Mumford, Lewis. “Sketches from Life,” in Phillip Lopate, ed. Writing New York: A Literary Anthology. New York: Washington Square Press, 2000, p. 260-265.
In the comments, write a 50-100 word response to the essay. Does this essay make you excited about your field trip to the Brooklyn Bridge? Why do you think Mumford had such a strong feeling about the Brooklyn Bridge? Did you find it hard to relate to the essay?
In this article that I read about Lewis Mumford, he had some really interesting views. Mumford first stated how much what he like the most” I Loved The Bridges… The Brooklyn Bridge that I loved the most” he loved the bridge he said that because he thought the form was unique, and how the cables were made, he said how amazing the cable were built, and last he said Roman,Romanesque, and Gothic architecture inspired. I think that Mumford is strong because he think that the architecture of it is amazing.I can relate to Mumford because i think that the Brooklyn Bridge cables can be a whole story on how it was built.The coming of the Brooklyn Bridge is just amazing. Yes, this article excited me but it didn’t excite me even more because I was already excited for it.
This essay does make me excited to go to the Brooklyn Bridge because I never walked the whole thing before. The way Lewis Described the bridge made it come alive and seem almost life changing. I think he had a strong feeling about the bridge because he lived in Brooklyn Heights for a while. He also walked the bridge throughout the seasons and experienced it differently each time. Then one day in March he had an overwhelming experience, kind of out of body like on the bridge. There wasn’t a certain reason why he had it but everything came together all at once while he was watching the city from the bridge. It kind of made me hope that I would have an experience like this while being on the bridge.
In the article, “Sketches from Life” by Lewis Mumford, he tells us about his experience of crossing the bridge whenever he had the chance to and how happy he was when he did cross it. He explains it has a perfect form with its spidery cables and stone pillars with the themes of roman and gothic architecture. The bridge helped his imagination and helped him write plays. He loved to walk back and forth on the bridge, he was able to see skyscrapers in the darkness and the lights of Manhattan. This article makes me more excited to visit the Brooklyn Bridge because of the many views that Mumford describes in the article. I want to experience the skyline view with my own eyes. Even though I’ve been on the bridge before, it is a whole new experience every time like it was for Mumford.
The excerpt from the “Sketches From Life” essay makes me very excited about our trip to the Brooklyn Bridge. I now have a whole new perspective of it, now that I know that somebody’s most favorite memory happened on that bridge. I think Mumford had a strong feeling about the Brooklyn Bridge because he lived in a time where things like that were an amazing spectacle to behold. Mumford wasn’t used to it, and its extravagance enticed him. I find it a bit hard to relate to this essay because I am not used to bridges. I cross them everyday, and see them everyday. They aren’t as special as it used to be back in the 1900s.
I liked reading this essay Mumford wrote. We are able to see how excited and proud of the Brooklyn Bridge he is. I enjoyed seeing his point of view and how the bridge inspired him to do so many things like write. This essay did make me feel excited for tomorrow’s trip because I too want to see the bridge in a different light. In other words, I too want to feel connected and inspired by the bridge. As Mumford showed, I too want to feel happy, united, & proud of the city I live in. For me, it wasn’t that hard relating to Mumford and how he feels. Just like him, I too feel proud of where I was born and raised.
“Sketches from Life” by Lewis Mumford portrays the scenery and visual aspects of bridges he has encountered in his life. The love of ferries has transitioned into the love of bridges as Lewis Mumford states, “But if I loved the ferries, I loved the bridges, too.” His experiences walking on bridges has inspired his work, everyday life and the symbolic meaning of what each bridge signify. He also states, ” But it was the Brooklyn Bridge that I loved best, partly because of its own somber perfection of form, with its spidery lacing of cables contrasting with the great stone piers through which they were- suspended: stone masonry that seemed in its harmony of granite pier, classic coping, and ogive arch to crystallize the essence of Roman, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture; while its cables stretched like a bowstring to shoot a steel arrow into our own age.” This statement shows the specific details and admiration Lewis Mumford was able to visually portray to the reader. His feelings and thoughts were strong towards the Brooklyn Bridge because of its form and art. It has made me want to experience the same admiration and appreciation that Lewis Mumford had. Being born and raised in Brooklyn, I had never walked on the Brooklyn Bridge, so I am really eager and excited to experience stepping my first few steps on the Brooklyn Bridge and see the details and the beautiful architecture that was build hundreds of years ago.
In the article “Sketches from Life” by Lewis Mumford he describes and expresses his emotions as he was one of the many people who was able to cross the Brooklyn bridge every single day. To me the most exciting part about the essay was the sudden revelation that he received when crossing the bridge. Where it was as if all doubts and confusions were suddenly taken away and replaced with confidence and most important inspiration; all which came from one particular moment on the bridge. Reading this article made me feel excited for our class trip to the Brooklyn Bridge because it has opened up a different and new way to view the bridge and its surrounding. Although it’s no my first time walking the bridge it will be a new way to experience the bridge with a possibility to encounter a life changing moment.
In Lewis Mumford essay called “Sketches from life” he inform us about many bridges he has walked before. But his favorite and one that stands out the most was the Brooklyn Bridge. He expresses the bridge is a perfection of form, with it’s spidery cables, the great stone towers, and the essence of Roman and Gothic architecture. Also, Lewis talked about how he took every possible chance to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and that every time he crossed the bridge it’s a different experience. He had one really special experience in March, that had a remarkable sight with the darkness and light skyline view of Manhattan. Reading Lewis Mumford essay made me feel excited for the class trip; because it has inspired me to look at the bridge differently and made me hope I could experience something close to as he did.
