My favorite English class I have ever had in 9th grade

In Global Ed. English, I learned many things that I did not know.

For instance, I learned that I can actually be a good writer. In the beginning of the year, I wrote three papers and got 2 D’s and a C. But after being told that I needed to develop my papers and I needed a focal point about a million times, I finally got the idea. I took a couple months but I got a C+ which was above average. Then we started to write a blog every week and that helped me out to get used to writing papers. Since the blogs, I’ve amazingly got only B’s and A-‘s on my papers. From the beginning of the year, I thought that I would drop the class and it would be a very long semester. It still is hard but I have gotten the hang of things and I am a much better writer now.

Another thing I learned was how to take notes. I just figured notes were writing down things that I thought were interesting. I was right but there was way more to it. From the beginning we margin noted a lot which is pretty much like highlighting with some writing in the margins. That was boring but sort of easy. The notes that really bothered me were Q.C.V.I.’s (Questions, Connections, vocabulary, and Interesting/Important facts). First taking them, they were easy to me except for the connections because I could find a way to connect with the stories in many ways. We always had to do 5 of each and one day, Mr. Fielder changed it to 2 questions and 2 connections. I was happy but he said the questions had to be discussion and the connections had to be developed. Now the connections were easier but discussion questions were hard to find. I eventually got the hang of it though.

The third thing that I learned was that there is a lot more to capitalization than and the beginnings of the sentences and proper nouns. There turned out to be many properties of capitalization that I didn’t know about. I then got the capitalization thing and after you understood it, you understood it well. Or so you thought. We had a pop quiz on capitalization and I blew through it but it turned out that I got a lot wrong. I had more wrong than I had right and I didn’t know what was going on. We got another packet and we had to practically memorize the rules. After studying the rules of capitalization, we took a third test on it and I did pretty well on the third test.

After the capitalization, I learned something yet again, How to research on the computer. Yes, I know researching sounds like the easiest thing to do in school, but when you have Mr. Fielder, that is a whole different story (in a good way). He made you look for a source and he had to check it. I only had a bad source once so the researching was pretty easy for me but without learning what a credible source would be, I would have probably just picked the first topic I saw. But then we had to search stories for our topic on South Africa. I thought like it would be the Rwanda articles (the articles that were easy to find). It was for the first two I found. I googled the topic, printed it out, and he checked it. But then I couldn’t find any more that he would okay so I kept looking. It took a while but I finally got Mr. Fielder to check a third article.

What we spent most of the semester on were foreign countries. The foreign countries we studied were Australia, then Rwanda, and then South Africa. I used the things that I learned to learn about these foreign countries. We read a novel about Australian Aborigines called Walkabout and watched a movie called Rabbit Proof Fence. We had to write a paper comparing the two and because of the writing skills I learned, I was able to do a good job on the paper. Then for Rwanda, that was the most difficult for me because there was so much going on in the genocide of Rwanda that I was confused. But the movie Hotel Rwanda helped me get a better understanding of what was going on. And we last learned about South Africa. This was probably the easiest for me to understand because it was semi-modern day and the only time that there was too much going on was the Anglo-Boer war. But research helped me understand the topic more. I understood my topic, which was the first and second decade of freedom but the movie Invictus helped me understand it more. My learning help me learn even more in this class.

The Native I would be

If I was a native to any country we have learned about, I would be a native to Australia.

I would be an Aborigine of Australia because of the fact that they were not brutally murdered and because they still live today after being the longest existing tribe in the world. They have been around for about 50,000 years and they are still around. The Aborigines being around for 50,000 years is one reason that I would be an Aborigine. Most natives from countries don’t last even a hundred and they have lasted more than 500 times that amount. They have lasted longer than your great X5,000 grandparents and they were treated poorly by the British and almost eliminated their culture. Another reason I would be an Aborigine is that they stand out from the rest that they have an ancient culture in a modern time. They have passed on their cultures for all those generations. That makes it seem like the Aborigines are a very strong group of people and care a lot about their culture. They seem dedicated and strong so that is something I like about them.


Some people would argue that the Aborigines were treated more poorly than other countries and that they would rather be some other country. First of all, it is their opinion and they can think what they want. I still think that being an Aborigine is the safest bet. Looking at how both the Tutsis and Hutus were slaughtered. Native Americans were kicked out further and further to the west then some were slaves while others were killed. In South Africa, the people were forced out of their homes and moved north. Yes, some Aborigines were killed and were forced out of their homes but not nearly as much as other countries and they were able to stand up for their culture and their land and are still around today. Natives Rwandans have only been around for about 200 years, Native Americans are barely seen anywhere now, and South Africans were never heard of again so Aborigines are the most successful because they are still around. Rwandans and Native Americans are also around but have not been around anywhere close to 50,000 years.

Ouch, Yay, Dang!

Today I walked into 4th hour English and my legs were hurting really bad. They were hurting from baseball conditioning on Wednesday. I could barely walk. Every step I took, my calves would feel like they were about to tear open. Then I finally sat down and immediately after, Mr. Fielder said that we were going down to the computer lab. My legs were just starting to get better and we had to get up again. On a scale from 1 to 10 they hurt a 9 and I had to walk down to the computer lab. It was outrageous. So I got up and my legs started to burn right away and we walked down the hall into the preschool hall. Then we went into a very warm place for once and probably the computer lab with the worst computers. The only thing good about getting up and walking again into the computer lab was that the computer lab was warm.

