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In “The Handmaid’s Tale”, we are introduced to the teachings of Aunt Lydia that she drills into the handmaid’s head. In chapter 19, we see Aunt Lydia expressing to the girls how women are the problem in our society. Especially the women in the “time before”. She would claim that they had too much freedom and didn’t want to follow the words of God. She sees it as her job to save these women from their world of freedom. In chapter 19 on page 114 it says, “A thing is valued, she says, only if it is rare and hard to get. We want you to be valued, girls. She is rich in pauses, which she saves in her mouth. Think of yourselves as pearls. We, sitting in our rows, eyes down, we make her salivate morally. We are hers to define, we must suffer her adjectives. I think about pearls. Pearls are congealed oyster spit”. When I first read this, I began to break the quote down and analyze this section. Aunt Lydia’s claim of being valued only if you save or protect yourself from being free is a claim I disagreed with. As people, we should oppress ourselves to be treated with mutual respect or to be seen as valuable. I relate to Offred in this moment because many Muslim scholars would make their ideas about Islam and compare Muslim women to candy. The more it’s covered, the more you are willing to go for the candy. But if it is uncovered and has dirt and hair on it, you would not go for the candy. They are trying to say that the Muslim women in Islam who don’t cover up are not valuable compared to those who do cover up. In many religions, modesty falls on women a lot. In Islam, it states both men AND women have to dress modestly but the women are always getting attacked if not. It also raised a question, why are women compared to objects when it comes to trying to compare our value? Personally, as a woman who does cover up for her religion and God, I do not appreciate being compared to being a candy that’s wrapped. As for the women who may not dress like me and follow the same religion, being compared to an unwrapped candy will only push them further away and discourage them. As everyone has their own paths. “Suffer in her adjectives” (114). It’s very easy to take wording from a religious book, make an adjective out of it and the meaning is completely lost. I really liked how this quote showed us how taking the word of God can be manipulated and cause the view on religion to be seen in an oppression view. They may think making it oppressive will have people listen, for example, stripping the handmaids of their freedom of everything. But it only causes more pushback towards those ideas.

In the time before, Offred’s mom would protest for women’s rights, whereas Serena Joy was the opposite and would advocate that women should be traditional wives.“Freedom to choose. Every baby wanted a baby, to recapture our body. Do you believe a woman’s place is on the kitchen table?” (120). This quote resonates with me because women are still fighting for RIGHTS in this country. Just thinking about it is appalling and something we as a country too need to fix immediately. I connected this to Serena Joy because she advocated that women stay home and they should fit the “Traditional Wife” standard. Now with Gilead in place, Serena does absolutely nothing but be a trophy wife without the case. She is simply a woman with the title “wife”. The handmaids, Martha’s, and Econowives have more importance to Gilead than she does. “She wasn’t singing anymore by then, she was making speeches. She was good at it. Her speeches were about the sanctity of the home, and about how women should stay home. Serena Joy didn’t do this herself, she made speeches instead, but she presented this failure of hers as a sacrifice she was making for the good of all”(14). Serena Joy to me is seen as hypocritical. She was working and giving speeches about how women shouldn’t work and express their voices. She is now in the world she advocated for and is merely a person with a title. She searches for entitlement, for example in the living room before the ceremony. “The sitting room is supposed to be Serena Joy’s territory, he’s supposed to ask permission to enter it.”(86). Despite this claim, he walked in anyway. Serena Joy advocated for her rights to be taken away and now that they are gone, she is scrapping for pieces of entitlement in a world she advocated for

Comparing women to an object to represent their value, women having to fight for their basic rights, and women putting down the rights of their gender, are all under the umbrella of misogyny. It’s a system of women being oppressed no matter the circumstances, whether it’s from a religious lens, women vs women, or in a dystopian world called Gilead.

Giavanna Jackson

Ms. Pahomov

College English

October 13, 2023

In the Handmaid’s Tale, readers will come across many moments that make them feel uncomfortable or uneasy. As I was reading, I was mostly uncomfortable reading scenes where Nick made romantic advances towards Offred. In chapter 14, Nick stands behind Offred during the ceremony in the sitting room. He stands so close to her that his foot is touching the back of hers. “He’s so close that the tip of his boot is touching my foot. Is this on purpose? Whether it is or not we are touching, two shapes of leather. I feel my shoe soften, blood flows into it, it grows warm, it becomes a skin. I move my foot slightly away.” (81) This scene makes me uncomfortable because it is clear that Offred is pulling away and rejecting his advances. She knows the others are watching and that at any moment they could see this interaction. She is not able to say anything to him because then she would be seen speaking to him. This is risky for both Nick and Offred since fraternization of any kind between Handmaids and guards is strictly forbidden. As much as Offred wants to feel physical touch and be loved by someone, she wonders if it’s worth dying for. Since Offred pulled away from Nick, I interpreted that as her not wanting to pursue this as of then. So why did Nick continue to push her and move his foot closer? What little boundaries Offred has are being crossed and that makes me uncomfortable. I also want to mention that Nick’s timing was very off. I questioned why he chose to do this at the ceremony, of all places. Technically no place is appropriate for this behavior but a religious ceremony most certainly does not seem like the time.

Later in chapter 17, Nick approaches Offred again in the sitting room but this time she is alone. She snuck into the sitting room hoping to steal anything she could however Nick stumbled upon her before she got the chance to. From the doorway, Nick whispers to her “don’t scream”. As Offred freezes Nick takes the opportunity to step closer to her. “I don’t answer. He too is illegal, here, with me, he can’t give me away. Nor I him; for the moment we’re mirrors. He puts his hand on my arm, and pulls me against him, his mouth on mine, what else comes from such denial?” (98) My initial reaction was worry for Offred because Nick was the one who initiated this interaction so he is intentionally putting her at risk without allowing her to have a choice in the matter. Offred’s situation with Nick is very complicated because she has to consider the fact that Nick could be an Eye and he could be testing her. So for me as the reader, I am uncomfortable by Nick’s advancement towards Offred because if she directly tells him no then she could suffer the consequences for talking to him. However, if Offred goes along with it, she will still be breaking Gilead laws and would still suffer the consequences for rebelling. Nick has put her in this compromising situation, something that he should have never thought was okay to do.

