My Old Highschool Essays

This is a collection of all of my high school essays! I graduated June 2018. English was my strongest subject and I got all As in those classes! I don't respond to DMs here so please direct those to @stormbriel

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AP English III - Essay

Sex, Stigma, and Students

This society is surrounded by myths about sex, and about people’s very own bodies. From girls who start menstruating at 9 and boys growing facial hair at 10. to the teens and adults who do not know the ins and outs of birth control; every person deserves to know vital information about their body. Sex education needs to be built upon, enriched, and improved for three reasons: there are far too many harmful myths about sex, people who do not conform to heterosexual standards are left in the dust, and non-abstinence programs have been shown to be more effective.

Sex education, how detailed and at what age, has always been a hot topic. Where did it all begin? Support for this movement started in the 1800s, emphasizing upon risk-reductive habits to help prevent cholera and syphilis. Groups hopped on this bandwagon, making it necessary in the national curriculum before puberty. The trend continued into the 1900s when the first birth control clinic was opened, and even more groups joined the league of sex education: such as the U.S Public Health Service, U.S government, American Medical Association, and so forth. The Birth Control Federation became Planned Parenthood in 1942, and there was a nationwide program in family life education. Despite these movements in favor of ‘sex ed’, in 1975, 20 states voted to restrict or abolish sexuality education. In the 80’s an act to start promoting abstinence before marriage was passed. Abstinence has always been a huge portion of teaching, even today, although in 2008 a total of 25 states has rejected funding for abstinence-only programs (Advocatesforyouth.org).

The first reason that sex education needs to be empowered rather than overlooked is that this first world society is littered with harmful myths about sex, and about the body. Just to name a few, a female’s first time is not supposed to hurt, hymens do not really tear so there should be no blood. The only time any of that happens is likely when the female is not actually aroused and this myth of “cherry popping” adds onto the trope of men’s needs coming first; especially in a sexual environment. There are also many people who believe, or likely were not taught otherwise, that oral sex cannot get a person pregnant, and this can lead some people to believe the best way to be safe is to actually throw up after sex (Newsome). Many people also think that porn is an activity only the male population partakes in, yet a study found that one out of three women watches it at least once a week (WITW). Many females feel ostracized and immoral for doing taking part in an activity that most people of both genders do, and it should be normalized instead of being laced with current double standards. Another extremely common misbelief is that to be amazing at sex, a man must have a penis length far above average, and often this causes insecurity among the males with this body part; along with stress and anxiety if they are average, below average, or not a whopping 12 inches. Aesthetics aside, four to five inches does what it needs to in sex, considering a female’s actual vaginal length is only four to five inches when aroused. The list goes on and on; there are countless myths about sex that continue to stigmatize most of the population, and really just instill shame in exploring teenagers. A school’s sex ed needs to debunk these common, but wrong beliefs with dignity and understanding.

According to a National Health Survey, around, “2.3 percent of US citizens identify as gay or bisexual” (Somashekhar). That might seem a touch small when it is taken into account that less than 50 percent of teens today identify as heterosexual (Brathwaite). Considering only half of the middle schoolers and high schoolers today say they are straight, we need to start addressing sexuality in sexual education classes. An innumerable amount of coming-out stories involve the words, “I thought I was broken,” or “I thought something was wrong with me”. That should never be the case; that a teen goes through schooling thinking that he or she is alone, broken, too young to make these decisions. It is simple, whether or not all of the public supports the LGBT+ group, different genders and sexualities do exist and the youth should not suffer because of this. Explaining early that people can identify differently and love anyone they want would save so many people large amounts of heartbreak and confusion as a teenager. Even if schools only had to cover the basics: being gay, bisexual, straight, or asexual. Asexuality is one that is often brushed off, considered to be some sort false identity made up for purposes like attention. In fact, most people do not even know that it exists, but regardless it does and there are in fact people who do not feel sexual attraction. Sex Ed needs to reassure those students that abstinence is okay, having sex is okay, but also just not feeling sexual attraction is okay. Heteronormative teachings leave several groups of teens in the dust, feeling outcast.

Not only is sex education supposed to be there to teach us that differences are to be embraced and to debunk myths, it also should not be abstinence-only based, and there are more than enough statistics to prove it. National data shows that more comprehensive sex education teaching is actually more effective at lowering teen pregnancy than only teaching abstinence. This makes sense; that if teens are going to have sex, then they’re going to do so no matter how many times a burly gym teacher says, “abstinence is the only way you can be TOTALLY safe!”, but if teens are taught how to have sex responsibly, then it is safer for all parties involved. In fact, “47 percent of high school teens have reported being sexually active in 2013” (Mcgee). That is half of high school students, so no one can say that it is not important enough. Teaching abstinence only is like saying “You want to learn how to be a safer swimmer? Just don’t swim!” This mentality is not beneficial to teens, and the data proves this. Regardless of whether the students would rather stay abstinent or not, the fact is that the teachings associated with it are often twisted and misleading, “Representative Henry A. Waxman released  a report showing that over 80 percent of federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs use curricula that distort information about the effectiveness of contraceptives, misrepresent the risks of abortion, blur religion and science, treat stereotypes about girls and boys as scientific fact, and contain basic scientific errors”(“Top Five Reasons”). Even if not having sex until marriage is the path some want to take, it should be because they have been well educated in an unbiased and truthful way. This is further backed by the fact that only 19 states actually call for teaching that is medically accurate (Karimi). Less than half of this country’s teens could be getting properly informed about their bodies, and how to protect them. Looking at the map below, it highlights just how skewed this abstinence-based system is. In these states, they assume that telling the students not to have sex will be enough, without a single lesson on any sort of birth control methods. (Klein) It is obvious that relying only on the teachings of abstinence is not only irresponsible, but it works only based on a select few moral beliefs. In fact, the data of the passage written by Karimi says that “comprehensive learning was 50 percent more effective than teaching abstinence.” That is no coincidence.

