I found the connections that you made between music and life experiences interesting. It’s very clear that you have an extensive amount of knowledge on the Beatles and it definitely shows in your blog. I found the parts where you connect music moments to life moments especially compelling. It made me reflect on my music and the moments that I have attached to it, really shows you the power that music has. I find that it adds to the character of Oskar that he draws experiences and emotions from music and makes the connections so pointedly. Oskar’s intelligence is a unique one and it is unsurprising that he associates experience and music in such an intelligent way.
As touched on in Elizabeth’s blog, there is a distinct difference between the historical and emotional significance of an event. Although we all naturally accept 9/11 and Dresden as being horrendous events in world history, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close allows for us to look at it through the emotional significance. Foer is not concerned with how the world reacted to 9/11 and Dresden, but rather how Oskar, Grandma, and Grandpa perceived these events. As Elizabeth said, we tend to look to look at statistics of an event, while this “takes away the significance of each individual.” After reading the novel, Oskar’s personal account of 9/11 will forever stay with me.
I really enjoyed reading the blogs!
-Erin
In reference to Isaiah’s blog: “The Destruction and Reconstruction of Coping”
I really enjoyed reading your blog as it brought up another central theme of the novel that I hadn’t quite thought of; the way that people cope with death and trauma. I like how you made the differentiation between Oskar and his grandfather and how the two cope with death. On one hand, you talk about how “Oskar attempts to cope with his father’s death by desperately seeking some sort of closure” and how he almost refuses to accept defeat. On the other hand, his grandfather accepted that defeat and used not speaking as his coping mechanism. I liked how you made those distinctions very clear! I also thought your comment about not being able to achieve maximum happiness when everyone important in your life is sill alive very interesting because I ask that same question to myself. As someone who is fortunate enough to not have experienced extreme lose, it is hard to imagine what those who have go through.
In reference to Kate’s blog “Absence and the 9/11 Attacks”
I really enjoyed reading your blog since as far as I know, you were the only one who brought up the topic that I was drawn into which is absence. The theme absence appeared a lot of time in the novel such as the absence of a father figure for Oskar, the absence of the lock of the key which led Oskar to a quest searching for answers, and the one that you mentioned in your blog, the absence of Thomas Jr’s body (empty coffin) which made Oskar so furious and that he thinks there is no point of having a funeral. Relating to the absence of Oskar’s father body which made it harder for him to move on, you also managed to addressed your readers a question at the end of your blog, “with such a tragic event, would knowing where the body of your loved one is make the coping process easier or simply be unbearable?”. For me, if I lose a loved one in an incident like that I would definitely prefer to know that my loved one body is safe in a coffin rather than having no clue where the body is. It would make it easier for me to move on and knowing that their body is safe.
In reference to Therese’s blog ” Worthy vs Unworthy Lives”
While reading your blog the ironic phrase “fight for peace” came into my mind since these type of actions took and are taking place in human history. I also remembered the political science lecture when we discussed about how leaders in our contemporary world most of the time think that war is the solution to most problems. I support your pacifist point because I believe that the main solution to most problems is not through violence. Instead of threatening other cultures or societies different from ours we should respect the worthy of every human being that lives in this world. I am aware that there are approximately 7 billion people living in this world. From my point of view one of the main things that should matter in our lives it to be happy in the time and space we are taking place right now. With this happiness humans should be able willing to help and give to others instead of trying to go against them. I think it is important that even though we are part of such a big number (7 billion) we should at least try every day to share and radiate positive feelings in our surroundings. I know this might sound idealistic, but as you said “We’re the specie who invented smartphones, cars, wifi, and memes! Why can’t we invent peace?”
**Edited
In reference to Therese’s blog ” Worthy vs Unworthy Lives”
While reading your blog the ironic phrase “fight for peace” came into my mind since these type of actions took and are taking place in human history. I also remembered the political science lecture when we discussed about how leaders in our contemporary world most of the time think that war is the solution to most problems. I support your pacifist perspective because I believe that the main solution to most problems is not through violence. Instead of threatening other cultures or societies different from ours we should respect the worth of every human being that lives in this world. I am aware that there are approximately 7 billion people living in this world. From my point of view one of the main things that should matter in our lives is to be happy in the time and space we are taking place right now. With this happiness humans should be willing to help and give to others instead of trying to go against them. I think it is important that even though we are part of such a big number (7 billion) we should at least try every day to share and radiate positive feelings in our surroundings. I know this might sound idealistic, but as you said “We’re the specie who invented smartphones, cars, wifi, and memes! Why can’t we invent peace?”
I definitely agree with your point that adult’s are complicated creatures and children are innocent who try to understand what’s happening to the world. In my Psychology class, I wrote about moral development. Children’s moral knowledge relates to what they are taught. They equate wrong with punishment and right with rewards. With that said, these children’s aim is to do good. I even concluded in that paper that children are much more moral than most adults.
However, with technological advancement, children lose their innocence. When we watched “The Mask You Live In”, a huge perecentage of children encounter pornographic sites. This then affect their development and how they see the world.
Going back to Marji and Oskar, their development has been affected by the trauma they encountered. Their moral development and their perspective of the world are changed because of the traumatic loss and constant fear. For example, Marji, at one point began smoking cigarettes. Her morals are affected by the trauma she encountered to cope with the world. Oskar, on the other hand, began lying. I definitely agree that children are pure creatures; nonetheless, they are also the most affected when traumatic events happen.
I want to comment on Isaiah’s blog:
Although coping with trauma is a very serious topic I really enjoyed the way you put it into words and showed the different ways people cope with traumatic events in Foer’s book. I also fully agree with you statement that suffering is an important experience and that it teaches us to value the things we consider as “normal“. Foer’s book makes us think about things and events that make us very uncomfortable for example the loss of a close person. First it brings up all these emotions feeling with Oskar, Grandpa, Grandpa, Oskar’s Mother and Oskar’s father … but I think that these emotions are supposed to trigger a thought process which makes you value everything around you even more or at least realize that a lot of things in life are not “normal“ and that we have to enjoy them as much as we can.
In reference to Isaiah’s blog: “Destiny: Coexistence or Fear?”
Your blog post really reminded me of a paper that I had written last term for history on Nazi Propaganda. What really stood out to me was when you made the point that when the Nazi’s no longer saw the Jews as humans, they were already dead to them. It is surprising how easy it is to dehumanize someone. In the case of the Holocaust, all Hitler had to do to get the German’s on his side was to get them to believe that the Jews were a threat and that they wanted to destroy the Germany and the German’s. It is truly incredible what fear can do to people and what people will do to try and protect themselves. It makes me wonder had I been in Germany at the time of the Holocaust, would I have fallen for Hitler’s propaganda?
Regarding Gabriel’s blog post “War on Terror”, I found the comparison he made between Mexico and Canada’s reaction to 9/11 interesting. Gabriel writes “In class I was intrigued by how much more attention 9/11 has been given in Canada compared to Mexico, given that both countries are the main trading partners of the USA..” . I found that intriguing too, considering the geographical locations of both countries, and the almost equal importance of the United States to them both. We heard a lot of these stories in our ASTU class, however, about students from other countries around the world who didn’t hear as much about 9/11. Personally, I was living in Vienna, Austria at the time and don’t remember hearing or talking about that day at all. It wasn’t until I moved to the United States in 2011 that I actually learned in depth about the events of 9/11. The more we learn about trauma and its affects, the more I begin to understand the events that followed 9/11, the reactions, the anger, the disbelief, and the feeling that this trauma had to have affected everyone in the world simply because it happened in one of the most well known cities in the world. However, as it’s been shown, that wasn’t the case.
-Mia Spare
In response to Clara’s blog “And they didn’t come back”:
I agree with your idea of Oskar’s story perhaps not being the only narrative in Foer’s novel to be upsetting. I think that focusing on grandma and grandpa story makes you realize how much they have actually lost. Especially in Grandma’s case, after losing her sister Anna in the Dresden bombings whom she was incredibly close with, and then finally re connecting with grandpa after all of those years only to have him leave her whilst she is pregnant with Thomas Jr. Lastly then she must suffer another loss, the loss of her son Thomas in the attacks on 9/11. Grandpa also suffers the loss of Anna, his former love in Dresden, and he loses Thomas whom he has never actually met. Although Grandpa did not know Thomas I feel that, that is even more heartbreaking because he must have a huge amount of guilt about leaving grandma, and never being a father to Thomas.
