We are in A-205 now, the other end of the A-building. It's a smaller room and students can see each other better.
Students are not completing the cyber-response reflections on Ruined. If you didn't respond last week, you are now two responses behind. Each class meeting reflect on the plot, characters, language, imagery, symbols. . . . See Writing about Literature. The reading went well today. If there was a word used you did not know, look it up and share here.
Students were to find an article about one of the themes addressed in the play. A response to the article will be one of the freewrites.
3 comments:
Marie Heide
16 April 2012
Prof. Sabir
English 1B
Today in class we read scenes three and four. The one thing that I like most about the play is the use of everyday language. There seems to be quite a bit of profanity which really gives me the sense of the type of characters that Nottage is presenting to us. So far, the primary scene for the play has been Mama's bar/brothel. For the most part, lower class citizens tend to inhabit these places. By having lower class citizens working and living through this horrific war that is exploding around them, gives me the sense that these people have no where to go but to stay where they are at and weather the storm that seems to have no end. At times, the question arises as to why these people working at this brothel just do not pick up and go? Because they can't. Because they are poor. Because they have no where to go. Because they have no one that wants them.
The use of birds and the mention of them recurs through out the play. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a parrot that is left in a cage placed in the corner under covers. Parrots are such majestic and beautiful animals that should be enjoyed and admired. Parrots are social animals that need attention and human contact. Unfortunately, when these birds are left to themselves, they become bitter, hostile and rather abusive to themselves and others. In a way, this is a great way to introduce the type of atmosphere and situation that is occurring the Congo. In seen three, Salima makes reference to Sophie as looking like a sun bird. Just the name of the bird brings a happier light to the whole scene. A sun bird; a sun that is warm and bright and provides light. A bird; a majestic creature that gracefully guides through the sky and gives the illusion that it can soar up to the limits of the world, escaping everything that lies beneath it.
The women, especially Salima, wish nothing more than to be released from her cloth covered cage that has been thrown to the corner of a room and ignored (brothel) and to be able to leave (fly) as far as possible to another place that will provide hope (light) and the longing to be back with her family.
Wow Marie, what a lovely reflection.
Vanessa Dilworth
Professor Sabir
English 1B
9 May 2012
Response to theme of Ruined;
As a woman hearing atrocious crimes against women in the Congo and its effects is a very difficult thing to bear. In an article by photojournalist, Lynsey Addario, What it’s like to cover ‘unbearable’ stories of rape in Congo, you can almost feel Lynsey’s pain in hearing the stories of Congolese women being living casualties of war. Lynsey traveled to the Congo in 2008 and interviewed rape victims of both Congo and rebel soldiers. They told her stories of contracting HIV, being impregnated, and abandoned by their husbands after being raped. She also spoke about how many women impregnated by soldiers showed unconditional love towards the children and how this was a complete shock to her. She said that the Congolese women showed great strength and that through her work she plans on bringing awareness to this issue and engage the world in finding a solution.
I feel like many woman are viciously abused and tortured all around the world and although, it is a shock to hear their stories, they must be told and most importantly listened to in order to stop these crimes against humanity. After all women are the bearers of humanity itself.
http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/what-its-like-to-cover-the-unbearable-stories-of-rape-in-congo
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