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.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
4a Group #2
"4a Group #2”
1. Write the story title and author name.
“Montalvo, Myths, and Dreams of Home,” by Thomas Steinbeck
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
This short story was basically a piece about the history of the world’s love affair with California. He writes about how the Spaniard’s originally fell in love with the myth of California and that as time went on, the mystery and mythology associated with that infatuation carried on to modern times. He talks about how the myth has evolved and is different things to different people.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite quote from this story is,“In my youth and in the company of reverent comrades of like mind, I have ridden horse and mule over its rocky passes, and camped by mountain streams rich in cress and evening doves. And the, struggling over that last scrabble buttress of the western mountains, I have been abundantly rewarded by the sight of the great Pacific, beating foam-crested fists against every rocky intrusion into its realm. There is nothing I know that compares with the magnificence of a sunset seen from high in The Big Sur, and nothing as mysterious and enchanting as riding through the fingerlings of fog as they trace through the scrub oak up the canyons. If it can truly be said that one’s spirit may be stimulated to accept the sublime by one location as opposed to another, then for me that place exists high on the crests and along the rugged cliffs of The Big Sur. Even though I cannot now call those secluded canyons and cliffs home, my abiding memories of this lonely span of California coastline holds my should in thrall and delights the imagination beyond all else I know.” pg67
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
This reading made me think of many different things. One of the things that it most reminded me of was the discussion that we had in my Religious Studies class regarding sacrifice. We talked about how one of the reasons that people perform sacrifices is to show gratitude and another is to try to gain some kind of favor with the gods. The reason this story reminded me of that class is because it seems that this story personifies California by comparing the state to muses and by personifying the area of Big Sur with metaphor. The grandmother leaves offerings to the Dark Watchers and gets gifts in return. It seems that we all do sacrifice some, as the author suggests for the chance to enjoy the myth of California.
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
On pages 67 and 68, the author describes the myth of the Dark Watchers. I wasn’t aware that such mythical beings were described in the lore of the Rumsen. It was interesting to learn about their mysterious nature.
1. Write the story title and author name.
“Ode to Caltrans,” by Hector Tobar
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
This story was about the relationship that this author has with the freeway systems of Southern California. He talks about how the freeway represnts different parts of his life and how it seems to reflect how his views about the world have changed.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite quote is, “When you live far away from California, as I have for the past three years, you begin to appreciate the freeway for the essential idea behind its construction-that automobiles should inhabit their own universe, segregated from the slower forms of locomotion.” pg 52
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
This reading reminded me of the first time I went with my husband to Sacramento to go check out potential apartments. We were going down the 5 and the traffic was going 80-90 mph. I was thrilled. We of course don't see a lot of that in Sonoma County. While the mega freeways remind us of the pollution and degredation and the overcrowding of California, they are a symbol as well. They're a symbol of the freedom and promise of the new adventures that you find while travelling them. That first day in Sacramento, the freeways looked beautiful and pristine to me.
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 learned that Iraq has a super highway system. I didn't know that. My bias about Iraq has been that it was underdeveloped.
1. Write the story title and author name.
“The Last Little Beach Town,” by Edward Humes
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
This story is about the evolution of Seal Beach. It has remained last small town beach in the greater Los Angeles area. The author, after having moved out to California had started to become disappointed in the towns of California. They weren’t at all what he had imagined….until he reached Seal Beach. The town has maintained its integrity and is still struggling to hang on to that despite changing times.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite sentence from the story is, “I can’t help but remember, Crystal Cove and its vanished paradise, and just how fragile our dreams and myths truly are, at least the ones that count.” pg78
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
The reading made me think of the first time I saw the ocean. We had just driven into town. We were moving to California from Arizona. I rode all the way in the back of a cab over camper with my sister and our two dogs in the back and my parents in the front. At the very end of our long trip, we got to the beach. For the first time, I saw the Pacific Ocean. I was four years old and I was so excited. I had heard so much about California and I thought about all the time I would get to play at the beach in the sand it was one of the happiest days of my life. That first experience was at Bodega Bay and it is really nice to be able to say that to this day, it’s stayed pretty much exactly the same. The world around it is changing, but it has stayed the same.
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 did Seal Beach as one of my beaches, so a lot of the information in the story is the same. What I didn’t know though is that that’s where the filming of the parting of the Red Sea took place in The Ten Commandments.
