A Night of Revelation
My poem
Snow falls softly on the cabin
Baking the world a pearly white
Suffocating all other color
Drowning, swallowing all noise
But the cackling of long forgotten embers
Snow falls softly on the cabin
Assaulting the windows
Barricading the door
Laying softly to rest the sun
Winter chokes the whole world of warmth
The land grows cold under the oppressive snow
Pinning everybody inside
Washing out the flowers
Blanketing everything in cold, quiet white
A boring, blank slate of ice
Silence that freezes all, even the noise
Of the birds no longer chirping
Rivers that have ceased to flow
Even the voices, once so loud and lively
Have frozen away in the frigid wind
All to see is white
Besides the frozen lake
Icy shell covering the beautiful bounty below
Inaccessible to the world
Secret heaven hidden away
Beneath the hard winter coating
Blizzards leave a blank canvas
Free to sculpt my heart’s desire
Endless possibilities stand before me
But it has been blank so long
I forgot how to paint
As the snow falls softly on my cabin
It chokes my vibrant talent away
Leaving me with that pearly white
Snow falls softly on the cabin
Baking the world a pearly white
Suffocating all other color
Drowning, swallowing all noise
But the cackling of long forgotten embers
Snow falls softly on the cabin
Assaulting the windows
Barricading the door
Laying softly to rest the sun
Winter chokes the whole world of warmth
The land grows cold under the oppressive snow
Pinning everybody inside
Washing out the flowers
Blanketing everything in cold, quiet white
A boring, blank slate of ice
Silence that freezes all, even the noise
Of the birds no longer chirping
Rivers that have ceased to flow
Even the voices, once so loud and lively
Have frozen away in the frigid wind
All to see is white
Besides the frozen lake
Icy shell covering the beautiful bounty below
Inaccessible to the world
Secret heaven hidden away
Beneath the hard winter coating
Blizzards leave a blank canvas
Free to sculpt my heart’s desire
Endless possibilities stand before me
But it has been blank so long
I forgot how to paint
As the snow falls softly on my cabin
It chokes my vibrant talent away
Leaving me with that pearly white
Artist statement
This poem was inspired by, ironically, a complete lack of inspiration. To begin this poem I wrote whatever came to my mind for 8 minutes, looking to find inspiration. At one point I wondered why the rest of the class was easily able to come up with ideas while I could not. I decided to write about a lack of inspiration. My first attempt was very literal and felt unpoetic, so I shifted the poem to the winter metaphor. I chose winter because I always feel lazy in the winter, and the desire to do nothing is overwhelming. This flew well with the lack of inspiration idea, so I tied these two feelings together with a metaphor. The foundation of my poem is the central comparison of the austerity of winter to a death of inspiration
The most difficult part of writing this poem was making the metaphor apparent yet not too conspicuous. My initial attempts wavered between being indiscernible, to so blatant it broke the poem’s flow. I found that using the words “inspiration” or “creativity” would make the metaphor too literal and obvious, so I had to change it. After receiving feedback, I started to use figurative language to compare the lack of inspiration to winter in a less literal way. Using specific language helped to make the comparison more obvious, because it was easier to draw comparisons in specific language. I took a stanza about only seeing white, which was wide and unfocused, and turned it into a stanza about the hidden bounty below a frozen lake. This showed the winter veiling good things, or the lack of inspiration killing creativity.
I also included imagery to make my poem flow and read better. I drew on my strong skills in language to paint a vivid image of a snow covered world. My poem invokes relatable memories and feelings because it uses deep but broad imagery that applies to most people’s lives which allows readers to powerfully relate to my metaphor because the visuals tie very closely to common experiences most people have had in their lives. I used imagery to invoke common experiences and lay down a baseline of understanding in the reader's mind before I built on that with my central metaphor. This baseline of understanding is key to my poem’s deeper meaning because it allows me to focus more on making a comparison.
