The Immigration Experience

In The Namesake, we see the immigration experience through Gogol, a first generation immigrant, and his mother, Ashima, an immigrant. Ashima has to learn to adapt to life in America. Gogol on the other hand struggles with leaving his indian culture to adapt to his new American way of life.

Ashima has an arranged marriage to Ashoke, and they move to America. She has never left home and now is going around the world away from her family to start a new life. You can sense how awkward the first days of having an arrange marriage are. On top of having a new husband, Ashima has to learn to adapt to life in America. Her biggest surprise was that the stove has gas 24 hours a day 7 days a week. A simple concept as having constant gas is a new radical change in her way of life. Ashoke leaves Ashima at home to go to work, and he tells her when he gets back he will teach her how to do laundry and common household chores. She is completely dependent on her new husband that she barely knows. When she gives birth to Gogol, the doctor tells her that she must name her child before leaving the hospital. In India the child is not named until they are five years old. A child does not have a name for the beginning of their life. The value of names are stressed in America. They determine how the child will grow up, their values, and essentially determines how their futures will play out. Ashima's culture and American culture were clashing head on. 

Ashima and Ashoke had decided to change Gogol's name to Nikhil, to which Ashima says will be pronounced Nick by the Americans. One day when Gogol comes back from school, he hands a note to his mom stating that he would prefer to be called Gogol in school. When he decided to keep his name he was accepting to keep his indian culture. Sweet innocence. As we see Gogol grow up, he slowly realizes that his culture and life are not like everyone else's. He listens to heavy rock music in his room and does not want to speak to his parents. He starts to detach himself from his parents and his culture. Ashima had to learn to live life in America as an immigrant, but Gogol had to learn to assimilate into the American culture as a first generation immigrant.

As an adult, Gogol managed to completely detach himself from his indian culture. His parents tried to set up an arranged marriage for Gogol, which is normal and a right of passage in India. When the girl had came to Gogol's house she expressed how she detested American television. Gogol and his sister, Sonia, make fun of her. She represented how Gogol and Sonia would have turned out had they kept their culture alive. She was everything that they did not want to be. He later has a white, blonde, American girlfriend and was already spending time with her family. Gogol spent more time with her family than his own. When Maxine first meets Gogol's parents the clash of two cultures is truly seen. It was an awkward meeting for both his parents and Maxine. Gogol's double life was becoming harder to keep separate. When his father dies Gogol does not answer his mother phone calls while he is on vacation with Maxine's parents. After hours of trying to reach him, Sonia is able to get a hold of Gogol. He was trying so hard to erase his past that he ignored his family and tried to become part of another one. At his father's funeral, Maxine had showed up in a black skimpy dress. Even the librarian had made an attempt to show respect and research what happens at an Indian funeral. No one wears black to celebrate a passing, but white to celebrate their life. Gogol feels remorse for not speaking to his parents for the majority of his teen and adult life. He submerses himself into his culture; he becomes closer to his sister and his mother. Gogol learned that he cannot change where he is from, but sadly it took the death of his father for him to realize it.

Midnight Rider

Midnight Rider written by Joan Hiatt Harlow gives you another chance to look into the revolution. Hannah Andrews, an orphan, is sold by her aunt as an indentured servant to work in Boston for the Gage family. Her aunt, along with selling Hannah, sells her horse, Promise, the one thing that reminds Hannah of her father. Thomas Gage, Hannah's employer, governors the colonies and is the general of the British armies. Upon her arrival she befriends Caleb, the stable boy, and Meg, the daughter of Thomas Gage. Meg and Hannah, both the same age, become close friends and assist each other with their shenanigans. Caleb makes Hannah aware of the issues the Americans face under the British rule. In the stables she finds Promise and begins to ride him at night despite the trouble it could cause. Sympathizing with the Americans, Hannah begins to attend meetings of the Son's of Liberty dressed as a boy. She too longs for freedom for she has been dealt with a bad hand from life. 