1. Write the story title and author name.
“Surfacing,” by Matt Warsaw
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
The story talks about the surf culture of Half Moon Bay. It’s a story about a sixteen year old boy named Jay Moriarity who went out to ride some of the biggest waves in history and wiped out. He got back on the boat, grabbed his reserve board, and went back out to ride more waves.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite sentence is, “After tossing the pieces of his broken board onto the deck of Lizzie-lynn, he took a short breather, grabbed his reserve board, ran a bar of sticky wax across the top for traction, and paddled back into the lineup.” pg 88
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
The reading reminded me of my friend Kirk that I worked with when I worked for Marin County Parks. Kirk was a student at UC Santa Cruz. He went surfing all the time and he told me that because he was a skinny young kid and nobody knew who he was, he would get chased out of surf “territories” in Santa Cruz, so when he would get the time to do so, he would go up to Half Moon Bay to surf because it wasn’t as well know for its surfing.
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 didn’t know that Half Moon Bay was a whaling town. My parents will sometimes go there for their summer vacation, but they never really told me about the history of it. I’ve always thought of Half Moon Bay as the place with the giant pumpkins.
1. Write the story title and author name.
“Montalvo, Myths, and Dreams of Home,” by Thomas Steinbeck
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
This short story was basically a piece about the history of the world’s love affair with California. He writes about how the Spaniard’s originally fell in love with the myth of California and that as time went on, the mystery and mythology associated with that infatuation carried on to modern times. He talks about how the myth has evolved and is different things to different people.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite quote from this story is,“In my youth and in the company of reverent comrades of like mind, I have ridden horse and mule over its rocky passes, and camped by mountain streams rich in cress and evening doves. And the, struggling over that last scrabble buttress of the western mountains, I have been abundantly rewarded by the sight of the great Pacific, beating foam-crested fists against every rocky intrusion into its realm. There is nothing I know that compares with the magnificence of a sunset seen from high in The Big Sur, and nothing as mysterious and enchanting as riding through the fingerlings of fog as they trace through the scrub oak up the canyons. If it can truly be said that one’s spirit may be stimulated to accept the sublime by one location as opposed to another, then for me that place exists high on the crests and along the rugged cliffs of The Big Sur. Even though I cannot now call those secluded canyons and cliffs home, my abiding memories of this lonely span of California coastline holds my should in thrall and delights the imagination beyond all else I know.” pg67
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
This reading made me think of many different things. One of the things that it most reminded me of was the discussion that we had in my Religious Studies class regarding sacrifice. We talked about how one of the reasons that people perform sacrifices is to show gratitude and another is to try to gain some kind of favor with the gods. The reason this story reminded me of that class is because it seems that this story personifies California by comparing the state to muses and by personifying the area of Big Sur with metaphor. The grandmother leaves offerings to the Dark Watchers and gets gifts in return. It seems that we all do sacrifice some, as the author suggests for the chance to enjoy the myth of California.
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
On pages 67 and 68, the author describes the myth of the Dark Watchers. I wasn’t aware that such mythical beings were described in the lore of the Rumsen. It was interesting to learn about their mysterious nature.
1. Write the story title and author name.
“Ode to Caltrans,” by Hector Tobar
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
This story was about the relationship that this author has with the freeway systems of Southern California. He talks about how the freeway represnts different parts of his life and how it seems to reflect how his views about the world have changed.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite quote is, “When you live far away from California, as I have for the past three years, you begin to appreciate the freeway for the essential idea behind its construction-that automobiles should inhabit their own universe, segregated from the slower forms of locomotion.” pg 52
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
This reading reminded me of the first time I went with my husband to Sacramento to go check out potential apartments. We were going down the 5 and the traffic was going 80-90 mph. I was thrilled. We of course don't see a lot of that in Sonoma County. While the mega freeways remind us of the pollution and degredation and the overcrowding of California, they are a symbol as well. They're a symbol of the freedom and promise of the new adventures that you find while travelling them. That first day in Sacramento, the freeways looked beautiful and pristine to me.
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 learned that Iraq has a super highway system. I didn't know that. My bias about Iraq has been that it was underdeveloped.
