"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.

Friendship

            One reoccurring theme in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is friendship. The author, Mark Twain, develops the characters friendships by engaging them in a wide variety of situations, such as getting lost in a cave, being pirates on a deserted island, or running away from a bunch of graverobbers.  Whether having fun with Becky, or playing Robin-hood with Huck or Joe, Tom sure loves enjoying time with his friends.  He never misses out on an opportunity to sneak out and go on an adventure!  Tom's friends play a very important role in the story and these developing friendships are a main part of what makes you want to keep on reading.   

            The adventures that Tom Sawyer had with his girlfriend, Becky Thatcher, were some of the most exciting moments of the book. The relationship between the two was almost like a rollercoaster. Mad at each other one day, and having a nice cruise on a steamboat together the next, their friendship was anything but normal. Ever since that day in the classroom when they got engaged, they have had a lot of conflict and adventure, but they always seem to work it out in the end. One example was the time when they got lost in the cave together. It was after the steamboat had stopped by the entrance to a cave, and the passengers had gotten out to explore. Most people didn’t go far into the cave, but Becky and Tom decided to explore to the extents of the darkness. Eventually they lost track of time, and not realizing that it was already the next morning, they started to head back towards the entrance of the cave, where they thought that all of the other passengers would still be. This doesn’t sound so tragic, but they soon discovered that they were lost, and no matter how hard they shouted, they couldn’t hear any of the other people. They almost didn’t make it out. Of course, being some of the main characters, they survived. It goes to show that no matter what goes on between them, they always will value each other’s friendship.

            Although One of Tom’s main friends was Becky, he also had other friends too. One was Joe Harper, a normal boy about Tom’s age, who was always up for some fun. Although Joe didn’t have a gigantic impact on the story, he played a very important role on several occasions. One example was during the Pirate Adventure. He was the one who decided that he wanted to go home, and almost took Huck with him. This made Tom tell them about how he had made a visit back to his house, eavesdropping on Aunt Polly and Joe’s Mother. This made the boys stay, and also develop a plan to crash their own funeral. If it weren’t for Joe, they might have stayed on the island for the next few weeks or months for all we know. This proves that no matter how small the impact that a person makes, they can greatly change how things end up.

            Although Joe made a difference in Tom’s adventures, he doesn’t even slightly match up to the significance that Huckleberry Finn had on the story. Besides being on the pirate adventure with Tom and Joe, he also goes on a whole separate adventure with Tom that lasts for the last few chapters of the book. They decide to go treasure hunting. This may sound fun, but it ends up being a whole lot creepier than just a bunch of random digging. They end up being caught in a giant situation with a fugitive by the name of Injun Joe, his sidekick, and a secret fortune worth thousands of dollars. They end up trying to track down the treasure, without encountering the Indian. This ends up being pretty tricky, as Tom goes into an abandoned cavern only to find Injun Joe asleep on the floor, and runs out of the cavern as fast as he can. Huck then agrees to watch and see when and if Injun Joe comes out. This whole fiasco ends up being a very important part of the book, especially towards the end, when Tom and Huck end up getting the treasure, making all of the other boys envious. This, and many other significant events make Huck one of Tom’s most important friends, if not the most important.

            The title of this book could easily be changed to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and his Friends due to the importance Tom’s friends play throughout the book. It just wouldn’t have been the same if Tom would have been on his own.  The experiences Tom had with Becky, Huck, and Joe added many levels of excitement and helped the author develop the different aspects of Tom’s personality.  As I was reading, I kept thinking about different friends of mine that have similarities to Tom’s friends, and what I would have done with those friends if I were in the same situation as Tom.  Tom was a mischievous boy and luckily had some good friends that were happy enough to join him in his adventures.  I conclude that the friendship and experiences Tom and his friends shared together were one of the most valuable themes in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Chapter 9: The Graveyard

In the book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I found that Chapter 9 was a very significant chapter in the book.  In addition to helping create a personal connection to the book by helping me understand what life would have been like during the time of Tom and Huck’s adventures, it’s in this chapter that the relationship between Huck and Tom really begins to develop.

