“City Limits” is the first chapter in Colson Whitehead’s novel “The Colossus of New York”. Throughout the chapter, the author uses point of views such as first and second person to show the different perspectives of city life in New York. From a first person point of view, the author gives the experiences he encountered while being in New York. His “New York” started when he was looking out the window of the No.1 train as the train elevated from the underground tunnel to the tracks above 125th street. From a second person point of view, Whitehead gives many scenarios to a person’s life in New York City. With examples such as “Maybe you came here for school”,”Maybe you saw the brochure”, “Or maybe you moved here a couple years ago for a job”. Through each individual’s recollection of memories and experiences it’s their “New York”. Although we all live in the same city, Whitehead implies that ” The New York City you live in is not my New York City: how could it be?”. New York City is always changing with adding new accommodations to replace the old ones which someone may have experienced. Whitehead mentions that ” The disappeared pizza parlor is still here because you are here, and when the beauty parlor replaces the travel agency, the gentleman will still have his vacation. And that lady will have her manicure”. That individual’s New York has been changed but they still have the memory of that old piece of New York they lived through. While that person’s New York experienced may have been changed it might be a new experience for someone else. Whitehead’s idea of a New Yorker is someone who has an attachment to the memory they had while being in the city. New Yorkers unite by their unique experiences whether that other person may or may not have experienced it themselves.
Author: Brandy Ortiz
Hokum
noun
- : foolish or untrue words or ideas.
- : writing, music, etc., that is too dramatic or sentimental and not very original.
Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hokum
I’ve come across this word in the reading excerpt “City Limits”. This word can be found in the sentence “That Canal Street used to be a canal. That Bryant Park used to be a reservoir. It’s all hokum”. The following sentence says “I’ve been to Canal Street before and the only time I ever saw a river flow through it was during the last water-main explosion”. In this context the word hokum means untrue words or ideas. From learning what hokum means, I understand that statements about Canal Street and Bryant Park are untrue. The author, Colson Whitehead, mentioned before that “History books and public television documentaries are always trying to tell you all sorts of “facts” about New York”. Whitehead mentions later on in the text “Never listen to what people tell you about old New York, because if you didn’t witness it, it is not a part of your New York and might as well be Jersey”.
Urban Artifact: Phase 4
From this project, not only did I learned what figure-ground relationship was but I saw different ways on how to execute this relationship through the work of my peers. Being able to create a figure-ground relationship from artifacts you found on street really shows that art is everywhere. Even though everybody had to create obvious pieces and ambiguous pieces, there was none that was identical to another person. Everyone had their own unique style and different concepts of their art. What I could’ve done better was time management. Before doing the actual sketches, I had to make sure the borders were in the right measurements and nothing can be miscalculated. I took a very long time on that part including my sketches but it’s something I will work on to get better at. Not only was I ecstatic of my final work but through the critique people mentioned that my progression from my previous sketches to my final work was successful. I felt proud that I’d decided to take the chance to refine my work and add in new additions to it. Seeing from where I started to where I finished shows the improvements I’ve made and that if I put dedication into my work there’s a rewarding payoff.
ENG 1101 Project #1 Process
After reading through my first draft I’ve noticed that it was good but it could be better. With my draft I needed to explain in more detail on some parts. I refined my essay by rewording some sentences that sounded a little funny to make it more clearer. Also I’ve added different adjectives instead so my sentences won’t sound redundant. I’ve noticed I kept on using “I love” a lot so I eliminated that by rewording it in different ways. I split up my first paragraph into 2 since it was too big in structure. With every alterations I read the sentence over to make sure that it made sense. My paragraph about others misinterpretations on my avatar I kind of took it in a way that people could misinterpret me since my avatar conveyed who I am. With that paragraph I had to make sure the misinterpretations was set more on the avatar and less about myself. With the feedback I got from my classmate I got encouraged to put more into my essay since she was really interested in some parts of it. By reading my classmate’s project and providing feedback it help me in my revision since in that scenario I had to be focused on what to eliminate or add. I took about 20 minuets brainstorming and outlining. The draft itself took about 2 hours and 30 minutes to do. Revising and polishing took about 2 hours.
