American Born Chinese

While I did not particularly like American Born Chinese as a book, I thought it was a very unique way to address prominent racial stereotypes present in our American society. Although most people do not like to admit that they stereotype certain factions of people, we all have judgments, either conscious or unconscious, that we apply to certain populations. This graphic novel confronts a number of stereotypes that are often associated with Asian Americans.

I did not like this book because I was unable to engage in the novel. Although all the stories merged at the end to provide a (somewhat) logical explanation, I found the narrative order of the book to be slightly confusing and the plot a bit dull. I did enjoy the portion that dealt with Jin and Amelia and how cultural assimilation wove itself into their relationship, but the section pertaining to the history of the monkey and Jin’s transition into Danny was just not very interesting to me. 

Another reason I did not like this book was because it made me uncomfortable. I did not like reading about a character that depicted behavior completely saturated by cultural stereotypes. Not only was he named Chin-kee, which is offensive in itself, but he is also incredibly educated and loves school, dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, ate ‘ethnic’ food that Americans find disgusting, spoke in a very strong Chinese accent that was heavily accentuated in the text, and he actually emulated the racist children’s rhyme “Me Chinese”. I understand that this feeling of discomfort was the intent of the author. I think he wanted to juxtapose Chin-kee with Jin to demonstrate to readers how unfounded our country’s stereotypes of Asian Americans really are. I can recognize his intention as an author and I think he did an excellent job illustrating this in his book, but overall I did not enjoy reading this text.

Critically, I think this story contained symbolism that supplemented the points Yang was stressing. In particular, his incorporation of the toy transformer was especially significant. I saw the transformer toy, which was owned by both Jin and Wei-Chen at the beginning of the story, to represent an ideology held by many immigrants, be it Chinese, Taiwanese, or other ethnicities. The boys identify with the transformer because it illustrates what they must do in American culture, which is assimilate and transform from who they are (which is the robot – symbolic in itself as robots suggest technology and technology is often associated with Asian culture) into an American, which takes its form as a truck. As the boys attempt to assimilate into American culture, you see them shed many cultural traits that they once identified with. As Jin begins at Mayflower elementary, he uses chopsticks to eat his dumplings during lunch. As he progresses through school, he changes his lunch to a sandwich. This subtle symbolism was a stylistic element that supplemented Yang’s portrayal of Asian Americans.

            

Another element of fiction that is essential to this story is the character development of Jin. We see him transform from Jin, a Chinese boy struggling to find his place in American culture, into Danny, a blond haired Caucasian American who shows no external signs of his Chinese heritage. This physical development represents Jin’s desire to assimilate and be just like his classmates, but does not accurately demonstrate who he is on the inside. This transformation, much like the transformer toy, shows the identity struggles many immigrants face when they enter American society.

             

Although this story stirred up feelings of discomfort for me as a reader, I recognize its effectiveness at addressing a number of racial stereotypes present in our American culture. Yang did an excellent job using symbolism and physical transformations to get his point across, and I thought this story successfully picked apart uncomfortable stereotypes and illustrated their absurdity in this graphic novel.

Maus

C

            Before I began my books required for this week, I had a conversation with one of my best friends regarding the genre of graphic novels. I spoke very candidly about my dislike for this field of literature, as I often find the plot and characters to be underdeveloped and substandard to novels containing strictly textual content. She spoke in favor of these novels, as she is a visual learner and likes that these books shake up the monotony of traditional reading. Previously I have tried to read a number of graphic novels and was of the opinion that the pictures did not sufficiently supplement the words, therefore leaving the story incomplete. However, after completing my mandatory reading for the week, my opinion shifted drastically.

            Instead of finding Maus deficient as a story and therefore disliking it, I thought it was a creative approach used to illustrate a very sensitive historical conflict. Having cats and mice act as representations of Nazis and Jews is an excellent yet simple comparison. I think this book is appropriate for both adults and younger readers, and I think this symbolism of animals depicting human sects assists the younger adolescent readers in their understanding of the content. Spiegelman, in my opinion, created a graphic novel that could be engaging and accessible to all readers, despite their level of reading ability.

