I am/ it was

This year has been great. Full of ups and downs good times and bad. Mistakes and good decisions. Most definitely a year that I will never forget.

I am a changed person after this year. I am more confident and open. I am stronger and smarter, that's all because it was difficult and a struggle at times but a struggle that was well worth it. (Regardless of how I talk about not IB it was definitely WORTH IT)

This year has I have grown closer to the friends I would not have had if it wasnt for IB. I found friends that will last a life time. Sure we are going our separate ways next year but we developed a bond that will last through that. I am closers to them than ever. We spent nightsome at each other's houses (😂😂remember Halloween night?), studied/struggled/complained abou that classes together (especially physics and math hl), we disagreed sometimes. But all we went through is what will keep us together.

I am different now than at the beginning of the year. Sure I still don't wear shoes and lay on desks, but I am older, more independent, and better equipped to take on the world. I am ready for what is to come exited to take on the world. Whether my path leads me to Chapel Hill or to Washington DC I am ready and excited for next year.

To my teachers, thank you. Sure there were times I couldn't keep focus or pay attention, but you tolerated me. There were times when my grades weren't the best but you helped me through it. I have worked hard and wouldn't be where I am today without you.  To the teachers that treated me like they didn't care I know you really did you just wanted me to show that I cared. I think that you may make my transition to colleget better because I now know how to take initiative odo my own education. To the teacheRA who stayed on me and on me to get worked done and wouldn't let me slack, you taught me to push through the tough times because it will get better. Whichever category you do all into don't stop doing what you're doing. I think it is best to have a balance of teachers it allowed me to be prepared for all types of professors that I will be faced with and taught me lessons I wouldn't have learned otherwise.

To my classmates,WE MADE IT FAM!!! EE's are done. No more IAs. After exams we are in the clear. We have the whole world in front of us and control over what we want it to look like. If we work hard we can accomplish whatever we put our minds to. Graduation is just around the corner and we will go our separate ways, but with all we've been through we have a special bond. We excelled in ib  no matter what we claim we gained something positive out of the experience. Going to miss you guys but we have to do what's best for us even if that means leaving and moving away from the people we are closest to.

Going to miss all the things that happened this year but I'm ready to move on. High school was great experience but I am ready for the next adventure. Next year will be great and exciting and I don't know about anyone else but I'm looking forward to it.

Witty Whitman

Step 1

It is very difficult to make out what has been written by Whitman in his journal. From one of the ealry pages in the journal whitman writes that there will be two characters participating in a dialogue. The firsr character is unclear and the second is to be the "president elect". At this time the president would have been Abraham Lincoln.  Throughout the journal things are crossed off. This shows that Whitman was constantly going back through his journal and editing in order to get things the exact way that h wanted them. His editions don't appear to be super organized because he just crossed things out and started writing where he had space.

Towards the end of the journal there are four drawings that seem to be the same man. In the first one he has no hat and only his face is drawn. In the second his head is large compared to his body and one hand seems to be reaching for something or someone. In the third the drawing is similarto the first by showing only the man's head but this time his eyes are closed and he note has a hat. The fourth shows the man drawn in a different style with a top hat and a shadow across his face. Based on the last picture the man appears to be the president because of the top hat. Whitman is perhaps showing how his views of the president have changed over time and is planning to use this as motivation for some poetry.

Step 2

It makes since that Whitman first saw Lincoln among a group of his supporters  and that Whitman was a supporter of Lincoln himself because Whitman was all for equality and Lincoln pushed to free slaves. I think that Whitman not having many interactions with Lincoln takes away some from what his ability to imitate the way Lincoln would hold a discussion with him, but it allowed him to be more creative and get his ideas out. It was mentioned that the drawings may not have been done by Whitman. This shows Whitman was open to others view and ideas so much so that he allowed one of his drinking buddies to use his journal. This makes me think back to the poem we read in class called "Poets To Come" where Whitman includes singers and orators as poets. It appears that Whitman saw the value of other art forms as a way to deliver a message.

