IHSS A 2021-22

  Niko Cantu Mr.Roddy IHSS 1 November 2021 Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier Questions 1)It seems to follow a fairly typical style of writing for a diary as he talks in first person to explain the events that are happening to him. He uses the word they to describe the group of soldiers that he is traveling with and with the context we had when we started reading where we did it seemed to make sense. If I was writing a diary in this time and in the condition he was in I would say I would follow a similar path of writing when talking about the events of travels in the army.   2)A worry that Jacob mentioned many times in the reading was starvation. Considering they were the enemies on that land at the time it was harder for them to have food. While they were able to make it to towns and have the chance of finding bread and oats, starvation was still possible on the long cold routes they went, from town to town. Considering they were marking throw snow and very cold weather ...

      One common theme I noticed in all the writings was the importance of knowledge, or lack thereof. All three stories show this in some way or another, but this theme was most prominent in 'Superman and Me' and Samson Occum's Sermon for Moses Paul.     In 'Superman and Me,' Sherman Alexie expands upon his point that knowledge (more specifically, books) is a tool that, when wielded correctly, is powerful on the point of dangerous. Sherman Alexie repeatedly talks about how he was trying to 'save his life' while reading. This shows that books and knowledge were so important to him that he started to view them as necessary for life. Knowledge was his way out of the world where he was supposed to be stupid and submissive; knowledge was how he escaped the fate of being one of those ' sullen and already defeated Indian kids' that 'refuse and resist'. Knowledge - and books - was his way of refusing to fail, refusing to succumb to the expectation t...

 Natalie Gross IHSS Mr. Roddy Oct. 23, 2021 France, 1990     I arrive in Peillon, France, it is my first time here and I look around me. The view is incredible from this town, it is on a cliff, so you can see all the trees and houses below. If you were to come here with no knowledge of the town whatsoever, you would immediately notice there is something different. You can hear so much without the sound of cars or motorcycles. This town is pedestrian-only. I walk to the first destination of my trip, a café. This café is so busy, I just soak in the sounds and unfamiliarities that is Peillon, France. It is finally my turn to order, I want to order something that I wouldn't usually pick, so I turn to the person behind me and ask what they're having, "Coffee and pain de chocolate,"  they reply, so it is what I choose. For the bulk of the day, I wander around, watching how different everything is here. To end the day, I stop to watch the sunset behind the hills, as I look ...

 Natalie Gross IHSS Mr. Roddy  October 23, 2020 Luxury and Sustainability          The article I read began by saying what the concept of luxury traditionally is. Luxury is one step bigger and better than necessity. It is high quality, made with the hardest to find, raw materials, every step in the process adding to the value of the product. Over time this concept has changed, due to three main things, " the Global Environmental, the Global Economic Crisis or the Technological Advancement". These factors are giving consumers more information about the ecological impact of the products they are buying. The more they know about the impact it has, the more worried they get about buying the best, least impactful product they can. They are not only worried about the toxic waste that the materials create, but also about the conditions the people making the products are in. This is good, not only for the workers but also for the whole world. This knowledge le...

 the class and I noticed that the native American story might have been tainted by the Christian church because the native American that wrote it was also a member of the Christian church. It was a very similar layout as the Christian bible too, the bad one trying to hurt people and create bad things while the good one warned the humans and helped them progress in society. the bad and the good were always fighting, even before they were born, the bad mind had a desire to rip its way out from the side of the mother's side while the good mind was trying to stop him. like I said sentence before this pattern continues throughout the story. In the end, the good mind kills the bad mind, to send him off the earth and into the bad murk around the island of the earth but the bad mind says that they will both have power over the humans in the end, kind of like satan and god.

