Week 10 post

Prompt 1: Of all of the texts we've read (or watched, counting Smoke Signals) which is the text that will stick with you the most? Why? What will you take away from this text?

In response to this first prompt, the text that resonates with me most would have to be Zitkala Sa's autobiography. Apart from the myriad of topics she touches in her biography (imperialism, cultural imperialism, assimilation, identity, maternal bonds, freedom, nature, rebellion, education, frontier expansion towards the West, etc), she also showed how although one can seem to be making bad decisions in their life, they still may not be a bad person at their core. No matter what type of event that occurred, she still responded and reacted honestly, even though it may have been a reaction that she as an adult was ashamed of upon reflection.

The most uplifting, motivating, and inspiring thing that I take away from the story of her childhood to young adult is that no one is perfect and everyone is still learning every minute of every day to be better. That is why it is so important not to judge or criticize someone so harshly. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone learns from them. I wish that I could have lived honestly or freely (in terms of being honest with myself) but I was always concerned with what other people thought. Reading this autobiography has given me the hope that sometimes bad experiences are necessary to really learn and ignite one's passion for their life. It has made me feel less guilty and ashamed of the bad decisions I've made while at the same time inspired me to take what I've learned from those decisions and change my life and the community around me so that maybe I could help prevent others from not making the same mistakes.

Week 10

Prompt 1: Of all of the texts we've read (or watched, counting Smoke Signals) which is the text that will stick with you the most? Why? What will you take away from this text?





One text that stayed with me over this course was the "Address to the Choctaws and Chickasaws" by Tecumseh. One of the benefits of the text is there are references to culture and Native American history. It shows the power of oral traditions as a device used by Tecumseh to rally people to war. Even though his call to arms was ultimately unsuccessful, this speech was preserved because it still served an important purpose of being an oral tradition. Tecumseh urged the people before him to fight for their land and to preserve their ancestors. At one point he says, "Then listen to the voice of duty, of honor, of nature, and of your endangered country" (Tecumseh 150). This quote encapsulates many things. It talks about the importance of land and nature which deserve a certain amount of respect according to their people. It shows duty and honor as important core values that motivate lives. He later adds the importance of justice to the list of values. These together show some important values and traits of Native American culture but they are not way Tecumseh's speech affected me the most.

The most important thing that stayed with me about the text was how it foreshadowed something that has already happened in present time. Many different works can give a view into Native American culture. However, this speech can give an interesting sense of foreboding to something that already happened. Tecumseh was a warrior who pleaded with his people to rise up against the white people. He used fear to make his arguments about how the graves of their people will be affected. Most importantly he said if they did not fight for their rights at that moment, soon the white people will outnumber them and the Native American people will lose the ability to ever beat them. His pleas fell on deaf ears and many Native Americans were forced into assimilation with their culture lost. It is hard to think about that now as I do not know how our own society would be affected had the Native American conflict been resolved in a different way. I do know that racial and religious intolerance is still an issue. It was one that could not be fixed then and now. Asking people to go to war may not be ethical but Tecumseh might have changed how his people ended up had he succeeded. The power of this and the lost potential is something that stayed with me all along.

Janice Gould's Visit

Janice Gould’s reading was very interesting. The pieces she chose to read made sense and I had to wonder why she chose those particular pieces. I enjoyed that she told little explanatory anecdotes to help us understand the context of the poems she chose to share.

While her reading was interesting, Janice Gould’s persona surprised me. Despite that I already knew she was only half Native American and that she grew up in Berkeley, I was expecting someone decidedly more Native American, and less Berkeley. Learning that she is a lesbian and looking at her demeanor and style of dress reminded me much more of the adults that surrounded me when I was growing up than I expected.

I was also surprised by the formatting and context of her poems. Specifically, how introspective her poems really were. On my first reading, I thought her works were meant to deliver more of a message than a feeling. Learning that she wrote her poems and published two of her books around the deaths of her parents made the content of her books seem deeper somehow.

