Lead, Follow, or Move Out of the Way!: Global Perspectives in Literature and Film

FILMS

FOREWORD

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1 Fork in the Road
RUTH GARCIA ▶ Worries of a Feminist Mother
A mother finds herself contemplating the complexities of raising a son in a world still dominated by expected gender norms, behaviors, and racial archetypes alongside of her feminist sensibilities.

BHARATI MUKHERJEE ▶ A Father
A father, who is a practicing Hindi, feels that the women in his family are “too” American and that their behavior will ultimately bring about disastrous consequences.

DAVID SEDARIS ▶ Go Carolina
A man reflects on the speech therapy lessons he was forced to take as a young child; in doing so, he shares the hilarious battle he waged against being “normalized.”

FREDERICK DOUGLASS ▶ From the autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
This excerpt from Douglass’s memoir introduces one of the greatest orators and abolitionists in American history, as he looks at his early years: a brutalized slave making candid observations about what human beings can both inflict and endure.

NAOMI WOLF ▶ The Making of a Slut
The author examines the “bad girl” and positions her as a social construct for “good girls”—those females who, by separating themselves, maintain their reputations while endangering those upon whom the negative title falls.

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE ▶ From the Novel A Study in Scarlet
A broken and battered Dr. Watson, weary from the pangs of war, wallows in despair until he determines to make life worthwhile by dedicating himself to working with the great Sherlock Holmes.

CHAPTER 2 Gender, Sex, and Sexuality
JUNOT DIAZ ▶ Fiesta 1980
A son recalls what it meant to discover that his father had an affair throughout his childhood.

ELIZA HAYWOOD ▶ Fantomina: Or, Love in a Maze
A supposed member of the weaker sex sets out to determine whether or not she can manipulate a man into thinking she is several different women.

JAMES BALDWIN ▶ From the Novel Giovanni’s Room
Excerpt looks at a man, conflicted with his sexuality, having sex with a woman and, throughout the entire process, feeling a great sense of sadness and regret.

MYCHAL DENZEL SMITH ▶ If Black Men Want to Heal Racism’s Wounds, We Can’t Pretend to Be Strong All the Time
This article explores how Black men must redefine the “rules” of Black masculinity while, simultaneously, being willing to address issues of private pain, depression, and being a Black male in America.

CARA DORRIS ▶ My Fake Levantine Romance
While visiting family in Jerusalem, a young Jewish woman falls in love with an Arab man, only to learn that he is hiding a secret that alters their relationship.

CHAPTER 3 Social Responsibility
MARGARET SANGER ▶ The Turbid Ebb and Flow of Misery
During the 1920s, a nurse describes the frustration of visiting and treating impoverished women with large families, and how, during this conservative point in American History, she agonizes over providing palliative care.

TODD CRAIG ▶ “Open Season 2014”: The Birth of Civil Rights Lost
Focusing on Hip Hop culture and music as it relates to gender, race, Class, and social responsibility, the author determines whether or not current trends in the genre are becoming counterintuitive.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON ▶ Self-Reliance
Emerson’s essay presents the timeless call for individuals to reflect upon, study, and pursue the inner workings of their own minds, as opposed to conforming to the well-trod path of the villainous “society.”

MONIQUE FERRELL ▶ Go Brooklyn!
Dire consequences abound when a female reporter decides to destroy Hip Hop music and advance the cause of women by humiliating a rap artist on live television.

SUSAN GLASPELL ▶ A Jury of Her Peers
Based on their observation of her kitchen, two women determine that their neighbor has killed her husband-—a response to years of neglect and oppression. Using their understanding of the domestic sphere, the women work to solve a mystery that stumps the male authorities.

BIDPAI ▶ The Camel and His Friends
This parable asks us to consider the importance of sacrificing the self for others.

ROXANE GAY ▶ Peculiar Benefits from Bad Feminist
In this essay, the author explores the concept of privilege, including her own, arguing that everyone must accept their privilege—while understanding that it is relative and contextual.

CHAPTER 4 Manmade and Natural Disasters
CHRIS MOONEY ▶ The U.S. Has Caused More Global Warming Than Any Other Country. Here’s How the Earth Will Get Its Revenge
This article examines the rate of ice loss in West Antarctica as well as US carbon dioxide emissions and warns that continued carbon pollution and melting will result in catastrophic outcomes for humanity.

ILYA SOMIN ▶ Remembering The Biggest Mass Murder in the History of the World
This article examines Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward policy that—from 1958-1962—led to the deaths of 45 million people.

STEVEN ERLANGER ▶ Amid Tears, Flickering Candles and Flowers, a Shaken Norway Mourns
People of Norway attempt to understand how and why one of its very own citizens committed an act of racially motivated mass murder.

FRANCES A. ALTHAUS ▶ Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage or Violation of Rights?
A detailed look at the culture, politics, and practice of the tradition.

MARK TWAIN ▶ The Lowest Animal
Twain’s “experiments” provide cynical views of mankind that, interestingly enough, are just as distressing today as they have ever been.

MICHAEL WALSH ▶ Three Californian Teens Arrested for Rape That Allegedly Drove Teen Girl to Suicide, Parents Demand Justice
This article takes a look at social media, bullying, sexual violence, and today’s growing acceptance of our so-called “rape culture.”

