POETRY PROJECT : PAS DE DEUX
GLOBALIZATION PROJECT: HOW IT AFFECTS FEMALE OPPRESSION
Over the last two months in Humanities class, we have been studying globalization. In this unit, we have learned about how globalization is communication throughout the world, and we researched both pros and cons that come with along with this term. After we were familiar with globalization, we were given the chance to pick a topic to write an OpEd on. After learning about technology, trade, transportation, and the integration of cultures, I wanted to focus on an issue that could be fixed by using all the assets of globalization. I chose to write my OpEd about how globalization both positively and negatively affects female oppression, and how globalization can be used as a tool to put an end to it, once and for all.
I took a lot away from this project, both emotionally and intellectually. I believe that women are powerful, and should be appreciated by others, along with themselves. After studying globalization in class, I was really focused on the technology aspect. We learned how social media sites and American pop cultures reach societies globally. There have been many, many times when my body image, or idea of self worth was damaged by an image online, which shouldn’t be happening. However, I also see empowerment posts, which help with self image. I wanted to research how much this affects not only American girls and women, but in other societies as well. “How does globalization affect the oppression of women both positively and negatively?” became my research question. After I began my research, I also got into sections of education, and health care along with the degradation and liberation from technology. I feel more connected to women in other cultures, but researching social media sites also made me realize how much women need to empower themselves, along with other women. Intellectually, I took away facts about the lack of education and health care in other countries, and I have new knowledge on how much technology affects females, I also was able to form a solution to end female oppression.
I have grown as a cartoonist in the sense that when I am posed a subject to interpret in an art form, I look for ways to incorporate effective elements, such as caricature, and irony. I also feel like I am more in tune of picking up the meanings of author peoples’ cartoons, because I know what to look for now that serve as clues!
I took a lot away from this project, both emotionally and intellectually. I believe that women are powerful, and should be appreciated by others, along with themselves. After studying globalization in class, I was really focused on the technology aspect. We learned how social media sites and American pop cultures reach societies globally. There have been many, many times when my body image, or idea of self worth was damaged by an image online, which shouldn’t be happening. However, I also see empowerment posts, which help with self image. I wanted to research how much this affects not only American girls and women, but in other societies as well. “How does globalization affect the oppression of women both positively and negatively?” became my research question. After I began my research, I also got into sections of education, and health care along with the degradation and liberation from technology. I feel more connected to women in other cultures, but researching social media sites also made me realize how much women need to empower themselves, along with other women. Intellectually, I took away facts about the lack of education and health care in other countries, and I have new knowledge on how much technology affects females, I also was able to form a solution to end female oppression.
I have grown as a cartoonist in the sense that when I am posed a subject to interpret in an art form, I look for ways to incorporate effective elements, such as caricature, and irony. I also feel like I am more in tune of picking up the meanings of author peoples’ cartoons, because I know what to look for now that serve as clues!
VIETNAM WAR PROJECT: WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT
I made the piece because women’s rights is something very important to me. There are so many issues surrounding gender equality, that it is impossible to capture all of them in one composition. However, in this project, I have focused on the “50s housewife” theme. Women were being raised with the expectations and limitations of cleaning, cooking, staying home to raise children, and the minimal range of job options. For this piece, I have a canvas with a 50s housewife in one corner, printed protest quotes in the middle, leading to the new “look” in the 60s. The 50s housewife on her hands and knees represents the endless hours of her domestic chores throughout the day, and the woman with a broom in her hand and an apron around her waist represents having to cook and clean constantly, not being able to stand up for a fuller life. Women in the 1950s were expected to serve their husbands, raise their children, and to keep their home clean and her family’s bellies full. The quotes are a collage of protests, concerning equal jobs, demanding a fuller life, and rebelling against the limitations presented to them. The last images I have of 1960s women. One of the images is from a magazine, releasing new fashion trends, which include go-go boots and mini skirts. Just this new trend shows how women have become more empowered. Fashion is a way of expressing yourself, and that is why I focused on the clothing, as well. Women were beginning to feel more powerful, and confident, and with new found strength they were able to look at themselves in the mirror and be proud. The 1950s to the 1960s women’s rights movement didn’t solve everything, we’re still dealing with gender inequality today. My piece represents how women took a stand in the 60s, and how even that push for equal rights had a big impact on the world. Fashion is a way to express yourself, and that is why I focused on that aspect. In the 1950s, women wore long skirts and high-collared hems. However, in the 1960s, women began wearing mini skirts, and go-go boots, the aprons were shed and they let their hair down. This shows how women were feeling empowered, confident, and powerful.
