on My essay writing has improved greatly upon our last essay. The first essay we wrote this year was our Part Time Indian essay. On this first essay, I had a lot of trouble analyzing my evidence and critically thinking. This time, for our American Born Chinese essay, I improved upon my troubles greatly. I spent a lot more time trying to understand the evidence and then analyze it after that.
on Name: Eli March 2017
Humanities Africans in NY: Creative Narrative Assignment
It’s a Hard Life
They call me Solomon Peters. I have been living in the New Amsterdam Colony ever since I was young. It is all that I know of. Today, I live on a farm with my wife and kids, I guess you could call me a proprietor It is nothing much but half freedom is better than none. My ancestors were brought from their homeland to do slave work in New Amsterdam. I am not one to brag but my family and I have more money than most slaves. I have started to write a will for when my death occurs. In this will, I have put the directions for where my property when I pass, but that is a story from another time. I am not very fond of the idea of half freedom. I think it is horrible that we slaves are treated as not human. I am predicting that in the future the land of the blacks will no longer be a thing. That half freedom will no longer be a part of us and we will be fully enslaved. I have left my entire estate in the hands of my wife. I trust that she will look after it and keep it going for generations to come. Although I am not complaining about living in The Land of the Blacks, I do believe that sometimes it is a disgrace. The only reason that they do this is so they have a buffer for attacks on New Amsterdam. It just makes us look like objects in place for protection, not real humans but thatś all we are really meant to be anyways.
In the year of 1712 there was a slave revolt. Between 25 and 50 slaves stormed New Amsterdam setting fire to buildings. They killed 9 whites and injured 6 others. In the end the slaves lost. It always seems to be this way in my mind, the slaves always lose. I haven’t known anything else. I was born in the British colonies and raised as a slave. I don’t know how my ancestors felt living totally free in their homeland, away from slavery, away from the Europeans, back in their homeland of Africa. I have not had the pleasure of having that as my reality, but now I must live enslaved for it is all that I know. My ancestors were taken from their home and piled onto a boat, hundreds of them to come over to the Colonies and serve the British. I do hope that my children will grow up and be free. I hope they can smell the sweet smell of freedom that I never got a chance to smell. The Dutch West India Company has not done anything to help us nor will they in the future. The colonists control all of our lives. I do hope that the patriots overcome the loyalist. I believe that there is good in their hearts and therefore will free us. I think they know how it feels to be controlled by someone.
In this assignment, we were supposed to write a creative writing piece from the point of an enslaved African. I learned a lot from it because it really got me into the shows of the enslaved African I was writing from. I think this assignment was a bit of a struggle for me. It was hard to right from their POV not actually knowing what they went through.
on This is one of my research cards from my Colonial research. I am researching government in the Colonial Era. For these note cards we find quotes and then analyse them. The reason this is my best note card is because I analysed this one the most. The reason this is good is because the more you analyse, the more you know about your topic.
Notecards
Colonial interpreter. (2015). [Personal interview by R. M].
“What crimes were committed in different tribes, and what punishments were dealt out because of them?”
“We had what we called blood law, and that was a major component in our law. It was basically an eye for an eye. So if I and several of my clan members were killed by another clan or tribe, we would go and seek retribution and restore the balance in our eyes by killing an equal number of people from that tribe.”
-What were the crimes in different tribes?
-What were the punishments in these tribes?
-The Natives had something called blood law.
-Blood law was a major part of their law.
-If someone got killed in your tribe by another person in another tribe, you could go kill that person.
The concept of blood law is so interesting to me. I am so surprised that this did not end up in everybody killing everybody else. I am guessing that if the English ever heard of this they would be horrified because this is so unlike the English. A major problem in Colonial America was the relationship between the British and the Native Americans. Before the British came over to the new world, they were shown pictures of the Natives. In these pictures they were shown how uncivilized the Natives were. Even though at the time this was a form of motivation, when the British got to the new world they were in for a rude awakening. For the whole 17th century, these to groups of people were fighting and they just could not solve it.
The British ways were so different from the Natives and its so interesting how different they were. They didn’t know it but if they had ever allied they would have been so much stronger. Also the only reason that the British survived is because of John Smith trying to ally with the Natives and he got the colonist some food.
I feel like the Natives were more free going than the colonist. After hearing about this law I realize that they were very unsupervised, but even though they were very unsupervised they also were very organized and had a very complex form of government that was very powerful. Even though this blood law seems very small, its actually very big. It represents a part of who the natives are. Although the one problem with this is that this is the only side of the Natives that the British see. They could have allied with the Natives and seen who they really were. This would of benefited them greatly.
Was John Smith the only colonist to attempt to ally with the Natives? Did the Natives ever attempt to ally with the colonist? Was there a war between the Natives and the Colonist besides when they first got to the new world? Did everyone not want to ally with the Natives or was it a higher decision from the King or something?
Created: 11/02/2016 10:45 AM
on This is an example of one of my Making Thirteen Colonies papers. In social studies we are reading the book called Making Thirteen Colonies. This book is about the voyage and the settlement in the new world at perspective of the British. There is so much information in this book and it is so interesting to read. The reason I think this is my best Making Thirteen Colonies papers is because I believe that I spent the most time thinking about this. The first chapter in this book has so much information so you need to think about it to understand it.
