"Speak" Blog Post

Today is the first day of school, I walk in scared for highschool and what my future will be. And then, it hits me, waves of nausea come over me as I hear the cruel whispers and feel the stares bearing into me. “Speak” by Laurie HAlse Anderson is a moving narrative about Melinda Sordino. Melinda walks into highschool surrounded by many cliques none of which she was part of and faces constant judgement and alienation. She becomes very depressed and loses who she is all because she was at a party and was brutally raped, so she called the police. Many people at  the part were drinking alcohol and were arrested, causing uproar in her school. Everyone shuns her for “ruining” the party but no one actually knows her story. A huge theme in the book “Speak” is transformation. Melinda transforms into a more stable person even though she takes a path filled with hardships to get there.

Melinda learns to express herself and speak her mind through her art class. In her art class she is challenges to convey emotion, to tell a story. This helps Melinda to be able to tell her own story. For example when Melinda first comes into her art class she is told "This is where you can find your soul, if you dare. Where you can touch that part of you you've never dared look at before." This is what Melinda is able to do through her art class and she learns to find her soul. In addition she is also given a very important lesson and told that  "Art without emotion is like chocolate cake without sugar… The next time you work on your trees, don't think about trees. Think about love, or hate, or joy, or pain- whatever makes you feel something, makes your palms sweat, or your toes curl. Focus on that feeling. When people don't express themselves, they die on piece at a time.” This advice and lesson helps Melinda to express her emotions and feel a transformation through her art work. Art is an essential part to Melinda’s journey because it gives her a way to express and find herself.

Melinda also grows and learns to express herself through plants and gardening. Gardening gives Melinda a hope for the future and she starts to become a much more emotionally stable person. For example “I dig my fingers into the dirt and squeeze. A small clean part of me waits to warm and burst through the surface. Some quiet Melindagirl I haven't seen in months. That is the seed I will care for.” This helps the reader to understand how gardening gives Melinda hope. She is waiting to burst through the surface and recreate a happier version of herself. Gardening is helping Melinda to work through her trauma and go back to the way her life was before she was raped. In addition the quote “He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch - by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.” shows a parallel between Melinda and plants. The tree with dead branches is exactly like Melinda, sad, and partly dead. All that needs to be done is to remove the dead parts so that the tree can bloom and grow again. When Melinda sees this happening with a tree it makes her feel hope and like she will be able to grow and bloom again. Gardening and plants give Melinda hope and stability and are an important part of her growth and transformation.

At the beginning of the book Melinda is depressed and has everything bottled up. She doesn’t know how to express herself and feels constantly upset. Throughout the book Melinda learns to express her emotions and tell her story. She learns to speak. By the end of the book Melinda is able to stand up to her assaulter when he tries to assault her again. She has grown and transformed herself into a place where she is more stable. Melinda had a hard journey filled with many obstacles but she overcame it and was able to express herself through art, and gardening. “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the compelling story of Melinda. We are all Melinda in some ways, bound by our own demons fighting to grow and to speak.

"The Scarlet Letter" blogpost

“A,” the letter was prominent on her black gown. With her head bowed, Hester Prynne slowly hobbled out of the prison. The crowd stared at her in disapproval, because she had a committed a great sin, the sin of adultery. The book “The Scarlet Letter” is a moving narrative by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Set in the mid seventeenth century right outside of colonial Boston, this classic work of art tells the tale of Hester Prynne, a woman who is publicly shamed and punished for committing adultery. When her strict Puritan community finds out that she is pregnant Hester is sentenced to time in prison, and to wear a scarlet “A” on her clothing at all times for the remainder of her life. The “A” represents adultery or adulterous so that wherever Hester goes she will always be reminded of her mistake. Although Hester does feel some agony surrounding the “A” she also learns how to come to terms with her.  Hester Prynne faces a journey filled with self doubt, shame, but also pride, and joy. “The Scarlet Letter” is a book surrounded by enriching symbolism that helps to transform the book and to tell the entrancing story.

