Reedley College

Reading & Writing

Center presents...

ENGL-15B-52787

(52787) CREATIVE

WRITING FICTION:

David Borofka

ENGL-49-52833 (52833)

LATINO & CHICNO LIT:

Rick Garza

ENGL-43B-52832

(52832) AMERICAN LIT

1877-PRESENT:

Kate Watts

ENGL-1B-52817 (52817)

INTRO LITERATURE:

Kate Watts

ENGL-15F-52788

(52788)

SCREENWRITING:

Ryan LaSalle

ENGL-36-53495 (53495)

WOMEN'S LITERATURE:

Deb Lapp

ENGL-1B-52818 (52818)

INTRO LITERATURE:

Deb Lapp

RC Creative Writing

& Literature Class

SPRING 2018

Stories!!! We love to read them and we love to write them! As Stephen Foster,

author of How to Read Literature Like a College Professor says, “On one level, everyone who writes

anything knows that pure originality is impossible. Everywhere you pitch your tent, the ground has

already been camped on. So you sigh and pitch your tent where you can, knowing that someone

else has been there…. That papyrus describing the postmodern condition is forty-five hundred years

old. That is not a terrible thing though. Writers notice all the time that their characters resemble

somebody-Persephone, Pip, Long Johns Silver, LaBelle Dame sans Merci- and they just go with it… ”

If you want to learn more about Literature or writing, this Spring Semester will see the offering of

two new RC Literature Classes: Women’s Literature by Instructor Deb Lapp and Latino and Chicano

Literature by Instructor Rick Garza. It is also time for the next two Creative Writing classes; Fiction

Writing with Instructor David Borofka and Screen Writing with Instructor Ryan LaSalle. For those of

you interested in exploring the world of literature, Intro to Literature and American Literature form

1877-Present are also available. Go ahead, take the leap, jump in! Register for one of these classes

TODAY while there is still room!!

November 2017

2

Today, Thanksgiving is a time to gather

around those who are most important to us and eat-

ing until breathing is impossible. Some people may

even catch the football game or get a rare visit from

family. The original feast of Thanksgiving took

place in November of 1621 between the Plymouth

colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans. In

1863, the holiday was designated on the last Thurs-

day of November by President Abraham Lincoln.

Congress later made it a legal holiday in 1941.

The Pilgrims came to America in search of

religious freedom and arrived on the Mayflower on

December 11, 1620. The Pilgrims’ population great-

ly decreased during the bitter winter, however, with

the help of the Native Americans, they were able to

learn the ways of the land. The first feast was a

product of the colonials being taught by the Native

Americans how to grow their own crops and survive

off the land by using skills like fishing, extracting

sap, detecting which plants were safe and which

ones were not. The first harvest, a result of coopera-

tion together became the first Thanksgiving feast.

The meal was a celebration of the two sides being

able to compromise and work together. The first

Thanksgiving feast lasted a total of three days but

would not be celebrated again until June 29, 1676.

Ironically, the second celebration of Thanksgiving

excluded Native Americans due to an ongoing dis-

pute between Native Americans and Pilgrims.

Thanksgiving is a time to gather in unity,

teach the young, and to prepare to give thanks for all

the good fortune that has been received in the year.

Though people’s traditions may vary with how ex-

actly they celebrate Thanksgiving, the meaning be-

hind the holiday remains to be around those you

care about and be thankful for all one has.

By: Clara Munoz

3

By: Elizabeth KleinKramer

College application season is upon us, so here are some tips for those of you who are planning to trans-

fer this coming spring:

Start Early! You don’t want to start filling out your applications the night they’re due. That’s a sure-

fire way to submit a mediocre application.

Get someone to read over your personal statement. This is how colleges get to know you. Don’t be

shy about asking others to read over your paper. If you come into the Reading and Writing Cen-

ter, we will gladly help you with your personal statement.

Go see a counselor if you’re confused. There are plenty of resources on the Reedley College cam-

pus to help you with your application. The transfer counselors are pros at college applications.

Make sure all of your credits will transfer. Ideally, you’ll have done this before you actually begin

your application, but if you haven’t, go and see a counselor to check. Otherwise you might end up

retaking classes or being denied for your dream school.

