Food in LWFC

Food in this novel is really the only form of self-expression that Tita is able to use. The fact she's not from the richest family, her mother is domineering, and that she lives in a traditional patriarchical society leaves Tita with very little room for expressing herself. Food is her solace, with food she can express her love for Pedro, communicate to others the depth of her sorrow, and is even able to solve common problems.

Rosaura has no real connection to food, besides that she's not very good at cooking it and that Tita's food effects her life (i.e. the wedding). Gertrudis' life is profoundly effected by the food that Tita makes, as it makes her do things she otherwise wouldn't do. Mother Elena is eventually brought down by food, or a lack thereof, for fear of poison from Tita.

Food acts as a catalyst in this book in the case of human relations and for Tita it is a form of self-expression.

Like Water For Chocolate

Food plays a very interesting role in the novel. First, every chapter starts with a recipe, and is surrounded by the preparation and eating of the food. The food itself is the basis of the chapters, and leads to the various stories told. Almost all major events in the book happen either in the kitchen preparing for the food or at the table eating the food. Food interacts with the characters as well. Based on what was going on when the food was prepared, people eating feel differently. When Tita cried tears of sorrow in the cake batter, everyone eating cake felt sad and got sick. When eating the quail and rose petal sauce, Gertrudis felt an aphrodisiac effect, because of the love the sauce was made with. Tita was so happy making the turkey mole with almonds and sesame seeds, everyone eating it felt unexplainably happy. These are just a few examples of how food played a big role in the book and how it effects each character.

Food Traditions

Personally, being from an Italian family, food is a big deal for us. Every Sunday, for example, is pasta night in our house. It's something that was started in my Dad's family, and he was very adamant about it being a tradition in our house, so that's what we practice. Even if we're out Sunday night and can't have a pasta dinner as a family, we just reschedule for Monday or do it on Saturday.

As for big occasions, once again, pasta is a big deal. At almost every big family gathering, Thanksgiving, Christmas, reunions, etc., pasta is almost always the first dish. After that, especially on Christmas, seafood, such as baked clams or lobster, is served. Seafood for Christmas is another Italian tradition that has been passed on through my family.

Our food traditions revolve around not only food, but the people gathered for the food, and they are traditions that I hope to keep when I have my own family in the future.

Food Traditions

In our family the most common made dish would be rice and beans with tortillas. If family was getting together, an issue that needed to be talked about, or a celebration...I was never disappointed seeing that on the table. Its a simple dish that was made every time all the time and holds multiple funny occasions and memories. It was a simple dish that brought our family and friends together to enjoy a simple meal and the taste of my grandmas famous tortillas. When she got to old to make them it almost seemed like people started to drift off and away from each other. I believe that food as simple as rice and beans can hold power since it would bring my big family together. I still have the memories; I'm a horrible cook but i still aspire to get that recipe down on how to make the beans and tortillas just like mi abuelita (grandma).

Like Water For Chocolate

In the novel Like Water for Chocolate everything that Tita is feeling goes into her food. She makes Turkey Mole for her baby nephews party. She loves him so much, and is so happy taking care of him that she puts those feelings into the food. Everyone who eats her food that night at the party feels happier then usual without understanding why.

It is also possible to say that Tita's food is so good because she is so selfless. She takes care of her mother, her sister, her sister's husband(whom she loves), and her nephew. She never asks for anything in return, but to be close to the man she loves. She does not even ask to be with him; she only wants to take care of him and her nephew. That could be why her sister and mother can not cook like her. She cooks so well because she has such strong emotions, and so much passion.

Food Traditions

My families main food tradition is the corn bread stuffing we have on Thanksgiving. When my grandmother was alive she made it every year, and now that she is gone my mother has taken over the tradition. Most of our family holiday traditions have ceased to exist since my grandmother died, but the stuffing remains. It is not Thanksgiving to me without the corn bread stuffing. It has sage sausage in it, and all sorts of other really tasty ingredients.

My family did Thanksgiving early this year, so I went to my boyfriend's house on Thanksgiving Day. I learned about one of their special Thanksgiving, food traditions: corn pudding. I had never had it before, and can now say that corn pudding is delicious. My boyfriend's grandmother makes it every year, and according to him and his brothers, their mom tried to make it once and it turned out awful. Their grandmother's corm pudding is special to them. Even if their mom's corn pudding was good they would never admit it, because it was not made by their Mimi(what they call their grandmother. It can not be Thanksgiving for them without corn pudding just like it can not be Thanksgiving for me without corn bread stuffing.

LWFC

Throughout the novel Like Water For Chocolate food seems to be personified in a sense. It carries out the novels overall theme of control. For T is seems to be food that rules and controls in every situation she is not in control of. One example of this is the 'poison' wedding cake. She was unable to control the situation of her sister marrying her love. Therefore the cake took on the role of a valiant robin hood type, silently sneaking in and making everyone at the wedding sick, just about as sick as T herself felt at the situation. I took great joy in reading this section. It reminded me of my sisters wedding where everyone (including bride and groom) got food poisoning... happy honeymoon?

Character Sketch (Like Water for Chocolate)

In Like Water for Chocolate, food plays a dynamic role. Food is the vessel through which the reader fully understands Tita's emotions. Every recipe that she prepares is filled with her tears or her passion or her anger and this is transferred to the characters who eat the food. For example, when Tita prepares the wedding cake for Pedro and Rosaura, she is overcome by sadness at the loss of her lover Pedro. Her tears then fall into the cake, and when the people eat it at the reception, they too are overcome by sadness at losing lost loves and end up vomiting due to their intense emotion.

Food is more than just a vessel for Tita's emotions. It also becomes a foreshadow for the novel. Anytime the reader comes across Tita preparing a recipe, they automatically become aware that something vital is going to occur. After the wedding cake fiasco, the reader becomes acutely aware of the power of Tita's food and is therefore anticipating the affects of her food on others.

Food and Family

Food is the center of many family gatherings. It doesn't matter what time you arrive at my grandmother's house, she immediately wants to know if you will be staying for dinner. Within minutes she has a pot of sauce and sausage on the stove ready for whoever decides to stay. Once dinner is ready, we all gather around the dining room table and talk about anything and everything. Dinners like this always brings my extended family together.

Special occasions are quite similar, but the amount of food is doubled, sometimes tripled depending on how many people are coming. My grandmother has four children, four daughter/son-in-laws, twelve grandchildren, and there are always a few extra guests or family members thrown into the mix. To accommodate everyone, we have to set up an extra dinner table in the living room. The two tables are always filled with food that my grandmother makes from scratch. She loves cooking for all of us, and prying her away from the kitchen long enough for her to each something is quite the chore.

For us, food is what brings us all together, and it is what truly stirs up some of the best conversations.

Food and Characters

Food in this story is a deeply held tradition, but it also at times is a vehicle for the feelings of Tita that enables others to feel what she does.  The food feels what she feels.  When Tita feels a lustful passion for pedro it goes into her quail and roses dish and makes the middle sister lustful as well.  Earlier when she is depressed and making the cake for Pedro and Rosaura's wedding, her depression and longing goes into the cake and as a result make everyone who eats it; extremely depressed.  The food molds it self to how Tita feels. Because she is so in tuned with food, the food becomes in tuned with her.  In a way the food acts as quasi journal for Tita.  She cannot tell anyone her feelings for fear of Mama Elena finding out, but she can unload her problems onto the food and receive some sort of comfort.

Like Water For Chocolate

Throughout the part of the novel that I have read, Tita seems to be constricted in many, if not all, aspects of her life. Her mother is in a sense her master. Mama Elena does not take Tita's feelings into account when making decisions. So to counteract this inability to express what she wants, Tita lets her emotions become infused in the food she prepares. Whatever she was feeling while preparing the food is acted out by those who partake of it. An example is when Mama Elena becomes paralyzed and Tita is the only who can care for her. When Chechna and John try the food prepared by Tita it tastes perfectly fine to them, however, when Mama Elena tastes it there is a bitter element to the food that convinces her that Tita is trying to poison her. Food is a major component in the novel also because the author uses specific recipes to tell her story.

Characters and Foods

The most prominent role food plays is relaying Tita's emotions. They are added into the mix as if they were a regular ingredient. Food can be grievous, sorrowfully reminiscing of, and longing for, lost love (as with the Chabela wedding cake), passionate and lustful (as with the quail served in rose petal sauce), remedial or bitter (as with the ox-tail soup), and so on.

It can all be explained simply through Tita's emotions. When she made the wedding cake, she was grieved that she had lost Pedro. She was unwilling to throw away the rose, so she made a dish that kept the momento of love from Pedro. The ox-tail soup reminded her of her love for the kitchen while it only served bitterness to her mother for having suppressed her from her desires for many years.

In relation to other characters, foods have the effect of transferring Tita's emotions. Because Tita was grieved, full of desire, and bitter, the eaters received the same emotion. The remedial ox-tail soup is an exception, for which I have no explanation. It could have been any other food that was "foreign to [John's] house" with the same effect. Chencha made it, but she didn't transfer any emotion; the dish and its aroma only aroused in Tita memories of her past life.

Rosaura became a conduit for Tita and Pedro's lust for each other after eating the quail. She received a portion of that passion through that role, and that heat led her to a different path in life. Food not only transfers Tita's emotions, but it changes things. It changes people and their story. It touches their heart, which contributes to that change. The only exceptions are the Chabela wedding cake and the turkey mole, which produced feelings of sorrow and happiness for a short time. The only exception to that is Nacha, who took her life after remembering her lost love.

