Hello everyone,

This amazing academic year is coming closer to its end and we only have two weeks left of classes before we enter the time for finals. This is my final blog post for ASTU class and I would like to look into the enormous impact this class has had on my academic career and also on my personal life and the way I communicate with others. I am currently in Global Politics, a class that, although bewilderingly interesting, is also challenging and hard to get a grasp of. Our professor assigned us to read two book that are both works of scholars in political sciences and this terrified me, a fear that stopped me from opening the book in multiple occasions. When I realized that I had to inevitably read it as it was part of my required reading, I sat down in a quit space with my book and a pencil but when I opened the book and actually started reading, it came as a shock to me how easy it was for me to flow through the pages of complex technical language. I caught myself marking and making gist notes for the state of knowledge, knowledge deficit, and other parts of the scholarly genre that we have been studying in ASTU. Although I was not reading this introduction for an ASTU, assignment but to go on and read the book, the techniques that I had learn in class saved me from the insane confusion that would have clouded my ability to learn from the book at the start of the year.

I have constantly been told by my parents and educators that when you do something consistently, it becomes a pattern and if you continue that pattern, it can become a habit. This can be the case when you keep making the same mistakes and develop a negative habit but it is also a reality when you develop a positive habit especially a positive learning and reading habit. After reading multiple essays and looking at them deeply in class, we have developed the ability to analyze scholarly work better than we could have before this class. Our ability to read the work of scholars open up the door to a whole new world of information, and particularly to some of the best and most intellectually powerful information that was simply to complicated for us to understand before. The ability to read the work of a scholar and interpret it is a powerful tool for us to develop our own ideas and further the conversation or open it up to new topics that we might have remained ignorant about if we were not able to read this genre. I loved this class, and as I continue to read, communicate, and learn throughout the years, I will continue to apply the lessons of this class, the base for me to continue to grow in my knowledge of the academic and scholarly world.

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

Hello Everyone,

This week in our ASTU class we have been discussing and analysing Juliana Spahr’s poems from This Connection to Everyone with Lungs. Before discussing the poem, “Poem written after September 11/2001”, in class, we read it with a fellow classmate while doing homework. I read it out loud so that she and I would be able to listen to the sounds and ring of the words. We did this out old habits brought back from school but we did not know the importance of reading this particular poem out loud until we discussed it the next day . However, while reading it we did feel that there was more than just sound to the way the words rang in their repetition and resonated in our ears. The words formed patterns and the ring became predictable as we read through a melody of alliterations and rhythmic words that served to draws deeply in with the author. Spahr uses repetition to lead and guide our way of thinking about the poem and what it speaks of. Words sound differently when they are pronounced once then when they are pronounced repeatedly. It puts the reading in line according to the scripted sounds of the author.

Poetry is and has always been a very powerful that hits close to the heart as there is so much more than real meaning of words as the author intends them but there is also the interpretation every reader burdens the words with. Poetry like this one is not only read and understood but is also felt and that is why these poems were so successful when they were published. They lure you in at a constant pase like that of waves in the ocean, constant in their rhythm until to be interrupted by the ending. The ending presents a shift in the structure of the poem, a halt in the constant repetition and addition of phrases, and an explosive emotion of weighty emotion. They poem alludes to its 9/11 concept when it speaks of the shattered glass and concrete that also enters our lungs only to make it extremely clear with the last line. Spahr uses words to convey meanings and the momentum of the dragging sounds to bring intensity to the changing and increasing emotion. Poetry impacts and this poem is very effective at that.

