Empowerment Through Our Individualisim: 2011

Sapphire's Purpose

What message is the author trying to send? How does she accomplish it?

I believe that Sapphire is trying to send a message to young women to inspire them through enlightenment, self knowledge, empowerment and that education is important. I believe that she did a great job at this although her bluntness through her story could actually push people away from reading her book. I know if I was in a negative environment and somebody gave me this book to read I wouldn’t want to read this book at all because it would make me actually more upset. I feel like Sapphires message could either be positive or negative depending on who you are and how you perceive the environment (pessimistic vs. optimistic).

A major trend that Sapphire tries to incorporate is hope through various characters. By giving her character’s hope she implements/installs hope into her reading seeing that the style of the book takes you in. It’s almost as if she wants the reader to understand that no matter how many obstacles they go through they have to keep pushing. Therefore, if Precious could do it then anybody could do it because her obstacles were extremes and she made it through and is still pushing so you could as well.

By Sapphire incorporating the ending stories of the other character at the end of the book builds on the sense of “Hope”. It shows that although Precious went through a lot, she is not the only one. Giving readers or other people that you can get through anything as long as you put your mind to it and gain an education then everything would fall into place.

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Sapphire's Style

In all reality I believe that Sapphire is a great writer, she accomplished a very difficult task by embracing her character. Sometimes when you need a book you can tell that the author becomes caught up on the descriptions (such as scenery, objects, environmental) and lose track of the character. Sapphire embraced her character throughout the whole book using her eyes to create the world around the character. I respect Sapphire for this form of writing.

Many people in class complained about the reading of the book but, I didn’t find it hard at all. To be honest it was probably one of the easiest books we read so far. I think this because now in days my generation and future generations are butchering the English language through technological devices such as texting, Facebook, Twitter, Ipads, etc. So reading chopped English isn’t that difficult for me as say my grandmother or mother might find it.

Also, when reading through Sapphire style it gives you a sense of a harsh reality because the purpose/message isn’t meant to be ignored. It made me upset and angry that so much can be put into a character. The fact that the story wasn’t based on someone made me question Sapphire on why she would write something so harsh and why society excepted it to the point that it went into production.

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Relationships (Fun Home)

I enjoyed Allison’s Character very much. It makes the book all ha more real and understandable. I enjoyed how she used her emotion to make personal connections with her current problems. Such as the OCD that she established at a young age. I felt that it was comical yet true to the character making her all the more real in my eyes as a reader as well as interesting. At one point I began to sympathize for her because of the disconnection between her and family. They were so secluded except for when it was dinner time.

The author made sure that she stressed the fact that, the father wanted the house to appear as if it was a traditional. Although the family held great secrets that was so dreadful to society eyes that it scorned them as individuals and a whole. Therefore the father stressed because he didn't want anybody to think of him in a negative way, the mother stressed because she had to be the backbone of the household and with hold through all the fighting and arguments that occurred between the father and her. And last but not least the daughter stressed because she couldn't find her true self.

Although each of these characters suffered from some since of freedom they seemed to each gain this freedom back towards the end of the book. The mother, through finally having the release of her husband who has now passed and being able to confide in the daughter as she grew older. The mother also, vented through her historical plays that she performed, almost as if she was yearning for that attention. May it be through the play she was performing or the audience who acquired it and her family who obtained it. Her acting as if nobody should ask her questions about her performance only showed a greater repressed emotion for more freedom and attention.

The Father gained his sense of freedom I believe twice in the book. His first encounter with freedom, I would say, would have to be when the daughter finally spoke up about her sexuality. This moment was pivotal for their relationship because they finally understood one another. Just like when the mother found Allison to confide in, the father did as well. Although the situations might not have been as clear as the mother daughter relationship, due to awkwardness, they still confided in one another. His second sense of freedom would have to be his death. Weather planned, assumed, or accidental, his death truly set him free from the twisted/secret bearing life.

