Cohen

Name: Miles F                                                                                            March 2017

Humanities                                                            Africans in NY: Creative Narrative Assignment

Joanie’s Journey

 

Hello. My name Joanie and I am owned by John Mclennan. I live in Bowling Green New York. Most people don’t know my name because I am not treated as a human, therefore they don’t think I need a name. They treat me as I am a monster and that the only thing I can do is work. One day people in my own land of Angola forcefully stole me from my village and made me walk 150,000 miles to get the closest slave port which is Benguela which is owned by the British. It got worse from there. After I got to the slave port they threw me onto a slaver which is the boat they brought me over to New York to be a slave. The process of coming over to America is called the triangle trade. The triangle trade is a very nasty and dangerous process  and I almost died multiple times. These slavers were horrible, people were packed into the ship like sardines on the bottom of the boat so no one could get any fresh air. Sometimes people would get through the netting and jump off the boat. It was so horrible. I also got smallpox on this boat. Smallpox almost brought me down, but god was on my side and I survived. This was a blessing and tragedy. Once we got to New York they sold me off, the person they sold me to was John Mclennan. John traded for me with some rum. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard I was bought for rum. My life was only worth some rum. Mclennan would make me cook and be a dairy women. John was also a nasty man. He would whip me if I was slow and would never say please and thank you. Basically, I did all the chores around the house. Then out of nowhere, he put me on the slave market offering me up for someone else to buy me.

I would not let someone own me again, so I decided to leave. I was going to run away. I would stop at the Canal Street underground railroad stop and stay there for a little bit and gather more supplies. The once I got everything I would head north into the Harlem Woods. I would leave tomorrow night at midnight. Everything was the same that day, I did my job and everything was fine. Then the nerves started to kick in at ll:00 PM. I got out of bed at 12:30 packed all my stuff and crept out of my room. I could hear the cold floor creaking under my toes and every time I stepped I prayed that no one would hear me.

Once I got to the open field and saw a glance of the cows and I promised myself that I would never let someone own me again. Then I ran as fast as I could across the field into the forest. Once I got into the forest I saw something. It was a white man. I had no idea who this man was. He was not going to stop me, so I made a plan. I was going to throw a rock in the opposite way of where I’m going to create a distraction. So I did it, and it worked. He went the opposite way. From there I ran as fast as I could. The rest of the day I went north. At around 9:00 PM I stopped walking and found a place to sleep. I found a nice place to sleep. It was right under a big tree so if it rained I would be dry. Then I started to make a fire to cook some food. After I ate I started to make my bed. Once my bed was made I went to sleep. The next morning I was cold and wet. It must have rained while I was asleep. Hopefully, I could find a place to dry them off. But right now I must go. The people in New York by now must know that I am gone. If they find me I could beet. So I packed up my stuff and left.

I started to walk. I walked until 6:00, my feet were aching and I really wanted to stop but I had to make a good distance from New York. So I kept walking until I heard a sound. I stopped dead in my tracks to listen. It sounded like there were at least five of them. I was in big trouble. There was no way I could fight off all five them. So I just had to wait and hope they would not notice me. But of course me being me, I stepped on a stick and it made a very loud THWACK! This was going to be the end. I had no way of getting out of this one. I was always going to be something worth money and rum. Then I saw them. They looked like me. They had the same color skin. I jumped out of the bushes to show that I was one of them. They were about to shoot me when one of them really saw who I was. He yelled stop, and they all lowered their weapons. Then I told them who I was and why I was in the middle of the woods. Then they told me who they were. They were runaway slaves that had found each other and had run together. Then the guy who I thought was the leader of the group said something to me that I have wanted to hear all my life. He said, “Do you want to join our group?” At that moment I finally thought that I belonged in this world and people would never own me and I was never going back to a life as a slave.  

I really enjoyed this assignment. I enjoyed it because in my case I got to use a historical charter that was an African in New York. But my charter had very little detail about her so I got to really show my creativity. One thing I realised that I really need to work on is run on sentences. I think I can fix this by reading over my writing more than once.

