Thank you for your comment. I taught this to a class of predominately students of color–working and middle class–and found that many of my students who were other than African American, especially female students, had been fed this stereotype and it flowed from the tips of their fingers in their comments on the post. The stuff is so deep and sick, it’s sometimes just an unestablished fact of life–a lie that this society operates on every minute of every day. Thanks again.
Adria W.
Ms.Keeble
AP English per. 2
29 October 2012
1)Staples describes himself as a young man who happens to be well educated and is “a softy who is scarcely able to take a knife to a raw chicken”. He is sometimes seen by others as a threat or sexual predator. Because of the urban area Staples lives in, particularly, women see him as this.
2)Staples whistling classical music is equivalent to the hikers because it is his way of signaling peace to the people that fear him. The whistling is to put the people he walks past at ease and insure them that he is in no way a danger to them.
4)I identified the woman at the beginning as being paranoid. She instantly let her imagination get away with her by making staples out as a threat to her. This identification did not really affect my reading of the full piece because after reading the beginning, the rest of the piece was predictable in what Staples was going into about his life and how he is stereotyped as a harm to others by appearance.
Alicia Gonzales
Ms. Keeble
AP English
22 October 2012
1.) Staples describes himself as a youngish black man– a broad six feet two inches, with a beard, and billowing hair. By others he seems to be intimidating, scary, something serious such as a mugger, rapist, etc.
2.) Staple choosing to whstle classical music is gis way of trying to avoid people thinking something negative about him. It’s how he tries to escape the scared looks he gets nd the assumptions that people might make.
4.) At the start of the essay, I felt that I was going to read about a criminal. That caused me to wonder what to expect, and wonder what crime I was going to read about. But throughout the essay, ironically it took a twisted turn into something different.
1) Physically, Staples describes himself as a “youngish black man- a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair” (par. 1). Other people distinguish him as a “mugger, a rpaist, or worse” (par. 2) due to the sterotypes of a black male. Overal, Staples considers himself a “softy” because although others think he is just another person to fit into the stereotype, he really means no harm.
2) Staples anticipates singing classical music is equivalent of the cowbell that hikers wear when they know they are in bear country. The reason he does this is to refrain from falling into the stereotypes; but also to make the people around him feel safe that he is around. It kind of depicts a different prespective of him, being that classical music signifies inteligence.
4) At the start of Staples’s essay, I thought of him exactly how he described himself, and not as how he thought the woman saw him. The reason being, that was only an assumption of another person’s viewing. It would be like making a judgement from what you think of someone else’s opinion; it would be a great miscommunication. So as I read the piece, I kept an open mind of Staple’s credibility.
1. Staple describes himself as an observant male who is able to recognize the emotions of the onlooking people when he is in the presence of a person. A person’s initial thoughts, as described in the book, are that of worry and pity. Due to the way Staples is dressed they view him as a thug or criminal and their actions soon justify their thoughts as they tend to veer away from him if close by.
2. When Staples whistles his intent is to hopefully calm down the judgmental people surrounding him. Knowing they are cautious of his every move he uses the whistling as tool to assure people he is a “civil” man and will not cause harm.
4. I identify Staples as a very compassionate man. He is willing to change his way’s for people he has yet to know of and did not complain once he had done so. Staples was merely telling us how the general population reacts to his choices in life. I think it is very sad that Staples must do this to be “accepted” in his community. No person should have to change their natural way of living to accomodate to their surrounding acquaintances. Due to the initial responses of the people who approached staples I can conclude that our society does not only lack compassion and understanding for ones lifestyle but fails to take the time to even wonder why someone may be dressed the way they are or act the way they do. Asking questions about a situation usually leads to a wanting to understand thus gaining a more compassionate personality. I believe compassion is an essential characteristic one must have in order to not be blinded by one-sided opinions.
pleees
Thank you for your comment. I taught this to a class of predominately students of color–working and middle class–and found that many of my students who were other than African American, especially female students, had been fed this stereotype and it flowed from the tips of their fingers in their comments on the post. The stuff is so deep and sick, it’s sometimes just an unestablished fact of life–a lie that this society operates on every minute of every day. Thanks again.
Adria W.
Ms.Keeble
AP English per. 2
29 October 2012
1)Staples describes himself as a young man who happens to be well educated and is “a softy who is scarcely able to take a knife to a raw chicken”. He is sometimes seen by others as a threat or sexual predator. Because of the urban area Staples lives in, particularly, women see him as this.
2)Staples whistling classical music is equivalent to the hikers because it is his way of signaling peace to the people that fear him. The whistling is to put the people he walks past at ease and insure them that he is in no way a danger to them.
4)I identified the woman at the beginning as being paranoid. She instantly let her imagination get away with her by making staples out as a threat to her. This identification did not really affect my reading of the full piece because after reading the beginning, the rest of the piece was predictable in what Staples was going into about his life and how he is stereotyped as a harm to others by appearance.
Alicia Gonzales
Ms. Keeble
AP English
22 October 2012
1.) Staples describes himself as a youngish black man– a broad six feet two inches, with a beard, and billowing hair. By others he seems to be intimidating, scary, something serious such as a mugger, rapist, etc.
2.) Staple choosing to whstle classical music is gis way of trying to avoid people thinking something negative about him. It’s how he tries to escape the scared looks he gets nd the assumptions that people might make.
4.) At the start of the essay, I felt that I was going to read about a criminal. That caused me to wonder what to expect, and wonder what crime I was going to read about. But throughout the essay, ironically it took a twisted turn into something different.
Alexia G.
Period 1
1) Physically, Staples describes himself as a “youngish black man- a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair” (par. 1). Other people distinguish him as a “mugger, a rpaist, or worse” (par. 2) due to the sterotypes of a black male. Overal, Staples considers himself a “softy” because although others think he is just another person to fit into the stereotype, he really means no harm.
2) Staples anticipates singing classical music is equivalent of the cowbell that hikers wear when they know they are in bear country. The reason he does this is to refrain from falling into the stereotypes; but also to make the people around him feel safe that he is around. It kind of depicts a different prespective of him, being that classical music signifies inteligence.
4) At the start of Staples’s essay, I thought of him exactly how he described himself, and not as how he thought the woman saw him. The reason being, that was only an assumption of another person’s viewing. It would be like making a judgement from what you think of someone else’s opinion; it would be a great miscommunication. So as I read the piece, I kept an open mind of Staple’s credibility.
Rebekah N
AP English 11
Period 5
17 October 2012
1. Staple describes himself as an observant male who is able to recognize the emotions of the onlooking people when he is in the presence of a person. A person’s initial thoughts, as described in the book, are that of worry and pity. Due to the way Staples is dressed they view him as a thug or criminal and their actions soon justify their thoughts as they tend to veer away from him if close by.
2. When Staples whistles his intent is to hopefully calm down the judgmental people surrounding him. Knowing they are cautious of his every move he uses the whistling as tool to assure people he is a “civil” man and will not cause harm.
4. I identify Staples as a very compassionate man. He is willing to change his way’s for people he has yet to know of and did not complain once he had done so. Staples was merely telling us how the general population reacts to his choices in life. I think it is very sad that Staples must do this to be “accepted” in his community. No person should have to change their natural way of living to accomodate to their surrounding acquaintances. Due to the initial responses of the people who approached staples I can conclude that our society does not only lack compassion and understanding for ones lifestyle but fails to take the time to even wonder why someone may be dressed the way they are or act the way they do. Asking questions about a situation usually leads to a wanting to understand thus gaining a more compassionate personality. I believe compassion is an essential characteristic one must have in order to not be blinded by one-sided opinions.