Frankenstein essay.

Murder is the most unforgiving crime, yet when one looks beyond the death and the motives and reasoning of the murderer, they can begin to understand the truth.  The creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is most definitely a murderer, however the creature is an abandoned being, who finds a hard time even understanding what is right and/or wrong.  For these two reasons alone, the creature should be considered one of innocence.  Sure, it directly and indirectly took the lives of two of Frankenstein’s family, but when a being receives absolute no love or care when they are first born, or created, they are going to be severely different from those who have been nurtured from the start.  The creature is one of misery, it was not his choice to be created, and he is living a life of despair and suffering.  He even states in his conversation with Victor, “All men hate the wretched:  how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things!”  Right from the start, Frankenstein referred to his creation in a grotesque manner, and as the creator it is his full responsibility to care for it.  If Frankenstein would have loved it and treated it as the living being it is from the start, then his brother and sister would both be alive.  Because of its inhumane treatment from the start, the creature was destined to be a murderer.  Frankenstein needs to show it how to live in society, and what is acceptable and normal in society, because he knows the being is one of intellect.  Instead, Frankenstein is disgusted as what he created and he abandons it.  The creature is reflected as a product of cruel society, but more definitely the neglect of his creator.   Frankenstein perceived it as this monster of evil, though in reality that is what he has caused it to become in his lack of responsibility.  Frankenstein completely hated his creation, even stating:  “I had been the author of unalterable evils, and I lived in daily fear lest the monster whom I had created should perpetrate some new wickedness”.  Through this quote, it is shown very clearly that Frankenstein does not understand his creation and its real intellect.   If he had taken the time to search beyond its “ugly” appearance, it could have established a connection with the beast and led it down the path to a good, moral future.  However, the creator chose to abandon his creation, which is morally wrong.  “With great power comes great responsibility” is a famous quote that most certainly reflects the error made by Frankenstein.  He spent an unordinary amount of time creating his creature, so it is also his time to care and over-see his creature.  Though the creature did commit irreversible crimes, he stands innocent since it is the job of the creator to look over his creation.  Frankenstein is at fault for the murders, not the creature.

Frankenstein letter.

Dear My Dearest Helen, 

I know I will most certainly miss your companionship this summer, since I will not be able to see you.  Though we will be hundreds of miles apart, I hope we can consider and keep in mind the friendship that we have established.  We must continue to talk through our many forms of technology, I would not want it any other way.  I will certainly miss our many long talks and moments filled with laughter, however I will cherish this moments and I will reflect back on them during the summer months.  I know I will see you again in the future, so this is not a good-bye, simply a letter to reflect on the happy times we have experiences, along with my thought that you will be deeply missed.  I will not be lonely without you, but it will be different.  I am excited when the day comes that we can meet again.  I will be thinking of you my dearest.  

Your good friend, Danielle.

I wrote this letter similarly to the one written to Mrs. Saville by Walton.  In his letter, he expresses that he has no friends and that he "bitterly feel the want of a friend".  I then thought about the fact that I will not be seeing any of my friends this summer and that while I have friends, I will not see the ones from Chicago for a long time.  In a way this is similar to the letter since there is an absence of certain friends.

artist statement project 3.

            For my final project of New Millennium, I decided to create a colorful booklet of quotes regarding the topic of eating meat.  I titled it, “The Great Debate:  Or is it?”  It features numerous quotes from important and known people in the past and present such as Leonardo DaVinci and Paul McCartney, along with college students that I personally know.  The well-known figures all condemn eating meat and their quotes are all related to a non-meat diet, while all the college students I asked are pro-eating meat and they each state their reason for this.  The quotes are relatively short and are typed-out and are pasted on colorful sheets of paper.

            When I first decided to create a booklet about eating meat, I originally wanted to present a debate about it.  I wanted to keep it neutral by providing quotes from famous figures who were both for eating meat and and who were strictly opposed.  However, this was much harder than I anticipated since I could not find any quotes from famous figures who spoke out about how eating meat was moral and acceptable; I could only find quotes on the famous condemning it.  I then decided to resolve this issue by asking my fellow college students why eating meat is acceptable to them.  I know very few vegetarians so I knew this would not be a difficult task.  After I received my desired quotes, I was able to create a “semi-debate” where the famous were the vegetarian side, and the college students were certainly the meat-eating side.

