By March 17th, you will need to have posted: -1 post that reflect on your own book: quotes, questions, connections, interesting facts -1 response to another book club post
Hello everyone! I'm reading, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. It's a great novel if you're ever looking for good a book. The beginning of the novel focuses on the rough life of a girl named, Mariam who's mother became pregnant with her by a man who already had three wives. Because of this, Mariam's mother became a scandal and her lover sent her away. The mother obviously demonstrates anger towards him, and all men. One quote I found interesting was only on page seven of the novel, and Mariam's mother is giving Mariam advice about men.
"Like a compass needle that points North, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman."
What do you guys think about this? Why do you think the author included it? Is there truth in those warning words? Or did he just use it because it fitted the character? ~Gennavieve
In response to Genn's quote, I think that it is just used to fit the character of the mother. Certainly not all men disrespect women and I think that a male author would say this about himself because it would ruin his ethos to tell the story of a broken women through the perspective of an accusing man. I feel that he used this quote to demonstrate just how impacted the mother was from the situation if she no longer trusts any men. -Emily Hentschke
I am reading Candyman by Simone Poirier-Bures and it tells of an Acadian family living in Halifax in the 1950's. They go through their share of hardships and misfortunes but try to maintain a happy family. But as time goes on, the children grow and the family grows apart. The children become older and start to live their own lives and the closeness they once had starts to separate. Do you think that a lot of families experience this? Is it avoidable or when people change and get older is this naturally going to happen?
In response to Kelsey’s post, I think that naturally most families will grow apart. Unless you have a family who really values staying connected as a family, I think that many families do start to lose closeness as members of the family start to grow up. As we talked about the other day in class, our lives have become so busy and we are always on the move so it would just be natural that families would start to lose a little bit of the connection they once had. Every person in the family tends to have a busy schedule that is different than another member so it is hard to stay connected. This can be avoided if the family decides to have certain times where the family has to be together, but I think it is just something that will always happen.
In the book I'm reading, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents", there are four sisters in the story who are struggling with their identity's because they had to flee the Dominican Republic when they were younger to America. Two of the girls end up having mental breakdowns in the story throughout their lives. Do you think that a reason for someone having a breakdown could be the identity crisis in itself? Or do you think it's something that happens because of genetics of otherwise?
In response to Genn's quote, I agree with Emily. I think this quote was mainly used to add to the book's story and give the reader a better understanding of what that character has been through. Obviously, she has had bad experience with men but it's a little extreme to blame all men. I do feel like there are a lot of woman who blame men but you have to be careful with who you blame. You have to be the one who decides what's best for you and make smart decisions.
In the book in reading “How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents”, four sisters tell their story of leaving their homeland of the Dominican Republic and move to the United States with their parents. The girls each experience different struggles from moving to a strange and unfriendly place in the mid 60’s. Instead of a chronological progression of the story from when the girls first left to America to how they are now, the story is told backwards from the present to the last few days before the family leaves. Why do you think the author specifically did this?
In response to Kelsey’s question, I think that with the advancements in our technology many people can separate their own lives from others a lot more but still be “close” in a sense. Facebook and other social networks on the internet and virtual connections make people feel like they are with their family or friends and feel like they are really connected with them still but today families are going further apart because its easier to stay “connected” at farther distances. Before phones and cars people stayed in the same places as their family so that it would be easy to travel and get to there loved ones as soon as possible. But as technology advances people can keep inching away from the ones they care about because they feel that it is ok because of the technology that helps people stay “together”
In response to Kelsey’s post I definitely think that maintaining closeness within a family is an effort, just like it is with friends. You have to spend time with someone and talk to them on a regular basis to maintain the friendship. Family does not come easy, it takes time and effort. Although it is inevitable that as children grow they begin to form their own lives and in turn become busy with their own plans; however, there is no reason that your schedule can’t include your family in my opinion.
I am reading The Jailing of Cecelia Capture, a book about an Indian woman, also an aspiring law student, who spent her childhood living on an Indian Reservation in Idaho. Cecelia is very lost in her identity as an Indian woman and is searching for her self esteem and confidence by doing what she thinks everyone else wants her to do. In the first chapter Cecilia Capture wakes up in Jail on her thirtieth birthday. As the chapter unwraps the author reveals how she got there and why. Why do you think the author would start with the present and then rewind to the events of the past?
To respond to Natalie’s post, I believe that authors often use this method of starting with the present and then rewinding to the past as a technique to provide the reader with the outcome first in order to create curiosity of how the character ended up in this situation. Often when the book starts off with a character in an extreme situation, the reader’s first reaction is to wonder why or how events lead up to this. This, in turn, is a perfect set up for the author to rewind into the past and begin telling a story.
