Sophie Lau > Recent Status Updates

I'm finding it increasingly hard to read this, the writing style is very academic, and I have had struggles in the past with reading writing like this for fun. The topic was interesting, but the format might just not be for me.

Reading this has been harder for me due to the large amount of vocabulary, but the subject is very interesting and dives deeper into the hidden issues within our economic system.

Group identity within Tara's family has led them to split in two, some family members choosing to believe her father and avoid her, and others who see through her father's attempts to cut her out of the family. This has led to a feeling of isolation within Tara, and caused her to experience panic attacks and random sleepwalking, showing how strong the effects of one's family situation can be.

Tara's experiences with her parents make her trauma and her parents' gaslighting even more apparent, showing that even though they were able to make change, they still hold on strong to their beliefs, even if it breaks the family apart.

Make up for week 4/24-4/30:

Adversity impacted Tara's self-image because she gained imposter syndrome due to her Dad's attempt to keep her away from learning. With the household that she was born in, she does not believe that she deserves all of her opportunities, and thinks that she is not worthy of winning awards and scholarships even though she earned them through her skills.

After Tara’s father has a severe accident, he is left weak and nearly disabled. While he is unable to speak or argue, he learns more about how Tara has changed. His forced compliance to his injuries left him to learn to listen, and has changed the tension in their family.

Tara's experience with school is definitely shaky, but as she learns to understand others and ask for help, she is able to pass all of her classes and sees a chance outside of her father's control. Her development throughout the more recent pages has been fun to see, as she learns to survive on her own and chase what she wants in life.

A question that relates to my book is 'how can we learn about others?' Once Tara finally gets into college, she asks an unintentionally offensive question, leading to feelings of guilt: "To have misunderstood it on this scale-- five versus six million--seemed impossible" (Westover 157-158). In her art class, Tara's lack of knowledge about the Holocaust was due to her strange home situation, not to be insulting.

The relationships in this story are changing, little by little. Tara's mother using to be obedient to her husband's rules, but she is now encouraging Tara to leave the house and form her own opinions. Tyler, who went off to college, was going to graduate soon, near the top of his class. I thought this was inspiring, to read about someone who yearns for knowledge so much and seeks to learn more.

I can't get enough of this book; I love the unique connections that Tara has with each of her brothers. In today's reading, I read about two brothers, Shawn and Luke. Her main memory of Luke was when he set his leg on fire, while Shawn was known for being seen as dangerous, and being independent from this family. Tara's various siblings each have separate connections to each other, and I love that way she shows that.

Today, I learned form my article that 'survivalism' is not only learning how to survive, but can be as extreme as isolating oneself and preparing for the apocalypse. In Educated, Tara's father goes overboard in teaching his beliefs to his family: "You don't think the Illuminati have infiltrated the church?' (Westover 43) He claims that there is no safer place than at home, and strictly forces his beliefs onto them.

Make up for week 3/27- 4/2

For my first reading of this book, I thought it was interesting that Tara's father was so strict and against going to school. He claims that school was "a ploy by the Government to lead children away from God" (Westover 5).