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My name is Emily. The topic I chose is domestic violence. Every year too many people are victims of domestic violence. About 1 in 3 women and 1 in 14 men are physically abused by an intimate partner .

A common misconception for victims of domestic violence are that it is purely physical violence. In some relationships there are violent threats made. Also there are many relationships where one partner is basically imprisoned in their own home. Another common misconception is that only women are affected by domestic violence. Male domestic violence charity The ManKind Initiative say that for every three victims of partner abuse, two will be female and one will be male. Domestic violence against men is real but not as recognized as much as domestic abuse against women.

I’ve lived through domestic violence. I watched my father hit my mother for years. Then came along my stepfather. He was just as bad. He hit my mother just as bad as my father did. I remember from when I was as young as 3 my father getting angry and punching walls and doors then eventually my mother would try to calm him down and he would hit her. My mother grew up in a home with an abuser. Her father was extremely abusive towards her mother and her. This being all she knew she married my father who abused her as well. After he left when I was 3 my mother remarried in 2010. This time everything was fine for about a year. Then he began to get angry and hit the doors and walls. Then my mother didn’t want my siblings and I to see him like this. She would then try to calm him down. This bringing him to do the same thing my father did. He would hit her. He left numerous bruises in her arms and legs. He stayed for 4 years before he left. My sister spent 9 days at a mental hospital for suicidal thoughts. She was so depressed. After the first day she was there my stepfather left. As soon as things got hard he left us.

Around 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner per minute. Many victims never speak up about their experiences for fear that their abuser may find them. Other people never even escape abusive homes. They are to scared of being further abused if they are found escaping. There are also some cases where people are in denial about the abuse they are going through. In these cases people see the situation as normal. My mother thought that everything was normal for years until my father made her wear long sleeves in the summer to cover the bruises. He wanted everyone to think we were a normal family. To the public most relationships are completely normal but behind closed doors too many relationships have an abuser who controls their partner's every move. Domestic violence is an act of control. All acts of abuse are about controlling. Weather or not your partner keeps you from going out or physically abuses you, all of it is about control.

A woman named Lovern Gordon shared her domestic violence story to the huffington post. In her story she explains that she was given the option of her abuser or her friends and family. Being “young” she said she chose him. She said that the first time he hit her she thought it was a one time thing. He apologized and she thought it was over. Over the next month he became more and more violent. He slapped and punched her in private. Behind closed doors was a whole different story to what was seen outside. There was an altercation between her abuser and her brother and he again asked her to choose between him or her family. She was in denial and she again chose him. Over the course of the remainder of their relationship he continuously told her that he loved her. He got even more violent he kicked and choked her. SH thought since he apologized and said he loved her it was okay. There was one particular night, the night she finally got the help she needed where he beat her so bad and threatened to kill her that she thought she may die that night. In this case she was lucky. She got the help she needed. She was lucky. Too many people die from not seeking the help they need.

Annotated Bibliography

My name is Teyonna Little. I am a ninth grade student at Science Leadership Academy. For the fourth quarter project at SLA, the ninth grade class are researching and studying issues in the world that affects them personally or that they are deeply interested in. This project is called You and The World. After seeking multiple topics about youth and issues concerning North Philadelphia specifically, I came up with an idea that affects me personally and young children and teens all over the world. I chose to focus on “Children with Incarcerated Parents or a parent.” While doing this topic, my goal is to learn more about the way children respond to their parent being imprisoned and they everyday behavior concerning their social life and different environments. I am really interested in learning more about this topic because I currently go through the same issue, with my biological father being incarcerated for a long period of time. These behaviors and responses in this specific group of children matters today because it affects their future, their behaviors, and what they would be like, or who they would be throughout the rest of their lives. It is important to know this so that others who don’t struggle with the same issue will know how to respond to certain reactions and completely understand why someone is acting the way they are acting.

Children with a parent or parents in jail or in prison has a common symptom or sign that they are going through something specifically dealing with their behavioral health. You can see this in their social lifestyle; rather someone else is bringing up their missing parent at a school event or they are really withdrawn when other adults talk about it. They tend to become antisocial, and isn’t so comfortable around certain things and certain people. They are emotional and can struggle in school or just simply having a hard time being around other children. Research shows that children and teenagers with incarcerated parents or parent have 8 of 16 mental and physical health issues.  

As I am continuing with my research concerning this issue, my understanding becomes more open and more clear of behaviors I have experienced with myself in my past and in my present. There is so much more to be opened and shared, and I am determined to get others more aware of these children and their behaviors. As of now, I am wondering and more open to know about how these behaviors are dealt with, how the parent that is incarcerated feel, and how life and opportunities can be made easier and less stressful regarding a strong relationship with the wired fence between children and their parent.

Written by Daniel P. Mears and Sonja E. Siennick from Florida State University, they reflect on adult children and how having an incarcerated parent affects their future.

Annotated Bibliography

Overworked Public Defenders

Hello, my name is Payton McQuilkin. This project I am working on is named “You & The World Project”. In this project we are opened to find something in the world that we, the freshmen, feel as though is an issues that needs attention. My topic I’ve chosen is the public defenders in the United States are doing people no justice due to the overload of work they have everyday.  In court people who have little income and don’t have enough money for an attorney are given a public defender in replacement. An attorney, which costs a pretty penny, has much time to investigate and prepare for their client. The public defender will just meet their client when arriving in the courtroom. Multiple studies shows that in the United States, the public defenders are overworked, often underpaid, and not given enough to defend a client.

The whole public defender system started in January 1962, when a man in Florida received 5 years in prison for representing himself. He stole some beer, change, and cokes. Now there is a required “defense attorney” for a client who can not afford an attorney. The public defenders defend any type of cases which can be; felonies, misdemeanors, juvenile, and appeals. When arriving in the courtroom they meet their clients each day. Every day they get a load of cases. Doesn’t that seem hard to keep track of? Even if the public defender was to try to turn down another case to handle, they aren’t allowed. Many states do not allow any public defenders to deny any cases. This picture is from the show called, “60 Minutes”. This episode shows the public defenders. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/inside-new-orleans-public-defenders-decision-to-refuse-felony-cases/

This is a link to watch is you would like!!

Normally because public defenders are so overloaded with the cases they are given, they end up encouraging the client to admit they’re guilty to get rid of the case. This seems pretty unfair to those clients, they are in a time of need of someone to help them. They need someone who cares about their case but all they're worried about is to get rid of their case. The percentage of cases with public defenders are 47%, while the assigned attorney is 12%.  The estimated time a public defender has with a client before appearing in front of the judge is 7 minutes. The public defender is said to work on a case for less than an hour. This shows how little the effort is for the client.  This shows how a public defender is not ready to defend their client. They have no time to look into the case to see if the client is actually guilty or innocent. This picture shows that on different types of cases, the public defender's does not get the time they need to defend their client properly.

