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A Ton of Crap

Page 22

by Paul Kleinman


  New England would secede.

  Two weeks after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, word of the treaty had not yet come to America, and Americans and British engaged in:

  The Battle of New Orleans

  The Battle of Detroit

  The Battle of Hartford

  The Battle of Niagara

  What is the following statement an example of? “If you take a measurement from a large sample, and then choose the individuals with the highest and lowest scores and do the measurement again, the high-scoring individuals will get a lower average score, and the individuals who scored low will have a higher average score.”

  Hyperbola

  Innuendo

  Regression to the mean

  Causality

  Heated personal attacks are an example of:

  Causality

  Innuendo

  Clarity

  Emotionalism

  What is the name for a U-shaped curve?

  Hyperbola

  Parabola

  Ellipse

  Circle

  The formula x2 + y2 = a2 will

  produce a:

  Hyperbola

  Parabola

  Ellipse

  Circle

  Which of the following is a result of global warming?

  A rise of oceans

  An increase in droughts and heat waves

  Polar ice caps will melt

  All of the above

  Which of the following is true?

  Greenhouse gases let visible light through while not letting the heat through.

  Greenhouse gases absorb the extreme energy and heat coming from infrared light.

  The major greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, and ozone.

  All of the above

  What is Hanja?

  The dialect of Seoul

  The Korean alphabet

  A mix of the Korean alphabet and

  Classical Chinese writing

  The dialect of Pyongyang

  The most noticeably different dialect in Korean is:

  The dialect of Jeju Island

  The dialect of North Korea

  The dialect of South Korea

  The dialect of Pyongyang

  ANSWER KEY: d, a, c, d, b, d, d, d, c, a

  Lesson 21

  HISTORY: The Salem Witch Trials

  About Salem, Strange Occurrences with the Children, The Witch Hunt Begins, Bridget Bishop, The Trials, An End to the Witch Trials

  LANGUAGE ARTS: Poetry

  Rhythm, Metrical Patterns, Stanza, Narrative Poetry, Epic Poetry, Sonnets

  MATH: Precalculus

  What Is Precalculus?,

  Functions, Polynomials,

  Quadratics, Completing the

  Square, Permutations

  SCIENCE: Isaac Newton

  About Isaac Newton, Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, Newton’s First Law of Motion, Newton’s Second Law of Motion, Newton’s Third Law of Motion, The Spectrum of Colors

  FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Japanese

  The Origins, The Writing System, Sounds of the Language, Politeness, Dialects, Useful Japanese Phrases

  LESSON 21A

  THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

  About Salem In Salem, Massachusetts, from 1692 to 1693, a series of witchcraft trials occurred, and nineteen people were executed. In Europe, from the 1300s to the 1600s, there was a strong belief in witchcraft and that the Devil could give people the power to harm others. At the time of the Salem witch trials, these feelings had pretty much subsided in Europe. During this time, however, a war between England and France brought conflict between the countries’ respective colonies and Native American allies. The fighting displaced many people to Salem, leading to tensions and strain in the town. The villagers believed this strain and tension to be from the Devil.

  POETRY

  Rhythm Rhythm, also known as measure, is the equivalent of beat in music. In poetry, certain words may be held longer or pronounced with more force than other words. A rhythmic effect is produced from this pattern of emphasis. Sometimes rhythm is obvious, but rhythm can also be more muted and subtle.

  PRECALCULUS

  What Is Precalculus? Precalculus was created in math education to better prepare students for calculus. It is a more advanced form of algebra that gives students the information needed for the full transition from algebra into calculus. Some of the most important notions of precalculus are functions, polynomials, quadratics, completing the square, and permutations.

  ISAAC NEWTON

  About Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton lived from 1642 to 1727. Newton is most known today for his law of universal gravitation, his laws of motion, being the inventor of calculus, and discovering the spectrum of colors. He attended Cambridge University in 1661 but had to return home because of a plague epidemic. Six years later, he would return to Cambridge University, and in 1668, he invented the reflecting telescope. In 1687, his greatest work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was published, in which he described the role of gravity.

  JAPANESE

  The Origins Japanese is a Japonic language, and is related to Altaic and Ryukyuan languages. The Japanese language has gone through four distinct phases, known as Old Japanese (which ended around the eighth century a.d., a period that saw the beginning of significant influence from Chinese); Early Middle Japanese (from 794 to 1185); Late Middle Japanese (from 1185 to 1600, where European languages began influencing the language); and Modern Japanese (from 1600 to today).

