Free Write 4/17/08

lion- very large, wild cat. very muscular; hunts other animals for food, has a loud "roar" noise; have huge manes of fur around head, long tail, females do not. They are tan in color

lioness- female version of lion- very large wild cat, very muscular. hunts other animals for food. smooth fur, long tail. hair is tan in color

In response to the blog about "She Unnames Them"

• I did not feel this deeply about the reading, but I think that if I read it again in more detail I may pick up some of the same thoughts about it. The response was very well-thought-out and interesting.

In response to the interview with the author:

• I think that Ursula was successful because she describes why she wrote the story with great detail. She came up with the idea from the original story of Adam and Eve and a lot of her background and childhood played a part in why she feels that names can be wrong. After reading this, one can see why she wrote the story and why she feels the way she does about names.
• She uses a biblical reference so that people can better understand her story. Biblical references are common in writing because they are well-known and make it easy for readers to make connections to the true meaning of the work. Biblical allusions are easy to recognize for most of the population whether they are Christian or not.

Homework for 4/17/08

Journey of the Magi

• This poem by T.S. Eliot sounds like the retelling of an adventure. It is in "the dead of winter" and he remembers times during the summer, probably to block out the cold. The last stanza questions whether it was a journey of Birth or one of Death. I think that here he is questioning whether the journey was a positive one. He says he would do it again but is questioning whether it would be a smart decision. The last couple of lines kind of say that he is no longer happy where he is right now and even if the journey leads to "death," he would rather do that than be where he is right now.

She Unnames Them

• This short story starts off talking about names of animals. I think that it has some humor to it. The writer lists names of different animals and then when she gets to "yak," she discusses it for a few sentences to tell the story of the naming of the yak. After listing sea animals, she lists farm animals, then pets, insects, and fish. The story is about unnaming all of the animals with names that have no meaning or at least no obvious meaning. Though I think this story is funny, I also think it is weird and am not really sure that it has any meaning.

Homework 4/10/08

Siren Song by Margaret Atwood

• This poem is about the mythical creature called the siren. Sirens are known for being beautiful women/bird creatures that sing an irresistible song. They are located on islands surrounded by rocks, etc. Seamen would hear the song and be pulled to the sirens because of the beauty of the women their voice and jump ship to come find the siren. No one could ever reach the sirens, and usually men that went to seek them ended up dying. The poem, "Siren Song," is spoken by a siren. She seems to not enjoy being on the island and singing to lure men to their deaths. The poem is tricky because as you read it, you think that the siren really does not enjoy being on the island and singing, but in the end she is really just luring another man to his death by tricking him into thinking he is special and different. This poem shows that sirens are not to be trusted.

Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

• Ulysses was a war hero of Greek mythology. He battled in the Trojan war and was the ultimate hero. In going to war, he had to leave his wife and son, but safely returned to them afterwards. Ulysses is the same as Odysseus, the character in the Iliad and the Odyssey. The poem begins with Ulysses's return to home. He is reminiscing on times of war and saying that some were bad and some were good. He then speaks of his son, who he seems to be proud of. The interesting thing to me is that he never mentions his wife. This poem is hard to read and understand.

Leda and the Swan by William Butler Yeats

• In Greek mythology, "Leda and the Swan" refers to when Zeus came to Leda as a swan. Zeus rapes her the same night that Leda slept with her husband, so Leda has children from 2 different fathers in the forms of eggs. (Some versions may differ.) This scene is widely used in art throughout history as statues or paintings depicting a naked woman and a swan. The poem by Yeats has sexual tones to it, and after reading the background of what Leda and the swan means, I know that the poem depicts a rape. "A sudden blow: the great wings beating still" is the first line and right when I read it I knew what it really meant. The poem has interesting diction and sometimes it seems very harsh, like the first line, but other times more gentle wording is used. I like this poem because I feel that it captures what the situation really would be like, with conflicting feelings of passion, anger, etc.

Annotated Bibliography

Frota, Luis. "Securing Decent Work and Living Conditions in Low-Income Urban Settlements by Linking Social Protection and Local Development: a Review of Case Studies." Habitat International 32 (2008): 203-223. Academic Search Premier. Thomas Cooper Library, Columbia. 7 Apr. 2008.

This article discusses how the majority of people live in urban areas and that there is a problem with finding suitable living conditions for all of these people. I felt that this article directly related to the story I am analyzing because they live in a low-income urban area and the living conditions may not be adequate. This article also discusses solutions to problems that low-income families face. I may or may not use this as a source in the essay.

Guerra, Patricia L. "Latino Communities and Schools: Tapping Assets for Student Success." Education Digest 73 (2008): 4-5. Academic Search Premier. Thomas Cooper Library, Columbia. 7 Apr. 2008.

