So far, the story mainly takes place in a small village in China! (The first part of the book does at least) My group and I made half of our group visual about that small village in China, and the other half of the poster is based off California where we believe the story will take place later on. We believe that mostly due to context clues, and the fact that a lot of the men in the first part of the reading were actually sent off to California to look for a better life. Some important scenes take place at: the well, the pig sty, and the aunt's home. Now, the story is taking place in the mountains. I do think that the story will eventually take place in California, mostly because the main character DOES mention that is where is from. Although, I also do think that China will continue to be an important place in the story, even as the story progresses. Part two of the story takes place in the mountains, in a small hut where the main character lives with an old man and woman who are training her to be a warrior. I am still unsure if this is all just in her imagination, or if it's actually where she is in reality. I think it's definitely going to be interesting to see how the main character's life compares to her aunt's, and how the setting affects that.
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It was a beautiful summer morning, the sun's rays were just barely peaking out over the hills. The air wasn't as dry as usual, although the dust still blew through the air.
The Saloon was being preped to open for the day, even though the saloon itself did not open until twelve thirty. Tables were being cleaned, floors being dusted, and the kitchen was being prepped. The young man who owned the place, whistled as he cleaned, wiping the sweat from his brow. Owning a place like this by himself was challenging, and the amount of stress he was constantly put under was extrodinary. After the place was to be cleaned, the next job he would have to do was begin to set up the drinks. Those he had to wait until just before the saloon actually opened to grab- if he were to open them any sooner than eleven, they would be warm by the time the first patrons began to stagger in through the door. As Tarrence cleaned, his whistles echoed off of the empty walls, making their way all through the kitchen and restrooms. The only other sounds that could be heard were the slight clicking of his shoes against the wooden panels of the floor. Once the sun was at the right point in the sky, Tarrence began to go down into the cellar. It was a long walk, that always made Tarrence lose his breath, it would make anybody lose their breath. One mile was a long way down, but it was the only place where the air was cold and damp enough to make everything chilled. Tarrence's father had dug for years, not stopping until he could finally reach the place that caused goosebumps to appear up and down this arms. There he built a cellar, a cellar that would lead him to success- even to becoming one of the richest men in the West. The only person he had ever planned to show to or give he cellar to was Tarrence. His young boy, the only other man that woud ever step foot in this deep cellar, that held more secrets than just a few cases of beer. The waters were quiet today, the waves lightly caressing the side of the ship as it slowly rocked back and forth. The sun had just begun to rise, the sky turning different shades of orange and pink, as the birds perched on the sails slowly began to awaken.
The peacefulness was almost comical, a strange contrast to what would be going on just an hour or so later, right on the deck of this very ship. Someone’s life would be ended, it wouldn’t be clean, it wouldn’t be pretty, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be peaceful. The captain always loved a challenge, and something about their usual routine of execution just seemed too easy. He wanted more, wanted something that would be more interesting, and humorous to him. As he sat there thinking, watching the sun slowly rise, an idea began to stem. Back on the end of the ship, there was an old single wobbly plank, a fault in the making of the ship a year or so ago. Seagulls were the ones who used it the most, and even their small presence made the plank creak and wobble. It was unstable, and would no doubt crush very easily, breaking off and snapping into the ocean. Then suddenly it hit him, a challenge that any prisoner could decide to choose over immedient death. If the prisoner could last more than a whole minute standing on the plank, he or she would be set free. If not, the plank would snap, and they would be met with their demise. The captain smiled, an evil smile than would make any man turn and run in the opposite direction. He was happy with this idea, happy with the way it would make people believe that they actually had a chance at living. You could either be thrown off, or take a chance by walking the plank. Carmen had never understood superstition, never believing in anything otherworldly or ethereal. She believed that everything could chalk up to science in one way or another, or at least a reasonable solution that made very logical sense.
