If you liked Helena Viramonte's "The Moths"...
then you also might enjoy “The Sun, the Moon, the Stars” by Junot Diaz, ”Hell/Heaven” by Jhumpa Lahiri, or "Children as Enemies” by Ha Jin. For Friday, read ONE of those stories and post a 4-5 sentence reflection/reader response here as a comment to this blog post. You also need to REPLY DIRECTLY to 2-3 of your classmates comments (think: Instagram/Facebook feed, but slightly more detailed than a series of emojis or five word responses!) as part of this assignment. There's no need to include actual textual evidence in either your original response or when you comment on classmates' work, but if you're having a hard time generating ideas, feel free to look back to the short story questions we used last term. I just want to get a sense of what you thought about the story you've chosen; there's no pressure, so have some fun and be creative!
Ha Jin's short story "Children as Enemies," was very interesting because the contrast in generations between the grandparents, their kids, and their grand kids is reflected in how they respond to conflicts as well as how they respond to each other. This story really showed how there is a disconnect between the younger generation and the older generation, but this story also shows how there is a disconnect culturally. Throughout the entirety of the story, the narrator continues to mention his disappointment with how his grand children are being raised because it is nothing like how kids would be raised back in China, where he is from. In the end, the narrator "conforms" to American culture by keeping to himself and minding his own business.
ReplyDelete-Eliah Ugarte
Eliah, I really like how you close read the generation divide between the youth and the elderly. I feel like I've seen this in my own family with my grandparents and myself. Good Job :)
DeleteEliah, I really like how you close read the generation divide between the youth and the elderly. I feel like I've seen this in my own family with my grandparents and myself. Good Job :)
Delete- Chelsea Saucedo
A generational divide feels very common today, so capturing it in your paragraph and this short story is really cool to think about! - Jess
DeleteEliah, I totally agree that the theme of a generational divide is prevalent throughout the short story. It's cool to think about how although generational divides are universal among cultures, because each culture is unique, each culture faces unique challenges. And it's in America, the "melting pot" of cultures, where we especially can see the clash between other cultures and American culture. Good job! -Jason Han
DeleteThis is awesome, the age and cultural gap between one generation and another is common in a country of immigration. However, if one would live in another's shoes, they would understand the reasons behind their perceptions. Cool ideas!
Delete-Watson Tao
This is a fantastic conversation, y'all. Eliah, I think you and the others hit the nail on the head: this text is all about the tension of intergenerational conflict!
DeleteJason Han: I read "Children as Enemies" by Ha Jin. Being a Chinese-American myself, I empathize and totally understand the experiences the author writes about in his story. Like the author, my parents also immigrated to the US soon after the Tiananmen Square incident. I was born in the US as a first generation Chinese American (we call ourselves ABC's-- American Born Chinese). My grandmother from my mom's side also came to the US to live with us, primarily to raise us kids. Although I, unlike Flora and Matt in the story, was given an English first name when I was born-- Jason. I think my Chinese name was established after. We didn't have generational conflicts as big as Flora and Matt's conflict with their grandparents, but certainly there were aspects of the US that were new to my grandparents. One example is buffets. My grandparents absolutely loved buffets, primarily because when they were growing up, they didn't even have enough food to eat. For them to see literally unlimited food would definitely be quite amazing for them. A habit my grandma taught me is to not waste food. To this day, my grandmother's words echo in my mind. Related to the story where the grandfather (the narrator) taught his grandson multiplication, my grandma also taught me multiplication at a young age. I remember sitting in her room and her teaching me a multiplication song so that I would know how to multiply stuff quickly (2*3 is 6, 2*4 is 8, etc.). Honestly, her tips helped me a lot in school, especially from middle school forward. And for sure I can see the importance of Chinese tradition in terms of hard work. Hard work is definitely an important part of Chinese culture, but fortunately I'm blessed with parents, like Mandi in the story, who still give their children a level of independence, especially at a young age, for children to explore and pursue things on their own. The clash and combination of Chinese and American culture, especially seen in raising their children, is certainly an interesting topic explored through this story, and a topic that can certainly be empathized with by a Chinese-American audience.
ReplyDeleteJason, I love how you were able to relate this short story to your childhood. While reading your paragraph, I found myself being able to relate to a lot of what you said. For instance, my grandparents would also take me to buffets as a child for the variety of foods displayed. Great job!