SHORT STORY PROJECT: EXHIBITION READING
Annabel ducked into her dressing room, giggling and hugging her fellow dancers. The large director bustled into the room, the ballerinas circling around her.
“Ladies, after a successful week of performances, it is time to return back home.”
Annabel concealed her make-up and fragments of clothing into her suitcase, and paced out of the towering theatre, and looked over her shoulder one last time to admire her dream come true. She loaded onto the train, her heart filling with excitement to see her family again. She pulled out her tattered journal, and inked her calligraphy pen. She titled the page,
“Returning Home”
The train came to a halt, and Annabel sweetly lifted the corners of her mouth into a subtle smile as she waltzed down the steps. She carefully stepped onto the train station platform. She looked down at her smudged, printed ticket. “February 13. Berlin to Dresden. Annabel Wolf. Arriving time, 6:00am.”
Annabel arrived at her doorstep, and the door was bolted shut. Marida opened the door, jumping up onto Annabel’s hips and wrapping her strong, little arms around her neck. A smile creased Annabel’s face, and a feeling of belonging washed over her. She carried Marida through the door, her eyes meeting her mother’s. Luisa looked tired, the dim lamp casting dreary shadows over her long, shallow wrinkles. Luisa lifted herself out of her chair, and scuffled to give Annabel a tight embrace. The hum of motors drifted overhead, and Annabel pulled away from her mother and sister. Luisa gazed up at the ceiling, her face having gone pale with fear. This time, the humming didn’t fade away. Suddenly, there was a terrifying, destructive sound next door, and shards of wood shattered their windows. The three collapsed to the ground, crawling to take cover underneath the sturdy oak table. Flames were peering over the window pane, smoke swirling up the walls. This place called home, was engulfed in blue flame, close to tumbling down with a single breath of wind. Museums and statues fractured, and dove into the cobbled streets. Annabel felt herself begin to spin, her mind swishing back and forth within her skull. She pried her eyes open, glued together with salty tears. Her limbs all felt broken, cracked and helpless. A bottomless pit took place of her stomach, hunger filling the empty space. Butterflies had flown from her throat, and were replaced with stinging bees building hives in her lungs. Her muscles had diminished into water, soaking into her empty bones. Guilt for leaving sat on her shoulders with all the weight it had, and the disintegrated remains of her heart spread through her veins, infecting her cold blood with remorse. Her brain pounded against her skull, trying to escape the imprisonment of thought. She could feel herself drifting in and out of oblivion, falling into space. Annabel rolled her eyes with every ounce of force she could muster, and looked over at her mother. Only a blurry shadow was visible behind the puffiness of her eyes. Her sister was on the other side of Annabel, nestled into her hip. There weren’t any words exchanged, only an embrace that spoke a million words. Marida didn’t even lift her head, just gripped Annabel’s hand tighter and tighter until it turned blood purple. The smell of smoke filled the building, the ground beneath them heating their skin. Annabel buried her face into her mother, and pulled Marida into her, knowing there was no escape, no escape from this beautiful down, diminishing into ashes and blowing away, leaving the citizens within behind to perish.
“Ladies, after a successful week of performances, it is time to return back home.”
Annabel concealed her make-up and fragments of clothing into her suitcase, and paced out of the towering theatre, and looked over her shoulder one last time to admire her dream come true. She loaded onto the train, her heart filling with excitement to see her family again. She pulled out her tattered journal, and inked her calligraphy pen. She titled the page,
“Returning Home”
The train came to a halt, and Annabel sweetly lifted the corners of her mouth into a subtle smile as she waltzed down the steps. She carefully stepped onto the train station platform. She looked down at her smudged, printed ticket. “February 13. Berlin to Dresden. Annabel Wolf. Arriving time, 6:00am.”
