The Curse of Fuku

Though I grew up in a Catholic family superstitions made their way on down to me and my siblings. We were taught how to avoid certain situations. For instance, putting a purse on the ground meant you would end up broke, so we'd never put our mom's bag anywhere near the floor. Also, getting regular haircuts might seem normal to most people but in my culture we only cut our hair when a relative passes away. If you cut your hair at any other time it's seen as a bad omen. I do believe in "fuku" I've never really dealt with any though, but that's probably because I was taught how to evade it. I guess you could consider those teachings "zafa" because they were "[m]y very on counterspell." (7) I consider myself a very cautious person so I try my best to keep safe and followed the guidelines I was given to avoid bad luck.

In Oscar's case his fuku was him having terrible luck with girls. He started off as a playboy, even had 2 girlfriends. Until one day his luck run out, he had to choose between the 2 girls. Of course he choose pretty Maritza over ugly Olga. This left Olga devastated and alone; a fate that was soon to await Oscar.  Then it happened, Maritza left him. Oscar was miserable and fell into a depression. Oscar and Olga became the same: both ugly and fat. Oscar was cursed because he hurt Olga. He went from being able to get all these girls to repelling them. He became a loser but it got even worse in his upcoming years. He was a virgin with no girlfriend, no friends, and no confidence. However, when he finally did meet a girl he was placed in the friend zone. This was Oscar's fuku. He had to endure plenty stories about the girl he was madly in love with and her boyfriend. He was so deep in the friend zone she even told him about their sex life. "I'd forgotten how big Manny's cock was. 'Like I really needed to hear that,' he snapped." (42) This shows how strong the wrath of Trujillo is, fuku affects everyone whether they want it to or not.

Writing Without Labels - Bell Hooks

An author's identity shouldn't matter when considering the value of their work. The way a writer identifies them-self shouldn't make their work any less or more than what it actually is. When I'm reading a book, the sexuality, race,and gender of the author are the last things on my mind; actually, unless they're mentioned they don't even cross my mind. I tend to look at the writing itself and then I determine whether it's good or not.

"[T]he persona of a writer [is] not as important as the words that grip, hold, and transform."(10) Hooks is essentially saying that what the writer produces speaks louder volumes than who the writer is. I agree with this statement. However, I'm not saying that who the author is insignificant. I just feel like great writing can come from anyone, regardless of who they are and where they're from. Nonetheless, as soon as authors start to label themselves, their work spaces start to diminish, as only a certain type of writing is expected from them. Hook states then when she first published Bone Black, she "[described] it as a memoir about girlhood that [emphasized] growing up black and southern," yet "editors tried to describe it solely as a memoir about black girlhood"(20). This proves why many authors shy away from giving themselves labels. It sticks them under a certain category whether they want to be in it or not. In conclusion, an author's persona shouldn't be a hindrance when it comes to the significance of their work.

Syllabus Response

Most of the syllabus' has guidelines and expectations that are reasonable enough to follow and reach. For attendance, is there a penalty for being late to class? Speaking of late, I really love that late work is accepted; not that I'm going to turn in work late all the time, but it's relieving to know that. Also I wouldn't be the first person to raise my hand to do a presentation, so presenting wouldn't be my favorite. I have no course guidelines to add.

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