Personal

Dictionary
By: Banessa Rivera
Table of Content
1. Deficit Thinking 15. Stereotype Threat
16 . Culture Shock
2. Marginalize 17. Campus Climate
18. Organization for black struggle
3. Cultural Appropriation 19. Demonstrators
20. #Fuerguson

4. Aesthetic

5. Exigence

6. Conceptual Knowledge

7. Soft Skills

8. Creator Mindset

9. Affirmative Action
 1.Deficit Thinking
-Context: Deficit thinking takes the position that minority students and families are at fault
for poor academic performance because: (a) students enter school without the normative
cultural knowledge and skills; and (b) parents neither value nor support their childs education
(Yosso 75).

-Worldview: Shortage of knowledge

-Definition: Noun; holding lower expectations for students of color that do not fit the
traditional context of the school system.

-Why it matters: This helps me understand Yossos argument about the education system
and how they claim students of color lack the knowledge to succeed.

-Critical Thinking Question: What are some strategies and challenges of eliminating deficit
thinking?
Deficit
Thinking
(visualizatio
n)
This image shows how some
educators are just stuck to
a type a way of thinking
without listening to the
students and seeing what
talents they have to offer.
2.) Marginalize
-Context: [...] if some knowledges have been used to silence, marginalize and render
People of Color invisible, then Outsider knowledges (Hill Collins, 1986), mestiza knowledges
(Anzalda, 1987) and transgressive knowledges (hooks, 1994) can value the presence and
voices of People of Color (Yosso 70).

-Worldview: alienate, to discriminate

-Definition: Verb; to treat someone as if they are meaningless, unimportant

-Why it matters: By knowing this word it helped me understand how the students of color
face social inequality consistently in the education system. Students have to deal with
oppression and being pointed out.

-Critical Thinking Question: How did marginalizing students of color affect their education
journey ?
Marginalize
(visualization)

This illustrates how

some students are not all
given the tools to
succeed therefore
isolating them from their
peers.
3.) Cultural Appropriation

-Context: As with most instances of cultural appropriation, when the chola look is worn by
pop starlets, it gets stripped of context and becomes little more than a costume (Calderon-
Douglass, VISE).

-Worldview: When someone poses to be someone theyre not

-Definition: Noun; the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another
culture.

-Why it matters: Cultural appropriation is seen as oppressing the minority culture or

stripping it of its group identity. Calderon explains how many mainstream artist dont see the
wrongdoing when using the chola fashion as just a trend without understanding the real
meaning to it.

Critical Thinking Question: How long has cultural appropriation been around?
Cultural
Appropriation
(visualization)
4.) Aesthetic
-Context: The chola aesthetic is the result of impoverished women making a lot out of the
little things their families could afford (Calderon-Douglass, Vise)

-Worldview: someones beauty perspective

-Definition: Noun; a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or
artistic movement.

-Why it matters: Knowing this word helps me understand that everyone has a different
appreciation of what beauty means to them.

-Critical Thinking Question: What is the chola aesthetic? How is it viewed today?
Aesthetic
(visualization)
When Vincent van Gogh
painted his famous Starry
Night, it wasnt appreciated
because the way beauty was
represented in painting in
his time was different than
what he pursued it. Later on
as art progressed it was
valued more. This is an
example of peoples
aesthetic values.
5.) Exigence
-Context: Rhetorician Lloyd. Bitzer used the term exigence for a flaw that an author believes
can be altered by a text presented to an audience. This flaw might be a circumstance that is
other than it should be a situation in need of attention, or perhaps an occasion in need of
special recognition (Reading Rhetorically, John C. Bean; 18).

-Worldview: a problem

-Definition: Noun; an issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write
or speak.

-Why it matters: Knowing what exigence means gives an understanding about the flaws
that help build up the writer's argument.

-Critical Thinking Question: How does exigence help us find the authors purpose?
Exigence
(visualizatio
n)
6.) Conceptual Knowledge
- Context: [...]conceptual knowledge- that is knowledge of the courses subject matter.
Transmitting conceptual knowledge is the primary aim of most college textbooks (Reading
Rhetorically, John C. Bean; 4).

