Friday, June 6, 2008

Mississippi Flight Revised

Do you know what its like to fly from one end of the Mississippi river to the other? Well I do and let me tell you, it is not easy. That river is log, deep, and there are hunters everywhere. Here’s a little about my flight over the Mississippi river.
I’ll start off by saying that it is really long. The river stretches all the way from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It twists and turns the whole way down. And did I mention how deep it is. At one place you could be swimming in inches, go half a mile down the bank and you’re in fathoms. It’s dangerous too. There are all kinds of bears and foxes. If you don’t watch out they’ll get you! One day I couldn’t even land because the bars were out and the forest was so dense that I got so tired flying over it all and flew right into a swamp.
One thing that amazed me was all the people there were on the river. There were black men, white men, and even Indians. They were mostly farmers and fisherman. And believe me when I say there were hunters. It was hard to stay away form them. I got shot at over 10 times. Some of those people do some pretty weird things. This one time I flew over this huge mansion with a ton of slaves working in the fields, but there was this one slave that had a whole bunch of people standing around him. He was a weirdo throwing a ball of hair in the air saying it was talking to him.
There were a lot of boats on the water too. There were skiffs, canoes, steamboats, regular boats, and a bunch of other boats. I tried to land on them whenever I could but the people always shoed me away. It would have saved me a lot of flapping if I could have just taken a ferry.
Over all it was an ok trip. I was shot at by hunters, couldn’t get food because of bears, saw something’s I don’t ever want to see again, and was super tired. One thing I know for sure, if I ever do that again I am going to take one of those metal birds to get there.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Independent Service Reflection

The Mirror

Will these experiences change the way you act or think in the future?

Well a lot of my independent hours were spent with my grand mother who is 90 years old. She gets very lonely being so old so I spent a lot of time with her to keep her company. We did things like talking about old family memories, watching TV, making art projects together, eating, and even dancing. I think this experience will help me in the future because I know that when I get old I am not going to want to be forgotten so now I am being more patient with elderly people because I know it must be hard for them. Before I used to just do my own thing but now I see that they are still people who have feelings and like to have fun.

The Microscope

How does this experience compliment or contrast with what you do in class?

Well the other half of my service hours were spent doing runs with student runs Philly style. One run that I did was the Clean air run. The run was supposed to get people involved in the environment by getting together and running. This complements what we did in class because we are working on recycling and that is for the environment. We also want to get people together to educate them about what recycling can do for our city and world.

The Binoculars

How will service learning change your future behaviors/attitudes/and career?

Service learning has already begun to change my behavior and attitudes toward recycling. Now I feel so guilty about every piece of trash I have that is not being recycled. I look at all the wasted papers we get in class and wish that I could just recycle it all. Something really has to happen in our school. Too many good materials are being wasted that could be reused. I would definitely work for recycling again next year if it would mean that we could start our own program.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Service Learning reflection May 28, 2008

Our service learning meeting on Wednesday was very productive. We broke into our groups to finish up the research and write ups for our own topics. My topic was plastic so I did research and typed a page that had statistics and things for people to think about and pictures of recycled products. Ms. Thomas is going to take all of our research and put it together for a little report.
Next meeting we are probably just going to finish up the report to submit it to Ms. Thompson.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

"The Farm"

