4a Group #1

Write the story title and author name:
The Big Valley by Mark Arax

Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary: This reading compares the Central Valley to itself across a lifetime. Mark starts off by telling you a story about when he was a kid and how he got lost in the orchards. As the story progresses he talks about how the land has changed. Stores, houses and even clubs now occupy the land he once roamed as a kid. He talks about how people aren’t even really interested in the way life use to have been around those parts; even his own kids are bored by his stories. He concludes his comparison by telling us that he still preserves his past in his back yard, where he secretly (behind his wife’s back) plants something he use to grow when he was a kid.

Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number): “One Afternoon I ventured too far and got lost. It couldn’t have been more than three or four miles, but it seemed as if I has found another world” (Pg 17)

What did the reading make you think of: I thought about of how things change in our lifetimes. He talks about how this place that he grew up in went from being an orchard to “almost the “Inner-city” of Fresno. I always think about how little Petaluma was when I was a kid and how now it has earned the title of city.

What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples): I was not aware that there used to be fig orchards where Fresno is now. It is hard to believe that deep under al those houses and stores is the same soil that used to produce orchards.


Write the story title and author name:
Transients in Paradise by Aimee Liu

Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary: This story tries to explain what Beverley Hills is. The author talks about the people she sees as she walks around. She talks about how she witnesses people at a funeral compare notes on a training regime. Then she talks about homeless people she has encounter. One of which wasn’t actually homeless but lived in a single room hotel. She uses all of her comparisons to try and paint a picture of what Beverly Hills is trying to be. Her conclusion is that Beverly Hills inhabitants are simply transients.

Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph: “Contrary to that first glance, the current between desire and fear runs hard through Beverley hills” (Pg 30)

What did the reading make you think of: The author talks about everyone as being Transients. I think about the people she decribes in the story and how they all spend a small amount of time in the area, but they all fall into stereotype. Richard was a a guy who appeared homeless, so he was treated as such. He actually wasn’t homeless though, just hard on his luck as far as Beverly Hills people were concerned.

What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples): I guess I never really thought that in one community there could be such a vast difference between its people. The story talks about how homeless people flood the streets among the millionaires at shopping complexes, but the storeowners respond with selective blindness. I know this exists in any culture, the story just shows in such a different light for me.

Write the story title and author name:
Showing off the Owens by T. Jefferson Parker

Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary: this story is about California’s Lower Owens River. The author is a fisherman and he got the chance to take his friends to the Owens. The story begins by describing the drive to the river. The author talks about how the last 30 minutes of the drive are so taunting. During the trip his friend develops a rash that is the constant topic of conversation during the story. They meet their guide the next day and experience the beauty of the sport of fishing.

Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number):”Brian cracked that it may have been caused by the color of my Explorer, which was ungenerously labeled “Butterscotch” . (Pg 39) In reference to the cause of the rash

What did the reading make you think of: This reading mad eme think about going fishing with my dad. The author speaks of fishing with uch a divine love for the sport that I can’t help but recall memories of sitting on a lake for hours to catch (Hopefully) one fish.

What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples): I had never heard of the Owens River before. (I guess I do not get out much0. But the description of this place made it very clear that this is a place I need to visit.

Write the story title and author name:
The distant Cataract about Which We Do Not Speak by Mary Mackey

Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary: The story begins as the author describes her mission to sneak up on the ducks in a pond. She recounts her failed attempt and all the wildlife that she sees in the area. Unfortunately as we fast forward to the future she notices there are fewer animals. The cataract that is described in the title is simply a highway that has cars that have seemingly replaced the wildlife. The author does notice common ground among the pats and present when her and her husband watch a traditional ceremony on the water where she once hunted for ducks. The beauty of night time nature and the human presence were in perfect harmony

Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number): “Logically I can not be a log or a beach ball” (Pg 46) this has to do with her confusion on why the ducks never notice her sneaking up on them.

What did the reading make you think of: “But today I make it back to the island without encountering anything but a muskrat” this whole story makes me think about all the things we take for granted as a kid. I too have had experiences where I used to see a vast amount of types of animals and now I cant remember the last time I saw them.

What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples): This story taught me about the ceremony for the lost souls at sea, but is also done for those killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This ceremony is done with floating lanterns on sea. I was never aware of this ceremony