Postmodernism

Ok, so myth and legends are narratives that are used by people to tell how something happened. To these people, the myth is true and is part of their heritage. To other people these stories are false and kind of childish. Cultures create myths to tell where they have been and about their ancestors. Its somewhat like a oral history book to the people.

Grand narratives are big myths that can explain lesser stories. Now postmodernist believe that there are a bunch of small narratives ''and not one of these little stories can dominate or explain the rest'' (33). There is not just one truth. Each story exists on its own and thats how it goes. I see that some narratives are linked some way. They each are similar somehow. Like a lot of myths talk about creation and the formation of the world. I see that they are linked but just different perspectives. Some see that their god or gods create the earth. Just different points of views.

Grand narratives can lead to oppression. That there is only one grand narrative and everyone must follow it or believe it. Some people will be oppressed because there is no freedom to believe one's own reality. This happened in 1984 and in Brave New World. There is only one narrative and all other kinds of stories or narratives are false or considered crazy. Like the people in Brave New World were astonished that people were born and had parents. They consider it wrong and that their way is the only way. Much like how one narrative is the only narrative. The author in Brave New World is trying to communicate that there are multiple narratives and that they are all linked together in some way. We are similar with our myths and our stories. We all tie in together somehow. There is no individual story that is just there. Stories are influenced by other stories or cultures.

So thats my reflection on the subject. Some of the stuff I'm still confused about because its somewhat new and crazy. Thanks for reading.

Brave New World- lessons

So first off, after reading the first couple of chapters of this book, this book is pretty crazy. Its a world, I personally would not want to be a part of. One, because they reject emotions a person has. Like when the man was talking about how the world use to be. The words he used were "Family, monogamy, romance" (40). When he said these words the boys flinched and were awed that people use to say those disgusting words. Family is considered wrong because it excludes people and every person in the population are the same. Monogamy is considered a sin because all the people share and no one belong to one person. Romance, is despised and being on autopilot and just doing things is the norm. Also, people don't say they like another person but say "you should try her." It is not an emotional statement and is now just logical opinion. People are not considered a person with a soul but a person with a body.

Another thing I noticed was that there are no teachers. People do not learn from their own experiences or from other people. The people learn everything to do with the world when they are created. They listen to certain phrases that are forever in their brain. They hear it so many times that they consider it as fact. This can relate to us today- stereotypes. Labeling a person without even knowing them because of the way we have been brought up. People learn from their parents that a certain race is evil or other things are bad. People do not learn from personal experience anymore but from what they have heard. I think that is one thing the author is trying to get across. To stop listening to the gossip and untrue stories we have been told and just learn from experiences. Anyways, those are two things I noticed about the book that I felt were important. Thanks for reading. : )

History

Please do not consider me to be a racist or anything of the sort because I'm not. Before jumping on my blog and calling me a hater and stuff, please wait and try to see the point of view I am coming from. In other words, do not be hasty.

So the question that was brought up during the discussion on Wednesday was if minorities were represented enough in U.S history. A minority is considered a cultural group that is smaller compared to the rest of the population. They represent a small percentage of the mass population. Now that percentage can change in certain areas of the U.S. Like Latinos are a minority in Maine but are the majority in New Mexico or other areas in the Southern U.S.

American history begins with colonial time. But it can also be considered even earlier than that when Leif Ericson landed in North America 500 years before Columbus. History could include the Native tribes that were occupying America. But the U.S History that students are required to learn are about how the U.S became a unifying group. That unifying group first settled and were the Pilgrims and other "religious" groups. The current textbooks are not pushing for religion to be the center of history- but it sure did have some effect on our foundation. In order to talk about a specific group or culture, their habits, beliefs, and customs must be discussed. Now back to the minority subject. Yes, minorities were around when the U.S was being shaped. But Anglo-Saxons were minorities when thy first came to America. The Native Americas had a larger population than the settlers. So why should not talk about the settlers?

Yes, the U.S is arrogant and only wants to talk about the settlers than the Native Americans. But the U.S history textbook would be extremely long and students would be dropping out of school at age 13. Publishers and other writers of history books cannot include every single detail about cultural groups in one book. So a group of people come together and discuss about what should and should not be in U.S history books. Yes, it is somewhat wrong that they are deciding on what we learn in schools. But like we could do it better.

Every person would want something that appeals to them because of their background and experiences. That is why there are some books that we like and some that we hate. I, for one, would love more stuff in our history books about Minnesota. That is where I am from. There is nothing about Minnesota in history books. Because we were not really involved in the Civil War.... We were trying to keep warm from blizzards. There is hardly any stuff in our history books about Scandinavians either. We all want something different in our history books. Some people want more religious stuff because it pertains to them and they are curious. Its not that they are forcing it upon people, people want to share their culture to others. People want to show their beliefs, customs, and history.

America was settled on the eastern coast. As the settlers grew and became a little more daring (or crazy) they migrated West. Yes, there were Native American that were around and the settlers did cruel things to them. It is written in our history books about some of the cruel things they have done. But they are not discussed much in our books because they were to part of the U.S. They were considered an independent nation. But when you look and actually read the text book, you will see that African Americans become more represented in history in the 1800s. Same with other groups. As America got bigger, "minorities" are discussed more in history. Its like if you want to be known to every person on your school campus, you have to do something big. Then you will forever be remembered at your school. But if you do not do anything and you are just a part to the school population, then you are forgotten.

To sum this blog up for the people reading, the people who are writing our history books are only doing what every human would. Excluding some things from history. It does not mean that they are forgotten or are nothing. Different cultures talk about their own family history to their own children. I know some of Minnesota's history because I lived there and because of my family. There are just certain basic things that we must know. People are only thinking of themselves and only want people to know about certain things in history. But stories do go on orally or written down. We do have history books that are devoted to certain cultural groups. We have not forgotten those small groups that did contribute to America.

So thank you for taking you precious time to read my blog.