Online Portfolio

This is the link to my online portfolio

http://sjohnson19.weebly.com

Book Club Thesis

My thesis for Why New Orleans Matters is, that looking past the destruction and poorly put together neighborhoods, New Orleans will always be in the hearts of its natives and Piazza shows this by describing the traditions and customs that New Orleans holds.

I liked the book and thought it was very interesting but after talking with my group I've come to realize that it is kind of like a travel guide.  There are certain things he describes too much and it gets repetitive at times.  By reading it we can clearly see why New Orleans matters but I feel like he could have done it in a different way.

examples of other people's thoughts on the book
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/100298914
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/229440085
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/179906077  -- negative review

Tent City

In the last class we went out to talk to the people who were participating in Tent City.  We talked to the two people who are high up in the Social Justice League, Nicole Sauber and Kayla Harvey.  They told us that they do Tent City to raise awareness about homelessness and possible figure out solutions to it.  This event takes plase outside of the RCC and it's where people sleep in tents for 5 nights and basically go on with there day like a homeless person.  When talking to Nicole, she said that the event is getting bigger and bigger each year and this year they have at least 25 participants.  The Social Justice League brings in speakers every year to talk about homelessness in hopes everyone will join them and listen to what they have to say.  Hearing what Nicole and Kayla had to say really put it into perpective for me and really taught me how important this issue is and how many people are left homeless.

Article for Book Club

Last week in Book Club we all decided to find one article each about New Orleans in a different point of view other than Piazza's.  I found an article called Rebuilding New Orleans by Peter Jon Lindberg which is clearly about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  In this article, Lindberg does exactly what Piazza did in Why New Orleans Matter which is he describes some of the restaurants in the city and the food that is still the same there.  He then goes on to talk about the devastation after Katrina and mentions the neighborhoods. Lindberg talks of the X marks that are sprayed on buildings to note that the property was searched.  Also, he ends it by saying that time is measured in "Before the storm," "During the storm," and "Since the storm."

Online Portfolio

This is my online portfolio that shows my progression throughout the Fall 2011 Semester.

http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php#

Chapters 7-8

    These chapters take place right after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  Piazza tells how he goes back to his part of New Orleans to do a report on it and describes exactly what he sees.  He goes into deep detail about how all the neighborhoods are ruined and most of the houses are non-existent.  New Orleans is basically cleared out but there are some people still hanging on with hope who stuck around.  He tells us about how some of the people were selling food for free and people were gathered aroung talking as a community, like New Orleans always has been.
     In Chapter 8, Piazza talks about a camp called Black River Red Cross Camp.  This is where people who had no where to go went to stay while New Orleans was being fixed.  There were rumors going around that this city was going to be the next Las Vegas or more like Atlantic City. The author interviewed many people who were at this camp and asked if they will ever go back to New Orleans.  He got many mixed reactions; some people said they will never go back and others said they will go back no matter how long it takes to fix it up. As you can see, New Orleans natives are very dedicated to their city and are the people who know why New Orleans Matters. 

Book Club Chapters 4-6

       In the next three chapters I read in Why New Orleans Matters they again talked a lot about food but also Jazz Festival, Mardi Gras and other festivities.  Food seems to play in important role in the lives of New Orleans residents and even a bigger role when it comes to the festivals.  Piazza talks of the Jazz Festival he attended and all of the famous singers that came through New Orleans and some that he saw at the event.  He says that the main reason people come to the Jazz Festival is to "hear the local heroes."  As I was reading this I was wanting to be there because this even just seems like so much fun and a place where all people come together and can celebrate as one.
       After the chapter about all the fun they have, he gets more serious and starts talking about the rich and the poor.  In New Orleans, people are not separated as much due to their social status and how much money they have; mainly the people stick together.  I was confused on how he talks about how their is no separation between blacks and whites but in the next paragraph he tells us how blacks are treated and how it is not so nice.  To bring the mood back up, Piazza tells us about how New Orleans never changes, meaning the characteristics of it and the places.  Reading all three of these chapters made me realize that New Orleans is a place of unity and loves to go by tradition.

First 3 Chapters

In my book club, we had to read the introduction then the first 3 chapters.  The introduction was about the devastation that was happening during the hurricane and it was very detailed.  Reading this was very emotional because it described how people's lives were destroyed in minutes and how most people did not survive.  The chapters we read were about what life is like in New Orleans now and how it has always been.  Tom Piazza tells us about the many musicians that play here and what type of music there is.  Also, tells us about how food and music play an important role in the people of New Orleans' lives.  What I liked the most when I was reading was the part when he said that people from all over the city come to people's funerals, some for people they don't even know.  They just love being around people like them and listening to all different types of music and celebrating or grieving together.

Why New Orleans Matters

In my book club we chose to read the book Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza.  At our first meeting we dicussed why we all chose the book and what interested us about it.  I chose this book because first off, the cover looked really cool and it caught my eye.  Second, after I read the summary of what it was about it seemed really interesting and something I would like reading.  Why New Orleans Matters is about the city after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  It tells us about how it grew as a city again and about the culture and traditions that occur there.

Interview choice and questions

I am thinking about picking my mom to do the profile on. I know we are not suppose to pick someone that close to us but I feel like she would be a very interesting person to do an interview with.  My mom has had colon cancer twice and needed to have 2 surgeries to get out all of the cancer.  She now has to go through chemo every other week and does not know when she can end it.  This would be a very cool and interesting interview because we would get to hear how she feels about the whole thing and how scary it was to find out she had it when the typical age to get it is 50 years old.

Possible interview questions would be:
1) Has anyone else in your family had it?
2) What made you go to the hospital the day you found out you had it?
3) What is it like to have to sit in the Oncologist office every other week so they can hook you up to the chemo?
4) What kind of surgery did you need to get?
5) What type of things went through your head when you found out it came back?

Profile essay ideas

Three possible people that I might interview are my auntie Cathy who has been to many different places around the world , my friend Juan De Leon, or my friend's grandfather who came over to the U.S from Ireland.