KK blog post 4

1. Almost all the main characters in the stories of Krik? Krak! are female. Why? 

I think Danticat writes the most of the main characters as a female because she wants to show the gender role that played in the story. First, there were still bias on the gender at that time. A lot of people think that men should be the one who go to earn the money, and women should stay at home to teach children, to cook. Danticat in the story shows lots of works that a female will get at that time. In the story "Night Women", the main character becomes a prostitute in order to survive. Of course everyone has dignity, but because her husband committed suicide long time ago, she has to find a job in order to keep her alive and raise her child. Because females at that time is hard to get a descent job, she becomes a prostitute. By describing this to readers, Danticat wants readers to know women's social status in Haiti. As a female writer, she also wants to show women's life at that time. For example, she describes how "Night Women"'s narrator becomes a prostitute in order to survive; she describes how Suzette's mom in "New York Day Women" has a part time job secretly so that her daughter can go to college in New York; she describes the life of a single mother in "Caroline's Wedding". In the story "Caroline's Wedding", it says: "Papa got a visa by taking vows in a false marriage with a widow who was leaving Haiti to come to the United States." Of course everyone will just think about the life of the man in this situation, but nobody thinks about the woman that was behind the man. Grace's mom had to bear that her husband got married with another woman. She also had to endure the days without her husband, since her husband already went to United States and she was still in Haiti. I think this situation just perfectly describe women's life in Haiti. Danticat shows that husband is women's only reliance. If a female lost her husband, she may have a poor life just like Night Women's narrator.


2. What role do you think does Guy play in terms of the structure of the whole book?
  In my opinion, Guy is the turning point of the story. Before of the story "A Wall of Fire Rising", the story talks about how the religions go and why people fled away from Haiti. But starting from "A Wall of Fire Rising", the story starts to become a tragic story. After Danticat writes about Guy committed suicide, the next story is "Night Woman". This two stories are relates to each other because the female narrator in the "Night Woman" most likely is Lili after Guy committed suicide long time ago. She then had to raise the child by her own, so she becomes a prostitute. This shows how bad a woman's life will be. Next, the story "Between the Pool and the Gardenias" talks about the narrator Marie adopted a dead baby. She goes crazy because she lost her own child. Then, Danticat writes the story "New York Day Woman" to show how toilsome a woman will be. Last, Danticat writes the story "Caroline's wedding" to show the life of Ma to raise two children by her own. In the story "A Wall of Fire Rising", Little Guy is always reciting some revolutionary's words. "I call on our gods. I call on our young. I call on our old. I call on our mighty and the weak. I call on everyone and anyone so that we shall all let out one piercing cry that we may either live freely or we should die." As the sentence says, the revolutionary urged to have revolution, and Guy did it. Guy knows that its hard for him to change something in real life. So he ended his own life as a way of revolution. Guy's death can be seen as sacrifice, and sacrifice has a cost. I think the cost is that the family will lose the man of the house. So after Guy died, the character "dad" is hard to find in the stories after "A Wall of Fire Rising". Guy turns the story and made the story focused on women. Women started to doing all the works after Guy's revolution.

4 discussion questions on KK

1.  Analyze this quote from "Caroline's Wedding": "If we were painters, which landscapes would we paint?" Why does Grace's dad ask her this, and how does it relate to the story. 

2. Why does Danticat pick the topics "New York Day Women" and "Night Women"? Compare and contrast them.

3. Why in some chapters Danticat conceal characters' name? And how does it change the story?

4. In the story, one of main themes is "religion". Explain why this theme is important, and connect it to the story.

Noes on "Epilogue: Woman Like Us"(KK)

 1) identifying characters, 2) summarizing the plot, and 3) offering some personal response/ideas about the story


