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Web Papers and Events

Mother-Daughter Relationship

October 21, 2016 - 22:46

Did Billy Beede follow the footsteps of her mother?

It is vividly evident in the novel that the relationship between Billy Beede and Willa Mae was heavy and dysfunctional. Billy Beede never wanted to associated with her own mother. After they received a letter from Candy Napoleon about how she had sold some part of her land and that some developers were in the process of building a supermarket in the land where her mother’s grave was, she threw all her cares into the wind. She says, “Willa Mae getting paved over don’t bother me none.” (44) she was not troubled by her mother’s death. She told Snipes, “Willa Mae passed and it didn’t bother me none. I was glad to see her go.” (9) she called her by her name, Willa Mae, instead of mother. However, as I was reading the novel, I kind of saw some character traits that Billy had acquired from her mother.

History of the first international student in BMC.

October 7, 2016 - 16:07

Morine: I am one of the international students in Bryn Mawr College. I hail from Kenya, in the Eastern part of Africa. For the few weeks I have been here, I have been mesmerised by the diverse international community in the college. What struck me the most was the history of the college from the ‘Black at Bryn Mawr’ digital tour prepared by Emma Kioko and Grace Pusey; about the white supremacy vision during the foundation of the college and admission of students from solely affluent backgrounds. Through this project I want to quench my unending curiosity by burrowing deep into the history of the college. I want to find answers to questions like who was the first African student in the college? Was she white or black? What were the stipulated conditions of her stay in the college? Bearing the nuance that Africa is a poor continent, did she afford the full tuition fees? If not, how much financial aid was given to her?

In Cole's very shoes

September 30, 2016 - 17:35

“His good heart does not allow him to think constellationally. He does not connect the dots or see the patterns of power behind the isolated “disasters.” All he sees are hungry mouths, and he, in his own advocacy-by-journalism way is, putting food in those mouths as fast as he can. All he sees is need, and he sees no need to reason out the need for need.” (Cole 7)

At first when I watched the Kony 2012 video, I supported Jason Russell’s non-profit organization, the Invisible Children. I mean, it would be so cruel not to agree that appropriate measures had to be taken to eradicate the atrocities caused by the warlord, Joseph Kony. Placing myself in the Cole’s shoes, would I give a donation in support of the emaciated children? Yes, I would.

Fitting in to Stand out

September 23, 2016 - 18:07

“Play gives you hope for a better tomorrow…” (Henig, 20) After analysing the text, Taking Play Seriously, the author writes about the importance of play. Cathyyy also writes that, “Playing with people on the trip and having all those kinds of different travelling experiences are one of my most favorite memories in my life. I believe that play fostered me, in the way of making me an out-going and optimistic person.” Well, I agree with the author’s and Cathyyy’s view about play but on the other hand, does play have grave detrimental effects in the growth process of children?

Call a spade a spade, not a spoon!

September 16, 2016 - 17:27

Slipping is a form of “ecological thinking and acting: diverse, inevitable, unruly and fertile; conditional, uncertain and incomplete- an unending process, very much dependent on the unexpected. (254) After a deep review of Grace Pusey and Emma Kioko’s history of Bryn Mawr, I cannot deny the fact that there is a grave allowance of slippage. Slippage in the form of the inevitable ghastly issue of racism. Albeit Pusey and Mercado’s history of Bryn Mawr explores and clearly depicts the racist acts during the development of the college in the medieval ages, the racial status quo between the black and the white still remains apparent almost everywhere in the world today and persists to bar the proliferation of humans.

Set it, Be it!

September 9, 2016 - 17:24

As Octavia Butler concludes, “I won’t leave you as Lomas was left-alone, N’Tlic. I will take care of you.” (20)

The last time I saw him was thirteen years ago. This was after their separation with my mother. He was an alcoholic. He was supposed to be the bread winner of the family because he had a salaried job. However, he lavished all his income on alcohol. My mother provided us with whatever she could afford from her meagre wages which she earned from her irregular blue collar jobs. He did not contribute anything towards our welfare. He had subjected my very own mother to torture and domestic abuse. He battered her almost to the point of death the night before he left.