Poetry Project Descripition
In this poetry project we learned about certain components/guidelines that make a poem good. For example we learned about: Meter, Rhythm, Rhyme scheme and Imagery etc.. After this we were asked to memorize and perform a poem (around 100 words) in front of the class. Doing this helped us prepare to perform our own poems we needed to write. These poem's were written about something we've learned in this class throughout the year. I choose to write mine about how society has shaped me to care about just my needs and wants in my life. My poem is communicating how my life is really not about me at all it’s about others and how I can help our world be a better place.
Growth as a poet
Soma Smith
Through my poem I am communicating how there are two sides of me saying different things and I am struggling with who to listen to. One side of me talks about how society has shaped me to care about just my needs and wants in my life. The other side of me is communicating how I need to break out of the normality for our society and express that my life is really not about me it’s more about others and how I can help our world be a greater place. As I read over my 1st draft of my poem I realized that certain lines sounded out of place and didn’t express the message I was trying to convey. This is my first draft of line six from my poem, “I think of our brain as an office, filing away each paper of less importance” and the second, revised draft of my 6th line said “Like an owl, relentless to sleep in the dark.” My first (unrevised) line felt out of place because all of my imagery and use of similes were about our environment, animals and nature and this line was not. I am trying to make my similes and imagery revolve around the environment because I feel that we as a society tend to get so distracted in our own world we forget to care about the most important things; our environment. Making just this small change to my poem helped strengthen the overall message and now this new line flows with the rest of the stanza and sounds like it was meant to be there.
In the beginning stages of writing my poem I decided to not have any rhyme scheme because knowing that I wanted my poem to be very original I thought that making it rhyme would make it sound cheesy and it would lose its originality but, after I finished reading through the first draft of my poem and read more examples of poems I liked, I realized that my poem could benefit from having a rhyme scheme. In the final draft of my poem I wrote: “Our Brain, Our Brain is supposed to keep us aware when we’ve made a mistake, Our Brain, Our Brain can’t help it but to dream while the stars are still awake.” Making these two lines and the rest of my poem rhyme gave it what it was missing, a more playful and poetic tone.
In the second draft of my poem I made many changes, for example: I added these two lines, “The touch of small red feet meet my left shoulder, on my right, my ears meet the soft sound of white wings fluttering.” I Added these two lines because it helps the reader further understand the message of my poem and how I’m struggling with what side of me to listen to. This line also delivers a very serious emotional tone and tells the reader to listen up. I also changed this line: “Maybe if I was locked up in the big house where royalty sets foot” to “Maybe if I stood really still, planted my feet deep in roots of the soil and let the breeze dive around my arms.” I changed this line in my poem because it felt out of place. All of my Similes and use of Imagery revolves around the the outdoors, the environment and nature and this line also did not. These are just a few examples of small changes I made to my poem but, now that these changes have been made to my poem, it enhances the meaning of it, I am proud of it, it flows and most importantly these changes have helped me find my poetic style.
Through my poem I am communicating how there are two sides of me saying different things and I am struggling with who to listen to. One side of me talks about how society has shaped me to care about just my needs and wants in my life. The other side of me is communicating how I need to break out of the normality for our society and express that my life is really not about me it’s more about others and how I can help our world be a greater place. As I read over my 1st draft of my poem I realized that certain lines sounded out of place and didn’t express the message I was trying to convey. This is my first draft of line six from my poem, “I think of our brain as an office, filing away each paper of less importance” and the second, revised draft of my 6th line said “Like an owl, relentless to sleep in the dark.” My first (unrevised) line felt out of place because all of my imagery and use of similes were about our environment, animals and nature and this line was not. I am trying to make my similes and imagery revolve around the environment because I feel that we as a society tend to get so distracted in our own world we forget to care about the most important things; our environment. Making just this small change to my poem helped strengthen the overall message and now this new line flows with the rest of the stanza and sounds like it was meant to be there.
In the beginning stages of writing my poem I decided to not have any rhyme scheme because knowing that I wanted my poem to be very original I thought that making it rhyme would make it sound cheesy and it would lose its originality but, after I finished reading through the first draft of my poem and read more examples of poems I liked, I realized that my poem could benefit from having a rhyme scheme. In the final draft of my poem I wrote: “Our Brain, Our Brain is supposed to keep us aware when we’ve made a mistake, Our Brain, Our Brain can’t help it but to dream while the stars are still awake.” Making these two lines and the rest of my poem rhyme gave it what it was missing, a more playful and poetic tone.
