The first time I read "A frame for the Sky" I also thought it was a woman speaking and I also didn't pick up on the ending where the son speaks to the father. I guess I just kind of skimmed over that ending part or atleast I ddin't think too much of it and assumed that the character would be his daughter in accordance to the autobiographical relationship of Jarrar as the writer and her father. When I realized that the main character first of all was a man and related to the autobiographical version of her father, I read the story with a different attitude I guess you could say. I mean, the first time I read the story thinking it was Jarrar more or less speaking I was obviously a little confused but also I brought a more open and modern attitude toward the story. Since I was expecting a character more like Jarrar's Aida in "LoSt in Freakin Yonkers" I read the story expecting more modern and one could say vulgar language and strait forward ideas. When I realized it was Jarrar's father depicted in the story, I became more aware of the traditional speech and ideas he incompused and became aware also of the almost tired, more resigned character that he was. I thought that making the father's writer child a son was a nice touch of Jarrar's. She seems to love little twists and ironies and that fit right in as a quircky way to keep the readers on their toes as to whether the story is autobiographical or not and how much water it holds as far as being true to Jarrar's own life.

What caught my attention about this story was the point of view in whch it was told. The fact that is represented the view of the father had a great impact because I think a lot of times the dominant male of the family in Arab AMerican literature is portrayed as very stern and strict and shows little emotion. This story humanized the father figure for me by showing in some depth the struggles he has had to overcome and why he is the way he is.

I also feel that in Randa Jarrar's "A frame for the sky" she may have chosen a male speaker because the audience would be more interested and more capable of taking the character seriously. That being said, I think it also makes the audience take Randa Jarrar more seriously for being a female author capable of writing such a geniune, authenitic and complex male character. I found the discussion between father and son about the diasporic nature of the Palestinians (" but if... we make America our home does that mean we're going to lose our home here, too? That there will be a war here too?"
"of course not!" I said, but I wasn't too sure.)very telling. This discussion, to me, encased the narrative crisis of the story. The father has been forced to come to America, to make it his home, to make himself successful in it, and yet his whole expierence seems to be an exercise in loss. He talks about losing his mother, his chance to ever see her again, losing his sisters to their bartered marriages, losing the daughter he used to know, and most especially, about losing his "Arabness". In a way he has again "lost" the "home"(the idea that he could hold onto his way of Arab life and intergrate himself into America)that he was attempting to construct. In a way, an internal war is going on here between the father and his ability to live his life. I mean, the guy seems really sad and lonely.Missy's right, we feel sorry for him I was personally very drawn to the narrative structure of the " worst days of my life" and found it very moving. I also that the cloud story was interesting.
This is really off topic but Jorge Luis Borges has a short story where that exacly happens, there's this guy who gets a head injury and develops the ability to remember absolutely everything. one day he sees a shape that is the exact shape of a cloud he saw , i think, twelve years earlier. Anyway,it's a great story.

What I find to be interesting is the fact that, in Frame for the sky, Randa's interpretation of her father includes a lot of emotion and feeling into the narration, whereas in Lost in Freakin' Yonkers is mainly events with little added emotional expression. This is odd because the narration of her father is so weighted with unspoken feelings, that it seems as if the autobiography should take on that role because it's easier for her to express her own feelings. This, to me, adds more to the fictional aspect of Frame for the Sky. However, his emotions could have been passed down orally to the author, giving more honesty to the story. Also, the feelings demonstrated in Lost in Freakin yonkers is not necessarily in the narration, but in the drama and can be felt in the reader and not the speaker. The struggle she went through is easily connected to feelings that give the story an emotional , yet untold pressure.

I do prefer this stroy to "lost in freakin' yonkers". This story is very descriptive of the author's emotions and this translates to the reader. This is especially felt when the father describes bad events as "the [ ]worst day of my life". First he is exiled from his country and then when his mother (and later on his father) die, and to make situations worse, his daughter sues him for abuse.
This story works as both a work of fiction and a autobiographical piece. Knowing that the author is female, one can not help but ask, did Randa Jarrar write the story in her father's voice because readers will be more interested in 'hearing' from a male point of view? In other words, did she feel that her work will more likely be read (and taken seriously) because the story is about a father's journey in a new land? This could be a possiblity considering the fact that some female writers are more inclined to writing romance/fiction stories.

I really liked both "A Frame for the Sky" and "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers". It's strange how the perspectives in both stories are so much different. I think what I liked the most is how Randa Jarrar didn't use the typical first person or third person point of view, having both stories completely about her. In "A Frame for the Sky" we are introduced to her father who is having the complex of becoming an American citizen. In this story, we sort of gain a sense of sympathy for the character because he seems so vulnerable the whole time. We feel sorry for him when he is writing the essay for his son, and again when he talks about his parents dying, and again at the end when he tells his son to write about him. These problems that he is going through sort of brings him down to Earth somewhat and make him seem more human. In "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers", we grow to dislike him because of how he handles his daughter's situation with being pregnant. I'm almost positive that most parents would be very hurt and disappointed if their teenage daughter got pregnant, especially from a deadbeat, but not most of them would disown their child for it. That aspect sort of seperates American culture from others. Because the situation is so overtly violating of the norms of the Muslim religion, her father acts in a way he sees fit, in American culture however, most families try to be very supportive, especially in times of hardship, even if one of the family members does something that is not approved of by her family. Perhaps the situation where the daughter takes her father to court is a foreshadowing to "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers" where we see the father portrayed as this violent man who is not understanding at all, as opposed to a sweet vulnerable man that we saw in "A Frame for the Sky". Another thing that I thought was interesting, was that when the father goes to his own father's grave, he is reminded of a poem, just like in "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers" where he is always relaying poems to his daughter--even in the worst of times. Basically, I just really liked both poems because after you read both of them it's interesting to be able to link them together, but on their own, they are completely independent and strong enough in their subject matter, that you don't really need to read the other one. I loved Jarar's writing style because it was different from any autobiographical work I'd ever read.

I actually read “A Frame For the Sky” last time and I was pretty sure we were reading women authors and I’m pretty sure it was mentioned in class several times that Randa Jarrar was a women, but after reading it for the first time I thought “Oh….so he’s actually the son writing about his father who is writing about his son (and other things).” But of course after reading "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers," I was pretty sure this had to be a woman who was writing because a male writer wouldn’t be able to capture the details and perspective like that….I think. But in both of these stories, she really seems to lose any self-conscious harness. Typically, in autobiographical types of stories, there’s this kind of relationship where an author will be the “I”, but in which they tell you about “my” feelings rather than the feelings of the others in the stories, which are told in a sort of one-sided way through their actions. In “A Frame For the Sky”, she makes herself a minor character (I think?) who only reveals herself through actions and she allows her father to tell his feelings, through her intimate observations and life with him which allows her to rank these “worst days”, I’m guessing. Like, when she writes ‘As we sat on the wooden benches awaiting the judge’s verdict, I instinctually asked her, “What happened to you?” She turned and sucked her teeth, then actually said, “You did.”’ To be able to include her image so starkly, I guess although this is autobiographical, allows it to be seen also in a fictional sense- at least to me- because it seems that if she would be showing such a simple snapshot picture of herself that she is writing from the perspective of a matured and different woman who can sort of play a dollhouse of these young memories. "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers," is the exact opposite in the way that she gives such a simple image of her father, while revealing very intimately her feelings and her life. Taken apart, although both stories are autobiographical, you can have a kind of fictional quality. But if you look at both, you can really feel a sense of reality and a complete story. However, I’m not sure, really, to what level the stuff in the stories corresponds to her real life.