The novel Candyman appears to have no purpose because the novel is a simple narrative following a family from newlywed stage to death. However, by the time the novel is finished this sense of lack of purpose parallels the authors overall message. The message being that life is a search for purpose. Therefore, this theme is not revealed until the last pages of the book when the characters deal with death. The novel comes full circle and is a modest and honest depiction of life. How do you guys as readers respond to books that appear to lack in focus or purpose? Would this approach to telling a story encourage or discourage readers?
In my book, Bless Me, Ultima a young boy is trying to decide between two different beliefs, the Catholic religion and the "religion" of the Golden Carp. This boy has nightmares and has a very difficult childhood trying to figure out who he should follow. He questions god and why evil happens, and he eventually makes a decesion. Antonio wonders whether God is really a protective person or if he picks and chooses who should die and live. Antonio sees a lot of death in his life and I think that that contributes to his ultimate decesion in the end. My question is, do you think that seeing people die in unfair and unjust ways are reason enough to change your entire belief system?
In response to Anne-Elise' post,I would have probably been a little frustrated as a reader if the book I was reading seemed to have no purpose or direction. I believe good authors write to share something meaningful, and that's what we in turn as readers look to discover. Even though in the novel Candyman you mentioned that the author did reveal his/her purpose at the every end, it might have turned many readers off who were merely reading the book for pleasure rather than a class assignment. Writing a book that for the most part seems to lack purpose, even if done for a reason, is a risky bet that can potentially cost an author many readers.
In the book "How the Gracia Girls Lost Their Accents" Julia Alvarez tells the story of four young girls who were born in the Dominican Republic and due to political struggles, moved with their family to the United States. Throughout each of the girls lives they can never seem to heal the tear that damaged their hearts when they moved away from home. Many people are forced to leave their countries in search of safety and hope for a better life in our contemporary world, do you think their fight to adjust to our culture as well as stay true to their own is just as hard? Do you think we as a country might be able to do something to make this easier for them? or is it an entirely internal conflict?
In response to Teagan's post I think that people who flee their countries are obviously having problems with their culture and country. If you are willing to leave to find something better you must be willing to sacrifice certain aspects of your life for others. Integration into into a different society is extremely difficult but we see it everyday. Say what you want about America, but it's consumer market has made great gains in making immigrants feel more comfortable. Half of everything is translated in spanish, our movies have subtitles in multiple languages, computers and TV's can be translated, their food is available, and through the internet people can find just about anything. It's more than America, our globe is becoming more and more interconnected and technology has allowed for cultures to be spread worldwide. This has made integration, among other things, much easier in our world.
For my book I read The Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe. It basically outlines the same struggle of colonization of Africa as did The POisinwoood Bible and Things Fall Apart with a few personal twists tied into the characters. My question is not all that abstract but it has been something that's been on my mind for a while especially with the recent disaster in Haiti. How is the United States to choose when to help a country and when to let it fall to ruin? Yes, the colonization of Africa was not simply an effort to help, though certain aspects of it were. We tried to advance the impoverished nation that was plagued with war, though they didn't ask for our help. Haiti asked for our help, but in order to truly help we had to take over, send in our military and distribute the aid we provided because they weren't capable of it themselves. Is this not also what we did to Africa? Iraq did not ask us for help, we invaded and are transforming the country. Sound familiar. Why do we keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results?
In my book "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya its about a young boy named Antonio or Tony, deals with issues with religion of the Catholic Faith, and that of what they call in the book the "Golden Carp" but when Tony and his friend Cico go to see the "Golden Carp" and on the way there Tony gets picked on by a group of boys for having a witch in his house, they seem to believe that Tony can do the magic to. When Cico and tony get away he says "...people,grown-ups and kids, seem to want to hurt each other-- and its worse when they're in a group" Do you agree with this? I want to know what you think guys, do you think that humanity is weak because of this, that we always want to hurt others, being in high school we see things like this a lot. We see people being picked on, and when people are with their friends it makes them stronger they may say, so what do you think? Are we a weak society when we look for support and strength in these situation's
In response to Caitlyn's post, I think that she brings up a very interesting point. Personally, I think that the Unites States continues to do the same thing, taking over countries and rebuilding them, instead of simply giving aid through resources, due to the fact that we are afraid to try other methods. America is known for our somewhat "organized" society i suppose you could call it. Our government is very involved and keeps things in line. We must believe that our way is the best way, and that we should be spreading our example and methods to others. It is risky to try a different method when giving aid to other countries, therefore the Unites States doesn't change its' ways in hope of finding some success somewhere.