It is significant to our world today because anyone can relate to the underdog. It is completely different experience to read about the Son's of Liberty in a history textbook and to read from the point of view of a character who is ready for battle. One is able to form opinions on how they wish the story to play out and relate to the character's feelings. It is also a good thing that they made the main character a girl for this time period. This girl who is barely a teenager is starting up trouble among the Whigs and the redcoats. It's perfect. At this time in history, servants were regarded to as ignorants and their free-time activities were never questioned. No one would expect Hannah to be a great horse rider and to be attending meetings that talk of revolution. It is her gender and age that give her the ability to be invisible and have some kind of freedom. Even with Meg, Hannah is not afraid to speak her opinion and she doesn't bend to Meg's will. It's a good reminder for girls to know they can take the initiative, start a revolution. why not? It's 2016. The Son's of Liberty can be related to any group today that stands up for injustices. Most groups don't plan to attack and go to battle, but they hold their gatherings and discuss the issues at hand. Bits and parts of history are always repeating. 

Lydia Lee

"Lydia is dead." This is the first line of Celeste Ng's novel, Everything I Never Told You. From this one line we assume that we will learn only about her life and how she was murdered. The twist is that we never get to know who Lydia could have been. Her life was molded by the expectations of her mother and father, Marilyn and James. Her life was not her own.

Before Hannah, Lydia's younger sister, was born Marilyn decided to runaway to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. She left Lydia and Nath behind to wonder what could have happened to their mother. When she was not able to complete her studies she decided she would live through Lydia. "It was a sign, Marylin decided. For her it was too late. But it wasn't too late for Lydia. Marilyn would not be like her own mother, shunting her daughter toward husband and house, a life spent safely behind a deadbolt (Ng 147)." Lydia would have all the support to become a doctor and not become the stereotypical housewife that Marylin's mother wanted her to become.

This kind of emotional trauma led Lydia to promise to do everything her mother told her to do because she was convinced this was the only way she would stay. Marilyn would quiz Lydia every day with random math questions and read her books such as Why There Is Weather and Fun with Chemistry. Lydia at a young age knew in what direction her mother was pushing her in. The answer for Lydia's future was a) doctor, b) doctor, or c) doctor. Marilyn and James also tried to manage Lydia's social life. Marilyn wanted Lydia to be just like her, perfect and popular. She gave Lydia diaries in which to keep her "secrets" in, but she never wrote in them. There was no evidence of Lydia's own life. She only wrote one word in a journal the year her mother disappeared, "gone." She wasn't given the opportunity to develop into being her own person. James would buy Lydia clothes right off the mannequin. If he saw girls Lydia's age dressing a certain way or wearing the same kind of jewelry, he would buy it for Lydia. They didn't understand Lydia at all, but tried to make her into a generic everyday girl. Lydia had to continue this charade because she was, "the reluctant center of their universe- every day, she held the world together. She absorbed her parents' dreams, quieting the reluctance that bubbled up within (Ng 160)."

When the police are interviewing all the members of the Lee family they doubt every answer they give. Was Lydia a lonely girl? Does Lydia have a boyfriend? Was she sad? Marilyn and James came to realize that her daughter was not living the life that she said she was. "She will find out everything she doesn't know. She will keep searching until she understands how this could have happened, until she understands her daughter completely (Ng 120)." Marilyn knew nothing about her daughter. She only knew that she would be taking advance classes, getting straight A's, and becoming a doctor. Marilyn only knew about Marilyn, Marilyn's dreams and goals.

Cultural Relevance

            Maria Semple’s, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, highlights the stereotypes that are embedded in our culture in today’s society. An epistolary novel uses emails, letters, and journals in the book. Semple has utilized this to further explain the interaction between characters through emails and how the settings draw to the stereotypes presented that are present in our culture.

