Citizen Rex

For this next entry I am examining the graphic novel, Citizen Rex, written by brothers Mario and Gilbert Hernandez, and more specifically, the use of art style in conjunction with characterization in the sequence on page 66. In this multi-panel sequence the reader observes only four characters: the protagonist, Sergio Bauntin, his trusty robot, Hazel, three members of the Truth Takers, and Citizen Rex himself.

Looking at the character Sergio, the reader can see a perfect example of what Scott McCloud discusses in his book Understanding Comics. In terms of design, Sergio is a very simple character, his face has all the components one would expect on a typical human face, but none of these are very detailed. His beard in fact, may be his most distinct feature. Yet because of this, the reader is able to identify closer with the protagonist. As McCloud describes it, Sergio is very similar to the vague visual picture that a person keeps in their mind of themselves as they carry on a conversation with another person.

In a similar fashion, the appearance of the Truth Takers serves as a way to further separate the reader from these mysterious people. Although humanoid in shape, their obscured faces and gas mask like helmets severely de-humanize these characters, furthering the reader’s feeling of foreboding and mystery surrounding them.

Finally there is Rex himself. Like the Truth Takers he is also a humanoid and in the sections preceding this one he has appeared as a normal looking human. However in this sequence he has burst into flames, is missing an arm, and has most of his synthetic skin removed, showing the mechanical features hidden underneath. Much like the Truth Takers, Rex’s appearance serves to separate him from the audience. Although the reader can recognize him as a human, or rather a machine designed to look like a machine, the mechanical features of Rex put him into an area of mystery. The reader often questions whether Rex can be trusted. On one hand he seems, for the most part, to be trying to perform righteous actions. However his frightening appearance is difficult to get past and his presence in sequences always leads to a feeling of ambiguity as to his true intentions.

Discussion question: How else do the Hernandez brothers use appearance of their characters to add to the story?

Miss Clairol

Question 1: What was Arlene's first sexual experience like? Looking back on this, how does Arlene feel about it? What is Viramontes saying about sex in American culture?

Question 2: What item does Arlene borrow from her friend Pancha? What is implied by Viramontes by the fact that this item fits Arlene so poorly? What is Viramontes trying to say about social standing of Mexican-Americans living in a post Chicano society?

We Don't Need No Education

"School". For some, the word conjures up visions of uniformed students, pristine hallways, friends, and the hope of a better oneself for a brighter future. Yet for others, school is likened more to a cell. These people are usually those who have been left behind because they are "social outcasts" or that the school ignores because they "don't test well". For both Tomas Rivera and Richard Rodriguez, school was a place filled with strife. As seen in both And the Earth did not Devour Him... and Aria (by Rivera and Rodriguez respectively), school for Chicano children was not an institution that served to better themselves but as an instrument of isolation and degradation.

For Rivera, school was a daily reminder of his race and his status as a "second class person". In the vignette "It's that It Hurts", Rivera recalls another student informing him "Hey Mex...I don't like Mexicans because they steal. You hear me?" The boy repeats this twice more, each time Rivera's only response being "yeah". Yet the racism did not stop between students. After getting in a fight at school, Rivera is sent to the principal's office, where he hears the principal on the phone with who can be assumed to be another white male. While on the phone the principal refers to the white kids in the fight as "our boys" and Rivera is known only as "The Mexican Kid". At school, Rivera has no name, no identity. Instead he is reduced simply to his race and nothing more. Despite this, Rivera has a deep desire to continue his schooling. As a first generation Mexican-American, Rivera's parents want him to go to school since it will provide a better life than working in the fields as a laborer could ever provide. Rivera feels that since he was kicked out of school and will never become a telephone operator, the dream that his father has for him and would require mastery of English, Rivera has let down his entire family and not just himself.

