PART 1:In this discussion of a A Dream Called Home, we will focus on internal conflict. Internal Conflict is when a character struggles to deal with her own fears or shortcomings.
Reyna Grande struggles with many internal conflicts. As you read chapters 13-17, highlight or underline examples of internal conflict. After you read, please post your answer to the following two questions:
1. Choose one internal conflict Grande struggles with in chapters 13-17. Describe the conflict. How do the people Grande meets or the situations she encounters help her and/or the reader recognize, understand, or resolve the conflict? Write one paragraph about one conflict only (about 200 words).
Please make sure to read the posts that students have already submitted. Make sure you choose a different conflict. She has many!
Note: This paragraph is about the internal conflict of a character. Therefore, first person I should not be used.
2. Why did you choose the conflict you chose? Do you have a similar experience? Explain. Write one paragraph (about 200 words).
classmates’ posts:
Yuanzhe Tong
YesterdayOct 17 at 5:22pm
- The internal conflict is “Can you help a person in changing their life, How” from chapter 18, which is about a man called Arturo who came from Mexico, he was a worker on a farm, she wants to help him because she felt the same feeling as her Dad. Grande told her sister that wants to help him by marriage and help him with the paper and teach him English, she also told Arturo to go to adult school to study English, but he said he want to be dependent on Grande instead dont want to learn English. Her sister told her “Don’t let him distract you from your goals, and you always want to save people.” Finally, Grande decided to let Arturo find his own path because she can’t even save herself.
- The reason I chose this conflict is that I relate her story with myself, I totally understand the feeling of helping people but can not do it, because I am also a person who is willing to help people, but I’m young, lack of experience, which leads into the situation that I can’t help, and effected myself, most of the time I wish as good but the effect is not the way I wanted. Once, I got into trouble with a freshmen, which I loaned money to him, but I can not get the money back on time, because he can not pay back money to me because he had some relationship issue with his parents, which leads to blaming from my parent in giving money to a stranger and don’t know the background story of this student. Although it end up he paid the money back, but the feeling is not right. Naoko KyogokuSaturdayOct 16 at 6:18amManage Discussion Entry1. In the first impressive sentence of chapter 15, one of Reyna’s inner conflicts is depicted: “I was sitting on the bus [ . . . ] looking out the window at the darkness, when a laugh—loud and unapologetic—pulled me back to the light (p. 113).” As Reyna writes in chapter 14, she has dedicated her life to prove that she is not a typical average person, not a “statistic (p. 110).” However, Reyna feels shocked when she notices that the girl who is laughing loudly is a Latina and that she looks confident and comfortable in a Mexican dress. Here the readers notice Reyna’s inner conflict. She is trying to “break the cycle (p. 8, p. 92),” to set her free from all the limitations, but at the same time, it is Reyna herself who is trying to suppress her natural impulse to laugh, to live comfortably. Reyna wants to show the world that she is not a typical female Latino who is from a poor family, but ironically her too much awareness of her race, gender, and background keeps her from acting freely and confidently. Reyna has been trying to reject all the restrictions. She is afraid of being pregnant, because she thinks babies can be “obstacles to higher education (p. 89),” and she leaves Gabe, because she needs to give up her physical freedom to live in his house (p. 106). And yet, the existence of Erica, who wears a Mexican dress just because she wants to, surprises Reyna. The solution of this problem is also offered by Erica. When Reyna sees the practice of a dance group, which Erica is one of the senior managers, she feels a sudden urge to join them: “I found my own feet wanting to stomp, my heart beating to the strumming of the mariachi music, and I wanted to burst out onto the floor and dance with the butterflies (p. 116).” This attempt to join the dance can be said to be her attempt to regain her freedom. Reyna is longing to release her body from the restriction which Reyna herself has imposed on her. At the dance practice, Reyna closely observes her body and notices its potential for the first time: “It was my first time standing before floor-to-ceiling mirrors and being fully aware of my body, of what it could do (p. 117).” It is noteworthy that Reyna says goodbye to Gabe’s room, which has “floor-to-ceiling windows (p. 105)” but deprives Reyna’s freedom, and chooses to stand in front of “floor-to-ceiling mirrors” which show her how free her body can be. When Reyna has finally learned how to move her body at her own will, she feels she is finally free (at least in the moment of elation) from everything that restrains and torments her: “I had no past and no future—only the present moment mattered. There were no alcoholic fathers, no absent mothers, no wild dreams to pursue, nothing to make me feel ashamed, unwanted, unloved, or afraid (p. 118).” Through the dancing, the release of her body, Reyna has gained freedom.2. I chose this conflict because I often feel that my physical freedom is restricted by my Japanese-ness, and I think I can relate to Reyna about the problem of restricted self. In Japan, it is an unspoken understanding that being silent, calm, and obedient is a virtue, and this idea seems to have become a part of me before I know. I am forced to aware this part of me when people from other cultures suddenly ask my opinions or when I get to join a game in which I need to express my feelings. Once I played a game with my American friends where a player looked at a picture on a card and tell other players what was on it without saying a word. A friend of mine expressed the concept of “musical” so humorously, using her whole body, but I just could not move my body. I also feel my nerves get tense when we talk about our reading at the beginning of this class. I know I need to raise my hand and say something, but at the same time, my Japanese self holds me back. As the result, my mind goes blank and I completely lose my words. I know I need to change me, but at the same time, this part of me is an important aspect of my identity. This is the problem I am always trying to deal with. I am glad this class has a lot of writing projects. It seems like I can express my ideas more freely through my writings.
PART 3:Do a quiz: https://deanza.instructure.com/courses/21462/quizz…
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