Reference no: EM133236794

Geography is the focus of this chapter, and Smarsh tries connect some bigger issues with the physical location of her family's roots. She's completed a college education and a graduate degree, and now has a white-collar job in academia, yet she's chosen to remain in Kansas. Smarsh claims that she "did not leave one world and enter another" and instead "hold[s] them simultaneously - class being a false construct, like any other boundary or category we impose" (281). Do you think it's possible for her to be a part of both worlds, or societies, or whatever label you want to put on these two Americas she's described? If class is a false construct (or, in other words, something people have made up), are there even two worlds to which she can really belong? Use evidence from the text to support your response.

Smarsh writes, "This country has failed its children, August, failed its own claims about democracy and humanity." Why does she make this huge statement? Do you agree with her, or do you think she's being too pessimistic? What specific parts of her narrative can you point to in support of your response?