November 22, 2010
Letter to High School
Date Written: May 12, 1996 (Eighth Grade)
Copy: Original, no edits.
Thoughts: What was I thinking? More discipline...wow :)
Sierra Vista Middle School
2-12-96
Dear Mrs. Marchiando,
Hello. I am a student from S.V.M.S. I attended a trip to Buena High School on February 5, 1996. I would like to thank you for letting our eighth grade class come to visit. I hope that I will be able to find my way around the school next year. This trip to Buena High School was a real challenge in helping me get rid of my fears of coming next year. My sponsor was very nice to me and included me in all of her activities. She accepted me and made me feel as if I was her best friend.
Some of the best things about the trip to B.H.S were that the classes were not as strict as I heard. I also found out that the fights that take place there are usually just fake. It is just a bunch of people thinking that they are tough. I also found out that people aren't as mean as I thought they were. The juniors treated me as if I were a junior, and accepted me, as I was, and not what grade I was in.
Some of my concerns about attending B.H.S next year are, if I will graduate at the same time as my peers. I hope to achieve a passing grade so I can graduate in the year 2000. I also have a concern about if they will put me in the same classes, if I have been gone for more ten days, and they have to enroll me again. I have a hard time staying in school because of sudden sickness, or family emergencies. So I am still not clear on that. I am concerned about the classes I attended. They were not as strict as I thought they should be. As I observed in my sponsor's classes, people were eating and talking during the lessons, they also chewed gum, and the teacher's didn't care. So what I would like to see next year is more discipline in the classroom. I would also entourage that when the eighth graders come next year, that there will be an activity for them to do during their sponsor's class. There need to be more things for the eighth graders to do instead of sitting there and listening to things, when you have no idea what the teacher's are talking about. We should be involved with the class activities. I hope this will be re- enforced in your school next year. If it is I will be more than pleased. Thank you again for inviting us to spend quality time at Buena High School. I hope to see you next year.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Blau
Alexander Hamilton
Date Written: December 3, 1994 (Seventh Grade)
Copy: Original, no edits. Formatting changes.
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1757. He was born on a British island of Nevis in the Caribbean Sea.
He came to America for education and to get ahead in life. Mostly for a college education. He needed at least a year of study before he knew enough Greek, Latin and mathematics. Getting that extra education proved no problem.
In July 1774 at a mass meeting against the attitude of the Tory (1) majority, Hamilton made his very important speech. This speech among many was to influence the political view of many people.
Alexander Hamilton also wrote some articles for the newspaper that also turned attention to him. One of his articles was called "The Federalist Papers." This was one article that influenced people to consider a constitution.
During the time of 1780 - 1787 he was married to Elizabeth Shuyler. She was the daughter of General Phillips.
In the summer of 1782 he passed his examination of law and was admitted to the bar. In practice there were many members of the bar who were perhaps better or greater in technical knowledge , but when it came to philosophy of law he was easily one of the best lawyers in the Empire City. He liked the technical side of the jury system better than the law itself. In June 1782 he was also appointed "Receiver of Taxes" and elected a member of congress in that same year.
Between 1783 and 1784, Hamilton fought against the Tories. At one time it looked as if the Colonies were going to be torn out like the South American Republics. They made civilization so slow and incomplete.
Alexander Hamilton was against the slow process of creating a system that was ineffective like that of the countries of South America and fought this with all his ability and strength. He brought down the hatred of the mob and of the prejudice. But he won the esteem of the thoughtful and upright.
In 1786 Hamilton took up the memorable struggle of good government against anarchy. The outlook of the time was very pitiable. The thirteen colonies had changed into thirteen bankrupt and discredited communities. In every state there were symptoms of tearing apart into still smaller political units. At many points men begun to arm themselves for protection against there neighbors. For the time being was toward chaos similar to what occurred after the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Hamilton attacked these conditions with almost irresistible fury. He devoted enough of his time to law to supply the wants of his family and all the rest of his time was devoted to his people.
Hamilton carried on a campaign that was local. By correspondence and powerful articles to the press, he began to stir up the country in a manner which soon made his name familiar to every household. He realized that the thirteen colonies needed to be united under one strong central government The form of government which he had in mind was an aristocratic or oligarchic republic. (2) Many of his ideas did not make it in the government.
Trouble in New York would have gone from bad to worse and the only hope for organization would have been for a dictator and his army to restore order. From anarchy to good government was due more to Alexander Hamilton than any other single man in the thirteen colonies.
Under the new constitution, Washington was elected President of the United States in September of 1789. He also appointed Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury.
Hamilton's administration of the Treasury is one of the noblest part of history. He recommended the decimal system and applied it to our money. He urged a fiscal policy which should aid home manufacturers. He supported many methods which after years, have proven to be very wise.
