Friday, February 27, 2009

 

Reflections and Review: Obama's "Dreams from My Father," Chapters 1-5

If you were absent, choose a chapter, 1-5, and reflect on where Obama is in his story. What do we know about him at this point? Who are some of the key characters? Where have his travels taken him up to this point? What role does travel and place have on his life and shaping the character of the man who is now the president of the United States?

You can also include in your reflection echoes of the man we know now. Look at Obama's "State of the Union Address," how is this speech he gave not surprising, so in character? What is Obama concerned about now, that he was concerned about then? How is he the same man now as he was then, just older? Are there echoes of the man he is as Chief Executive Officer on these first chapters, in the introduction and preface? What are the foreshadowings? Are these echoes explicit or implicit?

Please include references to favorite sections. Use one free paraphrase and one direct citation. Note the page numbers for both in your 10-sentence response to one of the chapters (1-5).

It is due by Monday before class. Bring in a copy to share.

Comments:
Christine So
Eng 201B

In Barack Obama Dreams of my father chapter five, Barry and his father stopped writing to each other. He reminisced on the times he did drugs and gotten drunk. His friend Pablo had gotten arrested for drug possession and his mother was worried about him but he learned not to care anymore. Barry graduated from high school and was accepted into several schools, he chose to go to Occidental college in Los Angeles. Before he went off to California, he visited Frank, a friend of his gramps. They talked about school, Frank warned him to be cautious when he's there because it will be difficult being black. At Occidental, he was staying in the dorms. He was in his friend Reggie's dorm room and there was another man there named Marcus who was sharing his story about he was searched by the L.A.P.D. because he was walking in the whites only neighborhood. As he reached his sophomore year, he began feeling wiser, he went on stage to speak out to students and so did some of his friends. A friend of his named Regina wanted to compliment Barry on his speech but they ended up arguing and things that Regina pointed out that everything Barry said that he wants to do is about himself and Barry started to realize that maybe she's right.
 
In Barack Obama, Dreams from My father chapter four, the author’s mother had separated from Lolo, his stepfather. Barack’s mother and younger sister, Maya left Indonesia and return to Hawaii to live with Barack. Barack moved out of his grandparents’ house to live with his mother and Maya, they are now living in a small apartment together. Barack had met a guy at Punahou Academy, his named is Ray. Ray is two years older than Barack. Ray’s father was an army transfer, the last place he was living at is Los Angeles and he is also a senior at the school they go to. They had become close friends. Barack is a basketball player. He had mentioned that his wife’s has a star basketball brother that she grew up with. At school, he would learn how to switch from one world to another, and trying to understand both language, culture, and its customs. Ray had took Barack and two of his white friends to a black party, but Barack and his other two friends didn’t felt comfortable staying there, so they left. Barack’s grandfather would sometime take him to go play poker with his black male friends. “Rarely did I meet kids whose families had less than mine and might remind me of good fortune” (75). He maybe could remember the great things he had, even though he never met a kid’s family that does not have many things like him.

Kelley Yuen
English 201A MW 1-250 SPR09
 
In chapter five of Barack Obama’s book “Dreams from My Father,” the theme is friends. Barack is now attending Occidental College in Los Angeles. He was staying in the dorms. He made new friends like Ray, Regina, Marcus, and Reggie. Obama and his friends threw parties very often. They drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and even got high. He presented a speech in front of his schoolmates along with Marcus and Regina. After the speeches, Regina offered her congratulations to Barack but he was not happy about it. He felt like he didn’t reach out to the people. They got into a argument but Barack soon realizes that Regina was right. He lacked determination.

Jacky Leung
English 201B, MW 1-2:50
 
Hey Wanda. In class, you asked us to write a ten sentence summary on one of the chapters but the blog here states 250 word summary??
 
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 
Yeju Munankarmi
English 201A(1:00-2:50pm, MW)
Wanda Sabir
March 2, 09


Summary of chapter four, Dreams from my Father.

