Project Description
My project 2 was inspired by the story of a young boy named Gabriel Fernandez. Gabriel was beat to death by his mother and step father. After watching the documentary on Netflix, it sparked the idea of making my project 2 on child abuse/child labor.
Art
For the art portion of my project, I painted a young boy who is suffering from abuse. I also connected ELA portion by putting a part of my poem in my art piece. This part of the poem was chosen because it explains the thoughts and emotions a young abused kid is feeling when at home. I painted this piece using water color.
History
For the history part of my project, I wrote a journal entry from the perspective of a young boy in 1940 who had to work in order to put food on the table for his family. While writing this piece, I used facts from my research as inspiration. For example, there is a part where I talked about not being able to be in school. Most kids around this time period did not go to school because they either needed to bring home money or could not afford it.
English
For the poem “Big & Little” I looked at two different perspectives. The “Big” represents the perspective of the adult or parent who abuses their child. When writing this portion of the poem I was trying to show the mentality of the abuser. This portion talks about the abuser acknowledging what they’re doing but also how In their opinion the child was looking for it. While writing this poem I also talked about the stress for the parent when sending their child off to school. Scared of people seeing the bruises and hoping no one finds out. On the other hand the “Little” represents the child’s point of view when being abused. For this part of the poem I wanted to put out the feelings and emotions and kid goes through when being a victim. I tried to include how the child doesn’t really understand why things are this way. The last line of the second stanza reads, “I’m trapped in glass” When writing this line, I wanted to say how everyone sees the bruises, the marks, but no one does anything about it. My whole project idea wraps around the story of Gabriel Fernandez and in his story this is what pretty much happened.
Big & Little
I see the presence of colors
The art I’ve created My power, my strength The fault was his My commands were not followed Off to school he goes “He fell” is what is said Pants and long sleeves, to cover my art Its winter all year around Again and again commands are not follow My rage bursts and I begin to paint “It hurts me more than it hurt you” I say He should’ve just obeyed |
Awake the aches that keep me quiet
My clothes surround my pain My skin screams in colors Hope no one hears my truth Teachers see right through me She knows something is wrong The lies pour out I'm trapped in glass Home is cold and loud Laughter is short lived The lies sit in the dark I learned to cry in silence My tummy hurts for food No food until chores are done Her eyes pierce right through me I look back in fear What have I done wrong? |