CORNELL NOTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cornell Notes for Sources
SOURCE 1
TITLE: A CULTURE OF CONSPIRACY
AUTHOR: JAMES PIERESON
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2007

Main Idea #1: Conspiracy has always been a part of American culture and it will always be for years to come.

Summary: The author of this article was presenting his case about how conspiracy, like that shown in the book Montana 1948 has been exhibited many times in American history. Some of these events include the infamous events of 9/11 and the Kennedy Assassination, which were both to be considered as cover-ups by the US government. Whether or not this claims of conspiracy are true remains to be seen, however these events continue to have a profound affect on many people’s lives even today. Some claims that have been stated suggest that the US government either knew about these attacks before hand, or played some role in these attacks. Much like the Hayden family covered up both the rape scandal and the suicide of Uncle Frank.


Quote: “Opinion polls routinely show that more than two-thirds of Americans believe Kennedy was cut down by a conspiracy engineered by organized crime, the CIA or FBI, or right-wing groups upset by Kennedy's liberal policies. Most believe the Warren Commission covered up the truth by concluding Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin. Such suspicions encouraged the conviction that the national government is corrupt and untrustworthy -- and also that the nation itself was in some way responsible for Kennedy's death.”


Question: Why do people feel the need to cover up stories?


Main Idea #2: Certain times when a certain person takes too much power or does something wrong, they are often “taken out” so they cannot do anything else to harm anyone.

Summary: Often times the reason that things are covered-up is to prevent someone from doing something that that is controversial. One specific example is the Kennedy Assassination. At that time many people in the government (as well as Lee Harvey Oswalt, Kennedy’s alleged murderer) thought that Kennedy’s reign as president may have lead the United States in the wrong direction. This led many people to resent him, including many in the US government. Then when he was assassinated his autopsy revealed that he had multiple bullet wounds that a single assassin couldn’t have made, leading to conspiracy theories.

Quote: “Such suspicions encouraged the conviction that the national government is corrupt and untrustworthy -- and also that the nation itself was in some way responsible for Kennedy's death.”

Question: Are the common citizens unable to hear the truth about what really happens in these situations? Do we really need to hear a downplayed version of a story?

Main Idea #3: Sometimes when someone finds has an opinion about an incident that threatens their cover they will go to even greater lengths to get the story further covered.

Summary: In many cases such as the Kennedy assassination there have been many loose ends to the stories told to the people by those in power. Often times these “loose ends” provide what gives the conspirators their fuel for their conspiracy case. Sometimes great lengths are taken to insure that their secret remains safe. People can get framed, the stories could change, or become ignored, all of these things often prevent the truth from getting out and for it to continue to be hidden like those who want it to be think it should be.


Quote: “Opinion polls routinely show that more than two-thirds of Americans believe Kennedy was cut down by a conspiracy engineered by organized crime, the CIA or FBI, or right-wing groups upset by Kennedy's liberal policies. Most believe the Warren Commission covered up the truth by concluding Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin.”


Question: How far are people willing to go to cover up a situation?



How will this source help you write your paper?
This source gives a good idea how conspiracy and covered up crimes can play a role in all American life, in comparison to the story in Montana 1948.


SOURCE 2
TITLE: MORE THAN MONEY
AUTHOR: USA TODAY
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2007

Main Idea #1: People can often lose sight of what they are supposed to be doing with their jobs, and take advantage of those that they are supposed to be helping.

Summary: In California, Roman Catholic Priests have been getting involved with sex scandals in which they rape unsuspecting children. These cases are then covered up by the higher ups in the church and as a result of that many priests got away with having their way with young children. Like Uncle Frank they used their occupation to prey on unsuspecting people, and like it was in Uncle Frank’s case, it was highly disgraceful. Like in the instance of Uncle Frank these priests are supposed to be helping people, in this case spiritually, not taking advantage of them because they know that they can’t do anything about it. Then with all the cover-ups that occur, it winds up taking a long time to get these people removed from their roles in the religious community.


Quote: “In Chicago this month, a priest pleaded guilty to molesting five boys. The case revealed that Chicago Cardinal Francis George failed to remove the priest for months after an allegation of abuse came to George's attention.”


Question: What compels people to do acts like this? Is it mental illness, desperation, or something else entirely?


