baking

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks soft butter
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 3/4 flour
  • 2 tsp cream of tarter
  • 1/4 tsp salt

For coating

  • 1/4 cup ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Directions

Set oven for 400 degrees Fahrenheit and get two cookie sheets ready by spraying cooking spray on them.

Mix the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for about seven minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl add all of the dry ingredients together. Add dry mixture to wet mixture. Mix until it looks like good cookie dough. In a small bowl mix the cinnamon and sugar together. Roll cookie dough balls that are about 1 1/2″ to 2″ long in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until well coated then, place on prepared sheet. After placing 12 cookie balls on sheet, place it in the oven and cook for 10 minutes or, until brown on edges. Keep doing this process until all of the cookie dough is gone. Be sure to cool cookies before eating. I hope you enjoy!


hopestanton9397 Baking

Rice krispy treats

Ingredients

  • I stick butter
  • 1 1/2 bags of marshmallows
  • 6 cups Rice Krispy cereal

Directions

In a medium to large sized pot, melt the stick of butter at a medium heat or higher depending on your stove. Add the marshmallows to the butter and mix until completely melted. Slowly add the cereal a cup at a time and mix. Mix the whole gooey-sticky batch together well and remove from heat. Meanwhile, cover a 9″ by 12″ pan with parchment paper. Add the gooey-sticky batch to the pan and firmly press down. This step will take awhile because you have to cover the whole pan with the Rice Krispy mixture and, the mixture is very stiff and sticky. After covering he whole pan with the mixture, let pan sit for maybe a half a hour to a hour. Hope you enjoy!

Optional idea:

Add a couple drops of your favorite food coloring to the melted marshmallow to get colorful treats!

hopestanton9397 English

Lesson 55

There are five major forms in Literature; Novel, Short Story, Novella, Drama and Poem. This week (Lessons 51-55) I have learned about the first three forms -Novel, Short Story and Novella. The assignment for this week is to write a essay about those first three forms.

A novel is a long prose narrative that describes fictional characters and events that is usually in a form of a sequential story. It is also the longest and most well known type of literature -this is pretty easy to understand. When you go to the library, you are most likely going to get a novel because there is hundreds of novels there. I personally prefer novels because they are much longer and, have more story line to them. Examples of novels are, The Count of Monte Cristo, Moby Dick, Heidi, etc.

Short Stories are written in prose like novels but, are much shorter -although there is no set word length that defines a short story. A short story does make use of a plot, resonance and other dynamic components to a far greater degree that is typical of an anecdote yet, to a far lesser degree than a novel. So, it is kind of in the middle of the five major forms of literature. Examples of short stories are, The Tell-Tale Heart, To Build a Fire, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, etc. I think short stories are good for reading together with friends and family members, they have that kind of fun feel that makes you want to read it with someone.

A novella generally features fewer conflicts than a novel but, is more complicated than a short story. Confusing right? Well, a novella in generally longer than a short story but has a more simplified plot line than a novel. Examples of a novel are, A Christmas Carol, Call of the Wild, Animal Farm, etc. I think that novels are a bit confusing but, are nice to read.

There is many forms of literature and it can be confusing to know which one is which but, it can be important to know what the difference between the forms are.

hopestanton9397 HISTORY

Lesson 55 report

Thomas Aquinas was a Christian philosopher who sought out to apply Aristotelian logic to theology .
Thomas Aquinas was born in Italy in 1225 to a Count and Countess. He began his education when he was only five years old at a university in Naples. There he was influenced by the writings of Aristotle and by the new order of monks, the Dominicans. And so, at the age of nineteen, he joined the Dominican order. His parents were not pleased at all with this act because their other sons were great warriors, not monks. They were so mad that they even kidnapped Thomas from school for two years! Eventually, Thomas’s mother realized that Thomas would become a monk again no matter how hard they convinced him not to so, she helped him escape without the public (And her family) knowing. After he “escaped,” he rejoined the monks just like his mother thought he would.
Awhile after Thomas rejoined, he decided to write about Christion theology in a systematic way using Aristotelian logic and thinking. His most famous work of these writings is “Summa Theologica” which, he never got around to finish it. Another thing that Aquinas is known for is how he greatly influenced the church by using Aristotle’s logic to study scripture. He had also taught a new connection between science and theology, for example, he had argued that, based solely on the evidence in nature, man can logically prove that there is a Father.
Thomas Aquinas was one day hit by a tree limb and fell ill. Soon after, he died while reciting Song of Solomon in 1274.
The work of Thomas Aquinas influenced much of the thinking we have today. For example, philosophers began promoting the idea that logic and man’s senses could tell him what he needed which, was a distortion of Aquinas’s ideas. The focus on man’s thinking continued into the time of the Renaissance and, is still continued today.