Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Book Group
Now that you have selected a book, it can be useful to you to find other people in my two classes that are also reading the book. I encourage you to discuss it with them (I can envision a book club meeting with snacks - in a safe environment, of course). You can use this space to find other people, discuss the book, or organize a get-together. (Comments about the book can count towards your 10.)
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I'm reading marriage goes around. I'm super excited to start reading and see how it applies to our class concepts.
ReplyDeleteI chose the book You Are Not Special, and Other Encouragements by David McCullough. The title grabbed my attention, so I read up on it and the book is an expansion of a popular commencement speech by the author about how kids are being raised in the modern world. I think I am the only one who chose the book, but if anyone else did let me know!
ReplyDeleteI also Chose You Are Not Special
DeleteI think it is a really interesting book and I have enjoyed reading it. It makes me think of all of the expectations we have in today's world for success and how a lot of those expectations are falsely met
I read this book as well. I chose it essentially because the title reflected my own personal beliefs regarding individual "uniqueness." It touched on all of the topics that I rant about occasionally. It also provided me with more insight into my own motivations as to my education. I found that many of the points that he made were very applicable to myself. I did things that would ultimately look good on a transcript and not much else. I still parallel his beliefs that learning should be for the sake of learning and growing intrapersonally - unfortunately, some classes just require routine memorization rather than contemplation and understanding.
DeleteSong Yun
I chose Outliers (I studied the concepts in it a bit in another class, but never read it) and I'm really fascinated about how a lot of the success we associate with certain people and their situations came from very unexpected situations. I think a couple other people picked this book, but I'm not positive.
ReplyDeleteI also chose outliers. I have previously read parts of the book, but have never finished the whole thing. I am excited to finish the book and further explore how someone's economic situation can impact success.
DeleteI was the same way! I read about half of the book prior to reading it for the class. I thought it was a great read. I did some additional searching on Malcolm Gladwell and found his website. He did an interesting interview regarding the book that you may want to read.
DeleteSecret agent
I chose the book Unequal Childhoods. I am majoring in Early Childhood/Special Education. The title took my attention because I believe it will give me some insight on childhoods.
ReplyDelete-Ruby22
Alanna Rothman:
DeleteI'm reading that book too! I'm also an education major - Elementary Education. Let me know if you would want to meet up to discuss it or talk about it!
I chose the book Twelve Years a Slave. I read the first few chapters and I think its actually quite interesting. Is anyone else reading it?
ReplyDelete-12Keys
I'm reading 12 Years a Slave too. I'm up to about chapter 6 so far and I think it's very good already.
Delete-Colleen Snitzer
I chose the book The Marriage-Go-Round. I am writing a paper in English about divorce so this book in particular struck me immediately.
ReplyDeleteI initially chose the book Waiting for Snow in Havana because of the title. It was something that grabbed me in and made it seem like the author had something really fascinating to say. I am excited to read it as it is autobiographical, and I would like to see what kind of experiences the author has gone through.
ReplyDeleteI also choice The Marriage-Go-Round. I was curious to see what the author has to say about marriages today, and how they compare to my own views.
ReplyDelete-CouchPotato
Nicola Konigkramer
ReplyDeleteI chose the book Half The Sky and I've heard really great reviews so I'm excited to read it! I hope it will help me to better understand concepts learned in class. If anyone wants to discuss it closer to the due date let me know! It was also the university's first year book in 2010...so you can totally get it for free from someone!
I chose the book That Used to be Us - How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back. The title is long yet very intriguing. I read the first few pages of the book and I was hooked into the authors' explanations and arguments on comparing America as the world leader vs. the rising power of China. Is anyone interested in this book as well?
ReplyDeleteI also chose this book, I too was hooked by the author's comparison of America and China, and additionally I think that we should strive to emulate China in terms of academic standing and that if we can do that then we should be able to rise back up and reclaim the status of the greatest nation in the world.
Delete- Justin Anderson
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the book Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis. He is a very interesting writer in the field of business and I have read his books in the past, so I am looking forward to exploring another avenue with him. I am planning on going into the world of Finance and I feel that Michael Lewis provides an in depth account of the true goings on of this world. I hope others feel similarly and are looking to read this book as well!
I chose to read the book "12 Years a slave," because it covers a topic that greatly intrigues me, and the story is very awe-striking and incredible. I have an affinity for history and this book combines elements of history with a very real and captivating story of a slave.
ReplyDeleteIm reading contagious: why things catch on. I thought it sounded super interesting to see why people spend money on certain trends and why we find certain things attractive or not. If anyones reading it comment!
