Friday, June 7, 2019
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Song of Solomon Reading Challenges
The most challenging part of reading Song of Solomon is how the author, Toni Morrison, drops the reader in the middle of the story with no context whatsoever. Thus, causing the reader to have to pay super close attention to subtle details to keep up with the characters' lives and events. Piecing together these details only becomes more difficult when the author has page breaks that can mean a couple months or years. I find this equally challenging because its apart of the same idea: to keep a clear understanding of what's occurring in the characters lives.
To address these challenges I keep and use the timeline we created in class at the back of my book and add on to it when any new key events happen. This helps me guide my reading, so I don't forget anything, as well as just be able to visualize when and whats happening. I also find that discussing the book and details with my peers also helps me understand details that can often be interpreted differently or just read over. This way, I can also see different perspectives on each character by my classmates.
To address these challenges I keep and use the timeline we created in class at the back of my book and add on to it when any new key events happen. This helps me guide my reading, so I don't forget anything, as well as just be able to visualize when and whats happening. I also find that discussing the book and details with my peers also helps me understand details that can often be interpreted differently or just read over. This way, I can also see different perspectives on each character by my classmates.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
We All Come From Somewhere
My mothers name is a traditional Russian name, much like her brother. Similarly, she gave my brother a common name used in Russia: Sasha. I am never allowed to call him by his Russian name; my father strongly dislikes it. In english, it translates to Alexander, and Alex for short. My name, however, was googled. My mom and dad wanted a name that would be easy for me to fit in, but not a name that would be too common as well. They stumbled upon Amanda Nicole. My last name comes from my father whose ancestry can be traced back to Ireland. In fact, there’s a castle in Ireland called “Barry Castle” which helps us conclude that my last name is quite Irish.
Through many months of relocating, my family on my mothers side finally made it to America. They came here for the same reasons as many other immigrants, for the pursuit of better education for their children (my mother and uncle) and to escape anti-semitism in the Soviet Union that is current day Kiev, Ukraine. My mother experienced harsh bullying because she was jewish in a primarily atheist nation. To begin the journey to the U.S., my grandmother's parents, her and her husband, and their children, all sat in a long line for days. This was where they had their bags checked because there were things that were not allowed to be taken outside the country. My grandmother was able to smuggle one thing across the border, her coral necklace that she put on my mother who was bundled in a fur coat. To pay the men for checking their bags, my grandmother brought vodka and a stick of salami. I questioned at first why didn’t she just pay with the currency? She explained “Because they didn’t want our money. They wanted the nice branded vodka and salami instead since we didn’t have American dollars.” But rather than just taking the fair amount, they took all she had. This left them without anyway to pay back for people to transport their bags. Unlike moving nowadays, they could only take what they brought and this was before the invention of nice suitcases on wheels. So my uncle and his father were in charge of carrying most of the 12 large army sized duffle bags. The heavy, large bags were carried through the border, and to the train where all six of them sat together with the bags. They later spent a week in Vienna, Austria and afterwards spent a few months in Rome, Italy where they awaited to here of a city in America willing to accept them. That’s how they ended up flying to Louisville, Kentucky where a synagogue took them in and rented an apartment for them so my grandfather could find work.
Through many months of relocating, my family on my mothers side finally made it to America. They came here for the same reasons as many other immigrants, for the pursuit of better education for their children (my mother and uncle) and to escape anti-semitism in the Soviet Union that is current day Kiev, Ukraine. My mother experienced harsh bullying because she was jewish in a primarily atheist nation. To begin the journey to the U.S., my grandmother's parents, her and her husband, and their children, all sat in a long line for days. This was where they had their bags checked because there were things that were not allowed to be taken outside the country. My grandmother was able to smuggle one thing across the border, her coral necklace that she put on my mother who was bundled in a fur coat. To pay the men for checking their bags, my grandmother brought vodka and a stick of salami. I questioned at first why didn’t she just pay with the currency? She explained “Because they didn’t want our money. They wanted the nice branded vodka and salami instead since we didn’t have American dollars.” But rather than just taking the fair amount, they took all she had. This left them without anyway to pay back for people to transport their bags. Unlike moving nowadays, they could only take what they brought and this was before the invention of nice suitcases on wheels. So my uncle and his father were in charge of carrying most of the 12 large army sized duffle bags. The heavy, large bags were carried through the border, and to the train where all six of them sat together with the bags. They later spent a week in Vienna, Austria and afterwards spent a few months in Rome, Italy where they awaited to here of a city in America willing to accept them. That’s how they ended up flying to Louisville, Kentucky where a synagogue took them in and rented an apartment for them so my grandfather could find work.
Fast forward to today and now my family lives in Wilmette, IL. I was born in Atlanta, but raised in Dallas, Texas. Due to my dad receiving an excellent job offer, we moved to Illinois. My parents chose Wilmette specifically because our incredibly close family friends live only a mile away now. Being the second move in a year, my parents really wanted to make it easier on my brother and I by having us live near family to ease the transition one more time.
The story of my mother immigrating here to America is a story that’s told year after year to remind my brother and I of what we have. That we are fortunate enough to grow up in a country that celebrates freedom of religion. It also reminds us of the value of hard work. My mother and her family came here with no currency, only their belongings. The value of hard work is drilled into my brother and I because nothing is given. It’s all worked for.
The story of my mother immigrating here to America is a story that’s told year after year to remind my brother and I of what we have. That we are fortunate enough to grow up in a country that celebrates freedom of religion. It also reminds us of the value of hard work. My mother and her family came here with no currency, only their belongings. The value of hard work is drilled into my brother and I because nothing is given. It’s all worked for.
