When creating these pieces, I wanted to stay true to what I like but also combine with something new. One of themes we had to stick to was “nature” and we had to make almost everything according to that.

Apart of my style is keeping everything as consistent and simple as possible. I only want to do just enough so that the audience will know what I’ve made. I add details later on in order to give the piece context and a voice. This can applied to pretty much all of the pieces made.The fern drawing was simple, but also showed a part of the fern we usually don’t see. Most ferns are large and under soil, but I wanted to show the fern at it’s roots. For the golden ratio drawing/collage, I made an elephant that followed the ratio (its less obvious because it isn’t a collage and there are no guidelines). The negative space drawing, block print, and final piece all are centered on emphasizing the animal and color. These pieces means a lot to me because they were thoughtfully put together and are something that I’d never done before. I was able to use my love for bright and eccentric colors, draw in my style, but also do something different.

Senior Art was a blast for me so far, especially with the new assignments and art mediums. I can’t wait to try more and learn new things. 

Energy in Nuts Project

Inquiry: During this particular project, I wanted to figure out if nuts were as healthy as projected on packaging and on the article

Research: I looked up caloric content of the nuts. Also, I experimented by burning the nuts and adding kilocalorie for each degree.

Collaboration: I collaborated with a few students, as they helped me measure and also provided me with new nuts to try out.

Presentation: I created a trifold board. The effectiveness was the engagement of the board as well as the design.

Reflection: What I would do differently is try a different food and compare the findings to a different set of food.

I am Lindsey Jones and I’m going to take you through a thorough and thoughtful review of the dark comedy, philosophical thriller, Blubber Island. Blubber Island is written by Ismael Galvan. An author known for encrypting his stories with characters that are at the bottom of the social food chain and putting them in the oddest situations and eventually letting them flourish. Galvan, currently resides in Japan with wife an English teacher. He most famous work is in fact Blubber Island and writes in a Gutter Surrealist style.    

Elis, a social outcast sits in his small hut by a fire drinking tea. He is then abruptly affronted by a man in a business suit who tells him that he has torn a hole in his head. Elis is taken back by this and asks what exactly does he mean by this. The businessman continues on and Elis defensively drives to attack him with a spear when all of a sudden his world is turned inside out. Zombies come from nowhere and begin eating Elis. As his flesh was being torn apart, Elis is eventually saved by a tribe of gorillas summoned by an old man. Elis meets the old man, who tells him the zombie virus is spreading rapidly throughout his body. They both begin to argue, ending in the old man's home being caught afire. The old man urges for Elis to go inside the fire and rescue the antidote, or else he will become a zombie. Elis opposes to this, and expresses that he'd rather be a zombie than deal with such a nasty world. The both suddenly wind up in a forest, meeting an old samurai, and man named Casper. Casper takes Elis to a ballroom filled with awfully cheerful souls. The party is ambushed by a group of ninjas and gorillas. Everyone begins to oddly want Elis to dance with them. At random moments, the people begin shooting themselves. A man named Suit tries to keep Elis hostage as the chaos resumes and zombies appear. Elis is able to free himself and escapes the party with Casper. They both end up falling down a dark tunnel.

    A homeless girl named Jamie attends a prestigious university with her best friend, Green boy. They blend in with the students, who are the same age. However, they are different from them. Jamie expresses her dislike towards the students that come from affluent families and could pay their way through anything. Green boy, her ambitious best friend, convinces Jamie to help him break into an experiment laboratory within the university’s boundaries. Green boy attacks the scientists inside and runs off campus with Jamie. They are almost caught by security but stow away in a van and drive to a local pharmacy. Green boy holds the pharmacy at gun point. The victims inside begin fussing with Green boy, some even attempt to escape from through the front doors only to get gunned down police. The boy and girl somehow are able to avoid the police and leave with the upper hand down into the sewers. Inside the sewer realm, Jamie and Green boy accidentally meet an aggressive homeless man. The man scolds Jamie for dropping a bottle on him, but also tells about him getting tricked into selling his drugs. He needed the drugs to communicate with “aliens”. The homeless man tells Jamie the story of a suited man coming into the sewers offering the homeless food. The people that ate the food would quickly fall asleep and were pulled into the shadows the man. Later, they would turn up with their eyelids missing. The people then tried to the homeless man to cut his eyelids off as well. The strange conversation continues until Jamie and Green boy tire and descend back into their resting place.

    Jake, a man imprisoned sits in his cell. Blank. His failed attempts at suicide were told, and he ends up giving up. He is then approached by a small cockroach that quietly invaded his cell. Jake is blithe at this notion and attempts to claim the cockroach as his own. He was afraid of the roach leaving, and him being alone and abandoned. Jake begins to fantasize about falling in love with the roach and the endless literature that he would write on his/her behalf. When Jake attempts to befriend the roach, a toxic smoke enters the room. Jake refuses to give up the insect and shouts in despair. The room overfilled with smoke until a woman in a green suit is presented strapped to the ground. Jake realizes in order to save his roach friend and leave the room, the woman must be the key. Jake brutally rapes the woman until her true face is revealed, Jamie. The doors of the prison cell open and Jake and his roach are able to escape.

    The continues as the initial main characters are introduced. Each scenario revolving around Jake, Elis, Green boy and Jamie connecting another to piece to the puzzle. Green boy and Jamie realize their worth in the world and attempt to make another tear in the universe similar to that of Elis'. They do so, but the tear is not large enough for them to escape entirely. During this journey, they come of up with an idea to do a “take-over show”. This show involving gathering mass amounts of people in hopes of helping them stretch the tear so they can escape. They call this plan, Blubber Island. After Jake's escape from the hospital, he stops in the middle of nowhere on a highway. He captures of group of Indians and is invited to join their activities. Jake comes in the middle of a ceremony for an infant that had died early. The tribe was mourning the child's death and attempts to explain the meaning of the celebration to Jake. The death of the baby was compared to that of a bird's death by tourists and it's children starving. Jake gets high with the Indians and eventually leaves them.

    Elis is reunited with the old man at random. Elis tells the old man that he had forgotten who he was, but then realized it was the same man from dream. The old man tells him the reason for him invading his dream was because of the danger humanity was in. Elis still doesn't understand what he means. The man explains that the evolution of the universe is now conscious of it's existence, therefore defying the law of physics. The mind is merely a building block and is now attempting to evolve into something else. He tells Elis of the tear that is slowly altering and ripping apart the reality around him. Elis interrupts the old man and tells him he has lost the dream. The old man is bewildered and attacks Elis for dooming the entire existence of the human race.

