The Scarlet Letter/Juno Creative Project

Isabella Tognini

Self-reflection

Due: 12/10/2012

For my creative piece I actually decided to focus on a couple of topics that weren’t quite discussed in class, which was “independence” and “an individuals pursuit of happiness.” When reading The Scarlet Letter, I couldn’t help but admire Hester’s ability to take her situation head on, and continue to carry herself and her child through some very rough times. From the beginning of the book she is definitely seen as an independent women. In spite of the way the townspeople see her, she soon finds liberation in the letter, which allows her to transform the meaning of the letter. In the movie, Juno, she starts off being an extremely independent person. She, as well, takes the situation head on, and decides to stay pregnant and for the most part, does not let others opinions effect her daily life. But though these two ladies were independent, they also found comfort and longing for the one they loved. I created a song about society’s cruelty and having the strength to endure their perception of right and wrong. When writing this song, I focused more on Juno, and how she had to carry the evidence with her, but also the support that she, in the end, wanted from Paulie. The song starts off saying “they were kind, for a time,” where I connected with how society treats individuals -- they can be kind, until you do something that they don’t see as the norm. With my lyrics I wanted to show that the character (or whoever might sing this song) was affected by society’s opinion, but at the same time knowing that they don’t actually understand the whole situation. Though times are hard and people are cruel, you can still be strong and be able to carry a burden without running away. But although it’s nice to be independent, having someone by your side to help support you can be a great thing.  

            I started my piece by picking a song that I really liked and know all the lyrics to. I originally wanted to write my own song, but then realized that I don’t play any instruments and that it would be extremely hard to come up with a tune/melody without knowing chords. So I decided to use a Mumford & Sons song and change up all of the lyrics. I wrote down some key concepts, which I thought might help with writing the song. While doing this I thought about that scene when Juno walked through the hall at her school and all of the kids just stared at her stomach and in The Scarlet Letter when Hester had to stand up on the scaffold. And while those people judged her, they still stood strong, Juno didn’t run to the bathroom and cry, and Hester didn’t just leave the town.

Unfortunately, the problem with using an existing song, is that I did have to pay attention to how many words/syllables I had in each line, or it would be sounded like I was trying to rush the song. Also, since it’s such a new song, I could not find the instrumental, and had to stick with using just my own voice (and a crappy microphone). I am also not great at writing songs, but I tried the best I could with being as poetic as possible. And I think that for never having wrote a song before, I did do a pretty good job, especially when I needed to execute a theme. I think I made it clear that in the beginning of the song, there was an obvious issue with society and was able to show a solution near the end when they are able to be strong together and they don’t have to run away, even if they don’t live my society’s expectations. 

If I had to do this project all over again, I think I could have tried to pick another song, one that I could find an instrumental for, which I believe would have made the song sound a lot better. Another thing which would have been really cool to do, is to actually have learned to play the song on guitar. Though I do think it was smart for me to take an already existing melody, or I would have created something that would have absolutely been horrid (haha). 

Self Reflection 

        We read “The scarlet letter” and watched “Juno” in our sexuality and society class. Both stories portray the same themes and some messages but represents the different time periods of the world. “The scarlet letter” is a story of a women who becomes victim of public eye just because of committing an unforgettable sin of adultery. Many themes occur which directly relates to our sexuality and society class. “Juno” is other story of a teen girl who gets pregnant and reflects the story of modern Hestor Prynne. Both stories are not just congested in portraying the main ideas of sexuality and society but goes further and explains themes, ideas, symbols and messages which makes the reader enough flexible in understanding of sexuality and society and things beyond this. 

I chose the theme of Identity Vs Society, for this creative project. Identity and society are one of the main themes in both stories which are important because it explains how sometimes a personal identity actually looks like but how people are unaware of the real identity of an individual. In both stories, this theme is occurs as the prominent one. In Scarlet Letter, Dimmendale’s character was facing some inner destruction and he knew his identity but for people, due to his work and purity, Dimmensdale was a very young beautiful, genius and pure person who have served the community honestly. But she has shown wise enough to pull the situation on a right side so that she can solve the problem even though she was much younger than her perception and wise decisions. For her parents she was like a kid and in actual she was but her decision for making other's family happy was a proof of that she was not kid anymore. Here this shows a connection with The scarlet letter in a way that sometimes people think opposite of actual identity or stage where a person stands at that time. Although this does not directly relates with the Dimmensdale condition but shows the same idea behind them. For my final creative product, I could not put the situations of both them together but I chose to make a cage that could reflect the dimmensdale's situation but would be giving the same idea for both or any kind of situation like that. 

