Semester II Final

1. Before doing any research, I would except to see names such as John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and Abraham Lincoln at the top of a list of presidents sorted by popularity. I could expect to see someone like Donald Trump at the bottom of said list. 

PART A (1-8)

Without researching this topic, I predict the three most highly ranked presidents in US history will be John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and Abraham Lincoln and the worst might be Donald Trump.

2. Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt have consistently been identified as the top four presidents of the US. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman are in fifth and sixth place, meaning that they could have switched from fourth to fifth, as Theodore has consistently placed fourth in each survey.

3. I have observed that this survey is only accurate until 2017. This also made me notice that because of this time frame, Donald Trump would be excluded from this list. I noticed that Abraham Lincoln took the first spot, so my guess about him most likely being one of the most popular presidents would be correct.

4. The participants in this survey all seem to be highly educated because of the fact that their schools are listed below their names. Most of them seem to have some political background or interest, which would allow for a more accurate survey. C-SPAN most likely included this information so that those looking at the results could know that they came from a reliable and academic source. If those who were surveyed were not politically educated, the survey would not be accurate because those who were participating would be persuaded my the media and their opinions would likely not be their own. 

5. The presidents were ranked by the following categories: 
Public Persuasion
Crisis Leadership
Economic Management
Moral Authority
International Relations
Administrative Skills
Relations with Congress
Vision/ Setting an Agenda
Pursued Equal Justice for All
Performance Within Context of Times

6. No, this criteria was weighted evenly and the categories were all worth the same amount of points. 

7. My top three categories would be economic management, international relations, and public persuasion. I believe these would be the most important quality because these things are what makes a president great. I would make these categories weigh more than the others because they allow for financial stability, safety in potential warfare, and a satisfied nation overall.

8. My initial predictions somewhat matched the C-SPAN data. My predictions for the most highly rated presidents were somewhat accurate, with all of them being near the top of the list but not at the very top, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln. I believe they were somewhat accurate because I know just enough about presidents to know if they are vaguely liked or disliked, but I do not know enough to know this in great detail. I cannot compare my predictions for lowest rated because my choice for this was not recent enough to make the list. 

PART B (9-10)

 "On March 16 we celebrate the anniversary of James Madison's birthday. Madison, traditionally viewed as the Father of the United States Constitution, is also seen by many as a defender of open government. He once wrote, "[a] popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps, both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." In a similar vein, he asserted that "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge" is "the only Guardian of true liberty."

9. Many believe James Madison was only the father of the constitution, but he also defended the idea of having an open government. Madison once wrote that a popular government must have popular information, or it will precede a tragedy. He states that knowledge will always rule over ignorance, and says that if you wish to govern yourself, you must "arm (your)selves with the power which knowledge gives". He also states that the only thing that can guard liberty is "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge".  

" . . . [K]nowledge of our own history is essential in the making of Americans. The reasons for this belief may be summed up under four main heads. History makes loyal citizens because memories of common experiences and common aspirations are essential ingredients in patriotism. History makes intelligent voters because sound decisions about present problems must be based on knowledge of the past. History makes good neighbors because it teaches tolerance of individual differences and appreciation of varied abilities and interests. History makes stable, well-rounded individuals because it gives them a start toward understanding the pattern of society and toward enjoying the artistic and intellectual productions of the past. It gives long views, a perspective, a measure of what is permanent in a nation’s life. "

10a. These perspectives are compatible to a certain point, but the statement from American History Association goes much more into depth about why knowledge of our history is important. Madison simply stated the importance of knowledge in general, without going into depth about what it specifically was important for. AHA states that knowledge of our history allows for citizens to have common aspirations, make decisions based on events in the past, understand the ability of tolerance towards others, and this allows for well-rounded individuals and citizens that have this understanding. This two quotes are mainly similar because of the final sentence in Madison's quote. "...the advancement and diffusion of knowledge" is "the only Guardian of true liberty". Both authors would agree with this quote because they are both making a similar point about how the only hope for our nation is that we remember our past and be knowledgable about it because this will help our nation in its future endeavors.

