Central Africa Today

The civil war that took place, damaged the countries of Central Africa today. Most of the countries in the central part of Africa are poor, due to its loss of wealth and poor economies. The countries, however, are trying to recover, but not with much success. Health issues like diseases lashing around the place, environmental problems, war and governmental issues are not making the situation easier. Health problems like Malaria, HIV/AIDS and other diseases are all over Africa, and are hard to treat because many people dont have access to the medication. Economically, most of the jobs in Central Africa are agricultural ones, but of course, the pay isnt enough to support a family.
If Central Africa had a strong economy, this could all change. With a little more effort put into jobs, education and infrastructure, Central Africa could rise today.

History and Culture of Central Africa

Around 2000 years ago, many people migrated from West Africa to Central Africa. central Africa is isolated from the other countries. People who lived there just saw people from their own area.
There were kingdoms created though, and the most important one was the Kongo Kingdom. They started trade routes, which helped the Central Part of Africa gain wealth. The trade routes did also bring in some new technology. Ivory was another thing that was well traded, and because the Europeans wanted it so much, it helped Central Africa's wealth. Most of central Africans speak either French, English or Portuguese because these were the countries that took over parts of Central Africa, the language caught on. The presence of these European colonies did affect the history and culture of Central Africa today.

Scramble for Africa

Absent

Footprint Cartoon Analysis

The main visual elements of this cartoon is the black Africa, and the big white foot. The issue is about the Europeans taking control over different parts of Africa. I think the cartoonist thinks that what the Europeans did in their quest to take over Africa was wrong. I think that's why he also portrayed the white foot so big, and also that it takes over most of the Africa because literally, most of Africa was dominated; but not all. I think the main technique the author used was the color contrast, and also the size. Also, when you look at the picture, and see the big white foot, you think that the Africans were 'stepped' on, which pretty much means that they weren't that important to the Europeans and just kicked them around.

Net Affect of Imperialism

Bad:

• Many people were taken as slaves, separated from families.
• A great number of people died.
• They had to work long grueling hours.
• They were beaten harshly, had big wounds.
  
• They were expected to work even if they were in a near-death condition.

Good:

• Europeans tried to civilize the Africans
• Provided shelter
• Introduced some new technology
• Provided health care
  
• Tried to provide education

Africa Current Event 3

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7735159.stm

Who: The people of the DR Congo and the withdrawl troops.
What:Two fronts have been withdrawn to create humanitarian corridors.
When:Reported Tuesday 18th
Where:The DR Congo
Why:They want to get humanitarian aid through.
How:They are going through the jungle in white armoured cars firing warning signals.

The news is very relevant, not something from 'a while ago'. And these articles are related to whats happening with the civil war in the DR Congo.

It seems like the government is actually with the rebels in this. Obviously, if someone comes into the jungle in big cars-armed asking you to come fight, no-ones going to do it. The rebels wont come [duh].

Africa Current Event 2

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7731937.stm

Who:The DR Congo
What:Peace process with the DR Congo govt.
When:Sunday Nov 16
Where:DR Congo
Why:250,000 people have been made homeless by the fighting between rebels and Congolese government troops.
Gen Nkunda acknowledged that his forces had suffered heavy losses.
How: The violence and fighting happening there, many troops have been lost.

One reason that makes this article 'news' is because its very relevant. This article was published on November 16th and this is something people will want to know about quickly.
There is also 'progress' involved. The progression in the country of the DR Congo. They have stopped all the fighting there, and as said Gen Nkunda is said to be supporting the peace process. Many people have been left homeless and a great number of people have also died. This is something good happening in the world, and is a progression for the DR Congo.

