Narrative Essay on Ms. Marvel/ Final

Pamela Quezada

ENG 102

21 March 2018

    Ms. Marvel comic we read in class had a boundary line in its realism and its fictional aspect of the story. Kamala Khan herself and the other characters were so humanistic that most of their characteristics crossed over that “line” and made it relatable to the readers. One of the scenes I could relate to the most was the family scenes Kamala had with her parents. Her mother appeared strict and unfair but appeared to hide her face after yelling as if she didn’t mean to say that and just expected better things from her only daughter. My mom as a Latina mother does the same thing when we get into heated arguments and seeing that made me feel a connection to the comic. Flashbacks of all the times I’ve let them down began to fill my head as I read on.

Since public school, I’ve always had a problem with finishing homework, and because of that, I never got the chance to get awards or anything. That problem was bad with my parents, who really wanted a kid to show off. They could always get my strong points, my tutoring other kids and my sports awards, but they mostly focused on scholar more, and expected more from me for all the sacrifices they have made in their lives. They already had enough problems with my sister and the disabilities she was born with, which is why all the pressure was usually put on me. With Kamala, her parents pull the same cards on her too, they mentioned the sacrifices that were made for her and her brother so that they could be great. However, both our parents only say it because they care, and they want to remind us of what it took to get us here in the first place. Another thing Kamala and I have in common is our need of helping people. Growing up, I’ve always been an athletic person, and a really curious kid. My curiosity got me in trouble a few times, but it also granted me a skill. I discovered a lot of things to learn in life, I played and mastered a bunch of sports, learned and practiced karate, and even learned 3 new languages besides Spanish. And all these skills and wisdom I never kept for myself, I always had that trait for helping others, so I share a lot of my skills through tutoring, training others, or even helping others with bullies. Like I said, my curiosity got me in trouble sometimes. I was always very protective over innocent and defenseless people, including my friends. Which was why I always took it very personally when someone crossed the line with them. I believed in fair treatment and in what was right. Kamala had a similar experience, since she had the same beliefs. Even though culturally women aren’t considered much, we still stay strong to prove those beliefs wrong. Kamala got a bigger opportunity when she was given powers by the Avengers themselves, since she also had a big heart to help others. Once granted with the powers, Kamala always seized the opportunity to help others, and once she got in trouble, her parents thought she was someone completely different, as if they did not recognize their daughter anymore. I connected with Kamala when reading that part, since I used to get the same talks once I got home. As much as we hate disappointing our parents, we can’t stop what we’re doing since helping others is in our nature.

Overall, Kamala Khan is a really relatable character to read about. I enjoyed making the connections and going on this journey as we ventured farther into the comic. Ms. Marvel was a great experience in comics for any person to start off with since she’s young and we can understand her perspective.

 

Reflective statement: I learned about how there are deep connections in the comic universe, with every different facial expression, or different dialog within the speech bubbles. I can use what I learned in perhaps other situations since you can always make a connection to what you’re reading about. The process of peer review has also helped my process since getting feedback on writing helps you see the errors in your work and how you can improve it.

Final Draft – Research Paper

Maria G Torres

Professor Polish

Eng 102

Research Paper of Anonymous

The text ‘Anonymous’ revolves around the experiences after a tragedy. It also dwells on the challenges of refugees in a new land. The text raises significant questions that have been a focus to scholars. This paper dwells on the questions that I formed after going through the text such as why refugees are discriminated against by natives, the reason behind the existence of sexual harassment in the workplace and the relationship between tragedy and psychological disorders. Also, I am left asking myself about the mechanisms that disaster victims use to reunite with family members. Moreover, I am left wondering how the memory functions and the effect of supernatural powers on people daily life. Also, I have included findings from scholarly works in an attempt to answer the questions.

The text raises questions as to why immigrants face differential treatment from the natives. Despite many nations upholding the constitutional right for individuals to enjoy equality before the law, immigrants receive lesser treatment. In the text, Calista informs Naja that his father views refugees to be dangerous and he instructs his children to live within their gated community (Izuuka 68). Individuals are yet to uphold pluralism and just like in the novel differential treatment towards refugees arise from their unique language and culture. Researchers have made enquiries in the conduct of racism. Recent research affirms that racism in America arises from antagonism against individuals of other origins based on beliefs of white superiority (Matsuda 20). Policy makers find it important to understand the cause of racism to come up with successful strategies to counter the same.

The text raises a significant question about the origin of sexual harassment in the workplace. Also, whether both genders are affected by sexual harassment in equal measure and why the practice has been persistent. The author reveals how Mr. Yuri Marcus, an employer at a tailoring company admires Nemasani, one of her female employees (Izuuka 68). Nemasani is not interested in a love affair with her boss. The employer threatens her that she is going to lose her job if she fails to comply with his demands. The boss explains that he wants to marry Nemasani since she has gone through challenges in her life. Recent research reveals that sexual harassment occurs in the workplace due to misuse of power by senior management (Arief 136). The high prevalence of harassment in the workplace is associated with lack of reporting due to fear of retaliation and fear of stigmatization associated with instituting court proceedings.

The text leaves the readers asking themselves about the relationship between tragedy and psychological disorders. Anon at one time is suffering from mental lapse and he can hardly remember the events that occurred during the battle (Izuuka 65). The mental loss is serious to the extent that he cannot remember the physical appearance of his mother. Nemasani is disturbed psychologically after she could not find his son. It has been a long time since Nemasani parted with his son but she beliefs that she is going to find him either dead or alive. Anon’s mother experience delusions that lead her to make a shroud to bury his son. Individuals who see their friends die during disaster suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (Baldwin 403). Post traumatic disorder causes fear and anxiety through ought an individual life. Also, individuals suffer from depression. Depression is associated with failure in social networks and lack of social support.

