Category Archives: English 10

Rube Goldberg — “Domin-Oh No! My Chips!”

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↑ A drawing of my Rube Goldberg machine (“Domin-Oh No! My Chips!)

EXPLANATION: (better explained in the photo)

A: Dominoes will fall and hit one another
B: The last domino will hit a marble and it will fall into the tube
C: The marble will fall onto a ramp and will roll down
D: The marble will fall into the left cup and the cup will go down*
E: The right cup will go up along with the ramp attached to the bottom of the cup
F: The ramp since it’s attached to the cup it will also go up with it**
G: The car on the ramp will go down the ramp as the ramp goes up and tilts downwards
H: The car will fall into the first cup and it is also attached to a ramp. Both of them will rotate to the right when the car falls into it***
I: There is another cup that has hole in the bottom with a chip inside. The bottom is blocked by the ramp so once it rotates the chip can go down the ramp and into the bowl. (!)

*The 2 cups are connected and held by a piece of string. The string will sit on a chopstick inserted into the backboard. So when one cup is heavier than the other, it will go down as the other one will go up.

**The ramp is carefully sitting balanced on a chopstick so since it’s only attached to a cup, when the cup goes up the ramp will follow

***The cup isn’t attached to the backboard but is being held by a chopstick inserted in the backboard. So when the car falls into it it will rotate right on the chopstick, and since the ramp is attached to the bottom of the cup, it will also rotate right.

 

ENERGY TRANSFERS:

A-B: kinetic → gravitational
B-C: gravitational → kinetic
C-D: kinetic → (mechanical) → gravitational
D & E: gravitational
G-H: kinetic → gravitational
I-!: kinetic → gravitational → kinetic

 

VIDEO OF MY MACHINE IN MOTION:

What literature has taught me about the effects of racism

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Racism has had a tremendous effect on humanity. It has been around for decades, and it effects everyone. African-Americans, Jewish people, First Nations, almost everyone. But, there are also many people who either fight back, or let their battles win. First of all, in the graphic novel ‘Sugar Falls’, Betsy, a five-year-old girl, gets taken from her family to go to residential school. Right from the get-go, you can already see an impactful moment, and it happened to millions of people across the country. Boys and girls being pulled from their families to go to an unknown place, without having time to prepare or to say ‘goodbye’. Secondly, Betsy was taken into the school where she was bathed and rubbed vigorously, and was shamed by the nuns. While the nuns were washing her, Betsy felt instant shame. She realized that they weren’t trying to clean off dirt, but her skin color. With all the name calling and abuse, Betsy had already felt depressed and broken down. She felt like she wasn’t good enough. Thirdly, abuse in residential schools can scar someone for life. The verbal, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse could affect how someone grows up. For Betsy, she witnessed some of her good friends be hit, kicked, shamed, and also die. These actions left a permanent image in her brain that she will never be able to forget. But, it isn’t all that bad. Residential school can also impact someone in a positive way, like Betsy. She was a fighter. She never let the nuns win, and take her culture away from her. The harder they kicked her, the harder she worked. The more they yelled at her, the more stronger she became. During residential school, Betsy chose who she wanted to be, persevered and set her mind to it, and years later, she never let go of that. She saw how important keeping her culture alive was, and took time to help others learn her native language. In the end it’s not about the abuse that impacts someone. It’s how someone deals with it, and uses it to become a better and stronger person. 

 

Narrative Essay Corrections – ‘Cat-Napped’

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Download

 

What I did well on: I did very well on interpreting my voice into this essay, and incorporating many poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, and the rule of threes.

What I can improve next time: I can improve on deleting unnecessary information. I had a lot of phrases and words that didn’t need to be in the essay, and once they were deleted, the essay became more fluid and understandable.

‘Skyscraper’ — Demi Lovato

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Meaning: Someone has been very toxic in this girl’s life. They have been trying to pull her down and make her life miserable. Finally, after all the pain and suffering, she conquers her fears and emotions, and comes out stronger than ever before by finding the strength that is deep inside her.

Theme statement: When one feels like giving up, one needs to change their mindset and actions to take back their inner-strength to conquer the past.

SONG ANALYSIS:

PHOTO OF MUSIC VIDEO:

“Tell Tale Heart” – Alternate Ending in New Point of View

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The point of view I used is objective

The police officers knocked on the door, and waited to be let in. The protagonist opened the door to let the police officers in. He led them through the house confidently, allowing them to look at anything, in any room that they desired around the house. Once they got to the old man’s room, the protagonist brought in chairs for the police officers to sit on and placed his own chair on the very spot where he had placed the old man’s dead corpse a few hours before. The police officers are convinced that nothing has wrong has happened and that the protagonist is innocent. The officers are having a great time talking and laughing with one another. While they are enjoying themselves, the protagonist starts acting a big odd. The protagonist seems to imagine noises that aren’t actually there, and is acting particularly strange. The police officers don’t pay attention to the protagonist and continue their conversation, while the protagonist continues to act out. The protagonist starts getting pale. The protagonist continues to panic, and act strange all around the room, until he reaches his breaking point and screams: “Villains! Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! here, here! – it is the beating of his hideous heart!”

