#4 Chewing gum: The Fortunes of Taste by Michael Redclift- pg #106-140

Summary:

The forests of the east and south of the Yucatan Peninsula were viewed as empty forests. The challenge for the Mexican state was to bring civilization to these area, in the form of roads, rural schools, and political organization. Mexico could only progress by colonizing the forests and concerting them in one form or another to productive use. President Cardenas who made established the genesis of the process chiclero cooperatives part of the national land reform. The chicleros had built a raw society from the forest communities they established. President Cardenas found the cooperative movement; he placed the organization of cooperatives under the direct control of the government. It was a stronger position to counter the pressured mounted by the private sector. They thought it was an easier way to make hum. Chicleros livers were in danger when they had to go deep in the words to tap trees. Lives of chicleros were slowly disappearing and people encouraged them to stop and grow rice. They chose not to stop. The Fleer Company in 1928, Walter Delmer produced a usable bubble gum mix. He added the taste in chicle and he would add in pink coloring. It became popular and companies were sampling thousands of pieces a day in New York. 

Quote:

“He discovered how to add pink food coloring to the gray bubble gum mixture, and overnight he produced one of the sales sensations of the interwar years” (Redclift 122).

Reaction:
Before I read this book, I never knew that gum was gray and had no taste. I found it interesting that Walter Delmer founded the bubble gum taste because I thought it was Wrigley. When Wrigley made Juicy fruit, he didn't add food coloring, but Delmer did.

#3 Chewing gum: The Fortunes of Taste by Michael Redclift- pg #73-105

Summary:

Many of the chicleros who arrived in the first decade of the 20^th century were from other Mexican states. By 1915, more than 75% of gum imported to the United States was from Mexico. The first large-scale chicle contractor was Julio Martin. He made an agreement with General May, giving Martin the right to exploit a concession on territory controlled by the Mayans. The chewing gum manufactures and the contractors who employed chicleros, America and Mexico looked at General May as their protection. Even though May owned the platform and tractor for transporting the chicle, another chicle contractor, Miguel Angel Ramoneda, owned the railway line. May was in control of transporting gum and allowing if it was in trade or not. The first chewing gum factories were made in Mexico in 1923. In 1925, more than a million kilos of chicle was exported. In the 1920s, chicleros earned 300 pesos a month, but a few years later, they earned 1800 pesos a month. Chicleros harvested gum through trees. The chicozapote trees were used and they grew in the forests of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The trees were hard to find because they were deep in the jungle. Not only did chicleros have a hard time finding the trees, snakes and other animals often attacked them. Sometimes, diseases would affect people. In the early morning, chicleros left their hut to begin the task of finding trees. They intended to tap for the day. To establish where the trees were able to produce latex, they made many incisions into the bark. While the c is tapping, a canvas pouch or bag was placed at the bottom of the tree and the latex was collected in the next 20 hours. When it was brought back, it was boiled down in large copper bats to remove the excels water. 

Quote: 

"In the forest they were prey to disease and infections, to attack from snakes and other animals, and to the bites of the chiclero fly..." (Redclift 88).

Reaction:

When chicleros hunted deep in the jungle, they knew it was going to be dangerous and something could possibly happen. I wondered why they didn't stop putting themselves in danger. I felt bad for them because there were times when people wouldn't make it out. As I kept reading, I learned that they got paid a lot, and were granted a huge chunk of gum.

#2 Chewing gum: The Fortunes of Taste by Michael Redclift- pg #35-70

Summary:

Thomas Adams tried making gum for months, but it took too long so Santa Anna stopped talking to Adams. When Adams went into a drugstore in New York, he overheard the shopkeeper trying to sell a young girl a penny’s worth of chewing hum. He was told that Curtis White Mountain developed it, and Adams invited a gum vending machine. He made $2 million, which would be $30 million today. When the population of people started to increase, there were higher demands. Chewing gum was mondine, yet enjoyable. It provided cheap, unalloyed pleasure and it could be shared. It celebrates a function in an immediately pleasing way. Chewing gum makers and sellers made huge profits. In the late 19^th century in American, chewing gum made a massive social transformation. William Wrigley made the marketing of gum into art. His father had manufactures soap, and it was sold from store to store. He struck the idea on having his soup, so he offered two packs of gum in the product. He then introduced a series of different branded gums in 1863 and they became Wrigley’s trademarks: Juicy fruit and Spearmint. He began to send small samples of gum to millions of people. His aim was to make chewing gum popular. He became a multimillionaire. The resin for chewing gum was fought over the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula. The Caste War was between the Mayan Indian and the Mexicans. In the beginning, Mayan armies were winning until they took a surprising turn. During one of the wars, the Mayan armies turned around and left the battlefield. They rebelled because gum was from their land and they weren’t getting profit. They soon lost because they were affected with diseases.

