For spring break I went to Peru with my language. It was so interesting when we were there to learn about a new culture and be interactive in a place that we aren’t used to. We walked around Lima and Cusco, hiked Matchu Picchu in Cusco, did community service, and visited a local school. Overall the trip was really cool and interesting and something new! I had so much fun and learned a lot about Peru.
Robins Journal
Dear Journal,
Last night a big event occurred. My owner, Adrian Hooglandt, and many other white owners were killed. It happened within minutes. A building was set to flames and when the whites came to put it out, they were attacked. Many enslaved Africans were accused of killing them but I was the main one they targeted. I didn’t do it, I swear. They were already planning my horrible death. I had the option to confess, save my life, but I didn’t do it. Why lie and deal with that for the rest of my life. Every Wednesday and Friday I get taught about Christianity by Elias Neau. He came to me, told me it’s not worth dying, tried to make me confess. I couldn’t do it. I will stay true to God. I knew about it, I knew they were going to be killed, but I wasn’t one of the ones who killed them. I didn’t do it. It’s always us being accused. The enslaved. If I were white, or rich, I would be the last person they accused. But I am only thought of as inhuman. I am more than just an object. I couldn’t leave my house without my master, I couldn’t get together with no less than four blacks, my skin color determined my whole life. What if I were white? I wouldn’t be accused of killing someone. If I don’t confess I will be brought to get killed, hanged in chains. Just because of my color, and my beliefs, and the fact that I changed to Christianity.
I was brought here on a slaver, chained to others. Each one of us had seven feet to move around. I was whipped, beaten, and harassed. I was brought from Bight of Benin, West Africa. There were many slave ports, one of which I was sold to here. Where I am accused of everything. I was sold into a life full of racism, lies, accusations, fear, power, discrimination, and oppression. I can still remember the smell of tobacco our ship carried with us. Before our journey a boatload of tobacco was brought. Every night as I fell asleep I smelled its strong scents. The boat rocking every second, the sound of whipping, and crying, and screaming. It was always dark on this boat. I got here and started my life of torture and abuse. My only friend was Elias Neau. He was the only one I felt comfortable with, the only one I was allowed to be truly Christian around. I could sing, and pray, and listen with him. He was my only family. When the attack happened he was at high risk of losing his job. Since I was learning about Christianity and I was accused they assumed Elias Neau had something to do with the attack. Elias Neau is godly He supported us from the very beginning when none of us knew English. He helped us and made it work. He treated me like I was important, and like I was human. He acted like my father. I never knew my father. When I was younger he was stolen from the Gold Coast and was taken to New Amsterdam. There he was sold to a family and I was left alone. I never knew my mother either. The day I was born our masters sold her through the Triangle Trade. For years it was just me. I constantly felt abandoned, now more than ever. And then I found Elias Neau when I came here.
Bye, Journal. Wish me luck for tomorrow. Let’s hope they believe I never did anything. If not, it’s been nice having someone to write to. If found please give this journal to Elias Neau. This my life on paper, all my secrets I was never aloud to say, and I only trust him.
Sincerely,
Robin
For this assessment we were each given a bio about a person in history. We were told to write a piece including facts from the bio, key terms from our studies about African in NY, and be creative. Along the way I learned a lot about my person and the way enslaved Africans resisted. My piece was actually a form of resistance for my character. There were some parts of this assignment I really liked, and some I really didn’t. I am better at creative writing than factual. It was tough for me to add in key terms while making it creative. What made it easier for me was to write my piece the way I liked it, more creative. Then when I finished it I added in facts and key terms. This made it easier for me to have the two levels. Something that is always tricky for me in tenses. I usually mess up on those and don’t get them right. This project I did really well on tenses, meaning I wasn’t having as much trouble. Overall this was a project I enjoyed!
Name: Emma Hirsch Humanities
7th Grade March 6, 2017
Fear, and the Impacts it Has in Our Community
We are going through a time period full of hysteria, fear, power, and dishonesty. Many years of torture, death, panic, and pain, are being repeated to this day. People are throwing others lives away for their own benefits. Scapegoating is something that is done often. When someone is scapegoated, they are being blamed for something they didn’t do. The reasons someone may do this varies. Fear is often the cause of scapegoating. People are scared something bad will happen to themselves so they put the blame on others. One’s selfish actions can affect an innocent person’s life. From the Salem Witch Hunt in 1692, to the McCarthy Era in 1950, and even today, scapegoating has been used out of fear. Sometimes people scapegoat others to exonerate themselves and to gain power.
