A Moment With Murryum

     This week's focus on comics in class has been quite a new experience for me. I think the last time I read any type of comic was when I was little, and stumbled on a big hardcover  Calvin and Hobbes book that was kind of like a hand me down from my cousins. Other than that, I'd never really gone out of my way to read a comic, I'd never intensely discussed comics with any one the same way I talk about my favorite book, and no one has ever gifted or given me a comic. I just didn't really care for comics, sure they could be funny sometimes like in Calvin and Hobbes, but otherwise they were a "boy thing", with superheroes, and violence, and more "boy things".       With all this in mind, it caught me a little bit off guard when in Show and Tell, McCloud talks about/ demonstrates through comic strips that traditionally, "... truly great  works of art and literature are only possible when the two are kept at arms length." He demonstrates t...

          Today, our society is constantly focused on making everything faster, better, and more efficient and its our job to keep up with this fast paced world we all live in. Many of us, including myself, get caught up in a whirlwind of fulfilling responsibilities, personal goals, and more, and more, and more. It just never seems to stop! A lot of people have trouble pressing the pause button, slowing down, and opening their eyes to see what really is at stake in their life.          As a student, pretty much my entire life revolves around the future, both immediate, and distant. I'm constantly thinking about the next test, quiz, or homework assignment, and through it all I'm taking a risk, a chance, hoping all my hard work will pay off and I'll be admitted into a good college in the future. I've spent the majority of my entire life focusing on me, going to school for me, studying for me, and developing skills that will help me, and o...

 Upon reading Henry Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, and Sarah Vowell's The Partly Cloudy Patriot I think I finally understand how I really feel about America.  I related to Thoreau's confusion about what role the government really plays in society, and, as a chronically indecisive person myself, I admired the fact that even though his thoughts were a little mixed up, he still shared them.  However, because his thoughts became so contradictory and confusing towards the end I wasn't really able to agree or disagree with him, he just made me think deeper about government and its place in society.            Vowell, on the other hand was a much easier read, and much easier to relate to. She explained the way she felt about America through anecdotes, and her relationship with her parents.  In the end, Vowell was able to find that middle ground of patriotism and skepticism towards the government, one that Thoreau seemed to be struggling to gras...

                      One concept I often find myself pondering is the American identity. More specifically speaking: my American identity. I'm so often mistaken for a foreigner or an immigrant because I "don't look American". Being a child of immigrants, I never know what to say when someone asks me where I'm from. I feel like people would laugh in my face if I said I'm American because of the way I look. However, I also can't say I'm only Pakistani because its really my parents that are Pakistani. Yes, Pakistani culture is a part of my identity but my home is America. I think people often assume that just because I am a hyphenated American, (Pakistani- American) I have two places I call home. When in reality, I feel like a foreigner in Pakistan, and people there can tell that I am American just from my "American Accent" and probably the way I act. It's disturbing, when at home in America, no one can hardly ever recognize me a...