Jules Verne (Photo credit: paukrus)

A Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a story by Jules Verne about a dangerous quest taken on by Harry(narrator) and his uncle, Professor Hardwigg. Their goal was to confirm a note written by Arne Saknussemm, Icelandic Alchemist; and to descend into the interior of the Earth. On their way they employed Huns, a very loyal guide, who stayed with them to the end. The road they chose provided them with invaluable knowledge as well as made them question whether or not their eyes were deceiving them. When the party finally came back to the exterior of the Earth, they met fame and glory in the civilized world, for their dedication allowed them to make numerous great discoveries.

The France in 1964, was going through a La Belle Epoque. The politics, science and arts were changing dramatically during this time period. “The second wave of industrial revolution seized the world”(Stein). Some great inventions were introduced such as: combustion engine, steel turbines, steel rails, first planes and airships of Zeppelin(Stein). The works of some great authors such as Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde, and James Joyce were published. This was the period when A Journey to the Centre of the Earth was written and published. The story reflects numerous economical, scientific, political, and societal issues during this exciting time period.

During the year of 1864, the Battle of Cherbourg took place near the coast of France. Two American ships battled: CSS Alabama versus USS Kearsarge. In the End, CSS Alabama was sunk(White House). A similar fight can be found in the Journey to the Centre of the Earth. It is implied that when the author describes two sea monsters fighting: “animals attacked one another with inconceivable fury. Such a combat was never seen before by mortal eyes, and to us who did see it, it appeared more like the phantasmagoric creation of a dream than anything else”(Verne 193). Jules Verne describes two terrible monsters: “The first of these hideous monsters has the snout of a porpoise, the head of a lizard, the teeth of a crocodile… The other was the mighty Plesiosaurus, a serpent with a cylindrical trunk, with a short stumpy tail, with fins like a bank of oars in a Roman galley”(Verne 192). However, it can be easily implied that he describes two ships that came together for a battle.

Since the economy and science of the period was thriving, the author describes a country where a person could easily start on an expedition to the other part of the Earth. It is quite interesting how Verne describes only scientific world of the period with a slight exception of Hans and few other people that the explorers meet along the way. For example, the story starts from describing to reader Henry and his uncle, both being quite passionate about the science of geology(Verne). The scientific world described in the book perfectly portrays the industrial revolution that was going on at the time. For example, Ruhmkorff coils invented in 1836, were used to describe the scientific progress of the time period. Author also accounts instruments such as Thermometer, Manometer, and Chronometer.

In 1860’s the regime of governing in France becomes more liberal. As it can be seen in book, the male population has franchise and women do not play very important role in society at that time(French Politics). Rather than portraying an exact political situation in France, Verne predicted a better and more liberal government which soon came to power in France. For example, he doesn’t find it hard to leave a country and travel to the Iceland. He also believes in international relations, which were established between professor Hardwigg and several other professors around the world, some of which help the expedition to the center of the Earth. As it stated in the end of the book, professor was even invited to give a lecture in the United States.

A Journey to the Centre of the Earth does not only portray the economic, societal, and political issues of the La Belle Epoque, but it also gives some idea of better future for France. It shows the reader technological advances of the country during the nineteenth century and shows what honor it was to be a scientist, explorer or researcher during this time period. A Journey to the Centre of the Earth depicts events of the American Civil War and industrial revolution in France. It conveys an idea of approaching a better future through great discoveries.

Works Cited

“19th Century French Politics.” 19th Century French Politics. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. <http://www.thuto.org/ubh/ub/h202/fr19p1.htm>.

“First Confederate White House Report.” The Battle of Cherbourg (1864). Web. 08 Mar. 2012. <http://firstconfederatewhitehousereport.blogspot.com/2011/02/battle-of-cherbourg-1864-part-ii-of.html>.

Stein, Joachim. “Belle Epoque – Introduction.” Belle Epoque. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://www.la-belle-epoque.de/beintroe.htm>.

Verne, Jules (2009-10-04). A Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Les Pauls 96thBirthday doodle pays tribute to Lester William Polsfuss who was popularly known as Les Paul. He helped pioneer the solid-body electric guitar. The doodleallows one to record the music they create using an instrument that resembles an electric guitar.

PAC MANs 30thAnniversary doodle pays tribute to one of the most classic video games in history. This game was developed by Namco and was released in first inin the year 1980. Google doodle allows one to play the game again.

122ndBirthday of Charlie Chaplin doodle pays tribute to Charlie Chaplin one of the greatest comedians of the silent era. It shows one of his funny clips for us.

Jules Vernes 183rd Birthday doodle pays tribute to Jules Verne the great French author who was a pioneer in the science-fiction genre. The doodle allows us to imagine that we are in Captain Nemos submarine the Nautilus.

Particle Logo is all about bouncing balls. Whenever you move your mouse pointer over it, the balls start bouncing.

Martha Grahams 117th Birthday doodle pays tribute to Martha Graham one of the most influential dancer and choreographer. She was very influential and was compared to Picasso. Her influence on dance was such. She choreographed many dances till her death of pneumonia at the age of 94.