Quote:

"If the chewing gum story owes something to the American interest in chewing, it also owes a great deal to the developing taste" (Redclift 38). 

Reaction:

In all grocery stores, packs and packs of gum are sold, and many of Americans buy it. As time passes by, there are more and more flavors made. I agree with this quote, because William Wrigley made the first flavored gum which was Juicy fruit and it has always been popular. Because of it's great taste, many people bought it and Wrigley became a multimillionaire.

#1 Chewing gum: The Fortunes of Taste by Michael Redclift- pg #1-34

Summary:

Chewing gum is regarded as a personal treat and substitute for food, especially when food is unavailable. It has been used to express attitude, demonstrating coolness. Chewing gum played an increasing role in many people's lives. Gum was sourced from the southeastern. Region of Mexico, the Yucatan peninsula. Mexicans introduced gum and the term they used was 'chicle'. It was made from rare ingredients from the Mexican tropics. It was treated as a sustainable forest product and it brought new customers to markets. Pablo Ortega worked on the streets of Mexico and his business was very bad. However, when he started to sell gum and sweets, his market was going back up to business because everyone was buying it. The first important of gum is to taste the popular culture. Second importance is it came to represent and bring Mexico and United States together. The last is it bound up with tropical forest frontiers. General Santa Anna, the former president of Mexico and Thomas Adams, former Military photographer introduced gum to the United States. When gum came to the United States, Americans loved it. Santa Anna was born on February 21, 1794, he began his career as an officer in the Spanish army, and he joined the revolution under the leader Iturbide. The movements of the Texan army were screened from the Mexican troops by trees and the high grounds. When the Mexicans and Texans were fighting, the war only lasted for 18 min. The Mexican army fled and Santa Anna managed to escape. Houston ordered a search for him and he was found hiding in bushes with solider clothes. Santa Anna agreed to the complete Mexican evacuation of Texas and eventually to Texan Independence. He was president in 1838, the exiled to Cuba for incompetence. The Mexican-American war restored to power in Mexico City with United States support. Santa Anna then betrayed the United Stated and exiled again. When he reached 75 years old, he lived in New York. He told Thomas Adams he needed money for a Mexican Army and he hoped to raise it by selling chicle. They were sold for $1 a pound; it was large lumps of gray dirt, covered in bark and stones. It was rubberlike qualities but poorly made.

Quote:

"Chewing gum is by turns habitual and regarded as a personal treat, it was and is, a substitute for food, notably when food is unavailable" (Redclift 2).

Reaction:  

I've always wondered why people love gum so much. In class, many students ask others for gum and they complain they're hungry. From this quote, people like to chew gum because they don't have any food available. I was also confused because I've been told that chewing gum makes people hungrier but I guess they want to chew on something and pretend it's food.

#5The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (Film) Review

Reaction:

In The New York Times, A. O. Scott writes a review about The Last Song film on March 31, 2010. First, the reviewer wrote about the author Nicholas Sparks. Nicholas Sparks in the past had wrote books that were also put into films. In 2010, he had two of his books become a film, "We have already had two this year — "Dear John" and this one" (Scott). Then the reviewer gave a short summary about the book and talked about the characters. Ronnie had recently graduated from highschool and her parents divorced so she and her brother have some distress. Ronnie then meets a boy named Will who mechanic, a volunteer at the local aquarium and a young man that also has family problems. The reviewer says that "One major problem with “The Last Song” is that it can’t manage to sort through its various issues in any dramatically compelling way, instead falling into a slack, soap-opera rhythm in which potentially catastrophic developments seem to have no lasting emotional effects" (Scott). I agree with this because when I watched the movie, I didn't think the character expressed their feelings that well. Their facial expressions were blank for the most part and I was able to know the characters better from reading the book. Another problem mentioned about the film is, "But acting, for the moment at least, seems almost entirely beyond her. In “The Last Song” she pouts, slouches, storms in and out of rooms and occasionally cracks a snaggle-toothed smile, but most of the time she seems to be mugging for the camera, play-acting rather than exploring the motives and feelings of her character" (Scott). I also agree with this because I didn't think Miley Cyrus would be the best actress for this. In my 4th blog, I mentioned that another person should of played the role because it seemed like Miley had a hard time showing her expressions. Another thing I agree with the reviewer is the scene for the movie. He said he liked the beach because it was a nice place to spend the summer and for people to fall in love. I liked this review because I agreed with everything that was said.

Works Cited:

Scott, A. O. "Movie Review - The Last Song - Summer Love, a Sea of Trouble -
           NYTimes.com." Movie Reviews, Showtimes and Trailers - Movies - New York Times -            The New York Times. 19 Feb. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2011.
          <http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/movies/31last.html?scp=1&sq=the last
          song&st=cse>.

