Newspaper Project
A group of five students were assigned to read a novel, connect it to a supreme court case and create a newspaper to reflect a common theme between the two. My group read Stonewall by Michael Duberman, analyzed the Boy Scouts of America versus James Dale supreme court case and created the newspaper The Shore Select which included writing pieces about gay studies and a book review, images, political cartoons and graphs. Our goal was to make a realistic newspaper that was centered towards the ten year anniversary of the supreme court case. The project lasted about three weeks to read the novel and create a final product. Daily class time was designated for this project.
The Shore Select | |
File Size: | 2321 kb |
File Type: |
Below is my supreme court essay on the Boy Scouts of America versus Dale case and the book Stonewall by Michael Duberman.
The 1993 book Stonewall by Martin Duberman explores the scene at Stonewall, a gay bar located in New York. During the 1960’s, most states were against homosexuality. Some people even believed that homosexual desires could be rectified with treatment, such as prayer, church and therapy. It was during this time that undercover policeman would go into gay bars and purposely hit on men to find out about their sexuality. If the “suspect” seemed attracted to the officer he would fine and, sometimes, arrest the men based solely on sexual preference. This act, although unfair and tricky, was a common and accepted practice during this time. However, there was one location where homosexuals could go without the fear of being judged or caught. This area was Greenwich Village, a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York. The Stonewall Inn was located here and run by the mafia. The mafia’s sole intention was not to protect or discriminate against homosexuals but to earn money from them.
Founded in 1959, one of the first homosexual organizations in the United States was called Mattachine society. Their mission was to improve human rights including homoseuxal freedoms. This group of men from Los Angeles were scared for the future of the gay community. Similar to today’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) group the Mattachine society provided support and programs for the gay community. Without this, the advancement of gay rights might not have been possible.
Other lounges, diners and bars besides the Stonewall Inn were other ways for gays to socialize. These hang out spots had a very diverse group of people and teenagers that ran away because they felt different and unaccepted. Some diners would provide leftover food to the boys and girls who take anything. Although the mafia had most control, the town showed support and encouragement to each other, almost like family.
June 28, 1969 marked a very important day within the homosexual community. After months and years of withstanding hatred and disgust, a large clique of homosexuals gathered at Stonewall where they rioted for their rights. At about two in the morning, the police broke into the bar and captured approximately 200 people, escorting them into police cars and taking them to jail. The crowd sang along to a recognizable song while they were striking back and making sure that their voices were being heard. The riot became violent when the gays started throwing coins, bricks and even parking meters at the officers. The fighting lasted for almost an hour. Soon, firetrucks and extra police officers arrived at the scene and, with the cops outnumbering the rioters, the fighting finally ended. Although it had to become violent, this brutal brawl brought attention to the gay community and when people look back on the remarkable day, they think about the courage and pride the homosexuals had. For homosexuals across the world, June 28th was the birth of the modern gay and lesbian political movement.
The novel Stonewall by Martin Duberman is parallel to the Boy Scouts of America versus Dale supreme court case. The case, in the year 2000, included James Dale, an assistant scoutmaster and co-president of the gay and lesbian alliance at Rutgers University, who came out in the student newspaper. When the newspaper was released, James Dale was removed from his position as a scoutmaster. A court battle ensued and the Supreme Court eventually ruled that homosexuals as leaders interfered with the Boy Scouts of America’s “expressive message”.
In my opinion, this book captured the symbolic movement that empowered gay men and lesbians , beginning with a riot at Stonewall in New York. Michael Duberman effectively narrated a time when gays struggled for their rights. To be honest, I think this book can be confusing and hard to follow at times because it switches between different characters abruptly. However, each of the separate stories were powerful and made me feel sympathy for the victims in this situation. I was constantly surprised by the courage and conviction of those in the gay community. Before I started reading the novel, I assumed that I would not be interested in this story. However, I found the sentiment and message to be powerful and thought provoking as I never gave much attention to the struggle that the gay community faced. I think it is great that stories like this exist because it offers sensitivity to the language we use in our everyday lives like “that’s gay “ and “fag”. I truly believe that gay or straight, anyone who reads this book will have a new respect and appreciation for the gay community as a whole.
