As part of this next blog post I would like to draw our attention to the film “Dirty Pretty Things” which is directed by Stephen Frears. The film as from we have already seen so far centers around an illegal immigrant named Okwe and how he find a terrifying secret involving immigrants within London. First of all I would like to talk about the twist in which Okwe discovers that immigrants are donating their kidneys so as to obtain passports in order to pass themselves off as a citizen of London. I found that it fitted with the theme of identity that is presented in the movie. It effectively shows that London’s immigration laws are so strict to the point that immigrants have to buy their own identity and citizenship so as to become an acceptable member of society.

Another thing I noticed was how smug and self righteous the immigration police look every time they are placed on screen. One moment in particular is when Okwe tells one of them to stop smoking in the hotel lobby and the police just gives him this almost patronizing look and smirk. The same applies to Okwe’s interaction and chemistry with Senor Juan, his boss and the man involved in the organ trade.  I find this interesting because it offers insight into how far a authoritative society has broken down to the point where the higher ups who have some of the control over members of society want to remind those inferior in power that they are sheep and that those with authority are superior and better in any way to them. Their on-screen appearance always seems to suggest that they are going to play a much bigger yet antagonistic role in the later portions of the film.

One of the major questions people seemed to had was why the film opened in the airport and I will suggest that the filmmaker wanted to include this tactic because it inconspicuously establishes Okwe’s character as an immigrant and shows what the theme of the movie revolves around. This is because the airport is the place which illegal immigrants use to arrive to the country but can also use it to escape. It is the source of all the global flows of illegal immigrants and is almost like a transportation hub made solely for them. In fact Stephen Frears makes good use of pretty much all locations in this film to cover the themes and messages of the movie in which he is trying to portray. The hotel serves as a central hub for immigrants to live and rest at, Senay’s workplace serves as an onlook on how work for these types of people is like and Senay’s home is almost like a hiding spot for Okwe. Of course this is merely my personal interpretation of it so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong in any way.

Feel free to comment, let me witness your interpretations and don’t hesitate to add some more points to my blog that you would have wanted me to have typed.

Ok so after finishing the book “What we all long for”, I’ve decided to share my feelings of it in this blog post.

As told within this week’s seminar, many have disliked the characters presented within the book and have openly stated how Brand has appeared to have made them as unlikable as possible. My major gripe with these characters is that they seem immature in a certain way, which is not a very good characterization for someone who is at an age where they would want to go to university. I felt that some of these characters are upset at issues in which they could resolve rather easier yet tend to worsen it because of their outbursts and reactions. Sometimes I felt that their reactions are justified because of their background and problems that they have to deal with at home, but the way they handle these issues just doesn’t resonate well with me. Carla for example had every right to feel anger toward her father for refusing to bail Jamal out of prison and for playing an indirect role in the suicide of her mother. However instead of giving him time to apologize or maybe even scolding him, she proceeds to physically attack him and scour the edge of his car. This man is her father and she needed to treat him with respect. His role in the suicide was more indirect, it was not as if he intended to have her push herself off the building. By attacking him she worsened the situation, causing him to get angry himself. Not to mention, if Nadine was not there she could have seriously injured him. The parents themselves are also worse than the children they had raised. While we as readers could have a group of families that are being unfairly treated by society or deserve some sort of help either because they are poor or in huge poverty, instead we get ones who tend to go out of their way to do outrageous things, sometimes in front of their own children. Jackie’s parents often tend to get into brawls within the Paramount and Carla’s parents argued with each other to the point where they started hurling insults and throwing objects at each other. Perhaps Carla inherited her father’s habit after seeing the two married couples fighting together.

But of course with any book worthy of being published, Brand must have some reason for having these characters act this way. From what I can tell, by creating characters that are often angry at each other Brand is able to show readers the consequences migration can have upon a family. The best example is with Tuyen’ family with the lost of Quy, how their culture is often not appreciated well enough and how her parents have to try to force them to connect with white culture in order to feel human out in the open world. However while this is a good technique to utilize it can sometimes have its own flaws. The most important one is that the characters become unsympathetic towards the readers. Usually the point of a story on migration and the struggles to cope in a world of an entirely different culture is to have readers sympathize with the characters and want them to get out of the situation they are in. However Brand has still managed to create a good story by having these characters have struggles in which you can pretty much forgive them for acting aggressive.

