"4b 4 Essays Student Responses"

4 Essays

Choose any 1 classmate that wrote about your same essays and briefly compare/contrast their choices and ideas versus what you said (eg "In my readings of these same authors I found that BLANK and my classmate also thought BLANK. An interesting point of view I didn't think of that my classmate said is BLANK")

In the Big Valley story Monica Bagney and I both highlighted living in the valley and how the year was measured by the harvest not the calendar. We both described the land and the main character, the farmer. She describes the building of the house and the swimming pool.
She mentioned the Armenian Genocide and also the town of Traver and how it prospered in the 1800’s and then disappeared. She also noted the 2004 Agriculture equipment show in Tulare County. It is the largest in the world. This shows the importance of the area and the equipment for the farming industry. I did not note either of those points. I did point out that the Hyw 99 has been compared to the Mississippi River. I also commented on the need for the land for food and the concern for illegal residents in the area.

In the Transients story of Beverly Hills we both talked about most of the residents were not born there or will they die there. We also noted the wealth in the area. We also both talked about the death of the man. We also highlighted that there were really no bad areas there. She mentioned talking a class that changed her life. She views the homeless situation different now. Her favorite sentence was about “We are all transients of one kind or another…..”
I like the following from her comments. "The rich and beautiful live in a fantasy world, they are unaware of real life, real emotion, and do not realize what truly matters in life." I mentioned the story reminded me of the song, Another day in Paradise and I just heard the song, Mr Wendell that also reminds me of the story. I would have never thought that BH had a homeless problem.

In the Owens River story we both talked about the trip there. We both noted the rash. She talked about how they had dinner and then went back to the motel and watched TV and slept. She gave the information of the days event very routinely. The story reminded her of the Sierras and a trip her family went on. I noted the In/Out on the way to the river. That would have been the best part of the trip for me. Before reading this story I knew nothing about the area or the river. The pictures I found make you want to visit the river.

In the Cataract story we both mentioned her swimming with the ducks. I did not think of the cold water from the Sierras. She also did not mention the other animal life at the river. We also both noted the population of Sacramento and related it to this out of the way place on the river. We also both mentioned the religious visitors to the river. I noted that some get to work by the river in the Sacramento area. She related the ducks to a place near her house where she use to feed the ducks, she called it her sanctuary. I did not realize how closs the traffic was to this isolated river area. I also did not realize how much animal life was on the river and so close to the city.

http://ass4a.blogspot.com/


2. Choose any 1 classmate that wrote about a different set of essays and tell us one thing you learned per author presented.

I learned from Megan Mullen the following from the first reading. “Iraqis often will take a one-hundred-kilo-meter-per-hour southbound detour on the northbound lanes to avoid the craters cut into the roadway by Americans ordinance, plunging into traffic as if that were a perfectly normal thing to do.” Pg 53

The story about Myths from Megan taught me the following. This story was of the myths that people have about California. One being that California is "paradise on Earth" another that "California is the only state in the Union that has flourished beyond all exceptions". I did not realize it was viewed as paradise and exceeded expectations. I would ask who views it like that?

I learned the following from Megan and the story about Seal Beach. I learned that the Seal Beach City Hall was built in 1929. I also learned that Seal Beach used to have a roller coaster and its own air port.

The last story about surfing was interesting since the Maverick contest was just in the news. I did not know the name was from a dog. I also learned that there are twelve thousand residents in Half Moon Bay, and that Half Moon Bay is the oldest city in San Mateo County. The Maverick has aslo become a big pay check for the winner and has grown from a handful of people competiting to a worldwide competition and well known event.

http://megan-human7.blogspot.com/2009/04/assignment-4a-group-2.html


3. Like number 2, choose any 1 classmate that wrote about a set of essays that you didn't read.

Jennifer Sylvester highlighted the move to Newport Beach and how people thought they were rich because of where they were moving. The homeowners association was a key because many people are unaware of communities like this. They have rules for everything. I was not aware how controlling the associations can be. They can even control the color you paint your house.

Cotton Candy story…….I liked Jennifer's favorite quote.“Education was cheaper and safer in the day… Summer was the official educational institutions of our childhood.” Pg 102-3 I have heard by many that summer has changed and is very short now.. It is closer to 2 months than 3 months. All we have to do is watch the news to see the changes happening in education. In Healdsburg the schools have a declining enrollemnt and that is causing more problems.

The Berkley story. I really did not learn anything about Berkeley form the information provided. Most know it is a crazy city, the tree sitters have brought the latest attention to the city.

Honky Tonk story. The story was summarized as a group of singers that did not make it but still had memories and experiences from their jobs for the rest of their lives. I did not understand that there were “no rules when it comes to music." I guess that is what I learned and did not understand.

http://jennifer-humanities7.blogspot.com/2009/04/4a-group-3.html