TOW #10 - White Nationalists Celebrate 'an Awakening' After Donald Trump's Victory

In today's society, people all around the world get their daily dosage of the news from social media applications like twitter, snapchat, and instagram. Its very upsetting that even in the twenty first century, Americans still have their own terrorist groups like the KKK and other white supremacy groups. I haven't really seen much of them before the recent election but now I can feel their presence among America. Authors Alan Rapperport and Noah Weiland of the New York Times use a warning tone to tell Americans that the terror groups of the 1960s are back. " For years, they have lurked in the web’s dark corners, masking themselves with cartoon images and writing screeds about the demise of white culture under ominous pseudonyms," the authors from the New York Times describe these white domination enthusiasts as monsters by using dark words such as "lurked, ominous, and masking." The writers purpose for writing "White Nationalist Celebrate 'an Awakening' After Donald Trump's Victory" is to make Americans (especially minorities0 aware that these groups aren't nightmares of the past. I chose to read this article because my older sister goes to the Ohio State University and during our weekly FaceTime call she told me, "The KKK was spotted in Louisville." My family just moved from Fort Knox, Kentucky which is only about thirty minuets from Louisville. When she asked me this I thought, 'of course they were, Kentucky is a southern state.' But then that got me very curious to see if there were any other kkk spotting in America. To my surprise the KKK has been spotted in Louisiana, Indiana, Texas, Connecticut, and Georgia just since Donald Trump has been chosen to be the president elect. I think that its good that these groups are starting to show themselves more because then, I won't have to guess who is plotting behind my back. I think that the authors did reach their purpose because it is bringing awareness to people across America.

IRB #2 - Founding Brothers

Historian and author, Joseph J. Ellis, takes his audience behind the scenes of what really happened during the 1700s. This biography explains what type of relationship the founding brothers had and how especially vital it was for them to be allies instead of enemies. I chose to read this book because my older sister read it and she said that it really helped her to make connections in her AP United States History class. In APUSH, we are discussing the founding fathers and what their roles were, so I am very excited to finish this book because I believe that it will help me better understand the content that I am learning in my other classes.

TOW #9 - Anti - Trump Protests Stretch

This week I have chosen to write my blog on a more serious topic, the United States President Elect; Donald Trump. Yes I realize that my voice doesn't really matter in this election because I am not old enough to vote, but I am old enough to know how the world works. I am old enough to know that America has made an enormous mistake. People like me have realized that this election can set us up for our future or our failure. In response to the new President Elect, people across the nation have reacted by taking to the streets and peacefully protesting. CNN authors Ralph Ellis, Khushbu Shah and Azadeh Ansari, have shown that people are protesting in major cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and even Donald Trump's hometown New York City. In this article the authors use a concerning tone, even though they are not supposed to be biased. In my opinion, this article's purpose was to inform the American public that young people actually care about what could happen in the future. Protesters walk through the streets holding signs and chanting "Not my president." This makes me kind of upset though. It makes me wonder, if so many people are against Donald Trump, then where were they in the polls? The majority of states where red, rather than blue and thousands of people are protesting. Then, you have the people in the Republican Party that say, "when Obama was elected we didn't say anything," but yes they did protest and it was disgusting. If you look at the picture on the right you will understand what I am talking about. In my opinion, this article was very effective because it really woke up my inner activist. It showed me that I am not alone and my thoughts actually do matter.

TOW #8 - IRB

I finished The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls quicker than I expected so it was really hard for me to find another book that I actually wanted to read. Then I thought, I could use a little more help in AP United States History; why not read a book on the founding fathers? My IRB book is called Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis. Ellis's other works pertain to American history, some of which including: His Excellency: George Washington, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, and First Family: Abigail and John. As you can probably see, Joseph J. Ellis is a Historian and graduate from Yale and the College of William and Mary. He is also the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History.

The Beginning of the book introduces some household names, like George Washington, Aaron Burr, John Quincy Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Along with those well known names, Ellis also mentions some of the people "behind the scenes," like John Jay, Nathaniel Pendleton, Thomas Scott, and Edward Coles, to mention a few. I believe that Ellis's purpose so far is to show who the Revolutionary Generation was and to show who really built our nation.

Once I started to read the first chapter I was instantly excited. I would consider myself a big fan of "Hamilton: An American Musical," and the first chapter just happens to be titled: The Duel. In this duel, Vice President Aaron Burr shoots Alexander Hamilton because Hamilton did not endorse Burr in his presidential race against Thomas Jefferson. Ellis helps to connect with his audience by using an informative tone. Unlike the author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss, Ellis does not use a sarcastic or humorous tone with his audience but more of a serious tone to explain how important this duel was to the foundation of American History. In my opinion, this book can help students in history classes because Ellis thoroughly explains the events.

TOW #7 - The Science of Sleepy Teenagers"

Almost everyday I come into school extremely tired. So many teenagers and high school students do. According to Slate author, Russell Foster, “school schedules make them grouchy, impulsive, and humorless." According to the article “The Science of Sleepy Teenagers,” teenagers need about nine hours of sleep a night in order to be alert throughout the day. The national statics show that the average American teenager goes to sleep at midnight. So why does our school start at 7:30 if teenagers need approximately nine hours of sleep per night? Many scientist have noticed that if people do not get enough sleep in their youth, it can lead to poor health in the future; like metabolic changes, insensitivity, low glucose in the blood, and diabetes. Russell Foster I think is trying to inform people that the teens of the world need sleep.
Without it we physically cannot function. According to this article, "all in all, a tired adolescent is a grumpy, moody, insensitive, angry, and stressed one." This shows that these poor sleeping schedules may promote the likelihood of smoking and drinking caffeinated drinks. Schools around the world are starting to notice the horrible effects that sleep deprivation can have on teenagers. A school in Newcastle, U.K., moved its start time to 10 a.m., which showed signs of a higher morale in students at the school.
An important rhetorical strategy is tone because the author of this article writes using a very informative voice. He lists a plethora of facts throughout this piece which helps convince his audience that teenagers should not be going to school so early in the morning. In my opinion, I can believe that Russell Foster achieved his purpose because this explains the reason why teenagers are still "half asleep" when they come to school in the morning. I think this essay will influence specifically the teachers because students aren't always sleeping in their classes because they are bored, but because they are exhausted.