Reflection

This semester has been such a journey for me and I am so happy that I picked these classed because my both instructors were so supportive and kind that I don’t know how to thank them. Since this was my first semester, I went through so much difficulties that I was about to drop everything and then their encouragement and confidence gave me hope to continue and I am glad I did. Ms. Knapp is so nice that I can not describe her with words; I enjoyed her class so much. She always came to class with such energy and passed it on to us, her class was never boring in fact it was very interesting that I did not want to miss it. In Mr. Grzymala class, learning history was so much fun even though I never liked history before; I enjoyed his class and every minute of it. I learned a lot from English and History classes and I am sure it will stay with me for a long time. I liked my classmates, there were such an inspiration to me that I was worried if they didn’t show up in the class, but I kept it to myself. I think everything happens for a reason, therefore, being in these courses with these nice people was meant for all of us. Thank you Ms. Knapp, Mr. Grzymala and my colleagues.           

Development of Nursing Profession

Development of Nursing Profession

I was sitting in my history class learning about the Civil War, was one of the bloodiest wars in American History. It came to my mind how nurses contributed during that time and what kind of care was available to provide for the wounded soldiers, and without a doubt, the dedication and contributions of several significant figures, healthcare would not be in the advanced stage, it is today. The question stayed with me until it was time to pick a topic for the research paper, even though I had a different idea at first,  I found this topic more interesting to write about.

The nursing profession has had a long history from when it was considered a low-level job with little pay and suitable for women, to one of the most highly respected fields, in great demand and the number of male nurses rising. Nursing started primarily from the Catholic Church where the priest and the nuns helped the sick and needy, and the nuns served as nurses during wars, epidemics, and natural disasters. There was no school training for nurses and no sanitizing or antiseptic regulations to perform. Nursing was learned on the spot, and since women always cared at home for their family, they provided care for the sick and wounded. The Catholic Church played an important role throughout this history even in California. Most people know the names, however few understand the long history of the healthcare and nursing profession that includes Florence Nightingale who modernized nursing and Clara Barton who, during the Civil War of 1861, had jeopardized her life and used her own money to purchase supplies in order to accommodate the wounded soldiers and also was the founder of the American Red Cross. As the number of physicians working at the hospital was gradually growing, there was a great demand for trained nurses, so the first nursing training school opened at Bellevue Hospital in New York City in 1873. By 1890, there were thirty-five nursing schools which focused to standardize the training and credentials of nursing.

As medicine was being discovered and early immigration to America had begun, Europe went through religious reformation that divided the continent into Catholics and Protestants. The Catholic Spanish and French explorers brought the missionaries to the U.S., and their job was merely to care for the sick during the war and epidemic. One of the most important developments in nursing was when St. Vincent de Paul founded the Daughters of Charity. De Paul, a French priest, dedicated his life to serve the poor, and gathered a group of women who were always eager to help to organize the charity, causing a surge of growth throughout France and various countries (Bullough 61-2).

There are famous nurses throughout history, for example, Florence Nightingale, an English nurse, contributed her nursing skills in the Crimea War in 1854 to tend for the wounded soldiers. When she arrived at the scene of battle, she encountered shortage in medical supplies, no hygiene, fatal infection and even no equipments to make food for the soldiers. She wrote to officials requesting donations to improve present conditions. After receiving funds, she was able to reduce the mortality rate more than two-percent within six months. The title of “Lady with a Lamp” was given to Nightingale by the soldiers since she always checked the sickest patient with her lamp after everybody was asleep (Dunahue 244). After the war had ended, she was honored for her brave work and received a decent amount of money donated to her by the community, and she used the donation to open the first nursing school in 1860. Nightingale wrote many books that contributed to the nursing profession and the famous one is Notes on Nursing which arranged the foundation of nursing profession with principles (Bullough 94).

