My Line

http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000106

I am from the humbled woods through the hollowed barn.

At Last.

AT LAST! We finally got to meet. I loved class today. It was so nice finally getting to meet everyone. Honestly for me, the most interesting was finally getting to put a face to the blogs that we’ve been discussing all semester. It’s been a different experience communicating through the use of a blog, rather then getting to meet face to face. But, don’t get me wrong, its been fun! I just didn’t know what to expect for class today.

I loved getting to read everything that was written on the dry erase boards, too. It was so interesting to see what was memorable to some, what were lies to others, and what connections some people had to maps. Can’t wait to go around OKC tomorrow to show AUM students the invisible city that Leigh and I made!

OKC: What do you see?

Here goes another chance at describing my map to you all:).

Okay, so Leigh (also known as Charting the Stars) and I had a very hard time settling on an area that we wanting to include in our map. We threw thoughts together and decided to include 10 buildings and sites that we thought would be interesting to show the AUM students.

We kept mulling over how we were going to actually form our map, and well, we saw an old and dirty cloth that Dr. Hessler had brought to class in the treasure chest of creative goodies. What can we say… We were inspired. Now that we had the base of our map, we starting focusing on the area of OKC that we wanted to focus on. We decided we wanted to choose things in the downtown area so that it would be relatively close for the AUM students. We then started to throw out different places that we thought they should at least drive by and see.

After class we decided we would drive by each place that we had chosen and take a quick picture to put on our map (although we hadn’t decided exactly what our map was going to look like). That night we got together in my room and as we looked back at our pictures, we noticed that we saw things that weren’t really there. That’s when we finally had an idea of what our map may include.

The white squares have the title that we gave the place, or building, based on what we had imagined at these areas. Underneath the white square there is a picture of what we saw as opposed to what’s actually there (the third picture).

We used real images to show the AUM students how the buildings and places honestly look, but to trigger the imagination, we included an edited version of the image based upon what we saw as we looked back at our pictures.

Sorry for the cloth and stapled pictures. We really just wanted to focus on using the imagination to show how people perceive things in many different ways.

Invisible City OKC

This is my map of OKC. Leigh and I decided to do this project together. We searched trying to find the perfect area to make invisible in OKC. We settled for areas downtown that really stuck out to us and allowed us to see something that wasn’t really there. We drew out a couple of the main streets that outline each of the places we want them to stop at. Then, we drove down and around the downtown area and took pictures of each place to use on our map. We printed out the pictures and then I got online and edited each picture to make it into what we saw (the “invisible” aspect of the project). So on the old cloth we stapled a picture of what we saw followed by a picture of what the place really looks like. One strategy we tried to incorporate was showing them what we saw first to help trigger their imaginations into seeing something that may not be there.

It’s Me at a Glance

For my paper I chose to compare and contrast an Influence Map and a Wordle. Both maps are used to describe my personality to people who may not know me. It was actually very interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two! Here’s a look at my paper and the maps in progress:).

Juxtaposition

I chose to compare and contrast a wordle map of who I am and a map of pictures that have influenced me. They both explain who I am to people, but in different ways. The wordle uses only words to describe the kind of person I am and things that really mean something to me. The picture map shows readers what I’m like and what things have influenced me overtime. I think the biggest contrast between the two maps of my life is the fact that the picture map is just so much more visual than the wordle. I know this is probably an obvious difference between the two, but I found it much easier to express myself through the picture map. I’m a big visual learner, so putting my influences into pictures was much easier. As for the wordle, I found it challenging to choose which words would represent me well, because I knew I had to limit the words to not make it visually exhausting and overloaded. Both maps represent me very well. They each have some overlapping traits and influences, but they express my identity in different ways.

Clue: a map of a mansion

http://game-board.blogspot.com/2008/05/clue-characters-board-game-vs-clue.html

I chose a picture of the “Clue” board game as my map. It is full of colors and borders that are able to reach children and adults. This may not seem like a map to some of you, but indeed it is. It’s basically a blueprint of a mansion. But, it’s no ordinary blueprint… It’s blueprint that is showing people rooms that might have held one of the murders. The yellow represent the spaces on the board that players can move to and from. But, the yellow is outlined with thin black lines. These black lines hold significance in how this map is handled. The squares create restrictions, boundaries, that cause players to play by a certain set of rules. This board gives players a blueprint of where they are allowed to maneuver throughout the mansion. This is adding complexity to the idea that this map is a blueprint. It’s not only outlining where players may go, but it is also enforcing how players are allowed to move around, creating these restrictions.

The color that stands out the most in this map is the yellow on the floor. The yellow connects the whole map. It connects room to room, and it is mapped out in tiles to allow for the number each player may move. Monmonier talks about the idea of maps using simultaneous contrast (pg. 172). This map has the central color yellow, but each of the rooms has contrasting colors and themes. Since the rooms are such different colors, it makes it easier for the eye to see and realize that each room is its’ own entity. The contrast between the rooms and the yellow floor allow the players eyes to understand the different entities of the board game. The colors are used as a way to help people of all different ages understand how the blueprint is set up, and how they should handle it.

