What Diverse Literature Means to Me
One of the most important things that I feel I learned from this class is that even if I do not know if something is quality accurate literature for representing a diverse group, there are so many resources available to me to check out the value of a book for a certain culture. As a Caucasian middle-class female, I do not fit into very many of the categories of multicultural literature, so as an outsider, I have to be able to reference insiders (people who know quite a bit more about the topic than myself) so that I as an outsider can expose my students to this other literature even though I may not know much about it. I think that including multicultural literature in my class will be almost as much of a learning experience for me as it will be for my students.
Another thing that I learned from this class was that diverse literature encompasses so many different types of literature, and that to try and classify them into a few groups is not accurate at all. Even though the class strives to educate people about all of the different types of literature, it still falls short by having to combine groups in order to cover more information. Even within my topic, there are so many ways to divide it even further to address more specifically a certain group.
On a final note: Diverse or Multicultural literature may seem like a part of language arts, but after taking this class I would categorize it as a part of social studies. Ideas about this topic are constantly changing and being shaped by society. There is not a set of prescribed rules about how to teach it like there are with other subjects like math or some of the subsets of language arts.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Reflection on Chicano Literature
When I began this project, I first had to think about what term I would use to encompass an underrepresented group in American Literature. I was unsure as to whether to focus on Chicano Literature, or Hispanic Literature, or Latino Literature. The first being the most focused, specifically on Mexican Americans, the second being on people who come from Spanish speaking countries, and the third seemed to be the broadest term that encompassed any one of Mexican, Spanish, or Latin American decent. In order to focus my project, I decided to use the term Mexican American when searching for books and reviews.
As I started to choose books for this project, I decided to look for books that had been recognized as outstanding works. The books that I reviewed are all recipients of the Pura Belpre Award.
Each story seemed to give the reader an insight into the lives of Mexican Americans, but all of the characters seemed individualistic, not generic making the novels more genuine. It is easy to write a story relying upon stereotypes, but all three of these novels told a different, unique story. A commonality between all three of the following novels is that they do not strive to teach people about what it is like to be Chicano, rather they are telling a story of the life of some people who identify with being Chicano. Common themes could be that all of the characters struggle in some way with being Chicano and the racism they have to deal with as a result. Another common them of these three texts is the issue of money having some sort of impact on their lives because they do not always have enough, but in all three the characters are strong and money is not the most important issue for them.
As I started to choose books for this project, I decided to look for books that had been recognized as outstanding works. The books that I reviewed are all recipients of the Pura Belpre Award.
Each story seemed to give the reader an insight into the lives of Mexican Americans, but all of the characters seemed individualistic, not generic making the novels more genuine. It is easy to write a story relying upon stereotypes, but all three of these novels told a different, unique story. A commonality between all three of the following novels is that they do not strive to teach people about what it is like to be Chicano, rather they are telling a story of the life of some people who identify with being Chicano. Common themes could be that all of the characters struggle in some way with being Chicano and the racism they have to deal with as a result. Another common them of these three texts is the issue of money having some sort of impact on their lives because they do not always have enough, but in all three the characters are strong and money is not the most important issue for them.
Review of a Professional Resource: Chicano/Chicana Literature
Kaup, Monika. "Rewriting North American Borders in Chicano and Chicana Narrative." Modern Language Quarterly 64(2003): 508-13.
In this article, the idea of the transformation of the Chicana role in American society is addressed. The article discusses some main points of difference in the roles of Chicana women. One role is that of the Texas Chicana, in which the woman is just over from Mexico and is not part of American culture. This woman is seen as the other and has not conformed nor does she wish to conform to the ways of life of Americans. This Chicana women chooses to hold on to her traditions and her heritage and resists assimilating to American ways of life.
Another type of woman addressed is a Chicana woman who came to America in the 1940’s after the civil rights movement had begun. These women are not in the same group as the ones who were already here because they did not have to deal with the same discriminations.