American Dream

During the 1920s the idea of the American Dream was having a lot of money, being able to party, and just enjoying life. Due to the differing time period my personal views of the American Dream are very different. I view the American Dream as being able to provide myself the necessities for life and to be able to enjoy the life I have. It is being able to practice the rights that I have and not be discriminated against for any reason. It seek equal treatment in society. Not only that but it is also hoping for a better future.


I think that like in the Great Gatsby and in the 1920s hope is a large part of the American Dream. We still everyday hope for our futures to be better as did people in the 1920s and people will continue to look to further themselves in the future. Hope is a continuous piece of the American  Dream that will remain for as long as the idea of the American Dream lasts. My view of the American Dream differs from that of Gatsby and people of the 1920s in that my idea of the American Dream is not to obtain as much wealth as possible. While my views may not be the same of other people, to me wealth has less of an impact on how successful we view ourselves as. While wealth is very important to obtaining power in society I feel that this is not as important now as it was in the 1920s. This can be seen by the removal of the terms "new money" and "old money". No longer to we see people with money from their parents as better than those who made their own living. In fact, there as been a shift and those that earned their own money and worked hard to make it to where they are now are more looked up to than those who are given money through inheritance.


My definition of wealth is not necessarily finances but more in terms of happiness. What is the point in having a lot of money if I am not happy and I feel that my life has no meaning? I think that the happier I am with my life the more wealthy I am. This is a direct contrast to the views of people in the Great Gatsby and the people in the 1920s. They viewed wealth as the most important thing. They didn't seem to care if they were happy or not all they wanted to do was to become more and more financially wealthy. This is because at this time the United States was going through great financial increase and everyone wanted to be a part of it.


I believe that the overall American view towards wealth and poverty has stayed the same. Poverty is always viewed as awful and with terrible living conditions. Americans in the media portray poverty as unbearable when in reality this may not always be the case. In some cases those that are in poverty are happier than those with a lot of money. Sure they have to worry about money, but if someone cares about them it is less likely to be because of something they have. People in poverty are more likely to build real relationships with people as opposed to fake ones where people are only after someone else's money. The view of poverty as negative and wealth as positive I think comes from the idea of the general idea of the American Dream. The general idea is that we should want more and seek as much financial gain as possible but seeking financial gain does not always bring the happiness that we seek. I view wealth as not all it is hyped up to be and poverty as not as bad as it is frequently portrayed. This is my opinion because I feel like it is easy to be wealthy and unhappy because sure you may be able to buy whatever you want but there is a lacking human connection that occurs with people when you reach a certain level of wealth. Poverty isn't as bad as it is portrayed because while you may not have the funds you need while in poverty you can develop a deeper connection and find who is really there for you and who isn't. While when you have wealth everyone wants to be around you and it becomes difficult to separate real friends from fake ones.

Importance of Translations

Original: Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

#1:As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

• insect-specific type of bug
• uneasy-restlessness
• continuous no puctuation= detached from what Gregor feels
• objective views of what he turned into
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self
• one morning- typical day that something strange is going to happen in 

#2:Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

• Uneasy - restlessness
• changed- seems as though he may not have undergone a "complete transformation" still some trace of his former self 
• woke- sudden break from sleep
• giant bug- negative connotations. Makes me think of like a big beetle. 
• By placing his name first 
• Bug- more negative than the word insect, bothersome 

#3:When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

• Enormous- makes me think like human sized, or abnormally large for a bug,  not normal or natural
• troubled dreams- nightmare
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self
• Bug- more negative than the word insect, bothersome 
• Longer sentence still processing the information, processing his transformation

#4:One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

• Frequent use of commas- Gregor hasn't processed the transformation yet. leads audience to process this with him
• agitated- most negative descriptive word used, Gregor had nightmares that he couldn't escape, woke up to find something worse
• montrous- no longer human like
• vermin- very negative, don't know if he is a bug or rat, but he is a pest of some kind
• transformed- implies no resemblance to former self

After analyzing each, respond to the following questions in a well-developed (2-3 paragraphs) response- think about the translations as a whole: How does the word choice, syntax, punctuation, and imagery shift in each affect meaning? Is one more effective than another? Why? What does this exercise bring up about the difficulty of reading translated texts? How do different translations effect the tone of the sentence? 

