artist_statement_for_op_ed | |
File Size: | 133 kb |
File Type: | artist statement for op ed |
gays_in_the_military_op_ed | |
File Size: | 160 kb |
File Type: | gays in the military op ed |
The goal of this project was to familiarize ourselves with moral and political philosophies, and be able to apply the ideas to current problems. We read a book called "The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail," and that helped introduce us to four philosophies called Deontology, Utilitarianism, Libertarianism, and Justice As Fairness. In groups we studied and talked about these philosophies to learn how to apply them to different dilemmas and problems we face in our everyday lives. Deontology is valuing human life above everything else, utilitarianism is maximizing happiness, libertarianism is where there is no government influence and the public gets to decide, and Justice as fairness is John Rawls philosophy where equality for all is the only way to go. The philosopher that belongs to deontology was Immanuel Kant, for utilitarianism it was Jeremy Bentham and John Stewart Mills. To finish this project we had to choose a current issue and apply one of these moral philosophies to that issue, We had to learn how to balance security, liberty, and equality to this issue as well as apply rhetoric to analyze ethos, pathos, and logos. For the exhibition side of this, along with the oped article (a concise article stating our argument) we had to create a visual piece like mine above to help incorporate rhetoric and our side of the argument.
The project for me was very insightful because it gave me a better view into others ideas about it and helped deepen my thoughts to it, however I still stand on the supportive side of it. When I listened to others opinions I used rhetoric to help me decide what to think about their thoughts and decide if it was logical or not;this then helped me represent my habit of heart and mind by showing the compassion I had for equality and fairness for everyone. Because I chose to do mine on Gays in the Military and I am very passionate gay rights and military personal I chose to pull a catchy title and intro so people would be interested in talking to me even if my essay didn't seem to clear at first. That being said, In the case of my essay I found it hard to put my perspective into only 1000 short words because I had a large opinion about the topic and there was a lot of information on it. Therefore, leading to my weakest part of the essay...being that there was not a whole lot to argue on Don't Ask Don't Tell, which is what I wanted to argue on, meaning that I had to make the article more about enforcement in the last few days of working on it. My strongest point however, I think was talking about the unfairness and discrimination that Gays in the Military get from society because I brought in the 14th amendment and issues from the past. I was able to make this strong because I had evidence to prove it. If I had one more week to work on this project I would go back and refine my article by giving it more examples of enforcement rather than an old act...and I woul make my visual piece more neat and take more time painting it and making everything more straight.
The project for me was very insightful because it gave me a better view into others ideas about it and helped deepen my thoughts to it, however I still stand on the supportive side of it. When I listened to others opinions I used rhetoric to help me decide what to think about their thoughts and decide if it was logical or not;this then helped me represent my habit of heart and mind by showing the compassion I had for equality and fairness for everyone. Because I chose to do mine on Gays in the Military and I am very passionate gay rights and military personal I chose to pull a catchy title and intro so people would be interested in talking to me even if my essay didn't seem to clear at first. That being said, In the case of my essay I found it hard to put my perspective into only 1000 short words because I had a large opinion about the topic and there was a lot of information on it. Therefore, leading to my weakest part of the essay...being that there was not a whole lot to argue on Don't Ask Don't Tell, which is what I wanted to argue on, meaning that I had to make the article more about enforcement in the last few days of working on it. My strongest point however, I think was talking about the unfairness and discrimination that Gays in the Military get from society because I brought in the 14th amendment and issues from the past. I was able to make this strong because I had evidence to prove it. If I had one more week to work on this project I would go back and refine my article by giving it more examples of enforcement rather than an old act...and I woul make my visual piece more neat and take more time painting it and making everything more straight.
Native American Historical Inquiry
How can an examination of multiple sources and perspectives lead to a more enlightened understanding of history and contemporary social, cultural, and political realities?
Journal #2
Reel Injun was interesting to me because of the content on racism and stereotypes it portrayed. One particular section was the one about the headbands and headdresses because in reality, those never came into play. With that being said, it brought the stereotype that Indians always wear those but actually it was just to keep the actors/actresses wigs on. Another part, that didn’t really strike me as interesting but more shocked, was the scene with bugs bunny. As kids we don’t really pay attention to the implications made in movies or T.V shows but we are being influenced by it without knowing the background; he is in a battle with the Injuns and he is counting as he kills them and now that we are older I am ashamed of what society has come to. Subliminal messaging should not be a teaching lesson in life, its like monkey see monkey do for kids and they are growing up with this aspect in their mind that Indians are bad or not important to what we are.
On the other hand, new perspectives I have gained from viewing this film were on what the Native Americans were all about. They were never about battle and headdresses and chanting, I mean they were at one point, but that was before all the controversy. All they wanted was to be treated like everybody else…if we are land of the free, home of the brave why doesn’t it include those of a different race. They had families, they had loved ones, they wanted to protect them just as anybody else would. Whites did not support Indians because of their lifestyle and when they saw them they would react with violence or run them out of town. I learned that in the 60’s if you were an Indian most people asked you if you were a hippy because that’s how hippies were portrayed in the 1960’s…and the hippies would dress like Indians to honor them...This video has definitely helped me broaden my perspective and doubts about American Culture and history because this is the truth, this is where it is all coming out. I didn’t know that in the movie Pocahontas the Americans made it based on their wants and thoughts towards Native Americans, I thought it was simply for the fun of a children’s movie…turns out I was wrong.
Journal #4
Theme: Don’t let your past define you, but carry it with you for advice
Quote 1: “There are thing you should learn. Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you (Pg 21).”
Quote 2: “In third grade, though, I stood alone in the corner, faced the wall, and waited for the punishment to end. I’m still waiting (Pg 174).”
Quote 3: “I know how all my dreams end anyway (Pg 190).”
Analysis: In these quotes, the overall theme seems to be about not letting your past define you but to allow yourself to reflect on it whenever you need advice. For example, in “The Lone Ranger Fistfights Tonto in Heaven,” Victor is sitting at home and is reflecting on his life and tries to get some sleep, but he isn’t worried about what amount or how long it takes because he has learned from past experiences. In “A Drug Called Tradition,” Victor is reflecting to what Thomas said about dancing with your skeletons and this has to do with your past because they make up everything you are and have been. It does not matter when it was or who you were, rather that you just needed to focus on the now because your skeletons are never going to leave you. Also, in “Indian Education,” Victor is reflecting back on all his past experiences but what caught my eye was how he stated he was still waiting for the punishment to end. This means that because he is an Indian and in the mundane world we live in, that is how he always going to be portrayed to white people; someone who does no good. Ultimately, it seems that Sherman Alexie is trying to show that by holding onto your past or trying to gain insight into something out of your control is not worth the pain because there is nothing you can do to change it.
Journal #5
In First Person First Peoples, a book that includes short stories from Native American students who attended Dartmouth, it talks about how they chose to reside and survive going to college. There are two main stories it chooses to focus on, one from Robert Bennett, a Lakota Native American and professional baseball player who talks about his life growing up and how he was raised white and goes through college successfully. The other being Marianne Chamberlain, who struggled going through college because of how she was raised and what she was supposed to attend to for her culture. One of the main themes these two stories have in common with the Sherman Alexie short stories would be resiliency (associated with identity). The message that the authors are trying to get across through this theme would be that no matter how tough things get, there is a way through. But giving up is not an option. What some people refer to as struggles and hard times is simply just a life lesson.
With regards to this, the proper introduction to resiliency would be to start with Marianne Chamberlain. Marianne grew up an almost white American Indian with most people mistaking her to be white, but with her culture it comes to show her true being. Her freshman year of college she talked about how she went to the NAD and was looking for someone to ask about the Dartmouth Review and those there said, “Hey, white girl, do you know what kind of song this is? You don’t belong here, go back to the city (first person first peoples).” This caused her pain and resent against the other Natives because as she states, “I became alienated from the Native students who live in the NAD house and were active within NAD (first person first peoples),” she wanted to be accepted and couldn’t even fit in with her own people. But later on she comes back to the NAD house because she was attacked by a man and to overcome her problem she faced before with the other Natives, she proved to them that she was Native by participating in a dance; or in other words a Powwow.
