Semester 2: Blog 10

My mother and father were born after WW2 had ended, so I asked how WW2 had affected my grandparents, and it had not. They lived in Iraq so they were not impacted directly by the war, the impact might have been knowing Jews or people fighting in the war, but my family had no such relations.

Semester 2: Honors Blog

Dear Yoshisuke Sakuri,
You are living in North Dakota so I was not sure if you knew about the evacuation of all the American-Japanese on the West Coast. They had only given us a two day warning and we were only able to bring a few of our things with us. It was thievery, the money those rats gave us for our things was close to nothing, but what could we do. They made father leave his job. They took us all to an assembly center, then they took me and mother to one internment camp, and father and my brother, Hashoi, to a different one. Apparently after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order. The Japanese living in America had been tried and found guilty of something we are not sure about, but we are a threat according to the national security. They think that we are spying for Japan. As far as I know, none of my friends have done anything of the sort, and none of them have been acting any different before this all happened.
We are living in a desert, I have no idea where it is but it does not seem like there are many other people out here other than us. They keep us in these shabby barracks and there is barbed wire fences surrounding us with military men. They have huge rifles and they can be disrespectful to us. Each day the food we get does not taste like food. I have already lost weight and I feel weak and exhausted all the time. The older people are not doing so well here. We have nothing to do, and we can do nothing. It has been three months here and mother is starting to lose hope. We both feel as if we are going to die here. People have died already from malnutrition. They also do not provide medication for the people that need them. We cannot complain or say anything though. If we do anything that they do not like, they will send us to the Tule Lake facility. They also have us take oaths that, for men and boys, we will serve the American army, and for women and girls, they will serve the army as nurses, and if we do not take that oath they send use to the Tule Lake facility too. It is not fair living here. There is no justice for us. I do not feel safe here. The guards have killed a girl because she was being "troublesome". I fear that they can deem anybody troublesome and kill them with no repercussions.
I do not understand why they are punishing us for something we have not done. I wonder about my father and brother all the time. I wanted to tell you all this in case something happens to me. After the war is over I want you to show this to people if I am dead and get justice for all of us that had to go through this.
Sincerely,
Juro Kai.

Sites
http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/japan_internment_camps.htm

http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/camp.html

http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/index.html

Blog 9: WW2 imagery

This propoganda is used to get people's emotions involved. It is pretty much telling anyone in the war to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. I personally thought this was funny because the government was looking out for its military, only so that they can use them for their own needs which will most likely hurt them.

This photo was taken by Arthur Green. The nazis torpedoed the USS MENGES in the Mediterranean and this coast guard seaman died at his battle station. To me the picture is depressing because of the way he is dead. He is hanging almost upside down with his head faced toward the ground.

This was drawn by Arthur Szyk. It is a caricature of the Axis Powers. This poster is from 1942 and shows Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo holding hypodermic needles. Soldiers were given shots sometimes before going on their leave. I thought this was kind of funny because the Axis Powers have nothing to do with sexually transmitted disease, but the poster is connecting them to it.

Semester 2, Blog 8: Honors

In a well developed, thoughtful piece of writing that uses direct quotes, explain the relationship between your honors novel and the time period that fostered it's creation.

My novel, Native Son, by Richard Wright, took place in the 1930's when there was still segregation and a large amount of racism. The main character, Bigger, is constantly thinking about about the priveleges white people have and the ones that black people don't have. In the beginning of the book when Bigger and his friend Gus are looking up at a jet in the sky Gus says, "If you wasn't black and if you had some money and if they'd let you go to that aviation school, you could fly a plane." (Wright 17). At that time African Americans were not able to do many things that white people were able to, and if they were able to do something like go to school, they most likely could not afford it. When the Dalton family find that their daughter Mary has gone missing they call a detective. The detective interrogates Bigger and accuses him of being a communist. When he is done interrogating Bigger, Bigger goes up to his room and listens to what Mr. Dalton and the detective Britten are saying. He overhears Britten say, "To me, a nigger's a nigger." (Wright 163). Britten implies that because Bigger is black, he must have something to do with Mary's disappearance. This also shows that at that time period, blacks were not looked at as individuals, but more a stereotyped whole that is ignorant uneducated people who are likely to do bad things. The whole novel is based on the discrimination of African Americans at that time. They were put into bad living conditions because people like Mr. Dalton who owned the housing would not allow black people to live in the nicer apartments and also raised the price for how much the families pay. Communism was also big at that time and there was propoganda to make people fear and hate communists. Native Son in almost every way is written because of the time period and everything in the novel has to do with what things were like for African Americans in the 1930's.

Blog 7: Semester 2

On April 12, 1861, a boy named Civil War was born. The day of his birth was the beginning of the end of the his evil stepfather named Confederate. His mother had died during labor and he had an older brother named Slave, but Civil War was a strong and healthy boy. Slave was treated badly and was always made to do work. Civil would try to help his older brother slave. His stepfather Confederate would beat Civil many times, but his grandfather named President got help for Civil. His relatives who's last name were Union helped bring up Civil, always defending him so that Confederate could not beat him. Although Confederate beat him a few times, the Unions eventually caught him in the act and killed him for it. Confederate was dead, and Slave and Civil lived happily.

