Wild trees are titans that have yet to be explored or have never been explored, much like life itself. Before the characters of The Wild Trees, Steve, Marie, and Michael, found and climbed them, nobody knew a thing about them, but the secrets of the forests were just waiting to be found. These characters touched only the edge of everything that's possible within the forests and their own personal lives, they made discoveries that would lead to more questions and discoveries about the biology of a mystery and the unpredictability of living. There is so much about the trees and themselves yet to be discovered as they progress throughout the book--things about the forest like how high the tallest tree is and if there's a limit to their magnificence. They haven't quite found those yet, as trees grow every year--and like humans, they are ever-changing. Anything is possible with these trees, just like with the lives of humans, and the characters are just reaching the outer edge of those endless possibilities.
Steve, one of the main characters that is introduced in the first chapter, did things that nobody had done before--he climbed a redwood tree without any gear, discovered the biodiversity in the canopies, and saw the significance of tall trees like Giant Sequoias and Coastal Redwoods. He found lichens and huckleberries and all sorts of things, things no one would ever think would exist up there. And as he progressed through life and up the trees, he found love and friendship with the oddest people (as Marie realized, "There was something sweet about this man who could be so kind with his strange friends, so passionate about trees." (Page 197).), all different and important like the lichens were to the tree. Without the lichen, the tree couldn't have fertilized the variety of life in its canopy--"It was a garden in the sky containing tones of dirt, along with sheets and beds of ferns, and thickets of huckleberry bushes. The canopy soil has been accumulating in Atlas for unknown numbers of centuries. It is composed of a mixture of rotting redwood needles, twigs, the roots of plants, and dust from the sky. The soil is apparently being fertilized by rotting lichens and twigs and redwood needles." (Page 149). Like the biodiversity thriving in the trees, Steve's friends were part of a chain events that helped him grow. Without them, he wouldn't have overcome his fear of heights, which he would have never thought possible when he had it, and he wouldn't have chosen the life of a biologist and explorer. Without Amanda LeBrun, he wouldn't have learned heartbreak, and if she hadn't left, he would have never met and loved Marie, who climbed beside him and propelled his career and life forward. He never thought it would be possible that his first wife would leave him, and after she did, he never thought that he would fall in love ever again. His first marriage was like the fall of Telperion, a tree he had climbed that had been tilting--he thought it would last a few more decades or centuries before it cratered, but sooner than he had ever thought possible, he had witnessed the death of a titan.
Marie, like Steve, climbed a tree without any equipment, but she was just a little girl. She never thought that she would ever become a professional tree climber, and yet she did. She grew up climbing mountains and rocks, and she didn't think she would ever fall--not until she took a forty-foot whipper and decided not to climb again. She couldn't have ever predicted that she would ever do that. And then one day, she decided almost out of the blue, that she would study trees. "While Marie Antoine had been rock climbing, she had often noticed trees growing along the cliffs. She had been able to look horizontally into their crowns, and had been close enough to some of them to almost reach out and touch them. She would often pause in climbing, staring into the trees. 'They were Douglas-firs dripping with lichens and mosses and things growing on them,'" (Page 142) this was the moment she realized she was interested in forestry. The unpredictability of her thoughts and actions--from being a sweet innocent girl who cared for a mother who unexpectedly developed bone cancer, to being a troublemaker as a kid, to becoming a daredevil in college--is almost like how trees would randomly grow extra trunks or sprout small bonsai trees. The possibilities were there, but no one ever thought of them. When she was studying Lobaria Oregania, or lettuce lungwort, she started out riding a crane and reaching out to grab the lichen from the trees. She had many questions she hoped these lichens would answer, but she also knew that the crane was only reaching the edge of the forest--there were much more lichens than just the ones in the outer-ring, and so many more possibilities existed deeper within the rain forest. "The only thing she knew for certain was that even if she spent the rest of her life studying lichen, whatever she found out about it would be almost nothing in comparison to what remained unknown about the tall temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest." (Page 179). She saw the opportunities to explore, especially when Steve offered them to her, and she took them--and she went beyond the borders of her limits and grasped the biology few others dared to grasp.
Michael, on the other hand, didn't take any risks. Like Steve, he had acrophobia, a severe fear of heights, except that in his case, "If he got too near a window on a high floor, his acrophobia would kick in and he would get an urge to jump out the window. It was as if some demon inside him were whispering, Jump, just do it--it's gonna be interesting. At those moments, he experienced an alarming sense of curiosity about what it would feel like to actually sail down through the air to his death." (Page 41). His father was a rich real estate investment company man with high expectations for his son, but Michael always did something surprising like change his name and disappointed him. Michael went to college to major in engineering after a series of indecisive events that included forestry and chess, as he had an ingenious ability to tinker with objects and come up with cool inventions. However, he never went through with it and dropped out after his father abruptly cut him off financially, and he was on his own. But as he tried to figure out his life, he saw the redwood trees and figured that the proclaimed tallest tree wasn't the tallest at all--"Michael had been walking around lots of redwood groves, and he knew that he'd seen taller trees." (Page 48).--and he decided that he would find the world's tallest tree. He also figured, "He had been around the redwoods long enough to know that in places the redwood terrain was nearly impossible to get through. . . there were no roads or trails, no easy way in. He sensed the existence of blank spots on the map of North America--along the coast of California, no less. He had a strong feeling that the most inaccessible parts of the redwood forest along the North Coast had never been thoroughly explored. The world's tallest living thing was out there, somewhere, perhaps hidden in a lost valley." (Page 49). He knew it was possible that there was a tree taller than what tour guides and signs claimed, and he spent the rest of his life searching for it. Of course, along the way, he had a few odd and boring jobs and gained a girlfriend whom he would later marry, his talent for tinkering came in handy when he created cheap measuring devices to aide him in his quest, and through a series of connections made by fate, he met Steve. And from there, without warning, the two became close friends. Michael didn't expect to be the first one to see Steve break down, or that Steve would be the one to make him climb a tree for the first time. Nor did he expect that he would actually find the world's tallest tree--he did. "Using their lasers, they estimated that Hyperion was close to 380 feet tall. . . . Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor had discovered one of the crown jewels of nature on earth." (Page 282).
Like the trees, their lives were unpredictable and even when they knew the possibilities, they never thought they would delve into the unknown as far as they did. And when they did, they found that things were new but ancient, wonderful and mysterious, beautiful as well as shocking, and exciting beyond belief--things they could have never dreamed of. The lure of secret places high above the ground had drawn them all in and helped them discover little wonders about their world and themselves, but the mysteries they solved were only the beginning. While they went beyond the edge of the possible, they created a new border, with new things yet to be discovered and new questions waiting to be answered.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Nature Essay
The Wild Trees
Preston describes the wild trees as living "at the outer limit of biology, on the edge of the possible." Many of his characters seem to also live by this concept in their lives, near-deaths and through their discoveries. Analyze how this concept manifests itself in different aspects of the story (different aspects might include setting, characters, plot, etc.).
---
Wild trees are titans that have yet to be explored or have never been explored. While they look impossible to climb, the characters of The Wild Trees, Steve and Marie and Michael, all prove that it's completely possible--they climb the trees and prove that there is life in them. Before then, nobody knew a thing about them, but the secrets of the forests were just waiting to be found. There is so much about them yet to be discovered, like how high the tallest tree is and how they grow to be that high and how old they are and if there's a limit to their magnificence. They haven't quite found it yet, as trees grow every year--and like humans, they are ever-changing. So anything is possible with these trees, just like with the lives of humans, and the characters are just reaching the outer edge of those endless possibilities at their fingertips.
Steve, one of the main characters that is introduced in the first chapter, does everything that nobody had done before--he climbed a redwood tree without any gear, and discovered the biodiversity in the canopies when he was at the height of his life. He found lichens and huckleberries and all sorts of things, things no one would ever think would exist up there. And as he progressed through life, he found love and friendship with the oddest people, all different and important like the lichens were to the tree. Without the lichen, the tree couldn't have made those patches of soil in the air that fertilized things like the huckleberry bushes. Steve's friends were part of a chain event that helped him grow. Without them, he wouldn't have overcome his fear of heights, which he would have never thought possible when he had it, and he wouldn't have chosen the life of a biologist and explorer. Without Amanda LeBrun, he wouldn't have learned heartbreak, and if she hadn't left, he would have never met and loved Marie, who climbed beside him and propelled his career and life forward. He never thought it would be possible that his first wife would leave him, and after she did, he never thought that he would fall in love ever again. He didn't think that he would drive six hours to just see her, and end up too shy to kiss her--nor did he think that he would end up marrying Marie.
Marie, like Steve, climbed a tree without any equipment, but she was just a little girl. She never thought that she would ever become a professional tree climber, and yet she did. She grew up climbing mountains and rocks, and she didn't think she would ever fall--not until she took a forty-foot whipper and decided not to climb again. She couldn't have ever predicted that she would ever do that. And then one day, she decided almost out of the blue, that she would study trees. This was when she realized that in all of her years of climbing, she hadn't been looking at the rocks or the sky, she had been looking at the trees growing on the side of the mountain. The unpredictability of her thoughts and actions--from being a sweet innocent girl who cared for a mother who unexpectedly developed bone cancer, to being a troublemaker as a kid, to becoming a daredevil in college--is almost like how trees would randomly grow extra trunks or sprout small bonsai trees. The possibilities were there, but no one ever thought of them. When she was studying Lobaria Oregania, she started out riding a crane and reaching out to grab the lichen from the trees. She had many questions she hoped these lichens would answer, but she also knew that the crane was only reaching the edge of the forest--there were much more lichens than just the ones in the outer-ring, and so many more possibilities existed deeper within the temperate rain forest. She saw the opportunities to explore and she took it--and she went beyond the borders of her limits and grasped the biology few others dared to grasp. She even did this with Steve, as she thought about different futures with him after their second meeting.
Michael, on the other hand, didn't take any risks. Like Steve, he had acrophobia, a severe fear of heights, except that in his case, whenever he was someplace high he would get this urge to jump, wondering what would happen and what it was like to fall through the air and into the arms of death. He always pushed the possibility out of his mind and never went any place high. His father was a rich real estate investment company man with high expectations for his son, but Michael always did something unexpected like change his name and disappoint him. Michael went to college to major in engineering after a series of indecisive events that included forestry and chess, as he had an ingenious ability to tinker with objects and come up with cool inventions. However, he never went through with it and dropped out when his father unexpectedly cut him off financially, and he was on his own. But as he tried to figure out his life, he saw the redwood trees and figured that many areas of the map were blank where these giants grew, and that the proclaimed tallest tree wasn't the tallest at all--and he decided that he would find the world's tallest tree. He knew it was possible that there was a tree taller than what tour guides and signs claimed, and he spent the rest of his life searching for it. Of course, along the way, he had a few odd and boring jobs and gained a girlfriend whom he would later marry, and through a series of connections made by fate, he met Steve. And from there, without warning, the two became close friends. Michael didn't expect to be the first one to see Steve break down, or that Steve would be the one to make him climb a tree for the first time. Nor did he expect that he would actually find the world's tallest tree--he did.
