Self Reflection 

        We read “The scarlet letter” and watched “Juno” in our sexuality and society class. Both stories portray the same themes and some messages but represents the different time periods of the world. “The scarlet letter” is a story of a women who becomes victim of public eye just because of committing an unforgettable sin of adultery. Many themes occur which directly relates to our sexuality and society class. “Juno” is other story of a teen girl who gets pregnant and reflects the story of modern Hestor Prynne. Both stories are not just congested in portraying the main ideas of sexuality and society but goes further and explains themes, ideas, symbols and messages which makes the reader enough flexible in understanding of sexuality and society and things beyond this. 

I chose the theme of Identity Vs Society, for this creative project. Identity and society are one of the main themes in both stories which are important because it explains how sometimes a personal identity actually looks like but how people are unaware of the real identity of an individual. In both stories, this theme is occurs as the prominent one. In Scarlet Letter, Dimmendale’s character was facing some inner destruction and he knew his identity but for people, due to his work and purity, Dimmensdale was a very young beautiful, genius and pure person who have served the community honestly. But she has shown wise enough to pull the situation on a right side so that she can solve the problem even though she was much younger than her perception and wise decisions. For her parents she was like a kid and in actual she was but her decision for making other's family happy was a proof of that she was not kid anymore. Here this shows a connection with The scarlet letter in a way that sometimes people think opposite of actual identity or stage where a person stands at that time. Although this does not directly relates with the Dimmensdale condition but shows the same idea behind them. For my final creative product, I could not put the situations of both them together but I chose to make a cage that could reflect the dimmensdale's situation but would be giving the same idea for both or any kind of situation like that. 

When I started to think about my creative piece, I decided to make a cage which would show my selected theme by representing a little piece of poetry and color selection which would be showing different meanings. I hanged a bird, broken feathers with poetry written on them, in the cage. I did not poetry by myself but I translated it from Urdu to English just to give a shape to my final piece. I chose to make feathers and bird all in red color because each color means something different. So the meaning of red or scarlet color is sin, flame and the things in this categories. For the outside of the look, I decided to choose green color because this color shows respect and honor. I put some flowers and butterflies to fully show what I wanted to present through it. So this whole piece describes an inner situation of a person and then how people are unaware of the internal destruction or internal happiness or things that portray the same idea behind something. I really tried to show the colors that mean something important in understanding of the theme and creative piece. 

For the picture of my final creative piece, I passed through different stages of thinking to finalize my thoughts. At first, i had a different idea about feathers and poetry. I thought I would just stick them inside the cage but that wasn’t enough for poetry so then i decided to hang them with string. Before hanging them, I had to arrange according to the lines of poetry. The making of whole piece was a fun for me but I faced some problems in making the cage with the paper. I think this was difficult and took more time because I made a craft like this first time. 

Now there are some parts I where I did good as well as some parts where i don’t think I did well. Well done parts include choosing of a theme and idea of how to present it. I think I was creative in doing this project as a whole because main parts of the project include the well presentation of ideas through various creative techniques. I took more time to finalize the product than choosing theme and idea. I did this crafts thing for the first that’s why it took me more time to stand the structure of this cage. I have a better idea of this project if I do this again because  this piece have some mistakes done by me. First one include small size of feathers which lead to small font size of my poetry. If I do this once again, I would focus on large size of feathers so that it would be easier to read the little piece of poetry. Also redoing would expand my mind and hands to do better to present the idea of theme based on colors and poetry.

the heart's desire 

was left ignored

and so this love madness grew

between us 

were these distances 

i know know what compelled us

a bit of my heart was drowning in sorrow

and a bit of it was a love madness

there were lonely nights 

and they stayed just so 

in these colorful tides

my eyes drowned 

what was unsaid, unheard

all that was to be said, my gestures articulated 

a bit of my heart was drowning in sorrow

and a bit of it was a love madness

Hey everybody( Stumbles to the microphone, with a 40 in his hand) . How is everybody (we’re good said the crowd).  Let me tell yall about one of my favorite kids to coach basketball, Zamir. He was smart, very good in basketball. He was D1 bound, that mean he had offers to D1 colleges like Duke, North Carolina, and Kentucky. He did not grow up in the best of neighborhoods. He grew up in North Philly. Where he wakes up gunshots in the middle of the night. He was not the leader type. He just went with drift. What ever his friends do he do. That’s why he did not have the best role models. I would say “Boy you know you be at practice. You won’t make in life by selling drugs or being around them niggas that sell drugs.” His responds was “ I need to bring money home for my mom, this basketball thing ain’t going to but bacon on my table.” Well it went something like that  I would tell him everyday to come to practices. Ill text him he’ll say “ Yeah coach” Or “ I got you”. He would be out there with them drug dealers, he didn’t think I would know that but I did. One day, I texted him saying you better be at practice. He told me “k”. So I took his word. 3:50 hits, that’s the time of practice. So I was worried. Then I get A call saying he been shot at a drug house. I couldn’t deal I felt like it was my fault. So I started to drink, pop pills. I did not know what to. Then One day somebody told me that “Don’t waste God time”. He wasted God time. So that’s why we are sitting here today. That’s why I am speaking at his funeral. If he went to practice this wouldn’t happen. He is so selfish. He would not listen to me now yall cannot live the life yall want, and now is death is on my shoulder. Fuck him. He messed up my life. He messed ya’lls to. ( Drops the microphone, wobbles.)

