AND THEN TO TOP IT ALL OFF

What is the best book of the three we read? (Don't be embarrassed if you say Godfather, although you should be.)

And what about the best film? 

COMMENTS and REPLIES with more furious disagreements.

Discussion n. 33: "Godfather"

Agree / disagree?

Who is the most annoying, least enjoyable character IN THE NOVEL?

And IN THE FILM?


COMMENTS and REPLIES with furious disagreements, please.

Discussion. n. 32: "Godfather"

I was personally disturbed by Puzo's attention to graphic sexual descriptions (I think he must have had problem.)

It bothered me because it had nothing to do with the storyline: it seemed a distorted need to address one of his personal hidden obsessions.

You may disagree with my take: I am interested in your opinions and reflections on this aspect of the novel (I am referring mostly to what I call the "Las Vegas" chapters but not only.)

COMMENT

Discussion n. 31: "Godfather"

The guilty pleasure of rooting for the bad guy.

The Don is a thug, a criminal, a murderer (he killed Fanucci, didn't he?), but he coats his true identity under a veneer of respectability and moralistic principles.

And we fall all for it.

COMMENT: two separate paragraphs.

• Was he your hero while you were READING THE BOOK?

 

• WHICH of his many immoral acts received your most enthusiastic approval?

REPLY: choose a comment from a classmate that posted AFTER your comment. Choose something that YOU ALSO liked but didn't comment about?

"Christ": your work, my choices

Here is the pick of the week, in no particular order

.

Other samples were just as good, but in this case I followed "my" reactions and responded to the directness of the content and the ability of these students to reach inside and reveal the raw emotional impact of the text.

 

COMMENT:  Which one, in your personal opinion, feels more like a "real letter?"

 

NINA:

Dear Christ In Concrete,

            I read 226 pages of you and am still left confused and on the edge of my seat. What happened to Paul and what exactly happened to Annunziata? Is she alive or is she really dead? Did Paul ever find his faith again or after what happened with his mother, has he lost all faith in God? What I enjoyed most about my experience with you is that you told a story within a story. While telling your audience about the struggles that Geremio’s family went through after his death, you also were telling us how Paul was loosing faith in the most important aspect of his family life…which is God. I was shocked after reading how Louis felt about God. It was devastating reading about Paul’s reaction. All he knew, what he grew up on, was this belief of God. After hearing the words “There is no God”, must have been awful. How could you do that to him? Paul is a 13 year old boy trying to help support his family after his father dies and know you are throwing at him that God may not be real? Don't you think he is confused and stressed out enough?

            I enjoyed your company during the time that we spent together. You were confusing to read at first and hard to understand but after a few times of getting to know you it was easier to understand you. I have a question though. Why were you written like that? Did you want your readers to come up with their own version of you? Did you want to leave us with many questions and confusion? Why weren't you clear with when things were taking place and why did you continue to jump back and forth from present to past without informing your readers? I guess this is just something that makes you unique!

            My favorite part about you was everything about the Cripple. I loved that she had a small roll but made a huge impact on everybody who she met with. She came across as crazy but she allowed the people around her to feel safe and comfortable while speaking to those who have passed. My least favorite part about getting to know you was how difficult it was to read and understand why nothing was working out for Paul. When he went to speak to the priest and he did not care for what he had to say, or when he went to the police station and they did not care to help this young boy find his father. Did they act this way because he was Italian or because he was a young boy who they thought was just playing around?

            Although you were not my favorite book to read and understand, I did enjoy getting to know you. 

 

 

========================

 

 

 

 

 

 

KATHARINA

 

        

You were everything I did not expect. You are rooted by many elements that make you, you. Your history, your place in society, and your knowledge on struggle couldn’t be more real. We as people hear things, and think we understand struggle such as poverty because we have seen it on television, or read about it in textbooks, but you never really sympathize, or grasp it until you’ve envisioned it through the irrefutable compilation and detail of poverty, an immigrant in a foreign country, injustice, low end of the socioeconomic latter etc. that you have provided me with.

“Fifty cents the hour, nine hours the day, brings four dollars and fifty cents. With six days the week brings- six by four brings twenty-four…” I cannot describe the sorrow that is felt to know that this is an actual conversation of an individual to himself, experienced by many. Imagine leaving your hometown where that is all you have ever known, and although you have experienced hardship you find comfort in the little things that you call home, to come live in a foreign country that promises things you never imagined to have where you come from, and that paints a perfect picture full of endless possibilities but come to find out it is not that way. You are an alien in a country where its citizens will more than likely always have leverage over you, a country where you work like dogs for people who are making more money than you while you are barely making ends meet, and have to figure out how you’re going nourish yourself and family to survive, amongst other things. “But I tell you that all my kids must be boys so that they someday will be big American builders…” the mentality of any immigrant who migrates to America in search for better opportunities, but that really means putting their children’s lives and future before their own and settle for dead-end jobs in hopes that one day they will be able to support their kids through any chances and opportunities they have that will land them a different lifestyle than their own.  This is just one version of an immigrant’s life out of many out there.

                Thank you for your cold truth of an eye-opener you have provided. You have unleased through your detailed storytelling the misfortunes one can deal with while facing all odds, and experiencing loss that can break someone on the inside, “There is no God”. You have taught me that there are bigger things out there, it can be worse, and this is something I will remember when I think about complaining about the little things that other may not even have a chance at.

