Reflections of Arab American Literature

       In my opinion the meaning of home is wherever the connection someone has towards something or someone that makes a person feel whole or a sense of belonging. Based on what is known about the actuality of the characters - Amani, Gabe, and Musa to their real life counterparts, in a way helps with going into full detail about what home really means for each of these characters and dissecting the reasons why.  Amani - Jordan is Amani's home as well as family. Amani's in the beginning of the novel indicated her interest in going to land of her father, simply because she wanted to know more about her heritage and all about her family's history. Most important she wanted to connect with her roots since she was living in America for most of her life. Throughout the novel Amani was able to learn  about her fathers familiarity with King H, his past history with fencing, the true face of her uncle, and learning about her own family secrets as well. Amani's jou...

    The meaning of Isra dying at the literal hands of her own husband Adam, was her first and final act of retaliation, her way of breaking away from the dark shadows of basement where she lived with her husband. Isra's way of showing her voice was through her action even if it meant that she would potentially die trying. This is shown within the book  "A Woman is No Man" , where it's shows Isra's perspective after getting caught running away from home, and seeing how even in her last moments she was able to find her voice that had been suppressed for so long.      I believe the reason why Etaf Rum chose to add the tragic scene at the end to prove that Isra's story lives on, it gives the readers an afterthought of what Isra had experienced in her marriage from the family oppression to self isolation. The ending of the books was perhaps intentional to connect the dots on Isra's life, her struggles throughout the story, especially with always seeking love fr...

       I attended the global Issues colloquium presented by professor Cecilia Rizcallah, in which she talks about the fundamental problems occurring within the EU and the impact it has surrounding other countries who are affiliated with the European Union. In terms of foreign policy and looking at things from a global perspective I gained insight on the principles of how to face a crisis in the European Union. Rizcallah pointed out in her presentation that the EU has been hindering children's access to content (social media I presume), that promotes anything related to sexuality and the identification of one's gender completely opposite of the one assigned at birth. She further talks about the role that the union has, and elaborates that the EU is more of an international value-based union, that in her own words " respects the peace and human law ".      Rizcallah points out that the organization is separate from any type of military engagement and wan...