            Emails are used to communicate between characters and it offers a way to forma an opinion about the character. The fact that Soo-Lin and Audrey, who are close friends, email instead of calling each other or physically talking to the other ties into the lack of communication in today’s society. Emailing is even thought of the old way to talk among friends, everyone now just texts. When the mailman comes he usually drops off junk mail, some bills, and if you are in high school an acceptance or rejection letter from a college. No one write to one another or calls. The very concept of having a house phone is going extinct. Chuck Martin wrote an article on the importance of face-to-face communication, “67 percent of senior executives and managers say their organization would be more productive if their superiors communicated more often by personal discussion (Martin 1).” Elgie, Bernadette’s husband, emails and IMs his assistant the work she must do on his behalf, and if it were not on her persistence they may have never talked. It was agreed upon the executives that verbal communication makes sure that everything is understood and clear. Advancements in communication have caused for a lack of interaction not just in the work place, but also among friends and family. If no one can even pick up the phone to say hello, then sending a handwritten letter asking about how someone is must be prehistoric. When someone receives a handwritten thank you note or letter it is treasured more because the person had taken the time to write it. There is a company that will send handwritten letters on your behalf. They take a sample of your writing, and have a robot create an exact replica of it. “The bot doesn't just copy letters; it learns spacing patterns, angulation, how a person connects certain letters, and how far someone veers from the margins (Greenfield 1).” Semple’s depiction of the communication used among the Galer Street gnats, Bernadette and Paul, and Elgie was spot on with how people communicate in the 21^st century.

            Stay-at-home moms are thought of to be similar to the housewives of New Jersey. Although, no one in Where’d You Go, Bernadette has a nanny or legal problems, the same amount of drama is presented. The Galer Street gnats are the typical stay-at-home moms, but with way too much time on their hands. Audrey Griffin, neighbor to Bernadette, exemplifies how much time housewives have on their hands. She is the mom who participates actively in school activities, member of the PTA, and enjoys to gossip about other moms. She had the audacity to break into Bernadette’s backyard to have an expert see how much it will cost her to have Bernadette’s blackberries removed. This is only one example of how Audrey cannot seem to mind her own business. Another instance was when Bernadette had “ran over” Audrey’s foot, and Audrey had made sure that it was said in the school email to everyone that Bernadette was the one done it. When she had gone to the doctor to get her foot checked out, he did not believe Audrey needed x-rays or to be on crutches. Semple’s characterization of the stay-at-home mom is completely accurate to the mom of our culture. In an article by Parenting Weekly it says, “Full-time mothers get the first call when volunteers are needed for any school function, field-trip or fundraiser…You will find yourself organizing trips, running bake-sales and driving children whose parents are stuck at work to museums. You put in all the work of "working parents" without the paychecks or the breaks (“The Myth of the Stay-at-Home Mom by Parenting Weekly” 1).”

Through Semple’s usage of emails and characters she has told a story that can be easily related to in today’s society because of our culture. The stereotypical stay-at-home in Where’d You Go, Bernadette is the PTA mom our culture. The usage of emailing instead of talking face to face is the texting era of today. These stereotypes of Bernadette’s upside down world are within our understanding and gave us some insight into her life.  

Satire Proposal

Proposed Title
Yet Another High School Rager

Author
Nicole Zavala 

One Sentence Description
This book offers insight into what people think happens behind the closed doors of private institutions before, after, and during school. Is it everything that Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez led us to believe high school was about? Or is it more of what Serena Van Der Woodsen showed us it could be?

High school, according to Urban Dictionary, is a failed experiment in preparing young people for the adult world. Private high schools though hold all the rage among the young minds of today. The special treatment, recruitment, butlers, parties, and trust funds. Everyone is blonde, white, and beautiful. Everyone is bound to become the CEO of a company and marry into more money because they have the world at their feet. These absurdities are what have people wanting to hear and see into a world that they think is real and unattainable. 

I proposed to fully execute the absurdities placed upon private institutions and their students it must be showed on the big screen, television. It has to be gaudy, loud, obscene, and yet give the essence of sophistication. What place holds all of these qualities? New York City. It is the perfect setting to explore the mayhem of high school in the city that exemplifies a mixture of cultures, groups of peoples, and disasters. The best actors have to play the role of a high school student, i.e. Liam Hemsworth, Jennifer Lawrence, etc. The hot high school teachers can be played by actors such as Johnny Depp, Cameron Diaz, etc. The main character will be an outsider; audiences can always relate to an outsider and sympathize with them. He/She will be thrown into the mists of the chaos that is high school and try to fit in among these Upper East Side students. It will not be told solely from the perspective of the main character, but will slowly progress into the perspectives of the other classmates, their families, their lives. What makes the show work is not the outsider, but that the stereotypes placed upon private high schools is told. If others see that their assumption is shared by others then they will be intrigued as to what else they could be right about. 