This Mixed Tape goes through several similar themes; identity, private vs public self, and being an outcast. As the tape goes through each song the listener is going through a musical journey of self acceptance and loving ones self.

The Logical Song - Supertramp

This song is going first in the mixtape. The first part is about how wonderful life is when you are little and that everyone gets along. As the song goes on the tone of the song is changing. My favorite part is the chorus about thinking late at night. Who am I? The ultimate struggle of defining your person and trying to be your own person and dealing with the ups and downs. This is an obvious theme of identity. 

People are Strange - The Doors

This song is about not fitting in. Each line is the stuff that people are fighting with in their heads all the time. Specifically not fitting in (When you’re strange). The line “Women seem wicked when you are down.” It touches on the fact that people feel unloved, unwanted, and insecure in the world. This song specifically resonates with the private of feeling judged by the public at large and how being different makes you feel alone.

Welcome To My Life- Simple Plan

Teen angst, no one understands me, this mixtape of identity would not be complete without this song. Each lyric is about getting by in life and how everyone feels like they are going about the world on their own. Of course all the themes in this song “To be hurt, to feel lost, to be left out in the dark, To be kicked, when you're down, To feel like you've been pushed around.” The basic I am feeling left alone and forgotten. This goes into all of the themes with ideals of not fitting in as the identity and the personal self.

Shout - Tears For Fears

 Fun Fact: This song was written about political protests. 

I added this song after The Doors to keep a similar sound but bring in different ideas. “Shout let it all out.” This one is more about letting the private out, of course this does not happen often but it is letting your self let go of  the things that are messing with your head. Letting frustration and pain out about the things that ail you can help you relax. 

Failure By Design- Brand New 

This is more about accepting the mistakes that we are as people. Shout took the listener out of the stoic sad sounds of The Doors and Supertramp into the teen punk rebellion. Hating yourself and feeling stuck. “I’m another day late and one year older, It’s failure by design.” Stuck, stuck stuck. Stuck on the girl, on the things that help you forget about what is haunting you.This is more on the theme of identity and private vs public self. Really angst songs are a perfect show of private self vs public self.(Every single second that I pull this off is another lonely night I gotta race the clock.) The whole song is about just getting by in this shitty world after finally admitting that things are kinda sucky.

Who Are You - The Who

Done with the teen angst. Now in a drunken confusion still asking yourself who am I? Am I the person who I know I am deep inside or am I this persona that I hide behind? How does one change into this new person when they have been perceived one way? Still trying to find yourself , “I musta lost my sense of direction because I ended up a superstar.” of course for Pete Townshend he literally became a superstar most of the time people find themselves in other things like a dead beat job they never wanted or stuck with an ideal of them that is a public view. 

A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help) - Motion City Soundtrack

Continuing with the idea of change this song take witty words and strings them into beautiful poetic ideas. “I think I can figure it out but I’m gonna need a little help.” Is the chorus and is prominent throughout the song as searching for the person and just trying to be happy with the world, but still has the ever present darkness “I wish I was someone else.”. This ever present need for escape from yourself but being trapped and having to make the best of it. The singer is obviously trying to change though and make the best of his world while still saying he has bad days.

Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been- Relient K 

Okay finally a happy song. Well not truly, it is a I have changed song. This is an apoligize about the past and the mistakes he has made. The singer says a great line “And the things bottled inside have begun, to create so much pressure that I’ll soon blow up.” This is the tie into the earlier songs of keeping the internal problems and the personal self hiding to make room for the public self. The identity of one is partly hiding true feelings and ideas. 

Unstoppable- Foxy Shazam

Now our tempo is up. The world is feeling a bit better. WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE! Finally fighting the world that has been putting our spirits down we are stepping up to the plate for ourselves and for the things we believe in. Even though life has been spent harshly “Sticks and stones may hurt, but we don’t care.” The song is saying it is time to step up and fight back. Identity is finally coming out through the public self.

 Mixology of Tom Collins - Less Than Jake

This song is much like the last though more on a sour note. The song is accepting yourself as you are but more so just not letting others opinions get in the way “ Who the hell needs self doubt.”. This song is needed because it is not alway a great change but it is a change and the happiness with who you are.

The Middle- Jimmy Eat World

Cliche, I know, but this song is the last. Be yourself. Things suck but it will be all fine in the end which. This last song is one of assurance that always gets me pumped when I am down and is therefor required for this mixtape. Leave the listener on a good note that even if things suck now it is not as bad as you think and things will only get better.

