1. Raise your hand when you hear the correct number: How many times have you ever heard someone say “Be Yourself?”
Options:
Once
Two to five times
About ten times
About 25 times
So many times you have lost track

2. Complete this silently Write a short paragraph response: Why is “being yourself” so difficult?

3. About the video we’re about to watch
The speaker’s name is Ash Beckham
She is a lesbian woman who is talking about empathy and openness
This speech made her famous
She has appeared over 30 times at universities and conferences to give similar speeches

4. What does she mean by “There is no harder there is just hard”?

5. DO you agree with the following
DO you agree with the following? Discuss with your group members then share with me.
We need to stop comparing our hard to everyone else’s hard to make us feel better or worse about our own closets and just commiserate over the fact that we all have “hard”

6. What happens to you if you start to discount your own problems just because they’re not as bad as someone else’s?

7. What would have probably happened to Esperanza if she had dismissed her own struggles because they weren’t as bad as other peoples’ on mango street?

8. Why does Ash say that the people that had known her for years said this right after they found out she was Gay:
“I love Nathan Lane!”
“Have you ever been to the Castro? Well, we’ve never been there, but we heard it’s fabulous!”
“Do you know my hairdresser Antonio? He’s really good and he has never talked about a girlfriend!”
“What’s your favorite TV show? You know what ours is? Will and Grace! Do you know who we love? Jack. Jack is our favorite.
“Well, sometimes my husband wears pink shirts!”

9. Why do you think it was hard for them to start this conversation
Why do you think it was hard for them to start this conversation? Why was it so nice of ash to hear them out?
“I love Nathan Lane!”
“Have you ever been to the Castro? Well, we’ve never been there, but we heard it’s fabulous!”
“Do you know my hairdresser Antonio? He’s really good and he has never talked about a girlfriend!”
“What’s your favorite TV show? You know what ours is? Will and Grace! Do you know who we love? Jack. Jack is our favorite.
“Well, sometimes my husband wears pink shirts!”

10. Ash’s rules for being yourself
Be authentic–if you want someone to be real with you, you need to give them the same
Be direct, just say it—if you dance around your truth, people may assume the opposite
Be unapologetic—don’t apologize for who you are

11. The only story that matters is the one you want to write
In your journal, write down at least ten expectations other people have for you
Put a check next to those that are true to you and an x next to those that are not

12. Relating to Mango Street
Turn and talk then share with me:
What big decision does Esperanza make in deciding who she is? How might this decision positively and negatively affect her life?

13. Watch the video, then Answer: How is sympathy different than Empathy?

14. What does Empathy do that Sympathy does not?

15. Write the following in your journal:
How can you use reading to help the little kids in your life grow in empathy?

16. Homework
Read the Reading and Empathy article and answer the question in your journal.

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