Imperialism Feedback

• The buliding of railways and transport systems, which today fuel the economies
• the introduction of new ways of life. ex: religion
• introducing Africans to modern ideas and technology
• new efficient farming techniques

• discovery of minerals and natural resources

Cons:

• treatment of the African people
• the destroying of culture
• introducing new diseases
• more ethnic tribal disputes
• these groups having to work together by force
• none of their resources actually belonging to them
• slavery

Personally, I believe that there were more negative net effects on Africa than positive ones.

Africa Current Event #4

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811040005.html
Who?
Two young boy aged 6, and seven months.

What?
They are infected with yellow fever, a disease that causes headache, muscle pain, fever, loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting.

Where?
The Ouahigouya district of Burkina Faso.

Why?
This is a disease carried and spread by mosquitos, which there isn't much protection against in the poor areas of Burkina Faso.

When?
The boys were diagnosed in early October, but no action has been taken till now, despite the UN program World Health Organization which has reached over 85% of children in that area.

Africa Feedbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

1.) The main visual elements are the big African continent, and the white footprint walking on it.

2.) I think this political cartoon refers to the fact that Africa is letting itself be pushed around and "walked all over" and that the white people are getting all the power.

3.) I think they're a very mad person. They're mad at the Europeans because they are pushing Africa around and taking what is not rightfully theirs. But he's also mad at Africa because it's being a total doormat and letting the Europeans push it around.

4.) The visual evidence of this is that there is a huge white footprint over the whole of Africa. I think the visual evidence that supports the fact that he's actually mad though, is that he's made it the only thing on the page and hasn't tried to soften the message with a joke like a lot of political cartoonists do.

5.) I actually think visually this is perfect. It gets the message across in a concise, serious, no nonsense kind of manner, and I think this is exactly how the illustrator feels about this issue so I don't actually think that changing any thing would help it.

West African History

West Africa used to be ruled by great kingdoms thousands of years ago. Some of the largest were the Ghana kingdom, the Mali kingdom and the Songhai kingdom. Through the power of these kingdoms many great trading cities in the Sahara were developed and the region was wealthy from trading. But the trading cities were soon demolished as the Europeans began trading by sailing along the coast, not coming into the desert. Another obstacle in the history of West Africa was the slave trade. It ripped apart families and killed and enslaved millions of West Africans who were transported to America. In West Africa, your ethnic group is more of an identity than your nationality. The largest groups in this region are the Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo groups. The different tribal languages are good for communicating within your ethnic group, but the languages of the colonists, such as French or Portuguese makes it easy to communicate with people outside your group. The main religion in West Africa is Animism, the belief that water, animals, trees and other natural objects have spirits. Today though, a majority of this region practices Islam. West Africa is a region rich with history, culture and variety and has a very advanced cultural environment for a place that has been so heavily colonized.

Scramble for Africa

The strategy we used was buying huge chunks in the same places and then seizing the smaller parts of land in that area by force so that we owned an entire area, not just spread out little bits. The factors we considered were what our card told us we wanted to gain and which countries had those resources, also making sure that if we shared a border with another country we had more surrounding them then they had surrounding us so that they couldn't win if they attacked us. In our class, I think Germany won, because they also used to strategy of buying up lots of land in one place and owned almost the entire south of Africa. In our class I think it was Portugal that lost, but it may also have been Belgium. I'm not 100% sure.

Africa Current Event 2

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811111130.html
Who?
The people of Dakar, Senegal.
What?
More and more of the population have resorted to alcoholism, and alcohol is creating a huge problem in the Senegalese society.
When?
Over the last five years, over consumption of alcohol has noticably grown around Dakar.
Where?
Mainly the capital,Dakar, but all through Senegal.
Why?
As the unemployment and school drop out statistics continue to increase, so does the alcholism amognst the population. They are also greatly influenced by the fact alcohol is so available and cheap to anyone.
How?
How this is effecting to population is that it is cuasing more unessicary violence and unease throughout Senegal. Alcohol has been the fuel of many cases of rape, murder, gang violence, and everyday fights recently in Dakar.

I think this is news worthy information because though alcoholism is very serious it is very rarely given the amount of attention it needs and the treatment facilities for those addicted. It is important that this news is made public to the world so that the government and UN can "nip thi s in the bud" before it causes many more social and cultural problems around Senegal. I know that in Australia, much of the culture of the Aboriginal people has been wiped out due to over consumption of alcohol by the ethnic group. It would be a shame if the African officials let their culture go to waste as well.

