November 28

A factor affecting what you feel from a book

How much does your own race affect the experience of reading this or any novel? Does race affect a reader’s ability to identify or empathize with the struggles of Ifemelu and Obinze?

A person’s race does indeed affect the experience they get from a book. No two people can have the exact same experience from reading a book. This is why there are so many perspectives out there and why communicating with other people who have read the book you have just finished is so enjoyable. The depth of each sentence is felt differently by many people. As much as we would like to say everyone is treated the same in this world this is not true. People judge others based on the way you look and your race. This is why there are so many stereotypes. Such as asians are smart or africans are athletic. The experiences that a person has gone through in this world. Shape his/her understanding and emotions. The color of you skin and where you belong play a big role in the experience you feel. Although they might deny it,  almost all people have been treated differently based on their race. This is how race affects the experience of reading a book. Books make you understand them by making connections with your experiences. When you do, you’re understanding of the book affects the emotion the you feel from the book. Meaning the more in common you have with the book the better you’re understanding of the book. This results in, more emotions you feel from the book. This is why not all people are brought to tears when reading books such as ‘The fault in our stars’.

Americanah is a book that comments on the racism in America. A protagonist Ifemelu is a African immigrant to America. The book focuses on her journey navigating through a place she taught anyone can make it big in because of the American dream. That anyone can become anything. She realizes that this was false, not anyone can become anything only someone can. Someone who has straight hair and preferably has white skin. This is what she realised America is. A racist country that says they are not racist.

Now, if a Black person living in a white mans country picks up this book. This book would resonate with he/she a lot because the experience they went through would be quite similar to the experiences Ifemelu is going through in America. If a white person picked up Americanah all he would see is the stereotypical white person. He would feel that this person does not represent the whole white community. He would not understand that this is what an average black american experiences. This is more than enough evidence that race does influence a persons experience of reading a book. As Americanah would resonate more with a black person.

Ifemelu wrote in one of her blogs that, “black people are not supposed to be angry about racism” because their anger makes whites uncomfortable. Do you agree? I can see why she would write this. Not all white people are racist to Black people. But the white people who are not racist should understand the Blacks are not protesting all the white people. They are just protesting the white people in their life who have been racist to them. So, black people should be open about their anger, but not just to anyone rather be more specific about the people you show your anger to because not all white people are racist.

November 27

How much does your own race affect the experience of reading this or any novel?

To begin with, lets specifically look at Americanah, and how the race or identity of the reader will affect the way that they could interpret the novel. The novel, focuses on the struggles of Ifemelu as she migrates to the US. Being a “black” woman in the US, she is definitely treated differently in some situations. If the reader reading this was a white male, he would not be able to relate or understand the deeper meaning behind the situations that Ifemelu faces. For example if she were rejected from a job offer, due to her wearing her natural hair, a white male could understand that it would affect her but would move on and try for another job, however if it were read by a black woman, whom has experienced the same situations they could further understand the situation and the struggles that Ifemelu faced, emotionally and mentally due to being rejected.

Now looking at the bigger scale, it is evident the the identity of the reader changes the way that they perceive a book. This is mostly because of the situations, experiences, and events that the characters go through and the deeper meaning behind the event or choice in every race, culture, age, gender. Some situations may seem small in one race but seem as a big choice and decision in another race. Events like, marriage, migration, pregnancy, birthdays, anniversary, christmas (as well as other religious events) are all events that may seem more important or more affecting in one race/culture to another.

I don’t completely disagree with the statement, because i can understand from where the statement is coming from. If black people were to have a protest because of racism in a country, it could make whites or other races uncomfortable because they would seem as the enemy in the situation. However, the fact that whites or other races are feeling uncomfortable should not stop blacks from being angry due to racism and discrimination against them. This is because the emotions felt form being discriminated against in any way are more affecting than the feeling of being uncomfortable.

November 27

Reader Response Criticism

My own race gives me a clearer perspective on the main characters of this novel, especially Ifemelu. I migrated to a new country when I was younger, and so understand much of the paranoia, and confusion that Ifemelu felt when she first migrated to America. Many people who have experienced the struggles that Ifemelu and Obinze felt after migrating would empathize with them: it was not their fault for migrating, they were only seeking a better life.

“How easy it was to lie to strangers, to create with strangers the versions of our lives we imagined.” Ifemelu and Obinze may not have lived a life of fame and wealth in Nigeria, but believed, like any other migrant, that they would be able to start fresh in this new land, ‘where all dreams were possible’.