Like the trees, their lives were unpredictable and even when they knew the possibilities, they never thought they would delve into the unknown as far as they did. And when they did, they found that things were new but ancient, wonderful and mysterious, beautiful as well as shocking, and exciting beyond belief--things they could have never dreamed of. The lure of secret places high above the ground had drawn them all in, and the mysteries they solved were only the beginning. While they went beyond the edge of the possible, they created a new border, with new things yet to be discovered and new questions waiting to be answered.
Preston describes the wild trees as living "at the outer limit of biology, on the edge of the possible." Many of his characters seem to also live by this concept in their lives, near-deaths and through their discoveries. Analyze how this concept manifests itself in different aspects of the story (different aspects might include setting, characters, plot, etc.).
---
Wild trees are titans that have yet to be explored or have never been explored. While they look impossible to climb, the characters of The Wild Trees, Steve and Marie and Michael, all prove that it's completely possible--they climb the trees and prove that there is life in them. Before then, nobody knew a thing about them, but the secrets of the forests were just waiting to be found. There is so much about them yet to be discovered, like how high the tallest tree is and how they grow to be that high and how old they are and if there's a limit to their magnificence. They haven't quite found it yet, as trees grow every year--and like humans, they are ever-changing. So anything is possible with these trees, just like with the lives of humans, and the characters are just reaching the outer edge of those endless possibilities at their fingertips.
Steve, one of the main characters that is introduced in the first chapter, does everything that nobody had done before--he climbed a redwood tree without any gear, and discovered the biodiversity in the canopies when he was at the height of his life. He found lichens and huckleberries and all sorts of things, things no one would ever think would exist up there. And as he progressed through life, he found love and friendship with the oddest people, all different and important like the lichens were to the tree. Without the lichen, the tree couldn't have made those patches of soil in the air that fertilized things like the huckleberry bushes. Steve's friends were part of a chain event that helped him grow. Without them, he wouldn't have overcome his fear of heights, which he would have never thought possible when he had it, and he wouldn't have chosen the life of a biologist and explorer. Without Amanda LeBrun, he wouldn't have learned heartbreak, and if she hadn't left, he would have never met and loved Marie, who climbed beside him and propelled his career and life forward. He never thought it would be possible that his first wife would leave him, and after she did, he never thought that he would fall in love ever again. He didn't think that he would drive six hours to just see her, and end up too shy to kiss her--nor did he think that he would end up marrying Marie.
Marie, like Steve, climbed a tree without any equipment, but she was just a little girl. She never thought that she would ever become a professional tree climber, and yet she did. She grew up climbing mountains and rocks, and she didn't think she would ever fall--not until she took a forty-foot whipper and decided not to climb again. She couldn't have ever predicted that she would ever do that. And then one day, she decided almost out of the blue, that she would study trees. This was when she realized that in all of her years of climbing, she hadn't been looking at the rocks or the sky, she had been looking at the trees growing on the side of the mountain. The unpredictability of her thoughts and actions--from being a sweet innocent girl who cared for a mother who unexpectedly developed bone cancer, to being a troublemaker as a kid, to becoming a daredevil in college--is almost like how trees would randomly grow extra trunks or sprout small bonsai trees. The possibilities were there, but no one ever thought of them. When she was studying Lobaria Oregania, she started out riding a crane and reaching out to grab the lichen from the trees. She had many questions she hoped these lichens would answer, but she also knew that the crane was only reaching the edge of the forest--there were much more lichens than just the ones in the outer-ring, and so many more possibilities existed deeper within the temperate rain forest. She saw the opportunities to explore and she took it--and she went beyond the borders of her limits and grasped the biology few others dared to grasp. She even did this with Steve, as she thought about different futures with him after their second meeting.
Michael, on the other hand, didn't take any risks. Like Steve, he had acrophobia, a severe fear of heights, except that in his case, whenever he was someplace high he would get this urge to jump, wondering what would happen and what it was like to fall through the air and into the arms of death. He always pushed the possibility out of his mind and never went any place high. His father was a rich real estate investment company man with high expectations for his son, but Michael always did something unexpected like change his name and disappoint him. Michael went to college to major in engineering after a series of indecisive events that included forestry and chess, as he had an ingenious ability to tinker with objects and come up with cool inventions. However, he never went through with it and dropped out when his father unexpectedly cut him off financially, and he was on his own. But as he tried to figure out his life, he saw the redwood trees and figured that many areas of the map were blank where these giants grew, and that the proclaimed tallest tree wasn't the tallest at all--and he decided that he would find the world's tallest tree. He knew it was possible that there was a tree taller than what tour guides and signs claimed, and he spent the rest of his life searching for it. Of course, along the way, he had a few odd and boring jobs and gained a girlfriend whom he would later marry, and through a series of connections made by fate, he met Steve. And from there, without warning, the two became close friends. Michael didn't expect to be the first one to see Steve break down, or that Steve would be the one to make him climb a tree for the first time. Nor did he expect that he would actually find the world's tallest tree--he did.
Like the trees, their lives were unpredictable and even when they knew the possibilities, they never thought they would delve into the unknown as far as they did. And when they did, they found that things were new but ancient, wonderful and mysterious, beautiful as well as shocking, and exciting beyond belief--things they could have never dreamed of. The lure of secret places high above the ground had drawn them all in, and the mysteries they solved were only the beginning. While they went beyond the edge of the possible, they created a new border, with new things yet to be discovered and new questions waiting to be answered.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Nature Writing
The Wild Trees
Choose two of the following: 1 and 3
1. How did you react to the idea that even in the 21st century, there are still parts of California (and the world) that are completely undiscovered? What does this make you think & feel?
At first I thought, "Oh, there are plenty of places in the world that are undiscovered--like the sea", but then as I read on I was sucked into this whole different world--it was a forest growing inside of a forest high up in the air and I thought, "I want to see that!" and it made me wonder if there were other places like that. I doubt there's anything like that underwater, unless they've got little humans or something living down there, then that would be something to see. Or mermaids. Anyway, as I read through the book, I kept wondering if any animals would show up, but there weren't many that I knew--there were little shrimp, which completely surprised me and made me stare for a while at the picture in the book, and they looked more like ticks than shrimp. And they talked about rain forests and jungles and stuff too, but I had to wonder if those were as explored as these redwood trees were. Were there life in those trees? Was there a hanging garden somewhere in Asia too? Or even Africa. It makes me excited and I wonder how beautiful it will be when it is discovered.
2. Preston describes the wild trees as living "at the outer limit of biology, on the edge of the possible." Many of his characters seem to also live by this concept in their lives, near-deaths and through their discoveries. Analyze how this concept manifests itself in different aspects of the story, and how it might play out in the future of environmentalism.
Wild trees are titans that have yet to be explored, and while they look completely impossible, an able-bodied and knowledgeable person can climb it--it is possible. The characters, Steve and Marie and Michael, all prove it--they climb the trees and prove that there is life and that there is so much yet to be discovered, like how high the tallest tree is and how they grow to be that high and how old they are and if there's a limit to their magnificence. They haven't quite found it yet, as trees grow every year and like humans, they are ever-changing.
3. Before people started exploring the tree canopies, many people assumed it was like a desert up there (barren of life). It turned out to more like a coral reef (teeming with biodiversity). Why were so many people so wrong? Why did they make the wrong assumption? What lessons should we learn from these discoveries?
I think a lot of people just didn't know that a whole different type of tree could grow on another type of tree, or that berries or shrimp or worms or salamanders could survive and thrive all the way up there. A regular tree that we can see in our front yards or along the streets or anywhere else, they don't have miniature bonsai trees growing off of them, they don't make smaller copies of themselves and get wider as they go up. The thing is though, from below, nobody could see into the canopy of the redwood trees, and so they couldn't even guess the magnificence of it. All they saw were leaves and bark--they didn't see a brownish spot crawling around or that the leaves belonged to different trees or that berries and fir needles and lichens fell into little plots and fertilized it as if it were the ground. It's human nature to jump to conclusions, and once they do, it takes the impossible to prove to them that their assumption was wrong.
Choose two of the following: 1 and 3
1. How did you react to the idea that even in the 21st century, there are still parts of California (and the world) that are completely undiscovered? What does this make you think & feel?
At first I thought, "Oh, there are plenty of places in the world that are undiscovered--like the sea", but then as I read on I was sucked into this whole different world--it was a forest growing inside of a forest high up in the air and I thought, "I want to see that!" and it made me wonder if there were other places like that. I doubt there's anything like that underwater, unless they've got little humans or something living down there, then that would be something to see. Or mermaids. Anyway, as I read through the book, I kept wondering if any animals would show up, but there weren't many that I knew--there were little shrimp, which completely surprised me and made me stare for a while at the picture in the book, and they looked more like ticks than shrimp. And they talked about rain forests and jungles and stuff too, but I had to wonder if those were as explored as these redwood trees were. Were there life in those trees? Was there a hanging garden somewhere in Asia too? Or even Africa. It makes me excited and I wonder how beautiful it will be when it is discovered.
2. Preston describes the wild trees as living "at the outer limit of biology, on the edge of the possible." Many of his characters seem to also live by this concept in their lives, near-deaths and through their discoveries. Analyze how this concept manifests itself in different aspects of the story, and how it might play out in the future of environmentalism.
Wild trees are titans that have yet to be explored, and while they look completely impossible, an able-bodied and knowledgeable person can climb it--it is possible. The characters, Steve and Marie and Michael, all prove it--they climb the trees and prove that there is life and that there is so much yet to be discovered, like how high the tallest tree is and how they grow to be that high and how old they are and if there's a limit to their magnificence. They haven't quite found it yet, as trees grow every year and like humans, they are ever-changing.
3. Before people started exploring the tree canopies, many people assumed it was like a desert up there (barren of life). It turned out to more like a coral reef (teeming with biodiversity). Why were so many people so wrong? Why did they make the wrong assumption? What lessons should we learn from these discoveries?
I think a lot of people just didn't know that a whole different type of tree could grow on another type of tree, or that berries or shrimp or worms or salamanders could survive and thrive all the way up there. A regular tree that we can see in our front yards or along the streets or anywhere else, they don't have miniature bonsai trees growing off of them, they don't make smaller copies of themselves and get wider as they go up. The thing is though, from below, nobody could see into the canopy of the redwood trees, and so they couldn't even guess the magnificence of it. All they saw were leaves and bark--they didn't see a brownish spot crawling around or that the leaves belonged to different trees or that berries and fir needles and lichens fell into little plots and fertilized it as if it were the ground. It's human nature to jump to conclusions, and once they do, it takes the impossible to prove to them that their assumption was wrong.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Contest
1. Post a link to the contest
2. Summarize the basic requirements including entry fees, contest deadlines, permission forms, file sizes, and other requirements.
It's free, the deadline is Dec 2, you need an account, and the file requirements are 4MB max, JPEG (or GIF), and 5 images max. There doesn't really seem to be a theme other than nature. And apparently you need to be 18+ years of age...
3. Evaluate your work against their requirements. Will your work be accepted?
I'm not the right age but I'll try to enter anyway. I meet thee size requirements (I had to make some smaller actually).
---
1. Post a link to the contest
2. Summarize the basic requirements including entry fees, contest deadlines, permission forms, file sizes, and other requirements.
