Haroun and the Sea of Stories wrap up

Why is this a story we should end the semester on?

"Haroun and the Sea of Stories" was a very interesting book which I believe incorporated very clearly the different steps of a Hero's Journey or heroic Monomyth as Joseph Campbell describes it. In the first stage, known as "DEPARTURE" in the Monomyth, Haroun's journey begins when he understands that his life will never be the same after his Mom left and his Dad Rashid had lost the ability to tell stories. Haroun becomes aware of his outside world and he accepts to embrace the call to adventure and to help his Dad. Haroun meets Butt, who shows him symbolically the light after the tunnel or the hope, the beauty after the fear and the obstacles. Haroun is "crossing the Threshold", when he has left the comfort of his home to pursue these new adventures. Harounalso meets Supernatural Aids like Iff, who gives him a chance to begin his "INITIATION" with strength (the second stage in the Monomyth). Haroun will have to face challenges to help his understanding of the world & himself: go to Kahani, and save a princess for example. The book also covers the final stage, "RETURN" of the Hero's Journey with Haroun's & Rashid's return back home. Overall I believe that this novel clearly explained the different steps in the Hero's Journey and this is what makes it interesting and a good way to end the semester.

Female heroes... ?

On p. 107, Blabbermouth gives Haroun a piece of feminist advice. She basically says that girls aren’t able to be strong (or heroic) characters because of the ways people stereotype them. Think about contemporary female heroes. Do we have any? Do we value the fact that they are female?


I think that what Blabbermouth tells Haroun on page 107 is in the end correct. Today we do have female's acting as heroes but they are ultimately viewed differently than a male hero. People do still currently stereotype those female heroes and this is why the movies that have male heroes make more money then the ones that have female heroes. I do also believe though that female heroes are needed to some extent. Maybe one day the female heroes could overpass the male heroes... At the moment when we see female heroes in movies we value what they are doing but we still have in the back of our minds that the male heroes are stronger and have a higher reputation. It depends on the scenario of the story of course but overall females are unfortunately stereotyped the way Blabbermouth presents it to Haroun. She is a female and she is telling this to Haroun which makes her advice perhaps more valid than if a man were to say this.

Lately it definitely seems as if there have been many more movies and stories with male heroes as the main characters than movies with female heroes. Directors out there know that if you have a well known male hero play in your movie, then you will make more money than if a female hero were to act out the role. They believe the stereotypes on female heroes that Blabbermouth tells Haroun to a certain level and this is why we see less female heroes out there than male heroes, and also why male heroes get more attention.

Undergrand Man's Actions

Comment on the underground man’s actions. How is acting here in relationship to the claims he made in Part 1?

Rooster??

Who is Rooster? What are your first impressions of him?

Rooster is found by Mattie in order to help her find the killer of her father. Because Rooster is a marshall he has quite a lot of power and control over others and the law to a certain extent. This is why he isn't afraid to take down anyone in his way as he has that superior authority being a marshall. He uses the self defense excuse almost every time that he kills someone and it works. This is why Rooster would be the best person to get the job done for Mattie! In court Rooster even declared that in six years he had killed 23 people and that they were all self defense. He is really using his title as marshall to help him out as most as possible when it comes down to killing.

I sort of have mixed feelings about Rooster at the moment because I don't know how good of a guy he really is. It took Rooster some time to finally accept Mattie's offer as he thought that she wouldn't be able to provide the $50 to him. The only true reason why he decided to go ahead and accept her offer was because he may have the opportunity to settle his revenge with a man that he will also encounter on the way. Rooster also seems overall as an arrogant and selfish person. I don't know if he is %100 reliable and trustworthy but I guess we will find out fairly soon...

The Underground Man

Who is the ‘underground man’? What are your first impressions of him?

The "underground man" is somewhat quite a strange character. He is probably in his thirties or forties This man used to work in the army and he was an officer. He isn't a very nice person overall and he treated other members in the army without much respect. The "underground man" currently has a liver disease and life doesn't seem too good for him. He is an arrogant and hard person to be around as he thinks he's the best. He does have a good education on the other hand and he has taught himself not to be superstitious.

He has some nice qualities but in general he remains a stubborn and relatively depressing person. He has been sick for 20 years and still he refuses to go see a doctor which is absurd. The "underground man" made it clear that he didn't want to live past 40 as he knows that he is very sick and that his chances of living long aren't high. If he went to the doctor and got help though that may change but he simply doesn't want to. He respects doctors and the work that they do but he isn't interested in medicine as he doesn't like them. There is still much to discover about "the underground man" and what will happen to him in the future. I wonder now if he will end up seeing a doctor or if he will remain stubborn and silly. His personality also isn't very appealing to most people.

