This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Friday, February 11, 2011
PERIOD 3 - "LITTLE BOXES"
Today you read the story "Little Boxes" in class. Please share your thoughts about the story and the class discussion that followed in a reflective post. Make at least one comment about another student's post.
Mr. Gallagher
39 comments:
Kasey Murphy
said...
I thought that the "Little Boxes" was a great story. I personally have never had a problem with checking off a small box but after reading the story I see that it can be a problem for some people and that it's not really a fair system, it's a generalization of people.
I understand what the author of “Little Boxes” was saying about having too much of a generality when it comes to describing someone. It is difficult to try and classify a person when one individual has so many characteristics. However, I also understand why people use these small words mentioned to classify a person. In many cases there are numerous different ways to describe someone and these general words help to simplify large groups of people which can be helpful for different reasons.
I agree with Kasey that the small boxes may be an issue with many people because it is a big generalization. I also have not had this problem so far because I'm not as diverse as the author.
I sympathize with the author of "Little Boxes". I don't believe an individual can simply be defined by their skin color, especially if they may have a multi-cultural background. I believe there should be an empty space in which the writer is able to spell out what they consider themselves as opposed to just a general fill-in-a-bubble. It is generalizations such as these that breed ignorance among various groups of people and unnecessary hatred and misinterpretations of groups other than their own.
I feel that the author of "Little Boxes" brings up a really good point. Many people today have several different backgrounds, and it is unfair to put these people into just one group. While I do understand that generalizing can sometimes be helpful, I think that in this case, it does more harm than good.
It is very easy to sympathize with Anthony Wright in “Little Boxes”. The issue that arises with the checklist boxes on forms is the formation of a dysfunctional identification system. Wright highlights the issues that arise when discrimination occurs based on appearance. There is no importance whatsoever in asking race on these forms. However, the story is not designed to criticize the small issue of check boxes. On a deeper level, Anthony Wright is arguing the manner in which society labels its people. He believes that there is much more to every person than a one word label can provide. There are many sub-traits that each person has. Wright has a very strong case. The labeling function of society creates a difficult situation for those who are incorrectly identified.
I agree with Clark in the sense that the generalizations create problems in society. Discrimination and other unfair judgment stem from irrational generalizations against certain people.
I thought "Little Boxes" was really eye opening. It's not something I personally think about much because I'm 100% Armenian but I can see how much of an issue it is that society generalizes the description of people. There should be no generalizations in a person's character. They are who they are in the complete sense.
I agree completely with Clark. These generalizations really and truly scream ignorance. Living in America, the "melting pot", of all other countries, we definitely should not be putting generalizations especially when it comes to one's nationality.
I was a big fan of this story. The fact that he said that people often generalize someone is very true. A person shouldnt have to fill out very general bubbles about their race or skin color. I know I've dealt with this when filling out multiple college apps. There are always the "latino/hispanic" boxes but never any specification so in the next column I just often put "other". I completely agree with Clarks comment on how he doesnt believe that an individual can simply be defined as general as they are.
Although I do agree that the author of "Little Boxes" has a point, I also see how generalizations can be a positive thing.It allows a person to understand who they are because they can look to those of the same standard and understand that is what they are, what they are seen as. It also helps those around you to get a sort of cliffnotes of your personality, of who you are. Generalizations are not terrible, but they aren't perfect.
After reading the "Little Boxes" today in class, I began to think about how people’s ways and cultures have been generalized. Most people are classified as one race, and separated into that category of people, even though a person might be completely different then most people in its racial group, they are still characterized as one. People have their own identity, and even though they might be told they are a specific race, they are the ones who truly know what they are.
I also agree with Clark on his opinion that people can’t be generalized and judge by their skin color and heritage. A person makes up their own identity, and society should find out who each individual is, and not just assume most people of the same race are the same.
I understand why the author Anthony had a hard time when he had to fill in one of the boxes. I see how he can be reluctant towards putting one ethnicity because he may feel like he’s leaving out other parts of his identity. To generalize and check one box may be tough although I’ve personally never had a problem with it. This story helped me realize that there is more to those “little boxes” than I thought and for some people it is a lot harder than when I just check one box.
I agree with Steph. I think that generalizations can cause some issues for people when they think about their true identity however I do think it simplifies things and makes it easier to classify certain people.
While I understood the author's sentiment, I understand even more why we feel the need to categorize people on sight or sound, and I don't think it is a pattern that will be going away soon. The generalizations all come from somewhere, and people use them as a first impression in order to predict a person's initial behavior or background. It will still be many generations, if ever, before humanity is homogenized. I think just by being aware of this natural human behavior, people can be more open minded, and reduce negative aspects like racism.. But imagining a world where generalizations won't exist seems impossible.
