Document Interpretation 5: Moral Reform Movements
This assignment was very significant to me as it tied to issues in present day America. Till this day women all over the world continue to fight for equal rights; even women living in America (aka "the land of the free.") Issues such as equal pay, positions in authority and sexual harassment are just a few of the topics of debate when it comes to equal rights of the sexes. Beyonce, one of the most influential Artists of our time is one of the few in mainstream media who sheds light on the topic in her music. She often refers to feminism and provides the definition of feminism at her worldwide stadium tours. Though we have come very far in improving the social and economical fair treatment of the sexes, we still have work to do. The LGBT community is also to be kept in mind when speaking on the topic of fair treatment. The LGBT community has come very far in the past few years in demanding fair treatment regardless of sexual identity.
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Elizabeth Sprigs: Letter Home
This assignment was very eye opening to me due to the fact that it made me understand the section we were studying through a narrative. By reading the text it gave me an insight on the life of a servant. The details about hardships surrounding food and clothing give the reader a sense of how hard times were and thats why this assignment was significant. I learned a how to dissect text and dig deeper even though at times it was hard to understand the dialect in which she spoke. I believe this assignment helped improve my reading comprehension skills which will be helpful in every other subject I move on to. I found the text to be quite intriguing as though the vocabulary was a tad tricky, the letter was full of emotion such as regret, sorrow and helplessness.
Elizabeth Sprigs; a servant- writes to her father pleading for help as she is being abused abroad. Right off the bat you can tell how bad the conditions must have been for the servants if a girl who is not on good terms with her father is writing to him overseas begging for help. She is a white woman serving as a servant for one term in exchange for transportation to the Americas. At this time it was a cheaper way to have a slave if you sponsored their trip across the sea in exchange for a term or 5 years of “help.” Reading the first paragraph of the text, it is clear that Elizabeth and her father had some sort of dispute as she writes about being banished from his sight. She seems awfully regretful about her decision to become a servant and hopes she is not being a bother to her father. Elizabeth goes on to ask for clothing to be sent to her as she did not know that servants were supposed to provide themselves with their own tools. The only thing she is provided with is a blanket to sleep with at night. She talks about the abuse that she is enduring and it seems like she is being painfully hit as well as sexually assaulted by her master. She also talks about how she is working maintaining the horses and how she feels like an animal herself. Elizabeth is being fed corn and salt and states that she feels like a malnourished animal.
Moctezuma’s Greeting to Hernan Cortes
While reading Moctezuma’s Greeting to Hernan Cortes I learned a lot about reading comprehension. Prior to completing this assignment, I was having trouble understanding the idea of ‘the other.’ I had read about it in lecture and read about it on the web but I couldn’t seem to grasp the idea. I even watched YouTube videos desperately hoping that one of them would assist me in understanding the concept however none of them did. I was starting to believe that
I would just never fully understand the concept of ‘the other’ until I completed the documents interpretation assignment. When I read Moctezuma’s Greeting to Hernan Cortes, it put everything into perspective. The encounter between the Aztecs and the Europeans allowed me to understand the concept of ‘the other’ and how we use it in our everyday lives when we encounter people a little different from us. Whilst completing this assignment I realized that I learn better when I read about ideas in context. I read a lot about the idea of the other but didn’t grasp the idea until it was put into a story like this. This assignment helped me develop study skills that I can apply to different courses as well. I am a philosophy major so understanding concepts through narratives is a very big part of my major. I never thought to apply this to other subjects such as history, english or humanities. This assignment allowed me to fully understand something I was having trouble with as well as developing and improving my study skills allowing me to improve and apply in other courses.
I would just never fully understand the concept of ‘the other’ until I completed the documents interpretation assignment. When I read Moctezuma’s Greeting to Hernan Cortes, it put everything into perspective. The encounter between the Aztecs and the Europeans allowed me to understand the concept of ‘the other’ and how we use it in our everyday lives when we encounter people a little different from us. Whilst completing this assignment I realized that I learn better when I read about ideas in context. I read a lot about the idea of the other but didn’t grasp the idea until it was put into a story like this. This assignment helped me develop study skills that I can apply to different courses as well. I am a philosophy major so understanding concepts through narratives is a very big part of my major. I never thought to apply this to other subjects such as history, english or humanities. This assignment allowed me to fully understand something I was having trouble with as well as developing and improving my study skills allowing me to improve and apply in other courses.
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Final Reflection
At the beginning of this course my goals were to increase productivity during down time and to keep track of all of my assignments to do them on time. This semester was especially hard for me because I was taking a lot of units. I did improve on being more productive during the week however I do still need to work harder on keeping track of my assignments. Again, this was a bigger challenge for me this semester as I was taking more units than usual and there was so much to keep up with. One think I have learned is that I remember things visually and keeping a big calendar on my wall and updating it daily really helped me keep track of all that I had to do that week.
This class made me appreciate history much more. Most students usually have a negative outlook on the subject and see no point in dwelling on the past. This class really taught me how history repeats and how important it is to learn about a nations history to prevent making similar mistakes. History is also tied to political science. Learning about America’s history gives you a better understanding of how politics work.
With this class I have learned better critical thinking skills and I have learned how things are connected. When we were learning about government oppression in America, I compared it to the current state of Armenia. It has taught me the importance of learning a different nations history as well as your own.
This class made me appreciate history much more. Most students usually have a negative outlook on the subject and see no point in dwelling on the past. This class really taught me how history repeats and how important it is to learn about a nations history to prevent making similar mistakes. History is also tied to political science. Learning about America’s history gives you a better understanding of how politics work.
With this class I have learned better critical thinking skills and I have learned how things are connected. When we were learning about government oppression in America, I compared it to the current state of Armenia. It has taught me the importance of learning a different nations history as well as your own.