American Born Chinese End

I quite liked the ending of "American Born Chinese". It included a bit of a twist that involved the idea of identity. Danny, a boy who seems the epitome of the "American (white) Ideal" is actually Chinese. He is actually the boy from another story, Jin Wang, a boy who struggled with the desire to fit in when he moved from a predominately Chinese area to a mostly white area. He eventually, because of his intense desire to fit in, adopted the Danny persona in an attempt to further himself from his Chinese heritage.

When his cousin comes to visit, 'Danny' is deeply uncomfortable because his cousin reminds him so strongly of everything that he has worked to hard to reject. It brings up a bit of a conflict within with the constant reminder to 'Danny' that part of his identity is made up of his Chinese heritage. That just because 'Danny' has rejected it- ignored the fact- that it doesnt make the fact go away.

I thought that the books exploration of identity- the message at the end that it is important that people not feel forced to have to reject parts of themselves just in order to fit in- was really interesting in this book. I am glad that there was a twist at the end, and I think that it just worked wonders for the amount of power this book holds. I liked the fact that eventually all of the different stories in the book did end up making sense- converged together well.

American Born Chinese Beginning

I like that "American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang, is written in yet another style that we havent yet touched upon. The last book we read introduced us to verse, which proved to be one real way of imparting information- writing a book- organizing what an author wants to say in a way that works for the author. The last book, "Brown Girl Dreaming", by Jacqueline Woodson and this book both have non-traditional formats which just goes to show that there really is no one way to write. I think this just encourages other readers and writers to focus more on what they have to say instead of how they say it- I think this is a good thing because letting worries about adhering to a singular format possibly could get in the way of the message a writer is trying to impart.

"American Born Chinese", is a graphic novel, and actually a really fun read. It is a lot different from "Brown Girl Dreaming", even though both books were focused on racism. Besides the obvious differences in style and that the two books focused on different groups- there were a few others. "Brown Girl Dreaming" is a fairly concrete story. The poetic style added flair- but the story that was actually being told was realistic and included few if any... abstract elements or plot points. And there was only one story being told. On the other hand, "American Born Chinese", tells multiple stories, and it at times uses abstractions to do that. Its interesting that the two books are so different but at the end of the day both are able to get their main points across. I am interested in where the rest of the book takes me. I prefer this book greatly to "Brown Girl Dreaming" because it is so much more divergent seeming, and therefore, to me, just more interesting I suppose.

Brown Girl Dreaming End

I am glad that Jacqueline Woodson ended up becoming the author that she wanted to be. Growing up, I am sure that- and she DOES describe some of this- that it was very hard for her to make it to that point. She grew up in a time where she was very much treated unfairly, was not privy to many of the opportunities that others took for granted, and really just had to prove herself if she was going to make it. And she very much did prove herself- this book being a showcase of that.

Its not my favorite book. I dont know why really, it just wasnt. That does not mean that is a bad book though. I actually do appreciate that she wrote it in verse. In one of the articles that we read 'white space' was mentioned as something that was heavy in this book. I think that is true, and it what does make this a 'good book'. It gives the reader, to an extent, the power to make their own determinations. It helps the reader to better engage with the book, and it lets the reader be more reflective about the points that Woodson is trying to make. There really were many points that were made throughout this book. Both some about racism, inequality, unfairness- fear. And some points that were just made through viewing Woodson relating to the world around her- courage, strength, determination, ect.

Her life was hard growing up. I think we have come a long way since then, but I think that we still do have further to go. I think that books like 'Brown Girl Dreaming' will help take us closer to there.

Brown Girl Dreaming

I had already read "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson for another class. It is not my favorite of all books, but I do appreciate that Woodson does have a story to tell. She grows up in a time where things are deeply segregated, and as a black individual she is thrown right into the middle of all of it. This book, therefore, is about her experiences growing up- and through her, the possible array of experiences of people who lived through similar situations.

It says a lot about how African Americans were treated back in the time of the civil rights movement. It says a lot about the unfairness that so many people had to experience during those times. Jacqueline Woodson is a very strong individual who has overcome a lot of obstacles, including her father leaving, having to assimilate into a more racist south as a young child-(with grandparents who live and see things just a bit differently than she is used to), and just the general struggles of being born in a time where she was discriminated against just for the color of her skin.

I think stories like the ones that Woodson is telling are important because they actually DID happen and did effect a lot of people. It is important that we understand what happened in order to understand why it needs to never ever happen again. Woodsons life was definitely difficult and especially as a child- it was all probably pretty difficult to understand. But understanding, or doing the best that we can to understand things like what Woodson went through, is important. People who went through things like Woodson went through and similar deserve a voice, and I am glad that maybe through books like these that voice grows just a bit louder.

Yaqui Delgado

The end of this book is really making me conflicted. On one hand, Piddy is free from Yaqui and now, perhaps, she will be able to move on and heal. She does not have to deal any more with the stress that had been placed on her from Yaquis bullying. She can get back to doing what she wants without the weight of that on her back.

