Outsiders, Stereotypes,& Epiphanies
An outsider is when a person is not included,and when they feel alone. Many times there are feeling associated with being an outsider, such as being shy, different, and useless. There are variety of places that one can feel like an outsider,such as school, home neighborhood, and your country. Some of the reasons people are outsiders consist of race, favoritism, Language, or because they act different.
Likewise, there are different kinds of outsiders such as those who choose to be an outsider and those who don't choose. There are also insiders and borderliners. I feel like a borderliner because I feel like i fit in and make friends easy because of who i am. Also there is people that may not accept me for who i am, but at least there are people who do. Sometimes there are people who think of me as weird and funny. I mostly feel like this at school because people judge you for who you are.
Otherwise stereotypes can cause someone to feel like an outsider. A stereotype is is someone judging someone for who they are. An example of someone who has been stereotyped is when my dad went to high school. There was mainly white students and a few minorities. He was in craft class when a girl closed the door behind her. Then a teacher approached him and his friend and told them to go to the counselors office. The girl was there and said that they held her against her well, but my dad and his friend didn't do it. Then she said"who could it have been since everyone else in the class room is mainly white students. My dad got in trouble for something he didn't do and because he was Mexican.
Another example about stereotypes and not fitting in comes from the book "Outsiders". Two characters from the book discuss stereotypes. ponyboy, a greaser, believes that socs are bad kids who beat up Johnny. Cherry, a soc, believes that the whole gang is like Dallas mugging people. Cherry tells ponyboy "things are rough all over."She said that because all of the conflict going on between the socs and the greasers.
As a matter of fact, stereotypes are also explored in C. addichies ted talk called "A danger of a single story". In the presentation she discusses how she was stereotyped and how she stereotyped other people. For example she said that her american roommate thought she didn't know anything about how to use that stuff. An example of her stereotyping someone is when she stereotyped a poor boy named Fiddy. Fiddy and his family were poor and she thought they couldn't afford anything.She stereotyped people and she didn't even know it.
Despite stereotypes, epiphanies challenge individuals to become better people. An epiphany is when a person changes their ways. An example of someone who had an epiphany is Demi lavoto. She used to cut herself,but then she grew up and noticed there was no point of doing that. She use to do that because she was bullied.
In addition to demi lavoto, there is also an example of an epiphany in the book "The Outsider."Johnny Cade is a character who goes from a zero to a hero. He became like that because he saved the little kids from the fire in the church. He use to smoke and didn't care about anything but now he proved that he cared about the little kids.
As a matter of fact, learning about outsiders, stereotypes, and epiphanies has helped me to"become human" or grow. I can talk to people that are lonely and shy. Also to not judge people because they might be nice or they can act different then i think they act. I have a better understanding about epiphany. When I grow up i will know what all these things mean.
work cited
"C.Addichie on A Danger Of A Single Story" WWW. Ted Talk.com.web. July 2009
Hinton.S.E.The Outsiders.New york: penguin group 1997.
Macedo,Jose.personal interview.3 august 2013