"Do you love your little sister?" asks Aunty Rena. I love Olivia more than anything else I can think of but I say, "Not really."
Later on in the same chapter Olivia drowns in a small pond. Bobo feels terrible about the death of her younger sister. She feels that she was responsible for both the beginning and ending of Olivia's life. Olivia was just a few years old, and Bobo had already developed a strong relationship with her little sister. Some people don't ever develop strong love for their siblings. For Bobo to have created such a relationship at an early age affected her greatly. When Olivia died, Alexandra describes her life as two parts. Happy and sad. The happy time was when Olivia was alive, and the sad was when her little sister was dead. I think that if Bobo had told her sister that she loved her, or at least given her a hug, she might have felt less guilty about Olivia's death. Even though her sister is only a few years old, and like all toddlers who have trouble understanding what people tell her, I think she would have sensed that Bobo cares for her. One should always share their true opinions, or feelings at the appropriate time. Once you say something, you can never take it back. Everyone will remember your original comment, and that is the one that matters. Sometimes when you mean to say something but you blurt out something different, it is most likely what you were first thinking. If you mess up on your words, it can reveal your attempts at trying to cover up your original thought. Why do people hide their thoughts and feelings? It could be that they are embarrassed of their opinion. People have a tendency to judge others in life. If they think that your opinion is wrong, one will start to not speak out or try and hide what they are thinking. One will try to say the most common opinion so that they won't be judged by others. Being able to speak one's opinion is what separates the leaders from the followers. If one trie to learn not to care what others think so much about them, one can enjoy life care free and happy.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Post A
escarpment-clifflike ridge of land, rock, ect.
deadpan-impassive or expressionless
resigned-submissive or acquiescent
appeal-"We can't trust anyone anymore. Not even white men."
This is an emotional appeal because when they say they can't trust anyone anymore, not even thier own race, it shows how much tension there is in the war in Africa.
Appeal-"Now the war has grown calmly violent, secret, earnest." When she uses the words calmly and violent together it creates a disturbing thought. The words are complete opposites.
appeal-[...] "the water is full of her last breaths." This is an appeal because there is personification in the sentence. It allows water to hold possesion of someone's life.
Qoute-"I was the one who prayed her into life that day with the missionaries. Now it is my fault she was dead."At a young age Bobo develops strong feelings towards her younger sibling. Some people don't develop these feeling until they have known thier siblings for a few years. Bobo feels that she was responsible for Olivia's life and death. To feel that kind of pressure at a young age will surely affect you when you become an adult.
Theme- Death was the main theme in this book. Alexandra had to deal with the death of her younger sister, and the continuation of the mourn for her brother, by the mom.
deadpan-impassive or expressionless
resigned-submissive or acquiescent
appeal-"We can't trust anyone anymore. Not even white men."
This is an emotional appeal because when they say they can't trust anyone anymore, not even thier own race, it shows how much tension there is in the war in Africa.
Appeal-"Now the war has grown calmly violent, secret, earnest." When she uses the words calmly and violent together it creates a disturbing thought. The words are complete opposites.
appeal-[...] "the water is full of her last breaths." This is an appeal because there is personification in the sentence. It allows water to hold possesion of someone's life.
Qoute-"I was the one who prayed her into life that day with the missionaries. Now it is my fault she was dead."At a young age Bobo develops strong feelings towards her younger sibling. Some people don't develop these feeling until they have known thier siblings for a few years. Bobo feels that she was responsible for Olivia's life and death. To feel that kind of pressure at a young age will surely affect you when you become an adult.
