Week 4 "Obasan"
Feb. 5th, 2012 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
litbloggerPart 1
The internment of Japanese Canadians during World War 2, which is used as the historical context of Joy Kogawa's "Obasan", is one of the most important ways in which we, the readers, begin to understand the family dynamics in this story. Memories of the internment were "drowned in a whirlpool of protective silence" (Kogawa 4) causing grief that "grew rich off the unburied corpses inside her body"(Kogawa 4).The internment was responsible for a large part of the silent grief that the family grew up with and fled from as soon as they were old enough. "Her daughters, unable to rescue her or bear the silent rebuke of her suffering have long since fled to the ends of the Earth" (Kogawa 5). Had history been different, Obasan and Uncle would have stayed on Vancouver Island near the ocean that they loved. Their spirits may have remained intact and the children may have grown up with the happy uncle in the photograph that the narrator finds. The uncle that was so proud of his eloquently carved boat - his work of art.
While researching the Japanese internment, I came across an interesting piece of information. According to Wikipedia, the the author herself, Joy Kogawa and David Suzuki were both raised in BC internment camps as children (wikipedia.org). This adds a haunting and eerie reality to a story that now seems much more real than fictitious.
Works Cited
Kogawa, Joy. “Obasan.” Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan...[et al.]. Canadian Ed. Toronto:Pearson Education, 2005. 3-8. Print.
Wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Canadian_Internment. n.d. Retrieved February 5, 2012
Part 2
Having been a avid reader for many years, I think that the best way to write better is to read a variety of work. This has helped me to see how professional authors follow a line of analysis to a logical conclusion and how to invoke emotion or stay completely objective, depending on what the desired effect is.
I also write and rewrite a great deal, choosing better words that more accurately reflect the point I wish to make as I go along and fitting paragraphs and images together so the final paper makes the most sense.
As for developing a new writing strategy, I would like to improve on using symbolism and imagery in my personal writing. Because I write almost exclusively for business reasons my writing tends to be factual and results based. It is much more fun to use symbolism to help readers reach the point I am trying to make and it makes the reading experience so much more enjoyable. Unfortunately for me in my current occupation, it would not be appropriate for business proposals and executive summaries that are used solely to convey facts or results of programs.
The internment of Japanese Canadians during World War 2, which is used as the historical context of Joy Kogawa's "Obasan", is one of the most important ways in which we, the readers, begin to understand the family dynamics in this story. Memories of the internment were "drowned in a whirlpool of protective silence" (Kogawa 4) causing grief that "grew rich off the unburied corpses inside her body"(Kogawa 4).The internment was responsible for a large part of the silent grief that the family grew up with and fled from as soon as they were old enough. "Her daughters, unable to rescue her or bear the silent rebuke of her suffering have long since fled to the ends of the Earth" (Kogawa 5). Had history been different, Obasan and Uncle would have stayed on Vancouver Island near the ocean that they loved. Their spirits may have remained intact and the children may have grown up with the happy uncle in the photograph that the narrator finds. The uncle that was so proud of his eloquently carved boat - his work of art.
While researching the Japanese internment, I came across an interesting piece of information. According to Wikipedia, the the author herself, Joy Kogawa and David Suzuki were both raised in BC internment camps as children (wikipedia.org). This adds a haunting and eerie reality to a story that now seems much more real than fictitious.
Works Cited
Kogawa, Joy. “Obasan.” Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan...[et al.]. Canadian Ed. Toronto:Pearson Education, 2005. 3-8. Print.
Wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Canadian_Internment. n.d. Retrieved February 5, 2012
Part 2
Having been a avid reader for many years, I think that the best way to write better is to read a variety of work. This has helped me to see how professional authors follow a line of analysis to a logical conclusion and how to invoke emotion or stay completely objective, depending on what the desired effect is.
I also write and rewrite a great deal, choosing better words that more accurately reflect the point I wish to make as I go along and fitting paragraphs and images together so the final paper makes the most sense.
As for developing a new writing strategy, I would like to improve on using symbolism and imagery in my personal writing. Because I write almost exclusively for business reasons my writing tends to be factual and results based. It is much more fun to use symbolism to help readers reach the point I am trying to make and it makes the reading experience so much more enjoyable. Unfortunately for me in my current occupation, it would not be appropriate for business proposals and executive summaries that are used solely to convey facts or results of programs.