One main point that opposers usually throw out is that “Kids and teens are too young!” Usually, they think that until a student is in high school or late middle school can they be exposed to the mature concepts involving their own body. They also generally believe that sexual discussions in detail are too inappropriate for preteens and teenagers. Along with and often fueled by these morals comes common misconceptions on how sex education would be handled in a younger environment, which is shown in “Start Proper Sex Education Early”: with parents assuming that it would start in kindergarten, and expose their children to porn, and teach them how to masturbate. In the same article, more parents have called early sex ed “disgusting” and that “[sex ed] rapes their children of innocence”. In teaching sex early, it would likely be taught in simple terms; certainly nothing that would be inappropriate to show at any age of audience. Even so, when is it ‘too young’ to learn about the bodily functions that start anywhere from nine to 14? Sex should be talked about openly, rather than made oppressive and taboo. Many girls get embarrassed and shamed for talking about their periods, but why? It is a natural bodily occurrence that should be embraced with a person’s femininity. Males should be exposed and well-versed in this too, considering it affects half the human population every month. Many teens do not come to their parents with questions and concerns because they wait too long to have a real, honest discussion with them about sex (if ever at all). Parent’s should start early and are open with their children about the most necessary function of survival of humans, sex, and the important themes within that such as menstruation, it would leave less room for this shame to talk about it.

Another huge argument on the other side is that topics like sex are material that parents need to teach their children themselves. This is an educational step that some parents think is personal, and they do not want their children learning information that they do not think that they should. A parent, though their intentions could be morally right, can often be biased; and they should not get to decide what is and is not relevant for their child. That is not to say that a parent cannot be the first to teach their kid; if they start having these discussions earlier, as stated in the refutation above, then they would get to have that personal conversation with their child regardless. Another reason why it should not just be left to the parents to teach is that just like most people are lost in these sexual myths, often adults and even said parents are too. They can be, and probably are, just as easily misled as anyone else, so who knows if what they are teaching their kids is even correct? Although in some states teachers can be just as choosy with what they teach as parents, it is at least done in a more open and stress-free environment. Often teens feel embarrassed to ask their parents questions, and sweat over the dreaded “sex talk”, but in a classroom with peers that are in that same boat; there are much less pressure and shame. Anyone of any age can be biased, easily swayed, or uneducated in some fields of knowledge, and even more likely the parents, thinking they know best for their children. Considering that simple understanding; unless they are a doctor, or so well knowledged that they could write a textbook on sexual education, it is probably best left to the teachers to educate the masses on how to stay safe sexually.

Although sex education has come far, there is still so much on the horizon that the necessary teachings should strive for. Sex education should be expanded upon, and well refined. Students should be corrected about toxic myths, should be taught about differences in sexuality, and should be taught more than just, “you can have safe sex by not having any at all”. Once people start being open about sex, is the moment that many of the stigmas and confusion plaguing it can be eliminated.

Works Cited

"A SELECTIVE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES."

Advocatesforyouth.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Brathwaite, Les Fabian. "Less Than 50% of Teens Identify as Straight, Says New Study." Out

Magazine. N.p., 11 Mar. 2016. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Castner, Nick. "Start Proper Sex Education Early." University Wire, 12 Jan 2016, SIRS Issues

Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com.

Karimi, Honeiah. “We Need to Talk about Sex.” University Wire, 2014. SIRS Issues

Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com"

Klein, Rebecca. "These Maps Show Where Kids In America Get Terrifying Sex Ed." The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

McGee, Brice. “Teaching Abstinence Only is Not Working.” University Wire, 26 Aug 2015, SIRS

Issues Researcher, http://sks.sirs.com

"National Data Shows Comprehensive Sex Education Better at Reducing Teen Pregnancy than

Abstinence-Only Programs." SIECUS. SIECUS, Mar. 2008. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Newsome, Teresa. "7 Totally Gross Sex Myths Debunked Once And For All." Bustle. Bustle, 08

Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Somashekhar, Sandhya. "Health Survey Gives Government Its First Large-scale Data on Gay,

Bisexual Population." The Washington Post. WP Company, 15 July 2014. Web. 17 Jan.

2017.

"Top Five Reasons to Abandon Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs."

Advocatesforyouth.org. Advocates For Youth, n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.

WITW, Staff. "Study Finds That 1 out of 3 Women Watch Porn at Least Once a Week."

NYTLive. New York Times, 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

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English II (Honors) - Essay

Who’s to blame for Oedipus’ downfall?

Oedipus: The Essay

Oedipus: Taking an Eye for an Eye to an Whole New Level. Oedipus’ life went from riches to bloody rags in about 2 seconds flat. The question of who was behind this is simple- everyone. Literally everyone in the story somehow drove him to his end, but to compress, the two biggest influences on this were his two biological parents: Jocasta and Laius. This is the case for three reasons: they created him, thus creating his end; him dying was their one and only plan; and Jocasta was distrustful of said prophecy.

The first reason his biological parents are to blame is the fact that they are the ones who created him. Without him being born, the prophecy would not have happened, his mom would not have died, he would not have gouged out his eyes, etc. Obviously this is the very start of everything, therefore making them the number one reason Oedipus could even have a demise- the fact he existed to begin with. Of course, with them having him comes the fact that they were not responsible, especially after hearing the prophecy. As a parent, it is your duty to stick with your kid no matter the situation, prophecy or not. If they had given him up to another family due to no food, gold, some viable reason that is one thing; but they did not. They tried to kill him because they did not think they could fight destiny. They sent him to die, while if they had raised him, told him about said prophecy, which being his parents they should have, there would have a chance he would have been in more control of his actions. Because of them not being leaving his adoptive parents would doom him, and so he fell right into the God’s hands. This responsible for having him to begin with, Oedipus did not know to beware, he did not know him leads me to my second reason.

They were going to be irresponsible and selfish, okay- I suppose that is a given with the high and mighty Greek royals, but, as my this second point will explain; Oedipus dying was their only plan and they put all their trust into the person meant to do it. They could have had the child actually killed, not just leaving him in the mountains somewhere, giving time for mercy. Just abandoning the baby leaves the slightest chance he would survive, while if you physically kill him from the start- there is no chance of this. They should have planned ahead and assumed he could maybe survive. They also totally trusted the messenger to leave him in such a way that he would not somehow escape death, this obviously was not the case as the shepherd found Oedipus and doomed his fate. If the prophecy was so bad they were willing to kill their child by abandoning him, then just straight killing him should not have been that much more awful. If Jocasta and Laius had made sure there was no way of survival, asked for proof of the death, or had Oedipus straight out killed from the start; there would be no way for the events to play out, and thus no demise. This feign ignorance continues in the following paragraph with his mom.