Theme- Death was the main theme in this book. Alexandra had to deal with the death of her younger sister, and the continuation of the mourn for her brother, by the mom.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Post B
¨My sister and I both have big lips. Tackie lips is what the other children call them.[...] I wouldn´t mind getting my lips chopped off, or at least down a size or two[...] I wouldn´t be teased by the other children.¨ People from different cultures have similar features. Like in Germany, people have blue eyes, and have beautiful pale skin. In Korea, the people have higher cheekbones and slanted eyes. The point is that people have different kinds of beauty. Some may not see it as beauty, but rather as a difference. In this quote Alexandra is feeling self-conscience of her lips. The other African children are teasing her, and consequently Bobo wants to change the way she looks. When people point out features of another and make a remark in favor of disgust rather than beauty, most will do anything to change the way one looks. Alexandra wants to cut her lips off, rather than ignore the children, and believe her feature is beautiful. It isn´t easy to ignore those types of comments, especially when it comes from people one has to see daily. In this chapter Bobo´s mom tries to tell her that to have full lips is a good thing She tells Bobo that a famous French actress named Brigitte Bardot has full lips, and everyone thinks she is beautiful. Bobo ignores this because Bardot is in France and not in Africa where she is being made fun of for having full lips. When one moves to another culture, where people have similar features as one another, but not similar to the one that has moved, it is sometimes difficult to feel like one fits in. Due to all the prejudices in the world no one person can completely fit into another culture besides their own. It isn´t always that it is the other culture that looks down upon you for joining them, but rather outside cultures who judge you based on the fact you aren´t with your similar racial culture. There are people who believe that everyone should look alike, and if not, they should be sent away(Hitler). If everyone in the world looked alike there would be no such thing as individuality, which in my opinion makes a person very attractive. It gives them another quality that no one else has. I believe that you can never see the same thing twice. One might see a pair of twins, but they would have different personalities or interests. You might visit a lake one year, but if you visit it the same time next year, leaves will have shifted, or there may be new animals that have moved in, ect. One should learn to enjoy this quality thats separates us from the rest of the world. If we ourselves can´t learn to enjoy, then who can? I have grown to love the people around me for their unique qualities. Each one provides me with something that I can´t find in another person. Whether they are a person I dislike, or one of my closest friends, they make my life interesting. They show me that if they can accept their own unique quality, then so can I. I owe it to them to make their life more interesting. The saying goes as followed, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
post A
epaulets-A shoulder ornament, especially a fringed strap worn on military uniforms
titillated-to excite or arouse agreeably
bandy-a bend or crook outward; bowed
appeal:¨the damp-dead sound of the haevy flesh hitting the ground.¨ the words damp-dead are used to describe the bodies of people who have been killed by ground bombs. The disturbing part is that she uses the word damp, as in they are always covered in blood when they die.
appeal-¨which just goes to show, all prayers aren´t answered.¨ In this qoute, Bobo was talking about how some people walk over land mines and get their legs blown off. Some however, walk away injury free. She talks about how some of those people who get lucky should be dead instead, that they don´t deserve to live.
Qoute:¨An unnatural sway of thigh-deep grass on a still day.¨Alexandra uses this sentence to describe how untrustworthy some people can be. There are Africans hiding in the grass, in the land she is passing through. They are spying on the family as they drive through the field, having high suspisicion towards any white strangers.
Theme: A theme that is becoming more apparent in this memoir, is a theme of war. In the couple of chapters I read recently, there was a lot of talk and different views on war. There are more descriptions of the people and thier actions that help the reader to paint a more vivid picture
titillated-to excite or arouse agreeably
bandy-a bend or crook outward; bowed
appeal:¨the damp-dead sound of the haevy flesh hitting the ground.¨ the words damp-dead are used to describe the bodies of people who have been killed by ground bombs. The disturbing part is that she uses the word damp, as in they are always covered in blood when they die.
appeal-¨which just goes to show, all prayers aren´t answered.¨ In this qoute, Bobo was talking about how some people walk over land mines and get their legs blown off. Some however, walk away injury free. She talks about how some of those people who get lucky should be dead instead, that they don´t deserve to live.
Qoute:¨An unnatural sway of thigh-deep grass on a still day.¨Alexandra uses this sentence to describe how untrustworthy some people can be. There are Africans hiding in the grass, in the land she is passing through. They are spying on the family as they drive through the field, having high suspisicion towards any white strangers.
Theme: A theme that is becoming more apparent in this memoir, is a theme of war. In the couple of chapters I read recently, there was a lot of talk and different views on war. There are more descriptions of the people and thier actions that help the reader to paint a more vivid picture
Friday, October 12, 2007
Lit. Review
The movie “The 400 Blows” is a worthwhile sick time movie. It isn’t something I would see on a movie night, but it had its strong points. This movie has strong characters which are interesting to watch, but it does however, have a somewhat weak plot. The characters portrayed great body language. The film was effective in respect to being able to see Truffaut’s life through Antoine’s acting. This film evoked empathy, as one is led to feel sorry for Antoine.
