Hello folks
Our class alias is up and running just in time for today's presentations. As mentioned on the course outline, one of your minor tasks is to write a one or two paragraph response to the student presentations, if you are not a presenter. Select the one or two which were most meaningful to you and state why. Whenever possible relate the presentation and your reaction to it to specifics in the texts that we have read and discussed. There is no grade on this assignment, but I'm keeping track to make sure everyone responds, and please, no later than 9:00 A.M. on Friday of this week. Send the response to me by return email and I will post all of them on the class webpage Friday morning.
Steven Marx
Nicole Carter
Erika Soriano Eng. 346
I found today's presentation on Kashrut 101, to be very informative. I was not aware of the extent in which food had to be prepared in order for it to be considered kosher. It was facinating to learn that to have kosher food required much more than the preparation of meal. The importance of food and food preparation brought a new light as to why many of the characters that were mothers had an obsession with food and good eaters. With all that time consumed by cooking and cleaning it is easy to see why the characters would get upset if another character did not eat well. These characters took it personally and often felt unappreciated.
The presentation which was most meaningful to me was the one which described the complexities of Kosher eating. I never realized what a challenge it is to be Kosher! When I think of Kosher, all I can picture is Kosher hot dogs and Kosher dill pickles, now I realize how difficult it is to actually adhere to Kosher eating practices! I am not trying to criticize anyone, but I wonder how much of being Kosher is really religious, and how much of being Kosher is excessive. As a religious person myself, (though not Jewish), I am very wary of legalistic practitices. I think that Neil in "Goodbye Columbus" was also wary of the legalism that often comes with religion. He found himself questioning religion when he visited Brenda. Brenda's religion was materialistic and one of legalism. Her Kosherness was epitomized in the many types of silverware her family had so that they could be religious. However, she defied religion by her sexual forays with Neil. I was very impressed with this presentation and the way that it tied in the ideas found in the Novella, "Goodbye Columbus".
Mandy Claud
In regards to the presentations given on October 6, I'd have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed them all. The first project presented (Lauren's) was my favorite. Lauren not only displayed excellent writing skills, but she had enthusiasm and emotion while reading her essay to the class. Her essay touched on a subject that I had not thought of previously. It contained plenty of creativity and "spunk" which makes listening to an essay fun and interesting. The role of "mothers" in all of Roth's Novellas has a commonality/theme that, as Lauren stated, "sometimes gets overlooked." The next project was presented by Kristin. Kristin chose to present her creative project, which was just that. Her Kashrut 101 class was very interesting and taught the whole class something new. She too used enthusiasm and entertainment throughout her presentation. Now that I have a little more background about what being "Kosher" really entails, I can understand the emphasis that is placed on food in all of the short stories. Both Kristin and Lauren did an excellent job. Last but not least, Mike created and presented his Web Page. It was apparent that Mike donated a lot of time and energy into creating his project. His project contained many summaries and points that I think will be very useful for the class to check out. It was creative and new and I look forward to browsing it this weekend.
[Jodi Cheri Geno
I thought that all three of the presentations yesterday were great. Especially for going first. The one that I realy enjoyed was Kristin's. Her entire presentation was creative and well prepared. I could tell that she did a fair number of research to find the rules of kosher eating. I can't imagine having to live like that. I'm afraid that I'd starve. It's funny to compare that style of eating, cooking, living to what I'm accustomed to. My mother's side of the family is mostly hispanic or spanish, and really enjoy to cook and eat. They're not picky on where the food came from, how it was prepared, or what silverware they're going to use to eat it. The thing that they're worried about it is the flavor. Flavor is huge in my family. It has to be spicy and very tasty. If we worried about cooking utensils and the cut of meat we'd never get to eat. My family tends to be bargain shoppers. They choose what to prepare based on what they can buy on sale. So if tri-tip is on sale we might have tostadas with shredded beef. Kristin is a great presenter. She showed a lot of enthusiasm while presenting and seemed to enjoy what she was speaking about. This made it a lot easier to follow. Plus I found the topic to be very interesting. It makes me wonder who really does this. Maybe one day I'll be able to visit a home that follows these rules.