1. Write the story title and author name.
“The Last Little Beach Town,” by Edward Humes
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
This story is about the evolution of Seal Beach. It has remained last small town beach in the greater Los Angeles area. The author, after having moved out to California had started to become disappointed in the towns of California. They weren’t at all what he had imagined….until he reached Seal Beach. The town has maintained its integrity and is still struggling to hang on to that despite changing times.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite sentence from the story is, “I can’t help but remember, Crystal Cove and its vanished paradise, and just how fragile our dreams and myths truly are, at least the ones that count.” pg78
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
The reading made me think of the first time I saw the ocean. We had just driven into town. We were moving to California from Arizona. I rode all the way in the back of a cab over camper with my sister and our two dogs in the back and my parents in the front. At the very end of our long trip, we got to the beach. For the first time, I saw the Pacific Ocean. I was four years old and I was so excited. I had heard so much about California and I thought about all the time I would get to play at the beach in the sand it was one of the happiest days of my life. That first experience was at Bodega Bay and it is really nice to be able to say that to this day, it’s stayed pretty much exactly the same. The world around it is changing, but it has stayed the same.
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 did Seal Beach as one of my beaches, so a lot of the information in the story is the same. What I didn’t know though is that that’s where the filming of the parting of the Red Sea took place in The Ten Commandments.
1. Write the story title and author name.
“Surfacing,” by Matt Warsaw
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent
The story talks about the surf culture of Half Moon Bay. It’s a story about a sixteen year old boy named Jay Moriarity who went out to ride some of the biggest waves in history and wiped out. He got back on the boat, grabbed his reserve board, and went back out to ride more waves.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
My favorite sentence is, “After tossing the pieces of his broken board onto the deck of Lizzie-lynn, he took a short breather, grabbed his reserve board, ran a bar of sticky wax across the top for traction, and paddled back into the lineup.” pg 88
4. What did the reading make you think of? .75 percent
The reading reminded me of my friend Kirk that I worked with when I worked for Marin County Parks. Kirk was a student at UC Santa Cruz. He went surfing all the time and he told me that because he was a skinny young kid and nobody knew who he was, he would get chased out of surf “territories” in Santa Cruz, so when he would get the time to do so, he would go up to Half Moon Bay to surf because it wasn’t as well know for its surfing.
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 didn’t know that Half Moon Bay was a whaling town. My parents will sometimes go there for their summer vacation, but they never really told me about the history of it. I’ve always thought of Half Moon Bay as the place with the giant pumpkins.
Monday, March 30, 2009
3c Inland Cities: Sacramento and Bakersfield
Contains a title using the format listed above .25 points
3c Inland Areas: Sacramento and Bakersfield
Contains a web link to your locations. (eg you can use the tools in your blog where you paste your work; there is a little icon that looks like a link) .25 points
www.sacbee.com
www.bakersfield.com
http://www.wikipedia.org/search-redirect.php?search=bakersfield&language=en&go=++%E2%86%92++&go=Go
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=sacramento&go=Go
Contains an explanation regarding how this component (any aspect of it; eg content of videos, content of websites) connects to your study of humanities. .25 point
Unfortunately, I’ve been using a computer that doesn’t allow for Youtube or any kind of streaming. The two cities that I’m reviewing this week are both located in the central valley. Sacramento is the state capitol, which means that it is the political, social, economic hub of the state. Both are large cities, which draw large immigrant populations and as such alter the cultural make up of the state.
Contains the following elements that will be used in upcoming projects for analytical purposes:
What are some assumptions/stereotypes you think people have of each location: 1 point
I know that before I moved to Sacramento, I always held a stereotype of all Central Valley cities as being “rednecky.” I always assumed that the central valley was filled with Republicans. I think of people in the Central Valley as being poor. Often when visiting family in the Central Valley, we would joke about how the Central Valley is the armpit of California. I think that some of the stereotypes I have about the Central Valley come from depictions of “Okeys” from The Grapes of Wrath.
List 3 things that make each location similar: 1 point
Bakersfield and Sacramento make up two of the three largest inland cities in California.
Large portions of the economies of both Bakersfield and Sacramento are from agriculture.
Both Sacramento and Bakersfield are ethnically diverse.
List 3 things that make each location so different: 1 point
Bakersfield has a large petroleum industry whereas Sacramento does not.
Sacramento’s was originally a gold mining town whereas Bakersfield was not associated with the Gold Rush.
Sacramento is the state capitol, which means that it is where the state legislation happens. Bakersfield is not in the same position.
