English 2010

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Mental Illness

Notebook #1: 5f. Collect several images that interest you, related in some way to your issue (the relevance can be tangential, as long as you feel it). Then write something that connects the images, one to another. You can think of your connections as a story (one thing connected to the next), or as a web (everything cross-connected), or as a square, with two sets of opposites, or as a circle (ideas leading back to the place you started).

#2: You choose not to tell anyone about your feeling because they won't understand. You keep your mouth shut, causing your problems to never go away.

#1: You don't know whats wrong with you, but you emotions and thoughts are unbearable. Everyone else get sad but for you it never goes away.

#7: You finally let people back into your life, and help them understand what you are going through. There is now a whole support group there for you whenever you are struggling. You aren't alone, just remember to let those loving people in your life. Everyone has a trail, just reach out to others when you are struggling because you don't have to go through it alone. Your mental illness wont go away, but it is now bearable.

THE STAGES OF A MENTAL ILLNESS.

#3: You finally tell your parents and go to the doctor, and they diagnosis you with a mental illness. You can't believe it. You think to yourself, how am I going to tell my friends? The best solution you think of is hiding it from everyone.

#4: You start to become more open about your mental illness, but people don't understand or believe that it is real, and that you can't control it. They tell you to get over it, thinking that it is in your control.

#6: You continue to go on day by day, wearing a different "mask" to fake your happiness. Some people start to realize you aren't being yourself and start to try their best to help you, but it's still hard.

#5: You take what the other said to heart and pretend you are fine, but on the inside you feel like you are a monster. You can't be contained and nobody will ever know that except yourself.

Notebook #2: 2a. What is your personal experience with your social justice issue? What assumptions might you carry in regards to the issue or problem? What kind of research will you do to inform yourself about the issue or problem? Where might you find diverse and conflicting perspectives as you research?

A very close family member to me was diagnosis with OCD, a mental illness. Learning to adapt and deal with this disease was hard at the beginning but now that is who he is. I know that mental illnesses are real and I want the whole world to know, so those people struggling can have the best life.
On the subject of mental illnesses, I assume that most of the people living in my society don't understand or believe that mental illnesses are real. When I talk to people around me they think I'm crazy, and that the experiences I have had with mental illnesses are made up. They aren't, and I want to give everyone knowledge.
I would like to interview my family member, using more specific questions, and to see how he really feels. I have never had a one-on-one conversation discussing his mental illness with him, and I think it would give me a lot of valuable information. I also want to read articles online of others going through mental illnesses and how their life has been affected. I want to be able to expand my knowledge about many different types of mental illnesses.
Online I might find some very diverse perspectives, because people don't really think about what they are saying online, and how it might hurt someone's feelings. People are very blunt and speak whatever is on their mind, on social media.

Notebook #3- 5i. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest as a way to explore how people communicate messages/information about your issue. Try posting some information about your issue and then pose some questions to your audience. What happened? Explain why you think you received the answers/feedback that you received. Create a Wordle word cloud with all of the responses OR create a collage of the photographs and other information that was offered.

On Twitter I started a poll where I asked "How common is mental illness?" I was expecting only a few voters but it turn out in the end I had 87 people vote. The choices they had to pick from were; "I have a mental illness.", "I know someone that does.", or "I don't know what it is.".

The results came in and the highest at 49% of the 87 voters picked "I know someone that does."This wasn't shocking to me because I personally know a lot of people myself that have mental illnesses. But it made me realize that there are probably so many people that are struggling everyday because of a mental illness.

With 43% of the votes the second most popular idem was "I have a mental illness." I was so shocked that people would admit to having a mental illness on social media. Not that mental illnesses are bad, I just know that a lot of people aren't open about it. Luckily on twitter it doesn't show who voted, but i'm still proud of those you admitted and have accepted who they are. If people on Twitter didn't believe mental illnesses were real, they sure do now.

