Olivia Agius 11/30/16

During class today we looked back at chapter two of The Great Gatsby in order to discover symbols within the text. The symbols help the author comment on romanticism as well as modernism.To better understand the importance of symbols, our class discussed literal and figurative meanings. The definition of literal is language that represents a concrete idea. On the contrary, figurative is non-literal language that represents an abstract idea. Furthermore, our class dived into the idea what exactly abstract means. Abstract is something complex that can be interpreted in many ways, and is not tangible. Examples are nature, love, stress, beauty, and so on. No one can hold love in their hands, or actually hand someone their stress. These two ideas, literal and figurative, create symbolism. Symbolism is something real, or literal, that hold figurative meaning to it. We then looked around the classroom within our groups to find a symbol. My group came up with the snowman which is drawn on the whiteboard. In literal terms it is a drawing of a snowman. However, the figurative meaning is the excitement for the holiday/winter break. We then, as a class, brought the idea of symbolism to the book The Great Gatsby. We read a selected text about Tom buying Myrtle a dog, and determined what the symbolic meaning of Tom’s comment about the dog was. In my group we decided the comment symbolized the relationship between Tom and Myrtle, and how she relies on him to do stuff for her (he bought the dog for her) as well as the attitude both of them have towards their relationship. As a class, we found two things this comment could represent. One thing this symbol could represent is Tom’s apathy by how Tom dismisses the dog’s gender. Also, we said this could represent the relationship between the two characters.

To be able to better understand how literal things and figurative meanings create symbolism, last year we read Lord of the Flies. LOTF had plenty of symbols which we talked about. All of the below things which are mentioned are objects or people with a deeper meaning. They're symbols.

Creating a community

Gillian Kee
1. My group did not achieve success during this activity, I believe it was because when picking an envelope to start with, we picked 3, we got the one with the least amount of resources to start with. I know we did not achieve success because we only made one item on the list the goal of the activity was to make all of them.
2. What helped our group get the items needed to make the other items was trading with other groups around the room. What held us back was us not having items other groups needed.
3. This experiment reveals that you need access good resources or money in order to be successful in today's society.

John DePreker 11/22/16

John DePreker
     In Mr. Rivers period 8 class, we started out the period splitting our classroom into fourths in which each group was responsible for their own actions in performing in a competition for free bagels the following day. Goals set fourth in this experiment included the construction of a shelter made of certain sheets of paper in which it needed to be self standing. A 3 by 3 inch hamburger made of different types of paper.  A paper book held together by a paper clip in which told a story and had plenty of art work. Then, we had to make a mineral by making a ring out of a piece of paper about a half inch long. The finishing results included our group finishing first but having just one incorrect measurement had held us from winning the competition in total allowing another group to finish first.

Did your group success today?\
     I believe that we had the most successful group because we had all of our materials first as well as a great balance of teamwork between our group. Although we didn't win we ended up completing the assignment just after them for the second time.

What Helped your group succeed? What Held you back?
      The overall most helpful thing for our group was the items enlisted in the 1st envelope. This included a glue stick, 3 types of paper, scissors and a pen. This helped us because we didn't need to trade to often but, when needed we had a little to give without really loosing anything that crucial. Looking back, nothing really held our group besides the fact that one of the sides of the house was too short in which went against the directions on the paper. All other activities performed went well otherwise.

What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism the American dream?
The activity mainly deals with the act in which negotiation skills can actually play a crucial part because it helps you as well as helping others. In which, when you get what you want your sharing the success with others making both sides happy

Bagels Bagels Bagels! 11/22

Nadir Hassan
Mr. Rivers, Ms. Dalia
English CP 11
22 November 2016

Bagels Bagels Bagels!