For Mama Elena, food had a negative effect on her. Tasting the bitter ox-tail soup made her even more miserable as it made her take foolish measures in order to counteract the 'poison.' She realized how no one appreciated her, and yet she tried to protect herself even more. She did not realize her true image. Perhaps it reminded her of her own bitter experiences of lost love and being forced to marry another through set customs and tradition. Maybe that was what drove her to take a dose or iperac, to do something crazy.

Pedro, Chencha and John seem to be the odd ones, as food has no powerful effect on them. Champandongo is a mystery in that the food itself had no effect. It was made with bad temper, but it did not transfer that emotion but overcame it to be an enjoyable meal. In a way, I guess it says that the situation is good although the feelings are not. So now food is immune to emotions.

Food seems to have its own personality.

Defining Food and Family

By define, I guess you mean which food characterizes my family? Or which foods do my family eat on special occasions? I will answer both questions.


Vietnamese tradition:
For a wedding, the characterizing food would be a fried, oily pig (for the initiation ceremony which is customary in Vietnamese tradition). You read right. For New Year's, it is a round container with slots for many kinds of delectable candy like coconut, ginger, soybeans and other ground foods all sliced and sugared for eating.

Family tradition:
For graduation or coming home from school or visiting, it varies. Sometimes we go out and eat at a restaurant, but I consistently remember pho or some other Vietnamese noodle for the home menu. Maybe because it's my favorite food or because it is so served so often, that's why I remember it. But I do not really see it as much as a tradition as it is a common serving at special occasions.

Now that I think about it, there is one tradition that we have, but I don't remember how it got started: when guests come over, my mom prepares a griddle with fresh meat and seafood ready to grill on the tabletop as well as a boiling bowl, for lack of culinary knowledge, for the noodles and green vegetables. I miss the mussels, which are expensive but are so good.

The defining link between these two 'traditions' is that, except for the last example which I think is a Thailand dish, they both serve Vietnamese foods. It is not a tradition because it has been passed down, but it is a continual clinging to Vietnamese customs as my family and I continue living in America.

So, in short, what foods characterize my family? Vietnamese foods, or noodles, specifically.
What foods do we eat on special occasions? Vietnamese foods, or noodles of any variety.

Like Water for Chocolate

Food is a major component in expressing Tita's feelings, which she is incapable in doing well, without the flavor of her food.
Due to traditional confinements, Tita is unable to express herself, and she communicates her feelings to her family with the food she cooks. There are many examples of this seen throughout the book, such as when Tita creates the ox-tail soup that is made with her love and care so her mother could get better, or the lust that accompanied the flowers that Tita used that was from Pedro.
Tita allows her family to feel what she is feeling through her recipes, which is important for Tita's self-expression of her internal flame.

Food as a Character

The food is what Tita bases her life off of. It seems to be an extension of her at first, but then it begins to take a complete control of itself before Tita does. The food ends up curing, healing and killing those that matter most to Tita or are plaguing her. Throughout the novel food is the only thing that everyone can relate to. It is the one thing that brings people together and pushes them apart. It is an observer of all of the conversations of the family, because it is in the kitchen and notices everything. A perfect example is the tamales. They would not cook because there was fighting going on in the house and outside the house, so Tita had to trick them by singing to them. The food is like a child that affects everyone. And it is the only thing to survive the fire at the end, so it is the only thing of that family to survive after the big fire are the recipes that were so powerful.

Rather than a character in this novel, food seems more of an extension of Tita's character. It expresses the emotions and desires that Tita cannot. Her longing for Pedro is expressed in the wedding cake disaster, her desire for him through her sister and the rose petals, and her cheerfulness through the food at the party. Tita is trapped by her mother and by convention, and the only way she can express herself is through her cooking. Though the people eating her food don't realize it, they are understanding Tita through her food; they feel what she feels, and when they eat is the only time that happens.

Like Water for Chocolate

In Like Water for Chocolate the main character Tita is driven by food. Food is her comfort, it is something that she understands, and she cooks very well. She uses it to express herself. The use of food in this way shows a very close connection between Tita and her culture. She enjoys the processes of food, and the past that comes back to her when she is cooking. She later uses food to show her emotions because it is thing she knows and understands the best.

Role of Food in LWFC

I'm not really sure how to go about this particular blog assignment, so bear with me, I guess.

I guess what I gleaned about the food is that it's always present, and it takes precedence over everything else. Throughout the story, the food remains a constant character in the book and in Tita's life, and can always be depended on. The rest of the characters come and go -- Nacha and Mama Elena die, and so does little Roberto. Pedro, Rosaura and Gertrudis all leave and come back, but cannot be counted on.

I keep reading the recipes, and what continues to register with me is their complexity and the necessity for attention to detail in the preparation. Perhaps the food is some sort of mirror of life in general? I dunno...

So far, I don't care about the food. I just want to see what happens between Tita and Pedro.

LWFC FW

The recipes at the beginning of the chapters serve as a constant reminder to how important food is to the novel. Food is used as a common tool throughout the book to bridge gaps, mend wounds, and as the great communicator.

Food As a Character - LWFC

It could be said that the food featured in Like Water For Chocolate serves a very distinct role of arbiter between the rest of the novel’s characters. It constantly remains in a central position of the narrative because, quite naturally, it is woven into the culture that the story s illustrating. To the extent that it is an arbiter, it acts as a balancing mechanism for the conflict (and catalyst points) that occur in the story. In regard to the elements of supernatural realism present in the story, this means that food is a neutral tool to be used for the characters. To use Tita as the most obvious example, she finds comfort in several dishes that she (is sometimes forced to) makes, but is also challenged by them in the same way that another character would; as an obstacle to her beliefs. On the literal level, she is challenged to endure the tragic emotional events of her life which are made harder by serving as one of the more experienced family cooks. Looking more deeply, one might see that while her love of her culture’s food is quite strong, that food is a big part of an overall tradition that she may resent to the core (in regard to specific issues such as her destiny as a mother’s caretaker). She struggles with loving and resenting different parts of her family. It is in this fashion that food is most blatantly personified as a living, breathing character.

Food in LWFC

Food plays an influential and manipulative role in LWFC. First and foremost, it manipulates people's emotions. It also communicates Tita's feelings to the people she is cooking for. At the wedding, she is distraught because her sister is marrying her sweetheart, so the wedding cake makes everyone cry and vomit. She still feels very passionately for Pedro, and desires him, and so the chicken she makes the family (and him) causes orgasms.

Also, the ox-tail soup that Gertruda makes revitalizes Tita and gives her back her self. This comes from Gertruda's love for Tita and her desire to help Tita get well.

I also believe Mama Elena tastes bitterness in Tita's food just before she dies, because Tita is finally no longer scared of her, and is taking care of her truly because she cares, and this causes bitterness in Mama Elena's heart, and this is what she tastes.

Blog 8: Like Water for Chocolate

Within the confining domestic sphere that is Tita's life for much of the novel, cooking is the means she uses to express herself when her mother and the family tradition bottle up everything else for her. Food, as a character, can nurture others where others fail to nurture Tita, acts as a sort of confidant when Tita has no one else to turn to, and manifests her emotions into reality. Food is sort of like Tita's alter ego -- doing things that she would be doing if she had the power to do them. Perhaps that's going a little too far, but this novel does have all sorts of magical realism elements.

The character of food

In Like Water for Chocolate I feel food is more a conduit for Tita than anything else. It serves many functions for the book, usually one major function per chapter, but I wouldn't call it a character in itself. It is more a catalyst for Tita: it avenges Tita when her sister marries her love, it heals her when she cannot speak, and it refuses to taste good to her evil mother ultimately setting in motion the events that lead to her death. When Tita is down, food is there to lift her back up, whether she makes it herself or if prepared by someone else (like the soup). Food seems to be an extension of herself as her emotions are relayed through her food (her sadness is inflicted upon the cake thus all who eat it, her irritation is inflicted upon the proposal dinner and is thus not as good as normal).

Food in Like Water For Chocolate

In the book Like Water for Chocolate, food plays alot of different roles. It's symbolizes larger themes in the book, it exacts revenge, it heals, it provides subtext. Because food does so many things, one could argue that it is its own character, but I think it’s more an extension of Tita than anything else.
Tita’s official value and only socially acceptable role is bound up in her cooking; the kitchen is her whole world and the food she makes is a direct reflection of that reality. When she is overcome with loss and bitterness but powerless to do or say anything about it, food is Tit’s means of communication. Through the meals she makes, she is able to express her sorrow, and passion. It is through food that she is able to exert any type of control on her own life. Food becomes her comfort, her emotional release, her mental escape, her love letter to Pedro, and also her foundation in the reality of life at the ranch.
With all the magical realism that is going on in this book, food is the foundation of reality for the reader as well.

The character of food

In Like Water for Chocolate, food is a major character that serves many functions. Each chapter of the book is based on a certain month and focused on a particular recipe. Each recipe has to do with some dramatic episode or event in the De la Garza family. Food is extremely important to each member in the family; however, like Nacha, food has a whole different connection with Tita. Besides being a wonderful cook, Tita has a spiritual, emotional, and romantic connection with food. In several instances, elements of Tita (blood, tears…) have been mixed into the food which yielded very interesting results. Those who ate the food began to feel the same emotions that Tita felt while preparing it. Furthermore, food acts as conduit for Pedro and Tita’s romantic relationship. In this family, words are not needed to say the things that the food does. The food “speaks” among the characters. Additionally, food is constantly referred to when the feelings of the characters are being described. For example, the title of the book Like Water for Chocolate is used to describe Tita’s feelings: she was extremely agitated and about “to boil over”. In this story, food is used to heal, to speak, to express, to celebrate, and to love.

