Obstacle of my life

The major obstacle of my life is that of going in to a good high school when i was back in China. There was test that was to be taken by all the grade 9 students, and every school that you wanted to apply for had an average mark that one was supposed to get on the test. During grade 7 and grade 8 I was not a person who liked to study, I was only 150 in a group of 300 people in grade 9. And in order to get into the school i wanted, I needed to squeeze into the high 70's. In order to achieve this, I used my free time to go to classes, and worked much more harder than i ever had. With this effort, i was able to achieve my goal in the end. After this, I knew that i could do whatever i set my mind into, and i had a confidence that i have kept with and have helped me achieve a lot.

Social Experiments and their connection to the book of Negroes

      The Milgram's research is the research of how people playing the role of the "teacher" was to ask questions to people playing the role of "learner". Whenever the learner was unable to answer a question asked by the teacher, the teacher would administer shocks of increasing magnitude to the learner. The shocks that was administered to the learners eventually went to as high as 450V which would have killed the person.
       The Stanford prison experiment was one that asked some students to play the role of guards and others to play the role of prisoners. After given the time and space, the guards abused the prisoners so much that the prisoners rioted to break free. The things that alarmed people was that the people playing these roles did not know each other, yet they willing used the power they were bestowed on the other people.
       Connecting to the book of Negroes, we can see that when people have power over others, they tend to do cruel things. This is one of the reasons slave trade was so popular, the locals saw their kind taken, but because they were given control over them. Not only did they not help their kind to escape, but worked more hard to contain and abuse them. This is the same as how the sailors on the ship did not care about the death of the slaves, they had the power of controlling the lives of the slaves, so they would rather have them just die then care for them.
 

And my story waits like a restful beast

I think that the title is very fitting. It describes the fierce character of Aminata and also comments on what her story is like. Her story is one that is very large and possibly full of things the British in the story would not have imagined. So restful would mean that Aminata has not been able to tell her story yet, and that creates the contrast she has with the abolitionists. The abolitionists don't wants her to tell just what they want, but Aminata wants the public to know about the full and true story of what she has experienced.

The book of Negroes

After our discussion in class i think that the title "The Book of Negroes" is a very appropriate and fitting title for this book. Even though there has been book burnings, change of title and the banning of this book in some country's. I still think this is a good title. Firstly, the book name was taken from an actually historical book about the freedom of black people. In this way, if someone is to search the title, they would see that the title is not so offensive. Second of all the book is written in a way that is very attractive, even though some of the country's burnt the books, they only burnt the front cover. I think another title for the book could be, "a woman's life towards freedom".

Quick Write

Tues.Oct 1

Quick Write:
Which essay did you like best?
Make sure to explain/support your answer

• In the Trenches
• The Suitcase Lady
• 51-Percent Minority 

The essay that i like best is In the Trenches. This is because in my culture, people who have fought in the war are people that are respected a lot. Through In the Trenches, i was able to see the other side of war, the cruel part. "The shattering explosions splinter the air in a million fragments. I taste salty liquid on my lips." (Harrison 112) This quote is one that is very descriptive,  it shows what the soldiers in war experience through what they feel and taste. This makes it easy for me to imagine what the soldiers felt in the war trenches. The descriptive writing of what the a new soldier does in this kind of situation such as, " I begin to pray. God-God-please." Makes me understand the reality of war. In the Trenches have shown me what war is really like through all these descriptive writings.

Introduction

I am a person who likes to play sports. The sport that i like to play most is basketball, i think it's not only fun but also meaningful the sense that it is teamwork. The literature that I like the most are fiction, the books that i like the most are the harry potter series. I think that it would be nice if i would be able to get an average of A in English this year. I don't expect it to come without work, but i think i need a clear and efficient method to do so.