Blog #4

[timshel]

Part 1:

In order to understand the point of view and dynamics of the family in “Obasab” it is very important to know the history of Japanese internment during World War II in Canada.  The relationship that Obasab experiences with her daughters could be confusing or misconstrue if insight about the treatment of these Japanese was not known. “Her daughters, unable to rescue her or bear the silent rebuke of her suffering have long since fled to the ends of the earth...Approaching her, they become balls of liquid metal--mercurial--unpredictable in their moods and sudden departures” (Kogawa 5).  When the reader is presented with the information that Obasab’s daughters have disappeared while she is silently suffering, one might judge their decision.  However, knowing the history of the situation and the experiences that the family has endured, the reader is better able to understand the dynamic.  The experience of the internment silenced many Japanese, as they were made to feel less-than the rest of the population.  Because of this built up of emotion, tension is an obvious outcome.  This explains why the daughters felt that, “departure [was] as necessary as breath” (Kogawa 5).  Without the prior knowledge of the internment, the reader would not understand that these relationships formed out of the consequences of war.

Works Cited

Kogawa, Joy. “Obasan.” Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan...[et al.]. Canadian Ed. Toronto:                       Pearson Education, 2005. 3-8. Print.

Part 2:

When writing essays in the past I have found that is it better for me to not sit and bang it out in one sitting. I tend to write better if I complete one paragraph and take a short break or switch focus to a different activity before continuing to the next. If I don’t take a break I tend to sit and re-read and think and re-read, without getting anywhere. A tip I learned from a teacher in the past is to read your completed essay, sentence-by-sentence, backwards. This way you take the sentences out of context from the paragraph and really see if they make sense and hold content individually. A new strategy that I would like to implement during the week of the midterm essay is free writing. After reading about it in the textbook it seems to bring thoughts together and help ideas flow more freely. When writing an essay it is easy to become stuck for what to say, but having a page full of your own ideas might be helpful.

Comments

[psherman42wallaybyway]

I like that you showed how the daughter's absences may be because they don't fully understand how Obasan and her husband suffered from the internment. The "built up emotion" you mentioned makes a lot of sense! I also think it's really handy to takes brakes while writing essays. Refresh your thoughts!

[litblogger]

I completely agree that this story would not be as well understood if the reader did not have a prior knowledge of the treatment of Japanese people during the war. While I was researching the internment, I found many facts that I was unaware of and that changed my perspective on the story. I didn't know how long the Japanese were mistreated for, and I didn't know how horrible the conditions of the internment camps were.
I was fascinated to find out the Joy Kogawa was raised in an internment camp. Thank goodness she chose to share her experiences through writing so that those of us that weren't around at the time can understand the pain it caused.