Research Paper Lead Strategies

Research papers aren't typically considered to be creative, poetic pieces.  When we think about research papers, we usually concentrate on the facts, citations, statistics, and other stuff of non-fiction.  Outside of school, however, there are many examples of non-fiction that are written with punch and flavor.  Just because we're writing research papers doesn't mean we can't show off our writing chops.  You are amazing writers.  I want to see you use those skills, especially in your lead.

Here are some examples from last year's class:

Strategy #1:  Paint a picture

In the cold streets of a poor town in Siberia lived a little boy named Grigori.  He played by himself, always thinking.  Very young, his family started to notice strong signs of intelligence, even superstition, in him.  He was different than other little boys.  He could stare right through you, predicting the future with his huge, hallow, dark eyes.  People were drawn to him, and believed everything that he said.  Who would know that he would use those same dark eyes to influence and control the Royal Family of Russia and everything that they did?  Manipulating the Tsar’s trust, Rasputin significantly assisted in the downfall of the Tsar Nicholas II and his family, leading to their murder in 1917.

                Rasputin:  Remembrance, Rage, and Revenge by Sabrina Verleysen

Strategy #2:  Dramatic Power of Three

Eighty years ago, when radio was big, photos were black and white and World War II hadn’t begun, there was a new era of baseball that changed the baseball business forever.  It was called Depression Ball.  Baseball has been the American pastime for decades and become a worldwide sport.  Though it is very popular, it has gone through rough times due to recession.  During the Great Depression baseball went into a slump.  Now we are in a recession and baseball has been hit but managed to stay afloat.  This is because lessons have been learned from the Great Depression about how to keep themselves from going under.

                The Game Outside of the Stadium:  Baseball and the Great Depression by Andrew Riblet

Workshop today

Today is a great day to work on your bibliographies. Go to your original annotated bib and delete the annotations. Make and add proper full citations for any new sources that you have added since you did the annotated bib. Remember to put the whole shebang in alphabetical order. Don't separate or even label primary vs secondary sources. It should all get smushed together. Be good for Ms. Chiko. Love ya! ~ks

Pros and Cons of Releasing Dead OBL Pictures According to 8-1 Smarties

Pros:

• proof that he is really dead
• people won't get angry at Obama like they did with the birth certificate thing
• will overtake the royal wedding in the media - score!
• American citizens will feel the government is being open, honest, sharing information, etc.

Cons:

• people might find it too gory and offensive
• it will make Al Qaeda more angry at us; bring shame to them
• might motivate someone to retaliate against the US
• people might not think that the picture is real (PhotoShop?!)
• even people who didn't support Al Qaeda might turn against us
• Al Qaeda might use it to recruit uneducated Muslims - "look what they did!" - it could be used as propaganda against the US

Zac's Osama bin laden Q/A

Why was Osama bin Laden’s body buried at sea?

So there would not be a shrine dedicated to him. Like there was one for Hitler.


How did the Palestinian government not know about Osama being their?

There is a chance that Pakistan did know that he was there because the compound where Osama bin
Laden was killed by U.S. forces is located a bit more than 1,000 yards from a Pakistan Military Academy.


When did we get the knowledge that allowed us to find Osama bin Laden, and could we have reacted
sooner?

Last august. No i personally do not think we could have reacted sooner. we needed to take the proper precautions.





We finally got him. This is a video of president Obama giving a speach about how we finally killed Osama bin Laden.




this is a video from ABC news were they talk about the breaking news of Osama bin laden's death.


http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/02/obama-to-make-statment-tonight-subject-unknown/?hpt=T1

this is a page on CNN.com that talks about what happened in the firefight that killed Osama bin laden and three others.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/20110502/pl_yblog_exclusive/after-bin-ladens-death-whats-next-for-the-u-s-and-al-qaida

this is a link that goes to a yahoo document that speaks about what we think will become of al-Qaida.

