Insider/Outsider Debate

This week we had an interesting discussion about how important it is to have Native American people writing stories and children's literature, not just people who think they know about Native Americans. When I first think about the insider/outsider debate, i immediately think that only insiders should be writing about the ethnic group that they belong to. i feel this way because then they will be giving the reader a true understanding about what it is like to be a part of that group instead of just what it seems like to be a part of that group.

It is hard to say whether a person who isn't in a specific culture should be writing about that culture. I feel like this might lead to stereotypes coming out because the person who is writing about it hasn't experienced what a person from that cutlure has experienced. I feel like the reader will get a better understanding and a truer feeling about a culture if the person who wrote it has really experienced what they are writing about.

I would never try to write a story about something that i have never experineced. I would feel fake and i would be nervous about portraying something that i have never experineced and don't know if it really is like what i am saying.

I would like to know what other people feel about this subject and i am interested to hear about this in class.

Dana

class blog site

http://msute448fs07.blogspot.com/

First Post

Hi!

My name is Dana Greaves and I'm a senior in Elementary Education at MSU. My specialization is in Language Arts and I'm really interested in literacy.

I am excited about this class because I took TE 348 and i loved the class. I find that except over the summer, i don't have a lot of time to read books for pleasure and when i take youth lit. classes is allows me to find interesting books and discuss them and i actually enjoy and look forward to reading the books in class.

I don't have a lot of experience with diverse literature and that was one main reason why i wanted to take this class. I think that i will learn a lot about what good diverse literature is and why it is so important to have diverse literature in your classroom.

I'm really excited about this class and to learn as much as i can about diversity in youth literature!

-dana