During studies of the Chicana woman in the 1970’s many scholars decided that any woman who was Chicana was the same as any other woman who was Chicana. A one-dimensional mold was put in place for all of these women to be crammed into. Kaup is in favor of this classification and argues that in order to move forward Chicano’s need to assimilate to American culture and leave their pasts behind because there is no going back. After reading this article, I realized how important it is that there be various representations of Chicana women in literature so that people can see past stereotypes. This article seemed to argue that in general, all Chicana women are the same and after reading three different texts about Chicano peoples that had Chicana women in them, I could not put all of them into one category. There are traits that might be similar between them, but like all people Chicana women are individuals and literature similar to that which follows is critical in educating and informing people about others. This type of literature provides some insight into their lives without trying to teach or promoting stereotypes.
In this article, the idea of the transformation of the Chicana role in American society is addressed. The article discusses some main points of difference in the roles of Chicana women. One role is that of the Texas Chicana, in which the woman is just over from Mexico and is not part of American culture. This woman is seen as the other and has not conformed nor does she wish to conform to the ways of life of Americans. This Chicana women chooses to hold on to her traditions and her heritage and resists assimilating to American ways of life.
Another type of woman addressed is a Chicana woman who came to America in the 1940’s after the civil rights movement had begun. These women are not in the same group as the ones who were already here because they did not have to deal with the same discriminations.
During studies of the Chicana woman in the 1970’s many scholars decided that any woman who was Chicana was the same as any other woman who was Chicana. A one-dimensional mold was put in place for all of these women to be crammed into. Kaup is in favor of this classification and argues that in order to move forward Chicano’s need to assimilate to American culture and leave their pasts behind because there is no going back. After reading this article, I realized how important it is that there be various representations of Chicana women in literature so that people can see past stereotypes. This article seemed to argue that in general, all Chicana women are the same and after reading three different texts about Chicano peoples that had Chicana women in them, I could not put all of them into one category. There are traits that might be similar between them, but like all people Chicana women are individuals and literature similar to that which follows is critical in educating and informing people about others. This type of literature provides some insight into their lives without trying to teach or promoting stereotypes.
Book Review: Parrot in the Oven Mi Vida
–Pura Belpre Award Winner
Martinez, Victor. Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.
Victor Martinez is an insider to Chicano literature because he is the son of migrant workers in California. A lot of the fodder for his novel comes from personal experiences.
Manny goes through so many experiences in his life and the novel does not dwell on them. It is refreshing to find a book that can incorporate multiple aspects of life into it in a manner that flows. Manny works on a farm picking peppers which may seems stereotypical except that the reader is provided with reasons for him working there. He is not a migrant worker; he is a young boy trying to earn some extra money for baseball. His home life is rough, but it is something that a lot of people can relate to. Manny struggles with how to deal with his home life in a way that seems most natural to him, meaning he does not want to rush out and join a gang because he sees others using that as a solution.
The white male in the story is trying to be the hero for Manny and give him money to help turn his life around allow Manny to go to a better school to get a better education. It is amazing at the naivety of thinking that twenty dollars is going to be enough to change Manny’s life. Manny wants to go to another school, a better one, but when he is told that there is no room for him there and his father takes the money given to him by his teacher he gives up on that dream.
One might assume that his giving up on that dream was a sign of weakness, but Manny was a very strong young boy. He was confused about the world around him, but was shown just how important family can be. His sister is faced with a crisis that Manny and his mother help her through. The surprising part is that before the crisis is over, the father finds out and instead of reacting the way Manny thinks he will, he shows love and compassion for his family. Manny might not have the best or most ideal life, but it is his and he deals with it in the way that he feels most comfortable with as a person. That seems to be the biggest message from this whole book, that while Chicano peoples may face a lot of hardships simply because of who they are, they still have the choice and the power to become the person that they want to be.
Martinez, Victor. Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.
Victor Martinez is an insider to Chicano literature because he is the son of migrant workers in California. A lot of the fodder for his novel comes from personal experiences.
