I saw Tangled. (And loved it! Very empowering for young women and great music)

In my counter narrative text I changed the location to help relate the story closer to myself. By having Cinderella be Irish I showed that this story can apply to all kinds of people. By using Irish words like Lass and incorporating Leprechauns I was able to add a little Irish lore to the classic story.

After observing a bookstore and a library I am saddened by the lack of diverse books for children.

Racially I saw two races, white and black with no mention of people of Asian on Latino decent. This is problematic for children because they need to see themselves represented in a positive light in literature. This helps self confidence and the development of self worth.

I also saw a lack of socio economic diversity. A little girl I babysit for once actually asked me why no one in books lives in apartments like her. The books I saw depicted traditional, middle class American live with a mom, dad, brother and sister.

Overall if you aren't a white, middle class American child you may have a hard time finding books that depict something similar to your reality. This is a sad state of affairs as this is a crucial time for child development and seeing examples of your identity in literature may help you become a confident and secure person.

Blog 4

For my podcast I will be talking about the book My Abuelita by Tony Johnson. This book is about a boy’s grandmother getting ready for her day. I think I’ll talk about each interpretive stance and what I think about the book. To give you a sample,

I would say metaphorically this book reminded me of my friend who was raised by her grandmother.

Philosophically I think it teaches you there are all different kinds of families.

Aesthetically I felt amused at the grandmothers antics.

Analytically the images are slightly alien making it easier to relate to any family, not just a Hispanic one.

Intertextually it reminded me of

Critically it positioned me to feel enamored by the grandmother.

I would go into more depth on each one but that is how I am going to structure my podcast. I also want to talk about the unusual illustrations.

I missed the discussion on banned books but I am disgusted at the amount of books banned for silly reasons. And Tango Makes 3 is banned because if its portrayal of a gay lifestyle.

Instead of being supportive of those with differences it hides those differences and doesn't allow students to make choices for themselves about what is right and wrong. It discredits the intelligence of students.

Hello my name is Laura, LJ and Rara.

Laura is the name I use with my friends and strangers. It is my given name. It identifies me with the most people. Unfortunately it is a name I share with a lot of people. I don’t like it when people have the same name as me; I like to be unique.

LJ is the name I go by with my family. It is what I’ve been called since I was a little baby. The story goes my dad was a big Michael Jordan fan and since he goes by MJ I would go by LJ. I feel very attached to the name and it is an intimate one for me. Not many people know that I go by LJ at home.

Rara is the name my sister gave me when she was learning to talk. She couldn’t say Laura because the L was hard to say so Rara was developed. It is a personal name used between me and her.

Hello my name is not: Lora/Lara

I don’t like it when people spell my name wrong. I pronounce my name LAH-rah not LOR-ah or LAIR-ah. This identifies me as a Bostonian because we hit the A sound a lot harder. My dad calls me LOR-ah but my mom and I say LAH-rah.

Researching the Self

Books have made a huge impact in my life. From the start I was a strong reader with an even stronger interest in literature. The books that most made a difference in my life had to be The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis.

The first time I read these books I was probably 5 or 6 years old and my dad read them to me before bedtime. I loved the stories of the children fighting to survive the Witch in Narnia. It really opened my mind to fiction and taught me to use my imagination.

Later on this book showed me how biblical themes can be important in literature and how a metaphor works. The Chronicles of Narnia also remind me of my father’s dedication to me.