Africa Feedback #2

Personally, I think we can trust the information in "To Be A Slave". My reasoning for this is mainly, though there may be some exaggeration on the recounts of the slaves, why would the slaves themselves make things up? They just wanted people to know about the grueling, difficult lives they lead. Another reason I think that these are valid stories, is that many of the stories are the same, or have similar notes in them. These are slaves spread out all over the US, from Louisiana to Virginia, and I don't think there was ever a big slave conference where they all decided to tell the same stories over and over again to get validity.
Also there is an extensive bibliography in the back of the book, and all the names of the slaves are quoted as well as the Library of Congress, which I think lends a certain level of trust to the book.

Africa Feedback #1

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811070992.html

Who?
The citizens of Sierra Leone are willingly being tested to check their HIV/AIDS status. This prgram is run by the US embassy in Sierra Leone.

What?
There is a program set up by the American embassy to test the citizens for HIV/AIDS.

When?
The Americans have been trying to set up the program properly and more open to the public since 2005. However, because of the reason hype and awareness over HIV/AIDS, many more are voluntarily coming to the testing centers and being checked on their status with the disease.

Where?
Sierra Leone, Africa. There have been 258 testing sites set up all over the country.

Why?
HIV/AIDS is rapidly spreading over the entire African continent. And because Sierra Leone is one of the poorest nations in Africa and lacks the usual medicine and technology that is essential to live with HIV/AIDS, thousands of Sierra Leonians are dying from this disease. Also without the proper treatment for mothers with HIV/AIDS, the disease is being spread through many generations of people, when the transmission of the disease between mother and child could be easily prevented with a vaccination. People need to be aware of their status, and if they test positive, need to be treated. And this is an excelletn opportunity to make life easier for people in Sierra Leone who are born or contract HIV/AIDS.

How?
The American embassy is providing the vaccinations and examinations for the African people who come to the testing center. They are checked for HIV/AIDS just like everybody else, but I'm not exactly sure how you check someone for that.

This news is essential to the African newspapers because Africa has been the continent most effected by HIV/AIDS. They are essential to spread awareness about the disease, to encourage people to get themselves tested for the disease, and to notify people of the good of vaccination is, and what thei own governments are doing to assist te fight against HIV/AIDS. It also encourages people to join the fight against it, and to belong to a group that is doing good to this not so wealthy African country.

5 Themes of Geography

This is a picture of Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. This is the most famous and overly crowded beach in Australia.
Movement- People have come, some traveling for an hour or so from Sydney's suburbs to get to this beach. Goods have also settled near this beach. Along the banks is one of Sydney's biggest commercial districts.

Region- it is a beach area. There are waves and rocks, and lots of sand. It is obviously in a place that is hot enough to swim in. There is a clear blue sky. It shows it's on the coast, because it is an ocean. It also shows that the culture around there is very beachy, because there are loads of people on the sand and in the water, swimming, surfing and just hanging out on the beach.

Human Environmental Interaction- People have built shops and houses on the banks, are using the sand to sunbathe on, are using the sea to swim in. And because of their surroundings, and due to the culture of spending time at the beach, people are generally tanned, have beachy hair, and are pretty laid back from spenging all that time lazing around.

Location- It's absolute location is Bondi Beach, Bondi, Sydney, Australia. It's relative location is a long beach, near the ocean.

Place- It's a beach. It' near the ocean. It's in Sydney. It's in Australia.

Violence Feedback

"Violence leads to more violence"
I think the play Julius Caesar perfectly illustrates the meaning of this quote. It means that when something violent happens then that leads to more violence and bad consequences for everyone. In the play, Brutus and the conspirators decide to kill Casar, but supposedly for the good of Rome. But the one murder leads to Cassius and Brutus also dying and there being no stability in Rome. So that begs the question, how did killing Caesar in the first place help out Rome? It just made it a place of violence and betrayal between old allies. Because when you bring violence into the equation, there's never going to be no one that doesn't want to avenge the people or do something to retaliate. This happens all the time in world current events as well. Often in wars between countries, or invasions of countries the country that has the lower hand will do anything they possibly can to get back at the conquerors for what they've done to them, even if they thought they were doing the right thing.