The meaning of the translation greatly changes with the stylistic features. By changing one word slightly affects how the reader interprets the text and views certain characters for the entirety of a work of literature. First impressions are very important especially in works of literature.

Simply by changing one word to describe the change that occurred to Gregor Samsa affects how the audience views interprets Gregor's views toward the change. By using the words "monstrous vermin" there is an understanding that he has turned into something undesirable and that he has negative views of what he has turned into. This phrase also does not give a clear representation of what he ahs turned into. By using the word "vermin" the audience is aware of the negative connotations of the word, but cannot get a clear picture of the thing that he has turned into. In contrast,in the first translation using the word "insect" implies a very specific type of bug and does not carry the negative connotations. It implies a bug with six legs and three major segments to the body. The audience is given a very clear view of what Gregor has turned into. The word "bug" leaves the visual of Greogor open to interpretation but not so much as the word "vermin" did. With bug we are aware of the type of creature he has turned into  but are not givne a clear view since bug is such a broad term.The lack of punctuation in the first three translation presents the transformation all at once as though the narrator has already processed the fact that Gregor has turned into a bug. The fourth translation has a more slow pace. This comes across as though the narrator is processing the information with the reader.

Personally,  the fourth translation is the most effective. It shows that the author is taking more of a negative tone toward the transformation. By using phrase "monstrous vermin" it creates more emotion in the text than the other three translation do. I also think the use of punctuation has a positive impact on the way the message is delivered. The pausesecond created with commas adds an air of disbelief to what has just occurred. It makes the narrator come across as though he or she is gaining insight at the same time as the audience. This exercise makes me specifically think about the scene when Meursault killed the Arab. I wonder how it would be read differently if more description was given. Due to the point of view of The Stranger the information the audience is given is indifferent. I wonder how a different point of view would changer this scene. I am also curious about how changing punctuation would impact the ways it is read and interpreted. Would more pauses come across as Meursault second guessing his actions? Would longer sentencesee with a description of the feeling he got make it seems as if he enjoyed killing the Arab? I think that little changes have a great impact on the way a reader interprets some thing and it is interesting to look at how just these changes influence the views of the audience. 

IOC Practice

Unable to attach recording.

Criterion A: 6

I gave myself a 6 because I placed the text in context with the rest of the novel and used the text as the center for my argument of this IOC. I stayed focus on what I believed the overall effect of the passage was and used the passage itself to prove my point. I think that I could have included more references to other events in the book that were related to the point I was trying to prove.

Criterion B: 5

I gave myself a 5 because I did explore the effects of literary devices and relate them back to the overall purpose of the text, but I feel like I could have done so more clearly. I believe that I did show understanding of the literary features and their effects on the reader, but I feel I could have explained better by specifically stating the literary features that create the effect on the reader.

Criterion C: 4

I gave myself a 4 because I feel that my commentary was organized in a logical manner for the most part. I organized my argument based on what I was trying to prove I feel I could have potentially be more effect by organizing by the literary device being explored. I thnk that my commentary was easy to follow though.

Criterion D: 3

I gave myself a 3. I feel like sometimes I would start a sentence but not be 100% certain about how to say what I was trying to say, so I would change what I was saying in the middle of my sentence. Also, I used the words "like" or "um" a lot when I was trying to gather my thoughts. I think that it may be better to not say anything at all while gathering my thoughts instead of speaking unnecessarily.

Blog post 10

I'm using my freebie for this post

Once Upon a Time...

