To Whom It May Concern,

I've been overwhelmed over the past week with papers and tests and quizzes and projects and classes and no sleep, and I'd really appreciate a break or just the end of the semester where i can have a chance to sit down and relax without having to think about school all day.

Mapping Everyday - What I don't understand

Relevantly, the hidden spaces of the city, standing in as metonyms for the intentionally hidden problems of globalization, are alien and occluded from the majority of educators’ current lifeworlds, and any future heterotopias informed about race and gender by anything other than abstraction. In the local literacy projects that dominate the curriculum examples here, the epitome of Debord’s spectacular representation, and its attendant demands, is readily apparent. 

In-Class Writing Response to "Butterfly Lessons"

Throughout the article, Kolbert reflects upon the idea that the climate changes happening on earth right now, are having an effect on the life cycles of earth's wildlife. However, since we can not theoretically control the Earth's climate, we should keep in mind that as its inhabitants we are required to adapt to its changes in order for us to survive. "That life on earth changes with the climate has been assumed to be the case for a long time-indeed, for very nearly as long as the climate has been known to be capable of changing." This quote embodies the idea that since the beginning of time, the Earth has been changing, and therefore its inhabitants have had change as well.


I would relate the "Butterfly Lessons" article to my project on place and environment by connecting the ideas of adaptation to our surroundings. Overpopulation is an issue that will force us in the future to re-think our ways of living and scale everything that we do, down to a smaller scale.

Butterfly Lessons

"Butterfly Lessons" is an article in The New Yorker, written by Elizabeth Kolbert, and it addresses the issue of the earth's climate change and how it is affecting its wildlife. Butterflies have shifted their ranges northward, flower shrubs are blooming eight days earlier, and frogs are mating ten days earlier. These climate changes are throwing off the natural order of life for these animals and plants, and it's only a matter of time before we humans have to alter or ways of life as well. I do not think that we should look at it as a problem or as "our fault," because the Earth has been constantly changing since the beginning of time. We as humans, plants, and animals are merely its inhabitants and I think that if we want to remain here, then we need to change right along with it.

Introductory Paragraph (In terms of overpopulation, how is running out of resources and time the same? Or different?)

Some of the most important resources in the world are non-renewable, or limited. Time, however, is a very peculiar limited resource. It cannot be created, and nothing can be done about the time that's already passed. Overpopulation is an issue that requires both time and natural resources in order to be fixed, but we are running out of them at a constant rate.

If you don't think you're in denial, then you're probably in denial.

What does it mean to be in denial? Someone who is in denial won't take responsibility for their actions, or won't accept the fact that what they are doing is wrong. I don't know anyone who constantly takes responsibility for their actions, admits they're wrong, and takes the consequences with dignity.
If you've ever blamed a teacher for a bad grade, then you're in denial.
If you've ever been pulled over by the cops for speeding and then claimed that you weren't speeding, then you're in denial.
Just face the facts.

In-Class Writing

In the first part of the Luther Standing Bear statement, one of the major themes is the idea that all life is equal. The Lakota respected the land, the animals, and each other. Animals had rights just as Man did, and because of this, they could not look down on any creature. They didn't take advantage of anything and were grateful for everything.
One of the major themes of Chief Seattle's is the fact that "the White Man's day will come." He speaks a lot about his people and how they are being affected by the White Man. They know that it isn't smart to try fight them and that it would be beneficial to allow themselves to be protected by them. Although Chief Seattle makes this point, he also says that if the Red Man and the White Man are supposed to brothers, then that means that the day will come where the White Man will die off just as the Red Man will. His statements seem to foreshadow the eventual demise of the Indian, in which they all die off due to the White Man imposing his ways on them.
I think that the meaning of Chief Seattle's speech was merely a message to the White Man saying that his ways were wrong. His quote, "This we know - earth does not belong to man - man belongs to the earth," truly sums up the Native American's outlook on life, and the problem with the White Man's. I do believe he that he knew his people would die off simply because the younger generation only wanted to fight against the White Man when there was no way that they, as a people, could win. The older generation had lost all control and ultimately decided to sit back and allow the White Man to "protect them" from then on.

Chief Seattle Speech

Unless there is someone alive today that was actually there when Chief Seattle gave his speech, we can only go off of what someone else said. Often times this is the problem with history and stories in general because there is always more than one side, and it's very hard to find out the truth. In Chief Seattle's case, someone had to translate his speech for him, so words are easily lost in translation. Who knows if this is his actual or speech and whether this is really the message he was trying to give?

Damn those Dams!

Dams were invented centuries and centuries ago as an instrument to prevent water from flowing into the land where people lived. Both humans and animals use dams (think beavers), but over the years, humans took dams to a level where it has a negative environmental impact. One of the affects is fish not being able to breed correctly, and therefore causing some species to become endangered and sometimes extinct. Aren't humans being selfish by being too afraid to get a little wet, even though it means that species of fish will die off? I think something needs to be done about the dams so that they don't affect life underwater.

Religion is such a "touchy" subject

I'm not much of a religious person at all. I believe in God, and I like to think that all things happen for a reason, but what does that say about people who aren't given the same opportunities as others, and live lives in poverty? I, as well as my classmates, am very privileged in that I grew up in a household with two parents, and had the opportunity to partake in higher learning. If everything happens for a reason, then why are inner city children denied resources that would help them in their education? Is it in God's plan for them to remain in the vicious cycle of living paycheck-to-paycheck? I'm not saying that I don't want to believe in God, but I just wish that I could prove he is really there.

Overpopulation Needs Addressing

Technology is a big factor in the issue of overpopulation. The more that technology improves, the less people we need on earth to do the things that the new technology can do for us. The world population, however, is growing more now than ever before. Is technology a good thing? When will we realize that the technology that we've become accustomed to making life easier for us, can really be hurting us in the long run?
Overpopulation Needs Addressing