Reading group assignment

1)In the Sweetheart of the song Tra Bong there are a lot of figurative language that help the reader to understand better the text.  A lot of them are very strong, but they still give you the idea of what you should actually feel.

“Greenies were not social animals.  Animals, Rat said, but far from social”

“She had long white legs and blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream.”

“Mark and Mary Anne strolled through the ville like a pair of tourist”

“This seventeen-year-old doll in her goddamn culottes, perky and fresh-faced, like a cheerleader visiting the opposing team’s locker room.”

“The seven silhouttes seemed to float across the surface of the earth, like spirits, vaporous and unreal.”

“The girl joined the zoo.  One more animal.”

“At the girl’s throat was a necklace of human tongues. 

“It’s like trying to tell somebody what chocolate tastes like.”

“She seemed to flow like water through the dark, like oil, without sound or center.”

2. After Mary Annie came to Vietnam, she changed a lot. She got used to blood, weapons, and she was able to deal with the wounds calmly. These all made her became cold and sack less. Never as naiveté and sunny as she first arrived Vietnam, Mary felt her blood burned and was excited affected by the war. She had curious for everything in Vietnam, she joined the Greenies, she wore a necklace that was made up of tongues and broke up with Fossie. She said she wanted to eat everything there, because she was sick of the war here, which made her cruel and changed a lot. But she immersed in Vietnam, in war, and cannot leave.

Rat Killey tells this story because he thoughts a lot from Mary.  Rat helped Fossie to find Mary after she disappeared, thus he witness the whole story of Mary. Rat thought Mary Annie was just like every of them, ignore the gender, Mary was not a stranger, everyone changed a lot after they came to Vietnam, became boring, cold and sack less. He even said that he was fall in love with Mary. Mary was just like a mirror, which let them see their selves.

3)The reader sees Vietnam as a deadly place where nothing has a sense.  All the things that I can see is the soldiers point of view and they see only deaths and the happiness of being still alive after all those missions.  I can understand how difficult it is to live in a world completely different from the world where we are use to live and Mary Anne just got into it too quickly!

4. “Transformation” and “gender” are tied to perspective of the reader, Rat Kiley, and even Mary Ann’s boyfriend Fossie. Since Marry Ann is a woman, coming to Vietnam has a different effect on her. Before arriving to Vietnam she had all the characteristics of a pretty and soft woman, having long flowing hair and a motherly personality by taking care of everyone. And after Mary has been in this setting for a while Fossie and a lot of the other men are noticing some changes in her behavior. It starts on her appearance and she starts to cut her hair short, learning some of the Vietnamese language, she starts going on sort of night missions, and even took part in some the rituals and bonfires. To top it all off Fossie caught her during one of the gatherings and she was wearing a necklace with tongues on it. Marry Ann had gone through a complete transformation from a prime example to a house wife to a downright savage.     

5. Rat Killey added many his own view about Mary Annie, which explained why Mary changed such a lot during those several weeks. Rat gave us the point that Mary Annie was just like every man here, not as sunny as before, became cold and sack less. The only difference was she changed more quickly. Sanders Mitchell thought Mary’s disappearance and being one of the Greenies was just like an animal went into the zoo.

6. The ending of this particular story does matter. At the end of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”  Mary Ann had completely become one with the land. “She was wearing her culottes, her pink sweater, and a necklace of human tongues. She was dangerous. She was ready for the kill.” This would affect the reader by suggesting that war changes people to a great extent.

Hopeful Expectations

I don't have any worries for this group discussion, so that's good. I don't expect anything to go wrong, you know people arguing pointlessly, people slacking off. I don't think we'll have those problems, we have a good work ethic in the group we have planned. I expect for us to expand on some discussions in the book, to a point where we can just riff at it without really having to even open up the book. Just have such a familiarity with the book and it's characters that we can have meaningful discussions. I expect you as the teacher to be there, to listen to us when we tell you where we stand in the discussion. Basically who thinks what and why, that sort of of thing.So be available when you can for when we need you. I think this will be a good project that will be fun.

