The Lost Symbol By Colton Levorsen

Dan Brown The Lost Symbol was written by Dan Brown. He is more famously known for his books, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, but the Lost Symbol is just as good. Dan Brown used to be a musician. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife.

Characters Protagonists: The main protagonists in The Lost Symbol are Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon. Robert Langdon is a professor at Harvard University who teaches mostly courses on Symbology. Katherine Solomon is a scientist who studies Noetics. (Study of the human mind’s potential) She is the sister of Peter Solomon, a prominent freemason who is kidnapped by Mal ‘akh.

Characters… Antagonists: The main antagonist in this book is Mal ‘akh. He is a drug addict and he is tattooed on every inch of his body and is a creeper. He causes nearly every problem in this book.

My Favorite My personal favorite character has to be Mal ‘akh. He has an interesting past and is pretty disturbing and mysterious.

Not So Favorite… My least favorite character is the CIA’s Office of Security director. Her name is Inuye Sato. This little Japanese woman is just mean to everyone and smokes a ton.

The Exposition In the beginning of the book, Symbologist Robert Langdon gets a call from his good friend Peter Solomon’s assistant, explaining that Peter needs a guest to lecture at the capital building in Washington D.C. When Robert arrives, he finds this not to be the case. Instead, he finds his friend Peter’s hand cut off on the floor of the capital, and learns Peter’s been kidnapped.

Rising Action With the CIA calling Peter’s kidnapping a national crisis, Robert Langdon joins with Peter’s sister, Katherine Solomon and they solve a number of puzzles and codes, all while running from the CIA and Director Sato.

The Climax The climax in this book is when Langdon and Katherine get caught by the CIA and director Sato explains to them how this situation is a national crisis. They realize that a lot of their political leaders are at risk because of Mal ‘akh. They also realize that their running from the CIA was the wrong thing to do.

The Falling Action The falling action is when the CIA and Langdon finally find Mal’ akh and Peter in a masonic temple in D.C. Mal’ akh is killed soon after they find him. National crisis is averted!

The Resolution After everything dies down, Peter Solomon describes to Robert Langdon the true meaning of “The Lost Symbol” and why is pertains to freemasonry.

The Setting The time period of this book is set in modern day times, although much of the info discussed by the characters dates back to This is important because it helps us as readers to relate to the time period more The book takes place in Washington D.C. This is extremely important because we learn that our history has a lot to do with masons.

Themes Drug Abuse: Mal ‘akh’s character is an extreme addict and it severely affected his body and mind. Religion: The whole point of The Lost Symbol revolves around religion. Science: Katherine’s field, Noetics, is discussed throughout the whole book.

My Rating I have read this book twice now, and I love it. I learn so much from Dan Brown. He does so much research for his books, and it makes them really informative. I would give this book a 9 out of 10.

Social Issue? I chose the social issue of Drug Abuse.

Drug abuse is the addiction to and the substance abuse of any drug. This includes not only the hardcore drugs out there like meth, but alcohol and prescription drugs as well.

Teen Drug Abuse To narrow my issue, I decided to focus on teenage drug abuse, because it will relate to us more. The following are the statistics I found in my research that stood out most to me. Underage drinking costs the U.S. more than 58 billion/yr. More than 60 % of teens said that drugs were sold, used, or kept at their school. Teens that drink are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teens who never consume alcohol. (“Teen Substance Abuse” GDCADA, 3/09/05

Quote “Use of marijuana has adverse health, safety, social, academic, economic, and behavioral consequences. And yet, astonishingly, many people view the drug as ‘harmless’. Some even consider experimentation with pot an adolescent rite of passage.” - Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), “Marijuana Myths & Facts”

Effects of Drugs Mentally Using drugs can significantly alter your mind. Drug abuse ruins countless lives each year. Drugs mess with your mind. This is called cognitive impairment. Smoking marijuana can lead to mental health problems. Drugs alter traffic safety.

Physical Effects Drug abuse can drastically alter the way you look. (Meth – Pale skin, deep dark bags under eyes, etc Drugs can change the sound of your voice by attacking your voice box. They can also make you sterile. (Steroids) (performance-enhancing drugs, anabolic steroids) Video: M M

Family Drug abuse has a huge effect on the family because they’re the ones that have to suffer watching you destroy your life.

Date-Rape-Drugs Date rape drugs are used by sexual predator perves to put their victim in a sedated state while they engage in sexual intercourse with them. The girl could become pregnant The emotional toll would be huge.

Prescription Pills A lot of teens abuse prescription medication for the temporary high and because they already have them. There’s no need to go out and buy some illegal drugs when you have some prescription drugs that do almost the same thing. Dangerous because of dosage.

Legalizing Marijuana A lot of people want to make marijuana legal for medical purposes. I am completely against that. Here are some problems I have with that. If weed was to be legalized, 90% of those who wanted it legalized wouldn’t use it for medical purposes. Legalization of marijuana could lead to other drugs being legalized as well.

The End Drug Abuse is a serious social issue that if properly educated about, we can avoid. Addiction centers and hotlines are good choices for those struggling to quit. Practice abstinence from drugs and alcohol, and this stuff will never happen to you.

Works Cited The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown biographies/ /Dan_Bro wn.html; biographies/ /Dan_Bro wn.html National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2002: National Findings. Department of Health and Human Services Pope, HG and Yurelun- Todd, D. The residual cognitive effects of heavy marijuana use. Journal of the American Medical Association, Marijuana Myths & Facts Office of National Drug Control Policy. (ONDCP) Teen Prescription Drug Abuse. Janesville Gazette, The. Wisconsin. 2/25/10.