Peer 2016 by Earl DeMott

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

PEER

AN ANTHOLOG Y FR OM THE GS WLA WORLD LITER ATURE C LAS S, 20 19

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

What lies before you, Dear Reader, includes student selected best written works from the culminating “Twelve Pieces” Project completed for Mr. De Mott’s GSWLA World Literature 9 class. Each piece for submission to the project had requirements that tested the resolve of students, and, as stated by many of the students themselves, improved their ability to find the better word choice, restructure their sentences, and ultimately make their points with poignancy and precision. To compile the best pieces became a chore in itself as email submissions flowed into my inbox. The structure of this the final ISSUU (the website used throughout my class to present readings and assignments to the students in a “magazine style” format) is one that celebrates the depth of character of these students. With that said, there is a loose affiliation to the original format structures in the set up of this ISSUU. Moreover, some pieces have been revised to better suit a larger readership. Some of the original (and challenging) writing bans have been lifted for the published editions, most notably, the ban of the “be verbs” for final submission. Additionally, I have worked as copy editor and reviser for some pieces, and, have contacted the original author to receive approval for the changes made, unless the changes in question were purely grammatical. It is worth mentioning that, as is the tradition with editors, I have created titles for many of the pieces, as many would either remain untitled, or have relatively non-descript titles. Finally, most formatting decisions made for this edition are mine, including choice of font, lettering size, color, as well as selection of images. All original images (labeled “EDM”) may peripherally relate to the writing on the page. I did not, however, create them for the association with the pieces. What has come from all this effort? Depth and Introspection. For that, I thank each student for his/her contributions, for I believe their words have bettered me, as it will, no doubt, you.

Introduction

Not Featured in this Issuu: sam arias cypress sierra b taylor mimi Katie a. cara Michael b jasmin tyler milo Patrick angel Ciara c. Angelina b. sofia o nadia Kieran adayna Sydney m lauryn l. sean lucy Elena c.j. megan Kristen

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

PEER

AN ANTHOLOG Y FRO M THE GSWLA WO RLD LIT ERATURE CLASS, 20 19

Table of Contents

Table of Contents/ The Assignments:

Introduction The Epistles Part I (Dear Mr. De Mott) -(Not So) Great Expectations-Class Evaluation – Part II (Dear Future Freshmen) -The Matz Letter -The Washington Letter Part II (Dear Mr. President) On Climate Change – On Sports Inequality – On Student Sleep

State of Gender Parity That Just Goes To Show (Excerpt) - The Assigned Roles Speech -The Girls Rocks SG5 Speech – The Disney Princess Speech - The Jamestowne Speech

The Epistles/ Letter writing to: -The Teacher (“What are your expectations of Global World Lit?) -Future Freshman (“What can upcoming freshmen expect?) -The President of the United States (Based on a Current Issue) United Nations Speech: After an intense level of research in multiple perspectives, Writers were to create a speech to be delivered to the United Nations on Gender Parity, using Paul’s Reasoning Model and the Depth and Complexity icons in their findings.

Reviews Representation of Queer Females in Media – Fake Teens - Review of the Famous Day Off The Album That Shalt Not Be Named – Shakespearean Court Cases

Rant, Rave, or Review (with Research): Writers were to give their evaluation on a topic of their choosing.

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Turning Points Coach…. – Namesake -An Abbreviated Conversation -Lost Girl / Found Girl -Two Halves - I s i t Who Are You? - Come Out, Come Out Virginia Woolf

Pocket full o’ Poesy: Part I – Haiku -You and Me- Hot and Cold - Two Clouds– Sounds - Night Over Forest - Permanence Part II- Sonnets – Sonnet for Lily – Loveblind – Marching to Iambs – Dark Room – The Non-Return Yellow Over the Sea – Apple of Temptation Part III – *ROY G. BIV Lion Spirit – Battled Field - Stop and Smell the Roses Part IV – Free Verse - Holy Ground - Poetics – Which Way? – Day vs.Night - 1591- Cats - Self-Titled

Stepstools Staple Removal - Full Windsor – Photoshop - Blue Bombing - Recipe for Procrastination

To Be Continued **Which Grown Man? - **Hitler’s Last Photograph – Juan and Sara – My House – Coming Home *See Notes / Images / **Resources

Turning Points - Reflections on Development in Writing, Reflections on Moments of Realization and Change Poeket Full of Poesy /Poetry Writing: Writers were to follow the criteria of a given genre of poetry. Techniques Analysis: Writers are to explain a process, either presenting a “how to” or reacting to a process for a product already created. In class, there were multiple opportunities to analyze media, images, literary techniques, as well as analyzing the how to of storytelling when students needed to present assigned mythology from various cultures. Genre Transformation / Same Form Reaction: Writers have been asked to base writing on a previously published piece, either keeping the same genre and continuing / elaborating upon the story and/or character development, or altering for genre.

