Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Burning

The main difference between Mohamed Bouazizi and The Burning Monk is that they got themselves burned for different causes. Bouazizi was frustrated because someone took his fruit scale. He was so frustrated about that and other little events that he led to his own burning. But the Monk on the other hand, sacrificed himself. The Tunisians were the only ones interested in Bouazizi, but the Monk attracted all kinds of attention from all around. Either way, lighting yourself on fire is a big thing. Mohamed wanted himself and his friends and family to be treated fairly by the terrible ruler they had and he was done with how he was being treated. Those are extreme measures to go to though. But having someone else light you on fire like the Monk had someone? Would you even want to think about what he'd have to go through, even it it was a sacrifice for his religion? That would be terrible to go through.

Something to think about to yourself....

Do you think that the measures Mohamed Bouazizi went to were acceptable? IF NOT, what would you have done if you were Mohamed and why?

Thursday, February 17, 2011

OPTION 1/Literary Analysis of WWI

1. Imperialism - Imperialism, as defined by The Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The Imperialism of the last 500 years is described in the above work as a primarily western undertaking that employs "expansionist – mercantilism and latterly communist – systems." Imperialism is usually autocratic, and also sometimes monolithic (i.e. having a massive, unchanging structure that does not permit individual variation) in character. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism

2. Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.

Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.

Take up the White Man's burden--
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper--
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.

Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"

Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.

Take up the White Man's burden--
Have done with childish days--
The lightly proferred laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!

3. "Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child." These are two lines from the poem above. What I think that Rudyard Kipling (author) means by this is that imperialism might not be such a good thing after all. He is saying that the people they caught will be sad. They will want to retaliate at their capturers, but they will want to obey their new masters. "The lightly proferred laurel, The easy, ungrudged praise." These are two more lines. What Rudyard means by this is that imperialism might be a good thing as well because of the praise from your peers. So, he is basically contradicting himself. Which is better? It all comes down to your opinion. "The judgment of your peers!" This is the last line of the poem. He is saying that what you do all comes down to peer pressure and what influence they have on your decisions that you make.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Self Reflection : Reconstruction

1. How did I feel during planning this presentation? Why did I feel this way?

a. I felt nervous and excited because I wanted to present.

2. How did I feel prior to presenting? Why did I feel this way?

a. Prior to presenting I felt nervous but anxious because I really wanted to present and do well.

3. How did I feel while I was presenting? Why did I feel this way?

a. I felt awesome because I was in a groove and it felt good.

4. What did I personally do well?

a. I did the opening and closing better than I thought

5. What did not go as desired in this presentation?

a. There were a couple of technical difficulties we weren’t expecting.

6. On a scale from 1-10, how well do I think I understood the content? Explain.

a. I think I understood it at about an 8.5 because I felt like I knew what they were talking about, but some things were a little iffy.

7. How do I think my group members perceived me? Why do I think this?

a. I think they may have thought that I wasn’t doing my job because of the incident with my computer and the charger.

8. How do I think the 8th graders perceived me? Why do I think this?

a. I think that they thought I was just another kid presenting probably because only a couple said something about me.

9. Knowing that I can only control how I act and react, if I could do this presentation again, what would I change about my actions to make it a more ideal experience?

a. I would have been more descriptive in my tech piece and made it a little better.

10. What are my strengths in groups?

a. I bring joy and humor, but I stay on task.

11. What areas do I need improvement?

a. I need to take more responsibility.

12. What is the most important thing I learned about myself? Why is this so important?

a. I learned that the more passionate I am about something and the more confident I am the better I do. It is very important because I can be much better at some things

13. Are there any other things that I need to express?

a. No not really.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Reflective Blog Entry

I have grown and changed by learning more about technology and the tools I use everyday in the DLC. I have learned from friends, Miss Bailin and the technology itself. All this knowledge has helped me improve my skills. I have grown by all the knowledge I have gained. I am proud of my Stephen Crane group products. I think that they improved from what we had produced before it. I think that as well as being proud of it, the Stephen Crane was the most challenging for me. My favorite production was the glog. I liked it because it was an expression of myself and it was really fun to work on.

My hopes for the 2nd semester is to get all A’s. I think that is a reasonable goal but I know I’ll have to work hard for it.