Journeys Unit Wrap Up

May 31, 2010 in Humanities by Daniel R. | No comments

During this unit, we have learned a number of concepts through a great number of activities and projects. First up, we have that journeys can be made by force or by choice. We have seen this throughout everything we have done. In the movie “The Rabbit-Proof Fence,” the main characters Molly, Daisy, and Gracie have been forcefully taken from their home to a re-education camp because they were Aboriginals, or a ‘half-caste.’ Afterwords, they made a choice to escape from the camp to return back home. During the trip, there were some other choices as well, such as Gracie choosing to meet her mother at the train station, but unfortunately ran into a trap and was taken back to the camp. We have also seen this enduring understanding throughout our short-stories. In all of the short stories, the journeys were all prompted by choice, whether it was Chu Jr. setting off to search for his father, or Dawn discovering who she really is. Throughout these journeys though, there were small events that forced the character to embark on a different path, such as Ved having to get a new visa, or him having to learn about American customs as a result of his choice coming to America.

Another important enduring understanding that we learned was that journeys can take on a variety of forms, as well that they involve change, whether personal, social, or institutional. In “The Rabbit-Proof Fence,” the girls have taken more of a physical journey. They traveled almost all over Australia to try and get back to their home. However, their journey was also partially mental too, as they changed through their personalities and views about the world. Gracie for example, starts out as a ‘follower’ and is fairly timid, but later on she develops and becomes more of her own person and voices her ideas and thoughts. We also see various types of journeys and the changes the characters make in the short stories. Chu Jr.’s journey was also mainly physical, as he immigrated from China to America to work on the Great Railway. He has changed emotionally by discovering his father’s death and giving him a proper burial. Dawn took a mental journey as she struggled to figure out who she was. On one hand, she looked ‘black’, but on the other, she acted ‘white.’ Eventually, her change was that she learned to not care what other people thought about her, and was determined to live her life as it is. In the story about Ved, he traveled from India to America in an attempt to attend a school for the blind. While this journey does have some physical aspects, Ved changed mainly by learning about and adapting to American cultures. Finally, in the story of Harriet Tubman, the journey was both physical and social. They were traveling from America to Canada, and all the while they expressed feelings and problems that they all empathized with.

Tada~! It’s Dada!

April 21, 2010 in Art by Daniel R. | 1 comment

Dada Head

This work reflects the theme of the creative mind. I think that creativity is hard defined, and so what better to define the complex than complexity itself? This Dada head represents one of who I think is the most creative man in history, Leonardo da Vinci (not Leonardo DiCaprio). He was a brilliant man who thought up of different inventions that weren’t created until modern times, painted artworks that are still admired and coveted, and had a rich history which we all follow. This sculpture includes only a small portion of everything that he has done, represented by the ideas crowning his mind. Among these include the steam cannon, the helicopter, the gear bridge, mirror writing, the Last Supper, and the Mona Lisa.

In this sculpture, I only used several materials. Among the most I used were printed pictures, which I used to be pasted and attached to the head. I’ve also used a considerable amount of wire to piece everything together, some printed quotes about creativity, a pencil, and lots and lots of hot glue. I chose this topic because the creative mind can be interpreted in many different ways, and there are even more ways to express it. After all, creativity can be endless in both directions. The two art principles that I chose to integrate into this sculpture are unity and variety, and I chose these two because they can really represent creativity well. A lot of things in creativity are similar, such as new ideas, new techniques, and new discoveries. However, they are also very different, in the sense that each idea is different, and that almost no two ideas are the same. I used these two art principles in my sculpture by showing some of Leonardo’s greatest ideas, printed onto paper, attached to wire, and stuck into the head. While these ideas are similar, represented by the fact that they are all on paper and wire, they are still different, represented by the different levels at which they stand, and the differing images.

In this sculpture, I found that creativity is indeed a very hard subject to portray correctly. Even if I had the true definition of the creative mind, and had all the time in the world, I still probably wouldn’t be able to portray it correctly. I feel that my work is only a very small portion of creativity compared to everything else. But it still represents some of the many things which having a creative mind can do. I discovered that there are some things in this world that are just too hard to explain. But should that keep us from trying?

Culture Unit Wrap Up

April 18, 2010 in Humanities by Daniel R. | 1 comment

What role do cultural values play in human relations?

Cultural values play a very important part in human relations. Because there are so many differing types of cultures, there are also very differing values, beliefs, and traditions that each culture follows. As a result, for two or more cultures to exist together, they must practice tolerance. This way, cultures can accept each of the other cultures’ values and even integrate some of them through cultural diffusion. However, when more than one culture does not practice tolerance, many conflicts can break out between them and cause turmoil. We have seen in class through research of the many cultural conflicts that are currently occurring in the world, such as abortion, technology use, Creationism versus Evolution, the health care acts, etc. We have also expanded on these topics with our monologues where we delved into each side of the conflict and present their thoughts. Besides these conflicts, there have also been times where, as said before, cultures have came together, mainly after an agreement between two or more cultures, some of which occurred after wars. So depending on really how cultures mingle together, cultural conflicts can have huge impacts on human relationships. Also, by mistaking or being ignorant of a culture’s values can either bring conflict if the culture is insulted, or be corrected if the culture is tolerant. Because there are so many ways people live their lives, it can hard to cooperate together depending on the situation.

