WINKLER #2 CCQC :)

• How is Jack's philosophy on life evolving?

Jack's philosophy on life subconsciously begins to change after he reads Cass Mastern's journal but really takes a turn when he finds out Anne is sleeping with Willie, eventually creating his own theory on life he names the "Great Twitch." Jack has been living his life and working for Willie Talos without giving much thought to his actions or considering the repercussions. In all honesty Jack does not really understand emotions or human motivations as seen when he wonders why his scholarly father is helping the unfortunate, his mother continues to remarry, Anne doesn't want to marry him, and especially why Cass would go through all the trouble to free his ex lover's slave, Phebe. Jack has yet to take any responsibility for his decisions but is deeply changed when he hears his childhood sweetheart Anne has had an affair with Willie, after which Jack actually takes time and reminisces about Anne as an innocent girl saying, "That was Anne Stanton. And little girls are fraidy-cats and try the surf with one toe that first day in spring, and when the surf makes a surprising leap and splashes their thigh with the tingle and cold they squeal and jump up and down on thin little legs like stilts. That was Anne Stanton (380)," Jack does not exactly understand how Anne grew up into a women who decides to sleep with his job obsessed Boss but he begins to blame himself and realize why Anne did not choose him "I had not understood then what I have now come to understand: that we can keep only the past by having the future, for they are forever tied together. Therefore I lack some essential confidence in the world and in myself" (433). Although Jack continues to work for Willie, the man who has the ambition he himself lacks, he is on the edge of coming to a fuller understanding on how the world works having finally been able to admit that there is something missing inside himself. Jack additionally questions his role in the scheme of life after the Judge, his real father, kills himself in spite of Jack framing him with the information about the bride he had long ago forgotten he made. "Perhaps I had done it. That was one way of looking at it. I turned that thought over and speculated upon my responsibility. It would be quite possible that I had none, no more than Mortimer had" (492). Jack then goes on and considers the fact that everyone played a role in killing the judge, eventually concluding that everyone is connected in some way, fueled by some unknown force, drive, or twitch. Jack's ideas are eventually solidified into his idea of "The great twitch." I predict sometime throughout chapter 8 Jack's new idea of the interconnectedness of the world will transform his actions or at least alter the way he views certain people in his life, shedding light on their reasoning Jack once believed to be absurd.

Blog post 2

     There is obviously a huge cultural difference in the Sudan and California. One scene that particularly showed this to me was the scene on page 333, when some men from the SPLA are giving the boys a demonstration. They have hostages that they claim are rapists, thieves, and murderers, and they are shouting to the boys that they will not tolerate it. The men protest and say that they are members at the SPLA and did nothing, but the soldiers have made the boys so angry at these men with their accusations that the boys cheer when the men are shot.
     Though Achak has never seen these men before, the shouts and excitement manipulate him. "We yelled no. I felt that the men should surely be punished for such betrayals. I hated the men." (334)
     This was a cultural issue to me because though this seems wild and savage, it is also something I can visualize happening in a society that claims to be as civilized as we do. Obviously there are not demonstrations like this is Marin, because we claim to be "above" this kind of brutality and use a "fair, honest system."
    However, before the holocaust, when Hitler was doing anti-Semitic demonstrations, he wasn't talking to a crowd of Nazis, he was talking to a crowd of civilized citizens. It is probable that before this, if you had asked one of those citizens if they ever expected to be part of the ostracism of jewish people, they would say no, claiming to be above it, as we do now.
    So, in summation, I think this is a cultural thing in that humans are swept away by mass hysteria, and though the cultures are presently very different, it is in our nature to swallow the emotions being fed to us, rather than go against the crowd.

What Ending

The tone of the last third of "What is the What" is very different than one might expect. Because the story had been, up to that point, relatively grim and harsh, a reader might think there would be a good ending. But true stories don't really have good endings. So the last third of the book is, I would say, melancholy. Even though Achek has escaped to America, there are always hardships and pain. The ending is sad, in a sweet sort of way.

