Online lesson 5

Questions
a. When and how did slavery begin in the southern US states?
b. Which country were the slaves primarily brought from?
c. Who traditionally bought and owned the slaves?
d. What were the laws/rules that the slaves had to abide by?
e. Were slaves considered "people" under the law? If not, how did slaveowners see them?
f. How does the notion of slavery relate to TKAM? Does the study of slavery help you understand the novel better?

Answers
1a) Slavery started in the southern US state in year 1638. It started when trade went on between the African companies and the English. Slaves were need to do hard labour for example, in farms.

1b) Slaves were brought from Africa the the Untied States.

1c) The British people were the first to buy slaves but first-century Romans were the first to own slaves

1d) Slaves was outside the protection of common law, they are also not allowed to go against whites and their owners or try to run away (escape). In the past it was allowed for the owner to kill the slave.

1e) Slaves were not considered as “people” as they did not have any human rights. In the past, It was also legal for owners to kill their slaves. The slaves that refused to obey their masters were treated badly and they might be killed as they was not under the protection of the law. Slave-owners see slaves as animals or “free” workers. They are among the lowest standards of servants and they serve their owners till they die, and everything regarding the slaves are controlled by their owners.

1f) The blacks are not seen as human. The whites think that blacks are uneducated and have no integrity. As for slavery, the slaves were also not treated and seen as humans. The owners treat the slaves like animals, ordering them to do many hard jobs and subjecting the slaves to violence. The slaves were punished for not working fast enough, and some were even murdered. Many slaves were separated from their family forcefully and could not resist. This is almost the same treatment of the blacks from the whites in TKAM. For example, whenever the whites fight with the blacks in court, the white would surely win no matter how much evidence the black has, like the case of Tom Robinson.

Reflections
What I have discovered in this exercise is quite similar to the events in Mississippi Burning. Our group topic is about slavery, it seems that the way slaves are treated and the way blacks were treated in Mississippi Burning were very similar. The slaves in the US during the past, were all blacks and were not considered “humans”. They did not have any human rights. Slaves in the past were as good as animals, the slave-owner could do anything to them even murder them. In Mississippi Burning, the whites could just attack the blacks anytime they wanted to and never got arrested for it. Even the policemen who saw blacks being beaten up did not do anything to stop it. This was similar to how it was legal for whites to kill blacks in Mississippi Burning. I feel this is not fair at all for the slaves and blacks for they were being discriminated just by their skin colour.

News story in Reading period

I read an article about the nuclear plants in Japan. The story was well, reported as I could understand what had happened to the nuclear plants in Japan. The article told me about what happened to the nuclear plants, possibly how it happened. It covered most of the information that I wanted to know. I hoped it covered the dangers posted by the nuclear plants, as I wanted to know if the radiation would harm many people.

What Singaporeans can learn from recent Japanese Earthquake

I feel that the recent Japanese earthquake has taught us most importantly to appreciate the safety of Singapore. Singapore has not been struck by many natural disasters compared to other countries, we should never take our safety in our country for granted. I feel that the way the Japanese reacted to the earthquake was exceptional. Even though, the earthquake was so massive, killed so many people and destroyed so many homes. The Japanese were calm and did all they could to take care of one another. I really respect them for their reaction to the earthquake. I think if Singapore were ever in this situation, the country would be so haywire. We, Singaporeans might not be able to handle such a huge situation. So I feel that everyone will try to help Japan in any way or another so that they can recover quickly from this earthquake.

What is literature to me

Literature to me is like a type of work that analyzes things. An example is when we try to find out the meaning in a poem. We use literature to understand more about what the poet is trying to tell us. Literature is useful when we need to try and figure out hidden messages in poems, stories or books. I feel literature needs some critical thinking as we need to think literally to understand what the author or poet is trying to say.
I have learned literature in school last year and I felt it was very enriching be able to use literature to find the meanings within a poem. I think literature will be used in the future so I feel we should try to learn more about literature.

reflections on CIP on founder's day

I felt that the CIP yesterday was very fun and new to me. We brought a group of old folks from New Horizon to Jurong Point. We brought them for breakfast at McDonald's, I noticed most of them ate the pancakes I guess it was easier to eat than a Muffin. We talked to them as they ate and I could see that they were happy to know that we brought them out. The old folks don't go out often so bringing them out is brightens their day. It was a good experience as we got to interact with them. I learnt how to be patient with the old folks as they might forget what they said. I feel that just a simple task of bringing the old folks out can be make their day as this made them feel that we care about them. I really hope that we will have this type of CIP in the future.