portfolio

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LPuWR0sFfMnVKuRWsm9vDG-m8OOTKrsyi-BS0u14xt4/edit?usp=sharing

essay 4

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rLsHJfy_ky1lGe5ep9hC0K6AJFZCM9UDz_CGGJb_Hiw/edit?usp=sharing

essay 4 peer draft

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_ThEDHTnxr3kahy4NkChh8JB_ynJ2fKzuHJJdmUdzz4/edit?usp=sharing

essay 4 idea draft

• the evening sun- William Fawkner 
• white author writing about AA
• main character: Nancy 
• black servant 
• traumatized 
• prostitution 
• Nancy was afraid to walk home
• why? --> she was pregnant and Jesus was supposedly back for her
• after a couple of times being afraid to walk home,  the mother of the family won't have it
• Nancy convinces the children to go with her 
• father comes and takes the kids home
• jesus not in sight
• father had a gun
• Cliffhanger: readers don't know if Jesus kills Nancy or not 
• Jesus
• husband? 
• Theme: fear and power
• nancy can't find help from white family she works for
• out of control of her life
• "he aint gone nowhere.. i can feel him now in his lane"(1.65) 
• "hes there waiting. i know done livedcwith him too long. I know what is fixing to do fore he know it himself"(2.25) -POWER
• Jesus: will kill anyone who impregnated Nancy his wife
• "i can cut down the vine if did come off of"(1.18)
• Nancy is pregnant by a white man
• reason why Jesus mad
• Nancy fears Jesus 
• the young king- Oscar Wilde
• main character: 16 yo king
• old king's grandson 
• mother was killed by him for having a child with a lower class
• from rags to robes --> luxury life
• Has 3 dreams
• 1. silk factory: oppressive conditions of people making his robe for his coronation day
• 2. Slave ship: slaves' life being used to find the perfect pearl for ornate specter 
• horrific and maltreated
• 3. Minesite: witnesses death and depression but the reality of men looking for the perfect ruby for his crown
• DREAMS=REALITY
• sacrifice of power
• fear of leadership
• empathy for people
• Power: God crowns him to be king 
• money could go to something else that benefits the poor instead of his coronation 
• fear of popular opinion
• fear of change 
• grateful to greed
• fear of his dreams=reality 

blog #11

The pit and the pendulum is a short story about a man being sentenced to death by the Spanish inquisitors. He goes unconscious and describes seeing angels and first and then a firey death experience. He wakes up in a dark cell, which is a dungeon. He finally has the strength to get up and decided to measure the cell wall by ripping part of his clothing. The narrator explains that he falls into a deep sleep again but hit time when he wakes up, there is food for him. He proceeds to measure the cell and falls into a whole infested with rats and skeleton bodies. He goes into a coma again in which he believes he was drugged with the drink he was given. When he wakes up again and he is tied up on a table with only his left hand free. There was a pendulum above him going towards him which was to slice him up for a torturous death. As time is ticking, the reaches the for the dish besides him to rub it all over what is keeping him tied up. He does this in order for the rats to chew him out free. The walls start to get closer and he eventually has no choice but to go down the hole. He was saved and finally free by the French.

The Young King is about a kid who is announced to be the new king in throne because the present king was dying. The weird thing about it is that the present king didn't have any sons and chose to announce his daughter's son as king. The kind admired beauty and art. His daughter's son were poor and in a low class. As the king sent out people to look for him, the future young king was excited. He enjoyed all the colors, fancy clothes, and the gold and gems. His mind changes a lot when he has interesting dreams.
I found out that the king ordered someone to kill his daughter because she had an affair with a man who was in a low class. The boy remained alive which is why the king wanted to announce him king at sixteen years old. The boy realizes he like the life he was living and doesn't want to become king.

The only thing I’ve done is compare some of the short stories and poems. I notice that connections are hard to find because there are different themes for each one. I feel unprepared for this essay  but I do like this class because I’m comfortable to participate more and share my ideas when talking about the short stories. The enjoyed reading The Brief and Wonderous Lofe of Oscar Wao the most.

blog #10

 In 2-3 paragraphs, respond to the language in the 2 Short Stories we read for this week.  What do you think of the language?  What made the language in the two stories similar?  Different?  How does this depend on or relate to the identity and background of the authors?

The language in "Sweat" was the language used to depict how African Americans would talk. There are two characters, Sykes and his wife, that live together and talk to each other as improper english. In the other short story, "The Evening Sun," the author depicted the language of Nancy similar to the way African Americans talked in the other short story. What made the language similar to each other is the fact that they were heard to pronounce as some words are very emphasized and spelled different. What made it different was depending on the character. Sykes was more of a loud and hysterical type of person while Nancy was more scared and serious. 