When I started to think about my creative piece, I decided to make a cage which would show my selected theme by representing a little piece of poetry and color selection which would be showing different meanings. I hanged a bird, broken feathers with poetry written on them, in the cage. I did not poetry by myself but I translated it from Urdu to English just to give a shape to my final piece. I chose to make feathers and bird all in red color because each color means something different. So the meaning of red or scarlet color is sin, flame and the things in this categories. For the outside of the look, I decided to choose green color because this color shows respect and honor. I put some flowers and butterflies to fully show what I wanted to present through it. So this whole piece describes an inner situation of a person and then how people are unaware of the internal destruction or internal happiness or things that portray the same idea behind something. I really tried to show the colors that mean something important in understanding of the theme and creative piece. 

For the picture of my final creative piece, I passed through different stages of thinking to finalize my thoughts. At first, i had a different idea about feathers and poetry. I thought I would just stick them inside the cage but that wasn’t enough for poetry so then i decided to hang them with string. Before hanging them, I had to arrange according to the lines of poetry. The making of whole piece was a fun for me but I faced some problems in making the cage with the paper. I think this was difficult and took more time because I made a craft like this first time. 

Now there are some parts I where I did good as well as some parts where i don’t think I did well. Well done parts include choosing of a theme and idea of how to present it. I think I was creative in doing this project as a whole because main parts of the project include the well presentation of ideas through various creative techniques. I took more time to finalize the product than choosing theme and idea. I did this crafts thing for the first that’s why it took me more time to stand the structure of this cage. I have a better idea of this project if I do this again because  this piece have some mistakes done by me. First one include small size of feathers which lead to small font size of my poetry. If I do this once again, I would focus on large size of feathers so that it would be easier to read the little piece of poetry. Also redoing would expand my mind and hands to do better to present the idea of theme based on colors and poetry.

the heart's desire 

was left ignored

and so this love madness grew

between us 

were these distances 

i know know what compelled us

a bit of my heart was drowning in sorrow

and a bit of it was a love madness

there were lonely nights 

and they stayed just so 

in these colorful tides

my eyes drowned 

what was unsaid, unheard

all that was to be said, my gestures articulated 

a bit of my heart was drowning in sorrow

and a bit of it was a love madness

This project was a representation of two themes from both The Scarlet Letter and the film Juno: struggling against imposed ideas and public vs. private self. The medium I chose was two hand drawn photos that I enhanced in Adobe Photoshop to model works by the famous pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein. The pieces I drew inspiration from were Thinking of Him (1963) and Shipboard Girl (1965). 

I would name my first piece Thinking of Them as I depicted Juno with tears in her eye as she imagines what both she and Hester Prynne feared-- single motherhood. Juno knows she’s ill-equipped to handle a child on her own and then fears the couple she planned to take her baby will then become one half of a pair, instead. The imposed idea is that family must include a mother/father/child. Juno and Hester were both people who had non-traditional families, Juno with a stepmother and Hester living without her husband for a while. This family model is the idealized version of what is right. In both circumstances, they find a way to cope that suits them. In my piece I made a question mark where the father would be. I used the orange/white stripe and mix of red and gold to represent the social stigma both were forced to hold that caused them anxiety over the imposed belief of the traditional family. 

The second piece is a bit more abstract in concept than the first. It shows Reverend Dimmesdale with a tear on his cheek as he looks on to the letter D on the scaffold. The letter D is an indication that the character is Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale struggles throughout the novel with his public image in direct conflict with his private self. His emotion is that he knows that it is also his shame at adultery, but he doesn’t have to endure it publicly. Rather than himself of the scaffold it is his essence. He cries because he truly belongs up there and eventually realizes that himself. I used the stripe pattern, but I made the white red, instead. Someone like Paulie Bleeker, though very unlike Dimmesdale with different intention, also wishes to bear some of the responsibility. 

The process of creating my pieces included drawing the pictures by hand and inking them. I scanned them into Photoshop and added the dot texture, bold lines and contrasting hues mimicking the pop art style of Lichtenstein. Photoshop is extremely time consuming and complicated. This was my first time doing extensive work with the program. 