I choose this topic because of my first experience with a public defender. My sister, who is in jail, doesn’t have enough money for an attorney, so received a public defender in replacement. My sister landed herself in jail for a year for having drugs on her. I think this is unfair not only because she’s my sister, but because she didn’t have the proper defense on her side. People who commit much more violent crimes get out faster than my sister who committed a nonviolent crime. I wanted to do this because before I had my first experience, I paid no mind to how unfair the justice system can be. I think this is relevant and it affects so many people in the world and this can’t go on forever because it’s unfair! The overload of cases on a public defender’s plate needs to come to an end.

The issue of the public defender's doesn’t stand out much if you don’t experience it. My hopes in this is to help people understand that the way the public defenders are being worked and the clients are suffering. I’ve learned how the system started and actual statics of the public defenders. I hope to find out the estimated cost of an attorney and the impact on the people in jail because their public defenders did them no justice.

You can go to my document on the websites I used here...

Hello, my name is Nasya Ie. I am currently a freshmen at Science Leadership Academy. In my English class, we have a project called You & The World and in this project we get to choose a topic that interests us. For this project, I chose Industries Harming Animals. This topic matters to me dearly because I want to be a veterinarian and to be a vet you have to have passions animals to do your job. I want the world to know how animals are suffering because of companies are taking skin, fur, leather, wool, silk and more! Even pet stores that are selling animals are treating them like nothing.

All around the world people are keeping animals in captivity, they leave the animal in horrible environment and conditions. They leave them in small cramped spaces with no food or water, they get diseases without any vets to help them. Animals are getting diseases because they are in an environment that will make them unhealthy. These industries will harm them, not care for them, and treat them like they are nothing. They harm these animals, they can feel pain like we do. I want to open people's eyes that this is happening, that this need to stop this. Not a lot of people know what the history of the fur they are wearing, how the animal were treated to get the fur. Also, you shouldn’t always trust your pet store because they are not innocent, they are doing bad thing and still doing it now.

Image- One Person, One World

Here is a map showing the percentage spending money on shelters.

All lot of industries are similar with harming animals. By doing this is making our ecosystem have more problems. I know it is going to be a great deal of effort to stop industries harming animals, but I think we can make these industries less greedy. For more information click here for my bibliography.

Littering

http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/Earth_(WALL%E2%80%A2E)

Look at this concept of Earth. Try and name Differences between that planet and planet Earth.

This is planet Earth in the movie WALL-E. As you can see, it is showing North America but look at all the trash in the atmosphere and how there's no green anywhere on that planet. You can also notice how there is no polar ice cap in the north of the planet, Because of all the trash and pollution Global Warming took it's course and the ice caps most likely melted. As some of you probably know WALL-E is set in the future, and that future can be set in motion for us as well. Our Earth will look all but the same as WALL-E’s version, all because of us littering. The heaps of trash I see now will soon become the towers trash in our future. The pictures below are too compare the differences between a cartoon and a street in India. It isn’t right that people have to see that in our world. People having to clean YOUR trash. This is showing that if we keep going down the path we’re going down. I t will look the same as WALL-E’s

As of right now the earth isn’t where it should be with the trash problem. In india there is really bad places filled with trash and litter. Information about this street is here.

As you can see what this littering is doing to certain people and countries in this world.

How I Try as of Now to Prevent Littering

There is too much litter in the world for one person to clean themselves. So whenever I see someone drop litter onto the ground You’ll always see me pick it up no matter what. And once I pick it up I tell them the same speech I said above about WALL-E. Maybe not word for word but still. My mother always told me to never let go of trash and let it go in the streets. She always said, “Bad people make the world Ugly, there's lots of bad people here, which is why it's so dirty.” I guess when I was younger I saw that as, if I let the trash go I’m a bad person which is true.

What I am Going to do in the Future

For this project I’m gonna see how many people litter in my neighborhood in a park. I will see their age, and gender, and make a conclusion to see which type of people litter the most. Also see what they litter. Is it mainly small pieces of trash or larger things.

Hello, my name is Micah Isaiah Carrera. I am a Freshmen at Science Leadership Academy We have been assigned a You and the World Project(YATW) The project allows us to choose a problem in the world that we think should get more

Image Source

attention and be acknowledged. The issue that I was interested in is Better Treatment of the Elderly. There are many problems that are invisible to us. Many problems that we need to acknowledge and solve. We have lost the courtesy and respect that the Elders deserve. A blog about this statement can be found Here. These problems occur in the streets and in nursing homes. I chose this because I have many Elders in my family who I love to death. I believe that the respect that I have for my elders is the respect we all should have.

The first issue that needs to be acknowledged is nursing home abuse. This is a subject that truly breaks my heart because one day I know that my Grandparents that I love so much, might have to be taken to a nursing home.  Many Elderly have suffered from these different types of abuses. Poor hygiene is something that can really affect an elder in a negative way.  Something simple as giving them unclean clothes and not giving enough baths can lead to terrible diseases, or even death. Elderly are also physically

(This image can be found Here)

abused. Physical abuse is an occurring problem that has been seen across many nursing homes. I couldn’t believe that people would actually physically abuse Elderly in some nursing homes. There are some organizations that specialize in shutting down nursing homes that do abuse their Elderly. The link to one of these organizations is Here. Elderly cannot do anything about these issues because they are usually blackmailed to not tell anyone. Since they are so vulnerable, it is very tough.

(This image can be found on Here)

Another issue that we needs to be acknowledged is Elderly drug abuse rehabilitation. This is an issue that is a little odd because most of us would think of younger people when you say drug rehab. You may see many homeless Elders on the streets when you go into the city. These Elders are mostly in that position because of drugs. There are some organizations that specialize in bringing these elderly into rehabilitation. They specialize in turning these Elderly people's lives around and giving them the attention they deserve. The link to one of these organizations is Here.

Lastly, an issue that I have witnessed is that American elders are treated worse that 3rd world countries elders. In my 15 years of life, I have been on many trips around the world. For example, in my missions trip to Honduras, we arrived at their airport. The airport had an entire separate way for elders to be escorted in wheelchairs. They had their own line and own way to get to the plane. I asked my Father why they did this. He simply answered that these foreign countries have way more respect for their Elders than America does and that the elders in America don’t receive the respect they deserve. This is one of the main reasons I chose this topic. The link to this issue is Here.

