21stCL Stories

Asian and African Literature

The Ancestors by Laurie Tom (summary)

The story "The Ancestors" by Laurie Tom revolves around a Chinese family's unique celebration of Ching Ming, a day when they honor their ancestors. Unlike the traditional practice of burning paper money at the cemetery, this family has a beach barbecue where they send paper ships out to sea as a way of letting their ancestors know they have not forgotten them.

During the celebration, the family discovers unexpected items inside the paper boats washed ashore by the waves—gold rings, a gold chain, and an earring. The family interprets these findings as gifts from the ancestors, who haven't responded in a long time. The father hints that it has been almost twenty years since they received a response.

As the family roasts marshmallows and questions the origin of these mysterious gifts, Uncle Richard arrives with Grandpa. However, Grandpa appears different, with webbed fingers, pale and oily skin, and a gurgling voice. The family learns that the sea is calling to Grandpa and that it's time for him to join the ancestors.

The story ends with the family facing the mysterious shapes in the water, realizing that one day, each member will also answer the call of the sea and meet their ancestors. The protagonist, initially puzzled and uneasy, begins to understand the family's unique connection to the sea and the cycle of life and death within their cultural traditions.

TEXT EXPLAINED

The characters celebrate Ching Ming to honor their ancestors. In the story, the narrator and some of his relatives saw wet paper boats with gold accessories. Examining the text carefully, these are their paper boats. These gifts are not from their ancestors, but for their ancestors. Grandpa joined the family despite his weak body because he wanted to honor their ancestors as well. He also used this time to bid goodbye to his family as he was about to die and join their ancestors.

Historical criticism.

Ching Ming is a Chinese festival that is celebrated 104 days after winter. Ching Ming is translated in English as Tomb Sweeping or Pure Brightness. It is celebrated to honor their ancestors and shows how the Chinese practice filial piety (Public Holidays Global, 2020b). The text shows how the Chinese, specifically those who migrated abroad, honor their ancestors. Despite the distance from the actual gravesite of their ancestors, the characters in the story found a way to celebrate Ching Ming. This was done by sailing paper boats to the direction of Canton, which is where their family originated and where the gravesites of their dead are probably located. It has been a tradition for most Chinese to be buried near their birthplace and hometown (See, 2020).

Biographical Criticism.

In an interview with Anna Yeatts (2016), Laurie Tom revealed the story behind ‘The Ancestors’. She noticed how Chinese Americans celebrate Ching Ming. There are traditions that their family does which others do not, and vice versa, which explains the first paragraph of the text (Every Chinese family celebrates Ching Ming a little differently.)

Dead Men’s path by Chinua Achebe (summary)

"Dead Men's Path" by Chinua Achebe is a short story that explores the clash between traditional beliefs and modernization in a Nigerian village. Michael Obi, a young and ambitious headmaster, takes charge of a mission school and decides to block a traditional footpath that the villagers consider sacred. The footpath is believed to be used by spirits of the dead. The closure leads to a conflict between the headmaster's modern ideas and the villagers' traditional beliefs, illustrating the consequences of cultural insensitivity and the challenges of societal change.

TEXT EXPLAINED

The main character in the story is Michael Obi. He is a young and ambitious headmaster. The dilemma in the story is that Obi wanted to close the old footpath that is within the premises of the school. This footpath, however, is important to the villagers as this connects them to the village shrine where their ancestors are buried. Despite a warning from the village priest, Obi still closed it. In the end, the villagers destroyed the school. This could have been prevented if Obi just let the villagers practice their tradition and leave the footpath open for them.

Historical criticism.

South Africa has diverse religions. People follow different spiritual and religious practices which are respected across the continent as part of their democracy. In South Africa, some follow traditional religion. However, this religion does not emphasize religious principles; rather, it is concerned with the cultural identity of the community.

Traditional African religion believes that the community is the most important part of someone’s life. This is headed by the elders who have the final say in every communal decision (South African History Online, n.d).

One important thing that we have to note is that in traditional African religion, the ancestors are part of every important event of the follower’s life. Followers of this religion worship their ancestors as they believe that they are not worthy to worship their God directly.

They have to ask their ancestors to communicate to their God for them. Although these ancestral spirits are harmless, they have to be pleased. When people commit mistakes, they are guided and warned by these spirits by causing illnesses in the family (South African History Online, n.d).

North and Latin American Literature

It is important to be something by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza (this the whole thing)

This is like a life. This is lifelike.

I climb inside a mistake

and remake myself in the shape

of a better mistake—

a nice pair of glasses

without any lenses,

shoes that don’t quite fit,

a chest that always hurts.

