Chelsea Janette Smith 

The Scarlet Letter and Juno Project

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After eleven years of having the Patriot Act the question raise is it still needed. People have come to say that the Patriot Act is not needed anymore with the fact that nothing else as big has happened since 9/11. But then again without the Patriot Act can anything like 9/11 happen again. In one of the articles it states that the world is worse then what it used to be, because of the way that technoklogy has advanced and much much more. And with this said the article, There's Still a Need for the Patriot Act, says that defense technology has not yet been able to keep up. One more point that is brought up that is well thought out is the fact that even if the Patriot Act wasn't needed we still need at least part of it or some aspects of it. 

With even the thought that something like this may be able to happen again the Patriot Act will be an important aspect to keep in our lives. As previously stated before jut because nothing has happened since 9/11 doesn't mean nothing can't happen. For example if suddenly the Patriot Act was no longer needed and then there was another attack what will be needed to do? Also what if survellience wasn't as strict and then something a little less server happened? Will the Patriot Act be put back in place or will there have to be another act that was made. 

Another thing that came to mind was something after reading the article on the 9/11 commission report. After reading it and discovering that all these men that hijacked the plane were able to get ont he plan so easily it was just amazing. They had no problem going through security or needing their baggage checked. Now that we have th Patriot Act and if it was taken away it would feel as though we are loosing some of our security. Now a days people would least expect this to happen again because of how well our security is. So by taking away this act its also taing away our sense of security. 

With the citizens in this movie I think about how much Will Smith had to do just to try and stay safe. From the moment they broke into his house until the moment everyone was killed in the restaurant. When I think about how our privacy as a citizen is I think that we really don't have any privacy. Just from our technology the government was able to tap into Bobby's (Will Smith) life and find everything about him and more. Between his family, personal life, work, and any other aspect.After seeing this movie it made me think about how much the government does have on our lives and everything they can do. When I think about it our privacy really isn't private. I think that the government shouldn't be able to get such easy access to our lives. I feel as though it should remain our private life until the government needs reason to even try to dig into our life like that. Another point I want to make is how corrupt the government can be. All this running around that Bobby had to do in order to try and get his life back together is because of something the government did and was trying to remain hidden. So in that aspect the government is just as hard to be trusted with so many corrupt people in it. 

• Who you spoke with and why you chose that partner

  I spoke with Looghan de Rubens from Mexico.

• What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?

  While talking to this guy he spoke in english to help practice his english. He also told me a little bit about himself, for example he worked in an office. 

• How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goals?

  In general my goal was to enhance my spanish and be able to hold a conversation with someone. The more I chat with these people the closer I think I am to this goal. 

• What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations? What specifically to you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

  Something I have done well that I continue to do is keep a conversation going as well as being able to interact more with the person I am having a conversation with. I had more with this person but something happened with my computer and I lost the other conversation me and this person had, but I uploaded everything that I do have.

La musica estallido 

Personas danza

Todos disfrutar se quieren

Eso es mi barrio

(Repetir 2x)

Verse 1

Puertoriquana y morena 

vengo en filadelfia

me gusta la comida 

de me custombrés 

Verse 2

En Filaldelfia

La lámpara brillante brillar 

Con fiestas en la semana

Y la Puertoriquana desfile

Filadelfia es la estar lugar

Refrain 

La musica estallido 

Personas danza

Todos disfrutar se quieren

Eso es mi barrio

(Repetir 1x)

 I learned that poetry is more than just roses are red and violets are blue, poetry can be a song, rap, the outside world, and a drawing. There are no limits when it comes poetry and what it can mean.

Another thing that I will be able to take with me is that writing is a group process and not just an individual project. It takes more than one opinion on someone’s paper to make it right. With every paper I had wrote this year it had been edited at least twice before I finally made my final paper. One paper that I was proud of was I believe the first quarter benchmark. We had to write a letter for Lord of the Flies. On that paper I had it reviewed a few times and kept making many different adjustments to it so it will be perfect. This paper can be seen at the bottom of my blog.

The final thing I will take from this is the crossing boundaries unit and when we read the book Their Eyes Were Watching God. The units went hand in hand with one another and it’s a good thing they were placed right behind each other. We had even written some “rules, roles and responsibilities” that we as teens hear all the time and have to deal with. In mine I wrote how your suppose to go to school and maintain A’s and B’s only, your suppose to act your age not your shoe size, your not suppose to go around acting crazy or like a little boy, also you can’t just be round boys all the time. This unit helped and showed me how society looks at people and how women are treated.