Project#1 Introduction (Final Draft)
My name is Brandy I am a freshman here at Citytech. I graduated from Celia Cruz High School of Music, and while attending there I played percussion. I’m a pretty shy person at first, but eventually I open up the more familiar I get with the person. When I do open up I am a funny, bubbly, weird individual who is pretty open minded to new ideas. My passions lie in learning, creating, animation and imagination. I love learning not only new artistic techniques, but more about the world in general. There’s still so much I don’t know, and finding the answers to those unraveling questions is really satisfying. With creating, being able to bring out imagination to real life whether it’s from mine or someone else’s vision is fascinating, because a lot of interesting ideas dwells within people’s mind. I enjoy animation because this form of expression can be really effective when it comes to creating a great story. In animation I find there’s more life being put into the characters development, plotline and conflicts. Animation really engages me to want to know what will happen next and to make me feel what my favorite characters are feeling.
With imagination I love wandering into my own world, taking a break from reality at times. Being able to come up with ideas that seem pretty unreal and having a feel for that fantasy is something that I can’t get bored from. I am still discovering my design aesthetic but I would say I really like to put my focus on color. Color brings about a reaction from people and depending on the color or shade I use, I can give out the most accurate atmosphere for my piece. To me the color blue is bold yet gentle, and by that statement I mean that it has balance in the way it shows itself which is why many people including myself enjoy it’s presence. In five to ten years I see myself enjoying whatever career I’m in, still exploring the world and having new experiences.
I would say that my avatar portrays my carefree,adventurous personality. The way the petals carry off into the wind conveys being free to explore the world which is something I always look forward to in life.The petals also represent I’m a go with the flow type of person. The various sceneries depict the beauty I see in the vast world we live in. The different landscapes shows the adventures I wish to have in the future. This image really sets the way I like to imagine by the way the colors come together and make this image feel like a dream.
Some misinterpretations people could get from my avatar is that it is spiritual. This reason can be due to the fact it the woman seen in the picture looks like she is praying or practicing a ritual of some sort. People could interpret that she could be a farmer because of her possession of the petals, and pots that seem to resemble having wheat inside. Another interpretation someone might have when looking at my avatar is that the woman is killing the flowers by pulling them of their stems.
My profile conveys that I’m a laid back, adventurous person that is just fascinated by what the world has to offer. Also that I have a very whimsical vision when it comes to imagination. This matters to me because imagination is what makes me optimistic for the future, which is an necessity. It is necessity because I can see myself working in a field where it requires thinking outside the box. It can show that I am approachable and have various interests. And finally, my profile can represent on what I can offer the world.
Urban Artifacts: Phase 3
The stable cut out which is on the right took 5 hours to complete. The ambiguous cut out which is on the left took 6 hours to complete. In total the cut outs took 11 hours to do.
This phase of the project relates to the previous phase by having the same figure it’s just in a different medium. The previous phase were inked sketches while in the picture above it’s cut outs. Through both mediums you can still guess which portrait is stable or ambiguous. The portrait on the right has the figure in the middle and at the bottom which makes the figure surrounded by the negative space. With so much white being around the black there’s a sense of lightness and focus on that particular figure. The portrait on the left has multiple figures that cover each corner. Although they are separated the figure in the middle makes everything feel united as a whole.
Theologians
noun
a person who is an expert on theology
-
More in detail on theology: the study of religious faith, practice, and experience : the study of God and God’s relation to the world.
Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theology
I’ve come across this word in the reading excerpt “Univers Strikes Back”. This word can be found in the sentence “No longer satisfied by the cult of cultures, philosophers, theologians, journalists, and artists around the world are recovering the universal ideas embedded in their particular religious, national, or communal orientations…”. From learning who the theologians were, I understand that in the previous sentence they’re a group of people that have been placed in their own category of great minds. To me I think the sentence is referring to The Renaissance era. The Renaissance was an era of which these amazing thinkers came about and expressed their ideas to the world. The sentence is exclaiming that the world no longer has a great influence from these amazing thinkers.
