Dong

Reading the Dong article was very interesting because I understood completely what the author was talking about. I have been in English classes where I have read books about other cultures and felt unable to discuss what I learned and I have also been in classes where we dig deep and thoroughly discuss the culture we are reading about. Without a doubt I enjoy and get more out of the discussions of the cultural meaning of the book than I do out of lectures explaining just the plot and characters within a book. To understand what an author is trying to communicate, the audience must be able to understand the character and his or her feelings and surroundings. A characters thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and surroundings are all heavily influenced by the culture in which the character lives.
In Esperanza Rising, Esperanza must leave Mexico and move to America. While this may sound like a good thing to many American readers, it is a very hard transition for Esperanza. The readers must learn to put themselves in Esperanza’s shoes so that they understand WHY she is so afraid. At those times, living in America was a very different experience for a Mexican immigrant than it was for a German or British immigrant. Esperanza was rich in Mexico, but lost everything when she was forced to escape her uncle and flee to America. She did not come to America by choice; America was her last hope for freedom. She was not surrounded by opportunity when she arrived either: she lived in a labor camp. Readers need to understand Esperanza and her culture to understand how hard the move to America must have been for her.
Amari in Copper Sun is another character who is yanked out of her homeland and taken to America. Although I’m sure no one would argue that she should be thankful to leave her family, friends, and soon to be husband to be a slave, some may argue (as in the article) that she has a chance for a better life in America. She lives in a more technologically sophisticated world once she moves to America, which means ultimately that she can have a better life (according to readers who do not understand her culture). Readers of this book need to understand that Amari hated this new technologically advanced world as much as they would hate being taken to her homeland as captives.
I think that it is very important that teachers allow students to freely discuss all books, but especially important that they can discuss multi-cultural books. Students learn from each other through these discussions because each student has a different story to share. It also helps students to not only better understand the book, but to better understand each other as well. As the article mentions, it also helps teachers to understand and bond with their students. All in all, full, thorough discussions of multi-cultural books are very beneficial for the students and teachers, and create a bonding and learning atmosphere that is hard to find elsewhere.