Iago's plan

Iago is deeply in love with Desdemona. He is upset that she is marrying Othello, a black man who is a fighter. Iago and Roderigo are good friends and Iago hates Othello for making Cassio lieutenant over himself. Iago wants Roderigo’s help to make Barbantuo, the father of Desdemona aware that his daughter has married a black man named Othello. Once Barbantuo realizes that Othello is with his daughter he is unhappy, because Othello is a black man and he doesn’t like him very much. Desdemona though talks to her dad and tells him that she is in love with Othello and that she should have the opportunity to be with him. Barbantuo isn't very pleased with the whole situation but he still accepts what has happened. This makes Iago quite frustrated as he thought that Barbantuo would get very angry and make Desdemona break away from Othello.

Luke Skywalker/Beowulf

Compare Luke Skywalker to Beowulf. What makes them different? Do they share any traits in common? How are they both heroic?

Luke Skywalker is much younger than Beowulf and in the Star Wars movie we watched he isn't even a complete hero quite yet. He achieved heroic acts by defeating the death star for example but he isn't very well known yet. Beowulf has been around for a longer time and he considers himself a real hero from the beginning when he arrives to Hereot. Beowulf's reputation and title is very important to him and he likes doing what he does because he is a bit arrogant. Beowulf likes being a reputable hero where as Luke Skywalker is much more in it for the passion and to learn how to become a jedi. That is one of the main things that makes them different. They do share several traits in common because both are heroic in their own way, even though they share different paths. Beowulf is heroic because he defeats Grendel and he is very well recognized. Luke Skywalker is heroic because he is brave and he wants to go on these dangerous journeys and help make a difference. Luke Skywalker defeats the death star in the movie we watch and he saves the "rebel base" station. This makes him earn a gold medal and the respect of thousands of people.

Wiglaf

Comment on Wiglaf’s character throughout the end of the book. Is he honorable or heroic like Beowulf or does he display an additional set of values?

In the end of the book Wiglaf truly displays his heroic values. Beowulf had a task to defeat the dragon and when no one else could help him Wiglaf was there. Wiglaf put his life at risk to help Beowulf kill the dragon by blocking the dragon's fire with his shield. WIthout Wiglaf it is very possible that Beowulf wouldn't have made it on his own. Something that is very important to note is that Wiglaf sees things differently than Beowulf. Wiglaf isn't interested in having all this fame and glory and being the best hero out there like Beowulf. I believe that Wiglaf is a true hero (and more of a hero than Beowulf) because he fights for others because its the right thing to do and he wants to help. Beowulf is much more in it to be in the spotlight i think. When Wiglaf jumped in to help Beowulf with the dragon one of his main concerns was making sure that Beowulf was okay and that together they could kill the dragon. Wiglaf could've simply let Beowulf down and have killed the dragon himself and gotten all the fame but that isn't his main concern. A true hero is someone that puts others in front of himself and that doesn't necessarily care if not everyone will remember him. Beowulf wants everyone to remember him after he dies and popularity is important to him.

Unferth and Beowulf

At the opening of this excerpt, Unferth tries to tarnish Beowulf’s reputation by discussing his swimming match with Breca. Why would Unferth do this? How does Beowulf respond? How does his response contribute to his persona as a hero?


At the beginning of this excerpt Unferth tries to make Beowulf's reputation seem bad. Unferth does this by bringing up the swimming match between Beowulf and Breca. In this event it was Breca who won and who beat Beowulf to the shore. Unferth wants Beowulf to seem like a bad hero who really isn't the best out there and this is the main reason why he retold this story. After hearing all this though, Beowulf stayed calm and didn't take it personal. He instead laid out the facts and the real reason why he lost the battle against Breca. The only reason Breca won was because he swam straight to the shore while Beowulf fought all the sea monsters in order to make the waters safe. Breca only really cared about winning the swimming match but he didn't think like a hero, Beowulf did instead. This is what makes Beowulf the person that he is and why he is well respected. He doesn't care about winning everything he cares about helping others and making their environment safer. This makes him a trustworthy hero and it proved to Unferth that it was pointless of him to have brought this up because all it did was make him look better and Unferth more stupid!

The Color Purple

What do you make of the end of this letter? Does it feel peaceful? Angry? Resilient?


I believe that the end of this letter feels both peaceful and relatively angry. Towards the end of her letter, Celie switches opinions on God. When Celie talks about God she says how he loves everything that he has created in including the color purple. This made Celie think about the world and to learn how to appreciate things. At first she thought that God was a white male as she believed what everyone else did. As her opinion changed on this and she became more informed it "freed" her up but she still has that image of the white man in the back of her mind that is bothering her.

