Just by reading the first few pages, I was flooded with allusions and connections into the past with mythical characters, biblical references and other interesting allusions. It challenges me to really dive deep into reading every sentence correctly because it is all over the place. I found it hard to focus during the first few pages, but eventually adapted to the sporadic style of the story. There are many interesting references in the story itself and it is fascinating to get to know these references and follow along with the story.

In the beginning, God created the….

The biblical reference Lone Ranger makes while trying to tell his story comes from the very first book from the Bible,  Genesis. However, this is not the only biblical reference in the first few pages of the story, Ishmael is also from the bible. Known as Abraham’s first son, Ishmael is cast away by his father because he cannot be the successor for the household for Abraham. Later, he creates his own tribe of his people and wanders around the desert for food and shelter.

Dr. Joseph Hovaugh 

Another biblical reference is Dr. Joe Hovaugh, if read quickly, it sounds like Jehovah. Jehovah is a biblical term for God. With Christianity believing in the Trinity, Jehovah is the spiritual part of God. In the story, Dr. Joe Hovaugh also saves four indian men who are in danger. Connection can be made when we see the four men “saved” by Joe Hovaugh. Ultimately, the four men being saved by the doctor makes a connection to Christianity in saying Christians are saved by Jehovah, or God, so that they can go to heaven and rejoice with him forever. This is the biblical reference and the connection I made when reading the story.

Coyote 

One of the most obvious references to Native Americans in the story is with Coyote. Coyote is a mythical creature that the Native Americans believe to be “the chief animal of the age before humans.” Direct references to the story with Coyote is made when telling the story is Dr. Joe Hovaugh.

Works Cited

6. Find three examples of names that need to be spoken aloud in order to catch the allusion. Discuss the examples as well as the reading technique that requires you to read aloud in order to make connections. Why does King want us to read aloud?

In Green Grass, Running Water, there are a lot of allusions that are really subtle that just passes our mind when reading it. Sometimes, just as the question states, we have to read it out loud in order to catch the allusion King put in his novel.

1. Dr. Joe Hovaugh

Probably the most common one from the novel itself would be Dr. Joe Hovaugh. He is a doctor who runs a mental hospital that the Indian elders escape from. His full name would be Joseph Hovaugh and readers will not get the allusion made by King with this name if it is read with the full name. However, if the readers read aloud the shortened name for Joseph, which is Joe, the name of the doctor will very much sound like Jehovah, the God of Christianity. Also, readers would have to speak as quickly as possible in order to catch the allusion made by King. In my opinion, King wants us to read aloud so that the allusions are noticed, which will help us have a deeper understanding on his novels, and the connection between the allusion and the novel itself.

2. Ahdamn

As I read through the novel, this particular name stuck out to me because it reminded me of Adam, the first man on earth created by God in the bible. He is the male character in the first creation story. He goes on adventures with the First Woman and that alone makes another allusion to the bible where Adam and Eve are the first to live in this world. If read slowly, it may sound like Ah, Damn! But at the same time, the word and how it is said out loud already makes a clear allusion to Adam.

3. Nissan, Pinto, and Karman-Ghia

In the novel, the natives stole Charlie, Alberta, and Dr. Hovaugh’s cars. The allusion made in this particular names are the names of three of Colombus’ ships, Niña, Pinta, and Santa-Maria. There is also some connection of putting those as cars because it would be the means of transportation people use to get everywhere, while ships were means of transportation as well. These particular allusions would be quite difficult to catch the first time it is read aloud, however, understanding that their cars (tranportation) have been stole, the connection can be made that King is making an allusion to the ships Columbus used.

Works Cited

“The Niña & Pinta – The Columbus Foundation.” The Niña & Pinta – The Columbus Foundation, www.thenina.com/.

“What Does the Name Jehovah Mean? – Bible Definition.” Bible Study Tools, www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/jehovah/.

Fairchild, Mary. “Get to Know Adam in the Bible: First Man and Father of the Human Race.” Learn Religions, Learn Religions, 25 June 2019, www.learnreligions.com/adam-the-first-man-701197.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Santa María.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 11 Mar. 2020, www.britannica.com/topic/Santa-Maria-ship.

The multiculturalism act in 1988 provided a stepping stone for multiculturalism to flourish in Canada. Canada was known to become “the first country to pass a national multiculturalism law (Canadian Museum)”.

The Multiculturalism Act in 1988 started from a report by the parliamentary committee on multiculturalism that said the policy for multiculturalism in Canada was not adequate for the needs of the country’s multicultural society.

