Reflective Response to "Interactions" (Unit One, pgs. 15-60) (due 9/7)
What are the key themes in Unit One: "Interactions: A Thematic Reader"? What factors are people using to define themselves? Which aspects are you interested in exploring?
The key themes in unit one is learning about self. Its about understanding that we are not defined by what we do, but who we are as a person. In Unit One “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” we see how others define themselves. Factors that people use to define themselves are as follows: relationships with family and friends, experiences, culture, values, age, job, views, personality, behavior, talents, ect… Throughout chapter one we get and in-depth look into how others view themselves as an individual. Such as in Annette Sanford’s short story, “Nobody Listens When I Talk.” In this story we get to go inside the mind of a young girl who wants nothing more then just for someone to listen to her. She is defined in my opinion by her environment. No one listens to the girl so she sits on a swing all day alone. Marilyn doesn’t really talk, because if she did would it make any difference? No one really listens when she talks anyways. Then there’s Mary Seymour’s short story, “Call Me Crazy. But I Have to Be Myself.” In this story the narrator feels like he is defined by his mental disease of being bipolar. He feels the desire to be himself, to let others know who he really . He is consumed by fear of what others may do if they know the truth. However, in the end he decides it’s better to admit to who he is, because hiding his disease is more painful then admitting to it. At the end of the story the narrator is able to define himself as an individual instead of letting others and the disease define him. From my understanding of “Self,” I believe the most import aspects to explore are those involving my relationships with my family and friends, and also looking at how different experiences have helped me define who I am today.
All of the key themes in Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” are about the self. For example, some of the themes include self-esteem, image, and concept. Various factors that people are using to define themselves are experiences, ethnic background, language, culture, social class, interests, values, personality, and behavior. Two stories that I took a deeper look into were “My Name” and “The Name Is Mine.” They both obviously deal with the author’s name, but they also dig deeper into the author’s view of self and what they believe defines them. In the story of “My Name” a hispanic girl believes that her name does not describe her in the way it should and it gives people the wrong impression of her. She wishes to change her name to something that more describes and defines her as a person. This story is a great example of how someone’s ethnic background affects them as an individual. The other story deals with a woman who chooses to keep her maiden name when she marries her husband. The woman argues that her name is a huge part of her and that she does not want to be hidden by her husband’s identity. This story goes against social norms in American Society; however, it makes complete sense why a woman would want to do this. Although these stories are opposite ends of the name spectrum, they both deal with the self. They show that someone’s name may really influence their view of self. Even though these stories both dealt with female experiences, I found them very interesting and thought provoking. I find the concept of self to be a fascinating topic, and look forward to diving deeper into the stories of Unit One. I want to read stories about how experiences and cultural environment influences the self. Hopefully through reading these stories, I find a clearer picture of my personal self.
The major theme of Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” are connected to one’s self. The theme can be defined through a person’s relationships, interests, experiences, and community. Also language and culture can contribute to self. For example, if a person grows up on a farm then he or she is more likely to appreciate simple things, like milk. Every aspect of a person combines to make the person who he is. I am interested in exploring feelings and reactions that people have about certain events in their lives. In “The Jacket,” Gary Soto talks about the feelings that he had toward his green coat. Gary hated his coat because he believed it destroyed his life. He said the green color of his coat was very ugly and everyone around him made fun of it. Gary even took some of his anger out on his mother for buying him the coat. After about three years, Gary came to realize that his green coat was one thing that was always there for him. As a result, Gary finally settled with his coat and called it his “green ugly brother.” I think Gary wanted to blame his hard times on something, and it happened to be his jacket. I know that I have blamed others for some of the hard times that I have been through in my life. When in reality, the hard times are just a part of life and everyone goes through them. In addition to “The Jacket,” I read “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. Langston wrote about an experience in his life that involved his Auntie Reed’s church. He was one of many preteens who was asked to be saved and let Jesus into his life. After some time, Langston found himself to be the only one left on the bench where everyone was sitting before they where saved. Every other person had gone to the alter and had been saved. Langston remained on the bench waiting for Jesus to come. Finally, Langston left the bench and joined everyone at the alter. He lied and said he had been saved. He didn’t want to make everyone in the congregation wait any longer. As a result, Langston felt ashamed for lying and sad that Jesus did not come to help him on the day he was supposed to be saved. I think that everyone has different opinions and views about being saved. When I think of being saved, I think about the great life that I have been given.
