week: June 1st - June 5th
This is the final blog entry of my American History class in my sophomore year. As such I would like to reflect on my performance throughout the year of the entire course. When I first began attending this class I was quite unhappy about almost every aspect of the class; the teacher, the material, and the teaching style of the material. I struggled the first quarter of the class with getting used to the new skills required for success in the course. My largest obstacle was the completely new method of analyzing history (i.e OPVLs, analytic papers, and the lectures with notes during class). However, through all of my discontent and frustration I realize that this class has been the most beneficial out of all of my classes of this year because this class taught me so much more than just the history of the United States. American History taught me new study skills, analytic skills, time management, perseverance when I fail. Even though this class has been one of my more difficult courses I am grateful that it was a challenging class because it really pushed me to give effort in order to improve and gave me confidence at trying new things even if they seem terrible or difficult. My time spent in American Studies class has given me a new way of looking at all historic events as well as the ability to apply that knowledge to the future.
"When at first you don't succeed, try, try again." - William Edward Hickson
"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." - Vince Lombardi
"The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive, and passion, it is possible to achieve the American Dream." - Tommy Hilfiger
Monday, June 1, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Semester 2 blog 3: Research
Week: 5/ /15 - 5/ /15
Research is the base of understanding and knowledge. Researching a topic is what gives a person the facts and how they learn about that said topic. For every person the way that they go about doing their research is different. Personally, I always being more broad with general information and then move to more specific and narrowed information. I do this so that I begin with basically a summary of the topic or event which then assists me in finding the detailed, relevant information once I have a solid direction of action that I plan on taking in my process. With my research for the video project I used google searches of the name of my event finding websites that gave me a basic, short run down of the event; I used sources like History.com and Wiki to find key phases and things that came up frequently and then searched those phrases and names for the specific facts and information. The reason I like to conduct my research this way is because it helps me stay on my topic and allows me to keep all my research in order and organized mentally and in my overall project that I will ultimately create using the research that I completed. This is important, especially with history when things must be kept in chronological order and fall into what is gong on at the same time of that event (globally or domestically). What do you find to be the best method(s) of conducting research? Does it help to complete the research in a certain way? Are there any times when you might have to change the way to research any given topic differently from what you usually do?
Research is the base of understanding and knowledge. Researching a topic is what gives a person the facts and how they learn about that said topic. For every person the way that they go about doing their research is different. Personally, I always being more broad with general information and then move to more specific and narrowed information. I do this so that I begin with basically a summary of the topic or event which then assists me in finding the detailed, relevant information once I have a solid direction of action that I plan on taking in my process. With my research for the video project I used google searches of the name of my event finding websites that gave me a basic, short run down of the event; I used sources like History.com and Wiki to find key phases and things that came up frequently and then searched those phrases and names for the specific facts and information. The reason I like to conduct my research this way is because it helps me stay on my topic and allows me to keep all my research in order and organized mentally and in my overall project that I will ultimately create using the research that I completed. This is important, especially with history when things must be kept in chronological order and fall into what is gong on at the same time of that event (globally or domestically). What do you find to be the best method(s) of conducting research? Does it help to complete the research in a certain way? Are there any times when you might have to change the way to research any given topic differently from what you usually do?
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Semester 2 blog 2: Wars, Wars, Wars, and more.... Wars
Date of week: April 20, 2015
The focus of the class has shifted to discussing numerous conflicts that the United States became involved with as it rose to be considered a world power. We studied WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. Throughout this topic I have constantly been pondering the reasons that justify starting or entering a war. I have come to a conclusion that the means that justify war for the U.S. was and is when freedom and liberty are in jeopardy and oppression arises. We see the United States enter the Cold War with the intentions to assist the places destroyed by the post-WWII and, to more importantly, stop the spread of communism in Europe. The U.S. fears that the Soviet Union could gain enough power to potentially threaten the place of the only other world power, the U.S., and impede a communist government/system on other countries. In WWI and WWII the United States was less concerned about oppression but more focused on self-defense and obligation from allies; however there was still a factor of trying to bring the nations of the world together and lessen the amounts of conflict. Do you think that the United States has a right or an obligation to keep peace between the nations and get involved when freedom is compromised?
The focus of the class has shifted to discussing numerous conflicts that the United States became involved with as it rose to be considered a world power. We studied WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. Throughout this topic I have constantly been pondering the reasons that justify starting or entering a war. I have come to a conclusion that the means that justify war for the U.S. was and is when freedom and liberty are in jeopardy and oppression arises. We see the United States enter the Cold War with the intentions to assist the places destroyed by the post-WWII and, to more importantly, stop the spread of communism in Europe. The U.S. fears that the Soviet Union could gain enough power to potentially threaten the place of the only other world power, the U.S., and impede a communist government/system on other countries. In WWI and WWII the United States was less concerned about oppression but more focused on self-defense and obligation from allies; however there was still a factor of trying to bring the nations of the world together and lessen the amounts of conflict. Do you think that the United States has a right or an obligation to keep peace between the nations and get involved when freedom is compromised?
