Author: fjimenez02

Farah Jimenez
English 102
Jenifer Polish
October 26, 2017
Pre-draft for Assignment 2

1. What kinds of research do you think Naomi Iizuka had to do in order to write Anon(ymous)?
In order to write Anon(ymous) t Naomi had to research about the immigrant’s backgrounds (reasons to leave their country, food, way of speaking) problems that they face and how they interact to each other. Also she may even research about how a boy around 12 years old feel in order to fit in.

2. What kinds of preparation might actors have to do to perform this play?
Actors have to research about some of the issues that immigrants face, how they act, dress, talk and what kind of stuff they do in order to survive around their new environment.

3. What three things grab your attention most in the play? Why?
One of the things that grab my attention was this boy going around from places to places saying different names and in all of those places ending saying that he was nobody.
Second, Anon never feel being at home in all the places that he been.
Third, the connection between Anon and his mother. He was searching for her all the time and that he never forgot about her. While, she always has the faith that he wasn’t dead and that maybe somebody adopt him.
All this grab my attention because I was confused when we started to read the play and it took me a while putting everything together.

4. What kinds of research might you perform to help you understand those three parts of the play in a deeper, more meaningful way (beyond you saying what is about)?

I have to finish the reading before we even finish it in class and also I watch the performance to get a better picture.

5. How can this kind of research help you understand and critique the rhetorical choices in Anon(ymous)?

By finishing it I was able to put all this piece together and by watching it everything became clear and I feel that I was able to understand better the meaning of the play.

6. What point you want to make with your research paper?

The point that I want to make with my research paper is that most of us spend a lot times to figure out how to fit in on the different situations of life.

7. How can you use your research to ask a question about Anon(ymous) that contribute an important, unique insight to the conversations about the play?

I may be able to talk about or mention all the themes that they play mentions.

Farah Jimenez

ENG 102

Jennifer Polish

October 13, 2017

Reading the poem “Brown Boy, White Boy” by Jonathan Mendoza made me very confused because I didn’t understand why the poem didn’t have any punctuation. After re-reading with some punctuation that I put on I said wait, he talking about being part of two different culture. Jonathan is using the perfect words to describe how some of us feel or have felt at one point in our lives. After watching him saying the poem three things got my attention; the white and black shirt that he was wearing, how he looks to one side when talking about “brown boy” and to the other when talking about “white boy”, also the expression of his face when referring to one of the boys. After that I got inspire to do a painting of a face with one side white, one black and a comma in the middle. Being biracial is not easy because its having a difficult time finding your own identity.

I put the comma on the middle of the face  because being biracial is not having period instead is having a comma. It never stops, it just keep going on and on even though you want it to stop. At one point I tough he was going crazy but after relating the poem with my own life’s experience I  had changed my opinion. He’s expression and  the way of writing the poem it is exactly how it feels to be biracial. Being at mess with not dots just going on and on.

After reading the part that says “biracial boy during colored uprising does not know if he should sit down or speak up” this line totally hit me because it made me remember how I used to feel during my high school years. I was only 13 years old when I came to this country I didn’t know how to act or what to say because I was coming from another culture. I was enrolled in a high school that more than half of the population were Russians. It was really confused for me because I didn’t know the culture or the language. One part of me wanted to make the effort to fit in while the other one didn’t. It was really hard for me to be in that position for four years. Being a Hispanic girl around Russian was like being in another world. My family never understood when I told them what I was going through. It never had their support instead they blame it on me that I wasn’t making any effort. I usually felt that I had a battle in my head because one part of me knew what to do and the other one didn’t. Also the part that says “White cop does not know that boy is biracial, Starts talking immigration policy”, I never know how bad Russian’s people talked about Hispanics until I had heard it myself. I was constantly scared of defended my race because I was alone around a lot of them. “Biracial boy is welcome everywhere, Biracial boy is not welcome everywhere” the only places that I used to feel welcome was on my house because I was around my own people. In school I felt like an alien and what hurts me more that when coming to this country I came with a really open mind and feeling good about being different. All of that changed the moment my high school years began. Jonathan Mendoza did a excellent work and used the perfect words to explain this situation. I wish  I had read this poem before but as they say “it’s never too late”.

Finally , the rhetorical choice that I made during my analysis is that being biracial is really hard, not only for me but for most of the people. By understanding the difficult of being biracial was easy for me to related with this poem. The process of peer review helps me a lot because a soon they started to read my paper they understand and went exactly where I want them to go. Next time, if they put their work on the blog with enough time before the do day it would be better because they would take more serious the comments that we give to them. I would bring my creativity to any future assignments.

Farah Jimenez
ENG102
Jennifer Polish
October 2, 2017

After reading the poem “Brown boy, White boy” by Jonathan Mendoza, it made me to remember how I feel during my high school years. I was only 12 years old when I came to this country I didn’t know how to act because I was coming from another culture. I was enrolling in a high school that more than half of the population were Russian. It was really confused for me because one part of me want to talk and to fit in while the other one didn’t. it was really hard for me to be in that position for four years. The part that made me to remember everything that I went through was “biracial boy during colored uprising does not know if he should sit down or speak up”. People who never experience this would never know how hard it to be biracial. I decide to make a painting because it would be easier to illustrate how it is to be biracial. It’s like the poem, no having dots just keep going on and on.

How can the format you’ve chosen for your assignment best be used to demonstrate a deep analysis of the poem?

The format that I chose is a painting. By making a painting I would be able to demonstrate  a visual picture of Jonathan Mendoza’s head and everybody who struggle as I did understanding the poem would have a clear picture of what is going on with him.

What is unique about the format you’ve chosen that will allow you to learn more about the poem than what is expressed on the surface?

The painting allow me to be creative and also it allows me to combine different aspects of the poem.

What questions or concerns or excitements do you have about creating a project in this format?

I am a lit bit excited by creating the painting. Also expressing my understanding and ideas of the poem this way is really fun specially because this is the first time doing this for an English class.

What question do you have about the poem itself?

why do the poem doesn’t have punctuation?

what piece of it do you want to analyze?why?

I want to analyze  “White boy, black boy” by Jonathan Mendoza. I feel kinda reflected with him because Me as a Dominican girl come to this country when I was 12 years old. I went to a high school where only 2%  were Spanish. I feel I was one person during school hours and another when I got home.

What rhetorical choices did the artist make that struck you?

The lack of punctuation and also his face gesture every time he refers to one of the boys.

what was the impact of these rhetorical choices?

The lack of punctuation has a big impact on me because it was really difficult for me to understand the poem when I was reading it.