Chaos In Masks

The colors on the mask that I chose are very important to his character. They were chosen specifically from the quote, "Jack planned his new face. He made one cheek

Nothing is more real than the mask we choose to show each other who we are. In a coming-to-age novel, A Separate Peace, John Knowles depicts the common rivalry between young adolescents, where masks are used often. Gene is a student at an elite boarding school, Devon, when he meets Finny. As his jealousy grows towards Finny, it leads to an awful life-changing decision. When they are planning on a double jump, Gene bounces on the limb causing Finny to suffer from a horrible fall. Finny later finds out about the truth and runs away in fury, which caused him to break his leg again. As he was receiving a surgery for his injury, Finny died. Gene’s transformation involves the changes of his mask and shadow, which results in his later acceptance of

masks. All the mask that one possesses changes their behavior and in turn, adds to their

“In Defense of Masks”, by Kenneth Gergen regards that it is not possible for humans to adequately find a coherent self identity without an aftermath. Gergen states, “to the extent that they do, they many experience severe emotional distress” when trying to do so (172). He refers to Erik Erickson, a psychologist who speaks about how self-alienation can result due to the pressures of society to individuals with various masks of identity.

Have you ever wondered why you enjoy being scared? In Allegra Ringo’s interview, “Why do some brains enjoy fear?”, with Dr. Kerr, a scare specialist, he states that many enjoy being scared because the brain triggers “a flood” of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins. To enjoy the feeling of being terrified, our brains have to process that we are in a safe space. Scary movies, stories, roller coasters, and haunted houses all create a breathtaking response to fear. These experiences we have with fear are said to create self-confidence, relieve stress, and even bring us together. Americans spend over 7.5 billion dollars on Halloween activities and costumes. Dr. Kerr states in the interview, that people love Halloween so much because it constructs a strong emotional response and build stronger memories. Dr. Kerr also says that when we are happy, or afraid we release hormones that help those moments “stick” in our brain. We all love a good scare! “The Raven”, by Edgar Allen Poe, and “Beware: do not read this poem”, by Ishmael Reed both analyze the allure of fear through symbolism and descriptive imagery, which is a part of gothic literature. Both Poe and Reed signifies their themes differently but both themes allude to the fascination of fear.

After watching The Mask You Live In, I thought it was interesting to see how the notion of oppression of women across many cultures. So I grew up in an Asian family and that has impacted me greatly. In East Asia, the majority of the population view women as inferior to men. As a matter of fact, women are often viewed as objects simply to reproduce and help extend the family.

A woman of 1920 would be surprised to know that she would be remembered as a "new woman." Significant changes for women took place in politics, at home, in workplace, and in education.

Mom, Morris wants me to tell you to stop smoking because it’s killing you. He will fight for his life, if you fight for yours.

Dominic lives a variety of lives, wearing a variation of masks throughout. By day, he is a prosecutor in Austin, Texas, and by night he plays music at the Norman Pub (Pryor 11); but underneath it all, he is a psychopath. Generally this means, he doesn’t process, or display emotions like a typical person would. Instead, Dominic "can [only] feel some of them, ones like anger, disappointment, and lust. … Emotions [tying him] to others, like compassion, love, or even fear, … [he] doesn’t feel" (Pryor 28).

The film The Mask You Live In was written, filmed and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. It was released on January 25, 2015 at the premiere of the Sundance Film Festival. Jennifer also released a similar film called Miss Representation, a film about what the expectations of a woman were according to the media. According to the film, using hyper-masculinity among boys and young men through parental teachings and social expectations in the United States negatively affects them psychologically as it affects their way of decision-making and become more isolated throughout their lives. I firmly agree with Newsom’s message she was trying to send out to her intended audience, the parents and our society at large communicated through statistics shown as title sequences and the testimonies coming from boys and men who were once at-risk.

Gender roles often have disastrous consequences for people who struggle to fill their assigned stereotype. Last Wednesday, Carnegie Mellon had a special showing of a new film, The Mask You Live In, that focuses on how society’s narrow definition of masculinity can cause more harm than good.

For my mask I chose the topic of Ralph’s transition. The mask portrays Ralph’s savagery breaking through his civility. The topic of Ralph’s transition was chosen for a particular reason. That reason being that in the beginning he had the most resources and the most people willing to abide by him yet he still managed to lose sight of the main objective and become savage towards the end of the novel. It is easy to lose sight of main objectives when put in power, but when the lives of others, as well as your own, hang in the balance there is no room to mess up. Even towards the end of the novel when almost everyone left him he still had Piggy and Samneric. Before I chose Ralph as my topic, i considered choosing the theme of savage versus civil

The poem I chose to analyze is “We Wear The Mask” written by Paul Laurence Dunbar and first published in Lyrics in Lowly Life. This poem has a theme in which portrays suffering and hiding pain. While first reading this poem at a short glance, I had develop a quick purpose behind this poem, which was what had initially grabbed my attention. However, once you dig deeper into this piece and dig into the author’s history and background you found that the meaning is so much different than what you originally expect it to be. “We Wear The Mask” has a repeated theme that illustrates a picture of hiding pain and suffering.

A month ago, I recieved an invitation to a masquerade ball. I chose to wear a mask that represents the awareness of mental illnesses. The masks’ background is blue and yellow, which resembles depression. Along with the colors, it also possesses the silver ribbon for people whom retains mental illnesses. The semicolon resembles a horrible period in peoples lives. Lastly, the whale symbolizes emotion.

The 2015 documentary The Mask You Live In which is written, produced, and directed by Jennifer Lynn Newson, sheds a light on the state of masculinity in our American society. The film which is not yet rated, stars different people, from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. These individuals are called upon to share their stories and experiences with what it means to be a man. In company with these real stories, the film also features various interviews with experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media as a way to provide empirical evidence of the film’s point of view on the state of masculinity in the United States. Newsom stated in an interview with Variety Magazine that she drew inspiration to make this documentary after she became pregnant with her son. The film aims to educate parents about how to raise their boys, and targets young men who feel like their feelings are invalidated by society.