Final Thoughs on When The Emperor was Divine

   When the Emperor Was Divine is a book that most people can relate to. Right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor the Japanese-Americans were treated very poorly. People were afraid of them because they thought that all Japanese-Americans were spies and were planning more attacks. So they took them and put them into camps. One of the connections that I made while reading was that it was similiar to what happened in Europe to the Jews. They were sent into concentration camps and treated very harshly as people. It didnt matter who they were, all the Jews were treated the same. You can also say the same after 9/11 happened. Arabic and Muslism people are looked at differently because of this incident.
   It shows you how easily people are sterotyped today. Just because someone is a parrticular religion, race or gender does not mean that they should be discriminated or treated differently. But unfortnitley that is not how it works in todays society. People are faced with the challenge of overcoming racism.
  One thing that occured in the novel that I disagreed with was that she hid what was going on from her children. I am not sure where in the book it is but she says, "we are going on a trip." I dont think it is right for her to hide it from her children. I think its her way of not facing the truth and the reality of the situation.

Push

I must say that this was not one of my favorite books that we read this semester. The content of the book waas very hard to get through. Just because even thinking about how a father good do this to his child. Better yet how the mother could sit back and not do anything. Knowing what her husband was doing to their own child. I felt that the text was quite graphic and at times hard to read.
  With that being said I wonder if Precious mother was treated like this as a child and therefore that is why she allows this to go on in her house. The mother must have gone through some sort of trauma in her own life to allow this to continue.
  I found it hard to wrap my head what was going on at times. I have never seen the movie so maybe thats why it was so shocking for me. I'm not sure if the movie shows in detail as much as they do in the book. But after reading the book im not sure if i want to even attempt the movie.

Push By: Sapphire

One of the themes I found through out the book was courage. Precious is faced with many internal struggles through out this book. First being molested by her father and having not one but two children by him and being abused by her mother. I think that this is why Precious reacts the way she does when people try to help her. She doesnt know what a good person is, or when they have good intentions.
     She has been through so much physically, mentally and emtionally. Being abused by both her parents her whole life has lead her to lash out in ways towards others. Precious shows courage by dealing with all of this. Even though the situation is lousy, it could be worse.

FunHome Blog

One of the themes that I notived in this novel was struggling to find their identity. In this book the father, is dealing with an inner struggle to find his sexual identity. Even though he is married and with a family you get the idea from his behavior that he isnt happy. I would question the fathers motives for staying in his marriage and committed to his family. I think he did this because of societal views and opinions. Not everyone is accepting towards scenarios like this. Not just what the father was doing but in general.
   The struggle to find his own identity and to be comfortable in his own skin. I found this concept to be releated to Eve Enslers I am an Emotional Creature. That book talks about how girls struggle to deal with coming into their own skin and finding out who they are. This is the definite age for teens, not just for girls but fot boys as well.

Im An Emotional Creature Blog 2

The connection between the two stories: Bad Boys and Dear Rhianna.
  The story bad boys is about a girl who is struggling to find herself. She like the thrill of dating a bad boy because it makes her feel like she is being a rebel. She feels connected dating someone who is troubled.
   The story "Dear Rhianna" is about a girl who thinks that getting hit by her boyfriend is okay. I think there are two stories in this letter. One being about a girl who thinks it was wrong of Rhianna to leave Chris after what he did. The other being about the same girl who lives in a house, where there is an abusive relationship going on with her parents. Because of this relationship that she is witnessing in her home, she thinks it is okay for her to be hit by her boyfriend. Her parents have stayed together through this. She thinks it is a justifible act. When in reality there is no excuse for either of these relationships. In the book she says, "I know if I did that I would be expecting a confrontation and you really shouldnt dish it out if you can't take it ( Ensler 72)." I for one can not believe that any girl could think like that. No matter how mad a man gets at a woman he should never put his hands on a woman like this, and no woman should think that it is okay when it is
done to them.
These stories relate to one another because maybe she considers her boyfriend to be a "bad boy"

Im An Emotional Creature

My first impression of reading this book was that it was very different from the Vagina Monologues. I thought the VM were more blunt and out there. It made you come out of your comfort zone and read something that was very real and raw. But the EC is a little bit differet. I think this book is geared towards young girls you are growing up. Whereas the VM is for an older audience.
       One of the issues that I think is in the EC is that girls fitting it and thinking that they have to be a certain way in order to get into the "in" crowd. In reality it is alot more challenging for girls to fit in with other girls, then it is for guys to fit in.  There are always going to be different standards when it comes to guys vs girls. For example in the story, "Don't,cairo Egypt." it says "Dont lose your virginity." Sex is different for girls then it is for guys. When girls have sex with someone they are looked as being a whore or  a slut, and they should not be doing something like that. But when guys have sex, they are praised for it.
   

