Third Quarter Art

During the Third Quart of Advanced Art, I created about 12 pieces of work from five collective assignments. They are all featured in my slideshow, going from oldest to newest.
First, I was made to draw a realistic bike using reference from the internet and an actual model brought into the class. It was a lot more complicated than I first expected, which was surprising. It was complicated to draw given a bike's multiple parts and design aspects, I couldn't just draw from memory.
Second, I made two optical illusions, one in monochrome colors and one is primary colors. The first one, in monochrome colors, was the easiest to create for obvious reasons. The colors were simple, the lines were easy, and the shading wasn't complicated to do. On the other hand, my illusion in primary colors was a bit harder to do. Simply because I had to generate it from scratch and decide on the color scheme as well as what illusion it would give off.
Third, a shaded in three basic shapes in an effort to give the dimensions. I actually was very please with the final products of this one. The penciling itself was a bit repetitive, I had to separate each shape into sections and use them as guide on how dark or light I had to shade them. Them I used my fingertips to smudge the entire work so they blended together. 
Fourth, I drew a realistic eye, as realistic as I could make it, using references. This assignment frustrated me quite a bit, I kept scrapping what I had to redraw the shape of the eye. Other times I realized I hadn't drawn the inner-eye correctly and had to start over. I'm vaguely satisfied with the final product but I wish I could have done it more realistically. 
Fifth, I digitally made five mandalas, printed them, and colored them in. I tried to stick with a nature theme throughout the coloring process. I wanted most of them to lost like flowers or forest scenes. The ones featured aren't the initial ones I colored, I was told that they needed to be resized and recolored.

Mural SSD

Screenshot 2017-03-31 at 10
Screenshot 2017-03-31 at 10

​West philly no tiene mucha historia oficial. es conocido por la pobreza y la violencia de la lucha. Aunque la mayor parte de su historia es malo, todavía es conocida por su comunidad fortaleza y perseverancia. Eva y will smith son dos personajes famosos que son de oeste de Filadelfia. Vivo en Filadelfia oeste, Haverford. Mi barrio sin embargo puede ser muy violento, puede ser muy unificada. He estado viviendo en Haverford desde los 10 años de edad. Por un lado cuando pienso en Filadelfia oeste creo que sobre la pobreza y la violencia que está en él pero por otro lado pienso en la cultura de todo. Debido al peligro en mi zona siempre no puedo caminar ni sentarse sobre mis propios pasos por eso no me gusta mi barrio mucho. A pesar de ello, las personas que terminan de reunión, principalmente de adultos son muy agradables y siempre tienen una divertida anécdota para compartir. Mi madre y yo vivimos a la vuelta de la esquina de los proyectos. Si tuviera que cambiar algo sería la violencia y la pobreza en mi zona. Mi mural representa los problemas de mi comunidad. Usé al niño como un símbolo para la gente de la comunidad que no quieren estar en él o afectadas por él, sueña con la escuela y la educación. Detrás de él están las drogas, las pandillas y otras cosas negativas que tienen el poder de detenerlo de conseguir lo que quiere. En todo lo que lee “No deje usted de donde vino afectan a donde te diriges” este es un mensaje muy poderoso para mi comunidad. Elegí este diseño e imagen para señalar mi comunidad y darles esperanza.

The Victor and The Victim: LOFT Essay (Christina Santana)

Christina Santana

Miss Pahomov

English 2

31 March 2017

The Victor and The Victim

Innocence. A state so simplistic in its nature, but yet so intimidating and complex to others. It seems baffling, seeing as how innocence is seen as such a positive trait in children, but viewed as a weakness in adults. The complexity of this trait confuses people and makes them doubt themselves, causing them to direct their anger towards their counterparts that radiate innocence. When outbursts of conflict arise, innocent people get killed because the malice and ignorance of their counterparts overpowers their limited ability to protect themselves. In many cases, the people who are affected by these outbursts of violence are bystanders to the madness, victims who were harmed for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although they could have also been attacked due to their killer’s disdain for them, using their innocence as a dehumanization technique, and counting them as no more than targets who won't fight back. Things like bias and pre-existing prejudices act as a catalyst in the underlying fear that causes people to go after things they don’t understand. In a world where dominance can always overpower innocence, nice guys finish last.

In the novel Lord of The Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys get stranded on a deserted island due to the dawn of a new world war. As conflict arises and order deteriorates, it is up to them to create a makeshift civilization that will protect them from any problems they may face in the future. After having his glasses stolen by the savages, Piggy goes on a conquest to retrieve them. The savages, a group of bloodthirsty adolescent boys, have no empathy for Piggy and no intention to give him his glasses back. As Piggy continues to plead for his glasses, one the savages releases a boulder that crushes him to pieces, killing him in an instant. While the savages were unbothered by his death, Piggy’s friend Ralph was distraught. "Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy,” (202) the narrator says. This quote shows us that Piggy’s death was a shock to Ralph, and the end of a support system. Especially because Piggy was the smartest and most innocent person on the island. He wouldn’t have hurt a fly. The savages’ self-loathing attributes and their want for power overrules their once keen senses that prevented them from hurting others. They see the innocent being as the easiest target to take down on their mission to rise to power. They have no worry that there would be a backlash of attack. This situation is comparable to the Syrian War where innocent people are being killed due to the ignorance and malice of others. They’re lives are taken out of account as they become another number on a death toll, meaning nothing to their murders. Just like the savages, the fighters in Syrian War care more about themselves than the people they are effecting. They take the lives of others with the intention of making an impact for their cause, but instead they take the lives of innocent people. People who did nothing but try to stay out of trouble.

In an article listed on BBC, they referenced The Syrian War as the “Deadliest Year For Children Yet”.  According to UNICEF, about 8.4 million - 80% of Syria’s child population - have been affected by this war. Which leads to the question, how could these innocent children be expected to defend themselves when their enemies attack in packs, using weapons and explosives to kill thousands at a time? Fear. The fear of not accomplishing their goals, the fear of the consequences they will face it they go against their leader, the fear of losing. Leading them to go after targets who they know they could win against. Targets who are too young to defend themselves or petrified enough to render them defenseless. After being so fearful to others, attackers being to get scared of themselves. They create facades to hide them from reality, and use them as a way to become a new person. During a roam around the island, the boys discover paint. Jack, the hunter of the group, became enthralled with this new discovery and decided to use the paint to create a mask for himself.  As the narrator says, "The mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness" (34). By looking at this quote, the reader can see that the mask is what Jack uses to “become” a savage.. It acts as a trademark of his savagery, representing the liberation he receives from forgetting the morals he once valued so deeply.

Statistics show that Syrian children are showing symptoms of psychological strain from the traumas of witnessing war. From observing the mannerisms of the characters in Lord of The Flies, we can see that multiple characters have been affected by the constant threat of violence that surrounds the island. They even show symptoms of anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder. The traits of their disorders are especially shown after one of the boys gets scared by something they saw in the woods. Leaving a outburst of fear on the island, due to the impending predator that they call now call  “The Beastie”.  In order to calm down the panicked and fearful children Jack says, "Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island. Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!" (79) As displayed in the quote, Jack is clearly insensitive towards the feelings of his companions. He dismisses their fear and quickly devises a way to ignore their persistent cries for help. This is a common occurrence, not only in Lord of The Flies, but also throughout our society today. Specifically in the Syrian War where the Syrian government ignores the their civilians attempt to gain help from the enemy. This relates back to innocence because people in positions of power take innocence as a sign of weakness. They view it as something that makes people inferior to them. Something that makes them easy to take down. Innocence is looked at as something to be taken, a prize to be won, a medal to be displayed to represent the impact of the action at hand.

What begins as a peaceful uprising ends as a mourning for loss. Leaving the once confident and innocent being harmed by the actions of its predator. It’s common occurrence in our everyday society, causing people to be fearful of their competitors, and causing them to be fearful of the unknown harm they could face. Because of the fear of the unknown, people hole up and allow others to trample over them. Thus fulfilling the statement nice guys finish last. The sad truth is that the ones who are dominant often understand their dominance, which allows them to take over the ones who are considered “nice”.

Works Cited

"Children of Syria By the Numbers." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/children-of-syria-by-the-numbers/>.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Moore, Jack. "Syria war death toll hits 321,000 with 145,000 more missing: Monitor." Newsweek. N.p., 18 Mar. 2017. <http://www.newsweek.com/sixth-anniversary-syrian-conflict-looms-war-monitor-says-465000-killed-or-567181>.

Pruitt, Sarah. "New Book Sheds Light on the Murder of Emmett Till." History.com A&E Television Networks, 03 Feb. 2017. <http://www.history.com/news/new-book-sheds-light-on-the-murder-of-emmett-till-the-civil-rights-movement>.

"Syria war: 2016 deadliest year yet for children, says Unicef." BBC News. BBC, 13 Mar. 2017. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39252307>.

