Gated Community

In my Humanities class, Rhetoric, we recently finished our third and final unit “Unity”. In this unit we furthered our knowledge on rhetoric the impact it can have. We studied different situations where rhetoric has been used to inspire, unite, and bring about change. We then focused on the certain devices used to create this unity. Some being  Alliteration, Assonance, Hyperbole, Metaphor, Antithesis, and more. We studied certain passages to really grasp how these devices get used, For example Common Sense by Thomas Paine was a pamphlet that continuously used rhetoric to persuade  independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. With this we were simultaneously seeing the strong connection politics have with rhetoric. This all led to the eyes of our creative selves to create an art piece that speaks on our mayoral candidate to shine light on what they represent as a unit. I decided to create a abstract collage that is based on the school system to show forth what my candidate is about. I wanted to challenge the idea of abstract as it is seen simplistic and open for interpretation with this I created a intentional theme that simplistically holds analogies to this one fight. As our unit ends I hope you have gained knowledge to go out and VOTE!

GA, "Gated Community", 2018

This piece challenges what a gated community is. The word gated is defined as confinement, elaborating on that it’s not very inviting. Community defined as a group, it can be taken as inclusive to a lot of people, very inviting. Yet, once put together it becomes contradictory, gated community draws the idea of the people seeing education as this untouched community that doesn't play within the rest of the corrupt system when in reality we built a "gated" playground to invite pipelines of prison industrial complex, rigged funds, censorship, military practices, and bordered white walls. This serves as a recording of what has been said by kids, teens, and adults it unites the stories into a collective theme that breaks the barriers that have been made to separate the thought of education being affiliated with Greed of money, power, Luxury or any other market desires. Engravings and recordings have been used rhetorically throughout the years to convince a certain way of living, thinking and being. I was influenced by that concept to visualize my drawing with recording incidents. Theodore de Bry was a famous engraver who depicted the early European expeditions to the Americas. Theodore influenced the European perception of the New World, Africa, and Asia by showing negative illustrations of how the Indians live. The tradition of recording history to your advantage has been successful and will continue to be. My piece carries the tradition of serving a plate filled with the nutrition you need(education) and letting you see it be poisoned(systems). I grounded this piece with lightly sketched lines to show how classrooms create these invisible borders of conformity that subconsciously restricts students to these fabricated dynamics. Within the lines that represent the frame of the school, I started adding concepts that make up the student body and what it does to us. The "RM 102" is a small door that rooted the rest of the chain. "RM 102" represents how schools are designed and structured around the same set up of prisons and manufacture. Organizing classrooms by numbers send a message to the students that the space they occupy to learn isn't for them. Classrooms aren't built to feel connected its just a border that separates another classroom with a different number. This is what lead me to the school to prison pipeline, gravitating with the set up of a classroom I explored what makes up these tendencies reoccurring with the students. Factors such as school disturbance laws, zero tolerance policies, and practices, and an increase in police in schools these were all put in for SAFETY! safety for who? safety from who? We've created a system where we don't see children skills and growth, we have created an inventory of social, economic, racial demographics. We've created a resume for these children to prepare them for their set up pipeline. This chained analogy is a rhetorical device that I used to demonstrate the issue around the structure of cps and its harm it brings. Another rhetorical technique is the strong balance of pathos and logos. Facts can cause an emotional connection when the truth that's being given is destroying generations to come. This piece isn't an exaggeration. This is the system finally bleeding into the walls of the schools and the student lives, the chain isn't invisible anymore. You need to speak up, stop censoring your children in what they are being enrolled in don't let the schools built a resume and choose the path for your kid.

Life Cycle of my Poem

Day 1: Egg Stage

A still of gradient blooms

Filters tranquility stream of tunes

Listen for me

I hear of you

Cemented silhouettes still solicit you

Solid drips enhance the grains

Slipped through solutions

This filter can't purify you

Cheek smothered on the cold yet stable reflection of your distance

Sound pollution comes from the roots of in denial

Clear the air with excuses

Consistent dials

Drove consumerism The Occupational sin

Stopped.

After I closed the car door.

-  When I first started writing this piece I was at LTAB having writers block. I came from a period of time where I stopped writing until boom I got hit with the power of writing. We were given the task to write about our mom when I looped into a broken record memory. This memory is in the past present and likely to continue in the future. When writing this piece I tried so hard to bring back myself back to those senses and paint a picture my subconscious already made. I hated this poem because of the cheesy ongoing rhyme. I'm very nit picky with the flow I tend to use and the words I use, It bugged me to even call this a draft. I used very short phrases that lead a lot to the imagination. I noticed there was a consistent theme of feel. Specifically how your sense of touch puts emotions in objects to paint the tone of what that memory was like. My intention was to describe a memory without getting to know the character I'm taking about. I wanted to create a scene where I use the surroundings to let the reader know what was emotionally happening. Day 2: Caterpillar Stage
Exploring the garden: Does your poem/story sound like the beginning of a much larger piece? Pick up where you left off & write the next part. Aim for at least 5 new lines.


