homework #8 - "authorship"

"Post another entry to your personal blog about one of your favorite literary works.  Briefly explain why it is one of your favorites, and then explain who the various authors are of this piece and what those authors add to it." 

When i was first read the assignment, i spent several minutes thinking of different literary works that i could potentially chose from. Having read many great novels, memoirs, and short stories, and i found it difficult to narrow my list down. After thinking about it for a while, I chose Ken Kesey's controversial, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. To be honest, this was one of the only books that we've been required to read for school that i've actually thoroughly enjoyed. It was one of those books that you pick up and can't seem to put down. I think i got a lot more out of the novel because we read it in a class setting, therefore, we could discuss the topics and explore some of the underlying meanings, character personas, and statements that i might have just skimmed over. 

Per our discussion in class today about 'authorship,' we established that when we (the students) read a writers piece, we become an 'author' because we create opinions and generate questions that the original writer, or other students might not have considered. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest, Ken Kesey is the obvious author, for his name is printed on the cover of the novel. However, we, too, are the authors. As are the critics, and the filmmakers and writers who altered the story for it to become a major motion film. 

So who has the power to be an author? Are we giving 'authorship' too big of a definition? 

Homework #5 (Two Questions about Race vs. A Family Tree in Every Gene)

“Race is merely a shorthand that enables us to speak sensibly, though with no great precision, about genetic rather than cultural or political differences.” – Aramand Leroi (2005).

In Goodman’s article, “Two Questions about Race,” he suggests a greater, more open-ended  and undefined personal view in comparison to Leroi’s article, “A Family Tree in Every Gene,” which provides a more tangible and understanding view of how, and why we define race. Leroi clearly states that race is just a short word that we use to identify each other, and that regardless of what we look like we are all made up of the same genes, and only slight genetic variations.  Leroi is an avid fighter of de-racializing biological variation.

On the other hand, Goodman states that race is primarily a social construct, and based on a “lived experience, that passes as the result of genetic difference [and] may actually be due to the interactions of some aspect of lived experience.”  For me, Goodman’s idea was difficult to understand. While he makes several good points, I found it difficult to understand the meaning of a ‘lived experience’ without any further explanation, or practical personal example. 

Race - The Power of Illusion

2. Race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait or even gene distinguishes all the members of one so-called race from all the members of another so-called race.

For me, the word, 'race' is often times hard to define. However, people have been identifying themselves through what they think their race is for hundreds of years. Knowing who you are is an important aspect to finding and then accepting your true identity. According to John H. Relethford, a biological anthropologist, race " is a group of populations that share some biological characteristics...These populations differ from other groups of populations according to these characteristics." The statement that race has no genetic basis was shocking to me because race has always been assumed to be a collection of traits, not just a difference of skin color. After researching the idea behind race not having a genetic basis, i began to understand the other side of the argument. According to The National Human Genome Research Institute, 99.9 percent of our DNA is the same. With this being said, I suppose the idea of race is simply a political and cultural concept that our society has developed. 

However, even with the evidence, we are still left wondering why did we as a society defined race the way we did? And how can there be no specific characteristic or trait that distinguishes one group of people from another if we all look so different? 

Design

In our busy lives, we rarely stop to think about the simple, yet small things that make up who we are, what we want to be, and how we identify ourselves. The overall objective of this blog is to fully come to an understanding of who i am, and learn about the meaning and the importance of race and gender.  The picture that is my background resembles our lives, as we are in constant motion. It also represents the blurred idea of race. Everyone has a different idea of how to define race, or how they see themselves. Race is often a touchy subject in which some people feel very uncomfortable discussing. I hope that through this blog I will become more comfortable addressing such topics, as will my peers. 

Prompt 1 - Summer Reading

Claireece Precious Jones is an abused, illiterate, and HIV-positive sixteen-year-old living in Harlem with her two sons, and her estranged mother, Mary. For Precious, literacy is an escape to advocate for herself. Once she begins writing in her journal, and the world of literacy begins to open up to her, she finds her voice, and begins to write about her painful secrets, and those who have abused her. Before coming to the adult literacy class, known as “Each One, Teach One,” instructed by Ms. Rain, Precious struggled with expressing her emotions and thoughts and felt no purpose in her life. 

“It’s true. Ms Rain the one who put the chalk in my hand, make me queen of the ABCs” (Sapphire 81)…“So anyway I made so much progress I won award. Literacy award. I get it September of 1988. Ms Rain wanted to give it to me even before then. She say she had wanted to give it to me after I come back from Abdul being born and homeless ‘n stuff. But director say, well, we got other students who deserve it, let’s see if Precious got staying power” (Sapphire 82). 

With the encouragement of Ms. Rain, who plays an essential role in Precious’ literacy also gives her the courage, empowerment, and confidence to be successful. 

Just as Precious struggled with her illiteracy in school; my uncle suffered from dyslexia – a learning disability that impairs a person’s ability to read. From ages seven to nine, he refused to tell anyone that he couldn’t read correctly, or that he was confusing different letters together. He figured that everyone had the same problems, and didn’t worry too much about it. As he got older and his friends passed reading levels and were excelling at writing, he was still confusing b’s with d’s. As the frustration grew, it became clear to his teachers what was wrong. One teacher in specific, with similar intentions as Ms. Rain, suggested he try a boarding school in Connecticut with programs specifically for students with dyslexia. So at age ten, he went, and stayed there until he graduated high school at age eighteen. Not only did going to a school that catered directly to his needs build his confidence, but also it helped him get back onto his grade level reading and writing track. 

This connection between Precious, and my uncle, helps me understand the importance and the value of literacy in our society, and how it is the door to all of the opportunities that we are given in life. Literacy is truly a “precious” thing to have.