 Karl Marx was a German revolutionary, sociologist, historian, and economist. he shaped many revolutions and showed the true worst aspects of capitalism throughout his book, and other writings, theses writings sparked many activist movements, in this instance the pen was mightier than the sword. he was a supporter of communism and socialism. Karl, otherwise known as the communist manifesto, graduated from the University of Bonn with the courses he exited with were greek and roman mythology and humanities. he grew up Jewish and that made him see prejudice, and that might have led him to choose to make social changes in society.

 Military remains this article talked about how the military base in Canada that was abandoned was turned into a residential swimming pool, sort of. The Canadian military abandoned a military base and left the frame of concrete and took all the computers and equipment. leaving a massive structure of concrete and metal. the citizens made use of it and refurbished the pool in it in particular, and made it a community pool for all to swim in. the base itself was graffitied by the youth of Canada and it was somewhat of an accidental art installation. the Canadian government bulldozed the structure down, making the art installation disappear. the whole thing was very humbling how some simple citizens made something so good out of some rubble left by a force of the military.

  Niko Cantu Mr. Rodey IHSS 21 October 2021 Prisoner of The Infidels 1）Osman’s writing is far more modern than other writings from his time. It has a very direct and straightforward structure and its translation to English is paractly identical to modern English writing. An example of this direct writing was when Osman said “From this, I understood God's will,namly, that my master had no intention of ever granting me freedom”. This sentence for one use I as he refers to himself in the first person, which was not very common during that time.   2) Osman is clearly very connected to his Muslim religon and repedidly mentions Allah throughou the story. A clear example of this use is when he says “I have no money, and no one is going to help me because of Allah''. This is a clear example of how SOman instinctively believes that Allah may not have an effect on his current situation, he thinks of Allah as a part of his daily life.  3) A discussion that Osman had to make was...

  Owen Siegel Mr. Roddy IHSS 10/21/21 Prisoner of the Infidels Pick a section to note the style of his writing.  How would you characterize it? Page 72 - Osman’s writing in this section was an adventurous narrative. Osman writes, “That night, I had no thought for sleep, only for escape” (72). He describes that once his slave master and the others fell asleep, they passed into the world of dreams, and he readied himself to escape. The way Osman characterizes his escape and the people around him makes his narrative feel like a grand adventure, a journey to escape captivity and find a better life with religious freedom.  What role does his religion play in his thinking?  Give an example. Religion influences Osman to escape from his slave master and find religious freedom in a territory where Muslims were widely accepted. Osman writes, “And once he took me to Vienna, perhaps he would force me to worship according to his faith.” (71). Osman continues to write that he ...

 Natalie Gross IHSS Mr. Roddy  October 19, 2021 Native American Writing Analysis                There were many themes throughout the writings, but the one that stood out to me the most was determination. I looked mostly into the Iriquois creation story for this theme. When the monsters saw that the lady was falling, they were determined to help her. They then had a turtle move to where she would land and then put earth on the turtle's back to cushion her fall. They could've just let her fall because they didn't know her or what was happening, but they didn't. Then, even before the twins were born, the bad twin was determined to cone out her side. After they were born, their mom died and they raised themselves. Once they grew up, the good twin was so determined to create light, that he used his mom's head as the sun. He then created human-like creatures with clay and breathed life into them. The bad twin saw this and wanted to make ...

 Ellie 10/15/21 IHSS Roddy     Something that I thought these stories had in common was how much religion was portrayed and talked about in the stories. As I was reading these stories they all mentioned some form of religion. One of the stories was a creation story about how the world was made and as I was reading it made me remind me of the Christian creation story. The creation story talked about how there were two sons one good and one bad and the good one kept creating all the good stuff while the bad one was just fiddling around. The evil twin tried to create humans that had a pure bad mindset, but the good twin stopped him. Then they both created humans with both good and bad values. In another reading it talked about a pastor and I thought that was pretty closely related with religion because pastors talk a lot about religion. Overall I think religion was probably one of the main points in the readings. 

