Letter from Cristopher Columbus, by him; non-fiction, pgs.1-4

This is a historical letter of the so called "New World", which is South America that he rediscovered from previous discoverers such as Amerigo Vespucci (the first one to explore South America), and Vasco Da Gama... The letter begins like this; "As I know, you will be rejoiced at the success that our Lord has given me in my voyage." Then it goes on to explain how many islands are uninhabited, and that he says that he discovered the "Indies", but he is actually at South America, he was off by 9,000 miles. Then he finds these people that are on the land, and calls them Indians, which they now call "Native Americans", It's what they really were. Later he finds 5 islands, and names them all, and once he came to what he thought was the mainland, he explored it, and found a settlement, where the people only fled, so he sent two men to find a city, but after searching for three days, they returned without finding anything. Then the letter leads into the sights of the land. the wonderful trees, mysterious plants, and most of all the gold! The letter said that there was tons of gold, when really there was not as much as he said, he mentioned how they wore it around their wrists, and that the land was just filled with gold. Really there was not much gold, but when the men found this, they traded, and they found that they were easily pleased with very small things like broken pieces of glass, and destroyed shoes. So, Columbus forbade this and said that they would have to do fair trade. Later they returned, and made three more trips there, which made four total. The reason he is so remembered now is that he thought he landed on the Indies, but found a huge, new chunk of land. Before he came, no body in Europe knew about America.

I think the weirdest part of this letter/ the most interesting part is how the Natives were so easily pleased, and would trade these ridiculous items for gold. I have however, seen people like this, and it was pretty unusual to me. People like this are usually tooken unfair advantage of. Eventually it led to slavery though... Now days people are a lot more picky, and expect a lot more. I don't really understand why the Natives would trade gold for such small things, maybe they were trying to avoid war or something, but that's just what I think. If I was a Native in that time, I probably would be like the rest, because that's just how they were. You can't really control how people are.

rejoiced: To feel joyful or delighted.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 206- 209

(continued) As I said before, in my opinion paragraph I thought war was going to start, and as predicted, it did (of course). First, Proximo walked serenely on and walked upstairs to his chamber, the keys that Proximo gave Maximus, he gave some to Juba, and they were out, freeing the others immediately, then after freeing Haken, Maximus turned and ran through the outside door! Juba and Haken(gladiators) threw themselves between the guards, and Maximus as he attempted to make his way either to escape, or to the emperor. Even without weapons, the gladiators still attacked the guards, enduring slashes, and attacks from the Preatorian guards, covering Maximus, until he made it all the way to the end of the compound tunnel. And at the end of the tunnel, And stairway, he found his sword, and armor, meanwhile, Haken took a sword from the guard, and threw him into the horde of gladiators, and Juba cracked one of the guards skulls, and another's arm with his hammer-like fists, and knocked another unconscious, once they all made it to the training yard, the captain yelled out to the archers to fire from the roof tops, and then,... they hsot Haken at farly close range, with four shots hitting him from torso front to back. He looked down in disbelief, and then tumbled down, and blocked a narrow pathway. During this, Preatorians bounded the winding stairway to Proximo's chamber. They burst through the doors, and had swords ready to instantly kill him, but found the warrior at his desk, with his back turned, knowing that his time has come. They mercilessly stabbed him three times in the back, and neck. that's where he died. Now; Maximus took the tunnel below Proximo's gladiator school, hearing the sound of war behind him. All suited up, he climbed cautiously up the stairs, and into a low archway between Proximo's compound, and the high city walls. He waited for a little, and suddenly he heard the sound of pursuing footsteps, they had broken through the gladiators.