This next reason is Jocasta was too distrustful of said prophecy. She just assumes Oedipus died from the beginning, and like Oedipus’, her own ignorance leads to his downfall. She did not see it a coincidence that her husband just happened to get killed, like in the prophecy? That right after some man comes and marries her? She certainly should have been more tentative with the people she bedded since half the prophecy had come true. Maybe the fact that this stranger was an age near that her dead child’s would be should have been kind of suspicious. She did not notice the scars on his ankles at all, did not question it. Did they have no facial similarities? Children often look like their parents and old or not this would probably still be the case. Had she at all noticed any of the glaring details, she would have hopefully not slept with him. After Laius’ death she really should have refrained from bedding anyone at all, just in case the prophecy somehow still happened. If this destiny was so big, bad, and important as to kill your kid, then taking every precaution to prevent it really makes the most sense.

While every person had an effect on Oedipus and his downfall, his parents, the point of his creation; they really allowed everything to happen the way it did, generally because they were careless.

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AP English III - Speech

We had to pick between of mice and men, and a raisin in the sun and decide which pointed out the american dream’s flaws the most

How do you describe the American dream? While everyone might give it a different meaning (white picket fence, climbing the corporate ladder, settling down with a cookie cutter family) but Google defines it as: “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”. If you look at the two books, ‘Of Mice and Men’, and ‘A Raisin in the Sun’; the one where the flaws of the American Dream is Of Mice and Men, because of how the struggle of gender, and disabilities, are portrayed; and the ending itself.

Curley’s wife. A character, a woman- referred to only by her connection with a man. Of Mice and Men really depicts how women struggle to ever reach the American dream, and that isn’t something that Raisin does very well. There’s only one female character in the whole of Mice and Men, which is fairly accurate in portraying how things are like even now, and she ends up unable to reach her dream- because of men. Lennie and Curley keep her from ever getting that dream, by oppressing her and then killing her. In Raisin, there are three strong female characters against one male; and their struggles are fairly equal. You don’t really see Walter getting any sort of upperhand against Ruth, Mama, or Beneatha. If anything, Walter is the only one to not get his dream; Ruth gets her home, Mama a nice life for her kids, and Beneatha gets to do heal people. Of Mice and Men definitely portrays the struggles of a female better.

Having a disability, whether mental or physical, makes reaching the American dream incredibly difficult. Ableism is so prominent, and while people are very outspoken about racism, or homophobia; I haven’t heard much about disabled rights in a while. Of Mice and Men really showcases the struggle of a mentally disabled person- Lennie. Without his disability, he and George would have achieved their dream. It wouldn’t have been easy, but they could have collected enough money, without skipping town to town, to get their house and their animals. This is so often the case, people with autism, adhd, bipolar, and a variety of other conditions will have to claw and fight to ever get the upperhand.

The ending: arguably one of the most important parts of a story; especially in the two stories at hand. In terms of which best showed the flaws of the American dream, by the ending, the last few paragraphs; it has to be Of Mice and Men. It is a tragic, necessary sacrificial ending. That is what the American dream is. It’s not obtainable, it’s not okay” we’ll work hard and we’ll scrape by!”. It’s cold hard truth, reality. The family in Raisin move onto a better life, they get hope, and it works out. Most of them do get their dream, but what are we left with at the ending in Of Mice and Men? George is still struggling, but he’s now had to kill someone he cared about.

Of Mice and Men better portrays the biggest flaws of the American dream: that you can’t easily (if at all) achieve it if you aren’t an able bodied white male. Even so, you’ll lose the things you love, even parts of yourself to get there. Of Mice and Men is tragic. but it’s the truth. Unlike Raisin, not everyone gets even a flicker of a happy ending.

Sources

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Penguin Books, 1994. Print.

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Speech and Debate - Speech

High Schools are failing us in more ways than tests

Raise your hand if you know how to graph a parabola, or can tell me about dramatic irony. Okay now raise your hand if you can do something as essential as do taxes or take out a loan.  Now imagine- somehow you made it through high school, potentially college, whatever education you want to strive for. You graduate from that…. and then what? My guess is, without running to your parents or the internet, you won’t know the next steps. The importance of buying a house, budgeting and finances, all these things that you need to know to be on your own and to function in our society- you haven’t learned. I mean over one million students drop out of high school every year. A student every twenty six seconds. If that doesn’t say there’s something wrong with our education system then I don’t know what does. This is why our schools, more specifically our high schools aren’t doing what they were created to do; they leave you unprepared for the world outside of the education system, unprepared for your future job, and it simply isn’t healthy.

My first point- you aren’t prepared for the world outside of the education system. Like I said in my opening, most of what we learn aren’t the everyday things we really need to know. I mean if you ask just an average adult if they remember (or ever learned) how to do all the advanced things we have to- they’ll probably say no. Most adults would respond like this but society isn’t chaos, is it? You learn all this complex math and science and everything else, and really, what’s the more essential information- being able to recite the periodic table or knowing how to survive on minimum wage? They say they’re teaching us theses things to help better us for in the future, to prepare us, but for what future? What will you learn in your core classes to help you with moving out? With raising children? With not being able to find a job? Nothing. This future they mention is college. That’s all they’re preparing you for. Not the real world, the one outside of the education system. Just more tests and more shoveling facts down our throats. They should be teaching us things we’ll really need to know. How to sew, how to buy food on a budget, how to change a tire, how to take out a mortgage, etc. This is stuff that’s pretty essential to our survival, things everyone pretty much should have a vague knowledge of, and yet what are we learning. Needless information for tests created solely to get you into college.

My second point- you aren’t prepared for your future jobs. You spend all these years learning all these topics that are either useless, or things you’ll immediately forget. That isn’t to say you don’t need to know basic math and history and stuff like that- up to the middle of middle school it’s stuff we’ll probably need, but after that, not really. By the time you’re in the 7th grade, 14 ish, you should have an idea of what you might want to be when you get out of school and that’s what your classes should be based on. If you want to be a math major then take all the maths your heart desires but if you want to be a chef then learning the exponential formula? Will definitely not help you with your future career. Someone is just as likely to want to be an artist as a scientist- but which one is the requirement? We should take career placement tests that help us know what to plan for. It’s not like you should have no guidance and requirements at all. You should be able talk with a counselor, who will make sure you actually care about your future, those who’re troublemakers and never do work- they’d get extra guidance. This system would leave us so much more prepared. They do this sort of thing in Switzerland, you go to basic schooling (elementary to middle) and then you decide what you might want to do in life, you then submit it to the school and they help to put you in classes that involve your desired field. You then move onto apprenticeships before you get an actual job. This method works; according to tradingeconomics unemployment in the US is about 7.9 million people. where in Switzerland it’s only around 200,000. The classes we learn here simply don’t get us where we need. I mean when you think about it, social studies and english specifically, are very repetitive. All throughout middle school and even now- it’s really the same stuff. In one it’s always the world wars, revolutions, civil war, and maybe a few ancient civilizations. In English there’s really only so much you can do- a few new grammar terms, a bit more vocab, but it’s really just essays and passages- no new information. It could easily all be condensed in one middle school class instead of being stretched out for so many years, leaving us with knowledge we can’t use.

