BrownGirl Essay
Intelligencecan be viewed as an important aspect that helps individuals to actupon the problems that they encounter in life. Indeed, intelligentindividuals do not have a fixed mindset, but usually, practice growthin their mind in such a way that they end up finding solutions to theproblems that they face (Berkovits and Armor 48). Therefore, thelevel of intelligence that an individual has is exceedingly criticalin determining the outcome of a situation, when individuals are facedwith challenges. In this assignment, a unifying problem that Ellacomes across in the book "Itchy Brown Girl Seeks Employment”will be discussed. Besides, a solution discussed by Ella will also bepresented.
Inher book, "Itchy Brown Girl Seeks Employment", Ellahighlights different life as well as work experiences, which sheindicates that no one would let his/her employers know about.Although she goes through these life-threatening challenges, Ellaseems to go beyond all odds and defeats the challenges. In her book,Ella presents her background, education, fieldwork, professionalexperience, as well as her achievements. Therefore, the book tellsabout her entire experiences both life and work experiences. Throughher experiences, Ella wants the audience to judge whether she is awoman worth investing in.
Theunifying problem that Ella encounters is being born in the familythat she is brought in she goes through different problems becauseof her family. From the book, the writer clearly lets the audienceknow that she was born of an Asian American family. There aredifferent challenges that she encounters as a result of being born inthe Asian American family. The following paragraphs discuss theproblems that Ella encounters as a result of being born in the AsianAmerican family.
Oneof the problems that Ella comes across because of being born in anAsian American family is that of racism. Most of the immigrants’families are not treated in a similar manner as the “pure”Americans. In getting services, the immigrants are discriminatedagainst the Americans, and fail to receive the same services as theAmericans do. This presents the highest form of discrimination. Inthe book, racism is depicted through Ella’s illustration of thelecturer in the introduction of the book. She indicates that whileshe was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, she took a rare classFilipino Literature. The professor reads in the class a literarycritic that indicated that Filipino writers are not capable ofwriting novels the professor believed that Filipino writers wereenclosed to the limits of writing short stories (Baron 28). This isan indication that the race of the Filipino could not be equalized tothe American race. Thus, this is a representation of racism. As partof the Filipinos, Ella underwent through this racial criticism.
Also,because of being born in the Asian American family, Ella has to go bythe Filipino culture. As it is with different individuals, one has tofollow the culture of the family in which one is born. Since Ella isborn in a Filipino family, she has to go by the culture of theFilipinos. This emerges as a challenge to her because she is notconversant with most of the cultural practices of the Filipinos.Therefore, because of her cultural background, she does not fit wellwithin the American culture. This denies her the opportunity ofengaging in different activities like Americans.
Moreover,emanating from being born in the Asian American family, Ella alsofinds herself suffering from a chronic disease the condition shesuffers from is eczema. This sickness that Ella suffers from ishereditary, implying that she has the disease because of her familylineage. The disease makes her suffer a lot, which is a common thingwhen one is suffering from a chronic disease. Since the disease shesuffers from is hereditary, it means that she could not haveinherited the disease in case she was born in another family.Therefore, it is because of being born in this Asian American familythat makes Ella suffers from the chronic disease.
Furthermore,Ella goes through emotional as well as psychological problems becauseof her family. In the book, Ella indicates that there was a rift intheir family, which was because of her mom and the affair she had.She indicates that the Vietnam veteran father’s PTSD could be heldresponsible for part of the rift in the family (Baron 69). The riftin the family made her experience emotional and psychologicalproblems. The rift in the family led Ella to questioning how shecould reconcile the family. This is because she desired to stop the“itching” that confronted her in her brown skin. Therefore, itcan be indicated that Ella suffered emotional as well aspsychological problems because of the rift in the family. In case,there were no rifts in the family, Ella could have been saved fromhaving emotional and psychological problems of questioning how therift in their family could have been ended. Hence, her family playeda part in the problem.
In"Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success", Dweck helps toillustrate what individuals think of their own intelligence as havingfar-reaching outcomes. In the book, she shows that individuals whohave a fixed mindset usually perceive intelligence as unchangeable,and usually develop a tendency of focusing on proving that theypossess that characteristic instead of shifting from the view, andfocusing on a learning process (Green 55). Individuals having a fixedmindset usually avoid difficult challenges since failing on suchchallenges would make them lose their intelligent appearance (Holt41). Dweck notes that this avoidance of challenge and learningprocess bars these individuals from developing their capabilities,skills, and knowledge. Also, in her book, Dweck indicates how peoplecan develop a growth mindset and enhance their lives as well as thelives of others (Dweck 67).
Fromthe Dweck’s viewpoint, it can be argued that Ella did not have afixed mindset, and this helped her in finding solution to herproblems. One of the things from the book "Itchy Brown GirlSeeks Employment” that shows how Ella found solution to herproblems is through seeking spiritual interventions. The bookindicates that “I am honored to have God who has positioned me, aspart of the women’s ministry” (Baron 47). From this viewpoint, itcan be argued that Ella always sought the intervention of religiouspowers in her problems. It was through faith that she was in aposition to go through the problems, or find solutions to herproblems. This is a show of intelligence, where she can be indicatedto have a growth in mindset since she did not let her problems justbe seen as a limitation.
Itcan also be argued that Ella sought a solution to her problemsthrough seeing challenges as opportunities for growth. In thedifferent problems that she went through, she always found a way out,or perhaps she always found an opportunity to have a fighting heart.This undying heart gave her a chance to win the problems affectingher. For instance, despite her suffering from the eczema condition,she does not seem to despair. Although the eczema condition may offerphysical and mental impacts, Ella is still positive about life. Thisdepicts her fighting heart.
Conclusion
Thereare different challenges that Ella encounters as a result of beingborn in the Asian American family. One of the problems that Ellacomes across because of being born in an Asian American family isthat of racism. The professor reads in the class a literary criticthat indicated that Filipino writers are not capable of writingnovels the professor believed that Filipino writers were enclosed tothe limits of writing short stories. Also, emanating from being bornin the Asian American family, Ella also finds herself suffering froma chronic disease the condition she suffers from is eczema. Thissickness that Ella suffers from is hereditary. Furthermore, Ella goesthrough emotional as well as psychological problems because of herfamily. It was through faith that she was in a position to go throughthe problems. Ella used her intelligence in finding solution to herproblems because she never saw a limitation in finding solutions toher problems. It can be indicated that Ella had a fighting heart.
WorksCited
Baron,Ella C. ItchyBrown Girl Seeks Employment.San Diego, Calif: San Diego City Works Press, 2009. Print.
Berkovits,Eliezer and Armor, David. MaximizingIntelligence.New York: Transaction Publishers, 2013. Print.
Dweck,Carol S. Mindset:The New Psychology of Success.New York: Random House, 2006. Print.
Green,Adam. Mindset:The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck – Summary and Analysis.New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. Print.
Holt,J.J. Mindset:The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck…Summarized by J.J.Holt.