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Some people think terrorist means a lot of bad different things. Most people think of this definition is a horrendous thing. Most people think the definition of a terrorist is an international person who isn’t from the United States Of America and that kills people and makes bombs for no reason. Most people have this definition wrong and or the wrong idea. Misjudgement is a big thing in the world now. People are misjudge muslims as terrorists or horrible people. It because the things they see in the world like September 11, when Islamist extremists hijacked a couple planes and crashed into the twin towers.  

A terrorist is a person who uses terrorism in the pursuit of political aims. This is the correct definition of a terrorist. I hate when people say the word terrorist and don’t even know what it means. Some people say the word as a joke and this isn’t no joking matter to play with the word terrorist. I hate the stereotypes against terrorist like some people say muslim people are terrorist or people who aren’t from the United States Of America aren’t, lastly men with long fully grown beard.

I was dreaming and heard all this noise and when I woke up it came to reality. All I heard people coming up and down the stairs and the bathroom water running. I tried to go back to sleep, but my mother came in my room and said “wake up it's time to wake up for our holiday Eid!” I finally woke up and squinted my eye because of the very sunny sun. I woke up smiling hard because I know today is my holiday and I will see all my family members I haven’t seen since last Eid. All that I could think about was the amount of money I would be making today. Last Eid I made about 50 dollars, and this Eid I want to see if I could make more.

My mom drove me and my siblings to the park so we can do our Eid prayer. My brother and I had a black throbe on which is like a long dress and people would call it. My mom and sister had a black cheetah print overgarment on. As we were walking to the the huge park, people in cars were stopping and look at us and the people on the trolley just stared at us like we weren’t human.

I thought in my mind if some people never seen muslims before or they just thought that something was wrong with us. I don’t know if what we was wearing or they thought something about us I wonder. We went and prayed at the park. After that I got up and got some money and seen my uncle. We had a long conversation. He was telling me how he was on his way to the Eid prayer and how some lady said something very disrespectful about him.  

He said “While I was walking to the masjid some white lady was talking to her daughter and overheard them talking about how he looks like a terrorist.” At this time, I was a young age and I really didn’t know what the word “terrorist” meant… He told me what it meant. Until the day I heard somebody called someone else a terrorist, I didn’t know how it felt to be called that. There was talks about how you could be muslim or a different skin color or just be different and be consider as a terrorist.

Misjudgement is a big thing in world right now and always will be. It used in a lot of different things. For example being muslim or a different skin color means you have to be a terrorist. No one should ever judge a book by its cover! Regardless anything no matter how they look.

For quarter two we took things a little slow and we didn’t have as much work as we did the first quarter. Instead we learned and practiced some new techniques, including collaging, block printing and sketching using math. It was fun to go out my art comfort zone, it got me working harder and putting in more effort. Besides art history we have a mini lesson in the history of art and music experimenting with different artist and how the vibes of the music affected the way we worked in class. We did have our silly days but it was fun learning about older artist from the 80’s- 90’s.

The most challenging project this quarter was the fern, because there’s a lot of details in each leaf and that takes a lot of time, energy and patience, which is something I don’t have. When it comes to art if it’s not my way or something I’m good at stray against it because it’s out of my comfort zone, and I’m not really an artist. There were times where I did want to give up and not finish the drawing because it felt like the leaves were never ending. I would finish one and realise I had like 20 more to finish. It was never ending and I really really wanted to give and chalk the whole thing. In the end I’m glad I didn’t give up because my fern came out okay. It wasn’t my best work but it wasn’t my worst.

The thing that stuck out the most was the Golden Ratio Collage which was basically a big swirl with nine sections that have to measure a certain length but still be in equal ratio. It was hard to understand at first but after some other examples from google I understood it more and it became my best work. I used an elephant head that matched up with the swirl and because elephants are grey I wanted to use a colorful background that would make the dull head stand out more. I used already cut colored pieces of paper and collaged them into each section of the golden ratio so you could see which section started and ended where. I enjoyed block printing because I’ve done it before, but this time was fun because we used styrofoam instead of a rubber plate. I choose a panda sleeping at night because it was supposed to be part of nature, and who doesn’t love panda’s?  I stuck with darker colors because it’s supposed to be at night, and most pandas have darker colored fur so it just seemed right.

For my Macbeth Creative Project, I decided to create a Playbill. I choose this option because I thought it would be interesting to create a modern version of Macbeth with actors that are popular today. I know that it has been done before, but I thought it would be fun since I get to make the casting decisions and such.

One of the main aspects of this project was the actors/actresses that would be bringing the play to life. What I did to decide, was sit down and really think about the personalities of the characters that we really got to know in the play, and see if I knew any actors/actresses with similar personalities, or who I think could do a good job taking on that personality. Some of the easiest casting decisions was Macbeth (Johnny Depp), Lady Macbeth (Helena Bonham-Carter), and Hecate (Maggie Smith) to name a few. I choose Johnny Depp to take on the role of Macbeth because I know how much of a versatile actor he is. I have also seen him act as many characters with such different personalities, for example, he was Edward Scissorhands in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). I also chose Helena Bonham Carter for the same reasons, her being a very versatile actress, and her ability to become very cruel and kind characters, for example, Bellatrix Lestrange in David Yates’ adaptations of the final three Harry Potter books made into four movies: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1&2. I also choose Maggie Smith as the head witch because of her amazing performance as Professor McGonagall in all the Harry Potter movies.

