Final Letter to Myself

Tsung-Cheng Lin
English 1B
In class essay #3
Final Letter to Myself
Dear: Tsung Cheng Lin

As an international student, English is not a first language to me. I started to learn English just three years ago. Writing an essay and understanding the texts take me a long time. Also, I have been here for just three years. I didn’t know much about California. However, in this English 1B class, I have learned a lot. I think the most important thing that I learned from this class was the close reading—how to get the deeper meaning of the readings. I also have learned California culture and history a lot.

I think the first important thing that I learned was to understand the prompt. In my first in class essay, I couldn’t understand the focus question well, so I didn’t write a good essay. To write a good essay, we need to understand the prompt first. Without understanding it, we would write an essay that is totally out of topic.

The most useful thing that I learned from this class is the strategy of understanding the song and poetry. I didn’t have much experience of reading English songs and poetries before. From the assigned readings, I found that it’s not easy to understand the songs and poetries. I read and spent a lot of time to get the deeper meaning of them. I think the teaching group is a very good activity to learn. In order to present to the class, we needed to understand the meaning deeply. Even though presenting to the class is stressful, it’s a good way to learn. The main purpose for the close reading is to look deeply into the songs and poetries and to look what is seemingly important and worth of closer inspection. In order to have deeper understanding of the songs and poetries, we need to look what setting, characters, tone, plot, and theme are.

Besides learning the strategy of understanding the song and poetry, I also have learned California history and dreams. Since I just came here three years ago, I didn’t know much about California history. From the assigned reading for the out class essay#2, I have learned California history a lot. I also understand why many people want to come to California. It’s a dream land for most people.

Furthermore, I have learned that California is a multicultural society from the last out class essay. The movie “Crash” is a very interesting movie. I watched this movie again at home to get better understanding of what the author is saying about the meaning to live in such a multicultural society. Also from the novel “American son” and the play “Bordertown”, I have learned that racism, prejudices, discrimination, and stereotype are in anywhere in California.

I am really enjoyed to being in this class. Although the class is kind of stressful for me, I have learned a lot. I really like the assignments and readings Mr. Lewis gave us. I am appreciated that Mr. Lewis gave those readings to us and helped us a lot. I can now write a better essay comparing with three months ago. I can use the close reading strategy to analyze the song and poetry in the future. I hope I can get a B in the class in order to transfer to an University. Furthermore, when people ask me what California history and dream are, I can define it.

Multicultural California (Out class essay#3) with Reflections

Tsung Cheng Lin
Instructor: Brian Curran Lewis
English 1B
25 June 2010

Multicultural California

Is California multicultural? According to the 2008-2009 U.S. Census Bureau, California's population is approximately thirty six million, 42.3% of whites, 36.6% of Hispanic and Latino, 6.7% of blacks, 1.2 of American Indians, and 12.5% Asians. California is the most popular and the third largest state in America. Its four largest cities are San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angles, and San Diego. Ron Stodghill and Amanda Bower in their article “Integrated City” state, “But by 2059 at the latest, according to U.S. Census figures, there will no longer be a white majority in America” (93). The white population will decrease. California is a multicultural society and a melting pot since there are many different races and cultures. Many people from different countries immigrate here for variety of reasons, better jobs, better education, better lives, etc. As stated in the article “What Is Multiculturalism” by Gregory Jay, “The critique of American’s ‘common culture’ led many people to identify with a particular group, rather than with nation…” (2). People in America can be divided by the category of class, race, religion, gender, etc. The book American son by Brian Roley Ascalon, the play “Bordertown” by Sam Woodhouse, and the movie “Crash” by Paul Haggis reveal the different perspectives of what life is like for a foreigner and a non-white person in America. In those different forms, a play, a novel, and a film are showing the meaning to live in multicultural California.

The novel American Son by Brian Roley Ascalon is a story that based on a Filipino family living in Los Angeles. The first main characters in the story are the mother, Tomas, and Gabe. The second characters in the story are Stone, Aunt Jessica, and Betino. The author uses Betino’s letters to shift different points of view. Tomas, Gabe, and their mother Ika are Asian Americans. The novel is writing about a mixed culture family, showing how they adjust the environment, trying to help reader to understand what multicultural society is in California.