Name: Miles Friedman                                             Humanities

7th Grade     March                                                         

 

The Crucible, Mccarthyism, and Donald Trump, Oh My!

 

Have you ever been in a situation where things spiral out of control? Has someone ever blamed you for something you did not do because they wanted to bet the pressure off their backs. What if this happened on a much bigger scale with countries and cities? This is hysteria and scapegoating at work. Scapegoating is when someone blames someone else for something they did not do. Hysteria is when things get so bad that things get out of control. When there is hysteria people scapegoat others to get out of crazy situations. People also scapegoat to get the pressure off them. Hysteria causing scapegoating has happened throughout time. It happened during the Salem Witch trials of 1692, then later with Mccarthyism and the Red Scare in the 1950s, and even now in the world we know. In all of these time periods Hysteria and scapegoating has caused great commotion. People use scapegoating to get rid of people in their lives that they do not like or want. During times of hysteria people often scapegoat other to get the pressure of themselves. Then the people who were scapegoated scapegoat others to get the pressure off their backs. This is a recurring cycle.

In The Crucible hysteria and scapegoating come up a lot. Many characters are accused of being witches, which causes fear and hysteria. From this hysteria more people are being convicted. People are accusing others of scapegoating so they don’t get accused themselves. In Salem there is hysteria from the accusations of witches in the community. The reverend, who is the person that can ward off the devil, has a daughter who he thinks has been attacked by the devil and this causes mass hysteria. Parris does not like this attention so he decides to scapegoat the easiest possible person to scapegoat: his slave, Tituba. “PARRIS: I saw Tituba waving her arms over the fire when I came on you. Why was she doing that? And I heard screeching and gibberish coming from her mouth. She were swaying her arms like a dumb beast over the fire!” ( Miller, 1953). In this quote, Parris is scapegoating Tituba. Parris does this to get the pressure of his family and himself to get his reputation back to par. From this scapegoating Parris causes all the girls who were dancing in the forest to scapegoat other girls that they know and do not like. Basically Parris started a chain reaction in the whole community. The hysteria of these women convicting these people caused more and more people to be convicted. In Salem the hysteria caused for anybody to be able to be convicted of witchcraft, even a white landowning male. By doing this Parris kills many innocent people in Salem. Hysteria and scapegoating also happened an enormous amount during the Red Scare and Mccarthyism.

Two major themes during the times of Mccarthyism and the Red Scare the two major themes that occurred were hysteria and scapegoating. The Soviets with the bomb caused a bunch of hysteria. Some people tried to gain power from the fear of the Soviets having the H-bomb and the A-bomb. Some people also used this hysteria to get the pressure off losing their job and reputation. During the cold war Joseph Mccarthy decided to capitalize on the hysteria to gain power and get rid of the people he did not like. “The hysteria of the Red Scare made it easy for the public to believe Mccarthy’s charges- even though he offered no real proof,” (Red Scare, Fitzgerald, 2007). Mccarthy used the hysteria of the Red Scare to attack other people that he did not like. He also did this to enhance his power in the country. Although he did not have good evidence he could get away with scapegoating because of the hysteria in the United States.Also the Soviets used hysteria of nuclear weapons to gain power. With the nuclear weapons the Soviets almost gained one of the most powerful army and one of the most feared armies. The communist hysteria created the House of Un American Activities Committee (HUAC). This committee arrested people if anybody did one thing wrong or act different. They would scapegoat these people and ruin their lives. The Rosenbergs lost their life because of people convicting them. Another thing that the Red Scare caused was other countries becoming communist. This also caused hysteria. Many movie stars and and teachers would be scapegoated as a communists. Scapegoating and hysteria is even still happening today.

