Kite Fighting

Kite fighting is part of the Afghan culture, it is not only an activity but they use this as a source of power and fame.  I think he chose this as the central focus of his novel because this contest really creates the opportunity for Amir to change his life and gain respect from his father.  The kite fighting stand for so much more then just the tournament.  I can not think of any customs or traditions in the United States that have a similar impact, I guess you could say major sports team somewhat have an impact of power and respect but it is not the same.

"Dirty Mouth, clean it up with Orbit gum"

I feel that books should use what is necessary to portray the scene they want to portray.  I do not think that there is a line between what is appropriate and what is not because if the book has words that are too much for a person to handle they should not read the book, they do have that choice.  The word choice is that of the authors and reader's can deal with this by putting themselves into the novel and using the words as just part of the context of the story.  I think author's choose to use these words because they add more reality into the writing and make the story show emotion more as well.

Free Write

This man was a soldier fighting in Iraq when a massive shootout began.  The civilians fired and this man ran to escape the gun shots.  The two men crouching in the background are ducking to hide as well.  As the man running sprints over the rocks, he watches his feet very closely being careful not to fall.  The terror burns inside of him as he knows he should not be running, but he is terrified.

The End.

To Atone or Not to Atone...

I believe that atonement is possible for most sins but not really for all.  When a person does something and they are truly regretful they should be forgiven on certain circumstances.  Of course I have made a mistake that I have regretted.  Talking badly to my parents .. etc.  It made me feel really happy at the time to "get back at them" but later on that night I just felt horrible I really had said some hurtful things.  I was able to find atonement and make up for what I did by saying sorry and showing that I regretted what  had done.

Walk The Line

I think that the author includes powerful, shocking and even disturbing events to pull the reader into the novel.  It makes you on the edge and wanting to go back and read more.  I think that they are necessary for a reader like me because I get very bored in novels that are not written like this.  Society influences this because what may be a shock one century may not be at all another.

Decisions... Decisions

Things that influence my decisions are the people around me and the convenience to make them.  My decisions most importantly impact myself but they also highly impact my family and mildly impact my friends.  Decisions I am making now are what college to go to, what major to study and what I should do this summer.  What college I go to will effect myself because I hope to be happy in the environment I choose but it will also impact my parents because they have to pay for it.  The decision of the major I will choose will effect my lifestyle and ultimately the family I choose to have in the futures lives.

Prompt #1 (The Three Sisters)

"The baby died.  Lucy and Rachel's sister.  One night a dog cried, and the next day a yellow bird flew in through an open window.  Before the week was over, the baby's fever was worse.  Then Jesus came and took the baby with him far away.  That's what their mother said." (103)  For some reason I really liked this vignette.  It was longer then most and was in so much detail.  It was the first time Esperanza has, "...seen the dead" and she seemed so affected by this.  She drew this relationship between the sisters and talked about the power they had together.  I really liked when she was talking at the end of this vignette about how you can't erase what you know and you can't forget who you are.  This was just a very good vignette and I really enjoyed reading it.

Prompt #7 (Multiple Chapters)

After finishing the book, I was surprised that I really did not see much more about the role of women.  I read things here and there about how Esperanza would act with boys but they did not really relate to the fact that her role was less prominent.  Throughout the vignettes, Esperanza begins to grow as a young lady and becomes stronger and does not worry so much about being less dominant to men.

Prompt #8 (Multiple Chapters)

I feel as though one of the deeper meanings of this book is this girl finding herself.  Throughout all of the vignettes there is an issue of "names".  The fourth vignette is titled, "My Name".  Esperanza talks about what her name means and all of her hopes.  She does not love her name and wishes for many things.  I think this beginning of not loving her "name" and hoping for a lot is her trying to find herself and figure out who she is and who the people around her are.  Later on in the book, a vignette is titled "Meme Oritz".  This vignette opens with how this characters real name is Juan but he wants to be called by something else as well.  Later on in the book I read a vignette titled, "Geraldo No Last Name".  This character was a mystery and no one knew where he had come from all they knew was it was "north".  The many instances that names are mentioned in the book all relate to the fact that someone is trying to find out who they are or Esperanza is trying to figure out who they are and I think this is something Sandra Cisneros wanted to show in her book.  She wrote on the back ... "Esperanza's story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become.

Prompt #5 (Those Who Don't)

"Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared.  They think we're dangerous.  They think we will attack them with shiny knives.  They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake... All brown all around, we are safe.  But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake."  When I read this it really moved me.  I reread it over and over again because I had always thought about neighborhoods like that and how people could live there.  When I drive in Philadelphia in neighborhoods like this girl lives in I get so scared and always think how could people live here?  Reading this vignette it gave me a new perspective on these types of neighborhoods.  Even though people may look different and talk a different language they are still humans and act just as everyone else does.  This vignette really did move me and changed my perspective on this topic.

