Author: Skyy Woodroffe

Final Reflection

Skyy Woodroffe

The body of work I’ve done this semester was analyzing poetry and writing an essay about one of the author’s poems, writing about activism, discussing the psychoanalytic theory, discussing the postcolonial theory and examining types of government in the Alexie story, discussing the Marxist theory and analyzing the Ichiyo story, and discussing critical race theory and analyzing the Chopin story. After spring break I was writing about my opinion on an article of my choice, writing an analysis essay on the feminist theory and Ichiyo’s story, discussing genres of drama, discussing Moral Criticism and Dramatic Construction in literary theory, and creating a one-act play based on one of the stories I’ve read. I thought it was an eventful journey over the past 15 weeks because I learned and discussed some topics I never discussed before or went into full depth. I think the realization I have made as a writer is that I struggle with what I want to write for an hour, but when I finally get the right idea I know what to do.

The two pieces of work I am proud of are the Poetry Analysis essay and the Literary Analysis essay. I did a lot of research while writing the essays and made sure I understood all the material I reviewed. I am never confident about my essay but I felt better after hearing the feed back from my professor and peers. It encourages me to not doubt myself when I am writing my essays. The reason why these were my choices is because I somewhat enjoy writing and going into depth about topics that I really like to discuss. Analyzing poetry and talking about feminism is a couple of the topics I enjoys writing and discussing about. I was in zone because I was focused on doing the best I could do when writing the essays and I enjoyed this assignment more than others because I got to talk about topics I want to talk about.

I have had an issue with time management this semester and it was my biggest challenge. In one of my other classes, I was having a hard time understanding what was going on and it was giving me a hard time, so I began to procrastinate and finish homework for that class at the last minute. It also caused me to fall behind in my other classes because of how stressed I was. I managed to catch up with everything and started to procrastinate less and less. I still had an issue with time management but I was starting to get better and practice a healthy habit of finishing most of my homework on time.

I really enjoyed this class and I will miss attending every Tuesday and Thursday. I had a lot of fun with the assignments and I enjoyed reading everyone’s opinions on different topics in open lab. This class has helped me grow as a writer and made me enjoy discussion post when I didn’t like doing them before. I also liked writing essays in the class even though I usually don’t like writing them as much. I hope my professor and peers have a great summer this year and wish them the best of luck!

Ichiyo

Skyy Woodroffe

Ichiyo: Feminist Theory

In the story “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo, there is a undertone in the story that is tied to feminist ideals. The character in the story named Harada Oseki feels marginalized in her marriage and wants to divorce her abusive husband Isamu. She wishes that her husband would treat her with respect, but Isamu continues to verbally abuse and humiliate her. After she talked to her parents about wanting a divorce, she decided to stay with her husband because she felt like it was her duty to take care of her son and help her family. Oseki wanting to take control over her own life reminds me of the idea of feminism. She wanted to step into her own power and make her own decisions.

The story “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo takes place during the meiji period. The protagonist, Harada Oseki, is married to a wealthy civil servant named Isamu and has a son named Tora. Her and her family were from a lower class until she met Isamu. Marrying Isamu helped her and her family financially. Things weren’t going so well in her marriage because Isamu treated her badly. She decided that she wanted a divorce and went to her parents’ house in secret to talk about it. After she told her parents about wanting to get a divorce because of Isamu’s treatment towards her, Oseki’s mom supported what she wanted while her dad didn’t, “Your mother talks big, but remember; the fine salary your brother is making is all thanks to Isamu . . . Its trying for you, Oskei, I know. Think what your marriage means to us, though, and to Inosuke, and to Taro. If you’ve been able to put up with things this long, surely you can continue.” (Higuchi 1114). Oseki’s father wants Oseki to stay in the marriage because it will her good for her family, especially her brother. Leaving the marriage would put her family back into the lower class and her dad warns that they won’t be able to come back to this lifestyle if she divorces Isamu. After this converstion, she decides that she should stay with Isamu because she thinks it would be best for her family, and she loves Taro too much to leave him too. When Oseki gets a rickshaw to take her back to her house, Oseki realized the rickshaw was being pulled by her childhood friend and past lover Kosaka Roku. Roku starts talking to Oseki about his past until Oseki gets to her destination. They both part ways and go back to lives.

