My topic for the research paper is antisemitism, and how it has evolved throughout history. It actually started as anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda, then I decided to add 1930's America, and then I switched my topic to antisemitism through history (dropping America). My current question is "How did anti-Semitism changed or stayed the same in Europe from the thirteenth century to 1945?" So that's what I'm doing now.
I know there is lots of material for anti-semitism in history (unfortunately), so I know my paper will probably be very long. In the terms of countries, there is just too much, so I had to slim it down to just Europe. Then I realized that Europe had too much, so I had to slim it down to just Spain, Russia, and (of course) Germany. The fact that I had to slim down from the smallest continent in the world is very sad, but there really was too much. In England, the York Massacre in 1190 killed the entire Jewish population there. In France, the Dreyfus affair gained worldwide attention in the (false) accusation of a Jewish military captain of passing secrets to the Germans. That's just two of the things that happened in Europe, but I can't include them because there is too much (have I mentioned there is too much information?).
Anyway, I am focusing on Spanish, German, and Russian antisemitism, of which there is lots to talk about. For Spain, the Spanish inquisitions and conversos. In Russia, there were pogroms and "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." And in Germany, there is Martin Luther's views, and (of course) the Third Reich/Holocaust. So there will be much to talk about. With this information put together, it will make for a sad and (hopefully) empowering paper, the message being that this should all end and never happen again. The things that people did just to show their hatred to the Jews is monstrous, and it has no place anywhere in the future.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Reading Response to ATDPTI
When my younger brother found out that I was reading Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in class, he was super excited. He told me that it was one of his favorite books, though I have not read it yet. Now that we have read some, I am really surprised that it was recommended to him as a nine-year-old, and that he enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, I love it; I think it's hilarious. But we are not even halfway through the book (well, I am, but I'm ahead of schedule), and there are so many things that I really hope he didn't understand. I think this book is appropriate for high schoolers, but some of the language isn't really so much for a 5th grader. So I've been a little surprised while reading, but it's because they are funny to me, and I sure hope they confused my brother.
This book feels to me like a kind of journal that is still fun to read. Junior narrates it like he's talking to his reader directly, and I can see him drawing the pictures. What I'm going to call "direct narration" helps me connect with Junior more than I would have otherwise. I also feel like this is one of the only really funny books directed to high school students. Sherman Alexie does not back off and writes as a teenager would talk, and I appreciate that. It's what makes the book so much more meaningful.
This book feels to me like a kind of journal that is still fun to read. Junior narrates it like he's talking to his reader directly, and I can see him drawing the pictures. What I'm going to call "direct narration" helps me connect with Junior more than I would have otherwise. I also feel like this is one of the only really funny books directed to high school students. Sherman Alexie does not back off and writes as a teenager would talk, and I appreciate that. It's what makes the book so much more meaningful.
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Free Post - The Fake News Awards
Today's the day! Today, on Wednesday, January 17, 2018, the President of the United States Donald Trump will host the Fake News Awards. Or I as like to call them, "The Fakies." I want this post to be politically neutral and not to express my views, so I will try my best to do so. I am sorry in advance if I do not, and I end up offending anyone. Instead of focusing on the president and politics, I want to focus on the media's and late-night shows' effect on them.
When Alec Baldwin first stepped on stage at Studio 8H as Donald Trump, he was an instant success for SNL. He was not so successful in the president's eyes, who tweeted "Watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me.Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!" He has called many, many, many news organizations "fake news," including CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, The Washington Post, New York Times, and do many more. He says the election was rigged because of the media. The only news source he apparently regards as credible is Fox News, namely the show Fox and Friends. He has tweeted things just after Fox and Friends had just said, so it wouldn't be too crazy to say he watches them a lot.
My favorite light-night show is Stephen Colbert, even though I know he is very biased. And I think the president does watch him occasionally, but he definitely watches other news channels. He will tweet about them late at night, or early in the morning, ridiculing them as "fake news," or "rigged," or anything other insults he can come up with. I think these organizations have a little bit of influence on the president because of that. Who knows what tonight's Fakies will bring.
When Alec Baldwin first stepped on stage at Studio 8H as Donald Trump, he was an instant success for SNL. He was not so successful in the president's eyes, who tweeted "Watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me.Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!" He has called many, many, many news organizations "fake news," including CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, The Washington Post, New York Times, and do many more. He says the election was rigged because of the media. The only news source he apparently regards as credible is Fox News, namely the show Fox and Friends. He has tweeted things just after Fox and Friends had just said, so it wouldn't be too crazy to say he watches them a lot.
My favorite light-night show is Stephen Colbert, even though I know he is very biased. And I think the president does watch him occasionally, but he definitely watches other news channels. He will tweet about them late at night, or early in the morning, ridiculing them as "fake news," or "rigged," or anything other insults he can come up with. I think these organizations have a little bit of influence on the president because of that. Who knows what tonight's Fakies will bring.
Research Update
The research paper is probably the most important project of freshman year, so I've been trying to give it my all. I carefully chose my research question, going to multiple teachers until I got what I thought was the perfect one. I've contacted multiple professors at LSU asking for their help on the project. I have over 30 sources (though I'm probably not going to use all of them).
