SW3

=**Technology of WWI**= = = Technology played a very pivotal role in [|WWI]. Weapon technology, the miracle and curse that it may be, was very important in the outcome of the war. WWI introduced many [|new technologies] to both the military and civilian life. The technologies used in the war had unique capabilities that helped both sides in their conquest. Many of these technologies have evolved, even being used by our military today. Some of the electronics that we enjoy today such as the iPod, the Radio, and even our commercial airplanes are all products of WWI technologies. Also, sadly, these technologies have evolved into even more dangerous and destructive weapons, such as nuclear warheads and bombs. Technological advancements in WWI such as [|machine guns], [|tanks], [|airplanes], and blimps helped change the landscape of modern war today by creating great advantages, disadvantages, and strategies among combatants.

**Advantages of Technology**
Technology in the war brought many advantages to the different armies. It made killing enemies, clearing battlefields, and acquiring territories much easier. Also, it made the other armies nervous of what was next to come. They wouldn’t be able to guess if an air strike was coming, artillery, or poison gas. [|Shells] would drop from miles away, airplanes would fly inbound for attacks, and tanks would slowly make their way through no man’s land unscathed. The new technology kept the element of surprise at large and useful. The technology being introduced during WWI changed war, making fights even more complicated than ever before. British Admiral Jacky Fisher wrote, “The war is going to be won by inventions.” Those involved in the war also knew that technology would have a heavy impact on the war, but no one knew it would be so pivotal.

**Disadvantages of Technology**
Though having many advantages, there were many disadvantages to acquiring new technologies. For one, there was a great chance that the enemy might steal technology and enhance it for their own purposes. Enemies also developed new dangerous technologies that they uses in the war, specifically the Germans and their “[|Unterseeboots]”. They were the only country to acquire this new destructive technology, taking advantage of the fact that they were the only ones with the technology. Along with the manipulation and the destructive properties of these new technologies, many lives were lost. Technologically, great strides had been made in just about every area that might come into play during war.” But the costs had been dear, and the end only temporary. Deaths from “The Great War” have been estimated at 10,000,000, and the end of the war”.( WWI Virtual museum )

**Strategies**
As the war progressed, with new technologies in use, strategies among combatants had to adapt to the new weaponry and begun using new strategies not only to win, but also to survive. War changed dramatically because of the new weaponry. No longer would war mean standing in lines and marching towards our enemy, hoping not to get hit with a bullet. Now war had a lot to do with taking cover in craters, anything you could find. War was made a lot more hellish because of these new, dangerous weapons. Submarines made it even harder for blockades, one of the most effective and old strategies, to work because of their ability to move undetected. Electric power turned guns and turrets and raised ammunition from the magazines up to the guns. Searchlights--both incandescent and carbon-arc --became vital for nighttime navigation, for long-range daytime signaling, and for illuminating enemy ships in night engagements.

**Effects today**
Today, we have completely evolved all of these WWI technologies. We have made great strides in warfare technology. I believe that we have come a very long way .We have transformed wooden framed airplanes into full-fledged F-16 falcons, iron tanks that move 4 mph into T-43 armored tanks with RPG launchers. Some of these new technologies were very dangerous, but some of them weren’t a threat at all, just psychological warfare on infantry, to scare them. Technology since WWI has truly developed into more useful, dangerous, and sophisticated weaponry. They may be used for Warfare or recreation. These new gadgets, weapons, and vehicles prove how far mankind has come since their first debut in WWI. Memories act as both a help and a hinderance to the success of someone. Many people advise you to learn from the past and apply those memories so that you can effectively succeed by avoiding repeating your past mistakes. On the other hand, people who get too caught up with the past are unable to move on to the future.

Elie Wiesel's memoir Night perfectly exemplifies the double nature of memories. Wiesel, a Jewish man, suffered heavily throughout the Holocaust and Night is rife with horrific descriptions of his experience. These memories help to spread the view of what life was like. Through recounting these memories, Wiesel is able to educate world readers about the atrocities committed in hopes that the same blatant violations of human rights are never repeated again. Through reliving the Holocaust through his writing, Wiesel was inspired to become proactive in the battle for civil rights. Some would point to his peaceful actions and the sales of his book and label him a success.

Despite the importance of recounting such memories, Wiesel acknowledges the damage that memories can also cause. Following his liberation from the Auschwitz concentration camp, Wiesel was a bitter, jaded man. He could not even write Night until several years later. The end of the novel describes Wiesel's gradual but absolute loss of faith throughout the experience. His past experiences haunted him for several years, rendering him passive. It was not until he set aside his past that he could even focus on the future. Had he remained so consumed with the pain and damage caused in the past, he may never have achieved the success that he has attained.

