The Dispossessed

Deresiewicz defines the working class in many ways. At one point he describes the working class as anyone who does not earn a salary, but an hourly wage. He further goes on to say that the working class are those who have a specific relationship with their job. I think what he was trying to explain was that the working class consist of people who do not particularly enjoy their job. These include those who work in restaurants, retail, or other jobs that do not require any sort of education to perform. Deresiewicz tells of how television shows do an adequate job of representing the working-American class. However he goes on to explain that these shows fail to represent true struggling working class families. I disagree with this statement. Shows like "Malcolm in the Middle," or "Glee," in my opinion do a wonderful job of showcasing different fiscal living situations. However, at the same time I have never lived in the working class, I have always been a part of the middle-class, so perhaps I m unaware that these shows are actually doing a horrible job with its representation. Deresiewicz explains that it is very important to not group working class, working poor, and working families together because he makes it very clear that these three are completely different. I see it as what if someone was transgender and they were making their transition from female to male. There are always going to be those people who do not think before they speak and use female pronouns when addressing her, this in turn makes him feel uncomfortable. Not only does it make him feel uncomfortable, but it is also very wrong.


The audience for this piece I would say is anyone really. However I feel as though people in the Upper class would not find it very relatable or interesting. But I feel as though this essay is not just directed towards the working class. The middle class can also gain some valuable knowledge from this essay. The fact that he constantly discusses the lives and struggles of the working class suggests that that is what his intended audience is.

Edward Hopper and the House by the Railroad

In Hooper's poem, one's attention is blatantly directed towards the house by the railroad. By looking at the picture provided the details that certainly immediately stand out to you are the colors of the house. Or color. The washed out blue color the house is painted only adds to the tone of despair for this story/poem. Furthermore, the simple fact that the house is the only thing in the entire landscape that is shown. This also adds to the overall tone of despair. As for what details the text gives you, the words desolate and desperate definitely stand out to the reader. Which is comical because both of those words sound like despair, which is the tone that these two words (desolate and desperate) are adding to. In regards to the structure of the house, the long columns in the front of the house may give it a grandeur type of feeling, but at the same time the spacing of them makes one's mind wander into feeling that they are alone. The windows as well in my opinion look like sad puppy dog eyes, ehich can only bring upon the emotions related to sadness and despair. As I study the painting a bit longer my eyes wander to the edges of the painting, the lonely desolate sky, the setting sun, they are all important aspects that relate to the overall purpose and tone.

RIver of Names

The excerpt from Dorothy Allison’s Trash was definitely a moving piece. Perhaps it was the fact that I was just reading a few paragraphs of the novel, but it at times was very difficult for me to extinguish the gender between the different characters. It eventually became apparent when they started discussing who they had slept with or by the pronouns that Allison used. In any case, I definitely found the piece moving in an emotional way. I wish I had more background information on the novel or that I had read the whole thing to give a proper response to it but being as that is not the case I am going to assume what is happening. It kind of seems as though the three different sections are related to one another but are being told by different point of views. If this is  the case then that would make the novel extremely interesting to read as most books are from the POV of just one narrator.

The Uncommon Life of Common Objects

Busch stuggles with the question throughout most of the essay as to how our "things" acquire their value that we bestow upon them. However, she realizes through her own work that not all the value that an object has we ourselves put onto it. For example, a locket passed down from generation to generation has sentimental value. The locket may have been through the Holocaust with your grandmother, then passed to your mother who wore it during the infamous Woodstock music festival. The locket now belongs to you. Sure you cherish it because of what it has been through with the women in your life who love you. But you love it even more because you wore it when you went to your fathers funeral. It is not only a remembrance of your beloved father, but of the exciting adventures it had with your grandmother and mother.
This point that Busch makes I find most convincing because I myself can relate to it. I have a pair of old sunglasses that my grandma gave me when I was younger and I took them with me when I got my scuba diving license in Florida. Not only do I love the glasses because of my grandmother having them during her time in the Russian Ballet, but I also love them because they remind me of swimming with an octopus.
In my own opinion, I agree with most of what Busch has to say. However there is one point that she failed to mention. I believe that sometime people just like objects because they make that person happy. Maybe someone has a favorite orange T-shirt because the color of the shirt always puts them in a good mood.

Badge of Honor

1. The contents of this bedroom are extremely overwhelming, however the first thing that comes to my eye is the lamp in the somewhat center of the room. It seems as though this lamp has been made out of some sort of trophy, more than likely, one this boy himself has one. Other items that draw much of my attention are the bicycle, the un-made bed, the thousands of baseball cards on the wall, and the floor. The floor by far in my opinion is the most interesting because it looks as though it is a giant mirror made of glass. This somewhat confuses me because if this room is supposed to belong to a teenage boy, why would he want a glass floor? You could never jump on it, it would be impossibly hard to keep clean, and you couldn't even ever bounce the basketball that is sitting on the bed. It is clear to anyone that can see that this boy is into sports, basketball, and that is the culture that he identifies with.