Clara Barton is another example of an American- Icon. She dedicated her life to nurse the wounded during the Civil War and started the American Red Cross. Red Cross began in Switzerland in 1859 during the Battle of Solferino in Italy, by Henry Dunant who was raised in Calvinist Church where he also helped the sick poor. Witnessing the Battle of Solferino where the soldiers suffered from the deplorable conditions, lack of basic care and medical supply, Dunant decided to start the foundation of Red Cross and opened it in 1863 (Bullough 119-121). However America did not have an organization such as the Red Cross until Clara Barton started it up. Since childhood, Barton had a knack for nursing and was ten when her youngest brother David fell from the roof, heavily injured. Doctors believed David would not make it, but Barton did not give up and stayed by his side days and nights to nurse him for two years and finally David recovered fully and he owed his life to his sister (Hamilton 21). Barton became a school teacher for twelve years and opened one school in Bordentown, in 1852 (Hamilton 29). As the Civil War started in April of 1861, the number of wounded and dead soldiers was rising, and Barton found out nothing was being done for proper medical treatment of the soldiers. She tried to help as much as she could, but she realized most of the wounded soldiers died because they weren’t attended to for three or four days, or they died from infection, excessive bleeding, and hunger. She started writing to the War Department to ask to go to the battle frontline to treat the wounded. There were a few organizations during the Civil War, such as the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Soldiers Aid Society and spiritually-oriented Christian Commission to gather medical supplies and care for the soldiers behind the line, but Barton changed that by receiving a letter from the surgeon general to serve in the battle front line. Barton prepared herself by purchasing all the medical supplies and food to take to the front line with help of few other women (Hamilton 37).

In the Antietam War in September of 1862, Barton wrote in her journal about one scene:

                        Just outside the door lay a man wounded in the face, ball having entered the lower

maxillary on the left side and lodged among the bones of the right cheek. His imploring look drew me to him, when, placing his finger upon the sharp protuberance he said, “Lady, will you tell me what this is that burns so?”

I replied it must be a ball…

                        “It is terribly painful,” he said. “Won’t you take it out?”

                        I said I would go to the tables for a surgeon.

“No! No!” he said, catching my dress. “They cannot come to me. I must wait my turn, for this is a little wound. You can get the ball. There is a knife in your pocket. Please take the ball out for me.” (Hamilton 52)

Barton was scared to do it since she never operated on anybody before. She reluctantly took her knife out and removed the bullet. Barton was also titled “The Angel of the Battle Field” by Surgeon James Dunn who was out of medical supplies and Barton saved him by taking the supplies to him (Hamilton 50).   Due to her exhaustion and illness after the war, she traveled to Switzerland to recover and met Dr. Louis Appia, one of the pioneer members of Red Cross started with Henry Dunant, and the President of the Red Cross in Geneva. Dr. Appia asked Barton if she could help him with his organization and also make the U.S. to be a part of the organization since the American Official denied joining a few times. During her stay in Geneva, the Franco-Prussian War between the Treaty of Geneva-Germany and France began and Barton rose from the sick bed and pushed herself to help in the battle (Hamilton 72-75). After her return to the U.S., she had the desire to open the Red Cross in her country and started her mission by writing to the American Officials to grant the permission. She explained to the officials that the Red Cross could help during the war and the peace time when there were natural disasters. Barton received the approval from the President James Garfield in 1881 to establish the American Red Cross. Her organization was a remarkable help during the natural disasters such as a massive fire in Northern Michigan in 1881 and the tremendous flooding on the Ohio and the Mississippi River in 1884 (Hamilton 84). Today, the Red Cross is still a non-profit organization based on charity of volunteers and donations persuading the core principle of compassionate started from the Church.

Another example of the influence of the Catholic Church in Health Care is the O’Conner Hospital opened in 1889 in San Jose and it was the first hospital in Santa Clara County. Judge Myles P. O’Conner and his wife, Amanda, became wealthy during the Gold Rush and Sierra Nevada Mining Company and decided to contribute their fortune to their community by opening a nursing home for elderly in need. They purchased a land more than 8 acre to build a residence home. As the construction was under way, Mr. O’Conner contacted the Archbishop of San Francisco discussing about opening a sanitarium. The hospital in his words was “A sanitarium for the sick, a home for the aged, and an asylum for orphans and school for children” (Perret 1). Amanda O’Conner requested the Daughters of Charity to manage the hospital, and today the hospital is still run by the Daughters of the Charity Health System and in 1898 they opened a nursing school to train staff with hospital protocols and standards. Over 100 years, the O’ Conner Sanitarium changed to O’Conner Hospital and as the community was growing and there was a greater demand for healthcare, the hospital was moved to a bigger location in 1953. Not only more medical staff was hired, but also more advanced medical equipment was purchased. By following the desire of St. Vincent de Paul to reach for the poor, the Daughters of Charity established two sub Charities, the Adult Gift of Life program and the Parish Nurses. The Adult Gift of Life is mainly focused to find patients in critical condition but cannot afford medical treatment. The program mainly searches in third world countries where there is no proper medical care available and sponsor all the costs from plane ticket to hotel room; the medical team donate their time throughout the process. The Parish Nurses reach through the community and work with five local churches and two Catholic Senior Centers. The nurses travel to the poor who have no health insurance to screen the health of individuals, educate them about their condition, provide group support and give doctor referrals. As Cassandra Perret states, “Last year, Parish Nurses diagnosed 1,474 people with abnormal conditions when screened for high blood pressure, blood sugar, poor vision and obesity” (Perret 2).The nurses attended to the patients by educating them and providing opportunities to control their conditions and saved lives through this movement.

