Spare Parts - Reading Response Journal

Reading Response Journals (RRJs) are an informal space for you to explore the readings as well as your own reading
process. The first step to writing an RRJ is to read carefully, taking notes on the text as you go. RRJs should include the
following:
1.

A brief summary of the chapters (5-8 sentences) including major events, characters, and important information
about setting (place and time).

Spare Parts author Joshua Davis received an e-mail from Marcos Garciaacosta back in 2004. At first, the message from
the supposed account manager at Intel in Chandler, Arizona, looked like spam to the author. It was about a robotics team
composed of impoverished high school students who won a competition. Joshua Davis was very close to deleting the email but because it came from an unusual source, he decided to leave it there for closer inspection later on. After four
weeks, Joshua Davis finally ended up calling Fredi Lajvardi, the robotics team teacher. Lajvardi explains that the success
of his robotics team did not draw any attention from journalists because frivolous fights seem to catch all of the media
instead. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, the third annual Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely
Operated Cehicle Competition is being held. The aforementioned high school students are Latino and they come from
Carl Hayden Community High School in West Phoenix. Cristian Arcega, a nerd, Lorenzo Santillan, a former gang member,
Oscar Vazquez, a talented Junior Army Reserve Officer, and Luis, a gentle giant are all being interviewed by suspicious
judges, Tom Swean and Lisa Spence. The interview goes surprisingly well for the team after a round of scrutinizing
questions.
2.

Your response to the reading (5-8 sentences) including your opinions about and reaction to the assigned
chapters. This section is a place to think deeply about the book and the emotions and complex ideas it brings up for
you.

The first emotion I had when I found out what Spare Parts was about, I couldnt help but think back to my own
experience of building robots. In my freshman year of high school, I was an active team member for San Marino High
Schools Titanium Robotics team. It is ironic that San Marino is a very privileged city and yet, when we competed in the
FIRST Robotics Competition in San Diego that year, we were all disappointed to be placed in the bottom 25 th percentile. I
also found it to be quite a coincidence that a journalist wrote Spare Parts, because I eventually found my niche in high
school through the newspaper team. When the judges were doubting the team during the interview, I questioned my own
predispositions about certain races being more capable than others in the science and technology industry. When I reflect
on my previous experiences, my own robotics team were mostly Asian males. As a journalist, I realized that I should be
open to all opportunities as Joshua Davis was very close to not being.
3.

2 discussion questions. These should be openended questions that could lead to an interesting conversation, not
factbased yes or no questions.

Out of all people, why was an account manager at Intel contacting an inconspicuous Wired journalist? Did Tom Swean
and Lisa Spence have real discriminatory mindsets when interviewing the Latino robotics team?
4.

An explanation of your reading process. How did this weeks reading go for you? Discuss specific sections that
made you confused or questions that you have about the text. Point out strategies that helped you overcome
challenges in your reading. Choose one or two of the following prompts to develop your ideas:
While I was reading,

I felt confused when so I

I was distracted by but then I
I started to think aboutbecause
The time went quickly because
I figured outby
I finally understood
I remembered that earlier in the book
I was reminded of

I disliked the Authors Note and Introduction because I found it moderately ambiguous. I felt as if though the Authors Note
was simply scrambled together, especially due to the sentence explaining how a local TV station had aired a segment
about the schools success. I felt as if though that sentence was out of place. The Introduction is even more frustrating as
I do not agree with the Joshua Davis method of placing the audience right into the middle of the competition with very little
backdrop. Despite all of this, I managed to understand the general premise of what is going to later unfold in the story. I
constantly had to re-read specific sentences that had to do with the robot itself. All the while, I pondered how these
seemingly inexperienced high school students have unexpected technical knowledge of their robot.

5. 3-5 significant words from this particular readingwords that you feel are important to understand the text, or
that you have decided to learn to develop your academic vocabulary. Define the words you choose and explain
why you chose them.

Type the words that you found significant here with your explanations
Hesitation (n): The action of pausing before taking action. I thought hesitation was an excellent word for discussion
because it describes how all the team members might have felt before accepting the challenge to compete against
schools such as MIT.
Doubt (n): A feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. In the very first page of the book, even a neutral journalists first
reaction of the team was that of doubt which shows how strong the team needed to be in order to defy expectations.
Standard (n): Used or accepted as normal and average: I found the word standard to be important to the books
message. The group of illegal immigrants are not typically imagined to exceed industry standards, especially in
engineering.

You will receive complete credit on every RRJ (20 points) by thoughtfully completing the steps as described above, looking
at the rubric to check completeness, and by turning your RRJ in on time. The RRJs are a space for you to think through
the readings without having to worry too much about grammar, organization, and the other requirements of more formal
writing assignments. However, do follow basic rules such as capitalizing I and using appropriate language.