Is This Kansas by Eula Biss

     Stereotypes are prevalent in all aspects of life. One stereotype that affects students my age is the typical college party stereotype consisting of alcohol, sex, and drugs. Through Eula Biss' essay "Is This Kansas," she examines the college experience through her view as a professor at the University of Iowa. Biss looks at the truth surrounding college campuses and opens by describing a scene of, "The car crashes, the falls from balconies, the alcohol poisonings. The football game days, on which cars crept toward the stadium in long, slow lines and everyone wore black and gold. The empty plastic cups under bushes, the idle boys on decaying porches, the midnight Ping-Pong tournaments, the windows illuminated by neon beer signs" (131-132). Biss uses short, quick language to paint a scene of a 'typical' college night and the nature of college students.

     Through Biss' experience at the University of Iowa and interactions with students, Biss sees how non-observent and ignorant the students may be. In Biss' last year at the University of Iowa, a major tornado struck Iowa City, resulting in severe damage to the college town. Biss' details the students' reactions of the storm by describing the scene as entertainment to students as, "Some students dragged a couch into the street and sat on it, while some others gathered around cases of beer in a parking lot." These are the details that stick out as they make the reader feel emotion towards the students' actions as well as picture the ironic image of the students sitting back on a couch watching the destruction that lay in their streets. The students are even hypocritical as they pointed out the wrongdoings associated with the citizens of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina like looting, robberies, and other such incidents, while they were doing it themselves after the tornado. The disrespect on behalf of the students to the environment and surrounds really illustrates what lies ahead in our future. Being able to read and connect with the environment present at University of Iowa, I kind of wonder to myself if that would be the case here or at any other college campus? Through the details given by Biss, it is really easy to be able to picture this happening anywhere, but in reality I hope that its only an isolated experience.