ENG 2150 Gimme Shelter: the spaces we live in

My project, I will be working on the 8 Avenue neighborhood in Brooklyn. While I was searching for a neighborhood for my project, the first thing that came in mind was 8 Avenue. This neighborhood is where I grew up in. I want to know more about 8 avenue because I moved from that place when I was in 5th grade. My memories of that neighborhood is not strong but I still remember some special events such as parades and festivals that had happened. I will interview my grandparents and parents about 8 avenue. I would want to know, when they settled and why they settled in this neighborhood. What made it the right neighborhood for me to grow up in? The interview will consist of facts and opinions dated before I was born to present day. With the details, I will argue that a neighborhood’s environment  greatly impacts a child’s life growing up in that community. Their attitude and their living habits are different because of their surroundings. A neighborhood is an extension of a home and it plays a great role in our early lives.

After reading the E-Mail from our professor about the difficult reading that we had to the over the weekend, I was terrified. I was worried that I would not understand the reading. However the guidelines that our professor provided made the reading less of a challenge. After reading the excerpt by George Simmel, I did not fully understand Simmel’s idea. I finally got Simmel’s idea in our class discussion today. George Simmel explains that money is becoming first priority to peoples’ practical lives and how it is changing their living style. “For money expresses all qualitative differences of things in terms of “how much?” Money, with all its colorlessness and indifference, becomes the common denominator of all values; irreparably it hollows out the core of things, their individuality, their specific value, and their in-comparability ” According to Simmel, the value of products is determined by the price. Pricing can be misleading by giving a thought of different values. For example, one will look forward to obtain more expensive products rather than cheaper products. The price tag on an product determines its value.

In this advertisement, there are two groups of house hold needs. On the left side, there are brand name products and on the right side there are the same products as the left side, without a famous brand name. I found this advertisement very interesting because I realized that I know all the brand name products and not the cheaper “up & up” products. Although the up & up products are cheaper than the brand names, I personally buy the brand names because of its expensive value. I think that expensive products are better than cheaper products because it simply cost more. This can demonstrate that I am a person who values, more expensive products rather than cheaper products even though they are the same thing. According to Simmel, people would spend money on products with more value regardless of its effect for their individuality, their specific value, and their in-comparability. After taking the first step to buying brand name items, we do not look back at the cheaper items. We simply believe that money buys value.

In the image “Two Face Optical Illusion,” we can look at it in two different perspectives. It can be seen as an image of either two faces or simply a vase. Visual images are processed and created through our eyes and mind. Each person translate this optical illusion differently as they respond and perceive it in different order. Our first responses to the picture change as we analyze the picture closer and discover the other hidden message in the picture. This is an example of our stream of consciousness, a never ending system where our thoughts are continuously starting new ones.

When we examine the image quickly with our eyes, we create first impressions, but as we slowly look closer into the image, we form thoughts. The transition from looking at the image simply to complexly shows how our thoughts are changing by having our thoughts built on one another. For example, a person’s first impression of the image as a black and white blob change into an image of a vase through his or her chain of constant thoughts. This demonstrates how the stream of consciousness move from point A to point B. When we examine the picture deeply, our stream of consciousness flows constantly, resulting in finding out there are two different definition in one image which give us the element of surprise. This image can also help prove that two people’s stream of consciousness of this image can happen in different order creating different feelings. A person can see “Two Face Optical Illusion” as an image of  two faces and then a vase while another person can see the vase first then the two faces. Although their feelings differ, their thoughts are constantly moving like a stream.