Scott Russell Sanders Left Me in Awe!

Of the three readings that took place during the Writer’s Festival, Scott Russell Sanders’ reading resonated with me the most. I came to his reading not knowing what to expect, maybe to be put to bed, but instead got the opposite. The way he read and what he wrote about stuck with me and actually put me in a good, happy mood as well. The title of his book, The Private History of Awe, mirrors what lies on the inside of the covers; in the book, he writes about the history of his life and events that were filled with awe.

His reading stuck with me because I really enjoyed what he read. The fact that he is able to find wonder in the simple events of life is admirable. I appreciated the reading because I realized how we tend to overlook the value of the simplicities in life. In the book, Sanders recalls himself as a child in a storm and the way his father kept him safe and the chaos and anticipation of the birth of his baby girl. These events are relatable to many readers and allow him to establish a relationship with the reader. It is easy to relate to the idea of getting so worked up in doing what we have to do and then doing more afterwards that everydays’ pleasure often go overlooked.

Regardless, his reading ended, to me, on a good note. It’s thrilling to think about being able to experience those similar events one day. It gives me hope that after hearing this, as I grow up, I will learn to see and appreciate all that comes my way even when there is little time for much else.

Reviews of Contemporary Literature. (G)- Class Post 04/13/2010

To begin thinking of reviews, one first must answer the question of what is a review. According to University of North Carolina’s website, “A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon” (UNC). Reviews are written about multiple genres aside from literature, ranging from dance performances to restaurants (UNC). Since this entry specifically pertains to contemporary literature, an important element of writing a book review is being cautious of not reporting a summary, but rather, the goal is to make an argument. When offering your critical perception of a text, the reader wants your opinions. Another distinguishing factor is the size. For the majority, reviews are general concise comments on an event. The author states his or her opinion and expands on how he or she gathered it in a brief fashion. Finally, the author of a review usually finishes with the greater audience in mind and how they will perceive the book, or whatever the case may be. Most reviews attempt to persuade their readers to act on their review. In some cases, this means buy the novel; in others, the critic advises his or her audience not to read the material. Continuing to draw from UNC’s educational website, a review can be considered a “two-step process: developing an argument about the work under consideration, and making that argument as you write an organized and well-supported draft” (UNC). When writing a review, it should flow in a logical order; this means including a thesis! A suggested format to follow includes: “an introduction, summary of content, analysis and evaluation of the book, and conclusion” (UNC).

An example of a respectable review is written by John Deming about Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard titled “The More That You Appear.” The reader is brought to Deming’s stance on the book immediately because he begins his review by agreeing that Tretheway deserves the Pulitzer Prize for this short collection of poetry. Following Deming’s initial praise of Native Guard, he summarizes her book as “the mistreatment and murder of the Louisiana Native Guards and the murder of her mother at the hands of her mother’s second husband” (Deming). John Deming uses examples from Tretheway’s text in conjunction with his recap of the book to show the readers a taste of what is in store for them if they choose to read her poetry. Following the summary of Native Guard, the reviewer writes of what it brought to him. Deming explains, that her book “reinvigorates the notion that to be alive is to forget.” Continuing in the review, the critic goes into detail of Natasha Tretheway’s writing style and the overall thematic element of discovering parallels in the murders of the African-American Union soldiers of the Civil War and her mother. While Deming gives a positive review, he also draws attention to some of Tretheway’s flaws. However, he believes that the Tretheway’s minor errors do not override the genius of her work. In the end, Deming finishes with a short conclusion of Native Guard and his opinions regarding the book.

I think John Deming’s “The More That You Appear” is a perfect model of a review because one unmistakably sees his critical analysis on Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard. The reader is capable of depicting all of the steps the UNC website suggests in writing a review, and it is in a logical sequence. I enjoyed reading Deming’s review, and if I had not already read Native Guard, I believe that he would have convinced me. The two links both serve as beneficial references in the upcoming assignment. UNC clearly states review guidelines, and John Deming’s review compliments it by being an excellent example.

