The Renaissance Man- Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance man, because he explored many different subjects during the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci was a very famous artist, because he painted many fantastic paintings, like the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. Other than being an artist, Leonardo is also interested in Science. He loved to study the human's muscle and expressions, and applied them in his painting. He created a new drawing technique called the anatomical accuracy, which is adding details to the human to make them more realistic. Leonardo was also an engineer, because he invented and designed many machines. He became the military engineer of Milan when Milan had war with France. Leonardo mastered art, Science and engineering. He not only invented new machines for engineering, but also found out many new facts about humans in Science. Leonardo dared to try and explained many ideas that no one had ever tried before, which made him one of the most important man during the Renaissance.

Brunelleschi's Courage

I believe that Brunelleschi's courage is the most important characteristic to build the dome. Although he had plans and skills to build the dome, but he also needed courage to construct the dome. The dome of Santa Maria was an abandoned work because everyone thought that it was impossible to be build, but Brunelleschi wanted to complete this large dome. This showed that he had courage because he was not afraid of trying impossible things. He dared to try something that everyone failed on. Other than trying challenging things, he was also a man with strong will. Brunelleschi's ideas was once rejected by the people and they kicked him out of the building. He got really mad for a few days but he never gave up. He discussed with the people again and finally, they understood what he meant and agreed with him. Brunelleschi was not only a man with strong will but he also had courage. Even though he had faced failure, but he still had confidence and courage to try again. Courage helped Brunelleschi a lot in completing the dome. Without courage, he would have give up on the dome and the ideas of constructing large domes will vanish.

Where Do Ideas Come From?

I think ideas usually come from people who want to make things easier. People often gather and create ideas together in many communities. For example, some of the students in ISKL join the Student Council, where the students brainstorm ideas for the school and represent all students in ISKL to tell the teachers. The student council invents new ideas to make a student's life better. Ideas can also come from people that want to make things more interesting, like the teachers. In ISKL, most of the teachers will come together and invent some interesting teaching ways to attract the students' attention and create a fun learning environment for them. These fun teaching style will also make learning easier for the students because they can memorise and understand the concepts faster. Ideas are very important to everyone because they can give us a simpler but interesting life. Without ideas, we will not be able to improve and develop.

My favorite story- What makes a good story?

After reading the short stories in this unit, I think that the most interesting story is "Lamb to the Slaughter" because this story is very ironic and calculating. My favourite part of the story is when Mary Maloney purposely put the leg of lamb into the oven and waited for the policemen to notice it. She is really smart because the policemen will not suspect her if she offered them to eat the lamb shank. I am very surprise that Mary Maloney, an ordinary and caring housewife, can make up a ruse and bewilder the policemen like this. The ending of the story also leave me a deep impression because it is very strange and irony. The policemen destroyed the only evidence when they were supposed to look for the murder weapon. Particularly when the policemen were stating that the weapon is somewhere around the premises while they were enjoying the leg of lamb. Mary Maloney made the policemen themselves to vanish the only evidence. Overall, the way Mary Maloney puzzled and confuse the policemen to protect her baby makes this a good story.