Semester Reflection Part 2

Describe your vision for yourself in pursuing higher education.

I envision myself studying and learning new words, and reading progressively higher level books in order to expand my vocabulary as well as open my mind to new things. I also see myself writing a lot more notes that have more details, descriptions, and notes to self in order to make sure that I don’t forget anything, and to make sure my notes actually prove to be understandable to myself in the future. I also picture myself asking more questions and participating in more discussions in class to make sure I truly learn the material, and develop my own ideas through deliberating.

What in the world do you care about and what are you doing about it?

I care about the international world, and the people in it. I want to travel the world for its varieties of cultures and history, and have been going on One World Week trips in order to actually do this. I don’t just go for fun, though that is a part of it, but I also go because I find the different people, history, and culture to be so interesting and beautiful. In order to go on these trips, I have to work to earn the money through fundraising, and if I want to travel again next year, in fact, I have to find a summer job, which I’m looking for.

I want to break the stereotypes we have about other countries, because I’ve noticed that a lot of people I talk to say that just about every country hates Americans, and it’s really a downer, and I’ve found that it’s not really the case. In Kurt Vonnegut’s A Man Without a Country, he said “the highest treason in the USA is to say Americans are not loved, no matter where they are, no matter what they are doing there.” I couldn’t agree more. I’ll admit, I used to say this, but that was mostly because it was what everyone else said. But after travelling, I’ve learned that I really just believed what I heard around me, no questions asked, and I want to continue to break the stereotypes we have about other countries. I want to bond our broken world.

While traveling, I learn so much about the culture and history, and it’s so fascinating to me that I want to share the knowledge and use it in my life. This goes the same for the people I meet in these places. I love talking to people I meet in other countries, because their way of thinking is so different, and gorgeous in their own ways. However, I’ve found that I tend to forget a lot of details. So, to counteract this issue, I’ve decided that from now on when I travel, I will write notes on what I learn, and who I meet right after I’ve listened. I want to share the knowledge I gain with the world using psychology (which I’ve been learning about throughout my life, and plan on studying in college), photography (I make sure to take a lot of pictures of what I see), and writing.

In a nutshell, what I’m doing is getting early experience with the world, finding out how I can continue to gain experience, and sharing my experiences with other people in conversations, debates, stories, and pictures.

What is a quality in a classmate that you would like to develop in yourself?

Most of my classmates have the same problem I do, but in other classes I’ve seen that many people don’t have this same problem. I want to be able to raise my hand, and ask questions in class without the fear of seeming ‘stupid’, or like a burden to the class. I want to speak my mind even when the class is silent, as I’ve seen many people in other classes do. I’m tired of being afraid of what other people will think of my thoughts and curiosities, and I want to be able to voice them without as much fear in the near future so I can really learn to the point that I understand in everything that is being taught.

I also have a classmate who has an excellent memory, which has proved to be extremely beneficial, and I would like to commit things to memory more as well.

Beyond grades, what motivates you to work hard at school?

I’d have to say that my competitive spirit, my desire to help those around me, and my desire to better myself are things that greatly motivate me to work hard at school. In academics, if there’s something that seems like a competition to me, I get consumed by it, and try much harder to do better. If I happen to ‘lose’ this competition, I just realize that I could have tried harder in certain aspects, and continue to compete.

I think my desire to better myself connects to my competitive spirit. If I am competing with someone (whether it be a classmate, or someone I’ve learned/heard about), it’s probably because there are qualities in them and/or their work that I want to see in who I am and what I do. In other words, in a way, I compete with people who I find admirable, and I want to work hard to be the better person I want to be.

I enjoy being of help to the people around me because it makes me feel like I’m changing something in them, and making their life easier, which gives me a sense of accomplishment. So, in order to be able to help and explain things to the people around me, I like to work harder to understand the content so that eventually, I can explain it to the people who need help with it.

Semester Reflection Part 1

What have you learned about the way you learn, work, and/or collaborate?

One thing I learned about the way I collaborate with others is that I really enjoy helping people when I can. When I say ‘when I can’, I mean when I understand the material they need help on. I just genuinely enjoy helping people when they ask for it, and in fact, I feel honored to do so. I also learned that when it comes to working in groups, I can be a leader if needed. If someone else seems to take the leader role, then I’ll listen, but if everyone in my group is quiet and/or shy, then I can easily step up. Basically, I can become a leader when one is needed, and I am proud of this quality.

I also learned about how I work this semester through our Mock Trial. I never knew how long and how deeply I could focus until I did this project. I found myself focusing so much on researching that I lost track of days, people, and even sleep. I had to teach myself in a lot of ways, and I was so happy when I found that I really understood the material.

What project was most valuable to you, and what have you gained from it?