The History of the Pulitzer Prize and the 2010 photojournalism winner:Craig F. Walker

A few days ago, I was thinking about this class and the fact that it is about picking the Pulitzer and learning how to be a modern literary critic. I thought about how I did not know much about the Pulitzer Prize, how it was chosen, or anything about the process: which is ironic since our projects next week involve giving the Pulitzer Prize to a book that we think deserves the prize. Therefore, today I decided to read about the Pulitzer Prize on the website, and do a write up on the history of the prize and a 2010 winner whose work really interested me. Craig F.Walker, won under the “feature photography” (or photojournalism) category for his portrait of a teenager who joined the army in the peak of the Iraq war.
The Pulitzer Prize was started by a Hungarian-American publisher named Joseph Pulitzer. He left money to Columbia University in his will. Some of his money was used to start the university’s journalism school and the prize was first handed out in 1917 and has since been handed out every year. The winners and finalists are now announced every April after being chosen by an independent board.
Craig F.Walker works for the Denver Post and since 9/11 has covered the aftermath of 9/11, American soldiers being deployed to Kuwait, and various other violent and heart-wrenching scenes dealing with the war. His 2010 Pulitzer Prize winning photographs cover Ian Fisher, a recent high school graduate who in 2007 was looking for a new path in his life. Still in the peak of this heated war on terror, Ian decided to join the army to help his country. Craig F.Walker’s amazing photographs chronicle Ian’s life from his high school graduation to basic training, visits home during training, a year of deployment in Iraq, and his everyday challenges.
Although this class is particularly about picking the Pulitzer Prize winning book, I believe that photographs can tell the same story with images that a book can with words. It is obvious to me why Mr. Walker won the Pulitzer Prize this year since his photographs are really captivating, inspirational, and really help the viewer of the photos try to understand what such a young man must be going through. I encourage you all to look at these prize winning pictures and read the story on Ian.
http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2010-Feature-Photography#
http://photos.denverpost.com/photoprojects/specialprojects/ianfisher/

Now that its almost over:Reflection

Looking back on my thought- process on the first paper assignment I became aware of some aspects about my thought process and writing. One of the first aspects I recongize about myself is that I am attracted to a text or piece of writing by the titles. Quoting myself from one of my first free- writes, "I find the title Southeren Gothic very interesting. Seeing the word 'Gothic' made me immediatelty think of Gothic Cathedrals. Thinking about the changes in my writing I notice that I tend to not focus on the title of a piece of writing. Instead I tend to maintain a vague conception of what I think the title means which allows me to draw more interpretations from texts letting the writing shape more of my interpretation of the meaning-instead of trying willingly my beliefs about the theme -into the actual writing. I also realized that in my critques I frequently became interested in a piece of writing by the style of the prose. Having written multiple papers incorporating scholarly critques I have learned that clarity is more important than the style that writing. Because I have learned that a quality piece of writing does not always have to be rich with literary techniques, because if a piece of writing is clear readers will be able to see the skillful writing style of the author.

Flowers of Flame Poetry Reading Review

I found attending Haider Al-Kabi’s poetry reading here on campus a very interesting and educating experience. Mr. Al-Kabi was born in 1954 in Basar, Iraq and was exiled to America during the first gulf war. He is now a professor of Arabic and Spanish here in the United States. He is the translator of many of the poems in the collection Flowers of Flame. Although he read about ten poems in the time he was here, one in particular stood out to me. His reading of the poem “Tomorrow the war will have a picnic” by Abdul Razaq Al-Rubaiee was powerful in a way I wasn’t quite prepared for. In reading or hearing the poem, we see through Iraqi eyes several events in the most recent war there. The combination of the way that the poem was read and the wording of the poem made it stick with me.

I found it interesting that the title was repeated several times throughout the poem to emphasize the way the Iraqi people saw the American “shock and awe” campaign in Baghdad and the effect it had on the civilian people. People knew and accepted what was going to happen and tried to prepare themselves as much as possible for what they were about to go through. The author uses phrases such as “prepare bodies for pain” to show this. There are also times in the poem where you sense almost a mocking tone to it, saddening in a way that we realize that the people knew there was no way to avoid it. I found this in the title, almost as if the “shock and awe” would just like a day in the park. The author also tells the reader to make and easy, clear, beautiful path for the bombs to make their way and to not fight it. As much as they were prepared, it would still, as it would for any human being “break mother’s hearts,” and the people would need to “empty salty streams” of tears.

This poem brought on a new perspective of the war and of this day in particular. I’ve always heard about it from the American point of view, and it brings about new feelings that I didn’t expect. Looking around the room, I could tell that I was not the only one to be experiencing these new emotions toward the subject. I was surprised to find not only my own eyes tearing up but also the eyes of everyone else listening, professors and students included. The way the poet read the poem so effectively and passionately, it was impossible to not feel for the Iraqi people, regardless of anyone’s political views.

