Positive net effects:
TITLE OF ARTICLE: Britain, France push for more U.N. troops in Congo <http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/19/congo.un.troops/index.html>
The article was updated on November 19, 2008. It's about Britain and France trying to complete the peacekeeping mission by calling for more U.N. troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there's a serious war going on recently.
Britain and France are calling for more U.N. troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo to reach the goal of the biggest peacekeeping mission. There has been quite an increase in the number of troops in the country. Also, coalition of 44 organizations in eastern Congo sent a letter to the Security Council saying that sending some more troops would prevent the wicked events from happening. About 250,000 people fled their homes as the war went on. Many civilians died as the fight happened in many crowded areas. The number of incidents of forced labor, rape and widespread cruelty has increased. An aid group, World Vision, said that The war, which has been going on since 1997, is the deadliest since WWII. The announcement of EU's plan of sending the troops hasn't been presented yet.
I think this article is newsworthy as it's happening right at the moment. Also, the article is very serious. I agree with World Vision about the war in Congo being the deadliest since WWII as many innocent people are dying because of it and it invloves many big countries around the world.
Develping stable governments and economies for poor Central African countries is difficult due to war, diseade, and environmental problems. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the bad government and the crimes have scared away the foreign buisnesses eventhough it has lots of minerals that could make the country rich such as gold, diamonds, and cobalt. Central African Republic has minerals, but as it doesn't have transportation, it can't export the resources. Because Cameroon has steady economy unlike other countries in Central Africa, the people of Cameroon have a high standard of living. Most people of Equatorial Guinea are poor although economies grew due to the recent foundation of oil. Sao Tome and Principe have unstable economy and have few resources, but they found oil in water that might help their economy. Gabon has highest standard of living in the region, and more than half of the country's income comes from oil. The income of the Republic of Congo comes mostly from oil like Gabon, and the country is mostly urban and is growing. Angola has been struggling with its poor and unstable economy. Most of its income comes from farming, and it still has hope as there are diamonds and oil in the country. Zambia is rich with copper mines but its economy growth is slow as it has high debts and inflation. The economy growth of Malawi is even slower as it depends on aid from outside of the country, not its own industries.
As you can see, many countries of Central Africa are poor and very unstable. These are effects of the cause of many things. Firstly, as there are so many ethnic groups, who compete each other for power, there were many civil wars that affected the economies of the region. Secondly, diseases like Malaria and AIDS are common in Central Africa and affect the economies also as there are a lot of young peole compared to the older people. Thirdly, partly because of war and decrease in food production caused food shortage, which means there are not enough resources to feed the civilians living in the region and the resources need to be more developed. Lastly, as the environment is one of the most important resources in Central Africa and should be managed, but the growing industries are destroying the environment. It makes us hard to choose whether to keep the resource or grow the industries. Overall, the countries of Central Africa is having hard time making the countries stable and rich, but it's difficult due to many issues and challenges.
The main visual elements are the shape of Africa and a huge footstep on it. I think the issue of this political cartoon is about how Europeans came and left their footsteps behind which I think represents the influence of the Europeans on the whole continent Africa. I think the cartoonist's opinion on this issue is quite negative as the picture is very dark with whitish gray footstep, which I think represents the Europeans, stomped on the continent of Africa. I think the cartoonist could have made the footstep whiter to really show clearly that the footstep represents the Europeans.
European colonists and the West African tribes influenced a lot of Central Africa's history and culture. About 2000 years ago, the tribes from West Africa migrated to Central Africa and built several kingdoms there. The Kongo Kingdom, which was found in the 1300s near the mouth of the Congo River, was the most important of the all the kingdoms. The West traded the resources in the Central Africa such as animal skins, shells, slaves, and ivory and became very rich. Later in the 1400s, European colonists came to the region and desired for the forest products and the resources such as ivory. They also traded with some kingdoms in Central Africa for slaves. The Europeans started to influence the Central Africa. In the late 1800s, Central Africa was divided into colonies among the European countries, who were France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Ignoring the tribes living in Africa, they started dividing the lands and many different ethnic groups were stuck together against their will. Because of the difference they had among the tribes that were lumped together, they had many conflicts, especially when they gained independence after WWII. Some colonies fought bloody wars for independence, and eventually, all the colonies became independent in 1975 when Angola finally won their independence from Portugal. Though they became independent from European powers, the different ethnic groups fought each other.