The TedTalk that I chose was called "A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collided." This speech was presented by Anand Giridharadas. In his speech, he tells the story of two men, Raisuddin Bhuiyan of Bangladesh and  Mark Stroman of the United States. The story begins ten days after the events of September 11th. Stroman, seeking revenge for the attacks, was going around to mini-marts and killing people of Middle Eastern decent. Bhuiyan was the only of the victims of Stroman's attacks to survive. Bhuiyan after being in the hospital for a day had a lot of debt he had to pay so he couldn't take I.T. classes as originally planned. Even though he lost his wife to be Bhuiyan made the most of what he had. He got a job working at Olive Garden and had to go against his beliefs and sell alcohol and he did I.T. jobs part-time too. He eventually found a six-figure job with a company in Texas. As Bhuiyan's life changed for the better so did Stroman's though he was on death row. Stroman was introduced to pastors, pen-pals, and journalists that were there to help him as he questioned himself and the things he had done.

Eight years after the shooting and a pilgrimage to Mecca, Bhuiyan decided to not only publicly forgive Stroman for what he had done but he also was fighting to keep him from receiving the death penalty. A few hours before Stroman was executed he talked to Bhuiyan on the phone. Bhuiyan said he never hated Stroman and Stroman thanked him for everything and said that he loved him.Even after the execution Bhuiyan reached out to Stroman's eldest daughter who was dealing with addiction and said to her , "you may have lost a father, but you've gained an uncle."

Mark Stroman

Raisuddin Bhuiyan

Giridharadas uses the story to point out the two worlds that exists within America and show that the colliding of these two worlds may not be such a bad thing. He also wants to show that people can change and that everyone deserves a second chance. The speaker gets his point across primarily through the use of pathos. He uses images of Bhuiyan right after leaving the hospital to show that he was released before he should have been. This picture is intended to tug at the hearstrings and make the audience feel connected to the story. The picture allows the audience to put a face with the name that is being presented in the story. It gives the story more meaning by seeing and hearing as opposed to just hearing what Bhuiyan was faced with. Towards the end a picture is shown of Stroman and he is smiling into the camera. The choice of portraying him in a positive light in the picture as opposed to having him appear angry and seeking to kill is to show that people can change. No matter what a person may have done Giridharadas belivees that they deserve a scond chance to right their wrongs. Pathos is also used in the amount of detail given in the story. Giridharadas says,"dozens of scalding, birdshot pellets puncture his head," and " He cups a hand over his forehead to keep in the brains on which he'd gambled everything." The details from these tow quotes in particular are to make the audience feel sorry for hat Bhuiyan was faced with and to envoke feelings of sympathy in the audience. 

Giridharadas gets his point across by directly addressing the audience and explaining what he took away from the story of the two men. He wants to show that as humans we should give second chances and learn to forgivve people for the mistakes they make. He direcly addresses thae audience chahallenging them to embrace the philosophy that he has and be willing to give others second chances. This relates to me because there are times when I have questioned whether I should give someone a second chance or not. This caused me to refelct on the situations I have been in when I didn't want to give someone a second chance. It showed me that if someone was almost killed and was willing to give his attacker a second chance then I should be able to forgive others and give them a second chance. It also made me think about some of the things that I have done that I and the second chances that I was given. I realize that I shouldn't take these second chances for granted and that I should take them very seriously. This made me realize it is miportant to think before I act.

Double Indemnity

In Double Indemnity, like many other male leads in noir films, Walter Neff can be considered weak. Starting with his motivation. The only reason he was involved in the predicament that occured is because of his weak mind. He was distracted by the beauty that he saw in Phyllis Dietrichson. Neff was quick to submit to the request of  Mrs. Dietrichson even after he had expressed to her that he was not willing to help her achieve her goal of killing her husband. All it took for him to submit was the presistance of Phyllis. The second time that Phyllis sought assisstance from Neff in her plot against her husband he willingly joined and agreed to help. Neff can also be viewed as a weak coward because of the way that he went about killing Mr. Dietrichson. Mr. Dietrichson was not even given the chance to defend himself. He was killed in a surprise attack. This makes it seem as though Walter was aware that he may not be able to kill Mr. Dietrichson. Neff was aware of how weak he is and was not willing to take any risks so he had to make sure that there was no chance of any defence from Mr. Dietrchison. Walter Neff can also be seen as weak due to his actions after the murder. He was full of fear and was worried that he would be caught. When people became suspicious about the death of Mr. Dietrchison, Neff always appeared nervous. As a result of the nerves he had Neff lied in order to try to shift the blame to someone else.

