REFLECTION ASSIGNMENT OF My California 4b

1. 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")
I chose to read Kendra's interpretation of Ode To CALTRANS By: Hector Tobar. I noticed that both Kendra and I came away with the same impression about how the author feels about the freeway system, nostalgic, fondness, fear and an over all respect for the freeway and its workers.
Kendra touched on the fact that Caltrans use to put a picture on the road for every worker that was killed working, I do remember this part of the reading, but the second part of the quote caught my eye"a highway should not look like a cemetery". I find that somewhat interesting because I took more notice to the L.A. areas freeway as being a huge cluster of pollution and stress, but the idea of California's freeways being a cemetery for both the workers and the travelers is a real but somewhat scary idea.
2. Choose any 1 classmate that wrote about a different set of essays and tell us one thing you learned per author presented.
I had a look at Thida's blog for the second part.
The first author is,
Bienvenidos a Newport Beach by Firoozeh Dumas
I learned that in this reading the author covers the travels and the various moves of an Iranian family making their home here in California. The family starts out in Whittier and ends up in Newport Beach. The author touches on all of the changes and experiences that the eleven year old boy has to endure for his family.
Second, Cotton Candy Mirrors by Devorah Major
This essay, according to Thida is about the classic carefree American summer. I think this story sounds like it could happen in any town America. The nostalgia and fondness the author seems to hold for the carefree days of summer when there was no teachers teaching and somehow through all of the excitement and fun you seem to always end every summer having learned something new and enlightening that maybe you could not quite find in the class room.
These were the only two essays covered in Thida,s blog.
3. Like number 2, choose any 1 classmate that wrote about a set of essays that you didn't read.
For this requirement I chose to read Anthony Frye's blog,essay The Big Valley, Mark Arax
The Big Valley was very interesting, though I have only read Anthony's interpretation it seems to based on the agricultural lifestyle found in the areas surrounding Fresno. I never knew that this area is considered one of the most productive farming areas anywhere. Another interesting thing found in his blog is the part about the calender in the valley being based on harvest times and crop planting. That is class in my opinion.