==================

  SYDNEY

Dear Christ in Concrete,

First of all, let me start by saying that you are unlike any other book I have ever encountered, and you challenged me! When I first began, I felt scared and confused. I had to listen to videos by my professor in order to fully grasp the style of your writing and how to understand you. I had to re-read you out loud (in the comfort of my bedroom so people didn’t think I was crazy) over and over. Once I understood your style I became hooked. I felt as if I were watching a movie play out in my own mind while getting lost in your pages. I brought you on journeys with me to work and school and I even spoke of you to my family and friends. I suffered a loss of a dear friend, and I turned your pages hearing the story of Paul and Annunziata and how they coped with their loss, and it really helped me with a tough time in my life.  That is the biggest “thank you” I could give, you are a book I will hold close to my heart because of this experience. You were filled with amazing quotes, some of my favorites were “Shadows were once again personalities. Laughter added warmth”, “They prayed to god. They forgot themselves and their troubles”, and “Mother my life is now your shield. Nothing, nothing in the world can now harm you”.  The love of Geremio and Annunziata is one that I will remember and although they are not “real” their love was anything but fake. So again, once more I thank you Christ in Concrete for helping me through a tough time and I thoroughly enjoyed you. I am sure we will meet again and again! 

 

 

==========

 

 

                                                                                

 

SHAKHNOZA

Hello my new friend. I am really glad that I met you in my life. Honestly, you are the first friend that I had really hard time to get used to, in the beginning. Your character was very different and unique for me, I never had to meet people like you before. At the beginning I could not connect with you. Your way of presenting yourself was different that I use to meet before. I start to analyze you over and over until I found out that you are very interesting person and that you have a lot of good stories in you that I enjoyed.

Sometimes I found that your explanation about some story is very long than it could be. For example, you telling about tragedy that happened in construction with all the workers and Geremio. There was so much to read, and I would read them over and over so I could imagine that scene. After I got that image in my head the rest was easy to read.

That was not only thing that I felt during our friendship. I also had some confusion.  For example, at the end of our friendship I could not understand what happened to Annunizata and how Paulie changed. Again I thinks this is because of my poor reading skills.

I like parts when you were talking about Italian traditions, customs, their food. As an immigrant it was very interesting get to know about other cultures that also immigrated to America. Their lifestyle as an immigrant.  

As I said before I am very glad that I met you, because you gave that emotions that I never had and also you showed me different side of the world. After I became friend with you I can see how much my thinking has improved. My analysis about life and people changed. Now I know that not everyone is same, there are very different people and each have their own story and place in life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PORTFOLIO info

I noticed your comments about the portfolio.

 

Apologies for uploading the syllabus without the relevant information. I updated the document.

Here is the LINK

 

In brief:

 

• Use a 3 ring  binder. No folders. JUST A 3-ring binder (free in my office).
• The first page will be a cover sheet with a summary of your grades in quizzes/tests and assignments.
• Print out all GRADED quizzes/tests and assignments. Place the quizzes first, in chronological order from the oldest to the most recent. Then, the assignments, same order.
• DO NOT INCLUDE IN THE PORTFOLIO BUT: copy all your BLOG COMMENTS in a single Word document, NOT THE REPLIES, JUST THE COMMENTS, in chronological order from the oldest, with the date of posting.
• I will let you know when you have to send me the file, the filename etc.

TOP JOB OF THE WEEK: Your comments by May 1

PLEASE, ADD YOUR COMMENTS.


Thank you, Yasmin.

You identified Paul's inner conflicts about sex as one of the crucial phases in his development. He is frankly confused if not terrified by it, and is loaded with a sense of guilt. (This is later reinforced by the discovery that Nazone frequents prostitutes and has an STD.) It's a very interesting analysis: this subtext and its connection to Paul's inner dynamics is often ignored.   FGC

·         “Louis –haven’t you-don’t you believe in God?” …..“There is no God”(134)

·         “Paul, the job is not freedom. Your wonderful brain is freedom…” (134)

·         “…and our bodies are no longer meat and bone of our parents, but substance of Job.” (136)

·         “I do not need God in my house!” (147)

·         “He was proud that God had given him he was proud that God had given him hand, back, and eye to bring home food, proud that he earned almost as much as the thick-wristed men, proud that he studied blueprints and construction, proud that he felt beauty in his form and soul, proud of his wonderful family.” (157)

·         “Their obscenity gripped his eyes and chilled his senses.” (161)

·         “Oh mother mother I have desire great desire for woman and my only will is for Gloria’s fruits…I cannot tell you-I must never let you know…” (169)

·         “The scaffolds rose a floor a day. With each floor the height and majesty of skyscraper fascinated him, but he never told mother Annunziata about the danger of falling or being pushed from a swinging scaffold forty or fifty floors above the street.” (173)

·         “They reconstructed the beautiful terrain of Abruzzi and tenderly restored their youths and the times of Fiesta and Carnival.” (187)

·         “Nineteen Twenty-Nine! The building boom lay back-and disappeared.” (199)

·         “…and in their bewildered minds hunger and the fear of hunger set in as quick disease – weakening flesh and pounding sanity.” (199)

·         “You are my own; the time has come for me to show myself like you always asked me in your prayers which I have always heard since I was sent for by my loving Lord by whose right hand I stay.” (202)

·         “Paul looked over the scaffold rail and through staring mouth and eyes sent out his soul to catch his godfather who flung out his arms and rested on the speed of space that sucked him down.” (208)

·         “Every disfigurement of his godfather echoed in Paul with lightning flashes, shuddering and crushing him. His tongue shrunk.” (209)

·         “Boys….there’s a lotta mortar in the mixer and tubs that’s gotta be used up. There’s a hundred brickies and sixty hodcarriers, and overhead.” (210)

·         “Paul remained by the shattered Nazone. A flame shot through him. That is your father Geremio!” it cried, “Your father! You!” (210)

