Let's learn HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, and POLITICS together (:

Artificial beauty

“

I live in a world where beauty is only valued in faces that look like porcelain, instead of in the faces that contain artwork.  Scars, freckles, acne, moles, hair–these are what make us human and yet we are told that is not enough; we are not enough.  And so we paint over these imperfections with liquids, pencils, and powders as a way to cover up our masterpieces.  We are told that our skin, our bodies, our souls are deemed by someones physical ability to make ones pants rise up or leak.  

I live in a world where we prefer others to appear ‘natural’, by forcing them to become life-sized moldings of ideologies that exist outside of our realm. And then we wonder why so many people are killing the parts of themselves that once made them feel something.

”

                                                       Enriching Civil Rights

Civil disobedience has always been a topic of controversy. There are two different kinds of ways of looking at civil disobedience. One way of looking at this theory is that it is righteous and beneficial if done under the morally right intensions and needed circumstances ,while the other being that it totally unacceptable behavior that should be greatly punished. The term civil disobedience means “refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by nonviolent means.” Henry David Thoreau was writer who implemented and made the theory famous. He gave this kind of practice the name of “civil disobedience" . Civil disobedience is the most rational form of advocating for change. Thoreau was an American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher.  His actions and famous Essay; “Resistance to Civil Government” influenced many important leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. who each took up this idea and preached it with their own theories oncivil disobedience.

            Thoreau was sent to jail upon his refusal of paying taxes for the U.S war with Mexico. He refused to pay this tax to the state because he believed that the laws upholding slavery and supporting the Mexican War were unjust and therefore , he chose to spend a night in jail rather than submit to the unjust laws and paying the tax. His purpose for refusing to pay the tax was to show the government that he was not willing to comply with something he didn’t have a say in and did not believe in. His stay in jail consisted of merely a night because someone paid his taxes for him so that he could be free. While in jail he wrote his e his most powerful and influential political essay called; “Resistance to Civil Government.”  In his essay he basically talks about the importance of standing up and doing what is right. One of his quotes says; “This American government –what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity? But each instant losing its integrity?” This is true about the corrupted politics and iniquitous laws that the American people have faced with by the government. This can be seen with the treatment that the African Americans for so long received from the white Americans.

Even after the emancipation of slaves in 1863, African Americans faced themselves with  racist, iniquitous, and unjust laws and treatments in the Unites States. Following the civil war a racist, anti-Semitic movement with a commitment to extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy formed, calling themselves the Ku Klux Klan. This group was very savage and killed many African Americans from pure hate. One of the Ku Klux Klan’s most known brutal acts was the bombing of a black church in Alabama that resulted in the deaths of four young girls. There is a quote by Patrick Henry that says;” Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?” Martin Luther King was the kind of person that Patrick Henry urged for the people to be. He did not stand doing nothing when he saw his people getting oppressed by the white supremacist and the unjust laws, instead he began to advocate civil rights and civil disobedience. He became an admirable leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He had many followers and his efforts of improving the life treatment for the blacks eventually came to be successful , but it was not an easy processes.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an admirable leader in his community and believed that civil disobedience was the way to change the laws and feeling that where set against the colored people from the South . Like Gandhi, Martin Luther King believed that only way to get his point across was by taking action and that the action had to be taken in form of non-violent protest and without use of any physical force. King justified his act of civil disobedience by show that there was a lot of hatred towards the blacks by the country police and court systems. Even though the protest of the civil rights movement were mean to be non- violent many white Americans responded with rage and acts of violence toward the blacks. Many black activist were killed during these protest by police officers and the racist white American civilians.

Segregation among blacks and white existed for a long time. Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified and permitted racial segregation, as long as it was equal. The concept of separate but equal was never really followed and the white always had it better than blacks, for example better school, and nicer public restrooms. It was not until 1954 that the Supreme Court unanimously held that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the  Fourteenth Amendment, this was known as the Brown v. Board of Education case. The verdict of the case changed the history of the United Sates forever. Although segregation was illegal in schools there was still much fear of desegregating and Integrating within color.

