Video + Week 4

Remembrance of The Great Depression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxxZUZdGxq0

累了/Tried
主唱/Singer：信 Shin/ Taiwanese

故作姿態的你 Trying to pretend 心跳早已經背叛你的心 Heart beats betrayed your heart
故作神秘的你 Trying to be mysterious
眼神卻總還留著孩子氣 Eyes expressed your childish 想要依靠著你 Wants to rely on you
延續著你給我的氧氣 Continually breathing the oxygen you provided me
你的固執任性 Your obstinate and capricious
最怕你突然就說要放棄 Afraid you say giving up unexpectedly 是這樣天真是這樣心疼 So innocent so heartache
堅定的眼神有不安的靈魂 The steady eyes with an uneasy soul
是不肯承認還是我太笨 Don't want to admit or and am I too stupid
兩人的緣分付出才會完整 Feel of affinity should be complete by giving(sharing) 累了嗎問問你 Tired? Ask yourself 累了嗎問自己 Tired? Ask myself (重複) Repeat 想要說的話卻不懂表達 Want to tell but don't know how
只是朋友嗎你冷冷的回答 Friends only? You responded with coldness
這是終點嗎假裝我不怕 Is this the ending? Pretending I am not afraid
唯一的徵兆是你說過的話 The only sign given was something you said 累了嗎問問你 Tired? Ask yourself
累了嗎問自己 Tired? Ask myself

My idea was using the photos from 1930s to relate to MEMOERIALIZATION, it also related to my 2nd essay. I mentioned that memoerialization is having things such as photo, media and art works (statues and paintings) to remember events happened in the past. I was trying to combine the video with my culture, so I used a song in my language. The name of the song is "Tired". During The Great Depression, I believe that people were looking for jobs and food to feed their family. "最怕你突然就說要放棄 Afraid you say giving up unexpectedly," if a man chose to give up on the society and life, then he and his family would be hungry and maybe death awaited for them. "是這樣天真是這樣心疼 So innocent so heartache 堅定的眼神有不安的靈魂 The steady eyes with an uneasy soul ," everyone in the picture looked so innocent that causes heart break, and their souls were shaking(scared) from their eyes. They didn't know what to do and what's gonna happen. "想要說的話卻不懂表達 Want to tell but don't know how, " people couldn't express the pressures they were handling, there was no word to describe. "累了嗎問問你 Tired? Ask yourself 累了嗎問自己 Tired? Ask myself," people couldn't say that they were tired because if you decided to take a break, where's your next meal? The translation might not be prefect, but it gives an idea of what I am trying to present.

Essay 2- Memorialization of 228 (Taiwanese White Terror) In Taiwan Compare to the WWI in England

Ying Huei (Vicky) Lay
4/20/09
Essay 2

Memorialization of 228 (Taiwanese White Terror) In Taiwan Compare to the WWI in England

Significant events are mostly remembered or recalled by their importances to the society and to the people. During the World War I, a large number of soldiers were killed, many families lost their important ones. Great Britain (England) had Remembrance Day and built tombstone for the unidentified soldiers that were scarified in the war. 228 was an unforgetful event happened in Taiwan's history. A park, a museum and a memorial day were named after the event.

Great Britain played an important part in the World War I. In Benjamin Montoya's history presentation on April 8, 2009, British had a memorial day called Remembrance Day on 11 November to remember the soldiers that scarified in the World War I, also built the tombstone for those soldiers that were not able to identify. Families of the unidentified soldier can go to the tombstone to remember and call up the memories of their love ones. On the Remembrance Day, British wears poppy flower on the shirt.1 Poppy flower is wore in a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the first world war.2 It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918. Taiwan (Formosa as the former name) was once control by Japan and became the first Japanese colony from 1894 to 1945, it was during the period of time of World War II.3


After U.S. dropped atomic bombs in Japan, Japan lost the war and left Taiwan. China sent the Chinese Nationalist Party(Kuomintang) to take over Taiwan after Japanese left. While Taiwan was still under Japan's control, almost every Taiwanese speak only Taiwanese (Hokkien) and Japanese. There was problems with the language when Chinese came to take over Taiwan since they could only spoke Mandarin. In February 27, 1947, a group of people was trading cigarettes unauthorized, because the language was a problem, the officer was end up using violence to take aways all the cigarettes. The officer was trying to scare people always by using his gun, a man stood next to them was accidentally shot. Later many angry Taiwanese people were gather together in Taipei City to rebel the next day. Taiwanese people were mad because Chinese was trying the make profit out of Taiwan's sources. “The new Chinese Governor Chen Yi found the raid-battered Formosans docile. He promptly put his nephew in charge of the Taiwan Co., which bought coal at 200 yen a ton and sold it at 4,000. Black-market gold sold at 300,000 Chinese dollars an ounce, against $180,000 in Shanghai. Even in fertile Formosa, mass starvation threatened,” from Time News.4 To compare the Chinese government and Japanese Government, Chinese soldiers often took money away, ate with paying, used volience, and raped women. Japanese government had strong policy and laws while Taiwan was under controlled by Japan. Because of the differences between Chinese and Japanese, Taiwanese people were mad and looked down on Chinese.5 After seeing all the Taiwanese were out of control, Chen Yi asked for an army from China to help keep everything under control without telling the reason of what made all the Taiwanese mad. The army came, many Taiwanese were killed. Approximately between 150,000 to 280,000 Taiwanese were killed. 228 was the most significant event happened, Many articles, books, videos and images can be found about 228 and WWI.

