assimilation narratives

I thougth both of these stories seemed to truly help depict what it is like for someone who is not from the standard white background in the United States. Although both were from the past, many prejudices still exist. I found both of these stories to protray each young girls struggle with being part of mainstream america. However the first story about the indian girl in the school seems much different. She is being forced to take on the culture of the mainstream white world around her. She seems very passive at fighting this and eventually goes on the collegel where she continues to deal with prejudice and lonliness. the second story about the girl who is part Chinese, but grows up in England is different because when she is insulted she seems to fight back and demand recognition for the heritage as a chinese girl. She is angry at the predudices around her. She in turn begins to learn about her chinese heritage and traditions almost as a form of protest against the mainstream who want her to be conformed. The reality is, looking different makes it hard for anyone to be accepted in a white dominated society.

In "The Schooldays of an Indian Girl," and in "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian" these stories of race or similar because both characters had to deal with being different. Both girls encounter racism and discrimination because of their differences. The girls had to deal with being nonwhite. The girls had to deal with trying to assimilate into mainstream culture and forget about their own. Both girls wanted to know more and recognize their different heritages. The differences that I see is that in "the Schooldays of an Indian Girl" she was taken away from her family to learn different ways. In "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian" she is more eager to learn about her Chinese culture because she does not know much about it. The difference is that one is Indian and one is Chinese. The difference is that one is growing to learn more about her culture and I presumed to not look like she is Chinese. I think the differences are there because one grew up in her culture and the other one did not.

the schooldays and mental portfolio of an eurasian

These two excerpts from longer memoirs are similar in the way that the little girls, at first, don't realize why everyone looks at them differently. The Indian girl has "pale faces" look oddly at her shoes at blanket, and the little chinese girl doesn't even know when her mother is called chinese what that means. However they are both very smart girls and catch on quickly to the things that make them different from other girls and boys and they really embrace it.

The main difference that struck me was how one was aware of their culture and what it meant at a young age and the other didn't even know what a china man looked like and got slapped for story telling. In Schooldays she always longed for home and for her mother where as i felt like the other story was more her just trying to figure this whole other race thing out!.

July 26

Both of these readings really made me think. The characters are struggling to come into their own, feeling categorized by their cultural background. Although I have never been characterized for my race, I really felt for the girls and tried to imagine what it would be like to be in their shoes. Every girl idolizes and wishes to be like another at some point while growing up and the struggle to fit in is never an easy one.

"Resistance is Futile"

Sui Sin's "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian" and Zitkala-Sa's "The School Days of an Indian Girl" discuss assimilation into a culture close, yet emotionally distant, to one's own. In "Leaves", it should be noted that the protagonist is not solely of Chinese descent. Similarly, the heroine of "School Days" is Native American. Such simple distinctions estrange them from those who share a culture not far removed from their own. The differences lie in the approach, but probably correspond with maturity. The woman of "Leaves" seems to be recollecting from adulthood while the girl of "School Days" relives the horror of her transition. Between woman and girl, experience and inexperience, it is no surprise that one adapts and dismisses more easily than the other. Conclusively, what is horror, what is extreme and unspeakable as committed by imperialism, seems to be defined by age, experience, and relation.

July 26, 2007

These two stories are very similar in the way they are written. I really enjoyed the child’s perspective of prejudice because it was not completely understood by either one of the girls but both were intuitive about how they were different, even though they had no idea about the social acceptance (or not) of their culture in white society. The stories were also obviously similar since both small children experienced the same feelings of being different even though they were in different places and from different backgrounds. I thought it was interesting that the main character in the first story, The Schooldays of an Indian Girl, knew her ancestry because her mother and relatives were still immersed in their culture. However, in Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian, the girl was never able to know real Chinese people and visit china, she too had impressions that Chinese were dirty and vile creatures. I think that this is a very important distinction to make, for although the girl ultimately stands up for herself and decides to embrace who she is, I think that she is still very different from a Chinese American and cannot really understand any struggle other than her own. The first story is also unique because the school girl ultimately becomes to look and go through the schedule of white people and ends up diaobeying her mother to go to college. I think in the same way as the woman in the second story, she gains her own independance from any race or culture and she must be appreciated for that and not for her background.

