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The Manson Family & An Exploration on New Religious Movements

The Manson Family & An Exploration on New Religious Movements

Hello there! You may notice my blog has gotten a bit of a revamp. A much-needed one if you ask me. Not only that, but this new blog theme comes hand in hand with a new social studies topic! This post may require a **CONTENT WARNING** though because today we are talking about…

New Religious Movements

If you could describe a Cult using one image, this would be it

But hold on, what is a New Religious Movement (NRM)? Well, you probably know the term under a more common name. Cults. Although the term Cult is usually avoided during academic studies of these sorts of groups. New Religious Movements are groups that have extreme beliefs that are often confusing to mainstream society.

New Religious Movements emerged predominantly in the 1960s and ’70s as American’s searched for new ways of understanding their world. This need for answers was heavily influenced by the violent and jarring events of those eras. People often turned to religious or spiritual guidance during this time because it provided those answers and gave people a sense of community. Unfortunately, the term Cult has a very negative connotation and people feared for their loved ones who became involved. The fear that grew in Americans was not undeserved. With groups like the Manson Family and the Jonestown Massacre, there was true cause for worry.

The Manson Family

For almost a week now, I’ve been doing independent research on NRMs and there are many key ingredients that make up these groups. In today’s post, I’d like to talk about the Mason Family and how they meet the definition of a Cult.

I’d like to note one more time before I get started that there is a CONTENT WARNING on this post. The Manson family though not the most disturbing of cults in terms of practice did commit very brutal murders and Manson used many forms of manipulation and brainwashing on his followers.

The Man..son Himself

Charles Manson was one of the most notorious cult leaders of the 1970s. The first ingredient for an NRMs is to have a charismatic leader and Manson checked that box. He was charismatic and a good speaker.  His ability to control others was ultimately what lead to the success of his following.

Manson took on the role of a hippy outlaw who was fighting against the system. He used this image of himself to pull people in. People came under his influence with the understanding that no one was his equal.

The “Manson Girls” as they became known were a group of young women closely connected to Manson and almost as infamous as him. Many young women at the time we migrating to places like Hollywood and San Fransisco with the hippy lifestyle in mind and Manson’s mission was what they were looking for. Manson used these women to recruit his male following and gain their support. Eventually, he had formed this sort of “Family”.

Spahn Ranch

Spahn Ranch featured in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (movie by Quinton Tarantino)

In 1968 the Manson Family moved to Spahn Ranch, an old Hollywood movie set used for filming westerns. This is where the next characteristic of an NRM comes in. Isolation. In the middle of the desert, Manson initiated his total domination over the group and severing ties with the outside world only helped more.

At the Ranch, Manson began the brainwashing, another key element of an NRM. He gave his followers psychedelic drugs like LSD and would pretend to take the drugs himself. While they were high he would preach to them about the past, present and future of humanity, manipulate their experience in order to control them. Embedding ideas in their minds. 

Helter Skelter

Manson developed a twisted philosophy and began to appear more and more delusional. He thought that the Beatles were trying to convey a message to him on their White Album. Manson believed the song Helter Skelter referred to a coming race war between white and black people that would result in thousands dying, forcing the Family to live in caves underground until it was their time to return and rule over the world. The end of the world or “doomsday” and the belief that the group will get to a “better place” are popular beliefs in NRMs. It is also a key feature in defining what an NRM is.

At first, Manson told his followers that Helter Skelter would be started by black people but later shirted his agenda, telling the family it was their duty to start it. He told his followers that they were going to be at the forefront of this race war and that they needed to start by killing rich, affluent white people while blaming the crimes on black people.

On August 8th, 1969, Manson launched Helter Skelter. He sent 4 of his followers to a home in the Hollywood Hills where they brutally murdered 5 people, including actress Sharon Tate who was 8 months pregnant. The next night he sent 6 family members to kill supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary.

Manson Trials

Manson had this system of control over his followers. Members stopped thinking for themselves. This can be seen in the video footage of the Manson trials. Linda Kasabian, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten are seen holding hands, singing and smiling. Like they don’t realize or are ignoring the brutal murders and the fact that they are on trial for their lives.