This poem was inspired by, ironically, a complete lack of inspiration. To begin this poem I wrote whatever came to my mind for 8 minutes, looking to find inspiration. At one point I wondered why the rest of the class was easily able to come up with ideas while I could not. I decided to write about a lack of inspiration. My first attempt was very literal and felt unpoetic, so I shifted the poem to the winter metaphor. I chose winter because I always feel lazy in the winter, and the desire to do nothing is overwhelming. This flew well with the lack of inspiration idea, so I tied these two feelings together with a metaphor. The foundation of my poem is the central comparison of the austerity of winter to a death of inspiration
The most difficult part of writing this poem was making the metaphor apparent yet not too conspicuous. My initial attempts wavered between being indiscernible, to so blatant it broke the poem’s flow. I found that using the words “inspiration” or “creativity” would make the metaphor too literal and obvious, so I had to change it. After receiving feedback, I started to use figurative language to compare the lack of inspiration to winter in a less literal way. Using specific language helped to make the comparison more obvious, because it was easier to draw comparisons in specific language. I took a stanza about only seeing white, which was wide and unfocused, and turned it into a stanza about the hidden bounty below a frozen lake. This showed the winter veiling good things, or the lack of inspiration killing creativity.
I also included imagery to make my poem flow and read better. I drew on my strong skills in language to paint a vivid image of a snow covered world. My poem invokes relatable memories and feelings because it uses deep but broad imagery that applies to most people’s lives which allows readers to powerfully relate to my metaphor because the visuals tie very closely to common experiences most people have had in their lives. I used imagery to invoke common experiences and lay down a baseline of understanding in the reader's mind before I built on that with my central metaphor. This baseline of understanding is key to my poem’s deeper meaning because it allows me to focus more on making a comparison.
Growth as a poet reflection
Throughout the drafts of my poem I made my perspective clearer by replacing vague stanzas with more specific and detailed stanzas that focuses more on my central message. My poem began with good imagery but lacked the specificity required to communicate the central point effectively. Stanzas like, “All to see is white / Nothing to hear / Tucked into my plain white/ Inspiration dies in the frigid snow” sounded good but only showed my central idea in the very last line. I changed this stanza to, “All to see is white / Besides the frozen lake/ Icy shell covering the beautiful bounty below / Inaccessible to the world / Secret heaven hidden away / Beneath the hard winter coating”, carrying the message throughout the whole section as opposed to a simple tie in at the end. These more specific and focused changes made the message of my poem clearer and cleaner.
One change I made focuses on making my poem flow better. In my first draft, I used these lines, “Winter chokes the whole world of warmth/ Pining everybody inside” which sounded off when I read it aloud. My poem had to have a melodic flow to emphasise the steady pattern of the snow, so I had to make these lines flow better. In between these 2 lines, I inserted the line, “The land grows cold under the oppressive snow”, which made the lines flow much better. This added to the rhythm of my poem, which was like that of a soft snowfall by layering the message multiple times. This also makes the poem much cleaner to read aloud because it has a less sudden jump between 2 ideas. By adding an additional transition line, I made my poem flow and read better, strengthening the whole stanza.
To focus more on my meaning of snow being a boring white that covers all creativity, I changed a stanza to represent the idea of snow as a blank slate that could not be painted. I converted this stanza, “How to focus, in this white hell? / All uniqueness has disappeared / Everything blends together / So very, very plain” into, “Blizzards leave a blank canvas / Free to sculpt my heart’s desire / Endless possibilities stand before me / But it has been blank so long / I forgot how to paint”. This changed the stanzas message from a focus on boredom to a focus on inspiration, or a lack thereof. The new stanza allowed me to communicate to the reader that my poem was about inspiration more effectively, especially because it cleared up the secondary message in the original stanza. Because this carried my message in a cleaner, less muddied way, it allowed people to grapple more with my central theme. Clearing up my poem helped immensely in focusing it down and making it easier to digest, because I cut down on excessive secondary meaning.
