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Critical thinking
displays my thinking and problem solving skills, which help me to
contribute to solutions on the job. This is proof of my ability to think
creatively, use logical reasoning, and interpret information. Also it
displays my ability to recognize problems and identify facts, gathering
information needed to solve problems. I am able to evaluate and select
information to formulate the proper solutions to the problem.
Example 1:
In my American
Studies part of the 11th grade curriculum was to read The
Grapes Of Wrath written by John Steinbeck. When we finished the book we were instructed to pick from a
list of possible projects to do. I chose a diary project; the description of the project is as follows. Describe
the daily life of a farmer, sharecropper, or migrant worker from the first
person perspective (can be done orally on tape or in written form). Must
cover a period of at least three months. (Not every day must have a journal
entry). Minimum of 10 entries. You can incorporate drawings or
illustrations. Use the Grapes of Wrath as background material. One person. This project demonstrated my critical thinking because I needed
to go into character development; I needed to think of a way to put myself
in the place of a migrant girl during the dust bowl era. I had to research and then apply
dialogue and common situations and write them as a first person singular
perspective.
Here is the
project in its entirety:
Dear
Journal,
This is my first time in writing to you; Mama
saved up many scrapes of paper for me, and sewed you together. She bound
you in a calico cover and said that I should begin to write to you, cause
“talkin’ ‘ bout your problems doesn’t do much these days,” and it’s been
real sad here on the farm.
Papa Says that the wooden
singles on the roof are torn and tattered and that he wants to replace them
soon as he gets the money from selling what we have left on the farm. There
isn’t much coming up this year the corn didn’t grow so well, papa says that
we’re just havin’ a bad spell and that soon the corn will get healthier and
stronger, I sure hope so, cause all mama does these days is cry and clean
up a bit, and papa is in the field every day working and runnin’ his
fingers over the dirt hoping that one day the corn will just start poppin’
up. I hear Mama callin me to come
help her change the youngin’ so I suppose I’ll write to you again.
-Lots of love and
see you soon
Claire
Dear
Journal,
Today
I saw papa cry, it’s the first time that I could remember him acting this
way, Looking at the tears running down his dirt stained cheeks, he was tryin to hide it from me and Billy,
he’s my older brother, papas gotten so down and upset these days, he barely
goes out into the fields to work anymore and he is telling Billy and Paul
to tend to much of the farm lands, they go out and work real hard all day
long, while I stay home with mama, and help her change and care for little
Sarah. Sarah’s so cute she doesn’t
even really understand why everyone’s so down these days. I over heard papa
talking about California, He said to her that he thinks there will be more
jobs out there and perhaps he can get a job in a factory or another farm.
But I don’t wanna leave Okalahoma, like it here on the farm that Grandpa
built, and swimming’ in the pond come summer time, and fishin’ in the
creek. I like all these things and it’s not fair that we might be goin’, I
don’t understand it, we did so good the past few years sellin’ our corn to
the grocer in town, but now since we don’t have much corn we had to stack
the prices higher and not too many people wanna buy corn from the grocer or
the roadside stand, and the men from the city who used to come pass our
farm and buy from us haven’t been commin round here no more. I miss how
things were before, I want them to be the same, why can’t we just go like
we used to, why can’t the corn just grow? It’s getting hot right now, and
I’m fixin’ supper, boiled potatoes again. I’ll talk to you later journal
-Claire
Dear
Journal
Today men with
tractors came and papa tried threatnin’ them off the farm with his shot-gun
but the men with the tractors said that they were “ordered by law” to take
our farm away, papa wanted us to get our stuff, and load it up in the old
truck before the smashed our house, but the men didn’t care they said we
had enough warning that they were taking the farm, but this was the first
time I heard that we were actually in trouble and we were really gonna have
to move to California, that’s what the Clemmins did, they moved last week,
Sally was my best friend and her and her two sisters ma, and pa, all packed
up and moved last week , they owned the drug store in town and no one
really wants to buy from them no more, and Sally said their business fell
through so that they had to move town too. It’s NOT fair, why do I gotta
go? I have been real good hoping that mamma and papa would reward me with
stayin’ but it doesn’t help, I’m stuck helping with the youngin, and
cookin’ the meals. Right now pa is
packin up the car with anything and everything he can find, all of our
stuff, pots and pans, he even took grandpa’s old cedar chest with grandma’s
old weddin’ gown in it, She told me before she died that one day I would
get married in it, and that it will be the happiest day of my life, but I
would trade it all if we could just stay here, and live on the farm, but
for now I’m stuck having to go through the rubble of our house that was
torn down to the ground today, pa says I have to go sort through our
belongings and I have to go get things to last the trip so journal I’ll
talk to you later.
