Brainstorming what type of year-long project I wanted to complete was how I started my process. Part of my process was recognizing the current interests and skills I possess was the beginning of a tough process. Not only did I gain an understanding of what people I want surrounding me, but also recognized my interest in foreign languages, especially Korean. While preparing for the minicourse I had to search online for information and inspiration. I looked up, “What makes a good teacher?” and “Example lesson plans for teaching foreign languages.” During Adventuring into Korean freshman students will be introduced to Hangul, the Korean writing system. I began to create a slideshow that included all of the lesson plans for eight weeks. Eight weeks is a lot! Each week, I used two hours to teach students. I always came with a lesson plan that was ready for the students each week. Freshman completed activities using visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. To create an interactive way of learning a foreign language. Which might seem intimidating to the young students. Together students will be able to successfully match individual Korean letters to their phonetic sound, understand proper syllable format, and recognize frequently used words/phrases.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

This diagram shows how we decoded the theme of dreams in The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. We found quotes about dreams, whether they are references or direct quotes from dreams experienced by the characters. By looking at thematic textual evidence and finding similarities and differences between the quotes, we were able to build a mind map that shows the connections between these scenes and references, and come to our own conclusions through analysis. The black cloud-like shapes contain our quotes, which branch off from labels categorizing the dreams, or mention of them, in The Road. Closer to the center are general themes of these dreams that are easy to understand from a reader’s perspective. Using this organizational structure, we can analyze a category in relation to the theme of dreams in the text: The boy’s dreams act as foreshadowing moments that will appear in the dystopian world we see in McCarthy’s novel.

From the way we’ve organized our map, you can trace one single quote from the outside in, to see which ideas and categories it symbolizes and falls under. For example, “Rich dreams now which he was loath to wake from. Things no longer known in the world […] Memory of her crossing the lawn toward the house in the early morning with a thin rose gown that clung to her breasts”(131) is a quote that falls under the often-recurring dreams of the man’s wife, which we’ve placed under the general theme of his old life and the world before the dystopia we see in the book, all within the mention of dreams that often occurs in The Road.

This organization system has allowed us to find common themes in dreams with each character: we’ve noted that the boy’s dreams are most closely associated with complacency and helplessness, and that the man’s dreams of his wife are often colorful, which is a motif closely associated with death. When the man lectures his son on dreams, he is most often foreshadowing later events in the book, such as his own death, or giving up and surrendering to your dreams, an idea also closely linked to death. Lastly, any dreams having to do with monsters or beings of any sort explore the symbol of blindness, which has biblical connections we don’t go into here.

What Was I Made For (By Billie Eilish) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpnTd9Dx2OM The song “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish was originally proposed for the Barbie movie, but to me it resonates with society’s stereotypes. This song in particular is written from the perspective of a female, questioning what she has to do with her life. There are moments in The Handmaid’s Tale where this theme is shown. The role that the Handmaids play is to only reproduce and have sex with men. Not only Offred has to follow the rules of Gilead, all women feel strangely controlled by men. Owning the opposite gender means that the female characters in Gilead have no choice of what they can do. In Gilead it is the only requirement they need to fill. If not, the women are considered outcasts or unwomen.

Verse 1: Takin’ a drive, I was an ideal, Looked so alive, turns out I’m not real, Just something you paid for, What was I made for?

Boys Will Be Boys (By Dua Lipa) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QWX2M7W7M The female community are both referenced in this song and in the section “Jezebel’s” of The Handmaid’s Tale. The Commander uses his title to get what he wants. The section focused on the wrong and secretive relationship of Offred and the Commander. The skimpy outfit the Commander made Offred wear to Jezebel’s implies that his intentions are only about sex. Only about his gain and pleasure. “Better never means, better for everyone, he says, it always means worse, for some.” (211) The Commander abuses his power and decides what body parts should be seen or covered. In verse 3, the lyric, “And that was sarcasm, in case you needed it mansplained…” shows a stereotype that takes place in society.

Verse 3: I’m sure there’s something that I can’t find the words to say. I know that there will be a man around to save the day. And that was sarcasm, in case you needed it mansplained, I should’ve stuck to ballet.

Best Days (By Alessia Cara) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEIAcNu6FpI The men in Gilead have a higher role in the society. There are moments where the Commander requests Offred’s presence in his office, where she is not allowed to be. This shows how the Commander can bend the rules for his own pleasure. The relationship between Offred and the Commander starts out as a transactional relationship, but then begins to take an unwarranted turn. “I visit the Commander two or three nights a week, always after dinner, but only when I get the signal.” (p 154). Similarly the song includes uncertainty about life that is not controllable. That interaction with the world around you will change your life in one way or another. What will the next day bring?

Verse 3: What if my best days are the days I’ve left behind? And what if the rest stays the same for all my life? I’m running with my eyes closed, so it goes. You live and then you die. But the hardest pill to swallow is the meantime. Are the best days just the one that we survive?