Life is but a Netflix queue created by an idiot...

Watched by Macbeth

1. Resident Evil (movie series)

This movie is about a lady who has survived the zombie apocalypse. She is the last hope to save the world from the virus. Macbeth just before his battle with Macduff would have watched this movie. He feels just like Alice, invincible. He has all the confidence in the world that he is safe from the prophecy that the witches gave him. He feels that nothing natural nor supernatural can stop him and is willing to face all that come in his way. This reveals that Macbeth had become overconfident and cocky. He believed that he could do anything that he wanted and that it would not catch up with him.

2.The Sixth Sense

This movie is about a boy who has the gift of seeing ghosts of those who have unresolved problems, but he is too afraid to tell anyone except his psychologist. Macbeth recommends this because he recalls the dinner party where he was visited by the ghost of Banquo. He knew he was the only one who could see him. Macbeth hoped to have someone like the psychologist in the movie that he could share what he was seeing, but he did not have this luxury. He felt alone as the boy did until he was introduced to his psychologist. Macbeth did not want to seem crazy to all of the people at the party so he kept his visions to himself. Macbeth sees a lot of his old self in the innocence of the boy. This reveals that Macbeth feels guilty about all the things that he has done. He desires to go back to the innocence that he once had and the guilt is eating him up on the inside. He regrets doing what he has done over the course of the play and it is affecting his conscious and sub-conscious.

3. Empire

Empire is about a wealthy family of musicians who own their own music label. The three sons are willing to do whatever it takes in order to take their father's place as the head of the empire. This show is recommended by Macbeth because of the determination of the three sons. They were willing to do whatever they needed to do in order to gain their father's place as the head of the Empire even if that meant killing. Macbeth was motivated by this show to kill the guards of Duncan to keep witnesses from expressing the truth just as Lucious Lyon killed Bunkie. He was also motivated to take out Banquo by the sons' search for their father's favor. This shows that Macbeth, like the sons of Empire, was determined to gain as much power as possible. He wanted to take Duncan place and once he began his corruption the corruption continued. This shows that Macbeth is easily manipulated by his desire for power.

4. How To Get Away With Murder

This show is about a law professor and defense attorney, Annalise Keating. She takes a group of students under her wing and as the students help her work on her cases, mysteries arise and the true nature of the group is revealed. Recommended by Macbeth, specifically for the character Wes. Macbeth says, "I can relate to Wes so well. He was viewed as the innocent one and seeing him commit murder gave me the strength to take care of Duncan. I feel the same guilt now that he was faced with." Macbeth says he feels manipulated by Lady Macbeth in the same way that Wes was manipulated by Annalise. "The way that Wes found the strength to take matters into his own hands when he had done what he had to do was what gave me the strength to keep going." This reveals how Macbeth changed over the course of the play. He was originally innocent but as the events of the play occurred he had to do what he had to do to  keep going. This also shows that Macbeth is easily susceptible to suggestion.

Witch-slapped: Macbeth's fall from grace

1. Why do people who are not "evil" take the first step into evil? What, for instance, is involved in taking that first step "down the primrose path to the everlasting bonfire" (Macbeth, 2.3)? What are the consequences of the individual choosing evil (particularly the internal consequences)? Use examples from the text to support your opinion.

People who are not evil take the first steps toward evil because they have are influenced by others or they have a desire for power. These conditions can be seen by examining Macbeth and his thoughts and actions.