 Since O’Conner Hospital receives generous donations, plans to invest $12.5 million to build a new Emergency Department in a 14,000 sqf land with 21 beds and the most advanced equipments. By improving the Emergency Department, the hospital will meet the state safety standards during the earthquake and reduces the wait times to receive care as the population is growing (Perret 1-2).

Another contribution to Santa Clara County is the Valley Medical Center in San Jose, which is currently going through renovations approved by Santa Clara County voters in 2008. The $966 million project is to provide the hospital and the medical buildings on the main campus and $419 million to construct a 140-bed building. The expansion of the Valley Medical Center is very critical to the area because the number of patient obtaining care has increased by 45% since 2000 (Azevedo 1).

Since history is often a witness of improvement in all aspects of human life and their necessities, nursing profession has advance to the current level. Good nursing is based on anatomical knowledge, physiology, hygiene and bacteriology, none of which existed in the past. As the nursing profession has changed and developed for the better, the dedication and compassion of the nursing profession hasn’t changed. History has always been a witness of many people sacrificing their lives and donating their efforts to improve their community and country. The current nursing profession also owes the advancement to Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale and many more.

The healthcare system is still developing but it has already spewed out advanced life altering technology and this can easily be seen through the transformation of O’Conner Hospital all thanks to the Daughters of charity and Valley Medical Center for providing billions of dollars for construction the latest equipment to care for the fast growing population of Santa Clara County.

Works Cited

"Welcome to Daughters of Charity - Province of the West." Welcome to Daughters of Charity –

            Province of the West. Web. 08 May 2012.

            <http://www.daughtersofcharity.com/Pages/default.aspx>.

Perret, Cassandra. "Our Tradition of Compassionate Care." O'Connor Hospital. Web. 19 May

            2012. <http://www.oconnorhospital.org/about-us/our-tradition-of-compassionate-care/>.

Azevedo, Mary Ann. "Space." Top Stories. 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 19 May 2012.

<http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/scvmc/agencyarticle?path=/v7/Santa Clara Valley Medical Center - SCVMC (DEP)/News & Events/Top Stories>.

Hamilton, Leni. Clara Barton. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Print.

Donahue, M. Patricia., Patricia A. Russac, and Teresa E. Christy. Nursing, the Finest Art: An

            Illustrated History. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby, 1985. Print.

Evans, Sara M. Born for Liberty. New York: Tree, 1989. Print.

Bullough, Vern L., and Bonnie Bullough. The Care of the Sick: The Emergence of Modern

            Nursing. New York: Prodist, 1978. Print.

Griffin, Gerald J., and Joanne K. Griffin. History and Trends of Professional Nursing. St. Louis:

           Mosby (Periodicals), 1973. Print.

Clara Barton

 Hamilton, Leni. Clara Barton. New York: Chelsea House, 1988.Print.

 