As the scene progresses, we learn more about what Offred is thinking in the moment. The reader gets to see a romantic spark between Nick and Offred develop. We also see them both give in to this romantic craving that has been building up. This moment makes Offred’s entire body tense up as she hasn’t been touched for love in over three years. “I want to reach up, taste his skin, he makes me hungry. His fingers move, feeling my arm under the nightgown sleeve, as if his hand won’t listen to reason. It’s so good, to be touched by someone, to be felt so greedily, to feel so greedy. “ (98-99) My Immediate reaction was to physically recoil in disgust. The arms on my hair stood up and I had goosebumps all down my arms. The words the author chose to use to describe her crave for him are such a bizarre way to explain it. It created a very grotesque image in my mind. This whole scene makes me cringe. The author chose to use taste and touch, two of the five senses, to make the scene a lot more descriptive and easier for the reader to envision. However, that clear image of the scene created a more uncomfortable reading for me.

College English

Ms. Pahomov

Tybria Bowser

Oct. 12, 2023

There are many possibilities and outcomes within our universe. One action can proceed to throw anyone and everyone off course, in theory. I heavily believe in this theory. I’ve thought about this a lot and have relied on it to kind of predict the future a bit. Every action comes with the thought of what could happen after. To keep myself from disappointment and also encourage myself in a way. You can see this tendency within Offred too.

Offred had a husband, a husband who she has been separated from because of the situation in Gilead. We aren’t sure what has happened to him and she is just as clueless. But her approach to his lack of existence in her life is to make a new life for him. In her words “I believe Luke is lying face down in a thicket… What is left of him: his hair, the bones…”. Offred believes that he is dead but she also believes “Luke is sitting up, in a rectangle somewhere, gray cement, on a ledge or edge of something, a bed or chair”. Then there is also that belief of him still existing, peacefully. Those aren’t her only “beliefs” there are beliefs that he was captured, thrown into an animal cage. A belief he was killed fast, no pain and even a belief that he escaped and is working hard to find a way to bring Offred back to safety with him. Offred has so many beliefs to make up for the lack of knowing. As she says “But I believe in all of them… This contradictory way of believing seems to me, right now, the only way I can believe anything. Whatever the truth is, I will be ready for it”. To her it seems that this way of thinking is preparation for good news or bad news. To me, it is the only way to move forward for people who would put themselves into the cynical category.

I believe the same way Offred does. I believe that I’ll get plenty of scholarships, go off to college, finish with no debt, and have a fruitful career. I also believe that I’ll only be able to partially cover college with scholarships, go into debt, and pay it off with my job. Not as fast as I would like, but it will be paid off. But then there is also the possibility that I won’t get any scholarships, I’ll still go to college. Maybe I’ll go to community college and save money or just take on hundreds of thousands of debt. Maybe I’ll never pay it off and I’ll be stuck working until I’m put into a nursing home. There is a tension between my past, present, and future. The tension keeps these scenarios spinning within my head, never stopping until whatever is on my mind has happened. But at least I know whatever happens, I’ll be prepared.

Offred and I will be prepared, I don’t think we have much of a plan for when it happens but emotions won’t be much of a problem in that moment. There is a type of comfort in knowing that everything could go right and at the same time everything could go wrong. Indulging in those negative emotions leaves less time for grieving but there could also be something disadvantageous within that. It could also lead to low-balling myself. It leaves lots of room for self doubt. I find myself often taking the safe route, whatever it takes to get a feeling of security even if I have to sacrifice something like my happiness for that security. In Offred’s case, it keeps her in a docile state of mind. “Just wait and good will come” type of mindset. Both are a form of self harm. Letting the feeling of not knowing control your every action.

I look forward to seeing how the story develops further and finding out whether the question of “what happened to Luke?” is finally answered. Like Offred I believe he could be within a rebellion, looking to come and save her. He could be dead or being tortured. I even believe he could have moved on, now living an unrestrained life of freedom from Gilead. As long as none of these are true or false, all of these are true. There’s also another side to this curiosity. I believe Offred will never find out about Luke, that she’ll continue to live a docile life or grow sick of Gilead and become another Moira. Or maybe she will find out about what happened to Luke and find no reason to live anymore. There’s even a possibility that Luke may come riding in on a horse with a battalion to save Offred. All of these are true and untrue at the same time. As someone who takes the safe route I hope that Offred doesn’t. I hope she goes out with a bang and leaves all of those possibilities behind. I hope that we make our own path instead of waiting for the ones running through our minds to come true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHzOOQfhPFg (Just a Girl - No Doubt)

Throughout the Handmaid’s Tale, there is a continuing theme of the repression of women in Gilead. Several lyrics call out the stereotypes and strife of women in the 1990s: “Oh, I’m just a girl, all pretty and petite/So don’t let me have any rights” being the most impactful. In Gilead, the Handmaids are covered up completely, with big white bonnets to cover their face and a red dress and gloves. “The white wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen”(8). Women in Gilead are often treated as ornaments, or instruments for one thing, much like in Just a Girl, when the singer remarks, “I’m just a girl in the world/That’s all that you’ll let me be,” drawing a parallel between the stereotypes of the gender and the repressive society of Gilead. In Gilead, women are not allowed to be seen, as Aunt Lydia remarks. “To be seen—to be seen—is to be—her voice trembled—penetrated. What you must be girls, is impenetrable. She called us girls”(28). The women, including Offred, are so indoctrinated by Gilead that they have these very stereotypes and ideas drilled into them, by watching pornography and snuff films: “Women kneeling, sucking penises or guns, women tied up or chained or with dog collars around their necks…Once we had to watch a woman being slowly cut into pieces…Consider the alternatives, said Aunt Lydia. You see what things used to be like? That was what they thought of women, then”(118). Gilead trained the Handmaids through film and constant beration of the past to put them in a box and teach them forcefully that Gilead is a better life for them, even though they are incredibly and singularly repressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjxr_No-yuY (Sheela-na-gig - PJ Harvey)

The sexualization and treatment of the Handmaids has been another recurrence throughout the book. The Handmaids are used as surrogates to give birth to a child for the Commander and his Wife, and are consequently treated with jealousy from the other women in Gilead, and a sort of longing and respect from the men, who need to earn the right to touch a woman. “Look at these, my child-bearing hips” is one lyric in PJ Harvey’s song that I feel encapsulates how men are portrayed in Atwood’s book. The Guardians at the crossing viewed Offred as something to covet, something unattainable to them, and she knows the one thing that gives her power is her sex appeal: “I hope they get hard at the sight of us and have to rub themselves against the painted barriers…They have no outlets now except themselves, and that’s a sacrilege”(22). It’s ironic that the one thing that gives her power is something not thought needed by a Handmaid, whose only purpose is to provide children: “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will”(73). The reason no lotion or skin products are provided to Handmaid’s is simply because Gilead thinks of them as vessels for child-birth. “He said ‘wash your breasts, I don’t want to be unclean’/He said ‘please take those dirty pillows away from me’” is another line that relates to the opinion of many women that it’s okay for men to sexualize women, but if women act sexy, they’re called out and demeaned for it. Just like if Offred acts on her base urges instead of following societal norms; she’ll be classified an Unwoman and shipped away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf04EYSifjE (Holy War - Thy Art is Murder)