Overall, Wiesel's experiences exemplify the importance of the past as a guide. Wiesel's past experiences helped to guide him in later life, but it was not until he pushed them aside that he could move on. To me this means that you should rely on your past without letting it control you. Allow your past to act as a guide, while making sure that you are also living in the present and looking to the future.

This essay is at about a 4 because of the repetition of certain aspects of the essay. The Writer continually repeats how you must not let the pas control you. a Reasonable amount of grammar was used, but all in all, i felt that the essay was lacking in real depth. sentence structure was good, mechanics were good, but I could have used a little more about what wiesel went through and why he was such an inspiration.

=Baseball in the 1920's=

Introduction
In 1927, as the United States continued its return to normalcy after their involvement in the Great War almost a decade earlier, it was a time when President Calvin Coolidge was trying to run the country very quietly, literally. Business dominated the headlines, as corporations were making enormous profits, the economy was booming, the stock market was excellent, and America was very prosperous. On top of it all, Prohibition was the law of the land, an amendment introduced to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, but instead of control, the law actually had the opposite effect; as it proliferated the illegal production and distribution of liquor, and giving birth to a dangerous business. Soon after Prohibition had gone into effect women gained the right to vote, and armed with a carefree lifestyle and attitude, and as the “Jazz Age” engulfed the nation, the “flappers” were born. Tying it all together, the “Roaring ‘20s” were in full swing.

Golden age of sports
Another characterization also surfaced that would accurately describe the era, “The Golden Age of Sports”, as the nation was truly embracing athletics on an epic scale. After the awfulness of the Great War the nation was hungry for heroes, and almost just as suddenly, they had stars to worship in almost every sport, and fans were even infatuated with a thoroughbred named Man o’ War, a horse many considered to be the greatest ever. Baseball was one of the most lucrative and profitable sports that was played in the 1920’s. It had many leagues, players, and teams that loved the sport and were very good at it. And during the 1920’s the game of baseball had many events unfold. Examples are Murderer’s row, the Yankees’ absolutely unbeatable 1927 batting lineup, The curse of he bambino, the trade of Babe Ruth to the Yankees, and the Black socks scandal, where 8 White socks players were paid $100,000 each to purposely lose the world series in a gambling stunt. Baseball was and still is the U.S.A’s national past-time.

Baseball milestones
Baseball was needed to restore national moral when the great depression hit the United States. It was quite as lucrative, but for those who couldn’t afford to make games, they started broadcasting games on the new invention, the radio. Baseball was a way for Americans to forget about their worries and just relax from the hell that was the great depression. During this time, baseball was at a golden age. The “dead ball era” came to and end around 1920 because of big hitting players such as Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Ty Cobb. It was called the Dead ball era because every game there was only one ball that was in play the whole game. Because batters relied on singles and doubles to get to bases during that time, not many players had the skill

[[image:http://tiger.towson.edu/users/jturi1/1927Yankees.jpg width="259" height="259" align="left" caption="The 1927 Yankees "]]
needed to hit home runs. And during the golden age of baseball, the sport really flourished. Many games were played, records were set, fans were satisfied, and fortunes were made.

In conclusion, the 1920’s were either really “swell” if you were rich, or very hard to get through if you were poor. The rich were the ones who mostly went to baseball games, especially those who made their fortunes off gambling at games. The poor could attend games, or if they couldn’t afford it, they could listen to the game on he radio. I think that without the “golden age” of baseball, the 1920’s and the game would have been a lot different. Babe Ruth would never have made himself a legend, the Yankees wouldn’t have won so many championships, and baseball would probably have been the same as it was in the Dead ball era. Baseball was one of the things that helped Americans make it through the Great Depression by giving baseball fans a release from their stressful,work filled lives.

=Francisco Francomedia type="youtube" key="1z1sx4tcc3A" width="425" height="350"= Francisco Franco was the Dictator of Spain from his military takeover in 1939 until he died in 1975. He was a very just ruler, who had meetings with other dictators such as Germany’s Hitler and Italy’s [|Mussolini.] Though he had met and congregated with these leaders, most of the people he met with felt that he was a very unpleasant man to be around. Francisco Franco came to power in 1939 when he lead the rebellion against Spanish parliament. With limited help from Hitler and Mussolini, the rebellion was successful, and Parliament was dissolved, making Franco dictator of Spain. He wanted to stay mostly neutral during [|WWII]. He only allowed a small unit of volunteers called, “ The Blue Division” to help during the war. Thought having met with people such as Mussolini and Hitler, Franco had a strong alliance with the US because of his anti-communism views. Franco was focused on Spanish nationalism, imperial aspirations, centralism and traditional values. After WWII, Spain suffered from the economic consequences of its isolation from the international community. This situation ended in part when, due to Spain's strategic location in light of [|Cold War] tensions, the [|United States] entered into a trade and military alliance with Spain.

