Talk:Nikhil Khare
I really enjoyed this reflection of the process you used to create your avatars. The entire work is very well organized and well-written. I didn’t find myself pausing or rereading throughout the reflection. Not only that, but every sentence had a focus and clear relation to the entire wiki. The description of self-analysis in understanding your sense of identity in accordance to your ethnicity was an interesting perspective that many did not touch on. However, it was your ethnicity and sense of identification that ran you into difficulty with the evolver program. You also were clear to mention that this difficulty was only apparent when creating an avatar of yourself. Nevertheless, I felt a sense of blame on the program and not on the creator, where you did not mention that the way in which you see yourself could have caused some of the limitations. Your use of outside sources was extensive and was used to expand on your limitations of ethnicity. The analogy to both pop culture and articles aided your thoughts in meaningful ways that others failed on. Finally, you finished strong with a comparison and explanation of your experience. With that said, this reflection could have been improved if the overall layout was formatted better. By breaking up the reflection with headings and subheadings, the reflection would have been much less formal and easier for the eyes to not get lost on the page. I also wish I would have been able to see more pictures of your avatars, since body is a large factor in the creation of your aggressive fantasy avatar. Although that was your aim, your avatar did not directly represent what you were trying to go for without a picture of the body. In all, this was an insightful and well-written reflection that was focused and personal at the same time.
- C. Britt
The author utilizes an outside source in his reflection by referencing the character Apu in the television series "The Simpsons." Part of the reason I chose to review Nikhil's reflection was because of the depth that he integrated his outside source into his discussion. He talks about the stereotypes that Apu exhibits which are supposedly "typical" of South Asians/Indians; for example, having several children, owning a convenience store, and speaking with an Indian accent. However, Nikhil goes even further and points out that while there are certainly citizens of the United States that have multiple children, own a convenience store, and possess an Indian accent, Apu is by no means representative of the Indian population as a whole, and can be offensive. He also explains that he has experienced similar forms of racism in his lifetime; I appreciated the personal touch that this explanation provided to the use of the outside source.
Nikhil was very detailed and informative in his description of the issues he faced when creating his avatars. Some of the specific difficulties he identified were aspects that I had not even considered, such as thickness of eyebrows and chin protrusion; this attention to detail is indicative of the quality of his description. Additionally, he pointed out that to create a skin tone typical of someone of South Asian descent, he had to mix African American and Caucasian skin tones, as the developers did not provide a suitable skin tone separately; this detracts somewhat from the uniqueness and importance of those of South Asian descent.
Overall, Nikhil did a very good job describing the issues he faced in detail and implementing an outside source into his reflection.
-Nettie Shields
