Tuesday 30 October 2012

TED Talks- The Single Story

Just recently I watched a TED Talk in English class. Now, I have never watched a full ted talk before, just bits of some others. So when I listened to this talk today by a Nigerian lady about people's stereotypes, I was really fascinated. I found it interesting how someone could take such a simple topic as a stereotype and give a totally different perspective to it.

Here is the video:


When people create stereotypes of a a group of people or a place they are expressing a group of similar people or places as one, with certain characteristics. In fact, when people are open to the many stories that exist for many people, then it is easier for them to understand the subjects of the stories better. I think that we were shown the video in class today because the topic of our class was "what is normal". When single stories are created, the characteristics of the subject in the single story are known to society as "normal". If people do not exhibit the traits described by the single story, then they would be considered "abnormal". That, in my opinion is the wrong way of judging someone or something.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

"Abnormal" Characters

In society, there is always a "Normal". "Normal" is always difficult to define, as it really depends on the environment surrounding a person and the age group that person is part of. For example, it is probably normal for an 18-year old going to an international school to hang out at the skate park or at the mall with some friends. However, for a 3rd grade student it just isn't. I don't care if people consider me "normal" or "abnormal". However, when reading a story or watching a movie, "abnormal" characters are exaggerated more. For example, in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, one of my favourites in 5th grade, I didn't consider a character named Fregley to be "normal". He was one of those kids who took pride in digging his nose and tasting the mucus afterwards. These are things that are not considered civilised and are not done by most people. Now, back to normal. There is always an unwritten civil code, which defines what is polite, impolite, gross, etc. If tasting mucus is not considered gross in a society, then they really have a major issue on their hands.

Surprisingly, I find a connection between myself and this "abnormal" character. Don't worry, I am not they type of person who likes smelling people's farts. But like Fregley, I am unaffected when people pass comments about me or consider me to be abnormal. I consider myself normal and that is enough to satisfy me. I know that everyone is different and displays different traits according to their exposure and environment so no one is weird or abnormal to me. Likewise, Fregley isn't bothered by what others say about him and continues merrily along his path.

Monday 8 October 2012

The First Library Books of the Year

I've always loved visiting the school library. Whenever I am not doing a lunch-time activity at school, my favourite thing to do is to sit on a comfortable couch in the library with a good book, be it fiction or non-fiction. In my past years at school, my teachers made it one of their top priorities to take their classes to the library. So when our English teacher announced that we were finally going to the library as a class, I was overjoyed. Our librarian is really knowledgeable and is always ready to tell you which book would be perfect to read depending on the genre you like and your mood. I won't be surprised if I find out that she's read every book in the library!

Today I borrowed a book that particularly appealed to me. It's called "Banner In The Sky" and is written by an author named James Ramsey Ullman. The story is about a young boy who wants to pay tribute to his dead father by climbing the mountain in the Alps on which he had died 15 years earlier. It talks about the many challenges the young boy faces as he grows up and finally makes his journey to the peak. It seemed to me as though this would be an adventure book and since adventure is one of my favourite genres to read, I think it was a good choice. From what is written on the blurb, I expect this to be a really captivating novel that will be so interesting that it will be tough to put down. But so far, this book doesn't appear to be a thriller. Although I like the plot and theme of the story very much, the start of the story is very slow and a bit boring. However, I think the story will get a lot more interesting as it progresses because the book won a Newbery Honor Medal.