CUNY Academic Commons

Final Paper ReflectionFor paper number three it was a process I haven’t gone through in a while. Having a research question for a literary paper, and comparing two texts wasn’t something new for me. In the beginning, I was moving a little slow with things, just trying to get back into the groove of writing a paper like this. Compared to working on the other papers this process was a lot longer. Having to think of a thesis to support not only one but two texts was a little difficult. Adding on to that, having to find evidence and analysis for each quote/ text was also time-consuming. This came with one of my biggest obstacles which was having to sum up the scene that I wanted to write about instead of having a direct quote like I did for the short story I had used. One thing that went smoothly in the process of writing this paper was comparing the ideas that I had for each text. Though getting to these ideas took some time, once it came down to me going deep into them It felt easy for me and quite enjoyable. Things also started to go more smoothly after my partner had given me some feedback on my first draft. When writing my first draft I felt lost and a little unorganized. When I read her comments it gave me a good sense of where to go with my paper and led me in the right direction. Overall even with the obstacles and slow movement at the beginning of this paper, in the end, I enjoyed putting it all together and think I wrote a good […] “Final Paper Reflection”

Religion, the weakest linkTypically we look at religion as a building block or even the glue for a relationship. Looking at the short story “Goodbye, Columbus” by Philip Roth, and the film “Keeping the Faith” directed by Edward Norton, a new understanding of religious relationships is made. Goodbye, Columbus’ love interests and main characters are Neil and Brenda, both are Jewish but the difference in their lifestyles seems to give them different definitions of what it means to truly be Jewish. In “Keeping the Faith” the love interests and main characters are Jake and Anna, Jake being a Rabi, and Ana seemingly having no connection to religion sparks major differences between the two of them. Both the text and film show the struggle and triumph between characters trying to be together despite differences in their religious backgrounds. Anna and Brenda share similarities in fitting into the role of being considered the outsider within their religion. Jake and Neil are left to defend their relationships against those who acknowledge the difference in commitment to being Jewish between them and their partners. And finally, with the weight of so many reasons to stay together, there were so many more reasons for these relationships to fall apart outweighing those. Different levels of commitment to faith/religion cause inequalities and tension within relationships that are connected with faith. Anna and Brenda share similarities in fitting into the role of being considered an outsider in their religion. For example, in the film, there is a scene where Jake and Anna go on a movie date. They bump into people who are from Jake’s congregation, Anna then shares the movie they were planning on seeing. The movie she shares with them is one they wouldn’t expect their Rabi to see, leaving all of them in an awkward situation. Jake’s solution for this was to completely ditch their original plan, and save face by seeing the movie the people from his congregation were on their way to see. Jake’s actions show his lack of comfort with Anna. Though Anna is willing to throw herself into this religion for Jake, it’s clear that this effort or desire from her isn’t enough for him. Jake’s decision to switch movies made Anna upset because he wasn’t sticking by her and the decision they had made together because the approval of his congregation got in between the two of them. Another example, in the text Neil is having a conversation with Brenda’s father. Brenda’s father said, “‘You know more than my kids. They’re goyim, my kids, that’s how much they understand.’”(Roth 47). “Goyim” is slang used by Jewish people, it’s a term they use for a non-Jewish person. From the conversation these two were having, Brenda’s father was alienating her from the Jewish community. A simple use of slang goes a long way for a girl who is already not seen as Jewish by other people. Though the fault essentially falls on her father for this, he’s not oblivious to the fact that culturally and even religiously Brenda isn’t seen as Jewish. These views from these situations and conversations from the text and film exclude these two women from the groups of Jewish people but put them in a group together for outsiders. Jake and Neil are left to defend their relationships against those who acknowledge the difference in commitment to being Jewish between them and their partners. In either relationship, outsiders have things to say about Anna and Brenda which may be true, but Jake and Neil still defend them. For example, in the film Jake gets “exposed” for being with a non-Jewish woman, which as a Rabi wasn’t typical and in the eyes of his leaders not okay. In a scene from the film, Jake speaks in front of his whole congregation and defends himself, his relationship, and his love for Anna. Everyone in the congregation knew Anna wasn’t Jewish, and Jake had to be the one to stand up for her and against those who were opposing their relationship because no one else would the way he could. He knew her and their relationship best, and he was the one person who people would turn to when they thought of religion in their relationship. This left him being the one to defend things when religion got brought into the conversation. Another example, Neil was on his way to stay with Brenda for a little while for vacation and he had a conversation with his aunt about it and she couldn’t believe what he had said. “Since when do Jewish people live in Short Hills? They couldn’t be real Jews believe me.’ ‘They’re real Jews,’ I said. ‘I’ll see it I’ll believe it.’”(Roth 58) From Neil’s aunts’ assumptions and knowledge of Jewish people in her own life, she couldn’t believe a Jewish person could be well off and live in a nice neighborhood like that. As a woman who lived on top of a supermarket, hearing a Jewish person had their own house, and money like Brenda’s family it was hard to believe, or even put together. Neil knew Brenda and her family, knowing they were Jewish even if it didn’t seem like they were. Neil had the privilege to be able to defend them, even though his aunt wasn’t buying it at all. Since it is common knowledge for these two men to be religious and in relationships with women in the question of being religious, their words will always be heard by their girlfriends even if their words are left being questioned. With the weight of so many reasons to stay together, there were so many more reasons outweighing these relationships to fall apart. There were many ups in these relationships, these characters loved and cared for each other, and they wanted to be together despite everything and every reason they had had to not be together. After the many arguments, there were many makeups as well. But with that, the bad started to make them forget about the good that they had together. For example, in the film Jake and Anna had a huge fight about the exceptions the synagogue had on Jake and the expectations Anna’s corporate job had on her. They lived two very different lives at different paces and it was catching up to the somewhat fairy tale of a life they were living for the past few weeks. They went back and forth about how different they were and in the heat of the moment they broke up out of anger. In this moment of anger, the bad outweighed the good, there was no room for the love, the caring, and the reason to stay together to shine through. Another example is during Brenda’s relationship with Neil she got a diaphragm at his request. When she left for college she had left it home for her mother to find in her room, knowing this would end the relationship between her and Neil. They argued over the phone about this decision Brenda had made. Neil knew deep down that she intentionally did this, but Neil still ended up at her college after all of this. Though he ended up there, he left all alone. “I did not look very much longer, but took a train that got me into Newark just as the sun was rising on the first day of the Jewish New Year.” (Roth 136) With Brenda intentionally leaving her diaphragm behind she knew this would leave Neil behind as well. With all of this happening, it made sense for Neil to enter the Jewish New Year alone, rather than being with someone whom he really wouldn’t even be sharing it with. It all came down to the differences in lifestyles these characters had, it pushed them away from each other rather than bringing them and their relationships back together. Religion can bring a lot of things to the table for people, typically it brings people together. Looking at “Goodbye Columbus” and “Keeping the Faith” it’s clear that religion wasn’t something that could bring these relationships together. Bringing two complex aspects of life together, relationships and religion results in complex outcomes. Something as strong and binding as religion, created similarities for the two relationships looked at throughout this paper. These similarities are struggles, arguments, breakups, and even judgment, things not expected to come from religion. When different levels of commitment to faith/ religion from people come together, they cause inequalities and tension within their relationships that are connected with the faith that they either hold o […] “Religion, the weakest link”

