Nathan Humanities

19th Century Humanities
This class is about the humanities during the 1800s. Our goal is to go around the globe during the time of 19th Century. We will look at different countries and weekly questions will be posted here. Of course, this is from the view of a student(me). I will be posting many things here. This is my main profile.

Here is the FACEBOOK profile I created for this purpose.
-->Make sure to have logged into your Facebook account first!!!<--
Facebook

Starting out
I created this a little into our school already. So I have some catching up to do. The start would seem a little messed up. Later on, when I catch up, I will start posting it week by week or project by project.  

Question of the week 1

 What does it mean to be human?

 Feel free to comment below.
 Please start this comment with:
What does it mean to be human?

My answer:
The most important thing about being human is to be one with strong feelings. Animals may not have really strong feelings towards each other. The power to hate and love. Animals may dislike and like, there does not seem to be hate and love. Animals go with: "Who is the strongest?", "Who makes the best sound?" and all that. They don't seem to fall in love.

Us having hands (especially the thumb) gives us a great advantage to build things. I can't say being smart relates to being human since dolphins have the potential to be smarter than us humans. But they only  have fins, no hands. It allows us to hold things carefully, place things carefully, and do things carefully. Being human means being human and not being human at the same time. Our cells are around 99% nothing. NOTHING!! Does that mean that humans and other animals are just living their lives on the line? Does that mean that we actually barely exists? We are eating, we are drinking, we are socializing. What does it take to make us human!?

Any comments are welcome :)

Vocabulary 
Altruism- puts others first before yourself; unselfishness
Egoism- selfish
Humanities- the study of humans
Empathy- able to put yourself in someone else's shoes
Utopia- a perfect world where most people are said to go there when dead
Shibboleth- any distinctive practice that shows one's social or regional group


Our ways of taking Notes

Our note taking skills comes from something known as cornell notes.
Cue column is where questions and more important items go. Themes, questions, vocabulary, goes there. The Note taking area is pretty self explanatory. It is where you take the main notes. The final area is Summaries. This is where your summaries go. Allowing you to get a quick and basic idea of what the lesson is talking about without looking through all of the notes. One additional item we put on is called Additional notes. It is located under Cue Column and beside Summaries. It is for extra notes later on that goes good with the current lesson. 








Some Notes

Many of our developments causes more questions to arise. Our brain has something known as neurons. Neurons lights up only when our brain sees something from our feelings. It is said that people are meant to be social. We need morality in order to have empathy. Stating that Utopia does not have empathy cause they don't have any morality. Having the power to empathize means being able to socialize. America doesn't exist. Europe doesn't exist. Asia doesn't exist. These are just names we give these areas in order to expand our family. Not only do we expand it through states, we also expand it with religion. Not so longs ago, people on the other side of a range of mountains are all barbarians. Now, we can get anywhere with our current technology. The only unknown areas are space and the ocean. :D
Final Conclusion:
Our world becomes smaller through technology.

Question of the week 2

In what ways do you think life was better in the 1800s? In what ways was it worse?
Feel free to comment below

BEFORE

AFTER

Privacy is a real problem these days. Whatever you share with a friend, even if it is a friend you seemingly can trust, it will always find a way to go out into the public. Nothing is private if you tell someone else about it. With the current technology, anything can spread like wildfire. If the perfect truth does not get out, gossip will get out. Gossip is usually worse than truth. Many things are exaggerated. The technology right now, people can easily stalk you, either from a close range without you noticing or using a really powerful camera. Back during the 19th century, I am pretty sure that there were no technologies that are so powerful. I secret can be kept nicely as long as it is not on the internet or passed through cell phone. The people back then had nothing close to this.
Without a doubt, back in the 1800s,  we don't have to worry about Global Warming. If the technology wasn't that good, there weren't much pollution. Now, pollution is a major issue. Many scientists studies their butts off to find a way to produce "clean" energy. Such as using this so called nuclear fusion to make helium off deuterium and the process would produce a lot of energy that is really "clean.
Medication back in the 1800s is just crazy. How would you like to be expected to die at the age of 40? Not a really pleasant thought. Science right now gave us so much advantage. There is medication for almost everything.

More ABOUTS 

 There will be 9 case studies for this blog. Each case study will consist of 17 artifacts. The first one is about Britain and its Industrial Revolution!! 

