Matlida Bone

The historical fiction novel Matilda Bone by Karen Cushman takes you on a journey to the Middle Ages to experience the views on medical practice, Religion and hygiene. Medical practice in the middle ages involved Astrology and a lot of sometimes ridiculous superstitions and "potions". Also involved in medical practice was religion, the main religion of Medieval Britain was Christianity. Latin was used a lot by priest and so priests were very respected. A thing that was lacking in the middle ages is a sense of hygeine, chamber pots were thrown into the street, people put dung on their teeth to fix a toothache and barbers would saw of your leg just as soon as they would trim a beard. Life in the Middle Ages would have been a very unclean life and I am surprised that they even lived at all.

Schmuel's Point of View

I slowly staggered across the muddy ground and saw a boy crouching in the spot where I usually sit. Except something was different. The boy wore new clothes and was short and fat. Another thing about this boy, I realised, was that he was on the other side of the fence. I stopped and almost toppled over as a small gust of wind blew into me. The boy looked up, and gave me a half smile. I cautiously sneaked up to the boy and for a while we simply stared at each other. Then he told me his name was Broo-no, I looked at Broo-no quizzically, and thought, "what kind of a name is that?" I swayed uncertainly and Broo-no informed me that I should sit down or "I might just collapse". Just as I moved to do so, I slipped on the mud and did what Broo-no said I was going to do and crashed in a heap on the floor. Broo-no screamed out in laughter with tears streaming down his face. I looked around sourly and asked Broo-no if he could spare me some food, he stared into his pockets and told me that he didn't have any and my mood dropped even lower. My longing for food and someone to talk to compelled me to continue on talking to this annoying boy, Broo-no. He started talking about his 'terrible' house that only had three floors on his side of the fence. My mind drifted off and my eyes wandered towards his shiny boots. I thought they were quite nice but I would never be able to wear these, the soldiers would shoot me as soon as they saw them. Also this boy did not seem the generous kind and would not share his hidden food and definitely not his lovely boots.

Source for Picture: http://blogs.theage.com.au/schembri/boy1.jpg

WEB QUEST

Click on Education: for students, then click Early stages of persecution.
What is anti-Semitism?
What are the Nuremberg Laws?
Now click on the first concentration camp.
Look at the picture, how does it make you feel?
Scroll down and look at the map,
How are the concentration camps placed? Why in these areas?
Where and what is Flossenbürg?
Now click on “Murder of the Disabled”, still in education for students.
What does Euthanasia mean?
How did the Nazis get the mothers and fathers of disabled children to allow their children to be killed?
How does this “project make you feel?

Name paragraph

I used to think my name was uncommon, no-one knew it and everyone spelt it wrong. People spelt Aiden, Aydan and one time even Adean. Some kids in my class would say it as Hayden or try to tease me with Maiden.

I got my name when my mum wanted Adrian or Hayden, so my dad abandoned his choice, Rowan and picked Aidan. Aidan is from Irish, Gaelic origin Aedan, and means “fire” which I think really suits me for two reasons. The first, is because of my fire red hair. The other is because I think I have a fiery personality. My middle name is Oliver, was my dads choice as well, because he didn’t get Rowan, which was a tree, like Linden, he got Oliver. Oliver means Olive in Latin.

Other kids also teased me about Carroll. I don’t mind this because Carroll, as a last name, it is also an Irish and means warrior. Together my name is fire warrior and to me that is pretty cool. I now know that a lot of people are called Aidan. Those people never spell or pronounce Aidan wrong.

Creation myth paragraph

Some people say that myths have endured for all time. Themes of; from nothingness to something, explanations of pain and suffering and the existence of supreme rulers are the centre of many creation myths from all around the world. This is strange because these cultures never knew each other. From nothingness to something is a common element in Chinese and Aboriginal creational myths. This is cool because China and Australia are far away from each other. Explanations of pain and suffering are a well-used element in Greek and Chinese myths. This shows that countries so far apart have the same ideas about why things are. The existence of divine rulers is a common element in Norse myths and also in Egyptian creation myths. Which is astonishing because Egypt and Scandinavia would have never traded stories with each other until later on. It is so amazing that many cultures share the same ideas yet they did not know each other existed. Myths relate strongly to religion and religion is still here so myths definitely have endured until today.

Why I chose this picture.

I chose this picture on my blog because it shows a trail leading of to the distance. Which is an incomplete journey and my quote says that if you want to get through a journey, you can't concentrate on on how far to go but on each step that you take.