Interviewee- Andrea (Mt. Airy Area)

What motivated you to come out and vote? “Since my ancestors fought for me to be able to vote, I think it is necessary to exercise my right to vote. I also want to give my President another four more years that he deserves to show what he is made of.”

Do you vote every election? (How regularly do you vote?) “I only vote for presidency elections. I was 19 when Obama first ran for president and that was the first time I had voted. That was a very emotional moment for me.”

Do you know why we vote on Tuesdays? “To be honest, I don’t. I will take a wild guess and say because of some type of tradition.”

Where have you encountered the highest amount of ad campaigning? Radio, TV, print, internet, other. It would definitely have to be on the internet. I don’t watch a lot of TV and I am always on Facebook. I have to say I see about close to 30 ads on Facebook per day.” 

What impact do you feel that your vote will have on the election? “Because this race is so close, I think my vote has a huge impact on my President getting re-elected for a second term. Pennsylvania is a swing state, so therefore every vote counts. It feels amazing that I could be that one vote to push Pennsylvania to become a blue state this term.”

What surprised you most about this information?

What surprised me most about this information is the amount of people who actually immigrated to the United States in the mid 1800’s. I find it interesting that people found our country as an escape from their problems and hardships that were taking place at home.

 What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set? What is quite obvious about this data set is that the American Population seemed to increase at a steady pace even though the amount of immigrants varied throughout the years.

Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades. I predict that in the next two decades, the amount of immigrants will not come in abundance like they did in the mid 1800’s because the United States are making it harder for immigrants to be able to come citizens of the United States, or even get a visa.

Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information. We decide to use keynote because we thought it would be much easier to present our information on an presentation tool. We also felt that the information would be better interpreted in an organized state.

What parts of group work were challenging? One part of the group work that I found challenging was finding specific events for one decade in particular because I found that the amount of immigrants came for the same reason for a couple of decades.

What would you do differently if you had this project to do over? i would spend more time on it in class and not get too distracted because when I got home it wasn’t as easy to ask questions that I needed to know about the project over the computer. It is also better to work on this project as a group in person because some group members might find it hard to comprehend some things while doing it at home.

One thing that I can say that I truly understand is you have to go through a struggle in order to succeed. In March, we were assigned to read a book by a Haitian author named Edwidge Danticat. The book was called Create Dangerously. This book was a collection of essays about her life and Haitian issues. There was one essay in particular that really grasped my opinion. This essay was called “I Speak Out.” It was about another Haitian lady named Alérte Bélance that was mutilated by the Macout (the Haitian army), but surprisingly survived. People found her story so interesting that they flew her to the United States so she was able to share her story to other people. In my forum post responding to this I wrote “While reading “Speak Out” I was appalled by the actual reality of the things that were taking place in Haiti.” You can view my forum at this link.

In Mr. Block’s class we also did a very interesting project with garage band. We had to do a podcast interviewing someone about the boundaries they had crossed in their life. I interviewed my uncle who is a recovering addict. He has had a rough past with crack cocaine. He was on crack cocaine for about 22 years of his whole life and miraculously is clean today and has been clean for more that four years. During the podcast I expressed that this addiction has had negatively and positively affected his life. In the podcast I said, “Using crack cocaine was definitely his valley. Laughter family, and crossing the boundary of not using drugs was his peak.” You can view my podcast at this link.

Throughout the school year, I have learned that art can be interpreted in many ways; you just have to be creative enough to understand it. As the end of the school year was approaching, Mr. Block introduced us to a new unit in English class. He introduced us to the poetry unit. As soon as I heard poetry I started to have a sissy fit because I always thought that my mind was not physically able to think like a poet. My exact words in one of my English journal entries were, “I am not no Maya Angelou.”  I was definitely not looking forward to the couple of weeks we were going to be in this unit. However, when I started to write my first poem “My Baby Love” I was surprised that I could be as creative as I appeared to be. When I wrote my introduction to my wiki space account, I wrote something that reflected my whole experience in the beginning. I said, “I stepped into this whole poetry unit blinded by the complexity I thought poetry had.” You can view my poetry page at this link.