This is my next blog post for this semester.

So as I have said in my previous one I have read the book ”Three Day Road” by author Joseph Boyden and I thought that overall it was a very engaging and tense novel with something significant and suspenseful occurring in almost every chapter. All of this topped off with a tear jerking conclusion that finishes both Niska’s and Xavier’s story. This is also the book we are going to use as a class for our close reading assignment. I have not really thought of a specific passage yet but if I were to do one it would perhaps be the scene where Niska escapes from the residential school or even the moment where Elijah basked in the murder of several enemy troops. Even better I might also consider writing about the part where Niska seduces the Frenchman. I know I have to select one, but there is so many of them.

The Annual Women’s March which was where many came to honor the death of all these women who have died struck a chord in me when I heard about it. I wish I was there to honor them and to give them the respect they had deserved. It saddened me that they have to suffer this sort of fate, they did not really deserve death. So as a result I was rather thankful for this march and I was pleased and overjoyed to see that some people were interested in this. Being a member of society who surfs the internet on a daily basis I was always aware that people placed animals on a higher level than humans and would always care for animals first then humans second. This makes me have faith in this world as there are still people out there who care. To all those people who attended the march especially members of the Law and Society stream, thank you for showing your care and love towards these women.

Another thing I would like to mention is the piece by Marlene George on trying to end violence against women. The last few sentences of her blog were what struck me the most. The lines: “I march for the women who cannot march, their voices have been forever silenced by violence, I march for all women experiencing violence, I march for the missing women everywhere, I march because they canʼt“ was very well said by her, expressing the need for her to go out there and to spread awareness by participating within this march. Her descriptions of the experiences she had within the event and the people she met were heartwarming and also horrifying especially when she said that one of the Cree women called Reta Blind had actually witnessed the aftermath of the murder of one of these women. It almost frightens me when I imagine the pain and despair she must have felt when she saw the remains.

So to end this blog I ask: Why do people still enact violence towards women? There is no justification for doing such a thing and I just feel that it needs to stop.

Because class has been canceled I have decided that it would be a great idea to update my blog as compensation. The topic this time will be based on the novel entitled: Three Day Road.

My first impressions of the book were nothing short of enjoyable. Its narrative was extremely engaging and had this habit of hooking you with its relatable characters and the dire situations in which they are placed. Each encounter is heart pounding and kept you on the edge of your seat. This is not a calm, relaxing book as it is one that does not hesitate to shove in suspense and the terrors of war. I also find the way in which the novel shifts from different points of view to be rather effective as it allows readers to see development in both Xavier and Niska and to glimpse their side of the story. This also brings to this particular question that I feel needs answering:

4) What is the significance of Niska’s character in the novel?

Being the aunt of Xavier Bird, Niska serves an important and essential role within the story. From her point of view, we catch a glimpse of her thoughts and feelings towards the arrival of her niece and how much he has changed after his venturing out into a perilous battlefield. Her presence makes us wonder about Xavier’s survival within the novel and whether he is going to live towards the climax, or lose his life. We witness her describing how weak and frail he is and how she worries about him and how much he has changed. Through her point of view we are able to find out what had happened to him after the war and the affect it had on his body, his actions and his emotions. The character of Niska is also used by author Joseph Boyden to show readers the life of an aboriginal and how it was like from the perspective of this character. With this perspective readers can explore different narratives and flashbacks within the novel. Xavier for example showcases the flashbacks of what happened during his time serving in the army, the interactions he has with his comrades and the training he is subjected to such as the sniper training where he feels sickened after successfully shooting a man in the head. It also details his relationship with his friend Elijah and the adventures the two have had together. But while Xavier’s narrative perspective shows his experiences in the army and on the battlefield, Niska’s story goes back further into the past to a point where she was only a child. While many wonder whether this has anything to do with the storyline itself, it does have a huge purpose. This is because for one, the flashbacks displayed within Niska’s narrative explain to readers as to how the life of an aboriginal is like. As readers we delve into the culture of the aboriginals as well as their myths and legends such as the fearsome Windigo. It shows clearly how the aboriginal lifestyle is like from the way the hunters attack and cook their prey to other noteworthy moments. The flashbacks here also give us more of Niska’s past and also even relates her past to what Canadians have been doing to the aboriginals such as with the Indian Act. For example here is when Niska is taken away from her mother and her family members and forced to live in a residential school where punishment towards their wrongdoings was done in an extremely abusive manner.  Such an example can be seen in reality.

