"No Place Like Home" questions

1) When Gutterson says “Green Valley is as much a verb as a noun,” he is referring to the community Green Valley as being an active place. He describes various activities such as “homes going up, developments going in…” (183) Next, he goes more in depth about the city laws and what they prohibit and require. For example, Gutterson explains, “Walls are everywhere in Green Valley too; they’re the first thing a visitor notices…. the gates at the thresholds… their guards… (186) ten o’ clock teen curfew… ‘lot owners shall not change said walls in any manner’; ‘perimeter walls are required around all single family residential projects’… ‘Perimeter Project Walls… shall be made gray colored, split face concrete masonry units, 8” by 16” by 6” in size, with a 4” high gray split face, concrete block....” “All of Green Valley is defined in this manner, by CC&Rs, as the planners call them---covenants, conditions, and restrictions embedded in deeds….” (187)
2) Gutterson’s tone is condemning and sarcastic in an overall subtle way. He achieves this tone using facts and examples. For instance, he opens by presenting Green Valley as a desirable place to live and then crushes this idea with facts pertaining to restrictions and requirements that are rather tedious and unappealing. However, his sarcastic and condemning tone is persuasive because he doesn’t destroy his ethos by using and outright bashing tone.
3) I agree that suburbs are not the safe, selective paradises they purport to be. While I do not have particular experience with suburbs, life experience proves that people of all different places have problems. As Gutterson says, “Last year a rapist ran loose in its neighborhoods;… referring to the gangs… teenagers who told me that LSD and crystal meth are the narcotics of choice at Green Valley High School, to the doctor who simply rolled his eyes when I asked if he thought AIDS have arrived here.… the protection they provide is an illusion….” (188) People are people; we’re none exactly the same. While striving to be a better person, a better community is important, this is not achieved robotically.

Home on Earth

For myself, so contrary,
Home on Earth is temporary.
Born and raised in Tennessee,
I've never been away more than two weeks.
Home was in Knoxville until I was three,
And ever since its been Jefferson County.
Morning sunlight pours in my window.
I sleep through the cocks crow.
Sometimes quiet, I am home alone.
Sometimes noisy, everyone is home.
A mom and a dad, a son and a daughter,
All live together.
At this place called "home" we sleep and we eat, we clean and we store.
Here we gather together.
But, the old cliche says, "Home is where the heart is."
Though my heart melts many places,
The heart of my heart I keep with me.
As I told my mother, "I'm a turtle; my shell is home; and wherever I am that will be."