Works Cited

Collins, Billy.  “Introduction to Poetry.”  Class Reader 0.5. Print.

Hwang, David Henry.  “Sound of a Voice.”  Class Reader 26-40. Print.

Hwang, David Henry.  “Trying to Find Chinatown.”  Class Reader 41-45. Print.

Satrapi, Marjane.  Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2003.  Print.

Wasserstein, Wendy and Anton Chekhov.  “Man in a Case.”  Class Reader 19-25.

Print.

Benigni, Robert, Dir. La Vita E Bella. Cecchi Gori Group, 1997. Film.

Typhoon Haiyan

I know this probably has nothing to do with English, but I started the blog with a post about the Philippines and I thought it would be fitting to end it with one.

As you may have heard, Typhoon Haiyan was one of the worst and most destructive natural disasters ever recorded. Whole cities and islands have been wiped clean almost as if it was the second coming of the flood that cleansed the Earth from Genesis. Sons have been picking out their mothers from the ruble, people have been tripping over bodies littered across the streets, workers have been evacuating thousands of unidentified bodies in body bags, relatives have been cut off.


The current death toll is around 3,000 and counting. The Filipino people are strong; they are resilient, but we can't recover without help. I wish I could help out there but, in the meantime, I'll be praying for those that are. Our country may not be big or powerful but we're part of this world too.



During our Persepolis presentations, Lina gave a heart wrenching presentation about the Peace Corps. Many of us probably thought, after seeing her photos, that we wanted to make a change. Well, this is our chance. Even the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

"I don't know much about the Philippines, but I know that whenever there are people in need, the world needs to come together to help. We are all one community and I fully support your message in this post. May the Avatar help those affected from the Typhoon. Oh wait, that Avatar is in my world..."

Who are We Really?

Black, white, yellow, red, caramel, dark chocolate, or milk chocolate. People have been described by a variety of different labels, many of which are starting to sound more and more like sugary sweets. "Trying to Find Chinatown" shows two characters arguing about the importance of race. How big of a part does it play in our lives? Can we really be free of stereotypes?

Race issues have been part of history for as long as history has been recorded and, no matter how hard we try, nothing will ever be equal. As much as people nowadays preach equality, we will never be equal. There will always be racism in the workplace, there will always be that man or woman that locks their doors or holds onto their belongings just a bit tighter when they see a minority walking by. Whether we like it or not, we cannot escape our background, but we can accept it. Like Ben, we can accept who are and grow from the lessons of our ancestors or we can be like Ronnie and completely disregard that part of ourselves.

Our lives and our destinies are our own choice, we decide who we want to be and how we want to live, with our without our culture. If we can't get away from who we are, then why not accept who we are? The only way for complete equality is for the world to be blind.

"In my cartoon, everyone is always scared of me. Just the rulers of my nation are despotic and tyrannical, I'm always classified in their class. Everyone where I'm from is always seen as 'bad' or 'evil' when, in reality, many of us are really nice people. I'm not a bad guy. I'm sick of the stereotypes, and I'm sick of the blind hatred. I hope one day your world can come together and ignore small, irrelevant differences." 


*Image from a Yahoo article about a black equality movement at the University of Michigan

Poetry Kinda Sucks

"I personally love poetry. I don't get why you're so bitter." 

In reality, I like poetry. I like poetry that I can understand, poetry that can have a deeper meaning but is ultimately accessible to just about anyone. Everyone should be able to bask in the beauty of poetry; it's all around us.

"What kind of poetry are you talking about now?" 

I'm talking about the sound of the birds in the trees, the sight of a fat guy selling dirty hot dogs on a street corner, the smell of fresh baked cookies in the oven, the feeling of your bed after a long day, or the taste of lemonade on a hot day. Everything has potential to be beautiful, to be poetry; you just have to see it the right way. Or poetry that's beautiful in its simplicity. You don't need complex schemes or rhymes to make a masterpiece, you only need the right subject and the right words to express it.

"So what poetry sucks? Your title is irrelevant." 

The poetry that I don't like is what we studied in high school. Granted I liked some of the poems, but I, more often than not, got sick of them. My high school teachers destroyed any chance for me to like poetry because they beat it into the ground. Study the rhyme schemes. What does this mean? Notice the complexities of the meters. Honestly, I could care less about that; I only want the message of the poem. What if the author was just referring to a blue flower and not the sadness that overcame him/her during a time of depression that is represented in a blue flower that also symbolizes death? What if it was just a blue flower? I understand that many times the author does intend to use symbolism, but stop beating it into the ground. I get it.

