Extra Credit Blog

The books that were chosen for the Senior Capstone seemed to fit an interesting niche in regards to identity. As I have been reflecting on how these books are or are not linked I realized that it is all in how we decided to read and were directed to read these novels. I am excited to read more of the books by these authors ( I have already bought the other book by Junot Diaz, Geek Love, and ordered several others. I also had not watched “Smoke Signals” but I did have a chance to view that movie already. A link that I did notice about the books assigned for class was that the main characters surfaced from minority cultures. I think this is particularly important for me because I do not come from a minority group. Even though these books are fiction, it did bring a new way of thinking about how other cultures have to navigate ever so carefully through a white world in order to discover their own identities. I like the varied topics and cultures because if reflected each group’s unique challenges. My favorite reading was “If You are What You Eat Than What Am I” because it offered an intense look at how a culture relates to another culture. This was also a great way to start out the semester because it linked the different reading through food. I have never thought of food as being such a challenge regarding assimilation into a culture. I think that is because the United States is coined with having some many different types of cuisines available that the average citizens is calloused to the sense of foreign food. This class has brought to my attention that although a restaurant claims to be authentic it does not mean the food tastes the same. Every culture must eat so food is a universal agent that can be used to bring all cultures together through difference. I know I certainly have a new way of viewing food. I think I will have an even great understanding of this after this summer. I am traveling to Spain for two weeks and it will be interesting to see how it feels to be part of the minority. Everything will be foreign to me and I will have to navigate through. This class was a great last class to take before my trip, I feel a little more prepared, and I will be viewing and evaluating my experiences there a little differently now. It will be interesting to see how the Spanish culture accepts us a white tourists and how they will look at me when I stumble on my diminishing Spanish speaking skills. I am certain to arrive back to the United States with a new perspective on how immigrants navigate and assimilate into the culture of the United States. I would have a hard time picking a favorite book out of this class, but that is good because hopefully the other books by these authors will be just as good!

April 13-20th Extra Credit Blog

I was expecting a format to follow that of “Schindler’s List” when we started to view “Rabbit in the Moon,” but I was surprised and glad to see that it took on a different route. I took notice of how carefully the film avoided comparing themselves to those of the Holocaust (although it seemed to be hinted at). I think it is good to keep the two separated, but equally as unfair to place more importance of horror over one or the other. The Japanese Americans were stripped of their rights and recognition as citizens of the United States and shattered the lives of their children and many generations to follow. I was disgusted to hear about the lady who had all of her teeth were pulled out before she went to camp. I was moved by the portrayal of individual stories and reflections on what the experience was like. I cannot imagine how families try to repair their status or life after their release because they were so separated and torn apart after the practices of the JACL. I like the film started to portray the lady who narrated the film not having children and giving two different explanations for not having children. From the beginning of the film it was cased why she made her choice. After hearing about her alienation, the many forms of discrimination, and about how as a child she lost respect for her parents. Obviously her childhood was so scared she could not imagine being a parent if fear of failing another child. I had not idea that those families lost of their savings and were given twenty five dollars after their “release.” What a slap in the face. Even though it would heal emotional scars, all of those families should have been able to sue the United States Government for the years they lost of their life and for having to live in such degrading living situations, even more so for the families who had loved ones pass. From the way the narrator spoke it sounded like she has spent the rest of her life trying to rediscover and figure out who she was after the devastation and suffering from the camps. It is appalling to know that things like this have happened in the United States and it was not even that long ago. For the narrator, I think finding her self identity is a process that she has to go through by tracking back the history and finding out some of the questions that still surrounded the camps. Since she was so young I can see how her quest for the knowledge takes so long and how difficult it would be to take another look at some of those details and reports as an adult. The documentary did a great job of portraying the array of impacts that these camps caused. I thought it was a great contrast when it talked about how other ancestries like the Germans were left alone as a community. It came down to easily identifying the Japanese race because of physical features. To me this is absolutely deplorable to think of the United States as coming so far against the notions of racism and have actions like this be so young in its history.