Ifemelu writes in her own blog that “black people are not supposed to be angry about racism” because their anger makes whites uncomfortable. This is absurd. Essentially, racism is the belief that one’s own race is superior to that of all or specific others, and treating an individual from another race with inferiority. Ifemelu stands against racism, and yet contradicts her own views by supporting that blacks should remain silent. It would have been clear that, at the time, blacks were reminded of ‘white power’ through racial abuse on a day to day basis. Therefore, the majority of African-Americans may have believed Ifemelu’s quote to be true, and unknowingly let racism prolong.

November 27

Does Race affect understanding of texts?

How much does your own race affect the experience of reading this or any novel?

Race plays a major role in society and therefore influences how people of different origins interpret phrases and text. Id like to say that my own race (hispanic) does not play a major role in how I see the world, but that is not fully true. growing up I never once saw a black person, at-least not that I can remember, until the age of 6 at which I moved out of Spain. That being said, the fact that I was raised in a non culturally diverse environment affects my reading experience. I know not to be racist but I also struggle to find out what is and isn’t racist, making me struggle to read some parts of the book that to any black person is most probably nothing out of the norm.

Does race affect a reader’s ability to identify or empathize with the struggles of Ifemelu and Obinze?

In this case, I believe that race does not affect the readers ability to empathize with Ifemelu and Obinze’s struggles in the US as a racial minority as one way or the other, everyone has dealt with some difficulties in their lives. In most cases these are not as sever as the racial discrimination that the protagonist of americanah feels, but knowing how one feels when he/she is treated that way allows for everyone from any race to empathize with the struggles in the book. 

Ifemelu writes in her blog that “black people are not supposed to be angry about racism” because their anger makes whites uncomfortable. Do you agree?

Sadly, I agree completely with this statement as whether we like it or not, the world is full of different races, and now that everything has globalized, we see more and more them. In most cases, people do everything possible to avoid being racist, but in every nation there are racial minorities which are the targets of the few that do want to be racist. It is a topic that every white person (racial majority) tries to avoid in America, as it is clear that they are the offenders, so when it is brought up by a black person, angry or not, it scares any white person as while they might not have personally done anything worthy of being called racist, the fact that they are white means that their anger will be directed at them. This makes them uncomfortable even though it really shouldn’t.

November 27

The Frankenstein myth VS. reality

How does your reading of Mary Shelley’s novel challenge your preconception or stereotype of the Frankenstein myth? 

When I read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley I found a few things different to what I believed happened in the novel. However, for most of the story, I did not have any idea of what would happen as I have not seen any of the film or tv adaptions or really thought about what happened in the book. This includes the ending and all of the deaths in the novel. But there were two main things that I had preconceived ideas about, both being about the monster.

 

The first was the monster. Specifically, the look of the monster. I thought that he was a green big monster with bolts on the side of his neck. However, that is not how it was in the book. I also thought that he walked like seen in the gif.

 

 

 

The second was the name of the monster. I thought that the monster was called Frankenstein and the scientist was called Victor. This I discovered to be false and the monster had no name.

November 27

Frankenstein: The Novel vs. the Myth

My preconceived belief, as was most people’s, was that Frankenstein was no other than the creation of the mad scientist; how absurd would it be to title the man who created the monster? It has been plastered and fed to the public that ‘Frankenstein’ is the monster born from the unorthodox horrors of a scientist obsessed with creating life. I have always thought the monster to be gruesome, unintelligible, and with a kind heart. From the very beginning of his reborn life on Earth, it is evident that the ‘creation’ wants nothing more than for a family to be loved and love him. It is also stated that ‘Victor Frankenstein’ is non other than the man who created the infamous ‘monster’. Although I have not read the novel in its completion, the general consensus seems to be that the true monster of the story was not the ‘creation’ but Victor Frankenstein himself. The ‘creation’ cannot be blamed for any of his actions I believe for he has never been formally taught the distinction between good and bad.

It is also never explicitly stated that the ‘creation’s’ skin was of a bright green colour. After some preliminary research, I found that the colour was popularised by the depiction of Frankenstein’s ‘creation’ as green in 1931, with James Whale’s adaptation of the novel. In the book, Mary Shelley states the skin to be of a yellowish hue.

So although it has been established that there is a monster present in the novel, my mistake has been in assuming the wrong role for each character.