            I love bright, flashy colors, which is the reason I wanted to construct my project with bright pieces of colored paper.  I put it in the form of a booklet, which I believe would be easiest to read and would be the most organized way of presenting the quotes.  I am a very visually person, so I decided to type out the quotes and then tape them to the paper.

            My booklet answered the guiding questions, “What ought I do?  How ought we act?”  It is based on the key question of "is it morally acceptable to eat meat?"  In our society, there is an ethical dilemma on whether eating meat is morally acceptable or not.  Though the majority of the world does indeed follow a carnivorous diet, there are millions who strongly oppose this choice.   Many believe that eating a living being for no reason other than pleasure is not morally right.

            The main message I have arrived at is that it is far easier to speak out against eating meat than it is to speak for it.  Thousands of celebrities and important figures throughout time have stressed a vegetarian diet, yet there are virtually none who have promoted a carnivorous one.  This certainly should be an eye-opener that eating meat is not all it is cracked up to be; there is something wrong with it.

            This project could be related to a similar one I created in high school.  I tend to always use bright colored paper, and for my AP history final class project, I presented a similar booklet that addressed the lifestyles of renaissance women.  While this project is much more creative and not nearly as dry, the two booklets are closely related to each other.

            I want the audience to know that even though most eat meat themselves, there is a reason that no one majorly voices their opinion to why eating meat is necessary.  Thousands of the famous have voiced their choice to go vegetarian, while there are virtually not any who voice their carnivorous diet.  They audience will hopefully receive this and think about it.  I hope they would ponder on this  idea and perhaps lean towards a vegetarian diet.

            The strength of this project is most definitely the quotes.  Some of the quotes are extremely powerful and really make the audience think. Also I believe the aesthetically pleasing style of the book is a strength as well.  Perhaps a weakness would be only seven quotes were taken from college students reflecting their choice to eat meat.

project 3 digital documentation of quotes and text used.

Why do you think it is acceptable for you to eat meat?

 “Because the animals were put on the planet for us to use.  For food, clothes, blankets, etc.”

-Maria Parise, 18, student

 “Because it’s what our ancestors have done for forever and it’s our natural instinct.”

-Zack Patton, 19, student

 “I eat it cuz it tastes good and I get all the nutrients from it.”

-Justin Nowakowski, 19, student

 “It's a practice that's been around for ages and even though it's bad for you, it's still a form of nourishment. That's not to say it is necessarily right to eat meat seeing is nourishment can also be, say, cannibalism. It can sustain you to eat the meat of a person and the only reason it isn't widely practiced is because it's found immoral. If most of the world thought eating an animal was immoral, everyone here would probably be a vegetarian.”

-Earl Rigsby, 19, student

 “Because we’re the superior being.”

-Julien Robinson, 18, student

 “Although it is morally acceptable for humans to eat animals since animals eat other animals, I don’t feel good about it myself since I respect animals and there are better ways to get protein than eating once living things that are injected with a lot of disgusting things and chemicals.”

-Tessa Konkol, 18, student

 

 In the United States, more than twenty-seven billion animals are slaughtered every year in 5,700 slaughterhouses and processing plants employing 527,000 workers; in 2007, 28.1 billion pounds of beef were consumed in the U.S. alone.

 “If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat.  That’s the single most important thing you can do.  It’s staggering when you think about it.  Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: ecology, famine, cruelty.”

 

-Paul McCartney

 

“Let thy food be thy medecine”

-Hippocrates 460-377 BC

 "My opinion is well known. I do not regard flesh food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live. I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species.”

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

-Mahatma Ghandhi 1869 -1948

“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.”

-Leonardo DaVinci 1452 -1519

 “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”

-Albert Einstein 1879-1955 Physicist, Nobel Prize winner 1921

 

“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.”

-Thomas Edison 1847-1931

 

 “Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.”

 

-James Froude 1818-1894 (Professor of Modern History, Oxford)

 

 "One night I couldn't sleep, and I was up and just Googling random stuff, and I'm like, 'Hmmm, PETA.' I saw all the videos, and I just thought it was horrible. It's animal cruelty. A lot of it has to do with knowing what happens to the animals, and it really bothered me, and so I will not eat meat."

 

-Kellie Pickler

 

 “Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic-and pesticide-laden corpse of a tortured animal.”

—  Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA

 

 “If we really know a 100th part of the agony of animals we should rather starve than profit by it.”

—  Max Tooley

 

“For as long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”

—  Pythagoras, 569 BC-475 BC

 

 “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.”