Americans vs Jews

This movie that we are watching at the moment is very interesting. The whole incident that happened between the Jew and the little black boy is very unfortunate. I believe that it was the Jewish persons fault because he was the one that went through the stop light and that hit the boy. Once the ambulances came the Jew was able to leave right away and the little black boy didn't have much assistance. People were yelling in the street saying how it was unfair and that the black boy should've been helped immediately. I completely agree with this and I am with the Americans (blacks) on this whole situation. I understand why there was a huge riot because many people wanted to prove a point about this. It wasn't just a simple accident, it involved much more. The Jewish person had more money and was regarded as higher than the black boy and he therefore got the advantage when the ambulance came. Overall I am for the African Americans and it was good that they rioted. Although many people were arrested and people died at least they were able to show what they were fighting for. The movie that we have been watching at the moment is great because we are able to really understand how certain people talk and react to certain subjects such as racism and discrimination.

Sonny's blues

What does the brother realize about Sonny as he plays the piano? What does the music allow Sonny to do?

Sonny has had a challenging life and his use of drugs to help him relax has caused him to make some bad choices. Throughout the story Sonny is in the need for heroin which is the drug he is addicted to but when he starts playing the piano more and more some things start changing. Sonny is able to put his past and emotions on the side and then express it in his music. When Sonny's brother sees him play the piano at the end he is able to tell that Sonny has found something to do where he can relax without taking drugs. When Sonny plays the piano he feels happy and he doesn't want to be using drugs. Playing the piano is his new "drug" in a way and the brother finally notices that at the end of "Sonny's Blues". Playing the piano didn't only help Sonny overcome his drug issues and let his brother know that he found a new path, but it also showed the rest of the world how some people can overcome their problems and start something new in life. This is what happens to Sonny and it is a good ending to the story. Producing music finally allowed Sonny to have a future and realize that he doesn't need drugs in his life and that he can be a successful person. This inspired many others that were around Sonny.

Ethics

Family values and the ethics of my life are extremely important. I was always taught by my parents to be polite, respectful and to give back to others. Many people in this world take everything they are given for granted and don’t fully appreciate things in their lives. The people that surround you on a day-to-day basis such as your friends at school can greatly impact and influence how you should be. Usually the students that have respect for others and that are nice will attract other students of the same personality type.

As I was taught many things by my parents on life and how you are supposed to interact and communicate with others at such a young age, today I tend to be with people who were behave the same way as me. I also have some personal ethics that I can consider are crucial for me to have as an individual. I want to make sure that I try to be the best person I can and that I always work hard and put in effort into what I do.

The main thing is to feel happy and to be well respected in and out of the family. If you have that respect then you will be surrounded with those people who will therefore have a positive influence on your attitude and overall behavior. In the end of the day this is how it works, well mannered and polite people will spend time with the same people as them and people with less manners/respect towards others will be together. This is why choosing who you want to spend time with is more important than you can think. It influences you in ways that sometimes you can't realize.

Langston Hughes/Claude McKay

Langston Hughes and Claude McKay both are quite different poets but they do still share some similar ideas. Claud McKay doesn't have the exact same style of writing as Hughes, he uses a specific style (sonnets) of writing that he is known for. McKay wrote to show the white people that African Americans can actually be smart and educated people. McKay's writing style resembled that of Shakespeare which earned him a lot of reputation at the time. Langston Hughes, on the other hand, is a much more traditional kind of writer that speaks to his people. His writing isn't as sophisticated and precise as McKay's.

Overall both of these poets are writing about the same thing which is about the white and black race and how the whites have the wrong idea on blacks. Their main difference comes down to the writing style. For example, in "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes, he talks about how he wants to be different from the whites, and that whites want nothing to do with blacks as well. This makes him realize that in America there are two races and that it has to be accepted. In McKay's "To My White Friends", she talks about blacks and how they can be just as evil as whites but instead they are trying to be civilized and they just want peace. The whites have in some way gone "crazy" with racial issues and McKay is reminding the whites that blacks can be as well.

The final thing that the two poets have in common is that both poets write about Africa at some point. Hughes writes about it in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and McKay in "Africa".

Booker T. Washington

Blog – How is Washington providing an answer to the ‘go North’ or ‘stay South’ debate we looked at in Frederick Douglass’s Life and Times?


Washington provides many ideas and backup to confirm that he believes that African Americans should stay down South and not go up North. Many African Americans wanted to go up North but Washington thought that this wasn't the right move.
Booker T Washington believed that there was no point of going up North because so many African Americans were going up there at once already. African Americans thought they could have a better life up North and get a good job but so many of them had already gotten there that a lot less opportunities were present for the rest of the people still in the South.

Washington also believes that in the end there are still many opportunities down in the South that can also be found in the North. African Americans have for the most part grown up in the South and they have their own lifestyle there. Going up North wouldn't necessarily be that beneficial for an African American and this is what Washington is trying to tell the people. African Americans think that their jobs aren't good enough and that their life is really bad down in the South and this is why they want to go up North so bad. Washington said that he didn't think this was true as working in the field for example is still a normal job. The people down South would have a tough time adapting to life in the North and it makes sense for them to stay where they are from.