I actually have two projects that turned out to be very valuable to me, and that is Media Saves the Beach, and Ampersand. Media Saves the Beach was a bit of a challenge for me, since I had never been asked to find information on my own (for example, conducting water tests), nor had I ever been asked to write like a journalist. It was hard for me to do this, since it was all so new, but in the long run, I did quite well in this project, learned more about our environment, how we can help, and I even got to experiment with a new type of writing.

The other project that I considered valuable was Ampersand because it was my first time being published, and I got to be an editor, which is one of the career paths I’ve been considering. This project gave me an inside look to publishing, as well as my classmate’s perspectives on the world, and practice with yet another style of writing that was more along the lines of story-telling, rather than journalism. I realized that when it comes to writing, I enjoy writing fiction, but still including a few facts in it, and loosely basing it on reality, rather than writing like a journalist.

What is your greatest strength as a student in a project-based learning environment?

I’d have to say that my greatest strength in a project-based learning environment is my creativity. When I’m thinking of ideas for projects and writing, it usually doesn’t take very long for me to come up with an idea and product that I am interested in pursuing and accomplishing. For example, coming up with my idea of how I wanted to show my Tralfmandorian Transformation project didn’t take me long to think of at all.

What challenges do you face as a student in a project-based learning environment?

A challenge I face as a student in a project-based learning environment is figuring out how I can actually make my final product happen. I’ll use our Tralfmandorian Transformation project as an example for this one as well. Deciding on what I wanted to display was simple, but figuring out how to make it get to that point was difficult. There are a lot of computer programs that I’m still an amateur at, or don’t even know how to use, and in a project-based learning environment, I’ve learned that you have to have quite a bit of experience in with such programs so that you can actually make your final product. Another example would be Ampersand, because I wanted to help with the layout and design team, because they seemed to be struggling, but I didn’t know how to use InDesign, so I didn’t end up being much of a help at all, which I felt extremely bad about.

Writing Reflection

• Explain one or more specific aspects of your writing that have improved this year. In this explanation, you must directly refer to at least two specific pieces of writing that you produced for this class. You may use any assignment, project, writing sample, draft, blog entry, etc. You should discuss the writing tips & strategies we studied, the processes & methods we used, the critiques & drafts we employed and the products we created (feel free to use these specific key terms to keep your reflection focused).

I hadn't noticed before, but my writing has greatly improved since the beginning of the year. It's extremely obvious when I read my writing. I looked at my earliest work of writing for this year, which was my American Icons project. There was a lot going on in that writing, and it didn't all connect well. My thoughts were scattered, and there was too much to actually fit on one page. Not only that, but my structure wasn't developed either. I had a couple places in my American Icons Project that mentioned certain books. Some of the titles were in italics, and some were underlined. It looks extremely unorganized, and the writing itself seems random. Everything made sense in my head, but now I realize that I didn't do well of making sure it made sense to the readers.

I had only gone through a few drafts with that writing, whereas my Ampersand article went through many drafts. It took me quite a few drafts to get my writing to the point where all my ideas flowed together, and it made sense to everyone. I'm very proud of how far I have come this year. At first, I didn't think I had changed much, but now that I'm actually looking at the difference, I can see how big it is.

In my Ampersand article, my writing has a well developed idea that concentrates on a certain topic, whereas my American Icons piece jumps all of the board and doesn't flow well. Another thing I noticed was that I pay more attention to my writing style as well (ex: I use italics for thoughts, or to represent a way someone says something). I learned how to punctuate with power and purpose, activate my verbs, watch my "ing's", and minimize sledgehammer words, and I've noticed that it gives my writing a level of consistency that makes it sound more developed and professional.

• Describe one specific goal for your future writing. Your explanation of your goal(s) must include some or all of the following: writing samples from this year, writing strategies you have used in the past, writing strategies or techniques you would like to develop, examples from authors you respect, etc.

I want to have my ideas be more developed in my writing, so it makes sense to everyone who reads it. I have accomplished this with my Ampersand draft, but it took a lot of effort, and I would like it to be easier so I can better understand how to communicate with the world. My American Icon project shows how mixed up my ideas get, and my Ampersand article shows that I can do much better. I want to practice using Concerts Not Pancakes more, just to see if I can actually do it with an entire piece of writing. I feel like that was the writing rule that I had been struggling to fit in throughout this year, but I haven't gotten much success with it in my writing.

Honors History #3

Of all of the historical figures we have studied this year, including—but definitely not limited to—Presidents, philosophers, politicians, leaders, social movement-ers, and the many everyday people that have contributed to American history & culture, who would you most like to run into in college?

