Journal Entry 2 (Peris)

What makes her think she can just lance around Prettytown and embarrass me in front of all my friends? Tally arrived at my home late at night yesterday and acted all awkward and strange. I’m not sure what she meant by coming all this way, but she just said we were best friends forever. I tried to get her away by convincing her it’s not safe here. I felt quite bad about her since she was just so ugly. How can someone live with themselves when they are so hideous?  I feel satisfied with my life right now and I think Tally would just never leave me alone. Yes, we used to be best friends, but I have moved on from that and am having a great time. I don’t want to hurt her feelings and make her hate me.  This town is magnificent and I have never felt better. Every single day I have fun and our friendship, I believe, has ended.

That night, when the elevator opened, is still in my head. She took her mask off and her face was just appalling. Every single being here is so beautiful and nice and when someone like her just walks in and demands for a friendship makes me remember how horrible the days when I was ugly were.  I have put that behind me and am focusing on making new friendships, going to parties and just living my life. I feel that someone like Tally would just hold me back and limit me. I don’t want to have limits; I want to be free and left alone.

As for now, I am not prepared to face Tally in three months and I just hope she stays safe and lives her own life the way she wants.  When the time comes, I will express my feelings to her and pray she understands. I don’t want to break her heart ,but I want to be happy myself. 

Journal Entry 1 (Reflection)

This journal entry was from Tally Youngblood’s point of view. Right on the day of her operation to become pretty she is told to bring her friend Shay in or she remains Ugly forever. This time of Tally’s life was crucial since she faced a life- changing dilemma.  I wanted to show that Tally felt it was very unfair and cruel to take something away from her just because of someone else’s choice or decision. This relates to the theme of social injustice because nobody should be put in such a situation where you must betray someone you love in order to acquire something you deserve. You are punished for somebody’s “wrong doing” (we can also question if Shay’s actions are wrong at all). In such circumstances, in front of such dilemma, I guess, everyone may feel confused, hopeless, and perhaps even angry.

I also wanted to show that Tally wanted to become beautiful simply because she needed to feel accepted.  People in the story believe that if you’re not pretty you’re not accepted and you’re different. One of the morals of this story is to be who you are and in the journal entry Tally is trying to become like everybody else; meanwhile Shay has learned that being beautiful isn’t everything. Also, Tally shows certain desperation because she is sick of being worthless and ugly. She believes that when becoming pretty her whole world will become beautiful. 

Journal Entry 1 (Tally)

I don’t find it fair that now just because Shay ran away to live her own life I have to suffer for her not being here. On the day of my operation to finally become pretty I get taken to a special circumstance section and met Dr. Cable. She instructed me that the only way to get pretty is to find Shay and bring her in. Why am I chosen to find her? And it’s totally cruel to leave me ugly just because of my friend. She is responsible for her own actions and I’m not the boss of her.  My only chance was to agree to find her and somehow convince her to come back. I had to say yes or my pretty dreams were down the drain. The doctor then handed me a tracer to activate when I found her. I don’t know if this is the greatest idea, but for now it’s my only hope.  

                As for the moment, the only clue I have to finding Tally is rhyming note she left me before taking off.  I hope she hasn’t gotten herself in some trouble like I have.  It still is so difficult to understand why I suffer from her choice to be who she wants. I believe there is a secret or something the pretties are hiding from us. I don’t want to make the wrong choice about who I am and who I want to be.

                I feel confused about what Shay has been doing. I don’t know if I should help her make the right choice or if I should leave her to live her life without being pretty.  Becoming pretty has been my dream ever since I was a little girl. I look up to them and I feel like I want to be a part of their group and not feel left out. I remember that day when Shay was in my room and I wanted to help her choose what she would become when she turned pretty. Her comments were “See this is what they want to do. They just want to make us feel bad about ourselves” I find their being nothing wrong with becoming pretty. What could possibly be wrong!? They have fun all the time, everybody is beautiful, you live in nice mansions and everybody is your friend. I remember that moment when I visited Peris and felt awkward and different. I never want to feel that again. I want to feel happy, free and accepted. Prettytown was just magical that night and being a part of it all just made me feel happy. 

                 I plan on trying to figure out the clues Shay left me and head out on my journey to becoming beautiful. If I can just find her and convince her that Pretty is the way to go my entire life would change for the better. I feel like for once I would feel accomplished and glad of who I am.  I do not want to be discriminated and on a lower rank than pretties.  I want to be Pretty, now!

Newspaper Article 2 (reflection)

This newspaper article is a propaganda targeted towards the wonderful and fun city of pretties. It is showing how the society has no voice and the only thing connecting it to the rest of the world is media controlled by the government. This information can sometimes be misleading and false which affects the society greatly. Writing the article I thought how in the society of the pretties they don’t have freedom of speech and are often brainwashed from the operation. The media covers this up by only showing the good and fun aspects of turning beautiful. In propaganda media the facts are often blown up in order to influence the attitude of people towards being pretty. This is the reason I wrote the article exaggerating the world of pretties using the clues from the book that they only have fun. The secrets and problems of the society are greatly hidden and usually only one side of the story is portrayed.

            The article is a great addition to the story, but it also shows the dystopian society which is the author’s idea. In this sense it praises the author’s text.

            I believe that if this piece was in the book it would show how clueless the society is and how the government controls all thoughts and beliefs of people. 

Newspaper Article 2 (written by me)

The Perfect World of Pretties

By Jessica Fontane

            The excitement to begin a whole new part of your life is in every single Uglie who is about to turn 16. The magic of pretty town is unbelievable. People are so joyous, playing on the streets, having fun, partying and just living their lives. Why would anybody choose to live in some lousy old city like The Rusties? It is just a boring old dump and people should never go there. Pretty town is the best city in the world. You cannot go wrong! Every single being is gorgeous and beautiful. 