For some people a blanket could represent a lot. If could represent security, comfort, peace. Having a special blanket could be an escape. In the book Of Mice and Men George and Lennie’s blanket is “the farm”. Throughout the book they talk about “the farm”. Their goal is to buy the farm. “The farm” represents success, peace, comfort, security, and escape, their heaven. However some times in life “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Sometimes one looses their blanket and you don’t get to buy the farm. The farm is a theme seen throughout the story.
George and Lennie didn’t exactly have the best life. They were workers who had no family and often got in trouble. Even though things were rough they had a plan. They were going to get their own farm. For years they had been working for other people but that was all going to change. Now their only priority was to make the money that they needed to buy a nice little farm where they could live off the fat of the land. On their farm they would be their own boss. Life would flow the way they wanted it to. The farm would be tier heaven on earth.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. George and Lennie had it all worked out. They would work until they made $300 and then they would quit their jobs and buy the farm. Lennie would get to tend the rabbits and when they didn’t feel like working they would stop. Already though the plans began to change. They met Candy another worker on Tyler farm and decided to let him come along. He put up a lot of money and they help them get started. Now with just one month of working the heaven was in sight. Everything was good until Lennie had an accident. Lennie started to pet Curly’s wife’s head but when he got to rough she started to scream. He pleaded with her to stop screaming but when she didn’t he accidentally killed her.
Lennie never got to tend the rabbits but he didn’t get to go to the farm. It wasn’t the farm he was expecting to go to. Throughout the book the theme lets us know that they are going to get some type of heaven. The title lets us know that they aren’t going to get the farm they wanted. Because Lennie killed Curly’s wife he was going to have to die. Right before he was shot George told him about the farm they were going to get so as Lennie died that is what he was thinking of. In a way Lennie did get to buy the farm. He got to leave this earth where he was always in the service of other people. He got to go to his own heaven where he would be able to tend the rabbits, he just would have George with him. Even though in life our plans can go awry good things can still come from the changes.

THE END

Human Predators "Grade"

Human Predators

You’re in school. You’re just standing there minding your own business, didn’t even do anything. Next thing you know a bully comes up behind you and pushes you into a locker! So you say "Hey what’s up man? I didn’t do anything." And he says, "Yes you did, you were born." That bully is a human predator. Human predators are everywhere. Human predators are seen all over the book Of Mice and Men. The primary predator is Curly and then there is his wife and there is also Crooks. Lets take a look at why they are predators.
Curly is a predator, a typical bully. Curly is a small guy. Smaller than most and he tries to make up for his size with his attitude. Curly is never scarred to step up to some ones face to make himself feel bigger and manly. He likes to mess with all people who are bigger than him. And the one guy that towers highest above him is Lennie. Lennie is huge, and he is also not the smartest. So obviously he is the perfect pray for Curly. So to make himself seem like the bigger man Curly preys on Lennie, purposely picking fights to show the other men that he is the boss.
Another predator in this book is Curly's wife. But Curly's wife is a different kind of predator. Curly's wife messes with people so she can stay alive or at least to stay sane. She doesn’t really mean any harm, but just the fact that she was a woman was trouble enough. What she was hunting for was some company. She was lonely and needed someone to talk to. She was looking to please herself and didn’t care if it hurt other people, but then again she probably didn’t realize that it hurt other people.
Crooks is the last predator. He is basically at the bottom of the food chain and if he can find something lower than him to feast on he will. Nobody likes crooks they just use him when they need him. Now crooks meets Lennie and he is going to use him. For once somebody was a lower step than he was. Crooks is the kind of predator that takes advantage of another’s weakness. He saw that Lennie didn’t really understand all that he did so he verbally put him down, scarred him into thinking that nobody really cared about him. What he was really doing was turning the way he felt onto somebody else.
All these predators act the way they do for a reason. Curly got in other people’s business because it made him feel like a man. Curly’s wife messed with the other men on the ranch because her own husband didn’t give her the attention she needed. Crooks scarred Lennie because he himself felt alone and scarred. And all of these people are predators because they need to make up for what’s missing in their life. Everywhere people go they get into situations where they are either the predator or the pray so we all need to decide if we are going to be the one that gets the feasts or gets feasted on.

THE END

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Of Mice and Men Quiz

1) Could the events that happened in the book have happened in 2008?
Yes I think things like this could happen. Things are a little bit different but I'm sure there are still field workers and laborers and all they do is work not really having any life.

2) What circumstances would you change if you had been the author of Of Mice and Men?
I think I would have had people come onto the ranch looking for Lennie and George but Slim would have gotten them to go away but Curly would think something fishy was going on. It would have given the book more conflict and story.

