Contemporary Novel: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is about a boy named Tom who is a trouble maker. He lives with his Aunt in Missouri along the Mississippi River. He tricks his friends into painting a fence that was given to him as a punishment. Tom is good at getting people to do stuff for him and getting out of trouble. Tom is a typical boy of the time. He goes to school then does chores then swims or fishes. He is what you expect to see on an old movie or what you expect your grandfather was like when he was a kid. This would be the American dream for a kid in that time. When you think of American boy you always think of an earlier time. You don't picture a boy with a cellphone in his hand, but holding a fishing pole walking down to the shore. Tom Sawyer goes through the novel going through many adventures and every adventure pertains to the one aspect of the American dream.

Americans today are always looking for the easy way out. We always want everything to be easier and less time consuming. Tom Sawyer does this by getting other people to do his work. Instead of painting the fence and learning a lesson he decides to trick his Friends into painting it for him.
Tom Sawyer is may be a mischievous boy but he goes to school, does his chores and goes to church. He may not be the idea of an adult quintessential American but he is what i think of went think of the quintessential American boy.

Virtue Log

I have chosen the virtue industry. I have chosen this virtue because I tend to waste my time a lot. Either by watching tv too much or just staring off into space. Ben Franklin's explanation is short and sweet which would be the definition of industry there is no need to waste time over defining it. My plan for the week is to try and not waste time and do things that are productive.

Monday- Got up at one o'clock just because I could. Not a good use of my time. The time sleeping could have been used to read or possibly just going outside and doing something. Watched way too much tv today. Again a total waste of time. Other than that a pretty boring day.

Tuesday- Pretty much the same as yesterday. Too much sleep and just not a lot of time spent on getting things accomplished.

Wednesday- Today was much better. Went to work which was at seven. Got home at 12 and read a bit. Also helped my mother in the garden.

Thursday- Another day like Monday except I worked outside with my father working around the house.

Friday- A lot accomplished today. Went to work, finished reading a book, cleaned my room, and after all that helped my parents work around the house for a while.

Touching Spirit Bear Topic

My Topic to research is the Spirit Bear. In this book the Spirit Bear is what makes Cole actually look back on his life and change. Before the bear attacked him, he was arrogant and he was obnoxious. He actually thought he could fight the bear. He realizes that he is vulnerable and he comes to terms with what is around him. The bear is also what makes Peter trust Cole.
The Spirit bear in this story goes by more than one name. Some people might call it the ghost bear but it actually is called a Kermode Bear. What makes it a spirit bear is it's white coat. Not all Kermode bears have white colored fur. Only a small percentage do. It is a recessive trait in their genes.
Tsimshiam legend says that once the world was covered in ice and snow. But a raven came down and turned everything green. After he had done that he turned some bears white to remember that the world once was covered in snow. The raven was the creator of life.

Mini Report: Circle Justice

I am going to do my mini report on Circle Justice. I do not know anything about it so it is a good topic for me to research. I found an article that explained it well. In the book Cole is sentenced under the concept of Circle Justice. Circle Justice is used to heal rather than to punish repeat offenders. First the members of the Circle explain and find out what the crime impacts the rest of the "village" . Then all members of the circle decide what the sentence should be. The members of the circle could be judges or prosecutors or even towns people. This is used so that instead of punishing someone you are healing them. If you punish a repeat offender then they are just going to do something worse. This is a big theme in the book. Justice should heal not punish. In the article I read they were talking about how Minneapolis was first to offer circle justice and that is where this book takes place.

http://freenet.msp.mn.us/~fholson/circles-mn/circ-stb.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_Justice

Honors History Final Essay

The American Revolution did not truly end until John Adams took office as the second President of the United States of America. While that work was undertaken by all colonists (in one way or another), the articulation and structuring of resentment against the British Empire, and the construction of a new nation afterwards, was largely completed by a relatively small number of men.