Urban Artifacts: Phase 2
The stable drawings took 50 minutes while the ambiguous took an hour and 20 minutes to complete. In total that is 4 hours and 20 minutes.
Stable
Stable
Ambiguous
Ambiguous
Project 1: Draft
My name is Brandy and I’m a freshman here at Citytech. I graduated from Celia Cruz High School of music and while attending there I use to play percussion. I’m a pretty shy person at first but eventually I open up the more I get familiar with new people. When I do open up I’m a funny, bubbly, weird person who is pretty open minded to new ideas. My passions lie in learning, creating, anime and imagination. I love learning not only new artistic techniques but just more about the world in general. There’s still so much I don’t know and finding the answer to those unraveling questions is really satisfying. With creating, being able to bring out imagination to real life whether it’s from mine or someone else’s vision is fascinating because a lot of interesting ideas dwells within people. I love anime because through this medium of animation the stories are just marvelous. In anime I find there’s more being put into the characters development, plotline and conflicts. Anime really engages me to want to know what will happen next and to make me feel what my favorite characters are feeling. With imagination I love wandering into my own world taking a break from reality at times. Being able to come up with ideas that seem pretty unreal and having a feel for that fantasy is something that I can’t get bored from.I’m still discovering my design aesthetic but I would say I really like to put my focus on color. Color to me really brings in mood depending on the color itself or the shade. My favorite color is blue and to me the color blue is bold yet gentle which is why I love it so much. In five to ten years I see myself enjoying whatever career I’m in, still exploring the world and having new experiences.
I would say that my avatar portrays my carefree,adventurous personality. The way the petals carry off into the wind conveys being free to explore the world which is something I always look forward to in life.The petals also represent I’m a go with the flow type of person. The various sceneries depict the beauty I see in the vast world we live in. The different landscapes shows the adventures I wish to have in the future. This image really sets the way I like to imagine by the way the colors come together and make this image feel like a dream.
Some misinterpretations people could get from my avatar is that since there’s a carefree vibe to it I’m the type of person to jump into anything. This is definitely not the case with me, I actually think of multiple scenarios before I come to a conclusion when making decisions. People could interpret that I fail to see what reality really is since I’m too stuck in my own imagination. I’m aware that not everything in life is all sunshine but there’s still beauty to it. Through the way how the image sets a calm feeling people could misinterpret that I never get mad. I still get mad at times I just try my hardest to look on the bright side because staying mad doesn’t do anything beneficial.
My profile conveys that I’m a laid back, adventurous person that is just fascinated by what the world has to offer. Also that I have a very whimsical vision when it comes it imagination. This matters to me because it is part of my being. It shows that I’m approachable and have a lot of different views to what I see. I’m just eager to encounter more things in life and better myself as a person.
Discovery: Avatar
Avatar: Ruky’s
Observation:
- A tranquil facial expression
- The mouth is being covered
- a halo
- one angelic wing and one evil looking wing
- sort of a light pink background
- Hair color is red
Interpretation:
- He has more than one side to him
- Walks around with a calm expression
- He’s probably shy
- He likes anime
- He’s probably passionate
Ruky’s avatar caught my interest because of the evil wing that is mixed in with the soothing vibe that I get from the rest of the picture. Without the evil wing I would think he’s just a shy, nice, calm person. Now add the evil wing in and it sparks an idea of there’s more to his character than from what I’ve just mentioned. That wing kind of gives off a mysterious feeling to his character. The hair color being red also adds on to his personality. Red is a color that is usually associated with passion so he probably has passion within him. Usually shy people are just seen to be shy and nothing else but over here there is more.
When I read Ruky’s biography he didn’t really go into detail of the kind of personality he has. The one interpretation I can get from his bio is that he’s passion is most likely linked to his interests. By the things he’s interested in he seems like a pretty cool guy.
