A Business Woman's Meaning of Life

The understanding of life is subjective based on a person's history, philosophy, mental process and many others factors in life. To understand a person's meaning and visualize it through photography is what my class Journalism taught over the past few weeks. My classmates and I learned about subjectivity and objectivity,  how photos affected the world around us, and grammar to prepare us for college. We also attended the Chicago Ideas Week for a talk on Journalism and the current political atmosphere. In this unit, Image, we had to interview someone who was willing to tell us their meaning of life and take a photo afterwards. I had interview Dolly Zea, a saleswoman and a business adviser at several different companies. I am proud of interview I did as it contained nuanced information and I was stressed on the original time limit the project was originally due.

It was close to the middle of the night, and we were both tired in a car. My mother and I both came from a long day with little sleep from the night before. I saw her, looking out the window to the road ahead as I planned to interview her about her meaning of life. She already knew I was going to ask her questions for a school assignment, and she persisted for me to bring them up. We were stopped by a train and waited for it to pass by. After thirty minutes, I decided to conduct the interview.

With hesitation, I asked her in Spanish about the meaning of life? After interpreting and finally understanding my broken accent, she took a silent moment and began to talk in her language:

“What is my meaning of life? My meaning of life is my family, my kids. My meaning of life is to help others in need. It is to create a proposal. To have a proposal to wake up every day. A proposal to be a better person, a better mother, a better wife. To be a better companion, to be a better daughter. To be a better boss. To try to do things-every time better. To live life simple and to enjoy every moment of life well.”

JN, "Mother Sitting" web, 2019

The most interesting word to was “proposal”, and she used it throughout the conversation. I enjoyed that it was phrased where it wasn’t fact but a hope for something better. It showed a level of uncertainty that, when we were all younger, we never thought of. To understand the word better, I asked if she thought about her meaning and if her proposals are conscious or if the word “proposal” was built to deep into her that she didn’t need to think.:

“I always think about it. Every decision I take. The consciousness is to think about what to do and the consequences of what happens. That is the consciousness. It doesn’t matter if I do good or bad. My consciousness will state that the action will have an impact.”

The thought I had was how the intent of an action was secondary to the implication based around her comment. It wasn’t for a while until I understood why this comment upsets me because, as an artist, meaning is the strongest part of a piece. So taking out the meaning of an art piece would only take away the implications it brings from said meaning. Therefore, there is no action created by the artpiece, and it is rendered useless.

Throughout the interview, there were words I didn’t understand. There was one word, “madurez”, that piqued my interest, and I hadn’t heard of it when she first said it. I asked her what it meant and she said, “It is to see error in your life and to fix them every time. All the errors, I learned not to commit them.” I was intrigued, but still confused. So I asked if she knew an example. “Yes. Before I thought, for example, when I was young, I didn’t believe I was going to die. Now, I enjoy every moment of life because many people, at the conner, because of their age, are dying.”

An hour after the interview, I learned the word ”madurez” was “maturity” and that when I realize the core of her meaning. The ability to reflect whenever possible. The ability to reflect on a decision and factor in how certain elements lead to certain scenarios. To realize your time and how to spend it with others. For the final question of my interview, I asked my mother how she would imagine her meaning as an image.

“I would be in thought. I would be in thought because I’m a creative person. I’m always thinking. I would be with my family. I’m in a beach with you three.”

My shutter speed, which measures the motion of the frame, was at 60 frames per second for the focus. The aperture, which measures the light on the lense, is at 3.4 since I wanted to show natural daylight. For the rule of thirds, the main focus was my mother since she alines directly on the left side of the frame on the graph (of the rule of thirds). She also has two rays of light (the kitchen and sun) over her while most objects of the frame only have one source of lighting.

After finishing my breakfast the next morning, I saw my mother working a notebook with concerned thought. I opened the curtains (she noticed) and I warned her about me taking a picture. She ignored me and looked down on her notebook silently.

The picture has more subjectivity than objectivity. It shows my mother not only in focus, but in reflection as she stares to a blank piece of paper. Yet, in the background, she thinks about her family based by the treehouse. People could interpret my mother as either planning to write something down or having nothing to say. Either way, both interpretations include the treehouse, which also mean child-related/ideas of past in the background while she is working now.

I knew how the words “proposal” and “consciousness” worked in her mind without her stating them. She was always working since childhood. At times, I would also use the “proposal” method when I’m dealt with uncertainty. But what I found surprising was how she thought of her mortality. As a child, I resemble my mother mentally compared to other siblings. Yet, even when I was young I knew death was inevitable.. I hadn’t heard much from my mother’s childhood besides that she was hardworking and I have only seen passive people of my age deny their mortality. To see that contradiction makes me who if her original description was just hiding all the errors.

The Hospital Expansion

Anyone has the power to be a reporter, but only those who understand the rules of journalism laid down decades before will provide the best service to their people. That is what my class, Journalism, was taught for the past few weeks. The class learned about the 5 principles of journalism, leads, and the morality journalist must have when working in the field. We went to the Weinberg Newton gallery to understand reporting through the arts.

For this project, each person had to research a story based around their community. I decided to research the St.Anthony hospital expansion and how the perspectives of the two main characters in charge changed. I'm proud of the researched I produced and I struggle with receiving direct quotes from Alderman Rodriguez and Mr. Sifuentes.

St. Anthony Hospital ,Google,, bisnow.com,  2017, 2019

On August 21st, announcements of St. Anthony Hospital told of an expansion at a lot on 31st Street and Kedzie Avenue. However, Lucky Camargo and others opposed the expansions from the hospital for fear of gentrification during a community meeting in Little Village discussing the project. Even though there were 1,500 signatures from Little Village residents supporting the Hospital Expansion, new concerns have risen and Senior Vice President (of Mission and Community Development) Mr. Sifuentes and the 22nd Alderman both considered the concerns of residents.

Plans started in 2012 with the City of Chicago’s Community Development Commission (CCDC)voting in favor of construction for the new division of St. Anthony. Not only considered a branch to the hospital, but it would also include a student campus, several shops, fitness centers, and several community-oriented services-all totaling to a 600 million dollar project. Meanwhile, several people from the community opposed in hope for a new high school on that land since the was home to Washburne Trade School ten years earlier. There is also the film studio, Cineplex, bidding on the land for their own development plans. Several community members such as Lucky Camargo and Raoul Contreras believe that the city should sell the land to none.

On September 24th, Mr. Sifuentes was interviewed to see his thoughts after the conference. Though he understands the concerns, his position is on the belief that the majority considers the Hospital as a positive. When asked how the structure would try to lower the risk of gentrification, his response was the project was already preventing gentrification since the beginning. “The shops are already placed on the second floors rather than ground level, so it would be unlikely that the problem of gentrification would arise outside of that area if the extension is already contained” He also claims to have lower prices for citizens of little Village as another solution to prevent the problem. However, he states there hasn’t been many compromises for the rights to the lot nor will there be any as the project will follow through.“ This lot has been here for 20 years and nothing has been done about it…. There is little to no compromise to what’s going to happen in the land”.