Don’t forget about the financial aid. Financial aid is essential for many students in college, so don’t

forget about it. Check to make sure that the colleges you’re applying to have financial aid oppor-

tunities, and then, fill out those applications if you get accepted. And of course, complete your

FAFSA. The application just opened, and it’s a first-come-first-served basis, so get on it!

Don’t slack off in the spring just because you’ve already applied. Universities often track your last

semester grades, which means you can’t fail any classes in the semester following your applica-

tion. It’s tempting to relax and let your grades slide, but that can affect your acceptance. Just do

your best and you’ll be on your way to a university!

4

By: Dylon Romo

Nobel Prize Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro

Writer Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki,

Japan on November 2, 1954. When he was five years

old, his family moved to the United Kingdom. Ishigu-

ro graduated from the University of Kent in the late

1970s with a degree in both English and Philosophy.

After, he continued his education and studied Crea-

tive Writing at the University of East Anglia.

Ishiguro has written eight novels since he

started working as a full-time writer in the early

eighties. His awards include the Winifred Holt-

by Memorial Prize for A Pale View of Hills, the Whit-

bread Prize for An Artist of the Floating World, the

Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day, becoming

Officer of the Order of the British Empire, making

Time magazine's list of the 100 greatest English lan-

guage novels since the magazine's formation in

1923, The Times list of "The 50 Greatest British Writ-

ers Since 1945,” and most recently, the Nobel Prize

in Literature.

Ishiguro capitalizes on themes such as

memory, time, and mortality in his work. His eight

novels have been translated into over 40 languages.

They are written in the first-person narrative and

focus on the shortcomings of human interactions.

Ishiguro reveals the flaws of his characters by cre-

ating emotional appeal. This allows the reader to

sympathize with both the characters and the narra-

tor. This emotion stems from character action in the

story. Ishiguro’s novels sometimes end without res-

olution. His characters leave their issues behind in

hopes that they will fade away with time. The char-

acters accept who they are, and this offers them a

sense of comfort and understanding. Ishiguro notes

that authors Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Marcel Proust

are major influences of his. Often Ishiguro has been

compared to Jane Austen and Henry James.

Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Lit-

erature in 2017. His response to the award was the

following: “It's a magnificent honor, mainly because

it means that I'm in the footsteps of the greatest au-

thors that have lived, so that's a terrific commenda-

tion.

Continued on page 16

5

On October 16th, the Multicultural Club

presented the Human Library in the quad: people

of different ethnicities, faiths, and backgrounds

came together to share their personal narratives

to students and faculty from Reedley College.

Some of these narratives included the following:

a Sikh student, a teenage mother, a CODA (Child

of Deaf Adults), a biracial student. Students and

faculty held a respectful, yet provocative, conver-

sation with each person in a span of 2 hours. The

purpose of this event was to pull back the curtain

and face the prejudices and discriminations that

persecute these lives. Dr. Deb Borofka, who has

an LGBT child, told the story of her daughter

coming out. She said, “Fortunately, I wasn’t sur-

prised when my younger daughter came out in

college. She made it clear since junior high that

she found both sexes attractive. When she intro-

duced us to her girlfriend, who later became her

wife, she felt like one of the family, so it was not

a big deal.” Exposure to these types of stories

creates a positive environment within our Reed-

ley College community. There was an intellectual

ambience within each connection, and each stu-

dent challenged their internalized prejudices.

My personal experience was fascinating

because I identify as bisexual and atheist. As

such, I talked to Sikhs, a person who identifies as

LGBTQ+, and parent of an LGBTQ+ person, and

many others. My lack of faith did not deter any-

one of different faith from talking to me, and

they widened my world view. My knowledge of

the Sikh religion and culture was very limited,

but being able to talk face-to-face and ask inti-

mate questions enriched the part of my spirit

that longed for human cooperation and compati-

bility: there was a coalescence and understand-

ing between each participant, including myself.

Maybe if an event like this can be implemented

on a larger scale, there won’t be as much hate

and disconnection between us.

