I, Too, Sing America!

I really enjoyed Julia Alvarez's poem I, Too, Sing America. Made me think 'bout my own struggles with identity growin' up in America. For land that's 'sposed to be free and equal we sure don't all have the same comin' to us. Makes me think of that horrible man Lindner, who was tryin' to buy me out of my house. I is an American, my Walter worked himself to death for us to get our dream house. I'm proud to be who I am. All I got is how far my family's come in America. I ain't all concerned with my roots like my daughter Beneatha is. Times are changin' tho'. Seems like us colored folks, even woman have more of a voice. I like that Julia Alvarez uses poetry as that voice. She's real great at bringin' together American culture with her own. Readin' her poetry would do some good in helpin' Americans be more acceptin' of different cultures.

Obsessin' over the drowned man

My daughter Beneatha keeps on pushin' me to start readin' them books she's always got her noise in. She got me to read this short Story The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I thought it real nice how they showed that poor drowned man all the respect you show your own loved one even tho' he was a stranger. Life ain't been that sweet to my people. People shouldn't be so 'fraid of what they don't know.
One thing I didn't understand 'bout this story was them woman and how they was wishin' so bad that their men was more like the "handsome drowned man". It's a shame they lettin' that man get their head's all silly. They got all concerned wit some superficial nonsense. They get so caught up in this man they say, "'Praise the Lord,' they sighed, 'he's ours!'" last I known we are all the children of God. He ain't belongin' to no one else. One should be happy with what they got. God blessed you with who you are and you best not take that for granted. I loved my big Walter and wouldn't have traded him for nothin' or no Esteban. He worked as hard as any other man if not more. Even them men lettin' this man get in their brains, comparin' themselves to him.
It's a real blessin' when people act selfless. I ain't so sure that they was all that selfless actin' tho'. They got themselves lost. They busy comparin' their way of lives to ideas 'bout what this stranger's life was like. They make his death 'bout them. In the end they're way of life ended up changin' because of this man. All this fuss over someone 'cause they different. If they ain't hatin' on you 'cause your different then they hatin' on themselves 'cause they jealous they ain't like you.

Battle of the Southern U.S. and the Irish styles

After immersing myself with these works of Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, and Alice Walker I cannot help but see the similarity in our linguistic style. The poor rural communities that produced their writings bear resemblance to the makeup of rural Ireland; on both sides of the pond we display a strict sense of tight-knit xenophobic culture. In regard to these authors I admire how they incorporate their native land in the writing without sounding like a product of the environment. By this I mean that the South plays a role in the stories but these authors are able to not only present Southern values but expand and question them. Another point where Southern and Irish styles converge is in the attention to detail. I especially liked O'Connor's visual approach to her writing which influences the detail she incorporates in her scenery. This is also seen in Welty's work, I particularly love the vivid scenery in "A Worn Path." On one final note I think both our cultures pay close attention to tradition. As I traveled beyond Ireland throughout Europe I never failed to recognize the importance in the Joyce family name. I see this same trait in Walker's "Everyday Use" where she forces her reader to examine the significance of tradition and the culture it breeds. With so many similarities I cannot help but feel a close connection with these women of the South.

This is how....

From the not so common short story of the "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid I find out that there are some stories that can be told without having a plot, no setting, no narrator, and with not particular point of view. Just telling what you want to say could also become a short story that will not have all the rules on how to made a story but the other person will no what is about. Where in the story "Girl" I could clearly see that it was talking about a person that believe she/he knows everything about life and want it to tell his/her child how things are done and how to do it. Because everything is done the same way or end up the same way like Margaret Atwood "Happy Endings". Where she base all her different happy endings with the first one where they life happily and die at the end. Showing a dark but pleasant kind of happy endings, at the same time saying that all endings are the same no matter how they start........

International Inspiration

I have just recently completed a short story masterpiece, The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, written by the Colombian writer and journalist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The one thing throughout this short story that I admired the most was the reaction and acceptance of the village people. I always knew that I was not the only one who believed that we, as human beings, should accept all other human beings, even including strangers to our own societies, as we would to our neighbors. I have grown up in a life with a very different type of people, dealing with discrimination, strong criticism, and judgement that includes death, violence, and exile. I have always secretly craved societal peace, with welcoming people such as the villagers of this Latin American Cape.

If it were the people of my community who found this dead man washed up upon the shores, they would most likely ignore it, thinking maybe the pour soul had died for a good reason, and then maybe pray to feel better about themselves. If not, then they may just discard of the body even more so, after thinking of a good enough reason to. However, the people of this story halted their daily lives and took the corpse into the community to care for properly. They cleaned the corpse, handmade respectable clothing for him, claimed him as their own, and held a proper funeral. This place that Marquez has created filled with people of peace and acceptance is a place that I have only dreamed heaven to be like, if there really is one. Marquez has successfully proved to me that I am clearly not the only one who can sympathize with 'others.' I hope others are just as inspired by these international natives of peace, just as they are inspired to actually grow bigger because of Esteban.

Raisin in the Sun Themes

We see many themes in Raisin in the Sun by Lorainne Hansbery, themes such as dreams as the main characters in the novel struggle to deal with certain circumstances that effects their lives. Everyone has a dream and everyone struggles trying to peruse that dream.

Another theme in the book that i noticed other than following your dream is the theme of "family." Family is an important part of the book through out the play. Family sticks together through hard times and through good times. The mom in the novel tries to keep the family together and their dream of purchasing a house.

A family must over come hardships and learn from it as we see this in the novel when the insurance money got stolen. The family in the book comes together and are strong characters who can over come any obstacles as long as they stick together.

American Dream....What is it?

You always grow up thinkin certain ideas that make up the American Dream. Well for some they want that nice house, they wanna put a smile on they famlies faces, they wanna teach they family the right way to live. I use to think my Amiercan Dream was to own that liquor store.... mama just didnt get what a great a'vantage that woulda been to the family.... no she jus didn't see it. Yeh I wanna nice house for my family and thats what mama went right on ahead and did... and i'm glad she did it. Now my family can grow and be happy, specially wit the new baby on the way. Now I can teach my son what it really means to be a man and I can put a smile on my wife's face. Maybe willy taken that money was the best thing that happened to us.... it brought my family closa. I guess you could say now my family bein happy is my American Dream.