Reconstruction

Reconstruction refers to the time period, (1860's to 1870's) that the south was "redesigned" in.

The idea behind reconstructing the south was a great idea because the government was actually trying to help former slaves by creating laws that gave

them equal, (or what was considered to be equal) rights as everybody else. Several laws were made protecting former slaves and their families, which was a wonderful thing. Plus, it was during the reconstruction that it was officially made illegal to own slaves.

The problem was that after Lincoln, this vision for a pro-active, colorblind America disappeared. President Johnson was racially insensitive for the most part and often okayed laws going against former slaves and their families. President Grant on the other hand wanted to help the slaves, he just didn't feel like putting in the effort to help them himself. He sat back and watched southern democrats take over the south and destroy all of the reforms they had been trying to make, sending the south right back to square one.

It is incredibly relevant today because even though racial tension is still a very real part of certain societies, if reconstruction had never happened,

slavery in America might still exist to this day. If the government had just said "slavery is over" after the Civil War and nothing else was said or done, then it's very likely that things in the south would have completely reverted back to the way they were and

there wouldn't be any "official" law saying that people couldn't still own slaves.

Unfortunately though, reconstruction created something horrible that still exists to this day, the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan, (or the KKK for short)

was created by angry confederate soldiers just after the civil war ended. The KKK's mission was to "take care of" anybody of a different ethnicity/race from themselves, along with anybody who supported the fight against slavery and the fight for equal rights etc. The KKK is still an active group to this day and is constantly growing in numbers (citation 1). Horrible things are still being done to people who are different than them, (though not as often luckily). Hopefully one day, not too long from now, people will be able to see each other for what they really are, people.

Citation

1) Horwitz, Tony. Confederates in the Attic. New York City: Pantheon Books, 1998.

Media Saves Mission Bay, Part Two

"The study contradicts a popular notion that Mission Bay is unsafe for use most of the year. The idea originated in the 1980s when Mission Bay experienced many sewage overflows and pollution from storm drains throughout the year."

This is from an article explaining how Mission Bay is now safe for people to swim in with only a slight chance of them getting sick. It mentions how a lot of people aren't sure if Mission Bay is safe to swim in because of mass amounts of sewage that often flows into it. Scientists claim that the bay is safe for people to swim in, but only just. You can find out more information by looking up Mission Bay online to see how long ago it was considered to be "unsafe" to swim in Mission Bay, also, you can check to see how long ago the last rain was, (the more recent the rain, the more sewage there is).

This ties into the class and the project "Media Saves the Beach" because, even though it's not technically a beach, Mission Bay is known for being incredibly unsanitary, which makes it a good area to test, (that way we could find out what we are actually swimming in). Also, since Mission Bay is known for being unsanitary, it would be a good place to talk about, since so many people enjoy swimming and sailing there.

Click to read the rest of the article.

Media Saves Mission Bay, Part One

I think that Mission Bay would be a great place to look at when it comes to water pollution. I know that Mission Bay isn't technically a "beach", but a lot of people enjoy going there for weekends and vacation. A lot of water sports take place at Mission Bay, such as my sport, rowing. People don't usually seem to realize that they can, (and have) get sick or get infections because of the water in the bay.

I would love to make a video about the bay since it is an important place to me and I would like to see it get taken better care of. I've had to pick up plastic bags and glass bottles from the bay multiple times and I've been able to actually see oil in the bay before. I don't want to see the bay treated this way since it is such an important place to me, and I want the pollution of it to stop.

Final Product

Thile and Me

I was eight years old the first time I heard the music of Chris Thile. My dad had bought yet another CD that he claimed all of us would love, (which usually wasn’t the case) and insisted that we listen to it on the drive to school. I protested, but in the end he inserted the disk and began to drive.