In comparison, the short story The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie, the character of Victor seems to be struggling with the same type of acceptance in Seattle. He was fighting with his girlfriend so he went to a 7-11 store to grab a creamsicle and upon entering the store was immediately kept an eye on. ““No,” I said and paused. “Give me a cherry slushie, too.” “What size?” he asked, relieved. “Large,” I said, and he turned his back to me to make the drink. He realized his mistake but it was too late. He stiffened, ready for the gunshot or the blow behind the ear. When it didn’t come, he turned back to me (Alexie).” This relates to resiliency because it shows how he struggles to not be stereotyped into the once savage Indians that they used to be made out to be, but he overcomes it by saying, ““Hey.” I said. “Forget the slushie. What I want to know is if you know all the words to the theme from ‘The Brady Bunch’(Alexie)?” The way this resolved his issue was reassuring the clerk he wasn’t crazy and knew some about some American T.V.
In view of that, one final example would be Robert Bennett, the Dartmouth student from First Person First Peoples. Although he didn’t face as many issues as the other two, he did face the resilience of growing up white, even though he was Native American. What this means is that he was always participating in white activities and hanging out with white friends and even participated in a mostly white school. For example, he played basketball and was one of the better players out on the court with whites, “which surprised many of them as well as the fans; I was supposed to be a mean, vicious, and dirty basketball player because of my Indian blood. People in the stands gave war whoops and yelled insulting names at me during games (first people first persons).” Here is where Bennett is talking about his good sportsmanship but still he is stereotyped because of his appearance. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop him from playing, it only fueled his fire to continue his love of the sport. He overcame it by having a positive attitude and sticking to his white ways and continuing to beat them in their own game. Never with his fist.
In short, these Indians portrayed in these stories have learned to overcome their problems through a different viewpoint and to make their experiences worth while. They choose to all walk in step with their skeleton and make it a life lesson. As a result of reading these stories I have learned several things 1) someone always has it worse then you, but even if they are struggling there is always a way to overcome it, 2) there will never be a safe spot for someone of a different culture in a white world, but if you give them the chance they will prove you wrong, and 3) if its worth it, it wont come easy and if it comes easy, how could It possibly be worth it?
Final Journal
In the movie Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, my emotions were stirred because of the relativity and reality in which white people are unfair to minorities and that is why we are portrayed how we are today. For example, the first scene struck me as horrific because of how violent and “right-away” the battle was; it really seemed to show the cold blooded hatred shared between the whites and Indians when the whites go to such extent to kill even the children. In the treaty signings scene with Sitting Bull and General Custer, it showed to me that there was never going to be a fair way to accustom to what the whites wanted. It made me feel a little sad for the Indians because they either had to change their ways entirely, or die.
Bias was found in the first education scene where the young Indian boy was the only one who knew the answer to what the teacher asked. Here she said she would call on him but he would have to have a white name and therefore he was forced to choose the name “Charles.” Places that I question evidence and perspective is when the Sioux man is helping the whites to sanction off land to Indians. You would think that if he was native that he would consider some of the deals to be unfair and want to help the indians. Such as the deal of the amount of money that the Indians would gain each time an acre was sold. Fifty cents to an acre of land is blown out of proportion, even if they are minorities because they are being moved from their homeland.
Seminar Prep
Through reading Ch. 1 and Ch. 7 of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, First Person, First People Dartmouth student essays, Battle of Little Bighorn Primary sources and the Affirmative Action brief it has given me a better understanding of Native American history in several ways.
To start, I want to pose three questions about things we have learned through a few of the readings. Why do we, as a society, or those who create textbooks, find it necessary to leave out the bad facts of "American Heroes," and only glorify them for what they discovered? Don't they think that we, as a student body of America, would want to know what led someone like Columbus to that glory? If you were in the shoes of the settlers, would you forcefully take the land, or stand down? Do you think it would have been possible for the English to coexist with the Indians? If I were in the position to answer these I would say 1) We don’t want to be looked down upon by others and want to be known as the greatest country out there, 2) I would stand down, and 3) It was very possible to coexist. My reasoning behind answers two and three being that showing power and being violent only cause more issues than the original. Comparing today’s world to the past, there are ways we sign treaties and make agreements and stick to them; they could have done the same and made an offer preferably over killing. I just believe that because we didn’t know they were there we had the advantage.
Three of the most important lessons we should be able to take away from Zinn’s telling of European conquest and westward expansion would be not to cover up the truth, do not try to change a persons being, and don’t try to fix what isn’t broken. Covering up the truth only hides our ability as a country and it doesn’t help shape our culture. We all precede to say we are a United country, but how could that possibly be if we exclude those of a different race. Zinn quotes “That the future may be found in the pasts fugitive moments of compassion (Zinn, 11).” This could be saying that to bring out the truth would be to get rid of the discrimination of all peoples. Also, later on in the fight between Natives and the English, Jefferson and other men tried to force American and English culture on the Indians and banish them from their “savage” ways. “He proposed in Congress that Indians should be encouraged to trade with whites, to insure debts, and then to pay off these debts with tracts of land “Two measures are deemed expedient. First to encourage them to abandon hunting…Secondly, to multiply trading houses among them…leading the this to agriculture, to manufactures, and civilization” (Zinn, 126).” Being human and being who we are is what makes us unique and special to our own duties and culture. If everybody is the same there is no room to grow and no room for improvement of our country, it only leads us to disagree further. Lastly, when I say not to fix what isn’t broken, I mean our country and its original culture itself. Because of Columbus and Jefferson and so many other men trying to inflict upon and fight against the Indians, who were here before us, we have been shaped as the savages. When you look at today’s warfare, almost everything is appointed to us. We are the cause. However, some people may disagree because they think that to have things covered up save us from more damage, to change ones culture could lead us to a discovery that inflicts good upon certain religion, and that the war that has been waged was waged by us and that we are aiming for those countries, not the other way around.
As for identity, Native Americans are not shaped very carefully so to speak. In the movie Reel Injun Indians are portrayed as savages. In most western films they are the ones that start the battles and are blood thirsty for white blood. Also, they are portrayed to have long braids and wear headdresses and to dance around a fire, when in reality that isn’t the case. The only reason that Indians even wore headdresses was to keep the actors wigs on during action scenes (Injun). In the Dartmouth students, Robert Bennett’s essay about his life, he talks about the racist comments made towards him during games. “Which surprised many of them as well as the fans; I was supposed to be a mean, vicious, and dirty basketball player because of my Indian blood. People in the stands gave war whoops and yelled insulting names at me during games (first people first persons).” Indians never gave war whoops, the only times they did were when we made them in movies.
Learning the history that we studied throughout this project helped me gain a better understanding of the real world around us and the modern day readings because I was like everyone else. Whenever I saw an Indian I would get a little uptight because of the stereotypes inflicted on them because they were portrayed to be thieves and/or criminals. Watching television gave me the impression that the Indians were the actual enemies and that yes all they wore were cloths and headdresses and it led me to believe that because often the only Indians I would see were dresses like that or down in a bunch of beads and what not. Turns out they were only going to powwows or presentations… looking back on myself then and comparing it to how I am now comes to show how uneducated I was.
As a final proposition, I would like to propose three more questions on the essays and Sherman Alexie’s short stories. Do you think Indians are happier living in a white society or as they were growing up in a “run-down” hometown/ reservation? Why do we look down upon someone of a different color when they prove to be good enough to go to a University such as Dartmouth? And do you think that if it was the other way around, whites in the position the Indians are in and the Indians in the white position, would things be more justified and racist? My opinion on number one would be that they are happier in their hometown because its where they learned their ways and where their whole life is at. I believe we look down on someone of a different race even if they are god enough for a University such as Dartmouth because of the generation we have grown up in and the influences around us like family and friends and of course media. We don’t like the fact that someone is better then us because they are different. If it was the other way around the United States would be way different. I do not believe things would be as violent, however the amount of racism to persevere would be higher because we are considered the majority.
