Category: English Reflections (Page 2 of 2)

I think that my most significant strength is the way I am able to write some things. I think at times my word choice can be very smooth. I also believe that it can be my biggest weakness. I can overcomplicate what I am trying to say. I think I did better at including more of my own thoughts and anecdotes to make the writing more personable on paper 2. I think my caveat allowed me to do this and it also strengthened my writing.

In my short podcast, I think it was hard for me to feel comfortable and confident in what I was saying. I agree with the comments about making it more conversational and it is definitely something I will work on for the next one.

Overall, I need to work on explaining my thoughts and not assuming that my statements will be understood without further explanation. I tend to write to myself rather than to an outside audience. Comments like “unclear” and “more on this” reflect this. I can overcome some of this if I fully develop my thoughts and ideas. I took time to look at my sentence structure and ensure that all of my sentences were complete and there weren’t just random commas.

I was always placed in honors and AP English classes in high school. I have always considered myself a good reader and thinker, but sometimes not always a good writer. I have practiced a lot of annotating and analyzing text. The habits that Gilroy discusses are things that have been ingrained in my brain while reading. As an active reader, I am always prepared to talk about my thinking but it is important to be aware that not everyone will interpret things the same way. In discussions, it is very important to stay open-minded. Other people’s ideas or even just sharing my own aloud can spark more thoughts that will later bleed into my writing. I have worked hard on developing all of my thoughts completely in my writing but it is more the structure I struggle with. I am a strong believer that good writing comes from a lot of thinking and processing whatever it may be. Once I have sat with my thoughts and discussed them with others and my brain I can write quite fast.

For me, writing takes a lot of thinking and time in order for me to find the words I want to use. When I have trouble making myself clear and understood it tends to be when I am making connections between sources. Connecting a source and my thoughts is easier for me. I think that it’s hard to know where there is a good connection and if it is strong enough to support the argument. Jamison and Price told very different stories through their writing. Jamison writes about an experience where she had to use empathy and Price tries to convince us that empathy is not as important as it may seem. I think that Jamison comes to the conclusion that her empathy has limits and is unsure if her disbelief means she is not demonstrating it. But she never says that she doesn’t view empathy the same at the end of her reflection. Price, however, has very strong feelings about empathy and his ability to use it. They seem to both be compassionate caring people but their writing is very different. I honestly am unsure how to make this easier on myself. I felt like every connection I tried to make seemed weak and like a stretch. I found that both articles played an important role in my writing, but maybe together they weren’t the best match. I think I tried to challenge myself by using them, but I guess it’s subjective whether it was powerful enough.

For this interview, I am going to talk to my friend Grace who is a great listener. She is a sophomore pre-OT major. In some parts of the interview, I think it would be effective to ask her how she thinks intellectual humility and listening will help her demonstrate empathy and compassion in not only her daily life but her professional career.

We will discuss my definition of empathy and whether or not she agrees with this or has something else to add. I will tell her that I believe more so in being compassionate not just empathetic. It does not matter where the compassionate act came from but rather that it happened. We will talk about Baldwin’s quote talking about how love breaks barriers.

Is there a time when she felt like she struggled to remain open-minded and listen to someone else? After listening to this person was she able to understand their complexities more?

How does love/compassion tie into intellectual humility? Are you able to be more loving and compassionate if you can demonstrate intellectual humility?

Is it important that people practice intellectual humility?

I think that I am able to connect well with sources and have a good understanding of how to be an engaged reader. I can see connections among different sources and can articulate those thoughts and ideas well. In a broad sense, I think I am confident in my writing. I am more of a good thinker and can develop ideas, but when it comes down to the smaller aspects I sometimes overlook them. Transitioning from one thought to another and making my writing flow is not always the easiest for my brain. Over time I hope to improve my ability to do this and think it will be possible with more practice.