In “Interactions” (Unit one, pgs 15-60) the main key term is “self” and how you define yourself. There are many ways to define your own self, interests, community, experiences, culture, name, gender, ethnic background, knowledge, views, values, and many more. Each individual person has their own way of defining there self. As you get older you change and you have to define yourself all over again. Throughout this unit there are many different short stories about the views some people have of defining themselves. For example, in “The Name is Mine” by Anna Quindlen the lady thinks that her last name is everything that defines who she is and does not want that to be taken away from her, so she decides not to change her last name when she got married. But, in other stories in this unit people describe themselves through experiences, disabilities, and social skills. This goes to show that everyone defines themselves differently from there own perspectives. From what I have read so far the stories are very interesting and I like learning how people define themselves differently.
All of the key themes in unit one are about the self. Some factors that people define themselves by are their interests, experiences, relationships with their family and friends, ethnic background, language, culture, and their values. I’m interested in exploring how my experiences shape who I am, and also how my relationships with my family and friends define me. Annette Sanford’s story, “Nobody Listens When I Talk,” is about a young girl who doesn’t feel like anyone listens to her, so she sits on a swing all day. The fact that nobody listens to her really affects her. Her parents wish that she would do things that kids her age do, but she doesn’t because nobody will listen. She spends her time thinking about the past, and about who she is. In Mary Seymour’s story, “Call Me Crazy, But I Have to Be Myself,” the author finds it very hard to be a functional member of society and suffer from a mental illness. She defines herself by her illness. By seeing or talking to her now, you would have no idea that she is a manic-depressive. She wants people to know the real her, but is afraid that it will scare them away. She hopes to be able to be herself all the time around everybody, and help people with similar problems. She can no longer hide who she is, and she has to let it out.
The key themes of unit one revolve around, explore, and define the concept of one's self. There are a variety of ways for people to define them selves whether they choose to look at the relationships they have had with friends and loved ones or life experiences. Other factors include gender, community, views, skills and hobbies to name just a few. I read the section called My Name by Sandra Cisneros and in it the girl identified her self through the importance of her name and what it signified to her. I never really thought before taking this class that a name could be used to identify how a person portrays them selves and it has really grabbed my attention and interest.
All of the themes covered in Unit 1 in the book “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” relate to defining one self and being able to deal with specific things happening in their life. Some of the factors that people use to define themselves are physical appearance, culture, values, behavior, experiences, and talents. Even though these are just some of the factors, there are some that really stand out when one is trying to define his or her self. I felt that some of the short stories showed more how that specific person viewed him or her and they were able to explain it in detail. There were two stories that I took a more in-depth look at. These stories were, “Nobody Listens when I Talk” and “Call Me Crazy, but I have to be Myself”. Both of these stories are related because they both deal with the individual dealing with personal problems. In the story, “Nobody Listens when I Talk”, a young girl sits in a swing all day and doesn’t talk. She believes that she is cultivating her mind and thinks that this is best because no one will listen to her. Her parents wished she would get up and be active but she refuses because she feels that if she would say anything nobody will listen. In the other story, “Call Me Crazy, but I have to be Myself”, there is a woman who has an illness that she doesn’t want people to know about. She fits right in with the “normal” crowd but sometimes feels that her disease affects her deeply. She defines herself by her illness but is learning to accept who she is and the illness she has and have her own identity. From reading a couple of stories, I have noticed that people perceive who they really are differently and each individual is unique. People define themselves differently and I would like to explore all of the aspects that I could relate to or not. I believe that from reading all of these stories and analyzing some, I will be able to learn more about others and myself as well.
In "Interactions: A Thematic Reader" the key theme is to fully indentify and define yourself. Factors they have used to define yourself are relationship with family and friends, culture, language, gender, physical features and apperance as well as particular interests and job/job experiences. One story i have read is by Mary Seymour "Call Me Crazy, But I Have To Be Myself," where the woman struggled with a bipolar mental-illness.Although she was happy to be released from the ward and to be normal with types of medicine, she missed being herself. Thus, the story has used the factor of just being yourself,and what makes you happy. It showed that even though she was contained and normal she still wanted to show people who she really was, yet she was afraid of what they would think. Finally, she tells people of her story and is proud to help others dealing with the same conditions. An aspect I am interested in would be exploring and defining myself, especially dealing with cultural values and aspects with family and friends.
