References

1- Montagna, Joseph. "The industrial Revolution" 2008. 12 Nov. 2008
<http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html>

2- Hines, Richard. "The European enlightenment" 6 Jun. 1999. 12 Nov. 2008
<http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ENLIGHT/INDUSTRY.HTM>

3- "The industrial REvolution" 2008. 12 Nov. 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution>

4- Sarah. "Industrial Revolution" 21 April 2005. 12 Nov. 2008
<http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/3436/index.php>

5- The age of reform.

6- "The victorian age" 2003. 12 Nov. 2008

Teaching From The Past

Did you like the history class when you were at school? What would you think if I tell you that knowing some historical facts would help you to understand nowadays world?

We should know a lot about the industrial revolution. As matter a fact, that was a content of world's history when we were at school. For the ones who do not remember or did not pay attention I will develop this topic and related to education and teaching. It may sound not interesting at all, but you should read it and then critizices it.

The industrial revolution took place in Britain during the late 18th century and early 19th century. This revolution brought a lot of changes in England and Europe. Manufacturing, family structure, transport and economy were the main issues during those times. When we think about the industrial revolution we tend to associate it with technology. Although this association is not wrong, the industrial revolution not only has to do with that. The most important aspect, the industrial revolution brought, was the social changes. Before I start talking about the consequences it brought to Europe and the rest of the world, I am going to explain some of the reasons that make the industrial revolution such an important issue.

One of the most important causes of the industrial revolution was the economic changes that were taking place in Europe. “European trade and manufacture stretched to every continent except Antarctica; this vast increase in the market for European goods in part drove the conversion to an industrial, manufacturing economy.” (Hines, par. 3) In other words, Europe was developing so fast that in front of everybody’s eyes, their economy, which was most focus on agriculture, changed to an industrialized one.

Another important cause was the increased of population in Europe. It is a fact that when economy evolves, also does the population. Due to the developing of the economy new jobs were created, so people had different opportunities to make money.

Those were the main causes of this revolution. As I have said before, the industrial revolution started in England; therefore most of the changes started there.
Transportation was something that was improved during those days. The first public railway was open in 1825, and the whole way of transportation was changed because of that. People from the countryside were now able to move from one town to another faster than before. They also were able to go to the city and to come back in one day.
The railway not only helped people to move faster from town to town, but it also helped the new towns to grow. Now the people who lived in those towns were enjoying fresh food, fresh milk and fresh fruits.

Up to here it was all fine. Everyone was happy because they were doing what they wanted and they were having enough money to feed their families. The problem began a few years later. Hundreds of workers, with their families, started to migrate to the industrial cities. Those workers are the ones who created the working class.
Salaries were really low, the working conditions were not human and they were suppose to worked 14 hour per day or even more. That was not fair for them, but they had to accept that, at least for a few years. After a while, the employers began to hire woman and children, because they worked more for less money.
The workers with their families were having a difficult time. They accepted that for a while, but after a few years they realised that they could fight for their rights. The workers decided to make a revolution against the factories and their owners. During the beginning of the revolution, many Reform Bills were made in order to change the legislation which was in force during that time. The problem was that many of them were rejected by the parliament. Different characters appeared during this revolution, but most of them did not success to help their friends, families, etc. They were treated as slaves and they wanted to change that.
In 1833 their efforts received a reward, a new law was approved which made illegal to hire children under the age of 13.

Obviously some of those problems continued after that, but what I want you to understand is the importance of some of those issues in today’s world.

You would be amaze of how much we can learn from the past. I want to be an English teacher, and that is why I am studying English pedagogy. My purpose is not only to teach English, but to teach culture, and also to teach how to learn and how to think. It is important that we teach our children how to think on their own. To be critical and reflective are two abilities students should develop during their different learning stages.
I chose the industrial revolution as a clear example of how something that had already passed can affect our present. If we study what happen during that time we could easily understand many of the thing that are happened now. For example: People began to fight for their right, as they do now. Children and woman were trying to be protected by different people, nowadays we have organizations that are trying to do that, etc.

To finish I would like to say that it is important that we learn from our mistakes. We have to teach our students how to learn from their mistakes too. The industrial revolution brought a lot of changes in today’s societies. Technology is something which is helpful for us, but if we do not know how to manage it, it can cause a lot of problems. Teaching is one of the most important things in the world, but we must not forget that we are teachers but at the same time we are students.