The most ridiculous things must be said and done. If your mom is a fashion designer and whenever her latest designs hit the runway, you can invite friends to be front row. A situation can be where the girl cannot decide which friends to bring. Sounds a little childlike, but it can be told from the perspective of the outsider. He befriends this girl somehow and its a secret friendship because she could never been seen with someone like him. They would all be first world problems, or rich people problems. Every public school bets their bottom dollar that private high schools recruit for sports. Although it is illegal to recruit at the high school level it can be presented as something that occurs in the show. The first episode should show the glamour of having money. A huge party as big as the ones Gatsby would throw. The DJ, the lights, and the people will all charm the audience. Of course like any other drama there has to be a love interest, triangle, or some kind of romantic struggle. Teens now a days have "ships" and "otps" - one true pairing. They are the two characters that they believe should be together and wait episodes, seasons, and maybe even years to see that happen. I, myself, have literally done cartwheels when my top is finally a thing. It is addicting to watch, to find out what happens. How does my otp work as a couple? Has love finally triumphed? These are all things that will help illustrate the obscene ideal of private high school students. 

At first the viewer will be watching from comedic standpoint, making fun of the struggles of these people. As we go further into the plot of the story, the viewer will still be watching for comedy, but we must start reeling him/her in. The character development of each character is essential because although they are snobby, they are people with feelings and backstories. To get into the thought process of someone, what makes people tick, what causes them to make such decisions; oh, what an adventure. It is not always what story is told, but how it is told. 

Serial

Murder, mystery, mayhem. Its no wonder that Serial has captured the interest of many young adults and teens today. A million listeners tuned into to listen to each episode per week when it was airing. They were not watching an hour long episode on a television, but curling up next to their iPods, computers, or phones to listen to the findings as if it were a bedtime story. Serial is a podcast telling of the disappearance of a high school student that turns up six weeks later, dead. Her ex-boyfriend and classmate, Adnan Syed, is accused and convicted for her murder. Sarah Koenig has spent a year digging up and reexamining evidence and alibis to see if this man deserves to stay in prison for the rest of his life. This story is the real life episode told first hand that would probably air years later as an episode of Cold Case, Criminal Minds, or Law and Order. 

The phenomenon of murder cases, unsolved crimes, and homicide have all found their place in the minds of everyday people. We are told we are the generation thats obsessed with murder and try to solve cases. The fact of the matter is that we want to know what was happening at every moment for each individual character; what they were thinking; what they said as their testimony word by word; what they were wearing; what their plans for the day were; what they were doing at the time of the murder; why were they at the time of the murder. All of these questions that run through the listeners head allow them to become "detectives" and draw their own conclusions. We all suddenly have our PhD in forensics and criminology. Many people, including myself, find the events that have occurred are not out of the ordinary. Who has not heard of a relationship that did not end on good terms and the ex starts to stalk or harass the other? Obviously, this is not something that should be of the norm to us, but the sad reality is that it is. It is events that people can relate to or see happening to them that keep them interested in knowing what happened and what led to it. 

Listening to an episode is also something completely unusual. You say podcast, and I think audio book. I think of Moby Dick being read to me by a monotone voice that keeps a constant rhythm. When I first heard the podcast in class my mind immediately began to assign faces to the characters according to the sound of their voice and how they spoke. When you watch a television show how the character looks and dresses is already assigned to him or her, but listening to it gives you the freedom to envision what your killer or victim looks like. Listening to the testimonies makes the hair on the back of your neck crawl because your mind plays tricks and you can vividly imagine how everything played out. Is he really the murderer? Could there have been a mistrial? Who is really to blame? That is what has the listeners coming back for more. They want to feel scared to a certain degree; they want to solve the murder; they want to prove themselves right. The court can say, "case close," but that does not stop a determined "lawyer in training." 

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