“Why was he no longer their chief”
“Of course it wasn’t the dead chief. It was an omen sent by a witch. Go on” (217 7th para)
I find it very comical how they assume that the King is a heif because that is really all they know. I also find it funny how the elders interrupt Laura an think it is ok because they are elders and in their culture elders are always right.
“His question barely penetrated my mind I was too upset and thrown too far off balance by having one of the most important elements of Hamlet knocked straight out of the picture” (218 para 7). I can imagine how frustrating that would be.
This article is important in addressing that there are indeed cultural differences and it is very narrow minded and ignorant to think that you are the only person in the world who is right about everything. I am not saying doubt yourself, but take into consideration that different people, different cultures think differently, and see things at different angles.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
What are Homosexuals for
Talking about Gay people is a tough topic for me because I do not understand it fully. I have gay friends and ironically I go to church with all 5 of them. I have only talked with one of them though and it was mainly about why he didn’t think it was a sin and why he didn’t understand what the bible said about it. It didn’t get much deeper than that, it didn’t get to the seep dark secrets I bet he wanted to scream at me. If I were gay id want to explain everything to someone, but I personally part am to shy and part don’t want to know really.
Sullivan explains how hard it is for Gay and Lesbians in this world, and frankly I feel bad but at the same time don’t. I know that sounds a little mean but I’m honestly not for it and if it were totally acceptable I don’t think many would think about it as much before deciding that that is who they really want to be and how they want to live.
He mentions that while trying to hide their secret, they develop a love for design and art as a way of expressing themselves other than being up front. (386, 1st an 2nd para)
I felt the article was a little needy sounding, kind of pathetic. He was begging his audience to realize there is a purpose for Gays and Lesbians on this earth… but duh, there is purpose for everyone, and anyone gay or straight can possess the qualities he is claiming Gays are so good at.
Sullivan explains how hard it is for Gay and Lesbians in this world, and frankly I feel bad but at the same time don’t. I know that sounds a little mean but I’m honestly not for it and if it were totally acceptable I don’t think many would think about it as much before deciding that that is who they really want to be and how they want to live.
He mentions that while trying to hide their secret, they develop a love for design and art as a way of expressing themselves other than being up front. (386, 1st an 2nd para)
I felt the article was a little needy sounding, kind of pathetic. He was begging his audience to realize there is a purpose for Gays and Lesbians on this earth… but duh, there is purpose for everyone, and anyone gay or straight can possess the qualities he is claiming Gays are so good at.
No Name Woman
This was a very depressing story. It shows the culture of the Chinese, and shows how the Chinese Americans differ due to the ambiguity of why their culture would allow such things to be acceptable.
“’She’s pregnant’ [but] we did not discuss it” (391 para 3).
I think that is really weird that their culture could be so dishonest merely because it was unacceptable. I tried to imagine what I would do if I noticed my sister in law’s pregnant belly when it could not have been my brothers baby; I would be hesitant to say something and would be very mad, either that or I would ask suddenly why and how and if she had a good reason I would comfort her. The silence and dishonesty was definitely a cause for her suicide.
“The old women from the net field swept a broom through the air and loosened the spirits-of-the-broom over our heads.” (392 para3). How creepy to see even old women do such harm. It was probably something that was passed down generation to generation their way of going about things. But I wonder had they done this before?
The villagers “wore white masks” as the “men and woman” they “knew well” “raided” their “ house” (392 para 1). I absolutely think it is so sad the women and men they knew very well were the ones responsible for doing such a horrible thing.
“’She’s pregnant’ [but] we did not discuss it” (391 para 3).
I think that is really weird that their culture could be so dishonest merely because it was unacceptable. I tried to imagine what I would do if I noticed my sister in law’s pregnant belly when it could not have been my brothers baby; I would be hesitant to say something and would be very mad, either that or I would ask suddenly why and how and if she had a good reason I would comfort her. The silence and dishonesty was definitely a cause for her suicide.