Second Semester Honors Book Club
Snow Falling On Cedars Poem:
The Truth That Wasn’t
Aubree Lorenzen
A man convicted
not for what he did,
but for who he was.
A face amongst those who,
at the turn of a voice
will believe the ballyhoo bullshit
filing out of the mouth that lay directly in front of them,
like a snake who is hypnotized by the harmonious flute.
Sweet agony, act natural,
the poor mans wife says,
as he awaits the ecbole examination.
Prejudice and justice do not rhyme,
much like the snowstorm that flurries outside.
With means to make beauty,
but instead hails disaster.
Taking with it cars, telephone poles, the rows of once flamboyant strawberry fields, and thus putting an end to the beauty that held its name.
The electricity goes out, like a light.
A life taken,
he may not have been loved widely, but he was loved deeply.
A grueling body that seeps into the abundance of darkness,
making a large, but quiet “splosh!”
The silhouetted ship,
a shadow in the distance.
But to the human eye the only evidence left;
the man with the Japanese face-
was his butcher.
Reflection:
The perspective I took while writing this poem was through the eyes of a bystander who believes there is two sides to every story. Justice is blind, justice is the epitome of what we are not; we overlook the good in people once we find a single flaw in the making. We continuously make judgments on those of us who do not take action in our ways and use it against them for later use.
Throughout the poem I used several different poetic devices including: alliteration, similes, oxymorons, imagery, cacophonies, and the use of onomatopoeias. They enhanced my poem by giving it life where it goes into a “dull” setting. For example, in my use of the words “ballyhoo bullshit,” I managed to twist the event in such a way that makes it more interesting and makes the reader want to continue reading in hope for more. It adds for an effect of off the wall writing. I used these devices for abrupt transitions to give the reader an understanding of the mistakes we make as human beings, and want to be better then that. The poetic devices I used enhance the meaning of my poem by increasing the depth and giving it a better flow as the words come off our tongues.
The three most important changes I made between my first draft and final draft of my poem was the combining of sentences and making sure they did not run on too long. Looking over the first draft I found the disruption of a sentence that didn't make sense unless I added more useful words. The line was “a life taken, loved,” and it stopped there. It was boring in my eyes and I needed to figure out a way to make it deeper so that the reader could possibly create a personal connection. I also needed to make a change or two to the poetic devices I used in the case that I used one where it didn’t make sense. For instance, in line nine it says, “sweet agony, act natural.” I mistook that for a cacophony, when in reality it was an oxymoron. Then the final issue I had to resolve was in the distribution of my thesis and perspective of the poem. At the end of the poem I jumped to conclusions of the convicted man being the murderer without any case of clearing up what really happened; therefore I had to add two lines in where I briefly explained the cold truth. These changes managed to improve the poem by giving the reader a deeper insight into what the book might be like, and initially grabbing their attention to keep them entertained. I feel like the maturity level improved and that these changes impacted the emotional ethics of the poem through heightening my vocabulary which makes the readers think more about what I mean.
Aubree Lorenzen
Ashley Honors Humanities
04/27/15
Seminar Prep Snow Falling On Cedars
Taking place on San Piedro Island in the northern puget sound region of the state of Washington coast, Snow Falling On Cedars is about a Japanese man named Kabuo Miyamoto who is on trial for first degree murder against fisherman Carl Heine. The story of how Carl was killed is explained through flashbacks of childhood memory and the two mens time as soldiers fighting in the war. Carls body was found floating in his fishing net after he went out one night to catch salmon, with his head bashed in and a three inch laceration in his head and a cut on his hand there were several assumptions as to how he could have died. Because of the way Japanese decent was looked at due to the war of Pearl Harbor and Kabuo being the one fisherman who had seen him that night he was accused. Throughout the course of the trial, many men and women spoke as to what their beliefs were, including Miyamoto's wife who, covering the case, a newspaper editor, Ishmael Chambers had loved since he was a teenager and had history with. It was he who found out the truth in the end as to how Carl was really murdered and quite the twist of events; leaving Kabuo innocent and the death left to a ship carrier.
My initial reactions to the book fluctuated as I continued to read more and more of its contents; I went from having a warm feeling of connectedness to depression to utter shock. Much less then what I would've had, had I read Half The Sky like the rest of my classmates; it wore lightly on my shoulders. Being a fiction book, it was in general easier to comprehend and I enjoyed it particularly because of the writing style the author portrayed and the way he brought his characters to life through all of the flashbacks. The ones from the war were somewhat disturbing, but I enjoyed these scenes because although the book is written in fiction format it brings in historical content and goes into detail over nothing but the truth. It was almost as if the author turned a blind eye without knowing it. Pearl Harbor and the discussion brought forth was one in which had the most impact on me because I know the type of hatred it really did bring forward between the two cultures and I did not believe in discrimination against all. “They were taken from Anacortes on a train to a transit camp- the horse stables at the Puyallup fairgrounds. They lived in the horse stalls and slept on canvas army cots; at nine P.M. they were made to turn out their lights, one bare bulb for each family. The cold in the stalls worked into their bones, and when it rained that night they moved their cots because of the leaks in the roof. The next morning at six A.M., they slogged through the mud to the transit camp mess hall and ate canned figs and white bread from pie tins and drank coffee out of tin cups…” For me, this caused an ache to arise inside of me because I am a strong believer in equality for all, and although I understand the reasons behind what was being done, the Japanese people who lived on San Piedro were not soldiers. They had been around for years and made their living amongst the whites in peace, working along side of them in the strawberry fields. With that being said, I thought the sudden change in feelings that came upon the whites was unjust and unfair.
Other parts of the book that left an impact on me, minor but still there, was when the death of Carl Heine was solved. Not just because of the way in which he was killed, but the plot twist that came along with it. A ship carrier came through at 1:42 A.M. while his boat was stalled out and he was thrown overboard by the wave that the carrier brought with it, his watch stopped at 1:47 as it filled with water. When he went down he was taking down a lantern in fear of it being broken by the wave, and had reopened the cut on his hand that he got from Kabuo’s fishing gaff. He then proceeded to hit his head and his belt buckle had caught onto the net, just as the people of San Piedro had thought in the very beginning of the book.
Questions:
1) Why is it suspected that Carl Heine’s was murdered?
2) What is the significance behind the second day of the trial?
3) Why does Ishmael hate Hatsue?
4) What do you think the reason for the Japanese internment camps were?
5) Do you think the snowstorm represents something?
The Truth That Wasn’t
Aubree Lorenzen
A man convicted
not for what he did,
but for who he was.
A face amongst those who,
at the turn of a voice
will believe the ballyhoo bullshit
filing out of the mouth that lay directly in front of them,
like a snake who is hypnotized by the harmonious flute.
Sweet agony, act natural,
the poor mans wife says,
as he awaits the ecbole examination.
Prejudice and justice do not rhyme,
much like the snowstorm that flurries outside.
With means to make beauty,
but instead hails disaster.
Taking with it cars, telephone poles, the rows of once flamboyant strawberry fields, and thus putting an end to the beauty that held its name.
The electricity goes out, like a light.
A life taken,
he may not have been loved widely, but he was loved deeply.
A grueling body that seeps into the abundance of darkness,
making a large, but quiet “splosh!”
The silhouetted ship,
a shadow in the distance.
But to the human eye the only evidence left;
the man with the Japanese face-
was his butcher.
Reflection:
The perspective I took while writing this poem was through the eyes of a bystander who believes there is two sides to every story. Justice is blind, justice is the epitome of what we are not; we overlook the good in people once we find a single flaw in the making. We continuously make judgments on those of us who do not take action in our ways and use it against them for later use.
