1. Title- Great Britain’s Industrial Revolution 
2. Introduction
   1. The Industrial Revolution, taking place from the 18th to 19th centuries marked the conversion from a dominantly agricultural based economy to a manufacturing one.  As a result, machines were invented, people migrated from their rural areas, and cities were born.  Speaking of being “born,” Britain was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution due to its great influence over politics and the economy in Europe.
   2. Thesis- The Industrial Revolution profoundly reshaped the structure of the world beginning in Great Britain with transformations of the economy, society, and technology.  These revolutions were only possible due to Great Britain’s dominance over the world as a result of key advantages.
3. Body Paragraph #1
   1. .  Topic sentence- Britain’s geography allowed it to be the first country pursue its predominance in the Industrial Revolution
   2. Damp climate
   3. Close to water
4. Body Paragraph #2
   1. .Topic sentence- Britain’s distinct wage and price structure allowed it to succeed in comparison to its competitors.
   2. .Cheap energy
   3. High wages meant more educative population
5. Body Paragraph #3
   1. . Topic sentence- large deposits of coal and iron deposits throughout great Britain help it tremendously during industrialization.
   2. .Operation of machinery done by iron
   3. Coal facilitate transportation
6. Body Paragraph #4
   1. . Topic sentence- The rise factory system gave way for new inventions that escalated the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
   2. .  Interchangeable parts
   3. Steam Engine
7. Conclusion-
   1. Counter argument- Despite the negative effects such as air pollution that rose from the Industrial Revolution…
   2. Restatement of thesis

Our school incorporates a thesis program in which students research topics that they are passionate about and present it near the end of their senior year, also known as Launch Day.  Well, it’s actually much more complicated than that since it amasses two years worth of questioning, researching, and writing, but the idea still stands.  Although the thought of watching TED talks after TED talks all day seems to be the outer realm of “fun,” it’s truly the complete opposite.  Being able to watch, listen, and ultimately understand the points our peers and friends are expounding upon free from the ties of a classroom greatly increases the entertainment.  Furthermore, the topic of each and every presentation is something unique, it’s not the normal concrete research paper about history, but on abstract ideas that are still being pondered to this date.

As a result, our attention is draw to their show, even when we see to form an opinion contrary to the one that is being presented.  While going through Launch Day my friends and I discussed how difficult it must be actually give a presentation.  I know most of us are familiar with the nerve-racking classroom presentations, but the sense of standing up in front of the whole school is a feat in itself.  I for one could not imagine how anxious and stressed my peers were before stepping on stage, and then repeating that process multiple times for various audiences.  All in all, Launch Day this year was a great experience filled with rising issues, the need for awareness, and of course comedy.

With the growth and rapid advancement of technology in the modern world, we must not turn a blind eye to the rise of technology’s harmful effects. I am sure we all have witnessed a deep fake in this digital age, but we may not be aware of its name as we call it.  A deep fake is the use of “deep learning artificial intelligence to replace the likeness of one person with another in video and other digital media.”  Deep fakes are one of many byproducts of technological advancement that seemingly have a detrimental effect on society.  However, the utilization of deep fakes do not have always be for deplorable things; we can “bring back our loved ones” with this new technology.  Moreover, deep fakes are widely used in the movie world in films such as Star Wars and to bring back to life Paul Walker in Fast and Furious.

Furthermore, the entertainment industry is filled of deep fakes which are distributed to the population via apps like Tik Tok, Youtube, Snapchat and more.  The slim regulation on who views these superficially real videos allows it to seep into the hands of children who cannot tell the difference between what’s reality.  Still, children are not the only effected crowd of deep fakes as seemingly real misinformation, especially in the political, world is taken in by adults.  This leaves individuals vulnerable to corrupt behaviors that may ruin their careers when not dealt with accordingly.  Ultimately, as technology advances we will be seeing far more and superior deep fakes that will blur the line between the real and make-believe world.

For our fourth and final quarter of British literature we will embark on the journey of writing a research paper.  To be quite honest, when I first heard this news I wasn’t exactly thrilled, but after obtaining more instructions that would give us freedom with the topic I was relieved.  However, I soon determined that this journey wasn’t necessarily about the final destination, also known as the research paper, but also how we would arrive there.  To further elaborate on this “process” of arrival, we would encounter this endeavor like a ladder.  This procedure was going to be divided into multiple steps, and like a ladder, one must climb it step by step for optimal results as skipping one could be dangersome.

To be honest, I am not a fan of dividing, organizing, and planning papers, although I have had experience “conquering” a research paper that way.  I am not sure if I attribute my distaste of this method with the dramatically extensive research process that I battled during freshman year, or if I’m just lazy.  From my perspective, following the research process prolongs the journey as many times I find an excess of information that ends up not being implemented in my paper.  Moreover, I would like to say I have done pretty well on research papers in which I avoided the process, so I don’t feel “incentivized” to take the prudent route.  Nevertheless, I do see the need and use for an organized method of research, especially in higher level classes, but I presume that finding the medium between the discussed methods are key.

This past week in Spanish class we focused on technology, specifically its importance, impact, and influence on us.  I think we really overlook what the access to technology has brought us.  One of the most significant doors it has opened to us is communication from distance near and afar.  It has completely revolutionized the way our society can and does interact with one another.  So much so that a halt of technology stops the flow of people, communities, and the world.

Such a great influence on the world is only bound to be a controversial topic with countless perspectives.  A substantial stance is that technology has negatively affected social interaction.  However, I beg to differ, technology has brought us new paths to interact with each other as a result of the ease to find and connect with new people.  Nevertheless, there still remains a variety of cons with technology, but there is no positive thing in this world that comes without its negatives.

