12.1.16

Today in class we revisited the idea of literal vs. figurative language. First we looked at a picture of a women holding a balance and talked about everything that was literal and then what it represented figuratively. Then we analyzed the Valley of Ashes from the Great Gatsby. We found that it was grey, falling apart and lacking substance. It also juxtaposes the wealth of East Egg and is a physical barrier to wealth. Figuratively we wrote down quotes, one was, "Fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens" After that we discussed the first absolute which is time and related it to romantics and modernists. Romantics believe in absolutes so they belive that time doesn't change. Modernists believe time is relative. Time can feel shorter or longer depending on what you are doing.

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.