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Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who, during his studies at the university, discovers the principle behind life and how to apply this principle to give life to previously non-living matter. He creates a Being, but immediately upon seeing his deformed appearance, he feels revulsion and abandons his creation. The Being is left alone to wander in a world where every human being feels revolted by his appearance, considering him a monster and excluding him from society.

The story is a good example of the psychological processes associated with stigma, defined as the devaluation of a person as a consequence of an attribute that indicates that person is different from what is considered normal. People perceive stigma and experience very strong affective reactions. In the case of the Being created by Frankenstein, his deformed appearances makes people afraid and revolted, and they avoid or attack him, even his creator.

An important message of the book concerns the possibility of a self-fulfilling prophecy associated with discrimination: the Being becomes angered by constant rejection and decides to take revenge on mankind, actually becoming the monster everyone thinks he is. As Percy Shelley wrote when describing the novel: "Treat a person ill, and he will become wicked".

Black like me is a very interesting read. You almost start the novel off on the wrong foot, questioning if he is really serious about his endeavor. The process he goes through is almost surreal, as I found myself really wondering what type of benefit he would recieve from doing all this. He dyes his skin and shaves his head in an attempt to be accepted into the black culture of the south. He seems to wobble during his balancing act of playing a black man in the beginning, but begins to achieve a sameness or feeling of comfortability with many individuals of the African American race.

You don't go into this book expecting sunshines and rainbows, and if you do you are headed for a disasterous awakening. The book was almost meant to shock you to a point of no return. This is an account of real life, and certain actions that are said an done to Griffin cannot be taken back. Yes...this is happening at a time where discrimination was more prevalent and in your face and yes this is happening in the South, but it still existed and it was Griffin's chance to tell the story. His story will be cemented in time, and will be viewable to all of those who pass it or give it a second glance.

While the visuals are there, it is sometimes hard to imagine the hate that he experiences in his travels. We can all say that we know what discrimination looks like, but to feel it is a different matter. Reading about someone getting the death glare is less painful than getting the death glare itself, but Griffin translated his feelings in the best way that he could. This makes the book hard to relate to at times, because you cannot really empathize to the extent that he may have wanted you to, but you can get the general idea.

The main point of the book was in fact to point out discrimination, but I feel like the parallel idea to the story is the idea of identity. He has an identity crisis at multiple times throughout the book, questioning who he is and where he fits into this society. He is a wolf in sheeps clothing and can't find a way to undress. Trying to be on both teams does not work to his advantage and puts him in a group all of his own. This tug-of-war between who he sees and who he is ultimately leads him to stop his experiment and change back to what he feels is who he really is.

I had always wanted to read this book, but had never gotten a chance to. In school it was offered to me, but I ended up with The Color Purple instead. Now that I have read it, I am glad that I did. This story is one that needed to be told, and it is one experiment that you don't get too see replicated often. Griffin got a chance to take on the South as its enemy, and survived. He knows what it is like to shed his skin and become a new person, and I think he was bettered for it. I could say lots more about the book, but it would take far too long. I would just recommend that people read it, so that they can have their own take on this interesting read.

     "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box" (pg. 252). Atticus Finch, one of the main characters from To Kill A Mockingbird, tells his children, Scout and Jem, this statement after the trial of Tom Robinson, who was convicted by a jury of his peers which consisted of white men, for supposedly raping a white woman. This quote underlies one of the main themes in the book, that resentment and prejudice are with us in every single situation, and these prejudices affect how we view situations and make judgments. Many aspects of this novel could be analyzed in terms of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, but I will mention a few examples.

       To Kill A Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee, and it focuses on the Finch family, which consists of Atticus, Jeremy, and Jean Louise (also known as Scout). The main plot in the story involves Atticus defending a black man and enduring the criticism from the local townspeople. Another plot point is the children's fascination with their recluse neighbor, Arthur (Boo) Radley. At the end of the novel, Arthur Radley saves Jem and Scout from being murdered by a man who wants revenge on their father.  Jem constantly watches out for his sister, but the novel also focuses on him growing up and recognizing the racism and prejudice that surrounds him. Scout is much more oblivious to this racism, as she runs into a mob without concern for herself, proving that she is much more naïve about the world than her older brother. Aunt Alexandra is also another member of the family, who has certain prejudices concerning social class. She has issues with Scout spending time with people who are not similar to them in social status.

     This novel is a classic, and a must read for issues surrounding stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination. Harper Lee makes many statements concerning issues with prejudice and discrimination, but the way in which it is done is very poignant. Atticus Finch is an excllent character to examine, and his speech to the jury is arguably one of the most powerful in the novel. I encourage anyone to read this book; it really is a great novel about human nature.

