Nature Portfolio Assignment

A Nature Poem

My Frog

Smaller than a human
Bigger than a caterpillar
Slimier than slime it self
Louder than a cricket
(5) Quieter than a lion’s roar
Yet smarter than most animals
Faster than a turtle
Tongue as long as an arrow
As patient as a monk
(10) As green as a leaf
As absorbent has a sponge
What more can I say about my frog?
Eyes as big as large pebbles
Legs as long as a pencil
(15) Skin as smooth as butter
Mouth as wide as the Atlantic
A Head as small as a golf ball
As jumpy as a slinky
As shy as a turtle
(20)As territorial as a badger
Sensitive Skin just like a newborn baby

As protective as a Mama bear of its cubbies
There is no coherent way I can describe a frog
Its leaps rather than walk
(25)It croaks when it has to
Yet people try to eschew it
What more can one ask of a little frog
It is everything it has to be
Are you everything you have to be?
(30) There’s no need to think about it; you already know.

The Most Beautiful 

The Awe-inspiring Sight

I had just woken up and I could hear the pilot saying, we were going to be landing in ten minutes. I looked out the window, and I was stunned by the view. It was breathtaking. The buildings were so high that I thought the plane was going to crash into them. I was scared and mesmerized at the same time. Everywhere looked so clean and new. It wasn't that I haven't seen a clean place before. However, I thought to myself, so this is America. At that moment, I understood why it was considered a big deal back home in Nigeria to come to the United States.  When the plane landed, there were so many people, and I couldn't help myself but stare. They all looked so different and majority of them were Caucasians. I had only seen one Caucasian person in my life and he was an albino.  At this moment, I thought all of them where albinos. As we left the airport and riding in the car, I still felt the view was amazing and the high buildings so intriguing. During the entire car ride, I couldn't look at anything else. The way the sun beamed upon the buildings made it look very polished. I was used to seeing sand at every corner of the road. However, there was no sand insight. It was all concrete. As we drove on the highway, I was surprised that I neither saw individuals selling items along the road nor a stall erupted just like it was back home. Everything looked so sophisticated. My first views of America were the most beautiful thing I could have ever imagined. So far, nothing compares to those views. I would love to stay in that moment forever. Every time I'm asked to describe how I felt when I arrived to the United States, these are the first things that appear in my mind, the way that view made me feel. The feeling is still indescribable and nothing can emulate the way those views made me feel. Whenever I travel with my parents, I start to feel nostalgic. It was definitely a beautiful moment in my life.

Word Count:362

Native American Creation Story

Patience and Monkeys

A Yoruba tale tells of how monkeys came to look like humans and why patience is important.
“I'm going to be human. I’m going to be human. By this time tomorrow, I'm going to be human.” The monkeys sang as they took the serum.  Wait a minute; I'm getting ahead of myself here. Allow me to indulge you with the foundation of the story. It all started a few days earlier.
As God was creating the earth, he was creating the animals as well. The monkeys didn't want to be animals so they asked God to change them into something else. God agreed and he wanted to create a new species. However, these species were going to be unlike any other. They where going to humans. So, God decided to give the monkeys a serum. God told the monkeys that they would need to wait seven days before they fully turned to Humans. He told them to use the serum every day for seven days but only once a day. The monkeys did as they were told for three days. Then, they started to change starting with their face and hands. After a while, few of the monkeys got impatient and wanted to turn into humans faster. So, they decided to take all of the serum at once.
“I bet you that if we take it all, we can turn into humans faster and don't have to stay like this for too long.” said one monkey
“ Yeah!” said another
“Wait, we're not suppose to take it all at once. Remember, it is supposed to be only once a day for seven days,” said a little monkey
“He was just saying that to say that. I bet he didn't mean it,” said the 1st monkey
Little did they know that the little monkey was speaking the truth.  Although some monkeys took the serum, some decided to be patient and do as they were told. Seven days later, the monkeys that listened turn into beautiful humans, while the rest didn’t change. The unchanged monkeys were surprised.
“Why didn't you change us God? We took the serum;” yelled one monkey.
“ You didn't listen, and you weren't patient. For those reasons, I didn't change you,” said God.
“ Then why do we still have similar characteristics of humans? Why don't you just take it all back?” Another monkey replied.
“ I want you and humanity to be reminded as to why patience is important. I want you to understand that without patience, the results might not be the best,” said God.


Word Count:428
Weather Experience

Exceptional Weather 

The myopic views of gloomy days and gray skies

Others not being able to understand its true beauty 

But I see it, there lays the feel of a sluggish day.

 Giving time for one to take it in and experience it. 

The mucky air made me breathe slow and precise.

I think to myself, why can't everyday be like this? 