The existing policy was said to focus on “cultural preservation, primarily  reflecting the interests of European-born immigrants. (Canadian Museum)” But as the number of immigrants from Asia and Africa, along with the Middle East, increased, the center of immigration “gradually shifted away from Europe” (Canadian Museum).

Canada’s racial and ethnic diversity changed with this shift and a new policy, the Multiculturalism Act of 1988, came into effect. From trying to preserve the culture of Canada and showing advantages to people of European decent, the act “emphasized the right of all individuals to preserve and share their cultural heritage while retaining their right to full and equitable participation in Canadian society. (Canadian Museum)”

The purpose of this act was to remove any existing barriers that prevented the participation of immigrants in Canadian society and the immigrants were promised to be assisted in overcoming discrimination.

Reading through the Multiculturalism Act of 1988, I have noticed the effort from the government to really promote inclusivity and help people fight against discrimination. However, according to Coleman, his conclusion about White Civility is somewhat different from the direction the act was trying to go into. Coleman focused more on the personal level of discrimination wherever the Act was focusing more in the societal level of multiculturalism. It is inevitable that discrimination still exists in this world, but the focus on the two writings are on different levels of multiculturalism. Based on what I read, after reading the two texts.

Works Cited

“Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.” Canadian Multiculturalism Act, 1988 | Pier 21, pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/canadian-multiculturalism-act-1988.

Sources

Coleman, Daniel. White Civility : The Literary Project of English Canada. University of Toronto Press, 2006,

Assignment 1.3

Assignment 1.5 Let Me Tell You A Story

Assignment 2.2 Home Sweet Home

These are the three blog posts I am putting for the midterm evaluation!

I have enjoyed doing all of these assignments as it helped me grow awareness toward Indigenous society from everywhere around the world. 🙂

King’s comparison over the creation story of Genesis, where Adam and Eve were created by God, and the creation story of Charm falling out from the sky pregnant to twins create an interesting analogy and interpretation to what story we should believe, and what to consider just a story.

Interestingly, I think what King is trying to tell us is the comparison between the two stories is actually unnecessary. In my opinion, I genuinely think that both creation stories are worth believing depending on which religious thought you have in mind. King speaks in an authoritative way while telling the Genesis creation story because God is the only one creating the world. With His will, He can create anything He wants to. God is an omnipotent being and that God is the creator of everything. A clear difference of the essence of being shows while King narrates the story. Humans, plants, and animals are all under Him, and we are His creation, therefore we are below Him. To emphasize this fact, King chose to narrate the story in an authoritative way in order for us to really focus on the story, and to improve the credibility of the story.

The other reason why King chose to speak in different styles was to increase the credibility of the story that is being told. With the creation story of the Sky Woman, a lot of animals co-operate together to build a beautiful world, no one is in charge, and no one is ordering anybody in the story to make something happen. They all co-operate and the sense of working together itself gives out a vibe that everybody is equal. With the story telling style of narration, this adds credibility to the story.

If the story was done in an authoritative way, just like the Genesis story, then the credibility of the Sky Woman story would not be as credible because the very nature of the story is already paradoxical. Therefore, I think in a sense King was trying to tell us that the narration of a story depends also on the context of the story. By giving a dichotomy of two stories, of course maybe he was trying to say that one of them is real and one of them isn’t, but the very purpose of the different style of narration he chose was to show that narration also impacts how the story is understood by the readers, or the listeners.

Works Cited

“Iroquois Creation Myth.” Creation Myths — Iroquois Creation Myth, www.cs.williams.edu/~lindsey/myths/myths_12.html.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Adam and Eve.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Dec. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-and-Eve-biblical-literary-figures.

After reading various blog posts of home by my colleagues, I have found similarity in the works of June, Samantha, Megan, Nicole, and Chase’s definition of home.

To me, home was sort of undefined because of the nature of living as a TCK, a third culture kid. My definition of home was not only where I was at currently, but also where I was at in any point of time in my life. So I have multiple homes and I cherish every single second of them. The similar part about the blog posts that I have read was they were constantly moving around as a kid, and had gone through the phase of having multiple homes, and to realize that they were at a dilemma in where they should consider their actual home.

Chase said in the very first sentence of her blog post that “Home is more than a physical structure that housed my growth” and June’s blog post about her grandfather being from North Korea really stunned me that even though there are different people all around the world, there still is similar thoughts about what home is to them, and to others. Some just think of home as the structure or the place that they grew up in, but sometimes home can be somewhere you are from, and currently are not living in that particular spot at the moment.

