Archive of ‘Humanities’ category

Social Justice Slideshow

I am in a social justice group that has been really struggling through this project. I believe that we are strengthening our perseverance through out this project because each hurdle we come across, we try to overcome. We had a real boost of perseverance  which I think really helped. I believe that an important aspect to a thriving group is pushing others to do their best.

My Essay Writing

My ABC writing gave me lots of anxiety for multiple reasons. The biggest one is because I felt rushed. We didn’t have so to write it so luckily I got an extension. Sadly I never feel complete. It would take me so many hours of strong writing and revising to fully feel complete. Because of this, I always feel let down when I hand it in.

Something that I believe I can work on and set as a goal is not repeating my thoughts and checking over for tiny tiny mistakes. Although there aren’t a lot of those, I do believe that I can improve those areas.

Social Justice Book

Jumping off swings was the book that my group read over the winter break. It was such a good book that I read it in under three days. It brought up multiple problems that young teenagers deal with during pregnancy. It was really helpful to understand what emotions teenagers go through even if it doesn’t seem as tough it would impact them. I really do believe that this book helped me understand our topic and issues that will occur.I suggest this book to other readers.

Cold room poem

Cold Room

 

White sheets, White walls, Cold room,

The clean floors shine back the bright lights

The window, dusty, and yet can hold the only happiness in reach

The view of the river constantly there

Cars bustled down below

The smell of the purell on my hands burns my nose

The pale face lay still in the covers

Silence filled the room

Just through the door you can hear millions of stories

You can feel the pain of others without even sharing a glimpse  

White sheets,

White walls,

Cold room

Deep water poem

Deep Water

 

When you fall in the deep water, you’re alone

No one to help, No one to hear

You’re drifting all night for hours upon hours

Never stopping, never hitting land

Your mind, constantly wondering, never letting you go

You can’t escape

Your body frozen still

Chains of thoughts surrounding you

Until the water drains

And you wake up

Africans in NY

Name:   Meadow                                                               March 2017 Humanities                                               Africans in NY: Creative Narrative Assignment

 

Wishing Stars

By Meadow

 

I was young and foolish, but I didn’t kill nobody. I was taken from West Africa and I was scared of the New World. Being taken from your family as tears fill their eyes is something you can’t forget. I was living in Sierra Leone with my mother, sister and brother when the ships came. Weapons and Cloth were coming from England. Then they came for us. I had heard stories about men and women being sold in exchange for goods. I didn’t realize how violent it would be. My family was hiding and I tried to protect them, but it was no use. They had weapons that would blow me to pieces instantly. I was dragged through the mud down to the English slave post at Sherbro. So many people were lined up, some with tears running down across their scars, others with blood dripping onto their dark skin. I knew no English at that time and I couldn’t understand the other men and women aboard ship. There were children as young as 3 years old in their mother’s arms. Some children were alone with no family for 8 weeks. We were pushed into the underbelly of the ship into darkness. As the waves crashed on the deck and the storm roared you could hear the cries of those young ones. Although I was alone, I trusted that my family would stay strong. They have been through a lot and they can make it through this too. Anger would fill my soul as the memories flew back, but I could never have enough rage in my heart to kill a man. Death is so detrimental to the soul and I know how it hurts. Killing doesn’t change a thing. You think it will make your pain go away but it stays, tucked away in the back of your mind for eternity. I am not scared of death. It will come eventually and no mortal has the power to stop it.   

 

The creeks of the wooden floor would echo at night making it impossible for me to close your eyes. The stench was horrid. The coughs of others, the cries of babies, the door being blown open by the wind every night reminded me of my own sorrow. My back was against another back, against another back, against another back. I had no way of knowing if they were dead or alive. It was pitch black as my hopes crumbled, I could see they way out of all this suffering as many others did. Every day there would see less and less of us. Screams and splashes of water became normal as we all lost our humanity. There was one particular night where I was contemplating the future. Would I survive in the new world? How much more could my body take of this madness? Should I take the easy escape too? As I lay awake, I suddenly heard men above the deck moving with haste. We were brought out on the ship as a mix of emotions bombarded our minds. The air was cooler, the sun was still rising and we had made it to America. The water glistened as it reflected the blue sky and a light breeze set the scene. I didn’t know how to feel about arriving. I had just spent 8 long, painful, tremendously difficult weeks on a old ship and finally arrived where I could have a new future, but I was captured and torn from my family to be enslaved for who knows how long. I could feel the tension spread across all the hurt faces. Then I saw my father’s face. Dark eyes with so much hope and happiness. He was holding my hands and laughing with me. But then he was gone, he vanished so quickly. I don’t remember how he disappeared. I can remember my mother in tears sobbing as I held my younger sister. There was blood and marks in the dirt. I could still hear distant shouting and screaming. Mother was holding her stomach and saying sorry over and over again. A few months later my mother went into labor and had my baby brother. He would grow up without a father. I didn’t ask any questions because I didn’t know if I really wanted to find out. When I was taken to Sherbro I could hear my mother say something but I couldn’t make out the words. I don’t want them to remember me. I don’t want them to hold on to me. I won’t ever see them again and I have to make peace with that.

