Issues with Millie

Religion 
P. 5 - Christianity and how their master brought them up by preaching Christianity
P. 8 - Masters and mistress as Christians

Food & Clothing 
P. 3 - johnnycakes and buttermilk
P.9 - What they wore and shoes
P. 10 dying clothing and washing them
P. 11 - perfume for clothes
P. 12 -big cake of corn bread and iced for wedding

Living Conditions/lifestyle 
P. 4 (lifestyle) - playing and lifestyle as a child
P. 6 - conditions of slaves' log cabin
P. 8 - talks about what the slaves' houses were like
P. 12 - the owner's house and how they cleaned the floor

Jobs
P.7 - raising cotton & dyeing clothes
P. 9 - process of making shoes
P. 10 - planting indigo & making vinegar out of apples
P.11 - tobacco growing

Treatment by the master 
P. 3 - Mistress raised them and fed them well
P. 8 - they had to rest and go to church, taught to have their own church on plantation
P. 12 - Masters would arrange marriages between slaves
P. 13 - they didn't want to leave their owners once they were free, so they traveled with their owner

Crops
P. 7 - cotton
P. 9 - red oak bark
P. 10 - indigo
P. 11 - tobacco

Quote Reaction

pg. 118 The fugitives were surrounded and taken prisoners, carried in chains to Alexandria, and hung by the populace.  Not only those, but many who were suspected, though entirely innocent, were taken from the field and from the cabin, and without the shadow of process or form of trial, hurried to the scaffold. 

--Northup, pp. 247-248

My reaction to this quote would be how cruel the slaves were treated. Even though some may have been fugitives and prisoners, the quote mentions that many who were there were suspected to be entirely innocent. This quote shows how cruel the whites had treated the slaves. In today's world many innocent lives are taken away everyday. It's hard to think that these fugitives/prisoners regardless if they were innocent or not were constantly being punished and were living in fear of death. So many innocent people were hung to be killed. In the quote it states that fugitives, prisoners, and people who were innocent, they would be taken away from the field and from their cabins and without any shadow of process or form of trial, they would be hung to death. I think that this shows that these slaves didn't have a chance to show what they can do, they were never given a second chance. Instead they were hung to die without given a chance to justify. It surprised me that these slaves were carried in chains. Something that I also noticed was that Blacks were being killed or were being punished for conspiracy, but if the Whites were to do the same thing, they wouldn't have been treated the same thing. 

Curiosity Cabinet Project on Susan Campbell Bartoletti's Hitler Youth

1. What was the best seed idea that you had that evolved into a component of the exhibit? What text evidence supported that thinking? How does this idea connect to your book’s essence?

At the beginning of the project, our original seed idea for the project was thought of during our third meeting. This meeting was where my group members sat around a piece of poster paper, and began drawing the different signifiers and symbols that represented the book. During this meeting, our goal for the poster was to come up with the most mentioned and meaningful symbols that really captured the essence of the book. When I was drawing, I thought about Hans and Sophie Scholl, they were siblings who did not agree with the actions of Hitler, they found out that the Nazi government had been spreading lies to the people in the country. Hans and Sophie were part of a group called the White Rose, they decided to let everyone around them know the truth about the Nazi government and their actions by writing leaflets called the “Leaflet of The White Rose” using a duplicating scene. One of the symbols that I drew, with the White Rose in mind was the “Leaflet of The White Rose.” This part of the story was a turning point for the people of Germany. There was finally a group of people who weren’t afraid to tell the truth about the government regardless of the punishments. They stood proudly for what they believed in because they knew what the right thing to do was. Susan Campbell Bartoletti writes, “During the summer of 1942, a group of courageous University of Munich students took action when they heard about the plight of the Jews. To inform the public, they circulated thousands of bold leaflets throughout Munich and other towns in Southern Germany.” (107) On the poster, I represented this moment by drawing a simple leaflet with the title, “Leaflet of The White Rose.” I drew this using a black marker because black represents danger and mystery. The White Rose were aware of the danger of printing these leaflets, they knew that if they were ever caught they’d be sentenced to jail time or even worse sentenced to death. The mystery that came with it was who was writing these leaflets; The White Rose wrote these stories and articles anonymously to avoid getting caught. This idea really enhanced the meaning of our final museum display. 