The daughter's freedom I would say would kind of coincide with the fathers somewhat. Her sense of freedom came from the death of the father and when she revealed her true self/sexuality. Although her father’s death made her upset for a while, when he finally thought it through she realized why her father had left and came to an understanding of the harshness of his life and what correlated in hers. When she finally spoke up for herself and announced her sexuality she freedom herself from the unknown and curiosity she had as a child

At points the book did puzzle me on the relationships area. Such as why did the mother continually stay with the father even after she found out his secret? Or did she know his secret at all? Another question that drew to my mind was what was the relationship between the father and the two brothers? Did he ever have or try to have and sexual relations with them. And what were the brother’s true importances in the book? I ask this last question because every author includes particular characters at certain points in the book to specify an importance of a particular moment. So what was Bechdel's importance of her two brothers besides the fact that the book was a memoire? I wish I had enough time to analyze this book in greater detail because a lot occurred through underlying messages that I still do not understand....

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Fun Home's Literature and Audience

Alison Bechdel did an excellent job on the book Fun Home. Although, personally I believe that the context and language was difficult at times. While reading the context in the book it became difficult because I began to lose the author when she spoke about literature and made personal connections to it. Maybe it was difficult to me because I never read any of the books she mentioned; therefore understanding her arguements only became that difficult and fustrating to understand. Despite this, Bechdel tried to incorporate the literature of the particular books into this small comic novel. I felt like she did this because she knew that her audience wouldn't understand or hasn't read any of the books that she mentioned.

Another form of Bachdel's writing in this particular book is flashbacks. What I mean by this is that Bechdel uses a lot of connection from past experience in her writing. Each chapter has a direct correlation to another from some sort of past experience. But, then again the book does solemly rely on her memory of her father, which was in the past so that does make sense. This made that book actually interesting when the context began to get difficult.

I also, adored how the author had pictures through out the book. I never read a novel, for school, that actually had pictures. The pictures interested and confused me at the same time. Not because the book was boring or anything. But, mainly because I have a hard time staying focused sometimes so the pictures would interupt my reading from time to time. Sometimes I just looked at the pictures then read the commentary. The actually detail in the picture made the book that much more interesting.

At some points in the novel the audience was us the reader and from other aspects I believe that the audience could have been herself as well. This, trying to convience herself the relevance to her father and his death. Through out the novel she talks about how writing in her diary because tedious and it showed her OCD as well. But I believe that by Alison Bechdel writing this novel it showed that through literature she lived. Therefore, by writing this book it could've let some certain release from the anger and repressed emotions she holds inside. Thus, making the audience true to herself.
Due to the extreme difficulty this book must have been to write, I think the author did a great job at telling her history through this tragicomic. And I congratulate her on showing creative, literal knowledge, as well as creativie writing through personal connection. I adore when authors go the extra mile and Bechdel did an excellent job!

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Viva Las Mariposas!

5) By the end of the novel, do you get used to Alvarez’s style? Why did she choose
this style? Does it work? Is she able to get you to finish reading the book even
though you know the ending? What does she focus on instead and why?

By the end of the novel, I felt more comfortable with the book then when I started as well as Alvarez's choice of writing. I feel like she chose this style to get her reader's more engaged and because it must have been extremely difficult to keeping a verbatim story true to it originality as much as Alvarez portrayed it.

I have to admit that her style made the story all the more interesting, due to the fact that when I read I like to imagine the book as if I'm watching a movie. And when Alvarez does flash backs in the middle of the story I can imagine the characters dazing off into thought. To have the ability to transform you reader's mind into an imagery form makes you a great storyteller/author; Alvarez succeeded in interpreting this story.

Although Alvarez did a great job with this book, I found it hard to keep interested a certain points in the book which made it extremely hard to finish it in the time spend that I usually give myself to read and it was extremely aggravated seeing that I have such a busy schedule. But, when I finally finished I understood her purpose in her writing and in her choice of style in her writing.

She keeps her readers wondering and ready to see what is going to happen in the next chapter, with each character picking up from where the other one left off. By her doing this it helped her focus on another aspect, which is the importance of her message and the timelines. She positions the characters by significance in that certain time frame of the current story; therefore making it easier to understand as a reader.