     The most interesting part about the last third of the book for me was the man that didn't exist. When Achek met him, he was everything Achek wished for--kind and welcoming, with food and shelter to comfort Achek while he was injured. Obviously, this wasn't a reality, but it was a fantasy that held everything Achek desired in that  moment.
I believe the man was supposed to represent God.
Additionally, the bicycle was there. When Achek, Moses, and William K were children, they had guarded the bicycle, as it was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.
The bicycle symbolizes what Achek wishes to hold dear to him, what he never lets go of, what he "guards." In Achek's subconscious, the bicycle is a symbol of everything that was shiny and perfect in his life, and everything he needs to keep close in his memories.
The most interesting part of Achek and his personality, to me, was his optimism and his belief in good. At times it vanished, when he was afraid, young, or injured, but no matter what happened he always held onto a hope that things would get better. Even when he is ambushed in his home in America, he believes that he can reason first with the robbers, and then with the little boy. He always believes that people can have an underlying goodness and has a sense of hope, even when nobody else does.

What Blog #3

         

                  What is the What had a very bittersweet ending, which the tone in the last part of this book mimicked. The author used some very strong sentences that gave us hope for Valentino, yet sometimes made us feel sorry for him as well. During the last pages of this book Valentino was about to board the plane to take him to america, but at the last minute the 9/11 attack had happened and made all the boys lose hope in going to america. "As I had foreseen, as Maria had foreseen, I was being sent a message from god. I did not belong on this or any plane."(pg. 525). During this Valentino even questions if he wants to go to america because of how awful it looks from the attack on the twin towers. The whole book was leading you up to the freedom of Valentino, but then the author turns it around making it seem like he is just going to have to suffer even more in america. This is the kind of mental mind games the author has been playing on us giving us a little shred of hope for Valentino then crushing that hope only to spark a new one, like a roller coaster with small ups and huge downs. This is not bad, in fact it is really good, and I for one am very appreciative of someone who can write in that kind of tone. It makes the book feel very intense and interesting.


               The book what is the what was a roller coaster of emotions, both for the characters and reader. It truly shows the hardships of the Lost Boys, and what they have endured. It was a harsh tale from start to finish but was expertly written giving tons of feeling and power to the characters in this book. It was very inspirational proving that anybody can do anything if they put their mind to it. The reader can learn so much from this book, their are tons of lessons to be learned, one major on would be gratitude and how Valentino is so grateful/appreciative of what he has and what he receives. Over all the book was very good mixing an interesting and mind boggling tale with great writing, to make a very good book.

"What is the What", the end.

Valentino spends the book telling stories he remembers about his life. It seems that there are like two worlds, his present and his past. What is happening in his present affects the tone of how he tells his past for the first part of the book, but slowly he accepts the painful memories in his life and he ends with a reflective tone. The robbery at the beginning made him upset, so he begins telling stories of the times he experienced people treating him poorly. "I stand before Powder and my memory is searching for the time when I last felt this betrayed, when I last felt in the presence of evil so careless." (pg5) He is angry at the citizens of the United States and the way he is treated here so his tone becomes angry and annoyed ("I am tired of this country.."-pg7).  But soon, Michael comes and in an attempt to try and relate to Michael, he tells stories of his life as a young boy. This tone seems more compassionate. "At this moment, I am contemplating ways I might save you" (pg. 48). The tone changes so much because with every new person in his life, he has all of these memories that bring forth many different feelings. But right before Achor Achor arrives, there is a shift from the ever-changing tone. Valentino seems to have accepted that the Christian neighbors have not helped and he just tells them his life story, with a kind of peaceful tone. He seems to be slowly appreciating his past and the fortune he has now. He goes to the hospital and continues on with telling Julian his story. Although he is upset with Julian, he doesn't let it get in the way of his story. His memories let him reflect on the life he has now and the life he used to have. He appreciates the wonderful life he has now after remembering the amount of pain he has suffered through. "Each time I find myself giving up on this country, I have the persistent habit of realizing all that I have here and did not have in Africa." (pg. 351). He transforms from a storyteller who was altered by his past, to one that values the experiences he had. Towards the end of the book, he is checking his phone and his last voicemail is from a familiar friend. "The last message is from Moses. Moses of Marial Bai. Moses who was brought north as a slave, Moses who was branded and escaped and later trained to be a rebel. Moses who went to private school in Kenya and college in British Columbia and now lives in Seattle." (pg. 477). This causes him to reminisce about his experiences and how far he has come. Valentino has grown in strength because he has accepted the life he's had. Valentino falls back into a reflective, calm town, which guides the reader to the end of the book.

