Does My Head Look Big In This?

Yes your head does look big in that, and you should go back to the taliban and blow up some shit. Thats the idea I felt was trying to be portrayed in Randa Abdel-Fattah's Does My Head Look Big In This? Everyone loves a good read about teen angst in high school and what better audience than a high schooler themself, what I liked a lot about this novel is that there was a lot of good lessons to learn from the oh so dangerous Muslim point of view. Amal is the main charater in this novel who decides that she will wear a hijab, or religious head covering for Muslim women. I thought it was amazing being able to see what it is like for another student struggling with the same issues as any other highschool student on top of trying to fit in in a setting where you are the minority. The key facts that I learned about the Muslim faith from this book is that most Muslims love their religion and God more than anything else this world has to offer and that the act of wearing a hijab or veil-like cloth over their head is one of the greatest acts of respect and subission to God a woman can make. Although that statement is debatable this novel makes it seem less like a culture shocker and more like reflection of a womans love for her faith. Amal shows great patientce with putting up with racist remarks and I think if any high schooler were to read this book either in class or outside of class, could gain from reading this book not only knowledge about another culture, but also how much what you say or dont say affects another person.

Five Years of My Life

It was disappointing to me that we had to cut the semester short due to the lovely Michigan weather, but I must say that the most rewarding novel I read this semester in our Middle Eastern interpretation class was definitely Molly's selection of Five Years of My Life. This memoir was the first time my brain was opened to the horrors and ugly secrets of Guantanamo, sure I have seen it in the headlines and even made jokes with my friends about it, but it was more of a shocker than i could have ever imagined. The fact that a nineteen year old young man traveling to Pakistan to advance his education could be stopped in transit at an airline and sold for a seemingly small price to American soldiers under little to no speculation of the man being a terrorist is sickening. Until reading this memoir I was under the impression that the humiliating tortures described ended with Vietnam. Boy oh boy was i wrong, this event took place no less than a little under ten years ago. After reading this it really had me question our government as a whole and made me realize that the media will do anything except tell you the truth, they will dance around touchy subjects and controversial issues and take the smallest fragment of a truth and stretch it into a bold-face lie.

I was surprised that this lack for a better word epiphany, did not occur to me earlier in the semester. As a student this was the very first time I was exposed to such atrocity and have to say it was very stimulating for my brain to go off into "what if ?" mode. What if the war on terrorism is nothing more than a sham to gain control of wealth in terms of oil, what if 9/11 was a conspiracy, what if good ol' dubbya was behind all of this for personal gain?

I promise you I will not begin to bore you with my politcal beliefs, I just wanted to let all of you who didn't get the chance to read this book for class to know that if you were unsatisfied with the subject matter we covered, you owe it to yourself to read it. If anything, you will definitely be satisfied with yourself for reading something so twisted but so true. I think thats what I liked most about this class, that everything we read had a direct correlation to waht is going on in the world in todays day in age versus learning about allegory and symbolism from ancient pieces of literature.

Childrens Lit in the Middle East

I used two short children's stories for my second paper in our Middle Eastern Literature studies class to show that children's literature can be used as a tool to teach our nations youth about other cultures and maybe even change popular opinions passed down to us about other ethnic groups. I firmly believe that if incorporated into the public school system's curriculem our children will be more well rounded and in tuned with what is going on in other parts of the world and if nothing else at least have a better understanding of other cultures and their lives.

The first story I used was The Day Of Ahmed's Secret, written by Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliand. This piece of literature is magnificent with it's illustrations which could give a young reader an idea of what life in Egypt might be like. The faces of the characters are calm and friendly as opposed to what a child may see on televison or on the cover of their parent's magazines. My parents raised me to fear people of Arabic decent and that they were most likely no good terrorists living in the united states on a visa to run party stores and gas stations in order to fund their organizations over seas. If i would have been exposed to a story like this as a child I feel that I may have been less fearful of Arab people. The story shows that Ahmed works in the bustling city of Cairo and what his daily routine entails, and although it may seem rediculous to a child that other children in other countries have to work full time The Day Of Ahmed's Secret goes to great length to inform that he needs to do this to help his family and that he is proud to have work and benefit his family.

