Back to Africa
Deadline: Monday, November 19, 2012 by 08:00

Imagen
Our African map in the classroom needs to be finished as some of your country drawings were too messy or not to scale. So if your country has not been featured on the wall, that means that is was rejected for display.

Those who do not have their African country on the wall also means they received low marks for not following directions from the previous blog post on creating a African country.



This week's blog is a blog of persuasion. Persuasion is the act of convincing or changing someone else's mind, opinion, beliefs, or actions. Take a look at the photo of the apple. How do you interpret it? Is the apple on the left persuading the apple on the right to be happy? Or is the apple on the right persuading the other apple that he or she is "happy" even when it is not the case? Both interpretations are matters of persuasion.

Now, go back to your African country and persuade me that your country is the best in the class to visit. There are over 50 African countries to choose from for my next holiday. Will I pick yours?

Your blog post this week should:

  • be a minimum of 100 words in length
  • feature the best highlights in your African country (the climate, people, food, music, sports, animals, national parks, monuments, etc.)
  • be creative and of course, persuasive!

If your country has had problems with natural disasters, famine, civil war, or political problems, you will have to be even more convincing as I may not want to go there. Show the very best side to your country for me to consider it. Remember, it does not matter how small or big your country is, there is always something you can find that could bring an adventurous tourist like me to come and visit.

Good luck to persuade me to visit your African country!




Mr .Hendricks
15/11/2012 03:59:02 pm

Dear 8th Grade,

Please check out the AMAZING response of Tinks from 6th grade. She has shown the world how to write a persuasive essay on traveling to an African country.

-Mr. H.

Mr.Hendricks
17/11/2012 04:04:59 am

Dear 8th Grade,

Please check out the UNBELIEVABLE response from ' Jonesy ' it is persuasive and accurate. She also like Tinks has shown the world how to write a persuasive essay on travelling to the Ivory Coast. You really should observe their effort.

-Mr.H.

francesco99
16/11/2012 05:57:01 pm

Dear Mr.Hendricks,
Hi, I'm Frando from Zimbabwe and I'm going to teach you some famous thing about Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a really good country full of nature. Zimbabwe borders with Zambia (north), Botswana ( west), South Africa (south) and Mozambique (east). the population is about 12.576.742 people. The climate in Zimbabwe is ok in the summer it can reach 30° but if you go in the winter it can go down untill 6° celcius.
in zimbabwe they eat a lot of things like: sadzda ,corn ,beef,peanuts,sweet potatoes. I'm going to explain you some of this foods like Sadzda e peanuts. sadzda is like meat with some types of vegetables and also a bit of bread. peanuts is a type of nuts that is very famous in Zimbabwe. A lot of people from Zimbabwe are poor so they live in the street or no in amazing house , so , the sing folk music for relax then.
Zimbabwe is famous in sport for football, cricket and rugby. In the Olympics games Zimbabwe won 8 medals only in girls.
the most famous animals that lives in zimbabwe are Hippopotamus, Cheetah, jackals, african elephants, lion and giraffe. This are the most famous animals in Zimbabwe. there are also famous monuments or important things like the 100 trillion dollar note that it was used just before the Zimbabwe dollar abandoned.
there is also a famous statue of robert Mugabe that is first minister of Zimbabwe and than became president of Zimbabwe.e.
there is also the Once called Rhodesia: Rhodesia was Zimbabwe in the old time.
if your gona come we are coing to go from north to south of zimbabwe.
sincerely
frando

frando

bray6345
16/11/2012 06:08:08 pm

Dear mr Hendricks,i'm Brian,and in this letter i want speak at you good things of Botswana but i want speak at you honestly too.
The main ethnic group in Botswana is the Tswana people. Tswana music is mostly vocal and the tools are primitive music on the contrary of today in civilized country.
The food of Botswana isn't good how Italy beacause how i know there is a big problem with it.the principal food is bovinemeat and others traditional pietance.the must famous parks are Okavango ,Chobe National Park and Kalahari Desert.Now mr Hendricks i say at you where you can go if you are in Botwana but now i say at you why you have to there.i tink that you have to go there beacause i know that you are a generous man and people of Botswana need help.
I think is beatiful see how the world is cruel and have the possibility to help the people who are more poor than you.

