Ngugi Wa Thiong'o Reader Response by: Melissa Schreiber

Melissa Schreiber

Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander

ENGL223

24 April 11

        Ngugi Wa Thiong’o was born in Kenya in 1938 during a time when East Africa was under British rule. He is the author of, “Creating Space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom,” Excerpt from Decolonization of the Mind (1968), “Wedding at the Cross,” and “Minutes of Glory.” Wa Thiong’o’s literature focuses on anticolonialism, class struggle, the importance of language, negotiation of power and identity, and gender bias. His literature teaches about all off these because they are the keys to liberation. The conflicts in Kenya have restricted society for so long that fairness for all people seems impossible. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o literature is necessary in the 21 st century because according to Wa Thiong; language makes us believe and language shapes our values.

        “Wedding at the cross,” is a short story that relates to me personally because my world is similar to the characters in the story. Class struggle is the focus in the story, and my husband and I are from extremely different “social classes”, and we were able to overcome this difference, unlike the story. I believe the world, especially since the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, is slowly overcoming this horrible tradition. Literature is liberation and Thiong’o’s stories educate the reader to believe equality is becoming reality. It is wrong to deny any one the ability to marry who they love; traditional values must be reshaped to believe in equality.

         “Wedding at the Cross,” communicated to me that the struggle between tradition and progress is very difficult to overcome, yet the world must finally put an end to discrimination and inequality everywhere!

          I personally feel an extreme obligation to teach my daughters the importance of equality and that God made all people and all people are created equal. Thiong’o’s literature is art, irony, and education for the 21^st century. I believe his literature is necessary and important for overcoming many controversial issues around the world. I will read more of his works and recommend them to anyone ready for progress.

The Rabbi's Cat Reader Response by M. Schreiber

Melissa Schreiber

Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander

ENGL223      

22 May 2011                                           

                                                                                     

            The Rabbi’s Cat, is a graphic novel written by Joann Sfar in 1988. The novel’s overarching theme is religion and the characters personal struggles of faith. The protagonist is the rabbi’s cat who is never named. In the text the rabbi and his family live in 1930’s Algeria, during a time when Algeria was under French rule. The intense curiosity of the cat all begins after he eats the family’s parrot and the chaos also begins. “My mistress Zlabya says that if cats could talk, they would tell incredible stories. While this act who roams the rooftops every night, never pipes up.” “The rabbi tells her it’s better this way” (5). This foreshadowing set the tone of the struggles to come. Families everywhere have different beliefs, and The Rabbi’s Cat hopes to teach all religions to balance traditional values with modernity.

Our family’s cat is Ella, we got her last year when she was 3 months old, it is the first time I have ever had a cat. Growing up my family had dogs, but no cats. I love to watch Ella and play with her, she is different from a dog in every way, and I love watching her learn and grow. She is interested in everything and anything, especially string. If Ella could talk I think I would listen to her like I do my children, if she was as educated as the rabbi’s cat I think my beliefs would be in jeopardy too.

This text along with the pictures is very similar to my outlook on the world. Religion is very complicated, and there are so many questions and not very many answers, this text allows for modernity to mix with tradition and accept faith being questioned rather than ignore it.

This text communicated to me that it’s okay to have questions and that doubts are normal. Regardless of what religion a person is, there is a lot to learn and something’s are hard to understand. The rabbi struggled with an identity crisis after many years of learning and believing, questioning his faith first made him crazy, but then I think he was free. He didn’t have all the answers and modernity provided the escape the rabbi needed.

I personally believe this text to be important for understanding that balancing religion with modernity is possible. Acknowledging that some questions may not have answers is key to curbing one’s curiosity, I am Catholic and there are many confusing aspects I may never fully understand. This text uses Judaism, yet I believe any religion could be substituted. “I tell him that’s a nice thought, that all humankind is one big family, but all the same it’s just a symbol” (24).

The drawings weren’t beautiful, but they were works of art that told an entire new story. Each story, the text and the pictures were successful and brought controversial questions to life.

I would read more works by Sfar, and I recommend this graphic novel to college level students, art majors and English majors. Adults as well of any religion and especially adults who appreciate pictures that take the time to tell another story.

Tsitsi Dangarembga Reader Response by: Missy Schreiber

Melissa Schreiber

Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander

ENGL223

02 March 11

            Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions, expresses the many ways an African woman can escape the traditions of a colonized Africa. Each chapter is a journey that tries to ask questions in order to balance tradition and modernity, never knowing which path is the best to be taken.