Manny goes through so many experiences in his life and the novel does not dwell on them. It is refreshing to find a book that can incorporate multiple aspects of life into it in a manner that flows. Manny works on a farm picking peppers which may seems stereotypical except that the reader is provided with reasons for him working there. He is not a migrant worker; he is a young boy trying to earn some extra money for baseball. His home life is rough, but it is something that a lot of people can relate to. Manny struggles with how to deal with his home life in a way that seems most natural to him, meaning he does not want to rush out and join a gang because he sees others using that as a solution.
The white male in the story is trying to be the hero for Manny and give him money to help turn his life around allow Manny to go to a better school to get a better education. It is amazing at the naivety of thinking that twenty dollars is going to be enough to change Manny’s life. Manny wants to go to another school, a better one, but when he is told that there is no room for him there and his father takes the money given to him by his teacher he gives up on that dream.
One might assume that his giving up on that dream was a sign of weakness, but Manny was a very strong young boy. He was confused about the world around him, but was shown just how important family can be. His sister is faced with a crisis that Manny and his mother help her through. The surprising part is that before the crisis is over, the father finds out and instead of reacting the way Manny thinks he will, he shows love and compassion for his family. Manny might not have the best or most ideal life, but it is his and he deals with it in the way that he feels most comfortable with as a person. That seems to be the biggest message from this whole book, that while Chicano peoples may face a lot of hardships simply because of who they are, they still have the choice and the power to become the person that they want to be.
Book Review: Esperanza Rising
- Pura Belpre Award Winner
Munoz Ryan, Pam. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic, 2000.
Pam Munoz Ryan was not born in Mexico, she was born in California but Mexico is a part of her heritage that she identifies strongly with. Much of the information in her book that she did not personally experience, she learned about through the direct accounts of her grandmother. Her grandmother had firsthand accounts since she herself had experienced these events.
Esperanza goes from a life of luxury to a life of hardships. In a country where most of the population is very poor, Esperanza is a member of one of the wealthy families that own a lot of land. After an unfortunate circumstance steals her father away, she and her mother must decide whether to stay and live in Mexico or to leave the only home Esperanza has ever know. To stay would mean that she and her mother would definitely be unhappy, so she ad her mother leave their home and head for California. Their new life is nothing like their old one and Esperanza must learn to deal with her new circumstances and to overcome the many adversities that she and her mother face.
A major issue that is illustrated in this novel is that of the unfair working conditions and wages for migrant and immigrant workers. People have to decide whether they want to fight for better wages and working conditions, or if they want to keep quiet and take what they can get. Going on strike against the people who are providing them with work is very risky, but the pay off may be worth it in the end. The people are split as to whether or not this course of action seems right to them, but must act united if they want to be taken seriously.Closely related to this is the issue of how to make a better life for oneself in America. Some Chicano people believed that they had to fight for their rights in order to move up the social ladder. Others such as Esperanza’s friend Miguel believe that hard work will pay off and he will be able to control his own future by how much work he is willing to do. There are many other issues talked about in this book, and I would definitely recommend reading it to learn more about different points of views from Chicano perspectives.
Munoz Ryan, Pam. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic, 2000.
Pam Munoz Ryan was not born in Mexico, she was born in California but Mexico is a part of her heritage that she identifies strongly with. Much of the information in her book that she did not personally experience, she learned about through the direct accounts of her grandmother. Her grandmother had firsthand accounts since she herself had experienced these events.
Esperanza goes from a life of luxury to a life of hardships. In a country where most of the population is very poor, Esperanza is a member of one of the wealthy families that own a lot of land. After an unfortunate circumstance steals her father away, she and her mother must decide whether to stay and live in Mexico or to leave the only home Esperanza has ever know. To stay would mean that she and her mother would definitely be unhappy, so she ad her mother leave their home and head for California. Their new life is nothing like their old one and Esperanza must learn to deal with her new circumstances and to overcome the many adversities that she and her mother face.
