Haifeng Yang English 1110.01: Secondary Source Integration Instructor: Torsa Ghosal 30th June 2016 Root of prejudice In the short story Soap and Water written by Anzia Yezierska, the protagonist who was an immigrant was depicted very unlucky through her college life and 10 years after graduation because people felt bad about her uncleanliness. Most of her depiction left deep impression about how hard life for a immigrant student could be. The diploma was held by Miss Whiteside because physical unclean appearance of the protagonist was considered not eligible to teach. She missed considering the hard life of the unclean girl. She worked hard to pay tuition and at the same time need to study hard for a good grade. Miss Whiteside was a representative of the clean world with power while the protagonist was immigrant as the weak side. Anzia emphasized the unfair treatment to the protagonist was the same as discrimination to immigrant. It was unreasonable Miss Whiteside held the diploma just for her dirty appearance because the ability of teaching have no relationship with whether clean or dirty. The fact may be mental cognition of her cause the different treatment to immigrant student like her. Stereotype and discrimination are related to the action of Miss Whiteside. The concepts of stereotype and discrimination were introduced by Mary E. Mary and Bernard E. Whitley Jr. Stereotype are thinking mode that could help speed up the information processing. It could be both positive