Milkweed: Loss Of Innocence

Everybody knows that there are times in life, where we do something that we very well know that we shouldn't, but we do it anyway. Why? Because we have to. Sometimes it's because we really want something, but in Milkweed, Misha does things he shouldn't because if he doesn't, he, along with his family, wouldn't survive.

Back in the holocaust, it was a bad time to be Jewish. You had pretty much no control over your life, because the Germans made decisions for you. One of these was to move to the Ghetto, where you rarely had any food, and the Germans just tried to starve you to death. Your only hope was to smuggle food from the outside world, even if it meant risking your life in the process. Soon, the Germans caught on, and warned the Jewish to stop, or they would get killed. It took flamethrowers, guns, and clubs to convince the Jewish that smuggling food was a bad idea. But still, Misha cares about his family enough, to do whatever he needs to do, even if it means losing his innocence, for the survival of his family.

A similar case, is in Life of Pi, when Pi Patel is stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days, with no food. At one point he comes across an island, and finds a person. The person is a bit crazy, as he has no food either, but at one point, Pi has no choice, even if it means losing his innocence, he has to eat the man. He doesn't want to, but with his starvation, he would've done anything for his survival, just like Misha did when he smuggled.

We all do things that we shouldn't, and in both Misha and Pi's case, they do them for a good reason, survival. But have you ever done something that you shouldn't have, that wasn't for a good reason? Next time you're doing something you'll probabaly think, Can I live without doing this?

Point of View: Milkweed

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, is a book about rough times back in the Holocaust. This is told by a very young boy named Misha, who has no knowledge of his parents, or much of his previous life before the story, or of anything. As you can probably guess, the time period of the Holocaust was not a good time to be confused. If you unknowingly did something wrong, you were killed, and that was the end of it. Luckily, Misha has his friends, and adopted family, to guide him along.

One of Misha's best friends is Uri. Uri is almost everything Misha isn't. He's smart, patient, and is a lot less confused as to what's going on around them. The one thing that they have in common, is being a thief, which is how the two met. They both tried to steal a loaf of bread, but Misha got there first. Thinking that a small, quick kid could be useful, Uri builds up a type of "partnership" with Misha, and helps him survive. In my opinion, the story could be very different if told from the perspective of Uri.

Throughout the book, you almost want to yell to Misha, "No! Don't do that! You'll get caught!" or, "What were you thinking?!" but then you remember that he's just a little kid and he doesn't know any better, which also provides an interesting aspect to the story. It is fun to listen to Misha's point of view, because he is often a bit off on his philosophy, with simple facts such as things like milkweed. He thinks that milkweed is where angels come from, and doesn't think otherwise. When someone tells him something, he doesn't really have any reason to think that it is wrong, and he therefore believes it. On the other hand, Uri knows better, and his perspective would probably be more appealing to an adult audience, an audience who wants to hear the mature side of things. Instead of hearing "I saw people walking down the road, and I couldn't help marching along to the parade. I saw a nice man with really shiny boots and an eagle hat, so I started to talk to him," they'd rather hear a more mature point of view, like that of Uri's which would be something like, "I can't believe that Misha participates in these childish games, he has to think before he does things, because marching along to imaginary parades and walking up to Nazis will get you killed in an heartbeat."

This is one of the many reasons why I think that the story could be altered greatly if the main character's point of view were changed from Misha to Uri.

Uri

Uri, Misha's guidance for most of Milkweed, was a very important character in the book. He was a static character, because he doesn't change for most of the book, and never undergoes any real change. Although static, Uri still made a large impact on our main character, Misha, and without Uri, Misha probably wouldn't have survived.

Throughout the book, whenever Misha unknowingly makes a mistake, Uri is usually there to tell him that he is wrong. Without this guidance, Misha would keep making the same mistakes, and end up getting caught, or worse, dead. But, thanks to Uri, he corrects his mistakes, and ends up surviving. An example of this is when Misha wants to keep stealing food, but Uri knows that the Nazis are cracking down on thieves, so he tells him to stop. Luckily this saves him from getting caught, and probably getting killed. Similar to how Cairon is always guiding and saving Percy in the Percy Jackson series.

