Turning Pages

In DeLillo’s novel Libra , we as readers are taken on a captivating journey into the events surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. At its core, I believe Libra is a novel about Lee Harvey Oswald's search for identity amid the chaos of history. From the beginning of the novel, Oswald is portrayed as a boy who feels alienated and displaced. He struggles to find his place in the world both personally and politically. For example, in the Soviet Union, he feels unrecognized as someone who can contribute a valuable perspective on the world's politics. Additionally, when Oswald is moving from place to place, he constantly grapples with feeling unappreciated and unrecognized as an important political figure. These frequent moves also contribute to a sense of rootlessness, which fuels his desire to find an identity and define himself in relation to the world around him. Similarly, in Oswald’s personal life, he is constantly in a state of alienation. His relationshi...

Kindred was a riveting read filled with interesting topics to explore. Among them, I find the manner in which this novel examines power dynamics not only within the context of slave and slave owners but also within interpersonal relationships very intriguing. Butler creates a very intimate setting for her characters to interact. The Weylin Plantation is small, with no overseer (for the majority of the novel), and filled with slaves who often interact with their white counterparts on a personal level beyond their basic slave/master relationship. Because of this setting, readers are offered deep insight into how unequal power dynamics distort relationships among people during this time period. As readers, we see examples of these twisted versions of intimate relationships constantly throughout the novel: For example, Dana and Rufus: The relationship between Dana and Rufus began somewhat on equal footing when Rufus was young and Dana still served as somewhat of an authority figure. But as...

Well, we’re done with Mumbo Jumbo , it was ….interesting. I wasn't even entirely sure where to start with this blog post , there are so many things to dissect when it comes to Mumbo Jumbo but in the end I decided to take a closer look at the symbolism behind Jes Grew. At its heart Jes Grew seems to represent a rebellion against the oppressive forces of mainstream white culture. In this novel these oppressive forces are depicted as the Atonists and the Wallflower Order, groups that seek to suppress all forms of cultural expression deemed dangerous ( a decision made by themselves of course). Jes Grew is in direct opposition to these groups as it disrupts social norms through its infectious energy and liberating influence. The term Jes Grew itself is a play on words, it is reflective of the nature of an anti-plague. The name suggests that the phenomenon is natural, spontaneous, and uncontrollable, like a plant that grows. Similar to the proliferation of ideas and cultural practices w...

320 pages later, here we are—finished! Ragtime was an interesting read, to say the least. What struck me the most was how Doctorow melds history with fiction to create an elaborate narrative that comments on society in the early 20th century. Let's start with the family. We have Mother, Father, The Little Boy, Mother's Younger Brother (MYB), and Grandfather. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to this family, with Father acting as the patriarch and Mother, as well as The Little Boy, falling into their typical roles. This family is meant to represent a wealthy white family in the early 20th century. Even their names, or lack thereof, point to the idea that they are meant to be representative of the basic family unit. As the story progresses, this typical upper-class family falls apart before our eyes. Doctorow dismantles this family in a way that exposes the dysfunction hidden within each character. To maintain conciseness, I'll focus on Father. At the start of ...

When I was 8 years old, my mother sat me down on the old carpet in the office and patiently taught me algebra. Despite my whining and complaints, she walked me through the intricate ins and outs of exponents and square roots, explained PEMDAS, and showed me how to isolate X. Little did I know that later that year, I would skip a grade due to my advanced math skills. At the time, I never thought to say, "Thanks, Mom." At the age of 12, I gained admission to Uni. My mom not only wrote the application for me but also endured my tantrums as I complained about studying for the SSAT. She played a crucial role in securing recommendations when one of my original recommenders fell through just days before the deadline. When we received the acceptance letter, saying “Thanks mom.” Never occurred to me. At 13, I found myself struggling as a freshman in high school, barely passing each assignment. Yet, my mom never gave up on me. She helped me with every missing assignment, raising my fai...

