zCritics and Builders - Periods 1-2 - American Studies

U.S. is a bully

I think our country is starting to be viewed as bullies because we get involved in other countries problems but we have no support for the war in Iraq. Israel begged for our help with fighting of the Palestine's but they have no troops in Iraq. We were cool with the French but they said the hell with you guys. The British seem like are only friends and they are starting to pull out of the war because Tony Blair's prime minister term is over with.

A Doctor

During WWII Eichmann was a doctor that performed human experiments on people in the concentration camps. He would cut legs of people and see how they would die, see how long a virous would kill someone. Eichmann would take organs out of people to see how long they would last. After the defeat of Hitler he escaped out of Germany to Argentina. For many years he worked odd jobs and lived in hiding, even acting as a refugee. He was discovered by a reguee who couldn't forget his voice. He told the police and Eichmann was hanged. Their are many stories to how Eichmann was caught but arent you happy he was?

Junior Theme

The Junior theme has been the marking point of junior year for every high school student. Writing a six page paper is never fun, but the worst part of this assignment is the timing. The end of junior year is more than overwhelming. From AP testing to other class projects, the junior theme seems to be strategically placed in the most stressful quarter for any junior. Although right now I hate it, I realize that this is a great way to prepare us for college. Two years from now we're going to look back at our six page paper and realize that it was nothing, and that is the only thing that encourages me to just get this paper over with.

Sadly

A Young 12 year old girl was shot in the back after she tried to take refuge in a doorway. Gangs were shooting after a rowdy party in the Bronx. It is so sad that young children have to die for a other person foolish reasons. Gangs and rivals are so unnecessary and have no sense at all. If everyone could just get along things would be so much better and peaceful, but we all know that, that will never happen so people need to just be careful of their surroundings and always be safe.

Junior Theme

This week has been a full week. With School coming close to the end, the pressure is being put to the test. Writing the Junior Theme is a challenge because of all the ropes that is lead up to it. First the note cards then the outlines to the rough draft that ends with the paper that should be about 5-7 pages long, omg. College is going to be a struggle if we don't get this down. I know that it is helping us for the future but its a tough challenge. As long as we stay focus we will be able to pass this little test.

AHH!!!

ALRIGHTY, well I have a lot of things to talk about so bear with me... I honestly do not understand what is going on in our class right now.  There is more work in each period than any AP class that I've ever heard of.  Along with our junior theme, which is by far, the biggest paper of our highschool careers.  It really bothers me that Mr. S and Mr. H both are so confused about why our class doesn't give them respect.  It's because they both give us so much work, no one can keep it straight!  They wonder why there are a lot more zeros in all of our homework sections on our progress reports and part of me thinks it's a student rebelion against bogus teaching methods. I don't have a problem with either of them as people, for the most part they are both nice.  But when it comes to how they teach, I think that they need some retooling.  I wish that all the assignments could kind of "flow better" you know? Like, for instence, I wish that whatever the homework for that day is, it could be tied in with our junior themes or with the activity we did in class.  Don't get me wrong, sometimes it does tie in, but it needs to more often.  And what is with this NEW GIANT WHITE/GREY BOOK??!?!?!?! Is a 10 page paper not enough? We now need a new TEXT BOOK to complete in less than 19 days?  I relly just fail to see how realistic that is with our timeframe.  We all have other classes to adhear to and this much work is kind of hanous.  And another thing about the work load, when it's as big as it is, no one is going to actually try on it.  They just want to get the points and be done with it, which cripples our motivation to actualy LEARN something. Just to let you know, whoever the reader of this is.  I'm sorry if I'm coming off a little hostile, but this class is seriously stressing me out right now and I KNOW I'm not the only one.

School Schootings

We all know about the Virginia Tech shootings and I think we need to secure are schools better because they really aren't that same especially are school if you think about it. When we see signs of somebody who is in need for help we need to reach out to them before it ends up like the Virginia tech situation. Even though it's some crazy people out there they can be helped. 

Why are rappers being blamed?

The Don Imus thing is still the talk of news and now Imus and other NAACP representatives are saying that if rappers didn't use lyrics degrading women in their songs then Imus wouldn't have said those things. My response is that this talk has been in rap for years and they are taking the words out of context and I think it's different if a black man calls a black woman a Ho and if a white man does. I think the media is trying to clear Imus name so they needed to find a way to clear him and excuse his language. I was surprised also because Imus already got hired by Sirius Satellite Radio.

