iupengl121-bakermichael

Pride in Heritage

2005-04-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

The class discussion of Invisible Man on Friday the 15th leaned towards the concept of the book's narrator trying to find individualism. I believe in a way that that is true. I will elaborate further on this though. I believe that he is in the pursuit to be an individual but in trying to find himself, he will find a society. Torwards the beginning of the book he is constantly trying to burn the pages of his history that way people would be unable to judge him because he is a "field nigger" from the south. As the novel progresses further he starts to embrace his southern heritage, like eating yams and caring for other people. As he embraces his heritage he will become more of an individual. This is the American way, because america is a melting pot. A place where people are supposed to be different whether it be skin color, culture, etc. The college and everyone in his life tried to make him a dry, regergitated version of what people want him to be not what he is. What he is would be a southern black man, that enjoys the southern lifestyles and he should exhibit them where ever he finds himself whether in the deep south, the nothern city, or the frontier west.

This is my idea of how the novel is going to end up, i've been keeping up with the readings so I have no clue how it actually ends. I say that he is going to start embracing his heritage and become a real American, and that is why in the beginning he cut loose on the guy in the park. He offended his heritage which he takes seriously.

Prognosticator of Prognosticators

2005-03-30T19:50:00.000-08:00

It's perfectly natural to move a vase across a table without using any implements of any sort. It is also natural to be able to act as a soothsayer and predict events, like people's deaths or their futures. In this novel it seems as though the characters see that Clara possesses some type of telepathical power yet they simply blow it off like a cheap parlor trick. At this time I would have thought that people wouldn't really feel very pleasant knowing that a person has these powers. It could come over maybe that they are possessed by a higher or lower power, depending how you want to take you. I'll take in in the way of witchcraft. Wouldn't people, especially in the predominant Roman Catholic countries of South America find these powers devilish. Normal people can't do these things so there is something inside of her that is forcing these powers.
Now if we take today, if a person like Clara would come about and be about to prognosticate the future and move objects telepathically they would be regarded as a star. She could go on tour around the United States showing off her abilities. She would be able to start a 900 number and have commercials on the television. She would have a live show in Las Vegas where she would make lamps slide off the spectators tables. Yet, in this novel, these powers are ignored by the others unless they are seeking something for themselves.

Duplessis Question

2005-03-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

Is what you write simply flow from your mind to your pen/computer or do you actually have a way of formulating the words into your poetry?

Antigone, with a twist of culture

2005-03-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

If one really thinks about it, culture must play a part, in some way, in all plays that are composed. If they don't involve some sort of culture that can be related to then there is no possible way, at least i believe, that a play will be successful. That is the vital role that culture plays, without it, there wouldn't be people, they would be generic figures on stage, nothing more. Of course there might be some plays out there that don't involve culture, but it will be applied to it. People bring their views into everything that they are involved in whether reading or watching. Culture is defined (in my 11th grade world culture class) as habits, customs, and ideals. Therefore my juvenile theory is that all plays either have culture or involve implied culture.

Is it not amazing that a play as old as "Antigone" is still being read today and still can be interpreted. The old writers and playwrites used up all the creative and original ideas thousands of years ago leaving our writers and playwrights striving for originality.

Gregorío Cortez, My Hero

2005-02-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

If I was a Mexican man with my range being the Texas and Mexico Border, I would want to be Gregorío Cortez in the worst way. I believe these corrídos are more than entertaining stories, I believe that they are inspiration stories for the younger men in the border country. It would give anyone something to work up to. It would be like having stories of John Wayne floating around in the Western time in Arizona. All I know is that every woman loves him and every man would want to be him.

The story in general is very good, I couldn't find one flaw in Gregorío Cortez's character what so ever. That is why I really wanted to post this to the blog. I bring it up as a challenge, I believe that other than him stealing the horse, he is a flawless character, much better than any superhero one could mention. He has everything, and he is only a man, nothing more, just one Mexican.

It's a Nice Day for Blood Wedding

2005-02-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

This play is a perfect example to portray the importance of marrying for love. This whole tragedy was made possible by the bride. If she would have staying with Leonardo because she loved him then the men would still be alive, instead she declined Leonardo because he wasn't the wealthiest man nor very reputable. This would have saved alot of trouble.

