Who's Claim Was It?

In the year of 1066, King Edward had died. Although leaving the throne to Harold Godwinston, Earl of Wessex, the new king had competition against his title. The two opposition were King Hadrada of Norway and Duke William of Normandy. My personal opinion is that Duke William of Nomandy had the rightful claim to the throne. Duke William of Normandy insisted that when King Edward had visited Normandy in 1051, he had promised the throne to William. It is said that in 1064, the Duke had captured Harold Godwinston and made him take an oath to promise help William become King. When Harold Godwinstion didn't fall through the plan of helping William, the Duke called him an "oath-breaker", which was a serious statement in the period of time. Even the Pope supported William, and had the approval of the Pope to conquer England. That was exactly what the Duke did in 1066, October.  

The Feudal System

Father Francois, you are my honored guest. Please allow me to explain the feudal system to you before you ask any questions of me. I am but a simple farmer. The feudal system is when the king lends land to a noble and they swear an oath to pass the land over in return for support. The King then becomes the lord over the noble, who becomes a vassal. The vassal can also pass off the land to another person, which would make the vassal a lord, and the other a vassal, the land still belongs to the King though. 

Values and Choices

Everyday, there will aways be a case of bullying, exclusion, peer pressure, etc. Everyone has seen it, and everyone does have a story of their own. I took a while thinking of a time where one of these has affected me, or affected someone I know or I have seen. I didn't want anything too personal, but I wanted something that would fulfill the requirements for a good blogpost, but not very targeting. I have decided to go for something that is like discrimination, but not as intense. One of my classes is a joint class (7th graders and 8th graders). It's one of my favorite classes and I do like the people in it, though it can get annoying some times. What usually happens is that when my friends and I sing, dance around, or do anything crazy, some 8th graders give us this look which makes us feel like we're doing something wrong. It makes me feel like ripping my hair out of my head. Every time it happens, I really wish I would say something, speak out for what I want to do. I would usually say something like: "It's not any of your business, and if you don't like it, you can just leave. There isn't any reason that you should give us that look, so just keep out of our way, and we'll keep out of yours." What makes me stop is the level of intimidation. It makes me feel small when they give the look, and that small amount of fear separates me from being a bystander to an upstander. Now, that I have thought this through, I know what makes me feel smaller. The look that they give us is the type saying, "Are you seriously doing that? It's really weird so stop it." The thoughts that I have in that moment are telling me that I shouldn't say anything, or else they wouldn't like me. I now know that it's stupid to think that way. I don't really care anymore what they think of me. They aren't my friends, and they have no right to judge what goes on between my friends and I. I have decided that I am going to do what ever it takes to keep on doing whatever I want, and I won't do what they want me to be. They aren't me, so who are they to care?


Where have we seen examples of bullying/ostracism/exclusion occurring in texts studied so far this year- factual as well as fictional?

Well, there are a lot of examples, but I'm going to stick with The Hunger Games. I saw two examples of what the characters thought of being excluded. First, with Katniss in the beginning she felt as if Peeta and Haymitch we're budding up and had made up a plan, whereas Katniss had none. This was when Peeta had asked for separated coaching and throughout a little bit of the Games. Nearer to the end of the Hunger Games, Peeta felt as if he wasn't let in on the plan, since Katniss knew what Haymitch was expecting of her to play along with the act of "The Star-Crossed Lovers From District 12". It wasn't an act at all to Peeta, who really did love Katniss, and felt betrayed that she pretended and didn't even tell him. 

The In-Group:

Select one line/phrase/group of sentences that are significant to you. Explain why.

"In most cases where children get picked on, it is because they aren't good at sports, or they read too much, or they wear the wrong clothes, or they are of a different race. But in my class, we all read too much, and didn't know how to play sports. We had also been carefully been brought up to respect each other's races. "

I found this quote compelling, because it makes me ask why. Why would they have a reason to bully other wise? Why did they feel the need to, when they have grown up together and know each other so well? Why did they need to hurt the people they had known for so long? Maybe they felt the need to feel higher than someone, to feel superior. They have this negative sense of dedication to make their flaws invisible while they pick out someone else's who doesn't have a line of defense. Some people just like the position of power and like to manipulate anyone who has a low self-esteem and can't stand up for them-selves. These people are set in the cliche'd direction of popular. Some are okay, while others want to bring down anyone who stands in their way, or just for fun. Being popular and in the position for wanting harm to come to someone is a great beneficial way to make someone's life miserable. Once a popular starts it, it spreads like wild-fire.

-Radasaurus. Because I'm a dinosaur. Roar.