In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many people were falsely scapegoated and put in bad positions. The whole play consists of false accusations, scapegoating, fear, and gaining power.
In this scene, Tituba was scapegoated for being a witch. There was a high level of hysteria going around in the town, everyone who was making accusations was believed. Tituba was put in a position where she either had to lie and scapegoat others, or risk her life.
“TITUBA, And I say, “You lie, Devil, you have white people belong to me.” And I look—and there was Goody Good.
PARRIS: Sarah Good!
TITUBA, rocking and weeping: Aye, sir, and Goody Osburn,” (Miller, 1953).
In this scene, Tituba had just been accused of being a witch and being loyal to the devil. People were mistreating her which made her nervous. She never wanted to scapegoat, but when her life was at risk she did whatever she had to do. Before this line, Tituba was a badly treated slave. Once she started to scapegoat others, she instantly gained power. This is an important line in the play because it was when everyone realized that white people may be associated with the devil. This took the hysteria to a whole new level. Now anyone could be accused of being a witch, and people were frightened. Innocent people’s lives were at risk, and everyone was scared they were to be accused of being a witch. Shortly after this scene, the girls started shouting out names of the people they saw with the devil. They did this because they either wanted to gain power or have the attention on them, rather than Tituba. Maybe they did this because they were scared they would be accused. There is always a deeper meaning for scapegoating. Another person who did this throughout history is Joseph McCarthy. The witch hunt that took place in The Crucible is very similar to the blacklist McCarthy had for the so-called communists.
Throughout the McCarthy Era, many people’s lives were ruined because of false accusations and lies. Have you ever felt so scared that you could believe anything anyone said even if they offered no proof? This is something that happened in the McCarthy Era. Joseph McCarthy accused around 205 people of being communists, with no real proof. There was such a high level of hysteria that people believed anything that was said. Because of his list, people lost their jobs, were sent to jail, or possibly sentenced to death. “The hysteria of the Red Scare made it easy for the public to believe McCarthy’s charges— even though he offered no real proof,” (The Red Scare, Fitzgerald, 2007).
Joseph McCarthy was scared of losing his good reputation. He cared so much that he was willing to ruin other people’s lives for his to be better. He created a blacklist, a list of people who he was accusing of being communists. He also did this because there was a high level of fear going around America. Everyone was scared of being accused of being a communist, to take the focus off themselves. Joseph was scared that he would be accused of being a communists, so he decided to blame others. He had no real proof of these people being communists, and yet everyone believed him. That showed power and reputation. Joseph McCarthy is similar to Tituba because they both decided to scapegoated others out of fear. They also did this to keep protect reputations and gain power. People always say that history repeats itself. Throughout the years scapegoating has been used in similar ways. Who would ever think that you could connect the Salem Witch hunts, to the McCarthy Era, to the current day?
Donald Trump is someone who scapegoats often for various reasons. He is someone who cares more about his reputation than other people’s lives. This is a quality that leaders shouldn’t have but often do. Donald Trump scapegoats Muslims for things they haven’t done. Trump has scapegoated many different groups for the past year or so. He never offers real proof, but because he has power he is believed. That is similar to McCarthy because both are scared, and feel the need to exonerate themselves. Donald Trump refers to all Muslims as dangerous people which is a big stereotype and something he often scapegoats them for. “Our legal system is broken! “77% of refugees allowed into U.S. since travel reprieve hail from seven suspect countries.” (WT) SO DANGEROUS!” -Trump’s Twitter. Trump accuses all countries that have mostly Muslim citizens of supporting terrorism. He does this out of fear and power. Trump has a lot of power, especially now that he is president. He is using propaganda to support his views and opinions. He is scaring others to make them conform to him. He is using fear to make himself more powerful. Trump is similar to the white empowered men in The Crucible. What these men have in common is they all want to maintain a good reputation. There are certain things about Trump that relate to Tituba. Although they have different reputations, they both scapegoated for similar reasons. Trump is also similar to Joseph McCarthy because they both want to gain power, and to do that they put other people’s lives at risk without caring. Overall, these three characters are somewhat similar.