Self Reflection 

My creative piece is a musical partner. As a teenager specifically the world sucks, it feel like everyone is out to get you and you hate yourself. I wanted this cd to say it was okay. That feeling this way is normal and that even though you feel horrible now it will get better. This mix is what has been going on in my head the last few years. I mean specifically relating to these themes of identity and private vs public. I kept the mix less specific to me and more obtuse so that more people can relate to the music and think back to that time in their life when everything kinda sucked at they felt stuck. Or when they were so sad and alone that things get better and how you think changes as you change and go through experiences.

I have been spending a lot of time on Spotify because of this Mixed Cd and I feel like my biggest regret of this project will be that I slowly find better songs to portray the point I want to get across. I had a mix of twenty songs widdled that down to ten and than swapped them out for better songs. I could do that for days though until it was perfect and still find something that means more. I think that I could of done the tape better I feel like there are songs hiding out there that describe what I want to say perfectly but the mix I have put together is still important to me because I know that one day I will need a pick me up and I can listen to this. 

Another thing I wish I could of fixed was my song analyzation. Some of these songs I could of ripped apart and told a whole story with it showing everyone of my feelings of the depth of some of the lyrics but I did not want to overwhelm the situation. Thinking about it now though I like that I gave a brief point to the songs because it forces the listener to see them with more of their own eye.

When I first started this project did this project I was not sure what I wanted to do. I really enjoy creative projects and I was so excited to make one I was not sure what I creative piece I was going to make. I first thought I was going to draw, or paint because I enjoy that as a past time. There would nothing better than being about to that kind of art work for a class I am actually going to receive a grade in. 

After a while I figured that I wanted to do a written piece, the only problem was I did not know what I wanted to wrote about or what theme I wanted to use within the piece. Then Manna told me she was doing a monologue and asked if I would like to work with her. I have always wanted to work with someone else doing a monologue(s) but that chance just never came up. I was excited and quite curious to see what we were going to create. Our biggest problem we seemed to have was trying to combine our ideas together. We both has a basic idea of what we wanted to put into the monologue but had a time struggling on the best way to combine ideas. 

Although the process of trying to figure out what we were going to do took longer than we expected. For the simple fact that we kept going back and forth trying to figure out what we were going to write. We kept working on it trying to prefect it and not giving up on it or separating from one another as partners. I feel as though we stuck together well because sometimes I was ready for Manna to just suggest something about us working separate as we started to but of course she didn’t So I was determined to hang in there to get the job done. 

By sticking together with this project we were able to, get our theme across enteral destruction. Once we figured out that was what we were going for it was their easier to connect what we wanted to do together. We know we wanted to explain our line of thinking by using strong words. To us, what better way to do that than using a monologue. Powerful and straight to the point. We wanted to touch basics on the life of  one person who has a strong addition and gets better overtime. The main focus in the monologue is the one person of course. We felt like if we put to many characters in the story then it would take away the important and the focus off of the main character. We would have then had to develop more than was needed, being so we made a monologue and not a play. The entire monologue is a presentation for our main character to share a part of her life that she has grown with the most. 

Something I think I could have done differently is decided sooner rather than later about how I was going to present this information with or without a parter because it would have been easier to work knowing what I was going to do. For the simple fact that I changed my mind so many times. So I feel as though that was something that I could have done better. I still think i gave myself enough time to finish the project I just don’t think I gave myself enough creative time. I was creative with my writing I just, sort of feel like there was something missing. 

Hopefully I am wrong. If I were to do this all over again I would just make sure that I knew what I was going to be in sooner than I did before. I probably would just paint a picture because the last times I painted with my oil paints was about four weeks ago. To me that seems like forever and oil painting tends to keep my very tranquil and my mind always at ease. I think if I were to make a painting, if I were to do this all over again then I would then feel as if my work is no longer missing the little something. But besides that, I invite you to listen to Emily telling about her strong addiction to cocaine between her past and present self. 

Chelsea Janette Smith 

The Scarlet Letter and Juno Project

Link to video http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11615626/DSCF4321.AVI

After reading the Scarlet Letter and watching Juno I decided to make my creative piece a dance. At first I was going to make a pregnant stomach out of paper maché, with a Scarlett A to represent how they looked at pregnancy both through the book and through the movie. But then I began to realize there was more to these stories than just portraying pregnancy as it was portrayed in this story. I then decided to look at the story as it changed over time and what it has become. 

By making a dance I was able to portray the time that has changed and how everybody was portrayed but in a more urban way. In the dance my partner (Loren Jenkins) and I decided to do a mix of 3 different songs. We choose to do Unfaithful by Rihanna, Daddy’s Little Girl by J. Cole and the last song was Save Me by Nicki Minaj. Through these three songs it shows how overtime there was something changing in between each stage in their life. Not only that but this also shows the relationships that has changed overtime and what they would have concluded to if this was done in our time and not back in the 18th century.

In the first song Unfaithful by Rihanna this is almost like the start of the book. The  song talks about how a women kept running to another man and wasn’t happy with the man she was with. It also talks about how she knew she was wrong and kept betraying his trust. This song related to the book because it starts off with Hester who we assume went to jail for adultery. 