Questioning: What else would you like to know about these places? When completing the question section, lead your audience into the question by stating a fact you do know, yet you still have the related question. This way, both your audience and you will have an educational experience. .5 point
Bakersfield, in addition to being a very large city, has large agricultural and petroleum industries. How does Bakersfield seeing itself shifting its major agricultural and petroleum industries in the future to adjust to the fine balance between the economic and ecological concerns?
5. Using your classmates work from last week, tell us one thing you learned from 1 student. Is this one thing some common experience you share or some experience that is completely different than what you experienced? Is this one thing related to our class theoretical foundation and if so, how? Is that one thing related to historical or cultural context of this country or a different one? Link that persons blog to this entry (eg cut paste that blog entry here) . .5 point
The piece of information from last week comes from Liz’ blog. She stated, “Huntington Beach is parallel to a coastal wetland.” I never knew this about Huntington Beach. I always had imagined that it was surrounded by suburban sprawl because it is in Southern California, but it turns out that there is also a wetland.
http://lizhuman7.blogspot.com/2009/03/assignment-3b-beaches-bodega-bay-vs.html
3c Inland Areas: Sacramento and Bakersfield
Contains a web link to your locations. (eg you can use the tools in your blog where you paste your work; there is a little icon that looks like a link) .25 points
www.sacbee.com
www.bakersfield.com
http://www.wikipedia.org/search-redirect.php?search=bakersfield&language=en&go=++%E2%86%92++&go=Go
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=sacramento&go=Go
Contains an explanation regarding how this component (any aspect of it; eg content of videos, content of websites) connects to your study of humanities. .25 point
Unfortunately, I’ve been using a computer that doesn’t allow for Youtube or any kind of streaming. The two cities that I’m reviewing this week are both located in the central valley. Sacramento is the state capitol, which means that it is the political, social, economic hub of the state. Both are large cities, which draw large immigrant populations and as such alter the cultural make up of the state.
Contains the following elements that will be used in upcoming projects for analytical purposes:
What are some assumptions/stereotypes you think people have of each location: 1 point
I know that before I moved to Sacramento, I always held a stereotype of all Central Valley cities as being “rednecky.” I always assumed that the central valley was filled with Republicans. I think of people in the Central Valley as being poor. Often when visiting family in the Central Valley, we would joke about how the Central Valley is the armpit of California. I think that some of the stereotypes I have about the Central Valley come from depictions of “Okeys” from The Grapes of Wrath.
List 3 things that make each location similar: 1 point
Bakersfield and Sacramento make up two of the three largest inland cities in California.
Large portions of the economies of both Bakersfield and Sacramento are from agriculture.
Both Sacramento and Bakersfield are ethnically diverse.
List 3 things that make each location so different: 1 point
Bakersfield has a large petroleum industry whereas Sacramento does not.
Sacramento’s was originally a gold mining town whereas Bakersfield was not associated with the Gold Rush.
Sacramento is the state capitol, which means that it is where the state legislation happens. Bakersfield is not in the same position.
Questioning: What else would you like to know about these places? When completing the question section, lead your audience into the question by stating a fact you do know, yet you still have the related question. This way, both your audience and you will have an educational experience. .5 point
Bakersfield, in addition to being a very large city, has large agricultural and petroleum industries. How does Bakersfield seeing itself shifting its major agricultural and petroleum industries in the future to adjust to the fine balance between the economic and ecological concerns?
5. Using your classmates work from last week, tell us one thing you learned from 1 student. Is this one thing some common experience you share or some experience that is completely different than what you experienced? Is this one thing related to our class theoretical foundation and if so, how? Is that one thing related to historical or cultural context of this country or a different one? Link that persons blog to this entry (eg cut paste that blog entry here) . .5 point
The piece of information from last week comes from Liz’ blog. She stated, “Huntington Beach is parallel to a coastal wetland.” I never knew this about Huntington Beach. I always had imagined that it was surrounded by suburban sprawl because it is in Southern California, but it turns out that there is also a wetland.
http://lizhuman7.blogspot.com/2009/03/assignment-3b-beaches-bodega-bay-vs.html
Monday, March 23, 2009
3b Beaches, Seal Beach and Bodega Bay
Contains a title using the format listed above .25 points
3B Beaches, Seal Beach and Bodega Bay
Contains a web link to your locations. (eg you can use the tools in your blog where you paste your work; there is a little icon that looks like a link) .25 points
http://www.wikipedia.org/search-redirect.php?search=bodega+bay&language=en&go=++%E2%86%92++&go=Go
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=seal+beach&go=Go
http://www.ci.seal-beach.ca.us/
http://www.bodegabay.com/
Contains an explanation regarding how this component (any aspect of it; eg content of videos, content of websites) connects to your study of humanities. .25 point
The reason these two locations connect to humanities is that California is very much defined by its beach culture. When people think of California, they think of the ocean. These small towns offer us a glimpse of what California was before it became huge and commercialized. In this sense it can give us, culturally, a sense of our roots. These two locations also, because of their beauty, tend to be favorite spots of artists. Both towns have also been used for film making.