By: Gabriella Quijano

6

By: Maria Rodriguez

What is the meaning of life? Is there any worth for our existence? What consti-tutes as right and wrong? What is truly con-sidered living? What defines one as a hu-man being? There are so many questions that pertain to our everyday life, or things that seem to strange to us. No matter how trivial the thoughts are, such reflections would be considered thinking philosophi-cally. The term philosophy in Greek “philo” is love and “sophia” is wisdom, making phi-losophers lovers of wisdom. Philosophers think about the most basic and profound matters concerning the human existence. We know great thinkers of philosophy like: Plato, Aristotle, Plato's apprentice, Rene Descartes, and many others, who have shaped our realities to miniscule pieces of existence. Despite what we many feel about the subject of philosophy, there is no denying that philosophy challenges our morals, reality, and beliefs. It forces us to think beyond what our senses can give us. Philosophy is divided into several subjects: Ethics, Logic, Metaphysics, and Politics. Philosophy lessons can be easily be learned about through classes, books, vid-eos, and many other ways. As students and members of the community, we all

can benefit from learning to understand the world on a different level, and also help aid in developing a critical thinking. In ac-cordance of making philosophy core con-cepts more known in the public, World Phi-losophy Day was created. It was established in 2005 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They emphasized the need for the public to focus on improving discipline of our minds; emphasizing the need to think critically about the world and our-selves. This in turn, will teach the public to promote tolerance and peace in our daily lives.

7

turkey

family

laughter

leaves

mayflower

fall

chilly

corn

potatoes

shopping

pilgrims

black friday

gravy

pie

thanksgiving

yams

pumpkin

football cranberries cider

8

November is Native American Heritage Month,

which was first instituted in 1990 by the then Pres-

ident George H. W. Bush. As with any other na-

tional month, Native American Heritage Month

aims to provide a platform for Native Americans to

share their culture and history with any willing to

listen. As a way to try and add to the education of

others on Native American tribes, let’s take a look

at two of the tribes that come from right here in

the Central Valley. The Maidu are a tribe that

came from the Central Valley, around the area

that is now Sacramento.

The Maidu had an esti-

mated population of

9,500. They were adept

basket weavers, the

stitching on these bas-

kets was often so fine

that one would need a

magnifying glass to see

them. To create these

intricate baskets, the

Maidu would use many

different kinds of wild plant stems in the baskets.

The Maidu were a hunter-gatherer society, mean-

ing they did not farm. They did however groom

their gathering grounds as to maximize the pro-

duction of things like acorns. Maidu housing was

largely underground, they would also have a fire

situated in the center of the home. These under-

ground houses were used mostly during the win-

ter, they would build different structures for sum-

mer dwelling. The Maidu would also create rock

art, in the form of petroglyphs (etchings into the

walls of a cave) and stone statues. The Yokut

tribes came from the San Joaquin Valley, in the

area south of Bakersfield and the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada. The population of the Yokut tribes

is debatable, one source puts their numbers at

18,000 while several subsequent investigations

stated that the numbers should be substantially

higher, at around 70,000. One interesting aspect

of the Yokut tribes were their trade routes. The

Yokut were known to have engaged

in trade with other Native American

tribes from all over California. You

may be familiar with the name of

one of the local Yokut tribes: the

Chukchansi tribe. The tribe has been

a generous bene-

factor to many of

Fresno’s public

venues including

our downtown

baseball stadium,

and the recently

remodeled Mad-

den Library on the CSUF campus. A bronze statue

commemorating the Yocut was recently restored

and relocated as part of the new Fulton Mall pro-

ject in downtown Fresno. Native Americans con-

tinue o be an important part of Central Valley cul-

ture and we are all have benefited from their on-

going support of the arts and education.

9

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

-W.H. Auden

On November 1st, the First Wednesday at One Series, which will be held in the Faculty Lounge, will feature

the Reedley College Faculty reading poetry in different languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Afrikaans,

among others. Translations will not be provided at the door due to loss of meaning/emphasis in language bar-

riers; however, below is the translation for “Moscas en la Mierda” by the Spanish poet Nicanor Parra, that

will be read by Professor David Dominguez, and “Kaerlighed,” an anonymous Danish poem that will be read

by Dr. Deb Borofka:

Moscas in la Mierda- Nicanor Parra Flies in the Shit- Nicanor Parra

Al señor -al turista -al revolucionario To the man, to the tourist, to the revolutionary

me gustaría hacerles una sola pregunta: I’d like to ask you a single question

¿alguna vez vieron una nube de moscas Have you ever seen a cloud of flies

revolotear en torno a una plasta de mierda hovering over a pile of shit

aterrizar y trabajar en la mierda? Landing and working in the shit

¿han visto moscas alguna vez en la mierda? Have you ever seen the flies in the shit?

porque yo nací y me crié con las moscas Because I was born and raised with flies

en una casa rodeada de mierda in a house surrounded by shit.