As I walk through the park,

I could hear the carping complaints. 

Why can't they just try to experience it?

Everything seems to slow down

I could feel my shoes getting wet.

And the water is slowly dripping along my face.

I could hear the splatter of the water under my feet.

I felt the water was holding me back from running.

By far the best walk in the park yet

  

Response 

Nature
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The poem was good, understandable, and well written. The poem was trying to explain how letting go of materialistic things could help one experience nature better. Emerson talks about how being in nature is a great delight, and how he becomes contempt with nature. The poem was irrelevant to me. However, I understood the point Emerson was tying to get across. The ideas might still be relevant to someone or something else. Emerson’s ideas can still be applied with modern world. People should set aside time for themselves and experience nature the way Emerson did. Moreover, in this modern world, only a few are willing to take the time to experience nature. As a result, most disregard nature. People are occupied with materialistic things. Therefore, they can’t experience the true beauty of nature that Emerson describes. Emerson states, “Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight does not reside in nature, but in man, or the harmony of both.”{p392}. As a matter of fact, nature is just been nature. It seems that people expect to experience nature nowadays by just sitting down and not doing anything. Moreover, Emerson says, in order to be part of nature, to actually experience it, nature and men have to work together in harmony.

Word Count: 212

Thanatopsis

This was quite an interesting poem about death. The poem actually makes you think about death and the feelings towards it. For me, death is something I don’t like think about. I know it’s going to happen, but I feel there is no reason to be thinking about it. As I read this poem, I started to think and question death. The poem explained the feelings people have about death. They ponder if anyone is going to remember them or if their absence is even going to matter. The first time I read this poem, it absolutely made no sense to me. However, discussing it in class clarified the poem in the simplest manner for me. I felt the poem was a guidebook to death. The poem explains death’s inevitability, and how sooner or later, it comes to every one. The author finds death, which is also natural, to be something that has to be experienced. It goes further to point out that rather than fight it, people should try to enjoy nature and life before the inevitable happens.  The author also states an interesting quote, he says,

“Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish 

Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down 

With patriarchs of the infant world,—with kings, 

The powerful of the earth,—the wise, the good, 

Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past, 

All in one mighty sepulcher. The hills”

The idea that even when we are gone, we are still here. We are still part of the world. We are still part of nature. The authors ideas are very much relevant because death is still around, and it’s not going anywhere any time soon.

Word Count: 280

Spectacle of Great Beauty

By John Wesley Powell

“The glories and the beauties of form, color, and sound unite in the Grand Canyon” is a well-written piece. The way the author described the canyon I could see, hear, and feel the canyon. The author painted an image of immense beauty. I liked it, and I want to go see this spectacle of beauty myself. Moreover, I’m still not sure. The author describes what a beautiful experience he had, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to have the same experience. I can’t see the Canyon the same way the author saw it. The view is always going to be ever changing along with each individual’s perspective. This shows how nature is always changing and never consistent. The idea that nature is always changing is still very relevant today. An example is when someone sees a rainbow, they might think it is the most beautiful aspect of nature. Another might see it and wonder why it is relevant. I see something and you see something else. It’s just the way that nature occurs. If I ever have get the chance to go see the Grand Canyon, I want to know if my views will be very similar or differ drastically.

Word Count: 201

Walden

By Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau is basically telling how he lives a simple life, and how he thinks that everyone should the same. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”[p.410] This poem was quite confusing at some points. Thoreau says how he likes to imagine that he is living somewhere else than his original location. Then, after a while, it’s not as clear to which part of the story was his imagination and which part is reality. Aside from that, the poem was understandable as to the reasons why he wants to live simple. He gives some convincing explanation as to the reason for his simple life. When he talked about the railroads, which is something that really upsets him, he talked about the fact that people use railroads only because it is there. If it wasn't there, we wouldn't be using it.  This is similar with the concept of phones today and how everyone thinks that they have to have the latest and greatest gear. People were still alive when phones did not exist. So, the notion that everyone needs a phone to survive is simply flawed.      

Word Count: 221

The Tide

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Reading this poem for the first time, I thought to my self, “okay. So it’s talking about the sea and people traveling”. I had no idea that it was about death. Then, I thought to myself, how is it about death? The poem has no word that indicates a death or someone dying. So, I reread the poem and sought help in deeper understanding of it. The author seemed to be explaining what happens when and after someone dies. Things go on just like how the tide rises and falls. Even though someone is dead, it doesn't stop doing what it’s meant to do.

