Reading Response 3. Girl by Jamaica Kincaid.

My initial thought after reading Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is how far society has evolved from the ideology of female inequality. The reading sets out with what seems to be a mother trying to educate her young daughter on the appropriate etiquette for a young lady to practice. The mother tells her daughter about the correct way to wash clothes, how to cook fish, insisting to walk like a lady and not like a slut, how to sew and set tables for various occasions and most importantly don’t associate with the wharf-rat boys! The reading addresses a variety of issues including gender, social class, culture and feminist criticism all through the dialogue from a mother to a daughter.

It is hard to evaluate the reading based on female’s from a male’s point of view with all of the involved aspects, because I am sure at times I am the perpetrator of the occasional accidental female criticism. Despite this I still strongly recognise the difference in Culture and society from the current day to the days of getting your wife or daughter to put your washing on a stone heap. Female members of the group discussion felt that the reading involved female criticism based on today’s societies beliefs and views. The reading depicts everything that a female had to do in a daily routine, devoting herself to housework, which the females of today found quite offensive. Intertextuality in the story line of Girl reminded me of renowned actress Julia Roberts, and her role as Girls College professor Katherine Watson in the motion picture Mona Lisa Smile. Julia’s character spent her time in the educational college trying to deter women of the 1950’s from conforming to the ideal housewife of the time period, Promoting educational excellence and knowledge over the duties of a typical housewife. The Ideology of the time period in the reading Girl is somewhat very similar to the ideology and portrayed in Mona Lisa Smile, that woman need to care for their families and husbands on a full time basis with no time or purpose for extra tertiary education.

1950's Housewife

It is obvious to see how the gender assumptions have changed over the years and it was a main thought that kept re entering my head after reading Girl. The household duties are no longer ascribed only for women and that it was rather selfish for men to expect to be waited upon by their wives. The Girl I believe was intended to show the etiquette of the time period or perhaps to portray the dominance of the mother figure and the control that she has over her daughter. However I feel as if I have to challenge the text as a reader who doesn’t agree with what is being laid down to the young female character. I can understand how the text would be considered offensive to female characters in todays society especially considering that everyday living costs are soaring through the roof and it is often essential for both men and women in the household to receive an income. After group discussion it is almost safe to say that I also feel offended as I know that I am just as capable of cooking myself a meal and hanging out the washing without the aid of a female. I am sure the author didn’t intend to create a reading in a vengeance against the female population but to perhaps show what the women do on a daily basis all in the name of family life. It’s very easy to forget that the article was originally written in 1978 and intended for a much older audience who would have grown up with the strict feministic duties of the 1940’s and 1950’s as a housewife, and in fact society has evolved a great deal since then making the reading much less appealing to a modern day audience.

Nonetheless the reading depicts a timeless era in our history, which cannot and will not be forgotten by the female or the male population. The reading will one day prove a vital resource in depicting the history of femininity all over the world, showing just how far things have come since the early 1900’s. 

Mona Lisa Smile Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi882311449/

Reading Response 2. A Precocious Autobiography by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

A Precocious Autobiography by Yevgeny Yevtushenko proved to be somewhat of an inspirational story for myself as I can definitely relate to childhood bullying referred to in the excerpt. Yevtushenko told an incredibly conventional story through the use of detailed imagery depicting the troublesome events of his childhood. Only once did Yevtushenko briefly mention that his parents had left him alone in Moscow, signifying that he has moved on and accepted the fact that he is alone. Yevtushenko’s childhood was difficult enough due to the absence oh his parents without having to live on the streets as well. He told his incredible story of his love for poetry and the consequences that he faced because of his artistic ability and passion. Despite his troubles Yevtushenko had a positive attitude and was certain to overcome his fear the street leader or bully known as Red. His efforts to become stronger paid off as he essentially defeated Red, knocking down the power within the hierarchy of Chetvertaya Meshchanskaya.

Although I don’t necessarily believe that fighting back with violence is the best solution I most definitely understand the pain that was caused by Red and his lack of appreciation for the arts or in particular, poetry. The term Identification in literature defined by Brian Moon (2010) is described as someone becoming emotionally attached with a character or a reader forming a bond with a character in the text. It also enables readers to think about their own experiences from the characters perspective. (Moon, 2010). This is definitely the case with my relationship to the text. All through primary and secondary school for that matter I was always the subject of bullying because of my interest in the arts and in particular acting. I can relate directly to the pain inflicted upon Yevtushenko, and although my bullying was never physical I understand how upsetting it can be when you feel you are not appreciated. Eventually the bullying stopped as people began to see me as who I truly was and that I was still a human being, it was only my interests that differed from theirs. Once I overcome the bullying I simply merged into the crowd while still being able to pursue my passion for theatre. I simply cannot even begin to imagine how much more difficult the situation would have been with the absence of my parents or my home.

