|
|
Post by dcomeaux on Jul 28, 2024 22:36:22 GMT
I have read Farewell to Manzanar in a previous course and thought it was interesting how both Miné and Jeanne (from Manzanar) both seemed to resist or rebel in their own way. For Miné, its the sketches she made as they could have at that time been considered contraband. For Jeanne, she and her family continued to practie their culture and heritage while in the internment camp. The camps were made to erase their identities but they both rebelled and kept a sense if identity which later led each of them to write about their experiences. I just thought it was neat how the two are so closely aligned. Do you all think that them keeping as much of their identity as they could helped them make it through these experiences?
|
|
|
|
Post by reluedders on Jul 29, 2024 0:04:10 GMT
I taught "Farewell to Manzanar" a couple years ago to my 9th grade students, & noticed the obvious parallels as well. As I was reading, I thought about adding this graphic novel to the unit, actually, as I've seen while teaching a graphic novel version of "The Odyssey" that students really love this type of literature.
I do think that keeping their traditions & identities helped them make it through the experiences, but that in itself is a tragic part of both the readings. Within both the texts, it's not only mentioned that they embrace their Japanese heritage, but also for a lot of them, their American one as well. It's so ironic that they were fighting to keep their American parts of their lives while impressions in America for being Japanese. So ultimately, I think that them striving to keep BOTH their cultures alive is what saved them, even if they were being alienated by the American government.
Thoughts?
|
|
|
|
Post by dcomeaux on Jul 29, 2024 13:19:47 GMT
I didn't think about them keeping BOTH of their cultures going, so I am glad you pointed that out! I can see how doing that would keep them going. It does seem...I guess strange for lack of better words....that they would want to keep their American parts going seeing what was taking place so that is an interesting thing to think about. But that was THEIR identities, no matter what was going on at that time.
|
|