Today in class was quite, interesting. That is a huge understatement but for lack of better words let's stick with that. Instead of the traditional Mr. Rivers lecturing most of the period with his enthusiastic cheer and jubilance, we did something a little different. We got to see how opportunity and legacy really had an effect on society, but on a much smaller scale, a classroom scale. First, we were established with our groups. After choosing a number, we got a specific task sheet associated with that number and was told to establish three necessities in everyday life, food (a hamburger), education (a book), shelter (a house), and minerals (a ring?). Each commodity was required to be made with exact measurements and exact pieces of paper. There was different sheets of paper, lined paper, white paper, wavy paper, and log paper. Groups in the class had to trade with one another for certain materials. Some had rulers while others did not. Some had scissors while others did not. Some had a pen while others did not. If the first group to make all of the items listed on the task sheet, it was a necessity to trade with other groups. After much trading and heated talking amongst the groups, my group came out victorious. However, we were able to do so well for the most part, we just got lucky. We had the most items to start out with in the beginning which allowed us to easily trade with other people and finish before anyone else could. We came up with ideas like disfiguring paper clips to attach the house together instead of using glue. We also could have made another ruler out of the  excess paper and "sold" it to another group for their materials that we needed. It was quite fun to see everyone scramble and talk with one another just to get the prize of eating a bagel in front of the losers' faces tomorrow in class.This is related to the real world, more specifically capitalistic America because it shows that hard work is not everything. Some people may carry three jobs, work day and night shifts but still be the poorest of the poor. Is it fair? Of course not, but that is the reality. The reality is the fact that without opportunity or legacy to back up hard work, it will just be for nothing and will not amount to the success of being rich and well-known throughout society. Opportunity and legacy are two factors that define success and without them, no matter how hard someone works, they will not be able to achieve the same amount of success than someone who has been given a chance or has a title to their family name. 

Hannah Newbold - 11/22

Hannah Newbold
Mr. Rivers
American Literature CP 11
November 22, 2016


                    High School Capitalism


Instructions: Compose a 300-400 word blog post that answers the questions below. PLEASE include your name in the title of your blog post.

Did your group achieve SUCCESS today? How do you know?
What helped your group to succeed? What held you back?
What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism/the American Dream (e.g. hard work = improved status)?


    During class today we received a survival assignment. A survival of the fittest society. Who ever could construct a society quickest with housing, education, food, etc. Success was achieved in my eyes because my table, despite having initial arguments on how to run things and set up our society we overcame the dispositions and eventually got our heads straight and constructed an actual plan. One person was taking the “leadership” role right away likely is what held us back. Instead of us all sitting down and discussing the best course of action, one person made all the decisions without consulting with anyone else or for instance even listening to what other in the group and I had to say. I believe this is why we have democracy today, and why to a certain degree it works better than any other form of government. Having the group sit down and plan out who is okay to trade with and who isn't okay to trade with was a big aspect. The success of my group was there, although we didn’t win the fastest we were on our way to attaining the success. I don’t think that it is hard work that is what came down to status, in the end it really was who had the most. The ones who had the most in the shortest amount of time were the ones that WON.


    Other groups, like one group was very rowdy and obnoxious which I honestly think resembled the United States - they had the loudest mouths, the most “nationalistic” point of view and compared to other societies around it they had more resources than everyone else and didn't really need to make due about anything. The trade standpoint was also very interesting. It was kind of strange to see how groups interacted between trade. Most groups wanted to trade with the group that was most successful, even though we all realized how isolated they made themselves from trading with most groups all the other groups still wanted to engage with them anyways. I thought it was bizarre how hesitant everyone was to trade, no one trusted each other and I thought that that was also a weird concept. Everyone who was generally very civilized quickly became guarded and anxious. Capitalism similarly reacts the same, as soon as money or trade is involved everyone becomes something .. different. In other words the fight for higher status becomes like every man for himself - it is the survival of the fittest. The United States did that when we bought Alaska from Russia. Trade was made by the two nations and we even fought as allies in WW1 BUT when it comes down to status the United states needs the higher status and in many instances most americans associated Russians as being an enemy. It is a vast comparison but in my mind that's what I compared our group activity to today.

