Some of the issues and experiences we have looked at so far have been very intriguing, and in my opinion a little awkward. I have grown up in a household where I was taught to love everyone no matter what, and that is truly how I live my life. I accept people for who they are and do not think twice about their skin color, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. In my high school there were many males and females were gay, lesbian, or bisexual. I was friends with a couple of them and I did not think that they were any different than I was. However, the one girl I used to talk to kept hitting on me and my friends for weeks and we could not get her to stop. This limited the amount of time I spent with her because it would become very awkward quickly. Although was a bad experience for me, it has not altered my view of gays or lesbians. I believe that they should be allowed to marry who they want to marry if that person truly males them happy, and no one else should care about their business. I do believe in the bible and God but I think that God made the relationship of man and wife because they could produce offspring while relationships of other types could not.
This is where heteronormativity comes into play. Yes, it is "normal" for boys to like girls and for opposite sexes to marry, but I do not think it is a sin if people of the same sex marry. I had a very hard time watching the woman and her children from the church. I honestly wanted to leave after the first couple of words that came out of her mouth. Don't get me wrong, I believe in freedom of speech and I believe that everyone's voice should be heard, but I do not support what she was saying and how she was saying it. Some of the posters she made were extremely vulgar and disrespectful. It was very inappropriate for them to be shouting this at soldiers funerals and barely anyone who drove by agreed with her. I think she and her family took this way too far by doing that. They are keeping everyone safe here in America, no matter if they gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. I thought it was interesting that she thought that people who supported GBLT people were condemed and that they were the ones ruining America, where she and other nasty people were picketing on the outskirts of a funeral with disgusting signs.
Middlesex is a mysterious book so far. It was confusing in the beginning but seems to make sense the further you read. The more I read the more I feel bad for Cal. He/she doesn't really know who they are or who they should be. I feel bad because I would hate to be in his/her position, not knowing what to say or how to act. It is obviuos that from a young age Cal was attracted to girls. At first this was unacceptable in society and her school because girls were not supposed to like other girls. However, as he grows up and starts acting like a man this infatutation in completely acceptable. I agree with Cal when he explains that it is hard to tell people his story. I can't imagine how hard finding someone would be. He/she would have to be someone who doesn't care what way you go and just loves you for you, and in todays society that is not really heard of because of heteronormativity. Girls are brought up or taught, and sometimes even pressured, to be interested in boys and likewise. I am very curious to see where the rest of the book goes from here because I want to know what happens to Cal and he/she matures and what decisions he/she will have to make.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Blog #5- Comparing the two novels
It is very obvious that in both novels, American Born Chinese and The Bluest Eye, focus on racism and cultural identity. Pecola is seen and described by other characters in the novel as a little, dirty black girl. She has very dark skin and this makes her more "ugly" than other children who have lighter skin than her. In one scene, Marueen Peal calls Pecola ugly and a "black e mo." Because of these hurtful accusations, Pecola feels the need to be prettier or more white, so she asks and prays for blue eyes. She is trying to be something that she is not just to be accepted by the people in her community and even the world in general. White privilege is seen in this novel clearly. The black people, such as Pecola's parents and Geraldine, do not have good jobs and they make very little money. They do the wash for white population and clean their houses day in and day out.
In American Born Chinese, the issue of cultural identity is seen very clearly. The monkey king believes that he is a deity; he saved the monkeys from the tiger-spirit and he mastered the four parts of kong-fu. When he tries to get into a party held only for the gods, he is not allowed in because he is not wearing shoes. He takes this as a personal jab and beats a lot of the other gods up because he is extremely angry. For the rest of the novel he practices other art forms and believes that if he masters them he will be worshipped by others. He can transform himself and change into many forms. When he meets God he refuses to accept the fact that he is a monkey and gets infuriated when anyone calls him a monkey. He doesn't understand that God made him that way for a reason. The same type of thing happens with Jin when he tries to get Amelia's attention. He changes his appearance to look more like Greg because he is attractive and thinks Amelia likes him. When Amelia tells him that she doesn't like him Jin prays, like Pecola, that he would become more attractive and recieves a new face and hair. Jin does not make many friends at his school right away and the other kids make fun of him because he is Chinese. The same scenario occurs when Wei-Chen Sun joins the school. He is made fun of by others, even Jin at first, because he is Chinese and does not speak English very well.