-Worldview: the content, being able to list and define key terms and formulas

-Definition: Noun; Information that is needed to accomplish certain tasks

-Why it matters: Conceptual Knowledge is the content need to know in order to complete
the procedural knowledge, and apply that information to any new problems.

-Critical Thinking Question: Is it possible to have conceptual knowledge/understanding

about something without procedural knowledge?
Conceptual
Knowledge
(visualizatio
n)
Booksmart
7.) Soft Skills
-Context: Unlike hard skills, soft skills are invisible and difficult to measure. Like hard
skills, through, soft skills are learnable (On Course, Downing; 31).

-Worldview: inner strengths

-Definition: Noun; personal attributes that enable someone to interact with other
people.

-Why it matters: Soft skills is having self confidence and motivation. By understanding
your inner strengths youre able to identify your weak points that need to be worked on
in order to create a successful path to your goal.

-Critical Thinking Question: What are some ways to improve and gain more soft skills?
Soft Skill
(visualization)
This image gives examples of
different type of soft skills
8.) Creator Mindset
-Context: A Creator mindset causes people to see multiple options, choose wisely
among them, and take effective actions to achieve the life they want (On Course,
Downing; 45).

-Worldview: They seek solutions, take action, and try new things if old strategies dont
work. (mindset- a collection of beliefs)positive people, they refuse to be oppressed

-Definition: Noun; positive people, they refuse to be oppressed, often achieve their
goals

-Why it matters: Learning to have a Creator mindset will help us use our energy to
improve our lives and make our journey of reaching our goals go a lot smoother.
Encountering obstacle will be less stressful if we make Creator choices more often.

-Critical Thinking: What are some ways we can adopt a Creator mindset?
Creator Mindset
9.) Affirmative Action
-Context: Barely a decade had passed since affirmative action had been
implemented in government contracting. It was still experimental in Ivy League college
admissions, and few of the first minority students to benefit from it had even managed
to graduate yet (Sotomayor 150).

-My Definition: An act that helped out people of color by opening new doors.

-Definition: Noun; an action or policy favoring minorities, in relation to employment or

education; positive discrimination.

-Why it matters: It is necessary to know the definition of affirmative action in order

to understand the role it had in Sonias life. This action help make universities diverse.

-Critical Thinking: What is the purpose of the affirmative action?

Affirmative
Action
10.) Accion Puertorriquena
-Context: ...Accion Puertorriquena and similar groups were vocal in campus protests relating
to national issues (Sotomayor 185).

-My Definition: Group of students gather to help out the the freshman's especially those who
were new to the college life.

-Definition: Noun; Its a Puerto Rican student associations at Princeton University which help
disadvantaged and students who are often faced with discrimination feel welcome.

-Why it matters: Sonia was very involved with the Accion Puertorriquena group. Later on
named Accion Puertorriquena y Amigo to include other minorities. Sonia was one of the founders
and leaders of this group. She was really big when it came to helping out her community.

-Critical Thinking: How is Accion Puertorriquena changing in Princeton?

Accion
Puertorriquena
11.) Pyne Prize
-Context: I was asleep when the phone rang; the voice in the other end said it was
Adele Simmon, dean of student affairs, calling to congratulate me on having won the
Pyne Prize (Sotomayor 205).

-My Definition: A prize given to students who had amazing academic performance.

-Definition: Noun; The Pyne Honor Prize was established in 1921. This prize was
awarded to the senior who had clearly displayed excellent scholarship, strength of
character and effective leadership.

-Why it matters: Sonia Sotomayor was given this honor prize. At the time she knew
very little about its meaning but she knew that all her hard work was surely paying off.

-Critical Thinking: What is the significance of the Pyne Prize in Sonias life?
Pyne Prize
12.)
-
White
Context:
Moderate
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward
freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order"
than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of
justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who
paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who
constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season. (King p.3)

-My Definition: White person who is conservative.

-Definition: devotion to order over justice, a White person who prefers to follow the law no
matter how unjust the law is

-Why it matters: Martin Luther King Jr. explains how he feels that the biggest threat to his
community is the white moderate. It is important to know his connotation of the word so we can
understand his reasonings behind calling the white moderate out.

