Friday, June 5, 2009
Reflection Letter
Welcome to my Journey in English 101 E-Portfolio. I am ending my second quarter at Everett Community College on my way to be a Preschool Teacher and Director of my own Daycare Center. It has not been an easy time but I am driven to keep doing the work by my desire to be a good example to my children. School is a lot of work, but worth it in the end. My grandmother was a great example to me. She finished third grade before she had to go to work to help support her family. Then when she was 70 years old she went to college to take a class to help her to do her job better. If she can overcome the obstacles of age and the lack of education, I think I can overcome my minor obstacles and succeed too.
As I think back on themes identity, community, and traditions that we covered over the quarter, I realize that I have learned a lot. Identity I’ve pretty much been dealing with in different ways, but the essays and discussion boards have broadened my understanding. Different thing define us, some positive and some neg. One essay on Identity was Under the Mask (Lucy dealt with cancer which left her with a deformed face so she hid behind a mask every Halloween and felt like she could be herself). We can prematurely limit our potential human interaction by judging "by the cover". Although I didn’t pick this to add to my E-Portfolio I thought it was a great example of how a lot of us feel hidden and safe in different ways. Like having online classes, no one can judge you by your age or your race etc. and most of us have our identities tied up in our bodies. We compare ourselves to imitators of what the media says is normal. The movie I chose “Bend it Like Beckham” was a good example of insiders and outsiders and issues of identity. It showed that the customs of some families can challenge our ability to achieve our dreams. Achieving dreams are very important to me. I want to be a cheerleader to those around me as a gesture of supporting them in achieving their dreams. Community was fun. I learned lots through the essays that community can be about any group of people. I chose to state my local Safeway as being my community. I being a working single parent I hardly have time for joining groups outside the home, but everyone shops right? Traditions chapter was also an eye opener. In the Ending Poem, I was reminded of the importance of family traditions that’s passed down from generation to generation. I thought that our family had no family traditions, because of the fragmented family that divorce had left; until I started reading Remix and doing my blog for that section did I realize that our family traditions are a bit transformed, but here.
As I am reflecting over the quarter I can see that I am very motivated to make the best of the only life I have. I find it very important to give positive support to the lives that I touch during my life. The essay’s in the book, “Remix” have given me a broader view of the diverse society and has given me a deeper sense of community. I’ve always been aware of the importance of people but I feel I understand cultures better. I hope you are encouraged by the pieces that I have chosen.
Introduction to Cookies Bring Laughter
I picked Cookies and Laughter as Writer’s Choice because this blog is special to me. As we read essay’s about traditions in our text book. I was saddened, because I thought our family traditions were lost, along with other things, in my divorce. As I gathered information for the blog assignment I began listing things that we did on a weekly basis and on special occasions. I realized that these activities were our family traditions. Our family traditions had changed slightly since the divorce, but were still a part of our live’s.
Cookies bring laughter
As my children and I are in the kitchen making our family "Chocolate No-Bake Cookies", My mind is flooded with memories of my sisters and my mother cooking "Chocolate No-Bake Cookies" when I was little. We had a lot of fun cooking together. My mother would stand at the stove with one foot propped up on the stool as she stirred the cookie mixture until it boiled for one minute. It took along time so we all took turns. We would want to stop stirring but mom would inform us that the cookies that we loved would not turn out right if they weren't stirred constantly. When mom took the pan off the burner we frantically put the last of the ingredients in before the whole batch became one big cookie. We then plopped spoonfuls of the cookie mixture onto waxed paper and we waited for the mixture to harden. My sisters and I would sit under the kitchen table and sneak bites of cookies from the waxed paper. My mother would be busy cleaning up the kitchen and pretend to not see us. We would giggle and giggle as we thought we were so sneaky. I now share those moments with my children as we cook the "Chocolate No-Bake Cookies" together, taking turns stirring the mixture on the stove. We also like to take turns reading McMannus books and laughing. We also don't wait for the cookies to harden before we enjoy a warm cookie with a cold glass of milk together. Then we share in the kitchen clean up. Year after year we laugh and cook together building memories and traditions that will be passed down from one generation to the next.
Introduction to Original Society’s Mirror
I chose my first paper, Society’s Mirror to revise because it was my lowest grade. I rewrote it and made it personal. It clearly describes the struggle with identity for me. We can prematurely limit our potential interactions with others because we judge them by their appearance. Most of our identities are tied up in our bodies we compare ourselves to imitators that peer groups, family, pop culture, and mass media states as normal.