ReplyDeleteI am reading Contagious as well! I also thought that the subject matter was really interesting. I haven't started it yet, but maybe we can talk about it closer to the due date.
DeleteKevin Fan
DeleteI'm reading contagious too. I found that there are a lot of things that can be connected to the class. For example, one of the reason that people share content is to appear high-status. This relates to Weber's theory of the 3 P's.
Kiana Smith
ReplyDeleteI chose "Orange Is The New Black" as the book that I will be reading. I have watched the latest two seasons of Orange Is The New Black on Netflix and found the show to be quite interesting and entertaniing. From past experiences with books turned into movies/television shows, I figured that since the series was good then the book had to be even better.
I am also reading the same book, and I had the same reasoning that if its a TV show that the book must have been great. I also wanted to read the book before I started to watch the show
DeleteI read this book too! I thought it was great and did an excellent job of showing how prison is a society in itself and how it leaves a permanent mark on people whether they are incarcerated or free.
Delete-Moose
I am reading "12 Years a Slave" as I saw that a lot of other people were too. I watched the movie during winter break and I was very touched. I have always been big on African American History because I want to learn about my heritage and what my people been through to get us to where we are today. I think reading the book will give me a better understanding of the movie. I am very excited , and maybe I will learn even more than I did before.
ReplyDeleteI am reading "Liar's Poker", a semi-autobiographical novel by Michael Lewis about Wall Street and the life of a bond-salesman in the 80s. The book's name derives from a gambling game with very high stakes that is popular among bond traders; the game is described in the beginning of the book. After college, I hope to pursue a degree in finance, and this book is considered a classic, defining description of a generation on the Street. Although only two chapters in, the beginning of the book is interesting because it describes how Wall Street jobs are not offered by the employer, but rather taken by the applicant.
ReplyDeleteThe book I chose is Half The sky and it focuses on women in the worldwide suffering from sex trafficking, sex violence and education. So if anybody who wants to have a discussion about the book, just let me know.
ReplyDeleteAmeerat Olatunde
DeleteThe book i chose is 12 years a slave and its a book about an free african american that gets tricked into slavery. He was forced to leave his family and move from place to place with people he didn't know. There were many times where he wanted to give up, but even the chance that he would se his family again kept him going throughout his years as a slave.
ReplyDeleteSarah Sakhi
Saron Bizuayehu
ReplyDeleteI chose Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison because I've seen both seasons of the show and I wasn't aware that the novel is a memoir produced by the actual protagonist, Piper Kerman. Additionally, getting both an understanding of a book and its television series creates a unique perspective that cannot be attained through just reading the book or watching the Netflix series. Furthermore, in a lot of cases of novels (especially memoirs) they become far more likely to have less fabrication and much more concrete accounts of the story than the movie or in this case Netflix series. Although I don't expect the novel to be substantially different from the movie, it would be quite credulous to believe that they are both the same in content.
I am also reading Orange is the New Black, I have heard a variety of different opinions regarding the show, so I thought it would be interesting to read it and then see how it compares to the show. I am also a Criminal Justice major so I am interested in the authors experience in prison. I am taking a class alongside this one that talks about the treatment of offenders, which includes their time incarcerated, so to compare it to that and look at a real life account I thought would be interesting.
DeleteCierra Horsting
I am also reading 12 years a slave like most people have been choosing. I decided to choose this book because I have seen the movie before and I am also enrolled in an African American Studies course. I like to understand the history of this country and to better understand what was really happening. I feel that reading this book will help me comprehend the punishments and life of a slave by the reading being from actual individuals during those harsh times.
ReplyDeleteThe book I am reading is 12 Years a Slave and this book interests me because the movie was so inspiring. The fact that Northup wrote his 12 year experience in a book excites me because I would love to know the details of his experience.
ReplyDeleteI have just started reading my book marriage goes around it very interesting. Everyone should eventually get married.
ReplyDeleteI have chosen to read "Orange is the New Black" for this assignment. I am a fan of the Netflix series and I am hoping that the novel will read similar to the show. I wonder which one I will end up preferring over the other, because often times, I find myself liking original novels more than their film adaptations.
ReplyDeletei'm reading marriage goes around and i thought the book would be boring but it act surely really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI just started reading "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell. I haven't gotten too far but I'm really looking forward to reading about gaining insight from the experiences and opportunities life gives us and using them for our ability to success. Gladwell interviews a variety of incredibly successful and wealthy people that have all certainly had their downfalls and have encountered obstacles along the way, eventually leading to their success.
