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Reflective Essay

Emily Renie

Mr. Daniel Smoak

ENGL 1102

14 April 2016

Salutations and Summaries

I honestly think that dual enrolling at Clayton and taking English 1101 and 1102 were

some of the best decisions I have ever made. I genuinely loved going to class and the majority of

the assignments that were given. Furthermore, I think I have grown a lot as a writer over the past

two semesters although not in the traditional sense. I did not learn much about catching run-on

sentences, fixing subject-verb agreement, or correcting spelling mistakes. I did not learn much

about how to structure an essay, create an effective thesis, or properly write citations. I did not

learn much about analyzing short stories, evaluating arguments, or detecting literary devices. Do

not misunderstand me; each of these topics were thoroughly discussed in class and explained

well. Nonetheless, these are all aspects of English that I had a good understanding of prior to my

time dual enrolling at Clayton. This does not mean, however, that I learned nothing over these

past semesters. On the contrary, I learned quite a lot.

I have never really considered myself a good writer, but through the encouragement of

my professor and classmates that slowly started to change. Likewise, peer review was not only

extremely helpful for me technically, but it also significantly grew my confidence as a writer in a

way that I had never experienced before because of my classmates’ support and thoughtful

feedback. Additionally, I have always really liked writing, but this class has helped to develop

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my enjoyment of it into a deep passion. Although I do not think I am meant to be a writer

professionally, writing is definitely a skill that I will continue to practice and love in the future.

Continually, this class has greatly aided me in improving my writing process and

realizing the importance of making an outline. Before attending English 1101 and 1102 at

Clayton, I generally wrote my essays spontaneously and edited them as I went. However, I have

found that doing so hinders my ability to catch all my grammatical mistakes and to form my

papers in the most effective manner. Now, this newly practiced skill has greatly helped me to

write informational and argumentative essays in a much clearer and a more organized style.

In this portfolio, you will be reading both some of my favorite essays and the works that

best describe me as a person. Firstly, I chose to include my RRR on Dorothy Allison’s personal

narrative “Context.” Allison’s recount emphasizes important themes such as sympathizing with

another person’s background and realizing that our humanity is a uniting factor amongst all

different types of people, both of which appear my provided 1101 personal narrative paper “We

Are the Same.” This essay retells my experience in a rural African village named Siabuwa which

took place over the summer of 2015. This narrative is my favorite piece that I wrote from both

semesters because it exemplifies the deep love I have for culture, people groups, and the

conditions of humanity that allows us all to be able to relate to one another.

Similarly, my 1102 paper is my cultural criticism on ethnic stereotyping. I decided to

incorporate this essay because it continues to expound on the themes mentioned above, and

stereotyping is an issue that is extremely important to me. Next, in order to demonstrate my

process of revision, I included a few paragraphs from the initial draft of my analysis essay “The

Music of Moonrise Kingdom” and the final edited version. I felt this would be a great example of

my writing process because this essay took me the longest to write and organize out of all the

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others that I wrote for 1101 and 1102. Lastly, my peer review further exhibits my editing and

analytical process. In summary, this portfolio not only consists of what I consider to be my best

work, but it also includes my favorite pieces of writing. I sincerely hope that whoever is

evaluating my portfolio enjoys reading my work as much as I did writing them.

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Rhetorical Reading Response

Emily Renie

Mr. Daniel Smoak

ENGL 1101

3 September 2015

With Context Comes Understanding

In the personal narrative “Context,” author Dorothy Allison reflects on memories that

greatly shape her conviction that in order to truly understand a person, one must first know their

circumstances. Allison supports this assertion by retelling two important instances in her life, one

as an adult and the other during her childhood, where context was needed in order to really

empathize with and perceive her situation. Allison’s purpose for writing this narration is to cause

people to thoughtfully consider another person’s background in order to prevent people from

casting judgement. Allison’s intended audiences are children, teenagers, and adults alike because

her account serves as an important reminder for everyone to not just look at another person’s

shoes but to try them on and walk a few steps as well.

As I read “Context,” I sympathize with Allison. When I read the sentence, “we were

overcome with the sheer freedom of being on a real vacation in a semi-public place all the time

where my stepfather had to watch his temper” (Allison 133), I know she is not talking about

being free from the stress of life, but rather, free, for a short time, from an abusive father.