Central Africa - Physical Geography

Central Africa has many major landforms. The Congo Basin, Western Rift Valley. Some other lakes on Central Africa that lie along the Western Rift Valley is Lake Nyasa (Which is also referred to Lake Malawi). Lake Tanganyika, Congo River and the Zambezi River are also another important bodies of water in Central Africa. The vegetation in Central Africa is dense and has a humid, tropical climate. Animals like, gorillas, elephants, wild boars and okapis roam in the tropical rain forests. There are also other very important resources in Central Africa. There's copper and diamond. Africa's copper is found in the Copper Belt. It stretches throughout northern Zambia and the southern democratic republic on Congo. About 50 % of Cameroon is covered by vast rain forests. (Cameroon is slightly larger than California).

Can we trust TBAS?

I think that a lot the information in "To Be a Slave" can be trusted. The information is from little exerts from previous books about slavery. Julius Lester even credited the person and the page number from the book he used. And some of the information was gotten from the survivors from the African slavery period.
The author himself is also trusted. Not only is it because the book was published in the first place, but Lester has won a lot of writing awards, so it looks like he can be trusted with his writing. And in this particular book, Julius Lester won the Newbery Honor award.

Africa Current Event

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7719030.stm

Who: People who have fled fighting in the Dem. Rep. of Congo.
What: Cholera, has broken out there.
When: Notified Nov 10th.
Where: Democratic Republic of Congo.
Why: Unsanitary Conditions.
How: Because the camps are so unsanitary.
This news article is 'worthy' because it tells us a lot of relevant information to what is happening in the smaller parts/countries of the World. The 'emotion' used are like grief. Obviously, the Cholera breaking out in the country is not a good thing, and many people are very sick from it, and the numbers are expected to rise.
The 'relevance' of the story is very relevant, because there is a civil war there, and people want to know recent things that are happening. Things like these diseases breaking out, gets peoples attention, which could grab someone attention and get them to help the case in some way.

5 Themes

Movement: The items that are being sold in this market are probably from many different places in the world.

Region: The culture and language make this place special!

Human Environmental Interaction: The building of everything in the market from the small stalls to the big outside building.

Location: The location of this place could be market.

Place: The place seems like it could b e almost anywhere. The clothes are quite similar to what we wear now, and it doesnt seem like it is a place in Brazil.

Violence

“Violence leads to more violence.”
I do agree with the quote in some ways.
In Julius Caesar, the 'violence' part was in Act 3 when Brutus and the conspirators stabbed Caesar. After Brutus was done with his oration to try and get the Roman citizens on their side, Mark Antony starts telling his side of the story, and gets the crowd on his side. (Julius Caesar's). This results in the Roman citizens getting mad, and starting to revolt, and kill the conspirators.
But, it doesn't always hold true. If Mark Antony had never spoken, all the violence would have probably ended, and Brutus and the other conspirators would have gained a place in the senate.

Caesar or the Good of Rome?

If I were put in the position Brutus was in-To choose Rome or his best friend, I would have to choose the Good of Rome, and join the conspiracy. If Caesar were to die, it only affects a few people, like Calpurnia, and a few of his supporters, but Rome has hundreds of people, that need to have the right person make their decisions in order to have a good and stable city. When Caesar same back to Rome, after defeating Pompey in the Civil War, many people thought that he didn’t deserve the amount of power, control and attention he was getting. If Rome decides on which leader they think is better, for them and their country, it will affect everyone.

Leaders

Qualities of a good leader:

• Understanding
• Has control over what she/he is doing, but not dominating everything
• Responsible
• Knows right from wrong

I think a good leader in our grade is Aysha, because she is very positive and energetic.

Case Studies in Imperialism

Motivations:

Gold: There were many natural resources/ raw materials in Africa such as diamonds, gold copper and tin. There was also cheap labor there.

God: The Europeans thought they were better than the Africans. They also thought that European rule would end slavery trade and help convert native people.

Glory: The Europeans took over many parts of Africa and technology helped them succeed. Markets and plantations were also being set up there.

Methods:
The Europeans used a lot of modern day technology to help them dominate Africa. There were telegraph, railroads and steam engines.
Most of the time to prove one country had taken control over a particular part of Africa, they merely had to tell the others and show they had control over that particular part.

