Author: jayleen ramirez

the end

jayleen ramirez
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Throughout the weeks of this course, I improved as a person and as a writer. Looking back on my writing, one thing that stands out to me is how much my vocabulary has grown. I’ve noticed an improvement in my writing abilities also. I sound more professional, have improved my vocabulary as I mentioned, and have built a structure that helps me when responding to a question. I’ve come to realize that if I really put my mind to it, I can write anything.

My Erasure poem is one of the pieces I am most proud of. I struggled at first with this style of poetry because it was unfamiliar to me. I was overthinking everything until I understood that I had to go with the flow, and once I started, I couldn’t stop. I just started taking words out, leaving words in, and not overthinking everything as much as I used to when it came to writing. This project drew me a little more than the others because it was so distinct from all the others. At first, it appeared to be an easy assignment, but it wasn’t.

Another piece I’m very proud of is the Where I’m From assignment. This assignment was entirely about myself and my life. I struggled with it at first, but then again, I always do with my writing. I attempted to begin this assignment on my own but found it difficult. However, on my second attempt, I completed this task in my living room, when my entire family was there. Everything began to flow, and all of these memories began to surface.

One of my most difficult tasks was time management, It’s been a long road because I’ve been balancing so many classes. I procrastinated on almost all of my assignments in all of my classes. This added to my already high level of anxiety. I tried and tried to come up with a system that would work for me, but I kept giving up. Prof. Perry, on the other hand, was a teacher who helped me get through it. She wasn’t the type of instructor who would give you a zero if you turned things in late because she understood that we were still in the midst of a pandemic and that we all had lives to live. That allowed me to get back on track with my other subjects because I could concentrate on them first. Except for my Math and English classes, all of my classes were terrible this semester. Prof. Perry believes that children are constantly learning new things and that they do not arrive at college knowing everything. Her grading approach benefited me as a student because it allowed me to focus on what I knew rather than worrying about how perfect an assignment had to be. was able to learn from my mistakes and grow. In my public speaking class, for example, the teacher thought we did TED talks every weekend and did not understand that we were still learning how to public speak especially those with anxiety. This semester’s grading system was not equitable. In general, I’ve realized what I need to work on for the coming year.

My freshman year of college went just as everyone predicted. There was an hour-long lesson and several hours of homework to do. It was a lot to deal with, and it was quite stressful. Procrastination may have worked in high school, but it will not work in college, I discovered. I’ve never liked writing, however, I appreciated this class and all of our assignments. It was a good mix of us writing about our experiences, thoughts, and feelings, and reading and writing about a great story. My experience in this class has been amazing over the past 15 weeks. My classmates are all outstanding writers, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading each of their assignments. I’m grateful for the knowledge and experience I’ve received from this class this semester 🙂

marriage proposal

jayleen ramirez

Marriage proposals are typically built on love and center around two people’s romantic relationship, however, this does not appear to be the case in Chekov’s drama “The Marriage Proposal.” This drama reflected how Russians thought about marriage in the nineteenth century, which was mostly about money. Chekov portrays marriage proposals as a benefit based on social position. He claims that some people rush towards proposals even though they are unsuitable.

Chekov’s play also features gender symbolism. Chekov incorporates the concept into his play by having Natalya call Ivan and wait for him to initiate contact, even though she already knew he was planning to propose to her. People nowadays think it should be more than just getting down on one knee and asking; it should be something you can share on social media and have others discuss. Individuals are lead to having unrealistic expectations and require the extravaganza in order to be satisfied. 

I still see traditional gender roles in marriage, such as the male working and supplying while the woman cleans, cooks, and looks after the kids. Although these roles will always be present, society has learned to be more equal with one another. Women can work and provide for their families and men can assist with household tasks and their child’s care.

NY times

jayleen ramirez

The article I chose was “How Diverse Is Your Community?”. My neighborhood is a melting pot of ethnicities and races. Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, and Asians make up a large proportion of the population. The majority of my community is Catholic, but there are also Protestants and Jews. In addition, New York City has the world’s largest LGBTQ population. In my community, you can find people from all socioeconomic backgrounds, from the homeless to multimillionaires. Individuals of all ages and ethnicities can be found interacting in my community all of the time. In the schools especially because most kids don’t think about race, income, or religion. Parades and festivals are organized to make individuals feel more included. However, there are times when not everyone is nice to each other. There are racists out there who can’t keep their mouths shut when they have nothing nice to say.

