Act of Resistance 101

Okay, so did my first act of resistance ever on Wednesday, for our assignment. I chose to hand out clips of Various issues that I wrote about, that exist in our society today. I want to raise awareness to them and just show my classmates that although some issues may seem like “Oh, that wouldn’t happen to anyone I know …” or “That stuff doesn’t go on all the time ... only when the news mentions it”, these issues are real and happen to people everyday. I chose to write about : suicide, drunk driving, gay marriage, our environment, and hate crimes.
Personally, coming up with the act was more influential to me than actually doing it, just because of the fact that while I researched the statistics regarding these issues, I myself was in a sense (for lack of better terms) “dumb-founded” . I simply could not believe how much these issues impact the lives of people everyday and every year. The issues that impacted me the most were drunk driving and suicide. I cannot believe that half of the accidents that occur in Wisconsin can be avoided if only people used their common sense and chose the right decision to not only keep their lives from danger, but the lives of others also.
Suicide impacted me greatly because of the fact that suicides are the second leading cause of teen deaths, following vehicular homicide. Not only that, but I AM a teen and it is hard for me to picture that anyone I encounter throughout my day both at school and outside of school could even consider suicide. Another reason why Suicide hit me the hardest is because when I handed one to Ms. Daroszeski (you) she told me about when she can across a story about a seventeen year old young man who decided he was going to commit suicide live on the internet. He was in a live chat rooms with cruel human beings (if you want to consider them human after what they were doing) who were egging him on, to commit suicide right before their eyes. He chose to overdose on medication and there were a few lovely souls who seen the cruelty and wanted to reach the people who ran the sight so that they could find him hopefully in time to hospitalize him. Turned out they found him twelve hours later dead, and the camera was still running when the police arrived. I cannot believe that someone would first of all, do this, and second of all, WATCH. Not only that, but those people were egging him on. This is just evidence to why our world is becoming worse and worse in a sense that people do not have respect for themselves, others, of the environment which sustains their lives. In my eyes, it really is just pitiful.
While I was doing my act of resistance, I really was happy when people took the time to read my clips and they actually were “dumb-founded” just like me. I feel that they were ashamed at how ignorant people can be these days. One experience that I was somewhat upset with was that when I gave a clip to a fellow classmate, they chose to set it aside and not even give it a look, my reaction was to take the clip and give it to someone who would actually take the time to read it and I did. This was just evidence to me, why these issues occur. People choose to be ignorant to the issues that occur in society and that is why these things keep going on. If people took that time to be more aware, we would not have these problems. I do not mean to “bust anyone out”, because I respect everyone, I just thought I might share this because I wass totally appalled by this behavior.
If I were to do anything differently, I think I should have handed out more clips and handed them out in the hallways rather than just in my classes, because I feel like seniors are usually more mature and aware of issues and the underclassmen should be filed in on the issues too, so that they could carry on the awareness to Rufus King’s future students.
Well, as far as if my act has any affect on the future, I am not sure, but I know that f someone in my classes is encountering these issues they will think twice about their actions because they can be the ones to save someone’s life, even their own. In the future, I hope that I can be part of a huge movement to tackle these issues in society, and I will always try to stay aware of the issues and be updated to see if the world as we know it is improving.

If you were interested in my clips, here they are:

OUR ENVIRONMENT…
Our world as we know it, does not have a never ending supply of natural resources and many of us sometimes forget this. We leave the water running as we brush our teeth, we forget to recycle, and leave lights on as we leave rooms…there are so many things we forget to due, but they all hurt our environment.

IF YOU WANT YOUR GRANDCHILDREN AND THEIR GRANDCHILDREN TO ENJOY THE WORLD LIKE WE DO TODAY, HELP CONSERVE AND RECYCLE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!

HATE CRIMES…
The number of hate crimes occurring in Wisconsin has over doubled in the last decade. Hate Crimes are those committed against another person due to them being “different”. The most common hate crimes are those against, those of another religion or sexual preference. About 46% of hate crimes are never even reported. If we live in a nation where people are suppose to be embraced by diversity…why are these things happening?

