Rogue - Issue one

ROGUE

EDITORIAL This is Anastacia and mines first Rogue, and I won’t deny it’s been a tough one. I’ll be the first to admit that it was a struggle, but as you can tell by reading this, we made it!

First and foremost, I want to thank each and every one of you who made this possible. The amazing writers who have astounded me with their proactiveness in the amount of time we were able to give them, and my friends who helped me edit articles without a second thought.

We couldn’t have done it without you guys.

Articles came in every form, about Feminism and struggle, as well as a piece on ‘Rosy retrospection’, asking us to question how we see the world. We have tried to include a range of articles, in the hopes that we can offer something that suits everyone from cheerful to thought provoking. I was amazed at the talent and dedication I was able to witness. I hope

I hope as you leaf through the issue, hopefully doing a little more than skim reading each page, you can see this as I have.

I can’t wait to see what else people come up with throughout the year as we move forward and settle into this new term. I invite you all to send over ideas you have for any weird and wonderful piece you think is worth reading.

This year has been a wild one… 2021 will be a one to remember. As we look back on the last two years, I hope we can all be proud of ourselves for surviving and still managing to show up to classes and hand in work. In this new school year, I hope you can all take a few moments to sit down and take it all in.

Sometimes we find ourselves living too fast, and unforgettable moments can pass you by and you won’t know it until you find your self in your final year of school writing the same editorial you read 6 years ago. This paper has

always been a dream of mine and I hope I can do it justice for you all.

Thank you again to everyone who supported us in the making of this issue, and of course the reader, without which none of this would be possible.

Rebecca Ward

THE SCHOOL PLAY I think we can all agree that this past year has been quite a tough one, especially for the many actors having to halt all of their acting jobs and stay indoors due to this horrendous virus. But now there is light. Theatres are re-opening; actors are going back to work, and we are ready to begin this year with a bang.

The school has decided to put on a wonderful show for all its pupils, staff, teachers and family friends of said groups, with a thrilling re-enactment of a classic Greek Play. MEDEA! The play opens in a scene of conflict.

Immediately we are met with violence and a search for power. Medea’s husband Jason has run off with their two sons, his goal is to marry King Creon of Corint ‘s daughter Glauce for the increase of his station which will ultimately lead to his gain in power and status. Medea is filled with rage and immediately seeks revenge for what Jason has done. She is now committed to finding her husband and making him suffer for the pain that he put her through. This is a story full of passion, and the most critical element of all, revenge. Greek theatre is one of the foundations of drama and theatre as a whole. The Greeks took their entertainment very seriously and they used theatre as a way of investigating the world they lived in and what it meant to be human. They had three main styles of

theatre which were Comedy, Satir and most important of all, tragedy! We also use a lot of the basic teachings of Greek theatre in most of our western theatre productions now.

This is a great start for the acting society in our school and we look forward to enjoying plenty more opportunities for fresh drama talent in the future. We shall see you soon at the opening of this very powerful and thrilling show of Royal Russell’s performance of… MEDEA! The Rogue’s own Ellie Baker will be playing the part of Medea and I hope you all get a chance to come and see her wonderful performance.

HAMZAH MUGHAL

Sixth form survival guide Having recently started Year 12 and being exposed to the surprising jump between GCSEs and A levels we have found it can be challenging to adjust. But never fear we are here with our best tips and tricks to help you set off on the right foot.

Tip 1: Choose A levels you love.

You will be studying these courses for two whole years and in great depth, so it will make it much easier if you do what you enjoy. This will be reflected in your grades as you will be more engaged and will, therefore, thrive in your subjects.

Tip 2: Complete the Bridging work Now, we all know how in need of a break we are after doing GCSEs, however, bridging work is key. It lays the foundation works before you start your course and will help you understand basic concepts in the subjects. That being said, A levels requires hard work, so make sure to use your summer to relax.

Tip 3: Make a lot of new friends.

The idea of new people joining, old friends leaving or even starting a new school yourself, can be nerve wracking. However, throw yourself into using this opportunity to make friends and widen your circle. You never know what new friendships you might make.

Tip 4: Join as many clubs as you can.

Royal Russell school offers a wide range of extra-curricular activities to choose from. You will be certain to find something you love and if not, do not worry you can make your own by talking to your Tutor or Head of Year! These clubs will allow a break from studying, and a chance to spend time with friends outside the classroom. Many of these would be a brilliant addition to your personal statement which will help when later applying to further education.