Delete- Chelsea Saucedo
AJ Francois-
DeleteI agree with Chelsea! I really enjoyed reading your reflection about the narrative and how you were able to personally relate it to your experience. It is neat to watch someone take a piece and be able to pick it apart through their own experiences and show their relations to the topic. It makes me look deeper into texts I've read and try to do the same. Good job!
Jason, it was very interesting hearing about how you can relate your own life to the short story. I feel like it helps the narrative show that it has deeper meaning than just being a short story, but being a story that can relate to others.
Delete-Eliah Ugarte
Hi Jason,
DeleteI appreciate how you connect the short story and its character's to your own life's story, and I find that I can also relate with your story and the short story. I especially got a laugh out of reading how your grandma loves buffets because my family also has a passion for eating at buffets and getting our monies worth in what we eat.
Jason, the fact that you could closely relate with the story is interesting, and this makes your analysis different from others. I enjoyed how you included aspects of the Chinese culture in the end.
Delete- Watson Tao
Jason! I share your classmate's appreciation for sharing your own personal connection to the story. That's why I think it's so important to cast a wide net when you're thinking about what kinds of literature to read. You'll never know what you may find and identify with!
DeleteChelsea Saucedo: Junot Diaz short story, "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" is striking because within the very first line of the short story, Yunior describes himself as not being a "bad guy". This is interesting because the audience begins to wonder why he introduces himself like this more especially why the author introduces him this sort of way. Yunior later begins to explain how his girlfriend see's him, she see's as dirty and rude. All Yunior wants is to be seen as normal nice guy, but ultimately doesn't get that feeling out of his girlfriends, which later leads him to cheat on her. Just like the title, the start can symbolize the amount of women who he can get. Since Yunior cheated on her they begin to drift away from each other just like the sun and the moon. Moreover, his girlfriend, Magdalena, was influenced by her friends to treat Yunior this sort of way such as, ignoring him. Throughout the novel, Magda changed drastically. For instance, they would respect each other, but that changed. Overall, this short story mainly focuses on the idea of how being a specific ethnicity or the influences around can change many things in a relationship.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Yunior's self image versus his perception is a cool thing to think about. I don't think anyone thinks of themselves as a bad person, but then his outside image makes him do something that reflects that outside image and not his self perception. Very cool
DeleteChelsea, I think it's interesting that you bring up both the themes of how the narrator is perceived by others and how outside influences shape that perception. It's certainly true that his race can influence his relationship; however, what's also interesting to me is that we get to see his perspective, allowing us to empathize with him. We see that maybe faults in his relationship aren't necessarily caused by the fact that he's Dominican, it might be because conflicts in relationships are inevitable and the fact that he sees his girlfriend only once a week can definitely weaken his relationship. I think that this story is also interesting because we can see how his relationship develops from his unique perspective, allowing the reader to understand Yunior. Good ideas!
Delete- Jason Han
DeleteChelsea, I enjoyed your analysis of Yunior's character. It's true that, with time, the once romantic love with a person often fades and is hard to revert. This is because the romantic drive usually comes from different desires intentionally or not. If one person in the relationship does not gain more respect on the other, and this person's desires could no longer be fulfilled by the partner, this person would seek for others who can. A more mature relationship, in which love comes from respect, would create a much more healthy outcome.
Delete-Watson Tao
Do you all think that Diaz's use of magical realism was similar to Viramontes'? How are they different?
DeleteMr. B, I think that is a really interesting question to consider. In both "Moths" by Viramontes and "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" by Diaz, the moments of magical realism are really quite beautiful and are turning points for both of the narrators, respectively. But I feel like what makes them different is the intentions of both moments. In "Moths," the moment of magical realism heightens the emotions of the moment in bringing back memories that the narrator had with her grandma, and seeing the moths fly upward is a symbol of the narrator accepting that her grandma has left while still being appreciative of all that her grandma has taught and given her. However, in "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars," the moment of magical realism with the cave is a turning point for Yunior in that he finally sees the consequences of his actions. Instead of repeatedly trying to recover their relationship as if nothing had happened, Yunior finally sees that his cheating on Magda bore significant repercussions to their relationship. Yunior even notes: the cave is a place for "a person to become somebody better." As Yunior recalls the first time he had a conversation with Magda, Yunior's emotions in that moment serve as a means for Yunior to broaden his perspective and see the consequences of his actions and that his relationship with Magda might not be able to be recovered. This moment of realization is also felt by the reader as well: that even though Yunior tries to act as if he and Magda are perfectly fine with one another, Yunior finally realizes that that's not necessarily the case. Interestingly enough, both the "Moths" and "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" allow the reader to empathize with the narrators' emotions at the end of the moments of magical realism (with the narrator being sad that her grandma has passed away and Yunior crying because he knows his relationship with Magda has ended). Both moments of magical realism carry a lot of emotion.