The language relates to the identity and background of the authors by who they are and how they perceived other races. The author of "Sweat" was a white author and views the language of African Americans very different. The author of "The Evening Sun" is an African American women and didn't see the language as such a big deal when writing. 

blog #9

Well - I don’t understand why you people are reacting this way. What do you think you are going to gain by moving into a neighborhood where you just aren’t wanted ans where some elements - well - people can get awful worked up when they feel that their whole way of life and everything they’ve ever worked for is threatened”(2.3.80)

Walter is embarrassed of his job of being a chauffeur as he rants to Mama stating “that ain’t no kind of job… that ain’t nothing at all”(1.2.224)

blog #8

Social issues that are introduced in Act I that are important to me is classification of society, racism, and gender roles. These social issue are important to me because the social classification of one is determined if one is poor or rich. The poor reach to at least get to the middle class and the cycle continues until one is considered to be in a high class. People are identified and judged by what class they are in and I believe that is something idiotic in society due to the fact that certain people don't want to associate people within the other social classes or think lesser than them.

Racism is the most common social issue in this play. Racism in the first act is pointed out on how the family is living in their small apartment, the jobs the Young family has, and lack of misinformed information Beneath receives in school. The example of gender roles in this is fact that Walter believes he should provide for the family since he is the man. He hates his job as it reflects what social class he is in. These two social issues are important to me because racism still exits in today's world and gender roles are still common mostly in poor areas of the world.

essay 3

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c5ne8sDnHnSrC_j6y3Pg7V_5H857BdqW5inXAz4hzpQ/edit?usp=sharing

essay 3 reflection

I didn't have any issues on my mine other than the fact on what theme to choose. I really liked my theme because I feel like it was one of the most important things to talk about from this play. My research and examples came out smooth to support my points. My research was exactly what I was looking for. The thing that was most challenging was the examples I had to say according to the play and reality.

peer drat essay #3

Theme: American Dream
Thesis: The play reveals the false reality of the American Dream as the family grapples to survive in their society.

Social issue from play: false reality of the american dream in African American families
Social issue today: american dream in immigrants

Social issue in play: upward movement in classification in african americans as society is segregated
Social issue today: upward movement in classification in jobs, society, education

Citations:
Grimm, Matthew. "School Daze." American Demographics, vol. 26, no. 1, Feb. 2004, pp. 42-43. EBSCOhost, webinfo.ndnu.edu:8080/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=12185513&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Nowrouzi, Tayebeh1, et al. "In Search of Equality: A Dream Deferred for African Americans in a Raisin in the Sun." Theory & Practice in Language Studies, vol. 5, no. 11, Nov. 2015, pp. 2269-2276. EBSCOhost, doi:10.17507/tpls.0511.10

Gigi Paniagua

March 29, 2018

Daniel Curtis-Cummins

The Fake American Dream

In the play, Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, it accurately presents the hardships and truthfulness of being in a segregated society in America during the 1950s. People around the world have an ideal imagination that living in America is being wealthy and having a big family. The reality of this is that there is much racism and segregation, the upward mobility of social class, and many sacrifices taken. The play depicts the false reality of the American Dream as the family grapples to survive in their society.

• body paragraph 1
• upward mobility of social class
• younger family moving from their small apartment to a white neighborhood
• essential to american dream
• walter younger is embarrassed of his job as a chauffeur 
• poverty
• Body paragraph 2
• racism/segregation 
• segregated neighborhood 
• Walter feels like he doesn't have a chance in the world compared to other white males his age
• act 1 scene 2 pg 73-74
• Body paragraph 3
• sacrifices taken
• abortions
• 
  

essay 2 final

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QdT-OW2a1kl9rY0lXkV3UMPBgGzjbEyh5XEUVQuxi_M/edit?usp=sharing

essay 2 reflection

I thought the prompt was a bit confusing at first but the relating the poem to the canons was interesting way to look at the poem in a new perspective. It did help me look at it in a new way because it distinguished between Mexican and American literature. I think my writing process is alright for now, I just need to add a little more details on a few things. I'm at my third body paragraph where I talk abut cultural references and connections. There are a mare and a pistol and different counties that refer to its culture. The drafts I did were helpful to me in my writing process because I broke it down to what really stood out to me about the poem I chose and connecting it with the literary canons. All I have to do is my third body paragraph and my conclusion to finish up my essay.