I was actually partially excited about being in the worst computer lab in the school because of the fact that it was warm and outside, the temperature with the wind chill was about 3 degrees. I sat down in a corner surrounded by computers. I was squeezed by computers to my left and right but right behind me there was a computer too. There were so many computers in such a little area. Then it took a long time for the computer to start up but when it finally did I had to go onto the internet and I knew that something bad was going to happen. It took about 10 minutes for me to get comfortable in my chair and for the computer to get onto the internet. I also had to find where to plug my mouse into the computer and I had to adjust my monitor and keyboard and slant them so I had a comfortable position. It is still sort of uncomfortable because my hand was practically hanging off of the table. I had finally fixed it and then, the bell rang to go to lunch. I was so mad that I took that much time to fix my computer and then I had to get up and walk again. And of course, my legs continued to hurt and I had to walk to lunch and all the way back and tried to finish what I started in the computer lab.

The Genocide

I think that the genocide did not have to happen and since it did, it could’ve been stopped.

The genocide didn’t have to happen because the Hutu president made the MRND who started it. The MRND went right to work and blamed the Tutsi for killing the Hutu president. They made a radio station that convinced the Hutus and the Interahamwe that the Tutsis were going to invade so the Interahamwe were told to kill the Tutsis, so like any other military would, they followed directions. Everyone blames the Interahamwe for killing people but they don’t know the real story. So Juvenal Habirayama (The Hutu President) and the MRND are to blame.

It also could’ve been stopped by the U.S. The U.S. did absolutely nothing about it. They knew the genocide was going on and they didn’t do anything because they just got finished with a similar problem in Somalia. They said that they were too busy and that they didn’t have time to work in Rwanda. If they would’ve actually done something in Rwanda, they could’ve made a huge difference. At that time, they had the best military and could’ve stopped the genocide fairly easily. But they did nothing.

Interahamwe

In the Rwandan genocide, I play the role of the Interahamwe. People blame us because we were the killers. All of the people that blame us don’t know anything. We were brainwashed by the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND). They had radio stations that had told all Rwandans that the Tutsis were making a plan to kill us. We were told to kill Tutsis and as the military, we did what we were told. They were telling us to kill and we did. Asking us why we killed people would be like asking why would you kill people in WWll. It is the same story.

I would also blame the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) for invading Rwanda in the first place. If they wouldn’t have invaded in the first place, none of this would’ve happened if they wouldn’t have invaded. The MRND might’ve thought that when the RPF invaded, that Tutsis were invading and getting ready to kill.

Juvenal Habyarimana is also to blame. He was the Hutu president and armed us with spears and machetes and threatened us. He told us if the rebels tried to take over to kill all Tutsis. We listened.

These are all of the reasons why we were told to kill.

The American Scholar

Emerson’s story in the “American Scholar” is about American society is true today.

One reason Emerson’s argument is still true is because jobs are more specialized. My dad is an accountant. He is very smart and very good with numbers. That is what Americans would classify him as, just as an accountant. He can do way more than that though. He can teach me to do things, he can help people with whatever they need help with, he can cook, and he can be a good father. Emerson writes that “Man isn’t a farmer, or professor, or engineer, but he is all.” He is saying that man is not supposed to be classified by what they do, but who they are. Man should be classified as man not by farmer, professor, or engineer.

Another reason is that people are doing their jobs without even thinking. Professional athletes are doing this. They get millions of dollars and try to ask for more to play a game. They know that the way the economy is and they don’t even care. Also, people are so good at their jobs that after a while, they don’t have to think about what they are doing because people know their jobs so well. They know how to do things so well, people classify them for what they are good at.

Halloween

Every year for Halloween I have gone trick-or-treating. I don't really like to dress up but I have to or else I won't get anything. Before I was five, I was a pumpkin, an elephant, and I think I was an M&M once. Since then I have been a baseball head, a baseball player for like 4 years in a row when I was younger, a hockey player twice, I think a hippy twice, and I was a hobo once. I know that I don’t have good costumes but at least I get to go. I dressed up as my favorite baseball player (at the time), Robert Fick. I put a pillow in my shirt even though he wasn’t fat, eye black, and everything else a baseball player would wear.

I used to go with my family until I was 10. We always go down my street, then we get in the car, go to the street and sub division across from us, and sometimes we go to my uncle’s. I have a pretty big street so when we get finished with my street, we empty our pillow cases and go back out. After I go on my street, I go to my friend’s house and go with them. People that don’t go Trick-or-Treating are crazy. You knock on houses and people give you free candy! It is so cool.

I love when I get home, I pour out all of the candy I got then put it in a container in my room for when I want it. I like to see what I got and I trade for the candy I like. My brother likes Almond Joy’s and I don’t like those so I usually trade those. My favorite is Snickers, and Reese’s. A Iot of my chocolate l get, I like to put in the freezer. Snickers are amazing frozen but the gold medal definitely goes to the Reese’s peanut butter cups.

The worst thing to get is anything that isn’t candy. I don’t mind when people give you money, but the usually only give you like 10 cents. It is better than a rock but 10 cents is ridiculous. The only good thing that isn’t candy is pop. One Halloween at one house, they gave me a can of Root Beer. I wish I could’ve drunk it. What happened was that I forgot that I had a root beer in my bag so I swung it around and it accidentally hit a tree. The root beer exploded but all of my candy was still good so that was just a funny story.