Mood Space Reflections

-Describe the elements of the space

-What mood do you think this space evokes? Why?

1 ) Isabella's Space

I have no idea what mood this space is trying to evoke. She's pretty enthusiastic about the space and is kinda nonchalant about blood and death being in it. If this were a personality trait space, it would say sociopathy; but it isn't, so I'd say confusion or insanity. 

2 ) Julian's Space

Julian's space is obviously meant to be happy in a juvenile sense- he has lollipops and is playing children's music. He has a unicorn horn on and is dancing around with it, so it's definitely exciting at the same time. That led me to conclude that the mood he was trying to evoke was childish excitement.

3 ) Grace's  Space

Her mood is unquestionably sadness or depression. The colors of the room are blue and black, and it is a very quiet atmosphere. There is also slow piano music playing, with black candles and poems on the table. The things in the room are usually associated with sadness and darkness, and this room successfully conveys that mood. 

TFA 25

What are your final thoughts on Things Fall Apart? How is colonialism depicted differently in this book compared to its depiction in Heart of Darkness? Do you have any final questions about the book. If so, what are they? We will discuss these questions during our final seminar on the book on Monday.

I thought that this book was pretty fun to read. It was a lot less symbolic and hard understand compared to Heart of Darkness, which was nice. It was a more straightforward book, and therefore easier to read. On the topic of colonialism's depiction in the book, it was really just from a different perspective (in addition, different settings and situations). In HOD, it was from the perspective of Marlow, a European man; in TFA, it was from the perspective of Okonkwo, an African man. Therefore, the way the opposite culture was delivered into the two books was different.

Questions:

-How would each book be different if it was written from the opposite perspectives?

-In which ways were the two books similar?

-If the two authors were to discuss the topic of colonialism, in which ways would they agree/ disagree?

Painting Mood

I picked the painting Regatta at the Rialto bridge. It shows what seems to be a center of commerce in the middle of the day, with many people moving about along the edge of a river filled with small boats. To me this evoked a cheerful and enthusiastic mood, since it seems like everyone is going a separate way and has different things they need to do. The weather looks pleasant in the painting, and it just looks like a good day to be outside and walking around; thats why (to me) it elicited the moods I mentioned.

TFA 20-24 Journal

Discuss the role of Christianity in Things Fall Apart. How does the new religion affect Umuofia (Okonkwo's people)? What do you think of this?

Christianity somewhat represents the cultural degradation of the Umofia and the other villages. Although the mission's leader, Mr. Brown, is acceptant of their culture and religious practices (to a fault- remember that he's still trying to convert them), he is soon replaced by a new reverend who is the complete opposite. Though he was replaced due to sickness, this still shows a less tolerant approach to the village's christian conversion. But no matter which approach was taken, whether tolerant or not, it's still taking from their culture and traditions through assimilation.

TFA 14-19

Part 2 is about Okonkwo's exile to the land of his mother. In Ch. 15, we finally hear of a white man's appearance in the Abame tribe, their reaction to him, and other white men's subsequent destruction of the Abame tribe. Please write about what you think of this. What happened here? Why did the Abame tribe react so violently against the white man? Was their destruction a fair price to pay for this? Why or why not?

What happened is that a white man stopped by the village on a bicycle and spooked the villagers. I think that the Abame tribe's violent reaction to the white man was done out of fear, seeing that it was a poor and seemingly rash decision (and also because the man said nothing to them). The oracle in the village had also said that more men would follow that one, so the villagers probably just wanted to rid themselves of the possible danger without time for discussing the consequences. A while later, more white men came and wiped out almost the whole village. This action is justified because the villagers were showing hostility towards the men, whether they were afraid or not. Just because they were scared by the outsider doesn't mean they had to kill him, and there were many other ways that the villagers could've dealt with that situation. I think that the retaliation of the white men was a fair price to pay for the unkindness that the Abame people showed them.

TFA 5-13 Journal

Writing Process: Explain what the purpose and who the audience is for your response paper.

The purpose of my response paper is to inform anyone reading it about the many difficulties (ethnical or otherwise) that arise from attempted colonization of an inhabited land, what those difficulties have been in the past, what they will be in the future, and how one could confront them. The audience for my response paper is quite general, and can really be read by anyone who wants to know about colonization and what it entails. If I wanted to get really technical, I guess young children might not be able to read my paper, give a just criticism of it, or simply understand it well.

