Personal Narrative: Through The Eyes Of Madrid

Have you ever walked into a class and it seems like everyone has already formed their friend groups and you are excluded? Do ever feel like you’re not a part of the crowd just because you don’t have the newest trendy shoes? Most would describe this as feeling like an outsider, and it is a very common thing. The experience of feeling like an outsider is universal because everyone is different in terms of appearance and life circumstances, new experiences are unavoidable, and society tends to alienate people if they stray from the social norm.

The essay “Being an Other” was written by Melissa Algranati. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Birmingham and has a master’s degree from Colombia University. The reason as to why she wrote this particular essay was to discuss and describe her experiences of not fitting easily into any particular identity group. Her intended audience are those individuals who seem to have difficulties feeling part of a group. The text was originally published in Thomas Dublin’s “Becoming American, Becoming Ethnic: College Students Explore Their Roots.” Algranati’s identity crisis led her to publish this essay and more importantly show what it was like to be mistaken for another ethnic background. She goes on to make the noteworthy argument,

it feels to feel out of place. Not just in a group of people, but in this

Ray Bradbury shows us that people with a difference are ostracised and hated with the example of how the children treat Margot differently for being different to them. He explains by using contrasting sensory imagery just how much just the way that a person acts can make them look different to everyone else and how much they stand out in a crowd. He is also implying to us that just because someone is different it doesn’t mean we have to exclude them just because that’s what normally happens because you might just cost them the joy for the next seven years to

Have you ever felt lonely or being casted out because you are different compared to others? How did you feel? Were there any setbacks along the way due to the fact that you were an outsider?

Otherness as defined in FFAR lecture four (-- removed HTML --) > is a “radical alterity, or difference, which can take the symbolic form of a person or a group of people, a place, or a culture”. Otherness is the quality of being “different” and “other” than a so called norm. I believe Jean Michel basquiat struggled immensely with “otherness” in his life. As a “young black man in a white art world” (www.basquiat.com) basquiat was othered simply because of the colour of his skin. In this his work captures a visual commentary of the marginalisation of african americans.

Because of your interest, characteristics, or hobbies, not appealing to a particular person or group. Therefore, being excluded from a group or seen differently by a group like the cool kids. Moreover, it happens to everyone because everyone has a certain mentality of what a normal person is to them. For instance, if you wear mostly black, you're considered to be emo. And, when a certain person or group doesn’t fit within your requirements or isn’t relatable.

Each social class sees people outside of their social class as “others” so their lenses change from who are like them and who are “others.” But also, personality factors in forming your lenses. If you are stubborn and not open to change, your lenses take the same view as you. While you are open to a change of yourself and others, your lenses change with you.

Imagine yourself being a person wearing colorful clothes in a room filled with people wearing all black. You obviously stand out. However, every time you try to make friends , people would turn away and at you funny. Feeling alienated or alone may come to mind. Thats a feeling many can relate to Discrimnation in America has been a problem for generations.To gain insight and to combat the issue, it is imporant to read narratives of people that have been though or felt oppressed .The connection between both of these autobiographical essays is how society made them quetion their identities.. By examining “How It feels to be to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”by Gloria Anzaldua , the reader can see how the author 's’ individuality makes them strive to figure out their identity in a new environment. Both of these authors retain their confidence and their culture in a new environment in different ways

The need to feel a sense of belonging is a powerful and universal one. This sense is formed from connections made with others. The result can be a range of emotions, from an increase in the feeling of security and self esteem, to feelings of unhappiness and loneliness. When someone does not fit in, often because they are different, the negative emotions that they feel can be very harmful.

Othering happens everyday without us noticing. We go hang out with people like us, similar to us, but don't talk to or try to be anywhere near people who are different. For example smart people usually hang out with other smart people, or the athletic kids hang out with the other athletic kids. Some people don’t notice it because they grew up like that. Othering has embedded itself into our world, and most people have no idea its happening.

While group discrimination such as slavery and racism is no longer as big a issue as it was in the past compared to today, but still the impulse of viewing outsiders with suspicion or as inferior remains, while suspicions tend to go with appearance, as well as racial connotations. Extending on difference based on class, nationalism, culture and religion. The “other” due to political and governmental structure therefore the “other” is derived to have a say nor an opinion as they are not taken for granted. One of the most popular existing otherizing is

We don’t come out of the womb knowing the difference amongst ourselves, its taught to us. My mother is about half a shade lighter than me, and my aunt, her sister who may be a shade or two darker, lived with my grandmother when I was five or six years of age. Both women ended up with dead beat husbands and fathers, who looked very different in appearance. My father was dark skin, and my cousins father was light skin. Since I was young and even as an adult I have a distinct line going down the middle of my biceps. Over the years I have noticed

In conclusion to being different i had just recently found out it is okay to be different, no one is actually the same. If we were all the same life would be boring, Every single individual has different characteristics and think differently we are not robots. Being unique is a wonderful thing, everyone has a different story that can be told with different experiences that he/she can teach others, so that we all learn from each other. My father said if you see any flaws point it out and tell me, i will do the same about you so that we can help each other

Being different has never occurred to me before. I believed that since everyone is human, we are all connected, that we should not be judged based on what we look like. I was wrong.