Junior Theme--Dah Dah Dah!!

This. Is. It. The moment every New Trier student has always dreaded--the start of Junior Theme. Okay, maybe I am being a bit melodramatic, but based off of what some people say about the Junior Theme, I have a good reason to be. Honestly, I have been hearing rumors about the Junior Theme since I was in middle school. People say it is horrible.  People say they stay up all night, every night working on it. People say the essay is 20 pages long! The list goes on…

For those of you who do not go to New Trier, the Junior Theme is really just a big research paper that every junior at our high school does. The good news is that most of the above rumors are far from true (at least in my American Studies class). For our class, we are allowed a great deal of freedom in choosing our own topic on something that we are truly interested in. As long as the topic relates to a current American issue and we can state our inquiry in the form of a "why question," the choice is all ours (as opposed to some classes where students are assigned a Junior Theme topic). Also, I never really have to worry about pulling any all-nighters (unless I procrastinate a TON) because we are given class time to research and other resources such as the librarians to aid us. 

To be honest, I am really enjoying the project so far. I have only begun some preliminary topic searching and researching, but I have narrowed down my ideas somewhat. Some topics I have considered are same-sex marriage laws, Native Americans today, incarceration rates among different demographics, smoking, and lack of religion. To be honest, I still have no clue which topic I think is the one that I really want to do my project on.

However, I have always been very interested in Native American life and I think that I might like to pursue that topic further with the guiding question, "Why are many Native Americans in such a terrible current situation?" Though I have heard many stories in school and in textbooks about how Native Americans were forced out of their homes to make way for white settlers, I am not sure why modern-day Native Americans have never really "recovered" from what happened to their ancestors hundreds of years ago. Early on in my research, I discovered some shocking statistics: "American Indians have an infant death rate that is 40 percent higher than the rate for whites. They are twice as likely to die from diabetes, 60 percent more likely to have a stroke, 30 percent more likely to have high blood pressure and 20 percent more likely to have heart disease...3.5 times more likely to suffer kidney damage and 3 times more likely to die as a result of diabetes" (Opposing Viewpoints). Could all these horrifying facts be a result of what the government did to Native Americans hundreds of years ago? Or might this be a result of what is still being done to them today? I still have no clue...

Las Páginas en Blanco de St. Paddy's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As with almost every holiday, St. Patrick's Day has changed quite a bit from its original meaning. Today, when most Americans think of St. Paddy's Day, we think of parades, green clothes, and, of course, the Shamrock Shake. However, I learned from an interesting NPR article that the true story behind all the green is a sad tale. 

The green food on St. Patrick's day most likely dates back to the Irish potato famine in the 1840s: "People were so deprived of food that they resorted to eating grass. In Irish folk memory, they talk about people's mouths being green as they died." Though most Americans do not really think twice about why they are wearing green or eating a green cupcake, I think it is important to remember the true meaning of holidays. I do not think there is anything wrong with enjoying a Shamrock Shake or going to a St. Patrick's Day parade, but we should not forget the morose history which is often hidden by an artificial green dye.

Another aspect of St. Patrick's Day that is often not talked about is the fact that gay and lesbian Irish groups have not been allowed to march openly in the New York City parade (the biggest in the country with over 1 million spectators and 200,000 participants [BBC]). Though Ireland's prime minister, Enda Kenny (who walked in this year's NYC parade), said, "[Saint Patrick's Day] is about Irishness, not sexuality," many people strongly feel that Irish gay-rights activists should be allowed to march in the New York parade. Personally, I think it is outrageous that gay and lesbian groups are not allowed to "march openly" in the parade. I believe Kenny and others who support keeping gays from marching in New York's St. Patrick's Day parade are supporting a tradition of hate and prejudice against gays.

How do you feel about the truth behind St. Patrick's Day? 

New York St. Paddy's Day Parade

Página en Blanco del ACT

While thinking about Páginas en Blanco, or blank pages in history, I happened to come across a P en B in the most unlikely of place--an ACT practice test! Though I never expected to actually be interested in the material in an ACT practice test, I found a short passage titled "Unfulfilled Promises" very entertaining. The passage is a true story about Helga Estby. Helga was motivated by a contest that offered $10,000 to "a woman who was willing to walk across the country." So, in 1896, Helga and her daughter, Clara, set out to New York City to claim their prize. However, upon arriving in NYC, no such prize existed. The whole event was kept a secret or "Página en Blanco" for many years because of the terrible affect Helga's trip had on her family: 2 of Helga's children died and her family lost their farm because they did not win the prize money. Basically, Helga learned the EXTREMELY hard way to never trust an advertisement.

Helga Estby

Though Helga's story is very sad, I found it interesting that her family and friends tried to keep her trek to New York a secret. After Helga's death, her kids decided to burn the hundreds of pages that Helga wrote about her journey to NYC because they felt that their mother was an embarrassment.

There are many stories like that of Helga Estby that have been kept secret for many years. I believe it is important to try to uncover the secrets and Paginas en Blanco of our history to expose a more realistic picture of our past, not necessarily the one painted in textbooks.

The Academy Awards are a 1-Way Street

Like 40 million other people from all over the world, I plan on watching the Academy Awards tonight. Every year, my grandparents come over to watch the awards and to have dinner with my family. Personally, I have always really enjoyed and looked forward to watching the Academy Awards with my family. However, one part of the Academy Awards that I have always found a bit boring is the "Foreign Language Film Award" mainly because I have almost never heard of a single title.

After a class discussion in American Studies last week about American Imperialism, I thought a lot about America's influence on other countries. I think the effects of "Americanization" can probably be seen in almost every country. Americanization is defined as "mak[ing] something more American, especially the language or culture of a person or place." In my opinion, Americanization and American Imperialism are not only harming other cultures, but it is also having a huge effect on the United States as well. I think the fact that American culture has become so wide-spread is making Americans less likely to learn about other cultures. Just by reading the list of the foreign film nominees for the Academy Awards, one can see Americans' attitude towards learning about other cultures.

This year, the Academy Award nominees for best foreign films are:

• The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
• The Great Beauty (Italy)
• The Hunt (Denmark)
• The Missing Picture (Cambodia)
• Omar (Palestine)

 
Personally, I have never heard of any of the above films and I know I am not the only one. One reason most Americans do not watch foreign movies is because we are "more familiar" with Hollywood movies and the common themes in American movies. I think it is a big problem that "the U.S. audience for foreign movies has been declining..." With less Americans watching foreign films and being exposed to less foreign culture, it looks like the transfer of ideas between nations is turning into a one-way street with Americans trying to influence the world, but not wanting the world to influence the U.S. One observation I noticed while researching foreign films was that "The Broken Circle Breakdown" (the nominee from Beligium) is mainly focused around American culture and music, showing just how little Americans are willing to take in new ideas from other countries.