Well, as expected, the guards finally came to execute Maximus, everything I thought would happen, and more did. But what I didn't expect was that Haken dies, I thought that if all these people made it this far, that they would be able to survive the guards attacking them, especially Haken and Juba. I understand that a man can only take so many arrows, and one through the neck is enough, but it was still very unexpected, atleast for me. A lot is happening in this chapter. I'm still waiting to see 1. who dies next (mian character), and 2. will Maximus die, which for some reason I think he will. I don't know why. Any ways, I'm almost positive that the emperor will die, because Maximus kind of Made a promise to himself, and just the fact that he's a really good fighter.

manipulate: To take full control of something, under your decisional actions, you take freedom away from object or person, do what you want with it.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 200-206

It starts out with Lucius playing with a wooden sword in the lighted palace courtyard with his two grooms, until his dad came, and the two grooms bowed, and his dad asked why he was playing legionary so late, but he said he was playing gladiator, then Lucius said,"I am Maximus, savior of Rome" which made his father feel like throwing up, which he almost did. Then Lucilla showed up, and almost vomited too, because Lucius was sitting on Commodus's lap, and talking to her about some things going on like a queen killing herself with a snake. And some things about other ancestors of them. So she left. She knew that the second emperor knew that they were up to something. (Maximus, and others)One day they sat down, with Lucius, and Lucilla. The emperor threatened her to tell them what their planning. Lucilla's heart twisted in torture. The emperor must have been using hypnotism. Then it skips to Proximo;During his packing he heard and saw that Down the streets there were people who were walking in boots, in unison, which Proximo knew exactly what that meant, someone was going to die. (Proximo thinks it's him they're after)Then they were at his doors, they called to open up, and Proximo paused, then approached. Maximus hears the same thing from his cell, they entered, and Proximo opened the doors, saying," It looks like you've won your freedom. Then Proximo says to the guards,"tonight, all enemies of the emperor must die!


I thought it was pretty surprising at the end of this, how the guards showed up, although I did kind of suspect it a little. I think from here it's just going to go into complete chaos, and somebody important is going to die. The next thing that's going to happen is that Maximus will go free, and go kill the emperor, and in the mean time, it's guards vs. gladiators! Agian, I think someone important is going to die, it's the only practical thing, I don't thing it will end happy, maybe even Maximus will die in this book, which would be surprising because he's been through a lot of battles, even with very powerful leaders and won. You'd think he wouldn't be likely to die by the emperor. Because of what Proximo said, though, there will be a war.


cloaked: To be disguised, something that covers or conceals.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 190-200

In this chapter, Lucilla, Maximus, Cicero (Maximus's friend), Gracchus(one of the senators), all teamed up to kill the emperor, because Maximus, and friends convinced Gracchus, and he agreed to all they said. He was going to talk to the emperor, and try to convince him do certain things. After the meeting, Maximus went back to his quarters, and rested for the next day, in the arena... After a rest, he went to arm up, and go to the arena. When he entered the arena, a blast of chanting came on as usual. "maximus, Maximus, Maximus!". It doesn't tell about the battle, it goes straight to another scene. Maximus goes to Proximo, and Proximo tells Maximus what happened with the emperor, and he told him that he talked to the emperor, and he already knew too much, Maximus tells him that he will kill the emperor, and gives his word that if he survives, he will pay Proximo.


I think it's kind of weird how one of the emperors senators is betraying him, and going with Maximus. You usually don't see that in books or movies. Any ways, the last thing that happened was Proximo, Lucilla, and Maximus were talking in the cell room, and Maximus had everything fall into place that night. His horses, and everything were set up, and then Lucilla and Maximus kissed, it was there first kiss in a very, very long time. I thought it was pretty unexpected. Ten she turned to leave, and he went back to sleep, knowing that if he slept un-alert, he may be slew.

invariably: not changing, consistent.

At Her Father's and Her Mother's Place, by Natalya Baranskaya; fiction, pgs. 20-32

In this story, there is a girl named Talya starts out living at her dad's house, which was a care-free, happy, good life, but one day she found a letter that was for her dad, and it was a love letter,. She got mad and tore off some of the paper, written that she was leaving, and tried to remove the watch, all the sudden, the door opens, she hides the paper, curls up on the couch, and she tells her dad she wants to go home(which is her mom's), so they do. When they get there the dad leaves, and Talya waits for her mom to get home, until 10:00, then she writes a note, makes some sugar-less tea, and goes to bed. When her mom gets home she reads the note, drinks some tea, thinks it's horrible, and wakes up Talya late. she said that she had to go to school, but she has the day off. Then the mom gets all mad because Talya mentions her dad, and the mom yelled," You should love your father, he's a great man! Love him!" and then she leaves to school. After trying to calm her down.


