eric – 20-1 Writers

Sentiments With Obasan

eric998 20-1 A, eric, Personal Response, Response to Literature, Writing November 30, 2023#Superfluous, #Verbose, repression 3 Comments

In what I have read so far of the novel “Obasan” by Joy Kogawa, it is seen that the outside forces are affecting Naomi in who she is. Even though I have not read the full book, and as such do not know how she ends up, throughout the novel she changes as the internment starts and then goes on. For example, while her mom is still at home, Naomi is more there as a person. Then, later through the diary we learn that slowly as the internment goes by she becomes more quiet due to the difficulties and discrimination. Almost repressing herself with the pressures she is going through. As such she changes due to the external forces that are pushing her down.

The book so far, in terms of story, has been great. I enjoy what the story is about and the pain it shows from the Japanese internment. However, the writing style has really made the book more difficult to read. Sometimes, I will read a part and then re-read it as my brain did not fully realize what I just read. It also at points was confusing with what point in time it was being told from. As it would have a part in the past then the present, then the past again and it confused me a little bit. I also feel that the book would state too much information, to the point where it would be unnecessary and just cause me to lose interest at that moment. This caused the book to feel a lot more tiring to read than normal. Although, that imagery also helped make a picture in my mind of how the places look. I think it still could have done with better conciseness in that aspect.

In the book there was also an entire section that felt kind of unnecessary. In the section Old Man Gower, from inference, violates Naomi. This, up to the point I am in the book, is not touched on again. It does not seem to affect her in any way really. When I would expect it to affect her in a much more deep way. Instead it feels that part could be omitted and the story would feel the exact same.

Citations:

Image – https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/internment-of-japanese-canadians

Image 2 – https://crosscountrymoversgroup.com/moving-mistakes/

Image 3 – https://www.homage.com.my/health/anxiety/

Featured Image – https://archive.org/details/obasannovel00koga

Acceptance is Just Past Ignorance

eric998 20-1 A, eric, Response to Literature October 26, 2023October 26, 2023#opportunity, #personalimprovement, open-mindedness 5 Comments

There are many “caves”, as are shown in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, in life that people must work their way out of. One large “cave” in life is ignorance of the world. An individual will have to grow past ignorance as it will provide them with greater maturity in acceptance and knowledge, otherwise they will block their own opportunities. In “Pleasantville”, one example is the mayor, Big Bob, and how he is ignorant to the fact that there is enlightenment around him which is something great instead of something to be upset about. This is exemplified in the court hearing scene. In this scene, David, the protagonist, is able to make Big Bob coloured, who before then was adamantly opposed to the colour that was being brought into Pleasantville, colour representing enlightenment for the people in Pleasantville. When David shows Big Bob how he looks in a mirror Big Bob proceeds to be concerned and upset, making him run out of the building.

In this situation Big Bob may have been enlightened, but he was still ignorant to the actual significance of being coloured and as such was unaccepting of the idea that he was himself coloured. He also ran away even though the coloured people were not going to do anything while he looked at them as if he was in danger. This shows he had a prejudiced idea about how the coloured people would act, this prejudice being based on ignorance as all prejudice is. He then ran away blocking his chance to continue with the society that he could have joined. Together this indicates that his ignorance prevented him from being accepting of the people who were coloured, including himself, making him deny himself a potential future. This potential future being where he could have actually prospered rather than disappearing. Prospering would have most definitely been a better outcome than forcing himself into exile.

I have experienced what my thesis states in my life, however in the positive. This being me going through each grade into the next. From each grade I have had to break through a layer of ignorance in order to be able to continue through and take full advantage of the opportunities put in front of me. This is because when I was, for example, in grade 6 I had no desire or need to learn about anything outside of my thoughts in grade 6 and as such no desire to learn about anything in grade 7. However, when I went into grade 7 I had to open my mind more in order to excel, which would get me the most out of the grade. I needed to learn new topics and be broad-minded to explore those topics in a better way critically to be able to achieve. For example, one thing I had to become less ignorant of was history as if I did not I would be looking at concepts with a more simplified and potentially biased perspective due to the earlier resources we were using. This would have caused me to do worse with my analyses as content wise they would have been worse as well as I may have blocked out some people for their views on certain events and ideas. Although, this ignorance is not something that needs to be tamed just once, it has to be constantly worked on as the world and we change. If I stuck with those bad thought processes it would have resulted in the amount of friends and connections I have being way smaller than how it is currently. That potential life seems a lot darker and broken than what I am experiencing today.

Although, this ignorance is not something that needs to be tamed just once, it has to be constantly worked on as the world and we change. I am grateful that I broke through those barriers as I did then instead of holding onto them as some do and I hope I break through the future ones as quickly.

Citations:

The Possibilities Are Worth It

eric998 20-1 A, eric, Personal Response September 27, 2023September 27, 2023#mentalchange, #newperspective, #optimistic 4 Comments

In Progress

Christina Rosetti

Ten years ago it seemed impossible
That she should ever grow so calm as this,
With self-remembrance in her warmest kiss
And dim dried eyes like an exhausted well.
Slow-speaking when she had some fact to tell,
Silent with long-unbroken silences,
Centered in self yet not unpleased to please,
Gravely monotonous like a passing bell.
Mindful of drudging daily common things,
Patient at pastime, patient at her work,
Wearied perhaps but strenuous certainly.
Sometimes I fancy we may one day see
Her head shoot forth seven stars from where they lurk
And her eyes lightnings and her shoulders wings.

After reading the poem “In Progress” by Christina Rossetti I found a theme that I think is useful in life. The theme I found is that seeing what can be allows us to deal with what there is right now, because what is possible is worth it. I reached this theme from the middle lines, one that sticks out to me being “And dim-dried eyes like an exhausted well.” These middle lines show the current state of the person the narrator is describing. This description being of a very boring and exhausted person. At the end the narrator says that they, “Sometimes I fancy we may one day see, Her head shoot forth seven stars from where they lurk.” This shows that the narrator is a person that coexists with the person they are describing. It also shows that the narrator is not concentrating on how the character in the poem is. They instead are looking at what could be and that is what they end the poem off on. This makes the final thoughts of the narrator in the poem being optimistic ones instead of dreary ones that they could have kept talking about.

This theme is a useful tool in real life. For example, if you have social anxiety and have to go to a social event, something that might make you feel displeasure in the moment. However, instead of looking at the bad, the poor feelings, you can look at the good of it potentially by the end of it alleviating some of the severity of your anxiety and you might get some friends out of it. This concept is also important for the mind as being negative and only thinking about negative things is usually bad for a person’s mental state. Even though in today’s society it’s a little bit difficult to not see news about how the world is dying and that society is falling apart, which then a lot of times sticks in our mind. Which is where this theme can come into play. Since now instead of focusing on the dread, you are reframing that as a place to get to something amazing. Be that world peace or just a relaxing day filled with joy, it’s up to your interpretation of what is utopic enough for that moment. This then can improve your mood or outlook as what you are thinking about is positive.

I have used a similar thought process to get myself through some situations before. One time I had a Go tournament in which I had lost my first two matches out of five. I was not feeling great and just wanted to just leave right then. Then I thought about how I would be able to rank up officially with a certificate. That gave me enough confidence and positivity to last me until the end of the tournament. I now try and apply this to my life in general which has uplifted my mood on what is around me.