The second story I chose which was written by the same authors; Sami And The Time Of Troubles shares the same beauty in illistrarions as The Day of Ahmeds Secret. What makes this story benneficial to the education of our children is that it tells of hard times during times of war with bombs and guns but it does it in a positve way. Yes war is a touchy subject for children to be able to handle but most of the earliest literature aimed towards adolescents were to frighten children and teach them important lessons. The positive a child could take from this story is that even though times may be tough family is important and what child is not comforted my his mother or fathers voice or touch.

I really hope you read this blog and comment because as an aspiring teacher I am more than serious about trying to introduce this in my work and am willing to do anything and everything to end the stereotypes of other ethnicities, most importantly the Middle East. With so much going on in the Middle East today our children need to be prepared and informed about the world they are about to enter. I was not and feel like I am now playing catch up in trying to understand the world and how it works.

Gold Dust

I honestly was not that big of a fan of Ibrahim Al-Koni's Gold Dust, I thought the plot moved slowly and aside from the animal love going on between Ukhayyad and his thoroughbred camel there was little suspense or entertainment through out the novel. Yes Ukhayyad and his camel are fleeing from their tribe and yes there is war going on with the Italians in the Middle East but little was spent on informing readers of the situations at hand and all I was left with was this love affair between a man and his camel.

There are some bright spots in this novel that prove beneficial to our class study on Middle Eastern Literature. The author did a great job describing in detail the vast landscape of the Sahara Dessert and the caves where Ukhayyad slept at night. The most important thing I learned from this novel is that in the deserts of the Middle East a camel may be the only means of transportation so of course you will care for and perhaps even come to love your camel.

I now have a grasp for how amazing the Sahara Desert is and how life, although difficult at times, is infact habitable. I also understand now why camels are so important to many Middle Eastern families but dont think it was necessary to have an entire novel focused around a man and his struggles with his companion.

Paradise Now

I really enjoyed watching the film Paradise Now which is a touching film that looks into the life of two friends Said and Khaled who were chosen to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. At first the two young men are excited and honored that they have been chosen, but later struggle with actually carrying out the mission.

There were many things that I truly appreciated, as an American citizen I struggle to understand the reasons why anyone would want to carry out a suicide bombing and how the media makes it seem like suicide bombers take action without concern for there family. This film showed that "chosen" ones actually do struggle with accepting their fate and that it may appear to be an honorable act to die for their country or religion at first but as their final day draws nearer they actually struggle to convince themselves that what they are doing is right. Said and Khaled both show their emotions in their video to their separate families and as they are getting prepared with bombs. Which leads me to my next point...

I never knew how carefully suicide bombings are planned and the many steps it takes to prepare a bomber for their mission. Paradise Now did an excelent job showing the process it takes to prepare a bomber for their mission; both Said and Khaled are given neat haircuts and suits so they wont easily be spotted by enemies and completely shaved before the bomb is carefully placed on their chest area which if attempted to be self removed will explode anyways. I learned something here, that there is no way out. If a suicide bomber decides to re-nig on their decision they are doomed anyways because only a person who understands the construction of the bombs is able to dissemble them.

The movie ends with Said and Khaled being intercepted by Israeli troops and are seperated, and leaves the viewer to decide for themselves if they think the mission is eventually carried out or not. With the blinding white screen at the end I believe that they do end up carrying out the mission and the white light is the last thing Said and Khaled will ever see.

Trip To The Mosque

Our class trip to the Islamic Center was by far the most rewarding and informative experience I have had so far in our class study of Middle Eastern Literature. The Imam was so friendly and knowledgeable it was hard not to like him, and having been raised Catholic and taught to fear Muslims it was reassuring to feel safe and at home in a frequently visited place of worship by Muslims.

I was disappointed that our time got cut short from our lesson on Islam because there were so many things I wanted to ask about find out more about but there simply was not enough time. I found it extremely interesting to find out that he held Jesus Christ with the utmost respect where Christians often poke fun at the Islamic figure of Muhammad. He went on to say that he respects anyone who follows Muhammad's beliefs and seeing that Jesus was spreading virtually the same word how could he righteously laugh or poke fun at him.

It also struck me at how important Islam is to the family, I had to attend catechism and sunday school all the way up until I was in high school but these Islamic children have such a beautiful grasp and understanding of their religion and it's core values. I thought I was being taught about my religion but it is an obligation of Islamic parents to teach their children about their religoin.

