Honors Blog #4

Honors:

Write a letter to President Obama in which you address American foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa, with the Marshall Plan as a basis for your ideas. Please quote from, cite, or otherwise reference at least three article from major publications or websites!

Dear President Obama,

I've noticed that what you are doing in Libya is very similar to the Marshall Plan of 1947-1951 where the goal of the United States was to rebuild Europe after the destruction from World War II.

"The breakdown of the business structure of Europe during the war was complete. Recovery has been seriously retarded by the fact that two years after the close of hostilities a peace settlement with Germany and Austria has not been agreed upon. But even given a more prompt solution of these difficult problems the rehabilitation of the economic structure of Europe quite evidently will require a much longer time and greater effort than had been foreseen." This quote from the Marshall Plan speech is closely related to your ideas of foreign policy when you said “Born, as we are, out of a revolution by those who longed to be free, we welcome the fact that history is on the move in the Middle East and North Africa, and that young people are leading the way. Because wherever people long to be free, they will find a friend in the United States.”  I believe that you are uses ideas from the Marshall plan to help support your actions to invade Libya because they both give reason for intervening in other countries (Like Marshall in Europe and You in Libya). 

I support the "Middle Ground" idea for foreign policy, it keeps you in a safe place on the spectrum of foreign policy. I like that you aren't too involved but you are still helping.

Thank you for your time and thank you for reading my letter and I hope it helps you in future decisions you make about foreign policy.

Sencerly,

Shoshannah Michaelsen

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/01/world/la-fg-us-syria-20110401

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/16/barackobama.uselections2008

Honors Blog #3

Imagine that you are a person in one of the following groups during WW2:

* Tuskegee Airmen.

* 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

* Navajo Code Talkers.

* A woman working on the home front.

* An individual in an internment camp.

* A soldier involved in any of the following battles: Midway, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the Battle of the Bulge.

Assume your identity with as much accuracy as you can. In your blog, write a detailed letter to a friend or relative, in which you describe your day to day life, important events, hopes, fears, etc.

Make sure you choose a specific date and location for your letter. Try to make it as historically accurate as possible. Your letter should be approximately 750 words for the purposes of this writing assignment. Your letter should be based on historical research. Following your letter, please list the resources that were helpful for you.

To whomever finds this letter, 


I want everyone to know what happened to my family and me so I'm writing this letter for everyone to understand what we went through.  


I am Susan Kato. I am a 17 year old half Japanese, half Caucasian girl. I used to live with my Mother, Father, and baby sister, who was only 13, in a nice little house a few blocks away from my school. I had many friends and for the most part I had a really good life until December 7, 1941. 

On that day Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese planes and many people were killed. People all over America were worried there would be another attack or that a war would start. My parents knew that I was scared so they assured that everything would be fine. I knew they were lying.

On February 19, 1942 signed Executive Order 9066, which ultimately created internment camps for everyone who was from the Japanese decent. 120,000 U.S citizens were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps. The government was afraid that any person with Japanese parts was a spy for the Japanese so the internment camps were justified.

Manzanar was an internment camp in California that my sister and I were sent to while my parents were taken to another place. I was terrified my sister and I would never see our parents again. I didn't understand why the government thought I could be a spy or how my sister could be a spy. My parents had never done anything wrong either. Nothing was making any sense, we were good people, we would never try to hurt our country. 

My sister and I barely saw each other during the day. I was terrified for her because I knew that I was scared  being here and I was the one who was always brave. I couldn't even begin to imagine how she felt. Whenever I saw her I made sure to tell her I loved her and that everything would be over soon. I tried m hardest to keep her from being afraid even though I knew it wasn't really working. I was still proud of her for staying strong.

The more days, weeks, and months that went by the sicker the people around me were getting. People where dying and it made me worry more and more. I hated the sight of seeing sick people because I knew that they would soon be dead. I stayed strong and took care of myself. I tried to take care of my sister a well but she wasn't as strong as me.

My sister started becoming sick. As the days past she got sicker and sicker. After a week went by she looked like all the other people did before they died so that night instead of getting food at dinner I stayed with her. Tears ran down my face and she took her final breaths. 