Jeanae Cardoza
The presentation which most interested me was the presentation on how Roth gives more importance to the mother characters in his stories. I had never noticed or paid attention on how many writers usually never give their mother characters more influence or importance in the stories. I really enjoyed the fact that Roth would give mothers more importance, because in reality mothers do play a very important role in ones life. I believe even though we do know the importance or significance of having a mother, as a society we sometimes take them for granted. This can also be the reason as to why many writers don't give mother characters more of a value in their stories or novels. Overall I would like to thank the presenter for noticing this issue because as a woman myself I think more writers should give mothers more of a value.
Noemi Zendejas
Megan Allen
I was raised in a religious home, yet was never able to experience what other religions believe and practice. I was very impressed with Kristen's presentation "Kashrut 101." While reading "Goodbye Colombus," I noticed when Mrs. Patimkin made the comment about not mixing the meat and dairy dishes. To be honest, I was confused with her statement in the text. Kristen explained that these rules and regulations concerning preparation, consumption, and clean up of food are ritualistic. Practicing Kosher Jews respect these rules and tend to be, according to Roth in "Defender of the Faith," very sincere about their beliefs. Unfortunately, in our society today, it is almost impossible to follow these practices. With the fast paces lives, restaurants, and lack of money to support the tools needed to cook according to the standards, it is not very practical. I now understand the rules of the Kashrut and am very proud to say that I know what it means to be "Kosher." Secondly, I found Lauren's presentation on the significant roles that Mothers play in Roth's writing phenomenal. In most other texts that I have read in the past, the mother is portrayed as a second class citizen, or secondary character. Roth chose to depict these Jewish mothers as controlling and in charge. It seems ironic knowing Roth's background with women that he would put them in a position of respect. He is definately a strong man to be able to put a woman in the role of the backbone of a family. I felt that Lauren had an excellent approach to these stories and tied them all together nicely.
All of the presentations were very well done and all were very interesting. The 1st presentation about how the mothers in the story were essential to the plot, even though they were not the main characters, was very interesting. Throughout all of Roth's stories, the man is always the main character, who is going through some type of complication, but there is always a woman in the story who keeps things in perspective for the troubled man. The Kosher foods class was very creative. I had always wanted to know what it means to be kosher and now I know. The web site was very well prepared and was a great way to show the class different perspectives on the book.
Matt Yzuel
I grew up semi Kosher. I can't say fully because we (my family) didn't follow the letter of Kashrut law. We attended a church that believed in the law of the old Testament. It wasn't Jewish but it was close. We would go to church on Saturday and celebrate most of the Jewish holidays like "The Days of Unleavened Bread", "Yom Kapore" and others. It was not Jewish though, because the church also believed that Christ was the masia. I know this church sounds diffrent and it is. The closest I could compare to it that is main stream would be The Seventh Day Adventist. Never the less we didn't eat "unclean meat" which would be any of the meats deemed unsuitable to eat by the Kashrut but as for the mixing laws, the cleaning laws and the preparation laws we did not keep, That is why I say semi Kosher.
As metioned at the end of the presenation, eating this way or living this way may be diffcult among a society that doesn't know or understand these ideals. More so than it would have been being Jewish, I would say that living the way I did was a greater shock to most people. As for a Jew if asked, why they do what they do, they could mearly reply "I'm Jewish" and any half way intelligent person would understand and leave it at that. As for me a very Anglo looking kid who didn't believe in the Jewish faith, well this was just too out of the ordinary. Explaining the beliefs was hard enough but answering questions like"Are you in a cult?" could be somtimes anoying. I would say that it was slightly harder growing up this way, more so for the complete religious idea as aposed to the eating habit allone. The only times my dietary beliefs came up was dealing with pork products and if I said I don't eat pork most took it as a health issue and left it at that. Although living the way I did was in general slightly harder I don't look back at it with any pain or regret. In fact I sometimes laugh at the memories of conversations I had with people about it. In fact, to this day it is a point of comedy between me and some of my old friends. If I had been bitter about some of the remarks I seldomly heard, I believe I would have issues with it, but I always looked at it through the other persons eyes and figured if I was in their shoes I would be rather confused my-self.
