Week 5 Project 5C

Week 5 Project 5C REFLECTION

1.Who is your classmate, what is the component category, what is the name of the choice?

Cindi Schuler read in My California the stories titled, UnCalifornia by Daniel Weintraub, Rocks in the Shape of Billy Martin by Deanne Stillman, How Many Angels by David Kipen, and Centered by Veronique de Turene

2. What is something this classmate said about the choice that relates to any of the assignments in projects 2-3?

In Cindi's project 3A, she asked a question about what draws people to locations. Cindi made me think about how we do just pass through Sacramento to get to someplace else, and we really never think about its location, like Sacramento, or what is has to offer, and how much political life pulsates throughout Sacramento. For many years, Sacramento was a place where I played Tennis Tournaments or drove through to get to Reno, Nevada, or Tahoe. When I was in eight grade, we took a fieldtrip to the State Capital, and it was then that I realized how unique and fortunate we were to have this huge impressive building in our backyard. Cindi  “felt ripped off” that the story the UnCalifornia did not give Sacramento the respect it does deserve, and I agree with what I learned from her summary and blog. I have visited both Sacramento and many of its parks, homes, and the State Capital. When she also pointed out the 99% of the people who live in Sacramento have never visited the State Capital, I was shocked. Maybe we are all a little ignorant to the treasures in our own backyard, and we need to all take a humanities class or day field trips to areas around our own homes to open the peripheral vision of our minds.

3. What is something different this classmate said about their choice that you did not realize before when you completed projects 2-3?

I was shocked to learn that 99% of the people living in Sacramento have not visited the State Capital. In project 3, Cindi said that she learned children and adults can learn something different going to a new place. I agree so much with that, and I also feel that we do not investigate what is in our own area before we make remarks about it. She also said that she had never visited the desert, and I encourage Cindi to visit the desert; it offers such a diverse and different topography than the north. She would learn so much about desert life and its beauty. I go to visit my sister in Arizona, for she went to ASU, and I have learned to respect and enjoy the vastness and beauty of the desert. I can see why many who go there do love it. I bet Cindi could find some rocks in the shape of Billy Martin. It really is worth the trip.

4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? For example, you went in thinking one idea, your classmate had a different idea. What new idea emerged from this process?

Freire wanted to educate people from remaining illiterate, so they could make educated choices for themselves. These readings and responses from my classmates have educated me, allowing me to not remain illiterate about my surroundings, especially the rich culture and cultivated past of our ancestors that are in our own backyards. I have come to learn how hard our ancestors have worked to carve out a life in California, and how far and wide we have come to inhabit this great land. I have also learned we are all journeyers and are much more alike than different. I also have learned from reading and responding that the more we learn the more tolerant and understanding we become of others. I have a new respect for my classmates, their ancestor, their own identity, my ancestors, and my family and individual identity.

5. How has project 2-3 helped you with the readings of the textbook?

Projects 2 and 3 have guided my reading and allowed me to focus on my feelings and others about what we have learned and discovered. I have learned we all enjoy reading about our history, our roots, our ancestors, and I have learned that we enjoy the simplicity of life while welcoming others views and cultures.

 

 

Week 5 Project 5B

Week 5 Project 5B REFLECTION

1.Who is your classmate, what is the component category, what is the name of the choice?

I chose Jeni Lyons review of My California stories, An Ordinary Place by D.J. Waldie, Almost Home by Gerald Jaslam, My Little Saigon by Anb Do, and The icest Person in San Francisco by Derek M. Powazck.

2. What is something this classmate said about the choice that relates to any of the assignments in projects 2-3?

I really liked her summary and quote in An Ordinary Place by D.J. Waldie, for it made me fully understand that not all people believe that in order to conquer the American dream, they must live in a mansion. She described how homeowners are satisfied and feel secure living in their homes for twenty or thirty years. I also felt her quote showed how real estate agents propel the idea of “mythmaking.” She further summarized Waldie’s main idea of An Ordinary Place by talking candidly about how she liked growing up in a suburb of downtown San Diego. She mentioned in 3C that people have varied opinions about an area before they really know much about it. This is something she mentioned in 5A, too,  for many people think that they need to live in huge houses to have something to talk about, and Jeni made me realize that all people just really want to have a childhood, a place to call home, no matter how big or small. From her project in 3A, she said that she lived in military housing until she was eleven years old, and she learned about different cultures. She also pointed out that not every place has the perfect picture, like we all led to believe. When she finally did live in a suburban neighborhood, she said it took her 15 minutes to reach the downtown minus the traffic, so she is realistic and appreciative of her ordinary, suburbian home and her young life on the military base.

3. What is something different this classmate said about their choice that you did not realize before when you completed projects 2-3?

Jeni found a quote that started, “Loyalty is the last habit that anyone would impute to those who live in suburbia; we’re supposed to be dissatisfied…” I really admired her chose of quote, for it proves that everyone thinks you are dissatisfied if you live in a regular suburban neighborhood. I never have given much thought to this, and Jeni made me really have to think that we are lucky, for there she lived on a military base, and she believed it was her home until she as eleven. As an adult, she is grateful for the exposure on the military base, for she learned  about different cultures. She pointed out that are childhood made us who we are and helped us get to where we want to be. Maybe a military base or just plain suburbia is the best place to live and grow, for it has many diverse cultures and could just be the heartbeat of the perfect existence.

4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? For example, you went in thinking one idea, your classmate had a different idea. What new idea emerged from this process?

