Wednesday, March 25, 2009

One Change in "Torn Thread"

Lately, I've been reading a book called "Torn Thread" which, like "Night," is about the Holocaust. Though a lot less graphic, change occurs in this book as well. One specific change is when Eva, the main character of the story, is put on a train to go to a Nazi camp. She is reminded of the ghetto, or attic, she used to live in, to hide from the Nazis. It is explained: "She remembered the dark room with its uneven floor and steeply pitched ceiling, the wooden crates that they used for furnature. She had cried for days when they'd first moved there. Now she gladly would have agreed to live in the ghetto for the rest of her life, if only she and Rachel could be back with Papa. (Issacs 48)" Basicly, Eva hated living in the ghetto at first, as it was a huge difference from living in their old house. However, being away from family for a long while, especially at her age of twelve, can change everything for anyone, not just Eva.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Different Cultures in Sonic Unleashed

I know what you are thinking. Another video game-related blog? Another Sonic blog? Just wait and you'll see why Sonic has to do with cultural differences. In the game Sonic Unleashed, the world is broken by Doctor Eggman, and Sonic has to restore it with the Chaos Emeralds' power, visiting different shrines around the world. Almost all different cultures in our world are represented in some way. For example, African culture is shown as a village in a continent called Mazuri, with African outfits, tents, food to buy with rings (the currency and the collectable/health item in the Sonic games) like yams and even the landscape is based off of the African Sahara. Other places that are replicated are the Middle East ("Shamar"), the Carribean islands ("Adabat"), Europe (Spagonia) and even New York City here in the US ("Empire City"), though the last one's only in the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of Unleashed. Though the style may be cartoony, how Sonic Unleashed places each culture is in ways that are non-offensive racial diversity and are pretty accurate to real life.