I believe that everyone at some point in his or her lives would have experienced bullying directly or at least indirectly. I think that is why the reading was quite popular in-group discussion. Everybody was able to relate to the reading in some way shape of form but most obviously everybody was able to feel his pain and then share in his glory of triumph over street leader Red. Unlike some readings A Precocious Autobiography by Yevgeny Yevtushenko is extremely conventional. Yevtushenko tells the story like it is, from the point of view of the victim. There are no gaps to fill in or assumptions to make; everything that happened in this chapter of his life is well told and enforced with incredibly strong imagery. As a generally non-resistant reader I enjoy being able to feel the story and follow the story line every second of the way just as it was intended by the author. I don’t want to challenge the reading because I am enjoying the story that is being told, but even if I wanted to challenge the reading I couldn’t because of its precise conventional methods.

The aim of creating a biography is to inform people of your life challenges or successes and that is exactly what Yevtushenko has done. His story is definitely an inspirational one showing that although he was made to believe that poetry or artistic culture isn’t acceptable in his kind of environment he continued to do what he loved and decided to overcome the normal expectation of a typical street kid. His success story is absolute inspiration to anyone whether it is an adult reflecting back on his or her childhood or a child who is going through similar situations of bullying. I believe that Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s A Precocious Autobiography is a great conventional text that could be incorporated into the education system as an example of fine literature, telling the story of a child’s incredible courage, strength and determination to follow his dreams on the road to poetry. 

Reading Response 1. The Scarlatti Tilt by Richard Brautigan.

After reading the Scarlatti Tilt for the first time I was a little bit stuck for any ideas of what happened before or after the reading. Usually I enjoy knowing what I am reading about as well as having a little bit of background knowledge of inspirations or events which led up to the creation of the reading. Intertextuality led me directly to CSI Miami series or the likes of NCIS where they have a murder on their hands but apart from that the text really didn’t explain a great deal apart from establishing an initial scene with very little detail, which seemed strange to say the least. All I knew was that it took place in a studio apartment in San Jose; there was a man, a woman, a violin and an empty revolver with a police presence. The almost lack of text nearly discouraged me to take an interest in the reading. It seems simple doesn’t it? The plot was that a lady killed a man because he was playing the violin in a very small and confined space and she obviously didn’t appreciate the sound. As far as I was concerned that was all there was to the story, It wasn’t until my peers started reading further into the Scarlatti Tilt and gaining different interpretations of what happened in the studio apartment of San Jose that my interest of the reading grew somewhat.

With all the interest in the reading I started to think to myself. What exactly has happened here? “Hang on, San Jose doesn’t sound like the safest place in the world. I’m assuming that there would be more than one murder every year and chances are that they are caused from bigger issues than just a silly little violin”. I’m thinking university housemates, work colleagues or probably more likely partners even, had a bit of an argument and things got out of control. Boom. Someone has died, the police come over and the guys killer handed herself in. Think about it. I love to watch those CSI shows and Criminal minds and you are always led to believe the obvious. Generally the killer is never anyone who you would have expected, so surely its not that simple. Who says that anyone even actually died on that day? It’s not for certain. It isn’t written down that this man died and somebody killed him because he was playing a violin. Maybe the police raided their house because of a potential drug ring going on and they found an empty revolver and the woman’s excuse was she has to threaten her partner to stop playing the violin by using her gun? Maybe the violin had nothing to do with it and in fact a detective handed the revolver to police who just assumed that the violin music was to blame. Who knows? We all ended up interpreting the reading differently according to our own person beliefs, After all it is San Jose, anything is possible.

I think I was definitely persuaded to believe what the writer intended the readers to believe, the narrative as you see it, well as I see it. The plot of no questions asked - a murder has occurred and someone did it with a revolver. I believe the straightforward reading mainly because I am by no means usually a resistant reader. I trust what is being portrayed or told to me so it is challenging to try and create another story or even read between the lines or fill in the gaps. I also recognize that social class my get in the way interpretation, after all I recognize places like San Jose to be a dangerous area so essentially I see that murder and violence as a normal part of their working or lower class day. But after thinking about it there are literally endless possibilities of events that could have occurred and we all react differently to the reading based on cultural aspects of our own life that we draw upon when reminded through the likes of readings.

The Scarlatti Tilt reading could even be classed as a humorous text considering the lack of detail given and the frivolous use of a violin however I see the text as being a serious one mainly due to the fact of my beliefs of crime and my love of television crime series which have influenced me greatly. The Scarlatti Tilt is a great text example of how culture, gender, intertextuality and even our own imaginations can shape our beliefs and create different interpretations of one very small reading.