Furthermore, reading this narration makes me feel very thankful for the things I have and the

family I grew up with. I have my own room, an air conditioner, enough to eat, and a father that

loves me. Allison reminds me that not everyone is as lucky and as well-cared for as I am.

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Allison utilizes the technique of repetition to emphasize important concepts and to better

express her emotions. Allison most notably states the word “context” four times throughout her

narration to stress its important when forming a view of another person. By continually using

the word “context,” she engrains into the minds’ of her readers her wish for them to have a better

understanding of the people around them. In addition, Allison uses repetition to allow readers to

truly grasp her emotions. “I was afraid to take my lover home with me…I was afraid of the

distance…I was afraid she might see me through new eyes” (Allison 132). The reiteration of the

phrase, “I was afraid,” makes her point clear and stresses the intensity of her emotions. She did

not simply just say she is afraid, but rather, she causes readers to feel afraid for her by using this

rhetorical device. Allison’s precise and reiterative word usage both highlights key ideas and

emotionally connects herself with her readers.

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Work Cited

Allison, Dorothy. “Context.” Connects: Guide to First-Year Writing @ Clayton State University.

Ed. Mary R Lamb. 5th Edition. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press, 2015. 132-134. Print

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Demonstration of Revision and Writing Process:

Initial Draft:

The soundtrack of Moonrise Kingdom accentuates important themes throughout the film.

It also further develops the plot of the movie through both symmetry and foreshadow. Near the

beginning of the film, the local church is producing the opera Noye’s Fludde by Benjamin

Britten, and it is here where Sam and Suzy meet for the first time. Anderson implements various

songs from the opera, which is about the biblical story of Noah and the Ark, throughout the

movie to foreshadow the storm that eventually floods much the island of New Penzance.

Additionally, the track “Noye, Take Thy Wife Anone” sounds during a climactic moment when

Captain Sharp climbs the church’s bell tower in order to rescue Sam and Suzy. Befittingly, the

lyric “alleluia” is repeated incessantly throughout the scene as all three character very narrowly

escape death.

Continually, Anderson uses Alexandre Desplat’s instrumental piece The Heroic Weather-

Conditions of The Universe in a similar manner. There are seven parts to the piece, and each one

reflects the nature that is physically around Sam and Suzy and builds up to the moment of the

horrific storm. Part one is called “A Veiled Mist.” It sounds very soft and whimsical. It plays as

Sam and Suzy pitch their first campsite, which is encompassed by a large cloud of mist. “Smoke

and Fire,” is quite similar to part one is some aspects, but its music is louder and more distinctive

because it utilizes more string instruments. “Smoke and Fire” begins playing throughout scenes

where Sam and Suzy are either around or near a campfire. It also precedes the violent fight scene

between the Scouts of Troop 55 and Sam and Suzy where both guns and arrows are fired.

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Final Draft:

While the soundtrack of Moonrise Kingdom does accentuate important themes

throughout the film, it also further develops the plot of the movie through both symmetry and

foreshadow. Near the beginning of the film, the local church is producing the opera Noye’s

Fludde by Benjamin Britten, and it is during this opera when Sam and Suzy meet for the first

time. Anderson implements various songs from the opera, which is about the biblical story of

Noah and the Ark, throughout the movie to foreshadow the coming storm that eventually floods

much of the island of New Penzance. Additionally, the track “Noye, Take Thy Wife Anone”

resonates during a climactic moment when Captain Sharp climbs the church’s bell tower in order

to rescue Sam and Suzy. Befittingly, the lyric “alleluia” is repeated incessantly throughout the

scene as all three characters very narrowly escape death.

Continually, Anderson uses Alexandre Desplat’s instrumental piece The Heroic Weather-

Conditions of The Universe in a similar manner. There are seven parts to the piece, and each one

reflects the nature that is physically around Sam and Suzy and builds up to the moment of the

horrific storm. Part one is called “A Veiled Mist,” and it has a very soft and whimsical sound. It

plays as Sam and Suzy pitch their first campsite, which is encompassed by a large cloud of mist.

While part two, “Smoke and Fire,” is similar to part one, the music is louder and more distinctive

because it utilizes more string instruments. “Smoke and Fire” begins playing throughout scenes

where Sam and Suzy are either around or near a campfire. It also precedes the violent fight scene

between Sam and Suzy and the Scouts of Troop 55, during which both guns and arrows are fired.

