We have spent the past two weeks discussing questions surrounding identity. As part of those discussions, we you have read several stories, listened to music, designed schemata, written in journals, and created identity collages to express your own unique cultural identifiers. We have also discussed various examples of "the box," which is a metaphor for any obstacles or barriers that might isolate, frustrate, enclose, or sometimes protect someone from a larger world.
Think back over everything we have read so far for this unit ("Theme for English B," "High Yellow White Trash," "Sylvia's Story" from National Public Radio, "Phone Booth at the Corner"). Your task now is to write and post a comment in this forum in which you describe a connection between at least TWO of these works, focusing on the role of "the box." Think about how different characters face similar or different challenges. Think about similarities or differences in the kinds of disguises characters wear. Do you think these characters will escape from their boxes? What kinds of factors put characters and/or people in boxes? Are the "boxes" constructed by society (for example, by stereotypes), or do families and individuals create their own boxes?
When you have made a connection between at least two works, write a post describing that connection. Make sure to mention specific characters/narrators, and to be clear about how the "boxes" they experience are similar. These posts do not need to be long: about four sentences, give or take one, will do. Your post should be in the form of a paragraph with evidence and examples directly from the text(s). You should feel free to respond to your classmates' posts, as well as to ask your classmates questions.
*** Remember to use your first name and "Drogos Period ___" when you sign your post. Also, if you choose to respond to what another classmate wrote, please do so in a respectful manner.
There is a connection between “The Phone Booth at the Corner’s” Grandfather and grandson and “Cricket’s” Father and son. Both Elder generations are immigrants, and are trying to show their son/grandson their cultures. Though both of the son’s and the grandson’s are stepping out of the box of being Spanish or Vietnamese.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a connection between “High Yellow White Trash’s” main character, “Cricket’s” Bill, and “The Phone Booth at the Corner’s” Grandfather. They all share the trait of having a mixed identity, and sometimes having to put on a desguise.
I think that if I had to make a connection between two of the things we've listened/read I would chose "Slyvia's Story" and CRICKETS. In both of these stories both Sylvia and Ted want something. Slyvia wants to be different from her family, she wants to go to college, and get a job. Ted wants his son to understand his cullture, where he came from, and his passion for cricket fighting. But in both of the stories the family/son don't want to understand, and don't want them to change. Ted and Sylvia are trying to escape their boxes but no one else wants them out. I would say boxes not only apply to these two stories but, to everything we've read so far.
ReplyDeleteIn cricket and english b is similar since Ted wants to make his son vietnamese and show his childhood to his child but later on accepts that he is american. In english b,the author admits even if he don't like it that he's "part of the you (the professeor) and you a part of me even if we are different color, we like the same things." In Slyvia story and high yellow white trash, they both want to be one thing, Sylvia an american person and Lisa one personatlity or color. Lisa had the difficulty of trying to fit in but can't and Sylvia her parents and aunt's remarks and what they want her to do. Ted and the author of english b accept the unavoidable and step out of the box, though they want to stay in but Slyvia and Lisa desperatly want to step out but meets many complications.
ReplyDeletedanny drogos 7th grade
Alberto Drogos period 1
ReplyDeleteThe stories I will be comparing are "Phone Booth at the Corner" and "Theme for English B". In both cases there is a person who is talking about some one else (grandpa and the professor) and how there is something that neither of the realized. They are different because the professor was only mention unlike the grandpa, also one of the kids is in an grade that is not mentioned but the other is in college. They are both nice poems and I like how they end.
There's connection between Ted and Sylvia. Ted is from Vietnam and wants to be more Vietnamese. Sylvia is Mexican and wants to be more American. They both want to be part of another country, even though Ted IS Vietnamese, he's stuck in an American lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI think that HYWT and Sylvia's story are connected because Lisa Page in HYWT is trapped in a box because she it not really able to be herself in around white people of around black people. She is to soft spoken and shy to black people, yet she is to loud and to outgoing for white people that she scares them away. She has many "Disguises" and can't really ever be herself. Sylvia is in a box that she is also different they her family thought she might not look different like Lisa she does not want to be and normal hispanic woman but wants to be american and her family is holding her in a box at home not really letting her be "American"
ReplyDeleteI think that in HYWT and Crickets, both Lisa Page and Ted experience the same box. Their box is that they are part of two communities yet want to be only part of one. Ted wants to be only Vietnamese. Lisa likes the "black side" more than she likes the "white side."
ReplyDeleteThe people in the stories (e.g. Lisa, Sylvia) have divided their lives, and put themselves in the boxes. Society and they themselves combined have done this. Society puts pressure on them, but then they finish off the job of categorizing, stereotyping, etc.
ReplyDeleteLisa talks about her “disguises” and how she considers herself HYWT, mulatto, half and half. She isn’t black, but she isn’t white.
Ted has separated his life by the past-Vietnam- and the present-America. Sylvia can get pregnant at 18, be married and do laundry at home for the rest of her life or she can go to college and get a real job, not something that requires no education.