Throughout history, fear has had a big impact on everything people do. Scapegoating is done often and mainly used out of fear. This has happened in the Salem Witch Hunts, the McCarthy Era, and even current day. Throughout these three time periods, scapegoating has been motivated by many different things. People often scapegoat others to get out of awful situations, which could then lead to a big problem in someone else’s life. If people stopped blaming others for their problems, we would be in a much better place. Society has made it hard for people to be honest and stay true to themselves because of an environment of fear that has been created. If our community could break past this environment, learn to trust ourselves, learn that it is okay to be honest and take the blame for things you have done, our community will be stronger. We need to learn not to repeat history’s mistakes and become a better community.
REFLECTION:
Above is The Crucible essay. This is a project I enjoyed because I liked connecting the three time periods. Connecting other time periods to today makes me understand current events in a clearer way. This project made me realize that it is always good to connect to other times. Something I always have trouble with in writing is my tenses. This was a challenge I faced in this one especially. When I write I seem to just write and not pay attention to tenses. Then later when I edit I have to change them. A goal for me will be to just be more aware of my tenses, and be aware of which time period I am writing about.
After we handed our essays in and got them back I realized a got mostly writing conventions wrong. That is something I need to edit better for and keep in mind. Something I did really well on was my thesis statement. Somethign else I did really well on was analyzing my ideas. Overall I am proud of this writing piece and liked it a lot.
Notecard #9
Emma Hirsch
Williamsburg, VA, Historical Impersonator Blacksmith. Interview. By Olivia Cueto. 6 Jan. 2016.
“Colonial marriage perspectives were pretty much all the same. The women would get married at the age of 12 or 13 and the men would be a few years older. Women changed a lot when they got married. Before native women got married they were bald, naked and usually covered in grease. But when a native women got married they finally grew out their hair, got clothing, and could start caring more about their bodies. Weddings were held in cold months Blacksmiths could marry a couple. If a divorce happened, the mother would usually take the children unless she was the one that cheated.”
– Native American women would get married at 12 or 13
– The men would would be older than the women
– Women became new people once they got married
– Natives before they got married were bald, naked, and covered in grease
– When they got married they got a makeover
– Weddings happened in cold months
-Blacksmiths could marry a couple
-If the couple got divorced, the mother would get the children, unless she was the one who did something bad
This shows that marriage was important for the women more so than men. Marriage for Native Americans really impacted your life. The women would start to care more about their looks and appearance. This is surprising to me because this seems like the women are losing power. It seems like the men have the power to change their appearance. Native American women seem to be more powerful than men. In my first notecard I mentioned certain policies that have to do with divorce. I learned Native American women have the power to divorce their husbands. To show that they want to get divorced is by putting her husband’s clothing outside the home. This signifies that she wants him to leave. There was nothing the men could do about it because the women held most the power. I find it surprising how the women have the power and ability to divorce their husbands but then the men have the power to make the women want to change her appearance. I can infer that the women change their look once they get married because they are happy. What I mean is before they get married she isn’t as happy and maybe doesn’t care so much about what she looks like. Now that she is married she probably feels pressured to look nice and pretty for her husband. I can infer she cares a lot about what he thinks of her and she wants him to think she looks good. The way a woman looked played a big role in the colonial era. It determined your spot on the social hierarchy. If you had the newest shoes, hats, or bags, then the community knows you are wealthy. I can infer women want to look nice so that they fit in well, and people think they are wealthy. This is one reason why a woman changes so much after marriage. I find it interesting how when a couple splits up, the children go to the mother. I know that happens a lot now a days, but I didn’t know it happened back then. I wonder about the three cultures and what their traditions are for divorce. Custody, would there be fighting, court? These are some topics I want to learn about. Because my parents are divorced, I want to see the differences and similarities from now and the colonial era. I wonder what happens once you get divorced land wise. Is it possible for women to keep their ex husbands land? Would men and women go to court for a formal divorce if they were formally married? This shows that there are many marriage and divorce differences among the three cultures.