Interestingly a few points that I could make while reading the blog posts of other students were

• Home is not just a physical place.
• Home can change from time to time.
• Home is where your heart belongs.
• Home is where you find emotional peace and a peace of mind.
• Home is family.

There were a lot of similarity reading through and it was fascinating for me to read the works of my classmates throughout the duration of this assignment. Truly, home is not just a physical place, but is defined by where we say home is.

Works Cited

To be brutally honest, I have had houses but not a home.

If I have to pick a home, I would make different choices by different periods of my life. As a missionary kid, I had the privilege of growing up in a multi-cultural environment. However, looking at a personal level, I didn’t realize that I was struggling with my origin until I came to UBC. All my life I lived in Malaysia, so I would consider Malaysia my hometown. Even though I am of Korean ethnicity, I didn’t have the chance to live and grow as a normal Korean just like my peers would do. I grew up with Korean being my fourth language. I talked and acted like a Malaysian, because I considered Malaysia to be my home. I lived in a small city called Sibu, in the state of Sarawak of Malaysia. Being the only Korean family that lived there, I had no connection whatsoever to Korean culture and Korean lifestyle. Even though I knew I was Korean, my home was Sibu.

When university came along however, I changed my home to Vancouver. See, the perks of growing up as a third-culture kid (TCK) is that you adapt really quickly. By the time I was in my first week of university, I was already acting and talking like a Canadian. I surrounded myself with friends of American/Canadian culture, and was trying hard to fit in. Fitting in wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but deep inside I always had the yearn to find a real home. Somewhere I can rest with a peace of mind. Not worrying about when to leave, how long to stay, or even moving to a different place.

After my first year in UBC, I had to go back to Korea for my mandatory military service. Honestly I didn’t feel the need for me to serve “my country” which wasn’t exactly what I considered Korea to be. But nonetheless, I went to basic training, was assigned a post, and started my life in Korea for the remaining days of service. It was not what I expected to be when I pictured myself living in Korea, but being surrounded by the language and the people of same ethnicity was enough to awaken the inner Korea in me. And before I even knew it, my home was Korea.

Throughout different time periods of my life, my concept of where home is has changed. At first it was Malaysia, then Canada, then Korea, and since I’m back here, I would say Canada, but my experience in Korea was an eye-opener for me because now that I have had the chance to live in my home country, I was able to differentiate the difference between being a foreigner and being at one’s own country. Just the fact of being a foreigner already gives out the feeling of loneliness and exclusion.

So when people ask me about my home, I always contemplate whether I should tell them where I’m from, or where I grew up, or where I’m living in right now, because all three answers are different.

Works Cited

Toyryla, Laura. “Military Service in Korea.” 90 Day Korean®, 90 Day Korean®, 30 Sept. 2019, www.90daykorean.com/military-service-in-korea/.

Mayberry, Kate. “Third Culture Kids: Citizens of Everywhere and Nowhere.” BBC Worklife, BBC, 18 Nov. 2016, www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20161117-third-culture-kids-citizens-of-everywhere-and-nowhere.

There was once a time when Math didn’t exist.

It was a world without loss, suffering, or tricks.

There was a village located in the mountains of freedom. The old sage of the village was a man named Creativity. Villagers of the village would come to Creativity for all sorts of problem. They came to him for advice on a new painting they wanted to hang on their wall of their houses, some came to ask questions about the origin of life, some wanted to know the truth about stories. The village lived in peace and harmony with Creativity as their chief.

One day, there was a traveler who visited the village from a land far, far away. He too, was an old man with knowledge. When he came into the village, the people started crowding around him as it was their first time seeing and outsider come to their village. In fact, all this time the villagers thought that they were the only ones who existed in this world! His name, was Equation. When Equation came into town, he sought out Creativity to allow him to stay in the village as he was traveling around the world seeking knowledge from around the world.

Although Creativity allowed him to stay in the village, he warned his villagers not to have any conversation with Equation. The villagers all agreed to never talk to Equation, but curiosity got the better of them. As days past, people started to sneak into Equation’s room to ask about the knowledge he acquired while traveling around the world.

However, all Equation would tell them was that 1+1 was 2, 2×2 was 4, 2-1 would be 1, and that 4/2 was 2. It all sounded weird for the villagers because they grew in a land that math didn’t exist.

Word spread through quickly in the village. By the end of the week, everyone was talking about the words Equation had told them. They were so focused on interpreting the words of Equation that they stopped going to Creativity for any advice at all! It all seemed useless at first, but little by little the villagers started to notice. At first they noticed the difference of possessions between each family in the village. Then, they started to realize that they wanted more belongings, and that they would compare the number of wealth with other families in the village.