One significant symbol throughout the books are the characters. One character that has a lot of symbolism surrounding him is Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s previous husband represents the devil, and constant darkness. For example in chapter 10 we see Chillingworth’s dark side “But with what a wild look of wonder, job, and horror! With what a ghastly rapture....making itself even riotously manifest by the extravagant gesture with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor! Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom.” This quotation helps the reader to view how Roger Chillingworth represents evil, and the devil. It allows us to further view that he is a very dark and twisted character. In addition the character Pearl represents truth. In chapter 16 Pearl and Hester await Dimmesdale in the forrest. Pearl notices how the sun seems to run away from Hester, and speculates that this is as a result of the “A” that Hester wears. "'Mother,' said little Pearl, 'the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. Now, see! There it is, playing, a good way off. Stand you here, and let me run and catch it. I am but a child. It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!'" This shows how Pearl represents the truth because she is showing the truth of how Hester’s “A” scares off the sunshine. I think we also see from this quotation that sun represents people, and social interactions that would bring Hester happiness. The characters in “The Scarlet Letter” are major symbols that are constantly seen throughout the book.

One of the major symbols that is in the entire book is the “A” itself. The “A” represents shame, defying society, ability, solitude, joy, and the countless emotions that Hester experiences throughout the book. For example we see how the “A” represents grief and pain that Hester faced when in chapter 18 she takes it off. "The stigma gone, Hester heaved a  long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit. O exquisite relief! She had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom!” This helps the reader to understand more how the “A” represents Hester’s pain and suffering, and has deeply emotionally burdened her. Throughout the book, the “A” takes on many different meanings and represents other sides of Hester. For example in chapter 13 we begin to see how the “A” has taken on other meanings "[M]any people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength." This shows how the “A” represents positive concepts, and represents many aspects of Hester. She herself has transformed what the “A” means and made it into something good in her own life. The “A” is a symbol that appears in the entirety of the book and takes on many meanings as the plot develops.

Throughout the book “The Scarlet Letter” we see many different symbols. The symbolism in this book is constant, and brings interesting and important twists to the plot. The characters journeys are enriched by these symbols. Hester Prynne, and all the other characters face the challenge of many complex emotions and are surrounded by symbols.

Scarlet Letter Synthesis Page

Here's another synthesis page on the Scarlet Letter

Scarlet Letter Synthesis Page

This is a synthesis page of the Scarlet Letter- the book I am currently reading in book club. 
Sorry if the writing is blurry, I took this picture in a hurry.

     

CENSORSHIP ARGUMENT ESSAY

Dear Ms. Berner,

Libraries across the country censor readers by banning books in fear of kids reading inappropriate content. So far over 11,000 books have been banned in many schools and libraries. I believe that banning books and censoring what kids can read is denying them of the right to an education, a place to expand their minds, and awareness on certain topics. We should not ban books at M.S. 51.

Censoring what kids and teens can read shelters them from learning about things that are going on in the world. Even if topics may be difficult or borderline, they still exist, and kids need to know about what’s happening in the world. Judy Blume a very popular young adult writer who has had some of her books banned, says that we should “Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear.” Judy Blume brings up the critical point that censorship is a result of fear. People are afraid for their kids to know about certain topics, and afraid that their kids will have to deal with difficult, and complex things that might not always have happy endings. Henry Louis Gates a professor at Harvard says that “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” This quotation brings up the idea that if we censor writing we are censoring the mind, and committing an injustice to the art of the mind. It also shows censorship as committing an injustice to the art of the writing. When we censor what people can read, we are preventing them from getting a good reading experience, and we are sheltering them from issues that exist and that they may already see in the world.

Young Adult books can give kids and teens a place where they’re not alone and where they can stand up to issues in their own lives. Sherman Alexie a Young Adult author of a New York Times best selling and commonly banned book remembers how reading Young Adult books helped him through his extremely rough child and teenager hood. “I read books with monsters, and monstrous things, often with monstrous language because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in my life.” This is a really moving statement, and it really helps us to see how Young Adult books can save and rescue someone, and help them through the hardships in their lives. Mr. Alexie also says that he writes “to give them weapons in the form of words and ideas- that will help them fight their monsters.” He “writes in blood because he remembers what it felt like to bleed.” I think that this is one of the core purposes of Young Adult books. Teens no matter what background will have some struggle. The burden on teens will be greatly lessened if they feel that there are other people that understand the pain they are feeling, and are going through similar struggles. Young Adult books are essential because they give struggling teenagers a place where they can have less of a hardship.