Both novels focus on racism and cultural identity. Pecola, the monkey king, and Jin are not accepted by others because they are not good enough for one reason or antoher. Pecola is not liked because of her skin, the monkey king is not liked because he is dangerous from all the art forms he learned, and Jin thinks that he is not attractive because Amelia doesn't like him. Each of them wish for or change themselves in order to become more accepted by society. I think that this is another major theme that is prevalent in both novels; be who you are and be proud of it. God made us who we are and how we look for a reason and we shouldn't want to be or look like others.
In American Born Chinese, the issue of cultural identity is seen very clearly. The monkey king believes that he is a deity; he saved the monkeys from the tiger-spirit and he mastered the four parts of kong-fu. When he tries to get into a party held only for the gods, he is not allowed in because he is not wearing shoes. He takes this as a personal jab and beats a lot of the other gods up because he is extremely angry. For the rest of the novel he practices other art forms and believes that if he masters them he will be worshipped by others. He can transform himself and change into many forms. When he meets God he refuses to accept the fact that he is a monkey and gets infuriated when anyone calls him a monkey. He doesn't understand that God made him that way for a reason. The same type of thing happens with Jin when he tries to get Amelia's attention. He changes his appearance to look more like Greg because he is attractive and thinks Amelia likes him. When Amelia tells him that she doesn't like him Jin prays, like Pecola, that he would become more attractive and recieves a new face and hair. Jin does not make many friends at his school right away and the other kids make fun of him because he is Chinese. The same scenario occurs when Wei-Chen Sun joins the school. He is made fun of by others, even Jin at first, because he is Chinese and does not speak English very well.
Both novels focus on racism and cultural identity. Pecola, the monkey king, and Jin are not accepted by others because they are not good enough for one reason or antoher. Pecola is not liked because of her skin, the monkey king is not liked because he is dangerous from all the art forms he learned, and Jin thinks that he is not attractive because Amelia doesn't like him. Each of them wish for or change themselves in order to become more accepted by society. I think that this is another major theme that is prevalent in both novels; be who you are and be proud of it. God made us who we are and how we look for a reason and we shouldn't want to be or look like others.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Blog #4
When we discuss discrimination the first word that comes to mind is "black". However, in our society today discrimination is not just about the color of skin. It's includes our sexual orientation, body composition, and the way we look. It is interesting to me that people still say racism is a hard topic to talk about. Maybe it's because I am white that allows me to think that talking about racism is not hard because I have never been treated differently because of my skin color. I think that the videos we watched last weekend went a little too far for our generation. We have had so many classes and so many lectures about the history of our nation and the awful things we put the black people through in the beginning that I think people our age just tune this topic out. Where I grew up, it didn't matter what skin color you had; everyone was friends with everyone. I had already watched "A Class Divided" in my sociology class last semester and I loved the experiment she did. I thought it was extremely clever and fascinating that the kids behaved the way they did. It was very important for them to learn that racism and not like people because of their color was a bad thing back then. However, I do not think that we need to be taught about it anymore. I think that the United States has made huge improvements in the past couple of generations and I think that this pattern is going to keep going. I'm not saying that one day racism will be completely demolished, because there will always be that one person who "goes against the grain", but I do believe that as the years pass people will continue to be more accepting of others.
Instead of focusing only on racism in schools, I think bullying should be address more frequently than it is. Kids know exactly how to put each other down, like we saw in the video. They believe what they hear and act on what they are told, always, no matter the generation. I think that bullying, at any age, is detrimental. Even in the past week six teens killed themselves because they were getting made fun of by their peers. In one situation, and boy and a girl thought it would be funny to hide a camera in their "friends" room. The friend wound up being gay and having sexual relations with another male and it was caught on the tape. His "friends" streamed it and sent it to all of their friends and they all ganged on the guy they had taped. All of the pressure and embarrassment led him to commit suicide. Because of these situations, I think people need to learn how to act and how to me truly nice to others from a young age. There should be certain rules put in place in elementary, middle, and high schools pertaining to bullying and they should enforce the consequences. I know in my school issues were not dealt in a good way; the staff and principle just let things slide by. I do not think this right and should be more structured so that people will not resort to suicide and hurting themselves to make things better.