At first, I couldn’t think of how I would ever turn this toy into a map. Then I realized it was a map all along and I didn’t need to turn it into one! I used this map, because it’s a very unexpected choice for this assignment. Many people, including myself, wouldn’t consider this as map at first glance. Next time you get out a board game, I challenge each and every one of you to consider how the board acts as a map :).

My map. My world.

http://www.508pir.org/events/ff_reunions/reunion_04/ff_reunion_04_03.htm

The hyperlink above will take you to the site that has this map:). The site is called “508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.” It has many pictures of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. This specific picture is labeled as the “Grounds Map” and it points out that North is to the right side.

On this map, you are able to see the general grounds of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The map also points out main features of the exhibit such as, the survivor tree, the reflecting pool, and the field of empty chairs. On the outside of the map the street names that outline the museum are shown. There’s also a key on the bottom left hand that shows the reader what the symbols seen on the map mean. The 9:01 and 9:03 gates are also shown, which shows how quickly the tragedy occurred. Everything concealed in the gates are clearly labeled to help keep the map simple, yet descriptive. Overall, I find this map to be very helpful and descriptive while not being overwhelming.

The inside of the Memorial Museum is not shown on this map. Also, you are unable to see any emotions that this tragedy caused. The pain and sorrow that people associate with this tragedy isn’t present in this map. While looking at this map, I see a museum that is obviously set up to remember an event that changed Oklahoma City, but it is not able to convey the trauma and devastation that it created.

In the map above, many aspects of the memorial has be simplified. Just as Monmonier says, simplification reduces detail, which is useful for eliminating excessive details that may be overwhelming. One example in this map that has been simplified is the field of empty chairs. In person, you are able to see which chair has what name engraved in it. Also, the chairs are either big or small depending on if the victim was a child or an adult. These features aren’t seen in the map above. Instead, the chairs are symbolized with dots that show the overall placement of the chairs. Since they are simplified, it allows the reader clarity and it isn’t overwhelming to the eyes.

How to Lie with Maps

I chose a picture of Panem, the futuristic view of North America that is used in The Hunger Games. I read the first two books over break and I’m in the process of reading the third now. I definitely have enjoyed them more then I would’ve ever thought! Anyway, I decided to use this map, because it’s quite a bit different from my personal view of Panem. This map makes each district seem to be very close together and easy access between all of the districts. In chapter 5 of How to Lie with Maps, Mark Monmonier shows an examples of Upward Airlines maps. Figure 5.4 is showing an unrealistic view on how easy and quick it is to travel through the airport. It’s making everything seem so quick and convenient. On page 62 Monmonier says, “Another expediently misleading generalization is the map’s suggestion that connections at Upward’s hubs are convenient.” To me, this applies perfectly to this colorful view of Panem. As I googled “maps of Panem,” so many different maps came up. It amazed me how many people have taken time to put together their own view of Panem. I chose this one because I loved how the connections between each district are presented as clean cut and convenient. Like Monmonier was pointing out, I found these smooth connections between each district to be quite false from what I had mentally pictured after reading the books. The books discuss the long train rides and electrical fences and the woods. I found these three components to be integral, which is the main reason that I find it hard for myself to picture this as Panem. The books presented Panem to be individualized districts all ruled by the powerful Capitol. Who knows though… Maybe this is how Suzanne Collins pictured Panem to be!:)

I guess the beauty of all of this is… We all have very different views at life and many places that we encounter. The way I pictured Panem might not be at all like my the view of my friend that has also read the book. Also, although I absolutely loved the choices of colors that were used, I never ever viewed Panem to be deserving of such bright and lively colors… since it’s hidden in such darkness, control, and death. I find it so interesting to think that this a completely different picture then the one that I had in my mind as I read The Hunger Games.

…… If you haven’t read the series yet, GET ON THAT:)

Maps

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I found two maps… I couldn’t choose which one to put on my blog, so I put both! I chose one of Disney World, because that is one of my very favorite places to go. Also, it is so colorful and animated while being so easy to understand! Each of the parks are labeled and they even put a legend at the bottom to help show hotels/resorts and their locations. I like the view of this map… it’s not focused in on one park. Instead, this shows a view from above that shows how large Disney World really is. I thought this map related very well to what we did today in class. It’s marking the important places, while still showing the viewer the big picture. It also has popular landmarks shown at each park. This, to me, is like them saying that these are the important landmarks that visitors should see.

The other map was simply just fun. I loved seeing all the Disney characters placed around the world. This one doesn’t really relate to our class activity, but I thought it was fun!