A Main character in the story I think is the author Danticat herself. This story is writing in second-person perspective, which means it is telling "you" the story. In the story it talks about a lot of themes that appears in the previous stories. It contains mother-daughter relationship; it mentions that as a mom, she thinks her daughter should not doing the useless writing job; she thinks that 'writing is not worth the scratch of a pig's snout.' But then Danticat said there must be someone standing out and talking about this, about the unfair treatment based on sex. That also counts as a theme of freedom. In the story there are one part that keeps repeating. "You remember thinking while braiding your hair that you look a lot like your mother. Your mother, who looked like your grandmother and her grandmother before her." I think this means that all the spirits of her ancestors and families are staying with her. She is the one who uses the identity of them and make a revolution by using her pens and papers. She also mentions that she writes this book for those Haitian who suffered in different kinds of situations. She mentions that: "When she was done she would ask you to name each braid after those nine hundred and ninety-nine women who were boiling in your blood." By saying this I think she means the she writes for her people in Haiti. After reading this, I find out that Danticat is a strong and powerful woman. Even though her mother refused her to become a writer, she still did it for her people in Haiti. She is absolutely a great revolutionary, a revolutionary who calls for freedom. She mentions that: "Writers are tortured and killed if they are men. Called lying whores, then raped and killed, if they are women." Even though she knew that she might get in trouble by writing this book, she still finished it and published to the public because she wants every person in the world knows what is going on in Haiti. 

Leaving themes in "CW"(KK)

Leaving themes:
1. Their dad died
2. Caroline got married
3. Become US citizenship(leaving Haitian identity)
4. Immigration
5. Celianne

Thesis: People always "leave" in order to achieve the goals. In the story, all the characters either leave their home religion or the community that once belonged in order to chase what they desires.


Grace get certificate, becomes freedom, before the family was troubled by the papers.

Dad left Haiti, doing different approaches, different people use different ways to get the same goal
Quotes:
Papa got a Visa by taking vows in a false marriage with a widow who was leaving Haiti to come to the United States.

Notes on "Caroline's Wedding"(KK)

 1) identifying characters, 2) summarizing the plot, and 3) offering some personal response/ideas about the story

   In the story, main characters are Grace, the narrator, her mom(Ma), her younger sister Caroline who lost one of her forearm, her sister's husband Eric, and her father who passed away.

The story starts from the narrator Grace got the certificate. She finally became an American citizen. In the story, the citizenship is pretty important. Grace even mentions that: "Without the certificate, I suddenly felt like unclaimed property. She was her parents' first child, who was born in Haiti. But since Caroline was born in US, she already got the citizenship. Their dad got a citizenship by married a widow in US. But her dad died because of cancer. The main story line is talking about Caroline and her wedding. Her mom did not like Eric because she insists that Caroline should marry a Haitian. And her mom is also an old-fashioned woman, who thought her children are too american. Even though their dad died long time ago, he is still an important character. Grace and Caroline always wear black panties in order to meet their dad in dreams. Caroline was hoping to get the permission from her dad in the dream. Her mom always talked about how the proposal was going on when their dad tried to propose. Another reason her mom did not like Eric is that her child will leave them when she gets married. But at the later part, her mom even comforts Caroline when she was Premarital Phobia. After Caroline and Eric goes to Honeymoon, Grace has a dream about her dad. In the dream her dad asks her some questions just like they play the games before; 'If we were painters, which landscapes would we paint?' 'When you become mothers, how will you name your sons?' Grace does know how to answer this, so she asks her mom when she wakes up. But at the end, her mom does not reply it and asks the same question that her dad asked before: 'Why is it that when you lose something, it is always in the last place that you look for it?' The answer is that because when you find it, you will not look for it anymore. This story is long and contains a main theme - family love. Caroline's mom does not like Eric because she cares about her daughter so much that she thinks Eric is not worth. There are also loves from the couples. Their mom loves their dad so much that in the every letter she will explain that love to him; she also keeps the proposal even though the paper turns yellow and old. The story also talks about Haiti and America. In the beginning of the story, Ma and Grace even attended Célianne's, the pregnant teenager in the first story, Mass. There are also differences in the culture. Ma thinks Eric is not sincere enough compared to how she got treated by her husband. She also thinks children should listen to their parents, and that means that she should be the one who picks husbands for her daughters.

Blog post 3 (Comparison between Night Women and New York Day Women)

KK Blog Post 3 -- Compare Night Women to New York Day Women. What new opportunities do women have in the US vs. Haiti? What experiences are similar in both stories/places? What does this suggest about gender roles? 500 words.