Rodriguez' Aria also hits on this dream of learning English, albeit in a much different vein. Attending a bilingual school, there was a heavy emphasis on learning English. However, Rodriguez felt distanced from English, describing the words fitting in his mouth awkwardly, unable to produce a string of words to form a sentence. And then the contrast of "Spanish. Espanol: my family's language", a language that Rodriguez stemmed most of his identity from. However, the pressure to learn English pressed down on him, and Rodriguez eventually learned how to form his mouth in new ways, producing unknown and strange sounding phonemes. Yet as Rodriguez continued to learn English, his knowledge of Spanish fell away until it became a struggle for him to put together even a basic statement.

In the end, both authors lose part of their identity to their education. Yet this is a fate that for many is far too common. As importance on standardized testing and "no child being left behind" increases, many schools have eliminated time that was once put into subjects like art and music. As a person who has always been passionate about these two subjects I feel that I two am seeing part of my identity being lost in education. What about you? Where do you see the greatest failures in our education system? Should educators be focusing on the more "concrete" sciences and math? Does our system need a serious overhaul?

 

The Disillusionment Of Marriage

"This man who farts and belches and snores as well as laughs and kisses and holds her. Somehow this husband whose whiskers she finds each morning in the sink, whose shoes she must air each evening on the porch, this husband who cuts his fingernails in public, laughs loudly, curses like a man, and demands each course of dinner to be served on a separate plate like at his mother's, as soon as he gets home, on time or late, and who doesn't care at all for music or telenovelas or romance or roses or the moon floating pearly over the arroyo, or through the bedroom window for that matter, shut the blinds and go back to sleep, this man, this father, this rival, this keeper, this lord, this master, this husband till kingdom come."

Woman Hollering Creek, a short story by Sandra Cisneros, follows the story of Cleofilas and her horrible marriage and eventual escape from her abusive husband. Throughout the piece, Cisneros uses specific syntax, diction, and motifs to forward the overarching themes of the piece.

Looking at the first line of the passage above, one can see how Cisneros balances the flaws of her husband with his desirable characteristics. Poor traits such as farting, belching, and snoring are countered by Cleofilas' love of how her husband holds her, kisses her, and laughs. Yet the next sentence, which constitutes the rest of the paragraph, continues to list the faults Cleofilas sees in her husband and no other redemptive qualities. Through this, the reader is given a sort of window into the internal struggle Cleofilas feels towards her husband. At first, it's easy for her to glance over her husband's negative characteristics because of the qualities that she enjoys. However, as she continues to think, Cleofilas continues to add more and more to the list. It is important to note that the second sentence in this paragraph is one giant run-on sentence with no breaks in the prose except for a few commas. Through this, Cisneros adds to the sense that Cleofilas is starting to feel overwhelmed by her abusive husband and that all of his flaws continue to build into a mountain that she can no longer overlook. By the time Cleofilas is done listing her husband's flaws, he has gone from "husband" to "rival", "lord", and "master" and that it will take a literal act of God to get her away from the man she once loved.

Equally important to the syntax and diction used by Cisneros in this passage is her reference to the telenovelas that Cleofilas loves, a motif occurring throughout the entire piece. Because of these programs, which she has watched since she was a child, Cleofilas has constructed a romanticized view of how marriage should be. Ironically, her own marriage could not be further away from the fantasy that she has constructed and so desperately wishes to live. Cisneros uses this to further show how unhappy Cleofilas is in her marriage.

Through these key items, Cisneros begins to form her themes which permeate the piece Woman Hollering Creek. Throughout the story, Cleofilas' unhappy marriage is contrasted with the fantasy of the telenovelas. Through this, Cisneros explores the disillusionment many people in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries have with marriage. In addition to a 50% divorce rate, America still remains a country where men, generally, are more powerful than women. Through Cleofilas' submission and eventual rebellion of her husband, Cisneros is stating to readers that if our country is ever going to reach equality among sexes one that it must happen first in marriage.

As always, I'm ending with a question, well in this case, multiple questions. Through Woman Hollering Creek, Cisneros constructs themes regarding sexual inequality in our society and a disillusionment with marriage. One institution that Cisneros points a finger of blame at is the media. Do you agree with Cisneros' stance? Besides just marriage, how else does the media distort our society's view of sexual equality? Is it always just women being put down, or are their instances where men are placed in a lower position? 