During the meiji period, woman was expected to get married, have children, and do housework. Women didn’t have much power during this time because they were expected to be dependent on their husbands and weren’t given many decisions to make for themselves. According to the article Women in Meiji Japan: Exploring the Underclass of Japanese Industrialization by Saarang Narayan, a new civil code in 1898 formally reinforced the subordinate status of women in society, confining women to the household. Married women now had no economic independence or the right to take independent legal action. A small number of women started a movement because of the new civil code, according to the article Feminism in Japan by Barbara Molony. They were able to do this by talking with other women in transnational organizations because they couldn’t talk about it at home. They didn’t like that their legal status was different than men, they wanted to put a stop to sex trafficking, and marital inequality.

The meiji had a lot of social, political, and economical changes. Before the meiji period started in Japan, there was the edo period. Women during the edo period were encouraged to supervise their children’s education and take control of the household because their husbands were no longer in wars and became government officials, according to the article Samurai Women. Women’s social status depended on their husband’s, and they had to take care of business in the household. They were also expected to continue her husband’s line by having children and it was her duty to protect her family’s honor. When a family would open a business in town, townsman class women worked to take control over their own future. Many worked beside their husbands and fathers or went to school. Women were expected to help men. When the meiji period started, women were the workforce behind the Japanese industrial working class. They were paid under minimum wage, and it wasn’t consistent. They also had to work up to 12-14 hours a day. Men were being paid higher while women were being paid less. Due to the civil code created in 1898, women were forced to only focus on housework and no longer had independent legal action.

Oseki symbolizes a woman in the patriarchal system, the husband symbolizes the patriarchal system, and the parents uphold the patriarchal system. Oseki wanting to break free from her abusive husband and lead her own life, made me see that there were undertones of feminism in the story. She wanted to break free from the patriarchy, but she didn’t want to disappointment her parents that uphold the patriarchal system without even realizing it. They both understand Oseki’s frustrations about the marriage and think it is reasonable for her feel that way, but Oseki’s father think it’s best for her to stay in that situation so she can continue her roles as a married woman. She must do what is best for the family.

In sum, while I was reading “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo, I felt that the story had undertones of feminism in it. Oseki decided to divorce her husband because she was tired of the treatment and wanted freedom reminded me of feminism in a way. She wanted to take control over herself, and I don’t think she realized she was stepping into her own power. I think it was brave of her to talk about the hardships in her marriage and explain why she can no longer be with her husband to her parents. This story helped me learn about feminism in Japan and think deeper about how to describe feminism in Japan without the western definition.

Marriage Proposal

Skyy Woodroffe

There is a lot of pressure to have extravagant proposals nowadays from social media and TV shows. There are some people who rush to have that big proposal moment to show and tell everyone without taking the responsibilities of marriage into consideration. Chekov shows that marriage proposals are sometimes just for the materialistic part of it instead of it being one of the biggest life decision someone could make. I think that is true, but I also think that there are some people who are starting to ignore the pressure of having the perfect proposal. There are some proposals that are lowkey and are taken into a lot of consideration, and sometimes the woman is the one that proposes instead the guy in the relationship.

Happy Endings

Skyy Woodroffe

I chose this story because of the title. The title made it seem like the story could be a fun and heart warming to read. I was also curious about it turning out to be a sad story so I was interested to see what the story could be about. I then began to wonder what deep message could be behind the story which made me want to read it even more. Overall, I just thought the story could be a nice and fun to read based on the title.

In the story Happy Endings, Every story ends up having the same ending from the 1st story. I think Margaret Atwood was trying to prove that it’s important to know how/why something happened. Understanding what happened is important in stories because it is more interesting than just reading what happened. Learning about what motivates the characters and what the characters thoughts are, create a good story. I also think that it gives room to write about how the character changed (if they do) and stopped themselves from entering the same situation.