If it weren't for Uri, Misha would've made a lot of bad decisions, and probably would've ended up dead, but because of his guidance, Misha lives to have a good life after the holocaust, and even has a kid, and a grandkid. Is there anyone like Uri in your life, correcting your mistakes, and saving you from going horribly wrong?

A Perfect Metaphor

Author's Note: This is what I think Martel meant when he said, "The idea of a religious boy in a lifeboat with a wild animal struck me as a perfect metaphor for the human condition. Humans aspire to really high things, right, like religion, justice, democracy. At the same time, we're rooted in our human, animal condition. And so, all of those brought together in a lifeboat struck me as being... as a perfect metaphor."

 

What I think Martel was trying to demonstrate was how although any wild animal would simply give its life for the food of another, as in the food chain, any human will most likely pray to not die, and say that this “Isn’t right.” or something. We look for things with meaning, such as justice, fairness, and religion. The tiger could have simply killed Pi before the other animals, but that would defeat the purpose of the human aspects and beliefs. We long for that fairness, and justice, but really, in the wild, Pi is just another animal, and it was just luck, or chance, that Richard Parker, or even the hyena, didn’t eat Pi.

Our Country

Author's Note: This is a short paragraph that I threw together explaining some of the reasons that I'm proud of our country.

Our country is definitely one to be proud of. We have freedom of speech, wealth, elected government officials,  and a strong military force. We can stand up for ourselves, and fight. There isn't much that there isn't to be proud about in our country, except a bad economy. We have good schools, and can provide education for kids. We have homes, and food, and don't need to worry about starving to death. These are just a few of the reasons that I think our country is definitely one to be proud of.

My Hook

"Are we there yet?" said Laura, the blueberry.

"Not quite," replied Carlos, the talking waffle shark. They kept walking, through the unicorn pastures of cloud 9. Then, out of nowhere, they heard a deep voice.

The E.A.W.C.

They cleared the fake security gate as Wilson shot the guard with his custom 2001fps Airsoft Sniper Rifle. He motioned to Stanley, who swiveled the truck around and slowed down just slow enough so that he could jump in the truck bed. He slammed down the sniper and took position of the gattling gun (also airsoft) which was mounted on the roof. He prepared for the war to come, and stuck his semi-auto airsoft pistols into his side holsters.  Glen took out his G36C, and aimed it out the passenger window.  The first stage of the Airsoft World Championships (AWC) was about to start.

        One of the other teams advanced fast, but their 530fps guns were no match for the armored f150. Glen hit the driver with his G36C and they spun out. Stanley cheered as he shot his pistol out the window with one hand. Suddenly, they got cut off and Wilson almost flew over the truck as Stanley stomped on the brake.

“That was close,” said Glen.

“Too close,” Stanley replied. Stanley slowly stepped back on the gas again and they moved forward. There were only 3 teams remaining, and the trio steadied their grips on their guns. They were coming up on another team, with a truck twice their size.

“Whatever you do, don’t run into them,” said Glen.

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” They sped towards it, and just as the other team thought that they had them, Stanley dodged to the side, and Glen started open-firing on the truck. His expertise caused a pellet to fly straight into the driver’s temple, causing him to become unconscious. Wilson fired the gattling gun in the rear windows, hoping to get the remaining members of the team. They were, after all, the smallest team there, with only three people. They would have more recruits, but nobody could live up to their excellence. The other two teams were dueling on the other side of the stadium, and Stanley saw one of them flip over, which meant that there was only one team left. They spun around and went racing at their opponent, and when they were about ten yards away, Stanley pressed a button on the dash. All of a sudden, the car flew up in the air and did a flip over the other truck, the whole trio firing at the hopeless car below. The gattling gun destroyed the duct-tape windows, which had been put in as replacements, and Glen knocked out their entire team of about 8 in a mere 3 seconds. Yah. He was that good. Then, a bell rang, and the entire crowd cheered. The Trio had won the Extreme Airsoft World Championships. They jumped out of their truck, and went to collect their trophy, a gold statue of a kid holding an airsoft-gun, and as a team, they raised it in the air, so that everyone could see. These champions still live in disguise today, but no one, not even those entrusted with the secrecy of the Dojo, (it’s another story) know who they are, or where their location lies.

