Taller Mountains to Climb
Made it this far,
not knowing what the world could bring.
Authors Note:
I chose this picture
of me in Colorado because I believe that there is a deeper meaning than me just
standing on a rock. I think the rock can represent a strong start, but you can
see in the background of the picture that there are bigger rocks to climb. I
think this can relate to my life because I am about to graduate, which can be
compared to the rock I am standing on. On the other hand, I know that there are
bigger rocks and a bigger meaning to life than just high school. Although high
school is a good start there is always those “bigger rocks” or bigger problems
that I must climb over. I decided to use a longer 6-word story because it also
explains the type of personality I have. I like things short, sweet, and to the
point. Taking the class perspectives has opened my view of the deeper meaning
in small things and realizing that our personalities reflect the perspective
that we have on certain things.
He/She Say I Say:
Before
taking this class, I had no idea that we were all born with opinions on things
that we have no prior knowledge to. This is called implicit bias and it is
defined as any unconsciously held set of opinions towards a social group.
Everybody was born with a set of opinions that they don’t have any reason for
having.
In
a ted talk given by Verna Myers she explains different ways of overcoming
implicit bias, and how we can stop incidents like in Ferguson, Missouri, the
location where Michael Brown was shot, and killed by a police officer. As Myers
says in her speech one way, we can overcome this bias is by being a “real
person” rather than a “good person”. Try to connect with people that you
usually don’t conversate with. Myers explains that being a “real person” would
be having the courage to say something when you see something, even if it is to
someone you know. Letting people know that what they are doing or saying isn’t
right, can go a long way. In this ted talk I learned a lot about myself and my
personality/biases. One of the things I learned about my personality is that I
more positively associate white people with good things. This is something that
can be changed through simple steps, but it starts within. This is something
that I have brought more attention to, and I am continuing to correct my
implicit bias.
You may be wondering
what implicit bias has to do with my portrait and the flash fiction that I have
come up with. One way that implicit bias can relate to my picture and flash
fiction is compared to when you are born, you don’t know what kind of implicit
bias you are going to acquire. This can be represented in the picture because
after you are born you must climb taller mountains to get over the implicit
bias that you were born with. This picture of me is a way of saying that I have
found my implicit bias and I am ready to change that implicit bias one day at a
time until that implicit bias is gone. This will not only make me a better
person but also change the way others act towards others. Simple things like
starting within can change the way the world looks at African Americans and can
bring out true potential.
You had a really good, and deep way of connecting your picture to your flash fiction. I liked how you related the rock to where you are at now. Knowing that there are much bigger things that will eventually cross your path. Where right now, you may be struggling and think things are tough but life only gets more difficult aka "Bigger rocks to climb." Be careful with your "They say, I say" format, but your evidence really helps clear the story up behind your picture.
ReplyDeleteI really like the "bigger rocks to climb" metaphor. You keep this well centralized throughout the piece and to me it gives the impression that this metaphor is a core value to you in overcoming obstacles and facing new challenges, which I can relate to as a value and like a lot to see in your writing the emphasis of it's value to life.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you connected standing on top of a rock is the same thing as there is bigger things coming in life. I thought it was cool how you said being on top of the rock is like a head start, but there is bigger and better things to be done. Well done
ReplyDeletei really like how you show how standing on a rock show what you like to do and let people know what your character is like.
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected the photo to your story and how you compared it to graduating.
ReplyDeleteI love your authors note using symbolism to say why you choose your picture and comparing it to life.
ReplyDeleteI really like how simple, yet meaningful your flash fiction is. The fact that you used an old photo and incorporated a new meaning to it is very creative. It's very difficult to create a story to your photo rather than creating a photo to your story. Your artist statement was also very well written, and I learned a lot about your pieces.
ReplyDeleteI like what you did with your flash fiction and authors note. you took something simple and turned it into something with lots of meaning.
ReplyDeleteGriff:
ReplyDeleteYou chose a great metaphor to roll with in your image and flash fiction. Your strength in this piece was aligning each segment. You can be goofy in class at times but it's clear here that you've really internalized this work and thought carefully about the ways it matters to you.
Your writing explores a lot of big ideas and you address them with honesty and humility. That's not an easy task for anyone (especially adults). You obviously have an interest in equity and fairness. This will come in handy as we explore the next text, but also in life in general. We should always strive to be better.
I can't wait to meet the new you in a couple years!
Thanks for your thoughts.
Ms.B