=HSPA student draft=

Picture Prompt You Will have 30 minutes to complete the writing task. Take a Few Minutes to think about the task and to plan what you want to say before you begin to write. You may use the prewriting/planning space to plan your text, but your prewriting will not be scored. **Only your writing on the lined pages of your answer sheet will be scored.** Do your best to make your writing clear and well organized. Keep your purpose in mind as your write and use your checklist. You must use a No. 2 pencil. You may either print or write your final copy. You may //not// use a dictonary or any other reference materials during the test. However, you may use the Writer's Checklist. If you finish before the time is called, review what you have written using the Writer's Checklist to read critically and improve what you have written
 * Directions:** Today you are going to take part of the High School Proficiency Assessment for Language Arts Literacy. The assessment contains different types of text and different activities. In the first part of the test, you will look at a picture and then complete a writing task. In this activity, you have an opportunity to demonstrate how well you can organize and express your ideas in written text. Refer to the Writer's Checklist of important points to remember as you write. Educators who read your writing will consider these important points when they read and score your writing.



The next part of the test will require you to analyze and answer the questions following the narrative. Use the writer's checklist if you get stuck on a question. **Be specific.**

Part of President Obama's Inaugural speech
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.

It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died in places Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

Persuasive passage responses:

1. What Exactly is President Obama trying to get the American People to do? Is he being positive or negative with his approach?

President Obama’s speech is a very powerful one; it has a very powerful message that is clearly visible. The message he is trying to send is that the people of America must never take the easy path. He says “we understand that greatness is never a given”, meaning the America will not recover if people try to take short cuts to rebuilding it. We must work as hard as we always have towards rebuilding our nation. Obama Project a very positive approach towards rebuilding the nation. His last statement says “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America”; he wants to lift the spirits of the American people to work towards creating a Greater Nation.

2. If you were the President and you were presented with the same problems Obama faces, what would you do, how would you handle it? If I were the president of the United States I would do my best to rebuild confidence the people of the United States. It is very obvious that not all the power lies within the hands of the president, but it lies with the hands the American work force. The people of America need to know that the reconstruction of the nation is very possible. The only way to lift the people’s spirit’s would be through Emotional speeches and truthful propaganda. I would have to express a lot of emotion into these public statements instead of facts and numbers. It would take a lot of work to reconstruct, and it would not be possible for just one man.

The next part of the test will require you to analyze and answer the questions following the narrative. Use the writer's checklist if you get stuck on a question. **Be specific.**

//From// "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu"
The afternoon grew so glowering that in the sixth inning the arc lights were turned on--always a wan sight in the daytime, like the burning headlights of a funeral procession. Aided by the gloom, Fisher was slicing through the Sox rookies, and Williams did not come to bat in the seventh. He was second up in the eighth. This was almost certainly his last time to come to the plate in Fenway Park, and instead of merely cheering, as we had at his three previous appearances, we stood, all of us, and applauded. I had never before heard pure applause in a ballpark. No calling, no whistling, just an ocean of handclaps, minute after minute, burst after burst, crowding and running together in continuous succession like the pushes of surf at the edge of the sand. It was a sombre and considered tumult. There was not a boo in it. It seemed to renew itself out of a shifting set of memories as the Kid, the Marine, the veteran of feuds and failures and injuries, the friend of children, and the enduring old pro evolved down the bright tunnel of twenty-two summers toward this moment. At last, the umpire signalled for Fisher to pitch; with the other players, he had been frozen in position. Only Williams had moved during the ovation, switching his bat impatiently, ignoring everything except his cherished task. Fisher wound up, and the applause sank into a hush. Understand that we were a crowd of rational people. We knew that a home run cannot be produced at will; the right pitch must be perfectly met and luck must ride with the ball. Three innings before, we had seen a brave effort fail. The air was soggy, the season was exhausted. Nevertheless, there will always lurk, around the corner in a pocket of our knowledge of the odds, an indefensible hope, and this was one of the times, which you now and then find in sports, when a density of expectation hangs in the air and plucks an event out of the future. Fisher, after his unsettling wait, was wide with the first pitch. He put the second one over, and Williams swung mightily and missed. The crowd grunted, seeing that classic swing, so long and smooth and quick, exposed. Fisher threw the third time, Williams swung again, and there it was. The ball climbed on a diagonal line into the vast volume of air over center field. From my angle, behind third base, the ball seemed less an object in flight than the tip of a towering, motionless construct, like the Eiffel Tower or the Tappan Zee Bridge. It was in the books while it was still in the sky. Brandt ran back to the deepest corner of the outfield grass, the ball descended beyond his reach and struck in the crotch where the bullpen met the wall, bounced chunkily, and vanished. Like a feather caught in a vortex, Williams ran around the square of bases at the center of our beseeching screaming. He ran as he always ran out home runs--hurriedly, unsmiling, head down, as if our praise were a storm of rain to get out of. He didn’t tip his cap. Though we thumped, wept, and chanted "We want Ted" for minutes after he hid in the dugout, he did not come back. Our noise for some seconds passed beyond excitement into a kind of immense open anguish, a wailing, a cry to be saved. But immortality is nontransferable. The papers said that the other players, and even the umpires on the field, begged him to come out and acknowledge us in some way, but he refused. Gods do not answer letters.
 * by John Updike**

