http://jerricasproject.blogspot.com/
Imperialism In Africa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdBHfcjo0uY
1. Reflection Questions
- If you were an animal during this project, what would you be and why?
- What does it mean to be an independent worker and learner?
- Describe your strengths at working independently, using evidence from at least 3 different times during this project. Include at least one example from the section on KLG.
- Describe your weaknesses at working independently, using evidence from at least 3 different times during this project. Include at least one example from the section on KLG
If I was an animal during this project i would say i was like a beaver. I gnaw at content just as a beaver does to wood until i get all of the information needed. I slowly build up my knowledge and final project as a beaver would to its dam. As the dam stops the running water and holds it in, by brain does the same to the content that I've obtained.
I feel that being an independent worker and learner means a few different things. To be an independent worker means that I don't need someone around at all times to complete outstanding work. It gives me a chance to use all of my ideas, and be happy with the work that I,alone put out. Instead of someone teaching a subject to me, being independent gives me a chance to learn content on my own. Being independent gives me a chance to learn in a way that works for me. It is also a good concept to learn for the future, and helps me to push myself to accomplish something that I'm happy with at the end of the day.
One of my strengths during this project was time management. When we were assigned a number of scripts to complete per night, I kept up. This was very helpful because it gave me some extra time to revise my scripts and make them much better each time. By doing that, it helped me manage my time so i had time left for uploading my pictures and making my slide show. Another example when I used my time well, was when we read KLG. I decided to read the whole book and i didn't fall behind on the chapters that I was suppose to read. By doing that i had time to finish all of my quiz's and summary's without much stress.
During this project, a problem i had was not focusing as much as i could have and not being as self motivated as I would have liked to be. When we were reading KLG i found myself talking to my peers and not getting as much reading as i could have done. A problem with that was that when i went home i had an excessive amount to read, which is a big reason why i was unmotivated. This also was a tiny problem with the imperialism project. I got off track as some points, which made it hard to get back on track. By being unmotivated in class, i had to be extremely motivated at home to get work done. It would be good for me to balance my work ethics.
Imperialism in Africa Script:
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. This country has one of the highest infant mortality rates, with one of the highest birth rates making it very sparsely populated. The people in Niger face tough life's every day. The education is extremely poor, and the literacy rate is among the lowest in Africa. Droughts in this country are very common along with starvation of children and families; a very hard problem to fix.
Niger, in 1960 became an independent country after breaking the bonds with French West Africa. However, it was a long period of time before Niger became a democracy.
1957, a delegate to the national assembly in Paris, Hamani Diori was elected as the country's first president. After the election, he immediately put in place a single party system that banned anyone from overruling him or running against him. He remained in power until 1974 when he was overthrown by the military chief; Seyni Kountche.
Niger was run by Kountche under military rules until he passed away in 1987. He handed the role down to his cousin; Saibou. Saibou was the first to attempt to change Niger into a democracy in 1991 by holding a conference. During the conference Saibou got overthrown of his power and got placed into a transitional government. After Saibou got his jobbed taken away from him, the people voted an AFC candidate, Mahamane Ousmane to be the new president.
In 1196 the government changed, leaving the army in power again, led by Ibrahim Bare Mainassara. Later that year, Mainassara arranged new elections which in he received half of the final votes. The opposing parties, challenged the result in the Supreme Court, they were unsuccessful. When it was time to vote for the rest of the government seats the opponents dropped out of the election, letting Mainassara choose who he wanted to be in the parliamentary.
The 1990’s in Niger were dominated by conflict of the Tuareg. Tuareg people are nomadic pastoralist people, meaning that these groups of people don’t live in a particular spot. While they’re traveling from spot to spot they make money by trading and selling their livestock and other goods. Groups of the Tuareg started showing up in the northern part of Niger demanding more independence over their land, also to start teaching the Tuareg language in schools.
In 1995-1997 the government of Niger signed a peace treaty with the Tuareg groups, ending that conflict in peace.