Some say that Young Adult books should be banned because of inappropriate content. Meghan Cox Gurdon a parent, and writer for the Wall Street Journal feels that “If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of funhouse mirrors, constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of what life is.” Ms. Gurdon also says that “Books focusing on pathologies help normalize them, and in the case of self harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures.” While some may agree with this statement many believe that Young Adult literature has many benefits. Maureen Johnson of the Guardian wrote an article in response to Ms. Gurdon’s article which brings up some excellent points. Ms. Johnson replies to Ms. Gurdon by saying “The idea that darkness doesn’t belong in stories makes me wonder if the author if this article has read any Poe, Dickens, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Tolstoy… or almost any other author, ever.” This brings up a very critical point. The idea of dark subjects has always been in literature, even in texts such as the bible. In addition, Ms. Johnson continues to support Young Adult books when she says “The other night, after the Wall Street Journal Article [Ms. Gurdon’s article] was published, I suggested on Twitter that people share their stories of how YA has changed their lives by using the tag #YAsaves. Within hours there were over 15,000 responses. The topic itself became a worldwide trend.” This is really compelling and interesting. It shows that Young Adult literature has impacted many people and helped them through hard times. Despite what some may say, Young Adult books are important part of literature, and have helped, and brought joy to many people.

Censoring readers and banning books is taking away a huge outlet for teens. When teens read Young Adult books they are finding a community, strength, and they are arming themselves with weapons to fight the monsters that haunt them in their own life. So, with all due respect Ms. Berner, I would like you to think about what removing Young Adult books from our school would mean, and how it would affect the students. Oscar Wilde an Irish poet and writer in the 1800’s so nobly said “The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.” This statement truly reflects a big part of why books are banned. We cannot ban books out of fear of shaming our world, or fear of teens knowing about shameful things in our world. Books give people a safe space, and taking that space away will only cause more problems. Books are so important, they teach us, expand our minds, make us think, create communities, and do so much more. Banning Young Adult books will take those wonderful opportunities away. We should not ban Young Adult books in M.S.51.

Bibliography

Gurdon, Meghan Cox. "Darkness Too Visible." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 4 June 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014

Johnson, Maureen. "Yes, Teen Fiction Can Be Dark - but It Shows Teenagers They Aren't Alone." The Guardian. N.p., 8 June 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Alexie, Sherman. "Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood." Wall Street Journal. N.p., 9 June 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

"Censorship Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2015.

Reading and Writing for Social Justice: Looking at the World Through a Lens of Justice and Fairness

Prompt 1 - article that deals with injustice

The article “ ‘Why Don’t We Have Any White Kids?’ ” by N. R. Kleinfield of the New York Times tackles the issue of segregation in New York public schools. The article goes deep into segregation at a charter school in district 17 called Explore. Explore is very segregated. It’s student body racial make-up is “92.7 percent black, 5.7 percent Hispanic, and a scattering are of mixed race. None are white or Asian.” These numbers are shocking, but not uncommon in New York City schools. New York has one of the most segregated school systems in the country. Having such segregated systems, is a problem, it teaches certain groups privilege and others that they aren’t good enough to be with the other group.

Having segregated schools gives kids a bad message and leads kids to believe that the world is just as segregated as schools are. Studies show that diverse school environments have positive effects on a students success in school “ Decades of academic studies point to the corroding effects of segregation on students, especially minorities, both in diminished academic performance and in the failure to equip them for the interracial world that awaits them. “The preponderance of evidence shows that attending schools that are diverse has positive effects on children throughout the grades, and it grows over time,” said Roslyn Mickelson, a professor of sociology and public policy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Our schools are still segregated even after several legislative bills to integrate schools have been passed.
Students in segregated schools are shamed for behaviors that are not typically used by kids of a certain race in a particular school. One of the top students at Explore charter school, Amiyah Young was shamed by her peers for using more complex language. They called her ‘white girl’ because of the way she talks. She feels as if the school were more integrated with white kids “I think they would stop calling me white girl if there were white kids,” she said. “Because my skin is a little lighter and I can’t dance, they call me that. Some of them can’t dance, either.” She continues on to say that if the school was more integrated she could talk the way she wants. “Other students speak street slang that she repudiates: “They will say to me, ‘You are so white.’ I tell them, I have two black parents. Do I look white?’ ” Having a more integrated student body will prepare kids for a more integrated world once they graduate, and expose them to other cultures.

