In this project, we had a vague biography about a slave from the Colonial Era that we had to expand on and turn into a creative piece. I learned how hard it was for a enslaved person to become free, and when they were it was still hard. During this piece I learned that I work better when the writing is creative, but tests are easier because it is shorter and easier to prepare for. I definitely think my writing is improving.

In humanities, we had to write an essay about the crucible, modern day and McCarthyism. We chose a theme that was shown in these three topics to write our essay about. I chose fear, hysteria and scapegoating because they all connect to each other. We wrote a paragraph for each time period and how it connects to our theme. I learned that very similar things have happened throughout history. Lots of people have been scapegoated over time who are innocent. As a writer, I learned how to go deeper in the analysis and analyze my quote more.

Overall, I think I did pretty well on my essay. I have definitley improved my writing this year. I think one thing I still need to work on is using more descriptive language in my writing to make it sound better. I think something I did well was finding good quotes to support my thesis. This is something I have improved in on this essay.

Name: Freddie             3/6/17

Humanities         Comparative Essay

Don’t get Stuck in Mass(Achusetts) Hysteria

Fear and hysteria have caused many tragedies and ruined people’s lives throughout our country’s history. Hysteria has often been the outcome after something fearful has happened. Many times, this has lead to scapegoating. Scapegoating is when a person or group of people gets blamed for a problem that they did not cause. In The Crucible, during the McCarthy Era, and in modern day, people in power have scapegoated innocent people out of fear and hysteria.

The girls in the book The Crucible, which was written about the Salem Witch Trials, scapegoated many innocent people as witches out of fear and hysteria. The girls were scared of being hung as witches, so they started accusing other people of witchcraft. At the end of Act I, Abigail and Betty (Abigail, a 17 year old girl, is one of the main characters. Betty, a 12 year old girl, has a smaller role but plays along as a witch.) were getting close to being caught as witches. When Reverend Hale was trying to purify Tituba, Abigail pretended that she was a witch and asks to be purified as well. When they were asked if they had seen anyone with the Devil, Abigail and Betty started to accuse innocent people as being witches. “ABIGAIL: I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil! BETTY: I saw Goody Bibber with the Devil! ABIGAIL: I saw Goody Booth with the Devil!” (Miller, p.65). Abigail and Betty were trying to get other people accused of being witches so they don’t get killed themselves. The rule in their society was that if you were a witch you would be hanged. They were scapegoating other people which stopped them from being hanged. They were “helping” the community by accusing other people. The church officials thought they were getting rid of witches, when really they were killing innocent people. They were doing this in an act of hysteria. Abigail and Betty were scared that they would get hanged, so they made other people be hanged instead. The girls in The Crucible scapegoated many people as witches, similar to what Joseph McCarthy did during the red scare.

Joseph McCarthy, a former senator from Wisconsin, created McCarthyism after World War II. Many people were scared that America would turn to communism. McCarthy knew this and took advantage of it. He claimed to have over two hundred names of communists in the government, which was later shortened to nine. “When pressed for names, McCarthy finally gave the names of nine people. Each of the accused was called in to answer the charges, and each time, McCarthy’s case against them quickly fell apart,” (Senator Joseph McCarthy’s speech in front of the Tydings Committee in March of 1950). McCarthy accused innocent people of being communists, so he could gain power in the government. During the trials, he did not have strong enough evidence against the nine people and lost the cases against them. This shows that he scapegoated innocent people for his own benefit. He did this out of fear of losing his credibility and power. He didn’t want to get caught for making up lies, so he accused others. Joseph McCarthy scapegoated many innocent people, and so did Donald Trump.

Donald Trump has scapegoated innocent Muslim people as terrorists. Soon after he was sworn in as president, he made a ban against immigration from seven different countries. He claimed that it was to stop terrorism in the United States, but it shows that he was banning Muslims from coming to America.“The list of targeted countries is Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—all Muslim-majority countries. Trump’s order says that it protects American people from the threat of terrorism. It doesn’t necessarily do that. But it does show that the new president was serious about putting the islamophobia that was a central part of his campaign into practice. That’s because none of the perpetrators of the major US terrorist attacks carried out in the name of Islam in the past 15 years have come from the nations on that list,” (http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/25/14383316/trump-muslim-ban-immigration-visas-terrorism-executive-order). Donald Trump was claiming that he was trying to stop terrorism in the United States by banning Muslims from immigrating to the country. He was scapegoating all Muslims as terrorists from the seven countries. Like Joseph McCarthy, he was finding fake evidence to get rid of people he does not want in the country. His actions were causing a lot of hysteria. Many people disagree with him because it goes against the US Constitution. The Constitution allows freedom of religion, which Trump was not following. This is similar to how the the country was first started. The main colonies; Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony and the Virginia Colony all didn’t allow freedom of religion. Trump was going back to how our country was started. He was overusing his power to get rid of Muslims. Trump was blaming Muslims for acts of Terrorism. He was scapegoating Muslims, like what Joseph McCarthy and the girls in The Crucible did.