The text poses questions on the accuracy of methods used by war victims to reunite with their family members. For instance, Nemasani talked about the blue butterflies in his original home to establish whether Anon came from the same place (Izuuka 77). The color of animals in different regions depends on the climatic conditions, and the existence of the blue butterflies was exceptional. A recent development to help in the identification of victim family members is the Facial Recognition software that is used to recognize individuals with facial injuries (Rautaray et al. 13). The technology is essential in large scale disasters where victims place a priority on reuniting and identification of dead persons.

The novel raises questions about the use of memory. In some instances, the characters remember occurrences through a conscious attempt, while in other times they remember events automatically. Ali affirms that he remembers some things unconsciously while in a dream. Also, individuals remember emotions that occurred in the past. For instance, Anon remembers how his mother used to hold him because of the emotional connection associated with a mothers love. Belen recalls past experiences consciously, and she urges her friends that they must try as much as possible to remember (Izuuka 74). Scholars understand the memory to be divided into two parts the explicit memory that is the conscious recollection of past events, information, and experiences (Trewartha et al. 1129). Also, the implicit memory that involves unconscious recollection of past experiences. Recently, there has been increased research in the emotional memory. Such arise from activated feelings from recalling a painful or an enjoyable moment.

The book raises doubt about the effect that supernatural powers have on daily lives of people. Nemasani argues that Mr. Yuri Mackus is going to incur the wrath of the gods if he tries to force her to marry him. The statement makes Mr. Yuri calm down in fear that he would not want to agitate the gods. Today, religious denomination associates themselves with belief in supernatural power. Religion provides consolation and answers to questions that are unanswered from scientific inventions. For instance, religions such as Islam and Christianity developed from individuals questioning about the creation of the universe.

To conclude the text ‘Anonymous leaves readers thinking and makes them have the desire to establish how the different concepts work. The text argues about common aspects such as racism, sexual harassment and use of memory. Importantly, most of the questions are not answered in the test and it necessitates looking at scholars’ findings on the same.

Works Cited

Arief, H. Hanafi. “Sexual Harassment: Legal Protection Against Workers in Malaysia” Al Adl: Jurnal Hukum 9.1, 2017, pp. 135-142.

Baldwin, David S., et al. “Evidence-based pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder: a revision of the 2005 guidelines from the British Association for Psychopharmacology.” Journal of Psychopharmacology 28.5, 2014, pp. 403-439.

Iizuka, Naomi. Anonymous. An Adaptation of the Odyssey. Abrams Artist Agency, 2006, pp. 65-77.

Lucas, Ernest C. “The Bible, Science & Creation.” Evangelical Quarterly 87.2, 2015, pp. 11-17.

Matsuda, Mari J. “Public response to racist speech: Considering the victim’s story.” Words that wound. Routledge, 2018, pp. 17-51.

Rautaray, Siddharth S., and Anupam Agrawal. “Vision based hand gesture recognition for human computer interaction: a survey.” Artificial Intelligence Review 43.1, 2015, 1-54.

Trewartha, Kevin M., and J. Randall Flanagan. “Distinct contributions of explicit and implicit memory processes to weight prediction when lifting objects and judging their weights: an aging study.” Journal of neurophysiology 116.3, 2016, pp. 1128-1136.

Final Draft – Narrative Essay

Maria G Torres

Professor Polish

Eng 102

Narrative Essay

Childhood protects us (or in my case, protected me) from the ugly sides of life that later in life reveal. I was lucky to grow up around people that resembled me complexion wise, but even still there was that pressure to be fairer than the rest. I did not realize the magnitude that this type of thinking could reach until I came to America. Like Kamala, I have experienced my share of being treated differently, being made a joke of, being judged wrongly, and people calling me names among many other things, including my own dose of self-demeanor.

In the same manner in which Kamala questions certain things about their family and mode of life, is the same manner in which I would question myself about my appearance. I too, at some point, felt like confronting my parents with that question, as Kamala did her dad (Abu) as to whether the reason she could not go to the party was because she was a girl. But I knew that there was no answer to that question. In fact, I could have ended up being given a good whopping.

I would admire the white people because they seem to have their lives figured out. Everything favored them due to the nature of their skin color. They work in best paying jobs, attend the best schools, have higher living standards, they make up the most of our TV stars, they are the inventors of most things we see today, produce the best movies, are generally the wealthiest, they live in the wealthiest nations; and the list goes on and on. I on the other hand, nothing good associated with my skin color.

I started reading comic books when I was young. My parents would always buy them for me, first to learn how to read and then later to make me happy as I had come to love them. One thing that I noticed about these comic books, the super heroes, who I loved so much and even wished to be them were always white. And for some reason, the bad people, who we all hated, were color people. This amplified my desire to be white and even considered them superior. This also had an equal negative effect on my perspective about people like me (dark skinned people).

I relate so much to Kamala’s situation when she thinks how stupid it was for her to try and fit in and even become one of them. In my efforts to fit in, I would try to emulate white people way of living and how they carried themselves around. I would try to speak like them, enjoy the kind of music and sports that they do, adopted a white name, and associate more with them. However, that still did not turn me into them, or make me one of them. I still felt insecure about my skin color and inferior to them. But later on, as with Kamala, I realized that there was no need in trying to be something that you are not. All we need is to love ourselves the way we are and appreciate our races and everything that make us unique.

