Todays Response

Today's Work Log:

         Today I took the implicit bias test, and my results came back as mutual. I don't prefer a specific race, but I am confused as to why we had to do that? When I heard we were taking a bias test I thought it would be over our thoughts and opinions not over racial preference. I do realize we are reading stories about racial bias instances, but I feel like it wasn't essential for us to take a test.

 

            Jihad's story moves me, it makes me realize that American Muslims didn't see that coming either. They are appalled that they did this in the name of Allah. It is awfully sad that someone has to be stereotyped because of their religion. Essentially, religion is to create peace. It's terrible that Muslims are categorized by what the minority of that religion does. Maybe 1% of the Muslim population are apart of the extreme efforts of these terrorist organizations, but the many, many others are peacefully trying to live out there lives without being persecuted. Jihad had to endure a true struggle, which is dealing with the persecution.

         

        Amna Chaudhary says it best when she states, "The fact that I’m a Muslim doesn’t make me, as a person, any different from anybody else. You know, the fact that I wear an extra piece of clothing on my head doesn’t make me any different. And people don’t seem to understand that. I’ve lived here all my life and even if I hadn’t lived here all my life, I’m not any different." They weren't the terrorists that attacked the twin towers, but innocent Americans who mourned this tragedy.

 

          I believe the idea behind todays assignment is to look beyond what you see. Don't judge a person based on their looks or beliefs. Allow everyone the opportunity to be treated equally. Everyone can have their difference of opinion, but that doesn't make them any less of a person. It is just weird how people are so easily persuaded to believing that if someone is a different color or have a different religion, they are less important.

 

Reading Response Four; Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins. They both look the exact same but on the inside they are completely different. Kaeleigh likes to excel in school and never really does anything to get in trouble. She tries to go to school and hide because she doesn't want to be noticed. Raeanne is the complete opposite. Raeanne does drugs, and tries to find attention it guys at her school. After a car accident when they were younger their father changed drastically. He started to drink and after he got drunk he would abuse Kaeleigh. During the story you realize how different the twins truly are. They are complete opposites with very little in common as they are often very jealous of each other. Raeanne is jealous of the attention Kaeleigh gets from the dad. The character that changes the most during the story is Kaeleigh. At the beginning of the story she is very innocent and focuses on school and excelling. She seems to have nothing holding her back from reaching her true potential. In the middle of the story she meets a guy and starts to have flash backs of her dad and her dad starts to abuse her again. This causes her to go into a downward spiral. She starts to experiment with drugs like her sister. She ends up having suicidal tendencies and at one point her sister Raeanne has to save her. "Happily ever after is a concept I'll never believe." This goes to show how unhappy she is with her life. At the end of the story she realizes that her life is a complete lie. She started to change reality to deal with the things she couldn't handle on her own. This causes her brain to make up things so her life will be more comfortable and it helps her escape from reality. You learn a lot about what is actually going on toward the end of the story. It causes you to rethink the whole book because there is a huge twist in the story that is very hard to pick up on. The picture that I used for this story is of identical twins. Although they make look the same on the outside it doesn't mean they are the same person. It is easy to look at someone and expect them to be something that they are not. The important message of the book is that not everyone is the same as their siblings or anyone else for that matter. Everyone is unique in their own way and share different beliefs and views of the world and it's easy to overlook that.

Reading Response Three; Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

      Matt is the main character in Ellen Hopkins book "Rumble." He is a brother of a boy named Luke that fell victim to relentless bullying due to his lifestyle. During the first pages of the story you learn that Matt's younger brother died a year before the present day. As the story progresses you learn that Luke committed suicide because he was gay and bullied by everyone in the community including his own father. The only person that was ever there for him was his older brother Matt, although Matt never stood up for his brother only told his brother to hide who he was. After Luke's death Matt struggles with his religious identity as well as facing his priorities. Matt places blame in everyone for Luke's death except for his girlfriend, Hayden, whom he relies on throughout the story.

“I think it’s easy
to confuse love with other things.
Lust, for one. Need, for another"

     I think this is a very important quote in the story because Matt confused his love with Hayden. During the story he says that he loves Hayden and she is his whole world. What Matt doesn't realize until later in the story is that Hayden was just a safety blanket when it came to dealing with the problems that his life threw at him. Matt confused love with need in this case. Toward the beginning of the story you learn that Matt doesn't believe in a God. He actually despises Christians because their relentless bullying is what he believes killed his brother. This is a great example of irony because his girlfriend is completely devoted to God. Matt believes that if there really was a so called "God" it would have saved his brother. Matt struggles with this throughout the story. After his parents get divorced and his girlfriend leaves him because God doesn't want them together he has to rethink his priorities. Matt finally concludes toward the end of the story that he needs forgiveness. He needs to forgive himself, and also forgive everyone else that he found at fault with Luke's death. That was the only way that he could truly move on and really be happy.
     The picture that I chose is of a cross with rainbow handprints. The reason that I chose this picture is because it represents what Rumble stands for. Rumble explores the idea of religion and what it truly means, while also shining light on different lifestyles. The essential theme of this book is to find out what religion means to you while deciding when and where to find your own personal forgiveness.