If I were to redo the project and when I do continue work with pop art, I will use a drawing pad that connects to the computer and draw the photos on the program Illustrator. It makes for smoother and neater artwork rather than erasing and using paper. Overall, I’m very satisfied with my work in Photoshop but if I had a few more steady hours of work I would have used it for Photoshop. This type of project is enjoyable, but frustrating due to the fact that perfection is unattainable. The quality and effects are always changing and endless. 

Sam Lovett-Perkins

English : Sexuality and Society

Creativity Project: Mind of State (Playbill and Dialogue)

           In order to represent the theme of freedom at the cost of the true self Ryan and I decided to plan and preview a play. We planned to make a playbill and a dialogue, two mediums, as a form of presentation. The basis of our play was an alternate dystopian reality where everyone is born into a role. Even though a role is forced upon an individual each one has a function (although some more influential than others) in this society. The purpose of this is to maximize efficiency in the state. The main character, who has no name, is called Accountant #56870. He represents individual opposition to the system that is his reality. The playbill includes detailed information on the story behind the play as well as a few smaller connections to the theme and instances when it occurs. Our dialogue is the confrontation of the man and the state. Accountant #56870 relates strongly to Hester Pryme; both characters are singled out in their society and are going against the status quo of what is acceptable. In relation, the puritan town and dystopian reality relate because both represent a fairly bland and unhappy air of living. They represent communal judgement and mindless obedience to injustice against the people. The play also toys with the idea of mental stability. In the same way that Juno didn't allow her peers judgement to define whether she wants to keep her child or not, the accountant understands that he must separate his mind from the mind of the State. He must not let their preconceived ideas and limitations prevent them from reaching their potential.

           The process of making this project was fairly simple. I got the idea from looking at Ms. Dunn's collection of Playbills. Making a playbill would utilize both Ryan's skills and my own skills. It incorporated a variety of creativity through visuals and text explaining the play. The original idea was influenced by the book 1984 by George Orwell and The Obsolete Man episode from the Twilight Zone. Together we evolved the plot to fit our theme better. After much thought we decided we could do more as a two person team. We added one of the more climactic moments in the play as a dialogue between the man and the state. We both agreed on the basis for how the stage is to be set for the performance. We wanted to use the idea of levels because in many situations one party is dominant over the other. Especially since we learned the importance of height and levels during our workshops during Angels in America and with the Wilma Theater it seemed very relevent. We also thought of the idea of light. The placement a light source can make someone standing in front of it seem darker. We set up the stage as a table in front of the window. The state (myself) is standing on top of the table in front of the window, while Ryan (the accountant) is standing below voicing his concern. This is not unlike the scene with Hester on the scaffold. We also planned thinking of how we could use our voices and body language. Our bodies and voices represent the conflict between the wild power of ambition and desire vs the solid and monotone strength of a oppressive society. We split up the work evenly. I wrote the creative writing parts and made the majority of the pamphlet, while Ryan made the main visual on the front page and wrote the dialogue.

           I believe the creation of this project demonstrates a strong analysis of the theme of self sacrifice and freedom in the Scarlett Letter. I am particularly proud that we are using a variety of mediums in one cohesive project. The connection to the Scarlett letter is clear but not so close that it warrens the title of freely adapted version of the story. The planning process was creative and fun and the final product of the playbill is visually appealing. We split the work eventually and out communication was efficient. Some areas we could have improved on was more practice for the scene. We should have anticipated the creation of a scene from the beginning so we could make a schedule and practice our lines. It also could have been longer and more complex. Essentially we are showing this scene from the middle of the play. We could have written it to show more of the man's struggle against the state prior to the designated scene; how this alternate society limits it's citizens freedoms but for a common good. More planning would have also allowed us to have a draft copy of the playbill that we could have edited together instead of cutting it close by uniting the two parts near the day it is due. Finally, although it is easily relatable to the Scarlet letter, I wish it shared themes that were more connectable to Juno. Despite these draw backs I am content with our final project.

Callie Monroe

Sexuality and Society

The Scarlet Letter and Juno Project

The theme of outer versus inner self is one that was represented in both the Scarlet Letter and the movie Juno. In both pieces, this theme was clearly presented and was a key component in the overall message of both. For these reasons, I decided to represent this idea in my creative project. I attempted to represent the idea of physically and emotionally displaying one part of your personality while concealing other parts and the repercussions of both.