My favorite part of "What is the What" is when Valentino rides a bike for the first time. While the boys stagger through the desert, many have gone mad, many have died and all haven't eaten for days, a bunch of swirling lights appear in the distance. Dut is gone, so Kur tells the boys to run. Valentino runs in a random direction and ends up getting cut on  barbed wire. On the other side of the barbed wire, there is a man who offers him help. He brings Valentino into his shelter and gives him water and nuts and cleans his wound. Valentino notices the bicycle and the kind man teaches him how to ride it. "The round-bellied man sighed and called himself crazy. He rolled the bicycle out of his home and into the sun. The spokes shimmered, the frame shone. He showed me how to sit on the seat, and while I arranged myself upon it, he held the bike upright. It was the most astonishing bicycle ever seen in Sudan, and I was sitting on it luxurious black leather seat" (pg. 206). I love this part because it is almost like a dream or something that would only happen in a movie. The way Valentino describes it makes the experience sound so perfect at first I thought he was hallucinating. It was just this random kind man in the middle of nowhere. It gave me hope that Valentino was going to be okay and the kindness of this man in-between so many villagers refusing to help the lost boys was truly inspiring.

The tone of the last third of the book is stern and somber. This is shown through all of the criteria in the acronym DIDLS, which is diction, images, details, language and syntax. The whole style of the book is written to be very straight-forward and brutally honest. The writer doesn't dress the story up with fancy words or theatrics. It just is what it is. When Valentina gives his belongings to a man in distress in Kenya, he soon realizes that it wasn't worth it and that it was probably a scam. After he realizes his folly he says: "Each exhalation was a falling tree and my mind went mad with the noise of it all, but I deserved the turmoil. I deserved nothing better. I wanted to be alone with my stupidity which I cursed in three languages with all my spleen (342). The author uses words that everyone can understand and relate to in order to make the reader sympathize with the narrator. They are simple words that are interpreted easily, the exact opposite of Shakespeare. Nice and straight-forward. The tone of the book is somber because it describes in detail the scenes of villages destroyed and people dying. The author again describes the events very evenly and without dramatic words and images. When describing the refugee camps on page 371, the narrator says, "In Kakuma, a community of tents grew to a vast patchwork of shanties and buildings constructed from poles and sisal bags and mud, and this is where we lived and worked and went to school from 1992 to 2001." When we think of the idea of living in houses made of mud and poles, we relate that with horrible squalor and bitterness. The author describes these images in detail but leaves it to the reader to interpret them, not telling them how to feel. For example, he simply describes these scenes without adding adjectives for effect. The overall tone is somber because of the subject, but it has nothing of Romeo and Juliet flowery tragedy. It is subdued in its language and style, even though just as tragic as Rome and Juliet. That is a comparison of two ways of describing tragic events and stories. The book also uses straightforward language, using words that the reader understands instead of overly complex vocabulary. It also sets the scene by using Sudanese titles such as father, which is respectful to call someone older than you.