When you finally get to the end you see her switch up her style a little bit more to having Dede speak in the first person. Almost as if Alvarez wanted Dede to really pay attention the message she was trying to give her. That it's okay to be free and be yourself...especially since your sisters are free now. Viva Las Mariposas!

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Dede Timeline

Around 1925 ~ Dede Birth

1938 (Jan) ~ Goes away to Immaculada Conseption

1943 ~ : Resistance beginning of nvlment of Las Mariposas

1948 ~ Marriage to Jaimito: exciled of Minera's relationship. Met Lio, Bin in resistance (important), Enemy of the state, revoluntionist; he is banned.

1949 (October 12) Goes to Discovery Day Dance with Minerva. The beginning of trouble with the government.

1950 ~ Ice Cream Shop fails

1954 ~ Dede and Jaimito move back to family Farm. They have 2 children by then.

1959 ~ Patria ask Ded if group can be held at family farm; Jaimito says no

1960 ~ All sisters come and ask Dede if she wants to join them. Dede sisn't get involved so the onl person who husband wasn't arrested was him. Sisters Die

1994 ~ Living in the Dominican Reublic, Ojo de Agua, At family farm/house:Runs tthe museum, envolvement of nieces and nephew (authoritive figure)

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Would You Rather?

What does the game "Would You Rather?" show about girls, especially the one girl who wants to play it? (Jennifer Guarino)

“Would You Rather” has a great impact on the book, I Am An Emotional Creature, as a whole. Just alone in these three monologues, poems, or short story (which ever you prefer) Ensler puts a lot of concept, emotion and responsibility into the two main characters. Thus, giving the book a firm foundation and creating more visible threads that are more comprehensive than any other short story in this book.

“Would You Rather” shows that some girls are naive on what is happing around them while, others eyes are so open and exceptive that the world becomes too much for them. This is most easily portrayed in Girl 2 voice. She is the character that is not willing to answer the question because she wants to void out all of the unnecessary things that challenges her in life.

“Cause I am sick of having to choose between two horrible impossible things.

Living with my mother or my father, being popular or smart, enjoying sex or being called a slut, making money or following my heart. I want different questions. I hate these choices. I hate my life.”

I love how after reading this whole book at the end Ensler creates so much passion and emotion into this character. This is the “a Ha” moment, when you finally figure out what was the sole purpose these three particular monologues.

The complexity comes in when you pay attention to the way Girl 1 voice indicated the questions. Almost as if she is immature in a sense or that through curiosity she experiences life.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It was just a game.”

“Are you crying?”

This shows that she didn’t understand the impact of what she was doing and why Girl 1 was so defensive about answering the questions. Through Ensler’s language throughout the three monologues you can get a since of maturity from beginning to the end. In the first monologue Girl 1 asks very minor questions but by the time you reach the third monologue you notice she is asking very sexual and mature questions. It makes you almost wonder if Girl 2 problems came mostly in her adolescent year’s, verses Girl 1 who I believe has minor problems and faces less mature situations than Girl 2 due to the fact that Ensler writes her language in a more curious and immature way/neglectiveto society type of way. But then Ensler flips this character and makes her understand at the end; which makes me wonder was the character only making it seems as if she was naïve or as if others were dealing with the same situations that she was going through. Almost like a sense of nurture through her peers.

Girl 2

“It’s just so hard sometimes. It’s just so hard and sad.”

Girl 1

“I know. It is. I hate it.

(They both snuggle and they both cry. Then after a while they start laughing and laughing)

The laughing gives a sense of relief between the two characters as well as companionship. I feel as though Ensler should have let these three story open and close the book because they spoke to me the most. This can be openly debated because each story or monologue in the book relates to different people. Therefore this particular piece could've ment more to me than others.

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A Teenage Girl's Guide To Surviving Sex Slavery

Eve Ensler hit it on the nose with this one. I like how she starts the first line:

"I live in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, but I think this guide applies to any girl anywhere in the world."

Right from the beginning Ensler gets to the main point of not only this particular story but the whole book. Her stating that it can apply to anybody expands your horizon and allows us to interpret the story and book in any way that it best correlates to you (the reader).

