Clarissa121's Blog

New York Neighborhoods Lecture

clarissa121 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:41:19 +0000

This lecture was very long and uninteresting. The speaker was somewhat dull and talked very fast. He described the different boros and how they came together. It was kind of a history lecture of NYC. He talked about how the 5 boros were created in 1898 which was an economic boom after the Great Depression and World War 2. New York City has been a main port for immigrants and its cultural and urban influences has made it one of the most substantial urban areas in the United States. Out of the boro of Queens he spoke a lot about Forest Hills. He also mentioned the different parks and gardens that are in the city. He showed visuals of how certain areas looked then and how they look now.

Broadway Show: Westside Story

clarissa121 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:30:54 +0000

This play was so good. I lose attention quickly, but I didn’t once take my eyes off the stage. The music, dancing, and acting were beyond profound. I never really knew the complete concept behind Westside Story, but at the end of this play I understood it completely. The part that I didn’t understand was how Maria could still love Tony after he killed her brother. Her brother was her flesh and blood that she knew forever. Along with that Tony was not the same race as her and his friends were very ignorant. However, when you really love someone it’s hard to just let them leave your life. Tony did not intentionally mean to kill or even hurt her brother, but it was a reaction to the situation at hand. He felt guilty after it took place but in reality he was just trying to stand up for his friend, but he could’ve went into about it in a different way. Maria had to go through a lot of suffering. Not only was her brother killed and Tony happen to kill him, but she was being judged by her own kind and everyone else because she loved someone that was not Puerto Rican. In all I really loved the show and could see it again 100 more times.

Gangs of New York Walking Tour

clarissa121 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:16:58 +0000

The walking tour was very interesting. If we didn’t watch the first part of the movie Gangs of New York in class I would have been a little lost. The movie and the walking tour pretty much coincided with each other. In the movie there was a gang called the dead rabbits and the gang actually did exist. The neighborhood five towns was being exploded with Irish immigrants because of the potato famine. In five points families were crammed into small dark rooms. The five points at that time depicted ignorance and it apparently had a gross smell. In the movie all the gangs ended murdering each other along with help from the military. The tour guide on the walking tour also showed us important monuments and we went into Chinatown. It was my first experience actually going deep into Chinatown while hearing some information. In the movie we see how immigrants were treated when they arrived in five towns and got off the boat. They were kind of just thrown into this world where they then had to fin for themselves. Overall the movie and the walking tour were very intriguing and I learned some history.

Research Question

clarissa121 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:37:45 +0000

Is there enough food in a soup kitchen to satisfy the needs of each hungry individual?

Continuation of the Restless City

clarissa121 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:55:10 +0000

In New York there were the Astor Place Riots there were over 150 serious injuries and more than 100 arrests. It started off as a may quarrel between two actors that got blown out of proportion literally. The quarrel was because of the script had a lot to do with power, status, and ethnicity. It was a big riot between New York’s upper and lower class. In the 1840′s and 50′s cultural conflict took place because of the pouring in of all different cultures. This is when Irish Catholics crossed the ocean and were not accepted by the Anglo Saxon Protestants. In chapter 5 they talk about raising hell which was when the different laborites the middle class reformers and socialists ,Irish nationalists and Eastern European immigrants ,and blacks and whites. A big topic in Chapter 6 was the Bohemian Revolt for the Bohemians Greenwich Village was a cultural “Free City”. The impact of this revolt was particularly great for women. In the 1920′s they defined a new norm for “the flapper”. This revolt made it possible for the “Revolution in Manners and Morals”.

Buddah

clarissa121 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:25:33 +0000

I think in this quote Buddha wants us to not believe in everything we hear. We can read and hear things from books, rumors, and other people. I agree and disagree with Buddha because he says don’t accept it until it’s conducive to the good and benefit one and all. Why is that we can’t believe in traditions that have been passed on through generation as not being good? My family has done nothing to harm me and if a tradition in my family is for my grandma to make empanadas every Thanksgiving why would I have to wait until it’s conducive? However, in another sense we should not always believe what we hear until we k now the truth. Hearing a rumor about someone should not be instilled into our mindset or spread about to anyone else. He also states that we should not believe in authority, elders, or teachers. In some ways you can trust authority, elders, or teachers because they are individuals just like everyone else and may not always have good intentions at heart. I have known of some police officers who are supposed to be enforcing the law take part in malicious acts. In conclusion Buddha’s statement was very interesting even though I seemed to go both ways on his view point.

October 13th Class

clarissa121 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:09:10 +0000

The videos that I watched were very interesting. The video that I liked the most was “Immigration Through Ellis Island”. Ellis Island was a very important part of an immigrant’s life. Over 12million people went through Ellis Island before they could establish their lives here in America. Many immigrants didn’t have money for the journey. Most people had a lot of waiting to do before they could even speak to anyone. People boarded in many different parts of Europe to come to New York. On the boat to come over they would only give the people a tin plate, a fork, and a spoon. People with blankets would go on deck to get air and get away from the smell of spoiled food. When they started to approach the harbor and saw the city they thought it was heaven with big buildings that they’ve never seen. Some even come to New York with a little basket and no baggage. They came with nothing but clothes. They would come into the big hall where they were told to stay and sit there. The process would last then a day. The word government frightened may people because they viewed government as police “someone who could cut my head off”. Overall I thought the videos were good because they gave me insight and knowledge of what immigrants had to go through at that time.

The Museum at FIT

clarissa121 — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:23:44 +0000

Saturday October 10, 2009 Elsie and I went to the Fit Museum which was labeled Fashion&Politics. It was very interesting and the clothes were stylish in every time frame. There were some fashions from the year 1950, but the clothes were something I would wear today. There was a sequined dress that was yellow and had the face of Obama on it. From the museum we learned that fashion throughout history has been closely related to addressing certain issues such as nationalism, feminism, and class. Some of the fashions at the exhibit had a lot to do with political campaigns; the fashions were explicit political garments. Women altered how they dressed in the nineteenth century when they rejected certain looks such as the rigid silhouette of Victorian fashion in favor of loose fitting garments. The post war fashion for woman was fitting of the suburban lifestyle. They had popover dresses which made housewives look chic while keeping the house. In all I thought this was a very interesting trip although the museum was short. After being so intrigued by fashion we went into a vintage store. Being in the vintage store I believe the saying that “history repeats itself” because the fashions in that store are being recreated today.

Reponse to Question 3

clarissa121 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:39:25 +0000

A time in my life when I decided not to change and move beyond my present tribe was in my group of friends. Some of my friends that I grew up with started to slack off in school and started getting involved with things that I wasn’t into. I viewed this as a good decision on my part because I have goals in life and there is nothing that would jeopardize them. I might have missed out on some old memories and a few social events but, I made new friends and I have no regrets on the choice that I made. I benefited from the decision not to change in that I did well in school, and moved on to college. If there comes to a time in life where this situation reoccurs yes I would make the same decision not to change and, stay true to who I am.

The Restless City

clarissa121 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:45:10 +0000

In 1710 when forty to fifty African and Native Americans ignited a building and killed eight whites, and injured others. The whites then attacked back. I compared this situation to when Bin Laden and Al Qaeda attacked the world trade center and killed many people , and how the U.S then counter attacked. We invaded Afgahnistan and Iraq were we still have troops today.