ReplyDeleteAlanna Rothman:
ReplyDeleteI read Unequal Childhoods. I was very surprised by the extensive role being middle vs. working class plays in a child's future. I thought race would have a much bigger impact on a child than it did - the book mentions that social class plays a much larger role in determining the future of a child than race does. I was intrigued by the comments made by participating family members at the end of the book - no matter what class, all the families seemed to be offended and angered by their portrayal in the book.
Jialun Lin
DeleteI have not start reading my book yet, but by looking at your comment, I feel the book Unequal Childhoods is much interesting than the one I picked. I would like to start reading this book instead.
I am reading 12 years a slave from the comments i see a lot of people think the book is interesting. what are some points you guys are writing about?
ReplyDeleteI am reading the book “How Soccer Explains the World”. I am thoroughly enjoying the book as the author-Franklin Foer- tours the world for finding the missing link that connects soccer and society. The first few chapters create an awe in the minds of a person who is new to “soccer” or more commonly "football" as they call it in the rest of the world. The early part of the book is basically concerned with the hooligans of soccer and their methods of committing extreme crime. I hope that someone else is too reading the same book.
ReplyDeleteI also chose the book 12 Years a Slave. I have finished reading it and I found it very interesting, there were time where I could not put it down. I thought it was extremely engaging, and very truthful. I thought it was extremely detailed, which was not always pleasant but it made the book all the more real. I really enjoy learning about African-American history and this book was another great way to do so.
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the book Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison. I have been a fan of the Netflix series for some time now and thought it would be really interesting to read the book and compare it to the TV series. I have finished reading it now and I see many similarities and differences between the novel and the TV adaptation. Honestly, I still prefer the TV series because it brings out some details that are not really described in the novel and there is a lot more drama in the show than in the novel. Also, the TV series portrayed much more violence than in the novel. But both the novel and the TV series, in my opinion, represent a semi-good portrayal of life in a woman's prison.
ReplyDeleteAfter almost finishing the book Twelve Years a slave, I have made the connections back to class. After the lecture on race and racial inequality I can see how labels can have such a profound impact on the way we conduct ourselves in any given situation. It can lead us to be completely unreasonable and may even lead us to commit dehumanizing acts. Labels and psychological values have very real effects on us individually and on our society as a whole.
ReplyDelete-12Keys
I have read the book Men, Women, and Worthiness. I think this book relates back to how we discussed in class about how we see ourselves as what other people think we are. It takes into play the concept of the Social Cognitive Theory and how shame affects us. We need to accept shame and that we’re not perfect. Gender stereotypes are also a prominent part in this book. Brene Brown discusses how shame is handled differently amongst men and women. Women are taught that it’s ok to talk about their feelings, while men are taught to shove it under the rug. Brown discusses how even little boys and girls are taught to cope with their emotions differently. When boys fall down we tell them to suck it up and deal with it. When girls fall down we nurture them, cradle them, tell them that it’s ok to cry, and teach them that they are delicate. Why? In this age the differences between boys and girls are minimal. There’s almost no difference at all. Especially regarding emotional capabilities. All little kids fall and cry. Emotional differences due to physiological and hormonal changes start to develop in later years, around puberty. However, the gender stereotypes of what a boy is supposed to like and how a boy is supposed to react, and what girls are supposed to like and how they are supposed to react is implanted in them since age one. Sure it can be argued that different societal norms came in to being because of the blatant physiological differences between men and women. Men and woman have more differences. But boys and girls don’t. We teach people how to react. When actually we need to accept how they react. We are all human beings and we will all feel sadness, rejection, shame, and anger at least once in our lives. No one feels it more and no one feels it less. One of us is just told to suck it up, while the other one is scolded for not being emotional enough.
ReplyDeleteHi Niharika,
DeleteI also read/listened to the same book and I found it very interesting. I was surprised to find out that so much encompassed the concept of shame. The book does relate back to the looking back self that we discussed as one of the basics of socialization. Essentially, we feel shame because we imagine how we appear to others and react to their expected judgment. Dr. Brown definitely touches on the gender stereotypes associated with shame. I found her steps to developing shame resilience to be very interesting. I was able to relate this to poverty in that one of the socio-emotional consequences of poverty is humiliation and shame. Perhaps utilizing Dr. Brown's steps to shame resilience can help alleviate the symptoms of shame and thus help individuals in poverty achieve self-efficacy as part of the Cultural Theory of Poverty.