I was reading through some of the comments, and came upon Mia’s comment in response to Gabriel’s blog. I was living in France during 9/11, and one of my earlier memories was the video of the plane crashing into the Twin Towers. When thinking back to it, it seemed like that video had been played for a year over and over. Maybe the fact that Mia hadn’t heard of 9/11 in Austria was due in part to her parents (or her interpretive community). I thought this to be interesting as we both come from Europe, and both countries are in the EU, but we had different exposures to 9/11. For me, that image of the crashing plane was burned into my mind; I remember it like it was yesterday. It makes me wonder now if this is what was intended, to make people see it until they couldn’t forget it. It is very possible, as the phrase “never forget” was used after this horrific event. This again calls into question the media and their reportage on this event compared to the lack of it on other events that may have occurred in a “non-Western” country.
Anyways, those are my two cents…
Ryan
A quote from Judith Butler’s book, Frames of War: When is Life Grievable?, that really made me think about the way media transforms our thoughts was: “The tactic interpretive scheme that divides worthy from unworthy lives works fundamentally through the senses, differentiating the cries we hear from those we cannot, and likewise the level of touch and even smell.”(51) I think your blog post perfectly shows the way that media is very selective on the content they show in order to twist our view of “people like us” and who we should care about. I agree with you on that this matter should be more publicly addressed because we are not getting all of the information and we’re reacting to a manipulated reality.
I believe that its not up to media to decide what lives matter the most and how to portray certain situations in order to provoke certain reactions from the public.
In reference to Grace’s “What makes 9/11 crucial as a background“ Blog post.
During the weekend I had read few blogs which are compels me interests, one of them is from Grace “What makes 9/11 crucial as a background”. At first, She discussed about how Foer’s book “Extremely Loud& Incredibly Close” narrate the disastrously 9/11 attack different them other mainstream medias. The novel neither present the terror with overwhelming facts and figure nor strong national sentiment. Foer rather taking views of multiple narrators within a victimize family to examine how they cope with traumas and continues to live on. Although the victim himself, Thomas Junior, exit early from the story, but he is definitely the driven force which get his son sink into depress and cure him back to life. A boy used to live under the shadow of his dad now grown up to be strong is such a wonderful, inspirational story that gives us a positive energy to also live well. Grace made another point critique about that Americans tend to look at events by draw line between “us” and “them”. She exemplified it by comparing the statistic of the fatal caused by road crash in 2012 with the total death in 9/11. The number killing in roadway is over ten times more than the terrorist attack but it seems like they are more aggressive towards latter which intense enough to wage a war in a name of freedom while it led many innocent civilian became victims.
In reference to Kennedy’s blog. “Who am I, who are we and what is humanity?’
I really enjoyed the way in which Kennedy’s blog raised the level of abstraction in this blog post. Although I think that it is normally preferable to have a lower level of abstraction in most academic works, sometimes it seems as though there is a time and a place for exploring these topics through lenses such as existentialism and other philosophical concepts as they enhance our understanding of certain topics. I also believe that tragedies such as 9/11 can be understood better when approached from this perspective.
the following comment is in response to “Who am I, who are we, and what is humanity?” from Kennedy’s Korner.
First, I’d like to applaud the honesty and personality that you pour into your blogs. Bravo.
I think that the questions you pose in your latest blog are really really important questions. To me, being “preachy” isn’t a problem in this case at all. If we are settling on the idea that our existence is found outside ourselves and in our relations with others, expressing opinion/ personal experience is exactly what we need to do to achieve to a more complete understanding of ourselves, in my opinion.
You make a keen observation of the hypocrisy in the declaration of independence, and while your conclusion that “at the end of the day, all people are equal” is no doubt true, I’d like to dig deeper into that. What value is it that we all hold equally? And if part of being human is our collective humanity transcending our individual difference, who/what gives humanity that inherent equality and where does it lie? I’ll leave it with those questions, because otherwise it might get preachy.
Sweet blog!
-Joseph
In reference to Therese’s blog “Worth vs. Unworthy Lives”
I’d like to say that it was a really good blog post! I also noticed that we both had initial thoughts of the Paris attacks when we read Butler’s literature. Nonetheless, to continue on your point about media exposure, I do find it very unfair how Paris had all the attention in comparison to the earthquake occurring in Japan, the hurricane in Mexico, and the suicide bombings in both Beirut and Baghdad. A lot of people had suffered and died in other places but did the media showcase it? No.
Moving forward, to add to your small rant of reasons why they wouldn’t want to broadcast Mali is because most people don’t know about Mali (sad but true, I certainly have never heard of it) and the people who are in charge of the news probably found it irrelevant. In my opinion, I think the big reason as to why we all cared about Paris so much is how much history they hold and especially what it means to world as a whole. I remember going there and having a great experience, and they’re known for being the “city of love”. In addition, Paris is also in close connections with North America having a lot of inter connectional flows. Nevertheless, it still doesn’t justify how the world didn’t pay attention to the world on a global level. However in order for this to improve, people need to value each other’s lives just as any other. I must say your line of because “they’re white” is kind of stereotypical but I understand where you’re coming from. But if you look at Paris, they’re not all that pure white anymore but are far more international then what it was back in the 19th century. In addition, the media has “normalized” violence for many of us even as bad as it sounds so for it to occur in places where it was unexpected, definitely was a reason as to why it had more coverage.
Great blog though!
-mel
Comment on Inhneke’s Blog
In Inneke’s blog post, she raises a interesting comparison between lyric poetry and pop-song lyric.
Indeed, there are obvious elements that two types of arts present in common, but technically I don’t consider song writers are consider poets. In pop-music, the length or the use of words are depend on will it suitable of the vocal rhythm of the song or not. Also these pop songs are leading factors of (pop) cultures, so they may also indicate the trends of fashion not only the personal feeling. Instead, in literature, poems are written in a more isolate perspective and it don’t need to use catch word or following the trends of popular culture.
You have a very good point in relating Saal’s concept of trauma transfer with the poem we just read in class titled “September 1, 1939” by W.H. Auden and the tragic incident of 9/11. You explained that trauma transfer simply means seeing your own suffering from someone else’s perspective, like how you mentioned that victims from those two different events may somehow have a certain connection to one another because they may experienced similar traumatic experience or emotions. You also mentioned that the victims of 9/11 were reading Auden’s poem and seeing their suffering instead of the suffering of those people during that time. It reminds me of our class discussion that week, by the choice of words Auden used from that poem made us think that it is a poem meant for 9/11 incident instead of WW2. Me myself first thought that it was a poem about 9/11. Anyway, you managed to point out very good connections between trauma transfer, the poem and 9/11 incident. Keep up the good work!
I thought you had an awesome point when you brought up the idea that W.H. Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939” reminded you of Saal’s trauma transfer. Because this poem wasn’t obviously about 9/11, it seems as though it could be describing several other traumas as well. I think you are right when you said that “trauma transfer is just saying that traumas are connected” because all though each trauma is unique a lot of the same feelings such as grief are very similar. I will ask you though; to what extent do you think this poem connects to traumas? Would only a select few be able to relate to it or would all traumas be able to find some connection within it? All in all I thought your interpretation of Auden’s poem was really interesting!
I want to response to Melissa and Kate’s comments and to Jackson’s blog.
Melissa’s: I agree that “they’re white” line on my blog is stereotypical. I’m glad you pointed that out because while I was writing that part of my blog, I was contemplating whether I should include it since Canada is multicultural. Maybe I should’ve made it clearer that ‘they’re white’ isn’t refering to population but domination. Also, other countries supported Paris during that time who aren’t predominanty ‘white.’ Good point!
Kate’s: Interesting questions! I must say I’m having a difficult time answering those. However, I think that in everything that we read (especially poems) or watch, we can relate to them in some way or if we want to. Yes, even trauma. For example, the line: ‘Defenceless under the night. Our world in stupor lies.’ I think most trauma victims feel defenceless under the night and feel that the world is full of lies just like Oskar. I can also relate to the poem in some point; with the line, ‘Faces along the bar. Cling to their average day.’ However, I want to point out that even though everyone can relate to parts of the poem, as a whole, it is intended for WWII victims. I hope that answers your questions. I’m interested with what you think though!
Jackson’s blog: I also want to answer your questions. I think as global citizens and university students, the best we can do right now is educate ourselves and each other and talk about the issues. I remember when one of our classmates asked what we should do (referring to the war on terror), Professor Erickson said we should discuss it amongst ourselves. And if possible or if we’re not too overwhelmed with school work, volunteering is another way to help and to exercise the spirit of “Global citizen” you mentioned.