All of those people seem to be deciding between choices that can't be easily changed.
The works that I focused on were "Theme for english B" and "High yellow white trash". The narrator for "Theme for english B" describes his experience as the only "colored" student in a english class. In "High yellow white trash" Lisa grows up in two different culture but in steed of bring them closer to her she separates every thing. I think both of these works are put in "boxes" and are separated by two different worlds and I think they are both separated by race.
ReplyDeleteI found a conection between Sylvia("Sylvia's Story") and Lisa("High Yellow White Trash") because they are both trying to escape the box their family has put them in and switch to another box. In "Sylvia's Story", Sylvia wants to leave the box her mom made for her. She wants to have a career and go to college, unlike her cousins. In "High Yellow White Trash", Lisa was put into a biracial box, when her parents got divorced Lisa's box splits and Lisa has to keep switching back and forth between boxes. Eventhough she would rather be black.
ReplyDeletePaige
Drogos
Period 1-2
I think that the Lisa from High Yellow White Trash and the narrator from Theme for English B are both stuck in boxes because of their race. In Theme For English B Lisa is in a box created by herself and because she hasn't come to terms with who she is, but the box is partially created by society because neither the black nor white part of society accepts her. The narrator of Theme for English B is in a box created completely by society because he is placed into and understands his role as a second class citizen because he is African-American.
ReplyDeleteThe narrators from the stories "Sylvia" and "High Yellow White Trash" are stuck in similar boxes because Sylvia is straddling over two different cultures (Mexican and American) and the narrator from "High Yellow White Trash" is also straddling two different cultures (black and white). The difference in situation between the two girls, is that Sylvia knows where she wants to go, and knows how she wants to live her life, but she also is not lying to herself. The narrator from "High Yellow White Trash" knows she wants to live a black life, but lies to herself and pretends that she is actually white to. Sylvia also kind of had to raise herself, because her parents were afraid of going outside of the box, and so Sylvia trusts herself and has a better grasp on reality then the narrator from "High Yellow White Trash" does. Really Sylvia is also a stronger person, and has more of a drive because the situation she was raised in. The narrator from High Yellow White Trash also kind of pretends she was raised badly and it seems as if she wants everyone to feel bad for her.
ReplyDeleteI think that the story "Slyvia's story" and the poem "Theme for english B" can relate to each other. The two main charecters are both of the minority race. They both want to be different then everyone else. I think they are both trapped in boxes but they are slightly different. Sylvia's box is surronded by her family and her race. Langston Hughes's box is surronded by him being a different race. Because of this i think the two charecters can relate to one another.
ReplyDeleteThe main character, Ted, in Crickets is "stuck in a box" because he is Vietnamese and he does not want to be American. People at his work call him Ted, an American name. This is related to High Yellow White Trash because they are both in divided worlds. In HYWT there are two kinds of people, black and white people and in Crickets there are Vietnamese and American people. The main character in HTWT is "stuck in a box" because she does not know if she should act white or black, but she has disguises for both of them.
ReplyDeleteEveryone of these stories talks about peoples races and how they are treated, In "High Yellow White Trash" She was forced to be a white girl at times and a black girl at others, which relates to "Crickets" because he was given a name that sounded more like the race that the people wanted him to be. In both these stories they are changing to fit in with the people around them. Both of the authors are living outside a box that everyone is living in and all they want to do is become like the other people around them, they want to be in the box because they feel to different.
ReplyDeleteTheme for English B and High Yellow White Trash (HYWT) are related in a few ways. Both of the main characters consider themselves black, but they do what society would describe as "white" things as well as "black" things. For example, in HYWT the main character did ballet, which was considered a "white" thing, as well as read Essence magazine, which was a "black" thing. In Theme for English B, the student listened to bop and Bessie which were considered "black" things, but also Bach, which was considered a "white" thing. The student and the girl were both trapped in racial boxes, not made by them, but made by the people around them. The student was trapped in a "black" box, and the girl was trapped in a "white" and a "black" box. They will never escape their boxes, but they accepted them.
ReplyDeleteI'm connecting Lisa's mother from HYWT to Ted from Crickets. The two of then both have children which they would like to change something about their race/ethnicity. Ted obviously wants Bill to me more Vietnamese, or at least do something that is culturally connected to Vietnam, like cricket fighting. Lisa's mother wants her to be/act more "white". She wants her daughter to do the things she does, act the way she does, and be just like her. Both Ted and Lisa's mother are struggling with trying to change their children when they should accept them as they are.
ReplyDeleteAlexis Drogos period 6th-7th I think that Sylvia's story and "Crickets" relate to the consept of inside of the box, because Sylvia's mother didn't want to except that fact that her daughter was a mexican-american and she only wanted her to do traditional mexican things and "Crickets" was kind of the same thing, because Ted also didn't really except the fact that his son was vietaneese-american and he also wanted his son to only do what a vietaneese boy would do. I also think that both Sylvia's mom and Bill's father were both sareced to leave the box.
