Rewrite of Ellison's Invisible Man

I think that this book could be rewritten in terms of today's standards. Although today racism isn't as outspoken as when this book is written, there are still many racists in the country today pertaining to much more than blacks. When this question was posed in class, I had many thoughts about what to write about. Then it came to my mind that if Ellison were to rewrite the book he could use instead of blacks, Muslim-Americans. The reason to my thoughts was September 11, 2001; the worst day in many Americans lives and even double that for Muslim-Americans.

As the American people came to grips with the reality of that fateful day, they wanted justice for the people who commited this horrifying act. When it was found out that these criminals were of the Middle East, it was hard to realize how these people could get into the U.S. much less on a plane. Many American citizens of the Middle Eastern descent came under racist discrimination as more details came to light. They were being persecuted for the actions of people who only shared the smae color of skin. The Muslim-Americans were just as upset as the rest of us, but they were the ones being harmed and mistreated because of their heritage.

I think that Ellison could use this as his basis for this rewritten book. It could show the persecution and struggles of these people after 2001 and what they have overcome. I think it would bring into light how we are treating our fellow American citizens based on the actions of a certain group.

Final thoughts on House

Overall, I thought the book was very interesting, not something that I would read on my own, but glad that I got to read it for class. I thought that the book was well written for the American audience and that certain people could relate to it however they may. It was weird for me to read about the hostile country in which prestige was everything and the government was later corrupt because I never experienced that myself.

I thought that it was interesting the way Allende writes about a family and their struggles throughout life. I thought that it was neat how she explained the class differences and how it was wrong to marry or even love out of one's class. I think that with writing about Blanca's forbidden love and then Alda's she wanted to make this point of subject very clear to the reader.

This book had it's high points and low points for me and if asked to read it again I would be willing to do so.

Ideological thoughts of House

"I never tell who the father is!" Blanca said with determination.

"I'm not talking about the father of the child, I'm talking about our father," said her brother.
"Papa has the right to hear it from us, before someone else tells him."

"Send a telegram to the countryside," Clara suggested sadly. She realized that when Esteban Trueba found out, Blanca's baby would become a tragedy. (212)

This to me is ideological because the three of them knew that telling Esteban Trueba that Blanca was pregnant out of wedlock that he would go nuts because it could affect his power and influence in the government. Also Trueba would worry about his reputation, especially for not having such a responsible daughter.

Although Blanca knew who the father was and Clara also figured it out, Blanca wanted to keep it a secret, especially from her father. She knew that her child was conceived out of a forbidden love, a love that was uncontrollable between Blanca and Pedro Tercero Garcia. If her father ever found out about it, she would be banned from the family, cut off from her father and be thrown into other class, the lower class, one that she was not accustomed to.

Another reason she did not want to tell of the father of her unborn child is because of the class difference between herself and Pedro Tercero. She was the patron's daughter and he was the son of the patron's foreman. She was of higher class and he was of the lowest class possible. Pedro Tercero Gracia would never be able to support Blanca in what she was accustomed to throughout her entire life and Blanca knew that her child needed that family name influence.

Each is ideological because it gives a love affair between to people of different classes, who could never be together because of this. They would have to keep their love for each other under wraps for many years so that a father of higher power could not hurt either one in anyway, although he did and ao that Blanca's child would be of a legitimate family name and Esteban Trueba would have a legitmate grandchild. not one that was of lower class and born out of marriage.

Question to Duplessis

I guess the question that I would like to pose to Duplessis is not out of the ordinary. The question is, why in your poems does the words not seem to flow together? Or another would be, why aren't your poems written in traditional format, the way we are taught in school to write them. I guess that would be all the questions upon my brain at the moment.

Review of Gregorio Cortez

I think that this story was okay to read, although it didn't keep my attention the entire time. I was suprised to see how my different versions there were of this story. As I started to read it, right away it came to mind that this was a fable. However, it is a true story in some right.

In my comonplace book entry, I wrote a quote from page 114 when it talks about the three ingredients in the legend. For instance, there is straight fact, fact that is exaggerated into fiction and pure folklore. I found this to be true when reading all the different varients. It is like that game that was played in class, called telephone. When passed from person to person words adn sounds tend to get misused. It is even more like this when the legend is passed on from generation to generation. Think about how many folk tales you have heard that has been passed on down. How did those legends come about? The story of Gregorio Cortez is a great example of this point.

Review of Lorca's Blood Wedding

This play was hard to understand at first because of the translation of Spanish to English. Plus it confused me even more when the moon started talking in Act 111, Scene 1. After the group discussion today, I understand the significance of the knife and the begger woman in the play. I think that the begger woman symbolizes death in the play and it is like she is fate for the two men. But like the Chapter 3 in Theory Toolbox called "Reading" we have to read more into the play itself and understand the meanings of the words you are reading.

Not only does the reader have to understand the meaning of the words, they also have to understand the contexts, according to The Theory Toolbox, in what way is the word presented in the text. I think that the context of the this play is the language that it was orginally written in. First of all, the play is written in the country of Spain, so they have different values and morals than Americans do. Also, we are reading this play in the 2000s but the play was written in the 1930s so there are different contexts and different meanings between the decades.

Dealing with the mother and her moral of killing someone, she may have wanted to kill the family who killed hers, but since it wasn't right for women to do that, she had to find someone to do it for her. Accroding to standards back then it was wrong for women to kill, but it was alright for men to fight or kill someone, more like to say its in there blood. So when she gives her son the knife at the end to chase Leonardo and the bride she was telling him it was alright to kill the enemy, the ones who took her family away. She wanted avengence towards the family and if it meant her son being illed in the process then so be it.

Review of Chopin

"She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a part of her life. But they need not have thought that they could possess her, body and soul." (116) This passage comes at the end of the book when she is about to walk into the sea and commit suicide. Earlier in class we talked about motherhood portrayed by Chopin in the book and how Edna saw it herself. I think that although she loved her children, she felt that they were a burden to her and nothing, not even her children could stop her from making changes and then later committing suicide. It was like that her children just happened to be a part of the life choices that she made when she was younger, but if she would have a different life she would not feel the way that she does.

This book didn't make sense to me in the beginning but it is starting, although I am still confused by Edna and what the author is trying to bring out in her. My thoughts of Edna are a woman who is confused by her identity and the life she wants to live, but I also think in the terms of a mother that she is cold and heartless and only cares about herself and not that of her children. For example, when she went to visit the children, although she missed them terribly, by the end of the week when she left she got to her home and was glad to be alone. Most mothers would want their children there with them, but not her. Overall, this book was okay, not the best that I have ever read, but good in its own sense.