The book that I read was pretty complicated to discuss in class.  The novel talks about the lives of six people, two teenagers, and the adults that are in their lives.  It goes back and forth between the past, present, and future.  Within each of those chapters the author gives different points of view for each character. 

The story is about a school shooting.  It discusses the events that lead to the shooting, the shooting itself, and then the trial of the boy who shot the nine students and one teacher that day.

When I first started reading the book and then writing the report I was thinking that I would write about the in-groups and out-groups of high school and how when you are part of the out-group, which the boy shooter was, it could drive him to the extreme, in his case, the shooting.  But it wasn't only him who felt as if he was in the out-group and felt pressure but Josie, the young female in the novel, who was in the in-group had put a lot of pressures on herself.  Which in the end we find out the outcome of what she was going through, and how that played out during the school shooting. 

Then I found an article we had read about stigmatization, which everyone can relate to on some level at some point in their lives.  So I found that would be the concentration of my report, along with in-groups and out-groups. 

I thought that it was important to the story hearing all the points of views of each character, you find out a lot of the contributing factors of their behaviors in relation to one another and how it affects each of the characters.  I really enjoyed this book, it doesn't based off a specific school shooting but it definitely gives insight into the bullying that goes on and how important certain friendships and relationships are.  The novel also gives insight to suicide and mental health and how someone can hide those things from the world.  But that there are a few people who recognize the truth in others.

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin is written using the journal entries kept by John Griffin (a white, middle class American from Texas) as he underwent treatment to temporarily become a black man.  Griffin, as a black man, traversed the streets of New Orleans, Birmingham, Montgomery, Atlanta, and various other cities in the Deep South.  Griffin provides a unique, up-close look into the prejudiced and racist south in 1959.  He is able to write from the mind of a white man but behind the eyes and experiences of a black man.

This book was a written hit to the funny-bone; it was some what painful to read but also uniquely enjoyable.  Growing up in the public school system, I learned with some regularity about the tragedies of the south up until the Civil Rights Movement.  If your average high school history text book and Black Like Me were sand paper, the text book would be a quick glance over with a table sander on low and Black Like Me would be an hour long elbow-greasing with a piece of thick grained sand paper.  Where the text book provides a technical, factual covering of the facts of pre-Civil Rights south, Griffin's book is one man's well written accounts of a black man's every day experiences. 

Some of the people he met and the things he saw made me wince with pitty, and I frequently found myself feeling shameful for the things my race has done.  I couldn't help but feel partially responsible for the horrendous treatment of my fellow man.  On the other hand, it was a real page turner.  Griffin is an easy to read author who is clearly well educated and opinionated but does a wonderful job at making this book a conduit by which to tell his experiences and not a platform to display his opinions and vocabulary.  I would recommend this book to any one wanting anything from an eye opening read, to a medium length page turner.

Author Tim Wise does an excellent job describing the state of racism in America (both before the age of Obama and during his 2008 presidential campaign). Wise's book is broken down into two main parts, or essays as he describes it. The first is an overview of racism and discrimination in America, citing both explicit and subtle forms of racism within the realms of employment and income, housing, education, criminal justice and law, health care, and even going into great detail of the inequality demonstrated during hurricane Katrina in 2006 and the 2008 presidential campaign. This portion of the book was mainly aimed at getting across the point that racism in America is still going strong, despite the fact that statistics show that most white Americans believe Obama's election as our president signals the end of racism in our country. Wise argues that although the election of a black man to our highest ranking position is a big step in the right direction, it does not mean that white people view black people on the same level they may see the president (he uses the analogy of Bill Cosby and the Cosby Show in terms of how white people view him differently because he does not fit the stereotype-consistent role of the "black man in America". Wise also spends a good portion of this part of the book criticizing Obama for his failure to address racism in a more direct fashion, stating that Obama has often side-stepped the issue of race in America and what needs to be done to promote more equality within the realms I mentioned above. My question regarding the first part of the book is: Is it really Obama's task to focus more of this effort on racism in America because he is our first black president? Because of the fact that he is our first black president, does it just come with the territory, whereas presidents before him were not "expected" to tackle this issue because they were old white men?

The second essay of the book focuses on what needs to be done to help alleviate modern racism (or racism 2.0, as Wise refers to it). In particular, Wise focuses on what white America needs to do in order to help promote equality in our country. He mentions five main goals for white America: 1) Take personal responsibility addressing racism and white privilege. 2) Listen to black people regarding racism. 3) Stop the denial of our disturbing history dealing with race. 4) Connect with anti-racist white culture to help promote understanding. 5) Speak up! - When you see racism, no matter how subtle, take action and make a difference.