In both of the Scarlett Letter and Juno, the characters that were able to outwardly express their emotions had an easier job overcoming any trouble that they faced. In the Scarlett Letter this concept was shown through the characters of Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmsdale. Hester was forced to express her emotions outwardly because she was marked with the Letter A, while Dimmsdale, who was equally as guilty, was enabled to internalize his guilt throughout the whole play. As a result Hester dealt with her feelings in a very manageable way while Dimmsdale bottled them up until he exploded. Through my project I wanted to represent this idea that how you portray your emotions on the outside can very often be the opposite of how you are feeling on the inside.

My creative piece consists of four different masks: two being the outer body and the other two being the inner body.  Each sets of masks represents a different side of the theme. One mask pairing displays a tranquil outside with a hectic inside and the other mask pairing displays a hectic outside with a tranquil inside. I represented tranquility by collaging my mask with natural and earthy elements. Nature is often associated with peacefulness and restfulness, so I thought it would most accurately symbolize a calm serene façade and/or emotion. I represented hectic emotions by collaging my mask with magazine clippings. I used mostly triangles because they have three sharp edges. To me, the edges displayed the clash and struggle that people often find when attempting to reveal their truest emotions. I also used a combination of warm colors (red and orange) and cold colors (blue and green) because they are opposite on the color wheel allowing for more contrast.

The biggest problem that I encountered while doing this project was finding a way to differentiate each set of masks from the other. I wanted them to all be connected, but I also wanted a clear differentiation between them. I found a way to do this by adding specific features. The outsides personas both have facial features to differentiate them from the inner personas and the inner personas are both separated into horizontal sections, the top representing a brain. I also wanted to connect both “tranquil” personas and both “hectic” personas to one another. I did this by adding small similarities to each piece. The outside “tranquil” mask uses a lot of red berries, so I connected the inside “tranquil” mask by adding a few berries. The outside “hectic” mask uses a lot of red triangles, so I connected the inside “hectic” mask by adding a red triangle.

I think that I did a really good job of displaying the overall theme. It is clear when looking at my project that each mask represents an opposing idea. I wish I had done a better job of connecting the outside of the mask to the inside of the mask. If I did this again I would find a way to clearly display which outside mask belongs to which inside mask.

For this creative project I decided to branch out and create a photoset with all original concepts and photos by me. The concept of all 4 photos is that of displaying different emotions through color. As seen the pictures aren’t all very straightforward when it comes to connecting them to themes, which was the main purpose of this. I didn’t want these photos to only be seen one way but to have different meanings to them. I also wanted to present something that I knew would capture both the book and the movie but also more than just one character from both. What better way to do this than by using photography?

I think that a big aspect of this was being able to not only capture in through my eye but to be able to display what I saw in order for others to understand. I really enjoyed the process of this because as a whole I really enjoy photography and displaying more than just a pretty picture through it. Even though my finished product was something that I'm really proud of I think that steps to it were a bit stressful. It got hard once it was time to shoot. I had trouble being able to focus,even though I could have used auto focus I tried to keep it all manual in order to make it a learning experience. I also saw myself having trouble when it came to picking which pictures to display. Even though it's only 4 pictures I ended up taking at least 40 of each, which in the end only made it harder for me. Even though this process was hard I really enjoyed it and the coming up of the concepts of using colors since that was also used in the movie. In the end I wouldn't change anything about it. 

“Oh What’s Another Ten Pounds ” – JUNO

            Through out the movie Juno to me was on a journey. The journey to find her true emotions. Through out the movie she faced various challenges that deep down inside affected her. As seen on the photograph there are various colors displayed. Starting from Black, Royal Blue, Tan/Orange, Green, and finally pink. All these colors representing a side of Juno present through out the movie. Also as you can see the colors that are most seen are pink and green while all the others are in the shadows. I did this to show that no matter what she went through in the end she was able to find that balance in order for her to trust Paulie and let their love blossom.

Black – Protection 

Blue – Security

Tan/ Orange – Courage 

Green – Healing 

Pink – Happy/Sense Of Well Being/ Romance

“ Thou Hast Escaped Me! “ – Chillingworth

 This photograph is more of a contradiction. Through out the book all Chillingworth wanted was success. However in the end we all know that’s not what he got. Which is why in the photo the emotion being displayed by the little kid is anger. He wasn’t able to succeed which is why in the end he died. He died because he drowned himself so much in his revenge that in the end when it was all over he no longer had anything to live for.