The key themes in the Interactions A Thematic Reader all revolve around figuring out about the self or just self. Some factors that the authors use in the pieces are family, relationships, culture, natural surroundings, physical appearance and many more factors. Some aspects that I would like to explore more about are the events and obstacles that effect the authors “self”. In Call Me Crazy…. she has a break down cause of her failing marriage and also her grandfather’s background in psychotic break downs. I think that the people around us have an influence on how our “self” is made up and molded. In the piece A Thanksgiving Feast in Aburi she changes tremendously from the beginning to the end. She starts at the edge of the crowd to just watch and see what’s going on, once she becomes comfortable with the event she is dancing and chanting with her handkerchief with the entire crowd. I think that your surroundings affect you as a person. She was very weary in the beginning but that soon changed when she became at ease with the whole situation.
The key themes in Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” were based on the individual and how he or she identified them self. Key themes included how factors like name, culture, appearance, disability, race, religion, environment, and disease affect a person’s identity. The aspects that I am interested in exploring are relationships and values because I believe those are the two factors that show my identity the most. After reading, “The Name Is Mine,” by Anna Quindlen, I began to think about exploring the name as part of my identity. Reading this piece really made me think about how much my name is a part of me. There have been times where I think and wonder whether I would be willing to give up my last name. My last name feels like it is just as important as my first name. My first name shows me as an individual while my last name shows the family that I grew up with and love. Giving my last name up would be a big thing. I think Anna gives many good points in this piece because we tend to go with tradition where the wife takes the husband’s last name. For some people it may not be a big issue, but for others it may be hard to give up something that you were born with and lived with up until the point of marriage. I thought it was funny when the wife said, “He didn’t adopt me, he married me” (20). This is true and a good point. My opinion differs slightly from this piece because I believe that hyphenated names show the past that still is part of your identity, while still showing the new life that is being started.
The key themes in Unit One break down an individual or group of people and show how their different cultures and background make them who they are today. The relativism between individuals and groups are they differ in their behaviors and beliefs but they all evolve off their traditions and experiences. Different factors people are using to define themselves include their heritage, their environment, family, and culture. They also use their job, knowledge, goals and values, important relationships, whether past or present, and also their individual or overall views and opinions. I am interested in taking a closer look of the different customs and beliefs. .I also want to explore the environment and what types of unique experiences they have had.
Unit one in "Interactions" is a set of stories that take the reader through a path into the writer's mind. While in the writer's mind, the reader has the opportunity to greater understand how/or why the writer had been shaped into the way that he/she was within the story. The reader is taken through this process of self-discovery by numerous paths, including finding out about the writer's past experiences, the writer's culture, their surroundings, their mindset, etc. Throughout unit one, the writers focus on discovering themselves, and in doing that, set up a guideline for the reader to discover themselves also, and that, to me, was a very intriguing aspect of the stories and made me want to keep reading. It made me think of the things around me that shape me, and made me realize how lucky I am to have been surrounded by good people and things. I guess the writer achieved their purpose.
All the stories in Unit one of "Interactions" are just little short stories that tell you something about the author, the main theme in unit one is "self" and it is portrayed through the authors life experiences, their culture, heritage, relationships and enviroment. I personally would like to explore some of the life experiences of some of these authors, they sounded pretty interesting and also some of their cultures, like in "Growing up Asian" the author was Japanese and the Japanese culture is one that i would like to explore and learn more about.
The key themes in unit one is getting to know yourself as an individual. Also, that it is not easy getting to know who you are. People are using different factors to learn who they are, such as their community, friends, music, personality, height, appearance, education, age, race, gender, and language. You can also get to know yourself by your relationships with family and friends. You can look at who you were in the past, who you are now, and think about who your going to be in the future. The aspects I am looking to explore is different heritages, my past relationships with friends and family, and who I was in the past, who I am today, and what I'm going to be in the future.
Quoting Rae Lyn..."Upon reading unit one in the "Interactions: A thematic reader" I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Generally, I enjoy novels as compared to short stories but it was extremely easy to relate to almost every short story in section one. I especially enjoy the first entry: My Name by Sandra Cisnersos because I did a brief study of the book that the excerpt is from, the House on Mango Street. It was also nice to see a story about an author of Hispanic ethnicity because I have a girl from Spain living in my house for three weeks. Overall, I am very excited to have read section one and I hope that the rest of the units will be just as interesting for me."
