What did you get out of the presentation?

 

I learned the meaning of looking at a book through a post colonial lense.  In other words, reading a book critically for the underlying message that is being sent in stead of just reading the book and not thinking about any other meaning that might be conveyed.  This is important so that each culture understands what the book is trying to say and each culture is striving towards true equality and respect.  This form of critical reading might challenge the popular views and make one think about what is right for all instead of how has it always been done.  An excellent list of characteristics of postcolonial literature was given on the handout give by Uma. 

 

Questions:

 

I completely understood what Uma Krishnaswami and I agreed that books must be examined and there shouldn't be any cultural bias existing in books today.  This doesn't mean that the classic books can't be read, but they should be read and discussed in a manner that points out the issues of racism that need to be addressed.  The only question I had came from the reading of the book Little House on the Prarie.  I noticed that although the statement in the book read, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian", the book also stated that the father (in this case the name was Pa I believe) would never believe that the only good Indian was a dead Indian.  It is true that Pa had a narrow view that made the Native Americans in this book seem somehow less than human, but he had a genuine love and concern for these peoples that would never change.  Although the most recorded evidence suggests that all of the "white people" were hatefull and violent towards Native Americans, this book would suggest otherwise and show that there were many people who were supportive and loving towards the Native Americans.  I just wanted to make a point of the part of the literature that was reviewed with Uma that really stuck out in my mind.

 

How I will use this information?

 

I will use this information in the classroom to make sure that my students are educated about being able to think critically and read between the lines for the deeper message that is being conveyed.  That is why it is important to discuss what has been read after the reading has been completed.  The students are able to discuss the issues evident on the page and the underlying issues that come with the writing.  As an educator, it will be my job to point out some of the hidden messages that might not be as evident to the students and ask questions that will fascilitate learning and lead to the discussion of the material in a more critical manner.  Therefore, education will become much more real to the students and they will be able to make connections with the outside world issues much easier. 

 

Value of the speaker, why-why not?

 

This speaker had a great deal of value as does every person who comes in with a desire to teach what they believe is right in a way that isn't biased towards or agains anyone else.  I enjoyed listening to the presentation and thinking in my mind about how I would apply this information to teaching and to life and what I agreed with or didn't agree with.  I found this information to be very helpful for my teaching so that I can teach the students not only about school and the importance of the subjects, but how to teach the students about the subjects outside of school and how to think critically for themselves about many contreversial issues.   

 

I was able to attend the festival from 9:30 to 12:00 on friday.  The first tent that I went to was the San Juan Tent.  At this tent was the talented story teller Syd Lieberman.  He is the one who looks like Sean Connery.  His stories were very entertaining, especially for the kids (I even had a good time).  Syd attempted to involve the children into his stories as much as possible.  For example, one of his stories about a wise man included volunteers from the audience that he hand picked.  Furthermore, he asked the audience for a number of things including ingredients for a stew and to make certain sounds when instructed to.

 

The children really enjoyed the stories, probably because they were so involved in every story.  He allowed the children to be creative and silly, which really works well with children.  Syd even included a story that was able to instruct the kids on how to scare their friends.  He told them that if you tell a supposed "scary" story to your friends and you continue to talk quiter and quiter the audience will become more captivated and pay closer attention.  Then, at the suspense time of the story suddenly yell and the audience will all jump.  This tactic was proven to be true when he used it in his story (before he told us about it).  We all jumped when he yelled right after he had lulled us to sleep before. 

 

Syd Lieberman is an excellent story teller who is able to actually become his characters or make the characters seem real and believable (this is a true statement because in one of his stories he actually plays the main character, the fat spider).  This was even more evident when the junior story tellers performed.  Mr. Lieberman's characters were much more well developed and his stories seemed to be the perfect length without too little or too much information. 

 

The next tent I visited was the Animas Tent where Andy Offutt Irwin from Georgia performed.  He had a comedic approach to story telling (probaly because he was comedian at disney land).  He was very talented and entertaining.  His sound effects were amazing and he was also able to get the audience involved.  His style was much different from Syd's but his story telling method was just as affective (he reminded me of one of those stand up comedians on tv and he was good at what he did).  Andy was so talented that one little kid asked him how he was able to make the water splash sound.  His response was that it was his job (which he was able to answer and continue his story with ease). 

 

His stories were also well developed with just enough characters and just the right length.  The most common similiratiy between both story tellers was the fact that they both were able to skillfully include the children into their stories.  This was a fun event that would be a great choice for any school for a field trip (a lot of schools agreed with me).