Step 1- Read all the comments from the previous assignment.
Step 2- Choose one comment which is thoughtful.
Step 3-
First, paraphrase the comment you are responding to: For example: “Ms. Osmanovic thinks that…”
Then, write a question about the chosen comment. The question must be: clear, sincere, useful and be the sort of question which leads to more questions. The question you write must complicate the comment’s argument, make the reader of the comment you are questioning think deeper. Stir up some intellectual trouble. Find an example from US history which disproves their theory.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mr. Aparicio thinks that a central theme for American History can be "A fresh Start is hard" and an example he gave was Columbus and him having trouble negotiating with the Indians. My question to Mr. Aparicio is Why was it hard to negotiate with the Indians when Columbus came from a wealthy country and gave the Indians what they wanted. To add on to my question, Why is a fresh start hard? I see it as easy because the life we had before the fresh start gave us the reason to start one after all. What better examples can you give from where in American History where a "Fresh Start' was difficult to produce? Was it because of war? What was it because of?
ReplyDeleteI am most interested by Nicholas Sterlacci's response to a central theme. He seems to believe that America has always stayed the same. I disagree with this, and ask this question: How, in any way, has America stayed the same for any matter of time whatsoever? The reason I ask this is because I, for one, believe that America is constantly changing. For example, after the Civil War, America took on a huge change: the change of emancipation. Slavery ended, and never before have all slaves been free throughout the country. America never stays the same.
ReplyDeleteThe central theme that interested me the most Ms. Jennifer Ferd‘s. She feels that if we try hard enough anything is possible. I agree with that. The example she gave was that the colonists fought for independence from Great Britain and we became a great, powerful country. My questions for Ms. Jennifer Ferd are if the things we are working hard for don’t come or don’t happen, should we just give up? Can anything bad happen if we do give up? Can anything bad happen if we don’t? Also was there ever a time that you know about in American History where something didn’t come or happen to someone and they gave up? Did something bad happen because they gave up? Did anything good happen?
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Mr.Sterlacci. He believes that the central theme in American history is that no matter what political party the president is in, America will always be the same. He believes that America will always have the same values and independence as it did when it was founded in 1776. I disagree with this theme because numerous things have changed in American history since 1776. The economy has changed tremendously; technology has changed, clothing, laws, people, religion, culture, beliefs, cars, etc. America will never nor ever be the same as it is today. Another example is global warming. Global warming was not a concern in 1776 as it is now. I also disagree because America isn’t run by the president. The president has charge of making laws and controlling certain things but overall America is run by the people. My question for Mr.Sterlacci is what makes you think that America was the same as it was in 1776? Also, how is America’s victory and independence the same as it was in 1776? Because many wars have occurred over the years and some were victories, some were lost, some people gained independence and some people lost independence.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ms. Kaufman. She said that when the world improves, we should focus on our future, but at the same time, we shouldn't forget what and who shaped our country. It is true that the future is important, but our history is just as important because that is what made present and without the present, there is no future. If we don't know our history, it is possible that we will once again repeat it. I have a question for you, Ms. Kaufman. If the humans now are not interested in their past or when there is some people who had painful memories in the past and wishes to forget them, how can we encourage them to learn about our history?
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Ms. Sarah Walsh's statement because she said that "Thomas Jefferson didn’t really care about our history". Didn’t Thomas Jefferson build his future from his past, don’t we all? It’s not certain that Thomas Jefferson didn’t care about our history. Though I do agree with you about the fact that Thomas Jefferson and George Santayana do contradict each other that is no excuse for Thomas to not like history. I also disagree with Sarah because she said if Columbus hadn’t found America there would be no war and that’s on the bright side, but if Columbus hadn’t found America where would we be?