This comic book has been able to capture and bring out the challenges that most children face on a day-to-day basis because of their skin color, religion, nationality, and race among other things. It brings out the insecurity that these children live with. Through using Kamala, who based on her religion, nationality, race, gender, and way of life is considered inferior, backward, and weak as the superhero this comic book gives kids a new perspective in life. Young girls from Arab nations can find someone that they can relate to and look up to for inspiration. Imagine the kind of message this sends out to kids in school.

I am advocating for the production of additional comic books with superheroes from different races. Individuals’ perspective regarding themselves and life in general are natured from a young age. That means that if you feed them negative information about themselves, they will grow up hating who or what they are and the reverse is true. This comic book is trying to change all that by creating a female, Arab superhero.

Personal Reflection

I have learned throughout this project that we need to appreciate ourselves and what makes us unique, as well as respect other people for who they are. What we think about ourselves play a huge part in our development, especially mentally and emotionally. I can implement the lessons I have learned in this class in real life, by treating other people nicely and learning to fall in love with myself. Also, I can use this information to reach kids who go through the same or more things, as I and Kamala did, and rebuild their love and respect of self.

This comic has different angles with which one can analyze it. It is educational, entertaining, based on real life situations, while at the same time fictional. I opted to give more life to my analysis by making it partly about my life experiences. This helped me to bring out the themes in the comic and express them in a way that is easy to understand. The process of peer review helped me to obtain deeper insight of the story making my analysis easy.

reflection

Throughout this project I learned about the acceptance of yourself is what is most important in the end. It is not about wanting to be someone else it is about loving who you are. Kamala’s journey as Ms. Marvel had brought strong attention to that and made me realize that important. I chose the basic narrative essay format because I wanted to write my story because it was so similar to Kamala’s. I wanted to describe in words my emotions and show all the similarities with hers. I think this essay was a good way to bring more attention to your point because it was a more personal point than any other points I’ve made in essays. Using “I” made me really comfortable and easy to write because I was simply speaking out loud and just writing it all down and making sense of my thoughts at the end. I wanna bring my understanding of narrative essays and bring this to the table when writing my next essay because personal analyzation helps create strong theses.

Kamala vs. The world.

Sanjida Ridhe
ENG 102
Professor Jay Polish
May 31, 2018

Assignment #3

I think growing up it wasn’t about being ashamed of my culture or religion, it was more about dealing with the differences of my culture and the culture I am surrounded with. When it’s Christmas, everyone’s always asking me what I’m going to be doing with my family, and I always reply with “Nothing special why?”, almost every reply would be “What! It’s Christmas. Why aren’t you doing anything?”, and I’ll reply with “Christmas isn’t a holiday I celebrate. I was fine with those responses. Of course, I trust and believe in the faith I carry with me every day and have no problem correcting others if something is misunderstood but it wasn’t just the holidays. It was also with going to parties or having guy friends, or ordering a different kind of bacon egg and cheese for breakfast and just asking for halal turkey bacon or just having an egg and cheese on a roll. I was more different than others and I would say more restricted than others and so was Kamala.
When receiving Ms. Marvel in class a couple weeks ago, already starting with the cover and noticing the Arabic on Kamala’s bracelet on her wrist, I was intrigued and interested to learn about her. Already on the first couple of pages, I had noticed something that happens to me practically every day. Kamala was staring at a piece of bacon and my assumptions about her being a Muslim were confirmed when Bruno had said, “Either eat the bacon or stick to your principles”. Seeing as though she was also with someone wearing a hijab, the percentage on my Muslim theory was very high. I laughed after Bruno had told Kamala her choices. Sounds like something all my friends tell me. It’s true. Bacon smells great. I smell it almost every time my friends get something that has bacon in it. I can’t help it. When something smells good, am I supposed to not smell that? I can’t force my nose to block the smell of bacon for the rest of my life. I live in a world where Islam isn’t the only religion and halal isn’t the only kind of food there is. I could relate to Kamala and it wasn’t only that.
If you’re ready for the story of my life summed up in a paragraph here goes. When Kamala was at the dinner table and had asked her father to go to the waterfront party, it was hilarious to see her father immediately reply with “With boys?” Ask me how many times I’ve heard that line! I say this to my parents all the time. “We don’t live in a world with only one gender.” Of course they know that but it still doesn’t stop them from asking. Our religion had strict rules on the association between boys and girls and it’s inevitable to not hear that general response most of the time. Kamala’s response was exactly what every girl in her position would say “Come on Abu! (“Dad”; I call my own father that too) I’m sixteen! I promise I won’t do anything stupid! Don’t you trust me?”. And once again, her father’s response was something that was a common thing I heard while growing up. Abu had replied with an alternative instead of going to a party. Abu’s rejection to Kamala asking to go to the party upset her and when she was in her room she had questioned everything about her out of anger. This was the scene that caught my attention. There have been many times where I have said, “Why am I stuck with the weird holidays?”, or “Everybody else gets to be normal. Why can’t I?” Seeing all my friends being able to do majority of the things I weren’t allowed to do became harder to be around them with the way my culture and the kinds of rules I had to follow in my life. I was different and always the one being restricted to do things they could do. This scene spoke out to me so much because this literally is an exact representation of my childhood growing up. Although my childhood came with lessons that were meant to be learned I didn’t look at these scenes as something sad I was very understanding towards it. People are different and we all grow up different and believe in different things. It was something I had to understand and then base my decisions off that understanding. Reading the struggle Kamala was in when she did sneak out and go to the party and Zoe’s first response was “I thought you were locked up!” Boy was that relatable. Everyone was always surprised whenever they had seen me past 9 pm. Everyone could stay out late but me. Kamala’s family weren’t identical to her friends family and it was something I had to learn growing up and so does Kamala.
I guess I should explain what I felt everytime Kamala was frustrated about herself and her family and the life she was living. It was like reading about myself even if they were a Pakistani family and I am Bengali. Their beliefs and rules are similar to mind and Kamala was living the same childhood I was. It was frustrating of course when seeing others do things I couldn’t but one thing I made sure I never did was hate the person I was or my life. I grew up and learned to love being different. If I can’t eat bacon, so what? I have turkey bacon and plenty of other halal meat choices to choose from that satisfy my taste buds and I am happy with that. Whenever someone had ordered something with pork in it at any gathering I was at, I took my past first aggravating feelings and turned them into something I could benefit from. That pork and me about to starve dilemma turned into me ordering food for myself and no one else could have it. Haha in your face! When Kamala had her “dream” conversation with the superhero’s she looked up to, she was getting a reality check. She needed to understand being different is never anything to be ashamed of. She wanted to become someone else and that wasn’t right. Other people like Zoe who uses insults as comedy were never her true friends. It’s people like Bruno who don’t judge and care about her parents finding out she snuck out and she would soon be in trouble. He didn’t want that for Kamala. At the end of the comic she realized everyone loved her for herself and her journey as Ms. Marvel had helped her realize that even though wishing to be someone else is never something you should truly want. Kamala had learn to be the best possible version of herself and so have I. No one else’s thoughts or look should phase you or define you. You learn to define yourself and that is what matters.