Prompt #6 (Multiple Chapters)

"The boys and girls live in separate worlds.  The boys in their universe and we in ours.  My brothers for example.  They've got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house.  But outside they can't be seen talking to girls."  This was a quote in the vignette titled Boys and Girls.  I chose this quote to help me create a prediction that the separation of boys and girls and the role of females in the society would be an ongoing occurrence.  I am going to predict that throughout these vignettes Esperanza keeps bringing up how the role of women are not equal to the role of men and how she feels they are less dominant.  Even though this book is not a novel and in each vignette new characters are introduced and new scenes are written about, I think this theme will be an underlying key to how characters interact and how Esperanza relates to the people around her.  This here is a video with hispanic art and words from the book.  Some of the quotes in this clip express some of my predictions about the role of women.

Write Your Own Do Now

In your opinion, do you feel that Ernesto Guevara fulfilled all of his ambitions that he expressed in this novel throughout the rest of his life as Che?  I chose this because as I was writing my theme a big part of it was about how this novel of The Motorcycle Diaries set a base for what he wanted to accomplish in life and I still do not know if he really fulfilled all of his dreams.

-Commented on Sarah's Blog Page

Prompt #14 (My Name)

"In English my name means hope.  In Spanish it means too many letters.  It means sadness, it means waiting.  It is like the number nine.  A muddy color.  It is the mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing."  This chapter as a whole is a key to the entire novel but this quote really stood out.  The vignettes do not have that much in common but one thing that really runs through all of them is Esperanzas hope.  She is full of wishes and dreams.  She dreams of the house she does not have and talks about the sister she wants as a friend but can't be.  She states, "Someday I will have a best friend all my own."  Knowing that she is full of hope really makes reading the vignettes have a different feel to them.  She is a little girl and hopes for so much out of life and to know this while reading this entire book is very helpful.

Prompt #10 (Boys and Girls)

While reading this chapter, I found a lot of connections to my own life.  The main character, Esperanza, talks about the boys and girls in her family.  She explains how she has one sister and two brothers and how in the house the boys talk to the girls all the time but outside the house they never speak.  This really reminded me of my family.  My little sister and brother are best friends when they are at home but at school they pretend like they do not even know each other.  It really shows the social pressures at school.  Along with this the narrator also talks about how her brothers are best friends but she can not be best friends with her sister because her sister is so much younger then her.  Once again, this reminded me of my family because my sister is seven years younger than me and it is hard to be close with her and consider her a friend because of the age difference at this time.

Columbia and Venezuela

"as if everything solid melted away into the ether, eliminating all individuality and absorbing us, rigid, into the immense darkness."

"that you will die with a clenched fist and a tense jaw, the epitome of hatred and struggle"

"...and prepare myself to be a sacred space within which the bestial howl of the triumphant proletariat can resound with new energy and new hope"

I chose these because they really stood out and showed how Che was reflecting upon himself and talking about him as a person and who he has/will become

March 12, Theme #6 Introduction

I like the first website  http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/thesistatement.html.  I like this one because its splits it up so it is easier to understand.  I have trouble writing thesis statements so this site is helping a little.

My thesis will go something like this: Ernesto Guevara's goal was to fight imperialism while tackling many obstacles along the way eventually making a vast political and social impact on the world.

Peru Diction Quiz

As Che and Alberto continued their journey from Chile they were lucky to haul down a Civil Guard who was driving Indians, human livestock, and they caught a ride.  After entering Peru they soon realized that Peru was a country filled a majority with people in poverty.  Some people they met as they arrived made reference to the wonderful Peron and Evita when they met Che and talked about his wonderful country Argentina and most seemed to be very FATALISTIC while expressing their feelings, very laid back and accepting of Che and Alberto.  Che was a PARIAH but felt welcomed by most he had met.  “As for ourselves, so cold we had forgotten we were also pariahs, without money, we ate a very modest meal and asked for one bed for the both of us” (124).  Ernesto and Alberto began in the town of Tacna and then traveled towards the city of Cuzco where there lied ancient ruins and RELICS.  These IDYLLIC remains from the Incans were appeasing to Che’s eyes and while passing these structures and pyramids he was in awe.  Days later they arrived in Machu Picchu.  While walking around and looking at the land they began to see it was very DESOLATE.  The city that was once built of buildings was now just a bunch of EXACERBATE pieces of rubble on the ground.  After leaving Machu Picchu, they continue their journey to Hucancarama.  As they travel they loose some strength and begin to become hungry and poorer.  Che and Alberto GLEAN as much food as they possibly can on their journey but it does not satisfy their stomachs.  They then visit Hucancarama and there they watch as the BESTIAL settlers mistreat the Indians that live there.  As they continue down their path, they ask many people for rides along the way but one that stood out was their ride in the back of a truck with about ten bulls.  They sat on that truck in such an INDIGENCE state, so poor that they sat with bulls.  Not only were they poor but also the cold was getting to them and caused some struggle.  It was becoming freezing outside and the PERIPHERYof Che’s body was frozen to the touch.  He then arrived in Andahuaylas and tried to talk to some people there.  The whole time in Peru talking with people was hard because they Spanish they could speak were different and hard to understand causing their responses to be LACONIC.

