Hi all,
For the blog this week, write an observation and/or comment that you have relating to one or another of this week's readings. Also, below are some topics to start thinking about for essay two.
EN 110-ESSAY TWO Topics
(1)
Present your own view of how family members relate to one another during the holidays. To support your argument discuss elements of one or two of the following: “The First Thanksgiving” by Sarah Vowell, “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan or your own holiday experiences.
(2)
Agree or disagree with the position taken on photography in one or more of the following: Susan Sonntag’s “On Photography,” James Nachtwey’s“Ground Zero,” Babbette Hines’s “Picture Perfect,” N. Scott Momaday’s “The Photograph,” or Ethan Canin’s “Vivian, Fort Barnwell.”
(3)
Explain what makes childhood (or, if you wish, innocence) important for the way of seeing in one or two of the following texts: “The Little Store” by Eudora Welty, “Seeing” by Annie Dillard, “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White, “Ode to an Orange” by Larry Woiwode, or “Vivian, Fort Barnwell” by Ethan Canin.
(4)
Develop an argument in which you agree or disagree with David Guterson’s criticism of suburbia in “No Place Like Home”.
(5)
Define and explain how memory adds or subtracts to the meaning of things that people see in one or more of the following selections: “Seeing” by Annie Dillard, “Once More to the Lake” by E.B. White, “Ode to an Orange” by Larry Woiwode, “The Little Store” by Eudora Welty, or “Vivian, Fort Barnwell” by Ethan Canin.
(6)
In paragraph nine of “Homeplace,” Scott Russell Sanders writes that “many of the worst abuses” in this hemisphere have come about through “the habit of our industry and commerce…to force identical schemes onto differing locales”. In paragraph nineteen, Sanders gives an example of this practice near where he lives. Think about why Sanders considers the practice to be a form of abuse. (Specifically, what or who does he imply is being abused?) Then, based on your own observations, think of an example in which a franchise or corporation has established the same store floor plan, or same product lines, advertising campaigns or… to do business in local communities that are rather different from one another. Do you agree or disagree with Sanders that this corporate practice is a problem? What difference does it make if businesses approach one community in the same way that they approach another? If there is a leveling effect, in which places lose their authentic character, why is this a bad thing and what are the benefits to communities of having a national chain, if any, that Sanders fails to mention? The point (your thesis) is to agree or disagree with Sanders that the proliferation of national chains is one of “the worst abuses” of industry or commerce.
(7)
Compare and contrast Guterson’s criticism of suburbia to Sanders’s criticism of the corporate practice of selling the same products in stores that look the same in different communities. Are the planning principles, the corporate motives, or the social consequences that each writer criticizes similar or different? What are some of the possible explanations for these similarities or differences? Discuss your own examples of the practices that these writers dislike and use the examples to identify what Guterson and Sanders agree on and what they disagree about. Explain where their points extend one another or are complementary.
(8)
Take a position on the argument about suburbia in David Guterson’s “No Place Like Home” by relating Guterson’s point to the attitude that Billy Collins’s expresses about the names of new residential subdivisions in the poem “The Golden Years”. (The poem is online if you want to search for it or ask me for a copy next class.)
(9)
Argue for the relative importance or unimportance of things that are invisible (including things that are seen indirectly or indistinctly) for our experience of the visible world. In your argument, be specific about what sort of invisible things you are discussing. To help you be specific about this, refer to and discuss the significance of relevant points and passages from one or two of the following texts: “The Little Store” by Eudora Welty, “Seeing” by Annie Dillard, or “A Matter of Scale” by K.C. Cole.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The story “ Fish Cheeks,” by Amy Tan, and “ The First Thanksgiving,” by Sarah Vowell has some similarities. In both these stories the narrator has a problem with their own family. The girl in Fish Cheeks has a crush on a minister’s son Robert. Once she finds out they were invited over for Christmas dinner she freaks out. The reason she freaked out was because she was embarrassed of her Chinese relatives and family. They had horrible American manners, which would embarrass her in front of Robert. The meal did go very strange, and her mother realized that she didn’t want to be there or be part of this family. In the story The First Thanksgiving, the lady in the story expected her parents to say no when she invited them for Thanksgiving, but they actually said yes against her wishes. She didn’t seem to have such a good relationship with them and they knew that. At one point in the story the father makes a joke how he knows she cant wait for them to leave. She cant make a conversation with them that’s why they usually only go to the Movies.