 

Final Draft

Ga-briel!!! baja, la comida está listo” shouted Flor.

 

“OK MOM AND HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TELL YOU ITS GAI-BREE-UHL AND NOT GA-BRIEL!!!”. called Gabriel. He stomps down stairs to the dining table. “What is that? That looks disgusting,” he groans

 

“Those are tacos y ya come chamco” said Flor.

 

“I think I’m going to order some pizza instead” said Gabriel.

 

“I don’t know why you don’t want to eat mexican food if you are in fact a mexican too mijo” said Flor.

 

“I know I’m some mexican but I consider myself to be AMERICAN BECAUSE I WAS BORN HERE, and I really don’t like mexican food” Gabriel raises his voice.

 

“You know you shouldn’t be ashamed of your race and ethnicity” said Flor.

“I know but everything that’s being going on right now about hispanic people and specialty mexican people being criminals, I rather not consider myself a mexican nor a hispanic person, and tbh I kinda agree with our president” said Gabriel.

 

“I don’t want hear another word from you, go to your ROOM NOW!!!!” Flor yells.

 

“Uuh whatever, I could care less” said Gabriel as he’s going to his room. “Oh snap the dallas cowboys are playing right now” said Gabriel as he turns the t.v on.

 

“Breaking news, Another couple dozen undocumented people have been detained by ICE again, some are parents who have US citizen children from ages 16-2 years. Next on nbc news, How does being undocumented or having family members undocumented have an effect on a adolescent’s physiological health? Stay tooned” said news reporter.

 

“How bout I don’t stay tooned but I guess that would suck to be one those kids, and one of them is my age but that’s what they get because their parents came here illegally. I…. better change the channel before the game ends” said gabriel.

 

Next Day at school.

“Hey bro you watched the game last night?” said Charles.

 

“Of course bro how can I miss the game, it’s basically like if you don’t watch the game you are not from Texas” said Gabriel.

 

“I know right it’s like…” said Charles.

 

“Wait hold that thought bro, Hey! Was up James you saw the game last night, it was so good” said Gabriel.

 

“I did see the game Gabriel, now get out face” said James.

 

“Ok bro see you in practice” said Gabriel.

 

“You know he doesn’t like you because you’re Hispanic”said Charles.

 

“I know… but I was born here in American, even though my background is mexican it doesn’t mean I’m mexican” said Gabriel.

 

“Hey, was up David” said Charles.

 

“Hey did you see the game last night?” said Gabriel.

 

“No, I didn’t see the game, can you guys just leave me alone please” said David.

“Woah, someone’s in bad mood what are you going to cry or what?” said Gabriel.

 

“ I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!” said David.

 

“Ok, I’m sorry bro do you want to talk it about?” said Gabriel.

 

“They….. deported my dad last night, I don’t know if he will ever return back” said David.

 

“Hey I’m sorry about your dad and your family, it must be tough for you guys. At least he’s not in jail, that is worse than being deported” said Charles.

 

“Yeah I know” said David.

 

“WOAH your dad is a undocumented illegal immigrant, but what crime did he do to be detained?” said Gabriel.

 

“It was just a minor crime, that’s IT and they still detained him” said David.

 

“Well if he commited a minor crime, its consider a crime and I think it’s better if we don’t hang out anymore. I don’t want no one to see me hanging out with a guy whos dad is a illegal immigrant criminal. BYE” said Gabriel, he leaves.

 

Football Practice

“Ok ladies, I want 10 laps and get to your positions” said coach.

 

“ Yes sir!” said everybody.

 

“That was not cool Gabriel, how can you just not be friends with David anymore when we have being friends for more than 8 years, he needs his friends to support him at this time of crises” said Charles.

 

“Let me tell you something Charles, I don’t want to hang out with someone who is related with a illegal immigrant” said Gabriel.

 

“You know you shouldn’t be ashamed of your race and ethnicity” said Charles.

