James, Jordan, Tena, Peter

[James Wall]

A scene that really stood out to me was when the border patrol stopped benjamin saenzon page 21. Just because he was colored, he was stopped and asked for his papers. The Border Patrol asked Benjamin many questions including where he was born, his occupation and what he does. After he replied with all true answers, the border patrol reluctantly left him alone and he was left to wonder, "pretty soon i'll have to carry a passport in my own neighborhood." At that point i think it really struck him how bad the illegal immigration is today and you can never know if your own neighbor was a stow-away years ago.

[Peter Niro]

i like the scene when he has a hard time writing his story. I have that same problem, and i go out for a walk just like he does. Just incase any of you where wondering 

[James Wall]

Thats cool that you can relate to the author like that. Having the
same ways of clearing your mind is really uncommon.

[James Wall]

Another scene that really stood ou to me is when Benjamin was stopped
by the border patrol to check if he was an illegal immigrant. By this
time, he has been stopped so many times that he is getting frustrated
with having to prove his identity every day that the patrol decides to
stop him. I can relate to this because i would also get aggravated if
i had to prove that i am allowed to be in the country where i have
lived my whole life.

[Peter Niro]

On page 23, When he says " There where times that i felt watched,
Sometimes, when i jogged, the green vans would dlow down, eye me, and
i pretended not to see them." i think that sucks becasue you cant even
go for a walk with out getting questioned.

[James Wall]

This makes me think that now they are almost stalking him on whatever
benjamin would do. you would think after countless stops that they
would remember that he is a u.s. citizen, for the 20th time.

[James Wall]

After reading the whole story, i can get a better look as to how bad
the overall problem of illegal immigration is coming to be. The border
patrol has to make sure that everyone living in the u.s. is from the
u.s. and is not living off of our land and from the citizens tax
dollars. I can also see how troubling it must be to have to walk
around not knowing if you forgot your ID and you will be deported
within the next 24 hours, even though you are legal to live in this
country. Overall, i can see both sides of this issue and neither of
them are easier than the other.

[Jordan Zima]

One thing that really confused me was the author benjamin repeated some phrases, words, or sentances. "All this color, all this color, all this color beneath the shadow of the juarez Mountains." It really confused me on why would he write that way. Is it his kind of style? Its a unique kind of style.

[Jordan Zima]

"Maybe they'll just leave me alone. I should have taken a shower this morning. I should have worn a nicer sweater. I should have put on a pair of socks. Worn a nicer pair of shoes. I should have cut my hair. I should have shaved..."(p. 26)  I dont know if the author intended on this but it sounds like he is sterotyping his own race. He's saying that if he had done those things he wouldnt have been pulled over and asked if he lived there. Saying his race is unclean, cant have nice clothes, nice shoes, etc.

[tena vernale]

I agree. I think that the Border Patrol was very strict and cautious to people. I feel bad for the illegal immigrants because most of them just wanted to live in a better environment in the U.S.

[Jordan Zima]

One thing that I thought that aggitated Ben was when they came back from juarez and the boarder patrol only asked Ben if he was from the U.S. and where he lived. But did not ask Michael just because of his skin tone. I felt at that point Ben was gonna flip out.

[tena vernale]

When Ben went for a walk down prospect, it really gave me a clear image in my head. He used great writing style on page 21. 

"My mind wandered, searched the black asphalt littered with torn papers; the chained dogs in the yards who couldn't hurt me; the even bricks of all the houses I passed."

[Julie Marino]

Immediately when I started reading the first page I could tell this wasn't from an American person. You could tell the setting he/she is describing is not something you would see anywhere near Berlin. He/she talks about the poor unemployed people who are begging for jobs, money and food. Immediately you sense the atmosphere is not a rich, ritzy place where everything is nice. That setting gives you a good mindset for the story and helps to "put you in their shoes".

[Julie Marino]

While reading I get the sense that The narrator has been mistreated by an agent before. He says "I should have told that witch exactly what I thought of her and her green car and green uniform". You can tell he is angry. So I'm wondering if maybe he has had a bad past experience with one of those agents before or if they've done something bad to him or his family to make him feel so angry at himself for answering the woman's questions calmly

[Julie Marino]

I think the border patrol was overly strict to the point of crossing line of people's rights. It isn't fair to people to be harassed on a daily basis about where they live and where they were born and where they work. Following them around and asking all types of questions was an unfair and unreasonable way to find out which people belong there and which don't.

[Julie Marino]

@ Jordan

I also found the repetition confusing. I didn't understand what the purpose was for that. I wasn't sure if maybe he used that as a way to emphasize the importance of the color or if there even was a reason at all for including that.

[Julie Marino]

@ Tena

I agree that the imagery was a very important part of the way the author wrote on page 21. It added a lot to the mental picture how he described the papers on the asphalt and made me feel like I was there. It helped to create a position of the feeling the story gave because it made you feel as though you were a part of the story.