Love is Love

In the last unit of Rhetoric, we learned about how a group of people can ultimately change something that they don't agree with. For the last Action Project in the Rhetoric course, we had to sound off on an art form. We had to pick a topic that we felt passionately about. For my topic, I chose to focus on the LGBT community and the rights they do and don’t have. I am passionate about this topic because I have a few family members and many friends who are part of this community and I don’t think it is fair that they have to be scared of being ridiculed because of whom they love. I am proud of the work I did; I think that the background of my art piece is very meaningful and I also am proud of my work itself. I had a very clear vision of what I wanted it to look like and I think I executed that very well. One of the main things I struggled with was figuring out what I actually wanted to do for this project. I was not sure what I actually wanted to tackle, so it took me a while to decide on my topic, and once I had chose my topic, I had to decide on the best medium to get my point across.

MF, 2015. Love is Love 

In the current age, it seems to me that being gay is glorified. There are countless movies about GBFs (gay best friends) and being gay is often represented in pop culture as being cool. But at the same time, people are still strongly against the LGBT community. Since the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage all across the United States on June 26, 2015, people who are against gay marriage have been protesting nonstop (NPR). While others have created a barrier around the LGBT community with tweets and Facebook statuses about how everyone is equal and should be able to love who they choose. 

This topic speaks loudly to me because I am one to fully support equal rights for everyone. I want everyone to be able to make their own decisions about themselves. It isn’t fair that only certain people deserve to be happy. In my opinion, the arguments people use against gay people make no sense. They claim that the Bible is against gays, but they seem to have forgotten that the Bible is also against pork, tattoos, rounded haircuts, gossiping, woman helping men in fights, etc. People need to realize that saying “I can’t do this because it goes against my religion” is perfectly fine;what is not fine, is when people say, “YOU can’t do this because it’s against MY religion.” 

What other people do should not concern anyone but them. People need to realize that even if someone is gay, they are still a human being with feelings. It is a fact that 1,500 gay and lesbian youth commit suicide every single year due to bullying (SPEAK). Kids will go to school, but instead of learning, they will be focused on tearing each other down. Many people have been speaking out about homophobic bullying, but nothing seems to be changing. Kids are still ridiculing their peers because of who they are. Adults will try to justify the things that their children say but some people just need to realize that “This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another” (Ellen Page, Time to THRIVE). 

So many teens are so scared to come out of the closet because they are afraid of being tormented by their friends/peers. No one should have to be scared to be who they are. Everyone should be able to be who they are in peace and not be worried about what everyone else thinks.

Facts:

• On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states of the USA.
• 30% of gay youth attempt suicide by the age of 15.
• It has been conservatively estimated that 1,500 gay and lesbian youth commit suicide every year.

To sound off on this issue I decided to create a painting. I drew an American flag and made a tear in the center which it shows the LGBT pride flag behind the American Flag. I chose this medium because I think that it clearly shows that since gay marriage has been legalized, we are moving into a brighter future. But, at the same time, there are still people blocking this new future from becoming a reality, which is why I didn’t show the completed LGBT flag. I also chose to write love is love instead of drawing the 50 stars that represent the 50 states to show that now everyone is free to marry who they want all across the USA.

The rhetorical appeals I used to represent my viewpoint artistically were pathos and logos.. I used pathos with the flag itself because it shows how people need to ultimately make room for this new future because it is coming whether they like it or not. It makes people upset to see the American Flag being dismembered but people need to realize that this new era is coming.

I would like my art piece to be displayed on the streets, I wouldn’t want it just sitting in a museum somewhere. I would want it painted on the streets in every city. I want it to be all over the place so people can see it and understand that love is love.


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Citations:
Chappell, Bill. "Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal In All 50 States." NPR. NPR, 26 June 2015. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

"SPEAK: Suicide Prevention Education Awareness for Kids." SPEAK: Suicide Prevention Education Awareness for Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

Michelson, Noah. "13 Things The Bible Forbids Other Than Homosexuality (That You're Probably Guilty Of Doing)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 3 Aug. 2012. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

Smoooth

In the last unit of the Design and Engineering course, we talked about bikes and how they work. We talked about the way they are made and the different types of bikes there are in the world. We got to go to a bike shop and actually learn about all the different types of bikes that there are and how they are used and how each bike is different. For this action project we were given a persona to create a bike for. We were told how far they had to travel, what kind of terrain they would be in, and what their needs were. I am proud of the way that my bike came out. The bike we created looks exactly like how I wanted it to look and I think that it fits all of our persona’s needs. One obstacle we ran into was trying to figure out how to make the seat comfy with a back but at the same time making it so she could still pedal freely. We had to alter the seat a few times so that the pedals could still be reached. Another obstacle we had to overcome was while we were creating the bike. It was hard to make all of the things we wanted look the way we pictured.

