Wright, Richard. Native Son. Library of America, 1998.

I use Native Son novel in order to show the differences the movie has from it. I use it to show how some aspects of the film didn’t quite hit their mark compared to the book, and how some things are completely left out of the film some might consider very crucial to the story.

Johnson, Rashid. Native Son Film. HBO, 2019

I use Native Son novel in order to show the differences the movie has from it. I use it to show how some aspects of the film didn’t hit their mark compared to the book, and how some things are completely left out of the film some might consider very crucial to the story.

Freedman, Jerrold. Native Son film 1986.

I Use Native Son novel in order to show the differences the movie has from it. I use it to show how some aspects of the film didn’t hit their mark compared to the book, and how some things are completely left out of the film some might consider very crucial to the story.

Wideman, John. Native Son Novel Review. New York Times, 1976

This is a review of the novel, and i will be using this to see what people looked for in wright’s film and also what people took from it as well.

Canby, Vincent. Native Son 1986 film Review. New York Times, 2003

A review of the film Native Son from 1986 that was poorly received.

Ebert, Roger. Native Son 1986 review. Chicago Sun Times, 2000

A review of the film Native Son which was positivist received.

Tinubu, Aramide. Native Son 2019 review. AV Club, 2019.

A review of the film Native Son 2019 which was given a positive review.

Castillo, Monica. Native Son 2019 review. RogerEbert.com 2019.

A review of the film Native Son 2019 which was poorly received.

Eric Nieves

Professor Allred

ENG

14, March 2019

Unvanquished Train Scene

          In the novel “Unvanquished” on page 81 we see the boys talking and seeing the Train, something they have never seen before. as they looked at it they are very astonished by what they are seeing, and it surprised me as well. The reason that I was surprised is because it is something you take for granted. So to hear them in awe by the sight of a train was very interesting. Not to mention what seeing a train meant to them as it went by. For starters it reminded me of the wild west, how the world they knew was changing around them, as buildings were built in front of them making the West irrelevant. another thing it reminded me of is this idea of freedom the characters must have felt. That is what seeing the train meant for them, a figurative and literal freedom right in front of them. To see that the world was changing again, it meant change for the boys. The change of race, gender, and life itself was changing for the better. All in all the train represents change, and for the boys change means everything.

Eric Nieves

Professor Allred

Eng 321

10, April 2019

Native Son: Movie vs Novel

          In my paper I am hoping to discuss the differences in both the movie and novel of the story “Native Son”. Our world has changed drastically, meaning what was ok in the early 2000’s, would most likely not fly today. That being said with “Native Son” may be very different than how it was in the novel. One example is the death of Mary in the novel, will it be treated differently in the film? Not to mention characters, plot, and the theme of the story may vary to both variations. I hope to see the differences in both these forms of media and hopefully focus on how time can impact how you see a particular story. Unfortunately, I do not have all the tools needed to create such a paper yet such as I have not seen the film, nor have I completed the novel. Once these things are establish where I feel confident in both works will I delve deeper in these ideas.

Eric Nieves

Professor Allred

ENG

27, March 2019

While playing the game for the first time I was a little skeptical. I didn’t exactly know what it was we were doing, and at times it got a little confusing. To top it all off I was to play who some may argue the most complex character of the narrative, Uncle Julius. What makes Julius so complex is not only his character, but even the way he speaks. Julius talks very differently then the other characters from the story, so many times when writing him it got a bit difficult. I found myself using some of the texting slang in order to write for him. One example of this is the word cause, instead I would use cuz. However, one idea that was brought up in class was how maybe in Julius’ head he speaks in a way that is easier to understand. Me and the other Julius’ played with this idea, and used it in many parts of our blogs. This is another reason why Julius is so hard to play, unlike the other characters in the story which I found to be very one dimensional, Julius was not. So complex I had to delve deeper into who he really was, one way I did this was by seeing what other scholars thought of Julius.

Throughout the story Julius tells many stories, and sometimes its because something occurs in the story and it reminds him of a tale. However, other times it is for his own personal gain. I played with this idea a lot, for in my take on Julius he had a much darker and more sinister tone, maybe even more so then the book led on. In my turns I delve a little deeper to the darker side of Julius, for starters I found that many scholars found Julius to despise poor white people. I played with this idea and made a move where Julius was thinking to himself, ranting on how easy the “white man” has it and how they shouldn’t be poor or asking for food. Finally, I played on Julius’ strengths with my final move being a tale of my own. I wanted it to have a more sinister tone to it where he talks about a slave who earns the trust of his masters, and kills them when they return from their vacation. They’re are some things I wish I could have done however, like spending more time on my moves. I feel I had some interesting ideas, but didn’t put enough time in them to be great. I hope for future players of Julius, that they really give in to his nickname, the trickster.