I read the novel "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents." The story is based off of four sisters who were born in the Dominican Republic, where they have their family roots, yet were moved with their parents to the United States due to political conflict. The extended family of the girls all live on the same family compound in the Dominican Republic. While the girls are living in the Dominican Republic they are constantly with their whole family and begin to get irritated and want to separate themselves from them. After moving away, they yearn for that family connection once again and that reconnection with their roots. Does this same sort of thing happen to you and your family? Do you ever feel suffocated by their constant presence, yet miss the company when they are gone? Holding on to family and cultural roots is such a huge part of this novel, does it apply to real life as well?
In response to Caitlyns post, I think we do things over and over again because we think we're doing it another way. Sometimes people think that because they are doing it as oppossed to someone who failed before them, it will work. Furthermore, I think things are done again and again out of habit. Habits are hard to break, and when people start to think with a certain mentality, it's hard to break that streak.
In my novel "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" Julia Alvarez tells a story of the struggles of four Dominican Republic born sisters who find it hard to adjust to life in America. This parallels Alvarez's own life as she two had to transition back and forth between American and the Dominican Republic. She even wrote in one of the characters as an alter-ego to herself. Why do you think Alvarez fabricated this story when she could have told her own? -Emily Hentschke
Hey Guys! Ok so I'm reading the book called "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri and it tells the story of a boy trying to discover who he truly is based on his roots being Indian, being named after a Russian writer, yet being raised in America. His parents are from India and even though they move to America, they still try to uphold a lot of the traditions that take place in India with ceremonies, rituals, holidays and food choices. Do you think that we, as Americans, if we moved to a different country that we would still uphold many of the traditions that we have, like celebrating holidays, or maybe birthday rituals, or the ceremonies we hold when we get married? Do you think that our culture and traditions are ones that would stick with us for life no matter where we go, or is it something that would fade away as we would adopt new traditions of the new culture/ country?
In response to Emily Wood's question I believe that seeing people die in an unjust way does effect our belief systems but justly so. I mean if you talk to people sometimes (going away from the effects of death) who have experienced traumatic situations they can have a negative outlook on life. Like one of my friends has had sort of a tough and stressful life and to him it just seems like it is constantly raining on his parade. And with depression if something bad happen and in return you keep feed yourself the bad events you are never going to be happier or able to see the positives. Sorry, I feel like I'm drifting away from my answer...here: I feel that, yes, watching someone die that doesn't deserve it or shouldn't can effect out outlook on our beliefs. But for me I feel that we were put on earth all for a purpose and if we are going to die, well then it's our time. We did what we needed, and the trick is being able to identify what the person left. So for me I don't personally believe what the character believes, but I can understand how being put in the position he is in could alter my beliefs. -Lauren Dillier
So in response to Lauren's comment, I'm not sure if you could really consider American a traditional culture. From the birth of our nation, we've always been a melting pot, a mixture of cultures and ethnicities. So if one were to try to define what makes American culture unique it would probably be diversity. But diversity is not really a tradition an American could uphold in a foreign country. That is not to say that we would loose our American identity. American's are identified for having certain values or capabilities. Although our culture could not be wholly defined as gluttonous (with gluttony being the tradition to uphold) we definitely have different material values and are seen as relatively rich. Moving to another country, an American would still be stamped by this identity but they wouldn't necessarily uphold a culture or ritual in the traditional sense.
In response to Emily's post, I think Alverez chose to make a her book fictional rather than an autobiography for possible confidentiality reasons. I'd have to read it myself in order to determine other possibilities, based on content and point-of-view, but I know of many others that have a desire to write about a circumstance in their own life, but for their confidentiality, as well as others involved, they change the characters and some of the story but leave the same purpose.
In my book “The Jailing of Cecilia Capture”, by Janet Campbell Hale, Cecilia wakes up in jail the day after her thirtieth birthday. While in jail, she looks back on her childhood on the Indian reservation that she grew up on and events that shaped her to who she is today. One huge topic throughout the entire book is about Cecilia feeling trapped in the world she is in. She wishes for independence as a child, but never fully achieves it until the very end of the book. How important is it to have independence to you? Do you think there is a right age to gain independence?
"'Tony will be her farmer,' Leon added. 'And her dream will be complete and we will be free!' Gene shouted." This is a quote from my book Bless Me, Ultima. The main character, Tony, is expected by his brothers (Leon and Gene) to please his parents wishes so they are off the hook essentially. In the book the parents have conflicting ideas for Tony's destiny so he is faced with a choice. Do you also feel pressure from parents, siblings or even teachers to be a certain person or live a certain life? Obviously, we are heavily influenced by our loved ones, friends, etc. but how much of our actions are determined by ourselves versus by the consciousness of others reactions? Tony not only has pressure from his parents but now a responsibility to his brothers. How much do others affect our life choices and actions and is this influence fair or unintentional?