There are many different ethnic groups with different customs in Central Africa. The people of Central Africa speak different dialects. Most ethnic groups have their own dialect. Also, there are many official languages in Central Africa that are European languages such as English, French, etc. as the European colonists influenced Central Africa. The Europeans had influenced the religions, too. As you can see, outsiders had come to Central Africa and influenced many things.
Q. What strategy did you use to claim land?
A. I used natural resources map to claim land. I found the lands where there were full of natural resources that I wanted and claimed them.
Q. What factors did you consider in claiming land?
A. The factors I considered in claiming land was mainly the natural resources that the land had and if the land matched my country's goals.
Q. Who won the Scramble for Africa?
A. I think Great Britain won in claiming the most land but the land had to have some valuable things to really see who won. So I can't really tell who won by just seeing the map we colored in.
Q. Who lost in the Scramble for Africa?
A. I think Spain lost as they didn't claim a lot of land, which also means they don't have as much valuable things as other countries have that they can get from the lands they claimed.
TITLE OF ARTICLE: Congo rebels make roadblock out of bodies <http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/13/congo.fighting.ap/index.html>
The article, which was updated on November 13, 2008, is about the serious war in Democratic Republic of Congo, which seems to be not easing at the moment. In addition, the war might draw in some other countries in the region.
The road that leads into rebel-controlled Congo had roadblocks made from the dead bodies of the army by the Congo rebels as a meaning of warning to the government army and the citizens of Congo. This shows that the war in Democratic Republic of Congo is not easing and will not ease for a while. On Wednesday, Georges Chicoty, Angolan Deputy Foreign Minister, said that Angola was prepared to send troops to Democratic Republic of Congo in fear of the conflict engulfing the region. Some reporters have seen some soldiers who seemed like Angolans, but Angola opposed to it because if the presence of Angolans in Congo is announced, it might draw in Rwanda, who sent troops to support Nkunda, too. Both sides, the government troops and the rebels, blamed everything on each other such as the violation of the cease-fire and the Tuesday's clash.
I think this article is news worthy because the news is very recent. Also, the huge conflict between the government troops and the rebels is quite interesting as the same kind of war had happened before and now it's caused by some violations of the cease-fire. Besides, the size of the war is quite big; the war might draw in other countries in the region. In addition, the war is really conflicted, and people might want to see who will going to win the war.
Central Africa has three important physical features- the Congo River, tropical forests, and rich mineral resources. Along the Congo River's route towards the Atlantic Ocean, there are many rapids and waterfalls, especially near its mouth. They hinder the ships from traveling from the interior to the ocean, but the Congo managed to provide a crucial transportation routes in the interior. Central Africa is along the equator and in the low latitudes, therefore, most parts of Central Africa have a humid tropical climate. This kind of climate helps maintaining a large and dense tropical forest, where many animals such as gorillas, elephants, wild boars, and okapis live. The climate also is good for growing crops, which is why most people living in the region are farmers. Coffee, bananas, and corn are the common crops. Also, Central Africa is rich in natural resources and has many valuable minerals like diamond, copper, gold, etc. Overall, Central Africa is full of interesting features such as the Congo River, animals of the tropical rainforests, crops, etc.
I think the book "To Be a Slave" is a trustworthy book. Firstly, I think it's truthful because the author cites all the information in the book, which makes it more trustworthy. Secondly, the author of this book, Julius Lester's ancestor was a slave, so I think that the information would be most likely to be true. Lastly, the reason I believe that this book is truthful is because the information, that's in a chapter or a few pages, is all similar to each other. These are the reasons why I think that the book "To Be a Slave" by Julius Lester is truthful.
TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: Faces of war: Children in Congo hospital <http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/03/congo.fighting.ap/index.html>
The article is a recent news that was updated on November 3, 2008 and it's about Congoleses' lives during the war in Congo. It tells us what conditions the children and the people are in and serious problems the people are facing.
According to U.N., rebels burned three refugee camps and making the frightened people run away. Hundreds of Congoleses are wounded and they are in the hospital of Congo, where there are no more medical supplies and clear water. So, the U.N. peacekeepers brought in 12 vehicles, carrying medical supplies and tablets to clear the water. The people in the refugees have been starving for days. But the U.N. kept on bringing medical supplies and not food that people desperately needed and wanted as they were afraid of diseases like cholera.
This article is news worthy as it happened just one week ago and I think it's still like what I wrote above as the war can't just suddenly get all better and nice. Also, you can see the fear of the children when you read the article as they had nothing to do with the war but they are the ones who are hurt. This kind of events were happening every places where there was war going on.
http://www.couturecentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/tajmahal.jpg
I think the meaning of the quote "Violence leads to more violence" is that if someone starts violence, it can lead to other bigger violence. This happens a lot in the world we live daily.For example when a man punches another man, it can lead to a violent fight between the two men. This kind of incidents happened in a play called "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. When the conspirators killed Caesar, they were eventually all killed by the citizens of Rome.
