Give and take

“The taming of the Shrew” and the movie “The Proposal”

In the book “Taming of the Shrew” we find Petruchio of Padua searching for a maiden to wife with a handsome dowry. He winds up setting his eyes on Katherine who is then forced upon Petruchio and wedded to him. We then move on to the movie “The Proposal” which follows the lives of Margaret and Andrew. Margaret winds up in a tough circumstance, unless she is wedded she would be deported back to Canada and lose her position as chief editor of a Book publishing company. She therefore drags Andrew along, and pretends they are engaged.

The difference between the two circumstances is that in the case of Margaret and Andrew they both have equal power in terms of the transaction. Unlike Katherine's case in which she has no benefits of wedding Petruchio,  Andrew has a say in what exactly will be his reward for following this plan. Both examples of “Taming of a Shrew”, and “The Proposal”show that love is only based off of a give and take relationship, where each person wants what the other person can provide for them. Romantic love is just the illusion to cover up this exchange.

“And, for that dowry, I’ll assure her of

Her widowhood, be it that she survive me,

In all of my lands and leases whatsoever.

Let specialities be therefore drawn between us,

That covenants may be kept on either hand.”

Act. 2 Sc. 1 pg. 83

In this quote Petruchio is having a discussion with Baptista who is the father of Katherine over what will be the contents of their transaction, if he were to marry Katherine. During this time period it was a frequent occurrence for suitors to discuss and make deals with the fathers of women over what both parties would receive if the Daughter were to be wedded to them. Whether it was true love or not was but a small say in the matter. If the suitors offer was generous enough then all of the woman's attempt to protest would become obsolete. Petruchio promises of her widowhood but this surely would not be the only issue Katherine would have in the Marriage.

In the movie we see Margaret negotiating with Andrew of what he will receive for following through with the false wedding.

When I was younger my family was very religious. We attended church daily and I was  baptized by a very young age. Not one Sunday session was missed. I was taught that there was more to it then dying. Once we passed away we would finally be able to sit with our Lord in his holy kingdom. Heaven was the paradise you were seeking for. I was told death should not be frowned upon, it just meant that God was calling you back to him to live your days beside him for eternity. As a child I accepted that. This gave me reassurance that even once everyone I knew would be gone from this world I would be greeted by them once again.

As soon as I woke up I prayed giving thanks for waking up every morning. Even when we went to church I would daydream, imagining angels flying around the building watching us as we prayed trying to answer our calls. At first everything felt very clear to me. There was no higher power than God, he was all knowing and granted life or death. Then around the third grade I began to dive into my learning. Trying to absorb as much as I could. I wasn't like most normal kids I rarely watched cartoons. Most of the time I would watched channels like Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the History Channel. The only thing that seemed to peak my interest was how did we work and where did we come from. The bible says the Lord but science says monkeys. I just had to know who was correct . Once I learned that we may not have come from Adam and Eve but actually single celled organisms, I started to have second thoughts on what happens once one dies. There was no evidence to back up that one rose to heaven only an assumption. I felt like I needed someone to tell me that they had been to heaven, it was real. One thing I have yet to understand is how do scientists balance religion with science. They don't go hand and hand and constantly contradict one another. Even now I still believe in God and heaven but I also believe in science.

From ages 6-9 I had problems with sleeping. They did not happen often only once and awhile but when they did they stopped me in my tracks.  You would think it's normal to be scared of the dark for my age. But the reason why I was scared was unique. I was scared not because of the menacing monsters crawling around me but because my mind would wander, and I would ask myself would one day will my family leave me, is this what death feels like eternal darkness. And as I began this dark descent into the holes of my mind. My body would become heavier, with each passing thought the air was sucked from my lungs. My chest pounded, I had beads of sweat running down my face. Then it all ended. As though I was separated from my body my conscious floated in the dark. Until I couldn't take anymore I called out to my mom in that void. The world around me began to reveal itself and I lay in my bed. My mom would wipe my tears away telling me that death is only what you make of it. She would say a little boy your age shouldn't be thinking of death, there are so many more years ahead of you. I told her I was terrified at the thought of not having her or my family around me. She’d lay beside me in my bed and we would lay in the dark talking and telling jokes until I would fall asleep. I guess she realized that I just needed someone to hear someone. I needed to know that I wasn't alone.

