IHSS B 2021-22

  Jayla Balderas  Mr. Roddy  IHSS  October 27, 2021                                                The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier  1. How would you describe Jacob Walter's style of writing?  Remember that this is a diary.  Is this the sort of way you would write a diary? The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier isn’t written how the traditional Dairy would be. Usually it's a scribble down of thoughts and feelings that arise due to certain events, but Jacob Walters Style is written out in a more of an autobiography way. It's just a telling of the day's events with the setting descriptions telling the reader how morbid the atmosphere is, but with the lack of emotions that often come with a Dairy. It's very much told i...

Nate Savarese Mr. Roddy IHSS 25 October 2021   1. How would you describe Jacob Walter's style of writing?  Remember that this is a diary.  Is this the sort of way you would write a diary?    I think that he had an interesting style of writing because instead of talking about what was happening as it was happening he was always reflecting on the events. I think I would probably write the same way because he was always marching and he never had time to stop and write. But Im not sure if this is a good writing style for a diary because for me it felt like I was reading a story. 2.  What is a worry that Jacob shares?  What about his setting (physical, temporal, historical) makes this worry unique?  Can you see/feel the human-ness in this worry?     I thought that it was interesting that he was always worrying about his horse over himself. He was always more stressed to get oats and wheat for his horse then getting br...

 Sienna Kissack Mr. Roddy IHSS October 15, 2021 IHSS HW: Native American Writing Response Blog I think one of the themes I've found throughout these stories are how they are hard-working. For example, in the story "My Superhero and Me" the main character was born into poverty by the government. It shows that he never gave up even if his life was difficult. He would ready everything that was given to him. Some examples of what he read were, manuals, books, comics, bulletins, and cereal boxes. The main character said that he would have become a child prodigy if it wasn't for him being born into poverty. It also shows that his parents are hard-working because while the government helps pay for their food and living space, the parents still work hard and earn money for the main character's benefit.

  Jayla Balderas  Mr. Roddy IHSS 20 October 2021                                                             Prisoner of Infidels   Pick a section to note the style of his writing.  How would you characterize it? The last paragraph of the Prisoner of Infidels were the narrator/translator  explains how Osman escaped how he walked in the forest for a couple of days trying to get away and how he had to lie about not being Muslim instead presenting himself as pauper a Serbian Christian. Even after he explains this all to the general the reading ends with Osman becoming a slave again. The style of writing is almost like it's a story from how insane his life is but it's told...

   Pick a section to note the style of his writing.  How would you characterize it? I would characterize his writing style as very literal, but at the same time, it’s exciting for the audience to read. I’m sure that this wasn’t his intention.  What role does his religion play in his thinking?  Give an example. You can tell that he’s very loyal to his religion, and that he’s doing everything possible to get with other Muslim’s and to live in an environment, that he feel smore at home.  What is a decision that he had to make?  Do you think it was a good one? Why or why not? He had to make the decision on leaving his master to attempt to escape to the muslim country of Bosnia. I think that he had nothing to lose by attempting to escape, it’s just in the end the family that was keeping him was outsmarted by the guards.  How does Osman's experience help us understand history?  Why is his experience important? Osman’s experience helped me realize t...

  Nate Savarese Mr. Roddy IHSS 20 October 2021 Pick a section to note the style of his writing. How would you characterize it?     I chose to look at PG 72 paragraph 3. This as-well as other paragraphs were interesting to me because the seemed to switch between a narrator talking about what was happening and actually living in the moment. I think that this is cool because it varies and shows detail through the dialogue and also helps us see the greater picture through the narative. What role does his religion play in his thinking?  Give an example.      His Religion is what keeps him going in my opinion, because his goal is to get to Bosnia and thinking about that is what keeps him happy. PG 3 “....You'll be seeing your fellow muslims in 2-3 days’ I was greatly encouraged to hear this” But his religion also gives him challenges that he needs to overcome like his clothing for example. What is a decision that he had to make?  Do you think it w...

