The Debates went great at least for the first true debate we have done. There are definitly things we could improve but overall they were well written, well preformed, and well researched.
My performance was okay. I knew my information and could back up my agruments with facts, but I was really nervous and could feel my heart beating really fast.
My strongest part was my constructive. I feel like I had a well written opening that introduced the topic and all our agruments. My weakest part was my strength and emotion that I needed to put into my words to convince the audience.
If I would change something, it would have been my topic becuase I didn't really feel passionate about the topic and also the way I didn't really project while talking.
For the next round I'm defintely focusing more on preparing myself to speak in public and not get nervous. Plus I need to add emotion into my voice and project it also.
Under the performance box, I would add posture and fidgeting because I didn't know where to take off for that this time.
Resolved: capitalism is the most just economic system.
Resolved: human genetic engineering is morally justified.
If you want to know the questions to which I formed my answers go to Ms. Mystrena's Blog on my bloglist and read the blog entitled G&T 1 Debates: Round 1 Reflection.
Each new color is a different color. I thought it might help you out.
Rachel
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
WWII Diary Entry
This is an essay/diary entry that I wrote for Honors World History. It is an essay explaining why I think President Truman was right in dropping the atomic bomb on Japan.
Apparently, the Japanese were warned. On July 26, there was an ultimatum made up for the Japanese in Potsdam. The Japanese leaders rejected the ultimatum. President Truman then said, “If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth." (Shalett). The rain of ruin is the atomic bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan. The ultimatum was terms of surrendering for the Japanese empire and also said that if the Japanese didn’t surrender than they would face utter destruction. So in all fairness, the Japanese are to be blamed for the bomb because they could have surrendered and the bomb would have never had to have been dropped. But no, they didn’t so President Truman was just following up on his word.
Well Little William and Johnny just woke up from their naps and will need to eat soon.
Anabelle
Dear Diary,
Jack came home waving a letter from Papa today. He’s coming home soon!!! He said that the Japanese had surrender officially on August 15 after the second atomic bomb was dropped and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded its empire. President Truman was right to drop the bomb!!! He saved millions of lives including my father’s, had warned the Japanese officials that if they didn’t surrender they would face utter destruction, and showed the world the true destruction of the atomic bomb when no one could quickly retaliate back on the US. And the president’s plan worked; Japan surrendered after they saw how powerful the US is. The dropping of the atomic bomb will be remembered forever and will always be debated. But what the future Americans won’t understand is the life and reasons behind the decision that aren’t facts: the feeling that your father is away to war and only the atomic bomb could save him, the pressure of President Truman to either drop the bomb and save millions of lives or not to drop it because of how powerful it will be. Future years will only know the facts behind it not the emotional aspects. But no matter what they look at, they should know that President Truman made the right decision based on the facts and emotional dealings in the situation.
Well better let mother know about the letter and I think something’s burning in the kitchen. Plus Jack needs to get back to work and little William and Johnny need a nap. After that’s all done, Lucy can help me do the afternoon chores; then I have to help her with her lessons.
I hope Papa comes back soon so Mother will come out of her room and resume her role of taking care of the family. I mean seriously I’m only 9 and I have to act and do everything a 20 year old would do. But I love my family so it is kind of worth it.
Anabelle
June 3, 1945
Rochester, New York
Dear Diary,
My name is Anabelle Rogers. I’m 9 years old and yesterday was my birthday. My father, James Rogers, is a captain is the US Army. He was commissioned when the US joined the war after Pearl Harbor and immediately was sent by General MacArthur to the Pacific front. Mother was devastated and barely left her bed. As the oldest girl, I take care of the house, cook the meals, and watch the children. Jack, age 13, is an apprentice to a carpenter to make money. Lucy, age 6, helps around the house especially with Johnny, age 1. Little William, age 3, is just a nuisance and only behaves when Jack comes home late at night. I wish mother would cheer up soon. Father has been gone almost 6 months already, and mother only gets out of her bed for church on Sundays.