Allen Lee

At Cary Grove High School a senior Allen Lee was assigned by his teacher to do a creative writing paper. This assignment ment that you could write about whatever you wanted. He was charged two counts of disorderly conduct. He wrote threats to his teacher, and wrote, "Don't be suprised on inspiring the first Cary-Grove shooting". Also he wrote I'm planning to bring a gun to school and kill you." Not only did the essay begin with a "dream" of "shooting everyone then [having] sex with the dead bodies," but also it crossed his teacher's desk one tender week to the day after the shooting spree at Virginia Tech. The article ended with it was a misunderstanding and they might drop the charges. Why would you? I think this is a threat to the school, teacher and the students. After the recent shootings we can't be to careful...

Martin Scorsese

This may be a little bit random, but I would like to talk about my favorite director in the film industry.  Some of my favorite movies of all time have come from Martin Scorsese.  His most famous movies include Goodfellas, Casino, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and most recently, The Departed.  Scorsese won his first Oscar for directing with his work on The Departed.  The Oscar however, was long overdue and he should have won for several movies.  Scorsese was also considered a candidate to direct the 1972 blockbuster The Godfather.  In my mind, Martin Scorsese is a legend because of the variety of movies that he had made and how good each and every one of them are. 

Virginia Tech Massacre

The Virginia Tech Massacre that took place last week turned out to be the most deadliest shooting in U.S. history.  33 students and faculty member were shot dead by Cho Seung Hui, who also shot himself.  Hui mailed several photos and videos to CNN between his shootings that were later revealed on CNN.  Their were still shots of Hui with a gun pointing to his temple and a knife to his throat, and some of the videos included him saying that the shooting was brought upon by the Virginia Tech students and faculty.  This chilling story highly resembles the Columbine High School massacre that occurred on April 20, 1999.  The fact that these kind of ruthless behavior still goes on in the school systems is scary and it needs to stop before we lose even more innocent lives.

Shooting

The shootings at Virginia reminded us of what happened in Columbine highschool. After looking into the subject i found out that this wasnt the only shootings that has happened at school. Why do we let these things happen? We need some better gun control laws. Our country is in need! If we want a change in America than we need to stop the violence. I cant believe our country isnt doing anything about this! I don't even feel safe at Oak Park and RiverForest High School. I shouldn't be afriaid or even think about someone coming into 8th period lunch and shooting my fellow students. I like how out of the three years of going to O.P.R.F., this is the first year I can remember doing actually talking about what we are going to do if someone comes into the school with a gun. About six years ago someone did come into the school with a gun. Luckly it was an Institute Day. What would of happened the students came to school that day?

Radio Dude

Man first I would like to say that was really messed up what he said but I don't think he should get fired for it.  The reason I say that is because comedians make racist remarks everyday and no one gives them any drama about so why do it to him.  I've heard worse comments then that said by someone of color about a white man so they really shouldn't be trying to take the extreme punishment on dude like that.  I mean Im not saying that it wasn't wrong what he said, yea it was but man you gone fire him over it, I just think that people are just making a big fuss out of nothing.  Look take this for instance when comedians talk about how mexicans need to go back over the wall, all Im saying is that the man don't need to be fired punished but not fired.

Imus

A radio host named Don Imus referred to the Rutgers womens basketball team as " nappy headed hoes" on the air the other day. He has been known to say some questionable statements but this was to racist. Since this got so much media coverage the next day he tried to go on several shows and apologize for his words. Now i feel that if you are a talk show host you normally don't say anything that you don't mean so he hurt himself more by trying to apologize. A lot of people that didn't even know who Don Imus was before this wanted him fired. He was not fired from his job but he was suspended for two weeks. I think he should have been fired because people all over the nation could look at this situation and feel as they can say whatever they want on television or the radio.

Macnolia

We have been reading Macnolia for a couple of weeks now and I have to say it is beautifully written.  The poems in the book contain alot of imagery. Each poem that I read I get a vivid image in my head of what could be going on.  The poems in Macnolia also are very diverse.  Its like they all can have more than one meaning. So far my favorite one is "From".  It is just so real to me, what she is talking about in the poem just makes me think about modern day situations.  Macnolia was a strong woman/young lady.  She had been put up against whites in a spelling bee during a time when blacks had little to no education at all and she took seventy-five dollars home and placed in the fifth position. I wonder if the judges hadn't have cheat how much further she would have went.  Even though she was stopped in her tracks by what we call " haters" she still took advantage of her ability to spell. This goes to show many of us who have a pessimistic outlook on life that you can make anything happen.   

