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A Personal Response to the Current High-School Mathematics Curriculum in Newfoundland and Labrador. From the perspective of a Level II student having just completed Math 3200

By Cassandra Clowe-Coish [Editor’s note: I wrote this letter around the time Dwight Ball introduced his Education task force in February 2017 I sent it in, and the only correspondence I received was to get my permission to be acknowledged on the task force report. This is the unmodified letter.]    

It is my belief that mathematics, in all its beauty, utility, and efficacy in describing the world around us, should be accessible to all. No shortcut should be taken with the goal of teaching mathematics faster, and facts should not be obscured to avoid perceived complexity. When you teach students what to think, and not how to think, mathematics becomes cryptic, and certain topics appear to be discrete when in fact they are interwoven. Facts and formulas become meaningless to students when they are not told why they are true or why they are effective. Presenting new topics without proof or derivation inhibits students from making logical connections between what they know already and what they strive to learn. I think that explaining mathematical concepts in terms of their fundamental properties encourages students to think logically about problems rather than try to memorise that which is being presented to them in the form of formulas and laws. This is why I think that a curriculum involving proofs and derivation of fact would be beneficial to students. Immediate advantages of a curriculum including proofs and derivation of fact     Proofs and derivation show a connection from what is already known to new information. Instead of jumping straight into new information, students would be shown how their current knowledge applies to the new information. I found this type of thinking especially helpful when learning the laws of logarithms.

For example, one of the laws of logarithms is that     logbxp = p(logbx)

When this was first taught to me, I could not understand why it was true. I must stress, this rule was presented without any proof or explanation. After thinking about it for a while, searching the Internet, and trying to work out why it was true, I realised that it was related to another law of logarithms, which I already understood:     logb(xy) = logbx + logby (The equation is true because it relates to the additive property of the exponents of terms of the same base when said terms are multiplied together) Thinking in terms of the law that I already understood, I came up with this short “proof”:

logbxp=logb(xx...x)=(logbx+logbx+...+logbx)              ↖    p times  ↗

Because xp is just x multiplied by itself p times, the law logb(xy) = logbx + logby applies to produce p(logbx), because the argument for each term is the same.

logbxp=p(logbx)

    I am not suggesting that my exact method of thinking should be taught, I simply mean to show how applying what I already knew and understood helped me to comprehend something that confused me at first. I believe that this method of teaching could be beneficial to other students as well, if it were used in the classroom. This could effectively be done by providing proofs of concepts along with the concepts themselves in the curriculum, not necessarily as an outcome, but as a learning aid to be included in the books of notes and to be explained in class. A mathematical proof can be the bridge between obscurity and clarity. To show that something is true is to break down the concept and build it up again starting with what the student already understands to be true, and showing how new concepts are similar to old ones eliminates unnecessary obscurity in learning mathematics. It is much easier to understand something new when one realises that it is just something old in disguise.

I would like to emphasise that examples do not equal proof, the curriculum currently employs many examples of concepts for practice purposes, which is not a bad thing. However, showing that something works for particular cases, no matter how many, is not the same as showing that it works all the time because of a particular reason. And while I think that most students, including myself, take math teachers’ word for it when they tell us something is true, I also think that presenting concepts without explaining them deprives students of fundamental information about the concepts that could lead to a better understanding of them and to building a stronger foundation for comprehending subsequent math courses and subjects, such as calculus, in the future. If the basics for tackling the next challenge are intuitive to the learner, the learner will be faced with fewer challenges when learning new things rooted in the understanding of said basics.

Long-term advantages of a curriculum including proofs and derivation of fact

The advanced mathematics curriculum generally feeds into further, post-secondary math and science education and careers. For the portion of students wishing to pursue further education and careers in branches of Discrete Mathematics, I feel that familiarisation with logical thinking and proofs is especially important. This type of mathematics deals heavily with logical analysis of arguments, and therefore proofs themselves. It is sensible to infer that introducing such students to proofs early on, i.e. in high school, can only be beneficial to them. I believe it would also be beneficial to those attempting to establish their own ideas in the fields of mathematics. In order to establish one’s idea as fact, one has to prove that it is true. Again, it sensibly follows that early familiarisation with this type of logical thinking can only be beneficial in developing students’ own logical thinking skills.     So, in conclusion, I think that the addition of proofs and derivations of mathematical formulas, processes, and laws to the curriculum would be an extraordinary asset. It is a small addition, each proof would likely take no more than a page in a set of notes and an in-class discussion of about five minutes. I also believe that the addition of inductive and deductive reasoning, as is present in the 2201 curriculum, to the 2200 curriculum could be beneficial. This subject familiarises students with the process behind extrapolating ideas based on what they already know and coming to logical conclusions based on given data. It would thus be advantageous for many of the reasons that providing proofs of existing concepts would be, with the addition of having its own dedicated instruction time. Consider this, for the students’ understanding of mathematics should be the main goal of a mathematics curriculum.