Blog due 7/26

THE SCHOOLDAYS OF AN INDIAN GIRL

This writing was very difficult for me to analyze. I think it might have a lot to do with the fact that I don’t know the history or the culture what so ever. I feel the author is focusing a lot on the cultural criticism of her time. For example, in part four she describes her dream with the “white man’s devil” and how he came into their house while her mother and her mother’s friend were in the kitchen and chased after her. I imagine this somehow had something to do with her insecurities of being an Indian.

LEAVES FROM THE MENTAL PORTFOLIO OF AN EURASIAN

The main difference between this story and Schooldays is that the writing is a lot more straight forward- a lot more literal. This story is telling actual stories whereas Schooldays talked a lot more about dreams and how she interpreted things. The main similarity is obviously that neither of these girls is Caucasian. I got the feeling that they both felt a little left out and maybe a little awkward. I can completely understand why they would feel that way, especially in the time that they grew up, where different races were looked down upon- the whiter your skin the better.
I feel bad for people who had to go through that. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to go through that- thinking I was bad or different or wrong. I couldn’t imagine having to think of myself as different. We are all human beings and in that sense, we are all the same and all equal.

July 24

Seventeen Syllables did not strike me as the usual romance narrative when I read through it the first time. However, the more I began to look at it I did see some of the typical narratives in place. For example, the story is about an arranged marriage between a man and woman. Rosie is unsure how she feels about this marriage and I believe it is because the marriage she has seen through her parents is not a good example at all for her. Also, I realized her mothers strong love for her poetry. This was interesting to me because I had not thought about the love that occurs for inanimate objects, as well as people.

Men in Your Life was also not the typical romance story that one would expect. I found it very funny how these two women were so judgmental and sure of what they wanted from the men before they even really began to date them. However, once they loved a man they seemed to look past all the flaws that they pointed out in other men before. It went along with what we talked about in class regarding women forgetting and forgiving men for things that they maybe should not have. It went along with the whole narrative of "love conquers all" or in the end all one really needs is love, which to me really doesn't ring true.

Romance

Seventeen Syllables:

This story has a romance narrative because it talks about how two people from different cultural backgrounds feel about one another. What makes it a romance narrative is the way that Rosie reacted to being kissed and the things she did afterwards. Rosie seemed to care about Jesus because she seemed to me to be always thinking about him. I think she knows it is inappropriate for her to see him but she does it. This is different from other romance narratives because Rosie has to deal with her unhappy parents and at the end she promises her mother that she would not marry. So that would kill her happiness.

Men In Your Life:

This story does not seem like a romance narrative to me because the main character seems to be dissing the man that she talks to. At the end I guess it could have a romantic theme because she is reminiscing about a man that treated her right, but the beginning makes you feel that she is downing men. This is different because she is talking about the ways that men act and why she does not have one. She does find that she there is one man in particular that she wouldn't mind being with. I did not see it being a romance narrative.

romance narratives

I thought these two stories were interesting. The first one, "Seventeen Syllables" was different to me. it did not strike me as a romance at all except for Rosie and Jesus and that was only a small part of the story. It seemed very strange to be a romance and the mother did not even love her husband. She married him because she had to. it seemed sad.

The second story, "Men in your life" was really interesting. i liked it alot and really do feel like it was a romance because of how she describes Eddie. You can tell their relationship is the stereotypical romance in the fact that they "play" togehter and enjoy being together even when they have no money. They seem to have built a sense of trust and you can tell they understand an respect eachother. i love the last line, "...but if a man gives you all the very best that he has to offer, all the time, what more could a woman want...?" She is talking about the best of them. NOt money or things. Seh is talking about a man that respects her and loves her and shows it all the time. i thought that in itself was romantic.

Romance

SEVENTEEN SYLLABLES

"When he took hold of her empty hand, she could find no words to protest; her vocabulary became had become distressingly constricted and she thought desperately that all that remained intact now was yes and no and oh, even those few sounds would not easily out" (pg. 89)

I really like this passage because it is definitely one of Rosie's first experiences with romance. She is really not sure how to respond to Jesus, and goes weak in his presence. Soon after they kiss, she runs, not knowing what to do. I think this passage is proof that this is a story of romance, or lack there of. It seems that Rosie's parents are in a loveless marriage and Rosie's mother loves receiving attention from other men. This can be seen in the scene where Rosie's father is ready to leave the Hayano residence while her mother hardly notices as she is engrossed with conversation with Mr. Hayano. Everything makes since at the ending when Rosie's mother tells her daughter of the arranged marriage that became the alternative to suicide.