·          “I was cheated, my children also will be crushed, cheated. His father begins to absolve and sighs faintly, Ahhh, not even the Death can free us, for we are…Christ in concrete… (215)

·         “His face frightened her. She took the crucifix from the wall and placed it in his hands….he pushed the crucifix aside and stared into her eyes.” (216)

·         “Silent he returned. Silent he remained. And a trembling came to Annunziata. If only he would speak.” (217)

·         “There was something in his face, and her voice was now powerless.” (218)

·         “Ah no, today’s Job had choked him – but let him live. Tomorrow he would die.” (218)

·         “O life do not kill me before I have freed my heart-!” (219)

·         “I only know that I am cheated.” (220)

·         “Mama, you must stay - you have not lived - and soon the kids will be big- mama, please, food or no food - we shall live and laugh – we will be gay and dance differently – we will laugh and laugh and laugh oh how we will laugh…laugh…” (225)

Task 2: Write an essay about how Paul’s eventual loss of faith in Christ-God eventually kills his mother.

Paul is first thrust into the care of his family after his uncle too gets hurt on the job and is no longer able to help Annunziata and her family out. Paul is a very young boy who now has to take on the responsibilities of an adult. He not only has to grow up mentally and emotionally but his body also has to take on the pain and labor of an adult in a young man’s body.

Paul’s experiences on the job all lead him to eventually question and ultimately lose faith in God. First, he gets a job with the corporation and they take advantage of his age and pay him far less than most. He later gets another job as a bricklayer and although it takes a huge toll on his body, he is proud to be able to provide. On page 157, we see that “he was proud that God had given him hand, back, and eye to bring home food, proud that he earned almost as much as the thick-wristed men, proud that he studied blueprints and construction, proud that he felt beauty in his form and soul, proud of his wonderful family.”

We first see Paul grapple with his physical desire for women and how that directly interferes with the way he was raised. His first thought is how he cannot tell his mother about these desires. He says “Oh mother mother I have desire great desire for woman and my only will is for Gloria’s fruits…I cannot tell you-I must never let you know…” (169). The idea that somehow his physical desire is wrong and he associates that with his mother’s teachings is very telling.

We later see Paul take another job in the steel industry where he works with his godfather on big jobs such as skyscrapers. At first he feels very powerful and finds the job thrilling in a way. A large part of this is due to his age and the idea that when you are young, you are invincible.

His godfather becomes very nostalgic and wants to go back to Italy. He talks about going back home and begins to distance himself from the job and their everyday responsibilities become a burden to him. One day as they are going to work, Paul’s godfather asks him to not go to work. They eventually do go for Paul is afraid of losing the job. Later in the day there is an accident on the job and his godfather falls 20 floors to his death.

This incident devastates Paul as he was very close to his godfather and he begins to question everything – especially his faith. After this incident he see his father in a vision and he says to Paul “I was cheated, my children also will be crushed, cheated. His father begins to absolve and sighs faintly, Ahhh, not even the Death can free us, for we are…Christ in concrete… (215).

Paul begins to think about his own death and to wonder when it will come to him. He loses faith and no longer sees the purpose in worshipping a God that allows for so much suffering. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Task 3: Take notes of the film Give Us This Day.

·         The film begins with the future and shows Geremio coming home looking very disheveled and upset.

·         He walks in the house and Annunziata is very upset. She tells him to leave and go “back to her.” His kids come in and sing him happy birthday and his son Paul wants to show him the radio that he made for him.

·         Geremio then leaves without seeing Paul’s radio.

·         The film then goes back in time to show us how this first scene came to be.

·         We meet Geremio at his work site and get a sense of the danger that is faced by the workers in their daily work.

·         Geremio almost dies as a result of an accident on a skyscraper that he is working on.

·         We are also introduced to Geremio’s group of four friends that he shares everything with.

·         We see that they hang out together at a bar and that Geremio has a girlfriend who is American. He cares for her and they are together often.

·         We later see Geremio asking his girlfriend where she thinks this relationship is going. He clearly wants more commitment than she is willing to give.

·         She questions his job and ability to provide for his family and we see them part ways.

·         Geremio later talks to his friends and he decides that he will marry a girl from Italy and make a home.

·         He marries Annunziata right after she comes to be with him. This reminds me of the movie The Italian that we saw.

·         He promises her a house of her own and she is ecstatic about it.

·         However, Geremio cannot afford to buy a home and he instead rents it for three days without telling Annunziata the truth.

·         She gets very upset and is very disillusioned to have to live in a tenement.

·         They then make a pact to never lie to each other again and decide to save to buy the house they want – they will need $500 to purchase the home.

·         Unfortunately, work is very hard to come by and it takes them a lot longer to do this. They also have 4 children in between!

·         Around the birth of the children we see the role of superstition come into play a lot more – the scene with the eyelashes comes to mind.

·         They come across a point where there is no work and they must choose who gets the next job – they collectively choose Julio for that one.

·         Geremio is also growing farther apart from Annunziata and the pressures of not being able to provide are mounting.

·         He decides to go back to his ex for a while and cheats on Annunziata with her.

·         Here I am very surprised to see this because in the book, there is a great deal of love and respect for family between Geremio and Annunziata and he just did not strike me to be the type to do this.

·         It is this scene where he remembers that Annunziata wanted him home for dinner and it is his birthday that he goes home and we understand why he hits Annunziata and leaves home.

·         Geremio then comes back to Annunziata and apologizes for his wrong doings and begs Annunziata to take him back. She does and they start anew.

·         Later Geremio is approached by a manager to work a new job as his foreman. Geremio is very hesitant because he sees that in order to save money, the manager cuts a lot of corners and the job is not safe at all.