2) Location 692-715 (pp. 63-65) "Okonkwo did not taste any food...Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed." What does Okonkwo's reaction to the death of Ikemefuna say about his inner struggle with being a "real man?"

Okonkwo was clearly hurt by Ikemefuna's death by the way he acts during this time; he is depressed, is unable to eat much, and is kept up at night thinking about Ikemefuna. This shows his inner struggle of balancing his manly values with his sadness for the passing of someone who was very close to him (as well as other "feminine" characteristics). Being such a misogynist and attributing so many emotions and activities to women and the weak of body or mind, this event really showed that he is ignorant of those characteristics being almost necessary in order to thrive among those who wish to be close to you.

TFA 1-4 Journal

Do a character sketch for each of the main characters. Be sure to include each character's main goal, gender, role in the novel, appearance, age, and any other defining characteristics.

Okonkwo is male, and also the protagonist of the story. He is the best wrestler in the village, and also has a significantly high rank there, given that he has three wives. He has been driven to be successful all of his life because of his deceased father, who was very lazy. He is flawed in this way; in his efforts not to be lazy or weak he makes rash decisions that affect him and his family, such as beating one of his wives during the week of peace. He also has trouble balancing his masculinity, and this hinders his interactions with the rest of his family.

Nwoye is Okonkwo's oldest son. He reminds Okonkwo of Unoko, his father, so he often reprimands and beats him for being lazy. This changes when Ikemefuna joins the family and becomes almost an older brother to Nwoye. Through Nwoye's mentor-like qualities his father backs off of him and even starts to like him more.

Ikemefuna is a 15 year-old from the Mbaino village, who came to Okonkwo's village because of a war agreement between the two places. Ikemefuna quickly integrates into the family and is liked by Okonkwo, who likes him even more once he and Nwoye become close friends. Ikemefuma tells the children stories from outside the village, and teaches Nwoye about how to be masculine without alienating people and being really hostile.


Note- I showed you that this was done on time

TFA 1-4 Vocab

Cowries
"Unoku was, of course, a debtor, and he owned every neighbor some money, from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts."
-A species of mollusks with brightly colored shells.

Harmattan
"And it was not too hot either, because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down from the north."
-A dusty wind on Africa's Atlantic coast.

Plaintive
"...And he could hear his own flute weaving in and out of them, decorating them with a colorful and plaintive tune."
-Grieving or suffering.

Capricious
"It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw."
-Impulsive and unpredictable.

Incipient
"Okonkwo's first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety from his incipient laziness."
-Starting to be realized.

Note-  I showed you that this was also done on time

Hollow Men Journal

Why do you think T.S. Eliot used the line from Heart of Darkness ("Mistah Kurtz - he dead.") to introduce this poem? How is this poem and Heart of Darkness in conversation with each other (how do they relate to one another?)?

Heart of Darkness relates to the Hollow Men poem because of its characters and what happens to them. Two of the people who could be used as examples are Kurtz and the manager. The manager is incredibly bland, and Marlow sees this in him through the emptiness of his smile. He had been almost completely drained of emotion because he had worked for the company for so long,  giving him a sort of hollow quality.

The poem also relates to Kurtz.  At the end of the fifth and final part of the poem, it says:

"This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    Not with a bang but a whimper."

I think this relates to Kurtz' death, which came somewhat abruptly and without a lot of direct dramatic buildup. It is even more fitting to Kurtz' death that this line is at the end of the poem, and one of Marlow's main objectives was to find Kurtz. Once he died, a significant part of the story died with him, and to me (in some ways) the book ended there.

Hollow Men Vocab

Supplication
"Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star."
-To pray or ask for humbly.

Tumid
"In this last of meeting places
We grope together
 And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of tumid river"'
-Swollen or bloated.

Perpetual
  "The eyes reappear
    As the perpetual star
    Multifoliate rose
    Of death's twilight kingdom
    The hope only
    Of empty men."
-Continuing infinitely or everlasting.

Black Man and White Man's Burdens Journal

Explore how these two poems are in conversation with each other. How is "The Black Man's Burden" responding to "The White Man's Burden?" Also, do you think that Heart of Darkness reveals a similar attitude of Europeans toward Africans as Kipling expresses in "The White Man's Burden?" Please find a passage from Heart of Darkness that is evidence for your answer.

