About Me
I am so glad
you are here. My name is Miss Amie (that's what my student's call me) and I am
the author of this blog. I live in Southern California where the sun shines in
the daytime and the stars twinkle at night. I love everything about reading and
writing, including but not limited to: pencils, paper, sticky notes, similes,
metaphors, and personification. I teach writing and English to homeschool
students as well as tutor students who are in need of reading intervention.
About This
Blog
When you hear
the word global what do you think of? Probably a globe. And
right you are. Global refers to the entire world, and the literature featured
in this blog highlights literature that was created in one part of the world
yet has touched the lives of people worldwide. The term multicultural refers
to many cultures. Even though the customs and beliefs of the culture of origin
may be reflected in the written work, the overall meaning of the story
transcends borders and can be understood on deeper level by all people groups.
Within this
framework of global literature, I will be sharing with you several stories
which continue to capture readers' minds and hearts today. The 20th
century literature sampled here spans the globe from European, Ancient and Contemporary
Eastern Asia, Native American, African and African American, Latin American, and
Post-Holocaust Jewish Literature. Within these texts are characters who
struggle with identity, like Gregor Samsa in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.” Gregor
quite literally loses his identity when he becomes a lowly bug. Compare this to
the humans in Taduesz Borowski’s “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.”
The victims of mass genocide also lose their identity. Everything they own is
physically stripped away, but still deeper wounds are the loss of family and
dignity, and finally their lives.
Other stories blur national boundaries, crossing
cultures within the text. “Wedding at the Cross” by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
incorporates British, American, and German threads into this East African tale.
And “Omeros”, Book 1 by Derek Walcott loosely retells the story of Homer’s
story of Troy, featuring Achilles and Hector.
Several links are provided throughout my posts
to allow you to go further in your quest for knowledge as it relates to global
literacy. I have also provided ideas for teachers to use primarily with high
school students to make cultural connections in the classroom. These ideas
could certainly be used as a springboard for middle school classrooms studying
similar themes. Remember to reread the literature selections before reading
them in class, as some of them contain mature themes and detailed imagery.
I hope you enjoy travelling through the past through
these works and that you realize how important it is to keep multicultural literature
alive. Let me leave you with one of my favorites from this semester called “God
Has Pity on Kindergarten Children” by Yehuda Amichai.
God has pity on kindergarten children,
He pities school children -- less.
But adults he pities not at all.
He abandons them,
And sometimes they have to crawl on all fours
In the scorching sand
To reach the dressing station,
Streaming with blood.
But perhaps
He will have pity on those who love truly
And take care of them
And shade them
Like a tree over the sleeper on the public bench.
Perhaps even we will spend on them
Our last pennies of kindness
Inherited from mother,
So that their own happiness will protect us
Now and on other days.
Yehuda Amichai
