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In the novel "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," by Ocean Vuong, we read about the author's life growing up in a single parent household, in which the parent has PTSD from war, yet does her best to care for her son. From what I've read so far, the author seems to try to explain his relationship with his mother through the use of stories that seem at odds with each other.

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In Ocean Vuong's novel "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" we are told that this novel is a letter to his mother. The narrator( author ocean vuong) is writing about detailed memories of growing up with his vietnamese mother and grandmother. Voung uses a lot of vivid imagery when describing his memories you truly feel all the emotions that were put into this. His memories of his mother hitting him, going to Goodwill to get clothes, dressing up in sunday's best to go to the mall and window shop and get a few chocolates from the fancy store. When he scared his mom wearing a american solider helmet saying "Boom" not knowing how much that hurt his mother. I want to know why vuong refers to his mom as a monster, " You're a mother, ma. You're also a monster. But so am I which is why i have taken gods loneliest creation and put you inside it. Look."( Pg 14) This quote makes me want to keep reading. He was at his grandmas house and fireworks went off and she told him to hide because the war was still in her.

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The book "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong is a story written in dedication to Vuong's mother. The story starts by depicting Vuong's mother's foible areas. She fled Vietnam under the disastrous war that was taking place resulting in Vuong's believe in her developing PTSD. She would hit Vuong because of events that would replay in her head. Vuong also describes trips to Goodwill with his mother as the time to splurge since it was her birthday, spending time in the nail salon watching his mom work, or when he would unexpectedly scare his mother not knowing how much he really effect her is all greatly described by Vuong's vivid imagery that is present all throughout the beginning episodes.

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In the novel written by Ocean Voung, "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous", Voung is telling his story, which is primarily dedicated to his mother. In the pages read, Voung describes how his mother used to beat him and how he would have to lie and say he got bruises from playing tag. Voung mentions the time his mother got upset when he was teaching and correcting her for her broken English.

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The Novel ¨On Earth We´re Briefly Gorgeous¨by Ocean Vuong focuses on expressing to his mom the way that he feels about their relationship in this letter. Vuong is recalling memories from when he was growing up and how his mother would treat him. Him and his mother came from Vietnam and his mother suffers from PTSD because of growing up during the war. He vividly describes events that had occurred in his life to convey the emotions that he feels.

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A novel named "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. The first chapter is about the hardships of a mother and son who facing a country. A son was writing a letter to his mother that cannot read English.

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Ocean has so far explain to us his teenage years and how they were. He refers to Tiger Wood for a couple of pages because he sees himself in him because they are both mixed race and part Vietnamese. Also, him and Trevor form a intimidate relationship and start to spend more time together and create the best bond that they both can giving their circumstances. Ocean has admitted to his mom that he is gay. We find out the Trevor has passed away from a overdoes and Ocean comes back from after the death of Trevor.
Conflict: Some of the conflicts that are occurring in the story are Trevor death and internal feeling of not knowing who he is. Ocean has struggle all his life with trying to find how his is when all the people around him were mean and racist to him and the only person that he had created a relationship with had passed away while he was away in college.

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So far into the book, Ocean has discussed his relationship with Trevor and how he sees himself in Tiger Woods. Ocean discusses how he met Trevor when he began working at a tobacco farm. So far into the book, Ocean has dealt with homophobia from his mother, grief, and racism. When Ocean came out as gay to his mother, she began questioning what happened to him since she raised a "normal boy". Ocean also had to deal with the grief from Trevor dying over an overdose. Ocean also has to deal with racism. When he was younger, a boy pressed his face aggressively onto the window of the bus. He began pressuring him to speak in English.

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Nice, Nancy!

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We are introduced to Trevor which is the grandson of the owner of the tobacco plant where Ocean now works without the knowledge of his mother. Trevor and Ocean quickly become great friends. He even has his first time be with Trevor all though Trevor is really reluctant to accept his sexuality which hurts Ocean. Trevor also has an abusive father that neglects him which really shows within his action. We later see Ocean coming out to his mother and she tells him of his brother that she had to abort. When Ocean goes to college he gets a text stating Trevor has passing later he knew it was due to a overdose which really effects Ocean emotionally. One conflict we see is him trying to identify who he is as a person without the influence of his mom, Trevor, and his grandma.

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In the novel of "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," so far it's been about Little Dog remembering the hardships of the salon and how it took a toll Ma. Remembering how Rose helped an old lady, and she is tipping Rose a hundred dollar bill. Little dog turning 14 he got his 1st job at a tobacco farm. He met Manny that called him "Chaquito." Little dog remembering the hard work and the different smells of the workplace, and a man named Buford who was the boss of the tobacco workplace. Now I from what I found from the book was that Little dog had met a boy named Trevor, and little dog is trying to get to know Trevor, and it seems little dog wants to be in a relationship with Trevor.

