TRADE/SWAP [punkrockdomestics]

I'm sorry that I haven't posted on here... I haven't read any books lately. Except for Harry Potter which I finished reading the sixth installment [fourth time reading it]. I read it for the movie premier. But anwayyyy. This post is for things that I am willing to sell/swap on punkrockdomestics.com/messageboard so if you see something you like I accept paypal so PM me on PRD. kay??

ALL ITEMS ARE USED UNLESS STATED WILL BE SHIPPED CLEAN AND IN GOOD SHAPE. ONLY UNITED STATES NO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING

DIY BOTTLE CAP PINCUSHIONS $1.00

HAIR BOWS [By in singles or set of color] $1.00 each or two for $1.50



Derek Heart Mini Skirt with Blue lines SIZE MEDIUM fits a Women's 8 [$10]




COPPER BULLET BELT fits 32inch waist [$15 ]


DIY RANCID Zip Up Hoodie with Kitty Ears size Small [$5]



AUDREY HEPBURN GRAPHIC TEE SIZE SMALL [$5]


Marilyn Monroe GRAPHIC TEE SIZE SMALL [$5]


FOUR ROW STUDDED BELT NEW 38 1/2 inch but fits like a 28 [$20]


Woodstock GRAPHIC TEE SIZE SMALL [$5]


TRIPP SAILOR CAPRIs SIZE 9 [$10]




14K GOLD BLUE TOPAZ EARRINGS [$5]


SIZE 9 FIONA HEELS [$5]


Each purchase or swap comes with a free DIY zebra print hairbow! =]

To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

To Kill A Mockingbird

Classic Novel

Reading this book is probably about the fourth or fifth time I have read it. Yet this Summer was different for me. I was always told that the result of re-reading a novel at a different time in your life was that you got someone different from it each and every time. Seeing as this book is a classic novel I am not going to review it, but rather give my side of it.

Finding this book buried inside my bookshelf was a relief. I was tired of reading the same old teenage driven 'books' that kept repeating the same story plot. To Kill a Mockingbird was different. I had read it in the 8th grade as an assignment. I believe that we were too young to grasp any concept that Harper Lee was trying to get across. I really hate that adults/teachers try to make young students 'broaden their minds' by making them read the book and then talking about it. Why not read the book and explain the bigger details? Well at least my teacher avoided the subjects that I grasped reading this book the fourth time around.

The characters drew me in. Scout was as mischievous as her older brother Jem and their friend Dill. She reminded me of myself in a way that I was a tomboy too in my younger years. (Although I am only eighteen years of age being little seems forever ago) But nobody tried to make me into a lady. Seeing as though times have changed now it is okay for a growing child to wear pants and climb trees with the boys. With this in mind Atticus was given a hard time because he let his children do what they wanted to do. I enjoyed Atticus' character, he was definitely the kind of father I wanted. He was honest with his children.

Re-reading this book made me think about what my future had in store for me. Was I to find someone to raise a family with? If I had children were they going to go through the same things that Scout, Jem and Dill went through? These questions will only be answered in time.

The other characters in the novel to had inspired thoughts of what life was actually like. The trial of Tom Robinson was too intense to read. Although I have read this book before I found myself ansty to see what each page had in store for me. When the jury's decision was read off by the judge, my heart sank. I was sorry for the man who was crippled and innocent. I was sorry for his family not only because they would live without him, because they were prejuidiced against. History has it's stories of hate and misguided ignorance but reading about this trial in the year of 2009 was a sad story. Today we still see stories of race based hate. Just the other day I was reading a story about segregated proms in the south this year! It's crazy to me.

But back to the story. I found Dill and Scout's romance utterly cute. Dill would tell grand ficticious stories and Scout knew he was lying but still liked him regardless. They were engaged and Scout would miss him terribly when he would go home to Meridian for the school year.

To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic, has touched my heart and will always change like a chamelion with each and every read.

Looking for Alaska By: John Green

First off I would like to say that this blog started out as an assignment from a weary English class. It was a good idea from the beginning but as my progress in said class reached it's ending how was I to let a blog just simply die? I have had only one blog before in my lifetime and that was during Junior high to let the kids who were far advanced in computers know about my daily happenings and what musicians I was currently listening to. Now I am going to keep up with this blog to analyze texts, movies and what-not. I don't care if my former classmates read this, or any teachers. But please do not take anything I say on this thing personally for it is what I think and it simply won't hurt you in the end if I get bitter. Now onto the 'analyzation' of this great teenage aimed novel.