It doesn't seem to have a deadline, but seeing as it's a contest for 2010, I'm guessing that it will be open till then. There is an online submission form. The theme is ocean views, up to 20 images can be submitted, and it costs 25$. The images must be Low Resolution Jpeg files (500 KB max), approximately 6" on the longest side at 72 pixels per inch (ppi), colorspace RGB (ProPhoto or LAB color space is preferred), and 16-bit.
It also says "Identify each electronic image file with your First and Last name. Use an underscore to separate the brief species name and location. Make sure the file name ends in .jpg." like "DavyJones_Orca_PugetSound.jpg" so I think mine would be something like "LynnLe_Heron_LaPlayaBay_SanDiego.jpg".
They also ask for a background of the photo: Title (name of subject), Location, a Caption, Camera details, Lens manufacturer, Aperture, ISO setting (for digital cameras), Flash, Tripod and Head, and Other.
3. Evaluate your work against their requirements. Will your work be accepted?
I can probably enter the "All living things that depend upon the oceans: fish, mammals, birds, plants, etc., in or near the water", "Natural feeding, breeding, and other behavior", or "People enjoying the ocean environment" categories with two of my essay photos, and I can easily meet the size requirements with Photoshop. I can also submit a bunch of other photos I took that I didn't use. ---
1. Post a link to the contest
2. Summarize the basic requirements including entry fees, contest deadlines, permission forms, file sizes, and other requirements.
Parental consent is needed for anyone under 18.
Picture of the month/week: up to 2 photos, any theme related to nature, JPEGs 500 KB max at 72 ppi.
Photos, Features, and Stories/Assignments: Up to 20 photos (the document says 20, the website says 5), digital manipulation must be disclosed in the caption, High Resolution JPEGs 500KB max at 72 ppi, 12" on the longest side, and "save each photo and name it with your first and last name and a very brief
description (example: JaneSmiley_butterfly.jpg)".
description (example: JaneSmiley_butterfly.jpg)".
3. Evaluate your work against their requirements. Will your work be accepted?
For "Photos, Features, and Stories" I think I can enter the "Essay or Features", "Photography in Action", or "The Green Pages" category.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Great Gatsby!
1. Describe and analyze the significance of the last line of The Great Gatsby.
The last line of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." In my own words, I interpret this to mean that no matter what, we move forward in life and time, always having obstacles like the currents to push us back, but sometimes when things are hard we never fail to fall carelessly back to a place we had once been most comfortable. In another sense, we live and overcome obstacles, but in the end we inevitably return to the earth in whence we came. There is a certain everyone walks in, and many characters in the novel walk these different kinds of circles, pushing forward and bearing the past, starting over and over again.
The narrator, Nick Carraway, moved to New York in the beginning of the book. He had been bored with his life in the west after the war, so he challenged himself to find something more exciting. He found probably more than he bargained for when he moved to the West Egg of Long Island and met Jay Gatsby. He never expected to meet another man of the west, whose loyalty and ambition would perplex him. Jay Gatsby, whose real name is James Gatz as revealed in the beginning of chapter six, has a mysterious past and fortune that Nick would discover after many "lies" and not-quite truths, which are yet more obstacles in their friendship. At first, the suspicious and untrustworthy new-money aristocrat was just being judged, and by the end, Nick called himself Gatsby's close friend and was one of few to attend his funeral after trying so hard to get someone else to come too. After that, he returned home to Minnesota.
Nick's cousin and her husband, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, run in a different kind of loop. Their materialism leads them to move from the western city of Chicago to the elegant East Egg, where Daisy is eventually reunited with her past love, Jay Gatsby. Previously, in her present, she is married to Tom, but she ignores that small detail and has an affair with Gatsby anyway. In the end, she returns to her bliss of ignorance and materialistic life with Tom and leaves Gatsby to fall. Tom, on the other hand, married Daisy and cheated on her, but in the end, also returned to the same thing. In the last scene where Tom is seen in chapter nine, the materialism shows when he enters a jewelry store. Nick also describes the Buchanans as careless, because afterward they almost completely forget about the whole affair with Gatsby, though they may just be putting it in the back of their minds and ignoring it, moving on. Though Tom still seems a bit pained by the loss of his mistress, for the last thing he says in the novel is, "And if you think I didn't have my share of suffering--look here, when I went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard I sat down and cried like a baby. By God it was awful...." He is similar to Gatsby in the way that his heart is stuck in the past... and that kept his mind returning to the thought of loving Myrtle relentlessly, despite the fact that he stayed married to Daisy.
Gatsby, on the other hand, went through both a normal cycle of life and death, though a short-lived one, as well as a ring of time. This young man was on the threshold of life, rich with parties that hollow people came to and young with dreams that were so close yet so far away. He lived to the fullest and more, and in the end, having nothing left to do but die after losing the one thing he had ever wanted so dearly in his life, he died. However, his life, his mind, and his heart were trapped in a small eternity, longing to recapture the moment that a young Daisy had captured his heart. His wish drove everything he did, which created a wealthy and materialistic future for him, but after Daisy's careless ignorance and rejection, his dream crumbled some time before his body did. And at his funeral, he returned not only to the earth and heavens, he returned to being James Gatz. His father Henry Gatz gave life to him, and after he abandoned his name to be surrounded by hundreds of people he didn't even know, his father still came to his death.
So, as life goes on, so does the past in the minds of man. These four characters reached their end. It was the end of their wonder, their feelings, their memories, their lives... and ironically, with the end of the great Gatsby, their circle.
The last line of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." In my own words, I interpret this to mean that no matter what, we move forward in life and time, always having obstacles like the currents to push us back, but sometimes when things are hard we never fail to fall carelessly back to a place we had once been most comfortable. In another sense, we live and overcome obstacles, but in the end we inevitably return to the earth in whence we came. There is a certain everyone walks in, and many characters in the novel walk these different kinds of circles, pushing forward and bearing the past, starting over and over again.
The narrator, Nick Carraway, moved to New York in the beginning of the book. He had been bored with his life in the west after the war, so he challenged himself to find something more exciting. He found probably more than he bargained for when he moved to the West Egg of Long Island and met Jay Gatsby. He never expected to meet another man of the west, whose loyalty and ambition would perplex him. Jay Gatsby, whose real name is James Gatz as revealed in the beginning of chapter six, has a mysterious past and fortune that Nick would discover after many "lies" and not-quite truths, which are yet more obstacles in their friendship. At first, the suspicious and untrustworthy new-money aristocrat was just being judged, and by the end, Nick called himself Gatsby's close friend and was one of few to attend his funeral after trying so hard to get someone else to come too. After that, he returned home to Minnesota.
Nick's cousin and her husband, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, run in a different kind of loop. Their materialism leads them to move from the western city of Chicago to the elegant East Egg, where Daisy is eventually reunited with her past love, Jay Gatsby. Previously, in her present, she is married to Tom, but she ignores that small detail and has an affair with Gatsby anyway. In the end, she returns to her bliss of ignorance and materialistic life with Tom and leaves Gatsby to fall. Tom, on the other hand, married Daisy and cheated on her, but in the end, also returned to the same thing. In the last scene where Tom is seen in chapter nine, the materialism shows when he enters a jewelry store. Nick also describes the Buchanans as careless, because afterward they almost completely forget about the whole affair with Gatsby, though they may just be putting it in the back of their minds and ignoring it, moving on. Though Tom still seems a bit pained by the loss of his mistress, for the last thing he says in the novel is, "And if you think I didn't have my share of suffering--look here, when I went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard I sat down and cried like a baby. By God it was awful...." He is similar to Gatsby in the way that his heart is stuck in the past... and that kept his mind returning to the thought of loving Myrtle relentlessly, despite the fact that he stayed married to Daisy.
Gatsby, on the other hand, went through both a normal cycle of life and death, though a short-lived one, as well as a ring of time. This young man was on the threshold of life, rich with parties that hollow people came to and young with dreams that were so close yet so far away. He lived to the fullest and more, and in the end, having nothing left to do but die after losing the one thing he had ever wanted so dearly in his life, he died. However, his life, his mind, and his heart were trapped in a small eternity, longing to recapture the moment that a young Daisy had captured his heart. His wish drove everything he did, which created a wealthy and materialistic future for him, but after Daisy's careless ignorance and rejection, his dream crumbled some time before his body did. And at his funeral, he returned not only to the earth and heavens, he returned to being James Gatz. His father Henry Gatz gave life to him, and after he abandoned his name to be surrounded by hundreds of people he didn't even know, his father still came to his death.
So, as life goes on, so does the past in the minds of man. These four characters reached their end. It was the end of their wonder, their feelings, their memories, their lives... and ironically, with the end of the great Gatsby, their circle.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
More Current Events
1) http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Sewage-Spill-from-Mission-Valley-to-Ocean-Beach/qWYuIGp6oEeMp2ZNMf20lQ.cspx
This article talks about a sewage spill that had the areas along the San Diego River and the river mouth under advisory for high bacteria levels. Quote: By the time city crews got the problem under control about an hour later, roughly 1,370 gallons of sewage had spilled into a storm drain that empties into the San Diego River.
2) http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/23/group-removes-one-million-pounds-trash-san-diego-r/
Almost 1 million pounds of trash removed from San Diego River over a course of 4 years. Quote: "We like to say that the river is clean but it's not healthy," Hutsel says. "And what that means is that we really don't have a lot of pollution coming into the river but we've re-engineered the river over the last 50 years and so it doesn't function very well."
3) http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/carlsbad/article_8c9f6629-da9f-581c-bd6e-97c49b257358.html
An article about how pipelines need an environmental assessment because they aren't actually that good or useful. Quote: Project proponents have said that the proposed plant will give the arid San Diego region a secure source of locally produced drinking water, while opponents have said that the desalination equipment will prolong the life of an aging, water-cooled power plant and cause environmental harm.
4) http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/11/05/environment/muck/795waterdeal110409.txt
Talks about 5 bills that would grant San Diego a 11.1 billion dollar bond package for water deals/plans/projects, 20 million going to the San Diego River if the bills are passed. Quote: One of the bond's biggest beneficiaries locally would be the San Diego River Conservancy, which works to restore the river stretching from Ocean Beach to Julian. The bond package would provide it a $20 million grant. Another $107 million would be directed to as-yet unspecified supply projects in the region.
5) http://sandiegonewsroom.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37822:redevelopment-of-qualcomm-stadium&catid=110:city-of-san-diego&Itemid=34
Talks about redeveloping the Qualcomm stadium area as a conservatory site for preservation of the San Diego river (or at least, it's one option to use the area for). Quote: Rob Hutsel of the San Diego River Coalition emphasized that the site is prime for 40 acres of public parks which are contemplated under the community plan but don’t exist. Similarly, Kathy Keehan of the San Diego Bicycle Coalition called for the River Conservancy to preserve the site for the benefit of the San Diego River.
This article talks about a sewage spill that had the areas along the San Diego River and the river mouth under advisory for high bacteria levels. Quote: By the time city crews got the problem under control about an hour later, roughly 1,370 gallons of sewage had spilled into a storm drain that empties into the San Diego River.