The White Man's Burden is the "responsibility" to rise up over the other races. It is written by a british man who is encouraging post-Philippines takeover America to rise over the Philippines because of some kind of empirical right, as the british have done many times before in other places. The Black Man's Burden is dealing with these behaviors, and is pretty much saying that treating a different race of people in the same way the blacks had been treated in the past is no different than treating the blacks in that way again. It is very applicable to Heart of Darkness, because at that time those were the exact feelings that the Europeans had for the Africans. They felt that they had a right to civilize them and lead by example, which is in essence (albeit very saturated and much less intense) what the White Man's Burden Poem is saying. A passage in Heart of Darkness that shows off the Europeans' feeling of necessity to triumph is "They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity-like yours- the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly (49-50)."

Black Man and White Man's Burdens Vocab

White Man's Burden:

Tawdry
"Take up the White Man's burden--
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper--
The tale of common things."
-Cheap in appearance.

Sloth
"And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought."
-Lack of motivation or inclination towards action.

Heathen
"And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought."
-To be uncivilized or barbaric.

Black Man's Burden:

Brook
"Hail ye your fearless armies,
Which menace feeble folks
Who fight with clubs and arrows
and brook your rifle’s smoke."
-To tolerate or allow.

Chinua Achebe Vocab

Erudite
"For did not that erudite british historian and Regius professor at Oxford, Hugh Trevor-Roper, also pronounce that African history did not exist (page 2)?"
-Showing knowledge acquired from books or studying.

Espoused
"The kind of liberalism espoused here by Marlow/Conrad touched all the best minds of the age in England, Europe and America (page 6)."
-To take up or support a cause.

Purport
"How can I stand up more than fifty years after his death and purport to contradict him (page 9)."
-To infer or imply.

Xenophobia
"But even those not blinkered, like Conrad, with xenophobia, can be astonishingly blind (page 10)."
-fear of strangers or foreigners.

Unequivocal
"And all this while the article speaks unequivocally about language(page 11)."
-To be clear or leave no doubt.

Heart of Darkness Part 3 Vocab

Destitution

"The glamour of youth enveloped his particolored rags, his destitution, his loneliness, the essential desolations of his future wanderings (page 79)."

-A state of poverty,

Pensive

"-with spears in their hands, with bows, with shields, with wild glances and savage movements, were poured into the clearing by the dark- faced and pensive forest (page 85)." 

-Reflective or thoughtful.

Fecund

"And in the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land, the immense wilderness, the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her, pensive, as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul (page 88)."

-Rich in production amount or fruitful.

Odious

"-the moral shock I received, as if something altogether monstrous, intolerable to thought and odious to the soul, had been thrust upon me unexpectedly (page 93)."

-Deserving of hatred or loathing.

Drubbing

"I fancy I had some vague notion of falling upon him and giving him a drubbing (page 94)."

-A severe beating or punishing.

Heart of Darkness Part 3 Journal

           
Reflect upon Heart of Darkness as a whole. Who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist? What is actually the Heart of Darkness? (hint: Europeans and colonialism? Africa? Africans? Some other thing?)

This book, although confusing, was pretty interesting to read. We got to explore the labyrinths of detail, multiple interpretable meanings, and symbolisms that this book has to offer; all the while dealing with the subject of  cultural equality through 19th- century racism. I think that the protagonist of this book is still Marlow, as I said in my other journal about protagonists and antagonists. It is his trials, errors and experiences that are mainly focused on, not Kurtz's or the manager's. My view on the main antagonist of the book, although, has changed. Instead of the manager or the brickmaker, I would say the main antagonist is the jungle/Africa/the unknown (I mean those all to be one and not separate antagonists, the three names are just interchangeable ways of describing a presence in the book). It intimidates Marlow, scaring him through the possibilities of what could exist in the darkness, what the strange noises from that area could be from, etc, etc. This paranoia isn't exclusive to him, and the rest of the pilgrims fear it too. It leads to his mental problems that remain even after he gets back to Belgium, and his physical ones he almost dies from near the end of the book. It prevents him from having a clear idea of where he is going, as in the fog. The land he is affected by is the antagonist, simply from what it does to Marlow and others' conditions both mentally and physically.

