Ideas for Research Papers

I am thinking about writing about self image. And I would use the bookes American Born Chinese, The Bluest Eye, as well as Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. These three books inparticular work with my research paper because they are about people who want to be something that they are not.

I was also thinking about presenting my research paper in the multimedia way becuase it looked to be exciting, and differnt. I plan on starting my paper by doing it the multi-media way but I am also nervous that it will be like the others so i need to work on finding differnt resources than they used.

The main thing that I would research would be teenage girls and how the media affects them and their self image. I plan on looking up books in the library, medical journals, magazines, movies, and many other things as well.

Blankets

A pannel that I thought was very interesting was when Craig and his little brother got seperated because they were making too much noise and would not go to sleep. The boys were arguing with one anotehr but i think that is just a thing that typical boys do. After they were seperated Craig's little brother was scared becuase we was in a dark and unfamilar room and Craig felt bad because he was the older brother and he felt like it was his responsibility to take care of his little brother. It seems that the father would have also choosen to take Craig and make him go in the hidden room instead because he was older. These pannels seem sad and very emotional. They are very big pannels and very bold. The colors are very dark and everything seems to be drawn with very bold lines. PG 16

A second pannel that i thought was very interseting was the one where Raina and Craig first meet. They are at church camp because their parents are very regligious and that is how they grew up. They are both outsiders and dont really fit in but they seem to be like a puzzle piece and they fit perfectly together. From the first moment that they met they want to spend every second together and it seems as though they just want to escape their world and be with one another. The lines in this pannel seem to be softer to represent love and tehir affection for one another. PG 89

Craig's Relationship's:
His brother- when they were younger they were close but as they got older they drifter apart but they came together in the end.
God- Craig is very close with god throughout the whole story, he does have his moments of doubt
Himself-He is not always sure of who he is and who he wants to be but i feel that by the end of the story he is okay with who he is and he accepts himself the way he is.
Raina-She is the girl of his dreams, someone he can love and realte to and who loves him back. They have their moments of distance but they make very good compainions for one another.
The Church-Craig starts out having an extremely strong relationship with church. He goes to sunday school and even though he does not always like what he hears, he always listens and tries to believe in the way of god.
His parents-He does not have a very good realtionship with his parents it just seems to be sort of average. You never seem him talking with his dad, you only see him talking with his mother. I think as the story goes on their realtionship imporves, but it is never perfect.

While reading this book some things that I noticed and was really interested in were Craig and his brothers realtionship. When we are first introduced to them they argue a lot and don't really seem to get along. As the story goes on we learn that they were very close when they were younger even though they did bicker a lot. They slept in the same bed until they were a certain age and then they were given their own. When they first became sepertated they missed each other a lot. But as they got older they grew apart. Towards the end of the story they don't really have anything in common, but in teh veyr end Craig tries to develop a better realtionship with his brother, and he tries to find something that they can talk about. Drawing is something that they both have in common so that is what they bond over.

Emily Dickinson

Life:
I think that assent means that you follow the rules and do waht your told to get a good life, but on the other hand if you demur it means that you are a bad guy and go to jail (handled with a chain). It does not seem like a very happy poem just that this is life you take it as it is or leave it. It seems that if you try to change anything to make it different then you take a chance of either going to jail or escaping it all and having a better life.

Can relate to Jeanettes mother, what she believes is true and if you dont agree with it than you are in the wrong.

chain- chained up like an animal

assent- go along with
demur- deny, oppose

Nature:
She doesnt just think about god on sundays she thinks about him all days and wants him to be apart of her life everyday. Doesnt just focus on going to church she focuses of believing in god. Relates to Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit because even though Jeanette doesnt go to church anymore she still really believes in god!

Mabye she doesnt fit in with the church crowd but is still a big believer in god.

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit - Pick A Passage

When reading Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit I thought it was very interesting how on page 93 Jeanette says "Everyone who tells a story tells it differently, just to remind us that everybody sees it differently". I loved this passage because it makes me question this story more. It sort of makes the story seem that it might not be completelt accurate and that it is just a piece of the puzzle rather than being the whole puzzle. This piece is Jeanette's point of view not everyone's, and not everyone's is represented into the book either. I also really liked this passage because it is something that everyone should keep in mind when hearing stories or even telling them. You can't take everything you hear as being the right thing because it might not even be true.
Through out this whole book Jeanette is telling us (the reader) her life from her point of view. She doesen't always tell us what she hears but what she interprets which can be two totally different things. This makes the story interesting because you can really relate too and understand Jeanette better. It almost sort of seems that when Jeanette says "Everyone who tells a story tells it differently, just to remind us that everybody sees it differently" is saying that this is my story it might be true or it might not be but from my position this is what I believe happened. She also seems to be trying to tell the reader that you would hear a totally different story if her mother, father, or melanie were telling the story. And it also sort of relates back to the title Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, meaning that this is not the only side of the story, that their are more. It seems like she really wants to emphasize the fact that their are more than one side to every story and more than one option for everything, it is just up to you to figure out what thoes options and choices are.

Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit

What do you believe?
I believe in myself and that everyone always has the ability to choose right or wrong. I believe that mistakes happen and you can learn from them and make the situation better.

What or Who has shaped your system of belief?
I think that my parents and siblings have shaped my system of belief. They have raised me to make choices and to think about the outcomes of situations before i act. I also think that where I grew up helped to shape my system of belief.

Think of a time when your belief system was challenged. How did you respond?
I can't really think of an exact situation where my belief system was challenged but I can see one being if all of my friends wanted to go do something and I didnt think it was the right thing to do. I think that if I were put into a situation where I didn't feel comfortable or I thought it was the wrong thing to do that I would remove myself from the sitaution and find something else to do.

What beliefs are firmly upheld in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit?
The beliefs that I saw all through out the story were the beliefs in god and the bible. Jeanettes mother took Jeanette to church with her and Sundays were their holy days. There was no television watching on sundays just prayer. For example one Sunday when Jeanette adn her mother came home from running errands Jeanette's fatehr had the television on and Jeanette's mother made him turn it off right away and she was furious with him. In their family they went by the bible adn if the bible said to do something they did it and if the bible discouraged something they did everything in their power to avoid it.

How are Jeanette's changing beliefs demonstrated symbolically or through forshadowing withing the pages of the novel?
Jeanette's changing beliefs are forshadowed when she is a young girl and at the carnival. A fortune teller or a gypsey walks up to her and tells Jeanette that she will never marry a man. I think that this small piece of information gives the reader a big clue as to what is going to occur in the rest of the novel.

What struggles still exist for Jeanette, even after she has "accepted" herself?
I think a huge struggle that Jeanette faces is is she doing the right thing, she is worried that she is not doing the right thing by falling in love with anotehr women because her whole life she was raised that a man loves a woman and a woman only loves a man. She is disobeying her religion by choosing to follow her heart. But at the same time she does not want to be untrue to her heart.

Making Connections Across Texts

After reading American Born Chinese and The Bluest Eye I came to the realization that people always want to be something that they are not. Many of the characters in these books wanted to be white because they thought that to be white was to be better. In American Born Chinese Jin Wang wanted to become a white person because he thought that they had the better life and that he would fit in better if he were just white. For example on page 28 Jin wang says that when he gets older he wants to be a transformer because we wanted to change his apperance. And while reading The Bluest Eye all of the girls in the story wanted to have blue eyes and to be white. They learned that when you are white you are considered pretty, smart and you are treated with kindness. This is shown in the clip Black Doll, White Doll as well. Fifteen out of twent one black children choose the white doll to play with over the black doll. When they were asked which doll was better or "good" they said that the white doll was good because it was white. And when asked what doll was "bad" they choose the black doll and said that it was bad because it was black. They all identidied with the black doll when they were asked which one was more like them.

I think it is really sad that people cant be happy with what they have. They all want to be something that they are not and a lot of the times it is becuase of what they have learned from tehir parents or socitey. They are told that in order to be pretty or to be the best you need to be white. In all three (American Born Chinese, The Bluest Eye, and Black Doll, White Doll) they all thought the perfect normal thing to be was white.

After reading and watching all of them the doll one (Black Doll, White Doll) really seemed to affect me the most. It was very moving to see young black girls and boys all choosing the white doll as the better "good" one. Since I want to be a teacher I was thinking about my future students and all the stereotypes that they will already walk into my classroom with. I think it is very sad that even in today's society people still think that being white is the best thing that you can be. And in order to be successful or good in life you need to be white. I hope to try to teach my students to break thoes stereotypes and be proud of themselves for what they are and who tehy are. I hope that in the future years all of these stereotypes can be broken and children can be proud of themselves for who they are and not be judged by how they look!

Close Reading

For American Born Chinese:

I noticed that when Wei-Chen thinks about what a girl would want or what the perfect person is he thinks of a person who resembels Danny. He wants to have blonde hair, blue or green eyes, and light skin. Wei-Chen seems to think that if he was a white, blonde boy all of his problems would seem to disappear. This is shown in the panels on page (I have to still look it up), where Wei-Chen is sitting on a bench imagining blonde hair. I think that it is sad that he can't just love himself for who he is and try to find the good parts about being him. A lot of people try to change their apperance or just who they are in general to try to fit in.

For My Papa's Waltz:

"Then waltzed me off to bed"
I think that the line above is the most importnat in the poem. It seems to show how even though the dad is drunk he still cares about his child. The father seems to be spending some quality time with his son by teaching him how to dance. From teh line "Sill clinging to your shirt" made me think that the father and son dont get to spend a lot of time together becuase the son doesnt want to let go. The dad seems to work hard long days because his hand is "caked with dirt" which seems to mean that he has an outside jon where mabye he works in the fields or does some sort of manual labor.

Thesis: The poem My Papa's Waltz represents a good night story between a father and child.
Support:
1. "Palm cracked hard by dirt"- the father works doing manual labor during the day
2. "Then waltzed me off to bed"- tucking the child in for the night
3. "Off to bed"- After Dinner