Thursday, April 21, 2011
Integrating other voices into a piece of writing
After viewing the videos from the Denver Post on Sun Valley and reading Tina Griego’s series on this neighborhood, I’d like you reflect on what you think the main argument or the main focus (implicit or explicit) of this special feature is. As you explain to the rest of us what you think the main point is, point to a few specific examples (from either the videos or the writing) to illustrate your discussion and explain how they support this main idea. As well, explain how you see the video and/or Tina Griego using and shaping the voices of the residents of Sun Valley to emphasize and convey the main message.
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Griegos video series speaks to the loss of autonomy and agency among those are impoverished and or homeless. From the narratives and images given, there is a consistent trend that due to no actions of their own or the environments they grew in, many residents of Sun Valley cannot control the ultimate destiny of the neighborhood when competing interests arise. On an individualist level the progress made thus far has, according to the accounts, made a difference in families lives. From school to a civil and naturing neighborhood environment, children and adults can prosper. For example, the collective sense of trust among some neighbors allowed for them to let each other watch their children. There is a fear that this sense of solidarity could be lost at the expense of advantageous and idealistic city planning. The use of images and video was striking, allowing for the cliche "a picture is worth a thousand words" mentality. These videos and images create a consistent narrative that solidarity and progress can exist in the most hostile of environments.
ReplyDeleteI think that the main objective to these videos is to bring awareness to an impoverished community in Denver. This community is in fear of being forgotten by the city and run over with new development and industrialization. The anecdote of the mother and child who died in a flash flood brought immense power to this video. It showed how these people are in danger, and the city is not looking after them.
ReplyDeleteThis video also did a good job showing how the local school was providing opportunities and safety for the children. Sun Valley proves that the impoverished communities in America are not always full of gangs and crimes. Rather, they are families and friends who are working together to get by in the world.
This video provided this community with a voice. It shows that they are people that deserve respect and they have the capacity to grow and keep families healthy.
I think the main point of these pieces was to show the importance of community and how the city of Denver may be helping or hurting them by making changes to their surroundings. Throughout the video we are shown a variety of different shots of the families laughing and children having fun.We also get to hear from many different members of Sun Valley about their views about the community they live in. They all obviously feel that the strong connection felt between everyone in Sun Valley is extremely important and they feel that the introduction of the light rail might have negative effects on them. In the video we hear only from members of Sun Valley and how they feel about what is going on. Most of them are understandably concerned and the fact that their side of the story is represented sympathetically helps to convey their worries to the audience.
ReplyDeleteSun Valley exists as a community rich with culture and personality. The people of this fairly isolated neighborhood are so closely interconnected. They care for each other. Throughout Tina Griego's article about Sun Valley and the video about the neighborhood, one key point stood out to me: relationships.
ReplyDeleteMany people have stereotypes of poverty and the neighborhoods the poor live in. This community is secluded enough that many people never venture down to see the reality. In Sun Valley, the people stick together and live in a way that makes them feel very close.
One resident who is 24-years-old, David Roybal, speaks in the article and the video about Sun Valley. He calls it a "community." However, this community can sometimes be viewed as negative. They become so close-knit it is "them versus us." Either way, the community stands strong.
The stories of people such as the single mothers who have high hopes for their children help bring out the community side of Sun Valley as well. In the video, a few mothers stated that in Sun Valley, their kids had friends and a good school to go to. They loved the support their kids gained from the community around them.
Although many of the points in the article and video were negative, some hopeful stories arose out of the seemingly despair-ridden neighborhood. These positive points came out of the narratives of community members, gems of reality that give us insight into their everyday lives.
The main focus of Griego’s series regarding Sun Valley seems to be to shed light onto a community that is more often than not overlooked by many people in Denver. Because it consists of mostly subsidized housing, and because it is in a geographical valley, it is hard for many people to see, or rather, want to see this place. As Toni Cisneros says in Part 1 of the series, “We’re the land of the forgotten.” The light rail project is both drawing attention to and is arousing fears of change within the neighborhood, whether it may change the social structure of Sun Valley or literally raze it down.
ReplyDeleteAs a writer, Griego shapes the voices of the residents of Sun Valley in order to emphasize and convey the main message of shedding light upon Sun Valley. The video accompanying the series takes the actual voices of the residents and, without the aid of a narrator, weaves through a bitter tale of disenfranchisement but with a grain of hope in the possibly near future. When the grandmother figure speaks about the community in which she has lived for so many years, and the accompanying photographs depict the 89-year-old woman actively engaging in community activities, Sun Valley doesn’t really seem that different from any other “normal” community.