I don't practice most of the doctines that I was raised with anymore but at the same time I am very glad I had them. It is simply my parents religion now. Even though I don't take these beliefs with the same fervor I did then I know why they were there. They keeped me in line and helped me realize there is more to my existence than simply pleasures of the flesh. It's funny though because I still don't eat "unclean meat", although now it's because I just don't like it as aposed to some spiritual mandate. I also appreciate the fact that my religion was different and that I went through the things I did growing up. It has made me a stronger and more understanding person.
Neiel Norheim
In response to the question "Which presentation was more meaningful to me?" I chose KristinÕs presentation, which taught me the most and was the most interesting. When I was still a little boy I remember asking my parents what the little letters stood for on the boxes of my favorite cereals. My parents quickly explained that Jewish people could only eat food that was Kosher, well when I looked around the market I began to notice that just about everything met their seemingly lax standards. I thought that eating kosher foods must have been a fairly easy task, until KristinÕs presentation. I found the Kashrut class both informative and disturbing. On one hand I was very impressed with the amount of faith and determination that it must take to remain kosher, but I wondered whether this was a deterrent for faithful modern families who have neither the time nor money to cook kosher meals. This also raised other questions, Are Jews/Jewish families looked down on if they donÕt follow the kashrut? Or what if Jews follow the kashrut sometimes? Perhaps itÕs my own ignorance, but it seems that there would be problems growing up Jewish, if you only had to obey some rules, some of the time. Where do faithful Jews find a middle ground in such an established tradition? Regardless of the complexity involved in following the kashrut, there are Jews who make valiant efforts to stay true to every aspect of the kashrut. This would probably be the Christian equivalent of always doing what Jesus would do. In my opinion, just like the phrase "WWJD" the kashrut is more of a heavenly goal rather than a lifestyle, because we all know we'll slip up.
Chris Williams
Kosher Kosher, I forgot to write the name of the girl who who did this presentation. However, I thought it was the best one. I never knew that Kosher had to deal with Jewish preparation, shows how much I know. I was totally amazed that Jewish preparation of food was taken so seriously. From the killing of an animal to the miticulous cleaning and cooking that has to be followed for each type of meat and food. I never had a concept of how much work needs to be taken to make sure certain things are not mixed or touch with other certain types of food and that each utensil is washed and used for only certain types of food. I am always curious about other religions and what characteristics that they have developed to distinguish themselves as that particular religion. I never really knew much about Jewish culture, but I could see how people take certain beliefs and customs that they have adapted to very seriously. This would be a difficult custom to adapt to if you were Jewish unless you have always done things that way. I missed however the way or reason that this custom of Jewish eating came about. Was it started at the time of Jesus or did it come about in later years? I can relate very well to customs of eating, my family is Italian and the majority of things that are prepared at my house relate to Italian culture, and I value them very much so. I thought this was a very interesting topic to tie into the reading of Roth.
Jon Leavens
I was very pleased with the presentations that were given to the class.The short story that was titled: Mother She Mothers, was absolutely wonderful. The presenter ( I forgot her name... sorry) mentioned some strong insight about Roth's style of writing. She mentioned how he formats these characters so that we will always remember them. I know I'll never forget Lou Epstein and his rash. I enjoyed how she pointed out how Roth used the mothers in the stories as the back bone of the families, an example she used was Brenda's mother and how the mother acted towards Brenda's boyfriend, Neil. In the story Conversion of the Jews, Ozzie's mother was angry and upset and couldn't scold him until later. She had to wait the situation out just like everyone else. I,m sure we all knew that Ozzie was in store for some form of discipline when he returned home. The presenter's conclusion was excellent. She explained how the mothers are the sole caretakers, independent, kind, and complex in their own individual way. I also enjoyed the "Kashrut 101" class that was presented by Chris. I found it to be very informative. Chris informed me of many terms that I was familiar by ear, but not by definition.For example: I had always heard of the word kosher, but I never new its true meaning. I now know what it means to be kosher thanks to both Chris and you. I also enjoyed the nice treat that she brought the class. I forgot the name of it, but I would like to know the name so I can buy some myself.I had never tasted it before. I thought it tasted great. I am very glad we are doing these presentation. I find them to be very rewarding.