Saturday, March 7, 2015
blog 1 (semester 2): 1920's
Date of week: March 1-6
The time after The Great War was marked with anti-radical and anti-immigrant atmosphere. The question of Civil Rights is very prominent in the 1920's. Who gets rights and how much they get are the main questions. Who gets to be American? Immigration during this time is a highly debated topic; for cultural and economic reasons. People are again taking the attitude of "Americanization" towards the immigrants and in racial minorities in general. There is a large anti- German vibe throughout the nation in rue of WWI which also drove prohibition because beer drinking was down. Another significant element is the prosperity in the country with most of Europe recovering from the war. For Americans this time was a time of business. This aspect is reflected in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Morality is down and cold hard business is up. The U.S. has a period of prosperity and people are still in love with the so called "American Dream" consisting of materialization and self gain, however on October 29, 1929 The Great Depression hits America hard and the nation plunges into an economic crisis. The stock market crashed and people lost jobs, life savings, and opportunities. Negative effects were numerous as suffering spread like a wild fire throughout the nation but there was at least hope lifting from the ashes; with so much loss people began looking toward freedom. A definition of a new concept of freedom arose centered around respect for civil liberty and cultural tolerance.
The time after The Great War was marked with anti-radical and anti-immigrant atmosphere. The question of Civil Rights is very prominent in the 1920's. Who gets rights and how much they get are the main questions. Who gets to be American? Immigration during this time is a highly debated topic; for cultural and economic reasons. People are again taking the attitude of "Americanization" towards the immigrants and in racial minorities in general. There is a large anti- German vibe throughout the nation in rue of WWI which also drove prohibition because beer drinking was down. Another significant element is the prosperity in the country with most of Europe recovering from the war. For Americans this time was a time of business. This aspect is reflected in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Morality is down and cold hard business is up. The U.S. has a period of prosperity and people are still in love with the so called "American Dream" consisting of materialization and self gain, however on October 29, 1929 The Great Depression hits America hard and the nation plunges into an economic crisis. The stock market crashed and people lost jobs, life savings, and opportunities. Negative effects were numerous as suffering spread like a wild fire throughout the nation but there was at least hope lifting from the ashes; with so much loss people began looking toward freedom. A definition of a new concept of freedom arose centered around respect for civil liberty and cultural tolerance.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Week 8: Gilded Age and "The Great Gatsby"
Date of week: Dec. 1-7 ,2014
This week my American Studies class had begun to discuss the Gilded Age and Roaring 20's. A time when there was a ton of technological progress in the United States which caused changes in the social classes of the country. There began to be a more significant division between the rich and the poor. As the Great Depression had come to an end before this time. Innovation drives the nation in new paths. The United States turns its interest in international business with the idea of Empire. This ties into the the great American novel, The Great Gatsby, as the characters experience life in their respective classes. In the novel the rich live luxuriously while the poor work day in and out to acquire the necessities for themselves and nothing more. The rich people are involved in business. The idea of rag-to-riches also comes into play, where someone from nothing makes it big. The morals and values of the different classes are different. The concept of morality in life effects the characters' decisions. How far someone is wiling to go to get to where they want? Would they throw away their morality to achieve their goal? Do the rich really have more than the poor? How is being rich defined differently now in comparison to then? Why and how do Empires form?
This week my American Studies class had begun to discuss the Gilded Age and Roaring 20's. A time when there was a ton of technological progress in the United States which caused changes in the social classes of the country. There began to be a more significant division between the rich and the poor. As the Great Depression had come to an end before this time. Innovation drives the nation in new paths. The United States turns its interest in international business with the idea of Empire. This ties into the the great American novel, The Great Gatsby, as the characters experience life in their respective classes. In the novel the rich live luxuriously while the poor work day in and out to acquire the necessities for themselves and nothing more. The rich people are involved in business. The idea of rag-to-riches also comes into play, where someone from nothing makes it big. The morals and values of the different classes are different. The concept of morality in life effects the characters' decisions. How far someone is wiling to go to get to where they want? Would they throw away their morality to achieve their goal? Do the rich really have more than the poor? How is being rich defined differently now in comparison to then? Why and how do Empires form?
