Post #5: Social Experiments & Theories

The experiment I read was Stanley Milgram's shock experiment. The experiment involved 3 individuals and only one was a volunteer, the other two were actors pretending to be volunteers. The actors were the "leader" and "learner", the volunteer was the the "teacher"; the teachers job was to teach the learner words then test the learner. The teacher could not see the learner, they could only hear them and every time the teacher would test the learner and the learner got the answer wrong, the teacher would administer an electrical shock. Each shock administered the voltage increased by 15 and the maximum was 450 volts.
Around 60 percent of volunteers reached the maximum 450 volt shock although at some point all participants paused and questioned the experiment. This can be related to The Book Of Negroes, in the experiment the teacher could not see the learner therefore the learner is dehumanized similarly in The Book Of Negroes the black slaves are dehumanized by taking their freedom away. This experiment shows that if other people say it is ok to do a unethical thing then the people will proceed to do it. We can see an example of this in The Book Of Negroes with Mr. Lindo, even though he thinks slavery is unethical he still participates in the slave trade because all the white people are doing it. This experiment shows how dehumanization and authority effect a persons ethics, and I believe it is important for people to understand what they are capable when these two factors are in play. In the experiment 84 percent of former participants surveyed later said they were "glad" or "very glad" to have participated and it taught them a good lesson.

Post #4: And my story waits like a restful beast

And my story waits like a restful beast is the first chapter of book two; Aminata is back in London as an old woman telling her story to the abolitionists. The abolitionists are trying to end the African slave trade and need Aminata's story to do it. Although Aminata wants to end the slave trade, the abolitionists still do not view her as an equal,  "The abolitionists may well call me their equal, but their lips do not yet say my name and their ears do not yet hear my story" (Hill 115) Aminata says. Aminata's goal is to get her story known which relates to the title of the chapter, although Aminata does not like the abolitionists she is using the abolitionists for herself and they are using Aminata.

Post #3: The Book of Negroes Title

The Book of Negroes is a historical document with the name of 3,000 black people who had served in the American Revolution War for the British. I think this title fits really well with the book and is appropriate because the book takes place in the time that the historical Book of Negroes was written. People that do not know about the historical document may find this title offensive; I believe that if people knew what the historical Book of Negroes was or read the book there would be no censorship or book burnings. Also Lawrence Hill made a good choice by calling this book The Book of Negroes because although it may be controversial, it is getting a lot of attention and as a result may educate people about some historical events.

Post #2: The Essay

Which essay did you like best? Explain your choice.

"In the Trenches" by Charles Yale Harrison
"The Suitcase Lady" by Christie McLaren
"The 51-Per-Cent Minority" by Doris Anderson

I really enjoyed reading In the Trenches; it used a lot of imagery, metaphors and similes to help describe what was happening. I think the reason I enjoyed reading In the Trenches was because I could visualize what was happening in the essay. Also the short paragraphs and one word lines kept me engaged in the text, I ended up reading the text faster toward the end because it made me eager to know what will happen next.

Introduction

As a high school student I like to be active. Active in a sense that I have little to no free time, which many people might think is crazy. Spending all the free time on an activity helps you become better at it. If I commit myself to an activity it helps me set goals for it. For me committing means spending all your free time training, trying to get better. I row which generally takes up most of my free time.

Also I like to read fiction novels, my favourite is Eragon. It is a long series of books which has an epic adventure, something like Lord of the Rings but much easier to read. My goal in English is to improve generally in the language: reading, writing and speaking. English is generally my weakest subject therefore I have much that I need to improve on.