Toni Morrison Recitatif RR Who Is black who is White?

    This story Recitatif truthfully intrigued me.  It was an interesting story and the fact that she never revealed who is what made me want to read until i got the answer.  I never got an answer from the author but based off of things said in the story I came to my own conclusion.  The two main characters are Twyla and Roberta who are two different races but who is black and who is white.  My belief is that Twyla is black and Roberta is white.  I initially came to this conclusion but throughout the story the author writes in a way that made me second guess my choice but ultimately I stuck with the fact that Twyla is the black girl.  I came to this conclusion based off of things that happened such as Roberta's mother refusing to shake Mary's hand. Also Roberta's reaction to Twyla at the diner reinforced my belief because if it was unsuitable to have friendly interactions between races it would generally be the white woman who would be stand offish.  During their conversation Twyla  said she lived in Newburgh which was later revealed to be the poor part of town, Roberta's reaction of " No kidding" and then laughed to herself and her male friends.  This type shunning is what white people would usually do to blacks in that time making the but of a joke.  When Twyla referenced the IBM people coming in and building up the town and then she wondered how Roberta winded up moving into a town of doctors and IBM people.  These IBM people would be the white people who live in these expensive houses while the blacks live poor.  There was a point where I was not so certain who was black and that was when Roberta and Twyla had their stand off Roberta said you kicked a black woman and you call me a bigot. That made me believe that Twyla was white woman kicking a black woman now she is here implying that she was hateful towards another race.  But that questioning disappeared when Roberta recanted the story. That was the point that made me feel a hundred percent comfortable with my decision that Twyla was the black one in this story.
 

Professor I needed to complete my RR today because I have a large school load this week so I just wrote about something I found interesting

RR for EN102

Prof Rachel Corona

Rodrigo Colindres

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

When reading  “The Tell-Tale Heart”  by Edgar Allan Poe. Something that struck me as very interesting was the passage when the narrator slips causing the victim to spring up and cry out “Who’s There!?” The way the narrator described the old man sitting there unable to sleep in the dark fearful yet trying to come up with a logical explanation as to what he had heard. Was it a mouse? The wind? The chimney? Or a cricket? This instantly gave me a sense of deja vu. I remembered being scared as a child laying in the dark failing to ignore the creeks in the floor of my apartment, the wind hitting my window, or anything else my imagination would drum up. The fear wouldn’t leave my chest until I finally found the courage to run up to the light switch in my room, turning on the light relieving myself of any doubt I may have created in my creative mind. It has been a very long time since I could reminisce with this kind of memory. Although the whole memory is quite laughable, the feeling I get when I think of it is that of slight fear; the same fear that I had felt as a child several times before going to bed. The fact that I could read something and get such a clear visual of what is going in the story, so much so that it struck a nerve with me, causing me to remember an actual occasion of my past is thrilling. To be honest I’m not much of a reader, but that was something I thoroughly enjoyed and I felt it would be a good idea to share. Overall what I wanted to focus on in my response was the visual pattern the narrator triumphantly delivers.

Reading Response to "No Face" by Junot Diaz

Kayla Choi 

            The protagonist, “No Face”, exemplified strength beyond what other characters conveyed in Diaz’s short story.  No Face is living in an unfortunate situation where he needs to constantly run away from people’s hostility towards him.  People who encounter this central character “wish him to fall” and for “him to be gone.”  Only but three other characters show empathy and compassion towards No Face—Padre Lou, the Canadian doctor and the owner of the beauty shop.  Even his own family members are portrayed as distant or negligent to No Face.  It also seems like he is disowned by his parents.  Not only was he harassed verbally, but he was also confronted by a group of boys who wanted to physically hurt him and “turn him into a girl.”  He responded to these environments in a way that shows he is beyond fear and revenge.  Instead of cursing or fighting back, he genuinely believed in a strength that lies within him.  When No Face was being ambushed by a group of bullies, He proclaimed “STRENGTH” while the “fat boy” was on top of him, and somehow he flew off of No Face’s chest.  If I were the protagonist, I would want to curse everyone and completely lose hope in humanity—no longer wanting contact with anyone.  His unfortunate encounter with a pig does not justify for other people to treat him in such an inhumane way.   However, No Face is vulnerable and honest with himself.  When he is afraid, he admits it.   When he needs help, he finds and receives it.  When he is cursed, he doesn’t curse back.  When he is pushed and thrown, he doesn’t strike back.  No Face sets an example in this story as he is faced with adversity to not shun himself despite being shunned by society.   He has shown great character by not being filled with hate but with patience and endurance.