Katie McGuckin's Blog Post

Katie McGuckin’s Blog Post

Today’s class was a simulation with capitalism through trade and construction. Each group was given the objective of being the first to make all of the items, eventually using all of the materials distributed throughout the groups. My group achieved success because we were able to work well together and progress at a steady pace for most of the activity. While we failed at being the first to finish building all of the structures and were unable to create the book for education, we were successful in more than one way. One factor that lead to our success, was the cooperation between members and effective use of communication when proposing offers to other groups and conveying intentions clearly to ourselves and others. Before every deal, we discussed the offer and what would be given up, deciding if trading would be the best choice. As a result of careful planning, our group was able to hold a monopoly on scissors because we had two of the three available and the other group that had a pair was abrasive, causing others to avoid trade with them. Another reason why my group was prosperous is due to efficiency, because we barely had all four members at the table for long periods of time, since one or two people were constantly proposing or accepting offers from others. This mobility offered a higher rate of progress and allowed two tasks to be completed at once, leaving more time to construct the needed items.

While my group had multiple things that aided us our goal, we also had conflicts that held us back. For example, my group only started out with two pieces of paper and a few paper clips, while other groups had more useful materials such as, other pieces of paper, glue sticks, scissors, and a pen. Since our group had little to use, we were forced to trade immediately to get better supplies and begin building. Another problem, was accidentally trading a seemingly unimportant piece of material to a group that was almost finished, because they offered us a good deal for something we needed. By going through with this deal, we almost gave them the last thing they needed to complete their goal, while we still had more work to do. In addition, we also reached a standstill at the end of the period because we still needed supplies to create the last object, but all other groups were set and were not in need of anything we could’ve given up. The experiment in class revealed success can be traced back to the American dream of accomplishing a goal by hard word and dedication. I though my group was an excellent example of this because we were originally at more of a disadvantage with supplies of lower value, but through strategically making deals and working together, we were able to proceed quickly. Success in capitalism also requires constant overview and careful planning to make sure that a government/ economic and political system doesn’t fail. A system relying on private owners needs to be especially tentative when making deals with others because if the system is not successful, it will not have the state to fall back on.

Ryan Ryersen 11-22-16

Did your group achieve SUCCESS today? How do you know?

Our group did not reach success to the extent of certain other groups but we were definitely a close second which isn’t that bad considering we, group 4, was destined to come in last. While we were able to create food, shelter and minerals rather easily we had a hard time with the education. The other group was able to get all of their materials from and finish first and ended up winning. I know I didn't achieve true success because our group did not end up winning.

What helped your group to succeed? What held you back?

Some things that helped our group succeed was the sheet of polka dot paper. It was used in many of the resources necessary.  We made many multiple minerals in hopes that a finished product might sell at a higher price however we quickly learned that mineral was the least valuable commodity because everybody had one. Some things that held us back was our original set up, lack of preparation or organization throughout the group and lack of foresight of valuable and worthless commodities.

What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism/the American Dream (e.g. hard work = improved status)? This experiment reveals that while capitalism rewards those who work hard and make smart choices it also leaves others as failures, regardless of any advantages that certain groups. Mr. Rivers said that group 1 the winning group, statistically, had the best chances while my group, group 4, statistically, had the lowest chances of winning so to do as well as we did is rather impressive. This is similar to how certain people are born with more advantages than others and it is a question of whether or not they can maintain the success. Conversely, some people are born with certain disadvantages it is a question of whether they can overcome those barriers or remain at the bottom. Even though we worked hard we were able to rise as social status but not able to obtain the ultimate success so in some, but I do not blame capitalism, because our group could have still worked harder and smarter to obtain success.

Callie Bevacqua 11/22/16

     Class today was very eventful, challenging and fun! The activity in class was a big group effort. First our class was split into four groups and each group picked a number out of a hat. Then the fun began; Each number assigned the group to supplies. With the supplies given to you, your group had to create food, shelter, education and minerals. We had to follow specific guidelines for each topic. What made it challenging was the fact that every group had limited recourses given to them. In order to obtain the recourses we needed, my group had to trade with other groups for what they needed. 
    In the end my group ended up loosing, but we were so close to winning. Our shelter was off by a smidgen. The group that won the challenge, won by finishing first while following all the guidelines of the game. My group did achieve success today because we were very close to winning. We were the runner up because we were very strategic as a group. The necessary act of precision was what held us back today from winning. My group was also given to what it had been seen as an advantage because we had most of the resources that we needed. This experiment proved a lot about the American dream. This proved that in many situation, a person will not be successful without hard work. This was also an accurate representation of how it is so easy to miss the success window and it takes focus, precision and determination. Overall I really enjoyed this challenge because it is not something you do every day. I have never done a class experiment like this before, but I find interest in this other style of teaching instead of note taking. I really hope we do more activities as a class like this in the future..   :)