In the second draft of my poem I made many changes, for example: I added these two lines, “The touch of small red feet meet my left shoulder, on my right, my ears meet the soft sound of white wings fluttering.” I Added these two lines because it helps the reader further understand the message of my poem and how I’m struggling with what side of me to listen to. This line also delivers a very serious emotional tone and tells the reader to listen up. I also changed this line: “Maybe if I was locked up in the big house where royalty sets foot” to “Maybe if I stood really still, planted my feet deep in roots of the soil and let the breeze dive around my arms.” I changed this line in my poem because it felt out of place. All of my Similes and use of Imagery revolves around the the outdoors, the environment and nature and this line also did not. These are just a few examples of small changes I made to my poem but, now that these changes have been made to my poem, it enhances the meaning of it, I am proud of it, it flows and most importantly these changes have helped me find my poetic style.
Happiness Project
There were three sections of this project: to learn about what we can do as a society to become more happy or content in our lives, write a paper about our personal opinions on what gives people happiness and to create a personal art piece that relates to our paper. We learned about what can makes us become more happy in class by reading Brave New Wold, watching videos/movies and reading articles. After this we wrote a paper about what we've learned that discusses our personal opinions on how our society can be happier. The final step of this project was to create a cohesive art piece that ties together our paper to our personal art piece that talks about our ideas of happiness. I loved this project because it gave me lots of freedom to create a creative project on happiness.
An Illusion of Happiness
What does it mean to be happy? How can we get lasting happiness? Happiness can not be shown or explained but rather experienced by one. My definition of happiness begins when your emotions are met and fulfilled. In the beginning stages of this project, I was asked to write down in my happiness journal what gives me happiness. This is the summary of what I wrote: playing sports, earning money, eating sushi, watching movies late at night and of course shopping. Now that I am reflecting back on what I’ve written all of these things have not given me enduring happiness. Happiness is achieved with three simple ingredients: one, individuals realize the relevance of their life; two, they are social and bond to the community; and three, individuals connect to other living things.
Meaning plays a significant role in determining one’s happiness. To me, meaning is everything, if we don't have it we will not be content with our lives. We need to feel of some importance. There is a quote written by Rabindranath Tagore it says: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” Helping others gives you meaning in your life that can't be taken away. No matter what kind of help it is, you will be left with long lasting happiness. Helping others is part of our human nature. In the movie “I Am” states that we are all separate and independent, we need to embrace the fact that we are significant. If we as individuals start to register how each and every one of us are unique from others then and only then will we start to understand the importance of our life. When we start to comprehend the importance of our life a door opens and guides us into a life of meaning.
Being social plays a significant role in one's happiness. In the movie “I Am” Directed Tom Shadyac states that “We are born to be part of a community.” I believe that each and every one of us were born into the same world for a reason: we all need each other to learn, survive and of course be happy. We were all made to be part of a community and being around others teaches us how to behave. Also in the movie “I am” says “We need to be social not lonely.” Of course certain people make us all feel worn-out but, by surrounding ourselves with the right people can give us a sense of belonging and connectedness which in return leaves us with nothing but happiness.
We as individuals all need to connect with living things in order to be happy. A movie called “Happy” directed by Roko Belic discovered that all happy people have close family and friends. In this movie they interviewed a man who lives on a small boat. From what I’ve seen this man seems extremely happy because he is always connected to the plants, animals and most importantly gathers with his family and friends every week for dinner. Living around hundreds of different species makes him feel content with his life and more connected to the earth.
Many people might think that eating ice cream, buying new clothes or listening to music gives you happiness. But that is an illusion, all these things might bring bring pleasure for a short period of time but, our belly’s will never be full and we will keep finding ways to consume unnecessary things. In the end, we are all seeking happiness but, the question still and might always be, what gives us lasting happiness?