Name: Eli Harris September 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? ,” (Hakim, p. 10).
In the early 1600s change was upon Europe. The Catholic Church had been starting to break down. Was this good for Europe or were they going through a dark age? In the year of 1607 an Italian scientist Galileo Galilei was looking through his brand new telescope when he saw something. It was a comet! Halley’s comet to be exact. At this time religion ruled everything. Nobody knew what to think of this after they saw this comet. Religion had no explanation for what happened. In this time in age everyone was taught and told that Earth was the center of the universe. After everyone saw the Comet a lot of tension rose because of it. After hearing about the comet the Polish Scientist Nicolaus Copernicus came up with the idea that the Earth is actually not the center of the universe and the Sun. Everyone was discouraged after hearing this. Was Nicolaus Copernicus questioning religion and the Pope. Even Galileo Galilei later said that Nicholas Copernicus was right. “Change is troublesome, especially to those in power”, (Hakim, p. 16). If Nicolaus Copernicus was right they everything that everybody thought to be right was wrong. Everything that the Pope said was wrong. If the Pope was wrong than everything had to be wrong people thought. Although at the time this struck conflict, in the long run it opened up opportunity. This event made many people spread because they felt like they wanted to start a new life. If everything they knew was wrong than a new life was the solution. This also opened up the Scientific Era.
2 Identify/Define the following names/terms:
(no textual evidence needed for these)
Galileo Galilei was an Italian scientist. He saw the Comet for the first time through his brand new telescope. After seeing the comet, Polish scientist Nicolaus Copernicus said that the universe does not revolve around Earth, it revolves around the Sun.
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish scientist who lived from 1473-1543. After hearing that Galileo Galilei saw the comet through his telescope he began to think maybe the whole universe doesn’t all revolve around the Earth maybe it revolves around the sun.
In the early 1600s religion ruled everything. If you challenged it you were thought to be evil. Since religion ruled everything that meant the Pope ruled everything on earth because he was God’s representative on earth. After Nicholas Copernicus said that Earth wasn’t the center of the universe and the sun actually was, conflict raised. People thought he was “evil” because he was questioning religion and what the bible said. “Many who watched the bold comet were frightened”, (Hakim p. 15). Even though people thought that the Polish scientist was evil. They did not know what to make of it. They were scared of what their life could become if all of religion which is their whole life was wrong.
on
This is my Giver essay. At the beginning of school we started to read this book. After we finished it we each choose a theme from the book to write about. My topic was isolation and that is what I wrote about. I learned so much from writing about isolation in The Giver. It is a very important topic in this book. I found the concept of isolation in this community so interesting and confusing at the same time. It is so cool to see what two different people think about it
Giver Essay Name:Eli
Date:10/16
Isolation, for the Good or the Bad?
Picture a community in which you are constantly being watched over. Everything you do and know is controlled by the Elders who run the community. It also is impossible to escape from this. It can be very isolating. This is not a way to run a community but this is what it is like to live in the world of Lois Lowry’s The Giver. In the book the protagonist, a twelve year old boy, named Jonas, is caught in a very isolated community in which he lives in. When Jonas is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories everything he knows about his community changes. He is shown what the world outside of his community is like and what the past was like for the community. He is also shown what the Elders in charge of the community are hiding from him. He must find out whether his community is a utopia or, if this is a problem and his community is really the opposite of a utopia, a dystopia. The Elders in charge of Jonas’s community are isolating people and what they know. The big reason for this is to prevent anarchy in the community.
The Elders in Jonas’s community control the knowledge you have. Not knowing key information isolates you from everything and everyone in the community. It’s almost like living life is meaningless if you can only know about something a certain amount. The things you do and the things you know are constantly watched over. The Elders in Jonas’s community limit what you know and that is a big problem in life. “‘He might make wrong choices’”, (Lowry, p.55). Jonas says this when he is talking to the Giver about Gabriel, the infant boy who Jonas’s dad, a nurturer, has taken in to give extra help to. It is a big statement. If you make a wrong choice or a wrong decision, it is frowned upon in the community. The reason for this is because the Elders believe if someone says something wrong, it could reflect badly on the community and the people of the community. If Elders shared information with them they would be a more well rounded community, and you wouldn’t have to be right every time you said something. Hiding information from the community is a very bad thing. The Elders don’t know it yet, but if one person finds this information, horrible things could happen. Limiting what people know is not the key to a utopian community.
Another big way that the Elders keep the community very isolated is that they release people in the community. Release is the only way you leave the community. After you get released you are dead so you’re not part of the community anymore. Isolation is a big part of the community but people are not aware of the fact that it is. The Elders do not want anything that doesn’t fit or, is to much for the community which is isolation, and that is why they release people. “‘Release is always like that?’”, (Lowry, p.126 ). This is an example of release in Jonas’s community. After somebody gets released, is the only time when you are not controlled by the Elders because besides that you cannot escape from the community. The Elders contol everything you do in life and there is no way to get out of it. The Elders are isolating what the people of the community know. The Elders are also isolating how the people of the community can live and they cannot escape from this. Release is a very important part of Jonas’s community. Nobody leaves the community except for this. It is the Elders way of letting go of you. The biggest part of this is that the people of the community aren’t aware of the fact that they are being isolated and that is a huge problem, but the Elders of course would like to keep it that way.
