Search Operators

When I searched the question, a lot of results appeared, almost 40 billion came up. I wanted to find good results so I used some search operators. To narrow the results down, I added the word AND between democratic and republican. This cut the number of results in half. Then I used the search tool, verbatim and the results went to 10,000. Although verbatim took out a lot of results out, it also took out some important articles too so I stopped using it.
 I put the words fiscal cliff in quotation marks and it gave me some great articles. I also started to use the NOT for the word Obama and it took out more than half of the results. I wanted to take out more words, so I used to minus sign (-). After taking out a couple of words, I got down to 3 results, and they were good, usable results.
I think the best combination of search engines was using the quotation marks and the minus sign. This combination gave me the best results because I can specify the order of the words with the quotation marks and take out words that aren't important on what I'm searching on. If too many results are taken out I use the tilde (~) to add words. This search operator made the number of results grow and it gave me some usable articles.

Anakin Skywalker's Fall

You wouldn’t think that a hero could ever turn evil. How can a hero turn to someone that is the exact opposite as what they were originally? In the movie, Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, the main hero turned to the dark side but with good intentions. Anakin Skywalker who was once a hero, turned evil after making multiple negative decisions to try to save his partner’s life.

            At first Anakin was pure and he started out with good intentions. What started his bad decisions were the visions he had with his wife dying. This sparked the development of evil inside him because he didn’t want to face the truth. He couldn’t stand to have his wife die so he tries to change her fate. To save his wife, he had to learn the dark side. This is his first big mistake and this led him to come closer and closer to becoming completely evil.

            Anakin knew he had a lot of potential of being the best Jedi and this led him to be greedy on having more power. He wanted more power so he started to become more disobedient with the council and to Obi-wan. He believed that the council didn’t trust him and so instead of following their orders, he went against them and made his own decisions. His bond between the council and Obi-wan started to fade and he became more engulfed by evil. Anakin disobeyed the council and came to the Chancellor’s aid and saved his life. After, he started to learn the dark side from him and he became Darth Vader. At this point, Anakin is totally lost. He killed the innocent and joined the war on the evil side.

            Anakin had multiple chances of becoming a Jedi again, but every time he had the chance, he denies them. His wife offered to run away together, to leave the city and never come back. This would have saved the wife’s life and have Anakin still be a Jedi, but he had so much greed for power that he denies her offer. He was so overflown with anger (because of Obi-wan) that he even harmed his wife, the one person he was trying to save in the first place. After, he fought Obi-wan and lost. At this point, he lost all his chances of becoming a Jedi again.

            After making many negative choices, Anakin Skywalker became evil even though he had good intentions in the beginning. At first, he just wanted to save his wife’s life, but along the way, he got lost and was engulfed by the dark side. This just goes to show that even the people with the best intentions can turn evil in a blink of an eye. Not everyone can stay good and pure forever.

My Position on Proposition 37

The proposition that I think is the most important to have a decision on is proposition 37. Proposition 37 wants genetically modified food to be labeled because people have the right to know how their food is made. This gives the people the choice whether or not we want to buy the food since it gives us more information about how the food is made. This will provide people and their families the information on what food they are eating. The problem about this proposition is that it wastes millions of dollars, that taxpayers need to pay, just to label the food we eat and it would also increase the food bills by $100 per year.

There are many benefits on not having this proposition pass. We make GE foods so we could have more food with little effort. This is better for farmers so they can have a lot of food they can sell. This benefits us because the genetically engineered (GE) foods are much cheaper than organic food. I know that if I was in a supermarket and I saw a small box of strawberries for $5 and a larger box of strawberries for the same price, I would probably buy the larger box because you can have more for your money. Also, having these labels on our food can scare people in buying the food even though there is nothing wrong with them.

            If I was 18 years old right now, I would vote no on proposition 37. I personally think that we shouldn’t label our genetically modified foods as GE. I feel like it is a waste of money and we should be spending this money on more important things like education and the military. If people want to have food that is not genetically modified, then just by organic food. I believe that if our GE foods were labeled, it wouldn’t make a difference to a lot of people in our population. Many people don’t read the labels in their food and having the labels would just be a waste of money.

           

The Canterbury Tales Person

            The occupations during The Middle Ages are very different from the occupations we have today. The Canterbury Tales illustrates many different types of occupations that were in The Middle Ages. In this story, Chaucer describes many occupations such as the Knight’s, Wives’, Miller’s, and the Monk’s. If I lived during these times I would be a Squire because of the wealth they would obtained and also because I wouldn’t have a very big responsibility compared to the Knight.

            Being a Squire means devoting your time into training and trying to become a knight. I personally think that training to do anything is pretty enjoyable because training makes me get better in something. Training would be the only thing that I would have to do. It would be my only responsibility I have. I wouldn’t have to go to school or take care of anybody and I would just spend my working time in the forest, training.

            I would live with my family and grow up to be just like my father. I’ll live near the castle of the king and queen because that’s where my father works in. My father is the knight and since he protects the monarchy, he would be very wealthy. When I finish all my training, I would follow my father’s footsteps and become a knight and also become very wealthy. Protecting people would be my responsibility when I become a knight. With this protective quality, I would value the people I love. I value protecting my loved ones and their safety.

            I would have many difficulties with my training sessions and jousting tournaments. I know I would fail sometimes with training or lose in some tournaments but, I have to try again and train harder until I become successful. Its going to be hard living in the shadow of my father because there will be a lot that is expected from me. I would feel very proud of myself when I finally become a knight, but I wouldn’t have so much pressure on me for now because I am still just a squire. Once I become I knight though, I would have many more responsibilities such as protecting the king and queen.