I think this article was successful in conveying the people's own view of Sun Valley and their feelings about the light rail. It didn't seem like the argument was really about if the light rail was a good or bad thing; it was more about giving the people of Sun Valley a voice and making a case that their opinions should be considered. In the article and the video, it seemed like Griego focused more on positive impressions and experiences of the neighborhood than negative ones. I think this was to show that Sun Valley does have potential and a strong community. It made the residents seem like people who should be listened to. I would say that she was selective in what voices she chose to use, but she did tell the story through others' voices which was effective. She showed the different opinions people have about the future of Sun Valley and the light rail, their hopes as well as their fears. She definitely had a story she was trying to tell, but she let the people's own voices fill out the story.
ReplyDeleteIn the pieces written on Sun Valley as well as the videos, the main argument seems to be that improvements to be community are not being made for the sake of those who live there, but rather for the economic impact they have on the city as a whole. One person in the video states that plans for improving the neighborhood involove building spaces that will integrate different income levels. However he feels that the community could be improved on its own, without the need to bring in a new group of people. Another example of how people feel that they are not of value to the city in when the woman told the story of the loss of her son. She mentioned that if she were in a different community, the city may have been compelled to tell her about the dangers of the South Platte with flash floods.
ReplyDeleteThe main way specific voices seem to come through is in discussing how an action the government may take will affect their lives as individuals. Instead of seeing a poor neighborhood with little value to the city, the individual stories show the character of the people who live there and how that is being oppressed in a neighborhood that outsidered have deemed valueless. In showing what particular talents or value a person has, such as the young man who worked on community outreach, illistrates to the audience that the people in Sun Valley do have traits that will benefit society as a whole.
I think the main argument surrounding the lightrail coming to Sun Valley is how much it will impact the community, for better or worse. It seems that city planners and many in charge of the fate of Sun Valley feel adding mixed-income people and new businesses to the area will overall benefit the community. Some of the people who live in Sun Valley, however, worry that the sense of "community-togetherness" will be lost once this happens.
ReplyDeleteExamples of those who think the community will be benefited come from Denver city planner man who talked about incorporating public housing, low-income housing, and market rate housing into the area. He, and others on his side of the issue, believe this will help the city to stop warehousing the poor and add more diversity to Sun Valley. Some community members within Sun Valley are also excited about the lightrail and the prospects for a better life that could come with it. Others, mostly those who have resided in Sun Valley the longest, are fearful that the lightrail will displace them and cause the "community-togetherness" to disappear. These same people are also worried that their homes are going to be bulldozed to make way for "improvements" they do not think are necessary.
Both Tina Griego and the video clearly give the residents of Sun Valley vocal presence on the issues surrounding their communities. I think this helps, much like in Kozol's book, to show the human element behind the main message rather than looking at maps of the area or statistics. It is a good example of qualitative rather than quantitative data gathering.
I think the main idea of Tina Griego’s pieces are to show how much like a community the people of Sun Valley feel they are and how important their want to be treated like any other community is. Although the videos and the writing are short, there is repetition of the word community throughout. There are also examples of both good and bad experiences mentioned. There are references to death but also friendships made. It relates the Sun Valley community back to others allowing the audience to connect in some way. Griego uses the many different voices, of those people having lived in the area for a short amount of time as well as people living there for decades. In doing this, I think, it is clear that it is a place for both the young and old to live, and is truly a neighborhood, not just a housing facility. The pictures that are shown in the video along with the stories of people work to show the positive interactions between the residents of the area. The children are seen playing with each other just as children in other neighborhoods are known to do. I think one of the most powerful techniques used by Griego in the piece was putting the gun shot question at the very beginning of the first video. It was showing that it is not the dangerous neighborhood that some have made it out to be. Then by following with all the statements about community the audience can understand just how Sun Valley really is perceived by its residents.
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing the videos from the Denver Post and reading the series about Sun Valley, it seems apparent that the main focus revolves around the changes being made to this low income community. In the video there is specific mention of the light rail running through the heart of the neighbourhood. Also, one woman mentions that she has seen plans to build buildings and streets on the land where Sun Valley is located. This is further supported in the article by Tina Griego, who writes about the vision of Sun Valley in 15 years- classy restaurants, nice apartments, and something of an entertainment district. The series and videos look at the reactions of residents to this change. Many feel that these changes will further isolate an already invisible community. A woman in the video mentions that the city treats her, and others who live in subsidised housing, as the "step-children" of the population. Others feel that these changes represent a good change and will give the residents a sense of belonging in the city. However, both the videos and the series highlight how the residents feel a loss of control. They feel as though they are being forced out of a community which they made their own.
