Category Archives: Student Introductions

The Duchess of Marfi is a play that involved a lot of violence which is influenced by Jacobean style.  In this play you are able to recognize that when you broke laws or rules you are punish for it. Also, the play shows the different between the rich and the poor; they used people of low class to do their dirty job.

Because all the violence and the lack of social order that is going on through the Duchess of Marfi one painting came to my mind it is called Guernica by Pablo Picasso. This painting is one of his most famous works because it shows a strong political statement about the devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica is a painting that shows the tragedies and suffers of innocent people.  While you see this painting you can recognize the brutality and darkness and drama behind the painting. Also, the used of blue, black, and white colors makes this painting more dramatic. The Spanish Civil War was used as an opportunity to test new weapons led by Hitler; here we can see the power of a government over other countries.  The scene that is depicted by Picasso I found it kind of similar to the scenes that are depict on The Duchess of Marfi because both involved a lot of violence where innocent people are the ones that suffer.  In the Duchess of Marfi and Guernica shows a lack of democracy of common people and the only ones that can decide are the government or rich people upon common people.

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

My name is Marzena Wawrzaszek. I am a transfer student majoring in Corporate Communications. My favorite book is Mindset – The New Psychology of Success, the reason this is my favorite book is because it changed my perspective on life and my actions. I learned a lot about the person I want to be and how to work towards achieving what I want. I love reading psychological books because they contain information you can carry with you for life.

“We tend to link agency to cultural autonomy and to measure cultural autonomy in terms of society’s ability to protect its cultural identity from being watered down or erased by alien cultural forms, but every culture is always shaped by other cultures and agencies has more to do with the intelligent and imaginative negotiation of cross-cultural contact than with avoiding such contact. Agency from this point of view is a function of that negotiation is not its victim.”

I understand what Paul Jay is talking about when it comes to culture but I got a little confused when he mentioned agency. I am not sure what agency he is referring to  and what he is trying to prove.

By doing this assignment a song came to my mind it is named Blame it [on the alcohol] by Jamie Foxx ft. pain which I found that have some connections with the poem Drinking Alone with the Moon translate by Stephen Owen. This song does not all the poem but I feel like some parts of it have some connection between each other. For example, in the first stanza verse three of the poem Owen says                                                                                                                   I drink alone, no friend with me                                                                                                            I raise my cup to invite the moon                                                                                  I find a connection with a part of the lyrics of Jamie from the song that says just                                           One more round and you are down I know it                                                                                      Fill another cup up                                                                                                            Both find pleasure in the drink (alcohol or wine). Also, in both they invite others to enjoy the moment with them such as in the poem the author invite the moon but in the song the singer invite a women to drink alcohol. But they want to get some advantage from it. For example, in the poem the author says, “Let’s pledge-beyond human ties-to be friends.” This shows that the author through the invite of enjoy the drink with him to the moon they both can turn to be friends. However, in the music Jamie Foxx invite the girl to get drunk and have sex as he says “See what we can be if we press fast forward, Just one more round and you are down I know it.” Therefore, I found the poem and the song in some way similar because while they enjoy the alcohol both invite others to have fun with them.

Spending the Night in a Tower by the River
A visible darkness grows up mountain paths,
I lodge by river gate high in a study,
Frail cloud on cliff edge passing the night,
The lovely moon topples amid the waves.
Steady, one after another, a line of cranes in flight;
Howling over the kill, wild dogs and wolves.
No sleep for me. I worry over battles.
I have no strength to right the universe

               This poem stuck out to me the most compare to the others because every day I face obstacles that I need overcome. I read this poem a couple of times before I actually understood it. I am going to explain my interpretation of the poem to have an understanding of why I chose this specific song. In this poem Tu Fu has some troubles that won’t allow him to sleep. He knows he has upcoming obstacles and is not confident they are going to turn out in his favor. When Tu Fu mentions nature he is observing it and mentions how he has no control of it no matter how much he studies it.
The song I chose that relates to the poem is called “landslide” by Dixie Chicks and it is my favorite version out of all the ones that are out there. The song “landslide” talks about how change is scary but inevitable.
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? -Song
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
VS
Frail cloud on cliff edge passing the night, -Poem
The lovely moon topples amid the waves.
Both the song and the poem mentioned nature and the changes it goes through. They both are similar because no matter how much we try nature goes through changes and cycles and humans can’t change it. If that was true, wouldn’t it be nice if people had a warning if a Tsunami was coming. Also the fact that nature and the changes it goes through and how you have no control over can be compared to the changes or obstacles someone may face even if they aren’t ready for it.

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing-song
VS
No sleep for me. I worry over battles.-Poem
Both lines refer to the feeling of fear of changing or what is about to come. In the song lyrics reveals that there is fear of change and in the poem reveals the emotion of worry over upcoming battles. We only worry about battles when we are not sure about the outcome. As I mention before even if you are not ready change is inevitable.

Hello, my name is Awaia Liaqat but you can call me Awais. I am a junior at Baruch majoring in accounting and i plan on taking my CPA right after my bachelors. I dont read a lot of books but one of my favorite books is “Drown” by Junot Diaz.

About Jay’s text

“This turn, of course, has been a controversial on. my aim in this book is to explore the nature and history of these controversies. As some scholars define globalization as a contemporary phenomenon linked to the development of electronic media, the rise of translation corporations, global financial institutions, and proliferating form of entertainment that easily leap national boundaries, others define it as a historical phenomenon running back to at least the sixteenth century and incorporating the histories of colonization, decolonization, and post colonialism.”

