Aria-- Rodriguez

Reading "Aria" makes me think about the fact that people go through not "fitting in" with the society norms. It is hard for people to adjust to the culture that we live if they are not from here. Which is exactly what this short story describes.

It is hard for me to imagine living somewhere where they do not speak English and I would have to adjust to that. Immigrants that come to America have to do that everyday. "Hearing someones tone of voice-- angry or questioning or sarcastic or happy or sad-- I didn't distinguish it from the words it expressed." I have a connection with this quote because I work at a pizza place and the owner is Italian and speaks Italian but he also speaks English. He has a friend who came from Italy to help out at this new restaurant. When we speak to him he confuses words and sometimes does not understand when I am joking with him because he does not understand the tone I am using. He knows some English but he is not 100% with it. It is strange to me how he can be here and not get annoyed with not knowing what we are always taking about because I know that would drive me crazy. Which at the pizza place the owner and him speak together in Italian and I just sit there in awe wishing I knew what they were actually saying to one another.

To me being bilingual is amazing I wish I could fluently speak another language or at least understand one. I think it is important to think about while trying to become a teacher to understand that we might be dealing with students who cannot speak English and we might have to be the ones to push them to learn it. In my experiences in life especially at work give me hope that this can happen and everyone has the ability to learn more languages than the one they were born speaking.

White Privilege McIntosh

1. "They may say they will work to women's statues, in the society, the university, or the curriculum, but they can't or won't support the idea of lessening men's."

This quote explains how men and women do not have the same "rights" in society. Men may say that they will support women and their abilities but at the same time they go and say how much stronger or better they really are. I believe McIntosh is trying to prove a point by using this quote, that men sometimes won't give up there pride almost to make themselves equal to girls. 

2. "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege."

McIntosh explains how white people are basically blind by the privileges that they may have. They do not realize all of the possibilities that occur in there lives. McIntosh explains how white people are so oblivious and they need to change that wall that they are hiding behind so they can see what is really going on and the problems that are occurring. 

3. "For this reason, the word "privilege" now seems to me misleading. We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have described here work systematically to over empower certain groups. Such privilege simply confers dominance because of one's race or sex."

This quote explains how the word privilege is not even what it used to mean anymore. It is starting to turn into something to describe race or sex. We as a whole society empower certain groups and those are the "norms" that we follow. McIntosh is basically explaining how as a group we need to break  out of those norms are we are never going to get anywhere and we are all going to stay hiding behind a wall. 

Kristof Reading

Kristof makes extremely good points throughout this article. His ideas remind me of last weeks

reading that Delpit wrote about. Kristof explained how the home life and parents and grandparents

ahead of you, effect the way that you are and the talents you will have growing up. Deplit also said

things similar to these and how students home life effect how they do in the classroom and there

understandings of certain things that happen. “Remember that disadvantage is less about income than 

environment. The best metrics of child poverty aren’t monetary, but rather how often a child is read 

to or hugged” (Kristof 1). Kristof goes into more detail about how it doesn't matter how poor a family 

is if they love their child and help them with things school related they have a higher chance of 

getting somewhere rather than those parents who neglect their education. When you're little and your 

parents start to teach you and show you that they care about your education that shows they care. By 

having that students feel as though they can accomplish a lot. I think Kristof was trying to prove that 

the USA makes it sound like we live in a "land of opportunity" but in reality many struggle to even 

keep food on their table or succeed in their education. So many are lacking any opportunity at all. 

Delpit relates to this topic as well because she explained how some teachers how are not white feel 

like they do not have the same opportunities basically as those of female white teachers. It is 

interesting to me how both Delpit and Kristof are trying to open people's eyes and make them realize 

that we are all the problem and to solve it everyone needs to get involved to make a change. 

About Me

Hi my name is Sydnei Paige. This is my sophomore year at RIC and my major is Early Childhood Special Education. I love Summer and wish it didn't have to end so quickly. I love going to the beach and hanging with my friends, even though I had to work this Summer almost everyday.. I'm looking forward to learning more in this class and I can't wait till we get to be in the classrooms and getting more experience in the field.