    Once their intense battle subsided with a rainstorm, the old man tells Elis of “collective unconscious”. A psychic universe in which human experience connects everyone. A place that he prefers to call, Blubber Island. The old man longs to go there, as the mind is in it's most fragile state and highly unpredictable. A spiritual realm that has its own demons as well. A place that also interacts with the real world. If violence occurs in the real world, the event manifests itself in Blubber Island. This is the same for Blubber Island as well. The positive and negative things that happen there, also come to light in reality. The old man had found Elis' tear, as it was so big it made his own journey unnatural. The tear grew larger and larger until the old man had to interfere. The tear had become so big that corrupt creatures not only exist in Elis' mind, but his reality as well.

    Jamie and Green boy began their take-over show. A large band began player, accompanied by hoards of punks and other bystanders. The music suddenly turned angry and sour. Jamie was confused. The audience began going mad. Stomping to death those who accidentally were pushed into the crowd. People smashing into each other. Punching, kicking. All out chaos ensued. Mounds of blubber globs arose and began being thrown around the crowd. Everything and everyone was being destroyed. The police attempted to handle the event, but were pummeled to death. Jesus appears and tells the audience of how he has given up and wants time for himself. He then leaves, and random pedestrians attempt to claim the title of the All Mighty. Suit appears and summons a horde of zombies on the crowd. Chaos continues until of Green boy, Jamie and Elis all meet face to face. Elis attempts to let a bomb off in order to “fix” everything, but is stopped by Green boy. Jamie realizes that Green boy was drunk with a sense of invincible power and gives the bomb back to Elis. As Elis is about to set the bomb, he is eaten whole by a giant. Suit captures Green boy and attempts to eat him as well, but is stopped by Casper who appears at random. Suit tells Jamie he will give her back Green boy if she gives him the dream. She refuses and shoots Suit whilst receiving Green boy. Suit begins laughing maniacally as he slowly dies. Casper is in distraught. Green boy is bleeding through his neck. Jamie is left in shock of what she has done. This triggers the end of the world.

    Blubber Island has a wide variety of characters whose own stories are told every few chapters. Somehow, these stories are all connected. Each of the characters come from different backgrounds, but all have a similar goal. The reader is unable to tell which character knows who, or if they know each other at all. In the beginning of the book, it can be assumed that the stories are completely different between chapters, but as the book carries on, the connections between each character is known. These links are either made known between dialogue or through hints until the very last chapter.

    The initial main character is Elis. A science professor at a university who seems to be unsure of himself. He maintains a cocky attitude on the outside while having endless reflection in Blubber Island. Elis is the root of Blubber Island. His decisions in life affect the realm, and could possibly doom of all humanity. The book centers around his own selfish needs and how he takes to being the most important piece to the complex world of Blubber Island. Upon his supposed death, his importance his highlighted.

    Green boy could be seen as a younger, reckless version of Elis. He acts on his own terms, not thinking about the consequences of his actions. Green boy is another player in the game Blubber Island hosts. The boy gets thrills from the harmful chaos his tear in the universe causes and doesn't seem to mind it. The bigger his tear gets, the madder he becomes. His sociopathic ways are seen upon the uprising of the take-over-show.

    Jamie is the only relevant female character of the cast and seems to be the most sane despite her condition. Her origin is of an abusive home on the countryside. Jamie ran away from home after becoming fed up with her drunkard father and nonchalant mother. She was able to fend on the streets for herself, creating new names and stories for her upon each meeting. She meets Green boy and is instantly attached. They become two halves of a whole.

    Jake, an oddly written character with an indefinite background. His reasons for jail time are unknown. But his disparity for human contact give hint that he was a resident in prison for a long time.When he escapes from prison, his personality is seemingly normal. However, he is the most absent character out of the main quad. This could be because of his need to establish himself from once a mentally insane prison occupant, to a normal acceptable man.

The main conflict in this story is person vs. self. The four main characters are constantly in battle with their need for self pleasure. They take drugs in order to enter Blubber Island in an escape from the real world. This is shows the character's true selfishnesses. As they continually sin in the real world, they are affecting Blubber Island. The tears they created only get bigger and bigger, causing humanity to become potentially extinct. The characters do not seem to care how their actions affect a mass majority and do as they please.

    Green boy seems to be my favored of the vast majority. Despite being a very selfish and arrogant person, his actions are what really drew me into this book. Green boy always had a goal and would stop at nothing to reach it. He was unbreakable and stubborn at most. The plans and ideas he came up with most likely would have not worked in the real world, but it was nice being able to use my imagination through Green boy's. Green boy isn't a perfect character. He has nooks and crannies and open wounds that would usually make a reader look in the other direction. But his annoying imperfections are what makes him a roughly lovable character.

    Readers should definitely feel a sense of entertainment and a “thirst for more” after reading Blubber Island. Yes, this book isn't perfect, but if an author is able to make me reread a paragraph and go “What exactly did I just read?”, then the book was written right. For future writers, Blubber Island is a great introduction into figuratively writing gore and physiological scenes.

    A theme that isn't major, but is surely relevant is friendship. Jamie and Green boy stick together through thick and thin. They treat each other as family despite having contrasting personalities. Towards the end of the book, when Jamie realizes the trouble Green boy has caused, she still sacrifices the entire planet for the sake of him. Friendship isn't a big topic isn't this book, but is surely alive in between the lines and in small parts of the story. Between the gunshots and gore, there is still affection and love between the characters.

     The characters in this story weren't exactly the most relatable human beings. But they did have moments, even if they were split seconds, that I could connect with. In the very beginning of the book, within Elis' dream, he says “I'm sick of humanity. This is why I came here-to get away from everyone...”. After finishing this book and seeing the type of person Elis can be, I was able to spot a contrast in this quote and his further demeanor. Elis is in a extremely fragile state with in dream. He expresses not his hatred of humanity, but of his dislikes towards the people who wronged him. It clearly angers him, but at the same time, saddens him. Throughout the entire story, there is not a moment when Elis is emotional except at this point. I never like to be seen in a vulnerable state, like Elis. Our true personalities are completely different than what we portray to the rest of the world. However, when we get in a comfortable state within ourselves or someone else, our true thoughts come pouring out.

    On another spectrum, it was rather difficult to relate to anyone else in this book. The situations and characters were so goofy that it was hard to try and create a true connection with any of them. One of the main genres in this book is comedy and action, and these aspects outshined the rest of the characters. The small moments in the book are what when the components of reality come in and the reader is able to make a true connection.

     In all honesty this book was breathtaking. It had it's weird moments, events that even made me question what the author was thinking about when writing. But overall, it was a book that really made me question myself. Sure, it definitely wasn't what I was expecting when originally reading the summary on the back. But I guess that's what made me appreciate the book much more after all. However, this wasn't a perfect book. Yes, it is one of my favorites, but there are small aspects that left me confused.

