Answer 2 Discussion Questions

Grace
4.  Some people suggest they should follow the tradition, but some people suggest they should walk their own way.  Which side do you support?

I think that it is important to do both. I think that it is important to remember where you came from and never forget the traditions that your family taught you as a child and to spread them on to your children. But I also think that if you let your family's tradition consume your whole life, then you are limited in the things that you can achieve.  One of the biggest examples in the book where tradition is important is Caroline's wedding. Haitian tradition is very important to the mother. Her whole life is surrounded by the traditions that she has learned. The reason why she has conflict with Caroline is because she thinks that Caroline is to modern because she has grown up in America. Their mother continues to make bone soup and saves all sorts of things from Haiti that she had suck as the hanker chief that was given to her when her husband had asked her to marry him. She believes that Caroline should have a Haitian marriage because she wants to keep those traditions alive. " Ma wanted Eric to officially come and ask her permission to marry her daughter. She wanted him to bring his family to our house and have his father ask her blessing. She wanted Eric to kiss up to her, escort her around, buy her gifts, and shower her with compliments. Ma wanted a full-blown church wedding. She wanted Eric to be Haitian." This shows how difficult and stubborn Caroline's mother was about the traditions that she upholds. Caroline is very modern and she just wants her mother to stop bothering her with the Haitian traditions. She does not understand, but Grace does understand because she was born in Haiti and she has lived in the US. She is trying to figure out her life. Caroline shows that she is modern because she insults the bone soup that her mother makes all the time. She says that she is going to burn her face in it to prove to her mother that there is no magic in the soup. There is plenty on conflicts between Caroline and her mother about if she should carry on the traditions of Haiti or go their own way in life.


2. Why does the author name some of the characters and unnamed some of the characters?

I think the author is trying to show that there are people in the world that we do not know about that are living in poverty or they are dying because of their government or their living situation. We do not know their names because we have never tried to know them. I think the author is trying to say that people who are privileged should be aware of what is happening in other places and should try to help the people who are constantly struggling. In Children of the Sea we do not know the names of the male or female narrators. They were separated because the male was apart of a group against the government and he has to leave on a boat to America. On the boat, the male narrator meets an old man. The boy asks his name. "'It is Justin Moise Andre Nozius Joseph Frank Osnac Maximilien." His name is so long that we as the reader do not even care about it. I think that the male narrator does not care about it either because he is on a boat to the US that might sink, and he has left his girlfriend who he loves, in Haiti. The point is that without a name, we do not have any kind of connection to people who die everyday.

4 discussion questions

1.) Explain the significance of hair between the epilogue and 1937.
2.) What is the significance of not naming characters in a lot of Danticats stories?
3.) Do you think that women in the US face the same type of problems that the women in the stories faced?
4.) What kind of message do you think Edwidge Danticat is trying to send to the people who read this book? How do her stories impact our daily lives?

Epilogue Reading Notes

- braiding hair.
- you look like your mother who looked like your grandmother
- be the best cook and housekeeper who ever lived
- writing is forbidden
- metaphors including cooking with writing
- writing is like braiding your hair
- diverse women in family are like different size and weight of braids
- mother is disappointed that you want to write as your living
- 999 women who went before you so you can stand here
- a thousand women urging you to speak through the blunt tip of your pencil
- women like you do speak
- the women in your family never lost touch
- sky will fall if you do not tell stories
- and this was your testament to the way that these women lived and died and lived again.

Thesis Statement And Quotes Caroline's Wedding

Identity and Traditions

Identity

Thesis: Identity is a major conflict within Grace who is the character because she is stuck between two worlds and she cannot decide if she should choose her mothers side of Haitian culture or Caroline's side of American culture. 

Quote: "When I become a mother, how will I name my daughter?" "What kind of lullabies will I sing at night?" "What kind of legends will my daughter be told?" 

Traditions

Thesis: Tradition is one of the big themes that cause the conflicts between Caroline and her mother because her mother is very traditional and Caroline is very modern American. This puts Grace in the middle of them who is struggling to find her identity since she is both Haitian and American. 

