Final

Throughout this class we have explored Australia, Africa, India, and China. We have read numerous books and stories that have helped teach us about these different places and have been recording our experiences on these blogs. We were asked what part of our reading would we keep for this class, what would we throw away, and how did we like doing our assignments in this blog setting.



When we were in our Australia section, we read a collection of Australian short stories including "Manhandling". I think that these stories were of great importance, showing us all the differing characters of that land. What they were like, how they differed. There was the red cow breaking free of society, the outlaws with manners and morals, and the men floating down the river together. While these stories presented a wide range of opinions, views, and uses, I also think that they played the intricate role of making us open our eyes and see the differences. Also, because we took these stories out of a random book that the teacher hadn't even read, it was easier to accept the analogies that we came up with because we were seeing them ourselves, not just listening to a teacher tell us that scholars had discussed this and decided that this is what the author had meant and that was what we had to accept.



I would also keep "The Power Of One" from our Africa section. That book was so useful in that it broad casted the differences in cultures and how Peekay dealt with it. We need to see that mixing cultures is hardly ever as calm and accepting as they want us to believe. We need to see how cruel people can be to others because of the differences that they imagine and that their minds create for us to see. Talking about it is all well and good, but there are some things that can not just be heard. With the personal contact you get from Peekay throughout this book, it become real to a point that you understand the situations.


I think that the text book should be burned for what it is printing. It is missing so much valuable materials when it shortens stories. In our India section we read an expert from a religious text that told of a man that was in war and a conversation he has with his god about killing. If you are aware of the whole story the meaning is completely different than what is depicted inside the text book. If that story is to be included in the class, it should be told as a whole or not at all.


I really like the blogging as a way of presenting the stuff we learn in class. We can look at each other's blogs and continually add to what we have. Also there is more organization doing it this way because, nothing can be "lost" or "left at home". It also fits in well with every one's personal habits. I am a very neat and organized person when it comes down to my school work and how it is organized and I like to have the different blog pages for the different section while I have noticed that others do not organize the way I do. It is fun also to get on the computer and write down everything. And as an added bonus, you don't have to try and interpret a person's hand writing.