Freire would never want his students to lose sight of who they are and where they have come from. Yet he would hope that through dialogue the more fortunate could help the less fortunate. He would want them to learn from one another through active dialogue and discussion. Freire and Jeni made me realize that the simplicity of life is sometimes the greatest gift. And in her summary of Almost Home, by Gerald Haslma, that many people grow and remain attached to an area were they grew up.; she was grateful for her experience as a child growing up until eleven years old on a military base. She also made me think that where we grow up helps us continue to look after what their grandparents and parents have created for them. They are proud of their heritage and their skills that they have acquired through childhood and adolescents. I realized that much of our outlook is rooted in our ancestors. They worked hard to give us a safe and enduring life. We can, but do not need. to not search for things that lure us; maybe we can find our treasure right in our own backyard. She pointed this out in her 5A summary regarding The Nicest Person in San Francisco. She said that the boy wanted to visit the city against his father's wishes and he purchased marijuana from someone. She said that scared her and I agree. Freire would want people to reach their highest good to help humanity, not harm it. Maybe the ordinary life offers a much more rooted existence and teaches us about morality, kindness, and neighborly love so we can extend our knowledge and kindness to others.

5. How has project 2-3 helped you with the readings of the textbook?

Projects Two and Three have allowed me a chance to be exposed to others views and philosophies regarding readings in My California. Reading about and understanding what others have sacrificed, like living on a military base, and built up help me understand the importance of listening, respecting, and responding. Reading what other people have gone through and what others think of that journey gives me a much more diverse and cultivated understanding of the readings, people (my classmates), and life in general. It creates such a respect for our forefathers and their sacrifices to build a life for their families.

 

 

Week 5 Project 5A

Week 5 Project 5A

1. Write the story title and author name.

909 by Percival Everett

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 


909 by Percival Everett, is a story about towns called Banning, Temecula, and Cabazon, located in the Los Angeles zip code area, but these small towns are separated from Los Angeles by “mountains or expanses of desert” (Everett, 121).  These tracts of small affordable houses are home to people who are blue-collar workers with simplistic names like, “Bob.” These simple but hardworking people reside on land that used to be home to orange groves and wheat groves. At one time, these small towns held some of the most impressive movie and millionaire crowds, making it the Palm Springs of California that is until; these millionaires and movie stars traveled further down the freeway to what are now known as Palm Springs. The beautiful mission style hotel in Banning once housed quite impressive crowds, including President Taft. The hotel even designed a special chair that still resides in the lobby today that held his extra wide derriere. This small town catered to some have the most regale and large names, until another area caught their attention. Now these small towns hold blue-collar workers and their horses, and the workers maintain the esteem of the town, for they have found the beauty and richness that lie in its untamed hills and mountainous areas. 909 holds some of the most untamed, majestic land that only burrows and their kind owners know about. It is here that the burrows and owners escape to the top of the hill and look out over the 60 Freeway that takes inhabitants to and from Los Angeles. It is high in these hills that the blue- collar workers know that they rival the white collar workers because they know the secret of success may not be the size of a manicured mansion alarmed system home, but it is the size of nature and the safety and beauty that regulates itself in their small towns.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?

My favorite quote echoes the simplicity yet richness of these small towns located on the 909. To an untamed eye, one cannot see from the freeway the beauty and freedom that lies in these hills. Everyone mostly from the freeway just sees an empty zip code where blue-collar workers can only afford to live. The author and his burrow, Monk” are witness to the calm and serenity these hills hold. They have learned that their zip code may sound simple and plain dull, but to them it is quite the opposite. “Between the lakes and me, between my hills and the distant hills of Hemet and Perris, is the 60 freeway. It is ever growing and ever too small for the volume of cars it supports. When we moved here ten years ago, we would see only a few cars on the road. We drove to Joshua Tree often because it was a pleasant drive. But 909 is in between It’s an in between where people live and where they want to be, apparently. Now on Sunday afternoons, the freeway is jammed with automobiles platinum blondes with BMW’s, SUV’s pulling jet skis, Jeeps with three-inch much lift kits, sporty purple cars with spoilers and decals of Calvin peering on someone or something. The traffic backs up like a bad septic system and does not move. I don’t leave the ranch during those hours. I have come to believe that the highway must be their destination. All of those people have left home to be there, on the 60, in 909. I can see them now in their air-conditioned boxes, from where I sit on Monk. They are little specks and that’s how I like it. For them 909 is the 60 or the 10.For me it’s these rugged hills. Hills that defy human occupation. Hills that are not on the way to anywhere. Hills that will let you know if you’re welcome. 909” (Everett, 125).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... )

I am one of those people who have been stuck on the 10, and I thought about the hills and who would live in such a place. I have always wanted to get off the freeway and journey through one of these small isolated towns to see who inhabits a place that looks so dry and lonely. Yet, this story made me realize that if someone drove down our freeway, the 101, north into Santa Rosa, they would never see the richness of such a town. They would not see the beauty of the SRJC, or Lake Sonoma, or the wineries that weave the Napa, Sonoma, Kenwood, Healdsburg areas. They would not see the funny little statues of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts Strip Characters scattered in front of different buildings in our downtown area and that the artist and creator of these statues lived and resided in our town. They would not see any of this, for they would be stuck on the small lanes of a freeway that need attention. They would meet drivers who have road rage and short fuses. They would see the freeways under construction with workers trying to expand the narrow two town lane roads. They would miss the richness that our town holds, but the person who merges off the freeway would know why we all desire to live and work in this town. I am beginning to learn it is all perspective.

