Better Half

In this specific story, i found one theme to be central throughout. Anya, the main female character, continually points out negative aspects of her husband Ryan, never referring to any positive points. To me, the relationship is very forced and stereotypical in the point of view of Anya. In other words, she is doing it to match the definition of a normal female (husband, dog, picket face, etc.). She is also doing it to potentially gain access to a green card, due to the fact she is an immigrant. Nonetheless, the relationship is very forced.

Prior to marriage, the relationship between the two was still rough. Their personalities clashed and they constantly argued. In the story, it states "It was time to ask for a favor: marry now and sort out their feelings later." This quote proves that she was very eager to get married, not because she loved Ryan but because she wanted a marriage license. When talking about Ryan to herself, no positive points of their relationship are mentioned. Although she knows she does not truly love him, she says "After all, who else was there to [love]?". This shows how she is settling for anything, in a desperate attempt to get married, obviously for the wrong reasons. The only qualities she says she does enjoy were "his ponytail and overuse of her name" which are not reasons to get married or fall in love nonetheless.

As previously stated, Anya wanted a picture perfect life. This is seen in her eagerness to get married as well as her view of other couples. In the story, when talking about friends, she always speaks about their present and past relationships. Also, when visiting Erin's home, she noticed "no pictures of a husband or children, or dogs". This shows her infatuation and obsession of a stereotypical life.

Although their relationship seems bad due to the constant fights and arguments, to me Ryan still shows that he cares. I felt this was proven as he conscientiously is quiet when returning to their apartment at night. In other words, although they were in a fight, he comes into the apartment very quietly, trying not to wake Anya and showing he cares. Also, he lays close to her, putting his arm around her making his presence known and attempting to "keep her warm".

Overall, the relationship between the couple is very disfunctional, showing the life of Anya and possibly female immigrants in general to be hard, forced, and unhappy.

Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice

Within this story, the author incorporated many literary elements which i enjoyed, including metaphors to describe situations, description of nature to describe characters feelings, and many more. Throughout this story, i felt the main character continuously pointed out the negative aspects of his father, while still defending him in the face of others. In the story, it states "We forgive any sacrifice by our parents, so long as it is not made in our name." To me this represented the idea that no matter what your parents may do, you will always have some positive feelings for them because of the blood relationship you share.

Towards the beginning of the story, as the father arrives, the author describes the rain. In my opinion, rain usually being bad and unwanted, represents the feelings of the main character as he does not want his father to be there. A metaphor i enjoyed when describing the rain stated "a thluck thluck of a typewriter's keys punching out the letters", as it described both the weather and the hobby of the main character at the same time. With the fathers arrival, the mood between the two characters is somewhat awkward and forced. As described by the main character, "the fields are glass...like a shape in smoke, the poem blurred." To me this means that the physical presence of the father may be much difference than his mental feelings, as the son is unaware of the fathers new personality and thoughts.

After getting his father acquanted with his apartment, the son goes on to say to himself, "the truth was, he'd come at the worst possible time." I feel this quote shows the poor relationship the two characters have with one another. The father had been gone for three years, and in most cases a son would be ecstatic to see him regardless of the obligations he had at home. This may give rise to the father mentally and physically abusing his son, later discussed between the son and his girlfriend. The poor relationship between the son and father is also represented as the son tells his girlfriend his father does not know about her. It shows the the communication between the two is very generic, and is not on a very deep or hearfelt level.

The three year seperation between the two proves to be very detrimental to their relationship. In the story, it states "i could no longer read his smile. He had perfected it during our seperation." In other words, as previously discussed, the son did not know his fathers feelings, new personality, likes, and dislikes. Rather than being able to anticpate his fathers next move, each one now came as a suprise.

In this story, there are many instances that show the son and writer to be reliant on others for advice rather than following his own feelings. In other words, he does as he is told rather than doing what he thinks is right. To me, this was first realized as the son is searching on what to write his final paper on. He talks to multiple people, getting their opinions on literature and present and past politics, rather than writing about what he feels. Also, the son although now an adult listens to each and every one of his fathers commands, doing exactly what he says regardless if he thinks its right or not.