On September 25th, Alderman Rodriguez was asked about what he thought about the community’s mindset. He promoted the claims of a majority vote by recalling the community conference in Little Village on August 21st. “There were 200 people that attended that meeting.. Over 180 responded to the survey… only four people responded that they didn’t want the hospital”. However, unlike Mr. Sifuentes who believes the project will come to full fruition, Mr. Rodriegez states that the project is still standing and being weighed over by the city. “There were to applicants that are being considered by Chicago Public Schools, St. Annothy and Cineplex...those are the only two applicants that are being considered by Chicago Schools...and that’s where it stands now.” During the interview, it seems that Alderman Rodriguez will be taking action in order to prevent gentrification during the construction of the hospital expansion.


Attempts have been made to reach the opposition of St. Anthony and there have been no connections as of right now. However, it seems the community is on hold for the expansion and Chicago Public Schools are still in the process of which private entity will take the lot: Cineplex or St. Anthony. There doesn’t seem much worry coming from the community, however, new events could always rise within the upcoming months.

The Lemon Commandment.

Policy is a trend where laws are produce from the culture our society creates. When it comes to the the policies of religion, one could argue that the "separation of church and state" has either grown or withered. This is I'm studying during my junior year in the class Policy. During this class, cohorts and I studied several laws that were created through what culturally happened during that time. This included the Vietnam War, WWI, and the recent war on Libya. We went to Cook County Criminal Courthouse, The National Veteran Art Museum, and much more.

What we did for a project was to research a supreme court case and how it affected the citizens of the US. We also had to identify the thesis listed for the plaintiff and defendant on why the subject of the court case was constitutional (or not). For my project, I choose McCreary County (Kentucky) v ACLU due to the interesting arguments used within the case. The struggle I had with the project was time but I enjoyed learning about the rhetoric placed on the case.

Web

The Inconceivable Victory: Vietnam

War is hard to understand as it uses tactics to eliminate as many people possible for an idea or property of land. However, a challenge of a historian is to see the rhetoric of the war and the policies it had to see how the conflict escalated. This includes laws, resolutions, or acts any government has contributed to help the war keep going. This is what my class, Policy, has studied since the beginning of spring and will continue to study until the end of Junior year. We had also gone to several Aldermen throughout Chicago, read several books such as A People's History of the United States/ The Things the Carried, and read upon the Vietnam War.

For an assignment, class members had to pick a war they believed was unjust or just within US history. However, the problem was these papers couldn't include the war tactics or atrocities but rather policies/ law created to fuel the war. I wanted to, rather than looking online, read my sources on paperback since they contain more information compared to an only article, has been check by a series of people, and edited so the most important information could be placed. I also wanted to write on paper first and then type it out as an extra step for drafting. These were the challenges I faced when studying my war, the War on Vietnam, and I believe I made an convincing argument.

Web

A Letter for a Legislator

The government of Chicago (as well as the government of US) gives us the right to recommend and vote for certain policies/laws to better help our society. However, creating laws takes time and effort over a series of committees that modify the original policy so it could fit for everyone. Before the policy/bill is brought to congress or city council, it is introduced to a committee that will approve for a bill so it could move to the next step. This whole process is what I learned at GCE lab school in the class called "Policy". Besides the information on how the legislative branch works, I also learned about the constitution, WWI, and much more. Me and my class also went to the 40th ward to meet Andre Vasquez and learn about the political system in Chicago.

 What each individual did for this project was creating a letter to our alderma n (or senator) based around a policy we cared about. The policy had to be within the committee our legislator was in and our job was to convince said legislator to approve the policy . I written my letter based around the new chapters on the "Bird Friendly Ordinance" that create guideline for new buildings near wildlife or in migratory paths. I used a combination of logos, ethos, and pathos to convince my reader on the the subject and why it matters.  After writing this paper, I am proud with the work I did because of how smoothly the process of writing this paper went. I am disappoint however that I didn't use any homemade visual to make the AP more appealing. Still, there could always be next year.

Kyle Hanson"Chicago Birds Flying Skyline" fineartamerica.com, FINE ART AMERICA, Web,
No Date, April 26, 2019

RACHEL KAUFMAN "Chicago Introduces Bird-Friendly Building Ordinance"nextcity.org, Next City, Web,February 13, 2019, April 26, 2019

Ruppenthal "Chicago is Most Dangerous City for Migratory Birds, Study Finds" wttw.com ,         WTTW, Web, April 4, 2019, April 26, 2019

Sean Kennedy " Chicago’s Killer View: The Skyline’s Toll On Migratory Birds" wbez.org, Curious City, Web, May 2, 2016, April 26, 2019

The Policing Assemby

When dealing with a people's assembly, the consensus of the group must be prepared rather than the individual. This mean not only to plan, but to question and understand how your group members see the plan. I had to learn this the hard way with my class "A Nation's Argument" at GCE Lab School. In this class, my cohorts and I were to understand pre-era and after era of the civil war and what humilities enslaved people dealt with. It was also understanding the motivation, fallacies, and premises that came along with the arguments presented. However, the greatest challenge for the class was to organize a mini people's assembly within three days. This including the people's research, seating and structure, and topic's committee.

Within this people's assembly, we had to find arguments that were based around the questions and responce the guest and students had. The argument within this clip is of police in CPS. What was difficult for the project was the coordination with the student. At the same time, what felt satisfying was the independence given from the instructor and the question produced by the students.

                                      People's assembly at GCE from Jeimar Neiza on Vimeo.

Within the people’s assembly, we mainly talked about policing and public schools. There were multiple points made, and I compiled them into an argument.

Thesis: Due to the environment of urban schools, the roles of police are used within the classroom to prevent outside problems from leaking in (guns, drugs, etc). Not only that, but the police creates a psychological phenomenon where students are aware of the consequences of their actions and will try to do less crime activity near the police. This relationship will create a parent/child dynamic and fuel a feeling of safety for students. Police are also more efficient compared to social workers since they have a “reactionary” mindset for problems within CPS and help kids follow the code of conduct. If all added up, the police could be a strong positive role model and a friend to a student.

Antithesis: Because of multiple police showing up in schools, the fear from students has now been directed more to police rather than criminals. Since students already live within a tough environment, they’re already accustomed to fear for themselves with school being considered a “safe space” for students. Yet, despite being there for protection, police within the schools creates the impression that the CPS school is itself a prison. The role of the “enforcer” in CPS is more fueled by the “reactionary” mindset from officers since the mindset was made for serious threats. Not to mention that police are enforcing the code of conduct to a strict basis as if it was justification for the role they play in CPS. In total, the police themselves are landing in roles that seem to damage the image of an officer to parents and students.

Synthesis: Police should be trained with different resources and to help out students such as social workers do. Police were seen as friend rather than enemy during a period of time, so the old methods and roles should be brought up more. The roles of police should shift for entering classes and teaching students on the access for public safety and justice rather then enforcing students. There should also be the breaking of the “reactionary” mindset, since there is no justification for that treatment on students. The CPS themselves shouldn’t assign a singular role for all officers, but rather different roles for each individual officer to see how officers could help students the best way possible.

It's also better to understand it through syllogism format to understand the points clearly.

Thesis

P1: Due to the environment of urban schools, the roles of police are used within the classroom to prevent outside problems from leaking in (guns, drugs, etc)
P2: The police creates a psychological phenomenon where students are aware of the consequences of their actions and will try to do less crime activity near the law enforcement
P3: This relationship will create a parent/child dynamic and fuel a feeling of safety for students
P4: Police are also more efficient compared to social workers since they have a “reactionary” mindset for problems within CPS and help kids follow the code of conduct.
C: The police could be a strong positive role model and a friend to a student.

