Finish reading the Coney Island chapter of Colson Whitehead's "The Colossus of New York"
As you read, circle any unfamiliar vocabulary. Then look it up at least two of these terms in a paper dictionary or online, and/or figure out its meaning from the context.
In a short blogpost, identify two of the vocabulary words you looked up. Give the page number they came from, the definition, and what you think the sentence now means.
Then write a paragraph that summarizes this chapter. How would you describe Whitehead's view of Coney Island and what he wants us to understand about this place?
If you have trouble posting you can leave your post as a comment or print it out to turn in. By next week we'll make sure everyone is able to post on the course blog.
The vocabulary words that i am defining are vertiginous and beckoning. These words are coming from page 95. What I found out, vertiginous means: causing or likely to cause a feeling of dizziness especially because of great height. Now the sentence in the context that has this word, "Citizens of this new vertiginous city", means to me that the people or whoever is on the cyclone ride are viewing people in the streets moving and whirling because they are in a state of dizziness which explains the sentence and why it mentions the city as vertiginous. The second word I am defining,beckoning, means: to signal or make a gesture. The sentence in the context is "Reel this way and the ocean is upon you in a wave, in beckoning gloom, reel the other way, and slam into high rises, into broad brick faces". Now this sentence is trying to say that the ride is going in all different directions close to surrounding people and things and the person experiencing the ride wants it to be over giving off an expression showing that they want the ride to be over. I believe that Whitehead is trying to show that Coney Island is a place that everyone goes to to have fun despite how old the rides are or the place is. It is a landmark where a lot of people go to for different/similar reasons and it is a well known place.He describes Coney Island in many different ways and views including different weather/seasons and how people enjoy there day there and what goes on when people are actually there. I would say that Whitehead is showing how Coney Island is a well known attraction.
ReplyDeletePails and tides are the vocabulary that I am defining. The words are in page 91. The First word pails means a round container that is open at the top and usually has a handle. The second word means the regular upward and downward movement of the level of the ocean that is caused by the pull of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth. Those two words are on the sentence "Kids with pails move this bunch of sand from here to there to undo the secret design of tides." This sentence shows a image in my mind that children play around with each others on the beach with a beautiful weather that create a happy environment for them. It also reminds me that I was a child, and I went to beach with my grandparents for watching the sunset. Now I believe that Whitehead tries to show us that Coney Island is a nice place to relax and enjoy for everybody because he shows varieties of pictures which are children, adults, fishermen,etc. Most important, they enjoy playing around beach. Finally, I think he wanted to teach us that we should enjoy our life.
ReplyDeleteThe two vocabularies are corrosive and rickety which I'm defining on page 95.The definition on corrosive which is: tending to cause corrosion which in other words in destroyed and damaged like in metal, stone and materials which slowly cause by aid rain and chemical exposure. The sentence in context that has this meaning; "withstand the corrosive agents in fear sweat." this sentence mean that the amusement isn't safe which brings a great amount of fear on the person point of view. The amusement was abandoned with rusting paint almost to believe is haunted. The second word is rickety which mean structure or piece of equipment that is poorly made and it’s likely to collapse. The sentence in context that states its meaning; "Seems so rickety." this sentence mean to me that place seems to be broken down and all the missing parts with damaged looking rides or something in the text that I have read. I truly believe that whitehead is showing the reader how to understand that Coney Island is a place for fun without being affected by the rusting molded rides and other parts as rusting metal bars from the rides. People came to learn the history and have a great time while they explored the place. He also give the reader the description of the place by weather, the decreased of poorly equipment in the rides. But give a good plot about Coney Island of how people enjoyed and have a good time.