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Literary Essays Character Comparisons - FlyLord - Thoughts to Developments to Action

Story Hour Entente - Cross Country - Fasting Time - The 3 Days Fly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Cavemouth - Cliff - Silence of Symbols

Notes and Resources

Literary Essays: Compare Literary Techniques Used and/or Themes of Readings Done in Class, including Lord of the Flies, The Lottery, The Most Dangerous Game, To Build a Fire, Animal Farm, Red Scarf Girl. Writers are to continue to use the criteria for essay writing. Story Hour: Writers were to write a narrative that included the elements of a plot diagram. Among other prompts, writers were given symbols for the Symbols story. Writers were also asked to symbolically think of themselves as a House to enhance their understanding of House on Mango Street

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

THE EPISTLES

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

At the beginning of the year, I wrote a letter to my teacher stating my expectations for the year. Some of my expectations got fulfilled, but class assignments and other class time conversations occurred during the year that transformed me and made me realise the significance of symbolism and theme in literature. Of course I expected to be learning English, but what I envisioned was a boring, easy class that would be extremely non-committal to pass. I envisioned reading boring stories that didn't interest me. I was completely wrong. This English class, unlike any English class I’ve ever experienced before, contained so much more than the run of the mill narratives. Sure, we read stories, but they contained so much more than just a setting. For example, when we first started reading Animal Farm, I thought the story would be a stereotypical kids book that didn’t make sense, but as we continued reading and having class discussions, I realised it was packed with so much more. The symbolism in Animal Farm would have remained an indecipherable and overlooked set of concepts without our in depth discussions about it.     Around mid-September the teacher assigned us the task of writing a paragraph about our writing goals. I stated that I wanted my writing to interest readers. Also, I stated that  I wanted to use interesting words to work as a hook. I think that the Be-verb ban proved helpful in achieving these goals. Also, again the discussions in class helped provide ideas to write about and what to put in essays.     In conclusion, the bad expectations I had for my freshman English class remained unfulfilled. Instead, my English class, filled with extraordinary pieces of literature and unforgettable class discussions, allowed for the fulfillment of my writing goals. I know this because as I currently finish up my twelve pieces final project for this class, I have no problem with the ban of Be-verbs. I have discovered a type of writing nirvana with the experiences I have had in this class.

The Epistles:

Rebecca Brown

(Not So) Great Expectations Class Evaluation The Matz Letter The Washington Letter On Climate Change On Sports Inequity On Student Sleep

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

September 8th, 2015 Dear Mr.De Mott, This year my goals that reflected off of your expectations and my expectations of you as a teacher, changed exponentially. I learned many different topics this year in your classroom. Different types of poetry, stories, and old tales I had never heard of but now interest me. Some of the assessments even tested my knowledge and capacity in my English. It also encouraged my writing and work along essays and other English projects advance. If I were to reflect on how you did for my expectations in this year of 2015-2016, you did wonderfully. My schoolwork along the year has evolved widely, and I have more pride in my work. Thank you. Sincerely, Eli Escobar Global Scholar

The Epistles:

Eli Escobar

(Not So) Great Expectations

Class Evaluation The Matz Letter The Washington Letter On Climate Change On Sports Inequity On Student Sleep