2) http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/23/group-removes-one-million-pounds-trash-san-diego-r/
Almost 1 million pounds of trash removed from San Diego River over a course of 4 years. Quote: "We like to say that the river is clean but it's not healthy," Hutsel says. "And what that means is that we really don't have a lot of pollution coming into the river but we've re-engineered the river over the last 50 years and so it doesn't function very well."
3) http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/carlsbad/article_8c9f6629-da9f-581c-bd6e-97c49b257358.html
An article about how pipelines need an environmental assessment because they aren't actually that good or useful. Quote: Project proponents have said that the proposed plant will give the arid San Diego region a secure source of locally produced drinking water, while opponents have said that the desalination equipment will prolong the life of an aging, water-cooled power plant and cause environmental harm.
4) http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2009/11/05/environment/muck/795waterdeal110409.txt
Talks about 5 bills that would grant San Diego a 11.1 billion dollar bond package for water deals/plans/projects, 20 million going to the San Diego River if the bills are passed. Quote: One of the bond's biggest beneficiaries locally would be the San Diego River Conservancy, which works to restore the river stretching from Ocean Beach to Julian. The bond package would provide it a $20 million grant. Another $107 million would be directed to as-yet unspecified supply projects in the region.
5) http://sandiegonewsroom.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37822:redevelopment-of-qualcomm-stadium&catid=110:city-of-san-diego&Itemid=34
Talks about redeveloping the Qualcomm stadium area as a conservatory site for preservation of the San Diego river (or at least, it's one option to use the area for). Quote: Rob Hutsel of the San Diego River Coalition emphasized that the site is prime for 40 acres of public parks which are contemplated under the community plan but don’t exist. Similarly, Kathy Keehan of the San Diego Bicycle Coalition called for the River Conservancy to preserve the site for the benefit of the San Diego River.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Environmental Current Events
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/23/group-removes-one-million-pounds-trash-san-diego-r/
1. Summarize the event.
Almost 1 million pounds of trash removed from San Diego River over a course of 4 years. The San Diego River Park Foundation spends 30 weekends a year cleaning up, and they take 5 thousand pounds of trash each month.
2. What is the most important info presented in the story?
Over time, the river is being cleaned up but it's not healthy yet.
3. What info is missing?
Where exactly the trash comes from--people dumping garbage? Runoff? Where do the outrageous/bizarre things like shopping carts and slot machines come from? What other trashes are picked up, or is it just the big noticeable things?
4. How does this info play into your MSB work?
I'm researching about how the river is polluted and how it's cleaned up.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
MSB Organizations
1. Name of organization: San Diego Clean Beach Coalition
2. Mission statement (copy/paste from their site).
SDCBC objectives include: creating awareness of the resources available for beachgoers to properly dispose of their trash during holiday celebrations, educating the community about pollution prevention through our “Don’t Forget” media campaign, increasing recycling, and educating people planning to visit the beaches about the rules and regulations at local beaches.
Pick two of the following:
3a. An important interaction with a local city or county government agency.
3b. An important interaction with a state government agency.
3c. An important interaction with a federal government agency.
"The coalition is a joint partnership between I Love A Clean San Diego, San Diego Coastkeeper, the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, FreePB.org, and City of San Diego lifeguards, police, and park rangers." - http://cleanbeachcoalition.org/2009/06/25/trash-and-recycle-bins-on-local-beaches-ready-for-holiday-crowds/
Various agencies there.
Links: http://www.surfridersd.org/ , http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org/ , http://cleansd.org/ , http://www.freepb.org/
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1. Name of organization: San Diego Coastkeeper
2. Mission statement (copy/paste from their site).
San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. We balance community outreach, education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem.
3. Interact with and teach schools. http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org/content/programs/education/overview.htm
"We are mobilizing citizens to support the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and aid the State’s efforts to create a series of marine reserves along the California coast by 2011." - http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org/content/programs/marineCon/overview.htm
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Great Gatsby 2
Gatsby seems to be detached from his surroundings in the way that he doesn't really care what goes on around him. People whisper about him, they party at his house and he doesn't even know them, and he's very nonchalant about everything in general. I think that's because he only has one goal in mind--he wants to meet Daisy or have her come to his party or just talk to her. That's all he can think about, that's his motive for doing everything or anything--buying his house across the bay, having parties where anybody can attend, and befriending Daisy's past bridesmaid and cousin.
Nick is detached in the way that he acts as a neutral character in all of this. His only role is supposed to be that he knows all the characters involved in the situation, not that he's actually a part of it. He's nonchalant like Gatsby, as well as nonjudgmental--or at least, he claims to be. He also doesn't seem to care much about the characters because they're mostly strangers to him, and he doesn't care about his surroundings because he really could care less. I'd hate and neglect a shack of a home too (he describes it as an eyesore made of cardboard).
Nick is detached in the way that he acts as a neutral character in all of this. His only role is supposed to be that he knows all the characters involved in the situation, not that he's actually a part of it. He's nonchalant like Gatsby, as well as nonjudgmental--or at least, he claims to be. He also doesn't seem to care much about the characters because they're mostly strangers to him, and he doesn't care about his surroundings because he really could care less. I'd hate and neglect a shack of a home too (he describes it as an eyesore made of cardboard).
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Great Gatsby 1
1. Who is the narrator? Describe his perspective, biases, character traits, etc.
Nick Carraway. He says he's not judgmental and seems unbiased, but sometimes I feel like he's contradicting himself. Like when his friend hadn't heard of the bonds he was working in, he said it annoyed him in the narration. If he was nonjudgmental, he would have been more like, "I expected this to happen" or something. Other than that, he seems like an experienced man who isn't comfortable on an awkward subject--he's always trying to change the subject or lighten things up when things get tense.
2. What do you think F. Scott Fiitzgerald accomplishes by chooses this specific narrator versus another choice, such as a different character or 3rd person?
By telling the story from the point of view of a character not quite involved in the situation other than knowing all of the people involved. Other than that, I'd think that he does nothing to interfere. Not only that, he's pointed out that he's an unbiased person.
By telling the story from the point of view of a character not quite involved in the situation other than knowing all of the people involved. Other than that, I'd think that he does nothing to interfere. Not only that, he's pointed out that he's an unbiased person.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Critiquing Professional Examples
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/mlk/index.html
1. This photo essay about Martin Luther King Jr. is good because the the organization is structured and easy to understand. The photos are on separate pages, the links to the pages are easy to find, and when the image is portrait or landscape the caption is shifted to accommodate it so the page doesn't stretch. I like all these things.
2. All of the captions and pictures are about MLK Jr., so it's clear that it's about him. The quotes are his own words of peace and equality and the future, and they're not just the renowned "I have a dream" speech.
3. I think it's for anybody looking for quotes and inspiration from MLK Jr., but it's not really clear who exactly it's for. It seems like it's just for anybody.
4. The photos are in the order that shows how MLK Jr. is a father and an inspiring man, but in the end there's a picture of his son near his grave. It shows his integrity, determination, and his passion for his beliefs simply in his expressions. The gray scale and contrast help the effects even more.
5. The contrast shows deep shadows, black and white, separate but in one picture. It shows MLK Jr. in a serious sense rather than a light one, because that's what he was. They showed truth and reality through just one person and one child.
6. Because it caught my eye. The quotes are short and simple, the setup was ideal. If I were to take something away from this, it would be the setup and the style of photography.
1. This photo essay about Martin Luther King Jr. is good because the the organization is structured and easy to understand. The photos are on separate pages, the links to the pages are easy to find, and when the image is portrait or landscape the caption is shifted to accommodate it so the page doesn't stretch. I like all these things.
2. All of the captions and pictures are about MLK Jr., so it's clear that it's about him. The quotes are his own words of peace and equality and the future, and they're not just the renowned "I have a dream" speech.
3. I think it's for anybody looking for quotes and inspiration from MLK Jr., but it's not really clear who exactly it's for. It seems like it's just for anybody.
4. The photos are in the order that shows how MLK Jr. is a father and an inspiring man, but in the end there's a picture of his son near his grave. It shows his integrity, determination, and his passion for his beliefs simply in his expressions. The gray scale and contrast help the effects even more.
5. The contrast shows deep shadows, black and white, separate but in one picture. It shows MLK Jr. in a serious sense rather than a light one, because that's what he was. They showed truth and reality through just one person and one child.
6. Because it caught my eye. The quotes are short and simple, the setup was ideal. If I were to take something away from this, it would be the setup and the style of photography.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Industrialization Newspaper and MSB
I learned about writing news and I got to practice InDesign, which I might use to format my photo essay. I think I worked well with others too, so that if I need help I can ask one of my classmates.
Friday, October 23, 2009
People, groups, and organizations
Surfrider
http://www.surfrider.org/
Someone who can talk about how the pollution affects the life that surrounds it (people or marine life), to answer the subquestion "how does it pollute us?"
Heal The Bay
http://www.healthebay.org/
They do a lot of beach cleanups and water monitoring, so maybe someone can tell us about how polluted the water gets and how long it takes to clean it up or what ways it can be prevented. This can answer two of the subquestions.
Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant: Doug Campbell
http://www.sandiego.gov/mwwd/facilities/ptloma.shtml
Last year he taught the Sewer Science lab in 10th grade, and I thought he'd be a good person to interview and ask about sewage spills. He can probably answer my essential question.
---
The Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant is run by the government, I think, and a lot of their sewage might affect the ocean waters. I might interview Doug Campbell, who teaches a program about how sewage is cleaned up at the plant. He might influence my project.
Think Blue might be another government run agency that would probably influence my project. Their mission involved reducing storm drain pollution. Maybe my product can help their program.
The San Diego City council might be put into consideration as well. I've been thinking for a while about ways to influence or motivate people to go to beach cleanups or help organizations like Heal the Bay so that it would be beneficial to them, and I thought, "What if there could be a tax reduction or something? If people cleaned up the beach and got something out of it, maybe they would do it more often." So if I can further this idea to reduce pollution, and find a way to present it to the council, they might pass it.
http://www.surfrider.org/
Someone who can talk about how the pollution affects the life that surrounds it (people or marine life), to answer the subquestion "how does it pollute us?"
Heal The Bay
http://www.healthebay.org/
They do a lot of beach cleanups and water monitoring, so maybe someone can tell us about how polluted the water gets and how long it takes to clean it up or what ways it can be prevented. This can answer two of the subquestions.
Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant: Doug Campbell
http://www.sandiego.gov/mwwd/facilities/ptloma.shtml
Last year he taught the Sewer Science lab in 10th grade, and I thought he'd be a good person to interview and ask about sewage spills. He can probably answer my essential question.
---
The Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant is run by the government, I think, and a lot of their sewage might affect the ocean waters. I might interview Doug Campbell, who teaches a program about how sewage is cleaned up at the plant. He might influence my project.
Think Blue might be another government run agency that would probably influence my project. Their mission involved reducing storm drain pollution. Maybe my product can help their program.
