nicklin

Watching Sherman Alexia really surprised me he really wasn’t what I expected. I had my ideas of maybe and older man with a bit more of a seriousness to him. Watching him on you tube he really was the opposite. Seemed a lot more lively and fun. He did more of a stand up comedy then anything and since we got to see him and listen to his speech it really made the rest of the book more fun to read. I didn’t take it as serious as I might have from the beginning. He is a great author and this was my favorite book of the year. Save the best for last I guess.

From the discussion in class I basically got the idea that a trickster is someone that exploits someone for really no reason by childish acts or being immature I guess you could say. It’s doing something wrong to another when really there is no reason for it and they have nothing to gain out of it themselves. In amusements Victor and Sadie find Dirty Joe passed out at the carnival. Dirty Joe is basically your stereotype of a drunk Indian and Victor and Sadie not thinking basically exploit him and I guess you could say help in continuing there bad perception of what ‘Indian’ means today. They take his passed out body and put him on a ride at the carnival for all to see. The crowd gathers around and starts to laugh and poke fun. This is when Victor and Sadie realize what they’ve really done and basically feel ashamed of themselves for giving the white men and women another thing to poke fun at when it comes to Native Americans.

The conflict between McMurphy and the Big Nurse was mostly about power.
The nurses way of ruling the combine or hospital was simple. Make the patients feel like they have a choice and options when really its her who made sure they decided or went with what she felt was right. When McMurphy shows up he basically makes sure they the patients are aware of what is going on. Although he takes advantage of the patients he mostly helps them. They become stronger as a group and as individuals. They realize that they’ve been strong enough this whole time to get up and leave the hospital if they wanted. They needed McMurphy as much as McMurphy needed them. He starts to understand that his life thus far has been really nothing and starts to feel like the patients or his friends are what’s important now. He sticks up for them and helps them with their problems. Although I feel like the patients in some way were cured of some of their flaws I feel like McMurphy from being there ends up noticing his. The patients become more like him and he becomes more like they were before he showed up. Sadly the nurse gets the best of him by silencing him for good. But the patients will forever be changed for what he stood for.

Blood wedding does a great job of giving you a different concept or outlook to marriage. What we see as a bond consumed by love and devotion they see as I guess you would say adding to the social ranking. What I mean by this is the characters see marriage as two people that come from the right background and right family a match rather than two people sharing the same feelings for each other. Instead if your family is wealthy and the others are as well although the two give consent they are still basically pushed in to matrimony. This really reminds me of Darwin’s theory I know it sounds funny but only the strong survive in this case only the wealthy progress. Once the groom is matched and married what was to go to the daughter basically becomes his to do with what he sees fit. This although seems very wrong is the way the world worked then. Which I feel is why so far we have the problems we have in the story. The bride leaves and the family is left embarrassed in a situation they seem to have forced her in. So who is really right and who is wrong in this situation? The husband and bride can learn to love each other. But is that really love? This is why I feel the bride was just in running off. This is why I feel the family was wrong. The farther is happy to give his fortune to his daughter in turn that of which would be her husbands all because of the right last name. If you have the right name and the right status you are a perfect fit to marry another you might have only talked to once in your life. Just seems like a joke to what marriage should stand for. Even though it is really how the world use to be.

So far I like this book it can give you problems at times just because of how it switches from narrator to character explanations and so on also there is just a wide range of characters because of how the novel is set up and the depth of the family through generation it gives me problems sometimes with who is who. So I sometimes find myself looking up the family tree to make sense of it all. But I like the more grown up feel of the book and the differences and thickness in each character (who they want to be, how they are seen, and who they really are) I’m finding each chapter to really take hold of me more and more and really drag me into the story. I’m very excited to see what the end turns into.

On page 118 the small passage is talking about Estaben giving interest to in helping Transito. She refuses. The patron system is basically a “pimp” system basically from what I get out of it the patron skims the money off the top from what the hookers make which mean the hookers who are doing all the work although are maybe fronted help by the patron end up loosing what they basically worked for. The cooperative is more of a equal shares type system. The workers do their jobs and keep what they make. “What I want is a cooperative…..to make it more encompassing. We’ll lay out everything, the money and the work. What do we need a patron for?’’ Basically I get the idea that the whores will spilt up work equally and which they will make equal shares basically like a partnership unlike what it would be of a patron basically reaping the benefits for little help.

I find the digital literature entertaining. I do think they are fun I can’t really say what the meaning of them would be. I think both are different in Asteroids only certain words are pulled to you and others are free floating so I think there is definitely intention and meaning behind it. What that is I think is up to you. The lies project invites you to be a part of something “who hasn’t told a lie?” I think it’s a nice change of pace to actual literal reading it gives you a chance to sit back and just watch. It’s a breath of fresh air from the literary reading we are use to. I couldn’t say if it is a rich or poor experience I guess for me it was rich because it’s different and a change of pace. To me it’s how you accept it and how you choose to experience these two. Don’t try so hard to understand them rather just enjoy them.

I think that the circulation of a corrido or the story of Cortez can tell you a lot about the uses of literature. When I use to think of literature I use to think of English class, or having to pick up Shakespeare and try to understand the meaning. Now I feel like I am starting to get a broader range of what literature really is. The circulation of the corrido was passed around and changed through word of mouth really and everyone was given the change to take the story that was told to them and put their own touch to it either adding to it or taking away from it, either for the good or bad. I can’t really think of a lot of literature that has that kind of social use simply for the fact that some of these pieces did not have an author to them. No real worry about destroying some ones work by changing a line or two or giving a story a different meaning. I don’t think it’s a bad thing but also it could easily be taken too far. I think audiences can be very receptive to something like this and they get a chance to maybe change the story themselves after hearing it.

Story telling is very important in this novel because its basically a native American tradition. I think the stories or poems in the book have a lot to do with Tayo because the poems have a lot to do with the Indian heritage and the world that once was. Tayo remembers and goes through rituals that I feel basically link him to the past and reconnect him to his family or community. They give him an out look that he is not alone and others shared the same experiences before him.
The stories never really break from the book they are placed into the actual novel and flow with what’s going on in the novel. Which brings me back to my case that what’s going on to Tayo might be a new occurrence but the stories from the past give you a sense that things are not so different from today, that there’s always been problems or struggle. There is no chapter separation or place on the page that separates the old stories or poems from the actual story of Tayo and I think there is a reason for that because the two are not suppose to be separated they are both one in the same.

Literature- writing in prose or verse; especially: writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest

I definitely think that fairy tales, blues, lyrics, poems, etc. can be looked at as literature.
All of these forms of writing or music are expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest. If it gets just one persons attention or makes any one feel a certain way how can it not be looked at as literature? I feel the serve almost the exact same purpose even if they are distributed differently we may not read music in the same way as a book but when we go back and look at the lyrics or find ourselves singing the songs we love its done the same job as reading a great book that has a certain value to us. I feel that anything that has meaning is teachable or serves a purpose of discussion. Look at some of the most famous song writers through out time. Dylan, Marley, Cash, B.B. King, Tupac, etc. all of theses musicians had very important things to say and they did so in the form of music or poetry. B.B. Kings first musical influence came through religion, Marley talked about freedom, Tupac the same kind of freedom in a different time in a different way. I think it comes down to if YOU think these things are worth learning or teaching to others. I know I do.