What Leonardo needed to do was just to leave the community. He would have been miles away from the bride instead of a couple hills away. He would have been able to step out from behind his family's bad name in the countryside. He would have also possibly been able to forget about what he had left behind. In this setting though I don't believe that could happen. People in this time were born and stayed in that area. I know I wouldn't be very happy with my surroundings if I knew that there was no way that I would be able to leave my house that I am living in right now.

One thing that I have learned from the last two readings is that if one doesn't pick the right woman, they can be devilish. One way is that one picks the "right" girl and that pans out for a while until they do a 180 and decide their partner doesn't suit them anymore, waste away his money, and use him because he loves her or else she'll fall back for her first love out of the blue and leave you at the alter. If I would take an example from the female characters of "Blood Wedding" and relate that to the real world, I would have to say girls are mean.

Sex and the Awakening

2005-02-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

Some people can interpret from the book "The Awakening" that it shows the change of a person from being what's expected of her to what she wants to be. I don't see it quite that way. I am probably way off when i say this, but i believe that this book can be made into a Sex and the City episode to me. All this book is to me is a soap opera. She gets tired of having wealth and having to make other people happy because all she wants is for herself to be happy. She throws a tantrum when her precious Robert whisks off with hardly a notice to Mexico, so she freaks out and changes her life. In the meantime, she pretty much says that she has no love for her husband and kids, yet she doesn't work in the time she tries to find herself, i wonder who is paying for her to live? She spends her time visiting friends, painting, and eating places, yet where does she get the money? If she really wanted to be free she should have let her husband go instead of stringing him along and using him for is money.

She moved into a new house just down the block because it was more roomy. This is why i believe she wasn't changing for herself. She moved down the block so to get all of the people in the neighborhood talking, this is where the idea of a soap opera comes in. All the people are gabbing about how Arobin has been over, which she did kiss him while in still married to her money. She was only different for the attention, and when she realized that she was never going to get attention from the ones she wanted, she decided to kill herself. An all so sad ending to her horrible life of doing whatever she felt like.

The Yellow Wallpaper and Fallen Gentleman

2005-01-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Throughout the entire story, the husband/doctor was telling his wife/patient what was good for her, like a good physician would do for someone. He seems to come over well, and know what he's doing. He even came from a family that is mainly doctors. It seems to almost run in the blood. My question is, why did this doctor faint at the end of the story when he found his wife creeping around the room. This doesn't seem like it would be a very frightening thing to walk in on. She was just walking slow along the wall, which I don't believe calls for fainting. I think that the fainting was because of the little bit of rope that she was so careful in concealing. She wanted it in case the woman behind the wall paper gets out then she can tie her up. I believe there was someone dead in that room, that would be a thing I would think a doctor would faint at, but of course this is my own idea, so there isn't much credibility in the arguement.

This is also a story that shows why women living in these times had to be unhappy. They had no say in anything while there was a male around, they were second class citizens. It does show why there weren't many divorces back in this era. The woman had to listen to the man an that was it. It was sad because, in this story, he wouldn't listen to one request of his wife. If he would have just let her have another room this story would never of occured. Of course, this is because women were insuperior, and especially because he thought she had a mental disorder probably didn't help much. It seems to me that woman had to deal with being unhappy, they had no other defense but fake a smile.

The Rough Life of Frederick Douglass

2005-01-24T18:07:00.000-08:00

Frederick Douglass was an American slave, there is no denying that fact. I don't think that Douglass had a rough life at all. He was a city slave for the most part, there were a few instances in the reading that he was in a plantation type of working environment. As stated in the narrative, he said a city slave has it easier than a plantation slave. That is very well noticed in this story. The one farm he was on, he even fought the overseer for hours on end, and he had no punishment for this, when on any other farm he would have be punished severely or even killed. It served that he was more an indentured servant that a slave in most times. Another reason I believe that he had an easy life is that he was able to learn to read and write. If he was worked very hard there shouldn't have been time for him to obtain this luxury. If he had it hard he would have worked all day and in the night would have been to tired to waste his time trying to learn. There are many more slaves that had a harder life than he did. If i listen to any authority on the treatment of slaves in this time, i would much rather read the story of a slave that was whipped more than once or twice or maybe even so bad that they were close to death. It seems that Douglass didn't have a really hard life compared to the slaves stuck in plantations in the deep south of America.