Today, hysteria and scapegoating are still taking place because of terrorism and Donald Trump. Donald Trump may be scapegoating Muslims because he is Islamophobic. He is also scared of the hysteria that could take place if another terrorist attack happened. “She wants to take away Americans’ guns and then admit the very people who want to slaughter us.” (Donald J. Trump New York Times). In this quote Donald Trump is talking about Hillary Clinton and what she wants to do with guns and Muslims. This quote took place during the run for the presidency. Donald Trump is saying every Muslim wants to kill Americans. He is scapegoating muslims. Also this quote shows how from fear and hysteria Donald Trump has for terrorist attacks he is scapegoating and presuming every Muslim wants to kill a American. Also by saying this he is saying that any American can have a gun, but if you are Muslim you can’t have one because they are a threat to this country. He is scapegoating Muslims because he thinks they are minorities to Americans so they can be the ones who commit all the terrorist attacks so everybody haters them and Americans will agree with him. Donald Trump made an immigration ban to get the pressure of doing something wrong with immigration off his himself. Because of Donald Trump Muslims and many people in the Middle East can not see their family, and travel in the United States.

People have used hysteria throughout history to get pressure off their own backs. Also people get other people in trouble by scapegoating others that they do not like and care about if their life gets ruined. Hysteria and scapegoating have ruined a larger number people’s lives. People are willing to scapegoat to keep their dignity alive. Unfortunately these people are willing to ruin people’s lives for their own. During the Salem witch trials, Mccarthyism, the Red Scare and now people have been scapegoating others and using their own greed to ruin people’s lives. If people could think about others more than themselves maybe scapegoating would end and people could be happier and safer. What do you think would change about our country and the world if this happens.

 

In this essay we had to write about a theme or themes we chose. My themes were hysteria and scapegoating. We also had to write about The Crucible which we read right before this, The Red Scare, and present day. One big thing we had to include was connecting all three time periods with our themes or theme. I found this surprisingly easy with my themes. During the making of of this essay I learned that history really repeats itself and what goes around comes around. I also learned some new writing skills. I learned that everybody might not know what you are talking about and that you have to explain more in depth. In other words I have to explain what I’m talking about more. I would like to work on grammar. This has been a week point throughout out the year so far. I can fix this by slowing down a lot while I write. Also I have to be more specific with my work and go in more depth about what I am talking about.

Name: Miles Sept. 2016

Making Thirteen Colonies Homework

Directions: Read chapter 2 in Making Thirteen Colonies. Answer the following questions below. Use complete sentences. The following assignment is due on Friday, September 16th.

Notes:

• They said Virginia was rich but they were wrong

Questions:

1. What are the characteristics of the “gentlemen” as described in this reading? (Please be detailed in your description). How do they differ from “younkers?”

Notes:

• A gentlemen is a rich person who lived off their families money and had servants and did not do work.

• A Yonker is a an orphan or a poor person and they did all the work on the boat

• I predict the Yonkers will do better in America than the gentleman

• The gentlemen are used to everything being easy.

Gentlemen were people who inherited a lot of money from their families. Also gentleman were among the first people to travel and colonize in America. The gentlemen expected America to be magical, fancy, and clean, and that is why when they got on the boat they wore their nicest clothes. I also think they wore their nicest clothes because they wanted to make a great first impression on the natives. The other people that came with the gentlemen were the Yonkers. younkers where orphans or very poor people that went on the journey to America with the gentlemen. The younkers where also the servants of the gentlemen. They were brought on the trip because they were the only ones who knew how to work the ship. “If a younker fell into the ocean and was lost- well, too bad, (Hakim, pg.19). This quote shows that the gentlemen did not care about the Yonkers. They were only seen as servants.  

2.   Take a closer look at the picture of page all men are rich p19 and the caption that accompanies it. How are people in London imagining the New World based on what this picture shows? Be specific and be sure to reference the picture

• In the picture on page 19 I see the natives hunting deer and starting fires and eating and relaxing.
• I believe that this is how the people from Europe thought of the natives.
• In the front of the picture it looks like paradise and in the back I think the natives are hunting
• hI think the fire is to scare away animals to keep their crops
• the British people are portraying the natives as animals
• They are saying they are savages by showing them as animals
• the British think the people in the picture are mythical creature not humans.
• this image is important because the person who drew this is saying that this is untouched land and their is magic mythical creatures animals and wealth.
• The British are advertising that their is land that is easy to take from the natives.

