ENG 2150 Gimme Shelter: the spaces we live in

The neighborhood that I am going to do my research paper on is Westchester Square, an area in the East Bronx. I’ve been living in Westchester Square for the last 4 years. My research paper is going to focus on the history of this neighborhood, starting from the early 1900’s. I will talk about the influx of various ethnic groups into the area and how the diversity has affected the neighborhood. Certain things have changed in the last 30 years, like the number of ethnic grocery stores and restaurants. I will interview various people in the area and ask them about their experiences living in Westchester Square. Every person in this neighborhood has their own story and culture. But what’s great about the people of this neighborhood is that despite all the cultural differences, we can all call this neighborhood our home.

Syed Hannan

In class we discussed how money influences our emotions and the way we feel about our city. I feel that so many people in the city are so busy with their work lives, that they dont stop to examine and analyze their emotions. How could they? They are far too busy. It is impossible to stop and think about every single emotion that comes to our mind just because there are so many emotions. We are constantly being surrounded by so many people and things. We are interacting with millions of other people in our every day lives. It is easy to become immune to things even if they are great, like the Empire State Building, because we are so familiar to them. If we were to go to a different country, we would stand in awe as the tourists do in New York City. I guess its just that everyone in New York is so busy, that they have already established their routines for the day. They dont stop as realize that they as New Yorkers, are living in one of the greatest cities in the world. New York is the most diverse city on the planet.

The man in this picture in on a quest for everlasting knowledge. He is going through thoughts and ideas that the unfocused and untrained mind cannot comprehend. In the picture, you can see that he is thinking of many things at once which requires intense concentration. William James describes the stream of consciousness as a concept in which the person is in a state in which he/she is able to experience the ”analytic method”. ” The analytic method will discover in due time the elementary parts, if such exist, without danger of precipitate assumption.” To me this picture shows what the person is undergoing in during a stream of consciousness. They are constantly searching for greater knowledge and purpose and their search never reaches an end, only rest stops. The person is more focused and is able to ”analyze” simple rudimentary elementary parts to form a greater complex picture.

Syed Hannan