A trickster is someone or something who cheats or deceives people. The story "The Tortoise and the Hare" is an excellent example that carries a lot of trickster traits that the hare shows throughout the story.
A list of characteristics that the hare possesses is:
- Swindler
-Conniving
-Fearless
-Bold
-Cheater
-Liar
-Deceiver
-Outlandish
-Humorous
Monday, April 18, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Statement on "The Last Mama on the Couch"
"The Last Mama on the Couch" by Shay Youngblood is personally not a book I would pick up if I was at a book store and looking for a book to read for enjoyment. Although the book is not my usual taste in books it was interesting to read something outside my boundaries. Certain chapters kept me interested as well as how certain chapters didn't quiet catch my attention. I liked this book because it wasn't like a "Harry Potter" book where you have to read from chapter to chapter in chronological order in order to understand the book. You could pretty much jump from chapter to chapter and each chapter would tell a different story which wasn't really necessary if you read the chapter before or not. All in all, I enjoyed certain chapters, and although I did not read every chapter in the book, the book in all is interesting and it has a sense of humor but seriousness in it which I liked.
Uncle Buck Loves Jesus, Sometime; Storytelling II
The excerpt “Uncle Buck Loves Jesus”, not only illustrates the suffering of slavery but also how faith influenced their journey. “Uncle Buck Loves Jesus, Sometime” is a selection from “The Big Mama Stories” by Shay Youngblood. The setting takes place in Princeton, Georgia where Uncle Buck talks about how he isn’t religious but he does love Jesus in his own way.
A theme in this story is religion. Two story telling device’s the author uses to present this theme is the description and imagery she uses with Uncle Buck’s character, whether it be describing him on a rocking chair smoking clouds out of his pipe, or Uncle Buck sharing his story on his point of view on Jesus. The author also presents this theme through Uncle Bucks point of view on religion when he says “Some folks go to church every Sunday wouldn’t be caught dead without a Bible in they hand, a cross on they chest, or a amen on they tongue. But if Jesus was alive today they would step over him lying in the streets. More hypocrites in the church than sinning outside.”
A character I chose was Uncle Buck, two values that appear to be important to him would be close relationships and religion. Uncle Buck shares a close relationship with Big Mama and his former wife Hattie. He also prays to God and believes in Jesus sometimes. He says: “God is sure to disappoint you. He let me get outta that place where many had dying trying to leave. So I believe, sometime. Sometimes I love Jesus and sometime I think he hard of hearing.” So throughout this selection both values correlate to each other aiding Uncle Buck in his struggles.
African American motifs I found in this selection were religion and slavery. I found both motifs while Uncle Buck was telling his story about what happened after he and his former wife got married. They met up with a fella who hired both of them on the spot, but the next day, two white men ordered all the men to get on a truck that was expected to take them to a lumberyard. When Uncle Buck got back, Hattie was crying with her hands almost raw from scrubbing a white woman’s house. They then both knelt down and prayed all night making promises to God. God eventually came through halfway, after six months of slaving away, Hattie died and Uncle Buck escaped and ran back to Georgia.
All in all, what I learned was this was both a slave narrative and a growing up story and yes this story has value to me. The value I got from this story is that God is there, whether you go to church every Sunday, or pray to him when you need him or want something, he’s there to listen. Although he might not be here or answer our prayers in a rush, everything that happens to us, it happens for a reason, and although it might not make sense at the moment, everything will tie together in the end. Which is something I’m sure we all can relate to.
Statement on The Colored Museum
Throughout this semester we have read a total of three different books. In certain ways each book is similar to one another due to the fact that it is all African American based. Personally my favorite book that I enjoyed was "The Colored Museum". The first reason being is because it is a play, I enjoyed the way the context was written, the format was in a play form. Not only did I think that was easier to read but in a way it deals with my major and hobby. I enjoy acting and this format of text written is something I am very familiar with. I loved the fact that there were also videos to each scene because it gave me a better understanding of how the characters were saying what they were trying to say and the way they expressed the words written in the book were perfect for me and my style of reading and learning things which made it so much easier for me.
