Critical Thinking Journals

Critical thinking Journals 1 & 2

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, either way you're right." Henry Ford

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan. He was the only surviving male child of William Ford and Mary Litogot Ford. He married Clara Ala Bryant in 1888. They had one son who was named Edsel Ford. He attended the Detroit Business Institute. He is the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he was the first person to use an assembly line to manufacture cars. He received the Franklin Institute’s Elliot Cresson Medal in 1928. In 1938, he received the Grand Cross of the German Eagle from Nazi Germany. This was given to foreigners that supported Nazism. He died in 1947 on April 7, from a cerebral brain hemorrhage. (thefamouspeople.com)

The quote “Whether you think you can nor you think you can’t, either way you’re right.” This quote means that no matter the outcome of a situation it can be accomplished or it can’t be accomplished. All it takes to accomplish a task is positive thinking and the right attitude. It does not take much to accomplish a task if it is done with a positive outlook. If an individual goes into a task, immediately thinking that they can do it, they typically fail the task. As the quote says, “think you can or you can’t” all it takes is one negative thought or positive thought to achieve your goal or failing to achieve it.

This truth is reflected in Henry Ford’s life a few times. If he thought he could not found Ford Motor Company, with Alexander Y., Malcomson, the Dodge Brothers, John S. Gray, they would not have been founded. He thought he could found it with these gentleman, and found it they did. This truth is also reflected in the papers he wrote about Anti-Semitism. According to PBS.org a friend of Mr. Ford wrote in his journal during a camping trip, that Henry Ford “attributes all evil to Jews or to the Jewish Capitalists”, and “The Jews caused the war, the Jews caused the outbreak of thieving and robbery all over the country, the Jews caused the inefficiency of the navy…"(pbs.org)

In my life I have experienced this truth in more than one way. The most recent experience was at the Virginia State Children of the American Revolution (V.S.C.A.R.) Conference in March 2015. I am a member of the V.S.C.A.R. That year I was running to be the next V.S.C.A.R. president. The girl I was running against was a good friend of mine. I though that there was no way on God’s green earth that I could beat her and win the election. We had to pitch our ideas for a project to the Senior members of the V.S.C.A.R. I was so nervous. I kept telling myself that there was no way I was going to win, that I had no chance of beating the other girl. I talked to my grandmother about how I was feeling and she said “I will be proud of you if you or if you lose. You need to believe in yourself, because I have a good feeling about this. I believe that you will win and that you will be elected the next President of the C.A.R.” After that I started believing that I could do it and that I need to believe in myself. The next day I got up in front of 200 or more people gave my campaign speech and waited for the voters to make their selection. After about 5 minutes, it was announced that I, Emily Freeman, was the new elected State President of the C.A.R.

Works Cited

"Henry Ford." Pbs. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.

"Henry Ford." Thefamouspeople.com. Famous People. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.

Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and social activist, who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He was born on January 15, 1929. He played a major role in ending segregation of in the South. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968, while standing on a balcony outside the Lorraine Motel, he was struck by a sniper's bullet. The shooters name was James Earl, who was a known convict. (Martin Luther Ling Jr. Biography.)

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.” This quote said by Martin Luther King Jr. means that the goal of education is to help someone develop good characteristics. Other than attending school to learn about history, math, English, science, and many other subjects, a student learns what characteristics are socially acceptable and which ones aren’t. The student picks up on these characteristics from a young age. Everything that they pick up on they keep developing and fine tuning them. King had the right idea when he said, “Intelligence plus character----that is the goal of education.” The level of intelligence a student has can influence which characteristics they pick up inside and outside of school.

In my experiences and observations, I have only seen this once. I don’t really remember everything that happened in this observation but at every graduation ceremony I have been to. Whether it was the smartest student or the student that just barely scraped by, they all worked as hard as they could to reach that cool. Going through school for as long as students have to now helps them build their character.

Works Cited

"Martin Luther King Jr. Biography." The Biography.com Website. Ed.Biography.com. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.