Friday, March 13, 2009
Class Survey: Favorite Work
This quarter we've studied a range of texts--Absalom, Absalom, Playing in the Dark, Jazz, Passing, Crash, and A Small Place. As your final word for the term, please discuss here your favorite text. Why is it your favorite? Did it encourage you to think about race, identity, etc., in a new or different way?
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"Passing" was my favorite text from this quarter. It was a very interesting read, and it was easy to understand. I definitely thought about race and identity in a different way after seeing what Irene and Clare went through. It made me put myself in the position of African Americans at that time, and what it must have felt like to have to deny your true identity in order to participate in and be accepted by society. I really enjoyed "Passing" and it gave me new viewpoints about race and identity.
ReplyDelete-Michael Viox
Here's where I should say 'I liked Small Place bcause it was like, two pages long!' But I won't. My personal fave was Jazz, it's where I really started "getting" what this class was about. I was able to take what I had gleaned from class(but not understood) from Absalom and put it to a new story with a new author. I started realizing that the peice of bread can be more than a peice of bread, and that the author's life matters when thinking about the book. So, I loved Jazz.
ReplyDeletePoints now, plz.
<3, Allison Price
My favorite text from this quarter was "Passing". The idea of an African American passing as a white American was something that I had never heard of and so with that, I wanted to continue reading to see what the women were going to do next. I soon realized that this story dealt with different kinds of passing and not just black for white. This made me open my eyes to ways in which people in today's society pass. By seeing this occur in my own surroundings I began to really see and understand why a person would want to pass, where before I did not.
ReplyDeleteI also began to understand the ideas of double consciousness and triple consciousness. By seeing these ideas occur in "Passing" I was able to pick them out more easily in later texts. This book was also my favorite because it followed Absalom, which made it seem even easier and enjoyable to read.
-Sarah Burns
My favorite text from this quarter was " Jazz". During reading this book, I began to get a clear understanding of what the course was really about. I enjoyed reading about the experiences and differences of race and identity and Quentines character made me think of my life and my own father. The book does a good job of making sure the reader, reads into the text to get to the true meaning of his message.
ReplyDelete-Mia Berman
A favorite text of mine from this quarter was "Jazz." It was a much different style and "tempo" as the other novels of the quarter. It was a nice change from Absalom, Absalom! Right from the first page it gained my focus and kept it right on through. I suppose any book whose first paragraph mentions a main character cutting the face of another while she lay dead in a casket will do that.
ReplyDeleteThe novel also brought out many interesting and key points worth discussing in regards to race that I may have not discovered when reading a different text.
-Megan Peters
I couldn't choose just one book that was my favorite. I finally decided it was a tie between "Absalom, Absalom" and "Jazz." At first I hated "Absalom, Absalom." As I read more of the novel, I began to love the way the structure of the book became an integral part of the story. This is also why I love "Jazz."
ReplyDeleteBetween the two novels I found a deeper understanding of how the subject of race is portrayed in literature. The idea that race is woven into how you write the book vs. what you write the book about. The historical perspectives of both combined with the personal feelings of the authors really brought the subject of race to life.
~Jenn Leever
My favorite text in this class was Jazz. It was the first text we read that didn't require me to read certain passages three and four times in order to understand. From the book I learned that over time, not much changes about race. There were parts in the book where I said "Wow, I do that too". This point encouraged me to think about race in a broader spectrum. I learned that no matter the time in history, whether its 1926 or 2009, racial issues can still be alive and learned from.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Espy
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ReplyDeleteMy two favorite works in this class were "Passing" and "Crash". I thought the idea of passing was very interesting. Until we discussed it in class I did not realize that people do pass in different ways and try to be people they are not. "Crash" was a great way to bring all the novels we have read together. It was a wonderful visual and I could see the discrimination that occurs in the movie and relate it to my life.
ReplyDeleteMy final thoughts from this class is that people often look at a person and think something about them based on the way they look. Sometimes we have good thoughts and sometimes they are not good thoughts. I will not lie there have been times like in Crash when I have walked down the street and gotten closer to the people I was with because I was afraid. But it is not always because the person was African American there are many white people in this world who can do bad things.
Lindsey S.
I believe my favorite text would have to be “Absalom, Absalom”. It was a difficult read, but very interesting and easy for me to relate to having family in the South and seeing the dual relationships between the past and present and people of color and people who are not. The ability to see a multi-year relationship disintegrate in a matter of minutes because of race and social expectations; after everything characters had been through in the book amazed me. I learned a lot for Faulkner, but fused with later readings from Morrison really helped me understand how race and or racism is portrayed in literary works.
ReplyDelete:Matt Barrick
My favorite book by far was “Passing”. I had never heard of this idea before and it was a very interesting concept. The language of the book was very clear and easy to understand. I enjoyed the rivalry between Clare and Irene. This book reminded me of a 1930’s version of a book that I would read today. I could relate to some of the different types of ‘passing’ that the book discussed. From the perspective of two women who were of a mixed race it was interesting how each one identified with their race.
ReplyDelete-Andrea Smith
I have to say I absolutely loved the book "A Small Place." It was our final book and also the book that I had to present on. I loved the author’s style of writing and the way she made me think as I read. Her writing style made you wonder if it was sheer sarcasm at times. While reading I believed she used that text to vent. Her thoughts about the way she felt on Antigua made you re-think the way you saw places, such as Antigua. It was a short story yet one that had a huge effect. A positive effect! =)
ReplyDelete-Dominique Sherrod.
