5a group #2

An ordinary place by D.J. Waldie

1. Write the story title and author name. .25 point

An ordinary place by D.J. Waldie

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary. Remember that your classmates will rely on you for this information. 2 percent

D.J. Waldie tells us a story about his life in the suburbs. He lives in Southern California in a city named Lakewood where he has lived for his whole life. He talks about the changed in Lakewood from fields, farms, ranches and groves in Los Angeles country into suburbia back in the 1950’s. Back in the 1960 after the war world, there were almost forty percent of kids under the age of 14 and they would play endlessly in the streets. He states that living in suburbia isn’t a lesson for neighborliness but it is a lesson on humility. He stated that “…because this is suburbs where life is still pretty much the same for everybody, no matter how much you think you’re worth.”(p. 149-150) He also stated that loyalty is what keeps people from leaving. It is a place that permits restless people to be still. He likes living in the suburbs and even if there are some negative aspects, it is still worth it. His experiences in the suburbs have left him understanding more about his life then he would any where else.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent

“I live where I live in California because the weight of my everyday life here is a burden I want to carry.” (p.151)

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... ) .75 percent

This reading made me think of where I grew up and where I live right now. I think of the reasons why I live here in the quiet neighborhood. In my neighborhood the people are very friend, people help each other out with their problems. I do like living in a place where people are party of a community and people try to help one another.

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)? 1 percent

One thing I didn’t know before was that twenty-seven percent of the people who lived in Lakewood have been there for thirty years or more. That people enjoy living in the suburbs even if it is a slow paced life. The place where you live really describes the type of person you are and what you truly want to be.

Almost home by Gerald Haslam

1. Write the story title and author name. .25 point

Almost home by Gerald Haslam

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary.

Gerald Haslam and his family are traveling home which is presuming to be Bakersfield and they are passing through a small town named Oildale, a place where he and his wife grew up. Oildale was a place where Haslam remembered it with “Tarzan’s House” and great shading trees, vines and the Kern River and its riparian forest. This place was full of greens and life and floods. Starting in the 1950’s, there were levees building to block out the surging floods. 4 years later a dam was built and everything in Oildale was dried out like the forest and the land. Every time he passes by he recollects the people, the environment and especially the memories.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent

“On those visits, too, we especially love on sit on a pal’s porch, watch doves drinking in the gutter and view orange and blue sunsets spectacular as the northern lights.”(p.156)

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... ) .75 percent

This reading made me think of the places that makes me feel at home, makes me feel like I belong there and it is were I would always want to come back. It makes me feel like I want to go back to Vietnam to visit and just sit there and take in all the spectacular scenery. The simplicity of being in a place like that is what people look for. A place like Oildale to Haslam is what everyone looks for; everyone wants to feel the love and the memory for a place so special to them.

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)? 1 percent

I didn’t know that a place like Bakersfield or anything remotely close to that area was once a raging forest with floods and greens. Every time I pass by I can’t imagine a place like that having all that wetland and use to be full of life. It amazes how transformation like that happens in such little time.

My little Saigon by Anh Do

1. Write the story title and author name. .25 point

My little Saigon by Anh Do

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary.

She is talking to her aunt about Little Saigon and along the way of describing her aunt the scenery; she takes us back to describe her upbringing in Westminster and Little Saigon. She describes the difficulty of being in a country as an immigrant and trying to survive. Her family started the first Vietnamese newspaper in the United States. She explains the start up of Little Saigon and how it has spread to Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley. She feels like she has never left her origin because of the familiar environment of markets filled with fresh fish and fish sauces. She feels right at home like she always was, she feels like she never left Vietnam.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent

“You see, her soul lives here. Same with mine.”(p.152)

What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... ) .75 percent

4. This made me think of the time when I was in Little Saigon. Seeing the hundreds of Vietnamese shops and signs and seeing the large amount of Vietnamese in malls. I always wondered when this occurrence of thousands of Vietnamese people little in this area. I never asked about the origin or try to find out how Little Saigon came to where it is now. It is exciting to learn something about the history of a community and how it started. I guess all they need is the efforts of the community to create something of their own.

5.What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)? 1 percent

I didn’t know the origin of Little Saigon but I’ve been there and I’ve witness the numerous Vietnamese shops and people. The district is very big and I think is still growing.

The nicest person in San Francisco by Derek M. Powazek

1. Write the story title and author name. .25 point

The nicest person in San Francisco by Derek M. Powazek

2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary.

It starts out with Derek as a young high school boy traveling from Los Angeles to U.C. Berkeley because his father had a conference. While traveling to Berkeley they stopped by San Francisco to take in the scenery of SF. After an encounter with a druggie selling paraphernalia, they decided to leave to their place in Berkeley. After his father had a conference to the late afternoon, Powazek decided to take the car and leave to SF and experience the streets on foot. They visited several shops like the “THE PSYHEDELIC SHOP” and ran into more drug dealers. Being pressured to buy drugs; Powazek does and had a frighten encounter with what he called a cop. Having one of the crazy experiences with the city, he also received a ticket which he desperately had to pay off without his father knowing. He met a teller at the courthouse who he defers as the nicest person in San Francisco and soon after that he leaves with his first SF experience.

3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent

“It was worth the hunt. I was lost in rows of tie-dyes, stickers, and pipes. This was the mother of all head shops and I was taking no prisoners. I had a wad of hard-earned summer job cash in my pocket, and it was going fast.”(p.168)

4. What did the reading make you think of? (be specific eg "There is a bridge in SF that spans 4 miles from SF to Oakland and in the middle of the bridge it crosses an island called Treasure Island. This story makes me think of that specific little island where I can see the entire city and bay area. That city was also in the news recently where .... ) .75 percent

This made me think of the first time I was in the city by myself. It was one of the strangest time of my life where all the streets could guide you into a different world of San Francisco. I was amazed how I could even figure my way out of the city and made it out safe. The different are people, the different environment and the one way streets didn’t make things any better. It amazes how much one city can have so much, such different culture and different people, but unlike him, I can never live in a place like San Francisco.

5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know (again, be specific using concrete examples)? 1 percent

I have been to San Franciso but I’ve never been the PSYCHEDELIC SHOP and I would like to go there. I didn’t know that high school kids dream of going to Haight Ashbury and I still don’t know why or what it is. Reading this helps a little about understand more of San Francisco and the hippie days because Haight Ashbury had something to do with it.