Energy and Place
Reflection:
For this project we started by researching environmental ethics and watching a lot of TED talks on environmental ethics. This was in order to get a basic understanding of the concept and to base a perspective on it. After that, we started writing journals on nature, life, and the environment. After that we started researching nuclear power, and were introduced to the concept of our final project. Finally, we started drafting our final essays or poems and finished them / exhibited.
In order to come up with my personal environmental ethic and my sense of place I had to look deep inside myself. Coming up with the environmental ethic that you believe in is no easy task. I think the hardiest part of the whole process was trying to relate my sense of place to my environmental ethic, this was because staring at the stars didn't really connect with sustainability or preservation. I think the Habit of Heart and Mind that I used most for this project was perseverance, all throughout it I had my mind on other things thinking about summer, the river, skateboards and friends, but even though sometimes I didn't want to, I persevered through it to come out with a product I was happy with. An example of that is when I was creating my poem and I had a writers block. I kept thinking about other things and couldn't focus on the task at hand, I then realized that if I didn't finish this poem it would just be wasting the effort that I already put in, so I persevered through it, got rid of all my distractions and finished.
I feel like personally I was happier with my poem, this was because I feel like I made it a creative poem that I wasn't expecting to make. At first I thought my poem was going to just going to be another project that I really didn't want to do, but by the end I was stoked with how it turned out. On of the things specifically I liked about my poem was the abstract, I feel like I did a good job of explaining my environmental ethic behind the poem, a quote of the abstract that relates is "My environmental ethic within this poem is intrinsic value, this is because when I look at the stars I do not enjoy them because they are benefiting me, in fact they don’t benefit me in any way, I simply enjoy looking at them to look at them".
Essential Questions: https://drive.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/view
What is the purpose of your existence?
What is happiness and what makes you happy?
What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Personal Philosophy Statement
Anish Wells
Question: How do you define or find happiness?
Happiness for me can be described in a few key things. To start off I would like to say that happiness cannot be the same for every person because we all have our own loves, likes, fun, and personal achievement. Now, these four things I stated are the key (in my opinion) to a “happy” life.
To start off, let’s talk about loves. Loves (this ones kind of obvious) are simply what you love. This isn’t just for someone that you have a romantic relationship with, or even just your love for family members. In fact this can even be love for an inanimate object! It is merely love as in love for music, love for food, love for animals, etc. Love is the first key term because love makes you happy, when you have a love for something it brings joy into your life and will never fail to form a smile on your loving face.
Next is likes. This key term describes the things you like, sports, friends, reading, dancing, etc. Although likes may not be as strong of a connection with something as love, it is still a huge benefactor to your happiness. This key term is more of the simple things in life that make you happy, like going to work out at the gym a couple days a week.
After that is fun, a part of life that I don't feel like I could get enough of. Fun is Probably the most important term in my opinion because it brings me the most happiness. When I am out wakeboarding at Lake Powell on a warm summer day or even just sledding down the neighborhood streets with a couple of old friends I cannot be happier. I feel like this is because fun is something that we as humans crave. Something that we have a drive to go do because we truly want it.
Last, but definitely not least, is personal achievement. Personal achievement defines itself as things that you have worked for, things that after trying hard and putting in the effort in happened. This could include work, school, even small things like memorizing that one poem you liked or fixing the kitchen sink at your house.
I believe that happiness is a balance between these four key terms. And can be achieved by successfully having these in your life.
Art piece song
(Anish) Verse 1:
Well you see, we just want to live life,
Without all the things like the pain and the strife but we can’t,
Because we are moving too fast
You see our eyes are looking forward but our minds are looking back. So
Why can’t we just slow down,
And take a second to realize what’s around,
Don’t let the world get in your way cause everyone has the potential to be great so,
Let’s all just remind each other,
To love everyone like sisters and brotha’s.
We’re all actually the same on the inside,
Wanting good friends, family, and a good life
So don’t tell anybody what to do,
Because fo’ real nobody’s better at you than you
Well they ask, what’s the point of our existence,
And you say religion, love, maybe the difference,
But the point is you’re just scared,
You don’t know so you act like you don’t care,
But they expect it so they look and staire,
And you just want to get the fuck outta here.
Chorus
Taking the first steps into the wild world all alone.
What wonders will you see when your 1000 miles from you home.
A hundred thousand souls pass in front of my eyes
It may not be the right fit don’t do what you despise
Losing a generation to the fad of being fly.
People working overtime making money to get by
Passion is the answer to a world full of lies
Sit back relax it’ll be alright
(Drew)Verse 2:
I’ll never pretend I’m not just like the next guy
I’m the don’t look in the mirror you always look you best guy
If we don’t see eye to eye in the same picture frame
I Know I’ll feel alright at the end of the day.
I got passion in my heart and strength in my hand
I don’t wanna pull my power from what god commands
It’s up to me to see what’s right and what’s wrong
If I stand still in time life’s long song moves on
Open up the glass door and walk right through
See the planet from another man’s point of view in his shoes
the red white and blue they say we’re all equal
So go out lose your shoes causeus love is for the people
The people want what they can’t have
Because what’s in front of them is too easy to grab
We just grab onto whatever’s thrown in our face
Material things cause we got no sense of place
Reflection:
For this project we started by researching environmental ethics and watching a lot of TED talks on environmental ethics. This was in order to get a basic understanding of the concept and to base a perspective on it. After that, we started writing journals on nature, life, and the environment. After that we started researching nuclear power, and were introduced to the concept of our final project. Finally, we started drafting our final essays or poems and finished them / exhibited.