RICHARD LLOYD PARRY ▶ Ghosts of the Tsunami
A heartbreaking account of what happened to the families and communities that survived the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan and killed an estimated 20,000 people.

ADAM WEYMOUTH ▶ When Global Warming Kills Your God
A dispute over the fishing practices of an indigenous Alaskan tribe becomes a battle over American law verses tribal faith, customs, and spirituality.

CHAPTER 5 Death and Violence
TONI MORRISON ▶ From the Novel Paradise
This selection from Morrison’s novel explores how acts of violence are perpetrated by men, in an effort to cleanse their community of “wayward” women.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ▶ The Tragedy of Macbeth
A Scottish general is convinced that ultimate power is within his grasp. Spurred on by his cunning wife, who has ambitions of her own, Macbeth chooses evil and violence in order to snatch the crown.

H.G. WELLS ▶ From the Novel The War of the Worlds
This excerpt focuses on the inevitable decline of human kindness and social graces once mankind is confronted with the end of civilization at the hands of an alien invasion.

ZORA NEALE HURSTON ▶ Sweat
A washerwoman refuses to let her abusive husband and his mistress drive her from the house that she paid for. In an attempt to remove her from the house, the husband brings home a snake to intimidate her—a move that backfires.

MARK TWAIN ▶ From the Novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
This selection from Twain’s most controversial work asks us to examine the “mob mentality” and its impact on the collective voice of a community.

AESOP ▶ A Lion and Other Animals Go Hunting  
Aesop’s timeless and seemingly simple tale is a poignant look at power and respect.

CHAPTER 6 Religion, Faith, and Spirituality
MOHAMMED NASEEHU ALI ▶ Mallam Sile
A Muslim man allows his faith to fight his battles and the cruelty he suffers at the hands of his community.

THOMAS PAINE ▶ Age of Reason
The British radical and American revolutionary stresses a deistic treatise while critiquing institutionalized religion and the inerrancy of the Bible.

DAN LEVIN ▶ A Battle Over Prayer in Schools Tests Canada’s Multiculturalism
An examination of recent turmoil in Canada’s expanding diverse citizenry—especially in areas with Muslim populations seeking religious accommodations in schools.

MARGARET CAVENDISH ▶ The Convent of Pleasure
Refusing to marry, Lady Happy uses her fortune to establish a convent where she incloisters herself with other women also seeking an alternative to marriage. But, ultimately, the convent is dissolved when a male suitor disguises himself as a woman, infiltrates the convent, and successfully courts Lady Happy.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON ▶ Divinity School Address
When the former Unitarian minister addressed the senior class at Cambridge in 1838, he stressed the need for moral intuition and discounted the necessity of beliefs rooted in miracles.

CHAPTER 7 Race and Racial Matters
TAHIRA NAQVI ▶ Brave We Are
While preparing a routine dinner, a mother finds herself attempting to explain the complexities of racial mixing and how people perceive biracial children.

CHARLES CHESNUTT ▶ An Evening Visit From the Novel The House Behind the Cedars
After successfully “passing” in the White world, a man returns home to visit the women he left behind.

DEAN OBEIDALLAH ▶ Do Palestinians Really Exist?
A Palestinian man provides the reader with a detailed historical and cultural look at who he and his people are.

WOODEN LEG ▶ Young Men, Go Out and Fight Them
Confronted with impending colonialism, a warrior challenges the men of his tribe to engage in an act of war.

ZACH STAFFORD ▶ Privilege, Policing, and Living While Black in Chicago’s White North Side
The writer looks at the physical overlapping of two separate communities within the same city. Examining gun violence and racism, he notes both communities are having diverging cultural experiences.

TA-NEHISI COATES ▶ Acting French: It’s Hard to Learn a New Language, But It’s Way Harder Learning a New Culture
While learning a new language, Coates comes to the realization that his racial background remains a constant barrier to his assimilation into the French culture.

CHAPTER 8 Class and the Culture of Power
JHUMPA LAHIRI ▶ Interpreter of Maladies
A poor taxi driver, who works part-time at a doctor’s office, picks up a wealthy Indian-American family having an obnoxious and, as he soon learns, revealing visit.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU ▶ On The Duty of Civil Disobedience
Thoreau argues that it is incumbent upon the average citizen to resist a controlling government.

JL WILLIAMS ▶ The Ride From the Novel Legacies
On a crowded NYC train, a man with a troubled past struggles while observing his fellow passengers being harassed by two offensive and aggressive individuals.

FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY ▶ From the Novel Notes from the Underground
A disgruntled and disenchanted man battles his perceived invisibility to the larger society.

AL ANGELORO ▶ Comic Books: How I Learned to Love Reading and Hate the Censors
Now an adult, the author looks back on his childhood. In doing so, he remembers how he developed a love for reading, in spite of those who sought to destroy it.

BRAM STOKER ▶ From the Novel Dracula
While traveling to the castle of Count Dracula, the central character, Jonathan Harker, journals his observations of an unfamiliar country and its people, paying special attention to their customs and beliefs.

THE EDITORS