During this semester I learned so very much about writing and different forms of it. I learned how to do creative writing. On my First Day of School memoir, I learned that in creative writing you don't write an overview, and you have to be creative. On my first draft it was by far the most boring story I have ever read. So, when I got my grade back (which want so hot) he allowed us to redo it. Thank goodness for that or else I would have failed. On my redo I found out that you have to use adjectives and describe what you: taste,smell,hear,see, and feel. When I finished my redo I had to say that thanks to Mr. Fielder teaching me how to do a creative story really helped out my grade.
Next, I learned how to use a blog. At first I thought a blog was going to be a burden to do, but i quickly found out that blogs help you to express your feelings about all sorts of topics. Such as holidays, elections, experiences in your life, etc. With the blogs you have to have pictures, and by the help of fellow classmates, I discovered that pictures help your blog a great amount, because it gives you a visual on what you are feeling or what the topic is about.
In addition to learning how to write creatively, and how to blog, I learned how to read with more of an intellectual approach. I was taught how to margin note. Margin noting is when you read and article, book, newspaper, and so on, and question it or make comments, and later on go back to the question and see if you can find the answer. This is a very effective tool when you are reading a difficult paper, because it allows you to question something to see if it makes sense. Margin noting came in handy when we read a complex paper called the American Scholar. This article was written by a philosopher, so the language was difficult to understand and it had old terms that people don't use today. Thanks to margin noting I questioned what I didn't know and eventually went back and it helped me to clear the nonsense and understand what was really important.
Another concept I strengthened was that of capitalization. Now i though i knew everything about capitalization, but I was wrong. I learned that you capitalize "mom" and "dad" when it takes the place of a persons name, pretty much like a pronoun. Also I learned that you don't capitalize foreign names if it has become very common like french fries, but Asia Minor needs to be capitalized.
I think the most important concept i learned this semester was the cultures of the world. Cultures are as diverse as the people in the culture. There are 100s of different cultures and I learned about just a few of them this semester. I learned that minority cultures are sometimes forgotten about, such as in Australia and the Aborigines. When the British arrived in Australia they immediately discriminated against the Aborigines. The British believed that the Aborigines need to be erased from the world, and they came close to it. They put the Natives into camps where they would be breed with white men and the children would be one shade lighter than before. They also used the Aborigines as cheap labor, later on laws were passed to stop the elimination of the Aborigine culture, and they did. The Aborigine population is very low today because, new generations want lives in the modern world instead of living in the 40,000 year old culture.
Lastly i learned about the early origination of countries. South African was a country that really intrigued me. Here the Dutch were in charge, as they set up a strategic port for the the Dutch East India Trade Company. a group of rebellious Dutch called, The Boers, didn't like the lifestyle in the Cape Colony, so they started the Great Trek. They moved northward and encountered the Natives here call the Khoikhoi. The Khoikhoi were easily eliminated due to the spread of smallpox. At this time a Africa nation was starting to rise and it was run by the Zulus. The Zulus were fierce warriors and stopped at nothing to get what they wanted. They eventually would face the Boers and utter defeat when 3,000 Zulu men were killed by over 400 Boers. In the 1800s diamonds were found in Kimberley and the British wanted them, so the set up a colony in Natal. Natal was placed as a strategic base to get diamonds. The Boers had confrontation with the British, and this led to the Anglo-Boer war. Where the Boers were severely outnumber and lost the battle. I really enjoyed this semester and i cant wait for next semester!