I liked that she played with some forms of poetry simply out of curiosity. She wanted to write the sestina because she thought it would be a challenge to write one that fit into the rules of sestina and had meaning. I though her sestina definitely delivered in terms of both the format and the content, even with her “poetic license” at the end.

Her talk was definitely interesting, and I am glad I got to see her read and hear more about her life, Concow history, and her process.

week 7 prompt 2

Ernest Hemingway once wrote a short story in six words. “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” I believe this constitutes many stories. I believe different people read these 6 words and can interpret it in many different ways. People interpret these 6 words in many different ways from different cultures and background, therefore they can create their own stories. Some people may think this may be just a story about baby shoes on sale that is never worn. It could be a store selling shoes or a garage sale, we don't know. It allowed us to questioned the words and expand our imagination to create our own stories. 

I never knew there was such things as 6 words stories. When I first read the six words, many interpretation came up in my mind. I started to think, does this story have to do with a baby who was gone, therefore the baby shoes was never worn? It made me questioned, what happened to the baby? Why is the baby shoes on sale? Where is the story taking place? All these questions have many answers depending on how we analyze it. 


In dreams, in love,  in life.
To be successful, follow your dreams. 
You say this, then you left

Prompt Option One

It may be summer but the clouds are swelling with rain that will fall and flood the rivers. But the water will be murky so we cannot swim in it although the temperature outside will be appropriately hot. Although some may want to visit this place in this season, I prefer other times of the year. The flies will be buzzing and the smell of wet dirt will be in the air. There will be no red ants during this time of year, which I will surprisingly miss seeing. Of all the seasons, fall may be the prettiest of them all because the hills are green and lush. All of the fields of crops are blooming and the corn is ready to be picked. I use to visit this place during winter every year and even got to see snow one year but that was exceptionally cold weather. We made snowmen but they melted by lunch time. But no matter what, during this time of the year the hilltops in the distance are covered in snow. But a positive about winter time is the fact that there are hardly any flies and the weather allows for almost any recreational activities such as horse back riding or four wheeling. I can't speak too much about spring time because I've only visited this place once during the spring. But spring is a boring time of the year to be in this place because Americans usually don't visit and the streets aren't filled with kids. This place is San Nicolas in Durango, Mexico.

A place I know well

In the main room on the ground floor there is pink carpet, rickety brown and silver risers, a baby grand piano, stacks of rarely used blue plastic chairs, a chalk board and a black music stand. No air conditioning, inadequate heating, and fluorescent lights (at least one of which is always on the fritz). It is San Francisco, after all. In the summer it tends to be empty. It sits there, waiting for those few days towards the end of July when about 25 alumnae meet. At the beginning of August, the room gets a nice surprise, 44 girls bond over their hard work. Then, another break. The stains from spilled vitamin water become more visible. The sweatshirts find a home in the corner. A couple of different groups come to practice. But all the time, the room waits. Come fall, the building is bustling. The upstairs rooms are full. Parents mill around, listening to their daughters sing (although that is discouraged). It’s only September, but the sounds of Christmas are already in the air. And so it continues. Come December, the room is packed. All 300 girls pile into it, surely a fire hazard. The risers are pushed back. The music stand is on a podium. The baby grand is pushed to the front of the room. The room becomes stuffy. The back door to the ally is pushed open. One of the administrators from upstairs stands in the doorway to make sure no one leaves without a parent. Then, a break. In springtime, beautiful music is heard throughout the hall. Now the 44 girls are comfortable with each other. The room is ready to allow overtones to be discernable. The pink carpet has become normal. The cracked white paint is no longer noticeable. Come May, it will all be over. Time for another break. Another period of silence. But those white walls and that pink carpeted floor—they have heard so much music come together over the last year, and are ready to hear the process start over.

week 5 option 1

While looking at the photographs of Native Americans, the most striking thing to me is that most Native Americans in the photographs are looking away or looking down on the ground. And all the photographs are in black and white. The photographs expresses the Native Americans loneliness and sadness. Most photographs only have a few people around them. Even when they are looking at camera, their facial expression looks sad and worried with frowning faces and squinting of their eyes. They did not smile in any of the photographs.