 “The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamps and neigh. As the hostler calls:
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, the tide falls”

Yes, people might grief for a moment, but just like the tides, they have to keep going, keep living their lives, and doing what they want to do. The author’s ideas are still relevant, and the tides have never ceased stop just because some one died. Life doesn’t stop expect for the individual which death has fell upon. Moreover, if life stopped every time someone died, there wouldn’t be life. This doesn’t apply to the modern world. For example, if one of the prototypes for an iPhone company doesn’t work, it doesn’t mean that Apple will shut everything down and stop working, No, Apple starts over and keep coming up with other ideas. My takeaway from the author is that life goes on, and we must go on with it.

Word Count: 267

Response to Essays

In one aspect, Walking by Henry David Thoreau, The Divine Soil by John Burroughs, and The American Forests by John Muir are all about the same subject. The American Forests takes a more religious route while the others are kind of in-between. In the American forest, John Muir words make me think that he is taking a more religious path to his reasons for embracing nature. John Muir says, “The forests of America, however slighted by man, must have been a great delight to God; for they were the best he ever planted.” And he continues on to talk about how man destroyed such a beautiful forest. I began to understand the point he was trying to convey. Man vs. Nature, and it seems Man might have just won this one. According to me, the most logical statement was when he said, “Through all the wonderful, eventful centuries since Christ’s time - and long before that - God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools, - only Uncle Sam can do that.” The Divine Soil is very similar to The American Forest because it also talks about Heaven and the bigger picture. John Burroughs talks about the spiritual, the creator, and the universe. Thoreau’s paper was more simple and straight to the point. He explained how people just have to stand and look. Then, they will notice that nature is right there at their feet. All they have to do is just walk, not walk to exercise, but walking to experience that itself. A line that stood out to me from all the readings was from The Divine Soil.It says,“One of the hardest lessons we have to learn in this life, and one that many persons never learn, is to see the divine, the celestial, the pure, in the common, the near at hand - to see that heaven lies about us here in this world …” I feel like this line explains everything Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, and John Muir are trying to say. That is the lesson they were all trying to get across, which is we have to learn to see everything else and not just what’s right in front of us. We have to go one step further, see the divine and experience it. 

A Classmate I'm Thankful For...

Since it is thanksgiving, I would like to give thanks for having Mary Sheehan in my life. She is a great friend. We have English, division and P.E together. Even though we fight and make fun of each other,shes always knows how to make me smile when i'm down and i'm really thankful for having her in my life. So Thanks Mary for always being there for me and helping me out when i needed it.
Word Count : 79

Community Stories

"University Days"
James Thurber

Thurber's experience of college wasn't what he had expected it to be. He thought he would understand what he was being taught, but that just wasn't the case. Like for example, in botany class when every one else in the class was looking through a microscope and seeing something, he saw nothing. That frustrated him and his teacher as well. He thought maybe if he took a year off and came back he would be able to understand better and see into the microscope like the teacher wanted.  But the same thing that happened the year before happened again. He still couldn't see what was inside the microscope. Also the college's expectation of him wasn't met. like his teacher in botany class thinking that he could see the cell but he just wasn't trying hard enough. James experience wasn't what he expected. his expectation where so high that when he actually experience it, it wasn't what he expected. 

"An Account of an Experience with Discrimination"
Sojourner Truth
the idea of the old slave holding spirit with the idea of community shaping a person and their beliefs are very similar because from what i know slave holding spirit is when someone thinks they are better than someone else like an owner thinks that he is way better than is slave. the idea that ones community can shape ones beliefs is that what ever we learn from our community what ever happens in our community has an influence on the people in the community. the reason i feel they are similar is because just like the idea of the community the same thing happens with the idea of the old slaving spirit,  when an owner feels they are better than their slave , then another owner feels the same way, the words going to get around its going to affect the people in the community and it just might change the way they see things they too might start to think that they are better than the slave. the spirit and the community affects people that are around it and that are around it. A primary source is different from reporters and short story's because a primary source is an account of something that really happened from the view of the eye wittiness. A primary source is from the author from what they saw, experience or encountered  its not just a story it is an account of what really happen. while a reporter or short story is a secondary source going off what a primary source has said or its just fiction.

Crucible Final Response

The Crucible was quite interesting to read, and the fact that it actually really happened makes me wonder how smart some people where back then. But then again I kind of understood why some people where so naive  they wanted to believe that there was a reason, be it a supernatural reason, to why bad things happen to them. The people of Salem are puritans and thy are all strong believers in God and all that is good, so when something goes wrong the opposite of what they are told to trust and believe is the devil, witchcraft and supernatural events. Court trials are held, and simple illnesses of others are held against innocent victims. They're even blamed for things that have not happened. Without finding any specific evidence other than the stories of the witches' doings and supposed haunting, innocent people are hanged. Almost every character in the play is looked upon with suspicion by his or her neighbor.  The good people are punished while the evil succeed .The word crucible means to purify, and this is usually done with fire. The funny part is the fact that what is going on has nothing to do with purity . Instead it confuses and corrupts. The events in the play are similar to the events that occurred during the time of the McCarthy era, when McCarthy was pointing fingers to who he thought where communist with little or no prove. The play ended yet again with someone innocent being hanged and this time it was John Proctor. I didn't like the ending at all because I feel like there should be more and that’s not how its suppose to end good isn't suppose to lose but then I remember that it’s a true story and things don’t always happen the way we wish they would.
Word:308

