Everybody Needs A Little Controversey

I thought I would post about how I'm feeling watching this TV show. I have no idea what it's called, but it is on TBS right now. It is with a black family and the mom does bloodwork for a doctor's office. She just found out that her son was dating a girl who had come into the clinic and tested positive for HIV. The mom confronts this girl, Karen, about not informing her son, Calvin that she was HIV positive before they started dating. Karen's argument was that they had only been on one date and she planned to tell him if things got more serious. In the middle of an awkward silence, Calvin walked in. He asked what was going on and the mother said "you tell him" to Karen. She ended up telling him and a huge verbal fight broke out. He told her she should have let him know and he should have the right to choose whether he wants to date someone with HIV or not. It was a very high emotional segment of the show.

There was a disclaimer after the show about health testing.

The reason I am posting this is because I'm not sure how I feel about it. I really think that there are some ways this might connect into our class on issues of diversity. Although the TV show isn't "literature" per se, it is a form of media--like we talked about in class today. I wonder, though, what their goal was with this in the TV show. It seems to me that it is a good way to combat the stereotype that HIV is primarily a disease transmitted in homosexual relations. I think, but am not positive that there is a high rate of HIV/AIDS in the black population. Will someone correct me if I'm wrong? Anyway, I wanted to post thing because I felt like it was a decent connection to the things that we were talking about and may come across eventually in our class discussions. I think it was really important that they included the disclaimer at the end of the episode, as this is a growing disease in many cultures.

I Feel Like I'm Lost

I just submitted my first Questioning The Text paper and I am almost positive I did it wrong. I feel like I had a really good question, but wasn't able to seriously execute the task of "not answering the question". I have been so trained in all of my English classes to have a thesis and answer it with your quotes. I really do hope that the first set of these we go through is going to be sort of a trial run.

I really thought that The Heart of a Chief was a really good book. In my paper I tried to guide someone's reading of the book around whether or not Bruchac accomplished his goal to combat stereotypes with his main characters. I feel like there were many times in the story that stereotypes were combated, and many times when they were just perpetuated.


On another note, I have been trying to find the e-mail address for the author of the book we read last week in class, All the Colors of the Earth. Her name is Shelia Hamanaka. I have a question I'd like to ask her about her book. I suppose my next step will be to contact the publisher and see if they have contact information for her!

Good Idea Lindsey

The other day in class, we read poems to each other to sort of get to know who everyone is and what kind of background they come from. I thought this was a neat way to get to know all of the diversity in our classroom, although it may not be physically visible in most of us. It is neat to see that even though some of us may look the same on the outside, we all come from such significantly different backgrounds and life experiences. The statement "don't judge a book by its cover" is definitely ringing true.

I saw that Lindsay introduced herself on her blog by providing everyone with her Autobiographical poem. I thought this was a really good idea, so I am going to do the same thing.


I am from home is where the heart is, from unconditional love, and standing beside my soldier—no matter the price.
I am from the dreaded phone call, days spent packing, and humvees rolling down the road.
I am from the paper chain countdowns, the love filled boxes every other week, and the postman knowing me by name.
I am from his dirty boots on the floor make it home, and sleeping with the telephone, from what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and each day we’re apart is another day closer to the next time we are.
I am from the online support groups and striving to find someone, anyone who understands.
From “I’m sorry, that’s all I can tell you” and “I don’t know when I’ll be home”.
I am from kneeling by my bed every night to pray for his safe return. That’s all I can ask.
I'm from sleeping with his pillow, and pretending he’s right there next to me all along, from making new friends and having to move away.
From “I’m just doing my job”, the weeks without hearing his voice, and the day I hear “he’s coming home.”
I am from long nights away, from “I love you” written on dirty paper and staying up all night long.

If you haven't been able to guess from the poem, I am married to a US Soldier. He is currently overseas at an "undisclosed location" and will be there until an "undisclosed date". This is a lot of who I am and who I identify with now. It's very emotional for me, and I really appreciate everyone in class letting me get through the poem on the verge of tears the entire time. It means something, although most of you have never been through something like this, a few of you might know a little bit of what it feels like--thank you!

Just Getting My Feet Wet

This is my first post for this new blog, and I am just trying to get a feel for what a professional blog is and how it works. I haven't gotten to the point of reading or responding to the literature yet, but I am kind of interested in how this blog will turn out. After yesterday's class, the blog seemed less intimidating and more interesting to me. I'm looking forward to the next 14 weeks and hope that this blog will help with my understanding and analysis of the many texts we read in our class.