The Ghost Map 1-55 :: Traian Dragomir

In this first part of the book, Steve Johnson describes the terrifying and miserable setting of the Victorian Age in London. It is awful how people lived by the dozen in one building and at the same time having room to grow livestock. The streets were were overwhelmed by the smell of decaying matter and human feces coming from overflowing cesspools. No wonder the slightest contamination lead to epidemics and deaths by the hundreds.

Cholera is what terrifies everybody during this time period. Baby Lewis’ contaminated fluids made their way into the sublayers of the earth from where the main pump on Broad Street got its cold, slightly carbonated water. Its reputation made everyone that lived in and around Golden Sqare acquire their water supplies there.

During the outbreak, many people had their own original theories for the cure of this disease. Few hit close to home.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Trasformation :: Traian Dragomir

The image that portrays Jekyll’s paranormal transformation into the hideous Mr. Hyde is fascinating given its date. It sets up a mysterious atmosphere for the events that are about to occur and adds and evil touch to the story. Furthermore, it clearly shows the difference between one’s evil and benefactor, or at least neutral, state of being. I like this take on the transformation far more than the ones in the book and the movie. The movie scene is more gruesome and shows the character’s tormented self. The picture shows the transformation from a psychological point of view which makes it more interesting and captivating.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Novel vs Movie :: Traian Dragomir

The movie adaptation of the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was interesting to a certain extent. I’m not a great fan of old movies so I found this one a bit boring. Nevertheless, what amazed me was the numerous differences between the movie and the novel. The main difference is that the movie shows the audience that the two characters mentioned in the title are the same soon after the beginning. In the book, one only finds out at the end in Dr. Jekyll’s confession. Also, the death of Dr. Jekyll was different and, in fact, disappointed me. I liked the suicide story rather than the fatal shot. It shows the inner tourment Dr. Jekyll dealt with better.

The World’s Fair :: Traian Dragomir

The video presented in class was pretty interesting. I was amazed at the size of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts building. I did not know so many things from all over the world fit in that construction. What interests me more is how they brought all those things and got them inside. I wish I would’ve been a part of that immense development. Apart from the misery in which people lived in Chicago, for some reason I would’ve liked to be around for that time. I look forward towards another fair of that proportion, but I doubt any could compete.

The Hound Of Baskervilles :: Traian Dragomir

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                Yet another captivating adventure, The Hound of Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle portrays Mr. Sherlock Holmes in probably his most famous case, which, of course, gives the name of the book. Nevertheless, this is not one of the detective’s ordinary cases. While most other mysteries involve only people, in The House of Baskervilles Mr. Holmes faces what seems to be a paranormal and inexplicable being capable of great evil.

                The story begins with Dr. Watson playing the role of detective when he tries to pull conclusions about Dr. Mortimer by examining his walking stick: “Well, Watson, what do you make of it?” (Doyle, 3-5). This opening in the story can only foreshadow events that will take place further in the rising action. Here, Mr. Holmes tries to train his friend in becoming somewhat closer to a detective. As the story develops, the case becomes in great part Mr. Watson’s responsibility (Doyle, 52).

                The stick turns out to have been forgotten by a gentleman by the name of James Mortimer who has come to see Sherlock Holmes about a puzzling murder of a certain Sir Charles Baskervilles. The case is laid out before Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson who, at first, are puzzled as well. In a note written by the deceased before he died, he warns his followers about a curse that has been put on his family several years back. At these words Sherlock Holmes, even though he appears interested, is filled with sarcasm (Doyle, 23) and refuses to look at the problem as having a supernatural tone.

Just as he has solved his previous cases, putting together fact after fact to get the bigger picture, he decides to find a reasonable explanation for this unfortunate occurrence. However, Dr. Mortimer persists that the way to the answer far exceeds Mr. Sherlock Holmes detective abilities. Furthermore, he mentions the accounts of the peasants that live on the moor about the murderous hound: “Since the tragedy, Mr. Holmes, there have come to my ears several incidents which are hardly to reconcile with the settled order of Nature.” (Doyle, 22).