Achak lives for a long time in refugee camps, and this left me wanting to know more about refugees not only in Africa but in the world as well. I kept asking, "Which countries have the most refugees? What major events right now are causing people to be displaced from their homes?" This is an issue I am interested in, so I decided to investigate more about it. According to the MillionSoulsAware website, there are approximately 5.3 Sudanese who left their homes and are refugees. They did this to escape the genocide. In Columbia, a similar military problem resulted in 2.9 displaced people. The Middle East gets most of these refugees, and the second largest areas are Africa and South Asia. People leave because of conflict in their country that is always violent. According to the AllAfrica Newspaper, conditions in these camps are horrible to live in and there is usually a desolate feel in them. There can be around 66,000 people at a camp at a time. Here is a picture of a refugee camp Yida in South Susan (from BBC):

 

Whattttt??? #3 Alissa WInkler

What is the What never had the ultimately happy part that I was expecting in the last third. And surprisingly, I am ok with that. What is the What is not suppose to be a happy book, it is a true and painful story that leaves you with a sense of hope. It is a miracle Valentino Achak Deng lived and was getting a second chance at life. He grabbed the opportunity to leave Kakuma by the horns and even though a complete stranger to the USA, he made it work best he could. His life in Atlanta may have seemed horrible at times, but compared to life in the "Walking Boys"group he had left, he was incredibly thankful. He learned valuable skills, got a job, got sponsored, and went to school. Everything thing is new to Achak Deng, the world is confusing but he is getting by. He even manages to cope with the loss of the love of his life Tabitha who is brutally murdered by her boyfriend. And still, at the end of the book, he chooses to keep his hope alive and move on with his life. "The heavens have been a hammer to me, and I will be moving, as soon as I am able, to a quieter place. A place where I can spend some time thinking. I nee to make some new plans without the eyes of these clouds over me"(533). Achak acknowledges his past but has learned not to let the horrible memories and cruelties of the world set him back or stop him. He is not extremely excited to leave but he knows it is for the best, he knows he has hope. The question of what the "what" actually is pops up throughout the whole book. The Dinka people chose the cows. I believe this was a smart choice, because if they chose the "what" then why would be getting something they already have. I think the "What" is hope. And Achak has had the "What" all along. He is still alive and still hopeful. 

My favorite part of the book was when Achak mets the man who does not exist. Achak has been walking for months and has received a huge gash on his leg; he thinks he will die within the next days from infection and lack of food. Then a mysterious man appears out of nowhere and takes him into his home. The man lives alone in hiding, he's escaping from the world but seems to have bountiful food supplies under his house. He gives Achak nuts, water, and an orange and is extremely pleasant. Achak even feels comfortable enough to ask him if he knows what the "what" is, and the man replies "keep looking." I have a strange feeling this mysterious man is suppose to represent Jesus. Anyways, in his home is also the exact same bicycle that as children, he, moses, and William K had guarded with aw. I love how even though Achak has been exhausted and beaten up mentally and physically from walking for months, he is finally given the chance to ride the bike. He gets to feel free again and regain a small portion of his childhood that had been demolished by the war. 

What Blog #2

                 I think the one of the biggest culture clash's in this part of the book is when Valentino goes to the hospital. He has just been found by Achor Achor and has dealt with the cops, and is now receiving medical care for his wounds. He is at the worried about not being able to pay the hospital without health insurance. "Valentino, we've got to take care of everyone that comes in here. By law, we do. We can't turn you away. So you don't need to show your credit cards..."(pg. 243). He is so startled when he doesn't have insurance, thinking that he is too suspicious. He is trying to cover up any suspicion by showing his credit card. This is showing culture clashing, because it depicts his lack of knowledge in this country by a hospital visit. A normal american would have no problem with going to the hospital, but since his culture has nothing quite like a hospital he is frightened and confused.

Finding the What

The last third of the book, after Tabitha is murdered, exemplifies hope in both Achak's  past and present life.  By the end of the book, the author's tone also infers that Achak has adapted to change; He has accepted his misfortunes and is ready to move on, but he will not forget his past or the lessons it has taught him.  Throughout the these pages of What is the What, hope is demonstrated in all characters.  Pg 492, "Tabitha would talk only about the United States, about Seattle, about what she would find there.....Oh, she would laugh, the kaleidoscopic possibilities!" Pg 487; Maria, "I told her what I knew: that girls were invited to apply.....When I told her this, a light came to her eyes, for a moment, before flickering out." Pg 535; Achak, "Whatever I do, however I find a way to live, I will tell these stories."  There is hope when Ms. Gladys lets the refugees act in a large city, when the possibility of leaving Kakuma is presented, when Achak hears of his parents' survival and even when Achak speaks to the boy who stole his cell phone.  Achak loses people who mean the world to him time and time again, and he receives each blow with a strong will and faith in his god.