 I was assigned a book to read in about February called Passing by Nella Larsen. This book was about an African American woman named Clare Kendry who is passing for a white woman back in the 1960s. She is living a dangerous life because her husband who she has many ties to doesn’t know she is African American. By the end of the book, Clare ends up falling out of a window and there was a mystery to how she fell out. Mr. Block assigned us to create an artistic project about the book. My friend and I decided to work together on this project and decided to do an iMovie. In my forum post about the project described my entire process while doing the project. I said in my forum post, “We did two skits on our interpretation of how it would look on the news when Clare died.” This is the link to see my video

 This year has definitely been a great one. I don’t regret anything I have done this school year because all of the mistakes I have made I have learned from them. I am so very grateful to have had a teacher like Mr. Block for History and English class. This school year would not have been the same without him. I hope the rest of my years in high school will be as self learning as this year was.

Setting- Jake talking to his best friend Mike on the phone.

Hey buddy, how have you been?

That’s good I haven’t talked to you in centuries. By the way how has the job search been going for you?

That sucks. However, when you do get a job, I hope your last resort isn’t to work at a crappy oil refinery like me.

So you are telling me that you have not heard about the health risk while working in an oil refinery? (Surprised)

There are too many health risks to keep up with. I have to deal with keeping myself safe while working in the disgusting gloomy environment due to chemical polluted air. Also, my ears are being damaged every time I go to work because of the industrial noise. The impact of the noise is 5 times worst then having my IPod turned up to maximum volume.

Who are you telling? I feel bad too because my wife and three kids worry about me everyday when I go into work. Seeing the looks on my baby’s faces when I go off to work is heartbreaking. (A sad toned voice)

Aw shut up man, I’m serious! If you were here to witness you would definitely be on the same boat with me. (Serious)

Listen man, the health risk is only half of the issue. You have to worry about fires, explosions, and water waste. I have to rely on other people to do their job to prevent those things from happening. It’s mind boggling because when I am at work, that’s one of the only things I think about.

I know, this is a very dangerous job.

No man… It’s my pleasure because I would not want you to go into working in this profession if I had a chance to stop you.

Alright man, have a good day. Oh yea, and don’t be a stranger!

Setting- 69-year-old Maddie is being visited by her oldest daughter Amie while in Departments of Corrections in Washington D.C. Maddie is a Washington D.C White House protester that was arrested.

Amie what did my lawyers say?

I would never think that I would be counting my days in jail at the age of 69 for trying to help my society and the people that took me into custody. They had the nerve to do that to a little, hunched back, elderly lady that was doing no harm. I mean, I have gray hair for god sakes Amie!

After all this justice is served how much do you want to bet that Obama still won’t have an opinion on any of this. This is preposterous! I didn’t vote for him so he could sit his “hiney” down in his swivel chair and not have opinions. I voted for him so he could do everything he said he would, one of the things being to help change the Earth’s climate and environment.

The protesters including me were not there to cause any conflict, but to surface this whole pipeline situation. We spent hours in the church training for this event and where did we end up? I even remember one of the chants. (Stands up and presents her chant) Obama Stop the Pipeline- Yes he can!. (Guard tells her to sit down because she was being disruptive and her visitor had to leave in the next 5 minutes because of her outburst).

Amie you have to promise me one thing before you leave.

You have to promise to try your hardest to put your two cents in to help stop this 1,700 mile Keystone XL pipeline full of oil traveling through 6 states that is very dangerous.

That’s my girl! I love you.

Setting- Tasha is talking to her best friend Maxine outside of Mitchell Hall. They are about three minutes away from protesting about the Keystone XL pipeline.

Max are you ready this is big!

You are nervous? Max snap out of that its time to put your game face on.

Yes I did get arrested two weeks ago when protesting in front of the White House. However, I am ready to get my point across again. I am overly excited that Joe Biden is going to be here. That just means another person in the government can hear what I have to say. I will get arrested 5 times if that means stopping this 1,700 mile hazard.

Maxine just do what we practiced in the dorms. Every time you go to think about what to say or how to say it just think about all the lives the pipeline risks.

Just trust me… Nothing feels better than holding up a sign and standing up for what you believe in.

