Shunned - Without a Map

It is interesting how the stigma of a teen pregnancy has changed.  Meredith tries her best to hide her pregnancy from her friends, family, and community as a whole, in fear of being judged and shunned (which is what happened).  For instance, she gets expelled from school, coming home with a green note saying so.  At school before getting expelled, she does not shower after gym for a month, in fear that her friends would notice that she was pregnant.  Their reaction when she finally told them, was simply them being silent anad walking away from her.  Her parents came to the decision that the baby would immediately be given up for adoption.  People around town would become silent and would whisper when they would see Meredith walk by.  One person even had the audacity to ask if Meredith got "knocked up".  Although people today still have a certain degree of judgement when it comes to teen pregnancy, it is much more accepted and respected.  People are more apt to help and be more supportive of the stressful situation.  For instance, it is encouraged that teen mothers finish high school instead of dropping out.  Friends and family nowadays are more apt to listen to what the mother wants for herself, instead of making decisions for her.  Also, they are usually more understanding, wanting to help instead of shying away.

Henry the Caterpillar/ Molokai Response

In my book, Henry the Caterpillar, what essentially happens is that Henry is living life happily doing what he likes to do, which is eat plants and play.  One day, he goes to see what his brother and his brother’s friends are up to.  But when Henry gets to them, they are hanging upside down on a leaf, which seems weird to Henry.  Henry then asks if they want to come down to play with him, to which his brother responds, “Henry, we can’t come down right now.  You wouldn’t understand.  You aren’t ready yet”.  Henry then becomes sad for feeling excluded from a group that he had always been around.  He then leaves, feeling lonely and little confused, but soon stumbles upon a new group of caterpillar friends to be around.  They, like him, like to eat and play.  But then one day, as they have all put on some weight after eating so much, they all get very tired and decide that hanging upside down on a leaf would be very relaxing and would be a nice way to rest.  They all fall into a deep sleep, soon turning into butterflies.  They hatch from their cocoons, dry off their wings, and start flying together.  They soon find Henry’s brother and his brother’s friends, who have also transformed into butterflies!  They all fly together, and Henry knows he has grown up and no longer feels excluded. 

Like Rachel in Molokai, Henry is excluded from a society, but soon finds a new community where he is accepted due to having others being similar to him in this new group of friends.  Rachel in Molokai gets shunned from her hometown after people find out that she has leprosy.  Being a young girl, she does not fully understand the whole situation or why people are so unaccepting of her due to simply having this disease.  This is similar to Henry being confused when his brother and his brother’s friends were excluding him when they said they did not want to come down to play with him. 

Rachel soon goes to Molokai, an accepting environment where there are sick people like her, and where people receive no judgement for having leprosy.  This is just like how Henry found a new group of caterpillar friends to be around who were similar to him.  Unlike the last group of caterpillars, this new group likes to eat and play just like him, creating an overall more comfortable and positive environment for Henry to be a part of. 

Growing up in Molokai, Rachel realizes the struggles of having her illness and knows that it will take time until she gets accepted into the community she used to be a part of, before coming to Molokai.  Although Henry the Caterpillar has a happy ending, Henry finally becoming a butterfly is similar to Rachel realizing answers to her past that she was confused about before.

Moloka'i: Haleola

"I believe in the island.  I believe in the land."

For my character, Haleola, I decided to draw a scene versus an object.  In this scene that I believe is a symbol for Haleola, on one side of the drawing, there is a storm with lightning, choppy water, and a shark.  Obviously, that side is the "bad" side.  On the "good" side however, there is an illuminating sun radiating heat, calm water with fish, and a safe shore.  The "bad" side represents people coming from a tough situation, such as Rachel.  Rachel was put to shame by people in her community due to her leprosy, soon having to go to the island of lepurs.  Rachel was nervous about coming to the island, being isolated from those who weren't sick with this shameful disease.  However, when she sees the island of lepurs, she feels more welcomed than anything, as many of those on the island were at the shore to welcome the ship with the new arrivals.  The first person to welcome her is Haleola, setting the tone for Rachel's treatment there and being Rachel's adopted aunt.  The "good" side of the picture represents the comfort and welcoming that Haleola provides others with, making her like the sun and the shore, providing safety and love to those who feel insecure and lonely, especially going to a place of isolation.  She has a love for the lepur colony and for Hawaii's past.  She is also a believer in the old Hawaiian religion.  The quote best represents Haleola, as she is proud to be Hawaiian and to be affiliated with what it is, but is also content with being at the island for the lepurs.  She has a positive attitude about her life and the circumstances in it, despite how difficult it can be at times.  She is like the radiating sun, giving people what they need, while also acting as the shore, being there for support and being that first welcoming person of many in the community.