Throughout the poem I used several different poetic devices including: alliteration, similes, oxymorons, imagery, cacophonies, and the use of onomatopoeias. They enhanced my poem by giving it life where it goes into a “dull” setting. For example, in my use of the words “ballyhoo bullshit,” I managed to twist the event in such a way that makes it more interesting and makes the reader want to continue reading in hope for more. It adds for an effect of off the wall writing. I used these devices for abrupt transitions to give the reader an understanding of the mistakes we make as human beings, and want to be better then that. The poetic devices I used enhance the meaning of my poem by increasing the depth and giving it a better flow as the words come off our tongues.
The three most important changes I made between my first draft and final draft of my poem was the combining of sentences and making sure they did not run on too long. Looking over the first draft I found the disruption of a sentence that didn't make sense unless I added more useful words. The line was “a life taken, loved,” and it stopped there. It was boring in my eyes and I needed to figure out a way to make it deeper so that the reader could possibly create a personal connection. I also needed to make a change or two to the poetic devices I used in the case that I used one where it didn’t make sense. For instance, in line nine it says, “sweet agony, act natural.” I mistook that for a cacophony, when in reality it was an oxymoron. Then the final issue I had to resolve was in the distribution of my thesis and perspective of the poem. At the end of the poem I jumped to conclusions of the convicted man being the murderer without any case of clearing up what really happened; therefore I had to add two lines in where I briefly explained the cold truth. These changes managed to improve the poem by giving the reader a deeper insight into what the book might be like, and initially grabbing their attention to keep them entertained. I feel like the maturity level improved and that these changes impacted the emotional ethics of the poem through heightening my vocabulary which makes the readers think more about what I mean.
Aubree Lorenzen
Ashley Honors Humanities
04/27/15
Seminar Prep Snow Falling On Cedars
Taking place on San Piedro Island in the northern puget sound region of the state of Washington coast, Snow Falling On Cedars is about a Japanese man named Kabuo Miyamoto who is on trial for first degree murder against fisherman Carl Heine. The story of how Carl was killed is explained through flashbacks of childhood memory and the two mens time as soldiers fighting in the war. Carls body was found floating in his fishing net after he went out one night to catch salmon, with his head bashed in and a three inch laceration in his head and a cut on his hand there were several assumptions as to how he could have died. Because of the way Japanese decent was looked at due to the war of Pearl Harbor and Kabuo being the one fisherman who had seen him that night he was accused. Throughout the course of the trial, many men and women spoke as to what their beliefs were, including Miyamoto's wife who, covering the case, a newspaper editor, Ishmael Chambers had loved since he was a teenager and had history with. It was he who found out the truth in the end as to how Carl was really murdered and quite the twist of events; leaving Kabuo innocent and the death left to a ship carrier.
My initial reactions to the book fluctuated as I continued to read more and more of its contents; I went from having a warm feeling of connectedness to depression to utter shock. Much less then what I would've had, had I read Half The Sky like the rest of my classmates; it wore lightly on my shoulders. Being a fiction book, it was in general easier to comprehend and I enjoyed it particularly because of the writing style the author portrayed and the way he brought his characters to life through all of the flashbacks. The ones from the war were somewhat disturbing, but I enjoyed these scenes because although the book is written in fiction format it brings in historical content and goes into detail over nothing but the truth. It was almost as if the author turned a blind eye without knowing it. Pearl Harbor and the discussion brought forth was one in which had the most impact on me because I know the type of hatred it really did bring forward between the two cultures and I did not believe in discrimination against all. “They were taken from Anacortes on a train to a transit camp- the horse stables at the Puyallup fairgrounds. They lived in the horse stalls and slept on canvas army cots; at nine P.M. they were made to turn out their lights, one bare bulb for each family. The cold in the stalls worked into their bones, and when it rained that night they moved their cots because of the leaks in the roof. The next morning at six A.M., they slogged through the mud to the transit camp mess hall and ate canned figs and white bread from pie tins and drank coffee out of tin cups…” For me, this caused an ache to arise inside of me because I am a strong believer in equality for all, and although I understand the reasons behind what was being done, the Japanese people who lived on San Piedro were not soldiers. They had been around for years and made their living amongst the whites in peace, working along side of them in the strawberry fields. With that being said, I thought the sudden change in feelings that came upon the whites was unjust and unfair.
Other parts of the book that left an impact on me, minor but still there, was when the death of Carl Heine was solved. Not just because of the way in which he was killed, but the plot twist that came along with it. A ship carrier came through at 1:42 A.M. while his boat was stalled out and he was thrown overboard by the wave that the carrier brought with it, his watch stopped at 1:47 as it filled with water. When he went down he was taking down a lantern in fear of it being broken by the wave, and had reopened the cut on his hand that he got from Kabuo’s fishing gaff. He then proceeded to hit his head and his belt buckle had caught onto the net, just as the people of San Piedro had thought in the very beginning of the book.
Questions:
1) Why is it suspected that Carl Heine’s was murdered?
2) What is the significance behind the second day of the trial?
3) Why does Ishmael hate Hatsue?
4) What do you think the reason for the Japanese internment camps were?
5) Do you think the snowstorm represents something?
Project Reflection: The structure of second semester honors book club was set up in a way where we had anywhere from a month to two months to complete a book project. We were given an outline of dates to complete a certain task by; for example, we had to complete the first half of the book by a given honors meeting, then we were required to do a project proposal. After the project proposal came the seminar prep and then the seminar in which we were required to come with our books and prep and any other piece of information needed. The final piece of a book project was completing your project and turning it in on time. The books that I chose to do included Cats Cradle, Fahrenheit 451, and Snow Falling on Cedars. I read Snow Falling On Cedars in replacement of Half The Sky as it was too graphic for me. I chose to do these books because we had a very small collection to choose from, also I had heard good reviews about all of them and were interested in the writing styles, authors, learning about history, and stepping out of my comfort zone. For two out of three of the books we had to choose to do a choice project. I did an art piece for Fahrenheit 451 and represented the theme of the book through a 3D burning book and firefighter starting the fire. For my second choice assignment I did a poem to really get out of my comfort level for Snow Falling On Cedars. I have never written an intellectual poem before and I was proud of the piece I managed to produce.
The book that had the most profound impact on my learning or understanding of myself, others, and the world was Snow Falling On Cedars. Because of the historical context that it had intertwined within its pages and the numerous struggles that the Japanese underwent as well as Americans I felt an emotional connection. My reasoning behind this is because it has shaped who we are as a community, world today- building hatred or love between each other; possible trust issues. Issues like judgement, assumptions, or train of thought have gotten the best of who we are as individuals just as they did in the book against Kabuo for the death of Carl Heine.
Throughout the course of second semester honors book club I have faced a few of the same challenges and have also learned some things about myself I did not know I entailed. At first, adjusting to the work load of honors was difficult as I had also just started track season and getting busy, I overthought a lot of what I needed to do and did not think that the amount of time we had to complete the projects was enough; and at times it wasn't. But I learned that if I could plan ahead of time I could solve all of my problems and ended up getting much of my work done ahead of time. It was a rewarding feeling because then I had the opportunity to sit back and relax or work on other bits of schoolwork and I could start the next book in the series we had to complete. I also got to discuss with Ashley the contents of the book ahead of seminars so I could understand what some of the content meant as the writing style could get difficult to comprehend, and then managed to get a good grade by the time the seminar came around. I enjoyed the majority of the book club experience because I am a reader, I enjoy learning new things and taking on new challenges and being able to connect with people who want the same. Plus, I never imagined learning things about myself through the words of authors such as my religious beliefs and how I connect with community/friend/family struggles as some of the characters did.
The book that had the most profound impact on my learning or understanding of myself, others, and the world was Snow Falling On Cedars. Because of the historical context that it had intertwined within its pages and the numerous struggles that the Japanese underwent as well as Americans I felt an emotional connection. My reasoning behind this is because it has shaped who we are as a community, world today- building hatred or love between each other; possible trust issues. Issues like judgement, assumptions, or train of thought have gotten the best of who we are as individuals just as they did in the book against Kabuo for the death of Carl Heine.