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Welcome to High School. I remember how scary I felt the summer just before I started high school. Life might change quite a bit. You have gone from seeing yourself as the oldest at your school to becoming the youngest, but that does not necessarily have to be a bad situation. My freshman year represented the most impacting, challenging, and transformative time. I made some of the best friends of my life during this year. If I could give words of encouragement and advice as a freshman, I would say: Work as hard as possible at school, even if your peers might seem not to. If you go ahead and make high grades in your freshman year, you will not have to scramble as much to make the top of your class later on. Doing your homework, assignments, and projects sounds obvious, but only responsibility can help the most. Teachers care. Adults in the school staff sincerely care about students. If you struggle in one course, ask your teacher for assitance and they will help you. Worrying about your popularity means no-good. Do not worry about trying to impress others; you should not have to! Just make others accept you for you! Do not think about dating; I entered my freshman year of high school and wanted to go on my first date, experience my first crush. Dating in high school, especially freshman year, can cause unnecessary drama in your life. Instead, join an interesting club or sport. Try new avenues; luckily your school has much to offer. You can do Spanish club, cooking club, soccer, diving, softball, etc.â&#x20AC;Ś Most importantly, have fun! Many say High School supposed to represent one of your greatest moments in life!

The Epistles:

Aline Matz

(Not So) Great Expectations Class Evaluation

The Matz Letter The Washington Letter On Climate Change On Sports Inequity On Student Sleep

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

High school has changed me a lot. You will realize how much you actually care about school and grades. In my middle school years, I did not care about my grades as much, but I still had decent grades. So I encourage you to keep up your grades. What freshmen should expect, that classes and assignments will get a lot harder and most importantly time consuming. In AP I had to take notes on each section of each chapter, and most of the time the sections can have 5 pages or more with very little text. So I end up spending hours taking notes, but it payed off because I really learned a handful. Also expect you will not have a lockers assigned to you, but you can ask for one if you like. The one item I wish I knew before, that we have to take semester exams for elective classes, as well as a final exam for P.E., if you do not pass the required fitness tests in the wellness zone. I had a surprised look on my face when I found out that I had to take an exam for photography class. Taking an AP class became my biggest challenge in high school, because it required more time to do the work. So mostly I did not spend a lot of time hanging out with friends because of AP. I started eating dinner at around nine or ten oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock. My sleep schedule changed dramatically, causing me to wake up feeling tired in the morning. I have to say getting into the academy and having the opportunity to travel with the academy, stood out as my favorite moments in high school. I always wanted to travel and see the world with others who share the same ideas. A couple weeks ago, I filled out a travel application to go to China, Germany, France, Northern Ireland, and Spain. Unfortunately, I did not get accepted to any of the countries, which really put me in a bummed out mood. But on the bright side I get to Costa Rica next year with the academy during the summer. Knowing this made me feel happy again that I even get to travel when I know others have not. Some advice would to enjoy high school, do not worry too much about losing old friends or not making a sports team. I want you freshmen to enjoy your first year in high school and make the most it. Believe me when I say this, high changes us, some for the better, others for the worst. But if one thing I know, you find out what you stand for and who really stands with you through those painful and fun four years. Hope you enjoy high school; it will get bumpy along the way.

The Epistles:

Shirell Washington

(Not So) Great Expectations Class Evaluation The Matz Letter

The Washington Letter On Climate Change On Sports Inequity On Student Sleep

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Dear President Obama, Climate change prevails as a big issue causing our environment to worsen. A study led by the National Care for Atmospheric Research, states that global warming could affect oxygen levels in the oceans in just a few years. The drop in oxygen levels will have marine life struggling to breath. Scientists have not noticed the drop until now and currently continue to try to figure out how this issue occurred. They stated, "The warming atmosphere is a major threat to marine life and oceans all over the world." Phytoplankton can not produce the amount of oxygen to replace the amount lost, this resulting the issue. Runoff from fertilizers and pesticides put chemicals into oceans and other water bodies. These chemicals kill the phytoplankton thus creating less oxygen. The killing of phytoplankton along with the warming atmosphere has caused the oxygen levels to drop. This affects me personally, because I live on the East Coast, by the Atlantic Ocean, the Chesapeake Bay, and other rivers. A major industry found here, seafood, brings the city money. As a tourist spot, it could quickly change when dead fish and other sea creatures and possible marine animals start washing up on the shores of beaches. Tourists would not want to see any of that while on vacation. I think you should try and stop this. I propose that limiting the amount of fertilizers and pesticides used will also limit the amount of runoff. Limiting the amount of runoff will help the phytoplankton live. To do this, I think you should limit the sale of pesticides and fertilizers over the nation. If necessary to some gardeners or farmers, then set a limit environmentally acceptable to use. I also believe we should spread awareness of the dying animals in the oceans. As to many creatures, the ocean acts as a habitat and the human race has not fully explored it yet. Yours Sincerely, Mellanie Galupe Global Scholar P.S. I hope you accept the fact of a warming atmosphere unlike Trump who laughs at the idea.