There are many quotes can be found and were said by the country, family or people who were influenced by the event. In Great Britain, the government tried to tell people that men did not waste their lives. Because of their sacrifice, the country was saved and stayed united. From Ben's power point, “Mark 8: 35-6-- “Fpr whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” and “1 John 2: 2-- “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Both quotes described honors and respects from us to the soldiers that sacrificed for the country. Writing is a way to keep records of history and feeling. Anything that were written during World War I would consider as history and feelings to express in literature. There were quotes said to tell their thoughts about 228.

In the Time News in June 10, 1946, “Last week "Down with the Governor!" posters appeared all over the island. In two towns, hungry natives burned sugar godowns. Formosans greeted the few visiting Americans with: "You were kind to the Japanese, you dropped the atom on them. You dropped the Chinese on us!"7 This quote was a little funny the first time reading it, but it told the truth of how Taiwanese felt. Some Chinese started to agree with the Formosan, "Fundamentally speaking, China was not qualified to take over . . . she lacks the men . . . technique . . . commodities . . . capital. She governs, but is inefficient. She takes, but she does not give. This is the government's shame."said by Ta Rung Pao, China's counterpart of the New York Times.7 In this quote, supports were given from other Chinese. It was an important step to help Taiwanese stop this mess. Aftermath of WWI and 228, there is a memorial day to remember the importance of the event and plenty of articles, videos and images are available for people to view. For example, the memorial foundation of 228 and the museum of 228 both have websites for people to click in and find update for activities.8

In England, there is a tombstone built for unidentified soldiers , and families of unidentified soldiers would go to the tombstone to remember their be loved family. Also British wears Poppy Flower on the Remembrance Day to show their respect. In Taiwan, a park named after 228 event, 228 Memorial Park (was Taipei New Park). Also a museum was opened in 2008 that keeps records of documents used and pictures taken of 228 event.9 What would happen if we do not have anything to remember events like those?

History teaches us things that we should not repeat and things we should keep for our own good. We do not want people died for nothing. They scarified their lives to save their countries and teach other a lesson. In WWI, if British did not have a Remembrance Day and tombstone built, families of dead soldier would not be satisfied the reason of men losing their lives. If Taiwanese did not have a 228 Memorial Day, park and museum for the event, the government and the people will still in an endless bloody fight. And because of what happened and lives scarified, that created the countries and the world today. It is important to keep memorialization to remember the events because without the events and wars in the past, we won't be what we are today.

Bibiolography:

1. Poppy Flower. BHK FORUM. 27 Oct. 2008. 18 Apr. 2009 .
2. Remembrance Day. Wikipeida 18 Apr. 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day#United_Kingdom
3. Taiwan Under Japanese Rule. Wikipedia. 18 Apr. 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_under_Japanese_rule
4. This Is The Shame 10 June 1946. Time News. 18 Apr. 2009
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,792979,00.html
5. 228 Events. Wikipeida. 18 Apr. 2009 http://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E4%BA%8C%E4%BA%8C%E5%85%AB%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6&variant=zh-tw
7. Memorial Foundation of 228. 18 Apr. 2009 http://www.228.org.tw/
8. Taipei 228 Memorial Museum. 18 Apr. 2009 http://228.culture.gov.tw/web/index.asp

Week 3

We finished the first book “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway. I was surprised how the story ended and things happened in the book. The one of the main characters Brett, it always a little unexpected of knowing what's her next move. She sounded like a player in the story, but she just wanted everything the way she wants. Her mind was open during that age (19 century) to sleep with different men. To relate this with the Flappers, Flappers were the girls who are the new generation after the women have the equal rights as men. Flappers did not want to stay electrotype, they cut hair short and wear shirts that showed their knees. They were also very outgoing girls. “The Big Blonde” by Dorothy Parker, was an interesting reading that attracted my tension to keep reading. Parker created a prefect blond woman in the beginning of the story, and then her life got worse later. After her husband left her, she started to met new men since she was a pretty women. A few years later, she found out how she had been all these years after broke up with her husband, she tried to commit suicide, but was saved at the end.