While reading the book Their Eyes Were Watching God I noticed how put down a female is in society. The women are supposed to let the man be in charge and cater to his every whim. As a woman they have no control over their life and not until they get the courage to stand up and leave will anything change. I made a video that showed how many women deal with the abuse of a man but takes a long time for them to do anything about it.

Lord of the Flies

            From the time Piggy stepped onto the island until his fatal death he was judged about everything. From his appearance to his asthma to the little things he tried to say to the group. He could never say what was on his mind or even try to act as a normal kid because of his awkwardness. Just like the way Piggy was judged so is everyone else in society.

            People judge one another like its nothing. It has become a part of human nature to just turn to someone else and start talking about someone. The judgment can be for the good or the bad. When it was time to vote for a new President people didn’t judge based on what could get done they judged based on color, gender, and age. 

            In 2008 when the presidential election was going on ever I went people were extremely happy to know that we would either have a women president or a black president. The thing I noticed though was it wasn’t about what people wanted to be able to get from these two candidates it was about color and gender. To just for everyone to be able to say they would have a black president or a women president would have been enough for the USA.

            “Assassinate Obama”, school children chanted when Obama was elected president. This was found on the site.  Another incident that happened was a nine year old boy told a little girl on the bus “I hope Obama gets assassinated.”  The same night someone trashed the little girl’s aunt lawn and left two pizza boxes full of feces because they had Obama posters on their lawn. This just shows that because of the color of Obama’s skin and the people that followed him they were judged and had to deal with the actions of other people that didn’t like the idea of having a black man run the country. People still live in the past were whites run everything and other people have to deal with the actions of those people.

            Another thing that I found was something from Karen Armstrong’s speech is when  she said that stereotypes divide us, which is very true. Ralph, Piggy, and the twins were all divided from Jack and the rest of the boys because of the differenced Jack and Ralph had. They had caused everyone else to pick a side and try to live their life as if that was the only way they could live on the island. Karen Armstrong’s statement was proved based on what theses little boys had to go through in this novel.

Reading Lord of the Flies all the boys judged each other on what they can or can’t do and how they looked. The one that experienced the most judgment was Piggy. He was noticed a little when Jack’s boys realized the specs were what gave them fire, but even then it wasn’t the type of attention he wanted or deserved. The only time he got respect was when he died, and the only one that showed him that respect was Ralph. Throughout the whole book Piggy never got a say on anything that happened. Even though Ralph listened to Piggy in some way he really didn’t listen to anything he had to say. Everyone treated Piggy as if he was just someone taking up space.

            As the time came closer to Piggy’s death he had gotten some type of respect. When he went back to get his specs he took the conch shell with him. Every time he would start talking and someone would interrupt him he got control again just by waving the conch shell around. As the bolder hit Piggy and knocking him off the cliff he never died with the respect that he should have died with. As he fell off the cliff and the shell broke everyone was a lot more worried about the shell then him. 

Never Shall I

            Never shall I forget the phone call that we had received

Never shall I forget seeing my family rushing to the hospital

Never shall I forget seeing my uncle all bruised up with broken bones

Never shall I forget sitting on my grandma’s lap while she cried her eyes out

Never shall I forget the details of my uncle’s body flying across the concrete

Never shall I forget the day my uncle was almost killed

Never shall I forget any of these details

Characters:

Alma- pregnant girl in Africa

Nyaki- Alma’s friend

Sonya- the mother of a pregnant teen

Savannah- Sonya’s sister

Marge- Social Worker

Tasha- the girl the social worker is talking to; uneducated teen

Lisa- former single teenage pregnant mother

Dominique- soon to be teenage father

Chris- Dominique’s closest friend

                                                Act 1, Scene 1

                                                         ALMA

“That’s it Nyaki I’m leaving and getting away from this place. Everyone has looked down on me. I didn’t want any of this or asked for any of it. I just can’t take it anymore.”

                        (Looks for things to put in a suitcase.)

                                                         SONYA

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN NOT TO SNAP!!!! YOU MUST HAVE LOST YOUR MIND IF YOU THINK I’M NOT GOING TO SNAP!

                                       (Sits down at the table with Savannah and tries to hold her composure)

 ¡Aye Dois Mio! Ella es un bebe tambien. How is she supposed to take care of another baby? Savannah you don’t understand she shouldn’t have to go through this. I had to and I know how hard it is with the help of family and friends. Hermana she has no one. I can’t raise another kid. I barely have money to keep our own family going.”