In the book I read, "Candyman", the biggest conflict in the life of this Canadaian family is the age difference between the husband and wife (33 years). It separates the family due to the husbands struggle to provide for his family with his digression in health, and the wife feeling sorry for herself, having to take care of the family and not receiving the attention she, as a woman, needs. Do you think age difference in a relationship will always have tendencies to feed conflict? How do we decided how many years difference is too many?
I read the book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" a novel about two Afghan women, Laila and Mariam, living in a war ladden Afghanistan. These women witness so much violence and hate, and are beaten and treated like possesions by their husband. Once quote from the novel that embodies the purpose of the book is something Mariam's mother told her when she was little. She said, "Like a compass that points north, a mans accusing finger always finds a woman. Always." This quote has obviously been proven true in the book, and in Afghanistan, but when else? What about in America? History?
In response to Lynda's blog I do think that conflict can arise from a large age gap relationship and can at times be tough with the generation gap and such, but that does not mean that these kinds of relationships cannot work. Answering your other question as long as both people in the relationship are over the age of 18 then there should be no age limit on true love. Just because there is a huge age difference doen't mean it will never work. If you guys have seen the movie Harold and Maude then you know what I am talking about and if you havn't then you need to see it. Sure there will be problems that come from a large age gap relationship, but problems will come from every kind of relationship. We need to not get so caught up on age and just allow love to run its course.
I'm reading the book The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's about this man named Gogol who is searching for his true self. Gogol is from an Indian culture and he his the first genreation in his family to be born in America. During his search of trying to firgure out who he is, he meets an Indian family friend named Moushumi. She was previously engaged but they had broke it off before the wedding. However, Moushumi's family kept all of the old items originally bought for the wedding of Moushumi and Graham. So when the time comes for Gogol and Moushumi to get married, they use the things that were for her previous wedding. This seems like such a bad omen to me because weddings are all about new beginnings and starting a new life together, not based on old relationships. This seems to foreshadow the relationship between Gogol and Moushumi throughout the rest of the book. If you were in Gogol's situation would you want everything to be new or would it even bother you if they used items that were originally meant for your fiance and his/her ex?
In response to Rachaels post, Independence is very important, but there is no age for it, its something that must be prove. You must be able to prove that you can be independent. We as seniors are on the brink of independence for some of us going out of our parents hold and to learn our own mistakes. Independence is just that to, its our chance to learn our selfs about mistakes, there are only so many of our parents mistakes that we can learn from and in order to succeed we need to experience them our selves.
I finished reading the book Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe.This book is about a chief priest named Ezeulu and how he deals with the colonists taking over his land and his village. Ezeulu does everything he can to save his village from destruction, but sadly in front of his eyes his village and the life he knows crumbles in front of him. The quote that perfectly sums up this book is, "these are not the times we used to know and we must meet them as they come or be rolled in the dust." So the question I put to you guys is it always good to go with change? How much do we let change dictate our traditions,morals, and life before we say enough is enough? Can we even know when it has been enough?
In response to Alissa's post, I think that what Miriams mother said is true but not always. There have been many times when women make accussations towards men also. In this day in age, I feel like women have this defensive shield up and they think that all men blame women just for being women. However, these sorts of problems shoudn't be a gender issue. The women in Afghanistan should take a stand and claim their freedom just like many other women have done in history. Just because women in other countries don't have a high of a status as men, it doesn't always have to be that way. They can choose to be someone different. So no, I don't think that the compass of accusations points to women, unless the women allow that to happen.
My book club book was The Namesake, it's about a first generation immigrant family from India. I found it interesting that the kids of the families that were born in America, have no attachment to there culture whatsoever. Because in the Indian culture, wives were expected to honor their husbands with as much respect as not to even utter their husband's first name. However, Gogol, the son of these immigrants is very loose with his relationships. Unlike his mother and father, he did have physical attraction to women and wasn't afraid to explore those attractions. Marriage is a scared thing in Indian culture, and yet and American born Indian son is married for less than two years before he gets divorced. (He was even married to another Indian woman, but she also disregarded the sacredness of marriage and had an affair with another man). Why do you think that a thing like marriage, that has many different significances in different cultures is so disregarded in America?
In response to Lynda's post, yes, I do think that an age difference that big is definitely a spark for conflict. The lifestyle of a 33 year old and a 66 year old is just so different, in such different spheres that it makes it hugely difficult to live with. These age differences only are more significant when we are young. I'm sure all of you have heard your parents say, "Once you're in college, age doesn't matter anymore. It's only in high school when there is a suspicious eye casted at the senior boy dating the freshman girl." But I disagree, I think no matter what age you are, nothing will change that difference between the couple. Especially 33 years.