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)?

I did not know that the 909 was a place called the Badlands, and I wondered later when I learned by reading the 909 by Percival Everett that these small towns used to be home to meth labs and prisons if this area got its name, the “bad” lands,” from an earlier generation of inhabitants!

1. Write the story title and author name

The Line by Ruen Martinez

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information.

A two thousand mile long line, known as the border between Tijuana, Mexico, and California, is one of the most infamous border crossings in the United States. Ruben Martinez, in The Line, describes how migrants have traversed, failed, and succeeded crossing the border. These migrants come from Mexico and as far as Iran, China, and Pakistan to try and reach California by crossing this one line. A line that means opportunities for a better way of life to the migrant culture that tries to escape from one side to another. Some migrants travel alone, hoping they can get across the line without being detained and sent back. Other migrants travel with their whole families, including grandmothers and grandfathers. The line used to hold a fifty-fifty chance for migrants, and if you couldn’t get across the first time, you would definitely on the second. Since the line attracted such an abundance of migrants, vendors decided to try and sell things they may need in order to get across, so vendors exploited their prices and lured the unknowing migrants into our land of prosperity with alcohol, prostitutes, music, food, magazines, and sheets of plastic in case it began to rain when they tried to cross the line. The migrants earned the nickname, “the coyotes,” for they would gather in packs to decide which way to run in order to have the best chance to cross while other packs became the decoys so each would have help getting across. A “million migrant footsteps” had carved deep paths for others to traverse and follow to freedom. At one time, the line was much easier to cross. Many migrants even celebrated and ate a meal with family and friends before packing up and crossing the line. Then the Great Depression hit, and many residents living in the United States lost their jobs. Governor Pete Wilson who had retained a migrant worker to clean his house became a hypocrite and decided to blame someone or something. He focused on the migrant workers, the “wetbacks” he called them, and he decided to do more than “pay lip service” to holding the line. Concrete, steel, infrared cameras, laser sensors, and United States soldiers armed with M-160’s reinforced “the line.” Now, the migrants had to find other means to get across the line, a fence that lit up at night and was patrolled twenty-four hours a day. Now, the migrants must create new footprints in total darkness, deep into the desert, away from all the lights, in order to try and get into a new country. They do not have a celebratory meal anymore at the line, nor do the “coyotes” try to outrun and outsmart the helicopters that patrol from high above.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent


In order to try and cross the border then and now, the immigrants had to travel different routes and encounter different scenarios, sometimes leaving behind everything they owned and loved in order to secure a different life across the line. I chose this quote, for I feel it shows the sheer determination that lures more and more migrants to a better life even though they knew how dangerous the line could be to cross. “Sure, it was dangerous sometimes, especially along the line in Texas where migrants had to ford the trickster-currents of the muddy Bravo. But back then migrants were more likely to get robbed or beaten by border bandits than die of exposure in the middle of the desert” (129). And “To cross into California today you have to go east of the fence. You have to hike in total darkness, through mountains that block out the beacon of city-light from San Diego. You have to take a long walk in the dark” (131).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... ) .75 percent


I have never had to flee from one way of life to start another in order to survive. This made me think of the Jewish people; displaced suddenly from a way of life they loved and forced to live another. This made me think of the slaves shipped from Africa to work for another man’s betterment. Many cultures have not had a choice but have been forced to leave their own country. But, when men want to willingly leave their own country to escape poverty and suppression, I thought about how brave all the migrants must be and how much they must sacrifice in order to find work and make a better life for themselves and those they leave across the line. In a way, all these cultures: Jewish, African-Americans, Mexicans, Iraqis, and Pakistani, just to name a few, must have sacrificed and continue to in order to escape to a better way of life, and I ask this…Why is our government in Iraq fighting to help make a better way of life for others when our neighbors in Mexico just want a better way of life, too. This made me think of my own freedom, and how many fight to gain this exact thing that I have; that I cherish. Yet, how can our government be so hypocritical? We help one country learn to be independent but not another? Could it possibly be because there is no oil in Mexico?!?! There is nothing there that our government can make money with in Mexico, so we ignore and return its citizens without concern

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)? 1 percent

I always believed that it was difficult to get across the border, but I did not know that it had become almost impossible. I also did not know how much our economic system affects other nations and cultures and determines whom our government chooses to help, ignore, and destroy.

1. Write the story title and author name.

Flirting with Urbanismo by Patt Morrison

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information.

Flirting with Urbanismo by Patt Morrison allows many to understand that they have seen downtown Los Angles in many movies like Thorn Birds, television shows like Seinfield, and almost every cop show ever made, including Cagney and Lacey. Everyone at one point in time should have or will experience downtown Los Angeles. Most people, agreeably so, believe that downtown L.A. is grimy, and yes it has been and may continue to be, but as the story unfolds, Morrison allows his reader to see its majestic past, grimy illusive present and somewhat hopeful future. Downtown Los Angeles is a plethora of history that is “back in vogue” (135). From the Central Library, the new cathedral, and the old California Club, downtown is making a comeback. He points out to the reader that all cities have downtowns that are grimy and questionable, like immigrants New York tenements, or Chicago’s once crammed Jewish, Polish, and Irish newcomers. He also pointed out that the immigrants who came to Los Angeles were hardworking middle class people with talent, education, and money. They built Los Angeles into a moldable, plastic city with room for growth and change, for the better or worse; they married a way of life with the promise of a Southern California we all dream about.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?

