FTKMF: Post 7. B.

In this final section Eang, Meng, and Loung arrive at the refugee camp in Vietnam. Then after a longer period than expected upon arrival, they get the news that they will be going to America. But the night before they leave, Loung experiences her last electrical storm near her home country of Cambodia. “I hate electrical storms; they sound as if the sky is at war with itself. The explosions make me feel like death is chasing after them again. I squeeze my eyes shut trying not to be afraid. Beside me, Meng and Eang sleep quietly, their backs to each other. I envy them their adult stats and fearlessness…”(232) Loung envies the way that her eldest brother and sister-in-law can act. She wants to grow up. While that same night Loung realizes that she is leaving not only her country but also her past behind. She misses Ma, Pa, Keav, and Geak. “As I drift to sleep, I think of Pa. I know his spirit can travel over land to be with me but worry if he can cross the ocean to America…”Pa, I miss you,” I whisper. Pa grins at me, his round face wrinkle around his mouth and eyes. “ Pa, I’m leaving for America tomorrow. Eldest brother said America is very far from Cambodia, very far from you…”… “Don’t worry. Wherever you go, I will find you,” (233)

FTKMF: Post 7. A.

As you may already know our American perspective is very much different than that of Cambodians. Americans view themselves at the very top or climax of the food chain; we can never be eaten and harmed. While in Cambodia, the people fear the wildlife and never take a moment to think they are above the earth’s creatures. This is especially shown in the way the fleeing refugees aboard the ship to Vietnam react to a shark while they are aboard their ship. “Sharks!” they exclaim. “If they crash into our boat and put a hole in it, we are all dead!”(224) In America, the passengers would be taking photos and video of the animal as if it were the eighth world wonder. The American and Cambodian cultures are very unlike in the way and position of themselves on the food chain with the earth’s wild life.

FTKMF: Post 6. B.

In this sixth section, many important events occure first of all the Loung, Chou, Meng,Khouy, and Kim leave the Chinese controlled camp. They prepare by saving up food, then they depart along with Meng and Khouy’s lady friends to their Mother’s brother’s home. After a long and fearful trek across the countryside, they arrive at his country hut. There they enjoy new (not black!) clothing along with increased rations. At the home they start to work at the market and are able to make crepes on ocation. The new currency is now rice. After a time in the town Meng marries Eang, a deserted intelligent and cultured woman. Then Eang lost family finds here and brigns MEng and Eang to Vietnam. There MEng learns of a way to America. He returns to the town to bring Loung to Lam Sing refugee camp. During their risky trek they encounter pirates. “Meng had anticipated the Thai pirates and left all of Ma’s jewelry with Khouy in Cambodia. Though they took they took the one thing that means the most to me, the captain tells us we should b=consider ourselves lucky. When we are all back on the boat, the pirates offer directions to the Thai refugee camp. Our captain thanks them politely, seemingly bearing no grudges or anger, and the pirates wish us luck and wave good-bye as we sail on.” (227) When the boat then arrived at the camp Meng, Eang, and Loung were overwhelmed that they were finally going to America.

FTKMF: Post 6. A.

Between the Cambodian and American cultures, there are many differences. One of which I found very surprising was the way the citizen view sexuality and the body. In America, women walk around in mini skirts so short you can see there underwear and tube tops that are basically created the accentuate a woman’s breasts. We Americans are accustomed to Janet Jackson pop outs and swimsuit malfunctions, while in Cambodia a little leg showing could be fatal. “A young woman walks into the water wearing nothing but a small bright red bathing suit! The stretchy material clings tightly to her body, allowing everyone to see her voluptuous figure. The suit has no pant legs or skirt, leaving her white thighs uncovered. The Y-neck top exposes her cleavage, which bounces as she run into the water. I know she has t be one of “those” Vietnamese girls everyone always gossips about because no Khmer or Chinese girl would wear such a thing. Khmer girls swim either with their long sarong wrapped tightly around their chest or are fully clothed.” (230)The differences between cultures even in the swimsuit department is very much different.

FTKMF: Post 5. B.

