Hello, my name is Jasmine Young, and I am a current senior at SLA. Not many people know this, but I am a legacy my brother attended school here when Mr. Lehmann approached many families and asked them to give him a chance in his vision for a new school, resulting in my brother becoming a member of the first graduating class. I began the manufacture of alumni tiles, which instructors and former students can purchase to memorialize their time at SLA. I charged $50 for each tile, with the profits going back into the alumni fund. I was inspired by the desire to leave a legacy here and provide individuals with a physical representation of their accomplishments. SLA does not believe in ranking and making others feel excluded, hence there are no rewards for student achievements. This made me think of the tiles where you may write your name and graduation year so that students can look back and reflect on their time here.

It was during the football season when I and the coach disagreed on a certain play during the game. I wanted to modify up the play because the offense had a fresh set up that appeared different to me. The coach had called a timeout and told us which plays to run. However, I had provided some comments because I stated that my play would work for this specific team.

Prior to this time, none of the plays she had called had worked. I sucked it up and just did what I was told, informing the rest of the team, and we ran the unsuccessful play, and the team scored a touchdown. I left the field frustrated, but confident that we could perform better. it is, until I heard the instructor say, “If y’all had spread out more, that wouldn’t have happened.”

She had blamed what had happened on us, and I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “I told you sh*t wasn’t going to work, but I still did as I was told!” I should have just followed my instincts.” At that moment, I realized I’d made a mistake. I apologized for the way I addressed her, but I wasn’t sorry for what I said since I was correct. The coaches then had a discussion regarding me, indicating that what I did was disrespectful, but that I wasn’t wrong and that my delivery was just off.But she told one of the head coaches that he had created a monster in her image of me.

McMurphy in the book wanted to watch the baseball World Series game on television and would not accept no for an answer. He went around the ward asking other patients for their thoughts on this, but he didn’t have much influence because they were all afraid of big nurse. Until the last vote, when he inevitably won the majority. Later, the big nurse stated they couldn’t watch it and had to do their chores instead. McMurphy was enraged, “he’s coming across the day room at us.” He becomes bigger and bigger, and his face turns bright red. He reaches into the fog to drag Ruckly to the surface-“

They faced the big nurse one by one, sitting in front of a blank screen and ignoring her yells. “You realize you’ve made a commitment. You are… the staff… under my leadership. Harding shuts off the buffer, leaves it in the hallway, and goes to collect him. A seat near McMurphy.” McMurphy was a threat to her power, therefore she intended to send him to another ward. His mere presence threatens her “perfect” system.

The difference between the two circumstances is that I and McMurphy had been told to do something, but we did the opposite and believed it was the correct thing to do. I approached the coach because I was tired of obtaining the same results. McMurphy confronted the big nurse because he was fed up with the way she treated patients there. As a result, I believe our situations differ in that aspect, but they are identical in terms of taking control of the issue. And bringing people together to strive for a similar objective, whether it was winning the game in my instance or watching the World Series in his.

I believe that the most they were feeling was probably humiliation, which is why they behaved in that manner; they were embarrassed by the fact that they were challenged in front of others and didn’t know how to respond. So they responded in the only way they knew how: by yelling. This experience really affected me in the sense that I now check my tone before speaking to someone. Because what I’m trying to say to someone is definitely not bad, but it’s just the way it comes out. So, after learning from her and how I communicated to her, I made the necessary changes.

What I think that McMurphy had learned was the fact that he can stand up for what he wants as he had already been doing. But he had also inspired others to do the same… they were scared to go up against a big nurse originally but had learned that if they stick together they’ll be ok. That’s why they think he is such a threat because he threatens to unravel everything that they built. He is bringing people out of the fog and they threaten to move him to keep him quiet but that only just makes the situation worse.

A thousand Years, Christina Perri -https://youtu.be/rtOvBOTyX00?si=cM8AaH-xLmfTAEsW

My playlist is about the main character’s development in The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred’s love life. Throughout the story, Offred talks about the man she mentions quite frequently from her past named Luke who is her last lover. Even while she is in a situation where she continues to think about him and their history together, this made me think of the song, the particular line that stood out to me was
“I have died every day waiting for you Darling, don’t be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years I’ll love you for a thousand more”
and the connection that I made with the book was in chapter 9 page 52, “I wanted to feel Luke lying beside me. I have them, these attacks of the past, like faintness, wave sweeping over my head.” How I made this connection is because she isn’t with him she misses him and in this particular moment she is cherishing the moment that she was spending with him when she was in the hotel room. So though that memory was old it was still emotions embedded within that which made me feel as though it connected to that particular song.