Project Reflection
This project has made me realize that everyday of our lives we are constantly seeking happiness in almost everything we do. This project has taught me how I as an individual can become more happy. I've also learned that happiness doesn't come from things but rather experiences. "Its not how much we have but, how much we enjoy, that makes us happy" - Charles Spurgeon. This is such an important lesson to learn because so many people don't know the root of their happiness.
My plan this summer is to put into action what i've learned. I learned what kind of things bring us enduring happiness for example: being connected to living things and having meaning in your life. I plan to spend more time connecting with the outdoors by taking more hikes, climbing more outside and connect more with my family and friends. I've also realized that I need to absorb more of whats happening around me. Over the summer I will experiment with these ideas of happiness and see what works personally for me. Through out this project I've also learned about how our society veiws happiness. Many of us think that happiness comes from things like buying new clothes, earning lots of money or eating yummy foods all these things might bring us pleasure but this quickly fades and we will still be looking for things that give us enduring happiness.
In the beginning of this project I choose to write down in my happiness journal what gives me happiness I wrote: playing sports, earning money, eating sushi, watching movies late at night and of course shopping. Now that I am reflecting back on what I’ve written all of these things have not given me enduring happiness but rather pleasure. After I realized this I was curious to what really gives us happiness because in my opinion achieving happiness is our life goal, we all are searching for it. What I've realized after some research is that we all need to feel connected to the community in order to feel happy. This was rather surprising to me because I think of myself as a very happy person but, I believe I am an extrovert and I love spending alone time. Happiness is a hard subject to grasp because it is so different for each person but, there are certain things we all can do that will leave us with nothing but long lasting happiness.
An Illusion of Happiness
What does it mean to be happy? How can we get lasting happiness? Happiness can not be shown or explained but rather experienced by one. My definition of happiness begins when your emotions are met and fulfilled. In the beginning stages of this project, I was asked to write down in my happiness journal what gives me happiness. This is the summary of what I wrote: playing sports, earning money, eating sushi, watching movies late at night and of course shopping. Now that I am reflecting back on what I’ve written all of these things have not given me enduring happiness. Happiness is achieved with three simple ingredients: one, individuals realize the relevance of their life; two, they are social and bond to the community; and three, individuals connect to other living things.
Meaning plays a significant role in determining one’s happiness. To me, meaning is everything, if we don't have it we will not be content with our lives. We need to feel of some importance. There is a quote written by Rabindranath Tagore it says: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” Helping others gives you meaning in your life that can't be taken away. No matter what kind of help it is, you will be left with long lasting happiness. Helping others is part of our human nature. In the movie “I Am” states that we are all separate and independent, we need to embrace the fact that we are significant. If we as individuals start to register how each and every one of us are unique from others then and only then will we start to understand the importance of our life. When we start to comprehend the importance of our life a door opens and guides us into a life of meaning.
Being social plays a significant role in one's happiness. In the movie “I Am” Directed Tom Shadyac states that “We are born to be part of a community.” I believe that each and every one of us were born into the same world for a reason: we all need each other to learn, survive and of course be happy. We were all made to be part of a community and being around others teaches us how to behave. Also in the movie “I am” says “We need to be social not lonely.” Of course certain people make us all feel worn-out but, by surrounding ourselves with the right people can give us a sense of belonging and connectedness which in return leaves us with nothing but happiness.
We as individuals all need to connect with living things in order to be happy. A movie called “Happy” directed by Roko Belic discovered that all happy people have close family and friends. In this movie they interviewed a man who lives on a small boat. From what I’ve seen this man seems extremely happy because he is always connected to the plants, animals and most importantly gathers with his family and friends every week for dinner. Living around hundreds of different species makes him feel content with his life and more connected to the earth.
Many people might think that eating ice cream, buying new clothes or listening to music gives you happiness. But that is an illusion, all these things might bring bring pleasure for a short period of time but, our belly’s will never be full and we will keep finding ways to consume unnecessary things. In the end, we are all seeking happiness but, the question still and might always be, what gives us lasting happiness?
Project Reflection
This project has made me realize that everyday of our lives we are constantly seeking happiness in almost everything we do. This project has taught me how I as an individual can become more happy. I've also learned that happiness doesn't come from things but rather experiences. "Its not how much we have but, how much we enjoy, that makes us happy" - Charles Spurgeon. This is such an important lesson to learn because so many people don't know the root of their happiness.
