Donika, Lauren, Ashley, Morissa, Kevin

[Kevin Smith]

This is a post.

[Morrisa Luddy]

I think it's kind of unfair of how these officers are treating the author. They think he is and illegal immigrant and ask him questions in english. They don't seem to believe that he is an American. The other becomes annoyed with them and tries to get them to go away. Why do people judge others by their appearance? I think it's because humans are too judgemental and seek answers too quickly. 

[Donika Prevalla]

I only read the first couple pages but by reading those I have a good sense of the authors style. His description is so good, it makes such a realistic picture in your mind. It makes it seem like you're actually there. Also how he writes keeps you interested and anxious to keep reading and flip the page. I'm excited to pick up the story again tomorrow and continue reading.

[Kevin Smith]

Anyone else ever experience something like what's going on between the author and the officers, where you don't really notice something until it starts affecting you, and you feel as though now it's constantly around you?

[Lauren Aresco]

the specific cultural, historical, physiological and ethic values of an author influence his writing because they already have a set bias from their life experiences. Even if they try to hid it in their writing in some way the reader will still be able to see it in a way. this author clearly doesn't like how with one line two countries separate or the boarder control. 

[Morrisa Luddy]

The author uses a lot of metaphors and similes to get a good image in
your head. For example, when Benjamin says "My heart clenched like a
fist..." (25), I was really able to see him getting tensed up after
finding another green car. He uses more similes like this that help me
SEE what he's getting at.

[Morrisa Luddy]

Yes, I noticed this too. Even though he is from america, he still
feels bad for those who are getting "thrown" into vans. He doesn't
like watching others treated that way and he is probably scared that
they'll do that to him too.

On Sep 13, 8:20 am, Lauren Aresco <lauren.aresco.ber...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[ashley fort]

I think the author's style is very descriptive. For example, "One morning, I was driving down Upson Street toward the University, the wind shaking the limbs of the bare trees. Nothing to shield them- unprotected by green leaves. The sun burned a dull yellow." He is always very descriptive about his surroundings and the colors around him throughout the story. Also, it's very good imagery because I could picture it in my mind.

[Kevin Smith]

Starting on the last paragraph on page 26 and continuing until the end of the story, Saenz starts using very choppy sentences, and I really like the way he does it. When he starts using that syntax style, he's basically reiterating all of the ideas he has going that he has going through his at the time and it makes for a great mood and image while reading it. When I read through it, I could really see the border patrol officers catching the man running across the border, and felt like I was watching it through a window and rooting for the man running away. This is a great ending to the short story.

[Morrisa Luddy]

At the end, Benjamin writes "Where are you from? I no longer
know" (27). I could connect this to what we were doing last week with
the "I Am From.." poems. We wrote about all the things that were where
we came from. And here, Benjamin doesn't even know where he is from.
He lives in Texas, on the border of Mexico, and he is Hispanic. He
feels that he has a connection to the people in Mexico. Everyday he
sees people getting taken away and thinks he's next. He doesn't know
really where he is from, he seems to not have a clear background.
Compared to us, where we had a life, a childhood with many memories.

[Morrisa Luddy]

I saw his imagery as well, while reading. When you pointed this out, I
could really see the wind blowing the trees. I completely agree. The
reason Benjamin is being so descriptive is probably because he wants
the reads to feel how he is feeling. Sometimes peaceful, sometimes
angry and annoyed. It's interesting how his diction is portraying
those types of moods on us,.

[Donika Prevalla]

"Leave me alone."

"Are you a citizen of the United States?"

"Yes."

"Can you prove it?"

"No. No, I can't."

He looked at my clothes: jeans, tennis shoes, and a casual California shirt. He noticed my backpack full of books.

"You a student?"

I nodded and stared at him.

"There isn't any need to be unfriendly."

"I'd like you to leave me alone."

"Just doing my job," he laughed. I didn't smile back.