            During The Middle Ages, I would become wealthy, but I wouldn’t have so much responsibility because I am the Squire. The Squire and I have some similarities with each other because we both value our loved ones. We care about people that we love. If I lived during The Middle Ages I would truly like to be the Squire. I only wish that a Squire, during those times, could be a girl.

The Canterbury Tales- Squire description

Written Description - http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs4a/squir1.html

Pictures of Squire - http://www.enotes.com/canterbury-tales/pictures/squires-tale

The Squire is a knight in training, who had a father that is a knight. He is a very musical, literate, and artistic person. From writing poems to singing, he can do it all. Overall, he is just a very talented person. Since he is training to be a knight, he is very strong a fast. The Squire is a polite and a romantic person. He managed to get the heart of the person he likes. He also is deprived from sleep. For his physical appearance, he has curly hair and wears very bright clothing.
Although he is the son of the knight, he is not wealthy, but he will be inheriting his father's wealth after his death. I think he wants to be like his father since he is training to be a knight.

The American Dream

The american dream that many came here to achieve might not be attainable in this generation anymore. Years ago, the common american dream was to own property and earn a lot of money to provide for the family and stabilize their lives. Now, having this dream and achieving it can be difficult. Although the american dream wasn't attainable for many, my dream is to have a high paying job, be well educated, and have a family of my own.
Having a stable job is becoming more difficult, considering the fact that there is not enough jobs for everyone. According to the article, "Generation Screwed", there is a high unemployment rate among the younger generation. This is because there are not enough jobs for both the older and younger generation. My hopes of having a job that pays well is not much anymore. Now that I know it is much harder to get a high paying job, I think my american dream of getting a good job might be a bit of a reach. I'm considering to adjust my dream to something easier to achieve. Maybe just having a stable job can be my new american dream.
My goal, more than anything, is to be well educated since I do have a passion for learning. I want to know as much as I can about this world, and so, my dream for the future is to take many classes that I'm interested in while I'm in college. What I am the most concerned about now is, how am I ever going to learn efficiently, if technology and the use of the internet is deteriorating our brains. According to the article, "iCrazy", our brains are getting damaged with the continued use of the internet. I am fortunate enough to have been gifted with having a long attention span, but during the past few years, I found myself having a shorter attention span. This worries me because I wouldn't have the attention set that I need to become well educated in the future. I see the dangers of the growth in technology. I think my dream to learn as much as I can about this world might change in  the future, depending on how much my brain changes.
My american dream of raising a family can be affected by how much we use technology today. In the future, I would like to have a strong relationship with my children. I think technology could affect this if my children use the internet more than they should. According to the article, "iCrazy", the continued use of technology can fuel depression. I know that technology is becoming more accessible as time goes on, so it worries me that my family might develop some type of depression.
Having a high paying job, becoming well educated, and raising a family of my own is the american dream that I might have to change due societal changes. Technology might be damaging to us as a society and it can affect my chances of obtaining my american dream. With that being said, we must stop our brains from withering away, which will increase our chances for success or, in other words, having a better chance of reaching the american dream.

Seniors and their Entrance to Colleges

Would it be fair if the college that accepted you wouldn't give you entrance to their school? Many colleges does not grant entrance to some students that were accepted from that school. Many seniors think that after they are accepted to a college, they don't have to try in school anymore. I do think that colleges do have a right to take away entrance to students that don't try anymore during the rest of the year. Seniors should be denied entry to a college if they no longer try during the rest of the year because it shows which students doesn't try hard enough and the colleges shouldn't waste money on students that don't do their absolute best.

Letting grades fall and not completing a class they promised to do show that these students doesn't work hard enough or can easily give up. Seniors shouldn't let their grades drop because high school isn't over yet. They should work equally as hard as the other high school students. If colleges see that students are slacking off after being accepted to their school, it is reasonable to take away entrance to their school. Seniors that want to always have it easy aren't prepared to do college level work, therefore, they shouldn't be granted to study at the college they got accepted to. The students that doesn't complete a course they promise to do should also be denied entrance because these colleges expected them to do these courses. It might have been these courses that they would have took that got them accepted to the college in the first place. Without competing the courses they promised to take, they might not have been qualified to the college if these courses are required.

Students that let their grades fall should be dropped from the college because many colleges have budget cuts. Colleges doesn't want to waste their money on students that slack off because it shows that these students have the potential to also slack in their college. No matter how close it is to finishing the school year, students shouldn't allow themselves to drop their grades. Even if the students are accepted to a college, they should show that they can still work hard. Other grade levels in high school still have to do their best to get through the year, so it is only fair that seniors should work hard. Colleges probably expect the students to do the same quality of work during the last months of high school and if those expectations aren't met, then they shouldn't let the student go to their college.

Seniors that let their grades fall during the last few months of school shouldn't be granted entry to a college they got accepted to because these are the students that don't try hard enough and colleges shouldn't waste their time and money on these students. I think it is very important to go through the whole year strong so it shows the colleges that you are a hard worker. If I chose the students that gets into a college, I certainly wouldn't want the student to be a slacker because it would give a bad image for the college.

Senior Year Highlights

This senior year I am looking forward to joining all the clubs that i joined last year and doing more extracurricular activities. All the clubs I joined previously were all fun so I want to continue being a part of them this year. Since I am in Interact Club this year, I am looking forward on doing more community service. Also, I want to start doing sports again because last year I didn't do any sports. I did badminton my first two years in high school so I want to try the sport again this year.
I am really excited on doing the senior project because I already have an idea on what topic to do. I'm planning to do the project on sewing because it is something I want try to do. I want to learn how to sew things together to make my own piece of clothing. Making clothing yourself out of pieces of cloth seems more fun than just buying them and it is just very interesting to me. I am also looking forward to walking across the stage and graduating. Although these high school years were great, graduating high school would be one of the major highlights of the year.