For our persona, we had a 13 year old girl named Christine. She had to travel 3 miles to school and she lived in Peterson Park. Since Chicago is known for its extremely unpredictable weather, we had to create a bike with little things that would help her in the harsh weather all year round. She was also very serious about comfort. She didn't want to have to waste all of her energy on her ride to school. In designing our bike, we mainly focused on how comfortable the bike was going to be. Our persona never mentioned needing some place to put her backpack but we figured since she was going to school, she might have heavy things to carry, so we created a basket in the front of her bike that would hold her backpack. We also created a waterproof sheet that can be put over the basket for when it rains or snows.

While we were figuring out how we wanted to make our bike, we had to do an interview with a biker that we knew. My cousin told me that he “hates having to travel up and down hills because since my bike is a fixed gear, it makes extremely bad noises when I am trying to travel uphill.” This made us realize that since our user is going to be having to travel up and down hills on her way to and from school, we could not make her bike a fixed gear single speed bike. We then had to think about our gear ratios. We decided to have our gear ratio be 1:2 so that for every 2 pedal rotation the wheel would turn 1 times. She really wanted an easy and comfortable ride so we had to make sure that the big cog was in the back and the small one was in the front. On the first gear there are 20 teeth and on the second gear there are 10. Our bike wheel has a diameter of 28in. It’s circumference is 87.92in. Christine is traveling 3 miles long. Google Maps says that it would take her around 20 minutes to get to school everyday. For our scale, 2.75 inches on our model is equal to 28 inches in real life. So, 1 inch on our model is equal to 10.18 inches in real life.

Since our rider will be riding up and down a lot of hills on her way to and from school, she is going to have a lot of potential and kinetic energy. We realized that our bike has potential energy whenever it’s on top of the hill just waiting for her to continue down it. The bike has kinetic energy whenever she is actually traveling down or up hill because she is exerting her energy to get herself to the top and then using the energy she gathered to make herself actually go down the hill.

MF, 2015. Smoooth. 

MF, 2015. Smoooth. 

MF, 2015. Sketch. 

Time to THRIVE

For the second unit of the Rhetoric course, we focused on certain people and how their message, good or bad, made us and other people feel. For this action project, we had to pick a person with a good/bad message and analyze it and talk about what made it so good or so bad. I chose Ellen Page who is an actress. In 2014, she came out as gay at a conference for Time to THRIVE which is a part of the Human Rights Campaign that focuses on the LGBT community and how they can change the way people treat the people in that community. We had to create a Prezi with information about the person, an annotated version of the text, and the devices and appeals we found inside of it.

The SledgeWhammer

For the first Action Project in the D&E course, we had to research a tool and try and build an improved version that an elderly person could use. In the unit, we have been talking about empathy and how we can incorporate it into design. For my project, I decided to create a way for the elderly to not have to do heavy lifting. The tool I chose was the Sledgehammer. For my project, I created a way to make it so there was no more heavy lifting it will just destroy things on its own. One of the things I struggled with was creating the design. We didn't know the material should be made of or how big it was. I am proud of the way it turned out. I think it could really help a lot of people. For the first AP in the D&E course, we had to research a tool and try and build an improved version that an elderly person could use. In the unit, we have been talking about empathy and how we can incorporate it into design. For my project, I decided to create a way for the elderly to not have to do heavy lifting. The tool I chose was the Sledgehammer. For my project, I created a way to make it so there was no more heavy lifting it will just destroy things on its own. One of the things I struggled with was creating the design. We didn't know the material should be made of or how big it was. I am proud of the way it turned out. I think it could really help a lot of people.

For our new and improved sledgehammer, we decided to make it so you wouldn't ever even have to lift a finger. The SledgeWhammer  is a sledgehammer that is attached to a system of pulleys and levers. We weren't sure how we should make it easier for elderly people to use since its very uncommon to see an old person wielding a sledgehammer. We decided that we should take a different approach. We decided to target construction workers because they are the ones who mainly use sledgehammer. We made a machine where you can connect a sledgehammer to a system of levers and pulleys to help swing the sledgehammer so you'd not have to. You just put the thing you wish to destroy on the ground and the sledgehammer (with adjustable interchangeable heads) with screws and bolts. We struggled with finding a good thing to use to make sure the hammer was sturdy. There is a rope attached to the machine so when you pull it, the hammer will start to swing. It is attached to a counterweight that will make the hammer continue to swing until the object is destroyed. We also attached a ratchet so that the rope would only go forward; never backward. This is so the hammer doesn't come back and smack you in the face. This recreation of a sledgehammer will help many people who maybe don't have enough strength but still need to destroy somethings for building. In my interview with my grandma, she told me that she "always wants to break things to decorate her garden, but doesn't have the strength to use a sledgehammer."