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Explanation:

In paragraph one, I combined the first two sentences in order to make my introductory

sentence more interesting and cohesive. Throughout this paragraph, I changed a few phrases to

make my sentences more understandable and added a missing “of” to the third sentence. In the

second paragraph, I combined sentences three and four to make them more complex. Lastly, I

changed the wording within a few sentences in order to make them easier to read.

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Peer Revision Example:

My Experience as a Home Schooled Kid

Worldwide, homeschooling is the oldest form of education. Alright, I know that is not

exactly an argument in support of my paper. It is easy to understand why there are so many

myths and misunderstandings about homeschooling. As is true of many stereotypes, some of the

misconceptions about all home schoolers probably do apply to some home schoolers. A

homeschoolers experience is going to be only as successful, healthy and ‘normal’ as the family

home one is being schooled in.

I was a public schooled child in Fayette County in grades K through 5. As a fifth grader

though, both my parents became concerned about the middle school years that loomed ahead.

My mom in particular believed that middle school should start in 7th grade, not 6th. To her way of

thinking, this was rushing kids out of elementary school. My dad’s position was that of all the

years of schooling my dad had, middle school years were for him, the worst. On this point my

parent’s feelings diverged because my mom loved Jr. High, as it was called in Chicago where

she grew up. But she loved it for the very reasons that she wasn’t excited about it for me. She

thought that for her children, those things were best saved for high school. Finally, the last

concern my parents had, and this was mutual, was that they both had the idea that middle school

years were difficult and that these years were often the years that kids veered off the path of

academic success and sports and good activities, to a path riddled with bad decisions. Are they

right about this? I don’t know, however, I can tell you that my best friend from the first day of

kindergarten through 7th grade, took the exact turn that my parents were concerned about. And he

was the ‘gifted’ kid; I wasn’t. Now he is struggling to graduate high school, has had a car

Commented [U1]: You use a lot of great transition words/phrases throughout this essay. Keep it up!

Commented [U2]: This is kind of confusing and weakens your argument.

Commented [U3]: Transition word

Commented [U4]: They are

Commented [U5]: I think you mean “by her..”

Commented [U6]: Which is where

Commented [U7]: Don’t start a sentence with “But.” Maybe use “however”

Commented [U8]: Was not

Commented [U9]: What things? Expand?

Commented [U10]: Comma instead of “and” and a comma after “sports”

Commented [U11]: Do not

Commented [U12]: Do not start with “and.” Perhaps, “plus”?

Commented [U13]: “been in”

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accident, multiple tickets and a license suspension, so I don’t know. Clearly, this piece of

anecdotal evidence lacks scientific evidence and proves nothing, except to my parents! The result

though, of my parent’s concerns, was that I would be homeschooled through middle school and

then go back to public school to go to high school.

My mom, however, was really nervous about the idea of homeschooling. How do you

choose a curriculum? How do you know the kid’s needs are being met? She went to a

homeschooling seminar and was frankly, quite turned off by the experience. Here she did have

the experience of being surrounded by Amish looking women with braids down their backs that

were so long they had clearly not cut their hair for 20 years. The wardrobe was floor length skirts

and over-sized shirts. She was twice invited to join in with groups of women she didn’t know, as

prayed vigorously and publicly, and she listened to earnest discussions about which of the many

curriculums was truly conservative, and which were trying to dangerously teach ‘science’. My

mom and dad are not conservative, to the contrary they are liberal, free thinking people. To each

his own is our philosophy, but the Bible would not be a part of my curriculum. Not that they are

against the Bible. If I had any motivation to read the Bible on my own, they were fine with that,

but that was not what was considered education in our house.

That all home schooled kids are coming from very politically conservative and religious

environments is one of the fist myths that I want to address. That element exists in the world of

home schooling, but there are so many reasons that people choose the path of home schooling, it

is a mistake to lump all home schoolers into this one category. Over the years when the subject

of home schooling came up, many people would nod in approval and voice that they understood

my parent’s choice. Of course we want to “protect” our kids from “the evils” of public school

and the liberals. Initially, my mom just allowed those comments to go in one ear and out the

Commented [U14]: Maybe “been given multiple…”

Commented [U15]: Redundant.

Commented [U16]: Maybe: “However, my parents though otherwise.