My favorite quote shows how pliable and hopeful downtown Los Angeles can be re-created. Furthermore, I think everyone needs to have the hope to create, dream, and construct a life they want. “Downtown is the perfect plastic heart of a plastic city----plastic in the meaning of changeable, moldable. Its blocks are the most versatile, and thus the most filmed in the world; it can play almost anything----just as Angeleos ca make themselves into what they wish to be” (134).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... )

I think everyone needs a hopeful future or a hopeful dream to strive for and gain. I like how pliable cities can be and how change is inevitable, and one must adapt or be very displeased. Change allows us to refocus on what is still good and what needs to be rejuvenated. That is why I really like school, for if we all looked out the same widow our whole life we would only see one view. Opening up our minds allows more windows to open up and we can see more and understand more.

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)?

I did not know how much beauty was really in downtown Los Angeles. The buildings on the outside are worn and dirty, but Patt Morrison made me want to visit the inside of these great places and witness the architecture. I appreciate how he saw the greatness in these old buildings, and I think it is wonderful that people want to re-establish the glamour and mystic of this city.

1. Write the story title and author name.

Waters of Tranquility by Carolyn See

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information.

Waters of Tranquility by Carolyn See was a spiritual journey as much as a visual one. No one can sunbath or frolic in the waters at The Lake Shrine, one can only walk around it and take in its beauty offered to the eyes and souls of the visitors. The Lake Shrine holds a visual pallet of beauty for the passersby, even a wayward soul. One can rely on its tranquil beauty of watching the baby waterfall or the swans, hens, a two-story houseboat painted white, or a rowboat moored to the shore; the passerby can also witness the beauty of nature that reaches around its walkways and structures, like the glistening gold and white temple up on the hill, but the author came to not only witness its beauty but its spiritual cleansing abilities, and she realized that many visitors never really see this beauty unless they have to endure something that makes them think deeper about life. She relied on The Lake Shrine to vent her fear about losing the love of her life, her boyfriend, to cancer. She would start her walk around once, cussing at whatever she could find; the second time around this majestic shrine helped her remember why she was there; the third time around she would ask for “courage, steadfastness and compassion” to help her cope with losing her boyfriend and helping him to die at home, and finally on the fourth time around, she would just “walk and watch” (145). The Lake Shrine taught her about the beauty of life and death. She realized that life might be as beautiful as a flowers bloom and death might be “the fall of one flower” (145).

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?

I believe that each part of nature can teach us so much about life and death, so that is why I choose this quote. “My life partner, John Espey, and I lived in Topanga Canyon for years before we moved to Pacific Palisades. I guess we’d learned to think of nature as harsh and flammable, heavy on the rattlesnakes. It was interesting to go from clearing brush to that peaceable and temperate walk around the lake. Wasn’t it just too pretty for words? Kind of a sissy place? Beautiful, of course, but not real, not like….life?” (145).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... )

This made me think of how beautiful, frail, and sweet life can be if we could all see the beauty in nature. We seem to take nature for granted and always expect it to rejuvenate our air, be a source of our food supply, or decorate our tables and homes, yet nature is so much more. It is spiritual and offers us the hope of blooming, growing, thriving, and helping others. I do see the beauty in nature, and I know it does have a spiritual cleansing to it.  It is important to decorate our life with the simplistic beauty that our world offers us; instead, of always looking at the things we can buy or achieve.

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)?

I have never heard of The Lake Shrine, but I would love to visit it. I do think it, specifically, the nature, the temple, and the water, have healing powers for people when they can see something’s beauty and effortless power to offer a passerby tranquility and peace. 

4C Reflections Redo

Grade 4C: 2 Comment 4C: Thank you for your reflection on a classmate. However your assignment is very incomplete. For full credit follow the format I gave:

1. Who is your classmate, what is the component category, what is the name of the choice? 1pt My classmate is Ryan and in Component 3C, we both wrote about Bakersfield and Sacramento.

2. What is something similar this classmate said about the choice? 1pt We each saw similarities and focused on the fact that both are agricultural areas housing diverse cultures. I, like Ryan, also wondered why Sacramento was chosen as the State Capital. We also knew that both inland cities did not have professional baseball teams.

3. What is something different this classmate said about the choice? 1pt Ryan said that Bakersfield was a city of ranches and expensive homes. I had a different idea about Bakersfield and thought it was more of a migrant town filled with migrant workers. Ryan also talked about the large population in Sacramento, but he did not mention that it might have been due to the gold rush

4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue?

I went in thinking that Sacramento and Bakersfield offered diverse cultures; similar to Ryan, he also stated that Bakersfield had ranches, but he saw Bakersfield as having expensive homes, and I did not see this correlation at all. I felt Bakersfield was more of a migrant town, and he opened my eyes to the fact that it also housed wealthy ranch owners. Maybe, like Freire, Ryan and I saw differing populations of oppressed and oppressor. I learned it was not so much about the expensive houses in wealth terms, but I saw only the oppressed or migrant population in one area, and Ryan saw the oppressor, the wealthy, in the same area that employ the oppressed. I began to want to seek more knowledge about the school systems and how the migrant worker’s children and the wealthier ranch owners were divided or mainstreamed. Like Freire, I wanted to see how oppressed the migrant workers really are in Bakersfield, or if they were given equal opportunity education. From this process, I learned that Freire realized the oppressed and oppressor really does exist, even today, in a culture that prides itself on “No Child Left Behind.” When in fact, there is still the hierarchy of division regarding educational equality according to area, population, and money.