  LESSON 21B

  THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

  Strange Occurrences with the Children In January of 1692, the Puritan minister of Salem’s daughter, Elizabeth Parris, and niece, Abigail Williams, began having bizarre fits in which their bodies contorted, and they screamed, threw things, and uttered strange noises. Another girl, Ann Putnam, was also having these fits. The local doctor blamed it on supernatural causes. When pressured to give names, the children accused Tituba, the Parris’s slave; Sarah Good, a homeless woman; and Sarah Osborne, a poor elderly woman.

  POETRY

  Metrical Patterns Meter is the recurring pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in lines of verse. For example, if a line of poetry contains fifteen syllables, the first syllable is unstressed, the second stressed, the next unstressed, and so on. A foot is a set combination of unstressed and stressed syllables. Different meters are used for different types of poetry. Iambic poetry has unstressed and then stressed syllables, while dactylic has a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.

  PRECALCULUS

  Functions Functions are essential to mathematic equations, and even though you might not know what they are called, you have already seen and worked with examples of functions. For example, 7x + 3 = y. To find y, you need to find x. When y depends on finding x, and only one possible answer can be found, that is a function. No matter what x equals, there can only be one value for y.

  ISAAC NEWTON

  Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation Newton’s law of universal gravitation is perhaps best known by the story of the apple falling from the tree. From noticing the apple fall, Newton concluded that a force, or gravity, must be acting on the apple. Even when the apple tree is the tallest apple tree, this force of gravity still applies. His law of universal gravitation states that every object attracts other objects with a force pointed along the line of centers for the objects. This is in proportion to the product of the masses, and is also inversely proportional to the square of the space between them.

  His formula looks like this:

  Fg = Gravitational force

  m1 and m2 = masses

  r = distance between the masses

  G = Gravitational constant

  JAPANESE

  The Writing System The Japanese writing system of today is a blend of the Chinese writing system, two kana syllabaries (alphabets based on symbols developed during the ninth century to simplify writing), and
Roman numerals and letters. From the third to the fifth century, Japanese used Classical Chinese as the official writing system. As the language evolved, several distinct differences separated the Japanese form of writing from the Chinese. One notable difference is that Chinese is a monosyllabic language (all words are one syllable), and Japanese is polysyllabic.

  LESSON 21C

  THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

  The Witch Hunt Begins Osborne and Good declared their innocence, but Tituba confessed that the Devil had come to her and made her serve him. She described images of a black man making her sign a book and she told them there were other witches seeking to destroy the Puritans. The three women were put in jail and paranoia spread throughout Salem. Dozens of villagers were brought in for questioning. While in prison, Tituba’s bail was paid by an unknown person, and Tituba disappeared, never being heard from again.

  POETRY

  Stanza A stanza is two or more lines of a poem that form one of the divisions. They are usually the same length and follow the same patterns of meter and rhyme. Couplets are examples of stanzas that are only two lines and that rhyme. Tercets are made of three lines of poetry which may or may not rhyme. If they rhyme, that is known as a triplet. Quatrains have four lines and are written in any type of rhyme scheme.

  PRECALCULUS

  Polynomials Polynomials are expressions that are the sum of exponents and variables. Each section of the polynomial is considered a term. To be considered a polynomial, terms must follow strict rules. There cannot be any square roots of variables, fractions, or fractional powers. There must be variables that are raised to a whole number exponent or a regular number. A polynomial looks like this:

  7x2 + 8x – 9

  And do not be fooled by the 8x. It still follows the rules of terms because that is just saying 8x1.

  ISAAC NEWTON

  Newton’s First Law of Motion Newton’s first law of motion deals with inertia. It states that objects at rest stay at rest, and objects in motion stay in a straight line at a constant speed unless an unbalanced force acts on it. If the sum of all of the forces, or net force, is zero, there will be no acceleration or change in velocity. If the net force does not equal zero, there will be acceleration and a change in velocity.

  JAPANESE

  Sounds of the Language The Japanese language does not have any diphthongs. Instead, it is composed of monophthongs, meaning the vowels in the language are pure. There are five vowels in Japanese — a, i, u, o, and e — and each has a long and short form. Most of the syllables in Japanese end with a vowel sound. Japanese has a pitched accent, meaning pitch falls following the syllable that is accented.

  LESSON 21D

  THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

  Bridget Bishop On May 27, 1692, a special court was established. The first trial was that of Bridget Bishop. When she was asked if she had committed witchcraft, Bishop said, “I am as innocent as the child unborn.” She was found guilty, and on June 10, she was hanged; the first of the Salem executions for witchcraft.

  POETRY

  Narrative Poetry Narrative poetry is like a story because it has a plot, but it is told in verse form. These include epic poems, ballads, and idylls. Narrative poems can be long or short, intricate and complex or more simple. They usually are nondramatic and have a regular meter. One example of a narrative poem is The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

  PRECALCULUS

  Quadratics Polynomials that follow the pattern ax2 + bx + c have a special name. These are called quadratics. To factor quadratics, you need to find numbers that when multiplied equal c, but when added equal b. For example:

  x2 + 6x + 8

  You first break it down into two sets to multiply:

  (x + ?) (x + ?)