Outline

Oluwayemisi Ososami

English II 7^th

Due 10/19/12

Thesis

Almost all polish migrants came to American for the same thing, a better future, and all in their own ways have shaped the community of west town.

Argument

Reason for Migration

• Landlords, pushing peasants off of their lands, the fast growing population increased land shortages and heavy taxes led poles to seek relieve in America.(24)
• Chicago’s industries always needed cheap labor and from 1890 to 1920, half of the 400,000 workers were occupied in iron and steel, meatpacking, the clothing industry, railroading, or electrical machinery.(5)
• Migration to the U.S for many different things like, to find land, to get an education or better job, to earn money to send back home to practice their religion however they want, or just to escape the war and bad things that is going on in their own countries.(6)

Statistics

• Between 1880 and 1914, at least 7.5 million people from Eastern Europe migrated to the U.S. The immigrants that where parts of this migration are part of what is now known has the “second great wave" of American immigration. About 27 million immigrants landed on U.S. soil. (26)
• In  five years (1919-1924) a quarter of a million East Europeans came to the USA of which Jews constituted over a half and Poles about a quarter. Post-war immigration (1919-1924) was largely a family reunification movement(2)
• The number of Chicago area migrants ranked 7th in the nation with 1.4 million which consist of 18 percent of overall population. The largest concentration of immigrant migrate to the west of Chicago than any other place.(16)

Entering West Town/ Transition

• Polish immigrants have had an easier time racially than many other non-European groups in getting use to or blending into the American ways. Most poles have held tightly to their folk and national roots. “Poles have competed well and succeeded in their new homeland; they have thrived and built homes and raised families, and in that respect have participated in and added to the American dream.”(25)
• Polish Americans have tended to marry within the community of Poles. The Poles maintain traditions most closely in those ceremonies for which the community held closely: weddings, christenings and funerals. (18)
• The Polish community has been a part of the fabric of life in Chicago for over a century. Homeownership represents the American Dream, and attaining a home is a priority for many Polish Americans. They feel they must rely on themselves and their family at all costs. (17)

Conclusion

Almost all polish migrants came to American for the same thing, a better future, and all in their own ways have shaped the community of west town.

Act 3 Responds

Act three was just the same has act two, a bunch of people blaming one another and not paying attention to what was actually happening. Danforth is depicted has a great judge in the story but to me he was dumb and didn't have any common sense. It’s surprising to me how some one in such a high position had less sense than someone like Proctor, who was just a farmer. Abigail and the other girls have the whole town rapt in their little fingers. Mary Warren tried to tell the truth, but she came to understand how much power Abigail and the other girls especially during the trail, when the girls had the whole courtroom believing in a bird that no one could see “except the girls”. In a way I understand why Mary Warren accused Procter; she knew she wasn't going to win in the argument if she went against the girls, so she decided to join the girls. All the acts are the same to me, they are just a group of grown ups believing in a fairy tale not using their common sense.
Word:186

Act 2 Responds

It’s interesting to see how the scare of witches gave so much power to Abigail and a bunch of little girls. They have the power to say anyone's a witch for any reason and people would believe them, like how Abigail called Elizabeth a witch, and the same day Elizabeth was arrested. The thing that irks me is the fact that they don't think about other explanations to what might have happened, they just think everything has to do with witches. It’s what they want to believe so they believe it no matter what kind of evidence is presented to them. The people of Salem are just trying to find someone to put the blame on and that's the devils and witches. If Abigail did swallow that pin on purpose, which I think she did, proves that she will go to great lengths to get back at Elizabeth. I wonder what was going on in Abigail’s head. It’s like she thought that if Elizabeth was convict has a witch, then Elizabeth would be out of the picture and then she could get with Proctor, which just proves even more that she was delusional. I also find it funny how out of the entire commandments Proctor forgets adultery right after he had been arguing with Elizabeth about what happened with him and Abigail.