After our class field trip i came to the conclusion that there is no need to fear Islamic Muslims, they are pretty much following my religion through the interpretation of a different man. Despite the few concentrated areas of terrorists in Islamic areas of the Middle East, it is foolish to fear them or ridicule them when they are just as threatening as you or I.

The Road to Love

I had mixed emotions on the film The Road to Love, it covered such a controversial subject in a very effective way but at the same time was so poorly shot it was hard to follow the plot. It may have been because my seat in class made it difficult to follow the subtitles but i think it was because of the wide varieties of camera angels that were used in the film that made the plot hard to follow.

From the begging of the movie I was sucked into the unfamiliar surroundings of France and was ready to take in as much knowledge as I could... and then the subtitles kicked in followed by the distracting in focus-out of focus camera transitions. It took me a while to figure out that the road to love the main character was traveling was not so much of a school project as it was a struggle with his own sexuality.

One thing that I did like was during one of the first interviews, the man being interviewed said how the person being openly gay is not criticized nearly as much as the straight guy is for not tormenting the gay man. This drew a parallel to my own experience with homosexuals in high school, The macho-man football stud was teased more than the student being openly gay and comfortable with his decision. This opened my eyes to the struggle the gay community is going through and how badly they are being oppressed, this is not only a struggle here in the United States they are struggling in countries all over the world.

I found it hard to believe the a seemingly straight man could possibly change his sexual orientation through interviews with fay men, and that gay men would be so forward with there physical attraction to men. Maybe it was good acting maybe this story was truth but I can not get over the fact a school project could have such a gripping effect on a student.

I don't know what else to say... as a movie i thought it was very poorly written and shot but as a learning tool i thought it was extremely effective and the only thing i think would have helped would have been if we had a copy of the dialogue to follow with the movie. But i would like to thank Andrew for choosing to cover such a controversial subject!

"Blood and Oil"

The movie Blood and Oil that we watched for class a few weeks ago was terrifying to me at first partly because i was distracted from the dialogue by clips of marching soldiers but also because of the sincerity behind the narrators voice. I watched it a second time yesterday and was amazed at how much i missed out on the first time through.

The fact that the United States have been allies with Saudi Arabia since the early 1930's was shocking to me. I just figured that with the consumption of oil in America becoming more and more of a concern these days it just seemed fitting that we befriend one of the worlds largest suppliers of crude oil.

The fact that the documentary constantly showed clips of politicians arguing over whether the war in Iraq is really over terrorism or if it is mainly being fought for the control of oil, kind of slapped me in the face. For the longest time I was a large supporter of the US war in Iraq and never really thought that there may be an ulterior motive than the one we are being force fed by the media. The United States is most definitely fighting in Iraq so they don't lose control of the oil rigs in the Middle East but you know what, why not kill two birds with one stone.

This film would have served better as a public service announcement than a horrific documentary. I feel like the movie was successful in that it definitely made viewers afraid of what if's, what if shit hits the fan, what if we lose control of oil to the Soviets or the Chinese, what if World War III spurs from a dispute over oil? These are all tremendously concerning what if"s but for now it is not that large of a threat, and we have time to figure out solutions to these problems.

Sunrise Over Fallujah

I started reading my book for my groups topic of modern war in Iraq, the title i am choosing is Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Myers. I only got through the first chapter but i know this book will be of great value to our class. How do i know this? it was an assigned summer read for my sixteen year old cousins junior year of high school. I was up north at my cottage last weekend with most of my extended family, and my cousin who is overly anxious to head off for college asked me about my classes. When i began telling her about our class and how we will be focusing on middle eastern literature she stopped me mid sentance and said "oh my God, Johnny! I hope you have to read Sunrise Over Fallujah for that class". She gave me a brief summary of the book and when i got home sunday night and looked on Dr. Allens website and found this title under suggested reads I knew that I had to take it.

So far in the first chapter what I have learned so far is that it is an American perspective of Operation Iraqui Freedom. In the first chapter I was introduced to three characters; Birdy, Marla, and Harlem and got three very different outlooks on the was. Birdy, the main character, is struggling to find the actual reason for why he enlisted. From his uncertainty I believe that the rest of this story will weigh out the pros and cons of fighting this war, and will hopefully clarify exactly why we are fighting this was in the first place.