My Family's Food ways

One important dish my mom makes is her stew.  She makes it every once and awhile and it is one of the most delicious things.  There is beef, corn, zucchini, and beans.  Usually she also makes corn bread and grates cheese to put into it.  There are few things that taste better than that mix. The importance of this dish is from when my uncle Stan was diagnosed with Leukemia and was sick of the hospital food.  My mom learned the recipe from my grandmother and it was my uncle Stan's favorite food.  My mom tried to bring it over as much as she could to make my uncle Stan feel better, and he claimed it worked every time.  Sadly my uncle died soon after being diagnosed.  Still my mom makes it pretty often and every time my uncle is brought up.  There is not a more important dish to my family, it is one of the only times we talk about uncle Stan.

Ramadan

Food is always used to help celebrate events, and in my culture, I distinctly remember Ramadan for its emphasis on food. Ramadan is a holy one-month long observance in which people fast throughout the day, which has been continued for centuries. When it is time to break fast, there is a huge feast presented to recognize the holiday, and give thanks to what we have.

This feast is very important because it is a time for the community, friends, and family to spend quality time together. People connect over food; neighbors invite other neighbors to their houses, long-time friends come together, and mosques provide feasts for all the people, which can include well over 2,000.

The food is typically traditional food, but there are a few foods that are made particularly for this celebration. Every fast must be broken by eating a date and drinking a glass of water, while reciting a surah, which is a prayer.
Appetizers include fruit chaat and chaat apri, which is a delicious concoction of fruit and Pakistani spices, and dall, onions, fried dough, also mixed with spices. Pakoras, a potato deep-fried in batter is also a typical dish feasted upon during Ramadan. Also, a varied assortment of very fattening sweets accompany the meal, such as ladoo, halwa, gulaab jamuun, or jalebi, which is basically some sort of sugary fried dough, occasionally coated in syrup.

In my family, the main components of food traditions occur throughout Ramadan. When Ramamdan comes around, my family always look forward to the great big dinners we share together as a family.

Quite a few of my family traditions revolve around food. My grandmother and my mother always seem convinced that they are cooking for a whole army - there is always about 3 times more food cooked than we're actually ever going to eat. Some of the traditions that have developed in my family have come out of my sisters' and my favorite foods. We have family recipes like hamburger soup, goulash, and our famous Christmas sugar cookies (our decorations are legendary). One food tradition that is particularly interesting is our use of church cookbooks. We have cookbooks from my church and my grandmother's church, and by using those we are tapping into other family's food traditions. One recipe in particular is a recipe for baked beans that my younger sister and I have always loved. It was included in a church cookbook by one of my grandmother's friends back in New Jersey. My sister and I have never met the creator of the recipe, but we know her name was Mrs. Pyron, and those baked beans have come to be known as Mrs. Pyron's baked beans. Even though that recipe is not our own, we have become part of Mrs. Pyron's food traditions.

Food in the Family

In my family, holidays always mean food, and there are a few specific foods that are always fixed for specific holidays. For Easter, there are always deviled eggs and Five-Cup Salad (which is kind of like Watergate Salad, if you're familiar with that). Thanksgiving always means deep-fried turkey with a Cajun-spiced melted butter sauce injected into it, sweet potato casserole with a crunchy brown sugar & pecan topping, and pumpkin bread. We have cranberry bread at Christmastime, and I personally prefer this to pumpkin bread. Sometimes we even do St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo (with corned beef & cabbage, and some sort of Mexican fare, respectively).
The most popular dish in my family, though, doesn't have a holiday spotlight. It's called Beef & Biscuit Casserole. I'm honestly not sure where it came from, but it's very delicious. It's basically just, in a 9x13 pan, this beef mixture on the bottom (seasoned ground beef, chiles, and this very tasty sauce that I don't know how to make) filling the pan probably halfway, and canned biscuit dough layed out across the top of it. A lot of us request it for our birthday dinners. That's another tradition in my family -- that my mom will make us whatever we want to eat on our birthday. Sometimes we go out or order in, but usually my mom cooks, and three of us chose Beef & Biscuit Casserole last year.

Special Occassion Food

Although it may sound boring to some, my family and I celebrate the holidays with the typical American menu. This Thursday, I'll be making the turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, bread, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, pies, etc. Of course there are the sweet potatoes, and that's where I veer only slightly from the norm.

I think it's common for the Thanksgiving and Christmas sweet potatoes to be the ones from the can, with marshmallows melted on top. For a long time, that's even what my mother made. Then along came my grandmother's recipe for Sweet Potatoe Souffle...wow, my mouth is already watering! Although I didn't really have any sort of relationship with my grandmother, I definitely have a relationship with her recipe for sweet potatoes!

I won't write the whole recipe out here (if anyone wants it, I'm happy to share it since it's what Thanksgiving is REALLY about! :D), I will mention that I use real sweet potatoes -- anything else is a waste of tummy space. And I do not use marshmallows, whatsoever. The topping is more like a struedel topping, with brown sugar, butter, chopped pecans, a little flour, and coconut. In the end, it's like a dessert before the actual dessert!

On the occasions that we go to my husband's house or my Mom's house for Thanksgiving, I am always in charge of the sweet potatoes. Everyone loves them, and the recipe has even converted non-sweet-potato-people. A couple of years ago, I got a great compliment. It wasn't that they tasted good (I already knew that!), but it was two different people that said mine tasted better than my grandmother's. Like I said, I didn't really have a connection with her, but everyone knew that she could cook like a fiend. I felt pretty amazing when I heard how good they were, and I was super-happy that my family enjoyed my cooking.

So in a couple of days, I'll be making up a 9x13 pan of those sweet potatoes, and then I'll do it again at Christmas. I'm pretty sure I'll make them twice a year, until the role is called Up Yonder. It'll be pretty thrilling when my own daughters ask me to show them how to make them, and the tradition will live on.

Foodways

My family is Jewish and I feel like we have a lot of food traditions during the year. These traditions are usually on Jewish holidays and of course Thanksgiving. My dad always cooks and my grandmother used to cook. She had this amazing blueberry cheesecake that she made and I couldn't get the recipe from her before she died, because she never wrote it down. I did however get the matzo ball recipe from her for matzo ball soup. In Jewish customs to have a very light and airy matzo ball is perfection. It took two years to get it right with my sister, but we finally got it from watching my grandmother mix the matzo ball mix and then use her hands to roll the balls. The other thing that really signifies food ways for me is cast iron cook wear. I never used a skillet or learned how to cook in one until I came to college and I still think everyone should have cast iron. Treating it is the coolest part. You can add oils and flavors that you regularly use and it will just be on there, for forever. Every time my family gets together for an eating holiday I always want to really learn how to cook and one day I will. One day I will learn exactly how to roast a leg of lamb or a turkey and have everyone love it, hopefully then I'll have my dad's help so I don't burn the house down.

Food Traditions

I suppose the biggest food tradtion in our house is the yearly Thanksgiving meal. More than just a meal, it's an occasion for family from across the country to gather and tell stories. One I intend to bring up this year is just how this madness fell on our house in the first place. As for the food itself, it encompasses all the customary cuisines of Thanksgiving: stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits and of course, the turkey. But there are also some family touches, like caserole courtesy of my grandmother from Minnesota. 

On a more day-to-day basis, however, one could say that the special occasion is simply our family sitting down to eat together at a table. In this hectic world, we haven't done that in...months, I suppose. 

I look forward to Thanksgiving.

Ho-Hum Cuisine

My family’s general cuisine is devoid of much fluff. My dad is an old meat-and-potatoes type so much of what we’ve grown up eating might seem terribly bland or typical: steaks, pot roasts, chicken breasts, meat loafs, basic pastas, etc; I would argue that much of our current menu habits were well-established before my birth, by the past upbringing of my parent’s parents, since any attempt to change is met with a strong resistance.
We partake of many things that, at this point in time, are often considered “traditionally American” such as hamburgers, pizza, and barbeque. Restaurants are used with moderate frequency, especially now that conflicting schedules often mean that a meal would only be cooked for one and the effort is deemed unnecessary.
In this environment, it is difficult to speak on food traditions that surround holidays, but with effort I can think of a few. Although not an entire course meal, I’ve always enjoyed Christmas because of my mother’s Snicker Doodles. Christmas means a few batches will be made along with the more common chocolate chip, and sugar variety. A home-made eggnog recipe is also a big staple for the same season.
My sister’s in-laws are far more flamboyant than us when it comes to such things. They like to throw very large family parties for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Fourth of July, but they do not serve anything you might expect. As an example, lobster is a key centerpiece for all three occasions. Their priority also inevitably falls toward ensuring a robust supply of cocktails and liquors. Eating is not emphasized at these feasts though feasts they are (due to the quantity of food present).
As with other topics, it seems that my family’s tendency for overwhelming practicality is the most obvious contrast when compared against other friends and their families. Our cuisine is very expected, largely due to my father’s appetites and what he interpreted as tradition a long time ago. Turkey is for Thanksgiving, ham is for Christmas, and the grill should be used for any patriotic holiday. Although this type of simplicity definitely, obviously lacks a touch of creativity, it is not without reverence. No one will want to be around him if there isn’t any pumpkin pie on-hand this coming weekend.