-Claire
Dear
Journal,
It’s been two days of drivin
in the car and mama has gotten sick, shes got fever, and she can barely
moved around much, papa has her wrapped up in blankets and every so once in
a while we have to pull over the car so mama can be sick by the side of the
road. It’s hot here in the car and I Billy and Paul sometimes drive the car
so papa can rest, and I have to hold Sarah on my lap cause their ain’t
enough seats in the car and it’s packed in the back with our belongings. Every once in a while we see broken down
cars and families on the side of the road sitting on trunks and making
campfires by the road heatin’ up
kettles of coffee, and pots with beans in them. We haven’t stopped to take a
rest for all of us cause papa says we gotta get to California, but I don’t
know why he’s in such a rush, What’s waiting there for us? I don’t know, I
don’t’ think that it will be as great as ma and pa’s farm but papa says
we’ll manage. But I don’t know if I can manage in a city, I’ve always lived
on a farm journal, and the only friend I ever had was sally and she’s gone
now, I wonder if I’ll meet a new girl, I hope I do, cause Paul and Billy
ain’t too happy these days they don’t talk much they says “yep” when I ask
‘em most things and they ain’t too happy, I try to keep high spirts cause
grandpa used to tell me when I was a youngin’ that keeping high spirts will
make he situation better, I don’t know if it’s doing any good but I’m
trying for grandpas memry, I miss him so much, I know that id he were here
we prolly would’ve kept the farm and things would be better, but Now I
gotta change lil sarah, she’s starting to cry. Talk to you again sometime
journal.
-Claire
Dear
Journal,
I’m tired and hot
and I’m by the side of the road, papa said that the radiator busted in the
car and he’s gotta fix it, he’s standing over the front of the car and he’s
cussin up a storm at the blasted radiator, there was steam coming up at his
face and now it’s stopped but he says that it won’t be too long till we get
back on the road. Mama is startin’
to get better, and Billy and Paul are helping pa out more and more, for
some reason pa doesn’t want to do much of anything, he’s been real down and
he makes me and the boys do much of everything, Billy does most of the
driving and paul sets up front with him and directs him on which way to go,
pa sits in the back there with me and ma, and he wipes the sweat from her
brow cause she’s had this high fever. We hadn’t pulled the car over much lately, ma sleeps mostly through
the day, and groans on into the night. We bundled her up and make sure
she’s alright before we take off, but I know that she’ll get better. Cause
before she wasn’t even wanting to be around Lil’ Sarah and right now she’s holdin’
her and has sorta a smile on her face. Pa says he’s real proud of me for takin care of her like I do. I
think that once we get to California and off this god-foresaken dusty, road
we’ll be doing better. The spirits
are up higher now cause we aren’t to far from the border, pa thinks he’ll
be able to get work early off and Ma says when she’s up and feelin’ better
she’ll be able to help me takin’ car e of Sarah. I’m looking forward to
getting there, it’s hot here by the road and some cars drive past us and
dirt gets into my eye. I’ve given
up cryin’ about it cause I think I would be a trouble if I did, Pa and Ma
cried enough for the rest of us and I don’t wanna make the situation any
worse. Well pa is now putting the
hood down on the car, looks like it’s back on the road for me journal. Talk
to you later,
-Claire
Dear
Journal,
Well here we are in
California, Pa found us a place to stay with a bunch of other families pa
says it’s called a migrant camp, most all the people here are from
Okalahoma like me and our family. Today I spent most of the day putting up
a canvas shade that attached to a fruit tree and the car, I figure this is
a place where momma can rest and we can sleep under it at night. Right now I’m restin’ underneath it and
I’m watchin’ Sarah. Billy, Paul and Pa are out looking for work, pa says
that they were gonna go to a apple orchard and try to get some jobs working
and tending the fields or picking apples. Pa hopes that the little money he
gets could at least start us off working towards renting a place in town,
cause where we are right now outside of town in a lil migrant camp isn’t
how ma and pa want us to live for much longer. Ma’s still sick, she’s been
loungin’ about and not doing much of anything, but you know I feel that
she’s gonna get better soon. A lady named Mrs. Joad came over today with
some chicken broth that she boiled today cause her family had the last of
their chickens for supper the night before. I went over to where their
family is kept and I helped her clean up cause I figgered it’s the best I
could do her helping out mama and all. She’s got kids too, their family
came over here from Okalahoma just like us. Her daughter Ruthie wandered
over here earlier looking for someone to play with, she’s a bit younger
than I am seeing how I’m 12 and she’s 9 but I decided why not, and ma said
I could go with her to look at and meet all the other people that are
stayin here. Ruthie was real nice,
she told me that her family lost their house just like us, and that her
grandma died one the ride here to California. I told her all about how my
grandma was, and how she was real pretty and I told her all about the
weddin’ dress I get to have when I’m old enough for marriage. I’m so glad
to find a friend even if she’s a bit younger than I am, I mean I miss Sally
and all, and I wonder if I’ll see her again, I wonder how her and her
family are doing. Journal I have to go now Pa, Billy and Paul are back and
Pa looks real down. I’ll tell you what happens. Bye For Now,
-Claire
Dear
Journal,
Pa’s got home this
afternoon, he says that him Paul and Billy all got jobs pickin’ peas in a
local field. They are gone all day up at sunrise and they now come home at
dusk, just when it’s supper time. Ma
and I stay here at the camp, and we watch over our stuff, cause pa says
that we have to be careful of what lil belongings we have, cause pa says we don’t know and should
trust all these people here in the camp. We heard earlier that one family
had brought a few chickens from their farm back in Oklahoma and they had
two of ‘em left and they got stolen in the day, cause the whole family
works. Journal it’s sad you know cause we are all out here together tryin’
to get back our dreams cause they were all torn when we lost the farm, and
now we’re stealin’ from each other. Pa and Ma are thinking that perhaps Mama can go on and try and find
a job and I can stay here during the day and take care of Lil Sarah. But Ma says She don’t feel too
comfortable leavin’ me here alone. I don’t mind cause I know that Mrs.