There were many joyful and painful moments in What is the What, and I find myself noticing a bit more of all the luxuries in my world.  Many parts of the book were touching, such as the passages where people showed Achak love and comforted him as a wandering child, but perhaps the most touching was the part where he was able to comfort someone else.  Towards the end of the book, a group of men from Sudan are bracing themselves for departure the next day.  The youngest boy appears to be frightened, and Achak lets him know that they are a team and will no longer be ignored. "But we're no longer rain, I said,- we're no longer seeds.  We're men. Now we can stand and decide.  This is our first chance to choose our own unknown.  I'm so proud of everything we've done, my brothers, and if we're fortunate enough to fly and land again in a new place, we must continue. As impossible as it sounds, we must keep walking. And yes, there has been suffering, but now there will be grace.  There has been pain but now there will be serenity.  No one has been tried as we have been tried, and now this is our reward, whether it be heaven or something less than that".  If I ever go through hardships even 5% of the difficulty of Achak's in my life, I hope that I will have someone who can comfort with words like these, and a group of people as resilient as them to carry me along.

Finding the What

The last third of the book, after Tabitha is murdered, exemplifies hope in both Achak's  past and present life.  By the end of the book, the author's tone also infers that Achak has adapted to change; He has accepted his misfortunes and is ready to move on, but he will not forget his past or the lessons it has taught him.  Throughout the these pages of What is the What, hope is demonstrated in all characters.  Pg 492, "Tabitha would talk only about the United States, about Seattle, about what she would find there.....Oh, she would laugh, the kaleidoscopic possibilities!" Pg 487; Maria, "I told her what I knew: that girls were invited to apply.....When I told her this, a light came to her eyes, for a moment, before flickering out." Pg 535; Achak, "Whatever I do, however I find a way to live, I will tell these stories."  There is hope when Ms. Gladys lets the refugees act in a large city, when the possibility of leaving Kakuma is presented, when Achak hears of his parents' survival and even when Achak speaks to the boy who stole his cell phone.  Achak loses people who mean the world to him time and time again, and he receives each blow with a strong will and faith in his god.


There were many joyful and painful moments in What is the What, and I find myself noticing a bit more of all the luxuries in my world.  Many parts of the book were touching, such as the passages where people showed Achak love and comforted him as a wandering child, but perhaps the most touching was the part where he was able to comfort someone else.  Towards the end of the book, a group of men from Sudan are bracing themselves for departure the next day.  The youngest boy appears to be frightened, and Achak lets him know that they are a team and will no longer be ignored. "But we're no longer rain, I said,- we're no longer seeds.  We're men. Now we can stand and decide.  This is our first chance to choose our own unknown.  I'm so proud of everything we've done, my brothers, and if we're fortunate enough to fly and land again in a new place, we must continue. As impossible as it sounds, we must keep walking. And yes, there has been suffering, but now there will be grace.  There has been pain but now there will be serenity.  No one has been tried as we have been tried, and now this is our reward, whether it be heaven or something less than that".  If I ever go through hardships even 5% as difficult as those of Achak in my life, I hope that I will have someone who can comfort with words like these, and a group of people as resilient as them to carry me along.

