Please post your response to Roxane Gay's short essay here. It can be pretty open ended, but some things you may want to address are the overall structure or language of the piece; the way Gay inserts herself into the narrative; the comment on race; the comment on genre (various genres really); the way this essay complicates or engages with ideology/pop culture; etc.
Your response should be no less than 200 words.
Bianca Nogueras
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Roxane Gay's piece, I learned a few things. One, the Sweet Valley High series consists of 181 books total, which is insane. Two, that I could relate to the author in a number of ways. She was kind of an outcast, obviously different from her peers with her Haitian background, darker skin and natural hair. She used to wish to be like other girls, or to fit into society's narrow form of beauty: thin, light skin, blonde hair. She was teased and bullied and ridiculed, but in the end, she learned to accept herself for who she is. The author discusses pop culture of the time, referring to the 1984 Vanessa Williams beauty pageant scandal, the Sweet Valley High books that were extremely popular, and so on. These things changed her view of herself as a person, but also allowed her to evolve. She realized that she could be amazing and different and that's okay.
Colleen Towey
ReplyDeleteThis piece captured my interest from the start. I did, of course assume that the piece would be about Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America. However, I think I enjoyed the personal narrative more. She definitely comments on the race issue at the time and the idea that a black girl could not be popular simply because she was black. Gay's short story told the truth about the blonde, white, and thin hierarchy of popular kids in grade school, but I think this truth extends past school and into the world. We still know that there are huge issues with race in the country today, all of them quite tense, so it was an interesting twist to hear about her experience in a more relaxed setting. I thought it was interesting how most of the narrative lives in this town of Sweet Valley, mirroring the fact that she spent most of her life enraptured in these Sweet Valley books. It was humorous to hear Gay comment on the quality of the writing as she grew older and reread the series; I feel like we have all gone back and read books from our tween years and realize how poorly written they were. It also seems interesting that Gay almost insinuates that she knows the story better when she says "you think Pascal has no idea who the Wakefield twins are." It hones in on a feeling we have all had when we deeply loved characters in a series and felt that the author was not doing them justice. Overall, I think the story was a touching narrative on how Gay did not limit herself to just her race even though the people around her and even the stories she read did. She characterizes herself as any other girl, and points out that any girl can be a Sweet Valley girl.
My first reaction is how Gay describes the two girls from the book. She basically worships them and makes it seem like you have to be all those things in order to be happy.
ReplyDeleteI get a feeling that Gay struggled with a lot of self image and self love issues. The way she describes these girls is generic. They have all the features that society says is right to have. All of Gays dreams sound a little shallow because her dream is to be popular and admired for her beauty. The contrast with the trade and the girls from the book almost make it seem like it is not right for an African-American woman to be a figure of beauty. Because Gay talks about being beautiful, she takes away the beauty of being unique and different as Miss America was. But after I kept reading she goes on and says that she to is a blank Haitian young woman. She is trying to explain that she doesn't want to be like those blonde girls but she wants to feel as beautiful and as glorified as America sees white, tall, blonde, skinny girls. She felt peace with accepting that she may never be awarded for her beauty or personality but she was content realizing that she is beautiful in her own unique way. This is a story of growth and maturity and a self reflection peace where one is content to finally be who they are.
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ReplyDeleteAudrey Lugo
ReplyDeleteRoxane Gay's short essay "I Once Was Miss America" goes back and forth between the author explaining the characters and plot of the Sweet Valley High books she read and her life growing up. She begins the essay by explaining how Vanessa Williams winning the title of Miss America, made history since she was the first black woman to be crowned Miss America in the pageant's 63 year history. Gay expresses how since Vanessa Williams was a woman of color it gave her hope. Later on in the essay she relates Vanessa William's crowning of Miss America to how Gay's mom nicknamed her Miss America, and how she felt as beautiful as the characters in the Sweet Valley High books, despite their different appearances. In the book, the main characters Elizabeth and Jessica are described as possessing the most perfect features, from their blonde, silky smooth hair to their aqua blue eyes. Gay loved these books as a child and would always compare the reality of the characters in the book to the reality of her world. For example, she would relate the behaviors of the girls in the book to the behaviors of the popular girls in her school, and she frequently mentioned how badly she wanted to be a part of that world.