  Pick a section to note the style of his writing.  How would you characterize it? On page 7o there is a small paragraph at the top of the page where he talks with a ten year old boy about what might happen to him and how he escapes. This is a good example of the writing because it incorporates dialogue and movement which can give a lot of insight into writing style. The style is fairly modern, especially for the 1500/1600’s, with the use of first person narrative present. The language, while having some markers of older English format, is also fairly modern, allowing this primary document to be accessible to many. What role does his religion play in his thinking?  Give an example. “I understood God’s will, namely, that my master had no intention of ever granting my freedom,”(71). We see here the role that religion makes in his decision making. Before, he was skeptical of escape, but in this example, and many others we see how his faith in his religion is what pushes ...

  Elijah Saldana Mr. Roddy IHSS 10/20/2021 IHSS prisoner of the infidels Pick a section to note the style of his writing.  How would you characterize it? Throughout the 71st page his style of writing describes what is happening in the exact moment he was experiencing these actions. He is very good at showing us the full picture as well and dictating what is happening not only to himself but what others are doing as well. What role does his religion play in his thinking?  Give an example. On page 71 the general revealed his plan to him and told him that they were going to Vienna and he would stay with him and be his trumpeter. He immediately thought that his master would make him christian and tried to escape. What is a decision that he had to make?  Do you think it was a good one? Why or why not? A major decision that he had to make was when he decided to hide and escape with the help of a family. This decision led to him being caught again and put back into slavery....

  In the readings we read in class I found two common topics among them. The first one would be religion. During the colonization of Native Americans, the Catholic religion was forced upon them. Due to this, their later oral tellings of stories were affected by this religion. One example is in the Iroquois Creation Story. The making of man is heavily similar to the making of man in the catholic church. in Samson Occom's "Sermon Preached at Execution of Moses Paul" he talks about how God leads the way in life. How life is supposed to be cherished and how God "is a living God, he is all life, the fountain of life; and a sinner is a dead soul; there is nothing but death in him." With that being said, another theme I found was the value of life and their land.  They believed that their land was given to them to respect and take care of. Their land did not only have value to them but also was home to their own people.  In Sherman Alexie's Superman and Me, he talk...

 Nate Savarese Mr. Roddy IHSS  15 October 2021 How literature affected Native Americans     After Reading a lot of the articles about Native Americans I decided to write about one common theme thought them all, literature. A long time ago Native Americans were forced out of their homes and into reservations to be "Colonized". The only schools that were offered to them were the Catholic schools. The story "Superman and Me" talks about a young Indian who fell in love with books and made them a huge part of his life, he lived his life paragraph by paragraph, it was the only thing that meant something to him. Then he would go to school with all his knowledge from the books only to be rejected by his race. Books were what made him happy but he couldn't share with others because he was different. He keeps going, and becomes a writer who now tries to help young Native Americans just like pass through the tough life. I Really liked this story because he h...

Alexandre Maciel Mr. Roddy IHSS 10/15/2021 Native American Writing Response Blog       In the articles, I noticed how Christianity, and adapting with outside people became a common theme. In the Early American Literature article, most of the stories talked about their encounters with the Americans, how they were treated "less than human". Although these readings only became available in the 1960s, many stories about Native American experiences go back more than 300 years. Humiliation and how they were forced to adapt with "outsiders" struct them hard, especially after when President Jackson removed lands from the Natives and forced them into a territory in present day Oklahoma. Many refused at first, but when the Americans came to their homes, they agreed, and feeling humiliated traveled the trail of tears. Out of the Native Americans who didn't agree to travel at first, some of their children would be taken from their families, and be converted to Christianity....

 Ryn IHSS Mr. Roddy 10/14/21                     The Theme of Books and Reading in the Samson Occom Sermon and "Superman and Me"      In Samson Occom's sermon, the theme of reading is fairly prominent among the topic of God and religion. The man seems to really value reading, though he was forced to master the English language and subject to the wrath of the missionaries. The fact that he valued reading despite being forced to learn, really goes to show how important books really are. The same general idea applies to Sherman Alexie's "Superman and Me".  In the text, the narrator shows to absolutely adore reading and books. Though he was pressured by his companions in the reservation to be stupid and be what was expected of him, he continued to openly love books and learning. Both narrators were put under pressure on what to feel about literature. One was forced to learn and adhere to the path set before...

