Interview Questions

I decided that for my first interview, I am going to focus on the second definition of beauty (which is something that is internally moral or ethical). There is a common understanding in Jewish women that tzniut and morals are two different things and are to be viewed differently. Rabbi Lamm wrote an article that redefines our perception of tzniut and defines it differently, referring to tzniut as modesty and keeping some aspects within in order to give off a kodesh, or holy, atmosphere. For my interview, I plan to ask several senior girls, female secular teachers, and female Limudei Kodesh teachers the following questions and see how their responses differ.

1. How would you define internal beauty?
2. Do you think internal beauty can be visible on the outside?
3. How would you define tzniut?
4. How could one achieve internal beauty?
5. Do you think that tzniut and internal beauty are interchangeable?
6. What are qualities that you think every person should have in order to be ethical or moral?
7. Would you equate tzniut and morality?

Interblogging #1

I just checked out Efrat's blog at esecemskifrischleads.blogspot.com

I was so impressed by the progress she has made in her actual project aspect of the paper. She chose her topic of phobias because of her extreme fear of dogs. Through her project, she has made immense progress. She pet her dog for the first time since her family adopted him six months ago! Hopefully she will continue in her progress and relinquish her fear of dogs.

Great job so far!

Thanks Sheer! Distortion of Mainstream Beauty

SHEER SINGER just showed me this amazing video! It explains how our perception of beauty is so distorted due to the over-processing of models and photographs before they are published. Take a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4y5b7INvqE

The Bully Project

Hi all! I started on my project that will be an addition to the written paper. Mrs. Wiener (the health teacher) runs an anti-bullying campaign for the freshmen each year to expose them to the dangers of bullying. For my project, I am going to work with her to revamp the program. This will be an extension of my project, which focuses on the two definitions of beauty. The first definition defines beauty as something pleasing to the aesthetic eye. The project will build of societal standards and the need for all to fit in. Bullying is another form of people suffering in order to fulfill the requirements set up by society's aesthetic eye. The program will hopefully be taking place in February and will be for both freshmen boys and girls; if anyone has any interest in participating let me know! For now, here's the trailer for The Bully Project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1g9RV9OKhg

Beauty Contest Lyrics

http://www.metrolyrics.com/beauty-contest-lyrics-no-doubt.html

Here are the lyrics to Gwen Stefani's song, Beauty Contest. They describe her feelings towards the idea of how modern beauty and how they have turned women's looks into an assembly line product.

The Two Definitions of Beauty

When typed into google, the word beauty is defined as followed:
1. A combination of qualities such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.
2. A combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense.

These conflicting definitions will be the focus of my paper. The jumping-off point will be the modern societal perception of beauty and how many women today feel like they are being forced into a cookie-cutter ideal of what they should look like. After addressing these issues I will move to the idea of internal beauty as the ideal beauty.

Topic Change

In light of the recent storm, I have had a lot of time to sit in the dark and contemplate the meaning of life. The result of all of that meditation is a new topic for my research paper. My old topic included mythologies and different cultures and how they were ultimately manifestations of the local beliefs. My new topic has a slight twist, but still maintains the central idea of exploring different cultures.

The Art of Beauty.

This new topic will allow me to explore different cultures of different locations in different eras and monitor how the concept of ideal beauty differs among different civilizations. It is more focused on a particular idea but still gives me plenty of leeway to be creative.

Paper Topic

My final topic choice is mythology based off the society of the time. What aspects were valued during a time period or in a culture that caused certain myths to emerge. I wish to address Egyptian, Greek, and Hindu culture and put a modern spin on it in my conclusion by mentioning the Victoria's Secret "Love Your Body Campaign" and the Dove "Real Beauty Campaign."

Organizing An Idea

When first contemplating my topic, I believed that I would approach the stories of mythology through art.  I thought this idea was a good place to start because it covered my topic of mythology while providing a pragmatic way to express the subject without just listing tales.

Then Mrs. Wiener recommended a book for me entitled The History of the World in 100 Objects.  She proposed that I use the book as a foundation, discussing the history of mythology through art.  We spoke more about the topic and eventually the conversation strayed to different directions.  Suddenly, I knew how I wanted to organize my paper.  I explained my epiphany, stating that I wished to explain mythology through culture.  In other words, I wished to address the cultures of different ancient societies and analyze how such communities gave birth to what became the myths of that culture.

And so, over the course of ten minutes I had three different directions in which I could take my paper.  This project is exhausting.

To Choose a Topic...

Finding a suitable topic for this project is practically impossible.  Either the topics are too general that they cannot be simplified towards a simple goal, or there is not enough information on a topic to produce a twenty page paper.  In short, the process of choosing even a few options for this paper was no easy task.

My first idea for this project was the use of mythology in art by the Norse, Greek, Egyptian, and Hindu cultures.  I was immediately informed that this was too wide of a scope for a paper and I had to narrow my culture choices down to three.  After taking an art class this summer, I became very interested in ancient art and the stories behind the pieces we both observed and discussed.    There are so many directions I could take this project, and so I thought basing it on mythology and art would give me a good jumping point.

A friend recommended that I write about my food allergies, because this was another topic that I knew a lot about and one that was close to my heart.  I originally thought this would be a good idea for I have been living with allergies for my entire life.  However, while thinking this idea through I realized that there are a lot of technical aspects to this issue.  I did not believe that I would be interested in writing an extensive paper on the minute details of food allergies.  I already passed AP Bio and did not want to revisit it.

The Senior Project: Pros and Cons

When the senior project was first assigned to the graduating class of 2013, a few words popped into my mind. Overwhelmed, stressed, and unnecessary waste of time are just a few of the adjectives that depict how extremely "pleased" the senior class was with this upcoming assignment. We were especially disheartened when we realized the magnitude of the assignment: a fifteen page paper only if we chose to include a final project? Mandatory paper sources instead of just googling everything? Needless to say working on this project was not exactly how I planned to spend my senior year.

Despite its demanding requirements, which do not include the normal coursework for this year, this rigorous senior project has the potential to provide us with a unique opportunity. For the first time in our careers as students, we are given the opportunity to test ourselves against the impending load of college work that we will all be facing in the near future. Professors will not plan out every detail of our assignments, but give us the chance to explore our interests while following a general project outline. This idea is what I think the project truly has to offer.  It is a unique learning experience that is usually only provided to students on a college level. For the first time in our lives, we are not limited to a simple piece of paper that has mapped out our coursework for us.