Regarding Kate’s blog:
I really enjoyed the comparison you made between Collins’s poem and Szymborska’s! I completely agree that Szymborska is able to make the aftermath of 9/11 far less somber than Collins. I really liked the lines, “They’re still within the air’s reach … [I can] not add a last line.” With these two lines, Szymborska is keeping those who jumped from the building suspended in time, and avoiding the description of their imminent death. This focuses the attention on the innate humanness within us all, as their last attempt at life is suspended within her poem. This is a far more positive way to view 9/11 as Szymborska depicts the victims as human, rather than just a statistic or name on a memorial.
Great blog!
-Erin
In response to Erin’s blog “Spahr’s Encouragement of Awareness”
I really enjoyed reading your blog and in particular when you made the connection between Spahr describing herself in bed and the passiveness of people actually taking action and trying to make a change. Before you explained it that way, I had never thought of it. I find it interesting and I think that this just takes us back to the bigger theme of our stream, global citizens. Those who are global citizens are aware of what is going on in the world, and not just what’s new in Hollywood. At the same time, they also want to create change and I think that those who actually go out and do create change are the real global citizens.
You ask how changing the line “[w]e must love one another and die” to “[w]e must love one another or die” changes the message or impact of W. H. Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939”.
I think that perhaps Auden had changed the wording of that particular line in order to make it more optimistic, and have it take a less fatalistic approach towards dying in what could be implied to be the hands of others.
By changing the word “and” into “or”, the line becomes less of a death sentence, as one could say due to the inevitability of death it implied, into a sentence that prods groups to “love one another” and prevent themselves from dying.
I think that the message of this particular sentence becomes a prompt for people to stop warring with each other, thus “love one another”, or everybody would be wiped out due to ongoing conflict (“or die”).
It is a very interesting question that is open to many different answers. I would have loved to hear your take on it as well. Overall, you point out interesting and thought-provoking things, but it would be much better if you could reveal some of your thoughts and interpretations more in-depth.
Clara’s blog “Connections”, linked Juliana Spahr’s post 9/11 poems and the greater theme of Judith Butler’s “When is Life Grievable”. At the beginning of her blog, Clara mentions how Spahr’s second poem, “poem written from november 30/2002 to march 27/2003” made her frustrated because of the random listing of military, celebirty, and cultural facts. However, I think that may have been Spahr’s intention. Her poems were written in a way so as to intentionally frustrate the reader, and make them almost uncomfortable while reading them. I think she may have do this because that was exactly how she was feeling when she was writing them. The years directly following the 9/11 terrorist attacks were filled with discomfort and frustration. The style of her poems almost mimic the atmosphere of the US and much of the world following the attacks. Mass confusion and frustration, an attempt for society to continue normally with pop culture and celebrity culture, while simultaneously there were mass military movements occurring every day and night while we were sleeping. I think there is much to be discerned from Juliana Spahr’s poems once you embrace the odd discomfort and frustration they evoke.
I recommend reading Clara’s blog as it was very insightful!
Mia Spare
I want to comment on Baris’ Blog “Similar Poetry Movements: Language Poetry and Ikinci Yeni“.
The line “For some reason, I can not find the magic I find in Turkish poetry.“ reminded me of myself reading english poetry (and comparing it to german poetry). It made me wonder if this is caused by the fact that english isn’t our first language hence our connection to it is not as strong as to our mother language. In my opinion language is the mirror of the specific culture connected to it. If we read a poem in our mother language we do not only read the words of the poem. We are also subconsciously reminded of our culture and where we come from. This process creates the “magic“ we feel and the weaker the connection to a certain culture the less it generates emotions in us. I am not saying that this is the only factor that creates this certain magic and feeling but it is for sure an important component of how we perceive poetry.
In response to Jackson’s Blog on his analysis of Spahr’s “This Connection of Everyone With Lungs”
When I first read the poetry for this ASTU class I also felt that it had a very disguised meaning, especially Spahrs poems. It took me a while to get past the how repetitive her poems were, and felt that at first I only got a general understanding of what her poems were trying to say, which was that we are all connected in more ways than we think. After being class and taking notes and really beginning to focus of each individual phrase and sometimes even word, especially in her second poem that we read. For example the lines that described in the bed got repeated a lot and had a significant meaning, which meant that one of Sphar’s ways of emphasizing something for being important would be to repeat it often.
In response to Elizabeth’s post “For Good or For Bad?”
I agree with Elizabeth on the theme of how social media and the internet helps us to be more aware of what events are taking place in the world. From my point of view when it comes to news regarding issues taking place in different countries, I think the internet is used for good. I can relate to this point because last week I was able to inform myself of what was happening back home regarding politics. The past weekend there was a referendum in Bolivia which was about voting in favor or against a change in the constitutional amendment that would led our current president, Evo Morales, to run for a further term in 2019. Since I am in Vancouver I did not thought I was going to be able to keep up with all the events that happened that Sunday. However, thanks to the use of facebook, I felt that I was back home taking part of this special day in my country. It was amazing how people began to post videos of people voting, as well as some of the cases where they thought people were doing fraud during the counting of votes. I was able to show my support by sharing news regarding the importance of this voting. Since most of the country wanted to vote against this bid, people back home began to use hashtags so it was easier for everyone to look up latest news that were supporting this side. When the results came out it was awesome to see how Bolivians outside and inside the country were showing their happiness through social media because it was a big step for a more democratic country. Since social media was taking a big role for this referendum, Bolivians who are studying outside the country even decided to create a public group so we would be in touch and share all the news that we were getting from friends back home. I found it nice that many of my friends from here asked me what was actually happening back home because of all the videos and news I was sharing on my wall. I felt that thanks to the internet they were able to learn more about my country and ask me many more questions they had regarding politics back home. This is one of the reasons why I think social media is fundamental when it comes to inform yourself about issues that take place around the world.
In reference to Kate’s blog: 9/11 Displayed Through Poetry
Great blog Kate! I really appreciated the contrasting viewpoints and perspectives that you shed on the two poems. I especially liked the emphasis that you put on the positive elements of trauma recovery in Szymborska’s poem. The power and growth that can be drawn from trauma recovery is incredibly important. Trauma can be seen as something that paralyzes you and eats you from the inside if viewed from a negative standpoint. If you are to view a trauma from a positive light, however, the recovery from that trauma can act as a reference point. It can act to as proof to yourself just how strong and stable you really are. It allows you to realize that you can handle adversity, and when the next trauma or obstacle comes, you’ll be even more equipped to embrace and build from it.
This comment is in regard to Erin’s blog on Juliana Spahr’s second poem in her book This Connection of Everyone with Lungs. Erin is a little critical of Spahr for not doing anything about the negative things happening around the globe, however, Spahr is more than acknowledging it. Besides, there is not a huge amount more than she can do other than becoming very politically active. Not only this she is bringing awareness to her whole audience. But I agree with Erin that this may represent the laziness of Americans, though it also applies to many Canadians or whoever it may be that sits in the comfort of their home without worrying about the world or even what is happening within their own country.
Great points Erin,
Ryan
What an interesting post Therese. I can totally relate to your thoughts on poetry. I personally feel like analyzing this kind of content in this deeper and detailed form has helped the entire group experience poetry in a more personal and realistic way. I honestly don’t think that “September 1, 1939” by W.H. Auden is a wrong interpretation of the events on 9/11. I agree that the content sometimes does not entirely match the events that it was ‘adapted’ for sixty-two years later and it is an interesting perspective you have of considering all of the other victims there have been somewhere else. But why do you think the poem was brought back with so much success? Could it be that the relatives of the victims can in a certain way feel identifies with the way Auden interpreted events from WWII? It’s a nice thing to see that you, like me, chose to talk about the same topic for your blog post. I also found it really interesting.
In reference to Clara’s blog post “Connections”
I thought Clara’s thoughts on this subject were pretty interesting. I thought the way in which she used Spahr’s level of abstraction in comparison to things that divide us as human beings to be a strong point. At the end of the day we are all essentially the same. I also think this blog post highlighted the increasing need in this day and age for people to help their fellow human, regardless of any manmade, superficial differences. Finally, I think that although events like 9/11 are traumatic, they should not serve as the basis for discriminating against a group of people.
Great blog Clara,
Alex
It was quite shocking for me when I saw Changez is delighted by the scene of the plane flying through the twin towers at first. This might be something that might irritate some American readers, however I’m agreed with Baris that the book isn’t anti-American. Many people simply judge this book as the slander comment of American society upon some superficial samples such as relate Underwood Samson with US, Erica as America and Chris as Christian. However, I think this is sort of a trap that Mohsin Hamid arranged/prepared for those who is very sensitive on any “offense” of their nations who might tend to be some degree of ethnocentrism. The true message that the whole book trying to express may be reveals in the last page where Changez confess that Americans should not imagine all the Pakistan are terrorists just like they should not imagine all American all undercover assassins. Obviously the book isn’t anti-America as many think, but ironically it demonstrates how American society and its performances in front of all other nations can mould individuals like Changez to become Anti-American!