    The main weakness that this book has is character development in my opinion. The characters weren't terrible, but it seemed as though the author mainly focused on writing a face paced, action-packed, psychological thriller that kept the audience engaged. The character's weren't given much depth or background for the reader to feel connected or interested in how they should be perceived. Jamie was the only credible character that was given a background story, despite being a second main character. The rest of the character's seemed to be almost identical in personality’s and how they dealt with their lives. In my opinion, characters should have dimension. Within each chapter of a story, the layers of their being should be unfolded. With Blubber Island, I never felt that.

    I wouldn't change much about this book. But I would definitely change the way in which the rest of the characters are gradually developed. This book would have been just as good, or even better, if characters like Elis and Green Boy were seen not just as faces for each situation they are in, but individually. Also, it seemed that there was a ridiculous amount of bloodshed and detailed gore. This aspect was fine at first, but became repulsive as the story progressed. Most situations, in reality, wouldn't have required loads of blood to seem as gruesome as in Blubber Island.

I do not recommend this book to those who prefer books with deep meanings, long journeys, and characters that have a deep past and connectable personalities. This book is more targeted towards readers that have a wide imagination and a little bit of immaturity to them. Blubber Island is a fun book with entertaining characters and doesn't really have to make an effort to impress the reader. It makes one raise an eyebrow just by existing and being included in a genre of books that most don't necessarily run to read. Discovering this book was a challenge, it was that far down the food-chain of book types that most would look over in a heartbeat. I wanted a specific type of book that was out of my element and could possibly introduce me to a new genre I had not previously explored. This book did exactly that. Every scene and moment was unexpected and kept me engaged. I devoured this book and wanted more after reading. Blubber Island is a great book for those wanting to start out reading a “different” genre of books.

• ​Hay un cinco habitaciones hermosos. Están es muy elegante y grande. 
• Tres baños de lujo con muy espacio.
• Dos pisos. 
• Hay un television en la sala con videojuegos y biblioteca pequeña. Es bastante lindos.
• La cocina es moderno y negro y pequeña. Hay un rojo sillas también con uno horno y nevera.   
• Hay un MUCHOS ventañas y ocho puertas.
• Un comedor lindo. Hay un arte magnifico y muchos pescados.
• El cuarto es enorme de lujo. Hay un muchos oficinas pequeñas en el cuartos con fotos tambien.
• El secundo piso tiene deportes y juegos con dibujos también.
  
• Hay un garaje enorme con nueva carro y dos bicicletas.
  
• El jardín tiene muchos flores, arboles alta y una piscina elegante.
  

    For those of you who don’t know, my topic for my agent of change was Gay Marriage/Gay Rights. This entire subject is very controversial and is a topic of debate everyday. I for one, haven’t told my stance on the topic. On whether I do, or do not support the movement. I wanted to be unbiased and go into this process with a free and open mind that could possibly be swayed. If you ask me, this is the best choice to do for anyone that is introducing themselves into a new way of life/element. All in all, it was a life changing experience.

  I may have been unbiased, but this didn’t stop me from helping out the cause. I began volunteer work for The Attic Youth Center. A community designed as a safe haven for lesbian, gay, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) youth to find and develop into free thinking and healthy adults (If you are interested in joining like I did, visit their website here. Or if you'd prefer a different community organization, click here). There are many young people on the streets that have been kicked out/abandoned, especially gay youth that have accepting parents. The Youth Attic helps shelter some of the youth as well. These kids are still kids in my eyes. Gay or not. So I decided it would be an amazing idea to sell baked goods. From April 8th-April 26th, I fundraised for the Attic by selling donuts to the fellow SLA student body while also outside. Nearly $100 was made, which was greatly appreciated by the Attic. When first discovering the Attic, I really wanted to be hands on “involved” with them, volunteer wise. Sadly, in order to do so, I had to be 27. Being a minor can sometimes limit you in a sense! But not in this case because I did get involved and I was able to get my peers involved as well.

When setting out to make a change, I thought I had it all figured out. Originally, I had planned to get involved with Giovanni’s room, the nation's first gay library not too far from the Attic. I told you guys about it in my previous blogs. In my vision, it was going to be a sleek and smooth interview with the owners who would give me a piece of their life as gays. But then I realized, what else would have happened from there? There wasn’t much else that I could extend from and make my own. But from research and other numerous sources, I discovered the wondrous  Attic Youth Center. I found out about the organization whilst looking for other gay youth centers in the Philadelphia area. When setting out to find a place like such, I mainly aimed to connect with people of my age. Of my generation. To see what it is like growing up for them and how they deal with who they are.

   Some of the main, but minor problems that occurred were the fact that many of people I interviewed/that were involved, were very camera shy. They were pretty open with answering my questions, but when it came to documenting it, that was another story. I had to respect their privacy. I completely understood where they were coming from with wanting to stay discreet. But their words made up for the lack of identification. The main subject of my interviews was with the one and Mr. Jay Jacinto Grant, one of the directors of the Attic who enjoyed my company and my tons of questions. You can read the interview I had with him here.

Q1: Why do you support gay marriage?

    They should be able to get married. They are people too. It’s their constitutional right, let alone, human right.

Q2: What do you think keeps people from supporting?

Ignorance. They are people in this world that don't support gay rights mainly because of religion. I think this connects, because essentially, you’re forcing your religion on someone else.

Q3: Do you think sexuality defines somebody?

    No. It doesn’t define who you are, it defines your sexuality.

Q4: Knowing you as a supporter of civil rights, do you think there is a connection between civil rights of the early 20th century and gay rights?

    Yes. Before gays were getting discriminated, blacks were getting discriminated. Even though race and sexuality are different, it can still have the same affects on someone's mindset.

Q5: Do you know anyone that is gay?

      Yes. Nearly all of SLA.

Interview with Andrew Roberts:

Q1. Do you support marriage?

No.

Q2. Why not?

I believe that marriage should be between a man and woman and that man should not change it. Marriage is a scarcer thing with divorces and what not.

Q3. Do you think religion has affected your views on the topic?

Most definitely.

Q4. What do you think will happen if gay marriage is legalized? Will there be positive or negative effects?

A lot of democrats will be happy. The problem I see with gay marriage is it expands marriages ideals. If you expand the grammar to gay marriage, people could protest polygamy as well. People will say we did it in the pass, we can do it now.

Gay rights, I think that people will be happier, but it’s not going to benefit really.

   These people were amazing help to me in all ways possible. As the world gets older and generations grow, will there be changes? Interviewing two members of my day and age that come from opposite sides, it was nice to see that everyone is different. Even as youths, we still have our own independent beliefs and not everything is determined or set by adults.