Antithesis

P1: Student had depended on school to be a safe environment compared to the environment near their households
P2: Police within the schools creates the impression that the CPS school is itself a prison and that the fear has no escape
P3: The role of the “enforcer” in CPS is more fueled by the “reactionary” mindset from officers and creates security that isn't justifiable for learning institutions
P4: Police are enforcing the code of conduct to a strict basis as if it was justification for the role they play in CPS
C: Police themselves are landing in roles that seem to damage the image of an officer to parents and students

Synthesis

P1: Police were seen as friend rather than enemy during a period of time, so the old methods and roles should be brought up more
P2: The roles of police should shift for entering classes and teaching students on the access for public safety and justice rather then enforcing students
P3: CPS themselves shouldn’t assign a singular role for all officers, but rather different roles for each individual officer to see how officers could help students the best way possible.
C: Police should be trained with different resources and to help out students such as social workers do

Immigrants, We get the Test Done.

I have been going to a class called "Nation's Argument" where a student learns about the US constitution, premises and conclusions, and the history of the US. Not only that, but the class also went to an aldermen assembled meeting that spoke on a new policy created by Homeland Security and the executive branch of the US.
Throughout the term, students had learned about the original Citizenship test which consisted on simple one word answers and had 100 questions randomly selected. This document is a proposal for a new system or format for the test. It tries to not only fix the problems but also make it easier for applicants to engage in the test.
I am proud of the different solutions that I had created during this assignment, as well as the augments and acknowledgement of flaws on the original. However, the indepence given from my teacher on the format did create certain barriers I had to overcome. Still, I hope you enjoy the presentation.

Here is a qoute that connects to my reference on the Declaration of Independence.
".. that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.."

This image below is an unfinished version of a skeleton reading the constitution called The Originalist. The reason the drawing is unfinished is because it represents how I feel about the answers and question on the citizen test. That it feels the structure isn't thoughout, and therefore the question are limiting. Just like this drawing, it is a shame that we have an unfinished test with one answer questions that, despite the fairly simple questions, seem to fail the people that it is supposed to help. 

JN "The originalist" no Website, 2019

My Favorite Movie

When reviewing a film, one cannot just state "this is bad because I felt" and then leave for the day. They must explain the film with reason and examples that make strong argument for their point. This is what my class, Ollywood, has been learning since the beginning of the course. Certain prompts are within the realm of post-production such being editing, music score, sound effects, and much more within the film. We also went to certain locations such as Gene Siskel Film Center, MorningStar, and many more. Each experience gave the class and me a better understanding on how to interpret the medium.
What we had to do for a project was to create a review and use certain production techniques in order to invest the audience within the video.We also had to talk about interpreting the film with a perspective such as feminism in order to find implications of the film. What made this review hard to do was the edits from recordings limited enough to follow the exceptions of the instructor and audience. However, I am proud of this film and am hopeful that the challenges faced were won over.
The film Wrinkle in Time was directed by Ava DuVernay, produced by Disney, and includes actors such as Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, and Deric McCabe. It is mostly from the fantasy family genre and was released during the year of 2018.

Shut up Peathers

Heather has been an inspiration to multiple people and consider a cult classic to many and was written/directed by Daniel Waters. Known to be ahead of its time, it takes punches at the society of that date and still remains relative even today. It's a movie I choose to analyze thanks to my class called Ollywood, here at GCE Lab School. What my class and I learn understanding film through post production, intention, and much more. We observed this through movies such as Jaws, Lord of the Rings, and many more. We also went outside the school to observe the role of finding the right location for the right film. What my class had to due for a project was to look at a movie and observe it intellectually. I choose the movie Heathers and based it on the characters, designs, motives, and inspiration of the film.
What I enjoy most about the project was that I felt prepared for this after seeing different critics for multiple movies. However, I found it a challenge to edit some parts after feedback, as I re-wrote 90% of the script. Over all, I believe I reviewed the film fairly on what it presented.

" New World Pictures, Heather,  wikipedia.org, Cinemarque Entertainmen, Web,
 1989, 2018

PA Propaganda

Propaganda has used rhetoric in order to gain certain emotions for its audience to change their political views. At certain times, propaganda uses certain figures in a negative light such as"the other" in order for people to rally. This is what my class and I, Art of Rhetoric, had tried to understand. The techniques on how to unite people by through emotion, logic, and trust.  Not only that, but trying to use writing tools such as hyperbola, chamois, metaphor, and much more in order for the audience to believe that our statements are valid. We also learned through politicians in Chicago to understand their rhetoric such as Ugo Okere, candidate for the 40th Ward. All the techniques have been highly useful within looking not only at political videos, but also observing my own surroundings and trying to make myself more approchable during work. What we had to due for a project was to create propaganda about our mayoral candidate, and try to convince people through the art of rhetoric. Not only logos, pathos, ethos- but also things such as undermining certain characters while also over-exaggerating others. We also had to state clearly on what our stance is within these art pieces and what audience this art piece was for. The struggle/ enjoyment I had with this art piece was the animation. It took me all day and few others to finish it, but I believe it enhances the experience for one and show directly what the audience should be rooting for. What will happen to this project would be that it will be sent around to multiple candidates and citizens across Chicago. The reason is quite simple; it will be used to entice people into a People's Assembly. A "People's Assembly" is where a group of citizens come together in order to talk about certain issues that have been affecting the community for so long. These ideas coming up as either the safety or freedom of certain individuals within the limits of the community. For GCE's People's Assembly, we will be focusing mainly on the idea that students should be allowed within Chicago's political battlefield and have their perspective shown. These being certain policies that relate to education, poverty, and much more.

                                              

Untitled from Jeimar Neiza on Vimeo.

When making "King of Thought", I had two ideas: 1. What types of rhetorical techniques was it going to use in order grab the audience 2. How is it going to grab the audiences attention.

I believe in order to answer these questions, I must first explain my artwork piece by piece. First, I would like to talk about the name. The name "King of Thought" given for three reasons. The first being is that it related to the situation in which education was handle, and how it could impact the next generation of students . That Rahm Emmanual was consider a leader within the video, and would rather have his own way then the way of the people. Such as a selfish king. This being a perfect metaphor for what is happening right now. 

Not only, but the second reason being there is certain hyperbole when talking about these Kings, showing a black and white perspective on the situation. Rahm Emmanuel is only seen once and is shown to be a monstrous being who enjoys the downfall of students. He has no face and only shows emotion when being presented as a negative thing, such as the video call in out for his actions. The reason I bring this up is because throughout US history, certain figures have been placed as "the other" in order to promote violence and gain power. The biggest example would be in WWII, where multiple signs showed racist depictions of the Japanese from across the world. Exaggerating certain facial feature glorifying actions in a negative way and nobody disagreeing because propaganda was the only demonstration of those people at the time. My piece is no different, as not only glorifies Rahm as a villain, but glorifies Paul Vallas(the rhetorical Challenger) as a person that is extremely pure. To the point that there is even light behind him in one point in the video. Thus enforcing the black and white perspective onto the audience.

