Whenever I read the book One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, I never antagonize the character McMurphy because I relate to him in a way where he resists submitting to the control of authority. Most of the authority figures in my life take advantage of their power, and use it as a way of compelling others around them. Fortunately for myself, I tend to see the true intentions of the judgment, just like McMurphy. He is the newest addition to the Ward, but he is considered an outcast based on the way he has self discipline unlike the others who comply with Nurse Ratched’s jurisdiction. The more I analyze the interactions where McMurphy has tried to unbrainwash the other patients about the nurse, the more I realize that I resist the authority figures in my family if they aren’t my mother.

In response to McMurphy’s unpopular opinion of Nurse Ratched, Harding compares the analogy of everyone in the ward being rabbits controlled by wolves. “‘The rabbits accept their role in the ritual and recognize the wolf as the strong.’” (57). I view the circumstance with my family as the adults putting on the persona as a wolf trying to control the rabbits, but in a sense I’m like McMurphy where I refuse to be a part of that stimulation. A lot of the time, older people in my family will try to give their input or solutions to things pertaining to me when their opinions weren’t asked for. But because they’re adults and hold an authority title over someone my age in the family, I’m expected to listen to them and apply their corrections, but I disagree and have always felt that way. Finishing his point, Harding ends his analogy with “He knows his place. He most certainly doesn’t challenge the wolf to combat.” (57). I break generational curses in my family with it being mandatory to submit to the control of other adults, the same way that McMurphy is breaking the routine of following orders from the nurse at the Ward. In my family, “what the adult says always goes”, no matter the circumstance and if you do otherwise, it equals disrespect.

My mom usually finds all my opinions on the traditional rules valid, and supports me to voice my opinion. She always said “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”, towards the controversy of disrespect. I think that the other patients and staff members of the Ward take McMurphy’s honesty as a negative connotation because he doesn’t have someone to differentiate his delivery. There’s this one specific rule in my family that I find absolutely ludacris. If all the seats are taken at an event or gathering, and an adult doesn’t have anywhere to sit, then a younger person has to get up and offer their seat, even if they’re in the comfort of their own home. Personally, I am never doing that, especially not in my own house and I think that McMurphy would say the same. The quote “You mean to tell me that you’re gonna sit back and let some old blue-haired woman talk you into being a rabbit?” (58) reminds me of the time when I refused to give up my chair to a family member, and I received backlash for it. But just like McMurphy said I’m not going to let anyone talk me into being a rabbit.

The term “self discipline” in this case doesn’t go with its usual meaning. Instead it means that we are self-disciplined, as in giving ourselves authority, rather than taking in the orders from those that hold power above us. And by “us”, I mean McMurphy and I. To be quite honest, when adults try to boss me around, or give me orders, and they aren’t my mother, it makes me want to refuse to listen to them even more. For example, recently on Thanksgiving, I overheard one of my family members planning to send all the kids upstairs so they could play adult games. She isn’t even that older than me but she is an adult. So I went into the kitchen and told my mom I wasn’t going upstairs, before she even heard about the plan. But I ended up going upstairs later that night, and I was never even told to. I think the idea of me being controlled or told what to do irritates me. I’m not even one to act up or do something illogical, so when anyone who isn’t my mother tries to correct me, it’s in my nature to resist.

Offred has always been mentally challenged. Each chapter we see her battling with a new internal conflict that she has created from her thoughts. Throughout the book, we see the repetition of “the thought of” followed by a scenario that negatively affects her mood. This resonates with me because my mind has always been my biggest enemy, while also being my best friend at times. Just like Offred, I’ll expect the absolute worst to save myself from disappointment.

I deeply connect with Offred when she says “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.” (pg 106). Whenever I use my head to escape from reality and the misfortunes it brings, I’m always left in a jaded state of mind. In chapter 18, three scenarios of what happened to Luke fills Offred’s mind. One of those scenarios being Luke dead in the place they were found trying to escape, while another one he is in prison. Her final imagination explains him crossing the border and unexpectedly sending her a message. She has no idea what to expect so she holds on tight to these ideas so nothing comes as a surprise. It’s very essential to use your head as an advantage when it comes to defeating the unexpected, like Offred for example.

