Progressive Historical Narrative

Rebels Without a Cause Not very many people have affected me in the same way as my friend Jake Fernholz. I have never realized the influence he has had on me until someone pointed out that we talk and think the same way. I only met Jake two years ago in track, when a pulled hamstring injury caused Mr. Kellerman to have me practice with the long distance kids. Mr. Kellerman forced me into staying on the long distance team and that is where I started to hit it off with Jake. It took me a long time to be comfortable with Jake, but when I did we quickly found our common interests.

The Magazine in Colonial Williamsburg was very important and it was a major start to the American Revolution in the area. The Magazine had lots of historical significance in the American Revolution. It also still has value and relevance today. A motto it connects to is “That the future may learn from the past”. The Magazine is the building that is most deserving of the commemorative coin commissioned and minted for it.

Throughout America, a multitude of newspapers and authors write about and discuss the various topics that interest people today. Ranging from sports to political editorials and news coverage, each writer carries their own personal style for how they convey their message to their audience. Leonard Pitts, a writer for the Miami Herald, was born in California and currently writes editorials on recent topics. An African-American left-winger, Pitts forms his writing with colloquial language in his editorials such as: “Challenged by The Hope of my Elders,” “Torture Might Work, but That’s not The Issue,” and “Don’t Lower The Bar on Education Standards.” In “Challenged by The Hope of My Elders,” Pitts writes about the black lives matter campaign and

Questioning their reasoning, Cary asks her opposition, “Is not that plain?” at the conclusion of one of her arguments based around the fact that African Americans need an outlet for their own voices, because without one, they would be at “at the mercy of the demagogue” in America. By asking such a question after a stream of persuasive rhetoric, Cary, who seems almost impatient, tries to reiterate her basic argument in the simplest way possible, so her entire audience can easily comprehend her thesis. Clearly, she believes in the evident necessity of her newspaper, and desires for her audience to understand and sympathize with her beliefs. As the final line of her piece, Cary asks “Do you agree with us?”.

On October 28, I attended the Lost Voices of Ferguson panel in Valhalla. The Lost Voices are an activist group that originally formed during the protests for the Mike Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri. Each one of them witnessed the shooting in their own way, from watching it on the news in a completely different town to being right in Ferguson and seeing parts of Mike’s brain. There were 9 of them total, including their camera man Chuck, who had been following them for the past year, joining their mission. Some of them were high school students while others were middle-aged parents.

The words written across the front page were impossible to miss, so large and so bold, I could hear them screaming, shouting, almost shrieking into my ears. These words wanted to infiltrate my mind, resonate within me, and conquer my every thought. And it worked. The headline read: Clarence Thomas: The New Thurgood Marshall. I sat there, initially speechless, initially apathetic, incapable of comprehending.

When analyzing “Time to Assert American Values,” readers notice many illogical fallacies presented throughout the editorial. One of the author’s most recurring fallacies is his use of ad populum. Instead of focusing on the topic at hand, the author shifts focus to American patriotism and history. For instance, the author claims that “Americans need to remember that this country was also founded by dissidents” (“Time to Assert American Values” 179). In contrast to the New York Times editorial, the author of “Rough Justice” develops thorough, complete arguments.

The chapters of our textbook, America: A Narrative History, written by George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi, takes us on a historical yet comparative journey of the road to war and what caused the American Revolution, an insight into the war itself, and a perception to what life was like in America after the war was over. The essays of the book, America Compared: American History in International Perspective, collected by Carl J. Guarneri gives us a global context and a comparison between the North and South Americas in the dividing issues of labor, slavery, taxes, politics, economy, liberty, and equality. Part One These chapters in our textbook Tindall describes; the road to the American Revolution, the road to the surrendering of the British, and the road to the American colonists receiving their independence and developing the government which the people of the United States will be governed by. The road to the American Revolution consisted of several events, which escalated to the war that began April 19, 1775, as the tensions between the American colonies and the British Government advanced towards breaking point.

Several individuals from different ethnicities, races, and citizenships, compose a society. The United Sates allow us to have a close interaction with numerous individuals from diverse backgrounds. In my own case I have been able to interact with many incredible individuals from all over the world who come from extremely different backgrounds. I am a proud Mexican who cherishes respect towards diversity. Coming from a very suffered country I am able to understand not only what does it means to feel proud to be a Latino, but also I can feel acquainted with the pain and struggle that our community has to face every day.

As a College freshman in his second semester, I have learned to deal with the challenges that I have to deal with peaceful, yet exhilarating moment when my mind engages with an author’s thoughts on a page. As John Dewey states “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” What Dewey insists is from my early days in high school to my first year in college as a freshman, I wanted to know the full concept of English; however, I have now realized this subject would fill in my void of English with noteworthy complexities. This was not the case for most of my second semester in Montgomery College; I always had trouble in various parts of the subject, such as development in thesis statement, sentence writing and reflecting on previous essays. Writing a thesis statement had been one of my down falls in English.

Deciding to attend Texas A&M University was both a hardship and immense, opportunity in my life. Coming from a close knit background, and possessing a very family oriented character, my decision to come to this incredible institution was one out of my comfort zone. If I was to be asked one year ago, If I could ever see myself standing on this marvelous campus, attending one of the top schools in the nation, I would have honestly responded, no. My counselors would have said no, my friends, my college advisor, my family. The answer would not have been yes, not because I wasn 't capable of meeting the standards to attend, but because there seemed more obstacles in my way than there was forces pushing me forward.

For example, Staples focuses on the work “My Negro Problem-And Ours”. When quoting another man that has the same problem that he struggles with, Staples’ readers are given a clear sense that this is not an isolated case, and the sprinkle of logos given in an otherwise pathos-filled writing lends the circumstance needed to give the emotions real meaning. Because of this, the reader is allowed to focus on the idea that all of the examples given, even those from other sources, happen to an entire race of people, and not Staples alone. Having scope of the issue revealed as nationwide, rather than an issue following one person as the comic book-esque opening suggests, nearly leads the reader to an epiphany as their empathy is expanded, from a single person to a

In the song “History Maker,” by Dean Fujioka is about how he sings about this obstacle, that he is trying to pass. He sings about asking the person to let him be free and let him be able to be himself. He finally able to be free from this stress and go on his way. He makes himself free which makes him feel like it will be remembered for a very long time, for getting away from this stress.

The story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America, when desegregation is finally achieved. Flannery O’Connor’s use of setting augments the mood and deepens the context of the story. However, O’Connor’s method is subtle, often relying on connotation and implication to drive her point across. The story achieves its depressing mood mostly through the use of light and darkness in the setting.

Most of these opinions are found and were formulated through letter writing. It is clear from these letters that the magazine had mixed reviews, with the majority of writers such as Hartley Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle believing that it was too politically driven (Sanders, I, P114). Therefore, it suggests that Blackwood’s preferred audience were middle to high class people as well as the politically right winged