Semester Reflection, Part 2

What is the greatest challenge facing your generation? What will be necessary to address it?

Well, other than the fact that my generation is losing it’s history and culture, I feel that the biggest challenge is the state of the environment and economy.  Now not only is unemployment going up with inflation, but also we’re running out of potable water, global warming, and now the oil spill which will have very lengthy long term affects on the world.  So my concerns mainly lie within the environment.

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

I have a passion for contemporary art, it’s a possibility for me to earn a curatorial degree and get a job at MCASD, but right now I care extremely for the respect and reputation of contemporary art; every time I talk about working at MCASD people insult contemporary art.  I hate this argument so much that I literally wrote my Ampersand article about it.

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

I see school as a competition, always have.  I see my strengths as a student and that I should keep them to myself because when college application time comes I want the highest GPA and highest everything.  I don’t want to look at school this way.  This is a quality of mine that I would like to remove. 

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

My future; I am constantly motivated to do my best because I really feel that my future will be much better if I work extremely well now in my life.  Whether it be try hardest to learn the most to be a more intelligent global citizen, or be a nicer person to be an overall better person. 

Semester Reflection, Part 1

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

Easy, the American Icons project.  It truly helped me move pass a personal loss of a friend and really helped me grow overall as a human being.  Although the process was extremely difficult, challenging, and at times seemed to be not worth it, in the end it was one of the great projects due to the help I attained from it.

Describe one valuable mistake you made this year.

One valuable mistake that I made this year was failing time after time to come up with Ampersand article ideas.  I went through poems, fictional photo essays, nonfictional photo essays, and finally settling upon a true debate type of essay.  Going through all of this craziness, I find that my final topic/theme was very much stronger compared to all of my other writings.

           

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

I get the work done.  I always do.  Well, there was one time when I had swine flu and missed out on very important newspaper work time.  Nevertheless, I continue to surprise many of my classmates with the work ethic I put into collaborative projects, and sometimes I even surprise myself as well.  I don’t necessarily always know what I’m doing during these projects, but as John Locke once said, “No man’s education can go beyond his experience”, which is a quote that very much sums up the High Tech Village spirit. 

Writing Reflection

I was never pleased with my writing in the past, always eager to hold back my essays from class critiques, now I welcome it.  I can now feel proud of my work and am generally pleased with my current level of writing skill.

I feel that might writing has greatly improved in almost every sense of term "improvement".  Looking back at essays from 10th grade, even early essays such as my "Confederates in the Attic" piece, I have noticed that I was a very bad writer.  But looking at my Ampersand piece, I have noticed that it is of much higher literary quality, which is odd.  What happened from the beginning to the end of junior year? Something must have happened.

I underwent very intense yet valuable writing rehab during this year in Randy Scherer's 2009-2010 Junior Humanities class.  I have learned to use many literary devices such as something entitled "The Loop" which starts off with an idea and at the conclusion brings the audience back to that very idea.  It has been very helpful in essay writing, but more/so in more persuasive essays where you keep bringing the reader back to your thesis, almost like alliteration. 

Come Ampersand Exhibition night I was actually eager to show off my article, rather than keeping to myself.  I find that this is either a sign of great improvement or great psychological changes to myself, either way I think my writing has gotten much better.

The future of my writing lies within college;  I plan on spending the summer working on my college application essays and what not, trying to pump out my greatest writing work, even surpassing my Ampersand piece.  But after that is completed, I want to pursue a Writing & Publication minor if I attend Emerson college in Boston, which offers that.  I also need to stick with the literary devices if I ever want that to happen, because I don't want my old past writing habits and strategies to creep up on me again, I want them to stay in the "past" in emphasis.  I think the better my writing becomes the more I can actually improve my actual education. 

Historical Reflection

1. John Locke was one of the most influential philosophers during the Enlightenment period who created many philosophies during his lifetime, some that still inspire modern norms of society. I have a feeling that John Locke would be the hippy-type of college characters living at the end of the hallway on your floor in your dorm building, or playing hackie sack while 'chill-axing' on the quad. I have a feeling that he would be very popular without being a 'conformist'.

2. "Parents wonder why the streams are bitter, when they themselves have poisoned the fountain. " I absolutely love this quote because it does show his rebellious side against the conformities of families.