 

My foot pressed against the wooden dock. When I saw all the people with lighter skin and fancy clothing covering their bodies, I almost felt ashamed of how I looked. I was only wearing a piece of fabric wrapped around my lower half. My hands were tied behind my back with some rope. I looked like a bag of bones. I had no dignity left. We were led to the middle of town to be auctioned off. As the children were ripped away from their families, fewer and fewer of us stood standing. A man by the name of Adrian Hooglandt raised his hand. He pointed at me and said his price. Although I didn’t know what my future would be, I could see in his eyes that it was grim. I could tell that he cared nothing for me. He didn’t care if I died or not. I was just another accessory. I was taken to his home which looked like a palace containing a torture chamber. It was a two story, white wooden house with beautiful windows although I would never get a chance to look out of them. I was handed pants that looked as though they had been buried for centuries and a shirt that was only held together by one dying strand. I put them on as Mr. Hooglandt told me the rules that I would be confined to for life. “Do not speak, only listen. Work until I say stop. I should never know you are here. Forget your past, your new name in Robin you hear me? Now go to work!” I nodded and walked down the path to the field. A small, wooden, shack barely standing came into view. Those would be my quarters for the rest of my life, or so I thought. The door creaked as I opened it. There were spiderwebs in every corner. A stained blanket covering the bed frame. My “cabin” was the tool shed. I picked up the hoe on the shelf and left. My feet dragged across the dirt, hitting rocks. Five minutes felt like five hours and it felt like the sun never moved. Sweat dripped down my forehead. My muscles ached. My heart beated faster and faster. My head was banging. The light around me faded. The moon came up and the stars lighted my face. I could hear other slaves walking back to their quarters. I looked back at Mr. Hooglandt’s house and there was still light in the windows. I continued to work as I thought about my family back at Sierra leone. Were they looking up at stars too? Was my dad looking too? My mother used to say when I was a little boy that the stars were so special that if you made wish and picked a star that it would come true some day. And that star that you picked would watch over you and protect you. I waited and waited while staring at the stars but nothing happened. The house was dark now so I slowly forced my feet to take me to my quarter. I lay the hoe down and sat on my bed. I lay my back down and felt the wooden beams dig into my skin. No human should live like this. Would I ever be treated differently? I let my pain and worry fly away as a realised there was no use imagining the impossible. My first day in America was ending. I had made it through the Middle Passage but my adventures weren’t over yet. My eyelids became heavy and my arms relaxed. The last view in my mind were the stars.

 

