Category Archives: ENG1101 Project #2

Overlapping New Yorks

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2, Coursework

New York City  is one of the richest cities in the world, and yet I can say that it’s also quite poor. Now you would probably ask me how can New York with its millions of people, skyscrapers, corporate businesses, Wall Street, so on and so forth be poor? Well to start, having millions of people the daily lives of all these people are different. Not everyone lives on the upper west side, and we don’t all own properties, we can’t all shell out $500 on a designer bag and then go shop more. There are people like that in New York and this is what is commonly thought to be New York, we as a city are advertised like that. Welcome to the big apple, there’s a Starbucks at each corner. Have you seen the statue of liberty? Have you been to the Empire State building? Or even Time Square? How about Prospect park and Central park?. What we don’t advertise are the people who work humbly for minimum wage sometimes not even, the long hours poor benefits or even no benefits, we don’t advertise the fact that there are desolate lots in our city, or a completely abandoned ran down park. We don’t advertise these things and we don’t truly see these things they hide in the skin of New York like a festering sore. Now there are New Yorkers know about this, but yet they don’t really care about this situation, it doesn’t affect them. However they do love their city, their city but not the city. New Yorkers have in a way split himself apart and isolated each other and thus for every person there is a different New York.

When I took my  walk for this project I had no idea what I was going to juxtapose, however I luckily stumbled across something interesting to talk about. The path that I took was just me trying to get to York st station because for me to get home I take the F train uptown into Manhattan. Even though I was reluctant to take a detour from my usual path, cause to get  home I take the F at Metrotech. But I knew I had to look around Brooklyn eventually and continued on. When my day was done at City Tech I planned on taking a path that I have never taken before. I  exited the building from the main entrance and continued walking on Jay st in the direction of Tillary the buildings around here have a nice vibrant look  so they were clearly well maintained, I kept walking on Jay st until my friend had called me and asked If I wanted to hang out, and of course I would have rather done that, so In a way I took a detour from my detour. He had told me that he was going to wait for me at the intersection between Gold st and Sands st there was a small park near by to play basketball, still in a place I’ve never visited so I pulled out my phone map. I took myself towards that direction making a right on Concord st, as I continued on I noticed how the buildings got drastically dreary looking and they were a lot older than those around Jay st and the Metrotech area the amount of people I saw also dwindled as well. When I had gotten to Gold st I had realized this area was project housing. This area was ill maintained, the walls stained with watermarks, trash strewn across the area barely making it to the garbage can, and a nauseating stench. There was no one was around, this housing area was constructed by the loud road and bridge you could hear the cars wizz by and the roar of the trains, this place had seemed like a forgotten wasteland. This had stunned me, the contrast between here and the Metrotech area that I had been just 5 minutes away from its almost night and day but I had no idea this area was even here. It reminded me of  this line in “City Limits” Colson Whitehead had said  “Our old building still stand because we saw them, moved in and out of their long shadows, were lucky enough to know them for a time” these buildings have clearly been forgotten, forgotten by the city, completely  ran down, unlike the rest of our city that is so celebrated. We’ve forgotten about those that are less fortunate, and we forget that we are able to do things about it. The people here in the project housing live in a different New York then we do, and I would like to see these places built up once again or even renewed and integrated into the whole of New York City. I want to say that over there is a cool place to check out, or lets go hang out there play some basketball by that renovated park. To sum up what I want to say I’ll use what Colson Whitehead had said “I’m here because I was born here and thus ruined for anywhere else.” And that’s exactly how I feel, I love New York the city as a whole, I would not trade this place for any other place to be my home. And I would love to see my city prosper, not just the parts that are already prospering of course.

Project# 2 Reflection

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2

What I found the most difficult out of the project was finding a place that I could personally feel somewhat attached to and could write about as my personal New York. As for finding the Juxtaposition in the Metro tech area and that was pretty easy as many places easily felt out of place with Jay Street’s modern look. When it came down to it I found this project really fun, I was able to learn more about places that while a still familiar were still very foreign to me. Overall what I feel will need improvement is in quoting and using quotes as a means of support to my essays.

Project#2: Overlapping New York: Reflection

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2

This is the second project we did for English 1101, the idea of the second project is to have an understanding a view and perspective of how New York is changing. For project two we are suppose to learn to think, view other than just reading an passage. Meanwhile,working on project two I recall spending  time on walking around City Tech, I manage to view differently between modern and older. Also, by applying Colson Whitehead’s idea presented in “City Limits” it help have a better understanding when writing the essay. New York is always changing and the meaning of juxtaposition describes the city differences between the old and new. The project will help us think about our daily life and how its constantly changing, how it will continue to change.

Ways of Seeing Project 2:Revised

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2

New York is a forever changing place. Everything from its buildings, to its parks, its roads change. Even the people in New York change. With the passage of time things start to get old and corrode. This forces people to change things. When things start to change people often forget or they struggle to remember what was there. According to Colson Whitehead new buildings that are made would be considered a ”new” New York. The things we forget and are left in the past would be considered the ”old” New York. That New York most people wouldn’t know about because it isn’t part of there New York. They didn’t see it, so it isn’t part of there New York. The new building that are erected now would be considered their New York because they were there to witness it.  The ”old” New York may be in the past, but it isn’t completely lost. The people who were there, would be living proof that the ”old” New York existed. Some places can be juxtaposed with each other to show the ”old”  New York with the ” new” New York.