Hello everyone!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. It's a great novel if you're ever looking for good a book. The beginning of the novel focuses on the rough life of a girl named, Mariam who's mother became pregnant with her by a man who already had three wives. Because of this, Mariam's mother became a scandal and her lover sent her away. The mother obviously demonstrates anger towards him, and all men. One quote I found interesting was only on page seven of the novel, and Mariam's mother is giving Mariam advice about men.
"Like a compass needle that points North, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman."
What do you guys think about this? Why do you think the author included it? Is there truth in those warning words? Or did he just use it because it fitted the character?
~Gennavieve
In response to Genn's quote, I think that it is just used to fit the character of the mother. Certainly not all men disrespect women and I think that a male author would say this about himself because it would ruin his ethos to tell the story of a broken women through the perspective of an accusing man. I feel that he used this quote to demonstrate just how impacted the mother was from the situation if she no longer trusts any men.
ReplyDelete-Emily Hentschke
I am reading Candyman by Simone Poirier-Bures and it tells of an Acadian family living in Halifax in the 1950's. They go through their share of hardships and misfortunes but try to maintain a happy family. But as time goes on, the children grow and the family grows apart. The children become older and start to live their own lives and the closeness they once had starts to separate. Do you think that a lot of families experience this? Is it avoidable or when people change and get older is this naturally going to happen?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kelsey’s post, I think that naturally most families will grow apart. Unless you have a family who really values staying connected as a family, I think that many families do start to lose closeness as members of the family start to grow up. As we talked about the other day in class, our lives have become so busy and we are always on the move so it would just be natural that families would start to lose a little bit of the connection they once had. Every person in the family tends to have a busy schedule that is different than another member so it is hard to stay connected. This can be avoided if the family decides to have certain times where the family has to be together, but I think it is just something that will always happen.
ReplyDeleteIn the book I'm reading, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents", there are four sisters in the story who are struggling with their identity's because they had to flee the Dominican Republic when they were younger to America. Two of the girls end up having mental breakdowns in the story throughout their lives. Do you think that a reason for someone having a breakdown could be the identity crisis in itself? Or do you think it's something that happens because of genetics of otherwise?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Genn's quote, I agree with Emily. I think this quote was mainly used to add to the book's story and give the reader a better understanding of what that character has been through. Obviously, she has had bad experience with men but it's a little extreme to blame all men. I do feel like there are a lot of woman who blame men but you have to be careful with who you blame. You have to be the one who decides what's best for you and make smart decisions.
ReplyDeleteIn the book in reading “How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents”, four sisters tell their story of leaving their homeland of the Dominican Republic and move to the United States with their parents. The girls each experience different struggles from moving to a strange and unfriendly place in the mid 60’s. Instead of a chronological progression of the story from when the girls first left to America to how they are now, the story is told backwards from the present to the last few days before the family leaves. Why do you think the author specifically did this?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kelsey’s question, I think that with the advancements in our technology many people can separate their own lives from others a lot more but still be “close” in a sense. Facebook and other social networks on the internet and virtual connections make people feel like they are with their family or friends and feel like they are really connected with them still but today families are going further apart because its easier to stay “connected” at farther distances. Before phones and cars people stayed in the same places as their family so that it would be easy to travel and get to there loved ones as soon as possible. But as technology advances people can keep inching away from the ones they care about because they feel that it is ok because of the technology that helps people stay “together”
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kelsey’s post I definitely think that maintaining closeness within a family is an effort, just like it is with friends. You have to spend time with someone and talk to them on a regular basis to maintain the friendship. Family does not come easy, it takes time and effort. Although it is inevitable that as children grow they begin to form their own lives and in turn become busy with their own plans; however, there is no reason that your schedule can’t include your family in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI am reading The Jailing of Cecelia Capture, a book about an Indian woman, also an aspiring law student, who spent her childhood living on an Indian Reservation in Idaho. Cecelia is very lost in her identity as an Indian woman and is searching for her self esteem and confidence by doing what she thinks everyone else wants her to do. In the first chapter Cecilia Capture wakes up in Jail on her thirtieth birthday. As the chapter unwraps the author reveals how she got there and why. Why do you think the author would start with the present and then rewind to the events of the past?
ReplyDeleteTo respond to Natalie’s post, I believe that authors often use this method of starting with the present and then rewinding to the past as a technique to provide the reader with the outcome first in order to create curiosity of how the character ended up in this situation. Often when the book starts off with a character in an extreme situation, the reader’s first reaction is to wonder why or how events lead up to this. This, in turn, is a perfect set up for the author to rewind into the past and begin telling a story.
ReplyDeleteAnne-Elise Duss
The novel Candyman appears to have no purpose because the novel is a simple narrative following a family from newlywed stage to death. However, by the time the novel is finished this sense of lack of purpose parallels the authors overall message. The message being that life is a search for purpose. Therefore, this theme is not revealed until the last pages of the book when the characters deal with death. The novel comes full circle and is a modest and honest depiction of life. How do you guys as readers respond to books that appear to lack in focus or purpose? Would this approach to telling a story encourage or discourage readers?