Out of all the sections, this fifth section was my favorite. This is so, because finally in this part, Loung and her living family are freed by the liberating army. In this fifth section I thought the way that Loung Ung thought of her freeing soldiers. Loung was very much confused of the way she should treat them. “I am not sure which one to tell my story to. I thought they were here to save us from the abuses of Pol Pot and not to hurt us.” (182) The betrayal that Young experienced with the Pol Pot army, changed the way she trusted people and one person she did not trust or listen to was her new “foster mother”. “With that little reminder from him, I know the foster mother is wrong about me. I do possess the one thing I need to make something of myself one day: I have everything my Pa gave me.” (183) The mistrust that Loung experienced while in the young adult camp under Pol Pot’s rule, forced this young girl to resort to her upbringing and the values that her mother and father had taught her. She used theses ideas and lessons to survive the cruel camp like environment. But Chou seems to not have caught onto this idea. “Chou is eleven and only three years older than me, but at times I feel much older than she is. It still amazes me how she can survive by being accepting and not fighting back.” (190)

FTKMF: Post 5. A.

Throughout this novel, the readers are learning more and more about the Cambodian culture, traditions, and society. While having a full blown sense of American culture, I have come to the determination that a fourth cultural difference between the American and Cambodian societies is their mindset. In particular during this section, it happens to be on the topic of rain. In America, we view rain as a burden. It causes car crashes, traffic delays, and in an extreme case, flooding. But also in the American culture, we take fresh, pure water for advantage; while in other countries, many would kill to have a simple well. “He remembers how he used to read that in some countries, the rain is cold and makes you sick, forcing people to stay indoors. Not so in Cambodia. Here the rain is warm, and in Phnom Penh, it meant it was time to go outside and play. The rain was, and still remains, our friend, even under the Khmer Rouge.” (116) In this quote it also sowed how although the new government can control their lives in many ways, there are a couple of things that they have no control over.

FTKMF: Post 4. B.

Dear Loung Ung,
As I have just finished the fourth section of your novel I have begun to feel an extreme sense of anger that you have to towards the new communist government expecially with the new murder of your father. “By the third day, we all know that what we feared most happened. Keav, and now Pa, one by one, the my family.” (107) With this anger you made many silent threats against Pol Pot, the new head of government. “I am going to kill Pol Pot. I hate him and I want to make sure he dies a slow and painful death.” “Don’t say such a thing or you will get hurt.” “I am going to kill him”(108) You also begin to describe his nature. “I will kill Pol Pot, I don’t know him, yet I am certain he is the fattest, slimiest snake on earth.”(108) Throughout this novel it seems as if you are going through an emotional battle also. “Sadness makes me want to die inside. Sadness makes me want to kill myself to escape the hopelessness of my life. Rage makes me want to survive and live so that I may kil. I feed my rage with bloody images of Pol Pot’s slain body being dragged in the dirt.” (108) In the end of the section, you also showed anger against another subject, the gods of the Buddhist religion.“Gods, this cannot happen to me again! If you let my brother die, I will never forgive you. You can just go to hell- for I know there are no gods in the world now,” (114)
I look forward to reading more,
Caitie

FTKMF: Post 4. A.

In the United States, we value our unalienable rights very deeply. When a case of injustice arrives, where a right has been broken, the public becomes infuriated. While in Cambodia, their seems to be a general lack of rights to the citizens. One major difference between the American and Cambodian cultures, is their government rights. One right that the tabloids and newspapers here in American like to use a lot, is the right to the freedom of speech. While in Cambodia, it seems to be the exact opposite. “Shh . . . don’t talk so loud. It is a crime to speak against the Angkar. If the soldiers hear you they will take you away and kill you.” (114) Another right that we value is the process of criminal trial, while in Cambodia, the soldiers seem to take matters into their own hands. “ I hear tales that the soldiers rape the girls they catch stealing, no matter how young they are.” (114)

FTKMF: Post 3. A.

The diverse American and Cambodian cultures, there are many differences. One that was predominantly evident in this third week of reading was the differences in customs, in particular the birthday traditions. In the United States of America, we celebrate our birthdays every year with a big party, a birthday cake piled up with thick artery clogging frosting, and a bundle of brightly rapped gifts from the birthday person’s friends hoping that their gift exceeds that of the other party goers. In Cambodia it is very different. “In Cambodia, people don’t celebrate the day on which they were born until they’ve lives their fiftieth year. Then families and friends gather to feast on sumptuous food and honor the person’s longevity. Pa told me that in other countries, people become a year older only after having passed the exact day and month that the came into the world.” (84) Although there are many obvious cultural differences between the United States and Cambodia, one not so well known is that of our different birthday celebrations.

FTKMF: Post 3. B.