Kaerlighed- Ukendt Love- Anonymous

Jeg fik en sorg saa stor I had a great sorrow in my youth

I mine ungdoms dage that I will never get over as long as I live, den aldrig fra mig gaar, the greatest sorrow saa lange som jeg leve. that one can endure,

Den storste sorg forvist which is to love a person at man kan overgaa, whom one can never have det er at elske en

som man kan aldrig faa.

10

By: Veronica Vela

Move out of my way: there is a SALE!!!

With the holidays fast approaching, people are

looking for the best deals to get their loved ones a

great Christmas gift at a discounted price. Many

anticipate the post-Thanksgiving sales. Black Fri-

day, Small Business Saturday/Sunday, and Cyber

Monday have become a part of the holiday season

and an American tradition. However, where did the

idea and catchy names originate? According to the

History website, Black Friday is the first sale tradi-

tion that can be dated back to the 1950s. As history

will show, Philadelphia police came up with the

term “Black Friday” due to the chaos that ensued

the day after Thanksgiving. Because of the Army-

Navy football game held on that Saturday every

year, hordes of shoppers and tourists took over the

city, and Philadelphia police officers would work

extra-long shifts to deal with the crowds and traf-

fic. Unfortunately, shoplifters took advantage of

the craziness, which added to the law enforcement

headache. In 1961, “Black Friday” caught on all

over Philadelphia though the city’s merchants tried,

unsuccessfully, to change the name due to its nega-

tive connotation. However, as recently as 1985, it

still was not known nationwide. So, in the late

1980s, it began to spread, and as a result, retailers

attempted to use the business term “red to black.”

This phrase was meant to show that “in-the-red”

indicated loss of profit, while the phrase “in-the-

black” meant that retailers were doing a healthy

level of business. Regardless of the origin of

“Black Friday,” the term stuck in popular culture.

For the past several decades the one-day

shopping frenzy has since turned into a four-day

event. “Cyber Monday” was dreamt up in 2005 as a

marketing tool by the marketing team at Shop.org,

which is a division of the National Retail Federa-

tion.

11

The idea was meant to match the popularity

of Black Friday with a catchy hook for online retail-

ers. Many shoppers who take advantage of the sales

on Black Friday seized on the concept of Cyber

Monday.

Online retailers saw the unexpected sales

jump because of the marketing efforts. Since then,

Cyber Monday is a kick off start to online shopping

for the holiday season. According to Farm Bureau

Financial Services, Small Business Saturday/Sunday

was created by American Express a credit card com-

pany, in November of 2010.

This company took advantage

of the sales opportunities that

happen that weekend, and they

thought the sales event would

help small local businesses. In

2011, it became official when

it got the support of the gov-

ernment. Many small business-

es took advantage and

joined the promotions

made by American Ex-

press, which led to an

estimated $5.5 billion being spent at small business-

es around the country just in that year alone. So,

when you are sitting on the couch with a belly full of

pumpkin pie, get ready to shop and take advantage

of these amazing deals. If you can finish your shop-

ping in one weekend, you can enjoy the rest of the

season with your loved ones, who will love their

gifts on Christmas morning.

12

By: Marshall Hodson

The event where the entire continental U.S.

undergoes a time shift from early March to early No-

vember is known as Daylight Savings Time. People

commonly identify it by the phrase ‘Spring Forward,

and Fall Backward.’ During the year of 2017, Day-

light Savings Time takes place from March 12th to

the upcoming 5th of November. Many ask why we

push ourselves through the difficult process of

“losing many hours of sleep.” But in actuality, it al-

lows society to have a better hold on managing the

natural daylight hours. DST has advantages of reduc-

ing the use of electricity and decreasing car acci-

dents/injuries on the road. However, other studies

show that it can affect an individual’s

mental and physical health. While the U.S.

was the first to propose the idea, it was

not the first to utilize the ongoing tradi-

tion.

A town in Canada was the first to

incorporate the DST into their time sched-

ules in 1908. Soon after, Germany became

the first to use it on the national level in

1916. DST eventually started to trend

throughout the countries around the

world; and nearly every state in the U.S.

has implemented the time-shift. There are

states who have not used it, and those

who do not use it anymore (Arizona, Hawaii, Guam).