Although religion is not talked about very much thus far in the text, it is a recurring theme. “Armies of guardians, servants of bibles” is a lyric that connects to the structure of Gilead, which the reader also knows very little about, only as much as Offred does. Guardians, or Guardians of the Faith, are soldiers and butlers, some of which work under the Commanders, some of which work the crossings the Handmaids pass through. Angels are higher up, and nothing is known about them as of yet. But aside from the biblical references throughout the text, there are clues as to what happened in Gilead’s past and is happening in the present—Offred comes across bodies on the wall, “One is a priest, still wearing the black cassock. That’s been put on him, for the trial, even though they gave up wearing those years ago, when the sect wars first began; cassocks made them too conspicuous”(43). This provides a small clue to what has happened—Gilead is out to get other religious groups, who are deemed heretics for not following Gilead’s leadership and code. “I reject the laws of the misguided/False prophets imprison nations fueling self annihilation” corroborates this speculative story. Before the Ceremony, a broadcast takes place that provides some more, perhaps skewed, information: “‘Five members of the heretical sect of Quakers have been arrested,’ he says, smiling blandly, ‘and more arrests are anticipated’”(83). This further reinforces the plausible narrative created with the little information given.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckom3gf57Yw (The Unforgiven - Metallica)

The Unwomen are not very discussed in the Handmaid’s Tale. However, there have been many clues as to how Unwomen are classified and some conjecture as to what could possibly be their fate. The Marthas seem to have more knowledge than Offred, who finds out over eavesdropping on their conversation earlier in the book: “Go to the Colonies, Rita said. They have the choice. With the Unwomen, and starve to death and Lord knows what all? said Cora. Catch you”(10). There is this idea of false choice that emerges in several other contexts in the book—while the Handmaids have the choice of going to the Colonies, why would they want to, when there is this life for them in Gilead, that is comfortable, while not the ideal way to live their lives? In other parts of the book, it becomes apparent that people in higher positions of power can reclassify women, as Offred is constantly afraid of. “I’ll label you/So I dub the unforgiven” is a lyric of the Unforgiven that matches this idea. “Never free/Never me/So I dub the unforgiven” remarks on the fear Offred feels of being reclassified if she does anything outside of the rules in Gilead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO6nRXPzX1A (Mother - Danzig)

Media censorship has emerged during the chapter on the Ceremony as another big idea that contributes to the success of Gilead. “Serena always lets us watch the news. Such as it is: who knows if any of it is true? It could be old clips, it could be faked. But I watch it anyway, hoping to be able to read beneath it. Any news, now, is better than none”(82). In most cases of media censorship, which we have evidence of in the present, the public is only shown good things that are happening, or incredibly skewed footage. Offred knows this, but if this kind of media is the only way she and others will know about the outside world, what choice do they have but to understand it as the truth? “Mother/Can you keep them in the dark for life?/Can you hide them from the waiting world?/Oh mother” is a lyric that aligns with this idea: if the media they are seeing is the only outlet, it can be incredibly difficult to believe in anything else, especially, in Offred’s case, if she is being told that she’ll be free soon enough: “He tells us what we long to believe. He’s very convincing. I struggle against him. He’s like an old movie star, I tell myself, with false teeth and a face job. At the same time I sway towards him, like one hypnotized. If only it were true. If only I could believe”(83). Offred knows the media is inaccurate, and very selective, and yet, as is the case in many countries today, after a while, it becomes hard to see that what is being shown as not the truth.

In Chapter 12 of The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred’s description of her internal struggles presents feelings of reflectiveness and dejection in me. On page 65, she says “I think of the others, those without. This is the heartland, here, I’m leading a pampered life,…and I start to eat the food.” When I first read this part I was immediately taken aback at just how much control is taken from Handmaids. They are supposed to feel thankful for everything, despite having nothing they can truly call their own, not even their own life. They have barely any autonomy over their own decisions or actions. This quote stuck out to me because of my relationship with food at times. I took away my freedom not to eat because I didn’t want to seem wasteful or unappreciative. Food waste is a problem because I care about the environment, but eating to the point where I feel overstuffed isn’t good for my body or health. I have to keep myself from overeating and try to do things to cut down my portions.

Though my situation is quite different from Offred’s as she has to worry about being reported for wasting food, the external circumstances of forcing yourself to eat still stand. I felt obligated to clear my plate, yet the health problems I could be at risk of because of weight gain from overeating sit at the back of my head. There is a never-ending internal debate between my morals and my health, but I am constantly working through them to better myself. There’s a lot that can be changed about my relationship with food, but Offred does not have the luxury of improving her quality of life like I do, which is why this quote had such an impact on me. It really made me realize that I can grow and I don’t need to be forced into “gratefulness” just because of what I have access to.

I also connected to the part of the chapter on page 66 where it says “In my stomach the food balls itself together, a handful of damp cardboard, squeezed.” This part initially made my stomach turn. I was reminded of a time when I was in a similar situation. I have also had points where I forced myself to eat despite not wanting to because of the emotional state I was in. I once got furious after an argument with a family member and burst into tears, but it was in the middle of dinner so I had to go back and finish my food despite not wanting to. I let myself calm down and, after a while, went back to finish my meal. You have an obligation to yourself to provide sustenance for your body, but being in a bad emotional state, whether it’s nerves or rage, keeps you from doing so. It’s hard to take care of yourself while regulating your emotions and keeping yourself calm in front of others, but it is also healthy to let your emotions out loudly, however difficult it may be to do so. For me, the food didn’t necessarily feel like damp cardboard, but an unwanted, yet remaining presence that irritated me. It felt like the cause of my anger personified, something I could not get rid of and would thus have to learn to live with.

On page 66, it also says “My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born.” When I first read this quote, I understood Offred completely and sympathized with her. Society creates a space where people often don’t feel comfortable presenting their authentic selves to the world. When people say they have to keep their composure, they have to maintain the “made self” they have created for public viewing, despite it being extremely challenging when humans aren’t robots that can become emotionless at the drop of a hat. I have done the same in the past because it is easier to deal with things on your own than with other people. Perfection was an image I wanted to portray, and I wasn’t being myself for fear of rejection and unacceptance. I know now that you shouldn’t live your life like that, but past me wanted to seem smart, kind, and incapable of mistakes, always having the right answer. I’ve learned from all of these experiences to focus on what is best for me instead of what some non-existent or irrelevant person thinks of me.

