China under Communism

During the 20th century, China became the People's Republic of China under the rule of Mao Zedong, the revolutionary who broke China from its original, dynastical, imperial roots. Under him, many reforms of him, most notably the demotion of intellectuals and the rise of the poor. In all of Chinese history, most of the population are peasants. When Mao took hold of China and established a communist state, he closed down many universities and made young students go to re-education. With a promotion of peasants, he sent students to re-education villages, the program being the way to learn from the peasant.

Twenty-four years after the death of Mao, Dai Sijie wrote a fictional novel called Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. The story follows the narrator and his friend Luo as they go through the re-education process. Though they have been educated, they have only passed middle school, and are still very naive. However, this intelligence goes over all of the peasants. With re-education being an emphasis to escape from urban life (and most importantly, Western influence), Luo and the narrator rebel, bringing urban technology and eventually getting ahold of Western literature, one of them being Balzac's Ursule Mirouet, which was illegal. From this restriction of education, urban life, and Western influence, I see how Dai Sijie has let me understand how much it sucked to a [forced] participant of the re-education program. Though I could learn this from historical accounts, I find it much more enjoyable from a historical fiction novel as it keeps in focus more. With me, I pay attention better if the book is more story than fact. For example, I really enjoyed the movie American Sniper, the movie starring Bradley Cooper of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. history (160 confirmed kills), who was a Navy SEAL and took four tours in Iraq. I ended up reading his autobiography, and I was actually bored of it. It was fascinating at some points, as he almost loses his humanity by the end of his third tour, but all around boring (but I do recommend it). If a fictional book took place in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule, and was much like Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, I most likely will be more interested with that than I was with American Sniper. It's just a difference between intrigue and boredom.

Quarterly Update

We have recently finished the first quarter of the year. Though the grades right now are more or less meaningless and are basically a progress report, a comment is required. Though I am taking seven classes, along with most of my schoolmates at Sage Hill, this comment is a self-comment just for English II. So, this is my comment for myself:

I think that my participation in class is lacking. I think this because I either don't know what to say during a discussion or just don't speak in general. Though when it comes to group projects or assignments, I do participate a lot and do my hardest to find good information to supply that assignment. I think the vocabulary part of English II is easy, and I study vocab daily, so I don't find much challenge when it comes to that category. With reading quizzes, I usually do not know how I do on them after I've taken them. With each quiz, I feel like the pattern is that I will know most of the questions, but then I'll reach a question I ultimately do not know, even though I pay attention when I read and try to find key points that could be potential questions on quizzes. My analytical essay writing is steadily improving with each essay, which is good because I only started writing analytical essays in freshman year. All in all, I feel like this first quarter went well, and I plan on improving with all these characteristics as the year goes on.

You Have the Freedom to Read... Sort Of

When I think of the United States, I think of freedom and equality for all. However, as I get older, I see how that America contradicts itself from its notion of equality and freedom. Such issues are the unequal rights for females, the LGBTQ+ community, blacks, and many more. Such movements and conflicts that have come out from this are feminism, the Civil War, the Pride movement (correct me if that's not what it's called), illegal immigrants, and many more. This is all compared to the white male, as our founding fathers were white males and at the time, were not thinking of all these things. I mean, its understandable, leave it for your successors, but what happens when the government intentionally takes away the right to read whatever you want? Where is the freedom with that?

Last week, National Banned Book Week occurred in order to celebrate the freedom to read. All of these books were banned due to the themes they possess according to the age group they are directed to. Some of these books include:

1. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi due to its political viewpoint, offensive language,  and gambling.
2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison for its sexually explicit content.
3. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell due to its political and religious viewpoints, promotion of homosexuality, and anti-family intentions. 

These are just three out of ten. If you want to look at the full list, here is the link:  http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/about

Out of the three I listed above, I have read The Complete Persepolis, and I really enjoyed it. I liked due to the story and the fact that it was a graphic novel, showing several themes in visual detail. Though it has offensive language, and its political viewpoint may not be agreeable to the American government's viewpoint, I think young adults won't be offended by the book. With The Bluest Eye, which I have not read, its almost laughable that its banned due to its sexually explicit content. I believe the you must show young adults "adult-themed" books in order for them to learn from a literary sense as well as experiencing it on their own. Now, if this book is like Fifty Shades of Grey (which I have NOT read nor plan to), then its understandable, or if someone in the story gets raped, that is also understandable. But if it is neither, then the fact that its sexually explicit isn't a sufficient excuse for why it is banned. Finally, And Tango Makes Three, makes sense to be banned for its political and religious viewpoint, if they are offensive. The anti-family pressure also makes sense for it to be banned, as everyone should love their family. Finally, the reason it is banned for homosexuality is ridiculous. It is 2015, and homosexuality rights are starting to finally take place nationally, after the Supreme Court nationally sanctioned same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015. If this book is banned for its emphasis for its homosexuality, diatribes should go towards the government, who banned this book, for its contradictive action.

If my community shunned me for reading these books, I will argue that I have the right to read whatever they want. I'm a maverick, what can I say?