sample passage for analysis

Identify and analyze the following passage. Be sure to situate the passage within the text from which it comes and to define and elaborate on the terms and concepts it introduces. Consider its literary and rhetorical aspects, in addition to what it claims or describes. Finally, make sure to relate your interpretation of the passage to the overall themes and purposes (communication) of the text.

>>>>Begin by asking yourself--as with any text--where you have questions.<<<<<<<

"Until lately the best thing that I was able to think of in favor of civilization, apart from blind acceptance of the order of the universe, was that it made possible the artist, the poet, the philosopher, and the man of science. But I think that is not the greatest thing. Now I believe that the greatest thing is a matter that comes directly home to us all. When it is said that we are too much occupied with the means of living to live, I answer that the chief worth of civilization is just that it makes the means of living more complex; that it calls for great and combined intellectual efforts, instead of simple, uncoordinated ones, in order that the crowd may be fed and clothed and housed and moved from place to place. Because more complex and intense intellectual efforts mean a fuller and richer life. They mean more life. Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have enough of it.

I will add but one word. We are all very near despair. The sheathing that floats us over its waves is compounded of hope, faith in the unexplainable worth and sure issue of effort, and the deep, sub-conscious content which comes from the exercise of our powers."

exam study guide

Section I: Short Answer (50%)
Please choose 6 of the following 8 short answer questions and answer them in 3-5 sentences. Make sure to define, identify, and contextualize the question in terms of the texts from the course. Be sure to use examples from relevant texts in order to offer evidence for your answer and to more fully develop and articulate your ideas.
***study tip: review study questions

Section II: Passage Analysis (25%)
Identify and analyze the following passage. Be sure to situate the passage within the text from which it comes and to define and elaborate on the terms and concepts it introduces. Consider its literary and rhetorical aspects, in addition to what it claims or describes. Finally, make sure to relate your interpretation of the passage to the overall themes and purposes (communication) of the text. A good answer will give a clear and detailed reading of the passage as a unit, as part of a larger work, and as part of the course.
***study tip: a document from the Nazis and degenerate art readings; the Shostakovich libretto; a passage from Jane Jacobs.

Section III: Essay (25%)
In a well developed, insightful essay, please answer one of the following two essay questions. You should offer an introductory paragraph with a thesis claim (which answers all parts of the question). Then offer supporting paragraphs, each with evidence from texts, support, and explanation. Make sure to be as detailed and descriptive as you can when you offer your analysis and interpretation.
***study tip: the essay will also ask you to relate the texts to the overall theme of Humanities Core--making!

Shakespeare
Fancy/Imagination
Power and Authority (Athens as Aristotelian City)
Relationship of crafts (rude mechanicals) to theatrical making
Naming, as a form of making

Alberti
istoria
painting as a liberal art

Weimar Art
“can a maker ever not be a doer?”bourgeoisie/proletariat
Weimar Republic
Dadaism
Expressionism
Bauhaus
Grosz, Heartfield
Hoch
Photomontage
Brecht, realism
Function of Art: communication, expression, document

Degenerate Art
politicization of aesthetic issues (Barron)
Degenerate Art Exhibit 1937
public/private treatment of women (Mosse)
beauty/sensuality
National Socialist aesthetic
respectability
propaganda
Volk

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Shostakovich
Leskov
socialist realism
triple burden of women
Stalin
dissident/collaborator/in-between?
opera, as bourgeious form of art
Porgy and Bess
folk opera/opera/musical theater
Dubose Heyward
Great Migration
Virgil Thomson, “folklore subjects”
Hall Johnson, critique
Downes, music critic
Atkinson, theater critic
American “idiom”
racism in Porgy and Bess
Catfish Row, folk community
double time of opera
revivals of Porgy and Bess
recitative
libretto
contrapuntal
jazz/folk/classical/popular/blues

Jane Jacobs and Built Environment
Garden City (Howard)
Radiant City (Le Corbusier)
City Beautiful
Decentrists (Mumford)
Radiant Garden City Beautiful
city vs. town (strangers)
“Parks are not automatically anything”
urban renewal
urban renewal vs. negro removal (James Baldwin)
organized complexity
diversity
ethnoburbs
slums
new urbanism
city as garden (park)
children/play
sidewalk ballet

Pierre Levy and Cyberculture
cyberspace vs. cyberculture
Noah’s Ark analogy
analogy/substitution/assimilation/articulation
digital urbanism

Levy's Ark

“Deluge” means “flood.” The two floods that Lévy compares are the Biblical Flood and the current flood of information. Explain the comparison. How is the current “deluge” like and unlike the Biblical Flood, according to Lévy? Evaluate the comparison. Which parts of the analogy, if any, do you find helpful or intriguing? Which parts bunk?

