Studs Terkel offers us a different kind of oral history...not focused on an event (like the Vietnam War) so much as a lifestyle or job...he get's Pierce's story of farming and Acuna's story of migrant labor. I'd encourage you to consider an oral history that chronicles someone's career much in the same way, if you find someone interesting enough.
For the blog today, I'd like you to write a little about how Terkel's two oral histories made you feel as you were reading them. Given that none of us (as far as I know) are currently farmers or pickers, what is the good of reading such histories? Are our lives impacted by these kinds of people and do we impact there lives? How?
29 comments:
It is good to read such histories because you learn more about that type of field and the hard work that goes into it. It also makes you apprieciate what you have as a person of maybe upper class status. I do think our lives our impacted by these people that do this work. I mean without the farmers and the workers who pick the produce we would not have food in the stores. We impact them by buying their produce.
Both stories that were told made me really appreciate where my food comes from. When I eat I am just glad to eat, so I usually don't think about how it got on my plate. I hope that the conditions for workers have changed since this was published. The farmers story really made me think. I feel bad for farmers, because usually people jut make fun of them and call them hicks and hill jacks. But honestly they are hard working people and without them we would starve. Also I work at Subway and we use cut veggies up everyday. To think of all the food we waste because we drop it or smash it or because it goes bad, really makes me think about all the hard work that went in to growing and picking it.
its good to have stories like these around because it sheds light on a lot of things that we take for granted. by reading these stories, i realize the hard work that goes into getting people the fresh food they eat. it also makes you realize how bad it would be if we didn't have these people farming and picking produce, because we would have to start doing it all ourselves.
I thought that reading the stories were interesting and different. Hearing the stories made me appreciate the way that I live my life and my lifestyle. It made me think about how different life would be if people didn't do those jobs that not a lot of people find desirable.
The stories made me realize how much I take for granted. I can go to the store and buy fresh produce but I never think about all of the manual labor that goes into producing all the fresh vegatables and fruits. These stories benefit us greatly because it allows us to view the whole situation from a different persons point of view.
When reading the stories, I felt kind of guilty in a way. So much hard work and labor goes into growing, and preparing food, so when it gets wasted, I feel bad. The essay really does make you stop and think and learn to appreciate having food to eat.
As I was reading these two stories I felt extremely bad for both families. I thought about how much I take for granted in my own life. Reading these stories gives you insight into a different world that you will never be able to experience for yourself. I believe that our lives are greatly impacted by these kinds of people because this is where our food comes from, and we also impact their lives because if we aren't buying the food they are growing and picking then they wouldn't have anything to work for.
I believe it is healthy to read these types of stories in order for us to to develop a well informed global perspective. My mother grew up on a farm similar to the first one described, so I have heard stories closely related to that one. The second account really made me appreciate the situation I am in, as my life is not nearly as tough. As someone mentioned earlier, I too normally do not think about where the food I eat comes from, I'm just glad to be eating it. These narratives really make me appreciate the workers who make consuming these products possible.
Reading this oral history was way more interesting than just reading a history of the migrants of california of the 70's in a text book or something. It was interesting because he was a boy growing up, and about the same place in our lives right now but he had to deal with maybe more serious things than most of us deal with. Its good to read these histories because it gives you more perspective on your life, for instance, where you might stand on the immigration laws. Migrant workers definitely impact our lives, and we impact their lives: Us as the buyers, and them as the labor that gets the produce on the table. Although we do not directly control the low wages they get or know whether they are illegal aliens or not, our lives would be different with out migrants.
I think while reading these oral histories it makes me think about how hard life for the farmers was. Being from a semi-rural area I grew up around a lot of kids who worked on farmers. Todays farming is a lot more advanced then it would of been for the early farmers. farmers keep America eating through the crops and cattle that they produce. This story simple helps us reiterate how difficult life on farmers can be.
both of the stories gave me more of an inside look at the life of farmers.I never realized how difficult or even how insighful they could be because i have always thought of them as simple people with simple lifestyles.
but they aren't.
They are hardworking people. And although the work may not be as mentally taxing as that of the powerhouse professions (doctors/lawyers) they still put in equally long hours. and they need to be as educated as well, atleast in the field of farm things, seeing as there is a lot to be done around the farm
I felt like the whole essay was an oral history because it seemed like someone was telling a story through-out the reading. Besides that I liked the oral history of the essay, in a way i think it is easier to understand and reflect on. Oral Histories sounds as if you are actually listening to someone talk, they don't seem to use huge words or complex sentences. By reading this history it gave me a better understanding of what it was really like to be a farmer or picker unlike history books. I don't really feel impacted by these people because they don't directly affect my life everyday but they probably do impact my life in some form or another regarding the food they grow or pick. They put in a lot more work in growing and picking their goods then we do in actually consuming them.
I felt it was good to read these histories because it gives us a taste of what life is like for the farmers and pickers of the world. It takes us out of our comfy homes to see what they go through. In the first story about farmers I felt bad for the family. They do so much hard work and get such little reward out of it because of all the big farming industries. In the second story I felt bad for the boy as well. His lifestyle was not one that I would want to live. His mother was illiterate and couldnt defend herself too much. Then he quit his job and went to the marines to straighten his life out. While in the marines he realizes that he didnt want to change who he was.