I thought this story was... different from the others, because it wasn't totally random, and it gave you more detail about the setting, I could picture it a lot more, and actually relate to it in a way, but I don't want to talk about that. Another thing that I thought was good was that I could tell more about it, which now, I'm going to talk about; I thought the dad was really nice, and was very intelligent, and true, well, he was, but it turns out that he was interested in someone else, and maybe agreed with a few negative thoughts of some things from a love letter. But when Talya went to her mom's I found out how she was. She didn't appreciate the tea the Talya made for her, of course, and she even made her own daughter go to school, when she had the day off. She would seem to get really mad with Talya for stupid reasons. That's why I wasn't as fond of her than her dad.


mournfully: Felling grief, which causes sadness. (To be mournful)

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 182-190

The emperor was in his palace, trying to find a way to kill Maximus, he couldn't just assassinate him, and here's why: In his meeting with senator Falco, they were talking about that subject, and commodus says,"An emperor can't rule if he is not loved!" They were talking back and fourth about how Maximus was defying him, and that if they just assassinate him, the people would rebel, then he couldn't rule, Maximus shows compassion, and mercy, the emperor wouldn't make a martyr out of him.Every time he survives, the crowd would get bolder. then Falco mentioned a snake that lives underwater. It would let their enemies come closer, and closer, and even let it nibble on it. So that was the plan; to just wait.

There wasn't much to talk about in these pages, all that happened was Maximus thinking about his past, his battles, misfortunes, family, and his friend Cicero, how good he was at getting info. Also the emperor and Falco talked. that's it. I thought this part was boring. I have nothing more to talk about.The end.

martyr: someone who is killed for their beliefs, or purposes.

I just kept on smiling, by Simon Burt; fiction, pgs. 10-19

This book takes place around 1900's, I'm pretty sure, anyways.
It is school time, and the narrator was in Latin class with Nicky Carver, and the other students. Nicky Carver is supposedly the narrators friend. What happens is that the narrator steals 3 out of 27 literacy books on the teachers desk, after writing a sentence down for the class, then that's when it all went down. before the teacher knew it, the books were in the chapel, the narrator was not like the other kids, instead of spending his time in the day room, he went to the chapel, and that's where he hid the books. Later, when the teacher found out what had happened the next day, he came into the classroom, and the thief would have a chance to return them. The next day, they weren't there, and everybody was whipped as their punishment. Then, just before the day ended, Nicky Carver tried to take the narrators place, and said he did it, the narrator was furious, and he went right up, and admitted it was him! The room was cleared, and he was whipped. The end.


I thought it was weird how he was furious at the end, and took the blame for himself. Also, the reason I thought Nicky Carver was the narrators friend, was because he talked to him occasionally, at least more than others, and he played chess with him. This story kind of reminded me of the Harrison Burgeron, because the story had a weird set of time, story line, and characters, even though they were two totally different stories.


Latin: the Indo- European language of the ancient Romans, or relating to their culture

Harrison Burgeron, by Kurt Vonnegut; fiction, pgs. 1-9

It was 2081, and everybody was finally equal, although it wasn't what it seemed. Everybody except for a few people wore handicaps. One day, two people, one named George, with a handicap, and another with no handicap, named Hazel, were watching ballerina's on the television together, and talked about them, how one specific one was good, and beautiful. When it came to the news in the studio, it all happened. They were talking about a man that carried 300 pounds of scrap metal on his back, named Harrison Bergeron. They said," if you see this man, do not try to reason with him". Then, coincidentally Harrison Bergeron showed up, Everyone was screaming, then he ripped the door off its hinges, and said,"I am the emperor, you hear me, I am the Emperor!!!!!!". Then he stomped on the ground and made the ground shake. This is where it gets weird, he chose his empress, which was a ballerina, and they all started dancing to music, and became one with it. Then, the handicap general came in with a 10 gauge double-barrel shotgun and killed the empress. She demanded they all put on their handicaps, and that's where the TV went out. George and Hazel said it was a doozy, and that's the end of the story.


