Author: Cindy (Page 3 of 10)

I learned multiple ways of making my writing more comprehensive and fluid. The article provides explanations of how to quote and cite sources in a way where a reader will not be left feeling like the writing was rushed. Instead of inserting quotes to help prove a point, forming a sentence to help the reader analyze will create a better reading experience. Knowing that I often insert a quote in an annoying way as listed by Kyle Stedman, I have to be careful and keep his fixes in mind to make sure the flow of my writing is not jumbled, leading my reader to become disinterested. Stedman also notes that it’s important to make sure verbs match the cited quote. If the quote has plural subjects, the entire sentence needs to be plural to match. One thing I will also keep in mind is that I may modify quotations by adding brackets to better fit my sentence structure.

Hostile architecture targets mainly the homeless community, a group that is already constantly ostracized by implementing dangerous and harmful ways for them to seek shelter throughout the day. Various forms of this type of architecture are benches with armrests, water sprinklers, urine proof paint, bicycle alarms and noise alarms. These designs are not safe and make it difficult for the homeless community to sleep and rest when needed, as stressed by Tony Bernal who is the senior director of public policy and funding for Transition Projects, an organization based in Portland that works to help transition the homeless into housing. Bernal highlights a prominent Portland city issue by noting that the city may not be accessible and inclusive, “Day services are not always easily accessible for everyone facing homelessness, and yet cities continue to take away access to areas where those experiencing homelessness seek refuge throughout all hours of the day.” It raises the question of whether public city areas are open to all, and who it is accessible for, and who can be included in such areas.

Anti-homeless architecture is something that causes inconveniences to members of a community, especially the homeless community. There are ways for people to inform themselves of what this type of architecture is about and what can be done to help.  The audience I will be targeting are members of a community, including neighborhood residents, local store owners and activists, and even the younger generation of students. The genre I am planning to write in is a leaflet because it allows for information to be condensed into a fair amount of space that is easy to comprehend. A leaflet also allows for easy transportation and viewing, as it can be handed out to people to read and posted onto community boards. To start, I will be taking the most important points of my research along with pictures to inform the reader of what anti-homeless architecture is. Color schemes, word and picture alignment will be very important. If I decide to make a foldable leaflet, there might be a chance I can fit in more information as each column can list an important point of my research. A concern I have is that I am only adding why anti-homeless architecture is not beneficial for the homeless, I will be excluding the argument that there are benefits of it. It will also take some time to be able to condense all the information to make sure my objective is clear and easy to understand for someone who has never heard of anti-homeless architecture. Although I think a leaflet is a good idea, I’m not 100% sure if putting so much info on it will make it easy to read and understand so I might change my genre choice if needed.

For my unit 2 research, I decided firstly that members of a community, the general public should inform themselves about anti-homeless architecture, and then the government should. Creating awareness to this issue would hopefully cause the government to make changes to provide support for the homeless community. Instead of having the government exert their power to force citizens to care about this issue, people on their own accord will take notice and create their own opinion after being informed. I think the best genre to use is some sort of nonfiction genre, whether that be an educational genre or journalism genre. Because pictures are crucial to my research, an essay or video seems ideal. It has to be eye catching, concise and persuasive because I am showcasing something that is not widely known about, and explaining a certain opinion. What I will be mainly doing is detailing photos and informing the reader about what my research is about, and how one can help to make a change.