The Border Patrol State

"The Border Patrol State," a story written by Leslie Silko, brings to light many important issues revolving how the United States has decided to protect their borders. Personally, I believe the idea of having these border "checkpoints" is a good idea, but over the past few years the way that the agents go about their duties has become slightly ridiculous. Due to the increasing number of illegal immigrants, many agents have begun to categorize people who might be potential threats by their race. Silko gave the example of her friends half Chinese father. Since he kept missing the turn onto the correct highway, border patrol came and stopped him; they didn't want to check to see if he was lost, but to see if he was smuggling Chinese immigrants. Personally, I have had many experiences where I have come in contact with the patrol. My parents are both from Albuquerque and went to college in Los Cruces, so I have been on many road trips traveling through southwestern Texas and New Mexico. Being a five person, Caucasian family driving a Tahoe with a golden retriever, we were not ever put under any serious questioning, but I have seen the other side of the continuum. Those situations are just as she describes in the beginning of the article; it is almost as if the officers are looking for people to take away, specifically based on race. Overall, I completely agree with this article. The United States created this idea, from the country's creating, that it was one that had its values based on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I believe that everyone has the right to experience that, but how can they if they are constantly being questioned and interrogated? Especially if they are American Citizens; well, I guess we will wait and see.

What Would I Carry?

Hmmm...what would I carry? I am currently having a mental debate with myself about what I would carry in my rucksack; one that is between the essence of necessity and desire. For practical purposes, I would bring a can opener, pocket knife, thermal blanket, mosquito repellent, canned food, and water purifying tablets. I would also like to have a spare pair of dry clothes and a warm coat. This coat could be used as a coat, blanket, or pillow. There are so many other things that I think I would need, or purely want to take, but there would most likely be not enough room. The other part to think about is the weight of the pack; I don't want to stuff it to the brim and then have know room for other things, and I would also like to be able to carry it. Out of personal nestalgia, I would bring pictures of my family, my best friends, and my dogs. I would also bring my favorite stuffed animal, Meow. I have had her since I was 5 years old and has come with me everywhere. I would not like to necessarily sleep with her at night, but the thought of having her there would be like my family is still with me. I would also bring my Bible and a journal; both could be used to write down thoughts and different stories from being at war. The Vietnam War was a very significant war in our more modern era. It was really interesting to read this more modern take on war and understand what was going on and how each event impacted them. It really showed that certain things can really help you get through difficult situations, or make them many times worse.

The American Dream?

Through out the semester, I have come to believe that the "American Dream" incorporates the promise of economic prosperity and overall success. I also believe the American Dream is one that involves acceptance. Many times, people who wish to achieve this impossible dream are from other countries or very different cultures within America. From reading her work, The School Days Of An Indian Girl, I got the impression that she was definitely not living the idealized American dream. The sentences "Sometimes they took their forefingers out of their mouths and pointed at my moccasined feet. Their mothers, instead of reproving such rude curiosity, looked closely at me, and attracted their children's further notice to my blanket. This embarrassed me, and kept me on the verge of tears" (429). The idea of acceptance of all people was clearly not exemplified in the circumstance of this work, especially in this instance. On that same train trip, Zitkala-Sa references her shame, by not being able to look around the cabin comfortably. This also also refers to her want to be back home with her mother, brother and aunt. Even though this work is very interesting, I believe it does not portray the ideals of what is commonly known as the "American Dream".