Like literature, this movie also includes characters, setting, theme, point-of-view, and a plot. This movie was easy to follow even though; it was a French foreign film. I was able to follow the plot in this movie by reading the subtitles. A plot in a book or movie doesn’t make sense without any themes; this movie had a theme of friendship. Setting is described in a book, while in a movie you visualize what the setting is first hand. The point of view in a book is told in first person, second person, or third person. The point of view in a movie is usually in first person. The camera focused on Antoine for the majority of the movie, as a way of telling the audience it is a first person’s point of view. Also if you want to have a good audience, for either a movie or a book, one has to have a compelling plot.
Some dramatic aspects that made “The 400 Blows” interesting to watch were the actors, lighting, and the set design. The characters had strong reactions to one another. As soon as Rene appeared on the screen with Antoine, one was able to tell that these two had a friendship that would last through anything. When Antoine ran away from home Rene offered him a place to stay at his uncle’s printer building, and then later he offered Antoine to come live at his house. Rene also tried to visit Antoine at reform school, which seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. So Rene would have had to bike a long ways to visit Antoine. This black and white movie used lighting in an effective way to portray emotions. Whenever Antoine was with his friend Rene the lighting in the scene was bright. When he was at home and unhappy the lighting was dark. The set design showed the family’s cramped living arrangements, which was a main factor in creating stress in the household.
The angle of camera shots, and the duration of those shots were strong cinematic aspects in this particular film. When Antoine was in his room, listening to his parents yell, and then hearing them discuss about whether or not Antoine should go to a military academy, the camera zoomed in solely on his face to show a look of concern. When Antoine ran away from his reform academy and the camera duration of his run was long, this showed how determined he was to escape form the school, and also how long it took him to finally get away. In the middle of the movie, when the gym class was running outside and the camera was at a bird’s eye view, it could show all of the children sneaking away form the class, which provided humor in the film.
“The 400 blows”, and “Black boy” had many things in common and in contrast. Some similarities include, both of the main characters were young boys who grew up in turbulent families. In “Black Boy” the father abandoned his family, and in “400 Blows” the parents gave up their parenting rights to the government. Another similarity is how both Antoine and Richard enjoyed reading and writing. Antoine admired the French author Balzac, and Richard enjoyed reading all kinds of literature he could find. One difference between these two characters is that Richard really didn’t have any good friends, while Antoine had his friend Rene offer him a place to live in his time of need. Another difference between the movie and the book, is the way the main characters reacted towards authority. Richard would rebel and do as he pleases, and in contrast, Antoine would have no reaction at all. He would let the adults yell at him, and continue his behavior as the way it was before.
I would recommend this movie others, only if they enjoy black and white, foreign films. This film had little humor in it, which made it slightly dull. There was a string theme of friendship present in this movie, along with strong characters, and a clear setting. The movie was easy to follow, yet boring.
Like literature, this movie also includes characters, setting, theme, point-of-view, and a plot. This movie was easy to follow even though; it was a French foreign film. I was able to follow the plot in this movie by reading the subtitles. A plot in a book or movie doesn’t make sense without any themes; this movie had a theme of friendship. Setting is described in a book, while in a movie you visualize what the setting is first hand. The point of view in a book is told in first person, second person, or third person. The point of view in a movie is usually in first person. The camera focused on Antoine for the majority of the movie, as a way of telling the audience it is a first person’s point of view. Also if you want to have a good audience, for either a movie or a book, one has to have a compelling plot.
Some dramatic aspects that made “The 400 Blows” interesting to watch were the actors, lighting, and the set design. The characters had strong reactions to one another. As soon as Rene appeared on the screen with Antoine, one was able to tell that these two had a friendship that would last through anything. When Antoine ran away from home Rene offered him a place to stay at his uncle’s printer building, and then later he offered Antoine to come live at his house. Rene also tried to visit Antoine at reform school, which seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. So Rene would have had to bike a long ways to visit Antoine. This black and white movie used lighting in an effective way to portray emotions. Whenever Antoine was with his friend Rene the lighting in the scene was bright. When he was at home and unhappy the lighting was dark. The set design showed the family’s cramped living arrangements, which was a main factor in creating stress in the household.