The disk began to play, sounding nothing like the horrible synthesized “music” I was used to, (considering it was the 90’s). The sound that came out of the speakers was soft and unfamiliar. There was no singing, just a guitar, a violin, and an instrument I had never heard before. A mandolin, a beautiful little instrument that has the most incredible sound in the world that nobody knows about. It sounded like a violin, but it was played like a guitar. I already played the violin, so this new sound intrigued me. I listened to the album over and over until my parents were the ones protesting. The longer I listened, the more I knew I had to play the little wooden instrument called a mandolin.

With countless hours of bickering and pleading, I finally convinced my parents to let me take lessons. They took me to “The House of Strings”, a small music store near my house that people often taught out of. When my teacher Walt asked me why I wanted to play the mandolin so badly, I told him that I heard someone named Chris Thile play, and I wanted to be just like him.

That was when I discovered that the love of the mandolin wasn’t the only similarity we shared. My new teacher not only knew Chris Thile, he played with him regularly. He told me that Chris Thile had started playing when he was only five years old, just a few years younger than I was. He told me of the dedication and love that he had for the instrument, and how no matter how many hours it took or how bloody his fingers would get, he never stopped playing. His dedication quickly led him to the title, “World’s Greatest Mandolin Player”.

I knew when I heard those words that Chris Thile was no longer my icon just because he was a fantastic musician, but because he was a fantastic person. He never gave up on the things he loved and with time and great patience, he ended up leading himself to amazing places. As cliché as it sounds, I felt inspired. I felt inspired to not only continue playing my instrument, but to lead my life by his example. If I loved something, I could never give up on it.

Eight years later, I still sit in my room listening to that CD, pretending to play along in the air. I’m no Chris Thile, and I probably never will be, but I still follow his lead to this day. I play my mandolin regularly and I know that I have improved with time and dedication. I follow his teachings in my everyday life. I try my hardest, I don’t let little roadblocks get in my way, and I do what I love. I may not ever be Chris Thile, but I will always admire him.

Citations

Thile, Chris. "Ode to a Butterfly." Rec. 21 Mar. 2000. Nickel Creek. Nickel Creek. Alison Krauss, 2000. CD.

"Chris Thile Interview," Personal interview. 2000.

Reflection

I discovered that I don't like writing about myself. It's hard for me and I don't enjoy doing it. My writing seems very childish and unprofessional when I have to write about myself and I think that if I wanted my writing to actually be something that I considered to be one of my better pieces of writing, then I would have needed to make a lot more drafts than I did. Also, I think it would have come out much better if I had more time to work on it.

I tried to stay away from "-ing" words. I replaced most of those words with "-ed" words etc. I think it helped my writing flow better, which is always a good thing. Also, I tried to make my writing a "concert" not a "pancake", (but I have a feeling that everybody tried to do that). There were definitely parts in my writing that could have been MUCH better, but in the end, I think it turned out alright. There were a lot of very, for lack of better words, cheesy parts to my artist statement. I used lines such as, "I felt inspired to do my best" and "I try my hardest to be a good person" and things like that. If I had a lot of time, (and a big red pen) to make a third draft, I would want to get rid of all of those lines and replace them with something a bit deeper.

"A mandolin, a beautiful little instrument with the most incredible sound in the world that nobody knows about." I am particularly proud of this line because not only was it written better than most of the lines in my artist statement, but it really showed that I was interested in the mandolin, since so few people do know what it is. I think it gives people a good idea of what a mandolin is and why I like it so much.

Icon Picture

Photography Techniques

Side Lighting: Where lighting comes from only one side of the image. This can help give the image a slightly serious look, which is similar to some of Chris Thile's images. I think that it could help understand the type of music Chris Thile makes along with the fact that it makes for a nice effect.

Rule of Thirds: Where the screen is divided into nine squares so that you can choose which section of the image you want your focus point to be at. I think that this will help my photo look more professional since my image wouldn't be up in a random area or take up only a little piece of the image.

Posed Portraits: Posing for an image. I want to make my picture look very similar to one I have of Chris Thile. Since I have an image in my head of what I want already, I think that it would be good to actually pose for the picture.