ReplyDeleteAnne-Elise Duss
In my book, Bless Me, Ultima a young boy is trying to decide between two different beliefs, the Catholic religion and the "religion" of the Golden Carp. This boy has nightmares and has a very difficult childhood trying to figure out who he should follow. He questions god and why evil happens, and he eventually makes a decesion. Antonio wonders whether God is really a protective person or if he picks and chooses who should die and live. Antonio sees a lot of death in his life and I think that that contributes to his ultimate decesion in the end. My question is, do you think that seeing people die in unfair and unjust ways are reason enough to change your entire belief system?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Anne-Elise' post,I would have probably been a little frustrated as a reader if the book I was reading seemed to have no purpose or direction. I believe good authors write to share something meaningful, and that's what we in turn as readers look to discover. Even though in the novel Candyman you mentioned that the author did reveal his/her purpose at the every end, it might have turned many readers off who were merely reading the book for pleasure rather than a class assignment. Writing a book that for the most part seems to lack purpose, even if done for a reason, is a risky bet that can potentially cost an author many readers.
ReplyDeleteIn the book "How the Gracia Girls Lost Their Accents" Julia Alvarez tells the story of four young girls who were born in the Dominican Republic and due to political struggles, moved with their family to the United States. Throughout each of the girls lives they can never seem to heal the tear that damaged their hearts when they moved away from home. Many people are forced to leave their countries in search of safety and hope for a better life in our contemporary world, do you think their fight to adjust to our culture as well as stay true to their own is just as hard? Do you think we as a country might be able to do something to make this easier for them? or is it an entirely internal conflict?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Teagan's post I think that people who flee their countries are obviously having problems with their culture and country. If you are willing to leave to find something better you must be willing to sacrifice certain aspects of your life for others. Integration into into a different society is extremely difficult but we see it everyday. Say what you want about America, but it's consumer market has made great gains in making immigrants feel more comfortable. Half of everything is translated in spanish, our movies have subtitles in multiple languages, computers and TV's can be translated, their food is available, and through the internet people can find just about anything. It's more than America, our globe is becoming more and more interconnected and technology has allowed for cultures to be spread worldwide. This has made integration, among other things, much easier in our world.
ReplyDeleteFor my book I read The Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe. It basically outlines the same struggle of colonization of Africa as did The POisinwoood Bible and Things Fall Apart with a few personal twists tied into the characters. My question is not all that abstract but it has been something that's been on my mind for a while especially with the recent disaster in Haiti. How is the United States to choose when to help a country and when to let it fall to ruin? Yes, the colonization of Africa was not simply an effort to help, though certain aspects of it were. We tried to advance the impoverished nation that was plagued with war, though they didn't ask for our help. Haiti asked for our help, but in order to truly help we had to take over, send in our military and distribute the aid we provided because they weren't capable of it themselves. Is this not also what we did to Africa? Iraq did not ask us for help, we invaded and are transforming the country. Sound familiar. Why do we keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results?
ReplyDeleteIn my book "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya its about a young boy named Antonio or Tony, deals with issues with religion of the Catholic Faith, and that of what they call in the book the "Golden Carp" but when Tony and his friend Cico go to see the "Golden Carp" and on the way there Tony gets picked on by a group of boys for having a witch in his house, they seem to believe that Tony can do the magic to. When Cico and tony get away he says "...people,grown-ups and kids, seem to want to hurt each other-- and its worse when they're in a group" Do you agree with this? I want to know what you think guys, do you think that humanity is weak because of this, that we always want to hurt others, being in high school we see things like this a lot. We see people being picked on, and when people are with their friends it makes them stronger they may say, so what do you think? Are we a weak society when we look for support and strength in these situation's
ReplyDeleteIn response to Caitlyn's post, I think that she brings up a very interesting point. Personally, I think that the Unites States continues to do the same thing, taking over countries and rebuilding them, instead of simply giving aid through resources, due to the fact that we are afraid to try other methods. America is known for our somewhat "organized" society i suppose you could call it. Our government is very involved and keeps things in line. We must believe that our way is the best way, and that we should be spreading our example and methods to others. It is risky to try a different method when giving aid to other countries, therefore the Unites States doesn't change its' ways in hope of finding some success somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI read the novel "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents." The story is based off of four sisters who were born in the Dominican Republic, where they have their family roots, yet were moved with their parents to the United States due to political conflict. The extended family of the girls all live on the same family compound in the Dominican Republic. While the girls are living in the Dominican Republic they are constantly with their whole family and begin to get irritated and want to separate themselves from them. After moving away, they yearn for that family connection once again and that reconnection with their roots. Does this same sort of thing happen to you and your family? Do you ever feel suffocated by their constant presence, yet miss the company when they are gone? Holding on to family and cultural roots is such a huge part of this novel, does it apply to real life as well?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Caitlyns post, I think we do things over and over again because we think we're doing it another way. Sometimes people think that because they are doing it as oppossed to someone who failed before them, it will work. Furthermore, I think things are done again and again out of habit. Habits are hard to break, and when people start to think with a certain mentality, it's hard to break that streak.