#4The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (Film) Reaction

Reaction:

The film of The Last Song wasn’t as interesting as the book. The main actor was Miley Cyrus who played the role of Ronnie. Even though there were many close-up’s of characters, it was hard to figure out what a person was thinking and what was going on inside their head. The setting of the novel I thought was perfect. The main places there were scenes were the beach, beach house, and carnivals in the small town. There were a few long shots, that showed the beach and small town from a far distance, and many people were seen in the location. There were some changes and things that weren’t in the movie but in the book that I was shocked by. I was shocked when the book revealed that the mom had an affair with another man which left the father to leave. The film let watchers believe that Steve left the family for no reason. The ending of the book and film were also different. My favorite part was when Ronnie and Will kissed for the first time. First, they were arguing, so the camera was had shot reverse shots really quick, then Will leaned over to kiss Ronnie and the camera was on iris.  They were on the beach, and I was able to hear to ocean and waves in the background while they were arguing, and then they kissed, music came on. A scene that I thought was so touching was when Jonah found his dad will be dying, he stood by the shore, having watch touch his feet looking upset and angry, and Ronnie came from behind to comfort him. The camera was pointed on a low angle shot. I also liked the ending of the book because Ronnie ended up going to Julliard and Will surprised her about transferring to Colombia. The ending in the film was Ronnie packing up and Will just shows up at the beach. It didn’t let us know what would happen in the future. I personally thought the book was better than the film. Even though I liked the film, I thought there should have been another character playing Ronnie instead of Miley Cyrus. I didn’t think her acting was as great as she was on Hannah Montana.

#3The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (Book) Pages 325-463

Summary:

At Will’s volleyball game, Marcus was playing with fireballs and Blaze later joined. One of the fireballs hit her shirt and she was on fire. She was brought to the hospital and had to get surgery. Blaze mom visited her white she was getting better and she wanted her to stay away from Marcus because he was trouble. Will and Scott are at work, and they get into an argument. Will is tired of covering for Scott because Marcus keeps playing them. Ronnie. Will goes over Ronnie’s house and the turtles hatch out of their shells. As the turtles are swimming to the sea, Ronnie’s dad Steve keeps coughing and blood is coming out of his mouth. It turned out that Steve had received his death sentence in February. Before the summer, the taught a student Chan Lee piano, but he had to stop because he became tired and lost energy, He started to take daily naps, and when he’d wake up, there was pain in his stomach. When he went to the doctors, Steve was told he had stomach cancer, which his father had also had. He had less than a year to live. He called Kim (ex-wife) to tell her the news and asked if the kids could stay with him for the summer. Ronnie found out at the hospital, upset, but she forgives Steve for not telling her. Will stays with Ronnie at her house, and he could feel her pain because he lost someone too. He was there to comfort her. Ronnie had been thinking a lot because her father was sick, and Will was leaving in a couple days for college. Will and Ronnie went to see what Jonah was going. He was bleeding and his jeans were ripped. He was working on the glass for the church, he was crying because he wanted to finish it before Steve gets back. Will decided to help and he decided to tell Ronnie the truth about why the church burned down. It turned out that Scott was playing with fire and I caused to the church to fire. He left before anyone could find out and Will was only covering for him. Ronnie became angry and shut Will out. It has been two months and Kim picks the kids up. Ronnie decided to stay to help out her dad. Kim and Ronnie talk, she found out Steve left because it was the mom who was having an affair. Jonas went home with Kim because he needed to start school soon. Blaze and Ronnie run into each other, and Blaze told her that it was Marcus who really started to fire. The glass was ready to be put up on the church. Throughout the time, Ronnie was taking care of Steve and he became skinner and started to spend more time in bed. Ronnie had also been playing the piano, finishing the song Steve had been writing. Ronnie played the song on the piano for him when he got back. It was great for Steve to hear Ronnie play the piano. I was the last song he wrote, and heard. He died a week later, in his sleep. The funeral occurred a few days later. Light shined through the glass and Jonah and Ronnie knew their dad was there. The light faded and they said silent goodbyes. She played the song on the piano. Will was there and they talked for awhile. He told her Scott was doing okay and Marcus is in jail. They both didn’t want the summer to have ended the way it did. Few weeks after the funeral, Ronnie was back home in New York. She hid her pain of losing her dad. She and Jonah spent more time together. Ronnie also auditioned at Julliard and Will had surprised her. He planned a date for the weekend, and the weekend after. He told her he was staying in New York because he was transferring to Colombia. 

Quote:

"I was so mean to him. I quit the piano! I blamed him for everything, and I didn't say more than a few words to him for three years! Three years! And i can't get those years back. But maybe if I hadn't been so angry, he might not have gotten sick" (Sparks 379).

Reaction:
Ronnie blames herself about her father's stomach cancer. I think this was one of the deepest parts of the book because I can see Ronnie's reaction when she found out her father had cancer. She thought about the past and felt bad for not talking to him for three years. I could see Ronnie breaking down crying in my head.