The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Part 1)

The Namesake is a good book so far. Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli are from Calcutta, India. They were married through an arranged marriage and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts after their wedding. The Gangulis are awaiting the birth of their first child. While they wait Lahiri explains the difficulties Ashima has being away from her family in Calcutta. Ashima also has difficulties with the English language; she fears that Americans judge her for her mistakes when saying certain words in English. Lahiri tells us the story of Ashoke's childhood. Ashoke grew up with six younger siblings and a love for reading, encouraged by his grandfather. He experienced a near death situation at the young age of twenty-two. While on his way to visit his blind grandfather the train he was on crashed and many died, but Ashoke survived. However, he experienced broken ribs, a broken femur and a broken pelvis. He dreamt of being paralyzed, but he recoverd. In America his baby boy is born and he and Ashima awaits the arrival of the names her grandmother has chosen for their baby.

Quote: "She has never known of a person entering the world so alone, so deprived."

Question: Why does Ashima believe her baby is alone when her and Ashoke are there to nurture and love their baby boy?

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson wrote Speak, a book about a girl who hid her rape that happened at a party, so that her friends wouldn't get mad. She spent most of freshman year alone and alienated by her friends. They were upset with her for calling the police at the party during the summer. The one class that she enjoyed going to was her art class. The teacher gave made them pick an object out of a hat and for the rest of the year they had to draw, paint, and sculpt that object. This class was difficult in the beginning, but gradually she became comfortable with it. The big theme holding secrets is represented throughout the entire book. She keeps her rape a secret all the way until the end of the year. She finally lets the secret out of the closet and everyone is on her side. I really liked this novel because it presented an issue that millions of girls and women go through: having to keep something a secret in fear of alienation.

Question: If Melinda would have told the police about her rape at the party would her friends had believed her or thought she was lying, like they did at the end of the story?

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass tells his story of growing up as a slave, his want to be free and the journey he took to become free in the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." He compares himself and his situation to the lives of the other slaves. He recognizes how much better of a position he was in, sometimes. Douglass shows how the white slavemasters treated the slaves like animals. He tells of his schemes to learn how to read. He would challenge the white boys that he knew to a read off and tell them that they couldn't read a certain line in a book. They would accept his challenge not knowing that he was secretly learning how to read through them. He shows later on that knowing how to read would hinder him in certain situations. The theme "Quest for Freedom" is apparent throughout the entire story. Douglass expresses how badly he wanted to escape from the chains of slavery in almost every chapter. I really enjoyed reading this narrative because it gave me some insight to how a slave was sometimes treated well.



Question: Was Douglass's "quest for freedom" stronger than other slaves because he kind of got a taste of freedom from living with more lenient masters?

Bait and Switch Chunk Two

Barbara Ehrenreich as Barbara Alexander has undergone her coaching, went to bootcamps, undergone a physical transformation, and has been to networking events. She still has not acquired a job and even with her background cannot seem to secure an interview. She has begun to provocatively approach companies that are not looking for her type of work field. Alexander has used her training to try to get further ahead in the fight to get a good paying white-collar job, but the training looks like it was a waste. At the beginning of her journey she set aside one-thousand dollars for items that she might have need in the process. The excessive coaches, bootcamps, and trips to different networking events has eaten up her budget of one-thousand dollars and she is now over by three-thousand dollars. Alexander is feeling defeated, but she is not letting that stop her. It has been four months and she expected to have landed a job already. Alexander refers to herself as desperate to succeed, but determined to finish what she set out to do.

Tone: determined, frustrated
Style: exact
Rhetorical Strategies: parallel structure "And the first part of the plan is, onece again, as emphasized by Ron, networking- sustained and furious, skilled and highly targeted, relentless and dogged." pg. 95
allusion "The ten principles, he explains, are the Ten Commandments..." pg. 125

Bait and Switch

Barbara Ehrenreich has gone undercover again, but this time she is investigating the hardships of the white-collar class. Ehrenreich seems to be optimistic about being able to land a job in no time. She believes that she has a strong resume, personality, and experience to get her a well paid, good benefits white-collar job. Her first step to enter into the world of the white-collar is to create a "fake" name, "fake papers, and a "fake" resume. She fears that she will be recognized and treated better than others if she doesn't do these things because of her previous book Nickel and Dimed. Her next step is to get training from a career coach. She finds the world of career coaches to be extremely dishonest. Erenreich believes that networking is one of the most important things to do when going for a job. The more people you know the greater your chances of landing a job. To gain the aura of an executive Erenreich enlists in a executive boot camp. She wants to be able to embody the spirit and actions of an executive.

Tone: optimistic
Style: precise
Rhetorical Strategies: imagery "...modest ranch house in residential area...decorated in a style I recognize as middle-class Catholic, circa 1970- prints of nineteenth century pastoral scenes..." pg. 25
simile "But in networking, as in prostitution, there is no time for fascination." pg. 62
Application: When people graduate from college are they as optimistic about landing a job right away like Barbara Erenreich was?

The Economy and the New Year

Author: none
Found: NY Times opinion section

In the 2008 article, "The Economy and the New Year," describes the downfall of America's economy and how we can bring it up in the new year of 2008. Most people can see that our economy is spiraling down and George Bush is in total denial. He believes that the economy has a strong foundation and is stable. Bush is probably referring to rising wages and low unemployment, but wages are not bypassing inflation and the creation of jobs are slowing. During the Bush administration the economy has grown in a peculiar way. There is one step forward and two steps backwards. The rich has become richer and the middle and lower classes are still waiting for an opportunity to catch up. The growth in exportation has not led to more manufacturing jobs. The areas in which the economy needs the most help, the Bush administration has done little progress the situation. The administration's worst mistake is not preparing for the worst. Bush is still in denial and cannot face the seriousness of the situations that he has created. The only real hope America can get is the reassurance and the proof that the economy issues will be taken care of.

Tone: disappointed
AQ: Will the economy issue improve with the newly elected president in 2008?

LA's low homicide rate

Author: none
Found: LA Times opinion section

In the 2007 article, "L.A.'s low homicide rate," the plan that was utilized to reduce deaths in LA was analyzed. Recognizing the lowest homicide count since 1970, it was said to be a holiday gift to LA. The source of most killings in LA are gangs and the police has done a good job keeping track of them. We cannot stop cracking down on gangs just because the crime rate has reduced drastically. The incoming of wealthier citizens and putting a short leash and keeping a close eye on gangs has stop them from commiting many murders in LA, but they have not disappeared. These gangs have moved to different cities where obviously the homicide rate has gone up. The trasfer of the crimes from Hollywood to San Bernadino is not the same as reducing the crimes. Therefore, gang violence has not change. It is believed that gang murders are not associated with hurting rival gangs, but to express rage and hopelessness. The strategies used by the police cannot stop the creation of gangs and can not eliminate gangs, but it is part of the solution.

Tone: informative
AQ: Would locking up gang members and leaders be a good strategy to reduce the homicide rate?