Scapegoating has often been the result of fear and hysteria. The girls in The Crucible accused others of being witches to cover up that they had been proven as witches. Joseph McCarthy started a movement to get rid of “communists” in the U.S.A. so he could have more power. Donald Trump has made false accusations against Muslims to disguise the fact that he doesn’t like Islam. Scapegoating has ruined many innocent people’s lives during the past and present. Hysteria has caused all these things. Imagine what the world would be like if there was no hysteria in the world? Would the world be better without as much conflict, or would it be worse?

The Delisserie

Every year, my family and I travel to London.  We were all born in London, and our extended family lives there. For the past ten years, every time we go to London we go to a restaurant called the Delisserie. I always get the same thing; latkes, chicken soup, and salt beef (or corned beef as it’s called in America). I always look forward to having this delicious meal with my family.

When we landed in London this past spring, it was very dark and cold outside, just like it always is in London. We were exhausted and starving, all I had to eat on the plane was a bag of chips and a chocolate bar, but we were very excited to see our family. My grandparents and two of my cousins were at the airport waiting. I was thrilled to see them, but I was also looking forward to the delicious meal we were going to have.

We finally arrived at the Delisserie. It looked just like I remembered it; big, a lot of lights everywhere in the restaurant, and lots of people in it even though it was ten at night. There was an amazing scent wafting out of the restaurant. It smelled of salty chicken soup and crispy latkes. I love that smell. I could see other people eating the crispy latkes and my mouth started to water. I was starving, even though it only felt like five o’clock. We sat down at a table, and a waitress brought menus over. I already knew what I was having. I order it every time we go there- it’s a tradition. I couldn’t wait to eat the mouth watering food for the first time this year.

“You’ve grown so much!” my Grandma said. She always says that I grow every time I see her. I always say I haven’t, but she usually doesn’t believe me.

When the food came, everyone could tell I was really excited. My face lit up straight away with my mouth wide open. I dug in right away. Each bite was better than the last.  I loved the juicy chicken and the salty soup, the crunchy latke and the moist and delicious salt beef. I wished the meal would never end. I was annoyed when I finished. I wish I had ordered more!

This meal is always important to me because it is a tradition I’ve had for as long as I can remember. As much as I like the meal, the most important part is seeing my family. It’s a time that I get to catch up with my family. I always look forward to going to London and having this amazing meal with my family.

African American Blacksmiths

Source:

Williamsburg, VA, Historical Interpreter Blacksmith, 1. Interview. By Atticus Uyttendaele. The Colonial Museum , 2015.

Paraphrase:

Africans had been using metal for a long time

They don’t make tools the same way as the English Blacksmiths

They worked with the English Blacksmiths if they were slaves for the Blacksmith

The African’s tools would look different but be used in the same way

If the African’s master died while he was a slave for him, the slave would run the shop and be free

My Ideas:

African Americans, Native Americans and the English blacksmiths all had the same tools, but they were made differently. The Africans made axes out of metal, like the English, but they looked very different. The Natives made axes out of stone instead of iron. The English made axes out of iron, like the Africans. Each culture had the same tools, but made differently.

Did the Africans have blacksmiths in America, besides the ones that worked with the English blacksmiths? I think that there would have been, but not until an enslaved person’s master died and he inherited the shop. Then the shop would’ve been inherited through the generations of that family.

I wonder if the Africans made any tools that the English and Natives didn’t? They might have needed different tools because of the difference in their cultures. The English had hammer to shape the iron, the Natives carved the stone, and the Africans might have had something in between. I think that they might have had a version of a hammer, maybe a wooden handle with a flat end and a pointy end. They might have used hammers as well as the English, but they probably looked different.

In humanities we had to do research on our colonial topics. Mine is Blacksmithing. This is my favorite notecard I did. I feel like I made a lot of connections in my analysis and expanded on the original idea well. I think that I could have included more connections to the Natives, and how their blacksmithing was similar.

1. Describe the significance of the year 1607, using the following terms: The London Company, King James, and the name of the 3 boats. Be sure to clearly explain each of these terms within your paragraph.

1607 was a very important year to the british. In 1607, the English made their first successful attempt at colonizing in America. “The ships were the Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed, and they had been sent from England by a business corporation called the London Company…The voyagers had been told to look for gold and a river or passage that would go through the country to China or Japan,” (Hakim, p. 25). The trip to America, that was approved by King James, as symbolised on the London Company’s seal, was meant for gold. In the end, they started a new country. If the English didn’t know that there was no gold or passage to China in America, then it would have never been founded. Overall, 1607 was a very important year.