Joad, she’s real nice and she’s help take care of me if anything happened,
and I know that I can take care of Sarah Real good, cause ever since she
was born 9 months ago I’ve been changing and feedin’ her the whole time
helpin’ ma out the best I can. I know I’m real good at it, and Pa thinks
I’d be ok. But I hope that it’ll be better. Pa says once he gets enough
money from pickin peas he’s gonna try and find someplace, like a place to
rent each month so we don’t have to stay here with all these people. Ma
doesn’t want him to give up hope and keep it goin, She says We ain’t stuck
here forever, and once we get out of here, we’ll know that we did it by
ourselves. I am just still hopin’ to see sally one day cause I wonder if
she’ll come back into my life or not, but I never know. I’ll be waiting the
day. Till Then Journal I’ll talk at you later.
-Claire
Dear
Journal,
Pa got hurt the
other day in the fields, he was down in the back and now workin’ for hims
real hard. He ain’t too fast when he walks and he’s been bent over like
he’s gotta heavy load on his back when he walks. Ma gives him a good rub
down every night after supper and he says it helps him. I make sure that
he’s comfortable before bed, and I bring him anything I can, cause I know
that he don’t need to be getting up all the time and lifting things. Journal I wish I could help more, but Ma
and Pa say that I shouldn’t try and do too much, they say I’m still a
youngin, But journal you know what? I can take care of myself mighty fine
as Billy and Paul can, their 15 and 18 I ain’t too much younger than Paul
and I know that I can do just as good of a job pickin in the fields, but pa
also says their ain’t much work pickin peas, and that job’ll soon be over
by the time that the season ends, then what’ll we do for money? I know that
once that season is over Pa and the boys will have to find another job. I
hope he can get one in a factory, cause I heard from a family down the way,
their pa is in a factory and there he joined a union, and they are
beginning to get I think they called it benefits, and they are making the
work much better for the workers and the men that run the factories ain’t
so bad, cause if they do act bad, their pa and the other union members can
strike and put the factory in not a lot of business, cause without workers
where are they gonna make their product? Well It’s time for me to get the
baby washed and into bed. I’ll see ya around journal.
-Claire
Dear
Journal,
Today pa said that
he saw Sally’s dad on his walk home from the fields, and he said that he
stopped and talked to him, turns out his brother lived here in California,
and Sally and her family ‘cept for her pa had been stayin there, He gave
their address to pa, and now I am gonna use one of your pages to write her
a letter. Journal She’s my best friend and now I’m gonna be able to get to
communicate with her. This is great. Turns out pa and Sally’s pa got to
talking and seein how the family and his family were such good friends and
now that they both gots jobs, they are talking about savin up more money
and buyin a farm together. I know that it won’t happen to soon. But I will
look forward to it. It’ll be great if they can get it together and make a
home for both our families. Then Sally and me could still be best friends,
which would be great. Well journal I’m gonna write a letter too her now,
sorry for rippin out one of your pages, but I know that you’ll understand.
-Claire
Dear
Journal,
Pa says that the
seasons over for pickin peas, and that he’s gonna either take the whole
family and move up north, cause he did get some money saved, and that money
he’s gonna keep and put it towards that farm us and the Johnsons could
start. Pa says if we are to make anything of ourselves we’ve gotta start
off small. I think that we have started off as small as you can be. Poor
without a home. But we are stickin together as a family, and this way we
can stay together later on in life. Times are the hardest we’ve ever seen
says pa, but if we keep stickin together like we have been, I know we’ll
make it. He says everyones been doin their part. And he’s proud of me, ME
lil ol me, he’s proud of me for helping keep the family together. I know
that he needs a new job, and he’s gotta go look but with the lil bit of
money we have so far, he’s gonna send some of it to the Johnson family for
safe keeping. He says that in about a month or so we’re gonna go up north
more to where they are stayin cause pa says there’s enough room for us all.