The first steps toward evil for Macbeth for example came after he heard the prophecy of the witches. After hearing them say "All hail, Macbeth, thou salt be king hereafter!" Macbeth realized his potential. He realized that he had the qualities of a leader and that he could obtain more power and influence in society than he had before. He never had considered the idea of being a king before this point and the influence of the witches led him to become obsessed with seeking power. Macbeth was not only influenced by his wife. Lady Macbeth had a large impact on Macbeth's decisions. After thinking about the letter that Macbeth sends to her she says to him "Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't." She says that Macbeth appears to be innocent since he has just eliminate a traitor of King Duncan. She encourages him to act as a serpent or a snake and kill Duncan instead so that Macbeth could take his place as king. She also reassures him and tells him they can't fail, influencing him in his decision - "But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail." 


Lady Macbeth's constant influence on her husband as well as Macbeth's new desire for power after meeting the three witches is what is involved in him taking the first step. He tells himself that "If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth?" Once he believes that what he is doing is for the best and being influenced by the witches' prophecy, he is willing to take the first step in evil. Macbeth himself recognizes his new ambition when he says "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent but only vaulting ambition." The floating dagger also influences him as he believes in the power of the supernatural and interprets the dagger as a sign to kill the King. When Macbeth says that the dagger is leading him to the place he was going to, he is even more determined and therefore influenced towards evil. 

The consequences of choosing evil are the guilt that comes with doing evil actions, shown when Macbeth kills Duncan and says "I'm afraid even to think about what I've done. I can't stand to look at it again." Macbeth doesn't want to go back and look at the murder because he knows he did evil and feels guilty for murdering his King to who he owed his loyalty. When choosing evil Macbeth also questions his actions and even goes as far as to say "Had I died but an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time, for from this instant There's nothing serious in mortality." He feels so guilty and resentful of his own actions that he says there is nothing worth living for anymore. This creates an internal struggle as he has achieved his desire for power but feels guilty and wishes he had not done it. 

#IBmakingart

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/63.12

The Cloisters Cross, 12th century
English
Walrus ivory; 22 5/8 x 14 1/4 in. (57.5 x 36.2 cm)
The Cloisters Collection, 1963 (63.12)

The cross is a direct display of the importance of Christianity during this time period. The Cloister Cross has different depictions on each side which have different meanings.

This side of the cross reads "the earth trembles, death defeated groans with the buried one rising./ life has been called, synagogue  has collapsed with great foolish effort." and "Cham laughs when he sees the naked private parts of his parent/ the Jews laughed at the pain of God dying." From this it is clear that the artist was clearly a Christian. Based on the words inscribed into the piece it seems that Jews were looked down upon. Based on this time period negative views of Jews by Christians was not uncommon especially in England where the cross draws its origins from.

In the picture of this side the top appears to resemble the hilt of a sword with the long extending bottom being a blade. This appears to be in reference to all of the wars and fighting that has been going on during this period. 

Each of the three outer most points has groups of people gathered together. It is as though these people are looking up toward the sky or perhaps toward heaven. This appears to be representative of God as the Father. This portion of the Holy Trinity being the one that resides in heaven watching down on Earth as is seen frequently throughout the Christian faith. At the right there is a man with his arms stretched out as though he is on a cross surrounded by many other people. This portion of the cross depicts the death of Jesus on the cross. The left portion of the cross difficult to see from this picture, but it seems that the three outer portions are intended to represent the Holy Trinity.

At the bottom of the cross are a man and a woman that are holding on to what I interpreted at the swords blade earlier. This could be another reference to the Bible and the man and women could be Adam and Eve. The blade of the sword is the tree of life from which they took fruit when they were told not to by God. The very tree which they held on to ended up causing them pain just as a sword is the creation of humans but has only caused pain to other humans.