I really appreciated and enjoyed reading Josephs blog, it brought a unique perspective to the concept of aha moments whilst also applying them to our class. I agree with Joseph in that aha moments are usually coupled with some miraculous idea that brings to light a wonderful invention or realization. I think that aha moments that pull people deeper into the darkness are just as important however. In ASTU we really haven’t dwelled too intensely on the happy things in life and have stuck pretty rigidly to the things that aren’t so positive. I think that that’s important though, to give time for the dark parts. Aha moments have to come in times of lightness and miraculous awareness, as well as times of darkness and crippling realizations.
Thanks for the comment Isaiah. I just took a hop skip and a jump over to check out your blog – and then I found that one of your previous posts is actually quite relevant to this topic. So this is essentially a comment on your blog “The darkness we get”.
I’m glad that you picked out the line “Beloveds, we wake up in the morning to darkness and watch it turn into lightness with hope” from Spahr (15). I had forgotten about it and it seems like a fitting summary of this conundrum of living and the importance of dark aha moments. I also think that your reflective blog ending questions were very powerful. It is easy (for me atleast) to see the darkness in the bigger picture around me and get frustrated with the state of the world. But in doing so I often forget to take those introspective moments and see what darkness I have in myself (which arguably must be dealt with first if any hope of helping others is to be had). It reminds me of that clever new pixar film “Inside Out”, in which the character Joy realizes that including Sadness is an integral part of solving the problem and connecting with others. You also make a good point about privilege playing a role in this ability to shake darkness, and how Spahr is critically aware of her own. I can definitely take something constructive away from that too.
All in all, despite being written a few weeks before, I found that your blog took a cool angle of response to my most recent one and contributed some crucial points of questioning to the topic that I hadn’t thought of in depth.
In response to Melissa’s blog: “Eighth Blog Post; The Reluctant Fundamentalist: A Romance Novel?”
I completely agree that the The Reluctant Fundamentalist could be found in a romance aisle of a bookstore. While the romance between Changez and Erica is evident and pronounced, the love story between Changez and the US is more subtle. Pre-9/11 Changez is a young, successful New Yorker hopeful for his future in his new country. However, following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in September of 2001, his love for the US is questioned and irreparably changed. The novel tells both an unfaltering love affair (Changez/Erica) and an unstable romance tale (Changez/US). Both greatly contribute to the labelling of the genre of the book as a romance novel.
Great blog!
-Erin
In reference to Martin’s blog: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
I appreciate that you discussed Islamophobia and the representation of Arabs in your blog post. I want to add that although Canada and other Western countries like France and the UK are trying to suppress it by welcoming refugees, it’s sad that some Americans especially with the growing popularity of Donald Trump are tolerating discrimination and racism against Muslims. I also find it ironic since conservatives (sorry if I’m offending someone) are mostly the ones who advocate this type of thinking and are also Christians. Yet the leader of the Roman Catholic, Pope Francis, is trying to destroy hatred. He even recently washed and kissed the feet of a Muslim refugee to denounce hate! But I think we should consider where those racist people are coming from. I don’t think they’re racist (some probably) without a reason. Even though I don’t tolerate racism, I think we should blame the system who keeps on demonizing Muslims and find the root cause of what created them rather than pinpointing who are Islamaphobic.
In reference to Maria’s blog: “Reluctant Fundamentalist”
In your blog, you addressed a question at the very last part of your blog, “What is your point of view when it comes to whether or not The Reluctant Fundamentalist is American or Anti-American?”, I would say that this is a not an anti-American book, but instead, like what you said this novel presents America from a different point of view. I agree with your opinion especially after working on one part of Morey’s essay that I worked in class about how Changez likes to compare the US with Pakistan, New York with Lahore and the West and the East. But like what you said again this is maybe because he is currently in a moment of frustration where he has to adapt to a new environment and culture. I really like your
In reference to Mel’s blog “Farwell or New Beginnings?”
I completely agree with what you described as your “aha” moment in our ASTU class, along with the other comments you made about being in the CAP program. Your “aha” moment had many similarities to my own, and I think that it points out how much useful information and skills we have gained over the course of 1 year. I also really appreciated your comment about learning more about the Middle East and cultures different from our own. Throughout my time in ASTU, I took away much more than simply writing skills and I think you captured that perfectly in that portion of your blog. I love how your blog made me reflect even more on my experience in ASTU! I’ll miss sitting beside you every Tuesday and Thursday.
With regard to Paolina’s blog,
Your line about “thinking past the last page” really stuck with me, as it is so true. I did not do much of a reflection of the year in my blog, so I would like to emphasize how much ASTU helped in thinking past the last page. Dr. Luger always encouraged asking questions, or bringing a subject up on the level of abstraction, and I can now appreciate how beneficial this is. It is easy to simply read a story, but then raising the level of abstraction and questioning how this is relevant to global/societal issues is really our job as global citizens, and I can appreciate this to its full extent now. In relation to reading past the last page is reading between the lines, as I said in blog how much I enjoyed the symbolism and allegories in our texts. Simply reading a story may not bring out what the author truly has in store for her/his audience, and ASTU was crucial in deciphering these codes.
Thank you Paolina for provoking some thought in me, and cheers to the last activity on our ASTU blogs!
Ryan Bednar
I enjoyed reading your post regarding what you learned during ASTU class. I remember I used to feel the same way when I realized we were going to write blog posts during the academic year. On my last blog I was not able to emphasize that writing blogs was another one of my favorites assignments in class. This activity actually helped me to connect themes that we were discussing in class with other events taking place in our global world. It is surprising how writing blogs actually helped me to improve my writing and be able to express my ideas. Blogs also helped me to reflect on the important points we touched during class and actually write down what was my point of view on some of them. Now that this assignment is coming to an end I am considering on having my own blog. Its nice to share your thoughts with other people and be able to look back on what were out thoughts regarding any theme.
I want to comment on Martin’s blog “The reluctant fundamentalist”:
You analyze the different scenes of the novella very well and brought them in context though painting the bigger picture for the reader of your blog. I have to admit the novella really made me think about 9/11 and which impacts it had on different people’s lives. Though the fact that I grew up in Germany I did not experience the full extent of 9/11 on everyone’s everyday life. Although I remember very well how my Mom got picked out of the pass control at american airports after 9/11 because she was the only one of my family having a german passport. She even had to prove that she was actually my mother and did not kidnap me and my sister. At that time it seemed funny to me and my sibling but reflecting on it after reading all this literature about the event of 9/11, it becomes way more serious. So I can not even imagine how it must have been to be labeled as a terrorist just because you looked a little different.
Great blog Martin! 🙂
Paolina
In reference to Ryan’s blog “Intersecting Themes of CAP Courses”:
You raise interesting points about society and institutionalised racism. You also offer ideas as to how such racism may one day disappear from society. However, you do not take into account that time and awareness alone may not help at all. Yes, awareness for the issue may build up over time, but it does not guarantee that people (or elites) will take up any action that can totally stop institutionalised racism. If the status quo is favouring people like the elites you had mentioned, than it is unlikely that those elites would do much to change it unless they were particularly motivated to create a fair and equal society. While these elites may not actively work against the change to a fairer society, there is still the fact that they may not do anything at all to change the status quo.
In reference to Melissa’s blog Farewell or New Beginnings?
I agree with you about how our first reading was so different from what we were used to. It’s amazing how much we have learned in just one year. Looking back at that same reading now, it is so much easier to understand now that we know more about scholarly writing. I also like how you said that the courses we have taken have opened our minds and allowed us to see from new perspectives. In September, I did not think that I would learn as much as I have from ASTU and what I have taken from the course is more than just skills on scholarly writing. With CAP, I have learned to be more aware of what is happening around the world and learn about different cultures.
In reference to Joseph’s blog: “Coo Coo Cachoo”
I found the connections that you made between music and life experiences interesting. It’s very clear that you have an extensive amount of knowledge on the Beatles and it definitely shows in your blog. I found the parts where you connect music moments to life moments especially compelling. It made me reflect on my music and the moments that I have attached to it, really shows you the power that music has. I find that it adds to the character of Oskar that he draws experiences and emotions from music and makes the connections so pointedly. Oskar’s intelligence is a unique one and it is unsurprising that he associates experience and music in such an intelligent way.
