What's in a name (Part II)

One thing that interests me with respect to these three women is names. Ray doesn’t necessarily think that her name means anything more than some fabric from a hospital gown. But as we find out, Christine really had good intentions when she named Ray. Similarly, Christine hates the fact that she has to call her mom ‘Aunt Ida.’ At one point Christine remarks how she hates the fact that she has to call her Aunt Ida. Do you think maybe Aunt Ida has a good reason for this? I know we haven’t gotten to Aunt Ida’s section of the book yet, but I wonder if there might be some explanation.

OK, as I am writing this, I got to thinking: what is in name anyway? We talked about this in class before, but I’m interested to get some more feedback from you. I’m named after my dad; we are both Mark Anthony Jaworski. (This has caused much confusion in the world of credit cards, car insurance and other legalities) I was almost named after my grandfather. Sometimes I wonder if people are named randomly, based on something that sounds cool. Or if there is more thought put into it.

Last names, too. Mine is Polish. Jaworski. Something to do with a sycamore tree. Kind of cool I suppose. I think last names are pretty interesting, especially in other cultures where a last name comes before the first name (imagine that), like Ichiro Suzuki or Yao Ming. That's why his first name is actually the name on the back of his jersey. Cool, eh?

And sometimes I wonder if I were to ever change my name, what would I change it to? I want to name my son Vedder. (Laugh it up all you want guys—but don’t take my idea ;) Of course, this follows suit with my admiration of pearl?jam and their lead singer Eddie Vedder. Not that any of you are going to have kids anytime soon (and me either), but what are the criteria you would consider when naming your kids? I’ve told some of my friends that I want to name my eventual son Vedder and they respond by saying something along the lines of, “Well, what if he doesn’t even like pearl jam?” And I tell them that I really don’t care; he can name his kid whatever he wants. I’ve pulled another Seinfeld clip (go figure, right?) about names. I think it’s pretty funny. Check it out and let me know what you folks think about names…

Point of View Shift: Seeing It Through Your Mother's Eyes

In A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, we have spent time looking at events through the eyes of Ray and now through the eye’s of her mom, Christine. I think things become pretty interesting when action begins to overlap with respect to Ray and Christine’s respective sections.

Go back to pages 28-31 and notice the action how Ray sees it and then hit up pages 250-253. This is the same event but told through Christine’s point of view. I noticed a few things of interest. First, the dialogue is different. And there are a lot of little details that are different as well. There are other instances of this, too. The video store scene where Christine describes how she chose the tapes for instance (Ray 18-24;Christine 248-249), the scene in the hospital and the drive to Aunt Ida’s. So, I wonder why the author, Michael Dorris, does this. What do you all think? And how do these differences allow us to see Christine differently? By seeing her ‘side’ of the story, do you think she is a better or worse parent?

Who is Aunt Ida, anyway? (Part I)

I like how A Yellow Raft in Blue Water is able to move across three generations of the same Native American family. Michael Dorris really uses point of view to describe these experiences by all three women—Ray, Christine and Ida—to bring us into their lives. We also see how each woman sees the other. I know we haven’t gotten to Aunt Ida’s section of the book yet, but I would like you guys and gals to start talking about your opinions of her. Based on Ray and Christine’s points of view, do you like Aunt Ida? Do you think she is a good parent? What do you think her childhood was like growing up Native American? Use what you know so far from Christine and Ray to form your opinions. But also consider some of the short stories, songs, poems and overhead slides that we have discussed in class to inform your opinion of Aunt Ida as well.