Hello everybody! Just want to clarify a few things for my blog post today.

First of all I would like to respond to why we need to recognize the histories of the aboriginal peoples. In my opinion I believe that this is essential since it allows one to empathize with these groups of people and understand the suffering that they have gone through. By accomplishing this task they are able to then make the world a better place for these aboriginals by giving them the respect and equality in which they deserve. It also prevents such atrocities towards these people from occurring ever again. Remember the phrase “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it” (there are many different versions of this phrase from multiple individuals but my example was from an author known as Edward Burke) as this is actually true in most cases. By looking back into the past we as individuals are able to discover the mistakes we or other people have made and by recognizing these faults and the consequences they bring upon society and the world itself, we as individuals can make sure such acts do not happen yet again.

The video we as a class saw in Thursday’s seminar did much to captivate me. One noticeable detail that highly interested me was the way the host explained to the audience about the way the aboriginals were treated when they were invited to sit with the royal people of higher society. Basically what occurred was that the aboriginals were forced to sit at a much smaller table unlike the others who were relaxed in their comfy dining chairs at a much bigger and luxurious looking table. Just the way the host moved around the scenery, approaching different objects such as the small table when he began to educate us that the aboriginals were required to sit here. The content of the video itself was educational yet rather witty and at times, comedic. This was an impressive move both by the host himself and the filmmaker as it catches the audience’s attention and keeps them entertained.

The advertisement on Indian Residential schools was a prime example of cultural genocide. These children whom were torn away from their families were also subjected to having their Indian identity and culture stripped away from them. The advertisement depicts them as very joyful and with big smiles upon their youthful faces along with upbeat music audible in the background, but we must realize that these children are being force fed into become like what most Canadians are. They go to churches, are converted to Christianity and learn the English vocabulary instead of the Indian one. Their entire culture is left behind as they are commanded to take on an entirely new lifestyle. It is almost distasteful as to what was happening to them at that time and the blissful soundtrack made it even more insulting almost as if the advertisement was meant to present to viewers that this was a moral thing to do. I at hope these children were not severely abused within these schools.

So that’s my blog for the day. Feel free to comment and tell me if I’ve missed an important detail out or if I misinterpreted one of the three points I’ve made.

Well I had a great holiday in the winter and I felt the need to update my blog and talk about something related to the topic of Law and Society, most specifically the book The Handmaid’s Tale.

First of all I want to debate the ending of both the book and the film adaptation. The book’s conclusion was rather open-ended, leaving the readers themselves to generate discussion and to imagine what Offred’s fate would have been. Did she die? Did she really join MAYDAY? Is there a symbolic message underneath all of this? On the other hand the film adaptation completely alters it to form a more suitable conclusion to the tale. One that has been Hollywoodized and is rife with explosions and over the top sequences. But in a way I preferred the movie’s ending to the book’s because of two reasons. The first being that the main heroine actually does something that contributes to her feeling of rebellion and oppression towards the regime. Whilst in the book she remains passive all throughout, always hesitating to enact her actions upon the system. Subjectively this is merely because in a story with strong themes of rebellion in it as well as reflecting on a society that is very totalitarian in nature I wanted the protagonist to undergo some serious character development where she transforms from a typical sheep of the current society to a woman who plays a significant role in starting up a rebellion or even joining MAYDAY and fighting against the regime alongside them. In other words I wanted a really strong female character like Katniss from The Hunger Games and not someone like Bella from Twilight (aka the passive damsel in distress who relies on two other protagonists to defend her). The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian future, a novel that often involves the theme of rebellion and oppression and to me having the main character rebel or even do something significant to the society is what sells the genre to me. Another aspect of the movie’s ending which I preferred to the book’s was the sense of an actual conclusion to the story. The book ended almost on a cliffhanger except there is no sequel getting released any time soon. The movie actually concludes the tale and gives the heroine an actual ending. Your mileage may vary on this but to me I felt the film’s ending was better since I do not have to worry about a sequel or have to imagine what happened to Offred.