Then the next song that is played is Daddy’s Little Girl by J.Cole. The reason this song was chosen was to represent Pearl but in a more urban way. The book states multiply times that she was a difficult child as well as she wanted to know who her father was. In this song its a rap representation of how the child would have been seen now. 

In the final song Save Me by Nicki MInaj this song was used as an ending for both the movie and the song. In this song she says she needs to be saved because she can feel herself giving up. In the movie Juno felt like she had no choice but to give up because she thought Vanessa was no longer going to go through with the adoption. So as soon as she wrote the letter to let Vanessa know Juno was still in it she was saved from that.

Through this project I think making a dance is a well representation of what I wanted to do through this project. It not only shows how creative we can be with such a hard text like the Scarlet Letter but it also shows how creative we can be and have more than just a project on paper. Another thing that our creative piece should be able to show is the movement we do and how this relates to one of the themes we decided to portray in our dance. 

This project was a representation of two themes from both The Scarlet Letter and the film Juno: struggling against imposed ideas and public vs. private self. The medium I chose was two hand drawn photos that I enhanced in Adobe Photoshop to model works by the famous pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein. The pieces I drew inspiration from were Thinking of Him (1963) and Shipboard Girl (1965). 

I would name my first piece Thinking of Them as I depicted Juno with tears in her eye as she imagines what both she and Hester Prynne feared-- single motherhood. Juno knows she’s ill-equipped to handle a child on her own and then fears the couple she planned to take her baby will then become one half of a pair, instead. The imposed idea is that family must include a mother/father/child. Juno and Hester were both people who had non-traditional families, Juno with a stepmother and Hester living without her husband for a while. This family model is the idealized version of what is right. In both circumstances, they find a way to cope that suits them. In my piece I made a question mark where the father would be. I used the orange/white stripe and mix of red and gold to represent the social stigma both were forced to hold that caused them anxiety over the imposed belief of the traditional family. 

The second piece is a bit more abstract in concept than the first. It shows Reverend Dimmesdale with a tear on his cheek as he looks on to the letter D on the scaffold. The letter D is an indication that the character is Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale struggles throughout the novel with his public image in direct conflict with his private self. His emotion is that he knows that it is also his shame at adultery, but he doesn’t have to endure it publicly. Rather than himself of the scaffold it is his essence. He cries because he truly belongs up there and eventually realizes that himself. I used the stripe pattern, but I made the white red, instead. Someone like Paulie Bleeker, though very unlike Dimmesdale with different intention, also wishes to bear some of the responsibility. 

The process of creating my pieces included drawing the pictures by hand and inking them. I scanned them into Photoshop and added the dot texture, bold lines and contrasting hues mimicking the pop art style of Lichtenstein. Photoshop is extremely time consuming and complicated. This was my first time doing extensive work with the program. 

If I were to redo the project and when I do continue work with pop art, I will use a drawing pad that connects to the computer and draw the photos on the program Illustrator. It makes for smoother and neater artwork rather than erasing and using paper. Overall, I’m very satisfied with my work in Photoshop but if I had a few more steady hours of work I would have used it for Photoshop. This type of project is enjoyable, but frustrating due to the fact that perfection is unattainable. The quality and effects are always changing and endless. 

Sam Lovett-Perkins

English : Sexuality and Society

Creativity Project: Mind of State (Playbill and Dialogue)

           In order to represent the theme of freedom at the cost of the true self Ryan and I decided to plan and preview a play. We planned to make a playbill and a dialogue, two mediums, as a form of presentation. The basis of our play was an alternate dystopian reality where everyone is born into a role. Even though a role is forced upon an individual each one has a function (although some more influential than others) in this society. The purpose of this is to maximize efficiency in the state. The main character, who has no name, is called Accountant #56870. He represents individual opposition to the system that is his reality. The playbill includes detailed information on the story behind the play as well as a few smaller connections to the theme and instances when it occurs. Our dialogue is the confrontation of the man and the state. Accountant #56870 relates strongly to Hester Pryme; both characters are singled out in their society and are going against the status quo of what is acceptable. In relation, the puritan town and dystopian reality relate because both represent a fairly bland and unhappy air of living. They represent communal judgement and mindless obedience to injustice against the people. The play also toys with the idea of mental stability. In the same way that Juno didn't allow her peers judgement to define whether she wants to keep her child or not, the accountant understands that he must separate his mind from the mind of the State. He must not let their preconceived ideas and limitations prevent them from reaching their potential.