Great blog!
Isaiah
As touched on in Elizabeth’s blog, there is a distinct difference between the historical and emotional significance of an event. Although we all naturally accept 9/11 and Dresden as being horrendous events in world history, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close allows for us to look at it through the emotional significance. Foer is not concerned with how the world reacted to 9/11 and Dresden, but rather how Oskar, Grandma, and Grandpa perceived these events. As Elizabeth said, we tend to look to look at statistics of an event, while this “takes away the significance of each individual.” After reading the novel, Oskar’s personal account of 9/11 will forever stay with me.
I really enjoyed reading the blogs!
-Erin
In reference to Isaiah’s blog: “The Destruction and Reconstruction of Coping”
I really enjoyed reading your blog as it brought up another central theme of the novel that I hadn’t quite thought of; the way that people cope with death and trauma. I like how you made the differentiation between Oskar and his grandfather and how the two cope with death. On one hand, you talk about how “Oskar attempts to cope with his father’s death by desperately seeking some sort of closure” and how he almost refuses to accept defeat. On the other hand, his grandfather accepted that defeat and used not speaking as his coping mechanism. I liked how you made those distinctions very clear! I also thought your comment about not being able to achieve maximum happiness when everyone important in your life is sill alive very interesting because I ask that same question to myself. As someone who is fortunate enough to not have experienced extreme lose, it is hard to imagine what those who have go through.
Awesome blog!
– Kate
In reference to Kate’s blog “Absence and the 9/11 Attacks”
I really enjoyed reading your blog since as far as I know, you were the only one who brought up the topic that I was drawn into which is absence. The theme absence appeared a lot of time in the novel such as the absence of a father figure for Oskar, the absence of the lock of the key which led Oskar to a quest searching for answers, and the one that you mentioned in your blog, the absence of Thomas Jr’s body (empty coffin) which made Oskar so furious and that he thinks there is no point of having a funeral. Relating to the absence of Oskar’s father body which made it harder for him to move on, you also managed to addressed your readers a question at the end of your blog, “with such a tragic event, would knowing where the body of your loved one is make the coping process easier or simply be unbearable?”. For me, if I lose a loved one in an incident like that I would definitely prefer to know that my loved one body is safe in a coffin rather than having no clue where the body is. It would make it easier for me to move on and knowing that their body is safe.
– Inneke
In reference to Therese’s blog ” Worthy vs Unworthy Lives”
While reading your blog the ironic phrase “fight for peace” came into my mind since these type of actions took and are taking place in human history. I also remembered the political science lecture when we discussed about how leaders in our contemporary world most of the time think that war is the solution to most problems. I support your pacifist point because I believe that the main solution to most problems is not through violence. Instead of threatening other cultures or societies different from ours we should respect the worthy of every human being that lives in this world. I am aware that there are approximately 7 billion people living in this world. From my point of view one of the main things that should matter in our lives it to be happy in the time and space we are taking place right now. With this happiness humans should be able willing to help and give to others instead of trying to go against them. I think it is important that even though we are part of such a big number (7 billion) we should at least try every day to share and radiate positive feelings in our surroundings. I know this might sound idealistic, but as you said “We’re the specie who invented smartphones, cars, wifi, and memes! Why can’t we invent peace?”
-Maria Jose Zegarra
**Edited
In reference to Therese’s blog ” Worthy vs Unworthy Lives”
While reading your blog the ironic phrase “fight for peace” came into my mind since these type of actions took and are taking place in human history. I also remembered the political science lecture when we discussed about how leaders in our contemporary world most of the time think that war is the solution to most problems. I support your pacifist perspective because I believe that the main solution to most problems is not through violence. Instead of threatening other cultures or societies different from ours we should respect the worth of every human being that lives in this world. I am aware that there are approximately 7 billion people living in this world. From my point of view one of the main things that should matter in our lives is to be happy in the time and space we are taking place right now. With this happiness humans should be willing to help and give to others instead of trying to go against them. I think it is important that even though we are part of such a big number (7 billion) we should at least try every day to share and radiate positive feelings in our surroundings. I know this might sound idealistic, but as you said “We’re the specie who invented smartphones, cars, wifi, and memes! Why can’t we invent peace?”
-Maria Jose Zegarra
In refence to Maria’s blog: “Welcome Back”
I definitely agree with your point that adult’s are complicated creatures and children are innocent who try to understand what’s happening to the world. In my Psychology class, I wrote about moral development. Children’s moral knowledge relates to what they are taught. They equate wrong with punishment and right with rewards. With that said, these children’s aim is to do good. I even concluded in that paper that children are much more moral than most adults.
However, with technological advancement, children lose their innocence. When we watched “The Mask You Live In”, a huge perecentage of children encounter pornographic sites. This then affect their development and how they see the world.
Going back to Marji and Oskar, their development has been affected by the trauma they encountered. Their moral development and their perspective of the world are changed because of the traumatic loss and constant fear. For example, Marji, at one point began smoking cigarettes. Her morals are affected by the trauma she encountered to cope with the world. Oskar, on the other hand, began lying. I definitely agree that children are pure creatures; nonetheless, they are also the most affected when traumatic events happen.
– Therese
I want to comment on Isaiah’s blog:
Although coping with trauma is a very serious topic I really enjoyed the way you put it into words and showed the different ways people cope with traumatic events in Foer’s book. I also fully agree with you statement that suffering is an important experience and that it teaches us to value the things we consider as “normal“. Foer’s book makes us think about things and events that make us very uncomfortable for example the loss of a close person. First it brings up all these emotions feeling with Oskar, Grandpa, Grandpa, Oskar’s Mother and Oskar’s father … but I think that these emotions are supposed to trigger a thought process which makes you value everything around you even more or at least realize that a lot of things in life are not “normal“ and that we have to enjoy them as much as we can.
In reference to Isaiah’s blog: “Destiny: Coexistence or Fear?”
Your blog post really reminded me of a paper that I had written last term for history on Nazi Propaganda. What really stood out to me was when you made the point that when the Nazi’s no longer saw the Jews as humans, they were already dead to them. It is surprising how easy it is to dehumanize someone. In the case of the Holocaust, all Hitler had to do to get the German’s on his side was to get them to believe that the Jews were a threat and that they wanted to destroy the Germany and the German’s. It is truly incredible what fear can do to people and what people will do to try and protect themselves. It makes me wonder had I been in Germany at the time of the Holocaust, would I have fallen for Hitler’s propaganda?
– Elizabeth
Regarding Gabriel’s blog post “War on Terror”, I found the comparison he made between Mexico and Canada’s reaction to 9/11 interesting. Gabriel writes “In class I was intrigued by how much more attention 9/11 has been given in Canada compared to Mexico, given that both countries are the main trading partners of the USA..” . I found that intriguing too, considering the geographical locations of both countries, and the almost equal importance of the United States to them both. We heard a lot of these stories in our ASTU class, however, about students from other countries around the world who didn’t hear as much about 9/11. Personally, I was living in Vienna, Austria at the time and don’t remember hearing or talking about that day at all. It wasn’t until I moved to the United States in 2011 that I actually learned in depth about the events of 9/11. The more we learn about trauma and its affects, the more I begin to understand the events that followed 9/11, the reactions, the anger, the disbelief, and the feeling that this trauma had to have affected everyone in the world simply because it happened in one of the most well known cities in the world. However, as it’s been shown, that wasn’t the case.
-Mia Spare
In response to Clara’s blog “And they didn’t come back”:
I agree with your idea of Oskar’s story perhaps not being the only narrative in Foer’s novel to be upsetting. I think that focusing on grandma and grandpa story makes you realize how much they have actually lost. Especially in Grandma’s case, after losing her sister Anna in the Dresden bombings whom she was incredibly close with, and then finally re connecting with grandpa after all of those years only to have him leave her whilst she is pregnant with Thomas Jr. Lastly then she must suffer another loss, the loss of her son Thomas in the attacks on 9/11. Grandpa also suffers the loss of Anna, his former love in Dresden, and he loses Thomas whom he has never actually met. Although Grandpa did not know Thomas I feel that, that is even more heartbreaking because he must have a huge amount of guilt about leaving grandma, and never being a father to Thomas.
