The Broken English

I could relate to Tan about what she wrote in "Mother Tongue". Her mother reminded me of my great-grandmother. Like Tan's mother, my great-grandmother was as smart as could be and understood things well, but she also had broken English. She is, still to this day, the woman I admire most. I understand that it's hard being a kid and having a person that has broken English. It can make you feel ashamed to be in public with them. It is especially hard when you are young and have to translate.

I also love the fact that Tan is did everything she could to disprove stereotypes. Her becoming an English major and an author with the odds stacked against her was inspiring. I absolutely hate stereotypes and believe that they should have no place in society. 

From what Tan has said about her books, that they were inspired by her mother makes me want to go read them.

Crazy Law and a Cyclone

We have read two different short stories for our English class: "The Lottery" and "The Storm". I honestly did not see very many similarities between these stories except for maybe the way the characters talked.
"The Lottery," I thought was going in a completely different direction than it did. The fact that it ended with the woman getting stoned shocked me. I was kind of appalled with the fact that the old man of the village, called the people of other villages idiots for stopping the lottery.
On the other hand, the short story, "The Storm," I had actually thought when the guy showed up to ride out the storm in the lady's house, that something may happen between them. This story did not really enthrall me as "The Lottery" had.

Love Thy Self

We recently read a story written by Alice Walker called Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self. This was about her life and her discovering her true self. She was always the cutest among everyone when she was little, and then after the accident, she suddenly wasn't. This had to have extremely hard to accept. I also could not imagine losing sight in one eye.
This was an inspiring story of her seeing that she really was beautiful, and she had always been. Realizing that beauty comes from the inside is one of the most important realizations life has to offer. I believe that is something everyone would love to be able to do. I know I would.

Homophobia Must Stop!

One thing that is a huge issue in America is the issue of gay marriage. All across America, gays and their supporters cry out daily for equality and most importantly, the right to marry. The religious groups are strongly opposed to this happening. While they are in a crossfire, the rest of America is stuck in the middle, wishing it would just end. This is also a very hot, if not controversial, topic here locally.
A few months ago at a local high school, the students decided they would come to school dressed for which side they supported. The students who supported gay marriage wore bright colors and tye-dye. The students who were against wore black. This caused a giant rift in the school. This kind of rift made by the arguing of whether it is right or wrong is being created at other schools across our area as well. In the high schools I went to (It wasn't very long ago), I was friends with the majority of the gays and bisexuals. I have seen first hand the bullying they get put through on a day to day basis for what they believe: the right to be completely equal with their straight counterparts.
I believe that everyone should be responsible for their own choices and not have the government or other people's beliefs interfere. I think that the gays should have all the same rights as straight people. If it is wrong, then they will be judged for it, but we should  not be the ones to judge it. I think that this issue needs to be brought to a vote, and that hopefully everyone will be able to see then that equality is important for all.

A Latina's Story

Cofer's purpose is too show the world that Latina women are not sex objects. She is trying to reach anyone who will listen, especially guys who see them in this stereotype. She wants people to see that Latina women are more than just their provocative clothing; She wants to show everyone that they are also smart, and are useful for more than just menial jobs.
In her writing, she explained that in dressing provocatively, the Latina women in their culture, is a way to be cool in the hot temps of Latin America, as well as what they think is attractive. She also wrote that when she was to dress for a career day that she did not know how to dress, and she ended up just throwing a bit of everything into it. Stating this shows the stigma that society puts on Latina women as being destined for a menial or domestic work life. As a guest at a hotel, Cofer writes that a man, with his daughter by his side, started singing vulgar songs towards her and would not let her and her companion pass. It was an embarrassing display that other people laughed at. It probably would not have happened if she was a Caucasian woman.
This story was an eye-opener for why Latina women dress the way they do. I had no idea that it was part of their customs to dress the way they do. It was also appalling to me to read about how men treated them and automatically assumed they were whores.

Obamacare: The Good, Bad, and the Gotta Go

What Obamacare basicly does is force ccompanies with over 50 employees to provide insurance for them, and if they don't, they will have to pay a fine. It also mandates that everyone should have health coverage, and if they don't, the individual will be taxed 1% of their income. Obamacare will set up goverment mandated brokerages where people can purchase health insurance. For those people who cannot afford health insurance, vouchers will be provided based on the prson's reported income. This law also makes abortions covered in the goverment-ran brokers and gets rid of the "pre-existing conditions" policy.
I do not like this bill as a whole, but I do like parts of the bill. The good aspects of this law that I find fair is that people who had a pre-existing condition such as cancer, AIDS,or other such diseases that would have prevented them from aquiring insurance before the law, can now attain insurance to pay for their costly treatments and medicines. Also I think that the abortion clause in this law is fair. I would never have an abortion myself, but I do realize that there are certain situations that warrant it, like, rape, incest, something terribly wrong with the fetus, or the person is just are not in the right situation or good standing health to have a child.
The fact that this law requires companies with more than 50 employees to have insurance is a good thing. However, I do see a issue with this aspect. This is why I do not approve of this law. Companies are required to have insurance, or else they will be fined. The issue with this is that the fine would actually be cheaper to pay than to actually provide the healthcare coverage to their employees. This, I believe, will mean many companies dropping their healthcare coverage completely. If this happens, more and more people will go to the goverment ran brokers, and this will create a socialist health care system.

Throwaway Piece of Self

Wong was trying to reach other bi-cultural people who are shunning their original heritage that when they get older, they may regret that decision. She hated being immersed into the Chinese culture as a child.  She could not wait to be able to stop her Chinese lessons and would much rather prefer her new American culture to the Chinese. She always compared the two cultures, thinking that one was better. She had no idea that she would later regret that decision.

Wong used several of the senses in her writing. I particularly liked her visual descriptions of her Chinese school. The principal I could relate to because I had a very stern principal in junior high. She said the Chinese language to French and Spanish, said it was public-sounding. I liked the detailing of the rough sounding of  Chinatown in their daily routines. How she decribed and grandmother impressed me. It was very well described, in saying the roughness of the language.  

Wong's essay was very well written. She got her point across: Even though she preferred American and Mexican cultural things to her own Chinese culture. She sadly looks back on the fact that she lost her own cultural Identity