McCandless Project

For my social project, I came to school without any makeup. On a regular basis, I don’t wear a lot of comparison in comparison to others, but I do wear enough to be noticed. I usually wear foundation/concealer or BB cream, and Kohl or liquid eyeliner, and mascara. Coming into the experiment, I expected one or two people to notice. I have worn no makeup to school before, and only one person noticed. This time, no one noticed or said anything. I can humbly say that I feel no different whether I wear makeup or not. However, because I was aware that this is was for an experiment, I was anticipating a comment or two throughout the day. I was somewhat surprised that the people I talk to on a daily basis didn’t notice because a few of them noticed last time. Due to results, or lack thereof, the next day I decided to wing out my eyeliner, which I have only done once before. This isn’t too different from what I normally do. Again, I didn’t expect anyone to notice, but I did get a compliment. Overall, none of these results were especially surprising.

When it comes to societal norms, I wholeheartedly agree with McCandless’ views. To some extent, societal norms play a huge part in a generation. If you were to compare all of norms across the continent and throughout time, you would very seldom find two identical ideas. The societal norms of each generation are what make it unique. However I believe that they do more harm than good. In a country, especially the United States, we have freedom. Freedom is a privilege. In a country where we have the ability to express our true personas, why should we bury them with superficial laws? I believe there is no use for these unnecessary rules because they only limit what we are truly capable of doing. I do not think we need to follow these extra guidelines because they do no harm to other people. They are not created for the safety of people. Based on my results, I do not think we should have to comply to social standards. You should not feel obliged to live up provide an explanation for how you dress. In conclusion, breaking a social norm will not hurt anyone, so you should feel confident in your own skin and style.

“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.

But sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. 

That is the sort of bravery I must have now.”

I stumbled upon this quote when I read Allegiant by Veronica Roth about a year ago (372 days, but who’s counting?).  After I read this paragraph, I had to stop and think about it. I decided I really liked what it meant and taped it on my wall. (I still have it on my wall today.) I love quotes, but I chose this one because these words have helped me through a lot when things got hard.  This quote isn’t really representative at the first glance- it seems more like advice, or reassurance. When you hear the word “bravery”, many people think of superheroes risking their lives or firefighters venturing into raging fires. But bravery does not have to be dangerous, it only needs to require physical or mental willingness to overcome an obstacle. Sometimes that obstacle isn’t obvious- there are days when you’re tired of everything and hate yourself, and it takes bravery to overcome this exhaustion and go to school. This quote told me that sometimes bravery doesn’t mean risking your life; you don’t need to be supernatural to be brave. There are times where it takes a lot of courage to face the pressure and expectations of your family and society. And if I didn’t do anything specifically productive that day, this passage told me it was great that I woke up that morning. If I continued to live my life according to this quote, I think I would gain more confidence to do little things that still require bravery- whether it be standing up to someone or taking a risk. So far, this quote has given me hope and helped me believe in myself, and I think it will continue to do so in the future. 

I have a TON of work to do; this definitely is not my best writing. My theme isn't very clear, and I need to add characterization. I think I also need to add a flashback scene to make the conflict clear. 

It could begin any moment. Tension strangled the air in the courtroom while nervous voices chatted quietly. Cameras shuttered, a bullet piercing my head with each click. There he stood, oblivious to the situation. He nonchalantly scratched his head, unaware that he had shattered my life into a mosaic where the pieces of tiles formed nothing but a mass of confusion. Anger consumed me. The grand wooden desks were his only armor to my wrath.

 Interrupting my tantrum, the gavel pounded a systematic call, summoning the citizens to a quicky achieved silence. 

        “All rise.” commanded the bailiff. He reads his script, and the trial began, leaving no time for my tornado of emotions to unwind. 

        “Good morning. Calling the case of Mr. Matthew Whitt versus Miss Claire Johnson.” stated the judge in a monotonous voice. Are both sides ready?” The trial proceeded with the jury taking the oath. Beside my lawyer whom I had only briefly met, adjusted the collar of her navy blue blazer, preparing for her opening statement. 