I thought that Africa was the actual heart of darkness in this book. When I think of a place where people know where they are going and what they are doing, I think of someplace that is well known and commonly travelled through. There are lights to lead the way through the area, and a distinct path to follow. It is safe and regulated. Africa, at that time (and to the Europeans specifically), was the complete opposite of that. Mostly uncharted and unexplored, the possibilities of what lied there were endless to those new explorers. It was unknown, intimidating, and frightening; It could drive a man to insanity or plague him with an incurable disease. If someone were to describe that place to me, I would very much agree with the term 'heart of darkness'.

Heart of Darkness Part 2 Vocab

Portico
"...and at their foot, hugging the bank against the stream, crept the little begrimed steamboat, like a sluggish beetle crawling on the floor of a lofty portico (page 48)."
- A porch with overhanging roof structure supported by columns.

Begrimed
"...and at their foot, hugging the bank against the stream, crept the little begrimed steamboat, like a sluggish beetle crawling on the floor of a lofty portico (page 48)."
-Covered in dirt or grime.

Unostentatious
"Your strength comes in, your faith in your ability for the digging of unostentatious holes to bury yourself in- (page 70)..."
-excessive or unnecessary display.

Exaltation
"'You don't talk with that man- you listen to him' he exclaimed with severe exaltation (page 75)."
-A sense of raised power or importance.

Despondency
"'But now-' He waved his arm, and in the twinkling of an eye was in the uttermost depths of despondency (page 75)."
-Being discouraged or depressed.

Heart of Darkness Part 1 Vocab

Lurid
"And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky, a brooding gloom in sunshine, a lurid glare under the stars (page 3)."
- Causing horror or shock.

Concertina
"Imagine him here- the very end of the world, a sea the color of lead, a sky the color of smoke, a kind of ship as rigid as a concertina- and going up this river with stores, or orders, or what you like (page 5)."
-A musical instrument similar to an accordion.

Sepulchre
"In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulchre (page 10)."
-A burial place, such as a mausoleum.

Somnambulist
"The slim one got up and walked straight at me- still knitting with downcast eyes- and only just as I began to think of getting out of her way, as you would for a somnambulist, stood still, and looked up (page 9-10)."
-One who sleepwalks.

Volubility
One of them, a stout, excitable chap with black mustaches, informed me with great volubility and many digressions, as soon as I told him who I was, that my steamer was at the bottom of the river (page 26)."
-Talking rapidly or with a lot of energy.

Heart of Darkness Part 2 Journal

Describe the major conflicts introduced in Parts 1 and 2 (think man vs. man, man vs. nature, etc).

Man vs. nature plays a large part in the conflicts of parts 1 and 2. As we discussed in class, even the river could be viewed as an antagonist simply because it gets in the way of of the protagonist's objectives. Marlow needs to travel upstream, and the river is making this task difficult for him. Another conflict that would fall under the category of man vs. nature is that of the men and the jungle. The jungle is, from my viewpoint, quite relative to its inhabitants. It represents the unknown and the frightening, which the natives are certainly perceived to be like. Man vs. man has its place as well, with the hatred the manager has for Kurtz and just the general tension in the book between Europeans and the native Africans.


Explore Conrad's use of either light and darkness, African people and European people, or the Thames River and the Congo River (the one Marlow is traveling down in Africa). What is Conrad doing with these themes/symbols? What message do you think that he is trying to get across to his audience? Please provide examples with page numbers from the book.

Conrad uses the Congo river in a couple of different ways, but there is one main way that I saw. First off, the river is a direct link to the center of Africa for the Europeans. They don't have to make direct contact with the Africans, which they would have to do if they went by land. If they were to make their way by land and were forced to cooperate with the Africans, they would have a harder time coming to an agreement at the beginning but it would be worth their while in the long run, as they might've even been able to tolerate each other's differences. Traveling the river is a way for the Europeans to stay distant and disconnected, but is much easier at the beginning given the ease of entry; but in the long run, as conflicts with the Africans impede their progression, it is a more difficult path.
To me, the river is a symbol of cultural incongruence between the Europeans and Africans, and a general aversion from direct contact.This cultural incongruence is shown through Marlow's comments on the Africans as he journeys upriver. Though he does not doubt that they are human, his comments are far from acceptance and are more of disgust: "They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity-like yours- the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly (49-50)."

