February 12, 2013
2013
Student
January 22, 2013
Silver medal
January 12, 2013
And the Gold Medal for the first published Famous Battles essay goes to…
SAMMY XU from Hong Kong!
Way to go Sammy!
This essay represents a great deal of study: from photography to journalism, from war correspondents to famous battles, the nonfiction unit in the autumn of 2012 was brimming over with information. Taking the principles of journalism as set forth by the Project for Excellence in Journalism as a foundation for this paper, students have had to verify information relentlessly in their drafts. From the understanding of creative nonfiction, students have included fictional techniques such as first-person accounting and dramatic pacing in their Famous Battles essays. Finally, from an understanding of the tragic importance of war in human culture, students have grappled with famous battles. Sammy takes the gold for his outstanding essay on the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Soon essays will appear on The Battle of Zama, The Battle of Marathon, Waterloo, and the Siege of Orleans.
September 12, 2012
Fall Semester
Students!
The fall semester will be an exciting time of learning, discussing, sharing work, reaching for new understandings, applying for college and prep schools, entering competitions, etc.
Stay tuned to see the Homeroom used as it is meant to be used: as a bi-weekly check up, interactive and challenging.
Settling into the new school year can take a few weeks; soon though, the rhythm will be established and students will continue their excellent extra-curricular language and literature publishing: stay tuned for compelling work, published here on the MWLS site.
Mr. Watt
May 20, 2012
ROBERT C
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
George Bernard Shaw
This quote reflects George Bernard Shaw’s economic beliefs, although it can be interpreted in a few different ways. For example, in America today, we have a progressive tax system, established in part by the 16th Amendment. The general idea of this tax system is that it taxes the wealthy at a higher rate than it does the poor, thereby redistributing the wealth from the rich to the poor. In a democratic system, this type of tax almost always develops because everyone wants a share of the rich’s money without having to do anything but vote for it. However, Shaw was an avid Socialist who believed in nationalization and collectivization, two ideas inherently contradictory to this quote. In nationalization, where industries are put under government control, and collectivization, where land and wealth is placed under government control, the government is effectively robbing the rich to pay the poor. Perhaps this quote is a reference to the corruption that Shaw felt was present at the time – Paul might be a lobbyist or otherwise politically connected and influential individual, who conspires with the government to take a share of government revenue. Under this interpretation, Shaw’s political ideology would also not make sense, since in every socialist example, those in government receive a disproportionate amount of government income and are generally corrupt.