FIND a small detail, or a quotation, that particularly impressed you. Write the reason why you chose it.
It must be something SMALL: ex. do not talk about "poverty" in general, find a tiny detail that illustrates that poverty.
1) Read all the posts before yours: DO NOT REPEAT. Find your own original item.
2) As you read the posts before yours, chose one that has not yet received a reply. REPLY and tell the writer if you had noticed or not noticed the same detail and what it means to you.
On page 20, last paragraph, the narrator describes peasants. "When the good season is with us the valley is happy and the sturdy peasants walk jovially to work in the early morning..."
ReplyDeleteI chose this "small detail" because when I hear the word peasant, I immediately think about low-life people. My view on the word peasant reminds me of homeless people who are also jobless and without education, however, the narrator, describes peasants in a totally different way.
Peasants are not only "sturdy" but also "jovial" and with jobs, "to work". This shows, just how people of different living environments see themselves and the terminology used differently to represent something totally opposite to what our society sees it as.
-Crystal Buchanan
I do envision poverty stricken people or homeless people as well when I hear the term "peasant". Interestingly enough, that isn't how the author is referring to the people in the village. He was using the word in a positive way, meaning although they are poor they are hardworking and have good spirits.
Delete"I cannot blame him. He works so hard. And we never seem to get any better." (page 47)
ReplyDeleteThis was said to Pascal by his mother about his father's decision to go to America. This quote shows how deep in poverty they are. No matter how hard they work, they just can't seem to get any better. This is usually what prompts people to leave their homeland in search for something better. I chose this quote, because it describes one of the main problems the narrator goes through. In this one sentence the mother manages to describe their hardship. I found it to be really sad, but extremely real.
-Solansh Moya
I completely agree actually, I have noticed as well the hard life they went through and how hard the times must of been. What this also means to me is how " Great America" is portrayed to them. They believed it will bring them well paying jobs and a nice home but the back lash is "if" they will ever want to return back to the old homeland to get there families and if they can.
Delete- Ashley brown-
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ReplyDelete"I watched the poor creature gulping down my food" (page 41)
ReplyDeleteI chose this quotation because it is in this moment that he sees the witch in a different light than anyone else in the town has seen her before. He sees that like everyone else she is struggling to survive in her own way and that her outcast life had been much worse than even his own life in poverty. Instead of feeling afraid of her like everyone else he felt somewhat sorry for her. I think this encounter with the old with and with the other outcast man when he was walking to town with his mother had a profound impact on him seeing these people as people that can be hurt and as real people gave him a different perspective on life pascal stating it had a "profound impact on him" which will lead into what his character will develop into.
- Melissa Meyers
Great quote. I wanted to choose something about the witch as well. After she ate his food and he stopped fearing her he switched his definition of a vampire from the old lady to the rich people that owned the land. I feel like these experiences harden him and I think he's going to need that in his new life in America.
Delete-- Phillip Matiz
page 52 "Children are like birds after big strong wings have grown and enabled them to fly, very seldom they think of returning back home to the mothers bough"
ReplyDeleteThis quote from Pascals mother really stood out for me. They were both sad that he was going to leave and they were crying. His mother gave him the confidence to move forward. The hard decision Pascal was making and he still needed his mother to make him feel okay with it. Even though he was making an adult decision he was still a boy. I thought this was a nice tender moment and I think Pascal is going to miss that as he journeys through America.
-Phillip Matiz
I was going to use this quote if it hadn't been taken already since it is so powerful to me. The need to migrate to another country in order to make a better living tore families in half, or even up into smaller sections. Some of them, as it seems to be in this case given that D'Angelo states that he never came back, are never reunited. Going off to a strange place and not even having the emotional support you need is hard. D'Angelo, luckily, did not go completely by himself since he had his father. Still, it is very hard for a child to be separated from their mother at such an age.
Delete-Alexa Mucci
"But my boyhood was not all play, and very early I knew what work was." page 22.
ReplyDeleteUp until this point, D'Angelo give anecdotes of his early childhood, of what he did when he was a young boy and the types of antics that he would get into. In society today we would assume that this kind of life would continue for children well into their high school years. For D'Angelo, it is different. He did not have the luxury of staying a child. Instead, at the age of twelve he had to stop attending school (which he began at the age of seven, he attended school for just 5 years)and begin working to help his family make money. With him working as well, it was still only just enough for them to get by. This quote sheds light onto the families in these towns of poverty, and how every person in the family, no matter how young, had to work in order to survive. Essentially, this robs these children of their childhood, forcing the to grow up much earlier than they should have to.
-Alexa Mucci
I noticed throughout the first couple of chapters as well that D'Angelo was missing out on his childhood. He seems extremely mature for such a young boy and missed out on education and play time with other children. From a young age he was forced to help his family and work. Also, as I read he foreshadows that his hard childhood has just begun...
DeleteDeanna Schneider
i noticed the same thing that despite him having his little curiosities and games with his friends or boys in common age in the village he knew and understood the essence of hard work, he was very mature and cherished it. He felt he learned more from life and the people in it, than what he learned in school
Delete-Diana Pope
"When you know that they are like that why do you go with them" page 5 & " At the time she seemed to be the most beautiful woman in the world to me, though i now realize how care and hard work had given her face a thoughtful expression" pg 14&15
ReplyDeleteThese 2 statements stood out to me because they both describe how his parents definitely his mother played an influential role in his life. Teaching him the basics of how to analyze people and the situations. His mother and father showed him when you surround yourself by a certain crowd you end up getting the repercussions of the decisions you make, and in that why get our protection when you chose to be in that particular place.(Problem solving). Also you seen his maturity how he didn't glorify his mother in the sense she had a higher beauty but seen her true essence that despite her hard life's work he still noticed the care and love his mother has for herself and her family.
