Immersion!

1. What are you most excited about in regards to your immersion experience? Why do you feel this way?

In regards to my immersion experience I'm most excited about going to different schools and getting more experience with giving different types of presentations that have to do with fruits and vegetables as well as meeting new kids.


2. What are you most concerned about (what causes the most stress) regarding immersion? Why do you feel this way?

When it comes to internship, I am most concerned about not being able to be ready when it comes to giving presentations.I hope to know all the information about the fruits and vegetables that I'm going to be presenting. The cause of most of my stress is not knowing what I have to do some of the days because my mentor isn't quite sure
what she's going to be doing on some of the days. Hopefully,as soon as I know what I have to do then I will get on track and get what I have to do done on time.

How Progressive was the Progressive Era?

*Workers and Working Conditions
During the progressive era the workers that worked mostly consisted of child laborers and the lower-class people. Progressivism included a wide range of economic, political, and social reforms.
How did these things Progress during the progressive era?
What were they?
Is this only in America?
When did the progressive era begin?
How did it end?
What types of people were part of the progressive era?
Are we heading into progressive era today?
RESEARCH!!

OuTstanding Blogz

A very reliable blog to go when searching for good economic advice for Barack Obama would be Amanda Alipio's blog. An example of her work is this:

If they are going to cut giving money to different instituions it should not be to insituions that actually need it. I would bring this to Obama's attention. I would show him how this is how money is being spent and how we should be spending it. I would again refer back to the alternative energy sources. In an article I found it states,"in the next 12 years, the state's investment in fighting global warming and improving energy efficiency will create as many as 403,000 jobs and increase household incomes by $48 billion."

Through evidence she shows her view of a situation and brings to people's attention what would be done if she was to face Obama face to face. New ideas were brought to my mind when I read this blog. Her structural evidence and essay format makes it easy for me, the reader, to follow what her thinking.

When it comes to well-done literary devices, Sydney Lampe's blog is the one to go to. She shows her readers what the overall purpose of the story is without going into great detail. The three types of literary devices she uses are, symbolism, character description, and historical evidence. She gives a sneak as to where these symbolisms take place in the book. An example of symbolism is this paragraph:

The main symbol used through out the novel is the reference to the green light. The green light represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby reaches towards his goal with a guiding light. Gatsby's quest for daisy is similar to the American Dream, the ideal situation. "I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon," the green light.

This part draws readers who've never read the book in. As well as let them know what they are reading when they stumble over this particular part.

If you want to find an example of good well-written historical writing, Ashley Matthew's blog about Eisenhower and his duty of warning America of the military industrail issue is where you will obtain some good ideas. Ideas that include her opinions and evidence to articles that connect to his decision. An example of this would be this:

It was 1961 and Eisenhower's term had been served it was now time to give a farewell speech. His speech was historical. It was this quote that stuck out to me as a clear warning which Bush should have taken heed.

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

This message clearly forewarns the future presidents of America not to get too involved in the 3 way relationships of Government, Industrialization, and Weapons. Because if the 3 come together it can be a dangerous amount of power in all the wrong hands. Because doing business with companies who make money off of going to war, would only lead to a rising hunger for money which leads to a rising need for the fight. And that was Eisenhower's message in 1961, who could ignore this precious piece of advice?

I particularly liked how she tied a quote Eisenhower stated in his farewell speech to a recent president of today as well as what she thinks about it. She doesn't leave me hanging without information, in fact she leaves me wondering what else she thinks and if any other presidents supported his ideas.

Science and Humans

What responsibility do we have for the understanding of science?

As a race of humans, when it comes to the resposibilities of us understanding science I think we need to realize that out of any other species of creatures, we are the ones that can really understand why something is the way it is. Although not fully, we are able to atke steps to get to some type of conclusion after questioning why something is the way it is. I think that our knowledge of different things also helps animals live longer healthier lives because were able to care for them.

What role should scientific inquiry and scientific knowledge play in our own society?

In our society, the role of scientific inquiry should be used to come up with a way where we can learn to wonder and develop technology that is useful to our current situation of depression rather than creating things we don't need and barely use. If we want to get to the top without later failing, we have to think about the most beneficial substance or thing that we can all count on as a society-not just individually.

How should science influence our decisions, laws, and culture?

Science should be used as a catalyst to spark our imaginations not as our main source to being able to come up with new ideas. In the making of our decisions, science should definitly be referenced but not the maker of our final decisions. I think that as a nation we put too much emphasis on science and the answers we can get from it. But we have to remember its not science that has the answers. Science didn't create itself, we came up with it so in that case we need to refer to "Our Brains" to make decisions, laws, and cultures. Its the collaboration of many people coming together to agree on the making of decisions that science lacks.

