SCHOLARS - Please TACKLE THIS IN PARTS since we do not have in person class on 4/14 & 4/19
Part I: Print and Read "A White Woman of Color" by Julia Alvarez
https://writingbb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/alvarez_white.pdf
The Story is posted as a gadget to the right →Who is Julia Alvarez? - A Dominican American Writer who focused on the hardships of assimilation, acceptance, culture and oppression from a severe and totalitarian government. Her work highlights discrimination, racial barriers and acculturation.
http://www.notablebiographies.com/A-An/Alvarez-Julia.html
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PRINT MY
My Egalitarianism Lecture:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tX5sBeOG-ZZsgQP6xHk6LcGp5BTjTGr9/view?usp=sharing
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Part II:
PREPARE TO POST !! I WILL ASK THAT YOU POST UNDER the Post WWOC Response DUE: 4/14
Please Re-read (ACTIVELY READ) "A White Woman of Color" by Julia Alvarez
Please add the following themes to your notebook in regards to " A White Woman of Color",
As you read - connect themes to passages in the story! Silence & Social & Political Diplomacy/ BEAUTY ( Aesthetics)
Cultural Aesthetics-
The Dominican Divide
Marginalization
Silence
Assimilation / Acculturation
Sense of Belonging
TASK:
1. CHOOSE ONE THEME AND RELATE it to ONE Passage in the story.
2.Choose a form of oppression from my "Egalitarianism" lecture and find two concrete examples of this in the story. Provide quotes and in-text
ON 4/19 - I will post PUB 3 AND PAPER 2
I WILL ASK THAT YOU PRINT PUB 3 and BEGIN WORKING ON PUB 3 AND PAPER 2 on 4/19
Timeline:
Next Week 4/21
TASK:
1. CHOOSE ONE THEME AND RELATE it to ONE Passage in the story.
2.Choose a form of oppression from my "Egalitarianism" lecture and find two concrete examples of this in the story. Provide quotes and in-text
3. Who is Rafael Trujillo and what Was his role in The Dominican Republic at the time Alvarez is writing? How does this play a role in the author's writing?
POST THIS ON OUR CLASS BLOG BY 4/14
PART 2 -
.Prepare a two paragraph response:
EQ- In what ways can silencing or fear rob us from the very essence of our human story? How does oppression affect an individual or group of people on an emotional and or physical level?
POST THIS ON OUR CLASS BLOG BY 4/14
PART 2 -
.Prepare a two paragraph response:
EQ- In what ways can silencing or fear rob us from the very essence of our human story? How does oppression affect an individual or group of people on an emotional and or physical level?
READ MY LECTURE NOTES- CHOOSE ONE SIGNIFICANT PASSAGE.....
ON 4/19 - I will post PUB 3 AND PAPER 2
I WILL ASK THAT YOU PRINT PUB 3 and BEGIN WORKING ON PUB 3 AND PAPER 2 on 4/19
Timeline:
4/19 - BRADY Will post an assignment on 4/19 and follow up with an email. I will also ask that you print Paper 2 and PUB 3 on 4/19 to bring to class on 4/21
Next Class! 4/21
Intro to PUB 3 and Paper 2
In Class:
In Class:
Prepare Yourselves!
Children of The Sea" by Dandicat Lecture
Children of The Sea" by Dandicat Lecture
Next Week 4/21
4/19- Check blog for an assigment - PRINT PAPER 2 - WITH THE OUTLINE! & PRINT PUB 3
In Class - Introduction to Paper 2 - With Sample Thesis and Outline
In Class - Introduction to Paper 2 - With Sample Thesis and Outline
DUE : APRIL 28th In CLASS STAPLED TO A RUBRIC
Fishbowl: Duvalier as it relates to "Children of The Sea" Themes and Conflicts in Haiti
Thursday 4/21
Paper 2 Q&A-
Pub 3 - Q&A
HW: "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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What to Look Forward to!
