Jason's Blog for University Laboratory High School History as Fiction 1st Semester 8th Period

     When Dana first finds herself travelling back in time, it's made very clear what her goal was. From the moment she meets a young Rufus Weylin drowning in a river, she begins an exhausting mission that goes beyond just keeping him alive. Dana attempts to become Rufus's teacher, his moral compass, and his connection to a future where Black people are treated as human beings. She corrects his language and tries to plant seeds of empathy in soil poisoned by 19th century ideas. Additionally her existence depends on Rufus and Alice producing the ancestor who will eventually lead to Dana's birth. But it's also deeply personal. Dana cares about Rufus, and throughout the book, she attempts to mold him into someone different, someone better than the slaveholding society that surrounds him. Kindred systematically dismantles that hope. When Dana first meets Rufus, he's frightened, vulnerable, and seemingly malleable. Rufus plays with Nigel and Alice, Black children on the...

 Of all of Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo characters, the most fascinating one is probably Abdul Hamid. Abdul Hamid is remarkable because he insists on having high standards of morality and requires order in a novel that celebrates freedom and disorder. The novel is set against the background of Jes Grew, a supernatural "disease" that passes through dance, music, and excess — a euphemism for cultural thriving and expression. Abdul, however, sees this as a sign of weakness and chaos. Abdul is a devout Muslim and sincere believer in reason and restraint, once even cane-whipping flappers for having short dresses. He believes that the Black people should climb up through dint of hard labor, not excesses. In saying, "cut out this dancing and carry on… we need factories, schools, guns" (Reed 33 (I think, I’m using the kindle so I can’t really tell)), it shows how he sees pleasure as a vice, and not goodness. Abdul's personal morality unofficially places him on the sid...

Tateh's Transformation from Radical Socialist to Typical Capitalist        One of the most interesting characters in E.L Doctrow’s Ragtime (in my opinion) is Tateh. This is a character that embodies the struggles of the immigrant experience during the 20th century in America, and later a success story of the American Dream. As we are first introduced to Tateh, he is found working on the street. He works day and night tirelessly as an artist to support his daughter, “His hair has turned white in the last month. He is thirty-two years old.” (Doctorow 43).      At first, Tateh takes pride in doing hard work: he refuses to take handouts from Evelyn, instead insisting on only being paid for his work, and drawing her portrait. In this way, Tateh embodies his perceptions of hard work and ultimately his socialist values. His role as president of Socialist Artists’ Alliance underscores his commitment to hard work and struggle. At this stage in the book, Tateh’s...