Mockingbird Blog - Uh-oh, Here comes Stereotypes and Aunt Alexandra
1. On the whole, Scout’s characterization of Maycomb’s black population is a positive one. They’re generous, welcoming, and close-knit.
Is there anything troubling about this characterization? After all, “positive stereotypes” are still stereotypes.
What makes “positive stereotypes” inherently negative?
2. Aunt Alexandra seems to think that she can judge a person’s personality simply by knowing their last name. QUALIFY this statement.
What grain of truth does this statement have?
1.Positive stereotypes can be interpreted in a negative way, so it depends on the perspective they are looked at.
ReplyDelete1. it makes it negative because people have many different opinions so they may take it the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon miss, Celine-Dion Latchman here, I just want to apologize for sending my comment under this email address, I am trying to change it, but it is not working.
ReplyDeleteMy answer for number two would be Aunt Alexandra thinks that she can judge people because of their background, race or the family they are from. For example, with Tom Robinson, he was quickly accused of raping the white girl because of his race and skin color, the reason why people accused him is because many people tend to see blacks as people who only do bad, and this saying has been around for a long time, so if there is a crime with a white and a black person, the white is going to have a better chance of becoming victorious than the black person because of race and skin color.I am not sure if this answer is correct.
Positive stereotypes can be become negative effects because some people can feel the pressure of becoming exactly like the stereotype that was projected on to them and if the don`t some people can ridicule them and make them feel bad about themselves.
ReplyDelete1. a troubling thing about stereotypes, whether positive or negative, is generalization. it could lead her to believe that all black people are the same (welcoming and generous) when, in fact, not everyone is the same.
ReplyDelete2. what can make a positive stereotype inherently negative is the lens at which it is being looked at from. for example, to black people, being loud is a sign of being jovial or excited. to racists, it is a sign of them being mentally inferior. this is a prime example of positive stereotypes becoming negative due to the viewpoint.
3. alexandra 'reading' persons' personalities based on their last name has more so to do with the family than the family name. considering she is fairly friendly with multiple families, she has an idea of what their personalities are like, so she in turn can guess what traits members may have.
ReplyDelete1) Positive stereotypes are inherently negative because I feel as though whenever there is something positive there is always something negative behind it that we might not be able to see at the moment, and also positive stereotypes can be interpreted in different ways by different people, so what seems positive to one person may not seem positive to another person.
2) It is true that Aunt Alexandra judges people based on the stereotype associated with their family. She really can’t and shouldn’t judge someone based on their last name because people don’t always have to be like their family members and everyone has a personality of their own.
-Bethann Barrett
Delete1. Positive stereotypes can be seen as negative because if one does something they do not expect them to do then they will say that they're 'not a true black person or a white person.' For example: A Jamacian who doesn't listen to dancehall/reggae. If you go overseas that may be the first thing they ask you about, an aspect of you culture.
ReplyDelete2. Aunt Alexandra's method of judging one's personality from their last name can be seen as a bit racist. In cartoons or shows, white characters always have names like: Sarah, Jacob etc. while black people tend to have: Jerome, Jodie etc. This can be linked to 1 as a way of stereotyping others. So when Aunt Alexandra says she can guess one's personality from their last names she might be referring to stereotypical names and that leads her to what she expects from that person.
The answers for the questions are as follows : 1a. I don't think there is anything troubling about her characterization / how she frankly describes the Black population of Maycomb , Alabama , because , to be honest , that's who they really are and I think Aunt Alexandra has a problem accepting the very obvious fact , that that's who they are and I also think she finds it hard to agree with Scout that she is absolutely right about the coloured - population and hospitable and helpful they are . And 1b. I think , in my opinion , people have their own views on different contrivances, for Instance , 'Stereotypes', which is one of the talked about topics in face of society, esp. in the this novel . I do think that people , might take this stereotype thing to extreme extents sometimes , because of how they were raised up / what they believe in , but to answer the question that was posed , I think it is placed as inherently negative because of the type of society / mindset they were brought up with , take us as Jamaicans , for eg. We don't believe that their should be a thing such as same sex marriage / anything that has to do with Same-sex relationships because of how we were brought up and what we came as generations and saw , so it's based mostly on society and the environment we were raised in , for us to be able to think the way we do / the way we look on things . 2a . I think the way she thinks / how judgemental she
ReplyDeleteis , is just a stupid and nonsensical way of thinking about people , come on , what right does she have to be judging people's personality based on their ' Last names ' and it's a good thing that there isn't a grain of truth from such statement that she made .