Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Giver, improved community

I'm going to talk about how the community improved themselves by making people unable to see colour.

Taking away colour have a lot of benefits and no drawbacks (as long as the people don't know colour exists). There will be no racists, and less choices - of course, the community doesn't want people to be able to make choices, because everything is so organized. If they could choose then there might be arguments about certain decisions and other 'unpleasant' things, for example if they choose wrong, things might not be as organized-.

I'm not sure how the community can make people unable to see colours, but it might be some form of colour blindness. I've watched a television program about someone that can only see black and white, and it says that this might be caused either by a genetic nature, by damage to the eye, nerve or brain, or by exposure to certain chemicals. In the community that Jonas lives in, they might have interfered the genetic code of people, so everyone that gets born won't be able to identify colours.

I have a lot of opinions about this no-colour-sameness-thing. I don't think it's a good idea if the people know that colours existed, because they'll want to see colours, so there might be protests and the community won't be able to be as organized. But if they really want to make everything so orderly and if people don't know about colours, then it might be a good idea. My own opinion is that I definitely won't sacrafice my life now to go to a black and white community where everything is the same. It might be better (it is better, in a way), but I just don't think people would want to go and live there. (Last night I asked my mother if she'll want to live in a community like that, and she said she really don't want to leave everything in this world behind).

Monday, February 9, 2009

Personal history 4 big questions

1. What/who started the war?

2. How did the war affect China?

3. What was life like in China at the time of the war?

4. What other problems did the Chinese have at the time of the WW2?

Grandparent questions

1. What was life like during the war?

2. How did life change after the war?

3. Did you join the army? if yes, what did you do?

4. Did anything unfortunate happen to you (or any of your family members)?

Monday, February 2, 2009

Bog statements







1. Scientists believe that there's more than thirty types of edible or medical plants around the area where the 'bog people' were buried.



2. Scientists think that the bog is like a public cemetery, because the bodies were nearly half male and half female, also because the bodies didn't show too much 'violent ends'.


3. The Lindow man is found in England. He is different from the other bog people because he has a beard and a moustache.


4. When archaeologists discovered him, the Tollund man had a four feet long rope around his neck.


5. Archaeologists say that the Tollund man is 'treated with care' after he died, although he has a four feet rope tied on his neck...


6. One of the woman discovered in the Florida bog had a variety of berries and plants in her intestines, scientists think that the berries are supposed to be medicine to treat her illness which eventually killed her.


7. Scientists left nearly half the bog people in the bog because they hope then can examine them with better technology after 50 years.


8. Most of the bodies in the bog were about twenty years old (before they died). One was about seventy years old, which was very old at that time.


9. Except humans, archaeologists have also found bone tools (made from turtle bones, white dears, and sharks), wooden artifacts, and textiles (which was used to wrap the bodies).

10. The bog people were found when a man saw bones coming out of the bog. He called the police, who said that the people were not murdered recently. The man then called the Florida State University, who discovered that the ramains were 'bog people'.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Page 61 questions

1. What methods and sources do historians use to learn about the past?

Historians can learn about the past using written sources, like books and records from the time, but what different types of people write about the same event may be different (of biased), depending on their point of view. Historians can also get information from oral traditions, because oral traditions change to suit people's needs, so historians can find out what is important in the time. To a historian, a primary source is more valuable than a secondary source, because they think that a primary source is more accurate than a secondary one. Primary sources may include a interview with someone who has been through an event, or someones diary, etc.

2. Is the map on page 39 a primary source or a secondary source? Why?

I think the map is a secondary source, because it's not created at that time, so 'map makers' have to rely on written sources (or other types of sources) to create the map, so the written sources are the primary sources, the map is a secondary source. It might not be very accurate.

3. Why do historians ask questions about their sources?

Historians ask questions because the source may be biased, or it may be exaggerated in order for the author to achieve some type of purpose. Historians may also question a source because they don't know if the author has really been in the event, or just heard the event from someone else (which may be inaccurate).

4. In ancient Rome fewer women than men left behind written sources. How might this have affected historians' knowledge of the history of Rome?

This can affect the knowledge of ancient Rome because what men think about Rome may be completely different from a woman's point of view, so historians might not know as much about how women lived their lives in ancient Rome. Because men left more written sources, the data historians get may also be more biased. They might get much less information about activities women do than the activities men are involved in.

5. Look around your home. What written and nonwritten sources do you see? Make a list of the sources. Then, using one or two of the sources of your list, try to write a history of your family. Follow Thucydides' advice as you write and evaluate your sources carefully.

In my home, there's a few photos on a book shelf, so we know that the family has only one child, the father don't live with the mother and the child, and that the family goes to a cold place in december. The book shelf has a lot of economic and science books on it, so it seems that the mother likes economics and the child likes science. In the living room, there's a classical guitar, a foot rest and a music stand, so we know that one of the family members plays guitar.

The bedrooms are simple, the smaller bedroom has a lot of books, so the owner of the room probably likes to read. The other bedroom is a large one, simple as well, with a few leather bags in a cabinet, so the owner must be a big leather fan...