The whole book in total was my favorite as well because it had a variety of different exhibits which made it easier to follow, because it wasn't hard to wonder about a story in total but to focus on each exhibit and they were all different. It also was a better understanding in the African American culture than the previous books, because I felt that certain exhibits were really deep and entertaining which caught my attention and kept it.
All in all this is definitley a book I really enjoyed and will tell people about it, maybe not to read the book, but to definitrley look into the play.
The whole book in total was my favorite as well because it had a variety of different exhibits which made it easier to follow, because it wasn't hard to wonder about a story in total but to focus on each exhibit and they were all different. It also was a better understanding in the African American culture than the previous books, because I felt that certain exhibits were really deep and entertaining which caught my attention and kept it.
All in all this is definitley a book I really enjoyed and will tell people about it, maybe not to read the book, but to definitrley look into the play.
The Last Mama on the Couch
"The Last Mama on the Couch" is one exhibit in "The Colored Museum" written by George C. Wolfe.
Mama symbolizes wisdom, strength, nurture and faithfulness, the reason being is because mama guides her family, hold the family together from chaos, she is loving as well as comforting and she commends the Lord.
The author is satirizing the idea of black womanhood. Historically she was portrayed as a large, dark, black woman, who like the white true woman sets aside her sexuality to devote herself to her children.
"A Raisin in the Sun" is similar to this exhibit due to the two main characters who are Walter and Lena Younger (Son and mother). Walter is hard to get along with and he is nasty to pretty much every character in the play. Lena Younger is a down to earth, hard working black woman who can totally rock our world. "A Raisin in the Sun" is about The Younger family and how each family member wants to go about Mr. Younger's $10,000 for their own personal use, but each family member's personal use.
"For Colored Girls" has a perspective on what it is to be a black female in a the modern United States. The poems deal with abandonment, rape, abortion, and love.
"For Colored Girls" is similar to "The Last Mama on the Couch" and "A Raisin in the Sun" because the lady in the blue decides to have an abortion, the wife in a raisin in the sun is deciding whether to have an abortion, and lastly the wife in the last mama on the couch is on front stage, and her husband demands she makes him food, but instead he grabs to dolls and throws them out the window, which symbolizes her children.
Connecting the dots, "The Last Mama on the Couch" play satirizes major black theatrical responses to oppression from Lorraine Hansberry's emotive realism. Ntozake Shange play is a poetic feminism to race submerging classicism and the problem denying black musical.
Related ideas presented in the previous scene is the idea that has been presented in scenes “Git on Board" & “The Gospel According to Ms. Roj“ have also related to this scene because in all plays they satirize dancing and singing in different forms. Also, the scene is loud and energetic, with characters talking over one another, emphasizing the chaos and contradictions that make up the museum.
"Dancing to Live"
By "Dancing to live" the author is describing the importance of singing and dancing was to the African culture. In past history it was said that when the slaves where brought to America to work, the way they would communicate with each other and come together was through songs and dancing. It was a way to survive the atrocious life they where brought in.
Mama symbolizes wisdom, strength, nurture and faithfulness, the reason being is because mama guides her family, hold the family together from chaos, she is loving as well as comforting and she commends the Lord.
The author is satirizing the idea of black womanhood. Historically she was portrayed as a large, dark, black woman, who like the white true woman sets aside her sexuality to devote herself to her children.
"A Raisin in the Sun" is similar to this exhibit due to the two main characters who are Walter and Lena Younger (Son and mother). Walter is hard to get along with and he is nasty to pretty much every character in the play. Lena Younger is a down to earth, hard working black woman who can totally rock our world. "A Raisin in the Sun" is about The Younger family and how each family member wants to go about Mr. Younger's $10,000 for their own personal use, but each family member's personal use.
"For Colored Girls" has a perspective on what it is to be a black female in a the modern United States. The poems deal with abandonment, rape, abortion, and love.
"For Colored Girls" is similar to "The Last Mama on the Couch" and "A Raisin in the Sun" because the lady in the blue decides to have an abortion, the wife in a raisin in the sun is deciding whether to have an abortion, and lastly the wife in the last mama on the couch is on front stage, and her husband demands she makes him food, but instead he grabs to dolls and throws them out the window, which symbolizes her children.