People tend to use stereotype to prejudge others. Stereotype is a form of prejudiced images that people prejudge a particular characteristic without having any knowledge of the person. One of the main characters Tomas, who always keeps his mother up late with worries, trains dog and sells them to celebrities. In the book, the narrator says:
He is the son who causes her embarrassment by showing up at family parties with his muscles covered in gangster tattoos and his head shaved down to stubble and his eyes bloodshot from pot. He is really half white, half Filipino but dresses like a Mexican, and it troubles our mother that he does this (15).
He is not trying to look like white. Most people think he is a Mexican because he looks like a Mexican and also he always hang out with Mexicans. Also stone thinks most Asians are quite. It is also a prejudiced image. Although many Asians are shy and quite, there are still lively Asians. Based on race, class, religion, gender, etc, people will see the way they want to see you.
California is a dream land for most people. Starting from the Gold Rush time, California has become a golden land. To get a better life, a better job, a higher opportunity to get successful, a better education, etc, many foreigners immigrate to California. In the novel, even though the brother Betion sends many letters to mother Ika, saying that he could teach her sons the values of education, work, and the respect for their elders, suggesting her to send her sons to Philippines, she doesn’t want to. She says, "I've lived in the States longer than the Philippines, she said firmly. I'm American now" (33). She thinks she is an American. She is shame to be Pilipino. She likes America better than Philippines.

The author also addresses the difficulty of California dream. There are many immigrants who want to live in California; however, living in such a multicultural state is not easy. Kirse Granat May in his article “Suburban Eden May writes, “Millions shared the dream of a ‘palm-shaded ‘pad’ with a patio, ten dollars down, 100 years to pay…lotus land on the installment plan’” (19). The living expenses in here are high. In the novel, the family isn’t rich. The mother Ika doesn’t have money to pay car insurance even the son Tomas has to help to pay the mortgage by selling attack dogs and stolen car stereos. It shows the poor of immigrants. Immigrants often need to do a low position job; in California there are many Mexicans work as a labor to do the hard working jobs—washing dishes, washing cars, washing toilets, etc. To pursue California dream, we need to pay higher living expense first.

The play “Bordertown” is based in San Diego and Tijuana. It is writing about different races and different points of view in the exact same area. The play begins with two Mexican men who are interviewing Mexican nationals for their play about San Diego and Tijuana. They get caught by a Militia Man who thinks them as illegal immigrants and drug runners. The Militia Man points gun at that two Mexican men and treats them badly just because they look like Mexicans. Even though the two Mexican men explain to the Militia man they are a theater group and have passports and driver’s licenses, the Militia man still doesn’t believe them. Until the Militia man asks them, “What level do you park on in Horton Plaza Mall” (12), he realizes that they are Americans. He doesn’t believe those people who look like illegal immigrants easily because he is sacred, “I’m sacred for my daughter, my country, I have the right to be scared don’t I?” (16). In the act2, the plot shifts to a Mexican Militia Man with two Americans comparing with act1. The Mexican Militia Man believes them they are legal Americans easily when he finds their theater schedule. The writer in here wants to show the different reactions between different races.

Also, the play shows many different points of view saying about what they feel in San Diego city. One of a woman, Julia, says, “To cross the border is a big decision, it’s like being reborn” (20). It shows what California means to a foreigner. It is a dream land for foreigners. Julia’s mother lives in San Diego. Although it’s very hard to cross the border, she tried very hard to get in. Her family members are all illegal immigrants. They illegal cross the border to find better lives.
The play presents what symbol of America is. In the play, there is a couple. Husband is from America, but wife is from Mexico. Man usually has more power than woman. Man in here represents America. Woman represents Mexico. The author wants to show America has more power than Mexico does. America has bigger land and richer than Mexico.

The play also reveals the fearfulness of American with foreigners. Shamu says, “Now these whales (Mexican killer whales) have no documentation, no work permits, no papers, no real training, but they work for cheap and eat less fish” (58). In here, it shows American people are afraid that the foreigner might take their jobs and positions. Staying in California is not easy, so most foreigners work very hard in order to stay in here. Some foreigners have made enormous successes like president Obama, the first black president in the American history.

The film “Crash” by Paul Haggis is a very good film that talks many different races with racism in Los Angeles. In the movie, there are many different groups of people with different races, showing prejudices, racism, discrimination, and stereotype. It talks many different small pieces of plots with different races of characters to connect with a whole story. The little plots show how people connect with others in the daily life.