There is a checklist of things

you need to do to be a person.

I don’t want to be a person

but there isn’t a choice,

so I work my way down and

kiss the feet.

I work my way up and lick

the knee.

I give you my skull

to do with whatever you please.

You grow flowers from my head

and trim them too short.

I paint my nails nice and pretty

and who cares. Who gives a shit.

I’m trying not to give a shit

but it doesn’t fit well on me.

I wear my clothes. I wear my body.

I walk out in the grass and turn red

at the sight of everything.

Formalist criticism.

The persona in the poem is an unnamed person who shared her thoughts about life. We can only assume that the narrator is a girl because of the line 'I paint my nails nice and pretty and who cares'.

The tone of the persona is frustrated. We can see how much she wanted to be free. However, she was bound by the expectations of the people around her. This leads us to the theme of the poem, which is revealing one’s difficulty in showing individuality.

Scales as pale as moonlight by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (tis shi dookie)

Moreno-Garcia's story "Scales as Pale as Moonlight" is also set in the countryside outside the city. It evokes a serpentine creature from Mexican mythology, the alicante, to tell a similarly unsettling feminist fable about a young woman recovering from a series of miscarriages.

TEXT EXPLAINED

The main character in the story is Laura. She is a 30-year old married woman with no child. Living near her is Hector, her cousin. He ensures that she is safe at all times. This was requested by her husband, Rolando, who is away from her. Laura’s personal dilemma is her childlessness. She had two miscarriages and a stillbirth. This made her relationship with her husband sour.

Feminist criticism.

It was not mentioned in the text that she dreamed of having children. However, being childless is a big deal for her because bearing a child is what her husband expects from her. It is implied in the story that her husband wanted a child, and when it did not materialize, he got frustrated with her.

The reason why she had miscarriages and a stillbirth was not mentioned, but we can see that these incidents were all attributed to her. Her husband seems unaccountable of anything. This begs an answer to the following questions: Why did the husband put all the blame on her? Why is it entirely her fault that she cannot give birth to a healthy child?

It is evident in Laura these unfortunate events had taken a toll on her and had caused her sickness. The exact sickness was not mentioned, but we can assume that it is related to her mental health because of the following pieces of evidence: medication that she had to take, and her hallucination that she is hearing a baby cry. This is the reason why her relatives are worried about her and often give her pitiful looks. Aside from that, they think that Laura had gotten weak since she lived in the city.

European Literature

Bad blood (excerpt) by Lorna Sage (summary)

The passage describes the dynamics on a bus serving three schools in Shropshire, England. The students are divided into social strata and have their own unspoken seating arrangements. The back seats are reserved for older girls from the secondary modern school, who display signs of early adulthood. The secondary modern boys, younger for their age, occupy the middle seats and play at being rebellious. The grammar school boys and high school girls, a minority, sit near the front. The narrator, who initially makes a seating mistake, often ends up sitting next to Gilbert, a grammar school boy considered a pariah. The passage provides insights into the social hierarchy, attire, and behaviors of the different groups of students on the bus.

Marxist criticism.

The social classes in the text are seen among the passengers on the school bus. The “upper class” are the big girls of fourteen and fifteen who went to the secondary modern, the “middle class” are the boys in the same school, and the “low class” are the grammar school boys and high school girls.

The girls from the secondary modern love to talk amongst each other and paint their nails. They are also interested in boys and jobs, while the boys from the secondary modern are playful and mischievous. On the other hand, the grammar school boys and high school girls are poor, which we can assume because of the line "next to a real pariah, Gilbert, a pale and soft spoken grammar school boy".

Oppression is seen in the seating plan of the bus. The girls from the secondary modern get the good seats at the back. They claim that the back seats are only for them, as can be seen in the last paragraph of the excerpt. The grammar school boys and high school girls get the less desirable place on the bus. To add, they can sit only if there are seats left for them.

text by Carol Ann Duffy

I tend the mobile now

like an injured bird.

We text, text, text

our significant words.

I re-read your first,

your second, your third,

look for your small xx,

feeling absurd.

The codes we send

arrive with a broken chord.

I try to picture your hands,

their image is blurred.

Nothing my thumbs press

will ever be heard.

Psychoanalytical criticism.

The persona in the poem is a nameless person whose gender is not revealed. The first stanza shows that the persona is restless, like he is waiting for someone to text him. While waiting, he reminisces his text mate by re-reading his/her previous texts. It is implied that they are close to each other, if not romantically involved, because of the small xx, which symbolizes kisses. The poem ended with the lines “Nothing my thumbs press, will ever be heard”, which express that the persona and the text’s receiver do not communicate anymore.