I also want to mention a little about whether Offred has agency. Within Gilead I would say that she does have some agency but is limited in the amount of power she has over her own personal decisions. For example there are multiple occasions within the novel where we as readers think she is going to do something but she instead doesn’t. One example is where she plays scrabble with the commander or even attends an illegal party with him. She just seems to go with the flow of things and most of the time doesn’t even oppose them. As for moments where she does seem to have agency, the ending is a prime example of it where she decides to go with Nick despite Serena Joy’s reaction to it. A person who follows the system would refuse to go with him but Offred instead makes the choice to go with Nick to an unplanned future.

Well guys it looks like my fifth blog post for the ASTU 100A is here!

Personally I would like to talk about three things rather briefly but enough to get you all interested and so you can get the gist of it. First of all I would appreciate it if I could communicate with you all about a tragic moment in Canadian history. I am indeed writing about the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre that occurred in Montreal. To give you a clear understanding of what I’ve read about the event itself, it is almost equivalent to a school shooting that you have seen being featured on certain occasions on the US news. What happened was that one man felt the need to express his infuriation as to why there are woman in engineering majors. Because of this he whipped out a gun and shot about fourteen girls dead, 6 of them being in his class and the others just being random students minding their own business on a bright sunny day. Needless to say he just murdered 14 innocent female students as well as injured some other students, some of which included the presence of men within their wake. This news just outright shocked me not only because a few girls who obviously were just there to pursue their dreams of becoming an engineer had just dropped dead by the hands of a madman, but the fact that the killer was stereotyping the female gender. Even to this day there are still people who believe that engineering is men’s work and that no girls should even be allowed to participate in their majors. I therefore always view stereotyping in a very negative light because anyone should be given the opportunity to pursue their dreams. Nobody should be killed just for wanting to pursue a career that a certain gender does not usually follow. If women can be wrestlers and bodybuilders then they can also take on the role as an engineer.

To be honest with you I have never heard of the band Pussy Riot. However just hearing that they have been jailed just for voicing their opinions on women’s rights in Siberia struck a chord in me. No one should be sent to prison for voicing their personal opinions, that’s what the freedom of speech law is for. However in reality, freedom of speech is sadly very complex and complicated. Even if you’re given more flexibility to voice opinions, one still must be careful about what their opinion is geared towards or against. Issues like politics and felony are still forbidden in most nations. This in my belief is probably due to paranoia. I will not mention anymore on this topic since it’s not my intention to discuss politics but I’ll tell you that if I were a member of government I would not jail the band for just voicing their personal views.

Finally I’m going to talk about Peeta Mellark from the Hunger Games. I still have not seen Catching Fire yet and am halfway through the novel so I don’t know his treatment within the sequel. What I can say however is that at least in the first movie, he is indeed portrayed almost as a girlfriend. While he does have his moments, most of the time he as a character in the films relies on Katniss to help him and is even taken hostage by Cato at the climax, a situation most suited for damsels in distresses.

What do you guys think? Feel free to leave a comment.

Well here is my fourth blog post for the ASTU course. As always this will be focused around the topic of law and society and yes, it is going to be on the movie District 9 by Neil Blompkopt and Peter Jackson. So here are my feelings on the way the film changes Wikus’s character gradually after getting infected, the music and the theme of xenophobia.

