Shooting An Elephant

Many of you are familiar with the author George Orwell from his most famous novel, 1984. What you may not be familiar with, however, is some of his earlier work on the nature of colonialism and freedom.

Orwell, who's real name was Eric Blair, was born in 1903 in Motihari, Bengal, in the then British colony of India, where his father, Richard, worked for the Opium Department of the Civil Service. After returning to England for his education, Eric joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. He resigned and returned to England in 1928 having grown to hate imperialism.

The short story you are now going to read, "Shooting an Elephant," is his attempt the put that hatred in metaphorical terms. With that in mind, please read the story by following this link.

Once you've finished reading, please complete the accompanying packet. It's due tomorrow morning.

Good luck and welcome to the Indian Sub-Continent, our academic home for the next several weeks. Good Times!

-Ned-

Want to visit North Korea?

Here you go....

Ignorance is Bliss?

So now that you're all thoroughly confused by the very existence of North Korea and it's particular style of revolutionary socialism, there's a philosophical question I'd like you to ponder. Post your answer in the comments section of the blog. It will be graded.

Question: Is ignorance truly bliss? Is it better, in your opinion, to have access to all of the information in the world without a sense of happiness or personal fulfillment (like us), or to be largely ignorant about the world but seemingly happy and fulfilled by your love for family and country (like them)?

Stop Sending Aid to Haiti?????

I'm sure you and your family have been discussing the situation in Haiti and what you can do do help. Along those lines, here's a new assignment for you.

Before you do anything, READ THIS ARTICLE very carefully.

Kind of shocking right?

Okay, here's the assignment.

1. What is the author's thesis?

2. What additional points does the author make to defend his thesis?

3. Do you agree with the author's thesis? Should we really consider ending aid to countries like Haiti after sending as much immediate humanitarian aid as possible?

Oh yeah, we'll be having a debate on this subject Thursday morning.

-Ned-

Hey

Ok people of Rivercity A-team is meeting today. So watch it.

Dont be hatin'

No more whining, rudeness and such thangs that fit in that categorie. You fight to much on the blog and waste peoples time and energy. Use the blog for what it was created for. And look at that guy sock that horse in tha face.

Brandon B!

Have Respected For Others, Please...

I have to admit, this school is very rude to each other. How can we work together, and achieve successful team work, if we don't settle our differences? So please, have respected for other people... no matter what it is, we need the Student Body to to work together, even if we don't want to.

Attention video game enthusiasts

Myself and a few other people (mainly the woman folk) would very much appreciate keeping Halo, Left for dead and other violent video game CRAP off the blog! We already hear you flap your traps about pointless video games and events that have happened, you want to happen or will never happen. So please for the sake of my sanity, avoid video game posts, pictures and any other paraphernalia that even slightly suggests vidoe game usage! In other words, if you dont stop posting crap on the blog, i will find you and make you eat your words!

Thank you for your time, but then again you have probably wasted 90% of your time on video games eating cheetos and cup-o-noodle in your parents (the only real friends you have) basements!

Nightmare Scenario

Greetings RLA'ers,

For this week's writing assignment, I'd like you to read this article by Mr. John Hagney, a history teacher at Spokane's very own Lewis and Clack High School.

After you've read it twice (once for the general theme of the thing, a second time for specifics),
I'd like you to complete the following two tasks. Task one is due by lunch. Task two is due by lunch tomorrow.

Task 1: After reading the article twice, I'd like you to choose one of Mr. Hagney's bullet points that you agree with entirely, and one that you feel is just plain wrong. For the former, defend why you agree with him. For the the latter, explain why Mr. Hagney is incorrect. Both of these answers should be posted in the comments section of the blog.

Task 2: In a two-page, double spaced essay, please come up with your own list of 5 steps we need to take immediately in order to save the America we all know and love from impending doom. Like Mr. Hagney's article, yours needs to include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. I don't want a list.

Good luck. This will be graded and don't forget, semester grades are coming soon. You can't afford to get a ZERO on this assignment.

-Ned-

For those who wish to run for office:

This is Griffin speaking. If you wish to run for any type of office you MUST see me before the earlier-than-planned-date Thor's day morning. See me SOON. I only have limited spaces. Maybe only one left. I will have a meeting with those who plan to run on Thor's day afternoon. Cabinet members must see me by Freya's day. I have also had some interesting government suggestions. This makes me think that this will be a fun election. One more thing: NO COMMUNISM!

See me!

Over and out!

(Griffin, Lord of Time)

.........Not again!

for all of you who do not know(witch i am guessing is most of you) the link to the RLA government blog can be found HERE,HERE,HERE, or even HERE, or if your lucky you may even find it HERE too!!! until next time, I, Cody Lord of Yahtzee(formally known as Cody Lord of Error) signing off. Stay Classy RLA. oh ya i forgot, if you want to run for the school government you HAVE to Contact Grffin, Lord of Time(time not Thyme) or ME Cody, Lord of Yahtzee.

Obama, War in Afghanistan, and The Nobel Peace Prize

Full Text of Obama's Nobel Acceptance Speech

Please answer the following questions in complete, grammatically correct sentences.

