Freewrite #5

Part A:

Sibley model’s how to use sources very well. Something that I can learn from his writing is that he makes everything flow. Sometimes students, as well as I, will try to force a quotation into a place in a paragraph where it doesn’t necessarily flow. This makes your writing very ‘choppy’ and hard to follow. Sibley integrates his quotes so well that sometimes you may not even realize that he is quoting someone else. He establishes the quote, integrates it, and than continues with his analysis all in a very graceful manner.

Another thing that Sibley does very well is only use what he needs. When he quotes Raul Rabinow he splices the quotes that he plans to use and only uses that part. This manner keeps the topic on point and doesn’t let the readers mind wander. All he does is give you the taste of someone else and then gets right into the analysis of the quote. He however also does not feel bad to use longer quotes which can help significantly move your paper along.

Part B:

Source #1

Knox, Paul L. “The Restless Urban Landscape: Economic and Sociocultural Change and the Transformation of Metropolitan Washington, DC.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 81.2 (1991): 181-209. JSTOR. Web. 25 July 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2563300>.

“The central premise is that the built environment is both the product of, and the mediator between, social relations” (182).

I think this is very true because it is discussing the role of the National Mall and how it has changed our world. I believe this is true because it has helped shape the world in which we live. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a Dream” Speech would not have the implications that it did if it had not happened on the National Mall. This doesn’t necessarily raise questions but more that it shows the importance of the space.

Source #2

Field, Cynthia R., and Jeffrey T. Tilman. “Creating a Model for the National Mall: The Design of the National Museum of Natural History.” The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 63.1 (2004): 52-73. JSTOR. Web. 25 July 2009. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4127992>.

“The Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum became the first building to be designed in accordance with Roosevelt’s directive. To the authors and sponsors of the new plan for the Mall, it was clear that the building’s design would set the aesthetic tone for the entire monumental core of the city” (55).

This is important to me because it helped to shape the actual buildings within the National Mall. Their layout has helped to create an overall scheme for the entire area. If the National Museum was not built the way that it was, the Baroque architecture that we have today would not exist. It gives the building the power and appeal that it has. This is going to be interesting to my paper because the National Mall wouldn’t have the importance that it does today without following the previous plans.

“The commissioners assumed that these buildings would be replaced with structures that would better harmonize with the new concept. In fact, the famous 1902 model of the Mall area prepared under McKim’s direction documents this intention; all the nineteenth-century buildings on the Mall have disappeared” (55).

This quote helps to elaborate the importance of the plan. Everyone was not thinking about the overall plan at the time but had they deviated from that, these buildings would not exist today. They have helped shape not only the immediate area but also the remainder of Washington, D.C. Many buildings follow the style that was first established in the original plans.

Part C:

Washington, D.C. is a remarkable city unto itself. It is the capital of this free country and is where every national law is passed. However, this city would not have this national appeal if certain plans had not been carried out. The city centers on many great national landmarks, but one of the keys is the National Mall. This small stretch of land has helped to shape public behavior and even change the course of history. In Paul Knox’s “The Restless Urban Landscape: Economic and Sociocultural Change and the Transformation of Metropolitan Washington, DC,” he begins to establish what the National Mall has been used for. “The central premise is that the built environment is both the product of, and the mediator between, social relations” (182). Many of this nations great events would not be what they are today without this open land in the heart of Washington, D.C. Imagine Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech in a local parking lot. If the National Mall had not existed with the Lincoln Memorial in the background and the Washington Monument exploding towards the sky in the front, this speech might not have had the impact that it did. Those few moments in history have changed the course of time forever.

These life-changing events would not have occurred had it not been for a simple plan and its execution. Up until 1905, this plan was starting to become blurred and distorted until one man changed that. During President Theodore Roosevelt’s term, he wanted to make sure that every building posses “a carefully thought-out plan adopted long before, and that it should be not only beautiful in itself, but fitting in its relations to the whole scheme of the public building, the parks, and drives of the District” (54).  In Cynthia Field’s “Creating a Model for the National Mall: The Design of the National Museum of Natural History” we learn that this is “the first time in thirty years the development of the District was guided by a cohesive concept that was endorsed by powerful members of Congress and the Executive branch, who came to recognize that the whole composition was more important than any individual building” (54). This one powerful step has helped to shape the layout for this city. Roosevelt knew that buildings around the National Mall were not going to change over night. They need to find the right time to “be replaced with structures that would better harmonize with the new concept” (55). By following this, the public’s behavior was shaped into a manner that was cohesive with the city as well as appealing to the public. In 1902, Charles McKim had created a cohesive model for the National Mall and since than buildings have been replaced to follow this design.

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