Brutus

In my opinion, and if I were in Brutus' shoes, I would kill Caesar because I think that doing that with the good of the people of Rome in mind makes it less villainous and more valid. He's killing Caesar for the greater good, not for personal gain or out of spite for Caesar, just because he loves Rome. With Caesar around Rome is at risk of losing its freedom, its democracy, and peoples' rights if Caesar becomes a dictator. However, if Caesar were out of the picture then Rome would be safe and protected from losing the things that make Rome as great as the people and Brutus think it is.
On page 19, act 1, scene 2, is where Brutus' moral dilemma really begins to shape. He and Cassius are talking, Cassius is trying to persuade Brutus' that because he is as good as Caesar, why shouldn't he rule Rome, but Brutus is not thinking of himself. Cassius is saying that if the Romans took Caesar as their king, Brutus wouldn't stand for it, would he? And Brutus says," I would not have it that way Cassius, yet I love him well." He is here saying that no he does not think having Caesar as king in Rome would be good at all and he would act to change it, but he really loves Caesar and he is his friend, so he wouldn't want to hurt him. So yes, I think Brutus should kill Caesar.

Leadership

Some qualities that a leader has are experience, skill, and is good at motivating people. I think it's important that a leader has experience because they have to know what works best in a situation, and the best way to get everyone what they want without causing distress to the people they are leading. That's why the leaders are often the eldest people, such as the 8th graders in middle school, or the seniors in high school. It's just because they've been in that situation the longest and they know what works well and what doesn't.
I also think that just natural skill is needed in a leader. It could be people skills that are needed, like the students in Slams. It could be your speed or endurance or how high you can jump in track and field. Or even how well you play chess. In any situation you need a leader who is good and very talented in whatever it is they specialize in. I think you need that because you need a leader to have admirable qualities like that so that the people want to follow them. And it's these skills that make people feel motivated by these people because with such high standards they are constantly aspiring to be better and be as good as them.
I think that the leaders in our grade are Aysha because she is just who people look up too. I think it's mostly because she puts herself out there and is never afraid to talk to people. And I also think Michaela is a leader because she is really good at stuff and I think people want to be as good as it as her.

Imperialism

In the late 1800s, European nations were interested in only one thing; expanding their empire. They wanted to do this for a variety of reasons, mostly for gold(money), god( spreading their religion) and glory( having control over the most land or resources). They set out on this mission, conquering weaker nations militarily, politically, culturally or economically. Any place that had something (such as oil, lots of land, lots of labor, or an essential shipping port) to add to their empires wealth would do. They took control of economies, and the natives became the laborers. They stripped the land of any valuable resources. They converted the people to their religion, at this point, many forms of Christianity. However, they did often do some good such as advanced transportation networks, education, health and hygiene. That is why the colonies such as fertile Southeast Asia, oily Middle East and conveniently located Africa made such sounds investments to the European empires of the time.

Quarter 2 Goals

My goals for first quarter were to get more ticks on my socratic seminar and get a good grade(A or B) on my Outsiders final project. I think regarding my first goal, I did very well. I continued to advance my skills in a socratic seminar, and just having had our final one for quarter one yesterday, I think I did well and have come a long way with my skills since the first seminar. On the topic of my second goal I think I did relatively well alos. I got a B+ on my Outsiders final project and I think that grade satisfies my goal of getting a good grade on that.

My two goals for second quarter would be:

1.) Improve on my citation skills. At the moment I know how to go the BibMe or something, and type some information and get a citation, however I would like my works cited page to be in more correct format for my research paper at the end of the quarter, so I would defiently like to improve how i create works cited pages and make sure i am meeting all the criteria for a good works cited page by the end of the quarter.

2.) I am a little concerned about performing in front of other people. Whether it's debates, skits, formal performances, or even a small speech I kind of clam up and get nervous and don't perform to my full potential. I would really like to overcome my stage fright and do well when performing the Julius Caesar skits in front of the class. Hopefully, I will be able to just do what I have to do and not mess up or get extremely nervous. That is one of my other goals this quarter, to improve my performance in front of other people.