Diary #2

Screenshot 2017-03-31 at 10.32.59 AM
Screenshot 2017-03-31 at 10.32.59 AM

​West philly no tiene mucha historia oficial. es conocido por la pobreza y la violencia de la lucha. Aunque la mayor parte de su historia es malo, todavía es conocida por su comunidad fortaleza y perseverancia. Eva y will smith son dos personajes famosos que son de oeste de Filadelfia.

Advanced Art

The work that I did was based off many others. I thought that maybe I could reflect like a mirror image of what people do daily. What it means to be an artist to me is showing how you feel on a simple piece of paper. I used many different tecniques to make my work the way it is. All of my work was inspiration, I felt like I had to make the things I did, take a picture. I drew what I saw and I thought was worthy and was very different something no one would have though of doing. I was inspired by many but only I knew what I wanted to do.


Empathy vs. Ego


Kamil Kielar

Ms. Pohohomov

31 March 2017

Lord of the Flies Essay



Empathy vs. Ego



For many fear is not something pleasurable which they experience. When people think of fear they add a negative connotation towards it and a sense of dislike for it. However, when it is not our fear which is on the line, the courage to overcome the fear is taken for granted and not realized by others until they are put into that same position. We always encourage our friends to face their fears, but would we ourselves take the advice we give to others? Everyone has been in a situation where they are trying to overcome one of their fears and understand the difficulty of the situation. Where is the empathy expressed with other emotions such as sadness or joy? When fear is expressed by others, empathy is lost in our response due to the desire of disbelief that we never experienced fear.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, he tells a story of young boys stranded on an island struggling to keep their civil nature and not fall into primal instincts and savagery amongst themselves. They, however, are unable to hold onto themselves, losing all sense of morality. When one of the younger boys shows fear of a beast on the island, he brings it up to the older boys. They, however, shrug it off as if it is nothing at all. They don’t even in any way show consideration that maybe something is on the island. Jack, one of the older boys, simply tells them, "…fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island . . . Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!"(82)

Since the older boys have outgrown believing in monsters, they understand that there isn’t a something out to get them  but they are still young enough to remember they were once that age and had experienced the same thing. Jack even goes out of his way to call these kids names for believing in such things but by doing so he proves the emotion that is going through him. Internally his ego is battling the fact that he was once like those kids and wants to forget that part of him. But through denying the existence of this monster he is avoiding having to fear it himself. For Jack, it is simply the easiest path to irrationalize the idea because then no justification is needed for neither himself nor the little kids.

Children have some of the most creative and unique minds but a majority of the time are shut out by grown-ups. Kids can come up with these crazy ideas and when brought up, they are immediately shot down with denial from their parent without actual real thought because we want to think that because they are younger, they don’t have the same higher level thinking as us and therefore cannot come up with an “intelligent” idea. This case is especially accurate through children who are not taken seriously. According to Peter Gray Ph.D., he states that “When your child screams at being put to bed alone at night, your child is not trying to test your will! Your child is screaming, truly, for dear life.” This simply shows how we react to someone else's fear without considering the possibility that it may be real. Instead of thinking about the situation, it is simpler to believe something just because it is easier. It is easier to think that as children we wanted our parents rather than we had actually been scared. The fact that so many parents do not even take this into consideration shows how much they don’t want to believe the fact as well. Fear for your own life is an extremely powerful and traumatizing emotion and to have it be a possibility of what is happening to your child's and not even considering the scenario is shocking to me. Laziness is often considered a physical not wanting to work, but the laziness of mind is the greatest selfishness someone can commit.

When thoughts on the subject of the beast had been changed to Piggy, another protagonist in the story, he had also been unable to see things from the perspective of the kids. Instead, he had decided to take a more rational approach to this by saying, "Life […] is scientific, that's what it is. [...] I know there isn't no beast—not with claws and all that I mean—but I know there isn't no fear either."(84) For this particular character, he had wanted more of a logical response to the situation which gives him the ability to avoid having to deal with emotions at all but science can only take him so far. According to Charles L. Bennett, “...science doesn’t “prove” theories. Scientific measurements can only disprove theories…”(Dr. Jay Wile) This is important because the most Piggy can do is say that there is no “beastie” but that doesn’t include anything else which may be a threat to them on the islands. Throughout the novel, Piggy considers himself the “smart one” in the group and now even he is unable to prove that there is not something on the island trying to get them. This in a way a shot to his ego and pride. He doesn’t want to believe that it is true but if this logical approach had truly been done by Piggy, he would know this is definitely true. Rather than admitting the situation and hurting his pride he chooses to deny the story altogether.

In conclusion, fear can be expressed in many ways, but what people fail to realize is how they themselves perceive it. To ourselves it is something we are going to try and stay away from, to others, it will be something we help them overcome but never will mutual understanding of fear exist. Everyone experiences fear but don’t like to admit it. It is simpler to say you are fearless because you see other people react when being fearful. Naturally, people don’t want to bring themselves down and admitting to it one of the biggest drops someone can go through. Fear will always exist inside of us and we will always have a way to experience it ourselves but the way we see other’s fears can change our very understanding of fear itself.




Works Cited


Gray, Peter. "The Monsters Under the Bed Are Real: Why Children Protest Bedtime." Kindred Media. N.p., 26 Nov. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.http://kindredmedia.org/2011/10/the-monsters-under-the-bed-are-real-why-children-protest-bedtime/


Wile, Jay. "Science Can’t Prove Anything." Proslogion. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://blog.drwile.com/?p=5725


Colder, C. R., J. E. Lochman, and K. C. Wells. "The Moderating Effects of Children's Fear and Activity Level on Relations between Parenting Practices and Childhood Symptomatology." Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 1997. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9212377


Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.



The Forbidden Fruit That Rots Our Society - LoTF Essay - Maddi Etxebeste

How could knowledge and truth be dangerous and harmful? Knowledge and truth can threaten a loss of credibility to the ones who already have it when the others find it out, but ignorance is the one which can keep them safe as well. And, in contrast with the previous statement, knowledge and truth should be shown to people because it could be beneficial to know what happens in the world and to themselves and everything that surrounds them. Knowledge being “a good thing”, it is a good which leads to a worse situation. Knowledge and truth are beneficial to be able know what is going on in the world, what is around you, what is everything, and also stops you from lying to yourself. It is frightening, when you expect a truth that you are not ready or eager to hear. It is harmful and risky when you don’t like that truth, or when truth leads to something bad. Therefore, truth and knowledge can be beneficial, but also harmful, risky, and even frightening.


One example in History is Scientific Revolution. Many discoveries and theories in various scientific fields have challenged the Catholic Church’s beliefs. One example is heliocentrism challenging geocentrism, many scientists contradicting the Holy Scriptures, like Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Copernicus challenging the Church. The Catholic Church banned books contradicting their beliefs and teachings, which showed how they hid truth and knowledge from believers, and how knowledge is forbidden. One of the reasons for that could be the loss of credibility from believers, and Church’s biggest fear was people questioning their faith after finding out the truth. They knew that saying the truth to believers could raise questions about what else they were hiding or lying about. For instance, in Lord of the Flies when you compare the rest of the boys to Piggy and Simon it becomes clear that the rest of the boys are ignorant  but think they know everything because of that knowledge, which made their situation even worse. As the English poet Alexander Pope said, “A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drink largely sobers us again”. This quote means that people having a little knowledge think that they know a lot because they think that that knowledge is the only truth. Another demonstration of this in  Lord of the Flies is when Piggy, the character which symbolizes knowledge, is always interrupted and can’t express his opinion or a fact. This situation happens many times in the book, for example when Piggy is trying to talk and Jack Merridew, the chief of the Hunters, interrupts him saying: “You are talking too much. Shut up, Fatty.” (21) even if Piggy had barely talked because they always make him be quiet, and in this way knowledge stays unknown to the others because they force him to hide it in some way.


The issue is not only how knowledge and truth are hidden, but how they are treated in society. Something else in the book is Piggy’s death, or in symbolic terms, knowledge’s death. Another example in the book is Simon’s death, who represented kindness and truth as well. They are killed in the moment when they are going to release truth or say something wise and logical. The violence against knowledge is showed when Roger is about to slaughter Piggy: “Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever.” (180) and then when Piggy is brutally murdered and the conch is broken: “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. The rock bounded twice and was lost in the forest. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after  it has been killed. Then the sea breathed again in a long, slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone.” (181) At this point, after Piggy’s death in the second to last chapter, knowledge, wisdom and truth are not only hidden, but they are gone and won’t come back in the rest of the novel. This and the break of the conch, which kept them together and “in peace”, set a sort of chaos, where Jack does not show any kind of regret, but pride, and sounds really harsh and cruel. Simultaneously he declares himself as the definite leader: “See? See?  That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone -- I’m chief!” (181)


Another example in the real world is the Global Surveillance Disclosures incident, mainly caused by Edward Snowden, starting on June 2013. He leaked top-secret documents about the global surveillance in which the NSA, CIA and foreign organizations are involved. As the time passed the topic became more and more known internationally when he released those documents on the Internet and shared them with recognized newspapers in many influential countries. This awakened the important representatives of those countries, and made them realize that secrets have consequences once they are discovered. These new findings gave rise to fear and made people feel sort of threatened, watched, and controlled. People just discovered that many powerful governments of important, developed countries have been spying the whole world. This example shows that no matter when you say it, it will hurt, have bad consequences and negative effects.