For the costume decisions, I basically just created a set of my own choices for the tops, bottoms, etc. The website I used is called Polyvore, which contains a lot of modern day clothing, with the ability to make a collage of the ones you choose, which was perfect for this project. I chose to focus on our two main characters, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, and choose what they might wear in this production.

When deciding on the stage layout, I kept it very simple. I based on most stage/set layouts of other productions. I also incorporated what I thought was best and made the most sense.

Lastly, for the ads, I decided to base them around the actors and actresses seen the the play. I know that when I go to see a movie or a play, I always see one of the really great performers and wonder what else they have done. That is what I based my ads around. I knew that Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter were going to be acting together in an upcoming movie, so I incorporated that, and I also know that Tim Curry stars in a movie that is celebrating their fortieth anniversary this year, so I put that in as well.

There were many times in my life where I felt I didn't belong and they were in close relation to not only my identity, but the identity of the people around me. I felt like I didn't belong growing up in Serbia as a person with learning disabilities. I discovered I had dyslexia and dysgraphia when my teacher thought  that I was stupid because on my tests I finished almost none of the questions and when writing, I mixed Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, as well as printed and cursive letters. The real reason I felt like I didn't fit in is because learning disabilities are very rare in Serbia, and the tests are conducted in a mental hospital, where I later had to visit a therapist. The therapist banned me from writing in cursive to help me use only one style of writing at once. People not only saw me differently, but also treated me like there was something wrong with me, especially the teachers. The only two things that my therapist told them to do to make this process easier was to give me extensions on reading and writing assignments and to test me orally, instead of me struggling through reading and writing it. My teachers kept everything the same, until I told them “Imagine I fell down the stairs and broke both my arms, how would you test me then?” Her answer was: “Well, orally of course.” At the end I got her to test me orally and I got a 100, but I never changed her mind. I think that happened  because she was a person with a fixed mindset and not accepting a change.

I’ve come across a lot of people like my teacher over the years. They think that everyone functions the same and that kind of thinking is the reason that some people struggle with changing their view. Even if all the information is pointed against their argument , they would stubbornly stick to their own opinions. I, on the other hand, have the adapting mindset where I can change my views if I get good evidence. As an article from MindShifts states “ It is the belief that qualities can change and that we can develop our intelligence and abilities. The opposite of having a growth mindset is having a fixed mindset, which is the belief that intelligence and abilities cannot be developed. The reason that this definition of growth mindset is important is that research has shown that this specific belief leads people to take on challenges, work harder and more effectively, and persevere in the face of struggle, all of which makes people more successful learners. ”

These mindsets are not only opposites, but they are both necessary to balance out. This is a part of the way my identity was shaped, as a person with learning disabilities, since I had to change the way I looked at things and the opinions I had on learning, as well as basically anything I knew before about myself.

The lesson I learned from this experience is that our identity can change in a moment, and we would never expect that, but we have to accept the person we have become, and trust ourselves enough. By that I mean trust our brains, our bodies, our flaws, our disabilities, our reasons, and our hope.

Advanced Essay #3

Black men in our society are known for one of three things, a sports player, rapper, or a drug dealer. A black man in our society, will never live the life of a middle class or higher class white man. No matter how much money he makes, no matter what level of education he has, nor where he works, a black man in our society will never live the life of a civilized white man.

The sports player is the man who was a young black who had someone to look up to. This person that they looked up led them on a path that was positive. That person helped keep them out of the streets and made sure their focus was in books and/or on the field, court, arena etc. As the black male grew older he takes the lessons learned from his inspiration(s) and puts them to use. Due to the life lessons the young black male experienced, he has success in life. Now just because he has money and may be the franchise of a team, he is still a black male from the southern region of Philadelphia. He is still titled and labeled to where he comes from. Therefore, whites (mainly superior whites) still may seek him as dangerous and violent.

The drug dealer is the black male who grew up without a father or male figure and lived in a poor financed household. Due to the lack of income and education has, he turns to the streets to make money. Livin in the society he lives,  the access of drugs is very easy for the black male. After making his first bits of money, the black male continues to sell drugs and keeps his focus on the streets. Doing this will only lead the black male into 3 paths, dead, in jail, or stereotyped.

The rapper is very familiar to the drug dealer. The rapper is always viewed as the drug dealer who knows how to create a rhythmic tone with rhyming lyrics. Once the rapper gains money and popularity, he makes possibly the smartest decision he could have ever made which is leaving the streets and focusing on making money through music. Let’s look at Meek Mill for example. Meek Mill is a rapper (a rapper who was a drug dealer that could rhythmic tones with rhyming lyrics). Meek Mill is my cousin and he was also born and raised in the society as us. Meek grew up without a father in his life. His mom (my aunt) was always out boosting (stealing items and reselling them) to provide food and a place to sleep for Meek and my cousin Nasheema (his sister). When Meek became around my age (16-17) he turned to the streets to make money. Eventually, that caused him to be arrested and place in prison. Today, Meek is internationally famous rapper but, he still is a black man from Southern Philadelphia. Meek has been on probation for his arrest for 5 years now. In February, he will be sentenced to prison for violating that parole because of traveling without permission from the Philadelphia’s district attorney. Meek traveled to perform at an awards show. The district attorney said that she feels like Meek and “dangerous” and “irresponsible” at times and she feared letting him go to the awards show. Meek is a millionaire and he gives the DA (district attorney) no reason to fear him traveling to make money and provide for his family. What she fears is a black man being from our society being the setting and presence of “precious” white people.

No matter how hard he tries, a black man in my society will never be the same as a white man. He will forever be identified negatively because he comes from a negative place. It doesn’t even matter if he never did anything bad, he will forever identified negatively.