Emma's Portfolio

Below is Making 13 Colonies number four. I am proud of this because it demonstrates my ability to write strong TEEAC paragraphs. I think I have improved on writing TEEAC paragraphs by having M13 homework because it gives a chance to practice my skills.

                                                           Homework

Read chapter 4 in Making Thirteen Colonies and answer the following questions using complete sentences. Be sure to use textual evidence and analysis for each question.  Each answer should be a full TEEAC paragraph.

1. Describe the significance of the year 1607, using the following terms: The London Company, King James, and the name of the 3 boats. Be sure to clearly explain each of these terms within your paragraph.

The year 1607 was the beginning of our country. In England many Gentleman and Younkers were boarding ships to come to America. They were doing so because everything they ever knew to be true was proven wrong by Nicolas Copernicus and Galileo Galilei. “The ships were Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed, and they had been sent from England by a business corporation called the London Company,” (Hakim, pg. 25). The name Godspeed for one of the ships is surprising because God was a huge part of English life and items weren’t usually named after him. This means that the ship was considered very important. King James owned The London Company, which was paying settlers to go to the New World and start a colony. The London Company told the colonists that they weren’t allowed to own property. They didn’t want individuals owning land because that could give them independence. If people were on their own they could become very wealthy and King James wouldn’t make all the money. The London Company also paid everyone the same amount no matter how much work they did. It will be interesting to see if the English settlers accepted the fact that they got paid the same amount no matter how much work they did.

2. Describe the the terrain and the geography of the English fort.

The English had a very well designed fort in Jamestown, Virginia. Once the colonists got to the New World, they had to choose a place to settle. They chose a place in Virginia that they would soon name Jamestown after their King. “Jamestown was almost an Island, with a narrow sandbar link to the mainland,” (Hakim, pg. 27). The land being like this was good for the English because it was easier to defend against the Spaniards (if they decided they wanted to fight) and the Indians. The English fort included many things to help them survive. First, they had a ditch and a high fence called a palisade surrounding the fort. This was helpful because it kept enemies out. Second, they had a church in the center of the fort. It was probably in the center because religion was the middle of life. Third, there was an oven outside of the fort. The oven was outside because the roofs of the houses were made of flammable materials such as river grass, river reeds, and tree bark. Will this land be a good place to keep the colony?

3. Was the initial settlement successful? Why or why not?

The initial English settlement was not successful. There were many problems with the colony. “It gave all the colonists salaries and did not allow them to own property,” (Hakim, pg. 28). The London Company wasn’t letting individuals own land. This was a problem because everyone had the same salary no matter how much work they did. This reminds me of The Giver because in Jonas’s community they were striving for equality. This is an example of equality being a problem because if everyone gets the same amount of money no matter what, people are not motivated to work hard and no progress will be made. Another problem was disease. The English people brought germs from Europe to America and many people died from them. Also the land itself ended up being bad for the colony. “The land was swampy, the drink water was bad; it was hot in summer and bone-chilling cold in winter. The mosquitoes drove the settlers crazy and carried malaria germs,” (Hakim, pg. 28). This shows that the colonists couldn’t have picked a worse spot to settle. It wasn’t possible to survive in a place where these things were taking place. People didn’t have the resources they needed to stay alive. Less than half of the people who came to the New World lived to see another December. How will this colony stay alive?

Below is an Essay I wrote about the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. I am proud of my grammar and punctuation. I am also proud of my thesis. I think I wrote this essay well because I was interested in my thesis and themes.

What is a Real Utopia?

Emma Diamond                                      10/26/16                                                                     Humanities 7A Giver Essay

How would you feel if you lived in a place where you aren’t allowed to make your own choices, everything is black and white, and most things are the same? This is what life is like for the people in The Giver by Lois Lowry. The protagonist, a 12 year old boy named Jonas, is different than everyone else in his community. In December, at the ceremony of 12, he is assigned the Receiver of Memories. This means he gets to learn all about the past from the holder of all the memories, the Giver. Jonas sees color, love, death, and pain. The rest of the society has never experienced any of these things, which makes them clueless and ignorant. Jonas will have to decide if he wants to risk everything to help his community or continue to be isolated. In Jonas’s society everyone sees in black and white. The Elders created it this way to keep the utopia. People being unable to see color reinforces sameness because it is hard for them to differentiate things. Eventually Jonas begins to see color and wants to help everyone else in his community see it too.

The lack of color in Jonas’s community accomplishes sameness, which keeps the utopia. Since people see everything in black and white, differentiating things becomes difficult and therefore less decisions need to be made. While Jonas is with the Giver he explains something important about color. “Because it was a memory from the time when the color was,” (Lowry, pg. 82) This shows that Jonas’s community doesn’t have color, but it did in the past. The Elders decided to make the society see black and white to prevent people from making their own choices, meaning nobody makes mistakes. For example if someone went shopping and there were ten different colored shirts they would choose what color or colors they wanted to buy. What if they made the wrong decision and later discovered they wanted a different color? This is why the Elders don’t think color is a good thing. Today mistakes are valuable because we learn from them. Therefore when someone makes a mistake they don’t do it again. Everyone seeing in black and white keeps things the same, but when Jonas sees color he wants difference.

Jonas starting to see color causes him to want to be allowed to make his own decisions. Since Jonas can now easily differentiate things, there are many more choices for him to make. While Jonas is with the Giver he has a very important question. “‘What if we could hold up things that were bright red, or bright yellow, and he could choose? Instead of the sameness,’” (Lowry, pg. 85). Because Jonas is seeing color, he wants to be able to make his own choices. This may cause him to want to rebel against the Elders and show everyone else in his community colors. If Jonas succeeded to do this the utopia would shatter because nobody in his society has experience making their own decisions and learning from their mistakes. Therefore, they would make horrible choices. Today, children are taught to make good decisions from a young age so they are prepared for bigger ones they may encounter when they grow up. This approach to choices is better than the one in Jonas’s society because, instead of completely shutting out the idea of people making decisions for themselves, we teach them how to do it wisely. Jonas is striving for difference and personal decision making to be allowed in his community.

Jonas’s society is trying to accomplish a perfect world by getting rid of color, and difference. Color being eliminated reinforces sameness, which makes it hard to differentiate many things. Not having difference is bad because everyone has the same ideas and no progress is made in the community. No progress being made means nobody is learning and life is meaningless. When Jonas begins to see new things he finds that the exclusion of color, difference, and decision making in the community creates a dystopia. Even if you didn’t have to experience anything bad, would you want to live in a world where there isn’t any color, you don’t get to make your own decisions, and almost everything is exactly the same? Maybe our reality is the real utopia and people living today shouldn’t be striving for something like Jonas’s community. Jonas ultimately starts to understand the importance of all the things being eliminated from his society and makes a big effort to help others understand them too.