Eric Nieves

ENG 321

Professor Allred

21 Feburary, 2019

After reading the article “Word by Word: Emancipation and the Act of Writing” I noticed something very interesting that I would like to discuss in this blog. However, I would like to discuss something I found interesting during my reading. In many ways a slave learning to read was a God sent to any slave during that time. It meant they had freedom, they had a power to express themselves, something many of their masters feared. However, this article brings up an interesting point I never thought about until reading. In the article we follow the story of Adam Plummer, a slave who had learned to write just like Fredrick Douglass. He brings up the idea of how learning to write was both a gift and a curse in his life. He states “Although learning to write meant developing a precious and valuable ability, putting that skill to use in letters with Emily seems to remind Adam Plummer of the disabling effects of slavery’s trade in person. The act of writing becomes the prosthetic limb in which he feels the pain of what’s missing- all that he will never be able a Gain to do with his wife and their children” ( Word by Word, page 81). So what Adam is saying is that although he was given a gift, it was a constant reminder of what he would never be able to do. He would never be able to be with his wife and children, the way he would want to, the way any married man would want to be with his wife and children. It must have drove him mad, to know the reality of his life, and how powerless he was in changing it. Someone once told me that depression was a symptom for someone who is powerless to change an outcome in their life, this can be said ten fold for Adam Plummer. Another part I wanted to bring up from the paper is the idea of putting your experience in a better light. What I mean by this is the idea that people dont like to show the worse part of themselves or the embarrassing or humiliating parts of their lives. I bring this up because in one section of the paper this is implied in one of the stories of the paper. It states “Did Washington avoid controversial subjects in case a white person were to find and read his diary? Was he self-consciously writing a utopian version of his life in Fredericksburg, creating a picture of himself in a world without slavery? Did Washington experience enslavement as some- thing so totalizing, so obvious and inescapable, that he would no more think of writing about it than about breath or sunlight? Or is the experi- ence of freedom—the one thing every slave narrative’s author possessed that Washington, at the time, did not—somehow prerequisite to creating a literary representation of slavery?” ( Word by Word, page 88). They wonder if what he states is true, to even if he was a slave at all. This is something Douglass does not shy away from, he gives you every excruciating detail from his humiliation, to his brave heroism, something I can only respect him for.

Eric Nieves

Professor Allred

ENGL

7, February 2019

          In this true story of Fredrick Douglass, we get his insight on his time as a slave, to his time as a free man. And boy was it not an easy journey, some of the struggles Douglass goes through would give many people psychological issue’s, but for Douglass it only made him stronger. For starters finding out your father is your owner must have been a hard pill to swallow, not to mention he was shipped to one plantation to the next. Mostly on account of his bravery to defend himself against the slave masters. Fredrick is not afraid to show his weaknesses as well, many writers tend to try to show the good sides of themselves in stories, leaving out things they may find humiliating. For starters their was a point in the story where Fredrick nearly gave up hope, all he wanted was to sleep and eat. It states “I was somewhat unmanageable when I first went there, but a few months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute! (Douglass, Chapter10). When you read this you can almost feel the anger Douglass must have felt when writing this, to admit that he was beaten both physically and mentally is no easy thing to say or write about. However, not everything in Douglass’ time as a slave wasn’t all for not, for starters he learned how to read. This is a very important scene in chapter 7 because the women who teaches him doesnt see him as a slave but just as a child. A child who needs to be nurtured and cared for. However, the toxic ideology of the time bested even her when Douglass states “Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me. When I went there, she was a pious, warm, and tender-hearted woman. There was no sorrow or suffering for which she had not a tear. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach. Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness (Douglass, Chapter 7). This is to me the most important part of the book because she didn’t see a race on Douglass, but just a child in need.

Eric Nieves

Professor Allred

ENGL 321

2019 February, 4

          After reading Gates book “Writing Race and the difference it make”, it made me think of how in America people of different race suffer with a double identity. I am taking a class in which talks about Asian Americans and how they have had a hard time fitting into america. mostly because they have the double identity. one from the place they originate from the other from living in america. they feel like they have to satisfy both criteria s in order to keep both sides happy. this is the problem with writing race in any form of storytelling, they see the person only from the outside, we see them but we don’t really see them. My professor for this class told a story of how he would play a game with himself called “find the Asian” in which he would flip from channel to channel, in order to see how many Asians he could find, unfortunately not many. This is where many of the problems lie in storytelling, we either don’t give other races the time of day, or we reduce them to stereotypes. Many times what storytellers go for their inspiration in writing other races outside of themselves is the stories they were told about these other races. Gates states ” The relation between “racial character” and these sorts of char-
acteristics has been inscribed through tropes of race, lending the sanction
of God, biology, or the natural order to even presumably unbiased de-
scriptions of cultural tendencies and differences” (Gates, page 5). meaning we let our difference get the best of us in everything especially race. We are all 90% related to one another, however we have this fixation on blood relatives. Asians being depicted with big teeth, white people doing black face. These are problems in writing race the way we view each other, whether good or bad. We need more people to diverse in their storytelling, and one of the best ways to do that is to let people write for themselves. what i mean by this is let Asian people write Asian people, this goes for all forms of race. That way we learn from one another for both writing, and for our lives. This can help people who feel they live with two identities some closure, knowing they are not the only ones. the way to do this to have characters who feel the same way as the reader. The best way to do this is by letting race write for itself.