The Young Adult Spirit
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Correspondence School
After school, Sohane and Djelila
meet to go see their grandmother, Hana. This is Hana’s first direct appearance
in the story. I wasn’t sure what to expect since there seemed to be all sorts
of opinions and worries. When it came down to it, though, Hana and her friends
(she had several over) seemed to be enjoying life. They literally were singing
and dancing and laughing. If anyone found a way to be herself in the story,
Hana did.
When the sisters return
home, it is time to deal with the issue of Sohane and school. Sohane has
already decided that she will earn her diploma through correspondence school.
Sohane’s dad is supportive and writes out the check after Sohane figures out
the cost. Sohane’s mom leans more towards Sohane staying where she is and not
wearing the scarf. I found it interesting how supportive the dad was over the
mom. It seems the conflict in the story comes from trying to be yourself, and
what happens when that expression of yourself conflicts with others who are or
believe they are in authority. As far as how Sohane and Djelila grew up, their
parents seem to allow the personal expressions, within certain guidelines.
I am looking forward to discussing
with the rest of the literature circle and figuring out what we are going to
present.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Partitions
This week, we began reading our
literature circle book choice. All the books have a Muslim or Muslim/American
theme. My group is reading “I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister. by Amelie Sarn. In the
first half of the book, the narrator, Sohane, goes back and forth between what
is presently happening and the events that led up to everything. The
relationship with her sister Djelila has always been close. They share a room.
They leave together and ride the bus to school. They are close in age. Even
when they disagree, they seem to find their way back to a close relationship.
I found the use of the idea of “partitions”
most interesting. Sohane wrote about having one identity at home for the
family, one for school and friends, and those not aligning to who you really
are. Both of the sisters are trying to figure out who they are, and they
express this in different ways. Djelila is social and on the basketball team
and does not wear traditional Muslim head coverings and she is not interested in anything
religious even after growing up that way. Sohane is more conservative and wants
her identity to include the tie to her religion and decides to start wearing a
head scarf. The question is, knowing that all the personality partitions exist,
what will happen when you want to be yourself? In Djelila’s case, she is
watched by a group of guys who are not in favor of what she does and eventually she is killed. Right before that, when
Djelila questions her uncle, it is seen as disrespect. Djelila gets out of that
situation when her mother claims Djelila seems sick and should go to bed. What
I wonder is how this works in general. Do you feel like your life is
partitioned similarly? That, for example, when you are with family you must act
one way yet it can be different at work or around friends? What is an example
and how do you feel about it?
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
The Real Secret
Aristotle
and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe has been an awesome read.
Although narrated by Ari, the reader still gets a good sense of Dante’s
perspective through the dialogue. What I found interesting is that Dante knows
he likes boys, yet he is ashamed to tell his parents. Dante’s parents are
supportive of anything involving Dante, and that is still true when they find
out he is gay. On the flip side, Ari’s secret seems to be from himself. The
entire time Ari and Dante have known each other it has been love. In Ari’s
case, it takes his parents, and a family meeting, to convince him to “come out.”
Ari’s parents are especially supportive because of a close aunt who happened to
like girls. Ari’s aunt lived with her partner until death. Ari’s mom commented
that her aunt taught her a lot. I think Ari’s mom knew early in the story that
Ari and Dante had more than a “best friend” relationship.
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Explorations
Ari and Dante. Dante and Ari. They
still manage to maintain their friendship even with the distance. Dante has
moved to Chicago because his dad has a job for eight months. Most of their
communications are through letters. According to Dante, it is a 7 to 1 ratio –
for every seven letters that Dante sends to Ari, Ari writes and sends one. What
Dante writes about most is how he is exploring. I’m not sure if he does it
because he wants to or because that is what teenagers are supposed to do. He
tried beer, for example. Dante also states that he kissed a girl, and that he
is more interested in kissing boys. Ari decides to follow Dante’s example with
both beer and kissing girls, and he begins to hang out more with a couple of
female friends who he has known for a long time. Ari’s opinions of the two
friends are not that high, but that seems to be ok. The most important event
for Ari is getting his driver’s license. Ari’s parents buy him an old pickup
truck, and Ari could not be happier. By the end of this second section of the
story, although the two boys are not together, they are each finding their own
ways to things. Ari also has a job. Flipping burgers to earn money may not seem
great yet it is a freedom for Ari.
Towards the end, Dante’s letters are about wanting to kiss Ari, which Ari does not directly respond to at this point. Ari reflects on all the ideas that Dante presents in his letters or conversations. At first, he has a girl who he thinks about and she kisses and flirts with Ari, even though she has a boyfriend. When he finds out she disappeared because she is pregnant and had to get married, he wonders about the entire situation and his actual feelings, wondering if he is more like Dante.
I don’t have much to reflect on this
because I feel like the meat of the story is still coming. We are not scheduled
to finish the book until after we return from spring break in another week. I
do like that the boys write to each other and the actions match their
characteristics. It is not surprising, for example, that Dante writes more
often than Ari. Even with the distance, they are still learning from each other
and it makes me wonder what will happen when they reunite in person again. Are
they “just friends,” or will they both be exploring more with each other?
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Learning to Swim
Aristotle, known as Ari, and Dante are both
Mexican-American by birth, and you only know that because they talk about it,
and about their family differences. Aristotle knows more about the culture than
Dante. Dante seems to know more about general life. They meet one summer when
Dante offers to teach Ari how to swim. Ari had been trying to learn
how to swim by himself since 15 is an odd age to be taught by the teenage
lifeguards. As the story progresses, the reader learns more about each of the
two boys and their parents. Since Ari is narrating, his accounts include
first person conversations with his mom. Dante is Ari’s only friend,
which for some reason Aristotle’s mom decides to blow off as a fact. Ari’s
mom makes a comment about Ari not having any friends, even when Dante is mentioned..
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Selling your Soul
In the end, then, this story seems
narrated. It is not really from the view of the youth in the story and instead
is a story that is told for lessons, as the twist shows. Not many adults appear
throughout the story besides the dinner party the Monkey King wants to attend,
and a parent or teacher here and there.
When it comes to stereotypes, the
characters are exaggerated with how they talk and the names used. Plus, there
are references showing the ignorance of others with such phrases as “fresh off
the boat.” The youth do not seem to have a choice and go along with the
environment or adults. Probably the most exaggerated is when Danny’s cousin
comes to visit. Even though his cousin
is supposed to be about the same age, the cousin is really the Monkey King, an
adult.
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