Word:222

Note Cards

1.       In  five years (1919-1924) a quarter of a million East Europeans came to the USA of which Jews constituted over a half and Poles about a quarter. Post-war immigration (1919-1924) was largely a family reunification movement. More than 4 million East Europeans journeyed between 1880 and 1914, and again between 1919 and 1924 about a quarter of a million East Europeans came to the USA.(2)

2.       Their stay in America was intended to be temporary. The majority of East European peasant migrants remained in the USA, extending their stay from one year to the next. Workers, farmers and miners were sought throughout central and eastern Europe from the late 1870s on, and then brought to North America to see if they meet the expanding needs of industry for unskilled and semi-skilled laborers. (2)

3.       The outbreak of the war in Europe in 1914 put an end to the surging migration to America. Up until the First World War, the US government practiced an open door immigration policy, at least as far as people with white skin color were concerned. Among the East European Jews the proportion of females was close (44%) to that of men.(2)

4.       Coming to the United States was a difficult task.  Usually only men would come.  People would come in steerage because of lack of money.   Push-Pull factors are said to be the cause of Immigrants in the U.S.  Push factors are circumstances that generally push people out of their native country. "Pull factors" are reasons or actions that that attracted emigrants to the United States.  Some pull factors are stated below.(3)

5.       Plentiful Land, Economic Opportunity, and Freedom. Coming to America was a dangerous journey where many got sick, and some even died.  But still, people from all over to come to America. (3)

6.       Chicago has long been known as an ethnic city. From the 1840s to 1870s business and professional people arrived from New England and elsewhere in the Northeast and constituted most of the early civic elite. It was a part of a migration phenomenon known as the second great wave of migration to the USA. The major pull factor for migrants was free land close to markets, but also employment perspectives in pine forests, lead and copper mines, which resulted in great ethnic diversity of the region.(5)

7.       Chicago’s industries always needed cheap labor and from 1890 to 1920, half of the 400,000 workers were occupied in iron and steel, meatpacking, the clothing industry, railroading, or electrical machinery. The city was already half foreign-born in 1860, and by 1890, 79 per cent of people living in Chicago were foreign born or were children of immigrants.(5)

8.       The United States is the prototype of a country built by immigration and assimilation. Freedom and tolerance have permitted religious and cultural minorities who were marginalized or persecuted in their homelands to maintain a distinctive way of life free from fear.(8)

9.       The outset that caused the emigration from any particular country or from all countries isn’t always the cause of immigration to the United States. Emigration depends mainly on three conditions; the most important being the attraction of the destination, next being facility or means of escape from the emigrants home country. Only when the first two are satisfactory can the third one be focused on, dissatisfaction of the emigrants home country becomes important.(9)

10.   The rate of migration actually decreased around in 1880, reason being because United Stateswasn’t favorable. The attraction of the United States had declined, so that decreased the ratio of emigration by twenty-three percent.  One of the reasons that the United States was favorable was because there where higher demands for labor and the wages paid much higher in the United States than from the country’s the immigrants came from. (9)

11.   As they arrived to their new country they were thrown into a “melting pot” of different cultures.Freedom and tolerance had permitted religious and cultural differences that were frowned upon and persecuted in their homelands to keep them free from fear. (8)

12.   Immigrants have been producers, consumers, and entrepreneurs, and their economic energy has increased the gross national product and made for greater general prosperity.(8)

13.   There were some attempts to make an actually law to regulate the immigrants that where coming in but there never seemed to get it right. Some immigration laws did existin different countries but none of them actually became nationally laws, s they never stuck.Around 1880 the source of immigrants shifted from Northwestern to Southeastern Europe.(11)

14.   People have all been migrating to the us for many different things like, to find land, to get an education or better job, to earn money to send back home to practice their religion however they want, or just to escape the war and bad things that is going on in their own countries. More than 3.5 million people migrated to the united states looking for a better future, a new life.(6)

15.   At the time of the Revolutionary War, soldiers were offered free land as payment for their services. Then in the mid-19th century, the government offered free land to homesteaders who would live and make improvements on a piece of prairie land. Natural and economic disasters also encouraged people to move west and find a place to start over. Others just wanted to see the frontier. (6)

16.   Historian Jones, Maldwyns observation was that “the story of immigration to this country is one of shaping and reshaping the face of a nation.”  Has more people come into the united states they are shaping and reshaping, meaning they are effecting it and changing the way things are like the migration in to west town , changed the neighborhood.(12)

17.   Russian immigrates included two different groups: Ethnic Russians and Russian Jews. Chicago became the largest center of Russian Jews and Ethnic Jews in the Midwest. More Russians migrated to escape the intensifying persecution that had been plaguing their homeland. The word Russian was wrongly used by the U.S to categorize Belarusians,Ukrainians, Polis, and even Germans.(13)

18.   Russian Jews have worked to preserve their own cultures while simultaneously adapting to life in the United States. Throughout the 1920s, many ethnic Russians and Russian Jews worked on Chicago's West Side for McCormick Reaper (International Harvester), Western Electric, or Sears, Roebuck & Co.(13)