My third point is, school isn’t healthy. Most people hate school. It leaves you busy, tired, and frustrated. There’s more behind that than just laziness. Some people do like school but even those who want to live here experience some sort of stress whether it be from over scheduling, homework, tests, etc. In a persuasive paper covered by RealClearPolitics, it’s pointed out that suicides for 14 to 18 year olds drop abruptly during the summer months of June, July and August- while in 19 to 25 year olds, an age where they wouldn’t be in school, don’t, which suggests high school plays a prominent role in the decrease of adolescent mental health. Further, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, 11% of adolescents have a depressive disorder by age 18, and the American Psychological Association states that 20%, one fifth, of high school students consider suicide every year, 8% actually attempting. In a classroom of 25 people five of the students likely wanted to end their lives. One of these five could be your own best friend, overworked, tired, stressed because of the A+ expectations forced on them due to most parent’s high standards. Not to mention, school messes with our sleep schedules. According to TheAtlantic.com the Federal Centers for Disease control and Prevention has started to urge education policy makers to start classes later in the morning. The CDC noted that significant risks come with lack of sleep, such as high rates of obesity and depression, also showing an increase in motor vehicle accidents among teens, and a decrease in quality of life. Classes start so early and we have so much homework we can’t get the sleep we need. Researchers analyzed over 9,000 students in Minnesota, Colorado, and Wyoming; and found that by moving the start hour later in the morning, attendance, test scores, and grades boosted, along with a drop in tardiness, substance abuse, and symptoms of depression. Teenagers have an internal clock, circadian rhythms that determine sleep patterns, operate differently than those of other ages groups. It’s harder for us to fall asleep earlier in the evening, and yet school continues to start earlier as we age. It forces us to be awake at times that run against our internal clocks. Leaving us grumpy and pathologically sleepy

So, why does it matter. From the time you’re just learning how the world works, to the time you’re a young adult your life revolves around school and your education. We spend five days here. A third of our day in these classrooms. Thirteen years being taught. We deserve the right to decide what material is relevant to our future; to at least be taught the things we need to know. School is doing more than just failing tests. It’s failing to prepare us for the real, ever approaching world outside of the education system.

Works Cited

Gallagher, Maggie. "Is High School Bad for Teens' Mental Health? | RealClearPolitics." Real  

ClearPolitics. N.p., 18 May 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Baer, Drake. "High School in America Is Creating a Mental-health Crisis - and These Numbers

Prove It." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Ferreria, Joana. "United States Unemployment Rate | 1948-2015 | Data | Chart | Calendar."

United States Unemployment Rate | 1948-2015 | Data | Chart | Calendar. N.p., 2 Oct.

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AP World History - Essay

William the Conqueror

The man.

The myth.

The legend.

He was born in 1028, and grew up in Normandy, a French territory. Due to his cheating father, whose named just happened to be Robert the Devil, the Conqueror was also referred to as William the Bastard. He did not like this very much, but he was a mother’s boy anyways- cutting off the feet and hands of people who slandered her.

He became a duch and eventually was eventually king of England… though he spoke no English and failed pitifully when trying to learn. He made them all speak French, leading to the infusing the English language with new vocabulary.

He was very touchy about his weight, “ballooning up” as he got older. King Philip of France called William a pregnant woman about to give birth.

He died in 1087 when his horse reared up, throwing him against his saddle and causing his intestines to rupture. As priests tried to stuff him into the coffin he proved too big for, they pushed on his abdomen- thus causing him to explode at his funeral. Mourners ran for the doors. There was also a fire. In fact his body when so moldy two of his undertakers caught fever and died. 25% of the English population are believed to be descendants of him. They are probably the chosen ones. Those lucky lucky people.

 Sources

Truman, CN. "William the Conqueror - History Learning Site." History Learning Site. N.p., 4     

Mar. 2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Bartlett, Robert. "How Did William the Bastard Become William the Conqueror?" BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Cohen, Jennie. "10 Things You May Not Know About William the Conqueror." History.com.

A&E Television Networks, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

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Art - Essay

Artist Biography: Al Held

Al Held was an abstract painter, mostly known for geometric shapes. He was born in New York City, New York, in 1928 to Polish immigrants. After being expelled from high school he served in the US Navy until 1947.

Over time he started to develop quite an appreciation of art, mostly through film to begin with, so he decided to enroll in classes at the Arts Student League; thanks to the G.I. Bill. His father had Marxist beliefs, and their household often held political discussions, so this largely influenced Held and his early artwork.

He eventually went to Paris, France to study at the Académie de la grande chaumière; where he took classes with the sculptor Ossip Zadkine. It was because of this that he became a member of the circle of American artists there, with others such as: Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, etc. This really helped him in his search for his art style.

He went back to New York after Paris, but soon relocated again to San Francisco when a studio fire destroyed a lot of his earlier works. Here he met the sculptor Ronald Bladen, and a dancer Yvonne Rainer, of which he was briefly married to.

When he returned to New York, once again, he found himself snuggly among groups of abstract painters; this secured him in the style he is most known for today. His artwork was often bright, with hard edges and geometric shapes, and it was with this that he started to get attention, national, even.

From 1962 to 1980 he found himself as an associate professor of art at Yale University. During this time he received countless awards and grants, and his artwork was featured in many museums.

He died at the age of 76, 2005, in Italy.

Sources

"Al Held." Al Held | artnet. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2017.

"Al Held - Biography." RoGallery. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2017.