Commented [U17]: A good place for a transition sentence: “some questions we asked were:…”

Commented [U18]: Too slang-like

Commented [U19]: Unnecessary

Commented [U20]: Did not

Commented [U21]: As they prayed

Commented [U22]: were

Commented [U23]: on the contrary,

Commented [U24]: first

Commented [U25]: currently a run-on so say “so it is a…”

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other, but over the years she began to speak up and share that those were not the reasons we were

home schooling and that what she most wanted to protect her children from was of the

misinformation we ‘educate’ kids with. As you might imagine, that went over swimmingly.

Another point that I would like to address is that home schooled kids are socially

incompetent. Some kids that are home schooled have poor social skills, and I do think that we

perceive home schooled kids as being more socially awkward because many come from

awkward families. Some of them lack exposure to technology, art, literature, politics; some

families do choose home schooling as a means of sheltering their kids from the world. But not

all, and even among the most stereotypical cases, many of those kids go on to be more

mainstream and find their own path. In other words, it is not home schooling that causes poor

social skills. If one grows up in a family that is rigid in their point of view, as a kid or teen one

might not seem to fit in and it might take longer for that kid to relax in the world. But that

doesn’t mean that they lack social skills. The first social skill we all need to learn is how to get

along with our own family. How is that going in your home?

One last point that I want to raise is this: collectively most in the United States recognize

that our public education is broken. Not only are we failing to educate kids adequately, but those

kids are dealing with ridiculous, stressful experiences on a daily basis. The students have to deal

with the other student’s bad behavior and bullying is apparently a huge problem. None of these

situations contribute to the life of a growing child in any positive way. In fact, it is finely being

acknowledged that these issues have a decidedly negative affect on students. Yet, everyone still

finds a reason to keep doing things in the same way. I am actually a supporter of public schools.

Without public education, America would not be the country that it is. However, it is

unreasonable to think that a “one size fits all” style of educating, is effective for all students. As

Commented [U26]: comma after “years”

Commented [U27]: This is a bit confusing. Just reword to so we can more readily understand your point

Commented [U28]: Does not

Commented [U29]: Most people

Commented [U30]: Comma after behavior

Commented [U31]: finally

Commented [U32]: maybe a good place to insert some facts or statistics to improve your argument.

Commented [U33]: education

Commented [U34]: This is so true. Great point!

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to the solution to this quandary, I don’t know. I am not yet well educated enough to presume to

tackle such an enormous problem. I acknowledge that there are some kids that love school.

Seriously though, when I started home schooling I didn’t have a single public school friend that

didn’t want to be in my shoes. Funnily, more than once my friends’ mothers commented to my

mom how “I love Johnny dearly, but I could never do this! How can you be with him all day

long?” My mom, who has a good heart but quick tongue, would reply “Well you raised him.”

Why would you raise a child that even you do not want to be around? In a way, it is a small

confirmation of the fact that parents seem to think they can unleash and unload their unruly child

on the teacher’s and other students.

Finally, I want to address some of the reasons that for me and my family, home schooling

ended up being great. The first and foremost is: freedom! If you have always been in brick and

mortar school, you have no idea of how much time is wasted every day. Transportation,

switching classes, and the teacher wasting time on the student that distracts. In middle school,

my day was finished in 3 hours. I did not spend 8 hours in school and then come home with an

hour of work. I was free! I had control of my schedule, for the most part and I had an enormous

amount of time to pursue whatever interested me. If we wanted to take the whole month of May

off because the weather is beautiful in May and lousy in August, we could. If we wanted to go on

vacation in September because there were no crowds, we could. For my sister and me it worked

out so well that I continued to home school through high school. However, I have no plans on

home schooling through college!

The subject of home schooling and those that take this path needs to be dealt with the

same way we collectively deal with all stereotypes. Some of it is true, much of it is exaggerated,

Commented [U35]: Do not

Commented [U36]: “As for” not “As to”

Commented [U37]: Did not

Commented [U38]: Did not

Commented [U39]: This is a double negative so I’m not exactly sure if you mean they did not want to be in your shoes or if they did

Commented [U40]: a quick

Commented [U41]: apostrophe not needed

Commented [U42]: either take out the “is” or take out the colon and say “ the freedom”

Commented [U43]: say “for the most part” before “I had…”

Commented [U44]: change to “For my sister and I,”

Commented [U45]: we

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and almost none of it is detrimental. I am not a home schooling zealot but I think that some of

the stereotypes need to be rethunk.

Commented [U46]: rethought

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1101 Paper

Emily Renie

Mr. Daniel Smoak

English 1101

9 October 2015

We Are the Same

“You’ve got a smile that could change the world; you know that?”