“The Tell-Tale Heart”

Aneesa Baptiste

Prof Raquel Corona

EN 102

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe

The narrator insists from the very beginning of the story that he is not insane. What characteristics does he say prove his sanity?  What characteristics suggest his madness instead?

From the very beginning of the story, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, the narrator insists that he is not insane.  Despite being extremely nervous, the narrator claims that his senses especially his hearing is heightened and not destroyed. To prove he is not insane, the narrator relays an event from his past in a healthy and calmly way. In giving us the listener an accurate account of how he murdered the old man also indicates that he was not insane. He stated “Madmen know nothing”, he's basically saying that he planned out this crime cautiously and cleverly, and by planning a crime you're not insane. Whereas, if you committed a crime without a plan, your considered to be insane. Furthermore, by taking precautions of hiding the remains of the body and making sure that there was no evidence of any murder, the narrator felt clever and cunning in concealing the body. The narrator bought chairs in to the old man’s room and position the chairs on the very spot of where he concealed the body, makes the narrator feels confident that the officers will not find any evident of the murder.

The narrator let his listeners know from the start that he loved the old man and has no personal animosity towards the old man nor does he wants his money. It was his eye that troubled him. He refers the eye as a vulture eye “pale blue […] with a film over it”. The eye angers him so much that he commits murder. To murder someone because their eye angers you is definitely a cause of insanity. After the deed is done, while chatting with the officers, his sense of guilt and paranoia from hearing the beating of the heart, which he presumes to be the old man's made him confess his crime.

"No Face" RR By Ellington Cee Questions 1 and 2

RR for English 102

Proff Rachel Corona

“No Face” By Junot Diaz

Ellington Cee

1) The idea of masculinity in the story appears in a number of ways. One is that he’s adopted an insulated persona, where words and taunts from the town folks don’t bother him. Demonstrated early on in the reading, when a few town folks yell, No Face, and he simply ignores them remembering that he has no time to waste on feeling sorry for himself, and has learned to adopt a stoic approach, “as men” are often portrayed to do. They supposedly roll up their sleeves and press on with their hard lives.

No face clearly does live up and demonstrates traits of masculinity.  One example would be that nowhere in the story does “No Face” ever cry. Following “the old saying” that boys don’t cry.  Even when he’s enduring a beating by the four bullies, he never yells out for help, expecting to be saved by the town folks. He’s already been conditioned and accepts that he’s an outcast.  During the story it appears that at every turn he experiences hostility. Like when the cleaning lady yells at him to stay away from here. He learns to offset his obvious physical flaw by using a physical asset to scare off or intimidate an aggressor.  In this case he gripped the bars of the gate and pulled them a bit apart, grunting to show her who she was messing with. An act like this would be a more masculine approach, rather than what a woman would stereotypically do, which is to try and reason with the cleaning lady that there was no threat being made to the Girl.  

No face also briefly takes on the roll of town hero, as he helps the Viejo push his shopping cart. And he also helped a cat a cross the street. He also bought a comic book of Kaliman ‘who takes no shit and wears a turban. “No face” is clearly fantasizing about being a superhero-a man boy with supernatural powers. As the narrator wrote, that No Face has the power to be invisible.  Another point is that although, most famous superhero’s are Masculine. I don’t necessarily believe that all aspiring superhero’s are male. Females also fantasize about having super powers. Especially the Power to control men and society.

2) No face often runs because subconsciously the trauma that he suffered and all of it’s negative consequences- being teased, being ridiculed, being laughed at and being picked on have caused him to remain stuck. A part of his psyche and his time space have been suspended as he periodically relives The Mauling. Demonstrated by the Nightmare he experienced as he mentally relived the Attack by the big pig. By running very fast, he wishes that he might be able to somehow alter the events of the past and the Present.