HATE CRIMES ARE NEVER ACCEPTABLE…NO CRIMES ARE ACCEPTABLE. THINK TWICE BEFORE JUDGING SOMEONE ELSE!

DRUNK DRIVING…
In 2006, there were approximately 772 vehicle accidents in Wisconsin alone. 352 of those vehicle accidents were due to a driver being under the influence of alcohol. That means that approximately 46% of accidents were caused by drunk drivers. You can only imagine how the numbers have gone up since then.

HELP TO PREVENT ALCOHOL-RELATED ACCIDENTS, MAKE SURE YOU FAMILY RETURNS HOME SAFE AFTER THE HOLIDAYS…DON’T LET THEM DRIVE DRUNK!

GAY MARRIAGE…
Imagine if you could not marry someone you loved, because you weren’t granted the right. You would have built your lives together, to not be granted the right to legally be binded. If one of you grew old and were to die…the other would be left with nothing, not matter even if the deceased partner was the provider in the relationship. The partner left would be left to fend for themselves.

YOUR SEXUALITY SHOULD NOT AFFECT THE RIGHTS GRANTED TO YOU BY LAW. HELP SO THAT NO ONE WILL BE LEFT ALONE!

SUICIDE…
Did you know that suicide is the Second leading cause of deaths in people ages 15-17, just after the number one cause: vehicular homicide. Males tend to commit suicide by a significantly greater margin than females. There are about 2,000 hospitalizations each year for suicide attempts within this age group.

SUICIDE IS A REAL PROBLEM AMONGST TEENS. LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THEIR LIFE IS WORTH LIVING!

Our visit from UWM Professors

I thought that our visit from the UWM Professors was insiteful. I admit, I am terrified about how I will do in college, but I do have hope and their visit gave me a little more hope.
I am relieved that they said that basically, the only way you can fail, is if you do not TRY and put forth effort and I am a person who I feel, definitely puts forth effort and sometimes I just dont get concept and it is definitely not that I'm not trying, it is just that I am struggling. I know that not putting forth enough effort will not be a problem for me, so I am pretty confudent that I wont ever fail :) That's definitely a good thing. I am so happy with our discussion, because I feel like I am definitely ready for college. I believe that my participation in IB Theatre 1 and the PEOPLE Program definitely give me an advantage as far as being prepared for college, because I can definitely openly discuss and analyze things without the intervention of a teacher, because in both, i got experienece with it. I have to say...I have hope :)

The Boycott and Lysistrata

The Boycott was a great performance and although it was not exactly like Lysistrata, it definitely displayed many of the same themes and concepts. It was what it was suppose to be, a modern-day version of Lysistrata. It applied an issue that we have today, which is global warming as opposed to stopping a war, although the concept of stopping a war could definitely have been applied to a modern-day lysistrata because of the fact that we in the united states are in a war right now. There are two things that I found very different and unique about The Boycott compared to Lysistrata.
In The Boycott, Lisa Stratton (playing the part of Lysistrata) had a little frog friend that motivated her her keep on with the boycott she was holding, while Lysistrat had no one to motivate her, except herself. Lysistrata herself, was the motivater for everyone. Also, Lisa Stratton elded up being the one who broke the Boycott oath she created. She ended up having sex with her husband, however, things still ended up being improved. I believe that Lisa Stratton should not be portrayed as necessarily weaker than Lysistrata for not abstaining. I would consider her more realistic somewhat, not to say that women are weaker necessarily than in the past, however, in her situation, Lisa Stratton did what she could and did not make as much of a fool out of herself as one would think.

Abstinence brings about Peace

This is definitely portrayed throughout the whole play/plot. The abstinence of the women brought peace to Greece/Athens, between the poeple of Sparta and Athens. This can relate to present day issues/topics, because refraining from certain things can avoid troubles and issues. An example of this is alcohol, by refraining from using alcohol, you can stop issues that exist today like drunk driving. Another example that also can result in a better outcome, is refraining from using drugs, because it causes violence amongst people, and not to mention, it is illegal. Abstinence from many things can bring about piece. Anything from abstinence from using bad language, fighting/war (obviously, like in the story), stealing, gang activity, drugs, alcohol, and etc.

