The Bear That Wasn

’t Essay, Research Paper . The bear in “The Bear That Wasn’t” began to have doubts that is was bear because everyone kept saying that he was just a man who needed a shave and wore a fur coat. In the beginning he did not have doubts about being a bear, but as more and more people(with higher statuses) started saying that he was not a bear but just a man who needed a shave and wore a fur coat. . The writer of the story was suggesting that the relationship between an individual and society is worsening. It shows how little people think of each other today in certain communities. Certain individuals are becoming less and less important in our society today. The author also suggest that the person’s identity is defined by where he or she is located. For example the bear was in a factory and it was automatically assumed that he must be a factory worker. When I came to the USA in 1992 I lived on the south side, I kind of looked pretty dangerous or maybe even mean(I changed, as you can see), so some 14 and 15 year old kids were trying to pursue me to join their gang but I refused. . Joseph Suina learned from his experiences with stereotyping that people can treat you differently if you are from a different culture. They might expect more from you, maybe they might expect less from you, but Joseph knew for sure that if you are different you will be treated differently. For example my Marine friends expected more from me, and I played it quite well be going on twice as many missions as they did and watching out for enemies at night more times then anyone else. . I learned from Joseph’s experiences that I should always be myself not what someone else thinks I should be. I should not be expected to do more or less in a certain field because of my race or culture. I must have my own voice, my own identity, not a made up one. For example last year, in junior high, everyone told me I would do bad in regular English class because I was from Russia and did not speak the language well, but I did my best and proved those people wrong by getting straight As and getting recomended to Honors English. . Maya Angelou story suggests that Uncle Willie wanted to pass the love of learning and doing your best in any curcumstance down to black kids that he knew. Uncle Willie thought that Maya might not get a good education because of stereotyping and prejudice to African-Americans in those days. Uncle Willie tried to give her a descent education by teaching her certain things she needed to know in order to moderately educated. . Julius Lester learned that he was living in a very segregated society and that white people will be against him. The main lesson Julius learned to neutrolize and withstand the violence in his neighborhood. Also Julius learned to deal with lot of people and different cultures. In addition he learned to live in any kind of enviroment, thus he was prepared for life. . His society segregated blacks a lot by putting “No Colored Allowed” signs everywhere. In parks, in stores, on buses, on public bathrooms and etc. White only schools with better teachers than in black schools was also barrier in Julius’ life. He overcame those barriers by reading lot of books and learning by himself, and also by finding his inner voice in a Haiku book which guided him in life. 8. The “other kid” in the Jonah Kadish story was one of the strongest boys mentally and was clearly stronger then Jonah. Jonah did not really know if “the other kid” was stronger than him, but I can tell because “the other kid” would have told him to stop if he was weaker, at least that is how it is now. Personally I don’t think it was who was stronger or weaker I think it was all in their minds. “The other kid” was more mature than Jonah because he was acting about him, he was acting like an adult while Jonah was acting foolishly and selfishly.