SPAN312C Blog

We have finally made it to the end of our hopscotch game. Or maybe we are just beginning our own hopscotch journey. We started at Mama Blanca with the themes of memories and childhood. Childhood perspectives are a theme that was one of my favourites in our journey. Cartucho and Papi also used childlike perspectives to frame things in a lighter sense, more like a game. This perspective is super eye-opening and interesting to me. Adults take things seriously and literally, but children see the world for how it is. This view is one that I adopted, and it helped me understand the books that were more linguistically confusing. It helped me avoid getting too wrapped up in confusing words or unrealistic scenes. This allowed me to not over-analyze and get overwhelmed when reading; I also was able to understand the bigger picture and understand that even though some things don't feel realistic, it's an exaggeration and curiosity; wondering what could happen; wondering if we can have a l...

Borges's collection of short stories were disconnected, fluid and playful. But for me, this collection took a lot of work to grasp the complete understanding. I still do not fully understand his work, but I think that is the point. Borges titled his collection,  Labyrinths , meaning 'a confusing structure' 'elaborate' 'a maze.' His title sets the tone for his collection, and I found his stories to be confusing, hard to understand and digest, just like a maze—the thrill of not knowing what will happen next because there is no clear path. Like a maze, Borge's  Labyrinths  challenges us to appreciate not knowing what is happening all the time—enjoying the tricky words and playful contradictions and finding joy in them. Personally, I am used to reading novels where the story flows and has timelines and plots, familiar characters and an end. This was a challenge to read, but I tried my best to embrace it. Borges takes us, his readers, on a literal bumpy ride ...