For this assignment, we all were given information on different African people in history. We had to learn about that person, and then we wrote a creative piece. We had to put facts from their actual lives and bring in creativity. I had Dorothy Creole, who was a half-freed slave in New York. By reading about her life, I learned a lot about the lives of slaves in this time and how they were a tight knit community. Dorothy Creole adopted her friend’s child after his parents died. I am very proud of this piece, because I think I was able to put the fact and fiction together well. As I humanities student, I learned that I am very good at retaining information from non-fiction, and then bringing in things that weren’t originally part of the story. I really enjoy doing this because it allows the writer to have some freedom. Overall, I was very proud of this piece.
In humanities, we wrote essays about 3 different time periods in history and a theme that goes throughout them. The time periods were 1692, when the play The Crucible, takes place, the 1950s, when Senator Joseph McCarthy started making accusations about communists, and now, when President Donald Trump is in power. The theme that I chose to write about was power and how people are willing to do anything to get it. I learned a lot while writing this essay. I learned a lot about connecting time periods and how that helps me think more deeply about current events. I also wrote a lot more analysis than I normally do. Before, I would only write about 3 or 4 sentences for analysis, but for this I wrote at least 6 sentences for analysis in each paragraph.
Based on the feedback that I got on this essay, I’m very proud of the effort I put in. Suzanne commented on how strong my analysis is, which is something I have struggled with in the past. I broke down all of the quotes and used strong evidence for each point. I think that I connected these time periods very well. The only thing that I would improve on is the writing conventions. I did well on it, but there were a few words that I misspelled. When I work on this in the future, I’m going to read my essay over a few more times when I’m done, just to check over again. Also, my writing partner, Eli, helped me edit this really well. Overall, I’m very proud of this essay!
This is my essay:
Power Through The Ages
We live in a world where people are willing to do almost anything to gain power. They are willing to make false accusations against innocent people who can then be put in jail and in some situations, even killed. When you have power, people respect you. They do what they can to stay out of your way when you’re angry. This came up with the girls in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, who started accusing people of being witches. It came up in 1950, when Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many people of being communist. It’s also coming up now when President Donald Trump isn’t allowing people from seven different countries into America to show these countries that he has power. Power and control have been important themes throughout history. When you have power and control people respect you, and many are willing to do whatever it takes to gain that respect, including making false accusations against innocent people. These people often think that they can get away with anything. The girls in The Crucible are an example of this, and so is Joseph McCarthy, as is Donald Trump today.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren, a servant of the Proctors, came into more power in her society as she started accusing people of witchcraft. She was someone who didn’t have much power or say in her society. When she started accusing people of witchcraft, the town started noticing her because no one wanted to be accused. Mary Warren gained power by ruining other people’s lives. When she accuses people of witchcraft, she gains power and influence in her town. “ELIZABETH: It is a mouse no more. I forbid her go, and she raises up her chin like the daughter of a prince and says to me, ‘I must go to Salem, Goody Proctor; I am an official of the court!’ ” (Miller, 1953). This quote shows that Mary Warren, who, in normal circumstances would have little to no power in Salem, now has influence because she has started accusing people. Once the people in Salem realized that she could ruin their lives, people started respecting her. When Elizabeth says “It is a mouse no more. I forbid her go, and she raises up her chin like the daughter of a prince,” she is saying that Mary rose above her station as a servant and acted like she was more important than everyone else, which is something no one would have done then. When she says “It is a mouse no more,” she is saying that Mary is no longer shy and mouselike. When Mary Warren was just a servant, she could have gone to jail or been whipped for anything, even something small, let alone something this important. Now that she has power, she could have gotten away with more than she usually could. Abigail Williams, the girl who was leading the accusations, makes her feel like she is powerful in the society and that makes Mary want more power and respect than anyone else. Mary Warren came into power and she didn’t want to let it go, exactly like Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Joseph McCarthy, the senator from Wisconsin, started accusing people of communism so he gain more power. When Joseph McCarthy became a senator, no one really noticed him. After he started making accusations, people started listening to him and respecting him. Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made his first speech about communism in February, 1950. This was the first speech in a series of speeches that made this senator well known. “The 41-year-old McCarthy had done little to make himself known since he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1946.” (The Red Scare, Fitzgerald, 2007). Joseph McCarthy was a little known senator in 1950. He hadn’t tried to make himself known to the public until 1950, when he made his speech that put him on the map. His speech was about communism, but he didn’t reveal any names until a while later. This could have been on purpose. He might have been withholding the information on purpose, so he could stay in the spotlight longer. McCarthy was a senator who didn’t have much influence to begin with. Much more than some people at the time, but in the senate, he wasn’t in that much control. When he came into the spotlight, he started to think about power and how important it was to him. That’s why he didn’t reveal the names of the people on his list, because he wasn’t ready to let go of his influence. Besides staying in power, there’s no good or real reason for McCarthy to withhold this information. The only reason could have been for his own personal gain. Just like in The Crucible, people started respecting McCarthy because they didn’t want to be accused. This is much like our current president, who will do almost anything to stay in power and gain as much as he can.