The front page of the New York times that talks about the fortunate death of Osama bin Laden. 
















http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/nation/2011/05/washington-examiner-coverage-american-forces-kill-osama-bin-laden








this is a link to the washing ton examiner page about Osama bin Laden's death. 

Evan's, Max's and Matthew's Questions Pertaining to the Death of bin Laden

1.  How long prior to the death was the killing bin Laden mission thought up by the US?

The Osama bin Laden death was a shocking, world changing event for everyone. Ever since the initial terrorist attacks done in New York City in 2001, Americans truly wanted bin Laden silenced. This mission dealing with killing Osama really came into view in 2009, because, “In 2009, they located his region of operation and began tracking him” (abc News). The actual plan of organizing this dated back to August of 2010 and at any cost, they “prepared to ramp up security in the event of his demise” (The Daily Iowan). In August Obama searched and got the hiding compound and whereabouts in Pakistan of bin Laden, and on April 29th of 2011, after several NSC (National Security Council) meetings, the decision to send out a “special force to take out bin Laden…” (neontommy.com). May 1, 2011, then brought out his address that bin Laden is now dead.

2.     What will be in store for al-Qaeda?

A group of U.S. navy seals had recently shot Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Of course this is great news for America, the President, and of course the brave soldiers who entered the compound in which bin Laden was hiding. People, not only in America were very happy. Many took to the streets with joy. In our nation, millions were outside chanting “USA, USA!” But even though this was a historic victory for us, it made Osama bin Laden’s terrorist group, Al Qaeda very mad. Al Qaeda, including bin Laden never thought that he could be taken down. Well he is dead now and people of Al Qaeda want the U.S. dead. CIA Director Leon Panetta said that Al Qaeda will, "almost certainly will attempt to avenge" the death of their leader. Al Qaeda’s main engine may have died (as well as his son), but the organization still does exist and it is not happy. Now all Al Qaeda has to do is pull themselves together and probably prepare for an attack. "Al Qaeda is weakened. But it doesn't mean that the United States has no challenges," Steven L. Spiegel, director for Middle East development at the University of California Los Angeles, said early Monday. The Taliban are also upset that we were victorious and killed their leader. A blogger for CNN said in one of their posts, “Bin Laden’s dead, but ‘it’s not over’”.

3. Did someone in the city give us insider information about the compound?

The killing of Osama bin Laden did not just occur. It was backed by months of extensive military investigations. The compound of bun Laden was near one of the American military hubs about 35 miles north of Pakistan. The American military was led to the compound after American spies located a courier of bin Laden in the compound, but they had their doubts that he was the only one there. The New York Times stated that, “The property was so secure, so large, that American officials guessed it was built to hide someone far more important than a mere courier.” Even though bin Laden had never actually been seen in the compound, American spies were convinced he was inside.
Through months of research, American spies came to the conclusion that bin Laden and his family were hiding inside. They were so concerned about their security that they had no phone or internet connection and they burn their trash instead of putting it on the curb to be picked up like their neighbors. Finally, on Sunday, May 1st President Obama ordered a helicopter assault by a few navy SEALs on bin Laden’s compound. He was shot in the head after he resisted the assault along with his son. The New York Times stated, “…ended in the death of Bin Laden on Sunday and concluded one of histories most extensive and frustrating manhunts.” Finally, the life of America’s number one most wanted criminal and terrorist has been brought to justice.

Here is an interview we took about the bin Laden death and what will be in store for al-Qaeda.

Osama Bin Laden mini-project, Victoria, Hannah, Lauren

Reflection:
There are many answers to our questions. Our questions depend on the public so there would be varied opinions. We felt that the public was the best people to ask because to us that is where the real opinions are. Our sources really give different opinions and views of what people think. We chose all of our questions for the same reason. We wanted to get a wide variety of opinions because everyone had a different experience.


RESPONSES

• How you do feel now compared to 9/11
-compared with 5 years ago, 39% of Americans say they feel less safe now, compared with only 14% who say they felt safer. 46% say they feel the same. Via mypetjawa.mu.nu

• What was your first reaction of his death?
-“I don’t think the justice is done yet. When over 900,000 people died, I don’t think that killing Osama Bin Laden has allowed justice to be done. He is just one person. This is not the end of everything.” Via tumblr.com, ohbicycle.