However, it is also very unhealthy whenever your mental state is consumed from the terrible thoughts you tell yourself. Somehow Offred and I are always left in a state of grief or despair, and most of the time we don’t even have to lose someone to feel these emotions. We are truly just in our head. It’s our escape from the reality we don’t want to face. But sometimes we need an escape from the escape. There are lots of times where Offred remenines on her past life with Luke and her daughter to distract herself from Gilead. Her thoughts of them two aren’t always sunshine and rainbows. “Weep. Weeping is what it is, not crying. I sit in this chair and ooze like a sponge.” (pg 227). This quote is Offred’s reaction to a scenario that she created in her head of Luke being dead. She got really carried away with her imagination and probably left herself in an even more severe state that she was in before.

Even though I am in no way close to living the life that Offred does, I still divert my mind from unpleasant aspects of my everyday life, normally using my imagination or entertainment to influence my thought process. Everytime I have discovered my true self, it has always been from stepping into my own world of creation, and I would think the same has happened for Offred. If one’s imagination is strong enough, their imagination can become the new reality.

MAKE IT HOME - AUGUST ALSINA

This song tells the story of one’s hardscrabble upbringing, and how in your darkest seasons you have to unfortunately involve yourself in unwanted situations to get by in life. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Offred has a very difficult lifestyle as she has been held in Gilead for years against her will. There are extreme measures to ensure that everyone in Gilead follows the rules that apply to their identity. With the terrorizing restrictions against women, Offred tries to come to terms with the circumstances by viewing herself the same way a man would to keep herself sane. “Nor does rape cover it: nothing is going on here that I haven’t signed up for. There wasn’t a lot of choice but there was some, and this is what I chose.” (94). This quote expresses that Offred has turned this ultimatum of surviving in Gilead into a choice. In the first verse of August Alsina’s song he sings “I don’t always do what I should, but I do what I gotta do. When you been at the bottom you see the hunger inside of you. Don’t say what you won’t do cause it can all change. When the going gets tough, it’ll drive you insane.”. This significantly represents Offred’s morals and viewpoints of herself as a woman living in Gilead.

LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE - DRAKE

Offred talks about the dynamic she had with her mother before life in Gilead. Their relationship consisted of lots of arguing, but the love they shared for each other always triumphed over their fallouts. “I admired my mother in some ways, although things between us were never easy… I am not your justification for existence, I said to her once. I want her back. I want everything back, the way it was.” (122). With that being said, it is evident that Offred misses her mother, and wishes she still had her around to cherish her, even though they argued most of the time. Drake created the song Look What You’ve Done to share his appreciation for his mother and aunt who impacted his life growing up despite the obstacles they faced towards one another. In this case, the first verse of the song is dedicated to his mom which correlates to Offred reminiscing on her mother. “And I sit next to you, and I lecture you because those are deadly. And then you ask shit, and we argue about spendin’ money on bullshit. And you tell me I’m just like my father, my one button you push it. Now it’s ‘Fuck you, I hate you. I’ll move in a heartbeat.’. And I leave out and you call me, and you tell me that you sorry. You love me and I love you. Your heart hurts, mine does too. When it’s just words, and they cut deep But it’s our world it’s just us two.”

BEST MISTAKE - ARIANA GRANDE

Ariana Grande’s song Best Mistake contemplates one’s emotional status in their relationship.There’s a story being told of two people struggling to make up their minds about realizing there are no real issues affecting one another. This song connects to Offred because she regrets not appreciating the life she had with Luke. It pains her to think of how she realized too late how good they were for each other. ‘What could be done? We thought we had such a problem? How were we to know we were happy?” (pg. 51). This quote demonstrates Offred’s thinking process towards her discerning the connection she once shared with Luke. In Best Mistake, Ariana sings “Can we please make up our minds, and stop acting like we’re blind? Cause if the water dries up and the moon stops shining, stars fall, and the world goes blind boy, you know, I’ll be saving my love for you.” I think this quote correlates with Offred and Luke because