Bayleigh Takacs 11/22/16

In class today, we performed a project that involved having to trade for vital supplies with other groups in order to build the items that were given. Each group was given a variety of different supplies and a list of tasks. The tasks given included building items such as a hamburger, shelter, and education. With a limited amount of supplies, that could have been beneficial to your groups tasks or not, you were forced to maintain what you needed for your own groups mission while still setting out to try and find those other important tools needed from other groups. My group did not achieve success today. We were not able to accomplish all of the tasks given. Although we were not favored to win, as we later found out our group was given supplies that had no value to others or us, which made it harder for our group to trade with others in order to create the items. When we discovered we were not supposed to win, we felt a glimpse of success given that we were only a few items short of winning. Although we did not achieve the class goal, we still achieved to be a close competitor even with the disadvantages we were faced with. We were able to trade out unnecessary supplies for more valuable supplies with other groups. Other groups were doing the same, so it benefited both groups. The American dream is based on the idea that if you work hard you will be rewarded with status, money, and success that is not always the case; some people can work hard and make a high earning but cannot compete with those who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Hard work can only take someone so far as they are competing with others who have a monopoly of connections. This experiment taught me that you are not always born with the necessary tools in order to be successful; most people have to do a lot of work and make connections in order to live well off.

-Bayleigh Takacs  

Tony Xhudo 11/22/16

In Todays class we overviewed the very basics of capitalism and tried to show the American work ethic of hard work equals good status. In this small project we got split into four separate groups each of which were given materials to build product, but not enough materials to finish every product. The goal being to trade resources and be the first to make each product or a successful civilization.

Did your group achieve SUCCESS today? How do you know?
-Our group (group 4: also known as the one destined to fail due to materials) did not succeed mainly due to the lack of willingness of other groups wanting to trade (group 1). We know we failed because we never managed to create a book.

What helped your group to succeed? What held you back?
Our group only got as far as we did due to our good bargaining choices. We decided to make extra minerals to trade them for specific materials. We were undoubtedly held back by groups one's choice to not trade their paper with us.

What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism/the American Dream (e.g. hard work = improved status)? 
The experiment proved that capitalism will never favor everyone. For anyone to succeed others must fail. Although it also showed that sometimes it won't matter how hard you work others may not allow you to "improve your status" or just succeed. Overall this project proves that success is not obtainable by all in a capitalistic sense, but that does not discuss how success is different for all and is more opinion base than it is factual. Like how in our group our community never built a book meaning we were uneducated but not exactly unsuccessful, we might as well have won in our perception.

Samantha Russo 11/22/16

Today in class we did an activity where the class was divided into four groups and each of the groups picked a number. The amount of supplies that your group gets depended on the number your group picked, and the numbers represented how high/low your status was. With the suppliesthat came with your number you would have to, build a shelter, make food, and provide an education. All of the groups were missing some of the supplies you would have needed to complete this, some groups were missing more than others, that is why you were allowed to make trades for some materials with other groups. There were points while trading where some of the groups trading got out of hand and people had to be sent to jail other than that it went quite well. The group that I was in did not get a lot of materials to work with therefore we had to work harder. Unfortunately my group was not able achieve success today, and I know this because we were not able to make any of the requirements in the amount of time given. This is because we had so little no one wanted to trade with us. What held my group back was definitely the fact that we had almost nothing to start with, also no one wanted to trade with us, no one let us borrow anything, and that is why we weren't able to get much done. However, there were little thing that my group had the materials for so it wasn't a total failure. What this experiment reveals about success in capitalism/ the American dream is that yes, hard work can equal an improved status but the cooperation of the people that can potentially help is also a very important factor in the American dream. 