  Storm Drains “Nyla, run out and do this next one,” my mother said as she extended the newspaper towards me. I sat in the car torn between the outstretched arm and the water swiftly flowing into the inauspicious drain beneath the orange mailbox. A knot tightened in my stomach, as the unsettling image of an unseen force pulling me into the drain flashed through my mind. “ Just do it youll be fine” I reassured myself as I summoned the courage to accept the task.  Tentatively grabbing the newspaper from my mothers hand I exited the car with hesitation. The rainwater's gurgling descent into the drain seemed to echoe ominously in my ears as I cautiously advanced towards the mailbox. Suddenly, the blare of a horn shattered my focus, jolting me back to the task at hand “ Come on, Nyla.” my mother called out impatiently. With a quick glance from the car to the drain I tossed the newspaper into the mailbox and spirited back tot the safety of the car. My heart was pounding with a mix o...

    In The Boiler Room Ben Affleck's character said, “ Anybody tells you money is the root of all evil, doesn’t f*cking have any. They say money can't buy you happiness, look at the f*cking smile on my face, ear to ear baby.” When I initially heard this quote I agreed with Affleck’s character. Problematically I later realized that money can't buy me time. Time is invaluable, money can buy you clothes, jewelry, food, but it can't buy time. Hypothetically if money could buy me time. Money could buy me happiness.       For instance if money could buy me time, I could stay in bed longer in the morning. Every morning I have to complete the painstaking chore of leaving my bed. My alarm goes off, I ignore it. My second alarm goes off, I ignore it. Finally on the last alarm I break free from my blanket’s warm embrace and depart my bed. But the struggle isn't over yet after I get out of the shower and get dressed guess where I go. Downstairs to eat breakfast? N...

          I love trying new things, especially when it comes to things that give me an adrenaline rush. Jet Skiing, Tubing, Zip-lining, I love all of it. In that sense I leave my comfort zone constantly. But when it comes to my social comfort zone, I never leave it.  I've always been very introverted. I'm the kind of person that prefers sitting on the side simply observing rather than actively participating. I'm always the quietest person in a conversation. I hate eating with people at lunch; and meeting new people is always a headache for me. For most of my life I hated how awkward and shy I was. I thought I was prohibiting myself from experiencing some grand experience. I was wrong. I tried participating more, adding more to conversations, eating with friends at lunch and I realized I'm not missing anything. I hate the feeling of having to balance eating with talking to someone. I scarf food down like a wild animal and I have horrible table manners. I al...

  I heard this prompt on Wednesday morning. When I heard it I thought it would be perfect, so I started typing away at my keyboard… for like three minutes. Then I got distracted and clicked on a different tab to work on something else. Then with 10 minutes left in class I resumed my journey of writing this essay; but then the bell rang and I told myself, i'll work on it later . That evening I got home from practice exhausted and I told myself I'll finish it tomorrow. On Thursday I had a swim meet, I realized I didn't have the time to finish the blog, so I told myself I'll email Ms. Rodems. I then proceeded to forget to email Ms. Rodems and fall asleep. Now, today, it's Friday and i'm finally writing the essay.  That pretty much describes my relationship with procrastination. I always tell myself I can do something tomorrow and then when tomorrow comes I tell myself I'll do it later, then suddenly later is tomorrow and the cycle repeats itself. To my credit I...

  I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist, I don't think I could be one even if I tried, at least not anymore.     I remember when I was in middle school and I used to be obsessed with being perfect. Or at least my version of what perfection was. I wanted to be perfect, or at least appear perfect in order to hide all of my insecurities. I remember being very insecure in middle school. I always felt like I didnt quite fit in, I never knew how people wanted me to act.  I wasnt always like this. I dont think anyone starts off insecure. I think insecurities are something brought on when people begin to lose their childhood innocence and start feeling the pressure of living up to societal standards. For me I felt an overwhelming pressure to act a certain way. My entire life – especially when I was younger– I constantly saw the negative stereotypes associated with black people. We are too loud, we dont talk properly, we arent smart, the list goes on. As a kid...