ReplyDeleteIn my novel "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" Julia Alvarez tells a story of the struggles of four Dominican Republic born sisters who find it hard to adjust to life in America. This parallels Alvarez's own life as she two had to transition back and forth between American and the Dominican Republic. She even wrote in one of the characters as an alter-ego to herself. Why do you think Alvarez fabricated this story when she could have told her own?
ReplyDelete-Emily Hentschke
Hey Guys! Ok so I'm reading the book called "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri and it tells the story of a boy trying to discover who he truly is based on his roots being Indian, being named after a Russian writer, yet being raised in America. His parents are from India and even though they move to America, they still try to uphold a lot of the traditions that take place in India with ceremonies, rituals, holidays and food choices. Do you think that we, as Americans, if we moved to a different country that we would still uphold many of the traditions that we have, like celebrating holidays, or maybe birthday rituals, or the ceremonies we hold when we get married? Do you think that our culture and traditions are ones that would stick with us for life no matter where we go, or is it something that would fade away as we would adopt new traditions of the new culture/ country?
ReplyDelete-Lauren Dillier
In response to Emily Wood's question I believe that seeing people die in an unjust way does effect our belief systems but justly so. I mean if you talk to people sometimes (going away from the effects of death) who have experienced traumatic situations they can have a negative outlook on life. Like one of my friends has had sort of a tough and stressful life and to him it just seems like it is constantly raining on his parade. And with depression if something bad happen and in return you keep feed yourself the bad events you are never going to be happier or able to see the positives. Sorry, I feel like I'm drifting away from my answer...here: I feel that, yes, watching someone die that doesn't deserve it or shouldn't can effect out outlook on our beliefs. But for me I feel that we were put on earth all for a purpose and if we are going to die, well then it's our time. We did what we needed, and the trick is being able to identify what the person left. So for me I don't personally believe what the character believes, but I can understand how being put in the position he is in could alter my beliefs.
ReplyDelete-Lauren Dillier
So in response to Lauren's comment, I'm not sure if you could really consider American a traditional culture. From the birth of our nation, we've always been a melting pot, a mixture of cultures and ethnicities. So if one were to try to define what makes American culture unique it would probably be diversity. But diversity is not really a tradition an American could uphold in a foreign country. That is not to say that we would loose our American identity. American's are identified for having certain values or capabilities. Although our culture could not be wholly defined as gluttonous (with gluttony being the tradition to uphold) we definitely have different material values and are seen as relatively rich. Moving to another country, an American would still be stamped by this identity but they wouldn't necessarily uphold a culture or ritual in the traditional sense.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Emily's post, I think Alverez chose to make a her book fictional rather than an autobiography for possible confidentiality reasons. I'd have to read it myself in order to determine other possibilities, based on content and point-of-view, but I know of many others that have a desire to write about a circumstance in their own life, but for their confidentiality, as well as others involved, they change the characters and some of the story but leave the same purpose.
ReplyDeleteIn my book “The Jailing of Cecilia Capture”, by Janet Campbell Hale, Cecilia wakes up in jail the day after her thirtieth birthday. While in jail, she looks back on her childhood on the Indian reservation that she grew up on and events that shaped her to who she is today. One huge topic throughout the entire book is about Cecilia feeling trapped in the world she is in. She wishes for independence as a child, but never fully achieves it until the very end of the book. How important is it to have independence to you? Do you think there is a right age to gain independence?
ReplyDelete"'Tony will be her farmer,' Leon added. 'And her dream will be complete and we will be free!' Gene shouted."
ReplyDeleteThis is a quote from my book Bless Me, Ultima. The main character, Tony, is expected by his brothers (Leon and Gene) to please his parents wishes so they are off the hook essentially. In the book the parents have conflicting ideas for Tony's destiny so he is faced with a choice. Do you also feel pressure from parents, siblings or even teachers to be a certain person or live a certain life? Obviously, we are heavily influenced by our loved ones, friends, etc. but how much of our actions are determined by ourselves versus by the consciousness of others reactions? Tony not only has pressure from his parents but now a responsibility to his brothers. How much do others affect our life choices and actions and is this influence fair or unintentional?