On this side of the cross the larger images are more animalistic. Based the book The Cloisters Cross: Its Art and Meaning By Elizabeth C. Parker, Charles T. Little the animals are (to the right) the ox of Saint Luke, (to the left) the Lion of Saint Mark and (at the top) the Eagle of Saint John. They are perhaps displayed because they are the ones that Christians looked up to. There is a missing section at the bottom which may have been reserved for Matthew. The shaft of the cross holds other people who must have been prophets or disciples as well. In the center of the cross there is a carving of a lamb. This represents the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God is Jesus and because of this majority of the figures on this side of the cross are looking toward the center. The portion of the cross running between the Lion and the Ox appear to hold even more people looking toward the center of the cross. They are looking toward Jesus even though he is being slain in they will continue to keep their eyes on him and follow him. The few figures that do look away must represent those who betrayed Jesus or will not follow the path that he set for them.

Blog post 10/11

Freebe

What's in a name?

My first name came from my sister, Breanna. She is nine years older than me. My sister asked my parents to let her pick my name and they decided that she could do it. She ended up deciding that I should be named Brandon and I got my dad's last name, Freeman. I don't think that my name has ever brought me privilege. I think that my name is just find the way it is I like it and I wouldn't change it if I had the chance to. I have many nick names. My sister and her friends call me Tookie this came from what I thought the words to a song were. My eldest brother calls me Brando this came from trying to type my name in a video game we were playing and the last "n" didn't fit in the box. The nickname I am called most often is B-Free. This one came from taking the first of my first name and the first four letters of my last name. I think that looking at my last name shows what my family that came before me has been through, but other than that I don't think my name or any of my nicknames define me.

When I am playing basketball with a team or preforming a taekwondo demonstration I experience the feeling of being "two". When playing basketball when I play good not only does it make me look better at basketball, but it also makes my team appear better as a whole. This goes both ways though. If I make a mistake not only will people think that I am bad at basketball, but the team as well. When one person plays bad it also affects the way the whole game can go and the way the team plays together. Sometimes a team can still win when one person is playing bad, but it is a lot more difficult and when a team is playing bad this can lead to conflict in the team. It is almost the same during taekwondo performances. If one person messes up it can throw off the rhythm of the performance and cause everyone else to preform worse. I feel like this is escalated when I am doing these shows. Since I am an assistant instructor the students on the demonstration team look up to me. Due to the fact that I am the one that is frequently teaching them I believe that when I make a mistake it has a greater impact on the way that the rest of the show will go.

Author: Wing Young Huie

Photo taken: 2012-2013

Place of publication: http://photos.wingyounghuie.com/p709406511/e717fb180

When first looking at the picture I see people in a high school setting. Who I believe to be the teacher is standing in the background. The students are participating in some activity. Since the photo is black and white my eyes were first drawn to the people in the photo since I was unable to tell what their skin looked like. Still in a black and white photo thought I was able to come up with a prediction of what I would expect the true color of their skin to appear as. When looking at the boy on the right with the sign he appears to be sad, upset, or frustrated about something.

When looking deeper into the picture I first interpreted what the signs that the students are holding says and what it can tell me about them. The girl's sign that says "I'm not black, I'm African-American". This leads me to believe that she is proud of her heritage and doesn't want to be immediately judged by the color of her skin and grouped together with all people with the same color skin. The boy in the photo holds a sign that says, "I have depression I'm no sad". He is saying that people often mistake his depression for him being sad about something all the time. The photographer is trying to get across the point that you can't judge people just by looking at them. You have to get to know someone before you can determine a true representation of a person. The photographer is also trying to show that grouping people by the way they look and making assumptions about people can truly upset them even though we may not realize it.

Othering is used by Atwood on the Handmaids similarly to the way that the photographer is using othering on the African-American girl and the boy who has depression. Atwood makes wearing red a visible sign of being Handmaid and makes it something that the Handmaids are unable to escape like the girl in the photo. The actions that are expected of Handmaids can be compared to someone who is depressed. In depression the brain is affected causing people to feel the way they do and Atwood shows that the brains of Handmaids were conditioned to act the way that they do.