I feel that I should start of by saying that this whole work of poetry is based on 3 main ideas. Naomi searches for peace, grace, and equality. As I stated in my first interpretive post, I feel that she relates our problems in the United States to several of her own countries' issues. In a way I feel as if she searches for the reasons why we can not have equality. Why must there always be war?
"For years the Arab poets used 'gazelle' to signify grace, but when faced with a meadow of leaping gazelle there were no words," Naomi says in her poem 19 Varieties of Gazelle. I wish that our first assignment was to pick out a quotation from any of her poems instead of the introduction, because I would have picked that one. It is hard for many people in the world today to be able to find grace or elegance in the simple things in life. I think throughout this poem she was trying to say that there are several types of Gazelles that you could find grace through, whether it be a purebred animal or a mixed breed. If there are that many types of Gazelle and they keep their peace and grace why can't humans? The animals don't judge one another based on color of coat, size, or heritage.
Gazelle are peaceful towards one another. There may be a fight over a female or a mother protecting her children, but other than that they keep the peace between each other. "As long as the question-what if I were you?-has two heads," she says in her poem How Long Peace Takes. I think that by this she means several things. It is one thing to say to someone "take a walk in my shoes," it is another to actually realize what others go through on a day to day basis. People are often not grateful for the lives they have,while others are sitting in a ditch somewhere hiding from firing guns.
Perhaps if we were all Gazelle, we would see life differently. We would live in a judgmental free place. We would all live as equal.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Gazelle: Post Two
For the second half of the book I chose to focus more on word play and deeper meanings in poems as I felt her style leaned more this way. It seemed she became more honest and passionate about the world and it's current state. She reached out and grabbed my attention in new ways this part of the book.
The first poem I chose was "Jerusalem". For once she discusses what she wants in the first lines, and lets you actually read something that points directly at her ideals. She then looks back to her father's childhood when a rock is thrown at his head. This leaves a scar that she could still feel for years after. When explained, the book who through the rock claims he was throwing it at a bird. The last line of the stanza claims, "And my father started growing wings". This alludes to the fact that it wasn't a mistake and that the boy still indeed was aiming for a bird. This could represent the fact that in some way or another her father will always be a "target"; if it means for his religion, his migration to the U.S, or for other reasons.
She then goes on to claim that we all have a tender spot such as this one, and that it is something our lives forgot to give us. Which I took as a physical reminder that we have a weakness, or a part of us that is different. The little boy in the next stanza is painting yet another bird with wings, after he claims that he doesn't like wars. She uses the word "monument" twice in the poem, once to represent a memoir from a war, and another to explain how slow we are to stop the awful wars and such in the world. I believe she is drawing a connection here by using the word twice.
Her last stanza points to the future. This is her way from her father, to a current little boy discussing wars, to tomorrow of creating an essence of time and how little has changed.
In Nye's poem "The Tray", she shortly and sweetly describes the way that tea is carried out on trays in the same ways, no matter what is going on in the world. She talks about how it is an actual form of communication, and in passing tea, they pass their feelings and opinions. While the last poem addressed time periods and things not changing in a bad way, this poem discusses consistency in something good. There is a comfort in the form of tea and company that is correlated with the ritual, and it always seems to be the same for her, whether it is sorrowing or not. The circle on the tray that the cups appear in represents never ending connectedness, like a ring. They are always connected and understanding with one another as long as the tray is there. I liked that this was a good example of something that never changed, whether it was for her or for her culture it was unknown. I think that's nice, as it was solely about her comfort, and there were not many poems in which she really paid attention to herself.
The first poem I chose was "Jerusalem". For once she discusses what she wants in the first lines, and lets you actually read something that points directly at her ideals. She then looks back to her father's childhood when a rock is thrown at his head. This leaves a scar that she could still feel for years after. When explained, the book who through the rock claims he was throwing it at a bird. The last line of the stanza claims, "And my father started growing wings". This alludes to the fact that it wasn't a mistake and that the boy still indeed was aiming for a bird. This could represent the fact that in some way or another her father will always be a "target"; if it means for his religion, his migration to the U.S, or for other reasons.
She then goes on to claim that we all have a tender spot such as this one, and that it is something our lives forgot to give us. Which I took as a physical reminder that we have a weakness, or a part of us that is different. The little boy in the next stanza is painting yet another bird with wings, after he claims that he doesn't like wars. She uses the word "monument" twice in the poem, once to represent a memoir from a war, and another to explain how slow we are to stop the awful wars and such in the world. I believe she is drawing a connection here by using the word twice.
