Featurecast From The Past Reflection

Project Purpose:



To understand the difference between Cause/Effect Relationships and Correlations.

To understand how and why major events in history are connected and intertwined.

To research a major event from U.S. history in order to understand why it is significant and how it relates to other mayjor events.

To understand features of a feature article and podcast and be able to create a feature article or podcast about major event in history.



Project Requirements:



To present the 5Ws of your major event to the class. To write/peer edit/revise a feature article or podcast. To have at least three drafts in your Writing Portfolio. To present a polished version of your feature article or podcast on Media Night, as well as posting it online to our Team Featurecast from the Past web page.


1st Concept:
While working on this project, I learned about the Salem Witch Trials. These trials began in Salem, Massachusetts; 1692 - 1693. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings by local magistrates and conty court trials to prosecute those who commited acts of witchcraft. A girl by the name of Betty Paris was the first afflicted and had fell sick and started to have seizures, trance like states, and fits of screaming. So the people of Salem belived that it could only be the work of the devil. Some of the other causes that "fueled" the trials were because of politics, religion, and peoples fear and imagination. In the end, 19 were hanged, 1 a man by the name of Giles Corey was pressed to death, and overall, 140 were accused.

I also learned that the Salem Witch Trials are somewhat repeating itself today. People are being targeted at airports and are getting entered into a security detection report (S.D.R.) in suspicion of being terrorists or for acting in a suspicious way, yet they did nothing wrong. I learned that not only does the Salem W. Trials repeat itself today, but also other major events that have happened throughout history.

2nd Concept:

My second concept is understanding the writing process. I learned that in order to draw the reader in, you have to have a strong hook that will catch the readers intrest and attention. You must also have good content and evidence, a counter argument to back yourself up, and also a conclusion that will wrap it up.

Challenge:

A challenge that I faced during this project was trying to figure out things happening today in world that could relate to the Salem Witch Trials. I didn't really think at first that the Salem W. Trials related with anything today -it being about witches and such- but Ms. Staff said that it could relate to how people today are being falsely accused, and so that is what I did my feature article about.

Real World Significance/Application:

The significance to learning the major events in history is being able to have the knowledge of what have happened long ago and the difference that those events make today. The real world application is research and learning that you will have to go to the right search engine to get correct information, and with out research, you'll have no knowledge about a topic.

Content Driven Questions:

1. How does the Salem Witch Trials relate to today?


2. What were some of the trials that people used to prove the accused if they were innocent or guilty?

The trials were pretty unfair. There was this one trial where they would throw the accused witch into a pond with a brick tied to their ankle, and if they survived, they were a witch. And if they didn't they wouldve just died.

3. What are some of a feature article's features?

Some features would be captions, pictures, and graphs.