In conclusion, we have lost the courtesy and respect that our elders deserve. The three main issues that stand out to me is nursing home abuse, elderly drug rehabilitation, and respecting our Elders like we should be.

Annotated Bibliography  

Hello, My name is Amira Gouri. I am a freshmen at Science leadership Academy. My topic is about Autism. Autism also known as ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) is a disorder that can be noticed on children on early age, generally between two and three years old. It’s when the child has trouble of communicating with others and/or difficulty of learning. Most of the time, autistic people don’t have friends because they have difficulties building friendships. Autistic children need special treatment.

This is an image of the autism awareness symbol. It’s a symbol of a puzzle piece with different colors which represents the mystery and the complexity of autism. The different colors represent the diversity symptoms of the autistic individuals.

Over the last decade, scientists have identified a number of rare gene changes associated with autism in around 15 percent of cases. However, in most cases autism can be caused by a combination of genetic risk and environmental factors such as advanced both parents age at time of the conception, illness during pregnancy, difficulties during delivery, prematurity and low birth weight, all these can cause difficulties in the oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain which can lead to damaging the brain cells. All the nongenetic factors, by themselves are not enough to cause autism unless they are combined with genetic risk factors. There is a crucial debate about vaccines that many believe that it is the cause of autism because many kids suffer from high fever and severe diarrhea after taking it, then their mood and behavior started changing. On the other hand, others argue that vaccines can’t be a cause of autism because every child takes it but just few who have those reactions. It is important to keep in mind that these studies were done on some cases, and the exact cause for autism is still a mystery.

The statistics showed that boys are four times more likely to have autism than girls.There are some autistic people that have a strength in some things and a weakness in others. For example, my brother really excels in math and has a strength in memorizing and learning quickly, but he has a weakness in social communication.

No two people with autism have the same symptoms, some of them have few symptoms which means their autism is mild, but others may have all the symptoms and suffer from severe autism.

The most common symptoms among people with autism are: poor social skills, which includes showing very little or no eye contact, lack of relationships, having difficulty with back and forth conversations, they also have difficulty with controlling their emotions, and understanding others emotions such as pain, and sadness. They also could be very obsessed with certain topics or objects such as numbers, places, toys and facts such as science topics. Hyperlexia (knows how to read but doesn’t understand it) is also common in individuals with autism. Secondary symptoms may include using unusual gestures (and some could also be repetitive) such as clapping, walking on their tippy toes, hand flapping, and closing their ears, some require having repetitive behavior such as rocking, twirling, rearranging objects, and repeating words or phrases that they hear which is called echolalia.

Hello my name is Siarra Cummings the topic I have decided to focus on for this project is feeding starving children. Feeding starving children is a serious thing in the world and is still continuing on till this day. Only groups of people work to make sure starvation  isn’t big in the future. More groups have to made because of the thousands of children all over are malnourished and not fed properly together we can end this hunger. This topic interests me because I can’t imagine not having access to food everyday. We waste food almost everyday and take it for granted when some kids don’t even have food.  I  want to create awareness so we can appreciate what we have. Which is why I made my title the way it is because we hear this from our parents almost all of the time, right?

In part of my research I looked up “feeding starving children.” I looked to see if this was a big topic. Were people  really interested in it? The first website that appeared was a feeding children organization, who packaged meals for kids in need of food. This organization is Christian based and they go around recruiting churches to help them out. The organization is  called Feed My Starving Children . I found a connection with the Feeding Starving Children organization, and decided I want to help. A few weeks ago this organization came to my church and presented  the idea of feeding starving children and helping them physically grow. I was so intrigued because I never knew how serious this topic was. The lady presenting gave empowering stories about different children they fed back to a healthy body. There are numerous amount of success stories (link to photos as well) that really just amazes me at what this organization does.

In this photo this one of the little boys they nursed this boy back to health, his success story is actually on the website too. He is sitting next to the a box filled with the food that feed my starving children send to his village.

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This is the pack of food they send to these children and it is scientifically tested to nurse them back to a healthy body. This food contains rice, soy, vitamins and vegetables. It may not seem like a lot but since these children are so malnourished they can’t stomach regular food (especially large amounts) and it will make them sick. So they needed something that could be manageable for them to eat.

For my second part of research I really wanted to find out different facts about malnourished children in the world. To reach this information I had to go onto a world hunger organization website to find out the facts. What I read was real heart breaking information and I realize again we Americans take food for granted. Not only does this site talk about world hunger for kids but it talks about how much food we waste a year. I think the numbers are absurd! About 3.1 million children die a year from being malnourished and not receiving the right amount of food. What we don’t know is how it’s affecting where we live right now. Most of us have the easiest access to food and it’s not hard to get what we want.

I wanted to see how much Philadelphians had children who were starving and see how much damage we are doing to ourselves. 30% of children in Philadelphia are starving. We don’t contribute as much to the starving children counts they take every year but since we are one of the poorest cities in the United States we have almost the highest count of starving children. I think starting small and working our way up to help this situation is a good thing! If we start small in Philadelphia and make sure this problem diminishes we could help others.  I feel really passionate about this topic and I hope that it really opens up other people’s eyes in this growing problem.

My goal moving forward is to become a regular volunteer with feed my starving children I think I would enjoy working with this organization!

Hi! My name is Ruby and I’m a 9th grader from Philadelphia. This is the beginning of a project I am doing about palm oil. Palm oil is found in many common products including Nutella, Oreos, lipstick, detergent, and more. It has useful benefits, as well as highly destructive down-sides. The issue with palm oil is in the way it is produced. It is typically produced by cutting down palm trees located primarily in Indonesia. These trees provide habitats for many animals, and because the trees are being cut down, these animals are becoming endangered.

My intention for this project is to raise awareness about the issue. I believe it is important that people learn about palm oil because in some ways, the wellbeing of the world is at stake. I also think people need to know about this issue so that they can help to repair what damage has been done. My goal is not to discourage the use of palm oil altogether. Instead, I want to promote the use of sustainably produced palm oil, which I will elaborate on later.

My personal connection to this issue has to do with Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout for six years. I sold hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout cookies, all of which contain palm oil. Looking back, I regret my decision to sell the cookies and to support the effort because of how negatively it affects the world. Girl Scouts of the USA defends their use of palm oil by stating, “It is necessary to use palm oil in our cookies because palm oil is unique in its ability to provide volume and texture in baked goods, usually without adding trans fats.” This is a good point, however, it does not exactly justify the way palm oil is produced.

