Thursday, September 13, 2012

Escaping Our Boxes

We have spent the past two weeks discussing questions surrounding identity. As part of those discussions, we you have read several stories, listened to music, performed poetry, written in journals, and created identity collages to express your own unique cultural identifiers. We have also discussed various examples of "the box," which is a metaphor for any obstacles or barriers that might isolate, frustrate, enclose, or sometimes protect someone from a larger world.

Think back over everything we have read so far for this unit ("Theme for English B," "American History," "Sylvia's Story" from National Public Radio, "Alone and All Together," and "Crickets"). Your task now is to write and post a comment in this forum in which you describe a connection between at least TWO of these works, focusing on the role of "the box." Think about how different characters face similar or different challenges. Think about similarities or differences in the kinds of disguises characters wear. Do you think these characters will escape from their boxes? What kinds of factors put characters and/or people in boxes? Are the "boxes" constructed by society (for example, by stereotypes), or do families and individuals create their own boxes?

When you have made a connection between at least two works, write a post describing that connection. Make sure to mention specific characters/narrators, and to be clear about how the "boxes" they experience are similar. Your post should be in the form of a well-developed paragraph with a topic sentence and evidence, examples, and text references. You should feel free to respond to your classmates' posts, as well as to ask your classmates questions.

*** Remember to use your first name and "Doyle period ___" when you sign your post. Also, if you choose to respond to what another classmate wrote, please do so in a respectful manner.

39 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer
Kelly Slimmon
Doyle 1-2

I think that the two stories “Alone and All Together” and “American History” are very similar. In “Alone and All Together” Libby (the main character) is a Muslim, the same race as the people who attacked the twin towers. Libby and all the Muslims in Chicago are being treated differently and have many people staring at them just because they are the same race as the attackers. In “American History” Elena (the main character) is Puerto Rican and not very wealthy. Elena becomes friends with a boy named Eugene, Eugene is white and his family is in a higher economic class than Elena’s. The day that Elena goes to Eugene’s house to study, his mother opens the door. Eugene’s mother explains to Elena that Eugene does not want to study with Elena and does not need her help any way. The reason Eugene’s mother says this is because Elena is a different race and she lives in El Building. In both stories the main characters have separate boxes from the Americans around them, and because of that they are treated differently.

4:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Arjun Dhar
9/19/12
Doyle per 1-2


The two stories I would like to make a connection between are “Sylvia’s story” and “Crickets”. I think that the parents of the children (Bill, Sylvia) are the ones who are creating “the box”. Sylvia’s mother is living in the box herself and feels safe, she is forcing Sylva to live in the same box even though Sylvia is trying to escape. Bill never had to worry much about escaping the box, and was never forced to live in the box his parents lived in. Ted (Bill’s father) wants to try to build a box around Bill in a fun way. Both parents don’t realize that their kids are already in a box, the “box of America”.
The difference between Ted and Sylvia is that Ted does not even care about the “Vietnam box” where as Sylvia tries her best to fit in both of her boxes. Sylvia has a dream, to be a graphic effects person, to get a job and an education. Bill does not have a dream. In the end of both stories there is a big difference; Ted acknowledges his son’s choice to be in an “American box.” But Sylvia‘s parents do not accept the box she has chosen. I think that the people trying to create “the box” are the parents, and I think that the choice that Ted made was the right one.

7:06 PM  
Blogger dander666 said...

David A.
5-6
Doyle

The connection I made between the stories we read was between “Crickets” and “Alone and All Together”. I think they are similar because in both stories someone is trying to escape one box and hop in another. In “Crickets” the dad is trying to escape the boringness of America with fighting crickets, which are very Vietnamese. His son is trying to escape the Vietnamese box and get in the American one, so there is a little conflict between the two. In “Alone and All Together” the main character Libby is trying to get out of the American box and get in the Arab box, kind of like the dad in “Crickets” while her sister Sally is trying to get in the American box. In “Crickets” the fire cricket represents the Vietnamese because they are fast and intelligent like Ted or Thier. The charcoal crickets are the Americans because, like the workers at the factory, they are slow but strong. In “Alone and All Together” Libby is immediately hated (after 9/11) just for being Arab. When she stands up for Ahmed she is proves that she is not like the Arabs that crashed the planes.

7:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Adrian Morrison
9/19/12

Here is my answer…
I think the two stories, theme for English B and Sylvia’s Story are very similar because Langston Hughes and Sylvia both believe that even if they are a certain race or color they still want to go to universities and get jobs. In Langston Hughes poem, the narrator acknowledges he is black, but at the same time says he says who cares. The narrator goes on to say that he is the only colored person in his class. The narrator was the only one to escape the box of black people and raise up to levels of education that only white people have, he alone stands against a wall of segregation. In Sylvia’s story Sylvia is being pulled to into a box of traditional Mexican culture in which Sylvia wants no part of. Sylvia wants a typical American life in which she can go to college and after which she wants to get a good job. At the same time Sylvia’s mom is trying to push her back into the box to spare her daughter of what she believes will be pain and failure. In both cases with the narrator and Sylvia they both want to escape from the box their races and culture put them in.

7:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my Blog Post.
Anna
Doyle 1-2

I think that there is a large similarity between the box in Sylvia’s story and in “Crickets”. In Sylvia’s story, when she says that she wants to get out of the box, but her mom is taping her back in, it is similar to how Bill feels in “Crickets”. In my opinion, when Ted kept speaking in Vietnamese to him, and then also when Ted wants to teach Bill how to fight crickets, Bill feels like Ted is trying to push him into his Vietnamese box. Bill wants to think of himself as an American, just the way that Sylvia does. Although Ted is letting Bill be an American kid, he obviously wishes that Bill appreciated his Vietnamese heritage. In this way, Ted is a lot less extreme than Sylvia’s mother. Unlike in Sylvia’s story, in “Crickets” the mother is completely on the side of Bill. She does not want Bill to know any Vietnamese. She wants him to be an American child. Also, when she washes off Bill’s sneaker it is almost as if she is washing away the Vietnamese in Bill. I think that both Sylvia and Bill will escape the box. They will both grow up to lead an American life. Sylvia will probably stay separate from her parents, but Bill might stay in touch with his parents. It is possible that Bill may end up coming back and learning some Vietnamese culture, but I think it is too late for Sylvia to want to do this. Both Sylvia’s mother and Bill’s father wish that their child were a traditional child of their native country.

8:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

“Theme for English B”, “American history”, Sylvia’s story, “Alone and Together” and “Crickets” all have characters who are in America but don’t feel part of it. The stories portray their journey to find a place in America where they can fit in. Some of the main characters try to see their lives through the perspective of good and evil, heaven and hell. Most feel that they are living in the reality of America’s hell, but that the dream of American is still their heaven. Sometimes it’s their families that put them in the boxes, just because they want to fit in. But really it all leads back to how America is affecting their life by putting them in the boxes. The irony is, while people try to get out of their boxes, they’re actually just building other boxes for other people.
—Posted by Elena Sparrow, Doyle 5-6

9:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that the story of Sylvia and Crickets both illustrate the idea of the box. In Sylvia’s story, Sylvia’s mom is trying to put her in the box, and in Crickets Bill’s dad is trying to put bill in the box. In Sylvia’s story Sylvia’s mom wants Sylvia to be like a normal Mexican girl. Sylvia says, “I feel like every time I try to get out of the box or make a whole in the box my mom pushes me back in and closes up the box and tapes up the hole.” In Crickets Ted really wants Bill to like Vietnamese culture. Ted tries to get Bill interested in fighting Crickets but when Bill’s shoes get a little smudge of grass on them Bill loses interest in the Crickets and runs in to get his mom to clean his shoes. In both of these stories the kid’s parents are trying to put them in a box that they don’t want to be in. In conclusion I think that both in Crickets and in Sylvia’s story illustrate the idea of the box.