There was a loud knock that echoed through the wood. Light poured in as the door opened. A young, beautiful woman with light chocolatey skin and dark hair pulled back into a bun was wearing a red floral dress with a tray in her hands. “Eat your breakfast quickly, we’re off to Elias’s . Come with us,” she said. I only knew a little English at the time so that was very hard to understand. She walked over to me and gave me the food. There was water, some bread, and some porridge thing that looked disgusting. She nodded as I took the wooden stick with a small bowl connected to the end to my mouth. I didn’t expect it to be so warm, but I still swallowed. The taste was different and unique. Like cow milk mixed with wheat. She waited for me to finish. Her smile was so bright that it seemed as though she was already in heaven. Her dark eyes made me feel at home. “By the way, my name is Elizabeth, I work inside the house,” she said with a melodic tone. We stood up and walked outside the cabin. “But master?” I managed out. Slaves were not allowed to leave their quarters without their master’s permission. She looked at me and smiled, “Don’t worry, I am his personal maid. He lets us go to Elias’s house because if he didn’t he wouldn’t be a loyal Christian.” I nodded and kept walking. I didn’t know where we were going but if it was with her, I knew I would be okay. We turned up the road in silence. I looked down at my feet and she must have noticed because she said, “We can get you some shoes when we get there.” I looked at her feet. She was wearing brown short heels that had little laces in the middle. “We’re here,” she said. We entered a small brown house that had two rocking chairs on the front porch. We walked up the attic stairs and came into a room with seven other people. One was at the back in a chair and the other six were sitting on benches. I saw faces that reminded me of my friends back at home. The white man in the back said, “Welcome, what’s your name?” with a French accent. I had to chose weather I was to start a fresh or to bring back my native side. “Robin,” I said. They nodded. A woman gestured to an open seat next to her. As I sat I realised the cross in the center of the table. We listened to Elias’s sermons, then we sang and finally we prayed. We went to Elias’s house every Wednesday and Friday for the next several weeks. Many more people joined. I felt like I had made friends that I could trust. I learned more and more English over the times we went there. It gave me a new sense of who I was and my new identity in America. One night I came back with Elizabeth and it was much later than usual. The moon was high in the sky. As we walked down the path to my cabin, the stars lit up our faces. When we got to my cabin we didn’t stop walking. The light reflected in her eyes. We got down to the field and sat down on the grass. I looked at my feet where I now had cream colored shoes. “Pick a star,” I whispered. She pointed at a one but I was only looking at her. “That one,” she said. “Now make a wish and it will come true.” She thought for a bit and then said, “I wish that I will have freedom someday and the all the suffering will end.” We lay still for a while. I had hope in my heart, but it was shorty crushed as I smelled the smoke.

 

I remember that smell from when I was a little boy. We were at this ritual of sorts where lumber was placed in a circle pointing to the stars. We all closed our eyes and hummed. We I opened my eyes, there were colors dancing on the logs. Reds and yellows jumping around, swirling up and down. Fumes lifted into the sky and then faded. It was a distinct ashy smell. Then when I realised what was going on I grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and ran to the front of the house. Flames had engulfed the front porch already. Elizabeth’s eyes lit up in horror. The wood turned black and the beams started to fall. I looked at the crowd of slaves. So many angry faces, why didn’t they understand that now they were no better than them. “No, No, STOP!” I shouted but no one heard me. My voice faded as I watched the palace crumble. White men were now rushing to the scene with weapons. Some were trying to put out the fire. Others were fighting back the crowd. So many died right on the spot. Blood ran threw the streets. The crowd fought hard against the whites. I put my hand out to protect Elizabeth. The fight went on for hours. Bodies lay on the floor in piles. The remaining people were taken off to jail. They saw me and Elizabeth standing in shock. They grabbed our arms and put them behind our backs. “But we didn’t do anything!” I shouted. They pulled us apart and tied a rope around our wrists. It reminded me of the journey over. I was not going to have my arms tied again. I tried to rip free, but it was no use. One of them saw me struggling and they swung their club at the back of my knee. I screamed out in pain and fell forward. “Please don’t, please don’t,” I begged. Elizabeth and I were carted off with others to the jail. I looked up at her face and she was looking up to the stars. Her hands came up and she started to pray. As I looked around I saw others joining. I raised my hands and looked to the stars. I needed them to help me, to save me. We were all locked up in jail and they said that there would be hangings in the morning. There were about seventy of us locked up in cells, I held Elizabeth’s hand through the ropes. We slept sitting with our back against the wall. I couldn’t sleep and I looked at her pure, beautiful face. What would I ever do without her, I thought. The floor was cold and my arms ached, but I fell asleep thinking about her dark eyes.

