Is This Kansas

The piece, Is This Kansas by Eula Biss, takes place at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. The first section of this article focused negatively on the college students. Biss focuses on the partying that was constantly taking place. As I read this section of her article I felt as though she was only looking at the negative things.  In the next section she briefly talked about her time teaching at Iowa. Once again the view is very negative. Biss states, "One didn't need to spend very long at that institution before realizing that the interests of everyone else--the funders, the administrators, the professors, the graduate students--came before the interests of the undergraduate students." She also talked about her time as a graduate student, and how she was seen as a child instead of an adult. These sections build on top of each other because they continue to show her frustration.  The next section of her piece explained how she had been more scared in Iowa City at times than she ever was in New York. Once again her view is negative and fearful. The next section discussed racism and sexism. As a teacher Biss found that her students were ignorant, and believed that racism and sexism no longer existed. All of Biss' complaints about Iowa are the little things that build up to the storm, and there was a storm coming that Iowa was not ready for.

Hurricane Katrina hit during Biss' time at Iowa, and when she heard the news she was devastated. Hurricane Katrina not only effected Louisiana, but the nation.  There were many rumors that spread around the nation, all of which were never confirmed. What was confirmed in Biss' eyes was the fear that white people still had of black people. This topic builds on the last section, because although her students could not see it, there is still racism present. Six months later a storm hit Iowa. A tornado made its path through Iowa City leaving a path of destruction, but by Biss' view, Iowa City was already destroyed. There were so many negative things she emphasized throughout her writing that when this section came up I shouldn't have been surprised. After the tornado the students took the opportunity to steal, vandalize, and party. "...the onlookers seemed to view the damaged downtown as an amusement park--walking through the storm's path of destruction like it was a new adventure ride." The college kids continued to focus on their lives while the city was in destruction. The final section of Biss' article states that Iowa City still hadn't recovered even though it had been months since the storm. The different sections of Is This Kansas add as building blocks.  Each section discusses a frustration or a problem Eula had with Iowa City and the University. She suggests that Iowa City was already in a state of destruction before the storm, and that it won't change.

(Break the piece down paragraph by paragraph (or section by section). How does each piece act as a “building block”? How does the writer create dramatic tension or interest through these building blocks?)