Weblog 5: No News From Auschwitz

Abraham Michael Rosenthal is a journalist, and the story No News From Auschwitz written by Abraham Michael Rosenthal was published in a newspaper. I think that this story was an editorial, and it was published near the back of the newspaper because it contains some subjective statements. Abraham Michael Rosenthal has a strong opinion, and he expresses it in his editorial. For example, he describes Brzezinka as “a place of unutterable terror” and he also says that everything “seemed frighteningly wrong, as in a nightmare.” He also describes Brzezinka as “a factory of torture and death.” He seems very against the Holocaust. Anyone who reads this article would be convinced to think of the Holocaust as a negative event, and they would be against it. However, newspaper articles usually do not convince their readers to think a certain way, and are not opinionated. Even though Abraham Michael Rosenthal’s memoir contains his opinions about this topic, his story addresses a very important topic that is not considered as unimportant. He discusses the Holocaust, and describes how Brzezinka used to be a place of torture and terror, but it is now a place where the “sun was bright at warm,” and that it is one of the most grisly tourist centers on earth. At the beginning, Abraham Michael Rosenthal’s tone seems positive and warm, but as the story progresses, his tone becomes serious and negative. At the very end of the story, however, he ends with the statement “It was a sunny day and the trees were green and at the gates the children played.” The positive beginning and end sandwiches the negative middle.

            I think that Abraham Michael Rosenthal’s story No News From Auschwitz was a editorial that was published between the middle and the end of the newspaper. His editorial contains his opinions about the Holocaust, but the Holocaust was extremely important. 

Hair and Theme for English B Tone (Weblog 4)

The stories Hair, by Malcom X, and Theme for English B, by Langston Hughes, both address similar themes about racial inequality. Both stories agree that “white” people are above “black” people. However, the tones of the two memoirs are quite different. The tone of Hair is very hostile. Malcom X was angry with his old self for trying to conform to society. He was very disappointed. For example, he refers to his old actions as “self degredation” “violate and mutilate their God-created bodies” and he calls himself ridiculous and stupid for admiring his hair. However, the tone of Theme for English B was calmer and more playful. He does not seem hostile towards the racial inequalities although he does state that his professor is “older – and white – and somewhat more free.” This quote indicates the fact that Langston Hughes feels that white people are more free. As stated before, however, Langston Hughes does not have any hostile feelings towards his professor. In fact, his writing sounds playful. For example, he says “Harlem, I hear you: hear you hear me – we two – you, me, talk on this page. (I hear New York, too.) Me – who?” Langston Hughes uses words to make his poem sound more playful. He also uses repetition in this section by saying the word “hear” four times.

            Both authors write about similar issues, however their tones and motives make the two pieces different. Hair, by Malcom X, is more hostile. This memoir teaches people that conforming to society is not good and that those kinds of mistakes should not be made. On the other hand, Theme for English B by Langston Hughes states the fact that white people are above black people; however, the purpose of this poem was to show that Langston Hughes was the same as everybody else. The only difference was the color of his skin.

Langston Hughes and Malcom X Comparison (Weblog 3)

Langston Hughes and Malcom X are two very famous authors. Langston Hughes wrote the poem Theme for English B and Malcom X wrote the memoir Hair. They are very similar in that they mostly write about racial issues because they are both African American. For example, at one point in their lives, they were uncomfortable with the color of their skin. They thought that being black meant that they were “less free.” Langston Hughes demonstrates this by saying “although you’re older –and white–.”  Malcom X indicates this throughout his whole story. He says “Never use a metal spoon; the lye will turn it black” which shows that he thinks that black is bad. They were both also uncomfortable with adapting and changing who they are. Lastly, they both went through many things to become “white” or be like the majority. For example, Langston Hughes needed to travel a lot to get from home to school. “The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem, thrgouh a park, then I cross St. Nicholas, Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y, the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator up to my room, sit down and write this page.” Malcom X says that he dyed his hair red to appear “white.” In his memoir, he describes the process as “self-degradation”, and “violation and mutilation of their God-created bodies to try to look pretty by white standards.”

Although these two writers have many similarities, they have some differences. For example, even though both writers were somewhat uncomfortable with their race, only Malcom X altered his appearance by dying his hair red. Langston Hughes only describes how he was different from his English Professor, but he did not do anything to change himself. Another difference was that Langston Hughes was “the only colored student in [his] class.” However, Malcom X seems to have lived in a community with people of similar racial background.

            Both Langston Hughes and Malcom X had similar problems, however, the way they dealt with their problems and their surroundings were quite different.

Amy Tan: Fish Cheeks (Weblog 2)

When I first read “Fish Cheeks”, by Amy Tan, I thought that fish cheeks just referred to the Christmas Eve dinner. However, I realized that Amy Tan would probably have a deeper meaning for the title of her memoir. The more I thought about this title, the more I came to realize the deeper meaning of it.

I think that “Fish Cheeks” represent the shame that Amy Tan felt. She was ashamed of her oriental background. The fish cheek is a traditional Chinese food that represents Amy Tan. Even though it was her favorite food, she was ashamed because it was different than what the majority of the people ate. In other words, she was uncomfortable with, and strongly disliked being Chinese. She emphasizes this at the beginning of her memoir when she italicizes the word Chinese three times.  Also, I think that fish cheeks represent embarrassment because when people are embarrassed, their cheeks blush and turn red. When Amy’s father offered her the fish cheeks, she was not only ashamed but also embarrassed. She gave up her favorite food, and in a way, her nationality because she wanted to be “American” to impress Robert. This shows what she would give up in order to impress somebody of another gender and another race.

            The moment when her father offers her the fish cheek was very significant because it was a moment when she was so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear. I think that the whole meal was torture for Amy Tan, but the moment her father offered her the fish cheek was her last straw. I think that “Fish Cheeks” is plural because Amy Tan is trying to send a message to many people who went through similar circumstances. She is trying to show that there are many people like her who are ashamed of their ethnicity and want to give it up.

"By Any Other Name": Dual Personality (Weblog 1)

1. I think the author's intention of writing the memoir "By Any Other Name" was to demonstrate the fact that a name is very important, and to support the idea of dual personas. This was made obvious in the last sentence of her memoir, “But I put it happily away, because it had all happened to a girl called Cynthia, and I never was really particularly interested in her.” In other words, the author meant that the protagonist, Santha, had a dual personality because she was given another name. Because she was discriminated while she was “called Cynthia,” Santha was able to let go of that incident very easily.

2. A person can have dual identities, however, the basic personalities and character traits of a person remain the same. For example, when children play, they often pretend that they are somebody else. Even though they are being someone else at that moment in time, they are still themselves. Another example of this could be the use of nicknames. Nicknames are often used as an abbreviation of a name. If someone’s full name is Christopher, his nickname could be Chris. At school, his friends would call him Chris and he would behave in a certain way. However, at home, his mother might call him Christopher. He would probably behave in a much different way at home than how he behaves at school as “Chris.” In this case, this boy would have dual identities: Chris and Christopher. The last example of dual identities is when people of a certain country immigrate to a different country. If, for example, their home country was Mexico, then the person would speak Spanish and live a typical Mexican lifestyle while they are at home or in their home country.  However, if their new country was America, they would try to become as “Americanized” as possible by learning English, wearing American clothes, eating American food, and etc.