peer draft

• intro
• introduce poem and author
• theme: tragedy
• define canon: between Mexican and american canons
• Mexican literature: ballad/corrido
• body paragraph 1
• should be in canon because this style of poetry is important to the hispanic culture 
• tells stories of heroes
• can be sung, music genre: corridor
• el corrido de Gregorio cortez is one of the most famous corridos in this era
• Who is gregorio cortez?
• hero 
• horse thief
• body paragraph 2
• this poem speaks up for the people of this country, in this case Mexico
• how does Gregorio cortez portray this?
• pride: "Don't run you cowardly rangers from one lone mexican"
• fearless: "Turned towards Laredo without any fear"
• Laredo is a city at the mexican-american border 
• Speaks up for immigrants
• body paragraph 3
• cultural references/connections
• cities and counties
• mare and pistol 
• pesos

Gigi Paniagua

March 14, 2018

Dan Curtis-Cummins

The Tragedy of Gregorio Cortez

In the poem, El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, by an anonymous writer, the author expresses the tragedy of a heroic farmer through a ballad. A ballad is a form of poetry that tells a story. Based on Gulgenberg’s article, “Decolonizing the Canon: Considerations of Third World Literature,” the canon is defined as the general rule of literature that a territory had. In this case, the poem I chose is from Mexican descent and portrays the importance of Mexican literature to its people.

The poem, El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez, should be elevated in status of canon literature because this style of poetry is important to the hispanic culture. It is most likely not going to be in the literary canon due to race culture. This poem lies between a Mexican and American literary canon. It can also be sung as a corrido, which is genre of music from Mexico. Uniquely, this poem tells a story of a hero, or a horse thief, that represents Mexican literature. This ballad is one of the most famous corridos in this era as it talks about a true story of the tragedy of Gregorio Cortez. Cortez is known as a hero to his people and is also known as a thief to the Americans. He would flee away county to county being chased by sheriffs and everyone in town for “a reward of 3000 pesos.” This ballad ends with his tragedy of being caught but continues to be fearless.

For the purpose of Gregorio Cortez, he speaks up for the people of his country and immigrants in Latin America. In this case, Cortez speaks up for his people in Mexico. The story of this hero relates to migrating hispanics going to the United States to run away from their problems and start a new life. They travel hundreds of miles to get to where they want to be but the Mexican-American border usually stops them from entering. Cortez shows his pride and fearlessness to the Americans by calling them out by saying, “Don’t run you cowardly rangers from one lone Mexican.” He knows his worth and believes in himself that he will get justice for his dead brother. The ballad continues to share the different counties he ran off to, specifically Laredo, to symbolize his fearlessness. Laredo is a small town right at the border between Mexico and United States. Nevertheless, this poem depicts the importance of Mexican literature in the lives of Mexican people as it shares a piece of history.

The mare and pistol had a great significance in cultural connections. The mare was the main reason to why Cortez was being chased in the first place.

Idea draft essay 2

1. How is it relevant to your life?
1. border patrol chaqsing immigrants 
1. immigrants are known as "criminals"
2. Elevated in status of 'canon' on literature?
1. Yes!
1. Mexican literature: ballads, corridos
2. the author uses a certain type of poetry known as ballads, which tells a story, to emphasize the tragedy of Gregorio Cortez
2. Most likely not going to be in literary canon due to race culture
1. Prediction: Author is Mexican 
3. Just telling a story 
1. one of the most famous corridor in this era
3. 'New Canon': Mexican-American literary canon
1. right at the border of Mexico and America
4. Good Literature
1. library devices to let readers think and analyze it, understandable
1. "Don't run you cowardly rangers from one lone Mexican"
2. "Turned towards Laredo (city right at the border) without any fear"
5. Research on Gregorio Cortez 
1. gregorio cortez
6. Cultural connections
1. cities Cortes ran to, over 300 miles in 3 days
2. mare and pistol 

blog #7

My poem is a mexican ballad. A ballad is a type of poem that tells a story, often a love story. The poem I chose is called "El Corrido de Gregorio Cortez". The main theme for this poem is tragedy. I don't think it should be added to the canon because I find the two passages distinctively different between each other. The Mexican culture in the poem I chose is a corrido that tells a real life story of the main character, Gregorio Cortez.

essay 1 reflection

1. I think this book was really interesting and I enjoyed reading it. Once I started reading a page it was kinda hard to stop reading because you want to know more. I think the narration was a bit confusing at times because you didn't know who was talking at first but then realize it later. I think the most challenging thing about reading the book over the 6 weeks was catching up on the reading because I had to read so many pages all at once and if I didn't finish it kept adding on to the pages I needed to read. It's not that I didn't want to read but work got in the way. I think the most rewarding thing about it is that I finally understand each character and the different events that went on throughout the book.

2. I think this book is an example of good literature because it shows the narrator as not just a "regular boring person" reading the story, the narrator uses speech just like how teenagers our age speak. I thought that was very unique and related to the readers.