Tip 5: Use your frees wisely.

We are sure you are all anticipating the free periods that you receive when you join 6th form, now that you study only 3 or 4 subjects. However, our biggest tip is to use these to your own advantage. You can use these periods to do homework, or to even read ahead for your upcoming lessons. This will only benefit your A levels in the long term and help you keep on top of the workload.

Whilst we have may made Sixth form sound stressful and a bit scary, we can ensure you it’s not and we have loved these first few weeks, and only hope you do too when you finally begin Year 12.

Serena Biju & Ria Patel

Pumpkin Cupcakes THEA SAVA Ingredients For the sponge

Instructions Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and line a cupcake tin with 12 paper cases In a large bowl whisk together the light brown soft

175 g Light brown soft sugar sugar, eggs and vegetable oil 100 ml Vegetable oil 2 Eggs large Add the pumpkin puree and whisk in 200 g Pumpkin puree 200 g Self raising flour ½ tsp Baking powder In another bowl stir together the self-raising flour, A pinch of Salt baking powder, salt and all of the spices - cinna1 tsp Cinnamon mon, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice ½ tsp Mixed spice ¼ tsp Ground ginger Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture ¼ tsp Nutmeg

and whisk them together

For the buttercream

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases, 200 g Butter softened, unsalted and bake them for 20-25 minutes until they are 400 g Icing sugar golden brown and a thin skewer or cocktail stick 1 tsp Vanilla extract inserted in the centre comes out clean. Put them on a cooling rack to cool completely To make the buttercream, mix together the butter, cinnamon, vanilla extract, milk and icing sugar with an electric whisk until smooth.

If the buttercream is too stiff then you can add some more milk to it Pipe the buttercream onto each cupcake using a piping bag fitted with a suitable nozzle or spread it on with a spoon Add any decoration if desired. Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in a cool place for to be eaten in 3 days

The Lost Fathers Of 9/11 As we have just passed the 20th anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on the 11th of September 2001. I would like to reflect on the children whose parents were ripped from their lives by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda.

105 children were born after their fathers were killed by the towers, only ever knowing them through photos and stories. Even without being born at the time these children are still affected by the attack every day of their lives.

For example: Ronald Milam, Jr. (see below) who is now 20, lost his dad in the attack on the Pentagon while his mother, Jacqueline, was five months pregnant with him. while playing high school basketball he always wore the number 33 on his jersey, representing how old his father was when he died.

“I feel honoured to have the same personality and to look like him” he said, “because I can live and do the stuff he wanted to do, but can’t”. He explains in the Channel 4 documentary ‘the children of 9/11’ that he has acceptance and doesn’t look back in sadness and believes that life and time doesn’t stop for anyone to catch up so you have to make the most of everything all the time.

ROSIE RAY

a rosy retrospective

When watching Star Wars with a friend I A common example of this would be an was taken aback as she abruptly paused older relative claiming ‘this isn’t how it the film and proclaimed that it wasn’t was in my day’ or something along simhow she had previously remembered ilar lines, which would fall quite niceit was worse. This shocked me for two ly into the category of Declinism. This reasons, the first being utter annoyance is the belief that a society or organisathat she had insulted objectively the best tion is growing weaker over time. Demovie franchise of all time. But the sec- spite the congruence between rosy retond reason surprised me in a different rospect and Declinism, they do have way. Why was it that I perceive it dif- distinct differences. Rosy retrospection ferently? I still see a film created in the is a belief that the past was better than 80’s the same way I did over a decade it originally was, while other memories ago on my first viewing. I noticed I do and perceptions are perceived accuthis more than I realise, the grandeur of rately. Declinism is a belief that the past some things never fades, and may even was better and is compared to the presamplify over the passing of time. I had ent. When this is voiced publicly and fallen victim to rosy retrospection. repetitively it can bring about a widespread idea that the past was better, and Rose tinted glasses is the more well- even enforce social change for both the known term for occurrences like better and the worse. these. The idea that we perceive our past to be better than it original- Nostalgia and familiarity bring about ly was, has been around for centuries, wonderful feelings that are designed the Latin phrase ‘memoria praeterito- to keep us safe and help us recognise rum bonorum’, which translates rough- things we once enjoyed, but it’s also imly to the ‘past is remembered well’, was portant not to let reality slip away. Recoined by the romans. So, why is it that gardless of the events of yesterday there humans need to alter memories of days are new adventures waiting tomorrow. gone by? Rosy retrospection is a cognitive bias, which in layman’s terms means that the brain slightly deviates a memory from reality. This could be for a number of reasons such as wanting to bring about peace to a memory that would otherwise cause a person to be restless or guilt that may be caused by not appreciating an event in the moment.

