Arab Literature

The things you learn from just a few short articles! I did not grow up in a very multicultural atmosphere so i have not really questioned the stereotypes about Arabic people. I believe my down fall is not that I believe the stereotypes but that I am undereducated about the culture. What better way to be immersed in the culture then in a class that is meant to make me aware and learn to challenge the stereotypes of the cultures.

With that said, a few things that I did not know but am glad i know now

1. Many people use the words Arabic and Muslim interchangeably. Actually only 20% of Muslims are Arabic.
2. Arabs are divided into 3 distinct regions; North Africa, Mediterranean, and the Saudi Peninsula

I love that the articles pointed out that Arabs are just like you and me. They have different believes, education levels, stereotypes against them, and come from all different places. Finally I am glad that Al-Hazza and Lucking give a list of books as a start for multicultural education. It is only a start but everything has to start somewhere!

Must Writers of Multicultural Literature be Insiders?

“You can do anything you set you mind to”

From early childhood far on into my college career, my life has been surrounded by people using this quote. It’s inspirational for all ages and I can almost guarantee that you have heard it at least once in your life. People, mostly the adults in your life, which you look up to, wanted you to believe in yourself!

Do writers have to be “insiders” to write about a culture?

As I have always been told, anything you set your mind to can be done. I feel that any writer can write about a culture if they set their mind to it. If this is not the case then I have been mislead my entire life.

Although I believe this is true, there are restrictions to the rule. When one sets their mind to something they should strive to do the best they can do. In the case of writing about people of another culture, an “outsider” should fully research what they are writing about. A well equip mind has the ability to write a well equip story. Also, I believe that it is very important to make sure that what they are writing is accurate and not offensive to the culture. If you don’t know ask and if your afraid to ask don’t both to attempt to represent a culture in the story.

As for the readings this week

I never knew that there were so many definitions of multicultural literature. As Harris and Shannon say, it is obviously more then just the issue of race. There is just so much involved in deciding what is considered multicultural.

I have never thought of the issue that came up in the Cai article about the definition of “multiple + culture = multiculturalism” (313) before this reading. On one hand I believe that all books are multicultural because each one is about a group of people from a different culture. On the other hand including “the mainstream” as part of multicultural defeats the purpose of the creation of the category. Multicultural literature is to help each other understand one another, in the simplest of terms. If people see “the mainstream” everyday, even if they are not part of ‘the mainstream” they still have learned a lot about the culture. Therefore, I would have to say that since multicultural literature is to get to know, accept, and understand a culture then the mainstream should not be included.

Allow Me to Introduce Myself....

Hello! My name is Teresa Thompson. I am in my Senior year here at Michigan State University and I am an Elementary Education major. My teaching minors are English and Mathematics. I have wanted to be a teacher since I can remember. Growing up my favorite "game" to play was always school and of course I was always the teacher, even though I was the youngest. I also have known that I was going to attend classes at Michigan State since third grade due to the fact that almost all of my teachers growing up attended State or were huge fans!
I am looking forward to creating this blog as part of TE 448. I enjoyed TE 348 more than I ever expected to and hope to enjoy this class just as much. I am excited to learn more about literature and the importance of variety in the classroom.

"Education has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading."
- G. M. Trevelyan

TE 448 is a start to proving the above quote wrong. I as a future educator would like to produce a population that can see that everything is worth reading to some extent. Finally, I just hope that this class can further educate me on how to educate others using literature.