19.   Ethnic Russians migrating during the twentieth century and settled mostly in west town, eventually earning the area around west division, wood and Leavitt Streets nicknamed “Little Russia.”  Both the Ethnic and the Jewish Russians both tried to preserve their cultures while adapting to the American ways.(13)

20.   There were four waves of migrations that brought Ukrainians to the united states,: the first stared in 1880 and lasted until World war I, then the second one began after the Austrian empire collapsed, the a third one beganafter world war II, and the fourth one began in the late eighties.(14)

21.   Since World war II Westtown began a neighborhood change from a working class European neighborhood to a low-income Latino neighborhood. Between 1960 and 1980 the percent of the white population had decreased from 98% to 55%. Latinos and African Americans moved out of neighbor hoods like Lincoln park and old town during its phase of urban renewal in the 1960s and 1970s.(14)

22.   The number of Chicago area migrants ranked 7th in the nation with 1.4 million which consist of 18 percent of overall population. The largest concentration of immigrant migrate to the west of Chicago than any other place.(16)

23.   The foreign-born socioeconomic status improved during the 1990s in the Chicago area, the percentage of immigrants with a high-school degree rose from 57.3 percent to 61.7 percent. Immigrant household income grew from about $42,000 to $46,000 (adjusted for inflation), and their poverty rate fell from 13 to 12.1 percent.(16)

24.   Polish people have resided I Chicago for over 100 years. They have contributed greatly to both Chicago and the suburban areas surrounding Chicago. Illinois is the fourth most polish state, with 7.0 percent reporting polish ancestry.(17)

25.   The Polish community has been a part of the fabric of life in Chicago for over a century. Homeownership represents the American Dream, and attaining a home is a priority for many Polish Americans. They feel they must rely on themselves and their family at all costs
(17)

26.   The earliest polish settlers, romantics, adventures and men seeking a better economic life. There was also matter of over population and hunger for more land that drove people to migrate even more.(18)

27.   Many young men also fled from military conscription, especially in the years of military build-up right after and during the beginning of World War I. Polish Americans have tended to marry within the community of Poles. The Poles maintain traditions most closely in those ceremonies for which the community held closely: weddings, christenings and funerals. (18)

28.   Between 1980 and 1989, around 1.1 and 1.3 million polish citizens were considered long term emigrants. Even though the number of of immigrants from Poland had increased, the migration balance still stayed negative.(20)

29.   Poland citizens have recently come to become one of the top migrating groups. Going to different country not just the U.S to find better futures and to get away from the troubles at home.(20)

30.   Poles numbered among the earliest colonists in America.They represent the largest of the Slavic groups in America. Poles also opened the flood gates of immigration. Some Poles have intended to save money and return to their native country in higher numbers.(25)

31.   Polish immigrants have had an easier time racially than many other non-European groups in getting use to or blending into the American ways.Most poles have held tightly to their folk and national roots. “Poles have competed well and succeeded in their new homeland; they have thrived and built homes and raised families, and in that respect have participated in and added to the American dream.”(25)

32.   Landlords, pushing peasants off of their lands, the fast growing population increased land shortages and heavy taxes led poles to seek relieve in America. As they got to America they quickly went to work in the steel mills, coalmines, meatpacking plants, and oil refineries in Chicago. Some poles that thought they wouldn't stay here too long isolated themselves and didn’t assimilate to their environment.(24)

33.   A quota system, the maximum number of persons admitted into a nation, was first introduced.  The terms prohibited no more than 3 percent of the number of foreign-born residents of that nationality living in the U.S. Poland’s religious and economic conditions prompt immigration of approximately two million Poles by 1914.(24)

34.   Between 1880 and 1914, at least 7.5 million people from Eastern Europe migrated to the U.S. The immigrants that where parts of this migration are part of what is now known has the “second great wave" of American immigration. About 27 million immigrants landed on U.S. soil. (26)

35.   Places of worship were often the center of social functions and served, through services in the native language and through informal measures like meals and holiday traditions, to preserve and transmit the immigrant group's culture. The family was central to the social and economic organization of Eastern European agricultural laborers(26)

Subtopics

  

1.  Race In The West Town Area After The Migration
2. Reason For Migration
3. Entering West Town/ Transition 
4. Europeans
5. Statstics

Responds to Crucible Act 1

The crucible Act 1 by Arthur Miller, The crucible is about the way of the puritans, how they lived and what they believed in. the story showed me how the people of Salem saw things, like for instance the way they saw sickness has witchcraft. Their view of the world was completely deranged. They where strong believers in the bible, and I mean strong they lived and breath the bible. I am religious but I wouldn't be able to live like that, the way they lived was just insane but then again they might think the way i lived was insane. The story exposed the true natures of the characters, proctors adulterous ways and grudge filled ways, it showed there true colors. The story was. I wonder who came up with the idea that everything that happens has to do with witchcraft and the devil, that person must have had some pretty bad luck. All in all Act one was pretty good I’m excited to find out what happens and if someone actually had common sense back then to know that what they where doing was just plain crazy.