Ensler Response

    One of the things that I found through out the novel was the ability of Ensler to push people out of their comfort zone. Some of the areas of discussion that she discusses are not conversations that most people have. Such as the topic of Masturbation, i know that the majority of my close friends are not comfortable talking about this in front of each other.
    For Ensler to be able to to discuss this shows the audience that she has no fear or shame. I think the experiences that Ensler has gone through in her lifetime helped her write this book. A book that every girl who reads it will learn to not be embarassed to discuss their vagina. Girls need to come out of their comfort zone a lot sooner than they are. In todays society i think that is happening more often than when i was 13. The media and other sources are truly playing a role in how girls view themselves. I think that the movies that young girls are watching are influencing their views on things. Ensler does a great job of doing this in her novel.

My Reaaction To the Vagina Monolouges

      While reading the Vagina Monolouge I was quite surprised how blunt Ensler was through out the book. Especialy when she talks about interviewing people and asking them questions like, "If your vagina could talk..what would it say, what would it wear." I do not know how I would feel if a stanger came up to me and asked me those questions. I think everyone is different, some people would have no problem answering that honestly. Others would feel uncomfortable and akward answering them.
    One the things we discussed in class was that the interviews had to be done in a gradual process. There had to be trust between Ensler and the person she was interviewing. I personally feel that i would not trust a person i just meet five mintues ago on the street to answer questions like those. But thats just me, others are more trusting.
     There was definitely a moment of discomfort for me while reading this book. I think it was because that is just such a touchy subject to discuss with anyone. I mean it is not everyday casual conversation. So to have to read a book all about it and hear peoples stories, is kind of akward. That area is kind of like a hidden world. It's there but we dont talk about, it's just there.

The Vagina Monolouge

   This book was soo good. I have never wanted to finish reading a book so bad in my life. I just could not put it down. There was never a dull moment for me, I was so involved in the book. There were moments were I was laughing, and other times where the mood was more serious. Every woman who reads this book can relate to it in some way.
         One of the parts of the book that I thought was really funny were the "if your vagina could...". I feel like these are the questions that alot of young women wonder about but are scared to ask. The question "If you vagina could talk what would it say.." the first to words that came to mind were im closed. I've made some careless mistakes in my life and if I could go back and change them I would.
   Every teen out there should read this book. You an relate to it in some many different ways. The lessons that you can learn and things of that nature. This book is great for teens because they will learn alot. They will learn to be comfortable with themselves. Not worrying about what others think or anything like that.
This is truly an amazing book, that I will probably read again, because I liked it so much.

The Vagina Monolouge Response

4)  Emotion plays a huge role in what Ensler is trying to accomplish. Why is this? How does she use emotions like humor as a strategy? How does she move us from laughter to embarrassment to sadness to other emotional reactions and why do you think she is doing this?

          In the novel, The Vagina Monolouges Ensler uses humor as a way to draw the attention off of a uncomfortable subject. Some people do not like to talk about vagainas and if you use humor it makes the book more funny. I think people can be hesitant about reading this book because of the title. You do not really know what your getting into when you are reading a book about vaginas.
   The emotional feelings you get from reading this book varies. You know at one point you may laugh (example of using the humor) at the context or the word choice she uses. However, at another point where she is refering to the torture that some vaginas have gone through (Ensler). Thats when you realize that it is also has a serious attitude about it.
       I think word choice plays a key role in how the readers flow through the novel. It is liek it is her way of trying to make the readers as comfortable as posssible while reading this book.  The Vagina Monologues can be serious at times and then funny at times. But Ensler does a great job of portraying this in the novel.

