Analysing a Place Worksheet

Project #1 Worksheet

Your Place: The University Bridge 

What are the intended functions of the place? To help students in the north campus to cross the street faster.

What overt messages does the place send (i.e., openly communicated through signs)? It is a major image of Arizona State University 

What covert messages does the place send (i.e., hidden messages)?  It is the connections between the north part of campus and the main part of campus.

Have previous users left traces behind in the place? Yes, there is gum marks on the ground, garbage on the bridge, and advertisements on the railings.

Has the place been re-appropriated (i.e., beyond its original functions)? It is still mostly just used to help kids cross the street without waiting for traffic.

What social or cultural customs did you observe (i.e., rules governing appropriate behavior)? It is showing the this whole community is connecting and no one part of the campus is exiled. 

Who has access to the place?  Are there insiders and outsiders? Anyone can use the bridge.

Who owns the place? Arizona State University

What is the place’s value (i.e., monetary or otherwise)? It is very valuable because there are a lot of pictures that the school uses of this bridge for incoming student to see.

Are there official representations of the place (i.e., online, in promotional materials)?  Do they accurately capture the place as you experienced it? The bridge is pretty straight for I think most people who see it know what it is used for.

Is the place in transition, a changing place? It is not moving anytime soon.

What conflicts or tensions are there in the place? There are no real tensions at the bridge .

What is the place’s history?  Do you see evidence of the past there in the present? There are older picture of this bridge but I think the sign has changed from Arizona State University to ASU

How does this place differentiate itself from other places?  What other places is it similar to, but how is it different from those places? It is the only place like its kind in the area

What questions do you have about your place? Why does it have different number of steps on different sides of the bridge

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? It is the only place of its kind in the area, I personally have seen nothing like it.

Any necessary background.  What background information will you need to include about the place in order to situate readers? When and why was it built and who built it.

An interesting angle.  Rather than trying to tell readers everything about the place, what angle(s) might you use? I can tell the readers more about the areas around the bridge rather than just the bridge.

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.) There are always people walking across the bridge at all hour of the night.

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? I am going to talk about the steps of the bridge and the views from the top of the bridge.

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? I found this place interesting because I use it everyday and I havent really have seen nothing like.

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 really planning on interviewing anyone about the bridge

Do additional research.  Does your place have an online component?  How else might you gather additional research? There is information given about the University Bridge on the arizona state website.

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 main point of the bridge is definitely to connect the north campus to rest of the campus

Come up with an angle.  What is most memorable about your subject?  What most interests you?  What will interest your audience? The most memorable is the fact that is was built with the steps the right distance away to help your back.