Maria Guzman
Instructor Manshel
English 4a, Section 36
10 October 2015
In Praise of Margins
In Frazier’s essay, “In Praise of Margins”, Frazier stresses the importance of how finding your marginal place and doing purposeless ideas can have an impact on a person’s life. Frazier reflects back to his childhood and expresses how his marginal place was an important necessity as he was growing up. To Frazier, marginal places is “where you can try out ideas that you might be afraid to admit to with people looking on” (58). A marginal place allows you to develop and explore creations that can be seen foolish to society but scientific by nature. Frazier’s marginal stresses how it is important to find your marginal place. Frazier’s explains how the woods was his marginal space (58). The woods allowed him venture out and explore as a child. In the woods Frazier would spend much of his time with his friends and do purposeless things (57). He understands as an adult the woods was his marginal place that allowed him create memories that can not be replaceable. A
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marginal place is essential for a child and even as an adult. As children, people find solace whether it is in the woods or in the beach. I agree that marginal spaces are important because it allows individuals to express themselves with no self judgement from society. Margins have a educational value, it strengthens your morals as well as helping individuals develop new ideas. In Ayn Rand, “The Fountainhead”, the protagonist Howard Roark, has the dedication and willingness to pursue his passion for architecture even though he is being criticized from society (is judged and criticized from society because of his odd ideas). Roark’s “marginal” space was his office where his innovations were created. His marginal place allowed him to escape the expectation from society because he considered himself an individualist. He demonstrated that having integrity can persevere you in times when society is against your ideas because he symbolizes “the fountainhead”. Marginal places have no restrictions and gives the individual the freedom to do whatever he/she want to do without no boundaries. Rand stresses the importance of an individual standing up for his/her morals and having enjoyment for the things that seem purposeless. Achieving those goals can bring new innovations that not only can it benefit society but most importantly yourself. Roark’s marginal space demonstrates how new creations and ideas can become innovational. Marginal spaces can be relaxing and valuable, according to the passage “The Dance within My Heart” written by Pat Mora.
Mora explains how she felt revived when she visited her marginal space, the museum. The museum was Mora’s “pleasure havens” (97). The museum can be educational and informative but Mora interpreted the significance of the museum in a different way. As adults people do not take their time off to do things they enjoy and by having a marginal space, it lets you vent from the pressure of adulthood. A marginal space is meant for individuals to escape from their (his/her) troubles. Mora exemplifies the importance of finding a marginal space because it strengthens the intensiveness of the human imagination through time. People don’t have much time to stop and look around and admire the beauty in this world and Mora reminds people to find that marginal space. That marginal space will allow to
observe, listen, and appreciate your morals. She recognized that the museum allowed her to self- express herself without no judgement from anyone. At times she realized that her time spent at museums seemed seemed purposeless however; she did not mind. The vocational values she gained from the museums permitted her to abandon order and logic. Both Frazier and Mora identifies that purposeless activities give a person satisfaction. This satisfaction comes from letting go of the pressure of adulthood. The reason for this is because adults have responsibilities as well as having a reputation that he/she must maintain. Whenever a person spends time in a place where they experience no worries, he/she can relax and admire the simplicity in life. Marginal spaces can be anywhere you can experience happiness. It does not have to be necessarily in the woods. For instance, my marginal space was my backyard because it allowed me to do purposeless things with no one telling me nothing. When I come back from school, I would go outside to my backyard and play many games just by using my imagination. The benefits from marginal spaces is to explore on what's beyond the surface. It is necessary especially for a child to find his/her marginal space because a child needs to articulate their imagination. I did purposeless activities as a child however; those activities has taught me valuable lessons. My marginal space has taught me to remain humble and explore the opportunities that I approach. Frazier explains how as an adult we leave our adolescence behind. Those purposeless activities has become a waste of time and the only thing we reflect on is the memories. Those memories allows us to innovate new ideas like how Frazier states, “Marginal places are the blue-sky research zones of the outdoors” (58). When scientist are in labs during research they do not know the results until the very end. Scientist undergo many trials and errors and often he/she achieve the results unexpectedly. Sometimes the things we do with no intention and purpose can become innovational and educational. Marginal places allows us to have control over our lives that can be beneficial to our brains. In Carr’s essay “The Shallows”, he explains how people need to limit the use of technology and instead connect with nature. By using the internet to an extensive extent, it can damage your brain. We end up relying on more the internet instead of our brains. Carr and Frazier both believe that by spending more time in your marginal space it can “produce marked increases in cognitive control” (83). A research from the USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute proved that the more distracted we are, the less we are able to experience empathy, compassion, and other emotions (Carr 84). This relates on the importance of finding your marginal place. A marginal place allows an individual mind to mature in the same way a child matures and transitions into adulthood. As our society's standards change over time, the definition of marginal is recognized to have a negative connotation. Frazier intention in his essay is to explain why being marginal is essential to a person’s life. Somehow people consider margins as an act of wrongdoing. Being marginal is a system of growth and development. Margins create a balance in society because without margins, society will become corrupted. For example, if we do the same things as every individual we would not have much qualities that can separate us from another individual. Referring back to the Carr essay, he emphasizes that technology is making us less human (83). In his essay he expresses, “as we cede control over the flow of our thoughts and memories to a powerful electronic system, is a slow erosion of our humanness and our humanity” (Carr 83). The same idea goes with marginal spaces, if we do not have a marginal space the there is no room for development. How can we expect to mature when we don't take time for ourselves? The time Frazier spent in the woods allowed him to self- express himself as a child. Frazier’s marginal place was meaningful to him because he had no duties and responsibilities he needed to fulfill. The purposeless things we do are the most valuable enriching lessons one can have. These purposeless things allows one to grow and develop. In conclusion, marginal places
...lves the confirmation of the boundaries of the social world through the sorting of things into good and bad categories. They enter the unconscious through the process of socialisation.’ Then, “the articulation of space and its conception is a reminder that time boundaries are inextricably connected to exclusionary practises which are defined in refusing to adhere to the separation of black experience.”
