Ben Kaczmar GVSU

 I never knew that pirates ended up uniting with their enemies when the merchants lost! It does make sense that the losing party would follow along with enemy pirates to keep their own lives. I don't know a lot about pirates, but my impression had always been that they would fight to kill and destroy the enemy. The fact that pirates actually acquired merchants to help has changed my perspective. Glad to learn something new from your post, Joe!

 I really like how you compared the example from the movie to today's standards. It's interesting how materialistic objects can portray what someone is worth or at least appear that way. Much of what is perceived by others of ourselves is what we like. Just because someone takes an interest in something doesn't mean their personality is always the same. I think that humans are too quick to judge each other based on outward appearance instead of personal interactions.

 I thought the city of Potosí in current-day Bolivia was very similar to many towns in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. People tend to live around where the money is, and in both Michigan's U.P. and Potosí, there was labor needed for the mining industry. Although Potosí and the U.P. had very different primary mining resources available in copper and silver, the results of the mining industry remained the same. Large populations developed around the mining communities because that was where resources were most necessary. Additionally, many of the miners in both Potosí and the U.P. had to deal with extremely difficult conditions. A lot of the work was done by immigrants or people who had come from far away for the work. The miners did not have many other choices other than to work in the mines because of their social statuses and backgrounds. Consequently, the mining industry in both communities created booming trade industries. The Upper Peninsula would grow as a series of mining tow...

  What a powerful message! It's crazy how expectations and demands can be vastly different from each other. I think that by having completely opposite expectations and demands, it allows people with power to maintain it. There is no way to win for women or any other group fighting against injustice. At some point or another, it is important to realize that we need to break the cycle to change perspectives.

 Even though I'm a guy, I can relate to the pressures of finding a relationship. Nobody has directly told me to get into a relationship, but I'll still get questions about the topic from adults that I hardly know. My worth is determined by myself and myself only, so it's important to not worry about what others want. If I'm happy, then it's perfectly okay to not be in a relationship.

 I enjoyed reading the book Lieutenant Nun  this week. Catalina had such an interesting personality that I never would have learned about otherwise. I think the main reason I found the book to be so entertaining was the fact that it almost seemed like a fictitious story! It seemed like every other chapter Erauso killed someone or went on some ridiculous adventure. I was amazed at how many times Erauso was able to win her fights and also avoid prison. If you watched a movie about Erauso, you would probably say that it was too unrealistic; that's how crazy her life really was! Even after suffering injuries, Erauso always found ways to continue fighting. I think the main reason for this was her boldness. Erauso saw herself as a man, and, as a result, took on many masculine traits. At that time in history, women didn't have the ability to go out and travel all over the place fighting everyone they crossed paths with. Erauso reshaped her own identity to reflect what she wanted to d...

  What's up, Dylan? I ended up writing about very similar things in my own blog, so I definitely agree with your point that the peer editing was very helpful. Someone else looking at your paper can reveal some mistakes that you never would have seen otherwise. I also liked looking at another paper because I could see how others interpreted the same prompt as me in unique ways.