Week One

      My team was assigned to read the introduction to Rereading America.  It was important to read because it helped me understand what was to expect this semester, better understand the topics we will be discussing in class, and also how to think critically while also challenging cultural myths.
The intro begins by explaining what critical thinking means, and “instead of simply collecting facts, a critical thinker probes them, looking for underlying assumptions and ideas.” Explaining that, “a critical thinker cultivates the ability to imagine and value points of view different from her own- then strengthens, refines, enlarges, or reshapes her ideas.” The author then goes on to explain the power of cultural myths and how culture shapes the way we think, it tells us what “makes sense”.  Holding cultures together by providing shared customs, ideas, beliefs, and values, as well as a common language.  The author reminds us that, “good critical thinkers in all academic disciplines welcome the opportunity to challenge conventional ways of seeing the world; they seem to take delight in questioning everything that appears clear and self-evident.” Helping me realize that I will need to think a lot deeper and question things I may never question, things that seem simple may be more complex once looked at and evaluated critically.
     The author then explains the structure of Rereading America, breaking the book into six chapters each one addressing one of the dominant myths of American culture. Starting off closest to home with the myth of the model family, next turning to the myth of educational empowerment. Explaining that they chose to start by examining home and education cultural myths because of the impact both of them seem to have on students and most all students being able to relate to both with having mixed views and experiences with both. Following up with possibly the most known of all American myths, the American Dream. The chapter is titled “Money and Success” and addresses the idea of unlimited personal opportunity that has brought so many to America in pursuit of “the dream. In addition, the chapter lets you weigh some of he costs the dream and to reconsider each persons definition of a successful life.
     The second half of the book focuses on three cultural myths that offer greater challenges because they touch on highly charged social issues.  Chapter four, named “Created Equal” examines myths that powerfully shaped ethnic and racial relations in the U.S. Probing at the nature of prejudice, this chapter also explores how prejudicial attitudes are created and ethnic identities within a race-divided society. Chapter five considers the socially constructed categories of gender and the traditional roles that enforce differences between men and women. Noting that culture divides and defines our world and channels our experience into oppositions like black and white, straight and gay, etc. The sixth and final chapter is named, “Ah Wilderness”. It addresses the American attitude toward nature and the environment. It offers you the opportunity to look at and engage yourself with some of the most talked about environmental challenges involved with climate change and global warming.
     Next the author explains the power of dialogue explaining, “ Critical thinking is a matter of dialogue and debate- discovering relationships between apparently unrelated ideas, finding parallels between your own experiences and the ideas you read about, exploring points of agreement and conflict between yourself and other people. Then we learn about active learning and how to read the selections in this book and what we should be doing while we read such as asking questions about what we read while also annotating and writing notes on the pages where we think it is important while showing us examples and also how to analyze and work with visual images throughout the book and their significance.