column on adoption

amlit338
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Mar/25/op/FP603250312.html/?print=on

sms

Late Post

I really don't see why the book was wrapped up like this. It seems too perfect. I know it was said over and over again in class, but it just seemed like the entire book was a waste of time. By making the ethnicity of Taylor a Cherokee, it nullified the entire argument of the book. The book was about a white person adopting a Cherokee child. In the end, she had Cherokee blood and the entire thing was simply a misunderstanding. Wtf?! That's how it ends? Four hundred pages and it could have all been solved had Taylor's lineage been traced earlier in the book?

I really think the book could have been better had Taylor NOT had Cherokee blood. Then the Cherokee nation could have removed Turtle from her. Then Taylor could have flipped out and started knocking off the people that stole her child (ok, she doesn't have to kill anyone...), rescuing Turtle and then running from the police in what would end in a sort-of "Thelma and Louise" ending. An ending like this would have shown that no matter what, a mother will protect her children until the end, even if it involves flipping out and breaking the law. It would have shown that family is thicker than blood.

But no, in the end she DOES share blood with Turtle and they all live happily ever after with a big singalong and bunnies and unicorns that shoot rainbows out their asses. What a waste. The conflict of Native American adoption was not solved. Instead, it was simply removed to end the novel. That's a cheap way to solve a conflict... simply remove it!

to aaron (AJ)

amlit338
Let me rephrase what I said yesterday, that did sound awful (I'm sure we all have had occasion to regret something we've said...): "because Taylor was not raised on the reservation, she did not suffer the same social pressures that the Indians on the rez did." Further: "because she did not know she had Indian blood, and presumably doesn't "look" Indian, she didn't suffer the pressures of being an Indian in a white culture." My question had to do with environment, not race. OK?

sms

Midterm

This week I wanted to talk a little about the midterm. I was a big fan of that midterm because it king of brought the whole course together. Even though the subject matter from book to book differed greatly, it all came together in the end through the essay topics that we were asked to pick from. I chose the topic about multiple identities and seeing yourself through the eyes of others and from this question I was able to tie in most of the books together. Although I don't talk much in class, thinking about the texts after reading the essay question got my brain thinking. I had no problem filling up 3 pages with concrete details and reasons why they applied to the DuBois excerpt.

Also I want to mention the fact that the identification questions were a good choice. They were not so easy as to allow someone who did not read the material a chance to guess correctly while at the same time they were quotes that kick started the memory after thinking about them for a few seconds. I had identification questions in my other English class covering less material and the identifications were impossible because the passages were so obscure. As for the essay topics, they were thought provoking and at the same time easy to approach. I hope that the next midterm follows the same format.

Kamau Play

I started reading Kamau from the He Leo Hou book so that I could talk about how the book relates to our presentation topic for class. I found the book very interesting and entertaining. I liked the language in the book because I felt as though I were standing in front of my own friends listening to them talk in pidgin english. It was great. I am not done with the whole story but so far so good. This play shows so many different perstpectives and I like that there's the dialogue in dreams. It really adds to the effect of the story. I am really excited to finish the story. But I am really nervous to present today. See you in class!

The Clichéd “Required Blog Entry, But My Brain’s Already on Spring Break” Blog Post.

There is an impression that Barbara Kingsolver had a sequel in mind with the conclusion of Pigs in Heaven. As discussed, many classmates were disappointed with the ending of the novel. How everything according to Professor Schultz, “wrapped up nicely.”

I disagree with the “wrapped up nicely” comment. Because I feel that Kingsolver solved nothing at the conclusion of her novel. Consider this exchange between Turtle and her mother, Taylor:


Taylor: “Yep. Your family, to be exact.”

Turtle: “They’re crazy.”

Taylor: “I know…but they’ll probably grow on you.”



Pause for a moment and just contemplate how open-ended an ending this is. In Kingsolver’s new New York Times Bestseller: Cherokee Turtle!

To be quite frank (no pun intended. Frank), I expected a bit more. The novel started out with such promise and dissolved into all the clichés of a Police Academy movie. What a utter disappointed. I sense we should have read novel by Dean Koontz or Danielle Steele, at least there would have been a worthy conclusion to the mediocracy of the novel.