Since Clara Barton was ill from the exhaustion of teaching and opening the new school in Bordentown, she moved to Washington and stayed with her sister, Sally. After her recovery, she got a job in the government office which she was the only woman working and got paid as equal to men, but it didn’t last long since there was so many complains. So Barton started to know people in higher offices in order to keep her job and she became a close friend with Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts. As the Civil War had started in April of 1861, the number of wounded and dead soldiers was rising and Barton found out nothing was done to prepare for the medical treatment of the soldiers. She tried to help as much as she could, but she realized most of the wounded soldiers died because of not being treated for three to four days and they died because of infection, excessive bleeding and hunger. She started writing to the War Department to ask to go to the battle frontline to treat the soldiers. In the time of the Civil War, there was no nursing school to be trained, women always nursed the wounded during the war and that was how they learned the job. There were few organizations during the Civil War such as the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Soldiers Aid Society and spiritually- oriented Christian Commission to gather medical supply and care for soldiers behind the lines, but Barton changed that by receiving a letter from the surgeon general to serve in the battle front line. Barton purchased all the medical supply and food to take to the front line from her own money. She worked patiently and efficiently with very little rest and food. After the war was over, she arranged an organization to locate and trace the missing soldiers and she helped to find more than 22,000 soldiers in about four years. She also gave many lectures about her experience during the war. Due to her illness and exhaustion during the war, she traveled to Switzerland to recover and met Dr. Louis Appia the president of the Red Cross in Geneva. Dr. Appia asked Barton if she could help him with his organization and if she also could make the U.S. be part of the Red Cross since the American Officials denied joining this organization few times. During her stay in Geneva, the Franco- Prussian war between the Treaty of Geneva-Germany and France began and Barton rose from the sick bed and pushed herself to help in the battle. After her return to U.S., she had the desire to open the Red Cross in her country and started her mission by asking help from Dr. Appia and writing to the American Official to grant the permission. She tried to explain to the officials that the Red Cross could help during the war and the peace time when there were some natural disasters. Barton received the approval from the President James Garfield to organize the American Red Cross. Her organization was a remarkable help during the natural disasters such as a massive fire in northern Michigan and the tremendous flooding on the Ohio and the Mississippi River. She attended the International Red Cross Conference in Geneva and gave lectures and wrote a 700 page book about the Red Cross. She also helped other countries during war like Spain and Armenia and opened Red Cross in those countries. She never wed and died at age 90 from tuberculosis with all her friends by her side. The home she lived in is a national historic site and her childhood home is a museum.

Annotated Bibliography

"Our Tradition of Compassionate Care." O'Connor Hospital. Web. 08 May 2012.

      <http://www.oconnorhospital.org/about-us/our-tradition-of-compassionate-care/>.

O’Conner Hospital in San Jose opened in 1889 and was the first hospital in Santa Clara County. Judge Myles P. O’Conner and his wife, Amanda, became a wealthy couple during the Gold Rush and Sierra Nevada Mine company and decided to contribute some of their wealth to the community and planed to open a nursing home for elderly in need. As he started the construction, he contacted the Archbishop of San Francisco to discuss opening a sanitarium which in Mr. O’Conner words “sanitarium for the sick, a home for the aged, an asylum for orphans and a school for children”. When the hospital was ready, Judge O’ Conner asked the Daughters of Charity to run the hospital and it is still run by the Daughters of the Charity Health System to serve the poor. Another contribution to Santa Clara County is the Valley Medical Center in San Jose, which is going through two phases of reconstruction approved by Santa Clara County voters in 2008. The first phase is 966 million dollars project to retrofit the hospital and the medical buildings on the main campus and the second phase project is 419 million dollars to construct a 140 bed building. The expansion of the Valley Medical Center is very critical to the area because the number of patient seeking care has increased 45 percent since 2000.
 
 

Evans, Sara M. Born for Liberty. New York: Tree, 1989. Print.

There was no school training for nurses and no sanitizing and antiseptic regulations to perform, nursing was learned on the job and since women always cared at home for their family, they provided care for the sick and wounded. Nursing was primary started from Catholic churches where the priest and the nuns helped needy and sick people in their community and the nuns worked as a nurse during the war, epidemic and natural disaster. There are many heroin women whom dedicated their lives to help their people and country like Clara Barton nursed during the civil war. Since the number on physicians working at the hospital was gradually growing then there was a great demand for trained nurses, so the first training school opened at Bellevue Hospital in New York City of Massachusetts in1873. By 1890, there were thirty five nursing schools which focused to standardize the training and the credentials

music clip

Traditional Persian Music: Andak Andak (Little by Little) 

Lyrics: Sufi poem from Molana (Sufi poet) whom uses vague and indirect language to talk about purifying your soul and how to connect with God

Vocalist: Shahram Nazeri

 Translation:

 Bit-by-bit, bit-by-bit, the drunk masses arrive
Little-by-little, the wine-worshipers wine arrive

They are gently on their way
Like Zaran flowers from the garden

Little by little, from this world of dead and undead
The dead have gone and the living will be here soon

They come with hands full of gold and empty
They arrive both poor and hungry

The gaunt, exhausted from the trials of love
Arrive strong and healthy

Like the rays of the sun, the lives of the pure
They arrive from heights to valleys

The green and fresh garden of the pure
Arrive from drunken stupor

Their essence is grace
As the garden receives them

Respond paper to "From Zoot Suites To Hip Hop"

Respond paper to “From Zoot Suits to Hip Hop”

I found the research paper “From Zoot Suits To Hip Hop” difficult to follow and comprehend because there were so many words referring to different cultural background, language and music which threw me off the track of the main point.