• How do you think this will affect us in the future?
-“Im not going to say getting Osama was bad. The argument that it’ll spur more anger is, in my opinion, actually a pretty bad one. Killing Osama might cause more terrorist attacks, but what was the alternative? Letting him live and keeping a guarantee of more terrorist attacks?” via absolutepunk.net

A Threat Nullified: Joshua's Reflections on the Death of Osama Bin Laden

Okay, here we go. 3 Questions. Many primary sources. 3 opinions by ME, and only ME. LET’S DO THIS!!

1. Will Al Qaeda still be a threat to our country now?

“Speculation among military officials point to the fact that threat levels will remain high for the time being as Al Qaeda tries to let people know they are still relevant and can still be a threat.”

Well, in my opinion, just because Osama is dead doesn’t mean his organization stops running. I feel that the U.S. should still keep their guard and try to find the remaining members, as they could easily choose a new leader to take over. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said “the U.S. can no longer keep troops to the region under the pretext of fighting terrorism now that Osama bin Laden is dead.” Apparently, the U.S. feels like their troubles are over because this one person was killed, but that’s the exact same thing that every superhero says when they beat a really important super villain, and then either the super villain comes back from the dead, or his lackeys keep running his evil empire and kill MORE people without the super villain even being alive. Case in point, Sonic the Hedgehog defeated Dr. Robotnik “for good” in issue #200. Guess what was on the cover of #203? There was a picture of the NEW RULER of the Robotnik Empire, who was Robotnik’s SIDEKICK. Then, the Eggman actually CAME BACK (as a cyborg) to rule again in #224!! Those villains can still conduct operations in hiding, or even beyond the grave, so in that case, so can real villains. Al Qaeda is still a threat because it has NOT been completely obliterated yet, and we need to keep our guard.

2. Do people believe that now that Osama has been killed, the tragic event of 9/11 has been avenged?

It looks like a lot of people feel like “Justice has been done” in the words of Obama, and they feel that all the grief they suffered for their loved ones has been triumphed by the fact that one man, the one who basically single-handedly killed them all, is dead. It’s a sort of a cruel sense of revenge, and we certainly would not be the human race without it. I noticed that in this tagxedo project made with words from Obama's speech,  One of the biggest words besides "Qaeda" and "Bin Laden" are "Country", "American," and "people." This makes me think that Obama is proud of us as a country, because we were able to track the threat to the country and eliminate it (even though this was just ONE GUY, and he killed THOUSANDS of us, but never mind).

3. Who were the ones that killed him? Was it an entire armed force or a small team? How did they kill him?

“It was last August that Obama said he was briefed on a possible lead about Bin Laden. It was information about him hiding in a compound deep within Pakistan. Last week, Obama gave authorization to launch an attack against the compound, and today it was carried out.”

There were many people involved, mostly from the U.S. military. It is said that Pakistani operatives were also involved in the move to kill bin Laden.

No Americans were harmed, and after a firefight, Osama bin Laden was killed and the US took his body. Pakistan's intelligence service confirmed the death of Osama bin Laden.

Obama says it is essential that Pakistan continue to join the US to fight Al Qaeda.

There ya go! Hope you enjoyed my opinions, and thanks for reading!!!

Osama bin Laden Killed: George's and dong Jae's Response

Is there someone who can replace bin Laden as leader of al Qaeda?

