Curricular+Connections


 * __Different Points of View__ **

Throughout //Zeitoun// the point of view changes between Zeitoun and Kathy, offering different perspectives of what was going on before, during, and after Katrina. It brings about a different understanding than one would usually have just reading a novel told from one person's point of view. In //The Things They Carried// by Tim O'Brien, each chapter, for the most part, is told from a different soldiers point of view. This style of writing provides a different look on how soldiers reacted during the war, and how it affected them. The soldiers rarely shared the same story, sharing only themes or the same characters for their stories. This brought about many perspectives of the war, and what different people thought while they were going through these events. In //March// by Geraldine Brooks, the point of view switches from John March to his wife Marmee's point of view when March gets too ill and becomes dillusional. With this switch halfway through the book, it shines light on how Marmee reacted to everything her husband did, and how she had to put on a smile and wish him well with whatever he did. March had no idea that Marmee felt the way she did about the decisions he made, because women weren't allowed to voice their opionion in that time. After March recovers, it switches back to his point of view, and offers more insight to how March felt while he was in the hosptial and when he went home to his family. These different points of view offer insight into the different minds of different characters, providing a better understanding and depth to the story, instead of it just being told from one person's point of view.

** __Discrimination__ __[|Story of Zeitoun's discrimination after hurricane Katrina]__ ** Zeitoun has been discriminated since he came to America because of his race and religion. However, Zeitoun rises above this. and refuses to let it get the best of him, that is until he is arrested and taken to Camp Greyhound. Zeitoun doesn't believe that he can be arrested just because of his race, without any proper evidence against him. The American government surely wouldn't do this, the soldiers they sent to New Orleans were there to protect and help, not arrest innocent people based on the color of their skin. Kathy is discriminated against by her family, who refuse to accept her change in religion from Christianity to Islam. They believe it is just an act for Zeitoun, and don't think that it's serious at all. For this reason, Kathy can't spend a lot of time with them, or else it will result in an argument over her beliefs and theirs. This discrimination is similar to the discrimination that Janie experienced throughout her life in //Their Eyes Were Watching God// by Zora Neale Hurston. Growing up, Janie was brought up with privileges other African-American didn't know. Janie had no idea she was different from other children until she saw a picture of herself, and then it was a shock to her. When Janie moved to Eatonville with her second husband, Jody, she faced discrimination not because her skin was a different color, but because she was a woman who was wealthy. Jody treated Janie impersonal as their marriage went on, and Jody believed that she couldn't participate in various aspects of the town because these reasons. Janie met Tea Cake, who let her be herself and didn't try to change her. When they moved down to the muck, Tea Cake worked in the fields while Janie stayed home because he didn't want her to work, he wanted to provide for her. Janie protested, and soon she too, was working in the fields alongside her husband. In //March// by Geraldine Brooks, March is clearly against slavery of African Americans, and believes in equal rights for all human beings. This view isn't widely popular throughout America in the time of the Civil War, and March soon learns that there aren't that many people that hold the same views as him. March first sees this when he's 18 at Mr. Clement's plantation, and Mr. Clement openly has one of his slaves, Grace, whipped for encouraging the teaching to slaves. Since that moment, March has set out to help slaves, as shown by his part in the Underground Railroad, and supporting John Brown with all of the money he has, and fighting in the war to help bring about change to this cause. When March gets reassigned to a plantation with the contraband, former slaves, who are now working for pay. While there, the overseer, Mr. Canning, is still treating them very much like slaves, and shows little signs of changing that. Discrimination is still prominent throughout the United States, and even people from the North have the same views as people from the South. The discrimination presented during the Civil was is still present today, as shown in //Zeitoun//, with the treatment that Zeitoun received from the U.S. government.

Throughout // Zeitoun //, there are flashbacks from both Kathy and Zeitoun. These flashbacks help further understand why Kathy and Zeitoun make some of the decisions they do. They offer an insight into Zeitoun and Kathy's pasts, and tells another story, besides the one that is going on in the present. These flashbacks are also present in //March//, in which March uses them to tell different stories about his past, and how it brought him to fighting in the war. The flashbacks help understand why March decided to go to war despite his age, why he wanted to become a teacher, and how he came to lose the fortune he took years to build. The flashbacks are also present in the film //Big Fish//. Ed Bloom is dying, and his son Will is trying to figure out what was real in his father's life, and what was a myth. In finding this out, Ed tells the stories of his past to his son and anyone that will listen to him. Will realizes that everyone is their stories, real or fake. His father's stories help Will to understand things he couldn't quite grasp before. The lives and stories people live are forever present and continue to live on through story telling, which can be done through flashbacks. **
 * __Flashbacks__