Semester Reflection 2

What four-year college/s are you interested in and why?
Right now I am interested in NYU, MICA, Parsons New School of Design, and Academy of Art University.
I really want to go to NYU because of their amazing photography department. I toured the department during spring break and fell in love with it. This is the hardest school to get into in my list because only 35 people are accepted to the program each year. 
I want to go to MICA because I like the campus and they have the majors I'm interested in. 
Parsons is on my list mostly because it's in New York and I really want to live in New York.
The Academy of Art University is on my list mostly for my dad. It's in San Francisco and my dad wants me to stay in California. But it also is my back up school since they accept everyone who applies. I am also doing a pre-college program there this summer that lasts for six weeks so I will be able to see if I like it.




  

Semester Reflection 1

What have you learned about the way you learn, work, and/or collaborate?
I have learned to take charge more this year. In the past I have been more of the slacker type in group projects; let others who are more capable take charge. But this year I realized that I was the more capable person in most situations, and so I took charge.

What project was most valuable to you, and what have you gained from it?
This semester I think that Ampersand was the most valuable just because I got to play a big role in it as the photo editor.

Writing Reflection

In the beginning of the year I was sure I was a terrible writer and nothing could change that. It took me hours to write anything coherent.
Resistant, at first, I wrote my American Icons artist statement. It was boring and formulaic. But, (as corny as corny as it sounds) with the help of the writing tips and bit of determination I improved my writing.
By the middle of the year my writing had gotten substantially better. When I wrote my essay about Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer's tale of the deadliest season on Everest, my writing was decent; I seamlessly blended facts and analysis. After that I skipped a few assignments, saving my new found talent for a worthy cause. Then my opportunity arrose, Ampersand. Since I was an editor I devoted most of my time, guiding my editing group, and put off my own writing for the sake of bettering the writing of others. This was okay since my article was on procrastination. In the end my Ampersand article turned out better than expected. After a series of twenty or so drafts, my article was finished and I actually like it.        

Historical Reflection

Of all of the historical figures we have studied this year, including—but definitely not limited to—Presidents, philosophers, politicians, leaders, social movement-ers, and the many everyday people that have contributed to American history & culture, who would you most like to run into in college?


I think, that out of the people we have talked about this year, I would most want to run into Eugene  V Debs, an American labor union organizer and a prominent Socialist. 
He would be a TA in a political science class, president of the Young Socialist of America chapter at my school, and have parties to promote the revival of the decadence movement. He would be in grad school studying political theory and philosophy. I would look up to him, still forming my own wavering political ideas, while attempting to organize my own neo-Marxist band of rebels and write a manifesto. I would always try to impress him by carrying around Marx's Das Kapital and Freud's Interpretation of Dreams.
He would be idolized by my misfit band of vigilantes, who hung on his every word. He said in the September 11, 1915, in an American weekly called The Appeal to Reason, “I am not a capitalist soldier; I am a proletarian revolutionist. I do not belong to the regular army of rite plutocracy, but to the irregular army of the people. I refuse to obey any command to fight for the ruling class.... I am opposed to every war but one; I am for that war with heart and soul, and that is the world-wide war of the social revolution. In that war I am prepared to fight in any way the ruling class may make it necessary.” This would satisfy both my anti war and my revolutionary sides while inspiring me to join his group. If he allowed, I would fight alongside him for the rights of the working. And when we end up, locked in prison for trespassing, destruction of private property, and disrupting the peace I will finally have time to free myself of the social classes of the outside world and fully join the true proletariat, and not the idealized 'working class' that I thought I had been promoting. 




"Lenin: Speech Delivered at an International Meeting in Berne, February 8, 1916." Marxists Internet Archive. Web. 16 June 2010. .     