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In the novel, "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," by Ocean Vuong, Vuong details stories of his adolescence in which he describes his mostly incomprehensible grandmother, his mom(who works constantly and is always tired and busy),  and Trevor, a boy with which he becomes more than friends. Vuong starts working at the young age of 14, at a tobacco farm, and there he meets Trevor, a boy a little older than him, who has come to work to avoid his drunk father. They are able to relate to each other, and they become close friends, and, eventually, lovers. He explains how he was at peace together with Trevor, and how he eventually has to move away from Hartford and leave him. We learn that Trevor dies of an overdose a few years later, leaving "Little Dog(Vuong)," sad. The book then moves on to another part of his life;his grandmother has been diagnosed with cancer, and only had a few weeks to live.

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The Novel "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," I have read about is that Lan remembers a time during the War in her country. She had her daughter with her trying to get back to the Village. Soldiers have occupied her land. She remembers smells of the time. She remembers the sound of the at time. Lan named herself "Ten toi la lan" meaning Orchid. Lan named herself that because her mother did not give her a name, only a number 7 in the order she was born. Lan remembers the soldiers eating the brain of a macque monkey.

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Ocean has being going to a lot loss in his life he lost his friend Trevor and his Grandma. He talks more about the issue that are affecting him and he states that both him and his mother suffer from bipolar disorder. He tells his mom that he is gay and his mom tells him a story about how she aborted a baby.

One of the contrast and contradiction for Ocean was when Trevor and him were intimated because Trevor will always regret it and start to make Ocean feel bad. Also,he would say dumb things to Ocean for example how would you really think you are going to be gay all your life and Ocean said yes whereas Trevor thinks its a face. Trevor had the higher power in the situation and make Ocean agree with whatever decision Trevor would say when in reality Ocean felt completely the opposite of that.

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On the pages I have read since the last book club meeting, Ocean describes the moment his grandmother's life was coming to an end. Ocean recalls the day he was at the hospital with his grandmother where they told her that she had stage four bone cancer. The doctors informed the family that Lan had a month to live. During that time period, the mother and Ocean were determined to make the remaining time comfortable for Lan. Lan however, told her family that they were childish as a way to cope with the fact that she was about to die. While Ocean was with his grandmother at her death bed, he was remembering the first time he had a physical sexual experience with Trevor.

In the novel, when Ocean is informing us about the times his mother would hit him, he recalls how he would not defend himself. Ocean then goes on to say that "Perhaps to lay hands on your child is to prepare him for war." Ocean justifies his mothers actions with her trauma and by saying that her hitting him will make him stronger. However, Ocean gets bullied from a young age. Without being able to stand up for himself, Ocean had to deal with abuse from several people believing that it would make him stronger. His claim about abusive parents helps create stronger children is flawed since we see that as he ages, his self-esteem is fragile.

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We see that his grandma Lan went to the doctors and they said that she only has 3 weeks of life. She is in denial until her final days. We see Ocean very hurt and upset because of her passing and he remembers memories of his grandmother.

After coming back home due to the news that Trevor passed away he went home and he was laying with his mother. His mother knew something was upsetting and asked him what was wrong. He said, "I hate him, Ma", "I hate him. I hate him" and he began to cry. Here we can obviously tell that he doesn't really hate him even if he is verbally admitting it and trying to convince himself. Trevor was like his best friend they did everything together even got intimate which makes me believe that he doesn't hate him actually the complete opposite he miss/loves him but that is the only way he know how to grief.

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Since the last book club meeting, Ocean has introduced us to trevor, a boy he met while working in a tobacco field in high school. Grandma lan was also passing away right before their eyes.
After ocean and trevor become each others sex partners, Ocean contradicts himself by saying on page 114 " The first time we fucked, we didn't fuck at all". This is a contradiction because they did and ocean feels as if they did even if they didn't go all the way.

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Vuong describes how him, his mother, and his aunt(of Lan's, his grandmother's, body)  "fed it, kept it comfortable, bathed it, medicated it, caressed it, even sang to it...until time left it behind." Lan passes away leaving Vuong sad and lonely, and his mother and aunt in grief. The novel fast-forwards five months to Vietnam, where they have just buried Lan's cremated body. His grandfather mourns Lan through a laptop and apologizes for a multitude of regrets he has. A few days later, Vuong witnesses what seems like a festival, except that there are four people mourning the death of someone. He later learns that the festival is held by the community for  mourners of a recently deceased individual. This festival is held in an effort for the community to "heal."
Scene: Ocean Vuong is rubbing a cold, hard boiled egg against his cheek at his desk on a winter night in New York. He's remembering that his grandmother used to  rub a hard boiled egg on his bruises to "heal them." She would say,"The egg, it heals even the worst bruises...Eat...your bruises are inside it now. Swallow and it won't hurt anymore."(Vuong 105 &106) He then writes," And so he eats. He is eating still." What he means by he is eating still is that he is still "healing" his bruises. An appropriate song to fit this scene would be "My Way." The song is speaking about life, and its regrets, challenges, and the determination to face the challenges. Vuong details some of his regrets, challenges, and his determination to face the challenges in his novel. One such example of a challenge for him was facing his bullies, and him standing up to them was his way of facing the challenge.