            After completing Maus, I immediately went online to buy the second installment. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed the novel and by how different my interpretation of this genre was from my previous assumptions. Instead of comparing it to traditional literature, I viewed it as its own separate form of literature, because to me, that’s what it is. Simply because it does not contain nearly as much text does not make it underdeveloped and incomplete, as I had previously thought. This time, I found that the pictures engaged my interest instead if deterring it and once I began to see this story as a different form of literature altogether, I began to embrace the aspects that make this genre so unique and enjoyable.

            Critically, I think Spiegelman’s choice of narrative order was well thought out. The use of flashbacks between War and contemporary time helped the reader see who father and mother were before, during, and after the war. Although I did not particularly like the abrasive father character, Spiegelman’s portrayal of him as a post-holocaust citizen was very well done. In the Holocaust literature that I have read, generally the plot of the story often revolves around the War as it was taking place. However, in Maus, readers are exposed to the story through father’s recollection, and it becomes evident that his behavior has been significantly shaped by the War. 

Often, in the stories I have read, the long lasting chronic effects of such genocide are ignored. In this story, they were magnified. Father’s perception of money shift pre and post war. A mouse that once cared about material objects and wealth, father emerges from the war a frugal and miserly character. Although mother is dead, through father’s memories readers see her behavior shift from young and educated pre-War to depressed and eventually, suicidal following the War. I thought the use of flashback provided the reader with a unique opportunity to see how War alters behavior, and I found this a fascinating approach to Holocaust literature.

            Another element of fiction that Spiegelman succeeded at was creating imagery that strongly supplemented the written content. I found his drawings essential to evoking emotion from the reader and a number of times I found his images to be more salient than the words. During the “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” sequence, I was moved by the intensity of the images. They depicted such suffering among the characters that I found these images to be more powerful than the accompanying words.

            In conclusion, I am surprised by my own reaction to Maus. I now understand that books that include pictures are not subsidiary to traditional literature, but simply different. I thought Spiegelman did a wonderful job engaging readers through his use of flashback and intense imagery, and I look forward to reading the second installment of this series.

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World

The story of Shackleton and the Endurance is an incredible tale. I have read a good amount of literature on this expedition simply because I find it so remarkable that after facing such an abundance of deadly obstacles, the entire crew managed to survive. This is, in my opinion, one of the greatest survival stories of all times. Although it took place almost one hundred years ago, the story of the Endurance is still a captivating and uplifting tale that continues to entertain readers even today.

Before this story, all the books I have read on this subject have been text heavy with very few illustrations or pictures present to supplement the dramatic story. This inclusion of photographs is what made this particular book different for me. I am familiar with the story of Shackleton’s journey, but prior to this book I was completely detached from the characters. Associating historic images of the men with their names made the story seem much more realistic and also much more intense. Seeing the men’s faces through photographs is a reminder that these men did exist and that they experienced first hand the traumatic events being described in the book. I felt much more connected to the men and also more invested in the story after being introduced to the sailors through text while being visually exposed to their images captured on the expedition.

As I progressed through the book, I was constantly shocked by the state of morale among the crew. Despite the horrendous conditions the men were faced with, the temperament of the group remained relatively stable. There was not much evidence of disagreeability and only one mild mutiny incident. I would imagine that being stuck for over a year in the Artic would be agonizing, but the men continued to partake in innovative activities that helped pass the time and keep spirits high. It is incredibly impressive that the crew was able to survive at all, but to do so with such courageous and amiable attitudes makes this story all the better.

From a critical perspective, this book strongly relies on the element of conflict to keep the plot in motion. The conflict in this story is a mêlée between self and nature, or to be more specific, the crew vs. the Arctic. The crew is continually trying to survive the hardships brought on by their frozen environment, and it is this struggle between human survival and nature that is the foundation of this story.