Her last stanza points to the future. This is her way from her father, to a current little boy discussing wars, to tomorrow of creating an essence of time and how little has changed.
In Nye's poem "The Tray", she shortly and sweetly describes the way that tea is carried out on trays in the same ways, no matter what is going on in the world. She talks about how it is an actual form of communication, and in passing tea, they pass their feelings and opinions. While the last poem addressed time periods and things not changing in a bad way, this poem discusses consistency in something good. There is a comfort in the form of tea and company that is correlated with the ritual, and it always seems to be the same for her, whether it is sorrowing or not. The circle on the tray that the cups appear in represents never ending connectedness, like a ring. They are always connected and understanding with one another as long as the tray is there. I liked that this was a good example of something that never changed, whether it was for her or for her culture it was unknown. I think that's nice, as it was solely about her comfort, and there were not many poems in which she really paid attention to herself.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
19 Varieties of Gazelle: Post 1
"My Father and the Fig Tree"(Naomi Shihab Nye), forever wanting a fig tree and never having one until his children are finally grown and gone. I like the straight forward wife and mother in the poem saying if you want a fig tree so bad please plant and grow one. It seems to me like the father is holding on to this dream of a fig tree until it finds him. The next poem after this is "What Kind of Fool am I"(Naomi Shihab Nye) which seems to have no relation to the previous poem which makes me wonder why it proceeds it? It seems both poems are about the writers father. In this poem he sings in arabic and English kind of blending his two words together. This poem is the morning ritual of the poets father; waking up singing and showing love for his children.
19 Varieties of Gazelle: From Birds to Gazelle Introduction Paragraph
Poem two in the introduction of 19 Varieties of Gazelle informs the reader "we are topling from our nest, changing species, and we're not birds anymore, we are some kind of energentic gazelle leaping toward the horizon with hope spinning inside of us" (xii, Naomi Shihab Nye).
19 Varieties of Gazelle: Interpretive Post #1
Throughout the reading of section one, it became very clear to me that Naomi was trying to prove a point. In her introduction she writes about how important it is for people in America to know that not all people who are Arabic are villains. Even though we had the tragedy of 9/11, her people go through similar events all of the time. I think that she was trying to compare the life of Arabic people to Americans and she wasn't trying to belittle the event, she was only using it as an example.
In her poem For the 500th Dead Palestinian, Ibtisam Bozieh, she speaks beautifully about the topic at hand. Naomi writes about how devastating it is that Ibitsam died at the age of 13 for no good reason. She grieves for the little girl and says that it isn't fair. She was supposed to grow up and become a doctor and have a family and die of old age. I think that it is important for the world to know that not only are tragedies happening around us in the United States,but they are going on around the entire world. By her expressing her thoughts in her introduction, she incorporates these ideas throughout her entire work.
Although it is easy to find this pattern throughout most of her poems, it speaks out very loudly in Those Whom We Do Not Know. The very first part of this poem made me stop and think. Sometimes Naomi's words can be so powerful that I feel like I personally am stuck in the middle of the war. "Because our country has entered into war, we can have no pleasant pauses anymore-" I could not imagine not having one second to think to myself because I was so frightened. For the people in her country to have to go through that constant feeling is really sad.
Even though Naomi currently lives in America, it is still very hard for her to hear about the tragic events going on in her country. I think that this pattern will shine throughout the rest of this book of poetry, not in only the passages I have chosen.
In her poem For the 500th Dead Palestinian, Ibtisam Bozieh, she speaks beautifully about the topic at hand. Naomi writes about how devastating it is that Ibitsam died at the age of 13 for no good reason. She grieves for the little girl and says that it isn't fair. She was supposed to grow up and become a doctor and have a family and die of old age. I think that it is important for the world to know that not only are tragedies happening around us in the United States,but they are going on around the entire world. By her expressing her thoughts in her introduction, she incorporates these ideas throughout her entire work.
Although it is easy to find this pattern throughout most of her poems, it speaks out very loudly in Those Whom We Do Not Know. The very first part of this poem made me stop and think. Sometimes Naomi's words can be so powerful that I feel like I personally am stuck in the middle of the war. "Because our country has entered into war, we can have no pleasant pauses anymore-" I could not imagine not having one second to think to myself because I was so frightened. For the people in her country to have to go through that constant feeling is really sad.