Even though I have grown being in this class for the last past couple of  months, I still have things I need to work on. One big weakness that I have and need to work on is to stop procrastinating. My work is not as good if I do it the night before and most likely, I won’t complete my work on time. I do think a strength is connecting my emotions to my piece of writing or to a book. Making this portfolio was really interesting. It almost seemed to me like an evolution. It was fun looking through all my work. It was easy to edit because I had all of my papers right in front of me. I am most proud of my book review. My book review was one of the best papers I have ever written in my life. My grammar was perfect and I scored really high on it. Maybe the highest I have ever scored on a piece of writing.

Lexus Forman

This day was a beautiful day. Walking out of school, the sun was shining, kids laughing, and my mom outside waiting to pick me up as usual (Opener-Magic Three). When I got in the car all I could feel was negative energy. I knew something was up when she didn’t say the usual, “What did you learn today, Lexus?” (Dialogue). I thought maybe someone had said something to her that got under her skin, or she got a dent in her car, you know, just a bad day. So, I asked if we could go get something to eat. We went to KFC and as I was “grubbing” on my food she sprung some devastating news on me out of nowhere. It was “Lexus… Grand mom is in the hospital because she is in a diabetic coma”. I dropped the greasy chicken, popped mouth wide open, and automatically started thinking the worst! (Magic Three). “Is she dying? Am I never going to see her again?”

We pulled up to hospital and I saw a swarm of people in front of the emergency room. I knew that was my family because we have always hated to be waiting in the emergency room with a whole bunch of angry sick people, who have been waiting to hear their names called so they can be relieved from their sickness and that room full of germs! I knew grand mom wasn’t doing to well when all five of her children were at the hospital, all her grandchildren were there except for AJ who lived in Atlanta, and a few people from the church too. By this time everyone had been in to see her but me. I hate hospitals! I tried every excuse in the book to keep me from going in there to see her. However obviously I did not win, so I sucked it up and went in there. When I walked in her room I could not believe what I saw. She was connected to so many tubes and needles. I knew that couldn’t be comfortable at all. I felt so bad because I knew I couldn’t do anything to help. I needed to get out that room; I just couldn’t bear the pain.

As I went outside looking for some comfort, I walked outside to a bunch of arguing. I knew I had a dysfunctional family, but right know, were they serious? I needed to get away, and plus I had to use the bathroom. So, I went into the lobby and used the bathroom. I was so overwhelmed and upset at the whole situation that I broke down into tears. At the time when we need each other the most, they wanted to argue. The only sane ones there at the time were my three-year-old niece and me. I was thinking maybe they could learn something from us.

By the weekend grand mom wasn’t doing any better. There was no progress made. By this time, I kind of knew that she was not going to make it. However, I stilled kept my faith and still kept my conversation with the man upstairs to pull grandmom through this. I woke up one morning and went down to the hospital to spend time with my grand mom. As walked in to my grand mom’s room there was a surprise… My cousin AJ! It was an awesome moment that we shared when he hugged me because I hadn’t seen him in two years because he lived in Atlanta. He gave me a little joy. He was the only one that could really make me laugh and anyone else for that matter. He didn’t only bring his luggage from Atlanta; he brought his joy and bandages to fix the family. When he was there was no arguing because every time he would feel a heated argument coming on, he would tell a joke. I think the family started to notice that this is not the time to argue, this is the time to come together because we all needed each other.

I woke up for school this one morning and the hospital called my mother and told her they wanted to speak to the family. I had the option to go to the hospital or to go to school. I choose to go to school because from watching soap operas, anytime a doctor wanted to speak to the family the sound effect “duh duh duhhhh” (onomatapeia) came on. Surprisingly, I hardly thought about the situation all day in school. When I walked out of school, I saw my mom standing outside her car, my sister and cousin in another car, and my uncle and aunt in the other. (Repetion for Effect). They all had on sunglasses, although the sun was beaming that day I knew for a fact that was not the case. I got down to the car, and my mom gave me the biggest hug in the world. I could feel her pain trickling down my back. I pushed her off of me and jumped in the car. I hate for people to see me cry because I think I’m going to be viewed as a weak person.