           The process of making this project was fairly simple. I got the idea from looking at Ms. Dunn's collection of Playbills. Making a playbill would utilize both Ryan's skills and my own skills. It incorporated a variety of creativity through visuals and text explaining the play. The original idea was influenced by the book 1984 by George Orwell and The Obsolete Man episode from the Twilight Zone. Together we evolved the plot to fit our theme better. After much thought we decided we could do more as a two person team. We added one of the more climactic moments in the play as a dialogue between the man and the state. We both agreed on the basis for how the stage is to be set for the performance. We wanted to use the idea of levels because in many situations one party is dominant over the other. Especially since we learned the importance of height and levels during our workshops during Angels in America and with the Wilma Theater it seemed very relevent. We also thought of the idea of light. The placement a light source can make someone standing in front of it seem darker. We set up the stage as a table in front of the window. The state (myself) is standing on top of the table in front of the window, while Ryan (the accountant) is standing below voicing his concern. This is not unlike the scene with Hester on the scaffold. We also planned thinking of how we could use our voices and body language. Our bodies and voices represent the conflict between the wild power of ambition and desire vs the solid and monotone strength of a oppressive society. We split up the work evenly. I wrote the creative writing parts and made the majority of the pamphlet, while Ryan made the main visual on the front page and wrote the dialogue.

           I believe the creation of this project demonstrates a strong analysis of the theme of self sacrifice and freedom in the Scarlett Letter. I am particularly proud that we are using a variety of mediums in one cohesive project. The connection to the Scarlett letter is clear but not so close that it warrens the title of freely adapted version of the story. The planning process was creative and fun and the final product of the playbill is visually appealing. We split the work eventually and out communication was efficient. Some areas we could have improved on was more practice for the scene. We should have anticipated the creation of a scene from the beginning so we could make a schedule and practice our lines. It also could have been longer and more complex. Essentially we are showing this scene from the middle of the play. We could have written it to show more of the man's struggle against the state prior to the designated scene; how this alternate society limits it's citizens freedoms but for a common good. More planning would have also allowed us to have a draft copy of the playbill that we could have edited together instead of cutting it close by uniting the two parts near the day it is due. Finally, although it is easily relatable to the Scarlet letter, I wish it shared themes that were more connectable to Juno. Despite these draw backs I am content with our final project.

Reflection

The themes I used for this was Forgiveness and Acceptance, Private vs. Public self, and a little of Judgement - societal + individual. The way I went about presenting this was I did a video montage to music and a photo essay combined. I tried to incorporate the color red in a lot of the pictures to show a connection between The Scarlett Letter. During the beginning with the pictures I used a song called “Half Of Me” by Rihanna and it explains how she only shows the sides she wants to show, but not everyone gets to see all of her which is where the Private Vs. Public self comes in. I tried to combine her private and public life by putting a mix between her more calm family photos and then some pictures of her being a little more "wild". Then during the video sequence my first video of Rihanna talked about how she felt about Chris Brown after he physically abused her and how she felt and handled it, but also, how she went back and in the second video she talks about how she was more concerned about him, how he was doing and how she was more concerned about how the public would judge him. In those two videos the themes Forgiveness and Acceptance and Judgement - societal + individual both tied in and that’s why I had to use that last theme so that everything would make sense. I automatically knew who I wanted to focus this on as soon as I knew what our project was on. The process was fairly easy because i already knew the direction I wanted to take this in because of my love for Rihanna I didn’t have a problem coming up with my pictures and videos. The hardest part was trying to make sure it was clear to everyone and not just me. Another problem I ran into was how I could show the themes I used without making it seem like everything was all over the place. I tried to make it as clear and understandable for my audience as possible. The one thing I would change is how clear my videos came out because for some reason they seemed to be a little blurry on my laptop. I’m glad that I worked alone on this project alone because I got to do things my way without asking someone else if they wanted to do this or do that but instead I just got to do what I truly wanted and what I knew I could make into a great project. If I could do this whole thing over again I wouldn’t change anything. I enjoyed doing this project so much! 

Callie Monroe

Sexuality and Society

The Scarlet Letter and Juno Project

The theme of outer versus inner self is one that was represented in both the Scarlet Letter and the movie Juno. In both pieces, this theme was clearly presented and was a key component in the overall message of both. For these reasons, I decided to represent this idea in my creative project. I attempted to represent the idea of physically and emotionally displaying one part of your personality while concealing other parts and the repercussions of both.

In both of the Scarlett Letter and Juno, the characters that were able to outwardly express their emotions had an easier job overcoming any trouble that they faced. In the Scarlett Letter this concept was shown through the characters of Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmsdale. Hester was forced to express her emotions outwardly because she was marked with the Letter A, while Dimmsdale, who was equally as guilty, was enabled to internalize his guilt throughout the whole play. As a result Hester dealt with her feelings in a very manageable way while Dimmsdale bottled them up until he exploded. Through my project I wanted to represent this idea that how you portray your emotions on the outside can very often be the opposite of how you are feeling on the inside.

My creative piece consists of four different masks: two being the outer body and the other two being the inner body.  Each sets of masks represents a different side of the theme. One mask pairing displays a tranquil outside with a hectic inside and the other mask pairing displays a hectic outside with a tranquil inside. I represented tranquility by collaging my mask with natural and earthy elements. Nature is often associated with peacefulness and restfulness, so I thought it would most accurately symbolize a calm serene façade and/or emotion. I represented hectic emotions by collaging my mask with magazine clippings. I used mostly triangles because they have three sharp edges. To me, the edges displayed the clash and struggle that people often find when attempting to reveal their truest emotions. I also used a combination of warm colors (red and orange) and cold colors (blue and green) because they are opposite on the color wheel allowing for more contrast.