We will study the time period leading up to the American Revolution, the War for Independence itself, and the immediate aftermath. Again, while these events reflect wide participation by many colonials, their direction and ultimate resolution result largely from the fact that a group of individuals balanced personal ambition, ideology, regional materialism, and personality quirks in such a way as to achieve consensus as to how a government should be formed. In consideration of all the facts, what was required of leadership to guide the colonies through a revolution, war, and into a working constitution of laws? Certainly, significant events will provide some of the details to support your thesis, but primary emphasis should be given to the information and insights derived from Joseph Ellis’ Founding Brothers. Consider how men of such intense intelligence, bias, contradiction, and ego were able to collaborate.

Abstract:

This piece will answer many questions about the American Revolution. I will focus primarily on the question, what was required of leadership to guide the colonies through a revolution, war, and into a working constitution of laws? I will use many different sources in order to answers these vital questions. I will use Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis and Classroom discussions. I will also use a slew of other Internet websites to gain evidence of my thoughts. Among these websites are http://library.thinkquest.org/,

The American Revolution was not a subtle one. It was a long time coming in the eyes of not only the colonists but also the British. The British were more ignorant at the time because they are what you would call "British". Britain during this time focused on money and power. Having been wealthy and ruling much of the known world, Britain only wanted more. They started to put more and more taxes on the American colonists. The colonists knew that there would be taxes because Britain needed money to protect the colonists. What the colonists did not know was at what extent would Britain increase their taxes. The actual war might not have started until the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 18, 1775, but the Revolution was burning inside the hearts of the true patriots. One of these patriots was quoted as saying, "Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people . . . . This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution." This was said by John Adams. The colonists wanted change and that is what they would get. The colonists were fighting for so much more than the British. They were fighting for their homes and their own country. This is where they have brought up their children. They have their pride and dignity to worry about. They also did not have a reputation as of now so they were not as narcissistic as the British. The British wee only fighting for land thousands of mile away from them. Since they were Britain they had a pretty high self esteem of themselves. This was bad in this particular war.

The whole Revolution took a lot of people doing many significant things in order for the revolution to start. Even the little guys such as Samuel Adams had a lot to do with it. Him and other people like him spread the word of the Revolution and got people riled up. Without people like him the war would not have been accepted by as many people. What would life be like if the congress never voted to go to war because some people like Sam Adams did not get people fired up. The revolution also could not have been accomplished without the leaders of the revolution. Without Adams or Jefferson the war might have not been a success. This goes to show you that with one piece of the puzzle is missing, then the whole system does not work.

The word leader can have a lot of different meaning and connotations. A leader could only be a leader in a simple high school group or it could be one of the most influential leaders we will have in the history of the United States. During the time of the American Revolution it was a pivotal moment in our country's history. Without strong leaders to serve as the backbone of our country there would not have been a U.S.A, it might have been called the Unites States of Britain. It took the true meaning of the word leader to push our country through this time of peril and uncertainty. Many people come to mind if you talk about the leaders of the American Revolution. A few stand out among the rest. These special group of leaders did the most to shape our American way of life. There might have been these leaders but without the secondary leaders there might have not been such a success. The first leader was none other than George Washington. Whenever someone needed a military commander they turned to George Washington himself. Washington was in the general in charge of the whole continental army during the Lexington and Concord battles. George Washington's famous picture of him crossing the Delaware shows how commanding he was and how he had that attitude and characteristics of a born leader. Washington is such a great leader because he follows this quote by Aristotle, "He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander". He has shown this trait many times. When he was under the command of General Braddock. He was a great soldier. Even if one man does not take all of the actions people and soldiers will follow by example. To go back to the original question. Much was expected from George Washington. He had many responsibilities as a man of such rank. Not only did the country ask him to be a General in the Army but later they asked him to lead the country becoming the first U.S. president. Joseph Ellis puts it perfect as how important George Washington was to the colonists. This quote comes from the chapter "Generation". "but far from least, an early unanimous consensus that the first chief executive would be George Washington, only one man, to be sure but an incalculable asset." This just goes to show you that even if you are one man you can do anything if you have the motivation that Washington most likely had. George Washington had the right amount of motivation and confidence. He had enough confidence but had self control. That was indeed the downfall of Britain in the revolutionary war. They were to conceded and thought that the small colonists could not possibly win over them.