Contains the following elements that will be used in upcoming projects for analytical purposes:
What are some assumptions/stereotypes you think people have of each location: 1 point
Honestly, I don’t know the answer to this question. I had never heard of Seal Beach before doing this project. People have stereotypes about Southern Californian beaches in general. They tend to think of palm trees and movie stars. Now that I know about Seal Beach, those are the types of stereotypes I would associate with that town.
From what I gather from my relatives, the stereotypes that people have of Bodega Bay tend to be related to the fact that Bodega Bay is in Sonoma County which is in the wine country. When my relatives think of Bodega Bay, they think of an upscale, ritzy food and wine Mecca on the ocean.
List 3 things that make each location similar: 1 point
Questioning: What else would you like to know about these places? When completing the question section, lead your audience into the question by stating a fact you do know, yet you still have the related question. This way, both your audience and you will have an educational experience. .5 point
One of the things that I learned about Seal Beach is that it has managed to maintain its integrity as a small town despite the fact that it is adjacent to one of the largest cities in the world. What kind of advice for maintaining cultural integrity would the residents of Seal Beach offer to the residents of Bodega Bay as tourism and development in the twenty first century begin to strain the small town?
5. Using your classmates work from last week, tell us one thing you learned from 1 student. Is this one thing some common experience you share or some experience that is completely different than what you experienced? Is this one thing related to our class theoretical foundation and if so, how? Is that one thing related to historical or cultural context of this country or a different one? Link that persons blog to this entry (eg cut paste that blog entry here) . .5 point
I checked out Katy’s blog from last week and found that Seattle was a gold rush town. I didn’t realize that. I mostly just have the stereotypes of Seattle as a grunge and coffee kind of town. I think that this is related to our foundation because we are focusing on California and what makes California unique. I'm familiar with just San Francisco because I grew up here, but it was interesting to see the development of another very similar city with a similar past in juxtaposition to what I'm familiar with.
3B Beaches, Seal Beach and Bodega Bay
Contains a web link to your locations. (eg you can use the tools in your blog where you paste your work; there is a little icon that looks like a link) .25 points
http://www.wikipedia.org/search-redirect.php?search=bodega+bay&language=en&go=++%E2%86%92++&go=Go
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=seal+beach&go=Go
http://www.ci.seal-beach.ca.us/
http://www.bodegabay.com/
Contains an explanation regarding how this component (any aspect of it; eg content of videos, content of websites) connects to your study of humanities. .25 point
The reason these two locations connect to humanities is that California is very much defined by its beach culture. When people think of California, they think of the ocean. These small towns offer us a glimpse of what California was before it became huge and commercialized. In this sense it can give us, culturally, a sense of our roots. These two locations also, because of their beauty, tend to be favorite spots of artists. Both towns have also been used for film making.
Contains the following elements that will be used in upcoming projects for analytical purposes:
What are some assumptions/stereotypes you think people have of each location: 1 point
Honestly, I don’t know the answer to this question. I had never heard of Seal Beach before doing this project. People have stereotypes about Southern Californian beaches in general. They tend to think of palm trees and movie stars. Now that I know about Seal Beach, those are the types of stereotypes I would associate with that town.
From what I gather from my relatives, the stereotypes that people have of Bodega Bay tend to be related to the fact that Bodega Bay is in Sonoma County which is in the wine country. When my relatives think of Bodega Bay, they think of an upscale, ritzy food and wine Mecca on the ocean.
List 3 things that make each location similar: 1 point
- Both towns are small, Bodega Bay being much smaller than Seal Beach.
- Both towns are beach towns.
- Both towns are reliant on tourism.
List 3 things that make each location so different: 1 point
- Seal Beach is a Southern California beach community, whereas Bodega Bay is a Northern California beach community which means a difference in climate and culture.
- Seal Beach built up around a Naval air station and munitions development, whereas Bodega Bay built up around fishing and vacationing.