—  Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982

 

 Auschwitz begins whenever someone looks at a slaughterhouse and thinks: they are only animals.”

—  Theodor Adorno, German philosopher, sociologist

 

“I know in my soul that to eat a creature who is raised to be eaten, and who never has a chance to be a real being, is unhealthy… You’re just eating misery.”

- Alice Walker, 1944

 

 “But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.”

—  Plutarch, 45-125 AD

 

 

 

also my question would be when did you first decide you wanted to speak out for the important issues regarding the natural aspects of our world, such as animals and such?

slifer response.

What draws you to this piece? What makes it compelling? What is your connection to this work? 

I chose the piece of the Andrew Jackson twenty dollar bill with the imposed stamp printed, "Great Heroes of Real Estate Indian Removal Act of 1830."  What really drew me to this piece was an everyday item was used (a $20) imprinted with a stamp that conveys a story to how that person on the bill changed America as we know it.  The compelling part that if not for Andrew Jackson's push of the Native Americans farther west, we perhaps could be living in a different world than we are today.  Perhaps the majority of Natives would not be living on reservations, but perhaps living out more of the lifestyle they once experienced.  For a church youth group trip I went to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, which is why I am very connected to this work.  I have seen first-hand the struggles of the Lakota people in terms of education and poverty.  They are still a very powerful people, but there lives have been vastly altered.

Project 3 corrected.

Alright so for project 3 I am going to use the humanity for non-humans opinion piece.  I want to create a booklet and interview numerous different people of all age groups.  I am first going to see if they are a vegetarian, vegan, meat-eater, etc., and according to their eating styles I am either going to ask them the question, "Why do you think it is acceptable for you to eat meat?", or if they do not eat meat, "Why do you choose not to eat meat?"  I will put their answers in it along with real facts about the slaughtering of animals for meat, and percentages and such.  My stance is going to be that eating meat is unacceptable and can be prevented (except for those who need it to survive or for population control).

project 3.

For our project, my group and I will be attending movement and gentlemen this Sunday afternoon.  For the possible project we could possibly relate this to the topic of humanity for non-humans.  I think it will become much more clear once we see the show.  Also I will talk to my group members but that the topic of humanity for non-humans would be my number one choice.

animals.

1- An ethical code is a set of guidelines and values about how to behave in the world. An ethical code helps us to make decisions about “What ought I to do?” or “How ought we to act?” in a certain situation. Many people can agree on a basic ethical code for humanity, but what about our interactions with the animal world? Describe your ethical code in dealing with non-human creatures (worms to mosquitos to pigs to chickens to rats, cats, and dogs). How did you come to form this ethical perspective?

I believe that any mammal, reptile, bird, or any other animal group that lives and breathes should not be tortured or harmed in any ways.  They should only be eaten if there is too much of a surplus, or if a population of people absolutely need to eat their meat in order to survive.  Any one who is using them for their taste should not be allowed to do so in any way.  Any thing belonging to the bug or worm group, etc., should be allowed to be harmed if necessary, such as killing insects such as mosquitos and spiders.  I derived at this conclusion because the first group of animals are closely related to humans and humans can evoke sympathy towards these creatures.  Insects and that such are not closely related to humans at all, so therefore should be treated differently.

2- How is your ethical code similar to or different from Singer's?

My ethical code is similar because i believe that animals should not suffer since they feel pain, and should not be eaten unless absolutely necessary.  I don't think they necessarily are the exact equals of humans, but they should not be harmed for no reason, such as killed for their meat.  Also, they should be allowed free range grazing if they are going to be killed for their flesh.

3- Even if you disagree with him, which of Singer's arguments is most convincing, and WHY? 

The most convincing argument is that animals should not be killed for their meat, unless absolutely necessary.  I am a vegetarian and I firmly have always believed in this.  Why eat a creature that can feel and  show emotion when there is no reason to?  It just does not make sense.

Whale Rider.

1) Name two situations where Koro ignored signs of Pai’s ability and aptitude to lead.

Pai leads all of the other children in the ancient songs, her and her grandmother also do this in preparation to eat.  Pai also skillfully beats her boy friend with the taiaha, though she is scolded for it.

2) Discuss the scene where Rawiri took up the taiaha again. How does this change carry on for Rawiri in the rest of the story?