·         Geremio later decides to take it anyway in order to feed his children.

·         He gets into a scuffle with the rest of the gang and he starts to feel the pressure of the job on his conscience.

·         They later make up and decide to try their best to make the site safer to work under.

·         Unfortunately their attempts are futile and the building collapses over them and they die.

·         Annunziata is later found to be at the courts trying to get help for her children and the courts rule to give her $1,000.

·         She says “finally, Geremio has managed to get us a house” – a very sad ending indeed.

START PUTTING TOGETHER YOUR PORTFOLIO

Info about the portfolio are in the syllabus (link on homepage.)

I will send soon the template of the final summary sheet where you will compile your grades.

Reminder: You must also put together a file with your BLOG COMMENTS. Only COMMENTS, no REPLIES.  AND, most important: ONLY COMMENTS POSTED BY THE DEADLINE. No late comments.

COMMENTS: helps one another with questions on how to assemble it properly.

Back to "BUT IS IT ART?" : due May 1

I forgot to mention the following story (legend) when I introduced John Cage's 4'33":


"In the story,  Buddha gives a wordless sermon to his disciples (sangha) by holding up a white flower. No one in the audience understands the Flower Sermon except Mahākāśyapa, who smiles. Within Zen, the Flower Sermon communicates the ineffable nature of tathātā (suchness) and Mahākāśyapa's smile signifies the direct transmission of wisdom without words. Śākyamuni affirmed this by saying:

I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle [D]harma [G]ate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.^[1]"

I wonder if John Cage drew inspiration from this story?
What do you think?

Discussion n. 30: "CHRIST" Geremio's death: due May 1

COMMENT:

"A picture is worth a thousand words."  Yet, there are times when words are more powerful than pictures (careful here: PICTURE as in a still, not a "moving picture" i.e. film).

How hard was it to read the narration of Gerermio's death? Did you read it over, in fascinated horror, of you couldn't bear to be reminded?

REPLY: choose a comment that add significantly to your understanding of your own reactions when you first read the scene.

Discussion n. 29: "CHRIST": due May 1

COMMENT:

TWO PARAGRAPHS:

1) Now that you have digested the entire book, what is the dominant sensation that it has left in you?
2) What was the moment IN THE BOOK that left the strongest and longest lasting impression? (SKIP the description of Geremio's death.)

AND REPLY to the classmate who left the comment immediately after yours.

DIscussion n. 28: IS IT ART?

ABOUT JOHN CAGE    4'33"

The same question I asked you to answer in the assignment for April 3:

Here, keep it brief. The context is different: instead of presenting your ideas to me, you are in a conversation with your classmates. Different audience, different strategy.

Your goal is to get as many POSITIVE replies as possible. What do you "have" to write in order to be "liked"? What will you say and how will you say it?


 Answer:  is it art?  
 Is it a different concept of music? 
 Or, could it be 'theater' (like mime theater?)
  Or is it joke and every pseudo-sophisto-intellectual that tries to explain it with grandiose words is just a sucker?

Discussion n. 27: "There must be a reason...."

"There must be a reason why we were assigned only 17 pages. And the reason must be...."

That there is so much to take in over those 17 pages, in terms of both content and style. Pietro utilizes his highly detailed writing technique to transport us to the tragic scene at the worksite, filling our minds with images such as Tomas’ quivering, detached face and Geremio’s broken/disgruntled teeth dislodging from the socket of his mouth as he desperately attempted to chew his way out of the crushing wood and concrete. My initial reaction to the text was that of utter shock; I literally had to set the book down in order to slowly reflect on the events that had transpired. This heavy content, coupled with the nonlinear, rhythmic flow of Pietro’s writing, combines together to form a work that demands inspection and complete attention from readers. A theme of dreamlike essence is woven throughout the opening pages as well, which plays out in both the internal (way the workers are feeling, snoutnose as he lays dying and trying to wake from dream) and external (night before tragedy is like a dream, dreamlike quality) senses. This is another aspect of Pietro’s distinct approach to writing that calls for great consideration and attention, and it also sets the tone for the remainder of the narrative. This is why we were only assigned 17 pages this week: because enough material and art is packed into those 17 pages to lead to some serious deep thinking from the reader. This introduction also prepares us to jump into the rest of the narrative over the coming weeks, as we have now been introduced to this experimental, graphic/detailed style of writing.

 

COMMENT and compare your answer to the text above.
1)  Were those same observations available also to you. Could you have thought the same things, had you focused more attention on the task?

2) Is there something you want to add now to YOUR answer?

"Christ": my comment to your comments

I am very impressed with what I have read so far.

I liked a lot the quotes you chose: They all mark fundamental themes and issues that will be developed in the book. It shows you read those pages with great care and attention and were able to extract the substance from the form.

Excellent job.

Discussion n. 26: "Christ" April 3

COMMENT

In separate paragraphs:

1) Is this the most difficult text you have encountered?  (If it is not, don't belittle the efforts of those who find it most challenging.)

2) Difficulty notwithstanding, is this more or less "satisfying" than Son?

REPLY

Wait until at least 8 people have left a comment then,  write your reply to a comment that grabbed your interest.

Discussion n. 25: "Christ in Concrete" By March 30

What is your favorite quote in the first book "Geremio"?

Is there something that struck you and gave you a deeper / better insight into the life and psychology of the characters? (I hope you didn't waste your time trying to remember who was who.)

Do not repeat something that has already been choses. Find an original moment.

REPLY to your favorite comment.

Discussion n. 24: "Christ in Concrete" By March 30

COMMENT
What was the your first impression about THE LANGUAGE of Christ when you started reading?

And how did you adapt to the text? What strategy did you adopt?