     I feel like I’ve experienced the turn of a new leaf by doing this project. I’ve become more aware of the problems that do affect someone’s everyday life. At first, being a heterosexual, I didn’t think I would ever have to deal with the problems that gays do. Being unaccepted by family. Abandoned. Kicked-out. All because of your sexuality. In most cases the reasoning for being against someone’s sexuality is because of religion. But as a religious person, I would understand that you should love everyone. Even the bad things about them.

   I used to turn my nose up at the thought of community service. It felt as though you were being forced to help people. But after stepping down from the clouds and trying it, I actually felt pretty good afterwards. It was a rewarding feeling and made me want to do it again. I wasn’t earning anything physical, but strangely I was okay with it. This project has made me less selfish and more selfless. It’s made me acknowledge the world and one of the tons of problems it has.

   Most of the people  I’ve came to about my project were rather shocked at first. They knew the subject was controversial. The first thing I was being asked was “Do you support gay marriage?”. It seems that this question has became a casual phrase in everyday conversation. Mainly because it is one of the discriminatory topics that is frequently discussed by the Church and our government on a daily basis. It never bothered me when someone asked this, but I always took a mental note of who. The question itself is almost a trick question. If you answer yes, you can either get a congratulations, or a side-eye of disappointment. If the answer is no, you can expect complete avoidance from most and get labeled as a homophobic. There are positives and negatives.

    I see myself as a person who is still learning, but can be leader as well. Even without a full understanding of most topics in the world, I can still make a huge difference. It’s been one of my goals, in life, not only for this project, to make leave my fingerprint somewhere. Being commonly called a leader has it’s good and bad connotations, but I do prefer to have group collaboration sometimes. Sharing ideas and helping one another can only bring positive things. For most people who are used to doing this on their own, it can be scary. Having to share the attention with others can be anxiety filling. But it’s the things we don’t try that usually benefit us in the long run.

    Walking away from this project, I definitely will take away a better understanding of the world itself. Meeting new types of people and being exposed to a completely alien environment has definitely changed a part of my mindset. I’ve seen that stepping out of my own element was very beneficial. I’ve created a bond with people I never would have thought I would. Just by doing this project, It’s been made clear to my psyche that everyone is just a human being. The fight for gay rights is another mark that going to be embedded in history. It’s happening right before our eyes. But what we need to understand is that, we aren’t going to be perfect. The only thing I can do, and we as a whole can do, is grow and learn. Thank you readers for following me on this journey. I hope that from watching me explore the World and some of the things in it, you'll aspire to do the same. And possibly, make a change.

2. How did learning this thing make your drawings better.

     Now I actually have an idea of what I'm doing when I am drawing a landscape or room. At first when looking at many of the rooms that other professional artists have drawn, I thought that they had naturally knew how to make furniture and rooms from all perspectives. But after Ms. Hull teaching my classmates and I know how to do so. I am pretty confident and creating all sorts of rooms and knowing what I am doing now.

3. If you did this assignment again, what would you do differently?

     I would draw a different, more complex room. Considering I have a confident perspective on how to do so. I think drawing a different environment with more details and curved objects would be a challenge, which is necessary to know when pursuing a career in the art industry.

4. What is your advice to someone who has never drawn a one point perspective drawing before?

     Depending on what perspective they are going for, I would tell them to simply place a dot in the middle of the page. Use a ruler to create an outline of the object they are making. And then draw orthogonal lines to create dimension that would apply or look similar to the real world.

5. What resource helped you the most and why?

    The drawings that Ms. Hull placed around the class really helped. And the online tutorials on moodle catered as well. In my spare time, I would look in comic books and pay attention to the way the illustrators drew their rooms. I would point on the things they did wrong, and pay attention to they things they did right. I then tried to incorporate that into my own drawing.

Tenemos Inglés, matemáticas, bioquímica, español y historia. Pero, también tenemos ingeniería y arte. Mis  favoritos es Inglés y historia, porque muy facil y interesante . No me gusta mucho matemáticas y bioquímica porque es muy difícil. En matemáticas necesitamos un lápiz, la regla, la hojas de papel, la carpeta y una calculadora. En Inglés necesitamos un diccionario, un libro, la hojas de papel y computadoras. Es requerido en español un carpeta, un bolígrafo y la computadora. En bioquímica tenemos somos un libro, la mochila y el marcador. En historia es importante tenemos una computadora. Es importante hacer toda la tarea en la clases y prestar atención.

La Señora Dunn enseña inglés. Ella es muy simpatica y inteligente. Ella le gusta leer y hablar, y la clase es muy divertido también. Leemos libros en ella la clase. Ella tiene una hija. Senior Beckford enseña historia. Él es de YALE y enseña african american estudios y el clase es muy informativo y interesante. La Srta. Manuel enseña español. Ella es simpática y bilingual. Ella es interesante y su cumpleaños es el 17 de mayo. La Señorita Garvey enseña matemáticas. Ella es muy inteligente y encantadora, pero también serio. Ella también tiene un novio.

Me gusta mucho SLA. Me gusta los profesores y estudiantes. Ellos son muy amable y trabajadores. Pero, no me gusta nada el lista.  No me gusta es absoluto. Yo llego casa de tarde.  Pero, SLA es muy un increíble y inspirador escuela.

I used a hand balled into a fist, surrounded by beauty because that is what I believe the drawing itself sends a powerful message just by looking at it. Originally, the image's contrast was super high, and because I wanted to give off a relaxed but inspirational feeling to the viewers, I used a cool dark blue tint color. I wanted the color scheme to be in close proximity with one another. I didn't want only the image to send a message, but the quote as well. As as shown, the main colors of this slide are blue, white and navy. The white is the color that stands out the most because it is the lightest in contrast to the others, so I chose to make the text this color in combination with sans serif font which makes the slide easy to read. The images/text are in that certain alignment in a diagonal point of view because that is where I want the viewers eyes to follow. The emptiness in the dark navy blue and supposed to help highlight the main focus of the slide. The size of the font is supposed to help the reader hub on the important parts of the slide. Because we usually read from left to right, it is only natural for the audience to see the picture that way in the beginning. First by seeing my name at the top, followed by a soft, grainy but empowering picture and left with an inspirational quote.

I personally learned a lot from this assignment. It is pretty difficult being a designer that is trying to catch the attention of millions. I also learned why some make the decisions they do and question why they do it. Not to mention it was pretty difficult for me to make a decisions on how I was going to convey my message to the audience.

 Taking a step back into present day, homosexuality is now more controversial than ever. But it seems that people are now more open to expressing their opinions about the topic as opposed to prior times. I decided to do my own investigating and wanted to get the opinions of today's youth. The children that will be running the world as we know it when they are adults.

I initiated a majority of my student body to take some time and complete a survey asking them about their beliefs and opinions of homosexuality as a whole. From the results, many of them agreed with one another. And there were some who weren't afraid to express their true feelings. I do appreciate how everyone was very mature about the matter, it seems that they were all eager to get their thoughts out.  

