Government effected by the Industrial Revolution

There are a couple of connections between the Dancing for Mao by Jennifer Lin and Regarding the Problem of Newborn Piglets in Winter by Rong Chen. First of all, both stories were involved with the cultural revolution in China.  "'During the cultural revolution,'Li says, 'no one dared to tell the truth'"(12). People at that time all know about the loyal dance to Mao, even the five-year-old girl performed it in public. However, the young girl knows nothing about what she has done, and she never doubts it. This is like the situation happened in Regarding the Problem of Newborn Piglets in Winter. The small issue which is to protect the piglets to go through the winter time has involved with more than five different committees. Because of the secretary's personal judgment toward the problem, the piglet problems has been pushed to be the biggest topic. Due to the cultural environment in China at that time, authorities held the power, and even a small little details things confuse all the rest of others' minds. People have no idea what they were doing, and all they know about was following the rules.

Global Narratives: Indian Culture

As the story "Pigeons At Daybreak" by Anita Desai introduces the idea of humanity and love, it reveals its Indian cultures throughout the story. When Otima Basu reads newspaper to her husband, she mentions a lot of news topics which characterize Indian customs or geography. Otima talks about a typical Indian animal, "Blue bull menace in Delhi airport can be solved by narcotic drug"(221). Blue bull is a large Indian antelope which represent Indian cultures. The author relates the animal to this narrative because she wants to show that Mr. Basu was so irritable when he does not understand the Indian culture. In addition to Indian antelope, the author relates the Indian geography and common natural situations to the story. Because of Indian's different weathers between west and east, it is very common to see flood and drought there, "'Floods in Assam'.'Drought in Maharashtra." (222) The author shows these in order to give the readers a more closer look of India which may help them understand the story better.

Pigeons at Daybreak

Pigeons at Daybreak by Anita Desai describes the love between human throughout one's life. Otima Basu contributes all her love to her husband Mr. Basu. Despite ignorance and rebuke, Otima still cares about her husband every single minute, “‘I'll bring you your inhaler. Don't get worried, just don't get worried. (223, Other Voices, Other vistas)’” Mr. Basu cannot breath after hearing the news that there is no electricity tonight, and He is angry with his wife, “ ‘You’ll manage,’ he spat at her, ‘but I?’ (223, Other Voices, Other vistas)” Otima is just trying to pacify Mr. Basu; however, after the abuse fron his husband, she still tries her best to help him. When Mr. Basu was lying on the terrace, he reveals his love toward his grandson, “he had taken his daughter Charu’s son by the hand to show him the pigeon roosts on so many of the Darya Ganj rooftops. (226, Other Voices, Other vistas)” Mr. Basu loves his grandson and thinks about him even though he is very close to the heaven. In the end, the pigeons at daybreak mark the end of Mr. Basu’s life.

Harkness for the Collector of Treasures

1. Why does Dikeledi consider herself as the collector of treasures? As the book refers to,“She smiled tenderly at Kebonye because she knew already that she had found another such love. She was the collector of such treasures.(58, Other Voices, Other Vistas)” .In Dikeledi's opinion, what is the real treasure?




2. Dikeledi plans for murdering his husband, "Then she bend down and reached for the knife under the bed which she had merely concealed with a cloth. (73)"There are other possible ways for Dikeledi to get rid of her husband and support her children's education, however, why does she utilize the way which will send her to jail and leave her children alone? 

Who is the collector of Treasures?

   Dikeledi Mokopi, the protagonist from The Collector Of Treasures by Bessie Head, accomplishes her will of collecting treasure from children and friendship. Dikeledi wants to give all her three children secondary education which is also what supports her to live and what she is fighting for. Dikledi feels satisfied even though she is going to jail because Paul Thebolo, the only man he trusts and admires has promised "I'll take them as my own and give them all a secondary school education." (73, Other Voices, Other Vistas) She collects the treasure of giving her children the education which may change all of them's fate. In addition to her responsibility as a mother, she collects the gifts from friends including care, respect and food. Dikeledi finds out that a way to get rid of her loneliness is to share her life with her friend. Dikeledi feels relaxed when she was expressing her feeling, “She smiled tenderly at Kebonye because she knew already that she had found another such love. She was the collector of such treasures.” (58, Other Voices, Other Vistas) Because of Kebonye, Dikeledi’s best listener, she is able to feed her children by food and enjoy the feeling of being appreciated. Dikeledi tells her friend everything puzzles her which she identified as a way to collecting treasures. Dikeledi is satisfied in the prison because she judges herself as the biggest winner of collecting treasures.

The Questions for harkness table

1.Pecola is a fragile and poor child, but can we blame Cholly and Paulind for what they have done to Pecola, or it there any other reasons? 

I want to discuss about it because family may be a big reason which determines Pecola's judgement toward beauty.

2. What is the difference between Pecola and Claudia?

I think it would be interesting to discuss about it because both Pecola and Claudia are Black teenage kids. However, they have distinct ways of treating their lives. The exact reason between them may be an good topic to consider.

The Bluest eye Analysis

Reading through the Bluest Eye, it is very obvious that the Morrison's narrative style is unique,along with the persistence of colors and the special italicized section.By the emphasis of colors, Morrison wants to explain the theme of races deeper throughout the whole book, especially the divisions between skin color. For example,  when Pecola's mother meets Cholly for the first time, she uses colors to identify him. "I could feel that purple deep inside me... it was like them berries, that lemonade, then streaks of green the june bugs made, all come together."(115) The impression of Cholly left to Pauline is full of colors, purple, yellow, and green. Every time Pauline sees these color, it reminds her of the happiness because the colors are not associated with white, which stands for the race problem."No better than white for meanness." (117) Another typical instance is about Pecola asking for blue eyes in the Soaphead Church. "'What about your eyes?' ' I want them blue'"(174) Blue eyes which is also the title of the book represents the unreachable beauty in Pecola's opinions. Pecola simply thinks that if she gets blue eyes, the people around or her family will treat her in a different way. Blue is symbolic which hints the race problem and the conflicts between black and white.