The book starts off with tiny print, which I knew for sure was going to give me a headache because I suffer from mild blindness while reading. So I put my glasses on and begun this novel with great hopes in mind. My brother and his friend read this book before me and as I flipped through the pages there were several notes written in the margins of the pages. Little did I know that I would find these notes hilariously funny and some depressing. The novel starts out in Florida in which the main character lives. His name is Miles Halter and he memorizes last words.

He sends himself to boarding school in Alabama mostly because all the male figures in his father's family has done so also. His parents host him a going away party which only two people attend which leads him and his parents to eat the artichoke dip that his mother made, for dinner. While reading this section I knew that Miles was not a loner. He mostly kept to himself because he was a scrawny boy and had 'chicken legs'. He later tells of traumatic experiences in school that left him scarred.

He reaches the boarding school and soon makes friends with his roommate whom everyone calls "the Colonel". Simply because he is the Colonel and doesn't answer to anyone. He is well known for his pranks, chants at basketball games and getting thrown out of every single basketball. The Colonel takes 'Pudge' or Miles to get some cigarettes, little did Pudge know that he was going to meet the first girl he ever loved, Alaska Young.

Alaska can be described in one word: Awesome. She is the epitome of the girl that guys simply adore because she is there. The book continues with the meeting of Takumi, a soft spoken Japanese whiz, and Lana a beautiful Romanian whom Pudge dates.

Green leads his story in two parts: Before and After. He builds up the story with each anecdote having a title counting down. Which leads to Alaska Young's Death.

The target audience for the novel came across clearly in Green's text. The troupe lives in mischief even if they are attending a pricey boarding school. The main character is unsure of himself. He is shy and when asked tells it like it is. He remembers people's last words and prefers reading Biographies of writers than actually reading the work of those great once living artists/poets and well known people. The two main last words are

"I go to seek a Great Perhaps." - Francois Rabelais (last words)
"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?" - Simón Bolívar (last words)

The book does not clearly answer these but it is more for the reader to think about and soak in the knowledge of these young teens.


I finished this book in a day and was an enjoyable read. I recommend it to those who are lost and want to find themselves. Or a teenager looking for something to read during the Summer.

Nervous Conditions #2

Nervous Conditions
Tsitsi Dangarembga

Character Analysis
Babamukuru

Each character in this novel had a story to tell and history behind their eyes. Babamukuru, Tambu's uncle, had an interesting story. He studyed abroad with his family, taking them out of their environment and enriching their lives in 'white culture'. He believes in the predominantly patriarchal society with strong opinions of woman's stand in the community. Babamukuru is a complex character that has many things going on in his life.

After completing his education at the missionary school he does not want to go onto higher education. Yet he finds himself at a crossroads, he knows that in order for his family to have a brighter future he must go study in England. So he brings his family with him, his wife and two children. His children are away so long that they forget their native tounge, Shona, and when they return Maiguru prevents them from dancing in traditional dances.

Babamukuru knew the risk he was taking when he left to go study abroad with his children. But he left his absorbtion on education and getting his family 'out of poverty' take him to a foreign land. His pereception is twisted on how life should be. His time at the missionary school led him to believe that without an education you would be forever poor and not make it anywhere in the world.

His relationship with other charcters are on the rocks. Especially with his daughter Nyasha, they always fight and do not get along. Tambu sees this and does not understand why they fight. In one fight Nyasha hits her father over an argument that involved a dance and innappropriate behavior. After this Nyasha becomes distant and develops an eating disorder.

Babamukuru went through a lot for his family. Many took him for granted and not really acknowledged the sacrafices he made to better them.

Nervous Conditions #1

Nervous Conditions

Tsitsi Dangarembga

Colonialism

In this Novel there are many thingst to talk about. From feminism, the women's role in the family, the predominatly male society, colonialism and ethics. The main chacter, Tambu, only fourteen has seen and done many things that some people cannot imagine. She is a strong willed individual who strived for her 'education and success' that her people for generations have not had. Although it is not hard to find a country that has seen influences from the western world or anywhere else, colonization has hit home for many around the globe. The effects of colonization has left Tambu in a state of confusion of her identity and sense of inviduality.

As her Uncle returns from studying he wants to send a family member to school to get an education to further the family from poverty. With this idea in mind they choose to send Nhamo to school and not Tambu. Sending the son to carry on the name and gain an education. Tambu decides to sell fruit/vegetables to gain money to go to school. She has the drive and want to get an education. A white woman named Doris takes pity on her and gives her the money that she needs to go to the missionary school.