The angle of camera shots, and the duration of those shots were strong cinematic aspects in this particular film. When Antoine was in his room, listening to his parents yell, and then hearing them discuss about whether or not Antoine should go to a military academy, the camera zoomed in solely on his face to show a look of concern. When Antoine ran away from his reform academy and the camera duration of his run was long, this showed how determined he was to escape form the school, and also how long it took him to finally get away. In the middle of the movie, when the gym class was running outside and the camera was at a bird’s eye view, it could show all of the children sneaking away form the class, which provided humor in the film.
“The 400 blows”, and “Black boy” had many things in common and in contrast. Some similarities include, both of the main characters were young boys who grew up in turbulent families. In “Black Boy” the father abandoned his family, and in “400 Blows” the parents gave up their parenting rights to the government. Another similarity is how both Antoine and Richard enjoyed reading and writing. Antoine admired the French author Balzac, and Richard enjoyed reading all kinds of literature he could find. One difference between these two characters is that Richard really didn’t have any good friends, while Antoine had his friend Rene offer him a place to live in his time of need. Another difference between the movie and the book, is the way the main characters reacted towards authority. Richard would rebel and do as he pleases, and in contrast, Antoine would have no reaction at all. He would let the adults yell at him, and continue his behavior as the way it was before.
I would recommend this movie others, only if they enjoy black and white, foreign films. This film had little humor in it, which made it slightly dull. There was a string theme of friendship present in this movie, along with strong characters, and a clear setting. The movie was easy to follow, yet boring.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Post B
In pages 25-50 Bobo describes the death of her older brother that she never got to meet. Her borther Adrian died when he was just a baby. He was blonde with blue eyes just like Bobo's older sister Vanessa. Bobo has black hair and green eyes. In the novel Bobo tells about how her mother and father, with these two babies made the picture perfect family. When Adrian died that ideal picture disappeared, and instead a black- haired, green eyed baby was born to take his place. I think the way Bobo describes this blonde, blue- eyed family as being the picture perfect family, reveals her feelings of guilt and shame. She feels she ruined this picture her mother dreamed of, and is ashamed to take the place of her mother's beautiful baby boy, because she feels she can never really make up for the loss of her son. Her mother constantly talks of Adrian when she is drinking, and seeing as how she drinks throughout the entire novel so far, she must talk of Adrian often. I don't think the mother sees how much pain and guilt she is causing her daughter to feel. It is selfish and rude for her to treat her daughter this way. She may have lost a baby boy, but she gained another daughter that she should show as much compassion if not more, than she showed for her deceased child. The father isn't drinking, and blurting out things that could hurt his daughters' feelings, instead he has moved on, and is enjoying the children he has now. I realize that I have never lost a child, and I can imagine it is very painful to go through. I hope I never have to go through a loss of that kind. If I did though, and had other children, I would cherish the ones I had even more and be grateful that they are alive and well.
Post A
undulating-to move with a sinuous or wave like motion
subsequent-occurring or coming later
perilously- hazardous or dangerous
They are fighting for the land in which they have put their seed,their sweat, their hopes.
In this quote the word fighting and hopes stick out, because sometimes the only thing a person has left is the ability to hope.
Survivors of the collapsed caves were executed as soon as they crawled out of thier ready-made tombs. The words ready-made tomb describe a desperate fate that can't be changed. People are doomed to their death no matter how hard they try to escape from it.
Cold, blond ash. This is used when Bobo is describing her brother when he was a baby and he died from meningitis. The words blond ash are particularily strong because it is almost like the words are comparing death to life. Blonde is used to describe him when he was alive and ash is used to describe his appearence when he is dead.
