Danbi's Deliberations

Quotes referred to in the blog post: Quotation 1: Girl by Jamaica Kincaid p1: “ when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn’t have gum in it, because that way it won’t hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it” Quotation 2: Girl by Jamaica Kincaid p2: “this is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit; don’t squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you know” Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl successfully displays both the benefits and negatives of generational experience and tradition. The first quotation’s contrast with the second quotation displays the benefits and issues with a mother teaching her daughter about how to act. Both two quotations are an example of a mother giving her daughter advice she feels is helpful and has lived her own lif...

"And if the prettiest doll, Barbie's MOD'ern cousin Francie with real eyelashes, eyelash brush included, has a left foot that's melted a little---so? If you dress her in her new "Prom Pinks" outfit, satin splendor with matching coat, gold belt, clutch, and hair bow included, so long as you don't lift her dress, right?---who's to know" (Cisneros 2). Sandra Cisneros' "Barbie-Q" is a tale of two young girls who adore these culturally iconic Barbie dolls but cannot afford them. As a result, when the two girls go to a flea market and find a bunch of Barbie dolls selling for cheap because they are damaged from a fire, the girls are delighted and are able to buy two new dolls. While reading "Barbie-Q", I felt especially moved by the closing lines of her short story. With her story "Barbie-Q", Cisneros shows the idealistic way that society views women and the materialism of the world. Barbie dolls have long si...

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is written from the point of view of an unknown narrator. The narrator details the events within the story from an outside perspective. Although there are some benefits to this point of view such as the knowledge of everything going on in the story, it fails to provide further detail on a character's emotions or reasoning behind an action. This blog post attempts to reimagine the events of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", but from the perspective of the supposed angel and with a focus on the angel's relationship with the child of Pelayo and Elisenda.  It was a rainy day. The skies were filled with dark and gloomy clouds, saturated and drooping with heavy raindrops. The angel, an old man sent by the heavens, descended upon the small town by the sea. His wings towered over his tiny frame and although an angel, they appeared more buzzard-like, dirty and half-plucked. The old man's ap...

This alternative ending of "The Comet" by W.E.B Dubois,  follows the scene where Jim (the lower-class black man) and Julia (the well-off white woman) are interrupted by the sound of a car and people. In this altered version, Julia's father and other white men, excluding Julia's love, Fred (who is nonexistent in my version), arrive and reunite with her but are also met with Jim.  "My daughter!" he sobbed. "Are you well? Unharmed?" "Unharmed!" she said. "And this man here?" he asked, encircling her drooping form with one arm and turning toward the Negro. Suddenly he stiffened and his hand flew to his hip. "Why!" he snarled. "It's---a--black man--Julia! Has he---has he dared----" Julia lifted her head and looked at her father curiously and then uttered confidently, "He has dared---all, to rescue me and I thank him much." She looked to the black man standing alone, meeting the eye of the human...

I found it pretty remarkable that Paul Beatty's The White Boy Shuffle succeeded in depicting a pretty dark and powerful fight against racism in a comedic and enjoyable way. One thing within the novel that interested me the most was Gunnar's struggle of identity and fitting in after first moving to Hillside. I would say Gunnar is a pretty peculiar character considering his freakish natural ability to play basketball and the way he reacts to different situations. Gunnar seemed to be this embodiment of black culture and stereotypes while also being the opposite. He is amazingly good at this sport, basketball, which black people are stereotyped as being naturally good at, while at the same time being this incredible and studious poet with impressive grades. Usually, these two characteristics would not be associated with each other which is what makes Gunnar so interesting as a character. Gunnar's struggle with his identity and eventual acceptance and fight for his race was ...

During our poetry readings in class, we discussed the poem, "Today's News" by Elizabeth Anderson. I thought this poem was pretty intriguing because although this poem uplifts African American representation in the media, I found myself still being able to relate to it as an Asian. Anderson writes, "When the first / black Olympic gymnast was black and on TV I called / home to say it was colored on channel three". This line conveys how excited the speaker is to see a black person on TV and how important it is to them. The imagery of the speaker immediately calling their family to tell them about the gymnast on TV just emphasizes how significant black representation in the media is and also indicates that it is so exciting because black people rarely make it into the news. I just found this pretty ironic because nowadays, sports in America are largely dominated by African Americans. If you ask people who the best gymnast in the world is, almost everyone who i...