To start off my fall reading adventure I walked into the library ready to pick a book for the second time. I turned to the History Reading shelf and chose a book that looked interesting called Pink by Lili Wilkinson. This was my first mistake. I should have realized that this book was probably not on the list if it was called Pink. Yet without checking to make sure I checked the book out of the library and continued to read it. It was interestingly about a girl who had a girlfriend. They both claimed to be lesbian but as the protagonist switched schools, she started to realize she was interested in males too. While I was finding this book interesting I kept waiting for a moment when it would connect with history class. Until finally I looked on Moodle at the list of books and could not find the one I had spent the last month reading. I then lost all inspiration to continue reading because I realized it would not connect to history. Now that I think about it though, I am interested in how the book ended and even though it did not pertain to history it pertains to current day issues such as Gay Rights.

                While I wouldn’t recommend reading a book that is not on the list, I would recommend reading this book if one is interested in a light read. It was not too thought provoking but was a little entertaining. In the end, I’m sure there are many more books that would be better to read for history class, but I wouldn’t totally dismiss this book.

Young people in the Civil Rights movement were an inspiration to all with their bravery. Nowadays it is hard to think of many people who would risk their lives for a cause at such a young age. The Brown vs. Board of Education case was so inspiring because it began the racial equality starting with the schooling system. It outlawed the separation of blacks and whites in school. Another history event was in Little Rock with the group of kids that attended an all white high school. They had so much courage and should still be noted today with their bravery. Young people also would leave school early to go attend riots in the city and would risk their lives for a cause that they truly believed in. With out the voice of innocence that children seemed to pertain the world would be very different nowadays. I am proud to be young now because I know that if I truly believe in a cause and have courage, I can make a difference. Knowing that someone can make a difference is always a proud moment because it gives life meaning or at least the hope that something greater will be remembered from ones life. 

In class Tuesday my History class performed an EdCafe. I had prepared a little blurb about the relationship between Japan and the United States during WWII with a partner. We ended up talking with a group of students for about 15 minutes on our subject. It was a very interesting time to talk about what I had spent my time researching the past couple of days. I learned about battles between the United States and Japan during WWII that I hadn’t learned much about before like Pearl Harbor, the Death March, and the atomic bombings on Japan. I had known of these battles before, but never in depth researched them. I was also interested in how racism affected the magnitude of violence between Japan and the United States. One of our essential questions was “Would detonating an atomic bomb fly today like it did during WWII on Japan?”.  This essential question was interesting to me because there could be many different opinions. The different opinions were shared during our discussion. I realize that my class mates have very different outlooks on civilization today.

                After my partner and I presented our topic, we had time to choose different groups that we wanted to go to and discuss their topics. I chose to go to groups about children in the Holocaust, modern day Nazis, and finally a group about pseudo-scientific experiments on people held by the Nazis. All of the topics were interesting. I was able to tell a story that I heard first hand from a Communist General in China about an attack on China from Japan. The communist general had told me that he witnessed a stabbing of a pregnant Chinese woman and then saw the attacker stab her uterus to make sure that the baby was dead. Although gruesome, it was interesting to be able to share a story I had heard almost seven years ago.

                All in all this experience of the EdCafe was much better than I had expected. All of the topics were interesting and there was not a lot of pressure put on the person leading the discussion. I enjoyed that we were privileged enough to be able to have the EdCafe outside on a beautiful day. The weather made everyone’s mood much more enjoyable. I would definitely be open to having more EdCafes because I learned so much from the discussions and it was relatively fun. Thanks for the opportunity

Propaganda: information esp. of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

                Recently, I have learned that propaganda can make a huge difference in historical events. The propaganda can change what an entire population believes. I also have learned that different places use different types of propaganda as inspiration to get what they want, such as the differences between German propaganda and American propaganda in World War II. German propaganda was much more focused on patriotism than the American propaganda. The American propaganda was more directly aligned with targeting their enemy and making it seems like a person’s duty to help destroy their opponent.

                German propaganda, such as when Hitler gives a speech to their nation, is mainly to create a sense of unity in Germany. The propaganda creates a sense of pride. It is similar to “fight for our country to be a true member of our nation”.  There were many different types of propaganda such as posters, radio announcements, as well as the previously mentioned speeches usually led by popular Nazi leaders.

                The American propaganda in World War II was anglicized against their enemies. It was also a sense of patriotism but in a different way, bringing the country together by making the enemies appear horrible as well as dehumanizing them. There were just as many different forms of propaganda in the United States as there were in Germany. Both sources of propaganda were successful in convincing people to do as much as they could for their side of the war. Overall propaganda was a major influence during WWII. 

The American Dream. The dream of being able to rise from rags to riches has been what drives people to come to our country since Day 1 up until Wednesday, December 5th, 2012. People have come from all over the world to try to pursue the American Dream. An example is the California Gold Rush, when people from all over came to try and obtain riches from the soils of California. Another example of the American Dream is in the book called "The Other Wes Moore". It was about two boys with the same name but completely different fates. They both were born into poor families, but one ended up rich and successful, while on the other side of the spectrum, the other Wes Moore ended up in jail. The American Dream is called a dream because it will always stay just a figurative dream unless one does something to make it happen. I believe that the American Dream is what entails people to come to our country and why it is so popular for immigrants from all over the world.