Dear TV

Tablo- Dear TV lyrics

Daniel Armand Lee, A.K.A. Tablo, is a Korean rapper, who has decided that deserves his hate. This is similar to Grendel because of the obvious reason that hardly any of us hate tv. You may look on him with bewilderment at his non-conformity but that's exactly what happened to Grendel with his disdain for humanity. Just the fact that his views are not mainstream that he should be ostracized. I could bore you with more connections with Tablo and Grendel or you can listen to the song and understand.

Next is the song Nocturne, which is made for Tablo's disdain for humanity. itself, not just one of it's tools like TV. Between our greed, our lies, our everything. This is not at all a constant feeling that Grendel has for humanity, but it's clear that anyone who does not understand the mainstream will have a disdain for it. 

The not so good ol' days

Ways of TalkingBy Ha Jin

We used to like talking about grief

Our journals and letters were packed

with losses, complaints, and sorrows.

Even if there was no grief

we wouldn’t stop lamenting

as though longing for the charm

of a distressed face.

Then we couldn’t help expressing grief

So many things descended without warning:

labor wasted, loves lost, houses gone,

marriages broken, friends estranged,

ambitions worn away by immediate needs.

Words lined up in our throats

for a good whining.

Grief seemed like an endless river—

the only immortal flow of life.

After losing a land and then giving up a tongue,

we stopped talking of grief

Smiles began to brighten our faces.

We laugh a lot, at our own mess.

Things become beautiful,

even hailstones in the strawberry fields.

Well this poem is, in my view, speaks a very nice message. One that I try to follow as well. The message being, Life is crap, but so what? You're still here, you're still living, so live. Life can bring on a river of bad things and that torrent can seem overwhelming. But we're human, we're resilient, we're here, and we can't let the bad things run our life. We can still laugh, we can still sing, we can still learn, we can still love, we can live. Nothing is permanent, but it's still there. You still had it. So enjoy it, reminisce about it. Where he talks about losing friends, family, loves, possessions, and he still goes on. Every thing that he mentions can hurt you greatly, but you can still go on! Don't act like there nothing else in the world. That you lost anything that could ever hold a place in your heart. There's a whole world of possible replacements. Sure they'll never be the same but nothing ever is. Life can be tough so pick yourself up and keep going every time. This poem shows a little deviation towards the end from my views when it mentions the hailstones in the strawberry fields. I believe in relaxation, not obliviousness, still notice the world around you. Just don't let it get to.

Today's hero's... Today!

 Today, we as a people are not so much concerned with all the aspects of what a hero is as people were in the old days. I mean look at Beowulf, he's obviously a stereotypical hero, the stuff of comic books and movies and stories. He slays monsters and dragons and is well respected, and this is still a definition of a hero. However this definition today has expanded, or rather it has become freer. In other words you don't have to be like Beowulf to be a hero. Whether it's a lack of imagination, or a sense of realism, today's heroes are just ordinary people who did some action that showed the qualities that have inspired people for years. Selflessness, heroism, bravery, taking a risk in one’s life to save another, etc. I'm not knocking the heroes of today but they are more grounded than in the old fables. Look at Sully Sullenberger, he only had to land a plane on the Hudson River one time to become a hero. He now has permanent hero status no matter where he will go. But he's not a dragon slayer, he's not a liberator of slaves, he landed a plane on water. Just to remind you, I'm not criticizing him for not being heroic enough. I'm just saying our standards our more realistic.

The found poem

Eating TogetherBy Li-Young Lee

In the steamer is the trout   

seasoned with slivers of ginger,

two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil.   

We shall eat it with rice for lunch,   

brothers, sister, my mother who will   

taste the sweetest meat of the head,   

holding it between her fingers   

deftly, the way my father did   

weeks ago. Then he lay down   

to sleep like a snow-covered road   

winding through pines older than him,   

without any travelers, and lonely for no one.

I chose this poem because of it's simplicity and it's calm way of telling itself. It's comforting feeling, just making food and enjoying one another's company at the table is a very traditional thought. That kind of tradition is a relaxing thought isn't it? I like it because it's easy to visualize the food being made step by step, and then enjoying it with family. After which laying down for a nap, and then drifting off into sleep.  I feel very at ease with this poem.

This be my Hand chart