November Post #2

"What Happens When Your Hood Is the Last Stop on the White Flight Express" was a very upsetting first person account of how destructive the process of gentrification can be. Gentrification is the displacement of poor women and people of color. I feel that small instances of  gentrification is necessary in order for cultures to integrate, but I don't think that one culture should ever dominate and exile another. For example, the native americans were conquered by the English so that the colonies could be founded. Despite the huge advancement, the culture of the native americans was disregarded and ruined, very similar to the Mission District in San Francisco and the poor people that lived there. I believe that gentrification is basically a subtle form of murdering cultures with the shroud of "good intentions" or "necessary expansion". People should be able to integrate together and work together instead of being so single minded on conquering one another.

November Post #1

"When Eating Organic Was Totally Uncool" by Pha Lo had a very unique perspective of how someone of underprivileged upbringings was still able to find ways for healthy eating and opportunities for success. I was very intrigued while reading this passage and found it very interesting that her family was able to successfully thrive on food grow from grass clippings from a local store's parking lot. I think it really shows how good things can develop from even the worst situations, and that a low income does not always mean famine and poverty. Pha Lo's family may have had to live in "embarrassing conditions" in the eyes of the more fortunate, but she was later on able to move to higher standards and to her surprise, people eventually jumped on the organic "grow your own food" band wagon. I enjoyed the reading and feel that if more people start eating healthy and growing organic, not only will it benefit the environment and the planet's natural resources, but people's bank accounts as well.

Blog Entry 2

Remembered Rapture by Bell Hooks

     It seems that so far in class, we have a common theme of ideas based on racism and a mix of different cultures. Whether it was Russian immigrants in Little Failure, or the ideas of rights being denied to African Americans in Remembered Rapture, there are many opinions on if racism still exists in modern America. It is a very touchy topic, and even in a simple class discussion, fellow classmates quickly disagreed with each other, and there was an establishment of tension. The discussion of our articles about racism in class also led to distribution of ideas, and basically the only comments I have on the subject are that racism will always exist despite it may becoming less severe, and students can discuss as much as they want but I believe the authors statement in Remembered Rapture was more an argument about her class of wealth in society, not her race. I think that this was misinterpreted by many and it led to so many disagreements, and I don't really understand why the author left such a generalization on why her rights were denied, leaving her writings to be understood in so many different ways.

Blog Entry 1

Entry on Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart

 

     Little failure was a very detailed memoir that introduced me to a completely different style of writings, which made the start to freshman English an intriguing one. I have not read a memoir previous to Shteyngart's story, and although not the most exciting read, I enjoyed the analysis of the text and being able to isolate fact from fiction throughout the book, due to the authors constant need to lie and exaggerate at every available opportunity. Most pieces of literature I have experienced were cut and dry, which allowed true and false statements to be identified quickly. With Little Failure, he likes to mix the truth with lies, and the only true way to find the truth is to see if he accidentally contradicts himself throughout the text, thus the reader being able to "catch him" in a lie. I had many questions while reading, such as why the author would choose to write his life story if there were aspects he didn't wish to share with the world. Most authors don't choose to write about themselves if they have things to hide, and that just made me question why the author would choose to speak about subjects publically that he wasn't comfortable with. I think that the exaggerations make the story more interesting granted, but there were many events dating back to the author's early years that seemed nearly impossible that he would be able to remember, such as his years before even moving to America, the clothes and toys he had, and even the reactions he had. If the author was younger these events could easily be accurate, but at his age, his memory has to come into question. Overall, I don't think it is a book I would recommend, but also one that I didn't mind reading.