  Then plug in numbers and test:

  (x + 4) (x + 2) = x2 + 2x + 4x + 8 = x2 + 6x + 8

  Therefore, your answer is: (x + 4) (x + 2)

  ISAAC NEWTON

  Newton’s Second Law of Motion Newton’s second law explains how when pushed or pulled, an object’s velocity will change. Newton states that if one puts force on an object, its acceleration, or velocity, will change in the direction you force it to. The acceleration is directly proportional to force (if you push twice as hard on something, it goes twice as fast). The acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass. His second law can be summarized as F = ma, where F is force, m is mass, and a is acceleration.

  JAPANESE

  Politeness There is a very complex system in the Japanese language when dealing with the issue of politeness, and at least four different levels of how to address a person. How to address someone is based on a variety of factors such as age, job, and experience, and there is even a different form of politeness when asking someone for a favor. There are differences between the polite language, teineigo, the respectful language, sonkeigo, and the humble language, kenjōgo, as well as differences between honorific and humble forms.

  LESSON 21E

  THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

  The Trials Five days after the hanging of Bridget Bishop, a respected minister requested that the court not allow testimony about dreams and visions. His request was ignored, and in July, five more people were hanged. Another eleven more were hanged and some, like Giles Corey, were tortured to death. A total of nineteen people were killed.

  POETRY

  Epic Poetry Epic poems are longer narrative poems, and are usually centered around a hero and details of his heroic journey and deeds. Epics have a history in oral poetry, but even as far back as ancient Greece, these types of poems have been written. One of the most famous epic poems was the Odyssey by Homer, which followed Odysseus’s journey back home following the Trojan War.

  PRECALCULUS

  Completing the Square Some quadratic equations cannot be factored. To solve these, a method called completing the square is used. This turns ax2 + bx + c into ax2 + bx + c = (a + b)2.

  For example:

  x2 + 2x + 1 = 0

  Begin by transposing the constant term

  x2 + 2x = -1

  Then you have to add a square to both sides. To do so, you have to take half of coefficient of x and then square it. So, half of 2 is 1, and then 12 is 1.

  x2 + 2x + 1 = -1 + 1

  x2 + 2x + 1 = 0

  Now you have (x + 1) (x + 1) = 0

  Break these up into two individual problems:

  x + 1 = 0 and x + 1 = 0

  Solve for x. In both cases, x equals -1. Your answer will go in brackets and look like this:

  {-1, -1}

  ISAAC NEWTON

  Newton’s Third Law of Motion Newton’s third law deals with more than one object. The law states that with every force, there is an opposite and equal force. In other words, for every F, there is a –F. If you push on something, it will push back. When two objects collide, an opposite and equal force is present.

  JAPANESE

  Dialects Due to the mountainous terrain and a history of internal and external isolation, there are many dialects of Japanese. These differ in vocabulary, pitch accent, morphology of certain types of words, and sometimes pronunciation. Though there are dozens of dialects, they can be broken into two main categories: Eastern and Western. Eastern dialects emphasize the sounds of consonants more, and the Western dialects emphasize vowels more.

  LESSON 21F

  THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

  An End to the Witch Trials In response to the Massachusetts governor’s own wife being questioned for witchcraft, the governor halted further arrests, released many of the accused, and dissolved the court. In May of 1693, the governor pardoned all who were accused of witchcraft. All in all, nineteen people were hanged, one man was tortured to death, and others died in prison. Nearly 200 people had been accused of witchcraft. Many involved with the trials and accusations issued public apologies, and in 1702 the trials were declared unlawful. In 1957, the state of Massachusetts apologized for the events that had happened more than 250 years before.

  POETRY

  Sonnets
One of the most common forms of poetry is the sonnet, perhaps most famously written by William Shakespeare. Sonnets must be fourteen lines and written in iambic pentameter with one of the various rhyme schemes. The first quatrain of the poem must be expositional and discuss the main theme and metaphor. The second quatrain complicates or extends the theme. The third quatrain introduces a twist, and then finally the couplet summarizes the poem, leaving the reader with a new image to end on.

  PRECALCULUS

  Permutations Permutations are all of the possible arrangements you can make of a set. For example:

  The permutation of abc is: abc

  bac

  acb

  cba

  bca

  cab

  There are six permutations. The more letters you have, the more permutations there are. In order to solve these larger problems, this is where you use the factorials you learned about earlier. Permutations are set up like this: 8P3

 

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