Week 3 - Journal Entry #2

Have you ever come across a time where you were asked to read out loud,

then explain what you just finished reading?  Do you remember if you were able to

successfully summarize the story or was it difficult to even remember what the

story was even about?  When I was growing up, I had a really difficult time

comprehending anything I would read silently or read aloud to the class.  I have

been like that since grammar school all the way up till my second year of college.  To

be honest, I really don’t know why I couldn't grasp the material that I read.  But

two years ago, all of that changed in my English 92/1A class with Mrs. Bell.  I was a

pretty mediocre student with basic English skills.  But by the end of the semester I

turned my weakest subject into my strongest subject in school.  My teacher helped

us view stories from another point of view and taught us how to open our minds to

new things and expand our horizon’s.  The more practice she gave us, the better we

became at it.  One thing that I can reflect on is that it helps out so much if you are

reading a book that you are at least familiar with the topic.  For example, if you work

with children, then reading a book about the psychology of a child’s mind would definitely

interest and keep you engaged.  I believe that the first trick in becoming a better

reader and learning how to comprehend the material is by reading something that

interests you.  Once you go beyond reading the text and start asking questions and

making connections, you will be that much closer to understanding the context.

            Now as for me, I need to have a quiet place to read in order to comprehend the

material.  If there are people talking or yelling in the same room as me, then there

is no way I will be able to regurgitate anything that I read.  I am the type to easily

get distracted if I see something else going on.  So that is why I must be in a room

that is completely silent.  Without that, I will have a really hard time concentrating

and lose complete focus.  I have tried reading while there was music playing or

having the TV on.  But I noticed I don’t give my full attention to the book, therefore I

wont be able to thoroughly go over anything I read.  Also finding time to read can be

a hassle as well.  One of the biggest tasks is trying to balance being a full time

student and working part time while still managing time to schedule room for

homework and reading.  It’s not easy but my only option is to do all my homework

and reading on Saturday’s.  And I wouldn’t say it’s difficult for me to read because I

really enjoyed reading Persepolis, but the only challenging thing is trying to manage

time to read and blog by Sunday evening.  Considering that I have a lot of homework

and other obligations to do, I try to put my priorities first and make time to

complete my homework before the deadline is due.

Prompt 2 choice #2

One of the scenes that I had a really strong connection with was in the passage from pages 67-71.  This is where her uncle comes into the story and Marjane creates a strong bond with him while he is there visiting.  Then one day, her mother tells her that he is on a “road trip” which marjane already knows that saying means that he could be dead.  In a previous passage, found on page 48, marj tells Laly (her friend) the same thing about her father Siamak.  When someone is on a road trip, it means that they are dead.

Following on page 70, Marjane is laying in bed telling herself that everything will be all right.  That is when you see god come back in to the story and ask her what’s wrong.  She is so infuriated of finding out that her uncle was killed that she yells at god and tells him to shut up and never come back into her life again.  As a child it must be so difficult to understand and deal with death, especially having someone so close to you in your life.  This is a changing point where you see Marj beginning to lose her faith in religion because of all the horrible things happening to her in her life.

My connection in the book with my own personal experience also comes with losing a loved one.  It has been exactly one year ago this past Friday (Sept. 16) that my best friend Vince died in a car accident.  I went through a very difficult time back then, I felt a great deal of depression, anxiety and confusion as to what happened to him.  He had such a big influence and impact on my life that I spent some of the best years of my life with him.  Then to get that phone call the very next day while I was at work just broke my heart.  I knew that he had so much to offer that I didn’t want to accept his death.  I began questioning everything, like, “Why did he deserve this fate?” Or, “What could I have done to have prevented this from happening?”  There were so many things running through my mind that I even started questioning my own faith and religion.  I am a catholic so right away I started to ask myself if there was a god and if so, how could he allow someone to lose his life in such a horrific and young age.  I didn’t know what to believe anymore as I started to view life in a different manner now.  I can understand the type of emotions and feelings she was going through in the story.  It is not an easy thing to deal with, especially for someone as young as marj who is still a child and doesn’t have a greater understanding of life as an adult would.

I think this scene in the story has a greater meaning behind it from just reading the context literal.  Yes, Marjane is going through a hard time, considering the fact that she is exposed to a war, death and hatred as a child.  How is this going to impact her life as she gets older?  Will she become an activist and protest against her government when she’s an adult?  Also, I think the author may have put this passage in the story to expand the reader’s own comprehension to view their own life and help appreciate what they have.   How many of us are really affected by the war that is currently happening right now over sea’s?  Our lives still carry on as if there was nothing happening.  We don’t have to see people being killed, tortured, or scavenging for food.  This is something that marj and her family are going through and it has a huge impact on her way of viewing life.  I also believe that the author purposely put this passage in the novel to setup what may be coming up next in our following reading of the book.

I Am

I am not a follower, but I'm not a leader.  I choose my own path and accept my own mistakes.  I am still growing as a person.  My life is not perfect, but neither is this world.  We all have problems and we all have issues to deal with.  I am thankful to have the opportunity to do something positive with my life everytime I wake up in the morning.  I try not to take things for granted because in the blink of an eye, they can be taken away from you.  Live your life as if it were your last and have no regrets.  Be a better person to yourself and to those who are around you.  Your attitude is contageous.  So it's up to you to make sure that it is worth catching.  These are some of the things I think about every day to help better myself.  I work with 26 students that I enjoy teaching everyday because we both learn a lot from each other as well as sharing our personal stories.  My name is Alex Castro and I am a Full-time student and a part time youth instructor.  I have a lot of small goals for myself but my main one is to finish my General Ed at San Jose City and transfer to a 4 year university.  No one is going to give me what I want.  Only I can work hard for what I desire and I am willing to make sacrifices to become successful in life.  This is my only opportunity and I am going to make the most out of it.