Yet Tambu is unaware of the future ahead of her. She has seen her cousins go away and forget their language and once known cultural ways yet she still yearns for the education that will save her family from the 'poverty' they live in. Tambu moves in with her aunt and uncle where she is treated like a 'queen'. She gets to experience the other side of life that she has not been able to because she has led a farmer's life up until this point. She has led the life that traditionally her people have.

As she attends classes and lives with her aunt and uncle she witnesses and learns that Maiguru is highly educated. Babamukuru takes Maiguru for granted, or Maiguru laments her figure in the household as the cook and has to clean up after all of the family. She doesn't like the traditional views upon women. Bringing in the feminist lens here, I believe that Maiguru's educational status has her thinking about what a woman should and shouldn't do in the household. Also the all too familiar roles should be challenged.

As Tambu continues her studies and finals roll around Nuns come and administer a test. Tambu is offered a scholarship and accepts it. She finds herself distant from Nyasha her cousin and once bestfriend. While away she grows even more distant Nyasha finds herself battling an eating disorder. As Tambu's mother puts it, the "englishness" has affected her. I believe that if Nyasha wasn't sent to school and placed in an environment where there is pressure to look pretty and be thin that she wouldn't have succumbed to the disorder in the first place.

It is the tragic effects of colonization that affects each of the characters in the novel. Babamukuru is under the belief that only education can save them from poverty. But who is to say that Tambu's clan likes the life they lead? Who is to say that they are not happy living their traditional way of life of farming, cultivating the land and living day to day? The effects of colonization are seen world wide and effect many of the souls walking upon this earth. It has made some of the greatest people yet have stripped them of heritage and cultural ways.

Reader's Notebook #1 Sorrow of War

READER RESPONSE
Sorrow of War By: Bao Ninh

Reading this book was really hard, it was a challenge to keep turning the pages. In the beginning the author used some really profound imagery to get his message across. It was unbearable to read some of the scenes that he described in detail yet in so many ways it was artistic and beautiful. The narrator had obviously had gone through some of the horrific events of his lifetime. It is really crazy to me that he was willing to write about them.

“That autumn was sad, prolonged by rain. Orders came for food rations to be sharply reduced. Hungry, suffering successive bouts of malaria the troops became anemic and their bodies broke out in ulcers, showing through worn and torn clothing. They looked like lepers, not heroic forward scouts. Their faces looked moss-grown, hatched and sorrowful, without hope. It was a stinking life (16)”.

It amazes me that certain people are willing to talk about their traumatic past experiences to teach the younger generation something. That war affects the mind not only in a traumatic way but as a learning tool? Memories that soldiers are have, stay with them for a period of their lifetimes, if not all of their lifetime. Some of the excerpts from the poems read in class were meaningful and had a deeper meaning to them. I liked Thong's poem he read aloud, it gave the idea that soldiers are prisoners of war no matter how many years they fought because they're mind is still fine tuned to war and it’s terrifying experience.

I could not imagine the Vietnam War’s effect on so many young people. I remember I asked my sister's mother-in-law to come to one of my AJROTC competitions and she said that she couldn’t because of her involvement with anti-war protests in the 60's. This was in 2007 when I asked her to come to one of my competitions. Yet this woman felt compelled in her beliefs still after a couple decades. That made me think about the effects of this war and its toll that it took on so many people.

I look back on it and I look at images and photographs. There were so many people outraged at the fact that there were children dying overseas. There were people who were lying about their ages to fight for the country they believed in. The United States let boys die in a far off land some million miles away to be called a ‘hero’. It seems to me that the country took for granted at the time how many people actually gave their lives to fight a war that at the time did not make much sense to a great number of people.

This book was on dealing with the sorrow of war, that the Vietnam War brought and dealing with losing love. I don't think that I would be able to handle the thought of losing someone while being at war. It would bring me to pieces. Which leads me to believe that the narrator of this book was a strong willed individual to place himself at the very place where all of his losses could be.

Reader's Notebook 2, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Marxist Theory
and
Feminism.

In the graphic novel Persepolis, the themes of Marxism and Feminism are apparent in the life of a young girl named Marji. Ever since a young age Marji has experienced the life of a war torn country and the constant battle of religion. It can be very confusing for a child, let alone the child of liberal parents who raised their child to be open to most things. Marji molds her views on the political world, as the book progresses, also the challenges of the government and the life of social classes in her home country.

