Among all the characters in the book All Over Creation, I view Phoenix as the most typical and impressive role played in the novel. He is neither in his sister’s age, nor a mature adult. Too kiddish will be too bewildered on what to change, too adultlike will be too stubborn to change, but he is the transition from a child to an adult, so he is one of the most outstanding characters in the novel showing how identity self-consciously shifts in respond to shifting environments.

No two characters could appear more different than Lloyd and Yumi, Ruth Ozecki’s father-daughter duo at the center of her novel All Over Creation. Lloyd, a small-town Idaho farmer, holds very strong conservative views and religious beliefs, while his daughter, a runaway at fourteen and now the mother of three children, all with different fathers, is incredibly progressive and open in her values and way of life. When Yumi returns to her hometown upon news that her father is ill, it becomes evident that although these two characters think and differently, they often end up acting in alignment with each other’s beliefs rather than with their own.

I really enjoyed the Riva and Rosemarie conversation in the art gallery. I think it's a whole different experience viewing portraits in person than on the internet. The richness of her portraits and the means with which she draws them can really only be captured in person. I also didn't realize that some of them have 3D aspects, which is really neat! I also really enjoyed the conversation that Rosemarie started about how the placement of the portraits in a place of transit in an esteemed college library. Riva goes on to talk about how depending on where you live, the definition of humanity can be really small, for example where she grew up in Cincinati. And I love the use of her word "elasticity" to describe humanity to include the disabled and many other people. 

Responsive parenting plays a major role in children’s development of cognitive and social skills. It shapes the growth and development of the child considering the various frameworks involved (social, cultural, educational) and not compromising any single one of them. Well, most of us can lose count of the number of times either your mother or father whipped you hard due to uncouthly behaviour. Looking closely in All Over Creation, responsive parenting was wanting in Lloyd Fuller’s household.

Identity, Environment, and Ownership

 Who is Yumi Fuller? Who is she to the people around her and herself? Yumi’s experience in the subtly racist Idaho as the sole Asian student forces her to take a look into the environment that has helped to shape who she is. While Yumi is not solely defined by her childhood and the people there, the influence and their reactions to the differences between Yumi and the other townsfolk help to direct Yumi towards discovering who she is. By experiencing the various events occurring around her, some of which are fueled by ignorance and others a desire for the exotic, the readers are able to understand the influences the town had on Yumi.

Cass Unger – the potato

In the novel All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki, Cass Unger Quinn begins by having to play a potato in the school Thanksgiving pageant and ultimately develops her identity as a potato as well as negative body image. From her childhood to her adult life, Cass has been surrounded by potatoes and they influenced her identity. Throughout the novel, she consistently returns to the idea of her as a potato and it plagues her mind.

Changing the Lives of Others

            In the earlier portion of this class, my peers and I were asked to read a passage by Ursula Le Guin, entitled “The ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” In this text in order for the society to function as a utopia, or for everyone to be happy, one child was to suffer, and stay where he/she was being detained from the outside world for as long as the Omelas people desired. In so many words these people decided the course of this child’s life and instead of allowing he/she to live normally they decided it was best for the child suffer, so that everyone else could be happy.

Culture, era, structure, class, all matter when dealing with the complexity of a family’s relationship.  I want to understand the importance of Yummy’s letters to her parents in All Over Creation.  Lloyd and Momoko, Yummy’s parents, originate from Japan so their ideals of what a child is supposed to do varies from those of many Americans.  Yummy’s character is more complex in the culture, time, family structure and her family’s economic status she was raised in. Yummy’s letters are important aspects of the book because it allows us to understand more about her character and her relationship between their family and friends.