Intro

For now I am keeping this blog for my English class, but who knows, maybe this could become something bigger.

I am nineteen.
I love food.
I try to follow the meaning of my first name everyday. Some days go better than others.
My middle name is after my dad's favorite musician, Ian Anderson.
My last name is tricky, it's not possessive or plural and "i" does not come before "e".
East of Eden will always be my favorite.
I have been accused of being a hipster from time to time.
I had five wisdom teeth.
I really enjoy getting dressed "to the nines".
I like anything spicy.
I enjoy a listening to vinyl, but don't worry, I did it before it was cool.
My birth mark is over two feet long.
Puns are great.
Traveling is amazing.
I really like the word "hablabamos".
I hate the word "ointment".
I wear girl socks, they're more comfortable.
All my instruments have Hispanic names, they are: Ana Lis, Mercedes, Lucia, and Gabriella.
I've been known to be really loud, I blame my Italian heritage.
I love the Pacific Northwest.

In case you were wondering, "Hoppipolla" is Icelandic for "jumping in puddles". If you haven't jumped in a puddle recently I would highly recommend it.

He is Joaquin (But I most certainly am not)

I Am Joaquin, a poem full of both intense national pride and contradictions. Rodolfo Gonzales' lines of free verse sing with allusion to the illustrious past of Mexico, from the invasion of Cortez to the immigration of thousands of Mexican laborers into the United States. Much like the Rio Grande, these lines twist and turn, flowing from lines of a single word to extended metaphors filling half a page.

Throughout the piece, the tone remains that of one filled with national pride, a pride fueled by images spanning hundreds of years. Yet at times this pride seems almost contradictory as Gonzales writes about the accomplishments of the Aztecs, only to describe their slaughter at the hands of Cortez further on. Or the rich belief of the indigenous people of Mexico, only to praise the adoption of Roman Catholicism. Because of this, Gonzales makes statements such as being "both tyrant and slave", almost as if he feels stuck between two worlds. Through this, Gonzales both accepts the European influence on Mexico, (even going so far as to reference the Moorish invasion of Spain during the 8th century and claim this is where Mexicans got their indomitable spirit), and revere the natives living in Mexico before the Spanish invasion.

To further his connection to these everts, Gonzales repeats "I am..." throughout the poem, personifying himself as the people recorded in these events. During these statements Gonzales adapts the tone of those he is describing, further forwarding his connection to his country and its heroes he writes about. As the poem continues and Gonzales builds on his identity rooted in his country, crescendoing constantly to the end of the poem until it ends at a roaring fortissimo.

As I read this poem, I am amazed at Gonzales' pride in his country and its people. As a third generation American, I have found myself distant from both my family's ancestry and the patriotism typical of Americans. I know my history. I could describe the events of the American Revolution, of the moral uprightness of Honest Abe, and how thousands of courageous young men stormed the beaches at Normandy and helped bring an end to a tyrant opposing the God-given rights of millions of his fellow humans. Yet if I were to tell you these tales, there would not be passion in my voice. The image of a flag does not bring a tear to my eye, nor does the playing of The Star Spangled Banner give me chills.

As for my family's heritage, the only connection I have to them is the smell of roasting garlic, the sizzle of hot oil in a pan, and a passion for food that runs deep in all of us and brings us together. However, I still find my identity to be just as strong as Gonzales. Instead of finding my connection to those in the past, my identity is rooted in the relationships I maintain on a daily basis. I find brotherhood not with the fallen heros of my country's past but in the people confide in. A soldier staying behind to man the walls is a pleasant enough symbol, but he will never be as heroic as a friend who sees me as I am, faults and all, and still accepts me.

So my question to you is, where do you find your identity? Is it in the stories of your country? The people around you? The activities you fill your day with? Or somewhere else entirely? In the end, one is not better than another, one not more profound. We simply are wired differently, and whatever way we choose to establish our identity, we should live it with a passion that matches that of Gonzales.