Sincerely, Robert Jimenez
Student presentations are often enjoyable excursions into a differing point of view that one might not have otherwise imagined. As interesting as these presentations are, I don't usually feel the need to take notes for later use. However, I did take such notes during Mike's insightful presentation demonstrating the standard elements of fictional story writing. His thorough examination of literary techniques and Philip Roth's use of them was illuminating. I was especially interested in his identification of the Ozzie and Epstein characters as Post-modern. I found myself revisiting both these stories after this presentation. In the story "The Conversion of the Jews" when the boys are on the street cajoling Ozzie to jump, I was struck by the lines on page 156, "If there is a question to be asked now it was not 'Is it me?' but rather 'Is it us?... Is it us?" In addition, I was most impressed by the technical elements of this presentation given my own completely antiquated methods of communication (usually pen and paper). I will be sure and check out this web page, as soon as I figure out how to get there.
Jocelyn Knowlton
I really enjoyed the essay about mothers in Roth's Goodbye Columbus. I thought she captured the spirit of the mothers well. She mentioned the mothers as being the backbone of story. This was evident in Goodbye Columbus. Mrs. Patimkin was the person Neil tried hardest to impress. He knew she was important. Neil has the conversation with Mrs. P. in the house when the others are gone. He listens for the correct answers in her questions. Brenda feels she has lost her mothers affection and is bothered by it. Ron depends on her to plan his wedding, when he has gotten his girlfriend pregnant. Roth shows her as a strong mother figure. The strong mother figure is important to many stories. It is important to our society. The mother is the backbone of most families. The 1950's mother may have worn an apron and had an everything A-O.K. attitude, but she was what held the family together. Today's mother is even stronger. Single parent mom's show their strenghth because they have to. In "The Conversion of the Jews," Ozzie's mother was a widow and was depicted as being a very caring and strong person. When her son was on the roof, she did not fall to pieces. Instead, she tried to calmly talk him down in a loving babylike way. Ozzie respected her for place in his family. He shows this as he entered the house on the Sabbath night. He knows not to disturb his mother when she is lighting candles. Even though Ozzie struggles with his faith in his Hebrew classes, he does not deny his mother her faith as genuine. Roth depiction of the mothers gave me as the reader as sense of their importance without them being the main characters. As she mentioned in her essay, the mother's emotions effected the household. Everyone in this book tried to please mom.
Lynda Zahn
Shawna Smith
I really enjoyed Loren's essay called "Mothers Smothers". She gave a lovely portrait of the mothers in all of Roth's stories. I did not come from a super religious background, but my mother definitely fits into her descriptions of what a mother is. My mother solely raised my sister and I for most of our lives. She made our lives beautiful, even though she made many unfortunate sacrafices along the way. She was the backbone of our family. Not only did she provide us with the necessities in life, but also many extras. She took us on week long river rafting trips, ski trips, annual family vacations, a trip to the East Coast, and much more. Other than the material aspects of life, my mother provided us with values, morals, and the rules by which we should live our lives. She is a positive role model; someone I strive to immitate. She made learning important to my sister and I. She has helped me every step of the way through college, even from eight hours away. I have to admit that I came close to quitting on several occasions. My mother was there to help me see what was important. I love my mother very much. She is the reason for the success of my family--she is the soul!!
I really enjoyed the presentation on Kosher. Kristin did an absolutely wonderful job presenting this topic and relating it to Roth's Goodbye Columbus. This informative speech taught me that being "kosher" requires a lot of dedication and patience. It was interesting to know that kosher can also be applied in other cultures other than the Jewish culture. There exists, like you said in class, many rules--an infinite set of rules of being kosher. I don't think that I could ever be close to being 100% kosher, just knowing how much it takes to be considered one. From using different pots to seperate milk and poultry, to broiling all blood or eating it before dining on an animal are rules that I break every day. Kristin said that anything can be kosher only if in accordance to the laws. There are too many laws! However, this topic of Kashrout 101 was presented with a lot of charisma. It captured my attention from beginning to end. It is also a pleasure to learn about different cultures other than my own. It definitely takes a lot of time and research to discover other cultures that exist in this world. I am just very fortunate that someone reasearched a very interesting part of one's culture and shared it with me and the rest of the class. I really learned a lot and this presentation meant a lot.
