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How does it impact your life today?

What was its impact in the Colonies?

Who were some of the signers? Are they American heroes?

How does it compare with other “constitutions”?

Okay so I didnt answer all of the questions last time.

 

I did some research and it seems that one of the differences between the US Constitution and the British constitution is that the US Cons. is all in one place where as the British const. is in different areas (magna carter, etc.) Also in the British const. it basically says your rights are that you can do whatever you want except what is prohibited specifically in the const.  In the US Cons. we have specific rights that we are allowed, such as freedom of speech that are given and our rights are listed. Ours is a list of rights we have, theirs seems to be a list of rights they dont have. At least that is how it was explained to me. 

 

As far as how it affected the colonies I did not read anything specifically staing impacts but I am sure that it was huge. It allowed for mroe freedom, such as speech media (newspapers at that time) andmuch more rights that were giv en to them. They had to work together and they formed a government system of their own where they were choosing people who could go and speak for them. The convention started with people like that it was made up oif people who were representing all of the colonies this was definitely a huge change from what they had been used to of just having a kind rule everything they were having a voice and using it verrrrry cooool =)

Film Analysis

So for my film I decided to watch The Crucible.  I actually saw this movie for the first time when we read the play manuscript in my English class sophomore year of highschool.  It’s been almost 6 years (wow, does time fly!) and I haven’t seen it since so I had forgotten a lot of it.  However, I did remember that I had truly enjoyed the movie and it fit within our time range so that is why I chose it. I know that one of the girls in our class, my friend Mary Kate is actually doing her research paper on the Salem Witch Trials.  This movie deals a little bit with similair circumstances so check it out Mary Kate! =)

The movie is based around these witch trials.  It all starts when these two girls claim that one of their friends is a witch.  In the movie it seems to me that the girls are doing this out of jealousy and anger but it is said in research that there is a possibilyt that these girls were actually hallucinating and seeing things, not just making it up. Dr. Berg mentioned that there was some research that there may have been some kind of a mold in the food then that caused these hallucinations.

Overall the movie was great and I really enjoyed it.  I felt like they did a good job of portraying things to a good sense of reality but of course, it’s Hollywood, so they did spice it up a little bit.

I will add more soon.

Constitution

• How does it impact your life today?

The constitution impacts my life today in a variety of ways. It has allowed me so much freedom. It allows me the oppurtunity to vote (19th ammendment) in the upcoming election and it allows me to freely worship in my religion however I please (1st amendment). It also allows freedom of press which affects me greatly as I plan on continuing my education at Madonna University and pursuing a BA in Journalism/Public Relations.  Those are just three that affect me greatly at this point in life.

• What was its impact in the Colonies?

 

• Who were some of the signers? Are they American heroes?

There were 39 people total that signed the Constitution.  Just a few of the ones that you might recognize were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. 

• How does it compare with other “constitutions”?

 

 

I will come back and edit this with more information to update the two other questions.

Summer’s Almost Here…!!!

Well, I am happy to say we are in the final stretch here guys.  These past few weeks have been kind of tough.  At school it has been a crazy few weeks wih all of my classes preparing for finals coming up.  Also, at work we have spent the past few weeks working on preparing for our volunteer luncheon.  I work in the volunteer services department at the hospital and National Volunteer Week is the same week as finals.  Talk about crazy!. We have been working on a movie we put together for the luncheon and also making sure our newsletter is ready to go out by the end of the week. I have definitely been multitasking and learning just how much I can handle.  I definitely feel like a weight has been lifted because our luncheon is over today. I have also finished my first final and can see the light at the end of the week. (Yay Summer!!!) We are almost there and while I have definitely enjoyed this semester and feel like I have learned alot I have defintely been looking forward to the summer, now if only Mother Nature would cooperate!

F.I.N.A.L.S.

Well, with finals week fast approaching I am starting to really feel the heat.  I am trying to manage and have made a list of when different assignments are due and on what days I have tests.  That way I can keep track of things to do and in what order, according to priority.  I am working on doing a little bit every day so that hopefully it won’t seem as overwhelming.  I have been trying to remember Dr. Berg’s advice and have made sure to continue with my regular schedule.  I definitely agree with his advice.  I had the oppurtunity to give up hours and to not take extra hours over the next two weeks (which I normally – pick up hours I mean) but I decided against it.  Going to work is helping to keep me on track because it allows me the chance to get out and focus on other projects and socialize wiht my peers.  When I get home it allows me to refocus on what I am doing and start fresh.  I was hoping to get to the Writing Rescue in the library last week but something at home came up and I was unable to attend.  I am planning on heading over to the library this week though and hopefully get some input on my paper.

Good luck during finals!!!

Dalai Lama

I remember Dr. Berg told us about the Dalai Lama coming to visit this area so when I saw an article at www.freep.com I decided to check it out. The Dalai Lama was visiting the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor and spoke on Saturday morning. He spoke on Buddhism for two hours. Apparently he has been dealing a lot with politics because of the situation with China, but chose to speak solely on faith at this appearance. I thought it was interesting that he started by speaking in English and then began speaking in Tibetan and using a translator. It sounds like it would have been a very interesting event. I don’t know if Dr. Berg made it out there but if so maybe he can tell us a little bit more about it.

