Quarter 4: Week 2, Post A

I switched books this week to A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini because there weren't very many cultural differences to blog about in Atonement. I'm going to keep reading it, just not for our outside reading assignment.

Anyway...there is definitely an abundance of cultural differences to be found in this book! Within the first few pages I immediately noticed how many aspects of Mariam's life are strange to me. It's crazy to think how incredibly different her life is from mine, when she's just a teenage girl like me. For example, Mariam's father, Jalil, has three wives with ten children between them. Obviously, this would be seen as completely crazy and just wrong in our modern American culture, but it's seen as totally normal in Mariam's home of Afghanistan.

Another prominent example of culture difference is Mariam's arranged marriage to Rasheed. "Mariam's multiple step-mothers inform her that she has a "suitor" and even though she doesn't want to be married, her father has already agreed and she must honor that. She is only fifteen years old-something that would never happen in the U.S., but is seen as acceptable in Afghanistan. 'What are you, fifteen? That's a good, solid marrying age for a girl' (44). And arranged marriages are very uncommon in America as well, although they do still exist in some areas.

The last major cultural difference I found this week was Mariam's lack of familiarization with material goods. For instance, she sees a car for the very first time in her entire life when she is fifteen years old! "Mariam had never before touched a car. She ran her fingers along the hood of Jalil's car, which was black, shiny, with glittering wheels...the seats were made of white leather" (30). Cars are just one of many things that Mariam has never seen or used-things we take for granted in our daily lives.

Quarter 4: Week 1, Post B

Dear Briony,

So far, I am not that impressed by you in this story. You do seem very intelligent, and based on the snippets from your play, you're definitely a gifted writer. I think it's impressive how you've tried so hard to follow your dreams by writing so many stories and plays. It's nice that you have the support of your family to back you up as well.

However, I really think you're being kind of immature about this whole casting situation with Lola. Even though she sort of took over your territory by taking the lead role in your summer play, you could be handling the issue with much more grace than you currently are. Especially given Lola's current situation--her mother has abandoned her and she has just been sent to live in a totally new home with family she doesn't know that well. That's got to be a pretty scary change for a teenage girl to be forced into, especially with the added anxiety about the war raging in her hometown. I advise you to take some pity on the girl and befriend her. Even though she seems uppity and annoying right now, deep down she's probably feeling very scared and alone.

Also, even though Lily's twin brothers seem pretty bothersome since they're ruining your play with their terrible acting, you should have more patience with them. Again, they're stuck in a very difficult situation right now. And frankly, I think you should consider it a victory that you even convinced them to be in your play in the first place. Giving them acting tips is probably not the best idea right now.

Anyway, I hope you start to grow up a little bit more as the story continues because right now you strike me as almost whiny at some parts. Sorry for the negativity, but I'm just trying to be honest here.

Sincerely,
Anna

Quarter 4: Week 1, Post A

This week it was fairly difficult to find cultural differences in Atonement. Since the book takes place in England, the culture is very similar to here in America. Also, the plot is still in the beginning stages. However, there was one difference that stood out to me in my reading this week, which is the great importance of family. In the beginning of the book, Briony's family has just taken in her three cousins, the daughters of her mother's sister. They take them in because their home had become somewhat of a war zone and their mother fled. Their father feels the children would be safer with the Tallis family. And the Tallises were more than happy to help out: "...the house could easily absorb three children and the Quinceys could stay as long as they liked..." (8). This willingness to do nearly anything to help one's family is less common here in the U.S. It is much more unusual to find extended families living together in one household. Perhaps this is because the United States is not a war zone, but I think it goes beyond that because I've noticed this difference in other cultures as well. My dad's family is from Spain and two of his aunts and their children have lived together in the same home since they arrived here many years ago. Since one of his aunts is widowed, it is simply expected that her sister and her sister's husband will welcome them into their home. This is much the same as with Briony's family being expected to welcome the Quincey girls into their home when their mother abandons them.

Quarter 4: Explanation

For quarter 4, I chose to read Atonement by Ian McEwan. I made this pick for a few different reasons. First of all, Ian McEwan is an award-winning author which leads me to believe that this book will be a quality read. But this is not the main reason I chose this book. I was most attracted to it because of the film adaptation that was recently released, featuring Keira Knightley. The movie won an Oscar and was nominated for countless other awards and honors. I talked to a few adults who had seen it and they were full of positive reviews for the film. So, when I heard about the foreign authors requirement, I immediately thought of this book. Ian McEwan is from Britain, which is the setting of the book. Also, the story is set during World War II, which will provide for some major cultural differences from our modern life here in Edina. I can't wait to read this book; hopefully I will enjoy it enough to go see the movie when i finish it!