Blog 6: Semester 2

Blog 1

What stood out is the cats. I think she could make good articles because the first pitch would sound interesting and makes me wonder how a lady can correlate cats and clothing together. The next two sound interesting since she is talking about what would set her back since she has a disability but how she would get past that to be successful.

Blog 2

What stood out in these three pitches were the words. There were two in particular that I have never heard of before. All three pitches could be great articles because the first pitch I don't even know what entomology is so I would like to find out, the second would be good if his mentor has an interesting background which I am guessing the mentor does, and the third would be good because again I don't know what hymenoptera is.

Blog 3

What stood out in these pitches was that his internship didn't seem like the typical internship of a student having been given papers to sort through and doing that all day. His pitches would lead to good articles because they sound like they could be interesting stories on what his experiences were during internship.

Blog 5: Semester 2

1. All over the world there are living things dying because of what humans and their creations do.

2. I'm the guy that pisses you off, you're the guy that pisses you off. If we changed who we were maybe we wouldn't be pissed off all the time.

3. Although dentists are usually seen as scary horrific people, they are actually some of the hero's of the world. 

Blog 4: Semester 2

Computers vs. Textbooks

I thought this article was super interesting. It gives the pros and cons on laptops and computers. The way it was written relates to you, making you want to read to the end. At the end, instead of the article making the decision for you of which one is better, it has you make the decision based on what works better for you. It was cool that it did this, I really like the idea.

The Difficulty with Saving the World

I was thinking about basing my article on world issues. This article was a really good example for me and gave me ideas of what I should write about and how I should write it. I can tell that the author actually cares about what she is writing, which makes writing good. I find that if what I am writing about does not really matter to me, I tend to not do a good job on it.

Going Green to Save the Environment and the Economy

I really like this article because it has statistics and quotes. It talks about how if we do things to help go "green" we are actually saving money. Also how if we do this we create more jobs for people which is something we need. I like how it is written because it gives information a typical person might not know. It also holds the reader's attention.

Blog 3: Semester 2

Interview with Serj Tankian

The writer starts off on background information about what the interviews main focus is going to be on. I like the way the interviewer puts plainly what he says and then what Serj says. I personally like think it is simpler to read that way and there is less confusion. The interviewer has no conclusion. It ends on Serj saying the music he has been listening to lately.

Interview with Sophia Loren

What I like about this interview is that Larry King keeps the interview interesting in a way that makes you want to hear/read more. And although Sophia Loren's english is not very good, the interview still has a lot of information and gets out a lot. Larry starts off with a description of who Sophia Loren is. I thought the questions were things that an audience would want to hear which keeps their attention.

Blog 2: Semester 2

What have you read lately (say, since last semester), that you found interesting?

Why did it catch your attention?

A book that I read lately that caught my attention is Mockingjay. It caught my attention because I had already read the books that came  before it in the series and it was a book that held my interest. A book that I recently finished is Stalking Darkness, the book didn't even catch my attention, a friend gave it to me to read. I also finished the last few books of the Chronicles of Narnia over internship which are very good.

Blog 1: Semester 2

What are the big ideas that you are taking from internship into the next steps in your life?

The big ideas I am taking from internship into the next steps in my life is knowing what I want to do when I am older and knowing what it is going to be like. I know that there will be a lot of stress but at the same time I will have a lot of satisfaction.

What are your plans for the coming semester?

My plans are to keep my grades up so that I can get into a good college with a good Dental school.

Last Week

I had made up my mind already to become a dentist, and after interning I am more convinced of what I want to do. Being here has shown me many things that dentists have to deal with including bills, emergencies, and trust. Although it may seem stressful, being a dentist gives you a sense of satisfaction because you see the fruits of your work right away. If someone has a broken tooth or a crown that fell off, once you fix it they are better and you feel good about having helped someone.

Internship Week 3

What are social interactions like in your workplace? Do people spend a lot of time socializing? Are people isolated, doing their own things? Lots of collaboration on work projects? Not much collaboration? How does the social dynamic impact or reflect the organization's work?

The social interactions in the workplace are pretty active. Everyone here works together and talks regularly. It impacts the organization's work by making people who come feel like they are welcome and part of the group.

Internship Week 3

What are you thankful for in your internship experience?


Something I am thankful for in my internship experience is how nice everyone at the office is. Although I feel as if I am in the way sometimes, I never feel like I am disliked. I look forward to coming to the office everyday. 

Internship Week 2

How has or do you see your internship changing the way
you consider that paths your future will take?

 My internship makes me want to become a dentist more than I did before. It also helps me understand things about dentistry more. It makes me focus more on school so I can have good grades that will get me into a college with a good dental school.

Interneship Week 2

What limitations have you recognized in yourself that you
want to overcome, or use this experience to help you overcome?
A limitation that I have recognized in myself during this internship is being squeamish. I would be very nervous about making an incision or pulling a tooth out of someones mouth. I talked to my mentor about it and he said with time you get over that. I don't want my squeamish-ness to hold me back so I am going to learn how to deal with it and get past it.

My Mentor

My mentor's name is Pablo Liciaga and he is a dentist. He is married and has two young children. He works every day of a business week and includes Saturday. Everyday after work he goes home to his family. He takes care of the kids, bathing them and making them food, giving his wife a chance to do her own things. He started off working at a dental office in Chula Vista, but moved his work to Ocean Beach at Dr. Halls office. Dr. Hall had been working for over 25 years and retired, leaving the place to Dr. Liciaga.