A still of gradient blooms
Filters tranquility stream of tunes
Listen for me
I hear of you

Cemented silhouettes still solicit you

the root traveled without hydration sweaty palms of a mother nurtures her child's clogged pores

Solid drips enhanced the grains she knew she caused a breakage
sweat was the dry tears she flaked

Slipped through solutions

This filter can't purify you

Cheek smothered on the cold yet stable reflection of your distance the more I squint my eyes unto the window

Sound pollution comes from the roots of in denial

Clear the air with excuses

Consistent dials

Drove consumerism The Occupational sin

Stopped.

after the car door was closed.

Day 3: Chrysalis Stage 

On this step my partner revised over my poem in order to progress on my piece.

1. Are there any grammar/spelling mistakes? Make a note directly on their work and/or provide suggestions on how they can fix their mistakes below:

No mistakes.

2. What themes do you notice in their piece? Quote at least 1 line that seems to exemplify this theme:

Mother/child Relationship "sweaty palms of a mother nurtures her child's clogged pores "

3. Do you notice any patterns (such as recurring words, imagery or sentence structures)? 

"Sweat" "Cemented silhouettes still solicit you the root traveled without hydration" - imagery

"Drove consumerism The Occupational sin

Stopped.

after the car door was closed." - spacious structure

4. Do you have any questions about this piece? List them below

How does the ending solidify the poem? "Slipped through solutions" implies what? Is someone reflecting on a topic as they stare out a car window? What is the story within this piece?

5. Make 2 suggestions for your partner’s piece:

"Solid drips enhanced the grains" Drips of what?

"Sound pollution comes from the roots of in denial"- Make in denial capitalized like In Denial or

with quotations

Day 4: Fly

A still of gradient blooms

Filters tranquility stream of tunes

Listen for me

I hear of you

Cemented silhouettes still solicit you

the root traveled without hydration

sweaty palms of a mother
nurtures her child's clogged pores

Solid drips enhanced the grains of the her child
she knew she caused a breakage

sweat was the dry tears she flaked

Slipped through solutions
This filter can't purify you
Cheek smothered on the cold yet stable reflection of your distance

the more I squint my eyes unto the window

Sound pollution comes from the roots of in Denial
Clear the air with excuses
Consistent dials
Drove consumerism The Occupational sin

Stopped.

after the car door was closed.

Kuest Bike

In my STEAM class, Design and Engineering, we recently finished our second unit called “Farther”. In this unit we focused on a lot. For example, simple machines, specifically wheels and pulleys. This led to our studies of circles and ellipses. We focused on graphing these shapes and finding the area and circumference of them. We also studied weight, mass, speed, velocity, and acceleration. We also focused on graphing, functions, and slope. Lastly, we studied bikes, how they work, and how they can make an impact on someone's life. We found that all of these concepts connected to find the idea of designing a new bike. The class gained a lot from having several FE's that really brought what we were learning to life. For instance, we went to one of our classmates mom's bike shop, and got to explore the space and get on the bikes for the hands on action. We also had an in-house FE where we made prototypes with the help of a designer from Dyson. The concepts we learned in class and the FEs we did all came in handy for this Action Project. This project called for the class to design a bike based on a unique persona. My partner and I worked hard to create a bike that met the needs of our unique persona, which actually represents a bigger population of people with a similar situation. Below is my presentation of this project, I hope you enjoy!

Coming into this unit I didn't have a lot of knowledge on the fundamentals of bicycles so everyday was something new and exciting. If I were to pinpoint two things I learned from researching existing bikes would be how certain bikes are design for certain activities. I learned how rode bikes are designed for riding on paved streets. Hybrid bikes are great for urban areas and a nice stroll to enjoy. Last but not least mountain bikes, these are the tough machines that withstand hearty measures. All in All these aren't the only designs that exist but these are the basic types of bikes when looking for a bicycle of your own.The second thing I learned in this unit are gears. The fundamental of gears and the purpose is strongly connected to the first thing I learned which is the type of bike. gears are sets of toothed wheels that work together to alter the speed of what drives (bicycle crank) and the speed of the driven part (wheel).

I found this project to be challenging due to being a "newb" at bikes. However, I am happy with the end results and the knowledge I have learned to create a better bike. Having a partner made this experience a lot easier. My partner and I ran into some small issues, such as the 3D printer malfunctioning and settling on a concrete design. However, we were both able to effectively find solutions to all of the small problems. This project has taught me a lot about bikes, patience, and empathy. If I were to do this project again, I would do more research on the material as much as input I we put on the structure.

Aisle of risk

In my Humanities class, Rhetoric, we recently finished our second unit called “Challenge”. In this unit we furthered our understanding on rhetoric. For instance, we focused on the three rhetorical appeals: ethos (trust), pathos (feelings), and logos (logic) to our greater advantage when analyzing the use of it. We also studied rhetorical challengers, which are those who challenge the norm. We discovered the significance of these challengers who challenge the social norms in society. We studied real life examples of rhetorical challengers on several FEs. For example, we studied Martin Luther King Jr. and how he challenged the status quo during his time. This AP called for us to study a chosen rhetorical challenger. We then had to explain, using the rhetoric in their language, to justify what makes them significant to be commemorated. Therefore, as you read I ask that you imagine yourself stepping into a exhibition and as audience analyze the rhetoric of my candidate.

This is a link to my rhetorical challenger website I created.

GA, "aisle of risk", 2018