Book Club Projects

Reflection

This semester the honors program in humanities took the form of a book club.  There were three books (The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451, Half the Sky)  that we read and we had to choose two to do a project on.  For each book we had a seminar as well.  For the first book that we read, The Great Gatsby, I chose to do a visual piece in the form of a painting.  First I came up with a thesis of the ideas I wanted to portray and then created the painting to show that opinion.   For the second book I completed a fundraiser for an organization called Girls Be Ambitious.  This is a program that sends girls in Cambodia to school.  I did this with a partner and we created a poster which we hung around school advertising the bake sale that we held every Thursday.  We also wrote a letter to the organization explaining why we chose to give our money to them.  When we send the money we will also send a picture to be given to the girls to create that connection and to show that we believe and support them.  The last book, Fahrenheit 451, was the book that I just did a seminar on. 

            The book that I taught me the most and heightened my awareness during this honors semester was Half the Sky.  This book was all about the oppression of women around the world and the different forms that oppression can take.  It was really eye opening to see how many women still afflicted by such severe oppression.  Being a white American living in Durango, Colorado I don't have a fear of being raped and I feel I am equal to all my male peers.  Reading this book made me realize that my experience was the norm.  This was disheartening at time but in the end it just sparked my passion make change to create a better world. 

            The most challenging part of honors at Animas High School is finding the time to do it.  It is like taking a whole other class on top of the regular humanities that you have one lunch period a week to figure out what your suppose to be doing.  All work falls as home work.  So we have homework on top humanities homework on top of our other classes homework.  It is difficult to find the time to complete a high quality project.      

The Great Gatsby 

Painting

Artist Statement

Thesis:  Although people of the upper class (especially those with “old money”) are viewed by themselves and by others as sophisticated, refined and elegant, this society is plagued with betrayals, deceit and violence.  People of the upper class are surrounded by excess and yet are never truly satisfied, which in turn causes this corruption.

               The Great Gatsby is a book all about the lives of the upper class. We see how the upper class is viewed by outsiders from the way Gatsby sees Daisy and the world she comes from before he became rich.  In this book we also see a lot of lying, betrayals and corruption.  Tom lies and betrays Daisy by sleeping with Myrtle.  Daisy betrays Tom with Gatsby and then Daisy betrays Gatsby by going back to Tom in the end.  Daisy then kills Myrtle and drives away, letting Gatsby take the fall.  Tom tells Wilson that the car was Gatsby’s and then Wilson kills Gatsby.  The whole books is filled with this corruption.  The wealth and status of this group of people make them seem almost above the law.  As this quote states, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy---they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back to their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept then together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . . .”(Fitzgerald, 179).  Their money made them think they could do what they wanted with little consequence.  This lying was not just inclusive of Tom and Daisy as we see in this quote, “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (Fitzgerald, 59).  Nick has been mostly surrounded by the wealthy and so when he makes this claim that he is the only honest person he has ever met it reflects most on the upper class.  Despite the fact that many people went and enjoyed Gatsby’s parties, no one came to his funeral when he died. To me that’s messed up.   The wealth, the fear of losing what one has and the want for more, as well as the feeling of superiority, causes corruption.

               In my painting there is a girl in a party dress holding a martini.  The neatness and elegance to her appearance are meant to represent how the upper class is viewed as sophisticated; refined and elegant.  The martini glass, a common symbol associated with luxurious parties and class, is tipped sideways and the liquid inside is pouring onto the ground.  The rat is then drinking the liquid.  I used red as the color because it is associated with cruelty and has an evil feel to it.  The pouring of the liquid is to portray how the riches and luxury feed the corruption and evil that brews in the upper class.  The rat is a common symbol of corruption and evil.  There is a gun to show the violence that exists.  It is not attached to a hand or person to show how Daisy was not held accountable for her bad deeds.  Though she did not kill Myrtle with a gun, it is a common symbol associated with murder.  The lady is standing on a bed of ash that represents the valley of ashes that Fitzgerald describes in the passage below:

This is the valley of ashes--- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the form of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally, a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.  

      To me the valley of ashes represents the corruption that the upper class stands on and the veil that hides the corruption.  When Fitzgerald describes the ash men I think they represent the people who were stepped on by the people of the upper class to reach their wealth. 

               This was an interesting project for me.  I don’t usually think of myself as very artistically skilled, but for this project I had a vision of a painting.  A lot of people were focusing on the American Dream for their honors projects so I wanted to look at something a little different.  There are all these TV shows and movies where we see the upper class as extravagant with all their fancy parties and all the drama, but this book really looks at the corruption.  As for the refinement in my piece, I spent practically a whole weekend panting something and then painting over it.  I also took white paint and refined the edges of some of figures.  I tried to keep it looking united by not using too many colors.  I also tried to make it look united by keeping the negative images at the bottom of the picture.  The ash adds a layer of unity as well by bringing everything together in a shadow.      

Half the Sky

Letter to Girls Be Ambitious 

Dear Girls be Ambitious,

We are two students in Durango, CO who are holding a fundraiser at Animas High School for your program.  We read the book Half the Sky for an honors humanities project and felt inspired to help.  

We both believe that the best way to change the world is through education.  At Animas High School we have endless opportunities to learn and to pursue the career of our choice.  It is our hope that someday every child has this opportunity. However, this is not today's reality.  We wanted to do our part to help make this dream a reality, so we started raising money through a bake sale to help support your organization and help girls get an education. 