As if looking for a friend or someone with whom he can share the same ideas, Sherlock Holmes subtly persuades Dr. Mortimer to reconcile his perspective: “And you, a trained man of science, believe it to be supernatural?” (Doyle, 23). In his question, Sherlock Holmes tries to make it seem as if believing in such a hound is naïve and non-professional. He wants to make Mortimer feel as if he wouldn’t be “a trained man of science” if he believed in this supernatural force. However, Dr. Mortimer is so affected by the discourse of these events that he decides to stay neutral as far as the cause of death is concerned: “I do not know what to believe,” he answers (Doyle, 23).

Since Sherlock Holmes is slightly taken aback because of Dr. Mortimer’s suppositions that the case is out of any detective’s league, he wants to get to the point and asks his visitor the purpose of this meeting. Dr. Mortimer wants advice from the detective on what to do upon Sir Henry Baskervilles’ arrival, who is next in line to inherit his uncle’s possessions.

Sherlock Holmes becomes very interested in this case and decides to examine it in detail so he sends Watson to accompany his clients back to the moor and report to him only facts. He does so because he wants to train Dr. Watson in observing only facts and not forming theories upon presumptions and guesses. This occurrence is confirmed when the identity of a mysterious man that lives on the moor is brought to light (Doyle, 122-3). Sherlock Holmes had been conducted the same investigation in parallel with Watson. He did so not because he did not trust his friend’s methods, but because he was concerned about his safety (Doyle, 125).

During his quest, Watson and Sir Henry conducted investigation on the eerie events that have happened upon the estate. What was important about their doings is that before they began anything they asked themselves what Mister Sherlock Holmes would’ve done in their shoes: “we should be able to shadow him, and see what it is that he is after. I wonder what your friend Holmes would do if he were here?” (Doyle, 85). This shows that Dr. Watson took the detective as reference and tried to conduct any investigation from Holmes’ point of view. Furthermore, Dr. Watson treats Mr. Holmes with respect and honors him for his methods and intellect.

When Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson finally meet on the moor, they combine their stories and agree on the same suspect, Mr. Stapleton, to be the cause of all this. The adventure follows with more action than deducing, typical to Sherlock Holmes. In the end, the supernatural being is unveiled as being and actual hound of mass proportions. Sherlock Holmes succeeds in killing it before it killed Sir Henry.

The Hound of Barkervilles :: Traian Dragomir

This is indeed, by far, one of the most interesting stories by Arthur Conan Doyle about the adventures of his friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I think the fact that the story is presented to the detective by having a supernatural air makes me want to keep on reading.

It all starts when Mr. Mortimer visits Sherlock Holmes’ residence and shows him a letter written by a recently deceased man who owned a great deal of estates. The death is mysterious and strange as neighbors recall an enormous beast in the nearby moor to which a legent is tied. The detective spends an entire day trying to figure out what to make of this story. I can’t wait to read more!

Sign of Four Paper Draft :: Traian Dragomir

In the Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduces Sherlock Holmes through the eyes of Dr. Watson. The detective is very mysterious and very unpredictable. He is a scientist interested in solving mysteries. But it’s not the cases that make the story interesting, but the methods Sherlock Homes uses to come to his conclusion.
At the beginning of the story, Sherlock Holmes is a drug addict. When Dr. Watson expresses his concern personally to Holmes, the detective explains him that conventional living bores him very much. Doing drugs excites his state of mind just like any difficult case. He cannot live without some intellectual challenge daily.

Holmes’ methods of making observations, hypothesis, and theories are based almost entirely on physical evidence rather than the context of documents. For example, rather than reading a letter for clues, Holmes examines the paper type. Sherlock is portrayed as a very intellectual man who can comes up with ideas and clues from the smallest details. From a watch, he described Dr. Watson’s brother’s character and habits to amazing exact detail.

Mary Morstan is Holmes’ newest client. Hospitably, Sherlock listens to her story but finds it very interesting when she mentions pearls from an anonymous, but generous, destination. Sherlock, interested in her case, decides that he and Dr. Watson will escort Ms. Morstan to the mysterious meeting.

