Common Reader Assignment
I chose both a window approach and mirror approach. I chose the window approach because I
will never know what it is like to be African American. I will never understand the struggles that
happen just because you have a different skin tone. And then I chose the mirror approach
because I do understand what it is like to be a woman and be thought less of just because you are
not a man.
My first slide on my PowerPoint is different pictures of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil
Rights Movement began in the late 1940’s and was spearheaded by Martin Luther King Jr. It was
a political movement that focused on ending racial segregation and discrimination. In our
common reader book, the women are currently facing the backlash from the Civil Rights
Movement and must persevere through the racial discrimination. I chose this as my window
point of view because I will never understand the type of discrimination these women went
through just because of the color of their skin. This was a learning opportunity for me to read
from their point of view on what it was like to work in that time setting.
My second slide in the PowerPoint was different pictures of the Women’s Rights Movement.
The Women’s Rights Movement was a long time coming but the major changes were in the
1960’s. This movement focused on women’s liberation and their rights to be equal to their male
counterparts. The women featured in “Hidden Figures” are also facing sexism. I chose this point
of view as my mirror approach because I can relate to being a woman in a world where men still
completely dominate the world.
For my last slide on PowerPoint, I chose to show Civil Rights and Women’s Right in our current
time period. Even though 60+ years has happened between both political movements, you
couldn’t tell. There is still racism happening and sadly I believe it will always happen. It is still a
war on women. Women make less than men and are treated as less than men. Time may have
passed but it still is very similar to how it was back then.