American Born Chinese - Response

American Born Chinese is a very interesting and entertaining graphic novel.  I haven't read many graphic novels, so this was a fairly new experience for me.  However, I really enjoyed reading American Born Chinese, and I think it has shown me how valuable graphic novels can be in the classroom.

This graphic novel didn't feel like an assigned reading to me.  When I sat down to start reading this book, I ended up reading it all that night because it was so entertaining.  The simplicity and accessibility of graphic novels make them very fun, easy reads.  Yet, they are still capable of telling great stories.  This accessibility and entertainment value makes graphic novels excellent instructional materials.  Students can easily pick up a book like American Born Chinese, read it, and understand it.  There is nothing intimidating about graphic novels, and students who read them will be able to have literary experiences that are comparable to those of regular novels.  Graphic novels still transmit a story that students can analyze, reflect upon, and compare to their own understanding.

American Born Chinese would be a particularly excellent graphic novel for use in the classroom because it depicts universal themes that we readily relate to.  Much of American Born Chinese is concerned with the struggle to accept yourself as who you are, which is something that many kids have difficulty with while they are growing up.  This graphic novel also presents an excellent depiction of discrimination, intolerance, and ignorance.  The main characters in this novel are clearly discriminated against because of who they are and who they associate themselves with.  There are also some flat-out racist parts of this book which show how inhumane and irrational prejudices can be.  Ultimately, this graphic novel is a story about fitting in, and it is worthwhile to read because it shows how barriers to fitting in are created and destroyed, and it depicts this story in an incredibly accessible, humorous, and entertaining format.

Night - Response

Night is one of the most haunting and disturbing books I have ever read.  Elie Wiesel's memoir is a poignant depiction of loss and the absolute evil of man.  Despite the horrors this book discusses, it is hard to put down.  The book is very well written and powerful.  Night gives us a rare look at the reality of the Holocaust, and I think this book should continue to be widely read throughout the world.

Night is a story that becomes progressively depressing as you read it.  The tone starts off as ominous and only goes downhill from there.  This strongly evokes the utter hopelessness of the Holocaust.  Eliezer and his family are clearly in a bad situation from the get-go, and you never get the sense that things will improve.  As the story progresses, all we see is loss.  Eliezer loses his innocence, his family, his friends, and his faith throughout the ordeal.  Eliezer also becomes increasingly broken physically and mentally throughout the story.  Wiesel's testimony is clearly horrific, but it is a story that must be told.

What always shocks me about the Holocaust is the absolute evil that man is capable of, and this book continued to illustrate how evil humans can really be.  It is so amazing to me that the Holocaust was actually able to occur and that people willingly participated in the mass extermination of millions of innocent people.  Even if people were raised in an anti-Semitic culture, it's hard for me to wrap my head around how people could devalue the life of humans to such an extent.  Night and other stories and historical accounts of the Holocaust are important so we don't ever forget the evil that occurred in our past.  These Holocaust stories need to be told so that humanity doesn't ever repeat the incredible evils that happened during the Holocaust.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Response

Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a very entertaining and humorous book that is unlike anything I have ever read.  This book is an excellent work of young adult fiction, and young readers will find this book very appealing for many different reasons.

Scattered throughout this novel are little comics and drawings from the narrator that serve as illustrations for certain thoughts or scenes.  Most of the drawings are quite humorous, and they add a lot to the novel.  The drawings also greatly aid comprehension.  The drawings in this novel clarify what the narrator has said by either providing a visual representation of what's been said or by explaining what's been said in a different way (i.e. through imaginings, exaggerations, etc.).  Simply the fact that this book does have drawings will entice a lot of young and/or reluctant readers.

This book will also be very appealing to young readers because of the voice of the narrator throughout the novel.  The novel reads like a kid telling his story; in other words, it really is like a diary.  Young readers will be able to relate to the narrator because he uses the same vernacular as they do.  Additionally, the narrator, like many other kids, struggles to make sense of his world, and he must deal with the same awkwardness and embarrassments that come with adolescence.

I think that a lot of kids would genuinely enjoy this book.  It is an easy read, it has pictures to accommodate the text, and the narrator is very relatable, humorous, and likeable.  However, I could see several problems with trying to implement this text in the classroom.  There are a lot of things in this book that are flat-out racist, which could be disturbing for a lot of people.  There is also a fair amount of swear words in this novel; I don't think the swearing is excessive, and it is used at good points to accentuate meaning, but the book doesn't refrain from using the f-word and certain slurs.  Additionally, this book pokes fun at religion from time to time, which may not sit well with certain people.

Overall, I think this is a great young adult novel.  This book will definitely appeal to a lot of young readers; there are a lot of things within the story that young people can relate to, and the story is very funny and entertaining.

Things Fall Apart - Response

I really enjoyed reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.  I haven't read many works of African fiction, so this book was pretty different from what I usually read.  I think this book provides a lot of insight into African culture while still telling a story that is universal and easy to relate to.  The protagonist of the story, Okonkwo, is a flawed hero trying to make a name for himself, and while his hard work gains him prestige and fame within his community, he never fully escapes his fear of being perceived as weak like his father.

One aspect of this book that I found to be challenging was the Ibo vocabulary spread throughout the book.  I didn't realize until I finished this novel that there was a list of definitions in the back, so I struggled to make sense of certain terms and often had to rely on the context of the text.  While reading, I was reminded of how English language learners must feel when trying to make sense of a word or words.  There are certain words that we understand only because they are commonly used in our culture, so it was interesting to have the roles reversed somewhat where I was reading a book that contained words from a language that I had no familiarity with.

I thought Okonkwo was a very interesting character in this book.  I saw him to be a bit of a tragic hero.  He is obviously very skilled and competent, but he is so stoic that he never is able to feel comfortable showing the love that he clearly feels.  He is also so concerned with being perceived as tough and brave that he never seems to enjoy life as much as he could have.  His life, essentially, was out of balance; he tried so hard to not by like his father that he was the extreme opposite.

I was a little disappointed with the second half or so of this book.  I was enjoying reading about life among the Ibo people, but in the second half of the book, the story becomes a fairly typical story of intervention by white men.  I realize that this is historically accurate and essential to the novel, but the last several chapters started to feel like the story that we have all heard before.  However, this book does portray the destruction of culture better than any book I can remember at the moment, which was why I thoroughly enjoyed the whole novel.  Also, most of my disappointment is most likely because I wish that the Ibo tribe could have just continued in their ways.