Part 1: Ode to Apology 

How can we keep apologies for past wrongs alive so they are remembered and not repeated today?

Introduction:

This project was all about how to apologize for wrongful actions done in the past. For these wrongful actions, we were meant to make a memorial. This wrongful acts that we focused on for this project was the Komagata Maru, the Chinese head tax and Japanese interment. For this project, I chose the Komagata Maru since I had never heard of it mentioned before. In this event, a ship full of Indians coming to B.C however, they were denied entry due to the Canadian government not wanting Asian immigrants in Canada. After we finished our memorial we were supposed to present it in the Winter exhibition. 

Research:

Finding research on the Komagata Maru was somewhat difficult. This was due to their being gaps in my research due to no information being on what happened when they were sent back to India. Additionally, not knowing which event came in what order due to their being no dates on the documents. However, thanks to getting help from the teachers I eventually was able to piece a story from my research and annotations. This story was than made into a keynote. 

Keynote:

This keynote took many attempts to get just right. This keystone was suppose to showcase our research and make it into a straight-forward story about what happened on the Komagata Maru. In this keynote, I struggled a great deal with writing a explanation for some of the document. This is due to the document being unclear on what it is about with confusing writing and wording. However, due to feedback from my teacher, I was able to improve upon my keynote and create a story explain the Komagata Maru.                                                

Audio clip and script: 

The audio clip and script were the easiest parts of the project from my perspective. It was a very quick process and I didn’t have to do much for revisions. My one regret for this part of the project is that I feel that the audio is not of the highest quality. However, I think I wrote a well-thought out script that was detailed and explained my points throughly.

(audio recording is below)

 Monument:

Creating the moment was the hardest part of the project for me. This monument was suppose to represent our the event and the James Cameron movie, Avatar. My group, consisting of Hector and Fraser, gave up on connecting the two since the contents of both events don’t mix very well at all. With a great deal of brainstorming, we were able to create an idea for our monument. We decided on doing paintings for our monument. I was talked with doing two of these paintings which I found to be an extremely challenging task. This is due to how I have been having an art lock lately and haven’t been motivated to create anything. However, I think my final product was alright and did an decent job at showing the story in an engaging way. Overall this part of the project taught me how to collaborate with other to create a representation of a story. 

Curricular Competences:

Analyzing

I can identify, analyze and represent supportable conclusions have evaluated relevance, authenticity, and bias from a variety of sources

I feel like for this competence that I did a decent job. This is due to all the research I did for the Komagata Maru annotations and slideshow. However, I feel as though I did not tell the story in an easy to explain way in my keynote. In the future, I will try to go through multiple drafts until I get the best one. 

Decision-Making

I can evaluate ethical implications and make complex judgements while identifying and respecting diverse communities

For this competence, I think I fulfilled this competence somewhat. This is due to me respecting the culture however, not making fully complex judgements. This can be seen in my Ukrainian ethical judgement activity where I didn’t go fully in-depth on why it is bad. Overall, I can improve in the future by creating more detailed explanation for my ideas and thoughts. 

Processing

I can think creatively, and reflectively with a variety of strategies to process ideas and further my understanding

For this part of project, I think I fully met this competence. This is due to in my final product, my memorial showing how since I understood the topic, I was able to creatively express and further my understanding. Additionally, I feel as if creating the keynote helped me to reflect on my understanding in different ways such as talking with other to see their point of view, using empathy and historical perspective. 

Part 2: Winter Exhibition 

What does James Cameron fantasy world “way of water” reveal about our society? 

The winter exhibition was all about the very popular movie, Avatar(the movie about the blue people). For me personally, I wasn’t a big fan of this theme, this due to how I think the visuals and world building are amazing however, the story is kind of lacking in comparison. This exhibition fortunately did not have the grade 10s in charge which made this whole experience way less stressful.

Setting up the room:

Setting up the room was a very chaotic experience for me and the people involved. My team rushed to get everything on the wall before people came. It was difficult especially since their was a few people who were fooling around and eating the food that we were suppose to give to the guests. However, I believe that we pulled through and were fully prepared to present when people started to arrive. Overall, this part of the project went way better than I expected/

After the exhibition, we watched the 2nd Avatar in theatres with most of PLP. My overall impression of movie was that the visuals are amazing but, the story defiantly needs some more work. 

Conclusion

Overall, this project was quite the ride. I feel as if this project taught me the importance in remembering past wrong so they aren’t repeated and we don’t forgot the hardship some people in the past had to go through. We can do this by continues to remember the not so greats parts of Canadian history and continues to teach these events in schools. 

Moreover, James Cameron’s way of water creates a story that is fascinating and includes themes such as colonialism and imperialism. Overall, this project was a blast and I can’t wait for what the next PLP project has in store.