The white walls of the museum came to life by the art works on and surrounding them. As soon as I walked in, I was facing Sheila Hicks, Vivace, Vivace, (2014) which lit up the room with its vibrant colors, serving as the
One can see by examining the gravel pit and its importance to the citizens of Deptford, that Robertson Davies’ novel Fifth Business, examines the need for one to accept their shadow in order to fully develop their personality and realize their role in the society. Dunstan describes the gravel pit as something “of unusual importance to our village [Deptford] because it completely blocked any normal extension of streets or houses on our western; thus it was a source of indignation to our village [Deptford's] council”. The gravel pit is more than just a setting to the citizens of Deptford, as it is the place where people who were rejected from the society went, and it was the only place where people could freely do whatever they felt like was right, without being judged. The pit was also a source of annoyance to the citizens because it ‘blocked any normal extension of streets or houses’, which represents the hiding of the citizens dark thoughts and actions, and that annoyed others who
According to Ian Frazier in his essay “In Praise of Margins”, Frazier states that marginal places and activities are valuable because it allows us to be free and ourselves. Marginal activities also provide a break from our purpose filled lives. I believe that his views are in fact true. Indeed, marginal places and activities act as a getaway from everything and everyone. It is where we are able to express our true selves These activities may be pointless yet beneficial, but not matter what perspective it is looked from, these activities are always valuable.
are involved in. If we take place in marginal activities or find our own marginal place, then we
The sidewalk is a social structure for the people who work and live in it. They are mentors for each other. They play the same role of self-direction and psychological fulfillment of a formal job or family for example; where the society is shrunken on that one sidewalk. They form an informal social organization and social control so they can survive against the outer social system; meanwhile, this social organization organizes property rights and division of labor. Although their life seems deviant, they still practice conventional social practices and norms. Although it might seem that these men are engaged in random behavior, yet there is an organized interaction of norms and goals, and a shared collective self-consciousness from having a shared common history.
In the essay “Reunion with Boredom”, Simic allocates about “a quiet place to sit and think”. Simic conveys that it is now very difficult to find a place in which there are no distractions. However, when living in a place filled with technology and many other implements that can distract you, I’ve managed to discover a place where I am separated from all of this; my room.
Tony Hiss Author of The Experience of Place brings to our attention that as humans “We react, consciously or unconsciously, to the places where we live and work, in ways we scarcely notice or that are only now becoming known to us…In short, the places where we spend our time affect the people we are and can become.” Place defines characteristics in both human and extended moral communities. Place is not necessarily specific to gender, race, generation or specie. This understanding and recognition of place is fundamental when thinking about institutionalizing ecological and social responsibility.
Jarrar, Randa. “A Map of Home.” New York: Other Press LLC, 2008 (Later published by Penguin Books, 2009.) 1-290. Print.
‘Savage Beauty’ was an exhibition that pushed the boundaries of museology, in its artistic, social and critical undertakings. The questions brought to bear by the exhibition of contemporary art and culture in various situations is something I am interested in researching further with a degree in curating.
Chapter 1, Museums and Community. In The Handbook for Museums. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 3-12,
‘Through identifying places and organizing them, we make sense of the world we inhibit’ (Unwin,
The soul of a museum is the essence of identity by which it is defined; it is that which makes a museum a museum. The museum has identifiable requisites without which it would not be a museum. By using creative methods of exhibition, interpretation, and education as well as effective methods of collection and conservation, the museum becomes an integral aspect and a valuable resource in society. There are unique distinctions between the museum and other cultural institutions. Although the basic requirements of the definition of the museum have remained predominantly unaltered in modern history, the role of the museum in society has changed. Museums unite in purpose through their characteristics and features, are different from other cultural institutions, and have changed over time with respect to their role in society.
This was an era where sociology was emerging. Hirsch using Sauer’s work argued that human interaction with the natural landscape created a ‘cultural landscape’. Hirsch uses Gow ‘s (1994) chapter on Amazonian Peru to demonstrate how a cultural landscape develops. The Piro people of Peru use rotational crops to feed their people and share their food among the tribe. When they look at the land it represents kinship structures and social ties. The notion of space and place are entwined in meaning by emphasising the reality but also looking to the potentiality of the place thus creating a ‘space’.
When analyzing the museum of the past, one must consider all facets including the surrounding artifacts, the enclosure, lighting, color, and the space itself. It is also important to understand the connection between these elements, as well as, the relationship of these displayed objects with the viewer. There has always been a tendency to afford such a space with a formal relevance. It is humankind’s innate cu...