1A: CONOVER (1958--) & COYOTES

Coyotes was published in 1987

ABOUT TED CONOVER
CONOVER'S website: www.tedconover.com

CONOVER talk (March 2010 Presentation) with links to text and video clips @ Zocalo Public Square
[Note: if Zocalo link does not take you there, try search at Zocalo home page.]

Interview with Ted Conover from Mayborn School of Journalism 

This interview was conducted in 2011. Conover published Coyotes in 1987.

CONOVER continues to write.  Here are two other recent articles of his:

Conover wrote "A Snitch’s Dilemma," about Alex White for The New York Times Magazine, June 29, 2012.  If there was ever a "secrets, lies and spies" story, this is it. Here's the first paragraph:

"Kathryn Johnston was doing pretty well until the night the police showed up. Ever since her sister died, Johnston, 92, had lived alone in a rough part of Atlanta called the Bluff. A niece checked in often. One of the gifts she left was a pistol, so that her aunt might protect herself."

If you like, read the rest of Conover's story about Alex "the Snitch" White, a member of the Black Mafia Family, and "Behind the Cover Story: Ted Conover on the Murky World of the Snitch" for Conover's point-of-view about his article.

Conover also has a report on a slaughterhouse in Harper's, May 2013. 

From Harper's May 2013 issue

The Way of All Flesh

Undercover in an industrial slaughterhouse

By Ted Conover

Here's the first two paragraphs:

The cattle arrive in perforated silver trailers called cattle pots that let in wind and weather and vent out their hot breath and flatus. It’s hard to see inside a cattle pot. The drivers are in a hurry to unload and leave, and are always speeding by. (When I ask Lefty how meat gets bruised, he says, “You ever see how those guys drive?”) The trucks have come from feedlots, some nearby, some in western Nebraska, a few in Iowa. The plant slaughters about 5,100 cattle each day, and a standard double-decker cattle pot holds only about forty, so there’s a constant stream of trucks pulling in to disgorge, even before the line starts up a little after six a.m.

First the cattle are weighed. Then they are guided into narrow outdoor pens angled diagonally toward the entrance to the kill floor. A veterinarian arrives before our shift and begins to inspect them; she looks for open wounds, problems walking, signs of disease. When their time comes, the cattle will be urged by workers toward the curving ramp that leads up into the building. The ramp has a roof and no sharp turns. It was designed by the livestock expert Temple Grandin, and the curves and penumbral light are believed to soothe the animals in their final moments. But the soothing goes only so far.

The story continues at Harper's, but it only offers limited access to its magazine online, including the above Conover article. You may be able to find the full-text through EbscoHost, a database available through the PCC Shatford Library.

John Moore/Getty Images

A flag marks the spot where the remains of a person believed
 to have been an immigrant were found in Falfurrias, Texas, in May 2013.
Published in The New York Times, September 22, 2013

NEWS from the BORDER
"Bodies on the Border" by Marc Silver, The New York Times, August 17, 2013:
This summer, as discussions have advanced around a comprehensive immigration reform bill, I traveled to Arizona to film some people who have a unique perspective on border security. I followed Dr. Bruce Anderson, a forensic anthropologist with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, who has worked to identify the remains of some 2,200 people found dead in the Arizona desert since 1990 — undocumented migrants who attempted to cross illicitly from Central America and Mexico into the United States. And I followed Robin Reineke, a University of Arizona doctoral student in anthropology who founded the Missing Migrant Project, a nongovernmental organization that helps families look for their missing relatives.

To read this article and watch a selection from Silver's film click here. or click on this link
http://nyti.ms/16xBGuN. This issued is covered further in "Bodies Pile Up in Texas as Immigrants Adopt New Routes Over Border", The New York Times, September 22, 2013.

"At the Border, on the Night Watch" by Marc Lacey, The New York Times, October 12, 2011
DOUGLAS, Ariz. — The lanky young man with two bales of marijuana slung over his back who was apprehended by Border Patrol agents in a rugged area about a mile from the border here one recent night represented both the significant strides the country has made in controlling its southern border and the challenges that remain.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

The Heartache of an Immigrant Family

The New York Times

By SONIA NAZARIO

Published: October 14, 2013

LOS ANGELES — WHEN we talk about immigration to America, we tell a hopeful story about courage and sacrifice. But that story obscures the fact that, especially for the poor, immigration is often a traumatizing event, one that tears families apart.

Consider the experience of one family, originally from Honduras. In 1989, Lourdes Pineda was the single mother of a 5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. She sold tortillas, plantains and used clothes door to door, but barely earned enough to feed her children, and feared not being able to send them to school past the sixth grade. So she made the painful decision to leave them behind in Honduras, and found work in the United States as a nanny, taking care of other people’s children.

To read the rest of this article, go to The Heartache of an Immigrant Family

LANGUAGE USAGE
from The New York Times, April 4, 2013
No More 'Illegal Immigrants'
by Lawrence Downes

The Associated Press has changed its stylebook entry on the term “illegal immigrant.”  It now reads, in part:

“Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant.”

The new usage should quickly become apparent to readers of the thousands of newspapers and news web sites that follow, or try to follow, the AP’s rules.

Read the rest of this New York Times article here.
Also, the "L.A. Times updates guidelines for covering immigration".

10 miles east of Douglas, Ariz. by Aldo Zúñiga, May 2012 (The New York Times)

More New York Times readers photographs of the border can be found here.

*****

PLEASE NOTE FILM:  Janeen Gonzalez of 1A recommended a documentary, American Harvest, that touches on the same themes Ted Conover presents in Coyotes.  To learn more about American Harvest, you can go to its website or watch an 18 minute video  from it.  (Thanks, Janeen!)