IF I WERE A BOY - BEYONCE

“If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone. Tell everyone it’s broken, so they’d think that I was sleeping alone. I’d put myself first and make the rules as I go.“. In this song, Beyonce shares her idea of what life would be like if she performed as a “boy”. The stereotypes of men and women are no different in the Handmaid’s Tale than in the real world. There has always been a stereotypical narrative that men need no serious responsibility to maintain credibility. It’s as if it just comes easy to them, while they remain immature. With all these points to consider, Offred wonders what life is like for the commander as a man. “To be a man, watched by women…Still, it must be hell, to be a man, like that. It must be just fine.” (87 &88). She is genuinely intrigued to put herself in the shoes of the commander, given she spends majority of her time analyzing his behavior to properly switch scenarios.

CLOUDED - BRENT FIYAZ

Clouded provides Brent’s concern with being remembered or leaving an impact on the world. He lingers on the important aspects of society, while providing insight on his inconvenient life experiences. I can distinctly attach this song to Offred because I see her as a woman who is lost in her identity, and is unsure about her purpose in life. She tends to let her experiences define her as a person, which gives the impression to readers that she finds herself insignificant. “Is anybody gon’ remember me? If I go tonight, I doubt the world’ll change. I just pray they don’t forget my name. Is it game rules? I can’t lose. When it’s all said and done, will I still be cool?” This reminds me of Offred because she doubts the relevance of her existence constantly unless it is in the favor of men. She snuck out of her room one night to steal a daffodil for a future handmaid as a representation of her existence. “I will press this, somewhere. Under the mattress. Leave it there, for the next woman, the one who comes after me, to find.” (98).

In my first slate post, I explained how cultural appropriation is harmful to the Black community. Black culture benefits every other community, except for its own. It was important that I gave 6 examples as to why cultural appropriation is an issue in the world that needs to be solved, while also using my 6 sources as main ideas. The amount of various ways I persuade the readers to help seek the principle and bigger picture, of a struggle out of many, that Black/ African Americans face everyday are strong.

In view of the fact that Black cultural appropriation is my topic, to be an agent of change, I have teamed up with my classmate Tybria Bowser. Her You & The World project is about the African American Achievement gap, which connects to Black cultural appropriation, in many ways. We thought it would be a brilliant idea to combine our ideas, and work to produce a future mini course for class of 2025, and if successful, so on. It would be great to teach the youngest classmen on how to not harm their peers, especially at such an open and diverse school like SLA.

*Tybria and I emailed Jeremy Spry, proposing our act of change. We gave background information about our projects, and basically just went into depth about our plan. He agreed for us to move forward with our idea :). *

After hearing that there was a chance of our plan coming to life, Tybria and I created this mini course template, to help prepare and brainstorm criteria for the future freshman. We each went along and created material for each of our topics, and found a way to connect one anothers. The mini course will be 8 days long. We have an intro for the first day, and then cultural appropriation is spent using the next 3 days, and then I transition my last day into Tybria’s first day. She also has 3 days, and then our final class, the 8th day, we’ll let the students take control, and use that as a way to reflect on the course as a whole. I did some research mainly for my section of the course, and found a video to explain “What is Black culture?”. I thought it would be a great introduction to our first class.

The process in making and planning a mini course during a chaotic benchmark time like this was very difficult, but very interesting and enthusiastic. Tybria and I were able to finish our mini course template, and emailed it to Ms.Giknis and Jeremy Spry.

Unfortunately, Tybria and I weren’t able to hear back in time to see if our mini course was approved or not, but we feel very pleased with our journey, and feel supported through every step of the way. Before I close out my slate post, I just wanted to mention Tybria and I’s projects connect to each other, because of the double standards that Black people face when doing anything in society. It just made sense to collaborate on a project like this, because we can both use each other as a strength in educating future SLA students, about the Black community better. Like I said before, we aren’t aware if our mini course will be approved yet, but a way you can be involved, is by showing us your unconditional support, and being here with us on this journey.