Donald Trump thinks that he can do anything he wants and because he has so much control, get away with it. He has lots of power over many people and he thinks that because of this, he can do whatever he wants. Donald Trump said this quote at one of his campaign rallies. “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” (Donald Trump, January 23, 2016, CNN.com). Trump is a person who thinks that he has so much influence that he can get away with anything he wants. When he said this, he was probably thinking that he could do whatever he wants because he’s rich and has influence. So many people support him and agree with what he is saying that he thinks no matter what he does, people will still vote for him and he will still win. He said this during the election, and he started being so cocky that he thought he could shoot someone, and no one would care. This shows that because he is in so much power, he believed that he could get away with anything he wants. In an article about Trump’s immigration policies, this was stated. “Under the new directives, the agency would no longer provide privacy protections to people who are not American citizens or green card holders,” (New York Times, February 22). This is talking about how Trump’s administration has stopped giving immigrants privacy protection. This shows that he thinks he can do anything he wants. This policy was established at the end of the Bush administration, and now Trump is trying to undo that. Another thing that he has done to show his control over people, was to fire his attorney general, Sally Yates, for not defending him. She said something that he didn’t like, so he fired her. He was trying to keep his power because if people started listening to her, then he might lose his power. This all shows that Donald Trump thinks that he can do whatever he wants, just because he’s in power.
All throughout history, many people have done whatever they can to gain power. They are willing to do almost anything for the respect and control. Unfortunately, this means that some people are affected by those trying to gain power. Many people were accused during the Salem Witch Trials because of the girls trying to gain power in their patriarchal society. Others were accused in 1950, when an unknown senator from Wisconsin made a desperate grab for power by accusing people of being communist. Many immigrants from different countries are being affected by President Trump’s immigration ban now. Power is something that is desireable to many. When you have power, people respect you. When people who are trying to gain power realize that by doing this, they are hurting many people in this community, then people will stop being afraid of others who aren’t like them, and stop scapegoating them. When the people in power realize that hurting people in order to gain respect and control is something that shouldn’t be done, then the world will be a much better place.
This is my science presentation about ecology action.
We were asked to think about the different types of comparison statements we’ve been writing and our work with rates and unit rates. In this video I’ve addressed 2 questions: 1) How have you found these ideas helpful. 2) Make up an example comparing two items using unit rates. I hope you enjoy my video!
https://app.letsrecap.com/public/r/39edcc6c4be63dc4a5a5f7027f107c5e
Figures are mathematically similar when their side lengths are in a true proportion. You can use a ratio to find out if two shapes are similar. You find the ratio for the two shapes and cross multiply. If the two answers are the same, they are similar. Another way to find if two shapes are similar is by scale factor. A scale factor is a number that you can use to multiply the sides of a figure to get the corresponding side of a similar figure. Another way to tell if two shapes are similar is if they have similar shapes and the corresponding angles are congruent.
Any two rectangles are similar. FALSE. Two rectangles aren’t always similar because they don’t always have a scale factor. One rectangle could be 3 by 8 and another could be 5 by 9. There is no scale factor between these two shapes. All rectangles have similar shapes and corresponding angles that are similar, but that doesn’t mean that they have a scale factor or a true proportion.
Any two equilateral triangles are similar. TRUE. All equilateral triangles have the same general shape and the same angles, so even if the sizes and dimensions are different, they still have the same shapes and they are still similar.
In science, we each have science journals. We write about different things or do different readings, then put our notes in the journal. In this entry, I had just read an article about plants and how they will be able to help the future of cities. I made connections to our city and I think that I made good inferences.
My Muir Web!!
In science, to start off the year, everyone made a personal Muir web. A Muir web is a web that connects all of the food and resources that we(humans) use. I’m really proud of it because I worked really hard and I think that it reflects my best work. I made broad connections and I think that all of the connections were good.