Capitalism Cartoon Feedback

I think that the main things that lead the reader to believe that the author feels this way about capitalism is obviously the big capitalism giant, the laborer being pushed around and juiced of his money and the bag of "profits from child labor". The author is obviously opposed to privately owned companies because he is illustrating that this big, fat, well off man is a follower of capitalism and that therefore he is evil, because he is making his money off child labor and money that rightfully belongs to his workers. The author also believes that laborers aren't getting what is owed to them, and are actually being robbed of their money by the big bosses. And the bag of child labor is saying that capitalists earn their money illegally or unfairly, by means that are putting other people in danger.
I think he could have created the feeling of hatred towards capitalism more by pulling his audience, and getting them to empathize more with the hard working, rundown members of the working class. Maybe a little cartoon of run down looking women and children shoveling coal or something, a drawing that makes the reader feel sorry for the anti-capitalist, and the laborers especially.

Feedback September, 8th.

I would say that I’ve done fairly well to complete my goals so far. My first one was to get the most possible positive ticks on my final Socratic seminar grading list, and I did that and I was satisfied with the outcome. My other goal was to do well on my Outsiders final project- I think I did all right on this one. I didn’t do as well as I’d have liked, but I did a solid job and I wasn’t entirely disappointed with my efforts. I was hoping for an A- or a B+ and I got a B+ so that was fine. So yeah, my two quarter one goals are already completed.

1870's Stockmarket Reflection

One of Mr. Coyle's Investment Tips that I think really describes my experience in this simulation was number 2.) You have to spend money to make money. At first I was conserving my initial $80, only investing in Durham Tobacco, because I thought it was a safe investment. But by about the third year, I realized that the people making the big money were the people going out on a limb and speding their money on stocks, NOT trying to keep their eighty dollars. So, I then invested in John Deere. And then Drexel Morgan, which I ended up making a lot of money off. Had I continued to stick to my one-company investment plan, I would have made A LOT less money then I did by the end of the game. So the lesson leanred is that stocks, and their values are, in the long run, a whole heck of a lot more valuable than just plain money, so you should invest and take risks to make the big bucks.

The Industrial Revolution: Pros and Cons

Good Things About IR:

· New machinery introduced

· More money being made by regular people

· Usually labor intensive procedures made easy

· More available jobs

Bad Things About IR:

· Specialization and craftsmanship is no longer valued

· Extensive environmental damages

· Espionage and dishonesty

· Bad working conditions in the factories

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/shr1249l.jpg

Factory Game Day 2 Reflection

On Friday in Humanities, we did Factory Game Day 2. The first thing we had to do was decide which toy that we created on Factory Game Day 1 was the one we liked the best. We all took a blind vote and chose a toy named Chubby Bear. Then was the surprise. We had 45 minutes to churn out as many copies of Chubby Bear as we could- assembly line style. For those who don't know what an assembly line is, it is a line of workers or machines that mass produces a product quickly. The person Mr.Coyle appointed as manager was Shri. The first ten minutes or so were total chaos of people screaming at eachother and arguing over which jobs each person would do. I got put in the coloring section first, then switched to the cutting group, and then switched back to the coloring group. I was pretty confused, but I tried to just not talk and do my job quickly and as neatly as possible. Once Shri started exerting her control over us, things got a little more under control and we were all able to work more efficietnly. Especially after she declared no talking was allowed amongst us workers. However, I kind of think this lesson was a waste of time, because we didn't really learn anything except who in the class could shout the loudest, and who was the absolute worst at cutting out small shapes. In the end, I would say we made about fifty Chubby Bears, but only about twenty of them would have been bought full price! We were definetely not working with cottage industry techniques.

Factory Game Day 1

Today in Humanities we had a Factory Game Day. The whole class got a piece of paper with an assortment of mainly oval shaped objects. There was a very large circle, a smaller circle, about five small oval two tiny ovals and a small triangular piece of paper. The instructions were to cut along the black line only( and don't use the scraps) to create a present for your small brother or sister about the time before the Industrial Revolution. The only other materials allowed were coloring utensils such as crayons or markers, and glue sticks. I chose to make a sort of olden- days Mr.Potato Head with various facial attachments. It's not that great to look at- but I think I should get something for a little originality!