Fast forward to my seventh grade year. During this year my grandfather had fallen down the steps and was in the hospital. Thinking it was a little fall I didn't pay much attention to it, I fall all the time and bounce right back up. But in the month of June something happened. I remember this specific day because this was the day that I went horseback riding with the boy scouts. We had finished and I learned I was terrible at it. There was this technique you had to do where you kind hoped on the horse so you didn't bruise anything down stairs. Yeah, I didn't know how to do that so well and ended up only getting on the horse once. But this isn't the point of the story. I had been dropped off home, and as I walked towards my house my aunt saw me and rushed towards me engulfing me in her arms. Two things I noticed. First, I literally couldn't breathe she was practically choking me, and secondly, she had a stream of tears flowing down her face.

I asked “why are you crying.”

She said “I thought you were gone. There was a phone call and they said “he passed away”.” All of a sudden my sister comes out side and joins in hugging me tightly. I felt confused I didn't know what they were talking about. We went inside and I saw that all my family was inside grieving. I learned my grandfather had passed away and the hospital had only said “He” so they all thought I had passed away while on the trip. I saw just how fast death impacted everyone. I had never had anyone pass away yet in my family. I might have heard of others family passing away but it didn't affect me. Until now I didn't really know what it was like to lose someone in your close family. My mind began to start racing again how would I feel once my mother passed away what would I do without her, I couldn't fathom it.

June of 2013 would be the year I attended my first funeral. I was anxious frankly I didn't want to go. Why would anyone want to see a glimpse of their future. But I knew that I had to give respects to my grandfather. As I entered the church I saw him laying in his coffin, a lifeless body. I was staring death in the face. Honestly I couldn't tell, to me it just looked like he was just sleeping in a nice suit. I saw his face, he looked so peaceful. It did not look like he had suffered. I tried to place life back into him. Picturing him like how he used to be. What would he say to me at that moment. I asked my mom and she said to me that he knew his time was up. The day before he had passed away he had told her,

“The dead don't know they're are gone it's the living that suffer.”

I saw him standing over everyone and reciting that line. The dead don't feel sad when they're gone. By constantly thinking of this we only make life more depressing. After the funeral I felt a slight realization that humans have a funny way of always trying to deny death, while animals accept it. Maybe I guess that's what the author of “The things they carried” meant when he said that someone is not dead until you yourself proclaim them to be. People dress the dead up put makeup and make them look alive. Maybe to make it only seems as though they were sleeping and they would wake up in a couple of hours. But animals must understand they're are gone and need to move on. When I see animals they don't seem to make that big a deal out of death than us. Some grieve but none of them go the same lengths as us.

Sometimes I think why did I have be born as humans out of all earths creatures. We are the only ones who are truly self aware and are capable of having deep insight. Animals live day by day only thinking to survive today. But humans don't seem to live for the moment but instead think I must survive in the end. If I were an animal I didn't have to think of my end, it would be that simple. Now that I am older I realize maybe it isn't the thought of death that scares me maybe it's the thought of being alone forever. After many realizations I've come to understand that if one spends their whole entire life fighting their destiny you only make your ending all the more sadder. One must try and experience as much joy as possible and don't focus on that brief moment. Accepting this will only serve to give your life more meaning. For now sometimes that fear rises within me. But I've come to understand it is something that cannot be destroyed. The only thing I can do is give no acknowledgement to it. I must place my faith in my lord and believe that when it is time to meet my end. I will have left the earth an old man who enjoyed the gift of life.