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English II Honors - Essay

An anylysis of the main character Okonkwo from the story Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo, a Tragic Hero Analysis

The term “tragic hero” was first brought about by a great Greek philosopher named Aristotle. Since then many characters have been created in this image of a majorly flawed hero (or sometimes villian); some common names such as Anakin Skywalker, Oedipus Rex, and even Dr.House from, well, House. Every hero has a flaw, but tragic heroes have five main problems, as stated by Aristotle, and Okonkwo fits every one: hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis, a noble birth (or high status in general, in his case), and catharsis. Okonkwo is a classic tragic hero, but I believe there are three that really fit him the most: his hamartia (or fatal flaw), peripeteia (reversal of fortune), and catharsis (sympathy of audience) (Literary Devices 1).

   The first thing that makes Okonkwo a true-and-blue tragic hero is his hamartia. This means the one major flaw that eventually brings the character to his downfall. Okonkwo’s biggest flaw in the story is his fear of weakness by far. All of Okonkwo’s decisions in life are driven by his pride, and his fear that people will look down upon him for his birth. His fear of being lesser causes him to do many things that lead to his “fall”, to the extent of killing his adoptive son. Before we touch on why his aversion takes him down, we must first understand why he has such a need to be so strong and powerful. His father was a nobody in the clan, he borrowed and did not return, and he left Okonkwo with nothing. This made Okonkwo strive to be better, but so much so that he feared anything else. He had to be fearless, strong, a “man of action, a man of war” (Achebe 7). Any sort of emotion went against the idea that he could be prideful in how strong he was compared to his father, and it is because of this that he climbs to a top rank in the village (giving him such a long way to fall by the end of the story), and it is also because of this that he treats everyone around him so poorly. One example of this, is how he treats his son, Nwoye. He considers his son low and lazy, and he refuses to accept that anything spawning from himself would be so weak. He almost kills one of his wives just to get his anger out, and he, without needing to himself, killed his adoptive son. His tragic flaw, fear, is enhanced when the English come. Okonkwo sees change as weak, and when he realizes his clan will not fight such change, he believes that the only option would be to kill himself- which he does. It is because of his fear that he has a fall at all, and thus gives him a tragic hero ending. But that ending could happen without the second trait, which brings me to my next point.

The second thing that makes him a tragic hero is his peripeteia, or reversal of fortune. At the beginning of his life he had no status, farm, or wealth; therefore he started out with no luck to lose. This changed when he built his way to a high status within the clan, which set him up to have a long fall back to being disfortunate. The first turn for the worse happened when Okonkwo accidentally shot a boy in the tribe during a ceremony, causing him to be exiled for seven years. Being exiled, having to move into a place with new people, and having to swallow his pride; that is definitely a misfortunate event for Okonkwo but sadly it is just the beginning. Furthermore, another event that really made a bad impact on Okonkwo’s life would be English colonizers arriving, settling, and messing up clan life. This is pretty self explanatory, as it not only leads to Okonkwo’s eventual suicide by hanging, but another major event: his son Nwoye becoming Christian. This was the absolute ultimate betrayal to Okonkwo, his son turning into what he feared and despised the most. ““Where have you been?” he [Okonkwo] stammered. Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip. “Answer me,” roared Okonkwo, “before I kill you!” He seized a heavy stick ... [and] hit him two or three savage blows.“Answer me!” he roared again. Nwoye stood looking at him and did not say a word. The women were screaming outside, afraid to go in.” (Achebe 16-19). This is what really made him start to lose hope in his clan. Speaking of his suicide, this leads me to my last reasoning for why he is a tragic hero.

The third and final thing that makes Okonkwo a tragic hero is the catharsism, or sympathy, the audience experiences near and at the end. Most people do and should feel bad for Okonkwo by the end of the story; he was exiled, he is so messed up from his father’s actions that you can not help but feel bad, and the English coming in and ruining everything is definitely a heart jerker. Maybe none of this affects people on the literal level that it appears in the story, but it is all stuff people can relate to. Accidentally messing up and being wrongfully punished because of it, having to move somewhere totally different (or at least somewhere you do not want to go), having someone you want great things for failing you, and even the massive change of new people coming in and making things different. These are all things most people can understand, so while most people can not relate with hanging themselves; the idea of having so little hope in something that you want to give up… that really hits some people. Not only that, but as the protagonist you can not help but to root for Okonkwo, towards the end you generally crave him to stand up to the English, to fight back for his clan and home. When he anticlimactically kills himself, it adds to the mood of the ending, leaving the reader to feel even more sympathy for him.

In conclusion, Okonkwo’s story is misfortunate and ultimately makes him a tragic hero. From his fear of weakness, to his misfortune, to the reader’s remorse at his suicide. Tragic heroes are one of the most interesting characters to write and read about, they are dynamic and emotion provoking. Just imagine the Star Wars series if Luke had had a normal cookie cutter father who did not almost kill his mom. Not near as interesting. Perfect heroes are boring, and so when they have flaws like real people, it allows a deeper connection with the plot and character. This is probably one of the main reasons why this is such a popular story; as even though the author is biased, he shows flaws on both sides.

Sources

"Tragic Hero - Examples and Definition of Tragic Hero." Literary Devices. N.p., 08 Dec. 2015. Web. 26 May 2016.

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.

"ARISTOTLE & THE ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY: English 250." Aristotle's Tragic Terms. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2016.

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Art - Essay

MC Escher

MC Escher, more formally called Maurits Cornelis Escher, is known as one of the greatest and well known graphic artists. He’s most recognizable for his use of illusions in his art, of buildings that were ‘impossible’. Throughout his whole life he made 448 lithographs, woodcuts and wood engravings; along with over 2,000 drawings and sketches.

His life began as he was born in Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands 1898. After five years he and his family moved to Arnhem where he lived for most of his growing up. In high school he failed his exams and eventually enrolled into the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem of the Netherlands. He started off learning architecture, but quickly switched over to graphic art. Upon graduating around the 1920’s he traveled throughout the mediterranean, becoming influenced by amazing sights such as the Moor-designed Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.

During these travels he met his eventual wife Jetta Umiker.They got married in 1924 and settled down in Rome until the 1930’s, going on to have three children. Fascism was rising in Italy so Escher and his family moved to Switzerland, eventually traveling to Spain once more so Escher could be around complex structures in the Alhambra Palace, La Mezquita of Cordoba, etc. They once again moved in 1937 to Belgium, but left again when the Nazis invaded. They moved to Holland, where Escher continued to make art. Escher eventually died on March 27, 1972, in Laren, of the Netherlands. At that time he left behind about 2,000 pieces of art. Even now he is still widely loved for illusion art and mathematical artistic ability.