Charles Manson had controlled their emotions and ways of thinking for a long time both before and after the murders. When Susan Atkins (one of Manson’s followers) was asked questions by reporters, her answers were short and consisted of responses like “I don’t know” or “I didn’t think anything about it”, when asked what they thought about the trials.

The End of The Manson Family

Though Manson was not physically present for the murders he was still convicted of murder. The jury agreed that he had so much control over the minds of his followers that he had weaponized them.

There are many key ingredients that make up a New Religious Movement and the Mason Family checks off many. Manson was the charismatic leader whose ability to manipulate, brainwash and control people’s emotions led to his devoted following. He isolated his followers on a ranch in the desert, severing their ties with the outside world. All of these tactics helped him cement his prophecy of a race war into the minds of his young followers, promising them a better world of their own when it was over.

Sexist Sunglasses – Weekly Reflection #3

Sexist Sunglasses – Weekly Reflection #3

I’ve been having a lot of thoughts this week. Last time it was about fashion and today I’m wondering if the years of ignorance has made society blind to sexism. In this post, I wanted to talk about my thoughts on sexism in media, using a few music videos as examples and looking at parts of William Shakespeare’s, The Taming of The Shrew.

Every morning for the past week, our class has listened to a different song, trying to understand whether its lyrics and music video are sexist or not. It has sparked some very interesting conversations amongst my classmates. One of my classmates brought up an interesting point that became the inspiration for this post. In response to one of the music videos, we watched (unfortunately I can’t remember which in particular) they expressed that they thought society had become so used to sexism in media that it was hard to even notice it. After that I began to wonder;

Is society so numb to sexism that it becomes unnoticeable in pop culture?

I’m going to be calling this ignorance to sexism in media the “sexist sunglasses” both for the purpose of simplicity and because I think it sounds cool. Here are a few of the music videos we watched in class.

Cherry Pie by Warrant. The song describes a woman sweet like cherry pie. She’s blond, already a stereotype of beauty and ditsy, dancing on screen. Now looking at it, there’s nothing wrong with a woman dancing in a sexy outfit. However, her appearance on screen is solely for the man’s pleasure. With lyrics like “she’s my cherry by” the use my the work “my” portrays the woman as the man’s property. Class conclusion: Sexist but the song slaps.

Now, women being objectified by men is not a modern idea. Not at all! Let’s take a look at The Taming of The Shrew by Shakespeare. A play written about the transaction of marriage between a woman considered to be a shrew and a man who in many ways is even worse. Kate (the shrew) has found her betrothed, Petruchio. After the wedding, Kate is ready to celebrate, but Petruchio denies her the pleasure, saying to all that he must go and that kate must come because they are married and once a woman is married, she is her husband’s property.

“But for my bonny Kate, she must with me.
Nay, look not big, nor stamp, nor stare, nor fret;
I will be master of what is mine own.
She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house, My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything.”

– Petruchio, Act 3 scene 2

After a few men try to convince them to stay all that can be said by Gremio is “Went they not quickly, I should die with laughing.” Gremio found the whole situation funny and Shakespeare’s audiences would have to. Not once did anyone considering the mistreatment of Kate. Because those were the sexist sunglasses of Shakespeare’s time.

Characters in The Taming of The Shrew don’t think twice about Kate’s treatment and laugh/enjoy the jokes Petruchio makes at her expense.

Timber by Pitbull ft Ke$ha. This one was a bit harder for our class to come to a decision on. This is also where I started to think more about society’s sexist sunglasses. The song was written in 2013, I was 10 at the time. I remember vibing to this song at school dances. As a more mature (maybe immature honestly) child, I knew what “twerking in their bra’s and thongs” meant. But I never at the age of 10 or 11 thought “Hmm I wonder if this is derogatory and sexist to women?” Probably because my goopy child brain didn’t have the capacity to understand those concepts. Now here I am in grade 12 revisiting this song from a whole new perspective. Like I said it was difficult for us to reach a conclusion on this song at first, and this is where those sexist sunglasses come into play. Many of my classmates, at the age of 10 or 11 remember jamming to this song, knowing the words by heart and to this day never thinking twice about what it could have meant. This song, like cherry pie, is clearly sexist. “I have ’em like Miley Cyrus, clothes off. Twerking in their bras and thongs” is a lyric that doesn’t just objectify women but objectifies another music artist. “She say she won’t but I bet she will” another line in the song that suggests by the end of the night the girl will be sleeping with him, despite refusing earlier. There are many more examples in the song, not including the music video where women twerk on screen more than the actual artist is on screen.

