2. "These two words, originally derived from the same Latin
word, are pronounced identically and also share the idea of
'keeping apart.' But they have acquired quite different
meanings:
A number of usage books define discreet as “prudent,”
“judicious,” “tactful,” or “circumspect.”
Discrete is defined as “separate” or “distinct.”
3. Chair Poet?
“I've had it with
these cheap sons of
bitches who claim
they love poetry but
never buy a book.”
Kenneth Rexroth
6. Historical Context:
Changing Borders
When we consider the history of changing geographical borders between the
United States and Mexico, it is clear why Cisneros, Anzaldua, and other Chicana
writers find the metaphor of borders and borderlands such lush ground for both
fiction and nonfiction writing. Borders are invented, invisible boundaries that
can be changed quickly by treaty or war, and disputed areas can shift from one
country to another in a moment.
People do not transform themselves so easily; their language, culture, and
history cannot be changed by decree. Hence, victims of the border can find
themselves strangers in their own land, disenfranchised, often powerless
residents of a borderland country not their own. Mexicans who lived in Texas or
Arizona before those regions were seized by the United States have no
community to which they might return: other states in Mexico were never their
homes; therefore, they belong to neither the nor the new country. Thus, they
come to inhabit the edges of communities where the intersections of divergent
cultures produces multiculturalism: hybrid races, languages, and cultures.
7. Discuss the text in terms of postmodernism or
in articulation with a postmodern manifesto.
“Postmodern theory declares that cultural beliefs and
behaviors usually considered to be “natural,” “essential,”
and unchanging are actually social constructs. Jane Flax
describes feminism as a postmodern philosophy for the
following reason: “The single most important advance in
feminist theory is [that] the existence of gender relations
has been problemitized. Gender can no longer be treated
as a simple, natural fact” (Cutting 65).
Cutting, Rose Marie. “Closure in Sandra Cisneros’s “’Woman Hollering Creek.’” The
Postmodern Short Story. Eds Iffekharrudin, Farhat et al. Westport: Praeger, 2003. 65.
Web.
8. about postmodernism
As time progressed, different media has become very
reliable to the eyes of the mass media. Though there is still
much propaganda, different media like books and TV is not
only for the higher class and educated. It has become for
everyone. As a result, it has become very intertwined with
everyone’s lives. Life is very complicated and many times,
it’s hard to just find something to feel good about. However,
through melodramas and novels Cleofilas finds a small
escape from the dreary life. Elizabeth Bishop talked about
how fiction mixing with nonfiction is one of her biggest pet
peeves of literature and perhaps this story could be
explaining a big chunk of Bishop’s annoyance.
9. Names and Naming
Why/ How does the name of the creek, and story, have significance to the
story as a whole from a bit of a feminist lens?
The name Felice, I was pretty sure, meant happy or happiness—like
felicity, great happiness. Still I looked it up; apparently it means luck or
good fortune. (And then I looked felicity’s definition, and ‘good fortune’
appeared as a lesser used meaning below various phrasings of happy, on
one source.)
La Senora Dolores is described as “kind and very sweet, but her house
smelled to much of incense and candle from the altars that burned
continuously.” Dolores means in pain, which goes with la Senora Dolores
because although she is described as a kind and sweet lady, she lives in
pain due to the loss of her two sons and the loss of his husband;
therefore, there her house smelled of incense and candles.
10. Discuss a theme: love and
passion
Love and passion are highlighted to women, a sort of
entertainment. They see what these fictitious characters
have, passion and love, in their relationships, and that’s what
they want. Never mind reality. This seems to skew women’s ideals
and their perspectives of their relationship. If it is not exactly like
the ones in the movies or the stories, I don’t want it anymore.
11. Discuss a theme: voices and the
voiceless; power and powerlessness
First off, I’d like to point out the title of this story:
“Woman Hollering Creek.” It’s not just a small, quiet
sound, it’s a holler, a loud, ear-shattering, window-
breaking, heart-shaking sound that can be heard from
far away or through windows.
The story begins with a significant clue that Cleofilas
does not have much power, as we see her father give
her to her husband and her husband taking her as his
bride. The giving and taking are not just tradition, but
reality.
12. Discuss a theme: sex roles
Cleófilas grew up watching those telenovelas and idealizing the men
and women in them. She romanticized Lucía Méndez and the episode
where she professes her undying love to a man and everything works
out for the best. She took these expectations, these innate expectations
that she was groomed as a woman to have, and applied them
unrealistically to her love life.
Cisneros is able to demonstrate the Hispanic culture by referencing
certain acts of tradition in terms of female roles, such as the wife or
mother always providing the meals for the men after work or in the
morning, the long hours spent cleaning the house, doing laundry and
watching the children. Because I am part of the Hispanic culture I have
witnessed this several times; in fact, even my mom does this for my
father and I am expected to do the same for my boyfriend. The typical
woman in this particular culture is ‘supposed’ to be the caretaker
24/7, it is our duty to cook and clean and watch the kids.
13. Discuss a Theme: Spousal Abuse
On page 1134 it mentions when Cleofilas was
surprised “the first time” she was hit by her husband
in the way that she didn’t defend herself—not the fact
that he had hit her. She talks about how she saw how
she had seen violence in the shows she watched. The
fact that *. . .+ she didn’t even cry or run away made
me think that she maybe expected it to be the last
time.
14. Feminist lens
In applying a feminist criticism to, “Woman Hollering
Creek,” by Sandra Cisneros, there is a loss of identity
experienced by Cleófilas as the story progresses and
becomes more involved in the patriarchal society.
There are four main stages in her life that I noticed:
before she is married, while she is married, when she
is having her first child, and finally when she decides to
liberate herself with the help of the woman
performing the sonogram.
15. Discuss the story as it reads through a
feminist and/or minority lens.
Like in many of the texts that we’ve read, the feminism
lens can be easily applied to this story. Men dominate
and highly influence the life of every female character.
Cleofilas ( what an odd name) is raised by her father
and good-for-nothing brothers. We learn that she
spends time doing an “endless amount of chores”,
most likely for her male family members. So, from the
beginning of her life she learns to be submissive to
men.
One thing I noticed in “Woman Hollering Creek” that I
have not noticed in any work we have read since Trifles
is the feminist mode of rising against the patriarchy
through sisterhood.
16. Author Introduction:
Sherman Alexie (1966-
A Spokane/Coeur d’Alene tribal member, Alexie grew up on the
Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. Alexie was born
hydrocephalic and underwent an operation at six months of age; he
was not expected to survive. Though he lived through the experience,
he was plagued with seizures as a child and spent most of his
childhood reading. In the eighth grade, he decided to attend Reardan
High School, located twenty miles outside the reservation. His
achievements in high school secured his admission to Spokane’s Jesuit
Gonzaga University in 1985, where he had a successful academic
career but began to abuse alcohol. Alexie transferred to Washington
State University in 1987 and began writing poetry and short fiction. In
1990 Alexie’s work was published in Hanging Loose magazine, a
success he has credited with giving him the incentive to quit drinking.
He has remained sober ever since.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/sherman-alexie
17. HOMEWORK
Read Sherman Alexie 1207
“This is What it Means to Say Phoenix Arizona” 1213
Post #36
What is Sherman Alexie saying in this story about the role
of storytelling?
Discuss POV and how or why it is important to the plot.
Discuss the relationship of Thomas and Victor.
Discuss this story in terms of postmodernism, minority
theory, or multiculturalism.