Locked Out of Heaven (By Bruno Mars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXMXxialNbo The song Locked Out of Heaven includes themes about sexual relationships and religious wording. In The Handmaid’s Tale sex is important and is brought up in daily life. Yet, the conversations never seem to be public. Always in private and voiced inside the characters head. “What we prayed for with emptiness so we would be worthy to be filled: with grace, with love, with self denial, semen and babies.” (p 194) There are word choices in Margret Atwood’s writing that challenge the reader to think about the purpose of the female gender.

Verse 1: Never had much faith in love or miracles (ooh), Never wanna put my heart on the line (ooh), But swimmin in your water’s something spiritual (ooh), I’m born again every time you spend the night (ooh)

Dear Society (By Madison Beer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buildkXr1h0 Madison Beer uses her skills of writing lyrics to use metaphors/symbols. Atwood also uses symbolism to indicate the connection to the current world. Cigarettes can be hurtful to a human’s insides. There can be mental and physical consequences. Magazines, another symbol that often comes up in the novel. Images of almost naked women and sexual ads portray the same idea. “It would make me feel that I have power. But such feeling is illusion, and too risky.” The characters in Gilead have no idea about what is happening in the outside world. Nonetheless they can’t change someone’s opinion that they can’t approach.

Verse 1: Sleepless nights and cigarettes. My daily dose of internet. And all the things I shoulda quit, but never did, oh. Evil voices in my head. I woke up in a stranger’s bed…

Reflecting on Female Body Image

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a complicated piece of literature. Atwood allows the plot of this story to flow nicely by narrating and using the perspective from Offred, the main character. Writing the novel through first person shows how much impact Offred has on the other women in Gilead. The Handmaid’s Tale focuses on the female gender. Offred has to obey the rules, do her duties, and continue to interact with other humans. There are activities like this I have to complete. I take my time in the shower washing my body, doing my laundry and folding my clothes, and participating in exercise to improve my body.

Throughout the novel, I noticed that Atwood often relies on short and choppy sentences that get right to the point. “ We are containers, it’s only the insides of our body that are important”(96). Ideas of feminism connect with me , as a young adult who identifies as a female. Young females struggle with healthy images of themselves. Often, girls pick on themselves affecting their emotional health. I have been meeting with a therapist. Though therapy is not a highlight of my life, I believe it should be more normalized to attend. I too have insecurities. I have struggled with being comfortable with my body.

smooth skin, delicate limbs, and curves around the body. the beauty standard that girls have been inspired from. Instagram models become popular followed by the public. This isn’t fair to people who are called fat, round, or thick. If the human body is healthy and functioning these variables should not matter.

Offred in Gilead often remembers things from the time before. In Gilead, the Handmaids’ purpose is to bear children: “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation… I could use it to run, push buttons of one sort or another, make things happen. There were limits, but my body was nevertheless lithe, single, solid, one with me”(73). Actions of the handmaids should at all times be toward getting pregnant. Boobs are examined looking for tenderness, and they are questioned about appetite. I too have body parts that identify me as a woman. I have to go through the monthly process of having a menstruation cycle. I run for frisbee, I walk and take the bus to school, and type on my computer to complete assignments.

I have a sweet tooth. There is barely any candy I won’t eat quickly. I often give into the cravings, stuffing myself with fast food, ice cream, and chocolate. Calories travel to different parts of the body and make them look wider or enlarged—My thighs feel too thick, my chest bigger than others, and my arms dangle. My parents often remark, “Dinah, I’ve noticed you look skinnier recently. Have you been eating lunch?” There are times where school lunches aren’t good. I deny it, I eat outside of school, I look healthy. I want to feel proud , confident, and special in my body. It will come with time and support from my friends, family, and classmates.

Hola, yo me llamo Dinah. En mi casa, las personas son divertidas. Mi madre, mi papá, mis hermanos viven conmigo. Yo vivo en una casa. Yo tengo dos hermanos mayores. Tengo dos primas menores y un primo mayor.

Mis padres son trabajadores, responsables y sinceros Mi madre tiene ojos marrones, pelo corto y lentes naranja. Ella lleva camiseta, pantalones y zapatos marrones. Mi madre tiene cincuenta años. Mi papá es muy alto y muy gordo. Él tiene pelo corto y gris, ojos azules y pequeñas orejas. Mi madres, papá y madre fallecieron.

Mis hermanos mayores son muy altos. Ethan vive en la escuela de Masterman, y Aryeh trabaja en la casa. Mis hermanos tienen pelo corto y castaños . Ethan y Aryeh son muy delgados. Aryeh es más mayor que yo. Él tiene veintisiete años. Aryeh es muy trabajador y responsable. Mis abuelas tienen pelo gris, gafas, ojos azules, y su casa es muy grande.

Yo me llamo Dinah. Yo soy la hermana menor. Tengo dieciséis años, y llevo gafas moradas. Yo tengo los ojos azules, el pelo moreno y largo, y llevo pijamas. Soy alta y vivo en Philadelphia.