I would like to meet Kurt Vonnegut. We learned quite a bit about him this quarter, including about his life, and philosophies. I find him to be a very wise and interesting person, and also recently learned that he was a professor at the University of Iowa, which is one of the colleges I truly want to study in after I graduate. So, it's only logical that I would want Kurt Vonnegut as one of my professors as I study Creative Writing. In his book, Breakfast With Champions, he said: "New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become." I think it's safe to say that he values new thoughts, and this also tells me that he has some level of passion for teaching. I think he would definitely push me to appreciate what I truly learn from him, as well as the people around me.

Kurt Vonnegut said in his book Player Piano: "I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." I feel like this can easily be connected to creative writing, and that Vonnegut would use it in one of his lectures. Getting close to the edge, but never falling. Getting as close to reality, or a completely different world as you can before you lose your mind--or at least your train of thought-- to create a story. We can all create our own excitement, so long as we are willing to push towards our minds limits, and getting out of the ordinary. Perhaps Kurt Vonnegut could help me get to these limits. He certainly had a lot of interesting ideas in Slaughterhouse 5 (For example: "The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist"), so it wouldn't be odd to think that he could pull some interesting thoughts out of me as well. That's one of the reasons I can't wait to enter college: so I can see how far I can push my mind. I chose Kurt Vonnegut precisely because I think he would be one of the greatest pushers my mind has ever had.

Honors Lit Blog

If you could bring one character from any one book that we have read this year with you when you go to college, who would bring? Why?

This character could be your roommate (or suite-mate or housemate or whomever), a future classmate, a friend on campus, a professor, TA, grad student, or any other person you might regularly see on campus.

In a thoughtful blog entry, explain clearly who you would choose, what role he/she might take, and why you want to bring this particular character. Be sure to include specific evidence from the character, the book/novel, or other relevant sources.

Out of the characters from the books I have read this year, I would want to bring Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders to college with me as a classmate. I would want him as a classmate partly because he comes from a background that I haven't had experience with, such as Socs (Socials), and Greasers, and the fights that went on between them. He has an interesting character and perspective, plus he's a writer as well. He was supposed to be the one who had written The Outsiders, which he revealed at the very end of the book. Put that all together, and you get a great creative writing student.

When in college, I want to major in creative writing, with a minor in psychology. From what I read in The Outsiders, Ponyboy also wanted to be a writer, and was good at it as well. He was also considered smart in school. If he were one of my classmates, I'm sure I could ask him for some help with creative writing, or at least have the pleasure of reading what he wrote. One of the most interesting parts of being in a creative writing class, I'm sure, would be reading other classmate's writing, and reading from Ponyboy's perspective would be as interesting as it was in The Outsiders. I'm sure he would help me better my writing.

Another reason why I would want Ponyboy as a classmate is because he would be interesting to talk to as well. He was portrayed as an honest character, which is refreshing, and throughout the book he was considerate of other people, which is also refreshing. Plus, if I were to practice psychology, I could try to help him as well. In a way, he would give me new life lessons just by talking with him. In fact, he is one of the reasons I appreciate sunsets more now, thanks to how many times Ponyboy brought up sunsets. I figure he can teach me to appreciate a lot more as well. He seemed like a wise enough kid, and I think he'd make an interesting practice patient.

If Ponyboy Curtis were to join me at my college of choice as a classmate, I know it would benefit me as a student and a writer.

Post Trial Reflection

1. Summarize the facts of the case, as presented by the prosecution. Include relevant witnesses and testimony.

Senate Bill 1070 and House Bill 2162 are laws that were written primarily by Richard Pearce, and were recently signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. This law allows police to ask for the papers of people when "reasonable suspicion" tells them that a person is an illegal immigrant.

This law violates the spirit of United States immigrant history because it takes away the rights of people--and The Constitution as well as the Declaration of Independence applies to all people, not just citizens. This law is also unconstitutional because international affairs are meant to be dealt with by the Federal Government. "Reasonable suspicion" is no where defined in this law, and is an open door for racial profiling.

Recently, an American-born Latino citizen was brought into custody by the police of Arizona, who were trying to catch illegal immigrants. She repeatedly told them that she was a citizen, and had her papers, but they wouldn't listen. She was released after four hours. This was evidence for racial profiling as well as going against the 4th Amendment (that protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures).

The new law is going against the 4th (protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures), 5th (gives people the right to a jury, court, and to not be prosecuted for the same reason twice), 6th (gives people the right to a fair trial), and 14th Amendment (No state shall make a law that abridges the rights of people). This was proven by their witness, James Madison.

Their witness, John Adams, brought up the Alien and Seditions Acts, which was a law similar to this one when a state law tried to deal with immigrants, which was later proven unconstitutional. This was also true for Operation Waterback, and Proposition 187.

