In Ghana, people resolve disputes by accusing people of witchcraft. This is due to the fact that witchcraft is seen as an actual threat in this nation. Even-though most accusations were based on some type of jealousy, these witch hunts are used as a way to oppress women. Most people in these so-called sanctuaries are women as they are targeted because they are seen as weaker people. When it comes to the actual witch hunts, they are rather brutal. Usually, once an accusation is made, the news spreads like wildfire, and the victim is known throughout their village as a witch. This leads to them being killed or beaten in some way. In the worst cases, the victims are beaten regularly. Although, there are camps or sanctuaries where the accused can seek refuge. If the victim can make it to one of these camps alive, they will live out the rest of the years there. On the more positive side, they will be safe from beatings, torture, and vigilantes at these camps.

These hunts are permitted to happen simply because it is seen as a way to get rid of the old people; rid of the useless. As sad as it may sound, unfortunately, it is true as the people who are killed or sent away due to a witchcraft accusation are older women. Once they are seen as useless, it is when the accusations begin to roll in to ultimately remove them from society. Also, these are permitted because Ghana, the place in which these hunts are occurring, is a 3rd world country. Now, my intention is not to sound ruthless, but they do not know better and without the necessary resources and knowledge, most see this situation as normal and not problematic. As well, as they are allowed because they are used as a way for people to get there way. For example, if a widow has land that was left from her husband and the land is wanted by another family member, if accused the land rights would fall into the hands of whoever wants the land. You see? it is pitiful, but the worst part is that even to this day there has not been an end to these hunts. It still an active problem and hundreds if not thousands have been and will continue to be affected by it as the years’ pass.

I believe that these witch hunts are outrageous. They are not right in any which way and even violate natural rights. If possible they should be stopped immediately and the people who have been affected by these accusations should be compensated in some way. sadly, besides the fact that it does not seem like they will end any time soon, this can most definitely happen again today. Not only in 3rd world countries but anywhere as naive and not well-educated people exist everywhere in this world.

One of my outside sources I will be using for my guest column will be an article on shorter attention spans by Digital Information World. The article can be found at https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2020/02/report-shows-that-attention-spans-are-shortening.html and is short but informative about how peoples attentions spans have shorten over time. It explains that even though it is hard to be certain if attentions spans are getting shorter everyday through the use of technology alone. That data from similar web indicates that the population is certainly suffering from shorter attention spans and even more frightening is that it is happening at a rather rapid pace. When it comes to web based browsing, the data for how long a user spends on a website has stayed relatively stable. Although, when it comes to mobile browsing, in the past three years the average time spent on a website has dropped down a total 11 seconds. Lastly, the overall average across all devices spent on websites has gone down an astonishing 49 seconds. It is important to know that mobile browsing is the most affected.

I plan on using this source mainly in my hook. This is due to my decision to open up my paper with a statistical hook. I will use the statistics to grab the readers attention and get them thinking to why is it that our attentions spans have gotten shorter and how it may affect them.

So far in the year 2020 many events have happened including some historic. Although one in particular sticks out due to the youth that has been involved in it and the outcome of it. That being the BLM movement that sparked greatl;y once again this past summer due to George Floyd’s death. George Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest in which officer Chauvin Knelt on Floyds neck for almost eight minutes. In the final minutes George was motionless without a pulse. The following day after videos of the arrest went viral across the world and many platforms, the people took to the streets to use their freedom of speech.

Protests began all over the united states due to his death. They wanted justice for his death and change. In response the Officer who knelt on Floyd and his partners who were with him were fired and charged with murder or aiding in his murder. Although, it did not stop there as people still wanted change in how people of color especially African Americans were being treated in the United States. In return, the protest turned violent with civilians and police forces clashing on the streets and in the mixture there was teargas, fireworks, bricks, and much more being used against one another. It went as far as places being broken into and looted.

As one can see, in this particular event in history the people were using their right of free speech to make change. Unfortunately, that did not last long as both sides began to use violent force. Even to this day protests are still being held across the country. Lastly, I wont be surprise if another spark ignited like this one due to the most recent shooting of Jacob Blake in front of his three young children.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in your English ll H class. I appreciate all the times that you helped me with an assignment and the fact that you would actually communicate with me. Also, I liked most of the work you gave out to us students. For example, the serial unit was by far one of my favorite as well as the poetry portfolio assignment. Another thing I am glad that i came to like in your class was poetry. I really came to enjoy writing it and coming up with my own ideas for the poems. Now, not everything we did this year I enjoyed. To illustrate, most of essays we did I did not like. Not only because I did not get the best grades but personally I do not enjoy writing because we have to or on a certain subject. As for your curriculum, even though I personally did not enjoy everything I still believe it is perfectly fine. Lastly, I believe you should keep the serial unit for the oncoming years if possible.