            There are several significant things in this chapter that helped me understand what life was like back in Mark Twain’s time. First, Tom and Huck visit a graveyard in an attempt to remove warts with a dead cat. While this seems silly, it seems to have been something fairly normal for the characters and it shows how far a couple of boys would go to solve a problem back then.  In this section, they decided to try out Huckleberry Finn’s suggestion to use a dead cat. But where are you supposed to find one of those? In the novel, Huck just shows up with a dead cat, like it’s no big deal. It would have been interesting to know just where he had gotten the cat.  Besides the cat, it seems that it was much easier to “sneak out” in those days. In the chapter, Tom sneaks out around ten at night. How did he do that? I usually go to bed around nine, and my parents don’t go to bed until several hours later, so my chances would be pretty slim of sneaking out at ten.  I also found it very interesting that a bunch of grave robbers could just wander into a graveyard and dig up a grave to steal a person’s valuable possessions.  I can’t imagine anyone robbing a grave these days, even if the graveyard didn’t have a fence around it.  It would just be outright disrespectful to the person’s family, and you would never be able to forgive yourself for disrupting someone’s grave.  I also don’t think people are buried with that many valuable things these days. People must have had a lot of valuable things buried with them in the grave back then to make it worth the while of the grave robbers.  I guess these things show how things change over time.  In a hundred years or so kids are going to look back at our time and say things like, “Wow! I can’t imagine life being like that.” Or maybe something like, “Wow! I can’t imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have hovercrafts!”  It just goes to show that things are always changing, and to Tom Sawyer, our way of life would seem pretty weird too.

           

            More important than the personal connection, this chapter was also significant for the development of the characters.  The chapter highlights Tom and Huck’s first big experience together.  Without the graveyard, there would have been no piracy or treasure hunting and the book would have ended much differently.  In the end, Tom and Huck end up splitting the treasure money, and Huck ends up being taken care of by the Widow Douglas. None of that would have happened if it weren’t for Tom and Huck’s graveyard experience in chapter nine.

Therefore, I conclude that chapter nine was definitely one of the most important chapters, if not the most important chapter, of the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Modes of Literature: Phineas and Ferb

  My sister really likes the TV show Phineas and Ferb. I must say that I enjoy it too because I find it funny at times. I think it's comedy because everything starts normal (normalcy), then turns into chaos. The "boys" start to build some contraption and then something almost always goes wrong with it (problem/conflict). In addition, their sister is trying to get them in trouble for it by calling their mom. But right before she gets there, their contraption disappears. It usually has to do with their pet platypus who also happens to be a secret agent. (solution, even though it wasn't solved by the main character) The boys just sit under a tree, innocent, like nothing happened. (Return to normalcy)

Does Patriotism Still Matter?

            What is patriotism? Some people think patriotism is doing something simple, like wearing a red, white, and blue shirt. While this is true, this is not what patriotism is all about. Patriotism is mostly about the devoted love, support, and defense of one's country. If you think about veterans, this is exactly what they provide. If they didn’t love, or want to support our country, then they wouldn’t have been out there defending our country. Without them, without their patriotism, our country would be a very different place.  

Can you imagine what our country would be like without the Veterans’ patriotism? Many, many things would be different about it. First of all, Americans probably wouldn’t have as much freedom as we do now. We wouldn’t be able to do whatever we want, however we want to. Sure, there are still laws in effect today, but the laws would be the least of our worries if America wasn’t a free country. There’s always a good chance that we would end up having a dictatorship, with a king or queen. We wouldn’t be able to make many decisions about our country, especially who our leader is. What would happen if we get a bad leader? You could probably say goodbye to any decision in our country, or our rights. In addition, we wouldn’t even be “America” anymore. We would probably be a part of Great Britain, or some other European country.

If good patriots have been fighting to keep America how it has been for over two thousand years, why should we stop having good patriotism now? We should keep up what our ancestors started. Just because people in the modern day have become busier with modern day jobs and technology, doesn’t mean that we don’t have time for patriotism. Patriotism still matters because if it weren’t for patriotism, our country would be a whole lot different than it is now.