Write two distinct paragraphs.

REPLY: read the comments and reply to the one(s) that you find most unexpected.

Discussione n. 23 : March 20

Post the link to your THREE-MINUTE youtube presentation.

Watch your classmates' works before you post yours.

Avoid repeating the same themes and examples (I have the feeling Pascal's poverty in Italy will come up pretty early.)

REPLY to the presentation with a comment on either style or content, or both.

Discussion n. 22: THE ITALIAN (due March 20)

Contemporary analysis would attribute Beppo's murderous plan to "temporary insanity."

An interpretation more likely in those days, would be (as per Lombroso) that extreme stress woke up in him the ravenous vengeful beast that he always was.

The first one, of course, is more plausible to us because of what we are and what we (think we) know.

Is the happy ending the typical Hollywood ideology NOT to alienate the public and send them away with a saccharine sprinkled rotten apple? Or, is there something else afoot? Some other ideology?

Discussion n. 21: SON OF ITALY

Writing an autobiography is not like testifying in court under oath. You can fudge things a bit, leave out embarrassing details, embellish stories or even make them up.

My very personal hunch is that the climactic episode in the mountains when Pascal ran into the Vampire and gave her his lunch never happened. Maybe he did see her from afar and maybe he even thought of helping her out. Maybe he even left his lunch on a rock for her.

But the entire story seems a little too convenient: it seems he needed to make it up as a way to expiate for his guilt. Did he invent it to deceive himself, to make peace for himself, to look less bad to our eyes? I don't know. But something doesn't fit.

COMMENTS (I encourage disagreement with my opinions. Feel free to say that my arguments are not persuasive because......
I prefer that disagreements come with some kind of rationale, not just as quick dismissals.)

Discussion n. 20: due March 12

Here is a passage from Katharina's work on Son.

I like this approach, it is 'journalistic' in that it starts with an anecdote, and develops a larger theme. She went outside the book to find a reference in something she learned and IMPRESSED HER (this is how memories are formed: by virtue of their impact on our emotional sensors.)

YOUR COMMENTS AND REPLIES, please.

I think it is very interesting that the professor pointed out how the way we seek remedies when we become ill such as taking lots of vitamin C to boost our immune system and defenses is an example of how we are surrounded by invisible forces, such as the ones talked about in the SON OF ITALY. I have never made that connection, but it makes sense. There are many researchers who study these very same myths that we swear by, which then are disproven to work for the reasons we think they do, yet we still follow these traditional beliefs. This is an example of many other superstitions that are imbedded in societies, and we believe them no matter what may contradict them. I do want to talk about our beliefs in the invisible reality sense because I find it interesting to discuss the many beliefs that are existent within societies without us even realizing it. For example, I once read a piece within an anthropology textbook, the passage started off by describing a society of people, and the rituals they performed on teeth. I cannot recall verbatim the details in the passage, but I remember reading it, and imagery after detail I could only question what strange beliefs some people around the world adapt to their cultures. In the end of the detailed ritual, they reveal that they were describing the dentist within our society. I was in complete shock at how much wording, yet not change the actual content can make such a difference. My point is that there are many things we believe in that we don’t question “just because” that is the norm, what we were taught, and we simply don’t question. We adapt many things to our cultures without realizing that they too are beliefs, and learning about this is interesting.

Discussion n. 19: due March 12

COMMENT:

1) FIRST PARAGRAPH: Read and evaluate critically Andrei's work. What aspects (if any) strike you as being particularly effective?
2) SECOND PARAGRAPH: compare your essays on Son of Italy (superstition, economics, self reflection on notes) to Andrei's work. What do you have to learn from it, and what could he learn from yours?

1. Son of Italy seems to focus on the themes of control and escape. The control lies with the landowners and foremen, and Pascal constantly tries to escape that control both in Italy and America. By observation is that those who seek to subjugate those in desperate situations are able to find a way to do it, whether it is the landowners in Italy or the companies that told their laborers that they are “indebted” to the company, thus keeping them as long as possible. They exploited people that they knew would accept any job and only kept those that they knew were going to spend their earnings quickly, forcing them to stay with the company longer. I am even more surprised that some companies didn’t even pay with American money but instead used vouchers, further helping them contain their workers in a cycle of poverty and dependency that makes it extra difficult for one to escape their situation and find something better.

 

 

    Son of Italy is an account that can resonate with many immigrants who came to America without much and built a life for themselves through hard work and perseverance. Based on my notes, I tend to focus more on the emotional toll that the author experienced and sympathize with the struggles that he faced day to day, for many years. While I did not experience such difficulties, I still find that this theme sticks out to me the most because it is a positive statement about the goals I can reach. For example, my notes tend to constantly compare his life in America to that of Italy. I point out, numerous times, that he has been in America for years and still faces the same problems that he and his family faced before he moved. In the last comment, I make sure to note that he finally improved his life in order to show a contrast between his first few years in America and the triumphant stage he is at by the end of the book.

    I believe that I focus mainly on Pascal’s transformation because I see that perseverance in myself and believe that many others would too, should they read Son of Italy. If anything, this narrative is a demonstration of how one can get themselves out of unfavorable circumstances, even when it may not seem possible. To look further into this, consider what he had to do in order to achieve success. For a long time, he lived in the cheapest room he could find, with bad odors and poor heating. He ate the cheapest food and wore torn clothes, all because he wanted to escape his life of hard labor and become a writer. He even had to BEG in his final letter in order to get recognition. Essentially, he did whatever he had to do to realize his dream, and I believe that this is an excellent example to myself that encourages me to do whatever it takes to get to where I want to be, even in unfavorable circumstances. Furthermore, this theme applies to my own family. We arrived in 1997 and, like Pascal, were escaping from poverty. We had nothing to eat and little money to our name, yet now we are considered middle class and are far more well off than before, which is another reason why I sympathize with his story.