There is one photographs where a Native Americans dressed in their heritage clothing, holding hands and behind them its a hut under the freeway. It seem like that is their home located under the freeway. It seems like to me this family want to continue their own heritage by wearing their own clothing and living in a hut and do not want to follow the American way of life. As a result, if they do not follow the American way, they will be living under the freeway. Another way to look at this photograph is that this family been living on this land for a long time, and then when they Americans take over, they started building tall buildings and freeways over their land, their home.This shows the Native American culture and identity had been weaken and took over by the Americans.

Some photographs show the Native American dressed in  tuxedo and a tie like how a regular American man dress. However, the facial expression of the Native American does not look happy at all. This shows the even though they follow the American way and dress like them, they are not happy at all. Ironically, there are photographs of Native American dressed in Americanized clothing along with some of their culture's clothing. This photographs of a Native American man wearing a tuxedo and a tribal hat with feather on his hat looking away. This may show the even though the white people took over their land and their way of life, there is still a part of their culture in them no matter what.

Thoughts on "I Give You Back"

Upon watching Joy Harjo's reading of the poem "I Give You Back", I was a little taken back by the way that the poem was read. I have heard this poem read many times but this reading was different from most. It really gave me a different perspective of the poem and I was also able to see the diverse interpretations that people have of poetry. I would've never read that poem the way that Joy Harjo did in the video. I appreciated the new perspective and I feel like I was even able to see Joy's style just from this one poetry reading. She seemed informal and although she was obviously in touch with her own feelings while reading the poem, it didn't seem to mean all that much to her. Her lack of emotion really threw me off, but that just may be me because I really like this poem and I feel very connected to the poem. The way that she said some of the lines really threw me off because I would've never thought to sing it or break up the lines in the way that she did. But I can definitely see the rhythm behind the lines that would possess her to sing the lines instead of simply speaking them. Somehow Joy took away a lot of the pain and emotion that I previously had while reading this poem. Her style made it hard for me to feel the meaning behind the lines, it just didn't seem like she felt the way that the poet felt while writing this poem. She did seem empowered and that is obvious but I just wasn't able to connect with the poem like I have before.

Week 4, Prompt 2

In watching Joy Harjo's performance on "Def Poetry Jam" my interpretation of her poem "I Give You Back" changed to having a more positive and culturally traditional tone feeling than I originally had. The last stanza of the poem is read as a taunt to fear. I originally thought the last stanza was meant to be thoughtful and pondered. Even though it mentions the death of fear rather than a person, given the subject matter of the poem the word death still seemed more ominous than the positive idea it was supposed to convey. Harjo's smile as she performed those lines talking about the death of fear changed the interpretation. Also, as I read the poem, I sensed that Harjo's poem picked up a more constant rhythm from the middle to the end. In her performance, she began with a spoken delivery of the lines and at the middle of the poem began singing the lines. Near the end of the poem she began to stomping. It gave the feeling of an ancient song performance that was very minimal involving the singing and the stomping of feet.

This is important because it makes the poem an overall more positive experience. It deals with the subject of getting rid of fear. However, the language used in the poem refers to death, being "gutted" and "hated." This makes the poem seem to have a more depressing tone than it should. The performance gives me a connection to the emotion and flow of the poem. I feel this positivity connects to the hope and strength within the poem's subject and changes my experience of the poem for the better.

Week 4 Prompt #3

The poem that stood out to me is Bamboo by Linda Hogan. I believe the theme of the poem is using bamboo to represent weakness of women. The whole poem is a metaphor of bamboo to women. The poem started out saying women are weak and thin during the day. Then Hogan states that at night they “talk in the clattering breeze as if each is an open throat, rising to speak” (489). When the wind blows the bamboo against each other, it made rattling noises, like how the bamboo is trying to speak to speak out but they can’t. This shows how women was like back then; they were not allow to speak and were seen as weak.