After my sister was gone I wanted to give up. I lost all faith in myself and started feeling like I wasn't the strong person I thought I was until I saw a little girl reunited with her mother. The tears of joy that ran down their faces gave me hope that I'd too see my parents again. I kept my head up and carried on.

In 1943, all of the people here, men and women, over 17 were given a kind of test. It was used to test our loyalty to America. Males were asked if they were willing to serve in the in the U.S military while females like me we asked "Are you willing to volunteer for the Army Nurse Corps or Women's Army Corp?" We were all also asked "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, to any other foreign government, power or organization?"

I must have answered the questions correctly because they just sent me back to my bunk. I kept living in the camp and I tried to stay positive even though some days I didn't feel like going on until one day I was able to go home.

In December 1944 Public Proclamation number 21, which became effective in January 1945, allowed internees to return to their homes. I was so excited but a little worried at the same time. I really wanted to see my parents but I was worried they wouldn't be home or maybe even dead but instead of thinking of the worst I thought positive.

When I got back to my house I could hear my mom crying from outside. I ran in and started yelling "Mom! Mom! Where are you?!" She ran out of the kitchen and my dad ran after her. I hugged them both and we all cried with joy together. After a few minutes of being reunited and realizing we were finally back together they asked about my little sister. I told them what had happened and I told them she was in a better place now.

From, Susan Kato

Blog #8

Talk to your family about World War Two. How was your family affected by the war? Please write in an open-ended manner about how WW2 impacted the lives of your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and so on. Feel free to post pictures, include quotes, other relevant links, and more.

My grandmother, Helle Michaelsen, was only 4 or 5 years old during World War II. She lived in Copenhagen, Denmark with her Mother, Father and baby sister. Her and her parents where affected when German soldiers invaded looking for the Jews. My family isn't Jewish so they weren't taken or broken up or anything but her father was helping hide a Jewish family that lived near them.

Her father didn't tell his family anything about the Jewish family because he didn't want to worry them but when my great grandmother found out she was very angry and scared because they all could have gotten killed.

My grandma told me that one day when she was walking with her mother through a school yard they saw a German soldier and my grandma was full of hate for them. She walked past him and yelled "Du dum svin" (you stupid pig) My grandmother grabber her daughters wrist and apologized to the soldier because she was affraid he'd be angry and take my grandmother away form her or something. The soldier ignored them and just stayed standing there.

After the war the Jewish family my family was hiding thank them and went back to there regular life. My family  didn't have anything bad happen to them the whole war. They were one of the lucky families.

Blog #7

Find images of at least three of the following:

WW2 propaganda
WW2 war photography
The "homefront" during WW2 (America)
The Allied powers
The Axis powers
More?


For each image, post the following:

1. The image itself (not a link to it!)
2. The historical info: date, people, photographer, artist, names, etc. The "true story" of the image.
3. What the image tells you—your reaction.

1941-1945 Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. Bureau of Special Services. 
America vs. Germany and Japan. 
This piece of propaganda is used to tell Americans to keep production going because the German and Japanese "monsters" stop at nothing so the Americans should keep working hard. The poster says that this is Americas war so Americans will keep working and feel more inspired to.

1943 Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston   Churchill (Soviet Union, United States, and United Kingdom) at the Tehran Conference in Tehran, Iran. It was the first World War 2 meeting and they were discussing the European theater. They later made the plan of the strategy to fight the war against Nazi Germany.  

1938 Propaganda during the Shōwa period of the axis power leaders Adolf Hitler, Fumimaro Konoe, and Benito Mussolini (Germany, Japan, and Italy). This was made by the government of imperial Japan. It is children waving flags from the axis countries to show support. This was propaganda to get others to support the axis powers because who wouldn't do what the little kids thought was okay.

Honors Blog #2

Choice #3) In a well developed, thoughtful piece of writing that uses direct quotes, explain the use of symbols to develop a theme in your novel.


Grapes of Wrath


Theme:
Power of Family, Faith, and Fellowship
"twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the west was one dream"
This quote shows that through all the trials everyone was faced with they still can come together through sharing the family connections. Family was the most important thing for the Joads without each other they would have never made it.