The San Diego City council might be put into consideration as well. I've been thinking for a while about ways to influence or motivate people to go to beach cleanups or help organizations like Heal the Bay so that it would be beneficial to them, and I thought, "What if there could be a tax reduction or something? If people cleaned up the beach and got something out of it, maybe they would do it more often." So if I can further this idea to reduce pollution, and find a way to present it to the council, they might pass it.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Comments, plans, critiques, etc.
http://nastudies.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-15-possible-msb-products.html
From Nikita's possible products post, I realized/learned/thought.... Maybe I should think about more details for my art project, like she did. She talked about certain stages, and specific parts of her examples to use.
http://kimloveseleni.blogspot.com/2009/10/idea-2.html
From Kim's second idea, I realized/learned/thought.... it might be good to try something I've never done before, like her. I've never seriously tried to paint any scenery, so I might be doing that. Her example makes me realize that I should pay attention to details too, like if I'm doing a photo essay I should be wary about what's in the background of my photo.
http://maalexander.blogspot.com/2009/10/possible-media-saves-beach-products.html
From Marcus's post, I realized/learned/thought.... that my product should be easy on the eyes and easy to understand. I'll think about ways to make my product simpler or easier to understand.
From Nikita's possible products post, I realized/learned/thought.... Maybe I should think about more details for my art project, like she did. She talked about certain stages, and specific parts of her examples to use.
http://kimloveseleni.blogspot.com/2009/10/idea-2.html
From Kim's second idea, I realized/learned/thought.... it might be good to try something I've never done before, like her. I've never seriously tried to paint any scenery, so I might be doing that. Her example makes me realize that I should pay attention to details too, like if I'm doing a photo essay I should be wary about what's in the background of my photo.
http://maalexander.blogspot.com/2009/10/possible-media-saves-beach-products.html
From Marcus's post, I realized/learned/thought.... that my product should be easy on the eyes and easy to understand. I'll think about ways to make my product simpler or easier to understand.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Possible MSB Products
One possible product is a graphic design poster or a painting/canvas about the pollutants in the sea, possibly a photo manipulation. It can show a time line of how pollutants enter the sea and what happens afterward (if it's cleaned up or degrades). I talked to Nikita and we might do a joint art, so that if her art is put next to mine, the river mouth of the product will lead to another image of a human body and how the pollutants affect it.
(Source: http://www.surfrider.org/portland/blog/archive/2008_09_01_archive.html, http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/newsroom/print.aspx?id=105)
This is a simple but affective photomanipulation and a complex painting. Both were to promote cleaning waters or keeping clean environments. Mine probably won't be as complex a painting if I decide to do an art piece like that, but I'll try my best. I'd paint the water and maybe some marine life, along with trash and murkiness. If I do a photomanipulation like the Rise Above Plastic image, I think a simple but clear picture of the concept would serve well as a final product.
The second idea is a photo essay. I think photos can portray the concept really well, and it might be easy to get the photos of pollution in the ocean or at least of a sewage treatment plant.
(Source: http://envis.maharashtra.gov.in/envis_data/files/news/jul/pollution%20management.html)
This is a good photo of a sewage pipe, it has good composition and lighting and all that stuff. It portrays pollution in a disgusting way, but it's effective in sending a message. There's a LOT of sewage! If I can find a place like this, I can probably get a lot of good photos for a photo essay. I should remember the rules of photography like the rule of thirds and macro and such for this too. A clear message using just pictures would be a good thing too.
This is a simple but affective photomanipulation and a complex painting. Both were to promote cleaning waters or keeping clean environments. Mine probably won't be as complex a painting if I decide to do an art piece like that, but I'll try my best. I'd paint the water and maybe some marine life, along with trash and murkiness. If I do a photomanipulation like the Rise Above Plastic image, I think a simple but clear picture of the concept would serve well as a final product.
The second idea is a photo essay. I think photos can portray the concept really well, and it might be easy to get the photos of pollution in the ocean or at least of a sewage treatment plant.
This is a good photo of a sewage pipe, it has good composition and lighting and all that stuff. It portrays pollution in a disgusting way, but it's effective in sending a message. There's a LOT of sewage! If I can find a place like this, I can probably get a lot of good photos for a photo essay. I should remember the rules of photography like the rule of thirds and macro and such for this too. A clear message using just pictures would be a good thing too.
MSB Questions and Resources
1.Why and/or how does water get contaminated/polluted?
2. How long does it last? How can it be reversed/fixed (do people clean it up)? How does the water pollute us?
3. Sewer Science Teachers (Point Loma Sewage Treatment Plant?), Surfrider, Heal The Bay
4. Get interviews, read beach reports (on websites). Apply the information to our own research (they test once a month, we test once a month, if our numbers are similar, we can draw a conclusion based off of that).
2. How long does it last? How can it be reversed/fixed (do people clean it up)? How does the water pollute us?
3. Sewer Science Teachers (Point Loma Sewage Treatment Plant?), Surfrider, Heal The Bay
4. Get interviews, read beach reports (on websites). Apply the information to our own research (they test once a month, we test once a month, if our numbers are similar, we can draw a conclusion based off of that).
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Industrialization and Coastal Environments
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/12/sd-bay-cleanup-proposal-drags/?metro&zIndex=181212
"The controversy centers on roughly 60 acres of the bay floor south of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge that were tainted decades ago by heavy industry, military operations and storm water.
Lead, arsenic and potentially carcinogenic PCBs are among the toxins causing concern. Environmentalists, scientists and community activists fear the pollutants are harming the marine ecosystem and endangering the health of people who eat fish and shellfish from the bay.
The water board issued its first cleanup proposal in April 2005 and expected to vote on finalizing the order within four months. The plan focused on dredging about 885,000 cubic yards of sediment.
Six parties would have to pay for the cleanup, according to documents from the water board. They are General Dynamics NASSCO, BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, the city of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric Co., the Navy and the parent companies of San Diego Marine Construction Co."
1. What is the issue, controversy or event in the story? What are the basic facts?
Government intervention in the cleaning up of San Diego's bays. Cleaning up contaminated sediment in San Diego Bay would cost 96 million dollars. This is one of the largest environmental cleanups (60 acres) that has taken years to negotiate (the idea was proposed in 2005).
2. What information is missing from the story?
Why only that one area? Why is it taking so long, is it because of cost? Is the water making people or marine life sick? Why did Coastkeeper and the Environmental Health Coalition quit the mediation efforts?
"King said the negotiations have stretched on because there are many parties involved. He hopes mediation will end up saving time by producing an agreement the board can adopt with few objections.
'This hasn't been foot-dragging. This is just a monster chore,' King said."
Stretched how? When they say "many parties", do they mean the six involved or more?
3. What would be your next steps if you were creating a follow up to this story?
Finding out what the negotiations were and what was finalized, how the bay will be cleaned up, how much it will cost, who will do it, and how the public will respond to it and if they'll support it. Maybe interviewing those people.
"The controversy centers on roughly 60 acres of the bay floor south of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge that were tainted decades ago by heavy industry, military operations and storm water.
Lead, arsenic and potentially carcinogenic PCBs are among the toxins causing concern. Environmentalists, scientists and community activists fear the pollutants are harming the marine ecosystem and endangering the health of people who eat fish and shellfish from the bay.
The water board issued its first cleanup proposal in April 2005 and expected to vote on finalizing the order within four months. The plan focused on dredging about 885,000 cubic yards of sediment.
Six parties would have to pay for the cleanup, according to documents from the water board. They are General Dynamics NASSCO, BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, the city of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric Co., the Navy and the parent companies of San Diego Marine Construction Co."
1. What is the issue, controversy or event in the story? What are the basic facts?
Government intervention in the cleaning up of San Diego's bays. Cleaning up contaminated sediment in San Diego Bay would cost 96 million dollars. This is one of the largest environmental cleanups (60 acres) that has taken years to negotiate (the idea was proposed in 2005).
2. What information is missing from the story?
Why only that one area? Why is it taking so long, is it because of cost? Is the water making people or marine life sick? Why did Coastkeeper and the Environmental Health Coalition quit the mediation efforts?
"King said the negotiations have stretched on because there are many parties involved. He hopes mediation will end up saving time by producing an agreement the board can adopt with few objections.
'This hasn't been foot-dragging. This is just a monster chore,' King said."
Stretched how? When they say "many parties", do they mean the six involved or more?
3. What would be your next steps if you were creating a follow up to this story?
Finding out what the negotiations were and what was finalized, how the bay will be cleaned up, how much it will cost, who will do it, and how the public will respond to it and if they'll support it. Maybe interviewing those people.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
MSB Questions
Why and/or how does water get contaminated/polluted? How long does it last and how can it be reversed/fixed?
We all know that the seas are contaminated, but I want to know how exactly they became that way, and how many ways a body of water can become polluted. And we also know that sewage spills and such can be cleaned up, but how does that work? I want to know who cleans it up and how long it takes. Maybe I'll interview someone who does this to find my answers.
What type of sicknesses/illnesses can humans/animals get from the water? Is it dangerous/life threatening?
There was an article from last year's MSB that I read that told the story of a man who got sick from being in the ocean instead of getting better, like how he used to. I want to know what sicknesses he got, and what other diseases might be out there. I can talk to that man, a doctor or expert on these kinds of diseases, and maybe a vet or marine biologist. I want to know if animals can get sick too.
Can life like fish thrive in environments contaminated by sewage or high bacteria levels? Can coastal pollution affect the behavior and/or evolution of marine life or other animals?
When we went to the bay, I saw fish and snails in the water, and I wondered--if the water was polluted, how could they thrive? I know the bay isn't disgustingly dirty, but in some other place, can life thrive? Can plants grow green or fish grow big, or are their evolutions affected by the pollution so that only the fish that can last through the pollution live? Bacteria might affect their growth too. Maybe I can find a marine biologist to talk to about this.
We all know that the seas are contaminated, but I want to know how exactly they became that way, and how many ways a body of water can become polluted. And we also know that sewage spills and such can be cleaned up, but how does that work? I want to know who cleans it up and how long it takes. Maybe I'll interview someone who does this to find my answers.
What type of sicknesses/illnesses can humans/animals get from the water? Is it dangerous/life threatening?
There was an article from last year's MSB that I read that told the story of a man who got sick from being in the ocean instead of getting better, like how he used to. I want to know what sicknesses he got, and what other diseases might be out there. I can talk to that man, a doctor or expert on these kinds of diseases, and maybe a vet or marine biologist. I want to know if animals can get sick too.
Can life like fish thrive in environments contaminated by sewage or high bacteria levels? Can coastal pollution affect the behavior and/or evolution of marine life or other animals?
When we went to the bay, I saw fish and snails in the water, and I wondered--if the water was polluted, how could they thrive? I know the bay isn't disgustingly dirty, but in some other place, can life thrive? Can plants grow green or fish grow big, or are their evolutions affected by the pollution so that only the fish that can last through the pollution live? Bacteria might affect their growth too. Maybe I can find a marine biologist to talk to about this.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Confederates in the Attic prompt
“Confederates in the Attic” Prompt
In 1995 in Kentucky, the civil war still seemed to be going on--but not for blacks to get their freedom, but for whites who felt like they were getting theirs taken away.
