Long but Never Forgotten

In my Policy class, unit 2 we focused mostly on wars and the different things people experienced through these wars. We discussed the Vietnam War and the memorial built in Washington, DC to recognize the deaths of thousands of veterans. Through this unit, we also discussed the powers of the Executive Branch and observed what policy is when it comes to court and a criminal case. In one Field Experience, we watched a murder case in court. I found the language that was used very interesting as well as how the evidence was revealed in the court room. Recently, we visited a Veterans art museum. The museum is filled with art only from veterans. Through their work, they demonstrate the different traumas they experienced and how their life story relates to their war experience. The art shows that they are also more than their experiences as veterans, they are artists. 

“Heavy Weight” by William Myles

This is a painting I saw at the museum that really stuck out to me. The painting not only shows a black soldier but the issues the soldier may have faced as a black man before war. Next to him shows the KKK, a man getting arrested, and people who may be protesters wearing a “No War” shirt. People were very against the Vietnam war at the time and often protested about it so their voices were heard. These people were mostly liberals and hippies around the 60s and 70s. They also were very outspoken about the lives of black people in America. I chose this photo because it reminded me of Truman’s policy that abolished discrimination towards people of any race and religion in the US Armed forces. That led to abolish the segregation in the services. The painting also represents so much more about the black soldier than just the time he spent in war. It represents the injustices of a black man in America.

Policing in Chicago: Engagement with Opposition

In A Nation's Argument, we've been discussing policies, laws, and how that falls under the U.S Constitution. My class held a policing assembly to discuss the policing in Chicago. We met 4 people who work with COPA (Civilian Office of Police Accountability). At the assembly they discussed why they do what they do for the city of Chicago and why policing is important. They all discussed how they want to see the Chicago grow as a city, mostly communities in the South side of Chicago. We held this assembly to speak up about issues that we feel are important as students. The voices of students are not always heard and we wanted to meet with them to get our messages across. Through this assembly we discussed police suicide, immigration policies, gang violence, gun violence, policing and security in Chicago Public Schools, mental health in the black and brown community, and more. In this Action Project, I speak of the limited mental health services that are in Chicago and the traumas that POC deal with in the city. Their traumas are not recognized and there needs to be services that people can go to so they can communicate these problems that they go through. For this project I stated a thesis (The issue), antithesis (Contradicts / opposes the thesis), and a Synthesis which is the solution for the issue, bringing both the thesis and antithesis together as one. I also stated a number of different premises and resources that support my argument.

   

I believe the voices of students, especially in Chicago are important and to ALWAYS be heard. We are the future and deserve to understand how our city is ran. As far as CPS go, I think their voices matter the most. It would make a huge difference in our city if young people could speak up about the traumas they face and how it effects their everyday life as well as their education. We have the right to have a say in things and we have the right to feel safe, secure, and acknowledged no matter what.

The Argument

I wrote a short screenplay for my Action Project about a man who dreams of proposing new questions for the Naturalization Test. For this Action Project we had to propose new questions for the test while creating a syllogism for it and the original questions. We also needed signatures for our proposal. Here, the Judge in the screenplay lists his reasons as to why the questions shouldn't be changed. The boy proposing new questions, Raymond stands up for himself and his rights, as well as the rights for other immigrants stating his own reasons.  When he wakes from his dream, he's asked a question about democracy and it ends there. I wanted to demonstrate how nerve-wracking the process is to become an America Citizen. This connects to the Field Experience that we went on to the Chicago field office of US Citizenship and Immigration Services. We witnessed the process that people had to go through to become a citizen. When we were in court, a lot of people were in a holding place until they were confirmed to get Asylum. I wanted to write a screenplay rather that writing a paper because I thought it would be really interesting to show that dialogue between someone in power and someone who feels out of control. For another Field Experience, we went to a City Council meeting on Public Charge for immigrants in Chicago. When we were there we heard a number of people from the community speak and give their opinions on the situation for 3 minutes. One man there, George Blakemore stated, "Illegal is Illegal", which a lot of people disagreed with. He also stated that people that are currently living in Chicago "illegally" are taking resources from people who are American Citizens that already live there. We got to hear Blakemore's argument on Immigration and his reasoning. Others disagreed and supported Public Charge for immigrants in Chicago.