"I ain't preachin' no more much. The sperit ain't in the people much no more; and worse'n that, the sperit ain't in me no more. 'Course now an' again the sperit gets movin' an' I rip out a meetin', or when folks sets out food, I give 'em a grace, but my heart ain't in it. I on'y do it 'cause they expect it."
This quote shows the affects the loss of faith has on the people in this book. Jim Casy lost his faith for aw while and he didn't make it through the book. Faith is kind of what kept the people going.


"Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of."
This quote to me stands for the family and faith theme of the book because Tom say they are all one big soul so they are all one family. I think it also means that the one big soul could be the faith or the god they follow/worship. 

Honors Blog #1

Write the biography of an idea that you see in the class timeline on the board. In order to write this biography, give the idea a personality and character traits. Look for key events in the life of the idea throughout history. Use your biography as a model for structuring your writing (but yours certainly does not need to be as long!). Make sure that your biography of an idea is written like a story—the idea should meet other ideas, have conflicts, etc., just like a person or people in a biography.

Discrimination was a caterpillar that was born  in Africa in 1619 when he was brought to America on slave ships. Discrimination was forced to be a slave for the white birds and had to do whatever they said or there would be consistences. Birds and caterpillars were forbidden to be married until a magical flower changed everything in 1863 by ending slavery and also making interspecies marriage legal in 1967.  




After everything seemed to be fixed Discrimination went into his cocoon where he thought he would finally get some rest but instead Discrimination was reborn as a butterfly named Sexual Discrimination causing more problems for other homosexual butterflies.

Blog #6

http://malias11thgradehumanities.blogspot.com/
I liked the first idea because it is about something other than internship its about a co-worker of hers. I think that it is interesting because it is about a person not her internship. I think it would be a very cute idea and something people would actually like to read about. Also Malia told me about the woman she is writing about and she is an interesting lady. :)

http://nbhumanities2010.blogspot.com/
I liked the second pitch on Neil's because it is something I could do too. I think that this would be straight forward and a good story to show people that even high school students help the community. This would be a good idea for me too because I helped with an event that they will be having for years to come. :)

http://iamallysonmoder64.blogspot.com/
I liked the last idea on Ally's because it reminds me of the addicted to coffee one we read about from another version of ampersand. I think it would be really cool to write about something that got you through the work like the coffee or Ally's addiction to cafeteria food. :)

Blog #5

Write out three "pitches" for three different Ampersand articles that you might write for this year's publication.


Step by Step guide to help a new worker or incoming intern with communication in the office. Tips to help communication go more smoothly.


A guide to help workers/interns manage time and tips to remain on task. information of how to keep a calender set up the right way.


Experience starts the learning process. I will talk about my main experiences and why they are important to learn from. Tips to help someone remember that all mistakes create the process of learning.

Blog #4

Post links to three or more example articles that could provide inspiration for your Ampersand article. Along with each link, write at least one paragraph in which you explain what that example provides for you in the way of inspiration, a good model to work from, a guide, etc.

http://top40.about.com/od/l/p/ladygaga.htm
This is an article about Lady Gaga's career. It's in order of what event came first. It also describes where she came from and who she is now.  This article tells background information while telling the whole story of her career. I think that I could use this idea to talk about the communication skills I gained throughout the course of internship.

http://www.businessperform.com/articles/workplace-communication/communication_barriers.html
This article is about overcoming the communication barrier in the work place which is what I had to try to do while working for Coastkeeper. I was thinking about doing something like that except talking about the steps to take to overcome communication problems. I was thinking it would be cool to do a communication skill development from someone other than a "professional" :)

http://agelesslearner.com/intros/experiential.html
I think that I could use ideas from this article as well. I like that this is an article about learning form experience and I think that I could do that as well. I learned a lot through internship by listening to people and actually working for something other than school. I'd like to show the reader how they can learn from their experiences and others by listening to convos.

Blog #3

Post links to two exemplary interviews that you can use as models for your mentor interview.

Under each link, describe the writing techniques that the author/interviewer uses to create a finished piece of writing that both accurately portrays the interview subject as well as results in a polished work that the reader can enjoy.

Consider the structure of the overall piece, what information is in the beginning and/or end, if an introduction is used, if there is additional writing throughout the piece, if there are references to any follow up questions, physical formatting, etc.