These examples demonstrate that truth can hurt more than a lie, and both options, saying it and not saying anything, would have negative consequences, and the only difference between those two actions is the moment where it is said. The consequences of having and not having knowledge, and learn why knowledge is necessary, important, but at the same time risky is necessary because as Alexander Pope explained, having a little knowledge makes someone think of themselves as wiser people than they actually are, and makes them ignorant. It’s an important point because everyone should have the right to know, but total transparency is never an option. In politics, for example.  It’s almost impossible for them to know what is people’s reaction going to be, that’s why they know that it’s risky saying what they are about to say, because everything can change from one moment to another. Because of that, they feel obliged to lie to protect the society. But then, why do we always want to know, even if we expect the worst as an answer?





Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of The Flies New York, Penguin, 2006


"Censorship of Government Scientists Spreads to the United Kingdom." Union of Concerned Scientists. Union of Concerned Scientists, 30 Mar. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.  Censorship of Government Scientists in the United Kingdom


Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 10: The Scientific Revolution, 1543-16." Historyguide.org. HistoryGuide.org, 2002. Web. 29 Mar. 2017. Scientific Revolution


Martin, Gary. "'A little knowledge is a dangerous thing' - the meaning and origin of this phrase." Phrasefinder. The Phrase Finder, 2017. Web. 29 Mar. 2017. A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing


"Edward Snowden: Leaks that exposed US spy programme." BBC News. BBC, 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2017. Edward Snowden - BBC Article


"Let's Agree to Disagree" LoTF Essay, David Roberts

Let's Agree to Disagree

People will often follow or worship something that they believe in or have respect for, whether that may be a person or thing. In some cases, that thing might be a symbol. A symbol that stands for something someone believes in. In that case, everyone else who believes in that same idea will be connected or joined in their beliefs for that thing. However, there will always be a group of people that is against that belief. Therefore, while bringing people together, symbols in society, at the same time, also divide people into groups that often hate each other.

Many symbols exist in society that prove this exact point. Human creations like religion and cults use symbols to accompany their beliefs, which often become focal points in their worship. Looking at the most popular religion of Christianity, the cross that is most often thought of when thinking of this religion brings many a people together under it. Christians worship God as well as this cross and honor it as a token to their religion. Christians seem to be united under this symbol. On the other hand, those who disagree with this worldview, have come to disrespect or even hate this symbol. It symbolizes something they believe to be false and therefore are united with others who also disagree. These two unified groups of Christians and non Christians are divided in their beliefs. The cross brings those who respect and those who disrespect it together with those who share their beliefs, while simultaneously dividing those two groups of people.

Not only does religion show the power of symbols. As demonstrated in the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, symbols also play a role in an imaginary society. In the book, a group of boys is stranded on an island. They start out as one group, but after two leaders emerge, Ralph and Jack, the one encompassing group is broken into two. After Jack’s crew and Ralph’s crew split, Piggy, who is Ralph's advisor, discusses the idea of taking the conch to Jack, with the hope that Jack will release his possession of Piggy’s glasses. “You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I’ll show him the one thing he hasn’t got (171).” The conch has become a very powerful symbol. It was used in the beginning to show leadership and authority, and therefore Piggy has the idea to use the conch to show Jack “what’s what.” Piggy’s original plans involve retrieving his glasses from Jack, and Piggy wants to use the conch to show that he is more powerful and people should obey him, and therefore giving him a greater chance of obtaining his glasses. The fact that Piggy then takes the conch, “with pride,” confirms the idea that whoever has the conch is to be respected. However, when confronting Jack with the conch, Jack’s crew started to throw stones at Piggy and the conch. Looking at this whole event, we can see that, while bringing Piggy, and his friends together against Jack and his group, the conch divided Piggy’s crew from Jack and his crew.

This is not the only example that is presented in the book. Earlier, when the two groups were in their early stages of separation, someone reported the sighting of a beast within the forest. Now, one company took this report as a serious threat, and everyone within it began to fear this beast, even though there was no confirmation. The other gang wasn’t so sure of this report. “Well then—I’ve been all over this island. By myself. If there were a beast I’d have seen it. Be frightened because you’re like that—but there is no beast in the forest (83).” Half of the boys believed this report, and half of them rejected it. This beast goes on to become a symbol of fear in the boys makeshift society. As time goes on, most of the boys adapted to view this theory as truth. There are still a few boys that didn't believe this beast to be true. Simon, one of Ralph’s band, is one of those boys. "I'll go if you like. I don't mind, honestly. (117)" Simon still believes this beast to be fictional, and shows this when he volunteers to go into the forest for the rest of the boys. After this event, and others like it, Ralph’s club starts to doubt this beast’s existence. Jack’s party remains in their beliefs that this beast’s presence is no lie. This beast figure has become a symbol that has unified the boys, but, at the same time, divided them in their view on its reality.

Shifting the view away from that of the fictional world, another non fictional symbol fits this puzzle. Pepe the Frog, or just Pepe, after being taken from the comic series Boy’s Club by Matt Furie, has blown up as a popular internet meme. After the internet enjoyed these memes for a time, Pepe started to be hated. Pepe was taken out of proportion and now remains in the Anti-Defamation League’s list of hate symbols. Pepe the Frog has become a symbol for those of the white supremacy group. As with every symbol, there are people who agree with it and disagree with it. In this way, those who are with this white supremacy group respect this symbol, and those who are against it loath it for what it stands for. Those groups of people are, while unified with others in their point of view, are divided from the other side because of their different beliefs.

Symbols can play many roles in society, one of them being their unifying qualities. Many symbols often stand for something like a religion or an idea. Those who use this symbol to show their own views will respect and honor their created symbol. Those who decide that this symbol contains no truth or disagree with what it stands for, have no respect or care for this symbol. Therefore, symbols that stand for something in society, both unify those who agree with it and disagree with it, but yet divides those two groups in their beliefs on the subject.


Works Cited:

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
"Pepe the Frog." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.
"Christian cross." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

Nothing to Gain from Compromise - LotF Essay

A compromise is an agreement between two sides, usually with both sides winning and losing some. Compromises are made with hopes of a semi-peaceful ending. What happens when one side is not willing to compromise? It depends. In certain cases, this could result in both sides losing things. In other cases, if one side is weak, the possibility of a compromise between the two sides is less likely. The weaker side, not having much to give, might not see the point in compromising with the stronger side. On the other hand, the stronger side might already have everything they need, and see nothing to gain from the compromise with the other side. While compromise is important in some situations, either one of the sides in the conflict won’t be willing if they don’t think they could gain from it.

The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, in which a group of boys are stranded on an island with no supervision, provides many examples that show why a side in a fight between two groups would not be open to compromise. In chapter ten of the book, Jack, one of the “leaders” of the groups, steals the glasses from his rival side’s advisor, Piggy, so that his “tribe” could make fire. In the next chapter, Ralph, the other “leader”, and Piggy go to get Piggy’s glasses back from Jack. Once they arrive and confront Jack, he demands for Ralph to leave. “You go away Ralph. You keep to your end. This is my end and my tribe. You leave me alone (176).” Even though not much had happened between the two groups in this scene, tension had already risen because of Jack’s previous actions and Ralph, the conflicting group, appearing in Jack’s “territory”. Since Jack stole the glasses from Ralph’s group in order to get the thing he wanted and needed, fire, more conflict was created between the two groups. At this point in the book, Jack’s crew is much larger than Ralph’s and Ralph makes it clear that he would have been willing to compromise with Jack if he had just asked to use the glasses. This demonstrates that the stronger side in a fight might not compromise with the opposing side because compromising wouldn’t benefit them.

Another example from the book that showcases issues regarding compromise is the scene soon after Ralph and Jack meet face to face with each other. During this scene, the two boys begin to argue, which leads them to start jabbing at each other with the butt ends of their spears. This continues for a short while before Ralph tries to reason with Jack again. “Listen. We’ve come to say this. First you’ve got to give back Piggy’s specs. If he hasn’t got them he can’t see. You aren’t playing the game—(177)” This quote further shows that Ralph would have been willing to cooperate with Jack and his crew. Ralph hoped that if all the boys were a big group again, things would operate smoother on the island. Instead of reasoning with Ralph, Jack continued to hold his grudge against Ralph, and did not want to change the “superior” way that he had built up his tribe. In this case, the weaker side wanted to compromise so they could be on equal ground as the stronger side. However, the stronger side in this scenario, Jack and his group, see no point in compromising with Ralph because they have nothing to gain from doing so. Compromising with Ralph would not have aided Jack’s agenda on the island any more than being forceful would. In fact, Jack believed he was strong enough that he didn’t need to compromise.