Meanwhile, I have begun reading Alani Apio’s play, Kamau. It is the next scheduled reading assignment, and I reckoned to get a head start.

The dialogue is starting to become rather difficult. I do understand that “pidgin” (or Hawaiian Creole English, for technicality) is the choice language. And I also understand its importance to the authenticity of the characters. But I do find it difficult to comprehend at times.

Before leaving for spring break, I really need spent some time in at some backyard barbeque chock full of pidgin speakers and domestic beer. I propose a class field trip to Waimanalo.

adoption stories

The link is huge, so I won't send it, but the NYT (nytimes.com) has a story on girls adopted from China on the front page today (Wednesday), which is worth reading. Most journalism about adoption makes me crazy (lots of it is bad, ignorant, insensitive) this story at least allows that there are varied reactions to being an adopted girl from China. Tomorrow, I'll mention some other stories from this past week.

aloha, sms

new-fangled motherhood

someone please write the novel about this situation....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/magazine/319dad.html

aloha, sms

midterm

amlit338

For those of you who missed the class in which we discussed the midterm:

there will be two sections, one a straightforward "identify the following passage by text, author, and speaker and then discuss its significance," and the other a short essay based on another quotation, this one from an outside source that sheds light on the issues raised thus far.

That was a long sentence, but I hope it helps. I don't aim to defeat you, so don't look for trick questions.

aloha, sms

war news, for stacy especially

amlit338
I'll agree with Stacy that there's war on tv a lot. But it's mostly delivered as talking points and with military or ex-military officiers as "analysts." Here's a site you might look at for what you don't get on tv:

http://juancole.com

Juan Cole is a professor at the University of Michigan.

aloha, sms

Steve Perry Won't Stop Believin...

amlit338Pigs in Heaven is a pretty interesting story, and while I've yet to finish the whole thing, I don't mind reading it. Reminds me of a movie type novel. Where all the characters seem to say the right things at the right times. And everything always works out. It's a book that would be perfect in dulling the waking nightmares of a painful existence. Children acting up again, complaining and not showing you any respect: "Save me Kingsolver!!!" Boss being unfair with the workload: Kingslver...make me feel better!!! My wife forgot my birthday: "Kingsolver! I need you pumping through my veins!!!" That type of thing. I'd freebase Kingsolver, then lie, staring at my ceiling all day if I could. And whats with Jax? It's safe to say, that I hate him. I don't believe the character. He's way too comic book. Him and his wit, and rock n roll. It pisses me off because I want him to look like Jax from Mortal combat, the guy that ripped off arms for his finishing move, but I know that he most likey looks exactly like Steve Perry, from Journey, or even worse, David Lee Roth. It bums me out. It's tragic.
I realize that I haven't said anything remotely intelligent here. Minors. As for the girl, turtle. What's one girl in an entire nation? That's one less alcoholic paint huffer as far as I'm concerned. Loss of culture is a fact. Deal. Nothing a trip to McDonalds and a happy meal can't resolve.

This week I decided to talk about the context of this novel. More specifically how Barbara Kingsolver came to write this book. One interesting thing I learned about Barbara Kingsolver is that she was born in Kentucky where everyone was either a rich horse raiser or a poor miner. This could be the influence over how she does such a good job of contrasting things like her book's views on the differences between Native American and American families, both in structure and thoughts.

One reason why Pigs in Heaven is such an acclaimed book is because Kingsolver saw firsthand Native American adoptions. In between her background growing up in a place where there is a sharp contrast between two demographics and being a witness to these adoptions is the reason why this book reads so genuinely. It is also interesting to note that Kingsolver ignores the question of which situation is best for the one adopted and digs into the touchy subject of what is best for the people as a whole.

As for the in-class discussion we had on Tuesday, I think it is best not to take a child out of a home that they know until they are as old as the age in which a child can decide which parent to live with in the case of a divorced couple. Run on sentences are awesome. I think it is the same case though. If a child is old enough to decide which parent to live with, they are old enough to decide which people they want to live with. I also don't see the difficulty in staying with the family they lived with for so long and also getting in touch with their roots.

EXTRA EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! "Lucky Buster Saved by Perverserving Tuscon Pair!"