Honors Blog

In the novel titled, "The Kite Runner" it was through symbolism, antagonists, and repetition that the author, Khaled Hosseini, used literary devices to convey his message of two boys who grew up as the best of friends and through numerous trials later grew apart.

Symbolism was used in the end of chapter 6 as well as the beginning of chapter 7 when the narrator, Rahim, spoke about the kite. The kite symbolizes what Rahim thinks will get him his dad's affection and approval after all the times of disappointment he has caused by choosing not to follow after his dad's footsteps.

Throughout "The Kite Runner", the antagonist was Assef, often referred to as "blue-eyed Assef" he was known as a savage-thirsty type of man who was evil and put on a show for his parents and those who held his reputation to such high standards. In chapter 5 page 18 there's a quote that refers to him that says, "...he walked the neighborhood like a Khan strolling through his land eager-to-please entourage." His being incuded a two-sided character who was amused by trouble and mischief.

Repetition in any book causes emphasis on a certain idea that is trying to be shown through any type of writing. In this particular novel the emphasis was put on the words that were spoken between the two main characters Hassan and Rahim. The words were, "For you, a thousand times over." This quote was quoted throughout the whole book but it had more meaning in the last paragraph in the last chapter of the book. The reason for its deep meaning is because of the loyalty that Hassan, Rahim's servant as well as best friend, had for Rahim even when Rahim turned against him. It was a statement of care and staying true to his best friend-no matter what the obstacles were.

In this book, the author does a good job at grasping the reader's emotions and creates an image of what it takes for the love of two best friends to broken in such an intense way.

Facetime with Obama

If I had the privilege of going into the oval office and speaking to President Barack Obama about issues of today, I would speak about many different topics-specifically the issue on the financial status concerning the homes and buildings owned by the federal government. I would ask him about what steps he would take to save businesses and how he plans on including the American citizens. I would also give him advice about how to handle America's impatience without just handing out what they want when they want it because that would only cause them to want more. That advice would include taking control of his decisions with the same intention he had when he was running for president as well as when he became president. I would tell him not to be wishy-washy on important facts that include the citizens because that'll only cause madness-but if he does let the public know, not to just keep it to himself.

Over and over again he's said that we are all in this together, hopefully he stands true to his words and leads us out of this depression before we get ourselves any deeper. I would ask him how long he thinks this depression would last and what I can do as an individual to make change that helps a group load of people and not just myself. In the Washington Post article titled “The Action Americans Need” he quotes “We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time.”

As a nation it is time for us to be patient and not expect things to happen so quickly, when things go slow and they're thought out clearly, its better then when they're rushed just to get it done. So if we wait and take the actions we need to take to get ourselves out of this mess, we won't regret being in the midst of a leader who knows what he's doing. The event of this current depression would connect to the time when FDR was president and he was dealing with putting America back in its place of wealth. In This Article, it goes more into what FDR dealt with during his presidency and it shows me how Obama is dealing with the same thing in this day and age.

Sources:

-things.”, reminded Americans that the nation’s “common difficulties” concerned “only material. ""Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself": FDR's First Inaugural Address." History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. 13 Feb. 2009

Obama, Barack. "Barack Obama - The Action Americans Need - washingtonpost.com." washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines. 13 Feb. 2009 .

What makes a Great Interview!?!?

Thought provoking questions- Where the interviewer has a broad enough question where it allows the interviewee to be descriptive in his/her answer as well as answer other unasked questions. It would also allow enough structure to the interview for flow between questions and answers.

Example: The interviewer uses the type of short questions but it brings the interviewee to tell a very descriptive answer involving stories childhood, information, and metaphors with only one question. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/924_interview_archiv/page4.shtm "I was a terrific student and did very very well in school always and I also had a bit of a wild side I grew up in a sort of neighborhood where we knew just enough of how little we had..." He talks about his childlife and how it connects to his career as a stockbroker.

A Sense of Conversation- where it is hard to tell it is an interview, allowing for a conversation rather than a question and answer session. It would also allow the audience to sense a comfortable setting allowing for a more relaxed interview.

Example: The interviewer seems so harsh and wanting to blame everything on the interviewee, also the airplanes in the background are not helping the conversation go any smoother.http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/924_interview_archiv/page2.shtml, "We have become so good at the explanation of evidence..."

Background Information- where there is enough background information about the interviewee to allow the interviewer flexibility during the interview. Also it would allow the audience to understand any underlying causes for any outbursts.

Example: This interviewer seemed to start with overall introduction, it also starts with a story for not only the interviewee's perspective but also from her grandmother and even a short view of the victim parent's. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/924_interview_archiv/page3.shtml" I sat down to talk to my grandma about it and she turned the tables on me and started talking about that had happened to her when she was 16..."