Madelyn Davis

02/22/21

Self-Assessment Blog

     Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Maddy Files." Today I will be reflecting on my past blogs and what I can do to enhance their quality. My parents always told me not to settle for less and there's always room for improvement; so I will use that piece of advice to examine all of my blog posts and find a solution to each problem. When it comes to following the rubric, I believe that I do a decent job of meeting all of the requirements, but "decent" is not the word that I want to associate with my blogs. When I'm writing my blogs, I find it hard to stay on one topic and keep it interesting and I end up missing key details and information regarding the topics that I'm discussing. If I can find a way to avoid straying away from the topic, then my blog will be far from decent. 

     Blogs are meant to be more personalized, so I find it hard to remember to incorporate some essay aspects in the post as well. One way that I could improve this is by treating the blog like an essay but I can add in some personalized aspects to keep the blog from getting boring. For the first couple of blogs, I was putting my best efforts into them; but sadly I had lost a family member that I had not seen in about seven years a couple of weeks ago. Because of this, I was getting behind on a lot of assignments and I would wait until the last minute to complete them. But now that he has been laid to rest and I've had the proper time to grieve, I am once again motivated to write blogs and showcase my writing skills. 

     I've been told to proofread my essays or have a peer look over them before I turn them in, and I  have stuck by that during all of my school years. Therefore, when I am writing my blogs, I make sure that my grammar, spelling, and punctuation are satisfactory. Having other students look at my blogs is a little uncomfortable but I know that there will be certain situations in life that will make me feel uneased, but I have to adapt. 

     Discussing how a blog should be typed during a zoom session would be something that I would like to see; and if I have further questions, I can have a one-on-one session with my professor, email her, or send her a text. One thing that I learned about blogs is that they're not just about personal situations; they can be about things that are happening around the world or something that the writer is going through alone. 

   Now that I have noted the problems that I have when it comes to writing blogs, I can work on improving them. This will allow me to write and publish a satisfactory blog. 

Magical Jamaica

 02/15/21

Magical Jamaica 

Hello everyone and welcome back to yet another blog post where I convince you guys to visit various islands in the Caribbean. This time we will talk about the flamboyant that we all know as Jamaica. This island is one of the types that you can visit whenever you please because the climate is tropical, hot, and humid. This island receives about 78 inches of rainfall. But enough about the weather; let's talk about what Jamaica is known for. 

Jamaica is known to be the birthplace of reggae, Olympic runners, Blue Mountain Coffee, Red Stripe Beer, Jamaican Rum, Jerk foods (jerk chicken), and breath-taking beaches. For example, the late Bob Marley was born in Jamaica and he has been celebrated all over the world for his reggae hits. A few more notable acts are Sean Paul, Shaggy, and Jimmy Cliff. Jamaica also produces the most music per capita. And while we're on the topic of praised individuals, Usain Bolt, one of the world's fastest runners was born in Jamaica. I don't know much about Olympic sprinters but Usain is defiantly a familiar face. 

When it comes to religion, Jamaicans have their own cultural movement as well; the Rastafarian movement was created in the 1930s and since then has been a significant part of Jamaican culture. This movement involves methods of protestant Christianity, mysticism, and pan-African politics. Rastafarians believe that people who are African (but do not live in Jamaica) are exiles who live in "Babylon."  

But their cultural impacts don't just stop there; Jamaicans also have their own slang which is known as, Jamaica Creole (patois). This slang has been incorporated in many movies, songs, clothing, and books. If that's not influential then I don't know what is. However, Jamaica Creole is not a written language. 

Jamaica is a huge island that is filled with many activities that everyone can enjoy; you might even make a few native friends or two who can show you the best tourist spots. 

Sources:

Morrow, Kylie. “17 Amazing Things Jamaica Is Known For BEACHES.” Here Comes The Sun - The Official Beaches Resorts Travel & Lifestyle Blog, Here Comes The Sun - The Official Beaches Resorts Travel & Lifestyle Blog, 1 Feb. 2021, www.beaches.com/blog/things-jamaica-is-known-for/.

Writer, Staff. “Facts about Jamaica.” Jamaicans.com, 16 July 2015, jamaicans.com/facts-about-jamaica/. 

Parke, Marvin. “10 Cool Facts You Never Knew About Jamaica - WanderWisdom - Travel.” WanderWisdom, WanderWisdom - Travel, 27 Mar. 2013, wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/10-Cool-Facts-about-Jamaica.

The History of Haiti

02/08/21 

The History of Haiti

Hello guys and welcome to the third blog on my page. Today we will be discussing the island Haiti and the certain things that the island has experienced throughout the years. It all started in 1804 when General Dessalines became the dictator; this led to Haiti becoming the second independent nation in the Americas. Haiti had actually been under colonial rule for 300 years, which is a very, very long time if you ask me. Now that we've gotten the colonizing origins out of the way, we can focus on the historical highlights and cultural tendencies of Haiti. One interesting fact that I learned about Haiti is that the name means, "Land of Mountains," which is very interesting in my opinion. Another thing that I find interesting about Haiti is the people's form of transportation; they have these colorful buses called "Tap-taps" and the cool thing about them is that there is plenty of room for passengers, especially on the outside of the tap-taps. Haiti is also known for having the first successful slave revolt in the late 1700s. 

When it comes to an island in the Caribbean, their foods are very flamboyant and flavorful. One interesting fact that I learned about Haitians is that spicy spaghetti is a part of their breakfast menu; which is funny because here in the U.S., we eat spaghetti for dinner and sometimes for lunch. But the interest in food doesn't stop there; Haitians have plenty of foods such as Griot, Accra, Lambi Guisado, Joumou, and Kibi. If I ever get the chance to visit this island, I definitely have all these on the list of foods to try. The next subject that I will touch on is their fortress which is the largest in the Western Hemisphere; this fortress is called "Citadelle Laferriere," This tourist attraction was built to protect Haiti from anyone that had evil intentions; but luckily for them, no one posed a threat. 

In conclusion, when it comes to finding an island that is filled with many cultural foods and vivacious tourist spots, Haiti is the place to be. 

Sources:

Heather Ostalkiewicz, COTN–USA Staff Writer. “10 Things You Might Not Know About Haiti.” Children of the Nations, cotni.org/news/haiti/2014/06/19/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-haiti?gclid=Cj0KCQiA34OBBhCcARIsAG32uvM5CztVROTHEzbLXRjQZ_yz8nNBOZxkM2CssCh6SBtnuaYVy6kGAawaAqfBEALw_wcB.