Annabel arrived at her doorstep, and the door was bolted shut. Marida opened the door, jumping up onto Annabel’s hips and wrapping her strong, little arms around her neck. A smile creased Annabel’s face, and a feeling of belonging washed over her. She carried Marida through the door, her eyes meeting her mother’s. Luisa looked tired, the dim lamp casting dreary shadows over her long, shallow wrinkles. Luisa lifted herself out of her chair, and scuffled to give Annabel a tight embrace. The hum of motors drifted overhead, and Annabel pulled away from her mother and sister. Luisa gazed up at the ceiling, her face having gone pale with fear. This time, the humming didn’t fade away. Suddenly, there was a terrifying, destructive sound next door, and shards of wood shattered their windows. The three collapsed to the ground, crawling to take cover underneath the sturdy oak table. Flames were peering over the window pane, smoke swirling up the walls. This place called home, was engulfed in blue flame, close to tumbling down with a single breath of wind. Museums and statues fractured, and dove into the cobbled streets. Annabel felt herself begin to spin, her mind swishing back and forth within her skull. She pried her eyes open, glued together with salty tears. Her limbs all felt broken, cracked and helpless. A bottomless pit took place of her stomach, hunger filling the empty space. Butterflies had flown from her throat, and were replaced with stinging bees building hives in her lungs. Her muscles had diminished into water, soaking into her empty bones. Guilt for leaving sat on her shoulders with all the weight it had, and the disintegrated remains of her heart spread through her veins, infecting her cold blood with remorse. Her brain pounded against her skull, trying to escape the imprisonment of thought. She could feel herself drifting in and out of oblivion, falling into space. Annabel rolled her eyes with every ounce of force she could muster, and looked over at her mother. Only a blurry shadow was visible behind the puffiness of her eyes. Her sister was on the other side of Annabel, nestled into her hip. There weren’t any words exchanged, only an embrace that spoke a million words. Marida didn’t even lift her head, just gripped Annabel’s hand tighter and tighter until it turned blood purple. The smell of smoke filled the building, the ground beneath them heating their skin. Annabel buried her face into her mother, and pulled Marida into her, knowing there was no escape, no escape from this beautiful down, diminishing into ashes and blowing away, leaving the citizens within behind to perish.
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SHORT STORY PROJECT: "THE DRESDEN BALLERINA"
SHORT STORY REFLECTION
Throughout this project, (Creative Historians) I have gained both new skills and knowledge. I have learned how to plant correct, historical information into a fictional piece of writing. I have also learned how to research information about the topic, (The Bombing of Dresden) that is relevant to the story but will also add historical information to it. I have also learned about the bombing. This includes the dates, the number of civilians murdered, and about the town Dresden, itself. This project was engaging, and held a lot of meaning within the stories that we wrote.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE REFLECTION
Many interesting points came up with our group discussion about “Slaughterhouse Vonnegut plays with time in this novel, and after discussing question one, we came to the conclusion that war is still alive; at least in Billy Pilgrim’s mind. The author wants readers to think about time this way because it shows how people can get stuck in time, and they aren’t able to continue to “drift down the river.” Vonnegut wants readers to see time as circular, neverending; there is no real order of which events happen. Having this concept throughout the book depicts how awful war really is, and it gets the point across that war won’t let you move on with your life. This connects with the next question, “How is Vonnegut’s perception of time different from our own perception?” Most people think of time as being linear. The past is over, we have goals and ideas of our futures, and when we do think back in time, we try to place it in chronological order. We see our lives having a beginning, an ending, and everything in between as a timeline. In “Slaughterhouse 5,” the characters of the Tralfamadorians see time as happening in one moment; no chronological orders, and no beginning and end. The most interesting question that was posed was why a dead person only appears to die, but is still alive in the past. Billy states that “The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral.” This is important to Billy because since he had gone to war, and was a war prisoner, he had seen so many people die. Believing that all the innocent souls who “died” are still alive might be able to help him cope to what he has seen.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE SEMINAR
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut is a novel about World War Two with unique and confusing twists. The main character, an alcoholic optometrist named Billy Pilgrim is shipped overseas to join a regiment in Luxembourg after his father dies. Billy is thrown into the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and is immediately taken prisoner behind German lines. Just before his capture, he experiences his first time travel, which are regular experiences throughout the book. Pilgrim envisions his entire life from start to end in one moment. When Billy returns from war, he is married to Valencia and they have two children. When Valencia dies from a gas poisoning, Billy is shipped away to Ilium to live under a nurse’s care, but he sneaks off to a radio talk show to share what he has learned from his time travels about death; for he has seen it many times.
I believe that Vonnegut decided to include elements of science fiction in the novel because it holds more powerful meanings than straightforward writing. The element of science fiction, including the Tralfamadorians, indicates how greatly the war has disrupted Billy’s life. Billy’s hallucinations and experiences with time travel is a way to escape Pilgrim’s war destroyed world. The Tralfamadorians may also have an influence on the way Billy deals with all the death he has seen with his own eyes. An example of this are the aliens’ view upon death: that death doesn’t exist, a “dead” person is just someone in a poor state. I feel that Vonnegut put these elements in the story to emphasize how deeply war settles within you, and how there is no escape from its suffocating hands.
