On “Mapping the City” and “Bertha’s expectations of a candy store” - SH

I found that our exploration of urban space in Henry Roth’s “Call It Sleep” really helped me to connect to the novel in a new and different way. Having to find locations in the novel and place them on a map forced me to think about the novel in terms of space, movement, and location, something I had not done before –at least not as in depth. Once we had all completed this activity, I could, suddenly, visualize the entire novel. The visual element allowed me to better comprehend the novel. It was especially interesting for me to see how clustered many of the locations were. In the novel, it seemed as though David did a lot of wandering and exploring, however, he never actually ventured very far from his home.

One pushpin that I found particularly interesting was Daniela’s “Bertha’s expectations of a candy store.” I found it intriguing that she placed the pushpin somewhere in New Jersey. The quote used for this pushpin makes no mention of location, it merely describes Bertha’s expectations. Furthermore, I do not remember there being any mention of New Jersey. I am curious as to why Daniela decided to place this pushpin there.