Digital+Collage

=This is my digital collage inspired by the book: The House of the Scorpion. I have included various forms of symbolism. In the book Matt talks about reading Pedro El Conejo.... which is Peter Rabbit and I thought about how Matt was similar to Peter being trapped, and having many narrow escapes. I also embedded some images from Dia de los Muertos which resemble La Llorona and eejits both. The pig is from when he was trapped by Rosa. Saint Francis was often referred to by Maria. He is the patron saint of animals. There are many other elements but, I will leave them for you to discover. Susan Steffen= =**//__Digital Collage__//**= When you are to your collage: 1) save it as a jpg, 2) go to the edit portion on wiki, 3) click on the file button, 4) show all files, click to embed files and your collage should be there! (At least that is how I did it.... good luck!)

I used the recent AIDS campaign [|We all have AIDS] as the image in the upper left corner, and this became me central theme for the collage. I thought it was a powerful message about why this novel is so effective. It resonates with us, because it plays on common human ] experiences. No we are not all homosexual, Latino, men, with AIDS, who starred in an MTV show. We do however all have love, in whatever form, that we can relate to when reading about the love Pedro has for his mother, or Judd, or Sean. We all have hurt. It is a human experience to go through loss, whether that loss is a person, career, or dream. We have family, in many different shapes and sizes. Family is who we can become our selves with, be it blood relations or friends. We also have hope, purpose, and voice. I think that these are the most powerful elements of the novel. Through all his struggles, Pedro remains hopeful that he can make a difference. He has hope through the purpose he found in his life. We all have a purpose, and discovering that is what gives us voice, and gives meaning to our lives. Lastly I think this novel has a heavy element of change. Judd changes his view or stereotypes on homosexuals and AIDS, Pedro moves from a carefree teenager to an activist. Change is what drives the evolution of our lives and society. These basic human connections found within this novel is why anyone can pick it up and relate to it. That is why __Pedro and Me__ is such a enduring and powerful piece. (TRH)

__Digital Collage__ In the beginning of Pedro and Me, we learn that Pedro's mother dies of cancer. With all of the other things going on in the book, I could not let go of the text-to-self connection I made regarding cancer and how I have had a wee bit of experience with it. My husband is a survivor. I was going to make my digital storytelling piece about our experiences (and I suppose I still could) but somehow all of the images I have stored on my computer seemed to say "get some of it down on digital paper." A few of the images came from Google Images, but most of them are either our photos or photos of artwork created by my daughters and by my husband who has, since his illness, taken up painting. This journey has been a tough one, and there are one or two tough-ish/dark-ish images included, but really it has been a journey of perseverance, love, and hope. I HOPE I conveyed that. -Kathy Kepulis [|Digital_Collage.jpg]

= Mark and Megan chose to make a digital collage for Pedro and Me. To make this collage we used a digital camera to take pictures of images that we felt were significant to the graphic novel. Each photo has a word next to it that we feel expresses how that photo relates to Pedro's life. For example, next to the photo of Cuba we wrote the word, "Home?" The question mark indicates that Pedro is torn between calling Cuba home and calling the United States home. Another example is that of the photo showing the Golden Gate Bridge and the word strength. We chose this word because we felt Pedro was a very strong person to move to California, be on The Real World and speak out about HIV / AIDS. =

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Pedro and Me

Mary and Georgia's Digital Collage for Pedro and me [|Picture_1.png]

Our collage is full of many images that represent themes we experienced when we read Pedro and me. We included pictures of Bill Clinton, Fidel Castro, and a map of Cuba to demonstrate the political differences between his home country and the United States. In the book this was illustrated by his family being torn apart in Cuba and how upon his death bed Pedro received a phone call of support by President Bill Clinton. We also included pictures like, "I have AIDS Banner", the AIDS ribbon, and global awareness picture to represent the over arching theme of AIDS Education and Awareness. Finally we included pictures of Pedro himself and the cast of Real World to illustrate friendship, support, love, education and the effect he had on everyone's lives.