Throughout the course of second semester honors book club I have faced a few of the same challenges and have also learned some things about myself I did not know I entailed. At first, adjusting to the work load of honors was difficult as I had also just started track season and getting busy, I overthought a lot of what I needed to do and did not think that the amount of time we had to complete the projects was enough; and at times it wasn't. But I learned that if I could plan ahead of time I could solve all of my problems and ended up getting much of my work done ahead of time. It was a rewarding feeling because then I had the opportunity to sit back and relax or work on other bits of schoolwork and I could start the next book in the series we had to complete. I also got to discuss with Ashley the contents of the book ahead of seminars so I could understand what some of the content meant as the writing style could get difficult to comprehend, and then managed to get a good grade by the time the seminar came around. I enjoyed the majority of the book club experience because I am a reader, I enjoy learning new things and taking on new challenges and being able to connect with people who want the same. Plus, I never imagined learning things about myself through the words of authors such as my religious beliefs and how I connect with community/friend/family struggles as some of the characters did.
Happiness And Meaning:
Essential Question- What is the purpose of your existence?
What is happiness and what makes you happy? What does it mean to live a meaningful life? To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
For my visual piece I chose to do a poster board full of 3D photos representing how people could ultimately gain more happiness from helping others then if they didn't. To put it together I was required to find photographs online and print them off and organize them in a fashion on the poster board to make it creative. I also wanted to make it pop so my audience would pay attention to what really matters in my eye. I wanted to leave an impression. The idea behind the green change sign and the arrows that are pointing off of it is to show that it matters what we do as humans and most of the things we do in this world is up to us.
Philosophy statement:
The purpose of existence is not to simply exist, nor is it to meet other peoples standards. I believe that the purpose of human/my existence is to make a change in someone else's life or my own and to embrace the world. I believe that we all have a choice in this world, whether we live or we die; we are happy or sad; whether we embrace oblivion or not. But whatever path we take, it requires our final decision. In that sense, it becomes existentialism however, I do believe that there is a higher power that put us here and whatever that higher power may be, wants us to create meaning through what we see. Fate is only apart of our lives.
Helping people gives my life meaning and creates my happiness is many different forms. In doing so, whether it is a random act of kindness or other forces propelling me forward, I blatantly love seeing others happy. When you see someone you care about, you cant help feel a little sad yourself, am I right? And when the room is bursting with energy and joy and you see someone light up when they talk about their passion you cant help but get a warm feeling inside. Thats how I am each time I help someone. Its the sadness propelling me to do good and make them see the bright side of the situation. If I had to define happiness in this way, it would be pure or natural because I don't try so hard to make myself have this higher purpose. I let things come and go to me as I make my way through life and if I’m sad I do something about it and know that someone always has it worse then me.
Too many people try to hard to create themselves through money, or work life and they're too busy focusing on the things that in a literal sense don't matter that much. What I mean is that they’re letting their life go by with worry and aren't experiencing things purely. They are synthetic, stereotyped beings who don’t really worry about anybody but themselves and what they're doing.
The purpose of my existence is to embrace the world and human life that its entitled to. I believe that happiness and meaning is created through choice and the opportunity to help people to help yourself. I want to create an art piece to visually show my personal philosophy through a drawing and multiple pictures. This is a reflection of my unique self because it will allow me to express my feelings with pictures instead of words; it collects a deeper meaning and more thought provoking experience. Through the visual piece it will allow me to show my audience that one of the most important aspects of being human is that we have the power to change ourselves and grow together in that way. In my drawing I will portray a sign that has two arrows pointing out beneath the word “change/choice” and around the drawing I will select pictures of people helping others and then people helping themselves. The difference that comes from this is that the people who are helping others will look happier, while the people who are doing things for themselves look less satisfied. The only obstacle I think I will have issues with while doing this project is drawing, as I am no talented artist. To create the project I will need a poster board, a large white sheet of paper, pencils, colored pencils, erasers, glue, scissors, as well as a printer for the pictures. This project should take me anywhere between two to six hours depending on the amount of mistakes and procrastination involved. The only type of support I will need for Ashley is suggestions on how to refine my idea before the project begins.
Helping people gives my life meaning and creates my happiness is many different forms. In doing so, whether it is a random act of kindness or other forces propelling me forward, I blatantly love seeing others happy. When you see someone you care about, you cant help feel a little sad yourself, am I right? And when the room is bursting with energy and joy and you see someone light up when they talk about their passion you cant help but get a warm feeling inside. Thats how I am each time I help someone. Its the sadness propelling me to do good and make them see the bright side of the situation. If I had to define happiness in this way, it would be pure or natural because I don't try so hard to make myself have this higher purpose. I let things come and go to me as I make my way through life and if I’m sad I do something about it and know that someone always has it worse then me.
Too many people try to hard to create themselves through money, or work life and they're too busy focusing on the things that in a literal sense don't matter that much. What I mean is that they’re letting their life go by with worry and aren't experiencing things purely. They are synthetic, stereotyped beings who don’t really worry about anybody but themselves and what they're doing.
The purpose of my existence is to embrace the world and human life that its entitled to. I believe that happiness and meaning is created through choice and the opportunity to help people to help yourself. I want to create an art piece to visually show my personal philosophy through a drawing and multiple pictures. This is a reflection of my unique self because it will allow me to express my feelings with pictures instead of words; it collects a deeper meaning and more thought provoking experience. Through the visual piece it will allow me to show my audience that one of the most important aspects of being human is that we have the power to change ourselves and grow together in that way. In my drawing I will portray a sign that has two arrows pointing out beneath the word “change/choice” and around the drawing I will select pictures of people helping others and then people helping themselves. The difference that comes from this is that the people who are helping others will look happier, while the people who are doing things for themselves look less satisfied. The only obstacle I think I will have issues with while doing this project is drawing, as I am no talented artist. To create the project I will need a poster board, a large white sheet of paper, pencils, colored pencils, erasers, glue, scissors, as well as a printer for the pictures. This project should take me anywhere between two to six hours depending on the amount of mistakes and procrastination involved. The only type of support I will need for Ashley is suggestions on how to refine my idea before the project begins.
Energy And Place:
Essential Question- How does energy production impact* place?
How does your sense of place**, environmental ethic and understanding of our energy needs influence your
perception and decisions regarding energy production
Did not attend exhibition...However, my sense of place was in the mountains, mainly Junction Creek in Durango, Colorado.
Sense of place essay: Footsteps Through Time
Aubree Lorenzen
Abstract: The mountains and the trails intertwined hold my sense of place. I live off of a spiritual and ideological rootedness with the trails and everything they behold. It has nothing to do with personal history or a dependent form on which I rely, it is in fact, much more difficult to describe then I can put into words. But perhaps with time I can attribute, and give in with great detail. Growing up in the mountainous state of Colorado there will always be something about the incline of a trail beneath my feet that I come back to. I find myself believing that nature deserves to be conserved in its natural state with intrinsic value, with little room for instrumental values as well. Like I said in my introduction, “This is the type of place I daydream about, my safe place, my ‘at home’ place. The sun over the horizon, gleaming like the quick yellow flick of flame as the fire alights. Evaporating the steam of cold breath, sharp as knives coming back onto my face, in the snap of a finger. No this isn't just my place, it is my entire being.”
Footsteps. Footsteps are what casts us through our life. Without taking them we would ultimately remain a lifeless statue, frozen in time. Frozen as though we are nothing but a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car, only to be hit with such an impact that we snap out of the trance that had our attention for so long. The trance that had my attention a measly eight months back. Now I can feel the dirt and rock under the sole of my beat up Asics, engulfed by the multiple millions of greens the trees capture, not a single roar of a car engine within miles. The birds chirp, the creek water flows. This is the type of place I daydream about, my safe place, my ‘at home’ place. The sun over the horizon, gleaming like the quick yellow flick of flame as the fire alights. Evaporating the steam of cold breath, sharp as knives coming back onto my face, in the snap of a finger. No this isn't just my place, it is my entire being. I itch over the thought of the outdoors whenever I’m not amongst the mountains.