Quoting Christopher Dennis..."The key theme in this chapter is self. People are defining them selves in many different variations. What community they grew up in, how old a person is, hair color, hobbies interest, and many more. I’m interested in defining myself. I never thought about factors in my life, and how I became myself. If I better understand myself I can learn other important things in life. You can’t understand others until you can understand yourself."
The main theme of the first unit is self and what defines it. There are many ways the authors express this theme in the unit. In the excerpts I read, The Jacket and Salvation, the theme is expressed through the clothing one wears and through one’s religion. The fist excerpt is titled The Jacket by Gary Soto. Soto is somewhat defined by the jacket that his mother buys him. He though the jacket was ugly and felt that everyone judged him for it. The clothes he wore defined him. Langston Hughes’ Salvation was the second excerpt I read. He talked about how his religion defined him. He experienced this self definition as a young boy living in the South. He was at church function where all of his friends and the people in his community were being saved. He sees everyone experience this around him yet he himself doesn’t experience it. Because he doesn’t feel what others feel he says at the end of the reading that he no longer believes in Jesus or God. I can relate more with Hughes than with Soto. I feel that religion defines me as it did him. I grew up in Church and I think I would be a completely different person had I not.
After reading a few of the stories from Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” the individuals from each story identified themselves, through; culture, appearance, name, race, religion, or environment. The first story I read was The Jacket by Gary Soto, in this story Gary tells how an ugly green jacket that his mother bought him was the source of many of tribulations while he was growing up. The jacket defined him and all of his actions. At the end of the story Gary calls his jacket his “green ugly brother,” because that jacket had been with him through everything. Langston Hughes’ story entitled Salvation tells the story of a young teenager who is waiting to be saved at church. He is sitting in the pew waiting to see Jesus when he realizes that he is the last person sitting and doesn’t want to make the church wait any longer, he decides to lie and walk up to the front of the church and tell everyone that he has been saved. Religion defined the young boys’ life, by the end of the story the boy admits that he no longer believes in Jesus. When writing my paper about identifying myself, I want to explore how experiences have shaped the person that I am today.
The key themes in unit one are basically about how you define "self". Though it may be difficult to fully understand and describe who you think you are, Unit one breaks it down and makes it easier to accomplish. This section gives you examples to start off your brainstorming to discover who you are; for example: Relationships, experiences, culture, environment, ethnic background, etc. I really believe this helps everyone to define who they are and its all extremely interesting to explore each part.
I think the key themes in unit one was expressing who the author's were and how they felt about themselves. Some of the factors the author's used were their: relationships, cultural backgrounds, childhood experiences, and family issues. I am interested in exploring family issues and childhood experiences because I can relate to some of the things the author's are talking about.
In Unit one of our textbook “Interactions”, we see that the whole section is a portrayal of individuals identities. In each section there are many short story’s written by various authors. These authors then tell a story about who they are. For example; the story I chose to read which was entitled “growing up Asian”. This author explains and tells us what it was like to grow up in a Japanese family. Each story is very diverse and shows the true identity of some people. Culture, heritage, environment, and race are all examples of identity. I was very interested in reading some of these stories and seeing how people do things in their own culture. It is easier to understand how people live and do things by reading these short stories.
The key themes in Unit 1: "Interactions: A Thematic Reader, that were key to me were, identity, culture, value, feelings/expression, transitional periods; ephifany of self identity and views. People are using a variety of factors to identify them. In unit, one a person’s name was a factor as well as a person’s culture or background. Author Seymour specifically uses an illness she has to identify herself. I too like some of the authors am interested in exploring more about what my name means to me and why I didn't use to like it; but how I really love it now. I also am interested in exploring my religion in detail. I can relate to Langston Hughes, because I too, became saved (baptized) at a young age and really did not understand the full and true meaning of what the action being baptized meant. I knew it was good, I knew it would make my grandma proud and I knew I was supposed to give my all to god. Then again, I was 10 years old, in the 5th grade. I have not experienced any part of life yet. Therefore, those are what I am interested in exploring.
Overall I think I am going to enjoy writing this paper and exploring my identity. It an interesting assignment because most of us are only in out late teen or early twenties and I think that we are just now starting to realize who we really are as an individual. The purpose it clear to me, the in class discussions that we had last week helped me focus more on the topic. I think that the topic is focused, but allows for creativity and different interpretations. I’d like to see more papers like this, which explore who I am and how people perceive things.