Like I said, I want to promote the use of sustainable palm oil because it is an adequate solution to this issue. It is produced in a way that does not have a negative impact on the environment. In 2008, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil created a set of criteria for producing sustainable palm oil. One of the most important of these criteria states, “No primary forests or areas which contain significant concentrations of biodiversity (e.g. endangered species) or fragile ecosystems, or areas which are fundamental to meeting basic or traditional cultural needs of local communities (high conservation value areas), can be cleared.” This is key because (if followed) these criteria could potentially eradicate the issue of palm oil-related deforestation. Keep in mind though, this does not erase the damage that has already been done.

The Truth Behind Deep Poverty In Philadelphia

My name is Kyla Gladney-Enos and I’m going to talk about an important topic for my You And The World project that some people are ignorant to, or that some people don’t like talking about. The topic that interests me the most is deep poverty in Philadelphia. More specifically, hunger as a result of deep poverty. Deep poverty means that the person or family is living under the average poverty rate of $20,000. This is a problem because when you’re impoverished, you may not have the things you need to survive like drinkable (running) water, electricity, heat, etc. The current population in Philadelphia is nearly 1.56 million. The population in Philadelphia who are impoverished is about 200,000 people. I plan on raising awareness by grabbing people's attention with actual facts instead of trying to make poverty seem not as bad as it actually is.

This is a picture of the nation’s 10 most populous cities. As you can see, Philadelphia has the highest rate of poverty and deep poverty within the nation’s most populous cities. About half the people who are living in poverty are living in deep poverty in Philadelphia.

I’m interested in this topic because it’s an issue that is inevitable to terminate due to the number of children being born each year. About four million children are being born in the United States each year. 14.5 percent of those babies are going to poor families. When I was a little girl, I didn’t know what poverty was, so how could I have known what deep poverty was? My mother was so good at hiding the fact that we were living in public housing, didn’t have a lot of money, and got most of our food from food banks.

This is a picture of kids in the lunch line getting food. This is important because in order for children to be healthy, they need the proper nutrients and protein from healthy food.

The official definition of hunger is feeling or displaying the need for food. In Philadelphia, 1 of 5 people are considered a risk for hunger. That’s about 260,000 people in Philadelphia who might be starving. This number has been increased 65% in the last eight years. The people who are hungry in Philadelphia are mostly children. 30% of Philadelphia’s children are hungry and 6% are senior citizens. 14% of the people who are hungry in Philadelphia are white, 18% are black, and 24% are Latino. 60% of hungry children are most likely to miss school than children who are not hungry. This is a serious problem because if these kids who are starving miss too much school, they’ll have to repeat the grade over.

These are pictures that I took on April 25, 2017 at 4:07 PM on 20th and Arch. This is a pretty popular avenue in Philadelphia that’s located in the city near a lot of museums. In the pictures, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of trash on the ground, the sidewalks aren’t cracked, and the streets look nice.

My goal moving forward is to volunteer at a food bank every once and awhile. When I started researching deep poverty in Philadelphia, I didn’t expect Philadelphia to be the poorest big city in the nation. I feel like the government is good at hiding this stuff. The other day I was talking to my friend who has never lived in poverty. She’s lives in a primarily white neighborhood with her white mom and sister. When I was explaining what deep poverty was and showing her pictures of North Philadelphia, she said those pictures make the city look bad and that Philadelphia doesn’t look like that. I started thinking how could she not know this? Why doesn’t she know this? But it’s not her fault. It’s the media’s fault. Even in school they don’t teach us that Philadelphia is the most poorest big city nation wide. I want to inform people (who haven’t experienced what the conditions of poverty are like) about what’s really going on in the real world. I want to learn more about why we don’t get educated about important things that’s going on in our city.

These are pictures I took on April 25, 2017 at 7:02 PM. This block is also a popular avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. In this picture, there appears to be trash in the street, cracked trolley tracks, and cracked sidewalks.

Here’s my annotated bibliography!

Hi, my name is Briannie Matos, a freshman at Science Leadership Academy. For my english class, we were assigned a You & The World project where you choose a topic you feel is important and you become an agent of change. I decided to do my project on Anxiety because it is apart of my life and I want to help others with it too.

Anxiety is a mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry or fear. Many of my family members and friends have anxiety, including myself. My Aunt is one of the only people I know that actually takes medication for anxiety. Sometimes I see how bad it affects her because if she is anxious or nervous about something her hands would start to shake and she would at times start to cry.  Seeing people deal with anxiety is pretty overwhelming because I can see how tough it is for them to get through the day. I want to help find a way for people to cope with anxiety. Having a specific routine and habit can help with anxiety. For example, the way I get through the day is with my chain that has cross on it. I simply rub on the cross and it tends to calm me down and keep me relaxed. For others, stress balls could help or exercising daily. It’s a big issue because some people have to take medication and have treatment. It can interfere with daily activities and it can also affect children.

Anxiety can interfere with someone’s daily life and it depends on how bad you have anxiety. People need medication and some don’t. Anxiety affects 40 million people in the United States, ages 18 and older. Those with anxiety are most likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorder than people who don’t have anxiety. Only one-third of people suffering from anxiety receive treatment. When having anxiety, it is likely to have depression as well. Symptoms and signs of anxiety are:

• Feeling on edge

• Difficulty concentrating

• Mind tends to go blank

• Sleeping problems

• Muscle tension

Anxiety affects one in every eight children in the U.S. According to what the ADAA says, Anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year, almost one-third of the country's $148 billion total mental health bill.

This line graph shows college students percentage of anxiety, depression, and relationship problem. Anxiety increased throughout the years 2010-2013. Being under the pressure of anxiety as a student can be very overwhelming. Especially when trying to concentrate on your work and studies. Two anxiety disorders are Panic Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder. Panic Disorder is when having unexpected panic attacks. Panic disorders are most likely for women than men and 6 million people in the U.S., which is 2.7% of the U.S. population, have panic disorder. Social Anxiety Disorder is when a person has an unreasonable fear of social situations, this is also called social phobia. Social Anxiety Disorder are common for both men and women around the age of 13. 15 million people in the U.S. have Social Anxiety Disorder, which is 6.8% of the U.S. population.

Overall, anxiety will always be apart of my life and I’m excited to see what I can do to help others with anxiety. You can visit my annotated bibliography for more information.

Hello my name is Kishara Erwin. I am currently in the 9th grade at Science Leadership academy. My english teacher has assigned us to our 4th quarter benchmark titled You & The world project. My project is based on suicide between teens through adults. This topic is important because people need to be aware of how many people take their own life because they could not receive any help from the struggles they were going through. My topic is important because I almost lost my friend when she tried to take her own life. Luckily, I was able to convince her that her life was worth living and not to throw it away over a bunch of lies and people that have no power.