 

“You sound exactly like my mother” said Gabriel.

 

“How about we go to David’s house and show some…”said Charles.

 

“Yo James was up bro” said Gabriel.

 

“How bout you go hang out with you illegal undocumented people” said James.

 

“Nice one bro” said James friend.

 

“Haha” said james friend 2.

 

“But I was born here and I don’t even hang out with hispanic people” said Gabriel.

 

“Ok then, well I don’t believe you for a second. But if want to hang out with us you gotta prove yourself” said James as he spots David.

 

“Ok what do you want me to do?” said Gabriel.

 

“Well go over there to david and push him, also tell him that his dad got what he deserved for coming to this country illegally”said James.

 

“Ok…” said Gabriel as he’s heading towards David.

 

“Your dad got what he deserved for coming to this country illegally”said Gabriel as he pushes David.

 

“Why Gabriel? We have been friends for 8 years and just because my dad is undocumented you treat me like this? I thought you were better than this” said David.

 

“HEY LADIES GO TO THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE NOW!!” said coach.

 

“Hey good job bro I guess you’re American after all, I’ll see you this saturday at my place after midnight and do NOT BE LATE” said James.

 

”Alright bro, and I won’t be late” said Gabriel.

 

Principal Office

“What is the meaning of THIS!” said the principle.

 

“Well I was just stating facts” said Gabriel.

 

“David you can go and I’m sorry about your dad” said principle.

 

“Thank you Principal Smith” said David.

 

“WHAT? You’re going to let him go but not me” said Gabriel.

 

“You should damn know why I let him go Gabriel. Just because we have a president who is racist, it doesn’t mean we can all be racist. At the end of the day we are all immigrants from all over the world. I demand you to go to detention. Dismissed” said Smith.

“Principle Smith has a point about this country being all immigrants, but time has change, now we in new era” said Gabriel.

 

2 hours later outside of school

“I hate detention, but it was worth it. I better head home before it gets darker.” said Gabriel as he heads for a train track.”I don’t think I’ll make it so I’ll just stay back” said Gabriel as the train passes.”Woah, I never seen a train like this. This is a military train. Oh I remember our president sent the national guard to defend the border” said Gabriel, as a bottle of soda with no label falls of the train and the train is now far away. “Free soda, don’t mind me” said Gabriel as he picks up the soda and drinks it.” That tasted nice” said Gabriel.

 

1 hour later near Gabriel’s house

“Uh my head hurts so much. I think I shouldn’t have drink that soda, but I’m finally home” said Gabriel as he opens the door.

 

“WHY DID I RECEIVED A CALL FROM YOUR SCHOOL SAYING YOU GOT DETENTION FOR INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT” shouted Flor.

 

“Can we not talked about it right now, My head hurt so much” said Gabriel looking at the floor.

 

“YOU GROUNDED FOR A MONTH” Flor yells.

 

“Ok, but can you be quiet?”said Gabriel in a low tone.

 

“WHAT, DID YOU TELL TO BE…” said Flor she gets talked over by Gabriel.

 

“I SAID BE QUIET!!” said Gabriel. Everything goes silence. “Thank you mom” said Gabriel as he goes to his room with his head down and he then sleeps. 12 hours later gabriel wakes up. “Wait what? It’s still night time?” said gabriel as he goes down stairs.”Mom?”said gabriel looking at his mom frozen in place. “Mom what happen to you, please talk to me. I’m going to get help ok” said Gabriel as he goes outside. “I NEED HELP PLEASE, SOMEone….” said Gabriel as he looks surprised.”WHAT? Why is everybody frozen in place? Did I do this? Said Gabriel as he cries and goes inside his house. “Mom, mommy please come back…I said CONTINUE” said Gabriel as his mom wakes up. “…QUIET” said flor looking surprised. “Mommmmyyy… Thank you mom, I’m so sorry please forgive me, I’ll never misbehaved ok” said Gabriel as he goes to his room.

 

“Ok..” said Flor still surprised for what had happened.

 

“It must have been the soda, that gave the ability to stop time, but how do I make it work? I gotta call Charles he probably knows” said Gabriel as he call Charles.

 

”Hey Gabriel can we not…”said Charles.

 

”Ok great, come to my house right now I gotta show you something” said Gabriel.

 

1 hour later. Ding Dong.

” Come in, Gabriel is up stairs” said Flor.

 

“This better be good Gabriel, I don’t even know why I even bother coming…” said Charles.

 

“BE QUIET” shouts Gabriel as he grabs Charles.

 

“Did you just say to be quiet to me, goodbye Gabriel” said Charles as he goes down stairs only to see Flor frozen in position.

 

“Hey Mrs.Flores, are you ok… hey Gabriel there something wrong with your mom” said Charles.

 

“Ok what I’m about to tell you might seen insane but I have powers to stop time” said Gabriel.

 

“WHAT?” said Charles as he goes outside. “No way…”said Charles surprised.

 

”I know right it’s crazy” said Gabriel.

 

“Lets go inside your house” said Charles, as they both go in side the house.

“I don’t know how it works though, but I have an idea. My idea is that I have be mad or feel some kinda emotion in order to work. But if I want to stop time and take someone with me then I just need to hold them” said Gabriel.

 

“Ok then resume time then” said Charles.

 

“I have to feel some type of emotion, make me mad or something” said Gabriel. Charles punches Gabriel in the face.

 

“That’s what you get for treating David like that” said Charles.

 

“OUCH, wtf Charles” shouted Gabriel.

 

“Everything ok up there” said Flor.

 

“YES mom, Charles is leaving” said Gabriel.