Grandma, I need you! Please come back. I don’t know how to make it without you! You were my rock, my soul, and my sanity. (Magic 3). I promise I will do anything you would like to do. You want to play cards? We can even watch those western cowboy shows you loved so much. I can say I am a pretty strong human being and some people even say I hardly have emotions, however I knew for this one I needed strength. After the news of my grand mother’s death, I knew I needed to go home, grope my bible, and pray till no end. (Magic 3). After I had done this I had no emotions. I didn’t cry at all, I just thought. This tragedy could not be amputated from my brain. When thinking about this, all I could think about is how I didn’t make her the brownies I had promised for millions of years, and how I never came over to help water the plants like I had promised. The thing that gets me is my grandma lived right across the driveway. I couldn’t do this for her anymore. Basically, I lied to my grandma! I wish there was a postman for heaven, so he can come pick up the diabetic brownies I made and deliver it to her mansion in heaven.

I was drowning in my guilt. The anguish had captivated my body and soul. All I wanted to do is sit in the bed and let the guilt suffocate me. I tried to convince myself that what I had to do was so much more important than watering plants and baking brownies. I was sure that going over friend’s houses and going to the park was more important. Then I came to realize that those were only excuses grand mom used to get me to come over and chill with her for a while. I never knew how much I would miss my grand mom once she was gone. I would give anything up to see my grand mom for just three minutes. Never will I take another human for granted like I did my grand mom again. I treat my mom like the queen she is now because I can wake up tomorrow and she can be gone! I would just love to be able to hug my grand mom right now and if you have the opportunity to, then don’t take any moment for granted.

Q3 BM Dunn

Sometimes there is a time to be big- headed and a time to just be chilled and modest. The main character in The Odyssey, named Odysseus had different ways of leading than the main character in “O, Brother Where Art Thou,” Everett. However, a leader should be modest because when people are calm and are giving the right type of direction then the plan goes smoothly. Although Everett and Odysseus have some similarities, Everett’s characteristics such as him being open-minded and modest helps to get what he wants when Odysseus can’t.

In book nine of The Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew went to the Cyclops’ Island. During their journey at the island Odysseus stabs the Cyclops in the eye and destroys it. Being that Odysseus is very prideful, he tells the Cyclops in Book 9, lines 558-559 “Cyclops if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so- say Odysseus”. Odysseus was not thinking of course because the Cyclops is Poseidon’s son. Poseidon is the god of the ocean and Odysseus was traveling in the, ocean. Even though Poseidon didn’t cause any damage to Odysseus and his crew it could have been a huge possibility. However, Everett is a different story. Even though, Odysseus and Everett both want their props for their accomplishments, Everett remains modest allowing the crew to be safe. When Everett recorded his song in the studio, the “producer” liked it a lot. He liked it so much that he was willing to pay money for it. The producer was blind, so Everett came up with a clever idea to make the producer pay for six people when it was really only four. Everett didn’t brag about this mischievous thing that he did because he was smart about it. Just imagine if he got caught; he was already in enough trouble as it was.

In the Cyclops cave, Odysseus needed a disguise to get out the cave all in one piece. He came up with a sneaky idea for him and his crewmembers to hide under the sheep from Cyclops cave. Because this was Cyclops Island and the Cyclops only had one eye, the Cyclops is kind of limited or has a disadvantage on seeing some things. Odysseus knowing this straps his crewmembers to the sheep and Odysseus and his crewmembers make it out in one piece. In book 9, lines 380-381 “Then he hoisted the huge slab of to block the door and squatted to milk his sheep and bleating goats, each in order, putting a suckling underneath each dam. Everett and his “crew” Delmar and Pete met an African American man while driving down a road. This African American man’s name was Tommy. They had lost Tommy for a little while and found him again, but spotted him in a horrible place. Everett and his “crew” spotted him at a KKK chant and were in trouble. As a result of that, the crew disguised their selves as KKK members and was in the act of trying to save him. They almost got caught, however Everett being the smart guy he is wiggled his way out of that problem and rescued him.

In “Brother Where Art Thou”, Everett is the leader of their crew. Right after the whole incident with the KKK and rescuing Tommy, they were headed to the candidate’s pep riley. Something in Delmar’s and Pete’s head clicked and they wanted to know why Everett had to be the boss of everything and take charge. Even though Everett knew he wanted to be leader because it is just an awesome title to have because you have a say in what everyone does, he explained to the crew that he needed them. He also explains that he doesn’t think that they would have made it that far without them two on the journey with them. In the Odyssey, Odysseus was also the leader of his crew. However, he didn’t have three crewmembers, he had hundreds of them. Therefore, he is not able to care for his crewmembers like Everett is able to. For example in book 12, lines 280-282, Odysseus says “Of all the pitiful things I’ve witnessed, suffering, searching out the pathways of the sea, the wrenched my heart the most”. He was saying he needed his men but couldn’t really sit there and pity too much because he had other things to worry about.