10b. I believe that I appreciate both statements, but I find the quote by the American History Association to be much more powerful and moving. The way it goes very into depth about why it is very important to have this knowledge, unlike the writing done by James Madison. This is why I am more easily persuaded by the AHA's quote. I believe that many Americans can easily understand the meaning of this quote, and it could persuade them to become more educated about the history of our nation. I believe this because it affected me and made me believe that I should know more about our history and be able to understand our past more in depth.

PART C (11-15)

11. I have grown so much as a researcher this year because of all the research I have had to do. I've learned to be able to use academic sources, and more casual sources when appropriate. I've learned how to do large amounts of research in an efficient way, and takes good notes that are easy to read through and reference in my projects and writing. This skills have been enhanced because of how much I have had to use them this year in this class. This is evident to me because when I go back and look at my past work in my blog, I can see strong improvements in my writing, citations, use of sources and many more things. I've learned the ability of paraphrasing and I have learned to be extra careful to conduct my research without accidentally plagiarizing, because it can be very easy to do so. All of these important skills have been very beneficial to me, and I believe that they will continue to help me throughout my high school and college careers.

12. Out of all five posts for this project, I am most proud of my menu. I am proud of it because I spent lots of time on it not only because it was time-consuming, but because I genuinely enjoyed it. The creativity allowed with this process was really fun for me and I liked how this project wasn't conventional and allowed for us to all have very different responses to the requirements for the project. I was proud of my work on this portion of the project because I like to believe that I responded with a unique idea and menu. I did lots of research on Jackie Kennedy's diet because it was so interesting to me. I was able to find what she ate nearly every day and this allowed for me to have a very accurate and interesting menu. I think that the items I chose represented Jackie well, as well as the time period during which she was the First Lady. I also attempted to include some symbolism in the foods I chose to include in this blog post. These are many reasons why I am the most proud of my work on the menu I posted on my blog for this project.

13. I have chosen to use Ella Jane's blog as my example of excellent work in this class. I chose her exhibit post because it was very well-thought out and interesting. Ella Jane's inventiveness made her blog stand out to me more than those of my other peers. I was immediately impressed by this post when I first opened it and saw her first paragraph. She was very creative and thought outside of the box with the post because she made it seem like an actual exhibit, complete with the narration of a guide. This unique way of doing this exhibit makes it seem more real and it shows that she put more effort into it than just posting in her photos with captions. The items in her exhibit were also very interesting, and she provided unique insight to why those items are important and relevant enough to be used in a real exhibit on this topic. I believe that Ella Jane did a great job on this post because her work made me very interested in the film she chose to focus on, and this is a sign that she succeeded with her work on this blog post and project as a whole.

14. In my experience in studying US History, I have learned very little about the Space Race and would love to learn more about it. I have always been interested in astronomy so I believe that I would be fascinated to learn more about it. I find it interesting that I never learned about this in depth because I believe that it is such a strong accomplishment in American history. In most of my studies about American history, I feel like I have learned a lot about America's beginning and not much about our recent history. This is why I believe that it would be interesting to learn about the Space Race because it is recent and relevant to our everyday lives considering the abilities of our modern technology.

15. 

The first image that I chose to use in this gallery is a photo of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although this was a horrific event that occurred, it led to the end of the war at America's hands. This would have been a morally difficult choice to make, but ultimately it saved many lives that could have potentially died if the war had continued any longer.

I chose to include this image of the declaration of independence in the exhibit. I believe that it exemplifies everything that is good about America. This shows that we were able to fight for our independence and this allowed for a free and safe nation.

I chose this image of man on the moon for the first and only time ever for the final image in this exhibit. I chose this image as the first in the exhibit because I believe that it is The United States' greatest accomplishment. We were the first country to send a man onto the surface of the moon, and this has still never been replicated or done again. This shows how triumphant our nation is because we have done something that no nation ever has.