3. I feel like I did an ok job on my essay 1. I didn't understand it at first and once I figured out my theme and found cultural references to connect with my theme, I put the pieces together. I guess the most challenging part of the essay is figuring out why a superhero Oscar mentioned in the book was so important, or why that superhero related to the other characters. What was rewarding about it is that I talked about the power of feminine sexuality and I REALLY enjoyed writing about that.

essay 1 superwomen

super women essay 1

essay 1 peer draft

essay 1

idea draft essay 1

Write 2-3 paragraphs about which 'cultural reference' you want to research more about for Essay 1.  Without doing any major research yet, what do you know about your topic?  What experience do you have with this 'context?'  If you don't know anything yet, what do you want to know?

Cultural Reference: Marvel 
The cultural reference I want to do more research about it about Marvel because I watch a lot of Marvel movies and always love them. I have been watching the movies they make for as long as I can remember. Although I do watch all of the Marvel movies that come out in theaters, I never really read any of the comic books. I know that they started with comic books and most of them are based off of superheroes. These superheroes contain powers and usually end up saving their world. There are always villains and a reason why the superheroes are fighting.

Prompt #3

January 22, 2018

Dear Beli,

What was your attitude towards everything going on in your country with the dictator and people around you? Based on what I read on footnotes on pg. 83, I believe you would have said that you didn't care for what others said and believed in yourself and in your own rights. The footnotes talks about the Marital Sisters "from Saucedo who resisted Trujillo, and were murdered for it... don't take shit from nobody, even a Trujillo." These sisters were inspiration for people to stand together in solidarity against the dictator. After the death of the sisters, people knew enough was enough. 

How did you get through all the violence and Trujillo physically and emotionally? Based on the footnotes I read on pg. 155, I believe you would have said that you were scared but felt like someone was there by your side in spirit watching over you. There are horrifying situations where there were 'peleas' like when Trujillo was "shot at twenty-seven times and a suffering from four hundred hit points of damage." You were always worried about your safety, especially that you were pregnant. I would have been scared too if I grew up with you too.

Sincerely,
Gigi

Prompt #2

In the book, "The Brief and Wondrous life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz, it starts off with a curse known as fuku. As the author states, "that the arrival of Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fuku on the world"(Diaz 1). It is hard to believe that curses and bad luck are upon this world and what many others believe. I have heard things like karma, but sometimes things could be a coincidence. The author mentions that Oscar was a ladies man to begin with and had two girlfriends. Later on, his girlfriend dumped him and he felt miserable and alone. Oscar was known as a nerd in high school and liked reading sci-fi and was insecure about himself. "Sophomore year Oscar found himself weighing in at a whopping 245 (260 when he was depressed, which was often) and it had become clear to everybody, especially his family, that he'd become the neighborhood pariguayo"(Diaz 19). He didn't pull any girls anymore, he was antisocial, he became very overweight, and stayed home reading instead of going out to play.
In my personal academic life, I have felt a fuku in myself. All throughout middle school and high school, I was never really good at writing essays. I'd always get a C on my essays, nothing better. I was used to it and didn't even try anymore. I feel some sort of zafa protected me in college because I began to do really good when I was writing my essays and it definitely boosted my confidence. Ever since that happened, I feel like I have become a better writer and take my english classes more seriously.

Prompt #1

Bell hooks writes about authors based on their work and not about their race or sexual orientation. She states that it doesn't matter where you come from or what sexual orientation you are because people should focus more on how influential their writing is. I agree with what she Hooks has to say because I never really put much attention to the authors when reading books throughout school. I feel like some people won't read a book or article based on their race. That's unfair because people haven't even given it a chance to read and could end up really relating to it. Hooks is aware that there are "rarely those who want to insist that it is only great literature that matters willing to acknowledge that in a culture defined and organized around principles of race, gender, and class domination, identity matters simply because structures that silence and shut out are already in place to assault the consciousness of anyone who dares to live by the belief that we are always more than labels"(13). It's important but it's not important. What I mean by this is that professionals will continue to be opinionated and usually will not accept upcoming writers based on their background. It shouldn't be important because writers should be judged by their work.

Another reason why race and gender shouldn't be important is because it isn't their full identity. Just because you are a certain race doesn't mean you are part of the stereotypes. Many writers have gone through meaningful experiences that would change the way they write and change their point of view.   Hooks mentions and author, Jean Toomer, who "had tried to escape the burden of racial identity by passing. Ironically, this choice blocked and deadens his creative imagination"(13).

Syllabus Response 1/9

What I'm looking forward to in class is reading new books and writing about how I relate to them or how they relate to our world now. I think what will be challenging for me is actually reading the book  all the way to the ending. Usually I would just get the book and read the first couple of pages and wouldn't read the rest. I hope to change that about myself.