Overall Washington would like things to stay traditional with the African Americans staying in the South. This is what he pushed for in his debate and most of the ideas he brought up.

Equiano and Smith

Compare Equiano to Venture Smith. Both are Africans brought over to America to be slaves. Do they share the same views? How do they differ?

Equiano and Venture Smith both had a similar background and childhood. Although they were brought over to America to be slaves they were two different people who didn't approach life the same way once they earned (bought) their freedom.

Equiano was a lot more descriptive about his journeys and home town then Venture Smith was. Equiano takes time talking about his village and how he grew up and it seems as if he was very attached to his family and friends back home; this didn't seem as important to Venture Smith. Equiano also explains in great detail the trip from Africa to America where he just like Venture Smith was kidnapped to become a slave.

Equiano's experience as a slave in general was quite different then Venture's because Venture had gone straight to America but Equiano was in parts of Africa before he went to Barbados and N. America.

Equiano's experience as a slave was very different then Venture’s because unlike Venture who went directly to North America, Equiano was in different parts of Africa before he went to North America and Barbados and he spent a good amount of time in England in Europe. Another significant difference between the two was that money was everything to Venture Smith once he was a free man but it wasn't everything for Equiano. He wasn't as obsessed about it as Venture.

Protest Songs vs. Older work

There were many ideas in these three protest songs that relate back to previous work that we read. Most of these protest songs inspired young black African Americans who were going through their lives. Many black African Americans in the past didn’t have much money and lived in poverty and when they heard these protest songs they could relate to the issues and the rest of the world could in some way place themselves in their shoes.

Even black African American rappers that sang songs like “N.Y State of Mind” or the “The Message” could relate to these protest songs and it inspired their work and helped their own songs make more sense. In the song, “We Shall Overcome” they sing about how one day they will overcome many problems they are facing in the world and that they may be considered as equal one day. Rappers like NAS talk about the same kind of things in their songs. They talk about growing up in the hood and having a hard time doing so and making a name for themselves, mostly due to their skin color.

Even people like John Henry can relate to these protest songs. John Henry is someone who wanted to pound steel stakes with a hammer his whole life and who most likely had a rough and challenging childhood. John Henry and his story can relate to the lyrics present in the song “Ain’t gonna let Nobody Turn me “Round” where the message there is that basically no one will stop you from doing what you are doing if you have a goal. It also says in that song that if you are so determined in doing something you can ultimately ‘build a brand new world” which is what these rappers are trying to do and people like John Henry amongst others.

Another important message of these protest songs is that what Black Americans truly want is to simply be equal to white people and have the same opportunity as anyone else to do something good in the world. That’s what they are all trying to do in a way. ( Black African Americans in the readings and songs)

John Henry Blog

In John Henry's song it tells us a story about a young black boy. This boy was obsessed with steal driving and he wanted to be the best steel driving man ever and thats all that he thought about. This young boy wanted to do this as a career and until the day he dies. John Henry here is showing us how determined and motivated this boy was and that he had set himself a goal for his life. This ballad influenced songs like "NY State of Mind" and "The Message"because both of these rappers also had a goal in their life and a "message". They both had hard lives when they were young and they had to face difficult challenges and be determined just like the young black boy in John Henry's song to succeed in life.

II.xiii – II.xv

Why does Joe start tapping?

Because Joe has no arms or legs and he basically has no communication with people he wanted to find a way to try and express his thoughts to others. When Joe is in the hospital in his bed he has visitors come down and see him every once in a while and he wants to be able to talk to them. In this chapter Joe has a special visitor that comes down and sees him. This person is his general that came down to the hospital to give Joe his award. When he was there Joe wanted to be able to communicate with him and therefore he tried tapping on his bed. No one understood what he was trying to do including the nurses who thought that he was getting mad. The nurses therefore gave Joe a sedative to make him cool off. All that Joe was trying to do was communicate and the nurses didn't understand. This was probably very frustrating for Joe who is trying so hard but he is in such a bad physical shape that he can barely do anything right.

II.xi – II.xii

Why does Joe decide to master time? How does he do it?

Joe decides to master time for a pretty simple reason. In the previous chapters Joe was never really conscious of time and what day it was. This bothered Joe and he wanted to do something about it. Joe is tired of not knowing what is going on around him at times and where he is during the day. Now that Joe seemed more emotionally stable he thought that he was ready to take on a new challenge and start mastering time. Joe tried doing this by counting seconds but that didn't work too well as he would get lost once he got close to the minute marker. Joe didn't lose hope though even though this method didn't quite work for him. Instead he decided to closely follow what the nurses did throughout the day that way he would be able to notice if it was morning time or evening. It ended up that this method worked out for him the best.