Here is the URL for the article I found. www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080419/NEWS05/80419015

Focus East Asia

Yesterday in class we traveled down to LA200 to check out the last presentation in the international series. It was a focus on East Asia and the research James Robson has done with Asian wooden statues.  It wasn’t only the statues themselves that he was interested in but their contents.  These small wooden statues had been very popular but had been become almost nonexistent during communism (1949-1980s) when they were burned and destroyed.  Robson has found 5 collections of these small wooden statues.  They were originally coming out of the Hunan Province.  He has found 3 large collections while doing his research; one museum (in Milwaukee I believe) and also two private collectors. 

 

The statues are usually about 6-8 inches tall and made of campfer wood.  They are usually made in the image of gods, ancestors, or priests, etc.  What is so interesting about these statues is that they have cavities in the back of them.  There are also holes for the mouth, ears, and nose that lead back to the cavities.  Inside the cavities were a range of medicinal elements wrapped in five different colored threads to represent the five main organs.  They would even find a small animal, such as a lizard or spider, and put it inside the cavity.  They thought that when the creature died it would lend it’s soul to the statue and then the statue would be alive.  That is why they also gave breathing holes and the symbols for the five organs. 

 

Inside the cavities they would also stick a small piece of paper that would tell about it.  The paper gave the address of where the statue lived, name of the statue, why they consecrated the statue, date the statue was consecrated, name of the carver, and the talismans to empower the statue.  This paper also listed the names of the family that lived in the household.  This is the first time in history that we have documentation of women’s names as well as the men in a family. 

 

I really enjoyed this lecture.  I thought it was really interesting how people had discarded these statues or not thought anything of their importance and then Robson did all this research to find out some very interesting things about the statues.  We got who, what, when, where, and how… Maybe he should consider being a reporter or journalist!!!  You could tell that this was the work of a good researcher. 

 

I found this website that had some pictures of the statues he was telling us about and posted one of the pics below that is on the website. There are more on there if you want to take a closer look.  It also talks a little bit about him (James Robson, the speaker) and gives you a link to contact them with any other information you might want to know.  It was definitely pretty cool! 
http://www.artasiagallery.com/ourmuseum.html

 

Bellah’s Ideas

I have to admit that I did not get to read the Civil Religion article before class on Tuesday but I just got through reading it and taking the quiz. Normally with stuff like that I will just skim through and skip over most of it to find the answer I need but I actually sat back to read this article. I really liked this idea of a civil religion for America. I think that it is something that Bellah is correct about. There are so many different branches of religion. I mean just under Christianity alone there are so many different branches (Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, Baptist, Catholic, etc.) The idea that we, as a nation, participate in this civil religion is a good idea, I think at least. It makes a lot of sense. For example, I may have a friend who is Catholic (I go to an Assemblies of God church) and we may disagree on some things but under this idea of civil religion we can both understand that the details may be different but we both believe in a god.  That is why we can have things like “In God We Trust” on our dollar bills or say things referencing God in our government, because people may not worship or believe exactly the same thing but many people believe that there is a higher power, a god. That is what I got out of the article at least, am I right? Please feel free to share your thoughts on the topic or maybe correct me if I got off track a little bit here. =]

Tuesday Class

Yesterday in class Dr. Berg talked a little bit about his trip to Grand Rapids. He spoke about the importance of presenting professionally and how it affected his actual presentation that he did while there. One of the things that he mentioned that I thought was interesting was the importance of making sure all of your handouts had contact information. That made a lot of sense to me but I had never really considered the importance of it. I mean, because of it one of the people he had spoke with at the conference asked him to go speak at a national conference coming up. That is pretty exciting.

 

We also talked about Civil Religion and different things that a religion has. Here is the list that my group came up with along with a few things that the class added.

 

-rules to live by (10 Commandments, Koran, Bible, etc.)

-sense of belonging (baptism, communion, etc.)

-supreme being (God, Allah, Elvis, Buddah, etc.)

-afterlife (Heaven, Hell, reincarnation, death, etc.)

-documents (Koran, Bible, etc.)

-symbols (cross, star of David, crucifix, etc.)

-morals/beliefs (abstinence, 10 commandments, etc.)

-place of worship (church, synagogue, mosque, etc.)

-followers (church members, clergy, missionaries, etc.)

-traditions (holidays, passover, etc.)

-time (Sunday morning service, lent, Saturday mass, etc.)

-fellowship (devotions, Sunday school, youth groups, etc.)

-rituals (baptism, communion, lighting candles, eagle dance, etc.)

 

I definitely thought that this class was super interesting. I like to learn about religions and the different symbols and history, etc. I thought it was very engaging for the class, at least I was.

Carrie’s Blessings

     Okay, so Dr. Berg also asked us to write our own poem after we reviewed some of the Puritan poems. Here is mine and a short introduction that will hopefully help to explain where I was coming from a little bit.

     My poem is kind of short but I tried to think about how a Puritan would think, of thanking God for daily things. I added a modern twist. I am not the best at poetry but I tried to just think about different daily things that I am thankful for, small stuff like my curling and big stuff like my family.  

 

 Carrie’s Blessings

 

Each dawn I wake up in a soft, warm bed

With curtains wide and sun bright

I face the new day that waits ahead

My God has blessed me with His light

 

I wake and primp and prepare for the day

These new contraptions are such a joy

What did they do before Mary Kay?

My curling iron is my favorite toy

 

I walk into my closet and rummage through

I make up my mind and pick out some clothes

Then its downstairs to decide on the shoes

Can’t forget to polish those fingers and toes

 

God has blessed me with a mom, a dad, and my brother

They work hard every day to build their success

We continue to cherish and love one another

God is the greatest, who would attest?