Blog#6 "Obstacles"

In the book, we see Aminata faced with many obstacles and challenges. Every obstacle she goes through she always finds courage, and somehow founds her way out. In life we are all faced with obstacles, some good, some bad, and some that teach us lessons that we would have never learned if we did not going through the obstacle. I think that going through these obstacles help shape us into the people we are today. Everyone goes through different events and situations in their lives, which cause each of us to view and look at situations differently. One of the obstacles that I went through in my life was moving 3 hours away from my home, and at the age of thirteen going to a boarding school. For me this wasn’t as much of an obstacle, but more of a challenge. I was always a very independent person, and wanted to go to a boarding school since I was little. So when grade eight came around my parents asked me if I was still interested in going. I decided to chase my dreams and try it. The obstacle for me was being away from home for such long periods of time, at first it was very hard, as I didn’t have my parents by my side 24/7 for help and support whenever I needed them, and I couldn’t just go home everyday. After awhile I got used to being away from home. The challenges associated with this, lead me to become a more independent person than I already was, and helped me truly find out who I was. 

Post #5: Social Experiments & Theories

I’ve chosen to discuss the Dr. Zimbardo's Prison Experiment. This experiment took place in 1973 and was lead by Zimbardo at the University of Yale. The point of the experiment was to see how people adapt to becoming prisoners and guards in a prison like situation. Zimbardo wanted to see if the aggressive behavior of the guards was sadistic or happened due to the environment of the prison. Students at Yale volunteered their selves to be either guards or prisoners. 21 students were chosen, and were screened psychological normal. Then the guards were assigned and started randomly asserting the prisoners, no violence was permitted but they were treated as every other criminal was. The prisoners were then brought to a jail like setting. The prisoners were only referred to by numbers, not by there names, and they had chains around their ankles. Within hours of the experiment starting some of the guards were harassing the prisoners. The prisoners were basically dehumanized. On the sixth night of the experiment Zimbardo quit the experiment as everyone was getting mentally and physically damaged, some people even started going into depression.

I think that this experiment relates a lot to the Book of Negros. The book its self was not an experiment but the people in the book went through very similar situations. I think that the best compassion would be when their on the slave ship going from Africa to South Carolina. Every one on the ship slowly starts to lose faith and hope, and they all kind of went a little insane. Take Fomba for example being stuck on the ship affected him so much that he lost his ability to talk and communicate with others. I also think that in the experiment how the prisoners are referred to as numbers and not by the name is very similar to the book as on the ship everyone starts yelling their names and where they are from because they started to loose their identity. I also think there a little similarities between the two, like in both cases they had chains around their ankles.

Haney, C., Banks, W.C. & Zimbardo, P.G. (1973) A study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison. Naval Research Review, 30, 4-17.

Blog #4 "My Story Waits like a Restful Beast"

“My Story Waits like a Restful Beast,” is the first chapter of book of two. In this chapter we see what Aminata's life is like in present time, she is in London, England in 1802. Aminata has been brought to England by the, “Black Loyalist.” A Black Loyalist was someone who was from Africa, who lived in Britain, and when they came to Europe joined British forces during the American Revolution. Lots of the African people were enslaved in Africa. Britain got the Black Loyalist to come over to Europe, because they promised them freedom if they fought for Britain. Many Black Loyalist came over, as many as 30,000 escaped from Africa to come and help defend Britain in the war. They joined Britain to try and get their freedom back. As the British lost the American Revolution the Black Loyalist were then placed back onto a ship headed for Nova Scotia. On the route to Nova Scotia many of them died, but the ones that made it were dropped off in Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia the Black Loyalist were never exactly granted freedom as they had wished, and they were still doing manual labour making a little bit of money.

Lea and Olivia did this seminar in class and I personally liked how they used Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to show a comparison between Aminata finding her purpose in life (self actualization) and in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs you have to fulfill all of the other stages in order to get to the highest degree of needs. Aminata found that her purpose in life was to tell others about her story.

Blog # 3-Book Of Negroes

I can see why there would be controversy over the title of the book, “The Book of Negroes.” I think the main controversy is just the word; “Negros” people see it instantly and criticize it without knowing the background of the title. I find that our society is to quick to assume things, and can instantly jump to a conclusion that is far from the truth. I think that the title is fine in the context of the book. I think that using the word, “Negros” is not okay, but the word in the title makes sense as the book is explaining the history of the Black Loyalist in Africa. I think that burning of the cover of the book was a little harsh, and didn’t need to be done, as the book wasn’t criticizing them it was explaining the history of the Black Loyalist. Other titles that could be fitting is, “The Story of a Girl.” I think that the book didn’t need to be censored as there is nothing really bad in the book, it is just explaining history, and I find that if a book can be censored for explain history of a certain group then something is wrong with our society. 

Blog#2- "The Suitcase Lady"

I personally really liked, “The Suit Cade Lady.” I enjoyed this essay because it showed you a different way to look at homelessness. This essay showed that there is a story behind every person, and just because one person lives out on the street doesn’t mean that they are not human, and that they don’t have a story too. One of my favourite parts of the essay is when the homeless lady, is sitting in the doughnut shop, and she takes a tiara out of her bag. This point showed that the lady is holding onto her childhood (to the past), and maybe she has a dream as well. 

Blog#1- Introduction

Hey guys!

I am Victoria, and I am a grade 12 student taking grade 12 English.  I cannot believe that this is my finally year of high school, it has really gone by fast. Some of my interest are playing basketball, running, and skiing. My favourite classes are sciences, with my favourite one being chemistry. In the future I plan to purse a career in science, and hopefully will become a doctor or a genetics counselor. During my free time I like to run, hang out with my friends, and watch movies. If I read it will usually be on a plane, during a break, or during the summer where I have some extra time to relax. When I read I usually read magazines, or romance novels. Some of my favorite magazines would be "Seventeen" and "Vogue." Some of my favourite romance novels are the "Lucky One"," A Walk to Remember", and the "Last Song," by Nicholas Sparks.

My goal for English this year is to end with an 85 % in the course. I am really looking forward to English 4U this year!