Found Poetry

Poverty is a problem in the world now.
I am sure we notice this problem.
Food might not be big to us,
but big to those in need.
This is uncool and should be changed.

I strongly believe that something should be done.

This problem should not be invisible to us,

and we should all declare.
This problem, truly is something big
We must stop this before the whole world gets infected
Investing of money is required to prevent this tragic problem to spread.
We need conviction.
Poverty must be chopped.
Our society will be improved,
this shouldn’t be taken aggressively,
none of us should be inarticulate
we should all be clear.
Our generation right now,
implores but doesn’t take action,
we should all exhort each other,
to accept this challenge.
We just need the determination to do it.
I question you.
What are your opinions?
Are you full of uncertainty?
No one has the authority to control us,
we speak the problem but action is needed.
I believe we can do this.

I chose to write my poem about poverty as it is a problem in the world. We do notice this problem but no action is being done. I made this poem so it would give people more determination to cut down poverty. And I also questioned on other people’s opinions on this problem. Our generation right now sees the problem but no action is being taken. I wrote this sentence because I know many of us know about this problem from TV, the news and etc but we are not taking action. I said that this is a challenge because it is a major challenge to us in the world. This poem is suppose to urge us to chop the problem, which will only be possible if we all work together. As stated in the poem, we need investing of money, and we all need to have conviction, opinions, all of our ideas should be clear. I believe we can chop this problem down, but it would take a substantial effort to do so.

Fighting for a Better Future

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a book that tells us about how many people suffer and the wealthier are just watching without taking action, which is a dystopia. This is worth fighting against, because, right now, some parts of the world are struggling and inequality is the major problem which could lead our society into a dystopia. If we don't take action, those countries where people are suffering could possibly become a societies like the one in the Hunger Games  and that could soon spread to the whole world. We don't necessarily have to fight for a utopia, we just need to prevent a dystopia. None of us would like to live under constant surveillance, without freedom, without education, without resources, or under a dictator. These are the characteristics of a dystopian society. Equality and freedom are something worth fighting for.

We know that countries are suffering in the world, and we see them on the news, but we just watch without taking action. This is us being like The Capitol in the Hunger Games as they just watch the suffering for entertainment. We see the suffering, but we just sit there like bystanders. The Hunger Games takes place in a fictional future, but Suzanne Collins is trying to warn us that the future could be a our future.

Also, in The Hunger Games, the citizens don't have freedom.  They don't have natural resources.  They are always being watched by the Peacekeepers.  The natural world is gone. The citizens are forced to hunt for food.  They rely on the Hob, an illegal black market, where they trade or get food. The Capitol sends Peacekeepers to watch the citizens in case of any signs of rebellion.  Collins wrote this story to show what the world could be like if people didn't have freedom.  Her message is that we should act now, so that the characteristics of the society in her novel, do not become the characteristics of our society.


The picture I chose shows that hands can help shape a better future, only if we all participate in doing so. Equality can play a big part in our lives, but only if we treat people the same way we want to be treated. Freedom gives us the chance to speak up and have an opinion.  If we are able to be free, don't other in the world deserve that right? We are all alike - we are all human. This is why I believe that we should be fighting for equality, and everyone in the world have freedom. 

The perfect world

"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself" - Andy Warhol

This picture I chose represents how if we were to make a perfect world, peace would be first thing we would need to have in this world. All the war has to stop in order for a perfect world to be made. This peace sign was formed in Budapest.

This quote tells us that if the perfect world were to come, we have to change it now. We know that change comes from our actions, change doesn't come on it's own, you have to make it happen. Time can change things, but most of the time change things for the worst. We have to change things for the better. We have many countries in the world suffering right now and we can change it.

If I were to create a perfect world, one characteristic I would definitely have is equality. In the world right now, equality is something I would change. People are struggling in different parts of the world and one reason is they are not treated as equal as us. We have shelter, education, healthcare, food, clean water and they don't have any. In my society, everyone will be treated equally.

In this society, people will be treated equally as everyone will have shelter, education, healthcare, food and water. This way, now one will struggle to live and they get their basic needs. Being treated equally also means everyone gets the right to tell their part of the story when in court, etc. A perfect world does not only consist of one characteristic, other characteristics would be for the society to be peaceful, safe, citizens to have their freedom and respect for each other. Imagine a society like this existing on Earth.

You can find the picture here

Hitler's rise to power, Kristallnacht

January 1933, Hitler gained power through flames at Reichstag. Hitler had completely brainwashed everyone in the country, including children. Nazis recruited many unemployed men and one propaganda phrase was: "When Jewish blood drops from the knife, you know everything will be fine." That caused racial hatred. Hitler then convinces president Hindenburg to suspend all civil liberties. November 1938, on the night of the 9th and 10th, Kristallnacht. Shattered glass, burning houses, synagogues, the name Kristallnacht was given. Over 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camp, over 90 were killed. The Jews then had to play one billion marks for the damage "they" had done from the events that had happened. In 1933, the first concentration camp was formed in Dachau. Communist, socialist, democrats and catholics were sent to the camp. They also suspended all Jews from civil services and universities. Jews were portrayed by Hitler as greedy, repulsive, corrupt and anti-German. This also showed up in textbooks. This shocked me. How would like it if you were called greedy, repulsive and corrupt? In September 1935, the Nuremberg laws mentioned to take away all citizenship rights from the Jews. The Nazis were not thinking genocide, they just wanted the Jews to leave Germany. Thousands left but no country would accept them. Canada's infamous quote was " How many should we take it? None is too many."

