Political Studies

This assignment was a research paper we had to write about an event that occurred during World War 1. Me and my group were assigned to do research on the Espionage and Sedition Act and it's impact on the US at the time of its release. From this assignment I learned about the reason why the US released these acts and along with this I learned about various other events that occurred during World War 1. However despite the things I learned about World War 1, I also learned about how I could improve my writing and collaboration with other since this was a group assignment. This assignment challenged us by forcing us to work with other and collaborate in a way we haven't really done before. And I chose this assignment because while it wasn't my best work, it allows me to see what I could improve.

The purpose of this assignment was to determine whether or not the different aspects of Reconstruction was a success or failure. At the beginning of the school year we had begun learning about Reconstruction and how it impacted different people and it's overall effect on the United States. While this was an individual assignment we had to consider all we have been taught and make our own decision while being able to put it into a well detailed essay. This assignment challenged me by forcing me to learn how to be concise with my words and not dragging my words out. I chose this assignment because it serves as a progress report to show how I've grown from last year while giving me information on Reconstruction.

The purpose of this assignment was to begin to introduce us to the new transition aspect of the SAT as a way to prepare us for the upcoming examination in our junior year. Being a new topic many of my classmates including myself have never heard of this topic. However while going through it the topic seemed really easy by my estimation but I was quickly proved wrong by the grade I was given which was in part due to my failure to take my time and my overestimation of my own understanding on a new topic. While I was disappointed in my grade it allowed me to become more aware of my own flaws in terms of learning and understanding new topics. 

The objective of this assignment was to write a reflection on how we felt about Peter Ota's experience being interned during World War two. Before this assignment we had recently started learning about World War two and began drifting into how people were treated during this time period, specifically Japanese Americans. Through this assignment we were able to freely share our opinions on the internment of Japanese Americans and how it correlates to our country based on what we've learned which I enjoyed because it gave the assignment a creative aspect. While their are areas I can improve, I liked this assignment not only for the creative aspect but also the critical thinking aspect because it allowed us to consider different perspectives and Americans ideals that contrasted these ideals. 

This purpose of this assignment was to write a research paper regarding the genocide that we each chose. Going into this assignment my choice of genocide was the Rwandan Genocide due to my personal African heritage. Through this project I was not only able to learn about what genocides are but the impact they can have on everything that get's involved with it. While this assignment taught me a lot about genocides it also revealed my weaknesses in terms of writing. This assignment showed me many aspects of my writing that could be greatly improved, one of these issues being the ability to write clear and concisely. Despite this assignment not being my best, it allowed me to grow and apply what I've learned to others assignments to ensure my success. 

The objective of this assignment was to convey the escalation of the Vietnam War through a political cartoon. Before this assignment we had learned about the Vietnam War, the United States involvement in the war and the reactions of Americans to US involvement. From this we were expected to be able to create a cartoon the accurately depicted the war getting worse. Going into this assignment, anything art related had never been my strong suit but in order to pass I have to be able to share a message through my cartoon in a way that is unique and creative. While I had my fair share of doubt as I continued the assignment, I knew that I wanted mine to be original but still understandable and with that I was able to include the reactions of American citizens while showing the US government deepening their involvement in the war in a creative way. 

As our unit on the Vietnam War comes to an end we begin to learn about the My Lai massacre that occurred when a group of US soldiers who were fighting in Vietnam slaughtered an innocent villages full of civilians. This was a brutal event that painted the soldiers who went to Vietnam in a negative light till today. In order to show our understanding of both this event and the war in general we were to take part in a class discussion about the event of My Lai and our own personal opinions. This assignment wasn't my best performance as I didn't participate as much as I should nor did I try to add onto what anyone else was saying. My poor grade was due to this and from this I can learn to be better and more confident in terms of speaking rather than hesitating. 

Prior to this assignment we had began to learn about the COINTELPRO program that targeted Civil Rights Leaders and groups. We were able to see how the constitutional rights of different groups and individuals were violated repeatedly as the FBI used different tactics and strategies to bring the downfall of these groups and people. To show our understanding, this assignment was given to us with the purpose of bringing together everything we've learned so far into one paper by writing a supporting essay. In this essay we were to identify the rights violated by the FBI, examples of how they were violated and also analyze these examples. With this assignment being one of our final grade I had to ensure this writing was the best I ever wrote and essentially a culmination of everything I learned throughout the entire school year. By everything I've learned together I was able to be successful on this assignment.