When I first read about Ma giving birth and how Bo had not been present with Thi's mom to help her get through the birth, I thought," Wow Bo must be a horrible person." However, I don't think he was a horrible person. I just think that he had an emotional disconnect and a disconnect between his family because of his past. After growing up with an abusive father and watching his mother get abused, you'd think that he would want to have the opposite by trying to be the best father and husband that he could be. To me, it seemed like he cared more about his family while they were still in Vietnam. During their escape, you could see that he was actually looking out for his family and that he was worried about his children. On the other hand, once they were in America he seemed to start caring less about his family and become more selfish. I think it also could've been from the fact that there was less of a danger once they had escaped the war in Vietnam. I wonder how Bo would've been if he had experienced a better childhood and had not lost his mother.

A Good Man's Hard to Find

How do you think the setting helps the story? Use evidence from the text to back up this discussion?

[I found that the setting of  "A Good Man is Hard to Find" was very influential to the story and that it worked well with the plot. Readers can easily determine the setting of the story just by reading it.] "A Good Man is Hard to Find" takes place in the southern United States around the early 1950s. The old fashion southern culture is heavily present throughout the story and among the characters. Many of these values that the grandmother holds accurately represent some common values at this time. She held herself to a higher standard than others and believed that being a "lady" was the most important value for a woman. During this time period, racial inequality and discrimination of African Americans was a huge issue. Readers can see the presence of racial discrimination throughout the story. This realism that the author used made the book feel very authentic for its setting. "The Misfit" fit in with the setting because he portrayed the character of the typical southern criminal. I feel like the story would have been completely different if it had taken place anywhere else. The southern culture was really what set the mood and tone of the story and was what determined the personalities of the characters in the story.

How did you handle the difficulty of working in a group?

       This OHP required us to collaborate with our group and our whole section. I like these kinds of group projects because they encourage people to work with everyone else as a team. When this happens, amazing results occur. Within a few weeks, each section's project went from a bunch of separate interviews to a collaborative and well thought out presentation. 

      However, working in a group can still be frustrating and difficult. The biggest problem of working in a group is that you have to rely on other people to do what they're supposed to do. A lot of the time, people end up having to work harder because someone else didn't do their job. The way I handled this issue is by reminding the people who weren't doing their part about what they need to do. A lot of the times it's as simple as that. However, even after doing this, they still didn't do their part so we ended up having to just work without them by doing their part. I really hope I won't have this issue in any future collaborative projects but it seems as if it is inevitable. 

Persepolis

Why do you think Marjane needed to move away from Iran?

After facing many struggles and obstacles while she lived in Europe, Marjane decides to move back to Iran. She did this because she had nothing left in Vienna so she felt she should go back home. However after her return to Iran, Marjane seems to feel like she's still not at home. You can see this as soon as she gets back. After arriving back at her parent's place, she is afraid to see all of her old stuff.(pg. 247)  She feels as if all of her old posters and possessions don't represent her anymore. She also has a hard time re-acclimating to the religious standards. After having free speech and more freedom in Austria, Marjane felt that she was suppressed when she returned. She became very depressed and even tried to take her own life. (pg. 272) After miraculously surviving her suicide attempt, Marjane starts to try and improve her life. Soon after, she meets her future husband and gets married. Once she gets married Marjane feels as if she has conformed to society. She immediately starts to regret her decision and you can see a panel of her behind bars symbolizing this on page 317. From here their relationship gets worse and she feels as if she doesn't love him anymore. She decides that she wants a divorce. At this point I think Marjane felt as if she had nothing left for her in Iran and decided that she wanted to leave. She goes through with the divorce and starts planning to move to France. However before she moved, she realizes that she might not return to Iran. She decides to go visit her grandfather and uncles graves and spend more time with her family. When they day came, Marjane bid farewell to her parents and grandmother and left. (pg. 341) 

Persepolis

(Marjane must learn new cultural expectations, including but not limited to religion, language, gender, and living situations. In what ways does this affect Marjane?)

    After Marjane moved to Europe, she found herself in a completely new environment. Compared to Iran, Austria is a very different place. Even though her voice and opinions weren't suppressed in Europe, Marjane found herself having to do so anyway. She started trying to fit in with her friends by doing what they did. She started pretending to smoke marijuana so that they would like her. However, Marjane still does't get used to the cultural differences. She is shocked when she finds out how her friend, Julie really is.She is also shocked when Julie throws a party and when she finds out that she had slept with  a guy from her party. After this she started to feel out of place and eventually stopped caring what others thought of her. She started smoking marijuana and hash again with her friend Ingrid. She used this as a stress reliever. She also starts to face discrimination from others because of her nationality.