In the history class, we discussed the readings “ In Defense of the Bible” and “ To Expose a Fool.” The readings were about William Jennings Bryan believed everything was created by God and deep belief in the Bible. Clarence Darrow believed in science. Darrow was asking questions about things written in the Bible. William was not able to answer all the questions since some of them were not on the Bible. In the “To Expose a Fool” by H. L. Mencken, Mencken was trying the tell people what a fool Bryan was by proving points that were made during the case (between Bryan's and Darrow's ideas of creation of the world).

Week 2

We started with an article called "The Yellow Wallpaper"by Gilman. By reading "The Yellow Wallpaper," I found the stereotype of man and woman. The wife was getting treatment at home and was not allow to go out while husband is working outside. The man get to have sociability outside of the house. To relate this topic to the article "The Final Push for Woman Suffrage," women were fighting for their rights to vote. In the Document 3 from "The Final Push Woman Suffrage," Wooddrow Wilson metioned that the woman played an important role during the war. Women helped with preparation for the war. At the end, women finally got their rights to vote. Of course they went through many troubles to have people to support them.

We also talked about the American soldiers in Europe. In the article "In Another Country" by Hemingway, it mentioned that soldier were using machines to help them move (like walking) again. In the class, we discussed Hemingway's writing style. People said that it was always hard to tell who is talking in the story. And most of the time, Hemingway wrote story of what he heard/known and himself played a role in the story. And he wrote the story in his perspective, so we can't really know most of the things detailly from the story.

Weel 1

What I learned from history this week was how the policy for child labor improved, women fought for their rights, Theodore Roosevelt's goal about American business and how Woodrow Wilson deal with the World War I. First Jane Addams, she wanted to help her immigrant neighbor, and offer an opportunity for educated women find meaningful work. Jane Addams was the founder of the Hull House. She lived in a poor neighborhood to understand the social issue. The Hull House offers women and children in the neighborhood a place to relax and play. And then Addams went on political to fix the issue of rich and poor gap, child labor and the harsh working environment. Later the law states that children who are under 16 are not allow to work, the working environment was also improved to not affect human health.

Theodore Roosevelt was one of the former President of United States. Roosevelt believed that the most vital question facing the county was “whether or not the government has the power to control the trusts.” He was trying to break up the nation's largest corporations to let small businesses to have chance to make money. Roosevelt's goal was not to completely overhaul the structures of American business, but beak up bloated economic monopolies, to punish the “bad” trust (the ones broke laws), and leave the “good” ones alone. In relations with Europe, Roosevelt sought to establish the U.S. as a rising force in international politics. He was trying to show European the power of U.S.(strong government) is equal as Europe.

Woodrow Wilson was also one the the former President of United States. He fixed the Tariff, the trade tax, instead of paying trade tax, people are now paying the income tax. Later because of the World War I, Wilson was reelected as the President of United States in 1916. During the WWI 1914-1918, US was trying to be neutral between the Great Britain and Germany. First British block the dock with ships, so Germany won't get any supplies from others. Germany used submarine to attack the ships or boats (some were American's) that bring supplies for British. Wilson argued that Germany should give warning before they attack the ships. Later, Wilson convinced the US congress to join the war because of it. Later Wilson gave fourteen points to keep the peace between each county. The points were about to help each other, can't not attack or block the trading dock and remain peaceful. It was presented to the US and other countries that were involved in the war.

What I learned in literature class was the meaning of American Literature. American literature is literature by American (whether naturalized or born in U.S.). The material we covered were photography and story (article/journal). The photo we saw in class were about children labor. Children were so young as 5~10 years old working in a bad condition. There were children without shoes working with machines. Some children were like 3 or 4 years old sleeping on the street. Also there are adult labors squeezed in a small room with 10 or more people.
And the most unforgettable reading I read was “How It Feels to Be Forcibly Fed” by Djuna Barnes. She described how hopeless she was when she was tied up and fed with a rubber tube put in from her nose. She wrote that she was trying to be claim and imaged how many women had been through this experiences. The discussion we had in class, we talked about the tone she was using in this piece. She was trying to be humor but also disgusting by writing out the process of the feeding. It was also an evident to prove a point that readers should think it was disgusting.
We also covered some art works (advertisers) from history like Uncle Same saying “ We want you for the US army” with a figure pointing at you, or a lady with open armed asking you to join to army. And a poster saying that German kill women and children. The reason of those words “Germany Kill Woman and Children” was trying to make people mad. So people would get involved to stop them.

Lit 223 - American Literature is Not Just Word but the Meaning Behind It

Vicky Lay

Due 3/30/2009

Writing 105

Essay #1

American Literature is Not Just Word but the Meaning Behind It

Language is a tool we use in our daily life through out the world. Literature is a document that we gather the history and culture of a country or expression, stories and imaginations of people. The definition for American literature is literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. American literatures can represent the condition during the period of time. The strong and meaningful literatures were often written during the wars or to describe one's personal experiences and thoughts.

