Project reflection (Music/Spoken Word)

I think I deserve an A because I came up with the lyrics of my song in one night. The music came out well and so did the song. I also talked about how my resilient person, Melvin Johnson(my grandpa) how he over came his smoking and drinking problem. I also talked about how he became a marine and had received all his marine stripes and had 100 percent accuracy when he was there. So I thought using my grandpa for the project would help a lot.

I think I worked good as a team because my partner and I didn't waste any time on it. We got right to work and completed all of our assignments. We also helped work on each others project a little. I think that the lyrics were good because the whole thing talks about how my grandpa started had a problem and then later conquered it.

I think I did good on my polished writing because I've only done one of them and I stuck with it throughout the entire project. The evidence that I researched my information from was my grandpa himself. I had to interview him and ask him questions about his life.

Resilience Cafe Reflection

I think that I deserve an A on this project because I worked really hard on it to finish it on time and to make it really pretty and good looking (so I didn’t look like I just did it in 4 seconds). I also came in before and after school to work on it and improve it, so I also used up some of my own time to work on it. I also included both of the people and made a connection between them in my art piece.

I think I exceeded expectations on the creation of the artistic piece, because I incorporated some underlying issues of the Civil Rights Movement with the finger of Frederick Douglass. His finger represented that he made lots of speeches and sometimes he would get beat by angry mobs because people were really opposed to his cause and that he was black. Even though this would sometimes happen he still kept on making his speeches to help raise awareness to the issues of slavery.

I think that I met expectations on the research portion of the project. I got basically all of it from a book that Hasani brought into class which was all about Frederick Douglass. The book was very helpful because it explained the information in a really simple manner that was easily understandable.

I think that I met expectations on the presentation portion of the project, because I had a thorough but concise explanation about the painting, who it was, and what they did to make them resilient. I also helped improve the design of the book by providing my feedback on the layout (make the pictures bigger and the type smaller).

I think that I exceeded expectations in the write-up, because I included all the things that needed to be and a little more. I also explained about the style of the painting and why it looked the way it does. I think that helped clear up some of the confusion about it looking sort of bad (because it was folk art).

The thing I am most proud of in this project is the song. I thought it conveyed the message of resilience very well and was one of the few where the music wasn’t dominating and you could actually hear what was being said.

3D Art Description

My piece of art is based upon the style of folk art. It includes Frederick Douglas (left) and Melvin Johnson (right). These two people are related because they each have their own weapons. Frederick Douglas’s finger is his weapon because he made lots of influential speeches. Melvin Johnson’s weapon is his perfection. They are also connected because they were also both born in times of racial discrimination. The board is all banged up because it is supposed to be in the style of folk art and usually folk artists paint on planks of wood that they have just found laying around so they aren’t always in perfect condition.

Personal Connection

I can personally connect to my poem with the art work because in my poem it talks about how my grandpa struggled through something and then over came it by doing something good and that's what Frederick Douglass did too. What I mean about Frederick Douglass is that he had to struggle with being a slave when he was a child and then later on in his life he had overcame that by escaping slavery.

Connection to my Resilience Cafe Art

I connect to the resilience art project I am doing because it is showing two people’s different weapons (Frederick Douglas with his finger, Melvin Johnson with his perfection, having all his stripes); my weapon in life is my brain. I use it a lot to solve problems and come up with things that no one has ever thought of before. I can also connect it to the art project because it going to be painted on a banged up piece of plywood. That is kind of like my life, it gets splinters and dents every once in a while, some bigger than others and some deeper than others. It is also like my body I fall and get a cut, however it is now like the plywood because the cut goes away in time it does not stay there forever.

Studio time reflection

During studio time, I accomplish doing my assignments like making a poem and typing the lyrics. I personally think that my partner and I are evenly doing our work because we both bring in what ever we need to bring in for the project like photos. What my plan is for next week is to catch up on my blogs better than this time.

