week 1

1. What is your first name only (NOT last name)
Granville
2. Why are you taking this class and what do you hope to learn
I am taking this because the previous experience I had in a similarly formatted class was quite enjoyable and of course I need 3 more credits to graduate. I hope to learn more of Caribbean peoples. I have travelled to many Caribbean islands, well around 6 different islands. I made most of these trips in my youth and mostly with the Coast Guard, so I have always wished to learn more about the various peoples of the Caribbean on my own terms. Not by doing the bidding of Uncle Sam.
3.How far do you live from SRJC main campus?
7.2 miles
4.. Briefly, what do you think of when you think:
North America? Beautiful Land, unique and interesting history, ignorance

Central America? indigenous, mysterious, forgotten

South America? Adventure, history, future economic force

The Caribbean? Many languages, lots of islands, warmth, simple living

The World? It is what it is, vibrant, scary, imposing, Wanting to see more
5. Have you created a blog or webpage in the past?
Yes, last semester and for several other reasons previously
6. Regarding computers, are you on a mac or a pc?
pc

5c reflection

1. What difference did you notice in your choice of topics in the first part of the class versus the topics found in the texts My California and Train Go Sorry?
Well, the topics that we started out with were very comparative and dealt with a variety of places, locations, and the all important Paulo Freire. In the earlier topics the chose of what to write was far more open and enjoyable then say the more specified and more recent topics associated with Train Go Sorry. My California was of very little interest at first, I think that was more to do with the fact my last name begins with M because the other essays I read were of far more interest to me than the ones I was assigned. I enjoyed the earlier topic choices much more because they left the student to explore and relate their individual findings back to a basic theme in the form of our blog posting topics.
2. What difference did you notice when you read your classmates work regarding the same topics versus your own opinions? Did their works make you think of something different?
I did notice some differences, Californians really love California and that's not really a negative but it can be when it leads to delusion and unfounded praise for yourself. This phenomenon is by no means exclusive to California. Strangely living here has been similar to living in Japan, in the way that so many people from the area have never left where they are from and relate to the outside world through stereotypes and second or third hand information and are easily angered by anyone who does understand just how great a place California is. I wanted to use my earlier blog postings to try and demonstrate that like any place on earth you have both the negative and positive aspects in any society, including California. Utopia is a farce, you can find peace and happiness anywhere you like. The name tags and price tags are an illusion. On the other hand reading my classmates blogs helped me shed some of my own stereotypes that I have held about California since I lasted lived here in 2000. I have to take my own medicine and admit that I have many east coast biases which is natural, but I like the many of the Californians I complained about held many views about groups and regions that are unfounded and based purely on "Cali is full of freaks and Mexicans " east coast beliefs and attitude.
3. How would Freire and the idea of dialogue and scaffolding play into your answers?
The idea of dialogue between all the participants in this class has been fantastic in that it really helps people express themselves, evolve, and rethink ideas or previously held beliefs.
4. What was your overall experience with these topics?
Positive, any teaching style, idea or movement can really take off if everyone is one board and willing to participate. The topics were overall satisfying and gave me an opportunity to look in to many topics and ideas that I may have never looked into myself. The topics also provided a place to post your ideals and view those of other as well. So overall I only wish the topics would have been little deeper in subject matter, but this has platform that allows you to take a topic and look into it as deep as you would like.

Cathy,Cheryl, Kendra

1.Kendra's posting,
Kendra's blog posting for Train Go Sorry gave me a little different aspect or take on things. In her response to the five things we learned Kendra wrote about the debate that goes on in the deaf community about the use of cochlear implants, when I read it my immediate thought was this kind of implant is a little too risky, but after I read her blog and put some thought into the topic I began to wonder if this implants risk were much lower and results were more or less assured would the deaf world still view them with disdain? Whats wrong with hearing if you have the chance to hear through a much safer operation, or would that leave the deaf feeling like "sell outs"
2. Cheryl's posting,
I gained a little bit of a different perspective on how the deaf world handles itself from Cheryl's blog. She states that," She realizes after continuous signing for people, that the deaf world is quiet and secretive. Their secrets and business are kept quiet and she is an intruder into their world. Her story is about growing up at Lexington and discovering the wide differences between the hearing and the deaf." I was more under the impression that the deaf more or less excluded hearing people from their community based on the fact that the two groups have a long gap to bridge and the like many minorities they fell the majority will not understand and is therefore not worth the effort. I agree with her thoughts, but I think the attitude comes from a two way misunderstanding, not a secret desire to be separated from society.
3.Cathy's posting
I enjoyed reading the way Cathy used the A.K.C. in her analogy dealing with the idea of "normal"
Is the standard normal? Is one question she raises and for me this goes to the heart of the matter. Who determines normal and really who is in a position to declare that non-hearing people are not "normal" we are all normal with or with out hearing. I did not ever deem the deaf as any less human or normal as those of us with hearing. I agree with her thoughts and ideas in regard to all of us being unique and special. The deaf want the same things out of life most of us do, what makes them maybe even a little more special than the rest of us is the fact they have to work twice as hard as the hearing to achieve their dreams of prosperity, meaningful employment, education and so forth. Above normal in many regards, but whats normal?