Reading this article makes me reflect upon my own school settings. My elementary school was predominantly white. I looked back at some old class pictures to see what the classes were like, and I was amazed. My fifth grade class had one black kid in it. Other years were slightly more diverse, but there was always a majority of white kids. Continuing on to middle school my classes continue to be undiverse. Although there are typically more kids of color in spanish, there are still many more white kids than there are black. I have never had more than five black kids in any of my classes in any given year of middle school. This year’s class includes one biracial kid, but other than that I have no other kids with African American parents. I think that personally learning in settings that are dominated by white kids has not helped me. I feel as if being constantly surrounded by people of my own racial make up has given me the wrong idea about how diverse the world outside is, especially in some professional fields. New York City should try to integrate school systems to create a better learning environment for all kids.

Article Citation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/education/at-explore-charter-school-a-portrait-of-segregated-education.html?pagewanted=1

Kleinfield, N. R. "‘Why Don’t We Have Any White Kids?’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 May 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

                                                                                                                        

Prompt 2- Situations I observe in school/parkslope (my neighborhood)

1. A girl takes a selfie, “You are SUCH a white girl”
2. A girl wears a revealing shirt “She’s a slut, why would she put out herself like that?”
3. A guy is afraid to try a risky activity with his friends “Don’t be such a pussy”
4. A group of friends go to starbucks, and then shopping “They are such white girls WTF!”
5. I visit my elementary school P.S. 321 and I see almost no minority kids
6. I see that there’s only one kid in my class with a parent that’s a person of color, my class is mostly white
7. I look in my neighborhood and see how much even it has changed since I was a kid because of gentrification

 
Today in pop culture a term that has become very popular is ‘White Girl’. I hear the phrase white girl thrown around a lot, even directed at me. I decided that before responding to the phrase ‘white girl’ I had to get a grasp on what a technical definition of a ‘white girl’ was. I looked to Urban Dictionary, a dictionary filled with definitions of phrases used in pop culture today. The definition I found to make the most sense was; “White Girl (noun) - A ‘white girl’ is usually defined as a caucasian [but also other races] teenage girl who is observed with the following traits: has an unhealthy obsession with Starbucks, desperately hits up her friends for likes on Instagram, overuses emojis, has a put-on ghetto dialect, takes a million selfies and deletes 99% of them, and enjoys crushing on a new boy every week. There are many more traits but to list them would be redundant. Be careful as they evolve constantly. One week they might love nutella, while the next they’ll disown it.” While there may be some element of truth in the ‘white girl’ phenomenon, why does society feel the need to label people so specifically, and how does labeling people ‘white girl’ affect them?

The phrase white girl makes me aggravated because I think that placing a label like ‘white girl’ on someone limits how they are viewed. For me there is something really wrong with the term white girl, and the problem starts with white. Saying white associates the term ‘white girl’ with being caucasian, but the term ‘white girl’ is supposed to be about the activities teenage girls of all races commonly partake in. I feel like it also confines young female white teenagers into being ‘white girls’. The next issue with this phrase is the girl part. One doesn’t have to be a girl to enjoy activities such as taking selfies, or drinking starbucks. Boys, and men can do all these activities, yet the term is ‘white girls’. Our society often separates what women and men can do in fear of women being too macho, or men being too girly.

My final issue with the term ‘white girl’ is that it is making assumptions. Just because I enjoy occasionally going to starbucks, I take a lot of selfies, and I have an instagram account, it doesn’t mean I identify with the ‘white girl’ category. I personally would rather be labeled for positive intellectual, and personality traits and qualities. By calling someone a ‘white girl’ it might limit what one will think of them. If being a white girl will mean someone thinks that I’m superficial because I take selfies, than that is a category that limits me. The term ‘white girl’ is a term that is said often, but it’s said with no thought of what its impacts are.

                                                                                                                        

Prompt 3: Interview

Matthew Gartner

C: What is good about our world?

M: I think that it’s really good that life evolved from non-life and that sentient life evolved, and that humans became capable of making jokes, and making other people laugh. They’ve done studies on the remains of early humans, and based on those studies they can tell how much humans died because of violent acts. And it was a high percentage. I’m glad that that doesn’t exist as much as today with the exception of ISIS. I’m glad that the quality of life has improved, and that the poverty levels are getting better. Glad that there is progress in the feminism movement, even though there is a lot of things that have to be done. I think there’s progress in the direction of justice and decency. And there’s a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of decent people who are making the world better every day in small ways and big ways. And that’s an amazing thing. People in small ways every day that people go to work to make the world better. And you don’t have to be hugely special to make a difference. And when a lot of people make small differences it adds up to being a big difference. There’s also people who help the world to make a better place is by having kids and trying to raise their kids to be good people. It’s pretty amazing that you give up a big chunk of your life to get people going in the world, and make all kinds of sacrifices for their kids.