I also, love the way the narrator talks in third person all the way until the end of the story. She makes it broad yet visible of how her situation happened. The only time the narrator went into first person was the beginning and the end. I feel like Ensler did this because she wants the readers to be able to fill in their own blanks in the middle. Thus, make it correlate to their situation while still understanding the narrator’s situation. She even comes up with a scenario to put yourself in:

"Imagine you are dancing. Think of your favorite song. Remember your mother braiding your hair. Feel her kindly roughly braiding hands. Hear her calling your name..."

Another thing that Ensler uses well in this story is imagery. I love her use of imagery! Out of all the short stories/monologues in the particular book I felt like this one had the most imagery. I felt like in some cases I was right there, standing next to the narrator as she was hiding in the wall or running with her baby.

"You will start to run and your legs will be strong like a strong person's legs and you will think clearer and better than you have ever thought before and you will hear your mother calling 'Marta, run run run" and you will make the bus..."

I honestly felt myself running with her. I felt myself running for my life; it was intriguing. One last thing that I loved about this story was once again like in the Vagina Monologues, Ensler's use of language and grammar. If you pay attention close enough you realize that a lot of the sentences in this particular piece had few periods. I felt like this expressed the narrator’s emotion and added on to the personal connection between the narrator and the reader. If you look at the line above that I quoted I had to add three periods because the sentence is the rest of the page. But, I felt like Ensler did that on purpose because the narrator wasn't finished running. When the narrator finally got on the boat and was sailing away is when you notice Ensler starting to slowly add punctuation. Ensler proved herself as a writer in this piece because I was honestly starting not to believe in her anymore. WAY TO GO ENSLER!!!

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My Reaction

I first heard about The Vagina Monologues in my womens literature class in college. It amazed me of how many people actually already knew about it and how they already began to take part in the V-Day movement. Now that I've read the book I wish I had the time to see the actual monologues performed live. But, it's kind of hard being a full time student, with a full time job, and trying to maintain a healthy campus life.

My first reaction upon reading this book was an initial shock and curiousity to me. I was amazed that we were actually going to read a book about Vaginas but, it became a curiosity to me when i began to wonder what the book was going to be about as a whole. It amazed me so much that i just picked the book up a week before the class was suppose to and began reading. I was reading it in class, at work, even on the bus. It was so inspiring that i couldn't put it down. When I finally finished the book, I felt like it was so inspiring that i made my twelve year old cousin read it. She read it in an hour but, it amazed me how interesting it was to her. She couldn't put it down either. My cousin let her stay with me because she is becoming of age and she needed me to talk to her about certain things. When I got done talking to her I let her read the book and occasionally she would ask me what this meant and what that means. I would reply and realizing that she was curious and to some extent it was teaching her things that I would ever be able to teach her.

The next day i brought her to my grandmother house and all the old lady's was curious about what I was holding. When I finally let them read the book they we applaud. They told me to hide the cover and not let anybody see it. Since i already read the book I found their reaction very interesting. I felt that if they would just read the book themselves then they would understand Ensler's purpose.When I left out to go home they told me to hide the book. I shook my head and left. But, what amazed me the most was that I actually hid the book in my coat. At that moment I realized that maybe I didn't really understand the importance of the book? Maybe I should re-read the book? Then I began to think deeper; it's not the book that I didn't understand, it's the application of the context to our society that I needed to work on and trying to tear away generations and generations of history to the new era's physical morals.

I leave today asking u this: Would you walk to the bus

stop late at night with a book that says Vaginas as the title?

Does this make u more or less of a better person if u did or didn't?