For example, you went in thinking one idea; your classmate had a different idea. What new idea emerged from this process? 2pts.

 

4B Reflections Redo

Grade 4B: 2 Comment 4B: Thank you for your reflection on a classmate. However your assignment is very incomplete. For full credit follow the format I gave: Dear Professor Guerini, I re did this assignment, as I finally understood the directions. I am so grateful that you let me redo this, for I put in so much energy to this class and really want to achieve an A grade. You are the best for letting me fix this. I am so grateful to you and this whole experience.  

Thank you, Joey Fitch

1. Who is your classmate, what is the component category, what is the name of the choice? 1pt

Jena Barcojo is my classmate, and in Component Assignment #3A she wrote about the world city of San Francisco, just like me.

2. What is something similar this classmate said about the choice? 1pt 

Jena also focused on how diverse the culture is in the city of San Francisco. We both felt it had such an array of interesting cultures and cultural attractions. We also both wrote that the Golden Gate Bridge is one spectacular attraction to see if one visits the city.

3. What is something different this classmate said about the choice? 1pt

Jena said that the 1906 earthquake diminished three quarters of the city. I did not know this. She also mentioned the gay and lesbian populations and how San Francisco is known for this population of people.

4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? For example, you went in thinking one idea; your classmate had a different idea. What new idea emerged from this process? 2pts.

Freire believed that learners need to deposit something inside their banks of knowledge, and Jena was a good teacher, for she took some of what I knew and added more knowledge to my “bank deposit.” I went in thinking about the city in terms of attractions, cultures, and population, and Jena opened my eyes to the destruction of the 1906 earthquake and how cultures had to come to together to help rebuild the city.

 

4A Group #1

Assignment 4A Group #1

1. Write the story title and author name.

The Big Valley By Mark Arax

 2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information.

In The Big Valley by Mark Arax physically, economically, and emotionally takes the reader on a journey through the cultural transformation of Northwest Fresno from one generation to another. He remembers his roots of where and how he grew up in Northwest Fresno when farmers were called growers. He reminisces about how he watched his grandfather and father transform from one way of life to meet the new demands of another. His grandfather farmed the virgin land, his father also farmed but eventually sold the land to developers, while Mark remained on a bit of the land in a suburban neighborhood. Mark Arax also takes a trip to the 2004 World Ag Expo where the reader learns even how cultural technology has changed the dynamics of the farming land.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?

I had many favorite sentences and paragraphs, but if I have to pick only one it would be the paragraph that best describes how Mark Arax, changed, too, by the transformation of time in the growing industry, yet he still believes he is an honest farmer like his dad and grandfather and acknowledges his ancestral roots when he states, “The roots beneath the clay die hard. In early spring, they send up shoots through the crannies of my backyard. Up from the ivy and bamboo come Forkner’s old figs. I attack them with shovel and shear, out of suburban necessity. I imagine, but the milk they bleed, sticky white, causes me to wonder. And yet my deathblow is something of a paradox, for I have turned large sections of flowerbed and lawn into orchard and vegetable garden. Like my grandfather and father, I am a backyard farmer with too little land for my dreams” (Arax, 19).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... )

Since I travel this long stretch of highway to and from Los Angeles, and I look out over the large fields and see tractors and trucks moving carefully on the land, I think of how little I understand the American grower, the true farmer whose original roots entitled generations to eat and live off the land. I especially noticed the straight rows of endless almond trees, and I wondered how the farmers got them so straight and even. The patchwork of artistry that sews one ranch to another seems limitless. I truly have never realized the deep-rooted history that is embedded in each parcel of soil and how it has changed over the years.


5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)?

I did not know that the 2004 World Ag Expo took place in the town of Tulare County, nor did I know that “Traver held the world record for the greatest amount of wheat shipped from a producing point during a single season” (Arax, 22). I was also amazed to learn that Kings..." irrigates more farmland than any river in the world except for the Nile and Indus” was in Fresno.

1. Write the story title and author name.

Transients in Paradise by Aimee Liu

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information.

Transients in Paradise, by Aimee Liu, describes the stereotypical idea of perfection, wealth, and indulgence one can find in Beverly Hills. Yet, deep underneath the “painted flesh of this town’s trademark” lies the hidden desires and fears that many of the inhabitants of the Beverly Hills mask. She gives a wonderful analogy of how Beverly Hills is like the perfect made up lady, where many of the inhabitants, strive to find the perfect fantasy, body, or way of life to emanate wealth; when in fact, they truly fear reality. Many people have lost their perception of the richness of life; they do not live in a place that has deep rooted generational history. Many of Beverly Hill's visitors think that wealth equates with money; however, Liu stressed wealth means understanding, knowledge, education, and humanness; she showed this through a limited number of residents who had experienced the reality of life. The reader understands that may living or lusting to live in Beverly Hills exemplifies permanence; once someone lives in Beverly Hills they have grabbed onto the American dream; they have made it. When in reality, there is really no sense of realness or permanence attached to tinsel town. There are very few, mainly mangled older dwellers, that refuse to give into the lure of the town. These inhabitants know their true wealth and true fears, and this makes them the wealthiest inhabitants of Beverly Hills. Aimee Liu, in Transients in Paradise, makes the reader see besides the obvious wealthy that the visitor focuses on in Beverly Hills, lives an entire cultural milieu of poor, middle class, and culturally diverse populations.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?

