Reflection on Southland

A.) Reflecting on all my work in the novel, Southland, I can say that the book directly applied to my life as a first semester college student. The novel, Southland written by Nina Revoyr, is about a family in three generations and how they affect each other based on a hidden secret in the family. When Frank Sakai dies, Jackie Ishidas, Franks granddaughter, finds out that he left a large amount of cash to a boy, Curtis Martindale. In the beginning Jackie doesnt really care about her grandfathers past, until she is more aware of his life and the impact he made to others. I had to read the book in my College One and English class. The novel opened my eyes about Los Angeles past, as well as the impact of how society affects others based on their appearance. The wonderful novel has opened my eyes more with serious topics such as racism, historic events, and being prejudice. I have never been into a book as much as I have been with Southland. My favorite character, Curtis Martindale, shows a positive attitude towards society, based on his color of his skin. His life against society has helped me realize how hard non Caucasians have it. I personally feel that its sad that we all cant get along as a society, but thats just human nature. I however find it super disrespectful for others to kill each other for stupid reason such as being different because someones skin is black, brown, yellow, ect. In my college one class, for thirteen weeks, we had to do summarize three chapters and analyze our reaction to the novel. Even though the RRJs werent the funniest homework assignment, at the end of the semester they helped me write my essay. Ive learned from my RRJs that my its good to annotate a novel in depth. It takes a lot of discipline and concentration to do all the assignments for the novel. For me Ive learned that I need to have a personal connection with characters in the book. Once I have found my something I like about the book, I usually can get more into the story. When Nina Reyor came to Pasadena City College, it motivated me to read the book more. Its amazing how she out looked serious issues into a fictional novel. When she presented herself to all Pathway students, she talked about many topics of Southland, herself, and why she is a writer today. The part I will never forget about her presentation, is that to never give up on your dreams. She said that she loves what she is doing, and even though its tough at what she does, she wouldnt change it for anything. I remind me to never give up in what I want to become, an animator and teacher. Thank you for your wonderful novel and advice, Nina Reyour.