Political Cartoon Reflection

This is a very interesting cartoon! The person who created this was obvoisly in favor of Africa. He is trying to show that Africa is Europes doormat. How do i know the foot print represents Europe? Its color. The footprint is WHITE, and the African Continent is BLACK. It makes the African people look like *lesser humans*, which obvoisly isnt true, but back then, thats what the Europeans (the white man) thought of Africa and its People.

History and Culture of East Africa

East Africa is a very diverse place in terms of its culture and history. Europeans introduced christianity to Ethiopia as early as 300AD. 200 years later, its spread a little more into parts of Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia even ended up having a Christian Emporor, Lilibela, who built many churches in the area. Islam also spread into East Africa. The main reason was trade. There were many traders who came across the Indian Ocean who would bring along their culture, language, and religion. As the years past by, the religion spread across the whole region. The slave trade was also big in East Africa. Africans were bieng kidnapped by the Europeans and imported as slaves. The island of Zanzibar became and international slave trading center. Most European countries stopped slavery in the 1800s. They started to focus mainly gold, ivory, and rubber. Later, Great Britain Set up its own colonies using imperialism. In the early 1960s, most east african countries finally gained indipendance from European colonizers. East Africa BY FAR does not have just one local language. They speak French, English, Swahili, and many other African languages.

East Africa Physical Geography

East Africa is a region of diverse physical features, climate, and vegetation. There are rift valleys, forests, plains, savannas. A rift valley is a place on earth where the tectonic plates move away from each other, breaking the earths crust and creating a valley. The cliffs in these valleys can rise to up to 2,000meters. East Africa also contains the largest mountain in all of Africa, Mt. Killimanjaro. It is about 19,340 feet tall. Despite its location, its peak is covered with snow due to its high elevation. There is also The Serengeti Plain, which resides in mostly Tanzania. Most of East Africa's spectacular wild life is located around the plain. As for the regions climate, it varies from place to place. There is the tropical areas, the cool and dry areas, and soggy, grassland thats good for farming. Dont forget the Deserts :P where you cant even plant a twig because of the droughts.

Can we trust To Be a Slave?

I think this is a pretty good story to trust. Julius Lester has a history of Civil and Social rights work behind him, and he, himself is a African-American. Hes wrote countless books in the past about similar issues on racism, slavery, and political corruption, though most his books are about the issue of slavery and discrimination. He wrote this book using the stories and opinions of past slaves. He got help from The Federal Writer's Project, who did more interviewer work with the former slaves, and tried their hardest to translate their stories to the English Language.

MR. HELP for image of Prague

Movement- This shoes movement in a few ways. First, the most obvious, is that the people are moving (durrr). Then, there is the buildings. The materials used to make the building might not have been from Prague (wood, concrete, tiles, etc.) There is also the Cathedral in the backround, that may show that religion moved around and got to Prague.





Region- It looks pretty cold, because it has a gloomy feeling, and people are wearing jackets. It also has european architechture.





Human/Enviroment Interaction- Well, there is obviosly buildings, which were built there by people. You can also see some partially scarred and rusted buildings, which was caused by nature.


Location- Prague, Czech Republic. Europe, EARTH. I do not know the EXACT EXACT location.


Place- There is alot of historic architecture, hundreds of years old (Castles, Chapels, Churches etc.) Many churches in Prague, which means it is mainly a Christian oriented country. Once again, it is also cold there. There may by a c
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/04/13/travel/prague-600.jpg

Does Voilence lead to...more voilence?

From reading this playwrite, if there was one thing i learnt, it was that, voilence, definatly does lead to more voilence. Act 3 is when it all started. Ceaser assasination started a short, but brutal chain of voilence in Rome. You see, after Anthony managed to get the croud on his side to go against the conspirators, that croud grew into an angry, bloodthirsty mob. On a few occasions they were all yelling "Burn! Kill! Rip them to pieces!...etc" when trying to find the conspirators. In their craze, they even killed a random person only because he had the same name as one of the conspirators (Cinna the Poet). Then, as we watched in the movie about Acts 4 and 5, there was a massive battle between the forces of Brutus and Octavius's Army, which means hundreds of people dying. Then there was after the battle, when Cassius and Brutus, both suicide, seeing that there lives were pretty much destroyed now. Rome lost a few very important figueres in this timespan, and also many innoccents. Who knows, there might have been more killings in this time, but it just wasnt mentioned.