The whisper from the wind is but a singing choir as I drive my compact 2009 Subaru Legacy on a bitterly cold morning sometime in August. Waking up before the break of dawn on a weekend can be a pain in the ass, knowing that you have a forty-five minute drive on top of that, but once you arrive you are fully awakened. Not from the now cold coffee sitting in your cup holder, not from the morning stretch with that little grunt at the end; instead you are captivated by the beauty of not a single industrial building around. On my end, this may sound hypocritical because the thing you're driving around with four wheels, a working engine, and gasoline is industrial. Its polluting particles spitting out with every square inch the tires rotate, but how can I focus on this when I have more intriguing views catching my eye?
Upon my arrival, a gust of this chilling, whispering wind comes through my cracked window, sending shivers down my spine. I am not one for the cold but it is a calming feeling to feel something. There are storm clouds roaming above and those that are with me, are huddled in a cuddle puddle together trying to stay warm, waiting for the last few of us to join to go on our weekly long run. I am not bothered by the weather, therefore I do not join the group huddle. The backdrop behind the trees makes for a dramatic effect against the mighty Colorado pines and the ever changing colors of the aspen trees. As I gaze out amongst my teammates, I block out their obnoxious yelps and only listen to what is Junction Creek a few meters out. I accept the presence of the loud caws crows are making nearby and recognize the slow footsteps my fellow partners are taking to begin the awaiting run. The decision to stay or to go must be made before I am left behind and although the masterpiece in front of me is the reason for my gaiety, grasping me as a mother grasps her child in the middle of a hurricane, I know I must go.
Once the pace picks up, I draw my focus elsewhere; off the heavy breathing and the pressure I feel from my pulsing quads. I let the pitter patter of the multiple pairs of feet guide me through the twists and turns of the unbalanced ground. Driving my knees forcefully to dig deeper and deeper into the forest, further and further from society…the change in terrain propels me forward. Glad I decided to proceed with the run, I am revealed to a deeper connection with nature. I never knew that after only a few weeks of being a part of a new community would draw me in so close with those who share similar interests and places I never even knew were there. People who are just as crazy I am- I think it is beyond myself to explain what type of relationship I have with the outdoors. It is more than a sophisticated understanding to say the least, more then just emotional. It is almost as if I were guided here by an overwhelming itch, an outside force. Because running through the mud- maybe not now, but in the past, there have been imprints that only I could see and only those who were the same could see them too.
My thoughts are rudely interrupted by a hole implanted into the patch of dirt that lay directly beneath my now trapped foot. Stumbling, I notice the erosion that has come upon the trail from the many mountain bike tires and footsteps over time and cuss under my breath, “Damn trail needs to be fixed.” I get a few reassuring nods in agreement from my teammates.
As the previous panorama that had my attention only twenty minutes ago fades into the back of my mind I am only captured by the location we are coming upon. Two miles up ahead an old bridge, built of old logs and tattered wood, looks down upon Junction Creek itself. The water roars, in sync with the thunder that rolls over the valley, like a tiger whose roar leaves an incessant echo, as he howls over a canyon; and for a split second I realize that I have water dripping from my hair. It had been raining. The aroma of the pine trees, that of rosemary, is fresh in the air- it makes my stomach growl. It makes me hungry to continue climbing unto the dark secrets of the unknown, only to be disappointed by the fact it is time to turn back…
Funny thing how the footsteps and memories intertwined with the eroded trail stay with me. A few months after that cool, August morning, our team was invited by the leaders of Trails 2000 to be apart of a trail cleanup- right through to the spot where I took my fall. Out of everywhere in Durango, this divine location was their main focus. Our team accepted immediately and a week later we were on our way out to the trailhead to seek another adventure. The beauty behind cleaning up the trails is that you may not be making a difference widely, but for that one spot, you are making a difference for all the animals that live around it and the people who travel by it. By and far most, you are using tools that are safe for the environment- not a crane, not a bulldozer, no chainsaws- nothing that can spit black smoke into the air. I think that was what created my motivation: The thought of doing hand labor, knowing that I could take the credit for what I did and not a malicious machine. The day we attributed to this outdoor adventure, the weather was as it was a few months back; cloudy, windy, and too near perfect for the now leafless aspen trees surrounding the trail. Still adhering to its old found perfection.
We managed to reuse most of what we dug up and flattened out, making barriers so water runoff would flow more subtly and not take a huge chunk out of the trail. We removed the rocks that were blocking the path, causing those little cuts, to allow for a safer travel. -Even if man had to pry and hack his way through nature to create the pristine walkways the mountains behold, he did so in good nature. He allowed us the opportunity to reuse and sustain our environment for years to come, to preserve what is around us. The mountain forever changed by the works done however many years ago, was now changing me, as the sky quickly turned to dusk in that moment. I remember how the remaining light shone through the clouds, dancing above the trees; casting our shadows amongst the now sturdy ground. Almost as if we were hand in hand with the branches that lay low and bushes sprawled out as the wind picked up, the same wind that was there upon my very first arrival of Junction Creek. The flurries of voices passed along with that of the breeze, the voices of my teammates back by the bridge. I look back to see that it was time to depart and take one last glance at the work well done.
There is something grand about the trails, the mountains, but only one spot will maintain my heart’s attention forever- that is unless I find something even more majestic. That spot is Junction Creek, in unison and connection with the Colorado Trail, bringing with it the call of nature; caws of crows, footsteps of fox and rabbits, falling pebbles into the water making a quiet splosh. Bringing with it the many colors of autumn, winter, spring, and summer from raging red to a sullen brown. This is what I will always come back to, know as well as the back of my leathery hand. The rocks run beneath our feet, grabbing, poking out like a jagged wire that has captured the seven month old fawn; leaving cuts upon our body, only later to remind us, may scar us- why we were there in the first place. Telling us that we must return…
Take Action Documentation:
Artist Response- Building a sculpture and displaying it
Project Proposal:
Our take action plan is to build a life size human statue out of plastic bags and copper wire, both which can be recycled, to display the effects they have on our environment. We are trying to solve the use of plastic bags in negative ways in the environment, as a smear campaign.
Why:
People don't realize what an effect something this seemingly trivial can have on our ecosystem. For me, (Keely), the ocean is a really special place for me and it's destroying tons of underwater ecosystems. For me (Aubree) seeing the trash that is on trails when I run makes me mad because that is my sense of place.
Vision:
We believe our town will be more educated about the effects that plastic bags have on our ecosystems. In the long term, we hope to see either a reduction in plastic bag use, removal of the pollution from Durango's land, or an increase in recycling.
Mission:
On average it takes anywhere between 10-100 years for a bag to biodegrade. This is why we want to create an art piece that will positively impact the community by shocking them into recycling more. We also to inform them that there actually are specific recycling bins for bags. We are inspired to take action in this way because we see how it affects the places we love and the life that comes with it, all in negative ways. We think that if we are going to continue to waste all of these natural resources we should use them in ways that won't permanently affect the environment.
Audience:
Durango community and future legislators who could pass laws, like in telluride, that could reduce plastic consumption.
Strategy:
Setting up a public art piece on the corner of Buckley park and presenting to people what it represents.
Link to Photo Documentation: https://www.haikudeck.com/copy-of-take-action-project-art-and-design-presentation-RARyi35qIU
Artist Statement:
THE FACE OF OUR FUTURE
For our art piece, we’re building a life-sized statue made of copper wiring and plastic bags. The thought process we had behind this started with our sense of place essays- both of our special places were drastically affected by pollution, especially plastic grocery bags. In the ocean, the effect it’s causing on the animals is ruining ecosystems and killing millions of creatures a year. In the mountains, trails are littered with plastic bags and pollute the rivers and streams; causing animals to ingest them and kill them.