Can we… No. will we take them off?

Now, these sexist sunglasses play a big role in the songs I shared with you when we question whether or not we are willing to take them off. Are we going to stop listening to pop music that objectifies women when it’s some of the most common music on the radio? Probably not. Were Shakespeare’s audiences willing or even aware that they should feel some sympathy towards Kate? From what I’ve learned so far, I’m doubtful. We’ve become so used to the idea that women are portrayed a certain way in media, that it’s hard to notice when it becomes a problem.

What Is Sexual? – Weekly Reflection #2

What Is Sexual? – Weekly Reflection #2

Wow, do the weeks ever go by fast! It feels like just yesterday since I wrote my last weekly reflection. This week has been another jam-packed one! (This will likely be the case every week!) Our class dove right into; Shrew You! our newest project. We began reading The Taming of The Shrew, by William Shakespeare, where we started looking into the roles of women throughout history.

I am a lover of fashion. The fact that you can identify a time period by the clothes people are wearing is very cool! Clothing has changed a lot over the years, especially for women. What’s considered appropriate for women to wear fascinates me. In this post, I will be exploring the continuity and change of women’s fashion throughout the centuries, in order to try and answer my longing question; At what point in history did women’s fashion become sexualized?

Bodice
Farthingale

Women in the Elizabethan era sported long elaborate dresses that covered the feet almost completely. A bodice around the chest flattened the breasts and tightened the waist creating an almost masculine look with broad shoulders and thin waists. A farthingale was worn around the bum to create a wide look. A small chest and a big bum creating a stylish and attractive look.

Fashion trends of the time were set by the wealthy. To ensure the elite were the only ones wearing fine clothing laws were set to stop commoners from wearing certain materials. For example, only higher ranks could wear gold cloth and only royalty could wear purple. Different cloth and colours held different statuses. In an era where a woman’s main purpose was to be married off, clothing that portrayed wealth was appealing to potential suitors.

With the launch of the feminist movement in the 20th century, women started advocating for their rights to self-determination. Along with this came a shift in women’s fashion. Flapper girls of the 20s rejected the corset, sporting loose boxy dresses that came up to the knees. This was risky for the time period.

WW2 hurried women’s fashion in the “boyish” direction. With women entering the workforce there was a need for practical clothes and jeans earned their place in women’s wear. However, post-war society kissed jeans goodbye as women regressed back to their traditional gender roles and began to accentuate their femininity again.

Women’s fashion has shifted greatly over the centuries. Notably shifting the most in the 20th century with the rise of the feminist movement. Though the style has changed a lot, one thing remains unchanged. Women are repeatedly sexualized for what they wear and what parts of their body they chose to show. So, do we regress back to the full coverage dresses of the Elizabethan era? No! Women should have the freedom to express themselves without receiving pointed looks from “intrigued” onlookers. Women should be able to wear what they want without others putting them down. Shoulders are not sexual, ankles and knees are not sexual and a women’s stomach isn’t sexual! The sexual appeal of those body parts has been decided by those who believe it is their business to control women. In history, a woman’s appearance has been the source of a man’s pleasure. As such, society has pressured women to cover up for their own safety. That’s because if she were to reveal too much skin, for example, she would be considered the cause of a man’s distraction and the onus would be on her to change her behaviour. Has a boy ever been sent home from school because he became distracted by a girl’s revealing clothing? No! Instead, we have been subject to years of women being told to cover up, so men wouldn’t be tempted by their own inappropriate thoughts. When are we going to teach people to stop objectifying women’s bodies and understand that a women’s appearance isn’t for their pleasure?

Work Cited

Cartwright, Mark. “Clothes in the Elizabethan Era.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, 31 Oct. 2020, www.ancient.eu/article/1577/clothes-in-the-elizabethan-era.