ARTIFACT 1 (Primary Source):

Child Labor in Cotton Factories
Here is the link:
Child Labor in Cotton factories

Who created it?
Dr. Marjorie Bloy


Who's the author?
Robert Southey

When was it created?
Extract was written in 1807


When was it published?
April 13, 2010


Where was it published?
online


Who is publishing it?
Marjie Bloy


Is there something important about the author to our evaluation?
This started as a project for her M. Ed. It slowly grown into a resource for people to study British history between 1830 and 1850.

Reflection

1. Human health. This artifact shows how children being inside factories are highly exposed to a lot of pollution emitted by the machines. 

2. This artifact took me about 30 minutes to complete. Due to my slowness of searching up items online. 

3. I learned that many children are getting effected a lot by the poisonous gas emitted by the machines. They are mistreated in the factories. 

4. I believe that this artifact does not reflect on my best work because it has nothing to do with creative writing. As I believe, writing has always been my stronger subject. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 0 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 2 (Idea Page)

Reflection

1. This artifact relates to the Construction of a Modern City: Urbanization. For this page has a lot of information about factories, 

2. This artifact only took five minutes since I already know how to work a scanner. We already took the notes in class. 

3. I learned that punch cards were newly developed only during this time. And that I need to try to use the space of my notebook better. How much information did i fit on this page? Not a lot.

4. I believe that this artifact is closer to my best project because this page is better than many pages within my notebook and a lot neater. But the use of space is not at its best. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 4 for this artifact. 

ARTIFACT 3 (Headline News Report)

link to the article

ARTIFACT 4 (Biographical Spotlight)

Florence Nightingale: the Lady with the Lamp

Historical Significance
     She is a common soldier's saviour, te ideological leader of nursing reform, and a pioneering social former besides. Her name is Florence Nightingale, lived from 1820~1910. She is one of the most famous Victorian after Queen Victoria. She belongs to that select band of historical characters who are instantly recognizable: the Lady with the Lamp. Those people ministers the wounded and the dying. She achieved something that most of the women of that time never achieved, so called immortality: she is neither queen, nor courtesan, beauty nor artist.

Early Life

     Florence was born in Florence, in 1820. Her sister had a great idea about the education of women, same as her father. They studied history, mathematics, Italian, classical literature and philosophy. Starting from a really early age, Florence was more academic amongst the two girls. She displayed an extraordinary ability for collecting and analyzing data. It came to be proven really useful to her in her later life. Though Florence obtained the learnings of men, her unable to use her knowledge during that time caused her near "breakdowns". She once had no desire but to die as she wrote in 1850. She quickly rejected marriage at the thought that God had contacted her and that her assistance is needed. She is later destined to go into nursing.

     The whole family was against her idea of nursing. They believe that the occupation of nursing was bad from a person that came from the background of their family. In 1845, her parents refused to let her nurse at the Salisbury Infirmary. Florence managed to spend two periods at the Institute of Protestant Deoconesses at Kaiserwerth in Germany. She later visited hospitals in London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Paris. She talked about details of hospital conditions and nursing methods. in 1853, she finally won her independence and a small income from her father. The is appointed by Superintendant of the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in Harley Street. That is how she became a nurse. 

Reflection

1. This artifact show the Gender roles and the Liberation of Women. Well, only a part of it. This woman is one of the most important woman during that time. She is a woman but she achieved many people's liking during the 19th centuries. 

2. This artifact took me around an hour to complete. For I am not that good at putting some words I find online and changing it into my own words. To tell the truth, trust me, you may find a few phrases copied word for word.  

3. I learned that though the women at that time were not treated well, they still try their best to become the top ones of the time. Many women succeeded and many people respected them even now. 

4. I believe that this artifact is one of my best artifacts for I managed to take out important information only and put it into my own words. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 4 for this artifact. 

ARTIFACT 5 (Google Earth Tour)

The following video does not contain audio. Explanation of areas are shown below. . . 

1. Blackpool Tower

• it opened on May 14, 1894
• the most famous seaside landmark in england
• a big tourist attracting in Blackpool, Lancashire

2. Stratford-Upon-Avon

• the birth place of Shakespeare
• his birth date is unknown, after a long time of searching, it is said that he is born on April 23, 1564

• shakespeare’s works are the most performed out of many other writers
• he wrote about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several more poems
• his father is John Shakespeare and the house they live in is where they believed Shakespeare was born
• baptised on April 26, 1564, and died on April 23, 1616

3. Portsmouth, England

• full name is Charles John Huffam Dickens
•  lived from February 7, 1812 to June 9, 1870
• he was the most popular novelist during the Victorian Era
• still remains popular up to this day and is responsible for some of English literature's most iconic characters.   
• One of the most well know and made into many different forms is the book known as A Christmas Carol. 
• Know more on ARTIFACT 7

Reflection

1. The Human expression through arts it the best for this artifact. This artifact can only show one thing, the creation of humans during the 19th century. 