One of the first instances where Marji comes to a roadblock is when the neighbor boy couldn't date their maid because of social classes that tears the country apart. The Marxist theory is based upon class order and the differences between the social structures. The government that Marji and her family live in is socially inept to equality. But then again there is not one perfect society where everyone is treated equally based upon social classes. Just today I was at Costco with my mother and two white couples went in before us and as we walked through the door the woman asked us where our membership cards were. It was a blow to the ego. I wanted to ask her why she did not card anyone before us but then that would have been rude. There have been other times where I felt this way. Yet I am sure it can not even compare to what Marji has been through and dealt with growing up. Her family wasn't poor; her father owned a Cadillac and had a live-in maid.

A job that cannot equal to some in their country. As a people the citizens live through oppression, and it begs the question: Will they ever see equality and freedom? The woman in this society in Persepolis are oppressed and not given the power equal to men. They are barred from showing any hair and cannot dress the way they want because of the religion that strikes the country's dictators and runs the government. Anything out of the ordinary and the "Guardians of the Revolution" were out to get you. They stopped Marji and scared her to death when she wasn't wearing "normal clothes" for a female to wear in public. It is sad to see women who don't want individuality and to be their own person through the expression of style. But then again these women grew up knowing nothing but this and they cannot change their opinions at the whims of Americans who want to 'save' them from themselves and their country.

Marjane slowly learns about the corruption that her home town is going through. When she learns about her grandfather and how he could have been a kind it bothers her. Later she learns that he was labeled a communist and tortured by a water chamber. Marji spends a long time in the bathtub to see what it was like to be in the water for a long period of time. This part in the novel bothered me. It bothered me that Marjane a young child would put herself through that situation to see what her grandfather went through. She is wise beyond her years but this does not become apparent till later in the novel.

Later in the novel when things start to get worse. Her friend’s house gets bombed, a policeman is about to raid their house and her uncle Fereydon. In the end she leaves to live in Vienna to escape from the wrath of the government and the harsh rules and regulations placed upon the people.

Marjane went through a lot, social class struggles, feminism, religions conflict and the corruption of the government. This novel was an inspiring piece of work that showed me that are things greater than myself that people have been trying to change for a long time.

"What I find inspiring about Persepolis is that it illustrates Marjane’s struggles. She works hard to be treated as an equal. She doesn’t just want to run away; she wants to reform her society. While that’s too much for one person to accomplish on her own, the fact that she tries makes Marjane an important feminist figure."
-http://feministblogproject.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/reading-response-persepolis/

Reader's Notebook 1, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Reader Response

This book was highly interesting and gave me insight to what is really going on across the sea in a distant land. Marjane Satrapi writes beautifully and is not shy about her characters especially Marji. Marji is blunt and learns about life from first hand experiences. She is not afraid to speak her mind and let others know what she believes in.

My favorite part in the book is when Marji's parents go to Turkey and they smuggle back some posters and things for Marji. When they put the posters in the father's jacket I was laughing really hard. This book had many emotions for me. I was sad and angry when they talked about someone they knew that was either in jail or tortured. But I found myself slowly learning about life in war.

The people in the book constantly live in war. Their people historically have been at war for a long time. I cannot see myself living in a place where my family would have to run to the basement at the whim of a siren. Or even hiding parties/liqour/anything from the police from a threat of being thrown into prison. It makes me wonder why people even stay in a war-torn country. The Jewish family that lived around the corner from Marji refused to leave because it was their "ancestors (that) had come three thousand years ago and Iran was their home" (137). It's ironic how their ties to their religion/culture brought them there and because it was the Jewish Sabbath they stayed home and they were killed by a bomb.

In the beginning of the novel Marji shares a relationship with God, and he is illustrated as a bearded man. He continues to visit Marji until one day he doesn't come and Marji is upset. I really don't know much about the religion and culture that Marji practices. I wish I knew more about her family ties to their religion and beliefs about God. The book doesn't say much about it.

After reading this book I felt a sense of a small world/ large world. On account that us Americans can set foot outside our houses dressed as we please, drink at parties, put posters on our walls and listen to any type of music that we want. But yet in some distant country halfway around the world people are living in constant fear and oppression. It makes me sad to see that many children my age do not get the things that I take for granted every single day. It makes me want to travel the world to see other civilizations that may live like this in order for me to see the true beauty of the country I live in. To see the freedom that our founding fathers built for us.

At the end of the novel I was happy to see that Marjane was able to get out of that country. That her parents sent her away to be able to see the world with out the oppression that her home country gave her. It was very moving to read/see her leave from the airport. It must have been very hard for her parents to see her leave. A child of her age possesses a lot of knowledge. I was not surprised that she knew her parents weren’t going to be going with her.