 

“Seeya Gabriel have fun with your new best friends”said Charles as he leaves Gabriel’s room.

 

Saturday 11:45 pm.

“Oh damn I have 15 minutes to get to James house, I’ll just stop time. STOP TIME” said Gabriel as time stops. 1 hour later at James house. “RESUME time” said Gabriel as time continues. Ding Dong.

 

“Hey Gabriel your early, are you ready?” said James.

 

” Of course Bro, Lets go” said Gabriel.

 

“Alright let me grab some stuff and wait for me at the car” said James.

 

“Alright Bro” said Gabriel. James open the car, he then opens the trunk to put a bag in it, they both get in the car. “What was in that bag?” said Gabriel.

 

“You’ll see once we get there” said James.

 

“By the way I gotta show you something that will blow your mind, I…”said Gabriel.

 

“OK ,OK, tell me later. We’re here” said James.

 

“What are we doing here so close to the border?” said Gabriel.

 

“We’re going to shoot some undocumented people” said James.

“Why?” said Gabriel looking surprised.

 

“I thought you were American and not hispanic?” said James.

 

“Yeah I’m 100% percent American, let’s go” said Gabriel. They go up a hill with the bag, James take two sniper rifles. He gives one to Gabriel. They go prone.

 

“I see two over there” said James as he’s looking through the scope.

 

“Wait, its a kid and his dad” said Gabriel looking through the scope. BOOM. “I got the dad, he’s on the ground lets get closer and kill him” said James as they get closer to the dad.

 

“Hey James, this is crazy how about we just leave, I think he got what he deserved, let’s just leave him” said Gabriel in a nervous tone, as they see the dad on floor.

 

“Por favor no me mates, tengo una familia” said the dad crying.

 

“How dare you come to this country and take our jobs and commit crimes, you don’t deserve to live” said James as he takes out his pistol.

 

“STOP” said Gabriel as a teardrop falls he then grabs on to the dad and kid. “¿Estás bien, puedes caminar?” said Gabriel.

“Si” said the dad.

 

“Ok, solo ve y toma este dinero para tu viaje” said Gabriel, as the dad and little girl go.

 

“Muchas gracias” said the dad. He then takes James to the cops and leaves him the way he was position with his gun out. He then goes to his house and lays on his bed and looks on the roof.

 

“RESUME” said Gabriel. “I know, I’m American but that doesn’t mean I have to forget where I came from. I’m hispanic and I should be proud. I should use my powers to help those who are undocumented people” said Gabriel with a smile.

Ms. Marvel Final Essay

Farzana Khan

ENG 102

Professor Jay Polish

May 31, 2018

Narrative Essay 3

Things started to change for me during middle school. That was when I realized the difference in the society. Where some people got along with the society and does things like everyone and others get stick with their principals and act different from them.  As a Muslim girl, I stick with my religious principals and experienced certain expectation on what we should eat and stuff like that. It was kind of hard for me to follow these rules at a beginning, where I started to wear a scarf in the middle school for the first time. Everyone was staring at me and gave me a look on the hallway that made me embarrassed.  They also, asked me, if I was forced to wear it or I’m just wearing because I like it. All these question and looks made me come to a point not to wear it again. The way people judge us based on our actions or appearance, it makes us to change and do things like other in the society. But, later onwards I got to know the difference in the society and we can’t do anything about it and made me turned into a one that get stick with their principals and act differently.

I had been wondering if I was the only one who experienced this stuff in school or even other had been asked this question. The answer to this question was answered through my first comic book. I never read comic books before, but once I had borrowed it from my sister just to see the pictures. When I first read Ms. Marvel, I understood how pictures also tell us a story and I not only found an answer to my question but also got related to Kamala Khan. The message was conveyed in a form of an answer to my question and made me realize that I wasn’t the only one who had experienced it but also characters like Nakia. This made me to think, it would have been the reason why Kamala wants to be like others just like Zoe. Nobody likes to be judged by their cultural habits and would make them embarrass if they have gone beyond. To show one’s self power to act differently in the society comes despite of experiencing misbehavior’s and disobeying parents in regards to cultural aspects.  In consequence, the society will change ones behavior by others action.

I can see how kamala and I are related to each other, basically with the same religion, went through almost the same difficulties and have almost related behavioral parents. Wearing a scarf wasn’t the only situation that made me make up my mind to act differently but, also other situation like, eating foods.  Kamala and I deals with our religious expectation, where we are not supposed to eat BLT. Our desire to eat specific food is altered by our emotions of feeling toward the religious principle on what must be eaten and what one wants to eat.

This connects with me, where I went through the same situation and couldn’t eat some of the foods like Kamala does. When I was in the lunch room with my Muslim friends at the middle school, my stomach was trembling and there wasn’t anything at the lunch room that I could eat except an apple.  I couldn’t control my hunger so I ended up eating the burger which I know that I’m not supposed to eat it.  That was when I realized that I crossed my religion’s expectation but at the same time my other Muslim friends were eating it. That time I was struggling through if I really should follow these rules or just eat whatever I want as others in the society does. It wasn’t until I got caught by my parents and learned from them and from my friends. I got caught by my parents because of my friend. A friend who truly cares for us will find a way to help us through it.  Not only by making sure we are not hurt but, also by examine us. A friend who has that type of behavior will make us frustrated, but, they are the one who wants us to be who we are. When Bruno told on Kamala, her reaction to it was impossible.  Her eyebrows were shrunk down and the anger in her face shows her frustration towards her friend’s behavior. But, he likes her the way she was.

