Book Portfolio 3

In the non-fiction book, As The Future Catches You by Juan Enriquez, he talks about how the world is changing quickly and unless we want to get left behind than we need to keep advancing with the rest of world. In the near future,meaning in the next few years, genetics, genomes and technology will be the main source of power. So in order to advance in this new world having knowledge in these subjects is critical. This was the main theme throughout the entire book.

With this new era of technology coming up on us it is going to be very important to have knowledge on genetics. With all the new ideas that have evolved in technology over the past 20 or 30 years, many things that used to be far fetched can now be achieved. Such as changing the DNA of an mosquitoes so that instead of injecting us with harmful things, it would immunize us against things like malaria. In 1804 there were only 1 billion people on earth, and by 1999 there were 6 billion. Back then everyone would have starved, so if it was not for the evolution of agriculture and the ability to genetically alter food we would be dying. This just shows how even back then genetics were beginning to change and become ever more important. " The rules are different in a knowledge economy....it's a scary time for the establishment." This quote is talking about how some companies that think they will be the best for years to come, will start to downfall because of this new knowledge economy coming up. For anyone thinking that things are going to stay the same forever, this book will offer you a whole new look on what is happening to us in the near future.

Throughout history there have been times when one group has better technology than the other group does. Such as when the Powhatan Indians went against the British, the native Americans only had little bow and arrows. These weren't exactly the greatest match against the enemies having guns that could do twice the damage. There have even been advances in the medical field, which is closely related to the changes in technology. Such as back when people would die just because they had a common illness like the flu, simply because the medicines weren't as advanced as they are now. During the time of the Nazi concentration camps Adolf Hitler believed that one race was inferior to all others, truly that just because someone was Jewish made them a bad human being. Back then we didn't know all we know about genetics and that may have been a great help during that time if they had had the information we do now. It never changes, now and even years ago people always need to be ready for change, especially in the genetics and technological fields.

Now more than ever we are seeing the effects of how critical it is to follow the waves change the world is going through, and you need to be knowledgeable about them if you want to succeed. Juan Enriquez did a great job in showing how much things in genetics and technology has changed over the years and how some countries have gotten crushed because they didn't change along with everyone else. It has been seen over and over again in history that those with better knowledge, will indeed go further in the world. If our generations, and those to come, do not start learning and understanding genetics and technology it will be extremely difficult for us to succeed in the world ahead of us. The author stated this best, "The end.....actually it's just the beginning."

Exam # 2 Paper

As the founding of English colonies in modern Massachusetts combined a strange mix of idealism and violence. There are a couple major men that helped to change the colonies of Plymouth, for the better. Miles Standish contributed important protection to the early colonies by using violence. This is also Benjamin Church,who provided vital leadership to protect the colonies during King Philip's War. Despite all of this violence, the colonies were also founded on religious idealism. It is important to understand the full history of these areas because this is what Americans generally consider to be our nation's beginning.



Miles Standish contributed important protection to the early colonies by using violence. Once way that he showed his violence was that he charged into a wigwam, and scared the people inside so badly that they were trying to climb through the walls. After killing one indians, Standish beheaded him and put his head on a post on the front gates of Plymouth. He was so violent that he killed an indian with his own knife hanging around his neck. Some people disagree with the violence that Standish practiced. But if he hadn't used some violence against these indians than the colonists may have been more scared and taken action upon themselves.



Benjamin Church provided vital leadership to protect the colonies during King Philip's War. He had such good tactics that he went into an enemies camp and defeated them with only 6 men without firing a weapon. Church was the one who's plan who finally killed Phillip for being so awful to many of the colonists. Another accomplishment was that he and a group of 20 men defeated 300 indians. King Phillips War may have gone on even longer if not for Church's clever tactics and leadership skills.

Despite all of this violence, the colonies were also founded on religious idealism. The Puritans moved to the New World so they could practice their religion free. When John Winthrop was chosen as governor he stated that Plymouth would be a " A city on a hill." This meant that everyone would be looking at them and want to become just like them. They also strongly believed in making a public education system. The colonies were not only about the violence, they wanted a good, new life for themselves and their children.

The colonies were founded on both violence and on their idealist views on religion in the New World. Standish's violent way of protection was absolutely needed for the colony to advance. Without Church's intelligence of fighting King Phillips War probably wouldn't have turned out the same. Even though there was some violence, the colonies were also founded on their ideas on religion in Massachusetts. As Americans we often have a different, simpler view of how the colonies were founded and we don't know what really happened.

Exam # 2 Outline

I. Introduction

A. The founding of English colonies in modern Massachusetts combined a strange mix of idealism and violence.

B. Miles Standish contributed important protection to the early colonies by using violence.

C. Benjamin Church provided vital leadership to protect the colonies during King Philip's War.

D. Despite all of this violence, the colonies were also founded on religious idealism.

E. It is important to understand the full history of these areas because this is what Americans generally consider to be our nation's beginning.