ReplyDeleteWe see how both of the main characters in the story are embarrassed of something regarding their family members. It is evident that there isn’t such a strong family bond with these two families.
I agree that the two stories are similar in many ways. Each focuses on a daughter, who shares a holiday with a family of which they are ashamed. However, there is one big difference. Although the bond between Amy Tan and her family appears to be weak, it was only a temporary time in which she was not used to her family being so different. Once she got used to the cultural differences, she learned to accept them and accept her family. The bond actually became stronger. On the other hand, Sarah Vowell genuinely dislikes her family. In fact, in the very last line of the story she states "I wish they were home too". The schism goes beyond a temporary moment of awkwardness, and there is no reconciliation like there is at the end of "Fish Cheeks". This family truly does not get along.
ReplyDeleteIn the essay, "On Photography" by Susan Sontag, i agreed with her on almost every view the author expressed. The author wrote "photographs will offer indisputable evidence that the trip was made, that the program was carried out, that fun was had. I agree that often people do things and then take pictures just to prove to others, and most importantly to themselves, that there life was good. People often take pictures to convince themselves of an idyllic past that is completely unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteInternal conflict is represented as an underlying theme in both stories we have read. The first story, ‘The First Thanksgiving’ discusses an internal conflict between family members. More specifically, the author seems to have severe clashes with her parents. As the essay develops, it seems that the author harbors a significantly greater sense of bitterness and hatred toward her father, (Perhaps contributed to by his forcing the family to move).
ReplyDeleteThere does not appear to be a particular lifestyle that the author is typing to escape, so much as it is the ‘invisible shackles’ imposed on her by her parents’ mere involvement in her life. She feels that growing ‘up and outward’, away from ones parents and their chosen life paths, is the natural course of life. She spends the majority of her Thanksgiving weekend at high levels of stress, just waiting for her painful experience of family time to come to its much anticipated end.
The second story, ‘Fish Cheeks’ discusses a very different type of internal conflict. In this story, the author feels that her heritage, not her parents, is holding her back. The author writes that at age fourteen, she “prayed for...Robert and a slim new American nose”. From her prayers as well as her reactions, it is clear that the author was experiencing a conflict between her family’s lifestyle, and the life she wished to pursue. She prayed for things that would identify her as American, but still had to deal with the effects of her family’s culture and heritage. She was embarrassed of her ‘shabby Chinese Christmas’, her ‘noisy Chinese relatives’ and her ‘Chinese Food’, as well as her “Chinese customs”. While her family’s behavior at the Christmas gathering left her preferring to crawl under the dinner table, the author seems never to have harbored any negative feelings towards her family members themselves, just their lifestyles. Although I’m sure they were hurt at the thought of their daughter wanting to branch away from their culture, Amy’s parents were nevertheless extremely supportive. In fact, it isn’t hard to tell that Amy Tan most probably enjoyed a healthy, loving, and supportive relationship with her parents. They cooked her favorite foods, and even bought her a mini-skirt to help her ‘become more American’, like she wanted. Essentially, both essays describe a point in time where each author experienced the internal conflict of ‘Where I Am vs. Where I Want To Be’
Luis Comori said: My mother, three siblings and I arrived in New York City in 2000. The plane landed at John F. Kennedy airport on a beautiful and hot summer day. The first thing that really caught my attention was the size of the airport and all the traffic congestion causing traffic to move slowly. My older brother drove us from the airport to home in his now relic caprice station wagon. While he was driving along the expressway and passed the ‘Welcome to New York’ sign, I was mesmerized looking at the cars moving in all directions on the expressway. It was the first time I saw an expressway with so many lanes. It took me two or three years to partially assimilate to the North American culture. I remember celebrating Thanksgiving the major holiday in the USA without the proper importance but five years later, I truly understood that Thanksgiving brought families together, delicious country meals were served and help to reconcile family members.
