Caliban and where all my research is starting...

Blog #5 – Research Project Source

            My research paper is on how the character of Caliban from The Tempest has been portrayed in different cultures over the years.  I chose this topic because while reading Takaki’s text for this class, there have been several moments that have jumped out at me that reference Caliban and how he was first introduced into the audiences.  I want to take a deeper look at this character by starting with the text and working out from there.

            The biggest source I am using for my research paper is the text for The Tempest by William Shakespeare.  I decided to use the Arden Shakespeare version because through the years of studying Shakespeare, this has been the best edition to use and learn from.  On every page there is a half a page of text and a half a page describing what is being said in the text.  It is very helpful when you are looking at the text and trying to figure out what Shakespeare was saying. 

            The Arden Shakespeare defines words, sentences, and phrases for you, and it also gives you references to what some of those things meant during that time period.  That is another big reason as to why this edition is helpful.  If there is a section of the text that isn’t completely described in the Arden edition, I have been using other versions of the text to see if it is better defined there.  I am also using the Lexicon Dictionaries which define every word Shakespeare ever used in his works.  They have been more than helpful for this research project.  I can only hope that I am on the right track with this paper and that it will be as interesting to others as it is to me.

Why do Americans have a problem with change?

The Indian Question – Blog #4

            When reading the chapter “The Indian Question,” the one thing that really stuck out to me was Commissioner Walker was talking about how “the ultimate goal was the eventual assimilation of Indians” (Takaki 233).  Walker later went on to talk about how the government would subject the Indians to a “‘rigid reformatory discipline.’ Not allowed to ‘escape work,’ they would be ‘required’ to acquire industrial skills until at least one generation had been placed on a course of ‘self-improvement’” (Takaki 233).  This absolutely blows my mind.  The fact that most people, government included, expected the Indians – those native to the land – to give up their ways and give up everything they had known for generations.  The whites wanted the Indians to bow down to their ways. 

            All of this really makes me wonder, why do Americans have such an issue with change?  And by Americans, I don’t just mean Caucasians – I mean all people who live in American.  In this case, I am specifically speaking about the Caucasians who reacted to settling into America.  The Americans had an issue with the Indians because they didn’t know what their culture was.  Their unknowing of how the Indians acted or behaved made the Americans scared.

            One thing that helps answer my question about change is an essay I read online called Color Adjustment by Holly Thompson.  She talks about how different television shows that show colored people in everyday life have influenced the population throughout the years.  The essay talks about many aspects of how people have taken to the “uprising” (not sure if that is the right word) of African Americans and other races. 

            Americans just have a problem with change because they are unsure of the unknown.  What is so hard about being open to other peoples’ cultures? Why must people be so closed minded?