In some cases, I made changes that made the central message less obvious, so it did not feel like it was being beaten over the readers head. I changed a very obvious line, “Wiping out creativity”, into a more ambiguous and meaningful line, “Washing out the flowers”. In this case I changed a direct message into a hidden one by using flowers as a metaphor for creativity and having the snow wash them out. This helped to make my poem feel less surface level and by using poetry techniques to hide my message, the poem was much more meaningful to the reader. Allowing for more subtle messages allows for individual interpretation, which helps readers to experience the poem because they can make connection that the author did not while writing the poem. This is only possible when each line has some ambiguity to it. I made this line more ambiguous to allow the reader the freedom to experience it in a way that is more personal than plainly stated.
Throughout the drafts of my poem I made my perspective clearer by replacing vague stanzas with more specific and detailed stanzas that focuses more on my central message. My poem began with good imagery but lacked the specificity required to communicate the central point effectively. Stanzas like, “All to see is white / Nothing to hear / Tucked into my plain white/ Inspiration dies in the frigid snow” sounded good but only showed my central idea in the very last line. I changed this stanza to, “All to see is white / Besides the frozen lake/ Icy shell covering the beautiful bounty below / Inaccessible to the world / Secret heaven hidden away / Beneath the hard winter coating”, carrying the message throughout the whole section as opposed to a simple tie in at the end. These more specific and focused changes made the message of my poem clearer and cleaner.
One change I made focuses on making my poem flow better. In my first draft, I used these lines, “Winter chokes the whole world of warmth/ Pining everybody inside” which sounded off when I read it aloud. My poem had to have a melodic flow to emphasise the steady pattern of the snow, so I had to make these lines flow better. In between these 2 lines, I inserted the line, “The land grows cold under the oppressive snow”, which made the lines flow much better. This added to the rhythm of my poem, which was like that of a soft snowfall by layering the message multiple times. This also makes the poem much cleaner to read aloud because it has a less sudden jump between 2 ideas. By adding an additional transition line, I made my poem flow and read better, strengthening the whole stanza.
To focus more on my meaning of snow being a boring white that covers all creativity, I changed a stanza to represent the idea of snow as a blank slate that could not be painted. I converted this stanza, “How to focus, in this white hell? / All uniqueness has disappeared / Everything blends together / So very, very plain” into, “Blizzards leave a blank canvas / Free to sculpt my heart’s desire / Endless possibilities stand before me / But it has been blank so long / I forgot how to paint”. This changed the stanzas message from a focus on boredom to a focus on inspiration, or a lack thereof. The new stanza allowed me to communicate to the reader that my poem was about inspiration more effectively, especially because it cleared up the secondary message in the original stanza. Because this carried my message in a cleaner, less muddied way, it allowed people to grapple more with my central theme. Clearing up my poem helped immensely in focusing it down and making it easier to digest, because I cut down on excessive secondary meaning.
In some cases, I made changes that made the central message less obvious, so it did not feel like it was being beaten over the readers head. I changed a very obvious line, “Wiping out creativity”, into a more ambiguous and meaningful line, “Washing out the flowers”. In this case I changed a direct message into a hidden one by using flowers as a metaphor for creativity and having the snow wash them out. This helped to make my poem feel less surface level and by using poetry techniques to hide my message, the poem was much more meaningful to the reader. Allowing for more subtle messages allows for individual interpretation, which helps readers to experience the poem because they can make connection that the author did not while writing the poem. This is only possible when each line has some ambiguity to it. I made this line more ambiguous to allow the reader the freedom to experience it in a way that is more personal than plainly stated.
Genocide: A Century of Death
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Artist Statement
The Armenian Genocide in 1915-1917 was a coordinated campaign by the Ottoman Empire to wipe out the Armenian people within their empire. The Ottoman Empire encompassed a large amount of Armenians, splitting the region between themselves and Russia. After the Ottomans joined WWI, on the side of the central powers, they found themselves at war with Russia. The Armenians were viewed as pro-Russian rebels who were security threats to the empire. In addition, Ottoman goals to make the empire more Turkish saw minorities as inhuman. These combined factors led to the Armenian Genocide.