I believe it is a universal experience in any culture to hope to maintain this balance. I was brought up Catholic and married a Baptist man; together we were able to take a modern path, whereas Dangarembga struggled. My husband and I both cherish our religions and do not allow modernity to hurt what we value. I believe Africans everywhere will begin to experience this luxury the Western world takes for granted through literature by Dangarembga. Right and wrong are supposed to be easy decisions, yet some cultures are not given a choice. Dangarembga asks many questions throughout her struggles as a young girl, destined for college and her struggle was because she was a girl. That’s irony.
 I learned that not every culture has equal opportunities or rights. I support equality and freedom which is why I joined the US Navy, where gender bias. Her text communicated to me that the first step in overcoming these “nervous conditions” is awareness that they exist and then to educate ourselves on how to treat another person. I personally believe in supporting any cause that helps a person in need, especially in the 21^st century, some rights aren’t supposed to be questioned. Answers to her questions are slowly being answered and conditions will improve through art like Dangarembga. Her literature is a powerful and necessary voice for women everywhere suffering from oppression and repression, together we can overcome and together we can come up with answers.
 Overall I enjoyed reading this text, if the ending would have been as powerful as the middle I would have had more closure, but there are still unanswered questions. I recommend her literature to anyone who has access to a copy, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, read her words and help answer the questions of injustice together.

Missy Schreiber/ Nadine Gordimer

Melissa Schreiber

Dr. Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander

ENGL 223

18 APRIL 11

Nadine Gordimer, author of, “Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants,” “Amnesty,” and “Six Feet of the Country,” began fighting apartheid in the 1930’s through her powerful literature and political actions. These short stories have presently taught me that white people and black people must unite in order to end a lifetime of racial segregation. Gordimer’s literature attempts to denounce the cruelty and the hopelessness of a situation accepted by all parts of the population. Gordimer’s overarching themes in these short stories are the moral and psychological tensions of her racially divided home country overcoming apartheid.

 In, “Six Feet of the Country,” apartheid was the norm in South-African society, and racism, and discrimination were the only ways to behave towards black people. The white people were a disappointment to white people everywhere; this ironic story proves how apartheid policies failed all races and classes of people. Personally, when I was in military training we are taught to be united, discrimination of any kind isn’t tolerated. In 2011 the US military allowed homosexuals to join, I believe this type of progress will help put an end to racial inequality world- wide.

Gordimer’s literature communicated to me that the strong must help the weak, and that discrimination and inequality must be acknowledged and learned. In the Navy, I served in Afghanistan twice, it was my first trip away from home, and I relied on 50 people I had just met. We deployed immediately after the 2003 terrorist attacks, and in the middle of the ocean racial inequality isn’t tolerated. Gordimer’s texts are necessary for all of us to learn from mistakes that have been made, and unite before anything else is destroyed.

I believe Gordimer is an artist as well as an author who gives hope to repressed Africans suffering from apartheid. I enjoyed her short stories, although they made me sad, and I will read more of her in the future. The more people who can read these stories the better, understanding  literature is the key to overcoming apartheid.

Missy Schreiber Achebe Blog

Melissa Schreiber

Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander

ENGL223

11 April 11

Teaching the Truth

            Chinua Achebe, author of “The Madman,” focuses on educating readers about the effects of European colonialism using a madman, who isn’t really mad, as a metaphor for the colonization of the mind. “The Madman” is presented as symbolic of native struggle from oppressions of the colonizing white people. Achebe deliberately makes the reader believe the inaccurate narrator that he has created, “He was drawn to markets and straight roads,” the story began, and then, “he began his journey on that big boa constrictor of a road.” Achebe created confusion and we believed it. Achebe depicted the towns people as the European white people who have distorted the education of the natives by making them believe they are inferior, and they believe it. Education is the key to overcoming colonialism, and I, as a mother of two little girls, have an obligation to teach my daughters right from wrong. Achebe is necessary for the future of oppressed Africans everywhere to be their voice and teacher.  He and I are in agreement that the world needs to respect their brothers and sisters, and the world must change for the better.

The text communicated to me that Nwibe, the protagonist, was never really mad, however the towns people wanted  to believe it, and so we did. Nwibe had been sane prior to having his clothes stolen and was forced to run through town naked. Nwibe was precieved as crazy because everyone treated him as though he was, and he believed it. “Two years later, before another initation season, he made a new inquiry about joining the community of titled men in his town. Had they received him perhaps he might have become partially restored, but those ozo men, dignified and polite as ever, deftly steered the conversation away to other matters.”

