Semester Reflection

This semester’s felt extremely long, but we’re almost done! In class we only read In Dubious Battle and Persepolis, but I had read all the books assigned during summer break. Each one had its ups and downs and they all had depressing endings. So I definitely learned that not all stories have happy endings. Persepolis along with my philosophy class opened my eyes to Muslims. Before I didn’t really have any thoughts about them besides that the women wore the veils and there were a lot in Milpitas. I feel like this semester I’ve learned so much more about Islam and their beliefs. I don’t generally agree with any religion, but I found that it’s just as good a religion as any other. Oddly I feel a little more protective of the people and the religion now that I know more about it, especially towards people who are ignorant and prejudice because of what a group of people did. I know Marjane is atheist, but her story goes to show that no matter where you live that we are all the same; I grew up in a Christian/Catholic home and became agnostic where she grew up in an Islamic community and still threw away her faith.
When the Occupy movement became larger I had already finished In Dubious Battle so it was easier to relate to these people in the movement and to see how difficult these battles can be. Looking back at the book it’s also easier to relate to why these people wanted to fight back so badly with my understanding of the Occupy movement.
When I finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian I was pretty shocked, I had no idea that American Indians were living like this. I knew they lived on reservations, but I always thought they were well off with the money the government gave them. I didn’t know that so many committed suicide, were alcoholics, or that they lived in such bad conditions. His story was very inspiring and definitely opened my eyes on these conditions.
I feel like this class and semester has really made me aware of the religious and racial communities in America and outside it too. I feel enlightened and believe I’ll hold these stories in my heart for a long time to come.
Besides the books we’ve read we’ve also learned so much about different theories. Before I was only aware of analytical theories, but I’ve learned many more this semester. In total I believe this semester was my most productive one so far and I hope the next ones here at SJCC and when I transfer are just as awarding.

Difficulty

I didn’t have too much trouble with the novel. I read In Dubious Battle before school started so I had plenty of time to read. It did take me a week or two to get through it because it wasn’t the most interesting book. Strikes nor Steinbeck are very close to the genre I enjoy reading, so it did take a lot longer to read it then something I enjoy would take me (even if it’s hundreds of pages less than many of the books I do enjoy) I have had a difficulty finding the time to write the blogs, just because I have so many other classes to take care of so the blogs fall to the back of my mind and I’ll end up forgetting about it. I think it would be a lot easier to turn in weekly at class because I actually feel like I’m turning something in, rather than posting it online. I rented the book from the library during the summer because my other books were extremely expensive and I did not have the money at the time to buy them. It was hard to get my hands on the book again because people kept renting it out, but I eventually got it a week or so after I started the essay. So that’s been a huge relief. Besides that I don’t think there has been any other difficulties with the novel.

Peer review

I got a lot out of the peer review last week and even more out of the individual conference. The people around me were able to give me some good advice for my paper and were able to point out events in the book I had forgotten and brought up things I could relate to my thesis. Ms. Knapp helped me out even more! I was a bit lost in how to incorporate all the characters with the psychological point of view. Although Mac was extremely easy to show evidence for and Jim wasn’t too hard I was having a lot of problems with London. The advice I got from everyone helped me out so much, I was able to see how the characters can relate better with my argument, I found better words to express these ideas, and was able to find better quotes with some help. I was also able to read a couple of the other essays, which had some very good points and gave me some inspiration. I believe the peer review was really helpful, but the individual conference even more so. Getting to sit one on one with the teacher to find what’s weak in the essay and what you’ve got down is so much help, especially when it has to do with a final!