Qoute: "But the end is always the same. Adrian is dead. That's an awful ending no matter what she's been is drinking." The mother of the author is usually intoxicated in the story. Often times when she is drunk she talks about her dead son Adrian, who died when he was just a baby. The mother may alter the story of his death, but the at the end of her drunken tales, Adrian is dead. Bobo may not realize it, but this qoute shows that she does understand her mother's pain, and may also see one of the reasons for her mother's excessive drinking. To lose a child, something that is of your own flesh and blood, is incredibly painful. It is like losing a part of oneself.
Theme: The theme death is starting to emerge in Alexandria's memoir. She narrates the life her mother had before Alexandria was born, and when she had to suffer through the death of her baby boy. There is an African curse stated in this memoir that says if you bury your dead baby properly, he/she will come back to haunt you, and each one of your newborns thereafter will die shortly after birth. Bobo was concerned she would be a death baby because her brother was buried in a cemetary without a tombstone back in England. They now live in Africa and Bobo's concern for being a death baby conveys her feelings of death.
subsequent-occurring or coming later
perilously- hazardous or dangerous
They are fighting for the land in which they have put their seed,their sweat, their hopes.
In this quote the word fighting and hopes stick out, because sometimes the only thing a person has left is the ability to hope.
Survivors of the collapsed caves were executed as soon as they crawled out of thier ready-made tombs. The words ready-made tomb describe a desperate fate that can't be changed. People are doomed to their death no matter how hard they try to escape from it.
Cold, blond ash. This is used when Bobo is describing her brother when he was a baby and he died from meningitis. The words blond ash are particularily strong because it is almost like the words are comparing death to life. Blonde is used to describe him when he was alive and ash is used to describe his appearence when he is dead.
Qoute: "But the end is always the same. Adrian is dead. That's an awful ending no matter what she's been is drinking." The mother of the author is usually intoxicated in the story. Often times when she is drunk she talks about her dead son Adrian, who died when he was just a baby. The mother may alter the story of his death, but the at the end of her drunken tales, Adrian is dead. Bobo may not realize it, but this qoute shows that she does understand her mother's pain, and may also see one of the reasons for her mother's excessive drinking. To lose a child, something that is of your own flesh and blood, is incredibly painful. It is like losing a part of oneself.
Theme: The theme death is starting to emerge in Alexandria's memoir. She narrates the life her mother had before Alexandria was born, and when she had to suffer through the death of her baby boy. There is an African curse stated in this memoir that says if you bury your dead baby properly, he/she will come back to haunt you, and each one of your newborns thereafter will die shortly after birth. Bobo was concerned she would be a death baby because her brother was buried in a cemetary without a tombstone back in England. They now live in Africa and Bobo's concern for being a death baby conveys her feelings of death.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Post B
Dear Bobo,
The plot of your memoir is making more sense to me and is more interesting. You describe things in such detail. I know I criticized you about this before, but I now find the exacting details make your story more vivid. It seems to me that you lived in a hard place to grow up. Living in Africa in a time of war that is in Zimbabwe, must have taken its toll on you one way or another. You did mention before though that you lived in England. So I have to ask, Why did your family choose to move from England to Africa? I can understand moving to another country, but you moved to a whole different continent. Switching topics, I haven't heard anything about you having relationships with other children yet. Do you have any friends that are African or are you racist like your father. He seems to have an impact on you, considering he is the one who provides you with cigarettes. Since he is clearly racist. He uses the term bloody and adds on a slang term of another race as demonstrated on page fifteen, "bloody indians." I am curious to know if his prejudice of other races affected you as a child or if you ignored it and made friends with all types of people. You mentioned that you go to school. Does your sister go to school as well? You have mentioned her only once at the beginning of the novel and she didn't seem to have any significance on your life. Was she left at home while the rest of the family drove you to school? It doesn't really make sense to me. Anyways I like the way your memoir is turning out. It is showing strong themes of racism and disrespect, which makes the book easier to understand.