Chloe Rippey- 11/22/16

My group today, in my opinion, had achieved success. We did not come out with the win, but from what Mr. Rivers explained was that the group 4 supplies were the least beneficial to the success of the group. My group was group 4, but we managed to trade correctly and we were very close to winning. This can be seen as successful because we out weighed the odds of not being able to win this activity. What mostly helped our group to succeed was working together we did not have the supplies the other groups needed but once we got useful supplies we were able to trade with other groups to get what we need. The main issue we were faced with was that we were not originally provided with the proper amount of utilities and supplies needed to make our shelter, food, education, etc. Group 1 had won in our class. This group was provided with the most supplies to trade with other groups and to use. They were also very greedy with their supplies, which did not prove beneficial to the other “communities.” My group was an excellent example as to how the American Dream can be achieved by hard work and dedication. This has shown how my group achieved success by working hard with the little we had, while other were already at a high status putting them at an advantage. This activity gave us an example for how the concept of capitalism will work in multiple communities. The wealthy and fortunate control every other social group of people. It will be broken down by status and with the wealthy group in charge it can either be very easy for the other classes to thrive, or in our class example only work for the benefit of the wealthy. 

~ Chloe 

Colin Higdon, 11/22/16

Today, in English class, the students took part in activity that not only tested their thinking skills, but their communication and negotiating skills as well. The class was divided up into groups. Each group was given a set of materials, for example, my group was given a ruler, various types of paper, paper clips and scissors. Each group had to build certain things with the materials that were given out to the class. Since no group was given all the right materials to build the things they were assigned, groups would be forced to trade materials in order to get the things they needed. The first group to build all of the things assigned won and they would be rewarded with bagels the next day.

My group somewhat achieved success today because although we didn't win, we were very close to it. We successfully built three of the four things we were assigned. We were in the middle of completing our last object when it was announced that another team had won. Based on what other groups had completed, I believe we were in "second place" because we had the second most things completed.

The tools we were provided with, such as, scissors, a ruler and some paper helped us get that extra step ahead in completing a few of the objects right away. I think what held us back was some lack of communication within the group, such as, when some materials were traded away with out consulting the rest of the group. Also there was some lack of order in the group for example people would just be spitting out random ideas on what to and nobody could actually decide on what we were doing.

This experiment shows that it is not necessarily about what you have, its about what you can do with what you have. For this particular experiment it was essential that you had "inherited" things so that way you could trade for other materials to help you be successful. This shows that in capitalism, the "rags to riches" American Dream idea is a very tough thing to accomplish and is often not very realistic. To start from absolutely nothing and make it to the top is extremely uncommon, and the majority of American Dream stories usually involve some sort of inherited "privilege" for lack of better term.    

     

Coralyn kurz 11-22-16

Today in class we discovered how different people react in different situations. We created little societies from scratch, realizing that some people stress out a lot more than others do causing tension between different groups. We had to each build 4 thinks to represent our individual societies. However none of the groups had everything they needed to build everything. Each group needed a hamburger to represent food, a house to represent shelter, a book to represent education and lastly a polka dot ring to represent minerals. Some groups had more supplies than others to start off with, and this basically represented the abundance of natural resources in certain communities. Our group had a lot of the supplies however we did not have enough in time to complete the task. We completed our burger, our house, and our ring in time, however we did not have a pen to write a story inside the book before the other group had finished causing our resources and trading suppliers to be insufficient to be top of the food chain and complete the task assigned. Some of the decisions my group made were silly mistakes that caused a longer time to complete everything and their qualifications to run the society. Our burger had all 3 different pages paper clipped together, our house had a triangular roof paper clipped onto a square to form a house shape, we had a ring of polka dot paper for our minerals, and we had a book consisting of 3 pages put together. However our book did not have pictures or word causing us not to be able to complete our tasks. Overall our group was pretty successful with the task at hand, but the people of our society would not have been educated to be able to continue to be successful. I liked the overall aspect of this project because it taught us the different ways you need to be able to handle yourself in different situations, like being able to stay calm when in need, or to know exactly what to do when you need something desperately. Our group and class did really well overall with only 3 arrests during the whole 42 minutes.