23 comments:
The key themes in unit one is learning about self. Its about understanding that we are not defined by what we do, but who we are as a person. In Unit One “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” we see how others define themselves. Factors that people use to define themselves are as follows: relationships with family and friends, experiences, culture, values, age, job, views, personality, behavior, talents, ect…
Throughout chapter one we get and in-depth look into how others view themselves as an individual. Such as in Annette Sanford’s short story, “Nobody Listens When I Talk.” In this story we get to go inside the mind of a young girl who wants nothing more then just for someone to listen to her. She is defined in my opinion by her environment. No one listens to the girl so she sits on a swing all day alone. Marilyn doesn’t really talk, because if she did would it make any difference? No one really listens when she talks anyways.
Then there’s Mary Seymour’s short story, “Call Me Crazy. But I Have to Be Myself.” In this story the narrator feels like he is defined by his mental disease of being bipolar. He feels the desire to be himself, to let others know who he really . He is consumed by fear of what others may do if they know the truth. However, in the end he decides it’s better to admit to who he is, because hiding his disease is more painful then admitting to it. At the end of the story the narrator is able to define himself as an individual instead of letting others and the disease define him. From my understanding of “Self,” I believe the most import aspects to explore are those involving my relationships with my family and friends, and also looking at how different experiences have helped me define who I am today.
All of the key themes in Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” are about the self. For example, some of the themes include self-esteem, image, and concept. Various factors that people are using to define themselves are experiences, ethnic background, language, culture, social class, interests, values, personality, and behavior.
Two stories that I took a deeper look into were “My Name” and “The Name Is Mine.” They both obviously deal with the author’s name, but they also dig deeper into the author’s view of self and what they believe defines them. In the story of “My Name” a hispanic girl believes that her name does not describe her in the way it should and it gives people the wrong impression of her. She wishes to change her name to something that more describes and defines her as a person. This story is a great example of how someone’s ethnic background affects them as an individual. The other story deals with a woman who chooses to keep her maiden name when she marries her husband. The woman argues that her name is a huge part of her and that she does not want to be hidden by her husband’s identity. This story goes against social norms in American Society; however, it makes complete sense why a woman would want to do this. Although these stories are opposite ends of the name spectrum, they both deal with the self. They show that someone’s name may really influence their view of self. Even though these stories both dealt with female experiences, I found them very interesting and thought provoking. I find the concept of self to be a fascinating topic, and look forward to diving deeper into the stories of Unit One. I want to read stories about how experiences and cultural environment influences the self. Hopefully through reading these stories, I find a clearer picture of my personal self.
The major theme of Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” are connected to one’s self. The theme can be defined through a person’s relationships, interests, experiences, and community. Also language and culture can contribute to self. For example, if a person grows up on a farm then he or she is more likely to appreciate simple things, like milk. Every aspect of a person combines to make the person who he is.
I am interested in exploring feelings and reactions that people have about certain events in their lives. In “The Jacket,” Gary Soto talks about the feelings that he had toward his green coat. Gary hated his coat because he believed it destroyed his life. He said the green color of his coat was very ugly and everyone around him made fun of it. Gary even took some of his anger out on his mother for buying him the coat. After about three years, Gary came to realize that his green coat was one thing that was always there for him. As a result, Gary finally settled with his coat and called it his “green ugly brother.” I think Gary wanted to blame his hard times on something, and it happened to be his jacket. I know that I have blamed others for some of the hard times that I have been through in my life. When in reality, the hard times are just a part of life and everyone goes through them. In addition to “The Jacket,” I read “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. Langston wrote about an experience in his life that involved his Auntie Reed’s church. He was one of many preteens who was asked to be saved and let Jesus into his life. After some time, Langston found himself to be the only one left on the bench where everyone was sitting before they where saved. Every other person had gone to the alter and had been saved. Langston remained on the bench waiting for Jesus to come. Finally, Langston left the bench and joined everyone at the alter. He lied and said he had been saved. He didn’t want to make everyone in the congregation wait any longer. As a result, Langston felt ashamed for lying and sad that Jesus did not come to help him on the day he was supposed to be saved. I think that everyone has different opinions and views about being saved. When I think of being saved, I think about the great life that I have been given.
