Petruchio Sonnet

In this first unit of the new sophomore class, Drama, we read play written by Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew. We started this unit with the understanding of what exactly this class was going to be about. The Taming of the Shrew is a play about a woman who speaks her mind getting pushed into a marriage that will tame her. We looked into the Elizabethan era to get a feel of the setting and the social setting of this play. For the action project, we created a sonnet about the characters of the play, I chose Petruchio, a rich man who only wants money. I chose to take a spin on his persona and talk as if i'm justifying why he treated the way he did to Kate.

A. Who says money can’t buy you love?...not I
B.“I come to wive wealthily, happily”
A. Changing the act of the women to mine
B. Tame her to your wants and love you receive

C. I rightly do inherit heaven's grace
D. Draw the dowry, i'll greatly wine and dine
C. Money is love, that’s simply the lord's way
D. Fool you are to see jewels as set in divine

E. A king's death in chess plainly ends the game
F. But that of a queen’s power fights to die
E. Surely, a lords ill fated end their days
F. Sweet wife obey and bear the anguished cry

G. So fool i'm not to think money buys love
G. But fool you are to think love from above

Petruchio Sonnet from GenesisAndrade on Vimeo.

Rotationplasty... a 180° difference

The First unit of our new Sophomore class, Cure, we explored the impact of surgery throughout the years. This unit was very exciting, the range of subjects we learned in this unit was was mind blowing to explore. From the method of healing in Western medicine to understanding of the different anatomic systems, organs and tissues. Our class visited the International Museum of Surgical Science to study the history of surgeries where we got a closer look into the trials and tribulations medicine has gone through. This led us to doing our own research on surgeries we were interested in; that's when I chose Rotationplasty as my final action project. Hope you enjoy!

Conservative Point of View

In the final unit of our class Forbidden Books, we learned about censorship. We did not do an action project for Unit 2 because our teacher thought this project hold more substance. In the 3rd unit, we learned about the censorship of books. We read Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian." We had weekly book clubs to discuss the book. We visited our local public radio station, WBEZ, to meet with their south-side correspondent Natalie Moore. Ms. Moore wrote a book about the South-Side that was banned in Illinois prisons. We talked with her about what it was like to be an author of a banned book. At the beginning of this class, we chose one of five banned books. The options were: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Animal Farm by George Orwell. Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I chose The Color Purple because i've seen the movie before and really enjoyed it. We then had to read the book and write an essay about why it was banned. I wanted to take a spin on this essay and write about the banning in a conservative point of view.

Conservative Point of View

Love has traditional values in the way it should be shown, given, and more importantly in the way it should be written. Love is the theme that was portrayed in The Color Purple. For example, Celie and Shug in a rather odd way, shifting between a very physical attraction to her to a sisterly love, and then right back to the love a daughter has for a mother. She says "I love looking at Shug." (Walker, 77) and "I work on her like...she mama." (Walker, 55) Even in the very beginning of the book, you get this feeling that Celie envies Shug's life, and really wants to be like her. Then it transforms from an admiration to a genuine love for Shug as she gets to know her, and then settles in on a sisterly love. The Color Purple is written in the form of letters that Celie (main character) writes to God. Celie is a uneducated, poor, African American 14 year old girl. The letters she writes to God talk about the trials and tribulations she faces. Her father Alphonso is mentioned heavily throughout her letters because of the damage he has done to Celie. Celie's father beats her harshly and rapes her continuously, she has been impregnated twice, but the children were both been abducted by her father. Eventually Alphonso marries Celie off to a man who is just as bad as him. The name of Celie’s husband is not mentioned, only written as Mr.__. Mister marries Celie to take care of his four kids, look after the house and work in the fields. Celie seems somewhat content with her marriage because she can take her younger sister Nattie out of her Father's house. Soon enough Mr. kicks Nettie out after Nettie rejects his sexual advances. After Nettie leaves, Celie’s life gets worse as she’s now separated from the only person whom she loves and who loves her back. Shug is Mr._ mistress, she becomes Celie's friend and eventually her lover. Shug remains a mentor who helps Celie evolve into an independent and assertive woman. Celie tells Shug how Mr._ beats her repeatedly and decides to stay to protect her. Shug and Celie’s relationship grows intimate, and Shug begins to ask Celie questions about her sexual habits. Celie grows admiration for Shug as she was the first person to show her signs of affection towards her. This form of love is not one that is rooted in traditional roots and should not hold educational values because of it. The Color Purple does not hold any educational values in the school system; therefore, it should be banned.

The Color Purple does not have any educational values based on the non systematic theme that it holds. West Virginia took action and banned The Color Purple in 1986, like several other school boards because of its troubling ideas about abuse, man’s relation to God, and human sexuality. Bernard King, a member of the school board said, "It could lead to different sex games and violence and other things" (Washington Post). The long established curriculum keeps the students formulated into a systematic ideology and detain from the toxicity emotional attachment does. Ultimately, these are topics that have no matter in a school system that holds the majorities inclination.