Raul Grujalva, their final witness, explained his experience with immigration, Operation Waterback, and Prop 187, and explained that they failed because they were unconstitutional, because state governments cannot make laws about international affairs, such as immigration.

2. Summarize the facts of the case, as presented by the defense. Include relevant witnesses and testimony.

Senate Bill 1070 and House Bill 2162 are laws that were written primarily by Richard Pearce, and were recently signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. It is not unconstitutional because the law is dealing with crime, not international affairs. Police can't pull over a person or ask people for their papers unless a crime has been made, or "reasonable suspicion" is present. In the law, it specifically says that racial profiling is not allowed, still illegal, and cannot be used. These methods are similar to those used in Ellis Island-- a method that worked well in making sure illegal immigrants didn't get through.

This law is not violating the spirit of immigrant history because it is protecting not only the citizens of the state from danger, but the immigrants from the extreme temperatures of Arizona, which many illegal immigrants may be living out in.

Statistics show that most people in the country, including government officials, support this law.

Their witnesses Jan Brewer and

3. What was the most significant piece of evidence, in your personal opinion?

Well, I was a lawyer for the prosecution, and the most significant pieces of evidence to me was the fact that America has been based on always progressing, and equal rights for everyone. For example:

The Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienablerights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it

I also thought an extremely significant piece of evidence was the fact that Federal Government is the only level of government that is allowed to deal with international affairs such as immigration. It also really helped to have examples like Prop 187 and so on that were removed due to the same prosecutions of being unconstitutional for that very reason.

4. What was the most significant argument made, in your opinion?

Once again, I was a lawyer for the prosecuting side, so I can't help but say that my side had the most evidence, biggest points, and included the morals America has had since it became it's own independent country. We also had the most history, which was a big factor in this argument, and we did a lot of cross examining.

5. What do you personally believe the correct verdict should be? Do you agree with the jury? Why or why not?

I do agree with the jury. I can't see anyway that this law is not going against the fact that this state law is dealing with an international affair, and there were just too many ways that racial profiling could be brought up in the future due to this law, whether it says it's not permitted or not, it is something that is bound to happen, and from the looks of it, already did happen from what we can see in this Arizona news broadcast.

Rights are already being violated before the law is put into action. Chances are, this kind of thing would only continue. I think there has to be a better way to handle the immigration issue, and police cannot learn how to look at a person and know that they are an illegal immigrant based on clothing, or something like that. It just doesn't make sense to me. But I hope that another more reasonable, and legal solution is found sometime soon.

I, as a prosecuting lawyer, think I deserve a 53.5 out of 50 points (which is 107%) because these past few weeks have been dedicated to building my case. I stayed up late hours doing more research, picking out witnesses, researching valuable American documents such as The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (though I didn't use it in my case, because I thought it might go a little off topic), and so forth. I also did hours of research on the witnesses my partner and I chose so we could completely understand the topics we wanted to focus on with them, what points we were proving, and how well we could explain this to the jury. This is the hardest and longest I've worked on a short project, and it was very new to me. I had never really seen how real courtroom cases worked, or understood what kind of work lawyers really did. I just knew a lot of methods of debating.

I also feel like I came a bit more out of my shell with this project, because I would cross examine, and question with little hesitation, and I didn't feel nervous in front of the small crowd we had, and to be honest, I barely even noticed them. I was focused throughout this entire project, so much so that I couldn't remember what day it was, or what was even going on around me, even at home. I helped all of my witnesses and my partner as much as I could. I feel like I deserve 107% because I went beyond my usual 100% limits. I lost hours of sleep to research and develop my understanding of my case, the defendants case, and witnesses. I went to sources other than the internet to get my information (such as teachers, family, etc.), and the only times I did "relax", I was watching courtroom cases so I could learn how to ask questions, and what is to be expected of me in the court. I feel like I bettered myself through all the work.

However, I certainly could have tried harder to learn objections, and make sure that the jury fully understood my argument. It was hard to find ways to teach the jury about the amendments I was using in the case. It was also hard to make my point obvious. To understand what I was saying, you'd need a general understanding for the constitution, and most of the jury, as I found out during the time I questioned them, didn't know much about it. I think I also could have done a little better at the way I worded some of my questions. A few of them really made sense in my head, but I couldn't find the words I needed to get my message through. I had all or most of the answers, but they weren't always clear.

WW2 Letter Outline

Who you are and how you decided:

I decided to be a woman working in a factory in America. I picked this role because when I first thought of women working during World War Two, I thought of Rosie the Riveter, and as soon as that image came to mind, I thought of the women in my family and our feminist beliefs. I just thought it would be fun/interesting to write a letter in the role of a woman living in a time where feminism was coming up in the world.