This chapter says all about the behavior that’s done to a black man, and how hard to be a black man in this society. There are lots of character in this chapter. One of them is Barrack Obama himself. He has a friend named Ray and he is black too. They have different view in the way they treated in the society. Ray tells how girls denies to have a date with him. Girls easily finds reason to say no to him and the only reason is he is black. Barrack tries to explain that its not because he is black but it’s the taste of girls. They have their own taste. He explain with an example, “I might not get the breaks on the team that some guys get, but they play like white boys do, and that’s the style the coach likes to play, and they’re winning the way they play. I don’t play that way.” (pg. 74). He talks about his grandfather’s friends too. They were neatly dressed, had harsh voice but they were all good. One of them was Frank. Frank was the closest friend of his grandfather. But Frank had always a complain that his grand father never had a glass of whiskey in his house on the very chair next to him and spent a night on that chair. His grandfather plays poker with his black friends. He used to go to bar with his grandfather. He used to have fun of the flashing green and red lights, the weary laughter around the room and the environment that makes an eighty years old man a twenty-four old young man. He has the passion in basketball too. His grandfather used to take him to the basketball matches too. He plays well too. He had white friends in his team. But Ray has different view about matches too. He says that he is not aloud to touch the schedule of matches because he is black and that’s what the white folk did to him. Once when Ray was going grandma the elevator, an older woman ran out to tell the manager that he was following her. But to Obama, it was hard to accept, because he lived with three white people, his grandpa, grandma and his mom. Once Obama took his two white friends to the party organize by Ray. Right after the party, his friends said to the Obama that how hard had it become for Obama and Ray to adjust in the school as they were only the blacks because it was hard to them to adjust on that party, being only two of the white men. After that Obama started to go deep in this case. He started to read the books. One day his grand parents were fighting. When Obama asked his grand mom said that his grand father was not willing to drop her to the work. But it was not the matter. His grand mom was irritated by a black guy. Actually, he was a beggar and asked for a dollar. His grandmother was afraid because he was black. His grandfather was just trying to explain that she shouldn’t think in such way. This is all about chapter four.
 
Thanks, I corrected the post.
 
Mandukhai Andaan/Maggie/
Eng 201B
M, W 1:250


In Barack Obama Dreams from my father chapter three says about his family and mostly about his grandmother and his father. Only one month five of them would have live together in his grandparents’ living room most evenings, during the day on drives around island or on short walks past the private landmarks of a family. Living together for one month was so many memories, so much explaining to do; and yet when he reach back to his memories about his dads’ words seems irretrievably lost. But one evening, Barack Obama turned on the television to watch a cartoon special “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and his Father said: “Barry, you have been watched enough television tonight. Go in your room and study now, and let the adults talk.”
Toot stood up for Barry, and turned off the television and said to him “Why don’t you turn the cartoon on in the bedroom.” But his father against Toot and said “No, that is not what I mean. He has been watching the TV constantly, and now it is time for him to study.” When he said that Barry went to his room and slammed the door, and was listening as the voices outside.
And the next day when he went to his Math class, and Miss Hefty said to the class, “We have a special treat for you today. Barry Obama’s father is here, and he’s come all the way from Kenya, in Africa, to tell us about his country.” all the class looked at Barry as his father stood up, and started talking about his country. All the kids said, he got the coolest father, a pretty impressive father…etc.
But two weeks later his father was gone, at that time they stand together in front of the Christmas tree and pose for pictures, and they only got one picture together. As Barack Obama follow his father into the sound, he lets out a quick shout, bright and high, a shout that cries for laughter.
 
Carmen Truong
Professor Sabir
English 1A
9-9:50

As I read Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama, I realized more about the person Obama is and how he started his life as a childhood. In chapter two, it explains very well of his family background. Obama was just every other man who struggle to pay bills. His parents was divorced under bad circumstances, but his mother eventually end up with an Indonesian guy named Lolo. Lolo is a very respectful man who took good care of Obama’s mother and treated Obama like his own son. Lolo and Obama relationship is great and Lolo teach Obama general lessons just like Obama’s father would. “The first thing to remember is how to protect yourself”(35).

Another section I found Obama really interesting is Obama’s mother is white and his father is black. People would particularly pay more attention to Obama, because people concerns about race and discriminate other’s during the past. Usually towards American and African. “They know too much, we all seen too much, to take my parents’ brief union-a black man and a white woman, an African and an American-at face value. As a result, some people have a hard time taking me at face value”(INTRODUCTION).

After the reading, I’ve observed that Obama’s family have a huge impact on him. As a childhood growing up with two race, he can actually learn a lot from different people. By what people say and act can convince him to be the person he is now. I think he mostly shape himself to be black more than white because as he go through his life in school and African friends he communicate with brings him a lot of thoughts about how African people was treated more crueler than the others. He wants to be what he is today, because he feel like making the world a better life to live.
 
Shaela Saunders
English 201A

Reflections and Review-Chap.5

Pablo to everyone's "surprise" had gotten arrested for having drugs on him. Obama made sure that he visited Frank before he went to California. Frank was his grandpa's friend. Although Obama was excited about going to go live in the dorms, Frank made sure to warn him about ignorant people and that it won't be easy because of his skin color. As Obama was getting used tro being in the dorms and being around his friends and meeting new people, he got more compfortable and at the same time much more smart also. But when he made the speech in front of the people, although his friends were proud of him, he wasn't proud of himself...he felt like his word didn't get across to everyone, he felt like a failure.
 
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