II. First Major Point

A. Miles Standish contributed important protection to the early colonies by using violence.

B. He charged into a wigwam and scared the people inside so badly they were trying to get out through the walls.

C. He killed one of the Indians with their own weapon.

D. He beheaded an Indian and put his head on the gates of Plymouth.

E. If Standish hadn't used some violence against these violence than the colonists may have been more scared and taken action upon themselves.



III. Second Major Point

A. Benjamin Church provided vital leadership to protect the colonies during King Philip's War.

B. He went into an enemies camp and defeated them with 6 men without a single weapon used.

C. He finally killed Phillip to get back at him for torturing so many of the Colonists.

D. He defeated a group of 300 Indians with only 20 of his men.

E. King Phillips War may have gone on even longer if not for Church's clever tactics and leadership skills.



IV. Third Major Point

A. Despite all of this violence, the colonies were also founded on religious idealism.

B. The Puritans moved to the New World so they could practice their religion free.

C. John Winthrop was chosen as governor and stated "We will be a city on a hill."

D. Strongly believed in creating public education.

E. The colonies were not only about the violence, they wanted a good, new life for themselves and their children.



V. Conclusion

A. When Massachusetts was founded on both violence and on their idealist views on religion in the New World.

B. Standish's violent way of protection was absolutely needed for the colony to advance.

C. Without Church's intelligence of fighting King Phillips War probably wouldn't have turned out the same.

D. Even though there was some violence, the colonies were also founded on their ideas on religion in Massachusetts.

E. As Americans we often have a different, simpler view of how the colonies were founded and we don't know what really happened.

Wounded Knee Essay

Just a few days after Christmas o f 1890 a horrible event broke out, this event, Wounded Knee was this very event. Wounded Knee illustrates one of the final events in a long series of violent conflicts motivated by racism, disrespect and lack of understanding. There have been various accounts having to deal with this event, like a video made of the monument to where hundreds of native Americans were killed by the U.S army. It shows where the massacre occurred and how little the native Americans' deaths were honored. There was also a documentary made about Wounded Knee, this showed how brutal the massacre was and it actually shows real people giving accounts passed on to them, which makes it seem more real. There was also a paragraph written on Wounded Knee, this talked about exactly what happened and gives real dates. Even though this happened many years ago the same issues, though less extreme, are still going on today.

Wounded Knee was an extremely brutal and violent event, at the end of many different acts discrimination. The documentary showed that after the first initial killings the children went into hiding, and the U.S army would call them out and tell them that if they came out they would be brought to safety. All that really happened once they got out was that the soldiers shot them like they did the rest of the people. In the video of the monument, it shows where the massacre took place. Although, the monument dedicated to the native Americans was not as elaborate as it should have been for what all those innocent people went through. It was written that the "battle" started when the U.S army had gotten drunk and decided to get back at the native Americans, who they believed were at fault for Custer's death. There wasn't any real justice to them harassing the native Americans, just the fact that they didn't like them. All of these details show just some of the extremes that the native Americans had to endure just because of their race and that the army simply didn't like them or understand them.

Wounded Knee was just one of the brutal ending attacks on the native Americans in the U.S. Taking in all of this information made me realize that even though those exact things aren't happening now, there are still traces of racism and has been throughout our history. I also noticed that being U.S citizens we have a past of extreme disliking of anyone who isn't exactly like us. It was noticeable that those soldiers really didn't understand exactly who these native Americans were or what their culture was all about. I personally think that our country should really look and see that we have done some really bad things and that in some aspects these issues are still going on today.

Wounded Knee Outline

I. Introduction

A. Thesis

B. Trip to monument shows where the massacre happened and the monument to honor those killed. (source 1)

C. The documentary shows how extreme the massacre was and makes it seem more real. (source 2)

D. The paragraph tells the hard facts and dates of the massacre. (source 3)

E. Even though this event happened years ago, the same issues are still going today.



II. Body

A. Wounded Knee was an extremely brutal and violent event, at the end of many different acts discrimination.

B. One video showed how soliders would call out little children from hiding and tell them they were safe, but really just got them to come out to kill them. (source 2)

C. Even though millions of native americans were killed severely bad, the white men didn't care that much. This was shown by the not so elaborate monument that they put up in honour of the native americans deaths. (source 1)

D. Some of the U.S 7th calvary got drunk one night and decided to harrass the native americans who killed their leader, Custer. There wasn't any real justice to this harsh harrassment other than that reason. (source 3)

E. All of these details show just some of the extremes that the native americans had to endure just becuase of their race and that the army simply didn't like them or understand them.