                                                                       De-extinction?

Science is fully capable of bringing animals back from extinction, but should they? Many people believe that scientists should not bring back extinct creatures, that they are playing with unnatural things. Many people are also afraid of the idea of bringing animals back to life because of disaster stories like "Jurassic Park" and also religious beliefs that humans should not mess with life and death. However, was it not humans who made these creatures extinct? Using genetic engineering to bring back extinct animals is worthwhile because the great possibilities outweigh the dangers.

 Every animal has a role to play in the ecosystem. When humans kill off certain animals, there are always bad side effects that take place. Animals such as otters balance the ecosystem by keeping sea urchins in check. If otters were to become extinct then the sea urchins would ravage all kelp forest. Thus causing a ripple effect, ending up with many fish, invertebrate, and marine mammals losing a major food source, and possible shelter. If certain extinct animals could be reintroduced into the wild again, then it could help balance the ecosystem. Think of what would happen today if one of the keystone species, such as honey bees, were go to extinct in the next five years. Unfortunately, this situation is entirely possible. According to an article published in GlobalResearch.ca, “Since 2006 beekeepers have been noticing their honeybee populations have been dying off at increasingly rapid rates. Subsequently researchers have been scrambling to come up with an accurate explanation and an effective strategy to save the bees and in turn save us homo sapiens from extinction.” The honey bee does 80% of the pollination around the world. Imagine if all the honey bees were to go extinct today, the side effects would be catastrophic. With this new knowledge of species revival, if there was ever a need to quickly resurrect this species it would be possible. This research could not only save mankind, but all the species that reside on the planet earth. Mankind needs to stop confusing religion with science. This information is not so that scientist can brag about becoming a deity, it is so that one day scientist have a chance at saving life on earth.  

Furthermore, de-extinction is just the start of all the discoveries that could come from bringing back extinct animals. With this type of new knowledge, this could further the understanding of evolution and how humans came to be. In a statement made by Jack Horner the professor of paleontology at Montana State University  he said, “‘Any of us that have any curiosity about how we all got here and where everything came from has to be interested in evolutionary biology," Horner said. "It's basically the blueprint of life on this Earth.’" For centuries man has tried to figure out how this the modern day homo-sapien came to be. Whether it was by some sort of deity or through evolution, in the end much is still a giant mystery. Each time an species is brought back using genetic engineering humans come closer to understanding DNA, and how to unlock its secrets. If bringing back extinct animals helps humans understand how humans have evolved into what they are today, humans should feel some sort of longing to understanding the creation of mankind.

With de-extinction, humans could right the wrongs done by them to the earth. Humans have killed off the Dodo birds, Tasmanian tiger, Gastric brooding frog, etc. It was not by natural causes that these creatures died off but, the actions of people today are to blame. For example on the website livescience.com it said, “Passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) once blanketed the skies of eastern North America, but hunting and deforestation brought them to extinction 100 years ago. Martha, the last one, died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.”  If given the chance to bring these once abundant creatures back to life, then should there not be anyone against it. These animals have not even been extinct for more than a century so would it not be okay. Also based upon how large the population of this species used to be most likely many carnivores and plants in North America may have relied on the passenger pigeon as a food source and pollinator. With the reintroduction of the passenger pigeon it could help feed animals throughout North America. While also becoming another major pollinator due to the sheer size of each flock, and how far the pigeons travel.   

In conclusion, people should not base their opinion off of a fictional movie there are more practical uses for the de-extinction of certain species. There are real advantages of bringing back extinct animals. De-extinction could be used on many recently extinct animals. Dinosaurs may not get a second chance at life, but would it not be right for humans to bring back the recently extinct animals that are just victims of pollution, deforestation, and global warming. Plus the more scientist understand about how DNA evolves over time to adapts to new environments the better humans will know about the past, and what's the future may hold for Earth's species.