Main Idea #2: People who are taken advantage of usually cannot help it because based on their age, race, or gender they don’t have a say in how things such as this get settled.

Summary: Most of the people who were preyed on were between the ages of being a toddler and an adolescent, at this age these children cannot stand up for themselves and they cannot fight back. People who they were taught were supposed to be good and spiritually aiding are just taking them advantage of. These children now have to deal with these acts of wrongdoing for the rest of their lives and the families of these children will remain scarred as well. Sometimes even years latter just want justice.


Quote: “Some of what victims seek might be impossible to achieve. Alexa MacPherson, 32, who was abused at ages 3 to 9 by a priest and shared in an $85 million Boston settlement, told USA TODAY's Cathy Grossman, "I would give back every cent if the person who raped and molested me were put in jail."


Question: How painful must it be for both the families of the victims, as well as the victims themselves, to deal with an incident as profound as this one and regain a normal life?

Main Idea #3: These Priest do not realize that they must stop doing what they’re doing. They definitely contain the ability, but they for some reason refuse to change their ways in any way at all.

Summary: Scandals like this have been going on for a long time, and as far as anyone can tell they will continue to occur because in all honesty it doesn’t seem likely that any of these men are willing to change their ways, at least not any time soon.


Quote: “But the church, if it desires, can go a long way toward giving the truth to victims and ensuring that there are far fewer of them in the future. Sadly, that still seems a very big ‘if.’”


Question: Why do people not realize the repercussions of their actions before they do them?

How will this source help you write your paper?
This source helps relate to the story because a similar type of scandal was happening to the one in the book Montana 1948. This type of thing shows direct similarity to the scandal that Uncle Frank has gotten himself involved in.


SOURCE 3
TITLE: CHANGING LIVES THROUGH LITERATURE
AUTHOR: TRUDY SCHRANDT
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2003

Main Idea #1: When someone’s secrets are revealed, they will go to great lengths to make sure that that secret doesn’t spread and lead to their downfall; however, usually the lengths that they go to cause their downfall anyway.

Summary: When Marie Little Soldier first reveals that Uncle Frank molests Indians Uncle Frank begins to take certain precautions to make sure that his secret never gets out to the public, because being a doctor he needs people to trust that he is doing the right thing while he is performing test and examinations on them. As a doctor he needs the people’s trust, and if Marie’s secret gets out his practice will be ruined because nobody will be able to trust him.


Quote: “His use of his power has allowed him to sexually molest many of the young women on the reservation. In her weakened state and in fear of her life, Marie Little Soldier tells the Hayden family about Uncle Frank's crimes.”


Question: Was Uncle Frank mentally unstable?


Main Idea #2: Sometimes ones actions can come back to haunt them. When they cause trouble or do something they shouldn’t it always hurts them in the end.

Summary: Uncle Frank attempts to end the spreading of this rape issue by murdering Marie. Unfortunately for him, his nephew David sees the murder and reveals this to his father who is the town sheriff. Then in an effort to hide this fact Wesley (David's father, the town sheriff) locks Frank in a basement in order to keep the incident from going public. In the end Frank winds up killing himself to avoid any further embarrassment.


Quote: “This could have been the end, but Frank murders Marie Little Soldier. It could have been a perfect murder, but David has seen Frank leave their home at the time of the murder and knows that his uncle is guilty. His conscience forces him to tell his father, who then must deal with the reality of his own brother's actions.”


Question: Why didn’t Frank just avoid starting any trouble in the first place?

Main Idea #3: Sometimes based on ones reputation, even when they do something morally wrong people will still stand up for them, and even violently defend them.

Summary: When Wesley locks up Frank in his basement their father goes to Wes’s house and violently tries to liberate Frank. He attempts to force Wes to let him go, but it ends up in failure and later that night Frank kills himself.


Quote: “Turning his home into a jail brings on the wrath of the grandfather, first in person and then by proxy, sending hired hands to free him. With the knowledge that his best intentions are not going to work, Wesley makes arrangements to take Frank away from Bentrock and surrender him to another jurisdiction. With his future clear, Frank commits suicide.”


Question: Should Wesley have gone public with this crime, or should he have covered it up like he did?



How will this source help you write your paper?
This source goes into greater detail about the story Montana 1948 and better explains the situation that is occurring throughout the entire story.