In order to come up with my personal environmental ethic and my sense of place I had to look deep inside myself. Coming up with the environmental ethic that you believe in is no easy task. I think the hardiest part of the whole process was trying to relate my sense of place to my environmental ethic, this was because staring at the stars didn't really connect with sustainability or preservation. I think the Habit of Heart and Mind that I used most for this project was perseverance, all throughout it I had my mind on other things thinking about summer, the river, skateboards and friends, but even though sometimes I didn't want to, I persevered through it to come out with a product I was happy with. An example of that is when I was creating my poem and I had a writers block. I kept thinking about other things and couldn't focus on the task at hand, I then realized that if I didn't finish this poem it would just be wasting the effort that I already put in, so I persevered through it, got rid of all my distractions and finished.
I feel like personally I was happier with my poem, this was because I feel like I made it a creative poem that I wasn't expecting to make. At first I thought my poem was going to just going to be another project that I really didn't want to do, but by the end I was stoked with how it turned out. On of the things specifically I liked about my poem was the abstract, I feel like I did a good job of explaining my environmental ethic behind the poem, a quote of the abstract that relates is "My environmental ethic within this poem is intrinsic value, this is because when I look at the stars I do not enjoy them because they are benefiting me, in fact they don’t benefit me in any way, I simply enjoy looking at them to look at them".
Essential Questions: https://drive.google.com/a/animashighschool.com/file/d/0B5ktO3NLUDlcems1NU1kbjZudWM/view
What is the purpose of your existence?
What is happiness and what makes you happy?
What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Personal Philosophy Statement
Anish Wells
Question: How do you define or find happiness?
Happiness for me can be described in a few key things. To start off I would like to say that happiness cannot be the same for every person because we all have our own loves, likes, fun, and personal achievement. Now, these four things I stated are the key (in my opinion) to a “happy” life.
To start off, let’s talk about loves. Loves (this ones kind of obvious) are simply what you love. This isn’t just for someone that you have a romantic relationship with, or even just your love for family members. In fact this can even be love for an inanimate object! It is merely love as in love for music, love for food, love for animals, etc. Love is the first key term because love makes you happy, when you have a love for something it brings joy into your life and will never fail to form a smile on your loving face.
Next is likes. This key term describes the things you like, sports, friends, reading, dancing, etc. Although likes may not be as strong of a connection with something as love, it is still a huge benefactor to your happiness. This key term is more of the simple things in life that make you happy, like going to work out at the gym a couple days a week.
After that is fun, a part of life that I don't feel like I could get enough of. Fun is Probably the most important term in my opinion because it brings me the most happiness. When I am out wakeboarding at Lake Powell on a warm summer day or even just sledding down the neighborhood streets with a couple of old friends I cannot be happier. I feel like this is because fun is something that we as humans crave. Something that we have a drive to go do because we truly want it.
Last, but definitely not least, is personal achievement. Personal achievement defines itself as things that you have worked for, things that after trying hard and putting in the effort in happened. This could include work, school, even small things like memorizing that one poem you liked or fixing the kitchen sink at your house.
I believe that happiness is a balance between these four key terms. And can be achieved by successfully having these in your life.
Art piece song
(Anish) Verse 1:
Well you see, we just want to live life,
Without all the things like the pain and the strife but we can’t,
Because we are moving too fast
You see our eyes are looking forward but our minds are looking back. So
Why can’t we just slow down,
And take a second to realize what’s around,
Don’t let the world get in your way cause everyone has the potential to be great so,
Let’s all just remind each other,
To love everyone like sisters and brotha’s.
We’re all actually the same on the inside,
Wanting good friends, family, and a good life
So don’t tell anybody what to do,
Because fo’ real nobody’s better at you than you
Well they ask, what’s the point of our existence,
And you say religion, love, maybe the difference,
But the point is you’re just scared,
You don’t know so you act like you don’t care,
But they expect it so they look and staire,
And you just want to get the fuck outta here.
Chorus
Taking the first steps into the wild world all alone.
What wonders will you see when your 1000 miles from you home.
A hundred thousand souls pass in front of my eyes
It may not be the right fit don’t do what you despise
Losing a generation to the fad of being fly.
People working overtime making money to get by
Passion is the answer to a world full of lies
Sit back relax it’ll be alright
(Drew)Verse 2:
I’ll never pretend I’m not just like the next guy
I’m the don’t look in the mirror you always look you best guy
If we don’t see eye to eye in the same picture frame
I Know I’ll feel alright at the end of the day.
I got passion in my heart and strength in my hand
I don’t wanna pull my power from what god commands
It’s up to me to see what’s right and what’s wrong
If I stand still in time life’s long song moves on
Open up the glass door and walk right through
See the planet from another man’s point of view in his shoes
the red white and blue they say we’re all equal
So go out lose your shoes causeus love is for the people
The people want what they can’t have
Because what’s in front of them is too easy to grab
We just grab onto whatever’s thrown in our face
Material things cause we got no sense of place
Native American Historical Inquiry
Project Description: This project was set out to be an eye opener. The goal was to critically examine our own prejudices and those that were forced on us by the media. Throughout this project we wrote 7 journals, read 2 pieces of text, and performed one seminar. We learned about native american traditions / culture, also we learned about how the different stereotypes and "forms" of the "Indian" have changed throughout modern day culture all the way back to Columbus's days.
|
Essential Question: How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to
a more enlightened understanding of history AND contemporary social, cultural and political realities? |
Key Takeaways: I feel like the most important lesson I learned throughout this project was that, people aren't always what they seem, people such as Christopher Columbus and Andrew Jackson. He we are in America praising these people for their actions and what they "did for our country" but I guarantee more than half of the united states doesn't even know that Andrew Jackson was elected because he was the "Indian hater". My perspective towards our judgement as a country has changed quit a bit, I feel like people should be educated on why these people were awful, not taught that they were great and almighty. This project made me feel a little uncomfortable when I realized that even I had prejudices and biases towards native Americans, without even realizing it.
