Family Relations and The Future

Over these past few days while reading My Antonia, I began to think about how they all had such close family ties with each other. As I thought about it more, I decided that the family ties seem to be much less than they were in the past. I know that I talk to my distant relatives often and stay in touch a lot with my close ones. I believe that family ties are very important in today's society. What do you think?

Also reading the last book in My Antonia, I also started to wonder what I will do in 20 years - if I was to reunite with one of my close friends.
- Will I act the same as Jim did?
- Will you try to keep in touch with your friends 20 years from now?
I mean I know most people will say, yes of course, but really think about it, I mean it will be 20 years from now, will you even think about your old friends? This book, unlike others that I have read, had me thinking and relating to the characters a lot because I could imagine myself in Jim's shoes at certain points. I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way as I did, reading this novel and what specific points could you relate to?

Michael L.

editor's note: This is a picture of a couple of guys I found on the Internet - they look like old friends. The picture is meant to invoke an image of you and a good friend getting together 20 years later...ya know, when you're older. Like 35 or something.

Frontier Reality?

After watching that reality tv series about the families that agreed to live as if they owned a farm in the 1800s, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to do that. They all seemed miserable, dirty, and tired throughout the whole episode. For me it didn't seem like they had any insentive to keep living in the past. Also, I definitely have to give them some props for eating a rattle snake.
But I really didn't enjoy watching the 1800s version of fear factor. Plus they had to build fences, chop wood, take care of animals, and get the hay. All we had to do is shovel dirt and hammer nails. If anything the show just gave me a great appreciation for the life I have in which all I have to do to get milk is open the fridge. I guess you have to be a real history buff, or just a little crazy to want to be on that show.
So you tell me, would you ever go on a show like that, if so why? What if there was a cash prize? Also, how long do you think you'd last... and would you have eaten the snake?

Final Thoughts on My Antonia by Chad

Now that we have just finished reading My Antonia, how do you feel about the novel? Do you like that we read the book in such a fast time frame and then logged on how we felt about each particular book?
After our experience building the sod houses, what do you think it would be like to be an immigrant coming to America in such difficult times? How do you think your life would have been similar/different to the life of the Shimerdas when they came here? How would you feel if you had to get up every day and work instead of going to school to learn and eventually get a good job?
We can all learn lessons from the book My Antonia, what did you learn?

Chad

Can you believe it? More pictures!

Yes, indeed! Here are more pictures of the "pioneers" of the Excel 10 party.

People and Terms you need to know

These are some terms and people you should know for the test that is coming up on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

People:
William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan
Willa Cather Frederick Jackson Turner
Sitting Bull George Custer
Crazy Horse Buffalo Bill
Red Cloud Chief Joseph
Geronimo Frederick Remington

Terms:
Manifest Destiny
Homestead Act of 1862
Pacific Railroad Act of 1862
Union Pacific and Central Pacific
silverites and gold bugs
Ghost Dance
The Grange
Dawes Act
The 3 Cs - conquer, Christianize, and capitalize

Knowing these terms for Monday will help the review go more smoothly. :)

More pictures from our pioneering adventure

Pictures galore from Thursday!

Hey, here they are. As promised, in all our grubby, muddy glory, the 50+ students of Excel 10 experiencing life on the windswept Nebraska plains like the Shimerdas and the Burdens. Well, it's not really Nebraska. It's behind the visitor's stands at the football stadium. We couldn't afford to take everybody to Nebraska.


Man, now that's a big piece of sod.


That looks good. Now all we need is another six feet and we're finished.








"Can you guys see if I got dirt on my ankle?"


"25 nails in 30 minutes? No problem! Gimme some more. I can handle it!"


This piece of sod reminds me of a kid I used to babysit.



If the guys won't use directions, I will.

Custer's Last Stand at the Wild West Shows

This week as you all know, we finished the movie The West. In the movie, there was a segment about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Shows. The show traveled all over the world and showed what the Western United States was like. Of course there was a couple over exaggerations like how Buffalo Bill would always come and save the day or how wicked the Natives really were. But in the end it was a great show for the whole family. The grand finale of the show was called Custer’s death, where they showed how General George Custer was attacked and killed by Native Americans.

Many times, Custer’s widow was in the crowd watching as the reenactment of her husband's death was portrayed right in front of her eyes. Every time she saw the show she always commented that it was very lifelike, and she always came to see it when it came to town. In my opinion, this reaction to a loved one dying is very ironic and rather odd.

My question to you is what would be your reaction if you saw the reenactment of the death of a loved one in your family being shown to you directly in front of your eyes and on a stage?

Sam

Narrow casting and Acxiom

In my elective class, we talked about how campaigns play a huge effect on the election process.

For example, John Kerry used "narrow casting" to win votes. Narrow casting is sectioning out minority groups and interest groups and talking with that group, and having them vote for that candidate. Narrow casting I feel is probably why minority groups vote for the people they do. Do you think so?

Also there's a company out there (Acxiom) that has secret information about you in computers dealing with race to what kind of ice cream you like. Do you feel comfortable with database companies holding information about you and your family in their computers for other people use to persuade you? I don’t! I would feel like someone is stalking me. THAT’S CREEPY!

Josh F.

When will we have a minority president?

Today in Mr.Wickersham's class we discussed the ideal president. We discussed and thought of good qualities that a president should have. For example, they should be qualified/experienced, educated, intelligent/savvy, and selfless. To me, those four examples stand out the most. If you are lacking in any of these areas, it shows you're not yet ready to be in control. Do you agree or disagree?

One subtopic that we discussed dealt with minorities and the chance of them being elected as president. If you have all the same qualities as a white man and in some cases more why would it matter? They could be one of the smartest people of that time but because the way America is today it wouldn't be so easy. They would have a very difficult time proving their qualities to most people. Women, who are also classified as a minority, would struggle just as much as any other minority. Every person has the ability to succeed and if you are one of the few who go above and beyond, than I think America should give it a try. America should be more open to change, seeing the way that some presidents have acted in the past.

I believe there are others who could do much better and prove they are able to run the most powerful country in the world. One of the difficulties is, that if, and when, minorities are elected, will they be judged harder than a white man, which made those same mistakes? Is that fair? Will minorities ever have a chance? When you are able to vote, would you consider a minority that is better suited for presidency rather than their competition?

Don't Believe the Hype?

Nicole S. asks:

Today in class we talked about the book Huck Finn and our opinions on the book. Some didn't like it and others thought that it was a good book. I personally liked the book and I learned more about how things were back then. I do think that the book is overrated as far as the way that it used to be considered shocking. I feel that way because society has changed over time and the way that we have accepted new things. But I do also think that the book has lost some of its meaning. Some of the things that are said in the book like the "N" word aren't as offensive today as they used to be.

I liked Mark Twain's writing style and how he used dialect, but it was also annoying after a while. It made you think twice about what you were reading and how people actually talked back then. This book has many life lessons in it and can teach you alot of things about how society has evolved. So what do you think?