Longing for the past while living in the present, that's nostalgia. It's really a bittersweet feeling, remembering the joy you felt in a moment of your past knowing you can never create it again. Nostalgia always gets me thinking about the past and I often wish I could return some of those moments. This yearning for the past reminds me  of my favorite childhood book, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The Giving Tree is a book that follows the lives of an apple tree and a boy, who develop a relationship with each other. When the boy is young he and the tree are inseparable but as he ages his priorities change and they grow apart. As they grow apart the tree still gives the boy everything he wants from her apples to make money,  to her trunk so he can build a boat. Each time the tree gives the boy something he comes back and asks for more but eventually he comes back and the tree has nothing left to give the boy but a place to sit. “Well,’ said the tree, straightening hers...

Gangsters was by far my favorite chapter in Sag Harbor. The chapter touched on a lot of issues and themes that I found particularly interesting. The theme I found most interesting in Gangsters was the correlation drawn between the rise of gun violence and the rise of violent themes in hip hop music. “ Something happened. Something happened that changed the terms and we went from fighting ( I'll knock that grin off your face) to full blown annihilation ( I will wipe you from this earth). How we got from here to there  are the key passages in the history of young black men that no one cares to write. We live it instead.” The part of the statement adult Benji ( Ben) makes between gun violence and the violence depicted in hip hop that intrigued me the most was the part where he talks about how no one really knows how or why violence had suddenly become such a defining feature of black culture. I found this interesting because I realized he was right, lots of people talk of about the ne...

The development of Jason throughout Black Swan Green is one of my favorite character developments I have seen out of all the coming of age novels we’ve read. Jason's story line really fits the definition that comes to my mind when I think of coming of age. Throughout the novel Jason transitions from insecure and searching for validation to confident and care-free ( carefree as it applies to Jason wanting to be accepted by his peers).  You can really see this when you compare Jason's attitudes and actions from the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel. For example, take a look at page five of Black Swan Green when Jason's mother ask him why he doesn't want to wear his black parka and he tells us (the reader) that he doesn’t want to wear it because it would give off the appearance that he is cocky, too full of himself, or as Jason phrases it “fancies himself as a hard knock”. Jason is worried about how he may be perceived by how he dresses so much that he avoids ...

  Gender expression plays a huge part in the relationship between Bruce and Alison in Fun Home. Bruce seems to carry a lot of shame with him as regards to his sexuality. I think one of the main reasons he is so adamant on keeping Alison as ‘feminine’ as possible is to help her avoid the same shame he carries with him everyday of his life. When I was first thinking of why Bruce didn’t want young Alison to leave the mainstream ideas of gender identity I thought it was because he was bitter and didn’t want anyone to have a good experience with expressing their gender identity because it would trigger a thought in him that his life didn’t have to turn out the way it did which would fill him with regret. But after finishing the novel I feel like Bruce’s cold and aggressive attitude towards young Alison probably stemmed from his lack of ability to connect with young children. As Alison gets older Bruce’s hostility melts away and the two grow close through their love of literature. Bruce ...

It's hard to read The Bell Jar knowing the similarities between Esther and Sylvia Plath and not make assumptions about Esther's coming of age. Ester specifically mentions how after her therapy she is no longer trapped under the bell jar but she says she is still under the bell jar and that it is lingering over her head. With admitting the bell jar still lingering over her head Esther is saying that at any point in time it can drop and her depression can once again pollute the air around her and suffocate her. With the idea that at any moment a somewhat healthy Esther can fall right back into depression I can’t help but look at Sylvia Plath and fill in the question marks of Ester’s story with what happened to Plath. The Bell Jar was written as an autobiography of sorts and in that context the reader can infer that during Sylvia's time being institutionalized she was under a bell jar, but at some point the bell jar lifted, fresh air came in and for a period of time she could...