Mission/ Vision:
On average it takes anywhere between 10-100 years for a bag to biodegrade. This is why we want to create an art piece that will positively impact the community by shocking them into recycling more. We also to inform them that there actually are specific recycling bins for bags. We are inspired to take action in this way because we see how it affects the places we love and the life that comes with it, all in negative ways. We think that if we are going to continue to waste all of these natural resources we should use them in ways that won't permanently affect the environment. We believe our town will be more educated about the effects that plastic bags have on our ecosystems. In the long term, we hope to see either a reduction in plastic bag use, removal of the pollution from Durango's land, or an increase in recycling.
Through our project we managed to make an effect on at least 25 people.
Reflection:
We took action by going to several different spots in our community and setting up a statue of a plastic bag man. Our reasoning behind this was because we wanted to make the citizens of Durango aware of the effect using plastic products have on our environment. We were hoping that even if it was only on a few peoples lives, we could change the way they use plastic products and find new uses for them. Uses such as recycling, packing lunches, using them for dog waste, or creating a new carry bag out of bags. When we waste plastic bags we are polluting the ocean and killing animals.
Our project answered the essential question because we took something that impacted our home places, also something that is a huge source of waste, and raised awareness about it. Because both our sense of places happen to be in the outdoors (ocean and mountains) we felt it necessary to research the true effects of plastic bag waste. Turns out that each consecutive family of 4 wastes 1500 plastic bags per year and the United States alone enough to build a ten foot wall from New York To LA. This changed our perspective largely because it is our future we are going to affect and we are not sustaining our environment.
Could not upload chemistry infographic due to format of my computer, however Steve Smith has an emailed documentation of it.
Reflection: The project we focused on leading up to exhibition was on energy and place. We were required to learn about and apply how energy production makes an impact on a certain place to our own environmental ethics. Taking what we learned (fracking and nuclear power, innovation, and nature writing), we were required to write a sense of place essay which is a composed piece of writing about where we feel we fit in most with nature. Included in the essay was our environmental ethics which ranged from conservation, preservation, sustainability, instrumental and intrinsic values of nature (all ideas we learned about before applying). Other general information included the effects coal power plants and dams have on the environment and if we could find alternative ways to make something more healthy.
In order to articulate my environmental ethics and sense of place essay I had to discover and study all ends of what it meant to be in each category in fear of being hypocritical. I thought that had happened to be the most challenging part of the project because I had never thought about these problems deeply and where I fit in until Ashley introduced the project. But it wasn't until I actually started to write my nature journals and my sense of place essay that I felt I really had narrowed down my choices which ended up being that I thought nature holds intrinsic value within itself and I was a conservationist. Thats where it all came naturally for me. Learning this about myself has helped me grow as a person in more then one way, and mostly healthy, because I have now started to be more careful about what I choose to use when I'm in the mountains and I feel more motivated to help clean up the "ragged" sections I come across.
I think the thing I am most proud of from my essay was the way I articulated my words. I have never had such an amazing piece of writing that I was so proud of because I have never been able to write about something I am passionate about. I think I managed to use sensory details and visual details well and brought the writing to life. For example I thought the line "The decision to stay or to go must be made before I am left behind and although the masterpiece in front of me is the reason for my gaiety, grasping me as a mother grasps her child in the middle of a hurricane, I know I must go," brought to life a mental image with strong word choice. I believe it really managed to keep the readers attention.
Sense of place essay: Footsteps Through Time
Aubree Lorenzen
Abstract: The mountains and the trails intertwined hold my sense of place. I live off of a spiritual and ideological rootedness with the trails and everything they behold. It has nothing to do with personal history or a dependent form on which I rely, it is in fact, much more difficult to describe then I can put into words. But perhaps with time I can attribute, and give in with great detail. Growing up in the mountainous state of Colorado there will always be something about the incline of a trail beneath my feet that I come back to. I find myself believing that nature deserves to be conserved in its natural state with intrinsic value, with little room for instrumental values as well. Like I said in my introduction, “This is the type of place I daydream about, my safe place, my ‘at home’ place. The sun over the horizon, gleaming like the quick yellow flick of flame as the fire alights. Evaporating the steam of cold breath, sharp as knives coming back onto my face, in the snap of a finger. No this isn't just my place, it is my entire being.”
Footsteps. Footsteps are what casts us through our life. Without taking them we would ultimately remain a lifeless statue, frozen in time. Frozen as though we are nothing but a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car, only to be hit with such an impact that we snap out of the trance that had our attention for so long. The trance that had my attention a measly eight months back. Now I can feel the dirt and rock under the sole of my beat up Asics, engulfed by the multiple millions of greens the trees capture, not a single roar of a car engine within miles. The birds chirp, the creek water flows. This is the type of place I daydream about, my safe place, my ‘at home’ place. The sun over the horizon, gleaming like the quick yellow flick of flame as the fire alights. Evaporating the steam of cold breath, sharp as knives coming back onto my face, in the snap of a finger. No this isn't just my place, it is my entire being. I itch over the thought of the outdoors whenever I’m not amongst the mountains.
The whisper from the wind is but a singing choir as I drive my compact 2009 Subaru Legacy on a bitterly cold morning sometime in August. Waking up before the break of dawn on a weekend can be a pain in the ass, knowing that you have a forty-five minute drive on top of that, but once you arrive you are fully awakened. Not from the now cold coffee sitting in your cup holder, not from the morning stretch with that little grunt at the end; instead you are captivated by the beauty of not a single industrial building around. On my end, this may sound hypocritical because the thing you're driving around with four wheels, a working engine, and gasoline is industrial. Its polluting particles spitting out with every square inch the tires rotate, but how can I focus on this when I have more intriguing views catching my eye?
Upon my arrival, a gust of this chilling, whispering wind comes through my cracked window, sending shivers down my spine. I am not one for the cold but it is a calming feeling to feel something. There are storm clouds roaming above and those that are with me, are huddled in a cuddle puddle together trying to stay warm, waiting for the last few of us to join to go on our weekly long run. I am not bothered by the weather, therefore I do not join the group huddle. The backdrop behind the trees makes for a dramatic effect against the mighty Colorado pines and the ever changing colors of the aspen trees. As I gaze out amongst my teammates, I block out their obnoxious yelps and only listen to what is Junction Creek a few meters out. I accept the presence of the loud caws crows are making nearby and recognize the slow footsteps my fellow partners are taking to begin the awaiting run. The decision to stay or to go must be made before I am left behind and although the masterpiece in front of me is the reason for my gaiety, grasping me as a mother grasps her child in the middle of a hurricane, I know I must go.
Once the pace picks up, I draw my focus elsewhere; off the heavy breathing and the pressure I feel from my pulsing quads. I let the pitter patter of the multiple pairs of feet guide me through the twists and turns of the unbalanced ground. Driving my knees forcefully to dig deeper and deeper into the forest, further and further from society…the change in terrain propels me forward. Glad I decided to proceed with the run, I am revealed to a deeper connection with nature. I never knew that after only a few weeks of being a part of a new community would draw me in so close with those who share similar interests and places I never even knew were there. People who are just as crazy I am- I think it is beyond myself to explain what type of relationship I have with the outdoors. It is more than a sophisticated understanding to say the least, more then just emotional. It is almost as if I were guided here by an overwhelming itch, an outside force. Because running through the mud- maybe not now, but in the past, there have been imprints that only I could see and only those who were the same could see them too.
My thoughts are rudely interrupted by a hole implanted into the patch of dirt that lay directly beneath my now trapped foot. Stumbling, I notice the erosion that has come upon the trail from the many mountain bike tires and footsteps over time and cuss under my breath, “Damn trail needs to be fixed.” I get a few reassuring nods in agreement from my teammates.