Research:

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/rosie/Rosie_the_Riveter_Women_in_the_Factories_of_World_War_II.htm

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women/wh-wwii.html

http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/rosie.htm

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/women_WW2.htm

http://www.massaflcio.org/1941-women-take-over-factory-work-during-world-war-ii

http://www.acepilots.com/planes/factory.html

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wwiibayarea/for.HTM

http://www.allpar.com/history/military/preparing.html

http://rjmantiques.com/images/Pacheo%20Family%20World%20War%20II.jpg

"World War II: The War at Home" By: Stuart A Kallen

Overview of tone and ideas:

I’m thinking of taking the role of a woman who’s sort of struggling, but doesn’t really want to admit it. I want the character to have a fairly big family, hence the need/struggle for money. I think she’s going to be a fan of Rosie the Riveter as well, and probably a tom boy. Her job will be building heavy machinery (I’m trying to find a specific factory name), and she’ll be fairly young. Probably around 19 or 20 or so, and have a mother who’s more of a house wife. The mom’s job is to take care of the house, and sell bread or something along those lines, and the character I’m portraying (the second oldest daughter) is going to have the job of bringing in more money from the factory she works in. The father deceased a few years ago (It’s currently 1941), and has a relative at war. That's just the image that came to mind. Not sure if I'll be able to use all of these details in my letter, since it will sort of depend on who I'm writing to. She might be considering joining the Army.

Blog #15

Many aspects of our modern world can be traced wholly or in part to World War 2 and it's aftermath. Write a blog entry in which you explain why it interests you, what you already know and what you hope to learn about it in the near future.

I'm most interested in the modern ideas of war & war crimes mostly because I feel like there's a lot to discuss and debate on about on this topic. What I already know is my opinions on war, and many of the people I talk to agree with me on these views. However, I am limited to only seeing this point of view. I am very much interested in learning about what other people have to say about modern war, and how it effects them. I'm also interested in making a comparison between past wars (such as WW2) and current wars to see what the biggest differences are in the societies they effect the most, and how they effect our societies all together.

Blog #14

Answer each of the following, and cite statistics or sources wherever appropriate:

1. What are the most interesting aspects of World Wars 1 and 2?

The most interesting aspects of WWI for me would probably be the “cause” (the assassination of Franz Ferdinand) that lead to one big chain event, The Black Hand, the alliances and their plans, and how much WWI changed war all together.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm

The most interesting aspects of WWII for me would have to include the dictators (Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, and Stalin) because they all seemed like psychotic geniuses, what the governments of Europe did to try to stop/prevent the war (treaties), the weapons and how much they destroyed and killed, and Dr. Seuss’s political cartoons.

http://www.cedarville.edu/resource/education/subjects/history/wwiijmf/dictator.htm

Example of Dr. Seuss Political cartoon: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/pm/10813cs.jpg

2. What do you hope to learn about these wars?

I learned a lot in Lori Fisher’s class last year about WWI and WWII so I’m not sure what else I can learn, but I know there’s plenty. I’m most interested in the triggers of battles, and such. It all seems like some sort of domino effect to me. I’d also be interested in learning about the minds of the Dictators, and how they grew up. What made them so insane? Things like that truly fascinate me.

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.

Many weapons were formed during these wars, and changed the way we kill thousands of people. Just thinking back on what I learned about all of this makes me a little queasy. A lot of grudges between countries seemed to be formed as well due to these battles. Countries lost land, more stereotypes were formed, and some (not all) lessons were learned. Hopefully, in this sense, history will not repeat itself.

Grapes of Wrath

Describe how the balance between specific stories about the Joad family and broader description of the migration of Dust Bowl farmers impacts the novel as a whole.

The zoom out and zoom in effect that Steinbeck used throughout the book was a decent way to get me as a reader to think a little more about what was going on back then. First, I would read about the Joad family, and their personal struggles which sort of developed a connection between me and the characters. Then, when the chapter would be more broad, it would give me a chance to realize that the Joads were not alone in this. In fact, one fourth of the entire population was going through similar struggles. Each chapter would relate to the last in one way or another, so that you could see the connection between all of the migrants.

This technique was brilliant, but I didn't think it was very well established. The Joad family was displayed as "strong" by showing a lack of emotion throughout the book, although a little more emotion came out towards the end. However, throughout the book, these sad events were happening (such as granpa dying) and no one really seemed to care. This happened in the zoomed in chapters, which I'm guessing were meant to make me feel a more personal connection to the story. However, the lack of emotion made it difficult to relate to the characters at all. They didn't seem human. In books, important characters should seem realistic, like they're actually out in the world. These characters seemed to stay in the pages. At most, they were just ink on paper. So, the zoomed in chapters did not get the desired effect out of me.

