heaven01 – Historical Thinking

Writing

November 29, 2016November 29, 2016heaven01

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I found this piece of writing to be very interesting. I found it refreshing that someone wrote about bad writing. This made me realize that even if the writing sound professional with big words it does not always mean it is good writing. It also gives examples of what no to do instead of how to do something which is very helpful in my opinion. It gives me examples on how to further better my own writing. While reading this article there was a certain quote that stood out to me. George Orwell states, “These rules sound elementary, and so they are, but they demand a deep change of attitude in anyone who has grown used to writing in the style now fashionable.” This made me reflect back to what @ramsescastillo03 said, “Orwell makes good points that many historians and English professors would agree with but society changes all the time and so does any language.” Our society is changing its language. I have a 16 year old sister and she comes home saying stuff like ,”It’s lit,” or “OMG that’s so fire.” I have no idea what she’s talking about sometimes. But Orwell explains that sometimes its better to keep stuff simple and to the point instead of complicated.

The Spreading of Diseases

November 15, 2016November 15, 2016heaven01

I thought Typhoid Mary brought a light onto the spreading of diseases and its severity. Mary didn’t know about her disease and ended up infecting other people. I found this interesting because of how the authorities handled the situation. They basically banned her from walking the streets, interacting with people and they tried to stop her from making a living off of cooking because she was too dangerous to be around. I thought looking at this was refreshing to learn about. Today we have the technology and resources to try and contain and treat this disease. Back then they didn’t. The best they could do was restrain her from social interactions. Just like derekjahwu I was conflicted, “At first it was: why is she able to continue to work in the food industry with this disease, then it was: how could they isolate her from living her life?” Overall reading about Mary was really interesting. I gave me the chance to look at how authorities dealt with diseases back when they didn’t have the resources we have today.

Denying What Happened

November 13, 2016November 13, 2016heaven01

Out of the chapter I ended up coming back to the first couple of pages. When I first read about how some were trying to deny the Holocaust it angered me. I felt like it was insulting and just plain stupid how someone can deny the Holocaust. The Holocaust that killed millions and millions of innocent people. The one sentence that really made me upset was on page 167 at the end of the first paragraph, “As one scholar has pointed out, what is unusual about the Nazi Holocaust is not that some people try to deny that it happened, but that so many acknowledge that it did take place.” So if they acknowledge it why deny it? By reading this first couple of pages I agree with joshuadw88, “It seems like a recurring theme in this course that a disaster can be manipulated in order to support an argument of one side.” That is exactly what ended up happening. The other parts of the chapter about how history is taking new forms such as through the internet and how video games with history background are coming out is pretty unique. I especially love watching films about history. Recently I went to see Deepwater Horizon and it taught me a lot. I wanted to change my final paper from the Great Blizzard of 1888 to the Deepwater Horizon disaster but I had already done so much research for my topic. I think by continuing to shine a light on history through media it will bring more attention to the subject.

History Event at the Museum of Death

November 13, 2016November 13, 2016heaven01

This weekend I attended a history event. My history event was the Museum of Death located in Hollywood. I ended up going with my boyfriend and took some of my friends as well. I have been to the Museum before so I knew what to expect but it was still so amazing. There were gory autopsy photos, and a severed head (which is my favorite thing to look at) it still has little peach fuzz hair and the eyes are gone. There are different rooms dedicated to different things. There was the hall of serial killers, the funeral home, and the autopsy room. There is also a room that had contraptions that killed you such as an electric chair. Along the walls there were notes from serial killers and pictures of their victims and some of their clothes. There was this certain shirt from a death row victim that had blood stains on it. Even though it was my second time being there it was still amazing to me. I spent longer in the museum because I literally read everything on the wall and the tables. There are also videos going on. There was this one video showing us how to single out the femoral artery from a corpse. It was pretty odd but cool at the same time. It is so amazing to be able to visit a place like this. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have a weak stomach. If you end up passing out they give you a free shirt that says you passed out.