Quarter 3: Week 7, Post B

"'You'll live with it, Nikki. I'll help you.' I waited for Strabane to say more. I knew him now: my lover. I waited for him to reason with me, to argue with me. I waited for him to say those words we say to one another at such times. But he remained silent. He gripped my hand in such a way that his fingers pushed through my fingers and held them tight. I understood that this was the reasoning, this was his argument. In this way ended my first full year of missing Mom" (434).

This is the final quote in the book, and one of my favorites of the entire novel. In honor of Mother's Day and the anniversary of her mom's death, Nikki and her new boyfriend, Detective Strabane, are vacationing in Key West at the same resort her parents stayed at on their honeymoon. As Nikki and Strabane take a walk on the beach, Nikki breaks down from the grief and memories that still haunt her from that terrible day one year ago. But, unlike the rest of the traumatic year, this time she has someone there for her. Strabane takes her hand and shows her that he will be strong for her, that he will be her rock, her light through the storm. He silently promises this by simply holding her hand-grasping it tightly and showing that he will never let her go. In the past weeks, he has had to reason and argue with Nikki to prove that none of what happened was her fault, that she will make it through this. But now, instead of words, his hand holding hers is reason and argument enough to keep going.

Quarter 3: Week 7, Post A

VOCAB:

dun-colored (350): having a dull, gloomy, grayish-brown color
duplicity (363): deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:

1. "Wanting to fire back You're the one who left, do you miss us?" (322). This is an example of figurative language because Nikki refers to "firing" a question back at Clare, when literally questions aren't "fired". Her word choice is used to show the accusatory nature of the question.
2. "...with rice-paper skin..." (323). This is an example of figurative language too. A metaphor is used to compare Aunt Tabitha's skin to rice paper because it is so thin and translucent.
3. "Mom's cheery teapot and matching mugs..." (348). This is an example of personification because a teapot can not have feelings. It can not be "cheery", this is a human characteristic.


QUOTE:

"I was stunned to see him: the man who, long ago when he'd been a boy, my mother had loved. The man who'd impregnated my mother. Might have married her, if he'd wished to" (371). This quote is interesting because it shows the new information Nikki has gathered about her mother's life from people after her death. Her mom's best girlhood friend, Alyce Proxmire, told Nikki the story of her mother's first serious boyfriend who got her pregnant, but she had a miscarriage only a month into the unexpected pregnancy. This is just one of the stories she hears, and all of them give her new perspective on her mother. Nikki wishes she would've gotten to know her mother's past better when she was still alive.

THEME:

The overall theme of the novel was definitely the struggles along the journey of grief in the aftermath of the death of a loved one.

Quarter 3: Week 6, Post B

Dear Joyce Carol Oates,


Nikki's storyline continues to be very sad and I must say it's starting to be a sort of depressing read. I like your writing syle a lot; it's very different from anything else I've read. However, I hope the plot gets more optimistic soon because right now it's too sad! It's hard to get through such a downer of a book, even though I like it overall.

Some parts of the storyline are much more interesting to read about than others. For instance, I'm enjoying reading about Nikki's relationship with Wally Szalla. The experience of being "the other woman" adds a certain drama to the book. Nikki's her relationship with Clare is intriguing as well. I have two sisters of my own, but my relationships with both of them are very different from Clare and Nikki's interaction. It's interesting to see such a switch from what I'm used to within my own family. It's upsetting to see them draw further away from each other during this time when they could most use the support. I hope they can make up and help each other through their time of grief and sadness.

I have yet to understand the significance of Smokey the cat. He is constantly referred to--by Nikki, Clare, Wally Szalla, and others--but I still don't really understand why he's so important to the story. Maybe some special symbolism will be revealed later on, but as of now I'm confused. Also, I'm wondering what's up with the letters between Detective Strabane and Nikki. Strabane continues to talk to Nikki and seems to feel a very personal connection to her mother's murder case. Even though Nikki keeps declining his offers to talk, it still seems pretty random that he keeps emailing her and giving her is cell phone number. I can't help but wonder after his motives.

Even though some of your story has been depressing, overall I'm enjoying it.

Thanks,
A-Rod