In addition to the use of color, Morrison utilizes italicized section when he is narrating. For instance, " When I first seed Cholly, I want you to know it was like all the bits of color from that time sown home..." (115) The narrative italicized style represents the story which is being written is Pauline's point of view. It is like a diary that is written when Pauline feels lonely without Cholly at home and it records the recall between Pauline and Cholly. The diary makes the story more connected, and the readers can get direct feelings of Pauline's thoughts. It explains how Pauline treasures her love story with Cholly even though things have been changed since they moved.

Walk on the wall or not?

One of the most impressive single story I know happened last summer in U.S. One time, my foreign friend asked whether I would walk on a wall or fly like the Kung fu stars. I was shocked that he had asked me such an illogical and random question. Because of some Chinese Kung fu movies, characters usually do Chinese Kung fu and are able to fly. He also told me that he thought most Chinese know how to do Kung fu. Interestingly enough, Chinese Kung Fu is a unique theme of moives which may attract him but also confuse him, and it is a typical single story for him.

Discussion of The Bluest eyes

1.

Maureen Peal is a new girl in Claudia’s school. She is popular because she is wealthy and light-skinned. Claudia and her sister discover that everyone loves Maureen and wishes to become her friend. They do not like her,but they all agree to walk home together. How do they really feel about her?

2.

Why does the story begin with Junior’s mother Geraldine, not get to the part which JUNIOR tortures the cat and children who come to play at the nearby school playground. How does it relate with his mother? What kind of person is his mother?

 

Daniyal Mueenuddin Introduction +Questions

Daniyal Mueenuddin:
Born: Pakistan, 1963 (brought up in Lahore, Pakistan and Elroy, Wisconsin)
Awards: the winner of the 2010 Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2010),in Other Rooms, Other Wonders was the winner of The Story Prize (2009),The collection was also a finalist for the 2009 National Book Awards, the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the 2010 Los Angeles Times First Fiction Award, and the 2010 Ondaatje Prize (2010),TIME magazine's top ten books (2009), Publishers Weekly's top ten books (2009), The Economist's top ten fiction books (2009), the Guardian's best books of the year (2009), The New Statesman's best books of the year (2009), and The New York Times' hundred best books of the year (2009).
One of his short stories, "Nawabdin Electrician", was selected by Salman Rushdie for the Best American Short Stories of 2008.(2008) Another story, "A Spoiled Man", was selected for the 2010 edition of The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories.
Works:  Provide, Provide; In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
Style: bridges the efficient with the lyrical, beautiful diction. The common theme is struggling and progressing.
Quotation: "I realized that I was in a unique position to write these stories for a Western audience – stories about the farm and the old feudal ways, the dissolving feudal order and the new way coming, the sleek businessmen from the cities. I resigned from the law firm, returned to Pakistan, and began writing the stories that make up this book."(http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm/author_number/1659/Daniyal-Mueenuddin)

Literary influence: beautiful stories of men and women who are creatures of the rules of where they live– a modern yet feudal Pakistan, where to survive, one has to negotiate with whatever they have- their lands, their bodies, their sugarcane crop.  (http://beyondthemargins.com/2010/02/interview-with-daniyal-mueenuddin/) Influence Pakistani and American.

Two Questions I would ask:
1.When you are writing a story, what is the biggest difficulty for most time?
2. What do you think is the most important thing for high school students to write a good essay?

Nawabdin Electrician Analysis

 The story Nawabdin Electrician includes the conflicts between the lower class and higher class, the poor and the rich, daily aspects of social revolution, and the fear of  death and social hierarchy. The protagonist Nawabdin is a contented handyman who reflects the most common life of people in lower class. The motorcycle symbolizes Nawabdin's social level. "The motorcycle increased his status, gave him weight, so that people began calling him'uncle', and asking his opinion on world affairs, about which he knew absolutely nothing." (Nawabdin Electrician,17 ) As a father who has twelve daughters, life is somehow suffering for his family, and the motorcycle reveals his desire to his life. Despite of poverty, Nawabdin still has a kind heart and eagerness to help his customers." He flourished on a signature capability, a technique for cheating the electric company by slowing down the revolutions of the electric meters, so cunningly done that his customers could specify to the hundred-rupee note the desired monthly savings. "(Nawabdin Electrician,13)


Nawabdin is a smart workman, but somehow he judges his motorcycle even more important than his life. He does not give up his property easily. When he faces a robber, even though he gets shot, he still tries to stand up and protects his own motorcycle. (24) The reasons of his action are complicated. One of the reason is that if he loses his motorcycle, he cannot afford his 13-people family anymore. Another reason which Nawabdin does not point out is that losing the motorcycle means losing his social status made up by motorcycle. Nawabdin enjoys the feeling of being called "uncle", and because of his vanity, he almost loses his life. In contrast to Nawabdin, the robber is bad but pitiful. It is poverty that forces him to plunder, and he has no choice. Poorness also contradicts the ethics in life. In short, the story reflects the conflicts of humanidad and enlightens the readers to think more about life.