Even though Naomi currently lives in America, it is still very hard for her to hear about the tragic events going on in her country. I think that this pattern will shine throughout the rest of this book of poetry, not in only the passages I have chosen.
19 Varieties of Gazelle: Chosen Passage to Introduction
"September 11, 2001, was not the first hideous day ever in the world, but it was the worst one many Americans had ever lived. May we never see another one like it. For people who love the Middle East and have an ongoing devotion to cross-cultural understanding, the day felt sickeningly tragic in more ways than one. A huge shadow had been cast across the lives of so many innocent people and an ancient culture's pride." -Naomi Shihab Nye (Introduction, page xv)
Gazelle: Interpretive Post
While Naoimi Shihab Nye seems to have poems covering all topics in her book, 19 Varieties of Gazelle, many of the same types of patterns persist throughout them.
My personal favorite was "The Words Under the Words", which in some ways paid respect to her grandmother. The poems lists parts of her Grandmother such as her hands, days, voice, and eyes. Through discussing the experiences her Grandmother has through these things, she also opens our eyes to the world of the Middle East and her families past there. She discusses Allah, violence, Joha, and more. It can be understood that her Grandmother believes that we should find the deeper meaning the world, or the "words under the words", or else it would be hard to live in such a sad and rough world. If we did not find the deeper meaning we would be held down. Nye uses her Grandmother to let us in and view this foreign world through someone's familiar days.
The next poem I chose was "For Mohammed on the Mountain". This is an ironic poem as it is really alluding to the story of Mohammed, which as Americans we typically relate to, "If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, he will have to go to it." In the poem she refers to Mohammed as her uncle and questions as to why he had to go to the mountain. By the end she understands that sometimes, one can not change the world, but go to the place where change is capable. I think this could be referring to many things; whether she means the afterlife, her life in the U.S, or other things. I found it interesting when she discusses how she questions daily how little she could live with, while others in America question how much. It highlighted a difference between her and the place she was raised, which may be based on her intrinsic heritage.
I chose to compare these two poems as Nye uses other people to give life to her poems, and to leave a deeper meaning. While the poem of her "uncle" was really referring to something else, and her Grandmother helped us to see other things, she manipulates characters to enlighten her readers. She also alludes to religious figures in both poems, and uses that as a key part to many of her writing. The poem of Mohammed could also be used to look at her change from a child to an adult, and how her point of view and view of his decision had changed. This also happens in the poem of the Grandmother based on the fact that the Grandmother's quote and life causes a change in her views on her world. It seemed like a good comparison to make between the two.
My personal favorite was "The Words Under the Words", which in some ways paid respect to her grandmother. The poems lists parts of her Grandmother such as her hands, days, voice, and eyes. Through discussing the experiences her Grandmother has through these things, she also opens our eyes to the world of the Middle East and her families past there. She discusses Allah, violence, Joha, and more. It can be understood that her Grandmother believes that we should find the deeper meaning the world, or the "words under the words", or else it would be hard to live in such a sad and rough world. If we did not find the deeper meaning we would be held down. Nye uses her Grandmother to let us in and view this foreign world through someone's familiar days.
The next poem I chose was "For Mohammed on the Mountain". This is an ironic poem as it is really alluding to the story of Mohammed, which as Americans we typically relate to, "If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, he will have to go to it." In the poem she refers to Mohammed as her uncle and questions as to why he had to go to the mountain. By the end she understands that sometimes, one can not change the world, but go to the place where change is capable. I think this could be referring to many things; whether she means the afterlife, her life in the U.S, or other things. I found it interesting when she discusses how she questions daily how little she could live with, while others in America question how much. It highlighted a difference between her and the place she was raised, which may be based on her intrinsic heritage.
I chose to compare these two poems as Nye uses other people to give life to her poems, and to leave a deeper meaning. While the poem of her "uncle" was really referring to something else, and her Grandmother helped us to see other things, she manipulates characters to enlighten her readers. She also alludes to religious figures in both poems, and uses that as a key part to many of her writing. The poem of Mohammed could also be used to look at her change from a child to an adult, and how her point of view and view of his decision had changed. This also happens in the poem of the Grandmother based on the fact that the Grandmother's quote and life causes a change in her views on her world. It seemed like a good comparison to make between the two.