In the first 24 chapters of The Handmaid’s Tale there are a number of sections that seem to contradict each other. It is not clear to me whether these are just oversights by the author that might be a result of her crafting an overly complicated world, or whether these were intentional and either say something about the narrator Offred, or exist to leave the reader in some confusion about Offred’s world.

One of the most obvious contradictions is the information we’ve been given about Moira. On page 124, while Janine is giving birth, the handmaid next to Offrred asks her, “‘Are you looking for anyone?’” to which Offred responds, “‘Moira.’” At first this seems to make sense because Moira was Offred’s and the reader is never told what happened to her, but a few pages later, new information makes this conversation very confusing. Pages 129 through 133 describe how Moira escaped the Center and on page 133 Offred tells the reader, “We expected her to be dragged in at any minute, as she had been before. We could not imagine what they might do to her this time. It would be very bad, whatever it was. But nothing happened. Moira didn’t reappear. She hasn’t yet.” If Moira escaped the Center and nobody has heard from her since it makes very little sense that Offred would expect to find her amongst the Handmaids. As we learned in Offred’s interaction with the doctor in Chapter 11, having sex with someone other than a Commander would be punishable by death for a handmaid, and handmaids who can’t have children are sent off to the colonies. This makes it seem very unlikely that if Moira were to have escaped the Center by dressing up as an Aunt they would have just let her return to being a handmaid. We also learned at the beginning of the book that gossip spreads amongst the women, especially through the Marthas. This makes it hard to believe that even if Moira was found and still became a handmaid, that Offred wouldn’t have heard about it.

This inconsistency in what we know about the fate of Moira could have a number of explanations. It could be a reflection of the desperation Offred feels to learn what happened to her friend, it could be that Offred knows more information than she has revealed or it could have been an oversight by the author, though this seems unlikely because these two moments happen close together in the book and are relatively significant. In the remainder of the book, some information might be given to clear this up, but details that don’t align in books are a major pet peeve for me and right now this inconsistency and others I’ve noticed in The Handmaid’s Tale, such as details we’ve been given about Offred’s mom, are lowering my overall opinion of the book considerably.

If the author does plan to address this particular inconsistency, it would have been my preference that she set this up in a different way. In mysteries, I personally like to be given enough information to at least make a guess at the solution, but in this case, at the very least I would have liked the author to make it clear that more information will be revealed about what happened to Moira. This way I would at least be wondering about that new information and not whether or not the author somehow made what seems to me to be a pretty obvious mistake.

Another contradiction that I’ve noticed is in the stories that Offred tells about her mother. The first of these stories is on page 38, where Offred describes a book burning that her mother took her to. Offred explains that a group of women and some men are burning magazines. One woman asks Offred’s mother if it is okay for Offred to burn a magazine which Offred describes as having a “pretty woman on it, with no clothes on, hanging from ceiling by a chain wound around her hands.” Offred’s mom agrees but tells the woman not to see the content of the magazine. This even seems to reveal two things about Offred’s mom: that she spends her time doing things like burning explicit magazines, which based on the setting of The Handmaid’s Tale in an ultra-religious society might lead the reader to believe that Offred’s mom is quite religious herself, and that she wants to protect her daughter from sexual material. Both of these ideas however are refuted later in the book.

In Chapter 20, Offred describes movies she and other women are shown in a reeducation camp, of events meant to shock the women into submission including women being tortured, raped and killed. One of these movies was different and showed Offred’s mom with a group of women carrying signs with messages such as “Freedom to Choose” and “Recapture our Bodies.” These signs indicate that this is some sort of feminist rally, which shows that she is very much against the patriarchal Christian movement that formed Gilead. Then, on page 145, Offred tells the reader,” The mistress – my mother explained mistress, she did not believe in mystification, I had a pop-up book of sexual organs by the time I was four.” This quote contradicts the idea that Offred’s mom wanted to protect her from sexual material. While it is possible to argue that Offred’s mom could have both been against pornographic material and relatively progressive in other areas of gender and sex, all of these moments taken together seem to give us an inconsistent picture of Offred’s mother. If she “doesn’t believe in mystification” and is okay with her daughter learning about sexual organs at the age of four, it doesn’t seem that she should be so worried about the destruction of sexual material, her daughter catching a glimpse of it.

These details about Offred’s mom, seem less significant than those about what happened to Moira. This means that I see no purpose for the author intentionally creating this inconsistency, which is particularly bothersome to me. While I don’t think that these inconsistencies make a huge difference in how I understand the story, they are something that I notice and have difficulty ignoring.

College English Lit Log # 1 The Handmaid’s Tale Rae Alexander October 12, 2023

Color and Style has been used to make statements and convey meanings between people for a long time. It’s all part of the 70% of communication that is non-verbal. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the characters are given uniforms with certain colors and style that communicate their status just like some of our own politicians do in our modern day. In the beginning we meet Offred, a woman with a blurry memory of her life from the time before and who is a handmaid. The handmaids have an interesting uniform. Offred says, “ Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood which defines us. The skirt is ankle length, full, gathered…”(8).Offred is swathed in a red cloak with “white wings” surrounding the face. Red is often recognized as the color of passion, or fierceness or blood. White is often associated with purity. Even without it being clearly stated we can see that there is a message being told to the reader about Offred and her role. In the world of Gilead, the Handmaids are respected by most of the public and carry a decent amount of status. Later on we learn that this is because their role is to “bear fruit” or carry the children of the commanders. They’re surrogates. Their role and the colors associated with their role tell not just the reader but the characters handmaid’s interact with in the story a great deal. Reflecting on how the characters of Gilead perceive the handmaids and their status and what it means within the society, is not completely a work of fiction. There are instances where women use colors and style to send a message to the public. For example, in 2019, congress women wore white as a call back to the suffragette white. It was said to be a “beacon of rebellion”, and was meant to emphasize the female presence on the house floor. Another instance was when Vice President Kamala Harris wore a purple inauguration coat. The mix of Democrat blue and Republican red, was a way to show unification between the two parties. To reference the quote cited earlier, Offred has to wear a long and flowing red cloak. It hides her figure for the most part, and covers a lot of skin, save for her face. There is a tone of modesty in the clothes she wears. Despite her role as a surrogate for the commander and his wife, Offred is shown to dress modestly and the white surrounding her face suggests a certain level of purity. “The white wings too are a prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen.”(8). The handmaids are supposed to be modest and are forced to not be seen and to not see. They are hidden and made to hide. The reader may come to think that modesty is an oppressive kind meant to keep the citizens ignorant. Something akin to this-albeit to a lesser extent-is how dress codes are somewhat gender targeted. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had worn red nails and it became her signature. But when she was oathed, the dress code banned any ‘flamboyant’ nail polish colors and so her red nails were no more. There we again have that almost oppressive modesty. The color red is referenced again in real life and The Handmaid’s Tale. Justice Sotomayor’s signature red nail is banned because of its flamboyant nature. Red, once again, is a color of controversy, especially when women wear it. A lot of the time, in the real world, there is a push to stay away from red as a young girl or as a wedding guest because it draws attention. Red draws attention. Many people debate whether said attention is good or not but what people can agree on is that it certainly has all eyes on the person who wears it. Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is known for wearing a red lip a lot of the time. She says it’s a shout out to her Puerto Rican roots and it gives her a boost of confidence. It draws attention and boosts her confidence. But for red to be known as a traditionally bright and beacon of a color for the handmaids to have it as their color yet be said to not be seen is ironic. They’re bodies and status are to be seen but not talked about or acknowledged and their faces are surrounded in white. This could be a hint at perhaps their faces and individually not mattering anymore because of their status as surrogates to the commanders.