Sean Patrick Scully III - Successful Day

Did your group achieve SUCCESS today? How do you know?
Our group today did not achieve maximum success, as we did not achieve every goal that we wanted to. In the beginning we were inefficiently trading resources with other groups, which led us to a pitfall of terrible trades. I know that we were unsuccessful as we only fulfilled half of our goals, and the process was slow and agonizing.
What helped your group to succeed? What held you back?
Our group began to succeed in the middle of the experiment as we got used to what was happening. This lead us to actually understanding the concept of trading, and put us on a spree of good trades. However, it was not enough time for us to come back. Also, what held us back was the original disadvantage we were placed with. As group 4 experienced the least amount of resources, and the hardest things to build, we were set back from the beginning, as well as the time it took for us to understand the concept of trading. Overall, it was very unlikely for us to succeed in this case, but if we had another chance to do so, it would be done.
What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism/the American Dream (e.g. hard work = improved status?)
This trading resources experiment reveals that success in a capitalistic society, is not always based on hard work. Hard work definitely makes a difference in where you will end up. However, when one is naturally placed in an advantageous situation, it makes him or her much more likely to exceed economically. Overall, hard work will always make you better off than those who have the same opportunity as you, however it will not always place you above those who have privileges over you.

Robbie Gennat Civilization Simulation

Class today was very intriguing. We started class by dividing into four different groups . Each group was then given a supply drop, some more useful than the others. We were also given a list describing various utilities we must create and the first group to make all the utilities wins. The simulation started and the groups began intermingling with each other. My group was surprised to find we were one of the only groups with scissors and used that to our advantage. We quickly made rings and traded them as minerals to get supplies to make food and a shelter. This later hurt us as we realized the value of the minerals was way higher than we sold it for. This lead my group to be at a disadvantage throughout the rest of the event. Time passed, my group struggled, and a victor was crowned. The winning group had completed all the tasks before we did half. My group went over to examine how their success could be reached and we found that they were given all the supplies necessary in their supply drop except minerals. This outraged us. My group did not find succes in this activity because we made little of the slim chance we had to win. If my group were to value our minerals better we could have levered better trades from the groups with all the supplies. Our group had the fewest items to begin so we were always at a disadvantage. This activity reveals that it is easier to be success when you already have the tools for success. In civilization, the privileged have an upper hand on the rest of society because they have the tools needed already.

Olivia Agius

Today our class preformed an experiment in order better understand how status affects people, as well as success. The class was divided into groups, which represented communities. Each community had to achieve education, shelter, food, and minerals. These subjects were represented by objects. Every group was given a different amount of objects, my specific group was given wood paper, wavy lined paper, and five paper clips, along with a pen. Using these supplies we were told to create certain things; a burger, a ring, a house, and book. Even though my group did not win, and did not create all the objects, I believe we did achieve success. Yes, we got angry at certain points during the experiment, however we worked hard to build up what we were given in order to complete the project, which is what gave us success. At the beginning we found out what we had, and what we needed in order to make anything. We then walked to groups, trying to trade what we were given to get other objects such as a ruler, scissors, glue, different paper, etc.. What held us back from reaching higher success was that people would not trade with us. Everyone got other supplies from other tables, and we only had one thing they needed, but they wouldn't trade for much. It took a long time for people to realize that they needed what we had, and by then the class was almost over. Also, when we did get a ruler by trade, it turns out that ruler had been stolen. The ruler was then taking away. Our supplies (paper clips) also went missing. Lastly, another thing that held us back was the fact that we began with less than other groups. The group who won had a greater chance of winning because they had nearly everything they needed, then they practice isolationism, refusing to give out any needed supplies to anyone else. Right off the bat we had to fight harder to get supplies than other groups, yet even once we did there it was difficult to compete with the other group. I believe our group achieved success because even though we did not win, we worked hard to trade and get the supplies we needed. Through the greed, the thief, and the lesser chance of winning, we managed to get a lot of supplies needed. We created the ring, and at the end were on our way to create the house and the burger. The group had gathered enough objects to have the opportunity to be successful, and if given more time we could have been. The experiment shows that the American Dream of working hard will improve your status, is true. My group at first had low status (even though not the lowest), and we weren't given a lot of supplies. However, we worked hard to trade with other groups and luckily got more supplies. By getting more supplies we were making our "community" richer, giving them a higher status. Through the frustration our group went through, by the end we were able to come close accomplishing the task. Winning did not define success to us, our group was successful because we were able to get more than we had, and get higher on the status bar by working hard.