Another element that is integral to this story is the setting. Armstrong did an exceptional job illustrating, both visually and textually, the natural brutality of such an environment. Her descriptions of the plummeting climate, the freezing ocean water, and the snow were very vivid, and her choice of visual imagery strongly supplemented her textual descriptions. Armstrong had to capture the Arctic as a setting if she was to make the story realistic for her readers, and I think she did this well.

In conclusion, this book successfully draws the reader in to the frozen world seen from the eyes of the crew. In the book, readers are exposed to the sparse but harsh landscape and conditions that make up the setting of the story. The self against nature conflict is prevalent throughout, and it is the uncertainty of the final conflict resolution that makes the story especially suspenseful for a first time reader. I enjoyed reading this particular book because it made the characters more vivid and real through the use of photography, but also because the tale of Shackleton and the Endurance is a survival story that I will never tire of.

The Graveyard Book

I often find it difficult to engage in fantasy literature because I am apathetic towards fantastical events. I am disinterested in reading about paranormal activity, magical powers, or outlandish creatures because I do not believe they exist in real life. I found that The Graveyard Book did not deviate from my general disposition regarding this genre.

This book, for me, was a struggle to finish. I was engaged in the plot regarding the mystery surrounding the triple homicide and also the interactions that Bod had with other animate characters. However, I found these situations to be rather transitory throughout the story. The majority of the book centers around life in the cemetery and the spirits who inhabit it. I was neither interested in the nebulous history of the ghosts or their current relationship with Bod. Although I have tried since I was a child, I simply cannot stay focused on a plot that revolves around a fantasy world.

The most aggravating element of fantasy is when humans have the ability to transition into chimerical beings at will. When Miss Lupesco transforms in to the large gray wolf and saves Bod from entering the ghoul city, I had to put the book down. I know there is beauty in imagination, but this particular scene was so unbelievable that it frustrated me. I do not like to imagine these alternate worlds where the sky is red like blood and violent mythical creatures are running rampant. It is just plain creepy.

Taking a critical approach to this story, there were certain elements of fiction that I thought were incomplete. To me, all the characters except for Bod were vastly underdeveloped. Silas, a prominent character throughout the whole story, is never elaborated upon. I was confused as to what his business was in Krakow and I was intrigued with the depiction of his living self as being “…a monster, and worse than any [other] monster” (Gaiman 303). However, the story never goes in to detail as to who Silas was when he was alive or what atrocious crimes he committed that made him, as he proclaimed, a monster. Mistress Owens and her husband are also significant characters with little historical background. These characters are simply present in the graveyard and go about their business daily. Exactly what they do all day, everyday is never explicitly mentioned. I feel that the author failed to develop his main cast of characters, and as a result, he lost his audience rather quickly.

The narrative order in this story is strictly chronological. It follows Bod’s life as it unfolds from his infancy through his fifteenth year. I thought this was a good approach to take for this type of story because we are exposed to his constantly changing relationships within the cemetery as he continues to age as his companions do not. We see how his relationship with Liza becomes strained once he begins to develop into an adolescent. His friendship with Fortinbras wanes while his relationship with Thackery improves as he matures. I think the chronological nature of the narrative shows how life changed in the cemetery for Bod as he developed in to a young man.

In conclusion, although I liked the narrative order of events, I did not like the representation of characters or the overall structure of the plot. Although I can see this book having a strong appeal for students, I would not recommend it to an adult audience. I found it to be a trite and conventional piece of fantasy literature.

Troy

Stories of ancient Greek mythology have always fascinated me. Since I was a little girl, I have been reading about the fabled powers of the Gods and the subservient fictionalized characters who find themselves constantly the object of celestial manipulation. This ancient culture deviates significantly from our contemporary society in that humans are powerless to mythological divinity and existential awareness is essentially nonexistent.

