What's in a name?

My name: Craig Alan DeVore

     According to the website Behind the Name, my name, Craig refers to a crag or rock or someone who lives near a crag. I completely agree with the meaning because it describes me as a person. I love rock climbing and am at home in the mountains and on a rocky wall. I have always liked my name and never really questioned how I received it. My parents did explain to me, though, that they wanted to pick a name that was not too common, but also was not too obscure. They chose a one syllable name so it would be hard for kids to make fun. Craig has always been a name that defines who I am by representing what I love, and I have always been happy with it. Craig is unique to me a describes who I am.

Being Two:

      The best example of being two is tennis. Tennis is an individual sport where you play by yourself and only rely on your own skills and emotions to beat the opponent. However, tennis played at school is not just an individual sport. When you are out on the court, you are playing an individual match against your opponent. While the match itself is only played by the individual, the whole team is relying on a win from the match to add to the count. When I play singles for the Millbrook tennis team, I am not only representing myself but the team as a whole. Often, tennis players will get frustrated and show their emotions. When they do this, they are not only poorly representing themselves as individuals but also shedding a bad light on the team. When I am part of a two, a dilemma unfolds. Not only am I representing myself, I am also representing my tennis team and Millbrook high school. My actions reflect myself, my coach, and my team mates. When I am part of a two, I have to be extra careful to make sure my actions do not shed a negative light on myself or the group I am representing.

Othering

Wing Young Huie Equality for the Undocumented- We are the Other 

     Taken by Wing Young Huie in the time between 2012 and 2013, this photo depicts a young hispanic male holding up a sign and begged for equality. His face appears to be expressionless and bleak as if he has given up hope. He is alone and no one seems to be supporting him or offering any form of encouragement. The gray colors in the photo add to the dismal expression on his face and create a sense of melancholy and disappointment. The bigger picture the photo is referring is the large influx of illegal immigrants into the United States and their poor treatment in the workforce. Many Mexicans cross the border in search of work and are offering below minimum wage jobs with poor working conditions. It appears that the hispanic teen in the photo is attempting to create awareness of this by holding up the sign. The photo publicizes the struggles that illegal immigrants have to face and begs for equal treatment.

     In this photograph, Wing Huie depicts the other by showing a minority who is all by himself. He is seated alone on the corner of a city block, implying that people are not paying attention to him at all and are just passing him by. Huie shows the other by capturing the look on the youth's face. The hispanic teens face appears bleak as if he is isolated and "othered" and has no one to help him get through hard times. Wing Young Huie also depicts othering by including a picture of a minority. Because the teen in the photo is a minority, he is oftentimes the odd man out in a country full of caucasians. As the other, the hispanic teen's emotions have been neglected his entire life, he has been taken advantage in the workplace, and he has often been discriminated because of his skin color. This photograph is a perfect representation of othering because an "other" is trying to get noticed by holding up a sign but is apparently being ignored by the pedestrians on the street and his peers because he is sitting alone. 

     Throughout The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood did an excellent job of presenting the concept of "othering." The best way she did this was through the clothing the members of Gilead were forced to wear. Each person had a role in the society that was emphasized by the uniforms they wore. This forced people apart and made them seem distant to one another. The people wearing one uniform looked at the others in different uniforms as completely strange individuals who had their own roles in the society. The people who wore uniforms tended to stick with one another and avoid interaction with those wearing different uniforms. The clothing took away everyone's individuality and created othering. Everyone wearing a different uniform than you was an other. The people in The Handmaid's Tale were not viewed by their appearance or personality but by the uniform they were forced to wear. Atwood used the clothing in the novel to portray the isolation and othering the people of Gilead had toward each other.