Book review: The Phoenix

"The Phoenix" was written by Sylvia Townsend Warner, a British poet and novelist, in 1940. It is a fantasy story set after a world war.

The story is about a phoenix who is taken to a private aviary in Europe. When the owner dies the bird is bought by Mr. Poldero, the owner of a theme park, which is now the bird's new home. At first, Mr. Poldero is happy with it since many people pays to see it. But after some time the business falls because people are bored of it. Now, Mr. Poldero has t think of a way to make the phoenix popular again.

The plot is simple during the whole story until the end, when all the action happens, but the story is easy to follow. The main characters are an obvious representation of the fight between nature and human race. The phoenix, who represents nature, is a calm and quiet bird that all along the story is trapped into human's actions. Mr. Poldero, who represents human race, is an ambitious man who would do anything in orde to make money with the Phoenix.

To sum up, the story is about a great revenge and how human race abuses of nature. If you like this type of stories I would strongly recommend reading it.

How did Germany emerge from defeat in the First World War?

The post-WWI was a hard time for Germany after their defeat. Below, there are shown the main challenges Ebert, the first elected president, would have to face.

The 20s and the 30s

Were the 20s a good period for the USA? What happened during the 30s? This presentation show five pictures for each period with the main events that happened.

Rocks

In EM we studied rocks and their characteristics. The presentation below shows the characteristics of Diamonds, Rock Salt, Emeralds and Marble. Mapa Mental creado con GoConqr por caropardo.02

Summary: "The Pacific Ring of Fire"

The area known as The Pacific Ring of Fire is the place that covers the whole Pacific Ocean and its coasts where there is a lot of seismic activity because it’s near many plate boundaries and most of the volcanoes in the world are found there. It has more than 400 volcanoes including the most active in the world. The volcanic activity has caused and could cause now lots of damage to the people due to the concentration of population or because the volcanoes are visited as touristic places.

But this place is different nowadays than it was many years ago, due to the movement of the tectonic plates new volcanoes can be created.

Almost all of the earthquakes around the world happen here plus there are many volcanoes, both active and dormant so the risk is very high.

The Phoenix

In Literature class we read and analized "The Phoenix" by Sylvia Townsend Warner. The presentation shows what we analized.

The Roaring 20s

In History we studied the United States during the 20s, known as the "Roaring Twenties" due to many factors. The presentation below shows them.

Story

For the final task of the unit of L/L Writing class we had to write a short story. This story had to be, in a way, connected to the poem ''Father Returning Home'', by Dilip Chitre.

What happened, Claire Smith?

There I was walking through the crowded, cold and noisy Broadway Street, walking to Pennsylvania Station. I was going to Dover to meet my family for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t very excited about my trip, but I hadn’t seen my family for ages.
Once in the station I bought my ticket and waited at the platform. I observed everything around me but all I saw was nothing. Then it arrived, I entered, again nobody. I guess after the guard came for my ticket I fell asleep for at least fifteen minutes since we were already in New Jersey.
Now, there was a lady, but not just some ordinary lady, it was Claire Smith, the star of my favourite show when I was a kid. She wasn’t famous anymore but I was still her fan. I didn’t want her to be scared so I tried not to look at her so much but she was staring at me. Now I was scared.
I crossed the empty corridor so I could talk to her, I mean, after all, I was her fan.
I introduced myself, but before I could say anything more, I think she felt comfortable with my company, and started telling me a story. She told me she was escaping from her husband and changing her name. I was going to tell her how sorry I was for everything but she never gave me the opportunity.

We were arriving at Hoboken, but before the train stopped she had jumped. Her white coat and pale skin camouflaged with the snow. That was the last time me or anyone on Earth saw her.

The Daily Hazard

During EM class we decided to look for information of any natural hazard that occured in any part of the world any time. My partner and I decided to look information of the San Adreas Fault and the 1989 earthquake in Loma Prieta. Then, we created a magazine showing the information we found interesting.


A mag created with Madmagz.

''Father Returning Home''

In Literature class we read a poem called ''Father Returning Home'' by Dilip Chitre and then we made a presentation describing it.

   

Modernizing the USSR

In History we've been analyzing the USSR. In groups we had to make presentations about one topic, mine was the modernizing.

San Andreas Fault

Studying plate tectonics and natural hazards, I choosed to present the San Andreas Fault and the earthqueakes that happened there.

Diary entry

In the class of L/L Writing we wrote a diary entry as if we were the grandmother of a poem we read in Literature.

Dear diary,
Today was a terrible day!
It started at 6am, very early because the noises next to my house were bothering very much. After having a poor breakfast I had no better idea than knitting, actually, that's the only thing I enjoy nowadays, even though my hands hurt.
Then, I went to my daughter's house to visit the only family I have. I took with me the things I knitted for my grandchildren, being sure they would love those things and the fact I'm always thinking about them.
But in the moment I arrived, all my sudden happiness disappeared. When they saw me with the bags full of handmade clothes, my grandchildren's smiles went down, they just didn't want to take what I've made for them. Neither did my daughter. They said it wasn't necessary for me to knit. I asked them why they kept telling me that, and the only thing they repeated was "Because there is no need".
That phrase made me remember my teen years, when I used to be a fisher-girl. Those were difficult times. It was extremely necessary for all of us to knit! Clothes shortages were a common thing and the only thing I could do to help was knitting.
People have changed a lot, they don't value old people like it was done in my times.
Hope next time I see them things get better.