   In Night Women, the female narrator stays at Haiti. In Haiti, men are usually the one who works. And it is hard for women to get a descent job in Haiti. For the female narrator, she becomes a prostitute because of the death of his husband. In the comparison, women in New York can get much better jobs. First, because in New York at that time was not have a huge prejudice on the sex. Second, New York is a modernize metropolis; people can find jobs easily at there. Take Suzette as an example. Because she studied in US before, she got a job at advertising office in Manhattan(presumably). Also, they make more money in New York compared to Haiti. Because of that, many of the Haitian tried to come to US to work; and they even sent some money back to their relatives in Haiti. However, Haiti is not the case. In Night Women, the female narrator was not rich at all. Instead, she tried her best to earn money. She became a prostitute in order to feed her child and herself.
   Besides of the comparison, this two stories have somethings that are similar. The "moms" in both stories are ashamed of themselves. The mom in "Night Women" tried to hide her job from her child. For one thing is that she wants her child to be innocent. She loves her child so much that she did not want her child involving in this world too early. In "New York Day Women", it is also the same situation. Suzette's mom did not tell her that she had a job to take care of the children, because she feels ashamed of herself. Because of that, Suzette's mom even did not go to Suzette's Parent-Teacher Association meetings for once. Another reason that she did not tell Suzette is probably because she did not take care of her own child when Suzette was young, but right now she tries to take care of other people's kids. Also, they both are having a lower-class-job. Nobodies want to tell others that their jobs are being prostitutes or taking care of children as an 59 years old lady. But they both love their child so much. The female narrator in the "Night Women" loves her child so much that she chooses to become a prostitute. For her, her child is like an angel. Suzette's mom also loves her. Usually in a family the dad did all the work. But because Suzette's dad is a taxi driver and he is not able to afford the tuition fee for schools, Suzette's mom goes to the outside of the world, outside of the Brooklyn, to find a job. Even though Suzette thinks that her mom did not care about her, it is actually the opposite. Her mom did everything for her so that she could have a job in Manhattan. Probably her mom did not tell her because she did not want Suzette to get pressure.
   For me, this suggests that women sacrifices for their family. Moms did their best in order to make their child have a better life. They gave up everything, including their souls(Night Women), for their families. This is sacrifice! Women may not get a descent job during the past, but all the moms tries everything in order to make their children have a better life.

Notes on New York Day Woman (KK)

 1) identifying characters, 2) summarizing the plot, and 3) offering some personal response/ideas about the story

There are two main characters in the story, Suzette and her 59-year-old mother. The story starts by Suzette following her mother, a lady who have never shops outside of Brooklyn, into a rich neighborhood. On the way, she mentions a lot of small details that her mom told her before. Like, ask her whether she will give seat to old lady or a pregnant lady; like the different ways Haiti drivers treat to those people who stop them; like her mom accepts dentures; like she check lottery but she will never buy it. Her mom finally walks towards a woman, who is wearing a leotard with biker's shorts, and a child. And she takes the role of taking care of the child for a while. It seems like they have some secrets between her mom and that child when her mom gives the child soda. Later on, the woman comes back. Her mom gives the woman back her child and strolls farther. Then, Suzette goes back to work. In this story I am actually confused a little bit. Because for me, I only saw a few places that connects to Haiti. One is her mom are afraid to return for her sisters' funerals. One is they save all kinds of things for the relatives in Haiti. But from those two parts, I saw that once a Haitian flees to another country, she will hardly go back to Haiti. I also saw in the story that her mom is economical. 

Artistic Mechanism (Poem) ft. Nan

Diane Ackerman notes and questions

Poem that talks about Venus:
 In the poem, she first describes the appearance of the Venus. Like she says in the poem that: "white robe stripes are around her." She depicts the image of Venus. She also uses some metaphor to describe Venus.

Notes on "Deep Play":
writing is a way to explore the world.

poetry reflects the heart and soul of a people.

Poets need to feel the emotions that people are afraid of.
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Questions:

1. You mention it in the book that: "poets feel what we are afraid to feel." Do you like to explore all the emotions that are concealed?