The biggest problem that I encountered while doing this project was finding a way to differentiate each set of masks from the other. I wanted them to all be connected, but I also wanted a clear differentiation between them. I found a way to do this by adding specific features. The outsides personas both have facial features to differentiate them from the inner personas and the inner personas are both separated into horizontal sections, the top representing a brain. I also wanted to connect both “tranquil” personas and both “hectic” personas to one another. I did this by adding small similarities to each piece. The outside “tranquil” mask uses a lot of red berries, so I connected the inside “tranquil” mask by adding a few berries. The outside “hectic” mask uses a lot of red triangles, so I connected the inside “hectic” mask by adding a red triangle.

I think that I did a really good job of displaying the overall theme. It is clear when looking at my project that each mask represents an opposing idea. I wish I had done a better job of connecting the outside of the mask to the inside of the mask. If I did this again I would find a way to clearly display which outside mask belongs to which inside mask.

The creative piece that I decided to create was a rap/poem. The rap/poem has three parts. Basically they are describing the theme public versus private self and judgement put onto people from society. The first rap/poem it is describing the three most common things that African American males are known for or judged on. In the second rap/poem it is describing the three most common things that African American females are known for or judged on. In the beginning of each poem the male/female is describing how society views them negatively. Than later on in the poems it shows how they person actually is and the dreams or missions that they want to accomplish in the future. In the third poem, it is relating more to me and what I choose to show publicly and keep in privately. Another theme that ties into the third poem is secrets and how they can have consequences to them. The third poem is describing the struggles that I had to go through with my depression and self-harming. The reason I chose to write this poem besides the theme was because it made me relate to Hester and Juno. They both wore their “sins” on the outside (Hester – scarlet letter/ Juno – pregnant) and so did I (scars). All three of the raps/poems is meant to show the stereotypes that are put on people by society even though society does not know us individually.

My process for creating this creative piece was difficult. At first I wanted to do a dance than I switched into doing visual art and settled for a written piece. I wanted to being more of me into the project while still working around The Scarlet Letter and Juno. I am not the best writer so to want to do this type of project I know from the beginning would be difficult. Than I started playing around with the words and people that I know. Another issue that came up a lot was deciding whether or not to talk about my depression and self-harming. Most people see me as the happy, outgoing and helpful girl that is always there for her friends. Topics like this and others I don't really talk much about unless there is someone that can relate to me and they need advice. I do SAT for health but even when we discuss issues like these I still feel uncomfortable because I feel I am letter my guard down which I don't like to. It just came down to whether or not I wanted to put my personal life online for people all over the world to see.

Overall I am proud of my project because of the amount of detail that I put into the rap/poem. I personally am not a strong creative writer. I do write poems, stories and essays and when I can relate to the prompt or my beliefs agree with it than I can write a stronger writing piece. For this creative project, I was able to be creative with people that I know on a daily basis. There are people in my life who are womanizers or flirts or they are just another statistic so it was just easier to things to come to me. I am also proud of how I decided to put myself and the issues that I have gone through on paper and online. This is not just a poem that relates to the themes of the two literacy but it is also me being comfortable enough to share and allow other people to know me who haven't met me.

Even though there are a number of things I liked about my project there are also things that I could have done better on. Those things personally is the detail of the rap/poem for the female. Even though I am a female and issues surrounding females should come easy to me, it was difficult with putting that into a poem. Throughout the male rap/poem you see transition when the person switched, rhymes, more flow/beat with the words and more detail overall. For the female I feel as though that I hit the surface or picked stereotypes that are hard to describe.

If I could do this all over again what I would do different is the way I present the project. The first and second rap/poem is meant to be a bounce off of three different people. The first paragraph is one person, the second another person, the third another person and the fourth paragraph back to the first person. Basically a flow of different voices so you can recognize the voices differently and actually see the progress they made or showing you how the way society views them doesn't matter as long as they succeed. The format I would do differently is maybe an audio, video going between three people or having it down in person by doing a group project.

Many decisions had to be made about putting these pictures into place. I modeled this slide off of the Ikea advertisement with the cups. The cups had a nice contrast to the black background and the empty space made you notice them. I also used a black background with mostly white symbols to contrast the background. I kept a lot of blank space so you had no other choice but to look at them. The reason one picture was a different color is because I wanted your eyes to go there first. I wanted it to pop out at you so your eyes would start at the top, most colorful image and work your way down until you reached the bottom and realized that it spelled my name. Too much negative space, however, is a bad thing. I put another image that represented me in the negative space but made it slightly transparent so it wouldn't create 
much of a distraction for your eyes. This slide explains me through pictures, but without pictures of me. It explains me without words.

In technology class we discussed how to make efficient slides on PowerPoint that do not have much on them, but say a lot. The idea for this script is for me to be able to be able to explain a slide that is about myself without getting choked up. 