Rough Rough Draft

This needs a lot more proof, probably a better explanation of Zimbardo's experiment, and some quotes, but here's the rough rough draft so far \(> o<)/:


In our life time we will play many different roles, the role of a parent, a sibling, a child. We may play big roles, like a leader or a small but important one, a follower, we may even play both. We are students and we are bosses and in each one we may have to act a certain way. In Steinbeck’s novel, In Dubious Battle, we see the characters play some of these roles, but also evolve into others. In the 1970’s there was a Stanford study done on a few men by psychologist Zimbardo. He found that people, no matter what kind of personality they had, could easily slip into a role that would change their attitudes greatly. In Steinbeck we see how a role can shape ones actions and behavior in each one of his characters and how everyone has the capacity to do good and evil things. Throughout the novel Mac has the most significance of good and bad things, he can be Jim’s good friend, but when he dies is quick to use him. London also transforms to being the man the pickers look up to a leader. Jim takes many different roles throughout the novel too and some of the more minor characters also show how role can affect ones behavior.
When Jim first meets Mac it is obvious that he has some sort of leadership role in the house. He makes sure everyone is doing what he needs to do and is also gives them assignments. Mac quickly falls into the role as Jim’s friend and mentor. He coaches Jim throughout the novel and gives Jim the confidence he desperately needs. In the first chapters Mac gets to know Jim, Jim tells him about his past and his unheard beliefs and hopes for the future. Mac is good at understanding ones character and decides to take Jim on his first strike of the season. On the way to the small town Mac is still playing the role of a friend and is able to carry on easy conversations. Jim trust Mac and follows him loyally. When the two get to London’s camp, Jim see’s London transform, He is able to think on his feet and pulls off the role of a doctor, he knows how to get peoples trust and is able to play each role needed easily. His personality also changes easily, he could be the nice guy with Jim or he could be a man of persuasion with London. He also was able to turn nasty when it came to people such as Mister Bolter. When Joy and Jim die Mac doesn’t even take a second to morn their deaths, he uses them for the cause he believes in. He lets the role of being a leader completely take over him; he loses his attachment to his friends and focuses on his task. Though this seems extremely cold, Zimbardo would argue that Mac was just playing his role, if he had just been a part of the strike he probably would have acted differently, but since he was a sort of leader he couldn’t let something like his friends death get in the way of a greater cause.
When London is first introduced he is just a well liked picker that the other pickers look up to. As soon as the strikes are ready to begin Mac quickly transforms London into the leader. London is always a bit unsure of his role, in private around his friends and family he is able to be his normal ordinary man, but as soon as it comes time he is able to fill the role of leader. London turns from being a little unsure to a strong leader who is able to convince people of what’s right and wrong. If London had not been chosen by Mac to be leader he probably wouldn’t have participated in the strike, but since he was he took up the role.
The main character Jim also has a great transformation. We begin with Jim who has little self esteem, he joins The Party because he has nowhere else to turn to and hopes to find something through working for them. Mac quickly sees that Jim has a lot of potential and begins to teach him things and gives him praise. Through the novel Jim is praised for little things that he does well and starts to build a foundation in himself that may have been able to support himself and become a leader. Jim is killed too soon to see anything like this, but at one point he does start to take action. Jim normally plays the role of a nice guy who is learning much about the world, but as soon as he gets into that short role of power, he goes a bit crazy with it.
In conclusion power and leadership can change the way one acts, powerlessness and being an underdog can also do this. With Mac leadership made him lose compassion when it was appropriate, London had to become strong even though he was sometimes unsure of himself, and power made Jim crazy. After Zimbardo’s theory Zimbardo believed that everyone was capable of good and evil and it was the role that shaped us, not us who shaped the role.