            Then she started talking about a man whom she told about the bamboo. He replied by saying “with bamboo they do terrible things to men and women” when he was at war. This may show that many women were rape during the time of war because it states that the bamboo “did not give permission to soldiers.” The women feel like they are prisoners in their own skin. They got so used to the mistreatment by men that they have no more feelings about men. Therefore, Hogan states that “they are hollow inside” like bamboos. Women feel like they are hollow towards men. Men treats women like have no heart or feelings.  Because of men, the women feel empty inside.

            In the last stanza, Hogan states that “plants are climbing to heaven to talk to you.” The word “you” refers to God and that bamboos are continuously growing until they can reach God to ask for help and ask God to save them from the mistreatment from men.

Week 3, Prompt 1

Looking at ancient texts can provide many people with ways of learning about ancient cultures. This is true particularly in creation texts such as the Popol Vuh. Creation texts can provide an origin of a culture. They do this by not only describing how a culture came to be but also what foundations were important to the culture being established. Paying attention to one's history and what came before was an important theme in the Popul Vuh. This theme was explored through words and plot within the story. By interpreting them in this way, we can learn not only about the familiar settings that were part of the Native American cultures but also the values important to the culture.

However, these texts can also be problematic to interpret due to the length of time that can pass between the translations of some works. Translating texts in between multiple languages can also cause discrepancies. There could also be words or phrases that are impossible to interpret because they no longer exist in our vernacular. Analyzers of a text must also account for word meanings and traditions that change throughout time. Still, the texts are an incredibly illuminating tool for what they can show about storytelling, culture and the values of cultures that are practically extinct.

If only stones were left...

If only carved stones and a small handful of important books were left, how would our monuments and books speak for us? How would future explorers be able to understand who we were?

Our stone monuments are descriptive of our history, but do not indicate much about our present culture. The Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam memorials, Mt Rushmore, and other pieces of art, like statues of hearts scattered around San Francisco or on campus, statues of founders and in random places throughout the country demonstrate more how we commemorate people of importance, and appreciate art than say much about our cultures. Assuming that paint will chip and many books that are more demonstrative of the fine-tunings of our society will be lost, it is up to these epic works of stone to convey as much as they can. But, because the epic pieces are of men--statues of men, memorials of men, names of men, the future explorers who find our ruins will likely infer that we value men in our society. Assuming the explorers can decipher our writings, due to the names on the Vietnam memorial, the Washington memorial, etc. they will see that men were the warriors, that they held positions of power. They will not find an epic stone memorial dedicated to women. While it is true that men hold most powerful positions, it is also true that women have a great deal of influence in today's world and evolving society and culture. So, it is clear that the explorers would not get a true understanding of the society we have today, but rather a hazy view of where we started as a country.

However, it is probably unfair to say that they would not understand anything about our culture in the US. It is true that our country has patriarchal roots. It is true that men have been warriors much more so than women. It is true that we value innovative people who come up with ideas, those who start companies and become successful entrepreneurs. So, if the explorers could read the placards that accompany many statues, they would be able to understand the title and reason for the statue to commemorate said person.

However, at the crux of things, our monuments hardly represent the true personality of US culture, and certainly not that of California culture. As time has worn on, we have set fewer and fewer things in stone, opting for the internet--virtual copies of things. So I suppose, unless there is a new monument made, or several books that get hidden away in a crypts or memorials, that more accurately represent our current status as a country and as a state, it will be impossible for future explorers, or even generations, to understand our ways of life and thinking. While our monuments and important books (I've been assuming that at least the constitution/bill of rights and religious texts would be preserved, as far as books go) are grandiose and represent snapshots in time fairly well (when you know the history surrounding such monuments and books), it is impossible to understand the culture of the US accurately without context.