Overall, I thought this book was a well organized argument for how racism is still a very big issue in our country and it can be seen where ever we go. Wise definitely did an excellent job getting the point across about how Obama's election to president does not mean racism is ending, it is simply not what it used to be....racism has evolved. Wise point out several instances of racism and discrimination in the book that relate to many concepts we have discussed in class, including stereotype threat, ingroup/outgroup biases, situational factors that bring out hidden prejudices, and institutional and modern racism. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good overview of where America stands in our battle against racism and discrimination.

The Pulitzer Prize winner To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless classic written by Harper Lee. The story takes place in the small southern town of Maycomb County, Alabama in the midst of The Great Depression. The narrator of this riveting story is a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, or Scout. Scout is not the typical delicate, shy, and ladylike child that society expects her to be. She is an outspoken, rambunctious and free spirited tomboy who wears overalls, plays in the outdoors alongside her older brother Jem, and is far more intelligent than most in her age group. She and her brother Jem are the children of Maycomb County defense lawyer Atticus Finch. Atticus can be considered an untraditional man in several respects. For starters he is a single father raising two children. He also encourages and stresses the importance of an education and egalitarian beliefs to Scout and Jem during a time when it was very unpopular to do so.

Throughout the text, Scout walks us through her childhood adventures in this conservative southern Alabama town alongside Jem and occasionally their best friend Dill. At first life seems simple. But when their father Atticus takes on the case of his life, they all begin to realize the severity of racial turmoil that defined American society during this time period.

  In the story, Atticus takes on the case of a Negro man named Tom Robinson. Tom is a young family man whose only crime is that he is African American. He stands accused of raping the eldest daughter of Mr. Ewells, an impoverished social misfit in Maycomb County. The Ewells are an unpopular family who live on the outskirts of Maycomb in the midst of the town's dump. They are known by everyone in the county for being aggressive, dishonest, uncivilized, unclean, and uneducated. Despite these facts they hold a great advantage over the most civilized and honest African Americans: they are white.

 Scout and Jem encounter dirty stares and insults by many of their fellow townsfolk because their father is defending a Negro. Through example however, Atticus teaches his children that the color of your skin does not define what kind of person you are. Everyone should be treated with kindness and respect. Scout and Jem manage to hold their heads high and support their father's cause. Despite the best efforts of Atticus however, Tom is convicted of raping Mr. Ewells' daughter and is sentenced to death. Scout and Jem learn the grim reality that justice for all does not exist in the ignorant and racist American culture.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful text to read when learning about stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Readers can get examples of all three of these elements throughout the entire story not just in the context of black versus white, but also society versus women, and poor whites versus everyone else. Some of the social psychological underpinnings of this novel deal with constructs such as categorization, Social Identity Theory, depersonalization and dehumanization, out-group homogeneity, social motives such as self-enhancement and control, and the list goes on.

Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful representation of the struggles experienced by generations of minorities as well as females throughout American history. From a social scientific standpoint, the novel gives social psychological novices a well rounded summary of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination along with solutions to such issues.

For my book report I read Michael Eric Dyson's Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster, an analysis of the events leading up to and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This book offers insight into how Hurricane Katrina affected the city of New Orleans, and why it was that race and social status mattered in the way the country responded to Katrina.

Dyson reviews some of the social injustices which have plagued African Americans in New Orleans for decades as well as the inherent disadvantages that left African Americans stranded in the path of the storm. Many parties, including the media, FEMA, and former president George W. Bush, are called out for their mismanagement of relief efforts and coverage of Katrina. From the effects of the media coverage on public opinion of those left in the storm's wake, to the social structure that originally allowed such economic disparity in New Orleans, the events surrounding one of the worst natural disasters in recent U.S. history carry with it connections to various psychological theories of prejudice and stereotyping. Looking at this book in terms of the content learned in SPD can allow for the interpretation of the mishaps that occurred throughout the duration of Katrina, at a psychological level. We can also better understand the impact a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina has on perceptions of victims, especially when the victims are mostly poor African Americans.  

If you are interested in learning more about this particular book or other books by Michael Eric Dyson please follow the link below.
http://www.michaelericdyson.com/comehell/
 

The following are books that relate to stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination. These can be used as supplementary readers or book report assignments. 

Feel free to comment with other titles.

Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority

http://www.amazon.com/Brainwashed-Challenging-Myth-Black-Inferiority/dp/1401925928/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268944530&sr=1-1

The History of White People

http://www.amazon.com/History-White-People-Irvin-Painter/dp/0393049345/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268944451&sr=8-1

Sidewalk

http://www.amazon.com/Sidewalk-Mitchell-Duneier/dp/0374527253/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265317146&sr=8-1

Bright Shiny Morning

http://www.amazon.com/Bright-Shiny-Morning-James-Frey/dp/B002XULY0K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265317194&sr=1-1-spell

Hidden Brain

http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Brain-Unconscious-Presidents-Control/dp/0385525214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264521099&sr=8-1

Nigger

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375421726/ref=cm_rdp_product

My Bondage and My Freedom

http://www.amazon.com/My-Bondage-Freedom-Frederick-Douglass/dp/1604244925/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263487078&sr=1-2

 

Them

http://www.amazon.com/Them-Novel-Nathan-McCall/dp/1416549161/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412572&sr=8-8

Black Like Me

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Like-Me-Complete-Unabridged/dp/B000J0JHIM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412611&sr=1-3

White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

http://www.amazon.com/White-Like-Me-Reflections-Privileged/dp/1933368993/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412661&sr=1-1

Passing for normal.

http://www.amazon.com/Passing-Normal-Compulsion-Amy-Wilensky/dp/076790186X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412716&sr=1-1

Member of the club: Reflections on life in a racially polarized world.

http://www.amazon.com/Member-Club-Reflections-Racially-Polarized/dp/0060984309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412804&sr=1-1

 

Hate Crimes: America's War on those Who are Different

http://www.amazon.com/Hate-Crimes-Revisited-Americas-Different/dp/0813339227/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412847&sr=1-1

 

From Hate Crimes to Human Rights: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard.

http://www.amazon.com/Hate-Crimes-Human-Rights-Tribute/dp/1560232560/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412888&sr=1-1

 

Fat Rights: Dilemmas of Difference and Personhood

http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Rights-Dilemmas-Difference-Personhood/dp/0814748139/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263412978&sr=1-1

 

Lives on the Boundary

http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Boundary-Achievements-Educationally-Underprepared/dp/0143035460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263413006&sr=1-1

 

Passing

http://www.amazon.com/Passing-Norton-Critical-Editions-Larsen/dp/0393979164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263413124&sr=8-1

 

The Souls of Black Folk

http://www.amazon.com/Souls-Black-Folk-W-E-B-Bois/dp/1420925857/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263413171&sr=1-1

 

Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster

http://www.amazon.com/Come-Hell-High-Water-Hurricane/dp/046501772X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263841582&sr=8-1

 

To Kill a Mockingbird

http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0060935464/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263841647&sr=1-1

 

19 Minutes

http://www.amazon.com/Nineteen-Minutes-Jodi-Picoult/dp/0743496736/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263841686&sr=1-1

 

The Human Stain

http://www.amazon.com/Human-Stain-Novel-Philip-Roth/dp/0375726349/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264009317&sr=8-1

 

Frankenstein

 

http://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-Penguin-Classics-Mary-Shelley/dp/0141439475/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264009405&sr=1-1

 

Long Way to Go: Black and White in America

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Go-Black-America/dp/0871137232/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716649&sr=8-1

 

Color Blind: Seeing Beyond Race in a Race Obsessed World

http://www.amazon.com/Color-Blind-Seeing-Beyond-Race-Obsessed-World/dp/0060928875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716693&sr=1-1

 

Racial Healing: Confronting the Fear Between Blacks and Whites

http://www.amazon.com/Racial-Healing-Confronting-Between-Blacks/dp/0385475179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716727&sr=1-1

 

Not all Black and White: Affirmative Action and American Values

http://www.amazon.com/Not-All-Black-White-Affirmative/dp/0374525412/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716771&sr=1-1

 

Off White

http://www.amazon.com/Off-White-memoir-Laurie-Gunst/dp/1569474303/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716831&sr=1-2

 

Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk about Race and Identity

http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Other-Biracial-Americans/dp/0688143474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716905&sr=1-1

 

Double Exposure: Poverty and Race in America

http://www.amazon.com/Double-Exposure-Poverty-Race-America/dp/1563249626/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716950&sr=1-1

 

Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice

http://www.amazon.com/Uprooting-Racism-People-Racial-Justice/dp/0865714592/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264716985&sr=1-1

 

Jews and Blacks

http://www.amazon.com/Jews-Blacks-Dialogue-Religion-Culture/dp/0452275911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264717089&sr=1-1

 

Lies My Teacher Told Me

http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264717117&sr=1-1

 

A Chief and Her People

http://www.amazon.com/Mankiller-Chief-Her-People-Wilma/dp/0312206623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264717157&sr=1-1-spell

 

Showing My Color: Impolite Essays on Race and Identity

http://www.amazon.com/Showing-My-Color-Impolite-Identity/dp/0060928018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264717208&sr=1-1

 

A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story

http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Power-Black-Womans-Story/dp/0385471076/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264717294&sr=1-4

 

Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Kids-Sitting-Together-Cafeteria/dp/0465083617/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264717370&sr=1-1