Bsbwor501 Week 1 Study Guide

Week 1: January 31 | Historical Perspectives/IntroductionsView/read/discuss in class: 1. Johanna Poethig, “Lakas Sambayanan” (alternate view here) and “Ang Lipi ni Lapu Lapu” (public art projects, murals). 2. Barbara Jane Reyes, “History Is Written On The Walls,” from Bay Poetics. Stephanie Young, Ed. Newton, MA: Faux Press, 2006 (essay). 3. Marlon Fuentes, Bontoc Eulogy (video/DVD). | Saturday 02/02/2013: Off-Campus Event Option #1: “In Transit” Art Exhibit at I-Hotel Manilatown Center, 868 Kearny Street, SF, 3-6 pm. http://manilatown.org/ | Week 2: February 07 | Work and Class 1. Bienvenido Santos, “Immigration Blues” (short fiction). 2. Carlos Bulosan, poetry, essays, and short stories from The Laughter of My Father
4. Evangeline Canonizado Buell, “Grandma as Rosie the Riveter” (non-fiction prose). 5. Rashaan Alexis Meneses, “Barbie’s Gotta Work” (non-fiction prose). 6. Tony Robles, “Son of a Janitor” (short story). 7. Al Robles, selections from Rappin' with Ten Thousand Carabaos in the Dark (poems).Journal: 1. How may this African American music genre known as The Blues relate to Filipino American experience? How is Santos’s story a Blues narrative; what makes Santos’s story a Blues narrative? To what other Filipino American narratives may the Blues apply? How/why? 2. In Bulosan’s “I Am Not a Laughing Man,” why is he so angry? What specific things is he angry about/at? Do you think his anger is justified? Why/why not? Explain the significance of laughter in his “The Laughter of My Father.” What is Bulosan’s position on socioeconomic class, and
Part 1 of M. Evelina Galang, One Tribe (New Issues Press, 2006) (novel). 2. Erna Hernandez, “Tsismis” (poem). 3. Gina Apostol, “Cunanan’s Wake” (short story). 4. Gizelle Gajelonia, excerpts from 13 Ways of Looking at the Bus (poems). 5. Helen Rillera, “The Filipina in Filipino Society” (non-fiction op-ed) (scroll down).Journal: 1. What are some of the challenges that the heroine of One Tribe, Isa, has to overcome in order to become part of the Virginia Beach Filipino American community? What are their expectations of her? Are those expectations realistic, reasonable, or fair? Why/why not? 2. What are some of the challenges that Rillera has to overcome in order to be accepted by her local Filipino American community? What are their expectations of her? Are those expectations realistic, reasonable, or fair? Why/why not? 3. Why do people tsismis (gossip)? What is the social function of tsismis? How does tsismis function in each of these works? Is tsismis gendered? How is it Filipino/a-specific? 4. On Apostol’s “Cunanan’s Wake,” what are your thoughts on “claiming” as a member of your community people like Andrew Cunanan (who was most well known for killing Gianni Versace)? What do you think of the townspeople’s claims to Cunanan? Finally, what is Apostol saying about community/tribe? 5. What does Gajelonia’s (use of) language tell you about her community?