The Epistles:

Mellanie Galupe

(Not So) Great Expectations Class Evaluation The Matz Letter The Washington Letter

On Climate Change On Sports Inequity On Student Sleep

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Dear Mr. President, Over the last seven years, basketball has become one of the most important activities in my life besides family, friends and school. Some of my friends have told me that I “eat, sleep, and breathe basketball.” Attendance for the basketball games in my middle and elementary school between the girls and the boys was about the same amount. When I started playing on Tallwood’s team I noticed that the parents just came to the girls’ games, but the boys’ games has a lot of attendees, even though my team won the Beach District Championship and had a better record than the boys. I know that it may not seem very important, but you will not find it just high school. It has also become present in college, professional, and even in other sports. In the pros, along with the lack of attendance, a lack if pay has become present between males and females. When my teacher first presented this letter idea to my class, he asked to look at your website and I saw that you have taken action to help resolve the equal pay issue, and I like your ideas very much. According to a vicesports.com article, Diana Taurasi made the All-Women’s national Basketball Association first team in 2014 and help the Phoenix Mercury win the league championship. For the whole entire season she made $107,500. In 2013-14 the Phoenix Suns employed Dionte Christmas for 198 minutes and he received a $490,180 pay check. Taurasi did more work and put in more effort and she received less than Christmas who played for 198 minutes and received so much more. Female athletes don’t really try to take a stand because they got an opportunity of a lifetime to play a sport they love with all their heart. They most definitely eat, sleep, and breathe basketball. Since the WNBA doesn’t make as much as the NBA they would cancel the league if all the players decided to boycott until they found a happy medium. This issue has become extremely important to me, and with your help I hope to find a solution for the pay gap between men and women in all work forces, of all races, and of all ages. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Payton Sinsabaugh GSWLA Student

The Epistles:

Payton Sinsabaugh

(Not So) Great Expectations Class Evaluation The Matz Letter The Washington Letter On Climate Change

On Sports Inequity On Student Sleep

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Dear Mr. President, Teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep a night in order to remain healthy. Only 15% of teenagers report getting 8 hours of sleep on a school night. Why do they receive so little sleep? Perhaps the struggle of balancing a social life, extracurricular activities, puberty, and homework have contributed to this issue. A poll taken of public high school teachers has shown that, on average, students receive 3.5 hours of homework a night. Can you imagine the stress this must cause? At most on school nights I get 7 hours of sleep. My early start time does contribute to this but the factor of my large workload contributes the most. I, a 9th grade high school student, taking only one AP class, spend 2 hours on homework a night and always get anxious over my next report card. My weekends have gone from hanging out with my friends and going out with my family, to doing homework and catching up on lost sleep. Scientific studies have proven that young adults function better under less pressure of getting good grades. The idea to “strive for an A” becomes instilled in a child’s mind from a very young age. A students’ life may focus so hard on school’s curriculums that they have barely any room to grow and learn their own way. Creative processes slowly diminish as the main focus becomes what the teacher wants. In order to solve this problem, we should change the education system to accommodate the students’ needs. Maybe a limit on homework or a longer weekend. A structure to allow students time to relax and not worry about school for once. This type of education has worked in Finland, the country with the best education system internationally. They believe in “less is more” for their students which means no homework and shorter school days. By instituting a policy like this on American education systems we may see an increase in test scores and higher grade point averages while having happy, healthy students. Let’s make school less like prison and more like sanctuary. With respect, Sophia Rubsamen

The Epistles:

Sophie Rubsamen

(Not So) Great Expectations Class Evaluation The Matz Letter The Washington Letter On Climate Change On Sports Inequity

On Student Sleep

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Eye Variations: Ur Variation P

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

The State of Gender Parity

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Excerpt from UN Speech Women have never been equal to men. Shouldn’t women get paid the equal amount of money for the equal amount of work? “For winning the Women’s World Cup in Canada, FIFA gave the U.S. team 2 million dollars from a total purchase of 15 million dollars. Last Summer in Brazil, champion Germany got 35 million dollars from a total FIFA purse 355 million dollars distributed to men’s World Cup teams.” I know people see the big difference. Those women worked very hard and it seems like they didn’t get a lot. I don’t understand this problem. That just goes to show how people see women in this world.