The Ottomans started the genocide by arresting and subsequently killing many Armenian intellectual leaders. They then rounded up the Armenians and deported them to prison camps in the Syrian desert. During the death marches the soldiers would kill people at random, steal possessions, and rape women. Irregular bands were formed that would follow the deportees, asking for people to be handed over to be raped or killed. In most cases, the soldiers were ordered to let them have their way. Even if the Armenians would survive the march to the camps, the prison camps were undersupplied and poorly designed. The Armenians were subjected to starvation rations and the brutal heat. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in these horrific conditions; the combination of starvation, dehydration and exposure proved even more lethal than the swords and bayonets of the soldiers and brigands. By the end of the war, the Ottoman empire collapsed and the French and British occupied the middle east, ending the genocide. However, before the genocide was ended, almost 2 million Armenians lay dead.
For this project Jake and I built a board game. The game is played by drawing 4 cards, defining the player characters religion, wealth, location and lifestyle. A dice is then rolled and the cards will modify the roll to see if the player will survive. My research into the genocide informed many aspects of game design in terms of chance of survival. Everything from the decisions to the cards were influenced by the research I did. For example, after looking into the fatality rates around the empire, we created the location cards to reflect the differing casualty rates. I looked into the leadership of the genocide to help create certain cards. The Ottoman minister of the interior, Talaat Pasha, ordered mass atrocities: “Talaat went so far as to expressly order the destruction of young Armenian orphans.” (Adalian). This influenced the game because it is hard for the player to survive if they do not flee or resist. Leaders in the genocide would often use it for their own personal pleasure: “Government officials at Trebizond picked up some of the prettiest Armenian women of the best families. After committing the worst outrages on them they had them killed.” (Sayied Ahmed). The leaders of the genocide were very explicit and aggressive in their persecution of the Armenians, resulting in a very high rate of death among those who did nothing to save themselves.
Development of the cards was influenced by our research as well. We have cards for having foreign support, however they are weak in comparison to some cards because foreign involvement was often unsuccessful. Henry Morgenthau, the American ambassador to the Ottomans, stated in a telegram, “Protests as well as threats are unavailing and probably incite the Ottoman government to more drastic measures as they are determined to disclaim responsibility for their absolute disregard of capitulations and I believe nothing short of actual force which obviously the United States are not in a position to exert would adequately meet the situation. Suggest you inform belligerent nations and mission boards of this.” (Morgenthau). Foreign support would not do much to help the Armenians. Another card, army membership, is a result of our research. Armenians would be conscripted into unarmed labor battalions which would perform slave labour for the Ottoman government before the genocide. During the genocide, the labour battalions were among the first Armenians to be killed. This is reflected in game by the card decreasing the chances of its holder of surviving by a large amount.
The game is meant to reflect the message that surviving a genocide is more often up to having a good set of attributes before the genocide and some luck. The survivors of the Armenian genocide survived based on their decisions, but also just good old fashioned luck. This is reflected in game because the player has no control over what items they have to attempt to survive with. In addition, even if the correct decision is made by the player, they still run the risk of dying if they have a bad roll of the dice. Our main message is that genocide requires a combination of luck and skill, even when prepared and with better knowledge than the actual victims.
On this project I worked on making the playing board by using the laser cutter. My previous usage of laser cutters allowed me to create the game board we use for our game. In addition, my previous experience in making games allowed me to better plan out the gameplay flow and to get a hold on the timing of the game. I think the best part of this game is how simple to play and understand it is. The game is not terribly difficult and can be picked up and played in under 10 minutes, making it a good game for an exhibition because it can be taught and played quickly.