The pussycat dolls

The pussycat dolls are a group of talented female singers and dancers that have lots of fame. They have made a show that looks for a new doll to join them in the fun and fame. The show to me has lots of very pretty girls and they all have this image of sexiness to them. One of the girls began to gain weight and to all the other skinny girls they seen it as a bad thing and that they all have to skinny. I don't really like that and if she has all the right quality it shouldn't matter if she gains weight or if she is skinny. This is how todays society react to things that they have to have a perfect body or they have to be skinny or they have to be so pretty and it really damages lots of girls and women who can't live up to the expectations.

junior themes

I start to wonder why do they make us do junior themes in 11th grade in stead of 12th. When if we have it as seniors it would be fresh in our memories as we get ready to go to college. The long steps and research are not really that much different then the research papers we have done before, but just now they seem longer and have to be broken down a bit more. I understand the name fits our grade but what is the major point in us learning it now. So far I've been doing very good on my first paragraph with some great tips on my writing and good research efforts i believe that my paper will be great but that question will still remain.

Do we Still need the NAACP?

First, I have to answer my own question and say yes because due to recent racist rampages by Don Imus who I just did a post on and that guy Kramer from Seinfeld. I think if the NAACP then there would be nobody to fight for what's right and make sure the constitution is saw threw.  I heard this question on the radio I thought to myself that it was a stupid question because then we would get lazy and become complacent and that's when things go back to the way they were.

Don Imus

Don Imus is the radio host who last week commented on the Rutgers women's basketball team by calling them "nappy headed h*'s" referring to the black women on the team. Imus said that he tries to be funny but this time he went to far. I believe Imus should be fired from his radio job because that's a subject he knew better to joke with.  Rev Jesse Jackson gathered 50 people and marched outside the NBC buildings protesting his comments. Also, on the radio today it was a question asked that was is the NAACP still relevant today. My mom and I looked at each other like it was a stupid question and this is an example why it is still needed today and forever.

New School

Well, the ACT is coming up and I don't know how well I'm going to do... How come the schools that people dont really have good grades look so bad? Maybe thats a stupid question, but really where do all the not as smart kids get no luck? Tell me a school thats really nice and they dont care about your ACT that much. My school grades are good its just I cant take tests. Am I alone in the world can anyone really not take tests or is it just me and is anyone scared for the furture, scared they wont make it?

MacNolia

I think MacNolia is a good book.  The poems are good and are easy to relate to or understand.  It's different from most books that we are used to reading in and out of school. At first we all were complaining about having to go get the book, but this one of the books that really gets everybody in the class involved in discussions and we all are able to give our opinions about what we think the poems mean or the point it is trying to get across. I think that the author did a really good job of inputting facts about MacNolia and creating the other details!

"Infidelity" (by MacNolia)

A book called MaNolia is a book of poems. My favorite poem in this book is called Infidelity. It talks about MaNolia's man who's name is name John. She talks how he is this smooth type of guy and tried to smooth talk her when they first met and now she's sort of trapped with his words that can be just lies and lust. She feels as if she was going to be hurt and after being cured from the pain from before she jumped right back into the same relationship. There are a couple of lines in the poem that stood out to me and one of them was " Sometimes you learn words by living them and sometimes words learn you". Another passage states "There's always a cure for love, but it hurts". My favorite line is "'And, yes there's always a cure for hurt, but the remedy drags us right back to where we started". That was a deep and strong line and there may be people who can relate to those particular lines. This poem gets you thinking and makes you realize you should be careful about who you can trust and who you think you're in love with.

My favorite poem in the book “Macnolia”

My favorite poem in the book “Macnolia” is,“When Macnoila Greases My Hair” by John Montiere. I like how he compares her doing his hair to a kiss on his scalp, and when she part he hair she draws a curtain through which he invites her to walk. He’s appreciating her and she’s showing him love by dong his hair. And then when the silence get’s to loud, they express their love for each other by wrapping their selves in each other. This is also my favorite poem because it reminds me of my boyfriend and me and when I do his hair. It’s so sweet !!!

Class Debates

From the beginning of the year I've sat and watched as students and teachers have engaged in multiple arguments and debates. The end result is usually a classwide consensus that students need to be respected just as teachers do. Students constantly put so much effort into conveying this philosphy as if they live by it, but they don't. In order for things to change in the world, there needs to be an effort by both sides of a subject to come to an understanding and then to put it to use. After each classroom debate I have seen the teachers make a conscious effort to do so,  why do you think students do not?