Rawiri becomes a changed man who is willing to follow his father and continue his past traditions.  He tries to get back in shape by running, he assists his father in the training of the boy chiefs, and he lives his life in a much more motivated way.

3) When the community walk away together, Paikea comes from behind them and walks alone back towards the big
whale. What did that image make you think about Paikea?

It made me think that in some way Paikea stood alone; she had some quality that separated her from everyone else in the tribe.  Also it was as if her and the whale really belonged together.

4) When Pai is in the hospital how do they know Koro has changed his attitude towards her?

Koro calls her, "wise leader," and apologizes for being lost in the old times and not recognizing the leader all along.  He is full of grief and you can really tell he know knows the truth.  

5) What is the significance of the waka? Describe the waka scene that struck you most, and explain why.

I believe the waka symbolizes the spirit and energy of the people, if I am correct in the fact that the waka is the boat.  The very last scene, when the majority of the men worked together by Pai's commands, showed the unity and strength of the newly awakened people.

Project 2 artist statement.

            The south side: a place of danger, poverty, and crime.

Or is it?

For our group project, my group members and I decided to expose the positive side about the very-often negative south side.  Our primary message was to shed light on the area that it is not as bad as the media hypes it up to be, and that there are many positive aspects to it.  There is the best view of the Chicago skyline on the many beaches, and there are very nice houses in the area, ones much bigger than the average house.  We communicated this message through the mediums of a recipe book, a brief movie with interviews, and blow-pop suckers that we distributed.  My group member Synome and I chose the medium of the recipe book since we were able to write recipes for the south side both before we toured it and after.  It was very clear that the before and after recipes greatly differed from each other.  My before-recipe focused on negative ingredients such as gangs and shootings, whereas my after-recipe was much more accurate in including the real, yet also positive ingredients.  Since our group member Ralph is from the south side, he was able to interview three different south-siders and get their thoughts and opinions on the neighborhood they live in.  They shed very lightening, yet depressing stories and insights such as how many families cannot even afford paper and pencils for school, and the realities of the gang shootings.  They all agreed that the media hypes-up the negativity about the south side.  We also chose to distribute blow-pops since there are a number of small businesses on the south side, such as barber/beauty shops and candy shops.  Our recycling medium was simply some foam found on the south side that we inserted the blow-pops into as a holder.

            One of the major decisions we faced was to first decide on a neighborhood; we had originally planned on Wicker Park, but then no real original ideas struck us so we decided to do the South Side.  Since Ralph our group member lives on the South Side, he agreed to give Synome and I a driving tour through the neighborhood.  At first I was extremely nervous to venture down to the south side, but the experience was extremely eye opening.  I was indeed the only white person so I did feel  a little out of place, but driving through the many different parts really enabled me to see what the neighborhood really is about.  Also, one of our decisions we faced regarded the recipe book; Synome and I originally wanted to make a “soul food” cookbook, but Ralph believed that would not be right in representing the south side, which I did not see until after the tour.  It would have indeed been stereotypical to pursue.  Since Ralph lives on the south side, it would not have been fitting for him to create a “before and after” recipe so he decided to create a brief movie complete with fitting music and interview questions.

            Overall, I believe the strengths of the project would most definitely be the interpretation in the recipes of the before and after, along with the well-constructed interviews.  A weakness could perhaps be the long length of the interview tape that could not be completely seen in class.  I have never done a project quite like this one, though I could relate it to a Czechoslovakia ethnic recipe book I once prepared since all the recipes had to relate to the country, much like how our recipes had to relate to aspects of the south side.

            The main point of this project for me was to convey the audience the truth about the south side.  I want them to understand that while it is a place with a very different living style with gangs and poverty, there are communities and families that thrive and do the best they can to live a good life.  I believe this project answers the two main questions of how the images and imagination of a community are generated along with the power of imagination and how it affects the reality of the present.  In the case of the south side, many of its images and imagination come from the press.  Those who do not know anything about the neighborhood read about it in the paper, or hear about it on the news, and automatically form a negative opinion on it due to its portrayal by the media.  People then imagine it to a be a very negative, scary place unsuitable to live, while in reality there are its good and bad parts, just like any other neighborhood.

            The main goal of this project was to convey people to change their thoughts and feelings on the neighborhood of the south side.  I would expect the audience to understand that there are indeed good parts, and I would hope they would be angered by the gangs and poverty that do still exist in the neighborhood.  The south side really is like any other neighborhood; it’s a community to live in and a place to call home.

