First Semester Reflection

Eliminating Clutter


To eliminate words you don't need I learned to eliminate clutter. Eliminating clutter really helps to increase clarity and it helps you get to your point. For example, instead of: Suzie thinks, but can not confirm that Billy has feelings of affection for her, you could say: According to Suzie, Billy likes her. I turned a 14 word sentence into a six word sentence.

Another example of eliminating clutter is use one word instead of using several words that mean the same thing. For example, instead of saying "Bob ran really fast down the football field", you can say Bob sprinted down the football field.


Paragraph Responses

In the first semester, I learned to have a thesis, topic sentence, and two paragraphs of support. I learned that paragraph responses should have a clear thesis. I learned that a thesis should be a statement or prediction of what will happen. For example, my thesis for the article about China will pass the United States as the top economic power is, The United States will remain the top economic country in the world.

The topic sentence should introduce what you are going to talk about in your support paragraphs. One of my topic sentences is, the main reason the US will not be overtaken by China as the world's top economic power is because the United States is becoming economically smarter. By reading this topic sentence you know that one of the paragraphs is going to be about the US becoming economically smarter.

I learned that paragraphs of support should have comparisons or analogy's. Analogy's and comparisons help to compare what ever your essay is about to something in real life. For example, Britain wasn't expecting economic defeat from US. The US is not Britain and the US knows what to expect. Politicians are aware that if we don't work hard to rethink the economy, China will pass the US economically. The US will work hard for the next twenty years to not let this happen.

My analogy is, Tennessee was going to kick a game winning field goal and Alabama knew that if Tennessee made it, Alabama would loose their number one ranking. Alabama worked really hard and blocked the field goal. The US will become like Alabama if the US works really hard to rebuild the economy, we will stay the top economic power.


Rwandan Genocide/Debate

In the first semester I participated in a Rwandan Genocide debate. The desks were arranged in a circle and it seemed that I was in a UN conference room. My group and other groups each represented a person or group that is involved with the Rwandan genocide. The groups were trying to defend the person or group we have and we tried to put the blame on other people/ groups. I actually thought that I was a member of the UN.


I learned that you have to know enough about what is going on in Rwanda to put the blame one someone else and to defend yourself.

You need to know the two major groups: Hutu and Tutsi. When the Belgians invaded Rwanda the Tutsis were in power. When the Belgians left, they left the Hutus in power. The Tutsis got upset and this started the conflict. In 1973 Gregoire Kayibanda is elected as the president of Rwanda. 1963-1964, Tutsi insurgents lead raids into an anti-Tutsi crackdown by Rwandan government. Thousands of Tutsis are killed.


In 1973 Juvenal Habyarimana defeats Hayibanda in a military coup and he eliminates all political parties and creates the MRND Party. The MRND Party forms the Interahmwe( civilian militia group). The RPF( Rwandan Patriotic Front) begins to organize. The RPF is led by Paul Kagame.

Juvenal signs the Arusha Peace Agreement with the RPF, which could have ended the genocide.


The Rwandan Armed Forces was created to defend Rwanda from the RPF. In 1994 Juvenal's plane gets shot down by Tutsis. This made the Rwandan Genocide as bad as it was. The UN sent in troops, but later withdrawaledtroops because they are denying that the conflict in Rwanda is a genocide. Paul Kagame is the current President of Rwanda.


If you do not know all of this, it is difficult do defend your person/group or put the blame on some other group.



First Day of High School Essay



When I wrote my First Day of High School essay I learned to focus on one specific part of my day. First, I described my morning, lunch, afternoon and my mom's reaction when I told her my braces broke.


The rewrite of the First Day of High School was focused on lunch, which was when my braces broke. I included my thinking of the night before the first day, thinking of how my friends would think of my braces, but that led up lunch, and then that led to what I would think about when my parents find out that my braces broke.


I learned to use a better introduction because if you have a bad intro, readers will stop reading right away. My original intro was " My first day of High School was like a roller coaster ride with one big bump. It wasn't like any first day of school because it was High School.


My new intro was " My first day of High school was like experiencing Cedar Point all over again. It is like being a on a brand new roller coaster because you don't know what to expect. It is like being on a roller coaster with one big bump, and that one bump was enough to make you hurl.


I also learned to use a theme in my First Day of High School essay. The original theme was if something bad happens, it is best to tell someone right away, or it may bite you in the end. The new theme was: expect the unexpected/ if something bad happens to you, hope it happens in the middle/end of your day and not the beginning because it can make your whole day bad.


Capitalization


When I wrote the Capitalization Story I learned that you have to capitalize directions when they are used as sections of the country. A sentence from my story is:
The argument took place in East and West Germany , which was Berlin. I learned that it should not be: The argument took place in east and west Germany, because I used the directions to describe areas of a country, the directions should be capitalized.

Another example of a capitalization rule is that you have to capitalize school subjects that are a name of a particular course. For example my schedule for the first semester was, Biology, Personal Fitness, Spanish Two, Geometry. Global Ed. World History, and Global Ed. English.
They should not be biology, personal fitness, spanish two, geometry, global ed world history, and global ed. english. Since they are school subjects of a particular course, the name of the classes should be capital.

First Semester Reflection

Native Americans

If I was a native during colonial times, I would be a Native American.

I would be a Native America during colonial times because they know the land so well. They know what the climate is like, they know what animals they should and shouldn't eat. When pilgrims came to the land now known as present-day United States, the pilgrims asked Native Americans for help. They didn't know what crops to grow or how to survive in the climate. But Native Americans did know how. With out Native Americans there wouldn't be anyone else living on North America.

I would be a Native American during colonial times because the British and the Americans didn't torture us in any way. The British and Americans just forced Native Americans to move farther west. The government didn't want the Native Americans getting involved in conflicts with Americans or British settlers. The only conflict was the French and Indian war, which the Native Americans fought side-by-side with France, which controlled one third of the United States(mostly mid-west region) I would want to fight with one of the largest empires of the world.

I would be a Native American because Sacajawea helped Lewis and Clark on their expedition in the west. We would have no knowledge of the Louisiana Territory if there were no Native Americans. The Native Americans feel good of helping settlers on the same land. There is a baseball team named after Native Americans called the Cleveland Indians. I would want a sports team named after me or my group. Most sport teams commemorate people, animals, or things. We are commemorating Native Americans.