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Week 7: NDH
Week of Nov. 10th
As the class is beginning to get more into the process of completing the National History Day projects the difficulty is increasing. Personally I am finding the research part of it all super overwhelming because it is just so much to think about and very stressful because I know it is the base of the entirety of my paper for the NDH. The hardest part is locating the primary sources. You really have to search around and dig for information. For a majority of the time of my research I was following link after link after link; meaning I had to uncover the sources that I found cited on other places. Over all the research phase just was time consuming and to be honest a lot of work with a ton of dead ends where I found nothing. I feel like once I get all the information and outlining down solidly that the whole writing process will go smoothly By that given point I hope it to just be a plug and chug sort of thing. Obviously with fixing the rough spots and basically polishing the paper up along with adding the final details. This project is honestly quite interesting in the fact that it revolves around the affect of what each person did rather than just a biography of the given person's life. The legacy and changes that the people did are what truly matter in the future which I feel like some people forget to looks at. They focus on what the person did and neglect to ask, "how does that effect my life, today?" I look back I can honestly say that I did not even think about that question. How is the NDH going for everyone else? What do you find to be hardest? What is the easiest? What do you look forward to doing?
As the class is beginning to get more into the process of completing the National History Day projects the difficulty is increasing. Personally I am finding the research part of it all super overwhelming because it is just so much to think about and very stressful because I know it is the base of the entirety of my paper for the NDH. The hardest part is locating the primary sources. You really have to search around and dig for information. For a majority of the time of my research I was following link after link after link; meaning I had to uncover the sources that I found cited on other places. Over all the research phase just was time consuming and to be honest a lot of work with a ton of dead ends where I found nothing. I feel like once I get all the information and outlining down solidly that the whole writing process will go smoothly By that given point I hope it to just be a plug and chug sort of thing. Obviously with fixing the rough spots and basically polishing the paper up along with adding the final details. This project is honestly quite interesting in the fact that it revolves around the affect of what each person did rather than just a biography of the given person's life. The legacy and changes that the people did are what truly matter in the future which I feel like some people forget to looks at. They focus on what the person did and neglect to ask, "how does that effect my life, today?" I look back I can honestly say that I did not even think about that question. How is the NDH going for everyone else? What do you find to be hardest? What is the easiest? What do you look forward to doing?
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Week 6: Reconstruction and Romanticism
Weeks of Oct. 20th - 29th
The efforts of Reconstruction were attempts to re-build the United States Union and find places for the black slaves along with the expansion of the nation. As a result there were many ideas set on the table and a ton of disagreements with the circumstances. With the Civil War over there are also many new feelings arising from the citizens and as a result the arts get change and new arts come to creation. During this period in American history the overall mood of the nation is negative as they have just finished the bloodiest war that split the nation apart. With all this negativity and uncertainty Romanticism came to be and was embraced by authors, poets, artists, and the critics of the United States. Romanticism focuses on the darker, mysterious side of things as it revolves around the supernatural, imagination, the Gothic, death, and respect for nature. I think that such a theme was taken in because of all the death that occurred during the Civil War along with the search for individuality. People become attracted to rebellion, revolution with the trends of melancholy and sadness. The expression of a person's feeling and their darker side was appealing to people as the Enlightenment Period concluded and opinions clashed. A famous example is the poet Edgar Allan Poe who had many tragedies in his life and those losses and feelings for revenge and the familiarity with death were transferred into his poems and short stories. Personally I really like the Romantic literary works as they bring about a sense of mystery and get the reader on the edge of their seat. Why is it that people like to feel scared and have the adrenalin of fear with anxiety?
The efforts of Reconstruction were attempts to re-build the United States Union and find places for the black slaves along with the expansion of the nation. As a result there were many ideas set on the table and a ton of disagreements with the circumstances. With the Civil War over there are also many new feelings arising from the citizens and as a result the arts get change and new arts come to creation. During this period in American history the overall mood of the nation is negative as they have just finished the bloodiest war that split the nation apart. With all this negativity and uncertainty Romanticism came to be and was embraced by authors, poets, artists, and the critics of the United States. Romanticism focuses on the darker, mysterious side of things as it revolves around the supernatural, imagination, the Gothic, death, and respect for nature. I think that such a theme was taken in because of all the death that occurred during the Civil War along with the search for individuality. People become attracted to rebellion, revolution with the trends of melancholy and sadness. The expression of a person's feeling and their darker side was appealing to people as the Enlightenment Period concluded and opinions clashed. A famous example is the poet Edgar Allan Poe who had many tragedies in his life and those losses and feelings for revenge and the familiarity with death were transferred into his poems and short stories. Personally I really like the Romantic literary works as they bring about a sense of mystery and get the reader on the edge of their seat. Why is it that people like to feel scared and have the adrenalin of fear with anxiety?
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