October SKy Letter 2

Dear Sonny,
It's been three years since you and your little friends had started building those rockets of yours. You've went through thick and thin with these things. I know I really haven't been around that much for you while you've worked, but I do have to say I am quite proud of what you've accomplished. The perseverance you've had to go and build these things is unimaginable. As well, you have gotten the entire town to back you on - something I can barely do myself. At first I was really hard on you about it. Having you shoot your deathtraps off near the mine was quite a hazard, and I didn't really need the mine to be blown up at any time. But as I saw how people took to your hobby, it started to impress me. Now you've went from flunking algebra to excelling in calculus and differential equations. You have went from not knowing what to do to winning the national science fair. And even though you won't take on my career, I am proud of you, Sonny.

I love you, son,

Dad

October Sky Letter 1

Dear Mr. Von Braun,

My name is Sonny Hickam. I have been a great fan of your work since you have been working with the Air Force. You work in rocketry is quite astounding and I have been striving to learn as much as possible about the science behind rockets. My team and I have been working hard at building our own rockets.We have set up a testing sight just outside our town. There, we launch all our rockets and figure out how they work. Each launch varies, but we are always getting a bit better. In fact, it seems we learn more out of our failures than out of our successes.

 It has been hard, working with such few materials and knowledge we have. The fuel we use is made up of basic components which most people can buy from any drug store. Right now we are use saltpeter and sugar, which we melt down and pour into our casings. it's crude, but effective for the time being. As well, our rockets are basically a tube with a nozzle made from bar stock. We soon hope that we can start working on improving, but first we must acquire a book on rocket design.

I have created a team of all my closest friends. Quentin is the intelligence of the team. He looks after the technical aspects of the team. Roy Lee supplies us with transportation, which we need to go to our testing sight. O'Dell and Sherman help with building the rocket. We also get a lot of technical help from the machinists at the mine, Mr. Bykovski had initially helped us out in building the rockets, and has now taught us to do it ourselves. We also get much help from my father and Mr. Ferro, who help with supplying us with steel fro the rockets.

We hope that soon we will be able to launch great rockets which will reach space. And I hope to join you in Cape Canaveral some day, helping you build rockets. That is my dream.

Best Regards,

Sonny Hickam

Dear Diary,

I have just stumbled upon the most wonderful being upon this fair earth! lying within the home of my most hated enemy is a young goddess, given to us by the fairies themselves. Her grace had embraced me as soon as I laid eyes upon her during the festivities. Just the way her subtle grace had enveloped me, sinking into the very core of my soul; it made me want to come to my knees, begging for her touch. I was able to get close to her, sneaking a kiss from her before she was called away.

As soon as the party was over, I had made my way over the wall into their orchard. I had to see her once again. i quickly jumped into the closest tree possible and waited. by a stroke of luck, she had appear through a window not far from the tree. She too had feelings, them being for me. I listened intently, resisting the urge to speak until i could no longer. She was surprised to see me within her walls. I then climbed to the top of her balcony to confess my love for her.

She had asked me to take her hand in marriage. I gladly accepted. I have now sent Friar Lawrence to work out the details of the wonderful wedding! Oh, how these past 48 hours have gone...

Vadek - A Skilled Man Or a Lucky Man?

In 1991, a comic writer by the name of Art Spiegelman had finished publishing his graphic novel Maus.Maus is the story of Art's father, Vladek Spiegelman, and how he lived through the tragic events that were a part of the holocaust. Throughout the course of the book, you see Vladek using his resourcefulness and wits  to get by in a place where most others were unable to. Both luck and skill played roles in his survival, but was luck so vital to it? To what extent did luck play in Vladek's survival?Well in my personal opinion, I thought the extent Vladek's skill played was equal to the luck he was given.

Vladek greatest skill was he was able to learn quickly and use it to his advantage. He was a Jack of All Trades and a Master of none, and in a situation where the skilled people had already been killed and very few people could do certain tasks, being able to know many different skills would have been the difference between being life and death. For example, Vladek was a great businessman. When he and his family were forced into the ghetto, the only way to make extra money was to trade on the black market. As well, Vladek was faced with the problem of fixing shoes in Auschwitz. He had already known how to fix shoes when he had been in the ghetto, but he had been given a shoe that was very battered: something he had not known how to fix well. So he found a real shoemaker in the barracks of Auschwitz and paid him to fix it. As he did, he watched the man and how he had done it. So when he had to fix another shoe that was so badly damaged, he had known how to do it himself.

Yet his luck had played a large role in his survival. The fact that time and time again, Vladek had ran into a situation that had given him an advantage. Like that fact that he had met a Kapo who wanted to learn English. Or the fact that he was somehow able to receive a job where he could work near Anja.  There was also the time when he happened to have a blanket for which he could use as a hammock in the train. Vladek had also contracted Typhus. Being able to survive it was an act of absolutely pure luck, especially in the conditions he was living in. Most people died of it, yet he was able to survive it somehow, without any skill and wit very little help And a great example is that he and Anja had both survived the Holocaust, let alone reunited after the Holocaust ended. In fact, many of the instances in which Vladek had used his skills also had the need of luck, which gave him the chance to use such skills.

So in the end his skills and his luck played equal roles in his survival. There were times where it was luck. There were times where his skills were the reason he survived. Most of them had to do with both luck and skill, but they both played and equal role in his survival. And because of that, Vladek was able to get through a time where many people were very, very unlucky and skill was hard to find from people.

First Post: Similarities and Differences of Harrison Bergeron

            The movie Harrison Bergeron is based off of its short story, yet their stories are quite different from each other. There are both similarities and differences with the two pieces, some are obvious and others are buried deep within the context of the two. And even though there are similarities, the amount of differences between the pieces is quite substantial.

            
            The most notable similarity between the story and the movie is the theme: living in a society where everyone is made equal, literally. The entirety of the United States has been “made equal” by suppressing any attributes of a person which would give them an advantage over others. This leaves society as a group of stupid, obedient people. Another, quiet prominent similarity is the characters in the two pieces, mainly the main characters of the two. There is Harrison Bergeron, his parents, his “lover” (roles of the character are slightly different between the two), and the Handicapper-General. These characters play basically the same roles between the movie and the story. These similarities are the basis for both Harrison Bergeron the movie, and “Harrison Bergeron” the short story.

             Yet the differences of the tow are what really make then what they are. While the movie focuses more upon Harrison and how he affects the setting, the story focuses upon Harrison’s parents and how the setting affects them. As well, the short story leaves certain, key details from itself. This allows the reader question, and to try and infer what these questions mean. This ultimately leaves each reader a sense of what the theme is. The movie, on the other hand, explains these plot holes by substituting their own interpretation of the story. They slightly modify and fill in certain things that allow the entire story to come together without leaving the feeling of not understanding the themes. All these differences define the pieces and make them the kinds of pieces they are.

              So in conclusion, the two stories main base are similar, but the defining features of the story and the movie are different. The main difference between the two is amount of details put into them. This allows you to read/watch the same story, yet get a different feel from each one. You have to quite different stories that are the same thing.