I chose this quote, for it exemplifies and uncovers the stereotype that surrounds the idea of perfection and permanence in Beverly Hills. “The wattage of that current is transience. Who is coming? Who is going? Who is staying, and for how long? A town like Beverly Hills puts up an impressive front of permanence, but no matter how massive the house, how opulent the stores, how established the brokers of power and fame, or how deep their pockets, the truth of this place is as variable as the traffic passing down Wilshire Boulevard. I see buses carrying housekeepers from Crenshaw nudge the pickups of gardeners from Inglewood, Range Rovers driven from trophy wives cut off Hondas bearing handicap placards. Precious few of the drivers were born here, and nearly as few will die here, there are no hospitals in Beverly His, and many started from as far away as Guatemala, Vermont, or Taiwan---or equally distant locales that only appear closer on the map” (Liu, 31).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... )

When I went to Los Angeles to look at schools, I went to Beverly Hills to look at UCLA. When we were walking, I told my parents that the streets looked like they were paved with gold, and I quickly learned the inhabitants who walk up and down these streets had such a sense of entitlement. When we walked on the streets, the women with their manicured nails, carrying designer handbags and jeweled dog leashes would not move out of our way. Sometimes we all had to step off the sidewalk and let one person pass, for they would not move. They carried on loud conversations on their cell phones, not noticing that you were walking on the sidewalk, too. As we zigzagged in and out of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, I did only notice the glitz and glamour. I did not see any of the homeless, nor did I see any workers on the streets. It was as if all the workers were as neatly tucked away as the equipment used on the manicured lawns, bushes, trees, and overflowing baskets of flowers lining the massive mansions. I did not see one thing out of place.


5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)?

I did not know that there were no hospitals in Beverly Hills. I was shocked to learn this, for many of the inhabitants seem to be older, and the younger ones driving the Land Rovers and Hummers seem to have children. Are they exempt from scrapes and pains, too?  Is this town so perfect that no one ever gets sick or hurt?

1. Write the story title and author name.

Showing off the Owens by T. Jefferson Parker

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information.

Showing off the Owens, by T. Jefferson Parker takes the reader and a New York angler and novelist, Brian Wiprud, on a journey to California’s Lower Owens River. Parker drives Wipurd and the reader out of Pasadena on the 395 to the Owens River. Brian is a wonderful angler who had actually taught tour guides hired to help him learn how to fly fish. A man of few words, and a man who seemed at first to be a bit full of himself, finally seemed to acclimate and accept everyone and everything that this small town had to offer him. From the checkout clerk to the tour guide, Tom, the reader and Brian began to understand the mentality and devotion that flowed through this town. Like nature, there was an intricacy yet still a simplicity that all lived and fished by in rural small towns. Without much communication, everyone seemed to have an innate understanding of fly-fishing and its ritualistic power to heal.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?

I really liked this quote the very best, for one can never really know a place unless they experience it firsthand and allow their imagination to run wild in the vastness of nature. And, earlier in the story, “Brian who recently returned from a fly-fishing tour of the Amazon River---didn’t seem impressed” (T. Jefferson Parker, 37). Yet, one who actually experienced this place writes, “We finally made Bishop. We were on the frigid water by noon. The sky was gunmetal gray and the parched red flanks of the canyon angled down to the blue jewel of river flowing hard to the south. I looked down into that water and pictured the thousands of trout down there, unwilling to be caught. I thought of something director Robert Altman recently said: ‘I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don’t know what’s on the other end. Your imagination is under there’’” (T. Jefferson Parker, 40).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... )

My dad loves to fly fish. He has told me that it is like wadding in heaven. The earth and sky meet in the river that waters a tired man’s thirsty soul. I remember visiting a smaller river when I was a child, and I could see trout swimming along the bottom of the watery passage. I remember hearing sounds that I could not really fully give my attention in the city. I could stop and just hear the birds or the small sound of the wind winding through the leaves of the tall trees, and I could feel and truly enjoy the warm sun on my back. This story made me think of that time…a special time that took away all the outside distractions of a large city and allowed me to see and hear nature.


5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)?

I did not now that less than twenty minutes from Pasadena, one could catch wild rainbow trout and escape the noise and abundance of people at a place called the Owens River.

1. Write the story title and author name.

The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak, by Mary Mackey

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information.

In The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak, Mary Mackey takes the reader on a journey to the American River located in Sacramento about twenty minutes from her home. She talks of her experiences she and her husband have shared and witnessed on this river. She talks about her own experiences, trying to swim up to a family of Mallard ducks, to watching Hmong families, understanding and watching all the different cultures that flock to the river for rituals and ceremonies. When she is able to reach the Mallard ducks, they finally notice her and flap away. For years, she had tried to disguise herself and try to mingle with different wildlife cultures, but as close as she was able to get, they always seemed to notice her. When a beaver noticed her, he splashed his tail angrily; however, when the Hmong families or a Russian Orthodox priest blessing the water noticed her and her husband, they also carried on without interruption, performing their ceremonies like baptisms and blessings. The Sacramento River is one of her favorite places to escape from the hub of fast paced life of Sacramento and view the many cultures, including the culture of nature that live and visit the Sacramento river.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?

I felt this was the most beautiful quote, and it fully explained even how the beaver, a creature that calls the river home, gave a moment to another culture. “But nothing can compare to a night in early August when my husband and I came to the river and found it full of small, floating lanterns. A Japanese priest stood at the boat launch chanting as the lanterns drifted toward him and his congregation. We found out later that this is a traditional ceremony for souls lost at sea, but now it is done to commemorate those who died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. Above the lanterns, a full moon rose into the sky, bright and large as a second sun. The flames swirled in the current, the night primroses blossomed, the beavers were silent, and for a few moments the American was a river of light” (Mackey, 49).