Quote: "Do you know how your father came to have me as his wife? His father wrote a letter to my father and came to my house on a Sunday afternoon and brought the letter in a pink and green handkerchief. Pink because it is the color of romance and green for hope that it might work." "Ma wanted a full-blown church wedding. She wanted Eric to be Haitian." 

Carolines Wedding Reading Notes

- In this story, it is about two sisters and their mother who live in New York.

- Caroline is getting married to a man who is from the Bahamas.

- this causes cobflict within the family because her mother is a very traditional Haitian and she thinks that her daughter should marry a Haitian man. 

- the mother is very traditional and she always makes bone soup for her daughters.

- she is really not happy with this wedding.

- when she want to Carolines fiances house, she barely ate any food because she does not like him.

- their father dies 10 years before this. 

- their mother was left in Haiti from her husband untill he could make enough money for them.

- in order to get to the US he had to marry somebody else to get their.

- this weighs on the mother a lot because he married somebody else. 

- their relationship did not feel the same after that.

- she is mad that the man did not adk for permission to marry her daughter.

- she talks a lot about how her husband asked her to marry her.

- her husbands whole family asked her family if their son could marry her.

- she cares a lot about this which is a big reason why she dies not like him.

- Caroline is angry at her mother because she does not like the idea of her marrying him.

- They start to prepare for the wedding.
- there is a small party before the wedding happens.
- Carolines sister has dreams about her father.
- she continues to dream about hin but she can never reach him or talk to him.
- it frustrates her because she wants to talk to him but he will not let her.
- Caroline gets married to her fiance.
- her mother goes along with it and they part ways.

Night Women vs. Day Women

In different parts of the world, women have all sorts to different roles that they play 3in society. In the US, women have all sorts off diefferent opportunities that they can do every single day. In day womem, the mother has a lob that han help to say thd bills of the house. Opportunity plays a big role in these storys because in Night Women the only way for that mom is to be a prostitute. He fells like that is the only way that she can make money. In Day Womem, the mother has opportunity to persue anything that she wants to do, In both stories, the mothers feel guilty for the jobs that they have. They feel like they are letting thier children down. In the US, women are allowed to have a bigger role in the world. They are able to go to college, have a job, buy their own house, participate in politics and are not just the role of a mother in society. In Haiti thats what women are only allowed to be or else they might get arrested. Being a mother is part of their identity. So when these mothers know that they are letting their children down because of their professions, it kills them inside because they feel ashamed for what they do. In Day women she us a nanny. The readon why she feels ashamed for being a nanny is because she is taking care of other peoples children instead of her own. Also the mother talks very rudely to her and ours always on her for anything that she does wrong. So she feels ashamed because she has always been hard on her daughter and she has been raising others children in a nice and kind way. At first the daughter feels cheated and jealous because her mother never treated her like that. But at the end of the story she understands that her mother was only doing this job to help support her in whatever she did. In Night Women, she is ashamed that she had to work as a prostitute so that she can put food on the table. She talks about how she would address it if her son woke up while she was with another man. She says that she would tell him that his father wanted to be with her and pay a visit to their family from heaven. But she is afraid for the day that her son finds out the real truth. She is afraid that he will be angry at her fire what she has to do for them to eat. She is worried because she thinks her will leave her. But her only opportunity to make money is by doing this job. This shows how desperate both mothers in the f story were. It also showsthe different opportunities that are available tho women in the US and Haiti. It shows that both situations can be similar but also very different. Both of these stories show how women's roles can be different in different countries.

New York Day Women

- mother is shopping outside of Brooklyn
- she is afraid to take the subway.
- She is happy.
- Mother is on her daughter about hee giving up her seat on the subway.
- In Haiti when you get hit by a car, the driver gets out and kicks you for getting blood on his bumper.
- Mothers words are in bold and her daughters are not.
- her mother watches the lottery every night but does not play it.
- Father drives taxi cab in Brooklyn.
- The mother talks to herself.
- The mother is trying to find a sundress for her daughter.
- But her daughter dies not want it.
- Her mother picks up a child at a park.
- The mother taught herself to read in Haiti.
- six of her seven sisters have died in Ville Rose.
- It is a group of women that watch each others kids in the park.
- Third World Parent-Teacher Association meeting.