Running symbolizes how we recognize that when we stay still, when we are accessible we become an easier target, we give the world an opportunity to harm us. When "No Face" runs, his physical and emotional vulnerabilities lose their power over him. When he Runs his weaknesses are not so apparent- he feels safe and in control. Running is a method of escape. Escape always seems like the better option when we deal with adversity. In the story he's constantly being accosted and ridiculed, running makes him an elusive target. His desire is not to experience the pain he endures by being ostracized, For him, running is self preservation. Just like our ancestors ran from a tyrannosaurs rex or a hungry lion.

"No Face" by Junot Diaz

1. What is the idea of masculinity presented in the story? Does No Face, the character, fulfill that idea of masculinity? Describe what in the story would lead you to the answers you provide for this question.

2.What do you think NO FACE is running from all the time? What kind of symbolism does this hold in the story?

I think that The idea of masculinity presented in NO FACE is about men being "macho men" (cave men from my perspective). Men that have their emotional capability limited (if any). They have a big insensitivity issue and the over aggressiveness natural in men. They are underprivileged which could justify their ignorance. When our NO FACE tells himself "to be a man", he is telling himself that he has to deal with his fears, he has to be strong to defeat all his trauma. I think the circumstances around him make him different than the other males, I find him to be very sensitive for his environment, he sounds innocent to me and he is not bitter about his bad luck. The first thing I thought when I read about the priest taking him to the doctor was: where is his mom, dad, or family? When I read about his mom being affectionate to Pesao, I thought that I was happier with the story when I thought there was no mom around, but of course, in this kind of social poverty there is not much place for nurturing. I was really shocked when his mom sent him away because his father was about to come out, this part was shocking to me, I wish I could have those "parents" in front of me to give them an earful about good parenting or at least about family planning. In the end I thought that at least he had the priest to care for him, and I was really hoping for him to go to Canada but the story kind of led me to think that our superhero story won't have a happy ending.

I think that NO FACE is running all the time because he is actually running from his reality. He is not fighting evil to save the world. He is fighting evil to save his own world and himself.

This story really caught my eye, because I would have thought something like this could only exist inside of a writer's twisted head. But sadly, I know for a fact that there are situations even worse that this one in some less fortunate environments, where extreme poverty is even more profound. When I came to this country, all the advantages that I found here made me forget about my reality back then, also it made me feel that situations like this are improbable. I felt so sad when I read this story. I found myself wondering about all the cases of people living in difficult situations that would mark them for good, that probably will make their future no so bright. This made me feel positively fortunate but utterly useless.

No Face by Junot Diaz

Melicia Bharioo

EN 102

Prof: Corona

Response to question 1:

What is the idea of masculinity presented in the story? Does "No Face", the character, fulfill the idea of masculinity? Describe what in the story would lead you to the answers you provided for this question. 

According to Junot Diaz short story "No Face",  Diaz relates the story in a very masculinity way making the story a powerful and strong with the character named No Face as being the masculine figure. He had to face life the "hard" way. This relates to Diaz influence of masculinity.  For example , the author narrates the story at the beginning with a boy putting on his mask and "he grinds his fist into his palm", this tells me that he is ready to face everyone and everything with no fear, but with strength and power like a man. As I was reading along, I was able to relate that the story is based on masculinity. No Face didn't keep himself hidden from anyone, the people from the town knew him well and the reason he is called "no face". They knew the story as to why he couldn't have a face like everyone else. 

No Face as being the character in this story fits the perfect figure of masculinity because he is very much alone with no help, and his family is very poor. He has to face reality and life like a man instead of being afraid to be seen around anyone. There were several evidence stated in the story of No Face being the one to fulfill the idea of masculinity. For instance, he was ambushed by a few boys, where one of them sat on him. With the character just saying "strength" the boy just flew off of him. Also, no face believe he is "invisible"  where no one can touch him. He feel he is powerful and have the ability to do whatever he says. Another evidence from the text mentioned a sign of masculinity is when No Face bitten his tongue until it was swollen, but doesn't do anything about it just telling himself to be a man in order to go back to sleep. I find this story to be strong and powerful but yet emotional. Masculinity has been shown throughout the story pin pointing actions and words by the character. Junot Diaz tells a story about an abnormal character who wishes to be normal like everyone and struggles through in his life. As the character seeks to undergo surgery on his face, he looses hope that one day he will be normal. I can relate to this because situations like this happen today in our society where many individual who face these situation have nothing left in them but hope and strength.