First of all my thoughts on the movie. It’s a good movie with an engaging storyline and a soundtrack that will appeal to your personal emotions. The way Wikus’s character was handled was done exceptionally well as we the viewers get to experience the gradual shift from a man who patronizes and is ignorant of the alien’s culture to basically becoming their life saver. This change is evident within the second half of the film. In the first half, Wikus is naïve and rather patronizing towards the aliens which is further proven by the scene where he makes a remark about one of the aliens being sharp, as though he thought the others had low intelligence. The fact that he made the remark based on the fact that the alien realized his plan to evict them shows that he was almost surprised at the creature’s intelligence therefore presenting his naivety. Within the second half after he gets infected with the black fluid and has to trust Christopher the alien in order to be able to get his arm back to normal, we can see that he actually starts to develop compassion after finding out the ship that Christopher had built and his feelings for the experimented aliens in the labs. Of course we all know he is only helping Christopher because he wants a cure for his arm, but we can clearly see in the lab sequence and when the ship is shown that Sharlto Copley’s acting as Wikus in those scenes almost make us believe that he is changing emotionally and taking on a new approach to the aliens. This shows at the end of the film where Wikus almost smiles when he sees the two aliens depart and it is clearly one of compassion.

Some of the shots within the second half of the film are also an interesting and effective addition by the filmmaker. For example the emotional African style music played during the more dramatic scenes such as the ending and the scene where Wikus is captured by the MNU along with Christopher. The music is really effective because it appeals to your emotions during the latter half and really makes you feel for these characters and the hardships they have gone through. The fact that it sounds almost like something that would be played in a movie set in Africa or the Middle East is also effective because it emphasizes the fact that the film takes place in African territory.

The underlying theme of xenophobia is also present throughout the film from the first half to the second half. During the first half we as an audience have already seen the effects of this on the South African population through documentary style footage during the first few minutes. The use of interviews from them almost make the film seem almost realistic and the fact that I’ve heard that the filmmaker actually interviewed these people just makes it feel like the movie is trying to present to us that some people in that country actually experience xenophobia in reality. The fact that these people are the ones that start the riots in the city and are presenting throwing a hefty cheer at the end when the mothership departs only confirms this. The MNU themselves also display xenophobia which is clearly evident in the scene where Wikus and Christopher find out that these men have been experimenting on the aliens in their headquarters. It’s almost as though the MNU want to find out what the aliens are made of and is experiencing curiosity, which makes sense since xenophobia is the fear of the unknown so as a result they want to challenge that fear so as to make sense of the unknown. This aspect of xenophobia also extends to the Nigerians who battle the MNU forces at the films climax. Both men are not afraid to use weaponry against each other and it’s made clearer by the fact that the Nigerians are living almost in the same conditions as the aliens. Xenophobia is also shown by the way human beings reacted to Wikus’s deformed arm; they reacted with shock.

However this is only my opinion of the film though. I enjoyed it and found some nice parallels with another film by the same director called Elysium which I thought was really enjoyable.

This week was extremely busy. So to end two weeks of midterms I have come up with this blog posting for the ASTU 100 class. And it is indeed connected to the theme of law and society.

To start this off I would like to talk specifically about the article written by Willie Van Peer. This was more appropriate to talk about since we used it to write our summary.  I would like to say that the article is very well written and just like the Nussbaum article it talks about the usefulness of the arts in influence a change in human rights for the greater good. And in a way I have to agree with him for he does make a very good point and expands clearly on this particular point. I feel that literature in general contribute to the progress of human rights because it connects us to the characters of literature. It makes us empathize with them and feel the pain they are feeling as we follow their own journey and the hardships in which they begin to experience. Most authors of novels supporting the progression of human rights often showcase the character’s emotions during a tragic or discriminating event so as to get readers to see how human they are and imagine what it would be like if they, the readers, were in their situation. Van Peer also successfully persuades us to believe him by using examples of famous works such as the book ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens. This is effective as it shows how truthful this article is.

So to further elaborate and clarify my point let’s take for example ‘Obasan’, a book by Joy Kogawa in which we have to read for our next assignment. ‘Obasan’ focuses on a major issue in human rights, the fact that Japanese-Canadians have to evacuate and that most of them are just not treated well by the locals within the area. For example the scene where Stephen, a member of Obasan and Naomi’s family, is bullied and arrives home injured. The fact that Naomi’s grandmother and grandfather have to be admitted to the ‘sick bay’ is also rather disturbing especially the details surrounding it. As a result seeing all of this makes one wonder whether these people actually deserve such a treatment and then will question the morals of this world. So the readers will begin to feel sympathy and begin to connect with the central characters of this novel. Therefore these people like Van Peer said will most likely contribute to the progression of human rights because after hearing about what had happened during Obasan’s time they would want to propose an act to stop it from happening ever again. It contributes to an act of change due to the feelings of compassion. This though is backed up by the way the Nakane family is presented within the book. They are viewed as innocent as well as almost comparable to our own families thus showing that we as human beings are no different than they are.

