The Life of Diana

While we are still reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, we have gone over some main themes throughout the book. One is the theme of identity. Gogol's action of changing his name after disliking it for many years, due to the fact that it had no relation to the Bengali culture nor the American culture, shows that the theme of identity is extremely important throughout this book. Ever since I was little I have been called Diana. My parents had no real reason for naming me Diana other than them both liking the name. Although there is no real story behind my name, it has made me different from anyone else who has this name. My name is pronounced differently from everyone else. At times I get annoyed of my name because no one ever gets it right the first time. Now that I am older I have begun to like my name mainly because it is unique.

In my English class we are reading  The Namesake  by Jhumpa Lahiri. The theme of identity is extremely important throughout this book especially since the main character is a first-generation American who struggles with balancing his family's traditions and the traditions his family has inherited from the U.S. Although I do not relate to the main character of this story, I am also a first-generation American. Both of my parents were born in Iran. They moved to the U.S. for education and because the U.S. had better opportunities for their future's. To me, heritage and tradition mean practices that have been passed down generation by generation. I believe that I am more American than Persian since I have lived here my whole life and only visited Iran once. I still follow Persian traditions, including celebrating Persian New Year with my family.

As I had said in my last blog, I am reading the book, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by  Gabriel García Márquez. Throughout this book, the characters are unable to remember what they had witnessed on the day of Santiago's death. This angered me because I was so eager to find out the truth.  Last week, our English teacher staged a scene with one of his colleagues. Although we did not know that this was staged as it was happening, we did pay attention to some parts. None of us really noticed any of the smaller details but we did hear what they were talking about. After his colleague left, our teacher made us answer some questions. I was very confident with my answers about what they were talking about during the staged scene. I was also sure that his colleague was wearing a blue jacket, as had many others in my class as well, even though this was not true at all. We found out that she was wearing a black leather jacket. This had shocked a lot...

In my English class we are reading Chronicle of a Death Foretold by  Gabriel García Márquez. In this story, a young man named Santiago is murdered by twin brothers, Pablo and Pedro, because they found out that he had raped their sister. This event would bring shame to their family. For this reason, the twins felt like his murder was not to be considered a wrongdoing, even thought most people, including me, agree that it should have been. I do not believe  the  the murder of  Santiago is an "honor killing" because if it were then the twins would have killed their sister rather than Santiago. After learning about this topic, I was horrified by some of the actions that take place, especially to girls in the society. One of the examples of "honor killing" was the murder of one's daughter for being raped although she was the victim of rape. Some of the other examples include the killing of their daughters for wearing Western clothing or dating people that her family...

Here is the hypothetical situation: Suppose you are a prairie dog assigned to guard duty with other prairie dogs from your town. When you see a predator coming you have two choices: sound the alarm or remain silent. If you sound the alarm, you help ensure the safety of the other prairie dogs, but you also encourage the predator to come for you. For you, it is safer to remain silent, but if all guards remain silent, everyone is less safe, including you. What should you do when you see a predator? In a situation like this, I would set the alarm. Although I would be putting myself and many others in danger by doing this, it would eventually save our lives. In addition, we would keep one another safe from the predator after setting the alarm. Together, the other prairie dogs and I would be able to warn everyone about the predator rather than just caring about ourselves and putting the rest of the town in danger. If I chose to remain silent, the decision would lead to danger...

As I mentioned in my last blog, I am reading William Shakespeare's  Taming of the Shrew  in my English class. This play is about a young woman named Katherine who is known as a shrew because she is able to speak up and stand up for what she wants. The people who surround her try tame her shrewdness which shows the pressure that was put on women in order for them to remain silent during the time that this play was written. In addition, once Katherine gets married, her husband, Petruchio does not see her as anymore than another one of his possessions that he has control over. Around the time that this play was written, women did not have much power and were seen inferior to men. Today, there is a #MeToo movement going on where women of all ages speak about abuse, harassment, and their power in society. This movement shows that the world that we live in today is much different than the world Katherine lived in. Women are now much more powerful and are able to stand up for what ...

It is the beginning of the second semester and we have started off this semester by reading William Shakespeare's,  Taming of the Shrew. This play is about two sisters, one who is extremely quiet and the other who is outspoken. When I first heard of this play I thought that it would be only about the taming of a women rather than the life of her sister depending on the disappearance of her shrewdness. I also believe that the "shrew" will never be able to be tamed. The six posters from recent productions of the Taming of the Shrew all shared thematic commonalities. They each include a picture that depicts a way of trying to tame Katherine, also known as the shrew. These posters show that the woman in the picture is more powerful than the men who are trying to stop her in each different poster. Katherine's character is revealed in each of these posters, showing the audience the shrew that she acts as will be hard to tame throughout the play. These posters supp...