Apology to the Aboriginals

Concerning the past ill treatment and horrors inflicted upon Aboriginal Australia and its people by the white people during the colonization period, I think that a formal apology would be appropriate. Firstly, upon the arrival of the First Fleet, Aboriginals were shot cruelly just for fun, with no regards to the fact that they are also human. Then later on, their lands were taken away from them by the settlers, and many were left homeless. Furthermore, efforts to "breed out" the Aboriginals was and perhaps is still the hardest blow upon the indigenous people; children were forcefully separated from their parents, the race was dying out along with its ancient culture and heritage because the population was declining rapidly. After all these years of relentless abuse and violence, the Aboriginals of Australia deserve a heartfelt apology and a better life.

Was Molly a hero?

I think Molly was a hero because she did not give in to hardships or the luxury at the camps, but instead she chose the hard path back home to her mom with her siblings. She took risks and made a daring escape alone with no guidance, so I think she is a hero for her bravery and her survival skills. She is also a hero for not leaving her siblings and taking them along with her.

My Learning Profile

I learn best when I am in a quiet, peaceful environment, especially with very few people in the room. It helps me focus on my task and nothing else. I also learn best when I am from seeing examples of the task and having step-by-step instructions by my desk.

I need to have some time with my friends to talk over ideas and strategies on an assignment. Sometimes I would also like time to talk with the teacher on assignments. It helps me understand what I have to do better, so I can do a better job on the task.

Some strategies that would help me in my learning is to give a brief overview about the tasks I have to do, with a few examples that I can study from. It would also help if I am put in a small group set apart from the rest of the class where I can discuss my ideas.

I would like to let my teachers know that I enjoy working in small groups and will be able work more effectively. I also like to do things step-by-step, because it helps me get the big picture of what I need to do.

Leonardo Da' Vinci: The True Renaissance Man

Leonardo da Vinci could really be categorized as a true renaissance man because of many reasons. Da Vinci was a genius in art, science, nature and technology, and with these talents he created great works that the world had never seen nor imagined of before. Throughout the course of his life Leonardo explored new ideas, created new inventions, taught and gave ideas to other people, and designed countless of buildings and machines. Leonardo Da Vinci pretty much gave a "rebirth" to all areas of the Renaissance: art, nature, science and technology.

Brunelleschi's Dome

One of the most important prompts to Filippo Brunelleschi's extraordinary success in building his dome was probably courage. To build the dome one would need to have tremendous courage because great skill, engineering and considerable risks had to be taken. To build the dome was to do something no one else had ever done before, and to redefine architecture and engineering of his days. Without this courage Brunelleschi would have never been able to even start thinking about accepting the task, let alone building it.

The actions and decisions of a person can greatly effect change, like in Brunelleschi's dome for example. If the magistrates had not allowed Brunelleschi to build the dome, or if Brunelleschi had never built it, Florence would not become as famous as it was, and architects and engineers today might still be working with the "basic" knowledge, and might not be able to progress further.

Where do new ideas come from?

I think new ideas come from past experiences. Theses experiences help you know more of the world, and it puts many new things in your head. So sometimes when I think of ideas, if they don't come to me naturally, I like to refer back to past experiences that I have had to find them. And lots of times, this is very useful.

My Favourite short story from our Unit.

In this short story unit we have read 3 stories: 1st is "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty, then "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, and finally "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes. My favorite story out of the three would be "The Sniper", because I enjoy reading about wars and fast paced action stories, and "The Sniper" was best to my liking. Also, in this story the conflict was very tense, as there were many enemies to one sniper. Then, at the ending, the unexpected happen when the sniper had killed his own brother. I really like the way how the story ended quite sadly; it was very unique because most stories have a happy ending.