Literary Reflection

If you could bring one character from any one book that we have read this year with you when you go to college, who would bring? Why? 
I would choose Chris McCandless (aka Alexander Supertramp) from Into the Wild but I wouldn't bring him to college but on the great American road trip I plan to go on before college; the kind of road trip where you sleep in forest clearings and swim in lakes in the moonlight. I feel like he would be the perfect companion, because he is the the kind of person I wish I could become. It has always been my dream to rid myself of all my earthly possessions, renounce the materialistic values of society, and join the Peace Corps or something selfless like that, and I think that Alexander Supertramp is the essence of a simple lifestyle. He would know how to hitchhike, find food, and live in the wild. 
He once said, "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." That is something I truly believe in. It seems ridiculous to me that people should live unhappy lives because they think that they can never follow their dreams, when in reality the only thing stopping them is themselves, and the fake barriers that society imbeds in the minds of the masses. 
In his journal he wrote, "The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." I love this because it is true; without new experiences and new places, things become routine and bland. 
Alexander Supertramp lived a life, free and simple. He traveled from the southern-most point of the country to the wild north of Alaska. From his knowledge of the roads and the wilderness to his deep reflections on society and happiness he would be a perfect friend and companion for a road trip across America.    

        

Post trial reflection

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

The law promoted racial profiling and was unconstitutional and violated the 4, 5, 6,  and 15 amendments.

John Adams-testified about the alien and sedation  acts

James Madison- 5 and 14 amendment    

Raul Grijalva- the representative  of Arizona's 7th district spoke out about how the bill promotes racial profiling 

  

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

The law was under the legal jurisdiction on the state and helped to protect the citizens of Arizona. 

Jan Brewer- the governor of Arizona     

Russell Pierce- the commissioner of Ellis Island during it's peak immigration years talked about Ellis Island

Robbert Watchhorn- read SB 1070    

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

The Bill of Rights and the Constitution  

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

That the bill promoted racial profiling and how can you tell if someone is an immigrant.

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

I believe that the verdict was correct because the law promotes racial profiling and is unfair




I think I deserve a 41 out of 50 points because I worked hard and tried to know as much about the case as I could. I did a lot of research on Raul Grijalva and helped out my lawyers. I could have done better at helping my lawyers write the questions earlier.  

Optional Assignment

"Like Mark Twain, Mr. Vonnegut used humor to tackle the basic questions of human existence: Why are we in this world? Is there a presiding figure to make sense of all this, a god who in the end, despite making people suffer, wishes them well?
He also shared with Twain a profound pessimism. “Mark Twain,” Mr. Vonnegut wrote in his 1991 book, 'Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage,” “finally stopped laughing at his own agony and that of those around him. He denounced life on this planet as a crock. He died.'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html

Semester Deux, Blog #14

1. What are the most interesting aspects of World Wars 1 and 2?

WWI or the Great War:

-The Assassin that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife Sophie, Gavrilo Princip, was a member of the black hand and died of TB in prison. This assassination started the war. 

-The evolution of warfare 

-Propaganda posters like the iconic Uncle Sam 'I want you poster' 

WWII:

-Swing Kids

-The use of propaganda films and posters

2. What do you hope to learn about these wars?

-More about Stalin 

-The Occupation of france 

-the south pacific campaigns 

3. How/Why are these wars important today? How do they impact and/or inform our world today? hint: think about alliances, democracies around the world, cultures, international institutions, nuclear (and other) technologies, etc.

-The UN was formed. 

-A large influx of women in the workforce

-desegregation on the military

Blog #0012

What were "public works projects"? What famous ones were part of the New Deal? What public works projects would you recommend for our society today?


Public works projects- Public facilities and improvements financed by the government for the public good. Public works include hospitals, bridges, highways, and dams. These projects may be funded by local, state, or federal 


"public works." The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Answers.com 12 Mar. 2010.http://www.answers.com/topic/public-works


Famous Parts of the New Deal?
The Golden Gate Bridge
Hoover Dam
The Del Mar Fairgrounds
The Griffith Observatory 


Public Works Projects for Today
More progressive schools
Low income housing 
Improving public transit
Updated libraries  
Health Clinics

Honors Novel Blog number 1

Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.


ESSAY

Honors History Blog ONE

My Letter

Semester Two, Blog #7

My company would have crashed and burned because it's dog photography and that is one of the more frivolous things you can do with your money.