  Religion played a central role in driving the European conquest of North America. Europeans used Christianity in two primary ways when conquering different parts of the world. Christianity was used to protect the morality of the European colonizers and justify their oppressive treatment of Natives. Jonathan Eacott writes in Selling Empire, that converting Natives to Christianity was a significant argument toward British expansion into India and America in the late 1500s. The people in power during the time of conquest in the Americas helped spread the belief that conquering the Native Americans and taking their lands was doing God’s work. The Europeans also defended the maltreatment of Native Americans through this same belief, claiming this was helping them turn to God. Some Europeans even expected praise from the Natives for their ‘help’. Christianity was also used as a tool for control over the Natives. By trying to force Natives to believe in Christianity, they could more ea...

  Jayla Balderas  Mr. Roddy  IHSS 12 October 2021                                                         IHSS Blog: Role models  One Theme I noticed within Alexie’s Superman and Me Essay was the importance of Role Models. Both with Alexies personal Role Model and the one he played for others. From the very start of the reading it's told that Superman was the reason Alexie learned how to read. Some Role Models within life will be ones that you will follow for the rest of your life, while others like the one in his essay would just be a small door that will open the gateway for a much larger role in one's life. In the paragraph where he explains how he looks at panels within the superman comic...

I want to discuss the biblical themes in the Iroquois creation story because I think it'll be an interesting thing to look at and because I think it will help me reflect upon my own cultural biases. In addition to his cultural biases, the English writer clearly made a number of just syntax errors in his translation. I think the most obvious one is his use of the word monsters to describe the creatures under the earth. From the story, it seems like the "monsters" are simply neutral observers. But besides this I think the nomenclature is mostly accurate at least there weren't any obvious errors. But now, to discuss the western cultural influences in the retelling. Or at least the similarities between the retelling and biblical stories. The similarity that stands out the most to me is the hell afterlife being under the earth. The other interesting bit was the world creation story and the idea that light was created by god. And interestingly the battle of good vs evil.  P...

  The theme I wanted to follow was in the text about the Iroquois origin story. I noticed this story highlights how good outshines evil, and likewise, light outshines the darkness.  The first piece of evidence I found that supports this, was the monster’s ability to help the sky lady. Though they are portrayed as monsters, and evil, the good in them outweighed this standard and allowed them to help. They saved the woman’s life, even when she posed as no benefit to them, they simply wanted to do good despite their ‘bad’ reputation.  The two twins contrasted each other, one being good and the other evil. During their uprising, it was clear which of the two was more powerful, the good-minded child. The good child wished to bring light upon the dark, and seemingly evil world, but his brother disapproved. The good-minded sibling, because he was superior to the evil twin, made the world light. The evil twin was so distraught by this action he tried to sabotage the world by ...

Everest Leo Mr. Roddy IHSS 13 October 2021 Themes Within The Native American Writings     One theme that I noticed when I read the Native American Writings was that none of them could escape the slightly Non-Native-American-Centric view. A very pronounced example of this is how, in Sherman Alexie's Story, he made it seem (whether on purpose or not) like Native Americans were never the main focus. Nothing seems to be built around the Native Americans (who were here first) and instead we forced them to live around us. In the writing by Samson Occom, there was little mention of Native Americans and it instead focused more on God and things that originate from Catholicism. Although the focus of the writing was religious, it shows us that assimilation into the colonizer's culture was very present as these are all things that were introduced by the colonizers. Even the Iroquois creation story, which is supposed to be a completely original story created by the Iroquois, is inter...

 Native American writing response Throughout this story we see a recurring theme of the importance of role models, and the effect they have on you. we see this theme when he is talking about how much the superman books helped him learn to read better. and how even though he grew up in poverty he still learned to read with the help from his hero. this empowered him to teach other kids like him. kid's that grew up in poverty like him and struggled reading in school and helped them. just like superman helped him when he was a child. the influence of his role model helped him become what he is today. this story show's how good influences can effect you in a positive way. and I hope that this story has showed you how powerful books can be.