english reading response
Please remember these posts must add value to the discussion by furthering it. All posts must demonstrate substance contributing to the understanding and application of ideas by doing one or more of the following:
1. Reflection about meaning: Describe thoughtfully what something means or new insights it provides, or raise a question as a seed for clarification or further discussion.
2. Analysis: Discuss relevant themes, concepts, main ideas, components, or relationships among ideas. Or, identify hidden assumptions or fallacies in reasoning.
3. Elaboration: Build on ideas of others or ideas found in the readings by adding details, examples, a different viewpoint, or other relevant information.
4. Application: Provide examples of how principles or concepts can be applied to actual situations, or discuss the implications of theory for practice.
5. Synthesis: Integrate multiple views to provide a summary, a new perspective, or a creative refashioning of ideas.
6. Evaluation: Assess the accuracy, reasonableness, or quality of ideas.
7. Students should not say, “that’s interesting!” or “I agree.” Posts that do not add value to the will not count toward students semester grade.
Example of a successful discussion post:
EX 1.“Was anybody else forced to rethink how important language and communication is everyday? It just comes so easy to most of us that it is easy to discredit as a very useful tool. Lepore does a very good job demonstrating how important language is. She states that "Indians who can read and write placed themselves in a particularly perilous, if at the same time powerful, position" and those Natives were "caught between two worlds but fully accepted by neither" (pg 27). Her statement conveys the importance of language and the effect that it has on an entire culture. Several times, she describes how knowing the english language put Natives at risk among their own people, yet put them in favor with the Englishmen. Another interesting historical evidence of the overall power of being literate comes when Lepore writes "this last explanation provides the most unequivocal instance of Sassomon's exploitation of his literacy" referring to how Sassomon would write different speeches or letters in contrary to what Philip wanted to say. Sassomon could exploit his literacy to undermine one of the most powerful people that lived in colonial america. That is powerful.”
EX 2. “I found John Sassamon a very intriguing figure in the book. The book starts with the mistrust that the colony governor treated John Saasmon with when the latter was warning him against the intention of King Philip to start war. This sets the stage to explain the mistrust that ran deep between the two communities even toward someone like Sassamon who could potentially have represented a bridge between the two. This helps explain that colonists were not going to trust the Indians even those who adopted their culture like Sassamon. The way Sassamon is represented is conflicting. On one hand one feels sympathetic to him as he left the governor after warning him regarding Philip's intention without protection and on the other hand he was portrayed negatively with his duplicity (pp 40) and exploitation of his literacy to cheat Philip out of land (pp 42),
The story of war, its causes and how it was conducted were all written from the colonists’ points of view reflecting their ideas and how they viewed the Indians. Interestingly even Indians like Sassamon who were close to English culture and were literate died at the beginning before the war started so ironically even those were not able to write an account of what happened and were “among the earliest causalities” (pp 26).
War is also difficult to stop after it starts as it draws into it even those opposing it at the beginning. Chapter 4 talks about the disagreements and reluctance amongst the colonists on the justification of war. It is interesting to read as an example that Edward Randolph, agent of the crown sad the Massachusetts magistrates provoked the war (PP 106). However later even those who doubted the war were drawn to it. John Pynchon said that “ it is now too late” as the war has already started.”