During Sherlock’s investigation, he doesn’t make much use of the police force because he thinks they are inexperienced and not very educated. On the other hand, he uses the street orphans of England. His knowledge of society allows him to know that these kinds of children are somewhat “invisible” to the normal society. Thus, it will be very easy for them to get around the city without anyone noticing them. This isn’t the only type of camouflage Holmes uses. To find out more about the boat his suspect plans on running away with, the detective disguises himself in an old man and engages into conversations. Because people think he’s just like any other ordinary man, they have no reason to hold back any information thinking it’s harmless.

Industry and Science – The Day the World Took Off :: Traian Dragomir

This video was more informative than fun to watch. A bunch of people sat at a table and talked about the tulips Holland people invested in which sooner or later turned out to be a disappointment or a success. However, to get to that point, Holland had to send out some guy named Hudson to find a way to the Indies so that they didn’t have to go through the almighty Ottoman Empire. He didn’t do much good because on his second trip he decided that his crew’s lives were less valuable then the expedition so they dumped him and his son on an iceberg to see how he feels about that. They forgot about him and he died. Back at home, however, Holland was developing quickly and soon developed a banking system through which people could take risks investing in… flowers. Some of the times that paid off and people acquired large sums of money which they invested again in new expeditions and developing the country’s economy further. That was a very smart thing to do. Nevertheless, that didn’t last for long and somehow Holland’s national flower was also the one to bring it down from the industrial Billboard.

New at the top was Britain which was mass-producing  goods. Even though the goods were not top-noch quality, they were made quickly and many. They set sail and conquered the main market points: America, Jamaica, India, Australia, and some territories in Africa. This brought the monarch a copious amount of money and Britain was becoming the most industrially developed country.

Industry and Science – Macfarlane :: Traian Dragomir

Macfarlane’s videos we watched in class were very interesting. He expressed his perspective about why the Islamic Empire did not become an industrialized power very concise and easy to understand. For example, even though the Islamic Empire was so vast, it’s conservative religion did not allow for new ideas. As stated in the video, Islam goes back to the time of Muhammad and tries to live after its teachings while Christianity, which dominated Europe at that time, looks forward to its prophet’s return to Earth. This allowed Europeans to revolutionize everything, without any restraints (except for the fact that the world is flat =P) during that time. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire’s social life was very unpredictable which led to distrust between the sultan and his subjects.

However, social life was not the only obstacle the Empire faced. Numerous Mongol attacks weakened it. Also, the fact that the Empire controlled mostly arid land did not allow for revolutions in agriculture which, at that time, played and important role in the development of any society. Maybe the society was not interested in producing agricultural goods so they became very good merchants. They would have rather imported and bargained than mass-producing.

Another very good point made by Macfarlane was that for a society to advance technologically some standards of living had to be met. For example, unlike Europe, the taxes in the Islamic Empire were very harsh. Furthermore, everyday life was unpredictable and society didn’t have much of a legal system.

Islam: Empire of Faith :: Traian Dragomir

• 1. Islam was born from the prophecies of Muhammad , an orphan since the age of six, who during his early adulthood had had a revelation. His story was that an angel descended from heaven and asked him to unite as many people under one God as possible. And that is exactly what happened. The desert wars between Bedouins and different tribes transformed into a peaceful society united around Mecca, an important religious and economic city. The empire, united under one faith, expanded quickly and spread Muhammad’s teachings from the northern Africa to Romania and from Spain to India. Muslims built beautiful worship buildings known as mosques and universities where they did research in almost every field. Islamic architecture and ways of living influenced most of Europe. At the empire’s weakest point in time, unfortunately, Jerusalem was attacked by crusaders. However, what started the anti-Muslim sentiments among Christians was Alhakim’s burning of a mosque in Baghdad. Alhakim was the current Egyptian emperor at that time.
• 2. The most interesting thing I found in the interview was Mr. Nasr’s definition of the term “jihad.” I saw that Muslim people use it to describe the expanding of their faith while other cultures see it as a violent act.