My teacher junior year told us a story while we were reading Joy Luck Club about Amy Tan responding to a journalist's attempt to dissect the book using Buddhist beliefs and a variety of other ludicrous ideas. You know what she said?

"He's full of shit."

I'm paraphrasing of course.


*Me during poetry units

Acting

"I wish I could act. I can't really act because... well, I'm a cartoon."

Who knew that our class could act. I'm not saying we were all good actors/actresses, but we have the ability to act. Regardless of our acting ability or experience, we managed to laugh and have a good time.

"So did you get anything from acting? I mean, you already read it so what else could you have gained?"

To my surprise, I did get something from the whole experience. I heard things I missed when I read the plays, I saw the characters in action, and most of all I saw us having fun. In what should have been a mundane assignment, there were no awkward or boring performances because, I guess, we're all just that comfortable in our surrounding. Only a few days left; I'll really miss it.

Isolation

Do you like being alone?

"Of course not. Who does? I had company everywhere I went; being a lone would have driven me crazy." 

In "The Sound of a Voice" Hanako, the woman, constantly took in visitors only for them to leave her alone for long stretches of time until the next visitor arrived. 

"How long would she have to wait" 

It doesn't say, but what I do know is that human interaction is vital to keep your sanity. You can see or learn as much as you want, but, without someone to share it with, what is it really worth? Whether we want to admit it or not, we need each other. 

"I think I could do just fine without you. In fact, I'm a pretty hot commodity" 

Well that's great to hear, I think? What I'm trying to say is that there's a reason there was Adam AND Eve. No matter if we're committing sins or good deeds, we need someone to share it with to really make our life worthwhile. Life isn't defined by the amount of money we make or the amount of degrees we have hanging on our wall; we're defined by the people we surround ourselves with and the good times that we can share. I think that's what drove Hanako mad; she had nobody to turn to, she had nobody to love or be loved by. All she wanted was the sound of a voice.

Besides, being awkward wouldn't be as much fun if you're being awkward alone

The F-Word

"What starts with F and ends with -uck?" 

What...

"Firetruck!"

I'm not talking about that; I'm talking about feminism. Here you see Rosie the Riveter, the epitome of feminism, the symbol of strong women worldwide. Many of the times I agree with many of the values feminist try to assimilate into the world such as women being the equals of men, however, sometimes I think that feminists are just looking for a reason to argue. Regardless, I do believe that eventually feminism will become obsolete as our society becomes more accepting over generations; there are just some ignorant bigots preventing that from happening.

"So what does this have to do with 'A Man in a Case?'" 

Be patient; I'm getting there. You see, feminism is, as Oxford Dictionaries defines it, the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. I don't see that at all in "A Man in a Case."

"But Varinka was freely riding around her bike without a care in the world. How can you not call that feminist? She's breaking the norm for women in her community. She's empowering herself to do what she wants and I think that's what feminism embodies." 

Yes, you can make the argument that it is a feminist piece because Varinka rides a bike, but so what? Varinka ends up getting scolded for riding that bike anyways. In Byelinkov and Varinka's world, men are superior and women have a place in society where they need to follow a strict set of unwritten rules about what they can and cannot do. So how could this piece be feminist? Varinka is not an strong, independent woman; she wanted a husband so that she can be normal and not stand out as a single, lonely woman. From what we read in class, I don't see Varinka being empowered at all; I saw her coming second to what Byelinkov wants.

"So what would you call this?" 

I don't really know what I would call this piece, if anything, but I sure wouldn't call it feminist. If it were truly a feminist piece, it probably would be a whole different story.

What is Love?

"Baby, don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more!" 

That wasn't exactly what I was going for, but it's a good song nonetheless.

"Then what are you referring to?" *Hums tune to What is Love* 

For English we were assigned to read "A Man in a Case" and we were asked if we thought Byelinkov and Varinka's marriage would be successful and I really think it will be. Marriage is just as much a contractual commitment as it is a testament of love. Over the years, the divorce rate in the United States has shot up to around 50% of every new marriage. Why? People don't think before they act. Everything in our society is quick and instant; there's rarely ever any waiting and planning anymore. Either two people in "love" rush into marriage or they're forced into marriage because of unforeseen circumstances (i.e. 16 & Pregnant).

"So what about Bylinkov and Varinka?" 

Well, the two of them are different.  Varinka is very passionate and loving while Byelinkov is calculating and straightforward; the two are basically polar opposites. That's exactly why it will work. Science states that opposites attract, so why not for them? Byelinkov and Varinka represent two ends of a spectrum, like yin and yang. The two will focus their attention on different aspects of the relationship so there's really no reason for them to get into conflicts. Byelinkov will follow Varinka when she wants to show her love and compassion and Varinka will listen to Byelinkov when he wants to think rationally.