That is why we created the SledgeWhammer so that people with little to no strength can still use it. In order to use this tool, you just place the sledgehammer on the machine with whichever head you need and place what you need to break on the ground. Then, you pull a rope to start the sledgehammer and the counterweight moves the sledgehammer back and forth until the object is broken. The ratchet attached to the rope helps make sure the sledgehammer will not swing back and hit someone, with this ratchet, the hammer can only swing forward, and not back. Compared to the original tool, the SledgeWhammer is much easier to use since there is no heavy lifting. You can break a lot more things in less time since you don't have to strain your back to lift anything.

MF(2015). SledgeWhammer withVectors.

MF (2015). Storyboard

MF(2015). Storyboard pt2.

MF (2015). The SledgeWhammer 

#BLACKLIVESMATTER

Should BlackLivesMatter be changed to AllLivesMatter? 

In the first unit of the Rhetoric class, we talked about arguments and how to contract a good argument and counter argument. For the action project, we had to write a speech and make a video performing it. For my speech topic, I chose Black Lives Matter. I chose this because I see things about this topic all over the news and on social media. One of the things I'm proud of is my speech itself. I put a lot of heart into it and I'm really happy with how it came out. One of the challenges I faced was figuring out how I wanted to shoot the video. I wasn't sure what I wanted to wear and how I wanted to stand or if I wanted to sit down. All around, I am happy with the way that my project came out. Check out my video 

Speech 

Throughout the recent Labor Day weekend in Chicago, 9 people were killed and 46 people were injured. Most of these victims were African American. People constantly talk about the protest unit calling it #BlackLivesMatter  ever since it became a huge topic a few months ago. After a lot of tweets, Facebook posts and articles and people started getting angry. They thought that it was not fair that we are only focusing on Black people.

That’s not fair? How about the fact that African Americans get targeted everyday? That is not fair. People need to realize that BlackLivesMatter became a social justice movement because of how African Americans were getting treated in this country. They were being targeted the most so there had to be something done to get people aware and involved in the situation. BlackLivesMatter should stay BlackLivesMatter.

Everyday you hear about racial profiling . When you think about all of the police brutality going on in states around the U.S., how many of those police actually got convicted? Barely any. They were “only protecting themselves” and “it was the African American’s fault”. For Dylann Roof, who shot and killed 9 people in a church, he was just “a troubled young man who didn’t know what he was doing’ even though he did know what he was doing. He had countless social media posts expressing racist viewpoints and he told his friends what he had planned to do, but Michael Brown, who is one of the many black teens killed by police, was “attacking the policeman who was just using self defense”. There was no justice for him.

The Declaration of Independence states that “All men are created equal” but are they really? If an African American and a Caucasian male committed the same crime who would be more penalized? In most cases, it would be the African American. I wasn’t aware that “all men” only meant white males.

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Payne, Ed. "Charleston Church Shooting Suspect Arrested in N.C. - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 June 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.Payne, Ed. "Charleston Church Shooting Suspect Arrested in N.C. - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 June 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.

The Doctors Visit

For the last Action Project in the Cure class, we had to self evaluate ourselves and pretend that we were the patient and the doctor. We had to come up with a disease that we or a family member could have had that we wanted to be protected from. Throughout this entire unit, we learned about different ways to prevent different diseases from ourselves. For this project. We had to create a video of ourselves talking to ourselves about different ways of preventing a disease in the nutritional sense and the hygiene sense. One of the things that I struggled with is filming the video. It was hard to think of an idea that would make sure I would be the only voice on there so I just decided to make my stuffed animals be the characters and my voice be theirs. I really enjoyed doing this project because it was fun to get to be creative with it. I enjoy filming videos so this one was extremely fun for me to do. Take a look at my video down below.

Greek Chorus: Raisin in the Sun

For the final part of the Drama course, we read A Raisin in the Sun. We studied the different roles women have had over the years.  For the last Action Project, we wrote a Greek Chorus. A Greek chorus has two parts, The commentary and the prologue. We were challenged to pick a heroic character from A Raisin in the Sun and write about their high points and their downfall from being a hero. I picked Mama because it was easy to find different times where she would have a high and low point. they were We spent time working on the two parts and got to look at a lot of examples of the two parts for reference. That was incredibly helpful because it gave me an idea of how the chorus should look. One of the things I struggled with on this project was figuring out the wording for all of the parts of the dialogue when the chorus would speak. It was difficult to make sure the dialogue from the book flowed with the dialogue from the chorus. The main idea from my chorus was that you should always honor the wishes of those who you love wishes.  One of the things I thought was easy was picking a scene and hero character. It was simple to chose a hero because there are so many in the play. I really enjoyed this action project.