Have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

Hello everyone,

This week in my ASTU class we have been reading Ilka Saal’s “Regarding the Pain of Self and Other: Trauma Transfer and Narrative Framing in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” where Saal looks into Foer’s novel through the lens of Judith Butler’s work. Saal reflects on the impact of authors framing one trauma in the context of another as Foer does with 9/11 in the context of the Holocaust. I have increasingly understood, or at least been subject to, the way in which literature has an enormous impact in our understanding of events. Saal’s work and argument made me reconsider this even more because as I read Foer’s novel I was presented a view of the 9/11 events as I had not seen it before. When these events took place I was only a child and my memories of them are clouded by the naïve views of a girl who understood little about the ongoing situation and following wars. For this reason, reading the perspective, although fictional, of a victim in New York has an impact in my memory of this event. Foer leads its readers to view the victims of 9/11 as exactly that, victims. They are victims of suffering and loss, phenomena that Foer parallels to those of the holocaust. Unlike 9/11 that happened during my lifetime, the holocaust and the World Wars are not as recent and therefor, are a common and constant feature of History textbooks and classes through out high school and the tone is one of tragedy and loss across all the years that I was taught about it. When the holocaust is mentioned, an aura of suffering surrounds it and when Foer frames 9/11 along lines of the Holocaust, even if the reader knew nothing about the events, the tone is immediately accompanied by a feeling of sorrow and empathy for the victims. Today, millions of refugees from Syria are seeking asylum in countries all around the world and what the media compared them to or how their stories are framed has an enormous impact on what people’s opinions on the situation will be. If refugees are referred to as victims of human rights abuse and lack of government protection, they are more willingly accepted but if the media or governments refer to them as possible terrorist or threats to jobs, the open arms close up due to fear. The relevance, especially in our time, of how a story is framed is enormous and we must be cautious of this when we receive news and take in different perspectives of an event or situation.

Have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

Hello Everyone,

In my ASTU class we are reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and as I read it  I felt something that I have never experienced before while reading a novel. I have always been emotional when it comes to romantic novels, happy endings, and the characters involved in such novels, especially those by author Nicholas Sparks. They produce bitter sweet tears that remind me that there are beautiful things worth crying for. Naturally, reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close made tears come to my eyes. However, for the first time, they were bitter, without any hint of sweetness to them. I felt Oskar’s pain, the frustration building as I realized that not only was no truly happy ending possible regardless of the outcome, but knowing that this is not just the story of one boy. In reality there were hundreds of children that were left without a parent because of the terrorist attacks that took place in 9/11, or “the worst day”, as Oskar refers to it. The struggle, the pain, and the knowledge that it happened so close to us makes it harder to swallow than any of the other books we have read in ASTU thus far. The title of this novel, I believe, is an accurate representation of the book because it is a story that hits close to home and continues to ring loud in our memories, even though several years have passed by.

On page 86 of the novel, Oskar begins the chapter with a memory of his father telling him one of the most touching analogies about our insignificance. Oskar asks his father about the insignificance of humans and his father answers by asking him what would happen if he moved one grain of sand in the Sahara Desert. His father goes on to explain that the Sahara is enormous and has been there for millions of years, but moving one grain of sand would change the Sahara and human history. I have re-read this page more times than I can count and that is because it such an empowering way of thinking. Thomas Jr. always treated his son as more mature than his age, and yet, he also showed Oskar the value of things so clearly that the child could understand it.

Every individual is a part of human history and has a role to play. In Oskar’s life, his father played a central role; he was held on top of a pedestal. When someone that important is taken from your life, it must be impossible to deal with since all that is left is an enormous hole. Before reading this novel, I always saw all of the explicitly negative reasons behind the actions taken by the United States; it was extremely easy for me to see how wrong they were in going to war. My stance and opinions against the United States’ invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have not changed. However, this book has forced me to look at the situation from a different point of view – one where war seems emotionally justified, as nothing could ever give a father back to his confused child.

Thanks and have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

Hello everyone,

These past few weeks, we have been reading Joy Kogawa’s Obasan in our ASTU class. Obasan is a historical fiction novel about the experience of Japanese-Canadians during World War II from the eyes of Naomi, the narrator who looks back to her childhood memories of this event. Last week we went with my ASTU class to the UBC archives in the Irving K. Barber Learning Center. It is a beautiful place that holds within its walls the answers to questions we often philosophize about when we read, such as what was the author’s view on a certain character. We often question the choices and the background of the author and in the archives last week I found more about Joy Kogawa than any number of Wikipedia searches could have provided. In the archives, the Joy Kogawa Fond contain documents that she donated and these include drafts of the book, notes and outlines, letters from editors, and letters from readers, including Prime Minister Trudeau, among others.