The conflict between Jack and Ralph in the book is not the only example of want and rejection of compromise. The Melian Dialogue was a meeting between the Melians and Athenians during the Peloponnesian War, with the Athenians wanting to compromise with the Melians and the Melians wanting to stay out of the war. The reason for The Melian Dialogue caused a very similar situation to what happened in the book, except it is reversed. Instead of the weaker side, the Melians, wanting to compromise, the stronger side, the Athenians, asked to compromise instead. The Athenians were going around offering to form alliances with other groups of people, relying on force to subdue them if they refused (similar to how Jack decided to steal Piggy’s glasses, except without the asking part first). Melians, inhabitants of Melos, wanted to be and stay neutral while other areas struggled with the Athenians. Eventually the Athenians targeted them to be allies as well. The Melians refused the Athenians, using their honor and hope as an excuse.

The Melians did not see how compromising would benefit either themselves or the Athenians. The only thing the Athenians promised them if they became allies was to spare Melos. The Melians were a small group of people and didn’t have much to give to the Athenians. In this event, the weaker side saw no point in compromising with the stronger side. The Athenians warned the Melians that they would take Melos by force if the Melian’s final answer was to not cooperate with them. The Melians figured that Melos was so small and weak compared to the Athenian forces that they would have nothing to give if they were allies, and nothing to lose if they refused. In the end, the Melians rejected the Athenians proposal, and the Athenians took Melos using force.

Compromise, in many cases, will help both sides reach their goal. When compromise is not an option or not an accepted tactic, usually one group comes out on top. More often than not, this group is the stronger one. The reason compromise is not a possibility is because while a strong group relies on force to get them what they want, the weak group depends more on hope to get where they want to go. These reasons prevent compromise between the groups. Regardless of which side is asking which to compromise in situations like these, the group being asked to compromise will not because they believe there is nothing to gain from working together.



Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord Of The Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.


"The Melian Dialogue". Colorado.edu. N. p., 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.colorado.edu/classics/clas2041/Lecture%20Outlines/LOMelian.htm


"The Melian Dialogue". Mtholyoke.edu. N. p., 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/melian.htm

How it all goes Downhill

How it all goes Downhill

By Eli Zimmerman



William Golding’s fictional novel, Lord of the Flies, is a world renowned classic that tells the story of a group of grade school boys who hailed from the Home Counties. The boys have been stranded on a deserted island. In order to survive the kids must work together, so they appoint a chief via the democratic process of voting. They decide on  Ralph, who is one of the eldest. As the book progresses we see another figure rise to power, Jack another older boy, who challenges Ralph’s position and wins it over by using fear to his advantage. Jack overthrows Ralph by using fear to unite the boys, and gets them to join him. The book raises the point that fear and misinformation lead to the unwinding of democracy.  Recent political events in the United States and Europe confirm that relationship.

Towards the beginning of the book the boys join in meeting to discuss what the group's agenda should be. They use a conch shell as a tool to create order. Whoever has the shell in their hand is the only person that can talk. As they talk, a little boy who is too shy to talk raises a point about a mysterious beast on the island. At one point a very young boy attempts to share what he has seen in the woods. With a little reiteration by Piggy, the boy tells the group what he has seen. “Now he says it was a beastie.” “Beastie?” “A snake thing.” “Ever so big.” “He saw it.” (35). Although the older kids take the little boy”s comment as a joke at first, the beast morphs into the theme of fear recurring throughout the rest of the book. The creation of fear is what drives the book’s main plot. Fear of the beast subliminally fuels every single decision made by the boys throughout the rest of the novel. The beast’s actual physical appearance is not important rather the symbol of fear it represents is what drives the plot. With the beast in play, the boys have a real life representation for their fear. The symbol makes the boys disorganized and leads to trust issues. Before they know it, the power of fear begins to take control of the group.

Much later in the book we see that things have gotten out of control for Ralph and his trusty advisor, Piggy. Jack has distanced himself from the group and has developed a few very close allies. As the story progresses,so does Jack’s power. We see the boys flocking to the leader who shows the least amount of so called fear. Some of Jack’s friends have stolen Piggy’s glasses, forcing Piggy to go and retrieve them. The rock struck Piggy, a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. (181). Jack offers the boys protection and food if they join him. While Ralph sticks with the original plan of lighting a signal fire and hoping help comes. We can assume Jack is able to persuade the boys to join him, because of the promises he makes. When people are uneducated and fear the unknown they seek refuge and protection. Jack seems fearless which is the only thing the kids look for. Because of fear they toss rational thinking and the possible instability of Jack’s personality out the window, just for protection from the unknown. The shattering of the conch represents the end of order and democracy within the group. Fear unravels democracy. With order turned on its head, Jack has the ability to strike and take his place as leader. He chooses to do this with force, and anarchy is unleashed within the group.

A New York Times article, written by Amanda Taub states that Western democracy is on the decline. If you look at the numbers you begin to see America is falling behind on global test scores. This article concludes that a majority of America is becoming less and less intelligent. As of 2017, 75% of silicon valley’s skilled labor needed to be filled by people on the H1 B1 visa. The fact that Americans are increasingly less educated not only affects jobs, but also impacted the recent presidential election.  As seen in the last election millions of Americans turned away from a progressive candidate in Hillary Clinton, for a more conservative option, Donald Trump. Donald Trump planned to remove many parts of structured democracy, like the freedom of the press. A study by Fivethirtyeight surveyed 981 counties and found that 48 of the top 50 counties with the highest number of people possessing a four year degree voted for Clinton. But in the 50 counties with the lowest number of four year degrees Trump won the majority. Trump ran on the promises that he would build a wall to shelter America from Mexico and defeat ISIS. Many will debate that Mexico and ISIS should not be the top of America’s agenda. So through his ability to invoke fear and appeal to the uneducated side of America he won the presidency. A similar scenario is also found in the book when Jack promises safety from a thing that the boys couldn’t confirm existed.

On June 23, 2016 the United Kingdom (UK) decided to leave the European Union (EU). The EU is a European trade partnership between 28 countries. Experts call it a liberal trade deal because it involves single market free trade that is backed by the democratic side of Europe. The EU brings Europe closer together through trade ties. In 2016 a campaign was started by the right wing Unionist party to have the UK leave the EU. The party stated that dangerous immigrants were coming into the country due to very few trade regulations and poor border security. Just like Trump, the party ran on a campaign that generated fear. The movement began to pick up momentum and eventually came down to a vote. The day after the vote Brexit was issued, Google reported that the second highest search was “What is the EU?”. The vote in favor of Brexit was backed by a majority of uneducated voters. A study done by Telegraph showed that citizens in the UK lacking a university education who were over the age of 65, overwhelmingly voted against the EU. This outcome confirms that fear and limited education jeopardize the principles of democracy.

Because we all have the capacity to fear everyday things, emotion plays a major role in our decision making. When fear is mixed with limited education, we see people making conservative and protective decisions. As illustrated by Lord of the Flies fear resulting from information that is not critically analyzed is the beginning of the end for democracy.



Works cited:

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Taub, Amanda. "How Stable Are Democracies? ‘Warning Signs Are Flashing Red’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/world/americas/western-liberal-democracy.html?_r=0


Natesilver538. "Education, Not Income, Predicted Who Would Vote For Trump." FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight, 28 Nov. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/education-not-income-predicted-who-would-vote-for-trump/


Dunford, Ashley Kirk; Daniel. "EU referendum: How the results compare to the UK's educated, old and immigrant populations." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 24 June 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/24/eu-referendum-how-the-results-compare-to-the-uks-educated-old-an/


Zimmerman, Neetzan. "UK's second most Googled question after Brexit: 'What is the EU?'" TheHill. N.p., 24 June 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/leave-remain-brexit-uk-google-trends-what-is-eu-european-union-referendum-what-happens-now


Podcast Interview Essay

Growing up in this generation has shaped me to be the person I am today. Many aspects of my life have been affecting due to many of my personal experiences. Although my father and I grew up and different generations many things have stayed the same and others have changed drastically. The values and what is accepted of us as people has largely impacted young males such as myself and my father. I wanted to interview my father because he grew up during the 1960’s, a time much different than the one I’m growin up in. I wanted his perspective on the visible changes in society.

I started the interview by asking him what his childhood was like and how the standards in his generation influenced his decisions he made. He expressed his feelings regarding the environment in his household. He spoke on the void that exists in many modern day families.

