Literature Across Cultures: Lampman- Week 4

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Lampman- Week 4

This week’s post poses a discussion that I have with coworkers and friends quite often. That discussion usually entails how people portray themselves on social media. I think this discussion can relate to some of the questions you are posing because unless we know that person or place, do we really KNOW that person or place? I think not. For myself, I do post to social media, but typically I post about the good things and triumphs in my life so that I have somewhere that holds these memories as I get older. I do this because I have had experiences where I have lost precious photos or videos of loved ones who are no longer with us today. At the same time, one of my coworkers does not post because she doesn’t feel like she wants people to be that involved in her life. Is either way wrong? No, however, people may think my life is always roses, but we all know life is a balance of highs and lows.

That being said, I think the same could go for perspectives of other people and places. Many times, people buy into what the media is telling them. If the media is heavily focused on negative attention for a certain group, people will start having those beliefs without doing fact checking and not stereotyping. I have had many discussions with my best friend who is on tiktok and the things she will bring up in conversation. It’s always fear-leading conversations and I always talk her down asking, “What is your source? Have you done any research on your own off tiktok?” I worry that we have access to so much information with technology these days, but people do not fact check or see if the source is reliable.

Thinking about Recitatif by Toni Morrison, each main character had different memories from the same events. I think our backgrounds and our biases play a part in what our memory holds and what ideas form from those events. Like Szecsi et.al. states, “the term “landscape” to describe one’s personal understandings, including biases, preferences, and what she calls “vacancies” in the landscape. Vacancies are experiences to which one has never been exposed or even contemplated and likely create holes of misunderstandings.” (2010, p. 44-45). This shows my perspective of one experience could be completely different than someone with a different culture or background. I feel this is why it’s important to seek out each other and have discussions on the same topics and learn from each other’s experiences as well. I think when we seek out understanding from each other, that is when we learn the most.

One thing that was confusing for me in Recitatif by Toni Morrison was when Roberta told Twyla that Maggie was black and that they too, kicked her. If anyone has an opinion on this, I would love to hear so I can ponder. Was this because she felt guilty for watching and doing nothing? Or/or was she trying to show Twyla that she still had biases about people with different ethnicity? When she came back to tell Twyla that it wasn't true, that is when I was mostly confused because I didn't quite understand the meaning behind that. It left me wanting to know more..

2 comments:

Hali BrownJune 26, 2024 at 4:16 PM
Hi Sam!
I personally took Roberta's memory of Maggie as the idea that memory is not always accurate. Because of the events that were happening at the time, her memory was distorted. I remember reading about a study that was done on the misinformation effect, where participants watched a car accident occur. Some of the participants were given misinformation on what traffic sign was there and the others were left alone. When asked to recall what type of sign was present, the misinformed participants' memory seemed to adopt the misinformation into their own memory (Loftus, 2005). I originally read about this in a psychology class, but the cited article gives the general idea of the study and more information on the misinformation effect.

Loftus, E. (2005). Searching for the neurobiology
of the misinformation effect. Learning & Memory, 12, 1-2. http://learnmem.cshlp.org/lookup/doi/10.1101/lm.90805
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Post Week 4: Pre- and Post-Conceptual Perspectives

Some thoughts to help you brainstorm your post: Nineteenth-century travel writing caused those who read about other cultures to formulate their ideas about those cultures directly from the writing, so much so that if a person chose to travel to a country he or she had read about prior to travel, the traveller was often disappointed in the actual country and culture. In our current technological existence, our ideas of what places and people are like can certainly be informed by how they are depicted in text and on the multitude of screens we use to interface with the world. What informs your perspective? How might the ways in which we experience people, ideas, issues, cultures, and so on, be impacted by how we learn of them? Are the benefits and drawbacks to the use of the technology available to us? What might some of those be, and why?

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm.

Responses should be posted by Sunday at 10 pm.

Post Week 2: The Way to Rainy Mountain

The critical text which accompanies your primary reading for the week explores ways in which we as teachers might use other cultures' literatures in our classrooms to move students from superficial, stereotyped perspectives to a fuller understanding of not only individuals from other cultures, but themselves, too. In your blog post, share with your colleagues how you might incorporate ideas from the article in your own teaching.

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm.

Your responses are due Sunday at 10 pm.

Post Week 1: Questions on Reading

You've been asked to post a question on the readings as your blog post. Here are some ideas to help you get started: You may have noted the publication dates of the readings and wondered why you're reading articles written in 2005. The reason is that the issues raised and discussion in each of the articles are applicable 16 years later. Do you agree? Disagree? Both? Explain why and pose a question to help your reader understand what you find to be the same or different. Or, if one of the two of the readings stands out to you, explain why that’s the case, but also post a question based on what stands out. Or, if something is confusing or problematic for you, what do you find confusing or problematic? With what do you agree or disagree? Be sure your question is open ended so that your colleagues can use it as a basis for discussion.

As you frame your question, be sure to summarize the article, then provide context for your question. Cite the text appropriately.

Questions to be posted by Thursday.

Responses (to at least two colleagues) to be posted Sunday.

Week 5: Toward a Social Justice Ethic: What is an American, Anyway?

How do the issues examined in the article affect you as a teacher and as a person living in today’s world? What is the importance of having a voice? Of being heard? Are there differences in your response based on the role(s) you inhabit? Teacher, parent, individual community member, brother, sister, child, global citizen, and more—we inhabit many subject positions. Are there ways to bring those needs/expectations/responsibilities together?

Posts are due by 8 pm Thursday.

There is no set number of required colleague responses this week, but you are expected to read all posts and to respond as class discussion.

Post Week 6: Article Summaries and Commentary

In this week's reading, you met a narrator who draws the reading into a short story with a decidedly hushed, slower tone. The couple introduced to us has experienced an unimaginable loss. How might that loss be affected by their cultural dislocation? Draw on the supplemental readings as you consider the question.

Your post is due Thursday at 8 pm. As was the case last week, there is not a set number of responses, but you are expected to demonstrate through responding that you have read and engaged with all class posts.