How do cultural misconceptions impact human thought and behavior?

Cultural misconceptions are basically what might be false stereotypes about a culture, and they can change what you think about people. For example, a common stereotype is that all Asians are intelligent, and this would cause you to have high expectations for one when the time might come by. This is only one example of how cultural misconceptions can cause problems, if a person did not meet or exceeded a stereotype you may have picked up. Another example of cultural misconception is when Hitler led an army of people to kill Jews, whom have all been put under the impression that Jewish people were evil and could not be trusted. Because of the ideas Hitler implanted into their minds, they have believed that this was actually true, and set off to kill each one they came across. If two cultures were to coexist, then they would need to understand the other culture in order to avoid cultural misconceptions and cause problems between them. Like in the other question, for the monologues, we have delved into each side of a cultural conflict, and we have learned that usually the conflict was caused by cultural misconceptions they have against the other side. This would all be avoided if they understood each other well, but as they don’t, conflicts are bound to occur. All in all, cultural misconceptions can really cause some problems, and so it is best to truly understand a culture before making inferences.

Tags: , ,

Monologue Pre-Performance Self-Grade

April 12, 2010 in Humanities by Daniel R. | No comments

Point of view- 9

Visual aid- 8

Content- 10

Projection- 10

Inflection- 8

Pacing- 10

Eye contact- 9

Stance- 8

I graded myself this way because my monologue overall has good arguments and content, but it is mainly performing it where I have problems. My projection overall is fairly good, as I can get my voice across the room, but it is mainly my stance and inflection that I have to work on, because ocassionally I sway or am too monotone. I also need to get some visual props to help portray my character.

Space Exploration – Is It Worth the Cost?

April 12, 2010 in Science by Daniel R. | No comments

The issues of space exploration are constantly being debated. There are many pros and cons of it, but personally, I think that space exploration is not as necessary as some other people might think. Some of the pros are that we understand more about the universe, how things came into existence, and that the technology used to support these expeditions will also be heavily useful on Earth. For example, things like wireless internet/communication, health equipment, and digital technology all have either been started or improved on by space exploration. However, the cons are that space exploration risks the lives of astronauts, and it also costs billions of dollars and loads of time.

I really don’t think that the cost of space travel is really worth the effort or rewards. All this money could be used for other types of research on Earth, which would probably improve technology faster than space research would. However, I think that it is still important to explore space, but just sending probes out would be enough. This way, you would not be risking any human lives, and you can gain a lot of information from probes over time. Just look at some of the probes sent to Mars. They are still there, roaming around and gaining information. So while space exploration isn’t entirely useless, it isn’t a full necessity either. We should first take on the problems on Earth, and then question the rest of the universe.

Protected: PE SLC 3rd Quarter

April 8, 2010 in PE/Health, SLC by Daniel R. | Enter your password to view comments

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:


Creationism vs. Evolution Research Notes (unfinished)

April 7, 2010 in Humanities by Daniel R. | 1 comment

Clarifying Questions:

What is the conflict?

People are conflicting over what should be taught in schools, creationism, the theory that the world and everything on it was created by God(s), or evolution, the theory that the world developed through more primitive creatures over time.

What groups are involved?

Atheists, religious cultures (Christianity, Muslim, Hinduism, etc), educators

Where is the conflict taking place?

In schools globally

How long has the conflict been going on?

Ever since the introduction of Darwin’s theory on Evolution in the 1800s

Probing Questions:

What assumptions are being made about the conflict?   (consider news/media)

The two conflicting cultures both believe that their theory on the creation of the world are right, and are not willing to have the other taught. Thus, most schools only teach creationism, or only evolution. Usually only several international schools support both theories.

What bias exists in these assumptions? (consider the source)

Because of their two controversy theories, they cannot both exist. This means that if evolution is the correct theory, then creationism is not true, and vice versa. This makes the people of both cultures naturally believe that the opposite theory cannot be true because of the bias they have towards their own beliefs.

What role do cultural values play in the conflict?

Both cultures have strong values, creationism being belief and evolution being science. Supporters of creationism strongly believe through praying, sacrifices, religious texts, and etc, and so they remain faithful and devoted to their beliefs. Supporters of evolution rely on facts found through science in testing, hypothesizing, evidence, and etc, and so they strongly stand by their side because of the proof they have. These two practices counter each other and thus make the two impossible to exist together.