Works Cited:
Morgenthau, Henry. “Report that Ottoman Turkey is seeking to exterminate the Armenian nation, July 16, 1915.” ArmenianGenocide.org, 16 July 1915, http://www.armenian-genocide.org/us-7-16-15-text.html. Accessed 11 December 2018.
Adalian, Rouben Paul. “Talaat Pasha, Mehmet.” Frequently Asked Questions about the Armenian Genocide, Armenian National Institute, www.armenian-genocide.org/talaat.html.
Moukhtar Baas, Sayied Ahmed. “First-hand account by a Turkish army officer on the deportation of Armenians from Trebizond and Erzerum, December 26, 1916
.” ArmenianGenocide.org, 26 December 1916, http://www.armenian-genocide.org/br-12-26-16-text.html. Accessed 11 December 2018.
The Armenian Genocide in 1915-1917 was a coordinated campaign by the Ottoman Empire to wipe out the Armenian people within their empire. The Ottoman Empire encompassed a large amount of Armenians, splitting the region between themselves and Russia. After the Ottomans joined WWI, on the side of the central powers, they found themselves at war with Russia. The Armenians were viewed as pro-Russian rebels who were security threats to the empire. In addition, Ottoman goals to make the empire more Turkish saw minorities as inhuman. These combined factors led to the Armenian Genocide.
The Ottomans started the genocide by arresting and subsequently killing many Armenian intellectual leaders. They then rounded up the Armenians and deported them to prison camps in the Syrian desert. During the death marches the soldiers would kill people at random, steal possessions, and rape women. Irregular bands were formed that would follow the deportees, asking for people to be handed over to be raped or killed. In most cases, the soldiers were ordered to let them have their way. Even if the Armenians would survive the march to the camps, the prison camps were undersupplied and poorly designed. The Armenians were subjected to starvation rations and the brutal heat. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in these horrific conditions; the combination of starvation, dehydration and exposure proved even more lethal than the swords and bayonets of the soldiers and brigands. By the end of the war, the Ottoman empire collapsed and the French and British occupied the middle east, ending the genocide. However, before the genocide was ended, almost 2 million Armenians lay dead.
For this project Jake and I built a board game. The game is played by drawing 4 cards, defining the player characters religion, wealth, location and lifestyle. A dice is then rolled and the cards will modify the roll to see if the player will survive. My research into the genocide informed many aspects of game design in terms of chance of survival. Everything from the decisions to the cards were influenced by the research I did. For example, after looking into the fatality rates around the empire, we created the location cards to reflect the differing casualty rates. I looked into the leadership of the genocide to help create certain cards. The Ottoman minister of the interior, Talaat Pasha, ordered mass atrocities: “Talaat went so far as to expressly order the destruction of young Armenian orphans.” (Adalian). This influenced the game because it is hard for the player to survive if they do not flee or resist. Leaders in the genocide would often use it for their own personal pleasure: “Government officials at Trebizond picked up some of the prettiest Armenian women of the best families. After committing the worst outrages on them they had them killed.” (Sayied Ahmed). The leaders of the genocide were very explicit and aggressive in their persecution of the Armenians, resulting in a very high rate of death among those who did nothing to save themselves.
Development of the cards was influenced by our research as well. We have cards for having foreign support, however they are weak in comparison to some cards because foreign involvement was often unsuccessful. Henry Morgenthau, the American ambassador to the Ottomans, stated in a telegram, “Protests as well as threats are unavailing and probably incite the Ottoman government to more drastic measures as they are determined to disclaim responsibility for their absolute disregard of capitulations and I believe nothing short of actual force which obviously the United States are not in a position to exert would adequately meet the situation. Suggest you inform belligerent nations and mission boards of this.” (Morgenthau). Foreign support would not do much to help the Armenians. Another card, army membership, is a result of our research. Armenians would be conscripted into unarmed labor battalions which would perform slave labour for the Ottoman government before the genocide. During the genocide, the labour battalions were among the first Armenians to be killed. This is reflected in game by the card decreasing the chances of its holder of surviving by a large amount.