3) What questions would you ask John Steinbeck if you had the chance to talk to him about the book?
I would ask him what was his inspiration for this book and did any of the characters mirror people that he actually knew.

4) Would the information in this book be useful if you where a worker in 1930s California? How would you use it?
Well I would no not to get on the wrong side of my boss, keep to myself, and have a plan that I'm working for. I wouldn’t want to just be working and nothing else, I would want to work like Lennie and George did so they could be happy.

5) Which events could have happened if Slim had been getting with Curly's wife?
Well if Slim was with her she might not have wanted to always be talking to Lennie and George. OR Slim could have tried to blame George and say that it was him messing around and not himself.

6) What is another way that the story could have ended?
Well after George killed Lennie e could have bought the farm himself because him and Lennie were supposed to get the farm together and it wouldn't be the same if he did it be himself.

7) What was the underling theme of Of Mice and Men?
I think the underlying theme was right there in the title "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry"
Even if you make the best plans they can still get messed up and even when things look perfect you have to watch out.

8) Why did they let Candy in on their plans?
Because Candy had no family just like them and he also had a lot of money. With Candy’s help they would be able to buy the farm in one month which was a lot faster then they had expected.

9) What do you think George was thinking when he found out Lennie had killed Curly's wife?
I don’t really know what someone thinks when someone dies at the hands of another, but I think he was probably really shocked, upset, and he could probably only try to think of plans to get Lennie out of that mess. And he was probably thinking about their plans and how they are all over.

10) What were some motives behind Curly's wife talking to all the men?
Curly's wife was obviously lonely. Curly wasn’t a vary good husband and she was the only girl on that farm. If I was married to Curly I would probably talk to the other men too. She had plans before she got married and I think that she just wanted to be around people that could understand being disappointed.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Recycling Websites

http://www.oberlin.edu/recycle/facts.html

http://www.itsrecycled.com/index.html

http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/
This website is very interactive and gives a lot of info on recycling. Good for kids.

Monday, May 19, 2008

May 15 Service learning.

On May 15 we went over what we need to do before the end of service learning this year and made an agenda. Then we went into the computer lab to finish research and typing up what we have to do to make a presentation for the Mayor. I continued to look up information on plastics.
I never really felt any bad emotions about my group, we are pretty chill and everything seems to be going pretty well for us. We just need to make sure we stay focused and do our work for each week.
Through service learning I have learned about recycling plastics. There is actually a lot you can do with plastic not just making new bottles. You can make wood, chairs, tables, toys, and much more, and every bottle counts. We really should be recycling all that we can because it is all useful.
I used to think just one bottle doesn't matter but it really does, and paper is so important we should recycling anything that we can.
Through service learning I have learned that I am lazy and unmotivated and I need to put more effort into things.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

NHD State Competition

My project on Cuban Immigration won second place in Philadelphia and moved on to the Pennsylvania State Wide competition. Me and the 4 other groups from our school took a bus up to Millers-ville University and we started competition. Going to States was a lot of fun. When our project weren't being judged we had a lot of free time to roam the college and just chill. When my judging was over I felt really good about how it went so when the project didn't win I was very upset. I still think it was a great project even tough it didn't win. Going to states was also a really great learning experience. Now I know for next year what I have to do to make my project a winning one. My goal for next year is to make it to at least Nationals. I was very upset about losing but now that is pushing me to make my project even better next year. I am really looking forward to Competing next year.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Empire of the Sun