The concept of a semi-traditional family relies on the two primary caregivers to provide for their offspring. It also requires that these caregivers remain bonded, and have a continual mutual respect and/or affection for each other. If a family does not have the two primary caregivers, it becomes a negotiated family of sorts.

It should be stressed that the concept of the stated “semi-traditional family” is societal based. As in, our modern society deemed it to be standard. There was a time when a village raised families as a collective. And within this type of family, the historic culture of the people consumed each member’s daily life.

Annawake Fourkiller believes that the Native American people must live in the families of their ancestors. Regardless of how modern society has failed their groups of families, their tribes. There is a moment in which Fourkiller remembers her aunts who “lived in one house, and could never agree on anything in this world except that love is eternal.” (pg. 226)

Taylor Greer believes that family revolves around a group of nomads bonded via circumstances. This is how Taylor encounters an infant Turtle, and how Taylor has become the only mother that Turtle has ever known.

This difference of opinions leads to two very dynamic characters in Pigs in Heaven, struggling to assert each other’s views upon the other.

As discussed during class this Tuesday, Taylor states to Annawake: “My home doesn’t have anything to do with your tragedy.” (pg. 95) Whereas I agreed with Taylor’s point of view, I also felt myself retract with classmate’s Andrea’s statement.

Andrea talked about how that was not a good response because even though Taylor may have personally never had anything to do with the depletion of Native American reservations; she must realize that to Annawake the seizure of land and its aftermath is still reciprocating.

Reacting upon this, I began to read Barbara Kingsolver’s novel quite differently. Even though Kingsolver did not make Annawake the villain of the story, I was beginning to view her as the evil lawyer that wants to take a child away from her mother because of personal vendetta.

But now it could be viewed that Taylor is the villain. As she became some sort of fugitive (well, especially with Barbie—the casino robber) and has been seeking an avoidance of Annawake rather then a dialogue. Rather then seeking upon a compromise, Taylor sought out martyr-dom.

A few classmates in this blog have talked about Jax. One edited their original praise of Jax after his promiscuity with his landlord. Another questioned whether or not real people like Jax excited, as Jax seems to be consistently “witty.”

Jax rocks. Imagine Kingsolver’s novel without Jax. It just would not work. He is also the most mature of characters in my opinion, owning up to his indiscretions almost immediately. And someone, absolutely someone had to play the role of sweet and goofy.

Finally, the topic of culture came upon class discussions. Annawake wants Turtle to see her Native American culture. Taylor figures that Turtle may do so on her own time.

Culture is what a persona uses to identify with their heritage. Some may choose to go balls-out with their culture. They may choose to wear traditional clothing, their hair in traditional braids. Others may choose to acknowledge their culture in a different way.

In other words, culture is a person’s individual choice. How one identifies with their lineage is their choice. No one should ever have the authority to state: “If you are not doing such and such, you are not part of your ethnicity.”

Adults are in general, opinioned and assholes. If Turtle were ever given the option I am sure it would something along the lines of: going home to Arizona and making junk food experiments with Jax.

remember euphemisms?

from one of my poetry lists this morning, when we learn of Operation Swarmer:


"operation swarmer" does not bode well as a name for this new little
project of our government. from TIME Magazine, May 1, 1950:

"This week, 32,000 U.S. troops will begin dropping in parachutes or
landing in troop-carrier planes on the green hills around Fort Bragg and
Camp Mackall, N.C. Jet fighters will whisk overhead, giving them air
cover. Cargo planes will fly in with all their supplies, for "Operation
Swarmer" is designed to prove that a combat area, e.g., an island base
for strategic bombers, can be taken and held by airborne troops entirely
supplied by air. Operation Swarmer will also demonstrate something more
important: the nation's unpreparedness."

also: "Operation SWARMER at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during April and
May 1950, highlighted many of the inefficiencies and shortcomings of
improvised supplied by parachute-dropped and air-landed supplies." (LT.
COL. ROBERT C. McKECHNIE, QM-USAR
Quartermaster Review September-October 1950.)

t.

ADOPTION...I'M ALL FOR IT!

