How I feel about class thus far...

I believe that class is going well. I enjoy the individual group discussions, as well as the entire class discussions. I think this really helps me to see other perspectives with certain issues. There have been several times that someone has brought something to my attention from the reading that I missed or interpreted differently, and i really appreciate the new perspective. I think that we should continue with the class structure we've been using thus far because it has proved successful and productive for me.

Discussion from Class 9/23

Our group had an interesting discussion about how this book was from one perspective, the Arab side of the Arab/Jewish conflict. Although this is the reason that the book was removed from certain school's curriculums, such as West Bloomfield, it is hard to not tell a story from a certain perspective. I had brought up the point that even American history books are told from our perspective, and probably wouldn't be written the same in other countries. We can only interpret the events that happen from our own perspective, therefore that is how we write and remember them. As long as the book doesn't steer from the actual facts, the emotional issues as to why or how certain individuals are viewed or judged would come from a personal standpoint. Even if the person is an insider to a situation, their view may be different from other insiders, so it is almost impossible to please everyone with your version of the story. This is why we shouldn't necessarily discourage the use of certain books, unless they hold no truth, but rather show other views of the event in order to create our own views.

Do you have to be on the inside to know what's going on?

Shannon, Bishop, Harris and Cai all argue the topic of multiculturalism being predominately about race, and pose the question, "do you have to be on the inside in order to properly represent the group/race in literature?"

I would have to agree with the fact that multiculturalism should include anything aside from the mainstream, as stated in Cai's article. I believe that Shannon had a point when he claimed that it shouldn't be so centered around race, because that could just be classified as a book about race, not multiculturalism. I also have to agree with Bishop and Harris about the classifications of writing these books. In order to properly portray these real life depictions of certain minority groups, the author should have experience living in these situations. Like Bishop says, it is expected that authors of adult fiction, writing about life and experiences of a certain race are categorized as that race, so why is it different for children's books. I believe that Shannon's criticisms are in part because he can't identify with the impact that race has on minorities. As Harris said, it isn't necessarily something that minorities want to continue bringing to the surface, but rather an issue that they are forced to deal with.