[Message #1]
Joanne Boston:
hi
[Message #2]
Kristina Gregorio:
who's in my group?
[Message #3]
Nikki Santiago:
hello there!
[Message #4]
Kristina Gregorio:
oh hi
[Message #5]
Joanne Boston:
i am
[Message #6]
Kristina Gregorio:
which story do you wanna talk about?
[Message #7]
Joanne Boston:
what story do you want to do?
[Message #8]
Joanne Boston:
sorry i didn't get to read contravida or our fathers
[Message #9]
Joanne Boston:
but the others are cool
[Message #10]
Joanne Boston:
so you wanna do lectures?
[Message #11]
Kristina Gregorio:
i didn't get to read lectures
[Message #12]
Joanne Boston:
or wild american self
[Message #13]
Joanne Boston:
ok dokes up to you
[Message #14]
Kristina Gregorio:
damn! i didn't know we had to read wild american self
[Message #15]
Joanne Boston:
which ones did you read?
[Message #16]
Kristina Gregorio:
it seems as though we both read figures
[Message #17]
Joanne Boston:
ok cool
[Message #18]
Joanne Boston:
let's do that one
[Message #19]
Kristina Gregorio:
it was kind of hard for me to figure out the theme of it
[Message #20]
Kristina Gregorio:
what did you get out of it?
[Message #21]
Joanne Boston:
i think one of the themes was that she was not so ready for change when she married her husband because he was bringing in so much of his stuff and she wasn't really able to adapt to it
[Message #22]
Joanne Boston:
like she's a painter and her passion is to paint and sometimes she just wanted to do her thing
[Message #23]
Kristina Gregorio:
they didn't get married though
[Message #24]
Joanne Boston:
her goal was to make a portrait of herself
[Message #25]
Joanne Boston:
yeah they did they ended up eloping
[Message #26]
Amy Lawlor:
are you doing figures?
[Message #27]
Kristina Gregorio:
really?
[Message #28]
Kristina Gregorio:
yeah
[Message #29]
Joanne Boston:
wanna call figures?
[Message #30]
Amy Lawlor:
identify the following in the stories:
main narrative (what happens)
characters: Who are they? What motivates them?
themes: What are the major theme(s)?
what does the story reveal about the Filipino American perspective? Explain
[Message #31]
Joanne Boston:
aright that's good
[Message #32]
Kristina Gregorio:
the main character is Ana
[Message #33]
Joanne Boston:
yeah
[Message #34]
Joanne Boston:
ana: the painter, harold: her husband/business man, her sister: who already has a family of her own, her parents: who want the best for their daughter
[Message #35]
Kristina Gregorio:
and her nosy friend Hildy
[Message #36]
Joanne Boston:
haha yeah the one who's trying to hook her up with other men
[Message #37]
Kristina Gregorio:
who is always trying to hook Ana up with someone
[Message #38]
Kristina Gregorio:
my computer is hella slow
[Message #39]
Joanne Boston:
then there is the other artist, geni i think...ana was inspired by her works at the show
[Message #40]
Kristina Gregorio:
oh yeah
[Message #41]
Joanne Boston:
okay that's #1
[Message #42]
Kristina Gregorio:
and i consider her ex boyfriend Jeff to be a character even though he really wasn't in there
[Message #43]
Kristina Gregorio:
he plays a role in Ana's memory
[Message #44]
Joanne Boston:
yeah but even though he wasn't there, he was an influence on ana
[Message #45]
Kristina Gregorio:
so we got the characters, what motivates them?
[Message #46]
Kristina Gregorio:
with Ana, I don't know
[Message #47]
Kristina Gregorio:
the others are pretty easy though
[Message #48]
Joanne Boston:
ana is motivated to make that portrait of herself...it's like she tries really hard but she can't get a real solid representation of herself...
[Message #49]
Joanne Boston:
like she is never satisfied with what she paints and she tries over and over again...
[Message #50]
Kristina Gregorio:
why not? is it cuz she's insecure?
[Message #51]
Kristina Gregorio:
that's what i got
[Message #52]
Kristina Gregorio:
or it could be something else
[Message #53]
Joanne Boston:
i just don't think that she's ready to give up herself fully to her husband because she doesn't know what she wants for herself yet
[Message #54]
Joanne Boston:
i dunno that's what i got...
[Message #55]
Kristina Gregorio:
like, "you can't really love somebody if you don't love yourself" type deal?