=**//__ [|Kaite & Shelley's Digital Collage] __//** = Our collage is a timeline of Pedro's life. Starting with the Cuban flag where he was born, to his "feet first" birth, and his boat trip to America. We then represented the death of his mother by showing a picture of a lock of hair symbolizing the lock of hair she left in Pedro's drawer because he said that he always loved his mother's hair. He becomes sexually active at 13 because he is looking for "love" to fill the void that is left in him upon his mother's death and admits to his father that he is homosexual. After, we show a variety of pictures of his diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, the shingles he got on his face, his cast-mates of "The Real World," his life partner, Sean, whom he married on the show, and his family by his bedside during his last days; a trip President Bill Clinton made possible. There is a picture of a quilt that is in memory of Pedro Zamora and then finally, a picture of the book, __ Pedro and Me __, by his friend and cast-mate, Judd Winick, that chronicles his short but amazing and influential life. Our images for our digital collage are from Google Images

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[[#Kaite & Shelley's Digital Collage-Kathryn's Pedro and Me Digital CollageMy collage represents some of the major themes in the book, Pedro and Me. I used a “neon colored” theme for all the pictures to represent light in a dark situation—Pedro having HIV. Pedro’s decision to be an HIV education advocate for young adults after he was diagnosed, displays his determination to make the best of his life. The large neon heart in the center of the collage represents the major theme of love depicted throughout the novel. Everything Pedro does, he does with love. The heart is made up of cell-like round shapes that represent the HIV virus. The heart shape made out of hands in the center of the neon “cell” heart, signify using the gifts you are given to spread love to others. At the top of the collage, I have snowflakes pictured with the quote from the book, “…It’s slow. It’s lush. And when everything is covered, it all looks perfect.” This is one of my favorite lines of the book—the part when Pedro is describing the experience of falling in love. He describes it as being similar to seeing a snowfall. The other images in the collage also symbolize various aspects of the book. The homosexual couple kissing in the bottom left corner represent Pedro and Sean’s relationship. The Golden Gate Bridge in the top left corner represents the setting of the book, San Francisco. The candle on the left side represents hope. The bottom right corner is a neon outline of heart-shaped balloons floating up into the sky. This signifies the moment after the death of Pedro dies. His life is being celebrated because of the positive impact he has had on the lives of others.]]My collage represents some of the major themes in the book, Pedro and Me. I used a “neon colored” theme for all the pictures to represent light in a dark situation—Pedro having HIV. Pedro’s decision to be an HIV education advocate for young adults after he was diagnosed, displays his determination to make the best of his life. The large neon heart in the center of the collage represents the major theme of love depicted throughout the novel. Everything Pedro does, he does with love. The heart is made up of cell-like round shapes that represent the HIV virus. The heart shape made out of hands in the center of the neon “cell” heart, signify using the gifts you are given to spread love to others. At the top of the collage, I have snowflakes pictured with the quote from the book, “…It’s slow. It’s lush. And when everything is covered, it all looks perfect.” This is one of my favorite lines of the book—the part when Pedro is describing the experience of falling in love. He describes it as being similar to seeing a snowfall. The other images in the collage also symbolize various aspects of the book. The homosexual couple kissing in the bottom left corner represent Pedro and Sean’s relationship. The Golden Gate Bridge in the top left corner represents the setting of the book, San Francisco. The candle on the left side represents hope. The bottom right corner is a neon outline of heart-shaped balloons floating up into the sky. This signifies the moment after the death of Pedro dies. His life is being celebrated because of the positive impact he has had on the lives of others. ======

WINTERGIRLS

Danielle & Emily's Digital Collage on the book __Wintergirls__:[| WintergirlsPhotocollage.jpg] Reflection about the collage- We took many different parts from the book to make this collage. In the center we chose to put the quote from the book “I swear to be the skinniest girl in school…” because we felt as though this was how it all started. Around the quote we chose some of the foods that were talked about, some that she ate and some that she was thinking about eating (crossed out). We put the motel room door with the room number 113 because this represents where her friend died and where she almost died herself. The cell phone represents the number of times Cassie tried to call Lia, which haunts Lia throughout the book. We put the nose on the collage with the words burnt sugar, ginger and cloves, to represent what she kept smelling. The car with the numbers 93lb on its license plate represents when she mentioned how she crashed the car earlier. And the words the collage “Must. Not. Eat” were repeated in the book numerous times, so we felt that was very significant. (All of the pictures were taken off of Google Images)