I thought this story was so completely random. It was hard to tell where exactly they were, but it was really funny. I thought the whole story was really random because at the end, they all just suddenly danced for no apparent reason. It was just completely unexpected. I don't really understand the moral of the story though. Anyways, that's pretty much all I have to say.


consternation: great agitation, dismay, or fear.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 170-182

Well, Maximus, and Tigris fought, and as expected, by me, Maximus won, but in a weird way. What he did was this; first, Tigris saluted, but Maximus didn't, he just rubbed his hands with sand. After that, Tigris attacked, Maximus blocked, and they they were very soon in an intense battle, and they would none stop keep blocking, and attacking each other, as if they were a perfect match. But then a surprise came up, and living tigers came up out of the ground from trap doors. one by one, four came up surrounding each corner of the coliseum. they were held back by Paetorian guards behind cages, but the guards started cheating. When Tigris got close to one of the Tigers, they pulled it back, but when Maximus got near one, they let it out closer to him, the audience noticed this, and demanded a fair fight. They stopped doing that, but instead let the tigers get closer, bit by bit. At the end Maximus succeeded, and let Tigris live even though the emperor gave the symbol to kill him. The emperor got mad at Maximus, and went up to him with his guards and they yelled at each other, and the crowd continued to yell, and shout, not knowing what the two were saying. So the emperor, knowing this, mocked Maximus's past, and the bad things that happened to him. Then Maximus said,"The time for you honoring yourself... will soon be over." Then a man named Cicero met with Maximus and told him where he was at, at the time. Cicero was a friend of his.


This part is tragic in my eyes, but, one thing; the part where Maximus spares Tigris's life I thought was pretty cool, because usually when the emperor says to kill the opponent, they do! Anyways, the reason I thought it was tragic was because the emperor was making fun of Maximus, and was about to kill him on the spot, but tried to conceal his anger the best he could. Maximus left before the emperor decided to do anything, which the emperor thought was rude, of course, because your not suppose to turn your back on an emperor.


invariably: changing, or to change subject.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 160- 170

In these pgs. the emperor is trying to find a way to kill Maximus, but cannot just simply do it. So while Maximus was lying on his bed, awake, a guard came to fetch him, and bring him to Lucilla. At any second he was expecting to be killed or attacked, but he wasn't. He was just put into another cell, where he was chained, and Lucilla talked to him about Commodus. Maximus knew he could be killed any second from there out. Just three days ago he thought they poisoned his food. But they didn't. It was about four days in all that people had knowledge that the so called "spaniard" was Maximus (in the book) . Well, as they cleaned up the mess in the arena, and prepared for the next one, everyone else did too. They are now celebrating the 64th day of the games. There was a mule drawn wagon that they brought in, when they lifted up the tarp, there was... BREAD! The servants threw the bread to the crowd, and the people in the audience watched Commodus walk into the stadium. Behind him was Lucilla. Below them was Maximus, arming up for the next battle, and the name of his opponant; Tigris! He was apparently appart of the arena for years. His armor was: tiger-embossed pollished silver armor, over a thick leather backstrap, with a silver tiger helmet. What's next you'll find out.


I don't have much else to say except, I think that Tigris's armor sounds coooool, but Maximus will still win, and also, I wonder how the battle will be like. Also, I thought it was kind of funny how that wagon was filled with bread, and how they threw it out to the crowd. It was pretty unexpected, I thought Maximus was going to be in the wagon, but there wasn't. Anyways, like I said, we will find out what will happen in the next pages.


jeer: to speak or shout derisively

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 150-160

In these pgs., just as they were about to leave the arena through the gates, two praetorian guards appeared to surround them so the gladiators put down their weapons, and kneeled. Commodus, the new emperor neared toward them with a big smile, Maximus found a small spear head, and just before he was about to kill the emperor, Lucius the little boy appeared in front of him. so he didn't kill the emperor yet. He was just about to leave until guards stopped him, he was to tell who he was, he had no choice but to, so he did, and amazement/ silence swept the crowd. Commodus was mad, and almost executed him, until the crowd stopped him. They booed him out, and let Maximus live. Later that evening he screamed his madness out, like a child.