Response to Blueprint Comments

Most of the helpful comments that I got were mostly like: Make your drawing more detailed, and such. Those types of comments didn't really help me out because on the blueprint you only had to draw a stick figure to show where you would draw people, so naturally I wasn't just going to have the final drawing be a stick figure.

However I did get one really helpful comment that I am actually going to use. It said that is would be neat to have only parts of it be detailed and have the rest be kind-of blurry and not so detailed (like a lot of folk art is). I thought that was a really good suggestion and am going to incorporate it into my picture.

Resilient Poem

As a child I was doing real fine
Until I started doing drugs at the age nine
Cigarettes lit and peer pressure rising
As I took a puff, it felt so surprising
I was addicted to it and I couldn't stop
My eyes slowly started floating to the top
My head felt light(pause) I was high
Then my other bad friends came by
They introduced my to another liquor
Then we had a race on who could drink it quicker
The world looked wobbly (pause) I was drunk
Then my breath smelled like a dead skunk
When my dad found out he was mad
Then he told me how the things I did were bad
After he beat me, spanked me, and made me lean
At the age 17, he made me join the Marines
On the first day, I thought it would be hell
I should have thought twice, cuz I did pretty well
In the 60s came the Vietnam War
I was so good, I could kill a group of four
In the past , I messed and was a dunce
But in the Marines, I haven't messed up once
As I finished all my 20 years there
I had so many things that I wanted to share
As I bought myself some food from the store
I noticed that I didn't want drugs any more
If you want to stay away from drugs, then try this
I am the grandfather of Hasani Byas.

Melvin Johnson Quote

"When you start something you know that's good, stick with it".

This quote represents Melvin Johnson because when he was in the marines that's what he has been thinking about the whole time. In the beginning he thought he wouldn't make it but he kept thinking to himself that he has to finish it because he knew it was good for him. So he did what his mind told him to do. In the end he finished all his years there with 100 percent accuracy and that's what had changed his life.

Frederick Douglas Quote

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
This quote represents Frederick Douglas because he was a speaker for the American Anti-Slavery society. So his live was full of struggle. For example he was born in to slavery, but he escaped that in itself was a great feat. Then after he had escaped he went on to speak for the American Anti-Slavery Society and angry crowds, which liked slavery, sometimes beat him. But other times he progressed by gathering new people for the cause.

Melvin Johnson

He was born in the late 1940s and Grew up in Arizona. As a child (age 9) he started smoking and drinking. That has really effected his child hood because he was at first the strait A student until he started his bad habit. He wanted to stop his drug addiction badly.When he was 17 years old he wanted to join the marines so he could stop smoking and drinking. Once he started, he has been doing good and was one of the best marines. During the 1960s, Melvin went to the Vietnam War. The reason why he joined the marines was because he wanted to stop his drug addiction and in the end he succeeded. Ever since he started the marines he has been doing great the entire time, he got all his stripes, he hasn't messed up once, he also got all his education there, and he was one of the best marines.

They both have connections with each other because they both fought in a war. Melvin fought in a war for his country and Fredrick Douglas fought in a war against slavery.

Frederick Douglas

He was a slave born in 1818 on Holmes Hill farm, near Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He was separated from his mother soon after his birth and sent to live with his grandmother. He escaped slavery at the age of 23. After he escaped he joined the American Anti-Slavery society. He spoke to the society during one of their meetings and they were moved by his tales of hardship. He went on to speak to other crowds throughout the Northern United States and was sometimes able to get new converts but other times he was beaten by angry crowds. He was resilient because he was a big help to the war against slavery by giving speeches to white crowds and even thought he was sometimes beaten he still pressed on.

The connection between our two people is that they were both born during times in which whites did not treat blacks with respect, Frederick was born into slavery and Melvin was born during times of segregation. Another connection between the two is that they both fought in wars Frederick’s war was more of a metaphorical war (the war against slavery) and Melvin fought in the Vietnam War.