So the book Pigs in Heaven has to do with family and I know that today's Presentation in class is supposed to be on Native American adoption issues. I'm not Native American but I am an adopted child. Although I'm not adopted by an outside family (I was adopted by my paternal grandparents), I feel that I couldn't have asked for a better life. My real dad was in and out of my life but more like a big brother, and my mom...well who cares. But if I could change the way I grew up or who raised me, I wouldn't. Being adopted by my grandparents I always felt loved and cared for and there were always people there and by my side to support me. I always felt like I had to work towards something great because there were people who beleived in me and I didn't want to let them down.
I think that adoption is such a wonderful thing and gives kids a second chance at having a loving family. I would like to have my own kids in life, but I know that adoption is also something that I will definitely do in the future. My life was made so much better because of adoption and I'd hope to make someone else's life better someday by adopting my own child. I think everyone who loves kids should consider adoption.

Growin' Up "White"

I have a friend that grew up on a reservation in South Dakota. He is a mix of, I believe, half or one fourth Native American from the Oglala Lakota tribe. He, like myself, was raised by a single mom. And, of course, you can much of the time equate "single mom" with "dirt poor" as was the case with both of us.

I am 1/8 Cherokee on my father's side, mixed in with some Romanian, Irish Welsh, English, Italian, and so many others that the only thing that can really be traced back with a percentage is Cherokee. I don't know when the bloodline left the reservation (I know for sure it was at least two generations before me) or anything about my Cherokee heritage. My friend once told me "You're not Native American if you didn't grow up on a reservation." It kinda hurt when he said that, because I felt like he was saying he was somehow better than me because he had to "go through that situation" and that I couldn't connect myself to him or any other Native American because I had not (but, in fact, things like poverty followed my father's bloodline well past the reservation lines and our social situations were similar), but I honestly knew nothing of the Cherokee people. I wasn't adopted out like the child in this story, but I felt like I grew up without having a culture to hold on to and say "That's what I am!" Sure, I have some Irish, Romanian and Cherokee, but I grew up... "White." White is a color, not a culture. White people can't dance, jump high, and are all rich, right? Besides "Poor White Trash?" (I hate that term, btw.) I never met my grandparents on my father's side (or, actually anyone yet) and the only way I even know that I am part Cherokee is the fact that my mother was told it by an Aunt on my father's side after she had had the lineage traced back and her son had gotten a Native American scholarship for college.

Culture is not something you can get at a weekend camp. Sure, I could research my Cherokee and Irish and Romanian heritage, but I will still never get the same "culture" from a weekend camp that you could ever get from growing up on a reservation, or in an Irish American or Romanian American community. I don't say I want to grow up on a reservation at all, but while I read this story it kinda makes me realize that the ones fighting for the girl to be raised in their culture are not doing it for selfish reasons. They want what is best for the girl. If she is raised by a "white" family, she will probably end up connecting herself to that culture, however bland and empty it is.

But... that last paragraph was just me playing Devil's Advocate. He made me do it. He always does! Damn Devil... Always one step ahead of me! I really want the girl to be happy at home with her mommy. "Mommy" is the woman that changed your diapers, made sure you looked both ways before crossing the street, let you grip her fingers for safety when you were scared, and spit on a tissue to wipe whatever food was on your face no matter how much you cringed and pushed back. "Biological Mother" is a different thing entirely. Even if I found out today I was adopted, my mom would still be my mom and I think most of you would say the same.

I feel like I have posted something like this before, but I can't seem to find it... Oh well... I lost my train of thought... It was all over the place anywhoo. Ciao! See ya in class! Gotta read some more...

barbie kingsolver

amlit338
OK, I now realize that I can't require you all to finish the book by tomorrow. Impossible, even perhaps for me (on my second go at it).

So get as far as you honestly can by tomorrow. A couple hundred pages would be lovely.

aloha, Susan

history of barbie

http://www.billbam.com/barbiehistory.html

and from the ever dubious wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie

for good measure, the Barbie Liberation Organization:

http://www.sniggle.net/barbie.php

check them out!

sms

note on adoption

from Rob McLennon's blog, out of Toronto. Scroll down a bit. My posting it has nothing at all to do with the fact that I am quoted in it....

http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/

Thanks for a good class today!

sms

Indian Child Welfare Act

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode25/usc_sup_01_25_10_21.html

Would be worth looking through this legislation.

sms

invite to hear Khmer Rouge survivors in my other class

Part of the "sideshow," as William Shawcross famously put it, of the Vietnam war, was the bombing of Cambodia by the USA (after the Vietcong had gone into Cambodia), which helped trigger one of the most horrific genocides of the 20th century. Hongly Khuy is a wonderful man, worth meeting simply for himself.