Religion, the deal breaker?Religion typically is used to bring communities, family, and people together. In the short story What must I say to you, Author Norma Rosen uses religion a little differently. Between the main character, her husband, and Mrs. Cooper, the caretaker of their child, you can see how religion plays its own role. In what must I say to you, Norma Rosen uses the ideas around religion, and the main character’s lack of knowledge of her religion from her upbringing to separate/ isolate her from her husband. The main character and her husband have many conversations around their religion throughout the text that showcase the different lenses they have on the topic. Their conversation was about her upbringing in regard to her being Jewish. Her husband was questioning her because of the differences in knowledge or lack of, she has about basic Jewish traditions. “‘My parents were the next generation; I say.’ And I’m the generation after that. We evolved,’ I say- luckily that is also humor between my husband and me. But my husband rubs his head. It’s different now. And not so funny.” (Rosen 210) There is a disconnect between the two characters, the explanation of the husband’s body language shows he’s not happy with the responses given to him by his wife. Also, the continuous questions hints that the main character is not meeting the expectations the husband has for her within their religion. With the main character bringing up their daughter it emphasizes the the differences in their participation within being Jewish is something coming between the two. Throughout the story the main character begins to gain a relationship with her daughter’s caretaker Mrs. Cooper. She previously had a conversation with Mrs. Coopers about going to church. During this conversation and the ones beforehand, the main character had contemplated telling Mrs. Cooper that she’s Jewish. With contemplation going on she went to her husband about it. “‘But I think I’ll tell her,’ I say. ‘Not even a spray of balsam. I’d rather have her think of us Godless than heartless.’ My husband suggests,’ Tell her about Chanukah.’- which with us is humor, because he knows I wouldn’t know what to tell.’” (Rosen 204) though there is humor used between the main character and her husband. The intentions behind the husband’s words are real. This was a joke between the two of them, but deep down the husband would love for his wife to be able to speak about their traditions that are a part of their religion. Since he knows she can’t speak on things with the same knowledge as him, and this being his advice to her, he truly is isolating her as a Jew who can’t speak on their traditions. With not only talk of Chanukah, in other regards to tradition the main character and her husband also had an intense conversation about Mezuzah. The husband wanted to put one on the door, the main character has expressed her feelings about him putting it up which sparked a disagreement between the two. “‘No, with you it’s all the symbols,’ My husband drops his hands from my shoulders. ‘You don’t know enough about them to discard them – that is what I feel he means. Since I was not even scorched by the flames of their futility. As he was, and came out cursing than I.” (Rosen 213) The comment her husband had made in regard to “all the symbols” was a way for him to say that she doesn’t know anything, putting her in a box she couldn’t be in. Furthermore, the way the main character took these words from him was correct, he was putting her down and indirectly said she didn’t have the right to judge them. In this moment along with others the husband uses his faith, his knowledge, and his feelings to put himself above the main character when being Jewish comes into the conversation. Leaving the main character in her own space. She identifies as Jewish to other people, in this case Mrs. Cooper. But her husband isn’t Jewish enough because of the lack of knowledge she has in comparison to him. The actions and words from the husband in the short story, are used to separate himself and his wife. Though physically they are together, he used religion to divide them. The actions and questions the husband asks, instead of trying to inform his wife, or ask her questions to educate her, he instead ends up putting her in a corner where he feels her identity lies. Religion and faith look different for everyone, same with the type of education people have on these things. In what must I say to you, Norma Rosen uses the Husband of the main character to emphasize this idea around religion, and how the lack of religion in the main character’s upbringing is used to separate/ isolate her from the […] “Religion, the deal breaker?”