In this project, I wrote from the perspective of John Smith to the London Company about everything that was happening in the New World. I am proud about this because I used all of the information that I had gotten from the book that we were reading in class and I incorporated that into the letter. I think that I used some of the language that John Smith might have used.
September 16, 1607
Dear London Company,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. This is an update on our progress here in the New World. I am writing to tell you that we are here. Though the land is swampy and the water is brackish, we are here. I must say, kind Sirs, though it was you who have sent us on this expedition, you have also made our work harder than it needs to be. You see, we have all been paid in advance, so the workers aren’t working as hard as they should be, myself not included. Of course, I am working at everything, and cleaning up the messes made by the others. This journey is much like many of my others, long, hard and laborious, but hopefully with a fruitful end.
As I mentioned before, the land is swampy and I fear we have picked the wrong place to settle. There is deep water leading right up to our shores. It is convenient for us, for we can sail right up. But, the Spanish could attack at any moment. We also have woods right outside of our fort. We can collect any and all of the wood needed to survive, but as you might be able to tell, the trees are an extreme fire hazard. I have tried to tell this to my fellow settlers, but no one seems to listen.
I have met an Indian. Her name is Pocahontas and she is the daughter of the leader of the Powhatan’s, great Powhatan himself. They have adopted me into their tribe and made me an honorary chief. I have even learned to speak their language. Not always have they been kind to me, though. They have tried to kill me on many occasions. Once, as I bravely stood before the executioner, Pocahontas threw herself on me and saved my life.
Sirs, you have helped us in many ways, and I thank you for choosing me to stay here and settle. You have also presented us with many problems and I ask you to fix them.
Sincerely,
John Smith
This is the note card that I wrote for my colonial project. My subject is family life. In this note card, I wrote about marriage and courtship. I really liked writing about it because it’s a subject that really interests me. My source for this note card was a Wiki, so I got my information from the people who were doing this topic last year. It was really interesting to read some of the interviews from last year. I am proud of it because I worked really hard and I think I made good connections. We had to do 10 note cards in all and this was my last one. When I first started writing the note cards, I wasn’t doing as much analysis as I could have, so I started trying to stretch the analysis. Once I got to the 10th note card, I was able to do a lot more analysis that I did before. I also spent a lot more time on this one than I did on any of the others.
Source:
Williamsburg, VA, Historic Interpreter. Interview. By Olivia Cueto. 2015.
Quote:
“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.”
Paraphrase:
- Women would get married at puberty and men would be a few years older.
- Once women got married, their lives changed completely.
- When Native American women got married, they were bald, naked and covered in grease.
- When the woman got married, they grew out their hair, got clothing and started caring about their bodies.
- Weddings happened in cold months.
- Blacksmiths could marry people.
- If a divorce happened the mother would take the children.
- If the wife was the one who cheated on her husband, the husband might take the children.
My Ideas:
In this quote, she says that women got married at puberty. In another note card that I had it said that women got married in their 20s. The men would be a few years older because that might show superiority. Once women got married, their outlooks in life changed. The way that they were viewed in society changed and the way that they viewed the world changed. Society started seeing them as women, instead of girls. Once women got married, they were finally recognized in the society as adults. They viewed the world differently because they started seeing things the way that adults see it. For example, instead of seeing war like something far off, they started seeing war like a really problem for their society. They would also start to care more about their appearance. Before the women were married in Native American societies, they were usually bald, naked and covered in grease. Once they got married they were allowed to grow out their hair and clean themselves and care about their clothes. This shows that marriage affected women more than men. Once women got married, the women would start to have children. Once they had children, their whole lives would be different. Men wouldn’t see their families very often because they were so busy hunting, so when they got married, their lives wouldn’t be as impacted. Weddings were held in cold weather. I don’t really know why. I think it could have been because the men wouldn’t be as busy in the winter, so they had more time to plan a big celebration like a wedding. If a divorce happened in Native American cultures, the mother would take the children because the wife would normally be the one to initiate the divorce. The women were the ones who could initiate the marriage by throwing the men’s clothes out of the house. This shows that Native American women had more power in a marriage then a European women might. A European women would never even think about divorcing her husband, let alone actually doing it. It would be extremely rare for a European woman
History:
Created: 11/02/2016 10:59 AM
This is my Giver essay that we wrote in Humanities class. After we read The Giver, by Lois Lowry, we all wrote essays and chose themes. I chose the theme of emotions and how Jonas, the main character, and his community don’t really have the same emotions that we have. I’m really proud of it because I went deep and I made strong connections. I learned all about TEEAC paragraphs and that really helped me in my writing process. I really enjoyed writing it and I think my work reflected that.