To be more welcoming, I believe my community could create recreational centers where people of various ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds can come together and interact. I enjoy living in a diverse community, and I believe it has played an important role in shaping who I am today. Each culture, nationality, and individual has a unique level of information and points of view. I genuinely think that one of the advantages of living among people who are not like me is that I get to meet and interact with a broader range of people.

atwood’s endings

jayleen ramirez

I chose “Happy endings” by Margaret Atwood because personally, I like happy endings but deep down I knew there would be some sort of “twist” to it. I noticed that the reading was in a different format than the others when I checked it. My attention was drawn to the letters A-F. I was trying to figure out what the difference was between all of them. Also, while reading her biography, I discovered that she wrote the book “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which, while I have never read, has received a lot of attention. As a result, I was confident that “Happy Endings” would be enjoyable.

In “Happy Endings,” Atwood argues that how and why things happen is more interesting and important than what happens. When considering the nature of truth and facts, this statement could imply that knowing what leads up to the “fact” is more important than the fact itself. True stories can be found in what Atwood refers to as the “How and Why,” or the characters’ motivations, thoughts, and wishes, as well as how they react to the unavoidable interruptions. I believe that knowing why or how something happened is more important than knowing what happened because it can help you understand a situation better and prevent it from happening again.

discussion post 2: chopin

jayleen ramirez

Let me begin by noting that answering this question was difficult for me. You’re either writing from your own biases or stereotypes when writing from the perspective of another race. A writer can write about what he or she observes, but not about the feelings and thoughts of the person. The reading “Desiree’s Baby”, is an insightful commentary on race. However, the author, Kate Chopin, is unable to fully comprehend the feelings of a person sentenced to slavery, as well as the experiences of black people. Kate Chopin, a white woman whose family owned slaves at the time, used her writing to challenge social standards and address racial concerns. If a white writer is willing to research and get information about the black experience in order to reach an audience, then, isn’t that okay? However, she was not personally affected by the problems that people of color faced. I do not feel that those who are not members of the group should be given greater weight than those who are. I believe that everyone, regardless of ethnic origin, should use their voice to combat racial inequity.

discussion post topic 1: armand

jayleen ramirez

In a state of shock, Armand drops the letter. People with whom he shares blood with he despises and considers as property.

“Shatter”

“Smash”

“Crack”

Armand snatches and tosses everything in his path. He is filled with rage and utter confusion on the inside. He wonders how they could have done this to him. How they could have failed to inform him of this. Armand sits at his desk for hours, staring at the letter and then back at the photo of Desire, him, and their child. He catches a glimpse of a photograph of his mother. He takes into account how people would treat her if they found out, and how cruel he was to his slaves. He was disgusted with his actions and with himself. Armand leaves the house to burn the letter. He goes to release the slaves and then to get his family back. 

“Desire, Desire!”, he calls out. “Where are they, Madame Valmonde?”

” Oh son, they went for a walk and never returned.”

Armand collapses to the ground.

Rationale:

“And the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with the slaves.” (Chopin 4).

“Moreover, he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had
brought upon his home and his name” (Chopin 5).

As we can see, Armand treated slaves badly. And when he discovered that his wife and child were allegedly black, he tells them to leave. As a result, in this alternate ending, he is ashamed of himself after finding out the truth, frees the slaves he tortured who he shares the same blood with, and returns to his family.

feminism in ichiyo

jayleen ramirez

Higuchi Ichiyo’s “The Thirteenth Night” was written in the late 1800s, so what was expected of women was quite different. Women’s roles were to do housework, care for their children(s), and be considered their husbands’ property. Oseki exemplifies what the majority of women had to go through at the time. She had planned to leave her abusive husband, but after speaking with her father, she changed her mind. This was because her father told her that she had to fulfill her responsibilities as a wife and mother no matter what has happened. “The Thirteenth Night” depicts how women’s social status is poor and how their relationships are restricted, they don’t have a say in anything. The birth of Isamu’s and Oseki’s son Taro was the catalyst for her abuse. His rage was fueled by the fact that Oseki is less educated. Despite the fact that she was raised at a time when girls were not required to attend school and that Isamu was aware of her background when he desired her. Isamu makes fun of Oseki for being “too stupid to confide in” and keeps her in his house only as Taro’s nursing mother. Reading the biography, Ichoya navigated the system’s power with the help of her father and by continuing to pursue her dreams.

