YEVENALY

I liked both of the songs. I thought both of them were very emotional and I could feel the longing for belonging resonating through the music, vocals, and lyrics. However, I enjoyed listening to Santa Lucia Lontano more. The tone and music were more soothing and tranquil. I felt relaxed with feelings of nostalgia and melancholy seeping in between the lines. The line that stands out to me is the chorus, “But when the moon rises how can one stand to be away from Naples?” The moon follows him everywhere he goes and the same can be said for the longing for his home city of Naples. He can never escape that longing just like he can’t escape the moon shining down on him at night. It is a very beautiful and poetic line. I can relate to this theme since I often went traveling with my parents and after extended trips of a few months, I would start feeling homesick for New York and my friends.

            The second song is also very beautiful and emotional in its own right. However, the tone and theme were more depressing and kept me on edge. I felt a kind of urgency in the lyrics that sounded like a plea for help. The immigrant in America has gained things he did not have in his home in Naples. However, he has lost a lot more than he gained. The bread he has tastes bitter and the money means nothing to him now. He yearns for his home and his children. He is literally in tears because he has lost his homeland, his home, and his honor. I find this theme harder to relate to because it something on the verge of desperation. It is the kind of longing one can relate to after many hardships and being run into a corner. I cannot think of a moment in my life when I felt this desperate about something.

            I think belonging is important because otherwise, you may feel very lonely. However, at the same time, I also think it can be suffocating because it is something that follows you everywhere you go.  Whenever you belong to a group or tribe you may find yourself labeled by others even against your own will. I find this theme difficult to relate to because I am not really sure where I belong.

TASK 3  Looking at all the various issues we examined so far, which one RESONATED the most for you? Don’t forget to include references and examples.

For instance:

The historical aspects, the information you learned.

The human aspect, the hardship.

The structure of the immigrant experience and how it applies even today.

The “aesthetic” aspect, namely, if you enjoyed the readings and films per se, regardless of the topic.

TYPE BOLD

I think the human aspect, the hardships experienced by various groups is what resonated the most with me. The historical aspect and the information I learned is informative but harder to relate to because it is less personal. You can see the hardships experienced by Italian immigrants in the photos, books, and movies we watched. I remember very clearly the photo of the children standing with the wheelbarrows, the death of Pascal D Angelo’s coworkers, and the death of Peppino’s child. All these were very personal aspects that triggered an emotional response in me. All of us were children at some point and some of us will have children one day. Seeing other children exposed to hard labor and dangerous working conditions from such a young is something I am glad I did not have to go through. None of us would want those kinds of conditions to befall our children either. All of us have friends and have coworkers. Imagine being friends with someone or having a coworker that passed away on the job. That kind of experience will be engraved in your memory forever.

Finally, something like the death of your own child is likely one of the greatest pains an individual can experience. We see Peppino robbed and unjustly sentenced to jail and at the same time, his child passes away. The viewer is overcome with feelings of anger, desperation, and sorrow. Similarly, the Sacco and Vanzetti case is another example of an unfair trial of immigrants that resulted in an unjust death sentence. Other groups such as African Americans and other minorities are still suffering the same fate to this day. So even though the Sacco and Vanzetti case happened many years ago the fight for justice is still ongoing today.

I also appreciate all the current event articles we went over that cover BLM, voting rights, Columbus Day, and police brutality. I think all these things are still relevant today and apply to many of us. Perhaps not all of us African Americans but we are all human beings. The unjust death of another human being is something we can all agree on is wrong. The video of the woman being unlawfully detained by the police offer and then hanging herself in jail is something that left a lasting impression on me. We do not have to look back on events that happened in the past to see the hardships endured by others. We can look around the world us now and see that there still people suffering.

READING Crhist in Concrete

THE ART OF THE ABSTRACT