On Page 104 of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, the narrator ponders where her former husband Luke is now. She describes what remains of him in her mind: “his hair, the bones, the plaid wool shirt, green and black, the leather belt, the work boots. I know exactly what he was wearing…though not his face, not so well. His face is beginning to fade, possibly because it wasn’t always the same: his face had different expressions, his clothes did not.” The inanimate objects are easier to remember for her, because they are simple, and they remain the same. It is harder to capture someone’s whole essence in memory, because they are always changing like we are, and the face starts to fade because we cannot decide on an expression to save.

I know this feeling firsthand, as I have had to say goodbye to many people in my life. I’ve moved a fair amount, living in 3 main houses and 4 main schools. The moves used to affect me more. I used to cry over my friends being gone. And then my friends started to change. Once I didn’t see them anymore, it became harder and harder to keep an updated version of their faces in my mind. Like the narrator, my friends’ faces began to fade, frozen in time.

What I remember very clearly are the things I have kept in my memory box. What remains is this: the bubbles in a small white container, leftover from “Paint The Town Red”, a choir assembly in Chicago. The tape dispenser covered in scraps of paper from a friendly feud that say “Reese was right, Guz was wrong” and “Gus was right, Reese was wrong”. I can still remember the bubbles floating in the sea of red uniforms. I can remember the blue water bottle I stole and covered in my little notes. Though not their faces, not so well. They seem to fade in my mind, becoming people from a different story, becoming distanced. All I have left are these objects, and my own feelings. As the people I share the memories with fade, the memories themselves feel less real.

It feels like I’m in a void with relics from a different life, which is very similar to the experience of the narrator of “The Handmaid’s Tale”. She actually is living a different life, removed from almost everything and everyone she once knew. And she doesn’t even have anything physical to hold on to. Her thoughts are all she has to keep her sane and I think that is why she clings to the details like the clothes as much as I cling to my memory box. She needs to ground her story in something, needs to cling to whatever there is left. She needs some kind of proof that what she had before was real.

As the narrator speculates what has happened to Luke, she keeps using the phrase “I believe”. (Pages 104-105). At the end of the chapter she talks about how she believes her husband is alive and will come for her. “It’s this message, which may never arrive, that keeps me alive”. In addition to the clothes she remembers and can hold on to, she has invented a hope. She has invented a message that she can picture, telling her that a savior is coming. The other beliefs she has, that Luke is dead or that he has been caught, are not as strong as the hope. Because it is the one thing that will prove Luke is real and that this nightmare will come to an end. In a world where the narrator is surrounded by an entirely new reality, she needs a hope that the old one will return. If she loses him, if she loses her last hope, she will have nothing to hold on to. By losing faith, by losing hope, she will lose herself. And there will be nothing left to keep her alive.

I did not feel this on the same level of course, but I did still feel it. I reached out to my friends more often than they did, and eventually I stopped getting responses. I stopped trying to reach out. I would wait, crying in my room, for someone to send a message. I’d go through my memory box, looking at old letters, inventing a new one in my mind. Moving on was the hardest part, accepting that some friends would go. The narrator hasn’t reached this stage yet. Because moving on is not an option she can accept yet. So she stays in limbo, going with the flow of her new life, waiting for a message to tell her what to do.

I think something that this whole topic illustrates is how much we rely on other people to define ourselves. We need human contact to survive- that is how we are wired. Without real connections to real people, we start to lose our sense of self and our sense of purpose. When we lose connections to people, we focus on the objects we associate with them because we need a connection. We need to hold on to something, in times of joy or struggle. Our past is something we carry with us, and if we leave it behind we are left wondering how we got here and where we should go now.

In the past two years alone, there has been a spike in conservatism in our government that has threatened civil rights, first with the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, and several bills trying to erase nondiscrimination laws towards the LGBTQ+ community and laws that will limit a transgender person’s right to transition. Amidst these regressions in our democracy are conservative social media stars, coaxing young people into dangerous beliefs.

A recent conservative star has been Andrew Tate, a 36-year old British kick-boxing champion known for his misogynistic takes such as saying women are more attractive when they are 18 and 19, rather than 26 because “they have been through less dick” - or that that female sexual assault victims should “bear some responsibility”. Through being wanted for arrest for sex trafficking young women employed in his webcam business, a new personality has come into light, who some are calling a “female Andrew Tate”. Her name is Hannah Pearl Davis, better known as “Pearl”, and she’s a 26 year-old self proclaimed “anti-feminist”. At first, people thought she was being satirical or was just desperate for attention, but as her following has grown she’s started being taken seriously. After scrolling through her twitter account for just five minutes, I immediately saw a picture she’d posted wearing a shirt saying “Women Shouldn’t Vote” - with twelve and a half million views. Other tweets from her profile in the last few months alone include: “Stop sleeping with fat chicks!!”, “Men like pure women not whores”, and “I’m transphobic. I am in fact afraid of trans people.” With almost two million followers on Youtube, you would think she’d consider the effects her platform may have on young girls and the way they view themselves.

“She doesn’t make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesn’t seem to agree with her. How furious she must be, now that she’s been taken at her word.”

Serena Joy, a character from The Handmaid’s Tale, rose to fame in this dystopian novel similar to how Pearl has today. Serena was a christian gospel singer on a network television show and rose to fame preaching christian, conservative values. Offred infers that Serena had some influence on the evolution of Gilead, that she was “taken at her word”, which is why people like Pearl are so terrifying - her words are ridiculous but she may have more influence than we assume. What’s funny is, much like Serena, if Pearl were to be taken at her word and the things she’s claimed to want came true, she would lose all her status. The values she’s capitalized on have the capacity to render her powerless, and that doesn’t seem to scare her.

“We thought she was funny. Or Luke thought she was funny. I only pretended to think so. Really she was a little frightening. She was in earnest.”

