Class Related Response to : The Importance of Being Earnest

Reading The Importance of Being Earnest became easier to read as I continued to read it. At first I did not find anything funny about the book, but after a while I found that the book was actually quite enjoyable. Part of finding the funny in the book came from understanding the language and the time period, also knowing what was considered humor in that time period. Much of the humor in the book was dues ex machina, meaning that problems were randomly solved or that people randomly popped up in scenes to help move the play forward.

What I liked most about the play was that the language was more modern than the previous plays we have read in class. I also found it easy, after a while, to find the puns and other literary elements used in the book like allusion. After reading about to the second act, I understood the book more and was able to use what I found in the socratic seminar.

The socratic seminar was also essential in helping me understand the book because the discussion my classmates and I have help to enhance my reading experience by hearing other people's point of view, I begin to think of how I look at the novel differently. What I found most interesting about the discussion my class had during the socratic seminar was when we were talking about the conative meaning of Jack saying that he hates people who are not serious about their meals. When I read that part of the play for myself, I did not think that there was any connotative meaning. With the help of my classmates I was able to find out more about the book which is great.

Making a Double Disadvantage Positive

Being Black and being a woman is most commonly looked at as being the bottom of the "totem pole." Black people, among other races are minorities. Women are also a minority. Being both black and a woman can sometime come with double the amount of stereotypes than the black man or white woman - not to say that they do not experience some type of discrimination.

I learned to turn my "double-minority" into an advantage by being a good role model and fully being who I am. I also learned to turn my "disadvantage into an advantage by speaking up when I hear discrimination towards my race or woman. It is important for me to speak up because I feel that not a lot of people do so if I can share my voice, I can speak for the people who may be too shy or timid.

                                  

Mellody Hobson 

http://fortune.com/2014/12/03/mellody-hobson-next-gen/

Now you may be wondering what exactly my disadvantage is? What could possibly be so bad about being Black and being a woman? Well to answer, there is nothing really wrong with being both but the way people treat black women in in media and within society can be very negative sometimes. Being black and being a women comes along with the stigma that I am loud, aggressive, non-negotiable, and unintelligent. I see examples of these characteristics in many films and shows with black actors like in Tyler Perry movies and shows like Love and Hip-Hop. This is something that I want to change. So in e=any and every chance I get to show how great it is to be Black and a woman , I show it.