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... )

The reading made me think of my own baptism and how our culture also celebrates ceremonial rites of passage with water. I also thought of the vastness of the Sacramento River, and I thought that I have never even seen people on it, let alone people of all cultures utilizing its waters for their precious, intricate ceremonial rites of passage and reflection.

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)?

I did not know that a culture called the Hmong lived in the United States; I have never heard the word "Hmong" and I did not know that this culture visited the Sacramento River wearing their traditional dress to celebrate and eat together. I also did not know that the Japanese utilized the river to commemorated Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I had no idea that the Sacramento River was a ceremonial site for different cultures. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Week 3: Project 3C

INLAND AREAS: BAKERSFIELD AND SACRAMENTO

Bakersfield is actually quite a large city in the Central Valley located near the Southern end of California. The population is 2008 was near 328,692; it is the 11^th largest and fastest growing city in California. It is the 58^th largest California city in the U.S., making it “the third largest inland city, after Fresno and Sacramento” (www.wikipedia).

The topography of an area is one of the things that fascinate me, for I wonder if that is one reason why people choose to live where they do, or if they choose a city for economic reasons like the cost of living. Bakersfield was just a town I passed through on my way to and from Los Angeles, and I never really knew that much about it. Since I am attending school in Los Angeles, I decided I would like to acquaint myself with the area, population, and diversity among the residents that occupy this region. Bakersfield is a dry area with hot summers and rainy winters. I found out through my research that Bakersfield is considered “one of the sunniest cities in the United States” (www.wikipedia).

Bakersfield is also a unique region, for many types of crops can be grown in the mild climate. Bakersfield only receives about 10 inches of rain a year so many consider it to be desert. I found it interesting that Bakersfield was ranked as “the most ozone-polluted city in the nation in 2006” by the American Lung Association, and I wondered if that was due to all the chemicals that are sprayed on the crops. Bakersfield “was also ranked as the second-most polluted cit in terms of both short-term and year-round particle pollution” (www.wikipedia). So, knowing this, why would anyone want to live in such a polluted, large hot, inland city? As my research progressed, I realized that California houses many farmers and agricultural workers, and is one of the cheaper areas to purchase a home in California. Maybe that is why it is the 11^th most populated inland city in California, for people can feel like they have achieved the American dream of owning a home while working in diverse areas of agriculture. There seems to be a large amount of jobs ranging from CEO’s of agricultural companies to field hands that tend to the picking and harvesting of all the agriculture throughout the area. “Midway Sunset Field is the largest farming area in California and the third largest in the Unites States” (www.wikipedia).

For a sports fan like myself, there is no baseball team, and the nest inland city I choose does not have a baseball team either, but it is also highly populated and is called the capital of California. Sacramento, California is the fifth most “livable regions in America, and the city was cited by Time magazine as America’s most integrated” (www.wikipedia). I wonder what makes Sacrament the fifth most livable place, so let’s take a field trip and find out.

It is the cultural and economic center with a diverse population housing 2,136,604 residents. I wonder if one of the reasons had to do with the gold rush. During the time of the California Gold Rush, Sacrament o had swarms of diverse populations searching and panning for gold. It was one of the major commercial and agricultural centers, and when many did not strike it rich, I wonder if they settle there, broke and looking for work in order to survive. Maybe the residents decided just to stay there, for they had no money for travel or relocation transportation. Sacramento was growing so fast and opportunities were available with river jobs, like riverboats, or the Pony Express; I also learned that Sacramento had the first Transcontinental Railroad. With river, land, and train travel, jobs were plentiful.

The reason I choose these two inland cities, is because I would never have thought that such a diverse group occupied these areas. I thought of Bakersfield as a place that farmers would live, and I believed that Sacramento housed more political figures and economists. Sacramento has a very indigenous culture, and I believe it is due to the California Gold Rush days.

On Ryan’s blog I noticed he also did Sacramento and Bakersfield like me, and we each saw similarities regarding the fact that both are agricultural areas housing diverse cultures. I, like Ryan, also wondered why Sacramento was chosen as the State Capital. I also knew that both did not have professional baseball teams, and I knew that Sacramento has what is called a Farms baseball team, but not a professional team. I really don’t know why Sacramento does not. Possibly they do not have professional baseball teams because Los Angeles and San Francisco do?

                                      Works Cited

www.wikipedia.com

 

 

 

Week 3: Project 3B

BEACHES: MANHATTAN AND PISMO BEACH

When one hears the word “beach” he or she may think of sun, sand, water, picnics, and surfing. But each beach is as diverse as a culture, people, or ethnicity. Beaches are unique to the area and topography of a state. I believe that humanities cannot not just be a study of the people that visit, work, and live in an area, but humanities also encompasses the land that contributes to the reasons why people visit, work, and live, in an area, which helps lead one to understand a specific culture much better.

I viewed Meredith Porter’s blog about beaches. She compared and contrasted Mission Beach and Point Lobos. She stated, “Studying and comparing two beaches connects to the study of the humanities because understanding a location leads to a better understanding of that place's culture, literature, music and other elements that we study in the humanities.” I felt this was a very well thought response about why she felt this connected to the study of humanities. It was one of my favorite definitions after reading through many of them. Her descriptions were vivid and allowed me to see how she also needed visual descriptions to take a mental field trip. I found it very nteresting how some people are very good verbalizers and visualizers. This is a very important skill to master when learning from and teaching others. It is important to see how each person interprets information.