My Four Way RelationshipIma and Abba, mom and dad. But they’re my grandparents. Since the day I was born and even now my grandparents have played such a major role in my life. Once I was born my grandparents wanted me to call them Mama and Papa which is common in Hispanic culture. Myparents didn’t like that idea, so they settled with being called Ima and Abba, since the meaningbehind it was still the same. Though they played such a major role in my life in their eyes Godshould be playing an even bigger one.The first year of my life I grew up with my grandparents on my dad’s side. They were mygrandparents, and pastors of a church. With that I understand their love for God and church. Growing up with them meant I was growing up in church, with their beliefs, and their standards.In their house was also my great grandma who was also very religious. When my great grandmawas still alive, my Ima would always make me say “Bendición Lala ”as soon as I walked in thedoor of the house. Before taking off my shoes I would walk straight to her room down our longhall in the house. I remember always giving her the biggest hug, and kissing her on the cheek togreet her before asking for her blessing. She was always so eager to say “Dios te bendiga,” or “God bless you” with a tight hug and kiss back. She always appreciated the way I greeted her; itwas respectful not only for her but to God as well in her eyes.When I moved out of Ima and Abba’s house and there was now this constant reminder that I needed to go to church every Sunday, I had to be a part of the church’s youth group, and I had tohave this love for God the way they did. When we had moved, we were no longer close to the church. It became hard to go to church every Sunday, which made everything else more difficult.Though this pressure felt intense it was only when I thought about it. Overall, it made me feel anxious to speak to my grandparents for a while. Any conversation we had the thought of thembringing up how I needed to go to church more ran in the back of my mind as though it was a race horse. This was only because I knew the relationship, they wanted me to have with God justwasn’t there. My parents ended up splitting up, I lived closer to the church again with my father. This was when the Girls Ministry was introduced to me in church. It was a Bible study group for girlsaround my age. Though this isn’t the exact situation as David, thinking back on my experiences there it makes me think of him in Hebrew school. The similarities that pop up are that it wasneither of our decisions to go. David was forced to go to Hebrew school because his father wanted him to, he ended up really enjoying going to Hebrew school. My Grandparents forced meto go, I was excited to learn and have this a part of my life, only because this would make my grandparents happy. One day after class my ministry teacher Ms. Linda spoke to my Grandparents. I had to memorize a bible verse for class and recite it. I remember the prep,constantly thinking about the verse, saying it out loud to myself, to my parents, and my grandparents. Thinking wow even this prep alone would make my grandparents happy, with the way the word of God was running through my thoughts. Ms. Linda told them how well I did in class. The smiles they had were priceless, their smiles going from ear to ear, their eyes as wide as they could be, and nodding their heads as they listened and spoke about me.The happiest my Grandparents are to see me is when I’m in church. They make me feel like this relationship with God has to flow through my body as though it’s my blood. As though it has toseep into every thought, action, or even word that comes from my mouth. My relationship with them still feels intense, but they’re family. Knowing that makes it a little easier to deal with the four-way relationship I have with them. (Me, Ima, Abba, […] “My Four Way Relationship”

Hello world!Welcome to CUNY Academic Commons. Im Bella Rivera, and through the eight-course learning outcomes, I learned to engage in the […]