Beaver Assault

Author's Note: I wrote this with my upcoming vacation in mind, and I tried to place my character in an interesting, but maybe not realistic, spot, where I could go somewhere with it and make a good story. This takes place in Arches National Park, where there are lots of interesting rock formations, etc. I'll put a picture of it at the bottom.

Derill and John, homeless ninjas, are hiding behind a rock, waiting for sun-down.

Derill peeked out from around the rock, "The coast is clear."
"Okay, should I go for it?"
"Sure, you've got nothing to lose."
John sneeked around the corner, and started for the trailer. Once he got there, he put his ear against the wall as if he were listening for any noises inside the camper. He gave a thumbs up to Derill, and slipped on his black mask. Derill did the same, and slowly crept over to John. They got out their lockpicks, and tried for the door. Neither of them could seem to get it. But then they came up with an idea.
"Sensei Chin-chin..," he called
"Sensei Chin-chin..," he called a little louder. Then there was a ball of mist hovering over the ground. Soon, there was a man sitting there crossed-legged.
"How can I help you?"
"We, uh, need this door unlocked."
"Okay." He flicked his wrist, and the lock clicked. "It's unlocked."
"Thank you Sensei."
"No problem. That'll be $89.99 plus tax."
"We, uh, don't exactly have that much. That's why we're robbing, uh, borrowing rather, money from, uh, Justin Bieber,"
"Oh, why didn't you say so! I hate that kid too. There's something wrong with him you know!"
"Yes, we are very aware of that."
"As much as I would like to see him sing some high pitched song about losing his money, I cannot. See you later boys!"
"Bye Sensei." Sensei Chin-chin nodded and disappeared in a cloud of mist.
"Well he was nice."
"Yes. Yes he was."
The boys stepped inside, and looked around. Justin Beaver was sleeping in a pull-out bed, and his security officer was sleeping in another. John crept over to the guard, and karate-chopped him in the throat. The guard didn't make a sound as he died a short, painful, death.
"Wait, lets leave the "girl" alone. I want to see what kind of song the kid makes up about this tomorrow. He will be a delight to watch"
"Yah, lets leave him. Let's focus on the prize." Slowly they opened drawers, suitcases, and backpacks, until finally John whispers,
"I found it! I found his wallet! And Credit Cards!" The boys didn't waste time celebrating, instead they opened the door, and started to step outside, when they heard a very high-pitched voice,
"What do you think you're doing?"


TO BE CONTINUED...

 Arches National Park

Delicate Arch

Total Randomness

Author's Note: I know what you're thinking. "Where in the world did he come up with that?" But I have an explanation. Recently, we did a group writing piece where the people next to you influence your writing and help you decide what direction that you take it in. It may sound simple, but it makes your story pretty random. Anyway, Enjoy!

I am driving across a bridge, toward a country you have never visited before. On the other side of the bridge, I can barely make out what seems to be a series of homes that look to be abandoned, for there is no one in sight. There is a train station with a steaming locomotive parked on the track.  All of a sudden, a big llama appears in my passenger seat. "What the heck?!" I yell.

"Hi, I'm George, welcome to Llamaland!" he says.

"What? I thought this was magic beanstalk land!"

"No, this is Llamaland, magic bean land is back in the other direction. Now that you're across the border, you can't turn back."

Then, he snapped his fingers, and he turned into an antelope.