Hongly Khuy, a Khmer Rouge survivor, and Ysa Osman, an archivist of the genocide of Cham Muslims in Cambodia, will be speaking to my English 100 class about their experiences and their work on Tuesday, March 14 at 1:30 in Holmes Hall 247. Anyone in the department is welcome to come listen.

aloha, Susan

Barbara Kingsolver

for some biographical information on our next writer, check here:

http://www.kingsolver.com/about/about.asp

and then tease out some links of your own, either to the music in the book, or to some of the crucial issues in adoption and native culture.

You might also want to watch Oprah a time or two. (I forgot she's actually IN the course.)

aloha, Susan

I'm back

amlit338


or some parts of me are. Long trip. Will offer some reports tomorrow. In the meantime, I heard a splendid talk by Afaa Michael Weaver of Boston (who is a huge supporter of Tinfish Press). He has studied Chinese for many years, spends time in Taiwan, and is fascinated by connections between African American and Chinese culture. He spoke on this poem by Marilyn Chin, a Chinese-American blues piece:

http://www.nortonpoets.com/ex/chinmrhapsody.htm

On Afaa Weaver:

http://authors.aalbc.com/afaa.htm

Check it out.

See you tomorrow. Hope you all are well and thriving.

aloha, Susan

The Ravanayana

I saw the play "The Ravananaya" at the Kennedy Lab theatre here at UH. It was NOT what I had expected. I expected something more Bollywood, but it turns out that it was a western adaptation. It was set in a gin joint in what seemed like the 20's or 30's. It had a lot of music that I believe was... JAZZ. The play is a little odd at some points, but if you go for any three reasons, these would be them: Burlesque style dancing, Capguns, and an Awesome band.

Ciao.

-Josh

to consider before the midterm

amlit338

I've got a moment before Spanish, so I thought I'd jot down a few notes, based mostly on your contributions to the "theme" discussion. So, while you review the materials for the midterm, consider the following:

--intersections between culture (especially music), history, and the books we've been reading. Consider how the music affects the characters (fiction or non-) in what we've read, and how authors use it to bring out their own concerns. Draw a map of music in Ginsberg, Herr, Komanyaka, and Morrison. And listen while you study!

--sex and gender: Ginsberg and homosexuality against the backdrop of the McCarthy era and "homosexuals are communists" line used to rid the government of homosexuals; relationships between the sexes (such as they are) in O'Connor and in Komanyakaa and Morrison. The missing women of _Dispatches_.

--violence, as Chris notes on the blog, is a crucial aspect of the literature we've read. Why so much violence? How do historical circumstances create violence in families.

--race (and music, and history, and the literature).

--genre: think about why the texts we've read stretch our usual sense of genre. Herr is episodic, not written like traditional journalism; Morrison's novel is poetic; Ginsberg's poem is a catalogue; Komunyakaa's poetry is in a form usually used to write about nature and other, less explosive issues. The moon, the mist! Think about why the texts we read are written in the ways they are. You might consider other possibilities as a "control." For example, what if Morrison's book had an omnicient narrator and a straightforward plot line? What if Ginsberg wrote sonnets?

--humor, wit. Where are these writers funny and how does their wit affect our reception of their work? What kind of humor do they use?

--your choice here.

Also, at some point I'll talk a bit about the way in which the work we're reading responds to larger concerns in American literature. One of the touchstones of most American literature is the transcendentalist ideal of Emerson, Whitman and, to some extent Whitman, that the individual is powerful, self-sufficient, and ultimately (still) a democrat (small-d). The books we've read are by writers who see the seams and flaws in this notion, born in the 1840s (when blacks were slaves and women couldn't work or vote), and write about a world in which many if not most of us are defined and limited by social and political constraints. Remind me to have a rant on this subject when I return from the land of the cowboy.

aloha, Susan

thanks

amlit338
Thanks for bearing with me today. I forgot to ask you to begin reading the next novel, _Pigs in Heaven_, for our next class, week after next. Try to get at least 100 pages in; it's a fairly easy read, though of course the issues are thorny!