The Lazarus Project 241-292

I found the beginning of this section of the book to be very cruel yet intricate, as the pogroms mercilessly attacked the family.The details Aleksandar Hemon used and the way in which he described many characters feelings was very unique. Many personalities were noted throughout the section, especially ones of being quiet yet having many feelings embedded inside. In my opinion, this is how many people live their lives, sheltering feelings deep inside until they are proned and in some cases forced out.

For instance, towards the beginning of the book, Lazarus told his family of the events that happened at Mr. Mandelbaum's store. After telling them of the events, he showed little emotion of being scared or shocked as most people would. In the book, it states he "pulled a little paper bag out of his pocket and put a piece of candy in his mouth, rewarding himself for telling the story." This act of rewarding himself shows that he is concerned with the deed he just preformed rather than the acts he just witnessed. In other words, his thoughts of the appalling situation he saw is not discussed.

The idea of being oblivious of things happening around an individual is also seen in the perspective of the narrator. In the midst of the ruthless killing by the pogroms, the narrator states "mother sat down on the floor with her back to the stove. I was afraid that her dress would catch fire." Rather than attempting to defend his family, or show signs of being scared of the "killers", he worries about his mother catching on fire, an idea that would not come to many at that point in time. Beginning on page 250, Iuliana is also represented as being quiet and holding true feelings inside. Similar to Rosa, she is very soft spoken, generally only responding with one or two words and not answering questions to their fullest. When hastled and continuously bothered or forced however, they both prove they have in depth thoughts and feelings.

In this section of the book, there are also many ideas that point in the direction of going to the afterlife or recognition of it. This shows that characters recognize that they will eventually die, possibly believing that they will die soon. For instance, after Lazarus gets attacked and thrown onto the carpet it states "Lazarus used to pretend that was a magic carpet; he sat on it in the middle of the room and imagined flying to far off places." This far off place could of represented heaven, showing recognition and possible premonitions of death. Similarly in the same scenario it states "the down from the torn pillows floating, like souls, through the fog of what had just happened." The down represents the family members just lost, and the fog represents the blurriness and shock of the situation.

Overall, this section proved to be very grueling, at the same time having unique literary styles and ways of presenting information and characters thoughts.

The Lazarus Project 1-27

I find this book to be very interesting and intriguing in part because of the way the book is written. I feel the present and past method (or flashback) gives the story a sense of adventure and mystery, giving the reader an opportunity to serve as a detective and solve the odd murder.

Towards the beginning of the chapter, the narrator shows signs of not liking his life, having a very negative attitude towards it. For instance, he states "All the lives i could live, all the people i will never know, never will be, they are everywhere. That is all the world is." i feel this quote shows how the narrator may be impoverished and jealous of the lavish lifestyle other people live. Although the rich seem unhappy when describing them, he still shows sings of jealousy, proving that money is a very important characteristic to him.

The young man from Sarajevo shows further signs of negativity when referring to the winter conditions. For instance, the quote "He has been in Chicago for seven months, and cold much of the time," shows signs of the men being unhappy in Chicago and not enjoying his new and very different life; different from Sarajevo. Also, the quote "Yet he returns to the ghetto to be angry; there you are always close to the noise and clatter, always steeped in stench," shows Sarajevo may have been more peaceful and serene.

In the murder scene, the events give rise to Boston and its people being somewhat racist. Chief Shippy stereotypes the man because of his skin color, becoming more scared as he typically would with a white person, eventually shooting and killing him. His relief of the supposed murderer being dead is seen as it states "Chief Shippy stands frozen, holding his breath, exhaling with relief as the young man dies." No remorse for the killing a man is seen, just happiness as he is alive.

Racism is also seen as the Assistant Chief stereotypes the man beacuse he is clean shaven and bathed. Although this is a normal occurence for most people, he labels it as bizarre beacuse the man is foreign. Also, he believes the notes in his pocket to be a coded description of a murder plt, rather than taking the words for what they literally say.

