Post #8- YOUR ASSIGNMENT

DC's most famous spot for shopping and eating is Union Station. Visit, explore and enjoy! For this post pick a store or two and a restaurant or two that you would like to try. Write your blog entry as if you had. Review the food, selection, atmosphere and cost. Recommend, or not, others to try your picks.

Restaurants:

1. I went to Pizzeria Uno and got a large combination pizza. I thought it was one of the best pizzas I have had and I highly recommend it. The atmosphere there is quite elegant and comfortable. The prices there on high side but it is worth it.

2. After going to Johnny Rockets, I thought it was the coolest experience I have had of the past. They had really good cheeseburgers at a reasonable price. The atmosphere there was very chill and reminded me of the past.

Store:

1. When I went to the U.S. Mint I had a pretty cool experience. I bought some souvenirs like coins and key chains.  I think that it is worth visiting if you go to the Union Station. 

Post #7- YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Your Senators and Representatives:

If this were an actual field trip I would give you this advice: Be prepared for lots of walking and dress comfortably. Make sure you do not wear a belt or shoes with large buckles. Do not pack a lunch for the day. Why?

Who are the senators for your state? Who is the representative for your district? If you were to meet them where would you find them and how would you set up that appointment? What types of security will you need to be prepared for? Why?

What question would you ask your senator or representative? Why? Be sure to use the tips found in the link to the right to make sure your questions are appropriate, will get you a visit and are likely to get answered.

Write a second blog post for this stop on our trip answering the questions above.

1. The advice given would be for us, so that we can feel comfortable while walking. As for not packing a lunch; I think that it might be because they give you lunch there.

2. The Senators for my state are Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. The Representative  of my district is Zoe Lofgren. If I were to meet them I would probably see them at their own office and I would set up a meeting through either their secretary or themselves personally. The security issues I might face is that I have to talk to them by phone call because they can't meet with random people. 

3. The questions I would ask them are:

• What are your plans for our state?
• What will you do for the financial problems of this state?
• How can you help the middle class?
• What is your opinion about education, and what can you do to help it?

I would ask these questions because I feel that they pertain to most people in California and me especially. 

Post #6- THE UNITED STATES CAPITAL BUILDING
Locate the list of relief portraits surrounding the walls of the House Chamber. Look more closely at a few that interest you. Comment on why you think these images were chosen and what it says about our country that they were. Find two or three other examples of art or architecture that inspire democracy. Share pictures of them and explain your choices

I believe that these images were chosen to show very influential people on the world. Regarding our country I think that it says we are unselfish and give credit where it's due. 

1. The Capitol building's architecture resembles an Greek/Roman time period where a form of democracy thrived.

2. The Statue of Freedom at the top of the dome on Capitol Building. This shows a great amount about our government with what it symbolizes. Freedom has a huge roll in how Democracy works.   

Post #5- YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Look at several of the many beautiful and varied monuments found in the DC parks. For this week's post write about your favorite three. Who, When, Where, How and What impact did they have on you. Be sure to include pictures to make your post more visually exciting.

1. The Vietnam Memorial is a monument built to honor all the soldiers who gave their life for our country. It began construction on March 26, 1982 in Washington D.C. by the Gilbane Building Company. The number of people on this wall shocks me and makes me feel sorrow for all the families. the memorial has put an influence me to be unselfish and thankful for the life you have. 

2. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was built in 2011 at West Potomac Park in Washington D.C. It was built with white granite by designer Lei Yixin. I enjoy this monument because it shows an obstacle America went through with racism and why we are the way that we are when we address people outside of our race.

3. The Washington Monument was built to honor George Washington as one of our nations founding father. It was being constructed on and then finally built from 1848-1884 by designer Robert Mills. To me it shows how America started out and how strong we have become. 

Post #4- YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Write a blog post about how the Supreme Court works and how the building its self displays and represents these important principles and functions of American Government.

Show examples of law and justice within the architecture and art found in the Supreme Court Building. Share your favorite three and why you chose them.

From what I know the supreme court is very elegant. The Supreme Court is the only court created by the constitution, in which It has nine justices. Most cases in the Supreme Court require the court to interpret an existing law. Decisions made by the Supreme Court cannot be appealed in any other court. The architecture and the art displayed in the Supreme Court show a form of power and wealth. By doing this, it establishes a stand to other countries that visit. The statues; Contemplation of Justice and Authority of Law are one of my favorites because I like how it shows the power that we have and what we stand for. Another piece of design I enjoyed was the doors, surprisingly.  The doors reminded me of a golden gate that leads to a sacred place. In Justice John Paul Stevens' Chambers he has a statue of  "The Thinker" on a table. The sane "think before you act" really applies to this statue and how we deal with dilemmas in our country.

Post #3- YOUR ASSIGNMENT.

Find the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
What do they look like? Where are they housed? Why are they important? How did you find them? Who is in charge of preserving them? What do they represent to our society and our posterity?

Write your blog post showing images of these documents and the answers to the questions above.

The  Declaration of Independence and the Constitution resemble old coffee stained paper. They are written in cursive writing, with a feather and ink, as you can see from the documents below.Both documents are housed at the United States of America National Archives in Washington D.C. The Declaration of Independence is important because it was the start of the United States and it says that a government exists for the benefit of the people and that "all men are created equal." The Constitution is important because it is the foundation of our country, it outlines all of our rights as citizens, and it allows us to be protected by its amendments from each other and most
importantly from the government. I found them on google. The conservation lab has the job of preserving the documents. to us they represent important documents that created our country. For our posterity it represents a symbol of order and control so that we never go off track.   

The Declaration of Indepence

The United States Constitution

Post #2-  YOUR ASSIGNMENT

For this blog post you must visit The White House virtually. View the rooms inside and the grounds outside. Notice the artifacts and architecture. Decide what is the most inspiring and/or interesting to you and why. Why do you think our founding fathers felt it was important to build such an impressive home for our presidents?

Write a formal business letter to your Congressmen requesting a visit and explaining exactly what you want to see and why it is important to you. 

December 5, 2013

Zoe Lonfgren

635 N. First Street, B 

San Jose, CA 95112  

Dear Congresswoman Lofgren.

My name is David Celio and I would like to request a ticket to visit the White House. The White House has been a very important part of history and is very informational to a student like myself. My school doesn't annual field trip like most schools use to so I would like to take this opportunity upon myself and visit the White House. 

When I go there I would like to visit the East and West Wing and the Kitchen. I would also like to look at all the paintings on the wall and the architecture of the building. This is important for me because I feel that this will be an experience that will help me with my personal knowledge  about how we came to be the United States of America. 

If it is possible I would like to go anytime in June, since I will be out of school. If you would like to contact me, my phone number is 1 (555) 555-5555. My address is 1234 Red Road SJ, CA
Thank you for taking the time to read my request.

Sincerely,



David Celio