Reflection Painting

Ideas and Content:

My writing demonstrates appropriate ideas and content in my Julius Caesar essay, through my topic. I stay on task, and I don't stray from my main idea and start talking about something irrelevant. For example, I chose to write about Brutus' motivators in my second, third, and fourth paragraphs. I started the paragraph with a topic sentence that relates to the chosen motivator, and I stuck to it. All throughout the essay, I maintained a focused topic.

Organization:

My writing demonstrates appropriate organization in a few ways. One way is with my body paragraphs. In my introduction paragraph, I listed my character traits, and I followed that order for the body paragraphs. 'Brutus’s patriotism to the Roman Republic and his love for honor motivates him to join the conspirators against Caesar.' (1st paragraph) In my body paragraphs, I first explained my choice of patriotism, then I explained my choice of love for honor in my second paragraph. But I can improve my writing to demonstrate superior organization with my evidence and explanations. After reading my essay over, I realize there are places where I should have put one piece of evidence before another piece, instead of the other way round. This gives the reader a better understanding of what I'm saying. Another way I can improve is with my explanations. I sometimes brought in my evidence too soon, and I continued my explanation of the previous evidence after I had already put in a new piece of evidence. I could still make sense, but it wasn't the best organization. But doing these things, I believe I can have better organized essays.

Personal Growth:

I see a lot of improvement with my Julius Caesar essay, compared to my Alchemist essay. This is because I have learned to explain my quotes and statements with more proof and detail. On my Alchemist essay, many of the comments were telling me I needed to explain more, as I mainly only used 1 sentence. But in my Julius Caesar essay, I took more time to explain my statements, and how my quotes were not only related to the topic, but how it was important. But I do feel I could have done more explaining, but we had limited time to write. Overall though, I do see a lot of growth and improvement with my Julius essay, compared to my Alchemist essay.

SLR Reflection:
One SLR I use when crafting an essay is Reason Critically. This is because you must be able to prove your statements with evidence and details, but without going off topic. If you start talking about something irrelevant to your main topic, then your writing isn't going to achieve the goal of writing on a certain topic. You also must be reasoning critically when deciding which pieces of evidence to use. If you have many pieces, you must be able to pick which ones are the best. the ones that are going to prove your point. You must also be careful to not add something that doesn't relate to the evidence, or you will confuse the reader.

The Killing of Caesar - Worthy or Not?

“I know no personal cause to spurn at him, but for the general good.”(2.2 Lines 11-12) Brutus is afraid that if Caesar lives and becomes king, he will become a tyrant, and force all of Rome to live as slaves under his rule. But if he kills Caesar, he isn’t sure how the people will react to it. Brutus is at crossroads, and must make the difficult decision of what’s more important to him. He loves both his friend Caesar, but he also loves the Roman republic. He must decide what to do before it’s to late, or his life as a free man may come to an end. Brutus’s patriotism to the Roman Republic and his love for honor motivates him to join the conspirators against Caesar.

Brutus loves the Roman Republic, and this is one of the reasons why he joins the conspirators. Brutus is motivated in this way because he feels the people aren’t thinking properly. They are so happy to have someone lead them, they aren’t noticing how dangerous it would be to have Caesar as their king. He tries to tell this to the people while at Caesar’s funeral, hoping they will notice their mistakes. “Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (3.2 Lines 21-23) This quotation shows his thinking, and how much he cares about the Roman Republic and the people of Rome. It makes the people see his point of view, and how glad they should be that Caesar is dead. His motivation is shown through wanting to protect the people, and continue living as a free man. This motivator causes Brutus to act very determined, as he wants to protect both the Roman Republic and the people. Brutus is so determined to protect the Roman Republic, that he is even willing to kill himself, and proves this to the people, when talking to them at Caesar’s funeral. “As I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death.” (3.2 Lines 41-43) Brutus is saying that just as he killed his best friend for the good of Rome, he will kill himself too, if it will be for the good of Rome. This shows how loyal and patriotic Brutus is towards the Roman Republic, and living as a free man. But Brutus isn’t just motivated by his patriotism; he is also motivated by his love for honor.

Honor is what Brutus lives for, and he makes sure he bases every decision off of whether it will be good for Rome, or not. He is motivated in this way because he wants to be a true honorable citizen of Rome. He will do anything for his country, as he loves honor more than death. This he tells Cassius early in the play, when Cassius is first trying to convince Brutus to join the conspirators. “If it be aught toward the general good, set honor in one eye, and death i’th’other, and I will look on both indifferently.” (1.2 Lines 84-86) Brutus is telling Cassius that if what Cassius wants him to do is for the general good, he will look at both indifferently, as the cause is for the people, and not himself. This proves that Brutus is motivated by his honor, and will do anything for the people of Rome. This motivator causes Brutus to act very thoughtful, as he won’t do anything if he isn’t sure it’s for the good of Rome. In the end, even Antony claims Brutus was an honorable man, even if they were enemies. “This was the noblest roman of them all. … He joined them only out of loyalty to the people and for the common good. His life was noble.” (5.5 Lines 71-73) This shows how even Brutus’s enemies notice how Brutus only did what he did for the good of Rome, and not for himself. This proves how honor motivated Brutus, as he died fighting for his country, and not himself. Unfortunately, sometimes having honor and patriotism motivating you, you can be easily manipulative, and make some bad decisions.

