Low Stakes Artifacts

1. The Madonnas of Echo Park

Why did Brando Skyhorse add Efrens character to the novel?
I think Skyhorse added Efrens chapter to the novel to make the reader feel. At
first you feel disgust because of his attitude and actions but as the story progresses you
start to feel bad for him. Efrens chapter also provides a different perspective to the
events that happen and as the story develops and the reader sees how theyre all
connected, the reader starts to understand Efrens story better and it begins to evoke a
different feeling. The reader starts to feel bad for Efren and makes the reader feel
completely different than when Efren is first introduced. I feel like creating a character
like Efren was a good way to make the reader feel strong emotions and attitude towards a
character.

2. Sophies Choice Journal/Reflection

What was the point in making Sophie choose?
The officer told her she was Pole and not just a yid, the officer, I feel, made her
choose just to give her a hard time. I think that Dr. Jemnd Von Niemand knew he had the
power to make her choose and he was taking advantage of that. He couldve possibly
been upset that she didnt answer when he was first talking other. The connection I see
here is that Sophie was being treated unfairly and being taken advantage of like Mexican
immigrants, and in the freedom writers different races and groups were at war with each
other like the polish, Jews, and Yiddish. Freedom Writers, Sophies Choice, Easy Riders,
and The Madonnas of Echo Park share the theme of hate, different groups of people

having trouble living together and hatred gets the best of them. Each group faces
problems that stem back to the hate and violence caused by that hate.

3. Acting White
What is Fryer saying is a solution to higher achievement among Blacks and Hispanics?
On page 165 Fryer explains that when there are two groups of people and one
group is doing better than the other and seems to be achieving more than the lower group,
then the underachieving group begins to lose its best members to the achieving group
because they are looking for opportunities that arent available within its own group. This
is later seen negatively and the underachieving group begins to be closed off and doesnt
like when its members lave; Fryer seems to be opposed to the integrated school system
and in the end of the essay he explains that if more students are expected to do well then
society needs to change and create a setting that will allow people to really thrive. He
then says the integrated school system isnt getting us there and wont, suggesting that
segregation would be better. I personally agree with Fryer, I feel like there are certain
situations where segregated school systems may work better, but unlike the past we
should make sure that all settings are equal and all students are being set up for success.

4. Madonnas of Echo Park Chapter 4 Journal

"The bus fare is $1.25 (no transfers) and nonnegotiable; nobody boards- nom after how
tragic his sob story- without paying the full fare. I follow there rules." page 72

I take the bus to school everyday and I come across these bus drivers all the time,
the fare is $1.75 now but even if I'm a quarter short the driver will usually give

you a hard time but sometimes they won't, there was once a time where I rode the
bus for .10 cents because I ended up not having a ride home and the bus driver
didn't give me any problems because he knew I hadn't planned on taking the bus.
It really just depends on the bus driver but I have definitely come across a driver
that won't budge on the rules like Efren.

"They can't hear a thing and explode in profane rage if you disturb them from the bubble
they've crated to ask them for a bus pass that hasn't expired or to remind them- no free
transfers to or from other buses. These teens carry a couple thousand dollars worth of
toys on them, money i never could have earned from working a straight job at their age,
and they want a free transfer!"

I have definitely been that bus rider that he is describing here, there have been
times where i really need a transfer but don't have money on my tap card or any
more change and I feel bad asking for a free transfer with my phone in my hand
and earphones in because I know what it looks like. Its funny that Brando
Skyhorse was able to really know that this is a real thing that happens and I liked
reading this because I am definitely guilty of them and its funny to see what
Efren, a bus driver, has to say about it.

5. Freedom Writers
Chapter 5 Journal
Self-reliance- reliant on ones own powers and resources rather than those of others.

I feel like these students have grown to learn that they need to be self reliant to
survive so they have that mentality. Because their neighborhood is divided off by race
they learned that there is no one out there really looking out for them so they need to do it
themselves. Although some of the students feel like they could rely on the other people in
their gang, there are some students that dont and definitely the one white student in the
class knew he had to be self reliant because there was no one in that class that was
looking out for him in the beginning. The students were self reliant because of the
circumstances at home and in their neighborhood, and the division of their neighborhood
transferred over into their schools as well.