Connor Gormley 11-22-16

In today’s exercise my group achieved success by winning and getting the prize of bagels for tomorrow. We were the quickest to build all of the items before the rest of the teams. The biggest cause of us winning was that we started with much more resources than the other teams. We started with all of the essentials except for polka dot paper and wavy paper. Since we had a surplus of almost all of the ingredients except for the pen and ruler. This made is easy to trade with the other groups. We only had to make two trades the entire day for stuff that we needed, meanwhile the other groups were running around trying to find trades. This lead us to working and creating our elements  while the other groups could not operate efficiently. The main problem we had was that not everybody could work, my job was to create the book and I also bartered for polka dot paper. There were not enough jobs to go around and most of the time some people had to look for things to do. When we had all of the resources we needed we did not trade with anybody else. Even though we didn’t need the excess resources. We could have given to the groups for free and it still wouldn’t have been affected but we didn’t want the other groups. This shows that in capitalism people do not help other people succeed even if it doesn’t hurt them. We were competing with the other teams just like in business so if they did well it wasn’t good for us. Also the other teams had to work just as hard, probably harder to yield less results. We didn’t have to work too hard because we were given the essentials to start and succeed from the beginning. No matter how hard the other groups could try they were always at a disadvantage from the beginning to the end.

Nick Colaco 11/22/15

Today's class was based around an activity involving splitting the class into 4 groups and having them compete in a capitalistic challenge to see who came out on top. All the groups were given the similar tasks which involved using paper to create various objects. Every group was given starting materials, but some groups were given more to begin with than other groups, which gave them an inherent advantage.

Did your group achieve success today? How do you know?
Our group was successful in that we were the first group to complete all the tasks in the project. For our group, the requirements were to build a home that was 2"x 2" with a roof that had a 3" long side, create a burger with 3 different sheets of paper that was no more that 4" x 4" and create a book that told a story. All our groups were allowed to trade with other groups to get materials that they needed to create their objects. We were lucky because our group was given most of the materials that we required to complete the project, where as other groups relied heavily on what they could trade for. We were also successful because we won and will get bagels.

What helped your group to succeed? What held you back?
The most important factor in our success was that right out the gate we were given most of the materials that we required for our builds while other groups were given far less and had to trade with other groups. The fact that we had our essential materials from the start allowed us to get to work on all of our builds immediately rather that waiting until we could find another group to trade us to get the materials that we need.  Our group wasn't really held back by anything other than needing to trade for one type of paper that we weren't  given to begin with, but once  we had traded for the paper we were free to work and complete our task.

What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism/ The American Dream?
This experiment highlighted that the fantasy that if you work hard and follow the rules you will be successful no matter who you are is just that, a fantasy. This showed that even if you work hard, often times your success is not determined only by the work you put in, but by what opportunities you were given to work with. Our group today was very privileged in that we were given almost all the materials that we needed from the start, once we traded to get the little more we needed we were able to get to work and not worry about trying to acquire the necessary materials to complete the tasks.  This advantage mirrors the advantages that the upper class enjoys in life. If you are born into a family that has money, can afford higher education, lives in a more affluent town then chances are good that you will be successful with out much hassle. However if you are born into a family with not a lot of money, cant afford college, lives in a town with sub-optimal education, then chances are it will be a lot harder for you to be as successful as the kid born in the rich family. This was shown in our experiment because the group that began with most of the materials that they needed was able to finnish quickly while the other groups that were given less to start with struggled to keep up.

Nick Elnasser 11/22/16

Our group did achieve success in today's class even though we did not win the activity because we were close to finishing and we made many trades to accommodate for the lack of resources we had.