Script Two:
Niger today is not an easy place to live. There are many problems going on all throughout the country such as poor education, disease, governance, but one of the biggest problems Niger is facing today is the extreme drought leading to starvation. Many children and families are starving and many dying and it will continue happening until we can get a great amount of help to Niger and quickly. A huge part of starvation is the fact that droughts are taking over Niger. Therefore the animals are becoming unhealthy and dying, and crops will not grow. Hungry people in Niger have been hunting for "bitter" berries, survival food. Niger is at its worst state of starvation that it has ever been; half of the country, 7 million people, is going hungry. Mothers can’t provide milk for their young children, and most of those children have extremely bloated stomachs. Many are afraid if we don't get help down to Niger quick, for thousands, it will be too late.
Script three:
Due to the extreme drought and starvation in Niger many aid groups have been trying to provide as much care as they can. One of the huge providers for Niger is a group called CARE. Right now they are working on cash-for-work activities which will provide the starving community, who cannot afford to buy food, with money to buy food for the time being. On top of that this organization is improving cereal banks, providing more water points, and monitoring their grasslands. Another huge organization that is aiding Niger in these horrific times is Save the Children. When traveling to Niger, the people in this organization noted, "The risks to children are extreme and, without assistance, we fear that the weakest of Niger's citizens will starve." Being brought to that conclusion, Save the Children has donated over 10 million dollars to help provide poor families with medical treatment and food, that could save many lives. In addition, this organization has been urging donors all over the world to give more money to help fight this crisis.
Script four:
Although helpful aid is being provided in Niger, they are still in need. Though the food aid that is being provided is necessary, it acts as a long term measure. Which is difficult because it is hard for a country to grow off of aid alone.
-finish-
Script five:
When people think Africa most would think, poverty, AIDS, starving. Mostly because that is what's being portrayed on the news, or maybe even a sad commercial to grasp attention and to get the people watching it to donate money to charities. Seeing those commercials or small pieces on the news even caught my attention. However now that I've actually studied a country in Africa it has broadened my outlook by extreme amounts. That's a huge reason why i think it is important for people to study not just my country, but Africa as a whole. To study this country has helped me understand that people need to stop taking things for granite. The toys that kids receive, the jobs that are being handed to people, and the houses we live in would be a miracle to those in Africa. By studying what the people in Africa are going through everyday, it would show the extreme amount of difference between our lives, and theirs.
Vietnam True History:
Although it is hard to pick and choose the “true” histories of the Vietnam War because of all the injustices, I believe a huge aspect of the history had to do with Agent Orange and the lives it has affected from the 1960s to today. So was it worth it?
During the 1960s to early 1970s about 3 million Americans were serving in the Vietnam War. During this time chemical agents were used by the United States government that had many harmful effects to plants and people. Millions of gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed over Vietnam land to remove forest cover, destroy crops and clear vegetation. More than 4 million Vietnamese natives were exposed to Agent Orange at this time. Due to the lack of evidence and analysis regarding the effects of the herbicide the U.S government caused trauma to many people by not doing a complete study on this chemical. Soon after the veterans came home, they started experiencing skin rashes, psychological symptoms, and also birth defects in their children. The suffering Vietnamese wrote letters to the herbicide manufactures to explain the tragedies they were facing. One of the many letters explained:
I joined the Saigon Regime force in 1971. I was in the Hue during the war. After the war, I married my wife who is a teacher. In 1981 our first son was born. His name is Mai Huang Vu. He is mentally handicapped. He cannot speak. My second son was born in 1985 he has the same disability as his older brother… I was told Agent Orange affected them both.( Mai Van My)
The herbicide manufactures received an excessive amount of letters and faced a large law suit in 1979 which resulted in the veterans receiving nearly 200 million dollars in 1988 to 1996. Along with the 200 million dollars, the United States government donated 6 million dollars to help clean up the mess, however not very many people were even pleased with that amount. During an interview with a Vietnamese native, Le Ke Son clearly states, "Six million dollars is nothing compared to the consequences left behind by Agent Orange." The effect that Agent Orange caused is nothing money can fix; people's lives have been ruined, and drastically changed because of this incident.