Levy and Jacobs: Digital Urbanism

Compare Jane Jacob’s vision of the city as a case of “organized complexity” and Pierre Levy’s vision of the internet as the “weaving of a social bond” and “a particular form of urbanism and architecture.” p. 177. In what ways, in your view, is the internet like a city? In what ways, in your view, do digital forms of communication either enhance or detract from social and political life?

good planning in Afghanistan

Caption Reads: Ayno Maina as seen from a crumbling Soviet-era housing complex next door. The development is the brain child of Hamid Helmandi, an Afghan-American who builds homes in Southern California.

A Slice of U.S. Suburbia Springs up in Afghanistan. by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson March 3, 2008. [All Things Considered] <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87858936&ft=1&f=1004>.

Assignments: Week Ten

Monday March 10
Reading: Pierre Levy
Writing: Peer Review; Blog Post JJ (pick one of the critical terms she does use, comment on one of the images posted)
**study questions: 5, 6, 13, 18, 20

Wednesday March 12
Reading: Pierre Levy
Writing: Continue to Revise; blog post Levy

Friday March 14
Reading: Final Exam Study Guide
Writing: Final Draft Essay #6 due

JJ and KA

The small town life in down town residential areas embodies smaller business buildings that go higher. This keeps buildings at a minimal, and allows for the purity of the land to show through, as seen in the picture above. Note how the buildings have similar structural shape, general look to almost all of them.

JJ and DY

http://www.vestar.com/newsite/Assets/PropertyAssets/CerritosTC/Photos/p_97-046-02%20theater.jpg

Cerritos, a financially successful city, is a well-planned suburban city that is shaped in a horseshoe. This picture shows the Cerritos Town Center. With several chain-stores lined up in an organized manner, this commercial center is an ideal place to shop. The sidewalk is decorated with Palm Trees that are equidistant from each other. “A sidewalk by itself is nothing. It is an abstraction. It means something only in conjunction with the buildings and other uses that border it, or border other sidewalks very near it.” (p. 29) This sidewalk is surrounded by the street and parking space and the town center.

JJ and SM

Sacha Morales, backyard?

I feel as though it relates to Jane Jacob's uses of parks. Although the picture is quite cluttered with greenery, there is quite a bit of room on the ground that relates to Jane Jacob's idea of open space. The sidewalk in this picture depends on the greenery and the park by its side to "pull the neighborhood together".

JJ and JL

Walking down the narrow streets of San Francisco’s Chinatown, one sees the cluster of brightly lighted stores with neon lights hanging on the walls. Signs in both English and Chinese are displayed inlarge letters to attract the customers. As the evening approaches, the street lights are turned on and the nightlife of the city begins, but there is not much going on. Some people hurriedly walked the streets, as the sky gets darker, not paying too much attention to their surroundings as they rush home. Sitting on one of the corner of the street is a middle-aged male playing an erhu, a two string fiddle. With his sunglasses and hat eluding a vibe of mysteriousness, he plays songs. Laid out in front of him, is a small jar for people passing by to put their donations. The man is certainly quite a sight for tourists, but not so much for locals who have seen the various people play the erhu on the streets of Chinatown for the past few years. Although there is seemingly nothing special about the man, who just wants to play music and earn some spare cash for it, the man is a representation of a particularly rich cultural life that help to distinguish San Francisco from other cities. Chinatown, a predominately Chinese neighborhood, is filled with new immigrants who bring along their traditions and culture from China. The man in the photo is a primarily example of newcomers contributing in enriching the diversity of the city by sharing a part of his culture through music.

http://nonphotographer.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/dsc_0788.jpg

JJ and AW

Just as Jane Jacobs would expect, these adolescents at Alhambra High School in the city of Alhambra (CA) are "loitering with others, sizing people up, flirting, talking, pushing, [and possibly] shoving" (86) during the lunch hour. Most students at the high school socialize during break seven if there is enough time to play some kind of sport. According to Jacobs, at least this socializing isn't anything illegal. Or is it?

http://ahs.alhambra.k12.ca.us/ahs_parents/index.htm

JJ and SS

The photo not only captures New York‘s Central Park indicated by trees and accumulation of people, but it also exhibits the skyscrapers that indicate its business district location. The photo of ice skaters supports Jane Jacob’s belief that instead of “automatically uplifting their neighborhoods, neighborhood parks themselves are directly and drastically affected by the way the neighborhood acts upon them” (Jacobs 95). She believes that parks do not secure a cities success, but rather that apark’s vitality comes from that of its surroundings. The economic stability in the surrounding city secures a flourishing park. The park’s success is shown in the photo as people feel safe enough to take their friends and family ice skating during Christmas time. http://www.z-mation.com/phpbb/files/ny_wollman_rink_central_park_ice_skating_christmas _10_190.jpg

JJ and CS

Christina Sarkiss, Porter Ranch

This picture was taken from my bedroom window. It was a Saturday morning in spring and it NEVER snows where I live so I took the picture on the mountain area surrounding the area at my house. This just shows a peaceful area, where one can look upon and get a feeling of relaxation. The place where i live is all on mountains and they are continuously building into the mountains to create more and more homes and shopping centers. It sort of shifts the idea of having a peaceful area to enjoy to a busy place full of people living there and going from one place to another. At first, Porter Ranch was known as a quite little place with a few houses and now has boomed to become a place to shop or possibly move to. What was intended to be a quiet place of living is now just a place to try to sell whatever land you can so more things can be built.