“The old women from the net field swept a broom through the air and loosened the spirits-of-the-broom over our heads.” (392 para3). How creepy to see even old women do such harm. It was probably something that was passed down generation to generation their way of going about things. But I wonder had they done this before?
The villagers “wore white masks” as the “men and woman” they “knew well” “raided” their “ house” (392 para 1). I absolutely think it is so sad the women and men they knew very well were the ones responsible for doing such a horrible thing.
Miss America
“Though I was a Dean’s list student at Northwestern, suddenly people assumed I didn’t have a brain” (615 para 2). Well i really never assumed the Miss America contestants were dumb, but I never saw it as more than a beauty pageant. I think that is how most people view it, and even though I see it as just a normal pageant, I still love watching it. I like that the former Miss America is so against the purpose it is portraying and actually is someone who cares about more than looks.
“We’re told it’s about leadership. If it’s also about looks, then organizers should admit it, instead of capitalizing on the swimsuit competition while swearing that it is an insignificant part of the show (616, para2). Amen sister. I have never seen an overweight chick in a bathing suit strutting her stuff down the cat walk, and not that I want to, haha but, literally if Miss America is about changing the world and using your talents an brains to make a great change, there has to be something fishy going on because skinny beautiful women are not the only people making the differences.
“We’re told it’s about leadership. If it’s also about looks, then organizers should admit it, instead of capitalizing on the swimsuit competition while swearing that it is an insignificant part of the show (616, para2). Amen sister. I have never seen an overweight chick in a bathing suit strutting her stuff down the cat walk, and not that I want to, haha but, literally if Miss America is about changing the world and using your talents an brains to make a great change, there has to be something fishy going on because skinny beautiful women are not the only people making the differences.
Letters to America
Yes I do agree with Margaret Atwood that America is no longer the once seeming wonderful land that it used to be; I mean things now a days are so hard and there is so much terror here and abroad that threatens and harms citizens on a daily basis that were not present back when Atwood admired America. But I have two problems with her paper.
1- She was a kid and didn’t focus on all of the negatives back then like she would now. Like she said, we were her “ Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics she read in the late 1940’s” (555, 2nd para). As an eighteen year old I already focus on more serious and most of the time depressing issues than I did when I was fifteen. That is only a three years difference, and for her she’s talking way back in the early fifties when she was a child. No wonder we are foreign to her, she grew up!
2- Times change, and situations call for measures that we would hope would never happen. When she wrote this 9/11 was barely in the past and that alone had caused our nation so much change. Doesn’t she get that?
“People around the world will stop admiring you” (567 para 6). I already feel like we are not that admired, but everything happens for a reason and I have faith that with trial and error our country will find a way out of it’s slump,
1- She was a kid and didn’t focus on all of the negatives back then like she would now. Like she said, we were her “ Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics she read in the late 1940’s” (555, 2nd para). As an eighteen year old I already focus on more serious and most of the time depressing issues than I did when I was fifteen. That is only a three years difference, and for her she’s talking way back in the early fifties when she was a child. No wonder we are foreign to her, she grew up!
2- Times change, and situations call for measures that we would hope would never happen. When she wrote this 9/11 was barely in the past and that alone had caused our nation so much change. Doesn’t she get that?
“People around the world will stop admiring you” (567 para 6). I already feel like we are not that admired, but everything happens for a reason and I have faith that with trial and error our country will find a way out of it’s slump,
Crimes against Humanity
“American Indians have protested that use of native names, images, and symbols as sport team mascots.. is by definition, a virulently racist practice” (536, para 2)
At first I didn’t get this, mainly because I’m not a crazy sports fan and really had no clue what the images looked like, but after reading more into this article and seeing the images, I can understand why the Indians feel this way. I must say however that I do not agree that using their names is racist; I mean we use the name the Cowboys for example, but it is what image we use to depict the name. If there is a stereotypical picture of an Indian smoking from the peace pipe with flaming red skin, then yes that is racist; but if we showed an Indian representing courage and strength, then no it is not racist.