I believe that Vonnegut decided to include elements of science fiction in the novel because it holds more powerful meanings than straightforward writing. The element of science fiction, including the Tralfamadorians, indicates how greatly the war has disrupted Billy’s life. Billy’s hallucinations and experiences with time travel is a way to escape Pilgrim’s war destroyed world. The Tralfamadorians may also have an influence on the way Billy deals with all the death he has seen with his own eyes. An example of this are the aliens’ view upon death: that death doesn’t exist, a “dead” person is just someone in a poor state. I feel that Vonnegut put these elements in the story to emphasize how deeply war settles within you, and how there is no escape from its suffocating hands.
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Chapter 1: Page 7---This scene is where the soldiers are all using the bathroom in front of each other. The soldiers all have boxes which they sit on, all set up in a circle, and they’re all in a field. I think this is an important event because it starts to show how the soldiers’ behavior is starting to change, and how they are becoming desensitized. In this chapter, the author explains how when the soldiers had to use the bathroom together for the first time, the soldiers were embarrassed. But as time went by, they became accustomed to it and it didn’t even bother them anymore. This is just like when the first soldier fell, everyone was shocked and affected by it. However, as the book goes by, a death doesn’t even mean anything to them anymore.
Chapter 2, Pg. 16---In the chapter, Kemmerich’s leg is injured at St. Joseph’s, which results to his leg having to be amputated and he ends up passing. A commander and some other soldiers want Kemmerich’s nice pair of boots, and they end up being more concerned about what’s going to happen with the boots rather with Kemmerich. This event is was very crucial because Kemmerich was the first soldier to pass (that was documented in the story.) I see it as an introduction to what the soldiers were about to face, because it depicts the remorse for a deceased soldier, but also how the soldiers will become so desensitized. For example, how one of the commanders is more focused on gaining possession of the boots vs. the wellbeing of Kemmerich is just a sneak peek of how the soldiers will learn how to behave. And this continues throughout the whole book with the idea that one dead body doesn’t even make a difference anymore, because they become so accustomed to seeing it happen everyday.
Chapter 9, Pg. 219-222---In this scene, Paul kills the French man. Paul sees this soldier in front of him, and he sees the soldier trying to raise his head. Paul supports the man’s head, while giving him water. However, Paul wishes he had his revolver, because he would shoot him. And he is thinking that he would do anything to have this man die. This was such an important part in the book because it was the first time Paul had ever killed with his hands, and it caused so many of his emotions to surface. The author explains how when the man was dying, Paul was wishing he would die just so he didn’t have to hear or see the man anymore; but when the man did pass, Paul thought this was worse. Instead of the gasping, there was silence. It’s so quiet, he describes it as “unbearable.” This scene ties in with the theme of the book by always having mixed emotions. Since the beginning of the book, there had been a sense of betrayal and a lack of connection to “normal” life. In this scene, he’s sitting there wishing for a man to die, and once he does, he wants the gasping to come back, just to have some sort of connection to life again.
Chapter 2, Pg. 16---In the chapter, Kemmerich’s leg is injured at St. Joseph’s, which results to his leg having to be amputated and he ends up passing. A commander and some other soldiers want Kemmerich’s nice pair of boots, and they end up being more concerned about what’s going to happen with the boots rather with Kemmerich. This event is was very crucial because Kemmerich was the first soldier to pass (that was documented in the story.) I see it as an introduction to what the soldiers were about to face, because it depicts the remorse for a deceased soldier, but also how the soldiers will become so desensitized. For example, how one of the commanders is more focused on gaining possession of the boots vs. the wellbeing of Kemmerich is just a sneak peek of how the soldiers will learn how to behave. And this continues throughout the whole book with the idea that one dead body doesn’t even make a difference anymore, because they become so accustomed to seeing it happen everyday.
Chapter 9, Pg. 219-222---In this scene, Paul kills the French man. Paul sees this soldier in front of him, and he sees the soldier trying to raise his head. Paul supports the man’s head, while giving him water. However, Paul wishes he had his revolver, because he would shoot him. And he is thinking that he would do anything to have this man die. This was such an important part in the book because it was the first time Paul had ever killed with his hands, and it caused so many of his emotions to surface. The author explains how when the man was dying, Paul was wishing he would die just so he didn’t have to hear or see the man anymore; but when the man did pass, Paul thought this was worse. Instead of the gasping, there was silence. It’s so quiet, he describes it as “unbearable.” This scene ties in with the theme of the book by always having mixed emotions. Since the beginning of the book, there had been a sense of betrayal and a lack of connection to “normal” life. In this scene, he’s sitting there wishing for a man to die, and once he does, he wants the gasping to come back, just to have some sort of connection to life again.