Melanie Salvador :)
The presentations given for Philip Roth's book were very good, particularly the one about the role of Mother's in the book, and the presentation on Kosher cooking lent a hand to the better understanding of these characters as well. Typically, mother's tend to play fairly minor rolls in stories--unless they happen to be wicked step-mothers. It was refreshing to see mothers who impacted their children's lives--both good and bad--in Roth's stories. The essay written about the Jewish mothers portrayed in the story touched upon many important points, chiefly the influence the mothers had in their homes. In "Goodbye Colombus," Mrs. Patimkin has the power to make her entire household happy or miserable. Unfortunately it is typically the latter that is represented. The mother in "The Conversion of the Jews" was a very powerful force as well. She was holding her tiny family together without a father for her son. The presentation about Kosher eating gave further insight into these characters, their motivations and their daily difficulties. I greatly enjoyed both presentations.
Christy Radonich
The project on what it means to be Kosher was fascinating to me. I am going to be a teacher so I liked her creative idea. I like to learn about othere cultures, so this class on Kashrut 101 was interesting. I was interested in what in means to be Kosher. I knew that Kosher is not a style of food, and that for food to be Kosher it must be prepared correctly. I also knew about the multiple sets of silverware needed, but didn't realize that multiple sets of dishes and pots and pans were also required. I didn't know all of the laws that make up the Kashrut. I didn't realize that Kosher meat has to come from a Kosher butcher. Now I understand that it is very important that the animal be killed in the proper manner, and that not all butchers do this so meat should come from a Kosher deli. I hadn't known that only animals that have cloven hooves and that chew their own cud were considered Kosher. I found this project helpful in explaining the reason for Jewish mothers in Roth's stories being the way they are. Keeping Kosher must be a difficult and time consuming thing to do. Of, course a Jewish mother that keeps Kosher would want her time and effort to be appreciated. She put so much effort into the food that it has a lot of meaning, and shows her motherly love.
Mandy Ruth
Essay "Mother Smothers" The main point that I found in the essay was that the mothers of RothÕs stories are the backbone of the story. It made me realize that the mothers contributed a lot towards the setting and the plot of the stories. The mother character makes the stories seem to be realistic, and helps you understand were the main character is coming from. I thought it was interesting that she said, "Momma ainÕt happy then nobody is happy." This seemed to be a big part of the stories because the main characters seemed to respect the motherÕs thoughts and feelings. The mothers also were not the main focus on the story, yet were able to be very strong. The mothers seemed to be in control when they are in the scene but they never take the spotlight of the main character. I found the essay to be entertaining, especially for a long one, and also it helped me understand more about the story.
Kashrut 101 "Laws of Jewish Meals" This presentation helped you realize what the mothers of Jewish families had to go through. I never knew that a kosher meal took so much effort. I first thought that kosher was a type of food, yet it turned out to be a way of preparing food. I was very interested how the Jews described what type of food you can and cannot eat, "you can eat split hoofed animals which chewed their cud," etc. I also found it interesting that they had to have a special butcher to have the meat cut and treated properly. This special care would drive me mad because of all the work involved in getting it right. I thought that the presentation was informative and gave me a sense of what life is like for Jewish homes. Also the haggis was interesting and gave me a taste of what it is like to be Jewish.
Internet Presentation "Roth Commentary" The web site showed a little more about RothÕs writing style, and standards. The presentation told Roth as a postmodern writer, which puts him ahead of his time. The standards elements in his stories fit him just right because there are a set of things that are basic to all of his stories. I liked how the web site showed the pattern that Roth has in his stories. The web site also showed that external events are very important, which is something I did not notice right away. The web site also listed how complications add to the content of the story. Finally the presentation showed how change is a very important concept in his stories, which I noticed that all of his main characters go through some sort of change. The flow chart showed how the flow of events goes in his stories. The web site was informative and hopefully will help me write the assignment.
