An Argument Louder than Bombs

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first digital final presentations! For this FP we were asked to create our own guiding question based on one of our core classes. My guiding question for this presentation is...

What is an argument that is important to me? 

One of my answers to this question lies in my poem: Snakes. 

I wrote this poem to perform in the Louder Than a Bomb Poetry festival. LTAB is one of my favorite extracurriculars that I participate in. LTAB has one of the most supportive communities that I know of and it is a very exhilarating experience. 

My Poem 

A syllogism is what an argument is made up of, premises and a conclusion. I went through my poem, stanza by stanza, in order to pull specific ideas that supported my conclusion.

Premise 1 people make fun of what they do not know
Premise 2 attributes that were once made fun of are now trends
Premise 3 making people's cultures into trends hurts them in the long run
Premise 4 the more popular a cultural trend is the more likely people are to "want in" on it

Conclusion There is a very fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation. Appropriation comes from people stepping on the culture and appreciation happens from a distance.


I was a part of a team of amazingly talented poets. I created a montage of our poems to give an example of all of our arguments.




Thank you for viewing my digital final presentation!

Flower Power!

Hello and welcome to my final action project for my STEAM class, Light, Sound, and Time. In this unit, Time, we looked at the different ways to tell time as well as thinking about time in a more existential way. We looked at sundials, sextants, as well as longitude and latitude. For this action project, we were asked to look at different time-telling devices, then we created our own based on these ancestors.

My flower calendar is for people who love nature and keeping track of the months. Since plants need sunlight to grow, the flower calendar needs light in order to tell time.
Here are my preliminary sketches 

TN "calendar sketches" 2020

Here are my calculations 

All in all, I really enjoyed this action project. I like any project where I edit videos!

Excuse Me!

 Hello and welcome to my final action project in the winter term of my humanities class, Argument.
In this unit, Antithesis, we discussed the contradictions in the US constitution and its amendments. We had the opportunity to go to immigration court and see many cases introduced. This brought the question "what makes a person illegal? What line do they have to cross to go to a detention center?" We also watched the documentary 13th which brought up even more questions for us. Our final FE and my favorite was our meeting with state's lawyer Latoya Hughes and Connie Jordan. We discussed many pressing issues and had our questions from 13th answered. For this action project, we were asked to make an amendment to our school's student and family handbook. I decided to amend a rule that many students find unjust and that brings on a very heated discussion at our school's morning meetings. I hope you enjoy.
                                                       

TN "Sick at School" 2020

                                       

  Excuse Me!

 GCE's Student and Family Handbook states, "The first of our four commitments is that we will Be Present. It is critical that students attend their obligations whenever reasonably possible. We recognize that some circumstances require that students prioritize their obligations and compel difficult decisions. There are times that we recommend student absence, including cases of student illness, family emergency, and remarkable opportunities. Nevertheless, every absence precludes a student’s full participation in the program at GCE and has consequences for the student’s peers.
We worry that the language of “excused” absence trivializes students’ attendance. Certainly, there are absences consequent to illness or family emergency that recommend our forbearance. Additionally, there are planned absences, as for a college visit, athletic contest, or medical appointment. Other absences may be unplanned or unexplained. In every case, parents are notified. GCE keeps notes regarding the occasion of student absences, which notes may inform relevant disciplinary or academic proceedings."

This rule is unjust because there is a difference between skipping school and missing. After all, you are physically or mentally ill. On the contrary, not excusing an absence trivializes mental illness and mental health days that are extremely necessary for the well being of a student.

EVIDENCE 
A student that I interviewed expressed her anxieties about getting sick with the recent pandemic being announced. Her main anxiety was that she would have to miss school since she has been sick many times already. This feeling spans the student body as shown by the many students showing up to school sick in fear of being against the student handbook.

COMPARISON 
My amendment is very close to the 14th amendment that states "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
This relates to my amendment because my amendment applies to students having the right to miss school when they are sick.

SYLLOGISM 

GCE's argument

Premise 1 the language of excused absences trivializes a students attendance

Premise 2 each absence is equal in the way that it affects the student's attendance

Conclusion GCE should not designate the difference between unexcused and excused absences on a student's transcript.

My Argument 

Premise 1 Students who have responsibilities or problems at home are being misrepresented

Premise 2 there is no indication between truancy and a "real" reason that they are not in school. 

Premise 3 Students who are ill feel pressured into coming to school this either creates more sickness or a student who is not mentally present anyway.

Premise 4  students who are sick take on the identity of a mentally or physically ill person

Conclusion If a student can communicate a sensible reason that they are not in school the absence should be marked excused

Peer Approval
Apposing quote from BA: "Colleges don't really look at the difference between unexcused and excused absence"

My response: "Students need the distinction between unexcused and excused absence because they deserve to be validated for much needed days off."

SR Signature 

NB Signature

SS Signature