What did you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with? Write a 300-word message to Ms. Silko responding to her essay, "Border Patrol State." Share personal experiences or factual evidence to support your points.
While reading the essay written by Ms. Silko I began to have a lot of differing feelings. I could almost understand where she was coming from, yet I still felt like we do need stronger boarder controls. I did agree with the fact that the boarder control has too much power over some situations and that they do abuse the power they have been given but all they are ultimately trying to do is to protect this land and not allow people to come into it illegally. I do agree with the fact that boarder patrol is too extreme with native americans because they are citizens and do belong here, as much as an American does if not more because we stole the land from them and claimed they did not know what they were doing and needed us to teach them, which is not true. I also agreed with her on the fact that boarder patrol show blatant racism toward individuals who look something other then Caucasian, which is not okay at all. Being that I am a 5 foot all, brown hair, blue eyed, Caucasian and there is no denying that I have not suffered the accusations that some people who are of a different race or ethnicity have endured. My only personal example of feeling some kind of rejection of this form was that I spent the great majority of my childhood moving from state to state. I over 8 different schools my entire educational career before I graduated high school and every time I began a new school everyone new I was the "new kid" I almost felt like I was a zoo animal being judged for where I came from or for being a little different, like I was constantly being scrutinized under a microscope every single day until they got used to me and learned a little bit about who I was. I can understand how Ms. Silko felt standing on the side of the road being judged and assumed that she did not belong in this country. So, my feelings toward this essay go back and forth because I understand how she can feel dehumanized but I also realize we do need stronger boarder control to stop the people who come over and want to take what does not belong to them.

Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
My Backpack (11/15)
If you were a soldier in Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s unit, what would you carry? Why? Write about 300 words.
I am glad this was the question asked for our blog today because while I was reading the story I found myself pondering this exact question. I have a lot of very close friends who have been over to Iraq so I can understand how the people on the other side watching your loved ones walk away feel. You never truly know if they will be coming back but all you can do is pray that return to you safely. Now back to the question asked, first and most importantly I would bring pictures of my family, boyfriend and my friends because they mean the entire world to me. I also have 2 tiny charms, one is a breast cancer ribbon and one is a sapphire that both signify my parents, I would find a special place to put them in my backpack. A toothbrush would be a necessity to me because I feel like that would help me keep a feeling of being clean. I would also want to keep an extra set of clothing to change and something to keep me warm at night. Some other items to help keep me clean would be important to me and powder for my socks so I can keep my feet dry. A bible to stay connected to my faith and a couple books to read just to pass time if we had some down time. Also, I would remember to save every letter I was sent. I know that I possibly brought too much and my backpack would be heavy but I just do not know if I could narrow down my entire life into one backpack. I know I would have a hard time deciding on what to put in my backpack.
I am glad this was the question asked for our blog today because while I was reading the story I found myself pondering this exact question. I have a lot of very close friends who have been over to Iraq so I can understand how the people on the other side watching your loved ones walk away feel. You never truly know if they will be coming back but all you can do is pray that return to you safely. Now back to the question asked, first and most importantly I would bring pictures of my family, boyfriend and my friends because they mean the entire world to me. I also have 2 tiny charms, one is a breast cancer ribbon and one is a sapphire that both signify my parents, I would find a special place to put them in my backpack. A toothbrush would be a necessity to me because I feel like that would help me keep a feeling of being clean. I would also want to keep an extra set of clothing to change and something to keep me warm at night. Some other items to help keep me clean would be important to me and powder for my socks so I can keep my feet dry. A bible to stay connected to my faith and a couple books to read just to pass time if we had some down time. Also, I would remember to save every letter I was sent. I know that I possibly brought too much and my backpack would be heavy but I just do not know if I could narrow down my entire life into one backpack. I know I would have a hard time deciding on what to put in my backpack.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Not an American Dream (11/8)
Zitkala-Sa's writings are about her life on the reservation and then in the white man's world. Explore in 200-300 words how her story is (or is not) one of the American Dream coming true. Use a specific sentence from the text to prove your point and quote it in your posting. ANALYZE the text; don't summarize.
"Then I lost my spirit. Since they day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. People had straed at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward's! In my anguish I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my mown mother used to do; not I was only one of many little animals driven by a hearder." I do not believe Zitkala-Sa's story about being in the white mans world is an American Dream come true. First off, she is forced to go be in the white man's world and being forced to do something is not what the American Dream is about. She is taught nothing but is expected to understand this language that she does not speak and follow rules she does not understand. The American Dream is about feeling like you are apart of something and that you belong, like you are making a difference. Zitkala-Sa does not feel this way about the situation she is in. She feels excluded, misunderstood, and controlled; almost like she is owned by the pale face people. They cut her hair to make her more like the white people and they punish her for things she does not understand that she did wrong. Her only small victories that are some what a representation of the American Dream is when she break the jar while smashing the turnips so none can be served for dinner. It is her way of being in control of something in her world, which is a small part of the American Dream, being able to control your world. Also, when she returns to the reservation she still is not living the American Dream because she does not feel like she belongs "even nature seemed to have no place for me. I was neither a wee girl nor a tall girl; neither a wild Indian not a tame one. This deplorable situation was the effect of my brief course in the East, and the unsatisfactory "teenth" in a girl's years." She return now and is able to read and write, she has some "American" ways about her which makes her different from her people and not able to fit in with her own people. Zitkala-Sa does not experience the American Dream in either situation she encounters in both the worlds she lives in.
"Then I lost my spirit. Since they day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. People had straed at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward's! In my anguish I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my mown mother used to do; not I was only one of many little animals driven by a hearder." I do not believe Zitkala-Sa's story about being in the white mans world is an American Dream come true. First off, she is forced to go be in the white man's world and being forced to do something is not what the American Dream is about. She is taught nothing but is expected to understand this language that she does not speak and follow rules she does not understand. The American Dream is about feeling like you are apart of something and that you belong, like you are making a difference. Zitkala-Sa does not feel this way about the situation she is in. She feels excluded, misunderstood, and controlled; almost like she is owned by the pale face people. They cut her hair to make her more like the white people and they punish her for things she does not understand that she did wrong. Her only small victories that are some what a representation of the American Dream is when she break the jar while smashing the turnips so none can be served for dinner. It is her way of being in control of something in her world, which is a small part of the American Dream, being able to control your world. Also, when she returns to the reservation she still is not living the American Dream because she does not feel like she belongs "even nature seemed to have no place for me. I was neither a wee girl nor a tall girl; neither a wild Indian not a tame one. This deplorable situation was the effect of my brief course in the East, and the unsatisfactory "teenth" in a girl's years." She return now and is able to read and write, she has some "American" ways about her which makes her different from her people and not able to fit in with her own people. Zitkala-Sa does not experience the American Dream in either situation she encounters in both the worlds she lives in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)