Most people have racism to blacks. There is a couple, Cabot, a state public prosecutor, and Jean, gets gun point at face and car jacked by the blacks. The wife later in her home is upset, saying to her husband to have another locksmith to change a new lock in the next day because she believes that the current locksmith might give the key to another gang member just because the locksmith is black. She immediately prejudges him without having any knowledge of him just because of his race. It reveals the racism with black that most people think blacks are bad.
Also there is another couple that driving a black Navigator stop by cops just because they are black. The police Ryan command the driver Cameron to get out of car. Cameron is polite, because Ryan is warming him with giving a ticket. But Christine is a little drunk and argues with the cops. Ryan gets angry and humiliates Christine. The white police Ryan wants to show his power just like the man privilege and white privilege. In the article “White Privilege” Peggy Mcintosh says, “Denials which amount to taboos surround the subject of advantages which men gain from women’s disadvantages” (97). Man actually has some certain privileges. Peggy states, “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (97). For non-white person, there might have some certain disadvantages. White Privilege is like an invisible package that is not easy to recognize, but it actually exists. Peggy has made a list of some particular advantages of just being white. Some of the list things might easy to be recognized, “I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me” (98). Those are some privilege examples that some non-white person might not have.

Cars are also important characters in the movie. Car shows racism that most people think black people don’t match expensive car that they might steal it from somebody else. Also at the very beginning of the movie, the driver Waters gets out of the car and starts to argue with the Asian woman because of a car accident. Then, the movie goes on other car crashes. At the begging of the movie, the narrator says:
It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk. You know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In LA, nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.
It wants to express that people in the daily life need to crash into each other in order to earn something back.

There is another plot that exhibits racism. At a gun shop, Farhad , an Iranian man, and his daughter Dorri are trying to buy a gun. The Iranian man doesn’t speak English well, so he is talking his native language with his daughter. The shop's owner is upset about this and begins insulting Farhad. Later, the perspective shifts to Faehad’s side. At Farhad's shop, the locksmith Daniel replaces a lock. After Daniel replaces the lock, the door still can’t be closed. He says to Farhad that he needs a new door. Farhad doesn't believe him, assuming that Daniel is cheating at him. He doesn’t believe him maybe because Daniel is a Mexican. Those are the examples of racism. On the other hand, the police officer, Tommy, is trying not to have racism but actually he can’t. He kills a black man by mistake when he is hitchhiked by the black man and thinks that the black man is getting a gun out. Racism is in anywhere although some people think they don’t have racism.

All those different forms help us to understand what the meaning is to live in multicultural California. Those forms are actually showing the very similar issues, prejudices, racism, discrimination, and stereotype in the same state. In the exact same state, there are many different viewpoints of perspectives. Depending on what person you ask, the perspective is all different. The perspectives from whites might be very different from the perspectives from non-whites.

The Immigration Pilicy (In class essay#2) with Reflections

Tsung Cheng Lin
English 1B
In-class-essay#2
05/26/10

The Immigration Policy

Immigration policy is changing every year in America. Many immigrants immigrate to America legally while some immigrants immigrate to America illegally. Are those immigrants good or harmful for America? How can we solve the problem of illegal immigration? In the article “Revamp Immigration” by Editors, Contra Costa Times, the author talks about the immigration between Mexico and America. The author is trying to show why America and Mexico should work together to solve the problem of illegally immigration. There are some good points in the article but there are also some fallacies. The fallacies seem to appear in the article are appear to pity, slippery slope, hasty generalization, and begging the question.

The first fallacy seems to appear at the very beginning of the article is appeal to pity. In first and two paragraphs, the author is saying that the presidents of American and Mexican is trying to solve the illegally immigration problem due to the deaths in Texas who suffocated while trying to cross the American border illegally. The author uses the frightening statistics by showing that 19 people were killed by that tragedy to win sympathy from readers to convince them. The point is not persuasive because the author didn’t mention how this tragedy led to the issue of illegally immigration.

The next fallacies seem to appear in the third paragraph are appeal to pity and hasty generalization. Again, the author is trying to use the tragedy of 9/11, which killed thousands and thousands of people, at the beginning of third paragraph to get sympathy from readers. He is showing that after the tragedy, the immigration policy and relationship between Mexico and America has changed. But the author didn’t write any information about how America decided to change the policy and what has changed. Also he says, “The terrorist attacks changed the way the United States viewed all foreigners as potential terrorists” (98). Here the hasty generalization seems to appear. He uses the word “all”, which is trying to conclude the small sample to a larger population. One way to avoid this is that he can use the word “some” or “many” instead of “all”.

Another hasty generalization appears in the fourth paragraph. In this paragraph, the author is saying that those undocumented workers help us a lot. He states, “We see them (undocumented workers) every day and we benefit from their labor” (98). It seems to be a hasty generalization because it might be only those undocumented workers who work hard. But there are still some bad undocumented workers who sell drugs and sexes.