Introduction Passage
"If grandmothers and children were in charge of the world, there would never be any wars. Peace, friends. Please don't stop believing."
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Breath, Eyes, Memory-Patterns
As I read further into Breath, Eyes, Memory it all seems to be about patterns. How the grandmother, mother, aunt, daughter, and baby are all being raised. How the trips to Port-Au Prince are all the same with the same shouting and excitement for the department stores. Even their cooking patterns seem to bind them. All the women in this family seem to look at Bridgette as the break of the patterns and the possible baby in the mothers stomach seems to point to maybe another break or new beginning for each of them. However that turns out to be false when Martine kills herself.
Each section seems to display a pattern being broken. The biggest one being the rape, but the second one being the behavior or opinion of males. In the book we are started with a female cast of characters who protect themselves from males. As the book continues we get the "good' male characters of Marc and Joseph who want to be faithful, caring, and loving towards the women in their lives. I particularly enjoy Joseph receiving the tour of the house and acting like the respectful boyfriend visiting for the first time seeking approval, even though he is married and has a child.
Each section seems to display a pattern being broken. The biggest one being the rape, but the second one being the behavior or opinion of males. In the book we are started with a female cast of characters who protect themselves from males. As the book continues we get the "good' male characters of Marc and Joseph who want to be faithful, caring, and loving towards the women in their lives. I particularly enjoy Joseph receiving the tour of the house and acting like the respectful boyfriend visiting for the first time seeking approval, even though he is married and has a child.
Breath, Eyes, Memory: Reflection
I really enjoyed reading this book. Even though there were some points in it where I thought it was too graphic, Edwidge Danticat paints a beautiful picture of how life in Haiti really is for women of all ages. I think that in America we tend to overlook how lucky we really are.
This book focuses on the relationships between mother and daughter and it shows how hard it can be to have a relationship with a mom once they have done "tests". I was surprised to read that Sophie was as forgiving as she was towards her mother. She is definitely a stronger and more forgiving person than I am.
The book focuses on how Sophie was able to make it through life after growing up in such a terrifying place. It was very fast paced, which I liked and it was also very easy to feel the emotion through her writing. By the end of the book I found myself crying because of what Sophie's mom did to herself. I could never imagine going through anything close to what all of the women in Haiti must be going through at this moment. This book not only made me appreciate my life here in the United States, but it made me appreciate the wonderful woman that I have for a mother as well.
This book focuses on the relationships between mother and daughter and it shows how hard it can be to have a relationship with a mom once they have done "tests". I was surprised to read that Sophie was as forgiving as she was towards her mother. She is definitely a stronger and more forgiving person than I am.
The book focuses on how Sophie was able to make it through life after growing up in such a terrifying place. It was very fast paced, which I liked and it was also very easy to feel the emotion through her writing. By the end of the book I found myself crying because of what Sophie's mom did to herself. I could never imagine going through anything close to what all of the women in Haiti must be going through at this moment. This book not only made me appreciate my life here in the United States, but it made me appreciate the wonderful woman that I have for a mother as well.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Breath, Eyes: The Body and Stories
I felt that the book had a lot to do with women and their bodies as the holders of their problems and stress. There were many instances of bodily abuse in the story. Some of the examples are done on by others, such as Martine being raped, people being beat by the Macoutes, and the intrusive feelings of being "tested". Others were done to themselves, such as Sophie's problems with bulimia, Atie's alcoholism, and in the end Martine's self abortion. Martine's abortion stood out largely to me as it seemed the enemy of her raper had become herself and her own body, at this point. Also, some were done by the world, such as health problems with cancer and more. I felt that all of these connections to the body represent the realistic problems that were happening around them and symbolically of what was happening to the Haitian world as it was deteriorating.
I feel that these abuses also represent the ways in which Haitian women are controlled and may never be free, from their expectations by society, and themselves. The one way that it seemed that they could remain free was from telling parables and stories. It seemed it was the only way that they could have control over their own lives. It seemed that narratives gave the characters power, especially in Atie's case. At first I questioned as to what the deeper meaning of Atie's story telling was, but by the end I saw it was the one thing they all had in their lives that they could do by themselves and for others that gave them power.
