October 31st, 2012

10/31/12

In Class:
Journal: Respond to the following quotes:
“Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” 
-Benjamin Franklin

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
-Helen Keller

Discussion of race as a social construct, including the terms ethnicity, assimilation, ideology, and transparency.

Personal reflection on race:

  - What ‘race’ are you?
   - How often do you consider your race or ethnicity?
   - What physical/biological characteristics do you have that associate you with that race?
   - What non-physical characteristics do you have that associate you with that race?
   - What social advantages or disadvantages can you attribute to your racial/ethnic status in any way?
   - In what ways are you not typical of that race?
Discussion of T.C. Boyle's perspective on race evident in the first 100 pages of The Tortilla Curtain.

Homework:
Read through p. 146 of The Tortilla Curtain.
Read the two articles connected to "The Love of My Life."
Adopt the perspective of either Jeremy or China in "The Love of My Life." Write a letter to your partner from prison.