Wasn’t able to attend Field Trip to the to the Washington State History Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and Chinese Reconciliation Park.
Text: When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka
- The Author thoroughly impressed with their ability to transport me into not just the time period and location, but into the character’s heads. Their ability to convey the exact way a character is feeling no matter how complex those feelings never failed to wow me.
- The author made frequent use of short concise sentences that would emphasize what to draw attention to.
- The POV characters remaining nameless seemed to represent the fact that the experience of the family was not unique. Them being nameless gave them a feeling of being stand in’s for any Japanese American at the time. A deliberate move by the author to show this without straight up saying it.
- The slow realization of the character’s as their hope goes away was conveyed almost seamlessly by the author.
- The trauma of the internment was very clearly displayed by the author. The boy internalizing a hatred of his Japanese side. The characters are forced into a situation where they started stripping themselves of dreams before someone else could.
- White Dog hurt me
- The contrasts between the lives of some of the other characters before and during the internment really shows how Japanese Americans of all classes were targeted as security risks.
- “‘Are you a rich man?’ ‘Not Anymore'”
- Difference between reality and what they wrote in letters really struck a chord with me. Did they not want to see the realities of the situation?
- The author was able to keep you grounded in the historical reality. Many little bits of information that said more than they could have with a full paragraph. (White silk gloves of the mother, indicated middle class in time period)
- Internment seemed to have effect of making them feel as if they had to be subservient to the Americans
- Behavior from internment camps carrying over long past internment.
- $25 for 3 years and 5 months
- The characters being told to say they were Chinese and then the later self labeling by Chinese Americans instantly sparked a connection with Madeline Hsu’s Asian American History and it’s discussion of Chinese Americans doing everything possible to make sure they weren’t of Japanese descent. Author really able to keep story historically accurate.
- Father’s last “Confession” chapter really drove the racial motivations of the internment. There was no evidence against any of them aside from the fact that they share blood with the enemy.
- Their treatment once they were let back in to society reminded me of some of the situations we have today. (Muslim Americans) After any “terrorist” attack committed by Islamic terrorists there is an uptick in anti-Muslim rhetoric, (9/11 stands out in particular)
- Incredible story that is able to blend the lines between reality and fiction.
Film: History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige by Rea Tajiri
- The Japanese Americans bringing life to the barren desolate lands in which they were brought. Their success in the farming industries causing animosity from whites and then their ability to have farming success anywhere just an interesting bit of information.
- “Forgetting to Remember”
- Pareidolia: The tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern
- Prosthetic Memory
- Distinguishing between reality and fiction