My plan this summer is to put into action what i've learned. I learned what kind of things bring us enduring happiness for example: being connected to living things and having meaning in your life. I plan to spend more time connecting with the outdoors by taking more hikes, climbing more outside and connect more with my family and friends. I've also realized that I need to absorb more of whats happening around me. Over the summer I will experiment with these ideas of happiness and see what works personally for me. Through out this project I've also learned about how our society veiws happiness. Many of us think that happiness comes from things like buying new clothes, earning lots of money or eating yummy foods all these things might bring us pleasure but this quickly fades and we will still be looking for things that give us enduring happiness.
In the beginning of this project I choose to write down in my happiness journal what gives me happiness I wrote: playing sports, earning money, eating sushi, watching movies late at night and of course shopping. Now that I am reflecting back on what I’ve written all of these things have not given me enduring happiness but rather pleasure. After I realized this I was curious to what really gives us happiness because in my opinion achieving happiness is our life goal, we all are searching for it. What I've realized after some research is that we all need to feel connected to the community in order to feel happy. This was rather surprising to me because I think of myself as a very happy person but, I believe I am an extrovert and I love spending alone time. Happiness is a hard subject to grasp because it is so different for each person but, there are certain things we all can do that will leave us with nothing but long lasting happiness.
Model United Nations
This project was designed for students to learn about the United Nations and comprehende and debate on current issues (North Korea and Israeli-Palestine). In this project each student was assigned a country to research and determine their current stance on the issues. My assigned country was Brazil. During this project we did lots of independent research and wrote several writings in order to further understand the issue and our country's persepctive. After we finished with our final writings we had an exhibition. This exhibition was a mock of a United Nations General Assembly, where each country/member of the UN would discuss and voice their opinions on the Israeli-Palesinian conflict.
UN Reflection
In this conference I was proud of many things. Ever since I was little I had fear of public speaking but through exhibitions like this one and POL’s I have growth out of my fear and am able to voice my opinions publicly without fear! Another aspect of the conference I was proud of was my ability to discuss in Caucasus. For example I traveled with a group of my allies and discussed together different opinions on certain parts of resolutions. Lastly, I was proud of the amount of time I spent rehearsing my speech as I was able to make more eye contact and my overall feel like my speech flowed well.
I connected most with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The reason for this is because I liked learning about the conflict, it interested me. Each article I read would sway me in different direction supporting a different side of this conflict so, it took a lot of thinking. In the end I was able to choose one side to support which happen to be my country's side as well. This helped me make my arguments stronger.
The most important thing I learned in this project was writing and learning about the UN and understanding the current issue of North Korea and Israel-Palestine. Before this project I was always bored by news because I didn't fully understand it. Throughout this project I realized that these issue are not difficult too or boring to understand and sometimes fun to take a stance in. I also learned more about independent research. For example, I learned that even though sometimes it may seem difficult to find an answer to a question you can almost always find it one way or another based on your wording. This is a very important skill to be taught because finding the right information can be critical in projects.
I connected most with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The reason for this is because I liked learning about the conflict, it interested me. Each article I read would sway me in different direction supporting a different side of this conflict so, it took a lot of thinking. In the end I was able to choose one side to support which happen to be my country's side as well. This helped me make my arguments stronger.
The most important thing I learned in this project was writing and learning about the UN and understanding the current issue of North Korea and Israel-Palestine. Before this project I was always bored by news because I didn't fully understand it. Throughout this project I realized that these issue are not difficult too or boring to understand and sometimes fun to take a stance in. I also learned more about independent research. For example, I learned that even though sometimes it may seem difficult to find an answer to a question you can almost always find it one way or another based on your wording. This is a very important skill to be taught because finding the right information can be critical in projects.
