The Semester Review

I learned many things this semester, including how to write a thesis statement, how to construct a 1 or 2 paragraph response, how to write a letter, how to debate about a topic, such as our Rwandan Genocide Debate.

I thought a thesis statement included reasons for your point of view. Such as Jon West is smart because he gets good grades and tries hard. But I now know that it is supposed to be Jon West is smart. That really makes things a lot easier on your topic sentence. A thesis is really showing your point of view, it is the topic sentence’s job to provide reason. I found this very useful because it helped me write a better paper and get a better grade.

When I wrote my first paragraph response, I got a C. I really had to rewrite and rethink my thesis, which was written incorrectly, my topic sentence, which made no sense, and my support paragraphs. Writing these responses was very difficult and is becoming easier every time. I have learned that to have good support, you need to include analogies, comparisons, or real life experiences. You have to do this to help your reader understand what you are talking about. This also comes in handy when you yourself have no idea what you are talking about. The order of a paper goes: Thesis – Topic Sentence – Support 1 – Support 2. This pattern is a basic overview, but it helped me better understand writing.

Through many paragraph checks and criticism, I learned the ability of letter writing. Letter writing seemed like a piece of cake when I first heard about it, I was wrong. I did not know how to put ethos and pathos into a paper and what on earth a counter was. Ethos is making people want to help and pathos affects people’s emotions. These are very important in a letter especially when you are writing to government or the UN. I still have to get better at using ethos in my letters. A counter is also very important because it shuts down any opposition to your point. For example, some people may say that Jon West does not get enough done, but that is not true. Jon West is a very smart student and always tries very hard.

Margin notes are not fun, but they do provide you with more information about a topic. Margin notes are really just notes in the margin of a page. They can be questions, comments, important details, or key words. Margin notes really come in handy when you are researching a topic and have no prior knowledge of that topic. They are very messy, yes, but do a better job than normal notes because with margin notes, you can read your point and then read the phrase you made your point about. This is extremely useful, just try it out.

When we were learning about Rwanda and the Rwandan genocide, we did a lot of research and worked in a group to try to “win” the debate. It took a lot of margin notes and countless articles, but to achieve “victory” in the debate, this had to be done. The debate was really just supposed to get us ready for SIMUN. It did its trick. Now I believe that I can participate in a debate and do a good job. If not good then maybe okay. I believe that this was a great experience to prepare us for SIMUN debates and help us with the research. I learned a lot throughout the preparation of and during the Rwandan Genocide Debate.

America the Beautiful

If I could choose which country I could be native to, America, Australia, Rwanda, or South Africa, I would want to be from America.

I would want to be from America because there was a lot of land that the British had no knowledge of. Native Americans also travel often to a variety of different places. This would be very useful to obtain knowledge of different places. This could also be useful for trade and finding minerals. The minerals could also be used for trade, crafting, or making weapons. America was huge and the British only had a portion of it. The remaining land had many lakes, rivers, and animals for food. One thing I think of when I think of Native Americans is spears and hunting. I think it would be an amazing experience to throw a spear made out of a stick and a stone into a living animal. Also, I think it would be awesome to use every part of that animal to help me survive. I would also love to see the villages of the Native Americans and how they really relied on animals. It would be cool to understand the language and writing of Native Americans. This would be awesome to know because all my life I have always wanted to be an Indian and talk like one and if I was an Indian, this would not be a problem. I think it would be fun to play Indian sports and see how lacrosse was played when it was created. I played lacrosse in fifth grade and hated it, but sports are always changing, so I would like to go back and see lacrosse played the real way. Another great thing about being a Native American is to see if history changes and to learn the actual real history of the Native Americans.

One thing that would not be cool about being an Indian would be to lose everything I have now. It would completely suck to not be able to listen to the Beatles, I mean that alone makes it worse. I also would not be able to go to school. I would not have my friends and I would not be writing this blog. Well, the blog part isn't so bad. Although no homework would be nice, but modern food like pizza would suck really bad. Oh my God, no Call of Duty... I would have a life... but, that game is way too fun. No Family Guy or Simpsons would be terrible. I would also have to get around on foot. Well I guess it is good exercise but it would take a long time. So I guess that the bad outweighs the good, a rare occasion.