Minijean Brown is one of the most admired women for her bravery in the history of the Unites States. She was one of nine African American students who broke the color barrier at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. On September 25, 1957, she and eight other African American students were determine to desegregated Little Rock Central High School, but were faced with an angry mob awaiting for them at the entrance of the school. The angry white mob was trying to prevent the student from entering the school, they threw rocks, spit and, attacked the black students with racist comments.  Minijean’s strong will to obtain an education gave her the strength to cope with the iniquitous treatments that she faced at school from the white students. This account was Minnijean’s first step on the path of social and political activism. She went onto fight for minority rights and environmental justice.

            The Civil rights movement began to obtain more advocates in the 1960s. One of the biggest activist groups were the so called “Freedom Riders.” The Freedom Riders were a group of African American and white civil rights activists who challenged segregation and rode integrated buses together into the segregated southern United States in 1961. These civil rights activist groups encountered tremendous violence from white protestors along the road, but also drew international attention to their cause. Their voice was finally heard when in September of 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations prohibiting segregation in bus and train stations.

            The Selma to Montgomery Marches and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is another example of how hard work and persistence will pay off as long as you are doing it correctly and with the right intentions. During these marches black activist and some rare whites marched together to show their advocate and concern for the voting rights of Selma’s African American voters. One of these marches came to be known as “Bloody Sunday” because of its violence and many injuries that day. Officers and white civilians reacted very angry to these kind of marches and attacked them with billy clubs and tear gas driving them back into Selma. These movements gained much media and worldwide attention and led to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 abolished literacy tests and poll taxes designed to disenfranchise African American voters. The main purpose for this act was to struck down any States that were using regulations, laws, or tests to deny the right to vote. It had to be ensure that the right of all citizens to vote, including the right to register to vote is preserved and protected as guaranteed by the Constitution.

            All the different accounts that have been examined were successful due to the persistence and non violent efforts from the African Americans and their white advocate supporters. The civil rights activists were able to maintain strong even when faced with brutality from officers and civilians.  Dr. King and others made civil disobedience a foundation of the Civil Rights Movement. The Jim Crow laws were defined through, violating laws and court orders prohibiting marches and boycotts, and accepting jail sentences because they were not afraid to show the unjust being done and believed in what they were doing. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail because he and others were protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham. Like Thoreau, King used his stay in jail to write about Civil Disobedience. In his letter from Birmingham jail he explain the moral arguments of civil disobedience and distinguishes between just and unjust laws. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, King explains the moral arguments for civil disobedience and distinguishes between the just and unjust laws.

            In today’s times we still see movements that are driven by civil disobedience. There’s a difference between the present Civil Disobedience acts and the ones from back then, one being that people have gotten used to Civil disobedience acts and it comes at no surprise when we see one. When Thoreau first came up with this theory and idea people were very judgmental and saw it as treason to go against anything the government asked for. The way we present a civil disobedience act has also changed, thing like, technology have helped us be able spread these ideas more efficiently. Regardless of the changes in our times, the idea of Civil disobedience will always be the same, and it will always guide people for making a difference in what they believe is right.

                                           Commercial Advertising 

Now a day’s most people base their actions upon the standards of other people who they look up to. Sue Jozui explains that advertiser frequently uses celebrity testimonials to support a claim, but argues that the people should not have to expect approval of people like celebrities to tell them how “good” a product is or that you should buy the product mainly because they are the ones promoting it by letting you know that they themselves make use of it. This argument is agreeable because by expecting the audience to only base their opinion on the standards of popular people, like the celebrities that promote the products, is an insult to the audience. This kind of promoting with celebrities sends out a message to the audience that indicates they cannot quite think for themselves and therefore need a person of higher “superiority” to do it for them. Audience opinions should be made alone, without regarding the celebrity’s testimony

Most television commercial advertisements are done by with celebrities. These celebrities are given a script and they just say what the company wants them to say. Why should people base their opinion on something that is not even a sincere thought and that these celebrities are getting paid for saying. In the commercials celebrities only say the good things about the products that they are advertising because they are given a good amount of money. The company will pay any amount of money necessary to make their product look good. A video experiment was conducted to test how far people would go to get money. In this experiment a group of actors where called up for commercial.

These actors where given a script in which they were suppose to talk good about a new hair product. Since this was all an experiment and therefore the casting for the commercial was all a lie. The purpose of this experiment was to see how many people would lie about a product just for the money that they would end up receiving. Before they began their auditions they were told that the hair product they were advertising had some defects that had previously cause some people to lose their hair. After being told the reality of the product only four people out 10 chose to not do the commercial, but the rest went all along with it.