Original Society's Mirror
Our view of ourselves is distorted by our society’s standards that are place on us daily. It is a wonder that any of us can still function when we see ourselves through the mirror of the world. According to our cultural standards: We have to be beautiful, a slim body, no physical imperfection (or close to that), to look like the people we see in the movies, admired by others, attract the opposite sex. When we work at viewing ourselves differently we are still are hounded by the mirror that others hold up by judging us. James M. Henslin, Sociology, writes: Each to each a looking-glass Reflects the other that doth pass. The looking-glass self contains three elements: 1. We imagine how we appear to those around us. 2. We interpret others' reactions. We come to conclusions about how others evaluate us. 3. We develop a self-concept. Based on our interpretations of the reactions of others, we develop feelings and ideas about ourselves. A favorable reflection in this "social mirror" leads to a positive self-concept, a negative reflection to a negative self-concept. "Society has built a mirror that distorts how we are viewed." In Dude Looks Like a Lady, Kathy Wilson, she did rebel against the beauty contest that life sponsors but she was still in it whether she wanted to be or not. She shows us that when she prepares herself for the confrontation from the man she calls the redneck man. She said, "Aaaw, I thought. Bring it on"(Kathy Wilson, p23). Someone who is free of the world's mirror isn't anticipating the criticism of the onlooker. And then she reconsiders letting her hair grow out because of the onlookers reaction. This says to me that she was still living her life by the cultural mirror. At first I was amazed at her courage and self-worth that she exhibited by cutting her hair and saying she was cute that way, because I would feel cute in my own home maybe, but in public I feel I have to present myself according to the standards. The "mirror" if I wanted to be accepted and sometimes to be loved. In "Dude Looks Like a Lady" Wilson describes herself as "a black woman whose bald head makes me invisible to some, boyish to others, and beautiful to me. It makes me unfettered and unadorned. Mostly it makes me free. And without it my name is all woman"(Wilson, p23). Free means you are not bothered. She proves over and over that she was bothered. Everyone is still affected by the judges of the social mirror. Most of us prepare our bodies at the beginning of every year for the bathing suit competition by dieting and exercising. Winter is easy if you have the funds to buy the clothes and the face to pull it off. When the social mirror says "Sorry honey you just don't meet the standards anymore" some work on the mind. We sing songs like “Mirror" by Barlow Girl asks the mirror on the wall, have I got it? Cause mirror you’ve always told me who I am. I'm finding it's not easy to be perfect" then she decides that the mirror will no longer define her. Then she questions the mirror, “who are you to tell me that I am less than what I should be? I don't need to listen to the list of things I should do... I won't try. Mirror I am seeing a new reflection I'm looking into the eyes of he who made me and to him I am beauty beyond compare I know, he defines me." She is now changing what perception she has of herself by changing her mind about who will be her judge. Some say things like "I am acceptable just the way I am." That doesn't work for some so they say things like "Who gives a hoot what they think, this is me, deal with it." Some learn to live with what the mirror has given them. Some suffer in silence. But we all feel it in some way or another. Kathy Wilson mentioned that she was cute like that, well in the dictionary cute is defined pretty or pleasing in a dainty way. Kathy gives us the idea that she is out of the competition of the mirror, but she isn't. Cultural attitudes and assumptions define identity. They also allow us to label or identify others. We are influenced by our surroundings. Our sense of identity extends from our personal connections, to our social relationships, to material objects we choose, and to others we don't. The views of others presented in a negative manner can make even the most confident person feel incapable of doing a task. One sunny day last week my friend walked up to my gate. I know her as a beautiful, smart, loving, compassionate 38 year old. Right now she is attending Nursing School and will graduate in June of this year. She has 3 very lovely girls and she is a great mom. She succeeds in everything she does because she is always trying to do her best. Yet when someone in authority tells her that she is incapable all of a sudden she is. In another situation a husband of a friend of mine is working on my car when he says, "you'd never know by looking at me that I would be capable of doing this, would you?" "Society has built a mirror that distorts how we are viewed." We could hide behind masks like in "Masks" by Lucy Grealy, so we too could say, "I began to realize why I felt so good. No one could see me clearly"(Lucy Grealy, p43). Or we could have not only looks and age as our problem but our language too as in "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anasaldua "Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself"(Anasaldua, p58). We must take pride in us as an individual, different from others, unique and okay with us or we are stuck in the mirror that society has built.
Introduction to the revised Society’s Mirror
I know this revised version of the Society’s Mirror has not been graded but I would hope that it is written better than the original. I still struggle with the class requirements. English is not my best subject. I hope you enjoy the read.
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