Education is shown to be one of the most liberating tools.  It creates an array of opportunities that will ripple onto future generations. Although it may take longer to see the positive effects that an education can bring, it is more effective and long lasting than giving out food, money or condoms to prevent pregnancy.  Education gives people the tools to make changes themselves and create a successful future.  As Derek Bok said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance".  A lot of oppression and cruelty comes from ignorance.  

Rather than being against the oppression of girls and women, we are for the liberation and education of girls and women.  Your program supports women to fight for their rights to gain an education, encourages them to pursue what they enjoy and supports women to make a strong prosperous future for themselves.  Thank you for the work you do and we are honored to help in any way we can.

Poster

Half the Sky Seminar Prep

            This book was a call to action for support of women's rights around the world.  It was a mixture of inspirational and tragic stories.  There was a large focus on girls education.  It talked a lot about the abuse done to young girls in different counties.  Some were stories of prostitution and sex trafficking and others were of inadequate health care and concern for the well being of women.  In this book the authors tried not to villainies men and showed that the oppression of women is a cultural thing that is perpetrated by almost everyone in a community.  A lot of the brothels were run by women who have themselves been abused.  Parts of this book also take a closer look at different aid organizations and their effectiveness in bringing about change.  They found that the most effective were not always the largest or the most expensive measures but the ones that were started by a community member or someone who truly understands what is easy.  If someone is having pain in there leg you can assume that they hurt that extremity, but until you take a closer look and actually understand the problem you cannot effectively treat the problem.  The main message of this book was to liberate women and unleash their potential.  It not only helps a specific women but it also help the community as a whole.

            The idea that I found most inspiring in this book was the push to educate young girls.  So much good comes from education.  It is not a pushy way to help people.  By pushy I mean an aid group that may be trying to raise awareness of aids by putting up billboards.  It is a noble cause but I think that it is much more helpful and self sustaining to give the people the skills and the education to come to conclusion on their own.  As it states in this quote, " some kinds of aid do work; those that have been most effective have involved health and education"(178).  It was quite shocking how often peoples best intentions in the aid world fall short because of lack of a connection with that community.  It would be nice to think that when you give money to an aid organization that it is doing the most good that it can, but the reality is that plans don't always work.  One of the most useful pieces of advice that I obtain through reading this book was probably to do research before you give to an organization.  Evaluate the effectiveness and long term benefit that an organization brings about not just the officialness of a name. 

             Another point that was made in this book that I find eye opening is there focus on women aid groups and how that improves other problems in the long term.  Like this claim for instance;  "Several studies suggest that  when women gain control over spending, less family money is devoted to instant gratification and more for education and starting small businesses"(192).  I don't think that the claim that is being made is that women are better than men but that there is a need for balance.  A lot of third world countries are a more patriarchal society where the men are dominate.  It is not so much the liberation of women that create such a change but a restoration of the balance.            

Questions:

Why do you think that people are seeing such good results with giving micro loans to women rather than men?

Do you think that the liberation of women is the best way to make a better more peaceful world? Why or why not? If not, what do you think is the best course of action?

How has your perception of the United States and our culture changed or stayed the same since reading this book

If you had a million dollars to give to an organization or organizations, which one/ones would you give it to and why?

 Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 Seminar Prep

            This discussion between Montag and Millie takes place on the night when Guy comes home after burning the women and her books.  He is talking to her about books and taking a critical eye to his existence.  She keeps trying to change the subject but he continues to muse about the books themselves.    Finally she has had enough so her tell him to let her alone.  The quote is getting at contrast as well as looking at the different aspect of our life we try to ignore.  First I think he is pulling in this broader idea that without a bother you cannot truth enjoy your life.  Without hot there is not cold sort of idea.  Also it is looking at how people avoid problems because it is easier.  Millie does not want the think about books or ideas that they hold because it is easier to ignore.  Something that I could be bothered more about is what is my motivation behind getting all A's and winning races.  Is it because I am passionate about what I am learning and love to ride my bike or has the motivation now become a more external force such as that is what is expected of me?  It would do me good to have a look at my priorities and decide what is really important to me and why. 

            This quote encompasses what is going on with society in the book as a whole.  At this point in time the people are almost like robots in regards to thinking.  They do not look outside the box and instead stick to what they are certain of.  This does not mean what they believe is the truth but it is the truth that they are given.  Beatty is making the argument that if you have this faith why mess with it.  In my life I prefer a balance of chaos and certainty.  If there is too much chaos than I can feel lost and  without direction.  However, if all is certain than that leaves no room for growth and it is boring. 

           The quote on page 84, " It is an environment as real as the world.  It become and is the truth.  Books can be beaten down with reason.  But with all my knowledge and skepticism, I have never been able to argue with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full color, three dimensions , and being in and part of those incredible parlors." clearly shows the two societies.  With books you have the opportunity to analyze the text and disagree with the author.  It is a more free thinking and also tumultuous society.  The "parlor"  with the screen leaves little room for argument or disagreement it just is.  This society is not confrontational and has little discussion or innovation.  

Questions:

Pg. 89 Agree or disagree with this statement made by Faber: "Those who don't build must burn."  What is the idea that Faber is trying to get at? 

pg. 83 " Yet somehow we think we can grow, feeding on flowers and fireworks, without completing the cycle back to reality."  Analyze the quote above.  What do the flowers and fireworks symbolize?  How can the cycle back to reality be completed? 

Are the books a symbol or are they literally just books?  If they represent something more what and what makes you think that?

Pg 84 Analyze this quote.: " It is an environment as real as the world.  It become and is the truth.  Books can be beaten down with reason.  But with all my knowledge and skepticism, I have never been able to argue with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full color, three dimensions , and being in and part of those incredible parlors."  What does this say about the two societies (one with books one without)?