Every coin has two sides. Angle couldn’t exist without evil and life cannot flourish without sacrifice. ‘There is no vapid, irresponsible happiness.’ As Le Guin suggests, things could be deceptively flawless when you only view them from the surfaces. Just like how the prosperous of some cities stems its roots into the darkness of slavery, how the life of upper-classes thrives on the corruptions and how the citizen of Omelas intoxicated in joy blind to the child in the basement in Le Guin’s story, I was deceived by the friendship that happened to me which I once perceived as life-long.

As humans with multifarious backgrounds, we each have been given both predestined as well as self proclaimed identities. Social constructs were formed centuries ago as classifications from individuals to box groups under a given label. These imagined identities have helped to unify groups as well as isolate others based on social standing in our society at large. Personally, my struggle for honesty and self identity has caused me to ponder relations and commonalities among people and constructed groups. Mary Louise Pratt in her piece “The Art of the Contact Zone” questions how groups should be integrated with one another and coexist without becoming conformist and assimilating to social “norms.” 

As humans with multifarious backgrounds, we each have been given both predestined as well as self proclaimed identities. Social constructs were formed centuries ago as classifications from individuals to box groups under a given label. These imagined identities have helped to unify groups as well as isolate others based on social standing in our society at large. Personally, my struggle for honesty and self identity has caused me to ponder relations and commonalities among people and constructed groups. Mary Louise Pratt in her piece “The Art of the Contact Zone” questions how groups should be integrated with one another and coexist without becoming conformist and assimilating to social “norms.” 

 Jack is my schoolmate and one of my best friends in high school. We met each other in senior year. After simply chatting with each other, we found that we’re both from Pudong new district in Shanghai. (Shanghai is a large city, there are more than ten districts in Shanghai, and Shanghai is so big that even we all say Shanghainese, the dialect may sound different in different districts). And soon we found out the we live in the same neighborhood, and we found that we have so many things in common.  We soon become close friends.

       The relationship between my “sister” and I should be like an “asymmetrical relation of power” (Pratt p.34) in the beginning. As she was more mature and braver to share her opinions, I should have a sense of worship on her. I dare say, I was the kind of person, who would be too nervous to think about responses when involved into a situation where I was not supposed to limit my behavior in nodding or shaking my head. I would doubt about myself if the person who I was talking to did not understand or disagree with my ideas.

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.

My Revelation About Sense of Communities

Vivian O’Bannon

Emily Balch Seminar: Changing Our Story

September 9, 2016

Understanding My Privileges and Lack Thereof

To understand privilege, one must understand the lack thereof.  Because “my sexuality is not a part of my physical identity, and people are often discriminated against for their appearance” (O’Bannon 2), I am able to appreciate the privileges within my specific tribulation.  I constantly remind myself that – although people like me are converted, massacred, imprisoned, hated – at least I can hide behind my appearance.  At least sexuality is internal.  At least I can suppress my love.  At least I am not gay and fill-in-the-blank.