I look forward to read the second book of Persepolis and I don’t know what Marji is capable of. She is an intriguing character and it’s hard to guess what she is going to do next. I hope that in the next book she realizes more about herself than those around her. That she learns more and more about the country that killed many and tortured those who did not deserve it.

Reader's Notebook 2 Bless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

Feminist Lens

In Bless Me, Ultima there is a variety of 'Lenses' present. The one I would like to talk about is feminism. This novel is mostly based upon female characters. Tony's mother, the School teachers, Tony's three sisters, the women at whore house, Tenorio's three daughters and Ultima. Each female character is strong in their own manner yet some are as strong as some of the male roles in this novel. The opposite of the Feminist lens

Tony's mother is a strong individual, and I would say that in this novel she is equal to her partner. Her strong values and ties to religion are ever so strong. She is in charge of her household and doesn't let anyone besides Ultima stand up to her. She is the anti-feminist in her character.

Not so much as her two daughters. I would say that they have to follow the rules/roles that were made for them since their birth. They play with dolls, go to school, and they are traditional female aspects of life. The two speak the foreign language of english but Tony does not become aware of this until he goes to school and becomes lost in the waves of commotion.

Then Tony meets his first grade teacher, Ms. Maestas. She is a motherly figure to Tony, and she helps him understand the words of the complicated english language. At the end of his first year at school she promotes him to the third grade. Her name is Maestas and in the Spanish language the word for 'teacher' is Maestra, I believe that this tie to the language is very symbolic as she helps the children of the llano become more involved in school and understands where they from and their culture.

In this novel Tony is afraid of the women at the Brothel, because he believes that it represents sin and evil. When he finds out that his brothers visit this place is his devastated. In chapter nine Tony dreams of his brothers entering this place and when Andrew is about the enter he tells Tony that he will not go in until he loses his innocence. This is where the lens comes into play, the female charcters are seen as objects at the brothel, they share no interest to men yet the men in the town keep visiting them.

The town also sees Tenorio and his three daughters as gypsies who study the black book and place a curse on Tony's uncle Lucas. The three sisters are feared because they are different from the normality of the Catholic reglion and study the black book. In their case they hold the power because they are feared by the town and Tony. As Ultima is getting rid of the curse placed upon Lucas the three sisters are portrayed as coyotes, creatures of the night howling in the wind. Their role in this novel can be seen as the opposite to the feminist lens as well. Not only because they hold the power, but they were brought down by Ultima, a strong female character.

Ultima's character in this novel is important and largely the plot revolves around her and Tony. She helps Tony with his confusion about religion and faith. She plays a motherly role to Tony thus making the feministic lens true. Yet she finds a way to break that barrier, as a curandera she is an independant women leading her own life. And then making the feminist lens true again because she is doing what is traditionally a female job/role of taking care of people. Her character is hard to pinpoint a specific role.

Reader's Notebook 1 Bless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

Reader Response and Passage

This story was intriguing, beautiful and yet confusing in an odd manner. The characters were complex and the customs of the people were different from what I had expected. Ultima's character was strong yet she played a motherly role in directing Antonio's faith. Antonio's conflict with faith and religion was somewhat of a burden to understand. Throughout the novel Antonio struggled with his beliefs and his future and he was entirely open to understanding both sides. During his younger years his mother dreamt of him being a Priest while his father's family wanted him to be a farmer and intertwined with the land.

Early in the novel, Antonio dreams of his birth, this dream leads on to many dreams that tell the future or past experiences, or warns him of oncoming events. His dreams are beautiful and very descriptive. The motif of his dreams is apparent throughout the novel. Antonio’s dreams signify that he has great power and that he is well aware of his surroundings, past, and maybe even his future. They are full of mystery and poetry, my favorite one is when he dreams of his brothers. In chapter seven he dreams of his brothers after his family falls asleep at the foot of the Virgin’s statue. Tony dreams of the Marez sons afraid of the river and he knows when they come back they wouldn’t stay long.
In chapter nine he dreams of them again:

“The three dark figures silently beckoned me to follow them. They led me over to the goat path, across the bridge, to the house of the sinful women. We walked across the well-worn path in silence. The door to Rosie’s house opened and I caught a glimpse of the women who lived there. There was smoke in the air, sweet from the fragrance of perfume, and there was laughing. My brothers pointed for me to enter… Andrew, I begged to the last figure, do not enter. Andrew laughed. He paused at the gaily lit door and said, I will make a deal with you my little brother, I will wait and not enter until you lose your innocence. But innocence is forever, I cried.” (70-71)

This dream describes the ways of his brothers and the innocence that Tony possesses. Yet is innocence truly forever? Antonio’s mother and priest tell him that you are only innocent when you do not know; innocence is lost with the arrival of understanding.