Which bring me to my third point-that the name itself was meant to lure audience in without even known the content. For most people and myself "King" is mostly associated with British Kings, in which the bloodline was bested upon by some deity, and therefore stating that they had all the power. This situation is no different, expect instead of a god or gods, it is society itself that chooses who can rule. Thus the name "King of Thought" rather then "Kings of Thought" with a main group of people that vote for Rahm rather then Paul. 

In the video, I had to address a certain audience so that they could look into my political perspective. I choose the audience of middle working class that is patriotic for the city. You could see this with the line " the working class of Chicago". Not only that, but I focused more on how Chicago could improve rather than the families improving or each of them have a specific dream. I generalized the students to make them seem as if all of them wanted to be businessmen or doctors more then anything else. I also stated "40-60 percent of residents" not "families", because I am trying to show more of a logos that shows the affect of the people in general. I also state the fact people of "ages 17-50" could gain this training despite most people associating students with young people. This allows the idea that Paul isn't just looking for young people, he is looking for Chicago itself to better improve for most ages.

Finally, I wish to talk about the message of this video. If it wasn't clear enough, I wanted to show off the policy in which core classes should be added with city colleges and that it would benefit every one. How the video present this is through animation, making it extremely visual creating a certain point. I wanted to show patriotism throughout all of the video as explain before. The best example would be the shot where a person (who assumably lives in the south side) is hear the narrator talk about this system being unfair. As the narrator is talk, we clearly see the person face drag from sadness to anger. This is extremely important because this person is both metaphorically and literally a citizen of Chicago and wants to fight against "the other". This being Rahm Emmanuel. Thus, it breaks the sound barrier not because it addresses the lower class, but also tries to address most of the patriots within Chicago.

Hypothetical Vallas

Paul Vallas is considered a politician who changed his view on education from CPS to Charters. This creates controversy on Vallas and shows him in a negative light. However, if we here to turn back to CPS, how would he phrase his message to his audience. This is what my class, Rhetoric, is trying to discover. Not just Paul Vallas, but other infamous political characters in Chicago that students studied. We tried studying certain methods on how to connect to your audience in a very specific way. These methods or subjects being pathos/logos/ethos, history on speeches, advertisement, and language tools. Finally, we went to certain places and met important figures like Troy LaRaviere, Ted Miin, and Alia Bilal.

What we had to due was create a hypothetical and successful rhetorical speech based around a candidate each student choose. I picked Paul Vallas, the former CEO of CPS who is now advocating for Charters. Considering that there was a controversy between the CPS and Charters, I wanted to create a situation where Paul Vallas changed his opinion on Charters. The reason was because Chicago so far doesn't take kindly to Charters. Underneath this intro is a 4 minute speech I made for Paul Vallas if he needed to answer the question "Do you believe Charters and CPS can exist together in the same playing field". What I enjoyed most about the project was the research allowing myself to discover both sides of the argument and who has more truth within each case. However, what I found troublesome was trying to balance ethos and pathos into my logos filled speech. Still, I hope you enjoy.
                      

Speech from Jeimar Neiza on Vimeo.

JN, "Vallas Love blogger.com, Sept 30, 2018

The image here is the campaign logo for Vallas himself. It is a staircase of blue to show that he is progressive, and the red arrow to show that the right way is the red way. Showing he is going for Republican while taking the stairs of progression.

Citations

JN "Rhetoric Papers" issu.com, Issue, Sep 28, 2018

“Paul Vallas, CEO, Chicago Public Schools” youtube.com, City Club of Chicago, Web. Feb 21, 2014, Sept 28, 2018

Staff “The State of CPS • How Charter Schools are Undercutting Neighborhood Schools in Chicago” thesedays.news, These Days, Web, Feb 24, 2017, Sept 28, 2018


Strauss V “A dozen problems with charter schools” washingtonpost.com Washington Post, Web May 20, 2014, Sept 28, 2018

The All Mighty and Extremely Extravagant talk(The chit-chat)

When writing a script, you need more then on person to due so. This is because the writer needs other writers to give him/her/them ideas that can improve their idea of the script/story. This is what my class, Drama, has been leaning towards for an assignment. We have also been learning about gender studies, script formatting, character dialogue, and so much more. We had also been to the Goodman Theatre, in which we'd learn certain ways to visualize certain scenes within our plays.

After reading the play A Doll's House, we were paired into groups to write a script that had certain guiding question. For my group, it was "Should women have the same power as men?". We then had to rehearse/record the script in order to check off the assignment rubric. What I enjoyed most about this assignment was it allowed myself to practice my writing skills. It also helped me to think carefully about what is needed through the actors. The camera shots and mannerism make the video somewhat unique compared to other classmates/students. My only complaint is that there has been trouble with communication and there are some scenes that need editing. Still, I hope you enjoy.

Damsel: a young unmarried woman.

Exhort: strongly encourage or urge (someone) to do something.

Unfathomable: incapable of being fully explored or understood.

Consternation: feelings of anxiety or dismay, typically at something unexpected

Some Books are equal, but some are more equal than others.

In very few instances, the censorship of a book could be acceptable. That being said, there are only very few. Most of the time, the banning of the book is not because society frowns upon it, but rather the banner frowns upon it. This is why I, JN, and my class Forbidden Books research such things a dogmas, religions, and taboos that create the justification for censorships. We also went to several Field Experiences that help us gain a better perspective. These being Woman's and Children's First bookstore, the Muslim Community Center, and WBEZ radio station. What we had to do for an assignment is to create an essay that goes on a position that supports or disagrees with a certain book's censorship. For myself, I choose George Orwell's Animal Farm, as it has been banned in multiple countries around the world. The problems I had with creating the essay would be the research, as certain quotes couldn't be found. However, what I found myself prideful for was the dissection of the book with characters and story. Still, I hope you read and enjoy the essay on Animal Farm.

     

   

Citations

G. Orwell's “Animal Farm” Film. CIA. 1954,

Migration to the Land

A poet is someone who speaks his or her mind in minimal words. A political poet is someone who  speaks for a community's ideals in his or her words. Hello, my name is J.N., and I am going to GCE and taking a class called Poetic Justice. What Poetic Justice teaches to my class is the history of how poems shaped the political arena today. From such things as feminism, racial laws, LGBT laws, and much more, we dived into it. We had gone on multiple FEs such as the Third World Press, the Poetry Foundation, and many more.

What we had to do for the entire term was to create/re-write a poem that certain around a political issue we wanted to face. For myself, it was immigration, and how it is an injustice to take people who never even knew Mexico back there. I had to rewrite the poem over and over, but in the end, it was acceptable. What I am most proud in this poem is the symbolism, and what I am least proud of is how there isn't many political devices. Still, I hope you listen and enjoy my performance.

Artist Statement

My topic is about immigration and the experience of having to relocate to another country. I have chosen one of the biggest immigration stories of 2017. Rosa Maria Hernandez, a disabled Hispanic child crossed the border for health reasons. After she had surgery, she was detained by two border patrol agents. Not only does my poem talk about Maria, but the events of the Dream Act. It tries to demonstrate the importance of trying to look at deportation in a more humane manner. This is related to my own life is with friends and family I know. My mother has friends who are immigrants. She and I have seen the effect of deportation to a family and to the community.