Monday April 13th - April 20th

Anne Carson’s ability to intertwine Greek Mythology with in the poetry setting and carry it on for the duration of the novel. It was interesting to see how Carson focused on the color red throughout the novel (also included in the title). Again, I love looking at the title of a book to see how the title is working throughout the novel. From the beginning the color red is a vibrant color that emanates and makes a huge impression throughout the novel. “Greyon was a monster everything about him was re” (Carson 9). The color red is associated with a monster. The snout was red, again a nose or snout is not the favorite part of a body, again associated with colors. Some sentences even have the color red present in twice in sentences. Carson really emphasizes the importance of color. Greyon’s death is associated with the color red, even his mind (which must be dark and forbidden) with that color. Heaven, on the other hand, does not mention red. I also love looking at her writing as far as what is all capitalized like (NIGHTS BOLLSNORTED); Carson’s way of emphasizing certain points is an amazing contrast to other writing points. When Carson gets into the actual meat of her poetry she writes so beautifully, it flows so even, and it carries its own tone. In the section “TUESDAY” her poem starts of “Tuesdays were best” so it emphasized the title and it was separated by but a break. She then dove right into why. I like how some of the italicize is like in the begging the questions of poetry then it moves into comments. The sentences are fun too, some continue on without end punctuation and pick it to the next. I think was keeps her work so contemporary is that each poem or section moves on with different standards. The punctuations and text style flow but vary from each work. One of my favorite I love the references to burros because they ears are always pointing the skies. I think this fun because the donkeys are what carried pregnant married and the cross represents where Mary riding on the donkey. So I think it is important to recognize as the donkeys as holly and looking up to the sky. This is a nice contrast between Greyon’s red and the burros and heaven. I thought that is was really interesting or a social comment on photos and still photography. I love the play against what pictures represent and what the stars represent. The stars are far away and this is the same sense as photographs. A picture and the moment that happened in this sense are so far away from the present it is so easy to look a photo and remember what times were even though things are far from. Then there is a sense of referring back to photos throughout the remainder of the novel, Carson just has an amazing way of referring back to points mentioned earlier in her novel.

March 30-April 6

I found it was very interesting to have two narratives that are intertwined throughout the novel. I love how the novel builds on non-fictional characters to enhance the story and background (fictionally of course) about the chef. Bihn is trying to discover who he is in light of the lesbian couple he works for. It is obvious from the get go when he writes the letter to his brother back home. He struggles on where the commas how their placement impacts what he is really trying to say. I believe he placed the comas in this case where he was subconsciously thinking. From Bihn’s initial letter I felt a sense of depression and sense of searching and yearning to discover himself. I like how the reader has to trace Bihn’s story and discover how and why he left Vietnam. I like how Bihn’s sexuality was juxtaposed against his employers. Bihn’s sexual orientation was even more exploited because his abusive father forced him to leave; this is all reflected in how Bihn reviews and sees the world, especially in France. Bihn also expresses that he feels that his race and his ethnicity separate and mark him as different in France. He is confronted with so many obstacles and events all at once; he has to navigate through his sexual orientation, his skin color, and social standing in France. Bihn’s own sexual orientation is brought under even more light because he works for a lesbian couple, which represents the exact reason he left Vietnam. He is forced to navigate between a cultural where sexual orientation is highly scrutinized to a cultural where it is more acceptable in France. Again the connection of identity and abuse runs strong in this novel. Bihn’s gruesome sense of childhood abuse are described in detail. I had goose bumps on the arms when I read about what Bihn’s father used to beat him with. My favorite things to do after I read a novel is to look and see how the title fits in. In this case is was pretty easy. Bihn is a cook salt is an ingredient the is in the kitchen while working in France. Tears are prevalent from his childhood abuse and they also contain salt. The title of this book gave nothing away about what it was actually about. It kept me guessing the entire time. The battle of identity was very strong in this book. Bihn’s anguish and pain in battling with himself was very strong. The relationship between his employers was also very beautiful. It depicted a married couple instead of focusing only on their sexual orientation. The novel flowed very evenly with all of the different story lines were all intertwined. The setting in France was also very comfortably addressed. I was annoyed with French words at first but by the second chapter it started to flow and feel more comfortable for me. Bihn’s journey for his identity was definitely the toughest journey thus far from the remaining characters we have read about so far.

March 23- 30

James Welch’s novel, The Heartsong of Charging Elk captures one of the best pictures of trying to discover identity because he is literary thrown into a society he knows nothing about. Charging Elk did make the choice to go on the road with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show but he was still in the company of many people he was still able to communicate with. Charging Elk had no way of preparing himself for waking up in the hospitable because he was abandoned without even knowing any of the language. The book can be see as foreshadowing from the point that Charging Elk was leaving to join the Wild West Show and seeing to female cows mounting each other. This shows how nature was out of balance from the time he decided to join to the time that he was abandoned. Charging Elk comments that both utters were swelling with milk and it was strange because if both cows had milk swelling they had been with a bull previously. It is important to note that Charging Elk uses words like strange and comments on this scene to lead into his own self discovery of his identity. Charging Elk does not even have his own clothes or costume clothes to help identify himself. Most other characters from the other novels are still able to identify themselves through dress or language. Charging Elk’s situation is unique because there is no one around to understand his language or his culture. He has to redefine himself and understand himself in order for him to communicate with others. The real irony comes into play when the other Indian dies and the government declares Charging Elk dead amidst the confusion. This is also an easy way to write him off so he is no longer their “problem. I loved how the novel moved back and forth between his memories and present, this elapse of time reveals how hard it is for Charging Elk to adapt to his new life in Europe. Everything about his cultural identity has been stripped from his because clothes are hard to find for him because of his height and the ability to change diets from what he was used to on the plains. Charging Elk has more loss than any other character we have talked about this semester, more so because he has to navigate through the world on his own. He does not have a family that is around for him to fall on or even a safe haven or him to return to because he is so isolated in Europe. His ability to observe nature gives him a sense of ability to diagnosis himself and the trouble that he has to find his own identity. Charging Elk is more sure of himself in the end then before he joined with Wild West Show because while he was part of the show he only had to depend on what other people expected of is culture and race, but in France when he is alone he only has himself to rely on.