So what do you think? Do you think that ‘Obasan’ and Willie Van Peer’s article are two fine pieces of work that showcase the true importance of how literature is a factor that heavily contributes to the progression of an improvement in the rights of human being? Because as stated above, in my point of view both Joy Kogawa and Willie Van Peer have conveyed this effectively through the use of emotion in her characters in the former and the use of persuasion via immense elaboration as well as by providing examples in the latter.

Well guys this is my second blog post so to be honest I’m going to have to talk about two other works within the course booklet. I thought it might be a great opportunity to share my personal opinion and ideas about the content of these documents as well as to gain some insight from anyone who is willing to comment on this posting.

The next thing I want to talk about? Well it is none other than the book ‘Academic Writing: An Introduction’ by Janet Giltrow et al. So far in class I have been learning about how to summarize using a variety of different and unique methods found in the book. Gist noting so far has been an aid to my position as an adult pursing his Bachelor of Arts degree. I mean it would most certainly be easier if I had to read sentence or two short sentences worth of note taking rather than waste time reading five to six sentences. It is a very helpful method. However one needs to be careful when taking these notes. Make sure you understand the material you have read and ensure that the most essential details of that passage are within your gist notes. In terms of this law and society stream I guess that gist notes would be most important for interpreting some of the readings we have to do for History 104, ASTU 100 and even Political science 101.

After reading ‘Democratic Citizenship and the Narrative Imagination’ written by Martha C. Nussbaum, I feel the need to raise an issue about arts in general. This article includes a lot of information and facts as to why the arts and literature are of immense importance to the development of people’s emotions and feelings and my opinion is that the author has proposed a supportive point right there. Many people often undermine the value of the arts and literature these days as many more are embracing the sciences. I feel that I have to agree with the author that the arts and storytelling are essential in enabling one to express his compassion and to improve their emotions as well as to develop sympathy for the other members of society especially those who are being discriminated. The examples the writer uses of written works by other authors such as ‘Invisible Man’ by Ralph Ellison which will succeed in helping authors understand about the amount of discrimination that has been brought about on to the main character. The main protagonist of this story is designed in a way that would help the readers to feel empathy for him which would later translate on to real life if an individual like that were to ever communicate with them. This is true as by reading a masterful piece of literature can enable readers to connect with the characters and their journey as well as be introduced to the events that occur to them along the way. By reading Nussbaum’s writing, I have developed a greater respect for the arts and I will have to thank her for this. I feel that other people should read her writing and understand that the arts is just as important as the sciences as it helps to make the individual a better and more compassionate person.

Another work that I want to talk about is ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ by Martin Luther King Jr. I am merely proposing to talk about it in my second blog post as it just dawned upon me to do so and I did not have the opportunity to post about it in my first posting. As we have already seen, this article is written from the prospective of an individual who seems to want to address the horrid lives of the African-American population and the atrocities imposed on them by the Whites. In my opinion I find King’s writing to be rather effective in displaying the amounts of discrimination the African-American population have to endure to the general public. The reason for this is as we have already explained in class, the use of pathos so as to convey emotion. This should therefore and most likely enable the general public to feel an incredible urge of sympathy for these victims of discrimination and it comes across as more of an effective way in promoting the Civil Rights Movement. The example he used of the little girl being rejected from amusement parks due to her racial heritage, the fact that as an African-American they would not be able to find a hotel room to stay in or even that these people are being lynched and killed in public without a sense of remorse from the authority and to make matters worse some of the individuals taking part in this dreadful act of brutality are policemen. I have discovered that I learnt more about the truth from Martin Luther King’s letter and the more I read it the more I begin to understand about the high morals this compassionate man held. It made me fully respect him and gather a great deal of knowledge as to why he is further pushing his civil rights movement forwards.