Tuesday, January 30, 2007

MFA & Family

"Longevity" by Iizuka Rokansai is a piece of Japanese bamboo art. Like the woven basket I found at the Museum of Fine Arts my family is tightly woven to make a master piece. We are a close nit family that make each other whole. There are different people in my family that is represented by the different pieces of bamboo. These baskets take years of training and lots of time to make. Like the basket my family’s relationship took years or work, trust and loyalty to make it what it is. The different layers of the basket created by precise details represents the generation’s that make up my family. Like this basket my family sticks together while always supporting each other.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Kazuo Ishiguro: A Family Supper

Fugu- A pufferfish that live in salt water. This fish defense themselves by inflating their bodies much larger then themselves and then poisening their predators. The fish contains lethal amounts of poisen in their internal organs.
Kamakura- A city in Japan
Tatami- Mats on a traditional Japanese floor
Chou Enlai- China forign minister
Samurai-military nobility
Kimono- traditional clothing of Japan

A Family supper is the story of a boy going back to his home in Japan to spend time with his father and sister. His mother passes away years before because of consuming a fugu. In the prefous story, The Englishman, My Father, and I, it is mostly about the specific time a young boy spent with his father. Both these storys are about time spent with fathers. They think about their relationships.

In both of these short stories the character thinkgs about theirs fathers and their relationship with their parents when in reality we find out more about the actual character. We find out what they feel about their family and why in certain cases they need more attention.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Nuruddin Farah: My Father, the Englishman, and I

Ogaden- Part of the Somali Region in Ethiopia.
Pygmy- A member of any human group whose male adults grow less then 59in.
Factotum- An old world meaning a servent or a person with many responsiblities.
Eunuch- a castrated man. Usually refers to a special function.

Russell Banks: My Mother's Memoirs, My Father's Lie, and Other True Sstories

" My mother tells me stories about her past, and I don't believe them, I interpret them."

Peyton Place- This 60's soap was the story of a girl names Allison MacKenzie who liked in a small town in New England.
Dan Rather- Anchor for CBS Evening News for 24 years and contributions to 60 minutes during the 80's and 90's.
Sonny Tufts- American Actor during World War II.
Grace Metalious- An american author knows for the novel Peyton Place.