Cassi’s Blog

• annotated bibliography
• “little miss Ms. sunshine.” sources
• “miss congeniality ” sources
• areas directed towards bulimia and anorexia

As Obierika states, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” (pg. 152)

The white settlers came and were very sneaky about their plans. They came to prove that they were a valuable force not to be reckoned with when they survived for over 4 days in the Evil Forest. But they are starting to take away from the clan; their brotherhood, their leaders, their people, and their beliefs and ways that they have had through the entirety of the tribe. They are forcing upon them their own form of government as well. For example when they took Aneto to Umuru and hung him. This was not by the consent of the Umuofia tribe but by the newly white colonizations. The Brits enforced the tribes by bringing in their own little militia, or what they called Kotma to regulate their government and make the tribe do what they wanted. This some-what like the government we have today even. When we want something done we just turn to our military and military spending to do the job.

Also the European settlers are pressuring the schooling of their language onto the clan as well. Mr. Brown states that all the future leaders of clans must be able to read and write. Mr. Brown put false pretenses into the villages heads to make them think that without schooling their children and themselves will be in a great travesty.

When Okonkwo returned from his seven year punishment, he did not like the feel of being back home. “The clan was like a lizard; if it lost its tail it soon grew another.” (pg. 147) Someone had already taken his place and the clan had been pointed into the christian direction. The amount of people from the clan that had joined had increased drastically.

People feel more wanted in the white settlers colony because they are more excepting. for example they take in all the twins that the tribe puts in pots into the forest. They let people in like the women who keeps bearing twins, along with other women who are cursed with an obligue.

Moving on, my favorite character would have to Enzinma. She is sassy just like her mother. They say that she sometimes can have an attitude, but what level-headed girl doesn’t? I think the bond that she holds with Okonkwo, despite is desire for her to be a boy, is so strong and defiant that it makes the story better to read. She stands out among all the other characters because she isn’t mediocre and doesn’t always go with what is said.

After the leaders were captured by the District Commissioner the clan had changed.” Umuofia was like a startled animal with ears erect, sniffling the silent, ominous air and not knowing which way to run.” (pg. 169) This is another amazing metaphor that a person reading the novel can relate to and now they can picture and get the vibe of how the clan is reacting. Great CSD!

Pg. 137 (in the red book) quote: “Wherever he went he carried with him the mark of his forbidden caste.”

I know this is going to sound so cheesy and nerdy but this definitely reminds me of Harry Potter and how he had the dark mark on his forehead. It cast a dark shadow on him wherever he went.

Pg. 138 (in the red book) quote: this is said by Mr. Kiaga, “They said i would die if i took care of twins. i am still alive. The heathen speak nothing but falsehood. Only the word of our God is true.”

This is very condescending a white person to say that about what all the Igbo tribe has ever known. It is a bias statement that needs to be taken into consideration. The white people came here to spread there religion to the Igbo people. But they can go about it without discriminating the religion that has been in the tribe since its creation. especially since when the white settlers came to this tribe they sounded so sweetly and convincing that they were doing harmless work. And now later on, as you can see in this quote, they are starting to do what they really came to this culture to do; take over.

Work Cited:

Kymarac, Nor. “DIASPORA: When Did Black History Start?” African Times. February 2008. Los Angeles. Vol. 21, Iss. 4, Pg. 15, 1 pgs. Proquest.com. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=8&did=1466797771&SrchMode=1&sid=5&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1224466526&clientId=23079

Abstract: 

 Till now, almost all of the English language history of Africa was a product of the British Crown, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, their private companies and writers. For the Victorian intelligentsia and academia, there was no history in Africa. It could be found only in obscure literature, most of it in Arabic (to which Europe was not literate) and Greek, with some Latin thrown in. For instance it was not till a French translation of an Arabic manuscript by Al Omari written in 1324 reporting the voyage to America of King Abou Bakari II of Mali and the caravan to Mecca by his successor Mansa Musa in 1324 that it came into the English sphere of African knowledge.

Thoughts:

This article is about how the history of Africa came to be. Colonization was brought to Africa, as it was to many other new worlds, by a religious group of settlers. Henry the Navigator of Portuguese was sent to spread their religion through Africa.