PS I discovered later that those balloons were supposed to be inflated with a machine. So Jamie, you're off the hook. Next time, water balloons!

sms

This Class Isn't Made for Eachother?

I have to disagree! While we will have our differences and disagreements, I think the people that I would most want to discuss literature and topics such as these with are people that I disagree with. If everyone just said, "Yes, I agree exactly with what you are saying," there would never be much of a debate. A lot of the people in this class are very opinionated and that is what I think gives it its energy.

I loved the balloon exercise, btw. And the chocolate! My thanks to The Shultz. :)

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL IN THE D.A.

Goblet of fire is coming out on DVD next tuesday...grab a copy or suffer the imperius curse!!!!!


for all of you who dont care about this important announcement...put your heads down on the desk, and don't look up til your told...shame on you. Go on...put your head down.

Jazz a temporal style

this book n me...we got a love hate thing going on. I love jazz because of it continuity, its narrative format, its welcome departure from anecdote to anecdote, and its quentin tarentino-esque tendencies. I hate Jazz because of its quentin tarentino-esque tendencies. I think this writing style is interesting, mixing up the story from beginning middle and end, and putting it all in the eyes of more than one narrator. My dislike of the book is not really rooted in how its written (this will get hella confusing) I like the way its put on paper dont get me wrong-i like how it flows-it inspires me. its creative how characters are introduced, but at the same time i read the book, and think: this would work so much better on screen (of course IF moviemakers didnt FUBAR everything in the story through paper - screen translation.)
why in the world do i contradict myself so much?! when i opened the book, i thought damn! this is just like pulp fiction - if you havent seen it - rent it its worth a watch...nevermind the blood, drugs, sex, etc., its good because of how things unfold in an order that almost doesnt make sense at first, but in the end its like finding that piece of the puzzle that you were looking for all along - you know the one with five nubs, one extended a bit farther than the rest and if you hold it it looks like its wearing a big shoe (forgive me i was working on a puzzle earlier). anywayz i digress...the reason why i dont feel that this book flows quite that well could very well be due to my own stupidity, dyslexity (no i dont REALLY have dsylxeia -HA! , but sometimes i really wonder), and lack of focus...but the reason still stands. I take a lot of breaks when I read semi-real fiction (sorry-nothing grabs me more than fantasy and real fiction), and when i take my breaks- however long / short they may be, I come back to a book that makes me think - did my damn cat jump on the book and lose my fricken' page again!?
Im not so sure about how this happens- perhaps i get lost with names, but @ times it seems almost as if i haven't met the characters ive been reading for pages (often, this IS the case). Morrison interjects character introduction - much like tarentino, but with a movie you see the person, you recognize them...in a book you get the thought:

"...wait this name doesn't look familiar - does it?...wait maybe i read it back there (turn a few pages)...that's funny (turn a few more)...what the hell?....(turn back to original page...read on)...OH SHES INTRODUCING THEM HERE!!!....now what the hell did i just read?" <-----SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THIS HAPPENS TO YOU TOO!!!!!!!!


So like i said in the beginning Love / Hate. i love where the story goes, im interested in the characters enough to find out what happens in the end - but in the meantime, i cant help but feel like turning back to the beginning and starting over to erase the feeling that ive missed some crucial excerpt.

PS. I checked publication date of the book AND pulp fiction ---Morrison predates it by 3 years. Maybe tarentino's been reading some jazz

PPS. I thought of a theme: Music and how it relates to literature of the time / vise versa.

Themes

This week I am going to talk more about the themes in the class because I don't want to blow the midterm and because I can't think of anything to write this week. The theme of violence is seen in every work we have read so far. The difference though is in how the authors all include violence in their works. For example, in Dispatches, Herr described the horrific events of the war to express how war changes people and overall to show that because war is used to resolve a situation, it isn't always as simple as go in, bomb, move up, bomb, move up, bomb, and win. By including instances in which both sides suffered horrific losses, he pulls no punches.

