I found the novel, The Joys of Motherhood, really sad. Nnu Ego worked so hard to please and support her children and she was never really appreciated. She reminds me a lot of my mother. My mother is always putting me and my two sisters first. Reading this novel really made me realize how selfless my mother is and how unappreciative I've been.
I was a bit confused with the ending. Was Nnu Ego's honor really restored just from an expensive funeral? I feel like this was a poor attempt by Oshia to show his appreciation for his mother.
While I sympathized for Nnu Ego throughout the novel, I found it hard to relate to her. One, because I'm not a mother, but mainly because I've never had to emerse myself into a new culture. This was especially hard for Nnu Ego because the most important thing in her life, her role as a mother, was what was most greatly affected when she moved to Lagos. The traditions there were very different from her village. Her children were socialized in Lagos to be unappreciative of thier mother and selfish. Yet even though her children were like that, she endured all of those hardships in order to support them. I think this says a lot about her character.

Annie John

Throughout the semester we have discussed the issue of identity and the different influences on identity. Annie John shows how one's relationship to their mother affects one's identity. Throughout the novel, Annie has a love/hate relationship with her mother. Annie is very reliant upon her mother and extremely close to her. This becomes an issue when Annie has trouble seperating from her mother. When Annie walks in on her mother and father sleeping together, she becomes angry and jealous that her mother is showing someone else affection. This stems from her fear of seperation from her mother. This fear and anxiety are what lead her to cause trouble in school. As Annie gets older I think she begins to realize that she needs to develop her own identity, seperate from that of her mothers. I think this is the main reason why she decides to move away. While I don't think it is what Annie really wants to do, I think she knows that she needs to. If she doesn't go off on her own and become independent of her mother, I think she fears that the rest of her life with mirror the struggle of her childhood with her mother.

The House on Mango Street

I think that The House on Mango Street is mainly a coming of age novel. The novel traces Esperanzas years at the house and portrays how she evolves. Two major parts of her development are sexuality and identity. At the beginning of the novel, Esperanza is confused about her identity. She decides that shw "would like to baptize [herself] under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees." (p.13) Here, she is struggling to define herself and wants to change her name to one more like her, yet I think she is still confused about who is she and who she wants to be. Also at the beginning of the novel, Esperanza is very naive about sex. She claims that "the boys and girld love in seperate worlds." (p.9) She ignores any ideas or thoughts about sexuality until Marin teaches her about boys. When Esperanza and her friends go strutting around in high heels, Esperanza experiences for the first time the feeling of sexuality. After she begins to accept sexuallity, she is sexually abused by the man at her job. I think that after this her ideas of sexuality change and she becomes more fearful of it then anything else. Throughout the novel I think Esperanza's slef-identity is strenghtened. I think she begins to accept where she lives and who she is. I think the main thing that allows her to form her identity and be content with it, is her poetry.

The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

I think The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf hits on many of the topics we have discussed in class, such as identity, socialization, and the generalized "other." In order to read this novel effectively, you really have to put aside all of your previous judgments and stereotypes. I had a little difficulty reading this because I very little knowledge of Muslim culture. I tried hard to put myself in the shoes of the characters, especially Khadra, in order to understand exactly what they were going through.
In the novel, both the Muslims and the Americans showed racist views and behaviors. The American's racism however, was much more extreme and full of hatred. For example, the brutal murder and rape of Zuhura. In the novel, Mohja Kahf makes it clear that there is a need for change in American society. She also suggests that it is not just the American's fault. The Muslim families in the novel also have racist beliefs. They are constantly looking down upon American behavior and criticizing them for their way of life. I think Kahf wants the reader to realize that in order for a change, everyone must be accepting of others. In order for that to be possible, I think people have to put a conscious effort into accepting other's ways of life.
Racism is also shown in the novel between the Muslims. This is shown between the Sunnis and the Shiis. I found this really depressing. Not only are Americans racist towards Muslims, and Muslims towards Americans, but there is also racism among the Muslims. It seems like there is no escape from the hatred. I think this greatly affected Khadra’s character and identity. Constantly being surrounded by racist views eventually led Khadra to question her own racist views.

KIndred

I think that the significance of Kevin getting trapped back in time for an extended period is so that Butler could make his character dynamic. By reading how Kevin acts while on the plantation, the reader is able to see deeper into his true character. I think being there for so long significantly changed him. By being surrounded by men like him (i.e white superior males) who abuse and oppress black men and women, Kevin's relationship with Dana was changed. After being submersed into that culture for a long period of time, some of the values began to rub off on him. I think that this can be related to our reading from Bell Hooks. Racism is culturally learned. When Kevin married Dana, he was baffled by people's racist opinions. But now after being in this oppressive society for so long, he develops some oppressive, domineering characteristics. I think that Butler used his character to show how nurture has a significant impact on one's development of racist values. In addition to the way one is raised, Butler emphasizes the importance of one's environment. Kevin's character changed when he was on the plantation from when he was at home. When one is surrounded by a culture of shared values, it is hard to resist inheriting those values. Through Kevin, Butler portrays how hard it is. Kevin seems to be a good, kind, and fair man; but even he can't resist some of the oppressive values he was surrounded by on the plantation.

Through the characterization of Pecola, Frieda, and Claudia, Toni Morrison instills a deep empathy for these character within the reader. My empathy was so great at times that the book became difficult to read. I was not sure how well I would be able to understand what the characters of this book went through, but Morrison did such a great job portraying their characters that I felt as if i was sharing their agony. On the other hand, I found it hard to feel sympathetic toward Cholly. While reading about how he grew up and the terrible things he went through, I did feel sorry for him. But after he raped Pecola, all of my sympathy disappeared. I wanted to feel sorry for him, but I just couldn't look past all of his terrible actions. I think Morrison used Cholly's character to intensify our sympathy for the young girls. Cholly was an example of what can happen to a person that has been severely oppressed and through a great deal of pain. His character makes the reader aware of the chance of a similar future for these young girls. Do you think Morrison intended for the reader to have sympathy for Cholly?