The other fallacies that seem to appear are slippery slope and begging the question. In the paragraphs from five to nice, the ideas seem to jump around going to from this point to another point without any connection. It is a slippery slope because the idea jumps from the poor economy of Mexico to how much they have sent back, and then jumping to a new policy. What the author lacks is the supports and evidences to prove his ideas. He only uses a 2002 report that shows how much money the Mexicans have sent back to their families but without any other supports and what the report came from.

This article contains many fallacies, appear to pity, slippery slope, hasty generalization, and begging the question. There are also some small fallacies in the article. Although some of the points might make sense in some way, he lacks to mention the information and supports. Unless the author states more facts and evidence, this article is not persuasive and would convince no one.

History and Poetry Analysis (out class essay#2) with Reflections

Tsung Cheng Lin
Instructor: Brian Curran Lewis
English 1B
21 May 2010

The History of California

Starting from the Gold Rush time, California is a gold land for most people. Kirse Granat May in his article “Suburban Eden,” states, “With that name, California held the promise of potential treasure and first entered the realm of fantasy” (9). To get a better life, a better job, a higher opportunity to get successful, a better education, etc, there are many people who immigrated to California. Nevertheless, how about before the Gold Rush time or for those nonwhite people? Was California also a gold land for Native Americans? Were Native Americans treated well under Spanish colonialism? In the book California, James J. Rawls writes, “All the nonwhite minorities in American California suffered from various kinds of discrimination, but the mistreatment of Indians began earliest and was by far the worst” (398). In the poems “Itch like Crazy: Resistance” by Wendy Rose and “Indian Cartography” by Deborah Miranda, both talk the history of California in the Spanish colonialism. They use the different tones and themes to state different native historical point of views in the similar ways.

In the poem “Indian Cartography,” it’s like telling a story that father says to his son what had happened in his childhood. First, metaphor is used in the beginning of the poem, “My father opens a map of California -- /traces mountain ranges, rivers, county borders/like family bloodlines.” It began with metaphor that father uses his eyes to see what had happen in their land. Also, Miranda uses simile in the poem when he says, “Places he was happy,/or where tragedy greeted him/like an old unpleasant relative.” This shows that after the Spanish came, their lives became sad just as an unhappy memory. In the lines, “A small blue spot marks/Lake Cachuma, created when they/dammed the Santa Ynez, flooded/a valley, divided/my father’s boyhood: days/he learned to swim the hard way,/and days he walked across the silver scales,” it represents that the Spanish destroyed Indians’ living places. Another metaphor that is used is in lines, “swollen bellies of salmon coming back/to a river that wasn’t there.” Wanted to go home, the salmons swam back to their home that was shut by dam showing how Indians suffered and died under the Spanish control. “The government paid those Indians to move away,/he says; I don’t know where they went,” after their hometown has destroyed and gone by Spanish, they didn’t know where to go and live.

Wendy Rose’s poem “Itch like Crazy: Resistance,” contains many wonderful imageries to indicate the anger of those Indians. In the lines “The voices beyond my office door/speak of surveys and destruction,/selling the natives/to live among strangers,/rewards fr sine service/or kinship with the crown,” the voices represent Indians’ anger. It seems that author uses imagery to say that Spanish destroyed Indian’s culture. They sold the native to service for the king. Rose expresses that the Indians were trying to get rid of the Spanish control when she writes, “Ghosts so old/they weep for release,/have hunted too long,” and “Now I dance the mission revolts again,/let the ambush blossom in my heart,/claim my victory with their own language,/know the strength of spine tied to spine.” We can see it in the word “release” and “revolts”. Those reveal that the Indians wanted to be free and against Spanish. To indicate how the Spanish treated the native Indians, Rose writes, “every red thing in the world/is the reflection of blood,/our death and our rising.” They killed a lot of Indians. James points out, “Many of the punitive expeditions launched against the Indians were financed by the state government, and during the 1850s more than $1 million worth of state bonds were issued to pay the expenses of local volunteer campaigns for ‘the suppression of Indians hostilities” (152). The Spanish government even paid those volunteers to kill Indians.

Different styles of the poem make reader feel interesting. Both of poems use enjambment method to present the idea. Enjambment is not ending with some kinds of punctuation—period, comma, semicolon, dash, etc. It divided one sentences into several lines which spills over into next line. Enjambment is used when a poet wants the rhythm, meaning, and continuous movement to carry over into the next line. It keeps the language moving without stop. The most important point for doing that is Enjambment can surprise the reader keeping them attention to read the poem or making them feel interesting. It can also emphasis of certain words in the ending of each lines; it makes poetry flow better.