Reporters believe that a man by the last name of Zawahiri, an Egyptian eye doctor, who is believed to be the master mind behind the bombing of the World Trade Centers, is the most likely man to replace the former leader of al Qaeda, bin Laden. This man, Zawahiri has been on the list of 22 most wanted terrorists, now down to only nine. He has a 25 million dollar reward for him, the same as bin Laden.  Zawahiri has evaded two bombings by United States drones, and is believed to be hiding in the mountains on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but now the US is looking for him Pakistani cities. One reporter from CNN believes that there is no one able to replace bin Laden and that al Qaeda will crumble. He believes that Zawahiri doesn’t have the “charisma, fame, or visibility.” We believe that someone will rise to attempt to take over al Qaeda as a new face of terrorism, but we cannot be certain until the following weeks.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/02/cruickshank.osama.bin.laden/index.html

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/the-man-who-will-take-over-from-osama-102967?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+NdtvNews-TopStories+(NDTV+News+-+Top+Stories)?trendingnow

1.       Does the American Government believe that al Qaeda will mount a new terrorist on America for killing Bin Laden and then celebrating him being killed?

Clinton said bin Laden's death was a milestone in the war on terrorism, but the battle is not ended with al Qaeda. The USA government warned Monday that Osama Bin Laden death might cause the al Qaeda to retaliate USA. Some people said al Qaeda will nuke USA. In my opinion I think nothing will happen to USA. I don’t think al Qaeda is planning revengeful acts upon us. Because al Qaeda doesn’t have a leader I think they are going to give up and end the war.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-05-03-bin-Laden-Clinton-war-terror_n.htm

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ibh7f8pcBRVnL30gZh7o9rGNsHpw?docId=CNG.627b7372f3acc13c7f531216bc315790.2c1

Did the Pakistani government know bin Laden was living in his compound? If they did, why wouldn’t they alert the U.S. government?

The compound where bin Laden was living at was only thirty miles from the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, in the city of Abbottabad. The city he was living at was tourist hub, having a hockey ring and medical school.  The city was home to one of the largest military garrison in Pakistan and was near Rawalpindi, the city which is the headquarters of Pakistan military. These facts have been raising many questions about how the Pakistani government and military didn’t know about his location. Many people are now believing that Pakistan itself could be a government with a terrorist mindset, not finding out about the death or mission of bin Laden until after it was completed. Many believe that the government and military were sheltering bin Laden. Whatever Pakistan were doing, bin Laden has now be eliminated, but our fight is not over, for we now have more high level terrorists we have to go after.

http://blogs.forbes.com/erikkain/2011/05/02/did-the-pakistani-military-know-where-osama-bin-laden-was-hiding/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/02/501364/main20058843.shtml

Andy, Logan, and Harrison's post about bin Laden

1.
Q. How did Osama Bin Laden die?
A. After a 40 minute firefight, Osama bin Laden was shot in the head and died along with 4 others, one being a woman. During the firefight, not one US official was wounded or killed.
"...there are photographsd of the body with a gunshot wound to the side of the head that shows an individiual that is not unrecognizable as bin Laden."
(CNN)
2.
Q. How did the public react to his (Osama's) death?
A. All those who were interviewed felt both happiness and sorrow for his death. They were glad that the US ridded of the man behind the 9/11 attack, but at the same time, that emotion was mixed with the feeling of sadness and pity because the sole fact that a life was lost is a sad one.
(All those interviewed)
3.
Q. Was it worth spending 10 years, 2 wars, 919,967 deaths, and $1,188,263,000,000 on 1 person?
A. There were many answers, but most of them said the same thing using different words. They all basically said,

Danielle's Osama bin Laden Death Response

  What was the first reaction of the American people? Were they incredibly happy? Or does did it not heal the emotional wounds from 9/11?

Jack Lynch, 75, who lost his son, New York City firefighter Michael Francis Lynch
"The first thought I had in my mind was that it didn't bring my son back. You cut the head off a snake, you'd think it would kill the snake. But someone will take his place. People like him still exist. The fact that he's gone is not going to stop terrorism."

Lee Hanson, 78, of Easton, Conn., who lost his son, Peter, daughter-in-law, Sue, and 2 1/2 year-old granddaughter, Christine — the youngest victim of the 9/11 attacks. They were aboard the second plane that hit the World Trade Center
"It's taken a while to do it, but we've done it. It's a really good thing to get out there — if you fool around with the U.S., you will be caught." "Many segments will try to avenge this ... There's still a great danger there." Still, he said: "There's no such thing as closure."

