Mari+M

**Mari's Portfolio** Writing has always been a good outlet for me. Although I am still growing up, I have been through a lot and writing has helped me get through it. My parents have always told me to write down my feelings and thoughts. By doing this, I get the opportunity to get out my feelings in a place that is "all ears." Sometimes, people don't want advice; they just need someone to listen without judgment. Over the years, writing has helped me cope with death, heart break, confusion, cheating boyfriends, and more. It has also been there for the good times when I am experiencing love, learning about myself, growing, and more. I am the type of person who has very strong opinions and feelings, and writing has always been there to "listen" to me express my uncensored feelings and thoughts.

 Below are a few pieces that I have written for Women in Literature. Although it is a course about women, hence the title of the course, we also explore stereotypes, personal growth, opinions, cynicism, analysis, memorable stories, and more. This class is more than just learning about women; it is about analyzing people and society, but more importantly, learning about myself. Learning about myself as a female, young adult, and common person in society, but also so much more.

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Media Paper Poem Coming of Age Lost Panel
 * Major works: **

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Blogging for this class was an interesting experience. Although we all were assigned the same topics and prompts, so many different point of views and ideas were brought up. My favorite blog entry is titled "A Time When I Learned Something About Being a Female!" I liked this prompt because I have never really thought about an experience that taught me about being a female. This experience shows how females can be powerful, but need to prove themselves to the world in order to be taken seriously. I am just trying to find my place in society and I want people to take me seriously. Because they already have an image in their mind of how a woman "should" be (ie. weak and submissive), I need to prove them wrong. Experiences like this teach me about myself and who I am as a person and woman in society. I want to be taken seriously and I want to break down barriers in order to be given the opportunities that I deserve. __[|My Tumblr - Just a Note to Self] __

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__**Video: Last Lecture **__

Below is the late Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon and gave this speech several months before he passed away. In this speech, he talks about his lessons learned and gives advice to how to achieve our own career and personal goals. I have learned so much about life and myself from this man whom I have never even met. I first read his book "The Last Lecture" in 9th grade and gave a speech on it in Mrs. Falk's 9th grade class. Although it has been over two years since I read the book and first heard this speech, his words still resonate in my everyday life. I know that it is an hour and a half (years in YouTube time), but please watch this if you have not. It has changed my life forever. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. Sometimes, it's the most important thing you have to offer."

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//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Who do women really dress for? // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Proposal <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Editorial <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Research Paper <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Product <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Final Thoughts
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Final Project **

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 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 24px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Final Thoughts **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To be honest, I only took Women in Literature because I decided that I no longer wanted to take British Literature. However, this decision has turned out to be one of my best decisions of my Iolani career. I just thought that this course was about feminism and women's rights, but I was so wrong - it is much more than that. This course has taught me so much about media and myself in general.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have learned how much the media impacts us and what a huge role it plays in all of our lives. Any type of literature, whether it be television, magazines, novels, etc., consists of gender stereotypes and gives off a certain message about genders. This course really gave me a different point of view on the literature that I see. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have learned to analyze topics in a different and more insightful way because of this course. I have also learned about myself in many ways. I have never really thought about whether I am an adult or child, but this class really made me think about that. I also learned about my role in society as a woman and a person in general.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The lessons I learned in this class will continue to help me in all aspects of my life. In this course, we were forced to analyze pieces of literature I would not have analyzed otherwise and it really gave me a new view on life. Now, when I watch commercials, I notice all of the gender stereotypes being portrayed and I realize we still have a long way to go before gender equality. Although I can't make a huge difference in this, I can change the way I live my life to show that I'm not just the average girl. I will stand up for myself and show that I am powerful. I will assert myself and my rights so that I will not fit into the stereotypes already established about women. I will open up opportunities for myself that would not have been open if I had not presented myself this way. I will take advantage of the rights that so many women have fought for before me.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I am very proud and passionate about the work I did on my final project. My topic is a subject that I have been wondering about for a long time and I hope to also inform people able it. Women do in fact dress for themselves in that they dress the way that they do to feel confident. Confidence is crucial in life in that it changes how people view you and how you view yourself. If you are confident, you can really live out your life to the fullest instead of wasting it trying to cover your flaws. Clothing is so simple and it shouldn't be what's holding you back from really living your life. If you believe in yourself, others will, too.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If you would like to learn more about dressing to make you feel confident, check out Charla Krupp's [|website]. She is the author of books "How Not to Look Old" and "How Not to Look Fat." Clothes shouldn't hold you back, and Charla Krupp agrees. She teaches women to dress in a way to make them feel more confident to really live out their lives. Also, you can check out Yahoo Shine's [|article] which has myths that we hear about fashion and proves them wrong. It allows women to wear what they were previously afraid of. It features Ashley Falcon's book __Big Girl in a Skinny World__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> which is linked. Take a look at that too!