Everett and Odysseus have similarities, but their differences ended up not helping Odysseus in the end. During their journey at the island Odysseus stabs the Cyclops in the eye and destroys it. Odysseus being prideful causes him to say something that wasn’t smart, when Everett does something sneaky and manages to keep his mouth shut. Also, Odysseus and Everett disguise their selves to get them out of trouble. Finally, Everett cares about his men and lets them know that and Odysseus does also, however he has too many men to really show it. This shows you that Odysseus and Everett has different ways of leading and Everett’s way pays off in the end.

By: Lexus Forman

This book “A Child Called It”, written by Dave Pelzer is spectacular. This book is an autobiography about a child with a very unstable and abusive home. This little helpless boy was brutally abused by his mother, Catherine Roerva. His child abuse case was one of the most severe cases in California history. “A Child Called It” was mentioned in hard rock band Buckcherry’s songs “Rescue Me” and “A Child Called It”. These songs were on the album “Black Butterfly”. I have to believe that I am not the only person who enjoyed this book because this book was on New York’s bestsellers list for 6 years straight; that’s really remarkable.

This autobiography is about a man, Dave Pelzer who was abused as a child by his alcoholic mother. His mother had something against him. She didn’t treat her four other sons anything like she treated Dave. She tortured Dave. She did things to Dave like stuff his face into his brother’s soiled diaper and tried to make eat the feces, or force ammonia down Dave’s throat. Dave has come to a lot of near death experiences from his mother. The crazy thing is, that is mother wasn’t always an evil woman. She was actually a very caring and nurturing mother before she became an alcoholic mother.

             The characters in this memoir are Dave, Dave’s mother Catherine Roerva, Dave’s father Stephan Joseph Pelzer, and Dave’s brothers Stan, Ron, Russell, and Kevin. In this book the main conflict is between Dave and his mother, Catherine Rovera. However, there are minor conflicts in the book with Dave’s father and Dave. Dave’s father feels that he is too tired and stressed out to help Dave with the abuse problem because he is a firefighter and works almost a 24-hour shift everyday. I would have to say that Dave is a very strong and genuine person, and that is why Dave is my favorite character. Dave made it through that bumpy road in his life, and made it to be a very successful person despite the tragedy he went through as a child. Also, even though Dave’s mother is so evil and cruel, Dave doesn’t hate her. He actually loves her to death and cares deeply for her.

This book is a powerful memoir that really makes you think. It made me think of all the times I said “I hate my mother!” or “She gets on my nerves!” Dave would have probably killed for a mother like mine. I just believe that this book teaches people how to be grateful for the good things that you have in your life even though you might think that they are not the best because other people are going through so much more and would die for something that you have.

This book is a great book. It is an awesome book. I don’t think that this book needs any changes or has any weaknesses. This book kept me entertained from beginning to end. The drama never stopped and this might sound a little weird, but this book kept me yearning for more. This book to me was like a drug and I can’t wait to read the one that follows this book, “The Lost Boy”.

This book was not relatable at all. I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. Well maybe just one thing, however it is a minor thing. I can relate to Dave with his dad situation. Dave never sees his dad because he works a 24-hour shift and Dave’s dad knows what it is going on in the house, but to a certain extent he doesn’t know how serious it is. My dad doesn’t live with me and I barely see my dad. I can be going through hell right now (even though I am not) and he wouldn’t know a thing because he doesn’t see me at all. Dave’s dad could have saved him from his mother. He wasn’t scared of Dave’s mother; he fought fires for a living!

I would recommend this book to the world! This book is just a stellar example of a memoir. This is a remarkable book to read if you do not love you life so much right now. I wouldn’t recommend this book to the younger audience because the things in this book are too severe for a 10-year-old to be walking around reading. However, this book would be great for teens to read. I say this because being a teen; I know that we take our lives for granted almost every single day, wishing we had the glamour and all the money. We never say I am so blessed and thankful for this in our lives and this book will make you stop and ponder on that.

