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24/02/2026 12:09 am
In the ted talk titled “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie she talks about how she has a hard time growing up and how people judge her on her race and how it is dividing her with the society “She asked if she could listen to what they called my ‘tribal music,’” and was consequently very disappointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey,” (Adichie). This is what shows that the world is divided and some things are way to normalized with people just because of their skin color or their ethnicity and it's wrong because it's not always true.
In the novel The Sun Is Also A Star the character Ddaniel is also struggling with stereotypes as well because his mom and everyone around him wants him to be “perfect” and his brother dropped out of Harvard so his parents are not happy about that at all “we’re not allowed to change in my household we are on track to be doctors, and there is no getting off.”(Yoon 300)and they do not want him to end up like his brother they want him to be better and do better and become a doctor just because he is korean so “they are the smart ones” which is once again stereotyping. Daniel does not want to fail his parents he wants to show them that he is able to make them happy and do what they expect from him.
Where in your novel do you see examples of characters being stereotyped? How does your character handle being stereotyped? How do you think this will impact them in the future of your book?
For participants:
-Never use a peer’s real name, only use their username
-Respond to the question based on your book, not your personal opinion
-If the question doesn’t directly apply to something that appears in your book, be clear about what you’re seeing instead
-Make sure to include a summary of your book so far
-Include a quote with the proper citation to give context to your answer
-Acknowledge your lead’s reply to your response with a comment that clarifies information, offer a question to them about their book, or simply give a thumbs up
To exceed: Incorporate a quote from a different Ted Talk or a different CommonLit text that has not yet been discussed in your group
This topic was modified 2 weeks ago by jennifer.chick@rsu4.org
26/02/2026 12:23 pm
In the short story titled “Sweet, difficult sounds" CommonLit author Desta discusses the difficulty Nothukula faces with language barriers and the trouble it brings her in school with her peers. Nothukula gained confidence after being shown that something like fear will only take you over if you give it the power to, with the help of her aunt she got over her fears in speaking freely in an American school. “All these eyes staring at you. Except they're not really there. They're not really staring at you. Practice your poetry with this in mind. Keep reminding yourself as you speak and soon it won't matter if they are really there or not.” (I.M. Desta 67) In the novel “Brighter than the SUN"author Aleman talks mostly about the journey Sol has while moving/living in the U.S with her friend. She has trouble finding where she belongs and the right groups she enjoys. “After I finish eating, I thank Nancy and Ari a million times for saving me food and sitting at the table with me, while they insist it’s great to have me here.” (Aleman 58)
04/03/2026 9:48 am
could you clarify on the point “Brighter than the SUN"author Aleman talks mostly about the journey Sol has while moving/living in the U.S with her friend." and how it connects with the story.
04/03/2026 10:33 am
In my book, Out Of Nowhere, by Maria Padian, there are technically 2 main characters, but were going to focus on Saeed, the boy from Somalia. He is an extremely talented soccer player and is very important to his team. Tom, the other main character, doesn't understand Saeed too well, and it can make it awkward at times. The book shows perspectives from immigrants, and it can be fascinating to learn about some of their differences. Saeed definitely experiences some stereotypes, as people see him as an outsider, just because he is from Somalia. “I didn’t quite get Paul’s attitude about the Somalis. Maybe it had something to do with how he works hard and hates freeloaders” (Padian 11). In this quote its explaining how Tom’s Uncle Paul automatically thinks they are freeloaders just because they are Somali refugees. Saeed doesn’t do much for the stereotyping, and he really only focuses on soccer and doesn’t let the stereotyping get to him. I feel like it could hurt over time, but he will eventually overcome it, and he will continue to not really care.
04/03/2026 11:10 am
In my book The Sun Is also A Star by Nicola Yoon is about a girl named Natasha that is struggling with facing deportation because they are non-documented immagrents. Bceuase of this, Natasha is trying to wrap her head around the fact that she’s being taken away from the life she’s lived for so long and the only thing she really remembers. Those that are involved in the deportation process are telling her that she will be fine back in Jamaica, but nobody knows the life she lived there before moving.
Natasha has always seen the “darker” side of Jamaica, where as her officer has also been to Jamaica, but has seen the vacation side. He says, “ I’ve been to your country. I’ve been to Jamaica’ he says. He’s smiling at the memory of his trip. ‘ I had a nice time. Everything is irie there, man. You’ll be alright.’” ( Yoon 21 ) This show stereotypical activity because he is stereotyping Jamaica, but Natasha has honestly seen the worst part of Jamaica.