State of Gender Parity – Taquoia Kilby

That Just Goes To Show (Excerpt) The Assigned Roles Speech The Girls Rocks SG5 Speech The Disney Princess Speech The Jamestowne Speech

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Hello fellow citizens of the world. In the past several years the subject of gender parity has sparked more and more interest and importance. A majority of the Earth today dreams of a world where men and women live without boundaries based upon their gender. However some may long for the ‘simpler times’ when well defined gender roles existed, exhibited by the well-known phrase “where men were men, and women were women”. While only a small portion of the world will hear this speech, these words should influence all. Throughout the world, society holds both genders at specific standards, in most cases, one superior to the other. Gender equality has shown much improvement over time, but it has not yet reached its full potential. A while ago, women got shut in the house to cook and clean, almost as though they had no other purpose. Men had the responsibility of making all the money for their families as well as getting thrown into wars regardless of their wishes and pleads. Today, society shames men for crying, and women still only receive 75 cents to every dollar a man makes. Escaping from these stereotypes proves impossible as they exist in the games played, the magazines read, and the books that children read. It seems as though this world has kept in a constant state of continuity. Both literature of today and many years ago uses quite traditional gender roles. In Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’ men had to serve in the military and women cooked, cleaned, and took care of the children, showing stereotypical gender roles. Another example of traditional views occurs in the book ‘Animal Farm’. Only male characters held leadership roles while the book portrayed females as less intelligent and obsessed with the way they look. Gender roles in children’s books “can become integral to the child’s personality development,” telling boys they must have strength and heroism and girls that they must have extreme beauty and dependence upon men. Gender roles also prevails in the current education system. The lack of female representation in the STEM field continues to affect the numbers of females going

State of Gender Parity – Emily Gonzalez

That Just Goes To Show (Excerpt) The Assigned Roles Speech The Girls Rocks SG5 Speech The Disney Princess Speech The Jamestowne Speech

Emily Gonzalez Tiffani Mayes CBethany Hansel

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

in science, technology, engineering, and math. In 2015, out of the 49,000 students who took the AP Computer Science test females only made up 22%. Recent educational numbers also show that male students do not get an equal quality education. They earn 70% of the D's and F's that teachers give their students. Today, in pop culture, gender roles subconsciously influence many people either positively or negatively. Disney has remained a very large company that shapes the mind of many. Disney princesses have always shown dependence, awaiting men to their rescue in addition to the use of their physical appearance as their primary asset. However, this trend might have begun to change. Recently in 2013, Disney released the movie Frozen in which a female coins the heroic role, saving her sister, the ice queen. In the ABC Family show ‘Melissa and Joey’ the main male character takes care of the family while the lead female character works as a city councilperson. Discrimination and stereotyping of the past and present has tested both genders, but the future shall not do the same. The mere introduction of a new ideology can fix this issue, by thinking of the world as a collection of humans rather than a collection of males and females. Notice the usage of the greeting, “fellow citizens of the world,” rather than ladies and gentlemen. Why should the anatomy of the human body hold any individual back from all that life has to offer? Along with a new way of thinking, media also needs to allow for both genders to have equal representation. Now, this may prove difficult and will go against the views of society, but there remains hope.

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Good afternoon men and women of the United Nations. I work as head of research for sustainable goal number five, which strives to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. We have gathered here, at the fifth annual GIRLS ROCK SG5 to report progress, and lack thereof. I do not wish to place blame on any particular group. I would like to present some unsatisfactory statistics and offer a solution to work towards gender parity. Because of this, I will attempt to keep this as factual as possible, as I support each claim with hard evidence. Gender equality exists as a global issue. You could find a frustrating gender role in plenty of society today, but I highly doubt you would like to listen to a year-long speech about gender equality. Therefore, I plan on focusing on a few topics. To further state this issue, I present a few statistics concerning other factors that contribute to gender equality: Women do 66% of work in the world, yet own 1% of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s property. Women do more than half the work on this planet but I leave you to come to your own conclusions as to where any salary they earn goes. According to Huffington Post, With the gender pay gap, white women work 59 days a year free, black women work 94 days free, and Hispanic women work 117 days free. In other words, imagine getting a paycheck after July 21st for Hispanic women, August 21st for African American women, or October 16th for White women. These pennies an hour may seem irrelevant, but I promise you, they add up very quickly. Gender and race should not determine how much a human being makes.