Too much fire will burn the relationship, but not enough won't create a spark. Byelinkov and Varinka have the best of both worlds.

"So in order to balance the two in a perfect relationship you need to... play with fire?"

La Vita E Bella

Life is beautiful. Translated from Italian to English, la vita e bella translates to life is beautiful. The saying always holds true and it happens to be one of my favorite movies. When one of the presentations brought up the horrid prison conditions in Persepolis, I couldn't help but remember this classic Italian movie about Nazi occupation in Italy during WWII. If you have time, I highly recommend you watch the Italian version with English subtitles.

I Didn't Raise an Atheist

"That's a very aggressive title. What's up?" 

Those were my father's exact words to me one day. I'm not mad about it; I'm not even complaining that he said it, but it always stood out to me. Unlike most of my friends,  I felt alienated by the church. I don't know if it was the hypocritical teen "leaders" who refused to practice what they preached or the priest's inability to instill the word of God into me; I wouldn't be able to tell you if I tried. The church even had us go to Catechism classes to ensure that our faith in God waas strong at a young age. Obviously that didn't work for me. Confirmation was supposed to be where teenagers, like me, would come to learn about God and confirm our Catholicism and our faith in God, but how did they expect me to listen to the "leaders" that would preach the word of God on Thursday and sin so much on Friday that Saturday was used to remember what happened on Friday? 

Everyone always told me, "God has a plan; you just need to be patient." I guess I just got sick of being patient and helpless. Why him? Why her? Why me? Every time something happened I was hit with, "Everything is all part of God's plan." I'm not saying God's plan sucks, sometimes I just wonder why some things have to be the way they are and how it could have been different. I guess you could say I'm a skeptic. Following the death of her Uncle Anoosh, Marjane lashed out at the first thing she could: God. How could a merciful God allow such turmoil to take over her home and her family? 

She went from wanting to be a prophet to dismissing God. One of the presenters today said, "people can only believe in something if it is their choice." Religion can only work if you want to believe what you are being told; the more it is forced upon you, the less it will work. Sometimes we go through things in our life that leave us needing something to believe in leading us right into the welcoming arms of the Lord. Other times, we go through obstacles that make us question everything around us, even the beliefs we hold most dear. We may go through things that push us to religion or we may go through things that push us away from religion, but, no matter who you are, it can happen to the best of us. 

War on Terror

To be clear, I'm not talking about the type of terrorism that swept over Americans after 9/11; I'm talking about a type of terrorism that is more associated with bullying. In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi details the horrific events of "Black Friday" followed by massacre after massacre. As hard as the image is to swallow, that's just how war is, plain and simple.

April 9, 1942 marked the beginning of the Bataan Death March. Bataan, coincidentally, is my family is from so, naturally, my relatives had fought to defend their home during the Japanese invasion. Following the surrender by the American and Filipino troops, Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma of the Japanese Imperial Army ordered the evacuation of all POWs to Camp O'Donnell, but even he could not have predicted what his soldiers would do. Over the course of the next month or so, American and Filipinos alike were abused, murdered, and tortured just like the Iranian revolutionaries in Persepolis. They endured random shootings, strikes by rifles and bayonets, little to no food or water, and "the sun treatment" where prisoners were forced to sit out in the hot sun with no shade for hours at a time. Luckily, my great-grandfather who had been a schoolteacher that fought in the war was able to escape by women and children who would walk up next to the march and pull away friends or relatives to hide the prisoners until the Japanese Army was gone.


I'm not saying one event was worse than the other because they're not; they're both highly atrocious events in history. Abuse still takes place in different parts of the world today such as Somalia, Mexico, and Syria. The world needs to change and we need to be the people to change it. Our generation is the next to take the reigns from our parents and as Jon Stewart said, in his commencement speech to the graduating class of 2004 at The College of William and Mary, " We broke it... I know we were supposed to bequeath to the next generation a world better than the one we were handed. So sorry."


I realize that my Avatar is a cartoon, ironically from a show called Avatar: The Last Airbender, and it may be silly to compare the Death March with the plot of the show, but they're eerily similar.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

"Well considering my dad is an imperialistic, genocidal ass I'm going to say yes I do."

How so?

"Well, he massacred a whole race of people just so that nobody could get in his way. Basically, in this situation, my family would be the Japanese."

...

"Yeah, I realize that would make me look like a bad person, and I have done unspeakable things in the past, but there's no reason that I can't start doing good. I can't change what happened in the past, but I can make sure that it nothing similar ever happens again."