-Magda Adkins
I was reading through some of the comments, and came upon Mia’s comment in response to Gabriel’s blog. I was living in France during 9/11, and one of my earlier memories was the video of the plane crashing into the Twin Towers. When thinking back to it, it seemed like that video had been played for a year over and over. Maybe the fact that Mia hadn’t heard of 9/11 in Austria was due in part to her parents (or her interpretive community). I thought this to be interesting as we both come from Europe, and both countries are in the EU, but we had different exposures to 9/11. For me, that image of the crashing plane was burned into my mind; I remember it like it was yesterday. It makes me wonder now if this is what was intended, to make people see it until they couldn’t forget it. It is very possible, as the phrase “never forget” was used after this horrific event. This again calls into question the media and their reportage on this event compared to the lack of it on other events that may have occurred in a “non-Western” country.
Anyways, those are my two cents…
Ryan
In reference to Mia’s “Crying on Cue” Blog post.
A quote from Judith Butler’s book, Frames of War: When is Life Grievable?, that really made me think about the way media transforms our thoughts was: “The tactic interpretive scheme that divides worthy from unworthy lives works fundamentally through the senses, differentiating the cries we hear from those we cannot, and likewise the level of touch and even smell.”(51) I think your blog post perfectly shows the way that media is very selective on the content they show in order to twist our view of “people like us” and who we should care about. I agree with you on that this matter should be more publicly addressed because we are not getting all of the information and we’re reacting to a manipulated reality.
I believe that its not up to media to decide what lives matter the most and how to portray certain situations in order to provoke certain reactions from the public.
In reference to Grace’s “What makes 9/11 crucial as a background“ Blog post.
During the weekend I had read few blogs which are compels me interests, one of them is from Grace “What makes 9/11 crucial as a background”. At first, She discussed about how Foer’s book “Extremely Loud& Incredibly Close” narrate the disastrously 9/11 attack different them other mainstream medias. The novel neither present the terror with overwhelming facts and figure nor strong national sentiment. Foer rather taking views of multiple narrators within a victimize family to examine how they cope with traumas and continues to live on. Although the victim himself, Thomas Junior, exit early from the story, but he is definitely the driven force which get his son sink into depress and cure him back to life. A boy used to live under the shadow of his dad now grown up to be strong is such a wonderful, inspirational story that gives us a positive energy to also live well. Grace made another point critique about that Americans tend to look at events by draw line between “us” and “them”. She exemplified it by comparing the statistic of the fatal caused by road crash in 2012 with the total death in 9/11. The number killing in roadway is over ten times more than the terrorist attack but it seems like they are more aggressive towards latter which intense enough to wage a war in a name of freedom while it led many innocent civilian became victims.
In reference to Kennedy’s blog. “Who am I, who are we and what is humanity?’
I really enjoyed the way in which Kennedy’s blog raised the level of abstraction in this blog post. Although I think that it is normally preferable to have a lower level of abstraction in most academic works, sometimes it seems as though there is a time and a place for exploring these topics through lenses such as existentialism and other philosophical concepts as they enhance our understanding of certain topics. I also believe that tragedies such as 9/11 can be understood better when approached from this perspective.
the following comment is in response to “Who am I, who are we, and what is humanity?” from Kennedy’s Korner.
First, I’d like to applaud the honesty and personality that you pour into your blogs. Bravo.
I think that the questions you pose in your latest blog are really really important questions. To me, being “preachy” isn’t a problem in this case at all. If we are settling on the idea that our existence is found outside ourselves and in our relations with others, expressing opinion/ personal experience is exactly what we need to do to achieve to a more complete understanding of ourselves, in my opinion.
You make a keen observation of the hypocrisy in the declaration of independence, and while your conclusion that “at the end of the day, all people are equal” is no doubt true, I’d like to dig deeper into that. What value is it that we all hold equally? And if part of being human is our collective humanity transcending our individual difference, who/what gives humanity that inherent equality and where does it lie? I’ll leave it with those questions, because otherwise it might get preachy.
Sweet blog!
-Joseph
In reference to Therese’s blog “Worth vs. Unworthy Lives”
I’d like to say that it was a really good blog post! I also noticed that we both had initial thoughts of the Paris attacks when we read Butler’s literature. Nonetheless, to continue on your point about media exposure, I do find it very unfair how Paris had all the attention in comparison to the earthquake occurring in Japan, the hurricane in Mexico, and the suicide bombings in both Beirut and Baghdad. A lot of people had suffered and died in other places but did the media showcase it? No.
Moving forward, to add to your small rant of reasons why they wouldn’t want to broadcast Mali is because most people don’t know about Mali (sad but true, I certainly have never heard of it) and the people who are in charge of the news probably found it irrelevant. In my opinion, I think the big reason as to why we all cared about Paris so much is how much history they hold and especially what it means to world as a whole. I remember going there and having a great experience, and they’re known for being the “city of love”. In addition, Paris is also in close connections with North America having a lot of inter connectional flows. Nevertheless, it still doesn’t justify how the world didn’t pay attention to the world on a global level. However in order for this to improve, people need to value each other’s lives just as any other. I must say your line of because “they’re white” is kind of stereotypical but I understand where you’re coming from. But if you look at Paris, they’re not all that pure white anymore but are far more international then what it was back in the 19th century. In addition, the media has “normalized” violence for many of us even as bad as it sounds so for it to occur in places where it was unexpected, definitely was a reason as to why it had more coverage.
Great blog though!
-mel
Comment on Inhneke’s Blog
In Inneke’s blog post, she raises a interesting comparison between lyric poetry and pop-song lyric.
Indeed, there are obvious elements that two types of arts present in common, but technically I don’t consider song writers are consider poets. In pop-music, the length or the use of words are depend on will it suitable of the vocal rhythm of the song or not. Also these pop songs are leading factors of (pop) cultures, so they may also indicate the trends of fashion not only the personal feeling. Instead, in literature, poems are written in a more isolate perspective and it don’t need to use catch word or following the trends of popular culture.
In reference to Therese’s blog “Time Travelling”:
You have a very good point in relating Saal’s concept of trauma transfer with the poem we just read in class titled “September 1, 1939” by W.H. Auden and the tragic incident of 9/11. You explained that trauma transfer simply means seeing your own suffering from someone else’s perspective, like how you mentioned that victims from those two different events may somehow have a certain connection to one another because they may experienced similar traumatic experience or emotions. You also mentioned that the victims of 9/11 were reading Auden’s poem and seeing their suffering instead of the suffering of those people during that time. It reminds me of our class discussion that week, by the choice of words Auden used from that poem made us think that it is a poem meant for 9/11 incident instead of WW2. Me myself first thought that it was a poem about 9/11. Anyway, you managed to point out very good connections between trauma transfer, the poem and 9/11 incident. Keep up the good work!
-Inneke Soeyanto
In response to Therese’s blog “Time Travelling”
I thought you had an awesome point when you brought up the idea that W.H. Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939” reminded you of Saal’s trauma transfer. Because this poem wasn’t obviously about 9/11, it seems as though it could be describing several other traumas as well. I think you are right when you said that “trauma transfer is just saying that traumas are connected” because all though each trauma is unique a lot of the same feelings such as grief are very similar. I will ask you though; to what extent do you think this poem connects to traumas? Would only a select few be able to relate to it or would all traumas be able to find some connection within it? All in all I thought your interpretation of Auden’s poem was really interesting!
-Kate
I want to response to Melissa and Kate’s comments and to Jackson’s blog.
Melissa’s: I agree that “they’re white” line on my blog is stereotypical. I’m glad you pointed that out because while I was writing that part of my blog, I was contemplating whether I should include it since Canada is multicultural. Maybe I should’ve made it clearer that ‘they’re white’ isn’t refering to population but domination. Also, other countries supported Paris during that time who aren’t predominanty ‘white.’ Good point!
Kate’s: Interesting questions! I must say I’m having a difficult time answering those. However, I think that in everything that we read (especially poems) or watch, we can relate to them in some way or if we want to. Yes, even trauma. For example, the line: ‘Defenceless under the night. Our world in stupor lies.’ I think most trauma victims feel defenceless under the night and feel that the world is full of lies just like Oskar. I can also relate to the poem in some point; with the line, ‘Faces along the bar. Cling to their average day.’ However, I want to point out that even though everyone can relate to parts of the poem, as a whole, it is intended for WWII victims. I hope that answers your questions. I’m interested with what you think though!
Jackson’s blog: I also want to answer your questions. I think as global citizens and university students, the best we can do right now is educate ourselves and each other and talk about the issues. I remember when one of our classmates asked what we should do (referring to the war on terror), Professor Erickson said we should discuss it amongst ourselves. And if possible or if we’re not too overwhelmed with school work, volunteering is another way to help and to exercise the spirit of “Global citizen” you mentioned.
