I awoke to sun streaming in from my window. I roll over with a groan. I kick off my covers and wander to my dresser. I pull up my long brown hair and select a clean pair of bell-bottoms, a t-shirt that says “Nashville”,and a jacket. I walk out of my room and say good morning to my family, my brother, my mom, and dad. Then I get to work making breakfast. I cook a sunny side up egg, and toast a piece of bread. I then put the egg on top of my toast and eat while I read the book that currently holds my attention. It is book three of the Gifting Series. After I have finished, I start on my school. I have to do a math test today and I get an A+. I used to not be good at math but I have learned to understand it better now. Then I start the lunch that me and my family are eating. Rice with saffron chicken breast. As I am making this I realize I need to do a bit of skin-care and clean my room. I am for a while running back and forth from my room to the kitchen until my mom takes over the lunch and I finish up cleaning my room. I have lunch and get ready for dance. I put on a clean leotard and tan tights, then layer on shorts, jeans, and a baggy sweater over top. When I get to my dance studio I put on my tap shoes and talk to my classmates. Once my shoes are on I go to tap class and learn more of my tap recital dance. After tap I have hiphop, which is with the same teacher! Lastly,I go to acro, which is gymnastics mixed with dance, and we finally start our recital dance! It should have already been started but my teacher is very behind. After those three classes I go home and eat some dinner. Then I take a shower. Once I take my shower I finally go to bed and wait for sleep to take me.

The story begins when Walter Raleigh founded the first English colony in North America. While Roanoke was no great success, many other colonies would begin developing along the Atlantic coast of North America. The first settlement in North America was the colony of Jamestown, in modern day Virginia. The London Company was a joint stock company established by King James I. Just like the British West India Company colonized the Caribbean, the London Company colonized the coastal United States. The first colony of the London Company was Jamestown. Late in 1606, the London Company commissioned a fleet of three ships to establish a colony. The Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, sailed to the American mainland to find a suitable location. These settlers first landed near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, but traveled inland on the James River. The settlement site for Jamestown was decided on May 24, 1607. Though there were years of hardship ahead, this would be the first English colony to survive in North America. The site remains preserved with some of the original buildings to this day. Jamestown, and many of the American settlements, was populated mostly by fortune-seekers. These men did not help in the survival of the colony, and as a result of their laziness, two thirds of the colonists died in the first year. In 1608, new colonists arrived from Germany and Poland to join the English. Captain John Smith took over the colony as its third president, and helped the colonists work together. He insisted that “if anyone would not work, neither would he eat”. John Smith had to return to England to recover from a wound he incurred in 1609. 1609-1613 was nicknamed the “Starving Time” because of the lack of food and no new supplies from England. Finally though, in 1614, the colony was able to turn its first profit. The colony had been started as an investment, and investors in England were tiring of sinking money into the settlement. John Rolfe, a surviving settler, had planted a crop of tobacco in 1610 and harvested it in 1614. Rolfe became a wealthy man, and also married the Indian princess Pocahontas.

By 1624 Jamestown finally could stand on its feet and was a stable city in what would become the state of Virginia.

This week I will be summarizing the life of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Mary Stuart became Queen of Scotland 1542 when she was 6 days old. Mary was pushed into a marriage with the king of France at an early age. She grew up in France, but after her husband, the king of France, died, she returned to Scotland. When she got there, the Scottish people were beginning the Scottish Reformation. This was inconvenient to Mary because she was Catholic, so she tried to force her Catholic religion on her people. The people rebelled and Mary was soon forced to flee. As she tried to escape she was captured by her own cousin, Elizabeth, and was held prisoner until her death in 1567. Since Mary was being held prisoner, no one but her cousin Elizabeth could rule. She was Queen from 1558 till 1603 when she died. She ruled from England but still had control over Scotland.

Mary’s defeat ushered in a new era for Protestantism in Scotland.

Today I will be talking about the most interesting worldviews, in my opinion, that I learned about this week.