Heart of Darkness Part 1 Journal

-Discuss three things that you learned from Dr. Jarra's presentation. What piece of art was most interesting to you and why (describe the piece and then give your impression).

I was sick on the day of the field trip, so if you want me to do a journal/ activity in place of this please tell me.

Main Character Sketches:

-Marlow

Charles Marlow is a british seaman, who travels to Africa for a job as the captain of a steamboat. Not much is said about his appearance, but his personality and aspirations are heavily detailed (being that he is the main protagonist of the book). He is honest and intelligent, and isn't just another hired worker. His objective so far is finding Kurtz.

-The Manager

The manager is male, and seems to be incredibly average. Everything about his appearance is normal, aside from his cold blue eyes and odd smile. Not only is his appearance average, but also his work activity as an employee at the Central Station. In addition, he is almost devoid of personality. The manager just wants to get rid of Kurtz, who he is jealous of and is challenging the brickmaker's attempts to become assistant manager.

-The Brickmaker

 The brickmaker, like the manager, is referred to with no real name. This adds a mysteriousness to his character and the hidden agenda he has. He is male, and is described as young, gentlemanly person with a "forked little beard" and a "hooked nose" (page 31). His goal is to become the assistant manager, and is very persuasive and prying- he resorts to some pretty low-level tactics to get his way.

Mr. Kurtz

Mr. Kurtz, another male character, is somewhat mysterious; not much is known about him or his personality at this point, because Marlow hasn't seen him yet. What is known about him is that he is a genius and has a job that many are vying for, and this one of the reasons that the manager and the brickmaker hate him.




-Protagonists and Antagonists of the Book

Marlow is undoubtedly the protagonist; he and his exploits are the primary focus of the book, and all one would need to do to find this out is read the first few pages. He has good overall moral judgement, and isn't motivated simply by personal gain like many of the other characters in this book are.
The antagonists of the book are the brickmaker and the manager, both of whose goals are simply to rise up in rank. The brickmaker always seeks information about the board of directors from Marlow, and also wants to have the position of assistant manager. Kurtz's presence there has messed up his chances of this happening, so both of them want him out of the picture.

H of D Introduction Vocab

Vocabulary Words:

Spoliated
"Whole villages were spoliated and destroyed (page 8)."
-To completely strip of value or worth.

2.Polemic
"Ultimately, however, the strengths of the story as a polemic- (page 4)..."
-An aggressive rebuttal to another's statements.

3. Protean
"Everywhere felt but only occasionally glimpsed, the latter emerges as a strangely protean presence, forming and re-forming like a genie from a bottle (page 12)."
-To be versatile or adaptable.

4. Flinty
The pressures put upon him reflect more widely on a tradition of liberal humanism that, when faced by the flinty actualities of wider colonial politics, has commonly suffered painful defeat( page 14-15)..."
-Having the characteristics of being stern or hard.

5. Iconoclastic
 "In his restless energy as an explorer, conqueror, and self-styled hero of the empire, he is a powerfully iconoclastic caricature (page 16)."
-Strongly opposing a belief.

Monday 11/4 Journal

-There were three things I learned about European colonialism from today's meeting. Those things were:

The Europeans weren't very acceptant of other cultures and beliefs past a normal sense. They considered most other cultures inferior to them and uncivilized.

2.  They had a term called natural law. A group of people that does not follow natural law (basically having the same cultural attributes as the Europeans) they aren't as enlightened as them. At this point the Europeans thought that is was god's plan for them to rule over and "civilize" these people.

3. Colonialism and imperialism are different. Imperialism is militaristic, and there is ruling without settlement in a large general area. Colonialism applies to a certain area, and therefore on a smaller span.

-Three things I learned about Joseph Conrad in the intro to Heart of Darkness and why they influence how I read the book:

1. This man was pretty delusional. He suffered from mental illnesses during his time in Africa, and this might've affected his writing. I think I'm going to read this book differently in light of his possible mental instability during the time it was written.

2. In addition to being mentally ill, he was also physically sick with malaria and a host of other diseases. This also might've affected his writing (albeit less seriously than a mental illness would). This will also make me read the book differently.

3. Lastly, a lot of the things he saw in Africa scarred him. I think this aspect of his visit will bring about deep and descriptive mentions of the things that he saw there; if I see this happening as I read, I'll have something to source it back to.