Looking into the poet’s background really helped me to get into the poetry more because it was so personal for him and so fresh in his mind. Also, his form of reading helped because he read with emotion and an understanding that could only come from having the emotions himself. Although he was not the author of the poem, he has a similar background. His reading was powerful and definitely gave me a lot to think about.

A Fascinating Poem by Maya Angelou

Recently, I came across a collection of poems in one of Maya Angelou’s first autobiography. The name of the poem is “ I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” I thought I’d share with you the poem and also what I retrieved from reading this lovely poem!

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

This poem speaks about freedom. The free bird symbolizes a person from the white society, and the caged bird symbolizes a person from the black society. Racial segregation has been a problem in the past and still is presently. Maya Angelou’s poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is a good representation of this. This poem shares the separation between the colors of people’s skin in everyday life. Those things include racial signs such as water fountains, theaters, and bus stations. Though it is not as bad as it used to be, it still occurs. Angelou’s words speak out to an all African American audience to relate to, understand, and share the feelings of oppression and segregation, and feelings of jealousy toward the white race. Maya Angelou also speaks to an audience of mixed races many of us can identify with her voice. The reader should notice that she is not just talking about a bird; however, the way she wrote it makes it seem that way. The poem represents racial issues through the use of a bird and the reader can relate to it through her use of metaphors throughout when talking about a caged bird and a free one.

Her usage of incorporating metaphors is very fascinating. The poem itself is a metaphor for enslaved African Americans. In the opening lines of the poem, Angelou compares the “wind” to being like a creature that can hold a bird on its back. She also compares it to a “flowing stream of water.” With that being said, the wind may represent the racial issues that spurred back and forth between the white race and the black race in our tradition of history. “Breeze” and “fat worms” can demonstrate that most of the white society cares more about their wealth and very little about the black community’s oppression. This also represents hope and opportunity for the free bird (white race) to name the world as his own. “His wings are clipped and his feet are tired,” represent the advantages that whites have over blacks due to their skin color. The metaphor overall shows that the free bird has that advantage, but the caged bird stands, leaps out on faith, and it came to pass that the caged bird sings of freedom at the end.

A caged bird can be interpreted as the black race being held back from freedom by their own skin color. The free bird is the white race retaining freedom and their aversion toward blacks. Overall, I believe this was a great poem I came across and hope to read more of Angelou’s poems in the future.

Broken for You

The body is so exclusive
With rusted steeples that pierce new wounds
And doors that shut in one’s face.
Assigned seats on Sunday morning
And a popularity contest on Wednesday.
But, oh,Do we keep up with our tithes and offerings!
That hold more weight than our hearts.

But surely our voices
That sing those melodious, sweet hymns
Do something.
They may not justify as atonement
For the sins we committed last night
But we changed clothes and
Put breath mints in before 9:45.

Outstretched hands are extended
With claws of judgment---
That I’m certain the Son didn’t possess.
Darwin, do you have an explanation for this?
The body doesn’t agree with science,
But we pop pills when we have a headache.
And the body thinks Hollywood is corrupt,
But we hope no one knows we Ti-Voed
“Keeping up with the Kardashions”
Who are only famous because their dad defended OJ
As in Orenthal James,
Not as in the orange juice
Whose calories you counted at breakfast
And are more vigorously repenting
Than the lies you told this morning.

But we dismiss this
By focusing on the pain of our asses
Which have become so calloused
From sitting on a wooden bench
Beside our "brothers" and "sisters"
Of whom we forgot their names.
And by giving attention to our exhausted legs
Which have been wandering the dark corridors
Of the home that we have come to fear.
And of our arms that have grown weary
From uplifting the same burdens
Time and time again
To a Savior we half believe in.
And our hearts cry longingly
To a forgiving Father
We so desperately use to seek
But have become stagnant in faith
And distracted by the politics
That we, the body, have created.

Human rights as our own best interest: a short book critique of William Schultz's "In Our Own Best Interest"

William F. Schultz’s book In Our Own Best Interest is Schultz’s solution to the question of relevance in common people’s everyday lives. He argues that human rights are connected to all of the top International interests of the United States. Schultz categorizes his book into these interest sectors in which human rights is present, but not always seen and associated. His experiences, research, and witness stories pack a punch to the urgency of rights to all global peoples. Schultz’s title as Amnesty International U.S.A.’s executive director earns him the creditability and clout that he just deserves. His assertive and sometimes aggressive approach to these issues tilts the reader to one extreme opinion or another. The text is a good source to those also looking to understand the questions of what human rights are and in what ways they are being abused. While Schultz does an excellent job realistically connecting human rights to the practical and common issues of money, health, and politics, his international and historical examples are not always clear to his targeted audience of everyday Americans.

