Reactions to Precious

For your last blog post for the class I would like you to react to the film Precious from the point of view of one of the main characters: Precious, Precious's Mother (Mary) or her social worker (Ms. Weiss). What would you do if you were in that characters situation? What would you do to resolve the dilemma your character faces?

Reactions to Fruitvale Station and Comparison with Dutchman

The two works we examined in class this week, Amiri Baraka' Dutchman and Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, have common themes and remarkably similar endings. At the end of both works we find young Black men--both with promising futures--killed at a too early age by  a White man and a White woman. Both of these murders take place on a subway or mass transit system but on opposite coasts of the U.S. and as the result of circumstances separated by more than 50 years.

For your blog entry this week, explain your reactions to Fruitvale Station and how the film left you feeling: angry, sad, confused, something else?  Why do you think Koogler (the director) choose the details he included in the story? What did he hope to achieve by sharing this information about the main character?

If you are interested, make some comparisons between Dutchman and Fruitvale Station. This is not a required part of your analysis, but thinking about this may help you with your drama paper assignment. How are the play and film similar--apart from the nature of the deaths in both works. Do both authors have similar objectives in writing each piece? How much has changed for the better or worse from NYC of the 1960's as Baraka saw it and the contemporary San Francisco Bay area we see in Coogler's Fruitvale Station.

Your entry should be at least two complete paragraphs of 4-5 sentences and you should try to address an idea or theme raised by someone who has posted before your entry.

Some more background that may be of interest to you.
Link to Forbes Discussion of Fruitvale Station

Questions on the U.S. Prison System Readings

Thank you everyone who was in class tonight for the great discussion of the prison readings. Thinking about what was discussed in class, please answer these two questions:

1) Why do we put so many people in prison and why is the proportion of the U.S. population behind bars so much higher than the rest of the world?

2) What needs to be changed about the U.S. system? Do you have any suggestions for how we can keep former convicts from returning to society rather than going back to prison?

Your answer for each question should be at least one paragraph. Use examples or support from the readings or from your own personal experience if possible. Please try to respond to the comments of at least of your classmates either directly or in your own post.

Reaction to Sylvia Plath's Poems - What is her legacy?

After watching the video on Plath's life in class and discussing her poems, you must have some theories or opinions on why Plath took her own life or what was troubling her so deeply.  Thinking about the poems "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus" specifically--or any of her other poems, if you want to do some additional reading--how did her family and her past influence her writing? "Daddy" was one of the last poems she wrote--why do you think she chose her father as the subject? How do you think Plath wanted "Daddy" to be interpreted? How did Plath foreshadow her own death in "Lady Lazarus"? What messages or themes did Plath want to live on after her death?

Write at least two complete paragraphs as a response and please try to respond directly to at least one of your classmates' comments posted prior to your post.


Sylvia Plath documentary

Sylvia Plath reads "Daddy"

Sylvia Plath reads "Lady Lazarus"