I decided to use a minicourse to educate a group of ninth-grade kids on the principles of practicing self-love and placing a high value on self-confidence as my capstone project. People frequently disregard their own needs for self-care and instead prioritize other people and things over themselves. This leads to a lack of self-care. To begin the whole process of he initial start of my mini-course, my main goal was to influence the younger generation of students to begin to think more about themselves. Allowing them to thoroughly explore their journey of not just their favorite pastimes but also their triggers and activators. Having them be able to differentiate the difference between their different feelings and speaking up without feeling bad about what they have said. This process has taught me a lot, It has taught me how different people retain information as well as how different people use the information that they were given to the best of their abilities. I also learned the the role of time management as well as the role of being in charge of everything, Having that responsibility to call the shots, is a lot to handle and maintain when you’re not completely familiar with doing so. Once I was able to regulate that and have full control and understanding of what I was doing, it made it easier for me to stand up in front of a group of kids and present and influence them into wanting to participate.

Link To Full Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EHoaQ74qCl86jiX9XPz3-yVNksYSkZaXwh4N3g8TYDI/edit?usp=sharing

The artwork I drew above illustrates the relationship between Offred’s real world and the various universes in which she could exist in. As this is the current reality of Offred’s life story, she is currently positioned in the center of the page. Since her current life is that of a handmaid, her only responsibility is to maintain her health in order to bear children, and healthy ones at that and that is her only duty. The work of what it means to be a handmaid is given to us in several portions of the book, piece by piece, each time disclosing a new aspect of their function.“ Hair must long but covered.” You can get a brief overview of the various requirements connected to the image above. Their hair is certainly tucked away, concealed from view, as you can see in the drawing. They must wear red shoes and dresses, and their gowns must be long and sleeved. Because they are so valuable and practically considered a treasured asset in this new civilization, this is done to protect them from other people and the outside world. The quote, which comes from Chapter 6, states, “We learn to see the world in gasp.” They are kept hidden behind Gilead’s walls and the wings that are essentially there to cover up their faces are used to hide their faces indicating that they had little to no Freedom and an extremely sheltered.

As you can see, there are four distinct looks that correspond to the various personas of the novel’s key characters. Offred’s surroundings are arranged to represent the different potential outcomes that might take place in her reality, or simply the various results she has encountered during the narrative. The Jezebel’s specific outfit is described as “the women on the other hand are tropical, they are dressed in all kinds of bright festive gear.” This is stated in Chapter 37 when Offred is introduced to The Club scene, this is very unfamiliar to her and it is a culture shock because she is so used to being covered up and modest. She also even refers to the girls in the club as looking ‘clownish’ because they are free to wear almost anything they want. Her past life as a College student is another persona, it was her past life, where she was able to live as she liked, not under the Gilead rule with no freedom. She didn’t have any stipulations tied to her name and she definitely didn’t have to worry about what she wore. She was a college student, doing college things living her best life as a Free woman.

Finally, the Wives and the Un-Women are the final two characters I drew. Gilead gives a lot of Power to the title of Wives. Every woman in its society aspires to be like them and especially to hold the title of being a Wife. In fact, the wives aren’t really presented in Gilead unless one of their handmaids bears them a child. This happens because their age or their infertility stops them from being able to conceive their own children, and wives are usually of old age. The birth of the child gives the wife some attention. In chapter 21 this quote states; “the wives are here to bear witness the naming.” Meaning once the handmaid gives birth all the responsibility is then transferred over the the wife to name the child and raise it as their own. In the novel we aren’t informed a lot about the Un-women, we know only little bits and pieces about who they are, where they are, and what they do. In chapter 20 we learn that the Un-women are “feminists from the days before Gilead.” This gives us a little bit of insight that the Unwomen are just feminists who are not going to conform to the Men’s rule and in the community of Gilead that is seen as forbidden, and breaking the rules. Therefore you never see them inside the gates of Gilead and we barely hear about them unless they are mentioned on the TV which is forbidden to watch.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, By. Margaret Atwood. Atwood explores a lot of different real-world issues. The way she perceives body image and the way she shows it through her characters is what initially caught my attention because she does it uniquely. I was also able to connect this back to myself, the things that I have experienced, and the things that I see happening in my community. Not just affecting me but how it also affects the people around me.

Body Image is an issue that presents itself in The Handmaid’s Tale as well as in my own life. We are first introduced to this topic in chapter 13 of the book. The main character Offred is self-reflecting on her own life, while she has some “alone” time in the bathroom while she is taking a bath. She begins to carefully examine her body, studying the little imperfections and even remembering what her body has previously looked like in the past. This quote, I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will” (pg.95) interests me a lot. Considering the circumstances that she is facing and what has become her reality. As we know a Handmaid’s only job is to carry the child and then give birth. Nothing more and nothing less. She uses the word “used” referring to the fact that she thought that the only reason for her body was to be used, to be used as an instrument. Her body has been used not for herself but for others at a cost, the cost of love and lust. She doesn’t know anything other than using her body to get what she wants or just to make other people happy, and sadly, this has become her reality in the “new” life that she is now living.

People’s perception of your physical appearance affects some drastically while others aren’t as affected by it so much. In my own life and the things that I have seen in my community the type of body you have is heavily based on how others view you or how you want others to view you. A lot of the normal body imperfections are looked as if they shouldn’t be there and if your body has them your are not ‘perfect’ and there is something wrong. I have once struggled with the idea that my body needs to be perfect to feel pretty or accepted. It took some time for me to learn that there is no ‘perfect’ body and that in fact, my body is perfect just the way it is. This journey was not short at all, learning and getting to know your body for what it is and loving it for the way it is takes some time. As a little girl that was something hard for me to understand, knowing that it is okay to be a little chunky and have a little bit of stretch marks on my body because it’s normal. Everyone is not the same, therefore they aren’t gonna look the same. Learning not to worry about what others think learning not to want to look like them and being content with the way I looked and appear to others. Social media also plays a role in what “you should” look like and what “you shouldn’t” look like. It paints a false reality of what is deemed perfect and what is not, therefore influencing younger girls or just anyone in general to “fix” something that doesn’t need fixing. Atwood does it again with this quote, “Now the flesh rearranges itself differently. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object.” She conveys the idea of how a woman’s body changes from its original shape as a result of childbirth. “Flesh rearranges itself” meaning her body, the flesh has taken another form as the result of childbirth. It makes sense because Offred’s body is used to bear children and as we know she has already had a child, a child with Luke. This sense of a “mommy body” is also pretty relevant in the real world, it’s pretty evident that once you give birth your body is changed forever and it’s never gonna go back to its original state. This idea then leads some moms to go and get their bodies done to achieve something that was there that isn’t now. Some of them do it for themselves to make themselves feel a little bit better about their appearance while very few just leave their bodies as is, and they just grow to love their new body.