I am curious whether the internal conflicts in his family regarding Middle Eastern politics have evolved or been resolved (if first generation family members are still alive.)

Charara explicitly references and quotes Lawrence Joseph's work. Unlike Joseph, however, it seems that he has taken the arguments of authors like Mattawa and Majaj to heart: his writing goes beyond Joseph's new found ethnic identity to delve into the conflicts within the Arab community and its relationship with other immigrant or working class communities in Detroit. One example of this is his father's definition of failure as what it means to be a man, a distinctly working class identity, as opposed to his own (Arab-rooted) drive toward a better life.

I would like to know how he left his childhood neighborhood in Detroit and if that was a struggle.

Charara's writing described life growing up in America, while the other authors wrote more about the actual literature produced by Arab Americans, and what contributed to this literature. The suggestions of Mattawa, Majaj, and Handal can be seen as underlying factors in Charara's writing, but Charara is not as explicit in communicating these messages.

Compared to the authors from last week's reading, Charara seems to write in a very straightforward manner and is more accessible than the other writers. His style is less abstract. However, his sentiments about being an Arab-American were similar to those expressed by Mattawa, Majaj and Handal--the idea of a mixed identity that is accepted by neither culture.

I would like to ask Charara who influenced his writing. His style is darker and is a clear break from the actual immigrants (like Khalil). Another question is whether he thinks that Detroit's hard edges (esp. during the 70s and 80s) had a particular influence on the darkness of his writing.

Since most of Charara's writings seem to be about Detroit and his childhood years, I would like to ask Charara about his experiences as an immigrant later in life and in other cities.

I think Charara's writings are similar to but not completely consistent with the writings of the poets we read last week. Yes, he does address some issues of being an Arab American but he doesn't seem to address the whole "split vision" aspect of being Arab American. His poems also seem to be more personal and narrative like Lawrence Joseph.

I'd like to know whether the author is more comfortable with poetry or prose.

Charara's works are similar to other three artists in that he works in prose in addition to poetry. His prose except was also longer, and so while Mattawa, Majaj and Handal seemed as if they were focusing on what they saw as universal aspects of being Arab-Americans, Charara managed to put his views into the context of his own life. It seemed much more personal, and because of that it seemed easier to identify with. Overall, possibly because of all the references to Detroit, his poems remind me more of Lawrence Joseph's work than any of the poets we studied last week.

Charara's writing comes across as being very Hemingway-esque to me. I'd probably want to talk to him, purely out of personal curiosity, about his literary influences and if they had any affect on the way in which he uses voice in his pieces. I know that "Hamza Aweiwi, a Shoe Salesman in Hebron" utilizes a third person point of view and a rather open ending that sort of displaces the voice of the piece, therefore making it feel rather impersonal, which seems to be sort of a stylistic triat of his.

Compared to the readings from last week, I would have to say that the terse realism of his style differs very much, in mood from Mattawa's beatnik-y pieces, Majaj's prose formally, and Handal's whimsical imagery. However the subject matter, such as identity and power struggle and personal vignettes, do overlap.

I think I would ask if the experiences of his life are actually as dark as they seem in his writing, or if that is just the angle he preferred when writing.

I don't beleive that Hayan is trying to express any sort of Arab American background with his writing, so to compare his writing with the suggestions of the previous persons would be to compare apples with oranges. His writing does not demonstrate nor exemplify Arab or American culture. His poetry does not reflect ethinicity nor culture (in an ethnic sense), rather it reflects socialization in its most basic sense. He writes of problems and of growing up (specifically poverty, urbanization, and male socialization). While the other writers claim the future of Arab American poetry will struggle with the split cultures, I do not believe Hayan is trying to address this at all.

I am going to ask how much the sport of baseball actually impacted his life. Also what inspired him to write a piece on baseball.

not done

I'm going to ask Hayan Charara if it was difficult for him to write about his life and all the events that happened in his life that werent exactly happy.

I think Hayan's writing was pretty consistent with the suggestions that Mattawa, Majaj, and Handal made. Hayan's writing was mostly about his life and letting the reader know what it was like growing up as an Arab-American. His writing consists of him being Arab and him being American which fits into what Handal wrote about. What are Arab-Americans supposed to consider themselves. Like Handal said in Arab countries we would be considered American, but in America we're considered as Arabs. I think his writing is different because he writes about things that are sad or unfortunate, it makes him seem like he has no emotion for these things, but he probably does.