As an Agnostic believer, what I enjoy most about these tales is the individualized personification of such deities and their obvious presence of existence. In ancient Greek ythology, each particular God has traits specific to their legends. Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and sexuality, is known for her palpable beauty. Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, is identified by his winged sandals and hat. Ares is the God of War, with his dark colored spear and battle helmet. In ancient Trojan culture, Gods were revered by inhabitants because they were cognizant, powerful beings. If faith in their capabilities was questioned, punishment would befall the scrutinizer. In today’s culture, there are no conscious penalties to challenging Gods existence. Skeptics are not castigated in this lifetime because the powers of the Gods are reserved for eternal judgment, if at all. I like that the Gods hegemonic power is obvious in Greek mythology. If this was the case in society today, it would be a lot more difficult to question Gods existence and label oneself a non-believer.

I had a sympathetic response to this story. When a story of war is written from the perspective of the battle’s losing side, it is hard to not sympathize with the defeated. How can you abstain from vilifying a culture when they publicly mutilate the opposing civilization’s respected leaders, slaughter the male population, desecrate the holy temples, and enslave the women? This story exposed the reader to the lives of many Trojan citizens and their interwoven conflicts. I empathized with the character’s struggles and saw their hatred of the war as justified. When their culture was destroyed by the enemy, I felt the loss of the Trojans. I sympathized with the characters I had come to know and saw the Greeks as barbaric, ruthless victors. Because I was never exposed to any Greek characters in depth, it was easy to denigrate their existence in the battle.

From a more critical perspective, there are a few elements of fiction that I think greatly add to the story. I think the selected point of view of the narrator makes the story much more interesting. Having a third person omniscient narrator describe the plot allows the reader to see what is going on in each characters head, whether the thoughts be spoken or unspoken. This particular narrative mode is often used in epic tales, so I find it a very appropriate point of view to utilize in a story depicting the classical Trojan War.

Another element that is critical to this story is the setting. As this story is about events revolving around the Trojan War, it is essential that it be in an environment that is directly effected by the presence of war. Troy is, in this book, an antagonist to the plot. The city, because of its direct involvement in the war, represents a major threat to the Trojan characters. It is an obstacle to the Trojan goal of victory. In the end, the city is overrun and the protagonists are captured and enslaved.

In conclusion, I thought this story was an excellent example of fantasy fiction. I enjoyed reading about the powers of the Gods, their affect on the human population, and their response to the ancient war. I think this story would greatly appeal to students in that it is rooted in ancient Greek mythology and displays fantastical situations, but that it also depicts conflicts that may be present in today’s culture and therefore, more relatable for adolescents.

Young Adult Literature: Luna

The genre of Multicultural Literature used to confuse me. All the Multicultural classes I have taken and school books I have read focused on issues associated with race and ethnic culture. For a long time I thought this genre only encompassed stories that dealt with racial inequalities. I think this is a fairly common misconception. When Multicultural Literature is utilized in the classroom, I think it triggers student’s brains to classify the reading as Multi-racial, because that is how this genre generally appears in the classroom.
 
Although I think reading and talking about racial adversity is important, I think it is equally necessary to discuss other types of cultural adversity that appear in our schools that deviate from race. I think Multicultural Literature is an excellent platform in which to explore these minority cultures present in today’s society, and Luna is a great example of a stigmatized culture that students need to be exposed to.

I understand that discussing sexuality in the classroom can be a bit of a sticky situation, but I do think it is a necessary topic to be explored in schools. Just this past month, there has been a significant surge in teen suicides resulting from homophobic bullying. When acts of violence and hatred are taking place in schools in response to a students alleged sexuality, I think it is our responsibility as teachers to educate students on the issue at hand and help them deconstruct the stigma from the culture.

When I read Luna, I immediately thought that this book would be an excellent resource that could teach students about sexuality. I feel like transgender men and women are frequently misunderstood, and that many questions surround this particular gender identity. In the book, it is speculated whether Luna is gay because he’s trans, whether Ally is gay because she is in love with Liam, whether Regan is gay because her brother is and is homosexuality genetic? I think these are all excellent questions that teens may have surrounding such an intense issue. There was a student in my high school who was transgender and he was constantly assaulted by homophobic remarks. His perpetrators did not understand the distinction between homosexuality and transgender, and I think their ignorance, among other misconceptions, directly fueled their hatred and abuse. I think a book like Luna could be a great support for a student who is trans and could also be a great way to expose students to different forms of human sexuality and gender identities.