Luis Alvarez continuously refers to Chicana/o and Latina/o. For example, Alvarez writes “This article traces cultural exchanges between Chicana/o and Latina/o…” (1).The distinguished between Chicana and Latina is a challenge for me. I have asked people from Mexico about the differences and their respond was they are the same whom are from Mexico and speak Spanish. I personally researched more about them and I realized that Chicana refers to people from Mexico and Latina refers to people from South America. The other factor made understanding the “From Zoot Suits To Hip Hop” difficult was references to the variety of cultural background. Alvarez states “Among the most available strategies for thousands of…” (5). Alvarez repeatedly used the Mexican- American, African- American and Asian- American through out his research paper. Alvarez also mentions the Japanese- American and Filipino- American. When I came across these cultural backgrounds, the only word I realized reading or remembering was the American. So I needed to reread it few more times. I am familiar with these cultures; however, reading them in an advanced written research paper and as a second language speaker, is challenging to follow the passage. Alvarez also talks about different kinds of music for instance, Jazz, Hip Hop and Zoot Suits. I personally don’t listen to these kinds of music and don’t understand their concepts. As Alvarez explains how the music played in different cultures at different times, it didn’t obtain my attention and interest to grasp the history Alvarez was explaining. There is no doubt that the research Alvarez done is extraordinary, but I have my own challenge to encounter while I was reading it. I believe the language barrier has the most impact and also being not completely familiar with the history of language, culture and music.

Week 7- Rough Draft

Week 7- Rough Draft

Today, women have stronger image in almost every culture. Women have fought really hard to prove how strong, intelligent and capable they are in order for their image to be put beside men to show the equality if not higher, of power, strength and intellect. By reading the wonderful stories written by powerful women, for instance, Sojourner Truth “Aren’t I A Woman? ” Paula Gunn Allen “Where I Come From Is Like This” and Jamaica Kincaid “Girl”, it brought up my realization that the woman I am today has been shaped by looking up to and following the steps of my mother and grandmothers.

As Paula Allen writes, “I remember my mother moving furniture all over the house when she wanted. It changed…” (76). Allen states, “My mother told me stories all the time, though I …” (74). At the end of the same passage, Allen clarifies, “And in all of those stories she told me who I was…” (74). I also recall the same stories from my mother and grandmothers. In the old times, life was harder since they had to do everything from scratch. Their patience and endurance always amazed me.

In the short story “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid exemplifies, “Always eat your food in such a way…” (Website1). Kincaid writes, “This is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt…” (Website1). When I read this story, I pictured my mother talking to me and teaching me all the rules how to be a nice, polite, and creative girl.

In the speech “Aren’t I A Woman?” Sojourner Truth states “Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed…” (Website2). Truth mentions, “…he says women can’t have as much right as men, because Christ wasn’t a woman!” (Website2). My grandmother had a farm and handled it all by herself, and said she used to eat as much as my grandfather because she didn’t have all machines to do the work for her; she would get really exhausted and hungry.

Therefore, the person I am today is a combination of my mother and grandmothers in 21st century. Even if I get suppressed by men in my life, I have mastered my endurance and patient to wait for the right time and take advantage of the situation. Migrating from country to country had also a huge impact on my identity since I have been exposed to new cultures, met new people and learned new language. I try to make the best of what is available to me; it doesn’t bother me if I have less or not of anything. Knowing Christ was made from God and a woman, gives me the greatest pride of being a woman. It is my weapon against men that women are the ones who borne children not men. One of the greatest characteristic I learned was to be passionate with others, for instance, to act like a child when I play with a child and so on. So I have been able to connect with others easier and learn from them and also make friends faster.

I have certain duty as a daughter, wife, and mother and need to act accordingly. I learned form them that I have a strong role in my family regardless of a social and political image. From their experiences, I learned to be in control of my own action and mind. Also, I should always be strong and positive despite of men.