Aden
Doyle 1-2

9:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think there is a connection between the main characters in “American History” and “alone and all together” In American history Elena is feeling very hurt because of her race, she is not feeling welcome in her own community. And so is Libby in alone and all together she is not feeling wanted because of 9/11. Just because the people who caused 9/11 were Arab. So is Libby she doesn’t feel comfortable doing anything in public because people are giving her dirty looks about being the race she is. Libby and Elena are in similar situations because Elena is not feeling welcome when Eugene’s mom “slams the door in her face” because of her race. And at school she can’t get put into an honors class because of her race, not that she is not smart enough but because of her race. Libby is not feeling welcome by anybody a different race now because of 9/11. She is afraid to talk to anybody besides her Arab friend Jamila. She is also witnessing kids calling other Arab kids racist names. So what they are feeling is quite similar.

Miranda
Doyle
1-2

9:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer.
Meghan
Doyle 1-2


I think they’re are a lot of similarities in the stories “Alone and all together” and “American History”. In alone and all together Libby’s family is getting treated badly because of they’re religion, and nationality. Which happened to be the same as the people that were believed to be the attackers of the twin towers. In “American History” the main character, Elena, is also rejected and judged because of her race. I see similarity because in both stories these girls are trying to live they’re normal lives, and don’t see race as a problem. But the people of different race (white people) or people of higher class, are trying to keep them separate. In both stories there is some kind of conflict with ones self. In “Alone and all together” Libby has conflict with her self because she is ashamed of who she is, a muslum. In “American History” Because Eugene’s mother pity’s Elena to the point where Elena Pity’s her self.

9:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Annika B.
Doyle period 5-6
9/20/12

Here is my answer to the question:

In Sylvia’s story everybody expects her to be like every other Mexican girl. She tries to prove that she is different, but she is trapped in a box of stereotypes. In American History the same thing happens to Elena. Elena is a good student, and she is definetly smart enough to study with Eugene. Eugene’s mom doesn’t know that though, and she is judging Elena by stereotypes only. In Sylvia’s Story, her mother expects her to cook and clean because she is a girl.

9:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think “American History” and “Alone and All Together,” are very similar and very different. In American History, Elena has a crush for Eugene, the boy who lives right next to her. In American History, Elena is Puerto Rican in a more lower class and Eugene’s mom doesn’t accept her because she finds out that Elena lives in EL building, a more lower class building rather than Eugene, who lives in a house and he is “more wealthy.” Even though Elena is a Straight A student Eugene’s mother Judges her. In the Story, “Alone and All Together,” Libby Is also being judged because the story was written during 9-11 and Libby is a Muslim also as the attackers, so is kept “inside the box.” Sally, Libby’s sister, is described as bitter and not very nice. Sally is in new york during the incident with her dad and his new wife. Sally is kept inside the box, because she doesn’t really approve and like who she is.


Jonah
Doyle-5-6
9/20/12

9:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

“Theme for English B”, “American History”, and “Sylvia’s Story” were all about people being stuck in racial boxes. In “Theme for English B”, the box was the segregation, and the narrator probably felt really awkward being the only black person in the University of Columbia. He stated that he isn’t really all that different from the whites, but for some reason they always think of him as different. In “American History”, the school, and Eugene’s mom put Elena in a box. Elena wasn’t allowed to take honors classes because her first language was Spanish and not English, and then she was rejected from Eugene’s house, probably because she was Puerto Rican and poor. The box in Sylvia’s Story was the one Sylvia’s parents put her in because they wanted her to be “the average Mexican girl”, while she wants to lead her own life, get an education, go to college, and get a job. Her mom was just trying to keep her away from something like that because she was afraid of what might happen if Sylvia failed, or maybe if she succeeded she’d get disconnected from the rest of the family.

Elbert Du
9-20-12
Doyle 1-2

3:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jessica F.
9/20/12
Doyle 5-6


I think that “Alone and All Together” and “American History” are very similar. In Alone and All Together, Libby and her family are being judged because of there race and religion (because of the 9/11 attack), and in American History, Elena is being judged for living in El building (her race) and not being quite as smart as Eugene. Both of these girls are trying to live there lives, but people just come up to them and judge them because of their race. In both stories, there are these conflicts about their race, but in the end, they both come out of their boxes and realize that they are the same. Libby stands up for a fellow Muslim, and Elena realizes that she is the white snow, and not the gray slush.

4:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I made a connection from the two stories American History and Alone and All Together. The connection that I made was that they both had very tragic events happen such as Kennedy getting assassinated and the planes crashing into the twin towers. I also thought of a box example for Alone and All Together. In the story there is an Arab girl that is trying to escape the box of being Muslim because there is no one else to blame other that Muslims for the 9/11 incident. In American History, Elena wants to go and escape the box of the “American Dream” to go and become friends with Eugene.

Sam R.
September 20, 2012
Period 5-6
Mrs. Doyle

4:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my comment
Ilana Weisbach
Doyle 5-6

I think that "Alone and All Together" and "American History" are very similar in some aspects. In Alone and All Together, Libby is Muslim, and so was Ossama bin Ladin and the others that attacked the Twin Towers. So she was looked at differently and mistreated a bit, as was her friend and her friends brother. He was physically bullied until Libby stepped in. In American History,the main character is Puerto Rican, and people really look at her differently for that. Eugene's mother basically refused her when she wanted to come in to see Eugene and to study with him. In both stories, the main character was being mistreated because of their race and religion.

4:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the two stories “American History” and “Sylvia’s Story” have characters who are trapped in a box and are trying to escape it. In “American History” Elena’s family is trying to fulfill the “American Dream.” The family wants to live in the suburbs where they can have a big house and a yard. Elena and her family want to be like every other American, but other people have different ideas. When Eugene’s mom rejects Elena, it’s not only because Elena might not be as smart as her son, but, because Elena isn’t exactly an American in her eyes. When Eugene’s mom asks Elena “you live there?” looking up at the El Building, she is recognizing Elena as not a “typical” American. And so it makes Elena feel as though she’s still trapped inside her box. A similar situation appears in “Sylvia’s Story.” Like Elena’s family, Sylvia is trying to escape her box. She wants to have an education and go to college, and get a good job (aka the “American Dream”). But her mother thinks differently. Her mother wants her to get married, have kids, and go on with life. So while Sylvia is trying to escape her past, her box, her mother is pulling her into the box. Both Elena’s family and Sylvia are trying to escape their box, and fulfill their dream, but there are people who prevent that, and keep them in their box.
Anna
Doyle 5-6

4:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sageus
9/20/12
Doyle 1-2
Box

The stories that I shall make a connection between are “Sylvia” and “American History”. When Elena goes through the story she builds on her liking for Eugene. Then later she is invited to study will him and her mom asks for not to go. When Elena knocks on the door (which in her mind was painted “green”) she gets a no from Eugene’s mom and she nicely says Eugene will be moving soon. This makes her feel rejected and when this is happening she may not of realized it but she was shoved into a box were her race stands against her. In Sylvia's story she is shoved into box because of her family. In her story her mom is afraid to go beyond the box. Her mom in the story is very against the idea of Sylvia going out of the box. Well for Sylvia the out world is were she wants to be and so she tries to change/escape the box. This of course leads to a lot of arguments between her and her Mom. Both of them have been put in boxes because of there race or culture.

5:31 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

The box that Bill from "Crickets" and Sylvia are similar. Both of the want to be American, even though their parents want them to be "more" Vietnamese or more Mexican. Ted is trying to show what he used to do in Vietnam when he was Bill's age by showing him the crickets, but Bill is not interested by his dad's old hobbies in Vietnam. Sylvia's mom is telling Sylvia to do mexican things instead of showing her. Sylvia's mom is being more strict and saying that she has to be Mexican.

Horace
Doyle 5-6

5:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

David P.
Doyle 5-6

I think that the poem "Theme for English B" and Sylvia's story are very similar. In both the main characters are stuck in boxes that have to do with thier race or ethnicity. In "Theme for English B" the narrator is the only black student in his class. The other students probably think he can't succede because of his race. And in Sylvia's story she's stuck in a box because she is a mexican imagrant so her mother wants her to live a kind of mexican dream, while she wants to live the American dream.

6:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer
Lily Levitt
Doyle 5-6
9/20
“Sylvia’s Story” and “Alone and All together”
I believe that Libby, the main character of “Alone and All Together” is very similar to Sylvia because they are both trying to escape their boxes that are holding them in because of their race, and families. Sylvia’s family kind of shuns her because she doesn’t want to be like the typical Mexican woman- have children young, have many family parties and be a stay at home mom who cooks and cleans. She wants to wait to have kids and have a job with graphic affects. Libby is kind of put into a box by her family because her parents are divorced and her dad and sister are in New York, where the twin towers had just been knocked over. But neither of them wants to completely let go of their heritage. They want to have a balanced life between their original heritage and being American.

7:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that the stories “Alone and All together” and "American History” are similar because the “boxes” that some of the characters are in. In “ American History” the main character named Elena is Puerto Rican and lives in an old apartment building for Puerto Ricans called El building. Elena is at school the day president Kennedy is shot, Elena sort of lives in her own box. After the president is shot. Elena has a crush on a boy that lives near her building named Eugene. While most of the people that she knows are sad and upset about the presidents death, Elena is thinking about Eugene and is in her own box, while a lot of the people out of the box are grieving. Like when she tells her mom that she is going to a friends house to study and doesn’t seem like she cares that the president was just shot.

The main character in “Alone and All Together” named Libby is Arab, but was born in Chicago, Illinois. Libby’s sister is in New York during 911. She is in New York because Libby’s parents are divorced and her dad lives in New York so her sister went there to look at colleges. I don’t really think that Libby is in a box but I think that her mom is in a box. Her mom seems sad the whole story. Libby even takes care of her mom. “ I set her up on the sofa with pillows an a blanket.” P.15. Her mom is on medication and doesn’t stay at work every day. I think that her mom is in her own box and she stays at home all day and doesn’t really know what is happening besides 911. I think Libby is concerned about that people think Arabs have to do with 911. I think Elena and Libby relate to each other because they both look different from other Americans and both deal with difficult things.




Clara
“Doyle Period 5”

7:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rachel
Humanities 5-6

I think, “Sylvia’s story” and “Alone and all together” both have a connection with each other and their boxes. In both stories the main characters are put in a box by their parents or family. For Sylvia, her mother puts her in a box because she doesn’t know any better. Sylvia’s mother had never been educated knowing this the bitter aunt took on the role of educating her. The bitter aunt said that if Sylvia became educated she would become ashamed of her heritage and family. Sylvia’s mother wants Sylvia to be a stereotypical Mexican who goes out drinking, partying, respects men more than herself, and has a big family at a young age. Sylvia wants the American dream and to be a stereotypical American. She can’t accomplish this dream because her family doesn’t appreciate her or understand that it is okay to step out of the box. Which is another reason her mother doesn’t treat her always the same, when she wanted to step out of the box she was pushed down, and seeing her daughter do the same made her she feels jealous of her progress, and it made her seem invincible to pain. In “Alone and all together” Libby doesn’t have anyone to be there for her during the 9/11. Her box is she wants to be Arabian, but viewed as someone who loves their culture and language. Unlike the Americans who view all Arabians as terrorists, because of the tower incident. Libby accepts and embraces who she is “I hope it isn’t us” but her sister Sally feels like she wants to be American and free “that isn’t us. Her mother isn’t there for Libby her because of her depression, and her father isn’t there literally neither is her sister. This is a conflict because she can’t rely on anyone for help. She really wants to carry on her grandmother spirit as it says in the end. Libby manages to do this by protecting her friend’s little brother, and saying not all Arabians are terrorists, people see her in action and think of that as an act of bravery and friendship even though they are Arabian.

8:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I found many similarities between Sylvia’s story and Crickets. For Sylvia, her mother is trying to force her own culture onto Sylvia. She has another dream (of America), and her mother doesn’t understand that. Sylvia tries to separate herself from her mother, so that she could not be pulled into her mother’s box. Ted tried to show his son the Vietnamese culture, but didn’t realize that Bill was already stuck inside the American box. Despite Ted’s attempts to show Bill his childhood, Bill wanted nothing to do with that culture. In both stories, the parents are hurt, but learn to accept their child’s views and dreams.

Olivia I.
Doyle 5-6

8:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Henry Schellinger
9/20/12
Doyle 1-2

I made a connection between “Sylvia’s Story,” and “Crickets,” two somewhat similar stories. In both cases, the main characters are trying to escape their boxes of their countries. Ted fled Vietnam hoping to live the American dream when he came to America, and he somewhat did. He did want his kid to embrace Vietnamese culture, which he did not (he completely rejected it when he wiped off the smudge of grass on his Reeboks symbolizing his Vietnamese culture, juxtaposed on his American shoes). In Sylvia’s story, her parents want her to live the American dream, but limit her, or shove he back into her box when she tries to pursue her dream. Both stories also introduce a sense of rebellion against their countries. Ted throws rocks at the tanks at the beginning of the story, and Sylvia wants to die her hair pink and become a visual effects person. Ted isn’t successful in his story, and we don’t know if Sylvia is.

9:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


The connection that I made was between "Alone and All Together" and "American History". The main characters Libby and Elena both feel ashamed of their roots of nationality. Libby is ashamed that she is Arab because she feels like people are blaming her for the horrible incidents on September Eleventh. Elena is ashamed because she doesn't feel included because she is Mexican and all of the popular girls at her school are black. But the girls are different in the sense that Libby wants to learn more about her Arab roots, but Elena just wants to be like all of the other girls instead of being different. Libby is ashamed of who she is, and Elena is upset that Eugene's mom didn't let her study with Eugene because she believed that she was better than Elena. Both girls have similar feelings of embarrassment, self-pity, and sadness.
-Michael Rubin
Doyle 5/6
9/20/12

10:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jacob Shkrob
9/20/12
Doyle 5-6

I felt a connection between "Crickets" and “Alone and all Together” because “Crickets” is all about a Vietnamese trying to fit in America. And “Alone and all Together” is about Muslims still trying to fit in America. In “Crickets”, the main character, Ted, is trying to get out of his “Vietnamese box” and turn into an American but he get out of his box. In “Alone and all Together”, this idea works the same way. The main character, Libby is trying to escape her American box and get inside the Arabian one. In Crickets, the dad is entertaining his son with fighting crickets but the son is not interested and leaves his father. I think the son is trying to escape the Vietnamese box trying to get into the American one. The father is being called his English name at his work kind of like Libby is being called names at her school. Both of these stories has a similar idea to it. Each character is jumping into another box in both of the stories.

6:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that “Crickets” and “Sylvia’s Story” are similar in some ways. One similarity is that in both stories, the parents are from another country. They want their children’s lifestyle to be like that of their home country, but the kids are not interested in doing that and want to live an American life. In other words, the parents are trying to put their kids in boxes that the kids don’t want to be in. I think that the kids should be in whatever box they will be happiest in, but still acknowledge their parents’ cultures. In "Crickets", Ted is only trying to have Bill recognize his Vietnamese heritage and have fun in a way he used to do in Vietnam. However, in "Sylvia's Story", her parents are trying to get her to live a Mexican life. These children are being put in boxes by their families, while the people in the other stories are being put in boxes by society. At the end of "Crickets", Ted acknowledges Bill's decision to live an American life, so I think he has escaped his Vietnamese box is some ways, but not in others, because his parents are still Vietnamese. I think Sylvia will escape her box when she is old enough to live independently from her parents.

Helena Abney-McPeek
Doyle period 1/2

7:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer
Miranda
Doyle 5-6

I think the two stories "crickets" and "Silvia's story are very similar. because in "crickets", Ted is still trying to be Vietnamese and wants his son to be. But as the story progresses you get to see that he wants his son to like what he likes as if hes reliving his child hood through his son.it relates a lot to Silvia's story because their both trapped in boxes but want to get out of them. Like in "Silvia's story" you see how everyone wants her to be a stereo typical Mexican woman, but Silvia doesn't want to be like that at all. These two story's are a lot a like and show you how much people are trying to escape boxes but a lot of people don't now that.

3:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think “Crickets” and “Sylvia’s Story” share a strong connection concerning “the box”. In “Crickets”, Bill wants to be American. This is proved when he gets upset over his dirty sneakers rather than Louisiana’s lack of fire crickets. In “Sylvia’s Story”, Sylvia wants to work as a designer and be American rather than live the typical Mexican life. Her mother wants her to be like her cousins, and have the traditional party every girl has on her 15th birthday. Bill’s father Ted wants Bill to experience his life as a child in Vietnam. He does this by introducing Bill to fighting crickets, but Bill isn’t interested, because fighting crickets isn’t “cool”, or American. Ted is stuck in the Vietnamese box. He wants to like America, but he just isn’t American. On the other hand, Bill is stuck in the America box. His name is American, and he chooses his sneakers over fighting crickets. In “Sylvia’s Story”, Sylvia is stuck in her own box. She was born into a Mexican family, with Mexican parents and siblings, who are all perfectly content with living a traditional Mexican life. But Sylvia wants the American Dream. Sylvia’s mom is stuck in another box. She wants Sylvia to grow up to be Mexican, and have Mexican boyfriends. She is terrified of going places by herself, and whenever Sylvia pokes a hole in her box, she tapes it back up again. Ted is like Sylvia’s mom, the one who sticks to tradition, and encourages his kid to do the same. Bill and Sylvia want to be American. They want to be like all the other kids at school, and have cool jobs. I think “Crickets” and “Sylvia’s Story” are really the same story.

Alice
Doyle 1-2

9:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Emma Meyers
Doyle 1-2

In all of the stories we read there was at least one character who was "stuck in a box" meaning someone who has a life sort of planed out for them, and sometimes they want to rebel and escape that box. I found Silvia's story and American History to be very similar because in both stories, there is a young spanish immigrant who wants to live the american life. In american history, It was Elena's mom keeping her in the box to prevent humiliation, at the hands of Eugene's mother. In Silvia's story her mother just wants Silvia to live the life of a normal mexican immigrant. But, in both stories Elena and Silvia both want to rebel and escape there boxes and live a normal american life, for example, Silvia wants to be free to have what ever job she wants and Elena wants to be friends with Eugene and not be looked down on because she is a mexican immigrant living in El Building. They both want to escape there boxes and be free.

11:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer
Jenna Pandolfi
Doyle 1-2

I think in "Sylvia's Story" and "American History" have a connection. In "Sylvia's Story" Sylvia wants to do something different then what her mother mother wants her to do. Sylvia's mother says " I want you to be a mexican house wife". She wants to become a person who works with effects in movies. Though her mom has other plans Sylvia still pushes to do what she wants. Much like "American History".
In "American History" Elana (the main character) Wants to go to Eugene's house. Elana's mother says "no" to her. The reason her mom says "no" to her is because the President dies. Elana's mom also says no because she wants to help Elana from what Eugene's mom will say. Elana's mom doesn't want Elana to face the reality of how other people will treat her outside of her mom's box. Elana's mom knows that outside of the box people will call Elana names because Elana is Puerto Rican and above all that she is also in a lower class.
What i meant above by box was Elana has lived in a world that the worst thing she had to go through concerning the her race was the mean black girls at school. Even then Elana's mom doesn't even want them to make fun of her.
The main connection that I was trying to get to was that both of the girls got out of the box just a little bit to do what they wanted even though they new inside that their moms were right
The more out of the box they could get the more independence they could feel.

12:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer. Sorry I'm late!
Megan M.

I think "American History" and "Crickets" relate because in both of the story characters want relationships to develop with someone else and in both of those stories they don't. In American history Elena just meets Eugene but in crickets Tim already knows his son. Elena wants to change her relationship with Eugene (possibly making it stronger) and Tim wants to share some of his childhood with his son and also make the relationship stronger. In “American History” Elena is very different from Eugene. She is from a different place, just like Ted is from Vietnam while his son was born in America. It is a little different because Ted feels a little detached from his son while Elena has no idea until the end when her mother says that they might not be the same. These stories are similar because both characters want a stronger relationship with someone else.

1:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer…
Cecile
Doyle 5-6

I think “Crickets” and “Sylvia’s Story” are alike and different. In “Crickets” Ted doesn’t necessarily want his son to live in the box, but to like the box. He doesn’t want Bill to live like a Vietnamese person but to like the Vietnamese culture, because he knows even if he tried to make him live how he lived it wouldn’t work and Sylvia, she wants to make her own decisions. I think both Ted and Sylvia’s mom doesn’t realize that Sylvia and Bill already are in the box of America. So they cant really take away that box. In the end of “Crickets” Ted gives up on trying to put Bill in the “Vietnamese Box”. I think that eventually Sylvia’s mom will understand why Sylvia wants to go to college and will let her. But I don’t think Bill want to learn about the Vietnamese Culture, at least not until his older.

2:50 PM  
Blogger pup88888 said...

Paryssatis Khazaie
Doyle 1-2

the characters in "Alone and All Together" are very similar to the ones in "American History." the girl in "American history" was frequently being thrown back into her box every time she tried to get out. For example, when the mother of Eugene told her absolutely everything she was hoping wasn't true. In "Alone and All Together" a bit of the same thing was happening, except not only with the main character. Libby sees herself as Muslim, and is proud of it, but her sister wants to be American all the way. Libby's sister refused to see herself as a Muslim, she did not want to be in that box, she wanted to be in the box everyone else in America was.

11:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that Sylvia's story and American History have many parallels; especially between Sylvia and Elena. Sylvia is put in her female box by her mother and Elena is put in a box by her mother. They are both put in boxes that limit them from doing things that other people can do. Elena is put in a lower class Puerto Rican box while Sylvia is put in a lower middle class Hispanic women box. Elena's box stops her from letting Eugene be her boyfriend while Sylvia's box tries to prevent her from from working in the graphic arts industry. Both characters are stereotyped my their race, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, and education. Both characters try to break out of their boxes. This struggle is represented in almost all of the stories that we have read.
John McKee
Doyle 1-2

4:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my post
James Woodruff
Doyle 1-2

Immediately after I had read the two stories “Alone and All Together” and “American History” I made a connection between them. In Alone and All Together I saw that a the Muslim people were being discriminated against because of 9/11. Also in American history I saw that a Puerto Rican girl is being discriminated against by a boys mother. In both stories, people are being put down because of the color of their skin.

5:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is my answer
Giulia
Doyle 1-2
I think there is a connection between Sylvia's story and American history.
In both stories someone is putting the main characters in a box because their race and nationality. In Sylvia's story her mom is putting her in a box of being a mexican girl that is supposed to be scared to be outside the house and is supposed to have kids when she is 16. In American History Eugene's mom is putting Elena in a box of being a foreigner, before the incident with Eugene's mom Elena was not aware of the box, she thought it was for different reasons. Both Elena and Sylvia are trying to escape their boxes, Elena, by trying to become a normal american girl with a job as a special effects artist for movies, and Elena, by trying to go to Eugene's house.

6:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ashwin Aggarwal
Doyle 1-2

I made my connection with "Crickets" and Sylvia's Story. Ted left Vietnam because of the war to go to America.
Ted strongly encouraged his son Bill to leave the American Box and go to the Vietnamese box. As with Sylvia, she is wanting to be in the american box but her parents are preventing her from doing so. In both stories they both throw rocks at different things such as tanks and stop signs. That is showing a bit of rebellion.

8:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that the two stories "Crickets" and "Alone and all Together" because in both stories there is definitely an huge lessons of coming out of the box and seeking the American Dream.In the story "Crickets" The box is the Vietnamese culture and the main character ends up escaping the box and moving on. Also in these stories is mainly show how the main character can fit into there own little box and live the American dream.
-Dave

5:40 PM  

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