“The Drowned Cathedral”

This piece of art is especially great, I believe, because of the strong lights and darks. The black of the sky with the intricate cathedral in white, and the water that has the perfect mixture of both colors; it really allows for the cathedral itself and the boat below it to stand out nicely in contrast, without getting too lost within some busy negative space. There is obviously a lot of deep symbolism here, by just the subject alone and the solemn feeling the art gives off solidifies that. As for organization, the movement works well, the boat and water ripples leading your eye through the picture, all the way up to the spire of the building. You would think the cathedral would be the most emphasised, but I think it’s the boat; there are stronger whites in it, less of the ripples take away from its focus and it’s more solid. The rhythm is really put into place by the ripples in the water, the lines in the cathedral, and the stars of the sky. Overall this is a very strong piece with a lot of feeling.

“Hand with Reflecting Sphere”

This piece is a pencil drawing of a self portrait that has great detail and realism. The style of this piece really forms with its smooth gradients, shading, and blending. The fine attention to detail without being too overly distracting also adds to this solid foundation and simple style. It’s a very simple concept executed with a very fine technical skill which is really the highlight here. The emphasis is really on the hand, since both the ball and background are fairly grey; but it leads the eye into the self portrait from the immediate whiteness of the hand itself. There’s a lot of variety in the ball, as far as actual items within it, yet it’s not so distracting from the picture as a whole/the person with in it. Because of the positive space being perfectly centered and taking up most of the page, the drawing has a nice simple balance too. Overall this is a very nice and refined drawing.

Works Cited 

Pixelday. "M.C. Escher." M.C. Escher – Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

"M.C. Escher." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

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American History I (Honors) - Essay

We were required to write an essay for the voices of democracy scholarship contest, but they were only submitted if you chose to and i did not.

Hope is a powerful, beautiful, and delicate human construct; one that has pushed our existence through time since our ancestors created tools. Individual and collective hopes are always changing and developing. What I hope for the future, for America and beyond, is that we will continue to grow and shape; allowing more room for acceptance and toleration.

Though it has been a slow process, met with growing pains and opposition, the United States has progressed quite far in terms of equality and overall rights; I hope that the future continues to be stretched towards the same love and acceptance that has since bloomed in these last few decades. The rift between races, sexes, and now sexualities has started to close and what more can there be to hope for, more so than a continued growth of understanding. Though it might often come from verbal arguing, riots, and protests; a country with an open mind can finally be open to such needed concepts as peace. When we treat each other with empathy and respect, we can unite and conquer things without violence. As a country, we can not move forward without continuing to grow, which is what I hope the future is full of. I hope that the future is less about fighting for things, but more about moving forward; together.

From these movements have come influential and truly unforgettable figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Harvey Milk, and Betty Friedan. People whose actions, works, words, have moved, enlightened, changed. From these people have come great passion, and great change. From the future, I can only hope we bloom more history making individuals, who will pave the way for their causes. Generations to come who are inspired and exercise individual thought; that is what will make the future bright. What the future needs is people who are willing to push against the norm, to challenge the masses, and to create an imprint that will never fade. With this, I also hope that their creations of spoken or written word, art, social trends will continue to better the word and inspire others. Things like art and writing will always exist, but when it is propelled by raw emotions, desires; that creates a whole new form of expression that I really believe is beautiful and a necessary aspect to our country. There are so many moving speeches, books, and art pieces throughout history; I can only hope that the use of different mediums to portray movements and social changes will continue to happen, and will only evolve further in years to come.

Lastly, and overall, I hope that our future continues to be full of the freedom to do all of the things stated above. Our predecessors fought hard for our current freedoms, and ideally the future will continue to have those essential freedoms that can be exercised in all sorts of ways. These freedoms have helped our nation’s progress quite a lot, allowing for bigger changes to happen with more ease. While it has maybe not always been totally fair, freedom of speech has allowed for the gender equality movement, civil rights, etc. to move along to where it is now. Had we not have those freedoms, it could have taken much longer, if they happened at all; similarly to other countries in the world today. I hope that in the future, our freedoms will be even more free; without any unconstitutional obstructions; and that every right can be used by any applicable person, despite what type of person they are; from race to sexuality. I hope that the thing that makes the US great, being founded on basic human rights, is what continues to make us great in eras to come.

In all, my hope for the future is that we continue to grow and get even better as a country and society, and that from this growth will come more groups of speakers, of artists, of writers who will use their rights to create beauty and advocacy for the masses.

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Chemistry Honors Project

We had to create our own element; and this was the spring of the year Trump got elected.

Can We Stump the Trump..idium???

(Insert picture of trump as a debbie cake here)

My element is Trumpidium.

This element was discovered by some unknown poor soul. Trumpidium was found in a garbage can near the US Mexico border screaming racist remarks, along with a small loan of a million dollars. The unknown person took it as a joke but it soon spiraled out of control.

If you hadn’t yet guessed, it’s named Trumpidium because someone took Donald Trump and smashed his face with rocks until it formed this new element. It’s symbol is TRS. This is short for trash.

While I may not be the discoverer, I am the lead scientist in the effort to destroy this mistake element. I went to Harvard at age eight and graduated by ten. I have created ten elements in my lab but nothing as terrifying as this. I have twelve nobel peace prizes and fifty plus science awards. I live in a house made of lab equipment because that's just how dedicated I am.

Trumpidium looks like a dirty escaped toupee with a red tint, because it’s always yelling offensive comments. It behaves like a baby, over reacting at any other element, and getting kicked off the element shows for sexism. Is it dangerous? One of the many hazards Trumpidium has, is it can infect the brain if mishandled, killing several IQ points in said person.

Once again, it’s found in either trash cans or the homes of rich, white, male politicians.

Trumpidium is used to build oppressive walls, and is the least racist element you’ve ever known. That’s it’s only use.

Other descriptors, this element isn’t afraid to speak its mind, which happens to be filled with racist and oppressive things. It also looks like a Hostess Zinger.

Please don’t let this element infect the minds of those around it. If you see a wild Trumpidium please step on it. Or throw it into the ocean.

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Speech and Debate - Speech

This is a speech on why aliens are real. It had to be like, 7 minutes long I think?