State of Gender Parity â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Tiffani Mayes That Just Goes To Show (Excerpt) The Assigned Roles Speech

The Girls Rocks SG5 Speech The Disney Princess Speech The Jamestowne Speech

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

The pop singer, Lady Gaga, has even gotten in on women’s issues. She wrote a song entitled Til It Happens To You for the expose of rape on college campuses, named The Hunting Ground. She sings for an important cause; 1/6 women worldwide have been the victim of rape or attempted rape in college. Even worse, society exposes young girls to the same as their mothers, a vicious cycle that must end. Disney movies present our next generation to princess who basically only have their beauty going for them. The Little Mermaid displays a woman literally giving up her voice for a man. These princesses act as role models to young girls everywhere and this symbolism, intentional or not, must end. As reported by Mary Pilon, the men’s world cup got payed forty times higher than the woman’s for doing the same job: winning the world cup. Jamie J. Weinman discusses gender roles in her article about video games. Female players want better representation in games, but many men still wish for the traditional damsel in distress. In many different environments, somehow women tend to have the short end of the stick. In children’s literature only 32% have female main characters. This male dominance teaches children at a young age that women have less importance than their male counterparts, hindering gender parity at nearly infancy. This male dependency doesn’t end in young adult literature. In Twilight New Moon, Bella falls into a deep depression over a boy she just met a few months ago. “True love” could have just affected her, but the question still remains: Why set examples to put female’s happiness in a male’s hands?

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Luckily, I have not just wasted breath telling you displeasing facts about the state of gender parity. Gender inequality exists as a global issue that starts in this room and could diffuse all over the world. Acknowledge women’s accomplishments and appreciate them for the 66% of labor they put into this world, and help them gain more than 1% to show for it. Speak out for the oppressed and inform people about what you learned today. I’m sorry to break it to Ariel, but voice matters. Speak out about problems I have said. Acknowledge that men and women do not have it even, and then inform coworkers, friends and family. A perfect solution does not exist. Maybe only one of you understood the seriousness of gender inequality. And for that one: go research. See for yourself how women live. Share your findings with the world. Tiny steps towards equality solve a massive issue. Humanity cannot fight for what you don’t inform them about. Thank you for your time, now please, go out and spread the word!

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

State of Gender Parity – Caroline Vorndran Gender equality; the state in which gender does not limit access to rights or opportunities. Although most parts of the world have begun to work towards a more equal society, complete gender equality has not yet happened in most of the world. To show how gender equality has improved over the years, a person must look at past and present factors. To start, a person could look at literature, popular culture, and the workforce over the past few decades. To understand how equality of the sexes has improved over time we need to look at any kind of media from the past and present years and determine the differences. When looking through the history of society, women have almost always had a less important role than men. You can clearly see this in popular culture from different eras. The media that we consume, especially at a young age, can have major effects on our beliefs in life, which makes looking at media and popular culture important. Disney, a company founded nearly 100 years ago, can give us a look into how the portrayal of women has changed over time. From 1937 until 1959 stories like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty all had female main characters, but all of the Princesses had a trait in common; they acted as damsels in distress that needed a Prince to save them. Also, in Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, women played the role of villain, and no women helped them. Giving female characters roles in which they can only play one or two character types encourages the idea that women have certain roles that they must play in the world. In television from the 1950’s until the 1980’s, women’s characters always appeared as care takers, not giving them opportunities to take up different roles. Equal representations of men and women with diverse roles and personalities will enforce the idea that both genders can do whatever they’d like and have their own character, regardless of gender. Literature can also give us insight into gender roles during the years that an author wrote and published the writing in, even if they wrote it in a different year than the time period in which it takes place. For example, Charles Dickens Great Expectations only has four female characters, which can already cause an issue because of the low amount of female representation, but the character traits given to the women can cause issues as well. The women in Great Expectations have character traits such as revengefulness, and have violent and heartless personalities, with the exception of Biddy who treated Pip well. Now children’s stories contain powerful women that like traditionally masculine activities like

That Just Goes To Show (Excerpt) The Assigned Roles Speech The Girls Rocks SG5 Speech

