· Identify a section or passage from your memoir that would be worth analyzing through one of the lenses. Summarize this section briefly, in a sentence or two.
· Then analyze this section or passage through one of the lenses in a few sentences.
· Close your blog post with a lens question related to your analysis, that any classmate—no matter which memoir they are reading, can respond to. (Examples: Is anyone else starting to feel that their memoirist’s memory is unreliable? Is anyone else’s memoirist struggling with his/her performance of gender role norms? Is anyone else seeing examples blurred lines between the “colonizer” and the “colonist”?)
· Respond to at least 2 of your peers’ posts.
"Lucky" Alice Sebold
ReplyDeleteEvery time Alice would see a man, she would feel disgusted, as if she has slept with every single one of them. Every time she would eat, she would be reminded of a moment during the time she was raped causing her to avoid eating solids. All of these memories would never be forgotten. Freud's theory is very much how Sebold is taking in each memory. She have forgotten about small details during the time she was raped, but as she did certain activities, she was reminded of them. This goes to show that her memories are equivalent to a pile of paper. Every memory would be stacked on top of each other and only a slight pull would cause a piece of paper on the bottom of the pile to come right back up on the surface.
Does you memoirist remember every detail that has occurred to them in a significant moment? Or are they only reminded of it when it comes up in a different situation.
In fact her teacher Wolff tells her to try to remember everything that was going on at her age- that memories could save, that it had power, and that it is often the only resource of the powerless..
DeleteI thought that was very meaningful. He told her to remember her memory because it would be useful - to write this amazing book.
And yes of course Alice remembers every single detail that occurred to them in the significant moment when she was raped, when she had to look at mugshots and etc.
- Tiffany Da Silva
In my memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette does the same thing. Its almost as if she had a diary she kept to herself since she was a young girl. Does anyone find that?
Delete-Alexandria J.
Well Tiffany, does she really remember every moment? The only time she brought up a moment of her being rape was when something else happened that reminded her of it.
DeleteMy narrator's childhood is filled with parents who were drug addicts and she vividly recalls her experiences while growing up.
Deletethat I like the responds to how you her memory to Freud's idea. I totally didn't think Freud idea's into the book Lucky.
DeleteIn the book Lucky by Alice Sebold, Gender Lens is used repeatedly. When ever Alice would see a Black African American walking around her on campus as an example, she would immediately make assumptions that one of "them" may be her rapist - which she tells herself to not look at the but to basically runs away from them before they recognize her. When walking down an ally after grabbing a snack, she ends up crossing paths with her rapist after 6 months have past since she was actually raped. When she had to look through a book of black victims, "she saw six photos that reminded [her] of [her] rapist" (P111)
ReplyDeleteThis quote is significant because it wasn't only one mug shot that reminded her of her rapist, but 6. In my opinion from what I interpret is the fact that she was basically saying that all the 6 black victims all look the same because of their gender and appearance.
Is anyone else’s memoirist struggling with his/her performance of gender role norms?
- Tiffany Da Silva
In my memoir Jeannette is struggling to figure out how to treat boys and men in general after being raped and molested within the same year by two different people at such a young age and having a father who can be abusive to her mother. Has anyone else had a memoirist who is questioning how to treat the opposite gender due to past events?
Delete-Alexandria J.
Yes, Alice, in "Lucky," feels uncomfortable dealing with other males since she was raped. She feels weird and does not know how to approach.
DeleteYes, my main character is struggling to fit in because of her un-italian ethnicity. She is viewed as an outsider and pointed out in public.
DeleteI agree with Diya she often places her American values and compares them to her love
DeleteWhile reading the Glass Castle I came across the scene where Jeanette's mother starts her teaching job and is making money, however her father is not. So to make up for his lack of contributing to the money the family has, he insist he is in charge of the finances to the point where the mother has no say in even keeping a few dollars of her paycheck to herself. I see this as a war for power, because the father doesn't want to feel inadequate for his gender role and the mother wants to have some independence.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else came across gender roles contributing to a war for power?
-Alexandria J.