Concepts in Math 3200 that I think inclusion of proof or derivation could be helpful include, but are not limited to:

-Trigonometric identity equations

-Compound interest equation

-Logarithm laws

-Permutations and Combinatorics equations

Concepts in Math 2200 that I think inclusion of proof or derivation could be helpful include, but are not limited to:

Quadratic equation

Sine Law and Cosine Law (already included)

Sequences and Series equations  

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The Fox and the Rabbit by Zaid Mujtaba

It was a quiet summer morning at the pond. The water was sparkling, and the grass was green and high. Mr. Moose was casually eating the grass for his daily meal, and the ducks were swimming looking for fish. The frogs, on the other side, were trying to catch their breakfast. Mr. Fox was crouching in the tall grass, near the ducks, eyeing one of the slower ones. He shifted slowly and got ready to pounce. “Hello, Mr. Fox! Nice day, isn’t it,” Mr. Rabbit said.

Mr. Fox jumped up, startled, and watched as his breakfast flew away from the noise. He, then, turned to Mr. Rabbit and looked at him, annoyed, but carefully. Everyone knew of the strange lights that flashed at night from Mr. Rabbit’s tree and all the bizarre happenings there, so everyone, including Mr. Fox, stayed away from him and his tree. Although, today, Mr. Fox was very hungry, and he could barely keep himself from devouring the plump rabbit in front of him. “Yes… yes… very nice day.”

Mr. Rabbit said, “Say, you’re not going anywhere tonight, are you?”

“Well, no…”

“Then, why don’t you come over for dinner. At around 7:30 should be fine,” Mr. Rabbit quickly looked around, “I’ll be going, then. Lots of work to be done.”

And so, Mr. Rabbit ran off. Mr. Fox licked his lips and returned to his den, deciding that his stomach could wait a few more hours.

Mr. Fox slept for the rest of the day to forget his hunger. In his dreams, he dreamt up ways to cook Mr. Rabbit. He could make rabbit stew, roasted rabbit, or fried rabbit. He could also make hamburgers out of him, or he could bake himself a rabbit pie. In fact, Mr. Rabbit was plump enough that he could try all of them.

When he woke up it was almost time for dinner, so he hurried back towards the pond. Everything was dark and shadowy, except Mr. Rabbit’s tree. It was lit up with pale green light that caused all of Mr. Fox’s senses to be at high alert. He came to the foot of the ominous tree, and, ignoring his instincts, he knocked on the wooden door. By this time, Mr. Fox was starving, and his mouth watered at the thought of rabbit burgers.

A few minutes later, Mr. Rabbit opened the door. Mr. Fox entered a bright living room lit up by shining sphere in the center. “What is that?” Mr. Fox asked, pointing at the sphere.

“I call it a tree lamp. It uses the tree’s energy to give light. I made it myself,” Mr. Rabbit said proudly, as he motioned Mr. Fox to sit down on the dining table.

Then, he said, “Wait here. I’ll go get your dinner.”

Mr. Rabbit went into the kitchen and brought out a grand tray. The tray was large enough to even fit Mr. Fox. Then, as Mr. Rabbit put the tray on the table Mr. Fox noticed that the tray only held a measly, bite-sized morsel of roasted chicken. Mr. Fox exclaimed, “That’s all?”

Mr. Rabbit replied, “Don’t worry. The rest will be ready soon. Very soon.”

Mr. Fox shrugged and swallowed the piece in one gulp. After waiting for a few minutes, Mr. Fox ran out of patience. “I don’t mind eating it raw. Because, I should be going home soon. I’m getting very sleepy…”

As soon as he said that, Mr. Fox slumped forward, seemingly dead.

 A few nights later, Mr. Rabbit sat in his brightly lit living room, eating dinner. He looked at the tree lamp with a crazed look in his eye and started to laugh madly: a terrible, horrible laugh. He said, “Who knew foxes and ducks taste so similar?”