The poetic devices are imagery, rhyming, consonance, assonance, and alliteration. All of these having a significant meaning, with rhyming and connese allowing both the reader and performer to memorize the text easier with rhythm. The assonance makes a stanza flow better, as well as alliteration doing the opposite in order to make the performer sound more in worry/troubled. I wished I could have used devices such as simile, so it could enhanced the imagery which was used to keep the listeners interested/ image the events in a more symbolic way. The reason I didn’t use simile was because it wasn’t necessary do to all the imagery. Though, if I had to choose my favorite devices in my poem, it would be alliteration since I felt like most of this poems tone should be worry rather than anger. If I had more time, I would try to add more alliteration, as well as simile, to advance the poem in both mood and setting.

For my performance, I tried to give out a mood of anger/ worry because of the injustice. The tone reflects that with my facial features getting angrier, as well as certain body movements, mostly shown through my hands. The cadence of my voice calm, to anger, to calm. To be honest, I felt like a lot of my poem relied on anger, and I wished I expressed more worry. I can improve on my performance by trying a whole range of different emotions in order to show of better the intensity of the poem.

Migrations to the Land

A family from a place of limited resources
Came to the US, a country that wishes for same tongues and certain faces
With conservatives minds thinking the alien mind was dumb and culturally misplaced

The family had no choice, for they had a daughter who needed body braces
She was born broken, and her family believed she could be fixed,
She journeyed to the country of immigrants when she was just 3 months old
The family knew if they were found, they would be banished

They could have been taken, thrown, and shipped if it weren’t for a liberal pact
A knight dubbed Dream came to defend and Act
He defended those with licences not strapped to their wetbacks
Even with his armor cracking, he still stands protecting
To those that the conservative mind would consider imperfection

As the years went by, his armor kept breaking and shaking
The backstabbing pen that once helped left him flaking
He still stood, but was unmercifully whipped with intolerance and ignorance
On September 5, 2017, he was beheaded.

And so, after ten grinding years, the daughter had grown not so grand and graceful as the family gradually hoped
Her condition had turn mental, and her blood could’ve turned cold
She went to a vehicle, with built in machines, red and white, but no blue lights
Till they got to a passing point, with two guardsmen entering as the door creaks

Without the knight, her life was likely to dry up,
The guardsmen looked across the room, trying to think a step ahead
They weren’t monsters, and let the girl pass despite orders
Yet they followed her, with each step building borders.

She was cured by ten medics with small swords
But when it was over, a loud door creak was heard, waiting for some reward
It was the two guardsmen that came, with the authority from the Trump card,
They took the girl, just like the millions of others, 150 miles away from their home

Some people heard her story “Why are they doing this to people, these laws they broke are too complex and blurry”
Some people couldn’t react, “This is outrage, unacceptable, these government solutions have never been more worrying
Others tried to share the story “ And they took her out of bed, right in the middle of the day, and stole her in a dashing hurry”
Headlines screamed; Border Agents Detain 10-year-old After Emergency Surgery

This action our government has taken is simply criminal
Liberals saw it as desecrating, as despicable
But conservatives argued: it’s for the greater good!
They preached if these aliens stayed, the reality will be heroine, meth, and cocaine
They believe people will go insane, as liquid and powder are shot in their brains

The girl now waits weary and is wedged as the wary scale weighing on such truths
For the creeking to come, so they could ship her to a place she never kne
They try keep her hidden from eyes far inside the bureaucratic wall
The daughter is now seen by representatives she never knew at all

Migrating to new ideas.

When your introduce to politics, there are many ways of introducing the idea in multiple form. You could write an essay, paint, sing, or much more. Right now, I am a student at GCE lab school in  a class called Poetic Justice. What we do for this class is that we see how poems affect an idea such as politics, as well as power in general. We have gone to places such as The Third World Press, as well as listen to famous poets such as H.Melt. What we had to do for an overarching assignment was that we work/create a poem that has a political meaning behind it. I, J.N. had decided to preform a poem about immigration. The reason I did this was because immigration strongly relates to people I have seen in my life, such as friends and family. My mother worked in Little Village(a Hispanic/Mexican community in Chicago) and knew many friends as well as even helped then when suffering through deportation. I remember a specific memory with my mother when going into her friends house. The family got the news that the mother was going to be deported, which the children never seeing her again. What was the most emotional part was seeing the father of the family cry right in front of the children when we were trying to help them coop.

Now, the experience of making the poem was somewhat of a hassle/annoyance. I wouldn't call it the worst thing in the world, but not the best thing either. First, I had create a much larger poem that had more literary devices sprinkled around, but was considered to be far too big. Then, I had to re-write the poem in a much smaller version in order to keep with the time demand. Even then, I still had to cut good pieces out of the poem because it got heavily with symbolism. It was one of the main problem with my poems, that it is overwritten with symbolism rather then being strait forward. Another problem with my poem was that I envisioned it to rhyme in order to sound good and have a well placed rhythm. Though that was too high of a problem since it would sometimes rhyme without really placing a meaning. Finally, I had too little literary devices in the beginning of the creation of the second poem. I had to find and rewrite some parts in order for myself to get the full credit. There was other problems such as time and placement, but safe to say, there was multiple upon multiple changes while creating this poem. What I want to work on now is finding ways to minimize my poems and be more direct so that it could match the time limit and also be more understandable.

Now, before we go on with the preformed poem, a little background. 95% of the poem that is shown below mainly talks about a girl known as Rosa Maria Hernandez, who immigrated to the US when she was three months old. Apparently, her family needed medical help for their daughter, and there was little to no therapies/medical center for her conditions in Mexico. The family had illegally lived in the US for about ten years until Rosa was taken in an ambulance and sent to a children's hospital at Corpus Christina in Texas. She had surgery for her cerebral palsy in which she had before birth. On her way their, she was stopped by border police. They allowed her and her cousin to get to the hospital, following them all the way to the destination. You The surgery was a success, but immediately after she was taken to Children's Immigration Center in which she is still held their to this day. The reason this was even consider alright with the general police was that this was in the Trump Administration in 2017, in which more than 40% of deportations have grown since his registration.

You see, this was a time when the Dream Act was repealed on September 5, 2017.  The Dream Act was in summary a legislative proposal for a multi-phase process for allowing immigrant minors in the United States that would first grant conditional residency and, upon meeting further qualifications, permanent residency. In short, it meant that this country would allow immigrates to live here as long as they had certain qualifications as well as not commit any certain crimes. It was administrated as a bill in 2001, and had worked up all the way up to 2012 in the Obama administration. However, after the Trump Administration fully began, the act was fully repealed, and thus 40% of immigration arrest have rose. To myself, I feel this is extremely hypocritical for a country that was founded by migration and ruin native lives in doing so. I personally find it immoral to take the act considering that they are now taking people who have lived here for years, and create a life. This instance is even worse considering that the person being taken back was three months old in immigration, so she didn't even have a choice. What I want this poem to do is to challenge thoughts on people who side with this law.
  The second poem talk from JN on Vimeo.

If you see the video, then you could see certain types of literate devices used throughout the performance. These being simile, assonance, consonance, onomonipia, alliteration,  and different styles of rhyming. Now, what I been doing with these technics is that I used them to enhance the poem to be better heard. Take for example the rhyming.

The reason I choose that was because I wanted to make the poem flow easy enough so that people could remember it. It was also used to give the idea of speed or quickness, as seen through the 8th paragraph.