Though the blacks were freed from being slaves, whites began feeling like those African Americans were being given privileges and other rights to make up for their years of enslavement. These privileges were more than what the whites had. While the blacks were rising in power, the whites were bottling up the feelings that the slave owners previously had--that they were supposed to have more power than the minority of blacks, they were the ones supposed to privileged. The women who stood up at the Todd County school board meeting complained about that minority having more power when they demanded the Rebel mascot be removed. "I will not compromise my values and equal rights to satisfy a minority."[1] One woman said. What did she believe were equal rights? Did she think that they were giving up their rights to have that mascot if they listened to the African Americans, who had their right to ask for it to be removed?
Many of the whites believed that the African Americans should have still been slaves. Frances Chapman said that for the blacks, "Slavery was not all that bad, a lot of people were quite happy to be living on large plantations."[1] But her thinking completely changed when the idea of the whites becoming "slaves"--or at least the lower class--was brought up. The subject of controversy was the Rebel flag, a school spirit symbol that caused the murder of Michael Westerman. The flag used to be the symbol of the south that fought to keep slavery going--but this town wasn't even on that side of the war. "Blacks don't really have anything against the flag. They just don't want us to have it. They want the best jobs, the biggest money. Now they want this. If we lose the mascot, it'll just be a matter of time before we lose everything."[1] Chapman said. She seemed to really believe that the blacks were then going to become the "slave masters". This is just like the Reconstruction, when the Freedman's Bureau was established. Benjamin F. Perry, the provisional governor of South Carolina, said, "First, the Negro is to be invested with all political power, and then the antagonism of interest between capital and labor is to work out the result."[2]
The minority of African Americans seemed to be rising in power, and the whites didn't like it. With everything that happened, it seemed as though the roles were about to be switched. Chapman said in an angry tone, "Don't put us where they used to be."[1] Are those the feelings of all of the townsfolk? No one wants to be enslaved, and who knows that better than the ones who had had no powers previously? The whites just don't understand what it was like, and they're afraid that soon they're going to find out.
Not only was there a war between races going on, but it also seemed like there was a controversy about the role women had in all of this--many were factory-trapped mothers who wanted their rights as well. The right to vote, the right to have their voices heard, the right to stand up for what they wanted--but who was listening? They felt as if the blacks were taking what was rightfully theirs--they should have gotten the rights before the African Americans, they were white and they were higher and they were there first. Horwitz said, "it struck me that the recent media attention lavished on 'angry white males' neglected the considerable depths of female rage on display..."[1]--they had more feelings bottled up than any white man. They were speaking out against their authority, and not nonviolently in some ways. This is very similar to another murder that happened elsewhere in Kentucky nearby Guthrie, where these women lived and this controversy started. Since 1995, there have been more and more attacks on federal workers, the general authority of anywhere--"The most deadly attack on federal workers came in 1995 when the federal building in Oklahoma City was devastated by a truck bomb, killing 168 and injuring more than 680."[3] The most recent incident was a man being hanged with the word "fed" on his chest--this happened in September of 2009.
However, these fights and worries in Guthrie were over things that, in the past, mattered little to the whites or blacks. A black storekeeper said, "Kids today, they're weaker and wiser. A lot of things we didn't pay attention to, they do. If we were called a nigger, we shook it off. Just went about our business. Not now."[1] The elder generation might not have started a even a small fight because of something like that. But this trivial thing blew up into a whole murder and trial, and it wasn't even because of the flag--some blacks didn't even know the meaning of it. A young woman, a teenager in high school, supplemented the storekeeper's words when she said, "We aren't going to just take it like our parents did,"[1] and implied that they'd rather do something about those kinds of words and comments than sit back.
"I feel like my grandchildren will see another civil war,"[1] Said the aunt of the murdered Michael Westerman, Brenda Arms, "Between black and white, not North and South. People just can't seem to get along."[1] With things going on the path that they are now... She might just be right. There might be a war in the small, uneventful town of Todd County, Kentucky.
Sources:
[1] "Confederates in the Attic", "Dying for Dixie" by Tony Horwitz
[2] Barney, William L., The Passage of the Republic: An Interdisciplinary History of Nineteenth-Century America (1987), p. 245
[3] "AP source: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body" by Devlin Barrett and Jeffery McMurray, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbzG_BlkG2Hfc818EPRRn1bBlP6gD9ATASJ00
In 1995 in Kentucky, the civil war still seemed to be going on--but not for blacks to get their freedom, but for whites who felt like they were getting theirs taken away.
Though the blacks were freed from being slaves, whites began feeling like those African Americans were being given privileges and other rights to make up for their years of enslavement. These privileges were more than what the whites had. While the blacks were rising in power, the whites were bottling up the feelings that the slave owners previously had--that they were supposed to have more power than the minority of blacks, they were the ones supposed to privileged. The women who stood up at the Todd County school board meeting complained about that minority having more power when they demanded the Rebel mascot be removed. "I will not compromise my values and equal rights to satisfy a minority."[1] One woman said. What did she believe were equal rights? Did she think that they were giving up their rights to have that mascot if they listened to the African Americans, who had their right to ask for it to be removed?
Many of the whites believed that the African Americans should have still been slaves. Frances Chapman said that for the blacks, "Slavery was not all that bad, a lot of people were quite happy to be living on large plantations."[1] But her thinking completely changed when the idea of the whites becoming "slaves"--or at least the lower class--was brought up. The subject of controversy was the Rebel flag, a school spirit symbol that caused the murder of Michael Westerman. The flag used to be the symbol of the south that fought to keep slavery going--but this town wasn't even on that side of the war. "Blacks don't really have anything against the flag. They just don't want us to have it. They want the best jobs, the biggest money. Now they want this. If we lose the mascot, it'll just be a matter of time before we lose everything."[1] Chapman said. She seemed to really believe that the blacks were then going to become the "slave masters". This is just like the Reconstruction, when the Freedman's Bureau was established. Benjamin F. Perry, the provisional governor of South Carolina, said, "First, the Negro is to be invested with all political power, and then the antagonism of interest between capital and labor is to work out the result."[2]
The minority of African Americans seemed to be rising in power, and the whites didn't like it. With everything that happened, it seemed as though the roles were about to be switched. Chapman said in an angry tone, "Don't put us where they used to be."[1] Are those the feelings of all of the townsfolk? No one wants to be enslaved, and who knows that better than the ones who had had no powers previously? The whites just don't understand what it was like, and they're afraid that soon they're going to find out.
Not only was there a war between races going on, but it also seemed like there was a controversy about the role women had in all of this--many were factory-trapped mothers who wanted their rights as well. The right to vote, the right to have their voices heard, the right to stand up for what they wanted--but who was listening? They felt as if the blacks were taking what was rightfully theirs--they should have gotten the rights before the African Americans, they were white and they were higher and they were there first. Horwitz said, "it struck me that the recent media attention lavished on 'angry white males' neglected the considerable depths of female rage on display..."[1]--they had more feelings bottled up than any white man. They were speaking out against their authority, and not nonviolently in some ways. This is very similar to another murder that happened elsewhere in Kentucky nearby Guthrie, where these women lived and this controversy started. Since 1995, there have been more and more attacks on federal workers, the general authority of anywhere--"The most deadly attack on federal workers came in 1995 when the federal building in Oklahoma City was devastated by a truck bomb, killing 168 and injuring more than 680."[3] The most recent incident was a man being hanged with the word "fed" on his chest--this happened in September of 2009.
However, these fights and worries in Guthrie were over things that, in the past, mattered little to the whites or blacks. A black storekeeper said, "Kids today, they're weaker and wiser. A lot of things we didn't pay attention to, they do. If we were called a nigger, we shook it off. Just went about our business. Not now."[1] The elder generation might not have started a even a small fight because of something like that. But this trivial thing blew up into a whole murder and trial, and it wasn't even because of the flag--some blacks didn't even know the meaning of it. A young woman, a teenager in high school, supplemented the storekeeper's words when she said, "We aren't going to just take it like our parents did,"[1] and implied that they'd rather do something about those kinds of words and comments than sit back.
"I feel like my grandchildren will see another civil war,"[1] Said the aunt of the murdered Michael Westerman, Brenda Arms, "Between black and white, not North and South. People just can't seem to get along."[1] With things going on the path that they are now... She might just be right. There might be a war in the small, uneventful town of Todd County, Kentucky.
Sources:
[1] "Confederates in the Attic", "Dying for Dixie" by Tony Horwitz
[2] Barney, William L., The Passage of the Republic: An Interdisciplinary History of Nineteenth-Century America (1987), p. 245
[3] "AP source: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body" by Devlin Barrett and Jeffery McMurray, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbzG_BlkG2Hfc818EPRRn1bBlP6gD9ATASJ00
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Reconstruction
The Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War when the US was trying to rebuild the South, who lost the war. The term refers to the policies implemented between 1865 and 1877 when the nation was focused on winning the war, abolishing slavery, defeating the Confederacy (south), and reconstructing the nation and amending the US constitution (one part of the amendments, the Bill of Rights, states, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This applies to colored people as well.).
Though it worked--for integrated schools were made, previous statuses as slaves or color or race weren't used as qualifications for voting, and the amendments to abolish slavery were established--there were still some problems. Schools got around the amendments by making segregation rules, and jobs wouldn't hire colored people, and the black codes were passed. The two presidents who succeeded Abraham Lincoln didn't do a very good job keeping the Reconstruction going. There was also the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) that tried to protect the rights of and further the interests of white Americans through intimidation of minorities like blacks and Jews and such, along with other hate groups. These things sparked the Civil Rights Movement, and soon after, a Second Reconstruction.
There was one significant part of the Reconstruction that happened after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Andrew Johnson took over--Congress established the Freedman's Bureau, which gave former slaves the food, clothing, and fuel they needed to live and advice on negotiating labor contracts. Johnson vetoed (forbade) this twice. Many former Confederates were not willing to accept the social changes or political domination of former slaves--they were unwilling to acknowledge that their society was different. Benjamin F. Perry, the provisional governor of South Carolina appointed by Johnson, said, "First, the Negro is to be invested with all political power, and then the antagonism of interest between capital and labor is to work out the result." There was also a political cartoon that alleged that the Freedman's Bureau money was being lavished on lazy freedmen at the expense of white workers.
This very closely relates to what Frances Chapman said in "Dying for Dixie" in the "Confederates in the Attic" book by Tony Horwitz, "Blacks don't really have anything against the flag. They just don't want us to have it. They want the best jobs, the biggest money. Now they want this. If we lose the mascot, it'll just be a matter of time before we lose everything." Like the poster, it implies that some people think that the slave masters and "former slaves" would switch places, where the whites are the ones working hard while the blacks do nothing.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States, "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/section4/section4_11.html, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/credits.html
Though it worked--for integrated schools were made, previous statuses as slaves or color or race weren't used as qualifications for voting, and the amendments to abolish slavery were established--there were still some problems. Schools got around the amendments by making segregation rules, and jobs wouldn't hire colored people, and the black codes were passed. The two presidents who succeeded Abraham Lincoln didn't do a very good job keeping the Reconstruction going. There was also the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) that tried to protect the rights of and further the interests of white Americans through intimidation of minorities like blacks and Jews and such, along with other hate groups. These things sparked the Civil Rights Movement, and soon after, a Second Reconstruction.