In chapter 16 Antonio arrives at his knowledge. During their catechism, Florence turns away from religion leaving Antonio to arrive at one of his crossroads. Tony explains that the apple contains knowledge that would make them posses knowledge, but would the knowledge of the answers make him share the original sin of Adam and Eve? This is Tony’s struggle, the question that he must answer for himself, his parents and even Ultima. Would knowledge ultimately lead him to religion or faith? Would he be a priest or a free Marez man?

In his last dream Antonio dreams of three dark figures, Tony believes that these are his brothers, yet to his dismay it is the three people that he witnessed the deaths of, Narciso, Lupito and Florence. He sees Ultima’s death and is left with the constant question of religion.

He comes to the conclusion that man is of the earth, that his clay feet are party of the ground that nourishes him, and that it is this inextricable mixture that gives man his measure of safety and security…the greater immortality is in the freedom of man, and that freedom is best nourished by the noble expanse of land and air and pure, white sky. He dreaded to think of a time when he could not walk upon the llano and feel like the eagle that floats on it’s skies: free, immortal, limitless.

2nd Post Love Medicine By Louse Erdrich

Biographical Information
&
Critical Lenses

"Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, (born June 7, 1954) is a Native American author of novels, poetry, and children's books. She is an enrolled member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Ojibwa and Chippewa) and also has German, French and American ancestry. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant Native writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance. The eldest of seven children, Erdrich was born to Ralph and Rita Erdrich in Little Falls, Minnesota. Her father was German-American while her mother was French and Anishinaabe (Ojibwa). Her grandfather Patrick Gourneau served as a tribal chairman for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota where her parents taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school." Wikipedia.

I believe that Erdrich grew up in a time where it was not okay to know culture. There was alot of things going on at the time of her younger years such as the Vietnam war. I believe that growing up in the time of war has shaped her bias of those individuals that went and fought for their country. It was a scary time for those old enough for the draft and voluntary sign up. I think this is why her character Lipsha Morrisey ran away from signing up for the army. Her involvment growing up on the rez has helped her gain information on being in "outside world" or the cities.

There are many lenses that one can apply to this novel, and there is an endless amount of information that Erdrich reveals. You can apply the feminist lens through Erdrich being a Native American woman, writing this novel. She portrays most of the women in this book as strong individuals that are 'trash' or 'useless' in the "outside world" but play key roles on the reservation. In Native American culture the women are the stronger individuals who hold the powers to heal, love and bear life. They are the drum keepers, bringers of the sacred pipe, and are too strong during their 'moon' or menstrual cycle. (Sorry if this is too much info) In Love Medicine, Lulu Nanapush is seen as a woman of the night, a lover of all sorts. The town sees her as a threat, when she speaks at the Council meeting people make remarks about how there is not one father of all her children but then she says she can nzme all the fathers and paternity suits all around and that shuts the town up. She has the power in this situation and morphs the town into her beliefs.

Another lens that can be Cultural/Post-Colonial lens, Erdrich supplies evidence of 'othering' throughout her entire text. She talks about the cities and the "outside world" as if they were an entirely different country. Such as in Smoke Signals when Victor and Thomas were leaving to pick up Victor's dad in Arizona, the two girls in the car said, "Hope you got your vaccinations... you might as well be leaving to another country." In a way the movie Smoke Signals and Love Medicine play an equal part in showing the differences between reservation life and city life. Love Medicine shares an insight to what it is like to live the traditional indian way, through the man on the island, Moses Pillager. He lives by himself and the cats until Lulu decides that she is going to live with him. The portrayal of his everday life is an example how Erdrich articulates and celebrates her own cultural identity. During the novel there was alot of involvement of alcohol, after the introduction of alcohol to Native American tribes is when most indians shyed away from their own cultural beliefs. It made men into crazed individuals and broke families apart. Erdrich makes this apparent when Marie found Gordie drunk sleeping and dirty, she locked him in the room to sober up.