First, is Theism. Theism is a belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially a god who created the world and who acts to influence events. I support Theism because I am a Christian and I believe there is one god, and that he is the creator of the universe.

Second, is Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the belief that there is some good in every person and that divinity pervades all humanity. I believe this because I believe we are fallen angels and we were born with goodness in our hearts.

Lastly, is Humanism. Humanism declares that man is the center of all things. That man made all things possible. Unlike the previous two I think that Lord is the center of all things and that man is secondary.

In my opinion I think these worldviews were very interesting and I hope to learn more about them in the future!

This week I will be reviewing the Reformation of France.

The story begins when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenburg, in 1517. Little did he know this would start a whole movement. The Protestant Reformation started in Germany, but included nearly every major nation in Europe. Luther’s original grievance against the Catholic church was the practice of selling indulgences. Over time, the church was also called to reform in many other areas as well, some more radical than others. The printing press also played an important role in the rapid spread of information during this time. That is when the five Sola came into play. The five Sola are Latin phrases that are used to sum up the beliefs of the Protestant reformers. While they were not actually used as law by the Reformers they have since been made into a single list. Sola means “alone” in English. The five Sola are: Sola scriputra-”Scripture Made Whole”,Sola fide-”Faith Alone”, Sola gratia-”Grace Alone”, Sola Christus-”Through Crist Alone”, and Sola Deo Gloria-”To God Alone Be The Glory”. As mentioned before, the Catholic Church was none too pleased with the new Protestant movement. To bring a stop to the Reformation, the Catholic church called the council of Trent and organized a counter reformation movement. The Council of Trent convened three separate times between 1545 and 1563. The Counter-Reformation included four parts: 1. Ecclesiastical or structural reconfiguration 2. Religious orders 3. Spiritual movements 4. political dimensions. The counsel of Trent restricted any compromise with the protestants or the ideas of the Reformers.

The Reformation could not be stopped, and it changed the future of Europe as it developed.

1/30/2026

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic science fiction novel written by Jules Verne. This book was first published in French in 1864, and then in English in 1871. It’s more than 150 years old and is still a very interesting read.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is the story of Professor Liedenbrock and his nephew Axel. The inciting incident of the story is when Professor Liedenbrock finds a coded note on a runic manuscript. When Professor Liedenbrock and Axel decipher this 16^th-century code, they found a secret, information about a volcanic tube in a mountain of Iceland that goes to the center of the earth. That’s how their adventure begins.

The story has three major characters, professor Liedenbrock, his nephew Axel, and a servant named Hans, who accompanied them in their journey. The story has first-person narration, narrated by Axel. The paperback edition of this book has a total of 240 pages, and could be finished within a week, considering by an average reader. The language is simple.

What I liked about Journey to the Center of the Earth, was the scientific concepts Jules Verne used to write the story. The scientific details and arguments are so persuasive that, for once, I even believed that the story is based on real eventsand it is possible to travel to the center of the earth. Well, of course, it’s not possible.

I loved the way Jules Verne started the story, a coded message in an ancient language found in an ancient book that shows them the path to the center of the planet. This really made it more exciting. I think ancient things always make a story more interesting.

The second half of the book is also very adventurous, because Professor Liedenbrock and Axel discover dinosaur like ancient animals, face life-threatening dangers, and even lost each other in the story. This is where I found the real fun of reading this. Each and every place that was described in the book made me feel as if I was there with them.

The characters are well designed with their specific weaknesses. For example, Professor Liedenbrock had this weakness: he was very impatient, stubborn, and short-tempered. However, the characters are not so realistic. You can’t expect an aged professor to climb miles down the earth smoothly with the help of ropes. The character of Hans was also unrealistic in the sense that he was emotionless, with no fear, no excitement, no happiness, even though he was going to the center of the earth. It seemed as if Hans had already been to the center several times before. In addition, the first half of the book is somewhat slow and contains unnecessary details; it would have been better if it was written in a condensed form.