 

“Get up, get up!” a guard shouted. We were brought to be questioned and identified. They let about thirty slaves back to their homes. I looked over and still saw Elizabeth in the crowd. The forty people left were questioned again. Twenty one were sent to jail. Then there were nineteen people left. We all looked at each other. There were no words needed. We knew what was going to happen. There was no reason in trying to prove to these unreasonable men that we were innocent. We were silent as we walked to the gallows. They took a few away and tied them to a stake. They lit the fires as the white people watched. The screams echoed through the fields as we were forced to watch. The whites cheered as their flesh peeled. The long painful deaths continued. It was unbearable to watch. When the screams faded they led people to the ropes. Elizabeth waited on the side for her fate. She wouldn’t look up. I looked at her shoes. There were blood stains splattered onto the sides. I heard the knock of a stool and I gulped. Then another, and another and another. I looked back at the limp bodies. I walked up to my post but a guard stopped me and brought me to the front. “This is the one that killed Adrian Hooglandt! Doesn’t he deserve to be hanged in chains instead?” He said. The corrupted crowd cheered as I was pushed back to the side. Elizabeth was brought to the front. “Stop, stop! She’s innocent, please!” I yelled but it was barely heard other the cheers of the crowd. She looked into my eyes. She shook her head with fear. Her body started to tremble. The rope was cinched around her neck. She was mouthing the words please over and over again. She reminded me of my mother when we were hiding from the soldiers. Elizabeth wouldn’t look away from me and I wouldn’t look away from her. A tear slid down her cheek as the kick the stool. I coughed and I couldn’t catch my breath. Her lifeless body swung back and forth. I fell to my knees and bellowed. Then I was grabbed by the arm and pulled up. A minister walked to the front before I was tied up. “If you confess now, all charges will dropped and you will be free to go,” He said. I shook my head, “I didn’t do nothing.” He nodded and shifted his feet, then looked into my eyes. “Let him go,” He said. I stood straight as they untied me. How was this even possible? I realised it was the stars. They protected me physically, but not mentally. My heart was broken and could not be repaired. Even as the crowd booed and I was escorted out, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I was defeated and there was no more left of me for them to take. I was deparity at its best. I still had to spend a few more nights at jail in the cold, dark rooms, but I was free. I would live to see the stars once more. When I was let out it was nighttime. I walked behind the house and around the town until I got to my old cabin. My shoes were now worn out and stained. I saw the ruins of the house. All that was left of the windows were shatter pieces of glass. Everything was charcoal black. The smell of burnt wood still shifted through the air. I walked down to the field and into the grass. I slowly sat down on the dirt. My muscles ached and my lungs were weak but I made it down. I saw the stars with their shimmering lights. My tired eyes shut and the only thing I could think about was how I would never see those dark eyes again.

 

    

Crucible/McCarthy Comparative Essay Outline

I’ve found this particular template helpful in the crafting of my essay. It organizes the paragraphs and helps me think of what to write about. Sometimes I’ll forget to textual evidence or I won’t have a real structure to my writing. Another piece of the template that I find helpful is that after using the template more and more, you start to see how detailed each section is. For example, the analysis is where you do most of the thinking. That part should have more detail then your explanatory sentence. I think I have found the template more useful this time than compared to the Giver essay. I could feel it getting more confusing this time then last time and I think the outline helped me. I think that the format of each paragraph really helps me stay on track. I like how you start with big ideas and then narrow it down to the details and then at the conclusion you talk about the big main idea and the message that you were trying to get across. Here’s my first draft in the outline form.

 

 

Name: Meadow                                             Humanities

7th Grade                                                                         Comparative Essay

Outline for Crucible/McCarthy Comparative Essay

 

Theme: Sexism

 

Paragraph #1: Introductory Paragraph (GIT)

 

Grabber Statement (G): Females make up 49.6% of the population and yet they still face misogyny today. Every human being you know or have heard of came from a woman so why don’t we show women a little respect? Without females, No living animal would be alive. Do you really want to see a world where women are ashamed about the nature of their bodies and brains?

 

Introduction of Theme (I): Sexism has not ended and it won’t end if we don’t change our behaviour towards women. The salem witch trials, the baby boom in the 1950s, and our presidency today have demonstrated sexism in many shapes and sizes. We are constantly having to battle the objectification of women. There is no excuse for women to be treated unequally to men.      

 

Thesis Statement (T): Sexism and oppression of women has been around since the beginning of human evolution and still hasn’t stopped because women are constantly being marginalized by men.  

 

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Paragraph #2: Crucible Thematic Connection

 

Topic Sentence (T): Sexism and the objectification of women are evident in the Crucible by Arthur Miller because women get accused of being witches and can’t defend themselves. These oppressive forces disempower women.

 

Explanatory Sentence (E): When people start being blamed for witchcraft, names are being said left and right. Abigail is one of the main accusers that list people that have conferred, supposedly, with the devil. When Giles Corey’s wife is accused, he tries to defend her. Earlier in the book, Giles made a statement saying that his wife was reading books and then he wasn’t able to pray. Now he deeply regrets it.    