When We Were Young, Adele- https://youtu.be/Xpc8mAJ_2nM?si=1UCAmqgFKxpOqVP1

As the book continues offred starts to share her attention with other men like Nick, in which she tries to convince herself that that Luke would be okay with it if he were here. On page 99 in chapter 17 I noticed that in their interaction I noticed that she was trying to convince herself that it was okay for their relationship and gaslighted herself into thinking that he would approve, “Luke, you’d know, you’d understand. It’s you here, in another body.” I connected it to the song by Adele When We Were Young and she says one line states, “You still look like a movie You still sound like a song My God, this reminds me, of when we were young.” I chose this song for this scene because she is trying to imagine that her ex-lover is within another and that gives the reader the assumption that she is trying to fill that hole that she lost with Luke trying to reassure herself that she wasn’t cheating on her first love. The history that she has with him does not compare to whatever relationships that she has somewhat created with other people.

It’s a man world, James Brown- https://youtu.be/H77fRz1rybs?si=kSmsDPNtzeF2wPh1

People like the commander who is stuck in his old way of thinking believe that women’s only purpose is to serve men and have their children, but the reader sees this as cruel and unfair the commander doesn’t see anything wrong with this “ the problem was only with the women, he says. The main problem was with the men. There was nothing for them anymore.” This was page 210 and in this scene, Offred was starting to get comfortable with the commander and she wondered what were Gilead’s original intentions when they implemented this new rule. This reminded me of this particular song, “You see, man made the cars to take us over the road Man made the train to carry the heavy load Man-made electric light to take us out of the dark Man made the boat for the water like Noah made the ark

This is a man’s, man’s, man’s world But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl” How I connected it to the book is that Gilead wouldn’t be able to run or sustain itself and eventually die out if it weren’t for women. They need them to procreate and without them, every man would eventually die out. Proving the reader’s point that though the men are running their world they can’t survive without the assets of a depending on woman.

Titanium, David Guetta- https://youtu.be/JRfuAukYTKg?si=lUJtjZ20ICskd3p8

Because Offred has no other choice but to be a handmaid but her willingness to adapt and survive is what is making her pull through like the song, “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose Fire away, fire away

You shoot me down, but I won’t fall I am titanium” I referred to this part of this song because in the book she continues to rise against the odds rather than doing as she is told. Rather than acting rebellious like the other character Moira, she showers her spirit in private.

Pink, Just Like Fire-https://youtu.be/5Nrv5teMc9Y?si=73F-TaZrKagcIcPV

Which brings me to my last song, “ Just like fire, burning up the way If I can light the world up for just one day” I like his song when referring to this particular part of the book when she constantly fakes how she feels towards the commander. All while Trying to move in closer and get to know the commander, she’s getting comfortable causing the reader to question if it’s just more than a friendship there or if is it potentially love blossoming that she is afraid to explore or admit.

The inspiration for this artwork comes from the various women on this planet, whether transgender or born female. In my opinion, everyone is important. I think that we all have a purpose other than reproduction. The many hues of the ladies in my artworks symbolize how varied we are yet so similar. We may appear to be similar on the exterior, but it is not who we are on the inside, and what frequently divides us may also bring us together. The holding hands symbolize our solidarity and the necessity to keep together and fight for our rights. They are within the uterus because some men depict us as nothing more than that, but in truth, we are powerful individuals who have worked hard to be where we are today. Only for today’s culture to dismiss us for being who we are and because of our gender.

History does not give any reassurance of what can be done for women; it constantly prioritizes males and children, with women always being the second priority. A good example is on page 46 of Chapter 8 when it says about the commander’s wife, “She doesn’t make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home.” The narrator notices how defeated the commander’s wife appears in comparison to how she appears on television, which leads the reader to wonder if the commander doesn’t care or if it’s a lack of attention. Over time, the notion of what a woman is has faded, and expectations have taken its place.

Woman, as she calls herself: “An adult female human being.” That is the Google definition of the word, but that is not what it genuinely implies. In recent years, the formerly proud title has become a derogatory slur. People expect women to fulfill these roles of the “ideal” women, the kind that cooks, cleans, stays at home to take care of the kids, does everything that a man says… the list can go on and on. In Gilead, it’s no better it’s worse In The Handmaid’s Tale it was ingrained into their head that they have no opinion, respect those above them, and would mean nothing if it were not your ability to have children. “Each month I watch for blood, fearfully, because when it comes, it means failure,” says one character in Chapter 13 on page 73. “I have yet again failed to meet the expectations of others.” I was disturbed after reading this since the narrator hopes she doesn’t have her period every month so she isn’t deemed a “failure.” These Gilead males give the idea to women that they have no authority and solely exist to serve them. Making the reader believe that women have no actual worth. This reminds me of a phrase I saw the other day in an article: “You are worth nothing in human terms.” This phrase was taken from one of the anti-pornography literature that connected with what I was saying. The author was pro-woman and believed that pornography was a tool for males to sexualize and abuse women.

The moral of this artwork is that we can be anything we want to be because we are no longer locked in the old way of thinking and are instead moving ahead to a brighter future in which men and women should be treated equally.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dCK5lOFAYDPh76iqaJhYBBB-O2n9IzMJly-EAQc2-y0/edit