Please Respond to the following post in at least 250 words:
Chris and Starr have a breakthrough in their relationship --- Starr admits to him that she was in the car with Khalil and shares the memories of Natasha’s murder (Chapter 17). Discuss why Starr’s admission and releasing of this burden to Chris is significant. Explore the practice of “code switching” and discuss how you might code switch in different circumstances in your own life.
Chris and Starr have a breakthrough in their relationship --- Starr admits to him that she was in the car with Khalil and shares the memories of Natasha’s murder (Chapter 17). Discuss why Starr’s admission and releasing of this burden to Chris is significant. Explore the practice of “code switching” and discuss how you might code switch in different circumstances in your own life.
When Starr tells Chris about Khalil, she is letting Chris see who she really is. Chris felt hurt because he did not know the real Starr. He pointed out that Starr told him he was the one person at Williamson she could be herself around, but after finding out what she was hiding, he started to doubt it. When they got over their fight about the secret, it made their relationship much stronger and less awkward.
ReplyDeleteCode-switching is when a person talks or acts differently when their environment changes. When Starr is at home, she doesn’t pay much attention to how she acts, talks, or dresses. She is free to talk about "ghetto" or "hood" things, because she feels comfortable with her family, and they are going through the same thing. At Williamson, she admits, she is a different person. Sometimes when people code-switch they don’t notice it, but Starr does it intentionally at Williamson so the other students won’t think she is "ghetto". When she is around Chris, she doesn’t deliberately code-switch, but when they were talking in the parking lot, she realized that she may have code-switched without even thinking.
I think everybody code switches in their daily life. For example, I do not act the same in school compared to home. I am very social at school, but I do not swear or make dirty jokes while in classes. I also code-switch while I am on the phone or talking to distant family members or strangers. With a business stationed at home, the kids, including me, have to talk to customers regularly. Obviously, we do not want to drive them away, so we have to act nicer and more polite than usual.
I think your code switching with the family business is yet another kind of code switching. I think we probably all want to put our best self forward with customers. It makes sense.
DeleteStarr telling Chris about Khalil is significant because Chris finally gets to see the real Starr. Chris had been doubting Starr in what she said about him being the only kid at Williamson that she could be real around when he found out that she never told him that she was in the car with Khalil. After Starr and Chris talk at prom, things are less awkward and it makes them as a couple stronger.
ReplyDeleteCode switching is when someone talks or acts differently depending on where they are. Starr is a great example of code switching; she’s one person at home, another one at Williamson and yet another one around Chris. Although she intentionally code switches at Williamson, she doesn’t around Chris. When Starr is at home or around her family, she acts “hood” and doesn’t care much about how she talks or acts. At Williamson, she changes how she talks, how she acts and even her physical appearance so that she doesn’t seem “hood” and in doing that, she fits in better. When she code switches around Chris, she doesn’t notice it, so it’s not a drastic change, she just hides some things from her home life.
I believe that code switching is a natural thing in most everyone’s life. I know that I act differently at school than I do at my house. At school, I’m a very social person that talks all the time and to most everyone. Within those people, I will code switch depending on how comfortable I am with them. At home, I’m a pretty quiet person, believe it or not, and spend a lot of my time in my room either on my phone or reading a book.
I guess I can believe you are quiet at home--most of us present a different self to the rest of the world. I like your observations about code switching. Check the second sentence of your comment. Otherwise, well done.
DeleteAbby, I agree that when Starr talked to Chris it made them stronger as a couple, and made some things less awkward. I like how you brought up that Starr had said Chris was the only person she could be “real” around at Williamson. You said that code switching is changing how you act depending on the place someone is. I completely agree. You're explanation of how Starr code switches is really good. You talk about when she acts “hood” versus how she acts at Williamson. I also really like how you included how she acts around Chris, because she does act differently around Chris, than she does at Williamson, and with her family. You talk about being really loud and social at school, but being quiet at home. And for the record, I believe you. It made me realize that if I only see someone in one environment I don’t think of them as being anything else. The reality is that they might act completely different around other people and it never really occurred to me. You also mentioned code switching depending on how comfortable you are with a certain person. I think you brought up a really important point, we might code switch depending on the environment, but it’s also heavily influenced by our level of comfort.
