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Definition: An informal space for you to explore the readings as well as your metacognitive reading process

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Definition: An informal space for you to explore the readings as well as your metacognitive reading process. The first step is to read actively, highlighting and annotating the text as you go. If you “talk to the text” while you are reading it, you will understand and remember it better and will generate more ideas about how to respond in your journal and in class discussions and writing assignments. B. 5 Requirements (about 1 full page long, single-spaced): 1. Summary (~1 paragraph): What happened in the assigned reading? Include important information from the setting (time & place), main characters or people described, and events that occurred? Exclude anything of little importance or irrelevant to the gist (main ideas). 2. Reading Response (~1 paragraph): Your reaction to the assigned readings. What did you respond to and why? Did you feel sad, angry, or irritated? Comforted, entertained, or nostalgic? Did you experience any personal reactions or familiarity? Upon reflection, how do you feel about what you’ve read and why? 3. Metacognitive Response: (~1 paragraph) How did reading this particular reading go for you? Was it easy or challenging? Boring or interesting? Quick or tediously slow? How many parts/times did you go back to re-read? What confused you? How did you overcome that confusion (if you indeed did)? What made you lose focus or get stuck? What connections were you able to make, perhaps to other parts of the text or to other texts from class? What have you finally figured out? What reading strategies have you used to make sense of the text (graphic organizers? lists? timeline?)? What language difficulties did you encounter, and what strategies did you use to overcome them (annotating? highlighting? context clues?)? How much did you understand, and how much is still confusing? Were there any physical or emotional limitations that impeded comprehension? Be as reflective as possible to assess what was occurring in your brain as you worked to make meaning of the material. 4. 2 Discussion Questions: Create two thoughtful open-ended questions that could lead to stimulating dialogue, not fact-based “yes or no” questions. For example, a good question might be, “Why do you think the author chose to include examples of Spanish language in the story?” rather than, “What language did the author sometimes use?” It’s not a quiz question but rather an initiator of meaningful class discussion. 5. Golden Words: Select 3-5 vocabulary words/phrases from the reading that are critical to understanding the text or that you think ought to be recognized. Defineeach word (copied from the dictionary is fine, but carefully choose/summarize the most appropriate definition) and explain why you chose each one (why did you feel this particular word is worth examining? ought this be a word you “collect” for future academic/professional writing and discourse?).C. Grading: You will receive full credit on each RRJ (20 pts) by fully addressing the 5 requirements and by submitting to Canvas on time. It will not be graded for grammar, organization, or other limitations of more formal writing assignments (this is a Homework grade, not a Writing grade). RRJ 2 1. Part three and four discuss the origin and the foundation of the caste system. Author, Isabel Wilkerson identifies 8 pillars of caste. She described the religious and natural argument individuals make for a caste system including how the divine text of Hinduism set the brahmins above all caste. As well as in the western world the old testament that described how Ham and his descendants were meant to serve his brothers. She argues that the foundations of caste in any country, whether it be in American, India, or Nazi Germany, does not have to rest on truth or objectivity; what matters is that â??people accepted them and gained a sense of order and means of justification for the cruelties to which they had grown accustomed, inequalities that they took to be the laws of natureâ?? (99). These pillars do not know national boundaries. Part 3 describes the inequalities and injustices that are formed due to caste. Many in the inferior caste dehumanized to be submissive to the superior caste. In part 4 she talks about the aftermath including racial bias in society and how others in the upper caste have used caste to their advantage such as blaming a crime a white man committed on the subordinated group to reinforce prejudice towards them. 2. In the first RRJ, I felt anger at how long this injustice in America lasted and how we still see parts of this injustice in modern America. For RRJ 2, I felt calmer and instead of feeling angry, I want to understand the pillars of caste in America and learn its effects today. The 8 pillars of caste can be seen as forms of racism but I donâ??t think people understand how these acts of ignorance and these stereotypes towards a race or a group of people are a part of a bigger system. An infrastructure that holds each group in their place. What I can't fathom in the book is how many people had so much hate towards a group based on the color of their skin. It blows my mind that so many grown men would terrorize young boys as young as 10 (or younger) on the belief that they were to pollute their city. so much history of violence and many today still want to deny America is racist and a caste system. In many of what I read in this section, I have seen arguments that many white supremacies use. Many donâ??t like integrated marriages and mention keeping their bloodline pure and solely white. I really like this section because I can see many similarities of the caste system she describes to our real world today. 3. Now that Iâ??ve read two-thirds of Isabel Wilkerson's book I can now better understand her language in her writing. It has gotten easier to read the book which makes the reading quicker and it lets me focus on the content in the book rather than the reading process. I found part 3 most interesting because it gave a better understanding of the origins of caste and the rippling effects of it after slavery. The chapter I found most confusing was in part 4 chapter 13, The Insecure Alpha and the Purpose of an Underdog. She notes "dogs, for sure, and people, if they were wise, do not bite the hand that feeds themâ??. I didnâ??t understand if she was talking of alpha dogs or the omega (lowest caste). After rereading the chapter and writing down notes I understand she was talking about those in the lowest caste. Meaning those on top have terrorized anyone below them, as mentioned in pillar number 7 Terror as Enforcement, Cruelty as a Means of Control, into submission. I annotated the section I felt that were most important or that had to do with the overall structure of the book. In this section, I didnâ??t do much googling since she mentioned well-known cases such as the Ozawa v. United States. The Supreme Court case of who was considered Caucasian in American. This case further reinstated how the superior caste decided where someone landed in the social stratification system. 4. 1. What privileges do people in the upper caste have that others in the lower caste have died trying to achieve? 5. Why do you think people in the upper caste felt the need to dehumanize those in the lower caste? 6. Endogamy - The practice of marrying within a specific social group, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. The meaning of Endogamy has been used a lot with white supremacy. They believe integrated marriage is wrong and makes someoneâ??s bloodline not pure and rather pollute it. I think this word is important because this mindset is what many use to not be associated with anyone in the lower classes creating barriers that desensitize people's feelings towards other people in the lower caste. Scapegoat - When a person is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency. I felt that this word would be important because America has a reputation for incarcerating innocent black people. Many tend to blame those in the lowest caste for societal problems. Just this year we witnessed a woman blame a black teen for stealing her phone. She found him as an easy target then to admit she left it in her Uber. Flogging - A punishment in which the victim is hit repeatedly with a whip or stick. She mentions this word a couple of times and I didnâ??t know what it was. I found it interesting that she used this but these types of punishments were elaborate and evil that they are given names. I feel like this word is important because it was something people in the upper caste used to control those in the lower caste.