We achieved success by making lots of trades to get everything we needed. We needed a lot more paper than we had and we also needed a ruler to measure our paper. We also had a lot of paper clips in which we did not need all of them. We decided that we would trade some of those paperclips for the correct paper we needed. After that we needed a ruler so we traded for a ruler with our excess paper. We had everything we needed to win the competition but we were held up by other groups trying to steal our ruler because we did not want to trade it. We had agreed to let Sean borrow our ruler however he traded it to a different group when we came back to get it. Sean was a convicted thief and he was sent to jail and we received our ruler back. After this it was smooth sailing to attempt to finish our construction but we did not finish in time due to that hold up.

Our experiment reveals that if you work hard you will be successful in Capitalism even if you started with things that you don't need in the end. What matters the most is your ability to communicate and be persistent in what you desire. For example, our group was able to negotiate with the other groups to get all the resources we needed and if one group didn't want to negotiate we would go on to the next one which is the persistent aspect. If our group hadn't communicated we would have got nowhere with this activity because we were not given all the resources we needed. Since our group worked hard we got close to completing the task and the same thing is the case with Capitalism.

Julia Orlando 11/22/16

Today in class we took a new approach and did not use our laptops as we had a group activity.  In the group activity we had a list of directions with a set base of materials which sometimes was hard to complete the task. We came together we can use hard work and team work to complete a task but some issues got in the way... Some people got angry and some stole/ cheated from other groups. A lot of the groups were not easily willing to share their materials which made things complicated amongst getting the materials needed to complete the tasks. It was interesting to see how people also create things differently and how they interpret things differently.
I do think my group was successful because we all were polite to each other and what I saw to other group members as well. To me, success is doing the best you can do and feeling accomplished in the end. I felt like that even when our group came in second place. We had one obstacle in our way, but nothing prevented us from feeling successful which is all that matters. If some of us decided to act rash or full of absolute rage then maybe that would have influenced the rest of the group but none of us did which allowed for a smooth success to be paved. What helped my group was that we were not crazy and if I was taking my time with the paper, nobody would yell at me. We were all fair and patient with one another which showed team work. One thing that might have held us back is that we were kind of slow with getting materials but that is okay! We got the materials in the end and thats all that mattered in the end.
Our experiment showed that not everything is easy and you do have to step up and do things eventually. With gathering the materials we realized that chances fly by really quick and you do have to think but act quickly. We had to think about what to trade and why like authors had to chose what to write and what eras. As a group we came together despite our views and got along which is not easy but we trudged through it. The American dream showed up

Jimmy Bliss 11/22/16 blog

Today in English class, Mr Rivers instructed us to participate in a strategic activity. We were split into 4 groups, each containing 6 or 7 students. The goal of this activity was to obtain multiple resources, in order to complete the tasks with pieces of paper. We had to construct a "hamburger" with three different pieces of paper, each 3 inches by 3 inches. We had to make a mineral by combining a paper clip to a piece of paper that is a half inch long. We had to construct a box to represent shelter, containing a few small pieces of paper. Lastly, we had to construct a book, with a few pieces of paper and create a story. The winning group earned themselves a free bagel in tomorrow's class. My team, however did not complete this project, as we ended with only a mineral.

Did your group achieve SUCCESS today? How do you know?
I do not believe that my group achieved success today. Out of a total of four activities that needed to be completed, we completed one. In my mind, the only way to be successful is to be the winner, and my group failed today, by my standards.

What helped your group to succeed? What held you back?
I believed that the reason that my group did not achieve success today was because my group was given the 3rd envelope, containing 5 paper clips, a piece of wood paper, a piece of paper with a unique, squiggly line and a pen. Honestly, I take the responsibility for this loss because I was the person who selected number 3 as my group's choice. The envelope assigned to my group really crippled my group's chances of success early on.  

What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism/the American Dream (e.g. hard work = improved status)?
This experiment demonstrates that because of our misfortune of the unlucky draw of the card, we were unable to recover, leaving us to suffer. The experiment also reveals that people can only do so much with the cards they are dealt, because groups 3 and 4 had a major disadvantage over groups 1 and 2, due to the resources provided. Those that are privileged more will end up with more success and will have an easier road than those that are not privileged.