Wrap Up of the Class

Before this class, the only prior knowledge I had of the material we learned was from my World History class last semester, which I also took with Metcalf. However in World History, the material was only slightly touched on since there were so many other countries to learn about. In high school, I never learned about the Middle East. I feel fortunate that I took this class this semester because I have learned so much in such a small amount of time. I have learned that the United States is not what I have believed it to be since I was old enough to form an opinion on my country. I have learned about events in history that seem so important that I had never even heard of before this class. For example, I had never learned about the Armenian massacre until I read Forgotten Fire. After finishing the memoir, it seemed impossible that such a huge event was never touched upon in high school or any other previous classes. In the history of the Modern Middle East, I learned more about the state that our world is in today. The class touched on two of the most important events going on in our world today: the Arab-Isaeli conflict and the war on terrorism. Personally I have always been for the most part uninterested in politics, which made me ignorant of events taking place in our world today. I always wanted to change this about myself but could never conjure up the enthusiasm to become more interested in politics. This class has finally made me interested in world affairs and politics. I think that every American should learn the material that we learned about in this class.

Conclusion of My Guantanamo Diary

This class is my third class that I have taken with Professor Metcalf. Needless to say, there has been a whole lot of reading within these three classes, but I must say that I have learned the most information in My Guantanamo Diary. This is a book that I feel all Americans should be required to read. It is an eye opening book into the corruption of the American government that most people do not even know about. The book made me understand why so many people in this world hate our country.

The book is also so important because it is a highly detailed account of something that is going on right now at this very second. Right now there are innocent people being held in Guantanamo that will probably never see a fair trial for the rest of their lives. The book made me understand what it means to be a human being. For example, I learned that it is not possible to stay sane without any contact from your family when you were originally so close to them. Based on the accounts in this book, innocent people are going insane from not seeing their families for years and staring at concrete walls for twenty two hours a day. This book puts the United States to shame, and I feel completely embarassed for our country. It is such a shame that such a powerful country feels the need to detain innocent prisoners without giving them the right to a fair trial. This book helped me realize that the United States and its justice system are not even close to what I have grown up believing them to be. My Guantanamo Diary truly made me realize that the more you learn, the more you realize how little you really do know about the world.

Guantanamo Diaries

For out last source analysis, we have been reading My Guantanamo Diaries. This has been one of my favorite books that we have been reading. Out of all of the books that we have read, this book has opened my eyes the most. Based on what we hear on the TV, radio, or in the newspapers, I have always believed that the detainees in Guantanamo are the most evil criminals out there. I was always happy to hear that people were being held there because I thought that they were a threat to America's safety and needed to be locked up. However, My Guantanamo Diaries has made me believe otherwise.

The account that touched me the most was the first account that the author has with a man named Ali Shah Mousovi. He broke a common stereotype that Americans have of people in the Middle East: that all men have more than one wife and a lot of children. However, Mousovi only has one wife and two children. Hearing about how he was tortured made me believe even more that he is completely innocent. His account made me truly believe that the United States is making a horrible mistake keeping so many people in Guantanamo without the right to a fair trial. I understand that our country is at war right now with the Middle East and that we need to take extra precautionary measures to keep the country safe, but this book has proved that we have pushed it too far. Innocent people are being taken from their families, tortured, and isolated from other people. This book has opened my eyes to not trusting everything that you hear in the media. I feel that every person living in the United States needs to read this book to gain a better understanding of Guantanamo or "Gitmo."