Reflection.

For first quarter humanities I got to my goal for handing in homework on time. But for my other goal-To write descriptive pieces more affectively, didn't go so well. We didn't have too many writing pieces like that, but for the descriptive piece on the IR museum, I didn't 'get into the persons shoes' much.

For second quarter my two humanities goals are:
1)To get at least an A- in humanities this quarter.
2)To participate more in class.

Political Cartoon Analysis

I think the main point the illustrator is trying to get out of the cartoon, is that all the rich people suah as factory owners will do almost anything to get their money, and end up getting it in a unfair way.
Visual Elements:
You can clearly see the big, fat guy wearing the 'Capitalism' banner--and in the visual he seems to be robbing the small guy with the label 'Labor'. You can also see his money being dropped into a bag 'Profits from Child Labor'. We see the 'capitalism' guy diaplayed as a very large, fat man, and it probably means hes greedy. Wants money, even though he has enough, compared to the small worker. The immigrant or worker obviously has no power to stop or control whats happening. They work, get paid minimum wage, and thats it. The author of this image probably feels that workers should probably deserve more. They work long hours, and [according to the cartoon], end up loosing.

Mid-Quarter Reflection

So far for this quarter I have achieved one of my goals. My first goal was to write more descriptively, and if I needed to write from a character's point of view, then to really get into the characters shoes. I haven't accomplished this goal yet, because we haven't had a chance to write about anything specific. Yet.
My second goal was to finish all my homework on the day it was assigned. [ So I could turn it in on time.] I have been able to hand in my work on time...though it hasn’t always been done on the say it was given. I will try to accomplish this part of my goal, but i got the main part. Turning in homework on time.

Stock Market Reflection

"Don’t let your emotions get the best of you."
Was one of the seven tips that were given at the Stock Market activity. This tip for the third year applied to me. A lot.
When I the price of Silver automatically shoot up. I thought "I HAVE to buy Comstock silver". I had enough money and thought that next year the price would shoot up again, so I could make a nice little profit. But, of course, seeing as I always have bad luck with money and the price of silver dropped, and the 'government' started using gold. Another time this happened was with the Great Northern Railroads. For the first few years, the GN railroads were making no money, and the price kept dropping. It was after I sold 3 of my railroad certificates [Leaving 1 with me] that the price started jumping up each year from $4-$10 then in the end to $25.
But it was all true, things like this happen in the stock market all the time, and you can never predict what will really happen.
So, I guess I should have taken the tip more seriously.

Industrial Revolution Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Brought wealth to countries such as England and later on America.
• Changed the lifestyle of people.
  
• Cities grew, with a lot more available and helpful technology.
  
• People who worked in the mills and factories were paid a decent amount. (Enough to keep their families alive).
  
• Some machines took over the jobs of people, so economic growth became quick.

Cons:

• Pollution grew.
• When machines took over, a great deal of people lost their jobs.
  
• There were deaths happening in the factories from accidents.
  
• There were people (Luddites) protesting against the machines, and thought they should not replace people.
  
• Women and small children were also sent to the mills to work, so they would make a living.

http://www.geocities.com/turning_world/factory.gif

Factory Game Day 2

Wow. The second day in 'The Factory Game' was really different than the first. All we really did for Day 1 was sit around gluing and coloring pieces of paper, calmly. But for the second day, it was pretty much chaos. People were yelling and running around. Gluing, Coloring and cutting as fast as they could. We were in such a rush that someone eventually had to draw in a smiley face on one of our little pigs, to get it on the board... I guess the activity showed us a day at a factory back then, and what I was like to be in an assembly line. But personally, even though the second day was pretty hectic and crazy. I liked Day 2 =) .

Factory Game Day 1

Making the toy for my 'younger siblings' birthday was interesting. There was a certain amount of pieces I could use to make my toy, and most of them were all the same thing. Either circles or ovals. Though I guess there was a lot of possibilities of what you could make out of the pieces of paper. Animals, or some creative design. I suppose there wasn't much materials because back then people couldn't afford fancy stuff, and only simple things too. Overall i thought it was pretty interesting to see what other designs other people came up with.