Dear Loung Ung,
I am very much enjoying your novel, First They Killed My Father. As I am reading your book, I get a sense of unimaginable cruelty and desperation. In this last section that I just read, You have been leaving at various work camps, suffering the constant decreasing food rations, and have started to increasingly fear the safety of your family from your wealthy past. As you describe the impoverished communities, the selfish new government, and the horrifyingly disease prone persons, I have begun to truly feel the pain all of captive Cambodians most have felt. “Many of the villagers are getting sicker and sicker from the disease and starvation. They lie in their huts, whole families together, unable to move. Concave faces have the appearance of what they will look like once the flesh rots way.”(84) As you described the diminishing health status of the villagers around you, I thought that your next quote was very interesting. “They lie there, as if no longer of this world, so weak they cannot swat away the flies sitting on their faces. Occasionally, parts of their body convulse involuntarily and you know they are alive. However, there is nothing we can do but let them lie there until they die… My family does not look very different from them.”(84) This quote shows how hopeless, you felt or doomed and depressed your environment was. At the end of the section I just read you dropped the bomb that your sister had just died in a teenage work camp after being separated from your family. Considering that you could not cry or show emotion, or else you would be killer, I thought that most have been very hard for you. I wonder what will happen, as more and more father are being murdered around your village.
Sincerely,
Caitie

Sources

I have decided on the topic of the Lord's Resistance Army and their child soldiers in Uganda;

Articles=
"Abduction of Innocents" from Essence Communications(accessed from SIRS)
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-4689&artno=0000214510&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=Abduction%20of%20Innocents&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=Y

"Uganda: The Horror" from Smithsonian Magazine(accessed from SIRS)
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-4689&artno=0000211659&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=The%20Lord%27s%20Resistance%20Army&title=Uganda%3A%20The%20Horror&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=Y

"UGANDAN CHILDREN ABDUCTED TO PERFORM ACTS OF WAR" from USA TODAY(accessed from SIRS)
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-4689&artno=0000110301&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=The%20Lord%27s%20Resistance%20Army&title=Ugandan%20Children%20Abducted%20to%20Perform%20Acts%20of%20War&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=Y

"The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)" from Global Security (Non-database)
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm

"Uganda" from CIA factbook (Non-database)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html

""Interview With LRA Spokesman" Black Star News (Interview)
http://blackstarnews.com/?c=122&a=4457

"Intense Grief and Fear in Northern Uganda " Doctors without Borders (non-database)
www.doctorswithoutborders.org/.../top10.html

FTKMF: Post 2. B.

While Loung’s very large family barely survives on the long and deadly road away from their home city and their happy past, we learn about this new government. The Khmer Rouge is rebel government that comes to power after a long civil was in Cambodia. The new government does not like city dwellers or past government officials and soldiers. In this dreadful communist government, the very poor common people are joyously praised and the hard working rich are violently shamed with cruelty and possibly death. “Uncle Heang have lived in the countryside since before the revolution and have never lived in a city. The Khmer Rouge considers them uncorrupted model citizens for their new society.”(37) Throughout this next section the Ung family lives with their uncles, pretending to be from the country. As Loung starts to adapt to her new lifestyle in this new corrupt and violent government, she starts to deeply fear that the soldiers who had told her people that they would be returning to their city town of Phnom Penh have been lying. “My body trembles with fear and disbelief. I am never going home. I will never see Phnom Penh again, rive in our car, ride a cyclo with Ma to the markets, buy food from the carts. All that is gone. He reaches out and takes me into his arms as my eyes water and lips tremble.”(40)

FTKMF: Post 2. A.

In between Cambodia and the United States, along with land and water, there are many cultural differences. Of those cultural differences, spiritual and religious differences were increasingly prominent in this section of First They Killed My Father. Loung Yng, the now six year old main character believes in the tradition Cambodian belief in spirits for relief. As her family is confined into one of the many camps that the new Khmer Rouge government has relocated her family into, they experience unbelievable pain. As many families around them are caving into their pain and committing suicide, the Ung family lead by their father Sem Im continue to endure their pain.“In the darkness, I see spirits shaking the trees, letting me know they are waiting for me. They whisper chants and spells that the wind carries through the leaves, back to my ears. The spirits call me to come to them so they can take possession of my body.”(41) Loung is trying to find a kind f relief to her starvation and lack of control over her situation within the spirits. While the American culture, believes mostly in the three main religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity as relief, not the belief in “spirits”. One difference between the American and Cambodian cultures are their religious and spiritual traditions and beliefs.