Work Cited:

Acemoglu, Daron. Johnson, Simon. Robison, James A. “The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation.” December 2001. Nashville. Vol. 91, Iss. 5;pg. 1369, 33 pgs. Proquest.com. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=2&sid=2&srchmode=1&vinst=PROD&fmt=2&startpage=-1&clientid=23079&vname=PQD&RQT=309&did=99103546&scaling=FULL&ts=1224463303&vtype=PQD&rqt=309&TS=1224463443&clientId=23079

Abstract:

Differences in European mortality rates are exploited to estimate the effect of institutions on economic performance. Europeans adopted very different colonization policies in different colonies, with different associated institutions. In places where Europeans faced high mortality rates, they could not settle and were more likely to set up extractive institutions. These institutions persisted to the present. Exploiting differences in European mortality rates as an instrument for current institutions, we estimate large effects of institutions on income per capita. Once the effect of institutions is controlled for, countries in Africa or those closer to the equator do not have lower incomes.

Thoughts:

Europeans were unable to migrate too far into Africa because of their mortality rate increase. for example on the journey from Gambia to Niger none of the European settlers returned, they all died. But they settled enough in Africa to create the African American Slave Trade. This is mostly the overview of mortality on European colonies that were settling in Africa. But by learning about what they did it gives me the counter-argument on the effect Europeans had on Africa.

Work Cited

Bertocchi,Graziella and Canvoa, Fabio. “Did colonization matter for growth?” 2002.London, UK. Sciencedirect.com. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V64-44GF1TJ-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=811c579d9fd46ca567ddae003295baa9

Abstract:

We investigate the impact of 20th-century European colonization on growth. We find that colonial heritage, as measured by the identity of the metropolitan ruler and by the degree of economic penetration, matters for the heterogeneity of growth performances in Africa. Colonial indicators are correlated with economic and sociopolitical variables that are commonly employed to explain growth and there are growth gains from decolonization. Colonial indicators also add significant explanatory power to worldwide growth regressions and are correlated with the Sub-Saharan Africa and the Latin America dummies.

Thoughts:

European colonization has affected Africa most. It isn’t always in a positive way either. It is said that “decolonization,” have also caused growth plans. 

In the first paragraph, that includes one long run on sentence basically, Jefferson is informing the legislature that the point of the education is to illuminate the people of the prevention of the government’s tyranny. Giving the people the knowledge to know what is right and what is wrong. He talks about how the Anarchy government that once was in Great Britain put a label on the blood lines of royalty making them automatically the smartest person in society. Jefferson wants to open up  the idea that maybe someone isn’t born into a, “royal-blood,” family but is very educated and wise, should have the chance to show off their academic capabilities. He then goes on in the next paragraphs to talk about the type of educated person that should be certified to teach at the schools in Virginia that he is hoping to open. He gives the dates in which legislature will vote on the matter and converse about the schooling program set up by Thomas Jefferson. The lists the subjects and criteria that he wants the schools to have, the amount of children in the school; along with the paying salaries to each teacher. He goes into great detail about his well thought out proposal of making the school programs more in-depth and knowledgeable about government.

Thomas Jefferson was a young man from Virginia State who made a dent in the world today. As you may know, Jefferson is the creator and inventor of electricity. Thomas gives this excerpt all the credibility it needs by being the well educated inventor of the main source of energy that we use so much of today. He may be a credited scientist but he is also a firm believer of education. In his Bill for the, “More General Diffusion of Knowledge,” in 1779, he created the school system for the state of Virginia, or he tried to. He used his drive and passion to start up education in every area of the state and including all children. He was dedicated to the schooling system so much that he tried to pass 3 Bills prier to this one. The first bill he proposed for the making of College of William and Mary to become more democratic. Also he proposed to start a local library system in schools. Last but not least, he wanted to make his school system state-wide and successful. Although none of these Bills passed he didn’t stop his motivation and it led him onto this very bill.

Thomas Jefferson’s, “Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge,” of 1779 is set up to prupose how schooling should be delt with in the United States. Underneath all of the fancy syntax and diction of the Bill is the meaning behind why Jefferson took the time to research and obtain all the information about the schooling program that he did. Jefferson argues that education should be taken more serioursly and is an important aspect to our society. He argues that all children have the right to learn even if they cant afford it. He addresses the teachers that are certified to teach the students and what they should be teaching them. He gives the “x” amount for the salory as well. Jefferson knows that every child has the right to an education and backs him self up 100% with logical reasonings and ideas.