Below is my newspaper reflection.
I am very impressed with the way that our newspaper article, The Shore Select, turned out. I think that the one of most outstanding aspects of our newspaper is its overall realistic touches. It looks like a real newspaper that could have been produced in 2010. The catch phrase that reads, “Setting the scene at the shore” in the top left corner, the price of the newspaper in the top right corner, as well as a volume number and edition segment all work to make the paper realistic and interactive. Overall, the best aspect of our newspaper is that our group put a lot of effort into the details which made the project true to life.
For my article, I wrote about a 2010 study conducted by Michael Rosenfeld from Stanford University about the lives of children raised by homosexual parents. I learned so much from the study and analyzed lots of data before beginning the writing process. I did not only look at one set of answers and opinions, but instead found many websites about statistics and information on these children. There seemed to be a general consensus that being raised by same sex parents is far better for a child than growing up in a foster care system or orphanage. I am proud of the way that my article turned out because I condensed a lot of information and included the specific that I wanted our reader to know about. My topic is relevant to the Boy Scouts of America versus Dale Case and our novel Stonewall, so I believe that I deserve a 10/10 on my article portion.
For my image, I was in charge of making the graph for our newspaper. It started off as a bar graph that I created using the data that I collected from the Stanford study. More specifically, I initially evaluated the school performance/success of children with homosexual parents. After many critiques, I changed my topic to evaluate the relationship of the parents within the household because there were different results depending on whether the parents were two women, two men and if they were married or not. My final graph was a pie chart that represented the percentage of homosexual parents versus heterosexual parents. I am pleased with my final image because I made it, with the help of my group, look interesting, colorful and clean so that the reader could clearly understand the data that I was trying to represent. On photoshop, I adjusted the colors to mimic the gay flag’s bright rainbow colors to catch the attention of the reader and be consistent with the topic. My image took creativity to incorporate the colors and displays the information in a simplistic way so I believe that I deserve a 10/10 on my image portion.
In my opinion, this newspaper project is very different that the last project we did. First off, for this project I had to work with four other group members. I like to work in groups because I strongly believe that the more people who are involved in making a product the better the outcomeis . In the group, it was very helpful to have many ideas to bounce off of. Also, in my last project I received a lot more criticism than the newspaper project. After participating in so many rounds of critique last project, I think that if we received more helpful feedback, our project would have improved. That being said, with the time given, I am proud of my personal achievement and my group’s work ethic. We showed good teamwork by splitting up the work evenly and were dedicated to each other success and the ultimate success of the project throughout the entire process. I think I found a good balance of being a leader and a listener in this project. I took the lead in editing all of the papers because that is my strong suit and handed over the duty of layout on In Design to my team members because I would not be much help in that aspect of the project. I set goals for myself and did everything I could to achieve them and for that reason I believe that I deserve a 10/10 for team work.
For future projects and assignments in my eleventh grade humanities class, some skills that I still need to improve on is being more flexible, communicating and maintaining the group’s focus and drive. Personally, at the outset of the project my vision was very different than the final product. I was more attracted to the idea of having it look very professional with all of the same font and no color. With group projects, I know that I have to be flexible and I am aware that not all of the ideas that I bring to the table will end up being on the final product. Communication was also lacking at times because half of the group would work outside which made it hard to translate ideas and new changes to the members. Also, there were a few nights where a group member did not know his responsibility for that night and set us behind because their draft was incomplete. The last skill that I need to improve on is maintaining the group’s focus and drive. We encountered technical difficulties which resulted in my group’s becoming frustrated, stuck and wanting to give up. We pushed through these struggles by taking small breaks and having group meetings to find solutions to our issues and get back on track. Overall, I think our product looks professional and realistic and our group stayed on task and made an efficient system to get all of the work done on time. MY reflection is honest and goes into detail of the process of completing the newspaper project and for that reason I believe that I deserve a 10/10 on my reflection portion of my grade. I tried hard and collaborated well with my peers. I am very prepared and confident going in to our exhibition and based on my personal performance, the finished product and the work of my entire group, I believe I deserve a 50/50 on this project.
