Christensen Blog Post

Linda Christensen's, "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"

QUOTES:

1. "When we read children's books, we aren't just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated" (126)

• One of Linda Christensen's students had written this quote after studying children's literature and films. It means that children's books are much more than just a story for a child's enjoyment, and that the stories young children read really change the way that they think about things for the rest of their lives. It's relevant to the text because the entire article is about how young children are influenced by the television, different stories, and things that they hear from other people.

2. "For some the lesson doesn't end in the classroom. Many who watched cartoons before we start our study say they can no longer enjoy them. Now instead of seeing a bunch of ducks in clothes, they see the racism, sexism, and violence that swim under the surface of the stories."(134)

• This means that because of Linda Christensen's teachings, her students have learned something. They have received enlightenment, and are no longer capable of being brainwashed by the different underlying messages in the shows. Her students, and others that receive the same information now see cartoons aren't all good, and that a lot of them actually portray some really negative messages. Maybe if people stopped watching the shows, they would eventually be taken off the air.

 

3. "Most students wrote artides for local and national newspapers or magazines. Some published in neighborhood papers, some in church newsletters."(137)

• Christensen's student's studied many different cartoons, and had felt very strongly about the messages that they were portraying to younger children. Many of them had written articles explaining the hidden messages in different well-known cartoons, with intentions of creating awareness of the manipulation. This is relevant to the article because people are taking action against the racist and prejudice messages being displayed in children's cartoons and movies. This not only enlightens parents on the different messages portrayed in cartoons that their children are watching, but also can give older people an idea of where some of their insecurities and perspectives could be coming from.

The article included above is a little explicit and very blunt, but I believe it holds some truth and is relevant to tonight's article.
 

Talking Points #3: Safe Spaces

Reflection:

Tonight, the article "Safe Spaces: Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth" by Annemarie Vaccaro, Gerri August, and Megan S. Kennedy really made me realize that the high school, and especially the middle school that I attended did an awful job at discussing anything to do with the LGBT lifestyle. Much like Maria's Spanish professor, both my middle school and college Spanish teachers and professors have all refused to acknowledge the fact that homosexuality even exists. Whenever relationships were discussed, it was always between a man and a woman. LGBT historical figures were ignored and unacknowledged. It was, however, alright to discuss heterosexual historical figures who had had several affairs throughout their lifetime. Things like that are mentioned, but LGBT individuals aren't talked about. After reading the article, I did some research on the Stonewall riots (yes, I had to research them--because they were never once mentioned in any of my History courses). I had no idea that these riots had even taken place, and yet they had such a huge impact on the gay rights movement in the United States! That's crazy to me. I knew that the Gay Pride celebrations were every summer, but I didn't know that they were at the end of June to celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Needless to say, "Safe Spaces" brought an undiscussed topic to light. I someday hope to be a Kindergarten teacher, and after reading the story of teacher Zeke Lerner on page 89, I've realized that it's important to integrate different family lifestyles into the communication and curriculum in the classroom- even when the children are young. Children should be accepting and aware of everyone, and they should know that it is okay.

Upon researching, I found this to be very interesting.

Talking Points #2: Aria by Richard Rodriguez

Reflection:

"Aria" by Richard Rodriguez was a really thought provoking article for me. Throughout the text, Rodriguez explains his struggles as a Spanish speaking child. He explains, "What I did not believe was that I could speak a single public language"(34). Spanish appeared to him as a private language that was only welcomed in his home, and even that was taken away from him. Luckily, he began to accept being bilingual and changed his thought process on learning the English language. Because of this, he became a much more confident person and speaker. It automatically made me think of Lisa Delpit's article from last week: because of how inferior Richard Rodriguez felt, his situation led me to think about the rules and codes of power. Those who do not speak the dominant language of their society feel like they do not have power. 

I decided to choose the reflective prompt option because I can relate to Rodriguez in a less severe way. Since starting my new job, I've become much more aware of different cultures and languages; something that is not very diverse in my home town. Before starting, English was basically the only language I ever heard, besides hearing an occasional spanish-speaking person pass by or the couple of beginner Spanish courses I've taken. Now, whenever I'm at work I am the minority. Many of the people that I work with speak Spanish, and most of them speak little to no English. My bosses and a few of the employees speak English, but they also speak Arabic fluently to each other throughout the shifts. I can relate to Rodriguez because I know how it feels to have everyone around you speaking a different language that you don't understand. It's challenging trying to communicate with people when there are language barriers, and I realize this more and more as I work at the restaurant. Like Rodriguez, having such difficulty understanding another language only makes me want to learn it even more. Since starting my job, I've put more effort into learning more Spanish and even more Arabic, because I've learned that each language is just as important as the next, and that they are all forms of communication. Seeing that 90% of the people that I work with are bilingual makes me more motivated to learn a second language too, and I plan on continuing to work on learning Spanish. I'm glad that I read this article, because Rodriguez opened up my eyes when I read on page 34, "...I wrongly imagined that English was intrinsically a public language and Spanish an intrinsically private one". Before, I didn't see Spanish as a public language, because it was never around me. Now I see that it's a very public language, and that being bilingual is an advantageous skill to have in this current day and age. 

 

About Me

Hey guys! My full name is Cara Francesca Figuerido. I'm 19 years old, and I was born and raised in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. It's a small town and there's not much to do in it, but it's also where I met some of my best friends. I have an older sister named Chelsea, she's 21 and a Music Production major at Northeastern University. I also have two amazing parents named William and Wendy. I have an apartment off campus and I have two roommates, both boys. I spend a lot of my free time with them and other friends, and I spend the most time with my dog Ozzie.

He's an 8 month old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and he's the most important thing in my life. I adopted Ozzie about two and a half months ago, and he was a rescue Pit. The first three months of his life were spent down in a basement being neglected. At three months old, he was rescued and then moved to a foster home where he stayed until i adopted him. Since I've had him, Ozzie has graduated from obedience training, he's earned his Canine Good Citizen title, and he is also a certified Emotional Service Animal (yes, he has a vest). We've spent a lot of time together since I've had him, and we've really formed an incredible bond. Besides my friends and my dog, I also work every weekend at Big Tony's Pizzeria, which is only a minute down the road from my apartment. I love spending time with my family, I have a lot of cousins and aunts and uncles that live around here so I see them on holidays and other occasions throughout the year. I play the guitar and I sing, and I was highly involved in the chorus program at my high school. I also played soccer, ice hockey, and softball. I played hockey all four years, and my senior year I also played Unified volleyball and basketball with special needs students. I've done a lot of work with the Special Olympics of Rhode Island, and I loved every second of it. All of the volunteer work is what helped my figure out my major, and is why I want to work with elementary special needs students. Well, I think that's enough for now! Time to read everyone else's blogs :)