African American writers often use racism as their topic to tell their stories. Many African Americans in the past had the worst living condition and very less rights were given in America in nineteenth century. The trans-Atlantic slave trade brought the Africans to America to work for white people since the colonial days.1 They did not have any freedom and rights till after the Civil War that freed the African slaves. Elizabeth Keckley was born a slave and purchased her freedom at age 30. She was the personal maid and seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln during the Civil War.2 These two women became best friends. Her most famous publication, “Thirty Years a Slave, and four years in the White House” describes they everyday lives of the Lincolns in the White House, also the living conditions of southern blacks who fled to Washing D.C. During the war.3 “Dialect Tales” by Sherwood Booner, was a book that telling a story during the civil war.4 “Now, each one of those Africans would have sold for fifteen hundred dollars. What do you do in the way of sport? A negro chase perhaps you would call it. You see, our jail is such a ram-shackle affair that it is next to impossible to keep a prisoner in bonds, if he has any get-up-and-get in his make-up. The rascals break out and take to the hills. And when the humor takes us we hunt them down," from Dialect Tales.4 From this conversation in the book, racism was a deep root in everyone's mind. The literatures written during the slavery often described the hardships that African slaves had been though, and the rights they fought for.

American Literature can also bring people imaginations or dreams like fairy tales. Children literatures often describe the impossible stories for children to image, it helps to rich children's imaginations. Something we get out of the stories are most about being a good person, be kind to people, mean and evil are not acceptable, or good people have happy ending and bad people end up with punishments. Children literatures help educate little children knowing what is good and what is bad, but also give them some common sense of the life. A fairy tale called “The Girl Who Owned a Bear” by Rick Walton, was about a girl who got a book.5 A bear came out of the book magically. The bear was going to eat the little girl. The little told the bear that she owns it. The bear was her property. “This story should teach us to think quickly and clearly upon all occasions; for had Jane Gladys not remembered that she owned the bear he probably would have eaten her before the bell rang.”5 There are many books written to tell history, culture, story and imagination, but there are some other way to learn about American literature.

The quotes are also a way to express American literature. “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!” by Patrick Henry. The quote was talking about the situation between the colonists and the British in the Civil War. The colonists were hoping the be independent from the Great Britain. They did not want to be control by the Great Britain anymore. This quote as a symbol represented the Civil War. Quotes can also express a person's thought.

We can often see quotes from articles, commercial or even someone's status. “I really can't deny it, I am who I am. I'm pretty normal. I'm not that smooth type of girl. I run into things, I trip, I spell food. I say stupid things... I really don't have it all together.” by Katie Holmes, an American actress.6 Katie Holmes is trying to tell people that she is a normal person. She is not 100 percent perfect. She doesn't want people to her as someone that she is not. This quote tells an aspect of human. We often see those pretty or handsome idols as prefect people. They have good looking faces, hot bodies and the great popularity. How about little girls? “What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice, and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of.”7 This is a quote by an unknown author. The quote actually states the reality of what little girls are. Most of the little girls do like fairy tales, princess, Barbe, candy and pretty dresses. There are quotes expressed in a sense of humor. “ We are all pencils in the hand of God.” by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.8 “All of us are guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress.” by Tennessee Williams.8 These two quotes are about religion that god is above us. God knows everything and we are under god's control. This quote describes the what the followers believe in.

The definition for American literature is literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. American literature is not just a writing work, it also represents the history and culture of American, and expression, story and imagination of people who live in America. There are meaningful writings created during the Civil War. There are personal stories shared in the writings. There are writings describe the reality of society and religion. American literature is not just some words, but the meanings and stories behind the word.

References:

1. "Slavery." 2004. Brooklyn Public Library.

http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/civilwar/cw_doc_slavery.html
2. AuthirsbyEra.

http://urswl.homestead.com/AuthorsbyEra.html
3. "Elizabeth Keckley." WOMEN IN HISTORY.

http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/keck-eli.htm
4. Bonner, Sherwood. Dialect Tales. New York: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, 1883. 15.<http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/bonner/bonner.html>
5. Walton, Rick. "The Girl Who Owned a Bear." Rick Walton's Books. .
6. ThinkExist.com. http://en.thinkexist.com/quotations/girls/
7. ThinkExist.com. http://en.thinkexist.com/quotations/girls/
8. ThinkExist.com. http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/what_are_little_girls_made_of-sugar_and_spice-and/177994.html

9. ThinkExist.com.
http://en.thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=god

10. "American Literature." Wikipedia.org. <1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/american_literature>.

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