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How to Get Away with Murder

An essay by Deepal Deshpande

    It is impressive that humanity has survived this long, because dying is surprisingly easy. Stabbings, suffocation, toxic gas, meteors… the list goes on, almost infinitely. But, with so many (and often dumb) ways to die, there has to be a way to kill someone without getting caught, right? Well, little lambs, you have come to the right place. To spare you the drama of the show How to Get Away with Murder, here are a few ideas for how to kill without getting caught.

    Imagine the following: You hate someone with a passion so intense that it is barely containable. It is borderline obsessive. You find yourself unable to sleep because this person is constantly on your mind. You want to do the world a favour by ridding it of them, but you want to take pleasure in destroying them, from the inside. Every time they come over to eat, grind up some glass so that it is a fine dust, and sprinkle that dust into their portion of the food. It should be something crunchy, like fried food. You can sit back, relax, and watch as your guest unknowingly swallow glass shards that cut up their insides, accumulating until that person eventually dies. Completely untraceable.

    One of the most common household medicines is acetaminophen. This can be found in headache medication, like Tylenol. What some people do not realize is that you can actually overdose on it just like any other medicine. Taking in too much of this drug at one time can potentially be lethal. Well, that is exactly what we want. After the overdose point, the toxicity level can cause nausea, vomiting, and liver failure, leading to death. Now, there are multiple ways of forcing the other person to ingest a lethal dose, but I would recommend grinding it and putting it in a sauce. After you feed them the mixture, wash the container  thoroughly and it is smooth sailing from there. (For you, at least.)

    If someone annoys you to the extent that murder is something that you are considering, you might as well get away with murder, right? After all, you still want to be an upstanding citizen. Following my guide of how to get away with murder (not affiliated with the show) is sure to get you through the ordeal without getting in trouble, tested and certified. Side effects may include but are not limited to: sudden staggering guilt, gagging when recalling certain events, and headaches. But those side effects are irrelevant to the accomplishment that can be achieved. It’s only illegal if you’re caught, right?

    [Author’s addendum: In all seriousness, this satirical article highlights something people don’t like thinking about; how easy it is to die. One wrong step, one mistake, and boom. Lights out. That is the world we live in. Which is why it is critical to live life to the fullest at every given moment. We shouldn’t hold ourselves back because of the near-overwhelming presence of death in our lives, but we should strive to be content in the life we lead. Especially modern times, we tend to undermine how serious dying is. When you inevitably come face-to-face with Death, how many regrets will you have?] Suicide Prevention Hotline: (709) 737-4668

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Liz’s Wacky List Of Green Characters for St. Paddy’s Day folks!

“Super accurate and real.”

-ClickHole-

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Film Fellas With Des Stephens & Nick Gushue

       DES: Hi, I’m Des. NICK: And I’m Nick.

       DES: And we’re here for... BOTH: Film Fellas!

       DES: Since it’s Halloween, we’re doing a spooky theme, with The Exorcist. NICK: The one, the only, The Exorcist.

       DES: What people call the scariest horror movie of all time. NICK: For me, yes.

       DES: I wouldn’t agree with that, but I think it’s one of the best ones. NICK: It has its moments.

       DES: It definitely does (coughing). So, just a short description: [There’s] this girl named Regan, who finds a Ouija board and goofs around with it, and then gets possessed by Pazuzu, who I think she also calls, like, Captain Happy?                                                                   NICK: Captain Howdy.

        DES: Yeah, that’s what his name in her mind is. Things progressively get crazier and crazier. It’s not even gradual, really. She feels kind of sick, and then she’s crawling upside down and vomiting everywhere. NICK: (laughing).

        DES: It’s pretty silly. And then there’s two priests, who need to exorcise her, and it’s pretty cool, not going to spoil anything else. NICK: Yeah, It’s pretty good.

        DES: So we’ll each say a thing that we liked, and why. NICK: I’ll go first. It’s always brought up, but it’s the most famous scene in the whole movie, the exorcism.

        DES: Yes, I mean, “The power of Christ compels you” is such an iconic pop culture phrase now.                                                                                            NICK: It really is.

        DES: For me, it’s the opening. Because, for the first fifteen minutes, it’s following the older priest in the desert, who had done an exorcism before. And he doesn’t come until the very end again. And it’s pretty much this setup of the atmosphere. And there’s something really unsettling about it. And he climbs up this hill at the end, and looks at the statue of Pazuzu, as the score sweeps in. The best beginning to any horror movie ever in my opinion.                              NICK: Yeah you don’t really think about it, but if you never knew about the movie, and started watching it,

        DES: Its very subtle. NICK: Absolutely, you would still be unsettled.