A Trip To The Past

It is shocking to realise how the industrial revolution changed people’s lives. We will never know how much people suffer during that period, we only have some hints that writers left in their different stories, poems, novels, etc. But not only writers left something about that period, also Charlie Chaplin did. He created the movie “Modern Times”. Why I say created? Because he directed, produced, wrote, and act in that movie. He did everything by himself.

The movie starts with Chaplin working in a factory. During the whole day he was doing the same thing several times. At the end of that day he suffered a mental breakdown and he was sent to a hospital. After all of this, his problems began. He left the hospital, and he was sent to prison by mistake. At the beginning he was not happy there, but after a while he realised that he was better there than in the outside world. One day 3 men enter to the prison and tried to help some prisoners to escape. Chaplin, because he had consumed cocaine by mistake, helped the guards by hitting the criminals. He saved the prison after all, so he was rewarded with his freedom.
After that incident, he did everything he could to be sent to prison again. While he was trying to do that, he met a beautiful girl, and he fall in love with her. They did a lot of different things in order ro be happy. They found a home, they worked, they danced, and they escaped from the police many times. At the end of the movie, the girl says that it is really difficult to cope with all of what they have been through. Chaplin convinced her to keep going, and they began to walk along the road looking for something better.

In my opinion the movie is great, and Charlie Chaplin is a genius. He figured it out how to do a movie in order to show what was happening during that period and to make it funny at the same time. It was really sad for me to realise that people were treated as machines, their lunch time was ridiculous, and what they were supposed to do in the factories was stupid. I can say that what called my attention the most was the fact that in the movie Chaplin was trying to show that he was better in jail than in the outside world. What I understood from that was that during that period to find a job was really difficult and to earn money was even more. It was sad, at least for me, to realise that being in prison could be a better possibly than to be free. People’s rights were not respected, children did not have anything to eat, and women had to work if they wanted to feed their families. The movie also reflected how wealthy people was living the industrial revolution. They did not suffer at all, they had everything they wanted and they even had time to have fun. It was not fair.

As a conclusion I can say that the movie is a piece of art. Even though it is not a production from Hollywood, is a movie which has a lot to say. With a low budget, Chaplin was capable to do a great movie. I recommend this movie for the ones who are interested in world’s history. It is a good way to understand what was happening with most of the people during that process.

Industrial revolution: Victorian age

One of the most important facts during world’s history was the industrial revolution. This revolution brought a lot of different changes in; family structure, transportation, manufacturing, etc. Although most of the people thought that those changes will be good for everybody, the only ones who took advantages of them were the rich people.
I have read the article “Industrialism: Progress or Decline?” and “1830s – 1900 The age of reform”.

In Europe, at the beginning of the 18th century, all was completely normal. The rich people lived in the city while the farmers and the ones who work in agriculture lived in the countryside. The problem began with the invention of different machines which helped to the development of many industries. After a while large buildings called factories appeared giving job to a lot of people. As a consequence, the population increased a lot and many people from the country side moved to the city looking for better opportunities. It is like this, that the working class appeared. The salaries were really low, they worked 14 hours per day, and the way they were living was not human. But, one of most shocking things were that instead of hiring men the factories began to hired women and children. They were less expensive and did not ask for much.

This is the main criticism the first article does. It explains that factories were exploiting women and children, and they did not care about their health, way of living, family issues, etc. Children were not able to play any more and women were not at home raising their children; they were working, trying to earn some money to feed their families.

I think this was terrible. It is not human to use children because they are not going to fight for their rights. Also, it is not human to take advantage of those who are innocent and who do not have anyone who can stand for them. I think it was really brave of those writers who decided to tell the real story that was happening during those days. They show to the whole world the suffering that most of the people were living.

In the second article they explain the same as the first, but with the difference that it talks about what happened next. The working class wanted to be respected. They wanted fair salaries and also better conditions in the factories. A reform bill was done in 1831 but it did not succeed. In 1848, almost in every country of Europe, the working class started a revolution. Those revolutions ended differently depending on the country.