Many people take pride in their country and heritage. In the movie Empire of the Sun it is hard for the viewer to tell who and what that main character Jim is loyal to. Throughout the movie Jim shows pride in being British, being an American adoptee and the Japanese winning the war against Chine the country he lives in.
Jim is a young boy that is raised in British China. All the houses in his neighborhood are British. All the luxuries of Europe are in his small town in China. Even though he was born and raised in China he had the upbringing of a well to do British Family. Jim doesn’t really have anything to do with the Chinese culture. So it would be reasonable that he would take pride in being British.
As the movie progresses Jim meets an American man named Basie. They are both thrown into a Japanese prison camp and Jim stays with the British and Basie stays with the Americans. Jim likes his American friends and he doesn’t want to live with the British anymore. So he does some dangerous things to get the respect of the Americans. He takes pride in his accomplishments and is proud that the Americans actually like him.
As surprising as it would seem, Jim even befriends and supports the Japanese, the same people that took everything that he had and separated him from his family. Hi sings a fair well song to the Kamikaze pilot s and cheers on their fighter planes when they fly by. It even seems like he wouldn’t mind if they won the war.
So who is Jim loyal to? He finds it hard to let go of his British life, he would rather live with the Americans than the British, and he supports the Japanese in their fight against the British and Americans. I think that Jim isn’t loyal to just the British or the Americans, or the Japanese. Jim is loyal to the people that surround him; the people that he lives with, the people that reach out to him, the people that he relates to are the people that he supports.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Service Learning April 18, 2008 - Reflection

My group for service learning is recycling. On Friday we discussed different things we could do get the word out of recycling. I think the direction we are going to take on this is more of an educational thing, letting people know about recycling and its impact on the environment. Our first assignment has been to research on the different recyclable things, like plastic, glass, metal, paper, cardboard. Next meeting I have to have information on plastics to present to the class.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Service Learning

For my independent service learning I spent 7 1/2 hours with the elderly, making food, sewing, watching TV, etc... I plan to run the Clean Air Run in Philly for the rest of my hours.

My in-school project is with the recycling crew. I'm not 100% sure what we will be doing but I think it has to do with creating a better recycling system in Philadelphia. That is with Ms. Thomas.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

del.icio.us/hobbettehole



Check out my del.icio.us account about photography in the Civil War!

Web Quest




Compare and describe the to photos

How can the photographs of the Civil War give us a better understanding of how fast military technology is advancing?

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Bloom's Taxonomy Question and Answers

Amy Taylor

Blooms Taxonomy Question and Answers

Knowledge

What happened alter Bigger killed the Rat in the beginning of the store?

After Bigger tormented his sister with the rat, it caused her to pass out. Bigger's mother got extremely angry at Bigger and told him she didn’t even know why she birthed him. So even though Bigger was the hero and saved the family from the rat he was not rewarded in the end.

Compression

What do you think could have happened alter the alarm clock rang?

Bigger and his family could have woken up and ate a wonderful breakfast together. Bigger would have gone to school with Gus and Jack and G.H. After they were done school Bigger would have gone to his job at the department store to help provide or his family and their three-room apartment. They would have lived happily ever alter. Sike…

Application

What factors would you change if you were writing the story Native Son?

Factors I would change if I had written Native Son would be Bigger's dreams and opportunity. I would give him more opportunity to become a pilot but I would throw some distractions in the way so he would really have to decide if he wants to pursue a pilot career or stay and work for his family.

Analysis

What do you see as other possible outcomes?

Mrs. Dalton could have known Bigger was in the room with Mary and he could have also killed her which would have left him in a situation where he could not just hide what he had done he would have to run and Start a new life.

Synthesis

If I worked for the Dalton's and they supported me through night school, I would try to pursue being a pilot. With the help of the Dalton’s sponsoring me I might have more of a chance to actually making it in pilot school.

Evaluation

How would you have handled being Bigger's mother and finding out that Bigger had killed a white girl?

If I were Bigger's mother I would get him out of my house. Send him away somewhere. The rest of my children and I cant get caught up in a white girl’s murder. If I were questioned I would probably say that I didn’t know what Bigger did or where he went but he’s not in my house anymore

Monday, March 3, 2008

News Article

Chicago Times - February 12, 1937
Local Announcements



Tying the knot!

