Table of Contents

Table of Contents Reflecting Back On This Last Quarter My Growth in Critical Thinking Not So Hasty! Learning to Analyze Who’s the Outsider?(Original Who’s the Outsider? Reminscing with an Audience Coffee Hour Saving The Best For Last Pop Divas vs. Traditional Childhood

Who's the Outsider? (Original)

Personally, non-conformity has meant that a person is different from the majority. A person can make themselves an outsider by nature or by choice. Sometimes people are made to be outsiders by others based upon petty characteristics such as ethnicity or gender. The disscussion focused mainly upon Pai's desire to gain her grandfather's acceptance, but failing to do so because of her own inate character that 'bucked the system' so to speak. Conformity is measured by how well you identify with the cultural bounderies of your community. Our discussion about Pai's non-conformity to her tribe's cultural traditions held that she did it in an effort to gain the acceptance of her grandfather.

One view that was discussed was that Pai's intention in making herself an outsider was that she was trying to assume leadership and change the role of a woman as defined by the tribe. This was view was not shared by many because Pai's behavior and stubborn personality was thought to be the primary reason she was an outsider, not because of any active plan to assume leadership.
The deep-rooted traditions that had been held by the Maori people so long seemed to be breaking and unraveling like the rope that Koro used to describe the tribal line to Pai. Pai's destiny and will for the tribe was that they be a team and work together. She didn't want the leader of the tribe to be alone and carry the weight all on their own as she had seen Koro do. This belief in teamwork set her apart from her people, who were used to having one supreme leader who was male and did not approve of female leaders.

The traditions of a culture or community determine whether or not people will fit in. If they do not assume the traditions of the community they will be outcasts, unless by some miracle the community changes to accomodate new traditions and beliefs, which is not very likely. The film depicts non-conformity winning out in the end with the tribe accepting Pai for who she is, this doesn't occur very often in real life. Initially Pai is made an outsider because of her gender and as she gets older her non-conformity increases as her stubborn nature makes her an outsider to the tribe.

Reflecting Back On This Last Quarter

This quarter has been such a challenge! I had put English off as long as I could and finally decided to get it over with. Writing is one of my toughest subjects and I was not looking forward to this class in the least. But I was very surprised to find myself actually enjoying this class. There were a lot of occasions where I felt like pulling my hair out, but all in all I enjoyed myself. I started at EVCC in the fall of 2007, taking one class at a time. It was an exciting but very frightening experience seeing as I had been homeschooled since the first grade. I wasn’t used to the classroom structure or the vast diversity of viewpoints and opinions. I am happy to say my confidence has increased greatly with each passing quarter and I have begun to take two classes a quarter. Kudos to all of you who go to school fulltime and work fulltime, I don’t know how you do it!

The themes that were studied this quarter consistently challenged my thinking and caused me to look deeper and analyze my opinions as well as others. We discussed identity, community and tradition from a variety of angles and points of view. Before this class I had never really put all of these subjects together to compare how they cumulatively work together to form a person’s character and paradigms. The discussions about identity that ensued reminded me that beauty is in the eye of the wearer and not the beholder. Cultural stipulations can certainly limit our thinking. People are judged and rejected based on a number of petty issues such as gender, appearance, personality, behavior and cultural background. It caused me to ponder into why I would have assumptions about people and to seriously consider whether my assumptions were rightly grounded or not. Unit two, community expanded my understanding of what a community is and entails. I had always thought of community as either a literal group of people that lived together or a group of people that shared life together based on similar beliefs or interests. From my understanding there was a certain level of long-term commitment that was involved. Now I see a broader definition of community that can include either a permanent or temporal group of people that share life together based on similar backgrounds, beliefs and interests. I never thought of runners in a race as a community vs. Chinatown in Seattle. This unit opened my eyes to a new definition of community. In unit three we discussed traditions. Tradition is a touchy subject with many people and changing traditions can really “push up daisies” when you are dealing with long-held customs and beliefs. This unit really “hit home” for me you could say. I have a hard time accepting change because I like things to be predictable and familiar since that is what is comfortable and safe. It was great to read other people’s posts who had similar thoughts and opinions about current issues in our culture.

For our portfolio we are supposed to pick four pieces of our work from the quarter that demonstrate our critical thinking, audience awareness and voice, revision skills and a piece that represents our overall progress in this class. For my critical thinking piece I chose my discussion post response to the essay by Ellen Ullman “Museum of Me”. This piece showcases the fine-tuning of my analytical skills; it also demonstrates how I have learned to read impartially but still think critically and draw conclusions based on analysis and not presumption. My audience awareness and voice were best demonstrated by my blog for the tradition unit. “Coffee Hour” was a fun piece to write; I liked being able to talk casually about something that doesn’t have to persuade anyone. I think it causes the reader to recall memories about their own family and the traditions they have. For my revision piece I chose my second timed writing assignment for unit two entitled “Who’s the Outsider”. I really wanted to develop the ideas in this paper a lot more and organize it differently to make it more coherent. For my writers choice I chose my third and last paper for the quarter. My paper is titled “Traditional Childhood vs. Pop Divas”. I feel it is my best work this quarter because it exhibits my growth in organization and developing ideas. Thank you for taking the time to look at my portfolio, I hope you enjoy it.

My Growth in Critical Thinking

The discussions in this class were very essential in helping me develop my critical thinking. I enjoyed reading my classmate’s posts immensely. I was always surprised by the different viewpoints and interpretations of our readings. The discussions helped me expand my understanding a little more and see things that I would not have noticed had a classmate not pointed it out. My discussion board post “Not so Hasty!” exhibits my critical thinking skills in how I analyzed Ellen Ullman’s essay “The Museum of Me”. Usually when I read something an opinion starts to form in my mind about the subject or author before I reach the second paragraph; but now I can say that when I read an article or essay, I do it with impartiality and then draw conclusions based on the evidence provided in the writer’s work.

