ENG 1101: Composing Abstractions

New York city is a melting point where you can find people of different religions and cultures. Diversity plays a big role. Everyone has different ideas and point of view. Everyone has something to contribute. Whenever I go to the city I get to see different things; some bad and aome good. It’s amazing how the technology improves day by day. In Mumford’s opinion city is a theater of social action,”and evrything else – art, politics, education, commerce.” We will see people from overall the world. People interact through pictures, language and even drawings. As it’s mentioned in The man in the crowd “This latter is one of the city and had been very much crowded the whole day. Poe describes different people by their clothes and hair etc. The old man enjoyed being in the crowd because he didn’t want to be alone.

Throughout history, society has found the need to advance in all types of fields, whether it be architecture, technology, art, or music; we’ve learned to modernize the way we live to move into the future. New York City is a prime example of our civilization moving into the future. This modernization has become more prevalent in the twenty-first century as population increases and buildings are going up left and right. When E.B.White wrote “In the country there are few chances of rejuvenation-a shift in weather, perhaps, or something arriving in the mail. But in New York the chances are endless”, he desribed our city perfectly. New York is a city of endless opportunities. People travel from all parts of the world to come live here and try to make a better life for themselves. Eight million people populate the borough of Manhattan; all striving to accomplish something different. Edgar Allan Poe describes the man of the crowd in his story “The Man of the Crowd” as being a random guy who travels the city accomplishing nothing other than refusing to be alone. As the city of New York gives us so many opportunities, we don’t want to be another man of the crowd.

A city where many things are a complete possibility to happen. With large buildings and people bustling throughout the many twists and turns of the small yet vast city. Many people find that new york city is a place where chaos and confusion take reign in the way of life, but those people are the close minded who feel that a cultural diffusion and complete difference between people is a bad situation. Those people would be the complete counter point to E.B. White who said ” New York is the concentrate of art and commerce and sport and religion  and entertainment and finance … the trader and the merchent.” His point here is that everyone provides something that can benefit a society and create a new flavor in the melting pot called New York City.

In Mumfords opinion he exemplifies the fact that, “The city in its complete sense, then, is a geographic plexus, an economic organization…and aesthetic symbol of collective unity.” He explains that many in this place called New York City provide a sense of organization which without would be cause for chaos in all forms of the city. Edgar Allen Poe’s view of the city is a place where people wait for no one and a person in need has no need as explained when he said, “He noticed me not, but resumed his solemn walk, while I, ceasing to follow, remained absorbed in contemplation.” These views of the city are all closely felt by their corrosponding authors, but each view provides a unique point of view that allows me to view the city in a way in which I would not be able to normally.

        In the article “What is a city?”. The author Lewis Mumford describe the city as a theater. When he writes “The city is a theater of social action” and everything else – art, politics, education and commerce; which convert us as the actors of the theater. We are the city because without dweller is nothing. “Has always been a place of excitement; it is a theater, a stage upon which citizens can display themselves and be seen by others”. Each human being give an apport  to the city, some can be good or bad. We have the power to shift the city just by thinking and creating. In addiction “Man of the crowd” Poe the author write about a man, whom after recovered from an unspecific illness, starts to describe different  he groups of people walking on the street and keeping them apart by certain characteristic. The old man is always on the move, he refuses to be alone ; he is the man of the crowd, what seems to be more interesting is the fact that this man sees the world, he is the center of it and yet he is unseen of the world.  “When you live in the new york, you are astonished at how different the rest of the world is.  As my own expirience  of having the power of shift my life by move to  The United States accepting all the challenges to achieve all my dreams and goals.  On the other hand we have the message from “Man of the crowd” that we can be in the crowd but not be the crowd.

The city is a place of busy crowds, packed stores, lunatic drivers, and life. It seems as if nothing has changed in this aspect, because from E.B. White’s account of the city, it is still a spectacular and busy place to be. Crowds rush in from all over the world, making the city a diverse place. White’s Here is New York makes it clear that so much has happened and so much continues to happen here. People in moving crowds tend to lose their identity, as they become defined by the crowd. But that’s a disappointing misconception, as the difference in people is what makes up this nation. The chaos of the city may make it seem impossible to follow one specific person around for a day, but Edgar Allen Poe’s The Man of the Crowd describes a man of the city. In contrast to the idea of individuality, the old man Poe described enjoyed being in crowds. He wanted to live in a crowd of people and be surrounded by people, because he disliked being alone. The old man really had no destination – it was the crowd in the city that made him wander around stores and other places. In the hustle and bustle of things, some people actually find solace in the fast-paced life, making it harder to hold onto their individuality. Being in crowds is one thing, but becoming one with the crowd is giving up a chance to be expressive and to be different. In my life, I would never give up that opportunity. I enjoy being in a city where I can be a part of a crowd and still stand out.

I think of New York City as a place of evolution. Everyday something new is happening whether it is fashion, technology, Diversity and the Architecture. When I listen to this quote, “This mixture is the key source to the city’s vitality and we must enlarge and enrich it as we move toward a new urban form.” by Mumford, I notice how much the city has changed throughout our history. When you walk through the city, you can notice how a variety of buildings are being constructed or modified in a way to attract more people. I agree with Mumford’s quote because what he was getting out to us, Is exactly what is happening in our city at this moment. We, the people are enlarging the city which is and has caused the city to be urbanized.  The quote stated by E.B. White, “I am twenty- two blocks from where Rudolph Valentino lay in state, Eight blocks from where Nathan Hale was executed, five blocks from the publisher’s office where Ernesto Hemingway hit Max Eastman on the nose, four miles from where Walt Whitman sat sweating out editorials for the Brooklyn eagle, etc” states how much history New York City has. This portion of the quote only shows 4 people but it goes on. These people mentioned were important when it came to journalism, poetry, acting, writing and more which is significantly relevant to New York’s Modern times and its History. Before technology took over our lives, the people of New York City were constantly reading books, and newspapers which is what gave these people their publicity. Although you, or other people around you do these activities this day, you cannot compare it to with those days because the ratio is much different.

This is a picture I did not take of a man walking calmy through a park on a cool day with his head held high and a smile across his his face before tripping on something, stumbling and falling, then quickly picking himself up and walking along as if nothing had happened.

This is a picture I did not take of a child playing in a laundry mat, bouncing a sponge bob ball in the air, as loud squeels of laughter escaped the childs mouth. The young child threw the ball onto the washing machines and got it stuck up there, dissappoint arose until the mother got the ball down for him. As the mother walked away he promptly laughed as hard as he could and threw the ball onto the washing machine again.

This is a picture I did not take of when I was standing in my neighbors backyard while I had a conversation with him. In his backyard, he had a very large, black dog which was sitting in its cage. He had bought a small “Igloo” dog house for the dog which was in the cage. The Dog house obviously was too small as it was bought when the dog was a puppy. I glanced in the area of the cage and noticed the dog sitting on top of the dog house. I couldn’t help but laugh at what I seen.

This is a picture I did not take of when I was on my way to high school review classes. It was a rainy, stormy afternoon and the roads where slippery. I slowly approached a stop light and waited for it to turn green. As I did so, a car coming from the right part of the intersection approached the green light and began to make a right turn. He went through the turn at 30-45 miles per hour and it caused his car to spin out in the middle of the turn. His car nearly slid into the high curb that went along the road. The people behind him drove around him as if they didn’t see anything and he re-made his turn and proceeded to his route. All I could do was shake my head as I watched. Luckily, no one was hurt and no damage was caused.