2. I would say that Osorio has one somewhat of a terrible job in the act of replicating a teenage boys room. This room is more of what a sports fan boy dreams about, not what they actually have. First of all, no teenage boy would go through the amount of time it would take to put every single one of those basketball cards up onto the wall. Teenage boys generally do not have the patience for that. No one for that matter has the patience for that. Furthermore, we move onto the glass floor, what child of any kind would want a mirror glass floor? If it were to ever break the injuries could be horrid. Not to mention if one were to slip and fall...
Secondly, whose to say that every boy's room looks like this? My room has been the same since I was 17 years old. When I changed it, I painted all the walls white and put up black fur onto two of the walls. The rest of the walls were then covered by cutouts of old magazines from Vogue and pictures of couture gowns. Not one inch of my wall was made to hold onto anything related to the NBA. Fantasy is believing that Bobby plays with trucks and Sally plays with dolls. Which is what this room shows exactly.

Magazine Class Activity

Today in class we discussed our personal narratives that we brought in either from a magazine or one that we just happen to find in the world. That activity alone was fun because it was so freeform, not only could we choose from any magazine or publication we wanted but we also got to choose any kind of personal narrative we wanted. The narrative I brought in was a story of a woman with a neurological brain problem that completely kept her from being able to remember peoples faces. Even when it comes  to watching movies, she cannot remember the actors faces, making it impossible to watch movies. Rhiannon's article was about a "host" of a male stripper which was probably the most interesting because he explained the different types of people that were there, from the strippers to the customers. Which did anyone else find interesting? Why?

Viewing Things at a Different Scale

1. Cole explains that he finds it "magically seductive" that there are things and events in todays world that are so much larger to scale or smaller scale that we as humans do not fully understand. He talks about the inner atomic life and the vast and complex cycle it goes through. In ways I agree with his thought process, it is very interesting that such things are out there but at the same time, I feel we have come along way in the scientific community and we understand the atomic life a lot more than the author seems to realize.
As stated previously, Cole suggested that all living organisms view the world in a different way and in a different scale than we do as humans. I have never thought of the world in that way before until he suggested it and I have to say it makes a lot of sense and I completely agree.
The fact that now I know what happens to a fly when it gets stuck in my soup will not really change the way I feel about it whatsoever. Now when it happens, I will know what strenuous activity the fly will be going through and continue to grow through until the day it dies. However at the same time, I will still think its gross that a fly has landed in my food and I will still not be able to eat it. This is because I have always felt this way about dirty flies landing in my food and I dont think it is weird nor cruel of me to think that way.

2. I believe that Cole quoted another author at the end of her piece to prove to herself and to her other readers that what she is trying to express is legitimate and other people see it the same way she does. It would not have had the same effect if she had just paraphrased or footnoted Schrodinger. One reason being the people do not usually read the footnotes anyway to be honest and to paraphrase in my opinion is the easy and lazy way out. This way she sound much more professional and it gets her point across much faster and eloquently. Through this realization, I noticed that Cole cited her sources in the way she did to make herself appear very professional.

Photograph Exercise

Garret Hogan


Seeing Question #1

To the unfamiliar eye, many of the photographs would seem quite shocking. From the plentiful amounts of food of the Fernandez family to the what looks like scraps the Aboubakar family is feasting upon, there is something that no one has ever experienced before. In order to describe the photos to someone who has never seen them, one would need to start by explaining some what of the family's history that is seen in the photograph. For instance for the Japanese family, one would have to know that the way of eating is extremely different. For instance on Christmas, it is a tradition to eat KFC. But regardless of that fact, one may be surprised at the large amounts of seafood as their main dish. But once they consider the geographical location of this family... an island... it becomes much more clear and able to understand. Also just from the photographs themselves one can make many inferences about the family's in them. For example in the Mendoza family the food is very bright but a bit dirty, by this it is obvious that that family has grown most of this food themselves. In my personal opinion, the Aboubakar is the most intense. Not just the food- or lack there of- but also the background image. The barren desert that can be seen in the distance just adds more of an impact to the photo. This photo and the characteristics about it make me appreciate it so much more just because of the simple fact that it is most un-like my own.

Writing Question #1

The Mendoza family of Guatemala's photo can easily be described by the phrases "hard working" and "proud." Hard working can easily be argued because of the fact that you can see that this family has grown 90 percent of this meal on their own, or it was grown in the community. Furthermore, besides the fact that the family has made this food themselves one can see the vast amount of food their is period. Whether they bought it all or actually did grow it, either way they worked hard in oder to obtain it. By either putting hours and hours into growing the vegetables, or hours and hours into working in order to pay for it, one thing for sure is that it can not be said that the Mendoza family is not hard working. As for being proud, this word can be thought of by looking at the faces of the members of the family. As one can see, many of the members are smiling, which gives the impression that they are happy with what they have accomplished for themselves. Even those who are not smiling, one can see the look of dedication and nationalism on there faces, which also gives the impression of pride. Furthermore, besides the facial expressions of the family members, the clothing is also a symbol of pride amongst this family. All of there outfits, though different in some way, are all related. They are the same fabric and same pattern/color. This is an indication that they are proud of their heritage and they are happy to embrace it. If I was to see this photograph in a magazine as an ad I would most likely interpret it in the same way. I would assume it was an ad for people to tell them that they should start buying locally grown food to help the economy, and the best way to do that is to show how hard working the people are who make this food are, and how proud they are of their heritage, which is exactly what this photograph describes. Now that I have taken the time to focus in on the photo my understanding of it has changed dramatically. Initially I thought it to be some under privileged family, but with closer look I now realize that the family... may not have the amounts of money and resources we have... but appreciate what they have all the same and are proud of it.