So long for now,Anabelle
August 7, 1945
Dear Diary,
It has been another 2 months, and mother still rarely leaves her room. Yesterday, Jack ran home waving the New York Times (from August 6) in the air. After Lucy, little William, and Johnny were asleep, Jack brought me to Mother’s room and read it to us. It said, “First atomic bomb dropped on Japan; Missile is equal to 20,000 tons of TNT; Truman warns foe of a ‘rain of ruin’.” (Shalett). I didn’t fully understand what the article meant so Jack explained. He said that the Japanese weren’t surrendering like the Nazis so President Truman dropped a big bomb on Japan to show how strong the US is. As Jack continued to read the newspaper out loud, I started to drift to sleep thinking about how President Truman was right to drop the bomb on Japan. I mean it supposedly saved millions of lives, showed the true destruction of the bomb, and President Truman did warn the Japanese. So for all intents and purposes, the president was right.
Everyone knows that the next step for making Japan surrender was to invade the island itself. Knowing the ruthlessness of the Japanese leaders many estimate that it would have killed at least 2 million American soldiers, Japanese soldiers, Japanese citizens, and Allies soldiers combined. Without a doubt I know that my father would have been sent there to fight for his country. I can’t imagine life without Papa. He keeps Jack and I going everyday while Mother is upstairs. He is the reason that I have this diary. He is the life of the family. If the bomb hadn’t been drop, Japan would have been invaded and millions killed. Not only would my family have been ‘destroyed’ but also the families of all the other soldiers and innocent people that would have lost their lives. Thank you, President Truman for saving my father and all the other men and women.
Jack told me that only the US had an atomic bomb. Good or bad? I think it is good; this way now people know how deadly it is. So in the future, people know what will happen. I mean seriously it is equivalent to “more power than 20,000 pounds of TNT, a destructive force equal to a load of 2,000 B-29’s , and more than 2,000 times the blast power of what previously was the world’s most devastating bomb” (Shalett). The government still doesn’t know what exactly happened due to a cloud of smoke and dust that arose. But they do have information from a test they did in New Mexico. The results were as follows: a steel tower vaporized, 40,000 foot cloud rushed to the sky, and 2 observers were knocked down from 10,000 yards away. Amazing? Yea! I feel bad for the innocent people, but the Japanese government had a chance to surrender but they didn’t or at least that is what Jack said.
Apparently, the Japanese were warned. On July 26, there was an ultimatum made up for the Japanese in Potsdam. The Japanese leaders rejected the ultimatum. President Truman then said, “If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on this earth." (Shalett). The rain of ruin is the atomic bomb that was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan. The ultimatum was terms of surrendering for the Japanese empire and also said that if the Japanese didn’t surrender than they would face utter destruction. So in all fairness, the Japanese are to be blamed for the bomb because they could have surrendered and the bomb would have never had to have been dropped. But no, they didn’t so President Truman was just following up on his word.
Well Little William and Johnny just woke up from their naps and will need to eat soon.
Anabelle
August 17, 1945
Dear Diary,
Jack came home waving a letter from Papa today. He’s coming home soon!!! He said that the Japanese had surrender officially on August 15 after the second atomic bomb was dropped and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded its empire. President Truman was right to drop the bomb!!! He saved millions of lives including my father’s, had warned the Japanese officials that if they didn’t surrender they would face utter destruction, and showed the world the true destruction of the atomic bomb when no one could quickly retaliate back on the US. And the president’s plan worked; Japan surrendered after they saw how powerful the US is. The dropping of the atomic bomb will be remembered forever and will always be debated. But what the future Americans won’t understand is the life and reasons behind the decision that aren’t facts: the feeling that your father is away to war and only the atomic bomb could save him, the pressure of President Truman to either drop the bomb and save millions of lives or not to drop it because of how powerful it will be. Future years will only know the facts behind it not the emotional aspects. But no matter what they look at, they should know that President Truman made the right decision based on the facts and emotional dealings in the situation.
Well better let mother know about the letter and I think something’s burning in the kitchen. Plus Jack needs to get back to work and little William and Johnny need a nap. After that’s all done, Lucy can help me do the afternoon chores; then I have to help her with her lessons.
I hope Papa comes back soon so Mother will come out of her room and resume her role of taking care of the family. I mean seriously I’m only 9 and I have to act and do everything a 20 year old would do. But I love my family so it is kind of worth it.
Anabelle
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Skiing in Colorado
Hey guys!
I've been skiing in Colorado.
It's perfect weather, in mid-40s, little wind, and sunshine.
The veiw of the mountains is gorgeous with all the snow covered peaks.
On bad thing is your skin gets all dry because of the altitude plus you are alwasy thirsty.
Skiing takes so much energy and I'm completely wiped out.