marxism in the thirteenth night

jayleen ramirez

The two characters Isamu and Roku, based on Ichiy Higuchi’s story “The Thirteenth Night,” have similarities and differences in terms of social class. Isamu and Roku are both uneducated. Isamu scored higher in terms of social and economic situations than Roku, who works as a rickshaw puller. They share the same disregard for their families and wives, whom they don’t much care for. Because he had been unable to support her for a long time, Roku’s wife decided to leave him. On the other hand, Isamu, a successful man, has excellent fortune, and his influence aids Oseki’s family in improving their situation. Oseki found it difficult to tell her parents that she intended to divorce Isamu cause of his mental abuse throughout the years. Isamu’s unhappy life is shown as a result of his dissatisfaction with his less educated wife. Isamu’s life is different from Roku’s since he belongs to a superior social group. 

During her run with Roku, Oseki realizes that she must continue to stay with her husband in order to avoid becoming homeless like Roku. If Oseki and Roku had chosen each other when they were younger, they would have had a happier life, as opposed to now, because they were both from the same social class. According to Marxist Theory, Oseki’s husband is a wealthy man who mentally abuses her because she comes from a poor family and has a lower level of education then him.

government

jayleen ramirez

Both Sherman Alexie’s short stories “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire” revealed how corrupt the government can be, with inequality and racial prejudice standing out. In “The Trial of Thomas Builds-the-Fire”, Thomas faced purely racial discrimination in a court of law because he was Native American. While on trial, Thomas was attempting to understand himself by recounting events that had shaped his life and justifying why he was the way he was. Regardless of how Thomas tried to defend himself, the judge was steadfast about locking him up. “The judge was red-faced with anger; he almost looked Indian. He pounded his gavel until it broke. “Order in the court,” he shouted. “Order in the fucking court” (Alexie 146). When the BIA officers discussed Thomas, they already had ideas for why he was on trial, asking, “What charges should we bring him up on? Inciting a riot? Kidnapping? Extortion? Maybe murder?” (Alexie 140). Because the justice system and the BIA were both biased against Native Americans, Thomas received the same horrible treatment as many others. Thomas is given as an example of how the system treats Native Americans with racial prejudice and injustice. In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”, Victor needed assistance from the council since his father died in Phoenix. Victor, due to a lack of funds, was unable to bring his father’s cremated remains from Phoenix to the reservation. The Tribal Council of the reservation could only afford to give $100 and showed little sorrow when he mentioned his father’s death.

grownups

jayleen ramirez

In Toni Cade Bambara’s novel Gorilla, My Love, she shows that Hazel dislikes the way grownups act and gets irritated when they don’t do what they say. Hazel ascribed considerably more weight and importance to remarks that were just passing comments to the grownups in her life. So, how cautious should parents and elders in households be when speaking around small children? Well, due to my own upbringing, I have mixed feelings about how honest parents should be with their children. From a young age, I was taught that honesty is the best policy, but I genuinely think that there are times when small lies are beneficial to children. Seeing as telling the truth could be harmful to their mental health, you must lie until they are old enough to handle the truth. Instances include marital issues, negative feelings about family or friends, personal problems, financial situations, and so on. Adults should constantly be conscious of the words they use in front of youngsters and they should also strive to see things from the child’s point of view. Now, I think it is okay to “tease” to some amount because not all teasing is harmful. It can be funny at times and even bonding. Teasing, on the other hand, can become bullying if it is repeated and intended to hurt. Thus, teasing children is not bad, but you must realize when you are going too far and endangering their growth. You must also recognize that they should be censored to some degree, but even that exposing them to the realities of life is also not a terrible thing.