A Ton of Crap (53 page)

Storming of the Bastille
The Bastille was a royal prison that became a symbol of oppression. It was also where the arms and gunpowder were held. On July 14, 1789, hundreds of angry citizens demanded the weapons. When they were refused, they stormed the prison. After gunfire from the prison guards left 100 men dead, some prison guards defected, shooting open the prison doors. The governor of the Bastille surrendered and was beheaded. His head was put on a stake.

DEVELOPING A PARAGRAPH

The Topic Sentence
The topic sentence tells the reader what the rest of the paragraph will be about. Though the topic sentence does not need to be the very first sentence in the paragraph, it certainly is a good approach to take. The idea is that one would be able to summarize from the topic sentence what that paragraph is about. The sentence doesn’t have to blatantly state the topic at the beginning, as long as the paragraph is understandable.

BASIC ALGEBRA

Addition and Subtraction with Algebraic Expressions
An example of a single algebraic expression is 6
x
, where 6 represents the coefficient and
x
represents the variable, and these numbers are being multiplied together. You can only add and subtract like terms. For example, in 7
x
 + 9
z
x
and
z
are unlike terms and the problem thus cannot be simplified further; however, with 7
x
 + 9
x
, since the variables are both
x
, we can work the problem out and get 16
x
.

CHEMICAL FORMULAS

Polymers
Polymers are macromolecules made up of structural units that repeat. When writing the formula of a polymer, you do not have to write out every one of the repeating units. Instead, parentheses are used followed by a subscript to show how many times it repeats. For example, in a hydrocarbon molecule CH3(CH2)50CH3 the CH2 repeats 50 times.

BELARUSIAN

Grammar Reforms
The language has undergone two official grammar reforms, once in 1933, and again in 1959. The 1933 reform simplified grammar, got rid of any Polish influences that were believed to be corrupting the language, maintained artificial barriers between Russian and Belarusian, and removed vulgarisms and neologisms. In 1959 further changes were made to the grammar, resulting in the Belarusian grammar that exists today with a few changes made throughout the years.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Women’s March on Versailles
The women’s march on Versailles is one of the most significant events of the French Revolution. On October 5 and 6, 1789, some 7,000 women of the marketplace marched to the king’s palace demanding the price of bread and food be brought down. The crowd forced the king and the French Assembly to return to Paris. The authority of the king had effectively been ended and the balance of power began to shift toward the common folk.

DEVELOPING A PARAGRAPH

Supporting Sentences
Supporting sentences do just that; they support. If the topic sentence is the main idea of the paragraph, then the supporting sentences should provide the necessary information (images, data, analysis) to back up that statement. A good rule of thumb when writing paragraphs is they should be five to seven sentences long. That should provide enough support for the main idea you are trying to get across.

BASIC ALGEBRA

Multiplication with Algebraic Expressions
With multiplication it is a matter of following the laws regarding exponents.

For example:

x
⁴
(
x
³
 + 6
a
) = 
x
⁷
 + 6
ax
⁴

This is the simplest answer we can get from a problem like this. With problems with two sets of equations in parentheses, break the first set up as such:

(
x
 + 7) (
a
 – 2)

x
(
a
 – 2) + 7(
a
 – 2)

You add or subtract the problems based on whether the second part of the problem is positive or negative. So that gives us:

xa
 – 2
x
 + 7
a
 – 14

We cannot break that down any further, so that is our answer.

CHEMICAL FORMULAS

Ions
Ions are atoms that have a positive or negative charge. This is due to the fact that the number of electrons in the atom is not the same as the number of protons. Ions can be represented with a superscript on the right hand side showing whether it is positive or negative. For example, Na+. In more complex ions, brackets are used (and parentheses can be used inside of the brackets).

BELARUSIAN

The Impact of World War II
Following World War II, Russian became the official national language of Belarus under the Soviets, and it was the principal language for communication. The teaching and use of the Belarusian language was limited to rural areas, and Russian would stay the official language until the 1980s. When Perestroika began, political control was more relaxed, and support for the Belarusian language grew.