Sophia Elahi RPC Blog

Public Speaking 9, Lesson 110 – My Hobbies Updated Version

Public Speaking 9, Lesson 105 – Introducing My Best Friend

English 9, Lesson 140 – Would Walden’s Pond have been a better book if Thoreau Gave More Background on His Life?”

This week, I continued reading Walden’s Pond by Henry David Thoreau. For this week’s essay I have been asked to answer the question “would Walden’s Pond have been a better book if Thoreau gave more background on his life?”

Personally, I think that the answer is yes. If he gave some background about his childhood life or the school he went to, some of his ideas may have made sense.

Some of the things he wrote about were overall confusing and nonsensical. For example, he viewed furniture as a ‘burden’ and he thought that getting a mat to wipe your feet on is a mark of evil. The latter is very confusing and I see no logic behind it. It would have been interesting to see the reasoning behind this. Thoreau did not give much background to his opinions, but if he did he usually ended up contradicting himself in a later paragraph. As a reader, I started to get the impression that Thoreau himself was not completely sold on his own ideas.

Like my Dad always says to me, if you cannot explain something to someone clearly and concisely you do not understand the topic yourself.

In all honesty, the only thing that can make Walden’s Pond a better book is the writing. If it was less riddle-like and if Thoreau kept his opinions straight it would have been an interesting book.

English 9, Lesson 135 – Did Thoreau Rely on the Division of Labor?

This week I started reading Walden’s Pond by Henry David Thoreau. Walden’s Pond is about Thoreau’s time living in isolation in a cabin in the woods. He spent 26 months in the cabin (before moving back in with his Mother) and eight years writing this book. In the first few chapters of the book, he makes it abundantly clear that he despises the division of labor. But a question arises. Did he unintentionally rely on it?

Before I answer that question, let me explain what the ‘division of labor’ is. The division of labor is the grouping of tasks so that people only specialize in one thing.

One thing I would like to note is that Thoreau has a very interesting way of writing. His chapters are long and his words are cryptic. He usually contradicts himself four to five times in one chapter. I would call him a bad writer as his book is so incredibly hard to read, it physically pains me but I feel that Thoreau did not realize what he was doing. Maybe, he wanted to come off as wise and profound to his readers. If so, he failed.

Back to the main topic: did Thoreau rely on the division of labor? Yes, he did. You cannot survive if you do not. The world back then (1850s) was shaped around this model; it still is today. If you tried to boycott it, you would not survive a day. Thoreau insisted that the division of labor was horrible and he would never support it but I do not think he realized exactly what he was saying.

For example, to build the cabin he stayed in for 26 months, he hired builders to help him raise the house. He would make weekly trips into town for seeds to grow his crops, and cloth to make his clothes. Not only was he relying on the division of labor, he was also supporting it. If Thoreau needed to buy anything that he could not make on his own, he would be supporting the division of labor.

For reasons unknown, Thoreau hated the division of labor. However he never offered a reason or an alternative. If he did, I was too busy trying to understand the his cryptic English.

Business 9, Lesson 135 – Affiliate For the Ron Paul Curriculum

Parents, do you want your child to have a good education? Obviously. Do you want your child to be excited about school without you having to nag or teach them? If you said yes to these, you should join the Ron Paul Curriculum.

Here are some reasons to join the Ron Paul Curriculum:

Ron Paul offers courses starting from Kindergarten all the way to 12^th Grade.
Starting 3^rd Grade students can start teaching themselves.
All lessons are pre-recorded videos that are only 30 minutes long, sometimes less.
The curriculum is 100% online, no textbooks needed.
Your child has a question? They can go to the chat forums where other RPC students can help them and vice versa. Ron Paul believes that you learn the best when teaching others.
Writing assignments are given every five lessons for every subject except Math. This teaches your child good writing skills.
All texts needed for reading assignments are given to students by free PDFs. But if there is no PDF, you can easily get an e-book for under $5 (the curriculum even gives you links to find the books).
Starting 8^th Grade, real life courses like Public Speaking, Business, and Personal Finance are offered.
The Curriculum shows and teaches children how to CLEP their way through the first three years of college. One of the instructors for the curriculum, Mr. Bradley Fish, has done this.
Your child can learn at their own pace.
No stressful mandatory tests. Only Math quizzes every thirty lessons.
The course requires students to create a free blog for their essays and to post the link to these essays on the forum. Not only does your child learn how to run a blog, they have an online archive of all their work and can get feedback from others.
After buying and trying out the curriculum you find out it is not for? No problem! The curriculum offers a 100% money back guarantee if you ask for a refund 60 days after the purchase.

Don’t wait! Click here to sign up today!

English 9, Lesson 130 – Northup’s Use of Contrasts

This week I finished reading Twelve Years A Slave by Solomon Northup. The book was Northup telling the story of how he was kidnapped and sold into slavery even though he was born a freeman. You may be more familiar with the movie version of this book. Northup was an excellent writer and he did an amazing job of making the story come to life in the reader’s mind. One of the things that made his writing so great was his use of contrasts. In this essay, I am going to talk about a few of the contrasts he made and how I can learn from him when writing by own autobiography.

One of the contrasts that stuck out to me the most was when Northup was kidnapped in the beginning of the book. When he was first kidnapped, he was held in a slave pen in Washington. The pen was very close to the Capitol, making it possible for the slaves to see it. Northup talks about how cruel it seemed. The Capitol, a place which represented liberty, justice, freedom, and equality right next to a slave pen holding freemen.