It’s fun to sit and laugh at Pearl, whose political takes seem so ridiculous that we think she can’t truly believe it. And we know she doesn’t truly believe it, but what we don’t see are the people endorsing her, praising her for making these speeches. These people have the true power to take what Pearl says seriously and make it a reality. We see “Women Shouldn’t Vote!” pasted on her shirt and think of what a joke she must be, but the truth is that there was a time when women couldn’t vote and there is very little reason why, if the wrong people were in power, we couldn’t go back to that time. The Handmaid’s Tale is so horrifying and still so topical today because we know it wouldn’t be impossible for the US to head towards Gilead.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood makes endless references to real-life issues, creating scenes in Gilead that represent actual events from our world. One of these issues is the sexual harassment that occurs all too often in the medical world, especially between male doctors and female patients. In chapter 11, Offred went to the doctor for her monthly checkup and was sexually harassed by the doctor. After he’d performed the usual examinations, he got way too close to her, touched her inappropriately, and whispered things like “I could help you” (pg 60), “you want a baby, don’t you” (pg 61), and “it’d only take a minute, honey” (pg 61). When Offred didn’t immediately agree, he tried to convince her further by telling her that “lots of women do it,” adding to the pressure she faced in the moment. She didn’t know which was the safer option: saying yes or saying no.

Although the doctor from this scene may seem outrageous in the amount of risk he took just for a chance to have sex with Offred, it’s based entirely in reality. A report about a case against Robert Hadden, a former Obstetrician/Gynecologist who sexually abused patients for decades, reads, “He exploited the power differential inherent in the doctor-patient relationship.” This kind of dynamic is what makes sexual assault by doctors unique; the perpetrator is not only someone who the victim is supposed to trust, but also someone with power over the victim. In Offred’s case, saying yes to the doctor’s offer of impregnating her would be dangerous if they were caught, and she clearly felt uncomfortable with the idea of having sex with him regardless. If she said no, she worried he could fake her tests, make a false report against her, and she’d be done for anyway. Offred did what many victims of sexual assault are forced to do in order to get out of the situation: act polite and try to refuse as nicely as possible. In her case, it worked, but it doesn’t always turn out that way in real life.

As for the repercussions of their actions, plenty of doctors get away with such crimes for many years, like Robert Hadden, who sexually abused dozens of patients from 1987 to 2012 and is now serving 20 years in prison. However, some predators never get caught. It is likely that the doctor from The Handmaid’s Tale who harassed Offred did not face any punishment following the incident, and likely continued “offering his services” to more female patients. Due to the lack of power that women- nevermind handmaids- had in Gilead, the likelihood of Offred speaking out was next to none, and the chances she’d be heard were even slimmer. Plus, the sheet in the examination room that was meant to restrict doctors and patients from seeing each other’s faces would’ve made it very difficult for patients to even know who’d harassed them. Systems such as the sheet that blocked the doctor’s face and the lack of power that women held in Gilead can be compared to the ways that women are restricted in today’s world. These societal structures, plus genuine fear, are some of the reasons that women often don’t report the sexual harassment they’ve experienced, which allows predators to continue abusing more victims until they’re finally found out.

According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police. Lots of victims just shrug it off, thinking it’s not a big deal and they shouldn’t make a fuss. After Offred’s encounter with the doctor, she was scared, but had no intention of bringing attention to the case. “Why am I frightened? I’ve crossed no boundaries, I’ve given no trust, taken no risk, all is safe.” (pg 61) She seemed to be less scared of what could’ve happened in the examination room than she was of the consequences that would come with being caught having sex with the doctor. One cause of this could’ve been The Ceremony, where she had scheduled sex with the Commander in an unromantic, dutiful way in an effort to get pregnant. Maybe Offred was somewhat desensitized to having sex with unfamiliar men who she didn’t love, although she definitely wasn’t fond of it. Following the incident, her greatest worry was not her bodily autonomy, but rather what she’d have to do to avoid death. The great stakes in Gilead created an environment where a woman’s experience of sexual harassment seemed insignificant to her, making it a true dystopia.

The novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” authored by Margaret Atwood, is a masterful work that adeptly explores the intricacies of our society’s treatment of women. Set in the fictitious yet thought-provoking society of Gilead, the novel delves into a world where both women and men face oppression. This dystopian society grapples with dwindling birth rates, prompting women to assume the role of mere childbearing machines, compelled to harness their reproductive capacities. While such a scenario might be somewhat comprehensible given the perilously declining population, the presence of religious overtones within the Gilead community complicates the legitimacy of their circumstances.

For instance, Gilead’s foundation heavily relies on religion, though the novel doesn’t explicitly specify the faith they follow. It is implied that their belief system is likely rooted in Christianity or Catholicism, as evidenced by their reverence for the Bible. In chapter 15, on page 87, there is a scene where handmaids and Marthas assemble in the living room, listening to the Commander reading a verse from the Bible. The passage describes the Commander’s ritual: “He crosses to the large leather chair reserved for him, takes the key out of his pocket, fumbles with the ornate brass-bound leather-covered box that stands on the table beside the chair. He inserts the key, opens the box, lifts out the Bible, an ordinary copy, with a black cover and gold-edged pages. The Bible is kept locked up, the way people once kept tea locked up, so the servants wouldn’t steal it.” This act of safeguarding the Bible implies a constant and forceful imposition of Christianity or Catholicism, which may be causing irritation and sparking a sense of resentment among the individuals in Gilead.

Yet another compelling illustration of the ceaseless psychological conditioning within Gilead is found in Chapter 15, specifically on pages 88-89. In this pivotal scene, Aunt Lydia addresses a gathering of young women, comprising both the diligent Marthas and the subjugated Handmaids, with the intention of conveying the idea that they should consider themselves remarkably privileged and fortunate. Despite her attempts to emphasize their good fortune, it is abundantly clear that, from the perspective of these women, they do not perceive themselves as beneficiaries of such privileges. In stark contrast, they feel imprisoned, cruelly isolated from the world beyond the confines of Gilead. Aunt Lydia’s discourse unfolds against the backdrop of a surreal breakfast scene, during which the women are gathered, partaking in a meager meal of porridge adorned with cream and brown sugar.

As she addresses them, she endeavors to underscore the notion that they are receiving the very best within the constraints of the tumultuous world outside. She reminds them, “We had it read to us every breakfast, as we sat in the high school cafeteria, eating porridge with cream and brown sugar. You’re getting the best you know, said Aunt Lydia. There’s a war on, things are rationed. You are spoiled girls, she twinkled…” Aunt Lydia’s words, delivered with an air of sardonic humor, shed light on the stark contrast between the dismal reality the women face and the distorted perception that Gilead’s regime aims to instill in them. In this poignant moment, it becomes evident that the propaganda and the stringent religious doctrine imposed upon the residents of Gilead serve not only to manipulate their beliefs but also to warp their sense of reality. This passage, therefore, serves as a stark reminder of the power of propaganda and the extent to which authoritarian regimes can manipulate the perceptions and understanding of their subjects.