How has this conflict been perpetuated over time?  What influence has the past had on the present? (social institutions, mass media, political institutions, economics)

Over time, science has been becoming more and more popular. More evidence and proof is turning up to support evolution, but this only causes the creationists to stand by their beliefs even more in order to remain devoted to their cause.

Free Speech vs. Privacy

March 16, 2010 in Humanities by Daniel R. | No comments

This article was taken from:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f020810_wiki

Several years ago in 1990, a German actor named Walter Sedlmayr was found in his bedroom tied up, stabbed in the stomach with a knife, and beaten in the head with a hammer. Two German half-brothers named Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber were convicted and sent to prison. After two decades, they are now suing Wikipedia to remove their article about them, saying that it violated their privacy.

The groups involved are:

Wikimedia – a nonprofit American organization that runs Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia maintained by millions of people worldwide in several languages. They are supported by America’s First Amendment that they have “freedom of speech and press.”

Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber – they are two Germans who were sent to jail for murdering Walter Sedlmayr. They think that “A criminal has a right to privacy too, and a right to be left alone.” They are supported by German’s right to privacy, which “allows the suppression of criminals’ names in news accounts once they have paid their debt to society.”

After the trial, Wikimedia stated that “If our German editors have chosen to remove the names of the murderers from their article on [the victim], Walter Sedlmayr, we support them in that choice. The English-language editors have chosen to include the names of the killers, and we support them in that choice.” Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber’s article has been removed from the German Wikipedia, but their article still stands in the English one.

The past plays a role into this as both the freedom to speech in the U.S. and the right to privacy in Germany have been around for a long while, and now they both stand to question. Over the years in the U.S., several events such as the passing of the laws about online harassment question the freedom to speech, as has been the case in Germany. This case itself questions the borderline between laws of different nationalities, which all leads up to the question of whether or not these laws should be changed.

Wikimedia regards Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber with respect, as shown with their quote on their wishes. However, since it is still an American organization, they go by the freedom of press. Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber on the otherhand, strongly go against Wikimedia because they just want to start fresh and lead a life without people hating them. There are not many stereotypes going around, but these two different beliefs strongly contradict each other, and so it would be natural that the two groups would oppose each other as well.

Abstraction Reaction

March 9, 2010 in Art by Daniel R. | 1 comment

Realism to Abstraction

Who is Theo van Doesburg?

Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) is a Dutch artist, architect, and poet. At first he planned to be in the theatre, but he eventually turned to painting. At first, his paintings were all realistic drawings, but after discovering about Piet Mondrian’s abstract works, he started combining abstract works with architectural aspects. Theo van Doesburg also founded the De Stijl, whom searched for laws of balance in both art and life in an abstract approach. He plays a large part in our project, because he brought about the steps to change a realistic drawing into something abstract, which is what we did.

What is abstraction?

Abstraction is the arrangement of art elements and principles in its simplest form, omitting all tones and values, but emphasizing more on contrast, emphasis, balance, shape, and space. Many abstract works are highly geometric, but they can also be very organic as well. While realistic drawings portray subjects correctly, only giving the viewer on interpretation, but abstract drawings change the subject around to create something that makes people stop and think, giving many interpretations. Abstraction was first introduced by Piet Mondrian, but later Theo van Doesburg created the process of changing realistic art into something abstract.

What were the steps you completed in producing a series of drawings that started out realistic and transitioned to something abstract?

There are four main steps in the process of abstraction, as first demonstrated in Theo van Doesburg’s drawing of a cow. The first step is drawing the subject realistically, paying special attention to shading and form. The next step is to change the drawing into either geometric or organic shapes, but still maintaining the three-dimensional look. The third step is to flatten the drawing out, and to break up and combine shapes, while also moving shapes around. By now there should be no more shading  as the drawing is now flat. The final step is to blow everything out of proportion and moving shapes around. They can be overlapping, touching, spaced around, and so on. The shapes are colored in, using more neutral colors with occasional colors for emphasis. It doesn’t matter how the drawing turns out, as it is your interpretation and can go a million different ways.

Tags: , , ,

Ethnicity

March 3, 2010 in Humanities by Daniel R. | 1 comment

1. Ethnicity is the state of belonging to a group, either real or assumed, that have a common heritage in ancestry, physical appearance, religion, language, nationality, customs, etc.

2. I can relate my ethnicity to the Chinese, as I share many similar physical traits, such as black hair, darker skin, and so on. I also live in China, as well as speak Chinese and take part in Chinese festivals. My parents both grew up in China, as did their parents and siblings.

3. So far, we can tell that Esperanza from The House on Mango Street has a Spanish name, lazy hair, went to a Catholic school, lives in Hispanic quarter of Chicago, and had lived in Mexico. This means that Esperanza’s ethnicity is most probably Latin American (Latino). Because of this, they live in a poorer community and have different practices (such as baptism).

Tags: , , , ,

« Older entries

FireStats icon Powered by FireStats