After reading Ullman’s essay I came to the conclusion that: “she has some good points but I would not go so far as to label the internet as an asocial ‘me-ism’. Some people might take the internet to an extreme and become asocial, but that does not give anyone the right to deprive everyone else of the internet just because of a small minority’s weakness.” I found the elements of truth in her essay and evaluated the evidence to back them up and formed an opinion based on those truths without disregarding the author because of the few exaggerations she made.

Not So Hasty!

Ellen Ullman’s article “The Museum of Me” brings up some good points. She is correct that we are loosing the very socialization that makes us a community to the impersonal, emotionless computer. Technology enables us to save the time and trouble of communicating with other human beings in person. We don’t have to get up from our chair, change out of our pajamas, acknowledge another person’s existence or even pay attention to what they are saying. We have traded conversation and social interaction for the click of a mouse and an automated phone message. The internet has gradually developed in us a microwave mentality, everything has to be quick, we must have it and we must have it now! This microwave mentality gives us the right to complain when we actually have to wait for something and the right to throw a hissy fit when we can’t get the service we want or someone messes up our order.

Though the internet has its downsides and it causes asocial behavior, I wouldn’t paint it in such a villainous light as Ullman did. The ‘world revolves around me’ advertising strategy isn’t just present in the internet world, it is a growing strategy in many fields used to attract consumers. Such examples would be: “Albertsons, it’s your store”, McDonalds “have it your way”, L’Oreal’s “Because you’re worth it” and many others. The internet does have its purpose; it makes shopping, site seeing and traveling more feasible to people who can’t leave their home easily or can’t afford it. As I already stated, Ullman has some good points but I wouldn’t go so far as to label the internet as the primary cause for the asocial ‘me-ism’ mentality that society struggles with today. Some people do take the internet to an extreme and become asocial, but that does not justify depriving everyone else of the internet just because of one minority’s weakness and lack of self-discipline.

Learning to analyze

This assignment required that I come to a conclusion about conformity and non-conformity based on cultural assumptions. I was supposed to analyze how the film displayed crossing cultural lines and expound upon how my personal opinions and those of my classmates were challenged by those exhibited in the film. I did well summarizing what my classmate’s opinions were and how they were challenged, but I neglected to add my own analysis of specific moments in the film. “Our discussion about Pai's non-conformity to her tribe's cultural traditions held that she did it in an effort to gain the favor of her grandfather.” In revising this paper I integrated my analysis of the film and some sections of the film that displayed them.

Who's the Outsider?

Personally, non-conformity has meant that a person is different from the majority. A person can make themselves an outsider either by nature or by choice. Sometimes people are made to be outsiders by others based upon petty characteristics such as ethnicity or gender. The disscussion fueled by the movie focused mainly upon Pai's desire to gain her grandfather's acceptance, but failing to do so because of her own inate character that 'bucked the system' so to speak. Initially Pai was made an outsider because of her gender but as she got older her non-conformity was increased by her stubborn nature and this is what made her a true outsider to the tribe. Conformity is measured by how well a person identifies with the cultural bounderies of the community. Our discussion about Pai's non-conformity to her tribe's cultural traditions held that she did it in an effort to gain the favor of her grandfather. But in reality Pai could never be truly satisfied in this vain venture because pleasing someone else can never bring happiness when it is the motivation for person’s lifestyle, beliefs or actions.


One view that was discussed was that Pai's intention in making herself an outsider was that she was trying to assume leadership and change the role of a woman as defined by the tribe. She continually overstepped the social gender bounds by participating in strictly male dominated activities such as fighting with the taiaha and sitting in with the men at the warrior ceremony. This view of Pai’s intentions was not shared by many because Pai's behavior and stubborn personality was thought to be the primary reason she was an outsider and not because of any active plan to assume leadership. Pai only ever wanted to bring unity to her tribe and relieve some of her grandfather’s stress; the last thing she wanted to do was displease him. But her grandfather, Koro would not recognize her desire to unite the tribe; he could not see her as a leader by any stretch of the imagination. To Koro she was just a useless girl; the one who killed his grandson and the future chief of the tribe.


The deep-rooted traditions that were held by the Maori people so long seemed to be breaking and unraveling like the rope that Koro used to describe the tribal line to Pai. Twisted and woven together with care, the tribe’s line still broke, demonstrating its weakness. Only Pai could repair it and make it strong again. Pai's destiny and will for the tribe was that they be a team and work together. She didn't want the leader of the tribe to carry the weight of the tribe alone as she had seen Koro do. This belief in teamwork set her apart from her people, who were used to having one supreme leader who was male; they did not approve of female leaders. Time and again she proved by their standards and traditions that she was worthy to be chief, but tradition would not allow them to stand up and take notice until their traditions nearly cost her life. After this incident Koro and the tribe began to see and recognize that their gods or ancestors were telling them something new and changing the traditions.


The customs held by a culture or community determines whether or not a person will fit into that community. If they do not assume the traditions of the community they will be outcasts, unless by some miracle the community changes to accommodate new traditions and beliefs-which is not very likely. The film depicts non-conformity winning out in the end with the tribe accepting Pai for who she is. Unfortunately this doesn't occur very often in real life. If one lesson could encompass the message of this film it would be that cultural defined roles and traditions change and so we should not marginalize people because of them.