 

Essential Question #2

Who did Che want to become?  He wanted to become someone.  He wanted to do something for the good of his country and for other people.  I think he wanted to do something that would maybe even effect the world as well.  He wanted to be remembered by the people around him.  His intentions were positive in the beginning while he was trying to overthrow the corrupt government.  He did not really do this the best way I could think of but he did do what he thought was right to do.  He did have some impact on the world around him while accomplishing his goals.  He showed people that there are positive as well as negative ways to go about doing things and that people can make a difference.

Prompt #18 (Title of the book)

The title of the book, "The House on Mango Street" plays a very big role in this book.  It is the beginning of the set of vignettes and sets a base for the tone of the book.  In the first vignette, the narrator Esperanza talks about how she always dreamed for a big house and a house of the family's own.  The house on Mango Street is the first house that really became their own that they did not have to pay rent for.  It wasn't the huge white house with a yard full of grass that she had hoped for, but it was still satisfying.  Titling the book this was like saying that this house was the beginning to all that the author wrote about.  This "dream" that Esperanza was chasing stays consistent throughout a lot of the vignettes.  If I could choose a new title I would title the book, "Esperanza, The Girl of Dreams".  I would name it this because that is one of the only steady feelings that is carried from vignette to vignette.  For example in the vignette titled "Boys and Girls," Esperanza states, "Someday I will have a best friend all my own.  One I can tell secrets to.  One who will understand my jokes without my having to explain them.  Until then I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor."  (pg 9)

 

Prompt #15 (The House on Mango Street)

I chose to illustrate through a picture part of this section.  The main character states, "They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn't have to move each year.  And our house would have running water, and pipes that worked.  And inside it would have real stairs, not hallways stairs, but stairs inside like the houses on T.V.  Our house would be white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence.  (pg 4) This was a huge part to this section.  This "dream" of her future mostly revolving around gaining this house first.  She "felt like nothing," (pg 4) without this house and I think this was the base to her gaining a future she hoped for.  

This is the house that most correctly expressed her dreams.

Prompt #3 (The House on Mango Street)

The book I am reading is The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros.  It is a novel made up of a lot of short stories.  The first short story I read was titled "The House on Mango Street".  In this story I was introduced to a main character who did not mention her name.  She spoke of her big family with two brothers, a sister, a mom and a dad.  She acts a child with huge dreams.  While most children dream of what they will have later in life, they way this character is portrayed is something different.  She dreams of the house she needs to have and how the house on Mango St. just is not it.  It is inferred that the reason she acts this way is because her parents tell her that they will one day "move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn't have to move each year.  And our house would have running water and pipes that worked. And inside it would have real stairs, not hallway stairs, but stairs like the houses on T.V." (pg 4)  While reading, I have come to realize that this child lives a rocky life full of struggle and a future of a dream that is far from close.  She lives with three other siblings and moves from house to house each year.  These two major parts of her life, a big family and her moving a lot, have really shaped who she is and her thought process.

Chile

 One very significant part to this section was Alberto and Che's realization of the Chilean Hospitality.  Che and Alberto kept seeing all of these people that were very poor but were so generous towards them.  They were suffering because of their, "...uncomfortable Yankee friend"  (Guevara 89). I think this impact was one of the key reasons Ernesto was molded into "Che".  He stated,  “Chilean hospitality, as I never tire of saying, is one reason traveling in our neighboring country is so enjoyable.  And we made the most of it.” (Guevara 58).  This comfort and newfound love for the "natives" began to grow.  He became motivated and wanted to help these people of Latin America.  This part of his journey was a turning point, internally.  He was discovering purpose and he was ready to put his political ideals into action.  He was ready to show his communistic self  and was realizing how he wanted to make a change and his desire to create change grew immensely.  The picture above is a beautiful painting of the people of Chile.  The other picture is of a helping hand and that is what I feel Che began to lend after this part of the book.

Six Word Memoir

Change.  We can believe. Obama 2008.