She lived in a good sized town, with large farms and plots of land scattered for miles all around. Barns were more common than actual houses, coming in varieties and shades of beautiful reds. She herself lived on a farm alone, tending to her herb gardens and flower beds, occasionally going into town and selling them to her neighbors or friends for a bit of extra cash to buy new paints and brushes for the old farm she had always planned to restore. “Now Carmen,” Her father had said, many years ago, when she’d been no more than six years old. “I expect you to always take care of this old place. Make it beautiful, something to be proud of.” She’d smiled, her grin wide, holding her fathers hand as she promised with all of her heart. Carmen had managed to keep that promise, even twenty years later. She’d always taken care of the place, cleaning and repainting the beautiful barn with red. Red, red, it had always been red. Carmen loathed the color. She had never understood why barns had to be such a hideous color of red. Sure, there were different shades of red, lights and darks, but it got so boring after awhile. She’d seen enough red for at least four lifetimes, and she was desperate for a change. For the past year or so Carmen had been collecting different buckets of paints and brushes, working in secret to paint her farm a beautiful crisp white color. The people of the town had looked down upon her, shaking their heads as she came into the paint shop, hands full of jars of coins to pay. You see, everyone in the town knew only a fool would paint their barn a different color other than red. They’d blamed it on luck, saying that red was the only color that would ward off bad spirits and intentions, and if your barn was any color other than red, you would be forced to deal with the consequences. Of course, Carmen had never believed it. Her farm wasn’t going to famish and wither away simply due to the color, it didn’t make any logical sense. So for months she worked, painting and painting and painting. It nearly drove her insane, painting individual flowers and vines, twisting around the large beautiful structure. (not done) Before class began, I didn't know anything about this case. The only things I really knew was that a woman had accused a man named Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. So I was, basically, going into today blind.
First, we watched Christine Blasey Ford's opening testimony. To me, it was very interesting, just the way she laid out all of the facts and how she managed to keep such good composure throughout the whole statement. It was clear to me, that this was something that had affected her very very much. My heart had hurt for her, and I had so much empathy for this woman I had never even heard of, prior to this class period. I think she held strong, and some part of me was proud of her for that because I know how hard it must've been. I think one part that was interesting though, was when it came for the questioning. I only got to watch a few minutes of it, but the few minutes I did watch were a bit odd to me. I thought the flying thing was interesting, and it actually did up confusing me. I feel like, for most people, if you do something you're afraid of enough- you lose that fear that you once had. Just the way Christine responded, just seemed a bit interesting to me? Moving on to Brett Kavanaugh- this opening statement was also very interesting to me. It was compelling, but at the same time it was WEIRD. He kept trying to make a point that he loves women, and has women friends and that somehow that helps support his claim that he would never sexually assault somebody. I just don't understand where he thought he was going with that?? It was also baffling to me how he basically said, "Ok yeah something might've happened to Christine but it wasn't me who did that!" Then, when it came to the questioning and his whole demeanor changed. It looked like he got all panicky and defensive, answering the questions very weirdly. Something to me just felt off, really off, and it made me almost angry. I don't think he was telling the full truth, and I definitely think that he did do something. I think a lot of many different topics were covered. Some of the topics weren't exactly on topic, and we covered a bunch of random different things other than what we were supposed to. I thought the topic of guns would be covered more, but it didn't actually get covered much until the very end when it came to making compromises and plans for everybody. I think the class generally preformed well, but I think it would've been a lot better if the class stayed on topic just a little bit more than we did. I think it would be fun to do more fishbowl discussions like this in the future, because it was actually fun and exciting to watch- even just being on the outside watching everyone. I think the group that did end up sharing their ideas the most was the promoters. I think they were the ones who really stayed on topic, and at least attempted to get a lot of their points across. I think that also showed when they made the best proposal at the very end of the discussion. I think the most interesting point that was made was how the colonists kept trying to push God upon the natives. I think it was historically accurate.
The kitten had always loved to spend her time in the garden, rolling around in the green grass and hiding amongst the flora. She was a small creature, who always imagined herself to be a lot mightier than she actually was.