 

Evidence (E): “Giles: It is my third wife, sir. I never had no wife that be so taken with books, and I thought to find the cause of it, d’y’see, but it were no witch I blamed her for.” (The Crucible, page 91)

 

Analysis (A): This quote shows sexism because when a woman reads a single book, they are thought to be witches. They are seen as objects in the eyes of men and when that object thinks for itself, it is seen as wrong and distasteful. Women weren’t considered normal if they did anything that wasn’t what a loyal, Christian, “white” woman does. Sexism restrained the women from doing anything that wasn’t housework. Their minds were withheld from their true potential. Sexism is a constant issue brought up many times in this book. Very rarely was there ever a man accused of witchcraft in 1692 and when they were, it was only for vengeance. Giles made a mistake when he said his wife was reading books. In their sexist society, hysteria was spreading and any piece of information was held against themselves. Men wouldn’t stand up for females because when they did, they were classified to be working with the devil too.   

 

Concluding/ Transition (C): The Salem Witch Trials showed us the horrible things that can happen when women are oppressed.

 

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Paragraph #3: McCarthy/Red Scare Thematic Connection

 

Topic Sentence (T): Women in 1950’s America were not thought of as equals to men and were marginalized.  

 

Explanatory Sentence (E):The oppression and sexism against women in those times was so huge that it made headlines in newspapers.  

 

Evidence (E): “The suburban baby boom had a particularly confining effect on women. Advice books and magazine articles (“Don’t Be Afraid to Marry Young,” “Cooking To Me Is Poetry,” “Femininity Begins At Home”) urged women to leave the workforce and embrace their roles as wives and mothers. The idea that a woman’s most important job was to bear and rear children was hardly a new one, but it took on a new significance in the postwar era.” (History.com, Baby Boomers)

 

Analysis (A): In this age, women were treated like chattel. They were only accessories to their husbands. They wouldn’t have any freedom to do “male” jobs. They were a side thought. The only reason they were considered useful then was to have babies and cook food. They were seen to have no intellectual capabilities. This was sexism being shown in the 1950s. The message being told to the women at the time was: your husband is back now and you can go back back in the kitchen. Women weren’t allowed to be in the army. They weren’t allowed to get the same respect that the men got.          

 

Concluding/ Transition (C): This sexism and oppression shown in the 1950’s is still alive today.

 

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Paragraph #4: Modern Day Witch Hunt Thematic Connection

 

Topic Sentence (T): Sexism has left the attention of most people and has oppressed females even more.   

 

Explanatory Sentence (E): It is 2017 and the leader of our country is a sexist, bigoted, racist shell of a man.  

 

Evidence (E): “ A son of a presidential candidate, and others, questioned the legitimacy of sexual harassment in the workplace. A powerful executive dismissed gender inequality in his male-dominated industry. Conversations around the upcoming Olympic Games have revealed a fundamental difference in the way we talk about men and women athletes.

Wait … it IS 2016, isn’t it?

Thanks to social media and a growing understanding of women’s issues, there is less tolerance in our society these days for sexism and regressive comments. When someone steps out of line, they are more likely to get called out — on Twitter, if not in person.” (CNN.com, What’s with all the sexism?)

 

Analysis (A): Sexism is still very much alive and sadly it has left the attention of others. People don’t see how much sexism is in our daily life because it is so driven into our brains. Donald Trump is one of the most sexist people in the world and now he is also one of the most powerful. We as a nation have worked so hard to get where we are and he will now bring us back in time to where women were oppressed. Saying, “Grab them by the P***y” and calling Hillary Clinton a “Nasty woman” and saying “Ranking women is all good fun.” isn’t okay from our president or anyone. He has openly judged women on their appearance. There are so many women that have been shown such disrespect from our president, of all people. People like Paris Hilton, Carly Fiorina, Rosie O’Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Arianna Huffington, his own daughter and many more have been impacted and objectified by Donald Trump. Donald Trump also made an executive order that blocked reproductive rights. This shouldn’t be happening in this day and age. No matter your gender, sex, or what you look like, you should be able to feel free and happy. Harassment and assault towards anyone needs to stop. People should be treated equally by now.  

     

 

Concluding/ Transition (C): If it’s your body, it should be your choice.  