In Dien Cai Dau, the author includes violence not only against the Vietcong, but also against others such as the woman. Although violence is in Dien Dai Dau, it isn't described in such horrific detial as is in Dispatches. Because it is poetry, it is more artsy and less real which can lead to us forgetting that violence is still there but the author includes graphic poems just enough so we don't forget.

In Flannery O'Connor's book, violence is once again included although the cause is not because of war, but because of southern ignorance.

This leads us to Jazz in which violence is present from the get go. Just like above though the cause of the violence is shifted once again. The violence is caused by bad childhoods due to slavery and poverty.

I think the book selection in this class is good because I have never taken a class in which we learn about events that happened while the book was being written. In this case we get a greater understanding of the book and in the end I think that is going to help me greatly on the midterm.

Always about race

I agree with Kawika that it seems like a lot of things we talk about in the books we read seems to turn into a racial controversy and what people think about it. I personally don't feel too comfortable talking about races and right and wrong because everybody has their own opinions of it. I think that there are some people who are very passionate about certain topics to do with race though and it can become a very sensitive topic to discuss. I personally get uncomfortable when discussions get heated even though I am usually not the one talking.

To add to Kawika's comment about it being Violet's fault and not so much Joe's; I think that it was both people's fault. The actions we take are always our own fault because we choose to do it. We may not always like to admit that it was our fault so we blame others because it makes us feel better about ourselves. I know...I've done lots of stupid things myself.

The Bird Who Could Never Go Home Again.

The parrot should have been the main character of Toni Morrison’s Jazz. There is no character in Jazz that should be offered human sympathy. Their patheticness is overwhelming, and no character ever really just appreciates life as is. The parrot, with no human-given name cries out “Love you” even as he is thrown out from the only home he has ever known.

Morrison could have written Jazz as a Flannery O’Conner short story. And perhaps, with no in-depth understanding of the characters, the story would have garnished a more humanistic approach.

For all the displeasure main characters Joe and Violet have in life, neither perish by the end of the novel. I somehow wished that either died a horrible gruesome death. It is only fitting for two people so discontent with their lives. Instead…they find contentment…why?

This is why Morrison’s Jazz did not appeal to me. It seemed like a prolonged look into the dreariness of a 1920s country couple in the City. Understandably, it may be argued that it is a novel about the how the couple overcame their obstacles in the City.

But seriously, does anyone ever think there will be a film made about Toni Morrison’s Jazz?

There never will be. Even if it were superbly acted, it would still tell a tale of nothingness. A tale of selfish people who should have stayed in the country—perhaps then there would be a tale to tell.

But the parrot. The parrot was the vocal point in the novel. Because I personally felt more empathy for the parrot then I did for any “human” character in the novel. When Violet—angry about being Violet—throws out her parrot because she can no longer stand hearing “Love you,” one cannot help but feel for the innocent bird.

All That Jazz

I think how the book is written is the thing that gives it is flavor, its guts, its,., UUMPH! It jumps around and is very much so gossip. I love the way the narrator is not explained. If she were, we wouldn't really have had anything to talk about the other day. I really don't know what the difference between Jazz is yet. The presentation the other day focused on blues and ragtime, but it never really got into jazz. I know it has a lot to do with the rythms and improvisation. I have to guess that is why the book is called Jazz. Sometimes the author goes off on little tangents (improvisations) like how a man views a woman on a stoop in a city but doesn't really see her as beautiful because of her beauty but because she is in the city. Little tangents like that, little quips about random topics, are what really seem Jazzy. It gives the book a style that I sometimes hate in other books, but she does it well. She is able to go off on INTERESTING tangents that keep the reader going. (for the most part)

I would post more, but I feel really crappy right now so I am going to go to bed early. Goodnight. Cya tomorrow, most likely. :-P


Oh, and Susan, Good luck in Texas. I hear Austin is pretty nice. It's not like some of the smaller cities where... life sucks and stuff. Buena Suerte en el estado de Texas!

Ms. Susan's etiquette sheet

amlit338
more on this tomorrow, and some surprises, too.

English 338
March 2, 2006
Susan M. Schultz

Discussion and blog suggestions


(or, Ms. Manners is an American character, too)


--Always listen carefully to what others say. Consider not simply their words, but also the context in which they’re spoken, as well as their tone of voice.