The game is meant to reflect the message that surviving a genocide is more often up to having a good set of attributes before the genocide and some luck. The survivors of the Armenian genocide survived based on their decisions, but also just good old fashioned luck. This is reflected in game because the player has no control over what items they have to attempt to survive with. In addition, even if the correct decision is made by the player, they still run the risk of dying if they have a bad roll of the dice. Our main message is that genocide requires a combination of luck and skill, even when prepared and with better knowledge than the actual victims.
On this project I worked on making the playing board by using the laser cutter. My previous usage of laser cutters allowed me to create the game board we use for our game. In addition, my previous experience in making games allowed me to better plan out the gameplay flow and to get a hold on the timing of the game. I think the best part of this game is how simple to play and understand it is. The game is not terribly difficult and can be picked up and played in under 10 minutes, making it a good game for an exhibition because it can be taught and played quickly.
Works Cited:
Morgenthau, Henry. “Report that Ottoman Turkey is seeking to exterminate the Armenian nation, July 16, 1915.” ArmenianGenocide.org, 16 July 1915, http://www.armenian-genocide.org/us-7-16-15-text.html. Accessed 11 December 2018.
Adalian, Rouben Paul. “Talaat Pasha, Mehmet.” Frequently Asked Questions about the Armenian Genocide, Armenian National Institute, www.armenian-genocide.org/talaat.html.
Moukhtar Baas, Sayied Ahmed. “First-hand account by a Turkish army officer on the deportation of Armenians from Trebizond and Erzerum, December 26, 1916
.” ArmenianGenocide.org, 26 December 1916, http://www.armenian-genocide.org/br-12-26-16-text.html. Accessed 11 December 2018.
Reflection
I am the most proud of the laser cut boards in this project. The original idea for our game board was to hand draw it, but we ultimately decided to laser cut them instead. The laser cutting went very well and the boards were very clean and visually appealing. People were drawn in by the visuals of the boards, which were only made possible by the decision to laser cut them. I am proud of the decision to laser cut the game board because it gave the board a much cleaner and professional look that drew people in.
With one more week to work on this project I would make a short introduction to the Armenian genocide to present to people and increase their empathy towards the victims. Giving people an introduction to read would have improved the project by giving people more information about what was occuring at the time, creating a stronger emotional connection between themselves and their character. People seemed like they were somewhat disengaged from the game because they lacked a connection. The game would have benefitted from a more emotional appeal to the beginning. If we had more time we would have added an emotional element to make people feel more connection.
During this project I ran into difficulty with designing the cards. Handwriting the cards would look worse than printing out and pasting on paper, but the paper method would take longer. To deal with this problem, Jake and I split up the jobs we would do. I cut the paper to size to set up the cards, and Jake would attach the paper to the cards with mod podge. By splitting up the responsibility we were able to finish the cards quickly and efficiently.
The most important thing I learned from this project was the steps that lead to genocide. It was very interesting to see the processes that lead to a genocide occurring, and to study how people go about creating the conditions needed for genocide. Recognizing the warning signs of genocide is very important, especially with current genocides occuring in Myanmar and potentially China. The warning signs are important to know because educated people are harder to sawy into genocide. I think it is a very important skill to possess.
I am the most proud of the laser cut boards in this project. The original idea for our game board was to hand draw it, but we ultimately decided to laser cut them instead. The laser cutting went very well and the boards were very clean and visually appealing. People were drawn in by the visuals of the boards, which were only made possible by the decision to laser cut them. I am proud of the decision to laser cut the game board because it gave the board a much cleaner and professional look that drew people in.
With one more week to work on this project I would make a short introduction to the Armenian genocide to present to people and increase their empathy towards the victims. Giving people an introduction to read would have improved the project by giving people more information about what was occuring at the time, creating a stronger emotional connection between themselves and their character. People seemed like they were somewhat disengaged from the game because they lacked a connection. The game would have benefitted from a more emotional appeal to the beginning. If we had more time we would have added an emotional element to make people feel more connection.