I like this article “Sketches from Life”, which was wrote by Lewis Mumford. In this article, Lewis shared us about his life around Brooklyn Bridge at the beginning of 90s’. I had the same experience as what he did when he acrossed the Brooklyn bridge in the early spring, but different views. Even the views change a lot, I felt the same way that I could not find a word to express myself how much I love this city and how much I love the Brooklyn bridge since this is my second hometown.
Lewis Mumford had such a strong feeling about this Bridge simply because he was fascinated by its amazing architectural features. As he described the bridge in the essay to be “its own somber perfection, spidery lacing of cables contrasting with great stone piers, classic coping and ogive arch to crystallize the essence of Roman Gothic architecture”. Lewis Mumford also was fascinated by all the other bridges and ferry rides around New York. For example, he would ride the Staten Island ferry, he walked across from Jersey City to downtown Manhattan. And of course he walked over the Brooklyn Bridge which was his favorite, on every occasion possible. He would experience the bridge in all different types of weather. Which eventually led to him writing his first play on the bridge, simply because he was inspired by the bridge and the views he had when walking across the bridge. This essay certainly does make me excited about my field trip to the Brooklyn Bridge, simply because I never walked across.
in the article “sketches from life” by Lewis Mumford. he started from the love of furryboat. in his word was”but if i love the ferries, i loved fhe bridge,too.” he run over the bridge in NYC, Brooklyn Bridge always has something special parts to attracted him. the remarkable view have been captured in the twlight hour. when the sunlight hit the Brooklyn bridge, it giving the energy for the city. after i read the article, the Brooklyn Bridge was deeply attracted me to take a sight Brooklyn bridge in the twlight hour. when the author written the artcle, he wanted to tell us about , how Brooklyn bridge fill full the spirit and intelligence of industrial revolution and American revolution, from the struture, material or view of each part of the bridge. the author relate the ferryboat to the bridge, because they are both of important transportation for American in 19-20 centre,
In Lewis Mumford essay called “Sketches from life” he was one of the many people who was able to cross the Brooklyn bridge every single day. He has a great vision of the city and the bridge and the connection that the bridge makes. In this article the way he explains every single detail that make me think how much he is in love with the city. He also mentions how he saw the bridge in different type of weather and how he felt about the bridge. I went to the Brooklyn bridge so many times but this time I’m excited to see new point of views that I never thought of while walking on the bridge. This time maybe i would pay more attention to the bridge then before.
In the essay “Sketches From Life” by Lewis Mumford, during his early manhood from 1914-1919 he repeatedly rode on ferryboats to experience the waterfronts of New York City. Lewis had a strong feeling of the Brooklyn Bridge because it had a perfect form and the cables suspended with the masonry stones. The architectural design of the bridge is what got Lewis attention and appreciation of the structure. Walking the bridge every day it opened his mind to appreciate the bridge. It was not hard to relate to the essay because from personal experience I visited the bridge when I was in elementary school and researched about it.
Through “Sketches from Life”, Lewis Mumford delivers us his favor over the Brooklyn bridge, as well as the old fashioned ferries. As being one living across the river bank, Mumford crosses the bridge every single day for work, being able to experience the beauty and the strength of the bridge everyday. Brooklyn is not just a transportation infrastructure to him, the experience of being able to travel through the bridge everyday changed his way of thinking of life, in fact, helping him better understand the beauty of life. I can’t wait to walk through Brooklyn bridge. The magic of Brooklyn city and New York City.
In this passage of his memoir, “Sketches From Life”, Lewis Mumford revels of his love of travelling by ferryboats, but also laments the decline of this form of transportation brought about by the newfound commitment of his generation to open bridges and tunnels that allowed for a swift crossing across rivers and bays. Mumford also has a fondness for bridges, more specifically for the Brooklyn Bridge. The same manner that ferryboats offer a variation in the “theme of passage by water”, the Brooklyn Bridge presents a changing outlook at every crossing. The bridge finally one day beckons him to bigger aspiration, filling him with confidence to trod through the possibilities of life. I think it’s amazing how Mumford recognized so early on that the Brooklyn Bridge would become an iconic structure that continues to capture the imagination of all of us.
This essay made me excited about my field trip to the Brooklyn Bridge just by all of the imagery I got from it. Lewis Mumford is very detailed in describing scenes and the moments he had which made me actually picture scenes in my head and want to experience it myself. I think Mumford had such a strong feeling about the Brooklyn Bridge because it was like a revelation for him, like he overcame an obstacle in his life. He described that moment as a revelation of power and beauty, he achieved a sense of confidence and a momentary flash of heights approached. No I don’t find it hard to relate to this essay because being that it was my first time crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, I can actually appreciate its architecture and history, as well as the views you get from walking across the bridge.
In this passage from his Memoir ” Sketches from life”, Lewis Mumford began by describing his love of ferryboat rides across the New York City water fronts as a source of recreation, Specifically ” how they opened the city up, or how the change of pace and place, from swift to slow, from land to water, had a specially stimulating effect upon the mind” and his sadness in its decline as a mode of transportation. He then goes to explain his love for bridges and his many experiences walking the bridges of the city but the Brooklyn Bridge being the one to capture his imagination in a way the others never could particularly because of a single experience he had that was so inspirational he found himself revisiting the bridge in search of a similar experience. That is why i think Mumford had a strong connection to the bridge however it is not a feeling i can relate to because i haven’t had such a mind blowing moment as Mumford described in his memoir but we can both agree that the experience of walking the bridge is a unique one.