QTPC – 10/14/09 October 14, 2009
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QTPC – 10/14/09 Adam Banks
Quote:
“I’m housed in a coat room,” says a reading teacher at another school in Irvington. “I teach,” says a music teacher, “in a storage room.” Two other classes, their teachers say, are in converted coal bins.
Talking Point:
For someone to be able to teach or learn in these types of conditions would be very difficult. It’s no wonder why black students back then didn’t have very good education, because the conditions were definitely not sufficient for students to be able to achieve a proper education.
Connection:
The places that these students were learning were just like the living conditions for Jews during the Holocaust. They were in very small, cramped rooms. The difference was that the students chose to go to school where the Jews were forced.
QTPC – 10/7/09 October 8, 2009
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QTPC – 10/7/09 Adam Banks
Quote:
I ask him how he gets here.
“With my father. On the train,” he says.
“How long does it take?”
“It takes an hour and a half.”
Talking Point:
In order for this particular black child, who is seven years old, it takes a total of three hours of travel to and from school. He has to take the train because his family is poor. They live in The “Times Square Hotel” which is a homeless shelter in Manhattan. Also, it would only take 20 minutes to get to the actual nearest school, but since schools are segregated he has to take the train an hour and a half to get to his school.
Connection:
This scenario is exactly what a lot of black people went through back in that time. Whether they were children going to school or they were adults going to work, a lot of black people back then had to travel great distances in order to get to school or jobs because of segregation and poverty.
QTPC – 10/5/09 October 6, 2009
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QTPC – 10/5/09 Adam Banks
Quote:
“This, of course, is pie in the sky. You asked me what I need so I have told you. If I’m dreaming, why not dream the big dreams for our children?”
Talking Point:
This quote brings up the fact that if you dream, why not dream big. As an adult, why not dream for your children to be able to do better than you did.
Connection:
As a kid people dream of what they want to be when they get older, and when you’re young, you dream big. Well as adults we also need to dream big, not for ourselves, but for our children.
QTPC – 9/30/09 October 1, 2009
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QTPC-9/30/09 Adam Banks
Quote:
“Shadrack, Noria says, is the wealthiest member of the settlement. That is why he lives in a shipping container, instead of a makeshift shelter of newspapers, plastic, canvas and corrugated iron sheets, like the rest of the residents.”
Talking Point:
The members of this society seem to be very poor. None of them have an actual structural home; instead they use materials that normally wouldn’t be used for house. The wealthiest person in the community lives in a shipping container.
Connection:
The people in this society are a lot like the people in Disgrace because they are poor, and live in harsh living conditions. Although the living conditions are difficult, the people in this society have strong relationships just like the people in Disgrace.
QTPC – 9/28/09 September 29, 2009
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QTPC – 9/28/09 Adam Banks
Quote:
“Or is being shocked another of the duties she takes on – like a nun who lies down to be violated so that the quota of violation in the world will be reduced.”
Talking Point:
I think its interesting how in a book about racism, Coetzee shows a comparison of gender roles. This comparison could also be seen as maybe another theme for the book. It isn’t a big theme but something as subtle as this quote can show how gender roles play a part in society.
Connection:
Gender roles play a big part in society. In my sociology class we are talking about gender roles and the way men and women interact. Throughout history men and women have always taken certain responsibilities and tasks known as gender roles.
September 24, 2009
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QTPC – 9/24/09 Adam Banks
Quote:
“But only as long as I don’t have to become a better person. I am not prepared to be reformed.” (Disgrace, Pg. 77)
Talking Point:
Sometimes change can be a good thing, but there are other times when people just don’t feel like change. Sometimes people like the way things are going and want to just go on the way they are. Even though in this case change would be for the better, it can be difficult.
QTPC-9/21/09 September 22, 2009
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Quote:
“ You people had it easier. I mean, whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, at least you knew where you were.”
“ You people?” he says. “ What people?” “ I mean your generation…”
Talking Point:
No matter how far along the world advances, the concept of racism is always going to play a role in society. In the quote I chose the concept of racism is brought up, even though it was not intended in that manner. No matter what, due to the history of past relationships between black and white people, racism is always going to be around.
Connection:
The best connection I can make to this is, the other day when I was at Wal-Mart I heard someone make a comment, that if misheard could be taken the wrong way. This could’ve turned into quite a complicated situation depending on how people interpreted it.
QTPC-3 September 3, 2009
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Adam Banks QTPC-3
Quote:
“The Savage was reading Romeo and Juliet aloud-reading (for all the time he was seeing himself as Romeo and Lenina as Juliet) with an intense and quivering passion.” (Huxely-184)
Talking Point:
I find it interesting how “the Savage” has the most education in this society. I think the people that are considered normal in this society are actually more of the “savages”, than the ones that are considered “savages”. The fact that John can recite lines from Shakespeare shows that he is more knowledgeable than most of society.
Connection:
Back when the first settlers arrived they encountered Native Americans, which they called “savages”. The Native Americans in that time were a lot more knowledgeable than the average man. Just because of the Native American culture, they knew many medicines, and healing methods. They also were very skilled hunters. In Brave New World the “savages” were intellectually smarter because they did not live as the rest of society did, they lived their own way. Which meant they could read whatever they wanted, and in doing so they were able to gain knowledge that the people in the “normal” society could not.
QTPC-2 September 3, 2009
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Adam Banks QTPC-2
Quote:
“In the driveway, one of the Guardians assigned to our household is washing the car. That must mean the Commander is in the house, in his own quarters, past the dining room and beyond, where he seems to stay most of the time.” (Atwood-17)
Talking Point:
Both of these pieces of literature are describing a dystopian society in which no one really likes. Everyone wants to live in an utopian society where everyone is happy, but both of these pieces are far from that. Even the world we live in today is far from an utopian society because power is something that everyone desires and once it is gained it’s not easy to give up.
Connection:
After reading Handmaid’s Tale, it reminded me a lot of 1984 by George Orwell. In 1984, Orwell portrayed a dystopian society in which one leader ruled it. This also reminds me of when America was under British rule and the King had his armies patrol people’s homes.
QTPC-1 September 3, 2009
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Adam Banks QTPC-1
Quote:
“Try to imagine what ‘living with one’s family’ meant.”
They tried; but obviously without the smallest success.
“And do you know what ‘home’ was?”
They shook their heads.” (Huxely-36)
Talking Point:
The fact that no one in this society has a family or even know what a family or home was is unbelievable. I couldn’t imagine not having someone like a mother or father in my life, or not even having a house.
Connection:
This situation is sort of like an orphan’s. The people in this society have no family but they still have a father figure in which case an orphan has no family either but the person that would be in charge of the orphanage would be the same as a father figure.