Artist Statement

I received a lot of feedback about how I need to include myself in my writing more, since I only talked about myself a little. I don't really like writing about myself and I'm not very good at writing about myself either, so this particular piece of writing is going to be rather tough for me.

I'm not going to edit my first draft, I never do it's just how I work.

I quickly write out a rough draft, just to get my initial thoughts and ideas down on paper, so I have something to work off of. Then, I completely scratch that draft and start fresh, and that becomes the draft that I work off of.

So, for my new draft, I intend on writing about myself much more, then fitting Chris Thile, (my American icon) into the story, then I will work from there.



Chris Thile, Second Draft

I remember being eight years old the first time I heard the music of Chris Thile. My dad had bought yet another CD that he claimed all of us would love, (which most of the time wasn’t the case) and insisted that we listen to it on the drive to school. With great protest, he inserted the disk and began to drive. I never would have thought that one disk could change my life so much.

The music began to play, sounding nothing like the horrible synthesized music I was used to, (considering the 90’s had just ended). The sound that came out of the speakers was soft and unfamiliar. There was no singing, just a guitar, a violin, and something I had never heard before. A mandolin, a beautiful little instrument that nobody knows about. It sounded like a violin, but it was played like a guitar. I already played the violin, so this new sound intrigued me. I listened to the album over and over until my parents started protesting. I knew that I had to play that instrument, the little wooden creation called a mandolin.

With countless hours of bickering and pleading, I finally convinced my parents to let me take lessons. I went to “The House of Strings” a small music store near my house that people often taught out of. When my teacher Walt asked me why I wanted to play the mandolin, I told him that I heard someone named Chris Thile do it, and I wanted to be like him.

That was when I discovered that my love of the mandolin wasn’t the only similarity I shared with him. My new music teacher not only knew Chris Thile, but also helped teach him how to play. He told me that Chris Thile had started playing when he was five years old, just a few years younger than myself. He told me of the dedication and love that he had for the instrument, and how no matter how many hours it took or how bloody his fingers would get, he would never stop playing. By the time he was twelve he was signed to a record label and in just a few years he was officially titled the world’s greatest mandolin player.

I knew when I heard those words that Chris Thile was no longer my icon just because he was a fantastic musician, but because he was a fantastic person. He never gave up on the things he loved and with time and great patience; he ended up leading himself to amazing places. Though it’s cliché, I felt inspired. I felt inspired to not only continue playing and practicing my instrument, but to lead my life by his example. Never giving up on your dreams, never giving up on the thing you believe in, and never giving up on yourself.

Eight years later, I still sit in my room listening to that CD, pretending to play along in the air. I’m no Chris Thile, but I still follow his lead. I play my mandolin regularly and over time, I know that I have improved. I follow his teachings in my everyday life, I try my hardest, I don’t let little road blocks get in my way, and I do what I love. I may not ever be Chris Thile, but I still want to be like him.

Sources

Philippe Petit

Movie, "Man on Wire": Man on Wire is a documentary all about Philippe Petit's struggle to walk across the twin towers. This film shows his persistence and the preparation it took for him to finally complete his dream.

Website, Article on Philippe Petit: This is a short article written about Petit's high wire adventure across the twin towers. This article gives a bit more insight onto what he did and why he did it, which helps give you more of an idea why he cared about walking across the towers so much

Chris Thile

Album, "This Side": One of Chris Thile's albums. This album inspired me to play the mandolin because I thought the sound was so amazing.

Website, Punch Brothers: This is Chris Thile's page off of one of his band's websites, "Punch Brothers". It includes a short biography about him and talks about his several musical achievements.

American Icons

Philippe Petit

While I would never dream of doing what this man did or even fully understand why he did it, I still admire Philippe Petit for doing what others believed to be the impossible.

Philippe Petit, a french tight-rope walker, is one of my greatest inspirations. He is one of the few people in the world that can say he followed his dreams and never gave up. In 1974, Petit did the impossible, he lived out his dream. After six long years of planning, for forty-five minutes, he lived his dream. He walked a tight-rope across the tops of the twin towers.

