Thoughts on The Bluest Eye

I'll admit it: I have not gotten far at all in this book. I don't even have it with me.

However, I do recall the very curious introduction "See the house. The house is green...." While I'm not positive, I think that is the text of one of the earliest children's books. Of course, in that time, the subject of almost any kind of "mainstream" literature was white.

Now again, I will admit that I have gotten practically nowhere in the book, but I know it involves a young black girl in Hard Times, USA that wishes to be white. Perhaps she obsesses on this passage because it is so typical of white suburban life.

Working Thesis

OK, I'm on the spot here....no clue yet as to what my thesis is. Going to leaf through American Born Chinese for a minute......

I have been thinking for a while about Chin-Kee, perhaps writing about how he is there to remind Jin of his background, serving as almost an alter-ego. I'm just unsure which group of panels to use. Could I use them all? I think so, I don't think it would be too broad or difficult.

What does everyone think?

bell hooks

Wow, heavy stuff was right. I'm not too sure what to make of this. Obviously hooks has no problem speaking her mind. Her thoughts on pop culture regarding race are interesting. While it is hardly universal, she brings up the point that in many films the unfortunate ones to get killed off are black, or even that the villain is black. I did, however, take some exception to her thoughts about Darth Vader in Star Wars. I think that was kind of a stretch. During production of the film, the guy in the Vader costume did all the lines, and when it was realized he had a high-pitched, wimpy-sounding voice not befitting of a commanding presence like Vader, James Earl Jones was sought out for his great, godly voice.

I did agree, however, with her observation that white, moneyed liberals, while they may defend the underprivileged and oppressed, actually may advance racial stereotypes.

American Gothic

Since just about everybody worth their salt has attempted to interpret this work, add one more to the list!

I agree with some of what has already been discussed in class. The pair are husband and wife, and the more powerful figure in the work is the husband. He appears stern, world-weary, and strong. Considering this work is from the Depression, many people, especially rural people, were on hard times. As I said, the husband is the stronger figure in the work, and this is evidenced by a couple of things. For one, his image dominates the painting. The pitchfork reinforces this dominance. The wife is more difficult to explain. She is plain, and almost appears weak. Her gaze, just as her husband's expression, can hardly be considered happy. It looks like either fear or awe. Fear of what, I don't know, maybe losing the farm? The pitchfork? Is she in awe of her husband's strength?

Well, there's my two cents. I'm curious as to what others think of this work.

Article Response

I almost forgot to do this...

Anyway, the author of the article describes multimodality as any form of communication or learning appealing to the senses for a response. For example, everything we see, hear, touch, taste, smell can produce a variety of responses.

Multisemiotics is a bit more difficult to explain, it is in direct relation to multimodality, and I surmise it explains that a set of different reactions, responses and answers can be drawn from multimodal experiences, rather than just one definite answer.

Multiliteracies, as I understand them, are alternatives to what some might consider dull, traditional learning methods that one is able to draw from multimodal experiences, such as reading comic books as opposed to novels for a more visual learning experience.

What Is An American?

An American is anyone who lives within these borders. All Americans are unique, coming from a variety of backgrounds and ways of life. Everyone lives their own unique American experience, be they blue-collar workers, rich tycoons, or the homeless. In Whitman's I Hear America Singing, this is touched on a bit. While I have never been a fan of people being divided into groups, because I believe we are all Americans, Whitman gives each group characteristics of their respective professions. I, Too, Sing America speaks to me more in that while the narrator is treated badly due to the color of his skin, he still possesses the American spirit, pride.

My favorite team in the universe, and it's not always easy!

I don't quite know how this will turn out since I've had issues trying to insert pictures, but here goes.



One literary theory that has always interested me, in part because of the challenge, is reader-response criticism. This theory focuses on the reader or audience of a work, and how they react to and interpret it. According to the resources given, the reader identifies with the work and can react in a number of ways depending on how emotionally involved they become in the particular work.



Another literary theory that has interested me, being the history nut that I am, is biographical. Learning about the lives of famous figures is something I have always enjoyed. Our resource tells us that practitioners of this theory paint the authors of biographies as role models to students.



Well, not bad for a first blog. It's pretty late, like the fine student I am, I put this off until about 12:30 a.m. Time for bed....