The consequences of the industrial revolution were many. Transport was something that was improved during those days. The opening of the first rail was a big success People were now able to move from the country side to the city in a short period of time. Migration also brought some bad consequences. Food and water was not able for everyone, due to the increased f the population, people were living in bad conditions, and hospitals were only for wealthy people. The poem, “The Cry of the Children” By Elizabeth Barrett, reflect how much children suffered during that period, how sad they were and how much they need someone who protected them.

A Great Queen And A Wonderful Woman

“Elizabeth: The golden age” is a great movie. Many things called my attention. First, the way she ruled. That is to say, the way she manage the power she had. Even though she was a woman, she knew how to be respected. She had a counselor who was in charge of giving her advices about what was the best thing to do or not to do. She was independent and she received those suggestions very well, but she decided on her own. That is why she was called “The virgin queen”. She never got married and she didn’t have children. Every one told her that she had to get marry because she would need someone besides her. She proved that was not true. She governed by herself and she did it pretty well.

Another important topic for me was Mary Stuart, her cousin. She tried really hard to be the queen of England although she was in prison. Elizabeth attitude called my attention because even though Mary tried to kill her, Elizabeth, against her will, gave the order to cut Mary’s head.

The battle began after that episode. Philip II, king of Spain, sent the Spanish armada to England. This whole war started because of the differences those countries had in term of religion. While Spain was a Catholic country ruled by a Catholic King, England was ruled by a Protestant queen. England was divided because of this religious issue. Elizabeth didn’t want to force her people to be protestant; she wanted them to believe in what they wanted.
I believed that Philip II attacked England not only for religion problems, but also for interest. I looked for more information and I realised that he wanted Elizabeth to be his wife, but she rejected him many times. He wanted a more powerful empire, but at the end he left Spain with nothing but debts. Elizabeth defended her kingdom because she was a fair queen and she wanted the best for her people.

The movie is great, but I only have one disagreement with it. I looked for information and I realised that many aspects of the movie were changed. For example; Infanta Isabel of Spain, Philip II’s daughter, was depicted as a child, but in reality she was 21. Some more differences were that not a single ship was lost during the battle, and that Mary Stuart was half French and half Scottish, and it is presumed that her accent was more French because she lived there from the age of 5 until the age of 19.

The Stonehenge Mystery

For most people, they are only a bunch of stones, but for those who have gave their lives to study this monument, are something more important. Why was this built? What was the reason to create this monument? What is it importance in British history?

Some Archaeologists think they have solved this mystery. They think that this monument was created for people who wanted to be made well. That is to say, this monument was a “Healing Center”, were people who helped the ones who were ill were also cure. The Archaeologists believe this, because in their excavation they found some blue stones. This stones were used as amulet, and the people who wanted to be healthy were the ones who wore them.
You know what I think? Perhaps this stones were put there just because. Maybe the people, who put those stones, only did it because of what they will mean in the future.

I think we will never know the truth about these special stones, but I’m sure about one thing, this monument contributes to the Great Britain’s history. Adding different events is how we created Great Britain’s history, this is one of those events.

The ages of English

Many things happened during the 11th century, not only in terms of historical events, but also about language development. The Norman Conquest was one of those events. The battle of Hastings ended with William of Normandy in the power. William of Normandy invades England founding a new social and language era. During this time, William established French as a powerful language, although English continues to be the main language and continues to be used by the majority of people. Another important issue was that the Normans introduced feudalism to England and they also created the “Doomsday book” which was a book in which they administrated the taxes that the people had to pay to the king.

Due to the Norman intervention, English began to change. Grammar, word order, the creation of “had” and “shall” as auxiliary verbs, all these aspect changed because of the intervention of the Normans in England.

After reading this article I realised that the origins of English is really varied. A bit of different cultures helped to create the English that we are learning now and the English that we will teach in the future.

"Seeing comes before words"

Every person is unique. So that means that what every person see is unique too.

The way we see things are affected by our different experiences and ours believes. That is why if two different people are in front of a painting, they may see it in a totally different way. Sometimes with a painting we can share some one else experience or feelings. Sometimes words can’t express what a painting can.

With the invention of the camera, the way of seeing change. Paintings, images, pictures etc. were no longer unique; copies of them appeared all over the world. There was no need for the person to move to see the painting. The painting moves to the person.

For me, this chapter was significant, because it showed me that even though we are pretty similar to each other, at the same time we are really different.