FTKMYF: Explanation

I chose for my quarter four reading book First They Killed My Father, by Loung Ung. I made this decision because first of all I had heard great remarks about it. I also chose this book because it is about the Cambodian way of life throughout a nasty civil war and military dictatorship. This was important because the setting and plot is not the normal day-to-day of an American novel. I also chose this book because the cover was very interesting and in quarter three, I had read a fairly long book, while First They Killed My Father is on the shorter side. I am looking forward to reading my outside reading book, First They Killed My Father.

FTKMF: Post 1. A.

In this novel, First They Killed My Father, one main cultural difference that I noticed between our American culture and that of Cambodia was the work schedules and traditions. In America, we get a lunch break during our long work day but in Cambodia like many other nations, it is quite different. “By midday, as temperatures climb to over a hundred degrees, the streets grow quiet again. People rush home to seek relief from the heat, have lunch, take cold showers, and nap before returning to work at 2 p.m.” (1) Because of the lack of air conditioning and heat relief, the city seizes to operate for two whole hours. In America, we operate under the statement that “time is money”, it would be unheard of to have a two hour break. It is also different for our culture in that we do not take that many cold showers. It is also a matter of heat relief and wealth. Another aspect of this quote that I thought was particularly interesting was how the author is implying the lack of air conditioning in the work place, unlike that of their homes. They also many imply worker cruelty and injustice.

FTKMF: Post 1. B.

In the novel, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung, one particularly interesting difference in relationships was between the mother and the speaker and the father and the speaker. The mother, a stay at home mother, is always perceived as very beautiful with her porcelain skin. “Among her women friends, Ma is admired for her height, slender build, and porcelain white skin.”(2) While her five year old daughter Loung, is not only extremely beautiful, but also extremely troublesome. She like to walk around stomping her feet, just to be different for the more traditional gliding method. “It must be hard for her to have a daughter who does not act like a girl, to be so beautiful and have a daughter like me.”(2) While her father on the other hand, loves her little girl just the way she is. As a leading officer, in the military and a former monk, he appreciates his “diamond-in-the-rough”. “He often says that people just don’t understand how cleverness works in a child and that all these troublesome things I do are actually signs of strength and intelligence.”(4) Loung is always very very fond of her father and always does as she is told when it come to his orders, unlike her mother’s. Loung Ung’s mother is being described and commented as if she is not the most admired family member in her daughter’s eyes. But with a total of nine people in the family it is no wonder why this is true.

Middlesex: #7: A

::VOCAB::

Sultan(159)- a king or sovereign especially of a Muslim state

Pecuniary(159)- consisting of or measured in money

::ANALYSIS::

“Or had guilt begun to infect him, too, so that to distract himself from the thing he’d done he ended up with these Mabels and Lucies and Doloreses?”(159) This is an example of a metaphor because it comes his nude models to that of Mabels and Lucies and Doloreses.

“It’s hard to express the excitement such phrases instilled in a kid like me from the cultural sticks. “(454) Cal here uses a simile to compare his childhood to that of being raised in the “cultural sticks”

“Not long after the Prophet’s disappearance, my grandmother underwent a fairly novel medical procedure.”(165) This is an example of a metaphor because the author uses the term “a fairly novel medical procedure”, to describe getting her body to never have babies ever again.

::QUOTE::

“Why you leave your wife and child? What’s the matter with you?” “My only responsibility is to my people.”(164) I thought that this quote was interesting in that Desdemona is finally standing up for her cousin and how poorly her ex-relative treated her family. It was very shocking when the “Fard” left his daughter and wife to live as a messenger of god.

Middlesex: #7: B

In this section may things happened. First of all, Callie gets a new best friend, “The Object”. Her name is not stated for emotional purposes. She hangs-out with her all summer long and the Object invited her to her summer house for the weekend. There Callie meets, Rex the new boyfriend and is set up with the Object’s brother. The first night they go out into the woods and drink and smoke. Then in turn they both had sex with their preferred partners. Then the next night the Object and Callie do some dirty things, (a.k.a. have sex). Then one ay when they are on the porch, and Callie is fingering her best friend, the Object’s brother finds them. Then him and Callie get a fight which ends in a race and Callie getting struck by a tractor. She is then brought to the hospital where they find that she is both a girl and boy and are recommended to a Dr. Luce in NYC. Once arriving for the next two weeks or so, she goes through a lot of testing where they find that her body is that of mostly a male, but her brain is that of a female. Once seeing this information, Callie runs off and hitchhikes as a boy to the west.

