Student Blogs

 Hello everyone! Week 6's reading is Black Shack Alley by Joseph Zobel, the longest book we have read so far. While past books were able to delve into topics in immense detail with only a small amount of pages, I liked that this reading had more s... read full post >>

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. The book for this week is Black Sheep Alley by Joseph Zobel. The book tells the coming-of-age tale of the author José, a young boy growing up on the island of Martinique, an overseas region of france and former colony. I really enjoyed the read, and found it […] read full post >>

Okay, Black Shack Alley… this is a really good read, and though it can feel slow at times, I appreciate how Zobel brings us from the narrator’s life as just a small boy at the age of five all the way into his adolescence, without ever making the narrative feel rushed or forced. The simple […] read full post >>

Hey everyone!! Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you are all surrounded by love on this day.  This week’s book was « Black Shack Alley » by Joseph Zobel, and I have to be honest. It made me cry. It was really sad. It shows what it means to fight for your dreams when the odds are SERIOUSLY […] read full post >>

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my sixth blog! I was tired this week since I have three midterms, but this wonderful book relaxes me. I hope you have time to read my blog.This week I read "Black Shack Alley", it is a novel written by Joseph Zobel in 1950. The... read full post >>

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my sixth blog! I was tired this week since I have three midterms, but this wonderful book relaxes me. I hope you have time to read my blog.This week I read "Black Shack Alley", it is a novel written by Joseph Zobel in 1950. The... read full post >>

I found that this week’s reading was a lot less engaging for me. Maybe it was a result of my busy workload, or the fact that I exclusively read this book before I went to bed, but all in all I found this book a lot harder to follow than the last few we have […] read full post >>

A tale of growing-up, I think? read full post >>

Joseph Zobel’s ” Black Shack Alley” is a deep and fascinating story that explores the complexities of identity, family, and societal expectations. It is a touching and vivid depiction of life in Martinique. The story follows José, a young child facing the difficulties of puberty in a culture characterized by racial and cultural divisions, amidst […] read full post >>

For this week’s reading, I read the novel “Black Shack Alley ” by Joseph Zobel. Before choosing this novel, I read a preface on it which deeply caught my attention and interest. I enjoy reading novels about real-life events/ history which is what this story entailed. The novel truly lived up to its expectations making […] read full post >>

I found that the novel ‘Deep Rivers’ by Arguedas was a little intimidating to read as it being set in Peruvian Andes emphasizes on the social injustices faced by different races, cultures and customs; racial inequality, colonisation and feelings of discrimination and injustice. To be honest, I was also a little confused at the beginning […] read full post >>

One thing that was interesting about this novel, similar to the others that we’ve read in this class, is that it is told from a child’s perspective and point of view. I expected that it would be a bit darker in a sense simply because of the fact that it deals with racism and plantations […] read full post >>

This book is a novel written in 1950 by Martinican author Joseph Zobel. The book paints a vivid picture of life on the French-colonized Caribbean island of Martinique through the eyes of a young boy named José. Through the eyes of the young protagonist, José, Zobel masterfully captures the struggles, hopes, and dreams of the […] read full post >>

February, 13th, 2024 Going into this week’s book, Deep Rivers, I was expecting to read a story about childhood, and finding yourself as you grow up. This is exactly what I got, yet it was so different from my expectations. But one can argue that there shouldn’t have been any expectations going into it. I […] read full post >>

This week’s reading took me on a journey into the world of growing up black and impoverished in Martinique during the colonial era, delving into themes of colonialism, slavery, colorism, and prejudice. At first, I found the book a bit hard to read, as it touched on topics outside my comfort zone – and such […] read full post >>