Roller Coaster

I sat there, nervous yet with a hint of excitement, as the roller coaster went clunk, clunk, clunk as it crept up to the top of the path. I sat, waiting to see exactly how steep this coaster was. As I saw the ride up slowly stopping, I clutched to the bar tighter, and tighter, and my body became as stiff as stone. Then, for a brief moment, long enough for me to realize we were about to drop, we suddenly fell down the track with a swoosh in an instant. The cart, zipped down and around the track like a hungry wild animal chasing for its food. That instant the wind slapped my face, and frightened screams pierced through the air. As the cart vibrated, we approached the loop. My fingers tightened around the bar, again, squeezing it so hard my knuckles were turning white, and my heart beat out jagged beats. And with my eyes set on the taunting loop, we dashed for it, instantly upside down.
But as quick as it happened, it ended just as quick. The cart abruptly came to a halt, and I started breathing normally. My muscles relaxed and I knew it was safe to let go of the bar--that I was holding onto for my life.

Mother Necessity

“Necessity is the mother of invention" I think this phrase means that whatever we need in life, or whatever is necessary, we'll be able to invent it. Another meaning it has is that whatever we will need in life; someone will be able to make it. Its like Mother 'Necessity' will give birth to new inventions.
1) Cell Phones...how would we live without that? They came after the telephone created -by Alexander Graham Bell. We have a faster way to communicate when we're anywhere but home. Before, if you were out somewhere you wouldn’t be able to contact people without getting to a phone booth.
2) Planes were invented by the Wright Brothers because we needed a faster way to travel from different countries separated by long distances. Before that people would have to go by ship, or could just not get to wherever they wanted.
3) And then the radio. We can listen to music in the car wherever we go. As long as we can get the signal in range...But its another form of entertainment for us.

How Do I Learn Best??

I think I learn best when things are taught through fun games or group activities. I think its a pretty effective way of getting the facts through to me. Or if not through games/activities then visual presentations, like PowerPoint’s or so. The main points usually stick in my head, and the smaller details too--and the way its presented catches my attention. And if the subject is taught through a lecture, I can pick up the main idea of it--but not the smaller sub-details-and I'll get bored pretty easily....I think id learn more affectively in class if we did more things visually.

Quarter 1 Feedback/Goals

What were two highlights from the first week of school?
Two Highlights for me on the first week of school would probably be:
1) Seeing everybody (My friends and all) again after the summer vacation.
2) Getting good classes and electives.

What was your first impression of Humanities?
My first impression of Humanities was that it was going to be pretty hard, because, well, its 8th grade, but I also thought it would be pretty interesting because most of the kids last year enjoyed humanities and the books they read--So I had a feeling I probably would too.

What are two goals you have for Humanities this quarter?
One of my goals for humanities this quarter is to use better descriptive language--When I'm explaining something. And if im writing as a certain persons point of view, then to really get into the characters shoes so that my writing can be realistic.
My second goal for this quarter is to get all of my homework done on time (probably on the day its assigned--or start it on that day), so that i wont have to do it all the next day.

My Hood

Ok, so there’s a lot of different people that I consider in my 'hood'. There’s Fiona and Maneet, my buddies from England. We laugh a lot, all the time. Then there’s Priya, who I just kind of hang out with most of the time. Tara, or as I like to call her GT... are in quite a few classes together and usually like to complain about the homework. Mainly on math homework and the tests. Then there’s Nikaya and Sami who are just plain hyper and loud. Though one day Sami and I will one day take over the world-Staring with Japan...Min Kyung and 'Shin' are pretty quiet, but helpful when it comes to asking for help on homework. =). Min Kyung's my spanish buddy!! hahah. But we do help each other out a lot when we can.So there’s my—‘Gang’