 

 

Discussion n. 18: SON OF ITALY

One of my theories is that the first part of the book (up to the departure from Italy) is STRUCTURALLY identical to the second part, and that the Vampire's story is identical to that of Pascal.

Both the Vampire and Pascal are victims of abuse, without protection, at the mercy of others, without agency in the world. And, for all his striving and fighting, at the end Pascal has nothing to show for himself except defeat. This is when he is forced to BEGGING: begging the editors of magazine to publish his work.  If you look closely, that's what his letter is.

COMMENT: do you think this interpretation is too outlandish? Don't be afraid to disagree. Indeed.

Discussion n. 17: SON OF ITALY

COMMENT:   choose a moment in the book that has a particular meaning for you, either because it evoked a strong emotional response, or because it contained a piece of information about the past / human condition, or because it reminded you of something close and personal.

Do not repeat episodes that have already been mentioned: choose an original one.

It's best if it is a SMALL thing, a detail rather than a major mother-scene.

REPLY: choose one or more comments that also have meaning for you.

Discussion n. 16: due March 5

Below are the tasks with notes turned in by Sydney. 

I don't expect everyone to do as thorough a job as she has done, but you can use it as a general term of EXCELLENCE that goes beyond minimal requirements.

 

COMMENTS: are your notes efficient in recording the salient moments of the texts you are reading/watching? Do they also contain your personal reactions and observations? What did you learn from this example?

 

Sydney Galdames

Assignment due February 26^th

Task 1: "Late assignments and / or assignments that do not meet format requirements will not be graded."

Task 2: Take notes on lecture video

–                    Professor starts speaking of “Son of Italy “ by Pascal DeAngelo

–                    The book is an autobiography, or a story simply about your own life

–                    “biography or who you are at the time of your work”

–                    We give different interpretations for some of the acts that occur in our life

–                    gives example of a first teenage relationship

–                    Our perspective changes with time

–                    Our experiences changes, and the way we would write about those events would change as well

–                    “thing happen without a reason”

–                    “we see the consequences of our paths”, “because I did this, this happened”

–                    we must find logic and a narrative

–                    “we discard the elements of our lives that do not fit into our self-perception”

–                    Example of shoplifting, and how we would include that when describing who we are

–                    Pascal was initially illiterate, and over time was able to understand and write English

–                    speaks of his adventures and hardships

–                    focal point: attempt to make sense of his life

–                    Shakespeare quote about life signifying nothing, chaos that you cannot control

–                    First page of the book speaks of the earliest memories of his life, there is structure in the very    first page

–                    First memory is when his grandmother died, speaks of a time where is got his grandmother onions.

–                    First memory is about a lost he experiences

–                    He was a frightened child, and events occur without his control

–                    He feels defenseless

–                    One peculiar character is a woman called “the vampire”

–                    Mentality of traditional societies, pre industrialization

–                    World is full of magical spirits

–                    He has to assign a reason for the things that are occurring in order to help himself (ex- child falling sick and dying)

–                    Professor recommends to practice DEEP READING, aka- reading slow, or out load to yourself

            in private

–                    Focus and underline pieces of work you find interesting, and make connections!

–                    Retain the things that provide tools to develop our own understanding of this text, make effort and read slowly to see a difference

 

Task 3: READ Son of Italy pp 1-98, Write notes and summary (not just the plot, include personal observations)

-(pg 7) D'Angelo speaks of his first memory, one of his grandmother telling him to get the onions for dinner. D'Angelo's first memory is of a woman who pasted away, this may signify a strong relationship between them.

-(pg8) D'Angelo speaks of how his family used to curl up in odd positions just to sleep on the same bed.

- He mentions a storm one night, the rain was falling onto his face and it was freezing.

(I can only imagine how startled he must have been, it is a very sad thing that a little boy had to experience this kind of mess just in order to get some rest)

-( pg8) D'Angelo also mentions how he fell off of his parents bed quite frequently because of the lack of space, he says “Avery narrow bed it was. Almost every night I fell, having my head continuously decorated with swollen spots about the size of a full ripe cherry.”

-(pg 10) D'Angelo tells a story about a child getting hurt, and him being blamed for the child's injury. He says that his own parents would not defend him against the little boys parents so there was no use in fighting the repercussions. He says “ I could not go home because I had no protection there.” (This quote is extremely sad, as a child my mother would always defend me before she even knew the situation. It was always nice to know somebody had my back and that makes me feel sorry that young Pascal felt helpless).

-(pg 16) D'Angelo gets home to realize that he is not in trouble and that the blame fell on the right boy.

Pascal is thankful but still upset so he sobs out loud.

(I too have cried tears of relief as a child, sometimes children create so much anxiousness where it is not necessary).

-(pg 19) “This man had been know as a sort of wizard. He lived alone and had nothing to do with the world”  (I am curious what Pascal means by this man being a “wizard”?)

-(pg20) the “wizard man” was struck by lightening right in front of Pascal and his mother

-(pg22) Pascal first entered school at the age of seven years old (I myself entered school when I was only 4 years old).

-(pg24) Pascal stopped going to school at the age of 12 in order to work and get money to help out the family

-(pg25) “We were very poor people. We rarely had meat, and our food was of the poorest kind. Yet we were happy.” ( This quote is very meaningful and beautiful to me, as I too growing up was poor. My mother was on food stamps when I was a child because my dad had left and was not supporting me. My mother worked very hard to provide for me, and my childhood was still a happy time in my life regardless. People do not consider the importance of relationships in children's lives and how a strong family relationship can benefit a child tremendously for the rest of their lives.)

