Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Semester TWO: Honors Blog

During both World War I and World War II Germany fought against Great Britain, France, Russia and The United States. Germany lost in both wars and had land taken away from it. In the First World War Turkey had a genocide going against Armenians and during the second war Germany had a genocide going against Jews? It seems to be as if World War I had some sort of influence on World War II, although WWI was mainly a war between countries and WWII was more based on Fascism and Communism, it is safe to say that there are many connections between both of the world wars, with the second war ending in more causalities and damage than the first. Both wars play a major role in the way our Economic, Political, and Social systems are ran, here in the United States and also in places around the world that weren’t directly involved in both wars.

Because of these two wars new countries were formed such as Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia formed in 1918. There was also Greece, Poland, Finland and a few others. Not only were there new countries formed but there were countries completely destroyed. These are all countries that we visit, live in, and love, which would have been completely different without World War I and II being involved. Many of the economical deals that United States has with other countries such as Japan, France, and Germany wouldn’t have been possible without both of these world wars. In today’s time we conduct a lot of business deals with the three countries named above. Before the world wars and the peace treaties that came after them it would have been nearly impossible for us to do trade materials and supplies with Japan with it having an Empire and having different rules and morals than our country it would be hard for agreements to be made. Because of the world wars Japan and Germany has done almost a complete 360 as far as the government making it possible for The United States to have the everyday supplies we use today such as technologies, food, cars, and shoes.


A lot of political affairs also come from WWI and WWII. Many terms that we are familiar with today was influenced or established between the two World wars. After WWI in 1981 a group called the League of Nations was established as a result of the treaty of Versailles. The League of Nations was created to prevent war through collective security, disarmament, and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Another thing it was there for was to control related treaties included labor conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, trafficking in persons and drugs, arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe. The League of Nations failed because lack of a strong defense army in 1946. League of nation is very similar to what we know today to be as the United Nations. We also got many diplomacy’s established resulting in the two wars that are heavily influenced in today’s political views, a few being The Dollar Diplomacy where if a nation wants American investments then they must act in our best interest at mind. The Moral Diplomacy where we only engage with countries who share the same morals as us. An example of this is towards the beginning of World War I where the United States cut off many of Japans supplies because they were acting in ways that United States didn’t agree with. The same thing is happening currently with United States and Cuba. The United States refuse to engage with Cuba because our Countries do not share the same morals, which is the same thing as the Moral Diplomacy.
2. You are a soldier in (choose one of the following groups): Tuskegee Airmen, 442 Regimental Combat Team, Navajo Code Talkers.

Write a letter to a friend or family member. Think of what might be in a letter like this: it would be on a specific date & from a specific city. this letter might describe your hopes, feelings, expectations, fears, etc. It might reference current events (or, then-current events), technology, or politicians. It might describe people, places, settings, technology and more. It might include the other person's life, perspective or questions. In fact, the person the letter is written to might be one of the people on that list!

Post the basic info for your letter to your blog on Tuesday, 4/27 before 11:59:59 pm. This basic info includes:
1. who you are & how you decided
I decided that I was going to be writing in the view of a Tuskegee airman during the beginning years of World War II. I decided that I wanted to be a Tuskegee airmen when Randy first introduced there role in the war. I also took a glance at a letter in a book that was written buy a black male about how he was fighting in two different wars which was segregation and in the world war that was going on. After reading that I thought of how my brothers and family members might have felt back then fighting the same war as other white men but getting treaty not as equally.

2. research! including specific links and the major topics, people, & info in your letter.
-(http://letter.ie/0008/0001.html) Here is a Link of a letter from a American Soldier . although he wasnt a tuskeege or african american soldier his letter is a example of what I would like to do with the attached pictures.

-(http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/Tuskegee_Airmen_History.html)
-(http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/uploads/nameslist.pdf)




3. an overview of the tone & ideas of your letter.
I want my letter to be written to the solders mother , wife , or family member. In the letter I want the solider to be talking about the different things they are going threw, observations and fears that they have about fighting in the war. I also want to discuss some of my soldiers concerns once he comes home and sees how things are going to change and how the war is going to affect his family and friends back home.
4. more???
I was thinking that I wanted to take a picture of what the Tuskegee airman would have possibly attached , into my envelope as more of a personal touch as maybe one would write if they there was a chance they would never see there family again.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Semester DOS, Blog #14


1. What are the most interesting aspects of World Wars 1 and 2?
I like learning about the Holocaust parts of it , and also some of the major causes of it. and what land belongs to who because of both of them.