During this project I ran into difficulty with designing the cards. Handwriting the cards would look worse than printing out and pasting on paper, but the paper method would take longer. To deal with this problem, Jake and I split up the jobs we would do. I cut the paper to size to set up the cards, and Jake would attach the paper to the cards with mod podge. By splitting up the responsibility we were able to finish the cards quickly and efficiently.
The most important thing I learned from this project was the steps that lead to genocide. It was very interesting to see the processes that lead to a genocide occurring, and to study how people go about creating the conditions needed for genocide. Recognizing the warning signs of genocide is very important, especially with current genocides occuring in Myanmar and potentially China. The warning signs are important to know because educated people are harder to sawy into genocide. I think it is a very important skill to possess.
Hero's Journey Reflection
I think my greatest strength in this class so far has been turning my work in on time. I have turned every assignment I have done in on time, and I have no late assignments. I am able to get my work even when I have trouble completing it on time. While doing this dp update I struggled with very poor internet connection, but I persevered and was able to get my update done on time even though the internet was dead. I even prioritized finding time to do this update over going to a vintage car show.
My greatest struggle has been refining my in class work. My choice activities in Diary of a Part Time Indian were somewhat rushed at the end and had a lower quality than I wanted. I am going to address this by making a mental plan of when and how I will do my assignments so that I don't end up with no time to refine my work. I will also plan my assignments to be done before the due date so that if unfortunate circumstances come up I will have time to fall back on to refine my work in a timely and effective manner.
The most interesting thing I learned was just how bad the Native American's lives are on the reservation. I learned just how high the rates of bad things like alcoholism and diabetes are among that population. It surprised me because I knew they had it bad but I had no idea just how much they struggled with things that are seen as minor or not common in my community. This was interesting because although I have lived near reservations, I have never really visited or truly been on one for a significant amount of time, so it was interesting to read about how they are to live on.
My greatest struggle has been refining my in class work. My choice activities in Diary of a Part Time Indian were somewhat rushed at the end and had a lower quality than I wanted. I am going to address this by making a mental plan of when and how I will do my assignments so that I don't end up with no time to refine my work. I will also plan my assignments to be done before the due date so that if unfortunate circumstances come up I will have time to fall back on to refine my work in a timely and effective manner.
The most interesting thing I learned was just how bad the Native American's lives are on the reservation. I learned just how high the rates of bad things like alcoholism and diabetes are among that population. It surprised me because I knew they had it bad but I had no idea just how much they struggled with things that are seen as minor or not common in my community. This was interesting because although I have lived near reservations, I have never really visited or truly been on one for a significant amount of time, so it was interesting to read about how they are to live on.
Seminar Reflection
The seminar quote that resonated the most with me was when Finn said that Arnold was seen as embracing his conqueror’s culture. This struck me because my original idea was to respond to how Arnold was viewed as a traitor, and Finn gave me a new way to approach my analysis of the tribe’s view. This reframed my view to not just be that Arnold went to a school, but that he betrayed the culture on the rez. My initial reaction to this line was changing my view of the book, and I later realized how much I agreed with this quote. Finn’s quote was very helpful to me in reframing why Arnold was seen as a traitor.
Arnold left the reservation to follow his basketball dreams at Reardon. While this choice would seem to be a respectable one, Arnold is treated as a traitor on the reservation. Arnold’s choice to follow his dreams offended his tribe because they all had given up on their dreams. Arnold hears this from Mr. P when he says, “All these kids have given up. All your friends. All the bullies. And their mothers and fathers have given up, too. And their grandparents gave up and their grandparents before them. And me and every other teacher here. We’re all defeated.”(Alexie 42). Mr. P has realized that the culture of the entire rez was to give up when faced with adversity. Arnold also noted this aspect of rez culture when he wrote, “But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices.”(Alexie 13). Instead of feeling pride for Arnold’s choice, he was viewed as a traitor for his choice to go against the flow of his culture.