In the poem “Itch like Crazy: Resistance,” Wendy Rose uses the name “Resistance” to show that to get better life, the Native American needed to resist the Spanish colonialism. In the book California, James says, “Active resistance to missionization included short-lived revolts, occasional attempts to murder individual missionaries, and raids on mission herds by mission fugitives and unconverted Indians” (46). The author wants to express the anger of Indians. Rose expresses the ongoing action that the Indians still can fright for their lives. In the poem “Indian Cartography,” the word “Cartography” means making map. Miranda starts talking with the father opens a map of California showing to his son what had happened and already done in those places. The tone in “Itch like Crazy: Resistance,” is bitter, hateful, and angry when Rose says, “Now I dance the mission revolts again,/let the ambush blossom in my heart.” Just in the word “revolts,” we can see the angry tone. Comparing with the tone in “Indian Cartography,” is sad, painful, and longing when Miranda says, “Swollen bellies of salmon coming back/to a river that wasn’t there.” We can see the sad tone that when those salmons swam back, they couldn’t find their home. The Indians had lost their living places. Its theme is suffering and painful of what native Californian Indians have suffered. Both authors have similar sad tones, but Wendy Rose’s poem is more angry and bitter. Mirada’s poem is sad and longing while Rose’s poem is more about angry and resistant to Spanish.

Homework Assignment for essay#2

In the reading “The impact of The Mission,” the author is talking about the history of missions. In the 1785, the father-president of Alta California changed from Serra to Lasuen. During the 1785 to 1803, the Indian population in Alta California increased more than double. Most people might think that the Indian were well cared under Spanish mission but actually they weren’t. The Spanish priests had destroyed them, social beginnings, a pure and holy religion, safe and healthy foods, and a variety of other blessings. The Spanish treat them as irrationals, subhuman. They treat them as animals. Young Indian female has to separate with their family. It was emotionally painful. A miscarriage of female had to charged with infanticide and punish by having her head shaved. The death rate of Indians were very high, 75 percent of Indians were died under Spanish dimension.

I think the poem, “Like Crazy: Resistance,” written by Wendy Rose is related to the Spanish missions. The lines "The voices betony my office door, speak of surveys and destruction, selling the natives, to live among strangers," indicates the anger and helplessness of Indians.

Images of The California Dream in Music (Out-class-essay#1) with Reflections

Tsung Cheng Lin
Instructor : Brian Curran Lewis
English 1B
28 April 2010

The Reality of California Dream

What does dream mean to people? Having a dream can encourage people to do a better job. Dreams come from us. Like myself, I came here three years ago. My dream for now is to transfer to a good university. There are many people who immigrated to California in the hope to get a better life, a better job, a higher opportunity to get successful, a better education, etc. All the California dreams were started from the Gold Rush. In that period, many people came here to discover gold. Since that period California has become a dream place for most people. Kirse Granat May in his article “Suburban Eden,” states, “With that name, California held the promise of potential treasure and first entered the realm of fantasy” (9). Both the article “Suburban Eden,” written by Bruce Springsteen, and the song “Sinaloa Cowboys,” written by Kirse Granat May, talk about the California dream and its reality. In the article, May describes the California image in popular culture and suburban lives. In the song, Springsteen writes about an immigrant story that one brother, Miguel and Louis, came to California to find a better life. He indicates the reality of California dream that to get a better life or to pursue the California dream; we often have to lose something.

One of the points the author of the song wants to express is that many different races of people immigrate to California for many different dreams. The name of the song “Sinaloa Cowboys,” is one of example. Sinaloa is one of the 31 states of Mexico. Springsteen in his story of the song describes the brothers—Miguel and Louis from Mexico, coming to California to find a better life—to show that California is a dream land for Mexican. California contains many different races. Mexico is one of largest population in California. May claims, “The dream was simple: ‘that because of a place called California, life might be better” (9). People immigrate to California for better lives. May believes, “The Gold Rush reinforces the vision of California as a place where dreams came true” (9). In the Gold Rush time, many Chinese immigrated to San Francisco to discover gold. And May points out, “The war (World War II) brought 340,000 blacks to Los Angeles for industrial work and armed forces services, enormously increasing Southern California’s diversity” (11). There are also many blacks in California.

