Week 2- Day one HW

At first while reading this text I had to reread it a couple of times. In the beginning, I had difficulty understanding what the author’s purpose was because it seemed he wrote the text as if the reader had previous knowledge. However, the further I read the more context I received since the writer then explained the history and origin of the curse. The first sentence of the text which had confused me is “They say it came first from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Tainos, uttered just as one world perished and another began.” I was confused at this part because I did not know what the writer was referring to but the more I read, the more I understood the author’s point. I believe the author formed the text this way to create suspense and mystery, as well as keep the reader’s attention. Another point in the text where I was confused was when the writer stated “and what about Kennedy?” I was confused at this point because I didn’t realize the connection between Kennedy and the curse. This confusion was cleared up to me when the writer explained how the curse related to JFK since JFK was the one who led the assisantion of the Dominican Republic’s dictator (which also relates to the origin of the curse). I believe the author included JFK as an example to prove how the curse has impacted many people. To add onto this point, the author was also stating many people and communities of people including himself have had stories to tell about this curse. By the end of the text, I was very understanding of the author’s writing style and was able to fully comprehend when the author introduced a counterspell to the curse. 

Annotations:

The writer brings up a “fuku curse”

The writer goes into the history of the Dominican republic

The writer talks about the curse and its connection to JFK

Writer states many people including himself have a story about the curse 

The writer explains a counterspell to the curse called zafa