Bonus Blog #2

Imperialism has been a dominating force through out history. It began thousands of years ago with powerful forces such as the Roman and Ottoman Empire and has continued into more modern times with the British and American Empires. Over the past few classes, I have come to believe that Imperialism is a process where a dominant world power tries to expand their dominance of another country so they can profit from the smaller ones land, labor, raw materials, and whatever else they have. I always new that America had Imperialistic tendencies, but I never thought that we actually placed an imperialist style of government on other nations. Out of all the readings, I found the ones on the take over of Hawaii very informative and interesting. I had heard about American take over of Hawaii briefly in the past, but I had never grasped the magnitude of the event itself. With America's imperialistic motives, they decided to annex a country, that was thriving on its own, and temporarily exile a Queen, who was doing only good things for the well being of the nation. The first example I thought of, when we started this set of readings, was the similarities between the Hawaiian capture and the take over by Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus believed that the ways of the Native Americans were not sufficient, to his European standards, so he decided to change them without their consent. The American government did the same thing to Hawaii; the nation was not considered "technologically advanced" by our standards, but they were still a small, but thriving, nation. The notion of imperialism has been around for thousands of year, beginning with the Romans, and going until today. Even though this is not a fair way of governing and expanding power, it is one that will, regardless, continue to exist.

Hawaii's Story

"Trees shade its walls from the heat of noonday; its ample gardens are filled with the choicest flowers and shrubs; it is, in fact, just what it appears, a choice tropical retreat in the midst of the chief city of the Hawaiian Islands." 
-Hawai`i's Story by Hawai`i's Queen Chp. IV.

This specific passage stuck out to me for many reasons, the main reason being the language. The word choice relates specifically to the beauty of Hawaii, the "tropical retreat" it is known as today. Queen Lili'uokalani almost made it sound like this estate was a place where one could come to enjoy the wonders of Hawaii, besides having to deal with all the bad aspects of civilization; such as the United States unlawfully taking over.

The Perplexing Question

Claude McKay has a very powerful way of describing different moments through out his different poems. He uses very specific syntax to convey his emotions and experiences. In his poem, If We Must Die, he ended with a very powerful phrase, it states, "Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack, / Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back" (707). These last two lines show his determination to fight back, regardless of what the situation is. McKay's poem The Lynching, is also a work that describes pain and suffering. He starts of the work by stating "His Spirit in smoke ascended to the high heaven" (707). It writes it in a way that implies that he is already dead before he is actually lynched. I am just curious about why he has to write in that way? Even though all of his work is so beautiful, he almost writes with a constant negative outlook on life. I know he is writing in a very rough time, especially for African American's, but what about having hope? It couldn't hurt every once in a while to write something that could give many people an idea of how the future could be rather then the horror that it was during that time. There are many other perplexing questions throughout both of these works, but his intentions is what had me the most perplexed.

The Aha! Moment

This may sound strange, but I have always loved the Aha! moment in books and movies; especially when it is totally unexpected. I really enjoyed reading The Wife of His Youth, by Charles Chestnutt, because that moment was very unexpected. As I have reflected on my reading of the short story, I have come to realize that there are so many little clues that point to the fact that the old slave women is actually the wife of Mr. Ryder's youth. The most obvious clue is in the title; it should have been a red flag that this women was his wife when she showed up asking him if she new her husband from her youth, but even then it didn't click. Other clues also begin to pop up, but they are significantly more subtle. Mr. Ryder mentions the fact that he had never married, but the fact that he was still "single" could have implied that he was almost holding onto something, and that fact connects to Liza's statement of "He wouldn' marry no yuther 'ooman 'tel he foun' out 'bout me. I knows it". The interesting part was that Liza was correct; even though he thought he was in love with Mrs.Dixon, he still dropped everything and went back to the wife of his youth at the end. The end is where the true Aha! moment occurs; from that moment, every little detail makes sense. I believe that moment of ultimate understanding was more gradual in Frances Harper's poem, Learning To Read. At least to me, I could tell that the narrator had ambition and was going to learn how to read, know matter what. The narrator explained how slaves would learn how to read through hearing the children spell. From that, they were able to out words together and learn how to read. The narrator's determination to read is ultimately shown in the last three stanzas. Harper writes "But as I was rising sixty / I had no time to wait. / So I got a pair of glasses / and straight to work I went, / And never stopped till I could read / The hymns and testament". Those few lines are the true Aha! moment in Learning To Read. They show determination and persistence, two very admirable qualities. Both works leave readers on their toes through out the work, regarding the meaning of the work as a whole.