Community Stories

To Be Young Black and Gifted:
   Hansberry definitely seems to see her community where she grew up as a family and a culture, which she has learned many things from. Being the youngest child with a large age gap from her siblings, she had to find ways to entertain herself when she became too much of a "nuisance" to her siblings. This shaped her summers into the her many memories of playing outside singing rhymes and seeing all of the families out on their back porches. Hansberry largely respected her father, seeing him as a strong figure who was very smart, respected, and incredibly brave. Though openly showing signs of affection was not common in her family, at her father's funeral, the whole family was caressing each other.
     Hansberry's parents instilled many ideals into her, stressing the importance of family and their race. They gave her ideas about life and her place in it, saying life "was something that one did," (p.770) and to live it and keep it interesting. These ideals can be seen in the letter she writes at the end of the passage. Hansberry's father was involved with the NAACP and she describes the family's perseverance standing up for their rights. Living in a predominantly white neighborhood, they kept their stern attitudes and remained strong against the hate.

University Days:
   Thurber's economics class did not live up to his expectations, because while it was challenging for him, he had to hear the teacher going much easier on the star football player.Even after the many hints given to the player to help him keep his grades up in order to be allowed to play, he still was not able to answer. Thurber did not live up to the expectations of his Botany or Military Drill classes. He had to take both courses more than once. Thurber was never able to see cells through his microscope in botany, but after four years of military drill, he finally knew and could do the drills well.

Country Roads by John Denver
Almost heaven, west virginia
Blue ridge mountains, shenandoah river
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

All my mem’ries, gather ’round her
Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye

Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

I hear her voice, in the mornin’ hours she calls to me
The radio reminds me of my home far a-way
And drivin’ down the road I get a feeling’
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads 
http://www.lyrics007.com/John%20Denver%20Lyrics/Country%20Roads%20Lyrics.html

    This song is extremely nostalgic as John Denver sings about going home to West Virginia and all of the great things about his home. It is a rural area and the singer speaks of West Virginia as "she," the place where he grew up and that now beckons him. The tone of this song when sung is like a crooning and it is very passionate. Not many specifics are given about the singer's home, it is just clear that it is a place that he wants to return to. The "country roads" definitely have a large role as the link between where the singer is then and his home.

Here is New York:
    The strength of White's introduction of defining New York by what it isn't comes from his pure honesty of not trying to glorify the place, but showing it as it is. The cities beauty is found in the simple amazing fact that it is all able to co-exist, with so many people, so much electricity, and the difficult climate being three of the many factors.  A tourist may only see the filthy surface of much of the city, naming The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty as the beauty of New York. There are many things that could be seen as problems about the city, such as the fact that everywhere one goes seems to be so overpopulated, each person competing for the same food, electricity, schooling, and transportation as the next. The citizens understand this way of urban life and living in such close contact with one another. Although the city does exist as a unified, crowded domain, it is also divided into even closer entities. Each area has picked up its own culture and customs over the year, with all of their essentials only a short walk from their doorsteps. This is similar to Chicago, where nick-names can be used in everyday conversation to generalize each neighborhood into their own reputations. A new flavor is present wherever you go, providing different entertainment and variety.