I believe that I, as Brutus, would go for the good of Rome. There are several reasons for my choice. Ceaser seemed to be a more militarily involved leader. Instead of improving facilities within Rome , he would build siege engines, and recruit more troops for the army. Many people loved him, but did he exactly love them? Well, he didnt understand them. He also seemed like a leader who would mis-use the power of Rome.

Quarter 1 Goal Feedblack

i think i did well this quarter accomplishing my goals. I have been pretty consistently turning in my assignments this year, and I have taken an AR quiz that gave me significant points. I think i have also improved on my communication skills in my IR museum skit and my IR Socratic seminar performance.

Response To Capitalism Cartoon

The main visuel elements of this picture are: Festively Plump Man with Capitalism written on him, small scrawny man with a tag saying "Labor", and big money bags under the "labor person". Whats happening in this cartoon, is that The Fat guy is holding and potentially sqeezing the small Labor guy whos money is falling out of his pockets. The money is falling into a bag that says "Profits from Child Labor". The big idea the author tries to portray in this cartoon is that the system of capitalism robs from the workers, The leaders take money from those most in need of it etc. By looking at this picture, I can tell the author clearly is on the side of the workers and wants to show how people are bieng cruel to others. The Fat guy is portrayed as fat because hes got money, therefor he eats, and eats, and eats. Hes also got expensive clothes, and has a grin on his face, showing, once again, that he has money and is happy about it. The Lobor man is shown as a skinny, small kid with messy clothes. He is portrayed like this because workers were treated badly and didnt get paid well, therefor he is skinny because he has no food to eat. Another interesting thing is that the Fat man has capitalism written on a neat, Mr. Universe-ish strap, while the skinny guy has Labor written on a tag he has fastened to his arm. The tag has a sort of meaning that he is being treated like an animal. The bags under him, well, are big, and there is plenty of them, meaning Capitalism has already robbed many people in the past.

If my quarter 1 goals are being achieved.

Goal 1: I think i have been doing a good job in turning in my assignments. I havent started to take AR quizzes, but i am reading a book and plan to take a quiz shortly.

Goal 2: We havent really done any presentations yet, but i know we will! :>)

Quarter 1 Goals

1: I want to improve on my organization. The main reason my grades in humanities last year were weak were because i wasn't turning in my assignments, or not doing my AR

2: I want to become a better public speaker. I get nervous when presenting posters, etc.

3. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

I think this tip means, that no matter what other people have, no matter how improbable other people think your choice is. do what YOU feel is best. Take risks, the stock market is unpredictable at times! Also, some people aren't always correct, so there is no point in listening to everyone.

Industrial Revolution "net-effect"

Pros of IR

1. New technology was invented, thus allowing many things to become easier
2. Medicine was improved
3. People started getting healthier and living longer lives
4. Some people started to get a lot of money
5. Transporting people and goods became a lot easier
   

Cons of IR

1. Pollution greatly increased
2. Many people lost their jobs due to machinery doing their work for them
   
3. Those with jobs weren't very well paid, and were treated badly
4. A number of people got angry with factory owners, machines, and factories, and started rioting. Factory owners started to be in great risk of being attacked by people.
   

Comparing Activity 1 and 2

Activity #2 was almost the exact opposite of activity #1. Though the goal you were trying to achieve was the same (making toys), the means by how that was done was different. Activity number one comprised of creating a attractive enough toy by yourself, so that is can be shosen as a winner the next class. In Activity 2, we needed to then make as many copies as possible of the winning toy working as a team. Also, the winner (Nikaya) was the "manager" of our little toy making factory, and she actually had the opertunity to "fire" us from the activity, resulting in an F as a quiz grade. It was a contest between classes to see who makes the most toys. As I mentioned in my last post about Activity 1, everything was chilled out, and people were having a good ol' time neatly coloring their little figure. On the other hand, in activity 2, people were very tense and nervous, and arguments were frequent. Also, the quality level of toys dropped tremendously due to the pressure of winning against all the other Humanities classes. We also needed to find a strategy that could make us efficiently creat toys faster, so we chose an Assembly Line type formation, where there was a cutting section, a glueing section, and a coloring section. I think Activity 2 gave the class a real idea of what factory life really could be like. In that case, i hope i never have to work in a factory again :P

Activity #1 reflection

It seems pretty chilled. There was no real rush in getting things done, and everybody was having fun creating their toys. People really took their time on making the toy look neat and tidy, carefullly cutting out the shapes from the sheet we got, delicately coloring it, and making sure there was no glue smudges.

What is it like on a Rollercoaster?