                                                      DOMINQUE

            (Has his hands on his head and tries to let reality sit in.)

“Oh man. Chris I don’t know what to do I cant believe she ‘bout to have my kid. I don’t even know if she telling the truth or not. Bro Imma make her take a test right in front of me. Wait. I can’t do that, that would be to disrespectful and I know better than that. Chris I really don’t know what to do. What if it ain’t even mines?”

            (Sits on the table and looks at the floor)

            CHRIS

“Brov that has to be your kid. She was a virgin when yall got together. So stop playing you just scared and don’t know what to do.”

                                    (Puts his hand on his friend)

                                                MARGE

                                                           (At the desk typing and listening to Tasha talk)

“I’m sorry about all papers just been a busy week. Well Tasha I understand that you want to send your baby to America, lets just talk a little bit. So you want to send your first baby to be with a family in America? “ Guess you heard about all the good things in America.

                                                (Gives a little chuckle)

                                                TASHA

                                                    (Takes a deep breathe and begins to talk)

“Well I like for my baby to have a good life. I want my baby to be in good hands and safe the rest of their life. I want them to be safe.”

                                                 LISA

                        (Stands in front of the crowd and waits the audience becomes a little quieter. Looks around and starts to talk.)

“Hello ladies how is everybody doing tonight? I’m glad everyone is doing fine but their isn’t any point in holding off the conversation. I’m here to tell how I went from getting an abortion just to end up pregnant once again. Yea I know I should have been a little smarter, but hey I was in high school and met that guy.”

            (Puts her hands and gives quotes while saying that guy)

“Yea lets just say from there I went on a rollercoaster.  I was about to get kicked out of school because pregnancy isn’t tolerated. The thing that makes it even worst is that I was only a freshman.

                                    (End of Scene 1, Act 1)

                                                      Act 2, Scene 2

                                                            ALMA

                        (Sitting next to Nyaki talking.)

“Nyaki he raped me. I tried to fight him off but he said if I struggled he would kill me. I tried to tell my mother but she just didn’t believe me. I went to the witch doctor and he told me I got aids from him. “

            (Puts her head down and starts to cry in Nyaki’s arm.)

                                                       SONYA

                        (Wipes away her tears and fixes herself a little bit before talking.)

“Savannah, I’m really scared of what’s going to happen next. All I can think about is bad things. I don’t know this guy or anything he is about. What should I do hermana, estoy muy miedo.”

                                                   SAVANNAH

                         (Grabs her sister and holds her tight for comfort. She talks to her sister in her native language)

“Sonya calmate por favor. Ella es un adolescente. She’s going to be fine remember who raised her and taught her how to succeed in life even with a problem as big as this. If you can deal with it and taught her how to be strong I’m sure she can. I’m here for you mi amor. It’s going to be fine.”

                        (Whispers it’s going to be fine)

                                                DOMINQUE

                        (Gives his friend a handshake and starts to thank him for being there for him)

“Yo man you a good friend. You helped me when I need u the most.

            (Gives his friend a handshake and hug)

                                                   Chris

“No problem man.”

            (Returns the hug and shake)

                                               MARGE

                        (Starts typing on the computer and than stops and faces Tasha. Pulls out a stack of papers.)

“Well I’m going to need you to feel these papers out.

                        (Phone starts ringing)

“Hey. Yea I can talk now. You have to be kidding me. She didn’t have a miscarriage. Well what am I suppose to tell the adoptive parents? Okay so please tell me what happened.”

(Takes a sip of her coffee as she listens to the story. She goes blank)

“She got into a fight on purpose?! Are you freaking kidding me?! So how did she mange to lose her baby?”

 (Almost chokes on her coffee when she hears the truth.)

 “The girl stabbed her in the stomach? Oh my God. What did the police say? How did she get the hospital? When was the baby pronounced dead? Okay so the girl is under custody? That’s good. Now I want to know what the doctor said. Please telling me your just trying to play with me and that really didn’t happen. She was really taking drugs and drinking. Wow I can’t believe this little ignorant girl. Well when I finish up with my client right know I’ll contact the adoptive parents and have them come in for a talk. Make sure your here.”

 (Hangs up the phone and rubs her face)

                                    TASHA

“Wow sounds like your going to have a busy day. Hope I do the right thing with my baby.