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Summary of what you've read since last meeting
scene and song[link to song]
-What's happening in the scene?
-What's the song about?
-How do they connect?

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Lan has passed away ,Ocean is reflect on his life and starting to close the book and saying the last meaningful things to his mom. He states that he doesn ́t know if his mom has gone this far into the book or even read the book and is really pouring his last thoughts and feeling to his mom. He closes the book by saying and then she laughs which is odd next to all of the sad things that were mention a through the book.

Song
The scene in the book that I see this song going with is when Ocean goes to his mom for comfort after getting bullied in the bus but his mom tells him that she isn ́t able to do nothing because she can ́t speak English. I wanted to show what his mom may be feeling and the cause for the position that she is in. I think that the government and people around her abused their power causing for her to become who she is and the song by Billie Eilish is trying to convey the message that a lot of people abuse their power which ends up hurting a lot of people and in this situation Ocean ́s Ma.

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Billie Eilish - Your Power (Official Music Video)

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Summary:
He is now just reliving memories that really affected him and he wants his mom to know. He also acknowledges his mother and if she is still reading the book or not. He also brings up the monkey scene again and he reveals that he is born in the monkey year which can be symbolic. The book then ends with his mother laugh for no reason.

Song:
I choose the scene in part 3 where he is in a train coming from New York with the news that Trevor has passed way and he is experiencing contradicting emotions during all his train ride. When he finally arrives he goes to Trevor's house, but for no reason because Trevor's father does did not even care for his son death so he just goes home and when his mother asked him if he is okay he cant hold his emotion anymore and breaks down.

The song is about leaving someone that was very toxic and harmful to a her life but she still love them but she realized that she is happier than ever but their is still some damaged left over.

I feel they connect because when the course comes in the music turns into rock and its towards the end which reflects the emotion of Ocean realising his emotion. One of the lyric is "You called me again, drunk in your Benz
Driving home under the influence
You scared me to death, but I'm wasting my breath" which is one of the memories that Ocean explains he said that sometimes Trevor would call him drunk and he would be worry but he was to far to help and Trevor won't even hear he just called to rant. They both also are being force to say a bittersweet goodbyes to people that were very special in their life's and won't be forgotten because of the big impacted they made.

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Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever (Official Music Video)

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Sine we last met for book club,  ocean has come out to his mother( who in my opinion had a better reaction than i expected), his grandma lan has passed away ( this scene was very emotional but then the author cut into his grandmothers death by thinking about sex which was kinda awkward i must say)his friend (wouldn't say boyfriend because they never officially dated they we friends with benefits of sorts)trevor passed from an overdose and ocean is now coming back home from college.

The scene i chose : On part 3, in page 116, ocean is on his way back home from college now finds out that his ex lover of sorts, trevor, had died of an overdose. He's reminiscing in his memories with trevor and his moments that he's had with him.

I chose " Fuyunohanashi" by a japanese band called Given. "Fuyu" in japanese translates to winter/ snow and the whole title itself means "winter story" this relates to the scene because ocean has a lot of memories with trevor while it was winter.  I also chose this because the song is sang by a man talking about his boyfriend who passed away from suicide. The song and the scene connect because although trevor didn't die from suicide but by overdose, the raw emotion of losing a partner and not being able to say goodbye is extremely relevant to this scene because ocean never said " goodbye" he had said " hello". On the very last chorus of the song it says "Even though I couldn't say goodbye to you
I’ll carry on because I know You’ll always be with me" these lyrics portray the entire scene as well because he ( ocean) texts trevor " Trevor I'm sorry com back," even though trevor won't be coming back.

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GIVEN (ギヴン) - Fuyu no hanashi (冬のはな) (A Winter Story) (Kan|Rom|Eng) Lyrics/歌詞

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summary- In the final pages of "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous", Ocean asks his mother to retell him the story about the monkeys. His mother then tells him that since he was born in the year of the monkey, that makes him a monkey. Ocean then continues to rethink everything that has occurred in his life. He thinks about what would have been if all the people who have died were still alive. The story then ends with his mother laughing after claiming that she wasn't caught because she was fast.

song - Sign of Times by Harry Styles is a song that is from the perspective of a mother who is about to die after giving birth. The mother is telling her newborn that although she won't make it alive, he will and that everything will turn out alright. I would like to connect this song to the scene on pages 206-210. During those pages, Lan is near her death date and her family all surround her as she takes her last breath. The song and the scene correlate because before mothers or any parental figures die, they all hope for their children to continue living life to their full extent.