Examining Relationships In Leah Meyers Thinning Blood

University:
Princeton University
Course:
FRS 172 | Origins of Modern Communications and the Principles of Innovation
Academic year:

2023
Views:

0

Pages:

27
Author:

Adessa Sorani

EXAMINING RELATIONSHIPS IN LEAH MEYERS THINNING BLOOD Presented By : Adessa Sorani INTRODUCTION Opening hook: Indigenous people have been facing challenges and racism for time and there are always people who are trying to make them disappear. SUMMARY OF THREE POINTS In the memoir Thinning Blood by Leah Meyers, the main character Leah came to a realization that she would be the last member of her family to be able to be part of her family's tribe. The book shows different female members in her family through generations. She connects each family member to an animal that best represents them and explains why. It’s important how they are showing female identity and how powerful the women in her tribe were. Even though she was the “last member of her tribe”, she still faced so many challenges and obstacles of being so different from other white people. Everything was a little harder, like finding jobs to live. THESIS Leah goes through many lessons throughout that teach her more about her identity and to be more proud and accept all the challenges that come with it. BODY PARAGRAPH 1 Topic Sentence Leah discovered that she would be the last member of her Indigenous tribe from her family bloodline. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #1 Leah discovered that she would be the last member of her family to be in the tribe: She felt really upset and guilty her kids wouldn’t be able to be part of the tribe she was part of She also felt as if her culture was slowly fading away because people kept on marrying outside the tribe and more and more people wouldn’t be considered recognized by their tribe. MAKING CONNECTIONS The mission is about a tribe in South America during the colonization period, and the tribe is ending. Like the book, Leah tried saving her tribe because it was gonna end soon. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #2 She tried teaching herself more about her cultural background and learned more to keep her roots alive: She wanted to learn more about her background to teach her children and other people She couldn’t let her culture just slip away like that She was very determined and knew how important it was for her to learn these things. MAKING CONNECTIONS The protagonist in this movie is marrying a non Greek guy and she goes on a mission to learn more about her Greek background. This connects to the book because Leah does the same thing trying to learn more about her background. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #3 She always felt like she didn’t know enough about her background and she felt like a stranger to it. She wanted to learn more about her background to be able to teach it more and to be more proud of her roots. She said she felt more connected to her body whenever she was learning about her background 7 MAKING CONNECTIONS The protagonist in this movie arrived to new York and found himself struggling to maintain his culture, and the same thing happened to Leah in this story. 8 CONCLUDING STATEMENT In the end, Leah just wanted to feel more connected to her culture and learn more about it because she felt as if it was a big part of her identity. 2 BODY PARAGRAPH 2 Topic Sentence Leah wanted to learn more about her background so she thought of a creative way to learn and remember everything from her family. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #1 She asked generations of her family to teacher her about her culture: She asked her great- grandmother, grandmother, and mother to tell her stories that would be able to teach her about her Indigenous identity. She put all the stories together to have a full knowledge of her background Each other family members she talked to, she gave them an animal that she though would resemble them and she ou them on a totem pole SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #2 She started asking questions and trying to learn more and started making her totem pole; The first person she tried to learn from was her great-grandmother, who was the last full blooded member of her tribe from her family bloodline, she resembled her as a protective bear. Second person on her totem pole was her grandmother who she represented with a defiant salmon. She resembles her mother to a compassionate hummingbird MAKING CONNECTIONS In the novel, Leah soends time talking to her grandmother trying to learn more about her culture. In the movie, “Moana” , she spends so much time trying to learn about her culture and rediscover her identity. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #3 After finally hearing stories from her family and many things that they have learned from their experience, she started to think where she would fit. She put herself on top as a raven She thought she was very wise and intelligent which shows the good resemblance of the raven CONCLUDING STATEMENT Leah worked hard on making the totem pole and learned a lot of her roots and learned how important it is for everyone to try their best in keeping their background alive. BODY PARAGRAPH 3 Topic Sentence As said, Leah was the last member of her family to be recognized by her tribe, but she still faced so much cultural discrimination. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #1 Leah was Indigenous mixed with white, but she looked very Indigenous still. Throughout the novel, there are many times where Leah gets upset for still having to face racism. She said her mom had to lie about her race in order to find a job because she was Indigenous and places wouldn’t want to hire them. People would often give them a hard time and give them dirty looks for being Indigenous. MAKING CONNECTIONS Belle is about a mixed couple who faced discrimination about their race, which also happens in this novel with Leah facing racism even though she is white. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE #2 The racism seemed to be a struggle for Leah and her whole family. Leah grew up feeling she was very different from other kids because of her background. She always struggled with her identity and couldn’t be proud to represent. CONCLUDING SENTENCE Racism and discrimination towards Indigenous people is still very popular and it could affect many Indigenous people and their identity. CONCLUDING SENTENCE Racism and discrimination towards Indigenous people is still very popular and it could affect many Indigenous people and their identity. SUMMARY OF THREE MAIN POINTS Leah felt very sad when she found out she would be the last member to be part of her family's tribe. The totem pole she created represented female members of her family to tell stories and to teach their part of their cultural background . She also faced so much racism which made their hard life even harder. CONCLUDING STATEMENT Even though Indigenous people have been going through a hard time with identity, a lot of them pull through and stay strong to learn more about their roots and keep them alive. WORKS CITED Works Cited Wikipedia, https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/98330344-thinning-blood-a-memoir-of-family-myth-andidentity. Accessed 29 April 2024. Wikipedia, https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/6453b39515e0d23700a0785f. Accessed 29 April 2024. “Thinning Blood | Leah Myers | W. W. Norton & Company.” W.W. Norton, https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324036708. Accessed 29 April 2024. 8