ReplyDeleteThere's connection between Ted and Sylvia. Ted is from Vietnam and wants to be more Vietnamese. Sylvia is Mexican and wants to be more American. They both want to be part of other countries. Because Ted grew up in America he doesn't know much Vietnamese culture and his father is trying to introduce it to him.
ReplyDeletei think the girl from HYWT and syilvia from the tape are both are both stuck in boxes of there parents trying to make them who they were not like the girl from HYWT has her mom trying to make her white and syilvia had her mom trying to keep the mexican tradition going
ReplyDeleteI am going to connect "Crickets" and "High Yellow White trash".
ReplyDeleteIn High Yellow White trash there is the main character who calls herself High yellow white trash because her mom is white and her dad is black so she is somewhere between. She describes her father's race as loud, swayback, bad feet,fast talkers, listens to be-bop music, and religion are all black things she would say. She describes her mother's race as, soft talkers, intelligent, very serious, spoke proper English, slow moving, reads books, listens to opera music, some have large Victorian houses, and exotic dogs. There is a connection in crickets. In the short story it says "The Americans were slow talkers just like in High Yellow White Trash." It said that the Vietnamese were very slow talkers, just like the moms race. Also in Crickets it said that the Vietnamese were fast talkers and were like the fathers race in the story. This story has a connection in another way too. The father in crickets has two identities like the girl in high yellow white trash. She had two disguises one in being a quiet white girl and the other in being a loud black girl. In crickets the father was Vietnamese so he had two names one Ted in America and Thieu in Vietnam. There are two parts of each of them.
Lisa from "High Yellow White Trash" and Sylvia are in similar situations because they both are pretty much half and half of something. Sylvia is pretty much half American and half Mexican. They both want to be something the are not entirely. Sylvia wants to be American and Lisa wants to be entirely black. Both girls get a lot of pressure from their mothers. Sylvia's mother wants her to be a traditional Mexican housewife and mother. Lisa's mother wants her to be totally white like the other girls in her neighborhood. Sylvia and Lisa both have dreams that they hope to achieve. Lisa wants to be a normal black kid. Sylvia wishes to go to college and wait to have a family.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator from "Theme for English B" and Lisa from "High Yellow White Trash" are similar in my point of view. Both have to deal with the pain of not being accepted by the people around them, Lisa with her mother and the narrator by, possibly, everyone in his class and his instructor. They both might escape the boxes that they're in, but if they give up, they won't. I don't think either will give in to how they're treated, since they want to be treated equally. The thing that mostly puts people in boxes is the people around them, like classmates or family. What other people think may really change a person's feelings about themselves or make them feel like they stand out. People can be put in a box individually or in a family. It just matters what situation you're in. In "Theme for English B", I believe that the narrator himself put himself in a box that he's trying to get out of now, but in Lisa's point of view, her own family is causing her problems that are bringing her deeper and deeper into her own box. In "High Yellow White Trash", Lisa is both getting put into a box by her family and by herself.
ReplyDeleteBen Period 1-2 Mr.Drogos The ongoing theme throughout "ABC" is accepting your true identity. All three storylines' main characters (Danny, Jin, and the Monkey king) know who they really are, but they all deny who they are, until someone or something wakes them up and says "Hey you're just a monkey." or "Yeah, you're Asian, deal with it." or even "Stop feeling bad for yourself, and move on with life. You're part Asian deal with it." Also, Jin, Danny, and the Monkey king are getting mad at other people for the fact they are who they really are. For instance, the Monkey king tries to make people think that he is the "great sage equal to the heavens" just because he feels insecure and bad that he is a monkey. Danny gets mad at Chin-kee just because Danny really is Asian, and he wants to be american, and push all this Asian stuff away from him. Jin gets mad at Wei-Chen, for being Asian, and categorizing him as Asian, even though Jin really is Asian.
ReplyDeleteI think that the story "Slyvia's story" and the poem "Theme for english B" can relate to each other. The two main charecters are both of the minority race. They both want to be different then everyone else. I think they are both trapped in boxes but they are slightly different. Sylvia's box is surronded by her family and her race. Langston Hughes's box is surronded by him being a different race. Because of this I think the two charecters can relate to one another.Brian Drogos 6-7
ReplyDeleteEmma Period 6-7
ReplyDeleteI see a connection between Sylvia's Story, and Lisa's Story (High Yellow White Trash). Lisa and Sylvia have had boxes made for them by their parents. Sylvia's mom wants Sylvia to live a spanish life, and be a housewife, and take care of her children while her husband works and makes all the money for the family instead of going to college. Lisa Page's mom (after Lisa's mom gets a divorce with Lisa's dad), wants Lisa to act more "white" than "black" which implies that Lisa's mom wants her to act more proper, and talk more quietly. Lisa's mom doesn't want her children to be thought as by the rest of her family as "white with defects", she wants people to accept her children even if they're not fully "white".