For my upcoming junior year I expect to be real busy. It is by far the most important year in high school due to grades, transcripts, and applying to colleges. As for my English class, I will be taking English lll H as of right now. Throughout my English class for next year I will be focusing on improving my writing skill. I really believe that I need to improve in that subject for college and future essays. When it comes to what I am most excited for out of class my junior year I would have to say soccer. It is a big year for me as I have an actual chance at making varsity if I put in the work this summer. Now, talking about next years English I believe we should start off as usual. I do not think we need to reteach what we missed unless it is completely necessary that we do. Although, if we were to start off school in an AHL status as long as there is great communication with the teachers, no extreme work loads put upon the students, and reasonable due dates we will all be just fine. Well, thank you for an amazing school year and take care.

Throughout the book many subjects are expressed. Including, love, identity, and loyalty. Although, only one really had a grand affect to the characters and plot of the story. That being the matter of identity. Identity is supposed to be unique but can be made generic to control people and make them believe they have no choice.

Personal identity is something that has been almost completely eliminated in 1984. By the Party’s psychological manipulation tactics. They have done everything possible to destroy everybody’s sense of individuality. For example, everyone wears the same clothes and eats the same food. Also, they all live in the same apartments. Overall, life has been made orderly and uniform. This is why if anything that can make someone stick out or even have their own thoughts and such. Has been outlawed. Such as, Winston having his own diary. This simple act of having a personal diary can be punishable by death or as they call it “being vaporized.” As people just seem to disappear when they do such things. People literally are only permitted to think what the Party tells them to think. As they believe, personal thoughts can lead to rebellion. The Party enforces the sense of having no individuality to the point that they have created the thought police. Which are officials who arrest and detain anybody who shows that that they have any personal or unique thoughts of their own.

As for the story, this subject is expressed through the main character, Winston. To illustrate, it all begins when he gets his own personal diary. He does this because he wants to be able to express his own thoughts and feelings. Also, as the story continues and goes to when Winston is detained. He argues to O’Brien that he is a man. But therefore O’Brien counters saying that this sense of individuality is a sign of insanity because he takes it as Winston saying that he is different that everybody else. Lastly, the downfall of Winston’s and Julia’s downfall is due to them thinking that they are special. This of course leads to them being arrested and tortured. Which then goes into them losing individual thought once again just like the Party intended everybody to be.

As I listened to the podcast, I have come to the conclusion that Adnan is innocent. I have many reasons to why I believe this. Such as, ineffective council, lack of evidence, and Adnan’s character. With all of these reasons combined, it is hard to say that Adnan was truly guilty. The entire case itself is truly a mess and should’ve been handled differently. Although, there is one specific reason to why I believe he is in fact innocent. That is, the fact that the states case against Adnan lacked solid evidence. Not one time did the state have a piece of evidence that truly and straight up showed that Adnan was the killer. Over all, if there is one reason to why Adnan is not guilty, it is that the case lacked evidence to convict him as a killer.

While listening to the podcast I realized that there was not one time where a piece of evidence was brought up in which it plainly showed that Adnan killed Hae. Yes, there was so called good evidence. Like, the cell records or even which tower the phone pinged to. Although, the evidence previously mentioned did not always match up with Jay’s story. This is crucial because the states case literally revolves around Jay’s testimony. Besides the cell records, what does the state have that is actual good evidence? That is right, nothing. This is what truly amazes me. The fact that they locked up someone without having solid evidence against them. To put into perspective, an example of solid evidence would be a knife with Adnan’s DNA or even video footage of him strangling Hae to death. So, all in all I truly believe that Adnan is indeed innocent.