[Message #56]
Joanne Boston:
because it seems that she's obsessed with making her own portrait...she already made one of jeff and harold and her family...but she realizes that she's still moldable i guess...she's still vulnerable to change
[Message #57]
Joanne Boston:
yeah that type of deal
[Message #58]
Kristina Gregorio:
ok, wut about her sister?
[Message #59]
Joanne Boston:
addy is pretty much absorbed in her family because it seems that whenever ana and addy talk on the phone, she's taking care of the baby or doing something around the house...
[Message #60]
Kristina Gregorio:
does she feel some sort of resentment towards addy? because she did exactly what their parents expected of her, raising a family?
[Message #61]
Kristina Gregorio:
did you know harold was white?
[Message #62]
Kristina Gregorio:
i didn't catch that til near the end
[Message #63]
Joanne Boston:
i think that ana just doesn't want to be a cookie-cutter daughter...like when addy told ana that it seemd that harold was a good guy ana would disagree and say something negative about him...and then they had a conversation about being alone and having time for themselves...ana confessed to addy that she NEEDED time alone...which is not a choice of addy...so it seems that even though ana has respect for her sister because she raised a family...she realizes that she doesn't want to be exactly like her
[Message #64]
Joanne Boston:
sorry that was long
[Message #65]
Joanne Boston:
yeah i knew harold was white
[Message #66]
Kristina Gregorio:
wow that was long
[Message #67]
Joanne Boston:
haha yeah sorry
[Message #68]
Joanne Boston:
but i think that the themes can be found in what motivates the characters
[Message #69]
Kristina Gregorio:
do you think the parents are O.G. filipinos?
[Message #70]
Joanne Boston:
lol i think they are...like the ones that call each other "mom" and "dad"
[Message #71]
Joanne Boston:
haha like in my family
[Message #72]
Kristina Gregorio:
haha
[Message #73]
Joanne Boston:
i think they're the type who immigrated from PI and then came here...maybe they feel their relationship is so strong because of how much they accomplished together
[Message #74]
Kristina Gregorio:
i was just gonna ask,"what was the significance in the parents fooling around" but you already answered it
[Message #75]
Joanne Boston:
like they had the american dream...they want their daughters to be happy...because they gave up their life in the pi for them to live here
[Message #76]
Joanne Boston:
yeah...they're just giddy old people
[Message #77]
Kristina Gregorio:
the themes are starting to emerge now
[Message #78]
Kristina Gregorio:
i'm starting to get it
[Message #79]
Joanne Boston:
that's good
[Message #80]
Joanne Boston:
i liked this story...this is the one i liked best from all of them
[Message #81]
Kristina Gregorio:
do you think that Harold being white has any significance to it?
[Message #82]
Joanne Boston:
i think so...
[Message #83]
Joanne Boston:
like what it reveals about the filipno am perspective
[Message #84]
Kristina Gregorio:
cuz i'm starting to think that one of the themes is the clashing of two cultures
[Message #85]
Kristina Gregorio:
like in "first mango"
[Message #86]
Joanne Boston:
my family are hella racist...haha...not hella racist...more like...they have sterotypes...about white people
[Message #87]
Joanne Boston:
have you watched the debut?
[Message #88]
Kristina Gregorio:
but the parents didn't seem to mind that Harold was white
[Message #89]
Kristina Gregorio:
i own the DVD
[Message #90]
Joanne Boston:
how ben wanted to be an artist but his dad wouldn't let him
[Message #91]
Joanne Boston:
to me it's like harold is more filipino than ana is
[Message #92]
Joanne Boston:
because he wants to settle down, have a family, have thw white-picket fence life...the Honey i'm home life
[Message #93]
Kristina Gregorio:
is ana ashamed of being filipino?
[Message #94]
Joanne Boston:
filipino culture is strongly influenced by family
[Message #95]
Joanne Boston:
i don't know about being ashamed...i think it's more like...i don't want to be the carbon copy of every other filipino in the country
[Message #96]
Joanne Boston:
she just wants to be different
[Message #97]
Joanne Boston:
and i think she's lucky to have parents like her's because if my mom heard i wanted to be an artist, she'd be so pissed...that's why i'm taking nursing...to satisfy her...
[Message #98]
Kristina Gregorio:
in the end, when it talks about how ana realized how much she loved harold, what did it mean?
[Message #99]
Joanne Boston:
in the story i think the cultures are switched around...