I think that Rosie's relationship with Jesus is affected by the way Rosie has watched her parents interact. When Rosie goes to meet Jesus, she doesn't know how to act because she is unfamiliar with romance.

MEN IN YOUR LIFE

"but if a man gives you all of the very best that he has to offer, all the time, what more could a woman want?"

I thought this was a great way to end this piece. It is a familiar conversation between woman of all ages. Women always gather to talk to about men. I felt like this work was so real. The women were quick to judge other men and their relationships with woman, but when it came to their own, everything was perfect. I think the woman who wants to marry Eddie may be in denial. Although he may be a great man, I think she is exaggerating his perfection due to her affection for him. This is not rare. I have had friends talk up their relationships (how great he is, how happy they are), only to hear how miserable they really were after the relationship has ended. It makes me wonder how the woman really is, and if Eddie is all that she describes him to be.

I think this is a romance narrative because it is two woman describing what they WANT for a romantic relationship and their standards.

Stupid Cupid and the Arrows (Eros) of Ouch

In "Seventeen Syllables" and "Men in Your Life", it may be difficult to discern the romance. While reading classical literature, it is easy to forget that the author is narrating from a perspective of her ethnicity and culture; therefore, when we encounter works from cultures that are not similar to our own or have less literary exposure, it may be difficult to understand the parallels or interpret specific conventions.

Yamamoto and Childress may seem unusual in terms of romance; but, I interpreted several traditional ideas at work. For instance, Rosie experiences the uncertainty of young love while her father experiences what seems to be a possessive jealousy. And though the narrator of Childress' work may seem angered and embittered, is not her loyalty, her continuous presence in the relationship, a popular ideal of love? She reminded me of so many that I've met- Clarance and his wife are possibly a foreshadowing of the moral: Innumerable women of this world love men they have no reason to love, and surely, at one time or another, they all ask themselves why.

As I understand, it is not unusual for a man to be possessive of his wife to a point of violence in Asian culture. I vaguely recall the idea that, in China, a man had the right to kill any man who dared to look at his wife's bare feet. If that doesn't scream "possesive", I don't know what does. In African American culture, I know far too many women who rant and rave about the evils of "their man" and yet throw funny looks at those who ask the obvious question, "Why don't you leave?" A lot of them are afraid to be alone. A lot of them cling to the ideal that a woman needs a man to have a complete family. A lot of them probably need to take this course.

I think that both stories for today do follow a romantic narrative, though not necessarily the one where the woman falls in love with the prince and lives happily ever after. In Seventeen Syllables Rosie is observing her parent's relationship and they are not connecting because the father feels that the mother is in essence cheating on him when she spends all her time and energy on the poetry. Rosie experiences her own taste of the romantic narrative when she is kissed by a boy and completely taken by surprise. She has to take her time to think about the implications of the kiss and how she feels about the boy, Jesus. The readers get a glimpse that she may like him, after running away, when she is peeking out of the privy to see if he is looking for her near the house. In a sense, Rosie may be playing 'hard to get' which is a variation of an american romantic narrative. The other romance in the story is that of her mother when she was young. The mother seemed to have quite a romance when she was in Japan, but due to the status of the boy and the traditions of the town, she was unable to have a relationship. This echos many narratives we have already looked at, but instead of ending with happiness, her mother must choose between a new life in America or ending her life. It is sad that this is the basis of her marriage.

