Power of Information

1.     The book is structured in an imaginative way.  Many adjectives are used to illustrate what is going on.  For instance, on page 24, the narrator states, “Walk four blocks to the right.  Turn right at Azucenas.  Three-quarters of a block down on the left-hand side, you’ll find a former private home painted terracotta brown that has high windows with metal bars.  Go inside.  Welcome to Universidad de la Tierra, Unitierra for short.”  The narrator is using specific details to help me as the reader imagine what is going on by painting the location of the story.  The narrative arc of this story relies heavily on illustrating an image for the reader.  In addition, pictures are used to help formulate said images in the reader’s mind.  I think the authors chose this structure to tell the stories of their journeys in communities in order to make it as real to the reader.  By making it real to the reader, it makes the story more authentic.  All of these factors made the reading of these narratives to be most effective.  

2.     What is information? “This is the room where you spend only fifteen minutes every day.  You are cleaning this space, shoveling layers of shit and broken dreams onto pallets and dragging them out into the sunshine.  Our task seems impossible.  We will never finish.  But finishing isn’t the point; this is a daily practice” (page 54).  It is important to understand that making one aware of information is crucial to understand how a society lives.  This quote talks about how it is a daily routine to clean up the said room.  An outsider needs to know that finishing isn’t the point, but that this is reality. 

            Why is information power? “Is it too much? Mexico is like this.  It is not the land you’ve been trained to see: Men with long mustaches wearing sombreros…” (Page 22).  This quote speaks to the question because it represents how information can be interpreted many different ways and that one’s understanding of the information can be interpreted differently by someone else.

            How do we use information for social change? “The only reason change happens on this planet, the only reason change ignites across networks…the only reason these changes happen is because of people” (Page 48).  This quote talks about how the power of information leads to increasing one’s knowledge.  By increasing one’s knowledge, it might just empower said individual to go out there and make a change. 

3. The uniterra concept from Mexico can definitely be used with Bahia Vista. On page 25, it states, “Learners at Uniterra follow a self-directed path.  They choose a topic, find learning partners, and proceed at their own pace.”  I think this method would work best with the older kids as to help them transition to middle school in order to make them independent intellectuals.