Isabel Leyland

WHY FEMINISM BENEFIT Feminism is a hugely misunderstood word. Men-haters, Feme-Nazis, aggressive women are all things used more often than not to describe who feminists are. Feminism has grown wrongful connotations that people are scared of the word and scared to associate with it. However, the truth is that feminism actually benefits everyone, all genders, races, ethnicities, cultures, because feminism is the belief of the right to choose.

is that they should be more aggressive, more willing to fight and use violence.

In comparison, women’s stereotypes are that they should bed be motherly and nurturing, gentle and weaker. Hence, in the context of a child custody case, as a wide range of jurisdictions, the estimates are that mothers receive primary custody 68-88% of the time, fathers receive primary custody 8-14%, and equal residential custody is awarded in only 2-6% of the cases. Furthermore, proving that There have been multiple different waves the patriarchy has a negative impact on of feminism throughout history, with so- both men and women, as men are seen cial change for women in the 20’s, mov- less like parental figures than women. ing on to more economic and political rights. There are even different types of Toxic masculinity is also another very feminism, such as intersectional femi- common misconception. It does not nism which focuses on the bigger prob- mean all men are toxic, or being masculems women in our society face today line is toxic. What it means is that these concerning different religions, cultures, unrealistic expectations of all men to be sexuality, economic status and national- aggressive, never cry, be dominant and ity, not only middle-class white women’s authoritative, results in harmful repissues. However, the reason why femi- resentations of masculinity that men can nism is relevant to all people is because at be a victim of, resulting in 97% of dothe root of it all, feminism focuses on ex- mestic abusers being male. The sexism posing the problems within the patriar- in society against women is greater and chal society we live in. A patriarchal soci- needs to be focused on more as there is ety is a social system in which men hold more to fix. For example, Britain and primary power and predominate roles the Western world has come a long way of political leadership, moral authority, in gender equality, and for that many social privilege, and control of poverty. women are thankful, however, there are By trying to lessen this patriarchy, femi- still major issues that haven’t yet been nism is also trying to tear down the gen- resolved for example, only 6 countries der roles and stereotypes for both men give women equal legal work rights as and women. For example, typical male men. The World Bank’s recent Women, sterotypes enforced on us by this society Business and the Law report measured

TS EVERYONE areas. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum’s most recent Global Gender Gap report at the current rate of progress, it will take another 108 years to reach gender parity. However, just because the life you currently live doesn’t seem that bad in terms of sexism, doesn’t mean that other places are the same.

the right to have the same freedom of choice as others. To be able to break down traditional and dated views on what a man and woman should be. I believe it gives people to freedom of self-expression, to live your life how you intend to, and to feel respected as another human being no matter what gender you are, race, religion, if you are part of Feminism is the fight for women all the LGBTQ+ community, etc. across the world to be considered equal, not just politically and economically, but That is why feminism benefits everyone. socially, to receive the same respect society has for men. For example, globally, 12 million girls each year get married before the age of 18 - roughly 33,000 every day, or one every two seconds. There are some 650 million women alive today who were child brides.

ELLIE BAKER

The reasons behind it vary between communities, but it’s often because girls are not valued as highly as boys and marrying them off at a young age transfers the ‘economic burden’ to another family. Additionally, women in rural parts of Africa spend 40 billion hours a year collecting water due to a lack of services and infrastructure, combined with an expectation of household duties and limited employment opportunities for women, meaning they shoulder an unequal burden of gathering water and wood for their families.

Therefore, the idea of feminism gives women and all people in general the

EDITORS:

2

Anastacia Allan

U

Becky Ward

E

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’S EDITOR’S OF R 2 2 0 OG 2 1

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Ellie Baker Caitlin Chacksfield Becca Burton

CONTRIBUTORS: Thea Sava Rosie Ray Hamzah Mughal Serena Biju Ria Patel Isabel Leyland Ellie Baker

COVER ART: Becca Burton