I agree with Kasey and Steph about the "Little Boxes" story. I personally have never had a problem with checking off a box, but after reading this story I can really understand how that can be very dificult for a person and also effects their identity. It's hard enough trying to figure out who you are and be the person you want to be is made a lot harder when other people are telling you you are a certain way when you don't agree. Especially when it's based on your race.
I thought the piece of writing was very interesting. I had never really thought about the generalities made by society and how many people can fit these generalities and how many people can't. While reading what the author's dilemma was I realized I was confronted with this same issue while filling out college applications as well as other surveys. Both my parents were raised Catholic; however, I have never once attended church but my mom insisted on my applications I say i'm of the Catholic religion which I did not feel was really right. Also, I am parttially Native American as well as White but when checking boxes one can only check one. I could connect easily with the author of "Little Boxes" and was happy I had the chance to read this story.
I agree with Ricky that generalizations are often the first impressions of a group of individuals and is an easy way to catagorize people. Also that with these generalizations come expectations about how a certain group should act, speak, and look to others.
I think the author of "Little Boxes" is trying to say that the world puts a lot of focus on groups people are associated with. They don't take the time to notice who a person is or what they have to bring to the table, just the classification they belong to. Today, America is so diverse, many people have multiple backgrounds. I feel that for the most part, the negatives of generalizing groups out weigh the positives.
I thought "Little Boxes" was an eye opening story. I have never really thought about the fact that checking off one small box could be making such a large generalization. I could sympathize with what the author, Anthony, was saying though because I have a wide spread cultural background as well. The only difference is that no matter how I look at it, my background is all white. I think that the story made a really good point about how society expects people to classify themselves and conform to fit within its own guidelines. I am glad that I was able to read it.
I agree with Ricky that being open minded about others backgrounds can lead to a decrease in ignorance such as racism. It made me think that knowing a persons background can also lead to conclusions about why people act the way they do, and what makes them who they are.
Throughout the story "Little Boxes" I truly understood what the author was talking about, and completely agreed with what he was saying. In the past few months college apps have been a prominent part of my life, and on each one a box would need to be checked for your race/ethnicity. And just like in the story, there was never a box that truly fit what I am, so I would have to check a box that was just a simple generalazation of what I am.
I agree with Natalie and Clark. People should be allowed to be who they are in every sense. No one should be classified especially living in the country that we all live in. This country is so diverse that people should not be forced to just check off the square that best suits them, they should be able to define themselves in their own way.
Although i personally have never had a problem with fitting into a generalization, i sympathize with those who do. It must be tough to not be sure where you fit in and not have a strong sense of identity because of it.
I could see the author's point of how frustrating it can be to have to classify yourself to just one background. This caused for much confusion to his identity and he had trouble trying to figure out who he was exactly in regards to his race and his religion. The idea of checking off a single box to establish your identity doesn't seem that fair to me.
I agree with Steph and Kasey because I don't think people should be generalized by one single box. This can cause for much confusion to a person in which box they are to check off. I have not had this problem, but I still don't think it's fair.
Sometimes I have this identity problem too; but usually I just ignore it. For me, it's not that large of an issue. Needless to say, however, I can safely say that I can relate to this story "Little Boxes".
The “Little Boxes” story really resonated with me because I really agree with the author. I also struggle with the “little boxes” on applications because I feel that it is all so limiting. All of my family is from Guatemala but I was born here. So, I never know if I should check off the “Hispanic” box or the “Caucasian” one. This story really made me think about my identity and which culture I identify more with. However, I really can not come up with a solid answer.
I agree with Ricky becuase i don't see the point in making the huge genrealizations from the "little boxes". The motive behind it I feel is just to gain a first impression that may infact not even be accurate. Perople would then just be tapping into the sterotypes our society holds.
"Little Boxes" was interesting to read right after applying for college myself. I often wondered why I was supposed to select just certain boxes when applying, but it never bothered me as much as the author. Clearly, this is because my background has much clearer generalizations to be made. However, it seems like the author is too conscious of what others think of him and how they would categorize them. He seems genuinely distressed from the way others treat him to the point where I think he needs to focus more on what he thinks of himself since he clearly doesn't know who he really is.
I agree with Brenton in that there's no real point in having these little boxes on forms. I feel like in order to make completely non-biased decisions on who gets in based on applications, questions regarding race should not be included.
"little Boxes" emphasizes the point that you cannot group a person into one category of people because there are so many types of people out there and simply having 5 or so boxes to characterizes people can cause i problem.
i agree with Kasey that i too have not had a problem checking off a box but at the same time i cannot say that i can fully understand the delima that some feel when they are forced to check a box that doesn't fully express their ethnicity
39 comments:
I thought that the "Little Boxes" was a great story. I personally have never had a problem with checking off a small box but after reading the story I see that it can be a problem for some people and that it's not really a fair system, it's a generalization of people.
