barry lopez

I develop a sense of history in Lopez's essay when he talks about learning the landscape through the people that are indigenous to the area and are more inclined to know the weather patterns then to know know current events. Through these people Lopez gets a sense of history by learning the lay of the land and how it has changed and how the environment has changed the area.

Lopez creates a sense of culture through the history and also through the landscape and how the landscape effects the people. He says that unless you spend time somewhere its hard to understand the history and culture, and even then you need to go to the country and talk to the people before you go to a museum. I think he was trying to tell us in this article that to understand culture you need to understand landscape and the people and through them you can understand culture because going to a museum does not show the significance of the culture.

Coffee and Shopping Citing Methods

              Both authors of Coffee and Shopping use many different sources in their papers to make them more credible and be academic papers. Each of them uses case studies. That is a process or record of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular matter over a period of time. Both authors research there spaces thoroughly. They both also use ethnography, which is studying people’s cultures.

            I think I am going to have to use a case study method. I am going to have to sit at the space and research. I am going to have to use the method of survey. I am going to have to ask people questions that are tagged along with specific answers to choose from. I am also going to have to use the interview method. I will be asking people a series of questions to figure out why they were interested in taking a picture by the sundial. I think these methods will help to make it more credible.

Proposal

Have you ever wondered why the picture of the sorority quad from the sundial is so popular? I’m sure you know at least one person that has a picture of them and their friend standing in front of the wall looking down the quad toward McCracken Hall on their Facebook or Twitter. I know I can say I do. Why is this space so popular? It’s just a quad with grass right? Not so much. There are many discourses that play into the popularity of this picture.

I am asking you to considerer letting me research this space to find out why it is so popular. My plan is to sit by the sundial on a weekend day and a weekday to see which day would get the most traffic. I figure this is one factor that can contribute to the amount of pictures taken there. Next, I would like to find out is it students taking the majority of the pictures, or is it future students, or is it just people that happen to be visiting. Thirdly, what landscape discourses contribute to the appeal of this space? Is there something in particular that makes this space popular?  These are just some of the things I would like to research in this space to answer the question why is this a popular space to take pictures?

I think I am qualified to study this space because I live in the sorority quad (not in a sorority hall) and I notice quite often people take pictures there. I always think to myself, why out of the entire campus do people choose to take a picture there. Maybe they have taken pictures elsewhere but I do not notice that as often as I do in this particular space. I would like to answer this question and see if this has to contribute to a social following, or is it just coincidence.

Coffee

There are many discourses that are considered invisible forces that drive us to consumerism. One is the language used in the association with Starbucks. People that work there are no longer “employees”, they are called baristas. This makes it sound like you are receiving a product created by a professional. This I turn makes can make your cup of coffee more then just a cup of coffee. It becomes a cup of perfection. Would you rather have a cup of perfection from a barista of a cup of dunkin donuts coffee from and employee? You would probably want the cup of perfection from a barista. This is an invisible force that drives you to consumerism. He also talks about the vibe inside of the Starbucks. Employees work in an assembly line with the espresso machine being the center of the line. The Employees are dressed matching and complement the silver and bronze interior of Starbucks. The logo and the quotes on the cups are a huge invisible force on the consumer. The logo possibly expressing sexuality attracts the male audience while the quotes appeal to anyone the reads them, from the passer byers to the guy collecting the trash. I see invisible forces everywhere everyday in life. Anytime you are on the internet and go to google there are ads and when you go to website there are ads down the sides of the website. Have you ever noticed that the ads reflect the things you search on google? This is no coincidence. It is an “invisible force” that pushes products on you even when you are not searching those products now. I think they exist in non-commerce places. They lie everywhere when your not even looking.

Cathedrals of Consumerism

I think the author is right about saying that malls are cathedrals of consumerism. Religious places of worship are places you go to grow closer to your god or gods. The idea of growing closer is also intertwined with becoming a better person. Consumerism is similar in the idea that buying things will help you move up on the social ladder becoming a better person. Both of these resemble some type of growing through activities to make you better.

I also found it interesting how he took rebel youth and place of worships congregations and connected them. The rebel youth go to their "cathedral"which is the mall to listen and see the advertising the mall has to offer them, while congregations go to places of worship to hear the words of their gods. They also have similar effects as well. What the youth see and hear at the mall rubs off on them in their desires, thoughts, and actions. While the congregations do the same thing. All relating back to consumerism and the connection with cathedrals.

The Pale Blue Dot

My view on the pale blue dot changed a lot by each iteration. The text itself was very thought provoking and moving. I am a huge fan of Carl Sagan and have read this article before. Carl Sagan is a master with words and expressing them in a thought provoking manor and well as driving home a point. The text iteration really shows that. The listening iteration is even more emotional. Carl Sagan’s has a great narrators voice to begin with. He emphasis words that I normally would not emphasis reading to myself. He also changes his pitch at the end of some sentences that are not questions necessarily but are thought provoking statements that he himself ponders and ultimately gets read as a question. When it came to the video it was way to fast for Carl Sagan’s voice. Pictures where flashing of things he was mentioning and you were more focused on trying to figure the past pictures rather then listening to the words. I think the video took away from Carl Sagan’s great article and hindered it of its main point. I believe the video could have been made in a way that it would have helped. If the pictures were slowed down and not just pictures but a free flowing video and less of a power point.  If anyone interested this is a much better version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYtXoUZbUCQ&list=FL8H81D-3c7AaOUknIo9TQxA&index=5&feature=plpp_video