Research References for the Final Project

1.Smith, Annick. "Don't Blame It on Montana, Montana 1948 by Larry Watson." The Las Angeles Times 10 Oct. 1993, Home ed.: 2. ProQuest. ProQuest. Pascack Hills High School Library, Montvale, NJ. 6 May 2008. http://proquest .umi .com/pqdweb ?did=60401619 &sid=2 &Fmt=3 &clientId=33870 &RQT=309 &VName=PQD

This link is a book review on the book Montana 1948. It shows the LA Times' book reviewer's opinions on the book, which is an insightful opinion that can help a reader understand the book better (Warning: this link gives away the ending of the book so if you want to be surprised don't look at this link until after you read the book)

2.Samuel. "Montana 1948- Larry Watson." Samuel's Reading Chair. 19 Feb. 2008. Blogspot.Com. 7 May 2008 http://samuelsreadingchair.blogspot.com/2008/02/montana-1948-larry-watson.html.

This sight is a blog of a man named Samuel who was writing a review of the book. He made some good theme comparisons that were smart and made sense. His most interesting point was how similar some themes were to the book To Kill A Mockingbird.

3.Schrandt, Trudy. "Montana 1948." Changing Lives Through Literature. 2003. Dept. of Lit, UMass Dartmouth. 7 May 2008 http://cltl.umassd.edu/resourcesinstruct3kk.cfm.

This is a literary review from the UMass Dartmouth literature department. It gives a lot of themes and comparisons to other literature in an effective, understandable way.

4.Bonadonna, Angelo. "Montana 1948- Isolation, Adolescence....." Angelo Bonadonna's Blog. 25 July 2005. 8 May 2008 http://english.sxu.edu/sites/wordpress/bonadonna/?p=42.

The link above is a blog of an english professor's book reviews and explanations. It shows his opinions on the themes of the book, I think that it gave an accurate opinion of the book and had similar views to myself.

5.McLean. "More Than Money." USA Today 17 July 2007, Final ed., sec. A: 10. ProQuest. ProQuest. Pascack Hills High School Library, Montvale, NJ. 9 May 2008. http://proquest .umi .com/pqdweb ?did=1305801141 &sid=5 &Fmt=3 &clientId=33870 &RQT=309 &VName=PQD

6.Piereson, James. "The Culture of Conspiracy." The Wall Street Journal 24 Nov. 2007, Eastern ed., sec. A: 11. ProQuest. ProQuest. Pascack Hills High School Library, Montvale, NJ. 10 May 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=1387630991&SrchMode=1&sid=6&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1210682310&clientId=33870

This article is about covering up crimes, which is the theme that I would like to focus on while writing this paper. Covering up crimes is a big part of the book Montana 1948. This is about a scandal in the Catholic churches that was covered up and eventually let go after a huge sum was payed to the victims of the scandal. This type of scandal wound up destroying many people's reputations, like it did for the Hayden family in Montana 1948

Another Socratic Seminar

Today, in class, we had a socratic seminar, and it was about as fun watching it as it sounds.

Anyway the topic was the first section in a book called Montana 1948, which is about a family in Mercer County, Montana during the post-WWII era. The book isn't exactly an action thriller, but at the same time it is far from boring. Just to give some back round on the book so whoever decides to read this will know what I'm talking about. Montana 1948 is told as a recollection from a boy named David Hayden, who's father Wesley was the town sheriff and uncle is a very respected war hero and currently a doctor. So, because of these positions and titles of respect the reader can conclude that both men are very important to the community. As many people said during the socratic seminar this book began slow as mostly an introduction to introduce the reader to all the characters, then after all these introductions were made the book's plot rapidly increased. This increase in pace features a very controversial people of that time period, Native Americans. Mercer County is not far from an indian reservation, which winds up playing a huge role as the book progresses, as stated by everyone in the seminar. First its only relevance was that the Hayden family housekeeper, Marie Little Soldier was from that reservation. However, as the book progressed it began to play a more important role, it was mentioned that Uncle Frank spent a lot of time on that reservation, not for helping the indians, but for a reason that was agreed to be extremely controversial by everyone for a very obvious reason, Uncle Frank was using his profession as a doctor to take advantage of the teenage indian girls on the reservation, or in other words he was raping them while he "examined" them. That was where the first section of the book ended, but although I read ahead I don't want to explain any more about it for the risk of giving something away that someone hasn't read. This book is definitely worth reading and although most people had similar views on the topic during the seminar, I have the feeling that as the book progresses our opinions will become more diverse because the book will become much more controversial than it already is, then it will make being in the next seminar a lot more eventful than attempting to watch it.