Notebook #4- 2d. Look at your draft and find a place you used a source. What did you do with this source? Describe how you used it: did you introduce it? quote, paraphrase, summarize it? Did you put it in contrast with another source? did you agree with your source, use it to support a point, use it to characterize an argument or position you disagree with? What are some other ways you could have used this source? Why did you choose to use the source as you did?

For my Profile Draft I used the Instagram named The444project. The Instagram account is ran by a woman named Josie Thompson and her husband, Brighton Solomon. They started a nonprofit organization that helps bring joy to people all over the world. Josie can't feel joy because she has Depression, Bipolar disorder and many other factoring mental illnesses. She wants others to realize what they have because she can't experience it anymore. The 444 Project asks random people "What brings you joy?" Not only do they get to see what bring joy to people they also get random strangers to really ponder on the happiness in their life.

I used the source of this Instagram because it gave me live, detailed information. It was as if every Instagram post was an entry in a journal. I learned a lot about Josie through the posts, giving me lots of valid information to use. I used other Instagram accounts such as Josie's, and Brighton's personal accounts. This gave me contrast between their everyday life and their work efforts. I learned that they were both giving out the same information but in different ways. I knew my sources were valid after comparing the three accounts.

I loved the information I got from these simple Instagram accounts. I felt very connected to my source, and I easily understood it because I personally use Instagram. I introduced my source my quoting something Brighton Solomon said about Josie. Instead of paraphrasing the post I just quoted them because the parts I wanted to share weren't very long. Instagram posts are not typically long, so that also made it an easy source to use. I wanted the readers to personally connect and Instagram will draws in teens for sure. Teenagers need to hear Josie Thompson and Brighton Solomon's story. I hope they will be my main audience.

6c. Write or create a PSA on for your issue in which you explain the causes and effects of a problem associated with your issue. Explain what should be done to address the problem.

Cause: The cause of mental illnesses are different for every person. Everyone got their mental illness from something personal to them. Some people are born with them, some get it from experiencing a traumatic experiences, and some are even genetic. But in most cases, people and their Doctors are still unsure what caused their mental illness.

Effect: Just like how the causes of mental illnesses are unknown, the effects are the same, they are unknown. Everybody reacts to things differently. There are predictions of effects for every mental illness but it depends on the diagnoses and the person being diagnosed. Lots of people feel darkness and sadness because their mental illness destroys their happiness. That is why people that are fortunate enough to not be diagnosed with a mental illness should help other on their bumpy journey called life.

6d. Write a haiku that explains what your essay is about. Write another haiku that explains what your essay is really about.

Mental Illnesses

We make up our problems

Only be who you are

Mental Illnesses

We don't know how we got it

We can get through it

9b. Identify something about your writing that you're struggling with, or want to know more about. Find an article/book/website that addresses the issue (you can consult with your instructor if you want help with this) and discuss in detail what you found in this resource that helps you in your struggle

Struggle: Im struggling to understand how a person knows they have a mental illness. What symptoms should a person look for, so they themselves or their parent can reach out for help?

http://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/warning-signs-of-mental-illness

This website talks about the most major symptoms of a mental illness. The ones that stood out to me most were: increased sensitivity and sleep and appetite changes. The increase of sensitivity seems a little weird to me because thats a little hard to even notice in a person. I feel like I go through times where I personally don't want to be touched either. It must be a continuous time weird and very noticeable. Appetite changes can be very obvious because eating is a daily habit everybody has.

After reading American Psychiatric Association's article of mental illness symptoms I am now more aware of others and myself. I understand that everyone is going to have different signs of mental illness but my knowledge of the symptoms has grown so I'm more prepared.

6n. Create a meme related to your topic. Write 100 words commenting on the implications and ideas contained in your meme. For meme ideas, look at Know Your Meme (caution: internet content!).