Bryan Busch
Upon writing this short paper regarding the impact of a presentation on our own life, I was compelled to comment on Lauren's speech on the mothers in Goodbye Columbus. She spoke about the jewish mothers integral role in the short stories contained in this novella. I immediately could agree with her findings. I too believed that the mother figure was indeed a complex character which was a backbone to how the story developed. This all lead me to write about this presentation. I wanted to comment on how the mother figures in my every day life paralleled the mothers in Phillip Roth's stories. I come from an Italian family, which much to my surprise, sounds like a jewish family in many ways. For one, my mother and grandmother both are the definite backbone in the family. Even though they seem to be part of the background in many situations, they are in fact the leaders in shaping how our family works. Both in the stories and my life, I am able to see how the woman figure drives the family without anyone really knowing it, especially the father figures. They like to think they are in charge, but from an outsiders view it wouldn't take long to figure out that wool is completely pulled over their eyes.
Ryan McLoed
The essay on the role of the mother in the stories we read had an impact on me. I come from a Hispanic family and the maternal figure is the backbone of the family unit. They are very headstrong women and don't take crap from anybody, especially their children. In the long run, that helped make me into the type of person that doesn't put up with anything from anyone. Mom is always there when you need someone. The story of Epstein where the wife is there for the husband when he gets sick even after he has committed adultery is how the women in my family would react to the same situation. Dad is in the background where nothing has to be talked about. The father figure takes a back seat in the family and basically just works to support the family.
The presentation on kosher cooking and how important it is to the family is also something that is true in my family. We grew up eating traditional foods that sometimes made us cringe at the sight of them. Once we tried them though, most of the time they tasted very good. I never knew what went in to kosher cooking and it seems so meticulous and strict. I think that it is important for people to have a part of their history that they keep with them. My family has our traditional foods and Jewish people have their kosher cooking. Whatever it is, keeping the traditions alive helps to make our world so diverse.
Wes Horner
Michael Nelson
When my mother suffers she suffers in silence. My father gets red and you can hear the veins pop around his forehead and knuckles. My mom keeps a straight jaw and cleans with more passion and fervor than usual. My father finds that the closest door or moveable object suddenly possesses an urgency to be moved. ItÕs interesting to see how they display their upset emotions differently. The discussion brought by Kristen regarding the preparation and ritual for a Kosher kitchen was a meticulous background for the Jewish mother role. Her hard work seems to be expected and yet not properly acknowledged. She has a silent strength.
The father figure, as well as the man in general, seems to bear the weight of all matters on his shoulders. Epstein is the center of attention, and screams and yells out his name. Neil speaks his name aloud and alone in the bedroom as BrendaÕs family squabbles in the background. Ozzie takes on a struggle high up on the roof for all eyes to see. Eli breaks down because of an inner turmoil that upsets his so-called place in society. As we can see, these are stories about the Jewish man more than the Jewish woman. However, perhaps they are also accurate descriptions of a man-dominated society during the late 50s, early 60s.
RothÕs portrayals of men and women figures in all his short stories are strong and believable. However, how would these characters be portrayed if Roth was a woman?
I felt the presentation of "Kashrut 101" was very well done not to mention informative. I remember always hearing the word "Kosher" several times without really understanding what it meant. I have even said statements such as "That's Kosher, dude!" or "ummmm... Kosher pickles...".*sigh* Obviously misused. I never knew that Kosher was an extremely rigorous set of rules for food and food making. I envy the person that can follow these rules and laws to the letter. The presenter also gave me an excellent understanding of some of the characters' backgrounds in most of Roth's stories.
Kris Kunkel
The presentations given on 10/6/99 provided additional insight into various aspects of Goodbye Columbus. The mothers in Roth's stories have characteristically strong and often outrageous personalities. The influence a mother has over her family, for better or for worse was emphasized. An insightful and interesting piece was done on the Kashrut. Virtually all the information given on Kosher living I had never heard before. I was astounded by the demanding preparation guidelines and numerous rules for Kosher living required by the Kashrut. The dedication deeping Kosher calls for inspires respect and admiration. Being aware of cultural differences enriches life. The website created was an original path to explore, extending a modern approach. Presenting Roth's transformation of character and a general overview of Goodbye Columbus. The elements of story and further information was provided in an external website which was beneficial in extending insight into Roth's work. The presentations were well done, insightful, and creative.
Jennifer Barnett