C: What is unfair about our world?

M: We just don’t live in a fair world, so the unfairness goes in every direction. Here’s one way the world is unfair half the people in the world have above average intelligence, and half of the people are below. Is that fair? Some people have x, and some people have 2x and some people have 10,000x and some people have -3x. Often people are so deeply wrapped up in there own issues and their own problems and their own suffering and it’s hard for them to connect with other people. And their suffering becomes their whole world to them. I think it’s really wrong that there are so many different levels of economic advantage and disadvantage. And there are rich countries, and poor countries and the life you can live in each country is really different. I think that there are a lot of people who are very fundamentalism in religion, and they would like to bring us back to a world that isn’t as modern. And people don’t believe in women having equal rights. And they don’t believe in science and what is true in the world. Also another thing that is really another major bad thing that is happening right now is that we are not paying attention to our planet. They’re not thinking about the implications of 7 million people. We’re using fossil fuels, and burning coal, and ruining our atmosphere.

One of the interesting things Matthew brought up was how poverty, and growing up in a country that’s not as economically prosperous can affect your opportunities in the world. I think that part of the root of this problem is that kids who come from low income households have the idea that because they don’t have a lot of money they can’t achieve great things. I also think that society greatly favors people who come from more rich backgrounds. The people who have power in this world are rich, and they therefore make the system work for them. In addition I think that growing up in poverty can be harsh on children, and it leads them to believe that the world is just as harsh so that they can’t have nice things.

The poverty gap, is huge and it’s a problem because so many families have so much, but so many families have so little as well. The recession hit many places hard and some people are able to recover from it, but many aren’t. As our country lost money people lost jobs, and that was the case in many places in the world. Now the rich get so much more than the poor just because they have the positions in power. Our world is becoming divided instead of one unit working together. The division is everywhere, in where you live, go to school, buy your clothes, go to college, where you work… And the list goes on. There is so much division just because of ones income.

The poverty in the US doesn’t compare to the poverty in other places around the world. Some 3rd world countries are so poor and don’t have anything. We are so lucky in the US to have what we have, but we can’t stop with our country, we have to expand on a global scale. People with more money have more opportunities in this world because today money = power. That system is not okay, everyone should have the same chance for the same jobs in this world regardless of how much money you have.

                                                                                                                        

Prompt 4 - Watching the news:

I watched ABC’s broadcast of the grand jury broadcasting of the decision if Officer Wilson should be endited.

I put myself in the shoes of Michael Brown’s parents for this.

To have your kid get shot, shot and then die because he was walking down the street. He died clean out no longer here with us dead. To be in that situation, each death all the parents hold their kids close, and pray that it won’t be them next. One after the other, as the world sits there and watches. There are brief periods of violence and protests but then it winds down, because no one, no one knows what it’s like to lose your kid until you lose them.

The man who killed our country goes without punishment, there isn’t enough evidence the grand jury says. Aren’t Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell and the countless others enough evidence? Look at the facts, look at the patterns, look at this country that we live in.  There is so much protest, so much noise about this, but the media is focusing on the protest itself, but not on our boy Michael Brown.

                                                                                                                        

Prompt 5 - interview:

I decided to interview my mom Madeline Rhum. My mom changes the world and helps people every day. My mother is a clinical therapist who runs her own practice. She truly inspires me because she works really hard and cares about her job, even though it can be really difficult and stressful for her. My mom also changes the world or my world on the parental front, she has been the greatest mom even though we fight a lot.

C: How do you help people in your job?

M: I help people every day with all kinds of emotional distress, I help them feel able to have better relationships with people in their lives, and feel more capable and confident in their work and their everyday experiences.

C: Do you enjoy helping people everyday?

M: Yes, sometimes it’s hard for me to keep myself emotionally present at times, and people are telling me about really horrible things they’ve endured. But I do like my work.

C: Why did you chose to do the work you do?