Paragraph Evaluation

Essay

Sibling rivalry is present in almost every family where there is more than one child. This type of rivalry is definitely present in the book Montana 1948; the rivalry is between David, the main character’s, father Wesley and David’s uncle Frank. Wesley, the town sheriff was really a typical person with nothing really special about him, at this point in his life he is an ex-law school grad who is currently working in the same profession as his father, the sheriff of Mercer County, Montana. This had been a position that Wes’s father had owned for many years before he turned the job over to Wes after he retired, this caused Wes to forgo a promising career in law to take this job. Frank, Wes’s brother has definitely had a more decorated life than Wes. Frank was a star athlete throughout high school and college, and then he would go on to be a war hero during the pacific battles in WWII as a battlefield doctor. He is currently a doctor living in the same area of Montana as Wes and his family. Both brothers never seem to exhibit any real feelings of a bitter rivalry for the most part, and for the most part seem to get along well; however the rivalry is definitely there as it is in most families, even though both men are adults. One tactic to stop sibling rivalries is to have both of them realize that both people have had different lives and both have accomplished much, but both have turned out okay, at a certain point two siblings they need to realize that not everything is a competition.


Research

Sibling rivalries are often present in families, they can sometimes play a major role in how the siblings live and deal with issues between one another. In the book Montana 1948 there is a big rivalry between the protagonist’s father Wes and uncle Frank. In a study published by Denise Henry of Scholastic Choices she says that, “family members will eventually grow out of a rivalry as they mature,” however, these two grown men have been rivals all their lives. Also, the same source goes on to say that, “As long as the two rivals remember that they are family they will be fine,” this is definitely displayed because even though Wes and Frank are rivals, they get along with each other very well. The reader can tell that Wes and Frank have a good relationship despite the rivalry because when on page 35 during a telephone conversation between the two about Wes’s families sick Native American Housekeeper both managed to take each other seriously during the call and have a professional conversation without any extra comments. It seems that even though they haven’t matured out of the rivalry completely yet, because there are still some instances where Wes is jealous of the recognition that Frank gets, like when Wes read some newspaper clippings about Franks heroism in WWII as a doctor he made a sarcastic remark which was, “I wonder if he was supposed to stay at the hospital.” (pg 36) However despite all of that they still manage to use tactics such as using the fact that they are family and should help each other rather than always compete to maintain at least a friendly relationship. This is definitely an example of how sibling rivalries can be controlled even though they are present.


Above are two paragraphs about sibling rivalry in the book Montana 1948 one is essay style and one is research. The difference is mostly that an essay style paragraph is usually a bunch of themes and quotes directly from a story. However a research essay contains research from something other than the book, usually a newspaper or online database of some kind, and contains more citations than an essay paragraph would. For me at least, I find writing a regular essay easier because it doesn't take as long to write since there is no extra research involved. However, research papers are more detailed and give more opinions and information about a topic, and that depth can make the point the writer is attempting to make clearer and easier to understand. So although I definitely like essays better due to their simplicity, a research paper is definitely the more professional of the two. For some more examples check out these two blogs of my friends Jamal, and Smith.

Montana 1948 (annotation practice)

Johnson, Kirk. "Vine Deloria Jr., Champion of Indian Rights, Dies At 72." The New York Times 15 Nov. 2005, Late ed., sec. A: 25. ProQuest. ProQuest. Pascack Hills High School Library, Montvale. 28 Apr. 2008.