 

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Paragraph #5: Concluding Paragraph (ROC)

 

Reflection on Thesis (R): Sexism is pervasive force against women. People might say that it helped shape our country, but is a shameful side to nation’s past. Think about how many smart and intelligent women have been oppressed into silence by leaders and peers of this society.

 

Overview of Main Points (O): The Salem Witch Trials, The Red Scare, and present day have shown that our society can’t climb out of the ditch where people are pouring sexist ideas and trying to wash out logic from our feminist brains. Women have been repeatedly marginalized. Women were murdered because of power hungry people that silenced them into oblivion. They were objectified when their husbands came back from the war. And now our leader is oppressing an entire gender.   

 

Concluding Idea (C): Why hasn’t this ended yet? We’re not changing our misogynistic ways. We’re not making equal pay for both genders, or giving reproductive rights to women. Women can’t control how they were born and the least America can do is to judge us for who we are. We should feel safe and not have to worry about getting sexaully assaulted everytime we walk outside. It won’t stop until we all work together to stop sexism.

 

Colonial paper

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Your Name: Meadow

Topic: Apothecary and Medicine in Colonial America

Purpose: In Colonial America your health was important no matter what culture you belonged to and the knowledge of health was obtained by the apothecary. The apothecary was a vital part of everyone’s daily life.
The apothecary did a lot on a daily basis. The apothecarist would be your dentist, pharmacist, doctor, midwife, and surgeon. As the dentist, the apothecarist would rip out your teeth with a tooth key and then make the medicine, prescribe the medicine, and then would use it on you. It was a smart move having one person do all those jobs because you didn’t have to travel and all of it could be done more quickly. The doctor, the surgeon and the midwife all had similar jobs so it already made sense that they would be the same person. The doctor was centered around medicine and science, and so was the surgeon, but the surgeon would perform surgeries. The midwife dealt with all the births, and they were more centered around herbs. Today, all those jobs are split up. We have pharmacists that prescribe drugs. We have people that make them. We have doctors. We have dentists. We have surgeons. But back then, all those jobs would be done by one or two people in your town. One person would be in the front of the shop and be the main apothecarist. And the other one would be the surgeon which would be in the next room. Only a wall would be separating them. This person would work very hard and must have had a lot of knowledge to fulfill these tasks.
What did you have to know to qualify as an apothecarist? Maybe you only had to know some of the jobs and then you could learn the other ones in your apprenticeship. I know that in the Native side of things they would have a conjurer. Did he have the same amount of jobs? The Natives didn’t have a dentist or surgeon because they were more spiritual and used herbs mostly. Still, In those two cultures the doctor had many more jobs and must have had to been very skilled. On top of all of these jobs, the apothecarist would come to you house if you needed them. For example every birth would be done at home. So the apothecarist would come other to your house and help you give birth. The apothecary was also used to as a shop. They would sell herbs, candles, cooking ingredients, toothbrushes, and tobacco. The apothecary would be a part of your daily life. Some more than others, but still everyone would go to the apothecary whether it was for a stomach ache or for cooking ingredients. It was a very busy job that required a lot of attention and energy.

Normally the apothecary would be a man’s job because women weren’t taken seriously. Just like today, men didn’t think women had it in them to do these jobs, but some women pushed through that. Most doctors were men and few would be women. Most women knew home remedies to use in their daily lives. The women would compete with the male apothecarist for right to make and prescribe medicine. This shows that misogyny existed very early in time. We are still struggling with this problem. In 1970 only 9.7% doctors were female. Now 34.2% of the doctors are female. Although we have made a huge leap with women in medicine, it is still pretty bad. Now imagine back in Colonial America, over 200 years ago they were suffering from the same problem. That’s why it was so important to be a female apothecarist because you had to stand up against rules confining you from being you.