-(pg27) Pascal speaks of witches, wizards, and vampires. These people to him are so terrible that he must pretend they are not fully human in order to accept it. (I now realize why he called the man who got struck by lightening, a wizard).

-(pg33) Pascal speaks of a sick baby who could not get better with medicine that was provided. Pascal says “In our valley a baby who cannot be relieved from an immediate illness will be at once classified as an innocent victim of the vampires.”

 ( This quote just reinforces the belief that when these people cannot come up with an explanation for terrible events, they blame a make believe source to cope. )

-(pg 41) “her eyes seemed to gaze through me as through a crystal to some point far beyond. Beyond the skies” 

( when I read this quote I imagine this woman to be blind. I have worked with blind elderly people before, and they have this same gaze when you speak to them. It always makes me feel a little sad when I am speaking to someone who is blind and I realize that they cannot see the faces of people who speak to them.)

-(pg47) the mother says “I cannot blame him. He works so hard and never seems to get any better” (This quote to me is the sad truth behind the middle/lower class of people living in America today. Unfortunately sometimes no matter how hard you work, the rich just seem to keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer.)

-(pg53) D'Angelo describes the crying wife with her “multitudinous tear” and I can visualize this woman and her sobbing.

-(pg59) Pascal describes a woman looking at him with a sense of pity in her eyes. He said that “he wondered if he should stand up and bow to her”.

( this line is very sad to me, that a young boy felt the need to bow down to a woman because she was looking at him like he was less than, or unfortunate.)

-(pg62-64) Pascal describes the men in the town. The men all sound like decent people, who are not involved in any suspicious activity. Even though these men are nice guys, I'm sure they will be discriminated against because they are immigrants.

-(pg69) Pascal describes the American woman as fat and ugly, I wonder if she really was “ugly” or if Pascal has a sort of resentment towards the americans, because they were not nice to him. 

-( pg78) A gold chain in America was only 49 cents. Pascal was shocked to hear how cheap gold was in America, much like I was to read that gold was only 49 cents!

-(pg84) The banana price is 3 for one penny. That is quite a bargain

-(pg88) Matteo is in a fight with an American boy and things get ugly. When they go to the police station, the officer is treating Pascal and the others with no respect, even telling them to shut up.

-(pg 93) “In a sonorous Neapolitan dialect” I did not know what sonorous meant until I googled it. It means “deep and full sounding”

-(pg98) finally after searching for three more men to share the fee with them, the guys are on their way to a new job. Things are looking up for the Italians.

 

 

 

Task 4:

(xviii) – The introduction speaks of lynching, and why is it that the lynching of African Americans is the only thing that comes to mind when we hear the word “lynching”. Why is it that schools only teach about this specific group of people, and not of the other minority groups that deal with lynching? ( It is a very strong argument, and I myself am also unsure as to why schools do not teach us about these lynching’s, I believe it is discriminatory against the Italian immigrants and their history.)

(pg 6) –“Massacre at Aigues-Mortes, in the Camargue, a region of southern France” -A large number of Italians were killed in France, due to people competing for jobs.

(pg 9)-

“Bloody explosions of brutal wickedness are now to be found in states like Washington, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Delaware, Indiana, Alabama and Virginia. The phenomenon is now beginning to worry even Americans who still do not seem to be fully conscious of the shamefulness of such barbaric acts.”

(How ironic, many Americans STILL to this day turn their heads and pretend to not be affected by barbaric acts that happen. What comes to mind is the killing of innocent black men by police officers, and many people pretend that there is nothing wrong with this.)

(pg13)-  “The most common argument used to justify lynching was the almost total certainty that the victim was guilty”

(I believe that this argument is faulty. It is the same argument people jump to conclusion these days, without ever finding out if a person is “guilty” or not, lynching is brutal and inhumane.)

(pg14)- Tampa Bay Times refers to the lynching of the two Italian men as “a lynching and a lesson” , How disgusting is that ! A public newspaper feels secure enough to publish such hateful words.

(pg 21) - “A rigid and uniform norm on naturalization was imposed on the states only after the lynching of five Italians in Tallulah.”

(Of course it was imposed only after the murder of five Italians)

-Money was distributed to the families, as if that was going to heal their broken hearts from losing their loved ones!

(pg22)- In the case of the lynching’s, the Americans would try and claim the immigrants already had U.S citizenship in order to prevent the Italian government from defending them.

How sneaky and disgusting of them.

(pg 28)-  “the New York-based Italian newspaper L’Araldo screamed its outrage against the acceptance of indemnification by Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prinetti, accusing him of a “state crime” and attacking him with never-heard-before words”

(I am glad that the Italians living in America had some type of news source to defend them at that time. I am surprised America didn't try and shut it down.)

(pg 36)- “This is history that for the longest time many tried to erase.”

(I completely agree with this quote, it is so completely accurate when discussing lynching in general, but especially the lynching against the Italians. Before this class I had NEVER heard of the lynchings of Italian men.)

(pg 44)- “The atmosphere had become even more tense after the acquittal a few weeks earlier of an American citizen who had killed an Italian, defined by the Progresso as “the poor Tironi.”

(This quote reminds me of NYC after the acquittal of the police officer that killed Mike Brown, and the police officer that killed Erik Garner. The hostility on the streets was insane, and the anger soon unfortunately turned into the murder of two police officers, this was a time I will never forget living in NYC.) 

(pg 50)- “Corte wrote in a letter to the ambassador — only to a point the irritation of the population and the bloody outburst, but I cannot understand how the educated class could become the leader of such a shameful assassination.”

