Monday, April 28, 2014

Stories, Repositories and Folklore” by Aghan Odero Agan

The video "Stories, Repositories and Folklore" by Aghan Odero Agan is very complicated to understand. He talks about culture that everyone is familar with. Culture is traditional and belief amongst people. The main point of the video is that culture haves its own consequences towards a specific plot. The speaker Aghan Odero Agan had real examples on the symbiotic of culture. The video was very diificult to understand due to his accent, I was not abke to write alot about the video.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Sandman

This graphic novel was confusing at first because at every part differnt people were mentioned and it is also confusing because it felt like there are so many stories in one story. The details in the graphic are very interesting and colors are amazing. Compared to othere graphic novels I kind of didn't find this graphic novel to be interesting. Also in the end I was kind of getting lost because I felt like the story was hoping everywhere.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Latino USA: A Cartoon History by Ilan Stavans

In the begining of the article the title it says Splash!!!Kaboom!!!Ay diosito, y ahora, quiem mos salvara?- Kaloman: El hombre increbile which means oh dear god, and now, who will save us? Kaliman: The Incredible Man. It is very interesting that there are more comic strip publishers in Mexico than in any other Latin American country. Comic strips are much disputed in the artistic and academic communities. Professor Stavans mentions that comic strips are inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphics, Medival manuscripts, Aztec codices, ancient writings, and also pre-Columbian images; these are the the sources of Mexican comics. The passion for graphic art by using using images is another way of communication but by throught images. It is part of Mexican culture where the word are written in many ways such as imported property. Professor Stavans had shown the importance of pop art in Mexico through comic book but he is representing the Hispanic civilization as "fiesta of types archetypes, and stereotypes."

Monday, March 24, 2014

Graphic Memoirs Come of Age

In this essay "Graphic Memoirs Come of Age" by William Bradley, the author shows us the diference between graphic novels and graphic memiors. Graphic novels are known as an entertainment piece while graphic memiors are known as literary pieces.I read a part of the Maus piece before and the art work is more dark, as is the story. It is about Spiegelman's father's experience as a prisoner in Aushwitz and his relationship with his wife and son. It cannot be seen as a comic book but rather a literary piece which depicts the reality that many victims and their families faced after Aushwitz. by writing this story in the form of a graphic memoir Spiegelman was able to use personification throughout the whole piece.
This allows the reader to not only have a visual aid in regards to the story, but also understand that each frame, each drawing, each page is critical in the overall understanding of the memoir.


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Empowerment Through Mythological Imaginings in Woman Warrior

In this essay "Empowerment Through Mythological Imaginings in Woman Warrior" it explains how Maxine Hong Kingston explore the relation between myths, reality, and flat literal reality. But Kingston also challenges the western wise ways of seeing, classifying, and ordering differently. In the beginning of the essay the author mentions two quotes which is very meaningful to a Chinese girl. The first quote is " I had to leave home in order to see the world logically, logic the new way of seeing." This quote is important because for a Chinese girl to stay back home will not let her do things she wants to do. Everyone in the society thinks that woman will either be a wife or slave and nothing else. But for a Chinese girl to leave her home in order to see the world logically , will change everything around her. They will see the world in a new way because she had saw things differently the moment she was born. Chinese females had only seen the things that society wanted them to see. The second quote is " And I don't want to listen to any more of your stories; they have no logic. They scramble me up. You lie with stories." This quote is important because while growing up Chinese girls will hear stories about Fa Mulan the warrior woman and by hearing this story made them realize they want to be just like her.But the problem is that they can only listen to the story of Fa Mulan but they cannot be like her.As the quote stated "They scrabble me up" which is true because they hear stories about Fa Mulan but they cannot be like her, they are only raised to be a wife and slave. These two quotes are very important because it connects to every female in the society that they should leave their home to see the world differently and the stories that are told to them are not true.

Monday, February 24, 2014

American Indian Myths and Legends

Myths and Legends represents the heart and soul of a culture. In "American Indian Myths and Legends" 166 legends that was recorded had come from " the heart and soul of the native people of North America." Legends had been told throughout many years and each time it is told differently. Legends are told according "to a people's way of life, the geography and the climate in which they live, the food they eat and the way they obtain it."For people myth is a different kind of world it is a dramatic world. It is a world of actions and powers. In mythology a different type of language is used, it has it own personality and independence. For the native people of North America legends were never told for enjoyment or for education, legends were part of a belief. It connects the people to their ancestors. One myth or legend that connects the native people to their ancestors is " When Grizzlies Walked Upright." This story is a love story of the Chief Sky Spirit daughter who had fallen in love with a grizzly bear. This love story was kind of weird but sweet. The daughter was lost and could not find her family. A family of grizzly bear had raised her until she had become a young woman. She was married to the eldest son of the grizzly bears. Their children was different but unique they did not look like their father or mother. The spirit mother and the grizzly bear had created a new creature. After many years the Chief of the Sky spirit had found his daughter and learned that the strange creatures were his grandchildren. He had hated the fact that a new race had been created that was not of his making. He cursed all the grizzlies and took his daughter. His grandchildren were left behind scattered and wandering around earth. The strange creatures were the first Indians. This story reminds me of fables were they use animals instead of humans. The legend " When Grizzles Walked Upright" had made the Indians not kill any grizzly bear because they are part of their ancestors.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Porto Rican Folklore

Puerto Rican folklore reflect the culture of the people who had lived and influenced the lifestyle of those people who were living there, such as the Tainos, the Spaniards, and the Africans. The reflections of elements are found in folktales which were passed down from father to son over the centuries. In the collection of Puerto Rican folklore, there are riddles, rhymes, games, folktales, tales of enchantment, animal stokes, songs, and also other types of oral expression. Children hear folktales, fairy tales, myths, and legends because they receive their cultural legacy through these stories. Folktales are stories that conduct culture and values, if children are impoverished of these stories, a very important and crucial element of their growth and development has been left out. In the “Three Wishes” there are stories tales of enchantments and animals stokes. There is a folklore I like from the Three Wishes “The Ant in Search of Her Leg.” In this folklore there was a little any who pulled off her leg because of the snow. When she asked the snow can she get her leg back the snow said it cannot because the snow is no strong enough. While trying to get her little leg back she had went to asked for help from the snow, sun, cloud, wind, wall, rat, cat, dog, stick, fire, water, ox, knife, man, and death. The ant went to everyone and they could not help her in the end she went to god and god told her “Little ant, go home. When you leave it again, you will have your leg.” The ant had learned that God is the strongest of all because no matter who you go to no one will help you but in the end God will always help you. Puerto Rican folklore also haves a spiritual meaning.