M: Because I had a strong feeling of wanting to help people. I’ve always been thoughtful of peoples feelings, and I’ve been emotionally there for them. But I really decided to become a therapist after I worked at a refugee camp in Thailand.

C: Do you think your job has ever saved anyone’s life.

M: Yes it has.

                                                                                                                        

Prompt 6 poem:

Adrienne Rich, "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers"

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,

Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.

They do not fear the men beneath the tree;

They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool

Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.

The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band

Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie

Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.

The tigers in the panel that she made

Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

(You can find the poem at http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88v/rich-jennifer-tiger.html )

Interpretation and analysis of poem:

The poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich, is a clear representation of the feminist movement. Aunt Jennifer is doing her needlepoint, stuck doing a “woman’s job” or busy work with no intellectual value for her. She is weak, caught in a system where she has no power, but the tigers she embroiders are strong, representing her inner desire to be more than she is permitted by the world she lives in.

“Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,

Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.

They do not fear the men beneath the tree;”

The tigers are strong and have no fear of what oppresses them (men). Aunt Jennifer doesn’t have the strength to break the system she’s stuck in so through her needle work she is able to break free.

The next grouping of phrases goes further into Aunt Jennifer’s situation. It leads the reader to see how being this feminine object whose purpose is to do tasks centered around the home life has made Aunt Jennifer’s life bleak.

“Aunt Jennifer's finger fluttering through her wool

Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.

The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band

Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer's hand.”

This is showing how being a woman, and being married, just because that was a proper thing to do, has weighed Aunt Jennifer down. It has made doing things in the world hard for her, because she is surrounded by a world where men are superior, and they have much, much more power than women.

The legacy of Aunt Jennifer is just of a lady who does ‘ladylike’ things, and that is all she will get to be. Although the tigers will continue to prance representing her inner desire to fulfill her potential to be something more, she will never have that, because she lives in a world where she can’t be someone bigger. Her hands will still feel the burden even after she is gone.

“When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie

Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.

The tigers in the panel that she made

Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.”

Today in the world women still face inequality. We live in a world dominated mostly by male figures of power. We have come a long way, but society today says men are superior to women although they never have and never will be. The poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich explores that women have been limited in their access to power through the metaphor of needlepoint. The metaphor of needlepoint helps us to see how society has limited what women can do. The tigers show how women are strong and that we can be more, but we are shut down by a system that disables us. Today discrimination against women continues. We need to break down the barriers that limit us, and find our inner tigers.

Interesting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwJRFClybmk&list=PLTXiNEUzXWKT9xrbU3aUxqYloEL_W-8rr

                                                                                                                        

Prompt 7 Watching Old T.V.:

I watched the partridge family season one episode 18- Soul Club and episode 19- To play or not to play?

The partridge family was a show from the early 70’s so I thought it would be interesting to watch, and compare to modern television. The partridge family portrayed families and teens as if they were perfect. People my age were portrayed as responsible, caring, and family oriented, but sometimes slightly rebellious of their parents. Normal teens in the partridge family are white, and love to hang out in groups, they don’t do a lot of crazy things, they just enjoy each others company for most of the time. They live in nice houses generally with multiple stories just on the outskirts of their town. They are upper middle class, and always have food on the table. Their family is sweet and kind and although they fight sometimes it always gets worked out.

The portrayal of teens in television and movies makes me upset because it only shows one type of teenager, and doesn’t really portray what someone’s life is actually like. The portrayal of teens makes me think about how much the media and hollywood has made “perfect.” So many things not just in TV and movies but also in ads and commercials are changed just to make something look flawless. Very few people have the picture perfect life that is portrayed by the partridge family. Looking at the portrayal of the teens in the partridge family makes me feel confused, because when I look at them they have everything figured out, and I’m just trying to find myself as a person. Watching the Partridge family and looking at the portrayal of teens and families makes me know that the world is afraid to look at the un-perfect reality.

I feel like that through showing a family that has as good as a life as the partridge family many problems arise. One negative causation is that it makes people feel as if they aren’t doing well enough within their own families. It makes people see a reality that’s so appealing, but not true, and they’re going to get caught up trying to achieve something they can’t. Portraying teens this way isn’t accurate, because not everyone is so cookie cutter perfect. The teenage years are a time of self discovery, and not everyone can do that without making a few mistakes. I think there is a stereotype around families like the partridge family. I think it’s that they’re perfect, but in reality that isn’t true.