Character Response

At the beginning of In Dubious Battle we start off with Jim, a young man who is trying to find a place in the world. His childhood was not the best, when he was a teenager his sister went missing and the case soon went cold. After this his mother becomes distant and his father angry. A few years prior from where we begin the story, Jim's father had also been killed in a fight. Jim has just been released from jail after being arrested for viewing a protest. His mother has recently passed away and he is completely lost in the world. Jim feels that he will die like his father, fortunately when he was in jail this last time he met people who were in the party. Jim now believes that the party maybe his way out of this vicious cycle his parents unconsciously led him into. As soon as he gets out of jail he contacts the party informing them he wants to join. He is soon accepted and meets his party family, Mac, Dick, and Joy. He is now doing some of their unimportant work, getting a feel of what it's like to be apart of something bigger. He wants more though, and soon gets what he's asked for. Mac decides that it is fine if Jim goes along with him on the next strike and they head off to the little apple orchard town. Jim is amazed at the world outside the city he's lived in his whole life and longs to see more of it. Here Jim is really beginning to discover what he wants. When they get to the town Jim follows Mac around eager to know more about how people work and craving for the strike to begin. First they have to find where some of the pickers are camping and they soon find London and his group. They help deliver Lucy's baby and Jim is amazed at how persuasive Mac is and also how well he understands how everyone thinks. Soon the picking begins and Jim's feelings of being apart of something bigger strengthens, he is becoming more confident. Here Jim starts to understand how everyone thinks and is quickly learning from Mac's actions. Though not all of Jim's actions have seemed smart to Mac, many of them have turned out to be lucrative, such as Jim spending his time and effort on Dan. Jim also begins to understand the art of persuasion and adds in points, such as the cotton wages when they are talking to Dakin, in their conversations to strengthen their arguments. Through the rest of the story Jim learns about protesting and how easily men can get discouraged, but also riled up. He also learns how to deal with men who lose everything. At the end of the story Jim has a fire in his spirit that fuels him up, wanting to always move. He know feels that he has a purpose in life and wants to achieve it. He is a much different person then who he was at the beginning. I can easily relate to Jim's most prominent conflict, finding a place to fit into. It's hard to find what you want to do in life, and where you belong. Once I did find what you want to do it's like nothing can stop it though, which is a lot like what happened to Jim. Another issue Jim deals with was his upbringing and how his dad was an alcoholic, he could have easily followed into that cycle but he broke out of it. I too have dealt with parents who had similar problems, but if anything it kept me away from it even more. Though some of Jim's issues are easy to connect with them not all of them are.

Reader Response to In Dubious Battle

Throughout the first 150 pages of In Dubious Battle you learn much about Jim, the party, and what exactly they're fighting for. In the beginning Jim seems like a very mysterious man, you can't really tell if he's up to no good or not. We learn why he went to jail and how he grew up to be the person he is. His mother was hopeless and his father was a drunk who was always getting beat up. He had once had a sister, but she was kidnapped when they were teenagers and never seen again. From the first chapter you can really sympathize with Jim and understand why he's looking for somewhere to fit in. We also have no idea who The Party is, but Nilson seems like a nice guy so you don't presume that it's too bad. When Jim meets the other guys it really makes you wonder what The Party is, you have the leader of the house Mac, a crazy little man named Joy, and Dick who seems to be a real charmer. It's such an odd group you really wonder what it they are all striving for is. Although Mac seems like he could be a very intimidating man, he and Jim get off on a good foot and Mac tells him he is happy to have him be a part of the group. Soon Mac comes back one day and tells Jim that the two of them will be going out to farm to start picking some apples. They hope to lead a successful riot. It is then that you realize that the party wants rights for the pickers. It isn't stated what the party is, but at this point we can guess that they may be a part of a unions movement or if you know more about the history of strikes from the early 1900's, that it was the communist party. A few days later Jim and Mac head off to the town where the riot will take place. They travel by freight trains, heading out early in the morning. Jim mostly sleeps on the way there, but he is amazed at what he sees, he had never been out of town before. This is quite amazing for a man of his age! The two also learn a bit more about each other, Jim learns that Mac isn’t a prize fighter, which shocks him, but that Mac understands a lot about how a man thinks. Although much of Mac and Jim’s conversations so far in the novel are normally small talk, it gives you a lot to relate to and to understand why these people were attracted to join such a party. It also gives you time to attach to them and to sympathize for them. I think Steinbeck ha an amazing way in getting you to have a lot of feelings for a character, once you are drawn into the book. He often uses this to his advantage in many of his stories to get his point across and to touch you.

Feedback

I only got one person to read my essay because it was so long, but it gave me some insight in what I need to do. I need to add a couple more quotes and I need to add to add more similarities between Marjane's story and mine and I need to figure out a title. Hopefully the final draft will be what the teachers looking for.