segunda-feira, 13 de julho de 2015

Frankenstein - Chapters 6 to 8


  1. What is waiting for Victor when he finally recovers? Who has nursed him during his illness?
  2. Who is Justine Moritz and what is her story? What comments does Elizabeth make about her position in Swiss society? What religion is Justine?
  3. Who is William and how old is he?
  4. What does Victor do after his recovery? What is Clerval's "plan of life"?
  5. When does Victor finally plan to return home? What do he and Clerval do while waiting for his father's directions?
  6. What is waiting for Victor when he returns to his apartment? What news does his father have for him? And what is his father's name? How does Victor respond?
  7. How long has Victor been away from home? What happens the night he returns to Geneva? How does he respond?
  8. Whom does Victor see that night? When was the last time they saw each other? How long ago was that?
  9. What does Victor now believe happened to William? What does Victor assume about the nature of the creature?
  10. Who has been identified as the murder, and on what evidence? How does Victor respond to this news? Why doesn't he say anything about the real murderer?
  11. What happens at Justine's trial? How does Victor respond?
  12. The next day, why does Justine say she has confessed to the murder of William? How does Victor respond to Justine's situation and to Elizabeth's anguish?

quarta-feira, 8 de julho de 2015

The Dream School

For me, the perfect school would be like this:
You arrive at school and meet your friends. You have 40 minutes to talk with them, and then, the class starts. When you get tired, you can ask for a break of 10 minutes. You can have 2 breaks per day.
The subjects in the dream school are Portuguese, English, Arts, Physical Education, Maths, Geography, History, Sciences and Languages. In this last subject, you would be able to choose a language of your preference to learn. You don't need to use uniform at the school.
If you get very good grades at the trimester, you get rewards, for example: 1 extra break during the whole next trimester, 1-2 days of break for the rest of the year, gift cards for the school restaurant, etc.
During the longest break which the duration is 40 minutes, you could dispute sports competitions with your class team, or you could just talk with your friends.
Every trimester, there would be 2 weeks of tests. During these weeks, you could go to school, make the test, and come back home or stay at the school to play sports or chat with friends. You would have also the option of going to your teacher's office and ask questions about the upcoming tests. The professor would give you as many pages of exercises as you need, to practise at home.
In the end of the year, there would be a ceremony to award the best students of the year. The awards would be: extended holidays (one extra week), 5 books of your choice or 7 days of free meals at the school restaurant.

The National Coach Museum

Located in Lisbon, Portugal, the National Coach Museum is near the Pastel de Belém restaurant (which I have already wrote about). In this museum, which was a suggestion of our waiter while we were eating Pastel de Belém, you can see most of the carriages used by the royal family of Portugal and even some which were used by queens from other countries. They have nearly every single carriage used during special occasions, like festivals, that took place in Portugal, and also, of course, the ordinary (I think that this is not the right definition for this vehicles, but...) carriages of the royal family.
If you are a history fan, the National Coach Museum is an obligatory visit, even more if you are aware of the fantastic history of the country. It is another great reason to visit Portugal!

The Lady and Her Monsters

Frankenstein: Analysis: Chapters 6–8

Victor’s incorporation of written letters into his story allows both Elizabeth and Alphonse to participate directly in the narrative, bypassing Victor to speak directly to Walton and the reader. However, at the same time that the letters increase the realism of the narrative, allowing the reader to hear the characters’ distinct voices, they also make the overall narrative less plausible. It is unlikely that Frankenstein would remember the letters word-for-word and even more unlikely that Walton would record them as such in his own letters to his sister. Furthermore, there is the question of filtering: the recollections of either Victor or Walton, or both, could be biased, either subconsciously or consciously. The presence of these letters foregrounds the issue of whether or not the narrator is reliable.
Women continue to play a mostly passive role in the narrative. Although Elizabeth stands up for Justine’s innocence, she, like Justine, is completely helpless to stop the execution. Only Victor has the power to do so, as he is in possession of crucial knowledge that could identify the real killer. It is clear where the power lies in the relationship between Victor and Elizabeth: he makes the decisions; she pleads with him to make the right ones.