The zoomed out chapters had more of an effect because they made me think more, and made more valid and established points. However, a lot of them were pretty dull, which sometimes made it hard to read through. But then there were the chapters such as Chapter 14 that basically said that the farmers would need to work together if they wanted to survive. At that time, it was a dog eat dog world. If that pattern continued, there was no way that things would change. Most of the zoomed out chapters got straight to the point.

So the technique was there, but in the case of Grapes of Wrath, it did not succeed. Half of the technique (the zoomed in half) failed, which all in all took away from the effect of the book. Had the book been a bit more personal, Grapes of Wrath would have been much more thought provoking and emotional. But this was not the case.

Character Sketches

Ma Joad

"Tommy, don't you go fightin' 'em alone. They'll hunt you down like a coyote. Tommy, I got to thinkin' and dreamin' and wonderin'. They say there's a hun'erd thousand of us shoved out. If we was all mad the same way, Tommy-they wouldn't hunt nobody down."

“Tommy, I got to ask you— you ain’t mad?”

Both of these quotes shows Ma’s compassion for the family. She thinks things through, and her worry is what lets her compassion and thought process show. She doesn’t want any trouble, because it only makes things harder.

"Well, Pa, a woman can change better'n a man. A man lives sorta - well, in jerks. Baby's born or somebody dies, and that's a jerk. He gets a farm or loses it, and that's a jerk. With a woman, it's all in one flow, like a stream - little eddies and waterfalls - but the river, it goes right on. Woman looks at it thata way."

Ma is a bit of a feminist. Sure, she cooks, and cleans, but she does it in a way that’s tough, and more because she wants everyone to keep up their strength. She’s proud to be a woman, and finds it the best way to live, which wasn’t very common back then.

“It ain’t kin we? It’s will we?”

This is another quote that shows Ma’s compassion, but this time, it’s her compassion for others, including strangers. When it comes to helping someone, she believes it’s a choice, rather than something a person has to do. And when it comes to Ma, she often chooses to help others. It show’s just how tough a house wife can be. And Ma is exactly that.

-She’s thick from child baring, but not fat.

A piece of evidence that shows she’s a mother, I suppose.

-She has strong arms.

Shows that she’s a hard worker, even if it mostly cooking and cleaning.

-She has sad eyes.

She’s been through a lot, but pushes through for others’ sakes.

-She seems to look off into the distance a lot.

Shows that she thinks to herself a lot.

A significant moment in Ma’s life: when her home was taken away.

This event got her thinking more about the world around her, and ended up making her have to become stronger, and work even harder to keep the family alive and together. She was tired, but determined.

-Her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding

This is simply more proof that Ma hasd gone through a lot of hardship, but was strong enough to keep moving forward. Maybe even too strong to be human.

“She looks tar’d…like she’s sick tar’d.” –Casy

Clearly, it’s obvious that everyone saw that she was tired in an extreme way, but no one really noticed why until a little later. She was strong, but certainly struggling. I’m guessing that being her would be like going to school and doing chores all day with only 3 hours of sleep.

Pa turned his head to Ma. “You’ll lay ‘im out?”

Even for tasks such as burying a man, people turned to Ma. Apparently, Ma could do anything without it affecting her too much. She could skin a pig, cook it, and give it a proper burial if she wanted to.

Tom Joad

-"It don't take no nerve to do somepin when there ain't nothin' else you can do."

This quote shows Tom’s nonchalant attitude. It’s sort of like he’s saying ‘I do what I have to, and it’s as simple as that’. With this state of mind, he got a lot of things done, but also made a lot of rash decisions. He doesn’t neccisarily always think things all the way through, which got into a bit of trouble throughout the book.

-“Homicide. That’s a big word—means I killed a guy. Seven years. I’m sprung in four for keepin’ my nose clean.”

Tom is a sarcastic and teasing character. His sense of humor is a little cruel, but in the smart way that sarcasm brings to a conversation, even if it is a bit hurtful. The other thing about this quote is that he is saying this little insult to the man who went out of his way to give him a ride. Plus, giving people a ride was against the rules, so the driver had stuck his neck out for Tom, and in repayment, Tom basically called him stupid. It’s not as if Tom as a deep compassion for others—at least not strangers. This also shows that Tom is not ashamed of what he did. In fact, it’s like he’s proud of it since he got out so early, and it gives him the ability to intimidate others. In a way, it also shows his immaturity because it’s like he’s always playing a game, and his past is one of his favorite weapons.

“That Casy. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear.”

This simply shows Tom’s compassion and gratitude towards Casy. In short, it shows that Tom holds the same or similar beliefs to Casy.

"Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one."

This was a very clever quote to me, thus showing more of Tom’s witty side. He has a good point here, and it’s the kind of thing that one would make up on the spot, because it’s so simple, but so true to the moment.