Signatures for my amendment (AS 2019) 

Movie Critic For A Day

In this unit, we learned a lot about post production, cinematography, lighting, acting, and more. In my elective course, Ollywood we recently watched the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest directed by Milos Forman. This movie follows the life of a man named Randle Murphy who ends up in a mental institution. Through this experience he learns a lot about the people in the institution and himself. While watching this movie we had to take notes on the acting and the purpose of the film. We also had to pay attention to the lighting and framing choices and how they moved the story. For our Action Project in this unit, we had to act as the film critics Gene Sikel and Roger Ebert. After choosing a partner and movie, I analyzed the film Psycho (1960) and discussed the lighting, angles, acting, and more. Although this Action Project was difficult because of the editing and focus we had to give the movie, I had so much fun making this with my partner, Moriah. I felt like a real film critic and learned about what made a great review. This was a lot different than writing a review because I felt like I could be a little more flexible with what I pointed out and said. I especially enjoyed watching the movie and seeing my reactions change. 

Movie Review: Kill Bill

This term I am taking a course called Ollywood. In this class we study the art of film making. In our first unit we talked about the Pre-Production process which includes the screenplay, the storyboard, location, costume design, props, and more. We discussed screenplays and their different components. We also learned about storyboards and how they're made. Next, we talked about location scouts and how they find the best spots for shooting a movie. Lastly, we studied production design and how production designers make decisions on what props or costumes to use. One Field Experience that we went on was in Lower Wacker. In Lower Wacker we took pictures of different locations while we were assigned a specific movie genre. We had to create a storyboard based on the pictures we took. I created an action movie that had a chase scene. In Ollywood I also wrote a movie review. For this Action Project, we had to choose a movie and analyze the costumes, props, locations, dialogue, and more. I chose to do a movie review on Kill Bill because it's a sick movie. Although this was my first action project in Ollywood, it is so far my favorite. I got a chance to write about one of my favorite movies and be in Roger Elbert's shoes.

In conclusion, I'm glad I got the experience I did during this unit. I've never written a movie review before so it was very challenging at first. Overall, I had so much fun writing this paper because I watched the film several times during the drafting period. I hope I have the opportunity to write many more in the future.

Rhetorical Art

In this unit we talked about how mayoral candidates use Rhetoric to convince people to vote for them. In this action project, we looked closely at rhetorical art that politicians use to present themselves or get a message across. We also learned about many different rhetorical devices that people use to get messages across to an audience. Some devices that we learned about are Alliteration, Assonance, Hyperbole, Metaphor, Antithesis, and more. In class, we started planning a People's Assembly to bring together different people in Chicago. In the People's Assembly we're talking about issues that are mainly being brought up by the mayoral candidates in Chicago. We had to write an invitation to our chosen candidate or an audience to convince them to come. Instead of posing as our candidate, this time we have to create art for them and the message they stand for. My candidate is Lori Lightfoot and she mostly talks about violence in Chicago. For one of our field experiences, we went to Marquette Park and looked at an art piece based on MLK and his work. Since he protested in that park, the community built a memorial for the Chicago Freedom Movement. The memorial represented MLK and anti-segregation. We looked at this as a rhetorical piece of art because it was for a certain audience. It was made for and by the community. It communicated anti-segregation and unity through the art. The art I created had a drawing of a gun and I used logic to demonstrate that the issue was important. I did that by providing statistics on the issue. I also used Allusion by referencing an event that occurred during 2016 when there were numerous shootings and killings. A lot of the shootings were done by police officers. My art piece goes against gun violence and spreads awareness. I am supporting one of Lori Lightfoot's reasons for running and routing for change. I also use Alliteration and Anaphora through my piece. I'm repeating the word "violence" a lot after each new sentence. I am also using similar vowel sounds like "Silenced" and "Violence".