Philippe Petit is an inspiration to me because in this day and age, you don't hear of many people trying to follow their dreams. The concept is completely ridiculous to most and my saying that I respected Petit for his dedication made many of my friends laugh, thinking it was a bad reason to admire somebody.

But I still admire him. Nowadays, it is practically unheard of, somebody following their dreams no matter what. You usually hear, "If this time doesn't work out, I'm changing my career." and I have had similar thoughts as well, but after watching Petit's documentary "Man on Wire" I knew that I couldn't give up on my dreams, a cliche as that sounds, it's true. I know what I want to do, and I know it will be hard, but after watching a man walk a thin rope in between the two tallest buildings in the world at the time, I knew I could reach my goals in life too.

To me, Phillipe Petit represents anybody who never gave up on their dreams. Phillipe Petit never gave up on himself or his dreams, and to me, there is nothing more admirable than that.


Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor is one of my idols because she does what I want to do when I step into the real world. She is a film director, a field that few women have ever succeeded in. She directed my all time favorite film "Across the Universe" and directed the Broadway production of "The Lion King". Both of those works were beautiful and artistically done and I feel more inspired and excited about film making every time I watch her work.

I believe that Julie Taymor will inspire more women to follow her footsteps. She was the first woman to ever win a Tony Award for best director for her musical "The Lion King" and her film "Across the Universe" was nominated for a Grammy award. She has accomplished things that few women have ever tried to do, and I feel that she is an inspiration for joining, (and thriving) in such a competitive field.

Julie Taymor is a true American icon in my eyes because she has opened up doors for women that weren't open before. She is one of the only female directors whose name is slowly becoming more and more known and I have so much respect for her because of it. She made history when she became the first women to ever win a Tony Award and she will continue to make history when she becomes one of the most known directors in the world. I admire her, and more than that, I want to be like her. I dream of becoming a film director, and watching what she has accomplished, I know I can succeed. She's not only an American icon, she's my icon.


Chris Thile

I always loved to listen to music, but I never actually thought about creating my own until I listened to Chris Thile.

Chris Thile started playing when he was only five years old, and released his first record at twelve. In only a few years time, he was titled the best mandolin player in the world, and for good reason. I only had to listen to one song from him before I knew that I had to learn how to play the mandolin, a small beautiful instrument that is highly under appreciated.

Chris Thile represents real American music. He doesn't use computers or synthesizers to create music, he just plays. It is rare to hear somebody really play anymore,
so I love listening to his music, it's such a breath of
fresh air. While he does sing, he is one of the few people that still creates instrumentals, so that you can just enjoy and appreciate the instrument. It reminds me of what music used to sound like.

Chris Thile has been making an impact on America since he was twelve years old. He has been making real American music for years, and he will continue making it for years to come. I love playing the mandolin, and I dream of having half the talent he does. I respect and admire Chris Thile for never forgetting what he loved, because it aloud me to love his music too.

Junior Year

I'm sure that everybody has at least one or two of the same goals that I do, after all, I have several goals for myself this year. Like everyone else, I want good grades, great SAT scores and an internship that opens up new doors and leads me to great opportunities.

But I want my junior year to be more than just good grades and doing well academically. I want something that can often be a bit harder to reach. I want to make sure that I'm learning. There are times when people will ask me what I learned in school that day and I honestly can't say anything. I don't want there to be a single day that I can't respond. I want to be able to look at something and explain where it came from or how it was discovered because I learned about it in class and I never forgot it. I want to show off my projects and explain to people how complex the process was and they would be amazed.

But more than anything, I want the things I learned to stay with me all the way to the SATs.

What I want, not just from humanities class but from all of my classes, is serious help preparing for the SATs. I choke up around tests and I don't understand how the questions are written half the time, but I know that if I speak up and explain exactly what I need help with, I can have the best, most successful year of my life.

I am ready to learn, so let's make this a great year!