-Has broad fingers and nails.

I guess this shows that he uses his hands a lot.

-He’s pretty sarcastic, and has a way of making fun of people.

Shows his sense of humor.

-He doesn’t hesitate to say that he killed a man and why.

Shows that he’s not ashamed of it.

-He’s not very patient, especially when it comes to food.

Shows that he likes food, or didn’t always have it readily available, I suppose.

A significant moment in Tom’s life: killing a man (the first time).

By doing this, he was sent to jail, and was therefore hidden from the outside world for four years. He got off on good behavior, and he wasn’t ashamed to tell anyone. This showed Tom just what he can do, and how far his limits expand. His morals and sense of being seemed to come into more acceptance after he did this, and he ended up doing it again.

-And now Al, moving humbly near, saw that his brother was not a swaggerer as he had supposed.

It looks like a lot of people assumed that Tom was pretty tough and cool because he had killed a man and done time. But, to Al’s disappointment, he didn’t have that kind of walk. It was just a regular walk, because he was just a regular guy who happened to kill someone in self defense.

-Al knew he had inspired some admiration because his brother had killed a man.

Tom was admired throughout the town precisely because he killed someone. He was praised rather than looked down upon.

-“I wisht you didn’ do it”

However, even though Tom was admired by younger boys throughout the town, those who knew him personally, did regret that he had done that. They didn’t hate him because of it, and loved him just the same, but Tom’s arrest and current parole made life a lot harder for him and the family.

-His voice was teasing.

Jim Casy

“Maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue, they's just what people does. Some things folks do is nice and some ain't so nice, and that's all any man's got a right to say.”

“I figgered, ‘Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus?’ I figgered, Maybe it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit—the human sperit—the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s part of’‘’

Both of the previous quotes show Casy’s philosophy on life, and is evidence of just how much he thinks, and what he often thinks about. Most of what he seems to think about is how he plans to live his life, and why he thinks it’s most logical to live that way. As you can see, his thoughts hold a lot of logic, so now, rather than thinking religiously, he thought critically. He broke from thinking by the book (the bible), and gained a mind of his own, so-to-speak.

“I ain’t a preacher no more.”

He says this frequently throughout the book, and it takes most of the characters a while to accept this fact. He’s not a preacher, and he wanted to make sure everyone understood this. However, no matter how many times he said this, people still referred to him as the preacher, even though he had given up on that life path a long time ago, and for many reasons. He made up his beliefs through thought and logic, and he wasn’t going to return to his old way of thinking. He didn’t want to.

“I wouldn't pray just for an old man that's dead, 'cause he's all right. If I was to pray, I'd pray for folks that's alive and don't know which way to turn.”

I think this quote shows a lot about Casy. It shows us his compassion, sense, and honesty. Casy was a very honest man, and he wasn’t afraid to show and tell his beliefs, because they were what made the most sense to him. He still had a sort of faith, but, as I said before, they aren’t by the book. His compassion really shows through here too because he is talking about all of mankind rather than the afterlife, as many religions focus on.

-Wanders off a lot by himself.
Shows that he’s independent.

-Stares off into space a lot.

Evidence that he does a lot of thinking.

-He’s cautious/shy.

Shows the classic worrisome habit that many firm religious people have. I guess he couldn’t shake it. He’s very humble and polite, and doesn’t want to offend anyone.

-Really tries to make people understand that he’s not a preacher anymore.

This is proof of his honesty and his loyalty to his beliefs.

A significant moment in Casy’s life: when he started laying with women.

It was these ongoing events that got him to go through an identity struggle. In doing so, he questioned his beliefs, and ended up finding a very interesting and sensible answer. Through this struggle, he became more accepting towards others, and what seemed to be a happier, and more laid back and independent man.

-“That Casy. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear.”

-“Talks a little wild sometimes, but he talks sensible.”

-Ma watched the preacher as he ate and her eyes were questioning, probing, and understanding.

All three of these quotes show how he inspired those around. He had an odd way of explaining his beliefs, and thinking, but eventually, everyone he knew came to understand him. They accepted him from the beginning but they were skeptical. Nonetheless, he had been an interesting character to all.

“I seen him walking down the road. He don’t like to pray no more.”

Casy often wandered off to think, which was an alternative to praying, supposed. I’m guessing that Steinbeck made this clear as a way to say that praying doesn’t do much for people’s minds. It’s more of ritual, rather than a thought process that might actually get them somewhere, much like Casy.

Honors Novel #1

Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

I read Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, which was based and focused on the great depression--in a circus. The book as a whole is all of the issues that went on back during the depression, all rolled up into one interesting and compelling book.