I understand what the author of “Little Boxes” was saying about having too much of a generality when it comes to describing someone. It is difficult to try and classify a person when one individual has so many characteristics. However, I also understand why people use these small words mentioned to classify a person. In many cases there are numerous different ways to describe someone and these general words help to simplify large groups of people which can be helpful for different reasons.
I agree with Kasey that the small boxes may be an issue with many people because it is a big generalization. I also have not had this problem so far because I'm not as diverse as the author.
I sympathize with the author of "Little Boxes". I don't believe an individual can simply be defined by their skin color, especially if they may have a multi-cultural background. I believe there should be an empty space in which the writer is able to spell out what they consider themselves as opposed to just a general fill-in-a-bubble. It is generalizations such as these that breed ignorance among various groups of people and unnecessary hatred and misinterpretations of groups other than their own.
I feel that the author of "Little Boxes" brings up a really good point. Many people today have several different backgrounds, and it is unfair to put these people into just one group. While I do understand that generalizing can sometimes be helpful, I think that in this case, it does more harm than good.
I agree with Clark that when you make generalizations like this, it leads to ignorance and unnecessary hatred between different cultures.
It is very easy to sympathize with Anthony Wright in “Little Boxes”. The issue that arises with the checklist boxes on forms is the formation of a dysfunctional identification system. Wright highlights the issues that arise when discrimination occurs based on appearance. There is no importance whatsoever in asking race on these forms. However, the story is not designed to criticize the small issue of check boxes. On a deeper level, Anthony Wright is arguing the manner in which society labels its people. He believes that there is much more to every person than a one word label can provide. There are many sub-traits that each person has. Wright has a very strong case. The labeling function of society creates a difficult situation for those who are incorrectly identified.
I agree with Clark in the sense that the generalizations create problems in society. Discrimination and other unfair judgment stem from irrational generalizations against certain people.
I thought "Little Boxes" was really eye opening. It's not something I personally think about much because I'm 100% Armenian but I can see how much of an issue it is that society generalizes the description of people. There should be no generalizations in a person's character. They are who they are in the complete sense.
I agree completely with Clark. These generalizations really and truly scream ignorance. Living in America, the "melting pot", of all other countries, we definitely should not be putting generalizations especially when it comes to one's nationality.
I was a big fan of this story. The fact that he said that people often generalize someone is very true. A person shouldnt have to fill out very general bubbles about their race or skin color. I know I've dealt with this when filling out multiple college apps. There are always the "latino/hispanic" boxes but never any specification so in the next column I just often put "other". I completely agree with Clarks comment on how he doesnt believe that an individual can simply be defined as general as they are.
Although I do agree that the author of "Little Boxes" has a point, I also see how generalizations can be a positive thing.It allows a person to understand who they are because they can look to those of the same standard and understand that is what they are, what they are seen as. It also helps those around you to get a sort of cliffnotes of your personality, of who you are. Generalizations are not terrible, but they aren't perfect.
After reading the "Little Boxes" today in class, I began to think about how people’s ways and cultures have been generalized. Most people are classified as one race, and separated into that category of people, even though a person might be completely different then most people in its racial group, they are still characterized as one. People have their own identity, and even though they might be told they are a specific race, they are the ones who truly know what they are.
I also agree with Clark on his opinion that people can’t be generalized and judge by their skin color and heritage. A person makes up their own identity, and society should find out who each individual is, and not just assume most people of the same race are the same.
I understand why the author Anthony had a hard time when he had to fill in one of the boxes. I see how he can be reluctant towards putting one ethnicity because he may feel like he’s leaving out other parts of his identity. To generalize and check one box may be tough although I’ve personally never had a problem with it. This story helped me realize that there is more to those “little boxes” than I thought and for some people it is a lot harder than when I just check one box.
I agree with Steph. I think that generalizations can cause some issues for people when they think about their true identity however I do think it simplifies things and makes it easier to classify certain people.
While I understood the author's sentiment, I understand even more why we feel the need to categorize people on sight or sound, and I don't think it is a pattern that will be going away soon. The generalizations all come from somewhere, and people use them as a first impression in order to predict a person's initial behavior or background. It will still be many generations, if ever, before humanity is homogenized. I think just by being aware of this natural human behavior, people can be more open minded, and reduce negative aspects like racism.. But imagining a world where generalizations won't exist seems impossible.
I agree with Kasey and Steph about the "Little Boxes" story. I personally have never had a problem with checking off a box, but after reading this story I can really understand how that can be very dificult for a person and also effects their identity. It's hard enough trying to figure out who you are and be the person you want to be is made a lot harder when other people are telling you you are a certain way when you don't agree. Especially when it's based on your race.