The second story, Men in Your Life shows many relationships through the eyes of two women gossiping. The first discussion is about how women shape thier sons, this sets the story up for the three men we hear described. The first is Clarance, and he is married and treats his wife very poorly, though the narrator does not mention it, it is obviously that he is emotionally and probably physically abusive. The escaping of women from abusive relationships is often part of the romantic narrative when they are able to move on and find someone else. The second man in the story is Wallace, the bad date. This is another fairly common scene in films and stories of the romantic narrative 'gone wrong'. Instead of the date sweeping this girl off her feet, he does the opposite and she decides very quickly that it will not work out. Finally she mentions Eddy and the things they do together and his faults but also the attributes she really enjoys about him and the reader comes to find that she likes him more than she knows. This is a common narrative becasue the relationship is humble and not deliberately romantic yet with the closeness between the couple, we realize they care a lot about eachother,

I think by looking at the romance in these texts we are able to tell a little more about the lives of the characters because we already know how these narratives go, since we see them all the time in our culture. Seventeen syllables looks at romantic love as something that is negative and unattainable. Men in your Life also does not put an emphasis on romanitc love because the none of the characters in the story are romantically involved, however, it gives the hope that the narrator's realtionship with Eddy will turn into something romantic and successful.

Romantic Love, Due 7/24/07

SEVENTEEN SYLLABLES
I don’t think that this text really has a romantic love them. I think it is more about the love between a mother and her daughter and the differences the two of them have. For example, Rosie was born and raised in the United States, whereas her mother was born and raised in Japan. Learning to be bicultural is something that neither one of them wants to do, but they do it because they love each other. It is obvious that this was written for many different cultures and not only focuses on topics such as gender and race, but also the frustrating issues that families might have to go though as well.


MEN IN YOUR LIFE
“…if a man gives you all of the very best he has to offer, all the time, what more could a woman want?”
That was a very strong way to end this narrative. I do feel that it was more of a romance narrative than Seventeen Syllables because it focused more upon women and men. My initial reaction when reading this was that the author was doing a lot of complaining. But then I looked at it again and thought that this was her telling Marge that she likes Eddie. Then looking at it from one more prospective was she just settling for Eddie because all other guys are bad? Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I do not think this story followed a typical romance narrative because they are more lovey dovey and usually have an ending where the man and woman life happily ever after and this, obviously, was not the case. That’s why I more or less came to the conclusion that the author was just settling for happiness with Eddie because they would have a story book marriage. But is that more important than finding/being with someone who truly makes you happy?

Romantic narratives for Tuesday

Seventeen Syllables--Hisaye Yamamoto
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I think it's easy to find the parts of this story that make it a romantic narrative. It even shows the sweet, light-hearted, all-is-wonderful sort of love along with its opposer. Rosie, the main girl, is obviously the portrayer of romantic love. She has a rather serious crush on Jesus. The story does a good job of creating that familure feeling when a new crush has been discovered. She sneaks away to see him, only to press her face to his for a moment, she has excellerated heart palvitations, she thinks about him all the time, even when working; these are all general ingrediets that together make a romance narrative. However, there's also the other side of love as seen in her mother's situation. The story ends with her mother forcing Rosie to promise to never marry. She does this because of her bad experience with marriage, something she used to keep her from killing herself. Obviously Rosie doesn't want to make that promise because she has found someone who, at the current moment, she could say forever with. That is another aspect of romance narraratives-battling external factors that are trying to keep one from loving or loving a specific person. It's the whole thing with 'love conquers all'. There can be no victory if there is no battle.


Men in Your Life--Alice Childress
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Well that was interesting. Not really what I was expecting and certainly atypical romance narrative. In my opinion, I wouldn't call that a romance narrative. This woman is just complaining about random things men do wrong in relationships and pretty much getting a load off her chest by ranting about men. It sounds to me like she's fed up with the men she's dated and has a lack of romance in her life. I guess that's all there is to say about that one. I laughed, though.

romantic love

Men in Your Life.

I don't think this story really followed a romatic narrative as much as the author possibly intended. After reading it I focused on the negatives aspects of thier realtionships with men instead of the one positive with Eddie. It makes a difference in what the reader takes away from this story. It remined me of As Children Together because so many people took it differently, and I feel the same with happen with this story. In the text though, you do see other ways of being romantic without the stereotypical gestures such as flowers and an expensive dinner. The narrarator just enjoyed Eddies company.

Seventeen Syllables.