( It is a hard lesson in life to learn that sometimes education and logic can hold NO power over ignorance and racism. This is a lesson I myself have learned very well since the election of Donald Trump.)

(pg 55)- “In particular the New York-based L’Eco d’Italia, in a special edition issued immediately after the news of the lynching on March 14, 1891, came out with the headline 7 Sicilians butchered in New Or- leans, reporting with horror the killing that took place following the not-guilty verdict.”

(I am glad that the L'Eco d'Italia published this information right away after the lynching. The people deserve to know the truth, and they deserve to know it ASAP.)

(pg63)-  The acquittal of the officer is described to have “happened with premeditation and with the complicity of law enforcement officers.” That does not surprise me at all, it almost seems obvious, and that is quite scary.

(pg63)- The quote given by Mr. Corte is what I had predicted would happen before I read about it. In order to silence the cries of the Italians, the Americans took away their voice by forcing Mr. Corte to leave. Corte stated ““I am now threatened by a request for my recall by the United States government”. As a punishment for acting openly and undiplomatically in defense of the Italian colony, the consul was “sacrificed”

(pg73) - A very powerful quote that stuck out to me was a quote by Saint Martin, he said “This acquittal represents a danger for the future. It is universally known that the New Orleans lynching was the consequence of the acquittal of the murderers of Chief of Police Hennessy, an acquittal that was obtained in a way similar to the recent one, and that was considered a success for Mafia.”

(pg 77)- Italians were given the worst of the worst job positions. They were desperate for money so they did what they had to, but when compared to white people the Italians were struggling. This reminds me of some Mexican immigrants I see around NYC. They work so hard day in and day out, while white men complain that they're stealing “our” jobs, jobs that the white man would NEVER apply for.

(pg83) – The events that occurred in Colorado are explained. An American man was murdered and an Italian man named Lorenzo Andino immediately confessed. He and five other men were arrested, but before they could get to the prison they were gunned down. Two of the men were arrested and when in prison they were attacked and killed. Regardless of if these men were criminals themselves, the prison guards did not uphold the law and the killers avoided detection from the guards.

(pg94)- “three defenseless Italians whose safety should have been guaranteed by this Country’s justice system.”  The key words in this quote are “should have” unfortunately the rights these men were entitled to be not given to them, just because of their ethnicity.

( pg98)- Describing the events in New Orleans there is a quote that talks about the incident. “Over three hundred armed people removed the three prisoners and hanged them from the trees in the prison’s courtyard. Still not satisfied, they started looking for the other two. They found them and they hanged them in a slaughter- house nearby.” This entire description makes me sick to my stomach, it is so painful to imagine.

(pg106)-“recommends that we inform privately and confidentially our counterparts that if the

American government offered an indemnity to the Tallulah victims’ families, the Royal

Government would not consider itself authorized to deprive them of such benefit.”

(pg107)- Describes the situation in America to be rather embarrassing. Embarrassing is a polite way of describing the shadiness of the U.S

(pg110)- “The truth was that, by asking for the standard indemnity of $2,000 for each victim” $2,000 is not good enough for the murder of a family member of mine. There is no price tag on human life.

( pg113)- L'Alrado said in a interview that the lynching in America was an incurable disease. Lynching in America was eventually “cured” but other discriminatory killing still occur today.

( pg116)- Minister Prinetti- “This is in line with the traditions of the South where lynching is not considered a crime and where anyone trying to track down the assassins would be exposed to the danger of re- prisals.”

(pg117)- “The minister also underlined a new aspect that made this case even more egregious than the previous ones: the Italian victims had not been charged with any offense” I did not know the definition of “egregious” so I looked it up and it said it meant “outstandingly bad” which makes complete sense in the sentence.

(pg128)- “We also know that the filthy savagery of the America people will not drop the enjoyment of killing Italians.”  This would change eventually, due to the hard work of these men, continuing to fight the discrimination against the Italian people.

(pg 138-139) – The event that occurred in Mansura Louisiana is described “his house was targeted by a volley of bullets shot by several firearms that left forty or fifty bullet holes in the walls. The boy and three other young Italians living in the house survived by throwing themselves on the floor.”

-This event was started out of pure jealousy that the Italians were successful and they were not.

(pg145) - The event of what happened in Pittson, PA are described and it mentions that “The citizenship immediately reacted with threats of lynching.” The fact that lynching was used to threaten criminals is super unethical.

(pg 151) - “They have thrown stones against trains and finally there was the attempted killing of Joe Cosio, a Spaniard, who was mistakenly identified for his brother who is vice president of the manufacturers’ association.”

(pg 152)- “The description of the lynching and the plan set in place to actuate it constituted a major accusation against the lynching mob but most of all against the public authorities that did nothing to prevent it”

(pg160)- However, once it was determined that one of the victims was a foreigner, the federal authorities had the right and duty to act directly and take serious, punitive measures” Punitive: Intended as punishment

(pg 163 )- Cusani stated that ““the weak spot of our protest in comparison to the New Orleans lynching, when it could be proven directly that the police was at fault.” And I would definitely have to agree with him. They should have fought more to prove the police were guilty.

(pg 168)- “After several cases of lynching of foreigners remained unsolved, the federal government felt the need to take the jurisdiction over these crimes away from the local courts and from local prejudices.”

-Finally! What took so long to decide this?

(pg171)- “The statistics presented by Senator Gallinger showed that just in 1901 there were 135 lynching’s, not a very high number in comparison to other periods, such as 1892, when there were 235 lynching’s.”

-It is crazy to me that there was a time where 135 lynchings was considered to be “not a very high number”, it's very sad and eye opening to see these numbers.