Topic: Homelessness

Question: What is the true reason being why there is so much homelessness in America? What is being the stereotype that homeless people lost what they had because of drug, gambling, etc addictions?

Topic: Life in contemporary refugee camps

Question: What is it like to be moved from your home to a refugee camp? How do you adapt to losing family, and friends? How do refugees build themselves back up after so much loss?

Topic: Experience of Jewish refugees in WWII

Question: What was it like to be hated and mistreated along with your loved ones for your beliefs?

This heart wrenching story covers the life of Duop, a teenager who was forced to become a child soldier 6 years ago. Duop is now 16, he was taken as a young boy, with purity and innocence in him. This innocence all children have was eventually beat out of him to the point that he became quiet and conservative. Duop was displaced because he was dragged out of his home town, his family, and placed in a war zone. He had witnessed many war crimes while he was a child soldier. Duop was forced to hurt people he did not wish to harm. In order to survive, he had to do as he was told or else more beatings and abuse would come.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/africa/child-soldier-south-sudan.html?ref=oembed

In this exciting and action-packed movie, Elizabeth Swann, a young, beautiful, and rich woman who lives in the early 18th century. Elizabeth is used to a life of lavishness and domination. As a woman in the 18th century, you do no have much power. Elizabeth is confused to be the daughter of a pirate. She is then kidnapped and taken from her safe, wealthy home, to a dirty and dangerous pirate ship. The POTC series follows the story of Elizabeth as she grows power and confidence as a woman. She eventually becomes a pirate king, in the pirate world that is dominated by men.

The Art-A-Thon event I attended focused on the structure and interpretation of Sonnets. At the end of this event, I was able to comprehend how Shakespeare organized his 20th Sonnet and was able to appreciate the meaning behind it. I learned that each line was composed of 11 syllables which was a special number when it comes to Shakespeare. Most interestingly- I learned that words can have “genders” depending if they’re stressed or not.

Sonnets are a beautiful form of poetry that usually are about love. Shakespeare’s 20th Sonnet is both beautiful and mysterious in nature. It is composed of a specific pattern of rhyming and as stated previously, syllables. This Sonnet speaks about a person whom Shakespeare was intrigued by. As you read it, you wonder whether this person is either a male or female. The gender of the person in question is not revealed. Shakespeare describes them as having a beautiful and natural face (of  a woman). Later on however, he claims that the person does not have the heart of a woman because it does not “shift” around too easily. In addition to the woman, a boy is mentioned in the poem as well.

Spoiler alert: The person in question is both a man and a woman. Many scholars have tried to decipher whether Shakespeare is heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. His poetry, not just Sonnet 20 has many hints that leave people wondering.

1) What is the relationship between Dina and her father? Why does she seemingly dislike him? Does her apparent mistrust root from the experiences she’s had with her father?

2) What is the relationship between Dina and her mother when compared with the relationship with her father?

3) What is Heidi’s significance in the story? What role does she play?

Amy Tan’s story about the journey she experienced with her mother hits home. Many immigrant children can relate to the commitment Amy made to her mother. She had to translate and speak a special “English” to her mother to ensure that she comprehended what was going on around her. Amy’s mother showed interest in the English language, she took the initiative to read articles. She did not just learn a couple of English words to survive in society, she was interested in improvement. Regardless of the fact that she tried her best, she still faced difficulties and judgements by those who associated her level of English with intelligence. Amy’s mother is an example of what it means to be displaced. In a society where others spoke more advanced English than her, she was stamped with negative tags. People didn’t acknowledge her creativity and vivid descriptions, the fact that she comprehended more than what she was able to communicate, or her honest attempts to improve her English skills. They saw her as a non English speaker and linked her with negative stereotypes.