None of the parents would allow their children to mislead their religious principles. As Kamala’s parents are strict regarding to religious principles like, going to the party and wearing a certain type of clothes.  My parents are also very strict when it comes for eating food.  I was surrounded by my parents for eating a burger and they judged me and asked questions which my answer won’t be able to convince them or show them how I felt. When my parents started to judge me I learned how much they cared for me and none of the parents would judge their children unless they want them to go into a right direction.  Parents would never accept their children to disobey them or their cultural aspects and let them go through whatever direction they wanted to go even if they know it’s not a right way.

That day, I realized it was all because of food and made me to think why food should have names. This situation in my life was supported by the illustration in the comic book, all sandwich had a name tag except for one which had a question mark. This scene really surprised me because I felt like the author had read my mind. If there isn’t any name for foods everyone can eat anything they want and they won’t know if it’s a BLT or something. I wonder why Kamala didn’t eat the sandwich that had the question mark and act like she doesn’t know what she ate.  I think the author had kept it for purpose so; readers can fill it with whatever name they want.

Reflection

Throughout this project, I learned about comic book which is a new genre for me. I never read comic books before, and in this project I learned how to read a comic because it has each panels and it must be read in certain direction. I can use this for my life experience by; try out other comic books because after I read this comic book it made me read more of this genre. I chose this type of assignment format because this assignment was kind a different from all the assignments’. We never get any chances for comparing our own story with other’s story so, I just made use of this. This format really helped me to analysis the comic because when we compare    our own story with other’s story we can understand their situation and helps to analysis it. I could have analysis even further by focusing on the comic book more than my own story.  I used rhetorical choices such as, metaphor to compare my story with the comic book and this advanced my analysis by getting connected to their situation.  For this assignment, the peer review really didn’t push my analysis forward because, since I’ m a visual learn I need to see others draft in order for me to learn more about the assignment. Everyone were doing different format so, I couldn’t analysis forward. I would like to bring in a personification rhetorical choices so I can play with by comparing two different non things.

 

 

Ms. Marvel Final Draft

Kayla Rivas

Professor Polish

ENG 102

31 May 2018

 

It all started in the sixth grade. I was going through an identity crisis. I went to a Catholic school were the majority of the people going there were white and blonde. So, at one point I began to believe that looking like that was the perfect way to live. I would refuse to praise my heritage, I wouldn’t speak Spanish and I would hate when my father had to go to parent conferences. I would see the looks people gave him as we walked down the hallway. He clearly didn’t fit into the white and blonde population of the school. It wasn’t until I reached my sophomore year in high school that I understood that diversity is not a bad thing and I was truly able to embrace my nationality.

This is evident in the comic book Ms. Marvel as well. Kamala also had an identity crisis and thought that in order to fit in she had to look and act a certain way. Much like my story, Kamala wanted to be white and blonde. After getting her powers she realized how she would psychically change into a white and blonde girl, Captain Marvel, and she didn’t seem very happy with this. This shows how sometimes things need to happen to us for us to fully understand why things are the way they are.

It wasn’t until I got to a public high school that I was proud to be a Latina. Kamala also had to go through some adventures such as fighting the robots, breaking the gym locker in her school and sneaking out of her house, to fully understand the reality. Kamala later understood that she is who she is for a reason. I think this is very important for everyone to understand because we live our life’s trying to be someone were not to try to fit into societal norms and this comic book really shines a light on this. More people should be proud of who they are, and it shouldn’t be as late as high school for kids to embrace this.

Reading Ms. Marvel was something new for me. As a child my father would bring me comic books and I would read them but that died down quickly after I discovered the Diary of a Wimpy Kid collection. This was my first marvel comic and I really enjoyed reading it. I thought it was more relatable compared to most books, especially with her parents. My mother is very strict, and I see how upset she gets when my sister doesn’t come home before curfew. My mother was raised in a strict household, so I understand why it’s so hard for her to let those ideologies go. It’s only natural she’s imposing them on us like Kamala’s mother is doing to her.

I also enjoyed being able to see how they made Kamala a bit of a nerd because you can easily relate to her. Many kids aren’t “lucky” enough to be the popular ones in high school so having Kamala be a nerd and not too popular made me feel like the comic book was directed to me. It may seem cliché to say that kids need to relate to someone in the media considering how much its talked about, however, this is such a serious topic. It is proven that kids need to be motivated whether its self-motivation or they get it from somewhere else. Letting kids see that the struggles they go through aren’t rare and scary as they think will help them. Seeing people that look and even act like them is a way of coping with insecurities. I remember being around twelve years old and artist Selena Gomez made a comment about how she too wanted to be blonde and try to look like the girls she saw on the television. For me this was my way of coping and realizing that I wasn’t the only one going through a moment where I wasn’t happy with my appearance.

Talking about these serious topics is very useful like the way Kamala talked to Bruno. I think this comic lets people talk about their insecurities a bit more. When I had my identity crisis I didn’t really tell anyone, but I know my mother figured it out especially when I asked her if I can dye my hair blonde at the age of eleven. I feel like these new books and movies that are full of diversity are helping people. Although there is a lot of light shining on minorities nowadays, I am still waiting for some representation for the Latino community. I don’t doubt that it is in its works considering the overwhelming demand to see more minority groups in movies and shows.

This comic had a lot of deeper meaning to it then I initially thought. This reminds me of when we read Anon(ymous) and we discussed all the topics that were within the play. It was so amazing to see how much Anon(ymous) included and how this information wasn’t in plain sight. You really had to think about some things just like in Ms. Marvel. At first sight, Ms. Marvel looked like another marvel money maker, however, after analyzing it through a different lens it was clear to see how it was so much more. Ms. Marvel touched upon very serious topics like being true to oneself and how diversity plays a role in society.