“God constituted marriage between man and women, not women and women and man and man. Therefore, I don't support homosexuality. But that does not mean I hate them, because as a Christian you are supposed to love everyone. Homosexuality is not a natural God made thing and therefore I don't support it.”

“Fear of something they know nothing about. You fear the unknown so you don't give it a chance.”

These were some of the most interesting responses. Everyone seemed to have their own logical reasoning for their beliefs and it was really impressive. Coming from an unbiased point of view, not many of the responses sway me to either side of the bar.

            A majority also believed that the reason people were against gay relationships were the doings of religion. A common belief, and understandable. Throughout history the Christian bible has been taken out of context, and caused the condemning of race and sexuality. Since homosexuality is such a big phenomena now, a new gay friendly “Queen” James bible has been created. According to sources, the book has corrected the passages from the original bible that seem to have bashed homosexuality. A nice buy for those interested out there.

Spanish BM Script Draft

Intro- ¡Hola chicos y chicas! Bienvenidos a mi video.

Yo- Mi nombre es Lindsey. A ver.. Tengo quince años y soy de Filadelphia. Mi cumpleanos es vienti cuatro de noviembre. Soy Sagitario.Tengo los ojos marrones y el pelo largo rizado y negro. Yo tengo dos hermana mayores y un hermano menor. Además, cuando tengo tiempo libre me gusta leer cómicos y ver la tele, ir de compras los fines de semana, jugar videojuegos y dibujar y dormir. Pero, muy muy detesto nadar y antipáctica personas.

Él- El muchacho es Nashay Day. El es de filadelfia también. A él le gusta ir de compras en las tiendas Nordstrom y Lana Del Rey. Yo lo adoro proque él es muy divertido y sociable. Él tiene los ojos marrones y el pelo negro.

Ellos- Ellos son Alex y Daniel y Rafi. Ellos son de filadefia tambien. Ellos les gusta comer y dormir. Me caen bien porque ellos son comicos y loco.

Ellas- Ellas son Taylor y Bianca Adowa. Taylor es muy linda y le gusta pasar un rato con amigos. Bianca es súper alt@ a veces timid@ e s por eso que es mi mejor amigo. Adowa tiene una familia grande, ella tiene tres hermanos y una hermana menor.

Nosotros- Somos amigos. Nos llevamos bien porque nos gusta comer y ver la televisión casi siempre.

Conclusion- FIN

` January 8, 2012

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Slinger

Book Review by Lindsey Jones

I'm sure everyone has walked into, or crossed one of these books before in their lifetime. Your not really sure what it was about, or you were just curious. Heck, books without a plot summary on the back certainly leave us either intrigued or lukewarm. Despite this book being meant for adults, this is the holy grail of literature for adolescence. The Catcher in the Rye really takes a step back and truly shows what it's like being a teenager desperate for acceptance and discovering who one's self is. On a majority, this book is considered one of the best English written novels of all time. The novel sells about 250,000 each year with sales of more than 65,000,000 books. But that is not what makes it a great book to read. What makes a novel the best of the best, is if you like it. And with this book in particular, you will either love it to death, or hate it's guts.

Holden Caulfield's adventure begins at Pencey Prep, an illustrious, gold-tinted private school located in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Christmas is just around the corner and all students are ready to see their families over the vacation. However, Holden's residency is only temporary. The boy had recently been expelled and given until after the break to pack up and skedaddle.

Before departing, Holden visits his old history teacher, Mr. Spencer. Not to kiss up to him or anything like that, but to tell him goodbye. Mr. Spencer is a wise-man, but also knows how to do his job. He gives Holden a good scolding about how poor his performance is academically. Holden, in sheer annoyance, reads him a note that he wrote him on the back of his history exam, telling him that it was not his professor's fault for failing him, but his own.

Holden returns to his dorm room. Quiet. Just like he prefers. The rest of the students are at the winter football game and aren't expected to be back for a while. Taking advantage of the wide amount of time he has, Holden starts a new book. Just when he first gets the “feel” of the book, the obnoxious neighbor, Ackley joins. Ackley's profile consists of a family of pimples across his face (of which he usually picks at) and constantly clipping his toenails, much to Holden's annoyance. Ackley barges into Holden's room, picks up things that don't belong to him, and puts them back in the completely wrong place. Ackley treats Holden as if he is in inferior to him because he is merely two years older. The wreck (Ackely) begins to talk about how if Stradlater was around, he'd leave promptly. Much to his demise , Stradlater returns and begs Holden to write his English paper for him. With vague instructions on the criteria for the paper, Holden writes about his brother's baseball mitt, his brother who's life ended early. Stradlater then returns, he is in disgust about the paper Holden had written . Holden is fed up. He doesn't like how ignorant and jughead-like Stradlater is. And what really got him angry is Stradlater not even being able to say his dates name right. Jean Gallagher. A long time friend of Holden's and someone who he is particularly fond of. The two duke it out, Stradlater getting the upper hand. Holden getting a bloody nose. This event officially helps Holden decide that he is done with Pencey and he escapes in the middle of the night and sets for a train to Manhattan three days shy of the winter break.

Holden meets the mother of one of the students at Pencey on the train. Holden knows the student in mind, another of which he dislikes. She's considered the type of mother that believes her children are complete saints. Holden coaxes her into her beliefs, inferring that her son is in fact the best of the best. He arrives at Penn Station and first thinks of a few people he could call, but he ends up not calling anyone. He signals a taxi cab and begins a conversation at random about where the animals at Central Park go in the winter when the water freezes. The driver says that the fish freeze with the water and the ducks go elsewhere, where it is warmer. The conversation carries on, Holden asking the question again and again, as if he is confused.

His ride ends at the Edmont Hotel. A place overran by perverts and drug dealers. After checking into his room, Holden heads for the bar in the hotel. Lying about his age serves him no good. The bartender refuses to give him alcohol despite his claims of being in his twenties. So Holden takes a coke and reverts his attention to the three ladies across the room, obvious tourists. He pays most of his attention to the blonde one, the most attractive. The other two females came up too short face wise. Holden is able to talk to them, but neither of them can hold a descent conversation. He invites the blonde to dance for a while, which works, but she still not paying attention. The night ends with Holden getting his feelings hurt and the only one with the check.

