Whose Children Are These?

(posted by Erin Sells on the behalf of Terrinae and Patrice)

(posted by Erin Sells on the behalf of Terrinae & Patrice)

The main theme in this section seems to be about both the beauty of raising children and the pain of raising them in the world that we live in. Many of the poems speak of how hard it is being African American and raising your children against the stereotypical expectations that others prejudge them with. We see the beauty of raising children in such poems as "Black Cryptogram" by Michael S. Harper, short and simply he proclaims, "When God created the black child He was showing off." This depicts the sense of pride that African Americans have for their children (pg. 237).

This section also shows the negative reality of bringing a child into this world. In Georgia Johnson's poem "Motherhood", she is telling a child not to come through her, because "you do not know what a world this is of cruelty and sin." (pg 239). In a sense she is trying to warn and protect the child that she has not yet brought into this earth. We feel like she is justifying having an abortion which is not very uncommon for any period within African American history. For instance, In the movie Beloved or The Amistad, the women would rather murder their own child than to have them suffer the hardships and prejudices of this world.

She Is Flat On Her Back

The poem "She Is Flat On Her Back," written by E. Ethelbert Miller, illustrates a woman's experience with a sexual encounter in which she is uncomfortable with. The poem's assumed male narrator, proceeds through an account in which the female expresses that she is uneasy about having unprotected sex.

The female character expresses that she wants to be protected before her and the narrator proceed in their encounter. The narrator expresses that by her saying that she wants to be protected first causes him to feel like she is not interested in him and that she does not trust him. The reader is able to see that he feels a sense of guilt when he states, "the terrible thing i must be," when he is trying to figure out the reason why she is so hesistant to be "unprotected" when she is with him. However, he feels that she is not afraid of the possibility of having children, but afraid of him. What is it that she wants to be protected from if it is not the fear of having children?

The narrator pays extremely close attention to the actions that the female character does while she is away from him. He notices that she fumbles around in the bathroom with different things. He accounts for her every move until she is back with him in the bed. After she is with him in the bed, he says,

"and I am vulnerable

to love

i am not protected

i am vulnerable to love

to love"

What do you think is the significance of writing "to love" twice? What do you think is the significance in the title of the poem and what perception do you gather about the poem as a whole?

Closure for Oskar Schell

In the last section of Jonathan Safran Foer's, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the character's secrets are revealed, and as the reader's we are allowed to sit back and analyze their own individual realities. The majority of the novel consists of Oskar's expedition's throughout New York searching for the lock to the key that belonged to his deceased father Thomas. The mystery behind the key became Oskar's purpose in life. Not only is this novel about a little boy who looses his father in the 9/11 attacts but also about a family torn apart and reassembled through deaths.
Grandfather Thomas was brought back to his wife because of Anna and Thomas Jr's death. Grandfather Thomas was also introduced to Oskar, who he would've never met if his own son hadn't died, as well as Mr. Black. The mother was introduced to Ron because she'd become a widow and the grandmother would've never married grandfather Thomas if Anna hadn't died in the Attacks on Dresden.
The novel is abstract and has many layers of depth. The ways the characters interact and their reasons for interacting are unusual. Oskar is extremely intelligent therefore he doesn't need much assisstance when he formulates his ideas, which he calls "inventing." Oskar is wel aware of situations around him and can't be easily convinced. Many of the things that Oskar knows he learned from his intuitive father Thomas. Oskar's father played a major role in the novel even in his absence and that proves how powerful the concept of death played in the entire novel. When Thomas was killed the entire novel took a turn and it's up too each reader to determine whether the turn was good or bad.
If you were Oskar what would you need in order to accept Thomas' death? Can closure be reached and if so, does Oskar ever recieve it?

What about a teakettle?

Written by New York Times bestselling author, Jonathan Safran, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is the tale a precocious nine-year old boy named Oskar, who is in search of the lock to a key found in his father’s closet. From the very beginning, it is apparent that sound is an inevitable and recurring theme within the novel. Because sound is incredibly powerful and expressive, I can understand why the author chose to begin the story with an assortment of noises. Although the primary sounds Oskar mentions appear arbitrary, they are actually filled with meaning, as we later find out. On the first page of the novel, Oskar envisions a teakettle that has the ability to create different sounds including, recite Shakespeare, read in his father’s voice, and chant The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”. Following our discovery that he admires Hamlet and is currently in a play, his thoughts about the Shakespeare-reciting teakettle do not seem so random. As mentioned earlier, he also considers if the teakettle could read in his father’s voice. Not only is his father dear to his heart, but his voice is extremely important and influential within the novel as well. As we find out later, Oskar secretly hides the answering machine that contains the voicemails that his father leaves hours before his death. As discussed in class on Wednesday with Ms. Sells, Oskar says, "That secret was a hole in the middle of me that every happy thing fell into" (71). His assertion discloses the gravity of this secret on his life.