Dianne Ackerman notes

- Her words are very deep in her poems. There is an extra meaning to words that she writes and it is for the reader to comprehend the meaning. "Searching for a lighthouse in the breakwaters of our uncertainty." There are a lot of similes and metaphors throughout the poem.
- Her poems are about love and happiness yet there is a feeling of sadness in some of the poems.
- One of the poems is about apricots.
- In this poem it is going into detail on what an apricot is and how to eat it.
- the way she describes apricot is like it is important but it is small.
- I think that it is showing how simple but detailed an apricot is.
-   Poetry is most powerful where language fails.
- Language can capture emotions and sensations that are not human made.
-  There are many ways to read a poem and there is no right answer because it is how you as the reader understand it.
- poetry reminds us of the truths of life.
- a poem knows more about human nature than its writer does.
- there are many lessons to be learned from rapture, danger, tumult, romance and intuition.
- the power to description can turn things on paper into real life things.


1.) Do you feel that as humans we have lost our touch with reality because of things like technology?
2.) In your opinion how does your work influence younger generations?

Between the Pool and the Guardians Notes

It starts with someone looking at a girl who is very pretty.
It is a woman who is looking at this girl.
She had miscarriages and her husband was sleeping with other women.
Same names in other stories. Josephine, Jacqueline, Cellianne.
We find out that it is an abandoned baby on the side of the road.
The girl who is talking is related to all of the previous women that we had read about.
Eve line died in the Massacre River, Defile died with a bald head in prison, Lili killed herself at old age because her husband jumped out of an air balloon and her son left to go to Miami.
People in Haiti do not like Voodoo.
She is a maid in a house.
She is explaining her life to the child who is asleep.
She talks about how she loved somebody but they cheated on her so she had to run away.
She was arrested because they thought she killed the baby.

In Class Performance Reflection.

Post a short reflection on your blog -- what did Tuesday's in-class performances reveal about the characters and stories presented? What was interesting and what did it make you think about or realize? 250-300 words   

I think that the in class performances revealed a lot about the characters presented in each story. One thing that I noticed throughout all of the performances was that there was one or more character who was in distress. In my group, Nan was Cellianne who was raped and had scars on her face. She was separated from her family. In Helen's group, she is the female narrator who missed the boat to the USA. The importamce of that boat was that her boyfriend who she loved was on it. In Yun's group, it is about how the husband can not see his child because he and his wife separated. In Josh's group, these two people are also separated from each other. All of the performances had this theme is common with each other. It seems like in every story, there is a horrible event that happens at the end. Most of the endings end up in death. Death is such a common theme in these stories because the person is either killed by standing up for what they believe in, or they see no way out so they commit suicide. I thought it was interesting how each group had the different characters meet. It showed that they all have similar lives. I felt like the scenes that were created were very creative and it helped me to understand how thr characters in each story are linked together. I feel like all of the characters in book will be similair to each other. 

In Class writing

One common theme in all four stories is that when the time comes, we have to let the people we love go. In every single story, it is about how there is a strong love for each other but it always ends up in death. In Children of the Sea, the two narrators love each other very much. The male narrator is on a boat going to America and the female narrator is back home in Haiti. They are forced to be separate from each other because the male is apart of the rebellion against the government so he had to flee from the country. I think the message of this story is very clear. That message is that in life, we "love" someone, but it never lasts forever. In this story, the male had to leave because he was against the government. The couple who loved each other was forced apart. Another message in this story is that after the person we love is gone, we have to learn to let go of them so that we can live our lives. That doesn't mean that you forget about the person you love, but it does mean that you can't let it drag you down every day or else you will might as well be dead also because you aren't living your life. At the end of this story, we can tell that the female narrator lets the person she loves go. "Behind these mountains are more mountains and more black butterflies still and a sea that is endless like my love for you."This theme is also present in 1937. This story is about a mother and her daughter who were separated apart from each other because the mother was accused of killing a baby and having wings of fire. She was arrested and thrown in jail for the rest of her life, so her daughter has to visit her in her jail cell. This story also shows the relationship we have with someone that we love does not last forever. It is evident in this story that her mother loves her daughter very much because she always protected her and made sure she was safe. She can no longer do this for her daughter because she is in jail. At the end of the story the girls mother is killed and then her body is burned. When this happened, the girl made a decision to live on for her mother. "Let her flight be joyful,"mInsaid to Jacqueline. "And mine and yours too." This story also shows the same message that we have to let the people we love go when the time comes.