2. This artifact took me more than an hour to complete. A lot more. For I didn't know what to do the google earth on. So finding this took me some time. 

3. The most I learned about is the Blackpool Tower. Though constructed in the 1800s, it still bears such beauty even for the current eye. 

4. This artifact reflects on my best work at the moment only, I can surely improve on my google earth skills and I am going to go get my microphone fixed. :P

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 4 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 6 (Original Student Work)

A Face of the Industrial Revolution

The heat slashed against my face. Sweat rolled down my back as the machines roared an overawing roar. My hand moving with complete sync with my feet, the machine moving with my every move. Speed and skill gives me the money, every penny counts at a time like this. The Industrialization of the 1800s, especially for a women.

We worked day and night, day after day, watching one after another collapsing from overwork. Fear clawed at our hearts, afraid who would be next. The next victim of the pollution from the machines. Nothing seems to be at rest in the factory. The wheels spun as the threads ran through the machine. Pumps pumped, wheels spun, sweat poured out of our heads. The factory filled with dread, no one wanted to work here. We don’t really have a choice. Family shops have closed as we are forced to become cheap laborers in factories. To support our family, this is the only choice we have left. 

“Jane! Get back to work! The boss is inspecting this station today!!” My friend whispered to me in a frantic tone. I looked around, I just noticed that I was dreaming off and the machine is not even working. I frantically struggled to start the machine, just in time for the boss to enter. The boss inspected us one by one, slowly. His piercing stare punctured a hole through me. My hand shook as the boss walked closer to me. I braced myself and shook my head. Sweeping off the fear of getting kicked out, courage grew in me. I sat still, my hands and feet moved in sync. The boss passed me with barely a glance. I felt a wave of relief drown me. 

Just when he is almost out the door, he turned and gave a final glance at everyone. His eyes stopped right at me, I can just feel it. Afraid to look up, I kept working with my eyes closed. I felt the boss’ pass me to the women three sections down. He grabbed her and left. 

I miss working at home. No one pressures us about what we need to do. No punishment would be given out. We would’ve been fine without the development. We could laugh with our children while we work. We can see the faces of our husbands and talk to them. We could eat while we work, slowly, one by one. Now, we are pressured and punished. Speed and skill is everything. Children and husbands are separated from us. The pay is low and the environment is worse. We work in fear, afraid of punishment.

At a place like this, women and men are separated. Even if we work in the same factory, we will never be able to see each other’s faces until our shift is over. We once had a choice to open a family business. We did open a small shop. The demand overflowed and no one could fulfill the demand. Factories started to build up all over the country, before we knew it, family shops were overthrown and working in the factories are the only possible way for us to make money. Even our children, our weak children, have to work. The Industrial Revolution is a step towards modernization and yet a dream killer.

Reflection

1. This artifact best shows Class Consciousness. For I showed how women are not in charge by making the manager male. Which is usually the case during the 1800s. 

2. This artifact was hard, I needed some ideas. The thinking process took a little longer, about 10 minutes. The writing took 20~30 minutes because though the brainstorm is complete, there are still some changes I had to use. 

3. I based this artifact off information I already know from the research and the cotton millionaire game online. I can't say I learned directly from this artifact. I learned indirectly. The cotton millionaire game taught me a lot about what was considered when investing for a factory. I could kinda picture what the workers were working with at that time. 

4. This artifact reflects on my best work, for I believe I am pretty decent on story writing. I'm not really a technology guy. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 5 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 7 (Influential British Artists, Poets, Writers, and Musicians) 

Charles Dickens
      The person I am going to show on this artifact is a man known as Charles Dickens. His full name is Charles John Huffam Dickens. He lived from February 7, 1812 to June 9, 1870. He was the most popular novelist during the Victorian Era. He still remains popular up to this day and is responsible for some of English literature's most iconic characters. His famous works even appeared in magazines in serialised form, a popular format at the time. One of the most well know and made into many different forms is the book known as A Christmas Carol. 