                         

group project documentation.

 

SOUTHSIDE RECIPE

BEFORE

 A presumed thought

 

1 ¼ Cups DANGER

 2 Cups POVERTY

 3 quarts SHOOTINGS

 1 quart BLEAK FUTURE

 1 ½ gallons BASKETBALL

 1 gallon RAP/HIP-HOP

 2 pints AFRICAN AMERICANS

 3 tablespoons BARREN/TREELESS

 4 teaspoons NOT FRIENDLY TO OUTSIDERS

 1 teaspoon NOT MUCH TO DO

 

Slowly blend the first three ingredients to create a place where outsiders are terrified to come in.  Tie in the last ingredients to create a place where fear breeds, yet with its own unique presumed characteristics of the place.  This meal is usually eaten by the apprehensive and unknowing.

 

 

SOUTHSIDE RECIPE

AFTER

The truth comes out

 

 3 cups POLICE

 1 ½ cups NICE CARS

 2 quartz CHILDREN

 ¾ quartz GOOD BEACHES

 4 pints SCHOOLS

 2 ½ pints SPEED HUMPS

 5 tablespoons BOARDED HOUSES

 2 tablespoons BEAUTY SALONS

 ½ tablespoon MEN SELLING SOCKS

 4 teaspoons SELECTION OF VERY NICE HOUSES

 2 teaspoons GANGS

 a large pinch of HOPE

 

Tenderly stir the first five ingredients to create a place like any other neighborhood, except with a much greater abundance of the first ingredient.  (This ensures the following four ingredients can be properly preserved.)  The remaining ingredients are very different, yet when seen in the light they are only normal characteristics of a neighborhood.  The pinch of hope is perhaps one of the most important ingredients to help turn around the acts of violence.  This recipe creates a very humbling meal that should be shared with others.

 

 

paper posted finally!

Danielle Sluka

2/18/09

New Millennium Studies

Designer Doom

 

         Magdalena Parise is the average suburbia housewife- she has a perfect family, a job she relatively enjoys, and she has a large circle of close friends.  Her husband Richard and her share a quaint ranch house with a large yard for their three playful children to roam.  Magdalena lives a picture-esque life as an average woman, though she has one very major downfall…her obsession for designer clothes.  Ever since Magdalena was a teenager, she knew she had a passion for eloquent designer clothes.  However, since she grew up on a farm, designer clothes were not very affordable, yet alone acquirable in her situation.  This did not stop Magdalena from starting her own collection of designer goods.  Any time she received any money what so ever, she would stash it in her special designer jar.  And it did indeed work.  Little by little, Magdalena saw her collection of goods grow-  a Marc Jacobs purse, a Burburry scarf, and even a Louis Vuitton cluth.  Designer simply became an obsession.  Since Magdalena often did not have very many friends and was often an outcast throughout high school, designer clothes became the friend she never had.  In some ways it was a perfect relationship…no drama, no tension, just pure appreciation of the latest fashion.  However, as the years passed, Magdalena’s obsession with designer became more and more deadly.  Though her husband and her had stable jobs, they by no means made enough money for Magdalena to go drop thousands on otherwise unnecessary clothing and accessories.   But still Magdalena relentlessly pursued her shopping and ordering of all the latest fashion finds.  Any money earned went straight to her addiction- no thought of her family or any necessary needs; the money always went to shopping.  This not only damaged the family’s financial situation (family vacations, any nice home furnishings, etc. were obviously out of the picture), it also put an overall stress on the family itself.  Numerous fights over the years broke out between Magdalena and her husband, but still she would not stop.  Credit card bill after credit card bill, but still no end to the debts.  Her children had long ago stopped buying her any clothes or accessories for gifts; they knew she would never wear anything unless it was of designer.

            Truth be told, the only main reason Magdalena continued her fetish which once resulted as a friend to her during her troubled teen years, was her quest to be beyond average.  Living a suburbia life as a mother with only a mediocre income took a toll on Magdalena.  She felt as if she were like any other 40-year-old woman on the planet, and she wanted to set herself apart; she wanted to be different.  She hated watching all the fabulous women in Orange County and Upstate New York live their perfect lives filled with luxury beyond luxury.  She wanted to be one of them but she knew it was never going to happen; she was just a plain housewife stuck in a soccer-mom suburbia.