3. I have chosen this person because he sort of helped the world escape from the atheists/VS/religion mindset, the age of enlightenment was a massive step forward in society, and some of his own ideologies of asking questions and thinking of for yourself has helped me.  Right before John Locke released his most famous book, there was the European War on Religion, and most people either were for religion or against it, until Locke wrote about Tolerance, and how Religion could be accepted, only if it were to be rationalized of sorts. 

4. Not quite sure, primary sources almost universally mean first hand encounters or first hand speaking quotes and what not, if so I'm not sure, so I will just list 3 quotes by John Locke:

"All wealth is the product of labor." is really the quote that inspired me to think of John Locke as a peaceful, free spirit, but the: "I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts." is a really sort of odd thing to say, completely true to do this, in my opinion, because sometimes my actions represent my words better.


"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." I really think this quote should be used more around the HTHMA workplace, since its basically our education/curriculum theory, working on experiences cause better knowledge. Some people are auditory learners, some visuals, but everybody learns from experiences, no matter what. 

Literary Reflections

If I could bring to life one of any character from any book or reading that I have read this year, I would definitely bring Jay Gatsby (of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald) with me to college.

Why would I do this, you ask? Simple, Gatsby could teach me the ways of success and fame and partying in the ways of the Roaring 20's, and show me the ways of not-smuggling-drugs through pharmacies in America. I have a feeling that knowing Gatsby as sort of my personnel mentor of mine would be beneficial to my future.

Gatsby was a partier, a romantic, a business man, and a genius drug smuggler (or..not), but unfortunately he was shot and killed in his pool for revenge, even though he didn't actually do anything to deserve.

That would be the best...

Mock Trial Blog

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

The Prosecution argued that the 6th Amendment, arguably taken out of context, makes it so everyone has the right to a free trial, which goes against the Arizona bill. It will increase the risk that police officers, especially those who are untrained, will be placed in a situation where they will try to comply with the law and will be looking for characteristics to try to determine whether someone is here without authority. The Prosecution made good arguments using the Constitution, but the fact that 2 out of 3 of their witnesses not only owned slaves but signed off on allowing slavery to exist was not a good plan, and that the Defense could have utilized a lot of messed up stuff that old America had to offer, but didn’t.

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

The Defense argued that a lot of Illegal Immigrants commit crimes in America, and their illegal status makes it very difficult to track them down and enforce justice the American way. A lot of Illegal Immigrants take jobs from Americans. That SB 1070 does not specifically state increasing profiling as its goal. Basically, the Defense didn’t argue the correct arguments, I thought, they missed a lot of points on the Constitution applying to American citizens, not citizens of the World.

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

I feel that the fact that no one could answer the question that what makes a person eligible for reasonable cause for stopping and checking their immigration status besides their ethnicity is the most important piece of

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

Kyle made great argument within an argument. When Calvin, a lawyer for the prosecution, tried to make him read aloud a piece of the 6th Amendment, he counter argued using the Preamble as evidence, even when Calvin tried to counter argue that, which did not work in my opinion, Kyle stayed strong in his argument.

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

Well, it’s my own personal belief that much bigger problems than illegal immigration exists, especially to the President, which it isn't really his job to fix if you think about it. However, it’s also my belief that something should be done. Perhaps SB 1070 is not the answer, it probably isn't. History has shown that profiling is racist, but at the same time actually does help, even though it reinforces racism and shames people. I really think that someone needs to do something because everyday that America gets flooded with illegal immigrants from Latin America, we cannot let in the patient, rule following people who are awaiting to enter legally. I'm not even talking about Southern America, I'm talking about different continents, people from all over try to become citizens and we can't let as many in because people don't respect our Country and/or borders. I just wish that they would crackdown on illegal immigrants already, its getting ridiculous, not only do many illegal immigrants I know don't pay taxes and contribute to decay in our economy, I also have to listen to them harass America. Now I'm not the most patriotic guy, at many times I wish I wasn't American, but at the end of the day if you came here you should respect it, or go back to where you came from. I mean this in the nicest way.

___________

I think I deserve a 47-50 out of 50 points because I worked very hard researching and writing for the Defense and acting as a Witness, and helping them build their argument. I did the following things very well even though the Defense did lose, I still knew everything to know about my character, his story, and overall, himself. I could have done better at being a witness by memorizing my testimony word-for-word, I knew my character’s story, I just did not have the testimony memorized, which prompted my team to force me to ‘perform’ with a piece of paper. Mainly, I tried really hard to learn who Kenneth Collins was, using limited information I think I really discovered who he was.

WWII Letters

Who am I?