You plant yourself down onto the seat, fastening on your safety harness with your clammy, sweaty hands. There is fresh, earthy smell in the air, your friend next to you is smiling, the sun is shining, and your body is beaming with energy. What could possibly go wrong? There is a sudden thud, as if thunder struck, and slowly, almost as if trying to intimidate you, the cart starts to move up the track. You see the twists and turns coming toward you, well actually, your going towards them. Your friend whispers something in your ear, but you wouldnt care less, the road ahead is what is important. Oh my, dont those loops like massive...this may not have been such a great idea. Realizing there is no going back, you close your eyes, hoping not to feel like being dangled like a noose 50 feet into the air, but this feeling is nearly impossible to ignore. As your cart rises into the loop, you start hearing an opera of screams and screeches from the people around you. Now, you can clearly feel the force of gravity pulling at you. It almost seems impossible that that puny, torn safety harness can hold a full grown person. The cart moves slowly across the top of the loop, then accelerates its way down the slope at an alarming speed. At this moment, it is when your adrenaline as it its highest. There is also the most screams at this point, even your friend next to you who pushed you into doing this is crying for mommy. But as it turns out, you feel a slight delight come over you, and a small grin runs across your face. " Damn, I took that on, now I can do anything."

What does the phrase “Necessity is the mother of invention” mean?

Well, the point of this phrase is that, if somebody needs something, or is fed up with participating in a difficult task, then there will be people attempting to invent an object or a way of making the activity easier. If people didn’t need anything, then there would be no point in creating anything.

3 Examples of Inventions

The Tractor: The first gasoline powered tractor was created because of mostly farming reasons around the year 1892 by John Froelich. People used to use horses and bulls for farming, but the animals got old and tired, thus making them useless. This all changed when the tractor came, because it’s a machine, and doesn’t get tired.

The Electric Guitar: The Electric guitar was invented to amplify the sound of a regular traditional guitar. Guitar players from at 1920’s to the 1930’s wanted to have more people here them play at live occasions, so the sound could fit bigger arenas.

The Television: The television was not invented by one single person, but many people working on the concept over the years. The television was invented because people wanted to see images and stories visually. It was used to transmit images through a screen, and later, transmitting clips from long distances away.

Question: How do you learn best? What can Mr. Coyle do to help me learn most effectively in the class?

Well, it might seem improbable, but I learn well all 3 ways. It seems the same to me as long as I pay attention to what is happening. But since I really need a specific answer, id say I’m a visual learner. I remember things when I see them happen very well. When I watch T.V and there is a show on, I remember the key important points very well, and over a long period of time. But I also like learning with things such as a Socratic Seminar. I think the SS is probably my favorite way of discussing a topic.

Mr. Coyle, I think the best way for most students to learn, is to always come up with a new and creative way of learning. One day we could watch some video, then the next we could read an article, then we could be assigned to study to topic in groups and discuss it etc. I think that if there is a same way of learning happening over and over again, that the interest level of student’s drops. But if you come up with something new regularly, then students will think about the subject more because there is different way of learning about it.

Beginning of the Year Questions

What were two highlights from the first week of school?
I liked meeting new people. Its always a pleasure to meet and learn about new teachers and students. I also liked seeing how my friends have changed over the summer. Its kinda fun to see the changes like if theyve grown, hair length, getting braces ETC.


What was your first impression of Humanities?
Well, I though it was going to be a fun year. Last year I saw boards and projects from the 8th Graders, and they looked pretty interesting. Ive also heard from some of them it was going to be a fun class.


What are two goals you have for this quarter in Humanities? (Remember a goal needs to be specific, realistic, and measurable
I want to become a better reviser in writing, because I often misword my work and dont check back on it, and I would also like to improve my participation in a Socratic Seminar. I seem to have good information in my discussions, its just i need to get used to putting down the page numbers and using evidence from the book more often.

The Organization

I have a wide veriety of greasers in ma gang. We got people everywhere around India, especially roaming around the streets of Delhi. We have established a safe haven over at The American Embassy School, but the rest of our whereabouts are confidential. There is our hiest orginizers, Scott Scatman, Kris Z, A.D.I, and Garret Parkstalker, and Paolo. But no good gang is complete without the loot suppliers, Eero PKI, Ale 50euro. Conor G, and Snorri Da Boss. Then of course there is our Undercover Field Men, R()berto(), Agent Griesen, Samuel LeThornhill, and Kartik R4J. Not to mention my personal body gaurds SEB4ST1EN, Yousef "Hammerhead" Alanezi, and The Niel.

But as i said...we have people everywhere, and revealing the identities of absolutely all of our members is confidential...