Stonehenge Essays (1488 words) - Stonehenge, Henges,

Stonehenge Man has always been interested in mystery. Stonehenge is one of the most mysterious places that man has been interested in. Construction began on Stonehenge at about 2200 B.C. (Abels 9). The origin and uses of Stonehenge are still a great mystery. Stonehenge is a ruin of a stone building. Stonehenge is the oldest pre-historic structure in western Europe. The name "Stonehenge" is Saxon in origin and means hanging stones. Stonehenge is visible from around one to two miles (Chippindale 12). It has a plain structure and at first glance Stonehenge appears to be a large pile of rocks. But when looked at more closely, it is a structure of great mystery. (Abels 5). Stonehenge contains close to one hundred and sixty-five stones. All of the stones are arranged in a plain and simple manner. Stonehenge is not very large. It is only about thirty five paces or eighty feet wide. Stonehenge is three hundred and thirty feet above sea level and is eighty miles west of London. Stonehenge is located in Wiltshire in south central England. The closest town to Stonehenge is Amesbury. It is in the center of Salisbury Plains (Chippindale 10). The pillars at Stonehenge are extraordinary. All of the stones appear gray in color, but their natural colors vary from mostly orange to brown or blue. Many lichens grow all over the stones. About one half of the original stone pillars are missing today. All of the joints that join the stone pillars together are dry stone joints. There was no wet sand or clay used to join the pillars together (Chippindale 12). At Stonehenge there are five different types of stone circles. The five types are: outer sarsen circle, outer bluestone circles, inner sarsen trilithons, inner blue horseshoe, and the altar stone. The outer sarsen circle is one hundred feet in diameter. Each stone is about thirteen and a half feet tall and seven feet wide. The space between each of the stones is approximately four feet apart (Chippindale 12). The outer bluestone circle is close to seventy-five feet in diameter. Most of the stones height are six and a half feet or taller. The stones width are between three and four feet. The stones color is blue. Only six of the original sixty stones still remain standing straight. The others either lean or lie on their side. The inner sarsen trilithons lie just inside of the bluestone circle. Some call the inner sarsen trilithon the sarsen horseshoe. The trilithon is arranged symmetrically in a horseshoe shape and is about forty-five feet across. Their overall height is about twenty- four feet high. Three of the original trilithons still stand in tact today. All of the original stones that make up the trilithons are still at Stonehenge today (Chippindale 14). Just inside the inner sarsen trilithon is the inner bluestone horseshoe. The stones start out at around six feet and increase in size moving south-west until they reach a maximum of eight feet. Six of the original nineteen stones that made the horseshoe are still in place (Chippindale 15). Towards the apex of the inner bluestone horseshoe is a single large slab of gray-green sandstone. This stone is called the altar stone. It is approximately sixteen feet long and lies on its side. It is broken into two pieces. The stone was believed to have once stood upright. The stone has been given nicknames like "Slaughter", "Heel", and "Station" (Chippindale 16). The uses for Stonehenge has always been a vast mystery. No one knows for sure what Stonehenge uses were. A few possible uses for Stonehenge are as a temple, a burial site, and as a sundial. Some scientists believe that Stonehenge was once used as a temple. The scientists came to this conclusion due to the circular shape and the towering stones. Many people consider Stonehenge a holy place. Over the last three hundred years druids have come to worship at Stonehenge. The druids consider Stonehenge their Religious Temple (Roop 38). From early digs at Stonehenge we know that Stonehenge was at least at one time used for burial ceremonies because of the human remains that were found at Stonehenge (Roop 30). Some scientists believe that Stonehenge was used

Writing Poems: How to Compare Poems in a Composition

Writing Poems: How to Compare Poems in a CompositionA lot of students are often perplexed as to how to compare poems in a composition. Even if you think you know what you're looking for, it can still be quite difficult.The best way to do it is to read them as one piece of literature, and see how different words, the emphasis or the placement of sentences affect their overall impact. Reading a number of poems will give you a good idea of which ones are better suited to one situation than another. You may also find that you need to write some on your own to find out what works better.Here are some different poems to help you through your study. These will vary according to the literary style you're trying to bring into play, but will also have common themes in relation to other poems, which makes them easier to compare.To start with, some good advice is to use a list, which will help you group all the poems in the same genre. Be sure to stick to the size of the book when choosing poems to match, though. It's good to try to write in a newspaper style; think of each word as an idea and not just a descriptive word.Some of the most obvious reasons to use a list of poems include that they allow you to focus on the main aspects of a poem: imagery, structure, plot, message, and the like. If you're only going to compare one poem at a time, then you should probably choose a couple of poems that you want to contrast from each other and create a narrative thread that runs through the entire text.A brief list of poems is also helpful in the comparison between poems. They'll give you the chance to highlight your strengths and weaknesses and to get a good idea of the main ideas of the poems. This can then be used as the basis for your own individual writing.Comparing poems can be a great way to see how they work. Not only will you find out how they compare to each other, but you'll also get a good idea of which ones you may want to try to write yourself. This is always good pr actice!