In Roxane Gay’s short essay, she uses her personal relationship with the Sweet Valley High series to describe the fantasy in her mind of these beautiful twins that she describes as “blonde and perfect”. Gay uses an excessive number of modifiers to describe the two main characters. I believe she chose to do this to represent the limited range of vocabulary at the age plus the sporadic tendencies of a little girl’s mind. She always brings the series back to events that happened in her life, events that she remembers so clearly because of the impact they had on her. I think it was a beneficial choice to insert herself into the narrative. Rather, than reading this from a third-person point of view, readers develop a connection as we travel down memory lane of an awkward nine-year-old girl who goes through many ups and downs with the popular girls at school. The way Gay ties the idea of these books back to Vanessa Williams winning the Miss America pageant acknowledges her idea of fantasy as she stated. She used those books to escape. The new release of Sweet Valley Confidential brought back the awkward memories she had of that time in her life as she tried to navigate life while seeking solace in the series. Without Gay’s personal experiences, there would be a lack of emotional connection. The audience gets to experience that annoyance, sadness, and giddiness of that little girl reading her favorite series.
ReplyDeleteOverall I thought that this was an interesting story. I always find it interesting when authors write from a first person view as another character besides themselves. It makes you wonder if they have lived through similar experiences or if they are simply retelling stories encountered by their friends. Gay does a great job of establishing a relationship between the reader and narrator. Throughout the story I felt as if I was connected to the main character due to her humility. I admire the way she was easily able to analyze her own flaws in the past and omnisciently understand that she would never attain her dream yet, she was content with fantasizing. This book. Another engaging aspect of this reading is that of race. Through my own experiences and upon formulating my own opinions I have always felt that beauty pageants, and entities of that were inherently racist, especially now that shows such as "Dance Moms" have highlighted the offsetting realities of these ideas. Yet, the narrator continues to speak proudly, although exemplifying her flaws, she was still able maintain confidence in her heritage and other differences. One thought that I have never had before, came from the idea of books maintain strict guidelines as well. While these social guidelines exist in many other structures, I had never expected to find them in literature. Ultimately, this was an interesting read as it portrays a very unique personal account. The narrators true character shines throughout the story and is very appealing to read. Her cordial, yet honest word was not to be overlooked and her courage is definitely appreciated
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this short essay because it was very relatable. Like the author, I am also Haitian and growing up it was hard balancing your life at home and your life in school. I sympathize her feeling of being an outcast because that's what typicality happens when there isn't anyone who looks like you. She had different hair and skin from the rest of her school. Being the "only black girl" really sucks at time. But as the story goes on she learns to love herself for who she is. The pop culture the author refers to in the story was the 1984 Vanessa Williams beauty pageant scandal, and the sweet valley high books. The Author wanted to be like the girls in these books until she realized it's okay to be different and that different doesn't always mean bad.
ReplyDeleteRoxane Gay touches on various social settings and issues in her short essay. Foremost, as she recalls her childhood and her love for the Sweet Valley High series, Gay points out that she felt there were always that one group of popular kids in school, and everybody can most likely relate to that feeling. These kids tend to have the best smiles, hair, and clothes, according to Gay. It's stereotypical, but in many cases, true. Also, Gay makes a point that many times, children, girls especially, see these icons and celebrities and people who seem perfect, and they feel less of themselves because they don't look like or act like those people. However, Gay seems to realize at a young age that things like that don't matter, and she comes to terms with the fact that she is who she is and that does not bother her. I like Roxane Gays point of view on nostalgia. It is a very powerful feeling and often times, because we cannot remember events exactly as they happened, we tend to glorify the situation and think of our past as better than it really was. This goes to show the power of the mind and its connection to memory recollection, especially when recounting memories from our childhoods.
ReplyDeleteRoxane Gay wrote an amazing short short, something relatable to many people and extremely eye opening. The way she puts herself into the narrative is what makes the story, how she can relate so much to the narrative. Every girl at one point in her life wouldn't mind being the most popular girl in school or even becoming Miss America. Its just one of those things that all girls would wish for. Roxane comments that she and her brother were the only black kids in her school, and how they got bullied for that. People always want to take what ever is different about a person and make it a terrible thing. But for Vanessa Williams she embraced her skin color, and changed the norms for young girls that were going through problems like Roxane. The main genre I got out of this was definitely a personal narrative, she talks about her life and her struggles. But her narrative also relates to pop culture because today there are so many celebrities, such as Lady Gaga, that share stories through their work about getting bullied, judged and made fun of for something that they can't control. This story is very eyeopening because this is something that many young people go through, and it makes them discouraged about who they really are and about something that they can't change, like skin color.