Seminar: After learning everything that we did about native culture, and modern day culture, we seminar-ed about those topics. Noah Hotchkiss talked about how on his reservation the tribe leaders (the ones who hold all the money) are corrupt and unjust. I feel like this is extremely interesting. It seems like they would be trying to help their people as much as possible, but no, they take the money and use it on themselves. I guess all that power just goes to their heads. I feel like a cool project in the future would be to try and bring to light that situation with the hierarchy in the native tribes, and try to make consequences for the corrupt people who do that.
Essential Question: Studying multiple sources is one of the most important ways of studying history in my opinion. If you don't study multiple sources, you will have only one point of view on literally every event in history. That would be like taking a text from some Nazi in WW2 that said all of the Jews were aliens and invaded our world and therefor that's why they committed genocide. If we don't study multiple sources then all our information will be flawed. Its a fact.
Seminar: After learning everything that we did about native culture, and modern day culture, we seminar-ed about those topics. Noah Hotchkiss talked about how on his reservation the tribe leaders (the ones who hold all the money) are corrupt and unjust. I feel like this is extremely interesting. It seems like they would be trying to help their people as much as possible, but no, they take the money and use it on themselves. I guess all that power just goes to their heads. I feel like a cool project in the future would be to try and bring to light that situation with the hierarchy in the native tribes, and try to make consequences for the corrupt people who do that.
Essential Question: Studying multiple sources is one of the most important ways of studying history in my opinion. If you don't study multiple sources, you will have only one point of view on literally every event in history. That would be like taking a text from some Nazi in WW2 that said all of the Jews were aliens and invaded our world and therefor that's why they committed genocide. If we don't study multiple sources then all our information will be flawed. Its a fact.
Seminar prep:
Should we be biased to the lesser known side to try and equal out the punches for different perspectives, or should we aim to tell the story like it is and let the reader decide? Is that even possible? -Hannah Liberman
In what other cases have we been lead to ignore genocide or been lead to believe that it is unimportant? -Phillip Whily
Where do you think the U.S, or any other country would be today if we never focused so much on "progress"? -Cathy Dellinger
People nowadays have no idea what kind of stereotypes they are putting on native americans without even thinking about it. Its not their fault, they were raised knowing what they were taught about the “indians” and how they were “savages” and “alcoholics”. But those stereotypes are wrong. The natives were nothing like they are portrayed today. These stereotypes are impacting the native culture in the same way that racism affects african americans or sexism affects women, it hurts to be called bad names and stereotyped. “When we watched the Indians getting slaughtered at the end of every movie... well, my brother would refuse to watch it.” -Russell Means (Reel Injun)
This project had enlightened me in so many ways. I never knew that Christopher Columbus was such an A-hole and the same goes for Andrew Jackson, its so weird how we have learned so much about these famous people but we haven't learned the real things that matter. It has helped me understand that history isn't always what it seems.
Journals:
(Journal #4)
I feel like a theme that occurs throughout all of the Sherman Alexie’s stories we read is tradition / stereotypical tradition. In all of the stories we read Alexie always references past native culture, weather its the three indian boys having a drug induced experience about what they could have been (proud “indians”) or Thomas builds-a-fire telling a story about why the natives were treated the way they were, it all comes back to tradition. Alexie could be trying to make a statement about how the old traditions cannot die out, or he could just be trying to educate people on what native american culture used to be.
“Now Victor you know we're having a difficult time financially.” This quote is said when Victor wishes to go see his dead father, but the tribe cannot afford to send him there. I feel like this relates to tradition because in the modern native culture, the tribe leaders have all of the money that the tribe gets from the government, and disperses it to the people who need it within their tribe. Helping eachother is a huge part of traditional native culture.
“Indians wear their names like a bad pair of shoes.” Names in native american culture change throughout their lives. It is not a set in stone name for the rest of their lives. I feel like this quote is talking about how that part of their tradition died out, and how they now have names that stay with them forever.
“Indians are the best cowboys.” This quote (to me) is talking about how native americans knew the land, knew how to farm the animals, knew how to live, knew how to cooperate with the land more than the white settlers who came over. All of the things that those white settlers said they were best at.
(Journal #5) Skeletons
Skeletons, they have been defined as scary monsters, things that haunt you, but has anybody thought about it the opposite way? I feel like in the story “ A Drug Called Tradition” the skeletons are considered more of just a memory of the past, or a look into the future than a monster, and that form of skeletons is a common theme in both Alexie's stories and “First Person First Peoples.”
In “First Person First Peoples” Garrod and Larimore talk about how most of the Native American students at Dartmouth “persist and graduate” and how the ones who don’t pass (around 25%) completely become distraught. “Native students who leave before graduation do not merely receive failing grades or quit, they simply self destruct.” I feel like this could be related to Alexies story because when the authors say “self destruct” they are referencing (in my opinion) the thought process of these Native students, who have been put through hell. Sure they are going to a good college where they will be educated and taught to be “civilized” human beings. But is it worth it? In this story the authors also say “The strain of putting on such a performance day in and day out exacts a huge toll, for Native students have constantly to guess what others expect them to be.” (Page 11) All throughout “A Drug Called Tradition” the three native boys (while on the drug) have these visions of “true indians” and how thats what they could have been...what others expect them to be.