November 27

Frankenstein Expectations

My first image of Frankenstein was the green, giant with blots in his head, monster. This was from movies and Halloween costumes, the movies such as hotel Transylvanian. An expectation for the book was that the monster was uneducated and could not communicate to other, but would only groan and make hand gestures. However from reading the book the creation (Frankie Jr.) is as an intelligence and to have emotions. The emotion are chosen when he walk around and people shoot and fight with him. He also begin to get the connection towards a family which is something I did not expect. I believed that Frankie Jr. has a wife but from reading the book he wanted one but Victor did not want to create a female because he was revolted by the second creation. Victor is also different as i though he would crazier but instead is more calm and very smart.

Image result for frankenstein gif green

reality

Image result for frankenstein gif green

Expectation

November 27

Race and Reader Response- Americanah

How much does your own race affect the experience of reading this or any novel? Does race affect a reader’s ability to identify or empathize with the struggles of Ifemelu and Obinze?

I think race does play a huge role in how you experience a novel, especially this one. As a white American, I read books with a very different mindset and internal context than someone from anywhere else in the world. This goes generally and specifically for this book. As Ifemelu and Obinze tell their stories, I can’t honestly identify with them that much. I can try to empathize and I can imagine what they (and all other blacks in America) face, but I’ll never truly be able to know what it feels like to be them because I am white and American born, meaning I have a very different life than them.

Ifemelu writes in her blog that “black people are not supposed to be angry about racism” because their anger makes whites uncomfortable. Do you agree?

As much as I wish this wasn’t the case, I think this is very true in America. When people speak out about race problems, those who have never experienced race discrimination become uncomfortable want to defend themselves, saying “not all white people…” and “I love black people, I’ve never discriminated against you so clearly it’s not a problem.” We don’t want to admit that there’s a problem,  so we pretend that racism doesn’t exist. It’s much easier to ignore the problem than to admit it exists because then we’d have to work to fix it which takes effort and change, which is something many people are resistant to.

November 27

The Frankenstein Myth

How does your reading of Mary Shelley’s novel challenge your preconception or stereotype of the Frankenstein myth?  Refer to any forms of popular culture (TV/Film etc.) which familiarized you with Frankenstein’s “monster.” Did you confuse Victor Frankenstein with his creation? Include relevant videos/images to support your post.

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Before I read the book I was not aware that Frankenstein wasn’t the monster but in fact the scientist ‘Victor Frankenstein’ which created it. I did know that there was a scientist but I always referenced the monster as Frankenstein. I was also always quite confused to as how the monster was created because in cartoons and shows growing up Frankenstein was always referenced as an evil monster that eats little children’s brains, sort of like a zombie, or instead, a nice Frankenstein as seen in Hotel Transylvania. I had always pictured Frankenstein as a cartoon-like a creature. In fact, the 1st time I saw a movie that represented Frankenstein was when I saw Hotel Transylvania. That adaptation was what I based my knowledge on for the past 15 years until I discovered it was untrue through reading Mary Shelly’s book.

 

November 27

Frankenstein. The myth(s).

The book version of this story by Mary Shelley certainly does challenge the common stereotypes, and also from what we’d expect from Frankenstein. First, the majority of the people who know about Frankenstein, think that this is the name of the creature when it really isn’t. The name refers to Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the main character of the novel. In fact, even some more kid-friendly versions of this story introduce the creature as being called Frankenstein. For example, when I was in Grade 4 I bought a graphic novel version of Frankenstein, which did exactly this, and referred to the creature as being Frankenstein.

The second common stereotype that has been challenged is the appearance of the creature itself. In a lot of movie adaptations of this novel, Frankenstein’s monster has 2 bolts sticking out of his neck. Furthermore, he is also green. This is not true, as I’ve come to realize from reading this novel as he is described as being yellowish. Additionally, he was comprised of normal, dead human body parts meaning that he did not have a flat square head. Finally, the 2 bolts so commonly associated with him, have never been mentioned, or even alluded to.

Finally, the third major stereotype is the creature’s intelligence. In a lot of movie adaptations, and more kid-friendly adaptations also, the creature is seen as ‘stupid’. He is portrayed as a dumb monster when he really isn’t. After fleeing from Victor, the monster goes and hides in the forest where he learns from a small group of humans. He learns how to speak, and in fact he is quite intelligent in the book. In fact, he had over a year to learn the language, and all about humans as he only met Victor Frankenstein after over a year.