Middlesex: #6: A

::VOCABULARY::

Cassava(150) any of several American plants (genus Manihot, especially M. esculenta) of the spurge family grown in the tropics for their edible tuberous roots which yield a nutritious starch;
Swine(150) any of various stout-bodied short-legged omnivorous artiodactyl mammals (family Suidae) with a thick bristly skin and a long flexible snout; especially : a domesticated one descended from the wild boar


::ANALYSIS::

“The Prophet himself remained veiled to Desdemona. Fard was like a god: present everywhere and visible nowhere.”(150) This is an example of figurative language because it uses a simile. The author uses like to compare Fard to a god.

“The fezzes, the prayer rugs, the crescent moons: it was a little like going home.”(149) This is another example of a simile with the comparasion using like.

“For the residents of Black Bottom it was like traveling to another planet.”(149) This is a final comparation with a simile, all the while showing the similarities between the residents and their customs.


::QUOTE::

“What was happening to Desdemona? Was she, always so receptive to a deep priestly voice, coming under the influence of Fard’s disembodied one? Or was she just, after ten years in the city, finally become a Detroiter, meaning that she saw everything in terms of black and white?” (156) I found it interesting how the racism of the Detroiters was shown in the text. I do not believe that Desdemona is starting to become racist, but you never know in that kind of environment.

Middlesex: #6: B

This last section of Middlesex was very eventful. First of all, the happy household of Lefty and Desdemona is no longer. Both are definitely having some issues getting over their past actions an what guilty has come from that. In this next quote, Desdemona shows how much she wished that they had not gotten married and had children. “I wish I had died in the fire! I swear to you! I wish I had died in Smyrna!”(156) While the environment at home may have not been all that great, Lefty’s career was thriving. He started a new pornography photo collection with his friend. “Plantagenat took the photographs. My grandfather provided the models. The girls weren’t hard to find. They came into the speakeasy every night.”(158) In this section, a new turn in culture is shown through the moods and actions of the characters. “ Bring on the era of the backseat! Automobiles were the new pleasure dome. They turned the common man into sultan of the open road.”(159) In this section, Desdemona also was relieved of her job. After Fard’s criminal convictions, the Temple #1 started to shutdown, which included the silk factory. While on her way out, the curiosity in her character proved strong. She entered the sacred temple enclosure and was met by her cousin’s (dead) husband.

Middlesex: #5: B

Dear Desdemona,

I am very much enjoying hearing about your character in Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex. I am so far at the point when you are in the silk room and you start to hear a mysterious man speaking rudely over his mother and past. I feel bad for how much guilt and dishonesty you and Lefty have to carry around every day. I can not believe that your husband is making you get a job, but maybe you might enjoy that more then idling at home. I thought it was interesting how much went on in the silk room too. “The Silk Room: a description is in order. (So much happened in that fifteen-by-twenty-foot space: God spoke; my grandmother renounced her race; creation was explained; and that’s just for starters.)”(151) I am also very impressed by the way you show that you are not perfect. Unlike your cousin you very much deal with your faults, instead of shoving them into the closet. I do not know how you could have managed to keep Lefty faithful during his bartending days.

--Best wishes for your new job!--

Middlesex: #5: A

::VOCAB::
Camshaft (97) -a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part
Chassis (97)- the supporting frame of a structure (as an automobile or television)

::ANALYSIS::
“Just like ice, lives crack, too.”(125) This is an example of figurative language because the author uses like to compare the cracking ice to the shattering lives too.

“The Packard, as gracefully as an elephant standing on its front legs, flips up onto its grille.”(125) This is an example of figurative language because it uses as to compare a car’s motions to that of an elephant’s.

“Like a cleaning lady working in Grosse Pointe, she came and went by the back door”(149) This again another example of a simile, with the use of “like” to compare Desdemona’s actions to that of a cleaning lady.

::QUOTE::
“The Silk Room: a description is in order. (So much happened in that fifteen-by-twenty-foot space: God spoke; my grandmother renounced her race; creation was explained; and that’s just for starters.)”(151) I thought this quote was very interesting in that it should what really happened in Desdemona’s silk room. Before in the novel, the only showed the outline of the silk room stories.

Middlesex: #4: A

::VOCAB::

Ingots(96)- a mold in which metal is cast

Substrata(96)- an underlying support : foundation: as a: substance that is a permanent subject of qualities or phenomena

::ANALYSIS::

“It was like a grove of trees, as if the Rouge’s eight main smokestacks had sown seed to the wind, and now ten or twenty or fifty smaller trunks were sprouting up in the infertile soil around the plant.”(95) This is an example of figurative language because it is a simile while comparing the Rouge’s smokestacks to a grove of trees.