Post -Modernism in Lahiri's "Interpreter Of Maladies"
Mini Lecture & Fishbowl
HW- Transcendentalism &Poetry! Introduction to Poetry
I ALWAYS HOLD MY Transcendental Lecture OUTSIDE: Class will be held outside in between Roosevelt & Knapp Hall at the Main Fountain! DATE TBA
Paper 2: 4/28
*Introduction to the Final Project and Pub 4
*Introduction to Poetry
Note to Scholars: TIME IS MOVING FAST !!!!!!
Thursday 4/21
Paper 2 Q&A-
Pub 3 - Q&A
HW: "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
_________________________________________________________________
What to Look Forward to!
Post -Modernism in Lahiri's "Interpreter Of Maladies"
Mini Lecture & Fishbowl
HW- Transcendentalism &Poetry! Introduction to Poetry
I ALWAYS HOLD MY Transcendental Lecture OUTSIDE: Class will be held outside in between Roosevelt & Knapp Hall at the Main Fountain! DATE TBA
Paper 2: 4/28
*Introduction to the Final Project and Pub 4
*Introduction to Poetry
Note to Scholars: TIME IS MOVING FAST !!!!!!
TUESDAY, May 17th is our last day of class.
Final Projects are Due on Friday, MAY 13th
I will post the Final Exam Schedule when FSC publishes it. Informal presentations & Final Presentation Grades (including OUR LAST PUB will take place finals week.
Final Projects are Due on Friday, MAY 13th
I will post the Final Exam Schedule when FSC publishes it. Informal presentations & Final Presentation Grades (including OUR LAST PUB will take place finals week.
A theme I have chosen for this short story which was shown right of the first page would be the sense of belonging. Alvarez is seen explaining how being dark skinned was actually not frowned upon in the Dominican Republic. She says, “it was clear to us growing up then that light was better, but there was no question of discriminating against someone because he or she was dark skinned”(paragraph 5). This gave me the sense that she does indeed have a sense of belonging and was happy to be the descent of a Dominican person who is dark skinned. A big part of the Dominican Republic was a person named Rafael Trujillo who wanted to protect Dominican race purity. To do this, he ordered overnight slaughter of thousands of Haitians by his military. He was basically a tyrant ruler as mentioned “he also had the Dominican Republic declare a white nation despite the evidence” (paragraph 9). Here we see another sense of belonging but in a negative way. All of this ties today in the way this was written by Alvarez due to her past history. She knows what she had to go through and it just shows this story has meaning to her and the culture. Alvarez prides herself on telling the story which she came a long way to tell. And I think this is what also gives her that sense of belonging which happens to be a theme.
ReplyDeletePart 1:
ReplyDeleteThe theme of belongingness is extremely profound in Alvarez's piece titled “A White Women of Color”. To my understanding, this theme can be divided into two categories: the first being inside the Dominican Republic and the second being in the United States. Being darker skinned inside of the Dominican Republic was frowned upon and different treatment was assigned to those who were lighter. Although skin color does tie into the theme of cultural aesthetics, I would like to connect it to a sense of belonging as well. Inside of one’s OWN native country, people’s level of respect was defined by racial hierarchical boundaries. On page 6 Alvarez states, “But in the aesthetic arena– the ones which were we girls were relegated as females–lighter was better” (Alvarez 6), which to me means that those who were darker skinned Dominican must have had a different sense of belonging than those who were lighter skinned. In an idealistic world, there would be no such concept called color as it pertains to race, however, in a world far from perfect, people tend to gravitate towards groups of similar aesthetics as well as background which ultimately leads to a lack of belongingness. What really stood out to me, however, was what Alvarez had to say about what it meant to be a “real Dominican” in the United States. On page 8 Alvarez stated, “We had not undergone the same kind of racial struggles as other Dominicans; therefore we could not be “real Dominicans”.”(Alvarez 8). What shocks me the most is the cultural divisions that blind people’s views on their own blood. Alvarez had lived and experienced the Dominican Republic and had never asked to be lighter skinned yet she is ostracized by her own people. Having a sense of belonging is extremely crucial when immigrating to a new country and being welcomed helps assimilate into a totally different life. However, being ridiculed by one's own people discourages people from being proud of who they are and where they come from. Feeling welcomed and having a group to belong to established a cultural sense of integrity and honor that should be built up in every culture and ethnicity in all parts of the world.