I found the piece very interesting to read. The orator used pathos in telling his story of picking the fields quite frequently and it definitely made it more interesting and heart wrenching to read. It made me feel very lucky to have lead the life I have been so far and made me feel very bad for the less fortunate . The good of reading such stories since none of us are farmers or pickers is that we can get a good feel for what their lives were like and try to imagine their experiences since none of us have any of that sort. Our lives are impacted by such people and we don't even think about it. Like he said at the end of his piece, he wonders what the people sitting at their dinner tables think when they are eating the food that he picked. He wonders if we even realize the hard work that they went through.
I was more moved by the first oral history Terkel tells. I really felt as though I understood the feelings the farmer was expressing. It was easy to put myself in his shoes when he described the reasons why he worked the farm, especially when he compared it to the factory.
You can definitely get something out of reading these stories. Again, the first one in particular was something I could level with. Living in the suburbs I found myself asking why someone would ever want to live on and work a farm. This oral history further helped me understand why people do live life on the farm.
I think that it is good to learn about these types of histories. Learning about different ways of life makes you grateful for the life that we live. My mom's side of the family owns a dairy farm, and it is still up and running today. I know first hand the amount of work and hours that has to go into making a farm work to make enough money. Our lives are impacted almost everyday by these types of people by the foods that we buy and eat. When we buy goods the money goes to the farmers, and without them we wouldn't be able to have such a variety of foods to eat.
I think that its good to read about what other people have to go through so that we can live our simple lives. Both stories establish pathos by causing the readers to feel compassion for these people in the stories. It helps us to see how much we take for granted.
Reading this oral history gives the reader a better bank of knowledge on the issue. Before I read this article, farming hardships honestly weren't on my mind. My life, honestly, isn't impacted by this history, other than it re-confirms the fact that I'm not going to be a farmer when I grow up. It did make me think, but it didn't change my actions, but did give me a certain level of empathy.
When I was reading these passeges I realized how we take farm goods for granted. I never thought how much work farmers go through for the corn or potatoes I eat. The risk that the farmers go through for little reward was something I never realized too. In the second story it also made me sad to see how much hard work Mexican immigrants and children had to go through just to scrape by.
Reading the two stories gave me a an idea what its like to have to farm more than I did. I now know the hard ships of farming and how difficult it is. Migrant works I know what that is like. I grew up in a community where they showed up during spring and fall. I saw how they lived. I was friends with them in school. They often were accepted in my community better than described making them just like everyone else. Though with technology progressing they may very well run out of work, being machines can do there job cheaper than they can.
Reading the two oral histories of farming and migrant labor reminded me of how easy my life is. When the farmer talked about how people complain about food prices, I thought of myself when I'm at the market and I'm shocked by the prices. Reading these stories made me reconsider my own problems and
I feel that these types of stories give you a very personal feel to a story. Rather than have some one talk about the story in someone elses words you get to hear the story from a first hand source. It also makes you think reflexivly in that the hings that you take for grante in your everyday life are the bassis of anothers entire life. People spend their entire lives harvesting crops for people to not even tink about and just eat. This is why oral histories are a good thing since they shed light on a situation that may have been overlooked before.
I think that it's good to read histories such as this one because it makes you realize there's more to something that you find simple. Such as the food on your table. This made me think of and appreciate how food sitting on the table really got there. People don't realize that there's hard manual labor behind it and they definitely don't appreciate it because it's something that is so simple and normal to us.
Both of these honestly made me feel terrible. I live in an area where I'm completely surrounded by farmers. To tell the truth, I guess I never respected them. Part of that is because they didn't respect people like me. Anyway, I could have never known how hard they worked unless I read this story. It really just made me feel terrible. I really do admire their complete dedication in their work. As for the migrant worker, I have seen quite a lot of them too. They come to our town in the summer and stay until the fall. They're gone too fast for me to know about them, but I always felt sorry and confused for them. I never understood just picking vegetables for a living. I never understood not finding a way out, or, finding a way in for that matter. I never thought about this how I should have. But I'm glad that I learned a lot.
I believe that it is important to read these types of stories because it gives you a more rounded understanding of different backgrounds. It really made me appreciate the life i have lived. The stories made me feel guilty because i have had it so much easier.
I Think that these two stories were a good pick. It really made me think of the little things that I so easily take for granted. I think that to be a farmer, u truely have to have the right personality and the heart to. It isn't something that can be forced upon you. It's not just something you do, its a whole lifestyle. I don't think that people realize exactly how much of our food supply depends on these farmers.
I thought both stories where interesting and I really enjoyed the information provided sense Agriculture is interest of mine. I thought it was pretty shitty how the pickers where treated. I know some people who would pick tomatoes down by the river and well I think because they were white were treated a lot better than any of those labors in Terkel's essay. I really think that unskilled agricultural Labor really needs to be mandated through the Government. No Person should be treated like that.
This story made me thankful for what I have today. I never realized how many different people have hand in each food we eat. I never thought about who picks the lettuce I eat or what not. I feel as though you can learn a lot from such oral histories. They impact our lives just as much as we impact there lives.
Both stories taught me again what it means to have to work hard for something. I can relate to the first story more because my grandpa worked on a farm from the time he was in his twenty's till he at least his late fifty's. And when my dad was in his twenty's, he worked on a farm also. So for the first few years of my life, I was raised on a farm.
I think that these people affect our lives in that they either produce, or pick a lot of the food that we eat today. And we should appreciate what the farmers and pickers do for us.
Post a Comment