"I don't care what animal you are, just get me out of here." I said. He kept snapping his fingers and changing. What type of animal are you? I asked.

"I'm an antelpoewhalebunnydogchickenllama. I can switch between animals. Would you like to see the whale?"

"No, just bounce out of my car already, unless if you can get me to magic bean land."

"Okay, looks like I'm leaving!"

"Ok, good!"

With that he opened the door, and jumped off of the bridge. He fell, and fell, and fell, until finally I heard a splash. All of a sudden, it started raining corn. I turned on my windshield wipers, but the sun-roof wouldn't close. My car was rapidly filling up with corn, and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. I realized that I didn't seem to be getting any closer to the other side of the bridge. I realized that I was stuck forever, and that I would have to survive soul-ly on corn.  Then, I remembered a commercial I had seen on TV, I started singing, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!" then, my agent appeared in the back of my car. It really worked! I was expecting some decapatated bear or something to show up, but it actually worked! My agent teleported us to magic bean land, and I thanked him dearly. Then, I sprinted towards a box. A six-foot tall bean named Emilio greeted me, and I at his head off. He tasted good. All he needed was salt and maybe some special sauce, then he would've been perfect. I thought about my friend Emilio back at home, to didn't taste quite as good. Believe me, he doesn't taste good. Another bean named fred came up to me and told me that I was under- arrest for murder. Then, he placed hand-cuffs made out of pineapples on me, and I at them, along with his legs, so thet he couln't catch me again. I left him a gift, which happened to be  pineapple bomb. And he exploded into popcorn. I decided after 20 more attempted arrests, that magic bean land wasn't for me. I developed a ton of pinepple devices, and injected myself with magical pineapple-powers, and teleported to a desert. I walked, and walked, until I found a guy that looked as though he was about to pass-out from walking so far. I gave him a pineapple, and we continued on. I had to give him the heimlech twice during that afternoon, because he was so sick from walking, but I gave him a potion so that he wouldn't remember it. Then, I realized that he was really my brother, so I showed him my secret pineapple-stash, and devised a plan to get the evil doctor pineapple. We put on costumes, and took my pineacopter to San Francisco, where we saw a kid with a nerf gun arguing with the doctor. We saved the kid, but didn't manage to shut down the evil doctor pineapple.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Our Satire

Author's Note: We tried to keep our project up to date with current events going on in Madison. It doesn't have an extremely abrupt end because nothing has really ended yet in real life. We tried to be creative and make it entertaining. Enjoy!

Click HERE to view our project.

The Fun They Had

Author's Note: Sorry for posting this late, I guess I forgot to post it all of this time. While I was writing this, I kept trying to think of how I could write about such a short story. Finally, I thought of this:


Can the advantages of having technology be taken too far? If you walk in to almost any classroom these days, you will find that you are surrounded with technology. If you ask almost any student if the use of technology is beneficial to learning, they will probably tell you that technology provides many advantages to the field of learning, and that it makes school more fun. Although this may be true, "The Fun They Had", is a good example of how too much technology can have a negative impact on our world.

One way that too much technology can be bad is that it causes a lack-of sociality. One-on-one learning, like the robot-teacher in the story, can be a beneficial method of teaching concepts. It allows the teacher to adapt their style of teaching to whatever way that particular student learns best. This, however, isolates that student from interacting with the other students in class, which is a very important part of building our social confidence. If nobody ever built up their social confidence, everybody would be shy, and never want to talk to anybody. It would make the world an extremely poignant place.

Can you imagine passing a bunch of people on the street, and not even your neighbors acknowledging you? It sure would make you feel socially isolated. If kids learn to interact with other people at an early age, it will make communicating much easier for the rest of their life. If you don't believe this, just look at the world around you. Many people interact with others through technology. Text-messaging, e-mails, and IM are all examples of this. Most people use technology because it is quick and easy, and they don't want to spend the time actually talking to the person. Not that this is always bad. Sometimes you need to get in touch with someone that is away somewhere, and you can't talk face-to-face with them. Sometimes all you need is an actual chat with someone. It can boost your social awareness, and you can get to know someone better than you would in a text or e-mail. In total, this just goes to show that technology can harshly limit our social skills, and it is important to take a break from technology every once in a while, and actually chat face-to-face with someone.