Furthermore, in the U.S. suicide is the 10th leading cause of death. Every year 44,193 americans die because they committed suicide. There are 25 attempts for every suicide committed. The U.S gains 44 billion dollars annually because of suicide. Overall, there is an average of 121 suicides per day. In the year of 2015 the highest suicide rate was 19.6. Here is a link to the graph showing all of the data about the number of suicides committed.

People come to the decision of suicide due to various reasons in life.  Some reasons are because they have a mental disorder. Also, the broad reason which is bullying. Lots of times for kids bullying is the main reason they decide to throw their life away.  In life things can pile on top of another and a person cannot handle it so they kill themselves. Sometimes, people hold everything inside and it causes them to end their life as well.  Not telling your family what you are going through, causes you to end you life too. Keeping quiet may make you feel alone so you don't receive any help and you kill yourself.  

Unfortunately, there are various ways to end your life. People decide to end their life faster by stepping in front of a moving vehicle. People step in front of subways, trains, buses, and cars. When people commit suicide by stepping in front of a suicide that is called straphanger deaths. From the year 2010-2012 there were a total of 153 deaths by subway trains. For over three years 118 people tried to kill themselves but they did not succeed.  It is very rare to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train.

Lastly, there are ways to prevent people from committing suicide. For instance, here's a link to the national prevention lifeline: . People can receive help from using this website.  Another way to prevent suicide is to stop the bullying going on in all the schools. People should stop judging one another and then less people would stop throwing their lives away. We should compliment each other more. Supporting people through their troubles, helps them inside. They know they have someone to count on to look out for them. More importantly, they feel safe. For more information you can check out my annotated bibliography

Hello! My name is Asnain Khan and I am currently a freshman at Science Leadership Academy. We are doing a project in my English class called, “You And The World” (Y&TW). What is a “You And The World” project? Well, it’s when we choose an issue in the United States, the world, or in our community, and do research on it. After that, we go out into the world and try to make a change on the issue we chose. The issue you choose isn’t just random, you choose an issue you are interested in and can probably relate to. I chose the issue of environmental pollution in Philadelphia. I chose this topic because I am very interested in pollution, and I believe that it affects everyone in Philadelphia, including me. I hope to make a change occur and let people know more about this topic. I am going to try to bring awareness and interview a person that suffers because of environmental pollution in Philadelphia.

One of the major problems that Philadelphia is facing today is that of environmental pollution. It’s increasing with every passing year and causing grave and irreparable damage to the environment. Environmental pollution refers to the introduction of harmful pollutants into the environment. It has a hazardous effect on the natural world and on the activities of living beings. According to Phillymag, Philadelphia is the 10th most polluted city in the United States. Because Philadelphia is so polluted, many people are affected by it. “Each year in Philadelphia, an estimated 126 lives are cut short and 284 people are hospitalized due to excess air pollution,” according to a report by the American Thoracic Society and New York University.

According to Environmental Pollution and Its Effects, “environmental pollution consists of five basic types of pollution, namely, air, water, soil, noise, and light.” Air pollution is the contamination of any environment by any chemical, a physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of that atmosphere. Driving cars and trucks, burning coal, oil, other fossil fuels, and even such everyday activities as dry cleaning, painting, and filling your car with gas are some main sources of air pollution. Water pollution is the contamination of different water bodies. Humans pollute water with large scale disposal of garbage, flowers, ashes, and other household waste. Soil pollution, which can also be called soil contamination, is a result of acid rain, polluted water, fertilizers etc., which leads to bad crops. Noise pollution is the excessive sound that may cause harm to the humanity. Noise pollution mainly includes machines and transportation systems, motor vehicles, aircraft, and trains. Last but not least, light pollution is excessive, misdirected or misused light that can harm human health, wildlife, ecosystems and astronomy. Although light pollution is one of the least known types of pollution, its effects on human health and ecosystems can be just as serious as some of the better-known forms of pollution. Light Pollution includes light trespass, over-illumination and astronomical interference.

This picture shows what light pollution looks like.

This picture conveys what soil pollution looks like.  

This picture express what noise pollution looks like.

  This picture proclaim what water pollution looks like.  

Air pollution is by far the most harmful form of pollution in Philadelphia. As I stated before, air pollution occurs when gases, dust particles, smoke or odor are introduced into the atmosphere in a way that makes it harmful to humans, animals, and plants. This is because the air becomes contaminated. Dust, dirt, harmful gases, and industrial emissions all form a part of air pollution. These pollutants cause a deterioration in air quality and are capable of harming life forms. Air pollution is a serious problem. Air pollution can cause harm to the lungs. Phillymag states, “air pollution poses a risk to children under 18, too, because their lungs are still developing; it can cause bronchitis or infection and puts them at a greater risk for lung disease later in life.” Not only does air pollution pose a risk to children under 18, but it also poses a risk to adults 65 and over. Phillymag states, “studies show that breathing in ozone and particle pollution puts older adults at a higher risk of respiratory and cardiovascular problems. This is bad news for the 185,309 people over 65 living in Philadelphia County.” As stated by Philly.com, “ozone and particulates also exacerbate chronic obstructive lung disease, requiring more than 280 Philadelphians each year to seek hospitalization or treatment in an emergency room, according to the study.” Air pollution can cause asthma as well. According to Phillymag, “out of the 1,526,006 people living in Philadelphia, 32,761 have pediatric asthma, 117,594 have adult asthma, 49,215 have chronic bronchitis and 20,494 have emphysema.” Because air pollution can cause different types of serious health problems, many people die and are hospitalized because of those conditions.

This photo betray what air pollution in Philadelphia looks like.  

Overall, you can see that environmental pollution is a very important and effective issue. Due the research I did on this issue, I learned a lot about all types of environmental pollution. There were so many things I didn’t know before, that I know now. Such as, Philadelphia is the 10th most polluted cities in the United States. My research has given me so much knowledge about the air pollution in Philadelphia and the effects it has on people and the environment. I wonder if students are educated about pollution in Philadelphia? I say this because I was never taught about pollution in Philadelphia and how impactful it is. I want to know more about what people in Philadelphia do about the air pollution and if there have been improvement. I hope after reading this blog you were able to take something away from it. The next blog is on it’s way!

Check out my annotated bibliography for more information!

Hello! I am Sarah Son and I am a freshmen at Science Leadership Academy. In our English class, we were assigned a project that requires us to choose a specific topic that pulls our interest. I chose animal cruelty for my topic. This topic really stood out to me and spoke to me because I have a connection to this and I think that it is an interesting topic to research. Animals do not have voices, we should speak up for them so that we can make a change and help them since they can’t always defend themselves. The change may be small, but it will mean a lot. I want more people to help and be more aware of this problem!