Holden becomes angry and embarrassed and is offered a prostitute. He accepts. He thinks that it'd be easier to hurry and lose his virginity, since he becomes pretty uncomfortable when a girl says “no”. He pays the Maurice, the pimp five dollars for the first hour. The prostitute later comes, and as soon she walks through the door, Holden realizes she is nothing but a kid. He sees her as his equal, and decides to just have a conversation. The girl is clearly uninterested and wants to hurry up and get the deed over with, but Holden asks what she does when she's not selling herself. She says she goes to the movies and just watches shows, which is incredibly boring to Holden. The time is up, and the girl wants her money. Holden is confused because he had just paid her pimp just before she came in. The girl leaves, and later returns with Maurice. Maurice roughens up Holden, and the girl takes the five dollars from his wallet. The terrible two then leave.

Holden walks up the next morning and telephones a girlfriend of his, Sally Hayes. Sally and Holden see a play together. It apparently is one those typical tragic love stories about a guy going to war and leaving his wife behind. He then later returns with no recollection of being married to this woman, and they go through all these trials and tribulations just to end up together in the end. Holden doesn't like the story of course, it was too predictable. They later go to a roller skating rink, in which Holden bombards Sally with the impulse for her to run away with him. Sally scolds him with how ridiculous he sounds, and the lack of money, and the fact that he has no plans or idea what it is like to just “runaway together”. The argument dies down, Holden calling her a “pain in the ass”, leaving Sally fuming. She leaves him, but Holden pleads out to her. He is still ignored. With nothing better else to do, Holden decides to pay his little sister Phoebe a visit.

Holden heads to a park, a specific that Phoebe usually roller skates at. He finds a young girl that looks as if she'd be one of his sisters friends. She tells him that Phoebe is probably at the Museum of Natural History. Holden goes but then realizes that the museum isn't open on Sundays. The boy then diverts a plan and is able to sneak into his parent's apartment, in order to see Phoebe, sound asleep. She wakes up and Holden tells her about a dream he has to be “the catcher in the rye”. A being whom he believes is to save children from straying from their innocence. The Caulfield's return home and Holden sneaks out of the window. He meets his old English teacher, Mr. Antolini. Antolini provides him with a piece of advice and some shelter for awhile. Antolini drowns Holden with information that makes him question what exactly “the catcher in the rye” is. He serves him alcohol, and they sleep. Holden wakes up to Antolini rubbing his head in a way that he describes “flitty” or in more modern terms, homosexual. He gets so uncomfortable that he leaves for the city.

Through all of his confusion, Holden decides to become a deaf mute in west. It's much easier than learning to understand others when they can't understand you. Before leaving, Holden takes his sister to the Central Park Zoo and watches her on the merry-go-round, at this moment, he felt generally happy. He leaves her theres. Holden doesn't exactly make it to his dream life of being a deaf mute in the west. He reduces himself to something much different. He “got sick” and doesn't feel comfortable telling of his current life at a mental hospital. But what does tell us is that he misses Stradlater and Ackely and ultimately regrets telling us about his life and experiences.

Holden spends the rest of his time in New York battling with isolation, drug use, and coming to the understanding of his sexuality. His avoidance of his family allows him to truly understand who he is exactly and be able to make his own decisions. Holden on an all time level, battles himself internally. The people he encounters just revolve around him. He wants acceptance and praise from others, and for others to like him. Which sounds pretty selfish, but doesn't everyone? It is similar to his relationship with his parents. They aren't very engaged or involved with Holden, and this neglect could possibly be a part of why he thinks this way exactly. Without this love and compassion from others, Holden's character doesn't grow throughout the story. Instead he comes to a conclusion and adapts to the situations he is in, in order to fit his liking.

In reading this book, I hope you as a reader can take away that nobody is perfect. And that maybe you could possibly see yourself in Holden Caulfield's shoes. His mind got the best of him, and he let his selfish priorities get in the way of “what could have been”, but that makes him no lesser than human. At one point in our lifetime, everyone has wanted to do something drastic, to get away from everything, to learn who you really are. Holden is just one of the few who actually pursued it.

As a teenager myself, relating to some of the characters is simple. Holden Caulfield possesses the traits of most teenagers and is easily similar to most. Holden suffers from the usual phase of rebellion. But is it just a “phase”? In most stories, the main character usually develops into a better person and grows along with the plot. Holden doesn't show much character growth at all. He's stubborn. What I like about him is that he sets his eyes on what he believes in and doesn't give them up for anyone or anything, even if his decisions might jeopardize him and others. Despite his screw ups and arrogant attitude, Holden is generally a nice person and seems to care about others. One of the things we have in common is setting our goals and letting nothing get in our way of reaching them. Even though his are a bit more drastic, he really speaks up for those who don't dare or take risks.

Overall, I generally do really like this book. Such books that expose youths for who really are, are usually terribly written are impossible to understand. As a reader, you will literally feel as though you are on this long journey with Holden, that only lasted a few days, you might even discover yourself with him. But I do have some small tweaks that I personally think would make the book more appealing for my tastes. One of the main weaknesses of this book is that at some parts, the book can be a bit “dry” and confusing. They're were very few moments like this though. Small incidents in which I had no idea what was going on, or how one situation connected to the next. But you've got to keep in mind that this book is being narrated by Caulfield himself. So I'd forgive the way in which he interprets things. One of the strengths of this book is the simpleness. The author was able to keep me as a reader engaged, without overrunning me with a ridiculous amount of detail or unnecessary information that didn't add to the plot at all. He used simple events, such as Holden in the cab asking about the animals freezing in the winter. I was ears-up to this question and eager to read the answer because it's something I've always wondered myself.

If I could possibly change one thing, it'd be minor. I think this book could have been better if there were a bit more of recurring characters. That I possibly think could have kept Holden's attention, or he made some type of internal bond with, besides Phoebe. But thats only one thing, besides that, this book doesn't really need to change at all!

I mostly recommend this book to adolescence and young adults, but it could possibly be a good read to those much older (the original text was made for adults). Those who want a book that is not hard on the eyes, or the mind. That depicts a main character who's flaws overflow the pages, and is far from cliché. This is not a story you'll read everyday.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Slinger

Book Review by Lindsey Jones

I'm sure everyone has walked into, or crossed one of these books before in their lifetime. Your not really sure what it was about, or you were just curious. Heck, books without a plot summary on the back certainly leave us either intrigued or lukewarm. Despite this book being meant for adults, this is the holy grail of literature for adolescence. The Catcher in the Rye really takes a step back and truly shows what it's like being a teenager desperate for acceptance and discovering who one's self is. On a majority, this book is considered one of the best English written novels of all time. The novel sells about 250,000 each year with sales of more than 65,000,000 books. But that is not what makes it a great book to read. What makes a novel the best of the best, is if you like it. And with this book in particular, you will either love it to death, or hate it's guts.

Holden Caulfield's adventure begins at Pencey Prep, an illustrious, gold-tinted private school located in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Christmas is just around the corner and all students are ready to see their families over the vacation. However, Holden's residency is only temporary. The boy had recently been expelled and given until after the break to pack up and skedaddle.