There was one significant part of the Reconstruction that happened after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Andrew Johnson took over--Congress established the Freedman's Bureau, which gave former slaves the food, clothing, and fuel they needed to live and advice on negotiating labor contracts. Johnson vetoed (forbade) this twice. Many former Confederates were not willing to accept the social changes or political domination of former slaves--they were unwilling to acknowledge that their society was different. Benjamin F. Perry, the provisional governor of South Carolina appointed by Johnson, said, "First, the Negro is to be invested with all political power, and then the antagonism of interest between capital and labor is to work out the result." There was also a political cartoon that alleged that the Freedman's Bureau money was being lavished on lazy freedmen at the expense of white workers.
This very closely relates to what Frances Chapman said in "Dying for Dixie" in the "Confederates in the Attic" book by Tony Horwitz, "Blacks don't really have anything against the flag. They just don't want us to have it. They want the best jobs, the biggest money. Now they want this. If we lose the mascot, it'll just be a matter of time before we lose everything." Like the poster, it implies that some people think that the slave masters and "former slaves" would switch places, where the whites are the ones working hard while the blacks do nothing.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States, "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/section4/section4_11.html, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/credits.html
Thursday, September 24, 2009
MSTB News
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Sewage-Spill-from-Mission-Valley-to-Ocean-Beach/qWYuIGp6oEeMp2ZNMf20lQ.cspx
By the time city crews got the problem under control about an hour later, roughly 1,370 gallons of sewage had spilled into a storm drain that empties into the San Diego River.
This is an article about the sewage spill that flowed into Ocean Beach yesterday. When I read it, I thought, "how long does it take for the city crews to notice?" If it usually takes longer, would it endanger more people? Can't they think of better ways to monitor places where sewage lines would be likely to leak?
There's only one article about this spill... maybe it's not that significant to most people or other communities. Maybe a organization like Coastkeeper or some other water-testing groups would have some reports on it, though.
We visited Ocean Beach today, and we saw "beware of contamination" signs at dog beach. This spill, though little in comparison to the nearly endless gallons of water in our oceans, might affect our project, as it is our job to test these waters. Who knows how much time it will take for the sewage to be cleaned up or contained? This might affect the outcomes of our tests...
By the time city crews got the problem under control about an hour later, roughly 1,370 gallons of sewage had spilled into a storm drain that empties into the San Diego River.
This is an article about the sewage spill that flowed into Ocean Beach yesterday. When I read it, I thought, "how long does it take for the city crews to notice?" If it usually takes longer, would it endanger more people? Can't they think of better ways to monitor places where sewage lines would be likely to leak?
There's only one article about this spill... maybe it's not that significant to most people or other communities. Maybe a organization like Coastkeeper or some other water-testing groups would have some reports on it, though.
We visited Ocean Beach today, and we saw "beware of contamination" signs at dog beach. This spill, though little in comparison to the nearly endless gallons of water in our oceans, might affect our project, as it is our job to test these waters. Who knows how much time it will take for the sewage to be cleaned up or contained? This might affect the outcomes of our tests...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Media Saves the Beach Ideas
I would like to do something maybe involving or surrounding the La Jolla Seals controversy since I love seals, or about the illnesses you can get from the water or the types of bacteria in it because I'm a germophobic neat-freak. I would probably do a photo essay because I love photography, or an artistic piece like a poster or painting or some kind of graphic design. I absolutely do NOT want to make a video (bad experiences...).
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
American Icons
American Icons: Kristina Wenger
The gray door of Room 8 opened and I was greeted by six pods of tables, a spacious rug, shelves of organized books, and a clean whiteboard. I was a nervous but excited third grader on the first day of school, dressed my best in a white collared shirt and navy blue pleated skirt, with cute hairpins in my short black hair. This was the first year I had entered school without my best friend, so I was quiet and shy about talking to other students. The tall dark-haired woman that was my teacher became the first friend I had made since my best friend had moved away. Her name was Kristina Wenger.
As the year progressed, and the first day became the second, and the second day went on to become the first week, and the first week became months, Ms. Wenger became more than just my teacher. She was someone I could talk to and who could understand me. I came in at recess oftentimes and asked if there was anything I could help with. I would file papers or organize tests alphabetically or set up supplies for the next class science experiment. Every time I came into her classroom to help, we would talk about what I had drawn recently, her pets, or what our favorite kinds of candies were… We could talk about anything.
After I graduated her class, my fourth grade and fifth grade teachers didn’t need the help that I could offer and they didn’t have anything that they wanted me to do, so I went back to Room 8. I liked to help her out, and I could tell her how my new classes were going or she would tell me how enthusiastic her new students were. We would arrange a time for me to come in and teach her students some of the fun things I learned from her. I would show her my drawings and poems and ask for her opinion and critique. We would eat lunch together. She would give me chocolates and I would give her poems and pictures. We became even closer as the years passed. She helped form the person I am today.
Kris showed me what an American was. She is an American. She is hard-working and spirited and caring, creating the foundations of a future and a life for her students like she did for me. She showed me America, the one I live in now and the one I hope to make better for the next generation. There is a bright message we both hope to pass on to those who come after us.
I still go back to her classroom, and I see each year how the third graders get smaller as I get bigger. I see how excited they are and I recall that that was how I used to be, eager to learn new things in her class. I wonder if any of these kids will be like me, visiting the past and creating a future? I may not be a teacher, and I may just be a classroom assistant who’s there to find smiles with a friend and not work or money, but maybe someday, or even yesterday, I might have inspired someone to become better, just like how Kris inspired me.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Reflection: American Icons
When I wrote my artist's statement for this project, I realized that writing from my memories is very hard, especially when it's so fuzzy. From the generalization of what I do remember, though, I learned how to add a little creative nonfiction/fiction into my writing.
I utilized the "activate your verbs" technique and "avoid -ing's" tip in my artist's statement. When I did this, I had to learn the difference between nouns ending with -ing and verbs ending with -ing, which really opened my eyes to a new level of describing things in writing.
If I had time for one more draft, I would probably try to incorporate quotes and words from my Icon, as I did try to get those on time. I might still do that if it makes my work better.
"There is a bright message we both hope to pass on to those who come after us." This sentence seems like an important sentence. It combines the views and goals of the past and the present generations for the future ones, and the context of the sentence is positive and hopeful.
I utilized the "activate your verbs" technique and "avoid -ing's" tip in my artist's statement. When I did this, I had to learn the difference between nouns ending with -ing and verbs ending with -ing, which really opened my eyes to a new level of describing things in writing.
If I had time for one more draft, I would probably try to incorporate quotes and words from my Icon, as I did try to get those on time. I might still do that if it makes my work better.
"There is a bright message we both hope to pass on to those who come after us." This sentence seems like an important sentence. It combines the views and goals of the past and the present generations for the future ones, and the context of the sentence is positive and hopeful.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Photo for Critique
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Write Up
During the in-class critique, Daniel told me to add in a quote, but he didn't say where. He told me he understood the relationship and intent of the piece, and that I need to put a little more emphasis on how my icon changed my perspective, and go more in-depth in how I inspired others. I hope that in my next draft I can accomplish that.
American Icons: Kristina Wenger
I walked into Kristina Wenger’s third grade classroom for the first time in 2001. I had met Ms. Wenger before I entered her class, since she had been my brother’s teacher as well, and he had told me how fun her class was. I was, like many eight-year-old girls on the first day of school, excited but nervous as Room 8 greeted me: six pods of tables, a spacious rug, shelves of organized books, and a clean white board. This was the first year I had entered school without my best friend, and Kris Wenger became the first friend I had made since she had moved away.
As the year progressed, and the first day became the second, and the second day went on to become the first week, and the first week became months, Ms. Wenger became more than just my teacher. She was someone I could talk to and who could understand me. I had taken to coming in during recess and asking if there was anything I could help with. I would file papers or organize tests alphabetically or help set up supplies for the next experiment we were going to do in class. And every time I came into her classroom to help, we would talk about how my brother was doing, what I was drawing, her pets, what our favorite kinds of candies were… We could talk about anything.
After I graduated her class, my fourth grade and fifth grade teachers didn’t need the help that I offered and didn’t have anything they wanted me to do, so I went back to Kris Wenger. I liked helping her out, and I could tell her how my new classes were going or she would tell me how enthusiastic her new students were. We would arrange a time for me to come in and teach her students some of the things I learned from her, or just fun things to give them a little break, like Origami or art. I would show her my drawings and poems and ask for her opinion and critique. We’d eat lunch together, she’d give me chocolates and I’d give her poems and pictures. We became even closer as the years passed. She helped form the person I am today.
To me, an American is just a person that lives and breathes the same air as any person in this land. An American is a hard worker who is able to connect with other people. An American doesn’t have to be the flag-waving, military politician wearing red, white and blue; it isn’t a stereotypical football-watching hotdog-eating blond-haired blue-eyed Christian. Kris showed me what an American was. She is an American, hard-working and spirited and caring, creating the foundations of a future for her students like she did for me. She showed me America, the one I live in now and the one I hope to make better for the next generation. I might not be a teacher like her, but our goals are the same. There’s a bright message we hope to pass on to the people after us.
I still go back to her classroom, and I see each year how the third graders get smaller as I get bigger. I see how excited they are and I recall that that’s how I used to be, eager to learn new things in her classroom. I wonder if any of these kids will be like me, visiting the past and creating a future, changing lives by simply being there? I may not be a teacher, and I may just be a friend and classroom assistant who’s there to find smiles and not work and money, but maybe, someday, or even now, I might have inspired someone to become better, just like how Kris inspired me.
American Icons: Kristina Wenger
I walked into Kristina Wenger’s third grade classroom for the first time in 2001. I had met Ms. Wenger before I entered her class, since she had been my brother’s teacher as well, and he had told me how fun her class was. I was, like many eight-year-old girls on the first day of school, excited but nervous as Room 8 greeted me: six pods of tables, a spacious rug, shelves of organized books, and a clean white board. This was the first year I had entered school without my best friend, and Kris Wenger became the first friend I had made since she had moved away.
As the year progressed, and the first day became the second, and the second day went on to become the first week, and the first week became months, Ms. Wenger became more than just my teacher. She was someone I could talk to and who could understand me. I had taken to coming in during recess and asking if there was anything I could help with. I would file papers or organize tests alphabetically or help set up supplies for the next experiment we were going to do in class. And every time I came into her classroom to help, we would talk about how my brother was doing, what I was drawing, her pets, what our favorite kinds of candies were… We could talk about anything.
After I graduated her class, my fourth grade and fifth grade teachers didn’t need the help that I offered and didn’t have anything they wanted me to do, so I went back to Kris Wenger. I liked helping her out, and I could tell her how my new classes were going or she would tell me how enthusiastic her new students were. We would arrange a time for me to come in and teach her students some of the things I learned from her, or just fun things to give them a little break, like Origami or art. I would show her my drawings and poems and ask for her opinion and critique. We’d eat lunch together, she’d give me chocolates and I’d give her poems and pictures. We became even closer as the years passed. She helped form the person I am today.