            So quite simply, Magdalena set herself aside by being adorned in only designer ensembles.  Every woman in her neighborhood envied her closet, and that is what brings Magdalena a sense of pride and accomplishment, and a value to her life that it is more than just average.

            She knows that there is more to life, however her quest for a more luxurious life has imprisoned her…one Prada bag at a time.  And though she may look like a luxurious housewife to the outside world, on the inside Magdalena will never feel adequate…she will never feel up to par with the woman of star status, hefty trust funds, and impeccable luxury.  Magdalena will always feel stuck in a world where her life and status will never be good enough.  Designer clothes are simply a shield to hide her feelings of inadequacy.  

Neighborhood.

• What are your goals & objectives for the project?

My main goal is to gain a complete understanding of a chicago neighborhood.  The neighborhood we are going to do is south Chicago, an area I am completely unfamiliar with.  I would like to gain an understanding of the people that reside there, especially since I have only heard negative things about the south side of Chicago.  I would definitely like to see the good side of the area.  I also want to know the history, main attractions/things to do, and the population make-up of the neighborhood.

• Which guiding question do you want to focus on?

I would like to focus on what major things characterize the south side, and why it has the bad reputation is has today.

• What is your suggestion for involving people from the neighborhood in your project?
  

I would like to hear the people's insights on their neighborhood, and it would be very cool to film them talking about the place they call home, or engaging in activities that are distinct in the neighborhood.  An insider's view is always key to have.

• What do you want your audience to get from the project?

I want the audience to understand many different aspects about the south side, south as information about the people who live there, the main things to do, the work opportunities, and the history about the neighborhood.

• What specific skills do you bring to this group?

I am usually a very organized person, and am very good with communication.  I also have a semi-creative side and am strong in writing.

Gleaning.

• What was most surprising to you about this film?

I was very surprised that people are still so eager to glean, even when they have a stable income and do not need to at all;  they simply do not like to see anything go to waste.  Furthermore, I was shocked to see how much food actually does go to waste, especially in the farms.  I really did not even know people still gleaned at all.  However the most surprising part was the chef who gleaned-  I thought that was very neat that he was a well-known chef who gleaned for food supplies for his restaurant.  As he said, he knows where the food comes from if he gleans it himself.

• How does Varda, a well-respected experimental filmmaker, compare this film to gleaning?

This film portrayed the modern day gleaning-  whether picking up farm left overs, or digging in the trash for usable discarded items, the people gleaned.  Instead of having perfectly usable food and products discarded, people choose not to waste and to use it.  Much like back in the day, people still pick-up food from the fields.  Though they are not harvesting the crop. they are making sure that no food goes to waste and using it as a means of even survival.

• How do the images of gleaning by Millet and Van Gogh differ from those Varda presents in her film?

The image gleanings depict a much older time in which only women glean in their outfits of long, drappy dresses in which they use part of that material to hold the materials they glean.  The images show women gleaning in groups, while in the film most of the people gleaned solitarily.  Also in the film there is much more high tech equipment used, while in the images it is simply basic tools.

Neighborhood.

Well, since I am from Milwaukee, I really do not know anything about Chicago's neighborhoods...I am still beginning to even learn some of their names!  But I have talked with Ralph and we are going to do his side of the town.  He said we can interview some people he knows from the neighborhood to add to the project.  (I currently do not know what neighborhood that is but we are going to talk about it after class.)  Synome's email was not on the list, so Ralph and I were unable to contact her.

One neighborhood I do know a little bit about would be Wicker Park.  I have been there many times and I am always fascinated by it.  I know that the neighborhood itself has existed for a while (or at least the buildings), because it does have very old buildings.  I also know that Wicker Park has an array of both upscale designer stores, and many thrift stores, making it take on a very unique vibe.  Two things I do not know about Wicker Park is its main source of attraction (whether its shops, restaurants, night clubs, etc.), and I have no idea how many people live in the neighborhood and its main age group, however when ever i have been there I have always seen younger people in their 20's or so.

Documentary questions.

1. How did Hugh O'Connor's daughter find peace with her father's death? Would
you have felt the same?

She felt that the kentucky community was trying to voice its opinion, and that the journalists did not understand their situation and their life.  The whole community rallied together when Harold shot Hugh, and his daughter saw and understood where they were coming from.

I would definitely have not felt the same way.  If someone shot my father who was doing absolutely nothing wrong, he was simply taking a picture of a man he had permission to do so, I would be enraged.  Harold shot Hugh because he was an outsider, a stranger.  I would never be able to forgive someone who took someone so close to me if there was no valid reason for the killing.  People can not go around shooting people they do not know just because they are stepping on their land.