Connecting the dots, "The Last Mama on the Couch" play satirizes major black theatrical responses to oppression from Lorraine Hansberry's emotive realism. Ntozake Shange play is a poetic feminism to race submerging classicism and the problem denying black musical.
Related ideas presented in the previous scene is the idea that has been presented in scenes “Git on Board" & “The Gospel According to Ms. Roj“ have also related to this scene because in all plays they satirize dancing and singing in different forms. Also, the scene is loud and energetic, with characters talking over one another, emphasizing the chaos and contradictions that make up the museum.
"Dancing to Live"
By "Dancing to live" the author is describing the importance of singing and dancing was to the African culture. In past history it was said that when the slaves where brought to America to work, the way they would communicate with each other and come together was through songs and dancing. It was a way to survive the atrocious life they where brought in.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Memory.
African American motifs: Identify two categories you see present:
-Pg 7: "Mrs. Paul was ahead of her time in that way. I don't remember any of my other elementary school teachers ever mentioning a mumbling word about our Black culture, writers, or history."
The African American motif I found in this selection is #16: Identity and Belonging. Because it is a sense of pride in black culture, identity and black past.
-
3.
(A) 1945-1960's
(B) In Knoxville Tennessee
(C) The writer shows me the importance of this place through her descriptions and feelings about this place.
For example you can tell that she loved going to the library to read fairy tale novels such as Snow White and Rose Red. She also mentions "I never watched the clock or got impatient to go home because once there, I would go row by row, stack by stack, to find my beloved fairy tale stories. Eventually, I read every one in the library." This tells me that she enjoyed going to the library because it was one of the only colored libraries in Knoxville.
(D) Memories the writer/narrator gives about this place is the mid sized town of Knoxville. How she grew up in her first house on Mee Street on the Black side of town, in it was directly in front of the Austin Homes housing projects. But when she moved to a house in a not so busy street she remembers the address and knew the only other two black families who lived in this neighborhood as well as the middle class lily white people.
(E) Yes, she does. On pg. 7 the last paragraph, the writer explains that people do need to remember things, because they tell a story, and it marks who you are. The Knoxville she grew up in is no longer around but it still lives in her stories and remembering's.
(F) The impression I have of the place the reader described to me is that it is clear the mid sized town in Tennessee is divided in half between the whites and the blacks, not only in the neighborhoods but in the city as well, for example the buses and the library. She also mentions when she lived in her first house on Mee Street that she lived in the black side of town.
-Pg 7: "Mrs. Paul was ahead of her time in that way. I don't remember any of my other elementary school teachers ever mentioning a mumbling word about our Black culture, writers, or history."
The African American motif I found in this selection is #16: Identity and Belonging. Because it is a sense of pride in black culture, identity and black past.
-
3.
(A) 1945-1960's
(B) In Knoxville Tennessee
(C) The writer shows me the importance of this place through her descriptions and feelings about this place.
For example you can tell that she loved going to the library to read fairy tale novels such as Snow White and Rose Red. She also mentions "I never watched the clock or got impatient to go home because once there, I would go row by row, stack by stack, to find my beloved fairy tale stories. Eventually, I read every one in the library." This tells me that she enjoyed going to the library because it was one of the only colored libraries in Knoxville.
(D) Memories the writer/narrator gives about this place is the mid sized town of Knoxville. How she grew up in her first house on Mee Street on the Black side of town, in it was directly in front of the Austin Homes housing projects. But when she moved to a house in a not so busy street she remembers the address and knew the only other two black families who lived in this neighborhood as well as the middle class lily white people.
(E) Yes, she does. On pg. 7 the last paragraph, the writer explains that people do need to remember things, because they tell a story, and it marks who you are. The Knoxville she grew up in is no longer around but it still lives in her stories and remembering's.
(F) The impression I have of the place the reader described to me is that it is clear the mid sized town in Tennessee is divided in half between the whites and the blacks, not only in the neighborhoods but in the city as well, for example the buses and the library. She also mentions when she lived in her first house on Mee Street that she lived in the black side of town.
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