In 1795, he resigned form the Treasury. He resumed the practice of the law, in a few months his practice was upon the old basis.
Quick resent what he regarded as a totally wrong action, he made unnecessary attacks and created needless enmities.
On July 12, 1804 Hamilton fell in a duel with Aaron Burr. A duel with guns was one legal way to settle an argument.
Of the Revolutionary leaders a majority are forgotten. Time gently lays them away in the veiled recesses of oblivion. Hamilton will always remain the American pantheon, a brilliant soldier, a fine jurist, an eminent writer, a great statesman and an ideal patriot. (3)
The World Book Enc. A World Book , child craft International Inc. USA, 1978.
History of the American Nation. The Builders of Republic by John Lord, LL.D.,1994.
The US. Congress by Don Nardo. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1994.
Soul of America (Documenting Our Past) 1492-1974. Edited by Robert C. Baron. Fulcrum Inc. Golden, Colorado, 1989.
End Notes
(1) Tory: an English political party. After 1688 the Tories comprised mainly of country gentry who were closely identified with the Church of England. Later after a reform bill of 1832 the Tory party became known as the conservative party. - Concise Columbia Encyclopedia 1989.
(2) Similar to the British form of government. e.g.. House of Lords, House of Commons, Prime Minister and Royal family.
(3) History of the American Nation, Vol. 8, Pg. 2334. John Lord, LL.D.
Copy: Original, no edits. Formatting changes.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11, 1757. He was born on a British island of Nevis in the Caribbean Sea.
He came to America for education and to get ahead in life. Mostly for a college education. He needed at least a year of study before he knew enough Greek, Latin and mathematics. Getting that extra education proved no problem.
In July 1774 at a mass meeting against the attitude of the Tory (1) majority, Hamilton made his very important speech. This speech among many was to influence the political view of many people.
Alexander Hamilton also wrote some articles for the newspaper that also turned attention to him. One of his articles was called "The Federalist Papers." This was one article that influenced people to consider a constitution.
During the time of 1780 - 1787 he was married to Elizabeth Shuyler. She was the daughter of General Phillips.
In the summer of 1782 he passed his examination of law and was admitted to the bar. In practice there were many members of the bar who were perhaps better or greater in technical knowledge , but when it came to philosophy of law he was easily one of the best lawyers in the Empire City. He liked the technical side of the jury system better than the law itself. In June 1782 he was also appointed "Receiver of Taxes" and elected a member of congress in that same year.
Between 1783 and 1784, Hamilton fought against the Tories. At one time it looked as if the Colonies were going to be torn out like the South American Republics. They made civilization so slow and incomplete.
Alexander Hamilton was against the slow process of creating a system that was ineffective like that of the countries of South America and fought this with all his ability and strength. He brought down the hatred of the mob and of the prejudice. But he won the esteem of the thoughtful and upright.
In 1786 Hamilton took up the memorable struggle of good government against anarchy. The outlook of the time was very pitiable. The thirteen colonies had changed into thirteen bankrupt and discredited communities. In every state there were symptoms of tearing apart into still smaller political units. At many points men begun to arm themselves for protection against there neighbors. For the time being was toward chaos similar to what occurred after the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Hamilton attacked these conditions with almost irresistible fury. He devoted enough of his time to law to supply the wants of his family and all the rest of his time was devoted to his people.
Hamilton carried on a campaign that was local. By correspondence and powerful articles to the press, he began to stir up the country in a manner which soon made his name familiar to every household. He realized that the thirteen colonies needed to be united under one strong central government The form of government which he had in mind was an aristocratic or oligarchic republic. (2) Many of his ideas did not make it in the government.
Trouble in New York would have gone from bad to worse and the only hope for organization would have been for a dictator and his army to restore order. From anarchy to good government was due more to Alexander Hamilton than any other single man in the thirteen colonies.
Under the new constitution, Washington was elected President of the United States in September of 1789. He also appointed Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury.
Hamilton's administration of the Treasury is one of the noblest part of history. He recommended the decimal system and applied it to our money. He urged a fiscal policy which should aid home manufacturers. He supported many methods which after years, have proven to be very wise.
In 1795, he resigned form the Treasury. He resumed the practice of the law, in a few months his practice was upon the old basis.
Quick resent what he regarded as a totally wrong action, he made unnecessary attacks and created needless enmities.
On July 12, 1804 Hamilton fell in a duel with Aaron Burr. A duel with guns was one legal way to settle an argument.