2. In "We are listening", you mention a lot of modern technologies, like "computer spiders", "radio telescope". Why is that important? Or what is the purpose to mention it？

Reading notes for story 3(KK)

 1) identifying characters, 2) summarizing the plot, and 3) offering some personal response/ideas about the story

Between the Pool and the Gardenias:
Main characters in the play are Marie, Rose, Marie's husband, Marie's family, Dominican man who is a cleaner of the pool, and Marie's Madame and Monsieur.
One day Marie, who is a maid at her Madame and Monsieur's house, found a dead baby on the street. Probably because she is still grieving over her miscarriages, she "adopted" that dead baby and named it Rose. In her town/cities, nobody will throw a baby away, because that will be punished by the gods and by their families. But in the big city where she lives right now, people just throw the baby everywhere, even in the trash can. One important thing is that Marie mentions that her great grandmother Eveline was killed by Dominican soldiers at the Massacre River; her grandmother Defile was died with a bald head in a prison; her godmother Lili committed suicide after her husband had jumped out of a flying balloon. All these information refer that she is the daughter of the Josephine, the female narrator of the "Nineteen Thirty-Seven," and her godmother is Lili, one of the main characters in "A Wall of Fire Rising." One day she had sex with The Dominican, but after that he never spoke to her again. Later on, because the corpse is rotting, it had a really bad smell so that Marie gave the baby bathe three times a day and tried to use her Madame's perfume to cover the smell. But at the end, she found out that it her act was actually trapped Rose's soul, so she decided to let her go. When she was digging the hole in order to bury the baby, The Dominican found her and thought that she killed the baby and used it for evil rituals. At last, they were standing there and waiting for the gendarmes. I think this story covers the theme of love. Because Marie missed her own baby too much, she adopted the dead baby on the street. She talked to her everything, but a corpse was still a corpse. And this story also contains the theme of religion. In the conversation between Marie's madame and monsieur, they talked about the region Voodoo. Also at the last part of the story, The Dominican's thought about Marie was doing some evil rituals was also about religion.

Reflection on the mini performance

Post a short reflection on your blog -- what did Tuesday's in-class performances reveal about the characters and stories presented? What was interesting and what did it make you think about or realize? 250-300 words

In Nan's group, Lili(David Dai) sees Celianne(Nan) on the street and brought her back home because she sympathizes her. When she tried to ask Celianne to stay overnight, Guy(Joey) refused it. He thinks that there is no need to help her; besides, they are also in a poor condition. But when Guy hear that Celianne will take a boat to America tomorrow, he suddenly agrees the idea to make Celianne stay here. I think in their performance, it shows that Lili is a zealous person and Guy is a person who chases for freedom. The stories presented that Guy wants to go to America, and I think that is a sign to show that he wants freedom. Because Guy(Joey) also mentioned in the play that they will have a better future and opportunities if they go to America. This shows that he wants a new life, a freedom from the restriction he got at that time.
In Grace's group, Grace is acting as Lili(although she could be the female narrator in Night Woman, but she is most likely Lili) and Helen is acting as the female narrator in Children of the Sea. The story tells that Helen is trying to chase the boat in order to see her boyfriend one last time. But she hit Lili(Grace) and thus missed the last chance. Furthermore, Lili comfort Helen. She told her that even if she catch up the boat, she could do nothing. Because she cannot just abandon her father and go to another country. All hope from her father was on her, her father loves her so much  that he did not want her to get on the boat. This play shows the themes of love in the story. Parents love their child, just like the female narrator's father is trying to protect his daughter. Overall, the play is great. And I like the idea of how the characters meet each other.
In our group, I am acting as Guy, and Yun is acting as the female narrator in Night Woman. Our setting is that the female narrator was actually Guy's ex-wife, and they divorced a long time ago. I visits Yun in order to see my son, but Yun thinks that I did nothing these years for them therefore I should leave rather than stay in her house. When the child woke up, he saw me and thought I was angel. Just like what it has mentioned in the book, the boy is waiting for the angel. Then Yun asked me to leave. I think our idea is pretty interesting, but because we do not have enough time to set the background, it is hard for others to understand the play. Our play is portraying Guy as a selfish character. Because in my opinion, the way he ends his life is reckless and selfish. He did get freedom from the evasion but he also leaves a big trouble to his family. And that is just like our play's idea: Guy abandoned his ex-family and he wanted to go back to see his child.
In Aaron's group, Aaron is acting as Lili and Josh is acting as Guy. They are quarreling in the play. In Lili's opinion, she thinks that Guy does not care about her and the child. Guy just leaves them in order to get freedom. And in Guy's opinion, he thinks that he cannot hold the pain anymore so that he suicides. The way they perform is quite interesting. It seems they are talking to each others but they are actually not. And in the play it also shows the struggle between Lili and Guy. I also realizes that the play shows the themes of freedom. Lili thinks that their son, Little Guy, is actually the one who will give Guy freedom, not the balloon. There are various ways to define freedom, and I think in Lili's opinion, the best way for Guy to get freedom is to support their child to be educated and then get thrived.