Another reason why technology can have a negative impact is because of reliability. Usually, technology works well. But sometimes, it can have problems. Luckily, we don't rely on technology so much that we can't do thing the old-fashioned way. These days, if your computer is broken, and you need to type something, you simply write it on paper. In the future, if we rely too much on technology to do things for us, we are putting ourselves in a risky situation. If all of a sudden the technology malfunctions, and we don't have a different way of doing things, we get stuck in a situation where we have nothing to do, kind of like how Tommy didn't have a teacher for a month because his robot teacher broke. It just goes to show that although technology can provide a fast and easier way of doing things, we shouldn't rely on it too much because it isn't foolproof!

Although there are many advantages of using technology, it can still be taken too far. Although technology can be very tempting, we should remind ourselves of the old-fashioned way to do things. We should practice doing things without technology, and talk to people more often. Sometimes, all you need is a simple break from the rapidly growing world of digital screens and codes. Just take a break from technology, and do things on your own. There are many reasons why technology could be taken way too far, and these are just a few of them.

Pigs

Author's Note: this kept going on and on, and I'm sorry that most people won't want to read it because of it's length, but I tried to touch on all of the points that I wanted to make.

The pigs and their roles in the Book Animal Farm have changed significantly since the beginning of the book. At the beginning of the book, none of the animals stood out as any different than the others. They were all mistreated, and imprisoned on Manor Farm. The three main pigs, Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer, are all living life at it's lowest along with  all of the other animals. Eventually, the animals overthrow their master, Mr. Jones, and start a new government of animalism (which is pretty much communism with a different name). Although this promises equal rights, some of the rules are broken.

Most of the animals on the farm, such as the horses, the cows, the dogs, and the chickens, all do their share of the work, and, as promised, get their equal share of the food. But eventually, the pigs start to do less work, and the cows' milk starts to randomly disappear. It is later discovered mixed in with the pigs' share of food, and the other animals think this is unfair. The pigs cover this up with a few excuses, and say that they need the milk or the farm would fall apart without them being able to think. Once apple season comes, the same thing happens. One again, the pigs use some excuses and the animals accept it. Although it may sound like the pigs started to take over, and become more like the cruel farmer, there was one pig who was still fair with the animals. His name was Snowball.
 

Although he still lead the farm to some degree, Snowball was very considerate of the other animals. He held little classes to help them learn to read and write, and tried to make things fair for everyone. Napoleon, another pig, was slightly crueler than Snowball. While Snowball taught lessons to animals, Napoleon insisted that there was no point in educating adults, because they could no longer learn anymore, and that education shouldn't be wasted on adults, but on the youth. He stood up to his word, and when the dogs had puppies, he took them away to a private spot, to teach them by himself. What nobody knew, is that he was secretly training them to be assassins.

Who might he want to assassinate? Why, Snowball of course. What he wanted more than anything was control. And in his eyes, the only thing standing in-between him and control was Snowball. If he could get rid of snowball, he could gain total control. As you can guess, that's exactly what he did. Well, kind-of. One day, when Snowball was about to cast a vote in order to decide whether-or-not to build a windmill, Napoleon made a weird grunting noise, and the dogs rushed in. They chased Snowball around, until eventually he escaped into a hedge. The dogs retreated back to their master, Napoleon. With Snowball gone, that left Napoleon in complete control.

Napoleon got worse everyday. One day he was giving the pigs even more rights, while making the other animals seem less equal. Soon enough, the pigs were barely doing anything at all, while the other animals did all of the work. Yet, the pigs still get most of the food. Whenever the animals argued, the pigs used excuse after excuse, and lie after lie. The pigs would come up with lies such as, "If we don't get more food, Mr. Jones will come back." The other animals believed this, and would keep quiet for awhile. This continues to go on, and soon, the whole farm is going o be back where they started, with a cruel master towering over them. But this time, the master is going to be Napoleon.