A Change In Reading Books

I agree with Erica.  When I first purchased the book I was upset and not looking forward to reading a book about/based on poems.  After the past few days of reading out of the book my mind has changed completely and this is probably one of my favorite texts since freshman year.  Reading a book through poems is a very unique and different way to look at a book.  I think that more authors should accommodate or adapt to this writing technique.  If more books came out in this style I think it would help high school students enjoy reading more.  Even though I cant really speak for anyone but myself but during class I have talked to other students about the book and they seem to like the concept as well.  I have also enjoyed the extra help from Mr. Kahn and Santana with the readings of the poems.  They bring a different vibe to the class and really do help bring out certain lines and verses in the poems.  Overall Macnolia has now become a favorite book so far in my high school career.

MacNolia

In Our American Studies class we have been reading a book titled MacNolia, and at first i wasn't to excited about reading a book that was told through peoms, but i'm glad to say that my mind has changed. Since reading the book I have enjoyed it and i understand it. I think that it's a really good book and i would like to give props to the Author for writting a book and being creative and for keeping the reader interested. I look forward to this book and the further readings that we will do.

Martin Luther King V. Malcolm X

I think that it is unfair to try to pin Martin Luther King and Malcolm X up against each other because of the fact that they both were working towards the same goal. And that was to get black Americans to be just as equal as any other race in the country.

They both put their lives on the line to follow through on what they truly believed in. The only difference is the way the two went about it.

Martin Luther King wanted to go about attaining equality the peaceful way and with protest so that no one would get hurt. While on the other hand Malcolm X wanted to get equality by any means necessary and X felt that Kings way of thinking was way to passive.

So personally I wouldn't pin them against each other because thats like comparing a fork to a spoon their both used for eating but they're used to eat to totally different things. In all these men should just go down in history side by side.

non-violence or military

I think the non-violence strategy is alot better than sending in the military to solve problems.  The military just causes more problems and even more violence.  But if you use non-violence then it helps, because their is less violence and more problems don't accure, making non-violence a great way to prtest and get your point across without someone getting killed ot hurt.

Nothing really has changed!

People say we need to go on and make progress as black people but, yet we still hold our self's back with pity and sorrow of what happened to our people in the past, but its about time to make the past the past. like people have to move on and lets start hearing about change and not just hearing about it. like Black people are like oh you cant say anything about black people but the talk shit about whit people and then they use the lame ass excuse like our people, their people who went through the struggle so people wouldn't say that to one another and then u use them as an excuse to do i, like come one think of something a little better, and you might say like oh i am just playing and weather you really re or not it doesn't mean that you can do it because thats like giving them permission to say that type of stuff to blacks and when they do use it its oh he is racist, when that might not be the case. All i have to say is move on before history repeats itself and it may not be exactly the same but the history of America ain't been so peachy so lets make this generation something that we can look back on and tell our kids and grandkids i helped this happen i made a difference. i know its cheesy but hey.

Favorite Poem

I would have to say that my favorite poem in MacNolia is "Meeting John Montiere". I really like the wording in the poem. From the metaphors to the similes to any other part of the poem structure, I guess that I just really like the poem. But the best line in that poem would have to be "I'm a firefly blooming in a jar." The wording is just great. You can tell that she is independent but that she is "trapped" by this man.

Martin Luther King Vs. Malcolm X

I believe that if these two would have got along and wouldn't have died at such early ages they might have fed off each other ideas and became the two most powerful men in America. I think that fighting back would've got the point out quicker because it's not like that the police arrested anyone for lynching and killing a black person. I think even Dr. King at one point got tired of not doing anything and it's so much a person can take. That's what I think happened at the Berwyn March in 1966. I saw a few blacks actually fighting back because people where hitting them with rotten eggs and rocks and u just can't take those things to long 

Martin Luther King Jr. VS Malcolm X

Both MLK and Malcolm X had a vision. They both wanted the same issues with blacks and whites to be recognized. Although the both of them wanted to see changes in America they had different values and opionions. MLK wanted to act in a non-violent way and Malcolm X felt violence was the way. Freedom, equal rights and justice was their target. Malcolm X criticized Martin Luther King for his nonviolent ways but he didn't let that stop him. Martin views on nonviolent acts still stood. Voilent actions cause things to get worse with more violence occuring. With a more peaceful act so many violence wouldn't occur because the threats and mistreatment wouldn't get to the protesters, instead things would soon be intergrated. MLK and Malcolm X faced racial threats, resentment and hatred and they still became powerful men with deep thoughts. Thier reflections on the people in America and thier negative attutides made a statement and an impact on life. MLK's dream wasn't deferred but it was heard. Malcolm X philosophy wasn't all wrong but it was extreme.