What I think made this book seem like a credible account was the theme. Throughout the story, Liam faces discrimination from a number of different outlets. He is harassed at school for being a “…freaking fag pervert” (Peters 207), he is harassed at home for being “sick…and dressing like a clown” (Peters 223), and he is harassed in public for being a “…faggy boy” (Peters 94). The theme of a transgender teen seems tragic throughout the majority of the story, as it often can be in real life. Luna faces incredible discrimination for who she is, and she maintains her composure through intolerant abuse. Only at the very end does the story’s thematic thread transform into hope. Although the story ends with Luna’s parents essentially shunning her, she is hopeful for a new life, one that does not include bigotry and rejection. This is an honest message for teens questioning their sexuality. It does not sugarcoat the issue, instead it accepts how difficult the transformation can be and it offers hope to those struggling to come to terms with transgender identity.

Another critical element that I think makes this story, in my opinion, more appealing for students is the narrator’s point of view. I like that it is told from the perspective of a sister supporting her brother instead of through a first person account. I feel like this choice of narrator provides a less biased opinion. If Luna was the narrator, I think the story would shift towards her opinions on gender identity. However, since Regan is documenting, I think she provides an understanding for both sides of the issue. To a certain extent, she can understand why people respond to Luna the way they do. She can sympathize with Allyson’s response, and although she does not agree with how her parents handle their relationship with Luna, I think she can see why they react in such a manner. I think that by having Regan as the narrator, students will be eased in to the complexity of the issue instead of simply thrown in to the protagonist biased view of his own sexuality.

This is a great Multicultural Lit book. I really enjoyed the story and I think it could be an excellent supplement to a sexuality discussion in the classroom. It introduces students to the issue through a narrator that compassionately questions gender identity and can see both sides to this issue. It educates students as to what the gender identity really is and dissociates it from homosexuality in a very clear manner. Also, after introducing students to sexuality, it provides them with hope that it is possible for this identity to exist in a world absent of physical and verbal abuse. I enjoyed reading it for myself, and I would enjoy teaching it in a sexuality lesson to future students.

Young Adult Literature: The People Could Fly

I think this is an excellent piece of Young Adult folklore. Although it discusses the very sensitive historical occurrence of slavery, it never points the finger at the white race as being evil, greedy oppressors. It focuses on the pain caused by slavery without taking a strong stance against whites. I think this approach to addressing a slave tale is very effective because it makes this story less racially charged, and it makes the reader focus more on the folklore and less on the animosity present between races during the antebellum era of American history. Also, by taking this non-accusatory stance on race, Hamilton is making this folk tale appealing to children of all races by not demonizing white skin.

Although this is a short story, I think the audience is capable of having a strong emotional response to the tale. Despite the passive manner in which Hamilton writes, suffering seeps through and readers are exposed to the gritty way of life slaves were forced in to. Lines such as, “The driver cracked the whip against the babe…and it hollered like any hurt child” (Hamilton 9) cause me to feel strongly for Sarah and her child, despite Sarah showing a lack of emotion. Hamilton’s characters rarely show emotion because as slaves, showing intense responses to whippings in the field made you susceptible to violence yourself. Knowing this, coupled with the abuse against the baby, introduced me as a reader to the pain felt on the plantations.

As we learned last week, folklore stems from the oral tradition of storytelling. This element of folklore is captured in this story by the phonetic sentence structure of Hamilton’s writing. This is an African tale and its story consists of words derived from the African American English vernacular. Linguistically, dropping the –g off of present tense verbs is characteristic of African American English and this style of writing is prevalent in this story. I think Hamilton’s attention to phonetics greatly adds to the story, because it reads just how a person of that culture would speak.