March 16-22

I enjoyed the style and layout of Drown because it kept me on feet when I was reading it also let me juxtapose Yunior’s childhood to how it impacted his adolescence and then his adulthood. I read it as a child who was deeply scarred and the reflections back to his youth and flashbacks. The idea of escaping poverty by moving to the United States was also another interesting issue to explore. The family was plagued with poverty when they left and unfortunately were never able to escape its impact. Even when Yunior has money to give to his money to go to the mall; the money is from drugs and therefore taints the significance of having money in effort to move into a different economic lifestyle. The notion of sleeping with different men is also juxtaposed against stories of Yunior’s dads mistress. As a child, Yunior saw his dad sleeping with different women and giving little respect to women. Yunior tries to be loyal to Aurora and he keeps believing in her even when she is off with some other guy. Yunior. It is like Yunior treats Aurora as in the same manner he looks out for his mom because he is always searching for her and leaving her money or cigarettes. Another way to look at the relationships between Aurora and Yunior, it could be like Yunior fears being abandoned because of what his dad did to his mom so he does not want to lose hold of Aurora, like when he drives by the Juvenile Delinquency Center and honking and waving as they went by because they know where she was. I think the story of “No Face” is a great backlight for the false sense of hope for being able to obtain the American Dream. Israel is constantly promised that his surgery is coming soon, and he constantly hopes and tells people that he is going to have surgery; and he emphasizes that it is in America. There is never an ending to Israel’s story, the reader is left to wonder if he ever receives his surgery or if he never has it. There are so many characters and story lines that can be juxtaposed against each other that I believe Israel’s story must be compared to Yunior’s. Since your Yunior never escaped poverty, so I believe Israel’s story is just another example of broken dreams. The loss of family is also significant; the reader is introduced to the grandfather in the beginning of the novel and then he is unheard of after that. When Yunior is older and giving his mom money the reader still doesn’t hear about his father, he just disappears. Yunior’s brother also drops out of the picture. So not only does the family not achieve the American Dream, but here family is shattered after moving to the United States. Drown is a story of broken dreams and family that presents America as the reason for the family’s breakdown and destruction. Unless the poor deal drugs, it doesn’t have a way out.

March 2-8

Blu’s Hanging was hard for me to read in some areas. I had to set the book down and take a break when there was detail about the cruel behaviors and acts towards children. I suspected sexual abuse when I started to read about these sadistic types of behaviors and then I finally came to the across the part where the Reyes children were being abused by their Uncle. It was hard to stomach the section where he was asking for the youngest to go the room because she was the “tightest.” I was also mad at Poppy for allowing his children to be subjected to this type of behaviors. I think the saving grace was when Big Sis moved to their island. I finally felt the children had an advocate. I also enjoyed all of the interjections about what was good luck and bad luck and how closely the children followed these beliefs. I think that the children equated these ritual beliefs to their mother, it was a way for them to stay close to her. I was also about seventy pages into the book before I started to make sense of the title. Although the main focus revolves around all of the children there are lots of comments on Blu. Blu’s obsession with Clint Eastwood and how he hangs the bad guys is constantly brought up. Then there are constant references to the hanging of kitten which eventually leads to blu’s several real hangings. When Blu is hung by the Reyes family he is left physically scarred and unable to differentiate between the TV world of fiction and real life. He was unable to recognize that he was in physical world. Blu tries to use the fictional world to escape the pain of living in poverty, but he does not understand that the fictional world cannot be incorporated into his and he is physically harmed. Even the episode where he uses the bed sheets to escape and hangs from them, he ruins his good sheets to live a fictional world. This is also true of his “girlfriend’s” sexual acts because Blu says that he is flying away from his real life. He is unable to realize that he is too immature to understand the depths of being sexually active or why it is wrong for the Reyes’s uncle to be sleeping with the children, Blu comments that it looks like the children are having fun, and he stresses that no one else can know about it. Massie is also exposed to all of the scenes that Blu sees because he tells her about everything he experiences, even wet dreams. This is an illustration about how poverty travels down the line because the siblings tell each other and all of the kids are exposed to the same thing. Massie will grow up exposed to the corruption of society because she lacks the knowledge to differentiate fiction from reality and wrong from right. I think the younger children suffered more because they remember less of the mother and see less and interact less with Poppy.