By Alice K – L6
A poem by Alice K which is being submitted to the Tower Poetry Competition Continue reading
Tanks
By Sung P – Y9
Tanks played a major role in the First World War. When we think of tanks, we this of huge machines that can blow things up and also a transport which is well armoured.
The word ‘tank’ literally means ‘land vessel’. Winston Churchill donated/gave a huge amount of money for the funding of tanks. But the first use of tanks wasn’t until The Battle of the Somme. They were mainly successful but there were pros and cons.
How has Sherlock Holmes Been Portrayed Through the Ages and How Does it Compare to the Books?
By Charlie S – Y8
Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed many times in different media, from actors Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing in the early twentieth century to the more recent Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr, each one a slight variation on the original books, with spin-offs such as Young Sherlock (books [1] and film [2]), Mr Holmes (film [3]) and the Baker Street Irregulars (graphic novels [2011]). I thought it would be interesting to compare some of the many versions of him to see which is the most fitting to the original books by Arthur Conan Doyle.
To what extent is Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler a feminist play?
By Georgia G – U6
Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler is often labelled a feminist play, but this has not been universally accepted. This essay explores arguments for and against the assumption that the play is feminist; one can argue that it is since its protagonist is undoubtedly oppressed by society’s patriarchal conventions, contemporary audiences identified with her for this reason, and there are reasons to suggest that we can all sympathise with Hedda. Arguments to the contrary are that Hedda is in fact entirely unsympathetic so cannot positively advocate feminism, that Ibsen’s intentions point away from feminism, or that her suffering is the result of her own weak character, not society’s gender inequality. I will conclude that Hedda Gabler is an implicitly feminist play since it asserts that women are primarily human beings, and equal to men in the sense that they are allowed universality, and are not restricted to the feminine. To complete my research, I used a range of critical articles from 1891 (the year the play premiered) to today, as well as extracts from books on Ibsen and his plays. Conscious that a play is about more than the written word, my research includes references to Hedda Gabler productions and the views of actors and directors, again from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
To what extent do Paralympians utilising advanced sports prostheses have an advantage over able bodied athletes?
By Tabitha S – U6
In this essay I aim to determine whether athletes utilising advanced sports prosthetics have an advantage over able bodied athletes. Initially I started researching into the general topic of prosthetics, which greatly interested me because it applies numerous scientific disciplines to make a very meaningful and positive difference to the lives of amputees. I discovered that the ethical implications of using prosthetics are incredibly important, especially as advancements in prosthetic design propel the performance of such devices far beyond what we may have considered possible even ten years ago. Continue reading
Investigating images of bioluminescence from the Protein Data Bank and use these to design and create a garment through laser cutting
By Rachel G – U6
The Protein Data Bank Europe issued a challenge to students to create a piece of artwork that incorporates science (via their collection of protein molecule images) with art. I was intrigued by this idea of crossing the boundaries of art into science and vice versa, and was excited by the opportunity to have access to PDBe’s specialist software to design some interesting images for use in my project, and subsequently chose to attempt my own interpretation of this challenge. One idea for inspiration they presented me with was bioluminescent proteins; an area of biology which I knew little about, and after some research into the science behind bioluminescence and its uses, I found it an interesting topic to research.
Fordlandia: Why Henry Ford’s Utopian City in the Jungle failed
By Daniel R – Y9
This essay aims to explore why the now mostly derelict city of Fordlandia in Brazil was established by the American industrialist Henry Ford in the late 1920s. Ford aimed to overturn the British monopoly of rubber production, but no Ford car ever used rubber from his ill-fated plantation. This essay looks at the failure of this project whose name is associated with a man of unprecedented industrial success.