ReplyDeleteDamian Williams
ReplyDeleteI was first introduced to I Was Once Miss America by Roxanne Gay in a class I took called ENC 1101. When first reading the story I was quite confused because the style of her short story was different from what I was used to. However, I believe that Roxanne Gay’s I Was Once Miss America pays homage to the younger African-American generation. This piece to me is about a young girl growing up whose love of “Sweet Valley High” books rules her life. But at the same time having the inescapable feeling that these books are unnatural. The books that she read did not represent her, or her reality. Those “Sweet Valley High Books” represented fantasy that she could only dream of from people vastly different that her. Race and representation for me is the most important concept this this piece by Roxanne Gay because it speaks to me directly. Something that I noticed growing up and taking English classes is that there is a very limited genre of books that relate to me and my realities. I have always been forced to read books that tell stories about people who do not look like me, act like me, or come from where I come from. There is nothing wrong with these books. However, I cannot relate to them in the way that Roxanne Gay can.
Roxane Gay's style of writing is very involved, entirely a personal narrative, as she constantly expresses her message through examples and stories from Sweet Valley High. Roxane connects the narrative to beauty pageants and the large Sweet Valley series, and in her final sentence, the connection leads to "books being more than just books." There were many pop culture references such as the beauty pageant Vanessa Williams was crowned in and the wildly popular series of Sweet Valley High. Much of Roxane's vivid writing style was helpful in depicting the obvious racism, and how such a harsh society had her wishing that she could have lighter features to better conform. This is also where the final sentence "books are often more than just books" portrays a strong message, Roxane used these novels as an escape and eventually a lesson to help her come to terms with how unrealistic her desires were and she therefore came to terms with being herself.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite interesting the way Roxane Gay examines her view of things from her younger perspective and her current one. The shift from when she first read the Sweet Valley high books to when she returned to them says a lot about how society has shaped her. Before she was heavily exposed to the culture around her, she already sensed that she was different, though now that she's older it is prevalent in the way she views herself and others. The writing allows us to feel as if we were in her shoes when she was younger as she describes the fantasy she lived and tried to be a part of when she was younger. The juxtaposition between the Sweet Valley High series and her own reality as a child is well done to highlight the contrast between what pop culture said she should want to aspire to be and what was actually attainable.
ReplyDeleteI felt the short essay was a powerful passage that captures many different aspects of life and feelings an adult has, through the authors eyes, of when she was a child. Gay represented herself as always being the goodie good child who wished she was bad to the bone, and as popular as possible. The comments of her race and how it was different than the other kids was less about skin color, but more about she had seen real life full of real people who struggled and the majority of them wouldn't understand this mindset at all. I was captivated by how Roxane used the book series "Sweet Valley High", and "Sweet Valley Confidential" as a vehicle to get her own narrative across through comparing and contrasting her life with the books. She makes the distance between the lives of herself and Jessica and Elizabeth very clear, but also wants the reader to know that sometimes thats all she wanted growing up. The revelation that explains the title of this story is that she told the bullies she will be once america one day and they can just wait. Although claiming a statement like this is an impossible statement to back up, Gay never lost hope.
ReplyDeleteI really loved the message this short essay sent out. The beginning of the story starts out with a black women who wins the "Miss America" award. Then it switches perspectives to Roxane Gay as a child, who wants to win the same award and she tries to convince her classmates that one day she will. This black women winning the award sends the message that girls of any race can be beautiful. However, the Sweet Valley High books that the author read as a younger child seem to say the opposite, implying that the image of beauty is someone who is blonde, thin and popular. She uses her love of these books to show the clashing ideologies of what makes someone "beautiful". Later on in her life, she tells the story of how a sequel series to the Sweet Valley High books is released titled Sweet Valley Confidential. She scoffs at how ridiculous these books have become which I think could show how, as an adult, she finally realizes how ridiculous these books were. You don't have to win "Miss America" to be beautiful or be considered successful. There are multiple other ways of going about this. Of course, this short essay would fall under the genre of a personal story as it recounts multiple experiences that Roxane Gay goes through during her years in school as well as an adult.
ReplyDeleteThis short essay was an easy read. The diction made it understandable and easy to comprehend. Although, in the beginning, I wasn’t sure whether she was going to write about her dream of becoming Miss America or just focused on talking about the books. The vocabulary wasn’t too complex. The structure of the essay was good and didn’t miss any details. She gave us full effect on the scenery of the book. Her hobby became part of her. She zoned out into her own little world. Which is typically what younger kids tend to do. Gay placed herself with the Sweet Valley kids and knew she was no different than them. She portrayed herself as a strong independent woman, even from an early age. She overcame bullying and racial discrimination all on her own. She stood up for herself and never let anyone bring her down. The books brought her hope that she’ll one day step out of the shadow of being the outsider.
