After watching a movie or listening to a TEDtalk or reading a piece of literature, a poem, or any other piece of writing, fill in the chart below. When complete, file into your “Inquiry” folder OR print and keep for future reference. Your teacher may ask to keep your work as an example to expand understanding in the class
Title: The Friday Everything Changed by Anne Hart Your name: Alex R
| Which Essential Question(s) is addressed in this piece of literature? | Content:
a) What happens in the text/movie/Talk? b) What is the main message/theme? |
Understanding:
How does the text answer the EQ? Answer in full sentences. Record relevant quotes and page numbers/lines if needed. |
| When is it acceptable to challenge the values of society?
Why do people feel the need to conform to society and it’s expectations?
Why are we afraid of change |
In the story The Friday Everything Changed, there is a question that goes against the norms of society. A girl named Alma asks the teacher, “Why can’t girls go for the water too?” The water bucket was shown as a job that only big, strong boys could do. The story takes place in the 50s, where gender roles were strongly enforced. Alma asked the question, believing that girls could be just as, or more stronger than boys. | When is it acceptable to challenge the values of society?
I think it’s acceptable to challenge the values of society when these values go against a large portion of the population. In the Friday Everything Changed, one value, or norm, in that society was “boys always carry the water bucket”, but that value excluded the girls. It went against them.
Why do people feel the need to conform to society and it’s expectations? Going against the norms of society is change, and for some reason, we’re practically afraid of it. Conforming to society’s expectations is the norm. Sometimes, going outside society’s expectations, creating change, is met with resistance. In the story, after Alma askes the special question, the boys are worried because the water bucket is theirs. It’s always been theirs, and they don’t want to share it. So after they all leave the classroom, the boys try to jump Alma, in an attempt to deter them from wanting to carry the water bucket (pg. 6).
Why are we afraid of change? We’re scared of things that we don’t know, and that’s change. It’s something that we sometimes don’t understand. Society has had this whole understanding of “boys will always be stronger than girls” for a long time, and some people are perfectly content with how society is. But when people try to change society, some people will retaliate because they don’t want to change.
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