In “Interactions” (Unit one, pgs 15-60) the main key term is “self” and how you define yourself. There are many ways to define your own self, interests, community, experiences, culture, name, gender, ethnic background, knowledge, views, values, and many more. Each individual person has their own way of defining there self. As you get older you change and you have to define yourself all over again. Throughout this unit there are many different short stories about the views some people have of defining themselves. For example, in “The Name is Mine” by Anna Quindlen the lady thinks that her last name is everything that defines who she is and does not want that to be taken away from her, so she decides not to change her last name when she got married. But, in other stories in this unit people describe themselves through experiences, disabilities, and social skills. This goes to show that everyone defines themselves differently from there own perspectives. From what I have read so far the stories are very interesting and I like learning how people define themselves differently.
All of the key themes in unit one are about the self. Some factors that people define themselves by are their interests, experiences, relationships with their family and friends, ethnic background, language, culture, and their values. I’m interested in exploring how my experiences shape who I am, and also how my relationships with my family and friends define me.
Annette Sanford’s story, “Nobody Listens When I Talk,” is about a young girl who doesn’t feel like anyone listens to her, so she sits on a swing all day. The fact that nobody listens to her really affects her. Her parents wish that she would do things that kids her age do, but she doesn’t because nobody will listen. She spends her time thinking about the past, and about who she is.
In Mary Seymour’s story, “Call Me Crazy, But I Have to Be Myself,” the author finds it very hard to be a functional member of society and suffer from a mental illness. She defines herself by her illness. By seeing or talking to her now, you would have no idea that she is a manic-depressive. She wants people to know the real her, but is afraid that it will scare them away. She hopes to be able to be herself all the time around everybody, and help people with similar problems. She can no longer hide who she is, and she has to let it out.
The key themes of unit one revolve around, explore, and define the concept of one's self. There are a variety of ways for people to define them selves whether they choose to look at the relationships they have had with friends and loved ones or life experiences. Other factors include gender, community, views, skills and hobbies to name just a few. I read the section called My Name by Sandra Cisneros and in it the girl identified her self through the importance of her name and what it signified to her. I never really thought before taking this class that a name could be used to identify how a person portrays them selves and it has really grabbed my attention and interest.
All of the themes covered in Unit 1 in the book “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” relate to defining one self and being able to deal with specific things happening in their life. Some of the factors that people use to define themselves are physical appearance, culture, values, behavior, experiences, and talents. Even though these are just some of the factors, there are some that really stand out when one is trying to define his or her self.
I felt that some of the short stories showed more how that specific person viewed him or her and they were able to explain it in detail. There were two stories that I took a more in-depth look at. These stories were, “Nobody Listens when I Talk” and “Call Me Crazy, but I have to be Myself”. Both of these stories are related because they both deal with the individual dealing with personal problems. In the story, “Nobody Listens when I Talk”, a young girl sits in a swing all day and doesn’t talk. She believes that she is cultivating her mind and thinks that this is best because no one will listen to her. Her parents wished she would get up and be active but she refuses because she feels that if she would say anything nobody will listen. In the other story, “Call Me Crazy, but I have to be Myself”, there is a woman who has an illness that she doesn’t want people to know about. She fits right in with the “normal” crowd but sometimes feels that her disease affects her deeply. She defines herself by her illness but is learning to accept who she is and the illness she has and have her own identity.
From reading a couple of stories, I have noticed that people perceive who they really are differently and each individual is unique. People define themselves differently and I would like to explore all of the aspects that I could relate to or not. I believe that from reading all of these stories and analyzing some, I will be able to learn more about others and myself as well.
In "Interactions: A Thematic Reader" the key theme is to fully indentify and define yourself. Factors they have used to define yourself are relationship with family and friends, culture, language, gender, physical features and apperance as well as particular interests and job/job experiences. One story i have read is by Mary Seymour "Call Me Crazy, But I Have To Be Myself," where the woman struggled with a bipolar mental-illness.Although she was happy to be released from the ward and to be normal with types of medicine, she missed being herself. Thus, the story has used the factor of just being yourself,and what makes you happy. It showed that even though she was contained and normal she still wanted to show people who she really was, yet she was afraid of what they would think. Finally, she tells people of her story and is proud to help others dealing with the same conditions.
An aspect I am interested in would be exploring and defining myself, especially dealing with cultural values and aspects with family and friends.