Monet, Dolores. “Renaissance Fashion: Women’s Clothing in Elizabethan England.” Bellatory – Fashion and Beauty, 26 Apr. 2020, bellatory.com/fashion-industry/Renaissance-Fashion-Womens-Clothing-in-Elizabethan-England.

The British Library. “Clothing in Elizabethan England.” The British Library, www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/clothing-in-elizabethan-england#:%7E:text=Working%20women%20wore%20fitted%20bodices,front%20to%20show%20an%20underskirt.&text=A%20fashionable%20Elizabethan%20woman’s%20wardrobe%20was%20complex. Accessed 1 Nov. 2020.

Webb, Ali. “The Evolution of Feminist Style.” CR Fashion Book, 26 Aug. 2020, www.crfashionbook.com/culture/a22736609/feminist-style-evolution-history.

 

Trying to Stay Motivated

Trying to Stay Motivated

Being motivated to do things has always been something I’ve struggled with. When I find something new and exciting to do I get motivated but eventually that motivation fades. I took up embroidery over the quarantine but that’s a faded hobby now. I look back at my supplies and think, I should get back to that one day. Then I never do.

While searching James Clear’s website for interesting articles to write this blog post about, I was intrigued by his articles on motivation. Like I said, I struggle with staying motivated, so his article titled, Motivation: The Scientific Guide on How to Get and Stay Motivated piqued my interest.

In his article, he talks about habitual rituals. Habitual rituals are routines you do before the actual task. It’s like a cue to start reading, writing or starting your workday.

With the quartine in effect, I’ve lost all sense of routine. I don’t go to a physical school or to after school activities and my life has become a mess that I’ve been ignoring. I need to find a balance between school and personal life when all of it is happening in my home. So I’d like to start some routines, some habitual rituals, and hopefully bring some structure into back into my life.

The Plan

Before I can come up with a plan I need to asses my life right now. My current routine looks like this.

8:30ish – wake up/morning routine

8:40ish – go back to bed and look at my phone or fall asleep again

9 or 9:40 – get up and find something to eat

10:30 – start doing homework or attending online classes

Then my homework ends up taking me almost all day or what feels like all day because I get distracted on top of the fact that I am a slow worker. When the day is almost over I lose my motivation to do personal fun things and that’s where the problem lays.

I don’t want to overwhelm myself with new routines so I’m gonna start simple. I need to start my day sooner so this is how I want it to go.

8:30 – wake up/morning routine

8:40 – leave my room and close the door behind me

This will become my cue telling me;

This is what I do before I START MY DAY.

It’s simple but after that, I can get something to eat and come back upstairs to start my workday. Hopefully starting my day earlier will make it end earlier too.

Time Blocking and Power Hours

I’ve gotten back into the habit of time blocking. It helps me process all the work I need to do that day and stick to a schedule. Motivation is hard to muster when so many decisions have to be made. So setting a schedule puts all of that on autopilot.

My teacher mentioned that she’s been working on a power hour system, 1 hour of work, 1-hour break and repeat. I thought I’d try that myself. In about 10 minutes I’m gonna take a break from writing this post to read a book for the book club my friends and I started. We’ll see how this power hour thing turns out but so far I’ve been working really hard on this post in anticipation of my break. I don’t feel dragged down from the hours of work I need to spend on this post because I get to have a break soon.

Staying Motivated

I don’t want to overwhelm myself with new habits and routines because as James clear said in his article, the key to getting motivated is to make it easy. Keep things in the optimal zone of difficulty so that it feels challenging but manageable. I want to work on starting my day earlier so that hopefully, it leaves me with more time during the day to do the other things I love. Once I get this habit down I will be adding new things into the mix but for now, I’ll stick to simply waking up early.

 

Art on Ignorance

Art on Ignorance

The civil rights movement and the events that happened prior have been something I felt I didn’t know enough about. Naturally, I was intrigued when my social studies teachers introduced it as our next unit. In case you are unaware, I am what most would call white. My skin is pale like my mother’s and father’s. However, the term white has more meaning than just the colour of one’s skin.