Characte Analysis

The character that I am going to analyze is Guy from the third story.

1.) Who am I?
The characters name is Guy. He is married to Lili and has a son named Little Guy. He struggles to find work at the sugar mill. The reason for this is because the people who work there rarely ever leave and when they do, they give their position at the mill to a relative. So it is very hard for Guy to find work there. Guy is obsessed with the hot air ballon that is at the sugar mill. He always talks about flying it. Guy does not want to be like his father who was poor and struggling but that is who ends up being like.
2.) What time is it?
It is a span of about 3 days. The first day, Little Guy gets his lines. The second day, Little Guy gets more line. The third day Guy kills himself.
3.) Where am I?
He lives near the sugar mill. He lives in a poor rundown area and is house is very small.
4.) What surrounds me?
His house is split between the kitchen, where he and Lili sleeps and where Little guy sleeps. Outside of the house there is an open field and the sugar mill.
5.) Guy is married to Lili. He has a son named Little Guy. He has been trying to get his named called on the list. He finally does and cleans the bathrooms at the sugar mill. He wants to fly the hot air balloon. He helps little Guy memorize all of his lines for the play because he is Boukman. He flies the air balloon. He commits suicide.
6.) What is my relationship?
He loves Lili and he loves Little Guy very much. However, he and Lili disagree sometimes. One of the main conflicts is that Lili does not want Guy to fly the hot air balloon. This is because she is afraid that he will hurt himself. Guy does not like that she says these things to him because he is so convinced and determined to fly it. Another problem that they have is Guy wants to put Little Guy on the working list at the sugar mill. Lili does not want this and ends up convincing Guy to not put his son on the list.
7.) What do I want?
Guy's need and want is to fly the hot air ballon. It is described in the story that he has a complete obsession with the balloon. The story compares is obsession to the balloon to the way the men would look at women that they liked. He also wants and needs money and a consistent job. Part of the reason why he is depressed is because he feels like a failure because he is like is father. His father was poor and struggled to live. Guy said he never wanted to be like him but that is who ended up being himself. Lili tries to tell him that he is not a failure because their son eats every night and he has a place to sleep but Guy still feels the same.
8.) What is in my way?
The people at the sugar mill are in his way. They do not allow for equal opportunity because the people who work there hand their jobs to relatives. So that shows what is stopping Guy from working to make money to support his family. Lili's opinion about him flying the hot air balloon is in his way. He has an extreme desire to fly it so when Lili tells him that he can't or shouldn't, it makes him mad and feels like she doesn't trust him.
10.) What do I do to get what I want?
Guy doesn't do anything for his disire to make money for the family. He does act on his desire to fly the hot air balloon. The next morning, Little Guy walks outside and sees the hot air balloon high up in the sky. He calls Lili out because he knows it is Guy who is flying it. Lili is shocked and scared because he is flying it. All the people who are watching this are amazed because he was flying the hot air balloon by himself. Young Assad, who was the owner of the hot air balloon, was amazed that he was flying it by himself saying that it takes whole crews to fly it. When Guy is high enough, he jumps out of the hot air balloon and dies upon impact. This is how Guy gets what he wants.

Night women discussion question

1.) What role does the boy play in this story? Why is his dream so important to his mother? How does this show the importance of the relationship between mother and child?