Plastered
(Unmasking your true identity)
“Our identity is like that of an onion; with each experience we endure, a layer is peeled away, finally unveiling who we really are at the core” -Afnan Ahmad Mia. All of us have norms, cultures and values, whether we are aware of them or not. These norms, cultures and values mold us into the people we are today through a process called socialization. From the moment we are born, until the day we die, we are evolving based on what what see, feel and hear. It is impossible to avoid. Our parents play an early role in the socialization process but soon, other ingredients are mixed in. Siblings, teachers, friends, strangers, television, radio, music, magazines, newspapers, movies, celebrities, social media and art all play a critical role in our development. Our society categorizes people into two basic groups, Agents and Targets. Agent groups generally have more social power over Target groups. They are considered the norm. Agent groups are caucasians, middle to upper class citizens, heterosexuals, abled people and men. If you are born into a Target group you are likely to be victimized by our society. Target groups include: women, homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, racially oppressed groups and disabled people. Socialization has influenced our thinking about so many stereotypes without us realizing it, here are a few examples; a woman is to be beautiful and less physical than a man; growing up in a middle to upper class family is considered superior and the media is poorly stereotyping African Americans.
As a young girl, I have been socialized to believe that a woman's beauty is determined by her appearance, and that women are to be dainty and less physical than a man. This got me thinking...why? Why are these norms so important to our culture? Why do we need to enforce these norms if they could be masking our true identity? Shouldn’t we be teaching our children that one of the most important values is to be ourselves? When I was a little girl I wanted to be like my brother, I wanted to be strong and athletic, I wanted to be a rock climber. Initially, my parents encouraged me to enroll in less physical activities like ballet, singing and piano. Those weren’t for me!! Eventually, they allowed me to try climbing and an instant love affair was born. This is an example of breaking the cycle of socialization and it allowed me to pursue my passion. This made me happy.
There are many social factors that influence a girl's self image. It’s not just your parents that influence your ideas of what a woman should look like, but magazines, media and your friends, all play a role. Think about the cover of Vogue magazine. Most issues features a supermodel or celebrity that wears excessive amounts of makeup, fashionable clothes and is typically obsessively thin. This makes our culture believe that your appearance is valued above all else. In order to escape these pressures and influences, we need to become more self reflective and focus less on our external self. Of course it is important to take care of our external self but, we need to know our boundaries and not become obsessive about our appearance. True beauty comes from within and should be a reflection of our soul.
The economic class that you are born into can play a critical role in one's success. However, it is unfair when teenagers work hard in high school, get good grades but can't afford a college education because of the economic class they were born into. I have been raised in an middle to upper class family and it’s easy to take the little things for granted. I am given fresh water and food, warm and comfortable shelter and even my own bed to sleep in at night without even thinking about it. I can also afford to eat healthy, buy new clothes, receive a good education and play sports to be physically fit as well. What if someone can't afford a good education? A couple of years ago I traveled to Africa and visited a small village where they shower themselves in smoke because there is no clean water, they sleep in small huts on the floor with their friends and overall don't have any education. Likewise in America, many people that are born into a low economic class are given less opportunity for a college education and better paying jobs. People should not be given an advantage based upon their economic class. Maybe, there should be a reform in our government so that everyone has the same college opportunity and therefore that same opportunity for success.
African Americans are often negatively portrayed in our culture today. In the video, “A Girl Like Me” they did a study that illustrates how young children (both black and white), have been influenced to believe white people are nicer than black people. In this video, they interviewed young children using two dolls, one Caucasian and one African American. They asked each kid separately, on which doll was the nice doll and which one was the mean doll. Fifteen out of the twenty one children said that the white doll was the nice one. What was particularly surprising to me, was that many of the black children preferred the white doll. In my opinion, a lot of people want to believe that there is no racism in America, or that the majority of it is gone. However, I feel that we still have a long way to go to completely eradicate racism. There are so many negative messages that we absorb daily without processing them. Several times when I’ve visited big cities I was struck by the way I felt when I saw groups of black people on the street. I don't want to think negatively about particular races, but it is clear to me that I am a victim of what our society portrays. The media to a large degree is portraying African Americans as troublemakers, more so than Caucasians? This has socialized me to become afraid of African Americans in certain situations. In order to break this mindset, we need to become aware of the fact that our society often unfairly stereotypes. The color of our skin should not play a role in how one is viewed.
In conclusion, and as I have illustrated in my paper, it is nearly impossible to ignore the powerful influences socialization has on all of us. As we go through life, we need to be careful to formulate our opinions wisely and not let socialization control us! As a young girl, I have been socialized by my parents, in particularly by my mother, to believe in her ideas of religion. However, as I mature, I realize I have control over what I believe, what I value and what I feel. This realization has empowered me to take control of my life and carefully measure ideas and beliefs. The first step in breaking the socialization cycle is to be aware. Once you are aware of societies powerful grip, then, and only then, can you take steps to rid yourself of its oppressive and negative influences.