Make love, Not War

This theme applies to this book both literaly and figuratively. Make love can beinterpreted from a sexual perspective, and meaning having sex. It can be interpreted from a figurative perspective meaning making love as in making peace, harmony and care amongst people, to essentially, teach them to "love" eachother despite their differences, just as in this book. Lysistrata wants the men to agree to make peace so that the people of Greece can love one another and live in peace and harmony. And basically, to stop the war. Lysistrata wants the people of Greece to unite and love one another rather than continue the war.

United under Lysistrata

The women are all united under lysistrata and to me, she was the perfect woman to unite under. She displays the characteristics of a great leader. Lysistrata is bold and not afraid to stick up for change when no one else will, even during times when women were not seen as capable to basically do anything other than house work. Lysistrata is brilliant and comes up with the whole abstinence movement and has the strength and self-control to not onyl keep herself from breaking the pact of abstinence, but also prevent the women from breaking the oath. She reminds me of someone that I could see leading our nation as the first femal president of the united states. she must have qualities like Lysistrata, like the strength, confidence, and discipline to fight for her counbtry and what she believes in, no matter what the costs. Lysistrata stand for unity, just as our first lady-president will hopefully stand to unify and strengthen our nation.

Kinesias

Kinesias is the perfect example to why the women won. Lysistrata predicted exactly what would happen with the men and why her plan would work. Her plan DID work. The men turned desperate like she said and came running back to them, "craving" their wives. The women were able to make the men submit to their demands. Kinesias basically represented the men of Greece and how although they claim to be so strong and mighty, they actually depend on their wives and without them, would be lost.

Brains vs. Brawn

I think this basically separates the men from the women in Lysistrata, because in the play, the men are the ones using physical strength and force, while the women are the ones using their brains. Lysistrata unites the women together to make sure that they get their point across. The women unite and make the men submit to them by out-smarting them and using their weakness for lust against them. The women basically the women make a fool out of the men, who are "stronger" than them physically, without even lifting a finger.

I totally love Lysistrata's idea to use "Peace's" body as a map. It totally gave meaning to her movement. Basically she wanted the men to treat the land and people from all over the land just as they treat the different parts of their wives' bodies. Just as the men treat their wives well, she wanted them to see that they should treat their lands and fellow people well. Reachign peace, is like putting the whole body together as one. Different parts of the body arent any good by themselves, just as ununified people are not as good those that are unified.

The Spartans

Okay, I really did not like the way the "translator" chose to portray the Spartans. I understand that he wanted them to be portrayed as "lesser" than the Athenians, however, the accent just threw me off. The fact that he included a southern accent to me, did not mesh well with the play from my literary perspective. The whole Southern accent was to odd for both the time period and the fact that they were in Greece. I can, however, see the author's reasoning behind giving the Spartans a Southern accent. He wanted to portray them as "lesser" and also somehow show that they were different and from afar, just as many times, people see in people with accents and southern accents in today's time. In a way, the accents does fit, since the play was suppose to be "modernized".

Lysistrata

Language is my focus for right now...

The language used in Lysistrata, I think is very important to not only to the plot, but the puns included get in depth to add more meaning. The puns are great and most are exactly on point. They show how lysistrata has reason behind remainging abstinent. Just as the puns have underlying meanings, so does Lysistrata's oath of abstinence. She does not just want to keep people from pleasure, but show the importance of the bigger issue at heart...making peace. I love that Aristophanes (or the modernator...yes, i invented this word for the man who rewrote it) had the choruses speak in song towards the end of the play. Them soeaking in song, somewhat foreshadowed in my eyes, the outcome of the rebellion...peace. Just as the choruses bickered at the beginning, they joined in song, and just as the men and women had different views about the war and making peace, they joined in peace at the end. Writing in song, was a nice touch to add for emphasis on the fact that peace was in the air.