Instead of focusing only on racism in schools, I think bullying should be address more frequently than it is. Kids know exactly how to put each other down, like we saw in the video. They believe what they hear and act on what they are told, always, no matter the generation. I think that bullying, at any age, is detrimental. Even in the past week six teens killed themselves because they were getting made fun of by their peers. In one situation, and boy and a girl thought it would be funny to hide a camera in their "friends" room. The friend wound up being gay and having sexual relations with another male and it was caught on the tape. His "friends" streamed it and sent it to all of their friends and they all ganged on the guy they had taped. All of the pressure and embarrassment led him to commit suicide. Because of these situations, I think people need to learn how to act and how to me truly nice to others from a young age. There should be certain rules put in place in elementary, middle, and high schools pertaining to bullying and they should enforce the consequences. I know in my school issues were not dealt in a good way; the staff and principle just let things slide by. I do not think this right and should be more structured so that people will not resort to suicide and hurting themselves to make things better.
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Book Thief
It is not often than we read a book narrated by Death. However, the character of Hans Hubermann fascinates me. When Liesel first arrives at her foster home she would not get out of the car even though Rosa keep telling her to. It surprised me that Hans could coax her out and she could trust him more than another woman. Again, Rosa tries to give Liesel a bath and she refuses to listen to her until Hans convinces her to. I would be more afraid of Hans but the way he and Liesel interact in these scenes tell us that they have an extraordinary relationship that continues through out the novel. From the beginning we get a sense that Hans is not like other German citizens; this becomes more clear when he and his son argue about his membership to the Nazi party. Hans does not support the Nazi's although he has filled out paperwork for membership into the party. Hans Jr. calls his father a coward, leaves the house, and never returns.
Later on in the novel we are introduced to Max who hides in the Hubermanns house. I think that the story of his father and Hans shows the reader why Hans does not really want to be a member of the Nazi party. I think that Hans feels like he would be betraying the Jews if he joined the party because Max's father was a Jew and he saved Hans' life while he was killed in battle.
Hans does not agree with the subjugation of the Jews. Death shows us this when the Hubermanns take Max under their wing and hide him in their basement. Hans also paints over the nasty remarks and racial slurs on the doors of Jewish homes. Another example of Hans' reactions to the mistreatment of Jews is when the Nazis march them through Himmel Street. A frail old man continuously falls down every couple of steps and it is obvious that he is very weak. Hans leaves Liesel's side and offers the man some bread. When an officer sees this he comes over and whips both Hans and the man. This shows that Hans believes that Jews are not bad people and they don't deserve what's happening to them. Because of his actions, the Hubermanns do not want Max in their house anymore incase the Nazis search their house. Three weeks pass and no one comes to search their house and Hans feels aweful for kicking him out for nothing .
I really like Hans. He is gentle with Liesel yet not too sensitive. He keeps secrets with Liesel that neither of them would talk about to Rosa. He is a kind hearted man and always wants the best for everyone. What I like best about Hans is that you never really know what he is going to do next, there's always some surprise around the corner. I am anxious to see what is going to happen with him through the rest of the novel.
Later on in the novel we are introduced to Max who hides in the Hubermanns house. I think that the story of his father and Hans shows the reader why Hans does not really want to be a member of the Nazi party. I think that Hans feels like he would be betraying the Jews if he joined the party because Max's father was a Jew and he saved Hans' life while he was killed in battle.
Hans does not agree with the subjugation of the Jews. Death shows us this when the Hubermanns take Max under their wing and hide him in their basement. Hans also paints over the nasty remarks and racial slurs on the doors of Jewish homes. Another example of Hans' reactions to the mistreatment of Jews is when the Nazis march them through Himmel Street. A frail old man continuously falls down every couple of steps and it is obvious that he is very weak. Hans leaves Liesel's side and offers the man some bread. When an officer sees this he comes over and whips both Hans and the man. This shows that Hans believes that Jews are not bad people and they don't deserve what's happening to them. Because of his actions, the Hubermanns do not want Max in their house anymore incase the Nazis search their house. Three weeks pass and no one comes to search their house and Hans feels aweful for kicking him out for nothing .
I really like Hans. He is gentle with Liesel yet not too sensitive. He keeps secrets with Liesel that neither of them would talk about to Rosa. He is a kind hearted man and always wants the best for everyone. What I like best about Hans is that you never really know what he is going to do next, there's always some surprise around the corner. I am anxious to see what is going to happen with him through the rest of the novel.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Maus I
From the first graphic to the last, this novel kept my attention. It was very interesting to hear and visually see Vladek's experiences during the holocaust. Although the characters in the story are represented by animals, you knew that the events that took place in the novel were real during this time in history. There were many themes that I noticed while reading MausI.
