Trees and Trains

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Sonny’s Blues Perceived with Current Events

April 17, 2020

With corona virus changing the world I once knew, it has also reshaped my understanding of narratives we read in class. Sonny’s Blues is a prime example of a story that corona virus changed my perspective on. Specifically it has changed my perception of inner cities. I have always had a complicated relationship with neighborhoo ds, as when I was young I was aware I was fortunate. However it wasn’t until I saw the dilapidated neighborhoods of Chicago, NYC, Compton, my home city of Detroit, Watts, and north Champaign in person. After seeing the conditions people live through in the urban “trenches”, as they were called”, I came to realize the scale to which I was blessed. I was sure to not let my position go to my head and always check my privilege on a regular basis. I feel very sympathetic to Sonny’s brother as I fear for those who I left behind in middle school and hope they achieve great things succeed in life when I know life is cruel and unfair. In Sonny’s Blues the na...

Set of "BarbieQ"

April 06, 2020

A set design of a theater adaptation of “BarbieQ” by Sandra Cisneros would require two different sets for the two different scenes. First there would be a living room where the two characters play with their Barbie’s. There would be typical living room items such as: a coffee table, places to sit, and an array of Barbie outfits strewn across the center of the stage. Here they would play and the narrating character would proceed to stand up and speak to the audience in a soliloquy. This would be executed with the excitement and energy of a child talking about their favorite toys. Second would be the scene where the two go to the flea market. To transition between the sets the light would go out and the curtain, painted to appear as the living room, would be pulled back to reveal a sky line of Chicago. The skyline would be painted on panels of wood depicting the Chicago skyline one would see if they looked to the north east from Maxwell Street. There would be several stalls on stag...

An Alternative Ending of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

March 10, 2020

Alternative ending: Elisenda was later informed by relatives abroad what happened to the angel after he gained his freedom. Supposedly he settled down and had several children. The children matured and began fighting with each other, staining their feathers red, which previously were ornate florescent shades of green, blue, gold, and the black they inherited from their father. Over time the infighting between the angel’s children grew in scale and intensity as the angel became tired, no longer having energy to find compromise between their disputes. Suddenly their isolation and freedom was transgressed as a strange man with eagle like wings appeared in the angel’s asylum. The eagle interfered with the angel’s new domain, stealing nest materials and turning his children against each other. This infighting brought the angel to its death bed. Supposedly the last moments of the angel consiste...

First Person Shooter Sentence Analysis

January 28, 2020

“And I’m thinking maybe she’s not thinking, maybe she’s under the control of someone else. Maybe I am, too.” (Yu, 38) “Is there such thing as a self-aware Zombie? Can a zombie realize what she is? Maybe there are degrees of zombification, and she’s not quite there yet. Maybe I’m partway there myself” (Yu, 39) In the world of First Person Shooter , by Charles Yu, our unnamed narrator has several moments in which the relationship between the narrator and the world of the living is construed. After misadventures with a finger found on the ground and later discovering there is a zombie in WorldMart the narrator reflects on their situation. During this time the Zombie makes eye contact with the protagonist leading to the first quote, adding ambiguity to weather they are truly alive and have agency in their life. During the preliminary stage of the short story the narrator depicts their weekly schedule of working: “Sun...

Lago de Limpiopungo

December 13, 2019

While spending time in Ecuador we went on a trip to Cotopaxi, a volcano said to be the closest point on earth to the sun and a province of Ecuador’s namesake landmark. Driving into the national park, pine trees carpeted the area surrounding the road. It was strange to see trees from my home of snow and ice being planted in a land so far from home, while also being the land which my father would explore as a child. Moving up the road the landscape drastically changes to a much more arid environment as we reached around 13,000 feet. From that point we climbed around the preliminary trails leading to Cotopaxi, only to be thwarted by strong winds barraging us with ice. As we descended from the base of Cotopaxi my family decided to make a pit stop at Lago de Limpiopungo to allow us to stretch our legs. While some stayed at the trail head I, underestimating the size of the trail circling the lake, impu...

T H E T R E E S

November 24, 2019

The Trees, by Rush, commences with soothing strings and gentle vocals by Geddy Lee as an arboreal struggle is introduced. There exists two rival factions, the oaks and the maples, where the point of contention of the song is oaks stealing all of the sunlight, while maples lie under the oaks’ looming shadow. Breaking their silence, the maples voice their concerns to the oaks. The energy of the song is heightened as the instruments change from a soft lute to a raging guitar. However, the oaks stand indifferent to the maples’ grievances. This song mirrors many revolutions where either a class or a more specific group of people is being oppressed to the point where they reach their limit. Ultimately the oppressed organize and resist the powers that bind them. Emulating the class struggle seen in France in 1789, the oaks appear to be analogous...

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