Write your name at the bottom of your post. At a bare minimum, this assignment should take you at least 45 minutes. Don't slack on this. Do your best work. It will be graded.

1. What is the Nobel Peace Prize?

2. In paragraph three, Obama acknowledges the "considerable controversy" surrounding his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize. What is the source of that controversy? Do you agree?

3. In paragraph four, Obama acknowledges an apparent irony in the fact that he's receiving the world's most prestigious peace prize. What is that irony?

4. In paragraph seven, Obama taks about "Just War Theory." What is he talking about? What is Just War Theory?

5. In the first three paragraphs on page two, Obama talks about "the old architecture buckling under the weight of new threats." What is this "old architecture" and what are these "new threats?"

6. In the last three paragraphs on page two and the first two on page three, Obama talks about how America has "helped underwrite global security." What does this mean?

7. How does Obama challenge the rest of the world to assist the United States in the third paragraph from the bottom on page three?

8. In the first paragraph on page four, Obama speaks of a "moral interest" in the waging of wars. Break that down for me. What's he talking about?

9. On pages four and five, Obama lays out "three ways that we can build a just and lasting peace." What are they?

10. In your opinion, given the disrespect shown towards the United States and our military in the prosecution of The War on Terror, should we continue to "underwrite global security?" Or, should the other advanced nations of the world step up and shoulder some of the considerable burden our soldiers bare?

Anarchy! IT MUST END!

This bleak period in the history of RLA has brought to mind the events of the past. We must have ORDER! Without order, there is chaos (not to be confused with KAOS). Chaos leads to anarchy and anarchy is what were are suffering from. NO LONGER! I (Griffin, Lord of Time) have decided this along with my colleague (Cody, Lord of Error). We have gone into action in this matter. Directly after the break (have a good one) we shall have an ELECTION! Thou Shalt Haveth ORDER! Freshmen may only run for cabinet positions. Any pair of people wishing to run for President and Vice-President must develop a student judicial system that would effect wrong-doers. This must be creative. It requires a judge and a jury. These are nearly the only criteria. THIS MUST BE INSTALLED ONE YOU ARE IN OFFICE! If you have any question then please ask me (Griffin, Lord of Time). Further posts on this topic will be at the RLA government blog:

http://rlagovernment.blogspot.com/

Thank you.

Griffin, Lord of Time
Cody, Lord of Error

Now that you've heard the speech, we want to know what you think.    Is Obama doing the right thing by sending an additional 30,000 American soldiers to Afghanistan to destroy Al Qaeda and break the back of The Taliban?

In a well-written paragraph, please explain your opinion on this subject.  (Oh yeah, put YOUR NAME at the bottom of your post so you can receive credit)

Please Vote For Me/ One-Child Policy

Two questions. Each need to be answered in complete sentences. Minimum of 1 paragraph each.

*Note* There are three parts to both questions. All of them need to be answered.

Good luck.

1. After watching the DVD Please Vote For Me, do you believe the election for class monitor worked as an excercise in democracy? What do you think the children learned from this experience? What did you learn from this experiment?

2. Read this article on China's "One Child Policy" and answer the following question(s):

What is the tension at the center of this article? With which side do you find yourself sympathizing? Why are Chinese children often referred to as "Little Emperors?"

STAY OUT OF KARENS ROOM

If you dont work in Karens room stay out. You need to quit coming in here to slack off and piss her off it is not fair to her and her students.

He Needs Help

Hey all you bums! Ned is under a lot of stress, having to take care of a new born child is very stressful. So cut Ned Some Slack! You don't have to ask him for Every thing!!! and if he wants somthing done, "JUST DO IT"!

China Readings Jigsaw Activity

As a group, discuss the following questions and collaborate on a type-written paper that answers each in length:

1. Summary.  What's my selection "about?"

2. What is the author's thesis or main point?

3.  What did you find most interesting?

4. What was one unexpected and fascinating fact?

5. If you learn one thing from this excerpt, what should it be and why?

Obama China

Yosh! It's aggregator time. What's a aggregator you ask? Well, an aggregator is a website (usually) that collects a bunch of information and opinion from all over the web and wraps it up in a nice little bow for your convenience.



Today, you will all be little aggregators.

Here's the assignment:

In case you haven't heard, Obama's in China. As you can imagine, this official state visit isn't without some controversy. In groups of three, find five websites/articles that deal with the subject of Obama's visit to China. Elect one person in each group to write down the URLs and to summarize the main points of each article/column each.

Here are some links to get you started.....

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/What-Obama-Has-to-Do-in-China-1604

http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/2009/11/how-would-mao-zedong-have-seen-obamas-asia-tour/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-16/cutting-china-down-to-size/?cid=hp:mainpromo1

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.a751493682512bdc967745cbdcd60551.771&show_article=1

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/16/obama.china/index.html

We will begin this assignment at 1:25. At 2:00, all groups need to be back in my room ready to present. Please write the names of your group's members on top of your paper. You will be graded on this.

Good luck.

-Ned-

Timeline of Chinese History

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/china_timeline.htm
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/

BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN FAR ENOUGH TO GET INTO THE "Annotated Chronological Outline of Chinese History" SECTION. That's where the good stuff is.....