As a young girl, I have been socialized to believe that a woman's beauty is determined by her appearance, and that women are to be dainty and less physical than a man. This got me thinking...why? Why are these norms so important to our culture? Why do we need to enforce these norms if they could be masking our true identity? Shouldn’t we be teaching our children that one of the most important values is to be ourselves? When I was a little girl I wanted to be like my brother, I wanted to be strong and athletic, I wanted to be a rock climber. Initially, my parents encouraged me to enroll in less physical activities like ballet, singing and piano. Those weren’t for me!! Eventually, they allowed me to try climbing and an instant love affair was born. This is an example of breaking the cycle of socialization and it allowed me to pursue my passion. This made me happy.
There are many social factors that influence a girl's self image. It’s not just your parents that influence your ideas of what a woman should look like, but magazines, media and your friends, all play a role. Think about the cover of Vogue magazine. Most issues features a supermodel or celebrity that wears excessive amounts of makeup, fashionable clothes and is typically obsessively thin. This makes our culture believe that your appearance is valued above all else. In order to escape these pressures and influences, we need to become more self reflective and focus less on our external self. Of course it is important to take care of our external self but, we need to know our boundaries and not become obsessive about our appearance. True beauty comes from within and should be a reflection of our soul.
The economic class that you are born into can play a critical role in one's success. However, it is unfair when teenagers work hard in high school, get good grades but can't afford a college education because of the economic class they were born into. I have been raised in an middle to upper class family and it’s easy to take the little things for granted. I am given fresh water and food, warm and comfortable shelter and even my own bed to sleep in at night without even thinking about it. I can also afford to eat healthy, buy new clothes, receive a good education and play sports to be physically fit as well. What if someone can't afford a good education? A couple of years ago I traveled to Africa and visited a small village where they shower themselves in smoke because there is no clean water, they sleep in small huts on the floor with their friends and overall don't have any education. Likewise in America, many people that are born into a low economic class are given less opportunity for a college education and better paying jobs. People should not be given an advantage based upon their economic class. Maybe, there should be a reform in our government so that everyone has the same college opportunity and therefore that same opportunity for success.
African Americans are often negatively portrayed in our culture today. In the video, “A Girl Like Me” they did a study that illustrates how young children (both black and white), have been influenced to believe white people are nicer than black people. In this video, they interviewed young children using two dolls, one Caucasian and one African American. They asked each kid separately, on which doll was the nice doll and which one was the mean doll. Fifteen out of the twenty one children said that the white doll was the nice one. What was particularly surprising to me, was that many of the black children preferred the white doll. In my opinion, a lot of people want to believe that there is no racism in America, or that the majority of it is gone. However, I feel that we still have a long way to go to completely eradicate racism. There are so many negative messages that we absorb daily without processing them. Several times when I’ve visited big cities I was struck by the way I felt when I saw groups of black people on the street. I don't want to think negatively about particular races, but it is clear to me that I am a victim of what our society portrays. The media to a large degree is portraying African Americans as troublemakers, more so than Caucasians? This has socialized me to become afraid of African Americans in certain situations. In order to break this mindset, we need to become aware of the fact that our society often unfairly stereotypes. The color of our skin should not play a role in how one is viewed.
In conclusion, and as I have illustrated in my paper, it is nearly impossible to ignore the powerful influences socialization has on all of us. As we go through life, we need to be careful to formulate our opinions wisely and not let socialization control us! As a young girl, I have been socialized by my parents, in particularly by my mother, to believe in her ideas of religion. However, as I mature, I realize I have control over what I believe, what I value and what I feel. This realization has empowered me to take control of my life and carefully measure ideas and beliefs. The first step in breaking the socialization cycle is to be aware. Once you are aware of societies powerful grip, then, and only then, can you take steps to rid yourself of its oppressive and negative influences.