Good thing tomorrow is going to be a break day. :)
If you have never skied before, try it.
It feels amazing when you are going down the mountain with the wind on your back and the snow beneath your skis.
Tata For Now!
PS Snowboarding is for weaklings and losers (sorry to any snowboarders out there. Can you tell I come from a family of skiers?)
I've been skiing in Colorado.
It's perfect weather, in mid-40s, little wind, and sunshine.
The veiw of the mountains is gorgeous with all the snow covered peaks.
On bad thing is your skin gets all dry because of the altitude plus you are alwasy thirsty.
Skiing takes so much energy and I'm completely wiped out.
Good thing tomorrow is going to be a break day. :)
If you have never skied before, try it.
It feels amazing when you are going down the mountain with the wind on your back and the snow beneath your skis.
Tata For Now!
PS Snowboarding is for weaklings and losers (sorry to any snowboarders out there. Can you tell I come from a family of skiers?)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
My Values
After doing a survey on our values in GT, I got a better understanding on my idea of myself as a person and my values that shape who I am and what I say and do. I wasn't surprised about the results, but it clarified my perception of myself in my mind. The survey made me exactly figure what I think are the most important to me; therefore instead of surprising me it opened up my mind to my true values.
The survey proved my ideas on my values, and informed me of the catergories in which they fall; therefore showing me the categories I fall in. For example, one of my top five values was to be trusted by others which categorized me in the honesty and integrity group. Futhermore, another one of my top five was to have a good marriage which is the category of family, love, and emotional security. The other three categories were religion and spirituality, fulfillment, intellectual, and vocational achievement, and (altruism) compassion, fairness, and justice. These were based on my other top five values which were a meaningful relationship with God, a life with meaning, purpose, and fulfillment, and to give of myself freely in helping others (respectively).
In conclusion, I wasn't surprised by the survey's results. Moreover, they clarified what I already thought were my values. With my five top values, I was also shown the five categories that I fit into the best.
The survey proved my ideas on my values, and informed me of the catergories in which they fall; therefore showing me the categories I fall in. For example, one of my top five values was to be trusted by others which categorized me in the honesty and integrity group. Futhermore, another one of my top five was to have a good marriage which is the category of family, love, and emotional security. The other three categories were religion and spirituality, fulfillment, intellectual, and vocational achievement, and (altruism) compassion, fairness, and justice. These were based on my other top five values which were a meaningful relationship with God, a life with meaning, purpose, and fulfillment, and to give of myself freely in helping others (respectively).
In conclusion, I wasn't surprised by the survey's results. Moreover, they clarified what I already thought were my values. With my five top values, I was also shown the five categories that I fit into the best.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Outliers Chapter 7
In this chapter, Malcom Gladwell continues on showcasing cultural legacy through airplane crashes. He discovered that crashes had common factors: all started out with a technical error and then 6 human mistakes on top of that; as co-pilots, those who fly commercial planes (or anytime of planes) should check each other so mistake don't occur. Gladwell found out that countries who had multiple crashes within a span of time had a problem because of cultural legacy. The boss would be flying the plane and not talking the air traffic control (ATC) or focusing on the other gadgets; that's the first officer's job, and raised in a classed society they were taught not to give commands to their boss. So when Korea brought in someone from the US to help train their pilots, the first thing the man taught them was how to be commanding with their voice and not to use "mitigated speech" (where you sugarcoat something or tiptoe around a topic so you don't come out harsh). Therefore their cultural legacy is not to command or directly ask your boss a question.
you have to be aggressive with your words and command others to do what you need them to do because maybe you see something they don't, maybe just maybe you are saving them from causing a diaster. For example, if Klotz (first officer for Avianca 052) had been able to directly tell ATC in New York (people known to be strict because of how stressful their job is), he could have saved the 78 people who lost their lives when the plance crashed. If first officers of crashed planes could have added a little bit more force behind his words, hundreds if not thousands of lives could have been saved. Our lesson to take from this is that being forceful with your words is not a bad thing. Also another lesson is sugarcoating commands, questions, or statements is not always the best way to go because someone might miss interpret you.