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Dissent Through the Streets of France
President Macron and his government are considering a state of emergency. The “Yellow Vests”, the people protesting the rising gas prices and taxes on polluting forms of transport, have been staging several demonstrations in the past three weeks and click here for the full article on CNN.
The deeper issue France is experiencing with its civilians is the large dividing gap between the metropolitan elite and the rural poor. These growing tensions are because of Macron and the policies he has introduced as the new president of France. He won the election back in 2017 through a run-off because no candidate won a majority vote in the first round. The run-off was held between the top two candidates; Macron just had to win a majority against Marine Le Pen. As the acting President of France, Macron is fighting the dissenters, “Yellow Jackets”, with a chemical that is illegal in war.
These protests are taking place in the streets of Paris, France. The citizens of Paris are lashing out against the rise of prices and taxes. More than 400 people were arrested and there were 133 people injured on Saturday. However, as the protests continue, the number of participants is decreasing. The first weekend had 113,000 participants, the second weekend had 53,000, and this past weekend had 36,000. Similar to what’s happened in the past days at the American-Mexican Border, the French government also released tear gas to disperse the protestors. Tear gas causes severe eye and respiratory pain, skin irritation, bleeding, and even blindness according to the Washington Post. In addition, this chemical weapon is illegal in war, but legal in domestic violence control. How does this make sense? This painful agent is illegal to use on nations we are at war with, so why is it okay to use as a way to control our own nation's rioting civilians? Is it fair for the unhappy french people to be suppressed or should their government try and fix the issue at hand?
The deeper issue France is experiencing with its civilians is the large dividing gap between the metropolitan elite and the rural poor. These growing tensions are because of Macron and the policies he has introduced as the new president of France. He won the election back in 2017 through a run-off because no candidate won a majority vote in the first round. The run-off was held between the top two candidates; Macron just had to win a majority against Marine Le Pen. As the acting President of France, Macron is fighting the dissenters, “Yellow Jackets”, with a chemical that is illegal in war.
These protests are taking place in the streets of Paris, France. The citizens of Paris are lashing out against the rise of prices and taxes. More than 400 people were arrested and there were 133 people injured on Saturday. However, as the protests continue, the number of participants is decreasing. The first weekend had 113,000 participants, the second weekend had 53,000, and this past weekend had 36,000. Similar to what’s happened in the past days at the American-Mexican Border, the French government also released tear gas to disperse the protestors. Tear gas causes severe eye and respiratory pain, skin irritation, bleeding, and even blindness according to the Washington Post. In addition, this chemical weapon is illegal in war, but legal in domestic violence control. How does this make sense? This painful agent is illegal to use on nations we are at war with, so why is it okay to use as a way to control our own nation's rioting civilians? Is it fair for the unhappy french people to be suppressed or should their government try and fix the issue at hand?
Thursday, October 25, 2018
A Drug Most Americans Take Every Morning
Why do we drink coffee? Many high schoolers drink it to stay attentive in the mornings for classes, or it aids in keeping them awake to finish important assignments due the next day. Furthermore, coffee is everywhere. It’s in stores, easily made at home, or offered at schools. Because of the easy accessibility, teenagers are more likely to drink it because of the helpful effects to stay awake. Surprisingly with coffees easy access and acceptance as a normality to drink in society, caffeine is considered a drug.
Caffeine has many other drug-like effects such as a rise in anxiety. It has more than just an increase of anxiety on the brain, but also causes a lack in sleep. This threatens the ability for the drinker of the caffeine functionality throughout the day or the next day depending on when it was drunk. In addition, the drug dehydrates the cells of whoever drank the caffeinated beverage. These effects make high school increasingly more difficult as its challenging to begin with.
Many people falsely disagree about the importance of sleep and how it can affect a students performance in school. A lack of sleep causes a student to drink caffeine that leads to a quick boost of energy, but then a dramatic decrease in ability to pay attention in later classes. Sleep also contributes to growth and brain development. A high schoolers brain undergoes “synaptic pruning” throughout their childhood whenever the student falls asleep. If they get less sleep, this occurs less often. It’s important for this process to occur in the brain because it increases the efficiency of neuronal transmissions. These neurons are responsible for receiving and transmitting information that gets sent throughout the body. Caffeine decreases this process and overall causes more harmful effects than good. Even with these facts, do you think teens are gonna stop consuming caffeine? What do you believe is the leading cause in youth drinking coffee and why? Click here for more information about what caffeine is and its other effects on the rest of a persons body.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Expelled
India Landry, an African American student at Windfern High School in Texas got expelled from her school for simply not doing one thing- standing up and reciting the pledge. India was 17 when she first chose not to stand up with the rest of her classmates. Her teacher immediately sent her to the principals office. Principal Martha Strother told India "Well, you're kicked outta here" and the school has been in a legal battle with India and her mom ever since.
She silently sat in her seat following Colin Kaepernicks example of kneeling. Kaepernick is a football player who knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality on African Americans. He actively exercised his freedom of protest in front of all of america.
India is fighting for her right to freedom of speech, but Texas politicians say she's crossing the line when she refuses to stand and pledge to her country. Twenty three other states have similar rules regarding students in public schools required to recite the pledge. If you want to read more about this topic click here for more. However, does the state have the right to force students to say the pledge? Does this cross the line for freedom of speech?
She silently sat in her seat following Colin Kaepernicks example of kneeling. Kaepernick is a football player who knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality on African Americans. He actively exercised his freedom of protest in front of all of america.
India is fighting for her right to freedom of speech, but Texas politicians say she's crossing the line when she refuses to stand and pledge to her country. Twenty three other states have similar rules regarding students in public schools required to recite the pledge. If you want to read more about this topic click here for more. However, does the state have the right to force students to say the pledge? Does this cross the line for freedom of speech?
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