One theme I saw in most of the readings was the importance of books and the knowledge that they possess, and how they’ve influenced Native American culture. Sherman Alexie talks about how he and his classmates were expected to fail as Indians in a non-Indian world and were directed towards failure in school because of expectations set for them. He explains that he read books every night after school, and learned more than he ever could from a biased school system by putting in the effort to indulge in literature. He was able to rise above his classmates and the expectations and even write his own books one day, in the hopes to do what books did for him as a child for other children around the world. Near the end of his writing, he talks about how some students refused to read books when he tried to explain how important they are to them, which made him upset as he knew they were being denied knowledge.  The sermon preached by Samson Occom for Moses Paul serves as another exam...

 a heavily used theme throughout the stories that i noticed a lot was the deep dive that the iroquois readings went into balance and stability. the different aspects of the good mind, as well as the bad mind, are reminiscent of the major chinese philosophy symbol you might know. yin and yang. in chinese mythology, the yin and yang were born from chaos when the universe was first born. the two spirits were believed to coexist in harmony and balance. the good mind/bad mind story is very similar to the yin/yang stories due to their common theme of balance and equality. i personally think utilizing as much stability as you can throughout your day-to-day life as a really strong and respectable thing to do, especially since it can be hard using self-control in some situations. i think the iroqouis tribes used the story as a reminder of how a healthy trait can be applied to your life, as well as how a common theme of self-balance can lead to a strong and positive lifestyle. i noticed how ...

  Niko Cantu Mr.Roddy IHSS 15 October 2021 Native American Reading Reflection From the readings that we explored throughout class what I was most fascinated by was how religion was such a big part of how Native Americans were able to share their stories. Before reading these articles my knowledge of the Europeans and the Native Americans interaction was limited to Columbus and terrible things he did. However after reading these articles I understand that the Euproenas did have a different impact on the Native Americans and were able to expand the level of communication that the Native Americnas had. While this writing was a benefit as it allowed communication and documentation of culture it is important to acknowledge  that the means of teaching were not entirely in good faith. Because of the influence that Church had at the time it was very interesting to read how that had an effect on the Native Americans stories when translated. What I found most interesting about the tra...

Harper Young 10/15/2021  In the readings, I noticed a theme of neglect. One of the readings especially talked about how society expected very little for this group. The poverty that they face and their chance of succeeding are very few. The writer visits the schools as often as possible and can see how the students have already given up. But he sees the students that want to thrive. He conveys a message that reading is the key to success. The more you know the more opportunities you have. but what motivates you if your teachers don't even believe in you. The people that were supposed to set you up for success don't have confidence in you. We need to spread awareness because minorities, in particular, have less opportunity from they are born and it is not ok.

   Yazzie Stein October 15, 2021 Mr. Roddy IHSS Native American Reading Blog A common theme that I noticed throughout the Native American readings was imaginativity and symbolism. Immediately, reading the Iroquois creation story I noticed a lot of symbolism in the Good and Bad Brothers, upper and lower world, etc, and noticed that one has to read between the lines to truly understand the story. This shows, in my opinion, that the Native American people were very in touch with their culture, spirits, and beliefs, and put great effort into the cultural significance of their writings and stories. As the Iroquois reading was the most detailed one we read, I did notice the most symbolism in this writing and it felt very carefully crafted. For instance, the pieces in which the good brother turned into the moon, sun, etc. were parts of the body of the parents. Their head became the sun and remnants of their bodies became the moon, etc. Each detail in these stories had a specific pu...

  In what we read, I noticed an oppression of Native American people. It wasn't a focused on oppression either. Native Americans were looked down upon, as if they were stupid. They were treated similarly to black people, except without the slavery part. They were not supposed to do well in school, and were not supposed to be smart either. A lot of translations seemed to have been favored towards white people as well. White people had most likely translated these, slightly twisting Native’s words. Sherman Alexie changed this game, he was smart, he was arrogant. He used this to turn the tides of sorts. He used it as power, especially when he used it to sexually harass women but that is besides the point. 