Word Count: 189

Bibliography

Oluwayemisi Ososami

English II H 7^th

Due 9/21/12

Sources

1.       Voorhees, N. P. (2001, September). Gentrification in west town: Contested ground. Retrieved from http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/voorheesctr/Publications/Gentrification in West Town 2001.pdfthe conflicts with the race that where there already like the whites and the one that where coming in, African American and Latino minorities.

2.       Schrover, M. (5/04). Let.leidenuniv.nl. Retrieved from http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/migration/chapter52.html Description of the movement, why they moved, where to, and where from.

3.       The north: 1800s to 1850s. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/thenorthsite/early-immigration-in-the-u-s-1Different ethnic groups in the U.S, and reasons for migration.

4.       Grossman, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lib.niu.edu/1996/iht329633.html  Migrating to Chicago has an African American.

5.       Krawczyk, J. [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://immigrationethnicity2009.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/migration-and-industrialisation-processes-that-shaped-chicago-and-its-surroundings/the migration from 1820s to the 1880, "the second great wave of migration in the USA".

6.       Immigration into the United States. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.genealogy.com/00000389.html the migration patterns in the United States and the biggest groups who came into the United States.

7.       Sandburg, Carl. The Chicago Race Riots. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1919.The migration of Africans Americans and the effect.

8.       Thernstrom, A., & Thernstrom, S. (2002). Beyond the color line: New perspectives on race and ethnicity in America. Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University. Retrieved from http://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/0817998721_37.pdf the movement of immigrant groups.

9.       Warne, F. J. (1916). The tide of immigration. New York: Appleton and company. Retrieved from http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015054032449;seq=11;view=1up        Basic cause for migrating and the appeal of other country’s to emigrants

10.   "Root Causes of Migration - Fact Sheet anAge of Migration: Globalization and the Root Causes of Migration." An Age of Migration: Globalization and the Root Causes of Migration. One America, 2010. Print. http://www.weareoneamerica.org/root-causes-migration-fact-sheet                                                                                                                     A breakdown of the cause of different groups’ migration to different places.

11.   An Immigrant Nation: United States Regulation of Immigration, 1798-1991. [Washington, D.C.?]: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service, 1991. The attempt at trying to make migrating legal by making laws.

12.   Cited: Jones, Maldwyn. American Immigration. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.                                                                                                                                                 Observation of john Maldwyn concerning the migration to the United States.

13.   Zechenter, Katarzyna. "Russians." n. page. Print. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1104.htmlRussian Migration into Chicago.

14.   Hrycak, Alexandra . "Ukrainians." n. page. Print. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1279.html

15.   Russian Immigrants. N.d. Photograph. Spartacus EducationWeb. 11 Oct 2012. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAErussia.htm                                                             Picture of immigrants

16.   Paral, Rob. "Chicago's Immigrants Break Old Patterns." n. page. Print. http://www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?ID=160the statistics of the migration in urban Chicago.

17.   Paral, Rob. "The Polish Community in Metro Chicago a community profile of strengths and needs." (2004): n. page. Print. http://www.robparal.com/downloads/Polish Community in Chicago.pdf                                                                                                                              It describes the Polish American population I the metropolitan area.

18.   Jones, syd. "Polish Americans." n. page. Print. http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Pa-Sp/Polish-Americans.html                                                                                                                       Effects of Polish migration.

19.   Kaczmarczyk, pawel, and Marek Okolski. "Economic impacts of migration on Poland and Baltic states." n. page. Print. http://www.fafo.no/pub/rapp/10045/10045.pdf                      Economic impacts of migration on Poland.

20.   "Poland." n. page. Priant. http://focus-migration.hwwi.de/Poland.2810.0.html?&L=1  Statistics of Polish migration to different countries.

21.   Chastain, James. ""Great" Polish political Emigration (1831 - 1870)." (© 1997, 2004): n. page. Print. http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/dh/emigpol.htm  background information about things that where happening in the polish homeland.

22.   n. page. Print. http://public.wsu.edu/~peckham/photo/fa483/project/poland.htm the journey of a polish immigrant to America.

23.   "Polish Americans." http://www.answers.com/topic/polish-american early migration, community buildings and effects on the community, like religious and political affairs.