White people are privileged because of years of racial injustice. For over four hundred years since the beginning of slavery in America, white people have held themselves above African American people. The New York Times started an outstanding project called The 1619 Project to shed light on the true history of African American people in America. The articles I read from the project got me thinking about the world I live in today and how we got here. America’s economic growth can be traced back to the hard work of thousands of enslaved people. I started looking at the things around me and saw the history within the food I ate, the clothes I wore and the music I listened to. I believe I’ve been ignorant about this topic for too long so to show my understanding I created an art piece about ignorance.

The drawing I created highlights three things. America’s sugar industry, Cotton industry and American music. I read some really great articles on these subjects and that is how the idea for this drawing came to me. All the things you see in the image are things I and billions of other people enjoy every day. But what about the history behind it all.

America’s Sugar Industry

Sugar Cane was introduced to America in 1491. At the time sugar in Europe was a luxury. No one ever predicted sugar would become the mass-produced product it is today. In 2019 Florida manufactured 17.06 tons of sugar. In this article from the 1619 project;

Americans consume as much as 77.1 pounds of sugar and related sweeteners per person per year, according to United States Department of Agriculture data. That’s nearly twice the limit the department recommends, based on a 2,000-calorie diet.

– 1619 project article by Khalil Gibran Muhammad, New York Times

The production of America’s “White Gold” was a treacherous process. It is safe to say that its success as a regularly produced good is because of the enormous amount of enslaved labourers who had no say in doing the backbreaking and dangerous work. Sugar cane stalks had to be harvested and refined the day of harvest otherwise it would spoil. Adults and children worked in factory line assemblies near boilers, open furnaces and grinding rollers. The factories ran night and day to achieve the highest efficiency at the cost of its workers.

In my art piece, the woman lays in her bed enjoying an abundance of sweets that are so easy to obtain today. I hope that people, including myself, will recall the sacrifices made for the success of sugar today.

America’s Cotton Industry

Cotton in the 19th century was America’s largest and most valuable export. Its success, like “white gold”, came from enslaved labour. All-day, African American men, women and children picked cotton by hand and tossed it into sacks that hung from their necks. At the end of the day, those sacks were weighed, and if they were too light, the workers were beaten. So much cruelty was shown towards the enslaved, all to make a profit. The influence of cotton plantations is still recognizable today. Cotton is everywhere. It’s in the clothes we were and the bed sheets we sleep soundly in. The women in my drawing is laying in her bed with the cotton bed sheets wrinkled around her. In her bliss, she doesn’t know about the history behind those sheets she lays so comfortably in.

“American” Music

America is known for this musical sound that it has. Rock and Roll, Jazz and Pop music has been chewed up and spat out by some of the most famous American singers and songwriters. The 1619 project has a great podcast and article on the topic and that is why it became one of the focuses of my art. The sounds that have become known as American music have a much deeper and darker root then I think most people realize.

Click here for a great article on the Rolling Stones and how rock and roll become white.

My dad loved sharing the music of his time (growing up in the 50s) with me. We spin records in our living room and he shares all the stories he knows about each album and artist with me. One thing he told me about was about the stolen music that white artists would take from African American blues singers. Though stealing was not always the intended purpose.

In 1830 an actor named Rice was touring with a theatre company in Cincinnati. While there he ran into an old black man singing while grooming a horse. Rice took the tune and tried to make something of it, but something wasn’t working. So the night of one of his shows, he painted some melted cork onto his face and preformed that stolen tune. That night the blackface minstrel shows would go on to become America’s entertainment and define how white Americans interpreted African Americans.

Since then music has evolved into this melting pot of genres, but all of them, whether the artists knew it or not was influenced by African American singers. The enslaved found ways to be free through music and art. None of which was composed but instead built from exhaustion, hope and feelings. As Wesly Morris from the new york times’ 1619 project said in his article;

I had to laugh — not because as a category Yacht Rock is absurd, but because what I tasted in that absurdity was black.

So what’s my goal?

My goal with this art project was to teach myself and others to look at the things around you differently. To see the things in your home and all around you and to truly know the history. The art I chose to create wasn’t just some random idea I had. It derived from how I felt before starting this project. I didn’t know a lot about the civil rights movement before this and I still have a ways to go. But I am approaching this unit with the willingness to learn as much as I can.

