Weekly Review: Sad Our Class is OVER! Week 17

Well this is it.

My last and FINAL blog post on a blog site I will (unfortunately) probably never view again.

This class at first was very hard. I've taken online classes for many, many years (at least 5 years, probably more!) so I'm very much used to the whole online classroom setting. But every teacher does things a little differently...so with this class, it was not only hard to try to navigate where and when to post my writing, I finally figured it out, only for the class to come to an end! World Literature is definitely a hard subject for me, as I'm more of a creative/nonfiction/poetry writing kind of chick. But it's always nice to learn more about actual Literature and all the in's and outs and history of the author's and to read what they've written. There were a few advantages I had this semester, in the sense that a few stories we were assigned to read, I have already read in previous English classes. I have to take another World Literature class, which I'm taking next semester, so hopefully it'll be a good class like this one.

Although I am sad to be done with school for this semester, I'm also glad to have a little break and to be able to read some books/stories on my own time and stories/books that I pick out myself. I hope to see some of my fellow classmates that were in this class, to see them in future English classes.

* Side note: if anyone wants to know some great English classes to take, let me know! I've taken more than I really needed so I know what classes and teachers are great to take!

Thanks everyone for a radical Spring 2018 class semester! It's been real...but...I'M OUT!

Taking Stock: Our Final Farewell After 17 Weeks

As one final backup of my work, as well as checking out any final class announcements, the last thing I will do is input my final declarations. I have this post to finish as well as the Weekly Review, then I will input all of the Week 17 Declarations.

Thanks Ms. H for a great and interesting World Literature class. I've gained some new classmates as well as insight about World Literature and I hope it helps with future English classes.

Thanks again Ms. H and fellow classmates! It's been real!

Final Revision of Project 3

Final Draft of our Project 3 Link:

https://sites.google.com/view/futurewriter/final-draft-project-3

Week 17 Analysis Mahasweta Devi "Giribala"

A part of Mahasweta Devi's story, "Giribala," that was interesting and notable is on page 1157, reads as follows: "The master of the house persuaded Giri's father not to seek police help because that would only mean a lot of trouble and expense. The terrible thing had happened after all; Bela had become one more victim of this new business of procuring girls on the pretext of marriage. The police were not going to do much for this single case; they would most probably say that the father did it after all. Poor Bela had this written on her forehead." Lots of thoughts and questions arose when I read this. For example, why would Giri's father not seek help from the police, regardless of how much trouble it'd be or how much it'd cost? If something bad happens, to anyone, and if there's nothing that the family can do to help or make it right, why NOT get the police involved? I also have been curious lately about how and why family members, such as the parents, would marry someone off? Why is it the parents job to do that? I do know, understand and accept the fact that in some cultures the parents (or whomever) make arranged marriages. But if someone doesn't want to marry a certain person, why force it? If they like/love someone else, or aren't ready to get married, why force it upon them?

Another part that struck me as odd was when Devi writes, "Giribala, at the age of fourteen, then started off to make her home with her husband." (Page 1151) Why must she go off, at the age of only 14, to have a husband and go off and make a home (and eventually a life and family, I'd assume) at such a young age? In one of my reading notes for this week, I mentioned that I've been watching a show called "Escaping Polygamy." (Side note: please do not get offended at this show nor at what I say regarding the show and polygamy itself. If you, personally, or someone you know lives the life of polygamy, that is your/their choice. I am not personally judging you, and these words are just my honest opinion.) In this show, the three main girls, whom are sisters, have escaped the Kingston polygamous group known as The Order. The girls also have helped, and continue to help, others escape The Order as well as other polygamous groups such as the FLDS and AUB groups. In The Order, at very young ages, the girls are given a list of men (which are either uncles, half-brothers, or cousins) in which they are to marry. Many times, these men can be 20+ years older than these girls. The readings for this week have both reminded me of the show, and it breaks my heart to know that young 12 year old girls are being forced to marry much older men. They are still young, innocent girls who should be able to live their life. If they chose to marry and have kids, they should be able to do so at the age of 18, not 11 or 12 or 14 years old. If they are still young girls, how are they supposed to bear and raise children? Or even know how to be a wife? I definitely was not ready or mature enough at that age to even have a boyfriend, much less have a husband and to think about having a home and children! I know "Giribala" is just a story, but there are similar things that are actually, truly going on in the world like this.

Reading Notes Part B Week 17

This story, along with the other story we read this week, was interesting. Both stories seem to have somewhat similar story lines in the sense that the women are married off and many things related to their bodies (and even marriage and babies) are not really up to them. (At least this is sort of how I took it.) I also found with "Giribala" that she eventually wanted to not have any more children, which seemed frowned upon in her culture. Whether or not women, from any culture, who do not wish to have children any more (or at all for that matter) should have first say, considering it is THEIR body. Both stories also seem to be similar because the women don't see to have a say about their bodies either. I liked how the story started about introduced Giribala, where she was born, and thought it was interesting how Devi writes, "This Giribala, like so many others, was neither beautiful nor ugly, just an average-looking girl. But she had lovely eyes, eyes that somehow made her appearance striking." (Page 1149) How is it that "like so many others" she was just average looking? What makes someone, male or female, just average looking? Everyone is handsome/pretty in their own right, in their own way; different characteristics makes them unique. I also thought, like why does it matter what she looks like? How does that affect the person she is?

Reading Notes Part A Week 17

This story was a little rough for me to get through; not too sure why, but it was just an odd story for me. A few notes I took away from this story:

- Narrator, Saleem, talks about the day he was born
- Feels like as he gets older, time is slipping away and he's running out of time
- Saleem feels he needs to tell his story before something happens or before he dies
- Talks about his grandfather; perhaps their relationship was significant & special to him
- I thought it was interesting when Aadam's nose bleeds and then says he won't bow before man or God ever again.
- I'm not sure if what I'm about to write is inappropriate or not really related. But there were certain parts of this story that reminded me of a recent show I've been watching called "Escaping Polygamy," where three sisters escaped The Order (aka The Kingston Clan) and the sisters help others escape The Order and have also helped people escape the FLDS group (another powerful polygamous group). This story sort of reminded me of this show in the sense of it seeming to be of this spiritual nature and escaping away from certain people/places.

Taking Stock Of Our Last 2 Weeks / Week 16

Everything has been backed up. I've caught up on the announcements as well as Declarations. I know last week I had a few assignments that I had completed on time but hadn't been able to get my declaration points because of technical difficulties, but I emailed Ms. H last week about the missing assignments before the class ended and she said she'd get them in, so hopefully they do, and that is great!

I am so proud of my fellow classmates for all of their hard work and am proud of myself, too, for all the hard work and discipline.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE FOR OUR LAST WEEK OF CLASS!
WE GOT THIS!!!