In addition to revealing his interests and foreshadowing the story, I believe that these sounds demonstrate Oskar’s thought process and brilliance. For instance, he thinks about the teakettle singing “Yellow Submarine,” a song performed by the Beatles, the musical band. This thought triggers the idea of actual beetles and his love for entomology, the study of insects, which illustrates both his outlook and genius. In addition, although he has not even celebrated a double digit birthday yet, he knows about the Hall of Mirrors and its exact location in France as well as a variety of French phrases. Oskar also begins to speculate if people’s heartbeats can beat in synchronization, which he compares to female roommates who menstruate simultaneously. These unusual thoughts and facts reveal his uncanny knowledge and curiosity.

Based on the evidence above, I believe that the initial sounds used within the novel are present to lightly foreshadow and reveal various characteristics about the main character, Oskar. Do you think sound is significant in “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”? Why or why not? Also, why do you feel that Oskar begins narrating the novel with various sounds from lovely harmonies to racing heartbeats? What do you believe these sounds signify?

Zero Hour mentions the fact that many of those who would become great musicians were young survivors of World War Two. Today, we hear music from artists who have been similarly changed by trauma, and more often than not, their music has an impact on us. Do you think that a person with an amazing inborn talent for music could ever have the same impact on our ears as a person who was a survivor of war or other trauma?

I'm not sure which would be better. It seems like a person with a talent for music would be a better musician, but would that person have the same...heart, if you will? Something to make the music just that much more expressive? What's the difference between a trained musician and one who expresses themselves solely through their own created works?

Also mentioned was the censorship imposed by Americans on post-war German music. After all that had happened during the war, do you think it was right that America decided to do this? I'm not sure. For one, it seems all well and good to try to keep a lid on overtly Nazi-supporting aspects of a half-ruined culture, but, after the war, Germany was occupied by at least four countries, reeling from the loss of their leader, and struggling to rebuild towns and cities destroyed by bombing. I'm not sure that they really had the power to make such threats--especially through music.

Section 6

(posted on the behalf of Amber Sherer by Erin Sells)
Section 6 was about honoring people who have passed and had a major influence on people. This section was entitled "This Man Shall Be Remembered". Some people who were honored were Satchell Paige a baseball player,Malcom X, Frederick Douglass. These were powerful men that should be honored. Also, in this section there are two poems about Harriet Tubman. One entitled "harriet" the other "Harriet Tubman". Why do you think the Harriet Tubman is mentioned in this section under "This Man Shall Be Remembered"?

In "harriet" other women are alluded to Isabell, Sojourner Truth, and a Grandmother. Both of these poems are powerful and gravitas. "Harriet Tubman" is split up into two sections #1 and #2. The first section is about the relationship between Harriet and her mother. "I think she knows the I live her life. What passes from the mother kills the child before death" The second section is about the struggle Harriet had being dark skinned and the pain society made dark skinned people feel.

The Question of Identity by Kristin Lattany

In this poem the speaker's identity, or race, is being questioned. She is recognized as French, from Bombay, Japanese, from Guadeloupe, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, and Pakistani. Even when she tells the people that she is American, that she is black, it is almost as if her words mean nothing because they still challenge her by asking her more questions about where she is from.

Something that I found very interesting was the last sentence of the poem.

They could paint
The martyrdom of living with a face
Whose only label was the human race.

When the speaker relates her ambiguity, as it relates to her race, to martyrdom it made the poem so much more powerful to me. I could tell how much this affected her. She was unable to convince anyone of where she was from and what race she was, and it was killing her inside. Personally, I can identify with this poem. I love that I am Dominican and German, but I often times get questioned about my ethnicity. Many times people do not believe that I am a Latina, mainly because I am so light skinned. I feel as though the situation is similar between me and the speaker.

In the speaker's third stanza, she describes fleeing through every boulevard and bar. While she is fleeing she is denying all the "dim, exotic lands" the people are accusing her of being from. She then packs up and runs away. How do you think this affects her, and others like her? Are you one of these people?