            The ugly and gross part of your life is ending and the magnificent beautiful part is just beginning. For any Uglies out there who are dreaming of becoming one day a pretty, it is amazing! Along with beauty we think many other characteristics are involved. Pretties are funnier, more friendly, more intelligent, more exciting, in possession of better social skills, are sexually warmer, are more interesting, poised and even more independent. Good-looking people make better persuaders. This may be because attractive people tend to be better communicators and possess more confidence or just because we all look up to beauty. Don’t you want to be looked up to and special? Be a role model!

            Furthermore, the events in this city are magnifying. Just two days ago the parade shook the entire town into a huge fest. Music was playing loudly everywhere, people were dancing feeling happy and excited. Swings and rides filled the streets. Smiles and happiness was upon everybody's beautiful face. You really have to be in it to experience it. 
            Always remember that Prettytown is the most vibrant and exuberant town in the area. It is simply an endless amusement park filled with beautiful people and souls.
            Ask yourself why would you live anywhere else?

Newspaper Article 1 (Reflection)

          I chose the article "If You Think Beautiful People Hold All the Cards, You're Right, Says a Researcher" from People's Magazine because it displays the injustice of biased thinking based on appearance. In the article the author talks about how beautiful people are treated superiorly in our contemporary society. They are marked easily on tests, most times they are not even convicted in court  and their life is much easier just because they are beautiful. When first seeing the title I was very shocked and the facts lead me to think that it is totally unfair to judge someone on something they have no control over and to praise others with something they are just born with. I believe that this is the greatest injustice in the modern society as well as in the "Uglies" society where people are separated based on appearance.  This article connects greatly to the novel since pretty people are thought to be worthier than any other being in both writings.
          The author of the article supports the plot of "Uglies" as he believes that children in our society are influenced to believe that grotesque people are always losers opposed to the beautiful who always live happily ever after. In this way children want to be beautiful when they grow up since they see the benefits in fiction ,but fiction is not real life. However, even in real life the  author states that bias occurs to enhance pretty people's status.
            This article made me think that this society is on the wrong track as well as the society in "Uglies". If this  judgmental mind-set keeps growing the people will have difficulty to sustain themselves and believing in who they are. With all this confusion many people even lose there self identity and become someone else.

Newspaper Article 1

              

If You Think Beautiful People Hold All the Cards, You're Right, Says a Researcher

By; Margie Bonnett

              After seven years of research, psychologist Thomas Cash says he has learned something: "There's more to the subject of beauty than meets the eye." That, he quickly adds, is not just another cliché. "Beautiful people are perceived as sexier, smarter, happier, more employable and more mentally stable. Being unattractive can place a person in social and economic jeopardy." 

              Cash, 32, an associate professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., once had papers graded with the students' pictures attached. The attractive students not only got better marks, but graders invented excuses for good-looking students with bad papers (e.g., "He just wasn't trying hard" and "She isn't living up to her potential"). In another experiment, Cash submitted résumés with photos to personnel consultants. The best-looking were usually recommended before candidates with identical records. Cash also cites a 1975 study done at the University of Maryland that suggests juries are not so likely to convict attractive defendants as ugly ones. 

            Bias toward beauty starts early. By 4, children are influenced by it, Cash says. "Writers make bad people grotesque—the wicked stepmother or the witch," he explains. "Good people are beautiful—Cinderella or Snow White." 

             He categorizes Jacqueline Kennedy's fascination with homely Ari Onassis as "an exchange," a phenomenon that occurs less frequently nowadays. "Beauty and bucks used to be an acceptable match," says Cash, "but as women have gained economic self-sufficiency other qualities, including the attractiveness of a man, have become more important." 

             Cash believes people generally pick mates and even friends on the same level of attractiveness. There is also surprising unanimity in defining beauty—bright eyes, symmetrical features and a thin to medium build. 

             "People want a predictable, controllable world," Cash explains. "In the absence of experience with another person, we use whatever information is available to anticipate what that person is going to be like—even if it's only looks. Judgments are made on that basis. The idea is particularly distasteful to Americans, who have the notion all people are created equal." Beauty can have drawbacks, however. In Cash's studies beautiful people are often perceived as self-centered, materialistic and intimidating. But on balance, beauty is almost always more positive than negative. 

              Cash, who regards himself as moderately handsome ("a 7 on the Bo Derek scale"), grew up on a big chicken farm in Nashville. He recalls one traumatic high school blind date: "She was fat, smelled bad and had braces that looked like half the fences in Texas in her mouth. I had two reactions: 'Wait till I get the guy who fixed me up' and 'God, I bet she catches hell a lot. I better be nice.' " 

              A job as a shoe salesman got him interested in studying human nature. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, he was steered into beauty research by an adviser while working on his doctorate at George Peabody College. 

             He lives in a ranch-style house in Norfolk and spends as much time as possible with fiancée Diane Marine, 31 (whom Cash also considers a 7). Both are divorced, and Cash has two children—Tommy, 13, and Benjamin, 8—who visit on holidays. 

           Cash has already parlayed his research into consulting jobs with the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association and with Clairol. "I want to find out if using cosmetics improves a person's self-image," Cash says. Nonetheless, he cautions, never underestimate the success potential of the ungorgeous. "Look," he says, "at John Belushi." 




Here is the link to the official article in People's Magazine by Margie Bonnett http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20076918,00.html