Peggy's Blog

本網頁存在目的是為了推廣中央大學英美語文學系，藉由系上同學在林文淇老師所開設的「文學作品讀法」課程中所報告的簡報，讓其餘學生、高中生，可以更認識英文詩的奧妙與優美，進而體認到文學是可以細細品味，一輩子賞玩的。 本小組所探討的主題為 “Society”

 小組名單：

981002511 梁瑜芮

981002010 高楚函

981002509潘怡安

981002506 歐恩盈

The Unknown Citizen – A Harsh Accusation or a Simple Depiction?

981002009 林鈺菁

The Woman Warrior is very different from ordinary novels. I get a sense of achievement after finishing the book. However, honestly speaking, I don’t understand some of the plots in the book, such as White Tigers, the ape-man in Shaman and legends about China. Sometimes I can’t tell whether the description is real or unreal. I can’t follow the author all the time because the plot changes so quickly. Also, I am confused by the names which are hard to look up in the dictionary. They bother me while I am reading the novel. Although I encounter these obstacles, I still enjoy reading it. It reminds me some of the legends about China, though they are not always correct. According to Lili, that’s because Maxine Hong Kingston is Chinese-American. Via her novel, I understand taboos among Chinese women, the Communists, old villages in China, how the villagers live and how they gossip each other. She tries to show us the difference between Chinese culture and American culture. What’s more, immigrants are the leading roles in the novel. I realize the hardship of being an immigrant in America. They suffer from racism, sexism and capitalism. They have to work so hard that they can only have adequate clothing and food. Besides, they are striving to earn money in order to send money home. By doing so, their family can fly to America and settle down, having their reunion. The girl in A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe forces a little girl to talk because she thinks the ability to talk is important. If she can’t talk, she will be bullied by those “ghosts.” The way she describes people as ghosts is s a special technique, creative and mysterious. In addition, I like the last paragraph on page206: “Here is a story my mother told me, not when I was young, but recently, when I told her I also talk story. The beginning is hers, the ending, mine.” It seems that she has learned how to talk story from her mother. In sum, it’s an interesting book. I’m glad I have finished reading it.

I went to Taipei and paid my high school classmate, Yuting, a visit on May 7. Actually, it was she that asked me for help: to be her model for her homework. She is a student of Shih Chien University, majors in clothes-designing. When I arrived at Taipei, she came to pick me up at the train station. Then, we went to her friend’s house by taxi. Two of her classmates helped me dress up (hair style and makeup). After dressing me up, we headed for Shih Chien University to take pictures. There were three style of clothing designed by Yuting. They are special because they were made of paper! How amazing! We started photographing after I put on the “clothes.” At first, I was very uneasy and didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, Yuting and her classmates helped me out by instructing me how to pose in a nice-looking way. In the process, I enjoyed being a model. I like the clothes and the experience of being under the spotlight. It’s fun to be a model. However, I know being a model is not that easy. Models are always losing weight and on a diet. They can’t enjoy delicacies to their content as normal people. They are afraid to see the number showed on the scale going up. Even so, if Yuting asks me for help again, I will say yes. I’m glad to help her. It’s an honor to be her model.

    Voyage 15840 is a photo book compiled by TIWA(Taiwan International Workers’ Association). Migrant workers,which can be viewed as immigrants, speak out their feelings via daily photographs and simple words. Through simple images and words, they try their best to reveal their interior thoughts to us. The book thus provides a chance for us to understand them more. I choose one of the stories from the book as my post.

    The story written  on page 48 draws my attention because of its unfamiliar look. The photograph was taken by Alice E. Dimzon, who is a factory worker. At first, you may think it is just a normal lunch box and there is nothing special about it. Later, as you take a closer look, it is easy to see that the drumsticks are much smaller and than usual. Significantly, the most meaty and delectable part is missing, I suspect that this has to do with discrimination and disrespect. You would not expect to see this normally in the restaurants in Taiwan. As to the lunch box itself, it looks boring because of its dull color. As a whole, it seems unpalatable. I would not have something like this personally.

It is vital to tell the difference between publicity and the pleasure which the product it advertises brings. Publicity is successful accurately because it feeds upon realities. It starts with undertaking a natural appetite for pleasure. However, it cannot provide the real things of pleasure. Also, there is no persuasive object for a pleasure in that pleasure’s own terms substituted for it. Publicity is never a praise of a pleasure-in-itself but always about the future buyer. It is about social relations, not the product itself. It brings the happiness of being envied, which is a solitary form of security. Sharing your experience with those who envy you will make you less enviable. The absent, unfocused look of the models in glamour images shows that they are sustained by the looks of envy.