Content,
Lauren
The plot of your memoir is making more sense to me and is more interesting. You describe things in such detail. I know I criticized you about this before, but I now find the exacting details make your story more vivid. It seems to me that you lived in a hard place to grow up. Living in Africa in a time of war that is in Zimbabwe, must have taken its toll on you one way or another. You did mention before though that you lived in England. So I have to ask, Why did your family choose to move from England to Africa? I can understand moving to another country, but you moved to a whole different continent. Switching topics, I haven't heard anything about you having relationships with other children yet. Do you have any friends that are African or are you racist like your father. He seems to have an impact on you, considering he is the one who provides you with cigarettes. Since he is clearly racist. He uses the term bloody and adds on a slang term of another race as demonstrated on page fifteen, "bloody indians." I am curious to know if his prejudice of other races affected you as a child or if you ignored it and made friends with all types of people. You mentioned that you go to school. Does your sister go to school as well? You have mentioned her only once at the beginning of the novel and she didn't seem to have any significance on your life. Was she left at home while the rest of the family drove you to school? It doesn't really make sense to me. Anyways I like the way your memoir is turning out. It is showing strong themes of racism and disrespect, which makes the book easier to understand.
Content,
Lauren
Post A
Sired-Father or forefather.
Placate- to appease or pacify.
Bemused- To bewilder or confuse.
"We call the black women 'nannies' and the black men 'boys.'"(26) The way Europeans classify the African-Americans is demeaning. Black women aren't mean't to just be mothers, and the black men mature just as much, if not more than the European men. This story takes place in Africa, so for the white people to be showing prejudice in a mostly black populated state, shows how arrogant and snobbish people can be.
"[...] would pump the fighting blood of the young men." She uses the words fighting and blood in the same sentence. It seems like she is implying that fighting a is human instinct. We are all natural born fighters.
"The land is still unblinking[...] it will absorb white man's blood and the blood of African men[...] it doesn't care." When she talks about the land unblinking, it feels like a metaphor that is comparing the land and human greed. Some people will do anything to achieve the desired goal. Whether it is more land, or more power. Even if it means sacrificing the lives of others.
Qoute:
"the white men came. They said, 'What name do you give this place?'
'Kadoma,' they said. [...] means, 'Does not Thunder or Make Noise'. The white men call that place Gatooma. 'And what name do you give this place?'
'Ikwelo,' they said.[...] means 'Steep Sides of the Riverbank'. The white men called that place Gwelo.'" In this qoute, the white men are pictured badly. They don't respect the names of African cities. They change them to their liking, and in a way this demonstrates how disrespectful different races can be towards one another.
Theme: There is plainly a theme of racisim towards both white and blacks. I think that there is a theme of arrogance and disrepect as well in this novel. This could be viewed being the same as racism, however I feel this theme is directed to all humans in general. The black men often talk trash about the white people, and the white people seem to think they are superior to other races and can change the names of cities at thier wim.
Placate- to appease or pacify.
Bemused- To bewilder or confuse.
"We call the black women 'nannies' and the black men 'boys.'"(26) The way Europeans classify the African-Americans is demeaning. Black women aren't mean't to just be mothers, and the black men mature just as much, if not more than the European men. This story takes place in Africa, so for the white people to be showing prejudice in a mostly black populated state, shows how arrogant and snobbish people can be.
"[...] would pump the fighting blood of the young men." She uses the words fighting and blood in the same sentence. It seems like she is implying that fighting a is human instinct. We are all natural born fighters.
"The land is still unblinking[...] it will absorb white man's blood and the blood of African men[...] it doesn't care." When she talks about the land unblinking, it feels like a metaphor that is comparing the land and human greed. Some people will do anything to achieve the desired goal. Whether it is more land, or more power. Even if it means sacrificing the lives of others.
Qoute:
"the white men came. They said, 'What name do you give this place?'
'Kadoma,' they said. [...] means, 'Does not Thunder or Make Noise'. The white men call that place Gatooma. 'And what name do you give this place?'
'Ikwelo,' they said.[...] means 'Steep Sides of the Riverbank'. The white men called that place Gwelo.'" In this qoute, the white men are pictured badly. They don't respect the names of African cities. They change them to their liking, and in a way this demonstrates how disrespectful different races can be towards one another.
Theme: There is plainly a theme of racisim towards both white and blacks. I think that there is a theme of arrogance and disrepect as well in this novel. This could be viewed being the same as racism, however I feel this theme is directed to all humans in general. The black men often talk trash about the white people, and the white people seem to think they are superior to other races and can change the names of cities at thier wim.
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