Assignment 27: Reading Reflection No.3
1.
What surprised me the most about the Wright Brothers
is that they lived in their family home when they were 30 and began to take
interest in their invention at this age. What I admire most about them is that
they took on a challenge that everyone thought was impossible and actually made
it happen. What I least admire about them is that they still stayed at the
family home as adults but this really doesn’t bother me that much; there’s not
much I can find that I hate about them from reading this book. One thing that they
had to face was a venue to launch and land their flying machine and gliders so
that they would not get destroyed in the process. This would obviously be very
challenging back in the day without technology.
2.
Some competencies that I noticed were their creativity
and imagination capabilities. They had been dreaming about aeronautics for
their whole life and they eventually acted upon these dreams. I also noticed that
they like to take the initiative and just get out there and do it so to speak.
They had been dreaming what many people had been dreaming at the time but they
were the ones that actually went out there and made it happen. That is something
to be admired.
3.
What was confusing about the reading is why they
were contacted by the United States Army about their gliders and then sent over
to France to demonstrate their invention in Le Mans. I don’t really know how
these two things correlate with each other but their demonstrations were
successful nonetheless.
4.
The first thing I would ask them is how did they
begin to start really thinking about making the flying machine because it is
amazing how they just dedicated so much energy into something that seemed impossible.
The second thing I would ask them is what did it feel like to fly for the first
time because this is something that humans could never do before and they were
one of the first people to experience it and live to tell the tale.
5.
I think that taking the initiative would be there
answer to the question of what hard work is because when you try to tackle the impossible
it is hard to know where to start.
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see that you picked two books off the biography/autobiography list because I never even thought about the idea of reading two of those. I think the aspect that most surprised you is very relevant to this class because it is all about taking a risk for something you believe in. I think you nailed the part about naming their competencies, because without these, they would not have been successful.
I did not know that the Wright brothers did not begin their invention until age 30, that does seem late to me too. However, the last book I read for our reading reflections was called How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, which basically proves that it is never too late to start. Someone can fail over and over again until they are 75 years old and if they keep trying and putting in the effort the opportunity to succeed is still alive and well, as it obviously was for the Wright brothers.
ReplyDeleteJonathan, I also think that taking on a challenge that most would feel impossible is admirable in many aspects. They were the pioneers of airplanes and they have shaped the world in so many ways because of their confidence in their work. At the time, it seemed impossible but they proved the world wrong with that invention, and is a pair to be admired by many.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteGood job on this reading assignment I really enjoyed reading this post. I think that you did a great job on responding to the questions of the assignment and that means you really enjoyed the book. Also the questions that you would ask them are really thought out and I imagine that they would have some interesting answers.
Hello Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI also read the biography of the Wright Brothers, and I did enjoy what you had to say about them, and I liked how I could see someone else's perspective who read the same book as I did. Your questions that you would have asked them are considerably interesting. I found your question about asking them how it felt to fly would be a great way to see how passionate there were.