If I was Brutus, I would probably choose good of Rome over my best friend, Caesar because Caesar is just one person and if he destroys Rome, it would affect so many other people. It doesn't mean that Caesar is not a good leader of Rome but anyone can be ambitious anytime and everyone wants to be powerful so it Caesar can be one of those people.
European countries controlled many areas such as Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, and India. They conquered the lands because they had motivations, which were similar for all areas they conquered or controlled. The reason for gold was mostly same. It was mainly because of the raw materials and natural resources the areas had. The reason for glory was all same, too. European countries wanted to expand their territories and expand their businesses. Only the reason for Gold wasn't all same. For India and Africa, the European countries tried to make Hindu and Muslims and native Africans all to Christians. But for Southeast Asia and Middle East, they didn't have motivations for God. The methods of taking over the area for four areas were quite similar. All of them were ruled politically and economically and militarily. Only some were controlled culturally. The changes brought to the areas were quite similar. European countries built many things in the areas they conquered or controlled such as schools, railroads, canals, bridges, etc. But the negative changes brought were starvation and undesired new religion. As you can see, European countries dominated many areas for their own good and even though they did some nice things for the areas they dominated, there are tons of other negative things that they brought with them when they dominated the areas.
Q. What are the qualities of a good leader? Who are the student leaders in Grade 8? How do they demonstrate the qualities of a good leader?
A. I think one of the qualities of a good leader is having bright personalities so that the people who follow them don't feel bored or depressed. Also, I think a good leader should have good listening skills so that he/she listens to the followers well. The very last quality of a good leader I think is the most important is having loud and clear voice and having good ability of arranging his thoughts to words, so that when he/she talks, people would know right away what he/she is talking about. I think the student leaders in Grade 8 are Slams and the people who are really loud. Because they kind of decide what people should do and people follow them. I think they do demonstrate the qualities of a good leader that I wrote above as they mostly have bright personalities and listen quite well and have loud and clear voices.
My first goal for quarter 1 was to get A on Humanities, and it was met at the end. It was quite difficult to get around A, but I tried my best and reached my goal. My second goal was to speak more in the class and discussions. I think that goal wasn't met as I didn't speak much in class and discussions. My goal that I made in mid-quarter was to improve my writing skill like use of vocabularies and conventions. I think that goal wasn't met also because all my writing assignments didn't get good scores and I always made conventional mistakes.
My first goal for the quarter 2 is to speak more in the class and discussions again. I'm trying to meet this goal again as I didn't meet it last quarter. My second goal is to improve my use of vocabularies because I always use same and boring vocabularies in my writing piece. My last goal for the quarter 2 is to get a better grade on writing assignments as all my writing assignments didn't get good grades in quarter 2.
The main visual elements are the gigantic man with a ribbon that says "CAPITALISM" across his chest holding a small man with a tag that says "LABOR" above the bags labeled as "PROFITS FROM CHILD LABOR." I think this cartoon is about how rich men earn money by taking advantage of child labor. I think the cartoonist's opinion on this issue is that the poor people working for the rich people actually make the money the rich people gets because money is falling from the labor that the huge man is holding in the picture and there's bags labeled "PROFITS FROM CHILD LABOR" underneath the labor and the falling money. The cartoonist could have drawn the huge man with a bit meaner face to make the picture more persuasive. Also, I think that if there were more labor, it would be a little more persuasive because many people work for rich people.
My first goal is to get A in Humanities and I think I'm doing quite well. My grade is pretty close to A, so I think I'm meeting my goal point. My second goal is to speak more in class and discussions. I think I didn't do well on this goal. I didn't speak much in the class and discussions, so I think I didn't meet at the point, not even close to it. But I try to speak more whenever I remember the goal. I made another goal and that is to improve my writing skill. I'm not really a writer, who can be really descriptive and makes good choice of words. So I want to improve my writing.
I liked Mr. Coyle’s investment tip #2- “You must spend money to make money.” I understood the meaning better than the other six tips. I think the tip #2 means that people have to take some risks to make more money, which is what entrepreneurs do and what we all did that day. Using the $80, we all bought some stocks and did our best to make as much money as possible till the end. Overall, everyone in our class made profits; no one had less than $80. We used our money and bought cheap stocks and then, sold it at higher rates. In this way, we managed to increase our money. The tip really helped us a lot.