Third Post

The tone in the very beginning of the last third starts off hopefully. Through all the tragedies and suffering encountered through the past few years, Valentino still has hope and drive left to create a livable life. After years of living in several refugee camps and being threatened by several different ethnic tribes, Valentino goes off on a mission to successfully get "recycled." "I walked through the night perhaps too cheerfully, thinking my trip charmed and knowing I would be successful. With any luck I would be back at Kakuma with six thousand shillings and another ration card, in three days time." (396) Obviously later in the book, the tone changes but the candle of hope was still lit inside of Valentino. Soon after Valentino embarks on his journey, he is scammed by a man that stole all his belongings. “...I deserved the turmoil. I deserved nothing better. I wanted to be alone with my stupidity, which I cursed in three languages and with all my spleen.”(408) The author Dave Eggers uses very plain language and says it exactly how it is without any spice. Even with the blunt text it is easy to see that Valentino stands out from many of the unaccompanied minors, with his passions and helpful personality. Valentino’s reason to leave Kakuma to get “recycled” was in the better interest of his new family.

When the Lost Boys from Sudan went to see a NBA basketball game they talked to the pro basketball player Manute Bol who left Sudan before the civil war broke out. Basketball was a very popular sport in Kakuma and a main way to pass time. Manute bol was 7 ft 7 in, coming from one of the tallest populations in the world, the Dinka. His parents were 6 ft 10 in and 6 ft 8 in, Manute didn’t even start playing basketball till he was 15 years old. Bol played on many different teams in the United States and passed away on June 19th, 2010 at the early age of 47.

DIRECTIONS for third posting and comment

Third Posting due Thursday, March 20
Third comment due Tuesday, March 25

For this post, write a CCQC that identifies the TONE of the last third of the book.  The claim should include an adjective or two that you think describe the tone, then you need lots of examples/quotes from the book that prove your claim.  Sophs, if you need a refresher on TONE, I have put it up on the Edmodo site.

Then write a paragraph that does one of these things, your choice:
*describes a favorite part of the book
*is a review of the book
*uses some part of the book to comment on an issue that interests you


For the comment, find someone who has a different idea than you do about the tone, or about some other part of the book in their second paragraph.  Add to their evidence, or challenge their idea by countering it with evidence of your own.

Post two-Cultural Clashes: the alluring tampon box.

Valentino and the other sundanese men that travel to America experience many cultural shocks because they are not used to a consumerist society. When they first arrive, they are in awe at the amount of the products sold in America and the beauty of each product. "There were a different pair of Lost Boys, who had recently been taken shopping for the first time, at an enormous grocery store. They had fifty dollars to spend, and had no idea where to start. Along the way, they had picked out a very special box and put it in their cart. Their sponsor, a woman in her fifties, smiled and tried to explain what was in the box, which was in fact tampons....She thought she had accomplished her task, only to find that the men wanted the package anyway. 'It is beautiful' they said, and they bought it, took it home, and displayed it on their coffee table." (pg.175)

Even though this is early on in the story, it reached out to me because it made me think about the things we take for granted. To find something as boring to us as going to the grocery store so amazing, it defines the difference of our two cultures. We are used to the life where we can go to a beautifully lit store with thousands of items that never run out of stock and think nothing of it. While they, they find it extraordinary and enticing. This perfectly describes the modern consumerist culture vs. the culture that the Lost Boys grew up in. In the consumerist culture, we are used to endless factory farmed products and the giant availability of things. But when they are in awe of such a thing we find so boring, it makes me think that in their culture, people spend more time on their products. This probably makes them more valuable. An example of this in What is the What, is when Valentino is describing his early days in Marial Bai. He tells us about a dream day that he thought of before sleeping when he was on his journey to Ethiopia. The day begins with him leaning against his sister as she is grinding grain. He then goes to the compound of a girl he is in love with, Amath. Amath is winnowing shorghum. After Amath asks him for a bucket of water, Valentino runs to a washerwoman and asks to quickly borrow her bucket. These three women put an enormous amount of time and hours into something Americans in a consumerist country don't even think about. The two Lost Boys were probably amazed that not only was a product so beautiful, but there were many copies of it. It probably takes ages to make a beautiful thing in the Sudan, while in America, millions of them are created in five minutes. This is also because the United States is a wealthier country than Sudan, so Sudanese are probably not used to so many products that are all a variety of colors and styles. An example of this is when there is a bicycle that a shopkeeper traded for in Marial Bai.Valentino, and his friends William K and moses are in awe of the commercial beauty. This shows that Sudan is not a consumerist country, and poorer because a fairly average object to us is priceless to them. They also did not know what to do with the plastic, so they are not used to consumerist packaging. Below is a picture of a shopping center in Khartoum that I found from a tourist website. Then is a picture of the interior of a Safeway.