In our final museum display, we decided to split our display into two parts. One part was painted blue to represent the characters and groups of people who were the resistance groups. While the black part of the tank represents the people who agreed and stood for the beliefs of Adolf Hitler. On the blue side we included characters like the White Rose, the Jews, as well as many other groups who had rebelled against Hitler’s rules. As for the side painted black, we included characters such as the Hitler Youth and Adolf Hitler. My White Rose Leaflet example became one of the symbols on the side painted blue. In order to make the leaflet, I crumpled up a piece of paper. I decided to crumple it up in order to make the paper look a lot more old, as if you had taken it from the time period. I then taped this to the resistance side to symbolize that one small impact can change the world throughout history. The White Rose began to write these leaflets because they wanted people to be aware, regardless that they weren’t aware how many people would actually be able to read these stories. If they hadn’t started writing these stories, nobody would’ve been aware of the lies being spread. Nobody would have had the guts to stand up against the power of Hitler. The story of the White Rose has left an impact on not only the people who lived in Germany back then, but it’s also inspired so many others. 

This idea also captures the essence of the book, which may be interpreted as follows: regardless of how small you may think your actions may be, you have the power to leave a mark -- not only in your life, but also on our society. Whether you were a kid fighting for Germany by joining the Hitler Youth, or following your heart and making others more aware like the White Rose, you’re actions leave marks to change the way our history plays out. Whether it’s through service learning or simply just helping someone out, with the simple acts of kindness and the power to leave a mark on our world in a positive way, we’re able to change for the better. Regardless, every decision we make is a new mark left behind. 

2. Other ideas came up that you didn’t think of during the process of creating your museum display. What was the best one? What made it so effective? What text evidence supported that thinking? 

As mentioned before, our final museum display was a tank that had two sides: a blue side to represent resistance and a black side representing evil and power. When we first thought of the idea of the tank, we first thought of just painting it black just like a normal tank you would see during war. Emi then thought about painting the tank in two different colors in order to represent the different groups during the story: the resistance and the Hitler/Hitler Youth. Heleen then suggested that on each side, we would find objects that symbolized or were significant to the different characters. That way, when the other students take a look at our display, they’ll be able to see how different the characters were and how different the sides are. The objects on the side painted black consist of weapons and mainly items that were used during war. While the objects on the other side were mainly items that made these characters different from everyone else. Some include: a white rose, a white rose leaflet, as well as a star of David flag. The color black represents mystery, power, and evil. While not only does the color blue have relation to the Jewish culture, it also represents truth, confidence, and faith. More specifically, the black represents the painful and deadly actions of the Nazi government that had left the country behind their lies in order for Hitler to gain more power. While the blue represented how so many people had the confidence and the faith in themselves to stand up for them and stand out from the others regardless of the consequences. These groups of people stood out and finally made the Nazi government afraid of normal citizens, with this the audience will be able to remember that “ These young people showed an indifference toward the war, disrupted youth service obligations...”(112) I believe that this was one of the most effective element due to the fact that people would automatically think that tanks should be all black, having two colors enhances the meaning of the story and shows the story’s essence. 

1. Don’t look at the rubric. Think beyond the “grade.” What did you learn by completing this project? Ideas include discussing the creative process, collaborative process, or yourself as a creator, contributor, and artist. Give evidence to support your answer.

By completing this project, I learnt the lesson of going with the flow of the group. With my group, we’re all really hard working people, we really enjoy being hands on with the project. I was constantly finding myself a little lost as to what areas of the project we were trying to work on and accomplish. During these times I had to stop and think about the objects and areas and then continue working. Other times, I would be so in depth with what I was working on, I would have to automatically stop doing it and start doing something else. For example, one time I was cutting out a swastika sign, I automatically had to stop in order to go get paint for the tank. During the creative process, I may have had ideas that were different from my partners’, but eventually I would hear them out and agree with their idea. As an artist, I offered the idea of using sponge rollers to paint the sides of the tank. I said that the sponge rollers would give off the rough texture that real tanks have. I also made sure that I painted the whole display without any noticeable unpainted areas; in order to represent how “perfect” the Nazi government wanted their society, lifestyle and their equipment. As an artist, I had to be flexible. Due to the time crunch, we weren’t able to paint everything insides and out, I was able to just let go of it due to the lack of time and just listened to my group's’ suggestions. At the end, I learned that sometimes I need to be a lot more flexible with doing different things, going from cutting cardboard to going to go fetch paint, etc. 

2. Take a look at your lit circle reflections (last two meetings) and think about how you worked with your group as you developed your curiosity cabinet (over the last few days). Over the course of your NNF literature circle work, how have you grown as a contributor in discussions? Specifically, how did you NEGOTIATE  ideas? You can refer to our mini-lesson on Thursday, January 21, if needed for help. Give evidence to support your answer. 