Friday Journal

Friday: Reflect upon the Oral History Project. What was your favorite part of the project, and why? What was your least favorite part about it, and why? If you could change something about the process, what would you change? Would you want to do the Oral History Project again? If so, why? If not, why?

My favorite part of the project was probably the interview, which was a new experience for me. My least favorite part was transcribing the interview. I don't think I'd change anything about the process of this project, because each step was pretty sensical and was a significant part of the overall process. If we were to do it again, that would be fine with me because we'd be able to get a better view of the lives of people who have lived in Houston.

Wednesday Journal

Wednesday : Reflect upon the transcription work that you are doing. Is this an interesting process to you, and why? Did you learn anything new about the interview that you missed when you were involved in it? If so, what? Do you enjoy transcribing? If yes, why? If no, why?

I thought it was pretty interesting, mainly because I had never interviewed anyone before. I learned that my voice is kind- of annoying and that I could've introduced more topics from what my interviewee was saying. Transcribing isn't very fun, considering you have to go from writing to your interview to recording about every sentence. Also, if they string sentences together you have to find a way to word it correctly while still staying true to what they said.

Journal: The funniest thing that has happened to me

Note: This probably isn't the funniest thing that has happened to me. Actually, its not even that funny.

I stayed with my family and two of my friends in a condo in Galveston this summer. One night, when my parents were out at dinner, we got the genius idea to drop soda cans off of our seventh-story condo balcony and onto the empty streets below. It was later at night, so there were no cars. We had dropped two soda cans and were about to drop a third when a man walked out from the first floor. We thought he was a manager, so we all left the balcony and started to think about going to pick up the cans. We decided that would be the best action to take, but the one thing we didn't factor into that plan was that my parents would be getting home soon. As they ran onto the streets, I saw a familiar-looking SUV coming down the road. My friends saw the car too, and held the soda cans behind their backs as my parents stopped to question why they were down there. "Going on a walk" was the best excuse they could come up with.

Interview Journal

 What was interesting about your subject's story? What went well, and why? What could use improvement, and why? How did you feel about the interview overall?

There were a lot of interesting parts of the interview. One thing that stuck out was how she grew up in segregational Mississippi, and was there for the schools' racial integration and the different social issues that came along with this. Despite none of my group members being there, the interview went as planned and we got a lot of information. I did a good job of incorporating my questions into what she was saying and changing the wording of my questions so that they were relevant. I think I could've been better at creating questions from her answers though, and I hit a couple of dry spots that could've been avoided by some improvisation. Overall, I think the interview went pretty well.

Interview Questions

Where were you born?

When did you come to Houston?

What area were you raised in as a child?

What interested you in becoming a part of radio broadcasting?

What is your favorite part about being manager of KPFT?

Could you talk about how the 2007 shooting affected you personally?

What kinds of changes did the station experience afterwards?

What's your favorite thing about living in Houston?

What is it like having a highly liberal station in such a conservative part of the country?

How has Houston changed since your earliest memories of it?

Vocabulary for 'This American Life'- Surrogates

Partisan:

"At the time, I think it was seen more as, this is partisan politics, and that it was viewed as a faction war".

-A strong supporter of a party or cause.

Tariff:

"A hugely controversial tariff, for instance, in 1828".

-A tax imposed on imports or exports.

Vitriolic:

"Mine wasn't overly dramatic or vitriolic".

-Bitter criticism.

Journals for week of 10/7-10

Journals for week of 10/7-10
Debbie Harwell-
There are a couple of things I thought were interesting. One was Lonnie smith, who eliminated white primaries (ability to vote) when the majority of Texas' population was democratic. Also, racial integration was achieved in the mid- 20th century by the radio stations not covering the topic. Black and white businesses made an agreement that they would allow the opposite race into their areas. This, as well as various other agreements between businesses allowed for a really casual integration. Another thing that I thought was interesting was that NASA started their programs here based on our weather conditions and the military base.

What is your spine? What drives you? How does this affect the way you are in the world

I don't think I'm motivated by a certain thing or reason, and if I had to pick something it would be a wanting to do something influential in my life. I think making a difference or doing something that benefits society in some way would be pretty cool. This affects the way I am because one of the ways I can achieve many of those goals is by doing well in my studies.

Facts about Europe

100,000 BC: Christopher Columbus travels the globe in a speedboat with his hominid friends.