-Diana Pope
"Love, like death and night is a great leveler, even in a Metropolis."
ReplyDeleteThis quote was profound as it demonstrated that the couple who stopped to enjoy the flowers reminded the narrator of Italy and the carefree attitude of the people there, despite their struggled. People in NYC are described as being more cold and not as present to the moment, finding honor in not enjoying small things like flowers.
-Jeremy Trapani
"Love, like death and night is a great leveler, even in a Metropolis."
ReplyDeleteThis quote was profound as it demonstrated that the couple who stopped to enjoy the flowers reminded the narrator of Italy and the carefree attitude of the people there, despite their struggled. People in NYC are described as being more cold and not as present to the moment, finding honor in not enjoying small things like flowers.
-Jeremy Trapani
Such a small detail that I definitely overlooked. I think it's interesting that most of the world has this point of view, not only towards New Yorkers, but I think of Americans in general. Yet somehow America has earned this "title". This is the country where many people have immigrated to, even D'Angelo. America is portrayed as the country that all people want to go to, to find success. But this quote tells me that those who are poor find joy in their surroundings. Materialistic things hold no value over sentimental things. Whether your rich, or poor, you're still happy.
Delete"The other who were sailing on the same ship left at the same time and the scene at the station was one of undescribable confusion, lamentation, and exclamation" (Page 49)
ReplyDeleteIn this part of the book, D'Angelo gives insight of his surroundings upon his departure. Having to leave his mother, realizing that he may never return, and also leaving his country to a distant land, I felt sorrow. Not only for him but for all the men who were traveling to America. In the first few chapters of the book, D'Angelo describes his relationship with his mother. Although both his parents were hard workers, she was also a sensitive woman. When his father announced he had plans to go to America, D'Angelo's curiosity grew. It was his mother who saw this change in her son, and realized that he wanted to go as well. It is clear that a mother knows her son. D'Angelo would embark on a journey to this strange new land and he felt fear. As would anyone leaving all of their belongings and family behind to achieve what we call the "American Dream". D'Angelo mentioned that he would go with his father to America to double the money they could make and less the time they would be here. Somehow I feel that most men said the same thing to their families. They promised they would return. Yet most did not. However D'Angelo also mentioned that his mother knew he would never return. I was intrigued by that. I couldn't understand how someone could leave knowing that your mother KNEW you would never return. It's heartbreaking but reveals to me the economic struggle that they were going through.
-Malky Rosas
page 43, 3rd paragraph, "The next night, while a glorious moon was flaring above the snowy heights, the reports slowly circulated that the vampire was dead."
ReplyDeleteI found it peculiar that he made reference to the moon first and then proceeded to call the witch a vampire. Even after he saw the woman in her most vulnerable state, he still refers to her as a vampire. Especially after everything she had been through because of the town's members; she's still considered a monster.
Sometimes when you are taught something it's hard to move past that. His entire life that's how she was known to him, so it makes sense that he continues to call her that. That part of the story when he sees her in her vulnerable state, was really sad and heartbreaking.
Delete-Solansh Moya
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ReplyDelete"You cannot feel from the cold roads and steel tracks all the pains, the heartaches and the anger I felt at the brutality of enforced labor… We sell our lives, our youth, our health- and what do we get for it? A meager living"
ReplyDeleteAmong many heartfelt words I chose this because it made such a strong impact on me. While I read it I was disappointed in myself for never thinking about the roads and the railways that I walk through every day, as I take them for granted. Never once my ignorance stopped to think about the spilled blood and the lost lives they were built through. I am sad that he is so right, we will never be able to feel and to completely understand what they all went through. The injustice they had to swallow unable to express their feelings to the oblivious world that stood right in front of them and saw everything but kept its mouth shut.
Pajtesa Rexhepi
Chapter XIV, pg. 149, from the poem "The City": "and like two wild ideas lost in a forest of thoughts, Blind hatred and Blinder Love run amuck through the city".
ReplyDeleteThis quotation from his poem struck me as a true reflection of the nature of New York City, even to this day. Blind hatred causes the american citizen to stereotype and cast hatred upon the italian immigrant, competition between merchants and laborers creates a cut-throat working environment. The only thing that trumps this hate is an even blinder love; the love most immigrants have for their homeland and families that they hope to return to one day, the enthusiastic souls of young men who come to america searching for success to feed those they love. Hatred and Love are the two driving forces of the city, affecting all of its inhabitants, including native born and immigrants.
Chapter XIV, pg. 149, from the poem "The City": "and like two wild ideas lost in a forest of thoughts, Blind hatred and Blinder Love run amuck through the city".
ReplyDeleteThis quotation from his poem struck me as a true reflection of the nature of New York City, even to this day. Blind hatred causes the american citizen to stereotype and cast hatred upon the italian immigrant, competition between merchants and laborers creates a cut-throat working environment. The only thing that trumps this hate is an even blinder love; the love most immigrants have for their homeland and families that they hope to return to one day, the enthusiastic souls of young men who come to america searching for success to feed those they love. Hatred and Love are the two driving forces of the city, affecting all of its inhabitants, including native born and immigrants.
page 152
ReplyDelete"Perseverance!" answered my own mind, "Perseverance!" You cannot succeed by slinking away from the fight. Keep it up!
Reminds me of myself and the obstacles I have overcome and at present day continue to encounter. I cannot afford to give up, I am fighting the good fight not only for myself but for my son! Regardless of whatever comes my way, I am going to make it; doing what I love! We all need a cheering section and sometimes my cheering section is ME!