[Message #100]
Joanne Boston:
lemme read it real quick
[Message #101]
Amy Lawlor:
Interesting observations you guys are having. How much do you see Ana's struggle as a Filipino American struggle vs. a woman's struggle to find her happiness?
[Message #102]
Kristina Gregorio:
i see it now
[Message #103]
Kristina Gregorio:
it's like she's lost in not only one world, but two
[Message #104]
Joanne Boston:
yeah i agree
[Message #105]
Kristina Gregorio:
there's a comfort in familiarity, and she's comfortable with being alone
[Message #106]
Joanne Boston:
she knows that she has to make sacrifices to find what she wants...because she's filipino-american...it's different
[Message #107]
Joanne Boston:
yeah...in filipino-culture...it's like almost expected for a woman to marry and be dependent on him...but in america...a pinay can make her own money and her own goals so she can be happy
[Message #108]
Kristina Gregorio:
but she isn't happy
[Message #109]
Joanne Boston:
it's not needed for her to have a husband
[Message #110]
Joanne Boston:
yeah she isn't...
[Message #111]
Kristina Gregorio:
what's up with "the emperor's new clothes"?
[Message #112]
Kristina Gregorio:
it made her cry
[Message #113]
Joanne Boston:
i never heard the story so i never got that part
[Message #114]
Kristina Gregorio:
WHAT?!
[Message #115]
Kristina Gregorio:
You never heard the story?
[Message #116]
Kristina Gregorio:
wow
[Message #117]
Joanne Boston:
hahaha no i heard it back in grade school but i forgot it
[Message #118]
Joanne Boston:
was he naked in the end? haha
[Message #119]
Kristina Gregorio:
yeah haha
[Message #120]
Joanne Boston:
what was that about?
[Message #121]
Kristina Gregorio:
i think the moral of the story was to be comfortable in your own skin
[Message #122]
Kristina Gregorio:
oh i get it! that's the reason it made Ana cry!
[Message #123]
Joanne Boston:
ohhhhhhhhhhh i get itt
[Message #124]
Joanne Boston:
hahaha i get it!!!
[Message #125]
Kristina Gregorio:
that's awesome!
[Message #126]
Joanne Boston:
she was insecure and she wasn't happy with her own self...so how can she possibly be happy with someone else...
[Message #127]
Kristina Gregorio:
yup!
[Message #128]
Joanne Boston:
yes i get it...she just needs some soul-searching before she gives herself to someone else
[Message #129]
Joanne Boston:
yes we got it awesome
[Message #130]
Kristina Gregorio:
another thing, on pg 106, why does she paint only single portraits?
[Message #131]
Joanne Boston:
the only other picture that she didn't paint with singles was of addy and her child
[Message #132]
Joanne Boston:
maybe because the child is a part of addy
[Message #133]
Kristina Gregorio:
yeah, but why does she only paint singles? that has to mean something
[Message #134]
Joanne Boston:
i think she painted singles all the time because...i don't think ana never really accepted that fact that a person NEEDS to be with someone...
[Message #135]
Joanne Boston:
she feels that a person can be comfortable being by themselves...
[Message #136]
Kristina Gregorio:
until she saw the paintings by Geni...
[Message #137]
Kristina Gregorio:
then she realized how much she loved Harold
[Message #138]
Joanne Boston:
ohh yeah...ok...lemme read the part of geni real fast
[Message #139]
Joanne Boston:
do you think there's a reason why geni never shot the faces?
[Message #140]
Kristina Gregorio:
yeah, but i can't put my finger on it...
[Message #141]
Joanne Boston:
i think...that even though the bodies were intertwined...
[Message #142]
Joanne Boston:
face expressions show a lot as well...
[Message #143]
Joanne Boston:
since the faces are hidden...you really do not know how they are really feeling...
[Message #144]
Joanne Boston:
even though the bodies look so good together...inside they can be crying or angry...or whatever...
[Message #145]
Kristina Gregorio:
i think Ana saw it just as "being one"
[Message #146]
Joanne Boston:
yeah...
[Message #147]
Joanne Boston:
okay good conversation...i understand the story a lot more
[Message #148]
Kristina Gregorio:
me too
[Message #149]
Kristina Gregorio:
damn, this girl had issues
[Message #150]
Joanne Boston:
hahaha
[Message #151]
Joanne Boston:
okay see ya later
[Message #152]
Amy Lawlor:
end 2/10