Since I atended a catholic middle school when 9/11 happened, I was unable to view this historical event most of you likely saw in class. When I got home my parents sheltered me and wouldnt let me watch any televison that night. So pretty much for the last eight years I have been clueless about what is going on over seas. I am optomistic that this book will open my eyes to what I should have been aware of in the first place

What the hell is a thesis statement anyways?

I am sitting in the library right now trying to make sense of my shoddy rough draft i have conjured up for the paper on Aunt Safiyya. I guess the reason for my confusion could be attributed to the fact that since I was in eighth grade I have been brain washed into understanding that the most important feature of a paper is the thesis statement. So for now I am going to listen to what others recommended in class today, the scary thought of SAVING THE THESIS FOR LAST!!! My other issue in constructing a well written paper complete with fluid transitions combining well thought out ideas and supporting arguments is that again, I have been brain washed into believing that writing a paper in the first person is a huge no-no.

So right now it is hard for me to make any advancements with my paper since my conscience is fighting my brain right now. Every time I start a paragraph with the words; I believe, I found, I...., etc my conscience takes control of my fingers and gravitates towards the back space button on my key board. I know that this is not a very constructive blog in terms of being productive for class but it is an issue that i am hoping many of you all are having in beginning to construct this paper and seeing that my blog page is a bit scarce, why not vent a bit eh?

Which brings me to my next problem, how do you jazz up your blogger profile? I am completely lost when it comes to customizing web pages or profile pages. I challenge you to find me on facebook and tell me differently after viewing my profile. So anyways if you have any tips or a step by step instruction method to help me out please feel free to comment.

Aunt Safiyya

My first impression of Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery was not a very good one at all, it was irritating to have to keep flipping back and forth to the glossary through out the first chapter and the introduction hardly sparked my interest. At first i thought the story was going to be about a Muslim boy who made friends with a monk at a Christian monastery and would try and make sense of the Muslim/Christian dispute that has been going on for many years.

Boy was i wrong!

Thankfully chapter two picked up with the death of Harbi's uncle and all the drama leading up to it, i must say it was interesting to find that these people were acting in such ways as their ancestors of Mesopotamia and Hamurabi's code. It was also captivating to watch Aunt Safiyya's gruesome transformation.

Chapter three was by far my favorite chapter in the whole novel, the outlaw Faris and his men and learning about the hard labor required of prisoners kept the pages burning through my fingers not to mention the suspense of what would happen to Harbi with Safiyya's son gradually getting older. I thought it was also moving the way that Bishai healed the muslim mans leg towards the end of the chapter where all the oulaws were gathered in defense of Harbi even though it was Faris who shot his own man.

Chapter four was just depressing and shattered all my hopes for a revenge plot time hardly had passed between cahpter three and four and eventually everyone died by the will of god and Safiyya went crazy.

This book was hard to follow with all the Arabic names and vocabulary, i thought there was just as much to learn from this novel as any other american literature so i am thankful to find out that Middle Eastern literature is not going to be filled of anti-american slander.

"Reel Bad Arabs"

Reel Bad Arabs introduced me to the importance of understanding Middle Eastern countries including but not limited to Iran, Palestine, Afghanistan, and Israel. For many years the headlines on television and in news papers have stereotyped people of Muslim descent as barbaric and heartless terrorists, enough to make me falsely assume that all Muslims share the same beliefs and that i should be frightened of them. To make matters even worse Arabic people have been and continue to be portrayed in movies that many Americans watch, as villains or dirty and uneducated neanderthals that degrade their women and live for the sole purpose of terrorizing the world. Without ever taking the time or effort to learn more about the people in these countries as a whole of course the only opinions I have ever had about them has been based on the negative stereotypes that I have grown seeing on television and reading in newspapers.

The image we get of the landscape of the Middle East from movies is that it is a dry and dangerous dessert that we misinterpret for being a threatening place. We get the impression that their male leaders are too rich and too stupid and have over sexed obsessions with white American women, while keeping their women masked and more so as possessions than people.

In all reality what we see in movies and read in the papers is far from the truth, although there are extremists living in the Arab world not all of their people sadistic terrorists. We as Americans falsely judge the Arab community by what the media relays to us (almost entirely about Arab extremist) without taking the time to research the community as a whole.