MFA Assignment

MFA:
This bowl is probably northwestern Iran (so-called Aghkand ware), 12th or 13th century. Earthenware with incised decoration and colors on white slip under clear glaze. A splendid rooster picks his way through a thicket of vines on this bowl, which exemplifies the incised, polychrome-painted wares known as Aghkand, after a village in northwestern Iran where many such vessels were reportedly found.

This bowl from Iran would most fit in my family's home for many reasons.


Short Story (fiction):

A few years ago my aunt Nancy was searching for treasures in one of her many archeological digs. As the sun began to go down, all the archeologists began to pack up their belongings to go home after a long day, but Nancy had other plans. My aunt, being the sneaky woman that she is, decided that she would continue digging after everyone had left, even though she wasn’t supposed to do that, she felt as though she was getting close to finding something special. As everyone was leaving the site, Nancy pretended to pack up her belongings and told the others it would be just a few minutes before she too would leave the site. After a few minutes everyone deserted the digging area. Nancy began digging quickly in the dirt and rock. She then hit something, suspecting a rock as usual. But this time it was not a rock, it was a piece of pottery. As Nancy dug closer and closer to the pottery she discovered it was a bowl, and it was completely intact. She became so excited she scooped the bowl up and stuffed it into her backpack. When Nancy arrived home she was so excited to tell everyone about her find until she realized that she had broken a rule. She was not supposed to be digging alone, and she also stole the pottery she found on an archeological dig! She knew she would get into a lot of trouble if she told anyone, so for years she kept it a secret.
It was my sixteenth birthday, and I was excited to open up my gift from Auntie Nancy, because they are always such interesting gifts. I quickly untied the ribbon and ripped off the wrapping paper to find a box. So I opened the box slowly, and looked inside. It was a pottery bowl with a rooster on it. I really liked the bowl since I love animals so I jumped up to give my aunt a hug and thank her. After I had opened all my presents, my aunt Nancy took me aside to an empty room. She then told me the story about how she came to possess such an item. I was in such shock that I actually owned something from such a long time ago. I wanted to tell all my friends about the present my aunt gave me for my birthday, but I couldn’t, I had promised my aunt to never tell anyone where it came from.

Assignment for Monday, January 29th.

If I had to resonate myself with any of the characters or families from the three short stories we have read so far, I would resonate myself with the character Earl. Earl is a character in the story My Mother’s Memoirs, My Father’s Lie, and Other True Stories by Russell Banks. I would resonate myself with this character because, like Earl’s mother and father, my grandfather tends to make up stories as well. The fact that my grandfather makes things up doesn’t have as much of an affect on me as it does on Earl. It doesn’t affect me as much because I barely see my grandfather, and I think that he makes things up mostly due to his old age. But, I can relate to Earl in that I too have to deal with family members making up stories, and telling lies.

Response Paper

In both short stories, My Mother's Memoirs, My Father's Lie, and Other True Stores, by Russell Banks and My Father, the Englishman, and I, by Nuruddin Farah, the narrators are characterizing their parents. Compare and contrast these characterizations. What do the stories say about the narrators themselves?

I believe that the story by Russell Banks says a lot about the narrator. I think that the narrator is depressed, and wants the reader to feel sorry for him. The whole story is about how he was lied to as a child, and still in the present day. All the stories he tells makes me think that he wants the reader to feel sorry for him because he was always lied to.


I believe that the story by Nuruddin Farah is told in an angry tone. The narrator, to me, seems to be very angry while telling the story because he was abused, along with his brothers, by his father while they were young. The story says that the narrator is still angry at his bad experiences in his childhood.

A Family Supper by: Kazuo Ishiguro

Cultural Refrences

Kamakura district: a city in Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakura

Tatami: Traditional Japanese flooring made of woven straw.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami

Chou Enlai: A prominent Communist Party of China leader, he was Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chou_Enlai

Osaka: The third largest city in Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka

Kimono: Traditional garments of Japan. Orginally kimono was used for all types of clothing, but it came to refer specidically to full-length garments that is still worn by women, men, and children. Kimono are T-shaped, straight-lined robes that fall to the ankle, with collars and full-length sleves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono

This story was about a man whos mother died from eating a fish named fugu. The son, Kazuo, who is also the narrator, tells the story of how his mother dies. He then returns to Japan where he visits his father, and his sister also comes to visit. They talk about their lives and also about the past. The father makes it clear that he wants Kazuo to stay with him in Japan, but he is not sure on what he wants to do yet. At the end of the story the son, sister and father eat dinner. They eat fish, Kazuo asks his father what kind of fish they are about to eat, and his father replies with "it's just fish". That statement left me to wonder if the father was feeding the son and daughter the same fish that killed their mother. But, the reader never finds out if it is.

"My Father, the Englishman, and I" by: Nurudiin Farah

"My Father, the Englishman, and I" by: Nurudiin Farah

Cultural References:

Ogaden: part of the Somali Region in Ethipopia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden
Political Pimping: When someone represents more than one political party.
http://www.reference.com/search?q=political%20pimping&r=d&db=web

Response:

I didn't really understand the story. It was hard for me to follow what was going on, and what the story was even about. I believe the story was mainly about a son and his father's relationship. The father and son do not have a good relationship, it is stated that the father is abuseive. Many refrences are made to the hands of the father, hitting and smacking.