Before departing, Holden visits his old history teacher, Mr. Spencer. Not to kiss up to him or anything like that, but to tell him goodbye. Mr. Spencer is a wise-man, but also knows how to do his job. He gives Holden a good scolding about how poor his performance is academically. Holden, in sheer annoyance, reads him a note that he wrote him on the back of his history exam, telling him that it was not his professor's fault for failing him, but his own.

Holden returns to his dorm room. Quiet. Just like he prefers. The rest of the students are at the winter football game and aren't expected to be back for a while. Taking advantage of the wide amount of time he has, Holden starts a new book. Just when he first gets the “feel” of the book, the obnoxious neighbor, Ackley joins. Ackley's profile consists of a family of pimples across his face (of which he usually picks at) and constantly clipping his toenails, much to Holden's annoyance. Ackley barges into Holden's room, picks up things that don't belong to him, and puts them back in the completely wrong place. Ackley treats Holden as if he is in inferior to him because he is merely two years older. The wreck (Ackely) begins to talk about how if Stradlater was around, he'd leave promptly. Much to his demise , Stradlater returns and begs Holden to write his English paper for him. With vague instructions on the criteria for the paper, Holden writes about his brother's baseball mitt, his brother who's life ended early. Stradlater then returns, he is in disgust about the paper Holden had written . Holden is fed up. He doesn't like how ignorant and jughead-like Stradlater is. And what really got him angry is Stradlater not even being able to say his dates name right. Jean Gallagher. A long time friend of Holden's and someone who he is particularly fond of. The two duke it out, Stradlater getting the upper hand. Holden getting a bloody nose. This event officially helps Holden decide that he is done with Pencey and he escapes in the middle of the night and sets for a train to Manhattan three days shy of the winter break.

Holden meets the mother of one of the students at Pencey on the train. Holden knows the student in mind, another of which he dislikes. She's considered the type of mother that believes her children are complete saints. Holden coaxes her into her beliefs, inferring that her son is in fact the best of the best. He arrives at Penn Station and first thinks of a few people he could call, but he ends up not calling anyone. He signals a taxi cab and begins a conversation at random about where the animals at Central Park go in the winter when the water freezes. The driver says that the fish freeze with the water and the ducks go elsewhere, where it is warmer. The conversation carries on, Holden asking the question again and again, as if he is confused.

His ride ends at the Edmont Hotel. A place overran by perverts and drug dealers. After checking into his room, Holden heads for the bar in the hotel. Lying about his age serves him no good. The bartender refuses to give him alcohol despite his claims of being in his twenties. So Holden takes a coke and reverts his attention to the three ladies across the room, obvious tourists. He pays most of his attention to the blonde one, the most attractive. The other two females came up too short face wise. Holden is able to talk to them, but neither of them can hold a descent conversation. He invites the blonde to dance for a while, which works, but she still not paying attention. The night ends with Holden getting his feelings hurt and the only one with the check.

Holden becomes angry and embarrassed and is offered a prostitute. He accepts. He thinks that it'd be easier to hurry and lose his virginity, since he becomes pretty uncomfortable when a girl says “no”. He pays Maurice, the pimp, five dollars for the first hour. The prostitute later comes, and as soon she walks through the door, Holden realizes she is nothing but a kid. He sees her as his equal, and decides to just have a conversation. The girl is clearly uninterested and wants to hurry up and get the deed over with, but Holden asks what she does when she's not selling herself. She says she goes to the movies and just watches shows, which is incredibly boring to Holden. The time is up, and the girl wants her money. Holden is confused because he had just paid her pimp just before she came in. The girl leaves, and later returns with Maurice. Maurice roughens up Holden, and the girl takes the five dollars from his wallet. The terrible two then leave.

Holden walks up the next morning and telephones a girlfriend of his, Sally Hayes. Sally and Holden see a play together. It apparently is one those typical tragic love stories about a guy going to war and leaving his wife behind. He then later returns with no recollection of being married to this woman, and they go through all these trials and tribulations just to end up together in the end. Holden doesn't like the story of course, it was too predictable. They later go to a roller skating rink, in which Holden bombards Sally with the impulse for her to run away with him. Sally scolds him with how ridiculous he sounds, and the lack of money, and the fact that he has no plans or idea what it is like to just “runaway together”. The argument dies down, Holden calling her a “pain in the ass”, leaving Sally fuming. She leaves him, but Holden pleads out to her. He is still ignored. With nothing better else to do, Holden decides to pay his little sister Phoebe a visit.

Holden heads to a park, a specific that Phoebe usually roller skates at. He finds a young girl that looks as if she'd be one of his sisters friends. She tells him that Phoebe is probably at the Museum of Natural History. Holden goes but then realizes that the museum isn't open on Sundays. The boy then diverts a plan and is able to sneak into his parent's apartment, in order to see Phoebe, sound asleep. She wakes up and Holden tells her about a dream he has to be “the catcher in the rye”. A being whom he believes is to save children from straying from their innocence. The Caulfield's return home and Holden sneaks out of the window. He meets his old English teacher, Mr. Antolini. Antolini provides him with a piece of advice and some shelter for awhile. Antolini drowns Holden with information that makes him question what exactly “the catcher in the rye” is. He serves him alcohol, and they sleep. Holden wakes up to Antolini rubbing his head in a way that he describes “flitty” or in more modern terms, homosexual. He gets so uncomfortable that he leaves for the city.

Through all of his confusion, Holden decides to become a deaf mute in west. It's much easier than learning to understand others when they can't understand you. Before leaving, Holden takes his sister to the Central Park Zoo and watches her on the merry-go-round, at this moment, he felt generally happy. He leaves her theres. Holden doesn't exactly make it to his dream life of being a deaf mute in the west. He reduces himself to something much different. He “got sick” and doesn't feel comfortable telling of his current life at a mental hospital. But what does tell us is that he misses Stradlater and Ackely and ultimately regrets telling us about his life and experiences.

Holden spends the rest of his time in New York battling with isolation, drug use, and coming to the understanding of his sexuality. His avoidance of his family allows him to truly understand who he is exactly and be able to make his own decisions. Holden on an all time level, battles himself internally. The people he encounters just revolve around him. He wants acceptance and praise from others, and for others to like him. Which sounds pretty selfish, but doesn't everyone? It is similar to his relationship with his parents. They aren't very engaged or involved with Holden, and this neglect could possibly be a part of why he thinks this way exactly. Without this love and compassion from others, Holden's character doesn't grow throughout the story. Instead he comes to a conclusion and adapts to the situations he is in, in order to fit his liking.

