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Essay

PART A

Source in Tracks

Hanif, Mohsen, and Seyed Mohammad Marandi. "The Significance of the Lake Monster in Louise Erdrich's TRACKS." The Explicator 72.3 (2014): 249-252.

Claims and analysis

Claim I: “representing Native resistance to native encroachment (Hanif and Marandi, 249).”

In this context, the authors indicate an era that is marked by natural obstacles like plagues and feminine as well as the encroachment or progress that the White man’s circumlocution for abate Indian share of land and economic and political bondage for all the crafty and strongest of the Native people in America.

Claim II: “Fleur is still an outsider to her community, which is succumbing to White culture (Hanif and Marandi, 250).”

Fleur is depicted as the real victim of the way of life of the Whites. She is symbolic of the historical predicament of the Anishabe.

Claim III: “She spreads the rumor that Fleur killed the men in Argus (Hanif and Marandi, 250).”

The claim implies that Fleur was the one to be blamed for the deaths of the people. Pauline uttered the words because she is about to visit Fleur who may have gotten married to the water spirit Misshepeshu or have been taken by the White men.

Reflection to the claims

I agree with the claim that Fleur is still an outsider in her community. On a larger perspective, the author was examining the struggles of the Native Americans in the first twenty years of the twentieth century. What Fleur was experiencing is what many Native Americans were facing; an era that was marked by natural obstacles which included a plague and famine as stated earlier. However, I do not agree with the claim that Pauline was spreading the rumor that she had killed the men. It is hard to believe the claim as later in the narrative, Pauline agrees that she was the cause of the death of the people and thus a contradiction. I understand that Pauline suffers from hallucination (Hanif and Marandi, 250). Whatever she says should not be put into consideration unless her state of mind is proven.

Source in Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

Keenan, Deirdre. "Unrestricted Territory: Gender, Two Spirits, and Louise Erdrich’s The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse." American Indian culture and research journal 30.2 (2006): 1-15.

Claims and analysis

Claim I: “Even in lesbian and gay communities, transgender people are often reluctantly accepted or overtly excluded (Kenaan, 2).”

The claim indicates that in any society that has a defined culture that each member of society must adhere, a deviation from the mainstream culture results to segregation. It is often difficult if not impossible to cross boundaries that are beyond the mainstream culture.

Claim II: “The representation of traditional gender variance is not solely dependent on the subject of Father Damien (Kenaan, 5).”

The author brings the presence of Father Damian in a traditional context to stress on the point that the White man’s forced and forceful responsibility in a private environment. Thus, the strict codes of conduct of the Catholic Church do not easily match up with the spirituality of the Native Americans.

Claim III: "When one believes that sex is given by nature in two incommensurable forms, the attitude toward that which is non-binary shifts from ambivalence and awe to horror and scorn (Kenaan, 8)."

In a cultural context, sex is as a result of nature and Kenaan means that the moment a person believes the mainstream culture, and then sex-gender system kicks in. Father Damian is leaving in two worlds which the author refers to as “in two incommensurable forms (Kenaan, 8).” Father Damian’s goal was baptizing as many Natives as possible as a way of bestowing forgiveness.

Reflection of the claims

In my view, the claims as depicted by Kenaan are a significant way of giving the reader insights of some key happenings in the reading. For instance, the representation of traditional sex variance conveys the author’s message on the desperation of life on the reservation; Father Damian and the secret about his gender but with good intentions. However, I do not agree with Kanaan (2) that people like the gays and the lesbians in the community may be discriminated. The larger population can exclude them, but with time, most of them are always accepted back.

PART B

Freedman, Jane. "Explaining sexual violence and gender inequalities in the DRC." Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 23.2 (2011): 170-175.

Summary of the Article

In the article, Freedman addresses the gender-based violence that has been taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Freedman, 171). She states that despite the progress that has been reported after the end of the conflicts by many humanitarian organizations in helping victims of sex-related violence, the number of cases that goes unreported is still high. Freedman goes ahead to indicate that DRC has been named among the worst places for women globally especially with the widespread of rape and sexual violence cases and the complete impunity for the perpetrators of the crimes. She provides a detailed analysis of gender connections in Congo. Freedman (172) goes way beyond the usual reports of sexual violence as a result of misunderstandings as a way of assessing the broad and social constructed gender norms and duties which underlie sexual assaults.

How the article will be used in my Analysis

My analysis involves addressing the issues that Native American faced especially women. Explaining sexual violence and gender inequalities by Freedman contain insightful information that will help me understand how various issues may result in gender-based violence, peacebuilding, violence, and reconstruction. For instance, the author’s views of a comprehensive account of men and women roles in conflict will be helpful in understanding some happenings in my analysis paper such as traditionally men being unable to play with cards with the ladies. Freeman’s ideas will provide my analysis of female power valuable and wide variety of concepts based on the new analysis. Some concepts that ideally put men above women has been for a long time been the primary causes of conflicts. However, Freedman has a more detailed analysis that covers almost all aspects of the society such as responsibilities, norms and typically the culture that has been formed by communities.