I feel that these abuses also represent the ways in which Haitian women are controlled and may never be free, from their expectations by society, and themselves. The one way that it seemed that they could remain free was from telling parables and stories. It seemed it was the only way that they could have control over their own lives. It seemed that narratives gave the characters power, especially in Atie's case. At first I questioned as to what the deeper meaning of Atie's story telling was, but by the end I saw it was the one thing they all had in their lives that they could do by themselves and for others that gave them power.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Breath, Eyes, Memory : Through the Mother's Eyes
When I first started reading this book I was a little worried that I would be uninterested in the plot. As I got further into reading I was surprised at how much of an opinion I could create out of some of the events. The one person in this book that really tends to get under my skin is Sophie's mother. I understand that she is very over protective because of what happened to her when she was Sophie's age, but I think that there is a fine line between being an over protective mom and being absolutely ridiculous.
In the beginning of course I thought that the "testing" was a little bit outrageous, but then I thought about it later and realized that I wouldn't understand because that's not my culture. I wasn't born in Haiti and gratefully, I will never have to go through what Sophie did. After that realization I figured Sophie's mom wasn't really that bad, until she kicked her out right before part three. I'm sorry, but if you loved your child as much as you claim you do, you would never throw her out. Thinking about how much my mom loves me, I could kill someone, get pregnant, wreck her car, and call her a bitch to her face and I doubt she would ever kick me out even after all of that. ( Even though I would never in a million years do any of those things.)
In the beginning of course I thought that the "testing" was a little bit outrageous, but then I thought about it later and realized that I wouldn't understand because that's not my culture. I wasn't born in Haiti and gratefully, I will never have to go through what Sophie did. After that realization I figured Sophie's mom wasn't really that bad, until she kicked her out right before part three. I'm sorry, but if you loved your child as much as you claim you do, you would never throw her out. Thinking about how much my mom loves me, I could kill someone, get pregnant, wreck her car, and call her a bitch to her face and I doubt she would ever kick me out even after all of that. ( Even though I would never in a million years do any of those things.)
Breath, Eyes: Narrative Layout
I really enjoyed how fast the novel progressed. At first when reading it I thought I would be reading about the young girl the whole time. When the transition was made quickly from her at 12 to her at 18, I began to like where the book was going. I was concerned at first that I would lose her essence as a person and be stuck on who she was "that year". I then realized that the story wasn't just about her and her own experience, but it spoke to more.
It also became apparent that as an author, Danticat likes to use the theme of connections in doubles. There is always a juxtaposition in the story. Often the sisters Martine and Atie are compared such as in Martine's rape and almost "too much" sexual experience, and Atie's lack there of in her saddened life. I found many instances where this seemed to be apparent throughout the novel. It also moves into place once Sophie is older comparing her mother and her.
The idea of the body I think begins to come into play early on in this book as well. It seems that while the Caco women are constantly physically abused in various ways: rape, cancer, testing, etc, the physical abuse is a symbol for their abuse as women in their society. I feel that there were many themes that became apparent early on in the book, and enjoyed watching them unfold later on in the book in more depth. In the beginning many of these things were highlighted.
Breath, Eyes, Memory: Heart Ache
In Chapter 1 we discover the life of a young girl with more opportunities than the generations before her had. She lives in a nice house, goes to school, has her own bedroom, and the opportunity to leave Haiti and go to New York. However she is not happy about leaving Haiti. In Haiti she lives with her Tante Atie, whom has been carrying for her since she was a baby and her mother left for New York without her. She has no memories of her mother and as Mother's Day in Haiti is approaching her Mother's Day card was made for Tante Atie not her mother.
I was struck by the sadness that carried from the two main characters thus far in the story. Tanta Atie is sad because the day, it seems, she tried to avoid thinking about, sending the young girl to New York, has come. Tanta Atie is also upset that gossipy man told everyone about this event before she could even tell the young girl. Which is very understandable. The young girl is sad at first because she senses her Tanta Atie's sadness but doesn't know why and then sad and angry when she discovers the reason. The bright yellow flowers and dresses described seem to try to offset the mood and possibly point to happier events in the future.
I was struck by the sadness that carried from the two main characters thus far in the story. Tanta Atie is sad because the day, it seems, she tried to avoid thinking about, sending the young girl to New York, has come. Tanta Atie is also upset that gossipy man told everyone about this event before she could even tell the young girl. Which is very understandable. The young girl is sad at first because she senses her Tanta Atie's sadness but doesn't know why and then sad and angry when she discovers the reason. The bright yellow flowers and dresses described seem to try to offset the mood and possibly point to happier events in the future.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
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