requirement in the file
The first assignment: write 250 words response to my classmate’s discussion post
By Tina Elias
What stood out to me the most about the first reading was how Flores and Rosa emphasized on how raciolinguistic perspectives and the white gaze is attached on not only the person in the “dominant” position (“speaking subject” as described in the reading) but also the “listening subject”– the individual seen as “deviant”. Prior to reading this dialog on said subject I had never thought language-minoritized populations were subject to being influenced by the white gaze– I had always known that language-minoritized populations were obviously negatively affected by the white gaze but I was extremely surprised to find out there was this problem of individuals “believing” in it subconsciously, unknowingly letting it affect how they perceive their own cultural identity. This reading made me realize that the white gaze has been so integrated into our society, more specifically our education system when it comes to compliance to “Standard English”. Reflecting on this reading made me remember how I used to pretend that I didn’t understand or speak Arabic in fear of being seen as different when I was in elementary school. When my mom said something to me in Arabic in front of my classmates I would actually pretend I had no idea what she was saying and I was extremely embarrassed to have my peers hear her speak another language– a feeling I now know to be a direct effect of the white gaze.
One of the problems García and Kenzo brought up about “reframing of bilingual education” to benefit the language-majority was how the neoliberal multiculturalism ideology could soon turn multilingual students and multicultural experiences into tools in DL classes. Personally I think if this happens on a large scale, the efforts put forth by past Latinx activists would quickly become futile, as the dominant language speakers would be benefitting from the program while harming the minority. How could we ensure that DL programs remain beneficial to both dominant and minority language speakers?
The second assignment: reply to two of my classmates’ response, each one should be at least 120 words.
By Yue Wu
I have seen other Zombie TV series such as The Walking Dead, which is a classical American horror television series based upon the comic book series. Compared to The Walking Dead, I believe that this Korean Zombie film Train to Busan is similar to this film in making such horror action scenes but also makes it distinct from other zombie films in the way it features how this virus makes monsters of us all and how individuals overcome that crisis. In Train to Busan, the filmmakers do not simply meet bloodlust of audience by making the train as a setting for the zombie, but also embraces the cultural elements of selfishness and social responsibility to make this film full of reflections through the layered characters performance. In this film, the executive Yon-suk, who only wants to save himself in the horrific situation based on his social status, probably offers us a good example that represents the corruptive and greedy aspects of the complex connection between the business and government in the Korean society. I believe that these aspects do make this film distinctly from other films or TV series by featuring its nuances in subtle socio-cultural aspects of the society.
By Jia Guo
I have not watched many films related to zombies but I have seen one that is similar. The Netflix show, Sweet Home, is another Korean Horror film that provides similar suspense as does Train to Busan. The two differ in that Sweet Home talks about monsters that aren’t shaped like the typical zombies as they can shapeshift, but nonetheless, the two are similar as it provokes certain emotions when the characters portrayed in the film are presented with a choice in the face of danger.
Some of the cultural aspects that can be seen in the movie are the prevalence of the sport baseball which I have seen in many films, the busy dad who never got to spend much time with his children due to work, and the slow responses from the Korean government. It is a cultural fact that Asian parents spend much of their time trying to earn a good wage, but often time disregard the existence of their family and learning to cherish the time with them as we don’t know what could happen the next minute. Unexpected disasters like the one portrayed in the movie occur all the time, thus serving as a good reminder for us to live every minute like it is our last even though the saying can be cheesy.