To me, an American is just a person that lives and breathes the same air as any person in this land. An American is a hard worker who is able to connect with other people. An American doesn’t have to be the flag-waving, military politician wearing red, white and blue; it isn’t a stereotypical football-watching hotdog-eating blond-haired blue-eyed Christian. Kris showed me what an American was. She is an American, hard-working and spirited and caring, creating the foundations of a future for her students like she did for me. She showed me America, the one I live in now and the one I hope to make better for the next generation. I might not be a teacher like her, but our goals are the same. There’s a bright message we hope to pass on to the people after us.
I still go back to her classroom, and I see each year how the third graders get smaller as I get bigger. I see how excited they are and I recall that that’s how I used to be, eager to learn new things in her classroom. I wonder if any of these kids will be like me, visiting the past and creating a future, changing lives by simply being there? I may not be a teacher, and I may just be a friend and classroom assistant who’s there to find smiles and not work and money, but maybe, someday, or even now, I might have inspired someone to become better, just like how Kris inspired me.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Photography Techniques
• Rule of Thirds
• Unique perspectives
• Depth of field (Shallow? Wide?)
This photo was taken at ground level/worm's eye view, and the depth of field is very wide. The background is very clear, and the foreground is slightly blurred, drawing your eyes to the background.
This picture doesn't center the subject, instead giving the photo room and it draws the eye to the darker or lighter part of the opposite sides of the pictures. This photo uses all aspects of the rule of thirds, the girl's head being in the upper left and the white paper being in the bottom middle third, these things being the target of the photo. The colors are mellow and well divided too, the gray shirt being in the middle of the left column and the sunlight being in the upper right corners.
• Unique perspectives
This photo is a perspective of an umbrella from below. A person can tell that the picture was taken looking up by the umbrella pole getting slightly bigger at the bottom and smaller at the top.
• Depth of field (Shallow? Wide?)
Friday, September 4, 2009
Resources
Narrowed down to two: Kris Wenger and Freese Elementary
Letters, emails, or other personal correspondence
Letters, emails, or other personal correspondence
I still have emails with many of my old teachers, so any of those can support my claims as primary evidence.
Interviews
I can email or call my past teachers to interview them and use their words for my inspiration.
Document: School Accountability Report Card
https://studata.sandi.net/research/sarcs/2000-01/sarc115.pdf This document was published in 2001, the year I started 3rd grade, where I was in Kris Wenger's class. It outlines the goals and programs of the school thoroughly.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Ideas for American Icons
Freese Elementary School
(This is the best picture I could find of it, it's in the background)
(This is the best picture I could find of it, it's in the background)
1. What does this Icon represent to you? Why?
This is the place I spent most of my childhood. I practically grew up here, it was a second home to me. It taught me everything I know and shaped the person that I am today.
2. Who and what was important to this Icon? Why?
It's a school. Its students, which at one point was me, was its priority. We were taught well and treated kindly, and we were given many opportunities to become better learners and better people, because as they say, "children are the future".
3. How did this Icon become important in American culture?
School has always been a part of American culture. Elementary school is a standard, it's where education starts. And in this generation, education is the key to the future, and without it, you can't get far.
4. How did this Icon become important to you?
I grew up there, the people there, students and teachers, were my close friends. It was a home away from home, and I enjoyed my time with the people there, and was sad when it ended. Of course I had to move on, but unlike most people, I knew what I had before it was gone. I cherished it because it was fun and helped me learn. I made my first best friends in kindergarten, and many more after that--after all, this is where childhood memories are made. School was the place where I could see my friends every day, and talk to my teachers, who are now my good friends.
5. Who and what did this Icon inspire?
I know this place inspired me, and I have no doubt that there have been many others that are inspired by my first school as well. It inspired me to become a learner, to give my all, to become the best I could be. Their opportunities, like their Magnet program and puppeteer program and many other things propelled me and showed me what I can and cannot do--I certainly enjoyed participating in the puppet program, but I didn't become a puppeteer, because I realized that wasn't for me! That's just one example of what I learned and discovered there.
1. What does this Icon represent to you? Why?
Kris Wenger is my favorite teacher. She was my 3rd grade teacher, but I always went back to her, even if I had moved schools. She taught me a lot about life, not just things I'm supposed to learn in the 3rd grade, and has been a good friend to me since I met her.
2. Who and what was important to this Icon? Why?
Her family and her pets and her students are always important to her. I hear her talk about her sister and her dogs all the time, and I met her snake once when I was in her class. She loves all of her students, and she always remembers their faces whenever they come to visit.
3. How did this Icon become important in American culture?
She is a teacher. Teachers have always been important to society, they help bring up the next generation along with parents. But without teachers, kids wouldn't learn math or history or anything.
4. How did this Icon become important to you?
She had been my brother's teacher before me, and when I came to her class, I had already known her a little bit. But the experience was so much more different than just meeting her, she showed me a whole new world of things I didn't even know--of course I didn't know them, if I did she wouldn't have to teach it. Besides being my teacher, she also talked to me when I was sad, made me smile even when I wasn't down, she was my advice person, she critiqued my work even when I wasn't in her class, and she gave me something to do when I didn't want to be outside or I was done with my work early. Many of the other teachers were busy during recess and lunch, but I could always go to her and we'd always have something to talk about. That's how friends are made right?
5. Who and what did this Icon inspire?
She inspired her students to do their best, she inspired me to go up and beyond the best. She helped me make friends, at one point I wanted to be a teacher like her, she gave me every opportunity to strengthen my strengths--she saw them. She gave me art kits to practice my craftsmanship, she saw that I could write, she saw that I wanted to keep super organized and helped me do that... I wouldn't be this way without her.
My Teachers (Freese mainly, others too)
(Patty Starks pictured here, but there are many others)
What does this Icon represent to you? Why?
My teachers have always been an inspiration for me, and they have always taught me as well as been my friend. I have gotten to know them personally, and their impact on every year of my life propels me forward.
How did this Icon become important to you?
Besides teaching me things to help me walk forward in life, many of the teachers I had, like Patty Starks and Mr. Demacali, have been my consultants and critics. I have been an artist almost all my life, and without people to tell me how to get better, I would have stopped being an artist without a means to improve. The same goes for my writing, I'm always asking people to edit and help me revise my work so that it would be something I can be extremely proud of. And it's not just my work that my teachers improve, my teachers help me become a better person by giving me opportunities to learn how to do that.
Who and what did this Icon inspire?
Teachers always inspire something, someone to become better... there are many people who often become the people they are because of their teachers as well as their families. My teachers in the past have become like family to me, and I listen to them and take their words and lessons into consideration like I would my parents'.
This is the place I spent most of my childhood. I practically grew up here, it was a second home to me. It taught me everything I know and shaped the person that I am today.
2. Who and what was important to this Icon? Why?
It's a school. Its students, which at one point was me, was its priority. We were taught well and treated kindly, and we were given many opportunities to become better learners and better people, because as they say, "children are the future".
3. How did this Icon become important in American culture?
School has always been a part of American culture. Elementary school is a standard, it's where education starts. And in this generation, education is the key to the future, and without it, you can't get far.
4. How did this Icon become important to you?
I grew up there, the people there, students and teachers, were my close friends. It was a home away from home, and I enjoyed my time with the people there, and was sad when it ended. Of course I had to move on, but unlike most people, I knew what I had before it was gone. I cherished it because it was fun and helped me learn. I made my first best friends in kindergarten, and many more after that--after all, this is where childhood memories are made. School was the place where I could see my friends every day, and talk to my teachers, who are now my good friends.
5. Who and what did this Icon inspire?
I know this place inspired me, and I have no doubt that there have been many others that are inspired by my first school as well. It inspired me to become a learner, to give my all, to become the best I could be. Their opportunities, like their Magnet program and puppeteer program and many other things propelled me and showed me what I can and cannot do--I certainly enjoyed participating in the puppet program, but I didn't become a puppeteer, because I realized that wasn't for me! That's just one example of what I learned and discovered there.
Kristina Wenger
(The farthest right in the picture)1. What does this Icon represent to you? Why?
Kris Wenger is my favorite teacher. She was my 3rd grade teacher, but I always went back to her, even if I had moved schools. She taught me a lot about life, not just things I'm supposed to learn in the 3rd grade, and has been a good friend to me since I met her.
2. Who and what was important to this Icon? Why?
Her family and her pets and her students are always important to her. I hear her talk about her sister and her dogs all the time, and I met her snake once when I was in her class. She loves all of her students, and she always remembers their faces whenever they come to visit.
3. How did this Icon become important in American culture?
She is a teacher. Teachers have always been important to society, they help bring up the next generation along with parents. But without teachers, kids wouldn't learn math or history or anything.
4. How did this Icon become important to you?
She had been my brother's teacher before me, and when I came to her class, I had already known her a little bit. But the experience was so much more different than just meeting her, she showed me a whole new world of things I didn't even know--of course I didn't know them, if I did she wouldn't have to teach it. Besides being my teacher, she also talked to me when I was sad, made me smile even when I wasn't down, she was my advice person, she critiqued my work even when I wasn't in her class, and she gave me something to do when I didn't want to be outside or I was done with my work early. Many of the other teachers were busy during recess and lunch, but I could always go to her and we'd always have something to talk about. That's how friends are made right?
5. Who and what did this Icon inspire?
She inspired her students to do their best, she inspired me to go up and beyond the best. She helped me make friends, at one point I wanted to be a teacher like her, she gave me every opportunity to strengthen my strengths--she saw them. She gave me art kits to practice my craftsmanship, she saw that I could write, she saw that I wanted to keep super organized and helped me do that... I wouldn't be this way without her.
(Patty Starks pictured here, but there are many others)
What does this Icon represent to you? Why?
My teachers have always been an inspiration for me, and they have always taught me as well as been my friend. I have gotten to know them personally, and their impact on every year of my life propels me forward.
How did this Icon become important to you?
Besides teaching me things to help me walk forward in life, many of the teachers I had, like Patty Starks and Mr. Demacali, have been my consultants and critics. I have been an artist almost all my life, and without people to tell me how to get better, I would have stopped being an artist without a means to improve. The same goes for my writing, I'm always asking people to edit and help me revise my work so that it would be something I can be extremely proud of. And it's not just my work that my teachers improve, my teachers help me become a better person by giving me opportunities to learn how to do that.
Who and what did this Icon inspire?
Teachers always inspire something, someone to become better... there are many people who often become the people they are because of their teachers as well as their families. My teachers in the past have become like family to me, and I listen to them and take their words and lessons into consideration like I would my parents'.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Response to "Welcome back to school!"
Please outline what you hope to gain from your upcoming junior year. What are your overall goals for the year?
This year I hope to pass the year with A's in all classes and honors. I really hope I can also jump start my career in game programming (or programming in general) through internship or any projects that I might do. Personally, I also hope to accomplish balance between my social and academic life.
Tell us about what you hope to accomplish or learn from your experiences in this Humanities class. What do you hope to learn & what do you hope to develop?
I hope to develop my ability to focus, because my mind tends to wander to personal dreams or projects or worries. I want to get as much as I can done this year, and learn to write/draw/work/analyze/read/etc. faster. I have a tendency to procrastinate or be so thorough that I run out of time to work, so I hope that I can get better for real world experience, so that I can survive in the real world and not fall back or slow down.
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