The British made this picture of what they believed America was going to be like. In the front of the picture I see mythical creatures, a big deer, and lots of vegetation. I think the Europeans believed that the mythical creatures represented a place that was like a paradise. I think the big deer represents a wealth of food and animals. The vegetation represents the fresh produce everywhere. In the back of the picture I notice there is lots of chaos. I see arrows flying, big burst of fire, and dying deer. The back of the picture represents how some people believe that the natives are savages. I believe that their are two different perspectives of the natives in the picture. The first perspective of the natives I think is in the front of the picture, where the natives are relaxing and growing crops. The second perspective of the natives is in the back where there’s chaos and killing.

3.   How well prepared would you say this group of men and boys was for the challenges of a new and unfamiliar land? Do you predict success or failure for this company’s colonizing attempts at this point? Why? Be sure to use textual evidence and analysis.

Notes:

• I predict the Yonkers will do better in America than the gentleman

I think the gentlemen were unprepared for the trip. I would predict failure for the gentlemen in colonizing America. I think the Gentleman had no idea what they were in for. Gentlemen “had no time for adventure; they hoped to find riches,” (hakim, pg. 18). I think the Gentlemen were not expecting the trip to America to have peril. They were not going to discover America, they were going to get rich. I also think the gentlemen were not prepared to handle the Natives in America. If I were a younker, when arriving in America, I would have gathered a group of younkers and left the gentlemen to discover America on our own. In fact, I think the younkers where more prepared than the gentlemen for the journey. I think the younkers were more likely to succeed in America then the gentlemen because they knew how to sail, build, and hunt, which the gentlemen did not.

 

 

I think this is my best making thirteen colonies because I have a lot of class notes and I think I have good TEEAC paragraphs. In this making thirteen colonies I learned about how the English thought of the Natives. I think this was important because this was the firs stereotyping ever. The only thing I needed to work on was grammar.

Notecards

Unpiled

Surgery in the Military

Source:

Tannenbaum, Rebecca J. “Health and Medicine in the 17th Century.” American Centuries , vol. 2, Facts on File, 2014. American History , online.infobase.com/hrc/search/details/358046?q=colonial surgery.

Quote:

“Many surgeons learned their skill in the military and continued to practice after their discharge. They set broken bones, removed cataracts, and amputated diseased or injured limbs. Surgeons made up another category of trained healer. Surgery and medicine were considered separate fields, although the lines were beginning to blur and would eventually disappear altogether. Medicine, or “physick,” was an intellectual, gentleman’s skill; surgery was a manual trade, and thus had lower status. Many surgeons learned their skill in the military and continued to practice after their discharge. They set broken bones, removed cataracts, and amputated diseased or injured limbs.” 

 

 

Paraphrase:

Surgeons in the colonial period learned how to do surgery on the battlefield. Some of the things the surgeons learned during war were how to set broken bones, get rid of cataracts, and amputations of limbs. Surgeons made a new category of trained healer. Surgery and medicine were considered different jobs but overtime they became the same. Physicks’s was a rich mans skill; Surgery was for poor men and they had lower status. Surgeons learned their skill in the military and they continued to do surgery after the war. The surgeon’s set broken bones, removed cataracts, and amputated diseased or injured limbs.

My Ideas:

This quote shows that a lot of the surgeons learned their techniques from the battlefield. The surgeons on the battlefields saw broken bones, gun wounds, infections, severed limbs, and disease. Surgery was a gentleman’s job and never a woman’s job. In the early times of colonial America surgery and medicine were complete opposites, but later on they became one and the same. The surgeons started out as focusing only on physical aspects of medicine. The physicians focused on medicines and bleedings. I wonder what bleedings are? I think bleedings are when you test someone’s blood to see if there are any problems. Some of the colonial  physicians had a lot in common with the medieval doctors. While the surgeons and physicians started out having very different responsibilities over time there jobs became more similar. Surgeons had a lot lower status  because surgery was a manual trade. Physicians however, were thought of as a skilled trade and learned there job by apprenticeship. This gave the physicians hire status than the surgeons. Since surgeons and physicians did not get paid well they would often switch their trade to farming or school teaching. I can infer that surgeons did surgery because they had a passion for helping people. I can also infer that the surgeons went into surgery knowing that they would not make a lot of money.  