In class and in general, we study Joy Kogawa and her work and in the process of studying her, I have come to notice, we idealize her and view her as someone who wrote a priceless and amazing novel. In the archives, I found a letter from a publisher and you may see the image of said letter below.

Reading this letter, I came to view Kogawa as a normal author, who like every other author who wishes to be published, was criticized and rejected. Her work is, without a doubt amazing and compelling, but it is not perfect and this is something that I had to be reminded of with this document. The publisher who wrote this letter after reading Kogawa’s book told her that he would like her to revise certain elements of the novel and resubmit it for them to consider publishing it or that she should send it to other publishers for their opinion. He also argues that, “The reader isn’t really ever aware of a story-with a focused storyline- being told: there isn’t enough emphasis on key elements that constitute a novel” (Engineer). He then goes on to state that “there should be a clearer picture of Nomi. There’s never any strong sense of her as a person” (Engineer). He finds many flaws in this version of Obasan, flaws that I would strongly disagree with. Although I am not certain if the version he looked at is the same as the one that ended up being published, his judgments towards Kogawa’s work are not something I would not have though of had it not been for this letter.

Reading this letter, I realized that in rejection letters, the tone of the publisher or editor is similar to that portrayed by a professor grading a student’s paper, where the goal is to help the writer improve style and content but these messages are often received with drops of bitterness and sorrow. After thinking it over I found that although Obasan is an amazing novel that has been acclaimed by many, it can and was criticized as any other piece of writing can be.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

Works Cited

Engineer, Dilshad. Letter from Dilshad Engineer to Joy Kogawa. 31 October 1980. Box 11 File 1. Joy Kogawa fonds. University of British Columbia Library Rare Books and Special Collections, Vancouver, Canada.

Hello!

These past two weeks in my ASTU class, we have been reading Joe Sacco’s graphic narrative Safe Area Goražde, where Sacco presents his experiences and the stories that were told to him by the people who lived through the Bosnian War in Goražde. In the book, Sacco is the character that connects all the stories and serves as our representative within that location as he inserts himself as our link to a town and group of people that had been locked out of the reach of the rest of the world. Sacco emphasized the difference between himself and the other journalists that got access into Goražde through the U.N. convoys, or what he refers to as The Blue Road. He places himself within the novel to show us that what he is attempting to convey is the single or “Real Truth” but is instead his memory and the interpretation of the memories of the people that shared their stories with him.

One of the ways in which Sacco is viewed as different from the other journalists is his connection to the people because, while the journalists that came by day treated the people as a source of news and good pictures that would sell, Sacco saw them and lived with them as fellow human beings. In page 131 we see two frames at the top of the page, on the left is a journalist that focused on the efficient and cheap coverage throwing candy at faceless children as he shoots a picture. Next to that image, we see Sacco walking next to children who ask him for candy but he treats them as people.

The fact that these are images and not just words makes Sacco’s message incredibly stronger and more powerful because he is forcing us to see the events through his eyes. These images undeniably show a strong contrast between the other journalist and himself. Personally, when I first encountered the frame of the journalist throwing candy at the children I was outraged and felt insulted by the actions of this man who was treating the children as one would throw food at the ground so that birds fly in and we may take their picture up close. Sacco’s portrayal of the people in Goražde makes us, as readers, feel a close connection to them and when faced with this image, I was quite shocked.

In Sociology we are studying how people’s knowledge of the world and its norms is becoming increasingly dependent on the media and what the media says is normal.  As Sacco points out throughout the book, the role of journalists is one of high power as the way they tell a story is usually the way in which people will go on to remember it. If journalists like himself dig deep into events, these events will be seen through less biased and clearer perspectives but if all the information we get is coming from journalists like the one throwing candy to get the children’s attention then I worry about how reliable the media really is.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

Sacco, Joe. Safe Area Goražde. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics, 2000. Print.

Hello!