24.   Dr. Baker, Laura, Laura Storm, et al. "Immigrant Group Resource Guide, Southern and Eastern European Immigrants: The Greek and Polish Experience." n.pag. http://www.fitchburgstate.edu. Web. 12 Oct 2012. http://www.fitchburgstate.edu/uploads/files/TeachingAmericanHistory/GreekandPolishExperience.pdf

25.   Jones, Syd. "Polish Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Oct. 2012 http://www.encyclopedia.com

26.   Woll, Kris. "Through The City, To These Fields: Eastern European Immigration ." . American Centuries. Web. 12 Oct 2012. http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/classroom/curriculum_12th/unit3/lesson3/bkgdessay.html.  

Community Song Post

"These Are My People"
 By:Rodney Atkins

Well we grew up down by the railroad tracks
Shootin' b.b.'s at old beer cans
Chokin' on the smoke from a lucky strike
Somebody lifted off of his old man
We were football flunkies
Southern rock junkies
Crankin' up the stereo
Singin' loud and proud to gimme three steps
Simple Man, and Curtis Lowe
We were good you know

We got some discount knowledge at the junior college
Where we majored in beer and girls
It was all real funny 'til we ran out of money
And they threw us out into the world
Yeah the kids that thought they'd run this town
Ain't runnin' much of anything
We're just lovin' and laughin'
And bustin' our asses
And we call it all livin' the dream

[Chorus]

These are my people
This is where I come from
We're givin' this life everything we've got and then some
It ain't always pretty
But it's real
That's the way we were made
Wouldn't have it any other way
These are my people
 
Well we take it all week on the chin with a grin
Till we make it to a Friday night
And it's church league softball holler 'bout a bad call
Preacher breakin' up the fight
Then later on at the green light tavern
Well everybody's gatherin' as friends
And the beer is pourin' till Monday mornin'
Where we start all over again

[Chorus]

We fall down and we get up
We walk proud and we talk tough
We got heart and we got nerve
Even if we are a bit disturbed

[Chorus]

This song is talking about Rodney Atkins town and the people that are in this town, the community. The song speaks about his community,in his lyrics he says "We fall down and we get up We walk proud and we talk tough We got heart and we got nerve Even if we are a bit disturbed”, he is talking about how the town comes together to have fun, laugh and party together even with the problems that they may have. In the song he is talking about how he loves it there and how those are his people. He says that it isn’t always pretty, but they still get to gather and have fun together, he describes it has a happy place a fun place to be. From the way he describes the place it is rural because he talks about how the whole town is comes together and that usually only happens with small communities.

Community Post

I belong to cross country, my family and my churches choir. In cross country community we practiced outside in Skinner Park. It’s very narrow in my opinion and when where running we always bump together and it’s really hard to run in a group. We run around the whole Skinner Park and back, it’s only half a mile and we have to run a mile just to warm up. It seems hard which it is but you get used to it.

To be in cross country you have to give it 110%. If you're a quitter cross country isn't for you, you have to stick with it till the end and it is really worth it. To be accepted in to the team by the other girls you have to be a team player and you have to help out, you guys run together as a team no body is ever alone. in cross country there are three different teams A team B team and C team this are the different levels of how good you are has a runner. A group has to give it their all and more because they are the best and have to set the example for the B and C groups. They are the once that the whole teams look up to. B group is the group that is good but they just aren't quite there but they work just has hard has the A group. The B group is where you want to be after a month in cross country to show that you are improving. The C group are also hard workers, they try to make it up to B group that is everyone goal to get to B group and to keep going up. No one person has an individual role, we all work together to make the team better and to win. One person’s work is just has important has another person’s work. It’s a team effort, everyone pitches in to win.

This group is the most comfortable group to me because i feel safe there, i feel like i can go there when ever i want and because obviously i feel comfortable whenever i go there. This makes this a community because we all work together toward one goal and that is to do our best and win. This is my community because we help each other toward our goal, we also come together to make cross country better for the newer members and for the people that are already on cross country. We come together to make it a better and safer environment for people to come together.

Response to Crevecour

 Crevecoeur said “What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country." To me he is just saying that the only place where you will be able to find so many diverse people is in American and nowhere else. I think that Crevecoeur’s definitions still holds especially today with the mix of so many different races and the interracial couples and children that are around today. I think that soon enough in the future everyone will be close to the same race or exactly the same race, the reason I say so is because has time goes on we start to see races forming and mixing with each other that soon there will be only a few or one race. I do think that the immigrants from the eighteenth-century had the same goals has the immigrants today. The immigrants from the eighteenth-century came here for a better life and for a fresh start on life, and that is the same thing that immigrants today are looking for better life and a fresh start. They both had the same ideas that they could get a better future from America.

Words:211