Over the course of the literature circles, I definitely improved as an asker; I began to ask more questions regarding some of the suggestions other member’s made. For example, Heleen had suggested an idea of Hans and Sophie Scholl, which she also drew on the poster. Though I knew about these characters, I pushed and encouraged her to push her thinking more. I asked her questions about how they did they impact the country, and why out of all the members of the White Rose were they significant? In our first meeting before the break, I usually participated in conversations as an observer and conversationalist. I would constantly piggyback off of other's’ ideas, while other times I would sit and listen thoroughly, as well as elaborate and share my ideas. During the meetings before the museum display, I wasn’t very confident with asking questions. I would constantly stay quiet whenever I had a question, or I would have already done the research. By the time we began creating our final museum display, I grew a lot more confident with asking questions regarding the objects that were suggested. I think that what pushed me to ask more questions was the fact that I wanted to make sure everything that we included on the tank would make sense and would show the importance of the book. 

Regarding receiving new ideas, I think that another area I improved in was encouraging others to show more thinking. At times when my partners would share their ideas, I would ask them to read a quote from the book to support their insight. As I mentioned before, during the meetings I was usually thoroughly listening to my partners. I think that all of our ideas for the final project and we all agreed on the most important signifiers and symbols, which made the process a lot easier. 

As far as negotiating ideas, I think our group was really comfortable with working together; we were able to negotiate ideas more easily and effectively. At the beginning of the meetings, we did disagree on a few minor ideas, but mainly we agreed with most of our ideas. We rarely had to negotiate since as soon as someone provided more insight and research we would all agree. During the process of the final museum display, we didn’t have to negotiate as much as we did during the meetings. We were all really invested in our ideas but we all had really similar ideas, which made it easier to negotiate. The poster planning definitely made the process of coming up with ideas for the display a lot easier. As a result of the poster, we were able to agree on what was important enough that it had to be included on the display that captured the meaning and essence of the book. Overall, I thought that my team worked really well together and really helped me improve as a team member. 

Problems for Mary

Abuse

1. P. 9 - Solomon and his whip 
2. P. 4 - Solomon oversees 
3. P.10 - Beatings 
4. P. 16-17 - Abuse of Mary 

Treatment of Women 

1. P. 12-13 - Mixed race women 
2. P.14 - Treatment of wives 
3. P. 3 - Parents 

Food & Clothing 

1. P.6 Food & diet 
2. P. 11 Shoes and clothing 
3. P. 12 - Seamstress 

To Be A Slave Quotes

My Three Quotes from To Be A Slave

• "The number of lashes is graduated according to the nature of the ease. Twenty-five are deemed a mere brush, inflicted, for instance, when a dry leaf or a piece of boll is found in the cotton, or when a branch is broken in the field." This quote made me feel a lot worse about the slaves' conditions. These white slave owners would do anything to pick these slaves apart. They made sure that everything the slaves did was perfect, and if it wasn't they'd do anything to find little mistakes and details in order to get these slaves in trouble or to be able to punish these poor slaves. pg. 72 
• "It was rarely that a day passed without one or more whippings... The delinquent whose weight had fallen short, was taken out, stripped, made to lie upon the ground, face down wards, when he received a punishment proportioned to his offence." This quote made me furious that these slaves have to be punished if their actions don't meet up to their owner's expectations. It makes me mad that since these white owners only care about money and power, as well as themselves. They don't think twice about punishing them, they don't even care about the pain that they put on these slaves. All they care about is the growth of his business and would do anything to make more money.
• "Without a name of his own, the slave's ability to see himself apart from his owner was lessened. He was never asked "who's nigger are you?" The slave had no separate identity. He was always Mr. So - and - so's nigger." This shows that slaves didn't have a true identity, instead they were labeled as a white person's property. They aren't allowed to have a name or an identity. Instead originality and freedom were taken away from the slaves. Instead they were forced to live without a separate identity."           

Some of the stories from To Be a Slave that I've been going back and forth with is the story of the babies being thrown off of the ship, once after the slaves were captured and taken on the ship. These babies were taken from their mothers and thrown in the ocean to die, due to the fact that the ship owners knew that these babies wouldn't make it out alive. I can't help but constantly think about how the mothers felt when their child was taken away without their consent. It makes me constantly think that so many innocent lives were taken away because people wanted to enslave Africans just to grow their business. One story from ROOTs that has stuck with me, is the story of the black slave who were hired to capture slaves were out to capture people of their own kind. I think that this stuck to me because before watching the tv show, I never knew black people would do this thing to their own kind. This scene told me that many white people forced/encouraged many Africans to turn against their own race, and capture them to benefit the whites as well as the ones hired.

ROOTS vs To Be A Slave

Throughout the tv show, ROOTS, I've noticed many differences from how the slaves were treated in the book, To Be A Slave. One difference between the book and the show was that the book was more of a compilation of former slaves and their stories. While the show talked about a specific main character, and how he came to be a slave. The show talked a lot more about what the lifestyle was like for someone in Africa before they were captured. While in the book, they talked a lot more about how slaves were treated in America after being captured as well as their boat journey to America. For example, at the beginning of they book, the audience is introduced to how Africans were seen as by the slaves and what the lifestyle was like in Africa. While in the movie, the story started off in Africa, following the character into adulthood who was soon captured to be a slave.