But The Journey to the Center of the Earth was written in the 1860s, and for that time, writing this type of story is really unbelievable. The book was certainly ahead of its time. You will love this book if you are especially interested in geology, biology, and physics. But, even if you are not interested in these subjects, you would still find it interesting because of all the adventure.

This evergreen book can be read by children as well as adults. I would recommend this book if you want to read a captivating science-fiction novel or an adventurous book.

Today we will be reviewing the lives of John Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci.

Cabot is known as the first European to visit the mainland of North America since the Vikings. He was commissioned by King Henry VII of England. He landed on the island of Newfoundland in 1497. Born in 1450, Cabot was the son of a merchant. As a boy he learned much about sailing and navigation. Cabot became a citizen of Venice in 1476, and moved to England in 1488. Intrigued by the voyages and sudden riches of earlier explorers, Cabot wanted to go exploring. The first crew he set out with had just 18 men on board (Mathew). 50 days after setting out, they landed in North America. However, Cabot believed he was in Asia just like Columbus had thought. After returning to England, Cabot made a second journey to America the following year. This second journey consisted of five ships and 300 men, and ended in the mysterious disappearance of the expedition.

Another important Italian was named Amerigo Vespucci. He ventured across the Atlantic in 1499. He was the first to claim that the New World was not part of Asia but a different continent, which he was of course right about. The continent of America is named after Vespucci because of this. Vespucci was born in 1454 and raised in Florence, Italy. Vespucci did not go off to a university, but instead learned the trade of a merchant. He was hired by Lorenzo Medici to be a clerk. His work took him to Spain where he had the chance to supply several of Christopher Columbus’s journeys to the New World. He also met Columbus and was inspired to visit the New World himself. In 1499, King Manuel I of Portugal asked Vespucci to accompany him on several voyages to South America. Vespucci kept a record of his journey and published the book on his return to Europe. In 1507, Martin Weissmuller designed a map from the book and named it (The New Continents America). Vespucci became the master navigator of Spain until his death in 1512 from malaria.

While Italy itself did not establish any overseas colonies, several of the earliest explorers came from Italy. Columbus, Cabot, and Vespucci all played important roles in the early exploration of the New World.

Today I will be reviewing one of the great artists that I learned about this week, Michelangelo. We will be talking about his life, his greatest works, and what kind of legacy he left behind.

Michelangelo was born in Florence in the year 1475. He was the son of a banker family and even learned the business himself. Sadly, the business failed and his father had to work as a government official. Six years after Michelangelo was born, his mother fell ill and died in 1481. This was a huge tragedy for Michel and his family, and Michel had to live with his nanny and her husband. The husband was a stonecutter, and this was where Michelangelo fell in love with marble. At a ripe young age of 13, Michelangelo went to the school of Florence to study grammar. When he was in Florence, he admired the art and architecture there. During his time in Florence, Michelangelo saw the building of the Sistine Chapel and was apprenticed to be an artist there. One year later his father requested that his mentor pay him as an artist. His mentor agreed and he was even hired by the king of Rome. Under the king’s supervision he made many great works like his statue of David, John the Baptist, Cupid, Pieta, and, the Manchester Madonna. One of the most famous of his paintings was the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It took approximately four years, and tells the story of the Twelve Apostles, Creation, The Fall of Man, and the Genealogy of Christ. This great painting is 500 square meters and is very impressive to look at, even in pictures.

Michelangelo was a very famous painter, architect, and sculptor that still influences art today!

I am going to review what I have learned this year thus far. I am going to review all five of the Literature Analysis Points which are: Plot, Setting, Character Development, Theme, and the Author’s Style.