Coming from cultures that where in neither the top 5 or bottom 5 from the list of countries most likely to stick to the rules and sugarcoat words spoken to bosses (top: does it, bottom: does the opposite), I can follow the rules and sugarcoat things at some times when needed. But if the outcome is better when I add force behind my words or don't follow the rules, I will do that. As I reflect upon my normal behavior, I notice that I usually follow the rules and don't forcefully tell people things but nor do I sugarcoat them. I realized I just stay out of a problem instead of getting someone mad at me by either forcefully telling them to do something or by sugarcoating my words. All in all, my cultural legacy is half and half though I lean toward the top, following rules and not aggressivly saying things, and along with my faith, these communication skills make up my cultural legacy.
From this chapter we can take many lessons, but two are important. The first one is if you have a problem don't sugarcoat it, confidently tell someone who can help you so it can quickly be solve without ending in a diaster. You see this shown through Avianca 052. The first officer doesn't directly tell ATC the problem, pausing, using 'ah', and putting it in the second half of the sentence; therefore, ATC doesn't pick up on the fact that they were dangerously low on fuel. But if the first officer had clearly stated the problem and used a tone of emergency then ATC would have realized Avianca 052 had a problem.
The second lesson is that sometimes
 |
| Avianca 052 crash |
Coming from cultures that where in neither the top 5 or bottom 5 from the list of countries most likely to stick to the rules and sugarcoat words spoken to bosses (top: does it, bottom: does the opposite), I can follow the rules and sugarcoat things at some times when needed. But if the outcome is better when I add force behind my words or don't follow the rules, I will do that. As I reflect upon my normal behavior, I notice that I usually follow the rules and don't forcefully tell people things but nor do I sugarcoat them. I realized I just stay out of a problem instead of getting someone mad at me by either forcefully telling them to do something or by sugarcoating my words. All in all, my cultural legacy is half and half though I lean toward the top, following rules and not aggressivly saying things, and along with my faith, these communication skills make up my cultural legacy.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Outliers Chapter 6
In Chapter 6 of the Outliers, Malcom Gladwell talked about a 'culture of honor' and how people who come from ancestors who their life was herding were more aggressive and had to protect their reputation. They realized this through the pattern of fights and feuds between families in the Appalachia area. Years later, Dov Cohen and Richard Nesbitt did experiment on college students from the University of Michigan. The results showed that those who ancestors came from the northern England, Ireland, and Scotland were more aggressive and reacted to the insults.
Cultural legacy is the idea that how your ancestors reacted in their times to keep their reputation continues on through today's generations. Each area of the world has different ways to handle problems because of their ancestors and how they survived.
My cultural legacy is defined by my faith. As an Italian, we compare everything to our faith before we act or make a decision. Our faith defines who we are and how we deal with problems. It even decides what holidays we celebrate like Christmas and Easter. Though I am a mix of Italian, Spanish, English, Irish, and Scotish, I am mostly Italian and Spanish, and in these two countries, religion plays a big role. I believe my cultural legacy is through my faith not what my ancestors did for a living because my faith defines who I am as a person and always finds a way into every decision I make.
What do you think your cultural legacy is?
Cultural legacy is the idea that how your ancestors reacted in their times to keep their reputation continues on through today's generations. Each area of the world has different ways to handle problems because of their ancestors and how they survived.
My cultural legacy is defined by my faith. As an Italian, we compare everything to our faith before we act or make a decision. Our faith defines who we are and how we deal with problems. It even decides what holidays we celebrate like Christmas and Easter. Though I am a mix of Italian, Spanish, English, Irish, and Scotish, I am mostly Italian and Spanish, and in these two countries, religion plays a big role. I believe my cultural legacy is through my faith not what my ancestors did for a living because my faith defines who I am as a person and always finds a way into every decision I make.
What do you think your cultural legacy is?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
MY 1ST POST!!!!!
HEY GUYS! I'm Rachel.
I love to dance and play piano.
My favorite color is pink, and I love flowers and happy things!!!
I love the Harry Potter Series and the Lord of the Rings.
I enjoy math, science, and reading.
This blog is for my GT class.
In GT, we learn about creativity, adolescence, and who we are.
We have researched about schools killing creativity and adolescence through the ages.
So long for now!!!
I love to dance and play piano.
My favorite color is pink, and I love flowers and happy things!!!
I love the Harry Potter Series and the Lord of the Rings.
I enjoy math, science, and reading.
This blog is for my GT class.
In GT, we learn about creativity, adolescence, and who we are.
We have researched about schools killing creativity and adolescence through the ages.
So long for now!!!
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