4b REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT OF My California

REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT OF My California:

1. Choose any 1 classmate that wrote about your same essays and briefly compare/contrast their choices and ideas versus what you

I chose to respond to Anthony Musetti’s post from last week. The first response, “ Ode To Caltrans,” by Hector Tobar did have a very nostalgic feel to it. Like Anthony, it made me pine for the lands of mega freeways and palm trees. His view was that the story is going backward. That was what was different from mine. I saw it more as a slow trudge toward the future and whatever kind of degradation that brings. I like that I read this response though because I like Anthony’s interpretation better.

His response to the second piece, “Montalvo, Myths, and Dreams of Home,” by Thomas Steinbeck, has much of the same things to say as mine. He talks about how the land of California is mythic and possibly even epic and it morphs to fit the imaginations of whoever is dreaming of it. The one thing that I think was different about mine is that he says, “It can meet anyone’s ideals of a home.” I don’t know if I agree with that totally. I think I may have said something similar in my piece, but I don’t think that the myth can live without sacrifice. Steinbeck addresses that theme a couple of times. California it seems is for dreamers who are willing to sacrifice something ie comfort, affordable housing costs, etc in order to enjoy the magic of the myth.

Like Anthony, I had no idea that Seal Beach existed either. I guess that’s a good thing. If everybody knew about it, we’d all be there and then it wouldn’t be Seal Beach anymore. My response is similar in that it draws a comparison between Seal Beach and Sonoma County. I think it’s almost impossible not to make that connection. Where my response differs is that I see the situation with Seal Beach, not as flourishing as Anthony does, but rather, as a last ditch effort to hang on that’s about to fall apart.

Finally, Anthony’s response to “Surfacing,” by Matt Warshaw had a similar effect on me. I really got a sense of Jake’s courage from this. I think that fortitude and sense of adventure is what brought many of us, or our families to California. That sense of admiration of his determination is similar between the two entries, but we differ in that he relates the story to the current competition that was called off, whereas I don’t.


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

I decided to respond to Cayleb Tran’s posts. The firs post that Cayleb responded to, “Bienvenidos a Newport Beach, “ by Firoozeh Dumas describes the family’s move to Newport Beach. I didn’t realize that there was zoning in Newport Beach regarding how houses are to look. I knew it was an expensive area I used to have a roommate from Newport Beach, but I didn’t realize how Stepford like it is.

The second story that Cayleb responded to was “Cotton Candy Mirror,” by Devorah Major. What I learned from his response is that there used to be a fun house in San Francisco. I didn’t realize that. I wonder if it was a specific place called “The Fun House,” or if it was just an amusement park that used to be in the city. It’s interesting. I love finding out about all the neat old things that used to be in the city. It makes me sad at the same time though to realize all the wonderful things that are no more.

Cayleb responded to the third story, “Berkeley,” by Michael Chabon, by writing about the demographics of the city and how the groups interact. I’ve experienced that myself in Berkeley. It is a wonderful mix of all kinds of people who would normally not have any interaction with one another. The one thing that I found out was the vast number of people in the town who are students. I always knew Cal is huge, but I never realized just how huge. Thirty thousand people can be considered a small town. That is absolutely amazing to me.

Cayleb’s fourth response to “California Honky-Tonk,” by Kathi Kamen Goldmark, describes a band’s first big gig at a biker bar. I wasn’t aware that there was a big biker scene in San Pedro, but I guess there are biker bars in a lot of towns. I think California has a particularly rich biker heritage because it is the home of the Hell’s Angels.

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

I decided to read Sierra Baxter’s responses to the readings for group one. Sierra writes about Mark Arax’s “Big Valley,” that she didn’t know that tractor tires could damage crops. I didn’t realize that either. I guess it makes sense, but it’s not something I ever thought of. I’ve just always seen farmers driving through their fields on tractors. I also didn’t realize that they use tank tracks instead of tires. I always just imagined tractors like my grandpa’s old tractor.

According to Sierra, in the second story, the author talks about how Beverly Hills has no cemetery, dump, or hospital. I had no idea. I don’t understand it. If I had all the money in the world, I would want a hospital as close to me as possible, just in case. It also seems kind of symbolic. The town is completely sterile. It reminds me of the Brahmans in India who aren’t allowed around death or disease or any kind of putrescence. They relegate that to lower castes. It seems almost as if the plastic world of Beverly Hills can’t be in contact with that because not only would it become “contaminated,” but because it would destroy the illusion of other worldliness.

Regarding the third story, “Showing Off the Owens,” by T. Jefferson Parker, Sierra talks about how she didn’t know that there were professional fishermen who are hired to catch trophies for others to hang on their walls. I also didn’t know that. It seems to kind of defeat the purpose. It would be like cheating at solitaire. There seems something terribly wrong about that.

In the fourth story, “The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak” by Mary Mackey, she talks about the story where a couple works on the American River just twenty minutes from the campus of Sacramento State and how they had witnessed different things like religious baptismal and the workings of beavers. I lived in Sacramento for five years and I never saw anything like that on the American River. It always was so dirty looking to me. I had no idea that there were neat things happening on the river. It goes to show that two people can be experiencing the same thing and be experiencing something completely different at the same time.