I decided to research Manhattan Beach and Pismo Beach. They are located in Los Angeles. Both residents from surrounding neighborhoods utilize the beaches for the majority of the year since the weather in Los Angeles is mild and has an average temperature of 70-90 degrees throughout many months in a year. Manhattan Beach and Pismo Beach offer sightseeing, golfing, parkland, bicycling, and picnicking areas jut to name a few of the amenities. Manhattan and Pismo both have walking access and large piers in which to view the beaches. One can see Manhattan and Pismo each from Highway 101. 

However much alike, Pismo Beach is much smaller than Manhattan Beach. Pismo is located on the “Central Coast of California” (www.wikipedia). Manhattan Beach is located in “southwestern Los Angeles, County” (www.wikipedia).

The film, Jerry Maguire in 1996 showed Manhattan Beach, for Rene Zellwegger’s house was located in the Tree Section of Manhattan Beach. The sand on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii is literally from Manhattan Beach. “Much of the sand on Waikiki Beach was purchased by developers from Hawaii in the late 1920s, who negotiated a deal with the Kuhn Brothers Construction Company to ship the city's sand across the Pacific from Manhattan Beach to Waikiki Beach for over 10 years.[9] The only remaining sand that resembles Manhattan Beach's original landscape can be found at Sand Dune Park” (www.wikipedia).

Pismo Beach was renamed to Oceano and then to Grover Beach, for many who renamed it thought that no one would go to a city in order to go to a beach. I learned that both Pismo Beach and Manhattan Beach are charming city beaches, but Pismo Beach is unique to festivals and Manhattan Beach is unique to movie sets. Pismo Beach has themed weekends including Jazz and Clam Festivals. Pismo Beach is also exploring more pier development, whereas Manhattan Beach is not. Pismo Beach has much smaller communities surrounding it than Manhattan Beach.

Both beaches have cliffs, large ocean waves, acres of sand, large piers, and many residents and visitors alike. They create a large playground for many Los Angeles residents. Each beach is unique to its neighborhood, meaning that Manhattan is close to the film industry for location sets, while Pismo draws more activity from festivals. Regardless, each one has a variety of visitors that walk and enjoy the sun, sand and surf.

I learned that the beaches bring in large amounts of tourism, but the town can readily enjoy all they have to offer. Even though each one is in the city of Los Angeles, they are charming and unique in their own special way.

 

Week 3: Project 3A

WORLD CITIES: LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK

San Francisco “Open your Golden Gates,” for one would know this song, especially if they lived here. Once one has the breathtaking view of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, they will never forget it. The large cables that hoist the bridge over the ocean are amazing, and many men who worked on the bridge lost their lives. The Statue of Liberty is the landmark for freedom for all in the United States and is in New York. Many throughout the United States and the world know these two towering landmarks. People assume that world cities house diversity and culture, and they are correct, but do they know how much the people are alike? The landmarks may be different and the climates very drastic in comparison, but people are very similar in many ways.

Both cities hold multi cultural populations, both have incredible shopping and cultural experiences, and both have some of the most amazing places to eat and visit. If one were a tourist visiting, he or she may not notice much difference in the cultural milieu of each city, but they would definitely notice the weather! San Francisco located in the North and New York is located in the East of the United States.

“San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California, and the 14^th most populous city in the United States” (www.wikipdia). San Francisco has 72. million people living and working in the large city. New York, on the other hand, is the largest city in the United States. It also has the word gate in its repertoire, but the word gate refers to the “gateway for immigration to the Unites States and its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center” (www. wikipedia).

San Francisco has a mild climate compared to New York. San Francisco has sunshine, rain, and fog; however, even though New York shares the sunshine, and rain, New York has snow, and when it snows, it can reach -13 degrees Celsius. What makes one want to live in such a severe winter state? You really only need a coat or warm jacket for the cold temperatures in San Francisco, but in New York, one must have protective snow gear to keep from freezing to death. I have always wanted to know why people choose to fight such drastic winters? 

In order to try and answer this question, I looked into the economy of both san Francisco and New York. New York’s personal income was $40,072 in 2004, and when one considers how expensive it is to live in New York, one wonders how they afford to live there. San Francisco is also expensive to live in. Both New York and San Francisco rely on tourism as the large backbone to their economy. Both areas offer diverse culture in music, film, and stage. New York houses the stock exchange and San Francisco is one of the largest finance banking centers due to the California Gold Rush. Both have bridges, but San Francisco has the Golden Gate and New York has the Brooklyn Bridge. They are different looking and built differently. Can this type of landmark make the cities so unique, adding to even more diversity?

  I viewed Marjorie Croweder’s blog; she wrote about Seattle and San Diego comparing and contrasting two large cities, both coastal towns, except one is located in the Pacific Northwest regions and the other in Southern California, the southwestern corner of the continental United States. She stated, “Seattle is the birth place of grunge music,” which I did not know. I did know that it rained quite a bit in that region of the U.S. I am much more familiar with San Diego, since I have studied a lot about my seventh great grandfather Henry Delano Fitch. I agree that cities do attract various degrees of weather, reputations, and diverse cultures. That is why I choose New York and San Francisco. Each has various degrees of weather and reputations, and a melting pot of culture and ethnic diversity.

I chose these two diverse cities to show that tourism, banking, and bridges all create pathways to merging cultures, and as unique and alike as our cities are, I still have come to believe that the people who inhabit them are all more alike than different.