While doing this research, I learned a lot from these sources. It makes me think harder about what kind of world we live in and it is sad that things like this, animal cruelty, happens every single day. I learned that animal abusers do not even realise that what they are doing is terrible and it is causing pain to animals and people. I also found out that animal abusers are, “five times likely to commit violent crimes against people,” according to this. I hope to figure out what goes inside of an animal abuser’s mind. Why are they doing that? I am hoping to learn more as we go on! Let's make a change.

Annotated Bibliography

I am doing a project where we choose a problem and find a way to let everyone hear about it. I hear many people have chose to do things that affect an area or an event. I wanted to do something else and talk about something that affects people all around the world. I chose Autism because it's something very important and need a lot more support, and people talking about it spread for help. I hope I can help spread the word and have people show their support and love towards kids with Autism so we can embrace it, not run away from it or shun it because it's “weird”.    

I feel very strongly towards this topic because I have Autism and I want people to know about it and help to support it. It something that can really hold children back their whole life because of it’s effect it has on people. A fact I found on a very reliable source called Autism speaks which says Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the U.S. How it works is Autism impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction, communication skills, and cognitive function. Individuals with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities and I found this at the national Autism association. A fact I found in Autism society is More than 3.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder. This is something that hasn’t found a cure as of yet and many have tried to get rid of it in different. Some crazy mothers have tried bleach pills because a long time ago someone said that it worked..which it didn’t it only damaged the baby more and possibly killed a few as well. A very interesting fact I found on quick Autism facts is if one identical twin has autism then there is an 80-90% chance that the other twin will also be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Autism was originally believed to be a form of schizophrenia brought on by a traumatic experience or bad parenting this is not the case. It also costs more than $8,600 extra per year to educate a student with autism. Between 30-50% of people with autism have seizures and this is scary to know about. Scientists are unsure what, if any, environmental triggers may be involved in autism. Beliefs in the late 1990s and early 2000s that vaccines may cause autism have since been disproven through numerous studies. Boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to have autism (And seems fair right?). Autism costs a family $60,000 a year on average that is pretty hard to find that out. I hope my facts help show you how Autism works, how it affects people and how they react to it without understanding it. I plan to use my research to help express my project and what I’m trying to tell about Autism and Autistics.

As “The Taming of the Shrew” proves, the inevitability of deception in domestic relationships has existed over centuries. In “Shrew”, Petruchio’s main drive is to not only have Katherine exist as his wife, but to use the power he will hold in that relationship to essentially rewire her and make her the perfect, docile wife. In the 2013 movie “Lovelace”, the main character falls into a similar situation as Katherine- the main difference is, she was genuinely in love with her significant other, Chuck, up until the point where she realized he had ill intentions and was not the man she thought him to be.

Although Petruchio and Chuck share very similar traits and motives, the way in which they bring this to light are very different. Petruchio lays out all of his flaws for Katherine in the beginning, and though he gives her no choice to whether she will accept them or not, his honesty ends up being an attractive trait to Katherine. On the other hand, as Chuck’s true colors come to light over the course of their relationship, Linda’s trust in Chuck falters and deteriorates until the point where she no longer feels safe with her husband and wants to get away. These two situations are representative of how society’s willingness to let women enter toxic relationships has changed in the sense that it is more widely looked down upon, and furthermore, how those who perpetrate toxic behavior have become more secretive and cunning because of it. Even so, the core desire many men have to manipulate and control within their relationships has not changed and inevitably lead to lack of honesty and deception in which the woman falls victim.

"And, for that dowry, I'll assure her of Her widowhood, be it that she survive me, In all my lands and leases whatsoever. Let specialities be therefore drawn between us, That covenants may be kept on either hand."

(Act 2, Scene 1, 130-134)

In this scene, Petruchio is meeting Baptista for the first time and the two are discussing Petruchio’s desire to marry Katherine. In the quote, Petruchio is laying out the conditions of his dowry, which states that if he dies before her Katherine will be in possession of everything he owns. After this offer, Baptista says, "Ay, when the special thing is well obtained, That is, her love, for that is all in all." to which Petruchio responds, “Why, that is nothing…” As the reader can tell, this is Petruchio’s tactic in wooing the parent of the woman he wants. Not only did he offer a hefty dowry, but he was also able to gain the respect and admiration of Baptista, ultimately confirming his status as Katherine’s future husband.

The protagonist finds herself in a similar position when Chuck expresses his determination to make her parents like him.

As we can see from the screenshots, Chuck proposes a bet to Linda. After he states the conditions of the bet, she asks, “What if I win?” to which he repeats, “You spend the night at my house.” Exactly like Petruchio, Chuck gives Linda no choice in coming home with him. While Petruchio uses the means of trapping her in marriage, Chuck uses the appeal of his mystery and takes advantage of Linda’s innocence to depict himself as someone she can trust and commit to.

"You lie, in faith, for you are called plain Kate, And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst. But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom, Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate (For dainties are all Kates)- and therefore, Kate, Take this of me, Kate of my consolation: Hearing thy mildness praised in every town, Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded (Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs), Myself am moved to woo thee for my wife."

(Act 2, Scene 1, 193-202)

In this scene, Petruchio is meeting Katherine for the first time. True to her reputation, she immediately gives off a bitter attitude and presents herself as unapproachable. Petruchio is not deterred and persists with conversation, choosing to flatter her like he planned to in his speech earlier in the text. In the quote, he is combatting her claim that her reputation is accurate by calling her virtuous and beautiful. Of course, she thinks this is ridiculous and does not take him seriously, and by the end of their exchange she refuses to warm up to him.

In the movie, Chuck continuously uses flattery to get closer to Linda and he, too, combats a lot of her insecurities by doing so. Also similar to Petruchio and Katherine, Linda is typically the one to make a self detrimental claim first to which Chuck responds.

In the first scene, Linda, Chuck and Linda’s friend Patsy along with a few other off screen characters are hanging out on the beach. Patsy wants Linda to skinny dip in the ocean with her, but Linda says she has to go home soon. Patsy says, “You’re such a drag.” and goes into the water. As we can see in the screenshots, Linda and Chuck are having a conversation when she inquires if he also feels the way Patsy does, to which he disagrees. Afterwards, the two kiss. Despite only knowing Chuck for a day or so, his flattery combined with Linda’s innocence and overall lack of experience causes her to fall for him quickly.

