Literature Circles: Lexicographer

For Chapter two in the Woman Warrior we are doing literature circles. I chose the role of Lexicpgrapher, which defines some words in the chapter that we might have trouble understanding. Here are the words I found. Oh yeah, I got my definitions from http://dictionary.com


Alighted: To stay after descending
page 19: She was combing her hair one morning when a white crane alighted outside her window.

Avenge: To take exact satsifaction
Page 23: "You can avenge your village", said the old woman.

Mallard: A type of wild duck
Page 29: --the line alongside the turtle's eyes and the mallards.

Strata:Layers of Tissue
Page 29: In quarries I could se its strata, the dragon's veins and muscles; the minerals, its teeth and bones.

Paradoxes: An assertion that is essentially self- contradictory
Page 29: I learned to make my mind large, so that there is room for paradoxes.

Conscription: A contribution of money to the government during a time of War.
Page 32: -- thanking the gods outloud for protecting them from conscription.

My Hero : Mr. Tsujimoto

My Hero is Mr. Tsujimoto. He was my english teacher last year and the best teacher I have ever had. I'm not very good and english, It it my weakest subject. However, he made english fun, and made me want to learn it and like it. In the begining of the year everyday we would write a poem and during the day we would switch papers and grade other peoples. I really liked this way because you have to make your poem good because you never know who could be reading your paper, and alot of the poems we were assigned to write, were fun. When we read from our books, he made us stand up infront of the class and sometimes ever act out the scenes. English was a class I very much looked foward too because I learned and had fun.
He belived in me and knew that I was still a kid and should enjoy it. He let me laugh alot in class, eat in class, and have fun. I know this sounds like the classroom was out of control but it really wasn't. I think it was because alot of people feared him. Alot of people still do, but thats because they didn't get to know him. He is a bit scary when you first meet him, I'll admit I was scared too. I got to know him, and he turned out to be really nice. The class ran perfectly because he kept it in order while still making it fun. I still remember his signature line "HOW DO YOU LIKE DEM APPLES?!" The class would laugh everytime he said that. He made my least favorite subject ever become my favorite. Mr. Tusjimoto is definatly my Hero.

The Family Story I am Using for my Wiki ( Rough Draft)

My Grandfather lived in a Small Town called Aquaka which is located on the Banks of the Misissippi River. He grew up there as a Farmer's son. In his mid-teens his father sold the farm and open up a general store in the Town. No one in the town has ever been to College. My Great-Grandfather decided to send my grandfather to college. He gathered all the money he had and it ended up being about 1,000 dollars (around 20,000 now). He even signed up for what classes my grandfather was going to take, because my grandfather would not do it. My Grandfather still refused to go, so my great-gradfather forced in the car drove him to college and literally threw him out into the college. First Semester was already paied for and he was suppose to use the 1000 for Second semester and food ect. However, my grandfather didn't listen and spent all his extra money and in no time he was broke. When Second semester rolled in my Grandfather realized that he really liked college. He worked from 9pm to 7am at a gasoline shop to pay his way through college. He would study and work (and probably sleep too).

No Name Woman, analyzing two more quotes

The quote "The emigrants confused the gods by diverting their curses, misleading them with crooked streets and false names". This shows that Maxines knows about her culture becasue they try to confuse the gods to get rid of their sins. She probably learned about this from stories her mother told her when she was a young child. She may of not been to China, but she has a basic understanding of it.

The quote "All the village were kinsmen, and the titles shouted in loud contry voices never letting kinship be forgotton." This shows that the everybody in the village were friends and treated eachother like family. However, this is ironic because they helped destroy the familys reputation. They slaughtered their "kinsmen" domestic suppy of animals. This shows no sign of being like family at all.

Methods of Characterization

Apperance: She was a short filipino woman in her mid 30s.

Inner-thoughts/Feelings: She wanted to go into the white restroom but knew that she wasn't completely white and might have a hard time in there. So she was feeling a sense of curiosity while going into the black restroom.

Enviroment: This happened in a public restroom in the city of Birmingham, which is located in Alabama.

What they Say: My aunt says that she was treated very kindly in the black restroom.

What others say about them: She is very curious and never does anything risky.

Another Family Story

This is another family story, however I am not sure I am going to use it. I didn't elaborate on it because I am still deciding which story to use. My aunt from the philippines lived in Birmingham Alabama during the white and black segregation. One day she wanted to go the the restroom and she had two choices. Either to go to the whites only bathroom or the blacks only bathroom. She decided she was more black than white and went in. The blacks treated her very nice, and were very friendly.

Quotes from the Woman Warrior

"After the one carnival ride each, we paid in guilt; our tired father counted his change on the dark walk home."
This quote shows that the Chinese, even when they have fun, they feel guilt for spending resources. Maxine's family does not have much to start with, so any waste seems extravagant and frivilous. So when most of the little belongings they owned were destroyed by the raid, the aunt must of felt a HUGE sense of guilt, so guilty she killed herself.

"Once my aunt found a freckle on her chin, at a spot that the almanac said predestined her for unhappiness. She dug it out with a hot needle and washed the wound with peroxide".
This shows that Maxine, her family, and most Chinese try to make things good for the family. They have alot of superstitions and will do anything to not have the bad ones come true.

About Me

Hello, My name is Danielle, but my nickname is Dani. I am 14 years old, almost 15 in 5 days. I go to Punahou School which is located in Hawaii. I have a sister, a mom, a dad, and a cat named Poky. I dance ballet, but I'm not too fond of it, and I don't think it's too fond of me either. I try to play guitar. My favorite bands are The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the Who. My favorite subject is geography, and I love learning about the world. When I grow up I want to travel. My favorite movie is a french movie called Les Choristes. The boy there in that movie is going to be my future husband. I love my friends and I have so much fun with them. Well ALOHA! A Hui Hou.

About Moodle

1. What did you like?
What I liked about moodle was that you can see what other people have posted. It gives you ideas and you can see what people are thinking. I also liked that it saves paper and I am a good typer, and not a good handwriter. It's way more convienent.

2. What didn't you like?
What I didn't like was that if you posted something, and someone was posting at the same time, chances are your work might not show. Then I would have to retype everything I wrote, because I didn't save it. It was a hassle and time consuming.

3. What would you change about Moodle?
I would change the layout. Moodle is an incredible website, but it needs a better layout. It seems too plain and uninviting. It needs color, and it needs to look more inviting.

4. What are some creative ways to use moodle?
Some creative ways to use moodle is that you can use it to edit eachothers work. This is great because you can get great feedback in a short period of time.

Queasy

1. The quote "To move freely was a luxury stolen from them at birth". It is found in part two of the poem, 3rd and 4th lines. This is in the part of the poem when Jade is describing the difficulties she has to face in China. She also had to have her feet binded, and she was hardly fed. This means they were basically slaves since they were born, just because they were born women.




2. We have traditions, our name, and our own culture that add to our identity. We take this for granted, it just comes naturally living in the United States. However, Jade, living in China had all those taken away. She really has no identity because she she was not born free. She has a name, Jade, but so does most of the first born daughters. Its not really that special because every girl is named Jade pretty much. Her traditions are the same as everyone else too, as a women in China, you do lot's of work. Jade doesn't have a real identity because she's a women in China. She tries to get her identity by moving to the U.S, but I guess it didnt work. She wants to go back to China where she had more of an identity but it was too late for turning back.