Assignment 4A Group 2

1)Write the story title and author name. .25 point
Ode to CalTrans by Hector Tobar

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
For this reading there were three parts. The first part was a descriptive scene of a Hollywood freeway, the next talked about the freeways in other countries around the world and how they compared to the ones we have become so accustom too here in California. It also talked about our laws of the road and things that have kept our “breed from extintion” such as hands-free cellular phones, multi-CD player, and the radar detection device. The last part was about memories he has of the freeway.

3) Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
“Eventually the traffic thins and the concrete roadway loses its tar-colored stains and returns to the pristine gray of its youth.” Pg 51

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 quote just made me think about the stereotypes most people have about how California people are always in a rush, this quote just shows that the same thing. It makes us seem rushed but it also shows that there is a calmness too, after the traffic thins.

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 learned that “Iraqis often will take a one-hundred-kilo-meter-per-hour southbound detour on the northbound lanes to avoid the craters cut into the roadway by Americans ordinance, plunging into traffic as if that were a perfectly normal thing to do.” Pg 53
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1) Write the story title and author name. .25 point
Montalvo, Myths, and Dreams of Home by Thomas Steinbeck

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
This story was of the myths that people have about California. One being that California is "paradise on Earth" another that "California is the only state in the Union that has flourished beyond all exceptions". I think the most important part of this is the realization that "the California myth has a slippery custom of reinventing itself every time you turn around".

3) Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
"Most of them couldn't have cared less about the other forty-nine states, for it was the intricate stratification and emotional significance of the California myth to which they clung like wide-eyed orphans." pg 65

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
Reading this story just had me think about how diverse California really is and how it really is a fast changing society that can sometimes be hard to keep up with.

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 learned that the early fifteen hundreds were a remarkably shallow time for the "publishing game" in Spain.
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1)Write the story title and author name. .25 point
The Last Little Beach Town by Edwards Humes

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
This story is about the small town charm of Seal Beach and compares it to the small towns that surround it.

3) Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
"The town is the first and easiest-to-miss pearl on a string of larger, more prominent beach cities stretching southward into Orange County." pg 70

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

Reading this story got me excited because I love visiting Seal Beach and everything that was said about it was true. I like how he referred to it as a "surviving piece of original California” because I think that definition fits it perfectly.

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 learned that the Seal Beach City Hall was built in 1929. I also learned that Seal Beach used to have a roller coaster and its own air port which I never knew.
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1)Write the story title and author name. .25 point
Surfacing by Matt Warshaw

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
This story is about surfing in northern California in places like Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Pacifica. It also talked about a place called "Mavericks point or just Mavericks" which is a place that was named after a dog.

3) Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)? 1 percent
"Sixteen-year-old Jay Moriarity from Santa Cruz was so intent on padling into his first wave of the day and pushing up into the correct stance- and he nailed it, feet spread wide across the deck of the board, head tucked, weight forward and low-that he didn't at first realize he'd lifted off the water and was now surfing through the air, just ahead of the curl, thirty feet above sea level." pg 79

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
Reading this story really made me want to learn to surf. I mean I live in California! One of the best possible places for it! I think it was the fact that he got so descriptive about the sport, and the fact that Warshaw was so intense about it really makes me want to try it.

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 learned that there are twelve thousand residents in Half Moon Bay. I also learned that Half Moon Bay is the oldest city in San Mateo County.