Another difference that I noticed was that during the part of the show where Africans were being captured. Many other Africans were hired by the Whites to capture other Africans. In the book, you can tell that many Africans were treated differently from other slaves depending on their employer. I think that the reason why these differences occurred is because it shows that regardless of their race, people were turned against each other. For example, even though these people were the same race as the people they were capturing, they were hired by the Whites in order for their survival.

The last difference that occurred was the boat journey. Before watching the episode, which happened in the book, I expected to see a lot more women being captured. In the tv show, many of the slaves were men, with only a few women.  While in the book, the audience is able to read about the variety of slaves that were captured. The book also went into depth about what the surroundings were like on the ship. I was expecting the ship scene in the tv show to be a bit more shocking, in a way that we were able to see the hardships that the slaves had to go through down at the bottom of the ship. The book also talked about how the Whites would take a woman's baby away and throw them overboard. While in the show, we don't see much of the women slaves on the ship. I think that they decided to make this different because books are more of a platform where the author can hit more of the hard hitting stuff, the impact of a book is to leave readers thinking and learning a new lesson. While the a tv show is more of a platform where directors and producers have to be more cautious about what they show, seeing that they're talking about a lot of controversial things.

All in all, the tv show, ROOTS and the book, To Be A Slave included many differences, but both shared and made people more aware of slavery in the United States.

Silent Film Reflection

What elements of silent film did you see in the first part of Wall-E? 
By watching the first part of Wall-E, you could see many different elements of silent film being put together in order to tell a meaningful and interesting story and character development. One element would be the soundtrack. Seeing that the characters are robots and the there isn't any human life on the planet, the sound effects, soundtrack, and background music really help enhance the story as well as help set the emotion and mood of the movie. Soundtrack was used throughout the first scene, with Wall-E's video/music, even with the little sounds of the cockroach. The soundtrack of this movie really helped engage the audience. Another element of silent film that was included in the movie was they used quite simple and basic camera shots. You could see that if they used quite complex camera shots the meaning of the video as well as the subject would have been very different. With basic camera angles, the audience was able to connect to the character more and see the setting a lot better. Exaggerated acting and movement was another element of silent film that was used in this film. Without dialogue, it's quite difficult for the message to be seen, but with exaggerated movements and gestures the audience was able to comprehend everything. Through facial expressions, hand gestures, and little sound effects, emotion and the story was instantly seen. Relating back to the camera shots, a lot of the shots were at a eye-level angle, but a lot of the angles were quite different which really helped make it more interesting.

Even without dialogue, how does Wall-E's personality come forth in silent portion of the movie? 
With every action that Wall-E makes, his personality shines through. Even without dialogue the audience are aware of Wall-E's personality because of his actions. From picking up trash everyday, and keeping the little things that may not be appreciated in life to listening to love songs and falling in love with another robot. Throughout the silent portion, you could tell that he appreciates the little things in life, and that he's very hard working as well as very dedicated to his job. He'll do anything to make use of little objects that he finds, as well as finish his job.

Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin are both silent movie actors to whom Wall-E could be compared. Compare their method of comedic acting to Wall-E's. 
Wall-E compares to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin due to the fact that they both turn to using exaggerated facial expressions and movements in order to portray their character. Not only are they all portraying a comedic character, they're not afraid to show their goofy sides. Wall-E is often clueless and clumsy which usually makes the audience laugh. When I was in fourth grade, we would regularly watch Charlie Chaplin films, and I remember watching him constantly falling or acting in a way that made him seem different and unique. Chaplin, Keaton and Wall-E all have their own unique way of acting as well as in a humorous way.

What do you think the lack of dialogue contributed to the portion of the film? Be specific using scenes examples. 
The lack of dialogue really helped enhance the emotion of the characters in the film also the character development. Through the silent section of the film, Wall-E is seen as quite a quirky and energetic character who finds happiness in the littlest of things. For example, when Wall-E found the ring in a box, he took a look at the ring and threw it away. Instead, he decided to keep the box that held it. This scene showed that through his small action, his character and personality shined through. Usually, humans would be drawn to the ring, seeing that it's most likely worth a lot. Wall-E's lack of dialogue helped the audience understand and begin to think about a new message/theme. The lack of dialogue also showed that Wall-E was perfectly fine on his own, but when watching his movie of the couple falling in love, he couldn't help but want his own little lover. The lack of dialogue really helped the character development because it showed that before he met Eva, he was missing something in his life. Once he met her, he began to fall in love and began to show bigger and happier emotions and facial expressions.