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Rhetorical Art Piece: Don't Stay Silenced AS (2018)

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-chicago-police-shooting-database-met-20160826-story.html

Written Invitation for the People's Assembly AS (2018)

Day 4: Butterfly

I'm in a small red car. Slightly tired and nervous about something. This anxiety wraps around my head like a blanket to a cold baby. The sun is shining on a green, gracious field. It stretches out far ahead, I wonder where it’s going. Maybe somewhere like me. If God gave my brain feet, I would lose my head. I’d run away and never stop. Tumbling and tumbling, soon I fall. When I open my mouth, the air smells funny and makes me car sick. The driver hums loudly to the music playing. I feel at ease. David Bowie is dancing on the radio. His words speed up and I feel a disco ball in my heart. Light it up life, Light it up. Animals, loads of animals run in the middle of the street and block our way. We wait for 5 minutes until they’re gone. A lamb, a horse, a goat, a peacock. Maybe heaven is calling out for me to build an arc for the moving animals. I think of purpose. My driver hums louder and louder until I get a headache.
With a throbbing skull and soft heart, I fade into the clouds and leave the car behind.

Day 3: Chrysalis

A partner read my poem and gave me some suggestions.

First, my partner said to take out the “what a ride” part at the end of the poem because it made the ending seem cheesy. He also said I should remove extra words that take away the meaning of what I’m really saying. For example I said “I feel at ease now”. If I take away the “now”, it makes me overall emotions a little more clear throughout the poem. Since I’m changing how I feel so much, using different words do matter. He liked how descriptive it was and how he felt like he was apart of the ride. The mystery through the piece made it compelling but changing word choice will keep that excitement in the poem.

Day 2: Caterpillar Stage

Original edited poem:

I'm in a small red car. Slightly tired and nervous about something. The sun is shining on a green field. Out far ahead, I wonder where it’s going. Maybe somewhere like me. I have no idea. The air smells funny and makes me car sick. The driver hums loudly to the music playing. I feel at ease now.  Animals, loads of animals run in the middle of the street and block our way. We wait for 5 minutes until they’re gone. My driver hums louder and louder until I get a headache. What a ride.

Caterpillar edit: I added more to it because it was too short. I also added more sensory details.

I'm in a small red car. Slightly tired and nervous about something. This anxiety wraps around my head like a blanket to a cold baby. The sun is shining on a green, gracious field. It stretches out far ahead, I wonder where it’s going. Maybe somewhere like me. If God gave my brain feet, I would lose my head. I’d run away and never stop. Tumbling and tumbling, soon I fall. When I open my mouth, the air smells funny and makes me car sick. The driver hums loudly to the music playing. I feel at ease now. David Bowie is dancing on the radio. His words speed up and I feel a disco ball in my heart. Light it up life, Light it up. Animals, loads of animals run in the middle of the street and block our way. We wait for 5 minutes until they’re gone. A lamb, a horse, a goat, a peacock. Maybe heaven is calling out for me to build an arc for the moving animals. I think of purpose. My driver hums louder and louder until I get a headache. What a ride.

About my Rhetorical Challenger: Lori Lightfoot

One of the courses I'm taking this year is Rhetoric. Rhetoric is an integrated Humanities class that revolves around breaking down and analyzing situations rhetorically. In this unit, we're learning about mayoral candidates in Chicago and how they're using rhetorical thinking to persuade people to vote for them. For our first Action Project we did this through putting ourselves in the candidate's shoes and writing a speech, taking on their role. I pretended to be Lori Lightfoot and I wrote a speech about the dangers of police violence in Chicago because that's a serious issue she's trying to tackle. Now, we're acting as if our candidate is in a museum and we have to use rhetorical thinking to present who they are, their significance, and the problems they want to face in Chicago. We did this by rhetorically analyzing a text and video on our rhetorical challenger. In the project we broke down the occasion the text was written for and its background. We looked for different rhetorical devices like Pathos, Ethos, and Logos. We also looked for the different stylistic devices they used throughout the text or video on them. I chose to present Lori Lightfoot in the form of an editorial.