Modern Warfare 2

One of the best video games ever created is definitely Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I got this game for Christmas and have been playing non-stop until my older brother kicks me off and wants play. The campaign is one of the best story modes I have ever played. Special Ops is amazing and online multiplayer is the most fun thing ever. This game took my decent social life and destroyed it; that proves it is an amazing game.

Let’s get one thing straight, the campaign is short but filled with levels that are full of you doing everything possible in warfare, silenced weapons, blowing up vehicles, using predator missiles, command a tank where to go, take out an enemy soldier by dragging him underwater and knifing him, and breaking a man out of jail. I am only talking about four levels, that is how action packed these levels are. There are also many achievements for the campaign and achievements are fun to get, not to mention it says you have skill.

Special Ops has a bunch of missions for you to do at different difficulties. You earn stars for completing missions, the better you do or the harder difficulty you are on. My favorite mission was called Evasion. You have silenced sniper rifles and you have to get to the safety of a village, whether it means killing a person or not. Another awesome Spec. Op is called Race. In this op, you have to drive a snowmobile to the finish line, the faster you finish, the more stars you get.

Last but definitely not least, online multiplayer. A lot of people buy Call of Duty games only to play online. Online multiplayer is by far the most addictive, frustrating, and fun thing in a video game. However, most multiplayer games have absolutely horrible graphics; Modern Warfare 2 has the best graphics in a multiplayer game. You have to level up and different levels bring new guns, perks, death streaks, and emblems. You can play with your friends in private matches or with random people. Many people have this game, so a lot of little kids are playing with the headset and are very annoying. The most fun things about multiplayer are the kill streaks, you can get air strikes, predator drones, UAV, and even nuclear bombs. If you get a nuke, your team automatically wins because the nuke kills everyone alive.

Festivus - The Holiday for the Rest of Us.

Festivus is a holiday that was never known until the episode of Seinfeld “The Strike.” Festivus was not a holiday until “The Strike” aired on December 18, 1997. In the episode, Kramer goes back to his job after being on strike for 25 years, and goes on strike again. Now to Festivus, George gets a letter from his dad that says ‘Happy Festivus’ and Jerry told everybody about it.

Festivus is a holiday celebrated by people who are frustrated by the commercialism of Christmas and Hanukkah. Festivus occurs on December 23. It is celebrated with an aluminum pole instead of a Christmas tree. The dinner starts out with each person telling everybody else in the family how disappointed they are in them.

One company in Wisconsin manufactures and sells Festivus poles. There are several books written about Festivus, also. Festivus also used to be a name for a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor, it is now retired. One of the governors of Wisconsin had a Festivus pole in his house and is now part of the Wisconsin Historical Museum.

WATCH THE STORY OF FESTIVUS NOW!!!

Happy Thanksgiving - A Blog Dedicated to Taryn Scane

Hello, happy Thanksgiving to all! Last night I spent the night at my sister’s house. It was fun. I really had a fun time. I had fun while I was there. So yeah, it was fun. That is the point. I showed her my blog and she thought it was funny, so I dedicate this blog to Taryn Scane.

I went to bed last night, got up this morning, excited for football and turkey. My sister’s boyfriend took us home this morning at about 11:30. It was a fun car ride home. When we got home we had cinnamon rolls (we do every major holiday). I started to watch the Lions play, they looked good, when it was 7-0. After about half an hour or so I left in disgust. The Lions are bad, there is no other way to say it.

At about 2:00 we went to my grandparents house. I went in gave everybody my handshakes, hugs, and kisses, then went downstairs to get my butt kicked in FIFA 10 by my cousin. I saw my cousin had a big MLB jar. He saw me staring at it and opened it. It was filled with rice. Rice. A jar of rice. He told me to try to get my hand to the bottom. I thought it would be pretty easy, it’s rice, uncooked rice, no liquids. I put my hand in and it was extremely hard. I asked him why he had it, he simply said: “baseball.”

I felt stupid. My cousin was picked along with 6 others in a camp in Florida out of 1,000 kids to come back once a month to train for baseball with the Doyle brothers. In case you didn’t know, the Doyle brothers were 3 brother’s who all played in the MLB back in the 70’s.