        DES: Okay, things we didn’t like about the movie. NICK: I’m going to be honest, it’s those hidden demon faces.

        DES: I think they’re creepy, but… NICK: There’s this hilarious moment, where Regan’s mother is just walking through the hallway, and this little face appears for a second,

        DES: Does it? NICK: It does, and it’s less like a demon terrorizing a family and more “Hey girl, how’s it going?”.

        DES: The scenes where the demon flashes in Regan’s and the priest’s head, it’s just a dude, with face paint on. They didn’t have too much of a budget, but it’s not that scary. NICK: Not really.

        DES: For me, one of the things is, well I love the beginning, and the movie is very gradual. It’s a slow burn. NICK: Of course.

        DES: But I think the Exorcist could be like fifteen minutes shorter. It got to a point where in the second act it loses the momentum. NICK: Mm-hm.

        DES: Oh my god, she doesn’t have a sickness, she’s just weird. And then it stops. And then twenty minutes later she’s all “Eh! F*** you!” NICK: (laughing) Yeah,

        DES: There is some setup with the younger priest’s mother, but even that, I felt like it was too much setup. Do you have any other gripes with the movie? NICK: Regan’s mom at the film set.

        DES: Yeah I don’t think the mother needed a side story. NICK: We know she’s rich.

        DES: (laughing) Because she lives in a nice house! NICK: (laughing) She has two servants!

        DES: That’s true. So, next is legacy. NICK: “The power of Christ compels you.”

        DES: Definitely the biggest legacy of any horror film ever made. I think Exorcist [and] Blair Witch are the two huge boys. NICK: True.

        DES: For very good reasons, especially in 1973, when baby boomers were unsure if they were ready to have children, and a lot of people still being very Christian. This movie about a nine year old saying terrible things about the church, people fainted in the theatre.                                                            NICK: Oh yeah.

        DES: Because it was blasphemous. There were people fainting. It holds up well, like not poorly, but not amazingly either. There’s some stuff that was definitely scary at the time, not so much anymore.                                                        NICK: Yeah, it’s one of those movies where if you learn how they did that, like, for instance the “vomit” is pea soup...

        DES: Oh yeah. NICK: It’s never going away.

        DES: It doesn’t look like vomit, but that’s kind of what they were going for. It’s demon vomit. NICK: Yeah.

        DES: But it looks like pea soup. Alright, I guess we’ll both give it a score out of ten, and then say why. NICK: I’m going to give it an eight out of ten actually. I do have some slight issues...

        DES: Mm-hm. NICK: ...that maybe could have been changed. But otherwise I think it’s a great movie, a great horror movie, what about you?

        DES: I’ll give it an eight or a nine, I’d say a soft nine. NICK: How so?

         DES: Its not perfect, it’s a little bit too long, but a lot of other horror movies don’t have a lot of character building or world building. Which it does brilliantly. So give it a watch, if you want a spooky scary time. NICK: It’s a good movie, you’ll be in for a good time.

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“Freaky Tuesday!”

-Amelia Del Rizzo-

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The Search For Gravitational Waves Is Over By Deepal Deshpande

The decade we live in is extremely pivotal for science, where the world is suffocating due to global warming, Elon Musk challenging the limits of commercial space exploration with his Space X program, and the data for our first photograph of a black hole in the history of human existence is being decoded, and our species has detected the existence of gravitational waves. In February of last year, scientists at LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) detected the existence of these miniscule propagations from two black holes merging, which is being called the discovery of the century next to the higgs-boson. Predicted by Einstein in 1916, gravitational waves “are 'ripples' in the fabric of spacetime caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe” says LIGO, and one of these energetic processes being two black holes, which are both astronomically heavy, merging. The reason why we couldn’t detect these distortions is because they are incredibly small when they reach Earth, the vibrations are smaller than an atom. In fact, the people at LIGO had to refine technology to be able to measure a distance at an order smaller than a single electron. The technology used at LIGO are, in principle, simple but extremely complex in practice. They use an extremely reflective mirrors (Absorbing 1 in 3 million photons), and 2 200 Watt lasers (that's 800 times your normal laser pointer!) that shines onto the mirror from a distance of 4 kilometres, and is reflected back. They measure the time for one photon of light to come back, in hopes that a change in distance travelled from the expanding space increases the time for the photons to return compared to the other arm. In order to reduce “noise” by external sources that are not gravitational waves, the test chamber must be vacuum sealed so that no atoms are affecting the results, and a series of dampers are used to ensure that there is no movement by sound waves. Also, the same contraption is recording the same data at a different location to reduce random error. Essentially, the experiment compares the time it takes for the laser to return in each arm, seeing if there's an increase of time taken, which would mean an increase in space travelled. LIGO was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics for their revolutionary discovery. As Matt Evans, an assistant professor at MIT whose expertise is on gravitational waves, puts it, “The kinds of...black holes that we observed [in the gravitational wave detectors] are the dinosaurs of the Universe. They're these massive things that are old, from prehistoric times... So it lets us really get a whole other angle on what's out there in the Universe..., and in the end, of course, how we came to be out of this whole mess.”