When you look up at the night sky, what do you see? Stars. Thousands of stars shining in the sky, and these are only the ones our eyes can see, only the visible ones in our Milkyway galaxy, in which there are an estimated two to four hundred billion stars, each most likely with their own planet system. This gives us around two to three trillion planets, in just our galaxy! And there are around one hundred billion galaxies in the known universe! That’s an uncountable amount of possible planets… so when I say aliens probably exist, how can you deny it? The chance is definitely there. Trillions of planets, and we’re the only ones with life? I doubt it. And these are the reasons why; One there’s evidence of such throughout history, two Earth conditions appear in several other places, and three out of all the ‘conspiracy theories’ at least one has to be true.

My first point is that there’s believable evidence spread throughout history. In several mediums, in different points of time there’s quite compelling evidence. Even if you don’t buy it, it’s certainly a coincidence, no? My first example is a painting created in the fifteenth century. It depicts the Virgin Mary, while in the background there’s a man and his dog staring at a hovering disk like object that looks very much like a UFO. Another example of this is the Puma Punku. They’re giant blocks scattered in the highlands of Bolivia, so intricately carved and thousands of years old. It’s generally accepted that the tools as we know them to do something like this didn’t exist at the time. Were these people given the tools to build this? Or did people build it at all? Other theories I’m sure you’ve heard of are ones involving Stonehenge, and the Easter Island head sculptures. Stuff like this dates back to ancient civilization, these thoughts and ideas have existed far before technology, far before astrology. So how doesn’t it make you wonder?

My second point is that Earth like condition appear in lots of places all over the Universe. That isn’t to say that there couldn’t be life on non Earth like planets; aliens could be anything, they could be shapeless sentient gas and we wouldn’t know because that’s not what we have. But for the purpose of simplifying things, let’s look at what our planet has taught us: the most necessary conditions for life, looking at Earth for reference according to Learn.Genetics are; Being a comfortable distance from a sun like star, so a reasonable temperature; Being made of something physical, not gases or such like Jupiter or Saturn; Being big enough for a molten core, this generates a magnetic field and allows for the cycling of raw materials; and finally they have a protective atmosphere. Now, you’re probably thinking, just how many planets can possibly fit all these requirements? Five hundred in just our galaxy. And there are billions of galaxies. Other more minor things that could lead to life are things like water, lightning, ice, etc. According to Quora.com, water is made from star formations, and there’s a star born every 0.0002 seconds. So, that’s far more than enough water. As for lightning, tests have shown that some normal chemicals, when zapped, can create amino acids, which is one of the building blocks for life. Our own planets have lightning, like Venus and Jupiter. Just imagine if there was a planet where lightning was as common as McDonalds in America, life could’ve formed centuries ago! Other factors, like ice, can be found on several of the moons in our solar system, like Europa for example. The conditions are there, so why not the life forms?

And finally, my third point; out of all the so called encounters, abduction stories, etc, at least one has to be true. Now I know what you’re thinking. Those theories, those stories are uncredible, and total BS. And yes, I’m sure a lot of them are fabricated, but out of the thousands of stories, across decades, certainly one of them has to be right. Some prime examples; Former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, and also president Reagan, both claimed to see a strange hovering object that quote, stood there, observing them. Also, scientists found a half inch long foreign object lodged in the skull, of former French ruler Napoleon. He himself had also claimed to be held prisoner by “strange men” when he disappeared for days in 1794. In 1977 scientists at Ohio State University picked up a strange signal that had travelled from light years away. They were remarkably strong, but they could never decode it or find its source. And finally, if none of that seems to convince you, then trust those who have actually been to space (and, you know, have all their teeth and a PHD). The list of astronauts who have claimed sightings is quite long, with people like Edgar Mitchell, Cady Coleman, Dr. Brian O’Leary, and even Buzz Aldrin. You see, when the Apollo 11 touched down on the Moon for the first time, Buzz Aldrin sighted an unidentified object flying close to their location. His team had assumed it was part of a detached SIV B rocket, but that was confirmed to be thousands of miles away. There are tons and tons of other stories and such, and it only takes one to make my statement be right.

The theoretical evidence is there. The science is there. The stories to back it up are there. When you look up at the night sky, you’re seeing all the potential of the universe before you. You’re seeing countess possibilities, the hope for humankind. And I mean, let’s not forget that Stephan Hawking has said that he believes alien life may exist in the universe. That’s good enough for me; That man knows more about the universe than any of us mere mortals could dare dream. He is the Morgan Freeman of science If he says they’re out there, than they’re out there. Now, you might still think it’s crazy, but I want you to ask yourself. What’s scarier, the thought that we aren’t alone in the universe? Or the thought that we are.

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AP World History Essay

I don’t remember what this was for or why it was so short but

Nuke Arms Race

An arms race is pretty much the race for one place to gain more big military weapons than the other, in this case the Soviet Union and the US rushing to get more nukes than the other. They’re both developing weapons to have the upperhand on each other.

The US bombing Japan is what started this arms race, and the US was also first to develop nuclear weapons via the Manhattan Project. On August 29th of 1949 the Soviet’s tested their first nuke. The world was surprised, and the arms race started. It lasted until the signing of the Conventional Forces on November of 1990.

A study was done and only around 1,700 bombs were needed to destroy both the USSR and the US, yet they continued to get more bombs, up until the tens of thousands. A bit overkill, I guess. Neither side used their weapons because if one attacked, both side would have ended up destroyed either way.

The government used the threat to up patriotism, and use propaganda against the Soviets.

During this time, the US had a stronger economy, so they hoped the race would strain on the Soviets’, which it did. A few other countries like France and Britain developed some too.

The arms race was viewed as a test of political will to a lot of people.

The two sides eventually began to soften and negotiate. They agreed via SALT, and at the end in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed.

Sources

"Arms Race." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 6 Jan. 2016.

"The Soviet-American Arms Race." The Soviet-American Arms Race. Web. 6 Jan. 2016.

"The Cold War." - Nuclear Arms Race. Web. 6 Jan. 2016.

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AP World History Essay

A response to a CCOT for Wolrd History

This is an essay about the changes and continuities of Islam’s culture, politics, and economy in the Arabian peninsula from five hundred ce to one thousand five hundred ce.