But at the same time, it feels almost as if she is running away. If, every time you have an issue you decide to just give up and leave the situation- you might never develop the skills needed to actually deal with those issues. If this happens again at her old school... what can she do? Run away again? Would she be able to deal with it in any other way. Perhaps, but there is no real evidence of it.

This was a pretty big deal- not minimizing that. I mean, Yaqui literally assaulted Piddy. Things got almost as bad as they could possibly get. It would have been no small effort for Piddy to probably feel comfortable- strong enough- to stand up for herself after having being victimized in such a way. She is only human and I understand the desire to just... escape. To have this just go away- be a problem no longer. I, in that way, cannot blame her.

But- what does that say to Yaqui? That she can get away with the things that she is doing- that there are no real negative consequences for her actions- that actually, maybe if she IS mean enough she actually might be able to get what she wants from that. Yaqui is free to continue doing what she is doing- to go along on the path that she was on before- hurting, bullying, without any interruption/intervention. She is free to hurt someone else. To even escalate these actions further.

The question I guess is- is Piddy, by doing nothing, in any way responsible for this... freedom that Yaqui has to continue the way that she has? Its, I think, kind of a hard question. I think- really no. That Piddys need for self preservation, while not... helpful in the case of Yaqui and her future actions- really, at the end of the day no one is responsible for Yaqui but Yaqui. It is almost unfair to Piddy to say otherwise. But really, the question kind of remains, if Piddy had stood up- what might that have meant for Yaqui and her future?

Looking at The Hunger Games through the Youth Lens

How the characters in the book, 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins experience being teenagers is very different from how being a teenager is experienced by American teenagers today.

American teenagers for one have many more opportunities than the teenagers in 'The Hunger Games'. The worries that the teens in 'The Hunger Games' are forced to focus on are so far removed from those that effect a teenager in this day and age that there is just no way that experiences are anywhere near the same. The Hunger Games teenagers do not fit within what America's concept of being a teenager involves today. It is potentially because of a lack of opportunity, and most likely also that culture is something that is not innate but is developed. How we treat each other, treat various stages- treat different individuals or groups of individuals is not something that people are just born completely knowing how to do in a well defined way. While biology does have influence and probably does help to point a group or individual in one direction- biological influence is inexact enough that it cannot create a strictly organized culture on its own. People are not biologically homogeneous- the experience of adolescence and the influence that genes have on that experience probably exists on some sort of complicated spectrum. Not every teenager makes the same choices, bad or good, so while they might be in some ways biologically predisposed to leaning towards a particular direction, influenced by that, the thought, the very rigid classification of just what being a teenager involves that America has created- is kind of problematic and kind of close minded in my opinion.

The characters in the Hunger Games- NOT influenced by American culture- are more left to rely upon their own instincts- their own personal need for survival. That takes precedence. Because they are focused on their own individual survival, there really has not been much time- or... togetherness, to condense a singular idea of what adolescence is. The characters are left on their own to develop- the biological changes that are going on within them influencing them to some extent- but not enough where they become almost FORCED to make some of the decisions that we consider standard for teenagers. Not enough to be able to point to a creation of an individual culture for teenagers- one that involves things that cannot be found in either older or younger individuals or groups. They make do- developing with what they have- and what that leads to is a very different teenage culture and personal development than the ideas we have created.

Anyways. The teenagers in 'The Hunger Games' experience their teenage experience differently than we do. This points to a lot of our ideas of being a teenager being a bit too... at the very least being a bit too narrow.

Yaqui Delgado

So far Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass has mostly involved quite a bit of bullying.

I think one of the worst things about bullying is that it can be because of something seemingly out of the blue, it can be seemingly out of no where. Yaqui, in this book, bullies Piddy even though Piddy has not actually done anything that would even come close to directly wrong to Yaqui. But oftentimes people do not really need an excuse beyond their own personal issues to be just awful.

The characters in this book are fairly young, and so that is definitely a factor in all of this. They are immature and just do not really seem to know what to do with their own feelings- so they come out in all sorts of underdeveloped and inappropriate ways- like the bullying.

I am wondering how much impact the poverty the characters face in this book has. Of course, it adds to the stress that is on the characters- it definitely doesnt HELP them because it gives them more issues to worry about- but I wonder whether or not without it the bullying would be as bad as it is? To me, I think that bullying is a fairly universal thing- but I do think that there are some things about poverty that can serve as... reasons for it, poor reasons, but reasons that might be easier to understand than bullying outside of impoverished communities.

End of Feed

Feed did not end happily ever after at all. This was not surprising considering that at the point of time that this book takes place, pretty much everything that could go wrong with the world has happen, and picking up the pieces of what is left would be a huge undertaking for anyone who still had full function of their own minds, never mind those who had already given control to the feed.

It is sad all that has happened in the world in this book, that the world has become so polluted and literally toxic that towns upon towns have just been covered and destroyed by sludge. Animals for the most part are gone, as the sludge makes it pretty difficult for them to thrive in any sort of way... and now the government is starting to try to move on to the moon to continue with their destruction.