        “Your Honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury- the defendant has been accused of attempted rape.” Her bold voice was a gunshot through the heavy air. “Evidence of his behavior are supported by a witness, as well as a dropped knife matching his fingerprints.”

        I sat through endless discussions of evidence and what was circumstantial and what was not while my mind raced. No, he didn’t hurt me as bad as he could’ve, which I was thankful for. But to convince a room full of men would be nearly impossible. However, there are other women out there who have not been served justice. And I want to bring change to this society. 

        Finally, it was my turn to provide my evidence. “Ms. Kendall Johnson, please come forward.”

        I picked up my brick feet and dragged them to the podium where my interrogation would begin. I recited my side of the incident, just as I had rehearsed for hours in place of sleep. In front me, I face the attorney of the opposing party. 

Where were you going on the evening of the 25th?” asked the public defender. His pale skin furrowed, determination racing through his body. 

“I was walking down past the bar to run errands.” I said. Vague, but true.

        “And you were alone?”

        “Yes, sir.”

        “Where were you going, specifically?”

        “Down to the bank to deposit a check, and to the post office.”

        “What were you wearing?”

        What was I wearing? The question repeated in my head. My blood began to boil. 

“How is that relevant to the case?” I fired.

“Answer the question, please.” he said firmly, creating an uneasiness in the room. 

“Well,” I began, gritting my teeth. “It was a chilly night- after all it was September- so I wearing a school sweatshirt and a pa-”

“Objection. I refuse to believe you weren’t showing any skin.” Behind me, voices began to whisper. 

“Sir this is not like the case down South. And even so, no justi-” 

“You were calling attention to yourself, obviou-”

I found myself beginning to yell. “My clothes do not define my character!” He doesn’t reply, prompting my rant to continue. 

“I am a young teenage girl growing up where the male gender is favored.  I live in a society where when I tell a man no, a third person has the nerve to ask me if it was because my dress was too short. I find it sad that when I tell someone the truth that I said no, and  I didn’t want to go anywhere with him, they still believe it’s my fault. Just because I am a female does not mean that I am denied the rights and respect every other man in the world has.”

The last of my words echo off the marble walls of the grand building. Tears blur my vision and threaten to diminish my composure. The judge clears his throat. 

“Do you have anything else to ask?” said the judge. 

The public defender shook his head. “No Your Honor.” I walked back to my seat and waited for the closing statements to begin. 

I remained silent for the remainder of the trial, smoke still trailing from my ears. What seemed like hours later, the judge dismissed the jury to decide the verdict.” Again, we waited, with authorities constantly shifting around, tapping fingers in a cadence on the desks. Sweat glistened from the fluorescent lights. I glanced at my watched every few minutes. 

After an eternity, the jury reentered the room. Immediately I sat up straight, eager to find out. Sweat trickled down many of their middle-aged faces. 

“After much deliberation,” a man began, “we have come to the conclusion, that Mr. Matthew Whitt, is in fact, guilty.”

Metacognitive Thinking

1. I only had to change a few words or phrases in my essay. Most of the changes were to make the essay sound "less awkward".
2. The written feedback helped me the most, followed by the peer review. The written feedback helped me because the criticism was direct and told me what exactly I needed to fix. I could immediately put the feedback into action when I edited the next paper. I did not like the parent review because my parents did not give me helpful feedback. The peer review was somewhat helpful because my editor was not afraid to give me criticism.
3. I thought the teacher review was helpful, and the peer review was as well. In the future, we as a class, should learn how to edit other people's work so we actually know what we are talking about. We should do an anonymous review- taking away the author's name would require everyone to review the other person's work to their best ability.
4. Personally, I love creating writing because there aren't really any boundaries, as well as poetry. I would love to continue to grow in these areas, but I believe I need to work on informative style writing. When there are rules- such as in a newspaper or magazine- I need to work on still being creative, while getting the point across.