History:

Created: 10/11/2016 10:48 AM

 

 

This is one of my notecards, it is about surgery in the military. My topic for the colonial museum is surgery. I think this is my best notecard because it has a good analysis and in general a good theme of the notecard. I learned a lot of interesting things in this notecard. For example most surgeons learned their skill in the army.

Miles Friedman

10/14/16

How the Elders Have Power

Imagine a community where there is no difference and the leaders use sameness to have and maintain power. This is what the community is like in The Giver by Lois Lowry. Jonas is a twelve year old boy who lives an ordinary life until he becomes the Receiver of Memory. He receives this job at the Ceremony of the Twelves where all children that are twelve receive a job in the community. Jonas receives his training from the Giver who is the previous receiver of memory. During Jonas’s training with The Giver, he realizes that there is a lot more to his community than he previously knew. The Elders are the leaders of the community, and they are hiding information about life from the whole town, including information about the outside world. The Elders used many tools to keep its citizens in order and maintain a utopia. Two ways they did this are by making complete sameness in the community, and getting rid of all the difference they can find.

One of the tools used by the Elders to maintain order was sameness. Jonas understands that the rules of the community are very strict and straightforward. Most of the rules are about sameness. For example, children are raised the same, everyone wears the same cloths, and the whole society dresses the same. In Jonas’s community it is considered rude and uncomfortable to talk about difference. At one point Jonas says, “Always better, less rude, to talk about things that were the same,” (Lowry p. 38). This quote shows that it is rude to point out differences in people. This quote also shows that it is very uncomfortable to talk about difference. It can be uncomfortable to talk about differences because it is recognized as a terrible thing. It is recognized as a terrible thing because difference is supposed to be eliminated in Jonas’s community. Jonas’s community has almost forgotten what difference is. Although Jonas’s community strives for sameness there is still some difference in it. Jonas’s community has lost so much by removing differences.

Another means of maintaining a utopia for the elders was eliminating difference. In eliminating difference, Jonas’s community has become bland. Without differences Jonas’s community has lost individuality, the positive, unexpected aspects of life, and all color. Because of the lack of difference, Jonas’s community is predictable and boring. One way that it is predictable and boring is that they do not even have differences in color. One day the Giver explained this to Jonas, “‘We relinquished color when we relinquish sunshine and did away with differences.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others,’” (Lowry, p. 82). This quote shows that Jonas is learning the story of his community and how the Elders made choices about what they believed was best for their community. Although the Elders believe they made the right choices, their choices led to losing good things. The decision to take away difference led to power for the Elders. No one in the community knows how to make a choice for themselves and the people have to look to the Elders for choices. The Elders want to keep the people in the community powerless by removing differences in the community.

The Elders’ goal of this community is to be in control of everything. They also do this by keeping everything absolutely the same and eliminating all difference and wrongs in the community that  people could use to question their authority. Pointing out any differences is considered rude or damaging because it takes away from the Elders’ power.  Individuals are not allowed to make choices, leaving the Elders to become almost like dictators of the mind. This power almost makes the Elders radical. In this book, Lowry shows us that sameness may look a good choice, but it actually can lead to even bigger problems for the community. People become almost robotic followers of the rules. The people become easier to control and the Elders’ power gets considerably bigger. This is why it is important in a community to allow for different voices to be heard and a true democracy can flourish. People can learn to think for themselves as thoughtful human beings. This kind of leadership is what a dictatorship is. 

 

This is my Giver Essay. We spent about a month on it and I am very proud of it. I am proud of it because I worked very hard on it. I also feel proud of it because I got stuck a couple of times and I got through it also I got good grades.