You do You - E

Stronger - B, E, D

Being able to read all kinds of texts about topics ranging from salmon's swimming patterns to social issues plaguing our society, I was able to get a feel about what topics interest me.  What I realized was that social movements in society is what I found myself enjoying reading about the most, specifically feminism.

I have always been a feminist, even when I was younger and wasn't quite sure about what it meant.  It wasn't until this year until I became very passionate about the subject and this is due the class forcing me to become a more informed citizen, for the sake of my own knowledge and for higher scores on arguments.

While learning about how to construct a convincing argument, the key was to have plenty of information that supports your thesis.  Here are some examples of using evidence to support a point in my more successful argument papers.

Now, one of my own personal theses was that everyone should be a feminist, but I soon realized I didn't have enough information to make my thesis persuasive enough.  This led to many nights spent searching up feminism and researching what it meant to be a feminist and why we needed feminism; the information I found clearly validated my own thesis.

I now know we need feminism because:

• The rape culture in our society blames women for being sexually assaulted and teaches women how not be to raped rather than men to not rape.
• 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted.
• There are hundreds of insults to hurl at women as opposed to the few words used to insult men.
• The government is still trying to restrict what a woman does with her body, but leaves men's bodies alone.
• Women still get paid less than men for doing the same work, 77 cents to a man's dollar and even less for women in minorities.
• When men have a lot of sex, they are seen as icons, "players", but women are seen as sluts, whores and skanks.
• Men still clearly outnumber women in powerful government positions.
• Women aren't expected to be as good as men at maths and sciences.
• Women are specifically targeted by beauty ads to make them feel inferior, so that they will then go out and buy said makeup.
• Women's bodies are regularly exploited on commercials, so much so that society is desensitized to it.
• Women across the world still don't have the right to vote, have an education or have a career.
• Mothers are the ones expected to quit their job once they have a baby, not the fathers.
• Dress codes restrict what parts of their own bodies girls can show, but boys essentially don't have dress codes.  This is teaching girls from a young age to be ashamed of their bodies and that their bodies can pose as distractions to a boy's education which is so much more valuable than a girl's.
• When girls try to run the show, they're bossy, but boys are leaders
• To "hit like a girl" or "run like a girl" is an insult.
• The definition of feminism is literally "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men."  However, it is still surrounded by negative connotations.
• Despite reading all these reasons, some ignorant person out there will probably still think I'm a bitch with too many wrong opinions and demand for me to go make them a sandwich.

However, I now can verbally blast any ignorant nonbeliever with the truth, whether they decide to ignore it or not.  Learning about arguments made my own views and passion for subjects stronger.

Now here are some feminist photos! :)

Real Life - A, D, E

It is true.  These "sisters" do truly follow you; the knowledge you gain from this class follows you.

Just this past week, I attended Girls' State where girls from across Massachusetts gathered at Stonehill College to learn more about law, politics and the questions facing our generation today.  With this program came a surplus of speeches, speeches I was able to see right through because of what I learned about rhetorical analysis.  The speeches that were especially easy to dissect were the speeches from girls running for office.  Being able to see through the appeals and strategies in one's speech made my decisions on who to vote for that much easier and informed.  I didn't even mean to focus on the rhetoric in their speeches, it just kind of happened and I couldn't help it.  This is probably due to the fact that I was doing a rhetorical analysis essay every night for a chunk of this school year and now those skills are embedded in  my brain forever.

The Three Weird Sisters - A, B, C,

From the moment you enter the classroom they stalk you.
Their eyes are always peeled, ready to bare your deepest insecurities,
and no matter what you do you just can't seem to shake them.
Whenever you think you're free you see a billboard, hear a conversation, read an article
and suddenly you're back within their cold grasps.
The three follow you.

My AP Lang start - E

It's only fitting to start my blog off with a little story about my humble beginnings in AP Lang.

Before young Michaela even entered the class, she was nervous, yet excited.  She knew it was going to be difficult, but she was confident in her own abilities and talents.