I also agree with Clark. I think there should be an "other" box that you can check off and explain what you are.
I agree with Jess that it's already hard enough to figure out who you really are the the "little boxes" arent helping in any sense.
I thought the piece of writing was very interesting. I had never really thought about the generalities made by society and how many people can fit these generalities and how many people can't. While reading what the author's dilemma was I realized I was confronted with this same issue while filling out college applications as well as other surveys. Both my parents were raised Catholic; however, I have never once attended church but my mom insisted on my applications I say i'm of the Catholic religion which I did not feel was really right. Also, I am parttially Native American as well as White but when checking boxes one can only check one. I could connect easily with the author of "Little Boxes" and was happy I had the chance to read this story.
I agree with Ricky that generalizations are often the first impressions of a group of individuals and is an easy way to catagorize people. Also that with these generalizations come expectations about how a certain group should act, speak, and look to others.
I think the author of "Little Boxes" is trying to say that the world puts a lot of focus on groups people are associated with. They don't take the time to notice who a person is or what they have to bring to the table, just the classification they belong to. Today, America is so diverse, many people have multiple backgrounds. I feel that for the most part, the negatives of generalizing groups out weigh the positives.
I thought "Little Boxes" was an eye opening story. I have never really thought about the fact that checking off one small box could be making such a large generalization. I could sympathize with what the author, Anthony, was saying though because I have a wide spread cultural background as well. The only difference is that no matter how I look at it, my background is all white. I think that the story made a really good point about how society expects people to classify themselves and conform to fit within its own guidelines. I am glad that I was able to read it.
I agree with Ricky that being open minded about others backgrounds can lead to a decrease in ignorance such as racism. It made me think that knowing a persons background can also lead to conclusions about why people act the way they do, and what makes them who they are.
Throughout the story "Little Boxes" I truly understood what the author was talking about, and completely agreed with what he was saying. In the past few months college apps have been a prominent part of my life, and on each one a box would need to be checked for your race/ethnicity. And just like in the story, there was never a box that truly fit what I am, so I would have to check a box that was just a simple generalazation of what I am.
I agree with Natalie and Clark. People should be allowed to be who they are in every sense. No one should be classified especially living in the country that we all live in. This country is so diverse that people should not be forced to just check off the square that best suits them, they should be able to define themselves in their own way.
I agree with Andrew that although at times generalazations may be frustrating, sometimes they are made to better help people.
Although i personally have never had a problem with fitting into a generalization, i sympathize with those who do. It must be tough to not be sure where you fit in and not have a strong sense of identity because of it.
i also agree with Andy, these boxes werent meant to exclude anyone they were meant to keep things organized and make things easier
I could see the author's point of how frustrating it can be to have to classify yourself to just one background. This caused for much confusion to his identity and he had trouble trying to figure out who he was exactly in regards to his race and his religion. The idea of checking off a single box to establish your identity doesn't seem that fair to me.
I agree with Steph and Kasey because I don't think people should be generalized by one single box. This can cause for much confusion to a person in which box they are to check off. I have not had this problem, but I still don't think it's fair.
Sometimes I have this identity problem too; but usually I just ignore it. For me, it's not that large of an issue. Needless to say, however, I can safely say that I can relate to this story "Little Boxes".
The “Little Boxes” story really resonated with me because I really agree with the author. I also struggle with the “little boxes” on applications because I feel that it is all so limiting. All of my family is from Guatemala but I was born here. So, I never know if I should check off the “Hispanic” box or the “Caucasian” one. This story really made me think about my identity and which culture I identify more with. However, I really can not come up with a solid answer.
I agree with Ricky becuase i don't see the point in making the huge genrealizations from the "little boxes". The motive behind it I feel is just to gain a first impression that may infact not even be accurate. Perople would then just be tapping into the sterotypes our society holds.
"Little Boxes" was interesting to read right after applying for college myself. I often wondered why I was supposed to select just certain boxes when applying, but it never bothered me as much as the author. Clearly, this is because my background has much clearer generalizations to be made. However, it seems like the author is too conscious of what others think of him and how they would categorize them. He seems genuinely distressed from the way others treat him to the point where I think he needs to focus more on what he thinks of himself since he clearly doesn't know who he really is.
I agree with Brenton in that there's no real point in having these little boxes on forms. I feel like in order to make completely non-biased decisions on who gets in based on applications, questions regarding race should not be included.
"little Boxes" emphasizes the point that you cannot group a person into one category of people because there are so many types of people out there and simply having 5 or so boxes to characterizes people can cause i problem.
i agree with Kasey that i too have not had a problem checking off a box but at the same time i cannot say that i can fully understand the delima that some feel when they are forced to check a box that doesn't fully express their ethnicity
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