Evan's Blog

The story is about Eldridge Cleaver. It starts with telling us information about him. He was born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas then moved to LA when he was 12. He was not a good kid. A lot of his life was spent in detention, and when he was 20, he was imprisoned for assault on two cases. It then talks about racism that was running through the streets in Oakland. It was during the time of Black Panthers. Next it talks bout a shootout during the time in Oakland, which was a huge event at this time.  It involved the police, and a lot of riots. 

"Continent's End", Robinson Jeffers Pg 407-413 The basis of this story is talking about the end of what is seen as the continents, hence the title.  It starts talking about the equinox, the equinox is "the time or date (twice each year) at which the sun crosses the celestial equator" also, day and night are of equal length. They are at what sounds like a beach, there is granite that is being sprayed by the ocean. Could also be a cove of some sort. it talks about the long distance travel, and how he has gotten older with age the span of the Continent is even further than the span of the ocean, it is doubled. 

"Anonymous Chinese Immigrants" pg: 354-355 This starts off saying that there are over a hundred poems on the walls. Im not sure if this is literal, or more of a metaphor.  Commiserate: express or feel sympathy or pity; sympathize. Travelers want to sympathize, but it does not seem to be effective.  In the second section it talks about how quickly time passes, the person is "somewhat young" but time is "passing ever so quickly, in the blink of an eye" In the last passage it is saying its a summer like first month of the new year. So it is a new year, however, it feels more like summer than anything else.  It seems to be Chinese new year from what I can tell, it is talking about New Year scrolls that decorate the houses. 

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, pg 347-353 This starts off with setting the scene of being in San Francisco, and how the train from San Francisco is late. On the train it described a little girl rose, she was carrying a wicker suit0case in one hand and also had a covered up bird cage.  This little girl ended up being Dorothy, a character we are all very familiar with. Someone starts asking her about her birds, but it turns out to just be her kitten, Eureka. It then goes to her talking to someone else, and someone who is riding a horse. As they are riding the horse, out of no where, a the ground splits right under the horses feet.  It then starts to talk about the Glass City. She seemed to have passed out, but they in turn were still falling once she came back. Dorothy then realizes after falling for a while that she, as far as she knows, is in the middle of the earth, and it is definitely confusing for her. 

These notes are on " The Californian"  by Gertrude Atherton, pg 311-320 It starts speaking of someone named Magdalena, who was someone who failed at every point and expected the author to fail. Later it speaks of these loud ringing of bells. This may be due to the fact that her bedroom was extremely close to a school.  Helena often had a weird way of entering the house, she would climb a pillar of the balcony. Helena is trying to convince her to see the fire, she is refusing to see the fire at first, but Helena is not taking no for an answer. she know's she would love it. Helena talked about her weekly allowance, which was $5, which was looked upon as not a lot of money, especially by Helena.  The way this story is described, it seems that this takes place in San Francisco. They are talking of market street, and taking transportation that is known by San Francisco.

Jaoquin Miller, "Californian" Pages 232 - 234. This story beings talking about the sea. There are sails that are spread coming from around the world. It hints that these boats are there for trade.  After travel it talks about coming to a beach.  It said the beach is not a place for mirthfulness. Mirthfulness is, " Full of gladness and merriment" In the distance the Sierras are a head, it paints the picture of it against a beautiful blue sky. Towards the Sierras miners are seen. There are sounds of thousands of pickaxes hitting rocks.  It speaks of the old men who are mighty, they call themselves the "forty-nine".

Sarah Eleanor Royce  The time period of this is 1819-1891 which is in the middle of the Gold Rush. The story starts with Sarah and her family climbing two ridges at the summit.  During the night of their travels they "slept within a few yards of snow." It was very cold, their pans would freeze with water if it wasn't too close to a fire. After their travels they come to California, a place that Sarah completely loved at her first sight. When sleeping in California, there were a few nights where Native American men shot arrows at the men in their camp. One was injured. They eventually went to a place called Weaverville where they would be looking to mine gold. They originally went somewhere else, however, it was nearly picked clean. It goes on to talk about their business adventures, about looking for gold, and also opening a shop eventually. Interestingly enough, in some areas, there were Native Americans who were panning for gold in certain areas. It explains ...

"The Queen Of California" Las Sergas  de Esplandian pg 76-77 Previously California was known as an island on the right hand of the Indies, inhabited by women that resemble the Amazons. There was wildlife in this area that was not known to any other area before, it was new to them.  The amazon women fed these beasts with men that they would capture.  Christians came to try and convert them however they did not know what Christianity was. The leader of the Amazon women was curious to know of Christianity for she was passionate about all life. She explained how life was in the land known as California.