Emotions, the Doorway to Individuality
Can you imagine living in a world where all of your emotions are being censored to keep a utopia? In Lois Lowry’s The Giver, the people in power have to suppress the emotions of the citizens to stay in power. Jonas is a 12-year-old boy who lives in a community where all of the normal emotions are subdued. Jonas is different from all of the other people in his Community. He notices things that most other people don’t. When he is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory, he starts to learn about the world before the Community. He learns about color and choices, but he also learns about pain and death. Most importantly, he learns about love. Jonas and The Giver, his trainer, have to decide what to do. Risk their lives for the Community, or let it be. The Elders in Jonas’s Community have to make sure that they stay in power. As long as they are in power, they can keep the people in the Community from having the feelings that we have on a daily basis. When the Community doesn’t have those feelings, the Elders are able to keep the utopia.
In Jonas’s Community, the Elders make sure that all of the people’s feelings are suppressed. By giving the people in the Community the pills for Stirrings and having family units share their feelings, the Elders are using their power to take away the emotions of the people. When the families share their feelings, the parents are able to make the children’s emotions more subdued and not as angry or sad. When The Giver is giving Jonas new memories, Jonas gets a memory with a family in it. He experiences love for the first time.“ ‘Love.’ It was a word and concept new to him,” (Lowry, p. 105). This quote shows that Jonas has no comprehension of what love is. The Elders took all of the love out of the Community when they started giving pills for Stirrings and when they have parents make their children’s emotions more subdued. His parent’s marriage wasn’t based on love at all. It was based on a compatibility test on a computer, which doesn’t mean that they will fall in love. They might fall in love later in their marriage, but that seems unlikely because of how they were married, being pushed together with no previous knowledge of each other. Even if they do fall in love later, it would definitely be expressed in a different way, and might not even be recognized as love. When Jonas asks his mom and dad later in the book if they love him, they are shocked and don’t know how to answer at all. They say that they are proud of his accomplishments and they like to be around him, but they avoid the word love completely. He likes Fiona, but I don’t think that he loves her yet, especially when he is still taking the pills. There is not one place in his Community where he could have witnessed love, except in the memories given to him by the Giver. This relates to the theme utopia. In our society, we experience love in all of our daily lives. For example, I love my family. But in the world that Lois Lowry has created, the Elders took away all of the love, and therefore, all of the individuality and replaced it with monotony and “Sameness.” When you take away all of the individuality, you would be able to create a utopia because there would be no conflicts. Not only do the Elders enforce monotonous feelings throughout the people’s lives, they also raise the children to not have normal emotions to start with.
The Elders in Jonas’s Community are able to have the parents raise the children to not have emotions. Instead of knowledge and feelings, the children are ignorant to the bad things in their Community, like the complete power of the Elders. They still have some feelings, but they are sort of muted, not really what we know emotions to be like in our world. When Jonas is talking to The Giver, they start to talk about Fiona and how she was raised. “Feelings are not part of the life she’s learned,” (Lowry, p. 126). This quote is showing that children in the Community are raised to not have normal emotions. In this society, the children are raised to be normal. There is nothing different about anyone. One of the things that make us each individual in our world is our emotions, because no one has the exact same emotions as anyone else. In the society that Lowry created, most people’s emotions are the same and that is the norm. When Jonas stops taking his pills and starts to feel some of the emotions that we feel, he starts to become more of an individual. The longer the book goes on, the more feeling he starts to experience. Therefore, the more emotions that people have and the more they express them, the more of an individual the person is.
Jonas’s Community functions on the idea that all of the emotions of the people have been taken away by the Elders. As long as the Elders are able to do this, they are able to keep the utopia that they want. In Jonas’s Community, the people don’t have the same emotions that we have regularly. The Elders have taken the emotions out by giving pills and having the parents calm the children down when they have any feelings that are out of the ordinary. When there aren’t any emotions in the world, everyone becomes the same and no one has anything special about them. Emotions are what make us different as people. No two people have the exact same emotions at the exact same time. The reason that we have conflicts in our world is because of difference. The reason we have war and racism and sexism is because we are not all the same. When the difference is taken out of the world, there is no conflict, but there is also no love. When a world has no love, people close off because they don’t care specifically about anyone or anything. Can you imagine living in a world where you don’t have a special connection with anyone? Without love, the world becomes bland and becomes a dystopia. Lowry is saying that we need our emotions to function as a society.