I thought it was funny how he screamed his madness out, and when the crowd booed him out. But I do have to say, it does really use descriptive words, again to describe the setting, and what's happening. I love this book, It's enjoyable. At least, for me.My favorite part was of course, when screeched his anger, like a child.


bunting: A light cloth made for flags, decoration.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 140- 150

The few moments before they went into the coliseum, Maximus asked the official if the emperor was coming, and he responded positively, which was either good or bad for him, because he comes everyday. Anyways, before entering the arena; Commodus was talking to the other senates and council to rename Rome; Commodiana, his own personal colony. Everyone was preparing for the battle. Once they entered the arena, they mentioned the names of the other team, which were the Scipio Africanus. Maximus's team saluted the emperor, and waited for them to come out, they rode out on six chariots! Then fought, they ran over a gladiator, in the process of herding them to where they wanted. A spear flew into a gladiators neck killing him instantly. I don't need to go into to many details, so I'll just say this: Maximus took control, and grouped the gladiators together, commanding their every move. They were victorious, and rested.


Well, it's a lot different if you read the book, and a lot better, because it explains it a lot better, and it's pretty intense. The description, and anticipation mix to make a great action story, and I really like this book! Anyways, it really gives you the thought that your truly there, in the action. I thought the action was pretty intense, and entertaining.


purple-hemmed: To fold back, and sitch down the edge of, or to surround, and shut in(in the color of purple).

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 130- 140

The gladiators in the slave wagon/caravan were headed to the gates of Rome, and the slaves could see nothing outside from the caravan, but Proximo, at the front of the slave wagon saw all too much. Rome looked a lot different from when he last visited it five years ago. It had completely turned into an armed camp, when they stopped at the gates, the guards demanded papers, which they handed small documents to them. They also pulled off the tarps covering the slaves in the back of the wagon, the guards appeared to be Praetorians. He studied the slaves, Maximus first, it seemed as if these two have met before, they were staring each other in the eyes, but the guard just continued to study the rest of the slaves, eventually, they let the wagon in. Everyone looked so much poorer and dirtier, than he remembered, it just showed how good the new services, and council were to Rome(under Commodus). Once the slaves got out of the wagon from their long journey, and stretched on the courtyard, there were many marvelous sights; the gladiator school (Poximo's), and the giant marble fountain, and the giant statue of Mars, the war god, were the ones in front of them, and you would think they would be the first things you notice, but what caught their attention first was the unbelievably huge behemoth of a statue at the end of the courtyard; in the coliseum. It took up a fraction of the sky, and you could hear the 56,000 people screaming for blood. It was the statue of the grand school compound. They were all put in prison cells and waited to be picked for the next battle.
Here it starts to begin the action for real, after there long, boring, journey, they finally get to Rome, where some might die, and you're not getting out easy. Everything in Rome had changed, and later, a little boy came named Lucius, son of Lucilla, and I think the emperor. The battle starts in the next pages.

Fratricidal:The killing of one's brother or sister, or sibling.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 120- 130

So, after his battle in the arena him and Juba talked about their families, and how they missed them. All of the sudden, some travelers in the distance showed up, they headed to the barracks, and to Proximo, the guy who captured Maximus, and sold him as a slave. The travelers had guards, and they summoned Maximus to follow him. The guards kept their distance, and lead him to Proximo, inside the directors quarters. Proximo signaled the guards away, and greeted Maximus. He offered honeyed insects, but Maximus just shook his head. In there, Proximo said that Maximus was good but not magnificent. He responded; "You want me to kill, I kill, that's enough, he turned to walk out, until Proximo mentioned Rome, his home. "Rome?", then he described the coliseum, and he described it from a gladiators point of view, Maximus asked," You used to be a gladiator?" "The best!", He responded. He mentioned a wooden sword, and how it resembles freedom, Proximo used to be a slave/gladiator, like Maximus is now. He said that if he wants to win his freedom, he has to win the crowd. Then Maximus says," I'll give them something they've never seen before!
Now it skips to a scene of Maximus's family, there, it plainly mentions that their thinking of Maximus. His son was dreaming about him, and then he woke up to his mother, and they talked a little about them, then she's trying to put him to sleep for the next 4 pages. She gave him something to help him sleep, and he slept.