Delete- Jason Han
Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “Hell/Heaven” was very interesting because of the development of the character’s perspective towards other character’s relationships and how the cultural identity displays an important role in the narrative of the story. The story is told from the perspective of Usha a Bengali American girl that her life changes with the arrival of Pranab a Bengali student at MIT that follows Usha and her mother, eventually, they start talking and the mother decides to invite him to have dinner. Usha’s reflect the changes in the mother’s behavior. The mother falls in love with Pranab, but the relationship between these characters was impossible because the mother was married moreover, through the middle of the story, Pranab falls in love with an American girl, but this affects the relationship with Usha’s family. Consequently, they stop seeing each other, but one day they receive an invitation to his wedding. This is one of the most important scenes of the story because the way Usha narrates the setting and the mother’s reaction of seeing the man she loved with another woman, the situation gets uncomfortable and the family ends up leaving the wedding. Towards the end of the story, they get another invitation to Pranabs house to celebrate Thanksgiving, this scene reveals the truth about Usha and the way her parents affect her social life in a negative way and after this scene, she confronts her mother letting her know that she does not want to live in the Bengali Traditions and wants to shape her life away from her parents. I found really interesting how a person can change your lifestyle and your perspective in a short amount of time like Pranab change Usha’s perspective, showing the differences that she had with her mother, and the way the traditions and cultural identity play an important role in your relationships.
ReplyDelete- Jeronimo
I really enjoyed hearing how you connected how Usha changed her lifestyle to how identity was important to the story as a whole.
Delete-Eliah Ugarte
Pato: Jero I enjoyed how you narrated the story in such order that you helped the reader understand the change in attitude and perspective if the main character. And how at the end, she decides to create her won destiny and live an independent life.
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteWatson Tao:
ReplyDeleteI read Junot Diaz's story "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" and was intrigued by the first line: "I'M NOT A BAD GUY." Ironically, the narrator illustrates the main character Yunior as an antagonist rather than a protagonist. Yunior's self-justification of being "anyone else" simply does not match his character, someone he claims he is not: a sucio, an asshole. His failure of self-awareness and self-recognition dooms his relationship with Magda an unhappy one. Yunior fails to make Magda feel loved due to his abusive actions and careless manners: he treats his girlfriend Magda as an object of pleasure rather than someone he loves. Moreover, he constantly seeks for someone else who can give him more sexual pleasure. Yunior seems to come to a realization of his character and his misdeeds when Magda leaves him. Like people usually say: you only understand how important someone is when they leave you. However, regrets are often too late.
I love that first line too, Watson. Talk about attention grabbing!
DeleteI like how you grab the attention of the reader towards the paragraph with that first line and how it encourages the reader to choose the paragraph. You expose Yunior in a very smart way showing how he mistreats her girlfriend and how he only uses her as an object for pleasure. And also, great last line because it is very true you never know how important a person or place really is until you are not there anymore or they leave you.
DeleteWatson, I agree that the narrator's careless actions made him realize how bad he was treating Magda, and he realized the consequences his actions brought to his relationship too late. But I feel like the perspective the story is told from brings a lot of meaning to the story as well: the fact that this story is told from Yunior's perspective and we see Yunior try to rationalize his actions and justify his cheating on Magda illustrates how we are all human, and even though we do something wrong, still we try to justify it. Even though Yunior committed wrongdoing against his girlfriend, the reader is still able to empathize with Yunior and feel bad for him and his relationship. For me, at least, I agree with Yunior in that he is "not a bad guy." He just made a mistake, causing a tragic end to his relationship.