Appearing in Ingolstadt at just the right moment to nurse Victor back to health, Henry serves as the line of communication between Victor and his family, presenting him with an avenue back to the warmth of society. In asking Victor to introduce him to the professors at the university, however, Henry drags him back into the realm of chemistry, science, and dangerous knowledge that he has just escaped. By accompanying Victor on his walking tour, Henry reawakens in him a sense of health, openness, and friendly society that he had lost during his months of work creating the monster. Henry plays the foil to Victor; he embodies relentless clarity, openness, concern, and good health, in sharp contrast to Victor’s secrecy, self-absorption, and ill health.

Tim Burton & Frankenweenie


sábado, 4 de julho de 2015

The Cake Boss

Located in New York, The Cake Boss is a restaurant specialized, as its name says, in cakes.
Actually, the restaurant is a bit like a "boutique" of cakes and products from the TV program Cake Boss, in which a chef called Carlos and his team make amazing decorated cakes for very special occasions. There, you can try ordinary (but delicious) cakes, or order a great, complex and decorated cake, like the ones which are made in the program. If you are a real fan of it, you can also buy products of it, like bobbleheads of Carlos, kits to make cakes, and others kitchen products, like aprons and chef hats.
If you are a fan of the TV show, it would be a great alternative of activity when you have some free time in New York. But even if you don't follow the program, the cakes are worth the visit, I assure!





quarta-feira, 1 de julho de 2015

2500

Hello
My name is Vitor. I'm writing this letter to tell you about my life in the year of 2500, whoever you are.
Today I woke up at 9am, when my brain controller decided that my brain had enough hours of sleep. I went to the kitchen and ate some bread, that was asked by my Internet of Things, because it was over after yesterday's dinner. Then I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. My Smartmirror thought I was a bit fat, so it sent messages to my freezer to block the acces of chocolates and others sweets, so I had to limitate my lunch dessert to a fruit salad...
After lunch, I went to my bedroom, because my holografic private tutor was waiting for me. My parents told me that 500 years ago, we had to go to a place called school, where we met our friends and teachers. I wish I could try this. In today's days, I can't be distracted during class, because the holografic teacher stops the class immediately if I do.
After class, I was supposed to meet my friends at the park and play football, but my father's car face recognition sistem couldn't recognize us and called the police. We spent 2 hours to convince them that we were not criminals, and that the system just had a bug.
When I arrived at home, exhausted because of all this, I couldn't believe my eyes: the auto-cleaning system of my bedroom bugged too, so I had to do it by myself!
When I went to sleep, I couldn't even have a nice dream or even a nightmare, because the actual pillows makes you dream about school subjects, to strengthen knowledge...

Frankeinstein's answers (Chapters 1-3)

In the first three chapters of the book, Victor Frankenstein tells us a lot about his life and childhood
Frankenstein lived in Vienna. His mother, Caroline Beaufort, was the daughter of a great friend of his father. When his friend died, Victor's father married Caroline, who was in a very bad situation (she had no money). Victor says that he felt that he was the reason of his parents living, due to their dedication to his development.
When Frankeinstein was a child, his mother was taking care of some babies, when one of them called her attention. She felt she was special. When their mother came, Caroline asked about the "special one". The woman told that the little girl was adopted, and that, if Caroline wanted to, she could stay with her. The baby's name was Elizabeth Lavenza. Victor tells that everybody loved her.
Victor also introduces us to Henry Clerval, his childhood friend, who loved enterprise, hardship, and even danger for his own sake.Victor, on the other hand, says that he always dreamed to discover the secrets of the universe and the Earth.
One day, Frankeinstein found a book from Cornelius Agrippa. He got very interested about it, but, when he asks his father about it, he tells Victor not to waste his time with it. Curious about the book, he decides to have a closer look on it. He gets even more interested, and starts to read Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus' alchemy books too.
When he was17, Frankenstein's parents sent him to study at the university of Ingolstadt, where he decided to study Natural Philosophy and Chemistry after hearing an explanation about how an oak tree was destroyed by a lightning.
In the university, Victor went to a meeting with M. Krempe, a professor who condemned his readings and told him to start it anew. He also told Frankenstein to meet with M. Waldman, another professor, who gave him a lot of advices. Due to it, Victor credits the professors for his change of direction in his studies.