The Fortune Cookie Chronicle FINAL Blog Post

Looking at one main element of the writing, (structure, style, tone, texture, theme) create a blog post. This post should highlight one writerly technique, and make a statement about the function it has in the novel.

You should incorporate three quotes from FCC to back up your ideas about this writerly technique. Use the quotes as proof for your argument, and remember to analyze extensively. How does this element in the book strengthen it? Why do you think Jennifer 8. Lee presents her thoughts in this way?

Also, in you blog post's thesis identify one meaningful discovery you have made while reading the book, or identify one meaning realization that Jennifer 8. Lee has in the novel.

Example of thesis:

In the novel, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, Jennifer 8. Lee uses an informative, yet comedic tone to introduce her readers to the hidden traits of, and unknown facts regarding, Chinese American culture. 

** Remember to put the Chapter you are analyzing in the "subject line" of your post.

Analysis of an MCA piece

After your visit to the MCA and experience with the Paul Sietsema exhibition and the Theaster Gates: 13^th Ballad installation, and the Alexander Calder, think about your favorite piece. How does a work change when you spend more time with it? What else do you notice? How do you change?

Select a work – any work in the Museum – and spend a full 20 minutes just looking at the work. Why did it capture your attention? Why do you suppose it is being presented in a Chicago museum – or why do you think it shouldn’t be here? What is the deeper meaning? (i.e. thesis) What bigger picture does it connect to?  Analyze and try to formulate your ideas in a thesis that you will use to direct your blog post. 

Please write a review of the work. Consider it in context of the artist’s other work – which means you’ll have to do some research, in the museum (read the plaques), handouts? Consider it in context of the rest of the work in the exhibition.

This painting by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, called “Still Life With Monkey, Fruits and Flowers” was painted in 1724. King Louis the 15^th admired Oudry’s skill at painting still lifes and animals. He asked him to create a work showing both of these subjects. When this painting was created, the monkey symbolized, “mischievous and lustful character” and the fruit was meant to show, “French Rococo taste for the sensual” through the ripe quality of the fruit and flowers.

This picture caught my eyes because it reminded me of where I used to live in Africa. At the center for adoption called All As one, they had a pet monkey, and the monkey would sometimes steal food from the kitchen. Sometimes we would peek into the kitchen hoping to find some extra food and we’d see a banana peel or an empty bag lying out and we knew the monkey had been in the kitchen. It was horrible because there was not enough food to begin with!

I don’t believe that this painting has a deeper meaning that you are supposed to see, however, it does remind me of the bible story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit. The way the monkey is stealing the grapes made me think of Adam taking the apple.

I feel that “Still Life With Monkey, Fruits and Flowers” is at The Art Institute because it is extremely beautiful and uses oil paint to create a realistic but exotic scene. The use of light in this painting is also incredible.

Film Analysis

Pick an artist from the movie Beautiful Losers or Exit Through the Gift Shop to use as a character to analyze. In this post take a close look at her/his perception of art production, while discussing your own ideas about why you make the art you make.  

You could also choose to analyze one particular segment, quote, or idea from the movie applying it to your own life. 

Your post should be at least three paragraphs in length. It should deal with only one artist’s perspective, as well as your own.  The goal of this post it to remain focused on one theme and segment from the movie, while going in-depth into its meaning.

Questions to ask yourself while choosing an artists and a moment that stands out in the movie to write about:

• ·       How does her/his and your culture, provoke the creation of art?
• ·        Does the artist/you feel like an insider or an outsider within a culture? Does this feeling lead to the creation of art?
• ·        How does collaboration, mimicking, and/or inspiration by other artists lead to the creation of art? Is this a good/bad thing, why?
• ·        How does the phenomenon of success change or strengthen one’s perception of art creation? Does the artist create for her/himself alone? 
• ·        How does your own ideas about creativity manifest on a personal, local, or global level? How do you want it to impact your community?

Blog post:

First Textual Analysis post about Chapter 5

Identity—

By Liz Davidson

            “The journey to the general’s birthplace turned out to be a more difficult ordeal than my driver and I had planned on (70)”.  This is the quote that I picked, I feel that it can relate to almost anyone. This quote really describes on how life is for me. There’s always twist and turns that will make life harder for me. I can’t even predict in what’s going to happen next.  In my life; growing I was searching for one thing and one thing only, it’s who I am as a person. I thought that I figured everything out while I was in elementary school or even middle school. In the beginning of seventh grade is when everything changed. I thought that I accepted my deafness by than but everything change in the seventh grade. My fight had begun when I went through a traumatic experience that caused me to have no sleep for six months and hearing constant noise 24/7.  In the end, I’d needed surgery to fix it, to get rid of the noise. That experience actually made me hate my deafness and wished that I wasn’t deaf. I got mild depression from that experience. I thought that the reason that I have no friends and no life is because I’m deaf. I became more shy and more quiet cause nobody would hear me or even listen to me because I’m deaf. I felt like I had no say to what anybody says so I just stayed quiet.  Also while I was growing up, I had to find out which world I belong into; is it the hearing world or the deaf world. I actually felt more comfortable with hearing people than deaf. It’s not that I hate them, just that it made me even more confusing on who I am. It took me a few years to actually accept that I’m deaf but I belong in the hearing world. Also I can’t change with how I’m deaf, so I have to accept it otherwise I won’t be happy. my deafness, no matter how hard I try. It actually made me who I am today. I’ve had a lot of things happen to me, the things that I didn’t even plan on. With what happened in the seventh grade; the noise situation. I thought that I would have more of a normal life, but I guess that can’t happen because no life is perfect. 

*********************First Textual Analysis Post about Chapter 5

Hello Class,

In The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, by Jennifer 8. Lee, she talks about how one piece of information—lottery wins across our country linked to fortune cookie fortunes—inspired her to investigate her personal Chinese-American heritage.  Her in-depth look at her personal Chinese American heritage, as well as investigation on many aspects of this culture drive her book. 

FIRST TEXT ANALYSIS RESPONSE

Pick one line (sentence) from Chapter 5, or from your assigned blurb, that really stands out to you and makes you think about ONE of the following topics: Culture, Identity, or Family.

In a blog response, do the following:

1) Enter in the title of the post, : Culture, Identity, or Family– depending on which topic you have chosen.

2) Within the actual post, respond to the topic by re-stating your quoted line, and giving a detailed explanation of how you understand this line represents the general topic.

In this response, you must also spend only one brief paragraph summarizing the story to provide context for the quoted line (4 sentences), and then interpret the line in terms of what it says about culture, identity, or family)? (This should be another couple of paragraphs, at least 7-10 sentences. This is the bulk of your blog post. Make connections to yourself, and share your opinions. Always ask why you feel the way you do about the lines.) 

What do you learn from and/or feel about the line in our book?  How does this connect to yourself, what we've seen in the gallery, the film Beautiful Losers, or what you've talked about in your essays? 

After you are finished posting we will hear a few of your posts in class.