Learning More

November 8, 2016November 8, 2016heaven01

After reading the article and looking over my classmates blogs I agree with rdaigh about that, “History needs to be questioned.” There are many things that could had led to the Dust Bowl. Over-plowing contributed along with the lack of water. By questioning history this gives us the chance to look at the disaster or any historical even at different angles. By looking at it at different angles it gives us a chance to have a more clear and a less biased look at what happened. It is important to question to help us better understand what happened. For instance when we sit in a circle and talked about why we think certain things happen we are questioning history. We question to learn. As for Mapping Indigenous LA, I think it’s actually smart and useful and kind of necessary. We know a lot about most things but I believe that there should be more recognition and teachings about the native americans and their land. This website gives the community a chance to learn more about their land and people.

Water and Politics

November 6, 2016November 6, 2016heaven01

The Dust Bowl was one of the greatest natural phenomenons in the world. When I was reading the assigned reading, it kind of seemed that the Dust Bowl was a blessing in disguise. Because of the less rain fall and lack of water resources this led to new government programs. One of the new programs were to help reform the agriculture and the way they took care of the land. It also brought attention to big problems such as not enough water to maintain the land. All of these new programs came with the New Deal. In my opinion the damage of the Dust Bowl was sort of a way for political gain. There were all of these new programs implemented to try and help the land. I also agree with ngojoseph that,”most scholars view this event as an isolated disaster with one lesson to be learned about why we shouldn’t over-farm land.” Over-farming the land partially led to the Dust bowl which ended up making permanent damages to the land. It really interested me on how the government turned these events into opportunities. We have been talking about that in class a lot and since then I keep catching it in the readings we are being assigned.

Manifesto

October 19, 2016heaven01

Just like jessica42, “By reading the Communist Manifesto I came to the realization that communism was a way to prevent the proletariat and bourgeois from battling out their differences.” In order to do that he gave the solution of communism. One would think that a classless society would be great and be positive thing in the world. When I first learned about communism in high school I thought that it would bring more positive outcomes than negative. However as I learned about it more and more I realized it kind of sound like it was too good to be true and it was. I believe that Marx in the end was trying to help society. He offered free public education which is my favorite part of the communist manifesto. By making it free this gave more people the opportunity to have a better education. In the end I believe that Marx was trying to make the world a better place but got sort of tangled up with some things. As a historical figure I believe that Marx is and always will be an important figure. He published on the Communist Manifesto which at the time shaped society. As a historian I believe that he believe that Communism was the best thing at the time but didn’t really think out all of the kinks.

The End of the Storm

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016heaven01

Larson has a specific writing style that makes the book more enjoyable and little more exaggerated. Just like mvanderdussen said, “Undoubtedly to aid in making this book enjoyable to read, there were some truths exaggerated such as the hilt of the sword we mentioned in class.” The stories are sad anyways but the way Larson arranges his writing makes the readers feel sadness and make the situations more real. He talks about how people lose their families in the water and he continues to exemplify the conditions of the houses breaking down. By using this type of writing style it helps the reader feel as if they are experiencing it themselves. There is not a doubt that his style of writing to make the book more dramatic makes the book more of an easier read rather than it just being fact based with no drama. I have enjoyed reading this book with his choice of writing. It made the book more dramatic and I couldn’t put it down. I kept going back and forth between the chapters wondering what happened to who and who survived and who died.

Isaac’s Storm

September 25, 2016September 25, 2016heaven01

In the beginning it was kind of boring to hear about the weather and the pressure but as I kept on reading I realized this was necessary to prep us and set the tone for the big storm to come. Just like rhruska pointed out, “The writer utilizes techniques commonly found in novel writing; such as establishing the setting.” I thought it was interesting how the book referenced to voyages such as Columbus and included things about the tools and the weather. Referring back to these voyages can help us get a better view of what kind of conditions they were sailing in. I enjoyed reading about the hurricanes the most. I believe it gives us the reader a better view on the physical damage it can cause if we have not experienced it first hand. It gives the readers a more realistic outlook which is important so we can accurately imagine the devastations that will happen further in the book. By having different letters and survival stories among this book I believe it gives us a better understanding on what happened to the world historically. This was the biggest hurricane in history. By having other peoples sides of what happened helps the readers to understand the disaster that happened.

Historical Thinking – Fall 2016

Author: heaven01