Chopin

Skyy Woodroffe

I think race does matter when the narrative deals with issues of race. I think it would be better to write about issues of race if you are apart of it because the writer will have a better understanding of the struggles. Someone who is writing about someone else’s experience doesn’t fully capture how the person would feel vs the person who can relate to the experience. I think that they would also get some information incorrect if they were to write about issues of a race they are not apart of, unless they do a lot of research on the topic and talk with people who are experiencing these issues, but I think it’s better if someone of the same race writes about the issues. I think the narrative will be more accurate and give the reader a better understand of the issues they face.

Armand

Skyy Woodroffe

“But above all,” she wrote, “night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.”

I could imagine Armand pacing back and forth after reading that letter. He is in a state of shock after learning the truth and starts to freak-out the more he thinks about it. He realizes that he has black ancestry and he doesn’t know how to handle it because he doesn’t accept his own race, “Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand,” she laughed hysterically. “As white as La Blanche’s,” he returned cruelly; and went away leaving her alone with their child” (pg. 3). From that sentence, I came to a conclusion that doesn’t like and want to think about the possibility of him having black ancestry. After Armand calms down, I think he would start to go into denial and try to ignore the letter until it starts eating him up completely. I think he will eventually except the truth but keep it a secret for the rest of his life. I also think that he will beat himself up about how he turned his back on his family and will live in regret. for the rest of his life

Feminism in Ichiyo

Skyy Woodroffe

I think the character Oseki represents women who lived during that era in Japan. The roles women played during this period of time were to get married, become a house wife, and have children. Women didn’t have much power during this time because they were expected to be dependent on their husbands and weren’t given much decisions to make, so it was tough to navigate through the system by themselves. At the time, they were only able to navigate through the system of power through their husbands and their appearance. Women during that time also weren’t expected to have a good education and weren’t able to engage in politics. I think the character Oseki falls into the category of feminism in The Thirteenth Night because she wanted to take control over her own life and divorce her abusive husband. I think Oseki trying to get into her own power was a symbolism of feminism.

Marxism in the Thirteenth Night

Skyy Woodroffe

While reading the story The Thirteenth Night by Higuchi Ichiyo, I thought about Isamu and Roku’s similarities and differences. Isamu and Roku come from different lifestyles, Isamu is a wealthy man while Roku is from a lower class. They also feel different about Oseki. Isamu doesn’t respect Oseki because of her level of education and likes to humiliate and verbally abuse her. Roku was in love with Oseki and was romantically involved with her before Oseki was forced to marry Isamu. The similarities I found between Isamu and Roku were that they both are selfish, mistreat their families, and our overall unhappy with their lives.

While Oseki was talking to Roku near to the end of the story, I think Oseki learned that no matter the class there will still be similarities between a man from a lower class and higher class. For example, Roku and Isamu still had the same behavior even though they were from different classes. I think from that, she realized she could have ended up in the same situation if she married Roku instead of Isamu, but on the other hand she felt like life could have been better with Roku since they came from the same class and understand each other better. I think Oseki also learned that no matter the class, everyone has their struggles.

Poetry Analysis

Skyy Woodroffe

I chose the poem Seven by Natalie Diaz because the way the author talked about Christiano Ronaldo grabbed me and made me want to read more. It showed how much Christiano Ronaldo meant to the soccer community and Maderia Portugal, the place he was born in. While reading the poem, I imagined Christiano Ronaldo playing on the soccer field and the crowd cheering for him as he tries to make a goal. I then began to think about how good of a soccer player he is and all his accomplishments. The poem also reminded me of all the Christiano Ronaldo jerseys I’ve seen people wear throughout kindergarten, middle school, and high school.

This poem is specifically an ode poem about the life of Christiano Ronaldo and what an amazing soccer player he is. This poem expresses how much he means to the soccer community, the author, and the country he was born in. Also, the way the poem was written made it seem like Christiano Ronaldo wrote this himself, “If I’m human, I am the lightest of them all, I’m a lamp and cover territory like a flame, speed like an Iberian wolf — my boots barely touch the ground. Beneath my feet every blade of grass lifts up in Spring and green-que te quiero verde! Alchemists call my sweat “aqua regia,” the King’s water, meaning I take gold. But my ambition ends up always wanting more, always wanting more” (lines 12-17). The author thinks very highly of him and appreciates his playing techniques on the soccer field.