This experiment proved that commercials can lie to their audience, and that most actors don not care about what they are advertising and only care about the money they will receive. These are all reasons why Su Jozui’s opinion and suggestion are agreeable. We need to boycott those kinds of advertisings and legislate rules and guidelines for advertisers. Celebrities are people like us and we should not have to rely our future decisions on something merely because they say to do so. We are smart and capable of deciding things for our own. 

                                                               College Essay

There is a notable question that sparks debate as tuition rates spiral out of control and unemployment for college grads hits record levels. This is enough to engender question of concern on whether college education is still worth it. When students and parents question the worthy and benefits of a college education they seem to ignore some of the most important factors. They focus merely on the money aspects of a college education and degree and tend to forget the most significant ones. For many the value of a degree is not just the earnings impact over a lifetime but the experiences and personal development that occur during the years of their educational college experience. The skills that one develops in college are exclusive and very useful in the long term. Colleges can mature a person into becoming a more focused and passionate learner which helps them to find opportunities for career progression.

 According to source D; the pay gap between college graduates with a bachelor’s degree and those with only a high school diploma has reached 83 percent as of 2010 . Three decades ago the pay gap was 40 percent more for those with a bachelor’s degree. These significant gaps in the two different groups of people help to prove the advantages and befits for having college education. When comparing these transitional statistics we see that a advantages for college graduates  with a bachelors degree has so far been existing. The coast of colleges might be seen as very expensive at the time , but it will all eventually pay off when you are earning more money than someone who didn't attend college. “College graduates, though hardly immune from downturn, are also far less likely to be unemployed than non-graduates”(Leonhardt.) This is a great advantage especially when there is a lack of employment and people are fighting for jobs .

 There is certain special things that can only be obtain or benefited from attending college ,such as; A liberal arts education. A liberal arts education provides students’ with a broader understanding about the world around them. The purpose of a liberal arts education is not for training someone for a specific job, though it does prepare you for the world of work by providing you with an invaluable set of employ ability skills, including the ability to think for yourself, the skills to communicate effectively, and the capacity for lifelong learning. “A liberal education remains a resource years after graduation because it helps us to address problems and potential in our lives with passion, commitment and a sense of possibility.”(Roth.) These are some of the more obvious benefits that are gained from attending college. “Many liberal arts students become innovators and productive risk takers, translating liberal arts ideas in to effective, productive work in the world” (Roth.) This quote from source B is a great example of how these skills can help a person become successful in life and therefore supporting the idea that college is indeed worth to attend, many blame money as being the main factor for teens not attending college. The truth is that this not all about the money. If it were then everyone attending college would be very unhappy because they would just be there without excitement or thrive.

Everyone who goes to college is passionate about something, they also enjoy learning. The people who truly want to attend college will make no excuses for their education, they will get the best grades for scholarships and will also work to help pay for their tuition. You cannot say “is college worth it?” because the question then turns to you. “Are you worth going to college?”Anything is possible and for the people who want to attend college they will put no excuse. Once in college they will fully benefit from everything their college has to offer them. In Source E, Wieder explains that co-founder of paypal was willing to pay each of the 24 winners of his Thiel fellowship 100,00 to not attend college and instead develop ideas in areas such as energy. This fellowship’s purpose was to help winners develop their ideas more quickly than they would at a traditional university.

The fact that there were some more student who denied this deal than accepted, shows that these university student believe that their education is greater than the money they can in exchange receive. Mr.Thiel’s success is a clear contradiction to his statement of colleges not being worth it because without t his business relationship forged during his days at Stanford, he would of not been as successful as he is now. Nelson Mandela once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."This is true because there are an infinite amount of things that you can do with the knowledge you gain from a college/University .It really is true, an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

                                                    Abigail Adams Essay

In 1780 Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her son John Quincy Adams, who was traveling abroad with his father John Adams, who at the time was a United States diplomat. Abigail Adams wrote the letter to his son John Quincy Adams for the purpose of advising and convincing him. She advises her son to take hold of every opportunity he faced and make the best of it, she also writes to convince him of diligence. Adams employs a motherly concerned tone, historical allusions, as well as metaphors and patriotic appeals.