When I think of the American Dream, I see fireworks, sparklers, limos, flashing cameras, and money. I believe that the American Dream is different for everyone but in my opinion it is that anyone, no matter what ethnicity or financial background can become successful. The definition of successful is important in this context. It means, to me, that one can achieve happiness, wealth, and loved ones. While I personally would just dream to be happily surrounded by loved ones, wealth is not as important to me, yet in the American Dream it seems to play a role. The American Dream is what drove so many people to come the states. Since it is figurative, it can last forever. People still are patriotically involved in representing the American Dream and making it possible. The American Dream is ongoing and thrives in modern culture, just as it did in the creation of America. 

This free blog post is always a struggle for me. There is such a vast amount of possibilities that one could choose from that it seems almost impossible to decide. Yet, now I am struck with clarity about what I want to blog about today. Mindfullness has been on my mind recently because it is a way to to treat anxiety and mood related problems. It stems from the Buddhist way of meditation. Mindfullness is basically being in the moment, here, now, and focusing soly on one thing such as walking, breathing, a frase, etc. Someone can practice mindfullness while doing almost anything. One way someone can practice mindfullness is while walking, focus on your foot hitting the ground, and then lifting it into the air slowly. This process can be quite difficult even though it seems fairly simple. When we slow down something so familiar to us and begin to examine it, the process can be quite difficult. While I enjoy trying to act mindful, it is a process that is incredibly hard to do.

    One can use mindfullness when they are feeling overwhelmed or are having reaccuring thoughts that negatively impact oneself. The effect of mindfullness clears ones head and can evade the negative thoughts or overwhelming sensations. This process is used widly to treat people with anxiety or depression because it can relieve the daily stresses one might carry on ones shoulder. The effectiveness is hard to research yet it seems as if most of the people that practice it are fairly satisfied by mindfullness. I suggest that anyone who desires to try mindfullness should because it doesn't require much and is very stress relieving.

Religion is different for everyone. One may define religion as the belief in or worship of one or more un-human beings. Another mind may register religion as a group of people celebrating their spiritual experience in a joined combination. Religion has a big impact on most peoples everyday life, even if they are not religious. In America today, according to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, 78.4% of Americans are Christians, 4.7% of Americans are other religions. That adds up to 83.1% of Americans that practice a religion. That is over 8 out of 10 people that practice a religion of sorts. While I am not a religious person myself, I respect everyone who is and what they stand for. There are very many different types of religious people who choose to flaunt their religions in different ways. Churches represent themselves differently by their architecture and some people represent their religion through their clothing. My father believes that the United States, even though their are a variety of religions, are just as religious as some of the countries in the Middle East, which are sometimes thought of as highly religious. One thing that separates America is that everyone has religious freedom, which is one of the reasons why there is such a variety of different religions throughout the nation. 

    Religion is something that affects my everyday life because I go to a school that is part of the Quaker branch of Christianity. While I am not a religious person, I also volunteer at a church nursery to oversee kids. Throughout these experiences religion has touched my life and will always be part of my wonder and curiosity. Even though there is a wide spectrum of different religious people throughout America today, I believe that it affects everyone and touches them differently. 

    To my greatest knowledge, I believe that the quote “We [contemporary America] worship Jefferson, but we have become Hamilton’s America” is true. From the Wall Street Journal, Cynthia Crossen depicts how Hamilton may have put us in debt, but in reality we can pay that off. As Ron Chernow says from the interview in the New York Journal of American History, Hamilton was an ideal figure. He drew Chernow back to the founding of Wall Street, and to the foundation of fiscal and monetary policy in the United States. Chernow also believes that Hamilton is the "founder left standing" and that he is the most underrated and misunderstood of the founding fathers. While Hamilton served as the Secretary of Treasury and pushed for a stronger Federal Government, he also set the foundation for the financial system in this country. His life ended short and he could not become all that he could because of the shot fired by Aaron Burr. Chernow also says that Hamilton imagined the United States as it is today, with ideas that were frightening years before, but not so much anymore.

    While part of the quote says that it is Hamilton's America, the quote also says that we, contemporary America, worship Jefferson. Not only do we worship Jefferson by having many memorials for him such as Monticello, two dollar bills, the Jefferson memorial in Washington D.C., etc., but he also spent many of his later years trying to define and defend his legacy. He "staunchly defended his role as the author of the Declaration of Independence". Hamilton had no time to write an autobiography and define his life because it was cut short by Jefferson's vice president, Aaron Burr, unlike Jefferson did. Overall, I believe that the quote "We [contemporary America] worship Jefferson, but we have become Hamilton's America". We live in the world where Hamilton's ideas thrive, yet we give our honor to Jefferson.