4/11/12

This week in history we began the week with a quiz on the Star Spangled Banner. I think I did very well on this quiz because I have known the song for a very long time. Next we continued on and learned about the construction of the Erie Canal. This canal was built in 1817 to promote Westward Expansion and trade. The canal opened America to new space and resources, but also spread disease and took land from American Indians. Next we learned about the Oregon Trail and the Plan of Manifest Destiny which both also promoted westward expansion.

This week in English we finished reading Into the Wild. Overall in this book I enjoyed learning about the exciting journey of Chris McCandless, but I really didn't like the chapters about the authors Northern voyage or the chapters that spent much too long analyzing Chris's personality. I think these chapters did add to the overall effect of the novel and gave it great organization, but these chapters were not very interesting to read about and just really dragged on.

A connection I made between History and English this week was between a man brought up in Into the Wild named Sir John Franklin and the quest of Lewis and Clark. My connection between these people is that Franklin was given the task of searching the Western area of Alaska in order to find the "Northwest Passage". Like Franklin, Lewis and Clark were also given the task to look for this rumored "Northwest Passage". In the end, neither parties found this Northwest passage because it does not exist.

4/6/12

This week in History we began learning about the expedition of Lewis and Clark. These two men were hired to set out and explore the new territory of America and to seek a specific passage. Although they did not find the passage because it did not exist, they discovered many new things while exploring this territory. By participating as a class on an online game on the projector, we learned many dangerous obstacles Lewis and Clark had to face on their journey including bears, storms, indians, and illness. We finished the week by learning about the British Invasion Plan during the war. The British bombedWashington D.C, but their plan was stopped at the Great :Lakes and in New Orleans.

This week in English we continued to read Into The Wild. So far I really like this book. We learn very early in the book that Chris dies in the abandoned bus of starvation and his body is found by hikers. This part of the story really interested me because it made me want to learn more about Chris's life and what provoked him to live so dangerously out in the wild when he had such a good life at home. Besides his problems with his parents, Chris lived a really good life in society. He had plenty of friends and was a smart kid with a bright future ahead of him, so what made him throw all that away?

A connection I could make this week between history and english class was that the journey of Chris Mccandless into the wild was much like th journey of Lewis and Clark into the Unknown. Both journeys were by foot, and both had to face many obstacles along the way. A difference between these two journeys is that Chris had many oppurtunities to make his journey easier, but did not take them while Lewis and Clark took every chance they could to ensure their own survival and make the trip short and easy.

4/1/12

This week in history we learned about de facto and de jure segregation. De facto segregation is segregation by choice, meaning people are seperated because of social conditions such as poverty. De jure segregation is segregation by law, meaning that people are segregated by the governments orders. This week we were also given the study guide for the test and the test was on friday. I thought this test was relatively easy because I prepared really hard and learned all the terms really well by creating helpful flashcards.

\This week in English we have started to receive papers for our notebooks for the book we are starting called Into the Wild. I already saw the movie during environmental science, so I think this will be a pretty good book! In the movie, a seemingly normal, smart kid just graduating highschool leaves his life and ventures out into the wild alone. He travels all the way to Alaska where he sets up camp in an abandoned bus. Throughout his journey he has many new experiences and meets many interesting people he befriends.

A connection I could make between my two classes is that Chris McCandless from into the Wild was much like African Americans during the civil rights movement. African Americans did everything they could to acheive freedom and eventuall happiness. Chris Mccandless did everything he could to acheive freedom from his controlling parents and acheive happiness in the wild.