For Tuesday: Toha, “Unsafe Passage” (149-163)

 

For Tuesday: Toha, “Unsafe Passage” (149-163)

NOTE: We only have one more essay to read after this one, so be sure to catch up on your questions—and do these ones—so you don’t lose points on your Reading Responses grade (which is 30% of your final grade).

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Many people—and especially families—would want to flee an area like Gaza that has become a war zone. Ultimately, that’s what the author and his family try to do. But what keeps him, and many other people in Gaza, from abandoning the city? In other words, what makes it difficult to leave, both practically and personally?

Q2: In our last essay, the mother of a slain teenager complained that “The people that killed him reduced him to one thing and one thing only” (36). How does this essay show the same kind of racial stereotyping between one group and another? How is the author personally affected by this?

Q3: What ultimately saves the author from his incarceration and torture? Is he merely found innocent of his alleged crimes, or is it some other X factor that frees him? Why not everyone arrested in Gaza be able to count on the same kind of support?

Q4: How does this essay try to humanize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has long been a headline in the news, but which many Americans don’t really understand? Especially given that many people associate Palestinians with Hamas, terrorism, or even anti-Semitism?

For Wednesday: Deepak, “India’s Beef With Beef” (29-36)

 

For Wednesday: Deepak, “India’s Beef With Beef” (29-36)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: We usually think of food preference as a personal or even a ethical thing (being a vegetarian, vegan, etc.), but in India, why is it also a religious concept as well? Why might politicians and even priests support what the essay calls “cow-related violence” (30)?

Q2: According to the essay, “more than 60 percent of India eats meat” (32), yet many Hindus claim that anyone who eats meat is not Indian. Why does a minority control the concept of national identity in India? Wouldn’t that be like saying that anyone who eats peanuts in America isn’t American because those with peanut allergies say so? Or does the problem lie deeper than that?

Q3: One of the people interviewed in the essay claims that eating or not eating meat isn’t simply a personal or religious choice. As they explain, “the Hindu vegetarian’s idea of a “balanced meal”—including only lentils, rice, vegetables, and dairy—[is] a construct of privilege, catering to those who have constant access to food” (34). Why might “privilege” play a significant role in this debate, especially given the fact that the majority of Indians live in poverty?

Q4: As always, the important question in this essay is “why does this matter,” especially to American readers? Besides being a religious issue, how does this problem affect other aspects of Indian life? And how might it change the way we look at our own society’s ideas of food and identity?