Sources:

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/2/11/10966366/ligo-gravitational-waves-einstein

https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/ligo-technology

https://www.ted.com/talks/allan_adams_what_the_discovery_of_gravitational_waves_means/transcript

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Remembering The Past: The Great October Socialist Revolution By Ethan Joyce

November 7, 2017, marks the 100th year anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia. One hundred years ago, the urban working class of Russia, allied with the rural peasantry, stood up and crushed the remaining elements of feudalism and Tsarism that had plagued Russia and its satellite colonies for hundreds of years. The country stood as an example for the rest of the world to follow, setting a new standard in all sectors of life, from the arts and sciences, to healthcare and education.

We can begin by recognizing the never before seen economic achievements of the USSR. The country had been brought to its knees in the First World War, and then trampled by a civil war spanning even longer. In spite of this destruction, the power of a cooperative, centralized economy shined through, bringing the country back stronger than ever in a mere ten years. In this short period, the country's economy was competing with that of the United States, which had existed for more than one hundred and fifty years. This set records for economic development, and most importantly allowed the Soviet Union to be victorious over Nazi Germany and almost single handedly win World World II, when the western powers were falling.

The achievements of the USSR didn't end at economic development. The country had also set records in regards to civil rights. The USSR was the first major nation to provide its citizens with universal voting rights, which many of the western countries still lacked. Women, ethnical minorities, and soldiers still lacked the right to vote and run for election in most countries around the world. These rights were codified in the Soviet Constitution from the beginning: the only requirement to vote and run for election was to be at least 18 years of age. Not only were many women and ethnical minorities seen in all ranks of government, but each individual ethnicity was guaranteed seats in the government relative to their population. As well, media was controlled democratically by the people, with every trade union, youth organization, etc, having their own paper to express the opinions of their members. This was in stark contrast with the rest of the world, where newspapers required large sums of capital to create and distribute, leaving the views of the average person widely ignored. Propaganda became democratic, being created and distributed from below.

Continuing on, the health care system in the Soviet Union quickly became the best in the world. The country placed a focus on preventative health care, which aimed to completely illiminate health problems, instead of simply curing them after the fact. Health care was completely and entirely free, and was well funded, two important features that were not seen anywhere else in the world. By 1938, the number of doctors in the country had increased to around 132,000 from the 2,000 before the revolution. The national health budget had increased to around 75 times of what it was before. The number of nurseries had increased by almost a staggering 6,000 fold! Massive campaigns to educate the public in regards to health had been carried out, with over five million posters, leaflets, and booklets being distributed in the army alone.

 Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg that is the achievements of the USSR. The Soviet Union led the world in many other areas of life, particularly in education, sciences, and the arts, among others. All of this was made possible by the 1917 October Revolution, accomplished by the united action of the workers and peasants fighting for a better future.

Sources:

https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/const/36cons01.html

http://www.lalkar.org/article/1897/health-in-the-ussr

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Some of My Top Horror Films By Maggie Hynes

Les Yeux Sans Visage:

In this classic mad-scientist thriller, a surgeon attempts to restore his daughter’s disfigured face after a car accident through terrifying means. The mixture of the beautiful and the  gut-wrenching makes this film’s images unforgettable, with dogs tearing a man's face off, caged doves being freed, and a masked girl wandering through a laboratory. This disturbing tale of identity, misogyny, and the potential for evil in medicine perfectly mixes lyrical surrealism with honest realism.  10/10

Meshes of the Afternoon: A pioneer of experimental cinema, Maya Deren makes her directorial debut in this groundbreaking short. A series of events occur which are then repeated in a woman’s dreams, each time beginning with a hooded figure leaving flowers. Meshes is a reflection on memory and fear, as well as an homage to 1920s surrealist films like Un Chien Andalou and The Seashell and the Clergymen. 10/10

