"Speaking the Unspeakable"

When comparing "Speaking the Unspeakable" and the article on Anthony Acevedo, I realized that it can be hard for a person to be able to talk about something that caused them trauma in their past. I am glad that Acevedo decided to tell his story. I believe that you can't get help in a bad situation if you choose not to talk about it. By talking about it, Acevedo acknowledged that this happened to him and many others, then in the future we could know what to do if history begins to repeat itself. Also, instead of being treated how he was treated when he returned from war, people would have been more sympathetic because they would have known what he had to go through at such a young age.

MAUS

Why does Spiegelman depict his Jewish characters as mice rather than showing them as humans? How does the graphic novel form (comic) influence how you interpret the text? Does it render it more or less accessible than a traditional essay or story? How?

I believe that Spiegelman depicted his characters as mice to show how Jews were being exterminated in the same way that we kill mice when there seems to be be too many of them. Making the Jews mice shows a better effect on how they were being treated during the Holocaust. The comic gives me a view that the author wants me to see. It shows his image of how he views the Holocaust. I believe that the comic is more accessible than a traditional story, because it not only tells me what Spiegelman thought about that time period, but it also showed what his image was of that time.

A Response to Theo Jansen's Creations

Theo Jansen is a painter that once studied physics. He created an invention called Animari. When I first looked at his invention I thought that they looked weird. It kind of freaked me out when they began to move. It freaked me out even more when he talked about them as if they were actual beings that can live, grow, and create a society. I thought why does he seem like he is referring himself as a God. He explained how his creations aren't ready to be on their own yet, but in the next couple of years they will be about to live be on their own on beaches. The way he worded his presentation made me think that he was weird. I guess if he explained his creations as a mechanical device instead of a living organism, I wouldn't feel this way. However, in the reading he didn't seem as crazy as I thought he was in the video. Maybe its just me, but his presentation freaked me out.

Presidential Election Response

How do you feel about the results of the presidential election? What do you see as the major issues facing the president elect? How does this election relate to concepts of personal, communal, and national identity that we have explored in class?

I feel very optimistic about the presidential election. I'm happy that it seems like the racial borders in the United States are beginning to disappear. I believe that Barack Obama deserves his new found position. What I am worried about though is how is everything going to change for the better. Will everything change for the greater good of America or will things continue to get worst. How will Obama change America for the better. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. This election reminded me of the Berlin Wall when it comes to our textbook. It broke down borders and showed that anybody can be anything that they want to if they just put their mind to it. If you believe you can do it than you can.