I found this quote very confusing because of the words that author uses and i believe “globalization” as exchange of idea, culture, goods and more.

Hello, my name is Michael Jemal and I am currently a Junior at Baruch. I am majoring in real estate investment and minoring in communications. One of my favorite books that I read recently is The Liar’s Ball by Vicky Ward. The book talks about the exciting history of the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue, and how so many NYC Real Estate Tycoons would have done anything to buy that building.

“As some scholars define globalization as a contemporary phenomenon linked to the development of electronic media, the rise of transitional corporations, global financial institutions, and proliferating forms of entertainment that easily leap national boundaries, others define it as a historical phenomenon running back to at least the sixteenth century and incorporating the histories of colonization, decolonization, and post colonialism. “

I was a little confused of how Jay was defining globalization here. He brought up very different definitions. These sentences are part of Jay’s introduction. Overall the text was a little complicated, in terms of the wording to read. But I understood the general message he was trying to send.

Hello, My Name is Taehan kim.

I’m on the way to majoring the accounting at Baruch College. I don’t have really a favorite book in English, but i enjoyed some readings, such as Dumpster Diving, so some of books in my interests, “six thousand years of bread” in Korean translated version and some history books. I’m very interested in European History. I love history in general.

About Jay’s text,

“This turn, of course, has been a controversial on. my aim in this book is to explore the nature and history of these controversies. As some scholars define globalization as a contemporary phenomenon linked to the development of electronic media, the rise of transnation corporations, global financial institutions, and proliferating form of entertainment that easily leap national boundaries, others define it as a historical phenomenon running back to at least the sixteenth century and incorporating the histories of colonization, decolonization, and postcolonialism.”

I was some what confused why some people consider globalization as a contemporary phenomenon based on modern technology, because i understand “Globalization’ as a exchange of culture, goods, people and more in big scare. I also like to include some minor scare of exchanging in a part of globalization too, because many small exchange eventually change the society. So, In my thinking, Globalization have a history, at least since Imperialism ages, silk road trad between Europe and Asia, possible Macedonian, Hellenistic empire. Not big and past as today, but exist.

Hi my name is XiaoYang Wang but you can call me James. I am from Plainview, Long Island but I currently living in Astoria. I am a junior who is majoring in finance and minoring in Chinese language studies. My favorite book has a lot to do with my interests actually, the book is called Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain  The specific interest I’m talking about is my love for cooking. Some other interests include power lifting, hiking and fine dining.

Something that confused me in Paul Jay’s text:

One claim that is often made against the changes ushered in by the transnational turn in literary studies is that it has led to a debilitation fragmentation. Principles of coherence that have guided the field for decades have given way to a focus on pluralities, differences, hybrid identities, and complication transnational geographies that are seemingly incoherent and unmanageable. I do not agree because I believe that literary studies as a field has always thrived on fragmentation and challenges to coherence.

This part of the text confuses me in several different way. First way being that it does not specify how transnational literary studies cause fragmentation. From what the author previous mentioned that “globalization is characterized by a complex back-and forth flows of people and cultural forms” then the idea should be relatively coherent. Secondly is that I wished the author had clarified the meaning of coherence. In my opinion coherence can be developed in more than one method so I am left wondering what the “Principles of coherence” actually are. All in all this was an interesting read about Jay’s view on transnational studies in literature.

My name is Jessica Bonilla. I am a senior and I am majoring in Corporate Communication. I am hoping to become a teacher and will be taking my certifications this summer. I currently teach at a daycare and I love it. On my free time I love to spend time with my friends and family. I really enjoy watching T.V series. My new obsession is Arrow and I am so happy How to Get Away with Murder is back on. I can’t really remember the last time I read a book but two semesters ago I really enjoyed reading my psychology book. I even decided to keep the book. The book is called Psychology: Perspectives and Connections by Feist Rosenberg.

‘Again, the aim here is not to assert the primary of English in the study of globalization’s effects on culture and literature but to recognize that, like a number of other discipline, English literature and those who study it have been profoundly affected by the processes of globalization.”

I understand when it comes to studying globalization culture and gender have an effect on it. I don’t understand how English literature does and how it affects it.

Hello my name is Adriana Yanez and I am a transfer student from LaGuardia Community College. I am majoring in accounting at Baruch College since Fall 2014. I am going to tell you a little about myself. One of the things that I do not like is to read that much but one of my favorite books is La Ciudad de las Bestias by Isabel Allende. It is a very interesting adventure of a grandmother with her grandson going to the Amazonas to discover new things. But one of my hobbies is to listened music, dance, and watch movies with my family.

Regarding to the assigned reading for the week, Global Matters by Paul Jay, I found the following quote somewhat confusing:

“Finally, attention to the global flow of cash, cultural commodities, and media necessarily calls our attention to transnational contexts and locations of exchange, and some critics believe it does so in a way that can blind us to the nature of local circumstances, practices, and needs.”

My confusion lies in the connection that he makes between cultural transnational contexts and circumstances with the field that he wants to analyze. I am not sure what he is trying to prove but I understand that his main argument is about how globalization had been reshape literature over the long term. Also, part of my confusion in his text is the complicated wording that he used.