My natural response was to smile in return, “thank you. That’s very kind.”

“Well, I meant it,” she confirmed. She placed one hand on her frail hip and with the other

hand she snatched the grey hair that kept falling rebelliously in front of her face. She scrunched

her wrinkled face in a frustrated manner as she tried organizing her scattered thoughts. The

compliment was unexpected for the both of us apparently. Finally, her face softened as she

realized what she had originally meant to say, “could you take out Sudan for me? It’s much too

muddy outside, and I’m really not wearing the right shoes!”

“For sure! It is kind of my job,” I replied, still grinning.

“Thanks, darling.”

She slowly made her way down the barn aisle and out towards the parking lot, stopping

every so often as if she had forgotten to mention something. Casey snorted beside me and tossed

his head impatiently; horses are definitely not fans of small talk.

“You’re fine,” I sighed as I led him to his pasture. My mind continued to replay Mrs.

Carol’s statement. She spoke so suddenly, so out of the blue, and so matter-of-factly. I

remembered her words three weeks later, when I was 8,000 miles away from my job as a stable

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hand, as I worked as a medical assistant in a rural and mostly forgotten village in Siabuwa,

Zimbabwe.

I placed one hand on my hip as I used the other to try to tame my mess of free-flowing

hair. It was two in the afternoon, and even though I had already taken the temperatures of over

120 people, I still had at least an hour’s worth of thermometer work left. Suddenly, a crowd of

about 20 school girls, who all seemed to be about ages nine through twelve, joined the line of

patients, most of them more bored than actually sick. Just by looking at their scarlet skirts and

collared tops, I could tell they were from the nearby primary school in Sinapande. The day

seemed to grow longer than the line of waiting people.

Although it was only 70 degrees outside, everyone who could afford to spend extra

money on clothing was dressed in wool caps and bundled tightly in thick coats. In Siabuwa,

anything below 80 degrees is considered winter weather. I knelt onto the dusty ground, carefully

adjusted my Goodwill skirt, and smiled at a nervous momma holding her terrified baby.

“Book?” I asked as I positioned my clipboard onto my knees. The momma quickly

handed me a bundle of stained papers sewn together with string. Grasping the make-shift

medical records, I gently wrote down that day’s date so as to not create anymore tears in the

pages. I picked up a thermometer and leaned forward to put it under the baby’s armpit. Before I

even touched the fearful toddler, she burst into a flood of tears.

“Aww, mwana. You’re fine,” I told her sympathetically.

“She is afraid,” a school girl with dark, almond-shaped eyes explained. “She has never

seen a kiwa before,” she nodded slightly to the wailing mwana. The baby desperately squirmed

away from me and tried to hide in the arms of its mother. She was so frightened that I knew it

would be hopeless to try any further attempts to take her temperature.

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The group of school girls stared at me and spoke quietly in Tonga to each other. I caught

one word: susu. “Susu” was the second Tonga word I had ever learned. The first word was

“Kiwa”, which means white person. While walking through the village, I was often called

“Kiwa” by the people I passed. Generally, I overheard them mention the word “susu” when they

referred to me. The majority of the villagers have shaved heads to prevent lice as well as to make

it easier to carry things upon their head. I doubt many of them have even seen hair as long as

mine. One of girls ran her fingers along the sides of her closely shaven head as if she were

imagining she had susu like mine. It is sad how the first thing we notice about other people is

often our differences.

Bending towards the girls, I grabbed a lock of my hair, “susu?”

They responded excitedly, “you speak Tonga?”

“Very little,” I confessed, laughing at their enthusiastic reaction.

One of the braver girls reached out and gently brushed her fingers through my hair. Soon

enough, the rest of them followed her example and even began to feel the muscles in my arms,

examine the lines on my palms, and intertwine their fingers with mine. It was not strange or

awkward when they felt me. Touch is a powerful form of communication; it was their way of

gaining a better understanding of me. A girl stretched forward and tapped my nose with her

finger. She burst into a fit of laughter which enticed the rest of them to also play this new

“game”. They gathered in a circle around me and then proceeded to touch my nose and shriek

with delight.

Suddenly, all the children turned their attention to a much shyer girl who had not yet

found the courage to come forward and join the fun. The girls dragged her in front of me and

started pointing at both her and my nose.

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“You are the same!” they attempted to explain.