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing the videos from the Denver Post and reading Tina Griego’s series on the Sun Valley neighborhood, I believe the main focus of this special feature is the collectivistic nature of a fairly isolated community of Denver who is in midst of significant changes as the city of Denver plans to start working on its light rail project. This light rail project will bring light to this impoverished community, like never before, but at the same time can potentially have some devastating impacts. Such impacts include splitting the community up. Tina Griego writes about this community and by doing so she is able to bring in individual community voices long pushed to the back drop. Furthermore, with the videos the audience is able to visualize what this community looks like, mannerisms of individuals that make up this community, and evermore, connect with the individuals speaking on a basic human level. For example, in the video we are introduced to an older woman who speaks of losing her grandson. She feels the way the city reacted to this incident was unfair and heartbreaking. After viewing the videos, we can see that this community doesn’t seem too far off from our own. This grandmother losing her grandson seems to react with the same emotions as anyone would in such a case. The way the children play also shows that essentially the aspect that separates this community from others is because of its impoverishment. Families and children act as so defined, but are cut off from resources that some audiences may have no worries accessing. So, the question comes down to if the light rail were to be installed, what would happen to this community? Would they be split up and if so, would that be the best approach? Personally, I believe with this article and the video, the voices of the individuals can tell us what they believe would be best for their community!
ReplyDeleteHere's Maddie's comment:
ReplyDeleteThis article aims to show that Sun Valley is a place built to give people devastated by poverty a place to sustain or to survive but not to thrive. Sun Valley offers housing three fourths paid by the government- aid that several people are in need of, but ultimately sets people in a trap that never offers them an opportunity out of the cycle of poverty. Near Sun Valley, there are no jobs and most residents do not have cars to travel to jobs any further. There are no quality grocery stores or childcare that is inexpensive. The education provided is stunted, possibly ruining any chance of thriving from the lack of sufficient education alone. Those living in Sun Valley are branded as lazy and content to stay on the government’s paycheck. One woman interviewed said “Living in the projects gives you a bad name. They don't see a mom like me trying to make her life better.” Tina Griego points out that these people did not have a plethora of options but rather a limited amount saying, “That people are responsible for their choices is obvious. What is less obvious is what choices are available.” But with the options that these people have, they are making the better of it. Griego reports that “Sun Valley residents show up at parent- teacher conferences, volunteer in the bountiful community garden and at the Sun Valley Youth Center. They attend the meetings of the Sun Valley Homes Local Resident Council and have joined the Sun Valley Coalition neighborhood group.” These people are most likely the toughest in Denver, and they have endured too much. The problem is identifiable rather in institutions doing the bare minimum, shoving the “dirt” under the rug instead of letting it escape in the wind to soar.
The article and the videos serve the purpose of representing the people of Sun Valley and bringing their stories to the forefront. They demonstrate the collective community of this neighborhood and the importance of this communal feel. It also served as an outlet for the voices of those living in Sun Valley. It allowed their views on the light rail project to be heard and shared. They overall share a concern or fear for the project and these videos provide their side of the argument in a fashion which uses much of the rhetorical concept of pathos, developing almost a relationship between viewer and this community.
ReplyDeleteTina Griego brings to light a government built neighborhood of the projects. The first article title “Blocked in, blocked out” accurately depicts the social aspect of the community as isolated from the city. With isolation, the community cannot foster and grow. By bringing attention to Sun Valley’s isolation and destitution, we can raise the “land of the forgotten” out of their low economic status and create growth within the neighborhood. One way that Denver is connecting Sun Valley back to the rest of civilization, is by building a light rail station in the neighborhood to not only allow Sun Valley accessible transportation outside the community, but to, also, bring others to the neighborhood in an attempt to nurture it. Thus, the residents can go outside the community for jobs.
ReplyDeleteThrough personal accounts in the articles and videos, Tina Griego reveals heartbreaking stories of people growing up in hardship which gets the audience emotionally invested in the piece. The quote, “I wanted kids. I didn’t feel anyone would love me, and they would love me” parallels the theme of isolation with a life devoid of love. Divulging her feelings makes me want to prove to Jolena Casias what she is worth, that everyone must be shown compassion. Tina Griego represents the people of Sun Valley with personal accounts and as a community to change the community’s isolated status.