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The Vagina Monalogues

Question #3

Ensler's two goals of celebrating vaginas and raising awareness for women violence was set on both aspects throughout The Vagina Monologues and in the real world. I believe that it played an important role in both goals because Ensler thought outside the box and actually performed the monologues in front of live audiences; thus creating a personal connection through emotion and language. Tone most likely played an important aspect as well because usually when u hear someone’s tone change it makes it easier to create your own personal connection to the story that is being told. Ensler went even further and created something called The V-Day Movement. The V-Day Movement is a movement that demands violence to stop (pg. 174) it is usually most popular around February. Ensler uses her monologues to justify the importance of how crucial the violence of women can be; thus raising awareness. Ensler believes that "by taking V-Day worldwide, we can have the opportunity to use this powerful work as a catalyst for shifting our view of our personal relationship to violence and what is possible in a civil society" (pg. 176). Evidently V-Day must be effective because "In just three years, V-Day has raised and donated more than a million dollars to grassroots organizations that fight violence against women worldwide." (pg. 174)

I feel as if these two goals intertwined because if Ensler is trying to promote V-Day through women violence then a connection is made between vaginas due to the fact that it supports women in general. Although, there is a difference in the way she delivers these messages. When talking about vaginas Ensler delivers this through her monologues and during her monologues you can see through her language and through others people body language, tone and presence she celebrates vaginas. Throughout the monologues she actually gives facts about vaginas, in which I found very interesting. My favorite story was "The Flood", because at the end of the story the lady became upset, turned her body away and then u felt a sense of relief in her when she say, "You know, actually, you're the first person I ever talked to about this, and I feel a little bit better." (pg. 30) At this point in the monologues it became clear to me and this is when everything began to tie into each other and I finally learned the importance of The Vagina Monologues.

Reading the monologues all as one piece give you the full effect of the monologues itself because u tend to understand Ensler's style of writing better when you keep reading it. I personally read the book in one sitting because it interested me that much. During this sitting I had to read certain monologues over and over again and sometimes I even had to flip back to stories I already read while I was in the middle of a monologue because I wanted to put certain pieces of the puzzle together. This book was really great and I wish I would've participated in the actual play when it came to our campus because I feel like only then I would've got the full emotional aspect of the monologues. I recommend this book to any and everyone no matter what the age! A+...

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The Vagina Monologues

Question #1

The genre of this piece of literature is drama, meaning that Ensler wrote these monologues to be performed. (Jennifer Guarino, click sentence for citation) I believe that Ensler wants vaginas to be publicly performed because through emotion, tone, presence, and public speaking people are able to gain a pesonal connection to what others are trying to portray. In Ensler's case she wanted the audience to except vaginas in the public eye; that's why she included "Vagina" in the title. Vagina is a word that is so unspoken of that we are become uneducated about its importance. We become so uneducated that it effects us women emotionally and physically to the point that we become unhappy, mute, and sexually frustrated; thus rendering us from life itself. This is part of the reason that Ensler wants The Vagina Monologues to be hear to everyone, male or female.

In a males case, she wants them to understand the importance of a vagina in a woman's life, no matter what age they maybe. Throughout the novel Ensler has a common thread of sexual abuse toward women all around the word and each story she told about sexual abuse included males. I feel that if males understand the importance of the negativity that they have caused to some of these women then they wouldn't do them the harm. In a women's case Ensler wants them to understand much more. She wants them to know that their vagina is a beautiful thing and that it should be treated as if it were. It must be treated physically, mentally, unconsciously, consciously, as well as physically spoken, in its correct manner. I get the sense that through this a women can receive self actualization; giving the ability to relax and confide in more important things in life while not holding to so much animosity toward themselves, others, and their vaginas.

If we as humans can see our Vaginas in a positive manner instead of a negative manner then it would cause positive energy, which makes others around us happy, and making others happy makes the world a better a place to live. During reading The Vagina Monologues Ensler tries to get women to open up to her about the word Vagina in general. You see it hard for women to express this and except the word. But, once they do u notice how at ease they are and relaxed that they could confide in someone about their unconscious negative stimuli. You also see their new perspective on the word as well. But, the stories and the people in them are not the only ones who perspectives actually changed; Ensler and the reader (me) has changed as well. (I personally thought of the word vagina as negative too) Not only does my newly profound insight of the word change but the way I perceive my vagina (and hopefully other readers) changes as well. Through various occasions in Ensler shows through visualization how the vagina looks, smells, feels, etc. And it can't make you help but wonder about the things u never wondered before. Which leads to why she wrote the monologues in the first place; she wanted us to understand and except this concept.

