Month: May 2020

The Somme by Peter Hart

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Recently, I’ve started researching for my research essay about the Somme. To do so, I thought it would be a good idea to read books on it and try to expand my knowledge on it. Therefore, I bought ‘The Somme’ by Peter Hart, a renowned historian about World War 1. The book is around 550 pages long, this normally wouldn’t take too long to read, but since I have to highlight important areas and make notes on the book, it’s taking a long time: so far I’ve read about 400 pages. The book contains multiple journals written by soldiers during the battle; not only do these journals give a detailed view of the battles, but the personal insights, along with the agony and terror they had to experience. There were even descriptions of how the very soldiers that wrote the journals died; clearly emphasising the grim and unexpectant nature of war. Sometimes, I found the book hard to understand and confusing: while Peter Hart’s assessment on the many sub-battles and whether they were a failure or not was useful and insightful, sometimes his specific descriptions of what was going on in the battles were confusing. Nevertheless, I found the book very useful and detailed. It will definitely provide the cornerstone for my research and give me a clear overview on the battle.

The Somme: Hart, Peter: 9781605980812: Amazon.com: Books

CREST Reflection #1

CREST

What might have helped you decide your project theme?

Recently I’ve got to know a practice called ‘Dopamine Detoxing’, where people don’t access their phones, computers, TVs, or any ‘addictive’ electronics for a certain period. This made me realise the potential harmful effects of dopamine, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to research about dopamine in depth.

What was your initial approach to this project? How might that change?

Initially, I was going to put a major focus on the psychology of dopamine. But after realising that the main focus of the project should be on the science, I changed my approach and started focusing more on the science of dopamine. This will require me to research in depth about the neuroscience of dopamine, and how it affects the brain specifically.

What might be the next steps you take in completing your project? Can you anticipate any hurdles?

Obviously, first of all, I’ll need to research. They should be from renowned sources backed up with evidence. I don’t anticipate any particularly difficult hurdles to overcome as of now, but one may be keeping the balance between science and psychology in my final presentation and research.

CREST Outline & Feedback

CREST

After creating my outline for the CREST project, some of my classmates gave me some feedback. Most found my topic interesting and unique. One classmate, Aryan, suggested that comparing dopamine to other ‘feel-good’ hormones may be a good idea. So far, I am yet to decide on how my project will be presented, so I’ll have to make a decision.

CREST moodboard and ten ideas

CREST

 

10 science ideas

  • Shoe cushioning materials
  • Shoe cushioning variants between companies
  • The science behind shoe cushioning
  • Evolution of cushioning
  • Impact protection
  • How cushioning materials contribute to sustainability
  • Sports that utilise high technology cushioning materials
  • How do different types of cushioning suit different types of sports?
  • The future of shoe cushioning
  • How do different cushioning technologies differ from one another?

SWOT Analysis

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Strengths

  • I am pretty good at time management and I trust myself to stay on task, which will be a crucial trait for this project.
  • I have prior experience with papers that require heavy research, so that would be very helpful when gathering information.

Weaknesses

  • I have never been engaged in a significant science project before, so it would be difficult for me to have a clear knowledge of topics I might consider.

Opportunities

  • I want to expand my knowledge on scientific topics that I was previously unexposed to.
  • I want to conduct well-done research on scientific topics, which I’ve never done before.

Threats

  • Lack of experience may mean that I get lost sometimes.

A simple take on the repeated phrase ‘So it goes’ in Slaughterhouse five

ELP IGCSE

‘So it goes’ is a phrase that is constantly repeated in Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse Five; it always appears when someone, or even something, dies. In essence, the phrase reflects the Tralfamadorian (fictional alien race that appears in the book) philosophy of  death just being a bad condition at a particular moment in one’s existence, and that the same person is just fine in various other moments. To put it simply, even though someone dies, he probably had some good moments in his life as well, so why care so much? However, the passive phrase also reflects the desensitization towards death in war, which I find as the most interesting aspect of this repeated phrase. This attitude can be largely attributed to Kurt’s nihilistic perspective towards death, he even once said “When you’re dead, you’re dead. Also, make love when you can. It’s good for you.” If I put it very roughly, the phrase embodies Kurt’s philosophy of “I don’t care whether you die a hero, or got shot by a bullet while procrastinating with your comrades. I also really don’t care if you’re a random bird, or a human. If you’re dead you’re dead, and you’re just one of the millions of casualties in the war (by the way, not a real quote by Kurt, I just made it up).”