Rube Goldberg Satire
Final Product:
Final Product:
Reflection
Paragraph 1: Analysis
For this project, we were tasked with creating a satirical art piece. I decided to focus on the black lives matter movement. I drew a white man and a black woman, the black woman was bleeding and had bullet wounds, and the white man had a tiny scratch. My rube goldberg machine put a bandaid on the white man's scratch, to illustrate what we focus on here in the United States. I used juxtaposition by comparing and contrasting the two different characters, and I used irony in that the bandaid landed on the person who didn’t need any help. I chose these devices because I thought that they would best illustrate a powerful and heartbreaking truth about our society. I wanted viewers to walk away feeling like the issues Black Lives Matter are focused on were well explained.
Paragraph 2: Learning
The most important thing that I learned is that satire can be much more powerful than just funny. I have always looked at satire as simply another version of comedy, and this is entirely untrue. It is important to recognise that satire is different than you may have thought because you are then able to appreciate satirical works in a new light. In my satire, I tried to focus on making my point come across, not making it funny. I used juvenalian satire, meant to be more biting and critical. This made my final product much more interesting and targeted.
Paragraph 3: Satire
Satire allows you to make important commentaries in ways that will grab viewers attention. Satire entertains while also making you think about real issues whether they be social, political, or anything else. Satire is most effective when the target is clear, and there is humor behind it. In the article we read, A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, he wrote very clearly about what he was trying to criticize and also made you laugh.
Paragraph 4: Self-Assessment
I gave myself a 9 on the self assessment. I spent the majority of the semester so far being engaged, and responsible. However, towards the end of the project, I think that my attention to detail and my overall engagement dropped slightly. I missed two assignments only because I didn’t look at Classroom, even though they were done. However, during class discussions like the U.S Capitol siege class day, and even attended the after class full school discussion. For the rest of the semester, I plan to start looking through my assignments and giving myself reminders of due dates. I have been using my google calendar as well as another study app to make me more focused while at home. This way, I don’t miss easy assignments due to forgetfulness.
Igbo Women's War Op-Ed
Project Description:
For this project, we studied a specific revolt in colonial Africa. I chose to study the Igbo Women's War. We created an art piece and wrote an op-ed about our events.
Visual Piece:
Imperialism Project Reflection
Directions:
For the Project Reflection, address ALL of the prompts below in full TEA paragraphs. Make sure that you are addressing each question in depth, and using specific examples from your classes, your Op-Ed, and your visual piece to support your answers.
Paragraph 1: Pride
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When you think about this project (both the Op-Ed and the visual piece), what are you most proud of and why?
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Be specific! This could be a particular aspect of your final product, part of your work process, a specific revision you made...anything!
For this project, my original idea was to create a collage. This is in my comfort zone, as I do not consider myself an artist and have never had much success drawing/ painting. Due to the COVID case and the following quarantine, I was unable to access a printer, so I decided to paint instead. I spent hours watching videos and practicing my drawing skills, then even more time actually creating my piece. In the end, it turned out really good, and I was so proud of it.
Paragraph 2: Difficulties
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Where did you run into difficulty with this project? Give specific examples.
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How did you deal with these difficulties?
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What choices could you have made differently to avoid or deal with these difficulties more successfully?
My biggest obstacle was trying to rewrite my op-ed. I have never been very good at refining my work, or making big changes, but for this project, I ended up writing three very stylistically different pieces. After getting feedback from Lori, I decided to rework my thesis and therefore my entire essay, and that was very challenging for me. In the end, I was able to put in the work and wrote an essay that I think worked very well.
Paragraph 3: Learning
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What is the most important thing you learned over the course of this project?
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Why is this important, and how do we see this learning in your final project?
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This could focus on specific content or knowledge you learned, a skill you developed, self-knowledge, work habits/processes...all of it is fair game!
I learned a couple of very crucial things. First, I learned how to relate history to the present, and write about it in a more clear way. This is very important because one of the most important things about learning history is relating it to our current situations. Being able to draw those parallels is a crucial writing skill. I also learned how to communicate a point through artwork. I am a writer at heart, and writing has always to me been the most efficient way to communicate with an audience. During this project, however, I was able to experiment with paintings, and to my surprise, I thought that my painting was even better than my op-ed.
Paragraph 4: Writing Growth
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How have you grown as a writer over the course of writing this Op-Ed? Think about specific writing skills and processes you feel like you are better at now.
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Give one or two specific examples from your Op-Ed (yes, quote yourself!), and explain how they show this growth.
I have grown in many ways but I think the most important is that I have learned how to take feedback better. I have always been very proud, so feedback has never been my strong suit. Because of this, I never lived up to my fullest potential. This assignment, however, I decided to really dig into my rough draft and make it the best it could possibly be. One place that this is apparent is my thesis. The original is
“The Igbo Women’s War paved the way for peaceful protest, the hallmark of many grassroots movements like Black Lives Matter.”
I changed this to,
“Black women are often the instruments of change, unifying and organizing to create massive demonstrations of protest, as evidenced by the Igbo Women’s War and the Black Lives Matter movement.” for my final draft.
Paragraph 5: Self-Assessment
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Using the rubric below, give yourself the score that you think best describes your performance in this class so far.
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Explain why you gave yourself that score, with specific examples from the semester so far in Humanities.
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What is one specific thing you think you can do to improve your performance on the things listed below? How will you put this into practice for the rest of the semester?
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Please note- I will be grading this not based on the score you give yourself, but on the accuracy of your self-assessment and the specificity of your explanations and plans. So, if you give yourself a 5, you could still score very well on this reflection assignment if you have detailed explanations for why, and a plan!
I gave myself a ten on this scale because I feel my performance and growth in this class has been very strong. I started this class struggling to receive feedback and change my draft accordingly. Now, I have learned how to write multiple versions of one piece, which you can see because I had four drafts of my op-ed. I have attended class and worked very hard everyday, often finishing assignments early, and never turning things in late. During the peer feedback day, I worked very hard to give my partner, Victor Vega, clear, in depth feedback that he could use.