I had read a book on passing in a previous literature class. However, the novel "Passing" gave me a much clearer view on the idea. It was iteresting to see the different ways of passing presented in the novel. I thought it was interesting to see how Clare and Irene, two woman who could both choose to pass, decided to live their lives very differently. Despite Clare trying to fit in with the majority race and Irene remaining as a minority within a minority, for awhile it seems as if Irene is happier choosing to be herself.
ReplyDeleteBrianna Habel
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ReplyDeleteI really liked the movie Crash. Even though I had never seen it before I had heard a lot about it. I was excited to watch it in class and see how the movie related to our topic of race and the literary imagination. I learned a lot from watchng it. It was a great eye opening movie that showed me exactly how much and how often discrimination actually happens in real life. Since watchng the movie I have tried to watch what I may think or say about others.
ReplyDelete-Caroline Betancourt
My favorite novel that we read during this quarter was “Passing”. I found the topic of African Americans passing as white in society very interesting. It was very easy to follow. This novel just confirmed to me that race is just a color or a background and that the stereotypes are not always true because there are people who can “pass” and they do not act like the stereotype that people usually associate them with. I like also how it showed the different ways in which people pass, because it is not stereotyping that passing is done one way or the other but that there are many ways in which to do it.
ReplyDeleteDavid Odenwelder
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ReplyDeleteI would have to say my favorite was the movie Crash. I really liked it because it gave us a different perspective of racism between races. The movie wasn't just one sided. We got see everyone's points of view and it was so interesting because that kind of stuff happens every day. It showed us how we are so judgemental and stereotypical towards others that we don't give them the time of day nor our respect. We're too concerned about our own lives and problems that we just don't care about others. It was a real eye opener.
ReplyDeleteCasandra Willett
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ReplyDeleteMy favorite text we've read this quarter is "Jazz" by Toni Morrison. I really enjoyed her writing style because it had such a beautiful flow to it. It wasn't confusing, but at the same time it was cut and dry. I also loved the themes Morrison decided to point out. People are complicated and in the novel, Morrison gives the characters such depth that I could really relate to. The novel also challenged me to think about idenity in a different way, examining how I choose to identify myself.
ReplyDeleteEmma McGirr
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ReplyDeleteMy favorite work was actually Absaom Absalom. I really thought it was interesting, it caught your attention because if you didnt pay attention you would be really confused. It was sort of like a mystery novel and the way it was written was very poetic and interesting. Although at times it was a bit challenging, I think the story line has more depth than the other books.
ReplyDeleteAshley Woltermann
I actually enjoyed many of the books and I am having a hard time picking just one. So I narrowed it down to two books, Jazz and Passing. Even though Jazz is probably not a book I would choose to read on my own I am glad I got to read it. I love how the author connected the music to everyday life and used it to explain decisions made by people. I also loved Passing because it showed a side of the "black culture" that many people don't see or understand. Not only do they have to fight the white population but they also have to fight their own. I also loved the movie Crash because it helped to sum up America.
ReplyDelete-Michele Riedmiller-
My favorite text that we read this quarter was Jazz the novel. I liked this book in particular because of the intricate interpersonal relationships. I thought that they were very well thought out and developed. This novel made me think about identities in a whole new way.
ReplyDelete-Clayton Mandly-
Although each text we read this quarter was interesting in its own unique way, my favorite text was "A Small Place." Even though it was short, and more of an essay than an actual book, I found the material to be interesting, and that I could really delve deep into it. I really liked the aspect of surface vs. depth and after learning about it throughout the quarter I felt I had a better understanding of the term and how it could be applied directly to this text. This is my favorite text, because in comparison to "Absalom, Absalom," even though I like a challenge, "A Small Place" was an easy read, but it wasn't a simple storyline. Within the reading there was a lot of depth to be discovered, and I love finding interesting information within the details. I believe that through learning what exactly the idea of "surface vs. depth" was and how it could be applied to particular situations that it has allowed me to broaden my horizons and has encouraged me to look at things from another perspective. Things aren't always as they seem, and judgement based on our preconceived notions can be detrimental to our entire learning experience. I have learned to open my eyes, and experience things in a new light.
ReplyDelete-Rachel Kohler
I would have to say that i can not choose just one work which we have examined. Instead, there are two that would be my favorite, but for different reasons. As far as a good story goes i really liked Passing. I thought that out of all of the books and the one movie we read/watched and discussed, Passing was the most interesting and also one of the easier ones to follow. I though the story telling of Nella Larsen was just phenominal. I also greatly enjoyed Crash. While Crash used some rather stereotypical characters to address the issues of race and identity, it was probably the only work we looked at that really caused any kind of introspection about the ideas of race and identity etc.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Fessel
I enjoyed reading "A Small Place" the most. As we discussed in class, I felt that this novel was not only based on the idea that tourism and the problems with it are associated with how humans behave today, but I also believe it had a lot to do with victimization and blame. Kincaid blames the human race and the way we understand races for the reason Antigua is the way it is today, and I completely agree that problems with race have to do with individualism and ignorance.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin Parker