As far as I can tell Adnan is innocent so far. I believe this because, there is no physical or materialistic evidence that points at Adnan. The only thing that shows that Adnan did indeed kill Hae is Jay’s interviews with the police. Even then, Jay’s interviews are not consistent and he tends to change the story many times and even admits to lying to he detectives. Therefore, he is not exactly a reliable source but that doesn’t matter since he is the only witness and his story is basically the states case. As well as, most of the evidence that is actually used against Adnan can be “spinned” and made unimportant to the case. For example, when asked about Hae’s and Adnan’s relationship some would say that Adnan was clingy and annoying. Although, if you were to ask Hae or even just read her diary, this would not be the case at all. Instead everything Adnan did was sweet and thoughtful. All in all, Adnan is innocent because there is not one single piece of solid evidence against him.

Throughout this unit so far I have found it hard to fill out the packet in the time frame of the class. There are too many questions at times and if you begin to answer them, more than likely you will miss out on another answer. As well as, I tend to just listen and not answer the questions due to the podcast being interesting. Also, I have not gone back to listen to any of the podcasts again. Although, I have used the transcripts multiple times. Even though i find it hard to fill out the packet, I have been enjoying the unit because it is on the easier side and interesting. I do believe you should continue to do this unit for the upcoming school years. Over all, the serial unit is great, should be kept in the curriculum, and needs to be focused on to actually be finished on time.

Our judicial system is very efficient but not always. Many trails happen each year and for the most part all goes right. Although, in many cases it does not. For example, many times people are wrongly prosecuted and imprisoned for unlawful acts such as rape and murder. They then proceed to spend many years in prison until the charges are dropped, someone confesses the person was not the culprit, or they decide the evidence does not add up. Even then, these people are released back into a world with little or no hope due to having no money or having no experience at all in any work field due to them spending their time rotting in prison. Lastly, to top it all off, the person who wrongfully accused the said person receives no penalty for their wrongful actions. Therefore, even though our judicial system is often praised it is never going to be precise and correct at all times.

To further illustrate my point that our judicial system is not the best, people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty but this truly never upholds. What I mean is that in many cases people are treated as if they were truly guilty even if they are not. Or even worse they are put in jail for the time being even if there is no evidence against them. During a trail the plaintiff is supposed to put forth the evidence that proofs their accusations against the defendant right. Through that evidence a jury is supposed to decide whether or not the defendant is guilty. Unfortunately, often times the final decision is influenced by subjects such as racism, sexism, social class, and more. As one can tell, our judicial system is not the greatest due to many reasons. Which includes prejudice in many forms, not punishing those who prosecute the wrong people, and not imprisoning people over just the hard core evidence that is presented.

To be honest I don’t think there is something that would make me put my life on the line one hundred percent of the time. Although, love does come in pretty damn close. But when I say love, I am not just referring to the love you have towards your significant other. Rather I am referring to the love you have towards anything and anyone. This may include your parents, grandparents, siblings, and even pets. For example, if there was a situation where I could save my father while putting my life at risk. More than likely I would take that risk due to the fact that he has done so much for me and has always been there for me. All in all, if there was one thing I would put my life on the line for it would be love because its one powerful feeling.

There are many reasons why I would not die for love one hundred percent of the time. For example, lets say if my sister were to murder someone I would not die trying to help her escape the authorities. The reason to why I would not do so is because personally I believe love has its limits. Another reason why I would not always die for love is because it does not last forever. To illustrate, I could literally save the love of my life and sustain life threatening injuries and be in the hospital for months, right? But whose to say that she will still love me months afterwards? I do not wanna seem very self centered but if the love is uncertain than I do not think it is worth losing your life over or sustaining lifelong injuries. Although most of the time I would put my life on the line for my loved ones. And this is due to the fact that I choose my loved ones very carefully,.

Throughout the first semester there were times where I struggled and did well in your class, but I will strive to only succeed in your class during the spring semester. In your class there were many times where I felt as if I did well. For example, when we read into the wild and we wrote an essay, I believe I did well. As well as I did pretty well on the blogs we write every other week. Some activities that I did not do well on were, the Separate Peace essay and the vocabulary quizzes. To do better during the spring semester I will be more organized and try to keep a planner. Lastly I would like to work on my attitude towards school and try to only make it positive.

I do not usually enjoy English but I did enjoy the poetry portfolio project you assigned us to do. When doing this assignment I put in a decent amount of effort and I think I will get that in return grade wise. All in all, I really did enjoy the project and I loved the outcome of my portfolio. Lastly, if I were the one teaching the class I would not do anything differently. You have the class setup pretty well and it reflects when you teach. I believe that you do a great job even if I do not enjoy the class all the time.