Reading Response Half Way Point

     "Sweet Dates in Basra" by Jessica Jiji, shows that people can be friends despite their racial and religious differences. In the book, a Jewish boy named Shafiq and a Muslim boy named Omar form a life-long "brotherhood" and friendship despite racial and religious implements in 1940's Iraq filled with violence and hatred. 1940's Iraqi hatred toward Jews was heavily influence by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime and their exclusion of Jews. A major roadblock is throw in the way also as a Midaan (Iraqi tribe) girl named Kathmiya is forced to move to Basra from the marsh suburbs and work as a house- sleep in maid. She and Shafiq become close and a friendship turns into forbidden love. Shafiq and Omar's families show that religion is no barrier to friendship.
     In the book, Shafiq and Omar prove that they can be "brothers despite the hatred between their religions. They are also next door neighbors and share notes through a little hole in the wall that divides their two houses. When Omar's father dies, Shafiq is there for Omar as a friend to rely on and as a shoulder to cry on. In Shafiq's family there is always a place for Omar's family. They often have dinner together and all the children seem to be best friends with each other. These families don't seem to care what other people think about them but rather if they're happy with it.
     Also in the book, a Muslim Midaan girl named Kathmiya becomes the house maid for Shafiq's older sister. The two grow in and their relationship begins to confuse them as they don't really know if they should express their feelings toward each other and if they actually have feeling for each other. In the beginning they grow into close friends but Shafiq finds her beauty extremely compelling and wishes that he could express her feelings for her although Kathmiya can notice it as it's obvious that he likes her. For Kathmiya, she is disappointed that her parents sent her to the city instead of getting married at 13. As time goes on she realizes that she has feelings for him as she gets turned down continuously by matchmakers but knows she will be banished from Islam and her tribe if she openly likes a Jew. The story really shows how at this time of their lives that things can get confusing and unclear but you should do what YOU want and not what others want. That really symbolizes Shafiq and Kathmiya.
     Iraq in the 1940's was very tough for Jews as there were many anti-Jew protests and riiots against Jews in high government postions and just Jews in the country at all. At the same time, there were many Muslims who stood up for Jews as they had known and lived besides them for many years abd knew that they were just being scapegoated. In one case a Muslim protected Shafiq's father's store from anti-Jew looters for no charge. The sentiment against Jews and the book shows that not all people reflect everything that their religion says but what you inside want instead.
     In conclusion, at the half-way point there are many interesting and compelling issues have to answered and explained. Will Shafiq and Kathmiya overcome their religions and pronounce there love for each other, or will peer-pressure push them farther away from each other. Will Shafiq and his family leave the country to escape the anti-Jew sentiment or will they try to suck it up and stay in Iraq. Lots of things to be considered but at the Half-Way point this is a very good book.

 

Final Version of Independent Writing Response

 ** SPOILER ALERT **

     I just finished an amazing sports novel called The Entitled by Frank Deford. This book keeps alive and interested throughout the book although the book jumps back and forth from to to issues previously mentioned. It takes place in the MLB, with Howie Traveler, who has struggled his way through the minors and up the manager scale and has become the manager of the Cleveland Indians after many years. Part of his job is to make sure the team's star player Jay Alcazar doesn't leave the team at the end of the season as he will be eligible for free agency. One night though he sees something at the team's hotel in Baltimore. It appears to be that Alcazar was about to rape a women as the door slammed shut after a women apparently tried to escape. The rest of the book goes back and forward in time switching the main character from Jay to Howie frequently.

     At first it's confusing to follow the book as it's hard to know what's going on as it jumps back in forth, unlike being in chronological order. At first the book is confusing but it's easy to adjust by the end of the book. There are many issues that arise during the book. Such as marital adultery, rape of course, and illegal immigration. In the book, Howie cheats on his wife of the time before the book takes place and while sleeping with another women his son gets into a nasty car crash and eventually dies. (We briefly go back to this moment during the middle of the book) No one knows about this besides him as he has never confessed this to anyone.

    Also as previously mentioned, Jay is accused of rape. According to the alleged victim she attempted to leave and then is pulled back (which Howie sees a glimpse of) into Jay's room and raped. Howie is originally convinced that Jay raped the women when she comes to him after she connected the dots that it was him in the hallway and tells him her side of the story. This part is well detailed as Deford seems to know what it's like to be raped. Howie is then counter-convinced that Alcazar is innocent by his daughter after she goes to him and tells her his side of the story after forcing him to tell her the story.  