2. What do you hope to learn about these wars?
the different technologies that were made during the time , also the bombs that were dropped more details about little boy and big boy bombs. I would also like to learn more about the Nueburg trail and the things that went on after WWII . Another thing that would be interesting for me to learn about is the Tuskegee airmen and the other black armies that were established back then. My father and family all have Tuskegee jackets and we always talk about the Tuskegee men being a strong role model in the black mans life so learning why is something I would enjoy .


3. How/Why are these wars important today? How do they impact and/or inform our world today? hint: think about alliances, democracies around the world, cultures, international institutions, nuclear (and other) technologies, etc.
From what I know so far these two wars have made huge impacts on the way that America is sort of structured now a days. A example of this is like that weapons of mass destructuion rule that they have where countiries can have only certin weapons and there are people who go and check on other countries to make sure that they are following the guidelines.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Semester TWO: Honors Novel 2

The Great Depression brought about a lot of migration, many families began to migrate towards California to find jobs, and food. During the grapes of wrath we get to see two different prospective of this happening. In the novel we are introduced to the Joad family where we explore the different trials and tribulations they endured the great depression.

The Joad family lived on a farm in Oklahoma ,once the stock market crashed and the dust bowl era came about there was no chance for them to survive on there land. The dust bowl demolished the crops leaving there farm worthless. They began trying to sell prized possessions but the economy was so bad that people barely had money for food, so they couldn’t buy “luxury items”. Since there was no money coming in they were unable to pay the bank for their home which caused the house to be foreclosed.

Because of the dust bowl everyone was struggling to keep afloat. There was talk about better opportunities in San Diego so many families began to migrate
In the book we are shown a pattern of reality and exaggerated reality, it starts off with the reality of the 1930’s with a description of the scenery. “In the roads where the teams moved, where the wheels milled the ground and the hooves of the horses beat the ground, the dirt crust broke and the dust formed. Every moving thing lifted the dust into the air: a walking man lifted a thin layer as high as his waist, and a wagon lifted the dust as high as the fence tops, and an automobile boiled a cloud behind it. The dust was long in settling back again. The next chapter zooms into the Joad family where we get a first hand view of a migrant family’s experience. “In the little houses the tenant people sifted their belongings and the belongings of their fathers and of their grandfathers, Picked over their possessions for the journey to the west. The men were ruthless because the past had been spoiled, but the women knew how the past would cry to them in the coming days. The men went into the barns and the sheds.

The way that this book was set up gives the reader both sides of the story. In the reality chapters of the book we get a first hand view of just how bad everything was during the 1930’s. In the zoomed out chapters we can make a connection between our life and how it could have been affected during that time period. I feel it was important for Steinbeck to write the book with this specific pattern because its easy for you to understand the theme of the book and also connect to the characters in order to understand the book as a whole. Having the reality, exaggerated reality pattern also kept the book interesting. There was always some kind of thinking happening between chapters as we learned background descriptive information about the reality of the great depressions, we also see some of what could have be reality of the great depression.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Amperstand Final Draft

Jasmine Jackson
I absorbed many different skills from completing a whole year of kinder garden, probably some of the most important do’s and don’ts of my high school year reflects back to it. As much as I like to say I learned during my kinder garden year has no comparison to what I learned during my three week internship experience as a kinder garden teacher assistant. I am proud to say I learned the key to a successful life, home, and job is patience.

Patience seems to be the only skill one would need in order to endure the stress that comes while dealing with kids, teens or people in general. Listen closely as I take you through a few of my memories to explore the many annoyances one may experience when working with kinder gardeners. From the constant shoe tying, tattling, line cutting, arguing, fighting and the worst of them all, the finger in the nose while confused on something just said. Yes, yes the booger finger. If you can survive two days of working in a kinder garden class, I feel confident that you are prepared to endure the stress of the “real world”.

“Miss Jasmine, Miss Jasmine” “yes Kevin S” I reply. “Uhm my shoe came untied again “Well let’s see, I carefully pull up the two strings loop then cross them over and under big bow, then little bow. I glance up to check if he watched the whole process. Not a chance seems that the ant next to his hand had more importance than learning a lifetime skill. I dust the dirt off of my denim jeans, take a sip from my coffee and continue with my set task. They say one of the easiest ways to deal with constant shoe tying is to teach them the skill so they can do it themselves. This can become extremely hard if your student has a 2-3 second attention span. But wait, the headache doesn’t began at the constant shoe tying , the throbbing begins at the consistent bickering between classmates.

