Paloma

Paloma

The most interesting thing for me was the discussions re the mission statements ect. It was interesting to see what everyone else thought and discussing how our generation is one that is critical of everything. Also, the presentations on how to do a good presentations were helpful to remind myself about the important points that I had forgotten and it will be very beneficial for the official presentation.
 * What is the most interesting thing you have learned since the start of this class?**

I agreed with the general consent that the uwc values were much more welcoming and supportive than that of the ib mission statement, mainly because of the language that was used but also the layout of the text. I agreed with the points that followed in the discussion about our generation being critical of everything and it was interesting how the disscusion turned towards the audience's opinion rather than the actual text that we were looking at.
 * With which points made did you agree most (in relation to the discussion re mission statements / learner profile/ UWC values)?**

I kind of disagreed with jasn's comment about propaganda but also saw where his point was coming from. I didn't really disagree strongly with anything that was discussed.
 * With which points did you disagree most (in relation to the discussion re mission statements / learner profile / UWC values)?**

That I'm really enjoying english lit classes so far, and I'm looking forward to following it on fir the next two years.
 * Anything else you would like to tell us**


 * Setting of Beloved**

Beloved is set in 1873, but with frequent flashbacks to the the early 1850's. It had been a time of reconstruction, or a potential for reconstruction, where by the start of the War of 1815 the country lost it's eagerness to change. Slavery had been banned in most Northern states, yet the reconstruction era came to a halt before reaching many of the southern states. The country was in a split due to the depression after the war and many people losing their need for change. Slavery was still ongoing in the southern states, and many African Americans fled to the Northern states to escape the dreadful life and create a new one in the south, which is exactly what Sethe did in Beloved. Although they were counted a slave free states, there was still mixed feelings about these ex-slaves and many white families feared the growth of the black population, to which we see evident in Beloved. Throughout the book, excluding Amy, most white people are portrayed as racists, and she describes the hostility towards the black community and evidence of racism, Mr and Mrs Garner for example, even though the setting was officially a slave free state the mentality and hostility was still evident. The Revolutionary war managed to reduce the amount of black slaves in the north, leaving many slave owners with no power pushing the states to become 'free' states. The southern states were gaining international support and in a bid to join the two halves of the country the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was introduced. This meant that any runaway slaves in the north could be tracked down and brought back to their masters. This outrageous act explains how schoolteacher was able to seek out Sethe, and gives us more of an insight to the fear that the so called 'free' slaves must have felt every day even after they had supposedly left that life behind, and Morrison makes this clear to the reader by the act of Sethe's murder of Beloved, where she would rather her children dead than to live a life of slavery that she had experienced. When the story is written in present tense, 1873, there are many things that can be explained in the novel due to the end of the American Civil War. The Civil war was fought partly about the issue of slavery, the North opposing it as they lifestyle did not depend as much on it as they did in the south due to factories they owned and worked on. The south opposed the ban on slavery as their cotton and agricultural work depended on workers and slaves. There would have been a lot of tension in society after the war, even though it should have been and end to legal slavery, as community's mentality would still have been very racist and a fear of a black society growing. The presence of the Klu Klux Klan was a reflection of the white society's fear, and the violence used must have been evident in daily life, as we can see throughout the novel with Sethe and her family.