Regarding Kate’s blog:
I really enjoyed the comparison you made between Collins’s poem and Szymborska’s! I completely agree that Szymborska is able to make the aftermath of 9/11 far less somber than Collins. I really liked the lines, “They’re still within the air’s reach … [I can] not add a last line.” With these two lines, Szymborska is keeping those who jumped from the building suspended in time, and avoiding the description of their imminent death. This focuses the attention on the innate humanness within us all, as their last attempt at life is suspended within her poem. This is a far more positive way to view 9/11 as Szymborska depicts the victims as human, rather than just a statistic or name on a memorial.
Great blog!
-Erin
In response to Erin’s blog “Spahr’s Encouragement of Awareness”
I really enjoyed reading your blog and in particular when you made the connection between Spahr describing herself in bed and the passiveness of people actually taking action and trying to make a change. Before you explained it that way, I had never thought of it. I find it interesting and I think that this just takes us back to the bigger theme of our stream, global citizens. Those who are global citizens are aware of what is going on in the world, and not just what’s new in Hollywood. At the same time, they also want to create change and I think that those who actually go out and do create change are the real global citizens.
– Elizabeth
In reference to Gabriel’s blog:
You ask how changing the line “[w]e must love one another and die” to “[w]e must love one another or die” changes the message or impact of W. H. Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939”.
I think that perhaps Auden had changed the wording of that particular line in order to make it more optimistic, and have it take a less fatalistic approach towards dying in what could be implied to be the hands of others.
By changing the word “and” into “or”, the line becomes less of a death sentence, as one could say due to the inevitability of death it implied, into a sentence that prods groups to “love one another” and prevent themselves from dying.
I think that the message of this particular sentence becomes a prompt for people to stop warring with each other, thus “love one another”, or everybody would be wiped out due to ongoing conflict (“or die”).
It is a very interesting question that is open to many different answers. I would have loved to hear your take on it as well. Overall, you point out interesting and thought-provoking things, but it would be much better if you could reveal some of your thoughts and interpretations more in-depth.
-Sandra M.
Clara’s blog “Connections”, linked Juliana Spahr’s post 9/11 poems and the greater theme of Judith Butler’s “When is Life Grievable”. At the beginning of her blog, Clara mentions how Spahr’s second poem, “poem written from november 30/2002 to march 27/2003” made her frustrated because of the random listing of military, celebirty, and cultural facts. However, I think that may have been Spahr’s intention. Her poems were written in a way so as to intentionally frustrate the reader, and make them almost uncomfortable while reading them. I think she may have do this because that was exactly how she was feeling when she was writing them. The years directly following the 9/11 terrorist attacks were filled with discomfort and frustration. The style of her poems almost mimic the atmosphere of the US and much of the world following the attacks. Mass confusion and frustration, an attempt for society to continue normally with pop culture and celebrity culture, while simultaneously there were mass military movements occurring every day and night while we were sleeping. I think there is much to be discerned from Juliana Spahr’s poems once you embrace the odd discomfort and frustration they evoke.
I recommend reading Clara’s blog as it was very insightful!
Mia Spare
I want to comment on Baris’ Blog “Similar Poetry Movements: Language Poetry and Ikinci Yeni“.
The line “For some reason, I can not find the magic I find in Turkish poetry.“ reminded me of myself reading english poetry (and comparing it to german poetry). It made me wonder if this is caused by the fact that english isn’t our first language hence our connection to it is not as strong as to our mother language. In my opinion language is the mirror of the specific culture connected to it. If we read a poem in our mother language we do not only read the words of the poem. We are also subconsciously reminded of our culture and where we come from. This process creates the “magic“ we feel and the weaker the connection to a certain culture the less it generates emotions in us. I am not saying that this is the only factor that creates this certain magic and feeling but it is for sure an important component of how we perceive poetry.
In response to Jackson’s Blog on his analysis of Spahr’s “This Connection of Everyone With Lungs”
When I first read the poetry for this ASTU class I also felt that it had a very disguised meaning, especially Spahrs poems. It took me a while to get past the how repetitive her poems were, and felt that at first I only got a general understanding of what her poems were trying to say, which was that we are all connected in more ways than we think. After being class and taking notes and really beginning to focus of each individual phrase and sometimes even word, especially in her second poem that we read. For example the lines that described in the bed got repeated a lot and had a significant meaning, which meant that one of Sphar’s ways of emphasizing something for being important would be to repeat it often.
-Magda
In response to Elizabeth’s post “For Good or For Bad?”
I agree with Elizabeth on the theme of how social media and the internet helps us to be more aware of what events are taking place in the world. From my point of view when it comes to news regarding issues taking place in different countries, I think the internet is used for good. I can relate to this point because last week I was able to inform myself of what was happening back home regarding politics. The past weekend there was a referendum in Bolivia which was about voting in favor or against a change in the constitutional amendment that would led our current president, Evo Morales, to run for a further term in 2019. Since I am in Vancouver I did not thought I was going to be able to keep up with all the events that happened that Sunday. However, thanks to the use of facebook, I felt that I was back home taking part of this special day in my country. It was amazing how people began to post videos of people voting, as well as some of the cases where they thought people were doing fraud during the counting of votes. I was able to show my support by sharing news regarding the importance of this voting. Since most of the country wanted to vote against this bid, people back home began to use hashtags so it was easier for everyone to look up latest news that were supporting this side. When the results came out it was awesome to see how Bolivians outside and inside the country were showing their happiness through social media because it was a big step for a more democratic country. Since social media was taking a big role for this referendum, Bolivians who are studying outside the country even decided to create a public group so we would be in touch and share all the news that we were getting from friends back home. I found it nice that many of my friends from here asked me what was actually happening back home because of all the videos and news I was sharing on my wall. I felt that thanks to the internet they were able to learn more about my country and ask me many more questions they had regarding politics back home. This is one of the reasons why I think social media is fundamental when it comes to inform yourself about issues that take place around the world.
Maria Jose Zegarra
In reference to Kate’s blog: 9/11 Displayed Through Poetry
Great blog Kate! I really appreciated the contrasting viewpoints and perspectives that you shed on the two poems. I especially liked the emphasis that you put on the positive elements of trauma recovery in Szymborska’s poem. The power and growth that can be drawn from trauma recovery is incredibly important. Trauma can be seen as something that paralyzes you and eats you from the inside if viewed from a negative standpoint. If you are to view a trauma from a positive light, however, the recovery from that trauma can act as a reference point. It can act to as proof to yourself just how strong and stable you really are. It allows you to realize that you can handle adversity, and when the next trauma or obstacle comes, you’ll be even more equipped to embrace and build from it.
Excellent blog Kate!
Isaiah
This comment is in regard to Erin’s blog on Juliana Spahr’s second poem in her book This Connection of Everyone with Lungs. Erin is a little critical of Spahr for not doing anything about the negative things happening around the globe, however, Spahr is more than acknowledging it. Besides, there is not a huge amount more than she can do other than becoming very politically active. Not only this she is bringing awareness to her whole audience. But I agree with Erin that this may represent the laziness of Americans, though it also applies to many Canadians or whoever it may be that sits in the comfort of their home without worrying about the world or even what is happening within their own country.
Great points Erin,
Ryan
In reference to Therese’s Blog: Time Travelling
What an interesting post Therese. I can totally relate to your thoughts on poetry. I personally feel like analyzing this kind of content in this deeper and detailed form has helped the entire group experience poetry in a more personal and realistic way. I honestly don’t think that “September 1, 1939” by W.H. Auden is a wrong interpretation of the events on 9/11. I agree that the content sometimes does not entirely match the events that it was ‘adapted’ for sixty-two years later and it is an interesting perspective you have of considering all of the other victims there have been somewhere else. But why do you think the poem was brought back with so much success? Could it be that the relatives of the victims can in a certain way feel identifies with the way Auden interpreted events from WWII? It’s a nice thing to see that you, like me, chose to talk about the same topic for your blog post. I also found it really interesting.
In reference to Clara’s blog post “Connections”
I thought Clara’s thoughts on this subject were pretty interesting. I thought the way in which she used Spahr’s level of abstraction in comparison to things that divide us as human beings to be a strong point. At the end of the day we are all essentially the same. I also think this blog post highlighted the increasing need in this day and age for people to help their fellow human, regardless of any manmade, superficial differences. Finally, I think that although events like 9/11 are traumatic, they should not serve as the basis for discriminating against a group of people.