The key themes in the Interactions A Thematic Reader all revolve around figuring out about the self or just self. Some factors that the authors use in the pieces are family, relationships, culture, natural surroundings, physical appearance and many more factors. Some aspects that I would like to explore more about are the events and obstacles that effect the authors “self”. In Call Me Crazy…. she has a break down cause of her failing marriage and also her grandfather’s background in psychotic break downs. I think that the people around us have an influence on how our “self” is made up and molded. In the piece A Thanksgiving Feast in Aburi she changes tremendously from the beginning to the end. She starts at the edge of the crowd to just watch and see what’s going on, once she becomes comfortable with the event she is dancing and chanting with her handkerchief with the entire crowd. I think that your surroundings affect you as a person. She was very weary in the beginning but that soon changed when she became at ease with the whole situation.
The key themes in Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” were based on the individual and how he or she identified them self. Key themes included how factors like name, culture, appearance, disability, race, religion, environment, and disease affect a person’s identity.
The aspects that I am interested in exploring are relationships and values because I believe those are the two factors that show my identity the most. After reading, “The Name Is Mine,” by Anna Quindlen, I began to think about exploring the name as part of my identity. Reading this piece really made me think about how much my name is a part of me. There have been times where I think and wonder whether I would be willing to give up my last name. My last name feels like it is just as important as my first name. My first name shows me as an individual while my last name shows the family that I grew up with and love. Giving my last name up would be a big thing. I think Anna gives many good points in this piece because we tend to go with tradition where the wife takes the husband’s last name. For some people it may not be a big issue, but for others it may be hard to give up something that you were born with and lived with up until the point of marriage. I thought it was funny when the wife said, “He didn’t adopt me, he married me” (20). This is true and a good point. My opinion differs slightly from this piece because I believe that hyphenated names show the past that still is part of your identity, while still showing the new life that is being started.
The key themes in Unit One break down an individual or group of people and show how their different cultures and background make them who they are today. The relativism between individuals and groups are they differ in their behaviors and beliefs but they all evolve off their traditions and experiences. Different factors people are using to define themselves include their heritage, their environment, family, and culture. They also use their job, knowledge, goals and values, important relationships, whether past or present, and also their individual or overall views and opinions. I am interested in taking a closer look of the different customs and beliefs. .I also want to explore the environment and what types of unique experiences they have had.
Unit one in "Interactions" is a set of stories that take the reader through a path into the writer's mind. While in the writer's mind, the reader has the opportunity to greater understand how/or why the writer had been shaped into the way that he/she was within the story. The reader is taken through this process of self-discovery by numerous paths, including finding out about the writer's past experiences, the writer's culture, their surroundings, their mindset, etc. Throughout unit one, the writers focus on discovering themselves, and in doing that, set up a guideline for the reader to discover themselves also, and that, to me, was a very intriguing aspect of the stories and made me want to keep reading. It made me think of the things around me that shape me, and made me realize how lucky I am to have been surrounded by good people and things. I guess the writer achieved their purpose.
All the stories in Unit one of "Interactions" are just little short stories that tell you something about the author, the main theme in unit one is "self" and it is portrayed through the authors life experiences, their culture, heritage, relationships and enviroment. I personally would like to explore some of the life experiences of some of these authors, they sounded pretty interesting and also some of their cultures, like in "Growing up Asian" the author was Japanese and the Japanese culture is one that i would like to explore and learn more about.
The key themes in unit one is getting to know yourself as an individual. Also, that it is not easy getting to know who you are. People are using different factors to learn who they are, such as their community, friends, music, personality, height, appearance, education, age, race, gender, and language.
You can also get to know yourself by your relationships with family and friends. You can look at who you were in the past, who you are now, and think about who your going to be in the future.
The aspects I am looking to explore is different heritages, my past relationships with friends and family, and who I was in the past, who I am today, and what I'm going to be in the future.
Quoting Rae Lyn..."Upon reading unit one in the "Interactions: A thematic reader" I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Generally, I enjoy novels as compared to short stories but it was extremely easy to relate to almost every short story in section one. I especially enjoy the first entry: My Name by Sandra Cisnersos because I did a brief study of the book that the excerpt is from, the House on Mango Street. It was also nice to see a story about an author of Hispanic ethnicity because I have a girl from Spain living in my house for three weeks. Overall, I am very excited to have read section one and I hope that the rest of the units will be just as interesting for me."