In his story, “A Drug Called Tradition”, Alexie talks about the three “indian” boys and how when they take this drug they see their skeletons that have “haunted” them throughout their lives, but have they really haunted them? Alexie says “What you have to do is keep moving, keep walking in step with your skeletons, they ain't ever going to leave you so you dont have to worry about that.” I feel like the skeletons are three things. The past, the present and the future. They represent the past in the way of; they are the skeletons of your ancestors, and they are here to help you from making the mistakes they made. They represent the present in the way of; they are your skeleton, they are you, trying to make decisions and show you the correct path. They represent the future in the way of; they are the skeletons of your future generations, showing you what happens if you make the incorrect decisions.
Keep moving, keep walking, What does this mean? The most obvious interpretation of that quote is that you are just dealing your skeletons and that there is nothing you can do about them, but I feel like it goes deeper. Instead of just ignoring your skeletons and tuning them out, you could be walking with them because they are going to the same place as you, because they are you. The skeleton in its full glory is scary, those hollow eye sockets look at you lifelessly, but thats not the only interpretation of a skeleton, they are also what's inside of you, they are...well they are you!
Taking that concept and putting it into the context of Alexie’s story changes the whole thing, instead of the skeletons being this scary creature that is constantly there and will never leave (more of a pest than a friend) I think he tries to make them more of a leader, something that guides you. It is a part of your past that you can never get rid of, and , instead of a burden it is more of a blessing.
(Journal #2) Having not gone to elementary school, I speak from a different perspective than most kids who will be doing this journal. My parents gave me the blunt truth, christopher columbus was an awful person. Yes he may have completed what may be the task that formed civilization as we know it today, but are the actions of the awful justified for the killing and mass murder just because he made us what we are? I have known for most of my life that Christopher Columbus was not what people made him out to be. I heard stories of how he had a slaves arms cut off and bandaged so that he would not die, then he stuffed the slave in a wooden barrel and threw him off the ship, drowning him, as if the immense pain he was in wasn't enough. Reading this paper may not have changed the way I felt about Christopher Columbus, but it has deepened my understanding of the crimes he committed against humanity, and made me further question why we celebrate people like him and himself.
Should we be biased to the lesser known side to try and equal out the punches for different perspectives, or should we aim to tell the story like it is and let the reader decide? Is that even possible? -Hannah Liberman
In what other cases have we been lead to ignore genocide or been lead to believe that it is unimportant? -Phillip Whily
Where do you think the U.S, or any other country would be today if we never focused so much on "progress"? -Cathy Dellinger
- Don't just go in and conquer, the people that you are conquering are people too, and they won't like it as much as you would not.
- Even though many, many mistakes were made, sometimes in the name of progress, it is nessecery.
- Some people are not who we think them to be.
People nowadays have no idea what kind of stereotypes they are putting on native americans without even thinking about it. Its not their fault, they were raised knowing what they were taught about the “indians” and how they were “savages” and “alcoholics”. But those stereotypes are wrong. The natives were nothing like they are portrayed today. These stereotypes are impacting the native culture in the same way that racism affects african americans or sexism affects women, it hurts to be called bad names and stereotyped. “When we watched the Indians getting slaughtered at the end of every movie... well, my brother would refuse to watch it.” -Russell Means (Reel Injun)
This project had enlightened me in so many ways. I never knew that Christopher Columbus was such an A-hole and the same goes for Andrew Jackson, its so weird how we have learned so much about these famous people but we haven't learned the real things that matter. It has helped me understand that history isn't always what it seems.
- Where was Columbus's origin (family) from
- Why did the “indians” not rebel earlier?
- Did they ever catch the “sexual harasser?”
Journals:
(Journal #4)
I feel like a theme that occurs throughout all of the Sherman Alexie’s stories we read is tradition / stereotypical tradition. In all of the stories we read Alexie always references past native culture, weather its the three indian boys having a drug induced experience about what they could have been (proud “indians”) or Thomas builds-a-fire telling a story about why the natives were treated the way they were, it all comes back to tradition. Alexie could be trying to make a statement about how the old traditions cannot die out, or he could just be trying to educate people on what native american culture used to be.
“Now Victor you know we're having a difficult time financially.” This quote is said when Victor wishes to go see his dead father, but the tribe cannot afford to send him there. I feel like this relates to tradition because in the modern native culture, the tribe leaders have all of the money that the tribe gets from the government, and disperses it to the people who need it within their tribe. Helping eachother is a huge part of traditional native culture.
“Indians wear their names like a bad pair of shoes.” Names in native american culture change throughout their lives. It is not a set in stone name for the rest of their lives. I feel like this quote is talking about how that part of their tradition died out, and how they now have names that stay with them forever.
“Indians are the best cowboys.” This quote (to me) is talking about how native americans knew the land, knew how to farm the animals, knew how to live, knew how to cooperate with the land more than the white settlers who came over. All of the things that those white settlers said they were best at.
(Journal #5) Skeletons
Skeletons, they have been defined as scary monsters, things that haunt you, but has anybody thought about it the opposite way? I feel like in the story “ A Drug Called Tradition” the skeletons are considered more of just a memory of the past, or a look into the future than a monster, and that form of skeletons is a common theme in both Alexie's stories and “First Person First Peoples.”