Part 2:
Violence: “To protect Dominican race purity, Trujillo ordered the overnight slaughter of thousands of Haitians by his military, who committed this atrocity using only machetes and knives in order to make this planned extermination look like a “spontaneous” border skirmish”(Alvarez 6).
Disenfranchisement: “We had not undergone the same kind of racial struggles as other Dominicans; therefore we could not be “real Dominicans”.”(Alvarez 8).
Part 3:
Rafael Trujillo was a Dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic for 31 years. Trujillo was the one responsible for murder of 20,000 innocent Haitian lives in effort to retain the Dominican racial purity. In Alvarez’s writing Trujillo resembled the idea of cultural division as opposed to cultural unity that Alvarez pushes for. In the end of Alvarez’s piece, she makes it a point that ethnicity is a choice and it is a choice an individual makes for themselves; not a dictator.
One theme that relates to the story “A White Woman of Color” is sense of belonging. This theme pairs with the story because Alvarez expressed how there was an unequal treatment regarding if someone had darker skin as a Dominican or lighter skin as a Dominican. Usually, the Dominicans with lighter features were favored. This shows a lack of sense of belonging where Alvarez doesn't feel like she fits in because her features were too dark for society.
ReplyDeleteOne form of oppression is intersectionality. In the passage it says “People of color were treated as if they were inferior, prone to violence, uneducated, untrustworthy, lazy- all the “bad” adjectives we were learning in our language. Our dark skinned aunt, Tia Ana, who had lived in New York for several decades and so was the authority of these matters, recounted stories of discrimination on buses and subways.” (6, Alvarez). Alvarez states that her aunt was continuously discriminated against because of her skin color. Continuously being belittled by her appearance. In addition, “‘Go back to where you came from!’ they yelled at my sisters and me on the playground. …some of them started throwing stones…” (6, Alvarez). This illustrates how even though Alvarez had lighter features, in America, her and her sisters were bullied for the way they looked because they were not white enough.
Rafael Trujillo was a dictator who was leader of the Dominican Republic for more than 30 years. He killed over 13,000-20,000 innocent people just to protect DR's “race purity” as Alvarez states. This plays a role in the author's writing because Alvarez wants to make a change. She wants to influence individuals and help them if they are struggling in the ways she was with finding her identity.
Jourdae
DeleteA theme that was presented in the short story is the Dominican divide. To my understanding, it was seen on page 9 where Alverez speaks about how some Dominicans refused to grant her any status as a “real” Dominican because she has not struggled like the dark-skinned ones. This is a creating a division between the Dominicans by the Dominicans.
ReplyDeleteA form of oppression that was seen in the short story is Violence. “People of color were treated as if they were inferior, prone to violence” (Alverez 8). During the 60s, the Dominicans faced many hardships because of their skin color. They were often shown violence to depict the hatred from others. “Go back to where you came from… some of them started throwing stones” (Alverez 8). Although, Alverez had lighter skin color than most Dominicans, she still had an ethnic background. She was also prone to the violence. It was a constant battle for her because she was not accepted as a “real” Dominican by Dominicans and also struggled to fit it with the whites.
Rafael Trujillo is remembered as one of the most brutal dictators in Latin American’s history. At the time of Alverez, Trujillo “ordered the overnight slaughter of thousands of Haitians by his military.” He also declared D.R as a white nation. This impacted Alverez’s writing because she explores the issues surrounding race. She also discusses that light skin colored people were privileged compared to darker skins.
Ariba