KK stories 1-4 reading notes

1.)
It is a story between a male narrator and a female narrator.
The male narrator is on a boat heading to America and the female narrator is still in Haiti.
It is important that there names are not mentioned in this story.
There names are not mentioned because it is supposed to show that they do not matter to anybody accept themselves.
The male narrator was part of a rebellion in his country and that is why he was on a boat to the U.S. so that he can live his life with opportunity and not die in Haiti.
He writes about what is happening on the ship and the people that he comes across.
His writing has deeper meanings and is poetic.
The female narrator always talks about the bad things that are happening in Haiti.
Her writing is never capitalized, and it is very short.
It is very different from the male narrators writing.
On the boat, there is a pregnant girl named Celliane.
He thinks she is his age but she is actually 15.
The reason why she was on the boat was because he brother was part of the rebellion and soldiers came to his house. They made him be with his mother, and then they raped Celliane. She used razors to cut her face so that she was not recognized. Then she left home. This is important because this gives an idea on what would have happened if the male and female narrators would have been together.
In the female story, they have to move because the soldiers are after her.
He father gives the soldiers everything they have and they leave for Vila Rose.
The girls attitude changes towards him because he saved her life.
The father would not allow her to date the male narrator because he was apart of the rebellion.
She now understands why he was like that because he was protecting her.
The boat is sinking and the people are trying to throw things over board.
They try to take the baby but Celliane will not allow it.
Once she realized that the baby is dead, she throws it overboard and then throws herself overboard.
We can assume that the boy dies because of the black butterfly's in the female story.

2.)
This story is about a girl who visits her mother in jail.
In the beggining of the story there is a girl Josephine who is visiting her mother.
She brings a doll called a Madonna with her.
She is bringing it for her mother who is in jail because she was accused of killing a child and also that she has wings of fire.
In 1937 there was a Haitian massacre.
There was a river separating Haiti from the Dominican Republic.
Her mother had to cross the river to flee from the soldiers.
Her mother was caught and was cut up and killed in the river.
Because of all the blood in the river it looked like fire on the women crossing.
That is how the got the name wings of fire.
Everytime the girl can't  talk until the last time she sees her mother.
She also brings her food so that she can eat.
In the jail, they make the women throw water on each other to prevent them from flying away.
They are afraid that they will fly away and kill more children.
Her mother was very sick and the guards beat her and then they burned her body to keep her spirit from taking over another child.
Josephine understands her mother and wants to honor her.

3.)
The three characters are Guy, Little Guy and Lili
Guy and Lili are married and Little Guy is there son.
Guy is not satisfied with his life.
She is ashamed that they are poor and that he does not make enough money.
Little Guy is in the school play.
His character is Boukman.
Boukman was a slave who revolted against his master and gave all of the slaves freedom.
Guy cries everytime that Little Guy reads his lines.
Guy is obsessed with th hot air ballon at the sugar mill.
He was to fly it but Lili tells him that it is a bad idea to because she doesn't want him to get hurt.
Guy does not like this but does not really express his anger to her about that.
Guy wants to put Little Guy on the list to work at the sugar mill but Lili does not let him.
The next day, Little Guy gets more lines because he did so well with his original lines.
This is the night before he dies.
He is talking to Lili about how he is ashamed with his life and that he wants better for their son.
He asks her how a man is judged after he is gone as if to say that he will be gone soon.
The next morning little Guy discovers his father flying the hot air balloon.
Guy climbs over the side and jumps out and dies.
Little Guy recites his lines over his fathers dead body.
Lili keeps his eyes open to look at the sky.

4.)
We do not know the name of the mother or the son in this story.
The mother is a night women which means that she sleeps with married men as her job.
Her son is starting to grow up but is still a small child.
She mentions that his father dies which can hint that it is Lili from the third story.
She talks about her son a lot when she is watching him sleep.
She has to make sure he is asleep so that he does not wake up when she is with the man that is e in the night with her.
When it is morning the boy asks if he missed the Angels.
She responds by saying that the Angels have a lifetime to come to us.