Article: 10/10
Image: 10/10
Editing: 10/10
Team Work: 10/10
Reflection: 10/10
Total: 50/50
The 1993 book Stonewall by Martin Duberman explores the scene at Stonewall, a gay bar located in New York. During the 1960’s, most states were against homosexuality. Some people even believed that homosexual desires could be rectified with treatment, such as prayer, church and therapy. It was during this time that undercover policeman would go into gay bars and purposely hit on men to find out about their sexuality. If the “suspect” seemed attracted to the officer he would fine and, sometimes, arrest the men based solely on sexual preference. This act, although unfair and tricky, was a common and accepted practice during this time. However, there was one location where homosexuals could go without the fear of being judged or caught. This area was Greenwich Village, a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York. The Stonewall Inn was located here and run by the mafia. The mafia’s sole intention was not to protect or discriminate against homosexuals but to earn money from them.
Founded in 1959, one of the first homosexual organizations in the United States was called Mattachine society. Their mission was to improve human rights including homoseuxal freedoms. This group of men from Los Angeles were scared for the future of the gay community. Similar to today’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) group the Mattachine society provided support and programs for the gay community. Without this, the advancement of gay rights might not have been possible.
Other lounges, diners and bars besides the Stonewall Inn were other ways for gays to socialize. These hang out spots had a very diverse group of people and teenagers that ran away because they felt different and unaccepted. Some diners would provide leftover food to the boys and girls who take anything. Although the mafia had most control, the town showed support and encouragement to each other, almost like family.
June 28, 1969 marked a very important day within the homosexual community. After months and years of withstanding hatred and disgust, a large clique of homosexuals gathered at Stonewall where they rioted for their rights. At about two in the morning, the police broke into the bar and captured approximately 200 people, escorting them into police cars and taking them to jail. The crowd sang along to a recognizable song while they were striking back and making sure that their voices were being heard. The riot became violent when the gays started throwing coins, bricks and even parking meters at the officers. The fighting lasted for almost an hour. Soon, firetrucks and extra police officers arrived at the scene and, with the cops outnumbering the rioters, the fighting finally ended. Although it had to become violent, this brutal brawl brought attention to the gay community and when people look back on the remarkable day, they think about the courage and pride the homosexuals had. For homosexuals across the world, June 28th was the birth of the modern gay and lesbian political movement.
The novel Stonewall by Martin Duberman is parallel to the Boy Scouts of America versus Dale supreme court case. The case, in the year 2000, included James Dale, an assistant scoutmaster and co-president of the gay and lesbian alliance at Rutgers University, who came out in the student newspaper. When the newspaper was released, James Dale was removed from his position as a scoutmaster. A court battle ensued and the Supreme Court eventually ruled that homosexuals as leaders interfered with the Boy Scouts of America’s “expressive message”.
In my opinion, this book captured the symbolic movement that empowered gay men and lesbians , beginning with a riot at Stonewall in New York. Michael Duberman effectively narrated a time when gays struggled for their rights. To be honest, I think this book can be confusing and hard to follow at times because it switches between different characters abruptly. However, each of the separate stories were powerful and made me feel sympathy for the victims in this situation. I was constantly surprised by the courage and conviction of those in the gay community. Before I started reading the novel, I assumed that I would not be interested in this story. However, I found the sentiment and message to be powerful and thought provoking as I never gave much attention to the struggle that the gay community faced. I think it is great that stories like this exist because it offers sensitivity to the language we use in our everyday lives like “that’s gay “ and “fag”. I truly believe that gay or straight, anyone who reads this book will have a new respect and appreciation for the gay community as a whole.
Below is my newspaper reflection.