I created a fictionalized version of my grandfather as the character I am writing a letter as. He is a navy soldier (sort of) but mainly just a late twenties recruit working for the 17th Task Force during the Battle of Midway in June of 1942 (the Task Force 17 was aboard the USS Yorktown, the only US carrier sunk that day).

He is sending the letter about 6 months later, retelling his story of survival, the letter is dated October 13th, 1942, one day before the attack on Henderson Field, which he references as to be temporarily stationed (he dies the next day).

Blog 15

Section of Interest: Modern ideas of war & war crimes

Reasoning?

Mainly I want/like/interested by the modern concepts of war is how structured it is. War is always seen as something barbaric, but then we have things such as laws, crimes, courts and other various justice systems. So much thought goes into the argument whether or not a war is just or whether or not you committed a war crime could be better used in solving the dispute between two countries before going to war. I've always wondered how decisions are made and how things are decided when it comes to the War justice system.

Blog 14

1. I feel that it is really interesting that both WWI and WWII are connected. The treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI also indirectly started WWII (that's arguable, I guess, since the conditions that it put Germany in made its government susceptible to Nazi rule and what not).

2. I'm not sure what I want to learn about these wars...I kind of have learned about them every year of school since 8th grade, well, almost.

3. We need to learn our history so we don't make the same stupid mistakes that we once did. If we don't learn our history we are doomed to repeat it. It's arguable whether or not WWI had a good enough reason to happen, which is interesting since we are currently in a war (unofficially not in a war) that has literally no reason for us to be over there.

Disclaimer: I very much dislike the book

How Does Jim Casey's Moral Philosophy Guide The Novel As A Whole?

Early in the novel, a young man, Tom Joad, finds Casy on the side of a street, exchanges words with him, and they become friends. Several chapters later Casy sacrifices himself for the good of Tom’s family. And not only is he the story engine that gets Tom where he needs to be, he also gives advice and philosophical help that leads Tom and his family through the rough times.

Casy is used to voice Steinbeck’s major beliefs in humanity and religion, for instance his disbelief in organized religion. Casy is characterized as a very opinionated, pure man when you consider that he is an ex-corrupt minister who committed adultery. His constant speaking of God make you think he knows something the rest of us or the rest of the characters do not. Many of Casy’s beliefs play key roles in the book’s themes, and at the same time Steinbeck uses him as a device to further us in the story of Grapes of Wrath.

Jim Casy is essentially the Jesus character in the Grapes of Wrath. Most people don’t see this since he is not the main character. Steinbeck even employs a small hint of this symbolism as his character Casy shares the same initials as Jesus Christ. This is all very interesting because Casy is someone who doesn’t believe in organized religion (but does believe in God). Casy is by far the most interesting character, mainly because he has the most diverse stories, most interesting ways to help, and most philosophical filled metaphors.

As an outspoken philosopher and a constant motivator to his fellow migrants, Casy always has something to say, never falling short on metaphorical stories and spiritual guides for his fellow Okies, especially Tom. Even after death he finds ways to help, Tom even begins to quote him to settle his family members and to point them into the right direction, “Says one time he went out in the wilderness to find his own soul, an’ he foun’ he didn’t have no soul that was his’n. Says he foun’ he jus’ got a little piece of a great big soul. Says a wilderness ain’t no good, ’cause his little piece of a soul wasn’t no good ’less it was with the rest, an’ was whole.” Says Tom in chapter 28, using Casy’s words to help his situation, even after death Casy seems to lead Tom in the right direction.

Casy begins the novel uncertain of how to use his talents as a spiritual healer. In my opinion if he had been born about 50 years later he would succeed as a very successful motivational speaker, or perhaps the leader of a cult. By the end of the novel, through all of the hardships he endured, he began using his talents and abilities’ to motivate and help. He did sacrifice himself for the Joads on two separate occasions, one sending him to jail, the other ended his life.

public works projects

"Public works" was/is an idea in economics and politics, and most of the expenses of the PWA came in two phases in 1933-35, and again in 1938. The PWA was terminated in 1939 (and spent over $6 billion during its life, and helped to push the economy back to its Pre-Great-Depression era, the PWA’s first two-year budget of $3.3 billion, which is compared to the entire GDP of $60 billion)

The PWA headquarters were in Washington DC, where they designed projects, which were built by private construction companies hiring workers on the open market. It did not hire the unemployed directly. It funded and managed the construction of more than 34,000 projects including airports, large electricity-generating dams, and major warships for the Navy, and bridges, as well as new schools and one-third of the new hospitals.