I created this meme because it shows the happiness a person can have when they know someone has their back. When a person is diagnosed with a mental illness a lot of times they feel alone and scared because they don't know what to do. If you have a parent or best fiends that hugs you and tells you everything is going to be alright you will get through your trail a lot easier. They will help you with the good and the bad. When you have someone back you are carrying them when they no longer can walk themselves. Everyone need to find a person who will carry them but most importantly be someone to carry others.

8b. Choose a section of text, or an image, or a piece of media, and write in response to it. you can structure a dialogue with your selection, or write a counterpoint to it (contradict it); write about what experiences it connects to, for you, or what other texts/images/media.

If I was to respond to this article that popped up on my news feed, I would say: "That is ridiculous! Mental illnesses are REAL! How can he say they aren't I would never move to Texas. He need to open his eyes and see the world as it is, not how he want to see it."

Contradict: I agree! People that say they are fighting a mental illness are lying!! They just want attention from everyone! Since their illness is in the inside of the body there is no physical evidence so people can totally fake a imaginary diseases. If you don't like the Texas Governor then don't live in Texas.

6o. Create an annotated playlist related to your issue. Choose a set of six (or so) songs--you could even make the playlist on Spotify--and and write a 50-100 word annotation for each, sharing how each song comments on the issue.

Warrior By Demi Lavato

This song is about how in life everyone goes through their own battles but everyone can be a warrior and win their fight. This song can show the somewhat positive side of mental illness.The a victim can win their battle. Every human being going through the trail of a mental illness should be labeled a WARRIOR! They fight the hardest battles because nobody can see it or know how they feel. They are so strong, stronger than I can imagine.

Wake me up when september ends by Green Day

This song is very repetitive with the phrase “Wake me up when September Ends”. This is related to mental illnesses because when people are such in the darkness they just want never wake up. They just want to wake up and have all their trails gone because they are so hard to bare. Mental illness isn't something that you can escape from but they all wish they could sleep away their trails.

Breathe Me by Sia

This song talks about how a mental illness is a battle the victim can only face on their own. THey can have support but only they bare the effects physically and emotionally. The song also talks about how when going through dark times we just want someone to hold us close and share their love. A mental illness keeps coming back and peoples love and support is always needed.

Monster By imagine Dragon

People that have a mental illness feel different from everyone else, but because can’t physically see it. Because mental illness is a diagnosis in the brain people can think others are crazy or even a monster because of how their acting. This song has verses that try to express the feelings of wanting to be accepted even with their mental illness. Would you still be best friends with the girl next door you grew up with if she was diagnosed a mental illness? She has changed but she is still her. Everyone has bad days but that's when everyone needs to be nicer.

Perfect by Pink

The world gives the perspective that everyone has to be perfect. If you have a mental illness you aren't fitting into the perfect model of life. You are perfect just the way you are, don’t change. People need to accept their mental illness it who they are, it makes them stronger. Nobody has a perfect life and everyone is different, that's okay. Make a mental illness beautiful.

7e. Ernest Boyer asserts,

Increasingly, the campus is being viewed as a place where students get credentialed and the faculty get tenured, while the overall work of the [college] does not seem particularly relevant to the nation's most pressing civic, social, economic, and moral problems. [Campuses should] be viewed by both students and professors not as isolated islands, but as staging grounds for action ("The Scholarship of Engagement." The Journal of Public Service and Outreach, 1996)

Respond to Boyer's position. Do you agree or disagree? How might SLCC look different if it were one of these "staging grounds"?

Response: SLCC is a very reserved college campus, where a majority of its students are local. SLCC gives their students a great education but not the full college experience. SLCC, in my opinion doesn't prepare it's students for the real world. The students graduate from SLCC and don't know how to relate or deal with the society they live in. SLCC is an amazing school and I love the education I have been given there but I feel like they are an isolated island, or they live in their own bubble. Students that attend SLCC may have a different view because they are experiencing it first hand, unlike me where i'm experiencing it from a high school stand point.