The difference in cultures portrayed by just these two pictures is amazing. Most of the products in the Khartoum shopping center picture is handmade and very beautiful, but also very unlike the products in the second photo. If you are used to one and then see the other, you would probably find something that others would find silly to be in awe of, like a tampon box, extremely beautiful

Though the Christians are portrayed as those who want to help the Sudanese, their approach is often involuntarily counterproductive. While Achak is tied up, he tries to kick his legs against the floor so that the noise can alert his Christian neighbors that he is being robbed and needs help. He thinks that since Christian institutions are usually the ones that aide the relocated Sudanese people, they will be most likely to help him. Achak acknowledges that the Christians have good intentions, but since their lives are so different from those they are trying to help they can come off the same way. "...he had read something about the persistence of slavery in Sudan; his church was sending money to an evangelical group that was planning to travel to Sudan to buy back slaves 139)." Not only is this ironic in the sense that he is buying back slaves and therefore not really changing the industry at all, but evangelical Islamists and Arabs are the one that are destroying Sudan. Religion is a huge part of the conflict, so adding another religious group to it seems counter intuitive. They are just giving money to the slavers that capture the people, and therefore fueling the business. This is an important ironic point in the book because it exhibits how lack of experience and tunnel vision makes us look at things, even if we don't mean to. We don't really understand until we've been in their shoes.

What is the what? Post 2

I believe mutual respect is a key part of society and the way we interact with others. Sudanese cultural beliefs on respect are similar to American beliefs except in Sudan they are more enforced. Throughout this novel, I've noticed the level of respect the lost boys give the elderly. I find it admirable and the way the terms they use seem to be an expected thing, even to strangers. A perfect example of this elder respect is when Achak's father is doing business with a friend and trader named Sadiq Aziz. Even though Achak has known Sadiq, Sadiq brings him presents and they are relatively close, Achak continues to call him Uncle. "Hello, Uncle, I said. It was customary to call an older man uncle, as a term of familiarity and respect. If the man is older than one's father, he is called father"(58). This goes to show that the level of respect is a bit higher than here in America. I and many other teenagers will call a teacher Mr. or Mrs. (last name,) but I've observed only a few select teenagers calling a stranger "Sir" or "Ma'am," unless at a workplace. Additionally, almost everyone I know who lives in America would call a friends dad or family friend by their first name. I believe calling an adult by their first name shows the status of one's relationship and the level of comfort felt between. With that said, the words "Uncle or "Father" must have different meaning in Sudanese culture. Here, we will only call a man "Uncle" if he is actually one of our parents brothers, or call him "Father" if he is actually our father. By the Sudanese boys using these "family terms," it automatically puts the older person at an advantage and looked at as authority figure. Both cultures seem to know what their customs for respect are, especially the Sudanese. Maybe America could learn a few things from the Sudanese culture, because I feel Americans are lacking respect, or maybe some people just haven't been taught what is appropriate. I know I could use a refresher. 

the Lost Girls of Sudan

Getting through the second third of the book was harder than expected mostly due to thin pages and small text, but I decided to focus on something I noticed very early on in the 2nd 3rd. That was the Lost Girls. Valentino describes a woman from Kansas talking about the undervalue of the suffering of the Lost Girls on page 180-181. This is because there were so many more Lost Boys than girls, as the girls were mostly abducted along with their sisters and mothers. They must've met a fate far worse than those who traveled. But even so, there were about 3,000 girls who made it to the Refugee camp in Kenya out of about 20,000 children (Slate News). The camp was Kakuma, the camp Valentino meets Tabitha in and spends a lot of time in. One reason that there were so many more boys than girls who escaped was because the boys and men were usually out and about and when they saw a fire starting or murahaleen coming, they fled or ran into the forest. Meanwhile the women and girls were inside cooking or cleaning and were either killed or kidnapped. Another odd phenomenon is that out of the amount of Sudanese settled in the U.S. which is approximately 3,700, only 89 were female. That means that hundreds or thousands of girls are still in Kakuma. Maybe helping the young ones, or maybe not bearing to leave for fear of a new country. 

