Final Blog Project (ENG-355-O500 - Multicultural Literature)

                 Good afternoon, readers! In this last week, we’ve read through a couple of different stories from post-Holocaust Jewish literature. Many of the works of Browoski, Lispector, Celan, and Amichai share a common theme. A theme that is quite obvious from what one might know of the era in which these stories were written and influenced by. The theme I would like to emphasize for this week’s readings is something we all have to face eventually, the Suffering both of ourselves and others around us.             Teaching this topic to high school students will be a heavy challenge, as the topic itself is somewhat grim. Not to mention that the Holocaust is a period which is regarded often with respect and its victims regarded often with sympathy. A good starting point for teaching this subject would have to come from the words of a survivor, and not a textbook. Go out onto the internet and find a recording of an interview with a holocaust survivor, or at the very least a transcr

            Good afternoon, readers! In this last week, we’ve read through a number of different stories from Latin American from many different authors. The works of Paz, Garcia-Marquez, Allende, and Borges all use and include various themes. However, there is a theme which bears the utmost importance to me, as I believe greatly in it. The theme I would like to emphasize for this week’s readings is something we’re all familiar with, the power of Choice .             Teaching this topic to high school students will be a complicated matter, as the individual’s decision-making abilities often rely on personal experience and preference. However, this subject could also easily mean that one’s students would be learning things about themselves and each other. Teaching this subject will be very difficult, especially given that Choice is such a complicated subject. A good starting point to begin said topic might be to set up a questionnaire, with various possible decisions, have the students

              Good afternoon, readers! In the last week, we’ve read through a number of different stories from African and African American literature regarding various different aspects of their culture and what those pieces mean to them. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin, Chike’s School Days by Chinua Achebe, The Deep River by Bessie Head, and the various works of Leopold Senghor all share many different themes. However, there is one universal theme found in the works of each of these authors, which is a theme that is often found in works the world over. The theme that I would choose to emphasize today would be the use of Music as a part of culture.             Teaching this topic to high school students can be very challenging, as the individual’s taste in music is typically quite unique. But it could also be quite enjoyable if you have rather receptive students or a personal penchant for music yourself. Teaching this topic would require the right choices of music, but at the

                 Good afternoon, readers! In the last week, we’ve read through a small variety of different pieces of Native American literature regarding their culture and its most enduring concepts. The Night Chant excerpt from a Navajo ceremony, and the story Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmon Silko provide many clear examples of theme that I would like to have emphasized regarding these readings. Many Native American tribes share a common belief in their connection to nature and the land, and this connection is often attributed mystical qualities. A form of Spirituality for which they are often famed.             Teaching this topic to high school students can and will be very challenging, as the concept of spirituality is often a case-by-case basis. Some teaching methods might require outside support, visual aids, or very clever oration. A good starting point might be to give students the task of explaining their own spiritual ideals and beliefs, should they have any at all. For those

                 Good afternoon, readers! In the last week, we’ve read through quite a bit of literature regarding the tumultuous transformative period experienced by the Chinese people’s culture in the early twentieth century. Stories like The Man of La Mancha and Diary of a Mad Man are clear examples of the theme I would like to emphasize. The disconnect between the old and the new. Alienation , the experience of isolation from a group to which you should belong.             Teaching this topic to high school students could be quite easy or quite hard depending on the individual. Some teaching methods might require skilled oration, imagination, or a distinct understanding of one’s students and their friend groups. A good initial starting point would be a creative writing activity. Have the students dream of a world a thousand years in the future, what the people would be like, what their culture would be like, what civilization would be like in general. Give them time to gather that

               Good afternoon, readers! In the last week, we’ve read through four classics from ancient Eastern Literature. “Classics of Poetry”, “Confucius”, “Du Fu”, and “Yuan Zhen, the Story of Yingying”. We have examined them quite heavily in order to discern common themes between them. A common theme amongst these pieces is the concept of “Wen” which has great importance in just about anything in Eastern literature. Wen is, according to individuals who have studied the concept extensively, the manifestation of the real world when its elements are brought together to become known or visible. Additionally, Wen is also that which is of supreme importance in most Eastern literature.             Teaching students the concept of Wen would require students who are just as engaged as their teacher, as Wen is most easily discerned on an individual basis. After all, discerning that which is of supreme importance in any piece can be entirely up to the individual, something which is paradoxic

               Good afternoon, readers! In the last week, we’ve read our way through four stories from different cultures: Faust by Goethe, The Guest by Camus, The Metamorphosis by Kafka, and Requiem by Akhmatova. And we have examined them to deduce common themes. One of the common themes that one could place is the prevailing theme of powerlessness that permeates much of all four stories. Powerlessness is a sensation that is prevalent in just about every human being’s lifetime at some point. While it is not a particularly positive theme, it is a theme that most certainly could resonate well with high school students. Though this does depend on the level of personal independence each individual student has actually achieved and would be better served early on. For teaching the topic, creativity might be necessary. Alternatively, talented oration would be a sufficient replacement. Ask students to imagine losing a beloved family member or pet, consider how that might make them feel, an

      Good afternoon, readers! My name is Caleb Frame and I'm currently constructing this blog as part of my assignment for my Multicultural Literature Course. I am currently a college student working toward my Bachelor's Degree in English with an emphasis on Technical Writing. Although my focus is on technical writing, I am an avid lover of fictional works, especially science fiction, fantasy, and any combination of the two. Personally, however, I find myself somewhat uninteresting.        As part of this assignment, I am to discuss Multicultural Literature based on what I've read and written this semester in order to provide some context for the blog posts I am to present. From what I have derived of my readings, the context for literature that comes from multiple cultures is somewhat obvious to me. Literature is influenced by its writers, and its writers are inherently influenced by their culture. By this, I mean that writers are influenced by their cultural traditions,