All posts by Carolina Uribe

The marriage proposal

Chekhov, Drama/Theater

The “Marriage proposal”  CheKov’s play shows  what is happening right now with young couples. In the play Lomov went to Natalya Stepanovna’s house to propose without knowing her well. He only took in consideration that she was an excellent housekeeper,not bad-looking and well educated but he barely knew her, he had no idea how her character was. If he had known Natalya’s personality before, he would never propose to her.   

In my opinion even though this is a comedy it shows what is happening in real life, many couples are more worried about the fancy proposal that the decision that they are making, so they are more worried about how the proposal should go than WHY we want to spend our life together. For me this is a big problem because before saying yes, we have to have an important conversation about our goals, needs, family, jobs, money and  future children. If you skip the conversation you would have big problems in the future, so  marriage  is  more than a fancy proposal.  

MINE EYES HAVE SEEN

Dunbar-Nelson

In “Mine eyes have seen”, we can see what Platon called “ hold the mirror up to the nature”. This play show the lowest form of human behavior such as violence, racism, intolerance, lack of empathy, discrimination  and corruption. 

Chris’s father was lynched by his racist white neighbors and the rest of his family fled their home. Later they arrived in a new town, where his mother died. One day he came home with the bad new that he was drafted. He was so upset because he didn’t want to fight for a country that did not respect their rights and let his father’s death go unpunished.   

Student Opinion

Thanksgiving

        In Colombia we don’t celebrate thanksgiving. Six years ago when I came to America this was totally new for me. Everybody woke up early to watch the Macy’s parade. At night we got together and every family had to bring something to the table but we could only eat after every member of the family had arrived. Then we said a little thanksgiving prayer. It was really nice. 

          Now as a christian I can say that Thanksgiving is more than having a good time with your friends and family. This holiday is about giving thanks to God for all things he provided, also is a time to be thankful for all his blessings. 

       I think it is  also a time to reflect about what really matters in life because many times we are so worried about things that  we don’t have that we forget to appreciate what we have.   

FRANKENSTEIN 

Fiction, Shelley

I think that Frankenstein is more than a “ ghost story”, in the story Victor Frankenstein said “ when I look upon him, when I saw the filthy that moved and talked, my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred. I tried to stifle these sensations; I thought that as I could not Sympathize with him” ( chapter 17 ). For me Victor is the real “monster”. Why would you create a creator that is so gross or disgusting for you. For me it doesn’t make any sense. After he created the “fiend” , as he called his own creation, he just ran away without care.  

The creature said “ I’m malicious because I’m miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?”. He knew that no one would ever accept him because of his appearance. Later he said “ I will revenge my injuries; if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my arch-enemy, because my creator, do I swear inextinguishable hatred”. ( chapter 17). I think many people feel the same way as the creature. They feel alone, abandoned and disconnected from others.Those feelings could lead someone to become a serial killer. Most  of the serial killers have experienced  bullying, depression and violence in their lives. Many of them came from dysfunctional families that don’t care about them. That’s the reason I think that Frankenstein is more than a “ ghost story”  is the  reality of many people that feel that they don’t fit in this society, for many reasons apparience, personality, race, status etc.    

This is What it Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona.

Alexie, Fiction

Victor had a best friend called Thomas ( he was a storyteller) they did everything togueter. One day when they were 15 they stopped being friends because Victor got drunk and beat Thomas without reason. 

I think the relationship beetween Victor and his father was normal but Victor didn’t know that his father would leave his family. He didn’t know that  his father was tired of the life he had at the reservation.  

I think that the relationship with his father was very affected because he was tired of living in a reservacion. I think his father felt like a prisoner there. I think Victor’s community did not receive the help they should have received from the goverment. They lived in bad condition. They could not even afford a plane ticket, that’s the reason his father felt that way and ran away from that place.   

The effects of colonization are devastating because colonizers took over their land, languages, cultures and identities. I think people that live in those reservations are struggling every day to survive, they live in economic instability and under government control that don’t respect their rights.  

Fiction, Ichiyo

How is her marriage affected by socioecomic status? What do you think Oseki learns  from her run in with Roku? What is the significance of their  meeting through the lens of Marcist theory ?  

Oseki was persuaded to marry her husband only to please their family. After her son was born he changed for the worst, so he started treating her badly and humiliating her all the time. He felt that she was his property and he could do whatever he wanted with her.  Back at the time men felt superior to women. I think he was tired of being in a relationship with an uneducated woman, or someone that he thought was not good enought for him. 