    Lastly, Jay immigrated to America from Cuba at an infant age of 1 with his uncle and dad who gets busted and dies in jail. Again Deford seems to know the ups and outs of illegal immigration as he depicts the journey beautifully. After arriving in America, Jay is then raised by his Aunt and Uncle who he immigrated to America with. In the whole thing his mom is left behind in Cuba. Years later, Jay returns to Cuba at the end of the season to get his mom to America. His mom had another kid when he left and she declines to go to America. Eventually he convinces his half-sister to come and as hinted at the end of the book to Howie and his daughter that their mom has been convinced to come too.

     All of these topics and the non-chronological order of the book make it very interesting. Frank Deford makes so that you can get an in-depth feel for all the major and minor characters in the book. The book has been considered by many as "One of the Greatest Sports Novels of All Time" and that is rightfully so, as it changes from personal life to baseball in the blink of an eye. This book is truly an amazing book and a amazing read for any avid sports fan and for anyone even if they've never heard of baseball before.

Independent Reading Response- The Entitled

     ** SPOILER ALERT **

     I just finished an amazing sports novel called The Entitled by Frank Deford. This is an amazing book. It takes place in MLB with Howie Traveler who has struggled his way through the minors and up the manager scale and becomes the manager of the Cleveland Indians. Part of his job is to make sure the team's star player Jay Alacazar doesn't leave the team at the end of the season as he will be eligible for free agency. One night though he sees something at the team's hotel in Baltimore. It appears that he is about to rape a women. The rest of the book goes back and forward in time switching the main character from Jay to Howie frequently.

     At first it's confusing to follow the book as it's hard to know what's going on as it jumps back in forth, unlike being in chronological order. There are many issues that arise during the book. Such as marital adultery, rape of course, and illegal immigration. In the book, Howie cheats on his wife at the time and while sleeping with another women his son gets into a nasty car crash and eventually dies. No one knows about this besides him. Also as previously mentioned, Jay is accused of rape.
    According to the allged victim she attempted to leave and then was pulled back (which Howie saw glimspes of) into Jay's room and raped.  Lastly, Jay emmigrated to America from Cuba at an infant age of 1 with his dad and uncle who gets busted and dies in jail. Jay is raised by his Aunt and Uncle who he emmigrated to America with. In the whole thing his mom is left behind in Cuba. Years later, Jay returns to Cuba at the end of the season to get his mom to America. His mom had another kid when he left and she declines to go to America. Eventually he convinces his half-sister to come and as hinted at the end the mom is about to be convinced to come.
     All of these topics and the non-chronological order of the book make it very interesting. Frank Deford makes so that you can get an in-depth feel for all the major and minor characters in the book. The book has been considered by many as "One of the Greatest Sports Novels of All Time" and that is rightfully so, as it changes from personal life to baseball in the blink of an eye. This book is truely an amazing book and a amazing read for any avid sports fan and for anyone even if they've never heard of baseball before.

Reading Response to Papa's Last Waltz

       I believe that the dad in this poem wasn't abusing his son. They were dancing and he might of just been having a little bit of whiskey and that the son doesn't want to let go. The son and the dad were having fun and things were breaking but they didn't care about that. The mom might have been pissed that the dad wasn't dancing with her and she was irked that they had made their vows and that if it weren't for them he wouldn't be alive and that probably made her unhappy.
       Lastly when he mentioned that the buckle wasn't hitting him in an abusive way but that he was clinging to him as he didn't want their dance to end. The little boy just might go up to the dad's belt so the buckle would be hitting the son by accident.

Poem of Don't Take My Air Jordans

        I look around
        No one's there just me
        Me and the ocean

        I tell myself dad's just over there
       All I see are waves crashing on the beach
       Just go out
      
       Walk in the other direction
       You'll eventually get back
       A person walks up to me
       I'm not alone

Incident in Memphis

    Beep beep goes the phone
    Man gets mad and yells
    He and you begin to argue over who knows what
    Maybe he was racist
    Well he was

    Was it necessary
    Who knows
    Why was he pissed
    Who knows

    Well we all make mistakes

Poem on the "Mona Lisa

     Her smile is mysterious and mischievous
     Her eyes are gloomy with and edge for excitement
     She is begging for life to begin again
     Her eyes look away but her body faces towards you
     Her body is almost talking to you

     The background matches her eyes
     As the painting is gloomy it's also colorful
     The painting creates it's own beauty
     Mona Lisa smile!!