So, my question to you is:

"If you could dress your vagina what would it wear?" (The Vagina Monologues)

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Krik? Krak! (Motherhood Thread)

Kirk? Krak!, was a very inspirational book to Haitian's and Women. The most influential part to me though is the common thread of motherhood. Edwidge Danticat tends to tie this thread through a Madonna a lot. A Madonna is actually another name for Mary, the mother of Jesus. When you usually see or hear of a Madonna who is holding a baby (as you do several times throughout the book) it is referring to Mary holding Jesus. Thus, meaning a mother’s love and dedication to her child. In the short story Nineteen Thirty-Seven it talks about the Madonna a lot. In this story it symbolizes the ownership of a mother. Manman is using the Madonna as a remembrance and replacement of the love and belonging of her mother who was brutally killed in the 1937 Massacre while she escaped with her child. When Manman dies at the end of the story she tells her daughter to use the Madonna to hopefully always have a mother with her.

"When I am completely gone, maybe you will have someone to take my place. Maybe you will have a person. Maybe you will have some flesh to console you. But if you don't, you will always have a Madonna."

With this topic I could go on and on but I don’t want to focus on the Madonna too much. Motherhood is my keep topic therefore in every story Danticat told she mentioned a mother figure. Every mother in almost every story gave their daughter history, obedience, loyalty and some since of words of wisdom that they too should pass onto their future children. One example of this would be in The Missing Peace:

“That I already have posterity. I was once a baby and now I am an old woman. That is posterity.” (pg. 108)

Page 120 links to the previous quote and shows that the young girl actually learns from her grandmother:

“We already had posterity,” I said.
“When?”
“We were babies and we grow old”
“You’re still young,” she said. “You’re not old.”
“My grandmother is old for me.”

These examples that I have given you are only a very little bit of the vast knowledge through motherhood that Danticat is trying to portray but there are very more. If the class called for a five to ten page essay on just this one topic then I could most definitely keep on writing but, it doesn’t. So I hope you guys keep on reading!

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Night Woman Analysis

Night Woman was truly an inspirational story to me; it showed the innocence of a child as well as the care and loving of a mother through hard work, sacrifice, and dedication.

When reading this story I got the feeling that although the mother was sleeping with all these men to make ends meet, she was also doing it to fill a void in her. Maybe it was the loving and belonging of a male figure in her life.

"For a brief second, I almost mistake him

for the ghost of his father, an older

lover who disappeared with the night's

shadows a long time ago." (pg. 88)

"Should my son wake up,

I have prepared my fabrication...

I will tell him that his father has come,

that an angel brought him back

from Heaven for a while." (pg. 88)

Although I truly feel this way based on these quotes I also know for a fact that she doesn't really like what she is doing to herself; she opens up her story by saying:

"I cringe from the heat of the night on my face.

I feel s bare as open flesh.

Tonight I am much older than the twenty-five years

that I had lived.

The night is the time I dread

most in my life. Yet if I am to live,

I must depend on it." (pg. 83)

She talks about how much she hates it and then closes the paragraph off by saying that she must depend on it in order to live to show that she needs to do it to take care of her family (son). Based on the bible, as a woman you are the one to take care of the house; cooking, cleaning, loving, etc. Danticat expresses this throughout various writings in Kirk? Krak!

Another thing that Edwidge Danticat does in this short story that I liked very much was the imagery that she placed in the story. It's almost like she painted a picture of son like a goddess or of the highest person known. This is how you know that the character is suppose to be focused on more therefore the innocence of a child. I'm only going to give one example of this:

"It doesn't take long before he is snoring softly.

I listen for the shy laughter of his most

pleasant dreams. Dreams of angels skipping

over his head and occasionally

resting their pink heels on

his nose." (pg. 87)

When reading this passage you can actually image how pure and innocent the son must look if the mother envisioned angels dancing around his face while he is sleeping. Sleeping is another aspect of the story that shows innocent due to the fact that when most people or sleep they are in an unconscious state and their true selves are revealed and capture as majority of the time innocent and pure.

