Sali Bunny

English 113B

Professor Mary Marca

February 24, 2012

Explicit Detail 

            While reading some of the different essays in “Another City Writing from Los Angeles,” there were some stories that I felt had unnecessary detail. The two stories that caught my attention the most within this aspect were “Cactus” and “Maternity.” In the writing Cactus by Tara Ison, I really liked the story until the end when the writer was going into detail with the sex scene, it was disturbing. With “Maternity” by Amy Grestler the whole story had so much explicit detail because it was about her sister giving birth.

            When I was reading these stories I was very disturbed by the detail and I thought it ruined the whole story. I thought the detail was unnecessary and the writer in Cactus could have just said that she slept with her ex-boyfriend’s brother without telling us all the nasty stuff she included.  Ison uses detail throughout her whole story but I was disturbed only at the end because I am not use to reading stuff like that.

            In the story “Maternity” Grestler walks her readers through her sister’s birth. The story was good and I enjoyed reading it but I felt like she could have written it without making me want to vomit at some parts. While reading the story I was able to picture the whole scene of her niece’s birth, and that’s a scene I did not want to picture.

            After discussing it these stories with the class I realized that the detail was put there on purpose. The detail got me to keep reading even though I thought it was disgusting, I still wanted to read because I was intrigued on what is going to happen next. The writers did not put all that detail to disgust me, they put it so I could imagine what is going on. The scene I pictured while reading the last page of “Cactus” made me think that Tara did not have feelings for her ex-boyfriend’s brother but she was having sex with him because she missed him. Ison does not flat out say that in the story but with the detail she uses, I was able to pick it out. The detail used in these stories is not unnecessary; it actually makes the story a lot better and more understandable. 

Chaos

Sali Bunny

English 93B

Professor Mary Marca

February 6, 2012

            When I think of Los Angeles I think of disorder. Some areas are very nice and classy and some are very poor. In the low class areas you’ll see people selling drugs and you’ll hear gun shots at night. Driving through the streets of Los Angeles, I see it as scary and dangerous not knowing that it used to be worse than what it is now. In 1992, Los Angeles went through chaos and destruction because of the Rodney King Riots. African American people felt like their rights were being violated so they started protesting and turning against the law.

            People come to Los Angeles as tourists expecting to see celebrities, Hollywood, and all that glitz and glam not knowing what really is behind it. It is seen differently from outsiders but once you walk the streets of Hollywood Blvd. you see the gangs, people snuggling drugs, the prostitutes and all that turmoil. During the riots people were destroying each other’s property and businesses. Can you imagine seeing people walk into store taking whatever they want and then setting it on fire? It’s hard to imagine people that heartless and crazy. If something like that were to happen right now while I live in LA, I would think the world is coming to an end just because it seems that unbelievable.

            Hearing about the Los Angeles riots has modified my views about the city. Before reading the essay “Los Angeles” I pictured the city the way many tourists view it. Even though I am knowledgeable about the high crime rate in certain parts of Los Angeles, I did not realize that 20 years ago, the violence was much more serious. The word “chaos” does not do justice to the events that occurred during the period of riots.

            If it wasn’t for this essay I read, I would have never known about the riots. This saddens me because this should have been taught while I was in school. In my history classes from the first to twelfth grade I learned about America, California, and other countries but not once were the Los Angeles rights mentioned. Maybe the riots were never mentioned in school because it was an event that happened in only one city, maybe because it was only 20 years when this event took place, or maybe they were taught in school but not in any class I took. I definitely believe the riots should be taught in school and that every student in Los Angeles should know about this important event. The riots marked a period in Los Angeles history.