In “First Person First Peoples” Garrod and Larimore talk about how most of the Native American students at Dartmouth “persist and graduate” and how the ones who don’t pass (around 25%) completely become distraught. “Native students who leave before graduation do not merely receive failing grades or quit, they simply self destruct.” I feel like this could be related to Alexies story because when the authors say “self destruct” they are referencing (in my opinion) the thought process of these Native students, who have been put through hell. Sure they are going to a good college where they will be educated and taught to be “civilized” human beings. But is it worth it? In this story the authors also say “The strain of putting on such a performance day in and day out exacts a huge toll, for Native students have constantly to guess what others expect them to be.” (Page 11) All throughout “A Drug Called Tradition” the three native boys (while on the drug) have these visions of “true indians” and how thats what they could have been...what others expect them to be.
In his story, “A Drug Called Tradition”, Alexie talks about the three “indian” boys and how when they take this drug they see their skeletons that have “haunted” them throughout their lives, but have they really haunted them? Alexie says “What you have to do is keep moving, keep walking in step with your skeletons, they ain't ever going to leave you so you dont have to worry about that.” I feel like the skeletons are three things. The past, the present and the future. They represent the past in the way of; they are the skeletons of your ancestors, and they are here to help you from making the mistakes they made. They represent the present in the way of; they are your skeleton, they are you, trying to make decisions and show you the correct path. They represent the future in the way of; they are the skeletons of your future generations, showing you what happens if you make the incorrect decisions.
Keep moving, keep walking, What does this mean? The most obvious interpretation of that quote is that you are just dealing your skeletons and that there is nothing you can do about them, but I feel like it goes deeper. Instead of just ignoring your skeletons and tuning them out, you could be walking with them because they are going to the same place as you, because they are you. The skeleton in its full glory is scary, those hollow eye sockets look at you lifelessly, but thats not the only interpretation of a skeleton, they are also what's inside of you, they are...well they are you!
Taking that concept and putting it into the context of Alexie’s story changes the whole thing, instead of the skeletons being this scary creature that is constantly there and will never leave (more of a pest than a friend) I think he tries to make them more of a leader, something that guides you. It is a part of your past that you can never get rid of, and , instead of a burden it is more of a blessing.
(Journal #2) Having not gone to elementary school, I speak from a different perspective than most kids who will be doing this journal. My parents gave me the blunt truth, christopher columbus was an awful person. Yes he may have completed what may be the task that formed civilization as we know it today, but are the actions of the awful justified for the killing and mass murder just because he made us what we are? I have known for most of my life that Christopher Columbus was not what people made him out to be. I heard stories of how he had a slaves arms cut off and bandaged so that he would not die, then he stuffed the slave in a wooden barrel and threw him off the ship, drowning him, as if the immense pain he was in wasn't enough. Reading this paper may not have changed the way I felt about Christopher Columbus, but it has deepened my understanding of the crimes he committed against humanity, and made me further question why we celebrate people like him and himself.
- The main point that Zinn points out in this book is how compared to the Europeans the “indians” were completely willing to share anything that others wanted. They kept up this mindset that was mostly like “what goes around comes around.” If they were willing to share their resources and materials with the people who needed them, than in return the previously stated people who need them would have something that the shareres needed, bringing in a full circle of help to everyone who needed it. (Which was everyone)
- Zinn talks about how a lot if history is told in a matter of “The genocide that was committed by Columbus was tinuous, but lets move on to talk about other more important things.” He doesn't like this because he feels like you cannot just put aside some part of history that is that big just because Columbus’s reputation is to be upheld. He prefers to teach history in a way that does not dwell on matters as important as that, but it informes and makes those parts as important as other ones like how Columbus “discovered” the Americas.
- The oppressor can be considered a victim in the same way hitler can be recognized for his great militaristic thinking. They will go down in history as that oppressor, there is no way to change that. They were the ones who did all those awful things and committed those crimes. It may have lead to something greater, but they will always be known as that oppressor.
the Morality and politics of Justice
Op Ed
I Now Pronounce You Man And Man.
“Sexuality is an integral part of human identity and should not be the basis for discrimination. Fundamental rights of minority groups should simply not rely on a scientific classification. Race and religion are given special protection under the law and yet remain perilous to define biologically. Sexuality should be treated no differently”.
- Joseph Osmundson
Anish Wells
In order for society to be truly equal, members of the LGBT society should be treated the same as heterosexual individuals. If two couples love each other why should one be treated differently?
Gay rights and gay marriage have been controversial issues in America for many years. People interested in the topics have had so many opinions, statements and arguments towards or against it that the issues themselves have grown to a huge proportion in this day and age.
20 states have thus far legalized gay marriage, including my home state of Colorado.
The 14th amendment's equal protection clause was created in 1868, shortly after the Union victory in the American Civil War. This branch states that “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States”. This amendment is saying that no American should be denied the same basic protection, this includes job protection, and marriage. Now take that branch and put it into context; Gay people are citizens also, so isn’t not allowing them to marry or being able to fire them just for being gay technically breaking that law? (US Const. amend. XIV, sec. 1)
Does the U.S. Constitution forbid gay marriage? No, In fact this year the Federal Court ruled that gay couples DO have the constitutional right to marry, and that this right should not be denied. (Huffington Post’s Nicholas Riccardi and Brady McCombs)
October 11 is National Coming Out Day. Around the world, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people will seize the opportunity to speak about their coming out and the importance of equality and non-discrimination for all people. But will they actually come out to the public? With the fear of being bullied in schools, harassed at workplaces, and generally abused by a homophobic society, it seems like the answer to that question would come in the form of a very hard personal decision.
In 29 states, there is no law banning employers, landlords, and public accommodations providers from discriminating against LGBT Americans; A boss can fire a worker because he's gay, or a landlord can refuse to rent out an apartment to a lesbian couple because of their sexual orientation. Now the question that comes to mind when hearing facts like this is, is this fair? In 8 states (as shown in chart number 1 below) gay couples are allowed to marry but in the same state be fired just for being gay. Seems a little conflicting doesn't it?
