In
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Arnold Spirit creates a drawing where he splits the figure of a student in two. One side is labeled "White" and the other "Indian." We've been talking quite a bit about the term double-consciousness, or the state of traveling between two realities in one's life. Certainly, Arnold experiences the expectations and assumptions of both Native and White American cultures when he goes back and forth to school every day.
Though we may or may not have conflicting ethnic cultures that we go back and forth between on a daily basis, we do travel to school and then home. The expectations and realities of these two realms are often very different, even for myself as a teacher.
To illustrate this reality, we're going to create a visual using photobooth. I've created an unlabeled version of my face as an example of what I'd like you to create. One side of your face should have a school setting in the background, and one should be taken somewhere off campus. Here's my photo creation:
Looks weird, right? I know. But, you can easily see that I am different in the two environments that I spend most of my time in. At school, I am happy but formal looking. At home, I am more happy and look more relaxed.
We'll work on these next class. Please send me your two pics by then. We'll work to add labels to our pics in class.