Another thing I did was that I used the consonace in order to make something seem spamming/freaking out with it repeating certain sounds more and more. Though you don't see this through all the examples, you could see it in the line 39, where the performer keeps repeating the same first letter "w" in a quick and fast way over and over again, almost as if he can't process what's happening, as well as trying to emote with the audience that this is a worrying idea. The alliteration has somewhat of the opposite effect, as it makes the sentence seem slower or easier to understand. We see this through line 22, when some of the tension through the mood had been lowered.

With onominipia, I tried to create a type of suspense with all my actions, as will as bringing in the imagery for said suspense. We see it this in line 21 and 27, in which we are signaled with unpleasantly do to an image of a creaking door, as well as suspense. Even though it isn't natural onimonipia, it still works the same.

As seen throughout the poem, simile/metaphor have been heavily put into it. The reason why I did this was to give better imagery into the poem, just like the onimonipia for sound. Even though some had stated it might be somewhat of a problem, I always enjoyed did because one can interpret the words in different ways, like all art. I believe the best example would be line 9-16, in which we talk about a knight named dream, who was met to be known as the Dream Act.

The Poem of the Land

A family, who came from where resources were limited,

Who conservatives minds thinks their minds were set to primitive,

Came to the US, a country that wished for certain tongues and same faces

The family had no choice, for it was a girl who needed body braces

She had been born broken, and yet the family believe she could be fixed,

She went to the country of immigrants when she only three months old

The family knew if they were found, they would be filed back home

Eventually the girl’s state would be critical, with the family eventually have to pull the plug

They could have been taken, throw, and shipped if it weren’t for a liberal pack

A knight dubbed Dream came to defend and Act

He defended those with licences not strapped to their wetbacks

Even with his armor cracking, he still stand being protective

To those that the conservative mind would call defective

Yet, as the years went by, his armor kept breaking and shaking

Until the backstabbing pen that once helped lead him flaking

He still stood strong, but was unmercifully whipped until he could not handle

On September 5, 2017, he was beheaded and lost his title

And so, ten grinding years, the girl had grow not so grand and graceful

Her condition had turn mental, and would have turned to stone.

She went to a vehicle, with built in machines, ticks, and beeps.

Till they got to a passing point, with two guardsmen debuting with a loud nauseous door creak

Without the knight, her life was likely to dry up till she died,

The guardsmen looked across the room, with each second acting more decisive

They weren’t monsters, and let the girl move despite orders

Yet they followed her, with each step building borders.

She was cured with ten medics and small swords

But when it was over, a loud nauseous door creek came in waiting for some reward

It was the two guardsmen that came, with laws of Trump card emperor pushing down their throats

They took the girl, 150 miles away from home, and deciding to send her to a place she had never known before

Soon people catch her story, fought on what to do and wondering if they should help or scurry

Some couldn’t react, with their ears being blown on why this is true and questioning what we think is clean, right, fit, or dirty

Other, tried to tell the story about the girl that people were in worry, and were hearing in a  dashing hurry.

Headlines screamed; Border agents detain 10-year-old after emergency surgery

Like a hawk, the story flew to its penetrating pellicle

Liberal were seeing it as desecrating/despicable

But conservatives argued it’s for the greater good

They sneered if a snake slithers away, venom would turn true

They believe crows will come as buildings are splattered with nauseous red dew

The girl now waits weary and is wedged as the weary scale weighing on such truths

For the creaking to come, for what couldn’t be and what could,

They keep her hidden from the eyes far from the wall

Only show to those, the girl never knew at all

The Grey Industrialization( of cookies)

My name is J.N, and I am a GCE student attending my final term for the freshmen year. In this final term, my class and I take a course known as Food for Thought, which studies food throughout history. We have done multiple assignments, as well as gone to multiple Field Experience. One of them being Uncommon Grounds, which is a coffee shop that grows most of there food.
What we had to do for our final assignment is to create a review between food we made at home or at school, as well as food we ate in a restaurant. This was a very enjoyable assignment since it was supposed to reach out to our opinion. I saw there was more of a learning experience rather than a challenge, which I believe there was none in my experience. My thesis is that my cookies will win over the industrail cookies known as Lofthouse do to taste, and I would suggest to you my cookies. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my review on my homemade cookies as well as Lofthouse branded cookies.

J.N "Flour" Own Work 6/4/17 

Firstly, I want to say that I love baking these cookies. Mainly because the cookie dough looked and tasted so good. Not only that, but I also tinkered with the recipe. Adding in different ingredient to make it taste good. To summarize the recipe, I first mixed in everything together but the eggs, until it was pale and fluffy. Then I added at least two eggs, then added a third one so the dough could be more liquidy. I then put it in the freezer for fifteen minutes. I shaped the cookies like walnut sized balls, sprinkled some sugar on to them, and baked for 10 minutes. I then let them cool for five minutes, and ate my most successful batch of cookies yet.
I wanted to make this as fair as possible for both types of cookies, and in order to do so, I thought it would be great to let the cookie rest for about more than an hour. This way the cookies that I buy at the store will match the exact same temperature, and would allow tasting to be down to the flavor, rather than the temperature. It also allows the feeling of eating to also be fair as well.
In this assignment, the both cookies have to go through at least 5 criteria that follows the senses. They are;
how does it look

how does it smell

how does it feel inside and outside of the mouth

J.N. Own Work "cookie" 6/4/2017

how does it sound inside and outside the mouth

how does it taste.

The homemade cookie looked promising, looking crumbly yet delicious. As if I touched it, it would necessarily fall into one million pieces, nor with it not leave a slight mess. It had a yellowish tint, with the bottom having a much darker it, as well as there were sparks of sugar around the cookie, magnifying the look and texture. The smell reminded me of a sweet cake batter, but still stayed in touch with the mix of a cookie aroma as well. For the texture before eating it, it felt like it was a small bit rough on my fingers, like a normal cookie would. The feeling of the dish in my mouth was amazing. The cookie itself felt soft, and would continually stay there for at least more than a few seconds, having also the perfect mix of crunch. The sprinkled sugar gave it an extra layer as well, allowing a noticeable crack in each bite, and making more enjoyable. The sound of the dish was a bith squishy, and small parts of crunch in it. The taste was good, and it was very cake-cookie like. It was sweet, but also had some bitter and pungent and that one could argue is evened out, which is usually a good thing. It didn’t necessarily leave a large punch, but rather left a continuous source of flavor for a well amount of time.

J.N "Lofthouse" Own Work 6/4/17

After being happy with the my homemade cookies, I then moved on to the store bought. Because of eating the homemade, it somewhat soured my look on the store bought. Nonetheless, I tried to keep neutral. The cookie I was eating was called Lofthouse Delicious Cookies: Cookies and Cream Sugar Cookies. When looking at it, it looked like the perfect cookie, but not the natural one. If you saw it, the you would know it was made in a sort of factory. It had the exact same color around it, as well some white frosting on top of it. This was unfortunate since it evened the playing field. Yet, I will still try to eat the cookie with the frosting since it came with it. When smelling the cookie, it had a promising aroma. It did smell like cookies and cream, as well as a brownie-sh smell. It has a smooth but also rough texture, and reminded me of a delicate sponge when I pushed on to it. When eating the cookie, it dissolved in less than a few seconds, which I didn’t enjoy. It reminded me of powdered sugar put in water, dissolving into nothingness. It didn’t have much of a sound because of how quickly it was gone. The taste was stronger when first biting it, which was good. But it only felt pungent and sweet, and that was pretty much it. It did do good advertising, since I did gain the taste of cookies and cream, as well as some brownie taste, but not to much.