For sports teams, whoever it is that chose the names obviously chose them because it was to represent their skill and make them sound intimidating. When the team chose the racist stereotypical image, that is when it just gets stupid to me.
It was really interesting yet so sad hearing about the boarding schools that “’deculturized’” (541 para 2) Indian children. I had previously learned about this in my recent US history class, and find it fascinating that we could do that as a country and think it to be morally right.
At first I didn’t get this, mainly because I’m not a crazy sports fan and really had no clue what the images looked like, but after reading more into this article and seeing the images, I can understand why the Indians feel this way. I must say however that I do not agree that using their names is racist; I mean we use the name the Cowboys for example, but it is what image we use to depict the name. If there is a stereotypical picture of an Indian smoking from the peace pipe with flaming red skin, then yes that is racist; but if we showed an Indian representing courage and strength, then no it is not racist.
For sports teams, whoever it is that chose the names obviously chose them because it was to represent their skill and make them sound intimidating. When the team chose the racist stereotypical image, that is when it just gets stupid to me.
It was really interesting yet so sad hearing about the boarding schools that “’deculturized’” (541 para 2) Indian children. I had previously learned about this in my recent US history class, and find it fascinating that we could do that as a country and think it to be morally right.
A Tale of Two Divorces
Her sister would say “Don’t give him and argument.” She would say, “I’ll try to do better, I really will.”(206, 2nd para). I think that is so sad, the strangeness of divorce in the fifties kept people lock in the prison that was their marriage. No one should be “forced” to stay in an unhealthy relationship, even if it was society’s judgment forcing them to stay in there. They should have attended counseling!!!!
“I spend enough time with you.. I’ve already said everything I want to say.” (207, para 1).
OMGOSH!! How could she put up with that for years? I would either start becoming insane out of depression or dump him!!
“But then I found him in the coat closet with a lady and lipstick all over his face.” (207 para 1). That is disgusting, are there really fathers like that? I know there are but I don’t have any friends with fathers like that. Why did he act the way he did? What went through his mind?
“If my mother had been brave enough to go it alone I might have seen myself differently” (209 2nd para). That is a thought that I have had many times; if only my mom was a better example to me in this area I wouldn’t have this insecurity or be so mislead. Parents who are selfish do not realize the impact their actions have on their kids, and it’s a shame because so many people have a hard life because they are not emotionally prepared for many problems, like what to do when a spouse is hurting you emotionally.
“In twentieth-century America we place so much emphasis on romance that we barely notice the other essentials of marriage that include economics ad child rearing” (209 3rd para). Very true, and this relates to the thought of the Indian friend that was being interviewed by the lady in the story Shakespeare in the Bush.
“I spend enough time with you.. I’ve already said everything I want to say.” (207, para 1).
OMGOSH!! How could she put up with that for years? I would either start becoming insane out of depression or dump him!!
“But then I found him in the coat closet with a lady and lipstick all over his face.” (207 para 1). That is disgusting, are there really fathers like that? I know there are but I don’t have any friends with fathers like that. Why did he act the way he did? What went through his mind?
“If my mother had been brave enough to go it alone I might have seen myself differently” (209 2nd para). That is a thought that I have had many times; if only my mom was a better example to me in this area I wouldn’t have this insecurity or be so mislead. Parents who are selfish do not realize the impact their actions have on their kids, and it’s a shame because so many people have a hard life because they are not emotionally prepared for many problems, like what to do when a spouse is hurting you emotionally.
“In twentieth-century America we place so much emphasis on romance that we barely notice the other essentials of marriage that include economics ad child rearing” (209 3rd para). Very true, and this relates to the thought of the Indian friend that was being interviewed by the lady in the story Shakespeare in the Bush.
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