     The Christmas Carol is made into many forms: children story, TV shows, movies, and even Disney took the idea and applied it to Mickey! Of course, the first novel was published during the Victorian Era in Britain. During the Christmas Tree and all the colorful lights are being firstly introduced, Dickens went against the introduction and wrote a semi-scary story for the christams tales.

     As seen here, Charle's Dicken's A Christmas Carol built one of the biggest impact during the 1800s. This story's source was from the rich and poor people that gave Dickens the idea. One of the biggest sources was his father. His father was imprisoned and they used to have constant conflicts between father and son. That is the character of Scrooge.

     To learn more, GO READ THE BOOK AND DON'T EXPECT ME TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING LOL!!

Reflection

1. This artifact shows the Evolution and issues of Religion and Science. The main point is actually religion. For Charles Dickens seems like he is making fun of Christianity for making Christmas a day that seems a little dark though it is supposed to be thankful. 

2. This artifact took me more than an hour to complete. Just a little bit more. I managed to read all of the information I found and went onto some other websites to make sure that the information I have by my side is real. You can't be completely sure at times. 

3. I finally learned the name that wrote one of my favorite Christmas tales, Charles Dickens. I have heard his name a lot, but never actually knew who he is.

4. This artifact reflects on one of my better works since I am not that good on typing out a small biography. I enjoyed this assignment because it had something to do with one of my favorite tales. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 4 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 8 (Student Choice)

This picture is a picture of the Spinning Jenny. The Spinning Jenny is one of the first machines that gets developed. It threw many home ran stores out of jobs. Machines over men.

Reflection

1. I attempted to represent the Invention, Ingenuity, and Entrepreneurship while showing Class Consciousness. For Invention, Ingenuity, and Entrepreneurship, I used the Spinning Jenny as an example. Showing it's clever inventor and it's speed and usefulness during the industrial revolution of the 1800s. For Class Consciousness, it is always easiest to show it through the eyes of a women. The women having it's back at us shows that she is focused on her work. The shadows gives off an ominous aura to the photo. 

2. This artifact took me about an our to complete. It is not that easy to clearly show the ominous times of the 1800s for many people.

3. Sadly, I haven't learned anything from this. I should have based this on something I had less idea about, that would give me more ideas of research. 

4. This artifact reflects on my better works because it is a pencil sketch. Out of all the art, I would say I am best on pencil sketch. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 5 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 9 (student choice)

ARTIFACT 10 (cause and effect of analytical writing) 

ARTIFACT 11 (primary source and evaluation)

ARTIFACT 12 (idea page)

This is another part of my idea page. 

Reflection

1. This one best shows nothing really other than some of the items we need for class. For I haven't been putting some of my notes together, they are all scattered out in my notebook, so I had a hard time finding this. 

2. This artifact took me a short time to complete, for most of it is already done in class.

3.  I learned best of some of the things the teachers wanted to see. 

4. This artifact reflects on my not that good works. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of -3 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 13 (gapminder analysis)

ARTIFACT 14 (research collaboration and video presentation)

On Lee Huang's Blog. His artifact 14. 

ARTIFACT 15 (student created timeline) 

This is the timeline I created. Sorry for the flip and the poor quality. 

Reflection

1. I feel that this artifact shows class consciousness in the end because it shows a lot of different freedom of women and things like that. There are some abolition of slavery inside it. The creation of modern nation states is another big one. You can easily see the developments of the British empire.   

2. This artifact took me about an hour to complete. It took some time to put valid information on, there is so much to choose from!! creating the timeline took me the most time. The ruler is not that long, so I had to draft a lot.

3. I learned a lot from this. Mostly on the dates of happenings. I knew a lot of these information already, but I didn't know the dates.  

4. This artifact reflects on my better works because it is a neat timeline. I like neat. 

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 5 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 16 (original Prezi) 

My prezi!! XD

Reflection

1. This artifact should be based off the building of a modern economy for this artifact shows many things the British attempted to do to achieve a strong bond with Taiwan. This also shows many industrialization of Kaohsiung. 

2. This artifact took me a lot more than one hour to complete for I am really shaky with Prezi. I need more practice!! 

3. I learned the true nature of Kaohsiung and the items the British left behind. I am now noticing some of the designs that looks a little British in different buildings (especially some older ones). 

4. This artifact reflects on my better works because I took some time on the Prezi. I'm not that good at it.

5. I am going to give myself a rating of 1 for this artifact.

ARTIFACT 17 (comparing and contrasting 2 key figures)