While reading “The Handmaid’s Tale,” I frequently found myself drawing parallels to real-world occurrences. One striking resemblance is the principle of the separation of church and state, a fundamental concept in the United States, which emanated from the landmark Supreme Court case of Everson v. Board of Education. This principle, often referred to as “church vs. state,” posits that religious institutions and the government must remain distinct and separate entities. It maintains that no official religion should be established within a state, as such an establishment would contravene the core principles enshrined in the Constitution.

This connection serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring relevance of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” highlighting the enduring significance of the themes it explores. Margaret Atwood’s dystopian narrative not only serves as a chilling work of fiction but also as a cautionary tale, urging us to remain vigilant in safeguarding the principles of democracy and the separation of church and state, which are the cornerstones of modern society. In an age where the blurring of these lines can lead to profound consequences, “The Handmaid’s Tale” continues to resonate as a powerful commentary on the fragility of such foundations in the face of authoritarianism and the erosion of individual liberties.

Due to the School District of Philadelphia half day for staff professional development, SLA will follow the below schedule on Friday, 9/29:

08:15-08:55 B2

09:00-09:40 C2

09:45-10:25 X2/Y2 class

10:30-11:10 D2

11:15-11:55 E2

12:00-12:30 Lunch/Dismissal

Due to continued heat and the SDP half-days announcement, SLA will follow the below schedules for the remainder of the week.

THURSDAY, 9/7

08:15-08:50 C1 Band

08:55-09:30 D1 Band

09:35-10:10 X1/Y1 Band (class, not lunch)

10:15-10:50 E1 Band

10:55-11:30 A2 Band

11:35-12:00 Advisory

12:00-12:30 Lunch/Dismissal

FRIDAY, 9/8

08:15-08:55 B2 Band

09:00-09:40 C2 Band

09:45-10:25 D2 Band

10:30-11:10 E2 Band

11:15-11:55 X2/Y2 Band (class, not lunch)

12:00-12:30 Lunch/Dismissal

Note: Students who have money to submit for school dues can bring that to Mr. Reddy (room 501) before first period or directly after last period.

Welcome to the new school year, SLA Community!

With heat warnings in place, SLA will follow the below schedules for the School District of Philadelphia half-days. Keep an eye out for SLA Announcement emails as more information or updates become available.

TUESDAY, 9/5

08:15-09:45 Advisory

09:50-10:10 E1 Band

10:15-10:35 A2 Band

10:40-11:00 X2/Y2 Band (class, not lunch)

11:05-11:25 B2 Band

11:30-11:55 C2 Band

12:00-12:30 Lunch/Dismissal

WEDNESDAY, 9/6

08:15-09:05 D2 Band

09:10-10:00 E2 Band

10:05-10:55 A1 Band

11:00-11:55 B1 Band

12:00-12:30 Lunch/Dismissal

Note: Students who have money to submit for school dues can bring that to Mr. Reddy (room 501) before first period or directly after last period.

Hello SLA Families, We hope you are enjoying your summer and gearing up for the start of school. If your child is interested in participating in a FALL SPORT at SLA, please take some time to read the message below.

I wanted to share our first week of pre-season information. All teams will have two weeks of pre-season with some (soccer, volleyball) sports kicking off their competitive seasons with games the week of August 28th (note: this is the week before school starts for students. Please plan accordingly.)

All athletes MUST have a fully completed (sections 1-6) and signed PIAA physical form in order to try out, practice and/or compete. Even if you have submitted it electronically, please bring a fully completed PAPER copy to the first day of tryouts or email it directly to the coach beforehand. Please be sure that you have your doctor complete the appropriate form. A traditional physical form does not take the place of the PIAA form and will not give your child clearance to participate.

We understand that some tryout dates/times may interfere with 9th grade Summer Institute—we are more likely to see cooler weather in the morning hours. Please be assured that no freshman will be excluded from a team due to attending Summer Institute and freshmen should prioritize their attendance at Summer Institute. However, they should be sure to attend any practices that occur outside of SI days and hours and communicate with the respective coaches.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any questions about athletics at SLA.

Go Rockets!

Ms. Siswick, Athletic Director

zsiswick@scienceleadership.org

Girls Soccer

When: August 14th-18th, 9:30-11:30am

Where: Columbus Square Park, 12th & Wharton

Info: All players must bring a soccer ball, shin guards, cleats and water

Coach/Contact: Zoe Siswick - zsiswick@scienceleadership.org

Boys Soccer

When: August 14th-18th, 10am-noon

Where: Columbus Square Park, 12th & Wharton

Info: All players must bring a soccer ball, shin guards, cleats and water

Coach/Contact: Jimmy O’Karma - jgokarmajr@philasd.org

Football

When: August 7th-11th, 3-6pm

Where: Clemente Playground, 18th & Wallace

Info: Bring plenty of water

Coach/Contact: Aleem Medley - amedley@philasd.org

Cheer

More info forthcoming

Girls Volleyball

When: August 14th-17th, 10am-noon

Where: SLA/Franklin Gym

Info: all players should bring water bottles. There are refill stations at school

Coach/Contact: Terry Ward - tward2@philasd.org

Co-Ed Cross Country

When: August 15th-16th, 9:30am-11:30am; August 17th, virtual meeting

Where: Meet in SLA commons (1st floor by entrance)

Info: Wear running shoes, light clothing and drink plenty of water prior to practice

Coach/Contact: Brian Kelly - brikelly@philasd.org

Co-Ed Golf (through co-op with Constitution)

More info forthcoming

Ultimate Frisbee

The season will begin fully once the school year starts however there may be pickup games at the conclusion of Summer Institute each day. Bring sneakers and comfortable clothing if you would like to participate. A PIAA physical is encouraged but not required for Ultimate.

Students Run Philly Style

If you have been practicing with your middle school during the summer, please continue to do so and reach out to Coach Jeremy (jspry@scienceleadership.org.) Otherwise, new runners can begin at the start of the school year. Medical forms are required for races; PIAA form is encouraged.

Due to today’s excessive heat warning, the School District of Philadelphia is dismissing with a half-day schedule. Below is our modified class schedule for Friday, 6/2, as well as the updated capstone schedule. STAY COOL, EVERYONE!