ReplyDeleteDaria Root
ReplyDelete“I Once Was Miss America” is a personal short essay that captures the reality of the urge to be someone else. The essay begins talking about the Wakefield twins, two girls who are fictional characters in a book series called “Sweet Valley High”. The narrator of this essay had a love and interest for the series and more specifically the characters. The narrator explains how she wasn’t the prettiest girl and often was made fun of in school. It was the characters in her books that she strived to be more like and have friends like the Wakefield twins. This piece of writing is structured to be very personal, as you can see by the inclusion of the authors thoughts and opinions, as well as how she mentions her emotions like nostalgia. The author had come to accept that she would never be like any of the girls in her books she read. This may be contributed to her race, something she mentions multiple times in her essay. She believes that “as a black girl, a Haitian girl…” she didn’t belong in her stories. She was able to see the separation and the discrimination between whites and blacks just by reading a story. I personally enjoyed the personal side of the essay, allowing the reader to become more engaged and interested.
Davian Smith
ReplyDeleteThe short essay was very intriguing and interesting as it is detailed a personal story that a lot of people can relate to. It begins with Gay facing diversity as a child and finding a way to cope with the negativity she had to deal with through the use of reading. I thought this was a way in displaying what reading can do for a person, especially a child. The Valley series were able to influence her mind and give her the strength and confidence to become something that her community didn’t agree to. The books gave her something to look forward to everyday and helped her develop a role model that she seemingly was not seeing during her school hours. She wanted to be like the character in the series of the books and that was able to give her a personality that created a positive attitude for her. It gave her the confidence of sharing her dreams with anyone, even if they continuously put her down. In the end, she became successful and ultimately proved that she is more than the nicknames that were given to her in school. I believe the purpose in creating this essay was to give a short reading that will too influence others that come across it.
Andrew Stevens
ReplyDeleteMrs. Roxane Gay tells a detailed life story about her fond childhood memories. Hers is a story of confidence and self-acceptance. Specifically, she addresses her experience with the Sweet Valley book series. She identifies herself as a black Haitian woman who found the characters in the stories to be quite relatable to her, despite not marketed towards young African-Americans such as herself. Gay reminisces on her beloved childhood books in great detail, explaining the contrasting personalities of the two main characters and feeling close to the fictional girls. She clearly has a strong emotional attachment to these stories that defined her childhood. I, myself could also understand where she was coming from in this writing piece, as I certainly have my share of books that I fondly remember from my childhood, such as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. She also points out that the actual writing quality of the book series is bad, yet she enjoys it anyway, as if the books are “so bad, they’re good”, which is something that just about any of us could relate to. I found this essay to be a rather interesting read. Gay uses very descriptive language to clearly describe her feelings about her favorite childhood book series and almost anyone else could understand a childhood experience such as hers.
While reading the piece “I was once Miss America” what I envisioned is the desire and dream of most children. Roxane Gay talks about her past, however, that past, is a past some people can relate to, wanting to be popular, wanting to be noticed, wanting that little moment of fame. I lived for nine years in Spain, out of all my classmates I was the only Hispanic in the class and even though I was comfortable with my peers I still saw quite a difference between my culture at home and the culture at school. My different heritage and my mixed upbringing is similar to Roxane Gay’s experience during her childhood. Her writing is personal and unrestricted which allows for an easier introduction into the text, what’s interesting is the way she uses the Sweet Valley High Books to deliver her message, she uses a teen series to embody her dreams and expectations of growing up and living a happy life while also using Vanessa Williams as her idol and role model that even young Haitian girls can aspire to. As we grow up we start focusing on more important things rather than just being popular and living the perfect life of sweet valleys, however, there’s always that little moment of fantasy that we all aspire to, revive those old memories and aspirations that we fantasized during our childhood days.
ReplyDeleteMarissa Latham
ReplyDelete"I Once Was Miss America" is a story told by the narrator in retrospect. I found this very interesting as it began with details about a former Miss America who the reader can infer is not the narrator. She looked up to this Miss America as she was the first black Miss America and the narrator was black. When reading this, I could feel the emotions and feelings that the author was writing and could sympathize greatly. She spoke about how she was the outsider in her school days because she was black, and she relied heavily on books to be her support. One particular book series was very impactful for her and she spoke of how later in life the book series came out with an epilogue. She had remembered the series being so much greater than the epilogue was when she read it as an adult, proving that not all memories are remembered correctly. She is now a writer and realizes that she will not be Miss America as she had told her class mates, but she still hopes to exceed expectations.