Is Helen Really Bad?

                “She waved her hand at me. One of her fingers looked broken.  ‘You see how bad the world has become,’ she said.  ‘Now I’m that way too.’

-Amy Tan, The Kitchen God’s Wife, page 217

The quote above is Wei-Wei, Pearl’s mother, narrating when Hulan, otherwise known as Helen, taking Wei-Wei home in the pedicab.  In this quote, Hulan said that she is bad.  She said this because she committed a “selfish” act of stealing the pedicab and beating away the man who had it.  This act was probably done in part out of selfishness and greed of wanting to escape the mass chaos, but she did come back for Wei-Wei.  Wei-Wei was pregnant at the time and an innocent in need of help.  Helping an innocent, especially someone who is pregnant, is a good deed.   Another part of this scenario which is not given to the reader in the quote above is that the man Hulan stole the pedicab from was the man who originally stole it from her and Wei-Wei.  Even though two wrongs do not make a right, at least she did not steal from an innocent.  Hulan did something bad by stealing something, but it was for a good cause.  This is a tricky way to base an opinion of whether someone is bad or good, but judging on the severity of what Hulan did that is considered bad and what she did that is considered good, she is still a good person.

The Importance of Names

The name of the character Bao bao means baby.  At the very beginning of The Kitchen God's Wife, the reader learns how this name reflects the childish personality of this character.  Even though this character has a bizarre name, his personality is addressed quickly which does not encourage questioning and attention towards him.  This character is not a major character in the novel, so this fits him well.
Two other characters in the novel are Mary and Pearl.  Their names are both American names which reflects that they are both a second generation living in America.  Unlike their cousin Bao Bao, they do not have nicknames (Amy Tan does not inform the readers of their nicknames before chapter six) which separates them from their Chinese heritage.  This shows how much more Mary and Pearl are involved with American culture then their Chinese heritage.
According to a quick Google search, the name Whinnie, spelled the same way as the Whinnie in The Kitchen God's Wife, does not exist.  This adds to the confusion of who Whinnie is and what she's been through.  Since a large portion of the novel revolves around Whinnie's past and how she became who she is, I believe that a name that does not carry a significant meaning to the general audience fits her well.  Having an unknown name allows the author to develop the character with out other influences like an artist would paint a blank piece of paper.  Having an unusual name not only draws attention, but also encourages questions.  Whinnie is a main focus in the novel so her name needs to draw its own attention.

Thoughts and predictions on the rest of the novel based on the title of the novel and the story The Kitchen God

The story of the Kitchen God tells the story of a man named Zhang who had everything he would ever need including an amazing wife named Guo, the woman who gives Zhang his wealth.  Zhang decides to give up his wife because he became greedy and selfish.  Zhang loses everything after that, and then is saved by his wife.  When Zhang realizes his mistake, he kills himself.  This is understood as courageous because he admitted his wrong.
If the story of the Kitchen God is a parallel story to the novel "The Kitchen God's Wife," then the two stories must share similar plots and/ or characters (character in the stories share similar personality traits).  Since the novel is about The Kitchen God's wife, I predict that Guo, the wife of Zhang, shares similar personality traits with one of the characters in the novel.  In the story, Guo works hard and then receives some bad luck: Zhang leaving her.  After her bad luck, she still takes care of the people who have hurt her.  So far in the novel, Amy Tan wrote that Whinnie, Pearl's mother, started her life in her loving mothers arms with everything she needed.  Then, her mother died, Whinnie's bad luck.  In the present time, Whinnie tries to take care of Pearl  her daughter, even though Pearl doesn't always appreciate her mother.  Guo and Whinnie seem to be similar in how they act.  Could Whinnie be the "Kitchen God's Wife?"