 

During the first semester of English III, we focused on British literature, specifically poetry.  Different to my previous English classes, we examined a wide range of poetry from the common short poem to epics and fabliau’s.  One of the most important things I learned throughout this process was how to read, which seems quite odd.  To further elaborate, I used to read passively due to the simplicity of the text, so I would lay back and just take in the main picture.  However, this unit of British literature was filled with different styles of writing with even some new language bits.

As a result, I could no longer skim over the text, but instead I had to dive deep into the writing to decipher what I was reading.  Although the reading process became more tedious, I soon realized that I was picking up more details throughout the read.  Sometimes I had to focus on various elements of the text and combine them all into one in order to gain comprehension.  Now in the second semester I notice how these skills are not only applicable in poetry but also in reading novels.

The Slade House, published in 2015 by David Mitchell is a mystery novel that follows the puzzling events that take place in the Slade House.  This novel is divided into five parts, each telling the story of five different characters all nine years apart, totaling up to a story that tracks 45 years of events at the Slade House.  The novel begins with the first part, “The Right Sort,” which tells the story of Nathan Bishop and his mother’s primary visit to the Slade House to attend a music soiree.  Nathan clearly notices something is off during his visit, but doesn’t let it get between the blast he is having with Jonah too much.  After popping a Valium  he starts hallucinating, however his hallucinations seem to be almost like real life.

Furthermore, he realizes that Lady Grayer, the host of the house, is not the mother of Jonah, but her twin sister.  Additionally, they are not normal people, but cannibals that must eat human souls in order to retain their youth.  Nathan is now the victim; after undergoing a ritual his soul is sucked out from him and eaten by Jonah and Norah.  This is where timing is key, each soul is only is only able to provide nine years of youthfulness, so once the time is up they must strategically find their next prey.  Our next blog post will discover new elements and recall the leading events in part two, “Shining Armor.”

Casa de Papel, which directly translates to The House of Paper but is known as Money Heist, is a Spanish crime tv series directed by Alex Pina.  This tv show examines the planning, preparation, and execution of two well thought out heists led by the “Professor,” who is a normal looking, yet cunning middle-aged guy.  The Professor decides to plan his first heist on the Royal Mint of Spain located in Madrid, however he stays in an away undisclosed location to give orders to his crew.  Speaking of his crew, it contains eight robbers experienced in different areas and named after cities Tokyo, Moscow, Berlin, Denver, Oslo, Helsinki, Nairobi, and Rio.  The crew must all dress up in red jumpsuits with Salvador Dali masks in order to hid their faces from the hostages and cameras that they send into the mint.

Moreover, they are to not engage in any relationships with each other, talk about their real names, or cause blood.  These rules seem harder than expected to stick to as “curve balls” are thrown left and right at each plate.  Intimate relationships are formed as a result of isolation with even the Professor establishing a relationship with the lead inspector Raquel.  Although Raquel finally discovers her lover’s true identity, her feelings overcome her and she decides to turn her back on her fellow team.  Nevertheless, the robbers are able to escape through their underground tunnel with near one billion euros printed but at the cost Oslo, Moscow, and Berlin.

After hearing a movie had been released as a sequel to my all time favorite tv show, Breaking Bad, I could have not been more excited to watch it.  After being saved from a near death experience by Walt, El Camino shines the path on Jesse Pinkman’s life after escaping slavery.  Even now he still has no freedom as nationwide manhunt is being undergone, and he must play his cards correctly without money, connections, and a melting mind.  Jesse knows money can solve all his problems, and after a quick flashback he thinks he knows just were to find it.  Jesse helped his friend Todd dispose of his cleaning lady’s body after killing her when she found a lump sum of cash hidden his his apartment.  All he has to do now is break into Todd’s apartment and locate the cash, which proves harder than he initially thought.

After an encounter with disguised Nazis, Jesse splits the money found in the refrigerator and hopes the $250,000 will be enough to buy himself a new life.  The owner of a local vacuum store, Ed, is able to erase Jesse’s past and sends him off to Alaska with a new identity and name, Driscoll.  Jesse was played perfectly in this movie, his great attributes and personality from Breaking Bad were carried over, yet accordingly changed to fit the new phase of his life.  I believe the story line of this movie is what makes it so captivating, the events that happened between Breaking Bad and El Camino were illustrated through flashbacks and the narrative is well thought out. Ultimately, the highly fast pace of this movie along with twist and turns at every corner create a suspenseful and engaging watch.

The long-awaited, and touchy subject regarding the battle of the two most recognized and played games will finally be analyzed.  Fortnite and Warzone fall under the category known as Battle Royales (BR), which is a genre that fuses survival, exploration, and scavenging elements of a game along with a last man standing culmination.  So they must inherently share some traits, although that is true, we cannot lose sight of the vastly different ways developers construct their games to stand out in an overly saturated genre.  Out of the thousands of battle royales produced, most fail to become prominent, or keep their following steady due to the arduous task of acclimating to this niche.  Nevertheless, a balance of the elements discussed may be capable of “bursting the bubble” of this segment, thus constructing a remarkably lucrative business.

Here begins the story of a game, revolutionizing not only gaming industry but spreading its wings out towards music, movies, and social media.  Fortnite was the needle that bursted the bubble, something completely new, free to play, and entertaining amassed the following of more than 350 million people.  The mechanics of building, a divergent of Minecraft and third person shooters set it apart from the competition, and took the gaming scene by storm for years.  3 years later Warzone was released, and gained its own fair share of audience despite lacking some of Fortnite’s uniqueness.  The creation of a second chance through the Gulag, bigger lobbies, currency, and of course the same developers of Modern Warfare led to a successful BR.