There would normally be at least one apothecary in each town. How many apothecaries were in the original Jamestown? They probably only had one because there weren’t a lot of people there, but the English probably regretted that decision. There were new diseases and illnesses that the English could not comprehend. Maybe having more apothecaries there might have helped because then they would have had a better understanding of the developing diseases. There was another problem that the English didn’t think of when planning out the voyage to the New World in 1607. In the original rules of Jamestown everything that was found, like land or gold, would belong to the London/Virginia Company. All the hard work that you would do didn’t matter. You would be paid the same amount no matter how hard you worked. You weren’t allowed to buy or sell anything to anyone else if it didn’t go through the London/Virginia Company first. Later on they changed that rule because no one would work hard on their job. Now you could sell your herbs and make money off of them but you still couldn’t sell herbs to other countries.The English didn’t want you trading with anyone else. If you needed something from the Spanish, all the way back in England, they would get it for you. But you weren’t allowed to trade with the Spanish directly. For Example, peruvian bark, a common medicine but you had to get it from England. You couldn’t get it just from peruvian traders. This made it a lot harder for trade, but it did mean that the trading was authentic. And it kept the London/Virginia Company in the colonization of Jamestown.

In colonial america, war was very relevant and it injured a lot of people. To prevent them from dying, there were army doctors. Having an army doctor was very important. If you didn’t have one, a lot more people would die in the war. It was also a well respected job, and you can tell because people would pretended to be one. There were three different doctors on the battlefield. The first was the professional one. He was the actual doctor and surgeon. The second one was the apprentice. He was learning his work on the job. The last one was the quack. He pretended to be a doctor to gain social status on the battlefield. Now these three, mostly just the first two, would do treatments and take care of diseases. During the war there were a lot of diseases. There was dysentery. Dysentery was caught from drinking bad water. This was a very popular diseases in the colonial ages because the first Jamestown settlement was built next to marshy land where there was brackish water. This brackish water carried bacteria and germs, but the English didn’t know this which is why a lot of people suffered and died from dysentery. Symptoms of dysentery were having diarrhea and vomiting. It emptied out all the fluids in your body which is what was so damaging at the time. Another disease that was caught in the war was smallpox. Smallpox was easily spread through contact with the infected person or contact with something that the infected person has passed on the germs to. For example if that person were to sweat in their clothes or bed sheets and then someone else touched them. That person would be infected. That is why smallpox spread easily in tight conditions such as small army tents. And the last ones were fever and diarrhea. We now know that those are normally symptoms of other diseases, but back then they didn’t know that.

This job would have been perfect for someone that needs everything clean and tidy. In order to keep everything clean, it had to be neat. I know that they didn’t understand what germs were but the knew a lot about how to keep them away. They knew not to have sick people in rooms with others. They knew to keep things clean. They knew to clean wounds. And they knew to take off the arm when there was no way of saving it.

M13C Galileo and Copernicus

Name: Meadow September 9, 2016

Humanities Making Thirteen Colonies

Directions: Finish reading chapter 1 in Making Thirteen Colonies. Answer the following questions below, responding in complete sentences and using textual evidence and analysis. This assignment is due Monday, September 12th. Proofread your work carefully.

1.What is the main idea of this chapter?

The main idea in this chapter is that new ideas are pushing away religion to make space for science in the new world. It is all about change and how change will keep coming. Galileo took up Copernicus’s work and started to think of the world differently. “Everyone knew that the planets and stars and sun all revolved around the earth. If that idea was wrong then the pope and all of Europe’s rulers were wrong.” Page 16 by Hakim. All that Galileo had to do now was to prove it, prove that almost everyone in the world wrong. And you have to be convincing to change the idea that is so deeply engraved in everyone’s mind. This was just the beginning to a whole new world. After that, people started inventing things, having more questions and ideas. The world started to change for the better. Religion, however, took a different path. Everyone became so interested in science and education, so much so that the prior religious ideas no longer made sense. Science was taking over the world, and it started with two very important people.   

2   Identify/Define the following names/terms:

(no textual evidence needed for these)

  1.    Galileo Galilei:

Galileo was an Italian scientist that discovered an idea that was soon to change the world. He believed that the sun just might be the center of the universe, instead of the earth which was currently indoctrinated in many of the European’s minds. He got this idea after a comet soared across the sky in 1607. Nicholas Copernicus, another astronomer just like Galileo, had his own doubts about the solar system well before Galileo was even alive. Before Copernicus died in 1543, he had the hypothesis that planets and stars all revolved around the sun. During his life, this idea went unrecognized for many years. It went against everything that Europeans knew. No one believed him; his idea never caught on. Several years later after Galileo was born, he was contemplating his research. If that is all true, it challenged the Pope and all of the most powerful European leader’s beliefs.  “Of course, that disturbing idea got Galileo into a lot of trouble.” Page 16 by Hakim. Later in life Galileo was put under house arrest by the Pope. But before then, Galileo did a little bit of tinkering. “In 1609, just two years after the comet appeared, Galileo built one of the world’s first telescopes.” Page 16 by Hakim. This telescope was different than any other. This one was stronger and more powerful, powerful enough to see into space. Galileo changed the way people thought of science and space.