The protagonist stayed in an unhappy relationship only for her family, her brother had a good job thanks to her husband and her parents also got benefits from their marriage.  

What is the significance of their  meeting through the lens of Marcist theory ? 

When she ran into Roku, She realized that many people are struggling every day to survive, she was not the only one. Even though  Roku worked hard every day, he could not  pay for a decent place to live, so he was born poor and after many years he stayed the same way. But her brother got a good job only because he had a connection ( her husband) otherwise he never would have gotten that kind of job. 

 Think about the setting of “The Thirteenth Night” particularly in terms of historical era. Given what you know of the era, and more specifically, what you learned about Higuchi Ichiyo’s life story, what or who could the female character represent? What role(s) did women play in society at the time, what kind(s) of power did they have, and how did they navigate their way through the systems of power?      

She was born in the Meiji era, Back at that time women didn’t have rights. They belong to their fathers or their husbands. They didn’t have the right to decide the person they would marry. Their marriages were like a transaction between families. Even Though her mother didn’t let her finish their studies, she made it and became a well known writter. Back at that time women were educated only to be good wives  or good mothers  but she knew that women were more than that. She used her writings to tell real stories. She was a strong woman who supported her family after his father’s death. For me she was an empowered woman.    

Does the writer’s race matter when the narrative deals with issues of race? 

Chopin, Fiction

In  “Desiree’s baby”  short story her baby was born with dark skin and her husband said “ it means ” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white; it means that you are not white.”(3). Why did he blame her for the skin color of their baby ? only because she was a woman, so it was supposed to be her fault. I think he already knew that his mother was black, but he didn’t accept that fact. 

 For me the writer’s race does not matter at all nowadays. For me almost every minority group is experiencing any form of racial discriminacion in America. We can see that all the time in the news, newspaper or social media. We can see different kind of discriminacion against black, latinos, women, gays, etc, no only for their skin color also for their belief, language or even their accent. 

Last semester I read an article called  “ Accent bias: A Barrier to Black African-Born Nurses Seeking Managerial and Faculty positions in the United States” By Michigan University, the study shows the challenges that  immigrants face in America for their foreign accents. This study shows the discriminacion that many nurses have to face for not sounding American, so discriminacion is a huge problem right now. 

Bambara, Fiction

“JUST TEASIN” 

I think adults have to be very careful with the things they say when they are around kids. Children don’t understant that sometimes adults say many things only to be nice or to make others feel good. In “ Gorilla my Love” The Protagonist thinks that his uncle will marry her in the future because when she was a baby he said that to her, so she takes that literally. Sometimes adults say a lot of things just to be nice, but the problem is that sometimes children get hurt so easily, because they expect that you  “say what you mean” just like them.

In “ Gorilla My Love”  The protagonist said “ when you say you are going to give me a party on my birthday, you gotta mean it “ ( pag 18). Most of the parents always want to keep their promises but sometimes it doesn depend on us. Even though grown ups have all the intention to keep their word, sometimes they are no longer available to do the thing they said they would do. 

This part of the reading reminded me of something that happened to one of my friends. 15 year ago my friend promised to her daugther that when she turns 15, she will have a big party. Three months before she turned 15, my friend had to come to America looking for a better life. When she turned 15, my friend didn’t have the money for the party, so she could not  keep her word. Her daughter never forgave her mother for not giving her a big party. I think most parents want to give their children the best they can, but even though they have the intention sometimes it is not enough.   

About Us, Where I'm From

I am from a beautiful place where everybody is called ” PARCERO” . 

 I am from the caribbean sea and the pacific ocean bordered the country.

I am from the rhythm of vallenato,cumbia and despecho.

I’m from dancing cumbia is the first thing you learn in school

I’m from the ” Bandeja paisa” is the national dish.

I’m from gorgeous flowers grow everywhere, where the beautiful festival flower take place.

I’m from the smell of coffe wake you up every single day, and your mom making AREPAS with cheese for breakfast is the best way she can show you LOVE.

I’m from ‘CHIVA PARTYS BUS” is part of your weekends, going around the whole city on a bus dancing and singing is a good way to have fun.

I’m from people have the unique ability to be positive in difficult times. YES I’M FROM COLOMBIA.