Mary Dalton, daughter to the millionaire real estate Mogul Mr. Dalton is tying the knot on Sunday with Communist supporter Jan Erlone. There has been major controversy over the engagement due to Mr. Erlone’s connection with the Communist Party and some think that the marriage is just a way for Erlone to get financial and social backing for the Communist Party. Despite the criticisms the couple has been subject to, the wedding will go on and the couple looks more in love than ever.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Alfreda - Chapter Summary

Chapter 4 pgs. 36-41
Title: I Dare You!


In this chapter, Bigger and all the
rest of his gang are waiting for Gus to get back at
the pool hall, so that they can go rob the store.
Bigger does not want to go and rob the store, because
a white man owns it. So without letting his friends
know that he is scared to go, he tortures Gus, once
Gus arrives at the pool hall. Bigger realizes that Gus
was made it back in time enough for them to rob the
store, so he makes it seem like Gus was late, by
putting a knife down his shirt and making him lick it
as well as many other horrible and degrading things.
Once Bigger is done torturing Gus, Gus throws a pool
ball and hits Bigger in his head. Bigger then tries to
hit Gus back but everyone holds him back to stop him
from killing Gus. Doc, the pool hall owner starts to
laugh at Bigger, which makes Bigger really mad. Bigger
then takes his rage out on the pool table by cutting
it up with his knife. Doc then pulled out his gun and
told Bigger that if he did not get out, he would shoot
him. Bigger told Doc “I Dare You!”

Christiana - Chapter Summary

“Chapters” of Book 1: Fear of Native Son

Pages 13- 28 Title: Top Gun?

At the start of this chapter, Bigger is walking down
the street she two white men putting up a campaign
poster for a white man running for State Attorney
again. As Bigger walks past he sees tall red letters:
YOU CAN’T WIN! Bigger is on his way to the poolroom
with a lit cigarette in his mouth. He meets up with
his friend Gus at the pool hall. In this chapter they
are holding up the wall smoking and dreaming about
what they want to do in life. Gus and Bigger walk in
the poolroom to play pool and Bigger brings up the
topic of robbing a white man’s store named Blum. Jack
and G.H. come in the pool hall to see Gus and Bigger,
Bigger in fear of robbing a white man. Gus is also
scared of robbing a white man but Bigger threatens Gus
and calls him a punk or sissy. Bigger gets into an
argument with Gus because both are scared of robbing
Blum’s. Bigger is trying to be the big man but is just
ask frighten as a little boy.

Richard Wright’s wanted to show that Bigger Thomas
wasn’t as big & tough as his outer appearance shown
but everything on the outside isn’t what is on the
inside. Mr. Wright’s shows how the little man wants to
act like the bigger man but will always be small.

Chapter Summary - Kathy

This chapter starts off with Bigger dropping Jan off.
Jan takes out some pamphlets relating to Communism and
hands it over to Bigger so he can read them. Bigger
then drives Mary to her house. Throughout the ride
Mary was really drunk and blurted out random comments.
Bigger felt really unomfortable, because he felt as
though she was looking inside of him. He hated her for
that. When they got to her house she couldn't get out
the car, because she was so drunk. Bigger her helped
her out and then let her loose. She was stumbling
allover the place so he decided to help her up to her
room. As he got Mary to her room he laid her down on
her bed and felt the urge to kiss her so he did. While
he was doing this Mary's mother walked in the room.
Luckily, she was blind and didn't catch him. Bigger
didn't know what to do, he wanted to leave the room ,
but he was scared Mrs. Dalton would hear him. Mary
started fumbling around so he placed his hand over
Mary's mouth so she wouldn't make any noise. Mrs.
Dalton knew that Mary was drunk , because she smelt
whisky on her. Mrs. Dalton kneeled on the the side of
Mary's bed and prayed for he. Mrs. Dalton then left
the room with the impression that Mary was sleeping.
Bigger removed his hand from Mary's mouth and found
that he killed her. Bigger felt the whole room sink on
him and saw the reality, he killed her. Bigger's first
move was to get rid of her so he stuffed her in a
trunk. After he stuffed her in the trunk, he came up
with an idea which was to burn Mary's body in the
furnace. He took the trunk to the basement where the
furnace was and took her body out. He then saw that
her whole body could not fit into the furnace so he
had no other choice, but to cut her head off.
In this
When Bigger first lays Mary down on her bed he felt
excited. He didn't kiss Mary, because of her beauty,
which has always been there, but for the fact that she
can never be his. Her being white and him being black
separates them from one another. The arrival of Mrs.
Dalton in Mary's room frightened Bigger, because of
his skin color. Him being black traps him in a bad
situation. After he discovers that he killed Mary the
situation escalates. Once again his color traps him in
a bad situation, but this time in a murder. Bigger
killing Mary probably opened up a side of him that he
knew was there, but would never actually come out.

