Interview Questions

Interview Questions

For my research paper, I will be writing about my father’s experience in the Vietnam War.  He was a young man, fresh out of high school when he was called to serve.  He did what he felt was his duty at the time.  Unfortunately, when he arrived home to San Francisco after being in Vietnam, his homecoming was less than welcoming.  He arrived home to a city (and country) in protest over the war.  I will tell his story and others about their experiences in Vietnam and how they adjusted after coming back home.

Questions:

What made you join the army originally?  How old were you?

How did you feel when you got the news that you would be going to Vietnam?

Were your friends and family supportive?

Looking back, how do you feel about the experiences you had in Vietnam?

Do you think it changed you? Positively or negatively?  Both?

How did you feel when you arrived home and found that people were angry with the Vietnam War?

Did you still feel supported?  Did you feel like America turned its back on its soldiers?

How do you feel today looking back?

Unfortunately my interview had to be put on hold as my father had to travel to Puerto Rico for family business.  I will be conducting my interview this weekend.

Chapters 14, 15, 16

Ch. 14 The Early Modern Word

One of the key topics that got my interest this chapter is what the author called “the great dying”.  The correlation between European settlers and the death of Native Americans is astounding. The Western world was well populated, perhaps up to 80 million, before the European acquisition.  The Western Hemisphere was free from major disease and of course animal born disease.  Once Europeans made their appearance whole populations were devastated by disease and hunger.  I was appalled to learn that only 50 years after Columbus’ arrival, the people of the Caribbean islands disappeared.  Although the text talks about death of populations from disease it didn’t really talk about the slaughter of Native peoples.  About six years ago, I had a Native American family in my preschool program.  Every November, I would typically do some sort of Thanksgiving craft and activity.  Luckily for me, the parent of my student asked if she could bring in books about Native Americans and come in to share their culture with us.  She also gave me some adult reading about Native American’s views on Columbus, pilgrims, and Thanksgiving.  I hate to admit that I was so naïve but I really had little understanding about the devastation that Native Americans suffered after Columbus arrived.  I was never taught in grade school that Columbus “destroyed lives” and that pilgrims in fact enslaved the Native Americans and often exploited them.  I have a very different opinion now and also a better understanding of history thanks to that mother.  I hope as my children learn world history the books they use will tell the whole story and not just the Europeans’ story.

Ch. 15 Global Commerce

After further reading in chapter 15, I was pleased to find that Stayer properly acknowledged the exploitation of Native Americans by Europeans.  Due to European demands for fur, Native Americans engaged in animal massacre in order to obtain specialty items in return.  Because of the fur trade, some species of animals were completely wiped out.  Europeans were able to essentially bribe Native Americans with rewards such as alcohol, guns, and a false sense of dependence.  All of these factors combined ultimately led to the decimation of Native American societies.  The slave trade from Africa was also hard to read about.  The text brought up the topic of slavery and racism.  Scholars believe that because slaves from Africa were “black” it was easier for Europeans to disassociate themselves from them as being human beings.  In fact it is suggested that Africans were seen as not even human (pg. 452).  I can only imagine the pain, fear, and humility of Africans who were ripped out of their homeland to live out their lives under the harsh hand of a slave owner.  Awful.

Ch. 16 Religion and Science

The scientific revolution really stirred things up for Christians.  The discovery that the earth was a planet that revolved on its axis just as other planets was surprising and disturbing at best.  To accept that the “sun was at the middle of all things” (pg.480) went against what Christians had always known to be true.  The idea that earth was no longer the center of the universe was initially seen as an opposition to the church’s foundation.  I found it interesting however that none of the scientists rejected Christianity.  In fact Galileo said that science and faith were compatible and that one could not exist without the other.     

Islam, Pastoral Peoples, and the 15 Century

Chapter 11  Islam

Muhammad was the man believed by many to be a messenger from God.  Believers called him a prophet.  Muslims believe that through Muhammad’s revelations from God, which lasted over twenty years, he revealed the religion of Islam.   His revelations were recorded in the Quran which are the scriptures that Muslims base their faith on.  Muhammad claimed he was the last of the prophets to reveal himself and that in fact there was only one God – Allah.  According to the text, Muhammad and his followers did not view his teachings as a new religion but as a return to the “pure religion of Abraham” which Christians, Jews, and Arabs had deviated from.  Unlike Christianity, Islam was not separated by religion and politics.  All aspects of life revolved around Islam, be it religious, political, or military based.  I can appreciate Muhammad’s teachings.  They addressed social injustices, inequality, and commercialism.  He recognized that the path to God was to fight against these injustices in life.  Unfortunately, after Muhammad’s death, the absence of his leadership led to the divide between Muslims.  It was sad to learn that in less than 25 years after his death, Muslims were divided by a civil war.  In today’s world, I find it unfortunate that extremists have taken Muhammeds teachings and used them as an excuse to harm innocent people (including themselves) in the name of God.  If I understand correctly, Muhammed would have never defended harming another human over a personal belief.