This slide (believe it or not) was inspired by a IKEA sign, since like most they make a point by saying little to nothing. My slide can be considered “glance media”, since in only one quick glance you would get all the information you need to understand it (I am a fencer and I am the best you will ever know). “Bleeding” is when you take a photo and cut part of it out of the frame, this would not work for this in my opinion since you need to see the full picture to know I am fencing. You may also have noticed that the first thing you looked at was was ‘You Will Ever Know’ on my slide since it makes you have to look back and read the rest.

The picture I chose was not random, it is the perfect picture to get the point across about who is the best. The photo was a action shot which causes the viewer to train his eyes on to it, also it bring forth excitement. The slide portrays a bright photo which draws the attention of the readers right after they have read the statement. The only flaw is it holds no emotions, just me fencing, but other than that I is a superb slide.

For this creative project I decided to branch out and create a photoset with all original concepts and photos by me. The concept of all 4 photos is that of displaying different emotions through color. As seen the pictures aren’t all very straightforward when it comes to connecting them to themes, which was the main purpose of this. I didn’t want these photos to only be seen one way but to have different meanings to them. I also wanted to present something that I knew would capture both the book and the movie but also more than just one character from both. What better way to do this than by using photography?

I think that a big aspect of this was being able to not only capture in through my eye but to be able to display what I saw in order for others to understand. I really enjoyed the process of this because as a whole I really enjoy photography and displaying more than just a pretty picture through it. Even though my finished product was something that I'm really proud of I think that steps to it were a bit stressful. It got hard once it was time to shoot. I had trouble being able to focus,even though I could have used auto focus I tried to keep it all manual in order to make it a learning experience. I also saw myself having trouble when it came to picking which pictures to display. Even though it's only 4 pictures I ended up taking at least 40 of each, which in the end only made it harder for me. Even though this process was hard I really enjoyed it and the coming up of the concepts of using colors since that was also used in the movie. In the end I wouldn't change anything about it. 

“Oh What’s Another Ten Pounds ” – JUNO

            Through out the movie Juno to me was on a journey. The journey to find her true emotions. Through out the movie she faced various challenges that deep down inside affected her. As seen on the photograph there are various colors displayed. Starting from Black, Royal Blue, Tan/Orange, Green, and finally pink. All these colors representing a side of Juno present through out the movie. Also as you can see the colors that are most seen are pink and green while all the others are in the shadows. I did this to show that no matter what she went through in the end she was able to find that balance in order for her to trust Paulie and let their love blossom.

Black – Protection 

Blue – Security

Tan/ Orange – Courage 

Green – Healing 

Pink – Happy/Sense Of Well Being/ Romance

“ Thou Hast Escaped Me! “ – Chillingworth

 This photograph is more of a contradiction. Through out the book all Chillingworth wanted was success. However in the end we all know that’s not what he got. Which is why in the photo the emotion being displayed by the little kid is anger. He wasn’t able to succeed which is why in the end he died. He died because he drowned himself so much in his revenge that in the end when it was all over he no longer had anything to live for.

“My Little Pearl” – Dimmesdale

“Aww, It Kind Of Does ” – Vanessa

Intro:

In technology we’ve been focusing a lot on media technology and how it influences our culture today. The slide that I’m presenting describes me!! We’ve also been talking about how to catch someones eye using different types of media, like powerpoint or video.

SCRIPT:

I made my slide look the way that it did, because it reflects my personality who I am as a person. The slide is purple, because purple is my favorite color. What influenced the pictures on my slide is the activity’s, and friends I’ve made for most of my life. I also included things that interest me during the winter seasons, thats why I included the picture of a steaming cup of coco. The picture of the green frog represents cut the rope a game I’m fond of. Another item I added was a smily face. I added this, because I’m always happy and feel as though happiness is the key to everything. I added my friends,  because they make my day everyday when I come to school and i love and appreciate what they do for me. This is my slide, this is me.

I will not photoshop the truth

I will not crop the truth, truthfully speaking the truth

I will not resize the truth for the fittening of your frame

I will not resize or rotate or flip it so that when you first hear it, it feel less offensive

I believe that scars are lessons learn so I won't even fix any blemishes

I won't add any special affect in order for me to look more like you

Somehow, he then touched me.

When he was supposed to be loving me,

It triggered my mind leaving me confused with what state of mind I was in

What I didn't know was that I was about 8 going on 9

And I didn't have the opportunity to decline what would be define as my first sexual intercourse

I went from learning my 1, 2, 3 to learning about birds and bees

Child life was no longer as easy as learning A, B, C

I wanted to know why

I was looking and searching for a sign

I felt used and thrown away like paper cups and plastic utensils at 8 going on 9

My heart was beating out of my chest

And that night, I slept with him, went to school the next day and smile like nothing happened

I just wish for that one moment, someone would look past my outside and look inside

Nothing comes out of my voice, but inside of me, I wanted to scream "Can anyone see that I'm hurting?!"