Even though the camp is a refugee camp and is now supervised (for the most part) by a US official, girls in Kakuma are still raped and married off to those who can afford it. The population of Kakuma has a large population (for a camp) but can only actually take care of a small portion of those there. There are a lot of diseases present and violence. Why have people forgotten about the other whole gender of the incident? One reason is that most boys who came to America were put in group housing (a more "rough" condition) and were giving psychological care and treatment, but girls were almost all put into foster homes (for "nurture") and were expected to be taken care of mentally by their foster parents, but no foster parents actually looked into that kind of care for their new child. The lack of psychological care in women made it much harder for them to be officially resettled in the US, and people choosing who to resettle chose those who were more mentally stable. This error was committed by the UNHCR, and it was brought up to them many times but they haven't done anything to change it. I believe that everyone deserves to be given the opportunity to start over, and that won't be able to happen when the Lost Girls are being ignored. 

Post on Culture Clash

Sasha Tcherepanov

Even coming from a country where pain and loss was and still is experienced everyday, Achor Achor and Valentino find that the robbing of their apartment is a catastrophe. The expectations that Valentino and Achor Achor had for the police greatly overshot what the police officer actually did. When Achor Achor returns home and finds Valentino beaten and restrained on the floor, they were slow to call the police as to make sure that they had their immigration papers in order, and discussed every possible question the officer may ask them. “When Achor Achor is finished, the officer sighs and closes her notebook…She has written no more than five words inside.” (238-239) The police officer only issues a “complaint” card even though Valentino describes the gun being pointed to his head and the beating he received. In the book there are a few characters that have their hands missing due to strict Sharia law. The fact that in the United States the police officer only filled out a “complaint” card and took no action, or that under Sharia law, theft results in losing a hand, which one reflects poorly? You decide.

What is the What: Post #1

                   This book is filled with emotionally intense moments. Even when the book first begins it opens up on him being robbed. So i had a pretty clear idea on how emotional hard this book was going. Valentino's life is a very interesting one, that takes twists and turns, from what i've learned. His past and present are both very troubling. This book shows us the side by side comparison of hardship in the United States vs Sudan. This make you think about how the hardships in the United States although bad are nothing in comparison towards the Sudanese hardships.

                   This got me thinking on what exactly happened during this sudanese civil war, and what was the amount of damage done to the people. According to The International Crisis Group there was around 10,000 causalities during the second sudanese civil war. Also something even more shocking is that over 200,000 people where brought into slavery after the second sudanese civil war according to IRIN. It is no shock that that war has caused sever trauma to the people of the country as we see in the book, sudan may still need help for quite some time to recover from the effects of this war.

DIRECTIONS for second posting and comments

Second postings due Thursday, March 13
Second comments due Tuesday, March 18

The Clash of Cultures
"...what is wrong with these people that they want to spend so much time helping us? "(163) our narrator asks.  There are many ironies as the Lost Boys encounter US culture.  Write a CCQC, making a claim that identifies one of these culture clashes.  Provide plenty of context that shows you know what's going on in the book, a quote, and commentary that further examines the importance of that culture clash.

Comment on someone else's claim, adding further evidence to support it or perhaps to refute it or enlarge upon it, and further commentary. 

Caroline Rohrer, Marial Bai

One thing  that I wondered  about was if marial Bai was ever rebuilt. I googled it and found that, according to VerticalResponse, that on July 9th, the republic of South Sudan officially became a nation. As soon as this happened, people in the area began rebuilding the war torn village and have since constructed the Marial Bai Secondary School, which has enrolled over 350 students.