Photo Essay

http://ohmyinternship.tumblr.com/post/394331309/photo-essay

Mentor Interview

Interview

Semester Two, Blog #2

I sat down with my mentor Mike Fish at a restaurant on the covered patio one rainy day for lunch, his Boston terrier Gus laying under the table at his feet. It was cold and the wind thrashed the part cloth part vinyl patio covering as we sat down and waited for the waitress to come over and take our orders. We discussed various things ranging from the mentor luncheon to the hardships of being an artist. [this is it... for now]

I know it's a bit cheesy but that's how i roll write

Semester Two, Blog #1

http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/james-franco/5252

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/26066137/page/2

I choose the first interview because it's not question and answer it integrates the interview in to a bigger story of the happenings of James Franco and it wonderfully written

The second is the same but it digs deeper into controversy and seems to span many interviews of not just the main subject but other people in the issue

Into Thin Air Final

 Following the publication of this book, numerous public battles ensued over specific people's actions and the author's presentation of them. Does Krakauer have the authority to criticize any of the people on Everest that day? If so, who and why?

In the novel, Into Thin Air, the author Jon Krakauer is given the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to climb Mount Everest. Krakaurer's interest in climbing started at a young age, and he had done some difficult  climbs, but he was now working as a writer for Outdoor magazine. During this perilous journey to 6 of his fellow climbers and 3 guides died. Krakuauer attibutes these deaths to serious misfortunes and mistakes by the climbers, the guides, and the sherpas. But after the book was published there was some dispute over his tale and facts, and many retorts. He was on that moutian that day and didn't attempt to help his fellow climber or guides. His book being the first published about the incident has gone through many revisions and some important facts have been changed. Krakauer's book is convincing, and his criticisms are legitimate climbing errors that may have put lives at risk and lead to the deaths of 8 people that day on Everest.

The on the summit attempt there are parties that Krakauer shows as weakness in the expedition. Most of the clients are weakened by mild altitude sicknesses and exhaustion from the extreme conditions but some are weaker than others. Sandy Pitman, who is reporting for NBC online, tires out Lopsang, one of the sherpas by have him carry her 30 pound satellite from camp three to camp four even through it wouldn't work at the high altitude.  Lopsang also short ropes Pitman and basically halls her up the mountain. According to Krakauer, "Lopsang had one of the most pivotal and controversial roles in the disaster. It was he who was with [one of the guides, Scott] Fisher when he collapsed during the dissent; Lopsang was the last person to talk to Fisher before he died. Lopsang was also the last person to see Rob Hall, Andy Harris, and Doug Hansen before they died"(309).       

Summiting Everest is a difficult task because above Camp 4 climbers are  "more vulnerable to HAPE [high altitude pulmonary edema], HACE [high altitude cerebral edema], hypothermia, impared judgment, and frostbite" (181). Theses afflictions are can be warded off by using bottled oxygen. The bottled oxygen is used with masks,  and "the only way to know how much gas [oxygen]

 is in a canister is to attach it to your regulator and read the gauge" (196). This turned out to be a problem because when the clients were descending from the mountain because Andy Harris, one of the guides, regulator that deliver the oxygen was blocked with ice. This lead to his regulator to read that all the bottles of oxygen were empty and his supply of oxygen was blocked off. Andy at this time has a severe case of altitude sickness or hypoxia and this is a mistake on Krakauer's part and in not realizing that Andy was not okay.  His shared responsibility for the death of Andy Harris gives him the athourity the say who else was at fault in the terrible accident on Everest. 

Krakauer's book included interviews with the surviving climbers and told the story in a way that was believable. His research lead him discover that some of his previous assumptions had been incorrect and that on the mountain he was more impaired than he remembered. The facts seem clear, and the story seems to be correct, what really happened on the mountain may never be known but this is a good representation of the facts.  

Into Thin Air Outline

Following the publication of this book, numerous public battles ensued over specific people's actions and the author's presentation of them. Does Krakauer have the authority to criticize any of the people on Everest that day? If so, who and why?

• After finishing the novel i was convinced of Krakauer's telling that was the most accurate interpretation of what happened on the mountain but after reading the battle that ensued afterward, i'm unsure what to believe
• His Story
• Other Stories
• differences
• edits he made

Into Thin Air

Following the publication of this book, numerous public battles ensued over specific people's actions and the author's presentation of them. Does Krakauer have the authority to criticize any of the people on Everest that day? If so, who and why?

The Great Gatsby!

Evaluate The Great Gatsby as a criticism of the corruption of the American Dream.


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