Quarter 3 Reflections

An area that I've improved on is argumentative essays. What we've done already is a bit new but useful. I don't think I've ever thought of expected counter arguments until now. Having a small list of sources is great because you can extract quotes from the sources to use in your essay. There's also the CRAPP test which checks if your sources are reliable. I remember some things from the paper and thinks about them when I stumble upon a new article. Things like: when was it written, does the author have contact information and credentials? Some of these tactics are things I've never known of so I'll be sure to use them for future essays.

I scored 100% on the U.S. Constitution test which I am proud for! I didn't exactly get a perfect score because I refused to do an extra task for a 4 instead of a 3. I thought it would be tiring so I decided to read instead. Later a friend told me that there were three questions and you only had to answer one for a 4. One was to give an example of a branch of our government using checks and balances in today’s current events. I thought of what I would've responded and questioned myself for not attempting. Now I learned that I should always go for the 4.

One of the most challenging parts of Quarter 3 was the Butterfly project. I wasn't sure of what I would use or how creative my final product could be. Many used wood but there wasn't any in my house. To overcome my material problem, I searched my basement and found stacks of paper and the other materials of my butterfly. During the time of making the tags on a Google Doc, I accidentally put them directly in Thinglink. A problem was that I was at a party and didn't have my iPad. Thankfully, a Thinglink app for iPhones existed so that I could do my work where ever I was.

Argumentative Articless AoW Impressions

The most pressing argument from the ones I heard of this gallery walk is Vince's about a mass murderer's iPhone, Apple, and the FBI. The murderer's smartphone was found by the FBI who forced Apple to help in an investigation. They wanted Apple to make new software to extract data from the phone. Apple refused but the FBI hacked the phone anyway. Even today questions are asked about wether Apple should've cooperated or not and if they did, how would this affect other smart device users.

With Apple making the requested software, governments could spy on you and your phone. This could help defeat ISIS by looking for anything suspicious in people's iPhones. The problem is that people will suffer a major privacy loss. This would be unlawful in the U.S. because our phones will be searched without warrants. Overall, it would've been wrong if Apple made software for this to happen.

People who say that Apple should've worked with the FBI look back to Pearl Harbor. Franklin Roosevelt worked with vehicle manufacturers to make different vehicles. Companies such as General Motors and Ford went from making cars to aircraft. This example of third parties working with the U.S. is used as evidence for why Apple should've helped the FBI.

This would affect me and other smartphone users because governments would have more acces to our  phones and data. They could also see personal information which will make people feel insecure. In the U.S. this could be unconstitutional because the government could be searching through our phones without warrants. Even if other countries don't have the boundary of needing a warrant, people's phones will be open to governments. Privacy is a need for some people and taking that away could be scary.

Night Assessment Blog

Before seeing what he did in the camps, Elie was a very pious child. He wanted to study the Kabbalah back in Sighet so he searched for a master. After finding Moshie as a mentor, Elie read pages of the Zohar and the Kabbalah. He also prayed for most of his free time which altogether showed his piousness. This is shown when Elie explains that, "Together, we would read, over and over again, the same page of the Zohar. Not to learn it by heart but to discover within the very essence of divinity." (5). Elie did what not many others would do because he was so pious.

Elie felt the opposite of how pious he was before being in the camps when he almost died in the crematorium. Upon seeing the fires of the crematoria, Elie started to question his faith and God. He doesn't know why God would let these mass deaths happen at all. Seeing others pray for themselves, Wiesel  questions them and God when he says, "Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" (33). Many Jews were dying and Elie noticed that God did nothing. This led to Elie becoming unfaithful and the opposite of his pious self.

The Nazis may or may not have thought that Jews would change and turn on each other. Elie was willing to protect his father back in Sighet. After one night of the harsh conditions of Auschwitz, Elie is different. When his father is attacked, he does less to protect him. Such a case is when the Gypsie Blockalteste hit Elie's father. When this happens, Wiesel realizes how much he changed when he asks, "What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast?" (39). He would've gone wild with the Gypsie but he didn't, possibly for survival. Elie's faith and actions have been changed by being in the camps which lead to regretful outcomes.

Works Cited

     Wiesel, Elie. Night. Trans. Marion Wiesel. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.

Holocaust AoW Impressions

I learned a lot of interesting information regarding the Holocaust. Vince's article told why it took so long to make an official Holocaust Memorial Day. People who weren't part of a group considered as "undesirables" didn't care because they weren't involved or targeted. They thought that events that happened to others meant they didn't have to remember it themselves.

Defining "Holocaust" was another burden. If the confirmed definition was something that didn't happen, then people would have more reason to believe that there shouldn't be a memorial. The word also couldn't be purposely defined to give reason to make a day of remembrance.

Eammon's article talked about a Palestinian teacher who took his class to Aushwitz. This angered other Palestinian's because the class was feeling sympathetic for Jews. The same Jews who took their land as their own. The Palestinians feel negative towards the Jews for this but the class does otherwise. They were glad to see we're so many died and to feel sorry for that.