Position Paper #2

Position Paper #2

Social Portfolio

Issue 1: Liberal Thinkers

Issue 2: Team Resistance Project

Issue 3: Liberal Experiences in Canada

Key Concepts:

Principles of Liberalism Comparison
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary

Summative Assignments:

I think that the diploma style quizzes that we wrote throughout the course of the year helped greatly in giving my the necessary skills needed to do well on the upcoming social diploma exam. I did quite well on both exams with marks well over 80% each time, this being said I feel that it was the 20% that I got wrong that will help me when writing the diploma. Things such as the need to gain an increased knowledge of the political spectrum as well as different forms of politics throughout history were pointed out to me, and thanks to this I will now be able to better prepare for my final diploma in this course.

Writing Assignments:
Source Analysis #1
On our first source analysis for the year, I feel that I did not fully grasp what was expected of me , or how to prepare for an assignment of this nature. This was evident in the mark as well as the feedback that I received. I now know that I should have put in more time in order to prepare for the assignment as well as gain a better understanding of the topics being studied within the sources.

Source Analysis #2
As disappointed as I was with my mark on the position paper at the time, I know realize that it was necessary for me to receive, this feedback so I could gain a better understanding of how to analyze sources. I also became aware that I needed more examples for some of my supporting ideas. That being said, my mark as well as my understanding of the concepts necessary greatly improved from the first assignment that I wrote. This was due to the fact that I had an idea of what to expect and how to prepare in a more productive way.



Showcase Assignments:
Dulce et decorum est Visual

Berlin Blockade and Airlift

Bibliography:
Bibliography 1
Visual, Oral or Technological Presentation:
Evolution of Liberalism

Egypt on Prezi

Best Form of Government for Canada

I believe that the best form of government for Canada is a proportional democracy. This allows all levels of government to work as a whole but also to focus on each of there own individual tasks. This system allows for the citizens to have a say in elections and major issues, but it is up to the elected representative to do the best they can to please the people in their respective riding. This format works best with the large population that Canada has, it would not be practical, or economical to have a vote on every issue big or small. The fact that the elected government also has an opposition party makes certain that the best choice for the country is always at the forefront. 

Humanities 30 Reflection

Humanities 30 Reflection

            During my Humanities career I have learned several invaluable lessons, many of which will stay with me for the rest of my years, however none as valuable as those that I have acquired throughout the past 7 months of learning.

            Throughout the course of the English Language Arts portion of Humanities 30, my peers and I were introduced to many new ideas and strategies in order to enhance our works, and broaden our horizons. Many of these new ways of thinking were technology based, supported by programs such as Prezi, Slide Share, Wiki spaces and Blogger. I feel these programs really helped to give my presentations the elements needed in order to attain a greater understanding of the concepts being studied as well as the high marks that I desperately desire. This feature combined with the intriguing esthetics, which the program offers, allowed everyone involved to take more from each presentation.

I felt that early on in the course my writing skills were greatly challenged, strategies that had worked for me in the past proved no longer sufficient, and after some defiance I came to realize that change was necessary. It was instances such as this that taught me the most, and my writing skills are definitely better for it. This progression is proven when one compares my first Critical Analytical Response to that which I wrote less than a week ago. Everything from the pre writing preparation to the conclusion of the actual essay showed drastic development, and these changes also translated in the mark that was awarded. These successes not only showed up in my writing but in almost every style of work that we were given throughout the course. I would also mention that I did not only see this progression in myself, but in my team members as well; as individual assignments were enhanced, the skills acquired translated into group projects as well.

            Humanities forces you to be better not only for yourself but also for the others in your team or group, this idea became more prominent than ever before during this English Language Arts portion of Humanities 30. When you are instructed to complete an assignment as a group, most break the assignment up into respective portions. This allows for the persons involved to play to their individual strengths while also relying on the other group members for added input. I know that this format worked best for my group and I and really pushed us to present our best work before out peers. I found that when working with my group we were able to achieve a high level of success on many of our assignments, this was mostly do to our devotion to the project and our sheer desire to do well.

Although my journey in Humanities is really far from over I feel that with the tools I have acquired thus far, combined with those I am sure to obtain over the next three months, I will be propelled into the Bachelor of Commerce program at Red Deer College, equipped with the tools necessary to achieve the upmost level of success in all situations. However this is only the beginning, the skills I have acquired are certain to also help in times well past my school days, I will always carry with me the aspiration to improve all my work as well as the upmost desire to achieve success.   