As you can see, although the idea of animalism may have sounded like equal opportunities for everyone, it later developed into a system where the pigs prevail, and the other animals suffered. The pigs have sure been taking advantage of their persuasive powers, and also the other animals' fear of the farm falling apart, to help themselves live the life of luxury, and to bend the rules to their liking. They really need to remember what it was like at the beginning of the book, and put themselves in the other animals' place.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Ode to Snow

Author's Note: I see poetry as one of my writing weaknesses, so for my creative piece, I tried a poem.

My thoughts are filled with visions of  snow,
In tons and tons of flakes it blows,
It creeps in my shoes and frosts at my toes,
Oh boy, oh boy, I love it so,
It is much fun for me and my friends,
It seems as though the joy never ends,
How amazing it is how much fun you can send,
From a snowball toppling your friend end-over-end.
My neighbor comes out to see what's with the racket,
All bundled up in his snug little jacket,
We tell him it's nothing but a silly little war,
And he says he would play if not for his sore,
We bid him goodbye and continue our act,
Until eventually agreeing on a peace contract,
To no more snow wars, and no more pain,
Then we spin around in circles like weather vanes,
And land in the snow laughing with ice in our ears,
Oh snow, oh snow, please come back in future years.

Mysteries and Murder in Real Life

Author's Note: I wrote this on a particularly slow day, and I was having trouble relating almost anything to the book, or at least anything that I could actually write a significant paragraph or two about. Anyway, this is what I came up with...

A while ago, I read "The Five Orange Pips" in the Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes. There are many reasons that this mystery can relate to a real life mystery.  As we've seen on the news and in reality tv news shows, people are murdered all too often. Sometimes the person who was murdered even tried to warn someone and get help to try to stop someone else from hurting them.  In real life, we don't always see the evidence unfold the way it does in this mystery story, but there are still many similarities between this story and real life murders.

In the story, a man is afraid that he will be killed, just like his father and grandfather. The only problem is, we don't really know how they died, so the man can't prevent it. The only evidence that Sherlock and his client have is a letter from mysterious person and five orange pips (five seeds from an orange).  In real life there are times that a person feels they are being threatened by someone they know, or even stalked by a stranger.  Sometimes they even receive a note or threat from the person that they feel is trying to hurt them. I can't even imagine what it would be like to feel your life is in danger, but I'm sure it's horrible!

In this story, Sherlock ends up solving the case, but not before the man ends up getting pushed off of a bridge. Holmes then avenges his client by sending a letter along with five orange pips to the leader of the gang that killed the man. Days later, the captain's boat is seen in a shipwreck out at sea. This case is similar to real life crime scenes because often times, if the murderer is smart, they'll make the crime look like an accident, and get rid-of all of the evidence as well.  It takes a very careful analysis of the crime scene, and in depth investigation to solve these types of cases.  When the victim has sought help prior to their death, it helps the police and detectives to narrow down who may have committed the murder.  In the Sherlock Holmes story it was lucky that his client came to Sherlock when he did. Otherwise, Sherlock never would have caught the leader of the gang, and never would have avenged the man that had to die such a sorrowful, wrongful death.

Setting: Baker Street, London, 1800s

Have you ever thought about how the setting of a story impacts the characters and plot of the storyline?  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes the story takes place in London, England in the 1800’s.  The time and location of the storyline effect the type of clients, the cases, and the resources involved in the mysteries that Sherlock Holmes is solving.

