My results from the Implicit Bias test were that I had no preference between African Americans and European Americans. I think this is accurate for me because I like people for their personalities and for who they are. Race specifically does not play a factor in who I talk to, and it never will. Who cares what race someone is? If they are a good person then I will like them. It makes me really angry when people try to categorize others because of things like race and religion. I view everyone as equal.

Today we looked at bias and racism in the world to see how it can effect us. These two factors are always there in the world, but I don't agree with them. Then again, I understand that how you are raised plays a large part in bias and what you believe, so every one is different. It was heartbreaking listening to those stories from Face to Face and hearing about how people were treated after instances such as 9/11 and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The fact that Japanese people were rounded up after Pearl Harbor and put into camps and were questioned about their whereabouts and actions. That angers me because it was such a generalization and assumption about the entire population of Japanese people in America.

I wish people as a whole could understand that every person is different and just because a group of people does something doesn't mean that their entire race is the same. I can't write this in a way to get my opinion across without feeling like I could be offending someone, so I am going to stop.

Reading Response #4

 I wanted to show the way he wrote the title.


Surprise! I am reading yet another book by John Green. (I am reading everything he has written so far so be prepared for next week as well). This one is called An Abundance of Katherines, and yes, it is important that Katherine is spelled with a "K." In this novel, a child prodigy named Colin has a rare preference. He only dates girls named Katherine (has to be spelled with a "K") and every single time he gets dumped. In John Green's own words:

"When it comes to girls (and in Colin's case, it so often did), everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type was not physical but linguistic: he liked Katherines. And not Katies or Kats or Kitties or Cathys or Rynns or Trinas or Kays or Kates or, God forbid, Catherines. K-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E. He had dated nineteen girls. All of them had been named Katherine. And all of them--every single solitary one--had dumped him."

By the time he has graduated high school and is seventeen years old, he has dated nineteen different Katherines. After being dumped for the nineteenth time, him and his best friend Hassan decide that they need to get away for awhile. Thus began their road trip to no where in particular. They decide to stop at a tourist spot in Gutshot, Tennessee that claims to have the remains of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. They start talking to the tour guide, Lindsey, they realize that a summer in Gutshot, Tennessee spent working for Lindsey's mom may be exactly what they need. Once they make the decision to stay in Gutshot for awhile, Colin begins to work on a formula for being dumped. It goes as such:

This above picture is Colin's actual equation as written in the book. I am using this as my picture because the formula is a very important part of plot and sets the motivation for most of the story.

Book Response #3~ Paper Towns

 

 

I happen to be writing, once again, about a novel by John Green. I have yet to find a book by him that does not continue the seemingly effortless flow of words. His novels are mostly well written so that it is not difficult to keep up with the words, however, the plot of Paper Towns is proving to be difficult to understand. But that may be due to the fact that I am only 63 pages in so far.

The book is written from the perspective of Quentin. He is a senior at Winter Park High School in Florida. As a child, a girl named Margo Roth Spiegelman moved next door to him. They became play mates, for lack of better words, and were friends. The opening of the novel takes you back to when they were nine and on their way to a park in which they often played in. Upon arriving, they could tell something was wrong and noticed a dead body lying against a tree. This is not a major turning point, nor seemingly important, so don’t get upset about the spoiler. Upon the discovery they ran home and Margo told him that she was going to investigate. This leaves him ending the first few pages with, “Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one.” (page 8)

Years later, Margo and Quentin are no longer what we would consider to be “friends.” They haven’t talked since they were young and the cliques and popularity in high school seemed to have also separated them. Margo is a very popular girl, along with all her friends, which leaves Quentin to just admire her from afar. Until one night when she shows up and asks for his assistance in getting much needed revenge. He reluctantly agrees and an action packed night begins. The night ranges from catfish to spray paint to boxers to guns and nothing Margo does is expected. She has devised the perfect way to get revenge on someone who wronged her and has also perfectly planned it out.  

If you are confused by my summary, don’t worry. I am confused by the book so far so I don’t necessarily expect people to understand what is going on. I love John Green and I am sure that the book will begin to answer my questions soon enough, so I will continue reading.

 

I chose a picture of a map of Orlando, Florida because during the crazy night of revenge they drive all over the city and considering the title of the book, I figure that this will be important.