ENGLISH
Identity Maps
We wrote down words on our face that we've heard people call us or things that we've once considered ourselves. On the right side of my face there are negative characteristics that people have called me that aren't true. On the left are the positive characteristics.
Literary Theory
Critical Race Theory- Critical examination of society and culture, to the intersection of race, law, and power.
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Psychoanalysis Theory- The theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development
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Postcolonial Theory- The theory that analyzes, explains, and responds to the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism
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Queer Theory- Focuses on mismatches between sex, gender and desire
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Feminist Theory- Focuses on analyzing gender inequality
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Reader Response- Your personal thoughts on the reading
Socratic Seminars
This is one of the readings we used to do for our Socratic seminar it was by James Baldwin. Throughout the semester we only had two Socratic seminars but we did read many things that started a conversation in our class. For example, a reading by Gloria Anzaldua, a TED talk by Chimamanda Adiche, and Equity Mantra, and The Stories of People on Race.
Bookclub
My book club book that I read was Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi it was very interesting because it didn't focus on one story. I would say that was one of my favorite things about this book, I'm not such a stronger reader especially when it comes to many chapters but reading this felt as if it was just filled with many short stories. The book is based on many different characters that explain their lives living in a African village. Many women get sold to white men who are Europeans and get not only abused but their culture is pretty much taken from them. It's a very intense and crazy book. I would say I read this book through a feminist lens considering the fact that women were seen as an object and it made me very angry how they treated them. I feel like my reading skills did get stronger throughout this semester because I was actually improving my reading stamina and reading faster.
Documentary & Imaginative NonFiction
So for our main semester project, we were told to decide whether we would like to make a documentary or to write imaginative nonfiction. I chose to make a documentary if you're wondering about what? Well, we got to choose two people to interview and let them describe how they grew up, an experience where they felt discriminated, etc.. We also had a partner so when we all got our interviews filmed we chose one from each and combined the two interviewees to conjoin a story. Two people from completely different backgrounds yet in some way they still relate.I would say this was quite difficult at times because my person and my partner's person were complete opposites but we managed to find a comparison.
I would say I Am Not Your Negro was a big part of the semester. We spoke a lot about James Baldwin in the beginning of the semester and what he did throughout history. Once we got informed of all that we got the opportunity to watch the documentary I Am Not Your Negro which is based on his life. It was really interesting and I loved the content that they put in the documentary.
I Am Not Your Negro
Self Reflection
Overall I would say I accomplished my goals this semester. I was able to push myself to read more and I believe I improved my reading stamina tremendously. I also think my writing skills have improved due to the fact of my vocabulary being expanded. I also was in honors this semester which pushed me to get better at annotations and be more descriptive. I think something that I will take on for my senior year that I would still like to perfect is my reading, I want to be amazing when it comes to this especially going off for college.