You usually don’t pay attention to what was there before. You’d walked the same place over and over again, that you’d get accustomed to that place. You don’t notice when a store is gone until your ready to actually go there. Things change in your neighborhood and when they do, a little of your New York is chipped away. That deli across the street could change into a 99 cent store at any moment. When it actually does you will gain a new edition to your New York, to replace the New York that was taken from you. All the new places you go to will become part of your New York.

For example I walked down Court Street, and saw all the big court houses. They gave off and an old feeling. Right next to the court houses was Columbus Park. What I noticed was that the people who were walking near the court houses had suits on. They looked really busy and they were rushing to places. They lived in a completely different ”New York” that I wasn’t used to. There ”New York” probably involved a lot of hustling and bustling. Then their was the people walking through Columbus Park, they had a more relaxed feeling to them. They were either walking there dogs or just taking a stroll. Their ”New York” must of been completely different than the court house people because they felt more relaxed. These two places when juxtaposed together show two different aspects of New York in one area. Its shows the busy professional New York compared to the laid back, relaxed New York.

As I continued walking down Court Street I eventually made my why to State Street. Here I realized, that compared to how the courts felt on Court Street, it gave off a more busy feeling but it was different. There were a lot of stores and many people shopping. I felt like I was on Liberty Ave, Queens. The place had a more dirty view but a lot of people were still there. The many store, like Starbucks, Barnes & Nobles, the theater, etc, attracted the people. These places had a lot more people than the court houses and the park and their ”New Yorks” were completely different. The people that travel here would probably be here to eat and do shopping. Compared to the busy, professional New York and the laid back, relaxed New York, this New York was different. I realized that a lot of the people there were students. There were also a lot of construction sites. This caused the place to be much more noisy then the court houses. This made it seem like it was the loud unprofessional New York. The construction workers were either fixing old buildings or replacing them. This means that a little of everyone’s ”New York” was going away. This also mean that the new buildings that would be constructed would help replace the ”New Yorks” they lost. People might never want to acknowledge the new building, like how Colson Whitehead said ” I would never call the Pan Am building, the Met life building, because that’s he would always remember it as the Pan Am building”.

No two places in New York are the same, but they do carry some similarities. For example, the two place I listed above are completely different, but if you paid attention to some details, you could fine a lot of similarities. For example both places were in Brooklyn and they had people inhabiting them . Though each person would have their own ”New Yorks” because everyone’s different. For example the people on Court Street, next the the court houses would be accustomed to walking briskly through the quiet streets surrounded by old buildings. Where as the people by State Street would be more accustomed to noise because more construction is there. Although the buildings on State Street are fairly newer than the ones on Court Street, they do resemble each other in height. There wasn’t a lot of similarities because no two New Yorks are the same.

Everyone lives in a different part of New York. We all hold different memories according to where we went. This makes us all have our own unique ”New York”. Each time we go to someplace new we add more to our ”New York”. New York is constantly changing from its buildings to its inhabitant. This all helps build our own ” New York”. By going on this walk from Court Street to State street I was able to add more to my ”New York”. I was able to experience the ” New York” the lawyers and office workers have while walking down Court Street. I started feeling like I was back into my own ”New York” as I got to State Street. Everyone has their own memories that make these places special to them. Whether these places were to disappear later on or they completely change, our memories, would serve as living proof that these places truly existed.

Project 2:Reflection

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2

I know I took awhile to finish project 2, and I’m sorry for the lateness. I really did enjoy project 2 because it helped open my eyes to things I probably wouldn’t notice. I got the explore the places next to my school. I found it hard to juxtapose the places it went to. I probably didn’t explain it to well in my essay. I hope to improve on this. I want to be able to explain things well because I feel that it’ll help me in the future. Again i’m sorry for the late essay.

Ways of Seeing Project 2

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2

New York is a forever changing place. The buildings, the parks, the roads, etc almost everything in New York changes. With the passage of time things start to get old and corrode. This forces people to change things. When things start to change people often forget or they struggle to remember what was there. The new buildings that are made would be considered a ”new” New York. The things we forget and are left in the past would be considered the ”old” New York. That New York most people wouldn’t know about because it isn’t part of there New York. They didn’t see it, so it isn’t part of there New York. The new building that are erected now would be considered there New York because they were there to witness it.  The ”old” New York may be in the past, but it isn’t completely lost. The people who were there, would be living proof that the ”old” New York existed. Some places can be juxtaposed with each other to show the ”old”  New York with the ” new” New York.