I am very impressed with the way that our newspaper article, The Shore Select, turned out. I think that the one of most outstanding aspects of our newspaper is its overall realistic touches. It looks like a real newspaper that could have been produced in 2010. The catch phrase that reads, “Setting the scene at the shore” in the top left corner, the price of the newspaper in the top right corner, as well as a volume number and edition segment all work to make the paper realistic and interactive. Overall, the best aspect of our newspaper is that our group put a lot of effort into the details which made the project true to life.
For my article, I wrote about a 2010 study conducted by Michael Rosenfeld from Stanford University about the lives of children raised by homosexual parents. I learned so much from the study and analyzed lots of data before beginning the writing process. I did not only look at one set of answers and opinions, but instead found many websites about statistics and information on these children. There seemed to be a general consensus that being raised by same sex parents is far better for a child than growing up in a foster care system or orphanage. I am proud of the way that my article turned out because I condensed a lot of information and included the specific that I wanted our reader to know about. My topic is relevant to the Boy Scouts of America versus Dale Case and our novel Stonewall, so I believe that I deserve a 10/10 on my article portion.
For my image, I was in charge of making the graph for our newspaper. It started off as a bar graph that I created using the data that I collected from the Stanford study. More specifically, I initially evaluated the school performance/success of children with homosexual parents. After many critiques, I changed my topic to evaluate the relationship of the parents within the household because there were different results depending on whether the parents were two women, two men and if they were married or not. My final graph was a pie chart that represented the percentage of homosexual parents versus heterosexual parents. I am pleased with my final image because I made it, with the help of my group, look interesting, colorful and clean so that the reader could clearly understand the data that I was trying to represent. On photoshop, I adjusted the colors to mimic the gay flag’s bright rainbow colors to catch the attention of the reader and be consistent with the topic. My image took creativity to incorporate the colors and displays the information in a simplistic way so I believe that I deserve a 10/10 on my image portion.
In my opinion, this newspaper project is very different that the last project we did. First off, for this project I had to work with four other group members. I like to work in groups because I strongly believe that the more people who are involved in making a product the better the outcomeis . In the group, it was very helpful to have many ideas to bounce off of. Also, in my last project I received a lot more criticism than the newspaper project. After participating in so many rounds of critique last project, I think that if we received more helpful feedback, our project would have improved. That being said, with the time given, I am proud of my personal achievement and my group’s work ethic. We showed good teamwork by splitting up the work evenly and were dedicated to each other success and the ultimate success of the project throughout the entire process. I think I found a good balance of being a leader and a listener in this project. I took the lead in editing all of the papers because that is my strong suit and handed over the duty of layout on In Design to my team members because I would not be much help in that aspect of the project. I set goals for myself and did everything I could to achieve them and for that reason I believe that I deserve a 10/10 for team work.
For future projects and assignments in my eleventh grade humanities class, some skills that I still need to improve on is being more flexible, communicating and maintaining the group’s focus and drive. Personally, at the outset of the project my vision was very different than the final product. I was more attracted to the idea of having it look very professional with all of the same font and no color. With group projects, I know that I have to be flexible and I am aware that not all of the ideas that I bring to the table will end up being on the final product. Communication was also lacking at times because half of the group would work outside which made it hard to translate ideas and new changes to the members. Also, there were a few nights where a group member did not know his responsibility for that night and set us behind because their draft was incomplete. The last skill that I need to improve on is maintaining the group’s focus and drive. We encountered technical difficulties which resulted in my group’s becoming frustrated, stuck and wanting to give up. We pushed through these struggles by taking small breaks and having group meetings to find solutions to our issues and get back on track. Overall, I think our product looks professional and realistic and our group stayed on task and made an efficient system to get all of the work done on time. MY reflection is honest and goes into detail of the process of completing the newspaper project and for that reason I believe that I deserve a 10/10 on my reflection portion of my grade. I tried hard and collaborated well with my peers. I am very prepared and confident going in to our exhibition and based on my personal performance, the finished product and the work of my entire group, I believe I deserve a 50/50 on this project.
Article: 10/10
Image: 10/10
Editing: 10/10
Team Work: 10/10
Reflection: 10/10
Total: 50/50