At first, I did not understand what they had meant. In what ways were this Tonga girl and

I similar? The girl grasped her wrists tightly and kept her eyes glued to her feet as the others

continued to shout, “Same! Same!”

Studying her face more carefully, I realized that she had a thin nose similar in size to my

own. Contrastingly, the other girls all had much wider noses. In fact, practically all the Tongans I

had come across featured very prominent noses. I watched as she shrunk in size while the girls

continued to excessively point and giggle. I knew she had repeatedly been teased about her

appearance, and I understood how she felt.

My mind drifted back to a moment in 7th grade when I was sitting on a bus with about 30

other rowdy middle schoolers all overly hyper from a week at church camp. I burst into a fit of

laughter at someone’s apparently hilarious joke.

“Shut up!” a boy, whose name I have long forgotten, growled.

“Sorry!” I could not help but grin even though I was genuinely apologetic for being

annoyingly loud.

“Seriously, no one wants to see your buck teeth,” he rolled his eyes and slumped back

against his bus seat.

The smile immediately melted off my face. I had always liked my smile, but now I

thought twice about it. Did I have buck teeth? I had never noticed before, but apparently I did. I

shut my mouth tightly and suddenly became very aware of how stiff the bus seats were and of all

the spit balls and candy bar wrappers that littered the floor. The rest of the way home, I was quiet

and careful to never let anyone see my teeth. His comment stung worse than the time I had

stepped on an entire wasp nest.

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It was my turn to play our nose game. I smiled and very gently touched the tip of her

nose.

“Mubontu.”

For the first time, her eyes met mine. It was a brief moment, but it was special.

“Mubontu” means beautiful in Tonga. I wanted her to know that is exactly what she is despite

what the others say. However, there was some truth to what the other girls had said. We were the

same, and not just because of our similar facial features. Although we lived 8,000 miles apart,

grew up in different cultures, and did not share the same skin color, we were the same. I did not

know exactly what she had experienced throughout her life, but all I knew for sure was that when

I looked into her eyes, I saw my reflection. We both felt the same insecurities, and the way they

constantly pick away at our source of courage. We both experienced the same hardships of

growing up and the joys that offset them. We both knew what it was like to be out-casted, and

because of that, we also learned to recognize the kindness of a true friend. Perhaps she too will

come to the same consensus that I eventually made when I decided to no longer let other people

define the way I felt about myself. It is my hope that she feels beautiful, just as I do now.

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1102 Paper

Emily Renie

Mr. Daniel Smoak

ENGL 1102

31 January 2016

A Divisive Culture

My home is a hotel, and for a large part of my life, my house felt very strange unless

someone occupied our upstairs bedroom. This is because my dad is a missionary and works for a

Christian organization called Operation Mobilization, which serves people in over 110 countries

by fulfilling both their physical and spiritual needs. During the time when I was 8 to 14 years

old, a large aspect of my dad’s job was to show hospitality to overseas missionaries who were

visiting America for either work or family related reasons. As a result, I was exposed to, at a

young age, numerous cultures and ethnicities that represented countries such as Sweden, Egypt,

Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Costa Rica. Through living such a unique lifestyle, I have learned an

incredibly important lesson that I believe everyone should understand: racial and cultural

stereotypes are not only wrong, but they are rooted in ignorance rather than understanding and

acceptance.

A stereotype is defined as a “widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a

particular type of person or thing” (“Stereotype”). Essentially, the nature of stereotypes is to

overgeneralize people groups. They attribute unfair characteristics upon the majority when, in

actuality, very few exhibit such traits. I believe that, at some point in our lives, all of us have

either heard, believed, or even been subject to a cultural stereotype. For instance, African

Americans are baggy pant-wearing delinquents who are destined for jail, Asians are math

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wizards and should not be allowed on roads, and Latinos are all Mexican and live on welfare.

Each of these examples, all of which I have personally heard from other people, are as absurd as

they sound which only further emphasizes the irrationality of stereotypes.

In middle school, I had a friend who was a Muslim and of Syrian descent. She once

relayed to me a time where she was with her family at the restaurant Golden Corral. As she was

getting her food, a complete stranger came up to her, threw his hands up in surrender, and

jokingly pleaded “Don’t shoot me!” Hearing this shocked and disgusted me because such a

comment is the exact opposite of what Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned for America when he

said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not

be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Likewise, my best

friend is Pakistani and lived in Pakistan and Afghanistan for the first half of her life. However,

she is nothing like the violent, hate-filled Middle Easterner that the media tries to portray. I can

honestly say I do not know many people who are as loving, kind, or selfless as Sonia.