My Research Paper so far

So far on my research assignment, I have come up with a thesis and five arguments to defend it.  I have also made five notecards and found a few sources to help me make my them.  Two of the sources I have found are Vantage Point: Teaching Online Vs. Face-to-Face by Mike Dubose and Teaching College courses online vs. face-to-face by Glen Ferguson.  I haven't found anything surprising or interesting so far because I had difficulties at the start of this project when picking a thesis and it's supporting arguments.  Since I had difficulties at the start of this project, I tried to alter the question slightly and make a thesis that I believed in hopes to write a paper that could theoretically be used.  Since the thesis and arguments took a lot of time  think through, I have not done as much research as I had hoped I would've done by now.  The original question for this research paper is whether online learning or face-to-face learning is better.  I see reasons for both being better than the other for different people, so I altered the question a little bit to create a thesis that is students whose education benefits more from a face-to-face interaction require a face-to-face education and vice versa; students can not benefit from both.  The arguments for the thesis are that people have different styles of learning, maturity levels, schedules and life priorities, needs for human interaction (introvert vs extrovert), and I'm debating whether to include neuroscience or the chemical make up of the brain.  In other words, some people need the extra part of their day and the structure of the face-to-face classroom and others need the flexibility of an online classroom.  Overall, I'm not where I want to be on this research paper but I have a solid idea of where to go and what to look for.

"Why Read Shakespeare?"

1 and 2.  According to the article, students find Shakespeare difficult because the language is obscure, the plots and characters are complex, and readers do not have an immediate understanding of the piece of writing.  Mack answers to these complaints by recommending to read everything over and over again.  He writes that the more someone reads, the more you will enjoy the work of art.  According to Mack, when someone finally "gets" Shakespeare, they are actually getting help for navigating the real world and the truth about himself or herself.  We get these things from actions and reactions of the characters in Shakespeare's plays.

3. We should read Shakespeare because:
     1.  People can enjoy their results from their hard work.  Shakespeare has very intricate plays and a confusing writing style which people do not understand during their first time reading it.  Although, it is complex, the more someone reads it, the more they will enjoy and understand it.  The understanding and joy gives people a sense of accomplishment.
     2.  The plays are aids for people who are trying to navigate the world and the people in it.  The characters in these plays relate to people living during any time because they struggle with the complexities as people today such as love, hate, power, morals, ect.
     3.  Shakespeare is the source from which our thoughts and ideas come from.  Characters in his plays set up real-world fantasies where people have unrealistic (at the time the plays were written, but not now because the plays introduced the ideas) priorities such as romantic love which people took to heart and enjoyed.
     4.  By persevering  through Shakespeare's literary works, we learn to be flexible with how we think.  Shakespeare throws his characters into extreme and twisted scenarios.  His language is only one part of his plays that is bizarre, but we learn to wrap our minds around these difficulties and make sense of them. This process of getting used to something that we never thought to get used to is expanding and stretching or thoughts.
      5. When reading Shakespeare, people grow in emotional intelligence because of the struggles that the characters face to follow their head or their heart.

4. I find that hard work pays off with Shakespeare to be the most convincing argument in which to read his works.  This is a personal decision because hard work does not always pay off and when it does, it's very rewarding.  Hard work also builds character.  I love the feeling someone gets after working hard and it pays off.  That feeling is accomplishment.

Should Diaries Be Published or Not?

I understand that diaries are very personal and powerful; they are literally the lives of other people. On one hand, they should not be shared because they can hurt the people that are discussed and mentioned in them.  They can also distort the view of the writer to the audience.  This was stated in one of entries by Virginia Woolf when the author wrote that she only writes in her diaries when she is in certain moods.  This allows a reader to understand just a small part of someone and not be able fully grasp who they are.  On the contrary, sharing a journal or diary shares historical evidence and helps people to learn.  For example, by using Virginia Woolf's diaries, writers could experiment with more styles for their writing.  One compromise between these two sides could be that a certain amount of time like one hundred years after the author's death be required (unless the author specifies otherwise) before the diaries are published.  With this idea, the people who are involved in the diaries are no longer there to be effected by them and people can still learn from them.

Adding On Methods Of Learning by Lewis Carroll

http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/06/13/how-to-learn-lewis-carroll/

I agree with the methods for learning in the link above in general.  Although, starting at the beginning is very helpful, I find understanding why or where in general someone is going to be very helpful.  An example is when someone is learning to build a structure or reading a book. It's important to know what's needed by the end or the end result, so if one were to get extremely lost, they could at least know the general train of thought to stay on.   Another comment is on the last instruction on how to learn: talking through everything.  I believe this method works, but a parallel method is to write thoughts down.  By writing thoughts down, one can visually sort ideas out and not forget them