PLEASE NOTE FILM #2: Yadira Easley, 1A student and a great fan of documentaries, told me about this one, Life and Death on the Border, that is a perfect film complement to Coyotes.   (Thanks, Yadira!)

PLEASE NOTE MORE FILMS about the immigrant experience. These were recommended by English 1A students Jose Quiroz, Cindy Huerta,  Christine Ching,  and Mathieu Mathet. (Am I forgetting anyone?) The films: Under the Same Moon, Crossing Over, Sin Nombre, and Cavite.) A big thank you to Jose, Cindy, Christine and Mathieu!

WETBACK: THE UNDOCUMENTED DOCUMENTARY (2 preview clips)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for COYOTES

You may print these out, if you like

1. Discuss the section “A Note on Translation”. Why would Conover use the terms “illegal alien” and “undocumented” when he says that he tries “to avoid both labels.” Why would the term “illegal aliens” appear in the subtitle? What term do you prefer to use—“illegal aliens,” “undocumented worker,” etc., to describe the subjects of the book. Explain.

2. See page xviii and the first full paragraph and the following sentence: “What La Migra does not know—what it perhaps cannot afford to know—is the more human side of the men and women it arrests, the drama of their lives.” What is Conover’s point here? In which ways does Conover's book best address the "human side." Why?

3. After Conover says “What La Migra . . . “ (as quoted #2, above), he makes a distinction between a story and a policy book. Though he claims he is only writing the former, explain the difference between the terms. Based on what you’ve read so far, do you agree with Conover that his book is mainly a story? Or not? Why? What impact do you think his book could have on American immigration policy?

4. Conover could have opened his book in many different ways. He could have told his reader about how he prepared for this writing assignment, or his trip to Mexico from the United States, or where he grew up, among other approaches. Why do you think he selected Alonso to open Coyotes? How would you describe the relationship between Alonso and Conover?

5. Point out at least three different examples of Conover’s and the workers’ reaction to police officers (and other uniformed personnel.) Explain how these different reactions may or may not be the central conflict that Conover faces as a reporter. Note his experience with Alonso crossing the border, with Carlos and the others at the airports, and additional examples that you identify.

6. By the end of “The Gringo and the Mexicano” chapter—and subsequent chapters—do you trust Conover as a reporter? You must point to specific examples to support your position.

7. By befriending the Mexican workers as a reporter and telling their story, has Conover intruded on their lives strictly for his own benefit? Discuss your position with specific examples from the book.

8. Why does Conover describe the workers on page 42 as “professionals”? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or Why not?

9. Point out examples where Conover is naïve. Does this quality help or harm him as he works as a reporter? Explain.

10. In the “Welcome to L.A.” chapter Conover describes the relationships between different racial groups. Point out at least three stereotypes—and the notion of “team”—that he faces and describes in the chapter. Does he succeed in upending these stereotypes through his reporting? Explain.

11. Conover published this book in 1987. Does the “Welcome to L.A.” chapter present a different society, especially with regard to race and the “team,”  than what you know about race issues today in Los Angeles County? Discuss.

12. Discuss at least three things that surprised you about Coyotes and the story Conover has told.

13. Define the notion of work in your own words. Illustrate your definition with several examples from Coyotes.

We don't have time review in-class "Making the Border Less Enticing to Cross," which appeared in the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2012.  But read it if you have a chance.  On the same page, see links to other articles regarding immigration.


Questions posted by English 1A, Fall 2012:


Anna Dawahara, Michelle Burton, Rick Thurnell, Christine Ching:

1.) Compare the ways women are treated in Ahuacatlan and the ways Conover treats women. (p. 158, 165)

2.) What are the Mexican's expectations for America? (p. 138-139)


William Cheng, Rebeka Carrasco, Jose Quirzo:

1. On page 86, Carlos says to Conover "Welcome to LA! Welcome to the Hispanic team!" After hearing this statement which side do you believe Ted is on? Neutral or Biased side.

2. Throughout the book both the coyotes and the Mexican police are predators and prey on the weak. What are some of the things they did and how? Did it change your perspective of the undocumented workers? What other struggles not mentioned in the book do you believe the workers may have had to gone through just to get these low paying jobs in the US?


Jodi Shou, Alex Garcia, Cindy Huerta,Valerie Arellano:

1. How does Conover seem to earn the trust of groups, such as the orchard pickers, so easily? What makes it so easy for him to integrate into another person's lifestyle? Offer at least five examples from the book.  (Pg. 36, etc.)

2. In the "The Gringo and the Mexican" chapter, Conover is denied a construction job while Alonso, his undocumented friend, is offered it. How does Conover take it and what does his reaction show? Does this seem like an accurate response for the opposition to immigration policies? (Pg. 28-29)

Jon, Jactel, Tarik and 1 more student:

1. Conover is repeatedly met with suspicion, and mistrust again and again from Mexicans and coyotes (16, 56). However, he consistently seems to win them over. What is it about Conover that makes him seem trustworthy? What does it say about the Mexican workers that they are willing to trust Conover?

2. Why was Conover never directly accused of being a smuggler or a coyote, but his Mexican companions are met with constant suspicion? Taruk, Jaquetelle, Jon, and we had one more, but we did not write our names down. on English 1A: CONOVER & COYOTES

from McCabe:

1. Humorous moments appear in Conover's Coyotes.  Identify five humorous moments in the book, and explain how humor helps Conover's desire to show the "human side of the men and women [the INS] arrests, the drama of their lives" (xviii).

Conover with some of the men who crossed
at Sonoita, AZ, north of Nogales, Mexico