malcom x

malcom was a boy who had two brothers and his oldest brother boxed and was really good at it. He felt that he needed to box too so he tried that but he diddnt do so well; he was beaten by a white kid. He started to train and worked hard to become a good boxer and later fought the same white kid again but lost, again. He finally figured that boxing wasnt for him. He was sent to an all white school and was called names but he wasnt sensitive to it because he was used to it. He stayed with the Swerlins and they treated him very well but more like a pet than a human being. He was one the best students in the class and had one of the highest grades but he still wasnt good enough. He told his teacher that he dreamed of becoming a lawyer but his teacher told him thats not realistic but he told everyone else in his class they could be whatever they want. This made him very mad and discouraged him; i think if the teacher told him to persevere to become a lawyer he might have actually became one.

The great debaters

There were many similarities from the movie The Great Debaters with the two shot stories "Nightjohn" and "Mascot." One is the similar occupational choice of Samantha Booke and the boy in "Mascot." They both dreamed of being lawyers but it was much more difficult for them because of their color. The boy's teacher told him he could not become a lawyer, that he has to be realistic; but the teacher tells all of his other students they can become whatever they like, only because they are white. In the end, Samantha makes it to be a lawyer because she fought against racism.

Another was between John from "Nightjohn" and the debate team from The Great Debaters. John protested against racism and discrimination by teaching other slaves how to read and write; to then spread to the rest of the world what was happening to them as slaves. The debate team did just the same, but with words as they spoke when they debated. They educated to their audience about what needs to happen to become equal.

A third comparison was about lynchings. The debate team told everyone through one of their debates about the lynching they witnessed in Texas; just as the slaves in "Nightjohn" had to watch lynchings of other slaves when they were punished.

nightjohn

we are suppose to do this, right ?

so this little girl, Sarny, narrates her life as a slave. She tells about her mother and anyone else who wants to pray has to do it secretly because they are not allowed to have religion and they could get hurt real bad if they get caught praying. Nightjohn was brought in but it was weird because he had scars on his back from being whipped and it isnt usual for slaves that have to be worked hard to be bought. That night he was in the same house where Sarny was sleeping and he asked for tobacco, he said he would trade letters for some tobacco. Sarny took the deal and he started teaching her the first few letters of the alphabet. This young girl, Alice, was whipped for wandering around and she ran away when the master started to come after her. He sent the dogs after her too, and they caught up with her and hurt her bad. Two other people tried to run, but the dogs were let after them and both were caught and hurt really badly, just like Alice. In the end, Nightjohn explains to Sarny's mother that he came to teach reading and writing to other slaves so they can write down how they are being treated and what is happening; for others to see what is happening to them.

this feels like the 72000000nd blog. We need to be done with these, we have done them long enough annd i think we have all had a great fun time but we can stop now ha. I have had so many tests this weeek, i have had at least one each day and i had to take them all during third period so i missed like all of that class and now im really behind. We have to make a glogster or something today for a job, because the fairfeild career lady came in again for the freshmen so the project is based on careers. i still havent figured out what career i am going to do, i have to find out today though or else ill be even more behind and i just cannot fail this class. im reeeeaaaally looking forward to this weekend, this week seems like it has gone by pretty fast though. I like how we watched a movie yesterday in english and im hoping we can finish it today. I always like watching movies, no matter what the movie is about. this girl next to me is putting out fires with a hose haha. she loses all the water though when she drives the firetruck becasue shes going over hills and cliffs. im soooo glad we have the renaisance rally today and all our classes are shortened . its been 17 minutes.

monday

i always tell myself that i wont forget to do this blog but then i do, how wonderful. this is seriously like the 7th time i have forgetten to do it in a row. im making a chart right now. making it all colorful and bright. its for infotech, but i honestly have no idea what im doing. We have to race everyday too, its a typing race. There are these little cars and the faster you type the faster you go. My car always has a flat tire though, so it doesnt really move. I thought that 12 angry men was an interesting book; it was different. i dont like how it never tells you what really happened, like it doesnt tell you if the boy really did it or not. i thought the case was really bad too because all of the evidence was shaky and there really wasnt anything that couldnt be questioned. It would have been a more interesting book if the lady who saw the boy do it didnt wear glasses and could see and all that. It was really short too, the book i mean. we read it in like a single week, which was nice so i didnt forget anything that happened.

ohh mannn i forgot to write it again. well i glad we are done with out research papers, those took too long. i hated doing those bibcards and notecards, they take too long. i did the same thing last year in english. Im looking forward to starting something new, i know we are reading a book and mr. potter told us what we were going to do but i forget. i think it is the easiest to read books and do stuff with that because there is only one right answer, its not like algebra where theres a 72 million ways to do one problem. i just submitted my paper to turnitin.com. it was alot faster than last time i did it but i was using wordperfect last time and this time i used microsoft so maybe thats why. i hate wordperfect. it makes me so mad. its annoying and doesnt do anything i want it to. i dont know how to get it to do anything i want it to either. im gonna have to buy mircosoft eventually. someone in the corner is listening to their music reeeeaaaally loud. i can hear every word. its a pretty good song, id have to say. its on my ipod haha. me and this girl made this psa for driving and texting and its the best psa ever. weve got this new report on this guy crashing into another car and an interview with the lady and then the required facts, of course. we have the most amazinnng background song to go with it too. its just great. three more minutes. im really excited for this week to be over and for next week to start, thatll probably make this week go by suuuperr slow. i hate slow weeeks, i really do. i always have something to look forward to on tuesday though, panini day ! yeaaah !