They are always watching – TWIL III

They are always watching – TWIL III

1945, the war is over. Your husband is home, you’re starting a family, moving into a beautiful home in the suburbs. It’s a dream! Yet under it, there is a fear, a paranoia.  Communism is skyrocketing, and the West is doing all it can to contain the spread. How can you contain something without knowing what needs to be contained? That’s where spies come in! Que espionage music! …Where is my music? What, espionage didn’t start during the cold war? There were spies during the Elizabethan era? Let’s explore some more about spies during the Elizabethan era and how it connects to the Cold War.

Queen Elizabeth the first was the protestant queen of England and Ireland in the 16th century. Plagued by threats from her homeland and Spain, Elizabeth and her council hired a sophisticated group of spies to keep her safe. Because of her religion, many Christians were plotting to replace her with Mary Queen of Scots.

Sir Francis Walsingham ran an extensive spy network for Elizabeth. His spies were instrumental in deciphering letters written to and from Mary Queen of Scots which was later used as evidence in her trial. There are many stories of spies during Queen Elizabeth’s reign and she was well known for her spy network.

Shakespeare includes some hints of espionage in Macbeth. At the end of act three scene four, he says to Lady Macbeth, “there’s not a one of them in his house. I keep a servant fee’d”. Macbeth keeps spies in his subjects’ houses to ease his present paranoia.

Though spies have been around for a very long time, their importance grew again during the cold war. There was no fighting during the Cold War, hence the term “cold”. Instead, major superpowers were racing to become the most powerful. There was a space race and a nuclear arms race happening and during all of this, America wanted to know what was going on in Russia and vice versa.

The rise of spies on the west started with a man named Igor Gouzenko. Igor Gouzenko worked at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa. When he defected from Russia and became Canadian, he started telling Canada top-secret Russian information. He had stolen many Russian files and smuggled them back to Canada. Two other well-known spies were Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. They were Americans, convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. They were accused of giving the Soviets information about radar, sonar and jet propulsion engines along with nuclear weapon designs. The couple was executed and for many years it was debated whether their sentence was fair.

I’ve taken what I have learned from this lecture and my external research and I wrote a short fictional story to reflect on my learning.

For years spies have been around. Even before the Elizabethans. Knowledge is power and can determine where you stand on a political platform. Learning about the Cold War has taught me that governments can rise to power without directly fighting and that times have not changed so much since Shakespeare was around.

The Week I learned

The Week I learned

This week I learned that Macbeth is a very sexual play… the end

I’m kidding, my teacher would be pretty upset with me if that was all I learned this week. In this unit, we are studying Macbeth and the 1950s. With act 1 of Macbeth finished and a lecture on the Cold War out of the way, we already have so much to dive into. Our big idea for this project is Appearance vs Reality. How does appearance deceive or reveal reality? There are so many aspects of Macbeth that mention appearance vs reality and the war is all about deceiving your enemies.

I want to start this project off with a good understanding of what Appearance vs Reality is because it is our main focus of the project. In this post, I will be looking further into that.

Act 1 of Macbeth is built upon appearing as something you are not. Macbeth’s ambition draws him towards being king but one thing lies in his way. The current king. However, he is still a loyal servant and trustee of the king and he finds himself in quite the dilemma. Lady Macbeth thinks the answer is clear. She wants Macbeth to be king and is prepared to kill Duncan herself. She even goes as far as to rid herself of her womanly qualities so she may be killed with the ability to kill like a man. At this point, Lady Macbeth has told Macbeth to leave the killed to her. All he has to do it “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t” (Lady Macbeth Scene 5, Act 1).

I created this image which represents my thoughts on appearance vs reality in this section of the play.

Macbeth has found it quite hard to hide his dark desires to kill the king. In scene 4 of act 1, Macbeth calls upon some supernatural help saying “Stars hide your fire, let not light see my dark and black desires”. In the image I made I represented his dilemma with all the things running through his head. The influence of the witched can be seen in the back and at the forefront, his wife who is controlling him in many ways.

