One stereotype about overweight people is that they are stupid. When Susan responds to Mr. Duffy's comment about people choosing the same seats to feel safe, Tracee seems surprised that Susan sounds so intelligent - perhaps Tracee believed the stereotype about overweight people (p.37).
What other stereotypes are present in the novel? How do the characters fit their stereotypes - or not? What stereotypes do we see in our own lives? Have you ever judged someone - or been judged - based on a stereotype (please don't include names)? Was there any truth to the stereotype, or was it completely false?
4 comments:
This novel shows several different types of people that are often stereotyped.
Tracee seems at first to be a preppy, intellegent, Christian who lives by her values. This is a common stereotype for people who do well in school and are of the Christian faith. However, later you learn that behind every face is a person. Tracee is a hippocritic, narrow minded individual who puts conforming to society and public opinion of oneself above all else. Most often, that is not what we think of when we hear about a well-behaved Christian teen.
Amber is a tough, rough around the edges girl who stands up for herself and refuses to wear a mask. The stereotype she seems to portray is that of and out of control teen who hates the world. However, we learn through the story she is not as cynical as she seems. She feels it is wrong of Tracee to use her power to minipulate other people and simply won't stand for it.
In my life, I have seen people stereotyped by their shy nature and keen intelect. By being shy, some people tend to seem stand-offish and anti-social. If they are also smart, people tend to see them as being stuck up or too good to talk to them. I think that my being short has led some people to beleive I skipped a grade and am really smart or that I am easy to minipulate like a little kid or something. I guess I am smart, so their is some truth to that, but I am not the genius some people may think I am. I try not to stereotype people, but am sure I have or will at some point judge someone unfairly. I would however like to get to ko everyone I can no matter what I think of them before hand. I don't rely on first impressions and try to stay open-minded.
In this book there are definitely stereotypes. Brendan is gay so people think that he just wants guys all the time and that people need to stay away from him. Randy is the jock, and he is stereotyped to be the cocky, strong guy that is really attractive. While Tracee is the preppy Christian girl that is “perfect”, and Amber is the tough chick that no one wants to deal with. These stereotypes look real in the first couple chapters, but when you get to know the characters, they are nothing like it. Brendan is a cute guy that has feelings and is a great friend, while Randy finally stands up and stops bullying. Tracee admits that she isn’t perfect and she's a little hypocritical. And Amber showed us that she has a soft side, even though she looks like a tough girl, she has feelings and can really tell what she feels.
People judge each other. That’s what they do. Stereotypes are part of everyday life, which is sad. This summer I spent a whole week in West Virginia for a week with my church. We were part of a whole bunch of churches, so we met a lot of new people and got placed in groups to help people on their houses. I met four totally different kids and I judged them, quickly realizing that I was wrong. Alex, this HUGE guy was 21 and I was pretty scared of him, Angharad was a British girl that intimidated me because she was so proper. There was Will who was from North Carolina that looked like a jock, but he didn’t really creep me out, and Ellen, who looked like a nice girl. Then there was Zach. He didn’t talk at all and I thought he was kind of weird. As the week went on, I realized that I was totally wrong for judging these people. They were all amazing. Alex was really funny and I got a lot of pictures of him holding me in his arms. Angharad, Ellen, and I became really good friends because we were the girls of the group and got some easy jobs that we finished early, so all we did was talk. Will was fun and said he wanted to come to Illinois and made fun of me because I said “pop”, not “soda.” And we finally got Zach to talk. And when he started, he wouldn’t stop, which was great because he had a hilarious laugh. I shouldn’t have judged these people, but I'm really glad that I got to know them, because all of my stereotypes were completely false. I’m trying to stay more open-minded about people.
Entry E
jake
theres a lot of different steriotypes in this book every person in the alt ed class is a different stereotype they couldnt be much more different. randy is the typical jock hes good looking good at sports. amber is closer to being a sorta tough girl she is a bully to some people. tracee is just a really preppy girl who thinks she never does anything wrong btu she treats other people not so well, like amber. brendon is gay but overall hes a really nice person he was there for her when she really needed a friend even though she was fat he didnt care he was her friend anyway
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