A major issue that is illustrated in this novel is that of the unfair working conditions and wages for migrant and immigrant workers. People have to decide whether they want to fight for better wages and working conditions, or if they want to keep quiet and take what they can get. Going on strike against the people who are providing them with work is very risky, but the pay off may be worth it in the end. The people are split as to whether or not this course of action seems right to them, but must act united if they want to be taken seriously.Closely related to this is the issue of how to make a better life for oneself in America. Some Chicano people believed that they had to fight for their rights in order to move up the social ladder. Others such as Esperanza’s friend Miguel believe that hard work will pay off and he will be able to control his own future by how much work he is willing to do. There are many other issues talked about in this book, and I would definitely recommend reading it to learn more about different points of views from Chicano perspectives.
Book Review: The Tequila Worm
- Pura Belpre Award Winner
Canales, Viola. The Tequila Worm. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2005.
Viola Canales is a Chicana woman who grew up in Texas and seemed to have many similar experiences as the main character in her novel, Sofia.
Sofia is a 14-year-old Chicano girl who lives at home with her parents and her younger sister. They are surrounded by her extended family and are all very close. Her best friend Berta is also her cousin and one of the people that she shares life experiences with while growing up in a Catholic and Chicano community. This novel seems to be a fairly representative coming of age novel as it takes the reader through the various difficulties and hardships that Sofia faces as a young adult.
What sets this book apart from other coming of age novels is that Sofia is a unique individual and part of a minority group. As a Chicana, she has to deal with some racism at school and in her community. She also has some special traditions with her family that other Chicano families may or may not have. Preparing beans to be refried for her lunches everyday is something that becomes a tradition for Sofia and her father. They like to eat the beans after the first cooking, without waiting for them to be refried, which is something special and unique for just them. Providing the character with something as small as this is part of what makes this book stand out as an individual.
A form of affirmative action helps Sofia to be able to attend a private school. Her success in life is an inspiration to young women everywhere that hard work can pay off. Sofia does face some discrimination for being a Mexican American, but her ability to overcome the racism is encouragement for other people to stand up for themselves and realize that being different is not a terrible thing.
The tequila worm becomes a symbol not only of her heritage, but also of her ability to overcome difficult situations and persevere in life. In Mexican tradition, the tequila worm is found in the bottom of a bottle of mescal. Eating the tequila worm is something that can help to bond people because it is gross, but also because it is something special for them. Traditionally, the tequila worm represents something that can help someone to combat homesickness if they eat it.
Canales, Viola. The Tequila Worm. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2005.
Viola Canales is a Chicana woman who grew up in Texas and seemed to have many similar experiences as the main character in her novel, Sofia.
Sofia is a 14-year-old Chicano girl who lives at home with her parents and her younger sister. They are surrounded by her extended family and are all very close. Her best friend Berta is also her cousin and one of the people that she shares life experiences with while growing up in a Catholic and Chicano community. This novel seems to be a fairly representative coming of age novel as it takes the reader through the various difficulties and hardships that Sofia faces as a young adult.
What sets this book apart from other coming of age novels is that Sofia is a unique individual and part of a minority group. As a Chicana, she has to deal with some racism at school and in her community. She also has some special traditions with her family that other Chicano families may or may not have. Preparing beans to be refried for her lunches everyday is something that becomes a tradition for Sofia and her father. They like to eat the beans after the first cooking, without waiting for them to be refried, which is something special and unique for just them. Providing the character with something as small as this is part of what makes this book stand out as an individual.
A form of affirmative action helps Sofia to be able to attend a private school. Her success in life is an inspiration to young women everywhere that hard work can pay off. Sofia does face some discrimination for being a Mexican American, but her ability to overcome the racism is encouragement for other people to stand up for themselves and realize that being different is not a terrible thing.
The tequila worm becomes a symbol not only of her heritage, but also of her ability to overcome difficult situations and persevere in life. In Mexican tradition, the tequila worm is found in the bottom of a bottle of mescal. Eating the tequila worm is something that can help to bond people because it is gross, but also because it is something special for them. Traditionally, the tequila worm represents something that can help someone to combat homesickness if they eat it.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Blogging
For this class, I feel like each of us having our individual blogs had some benefits but also some weaknesses.
Creating my own blog was a good experience because it allowed me to learn how to do it. I would have liked to have more interaction with others through my blog, but I really liked to look at others blogs and post comments on their posts.
