Secondary observation notes

Project #1 Worksheet                                                           

Your Place: TMPCT 150_________________________________________________________

What are the intended functions of the place?                    

Learning, social gathering, research, and information.

What overt messages does the place send (i.e., openly communicated through signs)?

Place of knowledge and camaraderie 

What covert messages does the place send (i.e., hidden messages)?

Secrets of society and the life of the community

Have previous users left traces behind in the place?

Yes, all over in the forms of: trash, markings, damages, ect.

Has the place been re-appropriated (i.e., beyond its original functions)?

As far as I see it has not changed since it was built, and that the function has always been the same.

What social or cultural customs did you observe (i.e., rules governing appropriate behavior)?

All rules of society fit directly into this area. There are the customs and social behavior between people, a virtual law and order system, educational professionalism, and all forms of respect and disrespect.

Who has access to the place?  Are there insiders and outsiders?

For the main part of the area everyone has access to the area. Whether it is in the classrooms or food areas, although, there are restricted areas that are for authorized personal.

Who owns the place?

As far as I know or have seen the land is owned by the University as well as the classrooms/authorized areas, but then the food areas would be owned by private party and passport office would be owned by the government.

What is the place’s value (i.e., monetary or otherwise)?

In terms of monetary value it would reach into the millions, but in terms of social and behavior value there is no way to put a cap on it. It is an invaluable social area.

Are there official representations of the place (i.e., online, in promotional materials)?  Do they accurately capture the place as you experienced it?

There are posters and signs as well as advertisements that sell the building but they do not show the true nature of the area.

Is the place in transition, a changing place?

The changes would be slow and drastic so as far as is shown there is no changes soon to be happening.

What conflicts or tensions are there in the place?

The tensions are in all forms of life, from school to work to friends.

What is the place’s history?  Do you see evidence of the past there in the present?

I have no idea the history of this place but there is an archeology department here which suggests that the buildings’ history is not of significance, but that history of the area that this building is in.

How does this place differentiate itself from other places?  What other places is it similar to, but how is it different from those places?

Similar to a mall but smaller and more personal with the ability to teach instead of sapping the intelligence from people.

What questions do you have about your place?

Mostly just why did they clump all of this together?

Key Features / Profiles (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 165-166)

An interesting subject.  What is unusual about your place?  Alternatively, is there something ordinary about it that you can show in an intriguing way?

Unusual in all that aspects of it. Ordinary in the incorporation of society.

Any necessary background.  What background information will you need to include about the place in order to situate readers?

None.

An interesting angle.  Rather than trying to tell readers everything about the place, what angle(s) might you use?

Societal implications and uses of this area in terms of nature and beauty.

A firsthand account.  Did you interact with people in the place or participate in some way?  What experiences did you have there that you can write about using “I”?  (Yes, first person point of view is encouraged, especially for this paper.)

I didn’t interact with anyone, merely watched them.

Engaging details.  What specific information must you include in your description of the place?  What potential does your place have for the use of sensory images, figurative language, dialogue, anecdotes, and showing rather than telling?  What do you want the dominant impression to be?

Relationships between people and people, people and the building, people and nature, and the nature and building relationship. Change in behaviors and the beauty that is seen.

Generating Ideas and Text (taken from the Norton Field Guide (Goggin and Bullock) Chapter 16, pages 168-169)

Explore what you already know about your subject.  Why do you find this place interesting?  What did you already know about it?

Incorporates so much in such a small area and demonstrates an ecosystem scaled down to a single area.

If you’re planning to interview someone, prepare questions.  What would you like to ask someone in the place in order to better understand it?

I am not.

Do additional research.  Does your place have an online component?  How else might you gather additional research?

No online component but paper trails are all around that could provide information about specific areas.

Analyze your findings.  What patterns, images, or recurring ideas or phrases did you use to describe your place?  What contrasts or discrepancies do you see?

The changing beauty and characteristics and the way things interact to help or hinder the surrounding area.

Come up with an angle.  What is most memorable about your subject?  What most interests you?  What will interest your audience?

For me it is the interactions and change, and I feel that will be the same for those who read it as well.