Respect

During the class discussion the other day, Hilda mentioned how in Mexico, she could get in trouble for disrespecting her elders in school.  In my mind, our elders should get respect from us because they shaped partly of the living conditions we are in today.  However, their are certain people who do deserve respect and certain people that really don't sometimes.  I, personally, treat my parents with the up most respect because of what they have done for me with providing food and shelter for me.  The people that I do not treat with respect are the people that do the same to me, the way I see it, I need to receive respect to give you any. 

Greatest Speaker of All Time

As we have been going through the civil rights movement in class, I have come to realize that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is, in my mind, the best speaker of all time.  From the people that I have heard and the speeches that I have heard, MLK seems to be the best.  His world famous "I have a dream" speech is one of, if not the best speech that I have ever heard.  When we saw the ending of it the other day, it sent chills to my body because of how good it was.  The line "Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty, we are free at last," if my favorite.  I would also like to ask you, if not MLK, then who is the greatest speaker of all time?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk  link to the famous "I have a dream" speach by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Don't Judge Us!

Many older people say that todays generations take life for granted. More specifically education and the right to vote. I disagree with this completely. I appreciate what the people in the civil rights era did but we don't have the same goals or problems that they had to face. It may seem like they had more of an urge to learn but they had to fight for it. Fighting for something automatically makes it look like you care more than if something is mandatory for you. Voting on the other hand is one of those things that people especially African American people take for granted. I think African Americans remember the fight that their ancestors had but it's just not a priority. Another reason I don't think older people should judge us by our beliefs is once you are given something, you loose the urge to fight for it. Just the same thing with under aged drinking. If it wasn't prohibited so much and laws were so strict people wouldn't do it as much. That's just human nature to want to do something or have something that you can't have. But hey that's just me!

Booker T. Washington

I do not believe that Booker T. Washington should have his own holiday. It is true he did do a lot for his people but I feel as if he went about it the wrong way. He felt that African Americans should just ride Jim Crow, and live under the unjust laws as if there was nothing happening. He did have all the whites on his side but that was only because they totally agreed with the fact that all blacks should obey them.

I feel as if Mr. Washington should have been a little more hands on and willing to get dirty like his counterpart W.E.B Dubois. Mr. Dubois was way more outspoken and way more radical then Mr. Washington.

I don't want people to have the misconception that I feel as if Mr. Washington did nothing for me, but I feel if anyone diserves a holiday it should be Mr. Dubois.

>this is a late blog because I thought that this was the week the blog was due. Thank you

What Would You Call It?

Well, I have been thinking, New York has a lot of things going on as far as popularized television programs like 106 & Park and TRL.  I know back in the day Soul Train used to be televised from here in Chicago, but as of right now we don't have anything like that and that gets on my nerves, because a lot of people out here be sleeping on us. So, my question is if you had to come up with a show idea what would it be, and what would you call it?

Booker T. Washington

I just started participating in this Saturday Academy program at Depaul, and one of my classes is African American History.  In that class we are talking about some of the same things like Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B DuBois, and I have learned a lot of additional information in that class about the situations of the two.  I learned that Booker T. Washington built and founded Tuskegee University. I learned that Booker T. Washington used productive ways to improve the black community and is one of the most influential black leaders. From, what I learned in American Studies it was like we shouldn't celebrate him and like he was teaching black people to just deal with situations without action. But, he knew exactly what he was doing. He taught them to do things in a less chaotic way. And, his plans helped black gain some respect for themselves first because if you don't have any for yourself how are you going to expect someone else to respect you?

Segregation

In Mexico we don’t have the problem of racism, the N word is not an insult and the discrimination between races is not a problem. The religious schools are usually segregated and private. I was in a catholic school for 4 years and we never felt inferior from the other schools on the contrary, our school is one of the bests in the city. But now that I am learning about slavery in U.S.A. I disagree with the fact that colored and white people have a separate school and also I can understand why segregated schools were so unjust for colored people.

The value of a person is not in the exterior on the contrary, is in their mind and heart.

Don't Celebrate Booker T. Washington

I do not believe that Booker T. Washington should be celebrated in the United States. Although at the time he had a lot of support, his message was unfair. Booker T. Washington suggested that African Americans in the south and around the nation should not fight segregation. This idea in general is a negative one because segregation was not just something that could be ignored. Segregation affected millions of people's lives and unfairly did not give African Americans equal opportunities to succeed. Booker T. Washington's ideas may have set the progression of anti-segregation back and also may have given whites the idea that segregation was not such a bad thing.