Along with the letters explaining effects of Agent Orange, scientific research was done as well. Most of the mixtures used during this chemical battle consisted of two chemicals, 2,4-D and 2,4,5 -T. 2,4,5 - T was contaminated with small dioxins making it extremely toxic. Along with those chemicals, the herbicide was filled with TCDD, which is one of the most potent chemicals of the dioxin family along with the most toxic. Just from the mixtures of these chemicals families lost things from crops to loved that can never be replaced.
In 1970, a study of 2, 4, 5 -T was tested on lab animals. The results showed it had given the animals birth defects. A while after these results were shown, the use of this chemical in Vietnam was stopped completely. About a year later, all military herbicide used in Vietnam ended. By not providing this information prior to the herbicide an excessive amount of people were harmed, for many generations.
So was it worth it? Was fighting a war by chemical warfare that was either ignored with the dangers it possessed or used without any remorse, worth ruining so many lives? That’s the question brought up still today that many would like to know. Whether it be Vietnamese natives, or people truly curious about the "truth" behind this war. It doesn’t matter if we ever find out the real truth or not. All I know is that the lives that were ruined because of ignorance and Agent Orange will never be forgotten, and the American government will always have to live with their negligence.
Self Assessment: · In this essay I wanted to focus my thesis on Agent Orange and how much it affected the Vietnamese natives that were exposed to it. I also wanted to portrait my perspective if using Agent Orange was worth the pain and hurt caused to families. I feel that I supported my main idea pretty well; however I would have liked to find more resources on the scientific aspects of Agent Orange.
· When integrating and interpreting primary sources into my writing I would say I did pretty well however I think I should have used a few more documents for evidence. I tried to make it flow well with what I was saying and I think I accomplished that.
· My paper is organized by introducing Agent Orange at the beginning. After that I talked about what Agent Orange was, followed by a story on how Agent Orange caused many problems with families. Next, I included scientific information on Agent Orange and the chemicals that were used in Agent Orange. This helped me support my argument because by including stories and scientific information it made my history more true and accurate.
· Along with having my peers critique my paper I had my dad sit down and proof read my history with me. We made corrections as we went, and he asked me questions to see if I knew them or not. If I didn’t know the answers to possible questions that the reader might have while reading my paper I would go back and make it more understanding for the reader. For my citations I used easy bib and also followed the rules in the MLA packet.
· Something in my history that I am very proud of is the knowledge that I put behind this history and the knowledge I took away from it. Agent Orange was something that I was very interested in and I tried my best to portrait that through my history.
· Something that was important in writing this history was challenging myself to really understand the concept that I was trying to prove. I could have easily written a text book history however that was not what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to really understand what I was talking about and to show my perspective throughout this history.
Poetry
This project was all about writing poetry about enlightenment, war, and peace. The way we portrayed our poems was up to us. To hear more about my poem and see the final product, feel free to scroll down.
Toy GunsWe're raising psychos.Something is wrongwhen a child can grab a gun and pull the triggeron innocent people.This country,a little time-bombout there ticking.GunsWith little useful purpose.Simply an excusefor those who are drivenby the Enemy to take out their angerof being different. We're a sea of smilesWhich they'd be glad to drown. We don’t need gun controlWe need bullet control.Because,If a bullet cost 1000 dollars,There'd be no moreInnocent bystandersand,Because a 1000 dollar bulletCauses purposeful destruction To leave you withA mental pictureWorth 1000 words. A gun is not a gun,A gun is a pent up volcano ready to blow,The power of a heart beat after a first kiss,The tension of an acrobat on a tight rope,The only thing between a bullet and the target. And when we're armedWe're responsible. Because it's our jobTo defend us and ours. But there will be bloodRunning in the streets. 'Cause we don’t knowFrom which directionThe EnemyWill be coming.They revolt in anger,
In merciless anger.