5a Train Go Sorry

I am a hearing student assigned the book Train Go Sorry in my Introduction to Humanities Class. Other readings assigned in this class include several essays from the book My California. In both books, we examined the cultures of California that form a microcosm of the U.S. In this essay, I will incorporate 4 required questions.
1. What does Train Go Sorry mean (who in the book is this referring to; there is a specific person, include his name and his outcome.
The term "train go sorry" is the equivalent to the standard English slang "missed the boat" in the deaf sub-culture the phrase carries the exact same meaning in A.S.L.(American Sign Language) as the English hearing societies phrase missed the boat. During the course of reading Train Go Sorry I came to believe that this phrase, while by definition carries the same meaning as the hearing worlds, but maybe more true on a daily basis for the non-hearing. The chances of being misunderstand or having opportunities go begging in deaf society seems like it could be a unfortunate daily occurrence.
In the book when James tries unsuccessfully on several occasions to visit his brother who is incarcerated at Ritkers prison, which is quite the notorious place back east. James missed the boat on both the first and second attempt to see his brother. After each occasion James has the feeling of train go sorry and after success on the third attempt realises that his brother Joseph has had a wasted life and the term train go sorry could definitely apply to his brother. James on the other hand is almost role model like in his efforts to succeed in the hearing world. The brother Joseph is the polar opposite of this, but this situation is not unique to the deaf by any stretch. Look around you, and think back on your upbringing ,your families, and socio-economic background, you would be hard pressed to convince me that if certain things were not in place in your life maybe you too could have missed the boat of life like Joseph.
2. What pair of 'shoes' do you think the main person in the book is walking in and what did she learn? In other words, who or what culture does she want to belong to and why? Leah having spent her childhood being raised in Lexington's school for the deaf in New York City, found herself being the minority as a hearing person and despite her efforts she could not fully integrate herself into this community. Though not deaf herself she does have a connection to the community besides being the daughter of two of the school's teachers, her grandfather Sam who was supposedly born deaf according to the records that remain at the school. Her grandfather was born in or around Kiev in 1908 and came through Ellis like many other Eastern European immigrants of the era, but fortunately for him his disability went unnoticed by the inspecting agents at Ellis Island because in those days one could be returned for a perceived handicap. Sam's life is rediscovered by Leah and her father one evening after searching for his old school file in the basement. To Leah's despair she realises that most of her grandfather's life has been recorded by someone else and very little was on offer about him first hand. I had the distinct feeling that Leah really wanted to connect to her grandfather for many reasons, but of the up most importance was the fact the he was her "connection" to the deaf sub-culture.
3. What is one image you won't ever forget? Draw us a picture in words to explain this. What chapter is it in? The image that made the biggest impact on me came in chapter 14 Moving the Boundaries Leah and Alec were lunching together at an mid-town burger shop when a man entered the store handing out small yellow cards with printed charity requests on them to the dinners. To my shock, at first anyway this peddler angered Alec quite a bit and Alec
's response to having this charity card handed to him was most shocking indeed, handed him the card back and dismissed the man coldly away from the table leaving Leah embarrassed. The explanation for this is both logical and understandable. The National Association of the Deaf had established an active campaign against peddling for charity on behalf of the deaf. The brutal reality is hearing people for the most part just do not care about the issues that concern the deaf.
4. What are 5 facts about ASL or Deaf culture you think everyone should know after your reading of this book? Well, the first thing I learned was that A.S.L. is not just a bunch of shadow show looking gestures, it is in fact a full functioning language with grammar and slang's and all the other vital elements that are needed for fluent communication. In regard to the actual deaf culture I was mildly shocked at how much of a sub-culture there is among the deaf. They have the same divisions and disagreements as do most minority groups. The other thing that I learned is that many deaf are not interested in hearing or belonging to any part of hearing society, they feel they can manage just fine outside of it. This is one more thing I learned. The deaf sub-culture is broken down into many sub-categories, signers, vocal, limited, uncle toms, and the lists goes on and on. The most important thing I learned is that despite all of our differences most of us want the same things out of life and the lottery of life hands out disadvantages to the hearing and non-hearing equally. In other words were are all just born into what we got and each and everyone of us has to make due with what we have. The deaf are just the same as my being born into a broken home and ultimately spending my early childhood in the projects surrounded mostly by African Americans with no feeling of belonging within that group and ostracised by whites for looking like one of them but not having the same lifestyle or financial resources. I feel this is maybe how many deaf feel, if you are vocal it will never be quite up to par, if you sign you will stand out. In this type of scenario you can find yourself alone and abandonment feelings will most likely raise their ugly face.

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.

4a, group 2 my california

Ode to Caltrans/Hector Tobar
The writer of this story has many fond memories of the Southern California freeway system. The story shows how his opinion of what the freeway is now and what it represented to him as a child has changed in adulthood, but in many ways still holds a close spot in his heart. The author seems to hold the freeway system in high regard to this day and seems thankful to its many workers that lost their lives tirelessly working its over-used lanes. The author admits to the system being a great source of pollution and death, but gives it a place in California culture equal to any other.

