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.