Romeo & Juliet

People have done several different things that reflect the themes of Romeo & Juliet. They have made comics that show what the play would be like today. Some have used references to the couple in songs. This link with the balcony scene, where Romeo and Juliet are smoking cigarettes and the caption is "Romeo & Juliet The Cigarette Break" refers to the present. Since smoking cigarettes has gotten more popular over the years, there's a good chance Romeo and Juliet of today could have smoked cigarettes. The rap artist Silk E Fyne came out with a song called "It's like Romeo and Juliet," http://www.metrolyrics.com/its-like-romeo-and-juliet-lyrics-silk-e-fyne.html which is a song based on merely sex. This "version" considers the idea that Romeo & Juliet are one of the ultimate symbols of love, and uses that to compare them to hot sex. This doesn't add to my understanding of the play at all, and I think it is unfortunate that this song is associated with the play. Through searching "Romeo and Juliet" on youtube, I found that the artist Dire Straits used Romeo and Juliet for one of their song titles, http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4TDrE67mI and it was covered by The Killers. The song is all about the play and how they share love for each other. The music video makes references to the play, which includes the balcony scene and a couple all over each other. Romeo and Juliet are seen as more sexual in this version compared to the play. There is also a commercial for H & M clothing that is 5 minutes long, and there are a ton of connections with the play, it is pretty much the play, except very contemporary. It takes place in the city, and when Romeo is lying dead in the middle of the road, cops are present, and Juliet is having flashbacks to their past sexual encounters with each other. It is contemporized through the sex appeal, environment, and technology. At the end, Juliet picks up Romeo's cell phone and points it towards the cops, and she is shot. This interpretation does not really add to my understanding of the play at all.

American Born Chinese

All three sections of the book deal with subjects that are not happy with their appearance. They all change the way they look in order to be accepted by others. I didn't really enjoy reading one section more than another, but I liked how it ended with them all coming together. I had to think about what had happened throughout the entire book, and it threw me off at first, but after I thought about it for awhile, I understand.

The Bluest Eye

Cholly struggles against cultural standards when he is having sex in the woods with Darlene, and two white men approach them. Instead of making them leave, they tell him to keep going. Instead of Cholly getting mad with the white men, who were obviously provoking him, he gets really upset with Darlene. "He hated her. He almost wish he could do it-hard, long, and painfully, he hated her so much" (148).

When Frieda and Claudia show up at the house where Mrs. Breedlove works and Pecola is present, Pecola raises commotion, and the little girl in the household starts crying for Polly. Claudia has a thought and she cannot believe she called Mrs. Breedlove Polly, when even Pecola doesn't call her mother that, and that is reason enough to scratch her.

"She be lucky if it don't live. Bound to be the ugliest thing walking."
"Can't help but be. Ought to be a law: two ugly people doubling up like that to make more ugly. Be better off in the ground."
(190).

Hooks and McIntosh

I watched Hooks part 8 about rap music, and I agreed with a lot of what she had to say. I too think that the more obscene the rap music video is, the more attention it receives. Bell also says something about the controversy over rap music and how people think it should be more ethical and moral. She contradicts this by saying that it should be looked at in a larger frame. Bell talks about cultural production and capitalism, and how rap music, being different from multi national corporations, it is still receiving a lot of wealth. I agree with her statement that says the rap industry is right in line with these corporations, and that if it is getting a large amount of profit/reward, one should push that product, whether the people making it agree with what they are doing or not. I also viewed part 5 about Madonna. In it, Bell Hooks states that she does not necessarily think that in Madonna's real life, she commits to any of the sexist images that she is quite willing to reproduce for a profit. However, she uses that trick to make more money even though she is very wealthy. She goes on to talk about how she should not have to degrade herself on this level to earn money. I somewhat agree with what she is saying, like I understand where she is coming from, but Madonna and the rap artists might live their lives out in this matter. It is quite possible that their "stage lives" have a major impact on how they go about life. As for McIntosh's article, when she states, "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege," I have to disagree. I'm not white, but I do not think that whites are "carefully taught" not to recognize white privilege. I think they just simply do not put an effort into noticing it. I also think that her list of the daily effects of white privilege are very far fetched, and offensive. I would understand that she makes the list to make a point that white privilege is invisible, but I do not think that it all has to do with white privilege.

In-Class Writing: Mango Street

Esperanza's family is apparent throughout the entire book. In "Hips," it states, "I can tell Lucy and Rachel are disgusted, but they don't say anything because she's my sister" (52). This shows that she is not ashamed that Nenny is her sister, and although Nenny keeps using the old song, Esperanza does not yell at her sister for being stupid. Then in "Papa Who Wakes Up /Tired in the Dark," Esperanza demonstrates her closeness with her father when she says, "And I think if my own Papa died what would I do. I hold my Papa in my arms. I hold and hold and hold him" (57). As much as Esperanza would like to deny that Mango Street is her physical home, it is undeniably where her heart is. Everything in the book revolves around her life and the people in it who influence her the most. All of these people live around her, mostly on Mango Street. "Bums" is a section that reflects Esperanza's personal identity because she realizes that she did not have it easy growing up where she did, and she says, "One day I'll own my own house, but I won't forget who I am or where I came from. Passing bums will ask, Can I come in? I'll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I know how it is to be without a house" (87). This shows a very selfless side of Esperanza. "Beautiful and Cruel" also reflects personal identity when it says, "I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am the one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate" (89). Although it is not looked upon as nice, not putting the chair back or picking up the plate, Esperanza admits she does this, and it is who she is. One passage I liked for the poetry and imagery was "Four Skinny Trees" because I like the image it creates with the trees' strength and how it is a secret because the roots are unseen. I also like how in the end of the passage she talks about looking at them when she is down, and how they will always be there.