A hero is a person that I can look up to. A person that I can count on to make good decisions and have respect for their selves. I’m not saying a hero can’t make mistakes because in the movie “The Incredibles”, Mr. Incredible made a mistake that almost ruined his whole hero career. However, a hero doesn’t always have to be fictional, it can be someone right in your own home like your mother, father, or even your dog. A hero like this is never going to be perfect because they are only human. I really appreciate when a person or better yet, a hero can be real and acknowledge their mistakes and learn from them. That shows real character and gratitude.-----

Hmm… If I got away with a really good trick would I tell? That’s a good question. However, no I wouldn’t! I would keep my big mouth shut! I’m not saying it wouldn’t be hard because who wouldn’t want someone to know what you did. You know that feeling when you feel like you have to tell someone so you write it down, or in my case yell it into my pillow. That might sound weird but it works, you should definitely try it. You can’t trust some people these days because when you tell someone something, and you say “promise you won’t tell a soul” knowing god darn well there going to tell Sarah, Annie, and everyone’s grand mom. Therefore it’s good to keep you’re secrets to yourself.

 -All Alone

There have been plenty of times when I felt like I was alone and had no one to turn to. However, recently I had an occurrence with that. This was in the beginning of 9^th grade, when we all got our assignments for first quarter. It seemed as if they were never going to stop piling on. I was not used to benchmarks, nor not having test. Also, at my middle school I really didn’t have to try, the work was just really easy. All I had to do was show up in class and listen. The work was really easy and I completed a test like a pro.

            How do people expect you to be perfect, knowing that they aren’t perfect their selves? I believe that’s how high a lot of the adults I know expectations of me are. I have always been a “goodie two shoes” and now that I am a teenager, things are bound to change. You know how people always say act your age, not your shoe size. Well that’s what I believe I am doing. I am maturing with my age. However, I believe with maturing, comes with making mistakes; with making mistakes, you have to be mature enough to learn from them.

One thing I hate to do is disappoint people. I especially hate to disappoint the people I love the most, like my mom, dad, and close relatives. Their oppions is what matters the most and impacts my behavior. I know for a fact I don’t act the way I do at home in public and that is not something I am proud of. I think that if my family knew how I acted outside of my home sometimes, they would have a cow. Therefore, I try my hardest not to act like a teenager, and act like a mature teenager that I know my family would be proud of.

Citations-

For the stool drawing and the drawing that looks like a bottle, there was a orange background was orange. For these pictures, I just drew the parts that were orange (which were the shapes in the picture). For the cut out picture I just cut out the grey part around the picture (which was the background).

It helps an artist because it makes it easier to draw the picture. If you see the negative space and draw it, then you only have to draw the outside shape.

Seeing negative space helps drawing. As I have said before it makes it easier because it doesn't take much time. You can keep moving and its a flow to your picture because there is really no stopping your flow.

Although I haven't completed my project just yet, I have had a technique to doing the project. I have to just get into my own world and draw. I can't be afraid to mess up my paper because then your paper is really not going to be as detailed as it could be. A lot of this project is to just "wing it". I also I have to use my "artist eye" and make some artist choices for myself. 

What was easy to learn was making the ceiling. The ceiling was so easy because I used a tool called the helper line. This is a line that you use to help draw your ceiling or even your floors, if they have tiles.

What was hard to learn was when I was suppose to make a straight line or a diagonal line. However, that all goes into using your "artist eye".

Tamatha has a really good drawing. This drawing is detailed and it is actually very interesting. I could sit there and look at her picture and be entertained. Click on her name, which is a link that will take you to her blog.

What I had the most trouble with is finding articles and events that happened in the year I was going research in. It was hard because I didn’t want to find anything that didn’t have anything to do with my project. I thought that some things where that important. However, any event to me in African American History is important.

I made some changes to my keynote slide. I deleted a few of my elements and moved some things around. Before, I had way too many elements and it would not be easy for the eye to see and enjoy because there was way to much to comprehend all at once.

I made a lot of my pictures bleed off of the sides. Also, I over- lapped alot of my pictures. I guess you call call it a collage. I made some contrast with some of my pictures. I made contrast also with the black background and all the colors from the picture.