In the second scene, Chuck is having a party at his house. While Linda is in another room, he and Patsy look at the home made pornography film playing on a large screen and Chuck tries to make a move on Patsy. She quickly leaves and says to Linda, “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.” Linda does, and she sees the movie playing and is shocked. He asks if she’s ever seen porn and she admits she hasn’t. She adds, “Good girls don’t do that stuff.” In the screenshots we again see Chuck using flattery by appealing to her insecurities even though she doesn’t make them obvious. When Linda says, “Good girls don’t do that stuff”, looking closely the viewer can tell she is subtly concerned that Chuck may no longer like her because of this, just as she was concerned he would think she was a drag. This plays into how deception and control in a relationship is not only on part of the perpetrator, but also how men often seek out or target younger and innocent girls because they are easier to manipulate. Linda’s desire to be liked causes her to subconsciously make decisions she typically wouldn’t make to gain Chuck’s approval. Although age isn’t as big of a factor between Katherine and Petruchio, she is still seen conforming to Petruchio’s expectations and commands in several scenes to ease out their relationship. The notion of setting one’s morals aside for the approval of a significant other is a common result of deceptive relationships.

There are some other important factors to consider when observing Linda’s character: she is 21 years old, lives with her mother and father who are both extremely strict and religious, has had very limited sexual encounters and the only one she addresses (in the beginning of the film) was a bad experience. Taking all of these into account, the audience can infer that her young age and limited experience conflicts with her home life and limitations forced upon her. It is almost inevitable that she would willingly act out at one point or another- either for herself, defiance against her parents or a combination of both. This is what inevitably leads Linda to fall into a relationship based on deception, manipulation and control.

"The more my wrong, the more his spite appears. What, did he marry me to famish me?... Am starved for meat, giddy for lack of sleep..."

(Act 4, Scene 3, 2-10)

In this scene, Katherine is expressing her confusion with the treatment she is receiving from Petruchio. Throughout the early stages of them knowing each other, he showered her in flattery and acted as though he would treat her like a treasure. Upon taking her home, however, he completely flips the script and treats her like a slave.

In the movie, Linda finds herself in this exact situation when she moves in with Chuck. In the beginning, he does not physically abuse her or show signs of violence, but the lack of honesty and intentional deception begins to show.

In this scene, the couple are sitting in a diner after Linda has bailed Chuck out of jail for the first time. She attempts to inquire about what happened, at which point Chuck bangs on the table twice and puts his head in his hands. In this conversation, the audience infers that this is not the first argument the two have had about this seeing as Linda already knows not to ask Chuck about his ‘work’. He eventually tells her that there was a situation between a client and one of Chuck’s ‘girl’s’, and Linda says, “What, you mean like, prostitution?” and Chuck confirms. She then asks if she will be questioned by the police, and Chuck responds, “No, no no, wives can’t testify against their husbands.” Guilt tripping is a common form of deception, and Chuck takes of advantage of Linda’s love for him by guilting her into thinking he’s hopeless. After saying she can’t testify against him, he goes on to ask, “What are we gonna do about it? Me and you.” emphasizing that the two are a unit and that she must help him. The next day, he takes her to a porn audition and shoot as a means to make money.  

Here, we see the result of Linda defying Chuck’s orders. In an earlier scene, Chuck tells Linda to sit on one of the producer’s lap, to which responds, “I’m having an intellectual conversation, Chuck. Why don’t you sit on his lap?” Later, when everyone goes upstairs for the party, the guests hear Linda and Chuck in the next room and assume they are having sex. However, Chuck was beating Linda for for what she had said earlier. Once she is collapsed on the floor, he says, “If I tell you so sit, screw, fuck, you do it.” Not only does this show Chuck’s ruthless behavior, but also makes it explicit to the viewer of the undeniable control Chuck has over Linda as her husband and manager. Because she is his wife, he utilizes this to justify why he forces her to commit sexual acts either on camera or with other men for money. In the scene from earlier where Linda bails Chuck out of jail, he emphasizes the two have to work together to pay off Chuck’s debts. All of these factors combined are what causes Linda to be stuck in an abusive relationship with her husband.

This scene is more support for the points made in the previous paragraph. When Chuck mistreats Linda, he reminds her that she is his wife and forces her to confirm that she is his, reinforcing the control and possession Chuck has over her.

The play The Taming of the Shrew unifies ideas of possessions for show. These possessions are not just common objects, but they are also people. Characters of the play, like Katherine and Petruchio, both demonstrate these ideas. The movie, High School Musical: 2, also share these ideas about possession. The rich and talented Sharpay tries her best to exercise her status to trick and win over Troy, another talented student.

For those who are familiar with the High School Musical franchise, it is known how manipulative Sharpay Evans can be. She already has the fortune, but she also wants fame and she will do whatever it takes to get it. Sharpay’s main gist for wanting Troy is to sing with him during the talent show. Because he is very talented, together they will attract many people, making Sharpay famous. In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio is a fortune hungry bachelor. He wants to marry, but not just any woman. Petruchio wants a wealthy and well known woman that he can show off, and he will make sure he gets just that. Both the play and the movie show ideas of not just material possessions, but personage possessions too. These human possessions are ones that are worth swanking about. They can be shown off and advertised to benefit the braggart. They both the play and movie demonstrate that relationships are more about having a human possession to parade than actual love.

“...if I get your daughter's love, what dowry shall I have with her to wife?” - Petruchio Act 2/Sc. 1/Pg. 83

In this excerpt, Petruchio is asking Baptisia, Katherine’s father, what he may receive if he takes Katherine’s hand in marriage. Petruchio has already shared with Baptista what he can bring to the table; he is legally entitled to his father’s land and goods. Although her love is not enough for Petruchio, Baptista offers him half of his land and twenty thousand crowns as well. This exposes that courtship in this Shakespearean novel is centered around material wealth and what one can offer another, rather than love itself. This idea of courtship is also reflected in the movie High School Musical: 2. This movie takes place in a modern day setting. Sharpay wants to be with Troy for only one reason, his musical talent and she displays acts of interest only to win him over.

In this scene of the movie, Sharpay fairly expresses to Troy how cool her life is. Her father is arriving to a golf course via a helicopter and her parents own the country club he works at. Not only does she let him play golf with her and her parents, she gives him a pay bonus for it too. She is vaguely showing him what she has to offer to him, and by offering him all of these luxuries, she hopes to gain his interest. If he decides to be with her, he will get a fair share of her cool life.