“This once-divided city reminds me of myself. My struggle for unification, for Einheit.”(106) This is an example of figurative language because it is a metaphor while comparing the speaker’s inner division to that of Berlin’s past.

“The Packard, as gracefully as an elephant standing on its front legs, flips up onto its grille.” (125) This is an example of figurative language because it is a simile while comparing the Packard’s flips to an elephant standing on its front legs.

::QUOTE::
“The simultaneous Fertilization had occurred in the early morning hours of March 24,1923, in separate, vertical bedrooms, after a night out at the theater.”(107) I found it interesting how to such a length the author would go to specify the process of which her father was conceived. To many this type of accuracy and details would seem unnecessary and awkward. How odd of a conversation would that be for a grandchild to ask her/his grandparent about the night of fertilization for her father?

Middlesex: #4: B

Dear Author,

I am increasingly drawn into your novel, Middlesex. At first I was having a hard time reading and getting into your piece but as I forced myself to read on, I became bound to it. I just finished reading about when Desdemona just gave birth to her child, and the speaker’s father. I thought this following quote was so shocking. “One out of every two thousand babies is born with ambiguous genitalia. In the United State, with a population of two hundred and seventy-five million, that comes to one hundred and thirty-seven thousand intersexuals alive today.” (106) I never though that I just America we had so many people born with ambiguous genitalia, I can not imagine the depression that someone would feel to find out that they were not who they thought they were. Another quote that I drew a liking to was when Lefty finds out that his sister and wife is pregnant. ‘“You liked the pageant?” “It’s not that.” “What is it?” Desdemona looked into her husband’s eyes. But it was Sourmelina who explained it all. “Your wife and I?” she said in plain English. “ We’re both knocked up.”(105) I would think that it would be very odd knowing that not only that you had intercourse with and married your brother, but also that from that intercourse came a child. I hope you later show how the whole situation went down when Desdemona and Lefty’s child found out that his parents were brother and sister.

Thanks much!

Middlesex: #3: B

Once reaching Greece with the French ship, the three passengers were given vaccinations and visas. Although the Greek government knew of their little scheme, they agreed to allow the visa as long as they left the country immediately. Once arriving on the ship, the siblings had to act as if they didn’t know each other. But surely as the days went by they acted out a flirtatious romance; It turned into the ship’s daily soap opera. After a week Lefty proposed to Desdemona in front of the whole ship, she said yes. They then immediately got married and spent their first night together as brother-sister-husband-wife. “(Why did they do it? Why did they go to all that trouble? Couldn’t they have said they were already engaged? Or that their marriage had been arranged years earlier? Yes, of course they could have. But it wasn’t the other travelers they were trying to fool: it was themselves.)” (68) After conquering the systems of Ellis Island, the married couple departed on a train. Their destination was to be Detroit. Once arriving at the station they met with their cousin. And because of the cousin’s lesbian past, she was able to keep her mouth shut when she found out her cousins got married. Once returning to her home, they met her controlling husband. He then tried to give Lefty a job at the Ford factory, through his known connections.

Middlesex: #3: A

::VOCAB::

Aphrodisiac (72)- an agent (as a food or drug) that arouses or is held to arouse sexual desire

Hypochondria (68)- extreme depression of mind or spirits often centered on imaginary physical ailments

::ANALYSIS::

“millinery girls as fan dancers”(68) This is an example of figurative language because it is a simile. The author shows the millinery girls similarities to that of fan dancers.

“Europe and Asia Minor were dead” (68) This is an example of personification, because it gives the areas, Europe and Asia Minor, the ability to die. This description showed how to Desdemona, her past (Europe and Asia Minor) were behind her.

“To my grandparents Detroit was like one big Koza Han during cocoon season.”(88)This example of figurative language showed how Lefty and Desdemona saw some aspects of their past in their future.

::QUOTE::

“According to Dr. Luce, the gene first appeared in my bloodline sometime around 1750, in the body of one Penelope Evangelatos, my great-grandmother to the ninth power.”(71) This quote from Middlesex shows the randomness of her/his disorder. I found it amazing that over those hundreds of years that only the speaker caught this genetic disorder.