How does this connect to the 1950s? Well, politics is politics. Whether it happened in 1040 with Macbeth or in 1947 in the beginnings of the Cold War. Like I mentioned before, during the war, especially a cold one, knowledge is power. So you need to keep those thoughts to yourself. It’s all about appearing as though you are something you aren’t. That you are on someone’s side when in reality you have plans of your own.

Nearing the end of World War Two, President FDR (USA), Winston Churchill (United Kingdom) and Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union) gathered together at the Yalta Conference to discuss the division of Germany. Although they appeared to be working together the Soviet Union and the USA were not friends. They had a common want to end the war but after the war was over. Russia had plans of its own. In Macbeth, Macbeth must hind his thoughts of killing the king behind the wall of a kind and welcoming host. Russia must work with people they are not truly allies with in order to get own with their own business.

At the Potsdam Conference in 1945 President Truman, the new president of the united states was informed that they had officially detonated the first atomic bomb. This technology was the superweapon that would win them the war and potentially any other conflict from then on. Truman was able to use this as leverage against japan calling it a “powerful new weapon”. Because Truman didn’t trust his soviet partner he left the weapon unspecified. But having had a spy amongst the research team, Stalin already knew what it was the US possessed.

The 1950s and Macbeth have a lot of similarities in terms of our main idea of appearance vs reality. When we started this project I wasn’t too sure how we were going to be able to make connections between the two but after writing this post I can see many. I’m excited to continue comparing the two throughout this project. That’s what I learned this week!

The Darkness of Man’s Heart – Tribalism and LOTF

The Darkness of Man’s Heart – Tribalism and LOTF

And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.

That is a quote from the end of William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies and what I think is a perfect summary of all that I learn from it. The book explores man’s inherent evil and the loss of innocence to savagery and it is an ideal piece of literature to answer the question; what is the role of tribalism in society?

The latest project in Social Studies and English 11 has been centred around Lord of the Flies and tribalism in society. We worked hard for 4 weeks to answer our driving question.

What is the role of tribalism in society?

Obviously, a milestone in this project was actually reading Lord of the Flies. When I get assigned book projects in school I get very nervous and a bit pre-stressed because I know I am slow at reading and that I will need a lot of time to finish a book. Lord of the Flies is a short book but it’s a tricky read, and my goal was to finish the book on time! So I set aside lots of time to read and in the end, I achieved my goal of finishing it on time. I am very proud of myself for that. I really enjoyed the book and have become much more confident in my reading ability that I have more motivation to read on my own time. I have also noticed an improvement in my writing style after reading the older English style book. Here is an example of an analysis response I did for this project.

Another key stepping stone to this project was to respond personally, critically, creatively, and reflectively to the book while making connections between ourselves and the world. We had to write many response paragraphs on different topics, much like the one I included above. Unfortunately, I went away right in the middle of this project so I don’t have much work to show off. Out of the work I did complete with the knowledge I had at the time I’d say the responses could use some improvements. I did find it easy to make connections between Lord of the Flies and real-world examples but I felt like I could have improved on the “Writing Process” competency of grade 11.

The Writing Process 

Transform ideas and information, using appropriate features, forms, and genres, through the writing process to plan, create, assess, and refine original, engaging, and meaningful literary and informational texts for a variety of purposes, audiences, and messages while using an increasing repertoire of conventions (Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation) and appropriate citations for clarity, effectiveness, and impact.

As expected, my first couple of journal prompts were not as strong as they could have been. I went away just as the teachers really guided us through this competency, so I missed out on that. If allowed to do revisions I would want to change some structure and content aspects of the responses. However I don’t believe putting that effort into those revisions is necessary at this moment and instead, I want to take what I’ve learned and put it into the next project.

With all these stepping stones you must be wondering what the end product of this unit is. Well after gathering evidence from the book and from each response paragraph, we were ready to answer the driving question. For this, I presented a 3-5 minute keynote answering the driving question. We had to use examples from Lord of the Flies and one other tribe. I chose to use the Khmer Rouge as my case study and I talked about what makes a political party a tribe. The feedback I got on my project told me it was a strong presentation. I demonstrated the ability to read a book and connect the text to real-world events which is one of the competencies we focused on this unit. Here are some of the comparisons I made between the book and the event.