Food Traditions

There are many things that my family loves to eat. We are an Italian family, we eat alot espicially around the holidays. At my grandma's every year for Christmas she makes honey ham, lasagna, and baked ziti. Sure the sides dishes change but every year for as long as I can remember my grandmother has made those three main dishes for Christmas dinner.

Food Traditions

There are many kinds of traditions, in regards to food, that is present in my family. One that sticks out is when we cook lichon. Lichon is basically pig that has been cooked over a fire.
When my great uncle would make lichon he would go all out. He would go somewhere and kill the pig himself. After he would do this he would bring the pig home and roast it on a spit. I remember one Fourth of July I went to his backyard and there was a pig on a spit. It kind of freaked me out because I am not used to seeing a pig being roasted in front of me. Everyone started to joke me because in the Philippines they see this kind of thing all the time, so they are used to seeing a pig on a spit.
Now at pretty much every family party someone either makes lichon themselves or they order it from a Filipino market. I have gotten used to seeing a full dead pig on the table so at parties I'm not as freaked out as I once was.

food tradition

Usually Koreans celebrate New Years Day and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) with large amount of food. Both New Years Day and Korean Thanksgiving are three days long holiday, so all family members gather together and prepare a variety of food. In the early morning of New Years Day and Thanksgiving, most Korean people make a breakfast table for the ancestors (NO ONE can eat the food before this ritual. It is considered very rude..). All family members should wear formal suits and make a bow twice for our ancestors. We think that ancestors come to our house to celebrate the holiday together and bring good luck to our family.

Preparing this breakfast table is very difficult and demands a lot of work. In my family, my mother does everything to make the breakfast table for the ancestors even though she does not enjoy cooking. (But she's a great cook) The cooking starts the day before holiday. She buys fresh fruits (apples, chestnuts, pears, mandarin oranges) and other ingredient. While my father cleans the house, my mother starts cooking. I and my older sister help her. First, she makes steamed beef with delicious sauce (I have a trouble explaining Korean food in English!) and prepares salad. Salad is not traditional Korean food, so technically it is wrong to put salad on that breakfast table, but she makes it because I and my sister love my mother's salad. She also starts to make Korean traditional sweet drink with fermented rice. She also cooks several kinds of fried vegetables and fish (again, hard to explain in English). Making these fried vegetables and fish really demands a lot of handwork but is essential in Korean holiday's cooking. She has to make soup and seasoned vegetable, too. There are also other food that I did not mention.

After making all these food, my mother gets exhausted and sometimes she becomes sick. Therefore, 5 years ago, my father made a great decision- he said that our family will not make the breakfast table for the ancestors any more because my mother always has to suffer!! He broke our food tradition! So now she does not have to prepare the formal breakfast table. She only cooks several special food. I think it was really good decision both for mom and myself because making holiday food demands a lot of handwork and actually I do not like holiday food much.....

Foodways

On a normal basis, my four siblings and I eat and eat and eat and eat and eat AND eat. My mother spent most of our childhoods spending hours in the kitchen cooking up gourmet foods. For every holiday she would cook up elaborate menus that were just phenomenal. All by herself she would cook enormous quantities of turkey, mashed potatoes, greens, cranberry sauce, matzoball soup, gefilte fish, etc. BUT, when it came to Christmas meals, my grandma was always in charge of the stuffing. She had a secret Portuguese recipe that she didn't share with anyone and would get up early on Christmas morning and start grinding the meat for it in her ancient grinder. This is THE best stuffing in the world and so we were pretty upset when she lost her ability to cook (and remember most of our names). Luckily, the last Christmas before she could no longer cook, my grandma taught my mom how to make it, thus saving us all from a stuffing-less holiday. So last Christmas, my mom heaved out the old grinder and replicated the stuffing. It was pretty amazing. When the relatives came over for the meal, we were all relieved to have our favorite food on the table and the tradition saved. I fully plan on making sure I have that recipe. Someday.

Food, glorious food.

Everyone in my family loves to eat and almost everyone in my family knows how to cook well. We're all adventurous and ambitious when it comes to what we're to willing put on our plates.
The way it usually works is that each smaller group within the bigger family coming to Thanksgiving dinner will bring a dessert, a side, and a certain style of sweet potatoes. Every year Thanksgiving is fantastic.
Turkey, Ham, green-bean casserole, mashed potatoes, usually 2 or 3 different kinds stuffing, steamed carrots, corn-bread, and different kinds of cranberry "sauce" almost always make it to the table. Some years there are the random "guest-stars" like butternut squash soup, zucchini-bread, broccoli salad, and pearl-onion pumpkin rings, which are all delicious, but not guaranteed to be there. (Not that it really matters, since it's all great and it all gets eaten.) But whatever else may or may not get made: sweet potatoes are mandatory. Not only are they traditional, in my family they're everyone's favorite; it just isn't Thanksgiving without them. Mashed, glazed, steamed, fried, or made into a pie, the answer is "yes, please".
As far as holiday foodway traditions go, what we eat and how it's made isn't always constant, but that we get together and eat alot, never changes.

Blog 7: Foodways

For my family, food is one of the best ways to celebrate the holidays. Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving for us unless there is turkey (obviously) with Dad's homemade dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and pumpkin pie (which I will be making this year). Since Christmas comes right after, instead of turkey, my family fixes a special chicken dish called "Malita's chicken" that has chicken breasts smothered in a creamy sauce and covered with bread crumbs. This particular tradition started after my family and I first moved to Virginia in the 1990s.

Christmas is probably the most important food holiday, actually, because throughout December my mom, my sister, and I will make cookies and desserts every week. Our favorite things to make are chocolate chip cookies, Snickerdoodels, and my great-grandmother's Greek butter cookies. These food traditions come and go from year-to-year depending on things that are happening, but no matter what happens, we are definitely going to be in the kitchen to create deliciousness.

Foodways

My family enjoys eating and will truly claim anything is tradition to bake delicious fatty foods. For instance, a common tradition that my family subscribed to was baking cookies for Santa. However, long after my brother and I learned No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus, we still made cookies for this nonentity. They are always basic sugar cookies with vanilla frosting, but we must always put dye in the frosting because white frosting is boring. There is always red (which comes out pink), green, and blue. That is it. No others. Apparently as a child my dad claimed Santa disliked yellow and orange cookies among all the other colors. In reality, my father disliked these colors. He associates them with foods he dislikes, so while the cookies will taste the same regardless he enjoys them more when they are in the colors of his favorite foods (spaghetti-red, blueberry poptarts-blue).

For my extended family there are no real food traditions other than make as much food as possible. If there is less food this year than there was last year the children and parents will gripe throughout every subsequent visit until the offending holiday comes around again and the food quantity rectified. This problem usually occurs with the macaroni. And is mostly my fault as I consume more macaroni than is generally advisable.

Foodways - Anelise Lemon

My family has many food traditions; most of them related to the holidays. I will share one of the more unique ones that my family observes. Every Christmas Eve my family and I bake a birthday cake. We are a Christian family and celebrate Christmas as Jesus’ birthday. So, for as long as I can remember we have made Jesus a birthday cake. Instead of leaving out milk and cookies for “Santa”, we leave out a piece of cake and milk. When we decorate the cake we use certain colors to represent different things about our beliefs. My mother acquired this own unique baking tradition from her mother. I have not met anyone else that does this, and I enjoy celebrating what Christmas means to us with this baking tradition.

Carnival and Article

I thought that the point in the article about how trying to get Hispanic folks to all subscribe to one cultural identity is foolish was a good one. There are far too many differences in culture between one country and the next for them to all want to come together under one label. I don't really see why we expect that considering that we make such a huge deal out of separating the different European countries' cultures. I know that I would be offended if someone told me that because my ancestors came from Europe I was supposed to eat snails like the French.

I thought that the film was interesting in that it portrayed the different cultural groups within just one city competing and claiming to be different from one another. I think that the need to identify one's self from another group is too strong to completely ignore. It was nice to see that the Carnival in Bahia was able to allow people to express themselves as being different in a (somewhat) safe environment while still letting everyone be free to party.

Celebration

From the reading Tuesday, getting together as a whole and sharing everyones differences was the sole purpose. which is great and understandable, but it seems to restricted to the carnival film. i liked the film more because the concept in both was to celebrate, and the carnival film sure did that. the idea of celebrating was different because the carnival let you be free completely; for 5 whole days. any concerns, dreams, persona's, that had been tucked away is let out during the carnival. free to be yourself and no judgment. while the reading celebrates a stricter celebration and control of all the organized events. you wouldnt her the reading talking about people passing out in the streets and that be the ultimate goal of the celebration. Or see a baby next to a drag queen next to a completly wasted clown during the celebration. it was interesting to see the differences of interpreting the celebration types.

Comparing Carnaval and "Latinismo"

After watching the film and reading the article about Latinismo, I can see some differences between the two.

The film expressly said that the purpose of Carnaval was to have fun, to break from reality for five days out of the whole year while the article reported that the purpose of the Latin culture events was to bring unity in diversity. The article examined several events which had this purpose in mind and reported their level of success based on their "key scenarios."

So, on the one hand, we have a culture event based on fun while the other is founded on the basis of cultural unity and diversity, of finding a common interest and identity while maintaining each Latino country's pride and dignity, which is the tension between nationalism and panethnicity.