After looking at the structure of the poem, I think this poem is more of a Pindaric ode/free verse. According to https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/free-verse and https://www.vam.ac.uk/,  a free verse is a verse in lines of irregular length and mostly irregular rhyming if there is any. Free verse follows the natural rhythms of speech and I saw that in this poem. The reason why I also said it’s a Pindaric ode because according to https://www.masterclass.com/, a Pindaric ode also includes irregular lines and rhyming schemes, I am chemical, elemental– I am Nitrogen, which translates to “nothing.”/ Nothing but force./ Nothing but pressure. Nothing but the back of the net. I am 78 percent of the earth’s atmosphere /– I am everywhere, and many. Breathe me in. If I’m human” (lines 9-12).

After reading the poem again while knowing that it’s a free verse, I kind of look at it in a different way. I still think the poem is about honoring Christian Ronaldo, but I can see how this needed to be a free verse. It allows the author to freely express how she feels about the famous soccer player. I think the poem had more feeling to it because there wasn’t a strict pattern. I also think the audience can connect to the author’s emotions better when it’s a free verse poem.

Another poem I chose to talk about is Skin Light by Natalie Diaz. I think the words she used were beautiful and it also had me wanting to read more of the poem. I was interested in understanding the meaning and why she used the words she used in the poem. I imagined a field full of glowing gold flowers at night and the flowers were getting brighter and brighter at the beginning of the poem. In the middle I imagined the flowers getting dimmer, then at the end I imagined the field of flowers getting brighter again. The feeling of bittersweet came up when I read this poem. I think that this poem is also a free verse because it has a natural rhythm of speech and gives the audience room for interpretation.

I think the similarities I see between Seven and Skin Light are that they both are free verses and that the author uses beautiful words to describe things in a touching way. They also give the audience space to interpret what the poem is about. I think that the author writing free verse poems helps her get her emotions across better than creating a poem with a specific structure. I think it allows her to connect with the audience better.

In conclusion, when I read the poem Seven by Natalie Diaz, I believe that it was a heartfelt tribute to Christiano Ronaldo. She was speaking for the soccer community and herself. After reading this poem, I realized how much Christiano Ronaldo means to the soccer community and his home country. It also made me think about how good of a soccer player he is to the world. After watching videos about Christiano Ronaldo shooting a goal, I can see why he is one of the best players in the world. I can also see why the author and the soccer community love him and are inspired by him and his achievements.

Should Parents Give Children More Responsibility at Younger Ages?

Skyy Woodroffe

The Netflix show “Old Enough!” is about children ages 2-5 in japan going outside by themselves to do some errands like grocery shopping, going to a local farm, or walking to their grandparent’s house. The author writes that an American version of the show “wouldn’t fly”, and I agree because America is less safer than Japan. Approximately 2,300 children go missing everyday in the U.S. according to justgreatlawyers.com, so I can understand why it wouldn’t be a good to have a show like this in America. There are a lot more dangerous people out here that will harm children if they are seen alone. Kidnappings do happen in Japan, it’s just that a lot more children are kidnapped in the U.S. every year. The article also mentioned that in Japan, it’s safer for kids to cross the street by themselves because the drivers always drive slow in the neighborhoods (mostly because the neighborhoods has small blocks and a lot of intersections). In the U.S, it’s less safer for a child to cross the street by themselves because there are some drivers who speed through neighborhoods and end up hitting pedestrians. That’s why there are speed bumps and signs saying that children play here in some neighborhoods so there will be less accidents.

The writer says she hopes that the Netflix show “Old Enough!” will lead American parents to “consider the possibility that our cultural norms need a reset, or at least a rethink.” I think that some American parents can be overprotective but I don’t think they are being over protective in this case. It wouldn’t be smart to let a 2-5 year old in America run errands by themselves because it isn’t as safe here. I think that the parents start to become over protective if they won’t allow a teenager to gain more responsibility, but I think it makes sense for them to not give a child those types of responsibilities and be protective over them in America. I haven’t seen the show “Old Enough!” yet but I would like to watch it now that I’ve read about it. It would be interesting to watch because I never seen a tv show like this in America.