Hailey Helm

Culture Shock: Intro to Culturally Diverse Literature

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Reading Journal 13

I haven’t read the next set of chapters yet, but I have a bit to reflect on what I have read so far.

I feel like I connect to Jasmine in many ways. Growing up and even now I have had problems finding clothes that fit me. I’m not exactly skinny, but I’m also not plus size and clothes my size are made for women that are (unrealistically) like 6 feet tall. I’m 5 foot and kinda stumpy so finding pants is incredibly awful. To make it worse, although I’m not complaining, my waist is a lot smaller than the lower half of my body, so I have to buy belts constantly or else my jeans don’t fit. Sweatpants are amazing but they're always too long. Anyways, I’m also like Jasmine because even though I have issues with my body type, I don’t hate my body. Within the last year, I’ve become more comfortable in my skin. I think it’s because for the longest time I had no answers as to why my legs were always so big, but now that it is confirmed that I have a medical condition that makes my legs swell, I’ve gotten more comfortable with my body because I know it’s not my fault.

Another way I relate to Jasmine is that I have a close family member battling cancer. My uncle, Adam, had been battling Leukemia for the past 2 years. I wasn’t always close to him, but I’ve always been extremely close to my aunt Joan. (My middle name is Joan so we’re basically connected for life) My uncle battling cancer has affected us all, especially my aunt and everyone close to her. I understand why Jasmine holds back because of wanting to support her father. Instead of becoming an activist for women, however, I joined a club at Ship to become an activist for people battling cancer and cancer survivors. I’m in the colleges against cancer club to help support people who need it.

I like that this book is relatable to me and my generation. Butterflies is still my favorite book, but this one is really good also.

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I haven’t read the next chapters of Darkroom yet but there are a few things I’ve been thinking about that I wanted to use for my discussion. Recently I’ve been obsessed with Dr.Phil and the other day I watched his series on “white privilege.” In general, white privilege is 100% real and relevant, and it really shows in this book. Lila has a benefit and a disadvantage when it comes to white privilege. She benefits because she has a lighter skin tone and her mom is white. Her having a lighter skin tone gives her more opportunities during this time. The disadvantages, however, are because she isn’t exactly white and her facial differences set her apart from the white kids. Her skin is a bit darker because of her dad, and kids notice that and they point it out. White privilege is really interesting to me, and I think we should talk about it in class! I’ll link the videos I’m referring to.

https://youtu.be/rZxMjmcT0cY

 https://youtu.be/9bqtfRKZkRE

https://youtu.be/Y3QmO5djqgY

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So far while reading Farewell to Manzanar, I’m noticing similarities and differences between it and the butterflies book. The big family, trouble arising, etc are similarities.  The specific troubles that are happening are different. My heart aches for Jeanne and her family. She and her siblings are so young, too young to even understand what if fully going on. After Pearl Harbor is bombed the whole family begins to change and they relocate. During this, I can’t imagine what Jeanne and her siblings are thinking, and what her parents feel and fear. I like this book so far. I needed an easy read. It’s also on Audible, so I've been enjoying that too. 

Have a good fall break!

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#6

I’m really sad we finished the Butterflies book but I’m really excited about what we’re talking about. The LGBTQIA+ community intrigues me and it always has. I’ve always been were supportive and openly supportive of my stance with the community. My high school was very religious and anti-LGBTQIA+ and I always thought the opposite and I was bullied about supporting that. I love learning all that I can because I want to be able to support whoever the best way I can. I love our conversations in class because I learn even more than I thought I already knew. 

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On Wednesday, we (sadly) finished the book “In the Time of the Butterflies” Going into the book I was afraid of not thinking “deep enough” to read between the lines. Throughout the book, I definitely grew as a person and a reader! I discovered reading hacks and I tackled the book like I've never tackled a book before (because I didn’t). In high school, I did the bare minimum. I skimmed through chapters and read summaries online and called it a day. I got by fine on quizzes, but I never truly understood the books. I’m proud of myself for not only taking the book seriously but participating a lot in class in discussions about the book. Everything we talked about, I feel like I had so much to say, but I held back sometimes to let the others speak as well. This book has changed me in many, good, ways. 

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Journal Entry 4

Chapter 11 has to be one of my favorite chapters by far. The reality of the book never hit me until reading Mate’s diary entries. The depression she felt and the torture she endured made me actually feel for her. When she was sad, I felt sad, and when she was hurt, I felt that pain too. Nothing made me angrier than when she got strapped to the table and was abused to get her husband Leandro to finally speak up against the revolution. The diary entry made me feel like I was actually in the book. 

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Condom bingo??

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Discussion 3 🦋

If I had to compare myself to one of the characters from ITTOTB, I would say I’m most like Mate. I’m mostly similar to Mate because she starts off the most innocent in the book. I’m not the baby in my family, but I feel like I was very sheltered as a child, which led me to be so innocent growing up. My family never mentioned bad things going on in the world around me, and if they did I just didn’t listen. Not to mention, Mate is definitely a big romantic. Although I’ve never been a romantic until oct. 2018 (when I started dating my boyfriend), I’ve always loved the idea of love.

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A bit more “cultured”

Although much hasn’t happened this week, I feel a lot more comfortable taking on the Culturally Diverse Literature class. I’m really fascinated by the book, and although the affair was already spoiled for me in class, I was shocked all over again once I actually read it. I love listening to it on the audiobook, the voices of other readers really help me connect to the book. Listening to someone else read makes me feel like I’m watching a movie, just without the picture on a screen. The picture is in my head. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have Women's and Gender Studies. At first, just like our literature class, I wasn’t really sure about the class but a lot of what we talk about can also relate to Culturally Diverse Lit. We talk a lot about women and men and how their roles differed and still differ to this day. I related a lot of that to how women were viewed in the book. I’m really excited for these two classes, I may have them both tied as favorites. 

[kaasbolletje]

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🦋

[britp0p-deactivated20210628]

it’s back to school time so:

school is not a measure of ur intelligence! academic failure is not personal failure!!!! ur grades do not dictate how smart you are, or how good of a person you are. love y’all!

[anniespositivity]

Do not let school define your worth. Grades are just numbers, popularity is absolutely not important and mean comments from peers are just a reflection of how much they are actually struggling. You are more than that. You matter so so much, my love.

[lvnnsi]

08/21/19 // gentle reminder // ig

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[extramadness]

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.“ ― Marilyn Monroe

Buy great books about Marilyn Monroe here!

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