?

Do we bring laptops tomorrow?

~Cephia :)

Short story for Friday, Oct 30....

Please print out the following short story and bring it to class on Friday.

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Neck.shtml

Click on "printable version" in the upper left corner.

If you can't print one at home, let me know and I'll bring one for you.

See you Friday,
Ms. Michelle

While you read book 2.....

Write down some words to describe each Orkney brother as you go. We'll have a writing assignment which discusses their character.

WARNING-Disturbing scene ahead in Book 2

Just wanted to warn anyone who is squeemish like me that there is a disturbing scene in book 2. Avergaine kills a unicorn. The scene is necessary as it shows how cold people had become. But, you can skip it and not lose anything if you prefer not to read it. You won't miss part of the story, just remember this is evidence as to how violent they had become.

Have you finished book one?

What did you think?

Assignment for this coming Friday...

Please remember to read through Ch 24 by this Friday. That will take you through the end of the first book, A Sword in the Stone. If you are behind after Friday, it will be very difficult to catch up.

Thanks,
Ms. Michelle

Remember to bring pictures for class tomorrow..

You can bring either a picture of a person or a setting. The picture can be from a book or you can look on google images or www.flickr.com

Search for whatever you're interested in: ethnic people, children, fantasy setting etc.

Enjoy!

Who is your favorite character?

M favorite is Merlyn. He is HILARIOUS! I want to know who your fav. is.

Next year

hey Miss Michelle, do you know if you're gonna do the class again next year? If so, do you know what books you're gonna do it on?

Will there be anymore riddles?

Sorry I spoiled it.. But will there be anymore? Next time I promise to wait a little longer before I comment... Sorry!

Another question

Sorry I'm asking so many questions! But do we bring our laptops today?
~Cephia

I got IT!!!!!!!

It said

" Merlins compliments to Neptune and will he kindly accept this boy as a fish?

Sorry if I spoiled it for you! HA! Happy Happy Halloween! See ya tomorrow!

A riddle.....

Did anyone notice there is a code in the spell Merlin used to turn Wart into a fish? See if you can solve it.
snylrem stnemilpmoc ot enutpen dna lliw eh yldnik tpecca siht yob sa a hsif?

Post the answer below....

Trial by ordeal....

In Ch 8, Wart must undergo an Ordeal of standing next to the dangerous Cully until the 3rd bell is rung. This reminded me of the ordeals we read about in our history book earlier this yr.....

"Keeping order during the Middle Ages was especially difficult. Peasants, who were oppressed by the feudal system, frequently revolted; there were numerous spies and assassins working to wreak havoc in another kingdom, some killed their neighbors to steal their possessions, economical problem opened the way for thieves and there were numerous blasphemers who had to be taken care of. Keeping law and order in the Middle Ages was not so easy as today, because there was no democracy and therefore the law was biased. In a village, they chose a man who kept law and order: The constable.

If it wasn't for the harsh laws that existed during the Middle Ages, chaos would have prevailed throughout the epoch. Most criminals were subject to a trial which was nothing like the ones we know of today. Each accused person was subject to an ordeal - there were dozens of different ordeals:

Ordeal by Combat
Banishment was a very common variant of the ordeal by combat described below. sometimes the victims mother or father (if they were still alive) were forced to fight for the accused or against the accused.

Possibly the most common ordeal was by combat. The accused was forced to fight a very strong opponent both with full armor. The idea was that if the accused was innocent, God would grant him miraculous strength and he could easily defeat his opponent. It was common for the fight to last two hours or more since the weapons used could not penetrate the given armor. Therefore, bones were broken and he who had a better physical strength frequently prevailed.

Ordeal by Fire

The accused was forced to hold a red-hot metallic piece for a few seconds. The wound was covered and in three days, if the wound healed, the accused was helped by God and therefore he was innocent. On the other hand, if the wound began to fester, God did not help him and he was guilty.

Ordeal by Bread

Usually reserved for the nobility, the ordeal by bread consisted in forcing the accused to eat a full slice of bread without chewing. If the accused choked, he was guilty. If he didn't, God helped him and therefore he was innocent.

Ordeal by Cold Water

In the ordeal by cold water, a barrel was filled with cold water. If the accused sank, he was innocent. The idea was that water being such a pure substance repelled the guilty and sank the innocent.

In other regions - or when the crime was very severe, there was actually a trial that analyzed the evidence and decided whether someone was guilty or not, just like we do today.

Whether by an ordeal or a formal trial, when the accused was found guilty he could be burned, hanged or tortured. With the latter depending on the crime. It was common for executions to take place in a busy plaza as fear proved to be a fair weapon against criminals (http://www.medievality.com/law-and-order.html)."

Now Wart was not being punished or tried for a crime, the hawks were just initiating him into their clan.

Question

Ms. Michelle, I was thinking about putting a couple of pictures in my report, to go along with the topic. Is that appropriate? Because if it's not, I won't put anything in there.

~Cephia