III. Conclusion

A. Wounded Knee was just one of the brutal ending attacks on the native americans in the U.S

B. This made me realize that although the same exact things aren't happening today, there are still traces of racism and has been all through history.

C. I learned that we U.S. citizens have had a past of extreme disliking of anyone who wasn't just like us.

D. The soliders of this time really didn't understand who the native americans really were or what they're culture was like.

E. Our country should really look and see that we have done some really bad things and that in some aspects these issues are still going on today.

Book Portfolio: Quarter 2

This non-fiction book, Hunger by Sharman A. Russell talks about where and what type of people hunger affects. Like the obvious, those who don't have food, those who do and how it effects both their bodies. It also hits on what makes people starve themselves and what being hungry does to a human body. One main theme in this book popped out at me that hunger affects many different types of people in lots of different ways. It really makes you think about what being hungry can do to the body and how it affects different types of people.

It first starts off explaining how food goes through with digestive system. It starts with you seeing a commercial for food on TV. You get hungry seeing the food and your mouth starts to salivate. The brain sends a message to the stomach saying you are hungry. The food then goes down through your body, and gets broken down. The author goes through the process quite thoroughly here. This is to show you exactly how the body responds when normally, when you are just regularly hungry. She then tells us about people who have anorexia nervosa, they chose to starve themselves. In the book it says "the complexity of one woman's self-starvation might yet be a mix of chemistry, Vogue, Father's expectations and ancient imperatives." What Russell meant was that these people have many different reasons why they might chose to starve themselves. Such as she has a bad self-image, pressures from celebrities or expectations from her family. The body obviously is not used to this so it responds to not having any food for elongated periods of time. Some signs are emotional breakdowns and a big loss of weight. The body might even reject the food for not having it in there for so long. These were just a couple examples of what hunger does to the body, and what people it can effect. This isn't it though because hunger can effect people who eat every single day, but just don't feel satisfied. It doesn't matter who you are, you still become hungry.

After reading this book I realized that in the world today, hunger has become such a big issue. There are starving children in Africa who have barely any food and even in America there are many hungry people every single day. Yet there are some people who decide to starve themselves because they feel too fat. Even way back in the middle ages there were people starving themselves. Only, back then young women would starve themselves in order to get closer to their God. They believed that not eating would prove their holiness and loyalty to God. This just shows that hunger can be practiced for complete different reasons. Yet there was and still now extremely hungry people who could use the food these people has, which completely amazes me.

I think this book made lots of people think again about how many people really starve themselves everyday. It really opens your eyes to see why people decide to not eat and what it can do to them. She did a great job with explaining thoroughly what the body is like regularly when it is just a bit hungry. Then when it has been starved she showed us what it was like then. Sharman really made me not take for granted the food that is given to me. I also now understand there is more than just one reason why people will not eat. I have a new perspective on those people now and I am glad I have gained that.

Final Essay: Prompt #3

It is quite simple to compare Stalin to Mao when it comes to how they got to be in power. Both of them, in the end, led their countries revolutions. Mao started off as a soldier, as did Stalin. By being on the field they got to build their reputations up with the people. While growing up Stalin was in a poor family and he got pushed around by a lot of bullies. This could be why he grew up to be so strong and loyal to Russia. The same goes for Mao, all of his life he was extremely loyal to his country. This could be why he was so strict when it came to people going against his government. Both of these men were forced to piece back together their fallen country. Stalin decided to make his country into a strictly communist nation, while Mao made China into a democratic dictatorship.

In the beginning of Hitler and Mao's coming to power, they both began concentration camps or something like them. They gave people extremely poor living conditions and thousands of men, women and children were affected by this, simply because their leaders did not agree with a certain group of people. There were also extreme rules in both governments, for Mao it was the Little Red Book, which had many maxims in it. If a citizen didn't know what the correct thing to do in a situation, than they would consult this. He made everyone carry around one of these, which led some people to become even more loyal to him. Hitler didn't have his own book that everyone carried around, but he did have the Nuremberg Laws. This was a type of segregation, it stated that if you had 3 German grandparents than you were a true German. But if you had 3 Jewish grandparents you were pure Jewish, this was basically just another way for Hitler to separate people.

A dictatorship is a government where just one person controls the country. One way to tell when a possible person may become a dictator is when they try to get everyone to do what they think is right. All of these men tried to force their types of government, the Nazi party, Communism and Democratic Dictatorship. Another thing is when they start to do dramatic acts and movements. Such as when Hitler started his concentration camps, and they started to turn quickly into death camps. One last thing to look out for is when the leader makes new laws and tries to split people up into different groups. Like when the Nuremberg Laws were made, it split up the Germans and the Jews. These are are all important signs of a potential dictatorship building.