Argentina

"One morning the doctor...on the question of wire." (p 41)

This one expresses Ernesto's tone and synax.  It reveals his recklessness and how he thinks he is invincible. He left a bed to go on a journey because the doctor finally lessened his diagnosis.   He would leave a bed-ridden state to go on a difficult journey, just because the intensity of the doctor's disapproval was lesser that day.

The other quote I have is ...

"The person who wrote these notes passed away the moment his feet touched Argentine soil again. the person......" (p 32)

This shows me that he changes how he feels about himself and his voice changes in the book after this quote. He becomes a new man.  

Apples to Apples

I feel that what Che did and what the US is doing are similar and different.  The major difference is that Che did what he did mostly alone while the US has their government to back up their actions.  They are similar because one country's leaders are sent to kill leaders of another country who they are having conflicts with.  I think one of the main differences is that we are the people doing it, not another country and that is why we seem to think it is okay and that is why people seem to have thought that Che was a good man, doing what he did in the congo and bolivia. To the people in Cuba, Che was a leader and a hero so what he said was said to be good.

Theme #5 Introduction

"For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn."

I feel as though Hemingway is showing that a baby was born and somehow died and now the baby shoes are for sale, never worn.

Essential Question

What do I want to become?  I want to become a women that works everyday and earn a decent salary.  I want to have a family and in some way make an impact on the world.  I want to impact the world by being successful and hopefully helping my generation fight against the wrong doings in the world. 

TMD Introduction

Jamaica is struck with poverty because of different reasons, including the government, drugs, and little or no work for the locals.  When I went to visit Jamaica, we drove from the airport down a gravel path for hours until we reached our destination, the Beaches Resort.  While driving, my eyes peered out the window only to find many living a life of poverty.  Children with barely any clothes on working outside and parents walking around with beat off clothing and dirt all over their hands.  It was a sight that I was used to reading about but really had not experienced myself until this moment.  It hit me with such shock that "it was one the coldest times in my life, but also one which made me feel a little more brotherly toward this strange, for me at least, human species. (22)

Ideology

I would go to great lengths to defend child neglect.  I would be willing to stand up and defend all costs for this cause.  I highly am against child neglect and believe that every child should have a family that cares and loves them.  I would stand up to the families and do whatever it takes so no child would ever be neglected again.

TMD Timeline Post

The Motorcycle Diaries will most likely be similar to Easy Rider because Che is going to travel around South America and meet people and see their struggles and how they live.  I think Che will see how society is changes as he travels.  I think Che will realize that in the end capitalism is bad for society just like in Das Kapital.  I think Che will follow Marx's ideals and realize a lot more about society.

TMD Bio & Intro Post

This 'travel diary' I expect to be written like a journal.  I have read journals/diaries before and what really stuck out was the emotions showed in the writing.  This book really reminds me of Into The Wild, it is of a man explaining his journey.  I think I can expect to learn a lot about his side of his story compared to all the news segments and movies I have seen about him.  This will differ from the previous two books because it is not a novel and it is not a story but a real life experience.  The two prefaces showed me two different family member's perspectives on Che and I think they differed so greatly because one actually knew him and his daughter really just learned about him.

TMD Preface Comparison

To help me read a book with a better understanding of it, I usually like to know the background of the author and their experiences.  This is good information to know because it usually basis some of the writing.  Also, I like to know the time period of the writing and what else is going on during that time period that might influence some of the events.

Che Reaction #1

Watching the video yesterday, I really began to notice is impact on the many many people on his journey.  I have heard of Che, but I had no idea the many things he has done in his life.  From being a doctor, to a revolutionist .. he has done many influential things.  I also liked hearing about his baby daughter who was chubby with dark eyes.  I like this video so far it is actually very interesting and even though it is kind of hard to follow, I still am understanding it and following along.

TMD Preview Post

An epiphany is, "a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." (Dictionary.com)  A moment like this impact's ones life because it is a turning point and gives one a new outlook on the life that their living.  It changes perception of how someone lives and ultimately effects their future.

Glenn Beck Video

After watching how Glenn Beck "Discusses the Che legacy" I feel that Che Guevara is a misconception by many Americans.  Glenn Beck really gets his point across because he feels so strongly about the anti-heroism of Che.  He expresses his feelings by stating that the media publicizes this man and milks it for cash while 70% of the people wearing his merchandise do not even know who he is.  Humberto "exposes the real Che" and explains how he was the leader in concentration camps.  The two laugh about how Che is idolized and do not understand how people do not know his history.  While watching the video, I received two opinions on Che and while the men seem accurate and passionate about what they are talking about, I still do not understand why he would be so idolized if he was really this horrific.