In the book I read, "Candyman", the biggest conflict in the life of this Canadaian family is the age difference between the husband and wife (33 years). It separates the family due to the husbands struggle to provide for his family with his digression in health, and the wife feeling sorry for herself, having to take care of the family and not receiving the attention she, as a woman, needs. Do you think age difference in a relationship will always have tendencies to feed conflict? How do we decided how many years difference is too many?
ReplyDeleteI read the book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" a novel about two Afghan women, Laila and Mariam, living in a war ladden Afghanistan. These women witness so much violence and hate, and are beaten and treated like possesions by their husband. Once quote from the novel that embodies the purpose of the book is something Mariam's mother told her when she was little. She said, "Like a compass that points north, a mans accusing finger always finds a woman. Always." This quote has obviously been proven true in the book, and in Afghanistan, but when else? What about in America? History?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Lynda's blog I do think that conflict can arise from a large age gap relationship and can at times be tough with the generation gap and such, but that does not mean that these kinds of relationships cannot work. Answering your other question as long as both people in the relationship are over the age of 18 then there should be no age limit on true love. Just because there is a huge age difference doen't mean it will never work. If you guys have seen the movie Harold and Maude then you know what I am talking about and if you havn't then you need to see it. Sure there will be problems that come from a large age gap relationship, but problems will come from every kind of relationship. We need to not get so caught up on age and just allow love to run its course.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading the book The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's about this man named Gogol who is searching for his true self. Gogol is from an Indian culture and he his the first genreation in his family to be born in America. During his search of trying to firgure out who he is, he meets an Indian family friend named Moushumi. She was previously engaged but they had broke it off before the wedding. However, Moushumi's family kept all of the old items originally bought for the wedding of Moushumi and Graham. So when the time comes for Gogol and Moushumi to get married, they use the things that were for her previous wedding.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like such a bad omen to me because weddings are all about new beginnings and starting a new life together, not based on old relationships. This seems to foreshadow the relationship between Gogol and Moushumi throughout the rest of the book.
If you were in Gogol's situation would you want everything to be new or would it even bother you if they used items that were originally meant for your fiance and his/her ex?
In response to Rachaels post, Independence is very important, but there is no age for it, its something that must be prove. You must be able to prove that you can be independent. We as seniors are on the brink of independence for some of us going out of our parents hold and to learn our own mistakes. Independence is just that to, its our chance to learn our selfs about mistakes, there are only so many of our parents mistakes that we can learn from and in order to succeed we need to experience them our selves.
ReplyDeleteI finished reading the book Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe.This book is about a chief priest named Ezeulu and how he deals with the colonists taking over his land and his village. Ezeulu does everything he can to save his village from destruction, but sadly in front of his eyes his village and the life he knows crumbles in front of him. The quote that perfectly sums up this book is, "these are not the times we used to know and we must meet them as they come or be rolled in the dust." So the question I put to you guys is it always good to go with change? How much do we let change dictate our traditions,morals, and life before we say enough is enough? Can we even know when it has been enough?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Alissa's post, I think that what Miriams mother said is true but not always. There have been many times when women make accussations towards men also. In this day in age, I feel like women have this defensive shield up and they think that all men blame women just for being women. However, these sorts of problems shoudn't be a gender issue. The women in Afghanistan should take a stand and claim their freedom just like many other women have done in history. Just because women in other countries don't have a high of a status as men, it doesn't always have to be that way. They can choose to be someone different. So no, I don't think that the compass of accusations points to women, unless the women allow that to happen.
ReplyDeleteMy book club book was The Namesake, it's about a first generation immigrant family from India. I found it interesting that the kids of the families that were born in America, have no attachment to there culture whatsoever. Because in the Indian culture, wives were expected to honor their husbands with as much respect as not to even utter their husband's first name. However, Gogol, the son of these immigrants is very loose with his relationships. Unlike his mother and father, he did have physical attraction to women and wasn't afraid to explore those attractions. Marriage is a scared thing in Indian culture, and yet and American born Indian son is married for less than two years before he gets divorced. (He was even married to another Indian woman, but she also disregarded the sacredness of marriage and had an affair with another man). Why do you think that a thing like marriage, that has many different significances in different cultures is so disregarded in America?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Lynda's post, yes, I do think that an age difference that big is definitely a spark for conflict. The lifestyle of a 33 year old and a 66 year old is just so different, in such different spheres that it makes it hugely difficult to live with. These age differences only are more significant when we are young. I'm sure all of you have heard your parents say, "Once you're in college, age doesn't matter anymore. It's only in high school when there is a suspicious eye casted at the senior boy dating the freshman girl." But I disagree, I think no matter what age you are, nothing will change that difference between the couple. Especially 33 years.
ReplyDelete