I was able to see parts of my story in Ms. Marvel and this is great. I really think that including people of all nationalities in books and movies can really help unify people. In my sister’s graduation last week, NYU had a guest speaker who happened to be the prime minister of Canada. I didn’t know who he was or why people were cheering so loudly for him until he started speaking. He talked about how everyone must be united even if we have opposing views with one another. He went on to say how we must at least give each other a chance to talk before we judge. He said that we keep dividing each other by not accepting each other. This spoke to me because I see this a lot. There was a story on the news about how a lawyer yelled at a Hispanic worker to speak English. Its ridicules at this point that people keep dividing each other over things such as skin color and language.

The creators of this comic really did what the prime minister said, they tried unifying people by making this comic about a Muslim girl in New Jersey. By not making her look like the typical superhero many people were empowered, not only the Muslim community but all the people who are underrepresented. I see this comic as a step forward for everyone as a whole because we are all one. We are the ones that keep building walls between ethnicities and I think it’s time to break down all these barriers. The talk about building walls (literally and metaphorically) are over.

Reflective Artist Statement

I learned a lot throughout this project. There are many things people fear to talk about and this class threw that away. I think it’s awesome to have a safe zone where serious topics such as the ones we see in Ms. Marvel are discussed. I know that everything I learned from this class I will be able to use throughout my life. I know now that there are many people who are tired of the injustices in the world and that’s comforting because one day things will change.

I chose to write my narrative essay by mixing both my story with Kamala’s because I felt like it added more meaning to everything I wrote. When I added specific details about my life and compared them to Kamala’s I felt like it meant more. Writing like this might also help the reader understand a bit more of my story and see how common these problems are.

Narrative essay – Origin stories are all too common

Origin stories are more ordinary than we think. Everybody has one. It’s the only thing that Kamala Khan, Scott Pilgrim, Santa Claus and Johnny Utah have in common. I have one, and you have one too. All of them involve a degree of uncertainty. I didn’t know if I really wanted to be a journalist, or a writer, or a musician. Kamala didn’t think she wanted to follow the path her family had set up for her and what to do once she gained her superpowers. Scott Pilgrim didn’t know how to reconcile his interest in Ramona Flowers with doing the right thing with Knives, and I hate to spoil Point Break for you, but Johnny Utah lets Bodhi ride one last wave.    

At some point, there’s a crossroad that we all must face, and superheroes are no exception. The weight of Kamala’s family heritage feels too heavy for her. She wants to be free from it, but at the same time, she doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. That’s another all too common trope, but there’s a reason for that. For a lot of families, a career in a creative field seems like a delusion, a phase. Musicians, writers, and journalists are a disappointment for many parents that expected doctors, lawyers and engineers instead. As a teenager, I was convinced I was going to study economics. Not so much because my family pressured me to go for it, which they didn’t, but because I thought that’s what I wanted. My father is an economist. We enjoy, to this day, discussing world economics and world politics. He owns a consulting firm. It made sense. But a spider bit Peter Parker, and I started a fanzine in my high school with some classmates. He started climbing up walls and my columns became popular in my school. Before I knew it, I was writing for five hundred people who cared about what I had to say.  

Duty can be a tricky thing. We might feel like we owe something to the people around us. To our families, friends, and strangers too. “Do the right thing” is always a good rule of thumb, but it’s hard when you don’t know what “the right thing” is. That can be a cumbersome load on our backs. 

But there’s another responsibility, the one that’s only with ourselves, and it can be the hardest one to accept. When you know what you are good at, when you are in control of your superpowers, you owe it to yourself to see where that will take you. Talent is a terrible thing to waste, and that can be a burden too. 

There’s an interesting confrontation between duties for superheroes and regular Joes like you and me. There’s a sense of responsibility towards your family and the people who supported you. They want you to succeed and sometimes is hard to avoid feeling in debt to them. As I contemplated the possibility to venture outside my comfort zone as a writer, I felt that in some way I was letting them down. Independence can be a lonely place.  

At the same time, you have a responsibility to use your abilities. It can feel a responsibility to yourself, and it is, but it’s also a responsibility to the people around you. Kamala feels like she must do right by her family, but she also has a duty to use her new powers to help those in need. 

As Ms. Marvel, Kamala finds the strength she needed in the lessons she learned from her father. That “eureka” moment that all superheroes have, I had it too. I knew I could write in my first language. I’ve been doing it for a living for years. But it all clicked when I realized I had to challenge myself. I had to go and start over in a different country, in a foreign language, and really prove myself.  

After I turned the last page of Ms. Marvel, I realized that there’s a reason why Kamala seems so vulnerable. It’s hard to develop empathy towards a character you can’t relate to. When you see a superhero struggle with the same daily issues that you do, it’s easier to feel complicit. If you have no stake in the story, it’s harder feel invested in what happens. The same way Kamala was dealing with her family expectations, I had to deal with mine. Even though they were always very supportive, I knew they wanted me to choose a path where they could have helped me succeed.  

Once a superhero such as ourselves is past all these external sources of pressure, they must deal with their own insecurities. Not many harbor the certainty of being good at what we do. Some of us aren’t at first. Some of us are good from the beginning but refuse to believe it. Some of us may never be good but refuse to quit. Uncertainty and doubt are always around most (the best) superheroes because with great power, comes great responsibility.