Not a war of power but Sebold does show how depending on what gender you are - take a male for example - he would be considered to be more "powerful" then a female. So like in the case of my book, the rapist overpowered her by making her weak.
Delete- Tiffany Da SIlva
No not a war for power but I have come across gender roles and also race being a cause of discrimination and subjugation.
DeleteHistorically the man has had dominance over the house hold income, and I think this plays to that fact.
DeleteI an totally see the gender role how the women want the right see want to have,
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ReplyDeleteIn my memoir, Eat Pray Love Elizabeth is viewed as the "other" because of the way she looks. While in Italy she speaks of how she doesn't blend, and how she stands out garishly. "When I was in China, women used to come to me on the street and point out to their children as though I were some escaped zoo animal." This is significant of how gender, race and skin color play a role in how people see you. In this case Elizabeth is viewed as an animal escaped from the zoo because of her white skin color, and blond hair something found uncommon in China.
ReplyDelete- Has the protagonist of the memoir experienced a blend of gender and race discrimination?
Is cultural and gender discrimination in certain country's due to cultural isolation?
DeleteIs the process of "othering" only perpetrated by the majority?
DeleteI definetly agree with you on how gender, race, and skin color can play a role in how people see you... In my memoir Lucky by Alice Sebold she compares people who have the same look and skin color to the guy who actually raped her because all she can think about is how she is freed from it. To answer your question my main character has experienced a blend of gender and race discrimination!
Delete"Day 70. A lot of my friends expect me to speak like a walking King James Bible. They want me--or at least my alter ego Jacob--to spout words like thou and woe unto and whosoever shall. I get a lot of emails that start "Give ear, O Jacobs." And phone calls that begin, "Verily, I ask thee, would you like to meet us for pizza?"
ReplyDeleteBecause the author has began to live biblically, he now has to take on certain social expectations. Because he is following the bible word for word, he is "required" to speak in a radically different way, in a ancient way with words like "Thou", "Art", "Woe".
Does our cultural and religious background affect how we speak or the way we act?
No but based off of my character in Eat, Pray, Love it can change the way you value life and your customs.
DeleteMy narrator's geandma was very religious and she always carried a Bible with her. Every time she visited the narrator's house, she would spend hour spraying and talking to God. This served as a huge fascination for the narrator and would shape her idea of God and religion.
DeleteI am reading the book called Lucky by Alice Sebold. When after the rape when her mother drove her to their house. During the whole time she spent at home. She was feeling so different not the same Alice she was before. Alice feels like her parents don't know what to do with her. Also a time when this boy came to their house the boy look at her at with her in disgust but like at her sister like she's beautiful. This upset Alice because she feel again that no one going to love her because the title she is now. The lens relate to this is Lacan's because Alice is is now being classified as part of a group instead of being a part of the society. Would Alice get passed this feeling not belonging.?
ReplyDeleteIn "Breaking Night", the author has this sense of not knowing where she belongs. She is very poor and her parents don't make any money and she is only nine years old at the time but she tries to find her place by going out to find a job.
DeleteIn my novel the glass castle, the author still enrolls in school even if she is treated differently because of her economic status.
DeleteIn Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth states that "As a reader and seeker, I always get frustrated at this moment in somebody else's spiritual memoirs- that moment in which the soul excuses itself from time and place and merges with the infinite." This reminded me of the mirror theory and how we perceive others can be a reflection of ourselves. Elizabeth although may not be intentionally doing so, has tried to become one of the people in the memoirs she's reading to escape her reality.
ReplyDeleteDoes living your life through someone else show a difficulty in facing your own reality?
I think it definitely does. Vicarious living is definitely a symptom of an inability to live wi th oneself. It only makes sense that people who cannot accept themselves use another person as a readily available form of escapism.
DeleteI think that it plays a major role since you lost sine of your choices by living how someobe else wants you to. I want to know whether or not this will Cause a identity crisis later on in life
DeleteIn "Breaking Night" the author lives her life through her mother's life because her mother was scarred form her childhood so the author tries to connect with her mother.