The PWA was abolished and its functions were transferred to the Federal Works Agency when president FDR moved industry toward war production in June 1943.

Open Letter

Dear Mr. Obama,

Just like 70-80 years ago, our government is dying. Not just our economy, us. We are, in fact dying. Some of us are across seas, fighting for a problem which is not ours, will never be solved, and is only getting worse. Now is the time for America to come together, for a house divided will fail. Rebluicans are vetoing all which you are trying to do, drastic changes are not for now, we need to compress spending and programs, we need to pull out of the war this year.

D. Krause

Blog!

Does GOW successfully establish sympathy?

I believe so. But, in another way I completely disagree (of course). Steinback wrote GOW in his california home kind of during the period. So I think that the book all in all is accurate to (mostly) everything, EXCEPT for the story back in Oklahoma. He did not travel, he did not interview, the only thing he based it was his experiences, stories, and news (I believe). I think he thought he had a good enough idea of how things were to create accurate stories taking place in Route 66 and Oklahoma, but I'm not sure. People always say that GOW is accurate because it's from that period, but it doesn't always ensure accuracy, especially if he didn't do his research.

Semester #2 Blog #9

I don't believe that we have had that much time to work on Ampersand, in class at least. I've been working almost exclusively on my article at home, most of the in class work time has been devoted to the Great Depression study and (over) analyzing the Grapes of Wrath.

BARACK V. DELANOR

Barack Obama is basically similar to FDR in a bunch of ways, mainly his motivation and effort. At the time, everyone loved FDR, and everyone did what he said, especially in government, now, the 'house is divided', and Obama is facing many people that not only disagree with his politics, hate him, literally hate him, due to his democrat-ness. It's quite ridiculous, and I hate that. We should all have independent thought, but no. And because of this, nothing is getting done.

I still support Obama, I have trust that he will ultimately be better for America.

The Great Depression

The 'company' I worked at was a contemporary art museum, and so the only similar company that would have been around in the 30's would be a plain old art museum, and I have a prediction they didn't do well during the depression. Mainly, museums already have problems getting people to the museum, but back in the day (the 30s) nobody had any money whatsoever, so I think it would fail, tremendously.

GOW

Reverend Casy-

" there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue. There is just stuff people do."

I feel like this reveals a lot about the character, for one he had a revelation that a lot of people do, that there is evil in this world, enough to disprove a god. In a sense.

"Ain't wanting to talk about it? I won't ask ya-"

I think this displays a lot of respect for someone, even a convict, especially that this comes from an old minister.

"Git in here, Tom, you're on parole"

This happened when their hiding Tom. The fact that an old minister is protecting a convict is very impressive, maybe he doesn't care, maybe he's just not judgmental.

GOW=No Gatsby

Photo Essay

My photo essay is available on my DP

#5

3 high quality student work.

http://thesearemyshannanigans.blogspot.com/2010/02/mentor-interview_09.html

I really liked this interview, it had a lot of professional attributes and well written.

http://students.hthma.hightechhigh.org/~cabrown/junior/msb.html

Calvin's Media Saves the Beach project was pretty well edited and finalized, I liked the flow and subject matter.

https://sites.google.com/a/hightechhigh.org/sprasad/home/media-saves-the-beach

Sai's Media Saves the Beach project (the website) took an alternative route to the average expectation. Normal sites such as these run off flash, but they went the HTML route instead, and I really liked how it was different.

Blog #4

Ampersand is coming, Ampersand is coming, Ampersand is coming!!!

My 'Seed' idea is basically called (so far) 'Growing Up' (same title as my mentor interview, for a reason). Taking from the ideas I authored for my mentor interview, and from the transcriptions, of how you never know where you're going. You never know what you're going to do, for how long, maybe you won't even like it. But my idea is a photo essay (I wanted to make it longer than just 5 photos, I took a lot, maybe 7 or 8 captions. I want it to stem from my photo essay (5 photos) but expanded ideas, longer, and better. I want to discuss how High school students need to take life seriously.

My hopes for Ampersand (VOLUME II) are that everyone takes it as seriously as the people in The NEw Yorker do. I was originally going to say as much as I will or do, but since we're mentally competing with the NEw Yorker, why not in all meanings of the term. I want the same amount of passion in the NEw Yorker in Ampersand...I just hope....

Ampersand is coming, Ampersand is coming, Ampersand is coming! Ampersand is coming!!! Ampersand is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!