"To sit in my father's Volkswagon with my nose pressed to the rear window, watching the traffic flow along with us at 55mph was as natural to me as walking along the fence posts of a country road would be to a boy from Nebraska" (p57)

Honestly, this writing made me think of why I hate commuting. I have never been to the Los Angeles area and do not plan on it. The only thing it makes me think of is why is this green hippy state so dependent on cars, commuting and dangerous over crowed roads.

I know nothing of So-Cal, so most of everything that the author wrote was something new to me. The name places are familiar to me, but I never bothered to think of there layout or there location relative to the other cities mentioned. I have never thought of freeways as a cultural asset or part of an individuals identity.

montalvo,myths, and dreams of home/Thomas Stienbeck
The essay is based on the feelings of hope and people looking for their dream land so to speak. The writer explores the Big Sur area, which holds a very tight grip on his heart and memories. This area is where the writer found his California paradise. The author goes in to several mythological sounding stories involving his grandmother, who would leave the "smaller people" or night watchers that live in the areas surrounding Big Sur fruit and candy that they would retrieve at night, the only time they can be seen. The smaller than normal humans would replace the gifts with feathers and candy.

"But now I suppose that age and philosophical resignation have withered my legendary resistance" (p61)

This story reminds me of one of the few things I truly love about California, the nature found here. My family and I spend most of our time hiking in Point Reyes with our camera, or driving out roads that appear to have not been used or maintained for years. We have so many spots that we consider "ours" and we are always sad to find out that someone else has found them that we are always looking for something or somewhere new to explore and enjoy without the bother of other people telling you how great it is.

I have never heard of any stories relating to "Dark Watchers" or any other mythological people residing in the Big Sur area. The author even states that these people have been spotted in more recent times as well.

The Last Little Beach Town/Edward Humes

This was by far the best story of the four that I read. The little beach town aka Seal Beach is surrounded by encroaching development and economic hardship appears to be on the horizon. The town is located in Orange county, I can not claim to know much of or care about Orange county, but we all know some of the stereotypes, so the idea that this picture perfect authentic undeveloped little community still exists is fantastic. The area had once before been tauted as a tourist area, but failed and is now desperate to get some finance moving through the area, but the last piece of undeveloped land appears to be on the chopping block.

"Except for the sky high cost of its real estate, the town has marched in the opposite direction from its sister beach cities, becoming smaller,quainter, more family oriented over time" p75

This essay made me think of many communities, not only in California. The state and country are full of unique charming little hamlets that offer all of us a break from the bullshit towns that we live in, but every community needs to eat. The economic concerns are felt in Seal Beach are the same in little towns across the country, bar the yuppie attitude and high cost of living.

Before I hade read this story I had no idea that non-shitholes exsisted in Orange County.

Inland Areas

1.Contains a title using the format listed above
Inland Areas
2.Contains a web link to your locations.
http://www.ci.rohnert-park.ca.us/
http://www.bakersfield.com/
3.Contains an explanation regarding how this component (any aspect of it; eg content of videos, content of websites) connects to your study of humanities.
I have chosen these two very different inland regions to try and demonstrate the lifestyle differences in the two. Rohnert Park is a completely made up town sectioned off by alphabetised neighborhoods with no real industry or historical significance, but due to its location to San Francisco the decent areas of the town command inflated housing costs with no real job market within the community itself to provide employment to the residents. If you want to live in this safe little made up town, then get to commuting. In contrast Bakersfield has a long history as a community, but is not really near any major city that you could commute to. Is is one of the countries fastest growing cities and is fairly self reliant when it comes to providing work for the areas residents. The cost of living drops off sharply compared to the Bay Area due to it not having a trendy region to claim its a part of.

4.Contains the following elements that will be used in upcoming projects for analytical purposes:
a.What are some assumptions/stereotypes you think people have of each location:
Well I believe that most people think of Rohnert Park as a lovely little commuter town, where if one can afford to, they can live the "wine country" life without living in the boon docks. This is a stereotype that I had held about Bakersfield my self, isolated, boring, and just not a whole not things to offer as far as quality living.
b.List 3 things that make each location similar
1. They are both cities in California
2. They are not famous for anything outside there region
3They both have unique climates in comparison to say the east coast.
c.List 3 things that make each location so different:
1Rohnert Parks economy is based on another city, Bakersfield is self sustaining
2. Bakersfield is both residential and commercial, where as Rohnert Park is more or less residential
Rohnert Park has tag name associated with it, ie (wine country, bay area, outer suburb) Bakersfield has no such catchy slogans and seems far more affordable.
d.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
Well I would like people to take a good look a both cities and ask "which would I prefer to live, then ask yourself why? Rohnert Park and the Sonoma County area has many catch phrases and lifestyle choices that make it sound like paradise. Bakersfield from what I have gather from locals around here is not a desirable destination to live and raise a family. Why? What makes Bakersfield so unattractive, the lack of a nearby coast, no access to a large city, or does Bakersfield have issues that I am unaware of?