• http://dancemusic.about.com/od/artistshomepages/a/LadyGagaInt.htm

It seems that the author uses - to show a break in the answers or a point where Gaga got off track. It seems like -s are used as a connecter between thoughts that weren't all said at that time. I also think that the author took out all the umms and wells. Lastly it seems like some thoughts weren't complete kind of. It's like they are jumpy. 


The intro questions her actual place in the music world. Not in a bad way but to make her seem better than people make her out to be. It just gives background information to tell the reader who she is and who she relates to.

• http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/john-lennons-final-interview-20101207

The author takes out unwanted umms. It seems like words were changed to make it more concise. It is all shortened. Its the most important quotes.


The author uses setting to tell when the interview took place (important it was his last interview) The author also  gives background information about the interviewee. The interviewer gives quotes about him too.

Blog #2

What have you read lately (say, since last semester), that you found interesting?


I was reading information about FCC on their website.

Why did it catch your attention?

I want to go to FCC for college so I was looking at what i needed to get in there and I thought it was interesting that they wouldn't send me info about the college because I guess I'm not close enough to college age. I also found it interesting that at the end of the year the students project is to put their clothing in a fashion show.

Blog #1

What are the big ideas that you are taking from internship into the next steps in your life?


I think the main idea I'm taking from internship is that it is better to try to finish early than to finish right before a deadline. I think this is most valuable in my life now because I have tons of deadline to meet in high school and of course I still want my free time so it will be better to get everything done early and have free time after. This way I'll have nothing to worry about.

What are your plans for the coming semester?

My only plans are to get all my work done, Do well in honors, Get an A again!

Internship Blog #7

5.  What advice would you pass on to future interns? What are the most important skills for a student to be successful at his/her internship? How could another student develop these skills prior to beginning internship? 

Important advice I would give is to have an open mind because most of the time you won't get the internship you really wanted but you'll get something close. It's important to keep an open mind and actually try to enjoy it because you never know, you might actually like it.

I think its important going into internship with some sort of technology skill because most people think HTH they must be good at computer stuff and you'll get stuck doing things on the computer. I also think it's important to have communication skills because you will need to be able to talk to your mentor and you will have to ask questions. Its important to not be nervous or to be able to get over the nervousness. :)

You can develop these skills by practicing with photoshop word and other computer things. You can develop your communication skills by starting up convos with your cashier or talk to people in line. It would also help if you talked to people who are older like out of college so you can get used to speaking with someone who might be at your internship.

Internship Blog #6

7. Do you have any regrets so far?  What would you do differently if you could start internship over?
My only regret with internship is that on the first day I confused myself into thinking that the last day of internship was the 21st not the 28th and I had made a schedule that was set up for three weeks instead of 4. The problem with this is that I thought I was leaving earlier then I am so I didn't that I would have anything to do for a whole week. I also was afraid that since I messed up the days my mentor would think of me as someone who didn't pay attention to detail and I didn't want her getting upset.

Luckily both of these problems had solutions. She found another project for me to do and she wasn't upset at all.

This doesn't seem like a big deal but I regret mixing up the days because if I had had a mentor who had nothing to do for me I could get fired or laid off since they didn't need me. So for now on I am going to make sure I have dates and times right so I don't make the same mistake.

Internship Blog #5

2. Post the highlights from your mentor interview and explain what makes these quotes meaningful to you.

The highlight of my mentor interview was the answer to my last question which was:

During my first semester we wrote stories about American icons and how they fit into a continuum. My continuum was about people who have important quotes that are meaningful to many people. One of my favorite quotes are "If you can dream it you can do it." Do you have any quotes that you try to live your life by or any quotes you use to help others live better lives.

Her answers consisted of 2 different quotes that I thought were very interesting.

She said something like this:

"I''m a big believer in 'If you can dream it you can do it' because when you're in school you have time to dream but when you are stuck in the day to day profession sometime you forget to dream. So dreaming is important because I believe people should never give up on their dreams."

Other quote she liked:

"If you fake it you become it." because if you act like you are having a good day even though it isn't going very well you can still change the outcome of your day by acting like your happy to become happy.

I thought that this part of the interview was very interesting because with the American icons paper I talked about this continuum and my mentor Jamie fits into it as well because she tries to live happier and has quotes that she believes in.

