Blog post 5 : INTRODUCTION

How do you talk about the Caribbean without mentioning Dominica? Dominica is one of the few islands with a mix of cultures spread all over their territory. The country's complex colonial past is reflected in its languages English has been the official language since the British took control in 1763. A distinct English based creole called Kokoy is spoken in Wesley and Marigot, two villages on the Atlantic coast that were settled by Methodist missionaries, estate owners, and their slave laborers from Antigua and other Leeward islands in the late eighteenth century. The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and other laws policies contributes generally free practice of religion. The law at all levels protects this right in full against abuse, either by governmental or private actors. Dominica is the best island when it comes to culture the diversity and the foods that come with it only make it more interesting. The Government allows freedoms and gives people a chance to be themselves very similar to the United States.

https://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Dominica.html

Blog Post #4

Dominica is a very interesting island. Dominica has a lot of cultures and a lot of information to include in my final project. Dominica is very interesting because it's diversity and the varieties of people who stay on the island. It was very hard to choose a main topic for this island because they don't really have a strong focus. The many challenges are finding something that I can talk about without it being really broad or having too much information. I ended up selecting Culture my main topic and the reason I chose that is because if anything this is one of Dominica's strongest focuses. I found many websites that have great insight and information on the many cultures inside Dominica. I didn't really find anything interesting facts wise. They generally share similar qualities to the United States. Like many Caribbean islands, Dominica has been influenced by different cultures over the course of its history. Originally inhabited by Arawak and Kalinago people, colonized by the Europeans (the English and French in particular), injected with a strong African influence during the 18th century, then flooded with American television in recent years, Dominica’s culture is as multi-faceted as the madras fabric worn as traditional dress. I plan to keep researching to see if I can find more interesting facts and try to find something different that stands out from other Caribbean countries. The highlights of my research really have been finding out that Dominica has a lot of similarities to the United States and that they will accept new people to their cultures with open arms. My plan is to touch on all the cultures in Dominica, explain how they differ and how they're similar and how all religions & are cultures are all appreciated by the Government and every citizen in Dominica.

Blog Post #3 - Compare and Contrast "Little Cog-burt" & " Cotton Candy"

The Little Cog-Burt & Cotton Candy have a lot of similarities and differences, they both tell stories of lower class working people and people who see themselves differently than other people. Both stories talk about desires from the main characters. Although they're in reality they have impossible situations that they dream of or want to do. Cotton candy was a story that was about a tale of sexual obsession in which "butterflies were falling under the green whip, dying, astonished, and young Lola was gathering her fragile harvest to offer to her first love." Sometimes she walked hearing "the buzzing of the feverish beehives where she burned among the honey and the gyrations, wanting to sink her teeth into the sweetness full of stings." As an old woman, she finds the "inexpressible, contagious atmosphere where the beasts became beautiful like the trees and the light." Cotton Candy was a story about a woman who craved sex and love from someone earlier in her life, but her mother was all into her business and didn't allow it. Throughout the story the author uses little details and other animals to describe how the main character feels. Towards the end of the story she sees herself as a young woman again, instead of the older and bigger lady that she is. In Little Cog-Burt was sort of the exact same, they viewed themselves different than others, that's what made them feel better about themselves and when in reality they were viewed an ugly old, little and funny looking. Both of these authors used similar ways to explain their story, but the contrast was very few and if there were any contrast it was the story itself. They both had different types of ways other people felt and how they viewed them which was very interesting.

BP2 TETIYETTE AND THE DEVIL

"Tetiyette and the Devil" is the story about a young girl who is very picky and never satisfied with what she's given. The problem in the story is when the young girl chooses to focus on appearance more than the actual person. The author in this story teaches a valuable lesson about how to not judge someone based on their looks. The author explains it throughout the story by using tools such as prose and poetry. The story starts off with 2 animals approaching the young girl.

A goat and a pig. The goat in my opinion is probably a poor, not so good-looking animal so the young girl sent him away. The pig in my opinion was most likely dirty probably a bigger male the young girl didn't like him as well. There was one guy (The Devil) who appeared to the little girl as a very attractive man. The devil however had different plans, he dressed himself in gold chains and put on his most expensive clothes. Here the author is showing how appearance and what someone wears can have an effect on someone even if you don't know them. The girl was attracted significantly to the devil and allowed him into the house. When her mother and father and brother were sleep the Devil began to eat the young girl and she started screaming for help.

While she screamed the author put her words in poetry and constant repetition for example, "Oh, Mama! Oh, Mama! Bel-air drum! The man to whom you married me, Bel-air drum! Is a terrible devil! bel- air drum! He's eating me up! bel-air drum! The Devil also responded in this context very repetitive and in poetry. However, her father replied in prose style. Prose is in ordinary form and doesn't have metrical structure. Her father and her mother however didn't pay any mind to the girl while she pleaded for help, so she eventually started to yell for her younger brother who eventually came and aided his sister and killed the devil.

The author did a good job on using context clues on explaining the way appearance can affect someone thoughts on you. Also, he showed without saying that it's important to know more about the person it's not what is outside but inside, and our main character Tetiyette did a bad job of that.

Dominica BP1

Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica is an island republic in the West indies with a population of roughly 74,000. The capital and largest city in Dominica is Roseau which is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea. Dominica is densely covered with wooded mountains and rain forest. Most of the terrain is steep and extremely rugged. Dominica is also known to have some of the animals that many thinks are extinct, they live in most of Dominica's forests. Dominica is often known as the "Natural Island of the Caribbean" due to it's spectacular, lush and varied flora and fauna, which are protected by an extensive national park system.

One of Dominica's key National Park is the Morne Trois Pitons National Park it's a UNESCO world heritage site since 1997. This park stretches nearly 17,000 acres of Dominica's mountainous volcanic interior. Dominica's boiling lake is situated in the MTP as well which is the 2nd largest hot spring in the world. Dominica also has the most famous dive and snorkel site; Champagne Reef lies in marine reserve off the country’s southwest coast. Geothermal activity causes thousands of bubbles to emerge from beneath the rocks, a few meters from shore. Frogfish, flying gurnards, squid, and sea horses are just some of the species found in the warm waters here. In conclusion, here’s just some interesting facts to throw out there.

The average life span in Dominica is 73 years. Its industry consists of tourism, soap, coconut oil and copra. Dominica exports bananas, grapefruit, soap, bay oil and vegetables. There are a number of volcanoes on Dominica but there have been no major eruptions for centuries. Dominica gained its independence in 1978. Two years after independence Mary Eugenia Charles became the first female Prime Minister in the Caribbean. Dominica suffered from hurricanes in 1979 (Hurricane David), 1980 (Hurricane Allen), 1995 (Hurricane Luis) and 1999 (Hurricane Lenny).

About me

My name is Amani Billups. I am the youngest out of my 2 siblings, I have one sister and one brother. I was born in Buffalo,NY on November 17th. I moved to Douglasville,GA in 2009 and from here i attended Fairplay middle school and Douglas County High School. I played varsity football and basketball for all 4 years. In my senior year i tore my ACL and lost the majority of my football scholarships. After i graduated high school , I decided to skip my Fall 2017 semester to save up some money. I then attended West Georgia Technical College in the spring of 2018 and the summer of 2018. I am currently a business marketing major and i plan on changing that very soon to either computer software or physical therapy. I am attending Georgia Gwinnett College to get enough credits to transfer to Kennesaw State University to still play football with a walk-on opportunity thanks to my high school head coach. In conclusion I love to travel, cook , play games and listen to music and play sports, and you'll can follow me on Instagram and twitter @thestoryofab.