She was filled with wanderlust, wanting to explore every crack and crevice of the outside world, even beyond the small garden she was confined to. This garden, with itś neatly trimmed hedges and flowers so brightly colored it was almost unnatural, was the only sliver of the outside world the kitten was allowed to know. She had an entire house she could explore, but the kitten had always preferred the small garden. The fresh air was always a lot better than the stuffy air that came from the old victorian style home that the kitten was forced to call home. She couldn't fathom what was even beyond the gate that trapped her, or the reason as to why she couldn't go any further than her confinements allowed. What was so horrible? If the rest of the world was as peaceful and beautiful as the atmosphere around her now, surely there was nothing to fear. Today, the kitten was sitting near the ferns and roses, careful not to brush against the thorns. It was a lazy summer day, with a pleasant breeze that would send shivers up anyoneś spine. A red bird sat on top of the fence gate, avidly cawing down at the small creature. It almost sounded like laugher, the birdś caws and crows candid. This bird flew by everyday, always stopping to sit on top of the fence, never actually coming down into the garden to sit beside the kitten, or offer her some sort of friendship- or companionship at the very least. It never integrated itself with the kittenś small world down in the garden, and the bird didn't have any burning desire to anyways. I noticed a lot of the historical connections all of the items of the scavenger hunt had at least one thing in common. For example, a lot of the items (artifacts) had to do with culture and different customs that different places and countries had. There were different articles about hispanic culture, japanese culture, english culture ect. All of the artifacts made you think "How do these connect to our project? Why THESE objects, when there's a million other objects that are much more fun to look at?" I think the artifacts that were most interesting to me had to be some of the paintings. My group and I really liked looking at the art museum at Balboa, and it is definately something I would look into again. This scavenger hunt definately supported my group's claim about this project being about culture, and how different it is to everyone. Objects in the musuem were professionally curated. They were seperated by time period, different regions and cultures- with interactive learning stations scattered around every once and awhile. It was all very nice, neat, and beautiful! The puppet show was presented in a fun way, managing to catch the attention of everyone in the theater. It was actually pretty funny, and involved the audience a lot. I appriciated the way the puppeter told the story, making sure to engage the kids in the audience and making it a pleasant experience for everyone involved in the theater. I think a big element of storytelling is making whatever story you're telling, engaging to the reader/viewer/audience. No story is a good one if it doesn't make the audience think, laugh, cry; react in some way to the story you're telling.
My first impression of eleventh grade is that it is going to be a big step up from tenth grade. Already, iḿ doing a lot more than I did last year, and I really like the way that this year challenges my thinking. Iḿ looking forward to all of the humanities work and readings. Iḿ not so much looking forward to Spanish and Math, just because I don´t find either of them interesting to me, but I wouldn necessarily say iḿ nervous for it. I am really nervous for internship though, just because I want to find something that I really want to do and I dont want to be stuck with something I dont like. The first reading we did in class was really interesting to me. I liked the way it took history and compared it to modern things we do today. It was little bits of history, and little bits of things going on today. I really liked that! The last reading we just did, I did not find interesting. It was too much history, and it was too much at once. I found myself getting bored and getting off track, and it was hard to read because it wasnt something I was really interested in and it made me go terribly off track. I learn best by discussions in class, not by packets of reading (with small text) for homework that is just about history. Annotations drive me crazy sometimes if itś about giant packets of text about history that I dont really know much about. Maybe if we discussed and read the packets inside of class, and had to read a page of two outside of class, it would be a lot better for me. It makes more sense that way.
So far, based off just the index alone, i've found quite a few things that i'm interested in for this class. The first (coming from the index) being Florida, mostly because of all of the interesting things that have been going on there recently. It seemed like Florida connected to a lot of the other subtopics in the index, including a lot of different crimes and criminal offences. I also want to know what makes Florida so prone to all of these different crimes, and why so much takes place there in particular, even compared to just the other states. Another thing that interests me is religion, religion is the cause of so many conflicts and prejudices against groups of races or people, and I think it's always something that we don't really hear a lot about in actual school. When I had gone to public school, we weren't even allowed to talk about religion in our history classes, so I feel like I missed out on a lot of different stories and peices of history. I also don't come from a religious backround, and even though I don't have any interest of joining a religion, I still think it's something valuble that we would need to talk about sometimes. Cults, would be really interesting to learn about, but that also greatly connects to religion. One thing I don't want to learn about is the holocaust, that's something i've learned about a lot, and I always wished that I had learned and had been taught about it just a little bit differently. Even at San Marcos High it was pretty censored, a lot of the other details taken out and briefly skimmed over. I'm very excited for this year though, and would love to just learn about anything and everything!
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AuthorAdeline Colton Archives
November 2018
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