Delete- Jason Han
As I read "Children as Enemies" by Ha Jin. I found myself able to relate to the story. Just like in the short story my parents also believed that it was a good idea to have "American" sounding names, which is why my name is Chelsea. My parents wanted me to "fit" into American society by doing so they choose the Chelsea, after Chelsea Clinton. Moreover, while I was reading the short story, I also realized that the children don't appreciate their culture, especially where their names came from. Their family named these children names that had a meaning behind it, but they decided to change it into something more simple. I also found interesting that the parents wouldn't allow their children to change their names. The parents most likely don't want their children to lose their culture. This ultimately causes a divide between the family, which leads to a generational divide most common in first-generation families. For instance, in my family, my grandparents have a different take in modern gender norms compared to me. Overall, this short story has a strong emphasis on the different generations and their various perspectives.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" by Junot Diaz, the narrator continues in his cycle of pursuing his love for Magda only to realize that their relationship is unsavable because of the impact his cheating has upon Magda. Interestingly, the narrator shows "what kind of a fool [he] was" by ending the story with taking her hand and saying, "All we have to do is try." The narrator's optimism to recover their relationship at a point where it is already broken explains his self perception as foolish. However, the ending is all the more heartbreaking because the reader can relate to the narrator's feelings of not wanting to give up loving someone he wants to love so much. Because the reader can empathize with the narrator's struggle to move on, the reader seeing the narrator try to recover his relationship with Magda yet again makes this story all the more tragic. As a whole, this story is centered around the narrator and Magda going on a vacation to recover their relationship, which turns out to be unsuccessful. Yet even at the end of the story, the narrator still pursues his love for Magda even when it seems like Magda has already begun a new relationship, setting a tragic and heartbreaking tone for the last line of the story that the reader can empathize with all too well.
ReplyDelete- Jason Han
DeleteI agree Jason! This story had such a sorrowful and tragic tone that it was difficult not to empathize with the narrator.
Delete-Eliah Ugarte
In "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" by Junot Diaz, the narrator is able to alter how he is perceived as the story progresses by displaying how he made an effort to fix things. At the beginning, the narrator explains what he did and how it affected himself. This explanation first comes off as selfish and conceited, but as the narrator continues with his and Magda's story, he begins to convince himself and the reader that he's in fact "not a bad guy." Whether he is a bad guy or not can not be completely determined, but I believe that one of the purposes of this short story is for someone other than himself, the reader perhaps, to validate his statement that he is not a bad guy, for someone else to understand his efforts and hardships. In partnership with this, I found the ending to be rather heartbreaking because he was able to convey his pain so effectively.
ReplyDelete-Eliah Ugarte
Ha Jin´s short story ¨Children as Enemies¨ was very interesting because I related the story of protagonists Qigan Xi or Matt and Hua or Flora to my own, because my name might be hard to pronounce for non spanish speakers, but I have always blamed my parents for giving me a hard name to pronounce, so the position of the characters from my point of view is understandable because sometimes is annoying when someone says your name wrong, I don't really care when someone mispronounces my name, but some other people might care a lot like Qigan Xi and Hua. Moreover towards the end of the story Matt and Flora went too far, when they complained about their last name, and at this point of the story the point of view of the grandparents is understandable because the last name gives you a sense of identity and a connection with the past of your family, so changing your last name seems that you are rejecting your past.
ReplyDeleteJeronimo
That is very cool how you can draw personal connections with the story. A great way the author can connect with the reader to deliver his message.
DeleteI agree with Jess, I really enjoyed how you combined your reading of the story with personal experiences from your own life. It makes a short story's themes seem so much more meaningful!
DeleteIt's great how you can understand both sides and relate it closely to your own experience.
Delete-Watson Tao
There is an old saying in China that if one does not listen and follow the elder's instructions, they would suffer from it. However, as I read Ha Jin's short story "Children as Enemies," I comes to an understanding that people of the older generation doesn't necessarily have more wisdom than those of the younger generation because what they have been taught to follow may have been too outdated to be relevant nowadays. So it may be more accurate to say that the ego of the elders -- believing their knowledge from the long past still holds truth to the modern days and therefore must be put to practice by the younger ones they love -- only limits them from relating to the younger generation. This ego of the elders makes them see the younger generations as ignorant and naive, on the other side, the younger generations see them as stubborn and obsolete. Thus, by forcefully indoctrinating their conventional ideologies, even if it stems from love, tends to draw their relationship with their children not closer, but further. The elder's belief that their words are of wisdom makes sense because that's what takes them to their place today -- no matter if it's their social and financial position, or simply the fact that they made a living. However, the world nowadays, especially in their case as immigrants, has greatly changed from the world they lived through when they were young. Therefore, as hard as it is to calm the ego, it may be essential to take a walk in their children's shoes, and be more understanding and supporting.
ReplyDelete- Watson Tao
Delete