What is the "net effect" of the Industrial Revolution?
POSITIVE EFFECTS:
NEGATIVE EFFECTS:
Picture from: http://mraviles23.com/images/carding.jpg
The second part of the present making game, which is producing the chosen present as many similar looking products as possible in 45 minutes, was quite fun but sort of annoying a little, too. As soon as the producing process began, our manager began to order us to do something and we had to follow it. Also everyone started to shout at each other. We finally managed to finish some teddy bears in the end but many of them didn't really look like the original. Although making was difficult, it was really fun and a good experience. I felt that machines are really needed in the factories or all the teddy bears or any other products will look different and some not like original.
The game of making a present for siblings was quite fun. At first, I didn't know why we were doing it, but as Mr.Coyle explained the situation we all were in, I could understand easily. I enjoyed creating a gift in limited time with limited resources- scissors, glues, crayons, and all kinds of shapes. It was quite difficult to make a satisfying present out of so little resources. I couldn't think of many things that I could make using all the pieces. Therefore, I just made a fat, ugly teddy bear, but I had lots of fun trying to make it. Now, I think I know quite a bit how the peasants felt and what they could and couldn't do during the Industrial Revolution.
When I looked around my room after playing around and finishing my projects and assignments on a Sunday afternoon, it was a terrible disaster. Sweet wrappers and all eaten chip bags lying all over the floor with crumbs, my drawers all open with all my belongings on top of each other in them, and little paperscraps scattered on and around the desk; I couldn't possibly put my feet settled down on any part of the floor. Because of the wind made by the swirling fan, the garbages everywhere flew around messily around the floor. On my bed, my school bag was wide open with all my binders and textbooks resting everywhere. My materials such as scissors, glues, pens, pencils, etc. were scattered on the desk. Only part that was clean in my room was only around my closet as I didn't go to that part of the room. When I finished getting a detailed look at my room, I wanted so badly to clean up, but I had no idea where to start.
The quote, "Necessity is the mother of invention" is a very famous quote that means needs of things created or helped creating the inventions we are using in our normal lives. As people want to do things faster and easier, inventors create inventions to help their lives go much smoother. For example, Konrad Juse invented the first computer, which people use a lot these days, especially teenagers, in 1936, and Alexander Graham Bell created the first telephone in 1875. Another example is the light bulb built by Thomas Edison. Like these inventions, all the inventions are created because wanted to be more convenient and easier.
URL of image: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals_iv/
images/thomas_edison/thomas_edison.jpg
Q. What were two highlights from the first week of school?
A. I think one of the highlights was getting so many homework and assignments even though it's been only first two weeks of school. The other highlight was getting to be in the yearbook and taking pictures of anything I want to take on my photo day.
Q. What was your first impression of Humanities?
A. My first impression was that humanities was going to be a lot of fun because I've seen last year's 8th grade humanities class when I was in 7th, and it looked really fun. Also, I had the impression that there will be lots of homework in humanities.
Q. What are two goals you have for this quarter in Humanities? (Remember, a goal needs to be specific, realistic, and measurable.)
A. My first goal is to get A on Humanities, and my second goal is to speak more in the class and discussions.
Q. How do you learn best? Visually (watching videos or reading), Auditory (listening to lectures or discussions), Kinesthetic (simulations or making or doing something). What can I do help you learn most effectively in our classroom?
A. I learn best visually and also a little kinesthetic. I'm not really good at memorizing or remembering things, so I like to take notes and review them several times if I need to. As I'm not good at remembering things, I sometimes want to make or do something to remember things easily by thinking what I did or made. I think you can help me learn most effectively in the classroom by maybe speaking a little slower because I sometimes lose your words as I try to follow what you say.
In my gang, there are 6 people -Su Bin, Min Kyung, Youn Ji, Hye In, Yoon Ah, and me. First of all, Su Bin's in my gang because she has been my friend since 5th grade, and I feel comfortable talking to her. Also, I have most of my classes with her. Second of all, Min Kyung's in my gang because we've been friends since 5th grade, and we help each other if we have something difficult. Third of all, Youn Ji's in my gang because I have known her since 4th grade and we laugh a lot together. Fourth of all, Hye In's in my gang because she's kind to everyone, including me, and she is totally fun to talk to. Last but not least, Yoon Ah's in my gang because she's so reliable and very helpful. She's also really benevolent and easy to talk to. I have been spending my time in India with them since I started going to school in India, and I have been friends with them since then. I like the people in my gang and I love talking to them.