Another contrast that I remember very vividly is how Northup reacted to being separated from his children compared to how a slave mother, Eliza, reacted when getting separated from her children. I think I remember this the most because I had to write an essay on it. Northup knew that as a freeman he had rights. He was convinced that one day those rights would allow him to be reunited with his children, and he was right. But Eliza was born a slave. She had no rights, and therefore knew that the odds of seeing her children again were very low. A few months after being separated from her children she died of what Northup called ‘a broken heart.’

He also contrasted how the slaves acted during Christmas compared to every other day of the year. Christmas was the only time they were allowed to see their relatives on other plantations (if those plantations were nearby). They would have a grand feast and laugh and chat with their love ones. Christmas was the one day a year where everyone was truly happy. This was a great contrast to how Northup described them during other times in the year: afraid and worn out.

His contrasts not only made the story more alive, but it made certain moments more memorable. It also made readers realize how horrible it was to be a slave. I feel that nowadays, when children in school learn about the Civil War we never truly realize how terribly the slaves were treated until we read a book from their point of view. I think that Northup used contrasts frequently on purpose. He knew that majority of his readers were in the North. He wanted to show them the poor conditions of the slaves in the South.

When I write my autobiography, I am going to try to find every opportunity to compare things. After reading so many autobiographies in this English course, I know that contrasts make the book more memorable and realistic.

As you can see, Northup was a brilliant writer who knew how to intrigue readers and make them remember important events. His use of contrasts is one I will try to emulate when writing my own autobiography.

Business 9, Lesson 130 – Two USPs of the RPC

For the past few weeks I have been reading and learning about how to advertise a business. There are many ways to advertise something, but it all revolves around proof. In this essay, I am going to be talking about two USPs of the Ron Paul Curriculum.

Firstly, what is a USP? It stands for “Unique Selling Proposition.’ Do not get this confused with the United Parcel Service! A USP is a unique service or benefit that your product can give to your customers. If it is a good USP, no other brand, business, or product can offer this specific benefit to customers.

Now, let’s talk about the Ron Paul Curriculum’s USPs.

USP #1

The Ron Paul Curriculum offers many useful courses that not many in person schools can provide. They also offer CLEP cram courses. If you do not know what CLEP is, it stands for College Level Examination Program. These exams give students college credit, allowing some to CLEP their way through the first two years of college, which is what Dr. North suggests to parents and students. The student can then enter college as a junior and pay half of what their peers have to.

Sounds too good to be true? One of the RPC’s instructors, Mr. Bradley Fish, did this. By the time he was 18 years old he had a B.A Degree in Business.

I do not know of any in-person school, or homeschool program, that offers this way of college. Not only does the CLEP way save money, it also saves time. If you have taken the Personal Finance course or a Business course with the RPC, you will know that Dr. North says that time is just as valuable as money.

USP #2

Once again, I am going to be talking about time. The Ron Paul Curriculum is very mindful of their students’ time and tends to keep their lessons short.

For any Elementary or Middle Schooler using RPC, they will have four subjects a day (not including self-added subjects). Each video is about twenty to thirty minutes, with a ten to fifteen minute reading assignment. With only four subjects the whole school day will only take about three to four hours. For High schoolers, who have five RPC given subjects, the school day should only take about four to five hours.

These school days are significantly shorter than the ones other students are subjected to. With such short school days students have time to do things they are interested in (e.g. extracurricular activities) and will not feel too burnt out by the end of the school day.

Conclusion

As you can see, the Ron Paul Curriculum offers some very unique things that no one else can offer to you. These are only two of its USPs. There are many more that I could have listed, but then this essay would be way too long.

Thanks for reading!

Business 9, Lesson 125 – Advertisement to Join RPC

Have you been thinking of home-schooling your child, but are slightly hesitant to do it? Do you want a home-school Curriculum that does not require textbooks, handwritten papers, and other nuisances? Do you want a home-school Curriculum that offers a good education to your child without you having to act as a full-time teacher? If you said yes to all these questions, consider joining the Ron Paul Curriculum.

The Ron Paul Curriculum is a liberty and freedom based online home-school Curriculum that offers courses from Kindergarten to 12^th Grade. The Curriculum requires almost zero parent involvement starting 3^rd grade. Not only does this give parents time to take care of the house or do their jobs, it teaches the student ownership and responsibility from a young age.

Every course offered in the Ron Paul Curriculum teaches students in 20-30 minute videos with reading assignments. Every course (besides Math) requires students to write an essay every five lessons. If you do one lesson every day, you have to write essays weekly. This teaches students good essay skills and gives them plenty of opportunities to improve their writing. The Curriculum also requires students to set up a blog (which is completely free if you use WordPress.com) where they can post their weekly essays. Not only does this teach the child blogging skills, but it proves to people that your child has been doing school and has been improving their skills over the years, and it allows the student to receive feedback on their essays from other RPC students. Students can post their essays to the various forums available. These forums serve as a database of essays for future students and a place where students and parents can talk to one another.

The best part about the Curriculum are the high school courses. Starting 8^th Grade real life topics are being taught to students. The Curriculum offers a Personal Finance course, a Public Speaking course, and two Business courses in High school.

There is an annual fee of $250 and $50 for each course. But if this Curriculum doesn’t work out for the student, you have a 60 day money back guarantee.

If this Curriculum interests you, click here to get started.

Blender Project, Section 4 Wrap Up

For the last month I have been working on the fourth section of my Animation Project course on Udemy.

In this section, I did not really alter anything, but I did UV map the whole character. UV mapping is something animators do to make it easy to animate the object/character later on. The squares you will see on the character are the UV mapping marks.