Work Cited:

Sumner, Thomas, and Bjourn Carey. "Stanford's Hank Greely Presents the Ethics of Resurrecting Extinct Species." Stanford University. Standford University, 5 Apr. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Copy & paste citation

In this unit we learned about Climate Change and how its effecting country's around the world. We were suppose to make three different monologues with three different people showing how they feel about Climate Change. The first monologue is about how a man who lost everything in the 2011 tsunami that happened in Japan. The second monologue is about a farmer complaining about all the bad things that are happening to him due to Climate change. The last monologue is about a teacher who is teaching her students about Climate change when something dramatic takes place.

Monologue 1# Video

"I lost everything"

Sitting down on reservation serving food talking to volunteers

I used to be the company manager of Intec the leading business in technical advances. We were making breakthrough discoveries when on march 11. The tsunami hit us i was in my office going through our recent results in a new energy source. The clouds were heavy and it was raining. I saw some big waves forming they were pretty far up shore. I mean my first thought was wow that's a pretty big wave Then the ground started to shake this earthquake was so powerful the building started to shake i could see some of the ceiling cracking.I tried to rush out the building but it started to collapse i didn't even know the tsunami hit till water started to leak in my space. I lost my arm that day. I had been pinned by one of the pillars in the building for five days. Till someone finally found me. That was the worst disaster that has every happened in japan I lost many of my friends thankfully my family took shelter. I lost my company, all my research and my arm. People need to realize that climate change is happening and even though it might not be occurring where they are at its affecting other people. I almost died that day. Once we rebuild I will make it my duty to bring notice to climate change. I am a survivor and a voice for all those who didn't survive.

Monologue 2#

"City Folk"

Hey bill (sits on porch) hows it goin wit you and the family… Well you know me i'm fine my momma raised a survivor. (grabs beer takes a sip) ahhh man nothing like a beer on a sunday. You know the kids been complaining lately talking about all this heat. I told them to suck it up. Man dis damn heat is killing me and my crops. Not even summer yet. Just yesterday I went outside saw all my crops are brown. The ground is hard as rock. Don't know where the water dun gone. Them greedy city-folk been using all that water. Mary been saving up all the water for the week. I don't know how much of all this I can take..( takes another sip) them bill collectors been circling my house lately they're like vultures.  Been threatening to evict me and my family.       They can try ..got my shotgun right by my door let them step on my property. I've been trying to make money but my crops been all dying can't sell nothing all the money I been saving up to pay the electricity. Can't even feed my kids bill (starts sobbing) . All dis been happening cuz of dem city-folk wit all that smoke going up in sky. The news said so. They said umm.. it was climate change. If I don't see some changes in how the government see climate change I might go to New York myself and my shotgun tell them what to do. (Drinks the last of beer) Well alright bill I gotta go Mary will be looking for me soon.    Hey good luck to you to. (exits porch walks away)

Monologue 3#

"Climate change"

In today's lesson we will be learning about climate change. Climate change is important class because in recent studies scientists have found out it is occurring already. Alright Richard (points to student) could you tell the class what climate change is since you seem the most optimistic. That's right Richard did everyone hear him. He said that climate change is when the weather starts to change and have different weather patterns. Could someone some tell me why this is important (chooses student) yes  sally … thank you but that's not exactly right, climate change is important now because over the last century our world has become warmer this is resulting in melting polar ice caps, extreme droughts, and intense rain. There are more harmful effects to. (lightning flashes outside with a big boom as the thunder scares the class.) Ooh that scared me you see class look out side (teacher points towards windows) this rain is an example of climate change this is the most rainfall Philadelphia has ever gotten. Climate change is happening because of the pollution humans are causing. (load noise starts up) Some people are trying to get the government to take notice of climate change. That's why there will be a march in New York during a UN meeting to get them to talk about climate change and I having been thinking for the 9th grade field trip to everyone can march with them. Whats that noise?!!! (Storm gets worse) School starts to shake. Alright everyone leave your stuff and leave the room we have to get you to safety. (she leads the class in the hallway Roof comes off. Hurry up run.. its a tornado.(panting) (tornado comes through the building screams everything becomes silent.)