Week 7- Difficulty paper

In reading the story of “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, I had some complexity to comprehend some words, sections and even the cultural differences.Since I am bilingual as well, I can relate to the main intention of the story. However, I don’t speak Spanish and not very familiar with their culture. Therefore, it makes it hard to follow the passage that are discussing about how their language has been changing to a new version. For instance, Anzaldua writes, “I want to speak English. Pa’….” (103). Since the rest of the sentence is written in Spanish, I found it hard to grasp what the mother was saying. It is very obvious that how challenging was for the students who had accents and being mistreated because of it. Anzaldua writes, “If you want to be American, speak American …” (103). In one section, Anzaldua explains, “Chicanos, after 250 years of Spanish/ Anglo colonization …” (106). Anzaldua also exemplifies, “Chicanos and other Spanish speakers also shift ll to y and z to s” (107). It was tricky for me to follow through this section because it was mostly talked about how the pronunciation of words changed and how some syllables were omitted or added over the 250 years. In another section of the story, Anzaldua writes, “Chicanas feel uncomfortable talking in Spanish to Latinas, afraid of their censure” (108). I got confused between Chicana and Latina whom I believed they were the same. The confusion of distinguishing Chicana and Latina, threw me off the track and left me wondered about the differences.

With the respect of the confusion of the vocabulary, I could still relate to the process of adopting a new language and culture. I read the story for few times to ensure understanding the message of the author. I also consider the big picture to bond to the core of the narrative.  Therefore, by picturing the story, I can overcome the difficulty of not understanding of the section. I also analyze if not understanding the vocabulary or the passage would impact the whole message or not. These strategies have been helpful for me to be able to keep on reading and stay interested in finishing it.

Earlier, I mentioned how Anzaldua writes, “We leave out initial syllable, saying tar for estar …” (107). How I was able to analyze the passage and make it easier to follow was, I tried to connect it to my own language and the changes have been made into it. I totally relate to the suffrage, confusion and mortified situations Chicano experienced since English is my second language.

Week 6

WEEK 6

I grew up in the Middle East where gender plays a big role, and that gender is MEN. Men always decide for women and have the right to ask and do anything. Women always stay at home to be a homemaker, only.

I have an eldest brother and older sister. My brother as an oldest child had a huge role in my life, more than my father. Since he was a boy and the first child of the family, my parents gave him lots of freedom and power to do what he desired and act how he wanted at home with us. He was very restricting on me. I was petrified when he was around that either I had to hide or pretend I was studying. When he left the country to go abroad, I felt some kind of relief. While he wasn’t living with us, my parents always consulted him for every move they were going to make. After graduating from high school, I told my parents that I wish to go to Europe to continue my education, but they gave me only one choice to go where my brother was. Relatively, I moved to Canada and he dictated for me what to do, but he was not as bad as before. Until I met my husband and moved to US, I looked at it as a way to get out, but I was trapped again. He is very controlling about the money and spending it. He expects from me to go to work, bring in money, take care of home and never complain. I can go on and on about the men controlling women in our culture.   

At the same time, I would like to explain how all these affected and shaped me. Growing up in the environment where myself and my opinion were not counted and I had to be follower all the time made me a person who has very low self esteem, scared of everything, sensitive, lost, confused and incapable of doing anything right. It is really hard for me to make a decision or choose when I have to. I believe my thoughts, idea and opinion aren’t valuable so when I need to work in a group, I keep quiet. It takes a lot of energy out of me if I need to start a new task. However, it didn’t last like that forever until I broke my silence and made a big revolution in my marriage life last year which shocked everybody. I put my foot down to be respected as a woman and wife, also to recognize and value my needs, ideas and decisions. It was successful so far. It feels very strange to me to be and act different and it requires time to heal the wounds.

Revision – An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Ambrose Bierce writes about the last minutes of the life of the major Confederate supporter of the south Peyton Farquhar. As he was standing on the bridge and waiting for his execution because of his activity of demolishing the Owl Creek Bridge, many thoughts were storming through his mind such his wife, his children, escape and freedom. Bierce writes about how Peyton Farquhar notices every details of the nature at his last time to see and hear them. Bierce says, “ He looked at the forest on the bank of the stream, saw the individual trees, the leaves and the veining of each leaf- saw the very insects upon them: the locusts, the brilliant-bodied flies, the gray spiders stretching their webs from twig to twig” (p36).