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19 Varieties Of Gazelle

When it comes to poetry there is always a higher meaning in what the author is trying to portray; Naomi Shihab Nye portrays this very well in her writing of 19 Varieties of Gazelle. She introduces us by saying that,

“poetry slows us down, cherishes small details…We need poetry for nourishment and for noticing, for the way language and imagery reach comfortably into experience, holding and connecting it more successfully than any news channel we could name.” (xvi)

If you read between the lines Nye wanted her readers to take her poetry serious and realize the effects that 9/11 had on her culture as well as American’s culture, especially in her case seeing that they both intertwined. Nye also wants us to see that though poetry we tend to take our time and add a personal connection to it, that’s why she states that “it more successfully than any new channel we could name”. When people use poetry it’s almost never a politician or a person of higher authority therefore it’s usually the common folk. That’s what makes it so special to others because it’s someone they feel equal to and have a sense of companionship.

Throughout my reading of this book I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why would Nye name this book 19 Varieties of Gazelle?” As you read you slowly understand why she does this. The number nineteen does represent anything in particular but a bunch, therefore when you visualize 19 different varieties of a gazelle’s you get the sense that none of them are the same, yet at the same time they are of a group that are all called one name. This is very significant in this reading because Nye tries to portray a since of peace and equality amongst EVERYONE, not only the Palestinian’s and American’s. But she focuses on these two cultures in general because she herself and media has made them an issue due to the 9/11 tragedy. It is also significant because not only are humans of different varieties but we are all named as one “humans”. If this is true then you can’t help but wonder “Why can’t we all live in peace?” That’s way Nye’s sole purpose is to try to bring peace amongst everybody and not let a few bad seeds bring down a whole nation. Nye tries to portray this in many themes; some of the common ones are media, violence, contradictory, innocence, culture, language, knowledge, peace, hope, and stereotypes.

Nye’s poetry all has a personal connection with a least one of her readers therefore my favorite poem in 19 Varieties Of Gazelle would have to be Flinn, On The Bus. I feel like this is my favorite poem because out of all her poems when I was doing my analysis on them, this is the only one where I pulled out the most information every other poem after that only added on to the mystery of whom she was and her personal beliefs. This poem touches everyone in both Palestinians and Americans. It shows the innocence of a man getting out of jail and how naïve he is to what is happening around him due to the fact that he has be secluded to a confide jail cell. And how he focuses on just himself and how he is going to better himself. On the other hand the other character is stuck in wonderment of how beautiful that can be and studies Flinn. Flinn faces a sense of freedom that Nye is trying to convey to her readers and shows that through her text.

“Flinn looked at his free hands more than fields, turned them over in his lap”

You see but these things are the obvious in her text. One thing that I noticed in Nye’s text is that although she wants to convey peace amongst people she knows that it will be a hard then for some to grasp. In this poem she shows that throught Flinn:

“It was not hard to nod,

to wish him well. But could I tell

what had happened in the world

on his long awaited day

what twist of rage greater

than we could ever guess

had savaged skylines, thousands of lives?

I could not. He’d find out

soon enough. Flinn, take it easy.

Peace is rough.” (xi)

This raises the question on how would his life in rage after he hears about 9/11? So, maybe that’s why the passenger sees him off with “peace is rough” because it’s going to be hard to refrain emotions and emotions must be released in order to maintain peace and happiness. Revenge, rage, and peace are common threads through this piece of literature which shows a correlation of negativity and how it has to come to a halt in order to maintain peace so it could turn into love, happiness and belonging.

There are two significant people in Nye's life which consist of her father and her grandmother. They both played a significant role in her life as well as her writings. Her father played a more mature yet innocent role that affected her greatly throughout her life and writings. He embedded culture in her through his storytelling, the significance of a fig tree, and language. His storytelling often related back to their culture through there gods and heroic characters.

"In the evenings he sat by our beds

Weaving folktales like vivid little scarves.

They always involved a figtree.

Once Joshua was walking down a road

and he saw a fig tree.