08:15 - 09:00 B2 Band

09:05 - 09:50 C2 Band

09:55 - 10:40 D2 Band

10:45 - 11:30 E2 Band

11:35 - 12:20 Y2/X2 Band (Class, not lunch)

12:20 - 01:00 Lunch/Dismissal

CAPSTONE SCHEDULE: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xGonwdFZEO2s2tbCrBsSaYhVn7IUjk4XyjZL4pGAWlQ/edit#gid=1231959563**

Ever since I was a child, I loved animals, which is why I want my capstone to be animal related. So for my capstone, I decided to make a website for those around Philadelphia and surrounding areas who want to get involved with animal care but need help figuring out how or where. More specifically, I wanted to make a website to provide others with a way to find places to volunteer without having to do all the research. This idea came to me because I wanted to volunteer at any animal-related organization. While looking for places, I found it frustrating having to research and then having to find out that they don’t take volunteers or that volunteers have to be 18+. So, having a website where a volunteer application is just one click away will make it easier for more people to volunteer and will hopefully help with that shortage of animal care workers.

Website: https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/animalcarelovers/home

Photos I took while volunteering: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16aGf0yI-nBlYgC6lLZZsx5zRShCt9t2D?usp=sharing

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16agV41hoE-3q0byc99d0Dg4P-kNSs2sOkvBdwYKspp8/edit?usp=sharing

For my Capstone I collaborated with Jave Kelman to host RocketFest, a film festival dedicated to putting a spotlight on films made by Philadelphia high schoolers. The goal of this Capstone was to create a platform that gives these films and the youth the recognition that they deserve.

For my Capstone project, I created a documentary film comprised of three interviews with individuals who work in careers involving the end of life. I interviewed a funeral director, a hospice social worker, and a ceremonialist. I asked them a series of questions to learn more about their perspectives on death because of their work. I learned the importance of talking about death and its intricacies and working with other people to better understand it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q05KlQsuI2tCBYGUCDkp-fcLFObIODuN/view?usp=sharingusp=sharing

For My Capstone I decided to do drawings of people that have changed our environment. I wanted to knowledgeable people that have changed our environment and made it a better world. I had to come up with multiple drawings of each person and try to make them unique to every person. I looked into their background and what made them want to change their environment and just began drawing. I have learned dedication, value, and research. My Capstone has helped me grow as a person by helping me learn that anybody can be interesting as long as you’re willing to put in the work, and actually try to reason with them. I have faced a lot of struggles with My Capstone, I was trying too hard to make them look perfect when in reality I had to make them unique to itself. I overcame this by realizing that every person is unique and if they’re not unique then the drawing can’t be real to others. I have learned so much from my Capstone but this Capstone has helped me grow and has made me improve with my drawing and art.

These are some of the drawings that I have been working on

Bibliography https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P8ofJToao7mYkyB3q3JXDoLjObiTQhlu3_LgQzCwXzA/edit?usp=sharing

Capstone https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DEo7xYAYGxqJT3VvANB58yblx7yRPaA5vTV6yEotPFk/edit?usp=sharing

My Capstone project revolves around creating a comprehensive website dedicated to Engineering Majors. The primary objective of this website is to offer in-depth information about different engineering Majors. The process of my project was very straightforward but I encountered minor problems like picking the main platform to make my website which took me to try four different platforms to find the one that suits my style of writing and represents my skills. My motivation for making this website was to help upcoming engineering SLA students, The website aims to provide valuable resources and insights that will aid students in selecting the right engineering school for their academic pursuits. Also, Driven by my own experiences as a student with a keen interest in pursuing engineering in college, I embarked on the creation of this website as a valuable learning resource for myself. I wanted to make my capstone that could personally benefit me in my journey, and I wanted to learn something new and impactful. The key component in making my capstone is a lot of research about each Engineering major, but I also added things like interviewing both my uncles that are Engineers and asking them about their experience in the industry and both of them had two completely different answers. Also, I conducted interviews with a group of ten students consisting of five sophomores and five juniors, all of whom expressed unwavering certainty regarding their choice of Engineering major for college.

My Website: https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/rami-boubekri/chapter-1

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FRX3NVDIXi-GfXPidJCentrJHU15Owt9QJie88SBh1k/edit

My Capstone dives into my own story of dealing with mental health but also my communities. I use various forms of art like writing, podcasting, and physical art to bring forth the stories of my peers and staff but also my own. I wanted to destigmatize mental health with this project and create a safe space here at SLA so people feel less alone by knowing my story as well as others. I also included resources for anyone in need or in crisis and provided accessible therapy and rehabilitation places. I wanted to not just accommodate all groups of people from Women to LGBTQIA to POC but make this a website that is available to all and can be accessed by both students and staff to better the mental health environment here at SLA. The capstone process has taught me that mental health takes many forms for different people and is an aspect that plays such importance in a student’s academic life as well as their teacher’s lives. I have learned a lot about myself in this process as well. I learned to look on the brighter side of life and realize that life is beautiful in struggle and triumph.

My annotated bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15XxxvHhwtpkgbc6SvmtMF5FmByu5IICFGVcVXXG6b6E/edit?usp=sharing

For my capstone project, I did a watering planter with five different plants that I planted, the frame of the watering planter bed is made of wood that I worked to earn money and buy the wood and polish and cut it for the planter that I was building. The reason I chose to do a watering planter for this project is that this project represents a trade that I would like to continue after high school, and I found it handy for me to build something like this. Another reason that I build this water planter is that I wanted to donate to the school I spend four years learning and helped me define my skills after high school, which the idea of building this planter was to donated to the school, which this was something that I could give back to my school.

The Stigma on Mental Health is a documentary I made for my capstone that questions how a person’s sociocultural background affects their view on mental health and access to care. This documentary follows three subjects: Samira Pope, John Henkel, and Lorraine Ustaris. I questioned them on their experiences with therapy, their thoughts on generational lines of trauma and bias, as well as what they believe the stigma on mental health is, why it’s there, and how as a society we can work to reduce it. My documentary idea came to me after working on a unit in science and society with Mr. Henkel that was about our sociocultural perspectives. That is when I realized I wanted to create something similar to that for my capstone project. I wanted to raise awareness of how limited the knowledge on mental health care and access is and find out what the contributing factors were to that disproportion of knowledge. This documentary is a safe space for people to learn and connect with. Not everyone is taught that mental health is health care or that it should be. And with this film I think the stigma surrounding the so-called ‘requirements’ for normal mental health care can be questioned, challenged, and possibly changed little by little if people continue to spread awareness to this tainted view on what it is to have a healthy mind and how to get there.

Link to my documentary-> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H5r95V-hic9-nWcTbhFcl44A_HrMHyPl/view?usp=sharing