Love Medicine By Louise Erdrich

Reader Response
Love Medicine

After reading Love Medicine I was not sure how to feel about the book. It was an easy read and kind of hard to put together each of the fourteen different stories. After thinking about it I like this book, it was interesting to read about their lives and things that happened to them along their journey of life. Each family member is a strong individual with tiny flaws that haunt them. Either it's alcoholism or not being able to cope with love.

Both families have their differences and problems with love. Being in the Native world and living on the reservation can be tough and difficult at times. Dealing with violence, gossip, alcoholism and poverty make it hard to live out ones life especially on a sovereign nation. Most of the book takes place on the 'rez', which I have been on and I can relate to some of the characters when they talk about going 'home' and the 'cities'. My mom is from the Nett Lake band of Ojibwe and my father from the Leech Lake band of Ojibwe. Love can be tough if both people do not try to make each other feel worthwhile. The relationship between Nector and Marie wasn't strong enough for Nector to endure the tough times.

I do not believe there was no love at all in this novel, I simply believe that both families did not understand how to love and what was the right way to love. In Native American culture there is the stereotype of being 'stoic' or not really showing any emotion, I believe that this stereotype has hindered both families from their chances at love. In my family the guys have a hard time dealing with emotions and affection toward one another.

In the middle of the novel it began to click. I made the ties of each family member and it became clear to me how each one was related. I like how Erdrich unraveled the story by each of the family members point of view. It was a different twist from the 'original' story plot. It helped gain insight as she weaved in and out from the past to the present.

I can relate to some of the stories or tidbits from Love Medicine. In the beginning when June was on the greyhound I thought about how my brothers would take the greyhound bus up north to visit family members on the reservation. At the end of the novel when Gerry and Lipsha were driving without their headlights on in the middle of the night, I related to the times when I was visiting my father in Walker, Minnesota at night the moon was the only light that we drove by and it was enough to see the road and the trees.

Overall, Love Medicine was an interesting read. I enjoyed it to some extent and would most likely read it again. It did not change my view on the world, but made it more clear how it is for non Indians to see the inside view of the world on the reservation and Native American life. I believe that Erdrich did not write this novel to inform anyone about Native American culture, I believe that she wrote this book to show how life is on the reservation and to share a story about a family and their ties to eachother.

Readers Notebook 2, Sula By: Toni Morrison

Archetype
&
Reader Response &much much more!

The Temptress is an archetype that is prevalent in Sula by Toni Morrison and make it an interesting book to read. Secondly I would like to talk about the representation of Sula's birthmark on her face. For a reader response I related this book to many of the problems that I have had come across in my short lifetime. To include, when Nel was on the train with her mother and got cold stares from the army men, sometimes I feel out of place like I am the only one of my 'kind' whether if it was just because I was a woman or a Native American.

The first archetype that I would like to talk about is the Temptress. I believe that there were many temptresses in the book Sula, as there was alot of sex/love present. I believe that the Peace family, Eva, Hannah and Sula were temptresses. Even when Eva lost her leg men fancied her and she had a "regular flock of gentleman callers". (41) Although she never participated in the act of love, she was still an object that men wanted. Hannah was the biggest temptress of them all. She had men at what seems like every hour of the day. And did not set a good example for her daughter Sula who followed in her footsteps of becoming a temptress or a harsher word a prostitute.

When Sula was born she had a birth mark across her face in which some said represented a rose/stem. Sula’s birthmark over one eye is perceived differently by different characters. What shape people perceive the birthmark to be says more about them than about Sula. To Shadrack, whose livelihood is catching and selling river fish, Sula’s birthmark resembles a tadpole, a symbol of Shadrack’s earthy nature and his psychological metamorphosis throughout the novel. To Jude, it looks like a poisonous snake, which recalls the serpent in the biblical garden of Eden and symbolizes the carnal sin that the married Jude commits when he has a sexual affair—however brief—with Sula. To others, including the narrator, the birthmark is a stemmed rose, adding excitement to an otherwise plain face. This stemmed-rose imagery is a positive symbol of Sula’s persevering character. She remains true to herself, which Morrison, by linking Sula’s birthmark to the image of the traditionally beautiful rose, emphasizes as the most important virtue of a spiritually beautiful person.

For my reader response I related many of the decisions that Sula and Nel made to some of my own. When Sula let go of Chicken Little in the river, and ran for Shadrack's I thought that she was running for help but didn't. There have been times in my life where I had to weigh my options for a major decision that I had to make. I represented Eva to my grandmother, I feel as though Eva was an earthly mother who made rash decisions to keep her children alive. My grandmother had lost most of her husbands (three) to car crashes or illnesses. She was left alone to fend for herself and raise her six children. She tells it like it is and doesn't care if your feelings get hurt but can also have a soft side.