-Critical Thinking: What are various features of a White Moderate?

White Moderate
13.) Just Laws and Unjust Law
-Context: Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades
human personality is unjust. (King 3)

-My Definition: just laws are laws that are made to benefit everyone not just a certain race/
community. And Unjust laws dehumanizes people not caring about their opinions or well being.

-Definition: Just law: moral law, agreement with the law of God ; Unjust law: degrades humans,
effects minorities and excludes them from any decisions taken

-Why it matters: Noun; In order to understand Dr. Kings arguments about the injustice it is
necessary to know what he means when he refers to just and unjust laws, and what makes a law
unfair.

-Critical Thinking: What are the differences between just laws and unjust laws?
Just Law and
Unjust Law
 14.) Culture-War
Context: The culture wars continue through justificatory innocence and willed inaction. They
allow the structures that produce inequality and segregation to persist (Chang 7).

-My Definition: conflict between race

-Definition: Noun; conflict between conservative values and the progressive liberal
values.

-Why it matters: By knowing the definition of cultural war we are able to understand
who Jeff Chang is talking about when he talks about the reactionaries and their values.

-Critical Thinking: What are the effects of culture wars?

Culture-War
 Context: After affirmative action was struck down
15.) across the country, stereotype threat also explained
why the most competitive Black and Latino students
Stereotype declined admission offers at places where affirmative
action had been gutted (Chang 44)
Threat
-My Definition: believing the negative labels

-Definition: Noun; people are or feel themselves to

be at risk of conforming to stereotypes about their
social group

-Why it matters: This word is important to understand

because it gives us a better understanding on what is
going on in the universities and how the students
minefield works.

-Critical Thinking Question: What are the effects of

stereotype threat?
16.) Culture Shock
-Context: [Jonathan Butler] believed in what he called the idea of sacrificing yourself for the
betterment of others. When he got to Mizzou, he said he felt culture shock (Chang 46).

-My Definition: the feeling unfamiliar with the environment/ setting

-Definition: Noun; the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly

subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.

-Why it matters: Knowing this definition we are able to understand how underrepresented
the students of color are and their feelings attached to that.

-Critical Thinking Question: What causes culture shock?

 Context: The bureaucratic term for all of this
racialized undrest- both the tensions and the
protests they generated- was campus climate
(Chang 40).

-My Definition: the racial tension between the

students

-Definition: Noun; the current attitudes, behaviors

and standards of faculty, staff, administrators and
students concerning the level of respect for
individual needs, abilities and potential

-Why it matters: Understanding this definition it

17.) Campus allows us to understand the protestors and why
they are fighting for equality.

Climate -Critical Thinking Question: What are the

consequences of a campus climate?
18.) Organization For Black
Struggle
Context: ...the organization for black struggle, one
of the areas oldest racial justice organization
(Chang 92).

-Definition: a St. Louis, Missouri-based activist

organization founded in 1980. The organization
seeks "political empowerment, economic justice
and the cultural dignity of the African-American
community, especially the Black working class."

-Why it matters: In order to understand what

the OBS does we need to understand what they
care for and what exactly is there organization
trying to succeed in.

-Critical Thinking Question: How is OBS changing?

19.) Demonstrators
-Context: The new demonstrators
included mothers and grandmothers who
had decided not to go home because they
could not fathom the grief of laying their
children down (Chang 93).

-My Definition: The protestors

-Definition: Noun; a person who takes

part in a public protest meeting or march.

-Why it matters: Chang explains who are

the demonstrators fighting for justice and
this important to understand their causes.

-Critical Thinking Question: What is the

value of being a demonstrator?
20.) #Fuerguson
Context: On August 10, as #Fuerguson exploded on a social-media, so did
#blacklivesmatter (Chang 108).

-Definition: A meme on social media that started the nation movement known as Black Lives
Matter.

-Why it matters: This hashtag was one of the first ones to being to bring awareness about
the injustice in our society. The social media was an aid to spread the word about movement.

-Critical Thinking Question: What is the significance of #Fuerguson?