#queenchristine

I just got back from the five-day border trip to Tijuana, Mexico. Going there and meeting the people was a humbling experience. I had a chance to experience an entirely different culture than my own and see the way they live. The poverty that I saw made me appreciate my own life and all of the privilege I enjoy. I saw houses built from sheets of corrugated aluminum with packed dirt floors. More than a few of the children I saw had poor dental care and a lack of basic medical care. One man told me that he earns less than fifty dollars a week working three different jobs at once. The American products sold in Mexico are not sold at a discount, and people who want to buy diapers or baby formula there have to pay full U.S. prices on their Mexican wages. One man I met was part of a caravan that traveled to the US/Mexico border from Honduras. He was very happy to be in Tijuana and considered it a paradise compared to the life he left behind in Honduras. Back from the trip, I am grateful to my parents for the education they have helped me obtain. More than once, an impoverished person in Tijuana told me to treasure my education because it is something they can never give their own children. I made a promise to myself never to take opportunities for granted and to recognize the blessings I am surrounded by every single day.

Hey guys! I just wanted to share an interesting Buzzfeed article that provides an overview of the play and the themes that Hwang included. It explains the reason as to why David Hwang wanted to rewrite the original play and how he aimed to better represent modern day society with the complex character. The article also discusses the research he did in order to understand how to represent Song and his true motive in his relationship with Gallimard.

Hey guys. I just wanted to point out a term that both Marc and Gallimard say in Act One to establish male dominance. By classifying themselves as “foreign devils”(25/31), they believe that it is an excuse for their behavior and lack of respect towards women. While Gallimard is trying to be modest, Marc urges him on to look into Song’s window, invading her privacy. Additionally, they believe that they are above the Chinese people just because they are “foreign” and French, deeming them racist. This idea of being superior according to race reminded me of American exceptionalism and the “white-man’s burden”. This haughty behavior is common amongst countries and civilization. Marc and Gallimard fall under the majority by submitting to societal expectations that men have to establish dominance over women in order to be masculine. 

Hey guys! 

I am surprised at how many amazing poets I have found in the process of finding poets and their poetry for my poetry anthology. My theme is social oppression and it’s really interesting to see what direction or events poets tend to lean on for their poem topics. Here is a list of some of the new poets I discovered!

“The Slave Auction” by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

“We Are Not Responsible” by Harryette Mullen

“To the Censorious Ones” by Anne Waldman

“The Sign in My Father’s Hands” by Martin Espada

“At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border” by William E. Stafford

“Bent to the Earth” by Blas Manuel De Luna

“Dakota Homecoming” by Gwen Nell Westerman

“Ghost Dance” by Sara Littlecrow-Russell

Akua’s chapter is filled with the theme of fire. We mentioned this earlier in the book, but we have seen many similarities between Yaa Gyasi’s writing and Toni Morrison’s. When Akua burns her own children, the scenes of Eva burning her son, Plum, and Sula watching her mother, Hannah, burn immediately came to my mind. Akua is dreaming as she kills her kids, but she she “felt calm, happy even”(197). She seems fascinated by the “braided ropes of the fire that made up their hair, their coal-black lips”(197). Akua is entranced by the beauty and intricacy of the fire, an unnatural image of flames engulfing both her and her children.

Looking at Sula, both Eva and Sula have an absent-minded response to the burning of their family members. When Hannah saw Eva right after she lights her son on fire, Eva responds, “Is? My baby? Burning?” I imagine her saying this with sarcasm that projects an unearthly feeling. She is well aware that she just murdered her son, but Eva knows she had to do it for Plum’s own well-being. Eva’s reaction can be compared to Akua and how she is well aware that her children are on fire. However, the firewoman is not angry, so she continues to hold them and does not resist.  

We can also compare Akua’s reaction to Sula’s when she "had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested.” Just like Sula, Akua was interested in the sight of her children burning, which removed her from reality. These three characters’ identities are revealed through the theme of fire and we can clearly see how Yaa Gyasi emulates Toni Morrison’s style of writing. 

Monika’s blindfolded rope maze activity was a great activity that allowed us to learn and understand the characters in Homegoing in a different way and learn more about ourselves. After being one of the few to have not solved the maze by raising my hand, I really took a step back and tried to see why it went that way for me. After reading the New York Times article, “Why Is Asking for Help So Difficult?”, I discovered the several different factors that play into someone being hesitant to ask questions or raise their hand for help. The first point Tugend made was that people do not want to seem weak, needy, or incompetent. Reflecting on these three characteristics, I think for me, I did not want to seem incompetent. I kept thinking that there has to be a way out, this should not be that hard, and that asking for help would not make anything better. I was so determined that I could solve the maze all by myself, I never ended up raising my hand. 

Additionally, when people stall to ask questions for minutes or for days, it is because they just “don’t want to think about it. They don’t know how to handle it”. This scenario can apply to many situations at school when people stall to ask questions to teachers or when you stall to ask important questions to your parents or friends. Putting it off is a mechanism to cope with that difficulty and inability to handle the situation.