The Disney Princess Speech The Jamestowne Speech

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Pippi from Pippi Longstockings who loves adventure and mischievousness, and boys that like traditionally feminine activities such as Raffi in Made by Raffi who enjoys knitting instead of playing sports with the other boys. Giving girls and boys representation that defies stereotypes and social constructs makes them realize that boys and girls can like the same stuff because they have equal options. Having representation of men and women that defy stereotypes such as strong women and sensitive boys in literature will show citizens that stereotypes shouldn’t have any weight. Unfair treatment of women in the workplace has caused significant oppression of women through the years. “History of the struggle for fair pay” from the National Committee on Pay Equity, shows that discrimination against women in the workforce has occurred since women entered it. Some situations that women often went through include moving to the top of the firing list if they had a husband in 1932, and the government requiring women who work in government jobs to earn 25% less in their salary than men in 1937. Women have always had struggles in the workforce. Though societies throughout the world have taken great strides towards equality in the labor force in the past 30 years, society has not yet reached completely equal pay between men and women. In a study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) it shows that the gender wage gap has improved over the years, but possibly not as quickly as we think. In 1960, women earned less than 60% of what men earned. Based on this study, America can expect equal pay between men and women by 2058. Both unfair pay and unequal opportunity create inequality between men and women. If you look at the US university system, men take up over 50% of the top 3 highest paying jobs in universities because low or no paying jobs have a lower promotion rate for women. Though the university system having less women overall may lead to those numbers as well. Granted societies have worked hard towards pay equality for many years, making sure that women have the same opportunities and pay as men remains an important issue that needs fixing if we want to move towards a more equal society. Basic tasks like including more diverse character traits for men and women in media and literature, and giving women the same opportunities as men will result in an equal and happy life for all. Thank you.

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

“Good morning, young men of Jamestown High School. For the past month, I have been speaking to the guys of high schools across the country on behalf of the United Nations Gender Equality Commission. As boys ranging from around fourteen to eighteen, I imagine that the vast majority of you roll your eyes and cross yours arms while scoffing to your buddy sitting next to you at the random lady standing before you talking about feminism. You do this because you most likely assume that I’m here to discuss women’s rights and lecture you about treating your female peers as equals and showing them respect and chivalry. I assume you’ve heard that whole speech before, and that speech is precisely the issue I wish to discuss. So, I ask that you simply listen to what I have to say, because that speech profoundly affects every one of you. In fact, because of that speech, you rolled and crossed and scoffed when I came up here and when the word ‘feminism’ was uttered. Well, to shed some clarity, feminism, by definition, means the advocacy of women having political, social, and economic equality to men. This topic has developed into one of much-heated controversy, and it tantalizes every nation in existence. In fact, the discussion has been so heated that the word has almost developed a negative connotation, particularly here in the U.S. Suddenly, if a girl declares herself a feminist, it equates to her hating men. How does that feel? Having nations of girls suddenly hating you because you belong to the male species? You have to constantly go about your day hearing about how guys suck because of this and that and because they did this and that. You probably cannot go a single day without hearing about an injustice to a woman by a man. Whether the issue regards not receiving equal pay as her male counterparts, being catcalled while merely walking down the street, or being sexually abused. Now don’t get me wrong, for these serious issues most definitely need to end, but I have not come here to talk about these particular problems today. I know that you constantly hear about these injustices, and millions of people every day work tirelessly to put an end to them. However, many issues do not receive this same publicity or anywhere near the same level of discussion or thought, and you guys know it firsthand. You have not heard about these injustices on TV or from your friend’s older sister, instead, you have experienced them throughout your day-to-day life. For example, a sixteen-year-old boy committing suicide because even though he suffers from a serious mental illness, he feels like he cannot ask for help on the grounds of being viewed as weak. Or a young, seven-year-old boy choking

State of Gender Parity – Bethany Hansel That Just Goes To Show (Excerpt) The Assigned Roles Speech The Girls Rocks SG5 Speech The Disney Princess Speech

