The movie that was made about the Corrido is very interesting in that it shows the scene of the sheriff being shot two times, once from the sheriff and interpreter’s point of view, and once from Cortez’s view. This part is important in the movie in that it reveals the cultural aspect of the story. If the story Corrido were boiled down to one sentence it would say “White man vs. Mexican man defending the honor of his brother. When the audience views Cortez’s side the movie portrays him as a family man defending his family’s honor. Cortez is at home with his children sitting by a basin as his wife shaves his beard. The sheriff shows up and as Cortez is being questioned about the trading of a horse, the conversation escalates and his brother is killed in the midst of a quarrel. Cortez fires back and the mood becomes very heavy and sad. His rights have been violated by the white men and as a Mexican he and his family are under the wrath of the white man and their corrupt laws.

In contrast, the sheriff’s point of view suggests that there is a conniving murdering Mexican that needs to be handled. Upon questioning Cortez at his home the film makes it very clear that Gregorio is lying to the sheriff. In this particular scene the interpreter is essential in portraying Gregorio as a liar. When the argument escalates Gregorio is shown as threatening which gives the sheriff justification for killing Gregorio’s brother. After this scene it becomes very evident that the white men were already certain that Gregorio was guilty.

In the written version of the Corrido the words portrayed a different picture in my mind. The character of Cortez was a daring, mysterious risk taker that could escape the law under any condition. His nationality as a Mexican was emphasized and displayed as a something to be proud of. In the movie, being a Mexican was a great disadvantage. The book also focused less on the family aspect. Cortez was a rough and tough man who was concerned with nothing else than the honor of his brother. He ruthlessly killed multiple sheriffs and spoke in a brave and straight forward manner. When asked about killing he immediately admits to killing and that he will kill again. In the movie, Cortez is gentle and answers the sheriff’s questions in a shy manner. He tries to avoid conflict in very way.

In addition to the game asteroids, Emily Herment has created a kinetic poem called lies project. This website is comprised of a creative screen with words appearing as the user clicks on his or her mouse. This website has an expressive, poetic quality about it as well as its uniquely displayed words and phrases. I particularly like that you can speed up or slowdown the rate at which the words appear on the screen by clicking the mouse which allows for easy reading. In the beginning this website was frustrating because all of the phrases are very disconnected from each other. However, after surfing the website it turns out that all of phrases and comments are created by the viewers of the site. Each visitor turns this website into a very diverse collection of literary material by adding their own ideas ironically making it a very connected and unique website.
Overall, these new literary devices are a fun way to get students to interact with literature. Yeah sure, they can be frustrating, but that is what makes them worth looking at. Everyday authors are creating new literary media and if you don’t like reading books then these websites may be very exciting to you. For example, take the traditional route of reading novel, the reader will get some meaning out of it although how many times do you become discourage about reading a 300 page book? I do. These websites are just another way to promote interaction with literature within ourselves.

Another type of story that appears in the novel that contributes to the book as a whole are the magic spells and chants. On page 134 there is a story of a witch that puts a set of disastrous events in motion. As the witch chants her words they begin to become reality. This section gives the book a sense of danger, concern and ergency to find out what needs to be done to make the rain come. It also made me as a reader want to find out what relationship Tayo has with the rain and what he is about to endure on his journey. Lastly, I think that the importance of story in this literary piece is that each part makes up a collection of events that do not necessarily summarize the novel but enrich and reinforce Native American Culture. Each story includes small but significant details such as the importance of corn, animals and the sun and songs that let the reader know that these things are a part of everyday life.

Some other differences in literature that occur are sociolect or pronounciation of the literature. For example, the short story written by Joel Chandler Harris titled Uncle Remus has a dialect that for some people maybe hard to understand. However, when I took my time to re-read the story the misunderstood words became clearer and the story emerged. After I understood the story I was able to appreciate the vernacular in which the story was written. In my opinion if the accent was taken away the story would lose its meaning. I think it is very important to keep everything original in the writing that the author intended. Editing the story, even if it is just the pronounciation of words, is just like changing the ending of a book.