“My Little Pearl” – Dimmesdale

“Aww, It Kind Of Does ” – Vanessa

I will not photoshop the truth

I will not crop the truth, truthfully speaking the truth

I will not resize the truth for the fittening of your frame

I will not resize or rotate or flip it so that when you first hear it, it feel less offensive

I believe that scars are lessons learn so I won't even fix any blemishes

I won't add any special affect in order for me to look more like you

Somehow, he then touched me.

When he was supposed to be loving me,

It triggered my mind leaving me confused with what state of mind I was in

What I didn't know was that I was about 8 going on 9

And I didn't have the opportunity to decline what would be define as my first sexual intercourse

I went from learning my 1, 2, 3 to learning about birds and bees

Child life was no longer as easy as learning A, B, C

I wanted to know why

I was looking and searching for a sign

I felt used and thrown away like paper cups and plastic utensils at 8 going on 9

My heart was beating out of my chest

And that night, I slept with him, went to school the next day and smile like nothing happened

I just wish for that one moment, someone would look past my outside and look inside

Nothing comes out of my voice, but inside of me, I wanted to scream "Can anyone see that I'm hurting?!"

Took the pain, stored in the back of my mine, and purposely forgot the combination

There is light at the end of this tunnel

We don't see the end, but God sees it clear

For every boy and ever girl who feels defenseless

For every man and every woman who feels like the enemy is beating them senseless

For every tear that rolls that your face and swallow of cry in the middle of the night so no one can hear

For every face that is barried in pillows to hide the tears

Christ is your breath of life and can be your inhaler.

If there's an opportunity to make a difference in your life or someone else life, you do what you can and make the best out of it. If there's a point in time where an obstacle comes along and you don't know what to do about it, you have to suck it up and do what you have to do. Between all those obstacles and change in life, you grow stronger as a person and become independent. Through the characters of Juno from the movieJuno and Hester from The Scarlet Letter, both characters shows their independence and strength with handling their obstacles even though society is continuously pushing them down.

            Just like Juno and Hester, I, myself can relate to them on certain level. Growing up was hard for me. I had many challenges in life; wishing and hoping that it could go away. Juno dealt with pregnancy at a young age and it caused her to be more independence and learning how to deal with things on her own. Just like her, my past helped mold me to be more independent and not depend on anyone, but God. God was my everything. Anything that was happening, I kept my mouth shut and dealt it on my own and never asked for help. For example, in the movie Juno, during her pregnancy, Bleeker would ask her if she needs any help and she would constantly push him away and take matters in her own hands. Throughout my life, people put their hands out for me, but my mentality was just "no, I can do it on my own." As in the book, Hester's surrounding was constantly pushing her down and looking at her in a pity form, which I thought was mean, but Hester, as a character didn't let that bother her. She's the one who knows the truth and she's not going to photoshop the truth to please others.

            And that brings me to the next point. It was hard for me to decide what kind of creative project I wanted to do because I want to do everything! But I also wanted to be the best of the best. At first, I was going to draw, but since I'm not the greatest artist in the world, I decided to express my creativity in a written form. My spoken poetry is about how my past has taught me how to grow stronger mentality and trusting in God. The basic theme that I wanted people to understand from my poem was that you don't have to please society. They can believe what they want to believe, but at the end of the day, you know the truth and that truth creates who you are today and there is hope at the end of the tunnel. This poetry represents who I portray myself on the outside, and what's really happening behind closed doors. Society doesn't know about my past and what I go through everyday, so they expect me to be happy and act like everything is okay. That's why I always walk around smiling, but at home, the pillows are the sponges to my tears. Those tears gave me an opportunity to see the light and I want my poetry to help others gain hope.

I feel like my poetry is pretty good. It doesn't have much, but each words has a powerful meaning. I poured my heart out onto this keyboard, and I hope that my audience can see the pain and effort I put into it. I don't regret anything I have done. Everything has been on time and I have used my time wisely. I mean, there's always a spot to improve. In this case, I don't feel like I have any. If I were to ever do this project again, I think I would challenge myself to draw a masterpiece. That was my first intentions, but it didn't pull through.