What is ethical? This is a question that has been asked for many years, and has not been given a correct or incorrect answer. John Rawls, a famous philosopher born in 1921 believed that in order for a society to be truly just and have equal opportunity, we have to think of ourselves all starting from the same place in life. To this end, Rawls came up with the theory called “Veil of ignorance”. This moral philosophy states that nobody can know what they are going to be / do, you could be born black or white, rich or poor, with 4 arms and 6 legs, gay or straight. Rawls says “No one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence and strength, and the like”. Rawls would say that we should have equal opportunity for everybody, and that the people who don’t believe that have never been in the opposite situation, so they wouldn't know how hard it is.
Immanuel Kant, a famous philosopher born in 1724 came up with the theory of Deontology. Described as "duty" or "obligation" this moral philosophy judges the situation as ethical if it adheres to certain duties that we must follow regardless of the outcome. Kant states that “Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness”. In this quote I feel like Kant is trying to say that we should not follow our morals because we want to be happy, but we should follow them because it is the right thing to do, and because if we do follow them we will be happy anyway. But what are our morals? Is it moral to not let a couple marry each other just because they are the same sex? And if not then why is it still happening in 30 states?
Taking gender out of the situation, imagine it like this; two couples love each other. One couple goes to the church to be married. They get married, have kids, and live a happy life together. The other couple goes to the church to be married. They know that they cannot have kids but they still love each other and wish to be with each other for rest of their lives. Their marriage proposal is refused, they are shamed by the church and the people who do not believe in their marriage, their bosses find out they tried to get married and fire them just for doing so. Why did one couple live happily and the other was shamed? Just because they both share the same body parts.
Gay people, straight people and really every people are the same, we want knowledge, power, justice, strength, but most of all, we want love. Why should some people be denied that while others are blessed with it? The whole problem can be solved by a simple solution. Legalize gay marriage. Although it has been said a million times I feel like it cannot be said enough. Equality is a basic human right, and we are all humans, no matter what gender you fall in love with. Thomas Jefferson once said that “All men are created equal”, but in this day and age I don’t believe that everybody feels that way.
Works Cited
"Gay Marriage ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Ed. ProCon .org. Procon.org, 21 Oct.
2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
LGBT Rights." LGBT Rights. The Rainbow Project, 8 Feb. 2011. Web.
"Timeline." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2 May 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Rights, Human. "18th Annual National Dinner." Human Rights Campaign. Human Rights Campaign, 4 May 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Osmundson, Joseph. ""I Was Born This Way": Is Sexuality Innate, and Should It Matter? § LGBTQ Policy Journal at the Harvard Kennedy School." "I Was Born This Way": Is Sexuality Innate, and Should It Matter? § LGBTQ Policy Journal at the Harvard Kennedy School. Joseph Odmonson, 13 May 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Kolanski, Adam. "The Secular Case Against Gay Marriage." - The Tech. Adam, 17 Feb. 2004. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
U.S. Constitution. Amend. XIV, Sec. 1.
Osmundson, Joseph. "Quotes About Gay Rights." (41 Quotes). Joe, 6 May 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
"Immanuel Kant Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
Reilly, Mollie. "Federal Court Rules That Gay Couples Have Constitutional Right To Marry." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 June 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
Artist Statement
In order for society to be truly equal, members of the LGBT society should be treated the same as heterosexual individuals. If two couples love each other why should one be treated differently? In my visual piece, I chose to make a rainbow flag because of symbolism behind the rainbow. The LGBT society has used the rainbow flag for many years to represent themselves, so it seemed fitting to put it in my project. The gender symbols in the top left corner are intertwined as rings to represent marriage, and the quote on the rings is one of the most used in the battle for equality. My art piece shows Pathos by the colors on the flag, they are mostly bright and warm colors, meaning to bring up happy feelings. The flag shows Ethos by the quote in the rings, Thomas Jefferson is a credible source, so by quoting him it makes the flag seem more reliable. The tone of my poster is happy, the glitter and bright colors make it seem like a celebration. I chose to make this poster seem happy because I feel like soon, gay marriage will be legal and I can use this flag as a celebration method. All throughout the process of making this flag I was questioning if i should be doing this, it seemed a little bit cliche, but by the end I was happy with the final product.
I Now Pronounce You Man And Man.
“Sexuality is an integral part of human identity and should not be the basis for discrimination. Fundamental rights of minority groups should simply not rely on a scientific classification. Race and religion are given special protection under the law and yet remain perilous to define biologically. Sexuality should be treated no differently”.
- Joseph Osmundson
Anish Wells
In order for society to be truly equal, members of the LGBT society should be treated the same as heterosexual individuals. If two couples love each other why should one be treated differently?
Gay rights and gay marriage have been controversial issues in America for many years. People interested in the topics have had so many opinions, statements and arguments towards or against it that the issues themselves have grown to a huge proportion in this day and age.
20 states have thus far legalized gay marriage, including my home state of Colorado.
