Tainted Futures

This week we wrote our second essay based on our books that we've read for our Inquiry Project. While this essay was a little bit harder to write than my first one on The Scarlet Letter, I really think that my essay turned out well. My question was "How are people changed through their relationships with others?" and the book I wrote my essay on today was Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison. The book follows a young girl named Ruth Ann Boatwright, or Bone, through her childhood in South Carolina in the mid 1950's. She was born to her unwed mother at the age of 15. From birth, she was labeled an illegitimate bastard and her mother constantly fought to make sure Bone thought better of herself. However, nothing Bone's mother could do would protect her from the physical and sexual abuse of Bone's stepfather, Daddy Glen. I wrote my essay about how the abuse transforms Bone from a healthy little girl who was not affected by her harsh label, into a self-loathing young adult who engages in several unhealthy habits and lifestyles in search of the love she does not get in her home life. I think that my essay turned out really powerful because I ended it with a question. "How does a young girl escape the abuse of her stepfather without forcing herself to maintain a victim everyday for the rest of her life and poisoning her own happiness?" While the wording of the question is specific to the book, I think that this is a really relevant question to a lot of people. Although hopefully Bone's experiences of abuse are not the kind that most people go through, I think that most people have been in some sort of situation where they blame themselves for something that is not their fault. My essay, in short, asks how do we go through life, and often horrible experiences, without tainting all of our good experiences to come?

Tragedy Creation

This week we've been wrapping up our Tragedy Project in English. We turned in our essays and worked on our Tragedy Creations. I wrote my essay based on three of our class readings: Aristotle's idea that Oedipus Rex was the perfect tragedy, Krutch's the Tragic Fallacy, and Arthur Miller's Tragedy and the Common Man. I then used my own thoughts to reflect on the authors' words and describe what I believe is necessary to make the perfect tragedy. I also worked on my Tragedy Creation. I decided to write a short story that I believe illustrates tragedy. My story is about a young immigrant who came to the United States with her daughter. Since in my essay, I stated that a story was more tragic if the struggle was not caused by the person suffering, I decided to use immigration as a good example. This also exemplified my point that in order for something to be a tragedy, it needs to point out a flaw in society instead of a flaw within the individual. I also used a woman who is undergoing financial problems so that she would be relatable. Although many readers are most likely not illegal immigrants struggling to make ends meet in Los Angeles, I think that recently, especially with the economy crisis, that many people can make a connection with someone, male or female, U.S. citizen or not, that is working hard to support her family.