Joy Luck Club Onion Peel

In The Joy Luck Club, something prevalent throughout the movie is sacrifice.  Especially the mothers.  The mothers constantly sacrifice their own lives and desires in order to better the lives of their children, or to set an example for them to follow.  For example, An-mei’s mother sacrifices pain and flesh from her arm to honor her own mother, Popo. It is as though the pain is nothing compared to her obligation to her mother. An-mei Hsu's mother also sacrifices her body to Wu Tsing so that she can have at least some status instead of becoming a beggar. She does this so that An-mei can look up to her. Her suicide, while seemingly selfish, is the ultimate sacrifice she can make for An-mei. By killing herself, she is showing An-mei that being a second-rate concubine, used and disgraced, is no way to live. In dying, she gives An-mei the strength to carve her own path in life, and to not follow one like hers.  In China, Ying-Ying St. Clair was married to Lin-Xiao with a baby boy until Lin-Xiao abuses her and abandons her for an opera singer. Overcome by her depression, Ying-Ying accidentally drowns her baby son in the bathtub, she lost "the thing that mattered the most."  Many years later when Ying-Ying goes to America and remarries, she see that her daughter Lena is unhappy with her marriage, Ying-Ying reasserts herself by knocking over a table in the bedroom and causing the vase to fall from the table and break. Lena goes to her mother and admits her unhappiness. Ying-Ying replies that Lena should leave and not come back until Harold gives her what she wants.  She says this as she herself was in a bad marriage, causing lots of trauma and sadness for her.  She does not want Lena to go through the same thing (of not having love for her husband and constantly doing things the way he wants).  The mothers in the movie not only make a great sacrifice in leaving China in hopes of finding a better life for their daughters, but also make great sacrifice in trying to make them better people and have them lead better lives.

 

Regret Poem

Feeling sorry for an action
Or saying something
You do not wish
Oh I know oh oh that I let you down,
Is it too late to say sorry now?
Coming to terms with the past
will help you get along

Justin Bieber wants you to forgive him...he regrets what he has done to you.
"Is it too late to say sorry now?"

Jenny: An Antagonist to Readers

In the novel, Mary’s twin sister Jenny is seen as an antagonist by readers of the novel My Name is Mary Sutter.  Although Jenny is Mary’s twin sister, there is a lack of connection between the two siblings.  Twins are supposed to always be there to support one another and help the other in times of need.  Even in other forms of literature and entertainment, it is a common theme that twins put the other one’s happiness before their own.  The relationship between Mary and Jenny was one that was distant.  The reason why many, including me, believe that Jenny can be an antagonist in the book is because she seems to be a factor in the many conflicts in Mary’s life.  An antagonist, by definition is a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.  She displays her opposition, hostility, and negativity in Mary's life throughout the book. For example, Jenny essentially takes away Mary’s love, Thomas.  The two even show public displays of affection in front of her.  Jenny having a husband and being pretty are two things that Mary does not have, which she envies about her sister Jenny.  During this time in history, the goals of women were to have a nice appearance in order to fit into the social norms of having a husband.  Jenny makes Mary feel bad about herself and who she as a person at times.  On top of this, Jenny passes away when giving birth later on in the book, being one of many family member of Mary who pass away.  With the passing of Jenny, she is one who makes Mary feel lonely and depressed.  Her death causes Mary to rethink the relationship they had, and the sadness of their disconnect, despite them being sisters...twin sisters.  But despite what Mary's sister has done to her, directly and indirectly, Mary has grown and become stronger due to Jenny as a factor of bringing conflicts into her life.

Figurative Claustrophobia

A picture of the beautiful state of Colorado.  However, for Polly, this
place is what she would like to escape from.

Like Polly in “The Liberation”, I too have felt claustrophobic in a certain situation before.  The experience is not that of having fear of being in a confined place as stated in the literal definition.  The claustrophobia that Polly and I have experienced is figurative, in that in a certain situation, we have figuratively felt claustrophobic.  When in her home, Polly felt claustrophobic, as being in her home was frustrating, feeling as if the walls were closing in on her.  She wanted to leave and be liberated from a place that made her mentally feel uncomfortable. 

Just this picture makes me anxious.

I felt a similar way when in my math class last year.  Honors Pre-Calculus is definitely the hardest class I have ever taken in high school, and simply getting a B- was a huge struggle for me.  The subject was difficult, the amount of homework a night was extensive, and the way the teacher explained how he went about problems was difficult for me to understand.  And with “Work to Rule” in place, my teacher stayed after school very infrequently, therefore making getting extra help difficult.  As a result of all of this, I would get very stressed out about the tests, and I would even feel stressed when just entering the classroom.  Whenever I walked in, just like Polly, I felt as if the walls were caving in on me.  That class stressed me out, everything about it.  And walking into the classroom also became something very uncomfortable to me.  My liberation was difficult, as I literally had to wait until June to leave that class: the end of the year.  Over the course of the year, I struggled getting a B-.  Although it was difficult, I knew that I just had to get through that second period class every day, and get by until the end of the year.  After my last test, the moment of liberation was when my math teacher told me that I had received a 79.5 for the semester, which he was rounding up to an 80.  It was one of the happiest moments in my academic career.  I was relieved that everything about that class was behind me, and that one last push was what got me to where I wanted to be.  The stress was now gone.  The place that made me feel mentally uncomfortable and frustrated was now a thing of the past.
 

Now, I am much happier and less stressed from no longer being in that class.  Although I have difficult classes this year as a senior, even taking Honors Calculus, none of them compared to the stress I felt from just being in my Honors Pre-Calculus class.  I am now liberated, and now am a less anxious and a lot more happy.