  1.    Nicholas Copernicus:

Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who had the idea that the earth orbited around the sun not vice versa. Copernicus was all alone with his idea; no one stood by him or believed him at all. Copernicus did a lot of research and spent his entire life’s focus on showing his idea to Europe. Copernicus ran out of time before he saw his life’s work truly appreciated. Time went by and still no one knew the truth about the world. Later Galileo look into it and study his idea and decided that he could be correct. Galileo made it his life’s work. Sadly Copernicus was dead long before Galileo found out the truth about the world. Copernicus’s idea lived on. Galileo shared it with the world and it would have made Copernicus very happy.   

  1.    How did Copernicus, and later Galileo, challenge religion and tradition in the sixteenth century?

Copernicus and Galileo both saw the world differently from others. For most of Copernicus’s life he tried to prove it, but he died before his idea got famous. But Galileo took up his studies and found the idea very interesting. The famous idea that we now all know to be partially true is, “… the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe.” Page 16 by Hakim.(we now know that the sun is the center of our solar system not the universe. The center of our universe is a black hole.) This idea went against all the important leaders of Europe and most importantly the Pope. The Pope saw this as a threat to religion and locked him away. “Galileo was disgraced by the Catholic Church and put under house arrest for saying that the earth moves around the sun.” Page 16 by Hakim. Luckily the idea was already spreading. “…by the end of the 17th century, most of the new scientific beliefs about the earth and skies were commonly accepted.” Page 16 by Hakim. Some people died trying to prove this theory and now it is common knowledge. So thank you Nicholas Copernicus and Galileo Galilei for your intelligence and perseverance to make this world better.       

Good example Notecard

Native american Medicine People Power

Source:

Liptak, Karen. North American Indian Medicine People . Watts.

Pages:

12 and 10

Quote:

‘Medicine people are often respected and even feared by their members. They are respected because they assist the ill to become well with their “good medicine.”  They are feared because they can also use their power to cause illness. This is called “bad medicine.”

Medicine people aren’t limited to healing sick and injured people. In most tribes, they are also called upon to predict the future and to help tribal members have good luck in hunting and planting. Medicine people are also asked to influence the weather. 

Paraphrase:

The Natives called their doctors or apothecarists “Medicine people”.

The Natives thought that the “Medicine people” had some sort of magical powers that was called “good medicine”.

The Natives thought that even though they had the power to do good, they also had the power to do bad. This was called “bad medicine”.

The Natives respected the “Medicine people” but also feared them. They had to be they nice and kind to them.

Medicine people heal and help the people in need medically, but they do more than that.

They are also looked to for advice to predict the future and help the tribe members with gathering food and hunting down animals. 

The medicine people are called upon to change the weather too. ]

The medicine people are very important to every tribe because they have a lot of wisdom.

My Ideas:

This connects to the Giver because the receiver and giver contain all the wisdom and are seen with great power. The medicine people in the Native tribes are seen as wizard-y magical beings. I wonder if the medicine people are elected the same way as Jonas in the Giver too. I wonder if it is like an apprenticeship and you have to learn the skills of the medicine people and live up to the job. We know that a single human cannot change the weather or predict the future, but to the Natives they believed that the medicine people could. I wonder if my prediction in an early notecard is correct. The notecard said that the natives would have a closer idea to the truth of the human body, but it would be more spiritual. So far my prediction about Natives being more spiritual is correct, but I have to find out about their medical ideas. I wonder how this theory started about the medicine people having these powers. Did something happen where the weather changed after the apothecarist had a argument, so the tribe saw it as the fury of the bad medicine. Back then in the colonial times, they had no science to prove otherwise. If a storm came after a fight, to them, that meant one of them upset the spirits or was a spirit him/herself. There is nothing else like this in any other culture. The English had nothing like this and neither did the africans. I wonder if the spiritual side of things made the Natives stronger or weaker during fights because they might have felt like the spirits their on their side or that the English also had evil spirits.  

History:

Created: 10/14/2016 11:00 AM

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