Could you imagine your existence only being relevant for the identity theft of your creativity? The Black/African American culture is appropriated everyday, by not just white people, but also non-black minorities. Appropriating culture is the social equivalent of plagiarism, and adapting to an element, or elements of one another’s culture or identity. It’s not a problem to borrow from our culture, but you also have to know appreciating and appropriating, have two completely different meanings. White people will take our hairstyles, fashion, vernacular, and skin tone, without permission or give the credit, and will rock it like they started a phenomenal trend, but will degrade the true meaning of the culture’s components. Unfortunately, when the black community showcases black culture, we are less valued for rocking our culture, that white people and non-black minorities stole. If white people and non-black minorities are the problem, then they have to be our solution, and I want to help show them what they are doing wrong.

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of the saying “Do it for the culture”, but never understood the significance of the quote. The term was created by the famous rap group migos, which is the only style of music that hasn’t been predominantly stolen from whites. No wonder it’s still labeled as the “ghetto factor” of music, because it hasn’t been normalized by white people yet. The appropriation of black culture is very significant because there are numerous ways you can harm a black person when doing so. We’ve been denied education, work, health care, shelter, and more, all because of our cultural components that whites are applauded for, when we are discriminated against. Yes I am an African American, but also light skinned, which basically fits the “beauty standard”. Women with lighter skin will always be the “beauty standard” according to society today, since it is the closest to white skin. Not to mention the discrimination against women with darker skin. But what people fail to realize is having lighter skin doesn’t make you any less black than a person with darker skin. I’m not under 120 pounds, I have round hips with curvy thighs, thick beach wave hair that is taken care of by protective hairstyles, full heart sized lips, and so much more that white people and non-black minorities feel the need to steal. I’m not saying that these features can’t be appreciated, but the trauma that the black community has been through just by walking out of the house with our music playing , or wearing our fashion, is just not ok.

The double standard of baby hairs, with black and white women.

When you have huge celebrities appropriating black culture like it’s nothing, of course it’ll be justified and defended. People have always provided others who have a platform with excuses for their unacceptable behavior, as if they’re superior to someone who works at Mcdonalds. Social media will accept a white girl with cornrows over a black girl with the same exact cornrows, because they favor black culture, but not black people. It is extremely important for people to know about this because the favoritism towards white people and non-black minorities against black culture can be extremely dangerous to the black community, because the racism that is dealt with is ignored.

Amandla Sternberg comments on Kylie’s Jenner’s post, because of her picture with cornrows.

Obviously feeling mocked, othered, and judged aren’t as serious as being in danger, but if you don’t see that as an issue, then you are the problem and don’t consider black people human. It’s just human decency and black people deserve to be treated with it too. The public will post “Black Lives Matter” or whatever trending incident that happened with a white cop, and black male, but will still appropriate black culture, and not realize that it is a part of systemic oppression.

Believe me I know what you’re thinking, “how has she not mentioned the usage of the N word by non-blacks yet?”. Well to answer your question, I’ve specifically avoided that topic, just because it’s a critical conversation for me, and my attitude towards it isn’t the most appropriate for a school project. I get very angry and argumentative when it comes to the usage of the N word by non-blacks. To make a change, I definitely want to create and plan a mini course, educating SLA students, non-blacks specifically, about the dangers of appropriating black culture, and how it is a system of oppression. As a black person, being born in black culture myself, my research has definitely impacted my understanding of acknowledging that non-black minorities aren’t fully innocent at all in this situation. I just hope people now know that wearing cornrows isn’t “just a hairstyle”.

Amandala Sternberg explains the meaning of a lot of famous components from black culture.

So my question to you is, do you love black people, or do you love black culture?

MY ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hola soy Kyla. Yo tengo el pelo largo, moreno y rizado. Yo tengo los ojos avellanos. Yo soy alta. Yo soy trabajadora y responsable. También soy sincera y divertida.No soy ni antipática ni callada.

Yo tengo el pelo largo, moreno y rizado. Yo tengo los ojos avellanos. Yo soy alta. Yo soy trabajadora y responsable. También soy sincera y divertida.No soy ni antipática ni callada.