            Adams uses rhetorical strategies when encouraging her son to be diligent, she does this by flattering him in the beginning of the letter and also by taking advantage of his fondness towards her and appealing to his affection for her in order to convince his son of diligence. Adams wants to make it clear to his son that the purpose of this letter was written with the concern to guide him and advice him, therefore she starts off by making it clear that her primary concern is his safety, and appeals to his emotions so that he will be amenable to her advice. She compliments him in his language skills and then asserts his need for him to keep improving. Abigail also makes reference to a discussion she had with an author, in which she tells her son about a comparison of a judicious traveler. She explains that a judicious traveler is like a river because a river increases its stream the further it flows from its source and a traveler improves their qualities as they encounter hardships. Her reference to the author’s metaphor is intended to convince her son of the importance of the trip that she encouraged him to embark. The purpose of the metaphor is also to give him a sense of assurance that the trip will benefit him. In line 26 Adams again flatters his son by stressing his natural talent but again asserts that he needs to utilize his god given gifts by showing effort. This is a rhetorical strategy that she uses, to make him feel guilty of not taking advantage or acting upon his blessings in hope that he will become more mature and diligent of his actions.

            Adams employs historical allusions when she implies that he is a genius like Cicero, referring to the tyranny of Catiline, Verres, and Mark Anthony that made Cicero so distinguished an orator. The historical allusion legitimizes the point that Abigail makes when she writes that “The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties.” The current difficulties that she is refereeing to where those from the American Revolution. She invokes patriotism on him by stating that war, tyranny and desolation are the scourges of the almighty, yet he is an eyewitness of these calamities in his own native country. By this she encourages her son to conduct his life aiding the country from the “scourges of the almighty.” This places great pressure and responsibility on her son because she additionally implies that his dad has taken a large and active share in this content and by ignoring her advice both of his parent’s efforts of educating him with this principles would seems like a waste of time and prove a failure. Once again this shows how she manipulates her son by expressing her strong maternal tone in which she states her hope for him to become more diligent to his country and parents.

            Abigail Adams wrote this letter for the purpose of advising his son at a time of American history chaos. She used rhetorical strategies for a more effective way of conveying her message, most significant which were; ethos, pathos, logos, metaphors, and imaginary. She wrote the letter to her son John Quincy Adams in hope that by her efforts and dedication of constant advises towards him she could secure a better future for her country.

My favorite subject

                                   Autobiography 

          Most of the people I have met tell me that History is very monotonous to them.

They are surprised when I tell them that history is actually my favorite subject.

People ask me why I like history and my response is always the same. I like history

because it fascinates me to learn how and why the world and its people came to be as

they are now. I also love philosophy and I hope this year I get a chance to study it more.                                                                                   

I recall starting to gain interest for history when I was in 7^th grade. I had an

interesting 7^th grade social studies teacher, he would make sure to make the class fun

and also intrigue history to us. That was the year when I began to watch a lot of the

history channel, not surprisingly it became a hobby to watch the history channel and

other history videos. The wonderful thing about history is that when you study it you also

learn that you are learning other subjects, like for example; when we learn about who

Isaac Newton was and what he did we also learn that he came up with the theory of

gravity when that apple fell on his head. I see History as subject of many subjects and I

guess that since that’s my perspective and way of looking at it, that’s one of the reasons

why I like it.

Advance placement World History was the first AP class I took in high school

and I can truly say I enjoyed it, it was a lot of hard work just like any advance placement

class but I love how I learned a lot of things I wouldn't of probably had  learn if I would of

taken regular World History. Advance placement World History was the class that

reaffirmed my passion for learning history. I am now taking AP US History. History also

involves the study of politics and learning about them is what made me grow a passion

for politics and law. Someone would think that because I really like history that I might

want to pursue a career as a historian, but in fact I want to be lawyer.

Last year I read “Guns, Germs, and steel,” by Jared Diamond and now  am

reading another one of his books called, “collapse.” The book analyzes how history can

help us learn from our mistakes. By looking back into the history of why societies failed

we can learn how to prevent them from falling again. This is another reason why I enjoy

learning history.  I am glad to be taking AP English because I know I will benefit from it a

lot, language teaches us many different things and that’s one of my favorite things, to

learn.