Children of the Sea

“Children of the Sea” by Edwidge Danticat is narrated by two people that are in love that write letters to each other about their daily hardships and experiences. The male is on a boat heading to Miami because he was part of a revolutionary group that was being chased by the military. The female tells writes from Haiti and tells of the violence going on in their homeland. These letters are never delivered. As the boat begins to sink the male is forced to throw his journal in the sea. The story starts with the quote: “They say behind mountains are more mountains…I also know there are timeless waters, endless seas, and lots of people in this world whose names don’t matter to anyone but themselves” (3). This has great significance as it gives the reader the understanding that even if they escape there is still never ending problems as the sea they are travelling in holds countless bodies of people who also tried to escape. Even though the boat itself symbolizes hope and faith, the fact that many have died in their attempt for a new life contradicts the significance of the boat. For example, the male narrator often writes about the pregnant girl on the boat, Celianne. She gives birth to a dead baby and to prevent the boat from sinking has to throw her baby in the sea results in her throwing herself in the sea. This to me gives the understanding of new life yet since the baby is born dead it also gives the understanding of no hope. The female narrator often talks about how butterflies can give messages: a black butterfly symbolizing death. In the end of the story the male narrator accepts his fate by saying “I know that my memory of you will live even there as I too become a child of the sea” (28). On the other hand, the female refuses to accept reality as the black butterflies come to her. The story gives the theme of how hope can make accepting reality can difficult.

Davis “Oral Narrative as Short Story Cycle: Forging Community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!”

 

Rocio Davis, author of “Oral Narrative as Short Story Cycle: Forging Community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!” states her thesis at the beginning of her article in the second paragraph. “This article will explore the short story cycle as a vehicle for the development of ethnic literature by analyzing Haitian-American Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak! to show how the drama of identity and community is mediated through a genre that is linked to the oral narrative, itself a way of fostering imaginative communities and developing identities” (Davis 65). Davis begins by defining what a short story cycle refers to: a set of short stories within a book each telling its own distinctive story yet still connecting to the overall theme of the book. The author places particular emphasis on oral narrative. Davis then informs the audience of the importance of oral narrative which is that it helps the reader feel better connected with and part of the story. Throughout the article Davis tells the audience the many themes of the book and supports them with quotes from the book or from a book that has a similar theme. Davis points out one of the most important theme in the book, mother-daughter relationship. This symbolizes hope for the future as supported by the quote in the book, “Our mothers were the ashes and we were the light…Our mothers were the flames and we were the blaze” (Danticat 41) but also remembrance of the past. History is also an important theme in the book it helps each character identify who they are. Butterflies as mentioned by Davis are also an important symbol. They signify death and life; in the book a black butterfly symbolizes death. Davis concludes that Danticat turns to her roots, community and family as a source for her stories which indicates transformation and growth.

Nineteen Thirty Seven (Krik?Krak!)

Nineteen thirty seven begins with the Madonna porcelain doll crying as Josephine is in her room.  The next day she travels to Port-Au-Prince to visit her mother at the prison.  Josephine’s mother was in prison for being accused of flying with wings made of flames, for being a “witch.” Josephine tells of three times she visits her mother..” The third time Josephine visits her mother she realizes her mother is very sick. The day after Josephine visits her mother a woman stops by her house in Ville Rose and once Josephine recognizes the woman she informs her that her mother may or may not have passed. As they arrive at the prison and ask for Josephine’s mother the guard tells them that she will be ready for burning in the afternoon.  The narrator often reminisces of the visits her and her mother made to the massacre river. She tells how thousands of Haitians were murdered and thrown in that river including Josephine’s grandmother. One day as Josephine and her mother visit the river Josephine thinks she will see all the blood and bodies but all she can see is her reflection.  Josephine’s mother tells her that she was born the day of the massacre as she had been able to escape leaving her mother behind. Josephine’s mother tells her “At least you came out at the right moment to take my mother’s place.” Relationship between mother and daughter seems to be emphasized a lot throughout the story. It is as if they mother and daughter kept each other going and supported each other. The massacre river is also has an importance significance. The river signifies remembrance for the history but also hope for the future this can be seen when Josephine does not see blood but only her reflection.  Throughout the story the Madonna is always emphasized; Josephine always takes her everywhere and I think this signifies religion, spirituality and hope as well because it is passed on from mother to daughter as if mothers were saying when I am not here it is as I will still be here if you have the Madonna.