Or, he tied his camel to a figtree and went to sleep:

Or, later when they caught and arrested him,

his pockets were full of figs."

The figtree plays a significant part in her father’s life because it reminds him of his childhood in a sense. Almost like a freshly baked apple pie for Americans or the fresh summer breeze for people who live in the country. He also shows an innocent sense of enthusiasm through the poem especially when he calls Nye about his new fig tree in Texas; a place where he finally found home.

Her Grandmother on the other hand played a different type of role in her life and writing. It's almost like a motherly figure. She shows a sense of wisdom and encouragement. Just like almost anybody's grandmother who is always there and understands everyone and everything that is going on around her at all times. Her grandmother kind of reminds me of a MeMa. The Southern type of grandmothers that don't really exist anymore. Someone you could run to in the time of need but was once enslaved so she knows that struggle that she doesn't want her future generations to see. Another thing that her grandmother reminds me of is a wise witch. By witch I mean someone who practices healing powers, almost like an oracle or something of that matter. She knows what others do not know due to the fact that she is wise and has an open mind. Majority of people know in days are narrow minded and this makes it hard for them to see the big picture of what is going on around them.

Overall, Nye shows her dedication to family, peace, love, culture and poetry through her 60 writings in 19 Varieties of Gazelle, and I hope that everyone can get a sense of the peace that she demands from the world as well as the misinterpretation that the media has set on her culture. Which I believe could be very influential to various people if they just take the time to read her work and open up their minds.

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Because I Am A Queen

Music can be very inspiring and interesting to listen to; that's why I chose music for my poetry assignment. I know you might be thinking, "why did you chose music, music is not poetry" but in all reality it is. Music is composed of verses and pertain a rhythm as well as poems do; the only main difference is melody. Normally you wouldn't find melody in a poem.

The song above is composed by a female artist named Indie Arie. I chose this artist because in all of her music she tries to inspire those around her through her self-esteem and individualism. She let's other females build off of her self-confidence and self-esteem through her lyrics. She begins her song by telling her audience that she does whatever she wants no matter what others think about her. Her introduction alone shows how inspiring she can be. Another get aspect from this song is her chorus which states:

"I'm not your average girl from your video
and i aint built like a supermodel
but, I learned to love myself unconditionally
because I am a queen."

In today's society many females wish they had supermodel bodies and are reliant on publicitized self-images; Indie tries to get her listeners to brake away from this bigotry that society is trying to portray. India's second verse is very inspiring to me as well; it states:

"Am I less of a lady if I dont wear panty hoes?

My mama said a lady ain't what she wears but what she knows

but I've come to the conclusion that it's all an illusion.

Confusion's the name of the game,

a misconception, a vest deception,

somethings got to change."

This part inspires me not only because she comes out and says that it is time for a change, but because she begans to show her creative side and uses a play on words:

"Confusion's the name of the game,

a misconception,

a vest deception,

somethings for to change."

You see, she's trying to tell her audience that materialistic things aren't as important as loving yourself. Confusion has taking over everybodys mind set, as well as false images, to the point that it is taking over our life style and it is time for everone to stand up and make a change. I get the sense that Indie has been brought up by a strong, independent, loving mother because of the way her tone changes when she speaks about her. The last thing that draws me so close to this song is the melody. It brings a happy, confident, loving feeling to me personally and makes me think about the positives in my life instead of the negatives.

*If you take the time follow the link from this youtube video then you can see the commentary that others posted about this song*

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What Is Empowerment?

What Is Empowerment and How Can It Be Correlated Between Individualism?

Empowerment: to promote self-actualization or influence of.
Individualism: The concept that all values, rights, and duties originate in individuals.

I used these two words in correlation due to the fact that my English Literature class focuses on women studies. When I think of women and how we effect the environment that we live in the 2 words empowerment and Individualism comes to mind. For centuries women have been strong and multitasking all under the influence of maintaining themselves. Therefore, I figured why not combine these two words to feed off of one another when I'm posting about the various writing on my literature class, and that's how my title came about. Welcome and feel free to comment on anything that I post because any form of critism is always good for you!

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