The 14th amendment's equal protection clause was created in 1868, shortly after the Union victory in the American Civil War. This branch states that “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States”. This amendment is saying that no American should be denied the same basic protection, this includes job protection, and marriage. Now take that branch and put it into context; Gay people are citizens also, so isn’t not allowing them to marry or being able to fire them just for being gay technically breaking that law? (US Const. amend. XIV, sec. 1)
Does the U.S. Constitution forbid gay marriage? No, In fact this year the Federal Court ruled that gay couples DO have the constitutional right to marry, and that this right should not be denied. (Huffington Post’s Nicholas Riccardi and Brady McCombs)
October 11 is National Coming Out Day. Around the world, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people will seize the opportunity to speak about their coming out and the importance of equality and non-discrimination for all people. But will they actually come out to the public? With the fear of being bullied in schools, harassed at workplaces, and generally abused by a homophobic society, it seems like the answer to that question would come in the form of a very hard personal decision.
In 29 states, there is no law banning employers, landlords, and public accommodations providers from discriminating against LGBT Americans; A boss can fire a worker because he's gay, or a landlord can refuse to rent out an apartment to a lesbian couple because of their sexual orientation. Now the question that comes to mind when hearing facts like this is, is this fair? In 8 states (as shown in chart number 1 below) gay couples are allowed to marry but in the same state be fired just for being gay. Seems a little conflicting doesn't it?
What is ethical? This is a question that has been asked for many years, and has not been given a correct or incorrect answer. John Rawls, a famous philosopher born in 1921 believed that in order for a society to be truly just and have equal opportunity, we have to think of ourselves all starting from the same place in life. To this end, Rawls came up with the theory called “Veil of ignorance”. This moral philosophy states that nobody can know what they are going to be / do, you could be born black or white, rich or poor, with 4 arms and 6 legs, gay or straight. Rawls says “No one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence and strength, and the like”. Rawls would say that we should have equal opportunity for everybody, and that the people who don’t believe that have never been in the opposite situation, so they wouldn't know how hard it is.
Immanuel Kant, a famous philosopher born in 1724 came up with the theory of Deontology. Described as "duty" or "obligation" this moral philosophy judges the situation as ethical if it adheres to certain duties that we must follow regardless of the outcome. Kant states that “Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness”. In this quote I feel like Kant is trying to say that we should not follow our morals because we want to be happy, but we should follow them because it is the right thing to do, and because if we do follow them we will be happy anyway. But what are our morals? Is it moral to not let a couple marry each other just because they are the same sex? And if not then why is it still happening in 30 states?
Taking gender out of the situation, imagine it like this; two couples love each other. One couple goes to the church to be married. They get married, have kids, and live a happy life together. The other couple goes to the church to be married. They know that they cannot have kids but they still love each other and wish to be with each other for rest of their lives. Their marriage proposal is refused, they are shamed by the church and the people who do not believe in their marriage, their bosses find out they tried to get married and fire them just for doing so. Why did one couple live happily and the other was shamed? Just because they both share the same body parts.
Gay people, straight people and really every people are the same, we want knowledge, power, justice, strength, but most of all, we want love. Why should some people be denied that while others are blessed with it? The whole problem can be solved by a simple solution. Legalize gay marriage. Although it has been said a million times I feel like it cannot be said enough. Equality is a basic human right, and we are all humans, no matter what gender you fall in love with. Thomas Jefferson once said that “All men are created equal”, but in this day and age I don’t believe that everybody feels that way.
Works Cited
"Gay Marriage ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Ed. ProCon .org. Procon.org, 21 Oct.
2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
LGBT Rights." LGBT Rights. The Rainbow Project, 8 Feb. 2011. Web.
"Timeline." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2 May 2014. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Rights, Human. "18th Annual National Dinner." Human Rights Campaign. Human Rights Campaign, 4 May 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
Osmundson, Joseph. ""I Was Born This Way": Is Sexuality Innate, and Should It Matter? § LGBTQ Policy Journal at the Harvard Kennedy School." "I Was Born This Way": Is Sexuality Innate, and Should It Matter? § LGBTQ Policy Journal at the Harvard Kennedy School. Joseph Odmonson, 13 May 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Kolanski, Adam. "The Secular Case Against Gay Marriage." - The Tech. Adam, 17 Feb. 2004. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
U.S. Constitution. Amend. XIV, Sec. 1.
Osmundson, Joseph. "Quotes About Gay Rights." (41 Quotes). Joe, 6 May 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
"Immanuel Kant Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
Reilly, Mollie. "Federal Court Rules That Gay Couples Have Constitutional Right To Marry." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 June 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.
Artist Statement
In order for society to be truly equal, members of the LGBT society should be treated the same as heterosexual individuals. If two couples love each other why should one be treated differently? In my visual piece, I chose to make a rainbow flag because of symbolism behind the rainbow. The LGBT society has used the rainbow flag for many years to represent themselves, so it seemed fitting to put it in my project. The gender symbols in the top left corner are intertwined as rings to represent marriage, and the quote on the rings is one of the most used in the battle for equality. My art piece shows Pathos by the colors on the flag, they are mostly bright and warm colors, meaning to bring up happy feelings. The flag shows Ethos by the quote in the rings, Thomas Jefferson is a credible source, so by quoting him it makes the flag seem more reliable. The tone of my poster is happy, the glitter and bright colors make it seem like a celebration. I chose to make this poster seem happy because I feel like soon, gay marriage will be legal and I can use this flag as a celebration method. All throughout the process of making this flag I was questioning if i should be doing this, it seemed a little bit cliche, but by the end I was happy with the final product.
