Post your abstract for the Independent Study Essay here. We will present our essays on Thursday. The essay is due by then as well. Presentations will be 3-5 minutes long.
All the revisions are due by Friday, Dec. 2, 2011.
This is a college level tranfer course, the second in a series where we will examine the poetics of life lived on the ground...as in rough and tumble, as in America at war with herself. This is a world art alone makes sense of, an artist's work is a gift freely shared like air...sympathetic systems aligned, the the fictive or imaginary worlds of possiblity simply an inhale or exhale away. This class is an opportunity to close your eyes and believe.
9 comments:
Nick Malecek
Professor Sabir
English 1B 9:00-10:50am T/Th
30 November 2011
Women in predominantly Muslim countries today tend to be oppressed by psychological and physiological restraints. While each culture has a right to its own unique customs and traditions, the oppression of women through the forced use of burkas and veils and other such limitations is inherently wrong in the context of fundamental human rights. And while the veil may not be the most oppressive factor, it has come to embody the various oppressive aspects. This issue is prevalent in the novel In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed, as well as the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, in both cases showing the outright suppressive effects despotic fundamentalist Islamic policies have on the population, especially women.
Adetona Adewale
Professor Sabir
Engish 1B
30 Nov 2011
Abstract: Independent Study Essay
Undocumented In L.A. An Immigrant’s Story, is a novel about one illegal immigrant from Nicaragua named Yamileth and her son Miguel. She and her son Miguel travel to the United States illegally to find work and create a more affluent life. The life of Yamileth and her son is hard no matter where they live because they are poor. Because Yamileth is such a strong soul no hardships can deter her aspirations for success in the United States, she is a woman of strength, wit, and resilience. Yamileth deals with love and childbirth and internal family issues, but never fails to continue living quietly and peacefully pursuing her American dream.
Tia Gangopadhyay
Professor Sabir
English 1B 9-10:50 AM
30 November 2011
I compared two works:
1) AIN'T I A WOMAN?
by Sojourner Truth
Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.
2) PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
from And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.
June Yee
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1B Tuesday/Thursday, 9:00-10:50 AM
30 November 2011
"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte is a gothic novel about the relationship between the two central characters, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff. However, there are many who do idealize the relationship when it certainly is not portrayed that way in the text at all. In fact, Bronte makes it clear that Catherine and Heathcliff's love for each other is toxic, obsessive, and destructive as they are both heinous and selfish and willing to tear other people's lives apart due to their "love" for one another.
Tia Gangopadhyay
Professor Sabir
English 1B 9-10:50 AM
30 November 2011
I compared two works to reflect on the similar tones of Sojourner Truth and Maya Angelou when discussing womanhood, from works taken from two very different times.
Sojourner Truth’s perception of womanhood is not one of stereotyped feminism but rather one of strength and endurance. Similarly, Maya Angelou’s poem, “Phenomenal Woman,” published in 1978—more than a century later—portrays womanhood in the same stereotype defying way. Both literary works, although more than a century apart, reflect on aspects of womanhood contrary to those ordinarily associated with women. These aspects include strength, endurance, and confidence, rather than fragility, demureness, or beauty.
1) AIN'T I A WOMAN?
by Sojourner Truth
Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?
Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.
2) PHENOMENAL WOMAN
by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing of my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.
from And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.
Jacqueline Diulio
Professor Sabir
English 1B
1 December 2011
In the collection of short stories, “The Little Disturbances of Man,” Written by Grace Paley is about women making a difference in society by going against the feminine phenomenon of being “ladylike.” All of these stories tells a tale of ordinary people in New York City with ordinary problems that people deal with every day. Some of these stories are directly related to our own lives with problems that happen to the typical person everyday. Grace Paley takes her own background of growing up in New York and incorporates it to her writing to make the stories very realistic. As the reader reads these stories one can actually relate it to their own lives with a similar problem.
Example story 1: “Goodbye and Good Luck” about a woman named Rosie who goes against her mothers wishes and dates an older man who is already married.
Example story 2: “An Interest In Life” a women who is trying to survive while her husband leaves her with the children and no job. She is forced to try and find money and food for the livelihood of the children while her husband takes off without any say of where he is going.
The Servant- a simple story of the true essence of leadership : This book is based on the philosophy of servant leadership, a type of management philosophy widely practiced by companies all over the world. John Daily is the main character of the story. Daily is an arrogant and authoritarian businessman thats sees his life ruined by his unorthodox way of dealing with problems in his job and personal life. Stressed and unhappy, Daily decides to attend a benedicted monastery, in order to get his life back on track.
Melvin Arquero
Professor Sabir
English 1B 9:00-10:50am T/Th
30 November 2011
Maus by Art Speigelman
Art Spiegelman's graphic novel, Maus, recalls the horrors of the Holocaust, as experienced by his father, Vladek Spiegelman. The narrative delves into the relationships destroyed and created as the genocide worsened,while also depicting the Jewish resiliency as they fought to survive the Nazi's absolute cruelty. The characters are illustrated as animals- the Jews as mice, and the Germans as cats- displaying a much larger symbolism and significance in the book.
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