Representations

This last ted talk was really good. The opening itself was different compared to other open sets i have seen. I was really invested in what Aghan had to say in his story. He captured my attention by first interacting with the audience with sound. Just like we spoke in class there is many ways to connect to people while telling a story. Visual,  or noise, interaction and gestures work great.
 As we said, many things can help people draw a batter picture of what someone is explaining or aiming to represent. Just watching him, he was wearing African clothing, which represented his culture. His accent along with the noises he made draws us closer to a better understanding, giving us a clearer picture of what he is telling us. We can get a more precise picture of where he is from, the sounds we may hear, and the type of people that may be there.
 It reminded me of African type of dancing, They use there whole body to describe how they feel and to represent where they came from. It is much different from contemporary dancing where it seems rigid and structure at times. It shows many times how stiff American society can be, which limits expression. Expression no matter what way it is expressed, through words, clothing, or gestures represents who we are as a people and who we are individually. With his expressions it really captures people and draws them into the story painting a clear picture of what he aims to show.

Sandman Part 1

I have only heard of the sandman but never actually read the comic or watched a television version of it. It seems pretty interesting so I will most likely continue to read this comic. First off, I love the illustration. Besides taking forever to print out, the illustration to me was half the novel. It is really dark and mysterious looking, and through reading the comic, I can see why. Without the black and white, dark gloomy colors, I believe it wouldn't of had the same effect if printed with the colors of the rainbow. The fact that it is based on a cult like family dealing with demons and evil suits the imagery really well.
I actually read the whole story but will stick to the first half. At first, the story confused me, it kept switching to different people around the world randomly. Then I made the connection as if in a movie theater where scenes randomly shift to the past, future, or present times in other areas around the world. To prevent confusion it would be easier if they put a section where it said "in Jamaica" or "while in Peru" to make the swift transition of an event at the same time.
While reading this comic it just brought up past movies of cults and the fact that people or "families" such as this do exist. Looking up ancient artifacts, summoning demons, hungry for power or money. It is pretty frighting people do such things to harm others, with the thought of being able to control spiritual beings. As for now, it is only a comic and i will enjoy it as such.

Kaliman: El hombre incredible

This comic was really interesting. I couldn't tell if I was reading a history news paper or an actual comic. The forward was really helpful in understanding the comic of the writer. If the forward wasn't there I would have questioned what I was really reading. This comic shows the mindset of average Mexicans/ Latinos during those times giving a historical background. Its like the tv show "Everybody hates Chris" but Spanish and a much shorter version.
What I gained from reading this shows me not all comics have to be imaginary, or about a superhero versus a villain. A comic could represent anything in life. It showed different view points of people, using different types of character, each representing the understanding of what goes through individuals minds everyday.
Once again it relates back to previous comics and reading were originality is best. There is no standard, or single genre where people must conform. If that was the case, would such variations of comics such as this be read? Never thought you can make a mini history lesson into a comic. I'm pretty sure history class would be more appealing if such comics used as tactics to teach students were used. Then I wouldn't have fallen asleep in class lol.

Graphic Memoirs Come of Age

I can relate to this reading a lot. Many people can be biased against comic books or books with imagery and automatically downcast its importance. It is somewhat like people comparing Japanese anime to american cartoon, or down playing Disney movies because it is created by technology and not with people acting physically. It seems as if people prevent diversity from expanding at times and force people to conform to their way the world should work, but that leaves it dull at the end.
She gave a great description about batman and the batarang. I can defiantly get more out of a picture at times than reading a whole paragraph of that one small event. Like they saying goes, a picture is worth a thousands words. Though actual words leave room for your own imagination to develop a graphic novel, or drawing can also bring in excitement, understanding what specifically the author wants to portray. This shows what the author is think and how they develop the story, rather each person have there own interpretation and then mis-tell or misunderstand certain parts, which i have seen many times.
Also comparing to Graphic Journies: Graphic novels read a couple of weeks ago, maybe people are better able to read and understand a story through images rather than a book full of words. It also allows a huge audience to to enjoy reading in a different way such as others like me, would rather stay away.

Woman Warrior

This reading was very different from previous ones. Due to the fact we are no longer reading folklore tales. Woman warrior was an interesting read because it focused on woman who were seen to go with whatever culture they were in and live that particular lifestyle. However, Kingston fights against it by being true to herself and her desires. Not to be a rebel but to be who she is. Even from my day to day life i always here some girl or woman complain or ask why cant i do this or that, or why should i have to do that. America is very independent but still puts its restraints on the female sex, as also with males. I say also males because there are many times i question the same things. Why do i got to take out the trash, open the door for her, or know how to fix a million things? They got two hands and two feet just like me. While i might be inwardly, Kingston expresses herself and what she thinks through the pen and paper. Explaining how the culture on girls differ, how sex and race plays a role, and what is learned from them. She gets angry as i have also gotten angry and irritated. Somewhat being forced to live by the worlds standard and conform.
 As in this reading, family can also play a role by conforming to the rest of society, whether American or Chinese such as in Kingston's place. I'm pretty sure this can also be said for the class and most my friends. due to so many ways of being tied down or being told what to do it can be hard for someone to be themselves.
I agree alot with the statements made about America. Its straightforward, orderly, very rationale and is always meant to make sense. Honestly, i like it this way. I have a very scientific, realist mindset.
Though i prefer american way of life and thinking i can appreciate Chinese culture. It is vibrant and imaginative. Full of wonders, stories, myths and heavily rich traditions. Learning about it would be fun and interesting, living; not so much. Anyway i can sympathize with Kingston's  desires to break out of the ordinary life both cultures represent and live her own drawing from both.