FINAL NOTEBOOK PROJECT

What were the notebook activities that made you think differently about a project, or about your writing (or research or revisions)?

The first notebook (Notebook #1: 5f. Collect several images that interest you, related in some way to your issue (the relevance can be tangential, as long as you feel it) made me really dive into the subject of mental illness. It helped me realize how mental illnesses work and helped me see a visual image of the trail. Mental illness cannot be seen so finding images was kind of difficult but it helped me learn a lot.

I also enjoyed notebook (Notebook #3- 5i. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest as a way to explore how people communicate messages/information about your issue.) It was interesting to see how people around me feel. It shocked me that so many people struggle with mental illnesses but nobody knows. There are so many strong people around me. I loved getting real information from my peers,

What notebook activities were the most interesting or fun?

(Notebook #3- 5i. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest as a way to explore how people communicate messages/information about your issue.) Notebook 5i was my favorite to do because I was super curious about the results. I was shocked my the ending results, and I wanted to ask more questions on social media to see if what I knew was all wrong. I love the fact that the information came from my own friends and family.

6n. Create a meme related to your topic. Write 100 words commenting on the implications and ideas contained in your meme. For meme ideas, look at Know Your Meme (caution: internet content!).

I loved making a meme because it brought excitement and fun into such a sad topic that I have been studying all semester. I like the creative element to this notebook as well.

Which notebook entries do you like the best now?

Looking back on all the notebooks I have wrote I remember the song one took me the longest and I didn't enjoy it. But as I look back today that is probably the best notebook. Now I listen to song lyrics and I real how sad and depressing songs are. I liked find the deep meaning to things, it was very eye opening.

6d. Write a haiku that explains what your essay is about. Write another haiku that explains what your essay is really about. This notebook was the best because again it brought in a creative side of English. It taught me that through simple small phrases, you can have so much meaning.

Which notebook activities might you try again, in other writing circumstances?

I would do this again and find a more interesting article topic. I used the first article I saw and I wish I had looked harder and put in more effort towards this notebook.

Notebook #3- 5i. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest as a way to explore how people communicate messages/information about your issue.) I wish I would have asked more questions on social media. I would have also put it on twitter a lot sooner than a few days before. I loved this project and I wouldn't mind doing this one again.

THREE NEW STRATEGIES THAT I NOW KNOW.

I learned that the peers around me are a great help when wanting person experiences. Using social media was a different way to see others perspectives and I loved it.
I learned that I can't just used just my personal knowledge because I don't know everything, There is always more to learn.
I learned there is a you-tube video about everything you can imagine. Using videos is a great way to help visual learners and to keep your work entertaining.

Course Evaluation

Kimberlie Thomas

English 2010

Ms.Szetela

05/24/2017

Course Reflection

At the beginning of English 2010 Ms.Szetela challenged my class to explore a variety of social justice topics. Concluding the search we each chose a topic and wrote or made presentations educating ourselves and others about each social issue topic. The social justice issue I decided to focus on throughout the semester was Mental Illnesses. I chose this topic because I deal with it everyday. My two sibling both have a mental illnesses and it's a common trail I face everyday along with my family. I was young when my sibling were diagnosed so growing up I had to ask many questions and learn for myself about the problems they faced. By doing this project I was given the opportunity to study and truly understand my siblings and many others around me that fight a mental illness.

As the searching and studying began, I started to get really interested in personal stories. I loved reading people's experiences and the effects others had on them. Randomly one day at school we had an assembly, and the purpose of the assembly was to help prevent suicide. The speaker, Josie Solomon, impacted me so much that I decided to make a presentation of her life. She didn’t just talk about suicide she also talked a lot about the many different mental illnesses she has lived with. Josie had the perfect life and was so happy with where it was going after high school. Until one day she started to feel sad and couldn’t get out of bed. It continued to progressively get worse and worse leading her to the doctors where later she was diagnosed with Depression. It’s hard for her to smile, feel joy, or even just get out of bed, but she still keeps moving on. She was the true inspiration to my writing this quarter. If you want to preview the profile I made about her press here.