After eating both dishes, I would mainly prefer my dish over Lofthouse. This is for several reasons, but the biggest reason was the feel in my mouth. When I ate the homemade cookie, each bite felt liked it cracked or popped. The taste lasted for a while compared to most cookies, as well the cookie was soft yet crunchy, in an perfect amount. The Lofthouse cookie was the opposite and what I despise in a cookie. It had a large impact, but for a very short amount of time, and then dissolve. A cookie from any store should stay and make the mouth feel good, with both an amount of crunch and softness.

Then there is the ingredients. Even though mine isn’t fully organic or local, it does have certain qualities that make it have a better background. The better ingredients of the homemade would be:

J.N "Nutrtion" Own work 6/4/17

1. 365 Everyday Value Cream Cheese, which is cow friendly and does not put rBGH in them

2. Organic Eggs

3. Ceresota All Purpose Flour UnBleached, which is doesn’t contain GMOs

4. The cookies from Lofthouse on the other hand contain contain ingredients:

5. Enriched Bleached Flour

6. Natural & Artificial Flavoring

7. Margarine

Of course, both do contain ingredients such as baking soda, egg, salt, sugar, and etc, there is no denying that the homemade cookies contain ingredients that are more farm friendly compared to Lofthouse. So I would have to say that while my cookies are a mix between organic and industrial, Lofthouse cookies are fully industrial.

Finally, there is also the fact of the true personality of the cookie. Most of the time, the grand taste of the Lofthouse cookie mainly came from the frosting. I know this because I would try out the cookie itself on the edges, and it had no personality what so ever. It tasted like unsweetened cocoa powder that was somewhat bitter and not really sweet. To myself, this fact is really ironic since you bought cookies to eat the cookies, not the frosting. That companies like Lofthouse are are putting much more emphasis on the frosting rather than the cookie.

If you don’t know who Michael Pollan is, he is an investigator, author, and researcher in studying economical and political crises that relate to food. He has written books such as Botany of Desire, Cooked: A Natural History, and much more. In his book In Defense of Food, he talks about five problems that large food corporations have that is their fatal flaw which is create in order to gain profit. These are:           

J.N "Homemade" Own Work 6/4/17 

1. Quantity over quality

2. Complexity to simplicity

3. Leaves to seeds

4. Whole to refine

5. Culture to science.

In the Lofthouse cookies, I could see several of these guidelines. But the biggest one would be complexity to simplicity. What complexity over simplicity means is that each product is meant to look the same in every way in order shut less to cost. The reason I say this is because, when looking at the cookies through the box, every single one was meant to look the same. That each one didn’t have any individuality, and that each one looked like the last. In fact, each one tasted like the last. 

Even though mine tasted the same, there were some that were bigger while others that were smaller. They were not meant to be perfect, but were meant to be tasty. Which brings me to another guideline Lofthouse follows, which is science to culture, meaning that it would turn into artificial flavoring. Unlike my cookies, Lofthouse had so many chemicals in it, from bleached flour, to artificial flavoring, to many other chemicals. It was also made in a factory rather than normally, seeing how each one looks exactly the same.
So overall I believe that my homemade cookies are better since they have less artificial flavors as well as having more natural ingredients. It also has a better feel as well as a longer lasting taste.

J.N "Myself" Own Work 6/4/17 

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven at about 350 before making the cookies

2. Mix in the 2 ¾ cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and ½ teaspoon of salt

3. Then mix in the 2 cups sugar, ¾ cups of cream cheese, ¼ cups of whipped butter, as well 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, until the mix looks pale and fluffy

4. Then mix in 2 eggs until it looks like cookie dough(add an extra egg if it looks too dry)

5. Put the dough in the freezer for about 15 minutes

6. Take out the dough, and heavily butter up the pan

7. Try to make each portion walnut sized on the pan, and separate them each by 2 inches

8. Sprinkle in ¼ cup of sugar on newly placed cookie dough

9. Put the cookie dough into the oven, and let it bake for about 10 minutes

10. Take them out, and let it cool down for five minutes

Citations

Cindy Catudal "Chewy Sugar Cookies" allrecipes.com cookierecipe.com 6/4/17
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/22850/chewy-sugar-cookies/

Dreams, Dreamcatchers, and So Much More.

My name is J.N, and I learn at GCE lab school. For a class, I take WAI(Who Am I), which teaches philosophy, philosophers, history, and much more. Wha we had to do for our action project is that we had to create a dream catcher, and symbolizes what the dreamcatcher represents. What I am mostly proud of is that I worked on creating the dreamcatcher in a different style than most dreamcatchers in my class. I hope you enjoy my explanation.

When think of a "great creator" or "a force of nature", one thing came to mind. I have always had the idea that life was not centered around ghost, spirits, or even god. But rather, it would mainly be between cause and effect that we presume is something spirital or magical. For example, if a very religion person was almost killed by a bullet out of nowhere, they would somewhat say that god wanted them alive. To myself, that is simply not the case. There were certain factors that lead that person being alive, without us recognising them. It could have been that the shooter was a lazy shoot, or that he had a second thought do to past experiences. Either way, it's more possible for someone to change their mind about shooting someone, rather than a spirits moving the bullet in an angle farther away while defining the laws of physics. Which is why my center of my dream catcher is a die. It represents cause and effect mistaken for unexplained forces at it's best. One could say that the die rolling on a retain number would be consider luck, but in reality, it would be how fast the person's arm movement is, how heavy the die is, and what is the distance the die was thrown, resulting in loss of energy. The die is supposed to represent math and science mistaken for magic or luck.

How my dreamcatcher is shaped also helps with my idea of math and science being the true force of nature. My dreamcatcher(unlike others) is shaped like a pentagon. It represents two things: separation of traits, quality of the dream.

"Separation of traits" is supposed to represent the relationship between the colors on my dreamcatcher. As you can already see, the main colors are red, yellow, orange, purple, and black. Each has a certain trait that I want my dreams to have. Each dream I want needs to have morals or lesson that my psyche is trying to tell me. This theme would have to be a trait from my personality. This allows the dream to be more familiar and easy to understand. For example, the color red represents determination or passion. If I dreamed about something or someone being determined, this trait would follow me until the end of my dream, trying to teaching me a lesson about being a better person. The same idea is with all the colors on the dreamcatcher. Yellow represents cheerfulness, orange represents enthusiasm, and purple with creativity. Each one represents a certain dream that must mainly have this trait in order for the lesson to work. The final one, black, would be my last resort to learning a lesson if I refuse to understand it. If a dream or multiple dreams couldn't teach me a lesson, then the black trait would need to come in. Black is supposed to symbolise depression, death, and darkness. Black would be the trait that wouldn't create a wonderful dream, but a dark nightmare. The reason black has to exists on my dream catcher is sometimes a person needs a bad experience in order to learn something. If I was stubborn to learn this lesson, or didn't gain the lesson at all, I would rather suffer multiple nightmares, then to not learn anything at all.