In Our Own Best Interest is a book aimed toward the mainstream American audience, but international groups can learn much as well. The book structures human rights influence and applicability in democracy, national and international business/markets, global wildlife/environments, public health, and the benefits everyone will reap. In each section Schultz’s offers historical accounts of violation or promotion of human rights, personal stories, scholarly arguments and reports, various leaders’ (political and activist) statements, and stories of oppressed people from all over the globe. This book personalizes many of the governmental flaws and politicians’ decisions. The naked truth is put out there for all to see with Schultz. But he doesn’t endow his readers with information without teaching how to apply these rights to our daily actions and choices. At the end of his book there is a list of organizations an individual could join or learn about if wanting to pursue advocating human rights. The structure of the book flows with the theme of learning and applying. In this blog I will focus only on the environmental chapter and sections of this book.

The Earth is suffering and everyone knows this; some people just don’t care. The sharp increase of greenhouse gasses are causing different nature patterns in different regions. Along with our Earth being devalued, so are groups of people who fight for nature’s protection. Surprisingly the abuses and violations of rights for the environment and people who protect it occur in the non-democratic third world countries. The book includes quotes and history on the relationship between “greener countries” and democracies. Schultz goes on to summarize, “that democracies tend to be greener than dictatorship is no coincidence. Those who treat human beings as things are hardly likely to be more respectful of things themselves- “things” like birds and trees and streams” (Schultz: 118).

This chapter included all relevant stories and issues to the environmental battle. The examples of environmental abuses in the different countries, especially Russia, force the reader to reflect on the enormous magnitude of promoting human rights and supporting democracy. One unnerving account in particular is the report of a retired senior inspector in the Soviet Union’s Nuclear and Radiation Safety Inspection Department of the Ministry of Defense, Alexander Nikitin. Nikitin described to the Bellona foundation the sad shape of environmental responsibility of the Soviet Union, “the competence of nuclear submarine crews, dangerous techniques used to refuel nuclear reactors, the frequency of cracks in the reactors while in operation, leakage of nuclear fuel in the ocean, and unsafe storage practices involving highly contaminated control rods” (Schultz: 106). If action is not taken people will continue to hear through government leaks or retired government employee activists of how his or her country is dumping waste in our ocean.

The Earth is a precious thing we all own and therefore we all must take responsibility to uphold and defend. Environmental issues are global, never political or only “that country’s” problem. William A. Nitze of the Environmental Protection Agency said, “To protect the health of citizens, the environment of the U.S. and our foreign policy interest, we must pay attention to what is happening to the environment …on a global scale” (Schultz: 119). I cannot agree more with this statement. All humans breathe the same air and drink the same water; therefore all humans must be caretakers not destroyers of our shared resources.

Again Schulz did wonderfully with connecting everyday interests of common Americans to human rights, but at times his chapters were often too dense and occasionally scattered. Many times when the book states a point it then rapidly changes gear into story-time. The stories told are always either relevant or interesting but not always effectively placed or introduced. After reading a long story of how some intense event happened in some country, the reader may need to look back in order to remember the current point that Schultz was addressing. And with the stories come other sub-points, sub-themes, and tons of details. This is can be good and bad. Good in the sense that there are many examples to induce understanding of some violation that is happening overseas, but negative in a sense that the chapter feels longer than it is, and that a ton of information about historical or current events is wizzing around in the readers brain all at once. Schultz could improve on giving background information on some history examples. There were quite a number of times he mentioned bits of history and I didn’t understand or know what he was referring to. This can hurt many other readers who are not history buffs that become entangled in the mix of information.

Schultz tended focused more on other countries’ shortcomings in the majority of the book. He included the U.S. occasionally and wrote one chapter about the U.S. out of eight chapters in the book. So, the main item of my critique would be depth about the U.S. since his audience is Americans. He goes deep into various countries’ injustices by retelling others’ stories and what he has personally witnessed. But these countries aren’t the U.S. Of course every point linked to the U.S. but he doesn’t mention much of the U.S.’s faults until chapter seven. I believe Schultz needs two books or a series. He could go deeper into third world systems and then write the other book about America alone. Both topics are extremely important and need to be stressed. He packed so much information into one; I can only imagine what he could find for two or three books.

