Hayley Wheeler
Mrs. Fonseca
CAS 115, T/Th
17 December 2013
CAS 115 Review
I did not expect CAS 115 to turn out as it did. I came into this class wondering why I had to take yet another English class, and contemplating the amount of essays I would have to write. This class started out rough for me, yet by the end of the semester, I was happy I had taken it.
At the beginning of the semester I was dreading this Central American Studies class. I realized that the essays we would be writing were going to be mostly research essays, which were the type of essays that I was not fond of. I struggled to write our first few essays. Yet Mrs. Fonseca would always spend time discussing our essays and research with us, which definitely helped me. Our class discussions were always interesting too. Hearing different views taking on our readings were very interesting and eye opening.
Even though, it was difficult at first, I eventually got the hang of writing research essays. My classmates and I would read each other’s essays and proof read them. Reading my other classmates essays no only helped the person whose essay I was reading, but it helped me practice my proofreading skills for my own essays. Also, it gave me the chance to see their point of view, which can help me to get a better grasp on the research article we had read. Mrs. Fonseca drilled us on creating interesting titles and using transitional words and phrases to make our essays move more smoothly. I know this will definitely help me with my essays in the future.
I read many interesting articles about Central America in CAS 115. For instance, one of them was called “Queen of the Chinese Colony”. This article was about a bunch of women at a beauty pageant, each representing a different country in Central America. The winner was chosen based on how traditional she was. The woman who could speak Chinese, wore a traditional dress, and was overall presenting the Chinese Colony the best, would win. Miss Honduras was almost the winner, but since she was not as traditional as Miss Costa Rica, she lost. Miss Honduras though, was trying to represent a new way of living that the Chinese Colony could start to represent. She did not speak fluent Chinese or come from the same background that Miss Costa Rica did, yet she was determined to shed light on a new way to carry out their culture. The judges of the pageant though, only looked down on Miss Honduras. At this point of the article that I was reading I was shocked, because I never though of how judgmental and stereotypical a society could be. I was sad for Miss Honduras because just because she was different, she was looked down upon and thought of in a negative way. I learned how when someone tries to go against the grain, it can create rifts and conflicts within their society.
I also read an article called “Silent Words”, which was about a man named Manuel who had left his country due to war and danger and came to America. He wanted to keep his traditions and old way of living so he farmed just as he had in his homeland. His wife, though, was unhappy with this way of living and kept telling him to get a job in the city. But Manuel wanted to keep farming, and anyways that was the only job he was ever taught or had learned to do. Then there were his children who had now been living in America for most of their lives, and Manuel desperately tried to teach them of their heritage. He would try to tell them stories and get them involved in their heritage, yet they were uninterested and Manuel finally accepted that there was no use. Sadly Manuel ended up going suicide and prevented his “alien” children from inheriting his land. This article taught me about the incredibly hard time some Central Americans had with trying to keep their culture. When someone is suddenly surrounded with a completely different culture, it is hard to keep ones traditions alive when they are separated from their homeland and society.
In CAS 115, a bulk of our time was spent reading and analyzing Rey Rosa’s The Good Cripple. This short book was an easy read, yet it took a few readings to grasp the underlying messages Rey Rosa was sending. This book was very interesting and there were many different views taken by my classmates. This book really illustrated the corrupt government in Central America and how it controlled and corrupted the society. When discussing this book with my class, I was greatly saddened by the horrible amount of corruption that society so desperately wanted to escape.
I never knew much about Central America before coming into this class. I had no idea what was going on there. I only had been focusing on the United States. Now, my eyes have been opened to other parts of the world thanks to CAS115. I am so happy to have been educated about Central America and am thankful to have had such an inspiring and involved teacher as Mrs. Fonseca.
Central American Studies 