Also, the article reported the events in clear though general details and these events seemed to be well-organized events that celebrated this unity in diversity concept. Carnaval, on the other hand, seemed like one of our classmates confided, like "organized chaos." There was lots of dancing and noise and people in the middle of the streets and--at the end of the festival--lots of trash to clean up. Carnaval just seems like a huge event compared to the ones mentioned in the article.

Though I can say that Carnaval did represent all of Bahia's cultural heritages through their respective clubs. I cannot say that for many of the cultural events mentioned in the article, as Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday and other Hispanics try to celebrate it. The Mexicans have historically been the culturally dominant ethnic group in San Francisco. But the Berkeley Fiesta and the 24th Street Fair showed that Cinco de Mayo could represent more than one Latino country in bringing in group-specific music, dance and food.

Carnaval in Bahia seems to already have this unity in diversity concept in hand, though some culture events in San Francisco have some work to do to achieve this goal of Latinismo.

Carnival and Latin American Events

The main thing that Carnival in Bahia had with the events we read about was that there was a mix of cultures. However, the cultures that were mixed were different and the reasons were different also.  In Carnival there was a mix of South American, Native American, and even African influences because those cultures are prominate in Brazil.  It is a part of Brazilian culture.  The events we read about usually mixed different country's cultures together, in order to show unity among the latinos in America.  There seemed a stark difference between the events we read about and Carnival.  The events in America were a concerted effort to bring people of different nationalities together.  There was a blend that would have made it hard to differentiate the cultures, they were all just latino.  For instance for cinco de mayo in one of the events there were several cultures other than Mexican featured.  They were trying to create a sense of community.  Carnival is a result of community, not an attempt for community.  The cultures there are Brazilian and nothing else, they are already united, and no one is trying to force them to unite, and they are confusing their culture with any other.  The events we read about seemed more contrived, while the Carnival was natural.  There was no greater plot behind it, the point is to just have fun.   

Carnival Edition

The film was interesting because I'd actually never heard of Carnival...or Bahia. The equivalent here[in the U.S.] religiously would be Mardi Gras whilst the equivalent overall would be Key West's Fantasy Fest. With Fantasy Fest, it is the only week long festival where authority tolerates public intoxication and debauchery. The one aspect of the film that stood out to me was when the elderly woman performed a ritual that involved killing chickens to remove the evil from the club. That was one of the only main aspects that didn't really match up with the great carnival-like events in America. As exciting as the carnaval seemed, I don't think I'd personally attend it but it was great to view it through film none the less.

Carnival

The article does a good job in exploring the history of cultural unity within the United States in South and Central America. While the article talked about the unity of different cultural groups and the celebration of Cinco de Mayo in San Francisco, the film was a visual expression of the unity of culture in Bahia.
Different cultural backgrounds were united in a 5 day celebration which incorporated song and dance, although the different social classes would typically divide these groups. It was compelling to see how these distinct groups, each with their own distinct customs and traditions, were able to express themselves with freedom and acceptance.
The film was a great way to see the written words of the article, although different location and demographics. Both the article and video described the cultural unity the Hispanic population shared, despite their individual differences.

Carnaval

The film that we watched in class was very intriguing. I had always known about Bahia, but never heard of this celebration called Carnaval. It is a time for all social classes to get together, forget their troubles, and party for days on end. In many ways I was reminded of the Mardi Gras celebration that takes place in New Orleans. The article also concerned Carnaval, but in America, San Francisco to be exact. Unfortunately, clearly the experiences of the two are completely different, due to the more generic feel given off by the San Francisco celebration than the Bahia one. While the Bahia celebration was a coming together of all different types of Latino people celebrating different aspects of their heritage, the San Francisco one was much more subdued and made so that all of their residents, not just Latino one, could take part in the fun. Overall I found the video to be much more compelling to the article and enjoyed watching it.

In the film "Carnival Bahia," carnival is an all-encompassing celebration. Although, according to the film, it began in Bahia as a celebration for mostly upper class citizens, the film portrays it as now being a celebration for all social groups. The article describes the Carnaval in San Francisco as an attempt to create a celebration of all ethnic groups - more of an international celebration. There is a large Brazilian influence, and the elements of Carnaval in San Francisco, according to the article, make it too generic for the large Latino population to claim it as their own. The Latino population in San Francisco is varied, and each group has separate elements that it prefers to emphasize. In the film, each group, like Olodum, has its own cultural emphasis. Some are trying to go back to their African routes, others relate to Ghandi. However, the film says that they are all Brazilian, but first,they consider themselves Bahian. That is the common element that they celebrate in their own Carnival.

Carnival

In the film that we watched in class, Carnival Bahia, there was one main carnival that everyone wanted to participate in. People from every class participated in Carnival but some were more limited than other because of their class; Olodum being one of the poorer clubs to participate due to their limited amount of funds, however still leaving their mark on Carnival. Both the film we watched and the article we read deals with immigrants; Carnival Bahia deals with more African aspect of the immigrants while the article opens up to many more different ethnicities. Both Carnivals allow everyone from each class to tear away at the labels and escape to a fantasy world.

Film vs. Article

"Carnival Bahia" portrayed the carnival as 5 days of universal celebration. All social classes, people from all walks of life set aside their day-to-day struggles just to have fun. Of course, as in all forms of fun, there was some competition, but all with good intent; the only prize was bragging rights, but that was enough. In those 5 days, people were able to live out even their wildest fantasies in broad daylight without fear or shame, a true celebration of individuality.
Although the article and the film may describe the same thing, the film does a much more compelling job. It's far easier to understand what the carnival means to people when you see it for yourself, rather than having some author say, "This carnival is a true escape for these people."

Film vs. Article

In the film Carnival Bahia, there was one main carnival and everyone participated in it. The main difference between the people participating was their class. The film concentrated on the plight of the Olodum. They faced more struggles to be apart of the carnival because of their limited amount of funds. This carnival is just one example of how culture can blur the lines between classes. Even though Olodum was one of the poorer clubs, by the end of the carnival everyone was singing their song.
In the article I found that there was a concentration on how the different groups of Hispanics celebrate different carnivals instead of focusing on one like the film. The article talked mainly about the origins of carnivals like Cinco de Mayo, which was the "commemoration of the 1862 battle of Puebla" (39). Reading about different carnivals is immensely different than actually witnessing the for oneself.
Both ways of viewing carnivals have a way that shows the audience it is possible to cross certain lines, i.e. class. It is also possible to, for at least a while, not differentiate between the different groups of Hispanics and they can all be one large group, i.e. San Francisco.

carnival

The film we watched in the class last time describes about Carnival Bahia in Salvador, Brazil. It shows that people in Bahia (mostly poor) who has African descent gather together and enjoy 5 days of festival. They live other 360 days for the Carnival and forget about stressful matters in their ordinary lives. The film also shows how people prepare for the carnival and enjoy it. The article also describes several Latino festivals in the United States. It focuses more on origin of those festivals and expression of same hispanic identity in the US.

Article vs film

I found the article to be quite lacking when compared to the film. Reading about the event and seeing it are two completely different things, even more so in this case with the huge scale and the cultural meaning of the carnival itself. Personally seeing the carnival on film got me quite excited. 5 days of near anarchy appeared to be a lot of fun. Moreover the multitude of cultures gathering together for a single celebration where class and social power almost do not matter at all is an impressive thing. I get the feeling that perhaps America would benefit from something like this. But then again i would imagine our crime rate would be much higher. I always knew that letting go was good for you once in a while but to do it on the scale of tens of thousands of people is amazing at least from the government perspective.

     You cannot capture the spirit of the carnival, which revolves around chaos and a general letting go, with words in an article. It is just something that you have to go see. (something that i hope to see eventually as well)

Carnival

The movie was very different from the article. The movie focused a lot on the fact that the carnival was a way for the people of Bahia to forget their everyday lives. It made the carnival out to be five days of debauchery. There were several images of people taking there clothes off, homosexual kissing, cross dressing, and prostitution. They went into detail about how the people are in poverty. The movie made it seem like these five days are the only time these people, who have horrible lives 360 days of the year, can enjoy themselves and that they act without the thought of moral repercussions. The article explained that Hispanics created these carnivals as a way to establish a cultural identity, and to get together and express said cultural identity. The article made the entire activity seem much more civilized. It was portrayed as more of a statement of their culture and less of a day to go wild.

One similarity I noticed was the presence of African culture within the Latin culture. The African rhythmic pattern has been infused into much of the music in Latin countries. Like in the movie the Africans that were brought to work in these countries refused to let go of their culture.

Blog 6: Carnival Bahia

What struck me the most about Carnival Bahia is that it instantly reminded me of Marti Gras celebrations that I've seen (from televsion) and heard about, but Carnival Bahia is much more extreme in size, scope, and general anarchy. I noticed that the three carnivals had at least one thing in common, and that is that they are all brought over by immigrants and maintained by the descendents of immigrants. Carnival seems to preserve some cultural pieces (such as the emphasis on having an African heritage in C.B.), while generating a unique culture specific to the area, no matter where the original idea came from.

CvC

Both the carnival in the film and the carnival we read were made for immigrants. The contrasting aspect to this is that carnival Bahia is much more focused on the african aspect of the immigrants. The carnival we read about includes many more ethnicities. Both carnivals have floats that celebrate the specific groups which participate.

