Ricardo FloresENGLISH 394V NMSU

I wonder if there is an undertone of identity crisis in The Devil’s Highway. I never considered it, but the interview with Urrea made me think of it. He talks about the fact that everyone is wishing that they were not themselves and in different situations and surroudings. Maybe the people who seek to cross the border are all in a mode of identity crisis?

I can’t believe that the end of the class is almost here. It has been really wonderful having been in class with you all. I am graduating and will be moving on to my Master’s degree. I wish all of you lots of luck and success in your journey through life. And don’t forget to write about it along the way.

Here are some Border Patrol statistics on deaths due to illegal entry into the US. Yuma is low compared to Rio Grande Valley and Tucson.

This is an actual pic of the Yuma desert. These are the small bushes that the people tried to hide under to protect them from the sun.

When you can find it posted and written about in the Washington Post, it’s not magical realism. It’s just plain realism.

Yay.

So, we are finished with Brownsville. It was a great book. I wonder if Casares is going to write more in the future. He is teaching English now. I would like to see one of his stories get made into a movie or something.

Did Domingo slip and fall at the end, or did he jump on purpose? A case could be made for each. I don’t like ambiguous endings!

A sketch of my desk as I finish reading Brownsville. This book was fun to read. I am inspired to write a set of southwest short stories.

When I read Mr. Z, I thought of this Star Trek clip. I think Kahn’s revenge is a bit more severe than giving away fireworks, but I thought that maybe inside, the boy was thinking he felt a little like Kahn.

I have wondered, as I read the story RG, whether or not the hammer is serving a symbolic purpose of representing war. The hammer has a long history of being used as a symbol of strength and war. Is it just a coincidence that Casares selected a hammer to be the catalyst in the story? He could have made it anything, like a window scraper, or a coil of garden hose, for example. I think that he may have picked the hammer to symbolize war in his conflict element between the two characters.

I drew a sketch of Bony and Chango. Yeah, I have too much time on my hands.

                                                                                  Dallas

Out of all the stories in Woman Hollering Creek, I liked the Little Miracles story the best. I think the reason for it is that involved a series of short snapshots into the characters involved, and wasn’t a heavy, depressing tale of mental and spiritual illness. It came as a relief. I am starting to like the short vignette style of writing more and more. Maybe some day I will give it a try in my own writing.

Don’t worry, I won’t!

As I read Eleven, I found it awkward. Not hard to read or anything like that, but somehow awkward. Then, I heard Cisneros read this story 20 years ago and I realized that this story, and many of her stories, are really written in a way that is meant to be read aloud. Works so well when you listen to it. I just hate her use of  baby voice while she reads. YUK.