Native Americans have always have had a profound affect on the "white man's" society. From the times of Lewis and Clark's western expeditions through today Natives have always influenced how white people lived. Vine Deloria Jr. of the Pine Ridge Oglala Siou reservation in Montana made it his life's work to make this known. Even while the Indians were being kept on the reservations they still had a large affect on surrounding life. Deloria Jr. published many books that explained how Natives affected lives, like how they showed the original settlers how to survive off the land, and about the spiritual aspects of both the Native and Christian religions. He showed how the Natives were not all that different or in some ways better; themes like this earned him national spotlight and made his message known. When he died he had influenced many about his native culture and how it should be respected like any other

Macbeth Extra

For the past month or so we have been reading the Shakespearean play Macbeth. During this time we have been reviewing many themes about this play, such as females who have power, greed, and corruption. All these themes definitely play a large role in the play Macbeth and all of them help add thought and depth to the play. One theme that is recurring throughout the play that we didn't really go into in class was betrayal. Betrayal is sort of linked to the other things that we talked about because power, greed, and corruption usually lead to betrayal of some sort, but since betrayal played such a huge role in the play it should be talked about separately.
In the beginning of the story Macbeth appeared to be a very normal person. He was the Thane of Glamis, which was a high ranking title, but not all that high. He was very loyal to King Duncan, his country, and Banquo, one of his friends. He was a typical guy that wasn't particularly special in any way. Then the Thane of Cawdor, who was the second most powerful man to the royal family, was accused of treason and sentenced to death (it is very ironic that both Thanes of Cawdor, that other guy and Macbeth both became disloyal to the king). Then King Duncan decided that he should appoint Macbeth, ironically at the time one of his most loyal followers, to the position of the Thane of Cawdor. Then before the news got to Macbeth he ran into three witches who told him that he would become the Thane of Cawdor and later the king of Scotland. Soon afterwards, after a conversation with his wife about this his personality goes under a great amount of change.
His first act of betrayal was obviously when he murdered Duncan, who had appointed Macbeth to his current ToC position due to his loyalty. Next, when Banquo began to get suspicious of Duncan's murder Macbeth hired three murderers to kill Banquo and his son, which they eventually did; now Macbeth had betrayed two of the people who had previously trusted him the most. Then Macbeth went on a killing spree, betraying and murdering anyone who he felt threatened his reign. Most significantly he murdered Macduff's family. He had betrayed all of his fellow thanes as well as all the people he ruled over by becoming a tyrant. All of this betrayal is eventually what lead to his demise when he was later murdered by Macduff, who was fighting for revenge over his murdered family. Then, his very short corrupt reign over his country was over. Which just shows how betraying an entire country could lead to everyone turn against him and eventually lead to his death.


While looking through the internet I found a "rational list" that showed Macbeth's betrayal and corruption, the link to it is here:
Macbeth "rational list"

GUILT

Guilt can play a major role in someone's life; it can cause them to act differently than they normally would in certain situations. Guilt can make us regret decisions that we make even if we were sure that we wouldn't have feelings of remorse when we committed these actions. A real life example of this was when back in 1960 a young Dartmouth student stole a WWI cannon outside of a war veterans retirement home. The cannon would continue to be hidden up until 40 years later when an old man who claimed to be an old Dartmouth student decided that the prank had gotten old and told the location of the hidden cannon to the authorities. As it turned out the cannon was hidden under the Dartmouth football field's stands, and marked with a limber, or wheeled ammunition carriage, which had been in plain sight for forty years (many people had known it was there, but naturally since it wasn't bothering anyone nobody bothered to say anything about it. Now all these years after the cannon was stolen, its location was revealed because of an old man who felt too guilty to take the secret of the cannon's location to his grave.
For myself personally guilt hasn't really affected me much. I'm not saying that I have never apologized when I have done something wrong, but usually that's only when I get caught doing something. Honestly, other than that I don't feel guilt that often. I try to live without regret, and if I ever begin to feel any I ignore it and move on.
Anyway, in Macbeth guilt affects one character in particular and leads to her apparent suicide. Lady Macbeth spends most of her time at the end of the play talking to herself about her regret of killing King Duncan. She continually remarks on how she felt regret for his murder because she apparently felt that she had pushed her husband into murdering the king. Eventually, right before the final battle between Macbeth and Macduff, she dies, most likely a case of suicide. This shows how powerful guilt can be and how it can lead people "over the edge." This is another example of how human emotion really can play a huge role in the way that people live out their lives.


Sources cited:
Abel, David. "Guilt May Have Cracked Cold Case; Man's Confession Could Bring Return of Cannon to Vt." The Boston Globe 10 Apr. 2008, Final ed., sec. B: 1. ProQuest. 16 Apr. 2008.