Earth Day doodle pays tribute to the earth. The doodle shows us some of the different ecosystems found on the earth. It also shows some of the different animals you can find on earth. Each of these ecosystems produces an action when you move the mouse over it. For example if the mouse is moved over the lion it roars.

71st Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz doodle pays tribute to the 1939 film version of the story. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced this film and Victor Fleming directed the film. It was a musical fantasy film.

25th Anniversary of Tetris doodle pays tribute to the game. Alexey Pajitnov is the one who designed as well as programmed this game. The game was released in the year 1984.

40th anniversary of the Moon Landing doodle pays tribute to the first people who stepped on the moon. It shows a vision of the earth when seen from the moon.

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So I had a plan to save me from the rat race; a plan that surely couldn’t fail – I was going to become a writer. Being a writer really sucks so far. I am not making any money at all, seriously, my cat coughed up a fur ball the other day and it had a recycled sticker on it. I entered a creative writing competition which was pretty high brow, so I gave them my best material. They rejected it, banned me by IP address and contacted my ISP to file a loss of earnings law suit. I thought my submission was a sure winner; worthy of Shakespeare. It was short and concise, appropriately consistent with the theme, and showed an appreciation and knowledge of the classics. I’ll post it here and let you decide.

“Your momma is so fat, Jules Verne was inspired to pen ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’, while trying to give her a wide berth.”

People keep telling me that I need to promote my writing if I want to be successful in this business, but it’s hard to take someone serious when the only visual representation you have of them is an avatar of a moose. Yeah, sure buddy, I’m going to take that right on board. I doubt the guy I’m referring to could write an instruction manual on how to put shoes on, because he’d have to keep stopping to try to tie the laces on his slip-ons. Interestingly, the background on his avatar is short and yellow… it must remind him of something. The point is, I am now doing this for a living; and with a little hope and a little help from those of you who don’t ride the short bus, I could well succeed. So what do you say?

When it comes to reading, children must discriminate individual sounds before they can put them together to build words. Studies show playing rhyming games and sounding out words with your children helps develop their reading skills. But what about watching television?

According to a 2004 study published in The Journal of Biological Psychiatry, associating symbols with sound, especially in the form of narrative, plays a large role in the proper development of reading skills.

In the study, two groups of children with poor reading skills were examined to determine which learning approach was more effective: traditional remedial reading, special education, speech and language tutoring or reading lessons built around sound and symbol associations contained in narrative. The group that was given reading lessons with sound and symbol associations enjoyed learning more and had a dramatic improvement in their reading skills and fluency.

Based on this and other research, one company has developed an enjoyable way for students to improve reading, comprehension and development skills early on, and it involves watching television – specifically children’s movies. 

Reading Movies, part of the ReadEnt learning program developed by SFK Media Specially for Kids Corp., are interactive movies that use “Action Caption” technology to show the spoken word on the screen, in real time, as the character speaks. The words appear out of the mouths of the speakers with clarity and with no disruption to the flow of the movie. As children watch the movies, their reading and spoken language skills develop naturally.

Reading Movies are available in a set of three DVDs featuring adaptations of literary stories many know and love: Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” and “The Trojan Horse,” adapted from Homer’s “The Odyssey.” So what does this all mean for parents? No more guilt for letting your kids watch TV. 

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A word of caution though. A lot of convention goers take their costumes very seriously, and pour a lot of money and effort into them. So put some amount of thought into your costume.

Be a generic character:

You don’t need to be Hermione Granger or Harry Potter, you can just wear your Hogwarts robes of choice. Or maybe just wear your generic Jedi or Star Trek outfit (i know you have one!) or don elf ears and a flowing dress, or pop in those vampire fangs. This is your chance to be whatever you want.

Steampunk

Steampunk is a wildly popular subculture that’s based the Victorian view of the future. It’s very Jules Verne and H.G Wells. Wear period appropriate clothes, and then go all out mixing the past and present. Lots of leather and polished brass is a must, and all your gadgets must look extra complicated. It’s a very fun style, and you can accessorize however you want!

Stormtrooper

Sure, if you dress like a stormtrooper in real life, people will think you are absolutely mad. But at Dragon*Con, stormtroopers are just part of the scenery. That being said, stormtroopers are expected to be at the Con, so don’t let the masses down. Sure it’s summer in Atlanta, and you’re wearing a full body costume, but it’s for the people!

Cosplay

So, technically all of this is Cosplay (costume roleplay) but the main definition of cosplay is dressing like someone from a TV show or manga. Now here’s the deal about cosplaying as your favourite character from your favourite TV show. It’s easy because you just wear normal clothes, but it’s really hard at the same time because you have to get clothes that look just like your characters. There’s a tad bit of leeway, but you want to make it look nice. Also- if your hair color doesn’t match your character’s, get a wig!

Read More : http://gameolosophy.com/games/sports/total-club-manager/countdown-to-dragoncon-costuming/

Image by Bryce Spivey via Flickr