"Quality of the Dream" is another reason why the dreamcatcher is shaped the way it is. Between the colors or "traits" of the dream catcher, there are golden. Then, there also the spider net, which is also a golden color. Gold is supposed to represent quality within an item. So, when creating the dream catcher, I thought that in order for it to be successful, it needed to have some quality. This is why their are five points within my dreamcatcher. These gold points represents quality, but separates the other traits from mixing within each other, allowing focuses on each dream to have an individual trait. The dream catcher also has the sides each evenly measured, so that each trait could have an equal, but large amount of influence on the dream. Yet, depending on which part of the pentagon it's on, is used more and less. For example, red or yellow would be the traits in order to teach me a lesson the first since it is at the top, while black is the last to teach me since it is at the bottom.

When I was eleven, there was this dream that was the main inspiration with for the dream catcher to bring nightmares. It starts of with my friends in a circle, playing a sort of game. We were near a church site, and it was snowy. My sister was in the background, reading. Eventually, she walked out on us to a near by gate, and left without a trace. After an hour, my mother told me to find her. I was walking around, when I found red snow. I followed it, and as the more I followed, the more I saw of human remains. I eventually got to the edge of a dark ally way that didn't have much length to it. Right there, I saw my sister, and the remains off what she once was. Her face was torn, and you could see her flesh, as if she didn't have any skin on it at all. The dream then faded into a church room. Where my mother was wearing funeral clothes, and at the middle of the back of the church, stood a coffin resting on a marble table.

This dream is was so memorable. It felt so real, that after I woke up, it was hard to realise that it was fake. When I was eleven, my sister ignored me, and sometimes called me idiot. Not only that, but most of the time, she would admire my younger brother like he was a prince. She would always look at me as if I was some kid that ruined everything. I always wondered why couldn't she like me more. I always wondered if she hated me. I felt like this dream was trying to ask me this question in order to learn a lesson "Would you really be happy if she was gone?". I had always been questioning if I loved my sister, and I never got a true answer from myself.

My reaction to this dream proves that, no matter what, I will always love my sister. I wouldn't enjoy her being gone, I would be terrified. I don't remember having dreams like that anymore, but I wish I did, because it was not my ego controlling this, but a mixture between my id and my superego. The id being that I love my sister as family, and the superego telling me that I wouldn't enjoy her being gone. I feel like their was no ego, there was no comprise, only a trait a mystery and dread throughout my dream. I feel like this dream was, possibly, the most important dream of my childhood. This is why I want nightmares that teach in dreams. I want to have a nightmare to teach myself to become a better person. I would like to have more of these dreams. I would like to have more of these nightmares.

Citations
"Color Meaning"  color-wheel-pro.com   Feb 27, 2017
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

J.N  "Dream Catcher" Own Work  Feb 27, 2017

J.N "Dream Catcher 2" Own Work  Feb 27, 2017

What is Death?

My name is J.N, and I am a student at GCE lab school. I am in a class title "Who am I" We learn about philosophy, history, and different ideas plagued in history. We go on multiple Field Experiences in order to understand on what truth and memory are. In this class, we are supposed to do a podcast for an Action Project. Each of my classmates had to decide on what we remember, believe, and had to explain why we choose the topic. I have alway wanted to talk about how society precise atheist, and why we believe religion.I have worked on weeks with this podcasts, as well as getting help from my teachers. I had to record this script multiple times in order to get the podcast right. One of the biggest challenges in create this podcast would be to try to shorten it for the time limit.

I am proud of the topic I explained in this podcast. I hope my ideas brings upon new perspective on religion, and society in general. I would like to thank my teachers for helping me create this podcast. I hope you all enjoy.

 

I have always been optimistic about everything. If I would see any dog, I would admire it. If I saw an half empty cup of milk, I would think of it as half full. But I was never optimistic about death.

 I shudder at the idea of death because you can’t stop it no matter how hard you try. To me, the idea of what happens after death haunts me. My mother on the other hand is a high Catholic believer, and had her god in her heart since she was young. But I was never a true believer in religion.

 I always saw the “lord’s” watching as inhuman, and dark, instead of the idea of safety. I have always hated church. My church community would not only try to encourage, but force me to go into group summonings for children. But the more I grew, the more I began to question. I started to hear people talk about their lord and from my perspective, they sounded idiotic. As I grew older, I couldn’t understand the “greatness” of religion.

 It wasn’t until in middle-school when I met a friend named Pablo, who is an atheist. Seeing his life influenced my ideas on religion. It wasn’t until later on that I became an atheist and had certain ideals and opinions on religion. I believe religion was created to confront the idea of death, and that those people who would disagree on religion would be rejected or ridiculed, since they are disturbing or ruining the “truth” religionist have created.

 Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” makes the reader question something about themselves. Whether it would be their existence, intelligence, or identity . If you don’t know the story, it goes like this. There are prisoners trapped in a cave since childbirth. There is a light shining behind them, and they can only see the shadows of the real world. One day, one prisoner is freed and goes out into the real world. He is blinded by the light of the sun at first, but eventually begins to see. He could have lived in the outside world for the rest of his life, but instead goes back to the other prisoners to tell them what he saw. When he confronts his fellow prisoners, they believe he is crazy, and kills him.

 To me, the moral of the story is how people perceive the truth and how a person is marked as insane or ridiculous, since they think differently. Just how the prisoners believed that our main prisoner was crazy, the same concept goes for people who would think differently about death or religion. There have been multiple famous historical figures who were called crazy for thinking beyond the idea of society and religion, such as Socrates, and are somewhat punished for it. Even when we see these examples, similar events still happen today.

 Religion was created in order to give us a comforting idea on death. We humans are curious creatures, and since we didn’t have much access to the answers such as where we come from, we humans decided to create religion in order to answer these question. We chose to create the answers and reject the truth that state otherwise. In the article “Why Is There Religion” on foundalis.com, the author Harry Foundalis states “ Religion is something like fat: it’s an added feature that used to be useful for our survival in the past, but now causes mostly harm to humankind.”

 Truth is defined as knowledge that is realistic, ideas that are cannot be avoided in this world. Knowledge that isn’t fiction. But we humans can’t stand the idea of nothing when coming onto the idea of death. Especially when it comes to my family, since they are mainly Catholic. In the words of Harry Foundalis “But what nurtures the human psyche with courage is not the particular idea of salvation, but the more general one of afterlife, the hope that death is not the end of it all.”

 We can’t avoid death, but that doesn’t mean we can’t accept life. Sure, you can think that we become nothing, and be scared of death, or you live your life the way you wanted to. Unlike death, you can change life, and you do know what happens in life, good or bad. Not only that, but there might be proof of life not ending when death comes. In the article “First Hint of ‘Life After Death’ in biggest ever scientific study” on telegraph.co.uk, It states “ Of 2,060 cardiac arrest patients studied, 330 survived and of 140 surveyed, 39 per cent said they had experienced some kind of awareness while being resuscitated”. Don’t fear death, but rather live life.



Harry Foundalis “Why is There Religion” foundalis.com Jan 25, 2017
http://www.foundalis.com/rlg/WhenceReligion.htm

Sarah Knapton, “First Hint of ‘Life After Death’ in biggest ever scientific study” telegraph.co.uk Jan 26, 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/12/first-hint-of-life-after-death-in-biggest-ever-scientific-study/

“Relaxing Piano Music, Peaceful Music, Relaxing, Meditation Music, Background Music, ☯2982” youtube.com Jan 29, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh6TE6dDwuI

“CAVE SOUNDS” youtube.com Jan 29, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVhZMcBOPWE