Kimberly Hickey- BCC English 101

For the fourth essay, the place proposal, I tried to make sure I was on the right track and explaining everything clearly/checking my work while I was writing the paper as to save time for the revision process. Since this also was late, I didn’t have receive any constructive criticism on this paper either so I tried to incorporate my own thoughts in writing a more clear and efficient paper.

Not everyone can drive. Some people cannot afford to have a car or pay for gas or insurance, some people struggle with anxiety while driving. But, whatever the reason, unfortunately in today’s society, driving is crucial. Taxis are extremely expensive and not easily accessible in suburban cities and you can only go so far in mooching off of friends and family to give you rides to places. So what do people do if they can’t drive? Public transportation. But, unfortunately, public transportation is limited too.

In the odd city of Taunton, Massachusetts, we have our main public transportation: the GATRA. “We’ll get you there!” (www.gatra.org) is the slogan plastered on every bus that you can spot pulled over on the side of the green as people pile in. The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) is a not-always-so convenient way of getting around town, as there are only 8 bus stops (the one most convenient for the general population being the E. Taunton-Raynham Walmart line as it brings you to the Silver City Galleria mall and Walmart–two places that hold a lot of jobs). But, the majority of people who live in Taunton do not work at the mall or Walmart, so how will they get to work if they cannot drive?

According to my source by Colesca, “In smaller towns, public transport is used by people who cannot afford to buy a car (Ibarra-Rojas et al, 2015). However, as cities grow in size, it serves more the citizens who have financial possibilities for buying a car, but prefer to use public transport in order to reduce traffic problems and support more efficient land use patterns…a special attention should be paid to the quality of services in order to increase the attractiveness of public transport and reduce car use” (Colesca 110). I really think this perfectly sums up the reasoning why public transportation is a growing tool and is necessary for not only in small cities such as Taunton but also in bigger cities such as Boston, where driving is an even bigger hassle.

I think to alleviate this problem, the city of Taunton (and other similar cities with this problem) could get together and discuss different ways of making sure everyone, no matter disability, is able to get to work and other places that they need to go to in an efficient and convenient manner.

Bibliography

Colesca, Sofia Elena, et al. “ANALYSIS OF PASSENGER’S SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION MODE CHOICES IN BUCHAREST: A FUZZY APPROACH.” Economic Computation and Economic Cybernetics Studies and Research, Apr. 2017.

12, 2018 July, et al. “Gatra.org.” Gatra.org, www.gatra.org/.

For the third essay, the annotated bibliography, I tried to make sure I was on the right track and explaining everything clearly/checking my work while I was writing the paper as to save time for the revision process. Since this also was late, I didn’t receive any constructive criticism on this paper either so I tried to incorporate my own thoughts in writing a more clear and efficient paper.

When revising my shopping ethnography, I tried to incorporate what I thought could have been improved in my rough draft. Although I sent the draft in late so I did not get any constructive criticism from my peers or professor, I knew generally what things could have been worded better, stated more clearly and tried to fix them myself. Overall, I think this revision process was successful.

When revising my memoir, I took into account what my fellow student wrote and the ideas and suggestions that they shared and I really put emphasis on trying to incorporate what the professor discussed in her comments. After re-reading my memoir again, I fixed some mistakes and worded things a little clearer and tried to get my point across in a more efficient manner. Overall, I think the revision process was very beneficial.

Hi Jon!

I think this was beautifully written, I really enjoyed learning about why dog parks are important and this was a really interesting take on the assignment. I think you intertwined the sources perfectly into your ideas and thoughts on the concept and overall I just really think this was a great essay to read. Really good job! 🙂

Kim

Physical exercise and playtime are essential for the growth and development of children. There are hundreds and hundreds of studies that show the beneficial effects, both physical and psychological, of allowing children to play. Recess and time for children to play on a playground helps the child develop confidence and the social skills that they will need for the rest of their life. Korkmaz states that play is not just physical, but that it’s “cognitive, imaginative, creative, emotional and social” and that it helps “the child to accommodate to the world” (Korkmaz 129-130).

It is evident that these experiences of socializing with other children and having time to play, free from responsibilities, decide how these children will socially interact for years to come. “…Children need social learning experiences to adaptively develop their emotional competence” (Guida 45). Without having time to play and interact with other children, the child will struggle with confidence and potentially even social anxiety if they are not exposed to interaction like play time when they are younger.

Therefore, it is clear that having playgrounds accessible and having recess periods in school are crucial for the normal and healthy development of a child’s life.

Bibliography

Guida, Veiga, et al. “Alone at the Playground.” European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 19 Jan. 2016.

Korkmaz, Nimet Haşil. “Designing of Playground by Children and Their Opinion on Play.” 8 Sept. 2017.

Hi Cintia,

I really enjoyed your research on why recess and playgrounds are essential to the growth and development of children. There were a few grammatical errors and a few things could have been written better so just watch out for that. Other than that, it’s a good start for your final draft.

Good job,
Kim 🙂

Today I made the weekly trip with my mother to Walmart, a place where we go every Wednesday since my grandmother, who’s not able to drive anymore, is always in need of her prescriptions. Walmart, as I’m sure everyone knows, is an interesting place. It’s usually filled with uninviting employees (although there is the occasional older man who cheerily greets customers at the door), middle-aged mothers quieting their hungry and loud children, and crabby old women who just want to get their prescriptions for the week. I think Walmart is such an interesting choice to compare to the ideas that Gladwell discusses in his article, mostly because I doubt the corporate leaders of Walmart actually care about how those ideas would affect the customers–at least not more than other similar stores. I feel that is because Walmart is the store that is reasonably priced and generally pretty convenient and reliable, you know that they will sell pretty much everything you need and you probably won’t have to visit another store to find everything on your shopping list.

The first thing I noticed when comparing my experience at Walmart with that of what Gladwell describes is with his “butt-brush theory.” In this, Gladwell explains that “the likelihood of a woman’s being converted from a browser to a buyer is inversely proportional to the likelihood of her being brushed on her behind while she’s examining merchandise” (Gladwell 67). He, later on, clarifies by stating that “This means that ‘a women’s product that requires extensive animation should never be placed in a narrow aisle’” (Gladwell 67). While I was traveling throughout everyone’s favorite superstore, I noticed that all of the aisles are very very wide, even the clothing racks aren’t very close together. This made a lot of sense to me, I know I really don’t appreciate feeling claustrophobic because I have to squeeze through a section of a store, everything should be easily accessible to everyone, no matter their size.

As I passed by the clothing section of Walmart, I noticed how just like in Gladwell’s article, shirts were neatly folded on wooden benches. He calls the act of shoppers physically browsing through clothes that are arranged on tables as “petting.” He further clarifies his point, saying that “we eat, we pick up food, on tables” (Gladwell, 68). These tables, just like the ones that I saw at Walmart, invite touching or “petting.” If a potential buyer feels a fabric that they fancy, they’re going to be more willing and open to purchasing the item and according to Gladwell, these customers are more apt to do this when the clothes are laid out, not hung up. I know right now I’m writing this on my wooden kitchen table, so his comparison to that of the kitchen table and how we pick up clothes just like we pick up and touch food is really interesting.

Lastly, I think Gladwell’s concept of the “invariant right” was really interesting. When I was trying to look out for clues as to what the store designers would put to the right, since people, in general, have a tendency to favor the right side (as most people are right-handed), I couldn’t really find anything at first, since the “right side” is always changing with your perspective in the store. But I noticed, that the first thing you see when you enter Walmart, is the cashiers on the left, and the food on the right. It starts off with fruit and then loops around making sure you get everything on your list: dairy, meat, eggs, etc., all of which are located on the right side.

Honestly, before going into this I really doubted that any of Gladwell’s theories could be compared to a store like Walmart. I didn’t think Walmart would be more than slightly influenced by these concepts, but maybe it’s due to these ideas that Walmart is so popular now.

Today I made the weekly trip with my mother to Walmart, a place where we go every Wednesday since my grandmother, who’s not able to drive anymore, is always in need of her prescriptions. Walmart, as I’m sure everyone knows, is an interesting place. It’s usually filled with uninviting employees (although there is the occasional older man who cheerily greets customers at the door), middle-aged mothers shushing their hungry and loud children, and crabby old women who just want to get their prescriptions for the week. I think Walmart is such an interesting choice to compare to the ideals that Gladwell writes in his article. This is mostly because I doubt the corporate leaders of Walmart actually care about how those ideas would affect the customers, at least not more than other similar stores. I feel that is because Walmart is the store that is reasonably priced and generally pretty reliable, you know that they will sell pretty much everything you need and you probably won’t have to visit another store to find everything on your shopping list.

The first thing I noticed when comparing my experience at Walmart with that of what Gladwell describes is with his “butt-brush theory.” In this, Gladwell explains that “the likelihood of a woman’s being converted from a browser to a buyer is inversely proportional to the likelihood of her being brushed on her behind while she’s examining merchandise” (Gladwell 67). He, later on, clarifies by stating that “This means that ‘a women’s product that requires extensive animation should never be placed in a narrow aisle’” (Gladwell 67). While I was traveling throughout everyone’s favorite superstore, I noticed that all of the aisles are very very wide, even the clothing racks aren’t very close together. This made a lot of sense to me, I know I really don’t appreciate feeling claustrophobic because I have to squeeze through a section of a store, everything should be easily accessible to everyone, no matter their size.

As I passed by the clothing section of Walmart, I noticed how just like in Gladwell’s article, shirts were neatly folded on wooden benches. He calls the act of shoppers physically browsing through clothes that are arranged on tables as “petting.” He further clarifies his point, saying that “we eat, we pick up food, on tables” (Gladwell, 68). These tables, just like the ones that I saw at Walmart, invite touching or “petting.” If a potential buyer feels a fabric that they fancy, they’re going to be more willing and open to purchasing the item and according to Gladwell, these customers are more apt to do this when the clothes are laid out, not hung up. I know right now I’m writing this on my wooden kitchen table, so his comparison to that of the kitchen table and how we pick up clothes just like we pick up and touch food is really interesting.

Lastly, I think Gladwell’s concept of the “invariant right” was really interesting. When I was trying to look out for clues as to what the store designers would put to the right, since people, in general, have a tendency to favor the right side (as most people are right-handed), I couldn’t really find anything at first, since the “right side” is always changing with your perspective in the store. But I noticed, that the first thing you see when you enter Walmart, is the cashiers on the left, and the food on the right. It starts off with fruit and then loops around making sure you get everything on your list: dairy, meat, eggs, etc., all of which are located on the right side.

Honestly, before going into this I really doubted that any of Gladwell’s theories could be compared to a store like Walmart. I didn’t think Walmart would be more than slightly influenced by these concepts, but maybe it’s due to these ideas that Walmart is so popular now.