Middlesex: #2: B

“As far as the doctor re concerned, I’m better than Gottlieb… I’ve got a male brain.” (19) In this section of Middlesex we learn about how her hermaphrodite self came to be. The author brought the readers all the way back to the Greek and Turkish war with her Grandmother Desdemona and Lefty. “You’re not only my sister. You’re my third cousin, too. Third cousins can marry,” “You’re crazy, Lefty.” “This way will be easier. We won’t have to rearrange the house.” (39) Lefty after many adventures with other women had only found one love in his life, and that was Desdemona, his sister. But once after a peaceful period, when their town was under control by the Greeks, the Turkish soldiers had returned once again to take over. In evacuation, the family fled to the port city. When scrounging for food, Lefty met Dr. Nishan Philobosian. He patched up Lefty’s new wound. Lefty and his sister barely made it by through the times before the Turkish soldiers arrived. The army closed in the city and started sacking home and burning them. When Dr. P, heard a neighbor’s scream, he rushed over leaving his family in his home. After trying to save his neighbor’s life, but her murderer had done her in, he rushed back to find his family murdered. His two daughters both raped and decapitated. Meanwhile, the French boat came to the island to free all French citizens. Once Desdemona agreed to marry her brother he lied to the man to get his wife, the suicide doctor, and himself on the boat.

Middlesex: #2: A

::VOCAB::
Aquiline(47)- curving like an eagle's beak
Quay(47)- a structure built parallel to the bank of a waterway for use as a landing place

::Analysis::

“leap nimbly up onto a laundry line, and tightrope-walks across to the house behind.”(56) This is an example of personification because it is taking an object, fire, and giving it human characteristics. A fire cannot technically leap nimbly or tightrope.

“the ripples of light reflecting on his cabin walls were the pyrotechnics of heaven.”(44) This is an example of figurative language because it is a metaphor. It compared the reflected light to the god-like pyrotechnics of heaven.

“your legs were made of glass,”(44) This is figurative language for it is a comparison, without the use of “as” or “like”. The soldier compared his general’s legs to glass and their similarities.

::Quote::

“The smell of things burning that aren’t meant to burn wafts across the city: shoe polish, rat poison… And hair and skin.”(57) This quotation from Middlesex illustrates the pain and suffering with occurred at the port. After fleeing their respective towns, the refugees were plied up and captured in a burning barricaded city. The suffering was tremendous and as the couple/family fled from the city they smelt it tragedy.

Middlesex: #1: A

::VOCAB::

Heredity(3)- the sum of the characteristics and potentialities genetically derived from one's ancestors

Endocrinology(3)- a branch of medicine concerned with the structure, function, and disorders of the endocrine glands

::ANALYSIS::

“Began their slow collision into each other.”(11)This is an example of a metaphor because it shows a comparison of the act of forgiveness and reproduction to a collision. Because the couple had a fight earlier they gradually warmed up to each other as time pasted, similar to a slow crash.

“Only yesterday was Chapter Eleven finally allowed to dye his own eggs,” (15) The speaker is using a metaphor to compare an unidentified person as Chapter Eleven. This comparision shows that this person most not seem that important to the author or speaker or that in the past the two have not gotten along.

“her insides as a vast computer code, all 1s and 0s, an infinity of sequences, any one of which might contain a bug.” (37) This is a simile because it is using as to compare the grandma’s inside to a computer code. This comparison was used to illustrate how easily someone’s gene’s genes (1s and 0s) can get mixed.

::QUOTE::

“Our religion’s adherence to the Julian calendar has once again left us out of sync with the neighborhood.”(15) This is an important quote relating to the novel, Middlesex, because it shows the speaker’s mood and relationship to the outside world. The main character obviously feels isolated and distant from her neighborhood and society because of her religious beliefs. This may show a future change in beliefs as she grows older and has more control over her own life.

Middlesex: #1: B

In this section of Middlesex we are introduced to the main characters. First the speaker, also the main character, introduced herself as a normal field hockey playing, lab guinea-pig. “I was first one thing and then the other.” (3) From the beginning of the first section, the narrator projects herself as an insecure, violated, and ever changing individual. The beginning of the novel we meet an eager couple who are ready to have a second child. Because of a vision that the father had received during a dream he was pulling for a girl. So in turn he consulted the neighborhood doctor to see what could make this more likely.. As a family tradition the grandmother predicts the sex of the baby inside, with a silver spoon. As the homeland driven woman eager watch the spoon swing next to the mother’s stomach, the spoon did not move. This was extremely unusual from the normal swing. But as some time past, the spoon swung to show the prediction of a boy. But finally when the baby came, the grandmother’s traditionally correct prediction was proved false. The couple had a girl but there was a shocking future surprise in store for all. This in some way would prove god fearing grandmother to be amazingly and incredibly correct. “They wrapped me in a blanket and put me on display among six other infants, four boys, two girls, all of them, unlike me, correctly tagged.” (18) But before the speaker could tell more about her life, she started to rewind her past all the way back to where her problem started, Greece.