People in this book have sacrificed quite a lot for their feed. Their education, their environment, their own health... those lesions, the fact that they are considered a fashion statement is pretty sad. The fact that people have just accepted them as something that they have to deal with points so strongly to a society at large that- even if they did have the freedom to choose differently, have at this point become so dependent on the feed that they would find any excuse not to fight it.

The book ends with the death of Violet. At the end of the day- the feed has become more powerful than anything else in her body- the feed has become so intertwined in her that it is medically indistinguishable from her brain- and the loss of it has pretty much the same effect as brain death would- with every other part of her body so dependent, that with a failing feed everything falls apart.

 Those with the feed, especially those who had it implanted at birth, are not given a choice, another option. They are never really able to really think for themselves. From the second they are born, into a world already mostly destroyed, they lose their actual ability to live for themselves. They are born into a trap, one that they never decided for themselves, but one that will decide everything for them for as long as they continue to exist.

It is a very sad ending to a book, but one that- with our obsession with electronics and social media today- is maybe frighteningly relatable.

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For my subvertisment I chose to use the very popular Coca Cola polar bear. Pollution is causing ever increasing problems around the globe. There are so many different forms of life on earth, and I think that it is sad that for many of these species, their ways of life are being threatened by just human laziness and over consumption. Coke is a huge company that sells products everywhere, to pretty much everyone. People buy bottles and bottles of Coke every year, and the amount of those bottles that are recycled is much lower than it could be. Recycling is so easy- yet people continue to thoughtlessly throw away their bottles instead. These bottles can end up in the ocean, threatening the lives of the hundreds of thousands of species that make their homes there. I specifically focused on the polar bears, pollution leading to an increase in greenhouse gasses, leading to increased global temperatures, leading to the melting of the polar ice caps, threatening the polar bears way of life. But really, pollution, of Coke bottles, of anything, effects every species on the planet. In my subvertisement there is a picture of a child, someone we will leave the earth to, pealing back a layer of the ocean that shows just where so many of these bottles end up. There is also a picture of polar bears standing on a melting SOS, which is pretty self explanatory. But the message is, we had better 'enjoy coke' while we still can- because at the rate we are going with 'enjoying it' and the consequences of that enjoyment- we might, along with other forms of life on Earth, might not have a lot of time left. Unless we change our ways things are going to start- continue- to change, and not for the better.

Feed and Adolescence

                                                           Feed and Adolescence

                I thought that the article was very thorough on discussing the different effects the ideas that we have about adolescence have on us as a society. One part that I particularly liked was when the article first starts discussing the book “Feed” by M.T. Anderson. The author says that in that book, characters, society in general, has fallen under a spell of sort of an infinite adolescence. The ideas we have about adolescents, that they are impulsive, casual, stupid, lazy, unable to think for themselves/sensitive to peer pressure/group think- well, ALL the characters, young to old, are pretty much representative of all of that.

 Personally, I think that adolescence can be a great time of growth and learning- but it was interesting to me that- part of the idea of what happens in “Feed”, is that this growth never really is allowed to happen. I think that adolescence, and some of the ideas we have about it can be beneficial, the idea of experimenting with different things, growing a higher need for a “private life”, increased freedom/independence, can be good for transitioning from one stage in life to another- from child to adult. But that is not what happens in “Feed”, and what we are left with is like a land of lost boys waiting for direction- waiting for what to think- from their very own Peter Pan, the Feed, - which reaffirms that THIS is all they need- that the feed can take care of them- as long as they leave everything up to the feed- submit.

This leaves us with a very single minded society, a very timid and easy to control society. They have never learned to think for themselves, to question things, and so, the Feed can do whatever it is that they want. When the highest ranking, most intelligent members of a society are incapable of thinking for themselves then there can be almost no hope of having checks and balances- of having a voice. And maybe they are ok with that for now, but what if some day, something very wrong happens- something to which they SHOULD object(already kind of there with the lesions but…)… they have never transitioned into “adults”- fully into themselves- they really wouldn’t be able to say what they would want clearly because… it wouldn’t, potentially, have developed clearly even to them as an individual.

What I just wrote reminds me a ton of a story I read called, “Harrison Bergeron”, where society, in a claimed attempt to make everyone equal and happy- eventually forces everyone to function within a lowest common denominator- one that is just not capable of understanding what is going on clearly enough to rebel. That is sort of what is happening in “Feed”, only its more gradual, insidious, less obvious. But they are weighed down and handicapped just like the strong people and the dancers in "Harrison Bergeron", not by physical means, but by their own lack of development- by the effects of the Feed.

             Anyways. I liked what the article said about “Feed”. I liked that it talked about the book as sort of representative of a society that never transitioned out of adolescence. It says to me, that adolescence is important- as a stage- that there might be many different ideas about what exactly adolescence is, but many of the ideas that we have about it can prove beneficial as long as we recognize that it isn’t the desirable end stage.