ReplyDeleteMr. Rose said that the quote “You can't say civilization don't advance.. in every war they kill you in a new way” by Will Rogers came closest to his beliefs. I thought that his idea of how it kills you in a new way was understandable, with the new weapons. I agreed with his belief about the quote, but not the central theme in American history. I agree that America has determination but America doesn’t always learn from her mistakes. Don’t you think every new war America had had is a mistake after the other? America has had tons of wars that would be like making a mistake and never learning from it.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all of these comments I have to disagree with Mr. Sterlacci. He believes that the theme in American history is that no matter what political party the president is in, America will always be the same. Nicholas believes that America will always have the same values and freedom as it did when it was founded in the year 1776. I disagree with this theme because many things have changed in American history since it was founded. The economy has changed by a high percentage; technology has changed electricity, clothing, laws, , how people speak, and ways of transportation, etc. America will never be the same as it is today. Another example is global warming in 1776 Global warning wasn’t even thought of as a threat to us and the earth. I also disagree because he states that America is run ONLY by the president. The president only has the power to make laws. America is really run by us the citizens of America. My question for Mr.Sterlacci is what makes you think that America is still the same since 1776? How are the wars we fought the same? How is our Independence the same?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMs. Kaufman believes that it is better to look forward to the future then to the events of the past. Though I partly agree with this quote in the fact that the future is more important than the past, I have questions for Ms. Kaufman. First of all, we learn from the mistakes of our past, and that helps us in the future. Wouldn’t it be beneficial if we could learn to not repeat the Civil war, and the World Wars? Also, you said that history was important, and we shouldn’t forget it, but then you contradict that statement by saying it is better to forget the past, and that Lincoln thought history was atrocious and should be forgotten. Truthfully, nobody knows what the President knows but himself. And so my next question is, SHOULD history be forgotten? Or can we learn from our mistakes and make America a better place? How do you really feel about this?
ReplyDeleteMs. Formey thinks that a central theme in American History is to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them in the future. She also believes that mean and women are created equal, no matter what nationality they are, and finally, she believes that people should always remember the past, because it can be used for knowledge and wisdom in the future. I agree with these statements. I believe that if people don't remember the past, they are condemned to repeat it; meaning that if people don't know about history, they will be ignorant and naive enough to let it take place again. Even though I agree with Ms. Formey, I do have a question for her. What if some people don't know about America's past and history? How can we make sure that they are educated enough to stop history from repeating itself?
ReplyDeleteI think that Ms. Arielle George's comment is incorrect. Will Rogers and Arnold Joseph Toynbee don't seem to disagree with each other. I also disagree with her comment that the Civil War was started for no reason. The Civil War was started because of slavery. What makes you think that the Civil War was started for no reason? What about the Vietnam War? But I do agree with the central theme "never give up".
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Mr. Aparicio’s theme of American history is wrong. He thinks now can be “A Fresh Start can be hard” but I disagree. In my opinion a fresh start is easy because we learn from our mistakes and we know what to do if something goes wrong. My question to you is why do you think a fresh start is hard? Is a fresh start hard because we had many bloody wars and all the wrongs we had in the past?
ReplyDeleteMs. Formey thinks that by remembering the past, you can learn from your mistakes and not repeat them again in the future. Though George Santayana's quote about the past does come closest my beliefs, I have to disagree with you. It would help to study our past and learn from our nation's past mistakes to impact our future in a better way by not making those same mistakes, but it would be difficult to gather enough money to fund for well-trained educators to educate the children of the future in such a way that we will be certain that they will not make those very same mistakes that were made years ago by the common people in our nation. If we currently have mediocre education in our nation, children will not be challenged to participate in studies and activities and will not be taught enough to make a greater impact on our future. If the education is not strict and challenging, children will not take education seriously and will be ignorant enough to make those same mistakes that were made in past events. So my question to Ms. Kyla Formey is, how will we make sure that children are properly and fully educated enough to know that they shouldn't repeat the past? Also, if history was previously repeated over again, how do you know if the people that repeated it were educated or not? For example, during Hitler's invasion of Russia after Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Russia, how do we know whether Hitler was educated about Napoleon's invasion or not?
ReplyDelete