- Seal Beach is much closer to a metropolitan area than Bodega Bay is.
Questioning: What else would you like to know about these places? When completing the question section, lead your audience into the question by stating a fact you do know, yet you still have the related question. This way, both your audience and you will have an educational experience. .5 point
One of the things that I learned about Seal Beach is that it has managed to maintain its integrity as a small town despite the fact that it is adjacent to one of the largest cities in the world. What kind of advice for maintaining cultural integrity would the residents of Seal Beach offer to the residents of Bodega Bay as tourism and development in the twenty first century begin to strain the small town?
5. Using your classmates work from last week, tell us one thing you learned from 1 student. Is this one thing some common experience you share or some experience that is completely different than what you experienced? Is this one thing related to our class theoretical foundation and if so, how? Is that one thing related to historical or cultural context of this country or a different one? Link that persons blog to this entry (eg cut paste that blog entry here) . .5 point
I checked out Katy’s blog from last week and found that Seattle was a gold rush town. I didn’t realize that. I mostly just have the stereotypes of Seattle as a grunge and coffee kind of town. I think that this is related to our foundation because we are focusing on California and what makes California unique. I'm familiar with just San Francisco because I grew up here, but it was interesting to see the development of another very similar city with a similar past in juxtaposition to what I'm familiar with.
Monday, March 9, 2009
3a World Cities Los Angeles and San Francisco
Contains a title using the format listed above .25 points
“3a World Cities Los Angeles and San Francisco”
Contains a web link to your locations. (eg you can use the tools in your blog where you paste your work; there is a little icon that looks like a link) .25 points
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=los+angeles&go=Go
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=san+francisco&go=Go
Contains an explanation regarding how this component (any aspect of it; eg content of videos, content of websites) connects to your study of humanities. .25 point
One of the very big things about both of these cities is that they are iconic. They are constantly in the news, many times because there is something either scandalous or innovative or both happening in one of the cities. There is a huge arts scene in both cities. While Los Angeles boasts a much larger film industry, the San Francisco Bay Area has also been home to influential and innovative filmmakers. The work that comes out of these areas affects how people see the world. Both are incredible melting pots of culture, political ideologies, and religions. Different social, political, and artistic movements arise organically from constant influence from all these diverse sources.
Contains the following elements that will be used in upcoming projects for analytical purposes:
What are some assumptions/stereotypes you think people have of each location: 1 point
One of the things that people hold as a stereotype about Los Angeles is that it is all glitz and glamour and surfing. I don’t think people who haven’t been to Los Angeles realize how incredibly huge it is and how many different kinds of people and life styles there are. One of my favorite movies of all time is LA Story, which plays on all these stereotypes, but also celebrates the quirkiness off it all.
Some of the stereotypes that people harbor about San Francisco is that it has a lot of hippies because of the Summer of Love. I think a lot of people also see San Francisco as being a “gay” city. Recently South Park did a show about people who drive Priuses and they all move to San Francisco to be smug together and the city becomes covered in a thick “layer of smug.” From that I would guess that there is a sense that people in San Francisco are very environmentally conscientious, but may also be a bit pretentious.
List 3 things that make each location similar: 1 point
1. Both cities contribute heavily to the country’s artistic heritage.
2. Both cities are very diverse.
3. Both cities were originally sites of missions.
List 3 things that make each location so different: 1 point
1. Los Angeles is very sprawled out and huge whereas San Francisco is very compact and dense.
2. Los Angeles is notorious for having sunny, beautiful warm weather, while San Francisco is cold and foggy.
3. While Los Angeles derives a large portion of its economy from the movie industry, San Francisco derives a majority of its income from the high tech industry.
Questioning: What else would you like to know about these places? When completing the question section, lead your audience into the question by stating a fact you do know; yet you still have the related question. This way, both your audience and you will have an educational experience. .5 point
My father was a child in Los Angeles during WWII. There are so many stories about L.A. that made it seem like it was a magical mysterious place, full of excitement and intrigue. Other people who are roughly the same age as my father in L.A. during that time speak of their experience the same way. Similarly, San Francisco was one of the major ports on the West Coast for soldiers to ship out during the war. Great ships were built in the bay. That said, what are the stories of the people in San Francisco during WWII? Was there the same kind of electricity, fear, hope, and nostalgia?