“After my death, the one half of my lands, and, in possession, twenty thousand crowns.” - Baptista Act 2/Sc. 1/Pg. 83

The excerpt from the play also displays parental interference in courtship/dating. Because Baptista chose to respond to Petruchio with a dowry, offering him land and crowns, he has made an interference. He already had an influence of who Katherine gets to marry, but now he also has an influence on her partner as well. Petruchio only gets these treasures if he marries Katherine. This play logic is similar to the movie.

In this scene in the movie, High School Musical; 2, Sharpay invites Troy to dinner with her parents. Without his knowing his parents invites a college basketball player who can hook Troy up with a possible scholarship. After a long night of dinner and talking, Troy is put on the spot when Sharpay asks him to promise to sing with her. He faces the choice of either agreeing to sing with her and get the scholarship or not agreeing and upsetting her parents and throwing away his shot at college. Of course Troy agrees to sing in order to maintain Sharpay’s parents’ happiness, but deep down he actually did not want to do it.

“Say as he says, or we shall never go.”

- Hortensio Act 4/Sc. 5/Pg. 187

In this excerpt from the play, Katherine and Petruchio are arguing over whether the sun or the moon is in the sky. Katherine know it is the sun in the sky, but Petruchio will not agree with her. Hortensio, friend and wingman to Petruchio, insist that Katherine agree with Petruchio or the argument will never drop. Once Katherine gives in and agrees with Petruchio, he then rebuttals his arguments saying the sun is indeed in the sky and Katherine had just lied. Petruchio now sees Katherine as his puppet; he owns her. She will now do or say whatever he wants. At this point in the play Katherine goes along with Petruchio's ideas to avoid conflict with him. This tactic of “giving in” is also used in the movie.

In this scene of the movie, Mr. Fulton, the club manager, promotes Troy to a new position under Sharpay’s orders. This new position offers more money, less labor, and club benefits. Although the job comes with many benefits, Troy can no longer work beside his friends. Mr. Fulton insist that Troy be grateful and appreciate his new position. Troy, once again, goes along with the idea to avoid upsetting Sharpay and her parents. Sharpay now has control and some kind of ownership over Troy. She has the ability to make him agree to anything. The main reason why Troy continues to give in is because his college career is on the line.

Both the play, The Taming of the Shrew, and the movie, High School Musical: 2,  holds true to idea of having a human possession to show off. Although both forms of productions are based in different eras, they still hold many similarities to one another. Usually these kinds of behaviors exercised would not happen in the past if gender roles were switched, like they were in the movie. Society back then was strict and and more sexist than today’s modern era. This goes to show that not only men can obtain human possessions over the opposite sex, but women can too and with the help of parental influences.

Work Cited:

• Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print

• High School Musical: 2, Kenny Ortega, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Disney Channel, August 17, 2007

Mask Off

Comparing “The Taming of the Shrew” to “Enchanted”

The whole representation of identities involved in a romance is characterized in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," and is also interpreted in the movie "Enchanted." In "Taming of the Shrew," Lucentio and Tranio become different identities, tricking other characters in the book, trying to be loved as who they are pretending to be. Lucentio deceived Bianca by acting like he was someone else in hopes of her falling in love with him. Katherine was also deceived by Petruchio who tried to persuade her that there was an arranged marriage. Similarly, Giselle, the princess in “Enchanted,” constantly reminds the animals and people throughout the movie that you have to wear certain clothes and act a certain way in order to prove your love for someone; yet conflict arises when she receives help in the modern world from a divorce lawyer and encounters the downsides of relationships between couples. Both the play and the movie depict that false identities made for love eventually become revealed.

“Basta, content thee, for I have it full.

We have not yet been seen in any house,

Nor can we be distinguished by our faces

For man or master. Then it follows thus:

Thou shalt be master, Tranio, in my stead,

Keep house and port and servants as I should.

I will some other be, some Florentine,

Some Neapolitan, or meaner man of Pisa.

'Tis hatch'd, and shall be so. Tranio, at once

Uncase thee. Take my colored hat and cloak.”

(Lucentio, Act 1/ Scene 1, Line 204)

In this quote, Lucentio is explaining to Tranio that no one has either of their identities memorized. He continues to tell Tranio the rules and remembers to tell him to even act like him. Acting like Lucentio would mean telling the servants what to do as Lucentio would do himself. Finally, Lucentio assures Tranio that he will make up who he wants to pretend to be. Options included being a guy from Florence, Naples, or Pisa.

Robert encounters a similar situation, but is in forced in a position to play the role.

In this scene, Giselle finishes singing about all of the things that Robert could possibly do win back the heart of his fiance. She tells him to send her flowers, wear stuff that matches characteristics of her, and go completely out of your way. That’s why the song goes “ That’s how you know” because she is saying all of this grand gestures will prove whether you love or not. At the end of the song, she sends his fiance doves, flowers, and two tickets to the ball.  Instead of Lucentio, who chose to take on something that he is not, Robert was stuck in a role. The flowers were received, but also questioned by Robert’s fiance, because “it didn’t seem like him.”

In both “Enchanted” and “The Taming of the Shrew” they both portray the cover up and false interpretations of relationships.

“(to TRANIO) Sir, understand you this of me, in sooth:

The youngest daughter, whom you hearken for,

Her father keeps from all access of suitors

And will not promise her to any man

Until the elder sister first be wed.

The younger then is free, and not before.”

(Petruchio (to Tranio) Act 1/Scene 2/ Line 265)

In this quote, Petruchio is making it very clear to Tranio that Bianca is off limits due to her father’s request.  No one is allowed to have Bianca until Katherine is married to someone. Meaning that whoever wants Bianca has to wait, which adds conflict.

Giselle, like Petruchio, tries to teach ways of love to each other, yet it later becomes upsetting.

In this scene, Giselle gets the reality of marriage and relationships, and ends up witnessing the downfall of how they could be. She learns that not everyone is going to stay in love with each other. Robert then persuades Giselle to deal with the fact that the couple simply do not want to be together anymore, due to the many issues they were seeming to face. The couple in this scene were filing for a divorce, and later learn after Giselle’s reaction what they fell in love with about each other. Both Giselle and Petruchio try to highlight to other characters the standards of love.

Conclusion

Roberts ends up marrying Giselle, and Robert’s ex-fiance ends up going for Giselle’s prince. Petruchio ends up winning more than what was expected in the overall. Giselle seemed to have a deeper education on definitions and ways of love. Everyone does end up happy with their “true love.” The audience was shown that identities will eventually be revealed, yet aso be loved for who they are.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, Trevor Howard, Margaret Leighton, Miles Malleson, and Howard Sackler. The Taming of the Shrew. New York: Caedmon Records CDL 5211., 1972. Print.