Schultz’s argument is solid and has a gold star in my book. I also do believe the protection of human rights is connected with the promotion of democracy. Spreading of democracy is one of the dominating priorities on the U.S.’s list of international goals. These two principles tie hand in hand. Why is it taking the U.S. so long to realize the intersections of human rights and our nation’s other global interests? Well, our government can barely or not at all regulate human rights in America alone properly or efficiently, so other countries are definitely in the back of our politicians’ brains, as far as fighting for their rights. However, their opinions are likely to change once a large portion of America’s citizens become aware and aid in the fight for human rights. All the government needs some ignition.

Generosity: By Richard Powers - Another Novel Meant to be Pulitzer Prize Worthy!!

Okay, since our focus in the class is Pulitzer Prize and such, I wanted to bring about a book I think is worthy of winning this prize that I recentely read.

A new novel named Generosity centers around a college student in Chicago who had emigrated from a horrible life in Algeria but who was persistently, unstoppably happy, so much so that other characters in the book speculate on whether an analysis of her DNA would demonstrate the existence of a “happiness gene” which at least one of the characters (a scientist who has moved into the business world) would hope to patent, package and sell. The character that has this problem, so to say, is named Thassa. Her joyful personality comes to the attention of the notorious geneticist and advocate for genomic enhancement Thomas Kurton, whose research leads him to announce the genotype for happiness. Thassa’s congenital optimism is soon severely tested. What will happen to life when science identifies the genetic basis of happiness? Who will own the patent? Do we dare revise our own temperaments? Funny, fast, and stunningly magical, Generosity explores both science and the freed imagination.

Now, this may sound like a crazy book by the way I described it above but it is true!!! The author named Richard Powers writes his books like this all the time. His topics that he mainly focuses on are science and engineering which I think is so fascinating. Why? Because he ties his knowledge he has on science and such to make a story. Powers indeed has a real background in science - all his books involve science in one way or another and are highly sensitive to the ethical side of “biotech” industries as I mentioned. The other characters, including the “happy” one, get swept into the whirlpool of this big business, quite against their collective and individual wills.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is concerned about the direction the technical world is going. Trust me, you’d like it. I chose to read this book because I love science. This book was published in 2009 so it is very recent and it is the first time I have read a book written by this author (Richard Powers). He won the National Book Award for The Echo Maker and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize!! He has also received fellowships, prizes and literary awards for other works of fiction. Therefore, after reading this book I believe it should deserve to win any kind of prize because it was well written and inspirational. So, I believe these kinds of novels that are moving deserve to be a part of the Pulitzer Prize collection!

Why I hate it....

I feel disgusted that “Good Literature” is being redefined by books like the Twilight Series. I will give you three good reasons to why this particular collection is not “Good Literature.” First, the writing style lacks artistic structure—meaning, that the writing parallels something worst to what I have written in the fifth grade. For example, “There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie. I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact” (Meyer 9). This statement is so unfulfilling; I can’t feel sorry that she has to share the bathroom with her father. Here, I believe that Meyer should described Charlie’s hygiene or give some background information on why the main character, Belle, feels uncomfortable sharing the bathroom. I, automatically, think that community restrooms in a school or public building could be much worst than one small bathroom your have to share with your father. The relevance of why sharing a bathroom with Charlie is uncomfortable is not there.
The writing is bad, but the plot is much worst. A vampire is attracted to some random girl’s smell and they fall madly in love with each other. Really? This is what “Good Literature” is nowadays? The portrayal of vampires and werewolves really upsets me. How do you recreate blood sucking scary vampires to vampires that sparkle in the sun? I seriously thought that Edward was about to burst out singing some song about sunshine and fairies. Why can werewolves become a werewolf, when it randomly gets mad? It would have been so much better if the werewolves only came out on the nights where it was just a Full Moon—this would have added complexity to Meyer’s plot.
As a feminist, the message makes this series absolute garbage to me. It’s sad when women are portrayed as these characters that stop living because a boyfriend decides to dump you. The Belle is portrayed as this girl who is completely immersed in a guy vampire, without good reason. Literature and specially film influences the reader and audience. I believe that the Twilight Series promotes a horrific image of what a girl should think of herself. For example, should a girl go to the extreme of hurting herself for some guy, NO! Hopefully, “Good Literature” does not become the primitive idea rested on elementary writing, terrible plots, and unprogressive messages.

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and, 2005.