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Kindred: Definition of HOME

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Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler, follows the story of Dana’s experiences of time-traveling back to her ancestor’s plantation in the pre-Civil War era. Dana starts her journey as an observer, watching the atrocities of slavery. As Dana’s trips increase in frequency and duration, she becomes increasingly involved in this dangerous world. At one point, Dana makes an interesting observation on how the 19th-century plantation feels more like home than her new house in California. Such a statement appears nonsensical, as living as a colored woman constantly places Dana in grievous slave labor and physical danger. Dana’s story raises a powerful question regarding the definition of home : would one define home by the hard frame of chronological and physical location, or the intangible measures of time spent and the people one shares it with? One of her returns to the present, Dana expresses how she feels out of place. She struggles with simple tasks such as looking for aspirin and kitchen knives...
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Mumbo Jumbo & Postmodernism

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Published in 1972, Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo landed right at the beginning of the Postmodernism movement. Postmodernism marks a transformative period for art and culture as thinkers raised increasing skepticism towards modernism. Heavily influenced by the norms of its time, Mumbo Jumbo exemplifies postmodernist storytelling, both through its physical structure and plot.  The literal structure of the Mumbo Jumbo stands against modernist novel, appearing more like a collage. Interwoven between texts, Reed includes many drawings, newspaper clippings, photos, and historical documents. While some visuals extend from the plot, such as the image of the party invitation Earline shows Papa Labas, others appear randomly juxtaposed, like the drawing of two angels by the description of the spread of Jes Grew in America (Reed 27, 15). This deliberate inclusion of unrelated visuals disrupts the reader’s sense of coherence, mirroring the postmodernist idea of rejecting linearity in modernist na...
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Ragtime: Embrace or Resist Changes?

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Doctorow defined America’s early 20th century with a series of technological, cultural, and political changes. Upon examining the consequences of different personal responses to such changes, an interesting trend of individuals finding success through embracing change surfaced. In the story, characters who embrace transformation, such as Tateh, rise into new identities and life; those who resist, like Father, trap themself in the past. The opposite fates of these characters portray one’s adaptation ability as essential to finding identity and stability in a constantly developing society. Tateh’s journey starts as a powerless immigrant at the bottom of the social pyramid. Living in the Lower East Side slum, their family suffers severe poverty to the extent that his wife was coerced into selling her body. Even under such abject situations, Tateh perseveres and not once sacrifices his pride. This perseverance to defend his dignity is shown through his reluctance to accept Evelyn’s financi...
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