Scholastic Bowl Notes

Death in Venice

A short story by Thomas Mann, about a german writer Gustav von Aschenbach who becomes obsessed with a young polish boy named Tadizo. He dies in the title city as a fever sweeps through, after trying to make himself look more beautiful for Tadizo.

determinate

ab-bc, in matrixes

Ayatollah Khomeini

the supreme Iranian leader after the Islamic Revolution which he fanned on as a return to traditional Shia. Put a fatwa on Salman Rushdie.

Broadway Boogie-Woogie

Painted by Piet Mondrian, a part of the dutch De Stijl movement which was entirely red, white, black, yellow, and blue. The yellow squares represent tax cabs

Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Wassily Kandinsky, about how his abstract painting was supposed to evoke spiritual feelings

I.M Pei

a chinese american architect, drawing on traditional Chinese garden villas as a part of his buildings. The Louvre Pyramids, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, etc.

Elizabeth Holmes

Founder of Theranos, a now defunct medical technology company. Known for her claims of revolutionizing blood testing with a single drop of blood. Accused of fraud and misleading investors. Indicted on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Yangtze Rivers

Tiger leaping gorge, 3 parallel rivers. Major river in China

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Japanese short story writer. In a Grove, a short story about the mysterious death of a young samurai and Rashōmon about a conflict between an old woman who steals hair to make wigs and a servant thinking about becoming a thief

Basil II

The Bulgar Slayer, byzantine emperor. Christianized the Kievan Rus through the political marriage between Anna Porphyrogenita and Vladimir the Great

Dao Cao Dai

Vietnamese syncretic religion of Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. established by Ngo Van Chieu who was a colonial administrator of French Indonesia

August Strindberg

Swedish playwright and poet, called the father of Swedish literature. “A Dream Play” and “Miss Julie”

Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos

Ferdinand was the Filipino president known for embezzling the most money of any politician, instating martial law and living in extravagance. They fled to the US to avoid justice.

King Lear

Shakespearean tragedy, the aging divides his power between his daughters Goneril and Reagan, leaving out Cordelia and his illegitimate son Edgar.

Victorine Meurent

French painter and model, posed for Manet’s luncheon on the grass, Olympia, and others. painted “Palm Sunday”

Exclusive Economic Zone

EEZ, generally extending 200 nautical miles beyond their territorial sea boundaries

Storming of the Bastille

14 July 1789, took place after the Tennis Court Oath

Kalidasa

sanskrit author of many poems and plays, most notably “the Cloud Messengers” and “Recognition of Shakuntala”

Colin Powell

65th Secretary of State under George HW Bush and Bill Clinton, gave speech on the rationale on the Iraq war, which was littered with lies

Lady Lazarus

Sylvia Plath, “Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well.”

Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks

Painting by Ilya Repin, depicts the historical scene of the cossacks replying to the letter sent by the Sultan of the Ottoman empire, insulting him and challenging his authority

Paul Laurence Dunbar

a black poet and novelist at the turn of the century “Oak and Ivy”, “I know why the caged bird sings'“, “We wear the Mask”

Tablet of Destiny

from Mesopotamian mythology, Tiamat possessed the object that would tell the future and rule the world, until it was stolen by Marduk in a battle.

Higgs Boson

“god particle”, discovered in CERN in 2012, proposed in ‘64, a wave in the field that fills the entire universe and gives mass to every elementary particle

Beethoven

Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata, 5th symphony in C minor, often called “Fate”. German composer and pianist

Peter the Great

Russian Tsar (1682-1725) that modernized and westernized Russia

• Established St. Petersburg as new capital

• Reformed the army and navy

• Introduced new industries and technologies

• Implemented social and educational reforms

  • Beard Tax, loosened restrictions on women, western dress

  • Reformed Church under Holy Synod

Stephen Hawking

“A Brief History of Time”, lost a bet to Kip Thorne

Liz Cherney

wyoming senator, on the jan 6 committee, removed from republican leadership after expressing discontent over Jan 6

Sumerian

City of Ur, cuneiform tablets, oldest civilization

Chopin

Minuet Waltz, Romantic polish composer and piano virtuoso

Falkans War

Argentina v. Britain over a chain of islands off of Argentina’s coast

Theia

a hypothetical planet that collided with the Earth to create the moon

1001 Nights Frame story

King Shahryar, after being cheated on, has decided to marry a woman and kill her that night. Scheherazade tells a story every night to distract him, until he fell in love with her

Sousa

king of the march and inventor of Sousaphone

Archimedes

“eureka” when he figured out how buoyancy works