5. Using your classmate’s work from last week, tell us one thing you learned from 1 student. Is this one thing some common experience you share or some experience that is completely different than what you experienced? Is this one thing related to our class theoretical foundation and if so, how? Is that one thing related to historical or cultural context of this country or a different one? Link that persons blog to this entry (eg cut paste that blog entry here) . .5 point
Katy’s Blog
I decided to respond to Katy’s blog entry from last week. She wrote about Yosemite. One of the things that I found out from her blog is that John Muir traveled there in the 1870’s. I thought he was in the Sierras closer to the turn of the century. That was interesting to learn. I actually work at Muir Woods during the summers, but embarrassingly, I have never actually read any of John Muir’s writing. I do know that the writings and work of John Muir are one of the main reasons we have a national parks system. One of the things that Katy pointed out in her blog is that people from all over the world enjoy Yosemite. That is something that is true of many of our national parks. The treasures that we have preserved are gifts that we share with the rest of the world. I think that it shapes how we are perceived by other nations, while at the same time reminding us of the political and cultural responsibility that we have to continue to strive to preserve these lands as well as our other natural resources.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Assignment 1c
The two people I chose to write about are Sierra and Frank.
From Sierra's blog, I found that she loves her family and friends very much and that she not only uses a Mac, but she is very enthusiastic about that. She's also very excited about Obama.
I found out that Frank is a native Californian. He has an impressive vocabulary. He also seems excited about Obama.
Sierra has taken a class where she studied Paulo before. She seemed to have a lot of insight into what he's all about. She had brought up how he had gone hungry during the depression and that was the impetus for his lifelong fight against hunger and poverty. I knew he had lived through the depression, but I didn't ever put two and two together. Sierra also talked about how he was really interested in languages and how languages may be misconstrued. The issue of poverty is very interesting because so much of the world does live in poverty and that is going to be the prevailing basis from which they interact with the world. In addition, the issue of language is of utmost importance. Language affects how we perceive the world. We are affected by symbolism of all kinds, language included. One example of this is in Japan. The Japanese word for husband is shujin, which means master. That term hasn't been used as much during the latter half of the twentieth century. The word that is now commonly used is a Japaneseified version of an English word, patonaa (partner). If I were a little girl growing up in Japan and I was to understand that someday I would be marrying my master, I would have a very different perception of marriage and my place in the world than if I grew up knowing that I would someday be marrying my partner. There are examples of this sort all throughout the world and as students of the humanities we have to realize that our understanding is limited by our experiences and the connotations that certain words and symbols have in our culture.
Frank talked about how he found that Pauolo was influenced by Marxist and Anti-Colonial thought. Secondly, he talked about how when he was forming his educational theories, he based it on eight basic principles. These two concepts are interlinked because the educational theories that he has ask questions about things like who is to present the material, what kind of material should be presented...etc. The colonial approach to ruling the indigenous people of the lands that took over was to lord over them, demean them, subject them to poverty and exploit their labor. The educational systems introduced by colonialists mirrored that social structure, so the students became the marginalized subjects. This is important because the remnants of this kind of rule and education are still alive and well in many developing countries and continue to reinforce a way of thinking continues to keep people impoverished.
What I learned the most from this assignment is that everyone has a little bit of information that he or she brings to the discussion and that information is going to be different from what other people got. It's going to be interesting to see how we all weave our thoughts together as the semester goes on.
From Sierra's blog, I found that she loves her family and friends very much and that she not only uses a Mac, but she is very enthusiastic about that. She's also very excited about Obama.
I found out that Frank is a native Californian. He has an impressive vocabulary. He also seems excited about Obama.
Sierra has taken a class where she studied Paulo before. She seemed to have a lot of insight into what he's all about. She had brought up how he had gone hungry during the depression and that was the impetus for his lifelong fight against hunger and poverty. I knew he had lived through the depression, but I didn't ever put two and two together. Sierra also talked about how he was really interested in languages and how languages may be misconstrued. The issue of poverty is very interesting because so much of the world does live in poverty and that is going to be the prevailing basis from which they interact with the world. In addition, the issue of language is of utmost importance. Language affects how we perceive the world. We are affected by symbolism of all kinds, language included. One example of this is in Japan. The Japanese word for husband is shujin, which means master. That term hasn't been used as much during the latter half of the twentieth century. The word that is now commonly used is a Japaneseified version of an English word, patonaa (partner). If I were a little girl growing up in Japan and I was to understand that someday I would be marrying my master, I would have a very different perception of marriage and my place in the world than if I grew up knowing that I would someday be marrying my partner. There are examples of this sort all throughout the world and as students of the humanities we have to realize that our understanding is limited by our experiences and the connotations that certain words and symbols have in our culture.