Quoting Christopher Dennis..."The key theme in this chapter is self. People are defining them selves in many different variations. What community they grew up in, how old a person is, hair color, hobbies interest, and many more. I’m interested in defining myself. I never thought about factors in my life, and how I became myself. If I better understand myself I can learn other important things in life. You can’t understand others until you can understand yourself."
The main theme of the first unit is self and what defines it. There are many ways the authors express this theme in the unit. In the excerpts I read, The Jacket and Salvation, the theme is expressed through the clothing one wears and through one’s religion. The fist excerpt is titled The Jacket by Gary Soto. Soto is somewhat defined by the jacket that his mother buys him. He though the jacket was ugly and felt that everyone judged him for it. The clothes he wore defined him. Langston Hughes’ Salvation was the second excerpt I read. He talked about how his religion defined him. He experienced this self definition as a young boy living in the South. He was at church function where all of his friends and the people in his community were being saved. He sees everyone experience this around him yet he himself doesn’t experience it. Because he doesn’t feel what others feel he says at the end of the reading that he no longer believes in Jesus or God. I can relate more with Hughes than with Soto. I feel that religion defines me as it did him. I grew up in Church and I think I would be a completely different person had I not.
After reading a few of the stories from Unit One: “Interactions: A Thematic Reader” the individuals from each story identified themselves, through; culture, appearance, name, race, religion, or environment. The first story I read was The Jacket by Gary Soto, in this story Gary tells how an ugly green jacket that his mother bought him was the source of many of tribulations while he was growing up. The jacket defined him and all of his actions. At the end of the story Gary calls his jacket his “green ugly brother,” because that jacket had been with him through everything. Langston Hughes’ story entitled Salvation tells the story of a young teenager who is waiting to be saved at church. He is sitting in the pew waiting to see Jesus when he realizes that he is the last person sitting and doesn’t want to make the church wait any longer, he decides to lie and walk up to the front of the church and tell everyone that he has been saved. Religion defined the young boys’ life, by the end of the story the boy admits that he no longer believes in Jesus. When writing my paper about identifying myself, I want to explore how experiences have shaped the person that I am today.
The key themes in unit one are basically about how you define "self". Though it may be difficult to fully understand and describe who you think you are, Unit one breaks it down and makes it easier to accomplish. This section gives you examples to start off your brainstorming to discover who you are; for example: Relationships, experiences, culture, environment, ethnic background, etc. I really believe this helps everyone to define who they are and its all extremely interesting to explore each part.
I think the key themes in unit one was expressing who the author's were and how they felt about themselves. Some of the factors the author's used were their: relationships, cultural backgrounds, childhood experiences, and family issues. I am interested in exploring family issues and childhood experiences because I can relate to some of the things the author's are talking about.
In Unit one of our textbook “Interactions”, we see that the whole section is a portrayal of individuals identities. In each section there are many short story’s written by various authors. These authors then tell a story about who they are. For example; the story I chose to read which was entitled “growing up Asian”. This author explains and tells us what it was like to grow up in a Japanese family. Each story is very diverse and shows the true identity of some people. Culture, heritage, environment, and race are all examples of identity. I was very interested in reading some of these stories and seeing how people do things in their own culture. It is easier to understand how people live and do things by reading these short stories.
The key themes in Unit 1: "Interactions: A Thematic Reader, that were key to me were, identity, culture, value, feelings/expression, transitional periods; ephifany of self identity and views. People are using a variety of factors to identify them. In unit, one a person’s name was a factor as well as a person’s culture or background. Author Seymour specifically uses an illness she has to identify herself. I too like some of the authors am interested in exploring more about what my name means to me and why I didn't use to like it; but how I really love it now. I also am interested in exploring my religion in detail. I can relate to Langston Hughes, because I too, became saved (baptized) at a young age and really did not understand the full and true meaning of what the action being baptized meant. I knew it was good, I knew it would make my grandma proud and I knew I was supposed to give my all to god. Then again, I was 10 years old, in the 5th grade. I have not experienced any part of life yet. Therefore, those are what I am interested in exploring.
Overall I think I am going to enjoy writing this paper and exploring my identity. It an interesting assignment because most of us are only in out late teen or early twenties and I think that we are just now starting to realize who we really are as an individual. The purpose it clear to me, the in class discussions that we had last week helped me focus more on the topic. I think that the topic is focused, but allows for creativity and different interpretations. I’d like to see more papers like this, which explore who I am and how people perceive things.
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