DeleteBreaking Night: "I wonder if, like me, Ma spent most days afraid of what would happen to her. I'm afraid
ReplyDeleteall the time lately. I wonder where I will sleep tomorrow--at another friend's apartment, on the
train, or in some stairwell?"
By using the psychoanalytical theory, I see that the narrator is trying to trace back to her mom's memories of being homeless and thinking of her mom's conditions in her subconscience.
Is anyone else's character trying to relate/connect their memories or experiences with past events or people?
My charter sometimes will reminisce about howsome of his other family members would do things.
DeleteIn the beginning of my novel, my character looks back on her life before she left her family and moved to New York to became a reporter, after seeing her mother going through a dumpster.
DeleteI see this in my book, after traveling she begins to trace back to her past and really see she was and how she is now.
DeleteIn the passage I have chosen describes the actions of his ex uncle Gil. Gil moves through religion in phases and always goes to the extremes of piety in his quest to understand more about himself. Looking at the author's comments with Lacans Mirror theory in mind, you can notice that in a way, the author looks to cut root the theory in a way to himself become a mirror of his uncle to discover his own identity. Whereas Lacans describes the child realizing his own existence defines him, the author would rather become the mirror as a way of understanding himself on a deeper level. Has anyone else's character defied the rules of the lens that you've applied to them?
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the passage my author describes he's not allow to wear certain clothes because of what the Bible say. Men can not wear women clothes.
ReplyDeleteLooking through a colonial lens one can see how the author will other someone base on not only race but also what they wear. How does religion affect the colonial lens?
I'm not sure, but in my book Eat, Pray, Love when Elizabeth went to a new country she was considered as "other" maybe it was because the culture was different so they look at her through those lens
DeleteI guess religion can affect the colonial lense, in my book Lucky, the main character Alice is comparing people who look like the guy who raped her and I think that is not right at all.
DeleteBreaking Night: Through the post colonial lens, the author characterizes the Puerto Rican men as "other" because they are a different race than the main character. This causes her and her mother to feel different from them when the men call out to her in Spanish. We realize that assumptions are made about others without really knowing who they are and they can be untrue.
ReplyDeleteMy question is, does the author make assumptions based on other's appearance?
DeleteIn my novel, The Glass Castle, Jeanette and her family are considered outsiders and are ''othered'' by the community they live in. They utilize a method of self sufficiency, in which they rely on themselves, and do not accept help from others. Despite being poor, they will not accept free clothes or food from others out of pity because they are taught to be self sufficient and strong. This can be seen in the story when Jeanette gets a wound and her mother would much rather treat it at home than go to a hospital in which she says, does nothing for you. Through the post colonial lens, we can see that society considers them out of the ordinary because they are different from everyone else. The refuse to conform to society's standards, and prefer to follow their own rules.
ReplyDeletewhat impact does the opinions of others have on the characters and others?
In the novel Eat,Pray, Love, Elizabeth decides to take an adventure to china. While she was there she began to realize that she is different. As she walks down the street people would look at her as if she is the "other". Does being in a new surrounding make you question who you are?
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ReplyDelete“We were suppose to kill the Indian to save the child”
ReplyDeleteJunior’s teacher, in the novel “The Absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian”, explains to him that when he first started teaching he had to make the rowdy ones (children) give up their indian culture, give up being Indian. This idea when looking at it through a postcolonial lense shows that the children had to give up their culture and beliefs in order to be accepted into society. This idea when explored further reveals that the children had to do this in order to fit into society, otherwise they would only remain like savages/ rowdy. When taking this idea into context, did anyone else experience their main character having to give up their culture/beliefs in order to fit into society?
In my memoir Lucky by Alice Sebold, the gender lense is extremely significant and is something that plays a big role in the book. Alice has been through a lot so far mentally and physically, therefore it has been hard for her to recover. When she sees people preferably black African males around her all she can think about is the memory of being raped. She can look at these people and get disgusted because they may look like the guy who raped her. My question for you is, in your memoir does your character judge or have a similar view on people who look alike?
ReplyDelete