I think it's going to turn out very bloody in the arena, because of Maximus, the reason why is because he said he'll give them something they've never seen before, so their going to send him to Rome, and their going to put him against someone hard. From there, I think chaos will be unleashed, war will start between Persians, and Romans, and a few main characters will die. Obviously, it's going to get worse before better. Another thing that could happen is that he just earns his freedom, and he leaves to home, finds his family dead, and goes back for revenge, and to save the slaves. Life's tough, and I'm not saying it will, but it could happen in this book. That's what I think might happen in this book. Also, I don't think that Maximus could've done anything else as in options because he's mainly got only one thing on his mind; getting back home to his family. I probably would've done the same thing he did in that situation.

Legitimatizing: simply put; to make legal.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 110- 120

In these chapters, it seems to get more intense, there is now a fight between gladiators, in the coliseum, before it starts, the coach/ person who brings the gladiators out, talks to Maximus. He quotes, "All you do is kill, kill, kill!", through the bars. "you make it look too easy." This crowd wants a hero,not a butcher." "We want them to keep coming back. Don't just hack them up so quickly, stretch it out!" As they got closer to the arena, they heard the cheers of the crowd get "Give them an adventure to remember". Once they were all the way in, him, and the other gladiators saw six opponents at the end of the ring. The coach gave an example of what he should do, like dropping to the floor, and making the crowd think that he's done for, but he gets back up, and is victorious. He lastly says,"Remember, your an entertainer!" Once the battle started, he sized them all up, and went for the biggest, strongest guy, and took him out first, he was fully successful, and the giant fell to his knees, while the others took care of the rest. The crowd was excited screaming, and all the sudden, it all just went silent, the remaining gladiators, the crowd, everything. "Are you not entertained?" Yelled Maximus. "Is this not why you came?" Then he left the ring, and entered the tunnel gates.
I think he did what his instincts told him to do. I didn't explain that the people called Maximus a Spaniard, but ever since he was captured, everyone called him a Spaniard. The last thing the crowd said after the battle, was just that! They were all chanting him: Spaniard, Spaniard, Spaniard! The reason they called him that was because he was unbeatable, and of course, an extreme expert with his sword, and fighting styles. I think that it's actually pretty funny that they call him a Spaniard, because he's really a Roman, and everybody, and I mean everybody, even Juba called him a Spaniard in the caravan. I thought it was pretty funny. Well, that's pretty much all I have to blog about.

Impotency: Lacking physical strength or power; helpless.

Gladiator, by David Franzoni; fiction, pgs. 105- 110

In this section of the book, Marcus, the main character of the book, has been waiting in the cages of the arena, While the representatives of Praetorian territory, and its senators are discussing what they should do to attract more people to the coliseum. Now that they have Marcus, the previous commander, and 2nd hand leader of one of the Roman bases protecting the city of Rome captured, they now have the ability to do that. They were all fighting about how to improve the entertainment of the fights. Commodus was the guy who was supposedly Marcus's friend, but turned him in to the Praetorian officers instead. He is also now the main senate for Rome. During the most recent meeting, they talked about how to attract more people to the stadium. It also states that the Commodus's lieutenants met with the key senators of Rome, and reaffirmed their action in coming missions, it does not talk about the missions, that's just what it says.
I think that this whole paragraph is just starting the real action. It really doesn't explain much. It does give good details on how powerful their army is, that I didn't explain, such as: THE MOST POWERFUL LEGIONARY ARMY IN THE WORLD!, obviously. I don't think that the arena thing is going to work out for Praetorians, I'm guessing that Maximus is going to stir up chaos, or something, but I know he doesn't want to escape, even though he wants his family back. The reason I say that is because Juba, his teammate, and pretty much friend saved him on the way to enemy territory inside of the caravan. He had a big slash on his arm, and there were maggots on his arm. he was going to wipe them off, but Juba stopped him, and that's what saved him, because the maggots were taking out the infection from the slash of a sword. that's what cut his arm. Anyways, since there's not much more to reflect on, I will just end there, and one more thing, I think Maximus is AWESOME!

Pristinely:(pg. 105) New, not messed up, and nearly untouched.

Regal:(pg. 105) simply means; of royalty.