Bharati Mukherjee "Orbiting"

In Orbiting, Bharati Mukherjee shows his representation of America, and how he views the overall culture and acceptance of others in the perspective of an outsider (or immigrant). The title refers to this idea, representing the various cultures, beliefs, and ways of life "orbiting" and intertwining into one nation of America. America is involved with other nations, thus other nations are involved in America. Although many ideas are present, majority are unheard or ignored, as immigrants generally play somewhat of a lesser role.

The story is about Renata, and her transformation from a life in India to a different one in America. The overall plot takes place at a thanksgiving dinner, where each family member shows qualities of being American while still being proud of their heritage. The food they eat is mostly American, TV shows they watch and ideas they talk about and discuss are American based, and acitivites they take part in (especially the children) are American. This idea shows that conformation for many takes place, as the overwhelming and dominant culture generally impowers the others. In one instance, it speaks of the fathers "North Italian heritage". Although it points out that he is still very proud of it, the New Jersey lifestyle and American mindset is the one generally shown and active. Similarly the fathers mother was Korean, but beacuse of the fathers outlandish acts and somewhat American rebellious nature, "she wanted him out of the house."

This story further shows American conformation as characters in the story even change their name. "Renata and Carla are what were christened. We changed to Rindy and Cindi in junior high." Changing of names and overall verbal recognition shows the cultures heavy dominance and leadership in the "orbiting" of all others.

Last Day of Movie

The first part of this particular section of the movie involved describing war. War, in this sense, was seen as rebellion and finding oneself. To me this was similar to the author and writing a book, as the author is free to express any feelings and thoughts he or she may have. Letters of the mans personal experience of the war were written, which allowed for explicit description in the mans own point of view. Once again this is similar to an author, as an author can tell a story without any influence from outside parties. Books not only influence an author and allow them to have a personal experience, but it also effects the reader. In many instances, books allow a reader to be a co creator of it. In other words, each reader has room to interpretate the work differently. The imagery created by each person is different, the reader is not passive and open to incorporate their personal imagination.

This segment of the movie also talked about how many books are "one in done" books. To me this made sense, because the topic of an authors first book is generally one that they are most interested and passionate about, causing them to write the book in the first place. This one and done habit may also be cause by statistics, as with majority of cases authors do not top and make more money and recognition than their first book. Although a book may be very good, it still may not gain near the amount of fame as other books. This in part is due to connections, as specific publishers and famous reviewers have a large pull. This heavily represent the saying in the work place, "its all about who you know".

I found it very interesting how this man was so dedicated to finding the author of the book. Even after his father passed away, he continued the documentary in search of the author. This further proves the idea of readers becoming connected to pieces of art, in some cases making them somewhat obsessed.

In Class Free Write

In my opinion, every class is stressful. They aren't fun or interesting. Pulling all nighters in the library doesnt help you learn. You remember information through short term memory for about a day and forget it all the next. To me, hands on activities is what teaches you. Instead of being in a biology class learning about cells and metamorphosis, i should be at a football practice helping a trainer fix injuries and lead rehabilitation workouts. What am i going to remember more in a week, information i crammed for about prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and the genetic makeup of viruses, or how to properly wrap an ankle and an open wound?

To me i feel the preparation in college in my perspective as a hopeful physical therapist is somewhat of a joke. I pay large sums of money to attend an out of state college, and when i graduate most of the information i had once larned will be forgotten. Like i said, they need to incorporate more hands on hours. Credits should be given for kids working as an intern in their respective career, as they are learning real information, techniques and "go abouts" persay in their respective departments.

To me the role of Chris Offet in the "Same River Twice" is more intellectually productive than a college student. He is traveling from city to city working job to job and learning information about the real world, while making money rather than losing it through tuition. Pointless information in a book is not forced, he chooses what to delve into, increasing his knowledge in specific subjects he personally likes.