Some comparisons in my presentation

After visiting Cambodia and seeing the effects of the Khmer Rouge I really wanted to incorporate my knowledge into the final project. I mean, I was away through half the unit so I felt obliged to show that I had learned something while I was gone. I took the knowledge I had from the trip and expanded it with external research. After reading the book I noticed many of the connections right away. I was really proud of the amount of information I had gathered on the subject. When I had to present the project to the teachers, Mr. Hughes stayed in the room. I had known from before that he had done Asian Studies and was a fan of Cambodia so I was a bit nervous. But I didn’t get torn apart at the end so I will take that as a compliment towards my research! As I final reflection of the whole unit, I am very proud of the presentation I completed.

This project was quite the learning curve for me in a new way. Because I was away for a good chunk of it, I had to make up assignments out of school while still catching up on the other classes I missed. I’d say the work I put out under the pressures of jet lag and missed classes was pretty impressive quality and I am very proud of myself.

As always thanks for checking in, I am still in school!

Went to Albuquerque – Came back Albuquirky

Went to Albuquerque – Came back Albuquirky

Recently my class had the opportunity to go on an amazing trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We spent 6 days there gathering evidence to answer our driving questions. 

How did the development of the atomic bomb change the world in a historically significant way? 

sunrise

The trip was jam-packed with loads of amazing experiences! Almost every morning we were up before sunrise. I’m not complaining though because Albuquerque has some amazing sunrises. With such a busy schedule and a project we had to be thinking about, it was challenging to manage everything.

Lucky for us, we learned so much about the manhattan project before going on the trip! I took this opportunity to listen and document all the experiences we had so I could use them in my project when we got back. This was one of the responsible risks I took on the trip. Knowing most of the information allowed me to relax and not feel like I had to absorb every bit of knowledge we got. I felt that I could appreciate the people who talked to us more when I already knew a lot of the topics. I made sure to get lots of pictures and evidence to support the topics in my book. When we went to museums I was able to take in the exhibits at my own pace without feeling like I needed to know every bit of information in order to complete our project.

I really enjoyed myself on the trip. I asked tones of questions and talked to some really great people! I was able to imagine ideas for my book very strongly because my mind already understood all the information. I didn’t feel pressured about the outcome of the book at all.

Despite how non-stop and action-packed this trip was, I had so much fun! I got to experience yet another new and exciting place and all the wonderful events and traditions it has to offer in just 6 days! I learned a lot about the Manhattan Project and how Albuquerque was impacted by it. Plus I got to create a super cool book showcasing all my knowledge of the Manhattan Project. For just a 6 day trip I’d say I’m very proud of all that I completed.

And as always, thanks for checking in, I’m still in school.

energy capture

energy capture

For our most recent we had to create a machine that uses a natural source of energy to make electrical energy. When I asked if I could force my hamster to run on a wheel for all eternity our teacher said no. Apparently, humans and animals aren’t a natural source of energy. Which is silly, but I don’t make the rules. So just like almost everyone else in the class we created a waterwheel!

Collaboratively and individually plan, select, and use appropriate investigation methods, including fieldwork and lab experiments, to collect reliable data (qualitative and quantitative)

Morgan and I used fieldwork by testing our machine out by the stream. With that, we collected data that showed that our machine works. We also collaborated on the design of the machine and the building of it as well.

Assess risks and address ethical, cultural, and/or environmental issues associated with their proposed methods and those of others.

The reason we started this project is that we wanted to learn about clean energy. There are many forms of energy that are bad for the environment and what with the current climate change talk that’s been happening it’s really good to find other methods of energy.

Use knowledge of scientific concepts to draw conclusions that are consistent with evidence.

After a lot of research into the different types of energy and energy conversion. Morgan and I were able to design a waterwheel that could produce energy. Although our waterwheel wasn’t built for the stream we tested it in, we still implemented the science concepts we learned to build the machine.

Experience and interpret the local environment.

I’ve lived by the stream at cove cliff my whole life and it’s been a place to play and swim for as long as I can remember. It was really cool to learn about how that stream can be used to create energy.

 

Overall Morgan and I are very proud of the product we created. Our video had some very good humour and we learned a lot about energy conversion. Anyways thanks for checking in, I’m still in school.

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