 

This is a passage from page 24. It was a typical day of questioning for Ben Saenz. I don't think that Ben should be questioned this much. I'm sure after a while I myself would get just as aggrivated as he did. It must be hard living where he lives because there's never peace for him. It must be tough having to deal with this ongoing problem daily and if it was up to me I would have made the choice to move from there a while ago.

[Kevin Smith]

Probably my favorite section in the story was on page 25 when Saenz, Michael and another friend went to Juarez and they witnessed border patrol officers almost beat a man.i really like the paragraph that comes after it where Saenz describes his reaction: "My fingers wanted to reach through the wire fence, not to touch it, not the feel it, but to break it down, to melt it down with what I did not understand.....if I could have grasped that source of rage and held it in my first, I would have melted the fence"(25). I really, really like this because it shows how angry Saenz is with what's happening with the border patrol and how they're treating these people, and really how disgusting it is.

[Lauren Aresco]

i agree, the author is very descriptive. For example, "The wind, common desert rain; the wind blew too hard and harsh sometimes; the wind unsettled the desert- upset things, ruined the calmness of the spring (21)". 

[Lauren Aresco]

The author shows that he definitely  hates the boarder control always "watching" him and asking him where he lives and if hes a US citizen and everything. The author shows the reader how depressing it is to have them walking around talking to him all the time as if he wasent supposed to be there. The reader could tell that the author is sad and depressed because of what he says, " The Juarez mountains did not seem purple that fall. They no longer burned with color" (24)" This quote shows how sad he is because to him the mountains, that he describes as "sacraments of belonging" are nothing anymore.

[Lauren Aresco]

I agree with this because just walking to and from school, and getting asked all these questions must be very annoying. I know that I would be very upset with the fact of getting questioned all the time if i am supposed to be somewhere, or if i live around a certain place. i know how the author is feeling because he describes how much he hates boarder control so well. 

[Kevin Smith]

Also, I think part of the reasoning for him to say he wouldn't know where he's from anymore comes from the fact that he was born in New Mexico and now seeing how inhumanely the officers are treating these people, I don't think he'd feel right calling the same place the officers come from his home.

[Lauren Aresco]

I agree with this. i dont think its fair how the boarder control just automatically assumes that he is not supposed to be in america. I also think its unfair when they boarder control asked him for identification while they let his friend Michael just walk right through because he was white.

[ashley fort]

I agree with what you said.. I  feel very bad for Ben because he has to deal with the officers everyday. He must feel like he is trapped by the officers because they are always stopping him and asking whether he was born in the U.S. I can see why this annoys Ben and feels anger towards them.

[ashley fort]

I don't understand why Ben just doesn't move to another town..he is so angry and caught up with the officers that he doesn't even know who he is. He is frustrated everyday when he walks down the street because he always sees the green vans and the officers. Before he mentioned how he likes living on the border because there is always something interesting to write about, but in other towns there can be other things to write about that he just doesn't know about.

[ashley fort]

Something that I noticed a lot is that Ben always uses and describes different colors. For example, "the green vans", "green leaves", "Mexican purples" and "black asphalt". I think this makes the author very different than other writers because usually they don't describe objects or things with color

[ashley fort]

I agree with you, if I lived on the border and got stopped everyday by officers then I would feel very uncomfortable because someone would be watching me every day with every move I make. This would be very depressing. I would also feel like I have no freedom to do anything I wanted. 

[Donika Prevalla]

I agree with this. Ben made it clear that he feels like someones watching him at all times. The mountains were also something that it seemed like meant a lot to him so when he said they didn't seem purple that fall, and no longer burned with color you can really tell how unhappy he was.

[Donika Prevalla]

I agree with you. This passage really lets you get a sense of how much it bothers Ben. Him witnessing this everyday must be hard and its not getting any better, only worse.

[Donika Prevalla]

"One of the officers noticed we were watching. They straightened the man out and walked him inside- like gentlemen. They would have beat him. They would have beat them. But we were watching." This is a short passage from page 25 showing how cruel the officers really were. It's almost unbearable. I can't imagine what it's like for Ben to be living through all this. I don't know if I'd be able to leave my house and know I'll see things like this going on.