Witness

I was very surprised when I opened up Witness because it was not what I expected it to be. Granted, it was a very quick read, I thought that poems were an odd choice for the message the book was trying to convey. The one idea I feel for choosing poem formats is that it makes the book very different from other books that are out about the KKK.
The poems were actually quite unusual to me just in the sense that they weren't really poems. For the most part, poems are sometimes difficult to read to because of the imagery behind it. In Witness, they were poems but they were almost like small stories. In an overall sense, I really did enjoy reading the book and I felt that looking at specific characters allowed you to deeply look at the book.
The only suggestion I have is that we get into groups with different characters because I would like to see what other students noticed about the character they had.

Awards

After reading about awards and the discussion we had about awards, I still feel unsure about what is fair. I do know, though, what each side is fighting for. I understand that it is important for all authors to have a chance to be acknowledged and sometimes that can only happen if there is a specific award. I also understand that this can be seen as unfair and discriminating.

For instance, the Coretta Scott King Award, excludes all authors other than blacks. Is that fair? In some cases yes, because without it, those authors would have less of a chance of being recognized. I do no think it is the intention of those award committees to intentionally discriminate but I could see how others would be offended.

I think the best thing to do is to have designated awards for certain races, genders, religions, or whatever. However, to maintain that balance, I think there should be awards that except everyone, of every kind, and base the award on the quality of the book.

Bronx Masquerade

We discussed in out group how the book might have actually perpetuated stereotypes. I am not sure if it something I agree with. I know that stereotypes might have been perceived but in some cases, that's how it is inner city schools. I don't feel that it was the authors intention to create stereotypes, rather; I think she was trying to make the book all the more real.

We also discussed why was Tyrone so important? All of the characters went through a transformation but why was he so important? I seemed to think that it was because he was the most creative in the book. He was the one that was the most excited about doing poetry because it gave him the chance to express himself.

The last thing we touched on in our discussion was how quickly all the characters solved their problems. We all cam to an agreement that each had a very deep problem but at the end, it was resolved. I think it is pretty unrealistic how quickly something like that can be solved. I know for me I could not get over a serious problem in one school year.