Unveiling my true identity
My mask is a representation of who I am evolving into. As I mature, I began to peel away the negative affects socialization has had on me. On my mask, their is a hand peeling away a black veil to show how I am unveiling my past identity. The third eye represents my ability to see what may be…..to see potential. I believe this third eye will help me escape the grip of socialization and allow me to discover my true self.
Socialization Project Reflection:
There are a lot of aspects of my mask that I’m proud of but, I am most proud of the time I invested into the meaning of it. At first, my idea for my mask was to create the left side representing who I truly am and the right of how socialization has shaped me to become. This would incorporate a lot of separate elements, drawings and personal meanings. After looking at the masks hanging up in the classroom from the previous years I realized that each element or drawing on the mask stands for something and helps represent the overall meaning of what the mask convey’s. This has influenced me to change my mask plan dramatically. My mask is going to have part of a veil glued on half of the face and a hand peeling of the veil to show how I am slowly unveiling my true self. There will also be a third eye peeking through the netting of the veil to show I am becoming a person who not only see’s the potential in myself but the whole world.
My favorite part of my essay discusses how beauty is looked upon. “Think about the cover of Vogue magazine. Most issues features a supermodel or celebrity that wears excessive amounts of makeup, fashionable clothes and is typically extremely thin. This makes our culture believe that your appearance is valued above all else. In order to escape these pressures and influences, we need to become more self reflective and focus less on our external self. Of course it is important to take care of our external self but, we need to know our boundaries and not become obsessive about our appearance. True beauty comes from within and should be a reflection of our soul.” This is my favorite part of my essay, because there is so much truth to it. Throughout the day we are constantly being told that our appearance should be valued above all else even if you don't notice it. We forget to take time to uncover who we truly are underneath it all.
My biggest takeaway from this project is the fact that socialization is taking over us without even knowing it and how we hold the power to break and change this cycle. Writing, Watching and Reading about socialization has made me become so aware of how often we put on a mask to fit into society. Our society thinks that we need to follow certain norms in order to become accepted but, this is not real. I have realized that we can do so much to stop this cycle by just becoming aware of it. We need to know the importance of being yourself and how harmful it is to criticize one another based on ones set of values.
It is nearly impossible to not be socialized but, you can try to change the negative aspects socialization. The only way to do so is to know that not everyone thinks the way you do and has experienced the same things you have and if you know this you will come a long way with changing our society. To leave you with a final thought, the article “Cycle of Socialization” states that “Immediately upon our births we begin to be socialized by the people we love and trust the most, our families or the adults who are raising us. They shape our self concepts and self perceptions, the norms and rules must follow, the roles we are taught to play, our expectations for the future, and our dreams. These people serve as remodels for us, and they teach us how to behave.”
My favorite part of my essay discusses how beauty is looked upon. “Think about the cover of Vogue magazine. Most issues features a supermodel or celebrity that wears excessive amounts of makeup, fashionable clothes and is typically extremely thin. This makes our culture believe that your appearance is valued above all else. In order to escape these pressures and influences, we need to become more self reflective and focus less on our external self. Of course it is important to take care of our external self but, we need to know our boundaries and not become obsessive about our appearance. True beauty comes from within and should be a reflection of our soul.” This is my favorite part of my essay, because there is so much truth to it. Throughout the day we are constantly being told that our appearance should be valued above all else even if you don't notice it. We forget to take time to uncover who we truly are underneath it all.
My biggest takeaway from this project is the fact that socialization is taking over us without even knowing it and how we hold the power to break and change this cycle. Writing, Watching and Reading about socialization has made me become so aware of how often we put on a mask to fit into society. Our society thinks that we need to follow certain norms in order to become accepted but, this is not real. I have realized that we can do so much to stop this cycle by just becoming aware of it. We need to know the importance of being yourself and how harmful it is to criticize one another based on ones set of values.
It is nearly impossible to not be socialized but, you can try to change the negative aspects socialization. The only way to do so is to know that not everyone thinks the way you do and has experienced the same things you have and if you know this you will come a long way with changing our society. To leave you with a final thought, the article “Cycle of Socialization” states that “Immediately upon our births we begin to be socialized by the people we love and trust the most, our families or the adults who are raising us. They shape our self concepts and self perceptions, the norms and rules must follow, the roles we are taught to play, our expectations for the future, and our dreams. These people serve as remodels for us, and they teach us how to behave.”
