Blog Assignment #3

Inherit the Earth; The things they Carried by Demetria Martinez

"To think of his or her plight only in terms of desperation fails to honer his or her full humanity. Of course there is desperation; everywhere it uproots and drives masses across borders in swelling numbers."

"The length of the entire U.S -Mexico border is almost two thousand miles; human rights groups estimate that at least one person a day dies trying to cross it."

These three lines are effective to me because they are a combination of fact and emotions that both give me a feeling of sentiment toward the characters in this piece. Demetria does a good job in making the reader feel sentimental toward the immigrants through her own poetic point of view and also through factual information. 

The first two lines develop a sense of hardships within the setting of the immigrants traveling, to cross the border. Her use of words is effective in putting me as a reader into a particular feeling towards the immigrants. The word plight indicates hardships and difficulties throughout the immigrant’s journey. Also she uses a poetic way of showing the amount of immigrants traveling; "swollen numbers". Using swollen as opposed to using the word large gives a personal sentiment and feeling of sympathy toward the amount of people having to travel and survive through their plight across the border.

Demetria uses prose style in her writing along with cold facts. Cold in a sense of emotional distance toward the facts she includes in this piece. This writing was very effective and eye opening. It gave me a new perspective on illegal citizens in America from Mexico and their journey and fight to cross the border.

I chose Demetria’s “Inherit theEarth; The Things They Carried” because her style of writing in this piece is one I can relate to and one I admire. She also sets a good example of how to incorporate a heavy amount of sentiment along with facts to create a good nonfiction piece of writing.

Blog Assignment #2

"The breeze of fall crept into the sunny mid-September day. As beautiful as the day was I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with hopelessness. I had one recurring thought taking over my being, that thought being California. To some it is home. To others it’s a vacation or a dream. For me it was a barrier and lingering thought that weighed heavy on my heart.                            
                I sat in bed for some time, sulking in my sadness until I could no longer bear it. I couldn't think of California as just California or as some beautiful city with palm trees and endless sunlight. I couldn't think of California without feeling my heart sink or without feeling an uncomfortably cold chill penetrate my soul. I needed a break from my fast paced and fixated mind, from California and its guaranteed discomfort."

                This piece was inspired by my boyfriend’s plans for his future. We were already in a long distance relationship and he had been planning to go even further for college. While writing this I thought of “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey. I thought of how he longed to be with his lover who was also far from him, except she was in a rehab center. I thought of the sadness that came along with their distance and it set the internal mood of the character (or narrator) in my vignette.

                I have written short stories in the past but none like this one. This is my first short story that was an assignment so I paid more attention to detail and clarity. Also, I made sure to include a good sense of setting along with a sense of self and sadness over the issue of California. Writing this non-fiction piece gave me more freedom as a writer as opposed to writing an academic essay. There were fewer restrictions on my writing and there was no definite form or rules I had to follow throughout the entire piece that would take away from my creativity. I was also able to embellish in this piece.

                I've learned write carefully and clearly for the readers understanding. I've learned that the reader may be unclear on particular things that have a big impact on how my piece will affect the reader or confuse the reader.