Liam
17/11/2012 12:16:57 am

Hi Mr. Hendricks,

While researching Gabon I have come to realize there are many reasons as to why you should someone would like to visit. Gabon is broken up into three distinct and extremely different regions. Mountains (the crystal mountains to the northeast of Libreville as well as the more known Chaillu Massif located in central Gabon), the coastal plains and the savanna in the east. All of these striking natural features offer you a diverse and vast range of activities to do and sights to see.

Gabon has an equatorial climate (tropical climate). Seasonal changes in Gabon come with little variation in temperature. The daily average is high 20's (celsius) which is in my opinion a rather pleasant Another benefit to the climate in Gabon is that for you will not have to adapt to an opposite extreme as you would most likely be leaving from Spain.

Gabon has many attractions that I believe would appeal both as a historian as well as a tourist. If I were to visit Gabon I would without doubt tour through the region of Bateke Plateau which is composed of the three main terrains found in Gabon. The reason why this area is well known is because of the stunning wildlife. The animals in this area include forest elephants, buffalos, sitatunga, river hogs, gorillas, panthers, crocodiles, monkeys and parrots. The attraction that I believe would most appeal to your historian side would the National Museum of situated in the lively, oceanside capital Libreville. This particular museum features indigenous Fang (the indigenous people of Gabon) style of carving which influenced many other notable artists such as Picasso.

The Gabonese cuisine is heavily influenced by various French dishes although from what I have read there is also a set of traditional dishes such as Fufu which is a dish made up of pounded cassava. A real benefit of Gabonese cuisine that relates directly back to you is that you can experience familiar European dishes as well as experiment with different tastes and flavors.

Sports in Gabon are a very popular activity, heavily participated in by the countries youth. Basketball, tennis and football are the main sports partaken in in Gabon. Gabon even competed in the Davis Cup back in 2004. (While in Gabon you will remember us every time you see someone playing tennis).

I believe these reasons have presented a strong enough argument as to why you should go to Gabon.







Mr. Hendricks
18/11/2012 01:24:37 am

Interesting points!

-Mr. H.

South African guide (Artak)
17/11/2012 01:04:32 am

Dear Mr.Hendricks

I have noticied that yo are looking for a journey in a country of South Africa. My name is Artak and I'm a guide in South Africa. I'm going to explain you every thing about our country.

South Africa is a great pleace to learn and rest. South Africa has 3 capitals Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town. South Africas is one of the contries that has more population in the world. It has more than 51 million people, and I know that yo like to comunicate with the people so you can know a lot of things. The two main lenguages in South Africa is English and Africaan, you will not have dificulties to speak with the citizens. The economy in South Africa is not bad, you will not be scary from thieves.

Now let's talk about the hisory of South Africa. South Africa has some of the oldest arqeological and humans fossils, and people told me that you like a lot history, maybe you will like to talk with some arqeologicans to know more about hsitorys from South Africa. Sterkfontain is one of the most richest place of hominin fossils. Hominins are a tribu from South Africa that has a large history there, if you want to know more go there. I really recomendate to you to come here. If you want to know more about as, visit South Africa.