Teaching the truth concerning Achebe’s point about colonization of the mind address me personally because I can teach my family the truth. Education begins at home, and Achebe’s literature is my teacher. My family will address this issue and be able to grow for just believing in the truth.

Overall, I enjoyed Achebe’s short story, “The Madman,” and I recommend this book to college level students interested in equality and why the United States is lucky for all the freedom we have. I also believe parents should read Achebe’s literature in order to teach the truth to our children.

Melissa Schreiber The Stranglehold of English Lit

Melissa Schreiber

Professor Dr. R.E. Benander

ENGL223

01 April 11

Strangled

            Many African authors are fighting oppression and making sure the world is listening. “The Stranglehold of English Lit,” by Malawian author Felix Mnthali approaches the ugly subject of racism through this poem and demands that we find a way to surpass ignorance relating to oppression of African people in Africa. Mnthali is not alone on his quest, African playwrights, essayists, and novelists are also out for justice. For example Jomo Kenyatta’s,  The Gentlemen of the Jungle is an allegory that communicated the overarching theme for Africans, human rights are demanded and Africans will conquer anticolonialism. Another example is, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s, “Creating space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom,” Ngugi describes the same themes in a direct way, his academic style demands freedom from African oppression as well. Together these authors and many more have been attempting to win what is there’s and the right to what they deserve as human beings. “The Stranglehold of English Lit,” is a poem filled with passion for the African people suffering as the “Jane Austin Lovers” of the world are blind to what oppression even means. This poem personally frustrates me because the uneducated people in the 21^st are still acting as though colonialism hasn’t stripped many people of what is rightfully theirs, and it still exists today. Strangled are these African authors, unable to be heard for centuries. English Lit need not be a stranglehold, but a new outlet to be a voice for all oppressed voices to be heard. I agree with all the African scholars as they become internationally known for fighting for what they believe in. Mnthali writes, “How could questions be asked at Markerere and Ibadan, Dakar and Ford Hare-with Jane Austin at the center? How could they be answered?” This communicated to me we must all begin to acknowledge and recognize what has been happening to Africans must be stopped. “Like Goethe, Ngugi contends that a world literature can flourish only when it acknowledges the linguistic and cultural particularities of the many traditions that make up the global community.” This powerful ending from author Ngugi, is telling us we can end the strangulation, and accept freedom to be universally had, never taken. By educating the world of this still occurring problem, we in the 21^st century can release the stranglehold and aid these authors in their pursuit of equal rights and freedom. I am Caucasian and the poetry I have studied is powerful and doesn’t necessarily like “Jane Austin Lovers”, but overall the past is the past and we must create a new future for all to be loved and respected. I recommend this poem to all college students and intelligent adults who want to educate their children of what not to do to another person. African oppression is real and must be acknowledged by everyone, I believe in time this will be possible. The centuries of inhumanity and suffering will end, if the 21^st century can believe in English Lit.

Missy Schreiber Reader Response to Laura Esquivel Like Water for Chocolate

Melissa Schreiber

Professor: Dr. R.E. Benander

ENGL222

21 Feb 11

            Laura Esquivel’s first novel Like Water for Chocolate is a fiction novel based on real recipes. Esquivel reveals her genre of magical realism through the love of food, and the heat given off from the De la Garza ranch. I love her incorporation of women searching for individualism, and the strength all the women in the house hold. Magical realism is a literary work of art that allows the outside reader an escape from reality. Magical realism is when the natural order of things becomes unnatural and or extraordinary. The combination of the natural and supernatural allows authors to express great emotions they may have not been able to discuss. The style of magical realism is confusing and trying to understand how parallel realities are created is intense for an uneducated reader. This novel must be understood to appreciate it as a work of art, and Esquivel demands that the reader enjoy the aroma while they divulge into every chapter. Chapter one makes Christmas Rolls, these rolls are warmth that Tita would normally receive from her favorite food and even they cannot overcome the coldness induced by her starved love. Tita's understanding of life through food fails to comfort her, and the inadequacy of food as a substitute for love is demonstrated.

The recipes title each chapter and the ingredients are overwhelming, as are the De la Garza sisters and their passion for life. The more heat they conjure up the more food that needs preparing. Each delicious recipe is an outlet for Tita the protagonist, to express her emptions. Tita’s life is real and the obstacles she must face are greater than mine, and therefore this novel allows me to escape and pray Tita finds herself as well as her freedom. To be educated is to be empowered and I am wiser as a woman for having read Laura Esquivel's first novel Magical realism provides the 21^st century with a historical yet magical escape to understand the past and never take the future for granted.