Some of the drawbacks to each of us having our own blog was that it was difficult to be able to keep track of everyones posts and comments. I did not have enough time to be able to check all of the class blogs on a weekly basis. I think that if we were all posting on one class blog, it would have been much easier to get dialogs going on the issues. Also, if someone posted about an upcoming event on their blog but I did not go to their blog, I had no way of knowing about the event until it was over.
Creating my own blog was a good experience because it allowed me to learn how to do it. I would have liked to have more interaction with others through my blog, but I really liked to look at others blogs and post comments on their posts.
Some of the drawbacks to each of us having our own blog was that it was difficult to be able to keep track of everyones posts and comments. I did not have enough time to be able to check all of the class blogs on a weekly basis. I think that if we were all posting on one class blog, it would have been much easier to get dialogs going on the issues. Also, if someone posted about an upcoming event on their blog but I did not go to their blog, I had no way of knowing about the event until it was over.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Proposal 8
I have read the summary, analysis, and arguments surrounding Proposal 8 in California and feel that what happened there is wrong. I will not say whether I am for or against gay marriage, that is not the issue for me. What is the issue is that people were allowed to think and believe that they were making progress in their fight towards equal treatment and being able to marry same sex partners. For that right to be given and taken on technicalities is wrong because of the way that it will affect the lives of these people. While it is said that even though they will no longer be married, a domestic parternship is still the same, obviously to them it is not the same thing.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Blindness...the movie.
I have not seen the movie Blindness, but I would like to just out of curiosity. The idea of portraying blindness as a disease, and as something to quarantine people for seems outrageous...but I have to think that perhaps that was the idea of the movie. I do not think it is an attempt to actually portray the lives of people who live with being blind so much as to present a strange situtation in a movie that people can have a lot of discussion about. When the people in the movie go blind, they become helpless, which is not true of people who are living with blindness, so I can see how that would be offensive. People have to realize though, that this movie is not meant for education, it is for entertainment purposes. Even so, people still have the right to be offended that something they deal with is being "Hollywoodized" in a way that is completely unreal.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
School Funding
In TE 401, we recently did an activity that asked us to look at and interpret data about the school funding policy in Michigan, and the gaps between the highest and lowest funded schools. From this activity, I was able to see that some schools receive up to 7,000 dollars PER STUDENT more than other schools. This seems incredibly unfair to the students in these poorly funded schools. There seem to be two opposing sides to this debate; one side argues for equal funding for all, and the other mindset is that if parents are wealthy then their children should be able to go to a school that receives a lot more money than students of poor families.
I can understand the people who want to say that their children should have advantages in school if they are working so hard for their money to reach the elevated status they are at that allows them to make such good money. However, I think that it is completely unfair to children to start them off at a disadvantage simply because their parents are not as wealthy as someone in the next town over.
School funding can literally be drastically different for schools that are not even ten minutes away from each other. I had the opportunity to visit a school in Lansing, and one in Okemos, and the differences literally took my breath away. I was angry when I walked into the school in Okemos and saw the entire school was completely carpeted, the library was three times the size of the one in Lansing and filled with books, the classrooms in Okemos had all kinds of supplies and resources, whereas in Lansing the teachers might be lucky to have half that much to work with.
I don't know how others feel, but I think that putting children into a hierarchy based upon their parents occupation and economic status is wrong.
I can understand the people who want to say that their children should have advantages in school if they are working so hard for their money to reach the elevated status they are at that allows them to make such good money. However, I think that it is completely unfair to children to start them off at a disadvantage simply because their parents are not as wealthy as someone in the next town over.
School funding can literally be drastically different for schools that are not even ten minutes away from each other. I had the opportunity to visit a school in Lansing, and one in Okemos, and the differences literally took my breath away. I was angry when I walked into the school in Okemos and saw the entire school was completely carpeted, the library was three times the size of the one in Lansing and filled with books, the classrooms in Okemos had all kinds of supplies and resources, whereas in Lansing the teachers might be lucky to have half that much to work with.
I don't know how others feel, but I think that putting children into a hierarchy based upon their parents occupation and economic status is wrong.
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