Rollercoaster

Sweat crept slowly down my back as I wait in line on a boiling summer day. As the previous ride came in I felt a sick feeling of excitement mixed with nervouseness in my stomach. Flip flop, flip flop, flip flop, I walk gingerly over to the back carriage- the only available one. The scariest, most bumpy, most terrifying section of the whole rollercoaster! Clang! The metal bar come down just above my knees. Whoosh, the ride pulls away edging slowly along the first bit of track like a snail. The snake of carriages pullls its self up the hill of tracks. I hear ear-splitting screams coming from the front of the line, and before I can realize what's happening, the ground is pulled out from underneath me and I'm FALLING!!! But only for three seconds, before the line of carriages bends violently like a car doing a tight U-turn. My hair is being blown around wildly by the wind, and my cheeks sting from my hair whipping them at every chance. After another few stomach turning drops, and tight turns that made you wish you hadn't had two chocolate bars after lunch, the carriages jolted to a stop, and I had a few seconds to finally catch my breath( and maybe grab a Strepsil from all that screaming!)

Nessecity is the Mother of Invention

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” I think that this quote means that the simple needs of people like us often leads to ideas about how to make something easier for ourselves and then that leads to an invention. For example, the CD. You can’t exactly just call up Chris Brown and ask him to come over for an hour or so, so that you can have some entertainment. So somebody invented a disc that can play music in your own house. Then people didn’t just want to listen to their music sitting around at home, they wanted to be able to listen on the move. So then the Walkman, a circular contraption that you stuck your CD into and you could listen to anywhere was invented. But then the Walkman became inconvenient, because of its size, ability to only play one CD at a time and not too great sound quality. That really opened up a new era of portable music players, the iPod. This square object, about the size of a note card, could hold up to 10,000 songs at maximum capacity, was small enough to tuck away into the smallest bag, and had quality surround sound of a movie theater. So therefore, I think this quote means that one need evolves into an invention that can make life A LOT easier.

Image from http://www.techgadgets.in/images/new-ipods-sept.jpg

Feedback Aug.18

I think that I learn best by watching a slide show kind of thing and listening to someone talk about the slide show. Ms. Tabor did that all the time last year, and I found it very easy to learn stuff and commit it to memory that way. Probably because it's a mix of visual and auditory learning. For example, if you can't remember the pictures you can usually remember the speaking, and if you can't remember the speaking you can remember the pictures. And if you can remember the pictures AND the words your set for any kind of test or quiz you might have on the subject. If I had to choose between them I would say auditory is more effective on it’s own, but if there could be both that’s like the best case scenario. Therefore, I would say I’m both a visual and auditory learner.

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Feedback #1

1.) I think the two highlights of my first week in humanities 8, were describing the people in my gang on my blog and TMTU. I enjoyed being able to think about why the people I called my closest friends were my friends, because I'd never really thought about it before so it was interesting to write it down. And I like TMTU because it's a funny, challenging way to start the class and I like seeing whether I know the answers, or how many countries/ rivers etc. that I can name.

2.) I thought that it wasn't too hard- at least the first week or so. Definetly easier than Ms.Tabors' class last year! But I was pretty surprised when I realized that we were going to read a whole novel in the first week or so of school because in previous humanities classes it has taken us 3-4 weeks to complete a book.

3.) My two goals for this quarter is too get more ticks and always boxes marked on my final socratic seminar than the two previous ones. And my second major goal would probably be to do really well on my Outsider's final project, I mean at least a B+ or A-.

My Gang

The people in my gang are Michaela, Aysha, Alice, Sophia, Morgann, Garrett, Sam G., Travis, Liam, Alex G., and Ruby. Michaela is my best friend in my gang because she really understands me and I can tell her anything and she won't think I'm stupid. Aysha is in it because she is really funny and is always there to help you out. Sam G. is in my gang because he tells me everything and I can ask him for advice. Travis because even though he tries to act cool he's a complete dork but that's the good thing about him. Liam is always there to help you and when you're feeling left out or something he'll always hang out with you. Alex G. because he always made me laugh and I could always talk to him about stuff, and I really miss him. Ruby because she was really confrontational but hilarious, and she makes up the best comebacks. Garrett is in my gang because he always cares about you and is easy to talk to and he's really good at dancing. Morgann because she keeps me from doing really weird stuff. Sophia because she's very entertaining and the fact she's good at Math is a plus! And Alice because she is always there for you and if you have a problem she'll help you. And that's my gang :D