Journal Three - Ka Phung
My active reading so far has been going pretty well, I frequently highlight the main idea of each chapter and write out a paraphrased excerpt on the margins. So far I am keeping track of the story better and memorizing the characters within each chapter. I think that I may struggle with reading as I don't enjoy reading in my free time.
I think that the strengths in The House On Mango Street are that it very clearly portrays what Esperanza is experiencing in a visual sense and what she is going through while growing up on Mango Street. However I think a major weakness of this book are that the stories are scattered and generally have no overarching story except for learning about Esperanza experiences. In A Long Way Gone the strengths of the novel are that it portrays war in a very gruesome way and does not sugar coat any of the details. A weakness of this book is that it is a very boring read and could use better wording to keep a reader more engaged. Overall I prefer The House On Mango Street due to it not being extremely boring and also being somewhat relate able.
A theme that I noticed in Ishmael Beah's book A Long Way Gone is art & culture. One of Ishmael interactions with art & culture is when a military chief searches them and finds a tape containing rap songs, Beah writes, "I told him that we rapped. He didn't know what rap music was, so I did
my best to explain it to him. "It is similar to telling parables, but in
the white man's language," I concluded. I also told him that we were
dancers and had a group in Mattru Jong, where we used to attend school."(38). This is important because it shows that they're not child soldiers which means that they're no threat to him.
I love that you mentioned music here! I think this does have a huge part in his story! Music literally saved his life there! I also would recommend relating different sensory details that stick out to you to your own life to make reading more enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteI agree with all these points. The first journal I read was someone who preferred A long way gone and I’m glad I came to this one because you make great points about why you prefer The House On Mango Street and I like what quotes you used for you’re theme.
ReplyDeleteYou make solid points on the strengths and weaknesses of both of the books we are reading, and I'd have to agree with your opinion on how it can be difficult to follow what's happening in Mango Street because of the writing style.
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