"Like A Boy"

Penelope, wife to Odysseus, had been faithful for twenty lonely years. This was very admirable of her considering that every man in her country was trying to marry her and she had not seen or heard from her husband. Odysseus was also being disloyal and adulterous with a goddess, Calypso. Penelope was securely faithful and continued with her marriage even though her man was untrue.

Penelope’s resilience in her marriage was incredible. Every man in this queen’s country was constantly trying to court her. Her suitors were constantly at her home and destroying the property. “down to the last man the court my mother, they lay waste my house! And mother… she neither rejects a marriage she despises nor can she bear to bring the courting to an end-“(Book 1, 288-2991)The bachelors were desperate and resilient but once again Penelope proved her love for her husband but still kept her suitors around. “She fell to weeping for Odysseus… But the suitors broke into… prayers to lie beside her, share her bed,” (Book 1, 418-421) While she wept longing for Odysseus, her husband was with Calypso. For seven years he stayed on her island, while taking advantage of his loving wife. “In the nights, true, he’d sleep with her in the arching cave-“(Book 5, 170-171) Penelope is an amazing character in that she never gave up on someone, while in the same situation others would lose faith.

“Like a Boy” by Ciara, is from a viewpoint of a lover with a disloyal and absent partner. In many ways this song reminded me of Penelope. One is how both the singer and Penelope are both faithful and devoted to an adulterous man, while both being limited by society and its expectations. “What if I?/Had a thing on the side?/Made ya cry?/Would the rules change up?/Or would they still apply?/If I played you like a toy?/Sometimes I wish I could act like a boy” Another similarity between theses two speakers are also their absent lovers. “If I was always gone/With the sun get'n home/(Would Ya Like That?)/Told you I was with my crew/When I knew it wasn't true” Penelope saw that even if her husband was supposedly dead, she still was true. “Like a Boy” reminded me of Penelope because of both of their unfaithful and absent men.

Hero: Post B : #7

In this section, Thom finally comes to terms with all of his conflicts. First of all his conflict of love; Thom finally realized in the last fighting seen that Goran, is really Dark Hero. In the end they end up together in a lovely gay superheroes relationship. While his second conflict, his relationship with his dad erupts in his face the on the day of Justice’s attack. After a long day of fighting the whole entire league, because of Justice’s mindreading power, Goran, Thom, and Dad are the only ones still standing except for Uberman and Justice. Goran takes on Uberman and disappears into the devastated city. While leaving Thom and his father, Hal, alone to fight Justice. A building then starts to lean to crash with citizens inside, so Thom with his new power saves it. Thom is then left alone to watch his dad struggle against a much stronger hero. But after an unexpected soul, his invisible mother, helps out, Hal then commits suicide with Justice in our to save the world. In the end in order to have saved the earth Hal had to know his son’s morals, much to the surprise to Thom. “My whole life I had been convinced that my father didn’t know me, didn’t understand me. But the truth was that he knew me better than anybody, and he loved me more than anybody in the universe. “(420)

Hero: Post A : #7

VOCAB:

---Vestibule(380) any of various bodily cavities
---Aegis(381) shield or breastplate emblematic of majesty that was associated with Zeus and Athena

ANALYSIS:
~~“I saw Dark Hero palm each of their heads like they were two coconuts and smash them together.”(381) This is an example of a metaphor because the author uses like or as while comparing heads to coconuts.

~~~“He whipped up Uberman’s cape, covering his head with fabric, and tried to steer him like he was riding a bull at the rodeo.”(395) This is also an example of a metaphor because the author uses like or as while comparing Golden Boy to a bull rider.

~~~“he plummeted toward the ground like he had at last found his purpose.”(396) This is also an finally another example of a metaphor because the author uses like or as while comparing Larry’s action to as if he had finally found himself.

QUOTE:

“I was fed up with waiting for people to tell me things, fed up with being scared of what might come next.”(373) This quote is important because it shows Thom realization that he cannot and should not be influenced by other’s actions and opinions. He also realizes that he is only afraid of what people tell him he should be afraid of, not of what he only thinks.