Brutus had a hard decision to make, and chose the one that matched his motivators the best. Honor and patriotism were what he lived for, and he showed this through his actions and behaviors. He was determined and loyal, which helped him try and reach his goal of saving Rom from both a tyrant, and becoming destroyed. Unfortunately, I believe his goal was only partially met, but it was still a noble goal. Brutus wanted to save Rome from Caesar, and he did, but Caesar’s death led to great destruction and war. This caused the deaths of many people, something Brutus didn’t want. Even though he tried to be honorable and patriotic, he also ended up being easily manipulated. He was convinced that killing Caesar was for the good of Rome, and was the honorable thing to do. Brutus viewed it this way, and since honor and patriotism are his motivators, he agreed. This was his mistake, as if he had taken a little more time to think up other ideas, the war may not have happened. But even though war and destruction did happen, his goal was still noble. He did it for the good of Rome, and not for himself. Unfortunately, things just didn’t happen the way he had planned. But in the end, Brutus died a noble man, fighting for his country.

The Lost Boys of Sudan - Collage Reflection

Thinking Creatively:
One of the creative elements on my collage about the Lost Boys of Sudan, is the 3D element. I chose to have my 6 word memoir be popping out from the paper, because it grabs peoples attention. This is helpful because my collage shows my 6 word memoir, meaning it is important that people know what it is. Another interesting element is the torn edges around some of the pictures. This is helpful because the torn edges symbolize destruction, which is what the Lost Boys have been through. This technique is also helpful because the edges stick up a little, and make the collage look not as flat.

Reason Critically:
My understanding about the Lost Boys situation is shown through the images and text I selected, because they relate closely to what the Lost Boys have been through, what they have, and what they dream of. For example, I showed pictures of men with guns, on both sides of the war, which shows how much shooting and killing is going on. Many of the people with guns look very young, showing that there is so much destruction, they need as many people to fight as possible. The text I chose shows the Lost Boys situation well, as the words describe what they have been through. For example, one word I chose was destruction. This shows my understanding, as I realize how difficult their journey has been. All of the words I chose help to incite people to take action.

Communicate Effectively:
My collage creates awareness for the Lost Boys in a few ways. One way is by choosing images and pictures that show all the destruction they've been through. One of the images I choose was drawn by a Lost Boy, which gives people a more personal idea of what has happened. People don't have to guess, they can see a visual drawn by a victim. My collage also creates awareness through pictures I chose that shows the life of some of the Lost Boys today. One picture shows Peter working at a Walmart collecting carts. This shows how low paying jobs they get, and how difficult it probably is for them to live off of the low salaries.

Live Ethically:
I think my collage demonstrates empathy and might evoke an emotional response from viewers and/or incite them to act because of my combination of images and text. The images and text I chose show how difficult the journey has been, and how they have lost nearly everything. Homes, family, all is gone, and they had to learn to survive on their own. When people hear the Lost Boy's stories, they can't help but feel empathy, and want to do something. By looking at my collage, it just creates more of a feeling in people, that they want to do something to help. My collage adds to the empathy created, and helps incite people into action to help with what they've been through.

Nothing Like Heaven on Earth

The Lost Boys of Sudan - Journey Across the Desert

The Lost Boys of Sudan are a group of over 20,000 boys and some girls, who traveled hundreds of miles across the desert to escape the war going on. Many of the boys and girls parents were killed in the raids, orphaning many of the children who made the journey. Unfortunately, there were many difficulties over the journey. The people crossed the river Gilo to seek asylum in Ethiopia, and lived there for a while. But sadly, the government of Ethiopia fell apart as well, and the newly formed government chased the Lost Boys out of Ethiopia. The people that escaped were taken to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, where the children grew up for the next 11 years. Later, U.S.A. decided to take in 4,000 of the refugee boys, giving them a chance to get a better education and a job to help support their friends, and the family they had left. The boys believed America would be like 'heaven on Earth'. Unfortunately, the chosen boys found it was anything like a heaven on Earth once they were there, and the culture shock was hard to handle.
Many of the boys have told their life stories, and one example is the story of Peter's journey. Peter first started out with a group of friends, all living in the same neighborhood. He and the others received help from the YMCA, but after the first 5 months of living with his friends, he decided he needed to move on. By being with all of his friends, he found it hard to concentrate on why he was really in America. He decided to move away from Houston, Texas, and moved to Kansas. By being away from all his friends, he could make more independent decisions, basing them on what was best for him, and not best for everyone. Another culture shock was schooling. When Peter was growing up, he didn't have a huge school with many classes. But when he finally got into school, he found it difficult to adjust to the size of the school and the amount of homework. While explaining his difficulties to his sister, who is back at the refugee camp, that "I goes to school at 7:00am and comes home at 3:30pm. I prepare and eat my food from 3:30pm to 5:00pm. I go to work at 5:00pm, and come home at 10:00pm. I then do my homework from 10:00pm to 1:00am, then go to bed. Then my day starts all over again." This shows he was also having difficulty with getting a job. This is for two reasons - not fluent in English, and racism. Peter wasn't fluent in English when he first came to America, and most bosses want people to speak English. So Peter ended up doing things like gathering carts from parking lots at Walmart. Not only was this job low pay and not enjoyable, but also came with racism. The lady in charge claimed "since you are from Africa, you can take the heat, and work in the afternoon." This shows how prejudice people were towards the Lost Boys of Sudan. Another way racism was showed, was when Peter was talking to his high school counselor. When asking if he should take the ACT, the counselor replied that people only really take that test if they are going into a 4 year college program. He instead suggested that Peter goes to the community college for 2 years instead, implying that Peter isn't smart enough. But Peter was on the National Honors list, which surprised the counselor a lot. Peter had even written his biography already, giving the counselor a shock. But Peter still kept on dreaming and continuing his life in America, despite the challenges.
All of the Lost Boys of Sudan experienced many difficulties assimilating into American culture, and they all had to find ways to continue on in their journey. Peter coped by moving Kansas, meeting new people, making new friends, receiving schooling and getting a better job. Peter made the best out of his situation, and was able to get through the culture shock and continue on with his life.