SFP-Battery made out of coins

Inquiry- wanted to know how much electricity a nickel and penny can produce compared to a AA battery.

Research- I gathered information by research on Google and also finding different websites.

Collaboration- I asked many of my classmates for nickels and pennies to donate towards the experiment.

Presentation- The most effective write-up for our presentation was by drawing people in with our homemade battery.

Cliente: Isabel Medlock

Cliente es 14 años. Tengo uno cuy. Favoritos colores es azul, morado, rosado. Le gusta correr, cocinar, ver la tele, escribir cuentos, y libros. Ella quiere cinco personas en la casa. Quiere tres niños. Ella quiere una bicicleta.

La Casa:

La casa está en Charlotte, North Carolina. Esta cerca de los montañas. Con vistas de lagos. La casa es mediana. La casa es moderna y divertida y vibrante. Tiene un montón de espacio. La casa tiene tres pisos. Hay grande ventanas en la casa.

• tiene una piscina

• tiene una habitacion de música

• tiene grande un cueva de hombre

• hay ocho dormitorios

• hay cuatro baños

• hay tres pisos

• grande un jardín

• pequena un cine en la casa

• interesante biblioteca personal

Solo cuesta: 800.000

Arquitecta: Imani y Daouda

Telefono: (180)-492-CASA

First Floor-

Second Floor-

Third Floor-

Welcome back! It has been a long year, but the time has come for my final Blog. My name is Daouda Njie and I am a freshman in Science Leadership Academy. Thank you for those who have read my other two blogs Blog #1 and Blog #2. For those who have just started to read my blogs I am exploring Autism for my You and the World Project, and whether the School District of Philadelphia is giving the best educational experience for a child with Autism.

For my first blog I talked about what Autism is and problems that the kids with Autism face. I have discovered that Autism is a disorder that causes problems with social interactions, repetitive behaviors, and verbal or nonverbal communications. Autism happens because of brain mutations in early stages of brain development. Autism affects how your brain processes information. These problem make school for children with Autism challenging. I have witnessed many children with Autism struggling in schools because of lack of assistance schools offer. Although there are special plans that children with Autism can take. They are called ILP which stands for Individualized learning plan. These plans all differ and are made to fit each child's needs differently.

For my second blog I decided to interview one of my fellow classmates that has Autism. Asking him if he thought the school district is doing everything to help him and what are problems he faces. He said that sometimes he does have trouble socializing in school but his family helps him and provides support for him. He also take studies skill which is provided for kids with disabilities. This allows him to stay focused and get his work done. I also interviewed a Special ed professor who works with people with Autism. She stated that children with Autism have trouble understanding what people say, if there are greetings such as “what's up.” If a child with autism hears this they might respond with “the sky.” This can make it difficult in a school environment because school is full of social interactions.

                       this is me also presenting in my advisory

For my agent of change I decided to inform my advisory on what they can do to help a child with Autism adjust to school more and not have challenges. I believe that I could have done more for my agent of change. I originally wanted to volunteer at Autism speaks but due to lack  of communication I was not able to. But by at least educating other people I believe that I have helped my cause.

I really enjoyed this assignment and it made me feel like I was doing something to actually help someone else. I also enjoyed this assignment because unlike most assignments I was able to freely choose what I wanted to work on. Finding a problem that is interesting to me and going out and doing something about it. I believe that people should become more self aware of children with autism because everyone deserves the best education. I would like to thank Ms.Dunn for allowing me to have a chance to make a change and my advisory for listening to my presentation. I would also like to thank everyone who has read my blogs thank you and goodbye.

a) I learned how to make sure that when drawing all the objects all of them go back to the vanishing point.

b) By learning this my painting looked well balanced and everything drew back your eyes to the center of the drawing.

c) If I did this assignment over again I would add more details to the drawing. I woulds also add shading to further enhance the drawing.

d) My advice to someone who hasn't done a one point perspective piece would be to make sure certains lines lead to the vanishing point.

e) I think the slide that helped set up the one point perspective helped the most  because this helped make sure that everything was started correctly and showed most of the steps for what fixing problems.

