poem

                                                               Rwanda Rwanda


Rwanda Rwanda
A country set in the center of Africa
A country home to so many

Her people lived together as one
The wealthy and tall as Tutsi
The poor and short as Hutu
At least that what they were labeled as
Strong together they lived
Happy together they played

Until in the year 1994
A year to be the year of celebration
A year to be independent
Became the year of fear
The year of disappointment
The year of death

The Hutu got hungry
So hungry for power
The Tutsi got full
So full of fear
Her people got lost
They got so lost it blinded them

next came violence
thousands of people murdered
Mostly the people of the Tutsi tribe

Women got killed
Men got killed
Even children got killed
Some fled in fear

Hutu full of energy
Ready to fight
The Tutsi murdered
Not by strangers
But by friends and neighbors
Two people the same but so different

Rwanda Rwanda
Her people had never been so divided
her children had never been so frightened
Her women had never been so scared
Her men had never been so afraid
But yet they were

Rape Culture Workshop

This is a reaction essay I wrote for the workshop.

          The workshop was about rape culture. This topic is huge, complex and sensitive because every individual has their meanings and experiences of sex and rape. Rape can be in many forms, not just intercourse. It is a force upon of one to the other. It can affect anyone of all ages including homosexual and even men but it is mostly women. Most people are ignorant about this issue due to many reasons, one of the sadly but true reason is the refusing to acknowledge. Students shared their experiences that they were taught by their parents that (they say) were wrong and disgusting. One student stated what his father told him “when a girl says no, it means yes ... you have a dick, use it like you supposed to" and how a man has to go for it and show her his strength. Another student told us that when he was experiencing sex the first time, he did not know what to do. He wanted to make it right but he did not know whatsoever about it. He got home and had an adult discussing with his parents, none of them were educating the way he expected but only to ask his action and pleasure of it. These are the examples of an individual trying to learn sex but not getting the right knowledge from the source that they rely on the most. As a result, this led to confusion for him and everyone else.
           Misunderstanding is also a huge problem. Many adolescents believe that sex is cool. They think sex is an opportunity that should not be wasted, not understanding that sex is natural and it will happen eventually. Additionally, they don’t want to be left out of the group if their friends already experience sex. Society has definitely influenced the way people think about sexual assault. Each gender was taught differently, society always warns and mentions sexual assault to women not to men, teaching women to avoid getting raped instead of teaching men not to rape. Sexual assault is not a wild spread topic. Fewer people talk about it, thus led to unintentional ignorance and misunderstanding about. Ms. Megan Kordenbrock, a representative from Safe Horizon, concluded that actions for safe sex activities for both parties should always be aware of the situation about the topic of rape and both sides must have a clear consent for both physical and body language if they would like the topic of sex, and should verbally say yes or no when having sex.

Readings

Since this week isn't a complete seven days, any entries you do on the blog will be extra credit. Feel free to respond to Tuesday's readings. Give a shout out to any of your classmates if you enjoyed their work. Or share what it was like to read your own work out loud. You may also discuss your reaction to seeing She Eats Apples at QCC. What did you think of the school's interpretation of the play? Accurate? What would you have done differently?

Is Ben Guilty?

After seeing She Eats Apples, after our courtroom exercise in class, what is your final opinion about Ben's guilt. Did he rape Ashley? Is he innocent? Tell us how you reached your conclusion. (And feel free to disagree and/or debate w/ your classmates' arguments.)

Also, this is the last artwork in the show:

Why? How is this different than the other artworks, if at all? Pablo Picasso painted this paining. In fact, all the artworks were painted by men. Is this significant or not?

She Eats Apples and finishing up

In addition to previous questions (which I think we can further explore), I'd like us to consider a few others:

• Why does Ashley become friends w/ She and why do her other friends, esp. Lily, have a problem w/ this? 
• Why does no one seem to know She's real name is Evelyn. Even Ashley calls her by the wrong name long after they're hanging out.
• What do you make of that rape scene w/ the apples (pp 107-109)?
• This is what we would call an experimental play. It is told non-chronologically, it's got actors playing multiple characters, scenes shift out and into other scenes, the play goes from realism to fantasy and back again, etc. Can you make connections between this play and other "difficult," experimental, or weird literature that we've read this term? (Some examples: "The Mushroom Queen," "Scream (Or Never Minding)," "The Antique Blacks." Can you name others?) 
• When you can tell a story or write a poem or essay any way you want, why would you choose to write it in a way that might be so weird that it's difficult for your readers to understand your point? Another way to ask this question: If your message is so important (in this case, rape culture), then why would you risk having people misunderstand that message by writing something complicated?

As we finish up the semester, I would also like you to make some final comments about the term. Which activities did you like best? Which were more useful and which less so? Which readings did you like and which would you have rather not had to read? Can you make any final statements about the value of reading literature? How about the value of writing it? (Because you have been writing it all term.)

She Eats Apples

For this week and next, we'll be discussing Stephanie K. Brownwell's play She Eats Apples. Some questions I have:

• This play is supposed to be about "rape culture." What is rape culture? How does the play explore this issue?
• Why is it important that Ben and Ashley have the perfect Halloween costumes? Why do they need to dress up as a pair?
• What is the importance of the prom (in the play and/or just generally in US culture)?
• Why are there only six parts although there are many more characters? 
• Why is there only one part for a man and all the rest women's roles?
• Why is there a character named "She"? Why are the other two called "Girl 1" and "Girl 2"? How is "She" different from "Girl 1" and "Girl 2"?
• What is the significance of apples?
• What is the significance of fairy tales? Video games? Classic art? Pop culture? 
• Why isn't the story told chronologically?
• What questions do you have as you read the play?

A-Z flash fiction

  As I sit on the bench with my best friend. Boys get drunk on the table beside us. Carelessly they talk loudly disturbing the peace and quietness of the atmosphere. During my stressful times I like to come here and relax but my relaxation time is being disturbed right now.

 “Edward is my name; I am from Italy” said a voice. “For your information you are really cute” said the same voice. Generally, I don’t do long distance relationships but for you I will he said, while turning to face me. He looked directly at me and smiled. I waved my hands at him too but only because he was good looking.

 “Jacket is on the floor” he said pointing at the floor. Knowing that the situation just got kind of awkward I waved at him and said thanks. “Luckily for you I saw that, you would have lost it”, he said.

            “My name is Elena” and this is my best friend I said to him.

 Nice name you have there, what does it mean?. Oh these are my friends they are not from Italy they live here in the USA, he said. People in this country are generally not nice but you are an exception he said “again” and, I started to wonder why he was talking too much. Quietness finally came from his table.

            Remembering all those moments make me happy. Special moments like these are hard to forget. That is the day I met my long distance lover who is now my husband. Usually people say long distance relationships fail but, not in our case. Valentines day is our favorite time of the year. We met on Valentines Day. Xylophone is our favorite musical instrument or mine rather. Years go by and time passes by but he still remains by my side.

            Zapped with love, I fell for the half drunk guy from another county who swept me off my feet with just a smile.