Hitler knew he had to control the children too. He made them dedicate their lives to Hitler. The Hitler youth camp started in 1922. The kids felt they had a mission and felt important. They had sworn in their lives to The Fuhrer and the Fatherland. They were taught that the Jews were a dirty and poisonous race.

The painting shows the Nazis smashing the windows and beating the Jews. This is the reason it was called Kristallnacht. The smashing of windows. The faces of the Jews show how horrified they were during Kristallnacht.

Painting from: http://www.moshegalili.com/images_holocaust/Kristallnacht.jpg

Check out the other paintings ( click on headings bolded and in white) at:

http://www.moshegalili.com/holocaustexhibition.htm

Is this really me?

This is my DomiKnow.

My learning profile is profile L. Which means I am a gestalt learner. To find out what learner you are, you need to find out your dominant eye, ear, arm and leg. All my dominant parts are on the right, which makes me a profile L. The right side of your brain means your a gestalt learner, the left means your a logic learner. When I fidget around with a pencil, eraser, paper or other things you have on a desk, it may seem like I'm not paying attention, but I am. I also focus on the whole picture.

I prefer not to do instructions that requires it to be done step-by-step. I think of the end result and that is what suits me. When I am under stress, I need quiet time on my so I can easily get new ideas. However, when I am under stress, I shut down completely. It gets difficult for me to see, remember, communicate and hear, which really is me. Sometimes when reading a book, I can read but can't remember a thing about what I read, and will have to read that page again. I can easily loose focus on what I am doing when it is noisy. When I hear noise, I will look towards that direction.

While doing a test, I will get stressed and not remember a thing. Activities that can help me are lazy 8's, brain caps and more. There are different brain gym activities you can do. While the teacher is teaching, I would learn easier with metaphors and my doing things that involve movement. I won't know where to start chunking it down when I see the whole picture.

This is what I would like my teachers to know about me. In class, I would like to do activities that involve movement so I can learn better.

A small mistake making a big difference

Jesus Colon is a negro. One night, he had finished work and was returning by train. In the subway, he saw this white lady, she was carrying a heavy suitcase, a baby and had two children following by her side. He was thinking if he should help, and he was thinking about how the lady would react. He decided not to help because since the lady was white and he was black, there might be racism, she might think Colon was trying to rob her or even worse. After that incident, Colon felt that he had failed and his identity had been banished. Since that incident, it had changed his identity. This also relates to the poem by John Donne, in the poem, it said we are all mankind and we are all connected and we should always help mankind. Colon failed to do that because he just ran away. This story also relates to the video by Jason Van Genderen. In the video, they showed the beggars, the white lady relates to the beggars because she was ignored by people and left alone, isolated on an island. To me, this would've been a really hard decision. I think that there is no good or bad when your in a situation like this. If you ask the lady, she might think you are willing to help or she might think that your going to kidnap. If you leave, it shows that your scared of the lady's reaction and it's alright to be scared. Like sometimes un school, people are scared to ask a question, because he/she is scared of the teacher's reaction, just like the lady in Jesus Colon's story.

In the poem by James Berry, it said "do we shut our eyes", that also relates to the video by Van Genderen when everyone were just ignoring the homeless people around them. The poem also said "What do we do with a difference? Do we stand and discuss its oddity or do we ignore it?". In Colon's story, he ignored the difference, in the video, everyone also just ignored the different people and they just think that only normal people live in this world, but their wrong. In school, different races and religions get on well, I haven't seen any quarrel about races. So in my school, it is the total opposite with this story. The painting by Picasso shows two doves different in color and still happy together. The picture was selected by me because the two doves are like Jesus Colon and the white lady, but their actions and their thoughts are the total opposite. They are both united but Jesus Colon didn't think that that was going to happen. Even difference can be united as one.

Painting from: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-list/do-search/?search=picasso&page=2&cr=10

The will to fight for freedom

Aung San Suu Kyi was an Oxford graduate and a Noble Peace Prize winner. In 1945 June 19, she was the pro democracy leader of Burma and Burma got rid of the Brithsh, eventhough her father supported the British during World War 2. Sadly, her father was assassinated when she was 2 years old. in 1964, she studied philosophy and politics at Oxford University. She then went to work for the UN in New York. She is married to Michael Arns who is a Tibet scholar and they have 2 children, both of them are boys. She wanted the killing in Burma to stop and Burma needed a leader. She overwhelmingly won the elections. Then, the military dictatorship placed her under house arrest. In 1995, she was briefly released of house arrest. In July 1995-2000, she was freed from house arrest but there was a dillema, she could see her husband but never allowed back into her country and she realized her husband was dying. She then had a quote saying "Drops of water that make up the ocean.", meaning that nothing is too small.

This also relates to Daedalus and Icarus. Daedalus wanted freedom from King Minos and he built wings so he could gain his freedom. Aung San Suu Kyi had to make really hard decisions. I always have to make decisions and I think in my mind "this is such a hard decision to make". Now, after this story, I know that all my decisions are way easier than Aung San Suu Kyi's. I think that what Aung San Suu Kyi did was right. The fact that she could give people freedom is already heroic. I wouldn't be able to do that.

The painting by Toni Littlejohn is a bird heading up into the air. I chose this painting because the bird is getting freedom. The bird is like Aung San Suu Kyi because she also wanted freedom, same with the bird, it wants freedom.

Painting from: http://tonilittlejohn.com/gallery/show?keyword=Paintings&subkey=+Forms