Chiara Abel IHSS  Mr. Roddy  October 15, 2021  Native American Writing Response Blog A common theme that I noticed in a lot of the readings was the concept of literature. For example, the Superman and Me reading is about how Sherman Alexie learned to read. He talks about picking up a superman comic and looking at the pictures then noticing the word bubbles and making a guess as to what it said based off the picture. He also mentions that his father loved reading and because of that he loved reading. His father also built a bookshelf and filled it with random books, which he would pick up before he could read. You can also see literature being represented in the Samson Occom Sermon reading. In this reading I noticed that a few times it mentions the importance of literature and how its is used. In the preface of this reading the very beginning sentence states, "The world is already full of books..." Later on it says, "and it seems, that every subject has been written upon ...

Khadijah Ahmed Mr. Roddy IHSS October 14, 2021 Native American Blog Throughout these readings, a common theme I found was using very contrasting perspectives to get a point across to the reader. For example, in the Iroquois Creation Story, it is made very clear how the two main characters differentiate in personality and priorities. The Good Mind symbolizes light, hope, and morality, and serves as an emblem for goodness in the world. Meanwhile, the Bad Mind symbolizes darkness, wickedness, and immorality, serving as a representation of evil in the world. These two characters spend almost their entire roles balancing each other out. Although it is less prevalent, is also a common theme in Sherman Alexie's autobiography. For example, Alexie describes how his beliefs of what a native child's potential is differentiate from the majority of peoples' in his community. Although it may seem more clear who's beliefs are valid, he describes both to shape his upbringing and who he...

  Alice Korkin Mr. Roddy IHSS 14 October 2021 Native American Blog A common theme that I found throughout these readings was imagination. I found a lot of it in the Iroquois creation story right of the bat. There are a lot of ways that different cultures write their story for the creation of life. If I heard this story directly from the Native Americans I feel like it would be a lot more creative than hearing it after getting translated by a European. Sinking through a mattress into the underworld sounds like someone brought that idea from a dream and turned it into a story. Not only was imagination used in the creation story, but it was also used in Sherman Alexie’s autobiography. When he was learning how to read he used his imagination to visualize paragraphs. Not only did he explain this visualization of fences in words, but he also used it for his everyday life. He created an image in my head by telling us that his neighbors and families had fences. These fences helped Alexie...

  Yazzie Stein Mr. Roddy IHSS October 1, 2021 Inequality Recorded on Bones When University of Cambridge researchers excavated and examined human remains from three separate burial sites, they came to the conclusion, through skeletal trauma, that social inequality was recorded on these bones quite clearly. These three burial sites were one for ordinary working people, another, a charitable “hospital” for those weak and infirm citizens, and the last, an Augustinian friary for the highest class -- the wealthy and the clergy. By analyzing the bone fractures of the people in each category, the researchers came to the realization that 44% of working people had fractured bones, 32% of those in the friary did, and 27% of those in the hospital burial ground. (male remains - 40% fracture, female remains - 26% fracture.) As these bones were from medieval society, it makes sense that the skeletons each had so much trauma, but it also makes it evident that wealth made a difference in how haza...

  September 30, 2021 Yazzie Stein Mr. Roddy IHSS The Study of Suicide In 1897, French sociologist Émile Durkheim wrote and published a book called “Le Suicide” for psychology students about suicide’s origins, individual causes, and how suicide rates differed among different religions. Suicide was not spoken of and very groundbreaking at the time, and when studying the suicide rates in Protestants vs Catholics, found that fewer Catholics commited suicide because of more intense social control. Some more stats he discovered about suicide rates were that that suicide was more common among men than women, specifically single men, that people with children were less likely to commit suicide, and that soldiers and veterans commited a high percentage of suicide (“rates of suicide are higher during peacetime than they are during wars”) These findings, he mentions, speaks on social (integration) and psychological impact on a person and their likelihood of committing suicide, finding that...