Haitian History

   This book takes place in Haiti. It is during a time of war. While I was reading the book there were a few things that it reminded me off. One being that she writes about being in cramped rooms on a boat. Having no idea where they are going or what it is happening. This reminded me of the slave trade. When the slaves were shipped from continent to continent via boat. They too were left in very poor conditions and surrondings.
    All this is going on in Haiti that is already suffering from various situations. In the year 1937 there was something called the Parley Massacre. This was when the President of the Dominican Republic ordered the execution of the Haitian population living within the borderlines of Haiti. In a span of 5 days there were 20,000-30,000 killed. The signicance behind this is that it shows what was going on in Haiti during the authors life.
     Haitian Voodoo was based off of the merging of beliefs of the West African people. It was created by African slaves who still believed in African beliefs but were forced to convert. This is significant because it shows that people were forced to do many things they did not want to do. Just like in the novel she talks about how they had to do similiar things.
    The Massacre River is where the Parley Massacre took place. Is this the same river that she threw her baby into?
    Dutty Boukman was a slave who educated himself, he was born on the island of Jamica. He was sold by his slave master in Britain to the French after he was caught teaching the Jamicans how to read. This reminded me of Fredrick Douglass because he was teaching the slaves how to read. By doing so they would figure out what there masters were trying to do.
    Toussaint Louverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution.
    Francois Duvalier was the President of Haiti until his death. He is responsible  for the 30,000 deaths from the revolt.
    Tonton Macoute became President of Haiti after the death of Duvalier.His name in creole literally meant "Uncle Gunnysack". He would kidnap unruly children and punsish them by consuming them at breakfast. This shows that no one was safe for what ever reason in Haiti.
   

Literary Analysis on "Two Countries"

     Nye uses the reference of skin in this poem. I think that she uses "skin" in different ways. One being that you can look at skin as if it were her herself. Being surronded in a war zone and not knowing when it is going to end. Another way that you can interpret "skin" is looking at it from an outsiders perspective. Meaning that the media, and others can judge what is going on between Irasel and Palestine. However, we are not there so we can not truly know what these individuals are going through. All we can do is believe what the reporters say on the news. It is the sae thing as you never truly know what a person is like until you get to know them. You do not know what they have gone through or what they are going through. Until you walk in someone elses shoes...or are in someone elses "skin", you do not know what it is like to be them.
   Living in America we will never know what it is like to be one of the innocent Arab people living in a country that is hated by the United States. Ever since 9/11 some make the assumption that all Arabs, or Muslms are bad. Which is not true but because of the terriorists that live in these countries, the innocent ones go unnoticed.
    "Skin had hope, that's what skin does." I took this to mean that she herself is the skin. She has hope that one day the war will end and her people will not be isolated from society in terms of being looked down upon. She hopes for a life where she does not have to hide from who she is and what her culture or beliefs are.

Literary Analysis "19 Varieties of Gazelle"

     In the poem, " The Palestinians Have Given Up Parties", written by Nye she talks about what her country is like after the war. Ovbsiously in a time where there is war going on all around you things are going to change. The environment is very hositle, which is understandable due to what is happening in her country and the surronding areas.
     On page 60, Nye writes, "Laughter lived here jingling its pocket of thin coins and now it is hiding." From this line I took it to mean that there was once a time when laughter was okay. People and children were not afraid to laugh but now with all the fighting it is gone. They used to think that laughter was okay, and they were not afraid to do it. But now with all the fighting going on around them they do not do it. Everyones moods have changed. Most likely because of the conflict going on in their country. The people do not know when this conflict will end and when they will be able to laugh again.
      On page 61, Nye writes. "They will not see, he says slowly, the story behind the story, they are always looking for the story after the story which means they will never understand the story. Which means it will go on and on. " The first thing I asked myself was who does she mean by they? The people in her country? The outsiders looking in on this situation? I personally think that they are the outsiders. For the people that are not involved in this situation all we can do it watch and intepret what is going on. We will never understand the pain, suffering and turmoil they are going through. This results in the conflict contiuning for a long time until something happens to stop it. Who knows what that will be or when it will happen.

Poem

Touched by An Angel~ Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

           I chose this poem because I think it has a very real message and can speak to anyone. The poem can relate to anyone. I like this poem because of the meaning that I found in it when i read it. No matter how many times you read it, the same message comes across the same.  In the first stanza the line " live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple", spoke to me. This line to me means thats until we find love in somebody or something we live a lonely life. Basically saying that love defines us in every way it can. It does not nesscarily mean that it has to be in a person but in something. Maybe a passion for writing, just something. The second stanza is where I found the true meaning of the poem. When your in love it is not going to be all good times. There will be good times and bad times. Every relationship has it's rough patches but you have to work through it and make it work.  There is no greater feeling than the feeling of love and hopefully everyone has the opportunity to experience it in life. To me that is what this poem is about.