Frank talked about how he found that Pauolo was influenced by Marxist and Anti-Colonial thought. Secondly, he talked about how when he was forming his educational theories, he based it on eight basic principles. These two concepts are interlinked because the educational theories that he has ask questions about things like who is to present the material, what kind of material should be presented...etc. The colonial approach to ruling the indigenous people of the lands that took over was to lord over them, demean them, subject them to poverty and exploit their labor. The educational systems introduced by colonialists mirrored that social structure, so the students became the marginalized subjects. This is important because the remnants of this kind of rule and education are still alive and well in many developing countries and continue to reinforce a way of thinking continues to keep people impoverished.
What I learned the most from this assignment is that everyone has a little bit of information that he or she brings to the discussion and that information is going to be different from what other people got. It's going to be interesting to see how we all weave our thoughts together as the semester goes on.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Assignment 1b
Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire was first and foremost, an educator. According to the Paulo Freire Institute on their website, www.paulofreireinstituts.org, the teaching methods of Paulo Freire have been used to promote democratic change especially through improving adult literacy. His methods, which promote equality in the classroom, have been used in much of the developing world to empower the poor. According to Wikipedia, these methods were proven, “…when 300 sugarcane workers were taught to read and write in just 45 days.”
Paulo’s most famous piece of writing is Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which outlines the principals of his teaching methods. Freire’s goal in the class room was to reverse the way that education is conducted from the banking method, where information is thrown at students in order to fill up their piggy banks, to an educational ideal where the teacher is on equal standing with the students and encourages the students to not just memorize information, but to become complete humans.
Aside from the fact that literacy greatly facilitates democracy, the brilliance in Freire’s method of teaching is that the classroom itself becomes a microcosm of the society that he was encouraging the peasants to build for themselves. The traditional form of education introduced to native people of the developing world was one based on the system of European Colonialism. The traditional classroom structure is hierarchical and reinforces the idea that the students (peasants) are lower than the teacher and are not encouraged to participate in the educational process, but merely to be subservient to it.
What’s important about this today is that we live in a world where globalization runs rampant. Colonialism for the most part doesn’t exist anymore, but the remnants of these old institutions are built into the fabric of society. Developing countries no longer are colonies, but rather are domain of dictators or are driven by the policies of corporations that do dealings with their governments. According to Freire, one way for the poor and working class people (i.e. the indigenous people) to learn how to feel comfortable with self-empowerment and to give them the tools they need to be successful in their struggle for improved lives is through his educational methods.
Paulo Freire was first and foremost, an educator. According to the Paulo Freire Institute on their website, www.paulofreireinstituts.org, the teaching methods of Paulo Freire have been used to promote democratic change especially through improving adult literacy. His methods, which promote equality in the classroom, have been used in much of the developing world to empower the poor. According to Wikipedia, these methods were proven, “…when 300 sugarcane workers were taught to read and write in just 45 days.”
Paulo’s most famous piece of writing is Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which outlines the principals of his teaching methods. Freire’s goal in the class room was to reverse the way that education is conducted from the banking method, where information is thrown at students in order to fill up their piggy banks, to an educational ideal where the teacher is on equal standing with the students and encourages the students to not just memorize information, but to become complete humans.
Aside from the fact that literacy greatly facilitates democracy, the brilliance in Freire’s method of teaching is that the classroom itself becomes a microcosm of the society that he was encouraging the peasants to build for themselves. The traditional form of education introduced to native people of the developing world was one based on the system of European Colonialism. The traditional classroom structure is hierarchical and reinforces the idea that the students (peasants) are lower than the teacher and are not encouraged to participate in the educational process, but merely to be subservient to it.
What’s important about this today is that we live in a world where globalization runs rampant. Colonialism for the most part doesn’t exist anymore, but the remnants of these old institutions are built into the fabric of society. Developing countries no longer are colonies, but rather are domain of dictators or are driven by the policies of corporations that do dealings with their governments. According to Freire, one way for the poor and working class people (i.e. the indigenous people) to learn how to feel comfortable with self-empowerment and to give them the tools they need to be successful in their struggle for improved lives is through his educational methods.
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