Where was Osama bin Laden hiding?












    What does Osama bin Laden’s death mean for the war on terrorism? Is an attack in retaliation expected on US or Pakistan?

            The killing of Osama bin Laden, an enormous tactical and symbolic victory for the United States, might put more pressure on Pakistan to pursue other senior insurgents living on its soil but could also spark a backlash of retaliatory violence, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.


http://video.foxnews.com/v/4672002/will-us-face-terror-retaliation-from-bin-ladens-death


“Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad.” 

RESPONSE:

   This day, May 1st, of 2011 marks the day that the most wanted man was killed. Osama bin Laden, notorious leader of Al-Qaeda was killed in Pakistan last night. After 10 years of constant searching, American troops found him in his home. There was originally speculation that this man was living in a cave, but it his villa was priced at one millions dollars. Once the news rang across our country, a celebration broke out in front of the white house. Hundreds of people gathered and chanted, "USA, USA!" over and over.  Though this event is most definitely an uplifting event for Americans, many people don't feel a sense of closure from his death. Jack Lynch, who lost his son in the 9/11 attack, says, ""The first thought I had in my mind was that it didn't bring my son back. You cut the head off a snake, you'd think it would kill the snake. But someone will take his place. People like him still exist. The fact that he's gone is not going to stop terrorism." Many people agree with him, for we cannot reverse the damage that bin Laden has already done. And his death may cause even more damage. With the death of their leader, Al-Qaeda is desperate to prove that they are still a relevant and dangerous force. Pakistani and American security is extremely alert at this moment, for retaliation threats are expect. In his speech, Barack Obama addresses this stating,  "His death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad.” The Pakistan Government is attempting to take no blame for the killing of bin Laden, leaving the Americans to deal with whatever retaliation attacks are attempted. At this moment, no Middle Eastern citizens have asked for ben Laden's body, so it remains in the hands of American forces. At this moment, there has been no reaction from Al-Qaeda or other terrorists groups.

Emily, Margo, Katie H. PART 1

1. Will this affect our war(s)?
2. What did Obama say about it?
3. How are Americans reacting?
         Osama bin Ladin's death was responded to in many ways. Some people responded with fear. His NY Times obituary says,  "his greatest hope, he told supporters, was that if he died at the hands of the Americans, the Muslim world would rise up and defeat the nation that had killed him."  In Barack Obama's speech responding to this turn of events, he says, "His death does not mark the end of our effort. There is no doubt that Al Quaeda will continue to persue attacks against us. We must, and we will, remain vigilant at home and abroad." This means that our wars will still go on the way they were before.
          However, there are many people in the United States who are thrilled. There were roaring parties at Times Square and in front of the White House where young people gathered with large American flags and jumped around screaming, dancing, and climbing trees. Some people had funny responses, one Youtube comment on a video of Obama's speech says "does this mean I can now carry full bottles of shampoo on the plane?" Obama's speech was very composed and calm. He described this situation with solemn language. He then explained how Al Quaeda was still a force to be reckoned with, and this would not affect the amount of vigilance we have.

Emily, Margo, and Katie's Interview Responses PART 2

We walked around upper school today and interviewed people about how they felt about Osama Bin Laden's death yesterday. Here's what some of our peers and teachers had to say...

Talk About a Teachable Moment

Mike knows not to wake me up unless it's really important.  It's bad enough that Joey still wakes me up in the middle of the night for "miiiiiilk in a cuppyyyyyy."  I don't need Mike waking me up with his nonsense.  The Phillies win?  Not that important.  Royal wedding?  Not that important.  Osama bin Laden killed?  Holy #*&*!@& why didn't you wake me up earlier?!?!  Needless to say, I was up all night watching my news channels, checking my tweets and surfing the net to soak in every aspect of this event.  This is one of those days that makes me really grateful I decided to be a Social Studies teacher (not that I'm not excited EVERY day!).  I can't think of a better way to spend this day than exploring, reading and analyzing with the Smarties.