The main character, Jacob Jankowski, a soon-to-be graduating college student, goes through just about all the worst things a man could have gone through back in the thirties. Within the first 20 pages, his parents die in a horrible car accident, and he finds out that he doesn’t have a penny to his name because his father had been working for food rather than money for the past two years. And since his parents hadn’t been paying the mortgage, the bank was taking away the house and everything in it. Not only had he lost his family, but his home and belongings as well. He wanted to fight it, but it was brought to his attention that he couldn’t. He had nothing.

With such a tragic beginning to the story, one had to wonder if his life would get better or worse as time went on. The first chapter of the book took place in the circus, but it was as if we were looking into the future of the book. He witnessed someone dear to him murdering someone else. All signs pointed to life only getting worse. So, with this in mind, how was I supposed to expect there to be much happiness at all? The depression was apparently named so for good reason.

Even after he joins the circus, he has to deal with a paranoid schizophrenic, a longing to commit adultery, and dealing with not getting paid for all of his hard work as the veterinarian of the circus. Nothing seemed to be going right, and it didn’t seem to get any better. He ended up losing his closest friends in the circus as well.

Then, finally, the circus collapses. This would seem to be another unfortunate event, but it actually ended up fixing everything. After all of the hell Jacob had gone through, he could finally live his own life and start anew. Notice that it wasn’t until the big business collapsed completely that everything got better. I guess this goes to show that everyone has to go through extreme hardship before things get better, sometimes.

Piecing this all together, I recently realized what the moral of the story was: to not give up hope. Believing things will get better is what carried Jacob through, and it happened. Had Jacob not gone through all that he had, and pushed himself through it, he would have been on the streets. It is with this in mind that we learn that hard work and hope is what will carry us through.

Blog #10

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

Well, I can't say I know too much about the dust bowl, but from what I do know, I'd have to say yes. The first chapter of the book has a tone of dreariness, which I'm guessing would match the tone of how the farmers felt when this happened. And as the book goes on, we witness anger, rebellion, depression, and what the hard times bring. All of these, I'm sure, match what the farmers and such were feeling back then. This book is not a favorite of mine, but someone pointed out to me that this book isn't meant to be exciting. It's more for relation. This is probably the reason why I don't enjoy it that much. Because I can't relate to it that much. But as far as sympathy goes, I can definately see the connection.

Blog #9

Post a thoughtful reflection on how you have performed within the numerous freedoms associated with Ampersand. Then post a thoughtful reflection on how you have performed within the numerous structures associated with Ampersand.

I'm not exactly what you mean by 'performed', but I am writing a poem about speaking up. It's hard to word exactly what my poem is about because it is still being written, and all the words haven't come out yet. I have been doing what I can in regards for my Ampersand writing, but I feel as though we don't get enough time in class to work on it. This is an important project for the 11th grade, so it would seem that we would all be working together on it in class more, but I'm managing so far. With all this freedom, it's hard to decide exactly how to get my words out. I just hope I can get a draft done by Friday.

Dear Mr. President (Honors History #1)

Dear President Obama,

As you can see, the economy is in a rut, and the citizens of America are quite displeased with the state our country is in. Our unemployment rate is at eleven percent—a mere fourteen percent away from the Great Depression. Before our economy falls any further, we need to take action into our own hands. To do this, I recommend that we first follow by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR) example. Communication with the people is crucial. I recommend that you hold speeches for everyone to hear when a big change is about to come along. We must settle the people down, and restore their confidence in not only the economy, but you as their president, before you lose your support.

From what I can see, America is in the process of creating new jobs, which should in turn give more people opportunities to work. Perhaps you could give a little encouragement and reassurance just as FDR often did. Make sure you don’t make anything sound prettier than it really is, though. We must be realistic, but optimistic as well, so our citizens don’t lose faith in your leadership, or the country. Many people have bestowed a lot more responsibility on you than they do in most other presidents because America is in quite the rut at this point. Confidence is key. Let everyone know you are here for them, and announce important changes that will be made. Only do this on very important occasions so that when you speak, people listen.

Another big step would be to get out of the war, since we are spending so much on weapons and such, and losing many men and women. This is a large goal, and of course a difficult one, but it should be on our list of priorities, or at least made known that you are putting an effort into making this happen. Whenever we do get out of the war, perhaps by slowly declining if possible, we will save a tremendous amount of money, and this money can be put back into the economy.

One difficulty I notice you have been facing is getting your ideas to pass with The Congress. I can understand this to be stressful, but perhaps you could build a relationship with them so you can gain their trust. They have many different viewpoints, so getting anything to pass by them will be difficult. One thing you can do is see what ideas they have, and try to work them in. This will give you a higher probability of getting your propositions to pass.

This is all the advice I’d like to give you for now. Every step counts. I sincerely hope this helps.

--D’Vaughn McCrae.