Op-Ed
The Mask Project
During the making of this project, we did many things to lead up to the final product..The overall concept for this project is socialization and how we have been socialized. An example of a project we did was to study and watch how children have been socialized in a different way to act differently. We watched videos on how children who are raised by animals, dogs and wolves, seem to have the animals' behaviors. Another topic we discussed is how we have been socialized throughout our lives to think a certain way. We discussed topics such as the agents of socialization and how they play a role in our lives. The main agents of socialization are family, media, religion, and peers. These all have a huge role on your life and your perspective.
In the mask project, I put a lot of hard work into the final project but less effort in others. An example is I studied and really thought out my essay and put more effort into the essay. On the contrary, I did not put enough thought into the design or making of my mask. I could've planned and thought about my mask a lot more than I did and refining it rather than not. When I needed help with my essay I would ask the teacher to read it and give suggestions. I worked hard on most of the portions in the overall socialization project. When I reflect on the project I think I learned a lot and I was proud of what it turned out to be.
The last semester I think I have learned a lot about the world surrounding me and myself. I think that I should always try my best and not wait to do activities/work. I feel I procrastinate and could get better at not waiting to the last second to get important things done. A new idea that I have learned is that when we are stereotyping someone or something "different" we base them off of what others look like or act like. When we see the world around us we like to think of the most common "behavior" people display and try to act like it because to our brains if we don't we fell like we won't survive. This taught me to try different social interactions to hear different responses and decide what behaviors are unacceptable. I learned to think about what I say and how it will affect others.
In the mask project, I put a lot of hard work into the final project but less effort in others. An example is I studied and really thought out my essay and put more effort into the essay. On the contrary, I did not put enough thought into the design or making of my mask. I could've planned and thought about my mask a lot more than I did and refining it rather than not. When I needed help with my essay I would ask the teacher to read it and give suggestions. I worked hard on most of the portions in the overall socialization project. When I reflect on the project I think I learned a lot and I was proud of what it turned out to be.
The last semester I think I have learned a lot about the world surrounding me and myself. I think that I should always try my best and not wait to do activities/work. I feel I procrastinate and could get better at not waiting to the last second to get important things done. A new idea that I have learned is that when we are stereotyping someone or something "different" we base them off of what others look like or act like. When we see the world around us we like to think of the most common "behavior" people display and try to act like it because to our brains if we don't we fell like we won't survive. This taught me to try different social interactions to hear different responses and decide what behaviors are unacceptable. I learned to think about what I say and how it will affect others.
My Mask
TKAMB/MWB Seminar
During the seminar, we talked about 6 different topics. The first, of the main topics of the seminar was that racism is still a huge social issue but in a different way. After that topic, we discussed is how some gender discrimination and gender "norms" were shown in the book. Another huge topic, we talked about is if To Kill a Mockingbird should not be taught in school for educational purposes.We also discussed about how the book includes racism, sex, and foul language. Even though it includes this, this should not make it so students aren't exposed to these social issues. We also talked about how the same issues such as racist words and racism seemed to have a different meaning or way it can be perceived from the present. Lastly, we had a short discussion on how social media has made a huge impact on what we say. Now you can say anything you want on social media, and not have responsibility for your actions.
I think the most interesting idea is that there has been little to no change since the book was published. Concerns like racism and sexism are still in everyday life. For example, when Atticus and Jem are talking about Atticus' trial where he defended an African American person, Atticus says," When a white man and a black man go against each other, the white man will win." This is an example of white privilege. White privilege is when a white person subtly, or not subtly, get an advantage over a different race. At this moment. it happens all the time. I think this is very interesting because it seems we put the Americans on the top of the list in equality. We advertise America as a place of equality and freedom. Last time I checked "Home of the free, Land of the brave" meant that everyone in America is free but people getting targeted for race, religious views, and sexuality doesn't seem free.
I felt like I was semi-prepared for this seminar but I wasn't as prepared as I could've been. I read through the book and did annotations. I think I would've done better if I did more annotations so I was better prepared for the seminar. I think the most difficult thing for me was to annotate the book as I was reading instead of doing one annotation every three chapters. I think that my big struggle with the seminar was that I didn't have many annotations so it was a little more challenging to engage in the conversation. While the seminar was definitely difficult, I enjoyed having in-depth conversations about racism and social issues. For the next seminar, my goal is to do a minimum of three annotations per chapter depending on how long the chapter is.
After reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I think this book matters because it teaches a lesson rather than it being just a novel. It's interesting to me that many of the social issues in the book continue to happen even today. While the world has changed in the past 50 years, what hasn't changed is the hate for other people based on religion, race, and gender. An example on how very little has changed is in the book Jem tells Scout, "You're becoming like a girl each day". It's interesting because it seems to portray girls as lesser than boys. Another example is when Jem many others say "You throw and catch like a girl". This is important because it shows that to this day children are still saying the same stuff they were saying 50 years ago.
I think the most interesting idea is that there has been little to no change since the book was published. Concerns like racism and sexism are still in everyday life. For example, when Atticus and Jem are talking about Atticus' trial where he defended an African American person, Atticus says," When a white man and a black man go against each other, the white man will win." This is an example of white privilege. White privilege is when a white person subtly, or not subtly, get an advantage over a different race. At this moment. it happens all the time. I think this is very interesting because it seems we put the Americans on the top of the list in equality. We advertise America as a place of equality and freedom. Last time I checked "Home of the free, Land of the brave" meant that everyone in America is free but people getting targeted for race, religious views, and sexuality doesn't seem free.
I felt like I was semi-prepared for this seminar but I wasn't as prepared as I could've been. I read through the book and did annotations. I think I would've done better if I did more annotations so I was better prepared for the seminar. I think the most difficult thing for me was to annotate the book as I was reading instead of doing one annotation every three chapters. I think that my big struggle with the seminar was that I didn't have many annotations so it was a little more challenging to engage in the conversation. While the seminar was definitely difficult, I enjoyed having in-depth conversations about racism and social issues. For the next seminar, my goal is to do a minimum of three annotations per chapter depending on how long the chapter is.
After reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I think this book matters because it teaches a lesson rather than it being just a novel. It's interesting to me that many of the social issues in the book continue to happen even today. While the world has changed in the past 50 years, what hasn't changed is the hate for other people based on religion, race, and gender. An example on how very little has changed is in the book Jem tells Scout, "You're becoming like a girl each day". It's interesting because it seems to portray girls as lesser than boys. Another example is when Jem many others say "You throw and catch like a girl". This is important because it shows that to this day children are still saying the same stuff they were saying 50 years ago.