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.