                        (Rubs her stomach)

                                    LISA

I went through my sophomore and junior year retaining abstinence. I had to get the abortion in order to stay in school. Bye the beginning of senior I was pregnant and decided to keep this baby. I didn’t know what to do the father of the baby was gone but had to pay child support and from the time the baby was born I had struggled. The one thing that kept me happy was the smile on my baby girl’s face. I couldn’t take anymore so I moved to the USA and had some of my friends from here help me raise Ami.  I can’t say it was easy but ladies listen to me when I tell this is going to be the hardest thing in your life but its going to be one of the best things you’ll ever have to do and accomplish.

                        (The crowd begins to clap)

                        End of Act 2, Scene 2

                           ACT 3, SCENE 3

                                    ALMA

“Nyaki I love you but I need to go. Be safe and remember me. Pray for me and me baby.”

                        (Hugs Nyaki and exits the scene)

                                    SONYA

“Gracias por todo.  You have helped me get through this. Te amor mi hermana.”

                          (Gives her sister a hug and leaves off the stage)

                                 SAVANNAH

                        (Returns the hug and whispers)

“ I love you to mi amor.”

                        (Exits the stage)

     At an elementary school a teacher had taken a girl’s hair and cut one of the braids. She cut the braid because the girl was playing with it. At another school a teacher kicked out her student because of the kind of hair product she had in her hair. The girl was mixed with black and white and was the only colored child in the class; the teacher was white. She kicked the girl into the hallway and then told her to go to another class were it was all black students. The parents were mad about the whole thing because the teacher didn’t take it up with the parents.

            Women have started to have a big eating disorder. About 5-10 million girls in the USA suffer from an eating disorder. One girl name Jade Hughes had a problem with this and was diagnosed with chronic anorexia. She played soccer from elementary to high school was always in shape, was only 120 pounds and 5”4. She was never over weight but because of what people told her she wanted to be in charge of something in her life. She took control of her eating, the only thing she had control over. She had to eventually go to the hospital and got therapy to help her and try to go back to were she was because she had to drop down to 80 pounds.

            Women have had a problem lately with being disrespected, frowned upon, and so many other things. Media has become a big factor in why women are looked down on as if they can’t be equal to a male. The music today is all about a girl shaking her butt to a beat and men being put over top of the women. Music went being about the music and something new in life to be about “money, trappin, and hoes.” On Kanye West new CD album he has a picture of a naked white women on top of a black men. Men and women have lost respect for each other they don’t have the same values as people did when back in the 80’s and early 90’s.

            When did it become okay for a man to down grade a woman? When did it become okay for girls to call each other out of name and laugh about it as if it was nothing?  These are the questions I ask when I see a women being disrespected by a man who doesn’t even deserve her. These are the types of questions I ask when I walk through the hallways in a high school and see boys cursing girls out like its nothing. Or when I see a boy trying to act like they all big and bad. Why sit there and take that type of disrespect and just laugh about it, it shows what type of women you are when you let that stuff slide. 

            As women we should be treated as royalty. Not for the simple fact that we should but we are what keep the world growing. Women need to step up and not take the disrespect that we have already endured enough. We fought for so long to have the same right as a man but in the end we let them walk all over us. It’s time for women to be treated like a women and not a dog. It’s time for change.

Friday the 13^th that date changed my day for the worse. I was on m way to work, ready to get my check and go do some shopping before going to North Carolina for the rest of the summer. I would always take the same bus route to get to work, the 47 bus and then the 56 bus. Every time the bus would get ready to go onto Broad I could swear I felt the bus go on two wheels because it was turning too fast. Well on the 13^th I knew I had a reason to be scared of that bus ride.

            As the bus was taking the turn onto 10^th street going past the trolley tracks it just sped down the hill and then everything went into slow motion. It felt like a movie the way everything went slow motion. As a car came in front of the bus the bus hit it at full speed. Everyone on the bus flew forward. A little baby in a stroller fell to the side and someone fell on top of him. Two little girls fell and hit the front of the bus. I flew and fell on top of three people. We got up quickly and tried to help all the kids get up. The mother was screaming at the top of her lungs. “ Get off my baby! Help my baby get up!” everything happened in slow motion but so fast at the same time. When the paramedics arrived he asked who wanted to go to the hospital. I didn’t know what to do so I started walking. I just walked the rest of the way to work. Those five blocks felt endless; it felt like the longest walk of my life

            As I walked the car accident kept replaying in my head. It was the only thing I could think about and how much worst it could have been. The way everyone flew forward replayed continuously in my mind.  Another thing that I couldn’t get out off my mind was the way the trolley tracks looked before the car had hit us. It felt like a big rollercoaster ride gone wrong.

