Blog #6

I think the issues we have been discussing could be considered "weird" because some things like being a hermaphrodite, aren't things that we talk about on a day to day basis. "Middlesex" honestly has been my least favorite book to read so far. It seems to drag on forever at some points and i just don't enjoy it as much. I think the issues within the books are very interesting, I just don't particularly like the way the author has presented the story.

I don't personally have a problem with GLBT people. Two good friends of mine from high school are gay. I never treated them any differently just because I was straight. The last thing they would have wanted was for their friends to not accept them and look at them like they were different people. I respected then and their choices and I think if two people love each other, then they should have the right to be together with out people passing judgments on them. I feel this is pretty simple,but I of course understand that others have their own personal beliefs and feel that these types of relationships are wrong.

When watching the Westboro Church video I was shocked. I couldn't believe how these people were treating GLBT people. When they went to the funerals of soldiers, I felt that was completely and utterly disrespectful. They had no right to take things that far. It was really disgustung how this "mother" brainwashed her children into thinking that the message she was conveying was the right thing.

Blog #5

Both Monster and Incognegro are novels that show mistreatment of African Americans and white privilege. In Monster, Steve and other Black characters were automatically labeled "monsters" before the trial even began and I think that made them seem like they were below the White characters right away. In Incognegro, a similar situation occurs. With all the hangings, murders, and threats, the Black characters were also put onto the bottom of society. Power is shown to belong in the hands of White people especially in Incognegro. The uneven and unfair distribution of power led to a lot of bloodshed simply because the Whites thought they were better and therefore deserved to "rule" over everyone else. Monster is showing racism in a more modern time period. Just because someone is of a minority, doesn't mean they should automatically be labeled guilty or a "monster" for instance. The novels show that from the earlier time periods of racism, as shown in Incognegro, to more modern situations shown in Monster, the level of hatred and unfairness may have diminished, but it is still definitely prevalent and hopefully we will be able to see racist actions lower even further in our lifetimes.

Blog #4

I believe that hatred is learned. A child cannot simply be born already hating someone. They would have to learn it from their parents or other people, or their surroundings. As seen in "A Class Divided" the children very quickly learned and imitated their teacher's ideas about how the other eye colored children were better. They immediately turned on their friends, and began fighting with them and putting them down. It was amazing to me how quickly this process happened. As also seen with the experiment with the adults, after being insulted, they also became very defensive and began badgering their colleagues of the opposing eye color. If an experiment such as this can produce these results, imagine what would happen if discrimination were to become more prominent again. I personally wouldn't want to be around to see those results.

Blog #3

The character that stood out the most to me was Hans Hubermann. He was a kind man who would do anything for his family and anyone else around him. He saw problems around him and tried to fix them if he could. He wanted so much to help the Jews, and that was one of the problems he faced. By helping the man on the street he was called a "Jew lover" and was not respected by his fellow Germans.  Hans and his family also took in a Jewish man, Max. That showed the pure selflessness of Hans. Even though this was a risky move, he pushed on anyway to try to save the life of another. He was a truly inspiring character, and from the beginning of the novel to the end that never changed. His immediate bond with his foster daughter Liesel was so strong and everlasting, and that also never changed throughout the novel. He was always there for her and he helped her grow into the young woman she was. Hans did not agree with the Nazi's and their tactics. He knew what was going on around him was wrong and the only reason he joined the party for the protection of his family.  There really should be more men in the world like Hans Hubermann.

Blog #2

When I first came to the comic "Prisoner on the Hell Planet" I was a little surprised by it. The author drew humans instead of animals and I felt that by doing this it made us as the readers connect more with Artie's difficult situation. We could actually see real human facial expressions as opposed to animals and by looking at the images we can really feel the human suffering that Artie, as well as the others around him, went through Also, the fact that he drew himself in a prison uniform shows that he actually feels imprisoned by her death, that he is sort of trapped because he might blame himself for it, and doesn't really know how to deal with the pain. I was also really looking for an explanation as to why Anja committed suicide. I personally never really picked up on a reason why while I was reading.

Introduction

My name is Christina. I am from Pottstown, Pa. My major is middle level education grades 4-8. The last book I read was called "Tuesday's with Morrie". To me cultural diversity is learning about different writing pieces and styles from other cultures. This class seems interesting because learning about new cultures in the area of literature is something I haven't really learned that much of before. I think our society today should be exposed to, and learn more about culturally diverse literature. There are so many different styles and opinions about many topics, and I think we sometimes overlook them. I expect to learn a lot about what authors of other cultures have to say in their writing and how they relate to our lives.