In addition, California is also a good living place for kids. Miguel and Louis came to California when they were young; Louis was just sixteen. The author wants to tell us that people immigrate to California in the young age. May writes, “In a 1945 Life article, one father voiced what thousands of others believed: ‘My kids have a better chance to be healthy here than anywhere else’” (21). Most parents believe that California life is good for kids. May asserts, “Popularized lifestyles of California kids intertwined with symbols of the good life” (22). People come to California for their kids. They want to have a good living standard for kids. May also answers of why California is a good place for kids, “As a result of outdoor activity and warm weather, young Californians bested their fellow Americans in health and energy” (24). California has warm sunshine and many beaches. May shows an issue of cosmopolitan, “In California, the boys and girls grows grow bigger and more beautiful. They are longer of leg, deeper of chest, better muscled than other American youngsters. Even their feet are bigger” (24). California kids are healthier comparing with other states because California is a perfect place for growing up; its sunshine and beaches.

Not only is California a good living for kids, but also it is a symbol of high opportunity and success. Miguel and Louis came to California to find a job in San Joaquin that author shows the California dream of the high opportunity and success. In the article “California A place, a People, a Dream,” James J Rawls states, “Opportunity and success—these promises are at the heart of the California Dream” (23). Starting from the Golf Rush, for most people California means money. May says, “For newcomers, it was still the land of second chance, glowing with opportunity amidst sunshine” (9). It’s still a dream land for new immigrants. May writes, “The Los Angeles Times reported in December 1945 that news of western job growth was spreading ‘like the story of the discovery of gold…luring hopeful men whose dreams are spun of golden opportunity” (12). More and more people believe that California is a place to earn money and to succeed.

Although those promises of the California dreams are shown, the difficult realities must be acknowledged. The brothers in the story immigrated here when they were young to find work indicates that they need to lose time to play and stay with their family in order to be successful. Their father had told them, “My sons one thing you will learn for everything the north gives it exacts a price in return.” They left their home and family early. To be successful, we often have to give up something.

Another aspect is that immigrants often have to work hard in the hope to be successful. Miguel and Louis work in the orchards; doing the work that most people wouldn’t do that shows the difficulty of immigrant dream. Immigrants often need to do a low position job; in California there are many Mexican works as a labor to do the hard working jobs—washing dishes, washing cars, washing toilets, etc.

Continuing, getting a higher chance to be successful, we often need to pay a higher risk. In the story, the brothers start making methamphetamine to earn more money instead of picking fruit even though it can hurt them, “But if you slipped the hydriodic acid could burn right through your skin” (Springsteen). This indicates that the higher profit or effort is the higher risk or more dangerous work people need to pay. Coming to California is not easy; the living is expensive. May thinks, “Millions shared the dream of a ‘palm-shaded ‘pad’ with a patio, ten dollars down, 100 years to pay…lotus land on the installment plan’” (19). To pursue California dream, we need to pay higher living expense first. If we don’t have money to pay, we’ll fail the dream.

Finally, the misunderstanding of California dream with its reality often makes some tragedies and failures. May claims, “Those migrants, ‘largely from the hillbilly sections of the country,’ swayed by the inundation of positive images, had seemingly ignored the problems of crime, smog, and strangeness that were paramount in the critical view of California life” (17). The image of the California dream often comes from TV, magazine, newspaper, etc. The media often just show the positive side of the California but ignore the reality of the California life. May asserts, “They received guidance in that task from magazine writers, public relations experts, and boosters who downplayed the state’s difficulties and stressed its advantages and attractions” (15). The media often mislead the dream of California. People came here in the high expectation of the dream, but it often fails making people disappointment. When people have a very high expectation to do something, once they fail, they disappoint more. Rawls writes, “Wide publicity is given to the state’s rate of alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide—clear evidence that California is now the land of failed dreams and broken promises” (27). The high expectation will cause tragedies: suicide and crime. In the end of the story of the song, their father’s warning has come true in an ending of tragedy. Louis died because of the explosion of making drugs. Miguel Rosales took his brother north and exchanged his life for ten thousand dollars. To gain something, we often have to lose something.

Outline essay#1

l Introduction
u Defining the dream
u The two reading
u Thesis: To get better life or to pursue the California dream, we often have to lose something
l The promise of California dream attract many different races
l It’s also a promise to young people; good education
l The opportunity of work and success.
l It often lose something; time to play and stay with family
l Work that most people wouldn’t do
l Making drug with higher risk but earn more
l His brother died that his father saying has come true.