ReplyDeleteI came from a very large family; we’re five brothers and three sisters. My brother Marcos lives in Toronto, Canada and my sister Maria lives in Orlando, Florida. Both siblings, along with their families come to New York every November to celebrate with our other siblings Juan, Pilar, Fabio, Patricia and Luis. We really assimilated this holiday from the American Culture and it is now part of our family tradition which we have followed since 2000. Also, this is the time where we really get together because neither Christmas nor any other holiday brings everyone together. I also see that people from different religious beliefs celebrate with enthusiasm this important holiday. I have realized that Thanksgiving makes my entire family happy and we are able to share lasting and unforgettable moments. At last, we cannot forget the essence of this meaningful holiday that brings together families from a hidden and remote corner of the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is the holiday where two completely different meals are presented on the same table. This is the time where we really see how much our family assimilated the American culture but without losing our own identity, traditions and culture. All our differences, disagreements and discrepancies are pushed aside when we sit down to share a table together at Thanksgiving dinner. The key is to completely ignore the misunderstandings and exclusively engage to spend a wonderful and beautiful holiday surrounded by all your loved ones. Our conversation while sitting around the table having dinner consists of sports and political moments either locally or nationwide. We discuss the NY Giants and Jets, the Yankess and the Mets. Speaking of baseball, most of us living in New York became fervent and devoted NY Mets. This is another way how we assimilated the North American culture. This is our city and we are part of the city too.
The both story "Fish Cheeks" and "Thanksgiving" talks about the family togetherness and celebrating. But in the story "Thanksgiving" the author is not really happy to invite he mom and dad.She said that" I never expected them to say yes" so this can tell us that may be she was just doing as formality or do not like her parnets to come.In another story "Fish Cheeks" it show the family having dinner together and inviting other people too.Though the daughter was little upset regarding how her parnets are going to treat the guest for they two are from different family background. But still the family are together and this story is quite similar to mine family in a sense that we celebrate every occasion with family like the chinese family celebrating together.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed David Guterson’s piece entitled “No Place Like Home.” In his article he describes the seeming utopia’s that are corporation-created-communities. These communities, such as Green Valley, Nevada, provide the lifestyle that every middle-class family dreams about. The communities are safe, the residents are happy, and their are shopping centers and gyms for everyone to use. Everyone drives BMW’s and there are activity centers for your children while you go play tennis or get a massage. Everything seems fine and dandy since the community is styled to escape the worries and troubles that exist in other suburban areas, and everything is systemic. As David Guterson explores farther into the workings of Green Valley, a deeper and darker aspect of this utopian life begins to emerge. A couple he interviews in the neighborhood seem concerned about their identities as interviewee’s becoming revealed. It doesn’t seem that the couple is afraid of being in the public eye, but they rather seem to be concerned about something bigger and greater. It oddly seems that the couple fears some kind of un-human super-force. Through more investigation David finds out about the community’s strict security which has the community fully walled and surrounded. The security is so tight that the security guards are nervous about taking short breaks to relieve themselves in the restrooms in fear of losing their jobs. The whole community is run in accordance with many “CC&R’s” which are covenants, conditions and restrictions, and everything, down to the colors allowed on ones house, are controlled.
ReplyDeletedear prof. Holchak
ReplyDeletei think i can't come to class today... because i got sick and goin to see doctor now.
may be, i can stop by to give you my essay.
sorry about absence.
your student
anthony chan
mar 16, 10