In class writing(KK)

One that that both story 3 and story 4 have is the parents' love to their child. In wall of fire rising, Guy was willing Little Guy to become a permanent worker while Lili wanted him to be educated and get a better job. They both want their child to be happy and have a better life. Guy wanted Little Guy to become a permanent worker because that can earn enough money for a family. Before, he regretted that his name was not on the permanent worker's list so that he urged to put his child's name on that list. Lili wanted him to be educated because she thought only education can make his child have a better life, because having a higher education is easier to find a decent job. Lili and Guy both love their child, but the way of it is different. Guy's love to Little Guy is definitely more realistic, because he wants to give Little Guy things that he have yearned for so long time, which is the permanent worker's list. On the other hand, Lili's opinion was a little bit unrealistic but she definitely loves her child. They both know what to do in order to make their child have a good future. But in "Night Woman", it was not in this case. The female narrator's husband died long time ago so that she had to raise the child by herself. She really loves her child; in her opinion, her child was an angel to her. She also wants to her child to have have a better life, but she does not know what to do. "We have never talked about love. What would he need to know?" This question was raised when the mom was watching her child sleeping. The mom did not know what to do, because this kind of topics usually was discussed between father and son but her husband died. The female narrator plays both mom and dad in that family. And because of that, her love to the child was more like indulgence. Probably she thinks that the boy already lost his dad, and she tried to do everything for him in order to make up. This is different kinds of love compared to The Wall of Fire Rising. In the third story, Lili and Guy was more like a traditional parents; they planned everything no matter Little Guy liked it or not. But in the Night Woman, the Mom tried to give everything to that little boy. The author Danticat probably wants readers to think about the love that was given by their parents. Like how her parents went abroad to earn money in order to make their lives better. That is also the love from the parents. Parents can sacrifice themselves in order to raise their child. Just like the woman in Night Woman. She becomes a prostitute in order to raise her child. Also, parents will decided their child's future, because they think they know how the world's working. Even though this is unfair to their child but this is also love from the parents.

KK blog post 2

Character: Guy

Who am I? : My name is Guy, a father, a husband, and a man of the house. Even though I did not get education, I still got a temporary job at sugar mill. I like food, any kinds of food. It is one of the best things when you went home and there was food on the table. I love my family, my child, and my wife. I hate hunger; I hate it when there was no food for my family. I hate poverty; I hate it when I cannot buy things that my child and wife want. And I hate restriction; I hate it because it traps me and I cannot even breathe with the invisible "chain" on my neck. I was fear that one day if I was gone, my wife and child would suffer in pain. I am a Haitian and I am believing God. I think one day he will bring me to the heaven, a place where there is no pressure, no hatred, and no poverty.

What time is it? : Right now it is 6 am in the morning. This morning I will definitely get on that hot air balloon, even though my wife does not want me to do so.

Where am I? : I live in a small town. Right now I am in the living room of the house so that I can see my loved and my child one last time.

What surrounds me? : My wife and my son are sleeping in their room. I am sitting on a chair besides the kitchen. There are some potatoes on the table, which is today's lunch, but I do not think I will be able to have that delicious potatoes. There is also an empty fridge besides me, since I do have enough money right now to buy foods.

What are the given circumstances? : When I returned home yesterday, my son recited his lines to me, he is acting as the great revolutionary, Boukman, in his school. I cried silently when I heard those lines. Yes, people should revolt; and yes people should not be oppressed by the others. And yesterday's evening after dinner, I was talking about the plan to get on that hot air balloon with Lili, but she strongly refused me to do that. It seems like she does not know me well; what I want is freedom! The pressure from my family and people surround me  is too much for me. Right now I am sitting here in the living room, thinking about where should I go when I get on the balloon and what will happen to Lili and Little Guy if I leave. Probably few hours later, I will get on the balloon; nobodies can stop me.

