blog #8 extra credit paragraph

I saw Slumdog Millionaire and noticed that it was similar and different to the book Nectar in a Sieve. The character in both Slumdog and Nectar were lower class. They reinforced that the Indian caste system was very difficult to live in because once you were born into a certain class, it was hard to get out of it. In Slumdog Millionaire Salim and his brother were born in the slums and the only way Salim brought himself out of that lifestyle was through winning money from the show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. In Nectar in a Sieve, Rukmani remained as a peasant because of the lack of money and because she was born in that class. Also the movie and the book showed how important spices and color was to them. In the movie almost everyone was wearing very colorful outfits including sarees etc. just like in Nectar in a Sieve. And at all the market scenes in the movie spices were being sold. Rukmani gave her daughter a maroon and red Indian wedding dress. Both the movie and the book showed me better how the slum and peasant lifestyle were like. In both they lived in mud huts, drank dirty water and lived off of little food. They also used the term rupees for money. I think that this would be very hard to live in and a very difficult time filled with many struggles. Being a slum/peasant would not be fun and sounds like a hard life.

blog #7 change

2009 is supposed to be the year of changes. Barack Obama is the new president and is planning for many upcoming changes. The gas prices have already changed very many different times over the year. Obama also is the first African America president in the U.S. which is a very big change. The United States has been lead by a republican president for the past eight years and the past two presidential terms. Barack Obama is a democrat and a democrat leader should change the U.S. pretty dramatically. Our economy is in a recession and Obama plans to change that. So Obama is an example of change.

blog #6 hope

A text that includes hope would be Nectar in a Sieve. This is a good example because there is a large amount of hope in this book. Rukmani and her family have to have a lot of hope especially during all the suffering throughout the book. Including the death of their son, the starvation, and the monsoons. They have to keep hope that things will get better through the suffering and hard times. This book is a good example of a text that includes hope.

blog #5 religion

An example of a text that includes religion/spirituality/belief/non-belief is Siddhartha. This is a good example because it has a lot of different examples of religion, belief, and spirituality in it. Like when Siddhartha and many characters in the book show their belief in Buddha and the eight fold path plus Nirvana. These are examples of spirituality/belief/religion. This is why the book Siddhartha is a good example of a text that includes religion/spirituality/belief/non-belief.

blog #4 genders

I watched a movie called Life on the Frontier. It showed the different rolls of women and men on the frontier in around the 80s. They all had different rolls depending on their gender. The women did most of the cooking and cleaning and gardening and the men did the almost everything else such as building things and milking the animals etc. The men and women had different roles back then then they do now. This movie showed the rolls of gender.

blog #3 cultural differences

Siddhartha is an example of a text that shows cultural difference. They have different beliefs and clothing. Their names are even alot different than any of the names in the u.s. such as givanda and siddhartha. They pray differently and follow the eightfold path and live their lives in order to journey to nirvana. That is why I think that Siddhartha is a pretty good example of a text that shows cultural differences.

blog #2 struggles/difficulty

I found that in the book Marley and Me, the characters all struggle with Marley especially his owners and at many times it is very difficult to take care of him. But after getting to know him and just being patient with him they got over the struggles and difficulties and everyone just learned to accept his level of energy etc.

blog #1 natural disasters

There was a natural disaster in march of last year. A heavy winter storm covered Ohio in more than 20 inches of snow. The blizzard conditions shut down many roads and highways and air travelers across the state were stranded. High winds whipped the snow into 3-foot-tall drifts in some places and people couldn't see for less than a quarter mile. There are many natural disasters in the world and this blizzard is an example of one.