Feedback: JOIN, or DIE

When I look at this picture, I see a snake. But, when I look closer at the letters, I see eight of the first colonies of America. For example, NY stands for New York, and NJ stands for New Jersey. I think the snake is cut up into different parts, because it signifies that the states might be independent, but its still part of a big country. The issue that this political cartoon is about is the colonization of America. Ben Franklin would say that people that didn’t join the colonies of America that they were most likely to be killed or that they would have a hard time surviving, and die. The words, “JOIN, or DIE,” support what I’m suggesting of the cartoonist’s opinion. I don’t really think that the cartoonist needed anymore to make this cartoon more persuasive. He might want to use something else besides a snake though. Overall, his cartoon immediately captured my eye.

Feedback

One way that we could be sure that this book is trustful, is to actually go to the Library of Congress and look at the actual quotes that Julius Lester has written in his book. But we wouldn’t need to. Isn’t the Library of Congress a trustable source? Why would there be lies in an important library? We can also trust him, because he has used many peoples’ quotes or diary entries and have stuck the ones with the same subject together. He has also added facts about slavery which are true, if we researched it.

I am also sure this book was truthful, because, in 5th grade, I had to research Harriet Tubman. She was a woman born into slavery, and helped slaves escape when she was older. When I researched this woman, I also read about the conditions slaves were in. So, I had another source to assure that this book is truthful. In the book, it says, “The selling of the slaves was inhuman itself, but many slave owners did not even have the decency to tell a slave that he was going to be sold.” (pg. 42 To Be A Slave.) I know this is true, because when I was researching Harriet Tubman, one of her family members was sold without even knowing it.

One reason why I might NOT trust it, is because of this quote, "Even more rare was the occasion when the auction block became a source of joy." (pg. 51 To Be A Slave)How could the auction block possibly cause joy? Would you be happy if your only child was being sold or if you were being separated from your best friends? I certainly would not. Even though I find this quote very questionable, but I understand that it MIGHT lead to joy.

Overall, this book is trustful, and is pretty good.



Lester, Julius. To Be a Slave. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1968.

www.jnpa.com

Great Powers Game Debrief

I was U.S.A., with my partner Joel. Powerful countries such as, Great Britain, U.S.A., Russia had advantages at the start. We had these advantages, because we were stronger countries to begin with, and we were also larger. My empire was a good one that had a strong army and navy at the start. It was probably more important to buy industries and colonies so that we could buy large amounts of armies in the end. But, instead of using that method, my empire grew slowly and steadily. We did very well with backing up our allies, unless they’ve crossed us or betrayed us. We should have bought more industries and colonies at the beginning to help improve our power. About half of our alliances were good and trustful. We were allies TWICE with Great Britain, but they crossed us twice and declared war against us. Some allies such as Italy, France, and Japan, definitely could be trusted.

I learned quite a few things about conflict from this simulation. First of all, you can’t trust anyone but your self/country. Some of the countries we were allies with, completely turned on us. One of them declared war against us, so in the last year my country, the U.S.A. declared war on them and five other countries joined us. Only one country joined Great Britain. After the simulation was over, I realized how allies could suddenly become enemies. Secondly, I learned that conflict could make a country greedy for more power. For example, when my empire lost the war declared upon us, the winners asked for TOO much. They went almost over the top. Lastly, conflict could also lead to new alliances. When a country declared war against Russia, we weren’t on Russia’s side, but later on Russia and the U.S.A. we were great allies and fought against Great Britain. In the end, we didn’t win, but I was quite proud of our country.

www.worldwar1.com

Goals

Feedback

When it came to my goals last quarter, I think I did quite well. My notes were all basically in my own words. Sometimes I did need some help phrasing things. And my writing style did improve a little more than last quarter. I STILL could work on that.

My goals for next quarter are;

•To have AR done within the first month of this quarter
•To study harder for tests and quizzes (spend more time studying…. Maybe half an hour more)
•To research more thoroughly for the projects that I will have in this quarter

Merry Christmas!!!

Hotel Rwanda Blog Assignment

In the film, when the leutennant from the UN told Paul, the hotel manager that the whites would only help their own race and that they would be abandoned. That was completely necessary of him to tell Paul, because he would have been ready for the whites leaving.I found it quite horrible that the UN(who were SUPPOSED to help peace) abandoned the blacks, while the blacks deserved more than the whites to leave. The whites brought back a poodle and didnt even bother to bring at least ONE African with them. They must have been full of shame and regret to have left so many people there to be killed by the Hutu soldiers.
I completely agree with source A when it says, "The UN may save lives. But, ultimately, the future of Rwanda is in Rwandan hands." The UN have helped a bit, but when they abandoned the blacks, they made it worse than it was before. What these so-called "peace-keepers" have done is shameful.

Analyzing a political cartoon on Imperialism

When I see this picture, I notice that the continent itself is black, not green, or brown, but black. I then noticed that the footprint on the country is very strong and is white. I also noticed that it was a boot and not a foot.

The blackness of the continent symbolizes the race living there. It is also black because the white called it "The Dark Continent". The foot/boot print symbolizes the "white" settlers and what they have done to the continent. According to the political cartoon, the "white" people stamped on Africa, they made a mark. They made a mark that wont go away and has effected them greatly. The foot print is a boot which says that the foot print was made by white people because they are more likely to wear boots, unlike the native people in Africa. The dried land on the foot print could symbolize that the "white" have ruined their land, and have taken away the agriculture. This political cartoon makes a good point about what the "white" settlers have done to Africa.

I think it also has to do with the "White Man's Burden" and how the "white" people thought it was their duty to "help" the black people.