2. Describe the the terrain and the geography of the English fort.

The English fort was a very bad settlement. They had bad terrain, and bad location. “As it turned out, they (British) couldn’t have picked a worse spot. The land was swampy, the drinking water was bad; it was hot in summer and bone chilling in winter. The mosquitoes drove the settlers crazy and carried malaria germs,” (Hakim, p.28). This quote shows how bad the British chose their location, even if they did think it was good. You can’t build very well on swampy lands; everything sinks on it. You also can’t farm on it. Even if the British knew how to farm, they wouldn’t be able to make crops. Their location was good for fighting; they could see the enemy coming no matter what, but they didn’t know how to fight. The location was very bad for every other reason. The terrain was bad, there was lots of mosquitos, there was bad weather, and lots of germs. Overall, the English had very bad terrain and geography.

3. Was the initial settlement successful? Why or why not?

The initial settlement was was very unsuccessful. Almost half of the british died because of the bad living conditions. “…the drinking water was bad; it was hot in summer and bone chilling in winter. The mosquitoes drove the settlers crazy…they had bad luck-lots of bad luck. The worst may have been that they brought some English germs across the sea. One was a typhoid fever germ that killed many of them. Tidewater Virginia had other germs that made some sicken and die. The Indians killed still others. Some starved,” (Hakim, p.28). This quote shows how bad the conditions were in the initial settlement. Lots of the English didn’t make it back because of how bad the conditions were. Add in how bad the geography and terrain was, and they have a recipe for disaster. None of the gentlemen knew how to live for themselves too, so they didn’t help the settlement. Overall, the initial settlement was a complete disaster.

In Humanities we are using a book called Making 13 Colonies. After we read each chapter we have to answer questions on it. This one is from chapter 4. I am very proud of it because I wrote a lot more detailed than I usually do and I because my writing was very detailed. I also spent a lot of time on this homework.

Dictated Dystopian Community

Imagine that your entire life is planned out for you. You don’t get to make any decisions for yourself. You can’t control what you see or feel. That is how Jonas feels in The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Jonas is a 12 year old boy in his what’s supposed to be an “utopian community”. He thinks it’s a dystopia, which is an imperfect world. Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memories, which is the person who holds all of the memories from the past. The memories show Jonas what the world used to be. He learned that the Elders (Leaders of the community) hid a lot of important parts of life from the people, like colors and feelings. When Jonas finds out about the Elders’ lies he is outraged. He wants to make the community a better place. The Elders control everything in Jonas’s utopian community, which makes it a dictatorship and a dystopia. This control makes Jonas want to rebel against the community.

Jonas’s community is a dictatorship because the Elders control all things. In the community, no one has any freedom. Their entire life is planned out for them; the Elders choose their spouses, their children, and their jobs. Something that supports this is a quote of the Elder giving out the assignments (Jobs). “I apologize to my community,” (Lowry, p.55). This quote shows that the Elder said my community, not the community. Her use of the word “my” shows that the community belongs to the Elders, not the people in it. The Elders made a dictatorship. They choose everything about everyone’s’ life. They control what they are able to see and feel. Jonas starts to not like his community once he learns the truth. Jonas’ community is a dictatorship, but it is also a dystopia.

Jonas rebels against his community because the Elders have made it a dystopia. When Jonas becomes the new Receiver of Memories, he finds out the truth about how half of his life was hidden from him. He starts to rebel against the Elders, because he disagrees with the rules of the community and lack of freedom. In the upcoming quote, Jonas is starting to rebel by not taking a pill the Elders required everyone to take. The pill stopped Jonas and others in the community from feeling love. “The next morning, for the first time, Jonas did not take his pill. Something within him, something that had grown there through the memories, told him to throw the pill away,” (Lowry, p.108). This quote shows how Jonas is rebelling against his community to get some of his freedom back. Jonas likes the feeling of love, so he stops taking the pills. This is the beginning of his rebellion. Jonas then leaves the community. He left because his community was a dystopia. He wanted freedom, so he had to rebel against everything he knew. As much as the Elders were trying to make the community perfect, Jonas thought it wasn’t working. He was furious when he starting seeing all the colors and when he experienced the memory of death. These reasons are why Jonas rebelled against his community

The Elders in Jonas’s community are trying to make a utopia by taking away a lot of the people’s’ freedom. This control makes a dystopia instead. When Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memories, he sees what the world used to be. He sees all of the hidden colors and feelings and learns the secrets of the community. Would you want to live in a world where everything was hidden from you? Or would you prefer to live in the world we have now, where you have freedom? Jonas leaves his community because he wants his freedom instead of staying and fighting for everyone else’s freedom. Would you make the same choice as Jonas, or stay and help the community?

In humanities we read a book called The Giver. We made annotations about themes in the book, and eventually chose one theme to write about for the giver essay. I’m very proud of this writing because I had a good intro, which helped me make write everything else because I already had the ideas.