Narrative Passage responses:

1. What is the article about? How does the author capture the moment of the true depth of the event? This article is about the famous baseball player’s, Ted Williams, last at bat before retirement. He describes every little detail from the unusual reaction of the fans to the bright glow of the lights. He captures the moment using very poetic symbolism thrown into various form of grammatical writing. He also describes the unison of everyone in the stadium during the applause by saying “we stood, all of us, and applauded. I had never before heard pure applause in a ballpark. No calling, no whistling, just an ocean of handclaps, minute after minute, burst after burst, crowding and running together in continuous succession like the pushes of surf at the edge of the sand. It was a sombre and considered tumult. There was not a boo in it. It seemed to renew itself out of a shifting set of memories as the Kid, the Marine, the veteran of feuds and failures and injuries, the friend of children, and the enduring old pro evolved down the bright tunnel of twenty-two summers toward this moment”, showing his ability to put pure emotion into his writing by simply recording every little detail of the moment.

2. How does the author portray Williams' last at bat? What are some of the things the author describes happening?

The author portrays William’s last at bat through pure emotional writing and poetic symbolism. His description of the applause is a perfect example of both he describes it as “ as ocean of handclaps” showing the calm feeling he received as if though he were by the standing by the water’s edge. He takes the time to make sure the reader takes in every detail of the moment to generate his or her own feeling of what is happening. Another thing he describes is the motion of the ball as it soars away for a home run. It looked as though it were “the tip of the Eiffel tower” slowly getting smaller until it disappeared. He generates a feeling of hop within the readers of his story. The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey Newton in the 1960's and was an organization that was made to help with civil rights movements and give african americans rights. they did usual civil rights stuff like sit ins and boycotts.

=Hippies=

[|Hippies] were usually younger, mostly teenagers and college students, and began to appear during the late 60’s early 70’s. They were peace loving people, who had made their lifestyle based solely on their spiritual vitality. [|The hippy nation] responded to ongoing world events which they thought to be obsolescent, by becoming hippies. They thought that the mainstream culture was to materialistic and wanted more peace and loving in their communities and more freedom to do WHATEVER they wanted.

Hippies were avid [|drugs] users and often had sex, even a couple times a day. Hippies were infamous for using Acid, the new drug in the 70’s. while they were “ tripping”, they felt that they let their message be known more, feeling good is ecstasy to them, and was true inner peace. The aspects of[|peace,][|love, spiritual awakening], and communal values were often advocated. Acts of protest took the form of free concerts and experimentation with mind-expanding drugs. The few advantages of living this lifestyle were being able to be happy for a short while, while being “ at peace with nature” and the ability to have a more open mind about things. But the few advantages were greatly outweighed by the disadvantages. Disadvantages included financial difficulties, multiple arrests for drug use, discrimination by multiple people, including the police, and hygienic problems.

Remnants of hippie culture still exist today. For example, we still have bell bottom pants. Also, we still have the peace symbol, which many people still use to signify their peaceful ways and ambitions. Also, hippies have made TV better, because of some of the funny parodies and TV sitcoms that use hippies as jokes. People acknowledge hippy culture, but some of them might like to laugh at it because, in my opinion, it was ridiculous and the fact that they thought technology and modern life was not spiritual is stupid.

http://www.nriol.com/immigration/usa-immigration-facts.asp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEedZJka1HQ

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/citizenship_questions.html