The toughest indian in the world

Sherman Alexie’s short story The Toughest Indian in the World focuses on the character that the author refers to as “the fighter”. The author begins the story by stating that he is Spokane Indian and due to that he only picks up Indian hitchhikers. Alexie tells how his father would always pick up Indian hitchhikers and would say “make room” for what was usually fifteen to twenty Indians at a time. The narrator’s job as a reporter for a newspaper sets him on highway 2 for an interview he has to do which is where he encounters “the fighter” for the first time.  The author describes the Indian with “Long, straggly black hair. Brown eyes and skin. Missing a couple of teeth…A few whiskers masquerading a mustache” (26). As the Indian enters the narrator’s vehicle the narrator automatically know that he is a fighter. The narrator asks the fighter a couple of questions which lead him to know that the fighter is headed back to the rez (where many Indians were raised), that he had money from the fights he had won, that he was a Lummi Indian and that his last fight was the reason he decided to head back home. The narrator seems to have developed a certain type of admiration for this character and invites him to stay with him at his hotel since it is late. As the fighter and the narrator first enter their room the fighter sleeps on the floor and the narrator sleeps on the bed. Later that night the narrator realizes that the fighter has gotten into bed with him and was completely naked with his penis hard rubbing up against the narrator. The narrator and the fighter then proceed to engage in sexual relations. The narrator then walks into the bathroom and as he is surprised by what just happened the fighter asks him if he can stay the night, the narrator tells him he should probably leave. As the fighter walks out the door the narrator takes a hot shower then afterward falls asleep. The situation that happened between the fighter and the narrator leaves him feeling confused as he has never engaged in this type of situation with another man but also leaves him feeling like a stronger man.

 

DeVoss and Rosati

DeVoss and Rosati address the issue of plagiarism: the definition of plagiarism, why students do it, and how it can be fixed. The authors start of by sharing stories of teachers who have caught their students plagiarizing. They go on to explain that most students do not understand what plagiarism is and at times are not sure if their work and research applies to the rules of plagiarism. For example, in the first story Professor Annette caught three students who downloaded a paper, printed it off and handed it in. She told her class that there had been three students that had plagiarized and they had to meet her in her office or they would fail the course. Professor Annette had 14 students show up to her class thinking they had plagiarized when in reality they had not. Rebecca Howard stated that many students who do research, manipulate it and piece their work with the original work are often accused of plagiarizing when they had just engaged in positive research activity called “patchwork.” Malloch described plagiarizing as “kidnapping” instead of theft because work is borrowed and mimicked as a result of a stage in writing development. DeVoss and Rosati state that often times professors ask students for correct or original which may lead the student to plagiarize by thinking that their idea is not original and correct and that they have to look at other written works and write something similar in order to obtain those requirements. The internet has also contributed in making plagiarizing easier because students are now able to download and copy and paste which tempts students into wanting to plagiarize. In conlusion, the authors suggests that teachers should have a clearer explanation to students as to what is allowed in research and what is assumed as plagiarism and that they should each students appropriate techniques for research. Overall I agree with the authors because often times I have wondered if what I was writing was considered plagiarism or not; I do think teachers should further explain the regulations of research.

 

 

Hans Rosling Summary

Hans Rosling: Let my dataset change your mindset summary

 

Hans Rosling uses statistics to expose myths about the developing world and the western world by showing the current relationship between income per person and health. According to students the developing world is large family short life and the western world is long life small family. Rosling states that college professors have been teaching students erroneous information about both the developing world and the western world. Hans Rosling uses bubble charts as a medium to inform his audience. Rosling presents the information by regions; once he breaks the regions up into countries we are able to see the vast differences. For example, in Africa the graph shows that there is a significant difference between Sierra Leone that shows the least amount of income (GDP of approximately $500) in correlation with the low probability of child survival(70%) and Mauritius which shows the greatest amount of income (GDP of about $10,000) and child survival (98%).

 

Hans Rosling shows his audience that fifty years ago there was a greater consistency between the amount of income and health but now some other countries caught up in the health section and not necessarily had higher income (e.g. Mexico). With his findings Rosling helps the audience understand how the world has advanced. This shows us (the audience) that we should investigate and keep up with current affairs instead of just accepting what we are told as the truth. I think Rosling’s presentation greatly informed the audience about current global information on health and economy.