This summer, all incoming freshmen participated in Stony Brook’s first year reading program. Students were required to read the best-selling novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz. The novel depicted the life of Oscar de Leon, an overweight and awkward Dominican boy growing up in Paterson, New Jersey.
The book’s introduction centralized around an infamous curse, fuku, which is said to be the root of Oscar’s misfortune. Throughout the novel, Oscar struggles with his unusual interest in science fiction books and his yearning to have a meaningful, intimate relationship with a beautiful girl. The history of the fuku’s effects on the de Leons is reflected through the accounts of Oscar’s sister, mother and grandfather, respectively. The novel was narrated by Oscar’s college roommate, Yunior, and his sister Lola. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao portrays an uncommon perception of stereotypical Dominican males. Oscar suffers from an ill fate, but readers can choose to believe if it was the fuku or not.
After reading the novels, freshmen were required to submit their creative expressions project in their Intro to Stony Brook classes. The assignment was to convey their reaction to the novel in either written or artistic form. Students were given the opportunity to create paintings, poems, musical pieces, songs and even videos. Several winners were chosen from each of the 101 sections and were invited to the Creative Expression Awards and Luncheon on Commons Day which took place on Wednesday, Oct. 20. The winners were able to meet Junot Diaz during this session and talk about the novel.
Mykle Nero, a winner from the undergraduate college of Information and Technology Studies, composed a poem titled “Passion, Pain & Pleasure.” Nero said in an e-mail that the inspiration for his poem was the new album “Passion, Pain & Pleasure,” by Trey Songz. He also said that he really liked how Diaz portrayed the different lives of the various family members in the book. He says the message he was trying to convey through his poem was that “everyone at one point or another goes through the stages of passion, pain and pleasure.”
Along with the luncheon, Undergraduate College Commons Day also provided other events, such as the Author’s Lecture and Author’s Interview. Freshmen packed the Staller Center during the afternoon to watch Howard Schneider, dean of the School of Journalism, interview Junot Diaz.
The program, mandatory for freshmen students to attend, began with a short video presentation from the Youth Pride Chorus in New York City. The presentation encouraged the efforts of anti-bullying in commemoration of recent victim Tyler Clementi. Schneider then commenced the interview with questions regarding the novel and Diaz’s past. Diaz expressed that unlike the character in the novel, he had masked his true personality throughout his childhood.
“I was this incredible little nerd, but in the real world, I had to be the toughest kid in the neighborhood,” Diaz said.
Diaz also spoke about his college experience and the opportunity he was given to reach self-actualization.
“It’s one of the only institutions we have that invites you to be exposed to new ideas, to be exposed to new people, and through those ideas and through those new people, to be transformed utterly,” Diaz said.
Students who attended this event were generally pleased with the interview. Katrina Callan, a freshman biology major, said, “I thought it was very laid back. And I liked the book.”
Genny Pena, a freshman journalism major, said, “It was very inspirational. I can relate to the masks he described and his perception on life.”