Carnival

Although I am aware that Brazil is full of many different cultural backgrounds, I was still surprised to see the many different groups that participated in the Carnival Bahia. I was not aware that they identified themselves so strongly with their specific cultural groups. Interestingly enough, the African roots were common in both the video and article amongst the Latin American groups. Even though the Carnival celebrations from the article were very different in style and presentation from those of the video, they all had that underlying base of African traditions. So no matter how differently the people may represent their cultures, it was clear from the article and the video that they were all brought together by the deep roots of the African culture they share. The most fascinating part is the idea that any one country can be represented by so many groups of people who identify with very specific aspects of their culture and yet they all remain so connected by an underlying culture that comes out in their art, singing, dancing, and social expression.

Carnival

The article speaks of a national Hispanic heritage as impossible as it is too general. I completely agree. Hispanic culture is spread over three land masses (Europe, South America, and Central America), has numerous dialects that cannot translates (for example the word potato in Castilian Spanish has a completely different meaning in South American countries' dialects). I was not surprised at all to find group-specific cultural/folklore activities such as Carnival Bahia. There may be similar activities in other countries but their differences are often quite noticeable. The same can be said of America. We may all speak the same language, but a carnival in NoVa is highly different than one in WVA. Nova carnivals involve mechanical rides and creepy carnies, WVA carnivals have hay rides and corn field mazes. They'll have similar overlap in foods (cotton candy, caramel apples, funnel cakes and so on), age groups (young children with their parents), and so on but when compared side by side they are noticeably different.

The Carnival in the article seems much more low-key than Carnival Bahia. The one mentioned in the article (Brazilian inspired) is only 1 day long instead of five, furthermore it does not unify the neighborhood as much as Carnival Bahia simply because the Brazilian version leaves the main neighborhood. One of the major similarities, however, are the floats of differing nationalities and ethnicities. This allows the mass to unify under one broad banner while being separate facilities on their floats. Also, both Carnivals are heavy with Afro-tradition despite the fact that most people no longer identify with such traditions (either because they have no Afro-heritage personally or because that have been so long removed from it).

Carnival events in Latin America - Anelise

Prior to this week, I had not read a lot about the Carnival in Bahia or any other Latin American carnivals. It was very educational. I was amazed at all the similarities between the film and the article. The Carnival in Bahia was definitely emblematic of other Latin America carnival events. In both there was definitely the symbolic use of music, costumes, dance, rituals, and religion. It was also interesting how the festivals seem to be composed of one large group which is then subdivided into a bunch of smaller groups. In the article, the two festivals that are described in detail are the 24th Street Culture Festival and the Cinco de Mayo festival - both located in San Francisco. The Cinco de Mayo celebration was originally a Mexican event; however, it had been reorganized as a Latin American event - bringing the whole Latin American community together. Additionally, it was interesting to see how the African elements of Latin American heritage are portrayed in both the film and the article. I was unaware of the negative way some Latin Americans view the African roots in their heritage. From both the film and the article, it is evident that it is common for Latin American carnival events to be concurrent displays of culture - both different and similar - all within a unifying foundation.

grimm tales

When i was little there was definitely Disney and the whole happy ending. there was always good feeling of knowing the princess was saved, the good guy won, etc. it wasn't until later in my childhood that i was introduced to the Grimm stories. i didn't know at the time that was them, but as a kid, the stories can be heartbreaking. of course this is all Disney's fault. the Grimm stories did make grim impressions on me when i would remember some of the stories. but watching them acted out in class did help me laugh on some that as a kid i wouldn't have been able to.

The Tales of the Brothers Grimm

I love these tales from the Brothers Grimm, though I know not whether they were collected or created. These stories are so enchanting and pleasurable to read; if I had only time to read these tales, I would do it. Surely, reading it for homework is a pleasure.

The tales seem to combine elements of reality, i.e. dangers from cutthroats or cannibals, stupidity and foolishness present in young 'uns, how dangerous persons can seem like friends, etc. with elements of enchantment and magic, i.e. witches, talking animals, elves, changelings (creepy things, really), and the oddest human characters you may ever read about. These stories clearly occupy the realm of imagination.

But as they are based on reality, they seem to convey some sort of message about it. It would not be far-fetched or unreasonable an idea to learn a lesson from these tales. For example, check and make sure who you're marrying is not a cannibal or otherwise dangerous and unsavory person. Another example would be that doing good invites the goodwill and blessing of others so that you may live a prosperous and happy, well-to-do life. Certainly, the stories seem that way.

So, the tales are purposed for disseminating social mores, giving warnings of potential dangers, putting on display the wonderfully idiotic actions of "unreal" characters, or just gathering peoples together for a good tale. It must be wonderful to tell and to hear of such fancy tales.

Grimm Tales

As a child I read the happily ever after tales rather than the ones that were written by the Grimm Brothers. The tales as a child made life seem like everyone was always happy and people got what their hearts desired. The tales we read for class did not always end with a happily ever after. The Death of a Hen is one fairytale that I did not hear as a child. In that tale everybody died and this killed, no pun intended, the illusion that all fairytales had happy endings. The purpose of these tales, in my opinion, are to show people that life is not always happy. There are no princes who come to rescue the damsels in the towers. These tales also provide morals that young kids should know. In Prudent Hans, the moral would to not take things for granted because you never know when they can disappear.

Grimm tales

I read these tales as a young child and I have forgotten how disturbing some of them are and how harsh some of the lessons seem. Clearly the tales are to teach or explain (a lesson, a phenomenon, and so on) and sometimes have a quality of amusement (Hans in Luck for instance). What seems interesting to me is how Disney (among other children story tellers/movie makers) has swooped in and altered the tales for children. As time went on and I got further away from when I actually read the tales I thought of Grimm tales and Disney as much more similar than they really are. The first version of Rapunzel I saw on TV had no thorns to stab out the prince's eyes. Instead there was an epic fight between Prince and witch; the prince won and whisked Rapunzel away--completely cutting out years of desert wandering. I've been trying to figure out who decided to alter the stories for children instead of leaving them as more adult household tales and why.

Grimm's Tales

I had known of some of Grimm's tales, but never really read them before. After reading some of the tales, I have a few opinions on them. My main opinion was that I had always seen the Grimm tales as fairy tales that are told to children. Well after reading the dark nature of the stories, clearly this isn't always the case. This explains why the book is termed "household stories" and not "children's stories." As for the purpose of the tales, other than entertainment of course, the tales seem to give lessons, such as in "The Death of the Hen" which teaches what can happen if you are greedy. Overall the Grimm Tales are very interesting and I'm excited to read the rest of them.

Grimm's Tales

Growing up, I was very familiar with fairy tales, from Hans Christian Andersen to the Grimm Brothers. My sisters and I would read the tales or watch videos about them. We really enjoyed listening to the stories, and to this day, I still like reading them. They remind me of my childhood and all the different variations of the stories that I read.

I was home this past weekend, and I completed the assignment by reading the stories to my seven year old brother. Although I had read most of the stories before, my brother was hearing them for the first time. For him, he saw the tales as more than entertainment. He was filled with questions after every story; he was learning lessons and having fun at the same time.

These stories provide the reader with a message that is received in a fun and interesting way. Without the entertaining aspects of the these stories, I doubt that people would be as interested in their content.

Folk tales

The pupose of these tales is to teach lessons. They are designed to convince common people of their position. So children must stay on the path in the woods and work hard.

Some stories are of more entertainment value. Hans in Luck allows the audience to laugh at a man who makes bad trades consistently, while the Six Soldiers of fortune do impossible things and triumph over those richer and crueler than they. It's a way to feel hopeful for th future.

purpose of tales

Aside from entertainment, the tales serve as a lesson to the audience. Here are a few highlights of what I've gleaned from the stories.

I was a tad bit confused by the lesson in "The Three Spinsters." While it does demonstrate that you will be rewarded by keeping your word, it gives a conflicting message about lying. The mother lied to the Queen, and therefore received nothing, yet the daughter lied to the Prince and recieved a life of leisure and luxury.

"The Fisherman and His Wife" teaches the audience to be careful with what you wish for and be happy with what you have. I also think it encourages us to stand up for what we believe in -- since the fisherman always complied with his demanding wife (against his better judgement), he never enjoyed a day's rest or peace.

"The Elves" is one of my favorite childhood stories. Although I recall it ending a little differently, the moral of the story is the same: One good turn deserves another.

Although I think "The Queen Bee" emphasizes the same moral as "The Elves," I also believe it points to the Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Witling's high regard for others led the creatures to look out for him and help him gain his fortune. His mean brothers, on the other hand, ended up getting what they deserved...

The Grimms's Household Stories serve multiple purposes. Some of them teach a lesson. For example, in "The Robber Bridegroom" the reader learns not to be too trusting of strangers. In "Little Red Cap" we learn another lesson about the dangers of trusting strangers and straying from the correct path. Lesson abound in the tales, but they aren't all about lessons. They also offer commentary on human nature. "The Three Spinsters" introduce us to a lazy girl who gets ahead by being resourceful, and in "The Gallant Tailor" we meet a little man who is able to trick people into making him a king by sheer cleverness. The wife in "The Fisherman and his Wife" exemplifies the human human greed and the tendency to covet power. Even if there isn't an overt lesson in each tale, some aspect of human character is being examined.