It is a very big problem to live in an isolated community and run an isolated community. The Elders in charge are trying to hide key information from the people of the community and aren’t letting them go. The Elders think this is the key to a utopian community but it is not. They think that if they let the people know this information there will be anarchy. This is not the key to a utopian community. You need to share information with the citizens of the community. When Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memories, a lot of his previous thoughts on his community changes. He is opened up to the outside world. The Elders don’t know it, but Jonas is starting to change his community. From becoming the Receiver of Memories, he is learning the secrets about his community. Jonas is learning how much information the Elders are hiding from the community. How would you like to live in a community where everything you do and know is controlled by a group of people? The Elders in charge of the community are isolating the people of the community. They think this is the way to a utopian community, they don’t know yet, but this is actually the way to a dystopian community. The Elders are trying to prevent anarchy by isolating everyone but they do not know that their community would work better if they shared information with the community and let people have freedom. The Elders need to realize that this is the key to a utopian community.
on 
These are the three books I read. I annotated THE BASKETBALL DIARIES.
My favorite book was THE BOY WITH THE STRIPED PAJAMAS I really like this because I felt like it was part of my peoples history.
Here are some of the notes/annotations I took in THE BASKETBALL DIARIES:
p.46 Whats wrong with him?
p.54 Basketball is all he has.
p.85 He could get hime self into so much trouble.
p.104 He’s such a weird kid.
p.110 He doesn’t get surprised with anything
p.120 Does his mom know he’s doing this?
p.127 No supervision at all from parents.
p.126 He has a weird life.
p.128 So many stories and life lessons.
p.136 how does he live life like this.
on The color red
The color blue
Then I chew
On that tiramisu
This is one of my poems. I did not really have any inspiration for this poem I just started to write and this is what happened. An element of poetry is line breaks. I don’t actually really like this poem at all. I could of worked way harder on it and spent a way longer time on it.
on Saturn
Solar system
My favorite planet
So far away from Earth’s Humans
Saturn
This is one of my poems. This is the poem I am using for the poetry breakfast. One element of poetry in this poem is line breaks. I really like this poem and that is why I picked it for the poetry breakfast. If I could change one thing I would re-word some lines to make it sound more artsy.
on Basketball
Fun, challenging
Running, shooting, dribbling
The sport I love so much
Basketball
This is one of my poems. Its about basketball. It is a cinquain type of a poem. The elements of poetry in this is line breaks. I like this poem a lot. I think I could of worked way harder on it but I still really like it. If I could change something I would of made it a little longer to say more stuff about basketball. One thing I really like about it though is that it explains a lot about me because I love the sport of basketball.
on Grandpa Dead:
Derawar, Passed on a day,
Jindwada Ali Abbasi died yesterday. He died in peace. He died because of a sandstorm in Pakistan, and he died a few days later, because of the effect. We can’t be one hundred percent certain, but Jindwadda was very injured during the sandstorm. It’s a miracle that he even survived. He was found outside, and conscious but asked specifically to be buried in Derawar, but unfortunately, his request couldn’t be fulfilled. Jindwadda died in the night about 10 days after the sandstorm. “I want to die at Derawar” his family remember him saying.
Grandpa fought in the war between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He fought hard for his country, and we will take today to appreciate his hard work in the army, and be sure that his death has been noticed.
INFANT, 0
Auntie’s baby died in the womb from technical issues. He was suffocated by the umbilical cord. “It was another boy,” Her sister says after the death. The midwife who tried to help is Shahzada’s sister, who is a family friend of the Abbasi’s. Shahzada used herbs and powders to help, but unfortunately it was too late to save the baby. According to witnesses, the state of the mother was frightening, for the color in her eyes was not visible. After the death of the baby, Auntie was said to have slept peacefully in a green tunic. The baby was buried, and the birth was never spoken of again. According to family, the mother’s pregnancy was unknown to everyone except possibly the father. Auntie did in fact show signs of pregnancy, such as tiredness, weakness and gaining weight. Shabanu did have suspicions about the pregnancy, but thought it might be rude to mention it.
The mother herself is the spouse of a man who works in a government office and makes a very good salary, and sends her gifts. Her husband, Mr. Abbasi, is away a lot, and most people would even say that she’s lonely, but it brings her to joy the few times that her husband does come home. Mr. Abbasi is the brother of Dalil Abbasi, who is the spouse of Auntie’s sister. She is the mother of two lovely sons, ages three and five who are just starting to learn how to do work on the farm. When Auntie was at the age for marriage, she and her father went into search for a good husband. At first, they were unsuccessful, but after searching for a reasonable amount of time, she finally found her one and only husband. Shabanu, Auntie’s niece says, “Uncle comes several times a year, bringing Auntie gifts-quilts, shawls and brass pots. He brings us vegetables, wheat and lentils.”