I also intertwined the story of the farmer tricking the blacks into moving onto the hill because it was the bottom of heaven to Native Americans and the Trail of Tears or colonization to the west. The blacks were tricked because of an old joke, whereas the Native Americans were promised many things through treaties. Which can be a lens of post colonialism.

Readers Notebook 1, Sula By: Toni Morrison

Passage
&
Character Building
Page 118-119
In reference to Sula

"She lived out her days exploring her own thoughts and emotions, giving them full reign, feeling no obligation to please anybody unless their pleasure pleased her. As willing to feel pain as to give pain, hers was an experimental life-ever since her mother's remarks sent her flying up those stairs, ever since her one major feeling of responsibility had been exorcised on the bank of a river with a closed place in the middle. The first experience taught her there was no other that you could count on; the second that there was no self to count on either. She had no center, no speck around which to grow. . . . She was completely free of ambition, with no affection for money, property or things, no greed, no desire to command attention or compliments-no ego. For that reason she felt no compulsion to verify herself-be consistent with herself."

Throughout the beginning of the novel I didn't believe that Sula played a major role in the plot, or in fact any part of the book. It was all a mystery to me until Sula returned ten years later. After she came back from college and put her old grandmother Eva in a hospital is when her character really started to come out. I believe that it the paradox of her character resignates really well throughout this passage.

I believe that it all starts with, "hers was an experimental life-ever since her mother's remarks sent her flying up those stairs". Her mother's remarks where, "You love her, like I love Sula. I just don't like her. That's the difference." (57) She only heard those words coming from her mother's mouth. I would be devastated if I heard my mom talking like that about me to one of my good friend's mother. After this Nel and Sula run to go play and that's when the Chicken Little incident occurs. After this point in the book is when I believe that Sula had her turning point. From then on she was a mischievous person.

From Chicken Little's death, Sula is not able to feel a sense of responsibility to anyone including Nel, her best friend. Sula in her own freedom became dangerous. As her mother Hannah was burning Sula sat on the porch watching her pain and anguish, not because she was dumb struck it was because she was interested. After this point in the book I felt there was no turning back for Sula. I believe that after her watching her mother burn she was set free to do whatever she pleased.

She left go on to college and was gone for ten years. During her travels she was known to sleep with white men which outraged most of the town of Bottom when she returned. She returned a completely different person, a narcissistic human being. Sula carried her self differently and even dressed as if she were in the movies. She came back and changed the town, she taught wives to appreciate their husbands, protected their children, repaired their homes, and in general banded together against the devil (page 117).

When Sula dies in the fall of her thirtieth year, the people of the Bottom are left without a direct, evil force with which to contend. Her death, described as a "sleep of water," coincides with an early frost (suggesting that Sula does have some influence over the forces of nature), which ruins harvests and renders folks housebound. With environmental and communal warmth frozen, even Teapot's Mama, who had become doting after she feared that Sula had knocked her five-year-old down the steps, returns to beating her son.

Readers Notebook 2, In the Time of the Butterflies by: Julia Alvarez

Main Character, Minerva.

Being the oldest Minerva became more apt of what happened in her countries government. Firstly, Minerva found out all of Trujillo’s secrets through a classmate, who soon became her best friend. Consequently, she met a Manolo, an anti-trujillista. As told by Alvarez, Minerva didn’t seem interested in him, but only in his righteous ways. They soon exchanged their ideas on their government and Minerva became involved in the underground movements. While enrolled in law school, she was heavily involved in the movements. Her secret name being “mariposa” or butterfly became nationwide by the anti-trujillistas. Soon after Minerva’s youngest sister, Maria Teresa, immersed herself in the movements. Following her sisters footsteps she found herself nicknamed butterfly as well. Even though their organization was unsuccessful, they inspired others in their country including: young Dominicans and upper class Dominicans. The Mirabals became idolized for their righteousness and for their bravery against their dictator. While trying to keep their organizations a secret, a time transpired where it couldn’t be kept a secret anymore. Trujillo decided to captivate the two sisters in jail, “to learn a lesson.” After a long period of time Trujillo set them free under house arrest. The novel ends with them being alive until the epilogue, where the readers discover what happened to the Mirabal sisters. As Dede continues the epilogue she mentions: November 25, 1960; the date where Trujillo sent for the assassination of Minerva, Maria Teresa; along with their sister, Patria, and her husband.