Mi hermono menores Kyle tiene el pelo corto, moreno y rizado. Kyle tiene los ojos marrónes. Kyle es simpático y callado.Kyle no es antipático.

Group Members: Kyla B, Sage D, Oliver A, and Gina Z In our podcast we discussed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, a memoir about a dysfunctional family that runs from the law. Each one of us shared our first impressions/ reactions, provided a quote, and discussed the toxicity of the parents relationship, let alone their parenting.

References:

“I was overcome with panic that she’d see me and call out my name and that someone on the way to the same party would spot us together” (pg 3)

“ Fussing over children who only cry encourages them, she told us. That’s positive reinforcement for negative behavior.” - Page 28

“Dad kept telling me that he loved me, that he never would have let me drown, but you can’t cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is ‘If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.’” page 66

“You’d be destroying what makes it special,” she said. “Its the joshua trees struggle that gives it its beauty.” page 38

Noah always embraced that no one welcomed him into any cultures, that he felt he SHOULD belong in. He was not accepted as a colored person by other colored people, because he was either too white for black people, or to black for white people, and at the end of the day, he still chose to identify as a black man. In chapter 16, Trevor was very oblivious to the fact that he was getting bullied. He was also very oblivious when he managed to get his bike stolen from a girl. I think when Noah was more so young, he cared a lot about fitting in, and belonging to a group, that he didn’t realize all the sacrifices he took trying so hard. In chapter 10, there was a Valentine’s Day dance, and a girl named Maylene who had a major crush on Trevor. There was huge talk amongst the friend groups about Trevor asking out Maylene, so he could take her to the dance. But the thought of him liking Maylene never actually crossed his mind. He said yes, but just for the wrong reason. Unfortunately, she broke his heart right before the dance for someone more “cool and better looking”, and Noah was devastated. I honestly can’t say that Noah’s writing impacted my own, because he uses a ton of humor and dialogue, and those aren’t techniques that I would refer back to when writing. I didn’t choose to use humor because I would consider myself just an intentionally funny person, and I feel as though when using humor in your writing, there’s a lot of brainstorming, because you try so hard to make the reader laugh. Furthermore, my goal wasn’t to make people laugh. I wouldn’t want people to laugh at my vignette at all. When my vignette is read, I want people to take the time to sit and think about what I just wrote. As an outsider looking in, which you are, the reader, I gave you points of views of other characters in my story who are ALSO outsiders to my culture.

Gina Zou and I created a soundtrack for the book ‘Far From The Tree’. here are the links to our project.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XNqfAHIT8ukaAQ8hvR2kbfCOmDjH1IpLHpZFWG9xa5k/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/13gKMgVhJnQNQekF9s6fOtSTPs2mNANKFrA8Tvj3S5ro/edit?usp=sharing

En esta unidad, los estudiantes han aprendindo cómo introducirse con los verbos ser o llamarse, usar el verbo tener para expresar su edad y cuántos hermanos y mascotas ellos tienen, las nacionalidades y el verbo hablar para expresar los idiomas que ellos hablan en la casa.

Aquí están las presentaciónes de los estudiantes en español 1: https://flipgrid.com/aa5fc082

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RVZk9bEbXssRE2LPFIUVNjDFNJ3yFwOmp9FbJ7KACtE/edit?usp=sharing

I’m making a presentation about how two specific characters from The Vampire Diaries personally inspired my urge and passion for my future acting career. Before quarantine I was serious about wanting to direct, produce, and act, but I wasn’t so eager to explore the variety of different personalities to play and create, until I started watching The Vampire diaries. Obviously, within 8 months of being locked up inside, it’s not fun at all. To get through a time like this, me and my mom started watching The Vampire Diaries, where I was introduced to the two characters who inspired the type of characters I want to play. Klaus Mikaleson and Kai Parker, the two powerful, supernaturnatural, and feared villains. The show itself paves the way for my identity towards creating shows and movies in the supernatural genre. Basically, because of quarintine 2020, I know now exactly what I want to do with my future.