Great blog Clara,
Alex
Comment on Baris’s blog
It was quite shocking for me when I saw Changez is delighted by the scene of the plane flying through the twin towers at first. This might be something that might irritate some American readers, however I’m agreed with Baris that the book isn’t anti-American. Many people simply judge this book as the slander comment of American society upon some superficial samples such as relate Underwood Samson with US, Erica as America and Chris as Christian. However, I think this is sort of a trap that Mohsin Hamid arranged/prepared for those who is very sensitive on any “offense” of their nations who might tend to be some degree of ethnocentrism. The true message that the whole book trying to express may be reveals in the last page where Changez confess that Americans should not imagine all the Pakistan are terrorists just like they should not imagine all American all undercover assassins. Obviously the book isn’t anti-America as many think, but ironically it demonstrates how American society and its performances in front of all other nations can mould individuals like Changez to become Anti-American!
I want to comment on Joseph’s blog: “aha?”:
I really appreciated and enjoyed reading Josephs blog, it brought a unique perspective to the concept of aha moments whilst also applying them to our class. I agree with Joseph in that aha moments are usually coupled with some miraculous idea that brings to light a wonderful invention or realization. I think that aha moments that pull people deeper into the darkness are just as important however. In ASTU we really haven’t dwelled too intensely on the happy things in life and have stuck pretty rigidly to the things that aren’t so positive. I think that that’s important though, to give time for the dark parts. Aha moments have to come in times of lightness and miraculous awareness, as well as times of darkness and crippling realizations.
Great blog Joseph! Very upbeat!
Isaiah
Thanks for the comment Isaiah. I just took a hop skip and a jump over to check out your blog – and then I found that one of your previous posts is actually quite relevant to this topic. So this is essentially a comment on your blog “The darkness we get”.
I’m glad that you picked out the line “Beloveds, we wake up in the morning to darkness and watch it turn into lightness with hope” from Spahr (15). I had forgotten about it and it seems like a fitting summary of this conundrum of living and the importance of dark aha moments. I also think that your reflective blog ending questions were very powerful. It is easy (for me atleast) to see the darkness in the bigger picture around me and get frustrated with the state of the world. But in doing so I often forget to take those introspective moments and see what darkness I have in myself (which arguably must be dealt with first if any hope of helping others is to be had). It reminds me of that clever new pixar film “Inside Out”, in which the character Joy realizes that including Sadness is an integral part of solving the problem and connecting with others. You also make a good point about privilege playing a role in this ability to shake darkness, and how Spahr is critically aware of her own. I can definitely take something constructive away from that too.
All in all, despite being written a few weeks before, I found that your blog took a cool angle of response to my most recent one and contributed some crucial points of questioning to the topic that I hadn’t thought of in depth.
Sweet blog~ tis a shame there won’t be any more.
-Joseph
In response to Melissa’s blog: “Eighth Blog Post; The Reluctant Fundamentalist: A Romance Novel?”
I completely agree that the The Reluctant Fundamentalist could be found in a romance aisle of a bookstore. While the romance between Changez and Erica is evident and pronounced, the love story between Changez and the US is more subtle. Pre-9/11 Changez is a young, successful New Yorker hopeful for his future in his new country. However, following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in September of 2001, his love for the US is questioned and irreparably changed. The novel tells both an unfaltering love affair (Changez/Erica) and an unstable romance tale (Changez/US). Both greatly contribute to the labelling of the genre of the book as a romance novel.
Great blog!
-Erin
In reference to Martin’s blog: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
I appreciate that you discussed Islamophobia and the representation of Arabs in your blog post. I want to add that although Canada and other Western countries like France and the UK are trying to suppress it by welcoming refugees, it’s sad that some Americans especially with the growing popularity of Donald Trump are tolerating discrimination and racism against Muslims. I also find it ironic since conservatives (sorry if I’m offending someone) are mostly the ones who advocate this type of thinking and are also Christians. Yet the leader of the Roman Catholic, Pope Francis, is trying to destroy hatred. He even recently washed and kissed the feet of a Muslim refugee to denounce hate! But I think we should consider where those racist people are coming from. I don’t think they’re racist (some probably) without a reason. Even though I don’t tolerate racism, I think we should blame the system who keeps on demonizing Muslims and find the root cause of what created them rather than pinpointing who are Islamaphobic.
In reference to Maria’s blog: “Reluctant Fundamentalist”
In your blog, you addressed a question at the very last part of your blog, “What is your point of view when it comes to whether or not The Reluctant Fundamentalist is American or Anti-American?”, I would say that this is a not an anti-American book, but instead, like what you said this novel presents America from a different point of view. I agree with your opinion especially after working on one part of Morey’s essay that I worked in class about how Changez likes to compare the US with Pakistan, New York with Lahore and the West and the East. But like what you said again this is maybe because he is currently in a moment of frustration where he has to adapt to a new environment and culture. I really like your
-Inneke S
In reference to Mel’s blog “Farwell or New Beginnings?”
I completely agree with what you described as your “aha” moment in our ASTU class, along with the other comments you made about being in the CAP program. Your “aha” moment had many similarities to my own, and I think that it points out how much useful information and skills we have gained over the course of 1 year. I also really appreciated your comment about learning more about the Middle East and cultures different from our own. Throughout my time in ASTU, I took away much more than simply writing skills and I think you captured that perfectly in that portion of your blog. I love how your blog made me reflect even more on my experience in ASTU! I’ll miss sitting beside you every Tuesday and Thursday.
-Kate
With regard to Paolina’s blog,
Your line about “thinking past the last page” really stuck with me, as it is so true. I did not do much of a reflection of the year in my blog, so I would like to emphasize how much ASTU helped in thinking past the last page. Dr. Luger always encouraged asking questions, or bringing a subject up on the level of abstraction, and I can now appreciate how beneficial this is. It is easy to simply read a story, but then raising the level of abstraction and questioning how this is relevant to global/societal issues is really our job as global citizens, and I can appreciate this to its full extent now. In relation to reading past the last page is reading between the lines, as I said in blog how much I enjoyed the symbolism and allegories in our texts. Simply reading a story may not bring out what the author truly has in store for her/his audience, and ASTU was crucial in deciphering these codes.
Thank you Paolina for provoking some thought in me, and cheers to the last activity on our ASTU blogs!
Ryan Bednar
In reference to Inneke’s blog “Farewell!”
I enjoyed reading your post regarding what you learned during ASTU class. I remember I used to feel the same way when I realized we were going to write blog posts during the academic year. On my last blog I was not able to emphasize that writing blogs was another one of my favorites assignments in class. This activity actually helped me to connect themes that we were discussing in class with other events taking place in our global world. It is surprising how writing blogs actually helped me to improve my writing and be able to express my ideas. Blogs also helped me to reflect on the important points we touched during class and actually write down what was my point of view on some of them. Now that this assignment is coming to an end I am considering on having my own blog. Its nice to share your thoughts with other people and be able to look back on what were out thoughts regarding any theme.
Maria Jose Zegarra
I want to comment on Martin’s blog “The reluctant fundamentalist”:
You analyze the different scenes of the novella very well and brought them in context though painting the bigger picture for the reader of your blog. I have to admit the novella really made me think about 9/11 and which impacts it had on different people’s lives. Though the fact that I grew up in Germany I did not experience the full extent of 9/11 on everyone’s everyday life. Although I remember very well how my Mom got picked out of the pass control at american airports after 9/11 because she was the only one of my family having a german passport. She even had to prove that she was actually my mother and did not kidnap me and my sister. At that time it seemed funny to me and my sibling but reflecting on it after reading all this literature about the event of 9/11, it becomes way more serious. So I can not even imagine how it must have been to be labeled as a terrorist just because you looked a little different.
Great blog Martin! 🙂
Paolina
In reference to Ryan’s blog “Intersecting Themes of CAP Courses”:
You raise interesting points about society and institutionalised racism. You also offer ideas as to how such racism may one day disappear from society. However, you do not take into account that time and awareness alone may not help at all. Yes, awareness for the issue may build up over time, but it does not guarantee that people (or elites) will take up any action that can totally stop institutionalised racism. If the status quo is favouring people like the elites you had mentioned, than it is unlikely that those elites would do much to change it unless they were particularly motivated to create a fair and equal society. While these elites may not actively work against the change to a fairer society, there is still the fact that they may not do anything at all to change the status quo.
-Sandra M.
In reference to Melissa’s blog Farewell or New Beginnings?
I agree with you about how our first reading was so different from what we were used to. It’s amazing how much we have learned in just one year. Looking back at that same reading now, it is so much easier to understand now that we know more about scholarly writing. I also like how you said that the courses we have taken have opened our minds and allowed us to see from new perspectives. In September, I did not think that I would learn as much as I have from ASTU and what I have taken from the course is more than just skills on scholarly writing. With CAP, I have learned to be more aware of what is happening around the world and learn about different cultures.