He talked about how families held unity as a number one priority. They didn’t take for granted the time they shared whereas families today rarely eat dinner together. Time was very important and crucial to the growth of children but now “Kids ain’t even kids today. We had a chance to be children because when you lose your childhood you lose everything.” In today’s world, children don’t value their childhood they want to grow up so fast. And those children that do value it are robbed of their childhood due to their personal circumstances. Most kids are in a rush to have the liberties and freedom of being of age but not the responsibilities. You look forward to 18 because you’re “legal” and can make more of your own decisions, but most people are barely able to support themselves on their own.

Towards the end of the interview my father talked about the the violent aspect of society today. He spoke on how fights have changed throughout the years.  He explained how back when he was growing up the worst that could happen to you would be getting beat up, but nowadays there is a probability that you could be killed. “If we had disagreements we didn’t shoot each other” He even said that back in his day after a fight people would sometimes become cool with each other, whereas people today hold on to problems which just lead to more conflict. “Kids today seem to have no regard or respect for life, kids today take a life how they would take a shower”

I asked my father about the major changes that happen in his life through the change of time. He concluded that he spent most of his finding out what his place was in the world, but he likes the person he is as an adult. He sees life through his own eyes, his children's eyes, and his wife’s eyes. Having all three of these perspectives makes a big difference between how he was as a young adult versus now. He lives life through them. One thing that my father said that resonated with me at the end of the interview was “the things that meant something to me don’t mean anything now.”I found this to be the brutal truth and reality. So many aspects of life are taken for granted by this generation. I hope I can can keep the morals and practices my father instilled in me so they are not forgotten.

The Lord of the Flies - "Breaking the Game" - by Jacobo Pastor

Jacobo Pastor

English 2/ Ms. Pahomov

March 31st, 2017


Breaking the Game


If you were to survive in an unknown environment, surrounded by dangers and threats, what type of decisions would you take? If the strong are battling to survive, why should they waste care and resources on the weak? Would fairness and justice prevail or would fear rule? What type of options would you have when your choices are limited and you lose your faith in mankind? Would you work together as a team or would you fight with one another? What type of leader would you follow? What limits would affect your actions and your leader’s ones? What would you consider a necessary evil or a good action? How does fear influence those situations? The book, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding starts at the beginning of an unnamed war. A group of English schoolboys, ages six to 12, are being evacuated from their homes when their plane is shot down and crashes on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean. From that moment on, the boys need to take all kind of decisions. One of the older boys, Ralph, takes control of the situation trying to organize the boys into a kind of productive, democratic society. Anyone can speak his mind and help the group come to a decision, as long as he's holding the conch, a large white seashell. Ralph symbolizes a civilized society. While Ralph is that, the other leader Jack symbolizes violence and anarchy. This book symbolizes today’s society, where they discover that power can justify any action they take, now matter how cruel it might be, causing disagreement amongst their civilization. The actions and decisions they take will define the way they all live.

Since the first chapters Ralph tries to organize the boys into a kind of productive, democratic society. In their first meeting, when they are establishing the rules that should be followed, Jack brings up the punishment topic. Immediately Ralph makes sure to stop his intentions. "We will have rules! he cried excitedly. Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks' em-" (33). With just a couple of words, Jack has brought up a controversy between effectiveness versus humanity. Our society balances both of those, trying to get something that can maintain the stability of a civilization while at the same time comforting human rights. Jack believes that being effective is much more important that being humane.

This moment can be related to a famous speech given by Francisco Franco, the first and last Spanish dictator, to all the communist who lost the Spanish civil war and were supposed to surrender and repent. In his speech, he revealed all his power as a dictator with just a couple words, "And those who don't follow as I say will be crashed as worms." Rules are something that should be followed because they support and bring cohesion to society. Just as it is not rational to milk a cow till it gives its last drop of milk, rules should be treated with respect, not because someone is dictating you to do so. William Golding depicts Jack as a dictator, representing the total opposite of what our Western society believes nowadays, where anyone can speak his mind and help the group to come to a decision. On the other side Jack, the leader of the savages, believes that as members of a primitive tribe, death and suffering are natural ways to survive and rule. Following his line of thought, if he is the most violent among the rest he is necessarily the leader to follow.

In the last few chapters Jack took over the whole island with his group of savages, breaking all the rules and agreements the boys had. One of his actions was to steal Piggy’s glasses to make a fire and cook the pig he had just killed. Piggy did not believe that that should be a way to behave. He later convinced his friend and former leader, Ralph, to discuss with him this unfairness. When they get there they had nothing to do, because Jack had an army that will kill for him. “They do what I want,” Jack states. “I am the chief” (179). Jack is also a particular sadist chief. “I don’t know. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been” – he giggled excitedly – “tied for hours, waiting” (159), tells Robert about the orders of Jack and his submission to him. Power has corrupted Jack and has made him think that his actions are all necessary. This moment of the book can be related with the thoughts of Francisco Franco. As he once said, “I am only responsible for God and history”. In this quote Franco has also been corrupted by power and believes that as the supreme leader, he would only need to justify his actions in front of God and history books. Both of those quotes make the reader feel that no only power has corrupted their thoughts but also their need for more power. The more actions they take, the worst the next one will be. As temperature rises, their bad actions do too but without a clear result on what those would look like. It’s the fear of the unknown that keeps people scared, because they do not know what will would happen to them.

"It's the things that have crawled out of their own bones and their own veins, they don't know whether it's a beast from the sky, air, or where it's coming, but there is something terrible about it as the conditions of existence.” Said William Golding in a 1959 BBC radio interview describing the “beast” and its meaning. The Lord of the Flies, is literally the head of a pig that has been killed by Jack’s tribe and left as an offering to the island’s mysterious “beast.” What in Hebrew means Beelzebub, demon in English. In other terms, it symbolizes the “beast” that it’s inside in every good man. The boy’s belief in the beast is a tipping point in the boy's' journey from civilisation to base, primitive, human instinct. This is a good indication of the author’s purpose and a direct reference to the growing presence of evil in the characters and their transformation into unhuman beings. The good time was so short, and then human nature starts to assert itself, and their society descends into antagonism, hostility and violence. Only at the very end, we see the young kids back in the story when they are confronted by the presence of an adult- the navy in their rescue. Then is when we came to realize they were only 12 years old buy yet they behaved like the most cruel adults in the real world.

In conclusion, the abuse of power seen in the, Lord of the Flies, gives birth to an inside beast that is nothing more that themselves making them do cruel life decisions just to maintain that power or superiority between other people. The truth about this book and the real meaning that William Golding wants to represent, is to realize that when groups of people are clinging to life, the greatest threat may be not the environment, starvation or dehydration, but the other survivors standing next to them on a deserted town, beach, road, mountain.

Works Cited:


Golding, William. Lord Of The Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.


"General Francisco Franco 'El Generalissimo'" General Francisco Franco – 'El Generalissimo' | Spain Dictator | Spanish-Living.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.spanish-living.com/general-franco


"BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Lord of the Flies." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p026bmlj


Http://feastcreative.com, Feast Creative |. "New Adventures." New Adventures. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://new-adventures.net/rebourne/bbc-breakfast-interview--lord-of-the-flies


"La mejor entrevista a Franco." La mejor entrevista a Franco. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. http://www.generalisimofranco.com/franco/00H.HTM














LOTF- Pridefulness by Justin Stewart

Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding in 1954. This book is about a group of boys that are caught in a plane crash with no parent supervision so have to learn how to survive by themselves. Ralph and Piggy, two of the boys that were in the plane crash, find a conch shell on the beach. This dire situation could  and does happen in real life- news stories about plane crashes are not uncommon. People lie about having fears as a way to maintain their pride


In the military, one has to be brave and unafraid of any situation that could arise. But there are some members in the military that are afraid but don’t want other people to know. In the Army, they also value pride. One of their core values are personal courage. It says “Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral)”. This is a sign of pride. Pride is satisfaction derived from someone's own achievements. Pride is necessary in order to do anything and motivate yourself. People in the military motivate themselves with pride by defending our country.  We humans would rather have pride over being realistic, effective, and compassionate. The consequences of being realistic, effective, and compassionate are that they don’t want people to know that fear is controlling them.


A time that pride is showed in the book was when the group first encountered the beast. The boys all meet up and talk about the beast in chapter 5, where Piggy exclaims, ”I didn’t vote for no ghost!” (91). This occurs after Ralph asks the group if they think the beast is a ghost. When Piggy responds by saying that there isn’t a ghost, he says it like he isn’t afraid of the beast even though he is on the inside.


Pridefulness can also be present when one gives a presentation. When you present a project, one must have to be proud in what you created. This pride in one’s own work helps protect the feelings of the presenter as this confidence will prevent criticism for others. If you aren’t proud with what you created, then people will start to doubt you and that can lower your pride and self-esteem. When you present a project, you can’t let people know that you are afraid to present because that will destroy your pride. Pride can be a defense mechanism.