Posing as Lori Lightfoot

Rhetoric is an Integrated Humanities class in GCE. In my Rhetoric course, we learn about the art of persuading different audiences through writing and speaking techniques. For this unit, we studied the way important figures in history interacted with others using a rhetorical analysis. In a rhetorical analysis there is the speaker, audience, genre, occasion, and purpose. When rhetorically analyzing something, you can also use Aristotle's 3 appeals : Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. In this unit we applied rhetorical thinking to hands-on projects and Field Experiences. In the beginning of the unit we had to analyze a Fender Guitar AD and make a slideshow on how it was rhetorically successful. We took that project to a new level by actually getting to see Fender Guitars along with several other instruments at the Chicago Music Exchange, a music equipment retailer. Getting the opportunity to see these instruments and the way retailers sell them demonstrated how people use rhetorical thinking. Our action project for this class is focused around a political figure. The mission is to convince an audience that they’re a trustworthy candidate through a speech. Our job was to select a mayoral candidate in Chicago. I chose Lori Lightfoot and wrote a scripted speech, acting as if I were her in an interview. The speech is supposed to include logos, pathos, ethos, and effective oratory. You then have to take a video of yourself reading the interview question you made up with the answer to it, posing as your candidate. Later on we will get the chance to read these speeches at a people’s assembly.

Design and Engineering: Making A Tool For You

In Design and Engineering class, we learn about producing things that we can use in our everyday lives. We also incorporate Mathematics and Physics to understand what components go into designing products. In this unit, we learned about simple machines and how they are used. For example, we got to see how wedges, levers, and inclined planes work before learning about tools and how people use them in their everyday life.

This action project was about empathy, but mainly about how we can use empathy to develop new tools for people who may not function the way the “average” person does. The user would be an elderly person, but the tool I made can be used by anyone with a physical or mental disability. Our main focus was to make a product for someone that is of old age and has difficulties with using regular tools. Empathy is understanding how someone really feels. In order to create a product for someone else, we need to use empathy.

I interviewed my neighbor Eileen about the tools she uses in her garden. She stated, "I love a tool that doesn't require much bending". This inspired me to make a sledgehammer that won't cause back strains when using it.

Three things I learned from interviews with gardeners and experts:
1. Good grip is important and effective.
2. Tools with a sturdy and sharp point are helpful (shovels for ex.)
3. Multipurpose tools work best.

Three things I learned from researching existing examples of my tool:
1. The best sledge hammers are the most expensive.
2. They’re usually made with steel.
3. They come in different shapes, lengths, and sizes.


My new and improved tool is called the “Grave Diga”. The Grave Diga is an example of a lever because one hand would be considered the fulcrum, while the other hand is the first weight, making the head of the tool the second weight. It’s a sledge hammer with a long length and movable handle grips on the ends. It is made out of carbon fiber so it’s lighter. The handle grips are helpful for old people who may need more support. The grip slides up and down for an easy use. Some people have really weak or shaky hands so the grip and extra hand support helps with that. Since it is very long, you don’t have to bend down that much either. Just lift and smash.

My partner and I did some prior research on the sledgehammers by looking at other sledgehammers. We went to Home Depot as a Field Experience and looked for the improvements we could make. We noticed that the grip was not stable enough and it was too heavy. From there we looked up the prices of the sledgehammers we saw and the materials used to make it. This gave us a good sense of what we needed to create: an affordable tool with simple but helpful qualities. Knowing this information led us to creating an easy product for mostly elderly people.

Three ways my tool is better than the competition:
1. Carbon fiber to make it lighter.
2. Hand strap and grips are for shaking or weak hands.
3. Sliding grip for comfortable use.

A lot of sledgehammers have very uncomfortable grips. Any tool without a sturdy grip can make the job hard and time consuming. The Grave Diga is unlike other tools because it has everything you want and need in a sledgehammer.

I learned that it’s possible to make a tool that doesn’t already exist. I also learned that you need to understand empathy to create a product for someone. This was not easy for me because I had to make a model for someone who doesn't function like I do. I’m not an old person so I don’t exactly know what a “good tool” would be for the elderly. I had to put myself in the shoes of an old person and think outside the box. One obstacle I encountered was figuring out how to make the sledge hammer lighter. The sledge hammer has to be heavy in order to do the job because of the hard steel/metal material. I had to think of different ways I could make it either lighter or easier to hold. The handle straps seemed like a reasonable choice. Thinking outside the box, especially when faced with difficult obstacles can be challenging but it is worth it in the end.