--If you feel offended by something said in class, please bring it up immediately. “Do you mean to say what I thought I heard?” But don’t ask the question sarcastically!

--Tone is often an issue on email and blogs. People can sound more strident, more bitter, more lackadaisical on the blog than they are in other contexts. Cut them some slack. By the same token, govern your own tone, consider how it will sound to classmates who don’t know you or understand your particular sense of humor.

--Do not take offenses and complaints to the blog. You may take on other students’ ideas on the blog, but do not criticize them. No name calling.

--If discussion is going in a direction that doesn’t interest you, then say, “I see that, but I’d also like to talk about the following issue.” Even better, “given that you’re arguing that the book is about race, then how is it also about gender?”

--In other words, don’t diminish what others say; instead, add onto it. Try to put money into the class bank; don’t take money out. That loses us all interest.

--We’re talking about tough issues. Be supportive of one another and trust each other’s intentions. We all know very different things, so try to put them together rather than setting them up against each other.

--Have a lovely week off while Ms. Manners is away.

class atmospherics

I've grown worried about class atmospherics, both in class and on the blog. Yes, we're talking about hot button issues, but let's vow to respect each other's opinions and above all be patient with one another. Several of you are having very difficult semesters, which makes it even more imperative that we be gentle with each other as a group. But simply on a professional level, let's leave our differences on the other side of the door when we come to class. And don't take other people's opinions personally. Believe me, that's the road to perdition (I'm an academic; I know this from experience!)

And let me add that the oral reports have been wonderful. I've never had a class deliver such good reports, using such varied technologies. Thanks for all the cds, Spencer, and to everyone who's presented for the care you've shown.

See you tomorrow.

aloha, Susan

on the subject of race

Jody and Josh ask if this book is really about race, and suggest that it is about other things. I would say yes to both. But I don't think you can dismiss race in order to get to those other things. After all, the blues songs we read speak to us all about relationships between men and women, but they come out of a specifically African American art form (I would argue that "universality" in literature is only possible when the actual work is terribly specific--to place, race, gender, individual stories). Jody: yes, we should pay more mind to gender issues, but these issues are different for white women, black women, Korean women . . . for reasons of culture and, yes, race (as it's defined by the culture, not biologically speaking).

That race is central to Morrison's historical and literary imagination is evident in her book of essays _Playing in the Dark_. An "abstract" of the book follows; please read it. Morrison argues that race is central of all American literature, not just that of black writers.

http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2769

That Morrison herself sometimes tires of being considered only in the light of her thinking about race is evident in this link to a speech she gave at Harvard:

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/04.05/06-morrison.html

I would encourage all of you to keep open minds about what concerns these writers, and us in the classroom. Good writers confuse us, because they show the ways in which many issues are linked. That's a good thing. I hope that discussing these issues will help us to get less confused.

aloha, Susan

Is it about race?

An interesting discussion came up in class today on whether or not Jazz is a book on race.

Obviously, we can all agree that race is a factor in this book. It is set during The Great Migration--and after into the Harlem Renaissance, so there is historical, racial credibility to the back drop of this narrative.

BUT.

Does that make this book a "race" book? Is it a "race" book on the same levels as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave? Or is this addressing the same issues as Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was written by a white woman?

I don't think so.

Indeed, race has something to do with it, but (forgive me if I'm wrong)--I don't think Toni Morrison wrote this as a book focally on the basis of race. If anything, it seems she tackles gender/sex issues more than race issues.

I feel we are too quick to jump to the conclusion that it is a book on race, because it was written by an African-American female. Why do we not hold the same judgements when a white author writes a book? Couldn't they be writing a book based on being white? Their book is about race because their setting is based around a white society (if that's what the book is about)?

It just seems we play the "ethnic" card too much. As a Korean woman, I would like to think I could write a piece of fiction, and not have it immediately labled "ethnic" or "asian" or "regarding race"--Indeed, people of color tend to write about race and racism, but that's not ALL they write about. I feel it's short sticking Morrison if we automatically think, "oh...it's about race" when really--there's SO MUCH MORE.

open to disagreements--it's okay, you won't hurt my feelings :)

amlit338