Videodrome:

” Death to Videodrome. Long live the new flesh”  After a sleazy tv producer discovers Videodrome, a plotless show about vicious torture, he starts to have horrifying visions and the show takes complete control of his mind. David Cronenberg’s techno-surrealist masterpiece is more relevant than ever with TV and digital violence being so prominent in popular TV, films, and video games. With beautiful special effects by award-winning artist Rick Baker and a debut acting performance by the captivating Debbie Harry, this film is body horror at its most beautiful.     7.5/10

Kwaidan:

This anthology of Japanese folk tales is rich with stunning cinematography and brightly-coloured sets. Each of the ghost stories gives a different spiritual or moral message and has a spooky twist. 8/10

Suspiria:

This fluorescent technicolor nightmare tells the story of a German ballerina who attends a prestigious dance academy, only to find it is full of sinister secrets. As the school’s dark history slowly unravels, the film’s industrial soundtrack beautifully accompanies its hallucinatory voyage into the opulent occult. 9/10

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"Halloween: the night the dead walk among us"

-Maddie Hartery-

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"O year, o year, here we go, Bringing Halloween all over again. It's getting dark outside, the witches and ghosts make their ways through the streets, And here I am, Sitting at the window, Watching the vampires knocking at the door, And it's the only time of the the year where everything seems normal."

-Charlotte Süß-

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Monsters in Media By Amelia Del Rizzo

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines a monster as “an animal or plant of abnormal form or structure.” While this is true, I think the reality of monsters is much more complex.  Monsters have existed in human culture for centuries. Each culture has its own monsters. Which can contribute to great stories of heroism or even influence what a culture does or doesn’t do. Monsters are visual manifestations of human fear. Humans fear the abnormal, the unknown, and the powerful.

In western culture, monsters have evolved from old tales into a marketable form of media. With a booming film industry, monsters have changed to suit each generation. It’s easy nowadays to look back on a sci-fi thriller from the early 1950’s and think “were people really scared of this stuff?” While a phony looking sea creature or 50ft tall woman on the big screen wouldn’t scare modern teenagers, they may have scared the crap out of their grandparents. That being said, people who grew up during the 1950s likely would have been just as unimpressed looking at ancient art of a chimera as their grandchildren would be, while the average ancient Greek would be terrified. So why does fear change so much throughout the years, and how have modern monsters adapted to better fit people’s fears? After all,  the average child of the 1900’s certainly wouldn’t have associated clowns with the likes of Pennywise.

This question is much more complex than it may seem. As mentioned before, humans generally fear the abnormal, the unknown, and the powerful. Fear, as a human response, hasn’t changed much through the years, but the monsters that people fear do. In my opinion, there are two main reasons for this, the shift towards critical thinking and the increased realism in modern media. In the past 50 years, humans as a species have told themselves time and time again that seeing isn’t really believing. (Reading words on a page has a whole different effect than actually watching a scary scene play out in front of one’s eyes.) When televisions became a household staple, people started having to actually try and think about what they were seeing, because with this new form of accessible media, the then “realistic” television programmes were set alongside real news. So it could be hard to distinguish between what was real and what was false. (how could a soap opera character die and come back to life so many times without a scratch?) With horror movie monsters during this time, the technology needed to create a realistic monster wasn’t available, but nobody cared. Monsters were more real than they ever had been, and with time and the progression of technology, special effects and colour could be added, and eventually forms could even be digitally altered to give life to the monsters people could have only dreamt of before. Now people care because as monsters became more realistic, people were less likely to willingly suspend disbelief, and can only be scared by realistic monsters.

Monsters age, and as a result, some monsters don’t strike the same fear in people as they once did. Which is why when people are young, and fear, like everything, is so new, the thought of a scary monster under their beds may keep them awake at night. As people grow, characters like Dracula and the Boogeyman seem more fun than fearful. But these old monsters pave the way for new ones, and it’s by playing on our old fears that new monsters create the same frightening impact the old ones had. Still, people are conditioned by their early childhood fears, which is why although they may say they’re not afraid of the monster under the bed, most people would still feel safer sleeping with their feet unexposed.

The beautiful thing about monsters is that they are constant, in the sense that no matter how many new monsters are created, the old ones will still exist. They are artistic manifestations of the feeling of fear. Monsters are endless, and no matter how many there are, or how ancient, or how different, every culture will continue to make new monsters, and teach their children about the old ones.