2. Barret says that some filmmakers "wanted to show that contrast [between
those who prospered from coal mining and those who didn't] to bring about social
change. Others mined the images the way the companies had mined the coal."
What does that say about the power of the visual image? What (if any)
responsibility do filmmakers have toward their subjects?

Visual image can certainly speak for itself.   It is very powerful and it gets its point across by not using any words.  As someone said in the documentary, one cannot take a picture of something that's not there.  Filmmakers have to make sure that they high light both the good and bad aspects of their subjects to present them in a non-biased way.

3. Colin Low, director of the Canadian Film Board, said the camera is invasive,
exploitive and like a gun because it's threatening (42:23). What does he mean by
that statement? What are some specific steps you can take as a
photographer/filmmaker when photographing a sensitive subject or social issue
to make the camera less exploitive and invasive?

This statement reveals that people often fear cameras because they expose the truth-  there is no fabrication what-so-ever.  However, a camera can capture perhaps one bad moment of a person's life, and then that person's life will be forever marked and represented by that one bad moment.  Some steps that could be taken would be to photograph both the good and bad shots of a sensitive subject, such as a picture that conveys the raw truth, and then take another one with the people smiling (for example) to represent that even though they are in a hard time, they are still a fine human being content with their life.  Also the angles and positioning of the shots could be arranged so that the touchy subject is not the harsh vocal point, but rather just adds to the whole of the picture.

Documentation.

My digital documentation.

Artist Statement.

In today’s media and materialistic obsessed culture, many people face problems in how they perceive themselves.  Some can simply not keep up to the current fashion and media trends, which is unmistakably the vast majority of the population.  This in turn makes some people feel like they are “not good enough” and that their life is not as glamorous as those who “have it all”.  It is quite an unfortunate situation, and the majority of media, such as television and magazines, certainly do not help.

        I decided to write a short narrative story on the life of a woman who feels that she is not up to par with the rest of the “glamorous” women she sees on TV and in other places.  Since she is the typical average woman, she can not afford certain luxuries she wish she could, so she splurges on designer clothing as a way to make her life seem more fulfilled.  But in reality, the designer clothing is only a mask to hide her insecurities about the “average” life she lives.  She really should not feel that way what so ever since she does have three beautiful, healthy children and a loving husband, but she can not shake her emotions.  In the narrative, it describes the women’s situation, her thoughts and feelings, and her obsession with designer and why she splurges on it.  

            I wanted to create a very realistic scenario, in which the average woman is the person who must only wear designer goods.  Normally it would be the stuck-up trust fund woman who heaven-forbid would wear anything but designer, but in this case it is just an average woman.  At first I was going to create a play with the stereotypical characters such as the trust fund baby with everything and the woman from Africa with nothing who teaches a lesson, but that just seemed a little too cliché’.  It wasn’t very relatable and it most definitely does not happen too often.  So in turn, I decided to simply write a narrative on the life of a mother.  A narrative that is in ways most likely very relatable to everyone’s lives who feel they are not living up to the life they dreamed.

            Though the woman chose to wear her heart on her sleeve in a way to mask her true feelings, people most likely perceive her as a wealthy woman with a great taste in fashion.  They have no idea what her real life is like in any sort of fashion.  She simply wants to have an extremely positive and glamorous perception, which is what she receives.  Is it really worth that much trouble to only wear designer clothes just for the perception of others?  Well, the answer may seem obvious but in today’s world people dress to impress and form a “good” first-impression of others.  They want to make it seem like they have the totally package- accomplished and presentable.

            I wrote this creative work in the form of a narrative, to describe the life of one woman.  I do not have very much experience with story writing, so I thought this was a good opportunity to do what I love-write- in a form that I am a stranger to- a narrative.  This piece could in turn relate to my work that I have constructed as a journalist, factual pieces that describe people, places, events, etc.  I have written several articles on people who have either done something or who people just want to know more about, which could relate to the way I describe the woman’s life in this narrative.

            For the most part, my piece of work is pretty straightforward.  It is a piece that may be quite depressing for the audience, because it is a very real, unfortunate situation.  I think the audience might even have trouble understanding how a woman with it all can be so lost and desperate for attention, but some might also relate with it in comparison.  This I would consider one strength:  its relatable to the audience with its message that people do feel inadequate compared to others in certain situations.  Its weakness, on the other hand, could perhaps be its example of only one woman’s life.  I could have included other examples or else even further expanded on the message.