            The accident made an impact on every kind of transportation I take. The next day I was on my way to North Carolina and I had to take a plane. I never been scared or nervous of flying before but this time I was a lot more worried.  From the minute I stepped onto the plane I felt as though something bad was going to happen. Nothing felt safe to me any more. My legs were shaking and I was breathing hard.  I was trying to stay calm and even try to sing to myself but that didn’t work. There was about thirty minutes left in the flight and something went wrong.  Out of nowhere the plane had a sudden drop. It dropped so fast I felt my heart go straight to my butt. And then it felt like it was lifted straight up.  It scared me senseless and made me scared to get on the next plane. Even though those past two days were a scary experience it made up for it when I was able to see my dad and have a good time.

Having those two experiences made me a little more jumpy when I’m on public transportation. When a bus turns or is speeding down a street I get a little nervous. I know that I shouldn’t worry as much but now it’s just in me to be a little worried. Also when a bus is crowded or when it isn’t evened out on both sides I get a little jumpy. It’s hard to get on a bus and trust that I’ll be okay. What also makes it hard is when the bus driver is driving fast and makes a sharp turn because that’s how the accident started. It may be a weird thing but those two experiences made want to be more cautious when I’m traveling alone. 

“Who was that Girl

She sat on her bed and started thinking about all the possible things she could have said or should have said. She wondered what she would be doing if she had done those things she set her mind to do. She was starting to prove people right that she was just what people thought she was, had the attitude, mouth and everything to let people know that she is just like everyone else. Then she thought, “ Now that it went that way I have to make it work for my benefit.” This is her story. 

Growing up she was always told that she spoke so proper and that she had manners, but has diapers turned into panties she was told other wise. She was constantly told that her attitude wasn’t going to get her anywhere that if she kept going with her smart-ass mouth she wouldn’t make it far. That didn’t stop her or the way she was act. She was her own person and couldn’t let anyone else try and live her life for her. 

As she got older something she notice that didn’t bother her at first was everyone calling her an “ass” or saying she was a “smart-ass.” But it seemed she was being called it more and more. Then she started to realize is she that type of person? Is she called a “smart-ass” because of the comments she makes or because of the remarks she makes? Why can’t she just act her self and not be judged by anyone? 

She remembered arguing with her brother one night and they were just going back and forth.

“That’s why your mom eats dirt,” she said.

“ Why would you say something like that you ass,” her brother responded

“Don’t call me an ass. Do it again and I’m going to punch you in the neck,” she had said back to him.

He responded back in slow motion, “ You A s s. You ain’t going to do anything you a s s.”

She got mad and punched him in the neck. They started fighting in her room like to hard-core thug guys. After they were done they were laughing about the whole thing but that stayed on her mind in the back.

As she went to school and continued with her life she had gotten this attitude as if she didn’t care about what people had to say or what people thought of her. People said negative things to her all the time but she was sure that she was not going to let any of that get to her. They told her countless times that, “She’s going to be a pregnant teen. That her smart mouth is going to get her in trouble. That no one is going to take her seriously with her attitude.” And each time the only thing she could think or say is that she will prove every person that said she wouldn’t make it and show them that she can. 

One evening she was having a conversation with her mom and the only thing her mom could comment on was the way she talked. Her mother talked about her speech non-stop and criticized everything that came out her mouth. 

 “You used to talk perfect when you were younger and know you sound like a ghetto chick,” her mother would say.

“You always talking ‘bout someone and criticizing them. You don’t have the best speech in the world either,” she would say to make her mom feel just as bad.

“You need to practice the way you speak and improve on it. Stop talking all loud and ghetto like your not educated,” her mom replied. 

“I am very educated and speak perfectly fine,” she would say. And from there she would just leave the problem alone.

Not until she was in her English class that she realized everyone talks 

differently and everyone has there own form of talking and understanding each 

other. Everyone talks a way based on their ethnic group or were there from. Whether 

they’re from the city or if they’re from the country everyone has there own certain 

speech. And when she realized that she realized that there is nothing wrong with the 

way she speaks or her attitude. That girl also realized that she can’t try and be 

something she isn’t and faking it won’t get her anywhere, and that girl was me.