Another sign of pride that is present in this book is when the boys are struggling to accept their current leader. Jack offers his position, saying, “I’m not going to be apart of Ralph’s lot” (128).  Jack said this to Ralph to try to lower his pride and self-esteem in order to weaken Ralph’s hold on the group. By lowering Ralph’s pride, he is asserting himself as a stronger, less fearful, and more prideful option for leading the group.


In Conclusion, it is a sign of pride if you are pretending not to be scared even if you truly are. This stubborn and often irrational human behavior can aid people in functioning properly, but lying about fears can also be a person’s greatest weakness.












Works cited






Artist Statement Q3

I completed the majority of the assignments on time this marking period. The bike was one of my favorites to do. I used a straightedge, markers and a shiny gel pens for the metal. I also really enjoyed doing the illusion drawings. I decided to do small lines with two circles because I do these types a lot and I wanted a challenge. I added a colorful pattern after inking it. I don't remember the exact pencils I used for the shading, but I used a variation of H's and B's to complete the different areas. My lines were messy and streaky, so I smudged some of the shapes, but ended up getting it all over the paper. For the eye project, I drew two smaller ones instead of one larger eye. I tend to draw smaller and with less detail, so I had trouble with my first attempt at this assignment. I ended up just drawing these two and submitting it. The last thing we did was the mandala. I took inspiration from the detailed flowery types, and placed that in small portions of my piece. I tried to incorporate circles with a few scattered triangles. The color scheme came from a Gap commercial I had seen the day before. I saw a lot of the same shapes I had used, and decided to use those bright colors on my mandala. Overall I like most of what I did this quarter.

Ole, Ole, Ole - Majd Bostani

Majd Bostani

Ms. Pahomov

English 2 - E Band

March 31, 2017

Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole!

    Everyone that has ever been in a large, excited crowd has participated in a chant. Whether the chant is at a sports game rooting for the home team, a protest against an unjust system, or in the case of the savage tribe Lord of the Flies, to celebrate the killing of a pig. These cheers can be used for a variety of reasons: to encourage an individual, excite an action, and/or indicate approval. Each of these outcomes shows that cheers unite a community toward a common goal, and help empower each other to achieve that goal.

    In the twelfth chapter of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the original tribe has separated. There is Ralph, who got dumped by all of his former allies, and is attempting to fend for himself. The rest of the kids on the island formed a savage tribe united under Jack. They threatened Ralph by means of death, to try to get him off of the island. One night, Ralph heard “Kill the pig, cut his throat, spill his blood.” (186) through the trees. Ralph concluded that the savages must be living on the other side of the island. Ralph remembered the chant from when the original tribe would kill a pig and sit around a fire to consume it. Thus he reminisced everyone sitting around together as one. Consequently, Ralph revised a strategy of how he was going to survive, because he was alone and outnumbered by a tribe of his former partners who are threatening to kill him. 

    Ralph and Piggy - two of the main characters in the book of Lord of The Flies by William Golding found a conch on the island. “He kind of spat,” (16) Piggy instructed Ralph on how to make sound with conches. Following Piggy’s instructions, Ralph blew into the conch which made a loud sound, that could be heard throughout the entire island. “Meanwhile Ralph continued to blow till voices shouted in the forest. A small boy squatted in front of Ralph, looking up brightly and vertically.” (18) Right before the reader’s eyes, a community was brought together. Thanks to this chant, and communication, kids on both sides of the scene were reassured that they weren’t alone. Ralph and Piggy then had the reassurance that they will have the manpower to make a civilization and survive as one unit. It also gave Johnny, who was very young, small, and presumably very afraid, the comfort of having other people with him.

    According to William Golding, one of the main purposes for writing Lord of the Flies was to make a book with ample connections to modern society. As stated before, chanting occurs a lot in the world of sports. The spectators gathered around the playing field are yelling, screaming, hooting, and hollering for their home team to win the game. A Sports Illustrated article published in 1992 stated, “Although players and coaches usually have no response to the chanting, fans still do it. This is because they feel personally connected to the teams because of their hometowns, ....” This quote demonstrates that people chant to make themselves feel a part of a bigger movement. In this case, that would be the community of the hometown. This is encountered in Lord of the Flies when the boys would chant. The chant made the boys feel in the mood to kill a pig, and helped them get the encouragement to kill it.

    Chanting is one thing humans instinctively do when in a crowd that is dedicated to a task. It doesn’t matter whether it is to support the home team, to encourage something like a fight, or the killing of a pig. At the moment of the chant, it is easy to overlook just how infectious the environment is. However, it is promoting community, unity, and loyalty. Chants allow people the feeling the feeling that their message will get across; especially if the person they are trying to send their message to is in the area. 















Works Cited:

Jasmine Watkins @JasmineLWatkins Published on Sep. 26, 2014 Sep. 26, 2014. "'Derek Jeter' chant breaks out at Fenway Park." Sporting News. N.p., 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

"Student Activites | Bryn Mawr College." Student Activites | Bryn Mawr College. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2016.

Dawe, TJ. "Why Do People Cheer for Their Team?" Beams and Struts - A Magazine for Hungry Brains and Thirsty Souls. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.





Lord of the Flies Fear Mongering Essay

In order for a person to become a leader, there is one thing that he or she will need: power. Power is something that humans have strived for since the beginning of history. There are many ways that a person can gain power. Some gain power through inspiration, some become revered public figures that people naturally want to follow, and some have great skills and attributes that lend themselves to leadership. However, there is one tool has been used to attain power throughout history and has proven effective. That tool is fear. There are two ways that fear can be used to attain power: making people fear the leader and utilizing people’s fear of others. However, this essay is going to focus on fear mongering. Fearmongering is when a leader creates a common enemy for his or her people to fear. In William Goulding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a plane full of British schoolboys crashes on a deserted island. When the boys tried to decide on a leader, there was a power struggle between two boys named Jack and Ralph.

Throughout the novel, Jack used fear as a way to gain power over the group of boys. When the boys were on the island, there was a dogfight in the sky above them. The loser of the dogfight parachuted down on the island to his death. Eventually a littlun (little kid) went up and reported that he saw a snake-like beast. Fear of the beast spread among the boys. The fear caused the boys to neglect their civic duties. Ralph tried to quell the boys’ fear but to no avail. Jack declared that the beast was real and created a ritual to serve it "'This head is for the beast. It's a gift.'"(129) This quote shows that Jack was trying to convince the boys that the beast was real. It is clear throughout the novel that Jack was not happy about losing the “election” to Ralph and wanted to become the leader. He realized that since he was the lead hunter, the littluns would rely on him to protect them from the beast. If people turned to him for protection, he could easily steal the role of leadership right out from under Ralph’s nose.

Playing off of people’s paranoia in order to gain power has also happened throughout history. One example of this is with former U.S Senator Joe McCarthy. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Joe McCarthy was a senator for the state of Wisconsin in the 1950s. When he was senator, he rose to power by accusing hundreds of people in the government of being communist, without any evidence to back up any of his accusations. Joe McCarthy was senator during the Cold War, which was a time when a lot of Americans were very paranoid about the “Red Scare” or the spread of communism. McCarthy was playing off of their paranoia about communism by making the fight against communism the primary focus of his campaign and administration.

When Simon went to the top of the hill, he saw that there was no beast, just a dead fighter pilot. Simon went down the hill to Jack’s feast to inform the boys that there was no beast and that they had nothing to fear. Jack ordered his followers to “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!”(142) and the boys killed Simon. When the idea of the beast was introduced to the group of boys, Jack saw an opportunity to play off of the boys’ fear of the beast in order to gain power. It is clear that this strategy worked because many of the boys joined him and served him like a king. When Simon came along and started telling the boys that there was nothing to fear, Jack saw him as a threat to his power, so he accused Simon of being the beast and had him killed. This shows that when a person tries to tell people the unfortunate truths about the leader's’ rule or rise to power, the leader will try to eliminate that person by any means necessary.

Within Philadelphia, we have seen many similar instances occur. One example from 40 years ago happened with Frank Rizzo. According to Vice Magazine, Frank Rizzo started out as a police officer in Philadelphia. He eventually rose up to become the chief of police. Once he became chief of police, he was often accused of racism, corruption, and police brutality. He eventually became mayor of Philadelphia. When he became mayor, the Philadelphia Inquirer published a satirical article about him. In retaliation, he told his allies at the Building and Trades Construction Council to form a picket line outside the Philadelphia Inquirer building and harass the reporters, in an attempt to shut down the newspaper. This is an example of how leaders will often persecute people who reveal the unfortunate truths about their methods of rule.