Taking place in London impacts how Sherlock Holmes finds and solves his cases.  Sherlock's case, "A Scandal in Bohemia", is a good example of this. In Holmes' first adventure, his client is a king. Having a king as a client makes perfect sense in Europe, but if Sherlock were located somewhere such as the United States, this wouldn’t make nearly as much sense. If the location were changed to the United States, the client might be changed to another type of important figure head, such as the President in Washington DC, or a famous celebrity in Hollywood.  The type of client affects the types of problems they encounter, and that Sherlock Holmes is trying to solve. 

The  fact that the story takes place in the 1800’s not only affects the clients and their cases, but it’s also directly related to how Sherlock Holmes solves the cases.   In "A Scandal in Bohemia", Holmes uses a smoke bomb to find a hidden picture that was a threat to a king.  The smoke bomb was a tool of those times.  If the storyline took place today, there would probably be some sort of x-ray vision machine that would serve the same purpose.

With reference to these examples, I conclude that the setting (London, England, 1800s)  of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,  plays a huge role in the development of the characters, plot and conclusion of the storyline. 

"You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear." ~Sherlock Holmes

Why is Sherlock Holmes so successful with all of his cases? He always seems to use the simplest pieces of evidence to solve a mystery. Somehow he puts all of the facts together in his head and makes sense of it, how nobody else could. After all, he did say himself, "You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear." This basically means that we judge things by how they look, but he observes them and takes his train of thought one step further, therefore coming one step closer to solving the problem, which just might give him the edge, when it comes to solving a mystery.

It always seems to be the small things he observes, because the are the most hidden, and anybody can see the obvious things. It doesn't actually take that much effort to see the small things, but it takes effort to observe them, and to think of why they are the way they are. Sherlock always goes the extra mile to think things through, and it usually is the deciding factor in the solution to a mystery. Sherlock once said, "It has long been a concept of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important." And he's right in that fact, and although the big things can play a huge part in a mystery, the small things are just as important. It helps to think that there is a reason that everything is how it is in life, and nothing is really the way it is for no reason. It just takes a powerful mind to further observe them.

I therefore conclude that the reason that Sherlock Holmes is successful in almost all of his cases is due to his ability to think about reasons for things, and is also never afraid to ask the question, "Why?"

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: (in 1890)

I think that there are many reasons why the story is greatly effected by the time period it takes place in. One reason is because of technology. They didn't have quite as sophisticated technology that could be used for crime-solving purposes back then. No DNA tests, no security cameras, and no cell phones to alert nearby officers. Today, a criminal simply wouldn't have been able to break into a bank quite as easily as the pawnbroker's assistant did in "The Red-Headed League". Depending on how the land that buildings were built on was back then, someone may or may not have been able to break in through a bank floor, but these days, It wouldn't be that easy, you would have to dig for at least a few weeks, and even if the floor of the bank was made of dirt, there would still be security systems.
Besides the fact that security was less sophisticated back in the late 1800's, it also seemed like you could get away with things a whole lot easier. In "A Scandal in Bohemia", Holmes instructs Dr. Watson to throw a smoke bomb in the window of Irene Adler's house, and gets away with it as if nothing happened. Didn't somebody see him? These days you would surely get arrested, and sent to jail for one reason or another, even if you did help solve a crime. Due to these reasons and several others as well, I conclude that the time period made a huge impact on crime, which provided a much needed use for an intelligent detective like Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a very smart detective. He uses his power of intellect to solve even the most challenging problems. He always seems to be able to solve mysteries by using simple facts that only he can seem to make sense of. He sort of reminds me of the children's book character Encyclopedia Brown. They both recollect small details and use their intellect to piece together information which seems simple, after they explain it to you.
I think this book is comedy for many reasons. The reason that the entire book is comedy is because each of the short stories, or mysteries, all fit the comedy plot line. They start off with normalcy, with no problems or anything, and then a problem arises. It usually relates to a client having a case, and wanting Holmes to solve it. Holmes comes up with a simple, sometimes crafty, conclusion, and solves the problem. Sometimes there is no return to normalcy, but the rest of the plot line always matches up perfectly. These aspects of the storyline bring me to the conclusion that The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a comedy.