There is one problem though: a love doing research too much. All I want to do is do the research and not the actual assignments (annotated bib, notecards, etc.). And I know that sounds stupid and weird, but I just love digging and digging and the feeling of relief when I found a primary source. The annotated bibliography took me forever because I was finding more sources instead of writing about the ones I had already found. I guess this could be both a bad and good thing: bad because that's what I'm putting all my time into instead of the rest of the project, but good because the more sources I have, the better developed my paper can be.
There is one problem though: a love doing research too much. All I want to do is do the research and not the actual assignments (annotated bib, notecards, etc.). And I know that sounds stupid and weird, but I just love digging and digging and the feeling of relief when I found a primary source. The annotated bibliography took me forever because I was finding more sources instead of writing about the ones I had already found. I guess this could be both a bad and good thing: bad because that's what I'm putting all my time into instead of the rest of the project, but good because the more sources I have, the better developed my paper can be.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Les Miserables
Prompt - Thomas G.: Talk about a piece of media (book, movie, musical, etc) that you feel has influenced your life in some way
I was about 5 or 6 when my dad played me the first musical I ever listened to: Les Misérables. I still remember the first time the horns played the first two notes. My brother and I were in the backseat of the car, backing out of the driveway when my dad plugged in his phone and started playing it. Look down! I thought they were telling me to look down, but all I saw was my feet and the car floor. My dad would pause the music to explain what was going on in the story. It may have not been the most appropriate material for a 6-year-old, let alone my 3-year-old brother, but the music was truly legendary. I thought old Cosette was a fat girl who was trying to impress people by singing. My favorite character was Eponine (eh-pohn-ine). Or how I call her Eponin (eh-pen-in). The next musical we listened to was The Phantom of the Opera. I thought Christine was a fat girl who was trying to impress people by singing. My imagination wasn't as original back then I guess.
The national tour of Les Misérables was also the first professional musical I saw on stage (it was at the Mahila Jackson Theatre in New Orleans) that I remember. That production changed my favorite character to Gavroche. I started to love singing and acting. My first big role in a play was –– you'll never guess –– Gavroche when we did Les Misérables at school. That show has been the first in many areas of my favorite thing in the world. I listen to a new musical every week. I am part of every show I can be. My love for theater all started that day in the car, listening to Les Misérables.
I was about 5 or 6 when my dad played me the first musical I ever listened to: Les Misérables. I still remember the first time the horns played the first two notes. My brother and I were in the backseat of the car, backing out of the driveway when my dad plugged in his phone and started playing it. Look down! I thought they were telling me to look down, but all I saw was my feet and the car floor. My dad would pause the music to explain what was going on in the story. It may have not been the most appropriate material for a 6-year-old, let alone my 3-year-old brother, but the music was truly legendary. I thought old Cosette was a fat girl who was trying to impress people by singing. My favorite character was Eponine (eh-pohn-ine). Or how I call her Eponin (eh-pen-in). The next musical we listened to was The Phantom of the Opera. I thought Christine was a fat girl who was trying to impress people by singing. My imagination wasn't as original back then I guess.
The national tour of Les Misérables was also the first professional musical I saw on stage (it was at the Mahila Jackson Theatre in New Orleans) that I remember. That production changed my favorite character to Gavroche. I started to love singing and acting. My first big role in a play was –– you'll never guess –– Gavroche when we did Les Misérables at school. That show has been the first in many areas of my favorite thing in the world. I listen to a new musical every week. I am part of every show I can be. My love for theater all started that day in the car, listening to Les Misérables.
The New Semester
From what I gathered, these are the worst things about each year of high school: Junior year is the "hardest academically," in Sophmore year, you're so close to an upperclassman, but you're not there yet, and in Freshman year, you have to adjust to something brand new called high school. Well, after the first semester of my first year in high school, I know some things that maybe could help make the spring semester just a bit easier. A simple tip: if you use tutorial and study hall productively, you can go to bed earlier that night. That should be a given, but there is a new distraction that wasn't there in middle school (a phone [but only during tutroial]). Well, you can also play games on the computer too. There are also some "bonus" opportunities, like writing extra lines or making extra slides gives you more points in French on that assignment. Or if you write in certain writing contests or participate in certain clubs, you can get more points to your overall grade in SS. Stuff like that.
Every year, my standard goal is to have all A's. I was hanging off the edge of that last semester in a class, but I was able to pull through thankfully. I will try to use my experience from last semester to be better this semester. So I guess there's another goal: don't on to an A by the thread of my teeth (be better than that of course). Also, I've noticed that I have been kind of obnoxious when talking (repeating things over and over again, talking too loudly, interrupting people, etc), and I need to fix that. I'm starting to think that puts a bad reputation on me, and I don't like it. I'm hoping this semester will be better than the first.
Every year, my standard goal is to have all A's. I was hanging off the edge of that last semester in a class, but I was able to pull through thankfully. I will try to use my experience from last semester to be better this semester. So I guess there's another goal: don't on to an A by the thread of my teeth (be better than that of course). Also, I've noticed that I have been kind of obnoxious when talking (repeating things over and over again, talking too loudly, interrupting people, etc), and I need to fix that. I'm starting to think that puts a bad reputation on me, and I don't like it. I'm hoping this semester will be better than the first.
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