1) The Big Valley by Mark Arax.
The author is telling a story about his life and where he grew up. Mark begins by telling us about an adventure he had when he was a boy and he wind up getting lost. The engine of his Lil Indian overheated and got stuck in the mud. He was surrounded by turkey vultures that looked hungry. Luckily his cousin was riding beside him and saved him. Then he starts talking about his grandfather who arrived when Forkner was still blasting holes to plant Calimyrna figs. Marks grandfather was a poet who found new land and a vineyard. Marks father grew up on the farm but left in 1950 to pursue a football scholarship at USC. By the time Mark was grown his father had ran a grocery and then a bar, so he was only able to see a vineyard in paintings. Mark goes into detail about how the fig orchard land changed to stores and fast-food restaurants. Then he starts talking about his journey to Tulare and goes into detail about cities and how they have changed. Then he talks about the Caterpillar and the big impact it had on the farmer’s soil. He ends it by talking about his father and how things could have been if he had stayed farming and how his father was murdered.
The sentence I liked was, Today, the fig orchards of northwest Fresno are gone, swallowed up by custom houses and tract houses, Wal-Marts and Targets, and so many fast-food chains that when McDonalds wants to launch a new product nationwide, it does its first test here. (19)
While reading that sentence it made me think of when I went to Fresno for Easter. His description is so true. There is a Wal-Mart and next to it is a Target and there are there were a lot of other businesses their but the only other place I was able to see driving by was Sonic.
I did not know that the key to good yields is to keep the soil airy and free from compaction.
2) Transient in Paradise by Aimee Liu
This chapter was about how at a first glance at Beverly Hills it seems like a dream of desire and paradise but it transforms hunger into ambition, envy, lust, and greed. Everything is contrary to that first glance; it is more of a fear. Aimee goes into detail about how Beverly Hills is not paradise and that it is transient. No matter how impressive an up front Beverly Hills puts on, the truth lies within the hands of the beholder. All one needs to do is look hard enough to see that there life is no better than a poor or homeless person and then she gives examples of it. Then while she is listening to the rich talking while at a funeral it remind her of a man named Richard. Richard was homeless and he would station his wheelchair in front of Nate ‘n’ Al’s and she would converse with him because of the book he would read. He had a disease that was shrinking him and when he died Aimee found out by reading an article in Los Angles Times that he was once an aspiring screenwriter but lack of family and his disease distorted his fate.
My favorite sentence was desire is merely the version that says, I want and am taking mine- and better me or us than them or you. While the inverse, better him or her or them than us, is simple code for fear. (33)
While reading this chapter it made me think of how the world actually is not what people make it out to be. On the outside some make want others to believe that everything is peaches and cream but deep down inside and behind the curtain it is a whole different ball game. Everyone has fears but most would rather hide them than show or face them.
I did not realize that there were homeless people in Beverly Hills, I imagine that since it so high classed that they had some kind of security not allowing them to be around there.
3) Showing of the Owens by T. Jefferson Parker
Parker is telling a story about how he had a chance to show off California’s Lower Owens River to novelist Brian Wiprud. While he was driving near by there was a place were you could catch wild rainbow trout, Parker mentioned to Brian since he recently returned from a fly-fishing tour of the Amazon River. Then Parker tells about the topic of fly-fishing and how it’s like a progressive disease once you start you can’t stop. Around this time Brian notices that he has a rash on his hand. Parker then talks about the sky and how it looks. By dark Brian caught nine fish and Parker only had caught two. This is a story about a fishing trip with a friend and the good memories he had while at this river.
I like the paragraph where Parker is describing fly-fishing. (39)
While reading this chapter it made me think of how I would like to take my family on trip so that they can have good memories to share with their friends and family when they get older. Also that I have never been fishing and that I must be missing out on something pretty interesting.
I learned a little about fly-fishing and how one can get addicted to it. Also that there was a movie made about it, A River Runs Through It.
4) The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak by Mary Mackey
Mary Mackey is telling a story about when she would sneak up on the ducks in the Folsom dam and she wonders how she is able to get so close to them without them noticing that she was not one of them. Then she mentions how she got startled by a beaver on one of her trips returning back to island. The American River is a place where her and her husband likes to go where they can fanaticize about relaxing places. Also that it is a place were millions of people go of different cultures to enjoy it as well as they do.
I like the sentence “That THING is definitely not a duck!”(46) Reading this made me laugh.
While reading this chapter it made me think of my family’s little trips to the rivers in the summer and how they enjoy it and how their imaginations probably run wild while they are playing and having fun. I wonder what they imagine when they are there in the water playing, laughing, and having a great time.
I learned that the American River Parkway runs through the heart of the city from Folsom Lake to the point where the American River joins the Sacramento. It is amazing to see how the rivers and lake are all somehow connected.
The similarities between these stories are that they are all trips in California, these are trips people took who want to tell about there good memories, and tell a little about experiences they had and give one an idea of about who they are and what California is about. They are all about the outdoors. The differences are these trips all take place in different cities and towns.
Class Reviews
1) Catherine- The California Poppy, our state wildflower is tied to Fort Ross.
2) Kayla- One of Clarks most famous work is known to be the Lucy Stem Complex from 1932 which brings California Spanish artwork alive.
3) Araceli- The name Napa was given to the valley by the Wappo Indians who first inhabited the area.
4) Erin- The Coast Miwok's are most famous for their basketry.
5) Jessica- Face book got its name from a colloquil name of books that was given at the start of an academic year.
6) Kyle- Phones were never meant to be considered mass media but with the invention of cell phones equipped with internet connection which is mass medium, the medium is connected to the mass media.
7) Raquel – The Modoc used to live near the California – Oregon border.
8) Valerie- She visited the Pomo reservation near Fort Bragg and thought it was not the nicest place.
9) Sofia- On September 20, 1965, it was announced that Armstrong was going to be Command Pilot in Gemini 8, which was a manned spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program.
10) Alex- Over a period of 54 years, 21 California mission were established by the Spanish.
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