The first  paragraph is about culture. This a continuity. Though spreading and growing, most of its cultural roots and unique civilization have remained the same over time. It has stayed devoted to its monotheistic lifestyle, along with its moral codes of prayer, charity, and such. The gender relationships are the same, as males are still acknowledged as dominant. The second point is a change. Their trading systems improved as it expanded, leading to even more diffusion and exchanging. Their education improved over time. Women steadily gained more rights, such as owning land, though still not as high up as men; and they also sometimes lose these rights, sometimes being kept secluded from society.

The second paragraph is about its economy. First is a change. As expansion of the religion continued, their trading systems emerged and improved. This was quite good for their growing economy and gave them a good influence over a lot of Europe and Africa. They had good markets and nice cities. It was also more urban than most places at the time, giving a good amount of importance to farming. Not many continuities other than the economy  stayed up.

The third paragraph is about the politics. A continuity, women were seen less than men. Not a whole lot, as women had more rights than usual, but still enough. According to belief, everyone was equal in the eyes of Allah but in the Arab empire it didn’t work like that. There was a division between royalty and even merchants, and the slaves. They were often ruled by dynasties, often disagreement over who should rule. A change is what dynasty was their leaders, as different groups took over at different times.

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AP World History Essay

Response to an AP World History DBQ

  Rome was a great empire, but like most things in history, it crumbled into nothingness. The fall of Rome was caused by not a few, but several big and small things working together to make it unable to continue carrying on.

One of the first reasons were due to its economy, as highlighted by some of the sources. The first example being from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in which the spread of Christianity led to a decline of military spirit and an increase of wealth going to charitable places, as they were pushed to do. The second example is from Uses of the Past, which points out that the economy was great while expanding, at first, but once that came to a halt the economy steadily decreased, thanks to having such a vast territory to rule over. The abundance of slaves also led to low wages and unemployment, which didn’t help their situation.

Rome was also just really bad at organization. Half their money went into their military and all the expenses of the bureaucracy itself which led to very high taxes. People left their farms and their business which was not good for Rome, as people could no longer be self reliant and needed welfare- The New Deal in Old Rome. Half of their citizens didn’t believe it was really worth saving, after being discluded from really any political decisions. The government itself was highly corrupted. The split of the empire into the East and West led to a large drift between the two, The two couldn’t gather to protect themselves, to the point of their armies being made up of just Germans, and they often squabbled over things such as military aid and resources. This was thanks to a shortage of children and their inability to band together, as shown in Romans Without Laurels and The Course of Civilization.

The real death sentence for Rome though was the constant invasions from all the tribes, which can be seen on the provided map. Literally everyone wanted a piece of Rome, and it’s apparent the invaders become aware that Rome’s army was shaky at best and its economy was in the trash, word probably spread which is what lead to so many attacks at once. Rome couldn’t really recover past that.

In conclusion, the fall of Rome was mainly caused by lack of organization, bad economy, and all the invasions.

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AP World History Essay

Response to an AP World History DBQ

The river valley civilizations were heavily impacted by religion. It affected everything they did, and the way their whole society worked. The two I’ll be focusing on first is Egypt and Yangzi/Yellow.

In Egypt religion was seen strongest in it’s worshiping of Pharaohs. They believed them to be Gods in human bodies, this dictated their government and how things were followed there. The leadership of Isis lead to women having better rights than most other places, their afterlife belief lead to them practicing mummification, etc. The Great Hymn of Aten is proof of how seriously the Egyptians took their religion; burning away anything of Akhenaten, the Pharaoh who banned belief of most Gods, after he’d died. The Egyptians had pyramids, as seen in document two, which were used as tombs, filled with bodies and treasures to take with them to their afterlife.

Another example is the Yangzi and Yellow civilization. Their government also largely relied on religion. They took the events around them as signs from the Gods to determine how good their rulers were doing, and whether they should keep ruling or not. One of the influencing religions there was Confucianism, which influenced the people who followed it to respect people and to yield to the laws of society as noted by the many quotes from Confucius.

  Religion influenced other places in other ways as well. Siddartha created Buddhism, which while starting in India, spread around the world; along with its belief of peace, middle way, and goodness; shown in The Eightfold Path. Dualism was also spread around, bringing the thoughts of yin/yang, equalness of good/evil, usually bringing forth philosophy, like in the yin/yang document. The mesopotamians had Ziggurats, document four, which they used to worship their Gods. Religion's impact not only government but buildings, construction, etc. The religions of India decided the caste system there, revolving around reincarnation and how close they were to release from the cycle, seen in the Rig Veda.

Religion affected laws, government, buildings, leaders, classes, major decisions, pretty much everything.

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AP Statistics Essay

We had to do rock paper scissors against two computer programs and write an essay, explaining simulations in statistics.

For this assignment, we were to perform a simulation of rock paper scissors with a computer at two different levels. At the novice level, the computer has to learn rules and patterns from scratch in an attempt to beat you. At the veteran level, however, the computer knows the basic rules and uses patterns from 200,000 previous games to win.

        The first batch of simulations required a pattern of your own creation. In my attempt to be “random” while still following a pattern, a chose a sandwiched pattern of rock-paper-rock, paper-scissors-paper, and scissors-rock-scissors. Since that adds up to a pattern of nine at a time, my final two to reach to twenty rounds were rock and paper to restart the pattern. After three separate games of twenty rounds, I was beat by the computer in both the novice and veteran level. At the novice level, however, the computer did better than that of the veteran. At about ten trials through, the novice level was able to determine my pattern and got every one of my moves after that. The veteran, however, always kept the same values through every trial and seemed to only guess my moves by chance.

        For the next simulation, a random number generator would tell me my moves in the games. Overall, the computer won by much more when I had random numbers, and did almost exactly the same when it came to novice against veteran. Even though I had less wins collectively, there were less wins on the computer’s behalf and many more ties. So although I technically did worse against the computer with a random strategy, the computer also did worse. There was a significant increase in ties. From this one can conclude that a random strategy is not guaranteed to make one win, but can help even the odds with increased ties.

        But what made these things happen? It is seen that the novice did better with my strategy due to it focusing only on my patterns rather than several others. The veteran program did slightly better than the novice with the random program due to it being able to interpret hidden patterns within my random code. These hidden patterns are what caused more confusion and therefore ties with the random strategy.

        Overall, this simulation has shown that a random strategy can even the playing field and that there are natural patterns that can still be discovered by a computer even in a completely random strategy.