I think this story had a much stronger romantic narrative than Men in Your Life. It had a romance budding between Rosie and Jesus, as well as her mom and many other poets. Not to mention her love for poetry and between parent and daughter. I think love was the theme of the movie and so it was very important that that is what you take away from it. It shows love in all of its different stages. In the beginning with Rosie and Jesus and the parents. I really liked this story and related to a lot of the situations and relationships. The story was very relatable.

Romance Narratives?

Seventeen Syllables is approaches the romantic narrative in several ways. The notion of the artist in love with their work is embodied in Rosie's mother. The relationship between Rosie and Jesus embodies young, or puppy, love. Rosie's mother and father's relationship shows a side of the romance narrative that is often forgotten or neglected - the result of the end of infatuation, and the frustration of complacency.

Men in Your Life isn't exactly a romance narrative in the traditional sense, but it takes up the question of what love means to a particular individual. I guess you could call it a variation on the romance narrative, but I don't think you could call it a romance narrative in a strict sense of the word.

I don't suppose it really makes a difference how a text approaches the idea of romance, because the idea of a romance narrative is pretty subjective. You can't really prefer include one definition of romance and exclude another, so the genre is acutally quite malleable.

Seventeen Syllables challenges one's perceptions that romantic love cannot occur between a person and an inanimate object or intangible idea. Men in Your Life offers a deductive method of determining your own definition of romantic love. Both of these observations could be considered alternate theories about romantic love.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Deciding on a romantic movie was so easy for me, because romantic comedies are easily my favorite. In How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Andie Anderson (played by Kate Hudson) is a writer for a popular women's magazine. For her current article she is researching the don'ts of dating in her "how to in reverse" experiment. To research her story, she begans to date a Ben Berry (played by Mathew McConaughey). As planned, she begans to create every common mistake made by women in relationships. Little does she know, but Ben is trying to win a bet devised at work over whether or not he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. His prize if he does so is the control of a lucrative diamond account at his advertising agency.

My favorite scene is towards the end of the film when Ben takes Andie home to visit his family. They spend the day out on the pier riding Ben's motorcycle. In the background, Keith Urban's song, "Somebody like you" plays as they flirt playfully and Ben teaches Andie how to drive his bike. As corny as it sounds, I get chills everytime I watch this part of the movie. I love the chemistry between the characters and the playful way they interact. Although it is so stereotypical, I think that Ben teaching Andie on the bike is so romantic.

While watching the movie, it is very obvious that this is a turning point in the story. You began to feel that there is a genuine connection between the two characters and that Andie is falling in love with him.

Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind

In this movie Joel (Jim Carey) finds out that his girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had her memory erased of their relationship from her mind. He decided to contact the doctor who invented this and do it too, but as they are erasing his memory he learns how to control the memories of her and trys to hold on to them. He realizes how much he still loves her and it deals a lot with relationships after they have been together for a long time, after the beginning bliss stages. He thought he hated where they were but her realizes he misses her.
On of my favorite scenes in when they are playing on the frozen lake in Montag and they lay down to look at the stars and Joel says (something like this, I obviously dont remember exactly) "I could just die, i'm so happy." I really like that part because you really get that feeling that they're in that moment that we all have, when you think about how that moment is perfect and you dont want it to end because you know when it does there are so many other things you need to worry and think about. I also think it's romantic because it's not sexual at all. He is just happy holding her hand bundled up on the ice under the stars. This movie all around is full of scenes I love and I definitely recommend it!

Daddy's Lil' Girls

The romance movie that I am using is called "Daddy's Little Girls" by Tyler Perry. It is about a man who is fighting for custody for his three daughters from their estranged mother. In the process he finds a stuck up woman who becomes his family lawyer and they ignite a flame between each other. This woman has the worst time finding a mate because her standards are too high and she think she is too good for anybody. There are two scenes that I feel show that this has a romantic plot to it. My favorite part is when he takes the lawyer "Julia" out for her birthday which she truly does not acknowledge. He loosens her up to have a good time and she does but while she is drunk she tells him how she feels. Another part that ties into this is when Julia comes over his house to meet his daughters and after their meal they talk about how they are feeling one another. I think those parts in the movie makes it a romantic movie. This is different from other movies because the romantic plot is not the main part of the movie. It shows a positive African American man who is trying to do all of the right things.