Internship Blog #4

2. What is the biggest challenge face at your internship?

The biggest challenged faced so far is when I had actually talk to other adults for help. I have gotten to know my mentor and she isn't as intimidating anymore but I am still getting used to talking to my other kinda mentor. Jamie wasn't here so I was forced to ask him more questions and it was intimidating at first but it has gotten easier. So far that's the only challenge I have had and it's being overcome with the more I ask others for help.
I'm starting to realize that it's like an open door and I can talk to anyone in the office they all seem like they are willing to help with anything I need, even just a break to talk. :)

Internship Blog #3

3. How do you see yourself growing or changing over the course of your internship?
When I started my internship I was terrified to ask questions, so I tried my hardest not to ask any. I didn't want to bug anyone and I felt that asking questions was the number one way to do so. When I was making the first poster I kept coming across problem where I didn't know what they wanted so I sucked it up and asked my mentor what to do. It didn't seem like she had any problem with me asking questions so I just started asking more and more. I believe this is an example of how I have already grown through my internship and it is also an example of how I will still grow.
There are many adults in the office I am in and it makes me nervous talking to any of them, besides my mentor, so I am trying to push myself to ask them questions while my mentor is gone instead of waiting for her to get back. I think that her being gone is helping me learn to communicate with the other adults and it is also helping me get other opinions on my work.
By asking questions to anyone that can help I am growing by learning to communicate with people, learning to leave my comfort zone, and it is strengthening my work.
:)

Internship Blog #2

3. Describe the project you'll do at internship, including the skills and technology you need to do it and what you hope your project looks like as a final product.

For my project I will creating 5 posters that will be used for an event Coast Keeper will hold in February that is for kids in school to learn about water pollution and how things they do inland effect the ocean water. This posters will be used for years to come for this event and another organization to copy. I will be making these posters with either photoshop, indesign, or paint.net and I will be drawing and then scanning my art into the computer.
At the end of my internship when my project is complete I hope that everything looks professional and still is fun for the kids to look at. I really hope that it is something the organization will actually want to use and that Coast Keeper will appreciate my help.

Intership Blog #1

1. What are you excited about, nervous about and wondering about?

Before I got to my internship on the first day, January 5, 2011, I scared myself into thinking internship would be difficult and I wouldn't do well, or I wouldn't get along with my new "peers". I was extremely worried thing just wouldn't go well. Walking into the doors was terrifying and I almost didn't want to do it, but then I realized I was just scarring myself, I realized that I had already met my mentor Jamie, twice and it wasn't a big deal to go again and actually work. I had thought that me being there would be an inconvenience to her until I thought about it and remembered, I'm there to help them as long as I do my work and stay professional then I'll be fine and I just walked in.
I started off my day by just talking to Jamie about what we were going to do that day and I got super excited. She told me that I was going to be sitting in on a meeting with her and the Designer for Coast Keeper Miles, and I couldn't wait. I want to be a designer so getting to see one and hear what he has to deal with in the real world excited me. Jamie also told me that after the first meeting I was to go to lunch then come back to have another meeting and talk about my project for the end on the internship. This also excited me because I wasn't 100% sure what my project was going to be. The last thing Jamie said I was going to do for the day was set up my schedule for the whole internship. This made me a bit nervous because I wanted to make sure to give myself enough time to get my work done but I also didn't want to give myself too much time.
After everything I experienced on my first day I have become even more excited. The Meeting with Miles and Jamie was a great learning experience. I never realized how much work goes into the advertisement and the designing behind it. I learned that Coast Keeper pays their designer $1000 a year for one part of the designing they receive from him. I also learned that after the year is over they can submit the work they did and win awards. (Miles has one a lot) I also learned that even in the real world you have to continue to ask questions that's all Miles did because he has to hear what Coast Keeper wants and try to create it. This made me realize that designing things won't be as easy as I thought but it still seems really fun and I like the challenge. The whole meeting was interesting. It was a new way people talked to each other and I liked it. I liked that it was only the first day of internship and I was already learning. It made me excited to come back!
After the second meeting where I found out what my project was going to be. I got nervous about deadlines because it seemed like a lot of work. After I made my schedule I realized I would have enough time to finish and extra time in case something went wrong. This made me feel stupid for getting scared again and excited to begin working.