Posts

Eva Hoffman Analysis

 From Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman: “The words I learn now don’t stand for things in the same unquestioned way they did in my native tongue. ‘River’ in Polish was a vital sound, energized with the essence of riverhood, of my rivers, of my being immersed in rivers. ‘River’ in English is cold—a word without an aura” (p.385). “The verbal blur covers these people’s faces, their gestures with a sort of fog. I can’t translate them into my mind’s eyes. The small event, instead of being added to the mosaic of conciseness and memory, falls through some black hole and I fall with it. What has happened to me in this new world? I don’t know” (p.389). It must have been really difficult for Eva to learn the English language. Most languages don’t have the same sentence structure so learning English as a second language, I felt bad for her. She was experiencing culture shock and trying to learn a new language at the same time. She felt disassociated from the new location. She felt as if she ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Audre Lorde Analysis

 From Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde: “My mother was different from other women, and sometimes it gave me a sense of pleasure and specialness that was a positive aspect of feeling set apart. But sometimes it gave me pain and fancied it the reason for so many of my childhood sorrows” (p.497). “But it was so typical of my mother when I was young that if she couldn’t stop white people from spitting on her children because they were Black, she would insist it was something else” (p.498).      Her parents made a lot of decisions for their family in terms of what is right and wrong. I feel that even though she thought her mother got upset and mad at her a lot it was to protect her. Her mother even lied to her about people spitting into the wind. I think her mother said that because it was easier to explain that to a child than to say it is on purpose because of our race. That is horrible that even children who have not even learned much about the world yet ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Emily Hahn Analysis

 From Times and Places by Emily Hahn: “Though I had always wanted to be an opium addict, I can’t claim that as the reason I went to China” (p. 344). “‘I don’t feel a thing,’ I told him […] He said, ‘Look at your watch.’ I cried out in surprise; it was 3 o’clock in the morning” (p.348). “‘We opium smokers, I reflected, are detached, and that is one of our advantages. We aren’t troubled with unpleasant emotions” (p.351).      I found the first line, as I quoted on page 344, to draw my attention to why would this woman want to be an opium addict. Emily was a very adventurous woman she loved to travel and traveled to China during the time that the opium drug was a highly used substance.  When she smoked opium for the first time, she did not think she was feeling any different. Yet several hours had passed without her knowledge. It was like time stopped for her but for the rest of the world, it kept going. As she continued using opium her addiction began, she just th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Zora Neale Hurston Analysis

 Quotes from Mules to Men by Zora Neale Hurston: “Come on, Zora! Le’s go to Wood Bridge. Great toe-party goin’ on. All kinds of ‘freshments. We kin tell you some lies most any ole time. We never run outer lies and lovin’. Tell ‘em tomorrow night. Come on if you comin’ – le’s go if you gwine” (p.409). “he said that soon I would be in possession of the entire business, for the spirit had spoken to him and told him that I was the last doctor that he would make; that one year and seventy-nine days from then he would die” (p.421). While I was reading this section was kind of difficult to understand with their accents. Their constant talk of a toe party was weird to me. When it was finally explained still was a weird concept of choosing a woman for a blind date by their feet or shoes. Zora was picked five times that night. Once that night was over, Zora started talking about a man named Luke Turner. He did not want anything to do with Zora. She wanted to ask him questions and learn more ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Helen Keller Analysis

 From The Story of My Life by Helen Keller: “I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without a compass or sounding-line, had no way of knowing how near the harbour was” (p.445). “ 'What is love?’ I asked” (p.447). “My work was practice, practice, practice. Discouragement and weariness cast down on me frequently; but the next moment I thought that I should soon be home and show my loved ones what I had accomplished, spurred on me, and I eagerly looked forward to their pleasure in my achievement” (p.450).           As a child, Helen felt lost and frustrated that she could not understand what life had to offer because she was not able to see her surroundings or hear others. She used her other senses constantly like her smell and touch. Where others could see the beautiful, bright colors of the greenery and flowers, she could smell their scents and feel them in her hands. Her hands helped her in her learning from learning objects that ha...
1 comment
Read more

Helen Keller Documentary Analysis

     This documentary was an interesting perspective that I have not seen before, Helen Keller’s childhood. I have read stories about her in other classes, but from the time when she was older and working toward activist movements. It must have been so different for her not being able to see or hear, it was a new perspective on life. She got very frustrated many times. I was in awe about the idea Anne, her educator, had to use the cold water from the pump to teach Helen how to put the letters she learned to use. As the narrator states when describing Anne’s actions to teach Helen, “[…] she presses into Helen’s hand the spelling of ‘water, and for the first time the finger game has meaning”. I think it must have been an amazing feeling to know that things have names and that helped her keep progressing to learn more. Before this happened, she probably felt lost and alone. She even was able to learn so much to be able to go to a school of the blind. She explained to her tea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Maxine Hong Kingston Analysis

  From  The Woman Warrior  by Maxine Hong Kingston: “Buy nothing. Don’t bring one cent. Go and make them stop the curse” (p.453). “Who’d want to marry you anyway? Noisy. Talking like a duck. Disobedient. Messy. And I know about college.” (p.466)      In the first part of this reading, I was confused about her mother talking about ghosts. She was freaking out in concern that the whole family was going to get sick because of the delivery being wrong. As she continued to explain, she forced Maxine to go almost every day to get candy to make sure the curse was not going to be on their house. Her mother constantly talking about the ghosts and I believe it was in reference to a cultural difference. Their family was trying to blend into the community because they were immigrants in the United States. Her mother constantly feared something happening to their family.      In the section where the second quote is from Maxine is standing up to her mothe...
2 comments
Read more