Marsel
17/11/2012 01:35:30 am

Hello, Mr. Hendricks.
I present my country. It is Republic of Malawi. When I researched facts about Malawi, I understood that it is amazing country. I hope you will like it. I suggest you go there. It is located in South Africa, near with Zambia.
Malawi climate with rainy summers and dry winters. The average temperature of the warmest month (November) is around 20 ° C, coldest (July) from 14 ° C to 19 ° C. So you can dive into the water as beautiful fish in the water, warm weather, clean water.
Malawi has great flora. Malawi is known for its orchids - more than 400 varieties. You can check orchids, they are amazing. There is also a tropical forest with coniferous plants, acacia savanna and baobabs.
Malawi diverse fauna, home to elephants, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, monkeys,several types of antelopes, hippos, snakes, insects and birds. If you will go to the desert, as a tour, we can see groups of some animals.
The population is about 10.6 million people. Most Malawians (50%), and other nations as: Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde. There are small settlements of Europeans and Asians. They mostly live in the town.
National cuisine - braaivleis (traditional meat dishes), binyani (chicken marinated with spices in a pot), kebabs, dried meat and kebabs. Very popular among the tourists is "umngqusho".
Traditional music and dances can be seen rituals, marriage ceremonies and celebrations.
Malawi is in the museum collection of artifacts from the areas adjacent to the Tuna al-Gebel and Hermopolis. Among the exhibits are many animal mummies and statues associated with the cult of the God Thoth.
Between the Old and New Town - "Nature Reserve". The park runs a river teeming with crocodiles Lingadzi.
Football - the most popular sport in Malawi. Basketball is growing in popularity. Malawi took part in the Olympic Games.
I hope you will choose my country, because it is pretty nice. If you want to go to Malawi, you will see amazing views. And you will see all the essence of Africa.
Thanks for listening,
Sincerely, Marsel.

Mr. Hendricks
18/11/2012 01:23:42 am

Nice, Marsel! This is well written and persuasive!

-Mr. H.

Edgar
18/11/2012 05:32:29 am

Hello, Mr. Hendricks! I want to represent my country. My country called Central African Republic. It is situated right in the middle of Africa that’s why it is called Central. The capital city is Bangui. There are two official languages in my country French and Sango. Population is 4.422 million.
Many hunters like this country. You can go across savannahs by a special jeep. You can wait for animals to hunt them. For example antelopes. Also you can go fishing to the rivers like Ubangi and Sangha rivers.
Central African Republic is like a big park. With a lot of beautiful places and many kinds of animals. You should go from waterfalls to President’s Palace and from there to the National Museum. There are many beautiful old things and you can see old culture of African people.
Climate isn’t so hot but you should better go there in summer because in Europe when it is Summer there it is winter and it is more good and comfortable weather.
People are very hospitable. They are always welcome to all the guests. They are very friendly to all the people that come to them and they will help you with some questions.
They don’t have national food there but if you like spice food you can eat Scotch Bonnets and pilli pilli. They also like to put nuts in all the dishes. So if you like spice food with the nuts you will like the food.
Country is quite safety so you can go there and don’t worry but anywhere you have to take care of you and your stuff.
Thank you!

River
21/11/2012 08:23:27 pm

Hey Mr. Hendricks!
So I heard you want to go on a trip to Africa. I have to say, all African countries are unique and beautiful, but there is nothing like Zambia. Zambia is filled with life, culture, beautiful landscape, exotic foods, and fantastic weather. It is well known for the Victoria Falls. It is one of the major Seven Wonders of the world! Zambia is also very famous for its adventurous tours and Safari's, so if you love wild life and watching animals live, Zambia is the place to go! Zambia has great social life, with many traditional ceremonies happening all around the country. On major ceremony is called the Kazanga Ceremony, which is one of the oldest traditions that is still celebrated today. It has been around in Zambia for over 500 years, celebrated and created by the Nkoya people. in all these fantastic ceremonies you will be able to see the deep cultures, delicious food, and local live music, along with many other ancient practices. If you are worried about violence or anyother sorts of danger, need not be afraid because Zambia is one of the very rare countries that has around 73 different tribes and no violence or tension. All these groups get along extremely well, with well formed alliances. The climate in Zambia is great however, I suggest that you go during May and August because that is when the weather cools down a bit, making it just the perfect temperature. This period of time is called the dry season and it is the best time to visit because that is when the birdwatching is at its peak, and the Victoria Falls are at their biggest. If you are a big hitchhiker, that is very common in Zambia. If your a fan of Charity work and helping poor Africans or orphans who can't afford education, their is a charity in Zambia called "Raise a Smile". Its a English-German organisation, where you can donate money or volunteer to teach and visit these children. Zambia is a beautiful country and is one to keep an eye out for when choosing to country to visit. You better book your tickets soon! I hope you enjoy your holidays.
River

P.S sorry for the delay, I didn't have internet on my computer, only my phone which wasn't allowing me to access onto the blog. I am currently in the airport heading back to Barcelona! Sorry again and I hope you understand and visit Zambia! Thanks


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