Patrick Zabel

Invisible Man

2005-04-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

This novel does have some modern day revelances in it dealing greatly with race. In the 1950s, when IM was written, people were very vocal about their views on race and ethnicity. The IM is confronted many times with racism and hatred. Even the Communist Brotherhood has racists within it, but on large, the racism is covert.
After the Equal Rights Movement in the late 1950s and 1960s, blatent racism went away mostly. But today it still exists, just not overtly. Most people will not come out and say what they feel in public like they wouldhave in the '50s. This is because it is taboo to do so and would result in a very bad sceene. The only people that do say what the feel are usually racist groups like the KKK and the Aryan Brotherhood.
However, in private people will say how they feel, and surprisgly alot of racism still exists. Not on a super large scale, but alot people of all ages don't like other people because of their skin. The modern day and the novel are similar because they both have racism involved and people deal with it daily.

Duplessis Poetry

2005-04-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

I find Duplessis' poems to be very awkward to read. I usually enjoy poetry that rhymes and makes sense. To me poetry should followa sense of direction. Hers doesn't seem to have that path and, frankly, it's pretty agrivating.
The few of her many poems I have read/ heard make no sense to me. Interpreting them is almost out of the question. Every so often, to her credit, there is a line which does strike me and I can kind of pull a meaning out of it.
But, for the most part, her poetry is not exciting or readable for me.

If I had to ask one question of her, it would be why all th spaces and awkward speech patterns?

Antigone

2005-04-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

As a fan of Brecht's works, I do have to say I did enjoy this book. It was the best all year for me. I like how Brecht started off the Prologue with a contemporar story. Writing right after WWII, Brecht and his audience could assuredly relate to this play very well.
Brecht did change some of the characters in an updating sense, but left the major plot and characters the same. The tragedy that is Antigone was preserved despite its update and make-over.
Something that grabbed my attention in the play was the plot itself. Two sisters, one who wants to obtain the body of a disgraced brother, and one who wants to obey the law and let his body be where he fell. This is a pretty intense plot, full of emotion and somewhat relevant to todays time with the war in Iraq, as opposed to WWII Germany or Ancient Greece.
Overall, I would say that this play was far easier to read and more attention grabbing than the other books we have read.

The House of the Spirits

2005-04-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

I found this book to be hard to follow. First of all, I am not good with names that are not familiar, let alone when there are repeated over and over (Pedro).
Althought, I do have to give credit that it made me think alittle about American culture and ethnocentrism. In the story there is rape and sexuality and the people that deal with it are somewhat accepting or at least nonchalant about it. We had a discussion in class about it and how we, as Americans, were largely or would be largely disgusted with it and would look down upon rapist and sexual predators. But their culute is different and we do not have the power to judge, even though we all did.
Overall, I found this book to rate along side almost all of the others we have read. It was long and didn't catch my attention nor my imagination.

Cultural differances in The House of the Spirits

2005-04-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

In this book I realized that different cultures may have different views on things that my culture label wrong or taboo. The most notable is that of rape and sex.
To Americans, rape is evil and a crime. When someone is raped, it is a safe bet they will be scarred and that others will feel aweful about it. That person's nightmare has become part of society and they have to deal with it.
But in other cultures, like in the book, there are people who simply turn their heads from rape and the issues that stem from it. In the book, numerous females are raped by their male land lord at his will. In this society not much was said- the exact opposite of contemporary American culture. Despite being a regular occurance, nothing really was done to prevent or halt it. The only consequence for the land lord was his illigitamte son comming back later in the book.
If something like this happened in America, it would be almost automatic that a trial and punishment would occure. Goes to show the differences between two people's cultures.

Blood Wedding

2005-02-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Surprisingly, Blood Wedding was not too bad of a read. I found the play format rather easy to read along with and comprehend and the story line was not too bad either. So far, this is the best piece of literature we have read, in my opinion.
The setting was enjoyable, the characters were relatable and the ending was a bit of a surprise. Again, it dealt with marital infidelity, but this time in Spain pre Civil War. It is one of those things that most do not think about- marrage in Spain, but as a historian it is pretty interesting.
There was also a bit of symbolism in the play, which always adds to enjoyability. The beggar woman as death, the knives as phalix symbols and all the others add depth and intrigue to the play as normal words could not.
Overall, it was a good read. Short and sweet, the preferred way of mine.

The Awakening

2005-02-01T17:09:00.000-08:00

Overall, I was not impressed very much with this book. I don't know what it was. The setting, the time period, the plot or what, I jsut found it super boring. I thought at first that Chopin was going to create a story worth reading. But by the first few chapters I found myself dragging to keep up with the mandatory reading.
I will give credit where it is due, however. Chopin did develope the characters very well, especially Edna and Mademoiselle Reisz. Their characters especially were well developed and assumed an almost real personality. Edna's problems and decisions could be felt by everyone.
So, now that the Awakening is over, I do have to admit I will not miss it nor will I return to it.

Wallpaper

2005-01-23T19:55:00.000-08:00

I found the Yellow Wallpaper text to be quite uninteresting. The Victorian setting, the plot and the whole focus on the woman's obsession with the wall paper was way too much. Understandably she was sick and the room was her only contact, but how much detail about one room can you go into. The story goes on for page after page with basicly the same thing restated again and again. I don't think she could have elaborated anymore in ths story.I really did not enjoy anything about this story and am happy it is overwith.

Douglass

2005-01-21T05:15:00.000-08:00

We just finished the Douglass Narritive. It was very interesting. As a history major, having new and unknown primary sources of a subject is always good. The Civil war is a topic I have studied in the past and will undoubtidly study again.

However, slavery is a subject, I feel, is usually over looked or done with too much repitition. For example, most people still feel the Civil War was fought over slaves. Wrong. This Douglass text is interesting because it gives insight as to what a slave in America may have been feeling or thinking. His insight into the life of a black man in the Antebellum South is very interesting.

I feel this text gave us the opportunity to explore an author and authority that was deffinatly criticized by men of his time. Also the topic is somewhat edgy, even for today.

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2005-01-14T07:13:00.000-08:00

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