For my third project, I looked at fascism and anti-fascism. These topics interested me because of the current political situation of the United States. I wanted to look at both sides of the movement. I researched Fascism and it's origins in Italy, Italian Futurism, Neo-Fascist groups in the USA, and Antifa movements in the USA. I learned about the psychology of neo-Fascists, and why they developed into that ideology. For my English portion I wrote a narrative about a revolution against a fascist leader. For my art portion, I drew an anti-futurist piece that depicted the results of futurist thinking. Lastly, my social studies portion was a Microsoft Sway that looked at fascist groups and why people may join them.
Honors Portfolio 2
My art portion was based on the ideas of Futurism, and it's consequences. It depicts humanity looking into the technology it's created. We've advanced our technology so far, that we can kill thousands in seconds. The piece shows a man staring into a nuclear explosion. I researched Italian futurism, and it's consequences. I looked at several futurist paintings and saw how they depicted movements and modernity. They only looked into the future and disregarded the past, as they believed that looking into the future and advancing technology was the path forward for humanity. They were extremists. They politically aligned with Mussolini. Futurists wanted their art to be the official art of the fascist party of Italy. This, fortunately, lead to them being associated with fascists after the end of WW2, and eventually caused their downfall. Unfortunately, some of the ideas of futurism are still alive and well. I was reading through Youtube comments on a video on it, and there was a staggering amount of people saying we needed another Futurist movement.
|
Honors Self in Modern World
My social studies product was a Microsoft Sway that went over different fascist groups in America, and why people may join them. I researched different protests that proud boys attended. A lot of them were either violent, homophobic, and/or racist. I'm not saying the Proud Boys are racist groups, but I am saying that a lot of their members have been associated with white supremacist groups. The group is built of chauvinists, and all members are men. The proud boys are a male-only group, and they also identify themselves as neo-fascists. As I looked at the psychology of neo-fascists, I began to uncover multiple reasons some may join. Some may join for a sense of belonging, some feel threatened by ascending minorities, and/or some may feel that groups like Black Lives Matter are a threat to them. When neo-fascist groups clash with opposing protestors, things get violent very quickly. I read about a violent altercation between a trump supporter and a group of proud boys. There have also been multiple occurrences of proud boys giving death threats. Click the button to be taken to my sway.
|
Honors English 4
My English portion was a narrative I wrote. I wrote it as a tale of a working-class citizen gaining class consciousness and overpowering a dictator. That's a quick synopsis of it. The main character is named Caulder, and the story is written from his perspective. He starts out living a life stricken by poverty. As the story progresses he breaks free from his chains and goes on a mission to assassinate the dictator along with a freedom group. I'm not spoiling anymore in the off chance that you may read it. I took heavy inspiration from a video game I played called "Detroit: Become Human" when I was writing my story. For research, I analyzed George Orwell's "Animal Farm", and "The Office Cat" by Kenji Miyazawa. Animal Farm was about farm animals breaking free from the chains of the farmer that owned them, but a fascist leader taking power after there's a void in leadership. Napoleon, the fascist pig, used dogs to kill any animals who disobeyed him, and the pigs were the "master race." "The Office Cat" was an allegory for workplace bullying. A poor cat had to sleep in soot and would come to work covered in it. The other cats would bully him because he was covered in it. In the end, a lion came and tore down the establishment.
|