 

How does one recover from extreme suffering? 

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How does one recover from extreme suffering? 

In the short story “The Watch”, by Elie Wiesel, the author shares a personal story on survival, and finding a positive outlook on life during the Holocaust in World War II. As a young boy, Elie cherished his Jewish values, especially the special gold watch that he had received during his bar mitzvah. When finding out he was being sent to a concentration camp, he decided to hide the watch in a hole that he had dug in his yard, in hopes of retrieving it after the war has ended. After spending the rest of World War II in a harsh concentration camp, he visits the very place he buried his prized possession, the watch, 20 years after he buried it. After digging intensively, the author writes, “Suddenly a sharp shiver goes through me. A sharp sensation, like a bite.” (page 3). He has found it, the watch. One of the reasons why he needed to survive the Holocaust, one of the reasons why the suffering was all okay. The watch. Despite all the hard work that Elie has done to get to this point, his mindset suddenly changes. He does a double take and realizes that, “this thing [the watch], this nameless, lifeless thing had survived for the sole purpose of welcoming me” (page 4). He realizes that the watch too, had survived the Holocaust, and it also had a rough experience, and a story to tell. In the story, he tells himself that he “simply wanted to leave behind me…a reflection of my presence.” (page 5). In his mind, the watch symbolizes the history of the town, the struggles, and hardships of the past. The memories, and legacy of all the Jews, who fought so hard for what’s right. In “The Watch”, Wiesel explains that one can recover from extreme suffering if they face their memories, remember and look at the past, and overcome their fears. 

IMAGE: https://www.travelblog.org/Photos/886137

I did awesome on relating the source that I chose to the question. I integrated a lot of relevant information from the short story, and used it very well in answering my question.

I need to improve on finding better photos that relate more to what I’m writing about

First They Came For…

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Adapted from the poem by Martin Niemoller “First They Came for the Jews” in response to the poem “Danger of Silence”

First they came from the African-Americans

and I did not speak out

because I was not an African American.

 

Then they came for the homosexuals

and I did not speak out

because I was not a homesexual.

 

Then they came for the immigrants

and I did not speak out

because I was not an immigrant.

 

Now when will they come for me

because I was too busy and too indifferent

to defend my sisters and brothers?

Where does one find beauty in the face of extreme conflict?

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Where does one find beauty in the face of extreme conflict. For many people, beauty can range from beauty in nature, to beauty in appearance. In my opinion, beauty is everywhere, everyone can find beauty in anything, as long as they look hard enough. Everyone has struggles and/or conflicts in their personal life, and many of them are very hard to conquer. But, the important thing is knowing how to overcome these conflicts and struggles, like having the support of family and friends, or having a place to express your emotions without judgement from anyone. Also, many people think outside of the box, and have certain things they do to overcome conflict. A walk in nature, a stroll by the beach, or just simply reading a book is a plug for people to find their ‘happiness’. Many books, movies, and songs discuss the importance of not focusing on the bad, but trying to find the good. For example, in the movie ‘Beauty and the Beast’, both sides (the beauty, and the beast), have struggles and roadblocks in their life. One day, Belle gets locked up in the Beast’s castle. Overtime, the Beast realizes that his life has had an emptiness for a while, but then Belle shows him that there is so much beauty in life, and that giving up is okay, as long as you get back up and try again. The movie shows that even the smallest opinion, or difference can really change the perspective of someone else’s life, and turn it upside down for the better. It’s okay to ask for help, you just need someone, or something to show you what’s really important in life.

What is beauty?

Can we completely solve conflict?

How can we change the mindset of others?

How can conflict be necessary for our growth?

What is conflict?

What it means to be human…

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Humans want to communicate

Humans need / have a dream

Humans have a desire to help others

Humans seek happiness

Humans need friends / companions

Humans want to learn / seek knowledge

Humans need to express their emotions

Humans can be ignorant and should be more aware

Humans are violent

Humans fight for what they believe in

Humans have conflict / war

Humans prevail despite conflict

Humans may abuse power

Humans evolve

Humans want to be remembered because most like recognition

Humans disagree

Humans may be discriminatory / racist

Humans like to make our lives easier and better

Humans like to help and fight against perceived injustice

Humans are curious and seek knowledge

 

In the book The One and Only Ivan by K.A. Applegate, I learned about how important it is to have someone or something to keep you company. The book is about a gorilla who lives in a domain in the mall, alongside an elephant, and a stray dog. The gorilla (Ivan), always thinks about the wild, since there is a mural of the jungle. Ivan aspires to be in the jungle where he belongs, but he knows that it’s not possible. Thanks to his elephant friend, she takes his mind off of all the negativity that is going on in his life. This has taught me that even though your life may be going downwards, there is always something positive that you should think of. Having a friend is very important and humans need friends. They’re people that you can share your feelings with, and just let it all come out.