One of the most prominent themes was Vladek's personality and his relationships with other characters in the book. At first, he seems like he is a loving father and husband because he hugs Artie and shows affection towards him when he gets called a rotten egg by his friends. Further on in the novel we learn about his first wife Anja. I feel that most of his story was about protecting her and making sure she would get out safe and alive. He cared about their family and did whatever he could to save their lives. However, when we are drawn back to "current" times with his marriage to Mala, he does not treat her as well. In fact, they hate each other and fight about money constantly. It also seems that he is unhappy with Artie. Every time Artie comes over to talk to his father, Vladek is very cold to him when he first arrives. He blames him for a lot of his troubles, like knocking over his pills and miscounting them, and makes fun of the coat Artie wears. Throughout Vladek's journey to survive he met many people, some were Jews, some were Poles, and some were Germans. Specifically, on pg. 118 Vladek gets stopped by a German officer and is demanded to hand over his I.D. papers. When the officer realizes that he is part of the Spiegelman family, and is related to Haskel, he is let go. This really showed me that it mattered who you knew at this point. However, towards the end of the novel it was interesting to me to see that everybody fought for themselves and did not really care about others, even family.
I thought this novel was very interesting. In my opinion it is a good depiction of the Holocaust. It does not describe in depth what happened in Auschwitz but by retelling Vladek's experience we get a glimpse of the horrors the Jews and many others faced. Every day they lived in fear for their lives and they were constantly on the move to find new hiding places. All in all I thought this novel was good and the graphics really helped to explain the situations and portray the characters feelings throughout Vladek's story.
One of the most prominent themes was Vladek's personality and his relationships with other characters in the book. At first, he seems like he is a loving father and husband because he hugs Artie and shows affection towards him when he gets called a rotten egg by his friends. Further on in the novel we learn about his first wife Anja. I feel that most of his story was about protecting her and making sure she would get out safe and alive. He cared about their family and did whatever he could to save their lives. However, when we are drawn back to "current" times with his marriage to Mala, he does not treat her as well. In fact, they hate each other and fight about money constantly. It also seems that he is unhappy with Artie. Every time Artie comes over to talk to his father, Vladek is very cold to him when he first arrives. He blames him for a lot of his troubles, like knocking over his pills and miscounting them, and makes fun of the coat Artie wears. Throughout Vladek's journey to survive he met many people, some were Jews, some were Poles, and some were Germans. Specifically, on pg. 118 Vladek gets stopped by a German officer and is demanded to hand over his I.D. papers. When the officer realizes that he is part of the Spiegelman family, and is related to Haskel, he is let go. This really showed me that it mattered who you knew at this point. However, towards the end of the novel it was interesting to me to see that everybody fought for themselves and did not really care about others, even family.
I thought this novel was very interesting. In my opinion it is a good depiction of the Holocaust. It does not describe in depth what happened in Auschwitz but by retelling Vladek's experience we get a glimpse of the horrors the Jews and many others faced. Every day they lived in fear for their lives and they were constantly on the move to find new hiding places. All in all I thought this novel was good and the graphics really helped to explain the situations and portray the characters feelings throughout Vladek's story.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
All About Me
Hi, my name is Jill Bender and I'm from Bethlehem, Pa. I am a sophomore this year, living in Lackhove Hall. I am going to declare Exercise Science as my major next semester so I am currently undeclared. I love to play soccer so if anyone ever wants to shoot around or anything let me know! I also love to go horseback riding. At home we have three dogs named Ace, Rocco, and Peaches, and I also have two older sisters named Emily and Hillary. I am taking this class because I thought it sounded interesting and it also filled a general education requirement. The last book that I read was Charlie St. Cloud and I loved it. It was not what I expected but it made me think about life and why we do certain things; I love those types of books. I think cultural diversity refers to the way people live their lives, rather than peoples actual "cultural" appearance. I feel that society is very diverse and certain cultures look down on other cultures no matter where you are in the world. I am interested to see where this class takes me. I want to learn how and why people from different cultures act the way they do and why it has become such a huge problem in our society today. I think that these issues will be illustrated through the books we will read in class.
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