Among the villagers grew envy, and greed. They wanted more, they wanted to be the richest in the village. Soon, they started to trick each other for wealth. And by the time they knew that they were better off not knowing the concepts of mathematics, it was already too late for them to get it out of their head.

I used the concept of mathematics and the arts as to create a contrast between creativity and logical thinking. I have always wondered a world without mathematics mainly because I dreaded through math class in high school, but also it seemed to be an interesting how things would work in the world since they do not have the concept of math in their brain. It is difficult to embrace the idea of a world without mathematics, but at the same time I found joy in creating this story that I find interesting. Hope you guys enjoy it too!!

Works Cited

“About Us.” Canadian Art, canadianart.ca/about-the-foundation/.

https://www.math.ubc.ca/php/MathNet/courseinfo.php?session=2019W&t=outline&name=104:101

Singh, Ragav. “Making a Beautiful Landscape Painting of Village Phenomena.” Trybe, Trybe, trybe.one/making-a-beautiful-landscape-painting-of-village-phenomena/.

Hello Everyone!

I have decided to answer question #7!

Being active in all kinds of social media myself, I have a couple of good examples of the advantages and disadvantages of social media.

In my opinion, I strongly believe that social media has a good side and a bad side. It is a double-edged sword. With access to the internet, words spread within a few seconds around the globe, whether it is good or bad. News about Australia finally getting heavy rain has traveled across the globe into our hand in a matter of seconds. With social media tools available to us these days, it is crucial for us to become media-aware and decide which information is credible and which is not.

One of the good sides about social media is that it provides an invisible barrier for evidence (or literature) so that they don’t get forgotten. In my last post, I have talked about how studying literature helps us remember the right information about history and that it will prevent history from getting neglected and forgotten. Unless the publisher consciously deletes the evidence, the information on the web will likely stay where it is for a long long time. And that itself will help us remember things that are not supposed to be forgotten.

However, the bad sides of social media is that words spread too fast, and it may result in devastating effects. Just to inform you about the effects of social media, here is an example of a K-pop star taking her own life because of cyber bullying. This clearly shows the destructive nature of social media. Tying this back to the question of the impact of social media on literature and story, it is crucial that the right information is published on the web as words spread fast, and by the time we realize that the information is false, it might be too late to correct our wrongdoings because it would have created prejudice among the readers that have already read the article and make false judgement based on the information they read through the web.

In the case of hyperlinks, I find it a really convenient and useful tool to engage the readers. The reason being is because of the want for more information readers experience. It provides the opportunity for readers to delve deep into the topic they wish to learn and a myriad of information readers can choose so that their questions are answered.

Works Cited

Hello everyone!

My name is Joseph Um and I am a third-year student specializing in English, Language emphasis. 🙂

I am juggling 3 days of full-time work and 3 other English courses this semester and thought an online course would allow me to be flexible with my schedule!

Also, I am interested in learning Canadian history through its literature.

Let me introduce myself to you all.

Despite being a Korean by blood, I grew up in Malaysia my entire life. I moved to Malaysia when I was six months old (so I don’t really say I moved there, my parents just brought me there) and grew up in a multi-cultural environment. I’ve made friends from around the world during my school years in an international school in Malaysia. I was always interested in learning the histories of countries around the world, but I rarely had the chance to learn Canadian history, even more through literature! Hence the reason why I decided to choose this course so that I can delve myself into Canadian history through literature.

As most of you would know, Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910-1945. Our nation suffered the inhumane practices of Japan and fought for our freedom until 1945. However, scars from the war between the two countries still remain to this day. These scars can be neglected by the oppressing country and it can be forgotten through time. However, literature has the power that stops these little things from being forgotten. This is why I am so eager to learn more about indigenous Canadian history through the lens of literature because of the remnants of indigenous culture still existent in Canada up to this day.  It may provide aspects of history that could have been easily neglected or forgotten.

I expect to learn more about Canadian history and its cultures through literature and I am really excited about it.

It is my first time blogging and am still awkward with the system but I hope to make the most out of this learning experience. 🙂

See you guys real soon!

Works Cited

Shoji, Hiroka. “Why the ‘Comfort Women’ Issue Still Matters, 70 Years Later.” The Diplomat. James Pach, 19 June 2018. Web. 14 Jan. 2020.

Huang, Alice. “Totem Poles.” indigenousfoundations. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2020.

Map of Indigenous People of Canada. Reddit. Web. 13 Jan. 2020.