There are several examples in The Color Purple that school system point to as reasons it should be ban. For example, “He [Pa] never had a kine word to say to me. Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t. First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around. Then he grab hold my titties. Then he push his thing inside my p****. When that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it”(pg. 1). This quote was problematic because its explicit depictions and language. Secondly, “Ain’t no way to read the bible and not think God white, she say. Then she sigh. When I found out I thought God was white, and a man, I lost interest. You mad cause he don’t seem to listen to your prayers. Humph! Do the mayor listen to anything colored say?”(pg. 194). This quote depicts the controversy of religion in a demeaning way. Quotes like these are throughout the book and holds no value. They are only expressing vulgarity with no necessity. The Color Purple influences political, religious, and diversity disputes, but because the delivery speaks figuratively the vulgarity outweighs the significance. That being said, it was problematic from the fact that the book hold text that triggers every social aspect. The Color Purple touched on religion when talking about God being a white male, politics when talking about the government not listening to colored folks, and lastly the diversity in race.

The ideologies the book expresses holds no substance in any systematic matter. This ratifies how the banning of The Color Purple is justified to be out of reach for kids. Reasons be the vulgarity in the depictions of violence, the lack of educational values based on the non systematic theme that it holds, and how love has traditional values in the way it should be shown, given, and more importantly in the way it should be written and with that being The Color purple portrayed love being an unhealthy in every standpoint. Alice Walker the author of The Color Purple implemented these ideas with a purpose, her controversial text was apart of her creative writing to expose a certain system that has been oppressed by the majority. As she states, "Also, I think it is anyone’s right to do what they feel they have to do. They have a job. I have a job. I will write what I think is right for me to write. They will oppose it. In a way that makes us equal. Though when one’s work is completely suppressed this is a bitter acceptance."(GuernicaMag).

The censorship of books has been a necessity for many years, whether they were banned because of vulgarity, suggestive themes, religion, or just plain hate against a certain group. The "forbiddance" of a book keeps us safe from a world thats created with ideologies and nonsystematic themes. Looking into a school system we should feel safe that our kids are going to school filled with factual strategic knowledge and no unhealthy ideas. In conclusion The color Purple holds no matter in any learning environment.

“The Pipeline of Book Censorship.” Tavaana, tavaana.org/en/content/censorship.

Works Cited:

“WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD BANS 'THE COLOR PURPLE'.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Nov. 1997

“Why was the book "The Color Purple" banned? What was done to allow the book "The Color Purple" not to be banned?” Enotes.com, Enotes.com.

The Socratic Method with Mikeal and Elizabeth

In the first unit of Forbidden Books we were assigned a book called Fahrenheit 451 and have discussions about the book. The discussions were usually about why do we think the book was censored. Not only this we learned about how censoring another person’s view or idea can only be detrimental to your process of learning. We also learned about the Socratic method, the purpose of this action project is learning the Socratic method. Socrates believed that the examined life is not worth living, when you are having an argument with another person but your suppose to only ask questions that challenge the opposite argument and allows the you and the person you're arguing with to think more critically. we analyzed the reading The Apology by Plato. In the reading we examined how Socrates would often ask questions to help corner the thought process of his accusers and to get more forced out of them also. In the Apology,Socrates was supposedly apologizing for his actions of corrupting the young but actually is justifying his cause by asking questions. Inspired by this belief, we were assigned the task of choosing a topic we want to talk about entitling my own interest priority over that of the community.



Theme:
Am I entitled to give my own interest priority over that of the community?

Character:
Character #1: Mikeal - IF
Character #2: Elizabeth- GA

Script:

E: *jaywalks

E: Hey wassup Mikeal, How are you doing today?
M: Hey wassup, wait…..WHOA, did you just jaywalk to come over and talk to me?
E: Yeaah, what gives haha?
M: YOU JUST BROKE A LAW!!!
E: psssh, oh Mikeal, It’s just jay-walking. It’s a little law, it doesn’t matter that much haha.
M: mmm so, What makes a law less substantial than other laws?
E: Well… I guess some laws are less substantial than others because some laws cause less harm than others, like jaywalking to a felony. Are you allowed to give your own interest priority over the community’s interest?
E: I don’t think so, The community all works as one unit, but I think it’s fine for little slips to occur in our complete agreement. So like, no; but kinda.
M: Yes, but what is stopping me from calling the... police right now, and reporting you as a jaywalker. Jaywalkers are lawbreakers afterall.
E: Because, you are my friend and that is rude.
M: Is it rude to separate from the community’s ideas?
E: Yes, I guess. Nobody is being offended or hurt, so I guess it’s fine.
M: Can you be sure that nobody is getting hurt?
E: No, I suppose not.
M: Tell me, What does being part of a community mean to you?
E: Mmmh coming to think about it being apart of a community means that I work with all my fellow community members to make the place we live a better one.
M: Well, you just jaywalked all over that darned street, what if you had gotten hit by a motor vehicle?
E: Yes, that would have sucked but I like to beat the odds. As long as I remember look both ways Elizabeth i’m sure ill be fine Mikeal.
M: But what if everybody in the neighborhood started to do that darned jaywalking? Would the community still be a safe place? Would we need sidewalks at all?
E: I guess a lot more people would be getting hit by cars. But I can't speak for the whole community I think you’re over exaggerating Mikeal. that would never happen to me
M: *I ask again, can you be sure that you won’t get hit? What if someody decides to jaywalk and that causes a car to swerve in front of you and you happen to get hit? You might be careful while jaywalking, but you can’t guarantee that everyone will be.
E: You know what, your right Mikeal indeed I am selfish for prioritizing my own interest and not the overall safeness of the community. Boy o boy I sure learned my lesson Mikeal. HAHA
M: So you won’t be jaywalking anymore right?
E: tsk tsk tsk si
M: So what now?
E: You wanna play futbul?

THE END.