Reflection on The Rum Diary

As we discussed in class the meanings of othering, identity, in group, out group, perspective and location, the task of watching The Rum Diary and use these terms to discuss the movie was assigned. We meet Paul Kemp a failed American writer that ends up getting a job in local newspaper in San Juan. Sala tries to get him acclimated and after checking in in the Hotel they start to drink alcohol. They are then immediately othered by the editor of the newspaper who believes he is better than those two alcoholics. The identity of this new man in town is judge pretty quickly by his co-workers. Chenault, the woman who caught Kemp's attention early on in the movie and who met him already, out groups Kemp by pretending to meet him once again. Because she is now with her fiance Chenault complete changes her perspective towards this man. 

As time passes, Kemp starts to understand the perspective of the locals. San Juan is not all about tourism and sightseeing he realizes the poverty that affects the people living here. He starts to understand their true location and their perspective in the whole tourism business. He also understands what the newspaper wants him to be and who's side he should take. In order to keep his job Kemp must stay in group with his superiors and remove any type of sympathy for the people. He must keep his perspective in tune with promoting tourism and othering the poor. Moburg finds left over filter from a rum plant and his alcoholic friends join him. He rants about killing his boss, because he was fired. 

Kemp decides to participate in a real estate scam along with Chenault's fiance and Sala. They end up in jail after a fight. Kemp gets to see the poverty, not only in San Juan, but everywhere else as he heads towards the pier to go to St. Thomas. After a lot of drama, Kemp and Sala are thrown out of the deal, and when they return they find out the newspaper is closing. Under the influence of drugs Kemp decides to change his perspective and write an article about the shady deals and poverty. They obtain he money to publish by winning a cock fight, but they are wanted by the police. Kemp doesn't give up and leaves the island on a boat. He later publishes his articles in Ne York finding his voice and earning success. 

A Little on "Teaching" and "Helping"

Down on The Island by Jim Cooper is a memoir about a continental American Professor teaching an English Literature course at The Colegio of Mayaguez during the 1950's. As I read the chapters on Teaching and Helping, Cooper clearly shows what he thought of the country, political issues, The Colegio, other professors and the students. "Teaching English to students whose culture is as foreign to him" as his culture was to them was a challenge Cooper must take on. The key to overcoming the multiple obstacles and impediments faced through their story is learning to understand their differences and working with them rather than against. Jim Cooper explains that he is forced into this position where he was the "veteran" around and was supposed to have all the answers.

In the chapter titled, Teaching English, Cooper explains that on his second year teaching at The Colegio he was left as the only continental professor with previous teaching experience. This is the reason why it was his job to write a new syllabus that would help the students and the system get along. He explains that his boss was on of the professors that "didn't believe Puerto Ricans were capable of learning anything anyway," so he was left on his own to finish this task. He tried to tailor the syllabus to his students' needs, but the problem was much bigger than difficult stories and poems. He talks about how a few years earlier Puerto Rican government had set Spanish as the vernacular and English as a second language. This milestone meant that the students that arrived at The Colegio, if they came from the public system, wouldn't have any type of English knowledge. That it was rich students that had study abroad or in private schools the few students that were available to do well in class. The pronunciation was also suffering from the poor decisions made by the system, he talks about how students could understand the difference between rich and reach or seat, sit. 

This problem was not reserved exclusively to the students, he talks about how a professor from the Spanish literature department during a meeting talked about how students were 'shitting' on their tests. What he meant to say was that cheating is a big problem that keep on going in The Colegio. Cooper says that the problem wasn't that the students were cheating per se, but that they considered their actions as helping. He says that students mix having a good grade with the professor liking them. That when a student failed a class they would normally blame the professor because he doesn't like the student. They didn't understand the difference between getting a grade and earning a grade. Many students agreed that they cheated, but they argued that if their work was good then why didn't they receive a good grade. 

After reading these two chapters, I can agree that some of the issues that affected teaching fifty-years ago are still getting in the way of a good education. Many students today are still cheating in order to pass a course, many don't even understand very well the language they are studying, and some professor have already given up before even trying to help. I still see students fighting the system because a professor gave them a bad grade and the reason is always "he doesn't like me." I find it very interesting that problems like these just keep getting handed down from one generation to the other. In order to break this vicious cycle we all must do something about it. We must teach students that helping is not cheating and that there is a fine line between the two. Professors must also understand that the education system is poor and students are not to blame for their lack of knowledge. We must learn how to be in the same page and help each other overcome this decade long issue. 

Are They Learning or Cheating? Online Teaching's Dilema

'Cheating' Can Be An Effective Learning Strategy

Final Reflection on The Journey Journal

So for the past couple of weeks I've been spending 10 minutes doing a free writing exercise on a notebook. At first, I had a couple of problems following the rules, but now I can say I have mastered the technique. It was really hard for me to lose control. I kept trying to make paragraphs in order to have some sense of organization, I also kept checking my spelling, punctuation and grammar. Letting thoughts unfinished, trying to make them logical and keeping my hand moving at all times was also a struggle. My hand hurt so much even before five minutes had passed! When the professor assigned this journey journal I thought I wouldn't learn anything from it, but as I kept writing and following the rules I realized that I had a big lesson ahead. 

I started to read my entries several days after I made them. I could then connect them to my external journey, see how the situations I was going through affected how I was feeling. My journal gave me insight on my feelings, thoughts and dreams. Trying to remember my dreams through my free writing was the most helpful part of the whole experience. I discovered a great value to spending time thinking about the messages my subconscious mind was trying to send me. Dealing with many of our fears and desires imply acknowledging what our mind is saying through dreams and nightmares.

After finishing the journey journal, I was able to losen up my writing, let my thoughts roam free and record them without thinking about rules, grammar or logic. I was also able to remember a great amount of details in my dreams in order to interpret them using my internal and external journeys. This exercise is effective in connecting yourself to your spiritual and emotional part of your life. This way building a path to a more serious evaluation of your life, journey, and how to del with both.

OWL: Remembering Dreams Guidelines