Blog 5: Grimm Tales

My main impression of these tales is that while some are horrific and others are humorous (or both at the same time), many of them have multiple meanings and lessons in them. The one that I'm most familiar with is "Little Red Cap," after I read this original story a few years ago in another English class (I heard an "edited" version, without the particular punishments done to the wolves, as a child). The most obvious "lesson" in the tale for children is, naturally, "don't talk to strangers." But there's also a warning against young girls talking to strange men in particular (with the wolf representing men); a belief that children should listen to and deeply respect their elders; and a praise for those who show that they are clever. There are probably others that I'm missing, but my other impression is that these stories also contain a lot of symbolism that was important to the people who shared them.

As for their purpose, I also believe that they do impart lessons and advice. If I were to study these fairytales more in-depth, I would learn a lot about the folk culture that they originated from

The point behind Grimms Tales

Grimm's Tales obviously serve to teach a lesson or prove a point or hone in on an issue. The story of the fisherman and his wife for example, was not just to teach you that hard work is important, but the overriding point was to be content with what you have. It shows that greed can be an all-consuming, life changing force. The wife began to manipulate her husband, loose sleep, and eventually ruin her "good fortune" by being greedy.
Most tales teach and instruct about greed, sloth and some of the other major sins. As was prevalent in the time of Grimm and to a lesser extent today, stories that instruct young and old about the repercussions of undesirable behaviors are an important part of society.

Fairy Tales

The purpose of these tales other then entertainment is to teach a lesson. The tale of "The Three Spinsters" is meant to teach people that they should keep their promises. The young girl in the story keeps her promise, and everything turns out even better then she expected. In the tale of "The Fisherman and his wife". The wife and the husband get what they deserve. She gets what she deserves because she is so greedy and he gets what he deserves for doing everything she tells him to. All of the stories are like this. When someone does something good in the story or has a good trait then good comes to them. But when they do bad things or have bad traits bad things come to them.

My impression of these stories are that they are a little harsh, even when people are good and eventually get good back. Some of the elements of the stories are violent, and scary. Like in "The Gallant Taylor" when he kills the giants and they are swimming in their own blood. I like the lessons that the stories teach, but I think I will stick to Disney for my nighttime movies. No one wants to fall asleep watching "Rapunzel" when the prince gets his eyes gouged out.

Grimms Tales

I really enjoyed these stories, but I was surprised that I knew most of the ones in the anthology for our class. I hadn’t realized how much of childhood story-time I’d absorbed. I was also surprised that some of them were by the Grimms Brothers and not authored by Hans Christian Anderson. I guess it makes sense that both of them would tell similar stories since these fables were popular folk tales. It seems like all of these stories are meant to be tools. Whether they advise, warn, or just try to get a laugh out of the audience, each of them seems to have a central message. Like in the tale of Clever Grethel: it’s better to have an ingenious servant than an honest one. That isn’t a very moral moral, but it is (was) practical housekeeping advice. I liked that each of these tales had some form of sensible wisdom or entertainment value to offer to its audience. I think that’s why they get re-done/ re-told and have a sort of timeless quality about them.

Grimm Tales

When I read the tales, I was very glad because I have read all of these stories in the childhood. I was also surprised at myself because I knew every story in the book. Some stories had life lessons or moral in the plot but other stories did not have morals. In addition there were several stories that were not happy ending. I think Grimm Tales are different from fairy tales like Cinderella or Snow White. They are a lot more realistic.
As a grown up reader, these tales are for entertaining, but I think they can give children some lessons. For example, if you do not hear mother's words carefully, you will meet bad fortune like the little red cap met the wolf in the forest. Or, if you are greedy, you'll lose everything as in "the fisherman and his wife".

Brother's Grimm

I have heard and/or read most of these in some form or other ever since I was a kid. There are so many different versions and these, being the originals, are the most non-sugar coated versions. They teach different stories and have multiple morals and I think the reason they are so violent and mostly unpleasant is because the real lesson is not lost among extraneous details. With stories today, they become so convoluted with rainbows and fairies and magic that the morals are usually lost in translation. But with the direct and obvious meanings of these stories, the people during the time that they were written, would have no hard time trying to understand them. I particularly loved "The Three Spinsters" story because it begins like the story of Rumpelstiltskin but ends up being something completely different with a humorous ending. For the modern day reader, I think they are purely for entertainment because we have different ways of warning others and setting examples. But for the people back in the time when these stories were written, they definitely served the purpose of teaching lessons.

Grimm Tales

After reading all of the Grimm tales that we were assigned to read, I've come to notice that all of them have the same general lesson behind it. Most of these tales were violent, they had kidnappings and murders, but I feel like that is not uncommon for the Grimm brothers. The Fisherman and his Wife is the classic lesson of appreciating what you already have and do not take things for granted, and the wife in this tale just wanted more and more and became greedy with every wish that was granted for her until she was put back to where she started from. These tales are for pure entertainment, as we all know fish cannot talk, although we would like to believe that there are magical fish that we could communicate with; who wouldn't want to know what a fish was thinking. The Grimm's tales may be a varient of the fairytales that children are told today, they may be darker and not appropriate for a certian age group but they still have the basic lessons that children need to learn.

Impression and Purposes

My impression of these stories is that most are very interesting and entertaining but many are very violent, which is what I expected because of the Grimm’s reputation.  I was still surprised sometimes at how gory they can get though.  But, I really like most of the stories especially Hans in Luck and Hansel and Grethel because they are funny and weird.  I was not really expecting many of the stories to be funny.  I have never read any of the original Grimm fairy tales but I herd that they were quite gory and depressing.  So it was a pleasant surprise when some were actually light hearted and funny.

         I think that many of the stories are purely for entertainment.  But there are many that have some sort of lesson in them also.  Some of the stories I would think act as a great deterrent to bad behavior among children.  After being told the story of The Goose Girl, it would be a lot harder for me to lie and deceive than if my parents just old me not to lie.  These stories teach impressionable children all the bad things that happen if they do not live a smart, and moral life.  At least it is what the parents want the children to think that is what happens when they are bad.

Grimm Fairytales

Some of these tales are funny and some definitely are not. They do have lessons in each of them. It seems that although there are some with different versions they seem to have the same message behind them. Overall I think they were stories that were created to teach people lessons and told so others would learn from them. Every culture has certain tales that they pass down through experiences or stories such as these. The majority of these tales are fantastical, but if the audience is able to get past that then the moral or lesson is glaringly obvious.

FT.E&P

These tales all require some thought to come to their true understanding. I think these tales are meant to get people thinking, and they do so very effectively. But their outlying purpose is hard to discern. The only real purpose I got from any of these tales was from The Robber Bridegroom. As cynical as it sounds, I believe that The Robbers Bridegroom is about the horrors or marriage. How after you commit to something that seems to wonderful, you become trapped in a house a lone, left only to the friendship of an old woman, with your husband killing your spirit and eating your sole. Well, thats a bit dark, but hey, it makes sense.

Anelise - Blog #5 - Fairy Tales purpose

I really enjoyed reading these stories. A few of them I had heard before; however, not necessarily in this form. Aside from the wonderful entertainment these stories provided, I believe that they serve many purposes. Each of the stories illustrated at least one life lesson. There were many lessons taught throughout the stories - some obvious and others encoded. To many parents the stories might be viewed as gruesome or unsuitable for children. However, I thought it was wonderful how the stories do not always have happy endings. Although most of them are strictly fiction, these stories give off the message that not every story ends “happily ever after”. They also address the issue of cultural values and norms. Moreover each of these stories is filled full of metaphors, symbolism, lessons, wisdom, and of course - entertainment!

Hand gesture

I have always been one to support gestures; if i want to point to something without speaking-I'll point with my lips or nose and look in that direction. In my family there are a lot of gestures done with hands and their faces that don't need explaining. Their gestures while they tell jokes or stories are the best. When i listen and see a story its completely different from if i read it over aim/text-the Internet. I feel a lot is lost. In person you hear and see what the person is portraying: movement of their body and actions, along with the pitch of their voice- changing voices when there's another person talking and accents they might have.
On the computer I will read plainly, and if i want to portray any emotion i have to result to the smiley face option on my AIM box. The problem with that, is the smiley faces fall short since the Internet lacks the connection of personal interaction. Reading is different from person to person and so, i might get offended if my friend types in all caps..thinking she's yelling at me when really she's just really happy and hyper. It's difficult to get the whole story across through an email or through chat, till the web cam. It makes a bridge that wasn't achieved before. Now i can see, talk, and hear my family that's all over the world. Even though there's miles dividing, i can still wake up real early, or stay up real late, to see, talk, and hear my brother that's in Kabul.

A Mental Aside - Gesture On the Net

It may definitely be understood that we are able to express emotion and gesture through writing and specifically through the internet. However, the interpretation of the devices that we use to convey such things as inflection cues or hand-gestures are just as likely to be misunderstood. Did you read the italicized portion of my first sentence with a mental elongation of the words? That reading would be entirely appropriate under a certain context, especially one in which I was trying to emphasize sarcasm as much as possible. But, implying that italics is sometimes a valid method for expressing sarcasm is not a universal opinion, nor extend to all groups of internet users. It often seems to be the case that an individual’s comprehension of more advanced forms of internet parlance is based upon that individual’s experience with the specific mode of communication he or she is using, whether that be e-mail, instant messaging, or a favorite message board. That may indicate the presence of something more akin to a lexicon of etiquette than anything else. ON THE OTHER HAND, I MAY HAVE JUST SPENT TIME ADDRESSING A COMPLETELY OBVIOUS ISSUE. Sorry, didn’t mean to get passionate there.