I decided to make a profile rather than a memoir about Josie because I wanted to display her life to others in a more credible way, rather than a story told by me. Making a profile was my favorite project throughout English 2010. It was easy to add rhetorical appeals because it was in a slideshow presentation form. I used ethos by referring to and citing her Instagram page and even her own person words spoken. Logos was used when I stated the information Josie has learned from doctors and other sources about her mental illnesses. And last but not least I used Pathos mainly because the whole project was based around the true story of Josie. By using these appeals I was better able to make the profile appealing to the eye and mind. Readers knew it was creditable but it also was enjoyable to read and learn about.

Throughout the semester I learned that some projects were easier to be done in a power point layout while others portrayed the information better in a text based format. Examples of this are the information project, I first created a slideshow presentation about how suicide can be caused by mental illnesses. After many critiques I decided to translate that piece into a text based format. My power point had so many words, making readers just skip through slides not reading the text fully. I had added random facts and pictures everywhere causing confusion about the projects meaning. Although slideshow presentations can be more appealing to the eye, a text based format portrayed the message of suicide a lot clearer for the audience. While translation my piece I added more translations making the paper flow and also took out a lot of unnecessary text. I liked that I already had my information from my previous slideshow and all I needed was to change the format. Who knew that transforming a slideshow presentation to a essay would be so successful.

As I continued to write about mental illnesses I felt sympathetic, sad, and guilty for those fighting their own fight. Sympathetic, because I wish I had cared more for those around me that struggle with a mental illness. They go through so much crap and still have a smile on their faces. Sad, because many of the stories I read about ended in death or did not have a happy ending. Guilt, because I haven't reached out to those around me struggling. Now as I am at the end of the course, after seeing all views, I still feel the exact same. Sometimes I think I began to feel more hurt and sad for those that suffer with a mental illnesses. Like earlier stated the personal stories I listened and read about are the core reason of my feelings toward the topic of mental illnesses. I wrote an informative paper about how mental illnesses can lead to a person committing suicide, and I read about a boy name Jason. He overdosed on medication because he was depressed and nobody knew he was fighting depression until it was too late to control. This story made me feel sick in my stomach, not just because of the outcome, but because it is told through the father of Jason, who had to experience it. The story is here if you want to read full text of the story, along with my project here.

Mental illnesses became darker and darker for me to learn about through out the semester. But also a lot more interesting to research and interview other victims. I made a presentation about how social media can effect a persons mental health, and it really opened my eyes. The youth raised in our day and age have grown up in this technology world. They can't talk face-to-face with a human being no more. Cyber bulling is a huge attack on youth and it is crating mental illnesses. People are getting told they aren't pretty enough or good enough. No person should be told that, everyone is beautiful just the way they are. If you want your eyes opened into a new perspective view my presentation is here.

In conclusion, me along with 3 others students ,Litzy, Brandon, and Brady, gathered all our information about our four individual social justice topics. We were then asked to created a magazine. It was difficult to combine four very diverse topics but after lots of brainstorming we got it all to connect. My role in the magazine project was to make sure everyone was on track and that we meet together so often to work on our project. Getting everyone together was the easy part because we have a class period together, but trying to make sure everyone did their part was hard. Each of us are busy high school students trying to make time for everything. My group had a great editor making a huge difference. He gave fantastic advice, helping everyone revise their work into great pieces. Our magazine was well designed and the information was put together in a great way thanks to my groups hard work. Click here to view our magazine project. Overall we worked very hard together mainly because we all had the same end goal. We all want to educate those around us about social justice issues. There are problems all over the world but we can still make a difference. Just by helping one person, learning about one topic, teaching others about what you know may seem insignificant but in the long run you made a huge difference. I hope you enjoyed my work.