At first, I was pro-empathy and thought that empathy could change the world. It wasn’t until I read the other two articles that I realized empathy does not mean action. Compassion leads to action and to change and it really shouldn’t matter what led you to make a positive difference as long as you did it. Price in particular wrote about their experiences and how autism has affected their perception of empathy; to me, this was more convincing and I was able to connect more with what he was saying. Just because someone doesn’t experience empathy in a typical way does not mean they are not compassionate and caring individuals who want to make a change. Personal experiences that can reach a variety of people will strengthen writing. Backing these experiences up with facts and logic will help some people be convinced, as well. Connecting with your audience emotionally and logically will make the writing more persuasive or understandable.

Devon Price, a social psychologist with autism, reflects on what empathy means to him. “Empathy is overrated” is his conclusion. I didn’t think I would necessarily agree with this article at first glance, but the more I read the more I connected with what he was saying. There are two kinds of empathy, emotional and cognitive, but most people use and identify empathy as an emotional response. This is not as meaningful as the cognitive aspect of empathy. Reflecting on someone and their experience and trying to understand what they are going through can be a meaningful thing. However, some people are just too caught up in the emotional response they are having to make this genuine connection. Perspective taking is another practice both articles discussed. It is different from putting yourself in someone’s shoes, it is more of trying to understand the perspective of the person in the situation not you in the same situation. I think this can be a good tool to use and practice in decision-making. My biggest takeaway was that compassion is more valuable than empathy, and the world needs more of that. I at times have a hard time feeling what another person is feeling, but can evaluate the situation and act compasionatly. I would say that I am a compassionate person and I am not necessarily an empath, yet I still have a strong tie to human rights activism and changing the lives of people who need it. I guess I didn’t see a difference in compassion and empathy until I read this article, but I strongly agree. I think empathy is a sticky subject, Sarah Konrath dives into the eight different uses of empathy and that everyone views empathy differently. Empathy doesn’t lead to logical and fair decisions at times and empathy doesn’t always mean morally right.

I think the biggest category that society has created is the “Us” and “Them groups. You either are or you aren’t—there’s no in-between. You are either white or you aren’t. You are either a feminist or you aren’t. This has created a lack of space for people to be individuals. Nguyen hates the category she is placed in solely based on her name and culture. Gay hates that she cannot fit perfectly into a category. You cannot negotiate the category people have put you in. The box is tight and unfair. Nguyen wants to escape and does. Gay feels like it is better to accept it yet allow herself to just herself even if that does not mean she fits the perfect mold. Just because we have these categories as a society doesn’t mean everyone will fit into them perfectly or that even though it may seem that they belong there, it may not be true.

Going off Nikki Giovanni, “race” was not even in the English language until 1508, it is a modern construct. If we had no label or category for people, we were all just people, then there would be no stereotypes. It is one thing to notice somebody is different and another to determine who they are by that difference. There are so many issues in this world that you would think it would make us more unified. We are all on a floating rock that is dying as we speak due to climate change and we will all be affected regardless of who we are, what we look like, and what we call ourselves. It would make sense that this of all things would make us come together, forget our differences, and try and stop these horrific things from happening. However, our county is rooted in systemic racism and sexism which seems to be a cycle that just won’t break. It would be a dream if race could become as fluid as gender seems to be evolving. Giovani also points out that some kids do not allow labels to change what they do and how they perceive themselves.

I think that it is nobody else’s business what someone thinks of you. Most of the time it is just a reflection of themselves rather than who you are. Gender and race do not determine whether you are a good person, smart, funny, etc. Nguyen cares what people think, and she hates herself for that. It would be hard for me to say that categories have no power if you do not believe in them, if you do not believe that you are stuck in this one box. I wish this could be the truth, but these categories affect greater issues ad can be oppressive to groups of people. 1 in 4 Muslim women are assaulted. This is a crazy and disturbing number. Not only do these individuals commit these acts but it seems consistent that bystanders allow this behavior to continue with no punishment. There has been an uptick in Islamophobia since 9/11 and an even bigger one since the 2016 election. Roxanne Mun says, “when people commit these kinds of individual hate violence it’s a reflection of the broader behavior that’s been enshrined in policies by law enforcement agencies”. These categories and stereotypes are throughout our government and the very way we live.