All night I was thinking about how to best teach you guys today.  Should we read bin Laden's obituary in the New York Times?  Should we watch President Obama's address to the nation on YouTube?  What about these amazing photographs of people - regular people - reacting?  What about analyzing a Wordle cloud of Obama's speech?  Or a Tagxedo?  How about looking at all the different newspaper headlines? (I especially enjoy the one from the Philadelphia Daily News...it's classic Philly!)

Then, while skimming through my tweets this morning, I saw this one from Alfie Kohn:

This tweet stuck with me all morning and helped me figure out what to do with you today.  Shout out to Alfie Kohn for helping me - wooo!

So here's your challenge.  You can fly solo or collaborate with a group (no more than 3 ppl per group).

• Decide:  What are the three most important questions to YOU about Osama bin Laden's death?

• Browse:  Surf the net for all things Osama.  Look for sources that will answer your questions, or at least relate.  Sources can be text, video, photo, newspaper headline, blog, tweet, whatever.  Trying to figure out how "regular" people are feeling about Osama's death?  You can go interview people in the building to capture their thoughts. Take a Flip camera. Make your OWN primary source!

• Prioritize:  Of the hundreds of thousands of choices, select six primary source artifacts that you think best answer your questions.  You can do two sources per question, or perhaps one is enough for some questions and you can use three for another.  It's up to you.  (Since I know someone will ask, yes, it's okay to use any of the sources I posted above.)

• Reflect:  Is there more than one answer to your question?  Does it matter who is answering?  How do your precious chosen sources answer your questions?  Can your questions even be answered?  Reflect in writing about each question.  No need to be formal with your thoughts.  Just get them out and down.

• Synthesize:  Put your questions, sources and answers all together in one fantabulous blog post.  Post it here to 8-1 smarties. 

You have 90 minutes.  GO!

WW2 POW Bus-Eum

Check out this Bucks Courier Article about the WW2 Bus-Eum coming to NFS this Thursday!

Logan's response

In this image there is a mob attacking this black women. This black girl if trying to get into school, but this mob is stopping her and getting in her path. This shows how much whites did not want to go through with integrated schools. I don't understand how a people could act like this. This black lady has done nothing wrong.

Joshua's political cartoon: The Little Fighters of Little Rock

People Will Be PEOPLE

I have written a poem to represent what The Little Rock Nine went through. They were great heroes in getting schools to be together. They changed history and brought people together even though they were screamed at and threatened. They are an important part of history.

People Will Be PEOPLE
By Haley Huxley

When PEOPLE
Hurt PEOPLE
PEOPLE strike back
Unless PEOPLE
Being PEOPLE
Are too scared,
But when PEOPLE
Have courage
PEOPLE fight back
And defend
What they think
Is right,
Brave PEOPLE
Being PEOPLE
Lived in Arkansas
They were called
The Little Rock Nine,
Together
PEOPLE
Helped fight
Segregation
With guts
And Determination,
Schools were not equal
Schools were not fair
So PEOPLE
Fought for PEOPLE
To be together,
History
Will be History
And History
Was made
When PEOPLE
Sought equal
And togetherness,
Black
White
Whatever the Race
PEOPLE
Will be PEOPLE
Together

George's Response to Little Rock School Integration

Individuals and groups of people can and have shaped history in both positive and negative ways. Many individuals throughout history have made decisions that affected mankind gravely, such as Adolf Hitler, and his decisions throughout World War Two, the leader of Japan, bombing Pearl Harbor, causing America to join the war, causing hundreds of thousands of young soldiers to perish. But many individuals and groups throughout history have affected it positively, such as inventions which changed the world for the better.
During the time leading up to the integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, some groups and individuals affected school integration history negatively, while some affected the integration positively. The government of the state of government, the courts, and the governor all affected the integration in a negative way. Governor Orval Faubus ordered, “The state's National Guard to forbid nine black children to enter the Little Rock Central High School.” A crowd of white people opposing the integration of the school gathered to help the National Guard prevent the nine black students from entering the school. Eventually, president Dwight D. Eisenhower “very reluctantly” ordered the state’s National Guard. Due to the incident, the school was closed for the year of the unruly protest, but the next year, the nine black students were able to attend. The nine kids at the center of the unruly protests affected the integration positively. They didn’t give up trying to go to scool, but continued through the crowd. They also did not fight back at the crowds, which I think affected scholl integration history positively.