Took the pain, stored in the back of my mine, and purposely forgot the combination

There is light at the end of this tunnel

We don't see the end, but God sees it clear

For every boy and ever girl who feels defenseless

For every man and every woman who feels like the enemy is beating them senseless

For every tear that rolls that your face and swallow of cry in the middle of the night so no one can hear

For every face that is barried in pillows to hide the tears

Christ is your breath of life and can be your inhaler.

If there's an opportunity to make a difference in your life or someone else life, you do what you can and make the best out of it. If there's a point in time where an obstacle comes along and you don't know what to do about it, you have to suck it up and do what you have to do. Between all those obstacles and change in life, you grow stronger as a person and become independent. Through the characters of Juno from the movieJuno and Hester from The Scarlet Letter, both characters shows their independence and strength with handling their obstacles even though society is continuously pushing them down.

            Just like Juno and Hester, I, myself can relate to them on certain level. Growing up was hard for me. I had many challenges in life; wishing and hoping that it could go away. Juno dealt with pregnancy at a young age and it caused her to be more independence and learning how to deal with things on her own. Just like her, my past helped mold me to be more independent and not depend on anyone, but God. God was my everything. Anything that was happening, I kept my mouth shut and dealt it on my own and never asked for help. For example, in the movie Juno, during her pregnancy, Bleeker would ask her if she needs any help and she would constantly push him away and take matters in her own hands. Throughout my life, people put their hands out for me, but my mentality was just "no, I can do it on my own." As in the book, Hester's surrounding was constantly pushing her down and looking at her in a pity form, which I thought was mean, but Hester, as a character didn't let that bother her. She's the one who knows the truth and she's not going to photoshop the truth to please others.

            And that brings me to the next point. It was hard for me to decide what kind of creative project I wanted to do because I want to do everything! But I also wanted to be the best of the best. At first, I was going to draw, but since I'm not the greatest artist in the world, I decided to express my creativity in a written form. My spoken poetry is about how my past has taught me how to grow stronger mentality and trusting in God. The basic theme that I wanted people to understand from my poem was that you don't have to please society. They can believe what they want to believe, but at the end of the day, you know the truth and that truth creates who you are today and there is hope at the end of the tunnel. This poetry represents who I portray myself on the outside, and what's really happening behind closed doors. Society doesn't know about my past and what I go through everyday, so they expect me to be happy and act like everything is okay. That's why I always walk around smiling, but at home, the pillows are the sponges to my tears. Those tears gave me an opportunity to see the light and I want my poetry to help others gain hope.

I feel like my poetry is pretty good. It doesn't have much, but each words has a powerful meaning. I poured my heart out onto this keyboard, and I hope that my audience can see the pain and effort I put into it. I don't regret anything I have done. Everything has been on time and I have used my time wisely. I mean, there's always a spot to improve. In this case, I don't feel like I have any. If I were to ever do this project again, I think I would challenge myself to draw a masterpiece. That was my first intentions, but it didn't pull through. 

Introduction:

In Technology class we’ve been talking about the different ways to make a slide interesting and in a way that will catch a reader’s eye.  I used presentation zen to get the information I need in order to make my slide. I put some of the advice to action in my slide shown below.

SCRIPT:

My slide looks the way it does, because on presentation zen, a website with slide advice, it recommended that you use bright colors, so I used a dark background with bright blue and pink to add a contrast. The soccer ball represents one of my hobbies, playing soccer, as well as a personal trait, I have a happy personality. My name being big and bright has to do with the fact that the slide is about me. My slide’s letters and  picture is very bold, so people can look at it and know what it’s about. That process is called, ‘Glance media’.

Conclusion:

I chose the bright soccer ball as the picture on my slide, because soccer is one of my main hobbies, and something I love to do. Also, because it has a smiley face on it and I have a happy personality. Being happy makes life more exciting, that’s why it’s important to include it on my slide. The bright colors are there to one, engage the reader, and two because I love bright colors, they help bring out my personality.

Trying to make a slide visual can be difficult. You never know if it’s good enough. You try to fill in all the spaces and make sure it doesnt look empty by trying to make pictures bigger or put more pictures on there without making it look cramped together. 

I chose to put a busy background so that the spaces in between wouldn’t look blank, empty and boring. I put pictures in my slide that describe what I live by.  The first thing i did was put a picture of myself that would best fit the other pictures i would later add. When i was thinking of what to put in my slide, i started thinking of things i did in the morning and one thing was put on make up so thats where the Mac Collection comes in. 

I tilted my pictures different ways to make it look more appealing so that people would want to know what they were about. I used repetition so that it would be clear of what i really liked. I clearly love Marilyn Monroe and beside the pictures, the quotes describe a what i look to for self motivation. I added ballet into my slide, it’s something that i have a strong passion for. It helps me escape the struggles and frustrations of everyday life. It’s peaceful and graceful and relaxing. I also incorporated a part of my culture into my slide which is where the Jamaican flag plays out.

My slides describes me in my simplest form and it goes with the good points i need to make a good slide.