As these examples show, power has always been something that humans have sought. People have tried many different methods of gaining it, and one of the most commonly used methods is fearmongering. Leaders play off of their follower’s fears in order to control them, and when their followers reveal unfortunate truths about their rule, the leader will persecute them.   In William Goulding’s novel Lord of the Flies he explores these themes through the power struggle between Jack and Ralph.  Like many leaders throughout history, such as Joe McCarthy and Frank Rizzo, Jack encouraged fear and paranoia in order to consolidate his power and persecuted those that challenged his teachings. It is clear that Goulding wanted to show the development of civilization with his novel. Civilizations can not exist without a leader, and Goulding wanted to show how leaders rise to power. This novel was written shortly after World War 2, so it is clear that he had seen leaders use fear mongering to rise to power, and he wanted to analyze how it works. Fear mongering works because people follow those who make them feel safe, and in order to make people feel safe, there must be a fear that is being played off of.  This method also works because when there is an idea of an “us” and “them”, it strengthens the idea of “us”. That is why people have used fear mongering throughout human history. Unfortunately, fear mongering is still being used by leaders today in America.

Work Cited -

1. Blumgart, Jake. "The Brutal Legacy of Frank Rizzo, the Most Notorious Cop in Philadelphia History." Vice. Vice Magazine, 22 Oct. 2015.Web.31Mar.2017. <https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/remembering-frank-rizzo-the-most-notorious-cop-in-philadelphia-history-1022>

2. Achter, Paul J. "McCarthyism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 28 Nov. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2017. <https://www.britannica.com/topic/McCarthyism>.

3. Goulding, William. “Lord of the Flies.” New York: Penguin, 2006.


An analysis of fear - Messele Asfaw

Fear is a key theme that shows up throughout all of human history. Some might even argue that it’s one of the fundamental aspects of human behaviour that control how people think. The topic of fear has been talked about, suggested, and even debated about many times. A lot of the times it has been brought up, it is because fear has had ties to violence in one way or another and because the humanity of it is being discussed. Such an example can be shown with the occurrence of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of unfair prosecutions and eventual hangings of innocent lives. This is because people were scared of the fact that they could be witches. The development of mass hysteria is not to be expected however because it is human nature to fear what cannot be understood. As Andrew Smith once said, “People fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer.” A lot of this quote is also proven in the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. The book follows a group of English boys, aged 6-12, who get stranded on a deserted Island. The group must then make decisions to ensure their survival. The theme of fear often shows up in Golding’s writing and he makes it a point to include it in their choices. Fear is an emotion which leads people to make rash decisions, and to ignore rational thinking.

    While the fact that there are no adults around is scary enough to these children, surprisingly, the idea of a beast scares them even more. While two of the boys were attending to the fire, which they hoped would get the attention of a ship, the two boys encounter what they think is a beast. The two boys, named Sam and Eric, get hurt trying to get away from this so called beast. The rest of the boys come to confront them about, and then have a discussion regarding the next best course of action. “ “Frightened?” “Course I’m frightened. Who wouldn’t be(100)?”... “Stay here? And be cramped into this bit of the island always on the lookout? … “What about the littleuns?” “Sucks to the littleuns(101).” . Jack allows for Ralph to openly admit that he is scared. But by proving that Jack was not scared, he makes way for the rest of the group go to him for leadership. This is because when humans are faced against something they cannot comprehend, they fear it. This fear turns to anger, and this anger needs to be let out somehow. The way that the boys let this anger out is that they decide to hunt the beast. This isn’t all however. The fear of the beast is greater than the need to protect their young. At this point in time, fear overpowers every other emotion and allows them to make the reckless decision to put all their effort into hunting a beast that doesn’t exist, rather than look for a way to get help.

The Salem Witch Trials are another example of this. The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692, and basically, people went around accusing others of witchcraft. Of course, the accusations were false but mass hysteria was at play here so it didn’t really matter. Mass hysteria is described as the phenomenon that transmits collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary(in this case imaginary), through a population in society as a result of rumors and fear. One of the wrongfully accused had something to say about this while awaiting trial in prison. "The Magistrates, Ministers, Jewries, and all the People in general, being so much inraged and incensed against us by the Delusion of the Devil, which we can term no other, by reason we know in our own Consciences, we are all Innocent Persons." This man, John Procter, understands that everyone around him is a victim to mass hysteria. He understands this and he accepts this, yet he can’t do anything about it. This type of fear that was produced by these so called “witches” yet again overpowered the need to have rational thinking. It led people to make a decision void of rational thinking.

As the story progresses, we see the intensity of the fear the boys display change too. What once was just a story made up by one of the littleuns, is now a terrifying truth to them. This change in intensity can also correlate to the intensity to the distance they have grown apart from society (which could be a reason they are being scared this much). When the boys are sitting listening to the surrounding environment for the beast, it is described as so, “They lay there listening, at first with doubt but then with terror to the description the twins breathed at them with bouts of extreme silence. Soon the darkness was full of claws, full of the unknown and menace(99).” This buildup of fear causes more tension between the group of boys and leads to many more bad decisions. In the beginning of the book, they would normally just play this off as nonsense. But as they continuously get more and more savage, and they continuously get more and more hostile, their attitudes toward everything requires them to feel in control.

Fear is a very important emotion. Arguably, the most important emotion. The addition of fear to any number of factors when making a decision, greatly affects the outcome, as seen with the examples stated above. Previously, the quote from Andrew Smith, “People fear what they don’t understand…” is very applicable to the scenarios described above. In fact, it describes them perfectly. The concept of fear has been important throughout the book, throughout the birth of rational decision making, and throughout the history of humans in general, but it is this very same concept that allows people to make decisions that do not seem smart.



Works Cited


"Salem Witch Trials." Salem Witch Trials. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://fearparanoiaintheunitedstates.weebly.com/salem-witch-trials.html>.


"Salem Witch Trials." Salem Witch Trials. A&E Television Networks, 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials>.


"Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial at Danvers." Salem Village Witchcraft Victims' Memorial at Danvers. The Salem Village Witchcraft Tercentennial Committee of the Town of Danvers, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017. <http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/Commemoration.html#Words>.

Goulding, william. Lord of the flies. New York:Penguin,2006

Lord of the Flies Essay - Bea Gerber


The perception of something is more powerful than the thing itself. When we are faced with an object, for example a peace sign, we see much more than just a circle with some lines through it. Our minds take into account the opinions of others, the places we’ve seen the symbol, and the way that it is typically used. The final judgement we give of the peace sign takes all of this data into account and influences how we perceive it; in this case, as a symbol of peace, safety, and kindness. The fact that others have the power to control how we perceive things means that they also have the power to destroy those views -- and one way to do this is by attacking the items we associate with those powers. People destroy symbols, both literally and figuratively, in order to assign a new meaning to those objects.

Before 1920, the hooked cross, or swastika, was no more  a symbol ofr evil than the cross or Star of David. In fact, the symbol had been used for religious purposes for over 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler claimed it as the face of the National Socialist Party in Germany. Jainism, Hinduism, Odinism, Buddhism, Aryan nomads, and many other groups used and/or still use the swastika as a religious symbol. For them, the swastika represents the movement of the sun across the sky. It’s name comes from a Sanskrit word that means “well being,” and it symbolizes luck, prosperity, the creator, the Buddha, and rebirth; a stark contrast to what the symbol became known for after Hitler stole it. His reasoning behind choosing the symbol was that he needed to put a face to the party. He needed something to draw in the working people and to give them hope. The swastika was chosen, in particular, because of the Aryan’s ancient ties to German culture. Hitler falsely took this to mean that if the Aryan’s used it and were ancestors of the Germans, then the swastika had always been an anti-semitic symbol, making it perfect for his regime. The Nazi flag became a red background to symbolize movement, a white circle to symbolize the Nationalist ideals, and a black swastika in the center to symbolize the struggle for victory of the Aryans. Regardless of its pleasant religious ties, after Hitler claimed the swastika as the symbol of Nazi Germany, the old meaning was destroyed. The swastika will never regain its former peaceful glory because Adolf Hitler destroyed it in order to create his symbol of terror. From this we can see that no matter how strong or positive a symbol may be, once destroyed, the destroyers have the power to give it an entirely new meaning.

This theme of assigning new meaning to symbols is also found in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. In the final chapter, Ralph has been exiled by the remaining boys on the island and is being hunted by them in the woods. When they first arrived on the island, the boys killed a pig together and placed its head on a spear as a symbol of their power. While running away, Ralph finds this relic, and stops to think: “The skull regarded Ralph like one who knows all the answers and won’t tell. A sick fear and rage swept him. Fiercely he hit out at the filthy thing in front of him that bobbled like a toy and came back, still grinning into his face, so that he lashed and cried out in loathing,” (185). Understanding the contrast in Ralph’s relationship with the skull before and after this interaction is key to breaking apart this quote. The skull on the spear is a standing symbol of power. It was constructed by the boys to make them feel strong at a time when they were unified, so it can be thought of as a symbol of their strength and unity. The fact that Ralph finds this symbol of unity as he is running away from the boys he now feels completely isolated from is pretty striking. In that moment, Ralph feels something, most likely betrayal when thinking about it as a symbol of unity, and starts to destroy the skull. This skull represents the boys. This object that he once looked to to feel safe now makes him paniced and destructive. As in Nazi Germany, a once cheerful symbol has taken on a completely opposite meaning thanks to its destroyer.