PEDRO AND ME Short Reflection about my collage- I started at the beginning and used the Cuba flag to represent Pedro's country and then the map of florida shows that he came over from Cuba to live with his family. I also used a picture of a family to represent how strong Pedro's family life was. Then I moved on and the phone is for the call that Judd and Pedro got to come to the Real World and I put their cast picture and the San Fransico bridge to show their time they lived there. The ring pop, pelican, picture of people being goofy and the musketeers represents the strong connection between Pedro and his roomates from the Real World. I put the aids ribbon and awareness sign on their to show Pedro's fight and the hospital sign for when he was in the hospital. The cross and tears/rain show the sadness they all felt when Pedro died but the hope and strength that he spread will forever live on.
 * Sarah Babler Digital Collage of Pedro and Me: ** [|Pedro_And_Me.jpg]

I collected these photos to illustrate things that made the biggest impression to me while reading Pedro and Me. To me the story seemed to revolve around the importance of Friends, Family and Aids Education. I have a photo Castro representing the hard life in Cuba and a photo of the refugee boat he took to Florida. His Superman t-shirt he wore as a kid and the apple and can of coke he first had once arriving to Florida. A photo of Pedro, One of Judd with his novel, Pedro and his husband Sean. MTV representing the Real World Show that brought Judd and Pedro together and the close friends he made there. A camera man that was always present during the show. A photo of shingles on a mans face. Aids support Awareness ribbon and a picture of Pedro in the hospital bed surrounded by friends and family. A plate of Alfredo, Pedro's favorite meal. An airplane because they all traveled across the country so many times and the Air port shuttle with the insightful driver. I included one page from the novel of the Real world Friends out having a great day together. The microphone represents all the education speeches Pedro and Judd did for so many people. spreading the aids awareness and impacting so many people across our country. Even being recognized by president Bill Clinton for his remarkable achievements. Photos from Bing Images.
 * Doug Larson's Digital Collage of Pedro and Me:[[file:Pedro Collage.docx]]**

PERSEPOLIS **Susan Nelsen Digital Collage of Persepolis: [|Are_really_that_different.jpg]** After reading the first part of Persepolis I felt that Americans and Iranians are more alike than we would like to believe. My collage illustrates that point. Our country of Democracy started with a revolution and that is what the people of Iran want. They are not satisfied with the Iranian government and are taking a stand just as the early American's did in the American Revolution and just like we continue to do today when we disagree with the government. For years Americans and the Middle East have been at each other throats but if we take a step back and look at what we both want we will see that we are really not that different. Photos from google images.

Link to my photocollage and reflection of: click [|here]. (Andrea)

This collage’s theme focuses on the right of Muslim females to decide what to wear as shown by the various pictures of women wearing burkas and hijabs and protesting. Ayatollah Khomeini is placed in the center because he was the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution who many in the West view as forcing reactionary Islamic laws, such as conservative dress codes, upon Iranian woman. In //Persepolis//, Marjane rebels against Khomeini’s conservative dress codes by wearing Western clothes. In Marjane’s eyes, conservative clothes such as the burka and hijab are seen as being forced upon women preventing individual expression. In other words, limiting their freedom of choice. However, as shown in the collage above, many Muslim women, contrary to Majane’s views, see it as their right to wear the hijab or burka. Debate over how Muslim women should dress and who decides has caused protests and violence as depicted in several of the images in the collage. Thus, this collage shows that Muslim women are split over viewing the burka and hijab as limiting their freedom of expression and allowing them express their religious beliefs.
 * Nick Schreiber's Collage of Persepolis.**

ABOLUTELY TRUE STORY

THE HOUSE OF THE SCORPION