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A theme I noticed in these women's art would be women are valued by their "usefulness" to men or society. I think some reoccurring ideas we see in society involve women being caretakers and sexual pleasers. Whenever women are outside these ideas they are seen as crazy, wild, and unbelievable. When a woman is good at something that is male-dominated like rap music for example they are automatically put in a category of "women who are good at rap" rather than just being seen as a talented artist. One thing I have always noticed is most people automatically assume women are bad at something so it tends to become an issue of proving yourself. As a woman, I felt like I have had to prove my strength and talents more than a man would simply because I felt like people expect me to fail. Having these women tell their stories in such a powerful way and hearing them speak in ways that aren't usually viewed as "woman-like" was also very important to me. I feel as if this is definitely a representation of life because for a time in history women accepted the abuse from men and now women are using their voices to call out toxic behaviors showing other young girls their roles in society should not be decided by a man, how we should not let men think their presence in our life or their acceptance is valued. One specific piece of work I enjoyed was "taco day" when everyone wonders why she would do such an awful thing they mention how popular and successful she was as if that's all a woman must be in order to be content. It really shows how women's issues are overlooked as long as they are pleasing to the eye and their existence benefits everyone else. Then when a woman breaks they are seen as unstable but it sometimes feels like they were set up for failure from the beginning.

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In Kendrick Lamar's " Good Kid m.A.A.d city" album he narrates his character's coming-of-age story, a life growing up in a poor environment and influenced by the wrong people is what shaped him to be who he is today. He shines a light on some of the things he valued because of his upbringings like power and money. Things he was deprived of were what he strived for even if that meant running in gangs and being irresponsible, being someone he never really felt right being. He addressed his character and action in a couple of lines like he knew what was wrong but couldn't escape. The album kind of sounds like a cry for help from the character (teen Kendrick)
Tyler the Creator's "Flower Boy" album reflects the character's struggle of trying to fill loneliness with meaningless relationships and fancy things. The way Tyler narrates his life journey is him driving through struggles in his car. He also throws hints towards his sexuality as a Bisexual man. The album describes the adventure within finding yourself, all the ups and downs, all the positives and negatives. He also explains how he wasn't truly happy no matter how much money or fame because he had been hiding his self hoping the luxurious and girls can fix the lost feeling in his mind. He explains some of the struggles he faced growing up in a single-mother household with little money and battling between being himself or fitting in.

I read this from a social lens. Both these stories speak on the growth from being young and lead in the wrong direction to growing up and becoming the best version of themselves. Both characters strive for some kind of "pay off" Tyler wants to just be happy and Kendrick wants to be himself.

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As we read The Last Poets the author, Christina Otten, describes many different relationships. I mainly notice the relationships Omar is involved in seems to catch up with him as he gets older. I think a possible theme could be our adolescent experiences will reflect in the future. As a young child, the idea of love was exposed to him by his parents and Dora. As he gets older he witnesses events that may confuse his perspective. For example, when he watches his father beat on his mother. Omar explains how his mother just took the beating. This can be damaging for young children to see. Then when he comes across Dora, she opens his mind to sexual experiences and justified their acts as love. Soon Omar loses his relationship with her after finding out about her father sexually abusing her. Later on in his life, the character Cookie who was having sexual relations with Omar says she feels like he takes his love with him when he leaves. I find this really interesting because it has been made pretty clear Omar has strong sexual desires. I think these desires are what directs a lot of his choices. When he was going through a hard time he went and paid a prostitute. When he was told to stay away from one specific woman in a club he gets a gun to his head for not listening. Later resulting in him shooting the man who had threatened him. He talks a lot about sex even though he said he loved people his actions showed something different, I think he may have gotten this habit from the experiences with his parents and Dora. There is also a part where Omar helps beat Kain. I connected this to when Omar wanted to beat his father with an ax when he broke into the house towards the beginning of the book. Omar wanted to take the lead of his home after his father let them down. In his mind beating his father to protect his family was his way of asserting his dominance and manhood since he was the one bringing in money at this point. Later when Omar helps hold kain so Alafia can hit him with the hammer. He asks himself "did the dude have no self-respect at all?" because Kain took the beating without fighting back. This makes me wonder if he thought this same thing when he watched his mother take the beating from his father? Did he think his plan to kill his father with an ax that night would show his self-respect rather than taking the abuse? Was this his idea of manhood, love, and self-respect rooted in his childhood observations?