Another element of folklore that is represented in The People Could Fly is the presence of underdeveloped characters. This is common in folklore because of its transformation from oral to written verse. When stories were shared orally, in depth character descriptions were unnecessary. However, in writing, we expect much more information regarding the protagonist and other important characters. Because of the illustrations, the reader has a basic understanding of how the characters look. Other than that, we know little about the main characters Toby and Sarah. The audience is not exposed to how they feel or think, we only understand that they are suffering from the maltreatment of slavery. Despite their underdeveloped dispositions, the story still holds the attention of the reader.

Overall, I enjoyed Virginia Hamilton’s The People Could Fly. I liked how she made this book about the pain of slavery without criticizing or victimizing races. It placed the focus of the story on the magical qualities the slaves possessed instead of on the racial oppression being experienced. I think Hamilton made this tale feel culturally expressive by paying attention to the phonetic aspects of African American English and including this unique vernacular in to her African tale. I think this story was an excellent introduction to the genre of folklore because it contained many elements, such as underdeveloped character construction due to the oral to written transformation, that are characteristic to this specific genre of literature.

Should Young Adult fiction be included in middle school curriculum or should we strictly adhere to the canon?

This is a topic that sparks a lot of interest in the field of Language Arts. Many teachers have opinions on whether English classrooms should teach strictly the classics or if they should focus more on contemporary texts that discuss issues more relevant to modern day adolescence.

In my opinion, the point of an English teacher is to create life long readers. In order to accomplish this, we have to get our students engrossed in literature. While I love the canon, I do see the importance of introducing different genres of fiction into the classroom. If teachers select texts that deal with issues relevant to today's teens (social networking, eating disorders, substance abuse, college, poverty, disease, suicide, technology, etc), I think we as educators stand a better chance of having our students identify with the text, and thus sparking an interest in books.

Although I will continue to read the classics myself, when I begin planning my own curriculum I will include as much adolescent literature as state standards will allow. I want students to be able to relate to the diverse stories and characters that I select, and I think it will be much more difficult to generate interest if the novels I choose focus only on Literature written by dead, white men over a hundred years ago.

Student Collaboration: A waste of time?

A topic recently discussed in one of my M.ed classes was how best to teach literature in the classroom. Since high school, I always enjoyed the traditional lecture approach and I advocated this in my discussion. I know this method of teaching may not be useful for all students, but I find it to be very helpful in Honors classes and for above-average achiever because it prepares them for the basic structure of college-level classes. However, I found that I was greatly outnumbered by my classmates. They spoke about the importance of student led discussions, collaborative learning, and the benefit of having students learn from each other.

That evening, our assigned reading focused on the significance of implementing reading groups in to Language Arts Curriculum. I learned from the text that reading groups should be carefully selected by the teacher and should include readers at all levels. High achievers will be able to assist their group with making sense of the text and having a relevant discussion around the readings. In an informal setting such as this, lower level readers will not feel as intimidated to ask questions because they are a part of a small learning community and collaboration is expected. Students work together to deconstruct the text while also actively teaching and learning from one anothers literary interpretations.

This classroom discussion and assigned reading was very influential on my future teaching practices. I now understand that creating many small reading communities in the classroom academically and socially benefit the students in ways that a lecture-based classroom would not.

Introduction

Hello,

My name is Corrie and I am a pre-service teacher getting my Masters in Education and Initial Licensure from the University of Minnesota. I completed my undergrad at the UofM and received a B.A. in Psychology and English Literature in 2009. Now that I'm a Graduate Student in the College of Education and Human Development, I have decided to focus on the content area of Language Arts and upon graduation, I hope to teach in a middle school classroom.

Here are 2 links that I think would be helpful to students in a middle school Language Arts classroom.

1. This website provides useful test taking tips that students can utilize when studying for English exams:

http://www2.uic.edu/stud_orgs/prof/ftc/testtips.html

2.  This website provides students with English grammar rules. This is an excellent resource for students to use when writing papers:

http://www.grammarbook.com/english_rules.asp