The next thing that you need is collaboration. This is explained deeply in the appropriately named chapter called the collaborators in Joseph Ellis' book, Founding Brothers. Benjamin Franklin put it simply, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately". He knew that collaboration was the key to overcoming the British. Even though the colonists were from different countries they still hung together to form one power. Joseph Ellis refers to the John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as the two collaborators. The two had a strange relationship yet they always stay friends. When Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence Adams fully supported him. Speaking of collaboration Ben Franklin and Adams help to edit and revise Jefferson's first draft. As Washington was nearing the end of his presidency, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were getting ready to campaign. When Adams was Vice-President him and Jefferson clashed. Adams was a Federalist and Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican. Even on Adams' deathbed he uttered these words, "Thomas Jefferson still survives." This shows true collaboration. That even though all of their hardships they still came out friends.
Many things are required of leadership. There are many personality traits that each of these aforementioned people had. Washington was kind, confident and decisive. He could also sway an audience. Adams and Jefferson shared a lot of the same traits. Both were intelligent and hard working. The next thing you need is vast collaboration. Nothing can get done when people are not working together. The Declaration would have not been as structurally sound as it is if Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin did not collaborate. What do you think our country would be without collaboration within the government.

Propaganda Essay

Propaganda: We Must go to war!

This paper will show the position of John Adams when it comes to the war with Britain during the American Revolution. I will use all of our class discussions along with the book, Founding brothers by Joseph Ellis. This will be a speech in the form of propaganda.

Welcome my friends. This has been a long and hard road for us colonists. We have made it in a land that our for-fathers have not made for us. We may be under another countries rule but this is the one thing that is only ours and will never be taken away from us. We are not Dutch, Irish, or even British. We are our own people. We have been living here for quite some time and I think that we musty stand up and receive the respect that we earned. Britain has pushed us around for too long. We are their pawns in their glamorous plan. If you do not do it for yourself, do it for your sons and daughters. What will their lives be if they are plagued by ridiculous taxes and unjust laws? Before I move on to the bigger topic I will leave you with this message, we are all brothers in the face of tyranny, united we stand but divided we fall.

If you haven’t noticed there has been in increase in taxes lately. Everything has been taxed and enough is enough. But who can we blame? , sure you could blame inflation or the need for military supplies, but the actual reason for our financial difficulties is a greedy country that only cares for money and power. Yes that’s right, our beloved mother country has turned her back on us and now expects us to fund her many luxuries. We are a developing country that does not need added expenses when we already have too much on our plates. Why should we have higher taxes while there are pompous aristocrats living the life of indulgences because there taxes have suddenly dropped? Coincidence? , I think not. If we were to split off from Britain, our financial difficulties would cease to exist. We already have the resources to sustain ourselves. We might have to give up a few luxuries but it would all be worth it for our ultimate independence. What would you rather choose tea and fine linens or independence? If you were of sound mind you would pick the later of the two. We are not materialistic like our British counterparts. I would not think it would be too terribly hard to find a country that would take our money in exchange for good. Britain is not the only greedy country but they are the only greedy country that takes our freedom away from us.

If you are as patriotic as my fellow friends and I you would not let our country turn to dust in the hands of a few arrogant aristocrats. If we do not go to war what will they tax next, our lives. Do you really want your beloved daughter or son grow up in a world such as ours if we do not do something about it? We need to stand up and fight for what is rightfully ours. We started our lives here, not them. Why should we let an arrogant country push us around when they are thousands of miles away? Before I leave I want you to think about what you want your life to become. Would you rather seek freedom or lay back and take it. I would rather die for my freedom than be under tyrannical rule.

Benjamin Franklin Letter

To whom it may concern,

I have noticed now of late that there is a lot of problems with the world today. Many people leave all of the blame on todays youth, don't get me wrong todays youths are to blame for many problems. I believe that most of the blame lies primarily with the parents. The mind of the young child is a fragile one at best. They are developing morals and an understanding of one's boundaries. They need to have limits so they will learn to respect their elders. Just the other day I was run into by a sporadic youth and by nature I told him to watch himself and to my dismay he answered back, and I do quote " I don't have to listen to you, you are not my father". This troubles me. If a youngling thinks this is alright then the blame must be set on the parent. This is not always true but it happens all to often. I must tell to the current parents of these scoundrels, control your children.

Your Humble Servant, Silence Dogood