Directly after punching the skull, Ralph reflects on what he’s done, and how the symbol has changed for him; “Then he was licking his bruised knuckles and looking at the bare stick, while the skull lay in two pieces, its grin now six feet across. He wrenched the quivering stick from the crack and held it as a spear between him and the white pieces. Then he backed away, keeping his face to the skull that lay grinning at the sky,” (185). Here, the changed meaning of the symbol fully comes to life. Ralph has hit the skull, effectively destroying the bond the boys once had, even though it injures him. He is hurt by the destruction of something they built as one. Next, Ralph looks at the bare stick, and this is where a switch in his thinking happens. Previously, he has not been too focussed on self defense, and was only acting out of anger and fear. Now, he physically separates the spear from the skull. He makes a weapon out of something he loves. He destroys something he cares about in order to defend himself. He has to use the boys against themselves, and in the end of the story, that is basically what he does. Ralph is forced to outsmart the boys at their own game. This short interaction between Ralph and the skull not only demonstrates a change in Ralph’s mindset, but also in the traits of a key symbol from the novel. After this section, the old meaning is completely gone, and only the new destructive meaning remains. Ralph has injured himself during the process of this transformation, proving how unstoppable a motivated destroyer can be.

A powerful person is someone who can alter the minds of others. Both in Nazi Germany and on the island in Lord of the Flies, a powerful person changed the perception of an object, either to German citizens or to readers. By taking a joyous symbol and turning it evil, both men gained power and strength over their lives and the lives of those around them. Hitler was able to command the masses to commit a genocide, and Ralph was able to command himself to be fearless and survive. While one may have had a most massive impact on our world, both are equally good examples of people destroying old symbolic meanings to create their own new ones.






Citations:


"History of the Swastika." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

"The Swastika: A Sign of Good Luck Becomes a Symbol of Evil." Holocaust Teacher Resource Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

"What the Swastika means - Times of India." The Times of India. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Q3 Artist's Statement

In quarter three, I completed 4/5 assignments. 
In the first two weeks, we created a large bike drawing. I feel like I did relatively well in creating a bike drawing that met all of the requirements, and I even got to use my copic markers to make the drawing look nicer when I messed up my lining in the end. 
In weeks three, four and five we had smaller, single week projects. Week three was optical illusions. I chose to do something simple; the hand illusion you're taught in grade school. It was kind of a cop-out since I didn't really have a drive to do this project, but I made sure both parts of it were complete nonetheless. Week four was shading forms, which I didn't do. Week five was eye drawings, and I made two of those. I draw eyes a lot, so they end up kind of rushed, and less realistic and more stylised to how I usually draw them. I liked the work I produced a lot, though. 
Week six was our final project; the mandala. I was, again, given the chance to use my copic markers and make something look really pretty. I made the mandala in a rush, though, and managed to finish and colour it in around an hour and a half at home right before the deadline, and it still turned out really nice. 

I think it was another successful quarter, and I'm definitely getting much better at turning things in on time. 

Savagery Unborn - Harlem Satterfield

Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of young boys stranded on a completely deserted island. They are left to fend for themselves with little to nothing. At first, it seemed simple; one boy would be chief, one group would hunt for food and another would build shelters and support the others. However, the island’s limited resources and conflicts in the group slowly drove most of the boys to madness and savagery. They no longer saw right from wrong; all they saw was hunt, kill, and fun. They are left with much worse than what they started with and even though they do get saved, the trauma of the experience leaves with them. The conditions and the way we express anger and savagery affects not only how others see us, but how we see the world around us and what we do.

Anger is a recurring emotion in our lives, and a powerful one. This emotion can take over anyone, even the best of us. It reprograms our brains and can lead us to do things we can never imagine ourselves doing, such as crime and murder. Some people argue that extreme anger and savagery are results of negative genes. In that case, the victim would have no control over their negative actions. Others believe that situations with severe limitations, such as the predicament in Lord of the Flies, are what drive people to madness. Take Jack for example. We’ll get into it later, but Jack is a character who exhibits anger and savagery throughout the novel.  

Before we do anything, let’s take a look at Jack. At the start of the book, Jack was a complete jerk, but he at least understood the situation at hand and offered to help the others survive. He also wanted to be chief at the beginning of the book, but didn't get nearly as many votes as Ralph did. “‘All right. Who wants Jack for chief?’ With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. ‘Who want’s me’ Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. ‘I’m chief then.’” (23).  After this little election, Jack was pretty upset about not becoming chief. On the plus side, he became in charge of a choir of boys, who’d later become his troop of hunters. This setback has probably increased his anger, though as of now, he shows no ill will to Ralph. Besides, he gets to hunt. That’s something he’s offered and has been willing to do since he got on the island.

Now, let’s skip ahead a couple chapters. One time, when Jack and a few others came back from hunting, Ralph got mad at them because they let the signal fire go out. “Ralph spoke. ‘You let the fire go out.’ Jack checked, vaguely irritated by this irrelevance but too happy to let it worry him.”(69). Jack must’ve been very proud of his catch, and he must love hunting. “‘I cut the pig’s throat,’ said Jack, proudly, and yet twitched as he said it. ‘Can I borrow yours, Ralph, to make a nick in the hilt?’” Hunting seems to be an outlet for him, a way to escape from the other boys and express himself. He and the other hunters love the activity so much that they even made little chant they say whenever they capture a pig. “Kill the pig. Cut the throat. Spill her blood.” This chant varies throughout the book. However, they did let the fire go out, and thus missed a chance to be rescued, much to Ralph’s dismay. He chews Jack out for blowing it, and then Jack gets mad, presumably because his kill wasn’t as important as the situation at hand. “I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk, But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let out the fire-”(71). Ralph is starting to act a lot like a parent to the others, him being chief. Jack must like the idea of no grownups around, and Ralph is ruining that. Still, nothing was going to stop Jack from hunting pigs, he’s getting to be addictive to it. And then this happens. “This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach.”(71) This little shenanigan angered Jack as well, and quote reveals that he’s been itching to hit someone for a while. Now that’s two things that make Jack angry: power and Ralph’s parenting. He’s on his way to savagery.

Let’s look towards the end of the book. At this time, nothing is in order. Savagery and anger have taken over Jack, who has broken away from the group and began his own tribe, gaining many followers. This leaves only Ralph, Piggy, and the two twins, Sam and Eric. One night, Jack’s savages break into what’s left of their shelters, ravage the place and steal Piggy’s glasses. The next morning, the four boys head over to the castle rock, the other tribe’s home, in hopes of getting the glasses back. When Jack refuses, Ralph calls him a thief, and the two fight. “Jack made a rush and stabbed at Ralph’s chest with his spear. Ralph sensed the position of the weapon from the glimpse he caught a Jack’s arm and put the thrust aside with his own butt. Then he bought the end round and caught Jack a stinger across the ear. They were chest to chest, breathing fiercely, pushing and glaring.” (177).

Despite Jack’s superiority, Ralph was right about everything; he was initially voted to be chief, and Jack did attack them and stole Piggy’s glasses. Ralph tries to reason with him, but the Jack he knew was long gone. He wasn’t hiding behind just a painted face, but savagery and anger have clouded him, making him a completely different person, feared by even his tribe members. That’s enough to make anybody crazy. There seems to be three things that sent Jack over the edge: hunger, desire for power, and Ralph’s constant nagging and superiority. By the way, it’s a fact that hunger can cause savagery. The kids on the island have been living water, nuts, berries, and, for some, pig meat. That isn’t very much food to get through the day. Anyway, Jack has always been someone who doesn’t like to be defied, especially by someone who he thinks is inferior to him. And now here was Ralph walking up to him demanding things, again.

In these horrid conditions, Jack became a savage. Again, there were three things that set him off: hunger, power, and Ralph. This island experience was traumatizing for everyone, but I think Jack was affected the most. His thirst for hunting and violence made him a perfect victim of savagery, which I honestly think was bound to happen.


Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.


Brown, Zachary. "Can Extreme Hunger Trigger Humans to Become Savages?"Www.quora.com. Www.quora.com, 18 Feb. 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.<https://professorianrobertson.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/savagery-explained-5-reasons-humans-become-inhuman/>


"Savagery Explained: 5 Reasons Humans Become Inhuman." The Winner Effect. N.p., 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.<https://www.quora.com/Can-extreme-hunger-trigger-humans-to-become-savages>


Deans, Emily. "A Gene For Violence?" Psychology Today. Www.psychologytoday.com, 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201410/gene-violence>