The Jamestowne Speech

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

down his tears and hiding in his room because society has already taught that men do not to cry. How about the court denying a caring, capable father the right to see his only daughter because they simply tend to side with the mother? You guys have faced or will face these injustices at some point in your life, and the fact that it has yet to establish itself as a real issue concerns me deeply, as it should you too. This fact holds the achievement of gender parity back. We do not often think of society imprisoning men through gender stereotypes, for we often consider them the default of the human race and what women need to rise themselves up to, and this toxic misconception must die. As soon as it was realized that women did not receive the advantages that men did, it was the only issue the enraged women could focus on. Men’s roles in the equation slipped from their minds, and society continued to unconsciously force men to live up to impossible standards of strength, intelligence, confidence, and success. The fact that the word ‘manly’ even exists should raise a red flag. The media constantly bombards you with these messages and carves them deep into your unsuspecting mind. If I asked each of you to make a list of ten men and ten women off the top of your head, chances are the majority of men would occupy authoritative positions such as politicians or leaders, while the women would primarily hold careers in the entertainment field. Men are generally taken more seriously in our society, as well as in societies across the world, and therefore remain more notable in the high-status positions we associate them with. This has built up expectations of men that probably every single one of you feels obligated to live up to. When people feel such intense pressure to fall within certain lines, not doing so proves extremely difficult. A clear, observable example of this occurs in the STEM field. Studies have revealed that careers in the STEM field are overwhelmingly dominated by males, and even that a mere 22% of test takers of the AP computer science exam were female. When Google came out on their frighteningly disproportionate gender statistics, a frenzy of furious and befuddled Americans popped up in regards the lack of female workers. “Why do more women not join the STEM work force?” “Why will employers not hire more women?” “Why do women not deem themselves adequate for such jobs?” These passionate citizens throw these questions around rhetorically, because to them, the answers seem obvious. Then, with these answers, thousands of noble, well-meaning, everyday heroes band together to put an end to this harrowing injustice. However, the fact that they ask these particular questions remains

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

the reason that only two thirds of countries in the developing regions have achieved gender parity in primary education. Because of the answers to these questions, only 74 girls for every 100 boys are enrolled in primary schools in Southern Asia. Because of this mindset, girls in sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and Western Asia still face many barriers when entering both primary and secondary schools. Though the world has made great progress over the years regarding gender parity, if we don’t start asking the right questions, we cannot expect this dream to manifest itself into reality. Questions like, “Why do employers hire men so frequently?” “Why do such a high percentage of men feel obligated to enter STEM fields?” Though these questions do not seem extremely different than the other ones, the switch in perspective will offer startling new ways of looking at the situation. We need to ask these questions because the answers will lead us to fully understanding society’s gender structure, thus bringing about the change we have craved for so long. Once we view these situations from the men’s side, we will realize the entirety of what goes into men feeling like they have no choice but to stay within certain guidelines, which will consequently help us understand why society has left women with the roles they have, and this will allow us to finally do something about it. We will realize that if men give up the need to behave aggressively, women will not feel compelled to behave submissively. If men give up the need to control, women will give up letting men control them. Both men and women should have the freedom to express sensitivity, to find strength within themselves, and to feel comfortable enough to let down the walls that society has forced them to build up, so they can finally express their true selves without crippling anxiety. We need to learn that not falling in perfect alignment with society’s expectations does not make you weak, or defective, or weird. Men, I hate to break it to you, but you do not exist as the more dominant gender. We should not have to tell you to treat your female peers with respect; that speech comes from the subconscious belief that men dominate women, and therefore we must convince men to step down from their pedestal so that women can have a chance as well. However, this pedestal does not exist. Men do not deserve more rights and opportunities than women, just like women do not deserve more rights and opportunities than men. Changing our mindset about gender roles has become critical so that we can gain the freedom to behave unapologetically as ourselves and give the earth the rich diversity that it loves and craves. This change in mindset begins

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

with every one of you asking the right questions and learning the answers so that we can educate the world about the truth behind gender stereotypes and how we do not need them. Admittedly, raising people out of their long-held beliefs and engrained ideas of gender roles will prove difficult, and it will take many steps after changing our mindsets to truly achieve gender equality, but we can do it. We can do it, and we will do it, through guys and girls alike. We can change our perspective on gender so that we can finally experience a world with equality for the total world population, regardless of previous destructive mindsets. Thank you.â&#x20AC;?

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

Eye Variations: Verona Variation

ANCIENT UR FAIR VERONA HAVISHAM MANSION SAVATHI GROVE JONES FARM LONDONTOWNE MYTHICAL ATHENS

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