This article is about education. It discusses how schools with more minorities or low-income students often suffer. This article will be helpful to my paper because it discusses the reasons that schools suffer due to large amounts of minorities/low-income students. These reasons include family, home life, living situations, community values, etc. and remind me of some of the difficulties that the speaker faces in the story.

Kumanyika, Shiriki K. "Targeting Interventions for Ethnic Minority and Low-Income Populations." The Future of Children 16 (2006): 187-207. Project Muse. Thomas Cooper Library, Columbia. 7 Apr. 2008.

This journal article addresses changing the ways of low-income areas. It specifically addresses the issue of obesity, which is not relevant to my paper; however, it gives facts about low-income/minority children that will be useful to mention in my paper. Not everything in the article is directly related to obesity and the article itself gives many facts about low-income/minority children and their relationships with family, friends, etc.

"Segregation's Threat to the Economy." New York Times 19 Dec. 1993, sec. E: 12.

This short newspaper article is about the threat of having segregated schools. The article gives precise statistics on the segregation on minorities such as African Americans and Latinos and why it is negative for everyone. This sparked my interest because it could give an explanation as to why the story’s speaker is so biased about his opinions on different types of girls.


Shouten, Belinda T. Working the System: Low-Income Latino Student Achievement. Diss. Univ. of Texas at San Antonio, 2006. 2006.

This source is a dissertation. It discusses how low-income Latino students seem to struggle in academic progress. This dissertation is very lengthy but if used, I will only be using parts that I feel are most relevant to my paper. This seems to be a good source and because the speaker/main character of the story used for my essay is Latino, facts from the dissertation can be used in the paper.

Stull, Elizabeth. "Sub-Prime Shakeout on Rochester's Low-Income and Minority Communities." Daily Record (2008). InfoTrac One File. Thomas Cooper Library, Columbia. 7 Apr. 2008.

This article is specifically about low-income communities in Rochester, NY but really applies to all low-income/minority communities because it has a lot of general information. Rochester, NY is not far from where the story takes place (New Jersey) so it will be even more relevant. This article is useful because it explains a lot of financial difficulties that low-income/minority communities face. This is directly related to the story I have chosen.

Topic Proposal for Essay 3

I have chosen to write about “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” by Junot Diaz. I am going to write about how the speaker’s low socioeconomic standing affects the actions he takes throughout the story. This story is not very old (written in 1996) so the paper will be a cultural analysis more than a historical one. The culture in this piece is one of a low socioeconomic background. The speaker of the story lives in an apartment complex that is constantly exposed to violence and looked down upon by people that live in more prominent areas of town. It takes place in New Jersey. Knowing this information helps me understand a lot of the actions the speaker takes throughout the story and why he feels certain ways about different types of girls. I am going to research topics such as housing projects, low-income families, etc. My thesis is: The type of environment that one grows up in determines one’s self-confidence, opinions, and actions.

Homework for 4/1/08

The story I have chosen is "How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie." This story is rich in culture because the atmosphere that the speaker grows up in strongly influences his life, opinions on girls, etc. The culture of the speaker is that of a low socioeconomic background. He lives in an apartment in a bad part of town and his family requires government-issued food. This culture is familiar to me in a way. I have never been a part of it or experienced it, but I am aware that it exists and have been educated on some of the issues that surround this type of culture. The clues that give away the culture of the story are the government-issued food, the fact that people get stabbed in front of his apartment, etc. These are significant because they make his social class clear to the reader. I will search for more information on this type of culture by using keywords such as "low income."

Homework for Thursday 3/27/08

Becky-

• I think that the theme of this story is racism. The words black, white, negro, etc. are used more often than any other words in the story. It is hard to read the story without thinking of racism. The setting is very important to the story because it was written in 1923 which was a much more conservative time when having children of different races would be very unusual and looked down upon. It also mentions church often and this is an important addition to the setting because it lets the reader know that religion is important in their lives. In the beginning of the story, there isn't really a particular place that the story is happening at, but at the end, the author specifically lets the reader know that it is a Sunday in the fall.

No Name Woman

• I think that the theme of this story is sadness. The story has to do with a woman that commits suicide. The speaker is the woman's niece. The woman (her aunt) that committed suicide lived in China during the 1920s, which was a time that women were treated poorly in China. The niece is reflecting on her aunt's life and death and the difference in culture of the the two countries. The setting of the story is America because that is where the girl now lives. It takes place in 1975, years after her aunt was living. The story she tells, however, takes place in 1924 in China. It is interesting that there are two opposing settings of the story.