To the main question of the topic, how one might express physical gestures through the net, the most common example that comes to mind would be what I can accomplish if I use parentheses to encapsulate a small idea, or fact into a larger context. How many people equate the use of such parentheses to the similar physical action of cupping one hand around your mouth and speaking softly? (Maybe you might even turn your head away from the subject of your softer comment) I’d call that “an aside” in regular conversation and it usually comes to mind often when I think I see it being expressed through black text.

Gestures Online

I'd say the first thing anyone thinks of as far as conveying emotion online are those nice little smiley-faces. They seem to have every option now, from happy to sad to cool to confused (...at least, I think that's what that face means). And here enters the problem: Even though one person may see a face and react one way, there is no guarantee that the person on the other end will see it the same way.  (In my opinion, :P could be seen as "That's silly." just as easily as "You're silly." 

I feel much the same way about all of these "emotional inserts." (*cries* *wink* *hugs*) They all fulfill a purpose at times, I suppose, but they shouldn't be our only form of expressing emotion. Personally, if something is so important that you have to labor over the correct emoticon or *action* to put in your IM message...GET OFF IM and meet in person. If you can't do that, at least have a phone conversation. That way, no one has to worry about a lost internet connection interrupting at a crucial time (think about all those dropped calls and what silence used to mean on the telephone). 

Either that, or get really good at writing all your thoughts and feelings really fast, really well...

The online world can be very expressive, but I don't think that gesture necessarily translates to the online world. Instead, I think that online conversations have adapted to the point where there is a new means of expression. There are smiley faces, asterisks to denote sarcasm, acronyms, etc. Each of these things portrays a certain emotion or tone, but it does not necessarily have a direct translation to a human gesture. For example, when a person types "lol" that doesn't necessarily mean he or she is actually laughing out loud. More likely, the person just found a comment humorous, and "lol" is the only way to express that via online conversations. In addition, some physical gestures are involuntary, but convey a great deal (giggles, frowns, raising of eyebrows, clenching of fists). In an online conversation, a person has more time to consider his or her response.

Gesture

I do not think that you can fully translate gesture to the internet. The tone of a person's voice is very important, and impossible to translate. For instance bad things can come from sarcasm on the internet that has not been followed with the word "sarcasm" in a pair of *asterisks* to show that you are preforming the act of sarcasm. One time I was IMing with one of my guy friends, and complaining about how I did not have a date to the upcoming dance. It went something like this:

Me: It's really sad how I'm soooo pathetic that I can't even get a date. :(
Him: Your not pathetic.
Me: Really now then why is my patheticness eating my head.
Him: Well then we should just go to the dance together.
Me: Yeah, ok.
Him: Ok I gotta to bed.
Me: K, night
Him: Night

Somehow I ended up committing to a date without realizing it. My "Yeah, ok" was supposed to have a drawn out ok, more like "ooook". But that did not translate through the internet. I was just talking out my butt, and did not realize that his invitation was sincere. However I did find out. The next day at school it had circulated throughout our friends. I ended up getting my best friend to call him on the phone the day of the dance, and tell him I was not coming. Then I ended up going anyway, he got the wrong idea, and was mad at my without telling me for weeks. Without the power of voice inflection and tone the internet can be very dangerous. People can easily get the wrong idea.

You just can not get the same level of emotion either. Just because you write *cries* into your e-mail does not mean that the other person is going to feel bad for you. It takes real tears in person for the other person to really get the idea. Which is why it is extremely weird when adults try to start relationships on the internet. You can not get a good sense of the other person from a few emoticons. :P

Gestures Online

It's so easy to put an emoticon or to use punctuation to express how you feel when you are online. While it does seem that you are getting your point across, more times than not, the real emotion and feeling of the conversation is not being relayed to the person you are talking with online. Especially for people who are not familiar with the lingo of online conversation, it is very hard to understand their attitudes and emotions because they have not adapted to expressing themselves without making eye contact, hand movements, and facial expressions. It is practically impossible to understand that they are being humorous because without the "lol", who knows what's funny and what isn't?
A perfect example of this is the first time i met my brother's fiance, we were online. I did not even know what her voice sounded like and we were chatting on facebook chat. She had never really been online like that before and did not understand any of the chatting lingo that I am so familiar with. She was asking me questions and stuff and I began interpreting these questions as being invasive and rude. I had no idea what her facial expressions were so I couldn't tell if she was joking and I couldn't here the tone of her voice to identify any kind of rude attitude. Unfortunately that gave me a very bad first impression of her and I still have not met her in person so I think that until I do, I will not like her.
Lack of real human gestures online has taken away from truthful expression and while it does serve it's purpose for a quick chat, it really undermines our abilities to express ourselves the best way we know how.

Gesture in the Online World

On the Internet, there is such a thing as smileys, which are just big yellow faces (generally). My sister uses the icons all the time. Instead of seeing your face, the people you talk with online through im, chat, e-mail and whatnot can see these smiley expressions.

These expression represent a whole range of emotions, from a smiling face, a surprised face, a bored face, an angry face, an embarassed face...you get the idea. Not exactly body motions, but these expressions do communicate a great deal of emotion, if shared honestly. A type of body language, if you prefer.

In the absence of smiley expressions, people use keyboard symbols like < and /, and letters as well. For example, :D, which is a combination of a colon and the capital d. It communicates the big smile perfectly. There are other forms, or expressions, like <3, or heart, etc. I realize that many people reading this will go duh, but for the uninitiated, there you go.

Also, I searched online for "im speak" and came up with a website titled "The Largest List of Text Message Shorthand (IM, SMS) and Internet Acronyms Found of the Web." Succinct enough. But it certainly is a long list. For example, there is the shorthand, W9, for "wife in room," or YBF, which means "You've Been F***ed." Since I don't im that much, I find this list fascinating and enlightening.

There must be hundreds of abbreviations and shorthands for phrases for online communication. I say this is gesture not only because it is a special form of communication developed among a particular group of people, but because, like the bird and other such body language, they are unintelligible and/or innocuous. However, the body is not used for this communication, it is the keyboard, so perhaps this is a new form of communication apart from gesture, or I'm just late to the game and it has a name but I just don't know it.

Family

My family is big on family closeness. Whenever someone goes away for a long time and then comes home, we have a big mini celebration. We go out to eat and things like that. For example, my brother went to the Marine Corps, and he'd only have a couple days of leave a year. Whenever he came home, my parents made sure it was a comfortable stay for him.

But I remember one moment of religious superstition for our family. It is pretty funny now that I think about it. One late afternoon (early, evening, I'm not sure), my parents and my aunt (who was living with us at the time with her daughter) each took a bottle of oil (olive, I think), went outside the house and walked around touching the exterior of the house with the oil, all the while praying in tongues. I was invited to tag along. It was pretty bizarre. I didn't understand why they were doing it, even though I knew the reason--to ward off evil spirits from our house.

I guess I'm in one of those very religious families, then.

Gesture in the Online World

There is a constant idea that things are lost in translation on the internet. It is a constant problem because words can be misconstrued as well as a person's tone. Gestures, tones of voice, attitudes, emphasis are all lost by writing on the internet UNLESS they are underlined, italicized, capitalized, boldfaced, have a larger font, or something is dramatically different about that word to make it stand out from the rest. Most likely to make the point that the author was trying to convey. Writing has also become a lot less formal online so it is harder to perfectly understand the emotions behind an article, blog, post that is put up on the internet. The only way that true gestures are shown on the internet is through emoticons but also writing out how you feel (ex. *deep breath* or LOL) about the situation. However, most people do not literally laugh out loud when they write "LOL" they just want to be nice to the person that they are talking to online, but sometimes they do. Writing has become such a remote way of communication in our culture that it is seen as something that people don't really pay attention to unless it immediately pertains to them (or at least for the Y-Generation that seems to be occurring). This loss of understanding or creation of misunderstanding is diminishing the gestures that are transmitted through folk ways.

Online Gestures

The only way I've ever been able to translate gesture into an online conversation is by placing my action in asterisks. It has become fairly commonplace to do so, and I think you would all know what I meant if I said "*slaps you with a fish*".
Otherwise, I completely agree with Samantha, it is near impossible to communicate body language textually.

Gesture

I don't think gesture can carry over truthfully to the internet world. The pretense of gesture (emoticons :] D:< and "dancing kirbys"
<( '_' )>) but there is no way of knowing if the person you are chatting with or whose blog you are reading actually expressed those emotions. I frequently type "lol" and ":D" when I am not laughing at all nor smiling--it is the idea of gesture that is carried over into the blogs and chats online.

My hands, my eyebrows, my mouth, my posture, my voice intonation and so on are not carried over from face to face situations to the internet, only my intent is. As noted in lecture only 7% of our communication comes from the words we say and that is all chats and blogs are: words.

Family story.

Growing up, I idolized my father. He was usually away on business. He traveled to different states and different countries, but I had no idea what his job entailed. On the weekends, we would go places as a family, and he would always have oldies music playing in the car.

One day, while driving to my uncle's house, Don McLean's song American Pie came on the radio. My sisters and I loved the song, so we immediately began singing whatever words we knew. Out of the blue, my dad said that he wrote the song. Although we questioned him at first, he told us that he also wrote Brown Eyed Girl, for my two brown eyed sisters, and Sweet Melissa for me.

Since I did not know what my father did, and his love for music was obvious. I believed him for a few years, until I heard the song with my aunt and she told me that my dad was in accounting and did not write any songs.