Welcome back to my second YATW blog. For those that don't know me my name is Daouda Njie. In our English class we were assigned to choose a cause we thought was important and write about it. For my cause I choose to write about if the school districts were doing everything they could to help kids with Autism prosper. In my first blog post I learned that kids with autism tend to not do so well since they have trouble socializing but classes are offered by the school district to help the children out.

Since my first blog post I have learned that Autism might be hereditary and that once you have had a child with Autism it is 5% more likely your other child will have Autism. Also that if a twin shows signs of autism its a 90% chance that the other twin also has autism. There are therapy sessions for kids with autism some like PRT, VB, DTT, and ABA which stands for applied behavioral analysis.  ABA helps with communication, academic, self care, and more. This is just one of the options but since every child is different the therapy sessions all differ.

Here are some of the recent websites I have looked at:

http://www.apa.org/monitor/dec04/autism.aspx

http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/100-day-kit/treatments-therapies

For my original research I interviewed a student at SLA that has Autism and also a special ed professor from Penn that studies people with autism. The SLA student said that Autism does affect him when it comes to socializing in school but he has gotten better. I also learned that here at SLA they offer him studies skills which allows him to stay focused and get his work done. He also stated that his family supports him by having him take therapy sessions that help him better understand facial expressions and tones.

Here is some of the professor responses from my questions  I thought it was surprising when she told me that when communicating autistic kids speak literal. I can tell this might be a challenge in school because if they are interacting with anyone in school they may not understand how to respond to a person.This interview helped me in my research because she gave more of an image of how autistic kids act.

This research made me see how just because a child has autism doesn't mean they can't get the best of their education. The student I interviewed even said that his autism doesn't affect him that much anymore. It is because of the programs schools offer. The original research also helped me with the understanding of Autism because the interview with the student with autism allowed me to understand just what exactly it feels like to have autism and still communicate and interact with people. It gave me a better feel of some of the challenges they face.

Hola mi nombre es Daouda. Mi apodo es David. Soy estudiante de Science Leadership Academy. SLA está el centro de filadelfia y veintidós Arch . Esta cerca de Franklin Institute. SLA es grande, y divertido. Hay es cuatro el piso y quinientos estudiantes. Hay es viente la professores. Tenemos es laptops. Tenemos un muy fútbol, ultimate frisbee, basketball y baseball, participó en robotics por que es interesante.                                                                                                                                                                      

Tengo Bioquímica, Español uno, Inglés, Ingeniería, Tecnología, y Africano-americano historia. Mi favorito es Español porque es interesante. También Español es increíblemente fácil.  Nos divertimos aprender sobre Español. Nosotros cantamos, escribimos, bailamos, y leemos libros. Para tener éxito es requerido hablar Español. Además tiene que prestar la atención.

La Senorita Dunn es una professores. La Señorita Dunn enseña inglés uno. Ella es amable y intelligente. Inglés es diversión y fácil.  Señorita Dunn es alta, delgado, y guapo. Señorita Manuel es Español uno professores. Ella es cómico y intelligente. Nosotros bailamos en clase y practicar escribir. Español es muy fácil. Aprender un nuevo idioma es interesante.

SLA es muy diversión. El professores es amable. Me gusta la clases en SLA. SLA clases es muy interesante. Lo que más gusta de SLA es estudiantes. El estudiantes son bobo y cómico pero ellos es trabajamos. No me gusta el sistemo de grado. No consigo altas A en mi tarjeta de informe. Esto escuela es asombroso. Me encanta SLA.