Assignment 5b

1. Who is your classmate, what is the component category, what is the name of the choice?

I chose to look at Christina's blog from component 4a. She was in group 1 and did her response on the following stories from My California: "The Big Valley" by Mark Arax, "Transients in Paradise" by Aimee Liu, "Showing Off the Owens" by T. Jefferson Parker, and "The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak" by Mary Mackay.

2. What is something this classmate said about the choice that relates to any of the assignments in projects 2-3?

Christina wrote responses to stories about Fresno, Beverly Hills, Bishop and Sacramento. These cities were very similar to (and a couple of them were even the same as) the cities that we examined in Assigment 2, component a. I actually wrote about Sacramento and the American River, which is what the story "The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak" apparently talked about.

3. What is something different this classmate said about their choice that you did not realize before when you completed projects 2-3?

Just like Christina, I was surprised to hear that there are seventy-five thousand Russians living in Sacramento County. Even compared to Sacramento's large total population, 75,000 is a big number!

4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? For example, you went in thinking one idea, your classmate had a different idea. What new idea emerged from this process?

One thing that she talked about when she was analyzing "The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak," was how being in LA, regardless of how crazy and bustling the city is, is relaxing for her. Relaxing and Los Angeles are probably not things that I would generally put together in the same sentence. A relaxing vacation, for me, usually includes getting outdoors and escaping from the busyness of city life. The new idea that this shows is that relaxation and enjoyable vacations take different forms for different people. Personally, I prefer vacations that involve nature. Other people would rather stay in upscale hotels. It is all a matter of perspective and shows our individual diversity.

5. How has project 2-3 helped you with the readings of the textbook?

Working on projects 2 and 3 was almost like writing a chapter in My California. After doing both projects, I understood the stories better in the textbook, because I had written similar accounts. Instead of just reading empty, meaningless stories, I had something to compare them to.