Oyin Adedipe, 0601
After finishing the book The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America today I have come to learn many things. Most of which tie back into what we have learned in class in relation to the trends in marriage and the american family today. The novel illustrates the differences between cultural ideals this country has and the actualities within the trends we are documenting. I also learned that America has higher divorce rates than any other country. Apart from elaborating on how us Americans cherish our freedom and fantasize about our independence, the book does a great job in helping one decide if they want to get off the marry-go-round that is "marriage."
ReplyDelete- Louis Pardo
I chose to write my paper on/ read the book That Used to be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World it Invented and How we Can Come Back, I chose this because I was intrigued by the title and also it resonates with me because of the fact that I also believe that America has fallen and the average American is unaware of how far we have sunk, I also believe that we have the capability to rise once again to the level of greatness for which our country once set the bar.
ReplyDeleteI chose to write my paper on the book Outliers: The story of success, by Malcolm Gladwell. It is very interesting and aspiring book, that analyses the biographies of successful people and comes to the conclusion that external factors such as lucky opportunities, right time and place of birth for certain occupation, and the culture where we come from - these factors play the most significant role in our success, and not the inherited "talent". I am very happy that I read this book
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading 12 years a slave, im about to start writing my paper. I thought the book was extremely touching and shocking with the details it depicts. I also thought the book was much better than the movie, as most books usually are. Does anyone who read it have any ideas about how to connect it to class? I have some ideas about social inequality and dehumanization of a race, as well as social changes from the 1800's comparing to today. Any comments would be great!
ReplyDeleteI read the Marriage Go Round. This book analyzes the differences between American marriages versus marriages in other countries, specifically in Europe. It talks about how different society handles marriage in America versus Europe, and why it has come to this. Americans are so much more likely to experience divorce and break-ups than in Europe, and the main reason the author found for this was that Americans place huge importance on both marriage and individualism. These two concepts are very opposite, which sort of confuses people's attitudes toward relationships. We are told that we must get married and stay married, but we are also told to focus on our own happiness and opportunity. If someone doesn't fit in with that, we have the freedom to break things off. Both concepts can't coexist. We have to pick one. Many people have a hard time doing that.
ReplyDeleteI never realized how true this was until I read this book. This issue is evident in my parents' marriage. My dad chose individualism over his marriage, which ended his relationship with my mom. If he had chosen to focus on the concept of marriage, he might have tried harder to make things work. I also find myself having a hard time picking between being a completely independent person while still maintaining a relationship. It doesn't work. Individualism is selfish. You have to make sacrifices if you are going to choose to have a lasting relationship.
I chose to read the book titled, God is Not One. It goes into depth in regards to the 8 most influential and popular religions on the planet. I really enjoyed reading this book because it opened my eyes to new ideas and definitely made me more knowledgable of other religions and cultures. Stephen Prothero does a great job of relating each religion to one another and also relating religions to each other in order for those that are ignorant on the subjects.
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the book 12 Years a Slave. When i originally intended reading the book i thought it was going to be the same typical type of book about slavery. Three chapters in the book i realized this is different than anything i have ever read before. Northup's use of details and his display of causes and effects made the book interesting.It happened to be a very touching book and really opened up my perspective on society then and now.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Sakhi
I chose Men, Women, and Worthiness because truthfully I thought it was going to be about gender inequality. The book, audiobook to be more exact, is more about shame in our world and how it controls us all. I found the book to be interesting, but repetitive at a point. Not that there isn't a lot to be said about shame, there is. It's a topic people could spend years talking about. But in the two hours Dr. Brown had to discuss shame I felt she spent a little too much time repeating herself. I did enjoyed her separation of men and women into two different groups because they are each affected by shame differently. Overall I am happy I listened to it and I do feel I have learned from it.
ReplyDelete-Celia Reilly
I read 12 Years a Slave and although I thought I was familiar with slavery especially because I have done a slavery reenactment. However, this book has provided me a whole new perspective and angle on slavery from someone who was foreign from her malice. The descriptiveness and diction of the novel also provided vivid imagery of the events in the novel. The book definitely reenforced the history I already knew and put into prospective the accomplishments we have made as a society thus far and the problems we still face.
ReplyDeleteHalf the Sky was a book that I was actually given for free and I'm so grateful that I was given a chance to read the whole thing. The book touches on issues that women face that I never even knew about and I have a newfound respect for the entire movement of feminism as a result. Some of the atrocities these women face are truly disgusting and its an injustice to sit by and do nothing.
ReplyDelete- Malcolm Lawanson