As the previous panorama that had my attention only twenty minutes ago fades into the back of my mind I am only captured by the location we are coming upon. Two miles up ahead an old bridge, built of old logs and tattered wood, looks down upon Junction Creek itself. The water roars, in sync with the thunder that rolls over the valley, like a tiger whose roar leaves an incessant echo, as he howls over a canyon; and for a split second I realize that I have water dripping from my hair. It had been raining. The aroma of the pine trees, that of rosemary, is fresh in the air- it makes my stomach growl. It makes me hungry to continue climbing unto the dark secrets of the unknown, only to be disappointed by the fact it is time to turn back…
Funny thing how the footsteps and memories intertwined with the eroded trail stay with me. A few months after that cool, August morning, our team was invited by the leaders of Trails 2000 to be apart of a trail cleanup- right through to the spot where I took my fall. Out of everywhere in Durango, this divine location was their main focus. Our team accepted immediately and a week later we were on our way out to the trailhead to seek another adventure. The beauty behind cleaning up the trails is that you may not be making a difference widely, but for that one spot, you are making a difference for all the animals that live around it and the people who travel by it. By and far most, you are using tools that are safe for the environment- not a crane, not a bulldozer, no chainsaws- nothing that can spit black smoke into the air. I think that was what created my motivation: The thought of doing hand labor, knowing that I could take the credit for what I did and not a malicious machine. The day we attributed to this outdoor adventure, the weather was as it was a few months back; cloudy, windy, and too near perfect for the now leafless aspen trees surrounding the trail. Still adhering to its old found perfection.
We managed to reuse most of what we dug up and flattened out, making barriers so water runoff would flow more subtly and not take a huge chunk out of the trail. We removed the rocks that were blocking the path, causing those little cuts, to allow for a safer travel. -Even if man had to pry and hack his way through nature to create the pristine walkways the mountains behold, he did so in good nature. He allowed us the opportunity to reuse and sustain our environment for years to come, to preserve what is around us. The mountain forever changed by the works done however many years ago, was now changing me, as the sky quickly turned to dusk in that moment. I remember how the remaining light shone through the clouds, dancing above the trees; casting our shadows amongst the now sturdy ground. Almost as if we were hand in hand with the branches that lay low and bushes sprawled out as the wind picked up, the same wind that was there upon my very first arrival of Junction Creek. The flurries of voices passed along with that of the breeze, the voices of my teammates back by the bridge. I look back to see that it was time to depart and take one last glance at the work well done.
There is something grand about the trails, the mountains, but only one spot will maintain my heart’s attention forever- that is unless I find something even more majestic. That spot is Junction Creek, in unison and connection with the Colorado Trail, bringing with it the call of nature; caws of crows, footsteps of fox and rabbits, falling pebbles into the water making a quiet splosh. Bringing with it the many colors of autumn, winter, spring, and summer from raging red to a sullen brown. This is what I will always come back to, know as well as the back of my leathery hand. The rocks run beneath our feet, grabbing, poking out like a jagged wire that has captured the seven month old fawn; leaving cuts upon our body, only later to remind us, may scar us- why we were there in the first place. Telling us that we must return…
Take Action Documentation:
Artist Response- Building a sculpture and displaying it
Project Proposal:
Our take action plan is to build a life size human statue out of plastic bags and copper wire, both which can be recycled, to display the effects they have on our environment. We are trying to solve the use of plastic bags in negative ways in the environment, as a smear campaign.
Why:
People don't realize what an effect something this seemingly trivial can have on our ecosystem. For me, (Keely), the ocean is a really special place for me and it's destroying tons of underwater ecosystems. For me (Aubree) seeing the trash that is on trails when I run makes me mad because that is my sense of place.
Vision:
We believe our town will be more educated about the effects that plastic bags have on our ecosystems. In the long term, we hope to see either a reduction in plastic bag use, removal of the pollution from Durango's land, or an increase in recycling.
Mission:
On average it takes anywhere between 10-100 years for a bag to biodegrade. This is why we want to create an art piece that will positively impact the community by shocking them into recycling more. We also to inform them that there actually are specific recycling bins for bags. We are inspired to take action in this way because we see how it affects the places we love and the life that comes with it, all in negative ways. We think that if we are going to continue to waste all of these natural resources we should use them in ways that won't permanently affect the environment.
Audience:
Durango community and future legislators who could pass laws, like in telluride, that could reduce plastic consumption.
Strategy:
Setting up a public art piece on the corner of Buckley park and presenting to people what it represents.
Link to Photo Documentation: https://www.haikudeck.com/copy-of-take-action-project-art-and-design-presentation-RARyi35qIU
Artist Statement:
THE FACE OF OUR FUTURE
For our art piece, we’re building a life-sized statue made of copper wiring and plastic bags. The thought process we had behind this started with our sense of place essays- both of our special places were drastically affected by pollution, especially plastic grocery bags. In the ocean, the effect it’s causing on the animals is ruining ecosystems and killing millions of creatures a year. In the mountains, trails are littered with plastic bags and pollute the rivers and streams; causing animals to ingest them and kill them.
Mission/ Vision:
On average it takes anywhere between 10-100 years for a bag to biodegrade. This is why we want to create an art piece that will positively impact the community by shocking them into recycling more. We also to inform them that there actually are specific recycling bins for bags. We are inspired to take action in this way because we see how it affects the places we love and the life that comes with it, all in negative ways. We think that if we are going to continue to waste all of these natural resources we should use them in ways that won't permanently affect the environment. We believe our town will be more educated about the effects that plastic bags have on our ecosystems. In the long term, we hope to see either a reduction in plastic bag use, removal of the pollution from Durango's land, or an increase in recycling.
Through our project we managed to make an effect on at least 25 people.
Reflection:
We took action by going to several different spots in our community and setting up a statue of a plastic bag man. Our reasoning behind this was because we wanted to make the citizens of Durango aware of the effect using plastic products have on our environment. We were hoping that even if it was only on a few peoples lives, we could change the way they use plastic products and find new uses for them. Uses such as recycling, packing lunches, using them for dog waste, or creating a new carry bag out of bags. When we waste plastic bags we are polluting the ocean and killing animals.
Our project answered the essential question because we took something that impacted our home places, also something that is a huge source of waste, and raised awareness about it. Because both our sense of places happen to be in the outdoors (ocean and mountains) we felt it necessary to research the true effects of plastic bag waste. Turns out that each consecutive family of 4 wastes 1500 plastic bags per year and the United States alone enough to build a ten foot wall from New York To LA. This changed our perspective largely because it is our future we are going to affect and we are not sustaining our environment.
Could not upload chemistry infographic due to format of my computer, however Steve Smith has an emailed documentation of it.
Reflection: The project we focused on leading up to exhibition was on energy and place. We were required to learn about and apply how energy production makes an impact on a certain place to our own environmental ethics. Taking what we learned (fracking and nuclear power, innovation, and nature writing), we were required to write a sense of place essay which is a composed piece of writing about where we feel we fit in most with nature. Included in the essay was our environmental ethics which ranged from conservation, preservation, sustainability, instrumental and intrinsic values of nature (all ideas we learned about before applying). Other general information included the effects coal power plants and dams have on the environment and if we could find alternative ways to make something more healthy.
In order to articulate my environmental ethics and sense of place essay I had to discover and study all ends of what it meant to be in each category in fear of being hypocritical. I thought that had happened to be the most challenging part of the project because I had never thought about these problems deeply and where I fit in until Ashley introduced the project. But it wasn't until I actually started to write my nature journals and my sense of place essay that I felt I really had narrowed down my choices which ended up being that I thought nature holds intrinsic value within itself and I was a conservationist. Thats where it all came naturally for me. Learning this about myself has helped me grow as a person in more then one way, and mostly healthy, because I have now started to be more careful about what I choose to use when I'm in the mountains and I feel more motivated to help clean up the "ragged" sections I come across.
I think the thing I am most proud of from my essay was the way I articulated my words. I have never had such an amazing piece of writing that I was so proud of because I have never been able to write about something I am passionate about. I think I managed to use sensory details and visual details well and brought the writing to life. For example I thought the line "The decision to stay or to go must be made before I am left behind and although the masterpiece in front of me is the reason for my gaiety, grasping me as a mother grasps her child in the middle of a hurricane, I know I must go," brought to life a mental image with strong word choice. I believe it really managed to keep the readers attention.