Gurbaâs work was a very interesting piece and I enjoyed reading it. The way that Gurba rips apart âDirtâ by Jeanine Cummings expressed a very important message. She tackles the idea that people should not try to be something they are not or speak on things they donât truly understand. Cummings was clearly someone that tried to step into a character with little knowledge of what she attempted to represent. Gurba didnât leave anything out she called out Cummings to make her accountable for all the false labels, false judgment, and false perspectives that she put into her book. She made it clear that it was very difficult to stomach all of the misconceptions portrayed in Cummings work. I feel as though Cummings book was a perfect example of how people often try to âwhite washâ things and act as though they can represent someone elseâs perspective. The reality of it is that Cummings didnât see fault in her work because it is a norm in society for people to change things if they donât originally understand. Gurba says â It aspires to be DĂa de los Muertos but it, instead, embodies Halloween.â was the perfect line that summed up all of what Gurba was try to say about the piece. Cummings tried to write something to represent Mexican people a supposed âfacelessâ people but instead she gave them the wrong face, her own. Gurba is trying to express that in reality they are not a âfacelessâ people. Mexican people do have a face yet some people in society try to put their own features on it like Cummings did. Overall I think that Gurbaâs work was clear and got the message across. She was straight to the point and gave her reasons, her use of language and tone easily showed her opinion.Â
About
Professor: Jessica Penner
Email: creative.writing.citytech2@gmail.com
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. Iâll be available through Zoom and will send an invitation via email that you should keep all semester. Try to join my meeting at the start of the hour, not at the endâsince I may be talking to other students or have another appointment after the hour is up. If those times donât work with your schedule, we can schedule a different time. This means youâll have to schedule an appointment in advance. I suggest you have multiple times in mind, since your schedule may not mesh with mine!
Sharing
Logged-in faculty members can clone this course. Learn More!
Search This Course
Find Library Materials
Library Information
Ursula C. Schwerin Library
New York City College of Technology, C.U.N.Y
300 Jay Street, Library Building - 4th Floor
I agree with Yasmine’s thoughts on Gruba’s work because she was clear in her reasonings and her use of language showed her opinion. Yasmine’s described very well of what she thought of Gruba’s work and I agree with her thoughts.
I somewhat agree with what you say, Gurba recognized the flaws and the misrepresentation the image of her people had in the book and called it out. I feel that sometimes its kind of hard to notice when things are out of place but it was clear that Cummings did not do enough research or experienced anything that could’ve given her a clue of what she wrote.
I agree with Yasmine because Gurba did a very well explanation in her work about why she was so angry.