Life is getting better here, and Pa, Ma, Billy and Paul are a lot happier
now since we have been all stickin together. Ma and Pa tells us they love
us each night and pa kisses my forehead each time he comes home. Journal I
know that it’s not much, but pa and ma have given me the best gifts of all
in this life. They gave me love, and the love is holdin us together, and
the love we have is like your stitches journal, the stitches that ma sewed
you together with, although you’re made from bits and scrapes of paper and
ma had to save you up but saving these simples things is how we’ll get by.
Thanks for listening to me so much journal, and I think that cause of you I
have been able to appreciate what I have and we will be together through
thick and thin, and I’ll keep writin’ if you keep on being there to listen.
Talk to you again Journal.
-Claire
Example 2:
In the Political Studies class we were given an in
class essay. The prompt is as
follows:
Nature of Man: Individual Assessment
Choose
any amendment from the Bill of Rights and complete the following:
Explain
the right in your own words.
Quote
directly from the Declaration of Independence, and explain how this quote
justifies the inclusion of this amendment in the Bill of Rights.
Provide
an example of how one person’s exercise of this right might infringe upon
the rights of another and not be protected by the Supreme Court.
Please complete this assignment in three to five
well-constructed paragraphs. Copy the italicized text
of the amendment with its number at the top of your paper under your name.
A spell-checked hard copy of this assignment will be due in 45 minutes.
This example
demonstrates my Critical thinking skills through the connections I made
between the assignment given and the understanding of core curriculum
taught in the Political Studies class. In my essay I chose to connect the declaration of independence to
the first amendment though personal interpretation, and supporting my
statements using quotes from the Declaration of Independence and the United
States Constitution.
Here is my
essay in its entirety:
Article [I.] (See Note 13)
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
In The Declaration
of Independence it says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness”. There is a connection between the bill of
rights and the Declaration of Independence; this amendment was written
because of the grievance that the founding fathers had with monarchy and
authoritarian leaders. They wrote this amendment so that we may have the
ability to pursue our happiness. This was written to give us the ability to
live how we see fit, to live free, and not have our lives taken by those
who disagree.
This section of the
bill of rights discusses a major issue that our founding fathers stood
for. Those who wrote these
amendments were concerned that they would not be able to practice their
individual faiths without persecution.
They wanted to have the abilities to practice their religion how
they see it fit too. If they spoke
of their ideals and belief system they wanted the freedom to be able to do
so without people locking them up or saying that they committed a
crime. When they wrote this
document they knew that people have their own ideals and belied system,
people are individuals who look at the same issues with different opinions,
they best part about them writing this is that they left it open so that
everyone no matter what class, race, gender or creed can practice their own
religion freely.
This
section of the bill of rights also enables the freedom of the press; this
means that the press may publish the truth about its leaders, or anything
they see fit to publish. In a place
where there is a monarchy usually what is published about a kind or a royal
family is positive, and the monarchs have control over what is and isn’t
said about them. However in America
we are able to write how we feel about our leaders. We are able to expose people for being
crooked, but then again we are also given the ability to make a horrible
character in the public eye look like an angel. We publish what we want,
about whom we want to.
This
amendment also grants us the freedom of speech. Without this law we would not be able to voice our opinions
instead we would have to take whatever it is that our government spoon
feeds us and spit it back out just like good little boys and girls. This amendment isn’t to start
revolutions and wars, it’s so that people feel that their ideas are
protected and that they are able to make changes and stand up for what they
believe in if they are being oppressed.
We
in America have the right to hold meetings, churches, rallies, or groups
that have the same belief systems.
We can march and hold demonstrations about what we feel, and who we
feel it about. If we have a problem
with our current situation we are given the option to petition and change
it. The government will listen and
if we have a strong enough backing they may change the laws to keep peace
among the people.
When
people do not agree with what you say they may speak against you, after all
the first amendment protects everyone.
However if your practices and speaking up creates violence towards
others inflicting harm or wrecking other people’s property you are then
infringing upon those peoples rights, and the first amendment does not
protect you and condone hurting others.
We are able to publish anything we want to against certain
groups.
We are
freed in our speech, or religions, and our rights to demonstrate against
those oppressing us. We are not
protected by any law to hurt others however because by hurting others
physically and ruining their property you are taking away their rights of
life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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