When Arnold returned to the rez as a member of Reardon’s basketball team, he was viewed with disdain from members of the reservation. When Arnold went onto the court at Wellpinit, he explains the reaction of the crowd. “And, then, as one, they all turned their backs on me. It was a freaking awesome display of contempt.”(Alexie 144). On the rez, Arnold was immediately singled out as a traitor by the spectators. At this game, Arnold’s tribe all state with one voice that he has betrayed his culture by playing basketball against them. Arnold would later reflect on this after winning the game against Wellpinit, “I suddenly wanted to apologize to Rowdy, to all the other Spokanes.”(Alexie 196). Arnold himself started to feel like a traitor to his tribe because of his victory, and the tribe’s reaction to seeing him play for Reardon. This was the ultimate feeling of betrayal being projected onto Arnold by his tribe members.
This book connected to my experience in Flagstaff that the reservation is spread out and poor. All around Flagstaff was the reservation, and it was filled with small trailer houses and poverty, with the occasional small town. The entire area seemed like it had given in to its own poverty and lack of opportunity. This was almost the same experience Arnold had on his reservation, where the whole area had given up and fallen into poverty. The reservation in the book and the reservation near Flagstaff were both similar because they were poor and lacked opportunities, giving me a frame of reference while reading the book.
The seminar quote that resonated the most with me was when Finn said that Arnold was seen as embracing his conqueror’s culture. This struck me because my original idea was to respond to how Arnold was viewed as a traitor, and Finn gave me a new way to approach my analysis of the tribe’s view. This reframed my view to not just be that Arnold went to a school, but that he betrayed the culture on the rez. My initial reaction to this line was changing my view of the book, and I later realized how much I agreed with this quote. Finn’s quote was very helpful to me in reframing why Arnold was seen as a traitor.
Arnold left the reservation to follow his basketball dreams at Reardon. While this choice would seem to be a respectable one, Arnold is treated as a traitor on the reservation. Arnold’s choice to follow his dreams offended his tribe because they all had given up on their dreams. Arnold hears this from Mr. P when he says, “All these kids have given up. All your friends. All the bullies. And their mothers and fathers have given up, too. And their grandparents gave up and their grandparents before them. And me and every other teacher here. We’re all defeated.”(Alexie 42). Mr. P has realized that the culture of the entire rez was to give up when faced with adversity. Arnold also noted this aspect of rez culture when he wrote, “But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices.”(Alexie 13). Instead of feeling pride for Arnold’s choice, he was viewed as a traitor for his choice to go against the flow of his culture.
When Arnold returned to the rez as a member of Reardon’s basketball team, he was viewed with disdain from members of the reservation. When Arnold went onto the court at Wellpinit, he explains the reaction of the crowd. “And, then, as one, they all turned their backs on me. It was a freaking awesome display of contempt.”(Alexie 144). On the rez, Arnold was immediately singled out as a traitor by the spectators. At this game, Arnold’s tribe all state with one voice that he has betrayed his culture by playing basketball against them. Arnold would later reflect on this after winning the game against Wellpinit, “I suddenly wanted to apologize to Rowdy, to all the other Spokanes.”(Alexie 196). Arnold himself started to feel like a traitor to his tribe because of his victory, and the tribe’s reaction to seeing him play for Reardon. This was the ultimate feeling of betrayal being projected onto Arnold by his tribe members.
This book connected to my experience in Flagstaff that the reservation is spread out and poor. All around Flagstaff was the reservation, and it was filled with small trailer houses and poverty, with the occasional small town. The entire area seemed like it had given in to its own poverty and lack of opportunity. This was almost the same experience Arnold had on his reservation, where the whole area had given up and fallen into poverty. The reservation in the book and the reservation near Flagstaff were both similar because they were poor and lacked opportunities, giving me a frame of reference while reading the book.