Independent Readings ( Heart of Darkness, Important Quotes)

**I felt that the Novel Heart of Darkness was a very challenging piece of literature that required much thought and analysis. If given the chance to choose another novel to study I may have done so, simply based on the fact that the novel was very complicated as well as hard to follow. If given a different novel I feel that I would have been able to deliver a better analysis of the book, which is where I really struggled with this piece of literature. That being said I feel that I was able to grasp why the following quotations held merit within the novel.

3 Important Quotes and there Significance

1) “I was within a hair’s-breadth of the last opportunity for pronouncement, and I found with humiliation that probably I would have nothing to say. This is the reason why I affirm that Kurtz was a remarkable man. He had something to say. He said it . . .. He had summed up—he had judged. ‘The horror!’ He was a remarkable man.”

Explanation: When Marlow becomes ill, he wonders whether or not he would have something profound to say, as Mr. Kurtz did. This thought makes him realize that Mr. Kurtz really was a remarkable man since he was able to push through the realization of death to say something meaningful.

2) “The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. By Jove! I’ve never seen anything so unreal in my life.

Explanation: This quote shows how Marlow really feels about the company along with the men who are employed there. Throughout the novel it becomes clear that the majority of the companies employees are fueled by greed and the hunger for ivory. To them the more Ivory they have, the more money they make and the higher up the company ladder they will climb. This is not the way Marlow chooses to live his life and that is the reason why he is so alarmed by what he witnessed.

3)  “The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress; and Kurtz’s life was running swiftly, too, ebbing, ebbing out of his heart into the sea of inexorable time . . .. I saw the time approaching when I would be left alone of the party of ‘unsound method.”

Explanation: When the steamer is finally loaded with the ivory as well as Kurtz, which is most likely the most precious cargo as far as Marlow is concerned, the brown river is the only thing pushing them back towards the river. As they travel down this river the water begins as a brown murky current representing the struggle and suffering that goes on within the stations, as the water becomes increasingly clearer and the ship moves closer to the ocean it symbolizes the group moving closer to civilization. The increasing clarity in the river could also represent Marlow’s increased understanding for Kurtz.

Creative Response (Editorial)

I t’s a difficult question really, one that has been

explored through many facets of literature during modern history. How does one come from a place of internal struggle in order to restore the honor and certainty that they once felt? Isn’t it something that everyone deals with, doesn’t everybody want to feel honor and certainty or at least some mark of distinction in their lives, well I suppose that would depend on the individual. That’s the easy part wanting to feel something; the real challenge is getting to that place and ultimately staying there. Most people go about this in the same way, we try to achieve some form of success and hope that self-gratification will follow.

When we want something desperately when we fail at the first attempt, it is almost natural to try harder the next time in order to achieve or regain the honor and certainty that we once had. It seems that this is most often achieved through a successful endeavor that brings us some sort of honor as well as certainty. Don McKay subtly explains it in the sonnet Setting up the Drums, he says “He is bringing the kitchen, the workshop, screwing wingnuts and attaching brackets, placing the pedals like accelerators, setting up the stands for snare and high hat like decapitated wading birds, How will music make itself walk into the terrible stunned air behind the shed where all the objects looked away. “ to me this means that the man described in the poem is putting in all of the effort necessary to make his music great, and he knows if he does all of the things that are necessary that the music will be of such a quality that it will speak for itself.

This relates to my own life in many ways, at this point in my life the only people who I feel that I need to please are my parents or other adults that I consider important in my life. In order to do this there is a certain standard of excellence that I expect myself to meet everyday. I take this very seriously there for I consciously think about every decision I make in order to maintain honor as well as certainty in my life.

If for some reason this balance that I strive for becomes lost in the chaos, I work exceptionally hard to try and regain it. Usually this is done through my sports. I have learned over fourteen years of team play that when something’s not going your way, the only way to fix it is to work twice as hard in order to ensure that you have the best chance for success. If you give up a goal on one shift, you better be putting forth the extra effort to score a goal on the next. This applies to life in so many ways. In the poem Setting up the Drums it is obvious that the subject is working hard to ensure his success and through that success he will be rewarded with the gratification of honor and well as certainty.