Created: 11/02/2016 12:46 PM
I think this is my best note card because I really found the information interesting so it was easy to write. Usually when you don’t like the information that much it is hard to write, but this came to me easily. I am proud of my ideas in this note card. I feel they are strong and interesting. In the beginning of this process my ideas section wasn’t very strong, and along the process they became better and more thorough.
Name: Emma H September 2016
Seventh Grade Humanities M13C Ch. 4
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.
1607 was when the scientific revolution began. In 1607 Halley’s comet was spotted and Europeans believed that this meant bad luck. They thought that something bad was going to happened to them. Science became a bigger thing in 1607. People hadn’t thought about science that much until Halley’s comet, which is when things started to change. The first permanent colony also happened in 1607. Boats were being sent by a company called London Company to Asia to find money and gold. There were three boats sent, these boats were names, Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed. This shows that King James was making them think everything is a good idea. I can infer that they were not motivated to work. I think this because the king payed them to go on this journey but told them they could not own land. They probably thought there was no point. The kind put them in very dangerous positions. On their journey back the got attacked by indians. The Indians didn’t want them around, in fact they said they didn’t want white people around. “The local Indians knew about white men, and they didn’t want them around,” (Hakim, p. 25). This shows that there were many stereotypes going around from both sides. Therefore 1607 was a big year where the scientific revolution began, and also the first permanent colony.
2. Describe the terrain and the geography of the English fort.
The terrain in which the Englished lived in to me looks like an enclosed utopia at first. There is a tiny village in Jamestown, but it supplies everything they need. They are on the water which is good for trading and fishing, maybe even getting clean water. I notice that there is a baking oven outside the palisade- a high fence made of stakes. I can infer that the oven is outside the house not inside so that their village wouldn’t burn down. If you look at the houses they look small but sturdy. “Most of the houses have thatched roofs made from river grass or reeds, but some are covered with tree bark,” (Hakim, p.26). This shows that they are protected for when it rains. So far things are going pretty well. Soon they start to realize that this might not be the best spot for them. The terrain is swampy, and has weather extremes, and very deep water. The deep water can be good and bad at the same time. Deep water is good because of fishing and maybe even bathing. Deep water is bad because the Spanish can moor their boats right on their land. The terrain has both advantages and disadvantages.
3. Was the initial settlement successful? Why or why not?
The Englishman seem like they will do very well here. They will be successful because they have so many resources that they won’t starve, or die of thirst. They also have think they have good shelters that will keep them protected. “The Englishman spent a few weeks exploring the Bay Area. They feasted on strawberries, ate oysters, and noticed grapevines,” (Hakim, p.26). This shows that they have enough food for now. They have the food they need and this shows they will survive. I can infer that they will end up fighting with another tribe for their food. Speaking of other tribes, they are in a good location for trading. Since they are by the water, that means that there will be a lot of trades happening. At first the settlement seems successful but as time goes by things start to change. The English were not motivated to work because when the king payed them, he told them they could not own land. This made them work less because they knew they weren’t working for their own land. Though their land may be permanent, there are many things that can and will go wrong.
Here is a resubmission from one of the m13c homework. I am proud of this because at first some of my information was wrong, and I was a little confused with the information I wrote. The reason I am proud is because I did more research to make more correct inferences and I felt more confident with my work.
Name: Emma H Humanities
7th Grade The Giver
Jonas’s Journey To Find Himself
Imagine a world where everything is the same, you make the same choices everyday, you are around the same people every day, and you are not able to change anything. In the book, The Giver by Lois Lowry, what seems to be a utopia is being formed into a dystopia. Jonas, a twelve year old boy sees that things need to be changed. Jonas’s whole life shifts when he becomes the Receiver of Memory. He starts to learn that you should be able to make your own decisions. He sees the joyfulness in individuality. Now it is up to Jonas to decide if he should take the risk to change things. Jonas lives in a utopia where difference is considered bad and sameness is enforced. When Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memory he begins to see the benefits of uniqueness and longs for a world of individuality.
In Jonas’s community, people are taught that they should strive to be the same.
The Elders not only enforce sameness in feelings, personality, and choices about daily life, but they also suppress individuality when it comes to appearance. While Jonas was with the Giver one night, he explained something that was hard for Jonas to comprehend. “The Giver chuckled, suddenly. ‘We’ve never completely mastered Sameness. I suppose the genetic scientists are still hard at work trying to work the kinks out. Hair like Fiona’s must drive them crazy,’” (Lowry, p. 82). This shows that difference is considered a mistake in Jonas’s community. The Elders have failed on making everyone similar. Jonas starts to see that he doesn’t want to be like everyone else. He wants to be original.