Bierce writes about the moment Peyton was hanged, the robe broke and Peyton fell into the water. Bierce says, [Farquhar dived- dived as deeply as he could. The water roared in his ears like the voice of Niagara …] (p37). Bierce also says, [… he was now swimming vigorously with the current] (p37). Bierce states, “Suddenly he felt himself whirled round and round-spinning like a top” (p38). When Peyton came to shore, Bierce says, “He dug his fingers into the sand, threw it over himself in handfuls and audibly blessed it. It looked like diamonds, rubies, emeralds; he could think of nothing beautiful which it did not resemble” (p38).

I believe Bierce makes a beautiful comparison of the escape scene to the existing issue, the Civil War. Bierce interprets the diving into the stream and water roar like the voice of the fall as the voice of the southerners crying for their freedom. Moreover, he explains Farquhar swimming vigorously as the brave fighting of the southerners in the war and whirling in the water as to change the political aspect of the southerners in the union. Lastly Bierce compares Peyton digging into the sand and throwing it over himself and seeing it like diamonds as the desired outcome of winning the war and being home with his wife and children which were the treasure of his life.

I believe the main purpose of the author in this scene was to express the desire of freedom Peyton was longing for and even in the last seconds of his life, he portrayed his wish.

The author related the death of Peyton to the defeat of the southerners in the Civil War.).

Reflection- week five

I really enjoyed the first unit of history and learned a lot about part of the American history. Learning about the reconstruction and civil war explains the journey of the country and the citizens until they got to this point which makes the United States a great nation in the world.

The civil war started in 1861-1865 due to the secession of the southern states from the union. The war was the deadliest war in American history. After the south lost the battle, the government started the reconstruction of the south and passed the law to abolish the slavery, protect the citizen’s rights and right to vote. It wasn’t as easy because there were many conflicts between the executive branch and legislative one. For example, when President Lincoln proposed the ten percent plan, the congress didn’t vote for it. Therefore, the Wade-Davis plan came up with the fifty percent and the President vetoed it. After Lincoln’s assassination, President Johnson was insensitive towards the south and the congress had to take over the decisions of the reconstruction. These conflicts created more restrict laws on the blacks like the black codes, Plessey- Ferguson (separate but equal), Jim Crow laws and so on. By ruling the restriction, not only the constitution was not practiced, but also it made it more painful for the blacks and the south.

Learning what the African- American endured all these years makes me sad and at the same time, I appreciate their endurance and scarifies. After years of recognizing the blacks and changing the point of view of the nation about the skin color, the doors became open for other immigrants to come here and experience the freedom. This also gives me a chance to be part of this great nation and not be treated differently and can practice my rights. I never take my freedom for granted since it was paid such a high price for it.

Week four- point of view African- American

I don’t know where to start to talk about the pain we, as African-American, endured all these years of the slavery. I was born in the slave family and it is hard for me to imagine being free and be recognized as a human because of my skin color. When I think about it, my soul wants to escape from my body and fly to experience of being free. 

My grand parents and parents lived during the civil war and I heard so many painful and bitter stories of what they went through in those days. Since they were slaves, they had no recognition in the society. Their masters always decided for them what to do, what to eat and how to live. During the bloody civil war, many of our relatives, friends, neighbors, brothers and sisters were killed and we got nothing out of it by losing in the war. Then the government passed the laws to abolish the slavery and starting the reconstruction of the south, the oppositions set more restrictions on the blacks and started the reconstruction in their own benefit. After the war, the blacks were promised to receive a small piece of land to be theirs and build their lives, but it turned out the opposite way. Not only the blacks got no land, but also they continued to be the slave. They became the sharecroppers. The wealthy people got the land and supplies, the blacks had to crop and pay the landlord for the supplies at the harvest time. The landlord gave very small part of the land for growing their need. The price of the cotton at the harvest time would not cover the expenses and it put the black in debt that they couldn’t get out of it. Therefore, it was even harder to be the black. Also by raising the KKK organization, so many of our women and girls were raped, men were killed and homes were lost. We were devastated and didn’t know how long it would take for things to get better.

When I think about what my family went through and my own hardship, I’d want to scream and tell the whole world stop abusing us, stop raping our girls and women and stop killing our men. I long to stop the time and tell everybody what is in my heart and how cruel they are.

Whatever I say, it wouldn’t change anything at this time. I don’t know how long we need to wait to be recognized and practice our rights. I know, God created us equally and I am proud of my skin color.