After what seemed like endless hours of being beat in FIFA, it was dinner. I had some turkey, of course, and some other good food. To drink, I started out with Cherry Coke, finished that and my cousin wanted me to try some of his protein powder that you mix with milk. He put some of the powder in a glass, added milk, closed the lid, and shook the jar. He plays pitcher, strong arms, I imagined it was shaken up enough. He had protein because the Doyle bros. wanted him to have it, good reason. I came back to the table in what looked to be chocolate milk, tried it, and swallowed it without choking. It was good.

I gobbled up my chicken and went back downstairs to lose again but not in FIFA. This time I lost in MLB 09 the Show. After about 17 1/2 innings of play and a Home Run Derby, We went home. I got the new iPod Nano last Friday and was flipping through radio stations on it, stopping at each one. There was nothing good on so I put it down and stared out the window.

When we got home, I fed my dogs, sat down on my computer, and wrote this blog that is dedicated to Taryn Scane.

We are the RPF and this is a Debate

Yesterday, on November 19, 2009, we had a debate about the Rwandan genocide. Our group consisted of Jake Mulka and me, Brendan Webberly. We represented the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF.) Jake did most of the talking but he brought up very good points and asked great questions. One group that got nailed was the MRND. They got blasted with questions about their radio stations that they set up. I think Jake was getting very mad when groups did not yield on our group.

Mr. Fielder told us the day before to ask most of our questions to Juvenal Habyarimana and the MRND. We did this and they seemed to expect the questions, but the MRND just brought up that they were just informing the Hutu people. I think our group defended other groups’ questions fairly well. Another group that did a good job was France. Heather Monaham did a good job answering and firing back great questions. She is a very good debater. Some groups I do not think had enough time to talk. These groups include the Rwandan Armed Forces, Juvenal Habyarimana, and the Interahamwe. These groups did not have enough time to speak. I don’t know if this was good or bad.

In the debate, I was rather quiet. I could not think of anything good to say, and when I did, Jake was the first one to actually say it. I don’t mind it; I just wish I would have spoke up a little more. It was not boring for me, it was actually exciting. I liked it when two great debaters go against each other discussing a great topic. It was a great time and I bet no one wanted to leave. I do think however that some people were not having fun.

Our group, the RPF, probably spoke the most. Jake constantly had one finger up. I had one finger up a couple of times so people might yield to our group. I wish I had done this more, but what’s done is done. I think that, overall, I did an okay job and I needed to speak up more. I never thought our group would do as good as we did, I was pleased with how well our group did in this debate, Jake spoke a lot which cancelled out me not talking. I am glad I wasn’t in a group with extremely quiet people. All in all, I think Jake and I did great in the debate.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is Wrong!

I do not agree with Emerson’s argument in “The American Scholar.”

Emerson says people only know what they are trained to do and nothing else. I think because we have an educational system with many classes, people are learning many different things. People learn something new every day in every class. My older brother is majoring in public affairs, but he is getting good grades in chemistry. Chemistry has nothing to do with public affairs. So he is learning more than what his future job requires him to do. He also says that people are becoming less intelligent. I disagree with this because teachers learn more things every year. Mrs. Skoronski has been teaching biology for many years, and just learned this year that plants only use 3% of the sunlight they receive. This proves Emerson wrong.

Emerson also says that people have individual jobs and only know what they are trained to do. This is not true. More people are taking 2 jobs and more people are working more hours. More married couples are working who have kids. For example, my sister’s boyfriend works at a supermarket and as a car mechanic. He is doing two completely different jobs and works seven days a week. Many people start out working for a store or shop, and then later take the job in a company. If the person does not move on in life, then Emerson would be correct, but most people do move passed a minimum wage paying job. This again proves Emerson wrong.

I do not however think that what Ralph Waldo Emerson believes in. I do believe in individualism, self-trust and self-reliance. I believe that no individual person is the same in any way as another person, and I believe that people need to trust that they are different. People also should believe in themselves to succeed.

In conclusion, Ralph Waldo Emerson is very smart, but I do not agree with him. The only thing I believe is true in “The American Scholar,” is that people are not as smart as they used to be. For example, when Albert Einstein invented nuclear energy, he did it by himself. Today, we would need a giant team to create nuclear energy (not to mention billions of dollars) if Einstein never did it for us. As crazy as this sounds, technology has improved immensely since the world’s greatest inventions were made, and people have not made very many great inventions.