Meditate on the events of quarter one. How did you do in this class? What did you learn? Which of your academic skills improved? Where are you still struggling? How is the class environment? What can you do to further strengthen the learning community in our classroom? What are your goals for Q2? Basically, how did things go for you and what can you do to improve or to make things more successful for yourself and others?
I’m quite pleased with the outcome of first quarter in terms of my grade. I learned a lot about analysis of movies and photographs. I never really thought about how people actually take the time to plan those things and give movies a different affect. I’ve seen movies before with the different angles and shadows, but now I know what the directors are trying to portray with their techniques and recognize them. Also, my academic skills have improved when it comes to essay writing; I think I understand the structure of an essay very well. Going into my freshman year I felt like I knew absolutely nothing about writing essays so the very first five-paragraph essay was a large blow and then at the end of the year I thought I knew exactly how to write a good essay. Unfortunately, I was wrong and I was not as good as I thought. Although I didn’t do terribly on our essay for quarter one, I still do not exactly understand how to form a strong thesis. I understand how to find themes, but putting them together is something that I struggle with. I think I have a better grasp on the concept now that we have practiced it, but I would like to get a lot better. Lastly, I like our class environment, it is a fun atmosphere but at the same time most of us know when it is time to work and not play so much. We all probably could become more successful in the class if everyone came to school prepared, for instance that one day during first quarter when almost half the class didn’t do their homework, it was really hard for us to work efficiently because few students had done the homework. I’m a little nervous for our large research paper coming up, because I tend to become repetitive when I’m trying to reach a page limit, but I’m hoping for the best!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
OR#5 Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
Who are the main characters of your book? Describe their personality and what seems to motivate them.
Stan Smith-
An American white man who helps Mark find a college in America that will accept him on a tennis scholarship. He befriends Mathabane after meeting him at a tennis tournament. Stan's motivation is to help Mathabane live a better, and more fair life. He wants to help Mark get out of the apartheid in South Africa where he will always be treted like a slave and to some place where his talents would be more appreciated.
Arthur Ashe-
An Black American tennis player, and the first black man to win at Wimbledon. Ashe has huge influence on Mathabane's life when he comes to play tennis in South Africa. His motivation seems to be to break the racial barrier in America and in South Africa by using the game of tennis. He moitivates Johannes to want to become a great tennis player just like him and teaches him that a black man can actually do something more in the world than run from the police. When Mathabane first hears of Arthur Ashe he exclaims," I couldn't even begin to imagine how a black man could become so good in a sport dominated by whites" (208). Before learning about Aurhur Ashe Mathabane didn't think he could ever succeed in tennis simply becuase he wasn't white, but after learning about Arthur Ashe, even though he lost the game in South Africa, Johannes thinks he could too possibly become like Arthur Ashe one day.
Aunt Bushy, Granny and Uncle Piet-
Aunt Bushy is Granny's teenage daughter who lives at home. She tries her hardest to help Johannes with school by giving him money for lunch and paying for his school trips (226). Johannes described Granny as the most beautiful black woman in the world, and she loves Johannes more than anything. She even says to him, "As long as i have you child, I don't need a husband" (226). Granny did her best to help finance Mathabane's schooling even though it was quite expensive. She knew that Johannes needed and education to do well in life in the future and along with his mother forces him to go despite his complaints. The motivation of all three of these characters is to help Johannes get an education and be able to live better than they did. The three of them continuosly supplied him with money for school whenever they could which allowed Johannes more time to focus on tennis and less time on finding a job and working (226).
Wilfred-
Met Johannes while he was working at the tennis ranch, Wilfred is a German tennis player living in South Africa with his South African wife and son. He respects black people and treats Johannes nicely. When Wilfred hears how hard the blacks live in the ghettos he is stunned because in the white world they never hear the truth about anything going on in the black world. Wilfred asks Mark to tell his stories of the harsh apartheid to the whole bar later at night and Mark agrees. His motivation is to help blacks be treated at least as humans. He asked Mark to speak at the bar because he wanted others to know and realize how unfair and shocking it is. Wilfred really likes Mark and was apalled by the way Mark was treated for his entire life.
Stan Smith-
An American white man who helps Mark find a college in America that will accept him on a tennis scholarship. He befriends Mathabane after meeting him at a tennis tournament. Stan's motivation is to help Mathabane live a better, and more fair life. He wants to help Mark get out of the apartheid in South Africa where he will always be treted like a slave and to some place where his talents would be more appreciated.
Arthur Ashe-
An Black American tennis player, and the first black man to win at Wimbledon. Ashe has huge influence on Mathabane's life when he comes to play tennis in South Africa. His motivation seems to be to break the racial barrier in America and in South Africa by using the game of tennis. He moitivates Johannes to want to become a great tennis player just like him and teaches him that a black man can actually do something more in the world than run from the police. When Mathabane first hears of Arthur Ashe he exclaims," I couldn't even begin to imagine how a black man could become so good in a sport dominated by whites" (208). Before learning about Aurhur Ashe Mathabane didn't think he could ever succeed in tennis simply becuase he wasn't white, but after learning about Arthur Ashe, even though he lost the game in South Africa, Johannes thinks he could too possibly become like Arthur Ashe one day.
Aunt Bushy, Granny and Uncle Piet-
Aunt Bushy is Granny's teenage daughter who lives at home. She tries her hardest to help Johannes with school by giving him money for lunch and paying for his school trips (226). Johannes described Granny as the most beautiful black woman in the world, and she loves Johannes more than anything. She even says to him, "As long as i have you child, I don't need a husband" (226). Granny did her best to help finance Mathabane's schooling even though it was quite expensive. She knew that Johannes needed and education to do well in life in the future and along with his mother forces him to go despite his complaints. The motivation of all three of these characters is to help Johannes get an education and be able to live better than they did. The three of them continuosly supplied him with money for school whenever they could which allowed Johannes more time to focus on tennis and less time on finding a job and working (226).
Wilfred-
Met Johannes while he was working at the tennis ranch, Wilfred is a German tennis player living in South Africa with his South African wife and son. He respects black people and treats Johannes nicely. When Wilfred hears how hard the blacks live in the ghettos he is stunned because in the white world they never hear the truth about anything going on in the black world. Wilfred asks Mark to tell his stories of the harsh apartheid to the whole bar later at night and Mark agrees. His motivation is to help blacks be treated at least as humans. He asked Mark to speak at the bar because he wanted others to know and realize how unfair and shocking it is. Wilfred really likes Mark and was apalled by the way Mark was treated for his entire life.
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