Of the Revolutionary leaders a majority are forgotten. Time gently lays them away in the veiled recesses of oblivion. Hamilton will always remain the American pantheon, a brilliant soldier, a fine jurist, an eminent writer, a great statesman and an ideal patriot. (3)
Bibliography
The World Book Enc. A World Book , child craft International Inc. USA, 1978.
History of the American Nation. The Builders of Republic by John Lord, LL.D.,1994.
The US. Congress by Don Nardo. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1994.
Soul of America (Documenting Our Past) 1492-1974. Edited by Robert C. Baron. Fulcrum Inc. Golden, Colorado, 1989.
End Notes
(1) Tory: an English political party. After 1688 the Tories comprised mainly of country gentry who were closely identified with the Church of England. Later after a reform bill of 1832 the Tory party became known as the conservative party. - Concise Columbia Encyclopedia 1989.
(2) Similar to the British form of government. e.g.. House of Lords, House of Commons, Prime Minister and Royal family.
(3) History of the American Nation, Vol. 8, Pg. 2334. John Lord, LL.D.
Report on Dante
Date Written: December 23, 1993
Copy: Minor spelling edits.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is Italy's greatest poet and also one of the towering figures in western European literature. He is best known for his monumental epic poem La cammedia later named La divina commedia (Tha Divine Comedy). In addition to poetry Dante wroe important theoretical works . He was born in 1265 under the sign of Gemini and remained devoted to his native city all his life. He fought as a cavalryman against the Ghibellines, a banished Florentine party supporting the imperial cause. He also speaks of his great teacher Brunetto Latini and his gifted friend Guido Cavalcanti. His distant ancestors were descendants of the Roman soldiers who settled along the banks of the Arno.
Dante has little to say about his more immediate family. There is no mention off his father or mother, brother or sister in The Divine Comedy. A sister is possibly referred to in the Vita nuova, and his father is the subject on insulting sonnets exchanged in jest between Dante and his friend Forese Donati. Dante's mother died when he was young certainly before he was 14 Her name was Bella, but of which family is unknown. Dante's father then married Lapa di Chiarissim Cialuffi, they had a son Francesco, and a daughter, Geitana. Dante's father died prior to 1283. Dante married Gemma Donati in 1277.
Dante's life was shaped by the long history of conflict between the imperial and papal partisans called, respectably, Ghibellines and Guelf. Dante grew up in a city brimming with postwar pride and expansionism, eager to extend its political control throughout Tuscany. Florentines compared themselves with Rome and the civilization of the ancient city-states. In the Inferno Dante describes his encounter with his great teacher. The teacher instilled in him that he was to put their knowledge and skill as writer to the service of their city or country. Dante accepted that man is a social (political) being.
Dante was endowed with remarkable intellectual and aesthetic self-confidence. by the time he was 18 he had already thought himself the art of making verse. His first poem was Vita nuova. He wrote his first book in Italian rather than Latin. Dante was to make one of the first great Renaissance defenses of the vernacular.
The Vita nuova was a 42 chapters with commentaries on 25 sonnets. One ballata, and four cansoni. which was written about his friend, Beatrice. The story is simple enough, telling of Dante's first sight of Beatrice when both are nine years of age. Dante concealed his love for her. He writes about the death of Beatrice and how he mourned for her. He was determined to write about her like no other woman had been written about.
Dante's years of exile were years of difficult peregrinations from one place to another. as he says, ' bitter is the taste of another man's bead and...heavy the way up and down another man's stair." Throughout his exile, Dante was sustained by work on his great poem, possibly begun prior to 1308 and completed just before his death in 1312. In his final years Dante was received honorably in many noble houses, i the north of Italy, most notably by Guido Novello da Polenta, the nephew of the remarkable Francesca, in Favenna. There at his death Dante was given an honorable burial attended by the leading men of letter of the time, and the funeral oration was delivered by Guido himself.
The plot of the Divine Someday is simple, a man, generally assumed to be Dante himself, is miraculously enabled to undertake a ultra mundane journey, which leads him to bisect the souls in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. He has two guides. Virgil, who leads him through the Inferno and Purgatorio, and Beatrice, who introduces him to Paradiso. Through these fictional encounter, taking place from Good Friday evening in 1300 through Easter Sunday and slightly beyond. Dante learns of the exile that is awaiting him. This device allowed Dante not only to create a story out of his pending exile by also to explain the means by which he came to cope with hiss personal calamity and to offer suggestions for the resolution of Italy's troubles as well. Thus, the exile of an individual becomes a microcown of the problems of a country, and it also becomes representative of the fall of man.
Dante's Divine Comedy is a poem that has flourished for more than 650 years. Like Shakespeare, Dante created universal types from historical figures, and in so doing he considerably enhanced the treasury of modern myth.
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