DeleteWhen Starr lets out all that she has been holding back ever since she was 10, I think that that really lifted a burden off of her chest and made her feel much better about herself. Once she starts talking to Chris, she seems like she can’t stop. It’s like the wall that she had built around her emotions, trying to hide this part of her, just started to crumble to the ground and everything was spilling out. “Chris doesn’t say anything. I don’t need them too.”(301) I feel that this part in their lives really made the relationship much stronger. “‘You're my normal. And that’s all that matters.’ ‘All that matters.’ He smiles”(303). Once Starr releases all of these emotions, she seems to have a much better time than she would’ve had if she still had all of the emotions bottled up inside her. “ I don’t think about Khalil or Natasha. It’s one of the best nights of my life.”(305).
ReplyDeleteCode switching is a very big part in this book. I also think that in The Secret Life of Bees code switching is also used a lot. People might have to use code switching to avoid situations That could potentially end up bad for that person if they don’t swap into another personality. I think that code switching would be a lot of work to keep track of. In the book even, Starr admits to how stressful it can be,“Being two different people is so exhausting. I've taught myself to speak with two different voices and only say certain things around certain people. I've mastered it.”(301).
I like how much you go to the text, Ada. I agree with you that code switching must be exhausting, especially for someone like Starr whose switches are pretty dramatic. I mean, all of us do it to some degree, but some of us have to do it a lot more than others.
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DeleteAda, I really like how you connected The Secret Life of Bees and The Hate U Give. I too think that there is a lot of code switching in both of them, but more so in The Hate U Give. Although Lily does a fair amount of code switching, especially when she first gets to the Boatwright house, Starr’s is much more drastic, as Mr. Deffner said. I can’t imagine having to basically live two different lives; I don’t know how Starr does it. I also agree with your observations about Starr and Chris at prom. I like your analogy about how her wall that she had built up just crumbled when she finally let Chris in. I think in any relationship, it’s important to be able to share everything, but especially with Chris and Starr. Since Starr has a completely different life outside of Williamson, and so letting Chris into that life was a big step for her. I think that all the quotes you used from the book helped to further prove your points about how it lifted a burden off of Starr’s chest when she opened up.
Starr explaining to Chris about Natasha and Kahlil shows him that she completely trusts him. It’s really important for Chris because Starr is letting him into the other part of her life and opening up to him. By telling Chris that she was with Kahlil when he died Starr is allowing herself to be vulnerable, and I think that was a big step for her relationship with Chris. Relationships are built on trust, and now Chris knows that Starr fully trusts him.
ReplyDeleteCode switching is when you change your behavior depending on the situation or environment. Starr acts different around her family, than how she would act at school, or with her friends. With her family she can be herself but she code switches when she goes to Williamson. At school she is more reserved and careful with her language and behavior because she doesn’t want people to see her as a thug or treat her like she’s from the “ghetto”. She keeps her family life and school life separate. Starr code switches to protect herself at school.
I think code switching is natural. I act completely different around my friends, than I would around people I don’t really know, or my family. With my friends I can be open about how I feel, and more social because I trust them. With my family, I still trust them, but I wouldn’t start talking about what’s happening at school with my little brother. To a degree we all have parts of our lives that we want to keep separate, and that is why we code switch.
I like what you said at the end––your last sentence. I guess we all do it to some degree.
DeleteWhen Starr tells Chris about Khalil, it made him realize that she trusts him. By showing Chris that she can be a totally different person with other groups of people, Starr was able to tell him about witnessing Khalil's death. As they talked about this, their relationship took a big step forward, and trust is what opened those doors to Starr.