Representing everything
We are afraid of.
They don’t fight with toy guns.
They fight with
Weapons.
Weapons.
That help aggressors
Fight against us.
Artist Statement
When we first started this project I honestly had no idea where to start. The topics war, peace, and enlightenment have such a great emotion that I didn’t know where to begin to make my poem as moving as I wanted it to be. When I began, I sat down and thought about which topic would suit me and my emotion towards that topic the best. I decided I wanted to dig deeper than war, peace and enlightenment, and I chose to write my poem on how people use guns to protect them from fear, when they shouldn’t have to.
I started just by writing poems about fear, using metaphors between fear and animals. The stuff I was writing wasn’t horrible, however it was not nearly as powerful as I wanted it to be. Again, I was stuck. I thought I was never going to be able to write something as powerful as I wanted. At that point I realized I didn’t have to use only my words and that I could do a found poem. I chose to base my content inspiration off fear and guns brought up in the documentary Bowling for Columbine. This content was really inspiring because it was so powerful and exactly what I wanted to portray in my poem. Watching that documentary truly changed my perspective on the use of guns and my goal is to try to show my clear perspective. The content is shown throughout my poem because I cut words and phrases from the documentary script and put them together to make my final product.
When we were starting this project, one of our assignments was to take one of the poems we have read in class and cut words and phrases and make a found poem out of it. I really enjoyed that assignment, and it inspired me to do a found poem for our final product. I did the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est. This poem was inspiring to me because it was so deep and moving. It made me really think about what the author was trying to say, and I wanted the readers of my poem to get the same effect. I took the emotion of this poem and tried to incorporate it in my own, by showing my personal perspective and make the audience focus on what I was trying to say.
Although I used the emotion from Dulce Et Decorum Est, it’s structure is not what inspired me. I wanted my poem to be more of a free write poem instead of having a standard structure. However along with the free write of my poem, I wanted it to flow in a powerful way. For my performance I made a poster with a collage of different guns lining the top of my board. My poem was written on it, also red paint was used to splatter paint the sides of my board. The splattered paint represents the bloodshed from overuse of guns.
At the beginning of this project we started by reading and annotating many poems. We did many group activities such as stations to work through poems. However, we also worked through packets of poems independently. After that process we slowly got introduced into the project we were going to represent for exhibition. We were told that we were going to write poetry on the topics of war, peace, violence, and enlightenment.
The way we could portray our poem was very open. We could slam our poem, do an art peace, make a video, use after effects, or anything else that came to mind that would represent our poem. For my project, I wrote about how society lives in fear and to protect us we use guns when we shouldn’t have to. At first, I wanted to make a video of each of my friends saying a different line of my poem. I thought this would portray my poem in a very powerful way. However, my video ended up not cooperating. Therefore I had to come up with a new idea. I ended up deciding I wanted to make a collage of different types of guns and write my poem over it. I also splatter painted my collage with red paint to symbolize blood and death that happens when we over use guns. Along with my collage I presented my poem to the audience. Throughout this poetry process I learned that to be able to really understand a poem you have to annotate it thoroughly and read through it multiple times to be able to get the full understanding.
Throughout this process, there are many things I learned about using writing, language and performance to affect my audience. When writing your poem I think it is necessary to make it connect with the audience and pull them in. The words used in your poem should be strong and powerful, and also flow in some sort of way. Uses of poetic devices are also a huge part of writing poetry. Using devices such as euphony’s, metaphors, and cacophonies were new concepts to me which really helped my use of language in the process of writing my poem.
Preforming poetry is a huge way to portray the work that was put into the poem. In my opinion, it can make or break a poem. There are many ways that a performance can be shown that helps the audience interact with the poem, also leave the audience with a strong perspective after the performance. When people write extremely powerful or entertaining poems, the presentation sells it all. The poem won’t seem as moving if the performance and the writing don’t fit hand in hand. This project really helped me see that performance is a big deal when presenting poetry or anything that is being presented in front of an audience.
