BORN A CRIME CHAPTERS 8-13

 

1. CONTINUE READER’S JOURNAL FOR BORN A CRIME, CHAPTERS 8-13 AND PULL TWO PASSAGES TO DIALOGUE WITH FOR YOUR JOURNAL. [Note: Some students already read chapter eight last week and wrote about it here. If you wrote about it last week you don’t need to do so again!]

NOTE: Make sure you choose different passages than other readers in the class. Please post this to your blog. 

Why did you choose this particular passage to write about?  Describe your thoughts and questions. Did it awaken a thought or response of your own?  Describe it vividly. Did it raise questions you hope will be answered?  How so?

"I went down to spend a few days with my father, and I made it my mission: This weekend I will get to know m father. As soon as I arrived, I started peppering him with questions...He started getting visibly irritated." (110)

- I chose this passage, because it sets up an interesting dynamic between Noah and his father. I also "interview" my dad sometimes, asking him a lot of questions about his life, but he always answers happily. This contrast helped me understand that there might be a bit of strain between Noah and his father. I'm curious to see how they'll bridge this gap.

"We'd hang out and have great conversations, but for the life of me, I never considered myself worthy of dating her" (147)

-This quote stuck out to me, because I had the same mindset as Noah two years ago. The antics and trouble I got into due to aforementioned mindset make me wonder if Noah will experience something similar, and how it will effect his character.

 

2. VIEW THE FINAL PROJECT BORN A CRIME DOCUMENT FOUND ON THE COURSE CONTENT FOR WEEK FIFTEEN AND THE WELCOME PAGE. Based on this what do you think you’ll explore and write about on your blog?                                                                                                                                                                                      -The topic I want to spend some time on is the exploration of South African culture. There's so much about this world that I don't know about quite yet. Learning about a new culture could really open my eyes in regards to how I live compared to others.
3. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• “Don’t ever forget: He chose you” (Noah 108), Trevor learns in chapter eight. What else does he learn about his father in this chapter?

-Throughout the rest of the chapter, the only thing Noah learns about his father is that he's very secretive, even after spending the whole day with him watching F1 and listening to Elvis records. All Noah's dad can say is: "You see? You're getting to know me already."

• “That’s what apartheid did: It convinced every group that it was because of the other race that they didn’t get into the club,” (Noah 120) writes in chapter nine. What are some examples how the government convinced other races to hate each other and how arbitrary it was to decide who was white and who was colored? “But I knew I’d done a terrible thing” (Noah 125) writes later in the chapter. What happened?

- Colored people were "brainwashed into believing [their] blood was tainted" (120). They were taught to strive to be like the white man. The white man, on the other hand, was taught to see the black man as inferior. Noah was seen as either white or black depending on what side was looking at him. The only times he'd be one or the other was when his bullies needed someone to pick on. On page 125, Noah has Abel beat up the one of the  kids who assaulted and threw Mulberries at him. Seeing the terror in the boy's made Noah realize that he was a kid just like himself- someone taught to hate themselves. Noah feels bad and wonders "who had bullied him that he needed to bully me?" (125)

• In chapter thirteen, Trevor Noah is nearly arrested and expelled for shoplifting. What ironic twist of fate saves him from getting into serious trouble? “But I’m consumed with regret for the things I didn’t do, the choices I didn’t make, the things I didn’t say. We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection, but regret is the thing we should fear most” (Noah 143). How do you relate to this quote?

- Noah is saved from trouble thanks to the grainy security camera video. The black and white screen made Trevor Noah appear completely white. Noah's authority thought that Teddy was hanging out with a white student, as opposed to the olive-skinned Trevor Noah.

- I relate to the quote, because I've been stuck with the same regret for a few years now. There was this girl that I was great friends with. We both hung out all the time, and I'll admit, I had feelings for her. I wanted to officially ask her out, but the thought of rejection scared me away. By the time I finally mustered up the courage to say something, it was too late. She began going out with one of my peers and I was left full of regret. If I'd done something sooner, things could've been different. Now, the mistakes of my past haunt me.