            People all have different ways of expressing their thoughts, feeling, actions, etc., and dressing to play the part is no different.  A worthy perception is something that most everyone seeks, though some go through extreme measures to receive it.

            

Iran.

One of the hardest things would be to change the views that people have previously established.  However, I believe that Satrapi does a very excellent job of changing many of the views her readers have already established towards Iran.  Perhaps it was through the actions and thoughts of her family who are extremely relatable in which she really changes the normal thought of Iran.  Satraip's family was like any other family most of us know--  fun, has set morals, lets their daughter be very creative, etc.  They are like any other family except for the fact that they live in Iran--  a place most of us do not know too much about and what we do know is often negative.  A major thing that surprised me was how out-going Satrapi's family was in the way they enjoyed social activities such as drinking and playing cards, and they did not believe that women should be completely covered.  I was even very surprised that Satrapi had things such as a rocker jacket and a Michael Jackson pin... things that are extremely normal.  Satrapi's story most definitely dispelled my views on Iran.  Not everyone in Iran believes in the same kind of conservative lifestyle and they would rather not fight, causing many to protest against it and other such things such as the disrespect of women.  In the situation of Iraq, I am still unsure about its current situation but I think it is definitely a good thing that people are opposing the government since they are oppressing the people.  Not everyone in Iraq is even close to a terrorist and their are indeed normal families in a country where so much negativity is stressed.  This book really enabled me to understand the countries of Iran and also Iraq much more in-depth.

Project 1.

For my very first project, I will be creating a play dealing with the topic of wearing your heart on your sleeve.  The main focus will be people's obsession for designer label clothes.  I am going to create a play in which there is a designer-only woman (who will not even wear a shirt her son bought for her simply because it's not designer) and there will also be a woman visiting from Africa for a medical study.  These two woman will somehow cross paths and they will both teach each other valuable lessons, however the African woman will instill the designer-only woman with a new outlook on what really matters.  Some questions that come into focus are, "Are designer clothes just a security blanket for those who are insecure?"  "Do clothes really define what people think of you?"  among others.  I want my audience to gain a perspective on how their choice of clothes define them and how society views them due to their clothing choice.

Persepolis.

Why did Marjane Satrapi choose to write negatively about the United States through the negative opinions the Iranians shared?

Why did the author choose to end the story in a very depressing, no-hope ending?  There was no resolution for the reader at all.

The book was written in a style following a young girl, yet that style also reflected extremely important political information on Iran internally and externally.  Was all the information exactly accurate and unbiased in the novel?  Or did it have a particular stance?

Identity.

Identity is certainly a word that should not be taken lightly.  It is a word that truly shapes and describes what a human being is all about and how they are known in the world.  I believe identity is a word that is used to describe how a person portrays and views themselves in terms of their state of being- their personality, their interests, the feelings they experience, basically anything that makes them feel like the person they are.  For example, I perceive my identity to be a rather deep, yet fun one.  I certainly do usually not take myself very seriously and I am certainly a klutz at many times.  I love to meet new people and I am an extremely positive person who is usually quite cheery and bubbly.  I am always very out-going and friendly, however I do have days where I feel inadequate.  I am very proud of my accomplishments in my life so far, yet I have many goals that I would love to pursue.  Though I am mostly very loud and talkative, I have my days when I am on the quiet side as well.  I am also an extremely competitive person, which comes from my rich background in sports.  I love my family and friends and those are the people who really help to shape my life into what it is today.  Without them I would be lost.  It really is hard to self-describe one’s identity but how one views another person’s identity is often quite as hard.  I am not exactly sure but I believe that people would view my identity as one that is very happy and self-content.  They would probably perceive me to be goofy with my many “blonde” moments.  They would probably think me to be easily approachable since I laugh a lot and am pretty down-to-earth.  I am not entirely sure of what people view my identity to be but I hope they would view it as a positive one!  All together, the identity of one is really a complex subject to truly understand, but it really shows what a person is all about and how they are distinguished in the world.

NMS Questions

Since I am not very strong in the field of general art, will there be a lot of art based work?  Such as paintings, sculptures, etc,?

I know that during the past semester several NMS participated on field trips.  Will our class go on any field trips?

yeah

hey!