What are my relationships? : I have a wife named Lili, also a Haitian. We knew each other since we were kids, and we stepped into the marriage hall when I was 26. When I was 27 I had a kid. Little Guy is a clever boy. Once you tell him something, he will never forget. I also had a boss called Assad, who is the owner of the sugar mill. He also had a son. but Young Assad is stupid. If I were him, I could fly the hot air balloon by myself.

What do I want? : Right now I just want to get into that balloon. I want to fly to somewhere else where there is no pressure, no hatred, and no poverty. But I also want my family to be happy. I want them have enough money to buy for everyday's meal. I also want my son to be a man, to be a worker like me so that he could protect his mother. I also want to put my son's name on the permanent worker's list, but Lili wants him to get educated at school so that he could have a better life.

What is in my way? : I am about to get into that hot air balloon and fly to somewhere else, but I am still worried about Lili and my little Guy. I do not know whether leaving is a good idea or not. But I just cannot stop myself to think about that balloon, the tool to be freedom.

What do I do to get what I want? : I will get into the balloon when Lili is not there. I am scared to see her. I think she will be worried. But my freedom is on that hot air balloon, I cannot just stop it and let it go. I want the freedom both physically and mentally. Probably I will not put my son's name on that list. Probably Lili is right, and I am too selfish. I do not know what should I do to get enough money for Lili. I am leaving them few hours later, but I cannot find a way to help them. Oh God, if you are listening this right now, please help me! Please help my family!

Night woman discussion questions(KK)

1. Why does the mother talked about themes of love. Quotes: the way one learns that one shoe is made to fit a certain foot, lest it cause discomfort. And why love is an important theme.

Reading notes for KK 2-4

 1) identifying characters, 2) summarizing the plot, and 3) offering some personal response/ideas about the story

2. Nineteen Thirty-Seven

Three main characters in this story: Josephine, Josephine's mother, and Jacqueline. Josephine's mother was Haitian, and she fled away from Dominican Republic because of the massacre happened on Haitians. Because she across the river, when she was pregnant, while seeing her mom was killed, she would go to the river every year with other Haitians to mourn for the dead. They were like a secret religion using Madonna as a symbol. Talking about the story, Josephine's mother was caught in jail because the rabble thought she was a witch when she just wanted to help a baby who had disease. Josephine would go to jail to see her mom every month with the Madonna. Every time her mom saw that Madonna, she would hold it really hard and cried. One night, a woman called Jacqueline, who went to mourn for the dead with Josephine and her mother before, came and told Josephine that her mother was dead. At last, they went to her mom's cell and got the belongings from her mom. She felt like she belongs to the religion, and left with Jacqueline. In this story, it shows how Haitians was treated, and it shows the misunderstanding from the people. I felt bad for the Haitians; because even if they fled away from the massacre, they were not treated well by others. I also felt the separation between the parents and kids. Josephine did not want to talk with her mom until the very end she was not able to talk with her mom.

3. A Wall of Fire Rising
In the story the main characters are Guy, his son Little Guy, and his wife Lili. Guy was the man of the house. He just got a temporary job at the sugar mill. His son got the lines from the school, which is the words from a Haitian revolutionary. While Lili wanted Guy to be a regular worker, Guy wanted to get on the hot air balloon and flew away. At last he did, but he then committed suicide. His wife then realized that her husband just wanted the freedom mentally. From this story, I felt that Little Guy was a narrator in the story. All his lines are talking the revolution for Haitians. He recited that Haitians need to revolt, or they will be killed. This just like what Guy did at the end. Because he could not change anything in the reality, he chose to get freedom from the suicide.

4. Night Woman
The main characters in the story is an unnamed female and his son. She said in the beginning of the story that her husband died long time ago. Because of that, she had to become a prostitute in order to survive and feed her boy. She loved her kid, but as her kid grow up, she did not know how to talk about love and sex to her kid. When she had relationship with other males, she always told her kid that she was waiting for an angel to come. She even prepared a fabrication for that; if her kid find out what she did with other males, she will tell him that that is his father. This story makes me relates it to the third story in the book. Because just like the end in the third story, the husband died and his wife had to work in order to feed their child. The mother in this story was pitiful, because she became a prostitute in order to feed her child and survive. As a female, she had to become a child's father and mother at the same time. She did not even know how to talk about love, sex, and things like that to her child. But she loves him, she loves him so much that she even sacrifices herself.