Chapter Summaries

Amy Taylor

Native Son

Chapter 1 - pages 3-12

"Good Morning"

This is the first chapter in Richard Wright's story
Native Son. In the beginning of this chapter Bigger
and is family are awaken by the sound of the alarm
clock. As they are getting ready to start their day
they are interrupted by a rat that has been harassing
them for a while. A big fuss is made and eventually
Bigger kills the rat. However instead of being praised
for saving his mom a sister from this rat, he is
yelled at for tormenting his sister. All of which
resulted in his mother telling him "Bigger sometimes I
don't even know why I birthed you!" which pushed him
over the edge and he had to get away, so the chapter
ends with him slamming the door on his family.

Interpretation

I think that Richard Wright started his book this way
to show right from the get-go what Bigger's life is
like. By giving details of the apartment and showing
that character of his mother, Wright gives us the
picture of what it is like to live in a poor, single
parent family in 1930s Chicago. Also this very first
chapter illustrates conflict with man v man, man v.
society, and man v. himself.

National History Day

This year for NHD Maurice and I did an exhibit on Cuban Immigration. I thought it was very hard this year. I was not motivated at all so I procrastinated until the VERY last minute. I did nothing all throughout the workshop time but I wish that I did. I thought it was dificult to get the information I wanted to go on the board so I think next year I will try to get my stuff done earlier and narrow my topic to exactly what I want to present, not find information on a million things and use just one. I had no trouble putting the board together because I started that early, working during lunch and humanities. We advanced to the City round so I guess we did pretty good even though we had no idea what we were doing. Next year I think I might want to make a documentary but its possible that I just do an exhibit again. I will probably work by myself or maybe me and Mo might work together again. We worked together last year and we we seem to get along well. but I probably wouldn't work with anybody else. Over all I don't enjoy NHD, I think it is a huge stress and it takes away from the rest of school. Because of all the hype of NHD my grade in one class dropped 2 letter grades so I think the teachers need to work on a way to still have classes and NHD at the same time or stop classes all together and just have NHD. But I don't know its not my call.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Topic Change

I was originally going to do Irish Immigration as my NHD topic because I am Irish and I never looked into my Irish background so I thought this might be cool to find out what kind of stuff my Great Grandparents had to go through. As I began studying about the Irish I soon found out that I could not find any good information and I really wasn't into this project. I then thought that I should change my topic and I decided that Cuban Immigration would be better. I am also Cuban and I have done many projects on cuba for other classes. I live with my grandmother who immigrated here from cuba when she was young and she knows a lot about Castro and Cuba. This project has turned out to be better for me, I have found lots of sources, interviewees, and I over all just fell good about this project. Hopefully I will present it well.

Sir Iaasac Newton





cuban sources

Cuba Immigration
Immigration Support- Cuba
Cuban Immigration Feature
Cubans
Exiled Cubans
Cuban Refugees
NY Times Article- Cubans
Latin America (Marxist Site)
News Article
News ArticleAmerican Media- Cuba
Fidel Castro
Rosa Goldstein
Historical Society Cuba
Cuba Historical Society

Friday, January 4, 2008

Websites for Irish NHD

http://irishmemorial.org/

http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=74

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/america.htm

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/courses/ed311/kafai/Team%204/immigration

http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Irish.html