A Ton of Crap (46 page)

The Articles of Confederation
Upon winning their freedom, the thirteen states began to operate under their own rules, and a centralized government was strongly opposed, fearing another monarchy could arise. As a compromise, the Articles of Confederation were drafted in 1776 and ratified in 1781. Essentially, this was the country’s first constitution. Each state would retain its freedom, and a committee of representatives — a Congress — would be responsible for declaring war, dealing with foreign affairs, and maintaining an army and navy. Though the document had a lot of good ideas, it had many shortcomings, and these led to the creation of the Constitution.

LITERARY TERMS

Allegory
In literature, an allegory is a narrative that is symbolic of something else. With allegories, behind the literal translation of the story, a second, more meaningful story or idea can be found. For example, the literal story of
Lord of the Flies
is about children stranded on an island where chaos ensues; however, the allegory is about civilization as a whole and the evil of humankind.

SQUARE ROOTS

Multiplying Square Roots
When multiplying square roots, simplify the problem into its basic form. For example:

√10 = √5 × √2 = √5√2

When working in the other direction, the problem must be simplified by writing no more than one radical. For example:

√3√12 = √3 × √3 × √4 = √3 × √3 × 2 = 3 × 2 =6

STEPHEN HAWKING

Theory of Singularity
Stephen Hawking’s theory of singularity was his first major contribution to the world of physics. Using the work of Albert Einstein and Roger Penrose (with whom he collaborated), Hawking proved that the origin of our universe was in a singularity that has no end. Hawking’s research supported the big bang theory and began his lifelong interest in black holes.

ICELANDIC

Middle Icelandic
From 1350 to 1550, the differences between Norwegian and Icelandic grew significantly. There was a dichotomy in Icelandic: Part of the Icelandic language remained pure and the other went through a significant transformation. Among the changes made was a diphthongization of long vowels, short vowels became less tense, previously absent consonant phonemes appeared, and unvoiced consonants were now aspirated. These changes were never written, but were phonetic.

THE CONSTITUTION

The Constitutional Convention of 1787
In 1787, the delegates from all of the states except Rhode Island met in Philadelphia to create a more centralized government. Two plans, the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, were presented. The Virginia Plan consisted of a powerful centralized government that had executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The New Jersey Plan would make changes to the Articles of Confederation and allow Congress to control taxes and trade to some degree. A compromise was reached, combining parts of both plans.

LITERARY TERMS

Catharsis
In literature, a catharsis is a point in the narrative when there is a release of negative emotions, which in turn ends up either helping the character or helping the audience in understanding the character. The term comes from the Greek
kathoros
, which means “to make clean or purify.” Use of the term applied to literature first appeared in Aristotle’s
Poetics
, in which he describes the impact of drama on a viewer.

SQUARE ROOTS

Adding and Subtracting Square Roots
With addition, if the root is the same, you just have to add the numbers before it. For example:

3√5 + 2√5 = 5√5

If a square root can be simplified into whole numbers, then they should be, and then continue with the problem. For example:

3√25 + 2√25 = 3(5) + 2(5) = 25

Only like radicals can be combined in the end, so if you end with a problem like 2√3 + 3√7, then that is your answer.

STEPHEN HAWKING

Work with Black Holes
Hawking’s work with black holes has been critical in understanding our universe. Hawking proved that when two black holes merge, the new hole’s surface area is larger than the sum of the two black holes, and that surface area only increases and does not decrease. The two most important discoveries made by Hawking concerning black holes are that black holes give off heat and that there exist millions of small black holes created from the big bang.

ICELANDIC

Modern Icelandic
Modern Icelandic formed around 1550 with the introduction of the printing press, the Lutheran Reformation, and the translation of the Bible. Several changes have been made to both the vowel system and the consonant system. The modern alphabet was established in the nineteenth century and based on that of the twelfth century, with some changes made to fit Germanic conventions. In the twentieth century,
é
was adopted, replacing
je
, and the letter
z
was abolished.

THE CONSTITUTION