First is the Plot. The five different parts of a plot are: the Exposition, the Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. The exposition is the intro to the story. It gets you prepared to read the actual story. It usually introduces you to the main character, and where the story is going to take place. It also tells you what the main problem or issue is, and takes you on to the next point, the Rising Action. The Rising Action starts to develop the tension in the story and gets the readers on their toes a bit. This leads into the high point in the story, the Climax!! This is where the main character faces the problem head on! It is the part that is the most exciting for the reader and takes center stage of the story! Next, the story winds down which is called the Falling Action, where everything starts coming together. Lastly, is the Resolution. This is where all the problems and issues come to an end, and the story wraps up! The Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution are the 5 parts of the Plot, and the most important part of a story!

Second is the Setting. Setting is like the backdrop in the story. It tells where the story begins and ends. It can also effect the mood of the story. Setting can also have something called a juxtaposition. Juxtaposition is when two different things can exist together without contrasting effect. Another very important part of part of the Setting is the Milieu. Milieu is the social environment in which any character is in. It can be the character’s friends, family, or even pets. This social environment can effect the character and sets the Tone for the story.

Third is Character development. Character development really does depend on the Tone to shape the character. The Tone is the emotional aspect of the story. This varies from book to book, but the two main categories are joyful and sad Tone. This can effect the way in which the people do things in the story. Character development can also be influenced by Customs. Customs can vary, but it refers to the traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a particular society, place, or time. Customs can shape how the character is accepted into their environment. Protagonists and antagonists inspire character development. Protagonists and antagonists are the villains and the heroes in our story! Protagonists are the “heroes” and the antagonists are the “villains”. They are usually the main characters in the story and represent good and evil. They are the ones that the readers are watching the most and waiting to see what is going to happen next!!

Fourth is Theme. Theme is important because it makes you understand the story a bit better. For example, if you are reading a book that is based in a forest, you know what might be in that forest like bugs, animals, logs, cabins, trees, etc. You know this because you are familiar with forests and you know what might be there, which makes a story based on a forest much easier to understand. Genre can have a great deal to do with this and how you know the story is going to go. Genre has a quality of making the reader know what they are reading about like horror, fiction, nonfiction, romance, and so many more!! Therefore, if you happen to pick up a book that is about nature, you know there is a good chance that you are going to read about forests in them too.

Lastly, is the Author’s Style. The Author’s Style is the type book an author wants to write about. They could be interested in writing a novel, a short story, drama, or even a poem! A novel is a fictional work. A short story is just what it sounds like, a work of fiction or nonfiction in a short amount of pages. Drama is a work written to be acted out for a performance, not just to be read on it’s own. A poem is a written work of rhyming. It is usually read in a singsong sort of fashion.

These are the Five Parts of Literature Analysis: The Plot, The Setting, Theme, and Author’s Style. These are the five points to look for when analyzing a piece of literature. I think this is a very fascinating topic, and I hope to learn more in the second semester of this school year!!

Today I will be reviewing Ferdinand and Isabella’s rule of Spain.

Ferdinand and Isabella were King and Queen of different parts of Spain. What is interesting about this is that they ruled to together as husband and wife, but they ruled different parts of the kingdom. This was new to the world in those days. Also during their rule they they checked on each section of the kingdom to keep tabs on everyone. Since they saw everything that happened in their kingdom, Ferdinand and Isabella saw that Jews and Muslims had been disrupting different regions of Spain. To combat this, they issued a decree in 1492 that all Jews and Muslims had to leave Spain. As the Jews and Muslims moved out, Catholicism became the only accepted religion in Spain. As a result, everyone was Catholic because Ferdinand and Isabella became Catholic Monarchs. Another notable thing about Ferdinand and Isabella was that they funded Cristopher Columbus’s journey to find a new world (America), which was successful in the end. This made Spain very wealthy and popular because of Cristopher Columbus’s journey. Later in their reign, Ferdinand and Isabella were getting older and they wanted to keep Spain peaceful after they died. They arranged their five daughter’s marriages to achieve this. They made ties with England, Portugal, Wales, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Hapsburg Dynasty.

Ferdinand and Isabella were one of the strongest rulers in Spain and were remembered as Catholic Monarchs.