Metacognitive reflection on m reading habits

Reading has always been a challenge for me. I am more interested on learning with hands on than reading. I think that was why I enjoyed math in high school.

I noticed some changes in my interest since I moved to US and started to learn the language which was enjoying reading in English more than my own language. Even though I struggle with vocabulary, but I never get discouraged by looking up the words and carrying my dictionary. Also I always listen for the new words in my conversation with others and how they used the word and pronounce it. If I feel comfortable I will ask what the meaning of the new words and if I don’t I will write somewhere and I look it up when I get home. When I read a passage which there is new vocabulary I don’t look up the words one by one. I try to read the passage for several times and analyze it in my mind and try to understand the message the author is trying to give. By practicing this way also helps me to comprehend more from the conversation I have with others.

Another change in my interest was writing an essay from high school and now. During school time, I had to beg my sister to write my essays for me and she was good at it. When I started learning academic English, I realized I could express my ideas easier than before. I know I still need a lot of improvement in my writing, but I am not apprehended to pick up the pen and explore my ideas on the paper and the blog.

I think people’s interest will change over the time and situation as mine did. Now that I like reading and writing, I don’t have time to do it. Having a young child doesn’t give me enough chance to do my readings. I need to create time for myself to do my homework by sleeping late or getting up early morning. I am determined to get education and have a better career.

The 13,14 and 15th Amendment

In 13^th Amendment, slavery was abolished and should be only used as a punishment of a crime.

In 14^th Amendment which has 4 sections is about citizenship and the citizens of the United States.

1-    All persons born or naturalized in United States have two citizenships; one from the federal and the other one from the state they reside.

No state can deprive any citizen’s life, property and liberty without due process of law.

2-    Represent the age of voting need to be twenty one years old and the citizen of the United States and never participated in rebellion or committed any crime.

3-    No person who has ever been rebellion against or supported the enemies of the United States will be a President or Vice President or hold any office despite of their previous position.

4-    The public debt of the United States including pensions and rewards for suppressing rebellion should not be questioned. It is illegal if any state uses the money to help the rebellion.

In 15^th Amendment, no citizen shall be denied to vote because of the race, color or previous servitude.

In all three Amendments, there is a section stating the Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The analyze of a scene of Occurance at Owl Creek

The author wrote about the major Confederate supporter of the south Peyton Farquhar. As he was waiting to be hung due to his activity of demolishing the Owl Creek Bridge, many thoughts were storming through his mind such his wife, his children, escape and freedom.

When he was hanged, the robe broke and Peyton fell into the water. He was swimming vigorously and he whirled in the stream. Whenever he came to surface to refresh his lungs, he saw the blue sky, bright sunshine and green trees.

I believe the author made a beautiful comparison of the escape scene to the current issue, the Civil War.

The author compared the vigorous swimming to the brave fighting of the southerners and whirling in the water as to change the political aspect of the southerners and the desired outcome would be the blue sky, bright sunshine and green trees which was the freedom.

I believe the main purpose of the author in this scene was to express the desire of freedom Peyton was fighting for and even in the last seconds of his life, he portrayed his wish.

The author related the death of Peyton to the defeat of the southerners in the Civil War.

Civil war

The civil war also referred to as the War Between the States and
started in 1861to 1865.  The civil war was one of the deadliest wars
in American history.
Abraham Lincoln was the president at the time. During his presidential
campaign, he emphasized on abolishing slavery and keeping the union.So
after his victory the southern slave states stated their decision on
seceding from United States and formed the Confederate States of
America. On the other hand, the north or Union desired to keep the
Union, not to end slavery. That was how the war started between the
union and the southern states.

After four years of war, the north claimed the victory and that was
the end of slavery and confederacy in the United States.

I am ...

I am married and have a 4 ½ year old son. This is my first semester at SJCC and I am very excited. I am studying to become a nurse.

I love spending time with my son who is very energetic and funny and he requires my 100% attention so he doesn’t leave me any free time. If I had any free time, I’d love to crochet or knit. My son and I love to feed pigeons in our neighborhood also to take care of our two gold fish at home.

I am very caring and friendly person. I love helping seniors and children. I used to volunteer at senior home and I do at my son’s school twice a month.  

I used to work at dental office as an assistant and receptionist for a long time since the economy changed and made an impact in my life as well as others then I decided to pursue my dream to be a nurse. I hope I can do it.