In the image, there are white people protesting school integration, picketing in a large group, holding signs, some of which say, “Race mixing is communism.” It’s sad how people opposed school integration and how violently they protested. I think that if it were just a few people protesting the integration that the people would not protest, but not oppose the law because they were cowardly. I think many of the school integration protesters protested because many people were opposing the integration and they thought it was ok. It is great that America finally did integrate their schools, but it is sad that it took so long.

Evan's Response to the Little Rock 9 Questions

Throughout history, choices made by people have usually had some degree of an effect on either common lifestyles or opinions of surrounding people. Group choices usually end up being more effective, due to violent, forceful strategies that are too frightful to others that they immediately switch opinions. During World War II, Hitler and the Nazi Party used the Jews as scapegoats to their inner-country struggles and problems. Did the Jews actually do anything? No. But the choice to blame the Jewish people ended up in millions of Jewish lives lost and the most brutal time in world history, which never needed to take place. This is just one perfect exemplar of a significant occurrence that took place due to a small (compared to rest of world) group choice.

In this case, the desegregation of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas definitely was another example of a group choice whose effect arose into surrounding racial conflict. In this case, the group was the formal State Court of Arkansas. In a source from Amistad Digital Resource, it states that, "Less than a week before the 1957 school year began, the Arkansas state court ordered Little Rock to reverse the city's desegregation plan." This then backfired on the black students who wished to attend "regular" school with whites. What was then done after this State Court decision was Governer Faubus instructed the National Guard of the state to guard the Central High School armed. These guards eventually had the job of stopping the Little Rock 9, nine black students who wished to go into the High School.

What rose out of this situation was pure violence towards black people, including the one black girl, who was surrounded by a mob of whites in the live footage video. Another example of this sort of horrific violence is the well-dressed black man being pushed around and then hit in the back side of the head with a brick. So, the main groups of whites shaped the integration of schools in Arkansas to turn into more unnecessary tensions between whites and blacks. These types of group hatreds against others have, unfortunately, been a common beat in the history of humans.

Jake & Max: Little Rock 9

MATTHEW ANGLE's Respose to the Little Rock 9

MATTHEW ANGLE’s Response to the Little Rock 9

I think that the question ‘how do the choices of individuals and groups shape history?’ is a very important question, yet one hard to fathom. It is pretty broad and general after all. I mean there are a lot of ways that someone or some people can shape history by their choices, but there are more specific ways and I think that if one is to ponder this question deeply enough, it will be rather easy to break down.

This (question) can easily fall into the choices made in the incident of Little Rock 9, that took place in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. Truthfully I think that the entire act of Little Rock 9 falls under that question (above). Really everything that happened there was a strong decision that, once made, had to be followed. The mob of white people angry because nine intelligent black teenagers were going to attend Little Rock’s Central High really draws a picture of what I would call ‘extremely extreme racism’.

On top of that I have to say that it was all very unnecessary, but we are talking about the south in the 50’s so what would you expect, people would likely revolt and riot against nine black kids entering a white school. It was horrible.

The thing that leads into the beginning question was the one important move those nine kids made. They chose to move forward and go to the school. Not only were they smart, they were brave too. To be a black person in the south in the 50’s and walk in front a mob of white people, who, if they could, would kill you, takes a little more than a lot of courage. They want to go to school and be educated and be done with segregation. Another person who made an important choice and put their foot down was the former President Eisenhower who employed federal troops to stop the racist mob, going against the governor of Arkansas’ beliefs. Sometimes it is not an act that makes up choices; sometimes it is choices that make up an act.