ReplyDeleteCode switching is something every person on the planet does in their daily life. It is the way that a person changes the way they speak, act, and think when in different environments. If you take Starr as an example; she is comfortable and carefree when at home, and she is able to talk about "hood" and "ghetto" things because she knows her family is going through the same things. When Starr is in public, or even with Chris, she becomes more cautious about the things she wears, says, and looks like since she knows that there are people that wouldn't understand what it is like to be like her. So when she talked to Chris in the parking lot she realized that she just may have "code-switched" automatically because she wasn't with a person she trusted at the time, or knew she wasn't in an environment that would be appropriate to talk about "hood" or "ghetto" topics.
I used to act differently every single time I came to a new place. Code switching used to be kind of like a fun game to me where I analyzed how different people react to different personalities. At home I wasn't scared of anything or anyone, and was confident in everything I did; as for in school (English, and Russian) I would always act the same, but excluding the fact that I always tried to be better than everyone else, and was striven to excel at everything. In public I would act either goofy, polite, and/or act as perfect as possible, (depending on where we would go) and when I was with other people I didn't act cocky or ignorant, but tried to be as kind and fun as possible. The only people who I still am very genuine with and they know me to the bone are some people in my family, and my Russian friend that I've known for almost twelve years. With different people I still do code-switching, and honestly I feel like it's totally normal since you wouldn't want to be the same person with someone you're close with, but more open and genuine.
Pretty interesting post Alena. I especially like your observations about how you code switch. I think code switching can be something we do, especially when we are around new people.
DeleteThis is an interesting topic to think about and I really agree with you. There are times in life when moving or going to a new place can set someone off to be different. We always assume as humans that a new place or situation that were need to be someone else when in reality, sometimes that is not always the right thing. We have learned code switching since young, around the time when you started getting competitive, it most likely triggered certain sequences in your brain allow you to feel this way. Personally I enjoy reading about your input on Starr coming from one place and going to another. It is quite peculiar that code switching can happen like that, so natural yet also crazy to think about in some ways. When it comes from moving from a ghetto area to a more "preppy" environment, I personally think that Starr had a lot of change that even readers could not see. With her hiding it all from Chris, her every day appearance must have changed. It is a weird thing that humans do that, like we are supposed to be someone else.
DeleteGreat response!
Starr telling Chris about all of this was something seen coming but knowing it would be a rough patch. That side of her life she held away for so long then to reveal it all was just a huge blast. She was living two separate lives yet had to live them like they were one. When she started to explain Khalil's death, it started hitting the reader how deep this was, how much her life was cracked into two pieces, one where she was a "thug" and the other, a girl going to school in a more "preppy" area.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of code switching comes with all of this. Code switching is something we all do, it is that process to hide the deeper parts of ourselves we do not want to show. In different areas of our lives we accustom ourselves to be "normal" in some way, shape, or form. People think it is so easy though, the ones who don't go through a whole lot and have never had experiences like Starr. With someone like her, she is forced to jump back and forth with a life where everything is okay to where her heart wants to break. Some others face this issue with things other than deaths and living in areas like Starr does. Some members of society, struggle with depression or anxiety related issues. Lots of people however that are dealing with this show themselves in a different light in places like school, work, or social gatherings/parties. It is this switch that we have learned to automatically do to change our appearance to the "naked eye.
Personally I still code switch to this day, a lot. At school or around others my best plan of action is to put a smile on, make jokes, and pretend for those moments I am all fine, that life could not be better. Yet still, at the end of the day, all my feelings catch up to me and I am back to my serious self where the dark places of my mind are my best friend. I was always scared that I could not be enough, yet finally I have realized that if you are with me or not, I am doing something right. That is always good enough for me.
Porter, I especially like what you had to say about code switching in your own life. I think we all do it, so I understand what you mean. As far as the rest of your post goes, you have good information---just make sure you proofread for clarity.
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