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We have been introduced a new character as we enter this part of the book, Felipe. I am most interested with the relationship between him and his mother. I strongly believe when parents are faced with any obstacle their children must suffer the consequences. The reason I bring up this topic is that the author exposes Filepes mother with a story from his grandmother.
His grandmother tells the story of the mother almost dying when she was a child after the grandmother and grandfather split. Felipe's mother is said to be a strong lover. So much so that being deprived of a relationship with her father almost killed her. This trait will result in the return to New York after going to California for a new start. Filipe's mother escapes his cheating father in hopes of making a better life in California. It is later revealed that after some time the mother decides to go back to her husband and act as a married woman since that was the right thing to do through the eyes of religion. I find this interesting because though the setting can have a major impact on our characters, this book shows that sometimes a dramatic setting change truly doesn't change some people(the character). The author teaches us that setting and setting changes don't always mean a new story, new beginnings. The conflict is Filepe's actions along with how he is controlled I think. Something that caught my attention was when his mom expresses her worry for the people Felipe was around. He is mixed in with the wrong crowd and hangs around his gang-affiliated cousin. Though this would be a worry for any mother, moving to California seems like a good idea to me. Then when his mother deiced to go back to New York, I saw this act as a bit selfish. I wonder why she would want to bring her son back to such a draining and negative environment. Was her love that strong or was it the guilt of the religion? A conflict I notice is is that Felippe is simply not like his cousin. I came to this conclusion once I had read about Felippe only mugged people with the right justification. I feel like any financially stable person may think "what kind of justification is there for mugging people?"Even though this question is valid I still understand that due to the setting felippe grew up in, he was raised with both street and school smarts. He was battling between street cred and an education. It seems like Felipe was kind of dragged along and made do with what he was given out of love for his mother. But he did suffer the consequences of his mother's feelings and actions.

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Hi monika! I really enjoyed reading your discussion about omar because i chose the same character, he caught my eye like he did for you. I really like how you brought up the story about his father and choosing violence. It made the reading and perspective more understanding and fun.

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The character that I chose was Omar. I enjoy reading from his perspective the most. The reason for this is because whenever he thinks to himself he puts so much detail into things some may find insignificant. The way he describes the women he is sexually attracted to is very much different from the way he described Dora when he was just a young child. He notices small details like the way someone's skin may look at that very moment or the sound of someone's voice. I am a huge overthinker and I also seem to be overly aware when in a normal conversation the same way Omar does. Sometimes if the conversation turns to conflict and I have to leave I find myself spending the rest of my nights overthinking everything that happened rather than sleeping. I can relate to Omar this way. Omar also expresses his thoughts and memories in the middle of a current event. I also enjoy him doing this since it feels so real. We don't just go through our days waiting for the next thing to happen. Everything we do is triggered by memories of our struggles, successes, and adventures. Something I also noticed when reading was the way he talks about his father. At the beginning of the book, we experience the moment Omar learned his father may not be the man he thought he was for so long. It is revealed his father had to use a gun but his mother assures Omar's brother that he did it to support his family and that his father was a good man. His brother goes on to ask if their father was a cowboy since he had a gun. The boy expected his father to be a hero but to everyone else, he was the villain. Later on, Omar is put in a situation where he uses his gun as revenge for being threatened by another man in a club. I connected these two because though his mother justified his father's actions because she thought his love for his family was bigger than any crime, Who would justify Omar's violence after his act? Nobody would. I also see from Omar's perspective how he juggles between "not caring" what people thought of him and letting people's opinion on him burn him from the inside. He says he doesn't care about what the poet thought of him after searching him before allowing him to perform. It is later revealed that Omar is inspired to become a poet from the performance. Compared to when he sees his Grandmother Elizabeth. From his childhood stories, he goes on to explain his rough relationship with her. How she never believed he would amount to anything and calling him stupid. When later running into her he gets these flashbacks and her harsh words whip around his head before greeting her. He is smacked in the face by the fact that she didn't say a single word to him. She stared at him blankly before turning around and leaving. This seems to affect Omar greatly. He is obviously hurt and angry at her reaction. I can't help but wonder why HER judgment of him mattered so much considering she always had the same attitude towards him. It confuses me but at the same time, I ask the same question about myself.

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I don't look like this all the time just a good makeup day lol :) also, I love Timothee Chalamet lol

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Hello!! My name is Monika Anderson. I am 19 years old starting my second year at Stan State majoring in Sociology. I hope to get a career in child social work. I was born and raised in Fresno California living with my mother, stepdad, and my big crazy family. I moved to Modesto with my dad last year to attend school here. It was a hard transition since we were online and I left all my friends but I was able to meet a few really nice people! Some of my favorite hobbies are thrift shopping, makeup, art, film, listening to music, TikTok, and pretty much anything that allows me to be creative! I love classic horror films/art, Chicano history/art, Harry Potter, and Twilight as well! Aug-December is my favorite time of year because of all the weirdness of Halloween and Joy of Christmas time! I love meeting and getting to know people so pleaseee be my friend if interested of course haha! Feel free to add me on Instagram monika_lefleur. This isn't a promo or anything I just find connecting with peers seems easier on social media :) <3

I know for this course we will be recognizing the many different ways authors and artists develop stories! We will also learn to understand the way literature is used to talk about culture through discussion. By the end of this course, I will be able to explain the many different ways literature has impacted the way we express ourselves. I hope this semester will allow me to learn new techniques to express myself through reading and writing. I also hope I can improve my writing skills in general!