Have you ever experienced one of those moments when you are intently reading but your view is suddenly obstructed by an annoying tear, you realize that a book has truly taken you in and transported you into the life of the characters. Today, I finished reading the first part of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis an autobiographical graphic narrative about a little girl and her experiences as her nation plunges into wars and the Islamic Revolution, and that is exactly what happened to me as I read the last pages. As Marji turned around in the airport to give a last glance towards her parents, and then regretted it, I was reminded of two very different recent events, first came the idea that this was similar to what I had experienced as I said goodbye to my beloved country little over a month ago, but more importantly, it also brought to mind the children and families that are currently suffering due to the Syrian refuge crisis. Millions of Syrians have had to leave their homes and previous lives behind in a nation that has been under a civil war since 2011. Often we hear people say that they are leaving everything behind “in search of better opportunities” but this politically correct terminology fails to grasp the dangerous and cruel reality behind their journey in search of something even greater than opportunities, journeys in hope of survival. As a UBC international student, I connect the phrase “in search of better opportunities”, to my case and that of my fellow college students. We left our homes but we did so by choice, we can always go back, and the journey posed little or no danger to our lives. On the other hand, these refugees are escaping out of need, they can very likely not go back for the time being, and are risking their lives in harsh environments to reach their destinies. War leads to separation of families, communities, and nations and this separation is very easily felt in Marji’s painfull departure at the end of the book.

Have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

http://syrianrefugees.eu/

Hello!

These past weeks in my Arts Studies class, we have been talking about memory and learning and reading Farhat Shahzad’s “The Role of Interpretative Communities in Remembering and Learning”. This made me think a lot and question how it is that we, and specifically I, learn. Last Friday, our three CAP (Coordinated Arts Program) courses had a joint lecture where we discussed what it means to be a global citizen. The definitions may vary from one course to another but more than differences, there were outstanding similarities as to how the different disciplines view certain concepts, such as that of being a global citizen. When we think about the social sciences we may think about a puzzle that comes together by patching up faces, from presidents to rebels, numbers, in dates and statistics, and ideas. We are expected to learn about this data and we usually do so by adding value or significance to it. We try to take a number or a complex word and connect to a larger concept that we already know. We also learn through factual stories, long or shot, and when no real example exists because the topic discussed is a theory, examples or possible scenarios are a common feature in our learning process.

How each person learns is very different but there are prevalent learning structures that are recognizable in every individual of a specific group. Learning styles are often categorized as visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. I believe that regardless of the style in which someone learns, we can all learn by making connections. The classes in our CAP, Arts Studies, Sociology, and Political Sciences, all connect. We have often discussed with fellow CAP members about the difficulties involved in taking classes that are so interconnected and related, as we often get confused as to what we learned in each course because of the way the material relates. These connections have positive results as they serve to further deepen our knowledge when what we learn in one class is discussed and reinforced in the next. Karl Marx, for example, is a name that has been discussed in both Political Sciences and Sociology. Discussing the authority of Marx as an author of what would become part of history, we are reminded of questions posed and discussed in our Arts Studies class. Who owns memories, who has the authority to tell a story, and what is the difference between personal and collective memory?

Building connections is not something that we started doing until college, instead, it one of the primary ways in which have been learning for most of our lives. In High School, History was one of my favorite subjects. Memorizing was a tedious struggle for me but I tried to remember dates and names by accommodating them into the stories I learned, stories that, when placed alongside each other, added up to what teachers and textbooks referred to as History. Placing myself within the context of the story to try to understand why leaders and revolutionaries acted the way they did was key to my learning. I was born, raised, and educated in El Salvador, a small country in Central America. I love my country and grow increasingly passionate about its history but learning how a nation came to be is never an easy task. Regardless of the hours dedicated to rigorously studying the material from textbooks, the knowledge I acquired was never more than just sets of facts. It was only a connection through narrative that truly allowed me to grasp what my county’s people had lived through. Reading Sandra Benitez’s historical fiction novel, Bitter Grounds, I learned about events that happened during a hundred year in my country’s history. All the events presented in the novel, I had already read about in textbooks and articles, but it was the emotion placed on the characters and their roles in those settings that gave them new and deeper meaning. Literature allows us to be emotionally involved in historical or seemingly abstract situations and this connection is what turns simple memorization into deeper learning.

Have a great day!

Andrea Barraza

This is Global Memories, a blog designed  for the sharing and discussing of ideas that develop in Arts Studies. The idea is to view the world from the eyes of a global citizen!