Journal Entry #3.

1. In Pratt's article, "The Arts of Contact Zone", she really describes what she calls the "contact zone" which is referring to how cultures come together and really influence each others stand points and views. She gives two huge examples that she continually refers back to. The first example she gives is when talking about her son and his obsession with his baseball cards. She describes how throughout his preadolescence, her son continually fawned over these baseball cards and they really gave him a well-rounded perspective on other things like talking to adults. He was able to make connections, and his baseball culture connected and came together with other relatable issues in his life. The second example she uses is a letter addressed to King Philip III of Spain written by an Andean man named Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala in 17th century. This letter was written in both Spanish and Quechua and really discusses Christianity from a Peruvian perspective really defining the contact zone.

2. The first flash point that I found in this essay was really when she was talking about her son and his obsession with the baseball cards. It brings to life the reality that our life experiences shape the person we become later in life. I related this flashpoint in the essay to the essay we read by Pollit and how books really can shape our lives which is why it's important to make the books relatable because they have such an effect on who we become.

The second flashpoint I found in this essay is this:

"However, though Guaman Poma’s text did not reach its

destination, the transcultural currents of expression it exemplifies

continued to evolve in the Andes, as they still do, less in writing

than in storytelling, ritual, song, dance-drama, painting and

sculpture, dress, textile art, forms of governance, religious belief,

and many other vernacular art forms. All express the effects of

long-term contact and intractable, unequal conflict."(Pg 4)

It talks about the power of words and once again I was able to relate it back to Pollit's essay and how the canon is something we shouldn't take lightly because literature is important and has an impact on our lives.