LAWNI - Chapter 2

1. The meteor has struck the moon. Describe the change in people's behavior before and after the the meteor impacted the moon.
   
2. What has happened to the moon? Describe the change.
   
3. What has happened to the coastal cities? Based on what you know about the moon, why has this happened?
   
4. After the collision, Miranda feels that "Civilization has ended" (p. 21). Why? Are the tools she talks about indispensable to our civilization?

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The next book we will be reading is Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. For this particular book, we will be answering our homework questions via our class Blog. However, there still may be other class assignments in written form.

On the tool bar in the right column, you will find links to chapter summaries based on the book. On my website, you will find additional helpful links.

The Harcourt Publishing discussion guide describes Life as We Knew It as:

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

We will begin our reading during the Spring Season with Chapter One. After reading the chapter as a class, please answer the following questions in the chapter comments:

1. Before the meteor hits, what were the biggest concerns in Miranda's life?


2. How does Becky's death affect the relationship between Miranda, Megan and Sammi?


3. Your Opinion: Miranda seems primarily concerned with the homework demands associated with the news that a meteor will be hitting the moon and not the consequences of the event for the people of Earth. When you here of a possible dangerous weather event happening in the Rochester area, what is your reaction to the news? Why?

Emily Primary Source

Odysseus speaks:

'Thither we came and beached our ship, and took out the sheep, and ourselves went beside the stream of Oceanus until we came to the place of which Circe had told us.

'Here Perimedes and Eurylochus held the victims, while I drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh, and dug a pit of a cubit's length this way and that, and around it poured a libation to all the dead, first with milk and honey, thereafter with sweet wine, and in the third place with water, and I sprinkled thereon white barley meal. And I earnestly entreated the powerless heads of the dead, vowing that when I came to Ithaca I would sacrifice in my halls a barren heifer, the best I had, and pile the altar with goodly gifts, and to Teiresias alone would sacrifice separately a ram, wholly black, the goodliest of my flocks. But when with vows and prayers I had made supplication to the tribes of the dead, I took the sheep and cut their throats over the pit, and the dark blood ran forth. Then there gathered from out of Erebus the spirits of those that are dead, brides, and unwedded youths, and toil-worn old men, and tender maidens with hearts yet new to sorrow, and many, too, that had been wounded with bronze-tipped spears, men slain in fight, wearing their blood-stained armour. These came thronging in crowds about the pit from every side, with a wondrous cry, and pale fear seized me. Then I called to my comrades and bade them flay and burn the sheep that lay there slain with the pitiless bronze, and to make prayers to the gods, to mighty Hades and dread Persephone. And I myself drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh and sat there, and would not suffer the powerless heads of the dead to draw near to the blood until I had enquired of Teiresias.'


what is odysseus doing in this pashage?

adam image

most people belong to what class?

what religion is most widely spread?

adam primary source

Fa-hsien (also Fa-hien), which means "illustrious master of the 1aw was Chinese Buddhist monk. Orphaned at an early age, Fa-hsien decided to continue the religious life planned for him by his father rather than to be incorporated into the family of his uncle. Little is known of his novitiate, though one legend tells of how he shamed a band of thieves from stealing the grain of his monastery. At the age of 25 Fa-hsien began a quest to learn about Buddist traditions in India and to discover authentic Buddhist writings. His travels, in Sumatra, Ceylon, India, and Tibet, coincided with a general curiosity of Chinese Buddhists about the practice of their religion abroad. Fa-hsien recovered a large quantity of Buddhist writings and returned to China where he devoted the rest of his life to translating them from Sanskrit. It is recorded that he died at the age of 88.

A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (394-414CE) is an account of the journey Fa-hsien and his companions, mostly in India. They visited as many of the Buddhist sacred shrines as they could, especially those associated with the presence of the Buddha. The selections presented here show the reasons for the estblishment of these shrines, the legends that surrounded them, and the ways in which they were maintained.

where did fa-hsien learn about Buddist traditions?

greek gods

what was the name of the place the greek gods lived at?


how many were there?