Project reflection
Anish Wells
Starting this project was like a blind person trying to see without glasses. You could see the blurry, final product in the distance, but didn't have a clear understanding of how you were going to get there or where to start. Luckily, we had a teacher with an organized structure to help us prepare. The goal of the project was to get a deeper understanding of moral philosophy’s and assign them to current events. We started by reading and acting out “The night Thoreau spent in jail”, a play written in the 1970’s about Henry David Thoreau’s theory called transcendentalism, and civil disobedience. After that we studied several different moral dilemmas and read a book called “Justice” about those dilemmas. Then, we took a test on those moral dilemmas, and philosophies. After that, we were given a specific moral philosophy (Deontology, justice as fairness, veil of ignorance ect) and told to study it more in depth. Once we had completed that, we applied those moral philosophies to the three major categories. (Liberty, Equality, Security) Studying rhetoric was one of the last steps we did in this process, basically learning how to use Ethos, Pathos, or Logos in our projects. For the final step of this project we were told to pick a current event that we felt passionate about and write an Op Ed about it, relating it to one of the moral philosophies. Also we made a visual piece that supported our Op Ed and used at least two rhetoric categories. (Ethos Pathos Logos)
This project was extremely interesting for me. Studying moral philosophies was a huge part of understanding the world as I do today. I feel like the most significant lesson I have learned all throughout the project is that life, love, hate, stress, equality, and truly everything in our world is viewed through different eyes. I mean this not only literally but figuratively. You can never have the exact same opinion or understanding of something as somebody else because we are all different, and no matter what we try we will always be different. This is not a bad thing, in fact it is quite beautiful. With all of the opinions and perspectives in the world we have so much to learn, so much to know. It makes our lives interesting.
I feel like if any part of the rubric fit my paper the most it would be the perspective. I tried to go into my perspective as best I could within my paper, and I feel like I did a good job communicating it and showing how I feel. This shows especially in my thesis statement, and I quote. “In order for society to be truly equal, members of the LGBT society should be treated the same as heterosexual individuals. If two couples love each other why should one be treated differently?” The reason I was able to make this category strong was because of how much I believed in my topic, I have always felt passionate about gay rights and being able to put that passion into an Op Ed was great.
The part of my paper that I felt weakest in was sentence craft. I feel like I wasn't able to convey my message as best as it could have been conveyed because of the way I wrote my Op Ed. The sentences were not as well written and thought provoking as I had wished them to be. This shows in one of the paragraphs I wrote stating “Gay rights and gay marriage have been controversial issues in America for many years. People interested in the topics have had so many opinions, statements and arguments towards or against it that the issues themselves have grown to a huge proportion in this day and age.” These sentences show good promise, but are not clearly written and weren't what I wanted them to be. In order to improve this next time I need to focus more on my paper and not other distractions.
For the visual piece I would make the paint less dark on some of the colors, such as the green and the purple. For the Op Ed I would have to change the wording in the entire thing, it was disoriented and not what I wanted it to be. Also I would research more on my topic and find new insight to support my thesis and opinion.
Anish Wells
Starting this project was like a blind person trying to see without glasses. You could see the blurry, final product in the distance, but didn't have a clear understanding of how you were going to get there or where to start. Luckily, we had a teacher with an organized structure to help us prepare. The goal of the project was to get a deeper understanding of moral philosophy’s and assign them to current events. We started by reading and acting out “The night Thoreau spent in jail”, a play written in the 1970’s about Henry David Thoreau’s theory called transcendentalism, and civil disobedience. After that we studied several different moral dilemmas and read a book called “Justice” about those dilemmas. Then, we took a test on those moral dilemmas, and philosophies. After that, we were given a specific moral philosophy (Deontology, justice as fairness, veil of ignorance ect) and told to study it more in depth. Once we had completed that, we applied those moral philosophies to the three major categories. (Liberty, Equality, Security) Studying rhetoric was one of the last steps we did in this process, basically learning how to use Ethos, Pathos, or Logos in our projects. For the final step of this project we were told to pick a current event that we felt passionate about and write an Op Ed about it, relating it to one of the moral philosophies. Also we made a visual piece that supported our Op Ed and used at least two rhetoric categories. (Ethos Pathos Logos)
This project was extremely interesting for me. Studying moral philosophies was a huge part of understanding the world as I do today. I feel like the most significant lesson I have learned all throughout the project is that life, love, hate, stress, equality, and truly everything in our world is viewed through different eyes. I mean this not only literally but figuratively. You can never have the exact same opinion or understanding of something as somebody else because we are all different, and no matter what we try we will always be different. This is not a bad thing, in fact it is quite beautiful. With all of the opinions and perspectives in the world we have so much to learn, so much to know. It makes our lives interesting.
I feel like if any part of the rubric fit my paper the most it would be the perspective. I tried to go into my perspective as best I could within my paper, and I feel like I did a good job communicating it and showing how I feel. This shows especially in my thesis statement, and I quote. “In order for society to be truly equal, members of the LGBT society should be treated the same as heterosexual individuals. If two couples love each other why should one be treated differently?” The reason I was able to make this category strong was because of how much I believed in my topic, I have always felt passionate about gay rights and being able to put that passion into an Op Ed was great.
The part of my paper that I felt weakest in was sentence craft. I feel like I wasn't able to convey my message as best as it could have been conveyed because of the way I wrote my Op Ed. The sentences were not as well written and thought provoking as I had wished them to be. This shows in one of the paragraphs I wrote stating “Gay rights and gay marriage have been controversial issues in America for many years. People interested in the topics have had so many opinions, statements and arguments towards or against it that the issues themselves have grown to a huge proportion in this day and age.” These sentences show good promise, but are not clearly written and weren't what I wanted them to be. In order to improve this next time I need to focus more on my paper and not other distractions.
For the visual piece I would make the paint less dark on some of the colors, such as the green and the purple. For the Op Ed I would have to change the wording in the entire thing, it was disoriented and not what I wanted it to be. Also I would research more on my topic and find new insight to support my thesis and opinion.