In reading this book, I hope you as a reader can take away that nobody is perfect. And that maybe you could possibly see yourself in Holden Caulfield's shoes. His mind got the best of him, and he let his selfish priorities get in the way of “what could have been”, but that makes him no lesser than human. At one point in our lifetime, everyone has wanted to do something drastic, to get away from everything, to learn who you really are. Holden is just one of the few who actually pursued it.

As a teenager myself, relating to some of the characters is simple. Holden Caulfield possesses the traits of most teenagers and is easily similar to most. Holden suffers from the usual phase of rebellion. But is it just a “phase”? In most stories, the main character usually develops into a better person and grows along with the plot. Holden doesn't show much character growth at all. He's stubborn. What I like about him is that he sets his eyes on what he believes in and doesn't give them up for anyone or anything, even if his decisions might jeopardize him and others. Despite his screw ups and arrogant attitude, Holden is generally a nice person and seems to care about others. One of the things we have in common is setting our goals and letting nothing get in our way of reaching them. Even though his are a bit more drastic, he really speaks up for those who don't dare or take risks.

Overall, I generally do really like this book. Such books that expose youths for who really are, are usually terribly written are impossible to understand. As a reader, you will literally feel as though you are on this long journey with Holden, that only lasted a few days, you might even discover yourself with him. But I do have some small tweaks that I personally think would make the book more appealing for my tastes. One of the main weaknesses of this book is that at some parts, the book can be a bit “dry” and confusing. They're were very few moments like this though. Small incidents in which I had no idea what was going on, or how one situation connected to the next. But you've got to keep in mind that this book is being narrated by Caulfield himself. So I'd forgive the way in which he interprets things. One of the strengths of this book is the simpleness. The author was able to keep me as a reader engaged, without overrunning me with a ridiculous amount of detail or unnecessary information that didn't add to the plot at all. He used simple events, such as Holden in the cab asking about the animals freezing in the winter. I was ears-up to this question and eager to read the answer because it's something I've always wondered myself.

If I could possibly change one thing, it'd be minor. I think this book could have been better if there were a bit more of recurring characters. That I possibly think could have kept Holden's attention, or he made some type of internal bond with, besides Phoebe. But thats only one thing, besides that, this book doesn't really need to change at all!

I mostly recommend this book to adolescence and young adults, but it could possibly be a good read to those much older (the original text was made for adults). Those who want a book that is not hard on the eyes, or the mind. That depicts a main character who's flaws overflow the pages, and is far from cliché. This is not a story you'll read everyday.

Pero mi cumpleaños es noviembre veinte y cuatro.   Me fascina dibujar, dormir, ver la tele, videojuegos, leer cómic y comer. Soy cómica, baja, guapa y perezosa. Soy un poquito tímida y casi siempre de  No me gusta nada trabajar y cantar. Viejo musica en fascina musica y Johnny Depp me fascina talentos. Los fines de semana me gusta deportista. ¿Qué se siente en América del Sur? ¿Cuántos años tienes? ¿Cuáles son sus actividades favoritas? Responde! Adiós!

Hello and greetings from Science Leadership Academy! I am Lindsey Jones, a freshman coming to you to inform you about a serious world issue that has affected the majority. The topic I chose was “Gay Rights”. Yes, it may sound like a very cliche topic to do, but in all honestly it is something that interests me the most. Before I go into the discussion, I would like to tell you that I am refraining from telling my personal views on gay rights and whether I support them or not. I believe that if I come into this project without a clear and free mind, my beliefs will prevent me from seeing the true picture for what it is and gathering the correct information properly. Please respect this choice. It will come in handy later.

Throughout world history there has been many controversial topics that have shaped the world into what it is today. From women’s rights to civil rights, there has been struggle. But in modern day society, one of the main topics of discussion is gay marriage/rights.  In this You and The World project, we are brought up with a world issue, and must find ways that could possibly help with it and inform the society of what is going on. I hope throughout the research I do, I will learn, and you all will be able to learn too. Some people tend to back things they are not properly educated on, or because the majority backs it. Which is something completely ignorant to do. Gay rights are something that is either are yes or no topic. You either stand by it or you don’t. But what are our reasons for standing by it? What are our reasons not to? This project is something that I hope really makes us all think about it.

                                            AMIGOS VS FAMILIA

                                            Tu vs. Ud. Questions

     Ever wonder how to address your elders in spanish? Or how to greet your amigos? Depending on the person, they're will always be a certain amount of respect given in the spanish language. In english, we usually address authority figures with “Mr.” or “Ms.”, but with Spanish, it is way more complex.

     There are two different ways of speech that specify who you are talking to. When having a conversation with a friend or peer, it is always necessary to end the sentence “Tú”. This is an informal way of speech and should not be used when talking to authority figures. The same is applied when asking questions. Imagine you are meeting a new friend for the first time. They ask for your name. You would say, “´¿Me llamo ____, y tú?” By ending the sentence with “...y tú?” You are saying “And you?”. A couple of practices and you'll get the hang of it!

     Now onto to the formal way of sayings! Whenever referring to an adult or older authority figure, it is essential to ask them a question that ends with “Usted”. Simple questions such as “What is your name?” would be said in espanol like “¿Cómo se llama usted?” as opposed to its informal counter part, “¿Cómo te llamas tú?”. This applies to all older family members, teachers and other authority figures.

Just remember these simple things:

Tú=Someone around your age/peer/friend

Usted= An adult, authority figure (ex: Professora)

Try practicing here

   Lets take a look at the boxes below:

                                                 Por Favor en Gracias

                                                  Common Courtesy Phrases

      Phrases like “Please” and “Thank you” have been taught to us since we were small children. They are commonly used in everyday life and project a sense of respect and courtesy among people. Irregardless of what some might think, common courtesy is what will get you further in life, while also leaving a good impression!

      “Thank you”. We've heard and have said it ourselves. Now how do we say it in the Spanish language? There are many ways, but a short, and common way to say it is “Gracias.”. For example, if someone holds the door for you, you'd reply with “Gracias.”. “Gracias” is only one of the many ways to express gratitude in the Spanish language.

     Ever accidentally bumped into someone or tried getting their attention? These situations usually start with someone saying “Excuse me”. In English, there aren't many ways in which you can say it. This is where the complex language of Spanish comes in! There are multiple ways in which “excuse me” can be said in Spanish. And each of them have different feelings/meanings behind them.

      We've all wanted something so bad, that we've practically begged before. Or, because it is polite to your partner, you say “Please” when asking for something or someone. In spanish, “please” is said as “Por favor”. This term is always needed when wanting something. And prevents you from sounding rude. It is a less demanding word and shows your proper etiquette skills.

In order to know proper etiquette in Spanish, you will need to know:

The three ways to say "Thank You"

The three ways to say "You're welcome" and the differences between the usages.

And how to say "Please"

Advert your eyes to the ways of saying these phrases below: