In the reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there is a village with a certain tradition involving the whole village to gathers up around a black box which sits on a three-legged stool. Everyone in involved grabs a paper slip out of the box, it eventually narrows down to family picking from box. When the last slip is picked from out of the box, that lucky person gets the privilege of having stones thrown at them. There are many traditions around the world but, are there any similar American traditions with similarities as the one in the reading? This idea will be explored in the next paragraph along with another question in a third paragraph.
Are there any American traditions that share similarities with the lottery tradition in the village? Traditions make a cultural distinction to every country in the world with many having them for years since the nation’s development. Most of the time some cultures have a set of rules that are followed to keep everything in order, so it wouldn’t be forgotten over time. But sometimes the guidelines are lost over time or sometimes it’s easier to finish a few things faster than how it was done before. An American tradition I believe to be similar to the reading “The Lottery” is Black Friday. It starts the day after Thanksgiving is celebrated usually. A group of people gathers up around to a store where there are offers being held. There are people who would go to the extreme for a particular item. It’s similar to the stories where people gather up around an area and find out what happens. Usually, the outcome based on who’s at the end it, it doesn’t end well. Maybe the item was damaged by all the rampaging and tossing around. There isn’t always a way to win in deals like those but it is what the outcome is. Eventually, you will have to just wait for another chance in another year where your odds are the best for it. The story has a few references to where it can be applied in any other tradition. It can be explored in depth with most other traditions but based on what I think it has similarities to the American tradition I’ve chosen. When have you made an important choice to break away or not break away from a strong family, friend, or cultural tradition? A family has its bases where they like to keep tradition close and stick to their routines. Most people from other countries when they arrive in the U.S. they like to keep tradition close. For me growing up in a Mexican household, there was a lot of learning of many kinds traditions. My favorite one growing up was Dia de Los Muertos, where we pay our respects and remember loved ones who passed away. My favorite part was watching my mom prepare most of the food and set up the memorial area in our house. I can recall a moment in my life where I’ve made the choice to break away from a cultural tradition and it was the last time I went to visit family in Mexico. My parents grew up in a small village located in Puebla, Mexico called Teopantlan. It is a very Catholic based celebration done in the village where they pay their respect to the saint and their own saints. When it came to those events I would find ways to go see a family member or walk around instead of going to church doing their rituals and whatever else they do. Most of my family would think I was being disrespectful avoiding everything but I wasn’t comfortable nor did I understand why they did the tradition. It was all confusing to me every time they have those rituals set out where it involves your family. I have my reasoning for missing out on those traditions every time I go to Mexico. My family over there will have to eventually understand that I wasn’t raised like them and I have different ideas of tradition. It is nice to see how they experience life based on how they were raised and see them pull off these events.
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In the reading “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, it explores the idea of a couple making a decision about a personal matter that can affect them both. If you were either the man or the women in the story what would be your decision? The story sets the scene where the man and girl are waiting for a train in Spain. Deciding to both have a drink together in a bar waiting for the train. The dialogue between these characters has a tone where you can connect and feel what they mean. Their situation gets interesting the more and more you read. Has there been a time in your existents where you had to make a choice in a relationship to either leave or stay? Maybe you’re not in a relationship with anyone but there was a difficult situation, where just had to leave it or stay for other reasons.
Does the girl in the story stay in her relationship with the man? Everything in the reading is introduced well but it only takes a few reading to understand it. The way the scenario was set up seemed forward and understandable but if looking more into it with all the symbolism in the short story. The girl in the short story is shy like but by the end, she has a pretty good change to her. She feels more capable of being on her own but can decide whatever she wants to do with herself. The man also feels changed based on all the action and dialogue exchanged between himself and the girl. But by the end of the reading, you want some sort of closure for these characters but that’s the best thing about short stories it’s up to interpretation. The way I interpreted everything was the girl wanted to see the man’s intentions and find what he really wanted. Everything played out pretty well for the women to receive some sort of answer from the man. It’s not enough though because it’s a big decision not just for one of them to make but both of them. Almost like a termination can happen between them, especially when the man mentions something about an operation. The girl seemed to have an attitude change after a few lines of dialogue discussing the operation. All the way until the end a scene, it makes it feel like she stayed with him but not because he wants her too but it’s what she feels is right. The girl will decide what she wants and eventually, it could lead to something nice for the couple or whatever else she feels is right for her future. When have you made an important choice to stay in a relationship or leave a relationship -- OR -- stay or leave a difficult situation? There is an important choice you make throughout your life from choosing what to have for breakfast, clothing you choose to wear, and when you go to bed. When you are a certain age or feel like it’s time to start dating, you go about and find the few relationships. There are many variables where relationships work out and other where they don’t. There is one particular relationship I remember where everyone wanted to know everything and I felt isolated. There were many reasons to leave. Back in my Sophomore year of high school, I dated this girl named Kay. It was fine for a bit but a few months later it felt toxic and I felt closed up. At one point I had about 5 of her loser friend spy on me for two weeks wondering what I did in my free time. A ridiculous moment was during lunch period, instead of sitting with just my 2 friends as usual. I went to the side with another set of friends and Kay’s spy had to go tell her what happened like it was a crime against humanity. There was no privacy at that point but worst of I saw patterns and listen to a few friends on what they knew about Kay before I started to date her. There was an obsession where she had almost like a souvenir from every one of her past boyfriends. Luckily I got out of that relationship, I'm currently happy living life to the fullest it can possibly offer me at the moment. It's better to keep yourself happy than to make others happy especially when you aren't feeling the situation. In this blog assignment, there is a reading by Lulu Wang called “What You Don’t Know.” In the narrative, it tells us a time the writer had to lie to protect a beloved family member. It explores the internal and external conflicts the family has about lying and everyone’s point of view on the situation. The choices could either have a huge impact or no impact at all. What would you do? Would it be a different or similar experience as the writer? Was there a moment where you had to deceive someone and did it have a major impact on you or someone else?
Did you agree with the family's choice to deceive Wang's grandmother? I agree with the families decision to keep her illness a secret from Nainai because I felt they were trying to protect her feelings because they knew the cancer was terminal. People can easily become conflicted between an internal and external conflict. Sometimes when both types of conflicts are present, it causes confusion. There are conflicted choices that could have a major impact not only on yourself but other people as well. All depending on the situation the outcome may be in favor of either party. Potentially if her family chose to tell her about cancer, it could have had its benefits in the long run. In Lulu Wang’s Narrative titled “What You Don’t Know”, she describes a time she and her family had to lie to keep a loved one safe from the truth to avoid her world falling apart. When have you made an important choice to tell someone a difficult truth or you made an important choice to tell a lie that had a major impact on you and/or someone else? There are moments in people's lives where a single choice can have a positive effect on their future. Oddly enough there hasn't been on many occasions in my life where a choice has impacted someone else. I can only recall a few lies in my teen to recent years that has had an impact on myself. Honesty is an important virtue and I do my best to incorporate it into my everyday life. The only major lie I have ever told was a few days after my 21st birthday. I told my parents that I was going to accompany my friends to the movies. Instead, I had plans of my own. My friends, girlfriend, and I went to a friends house in Media to celebrate my 21st the way I wanted. What started off as a fun night, quickly turned into a nightmare. I woke up in a bathroom at a different house. I blacked out and have no memory of how I got there, only the stories my friends told me Along with the stories, I also had a massive hangover that I will never forget. I made my friends swear to never speak a word about what happened to my parents because I knew it would change the way they perceived me due to the lying.
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Edgar Ceron
Writing isn't my strong suit. Looking to make progress and hopefully it all turns out pretty well. Archives
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