Besides knowing who/where it was started, people

are curious about ways to cope with their sleep

schedules.

The biggest tip out there is to just treat the

time shift like any other normal day, and try to get

to sleep a little before 10 o’clock. The reason for this

is because the shift occurs at 3 a.m., so to keep with

a stable flow of DST, an individual essentially regains

the hour of lost sleep back from the previous day. If

one has the sleep schedule of eight hours, they

would lose the hour from DST, but they recover it at

3 a.m. So, come November 5th, just get to sleep and

try to forget about it.

13

Why should I Write an Annotated Bibliography?

By: Alejandro Garcia

Most scholars dive into research before they write a paper.

The extensive and intensive research is meant to inspire and

help them gain a better understanding of the topic they are writing about, and the author usually

attaches a list of the sources he or she uses at the end of the paper. However, they sometimes write

an annotated bibliography, which is vastly different from a Works Cited or Reference Page. Not

only does the annotated bibliography list the sources that are used in a research paper, but it also

provides a summary and an evaluation the sources.

It is important to ask an instructor what they require in the annotated bibliography because not all

annotated bibliographies are the same: the length or format may vary.

In the summary, scholars should clearly explain what an article is about: they should capture the

main idea of a source and state the author’s point. Is the author trying to inform or persuade his

audience?

The evaluation portion is supposed to determine the effectiveness of the article. Is the author

credible? Does the author use biased diction? Do they use facts or logical fallacies to support

their argument? Do they use pathos, logos, or ethos in their paper?

After critically analyzing the information, individuals are supposed to determine how they will

incorporate it into their paper. This will allow individuals to objectively look at the evidence

14

By: Alberto Gallegos

How did Thanksgiving Day football get start-

ed? Originally, it was a tradition in high schools and

colleges of America, but became it has become more

and more common in most parts of the country. In

the National Football League, Football on Thanksgiv-

ing became a thriving tradition made popular by

George A. Richards, owner of the Detroit Lions in the

1930’s. Richards purchased the Portsmouth, Ohio

Spartans and moved the team to Detroit. The Spar-

tans were members of the NFL from 1930 to 1933.

With the Spartans, Richards brought a proven, quali-

ty team to Detroit. What makes Richards so signifi-

cant in this tradition, is the risk he took of scheduling

a game on Thanksgiving, which featured the Detroit

Lions and the World Champion Chicago Bears. This

game sold out with 26,000 tickets being sold. The

Bears ended upholding their status as champions in

the Thanksgiving game that resulted in a 19-16 win

against the Lions. Despite a six-season gap from 1939

to 1944, the Thanksgiving Day game has been played

with no interruptions.

So, this Thanksgiving Day, as you watch the

NFL while eating your delicious turkey, remember to

thank George A. Richards for his brave risk that start-

ed the tradition of a NFL game on Thanksgiving.

15

By: Stephanie Duarte

November 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

1st– Author’s Day

2nd- Sandwich Day

4th– Book Lover’s Day

6th- Saxophone Day

10th– Veteran’s Day

13th– Sadie Hawkins Day

17th– World Peace Day

21st– World “Hello” Day

23rd– Thanksgiving

Nobel Prize continued…

The world is in a very uncertain moment, and I

would hope all the Nobel Prizes would be a force for

something positive in the world as it is at the mo-

ment. I'll be deeply moved if I could in some way be

part of some sort of climate this year in contributing

to some sort of positive atmosphere at a very uncer-

tain time.”

Ishiguro’s most notable work is The Remains

of the Day, written in 1989. This novel was awarded

the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. In 1993, the novel

was adapted to film, which starred Anthony Hopkins

and Emma Thompson. The film was nominated for

eight Academy Awards.

The narrator Stevens is a butler who recalls his life

through a diary. As the story progresses, Stevens

struggles with his relationship with the housekeeper

Miss Kenton. Steven wrestles with the balance of his

professional and personal life.

Ishiguro married Lorna McDougall in 1986

after meeting at the West London Cyrenians home-

lessness charity in Notting Hill. Ishiguro worked as a

residential resettlement worker at the time. McDou-

gall is a social worker, and the two live in London

with Naomi, their daughter. Ishiguro calls himself a

"serious cinephile" and "great admirer of Bob Dylan,”

last year’s Nobel Prize laureate.