JJ and SN

Sarah Nisar, San Francisco

This is a picture of downtown San Francisco I took when I went to the Bay Area last year. I love San Francisco because, in my opinion, it's not uniform. It's culturally diverse, but it makes me feel cozy when I go downt here because the houses are small, yet it gives me a warm feeling of joy and joyness. I think the context of this photo would pertain to Jacob's [emotional] reaction to the "innovated" North End in Boston. The prominent feature of the housing in SF is the [not overdone] Venetian touch. Jacobs mentions Venetian effects on the "renovated" North End in 1959. She also states, " The streets were alive with children playing, people shopping,people strolling, people taking." This description is also valid with SF,where the streets of downtown are always animated and crowded with people-but not in a claustrophobic manner- but in a unifying exciting feel. Jacobs states, "This ubiquitous principle is the need of cities for mostintricate and close-gained diversity of uses that give each other constantmutual support, both economically and socially." I can take this text from Jacobs and apply it to the San Francisco city. The thing that stands outmost to me about SF, is that the mutual relationship among the communityis not forced, but instead, it is a rather natural occurrence. Even though SF is really busy, I believe that it contains elements that fit Jacobs' criteria.

JJ and CV

Our Patch of Grass on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This image shows a small patch of grass growing out of the seeminglyfutility aspects of sustainable life. Also, in the background, it showspatches grass against an apartment.I was inspired by the articulate tenant quote, on page 15, "Nobody caredwhat we need. But the big men come and look at the grass and say, 'Isn'tit wonderful! Now the poor have everything!' "Just because an area contains grass, does not mean the people in the areashare the same golden, idealist qualities associated with grass. What madethat quote more memorable to me was the reality in which previous homeowners were torn away from their houses, relocate to a different place,and then expect them to live happily ever after.

JJ and KG

Karen Gonzalez, January 31st, 2008. Outside Kodak Theatre

The image was taken outside in a shopping center in front of the Kodak theatre where a democratic debate was ensuing between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. The image is of an urban center turned inward, away from the sidewalk. In Jane Jacob’s book, “The Death And Life of Great American Cities”, the concept that sidewalks improve safely because they place “eyes upon the street” is not evident in this image. The problem with this shopping center is that it is “turned inward onto courtyards, away from streets and sidewalks”. This can lead to gang territory and it can fortress the wealthy that can afford this high-end shopping center.

JJ and JS

Jill Sorathia, neighborhood sidewalk

"A city sidewalk by itself is nothing. It is an abstraction." This photo is a neighborhood sidewalk. How is it any different than a city sidewalk? There is interaction within strangers in a city sidewalk, but in a neighborhood sidewalk, this concrete still forms relationships among the people who live around you.

JJ and AB

Asad Bedran, Echo Park Graffiti

The attached photo depicts a graffiti covered wall at Echo Park in Los Angeles, California. Jane Jacobs dislikes parks and loved sidewalks, as Professor Lupton highlighted in lecture, the reasons regard social interaction. In this photograph Echo Park, once a beautiful park designed for social activity, has been enclosed by commercial communities in responce to an expanding Downtown Los Angeles. The park is a popular hangout spot for local gangs and that discourages public interaction. So this supports her dislike of parks with comparison to the more publicly used sidewalks/ city streets. A nice comparison would be to look at a photo of a sidewalk in Downtown on a work day or Hollywood on a weekend.

JJ and AH

Amanda Hanna, Palos Verdes coast

This extraordinary photo is taken from my house. It is almost impossible for me to really say what kind of area I live in considering that it is neither rural nor urban. It is in a quiet area surrounded by the ocean, it is so peaceful that a resort is being built down the street form my house. I believe Jane Jacobs touches on the topic of there being a monopolistic shopping center. I think this applies to my area perfectly considering that it is almost deserted and there is only one mall, a couple gas stations, and two major grocery stores within ten miles. Though it is beautiful, Palos Verdes is a place where one cannot really live as a teenager considering its solidarity from everything around it. I feel it is more appropriate for those who are retired or are looking for a vacation.

JJ and EM

Los Angeles. “A Prison or Apartments?”

It isn’t a prison or jail, but apartments where low-income families live in Los Angeles. Jane Jacobs’ take: Ethnicity is a form of urban diversity, but she doesn’t use race as an analytical category. However, because of the lack of race development as an analytic category, the effectiveness of her argument is significantly weakened. Nevertheless, the slums remain a major gang territory for the poor and lastly; there is no commerce or street life to keep “eyes on the street” (e.g. use of sidewalks).

Menchaca, Michelle. _A Prison or Apartments?_ Flickr, Los Angeles. _Flickr_. 4 Mar. 2008 <http://flickr.com/photos/florecita_roquera86/>.