I usually don’t pay attention to what was there before. You usually go to the same place over and over again, that you get accustomed to that place. You don’t notice when a store is gone until your ready to actually go there. Things change in your neighborhood and when they do, a little of your New York is chipped away. That deli across the street could change into a 99 cent store at any moment. When it actually does you will gain a new edition to your New York, to replace the New York that was taken from you. All the new places you go to will become part of your New York.

For example I walked down Court Street, and saw all the big court houses. They gave off and an old feeling. Right next to the court houses was Columbus Park. What I noticed was that the people who were walking near the court houses had suits on. The looked really busy and they were rushing to places. They had a completely different ”New York” that I was used to. There ”New York” probably involved a lot of hustling and bustling. Then their was the people walking through Columbus Park, they had a more relaxed feeling to them. They were either walking there dogs or just taking a stroll. Their ”New York” must of been completely different than the court house people because they felt more relaxed.

As I continued walking down Court Street I eventually made my why to State Street. Here I realized, that compared to how the courts felt on Court Street, it gave off a more busy feeling. There were a lot of stores and many people shopping. I felt like I was on Liberty Ave, Queens. The place had a more dirty view but a lot of people were still there. The many store, like Starbucks, Barnes & Nobles, the theater, etc, attracted the people. These places had a lot more people than the court houses and their ”New Yorks” were completely different. The people that travel here would probably be here to eat and do shopping. I realized that a lot of the people there were students. There were also a lot of construction sites. This caused the place to be much more noisy then the court houses. The construction workers were either fixing old buildings or replacing them . This means that a little of everyone’s ”New York” that frequent there was going away. This also mean that the new buildings that would be constructed would help replace the ”New Yorks” they lost. People might never want to acknowledge the new building, like how Coleson Whitehead said ” he’d never call the Met life building, the Met life building, he would always remember it as the Pan Am building”.

No two places in New York are the same, but they do carry some similarities. For example, the two place I listed above are completely different, but if you paid attention to some details, you could fine a lot of similarities. For example both places were in Brooklyn and they had people inhabiting them . Though each person would have their own ”New Yorks” because everyone’s different. For example the people on Court Street, next the the court houses would be accustomed walking through the quietness of the buildings. Where as the people by State Street would be more accustomed to noise because more construction is there. Although the buildings on State Street are fairly newer than the ones on Court Street, they do resemble each other in height. There wasn’t a lot of similarities because no two New Yorks are the same.

Everyone lives in a different part of New York. We all hold different memories according to where we went. This makes us all have our own unique ”New York”. Each time we go to someplace new we add more to our ”New York”. New York is constantly changing from its buildings to its inhabitant. This all helps build our own ” New York”. By going on this walk from Court Street to State street I was able to add more to my ”New York”. I was able to experience the ” New York” the lawyers and office workers have while walking down Court Street. I started feeling like I was back into my own ”New York” as I got to State Street. Everyone has their own memories that make these places special to them. Whether these places were to disappear later on or they completely change, our memories, would serve as living proof that these places truly existed.

Project #2: Reflection

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2, Coursework

Upon doing project 2, I didn’t know how I was going to reach the 900 words minimum. The most words I’ve ever wrote for a project or essay in high school was 600. So that was the main thing I was worried about. However, I learned something new about juxtapositions once I actually had to scout one out myself and got to know the downtown Brooklyn area a little better than before. Colson Whitehead’s example of a juxtaposition was helpful to me. The thing I am most proud of is writing a 900+ word essay but I could have organized the essay maybe a little better because I basically wrote things all around the page without sequence really.

Ways of Seeing : Project #2 Reflection

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2

I enjoyed this particular project because not only did you get to write what you visualize, but you get to travel from one place to another. While finding my New York, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would have been, especially the juxtaposition of two things. Writing the essay, I felt great. Putting all of my thoughts in, and of course details from Colson Whitehead’s article. When I juxtaposed the two things of my New York, i also did in general about all New York. What I learned from this project was a lot of things, but particularly three things. First, I didn’t know what juxtaposition was until this project was all about it. Learning this new word not only will I use it when i need that right word to use, but it’s good to write on essays to build up my vocabulary. Second, I enjoy walking and taking journeys, and going to my New York was the best choice ever. I took pictures, drew, and just sat there and relax. When you go to so many different places, you wonder a lot of things. You ask yourself what was here before that now is this?… So this projects made me learn lastly that everywhere, around the world, time is the key to everything. In time, change happens in the blink of an eye, and when you see that laundromat when you were young is now a clothing store, you juxtaposed from before to after. This project was about life experience and New York and all these different things, and that is why it became interesting to write about. Reading Whitehead’s article, he talked about his New York, and in that case we all have our own New York and how we feel about it. I was a fun project, traveling, writing, visualizing and this is a part of a big whole of designing and writing!

Project #2 Reflection

Student Posts, ENG1101 Project #2

I enjoyed this project because it involved walking out to a new place. It was really interesting to learn about juxtapositions. I really got to know areas near the school more. I thought finding overlapping New Yorks would be hard, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought. What I could improve more on the project is how I describe what I see by sight or any senses. I also need to improve on my quotes and showing how they support my essay’s thesis more, I might not have elaborated on them much in my essay.