Long reading..didnt finish

This reading was extremely long, especially for a two day span. It was also complex where it didn't make it any easier to read and took time to fully comprehend all that i was reading. It could have definitely been shortened. However these scientist took the time to break down and fully understand how language and folklore are interrelated and can respect that. Every time i enter class i see or view another way of the folklore's i read. Now reading part of this texts shows me that their is even more to it. Folklore can be influenced by the type of language, breakdown, or sequence. I honestly just thought they were stories to explain the unnatural or mysterious situations.
To even go as far as to compare myth structure eventually to brain structure and images sounds kind of excessive but interesting. Along the lines of the brain, cognitive function brought up by Colby and Cole makes sense. They state that higher education or occupation led to higher cognitive function which in turn leads to more complex and diverse stories. I found this quit true when i read the native american folklore. There stories to me where random and uninteresting. Not to say they lacked intelligence but using what i remember from history, all natives did the same type of job. Most of them were not specialized preventing higher learning. However in other folklores most people who told the tales had a certain amount of education or were profound in there field of work.

Native American Folklore

Native American folklore brings another type of style to the table which makes it unique. However I am not a fan of it. Though folklore, myths and tales can be false, I see what i read was too far fetched. The stories were all over the place, from the cosmos, to the earth, dreams, babies, to new species. It was too random for me to find it interesting or leave my mind to imagine i wonder if this could be a possibility. Due to scientific advances many things in the readings are of course false. No human and bear can mate and no human can become a star. I rarely saw a lesson learned, if any, but I am guessing they were more of how things were created and came to be.

An example of what I mean can be Bigfoot or Dracula. examples such as these leaves room for the imagination, allowing people to question if this could possibly be real. There can also be similar stories in different parts of the world that can make such myths plausible. Weather it is real or not, we may miss facts that can increase the existence of such things. There have been sightings, creepy places, and things that are still left unknown to us. Stories like these make people wonder and go in search of. At least they leave an impression.

I didn't have much of a taste if any. However if i was born along with them, if I had no scientific understanding of how nature is I would find them interesting. However it doesn't matter if i like them or not. As long as stories and aspects of culture is preserved, all folklore have there place in the world.

Blog 3

As i read about the folklore's and traditions of Puerto Rico, i questioned how much could they possibly have. Then i thought to myself do we have that much in America? American folklore's is what i mean, not individual folklore's from different countries. It was very insightful on how folklore came about, who from and passed down. We can see the same examples in America due to the influences of natives, and immigrants from all over the world.
However, i can see alot of folklore are just made up due to coincidences. Some even seem as they were made up and just randomly passed down as new superstitions. some examples stated were lack of killing spiders or precious stones with meaning. We have our own such as don't cross a black cat or a broken mirror symbolizes seven days of bad luck. They seem as just little stories for children. However there was a great deal of similarities such as the weddings and lullabies.
The fables themselves from "Three Wishes" slightly confused me. They didn't show an obvious moral like Aesop's fables, and they lack a description of a lesson learned at the end. So i didn't know what to really make of it other than the boy was stupid, the ant persevered or seemed gullible, along with given the run around, and you she be careful who or what you marry because he or she may be some type of wicked creature. The witch story however was very similar to a Soucouyant from Trinidadian folklore. This witch or creature however took off her skin to suck blood from young children and came back before the sun came up. So i wonder if it is two variants of the same folklore that have been changed over time.

Understanding aspects of folktales

Though this reading was quite long, i have gained  understanding in the different aspects of folktales. These aspects are nothing new. However, i am pretty sure no one takes time into dissecting a folktale into parts to help explain its possible significance and creation. While reading, the breakdown of myths was very interesting because different myths and stories ran through my head which held examples in line with this writer.
A few sections stood out the most to me. The first were variations. Growing up in america with a Caribbean decent, we tend to hear many stories. However when you hear stories from other types Caribbean people  some are either similar or the same story, but a different variation. Then the thought of the origin comes to play as mentioned in this reading. One can only guess that it originated on one the islands and spread, or originated from Africa, then once brought to the Caribbean, it eventually varied in its content through the years.
Another two deals with interpretation with dreams and symbolism. It never stood out to me that when  listening to oral traditions, myths, or folktales, certain things stick out. I question, " i wonder what does that mean?" or "I have been down that street before". These little important details really stand out and captures ones attention which increases appreciation and allows the survival of it.  Depending on how significant such things are to ones life, as mentioned in this reading, determines if these myths get passed down.

Aesop review

       I found this article to be pretty interesting. It never occurred to me the reason why these philosophers and teachers would use animals in a lesson, which might be due to the fact that people during those times lived and communed with them everyday. Seeing a fox, lion, snake,ox, or bird was part of there everyday life. Watching there movements, learning there characteristics and what parts they played in society makes them very beneficial in the lessons given to explain or show human characteristics.
       My favorite part of this article had to be the importance on fables during meetings. As of today we don't use fables but human analogies and examples. We may even compare or contrast situations to machinery or other objects. We write memes or state situations to learn from. For research to show that fables were used in meetings among intellectual men showed they had a strong purpose. It was also stated that fables were most likely well known since some fables weren't retold, yet was already expected of the present men to know. One example  anyone can brings up is 9/11 or this Sunday Superbowl, we would expect the whole world to know and what occurred in some detail. Each society has there lessons, stories and teachings. Fables can definitely be a great one too. However i believe due to our technological lifestyle they wont really hold to much grounds and might be ignored or scoffed at. Either way, loved the reading.