“Miss Jasmine Miss Jasmine” yes I mumble never looking up from my scissors and worksheets. “She cut in front of me at recess today” yelled one of my students angrily. “Nun Huh” yelled the defendant “I was there first” she stated defensively. “No I was there first then you cut me.” The plaintiff clarified. “Girls Girls” my mentor thankfully interrupted. “Please have a seat on the rug it is time for phonics.” I sip my coffee and exhale a deep breath. They say the best way to deal with tattling and fighting between students is to try and understand each point before making a decision. This is something that can also be a hard task when one is not use to being a judge. Just when your headache begins to progress the breaking point of your day will take its toll experiencing the horror of the booger finger.

Tap Tap Tap, “Teacher” one of my students confusingly says. “Which one do I color . . .” I look up from the apple laptop and over my left shoulder. Oh no please not the finger in the nose. My face went blank as I tried to focus on the question he asked. I looked at him with confusion. He slowly takes his finger out of his nose and places it on the table then taps me again once he notice I wasn’t paying attention.“Would this triangle be red or blue”? I shake the vision of the slimy green finger touching my shoulder and answer his question. “This triangle would be blue”. I sip my coffee, and exhale a deep breath.

Even the worst situations of them all can be contained with patience. This is where the headache is fully blown and unstoppable. Your day is over and there is no way to turn back the hands on the clock. However there is tomorrow, you’ll come in ready to deal with the constant shoe tying, tattling, line cutting, arguing, fighting and the worst of them all, the finger in the nose while confused on something just said. Then the next day and the day after that will all come together like clockwork. This is when the patience develops. Once you are able to deal with constant shoe tying, tattling, line cutting, arguing, fighting and booger picking. You are successfully read to deal with late co workers, needy bosses, bickering patients or whatever the “real life” sweeps your way, you will be prepared.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Semester TWO ; Honor's Novel One

The novel was about a troubled African American girl Jada who goes from “crack addict ,prostitute then a somewhat “survivor” The book has many twist ,it starts up as a love story, then transfers to a little bit tragic , still full of surprises and unseen truths. The novel sort of celebrates a urban tradition while exposing the hardships that urban America goes through, how caught up in the drug world one can be, and what happens when they try to get out of it.


Drugs were Tracy Brown’s main idea for the book most of his ideas were based on or around drugs.He uses Jada the main character’s personal experiences like different literary devices as a symbol/metaphor to show how black American is ruled by two similar things drugs and money.Tracy Brown is using drugs in connection to something that each person chase after that falls under the same umbrella as “materialism” that each person can personally relate to. For an example in the book drugs gave people power, respect, and control .Tracy brown makes the connection between money and drugs using it as a symbol “We all chase after something rather it is drugs, happiness, love or money”. Having a lot of money can lead to power, respect, and control. Same as to drugs you can be on the “pro” side of the drug world will lead you to power respect and control.


In the novel we see Jada be on both sides of the pro and cons list of the drug world. She starts off struggling desperately as she is addicted to some of the most hardcore drugs out at the time she did humane things in order to feed her habit. She believed that while on drugs she could have a better grip on her life. The drugs gave her a sense of control, while on drugs she could control when she was happy and when she dealt with the problems of her world. Without the drugs she was a normal person who was controlled by destiny. This links back to Tracy browns metaphor between money and drugs. When one has money they have a sense of control. You can buy what you would like, go where you would like, pay off anyone you would like. Having money gives a person a lot of power and respect. Without money it is easy for one to get depressed, looked down on or trampled over. The way that our economy is, the richer the person the higher standard they are seen as. The same thing goes for the “drug king and queens”in my novel.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Semester TWO : Blog 10

Do you believe that the Grapes of Wrath successfully establishes sympathy for the plight of Dust Bowl farmers? Why or why not?


I think that it did a pretty good attempt at making me feel pretty sympathetic for the farmers. The way that that Steinbeck explains how everything is going on seems like it is slightly overly told, and its hard for me to connect with the farmers grief because the way its wrote makes it desperate for me to feel sympatic. Its like when you see homeless people on the streets and there begging for your sympathy and they have signs and things that are trying grasp your attention and somewhat hit you soft spot. I feel that is what Steinbeck was doing and it somewhat hit my soft spot but didn't make me wanna give up my money to help sorta thing.