"What is the What" book review

Lincoln Dutcher

What is the What

What is the What is a non-fiction novel about the life of a Sudanese boy who's name is Achak. The book starts with Achak in his apartment in Atlanta. he hears a knock at the door so he answers it. He sees before him a big burly african woman. She asks is she can use his telephone. He obliges. She burst in and locks herself in the bed room. she is followed into the door by a large man in a powder blue shirt.

This is just the beginning of one of the hardest nights in Achak's life. these people go on to beat and rob him. Now this book would be pretty dull if it was just him talking in real time about how he was robbed. He says that he is a Sudanese refugee, he says so early in the book. Therefore by hearing this you have questions like "How did he get here?", "What was the trip like?" Thankfully for the reader this is explained. the story is told through his eyes. The entire plot takes place over he course of a few days starting when he was robbed and ending a few days later.

Achak's past is told through a series of vivid flash backs. One of his first flash baks is of his perfect day. However that quickly devolves into how his entire village was annihilated by the Sudan government. it vividly describes every gory detail. After this attack he was forced to travel hundreds of miles with hundreds of other "lost boys" as they came to be known. Most of his flash backs are extremely depressing. However, these flash backs are more accurate than the sugar coated versions that people usually hear

The writing style for What is the What is all first person. The characters in he book are all very realistic, and relatable. One character named Deng, in all of his organization and leadership ability, reminds me of my father. Achak's best friend, William K., reminds me of my best friend in the way that we are practically inseparable. This book also gives the reader a valuable insight into the human psychology. This story is 100% true. There are many accounts of lost boys Losing their minds. One boy actually curled up in a hole and died. simply out of his own accord. 

In summary, I think that this book is incredibly depressing. Comparable to The Grapes of Wrath . If you are able to endure the everlasting sadness in this book you will notice that through out all of these horrible events, Achak remained resolute. I thought that the ending was very satisfying. A very poetic way to wrap up and encapsulate everything that transpired in the book 

 

Immigration Reflection

Immigration Project Reflection

LC Books

My experience with was very good. I really enjoyed my book. I think this was because it starts in the middle of something and then goes back to explain how everything happened. I like books like that. they hold my attention better than other books that start at the beginning and end at the end. That is what common sense tells you to do, but sometimes going against the grain would give you a better story.

I learned that my perception of immigrants having a better life within months was totally wrong. I hadn't given much thought to how much the immigrants would be affected. they are in a foreign country, they don't speak English, and they need a job. To get a job they need an education. they probably couldn't get an education in there native county, or they wouldn't have come here. so now they have to catch up on school, hold down a job usually more than two. Thats even if they get in. getting here is hard to. you have to get a visa or become a citizen. then you have to find a way to get her. That is expensive. The hardships for an immigrant never really end.

Everyone will want to change something if they don't like it. I liked the LC book project. I had a good book and I was able to keep up with it and I had fun. I can't think of anything that I would want to change. the blog post were a really good idea, and I enjoyed not having to do anything for it in class. That took a lot of pressure off of me. I think that that is what made it so I was able to do the work.

I enjoyed the blogging. It was a more fun alternative to sitting and talking about something that is kind of boring. Also people would not say what they really think because they felt insecure. With the blog people can just sit in their room at their desk and let it all out. Sitting with your computer and your favorite tunes, is a much more relaxing place than in the Main Commons where its cold and exposed.

I didn't have any problems with the blogging. I did in seventh grade, but that was just because I didn't know what, or how to use blogs. They were also just starting out so they weren't perfect.

Everyone sees a different kind of blue. The color that I see is totally different than the color you see. The exact same goes for books. I may read a novel and think it has a happy ending. Where as you will read the book and think that its sad. I found, However that almost all of my group members interpreted the book in a similar way. The interpretations of the intentions of different characters differed, but we all agreed on the core concept of the book. We all felt very sorry for Achak, and thought that he should have a better life. Our opinions would be different when it came to moral questions. I wrote in one of my blog posts that I thought that just because you have been the victim of a horrendous occurrence. Kevin Dervishi Completely disagrees with that. He believes that being a victim earns you the right to have what you want

Art and Literature

I always have trouble explaining my art. I just let ideas come to me. It is sort of like catching a butterfly. You don't really remember the chase, all that really stands out in your mind is when you caught the butterfly, or in this case the idea. My first idea was to have a sad picture because the book is very sad. I decided that the best way to have a sad picture is to show that a lot of people died, because thats what I find the most sad. I tried to just have tomb stones going off to the distance. This was a bad idea because there wasn't enough to look at. then I tried having tombstones for only the main characters that died, with gold in the distance to symbolize the opportunities that await him. This wasn't good enough to so I finally settled on having Achak looking down from the moon to earth.

I think that the connection is very apparent. I showed it to a person who had never read the book ,and, while they didn't interpret it exactly as I had planned, but close enough. I am sure that even someone who doesn't do much interpreting of art will understand this art piece.

When I was done with the painting I was very proud of it.. the colors turned out perfectly the coats were nice and even. The best part was that the emotion that I was trying convey was there. that was a problem that I was having with my art.

I think that a little more time to work, maybe a day. Also some better paintbrushes. all I had access to was a lot of crusty paintbrushes that scraped up more paint than they put down. There weren't enough good small brushes. I had to use a paper clip to write some things.

I preferred it to writing about it. The art let me convey more emotion than with a two page essay about why I liked the book. I like to talk about things but writing takes longer and the ideas get backed up. When I paint the ideas slow down and I can get them all out.

Interview Process with Participant & Gift

I was one of the people who was privileged enough to get to go to the IRC. Were other people had to do three interviews, we only had to do two. Both of these were in person. We had to ask more questions than the other people, but it was nice to get to know the immigrants we were interviewing in person, rather than over the phone. I had been scared that because these people were from so far away that I would have nothing in common with them. After interviewing them, I noticed that we are very much alike. We like to go to the beach, we like TV, and we like living in America. Of course there are many more things that make us similar but I wont go into that. I was surprised at how easy it was to relate with these people. Because it was so easy to relate, it was easy to write questions.

Out of the interviewing process, I learned how hard it was for people to get here. When my immigrant came over from Cambodia, she and her sister could only bring however much that they could fit in an old TV box.

I loved being able to have someone to talk to, who had gone though the immigration process. You can only learn so much from the History Alive books. Talking to someone who had been through it conveyed so much more emotion and specifics.

I made my immigrant a CD with lots of American songs on it. This is what she specifically asked for when we gave her her options. She wanted a CD because she is trying to learn English better. Something that you don't always think about when thinking of immigration, is how they are going to learn another language. We learned English our whole lives. Now they have to learn English as fast as possible. English is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn. We have so many little rules and exceptions to those rules that if you can learn those that is a miracle in and of itself.