Jonas is taught to fit in with all his friends, but as he receives new memories, he wants thing to change. Jonas’s family is very good at following the rules, they make sure he is just like everyone else. All Jonas wants is to be different, he wants to be in individual. One day as Jonas was receiving a memory of a birthday he starts to see what uniqueness is. “He had seen a birthday party, with one child singled out and celebrated on his day, so that now he understood the joy of being an individual, special and unique and proud,” (Lowry, p. 12). This quote shows that as Jonas is receiving unknown ideas, he is learning the joy of originality. Jonas was starting to learn that this one magical day was a day to celebrate your uniqueness, celebrate your life, and be different from one another. The Elders took away this one special day. They took away the one day when everything was about you, and you didn’t have to fit in. Jonas wants to be different so badly that he is willing to fight for what he wants.
Jonas lives in community where sameness is not a choice. You have to be similar to everyone else. As Jonas learns new things along his journey he realizes that The Elders are wrong, and that sameness creates a dystopia. The Elders have created what they think is a utopia all around rules. One of the main rules is that individuality is bad, and you should not be proud if you are original, or unique. The Elders will do whatever it takes for their community to stay utopian. What The Elders don’t know is that sameness doesn’t equal perfection and that difference beats sameness for the better. Lowry is creating a world where difference is bad but her goal is to make us reflect more and realize that sameness is bad. Jonas discovers that maybe following the rules isn’t the key to perfection. He learns that being the same as everyone isn’t what will keep the utopia. Jonas chooses throughout his journey that he will fight for a different, and imperfect world.
This is my Giver essay. I am proud of my use of descriptive language. My favorite paragraph is the concluding paragraph because I felt my language and and ideas were strong and original. I am very proud of my whole essay. In the start of this essay, my analysis were not as strong as I wanted them to be. Throughout the process I worked on my analysis and made it stronger and better. I made my analysis meet my expectation, and that’s how I know I improved.
Spring Break
Welcome to the world
Not having anything to do
Watching netflix all day
Not answering the phone
Not responding to people
Welcome to the world
Where you are in paradise all day long
Eating chocolate and drinking soda
Enjoy it while it lasts
I can’t wait to join this world
No school, no anything
Welcome to spring break
Two weeks of heaven, paradise
Welcome to the time of your life
Welcome to the world where you don’t have to worry
Welcome to paradise.
Some people may think, what is personification. Well if you think that, It’s about to be answered. Read my poem and try to think about what it means.
Heart vs soul
Light vs dark
Proud vs ashamed
All day I sit there, watching him brag
Watching him be proud
While I, I just sit there being ashamed
Bragging, bragging all day
People taking pictures, not of me, but of him
Tall and proud, pretty and perfect
People walking past me, not noticing me
Two families, totally separate, never talk
People’s lives are being represented by colors
I used to be light, plain and innocent
Now dripping with grey, cloudy and depressed
While he sits there showing off.
He used to be the same as me
Simple and plain.
Then, covered with paint, we were different.
So If you haven’t figured it out, personification means when you give a none human thing, human qualities! Hope you enjoyed.
We started to read poems from a famous poet, Rumi. He has a interesting style, deep and hopeful at the same time. We were asked to write a poem in the style of Rumi, so I wrote Life and Death. I am really proud of this poem, it really sounds like Rumi. Here is my poem.
Rumi Life And Death Style:
Live your life to the fullest
Live your life to the fullest
Because at any moment,
It could all come to an end
Do not worry about death
Focus on living your life
Cherish the moments you have
Love your family, because
They love you more than the world
Enjoy the great life you have
Don’t be scared of what comes next
Just enjoy what you have now
Live your life to the fullest
So we were supposed to make a poem about NY. There were different topics and I picked kindness. Here is my poem. I wrote this because tourists always ask my mom question, and shes always super kind! I really like this poem because it represents NY in a sweet way!
Kindness
“Where is the A train?”
I hear a young woman say
My mom looks and points