Another large aspect of my life that has influenced how I view the world and the people

within it has been the opportunity to travel to eight different countries on four separate

continents. My most recent mission trip was to Siabuwa, Zimbabwe where my friend Kristen and

I spent about three weeks living in the rural, African bush amongst an indigenous tribe called the

Tongas. After we arrived home in Georgia, Kristen explained to me a frustrating conversation

she had with a classmate about her time in Africa.

Kristen’s peer asked her accusingly, “Why would you go to Africa? Everyone in Africa

has AIDS, and none of them care about their children.”

This statement is so hurtful and completely wrong; just because there are people who live

and appear differently from others does not mean that it is okay to prejudge and create false

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stereotypes about them. Furthermore, this is exactly the mindset that “justified” slavery for so

long in our world’s history. People cling to biases that make other cultural groups seem

subhuman because, after all, if they are not human, then you can say or do whatever you want to

them. Both this notion and the girl’s statements are utterly false.

Personally, I witnessed Tonga mommas walk along the dusty Siabuwan roads for miles

with a five-gallon bucket full of water upon their head and a baby attached to their back so that

they could help meet the needs of their family members. I stood beside Evelyn and held her hand

as we smiled and celebrated the birth of her new, beautiful baby boy. I spoke with and listened to

Wilson as he shared about his hopes and dreams for his daughter and their relationship. How can

anyone say that the Tongas do not care for their children? How can anyone not call that love?

Moreover, I believe the issue of cultural stereotyping is so prevalent because people are

very quick to point out their differences, and as a result, they often misinterpret the facts. Recent

scientific studies have found that “human beings are 99.9 percent identical genetically” ("Race in

a Genetic World"). Furthermore, when considering the tiny 0.1 percent difference, “85 percent

occurs within geographically distinct groups, while 15 percent or less occurs between them”

("Race in a Genetic World"). This means that individuals are actually more genetically distinct

from people within their own population rather than those outside it. Spencer Wells, who is both

a well-known population geneticist and the director of the Genographic Project from National

Geographic, comments on this important finding: “Racism is not only socially divisive, but also

scientifically incorrect” ("Race in a Genetic World"). According to Wells, noticeable differences

such as skin color or limb length are “basically surface features that have been selected for in the

environment. When you peer beneath the surface at the underlying level of genetic variation, we

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are all much more similar than we appear to be. There are no clear, sharp delineations” ("Race in

a Genetic World").

Conclusively, science itself even proves the absurdity of cultural stereotypes because,

essentially, we are all the same. We all belong to the same race: humanity. That being said, I am

by no means claiming that all cultures are the same; varying and distinctive traditions, practices,

beliefs, and even languages disprove that. However, I do mean that, because we are all humans,

we all fundamentally value the same things and experience like emotions. It is time to stop

distancing ourselves from other people groups and trying to make assumptions based on our

differences. Instead, we need to recognize our similarities, seek understanding, and embrace our

diverse ethnicities.

Overall, cultural stereotypes are so detrimental to our society mainly because they are

simply untrue for the vast majority of particular people-groups. Additionally, they make

assumptions and judgments based on physical appearances and societal hypes rather than actual

knowledge-based observations. Cultural stereotyping is so divisive, and it tries to create

hierarchies of superiority instead of accepting not only our similarities, but our equal worth as

well. We are all human beings, not the sum of our stereotypes.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have grown up in an environment that so readily

allowed cultural exposure and acceptance to flourish. I realize that not everyone has had the

same opportunities as I have had so I do not readily shame others for believing false

generalizations about other people groups. Nevertheless, I believe strongly that people should

proactively widen their worldview and make observations before coming to a conclusion. We

should seek out people of other cultures and skin tones, engage in conversations, ask questions in

a respective manner, and be an example by calling people out when they say insensitive or

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untrue things about other cultural groups. Though they may be small, they are all necessary steps

towards decreasing stereotyping and integrating cultural acceptance within our society.

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Works Cited

"Race in a Genetic World." Harvard Magazine. Harvard Magazine, May 2008. Web. 31 Jan.

2016. <http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/05/race-in-a-genetic-world-html>.

"Stereotype." Oxford Dictionaries. N.p., 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.