ReplyDeleteThe vocabulary words that I am defining are astounding and funk. Astounding means surprisingly impressive or notable. I found that word on page 91 in the sentence "His takehome pay is quite astounding" and I believe it means that his salary is quite impressive. The word funk means a state of depression. I found that word on page 89 in the sentence "... where a broom of briny air sweeps away this miserable funk" and he used that word because he wanted to show the depression of people during summer time. The author is describing Coney Island as a place of fun and pleasant, people are leaving from the miserable and hot city to visit Coney Island and have a joyful time with their families. Also at the beginning of paragraph 8 he describes Coney Island during winter and spring as a dead place because its off season and nobody goes there.
ReplyDeleteThe words i am defining are Riptide and Anchorless on page 92. Riptide means a strong tidal flow in certain areas such as inlets also swimmers and boaters hazard with this. In the story the word being used in the sentence says" Riptide and undertow are the worlds hands grabbing to save you from cities and their influence" Later on it continues on what he was saying about the waves,and speaking about the board walk. Defining the word made it much easier. The second word i had trouble with has to be Anchorless. Which means drifting; unsettled. In the sentence he clearly states how he's being pushed. He was stating how he feels about being down at the shore, showing how peaceful it was being down there. Coney Island to him is home, he feels peaceful there and loves to stay there and could stay there forever with no problem.
ReplyDeleteThe two words i'm defining are: unison from page 90 and infrastructure from page 92. Unison means corresponding exactly. I also found out that it means when two people answer or ask the same things at the same time. By saying "In unison ask, can you do my back" Whitehead means that as soon as people get to the beach, people asking this question at the same time is very common. Infrastructure is the basic features of a system of organization. The sentence that this word was in is "The unseen infrastructure of waves" After finding out the meaning of the word I understood that Whitehead was trying to say that everyone plays and looks at the waves without taking a moment to study its motion or structure. I think that in this chapter Whitehead wants us to understand that coney island is a place for anything and anyone. Also as he says "The city and the sea don't get along, never have" he might mean that despite all the madness of the city everyone goes to coney island to do what they want.
ReplyDeleteThe two words I am defining are piquancy on page 89 and anchorless on page 90. The word piquancy means a agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor and the word anchorless means any similar device for holding fast or checking motion
ReplyDeleteTwo words I had trouble understanding were pulverize and infrastructure found on page 92. "To demolish or crush completely" or "to reduce dust or powder, as by pounding or grinding" are 2 definitions I found for pulverize. After searching up the definition for pulverize and using context clues, I understand the sentence found, "Sometimes a workweek will grind you into sand, pulverize you into particles." more clearly. For this word I think the definition that best suit it is the second one. Now knowing the definition of pulverize I think the sentence means a persons workweek is so tough that it physically and mentally tears them into pieces. The second word that I had difficulty understanding is infrastructure. For this word I found 3 definitions "the basic, underlying framework or features of a system or organization", "the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, as transportation and communication systems, power plants, and schools", and last "the military installations of a country." I think the 1st definition suits more for "infrastructure". The sentence "The unseen infrastructure of waves" means their describing their view.
ReplyDeleteHi Brandon - Good overview: think about SPECIFICS as we have been discussing: for example, what particular different purposes are the different people coming for?
ReplyDeleteKangxuan - Good clear overview. Did you notice what other images of children we get in the chapter? Do they show a different perspective on the place he's describing?
ReplyDeleteNatasa -
ReplyDeleteGood overview - you're right that seasons are a big part of the chapter. Try reading this sentence aloud: "The author is describing Coney Island as a place of fun and pleasant, people are leaving from the miserable and hot city to visit Coney Island and have a joyful time with their families." What do you notice and how might you change it?
The author is describing Coney Island as a pleasant place, people are leaving from the miserable, hot city to visit Coney Island and have a joyful time with their families. That sounds better professor ?
DeleteHi Natasa - It is clearer! It is a "run-on" - meaning it needs to be more than one sentence. Can you look at how you might break it up?
DeleteAlice . . . hmmm interesting - can you expand and explain more? What passages make you think that the author feels at home there?
ReplyDeleteGood job Carla - that's an interesting quote you brought in - do you think it also gives us a sense of conflict? Are there things in the chapter that make this place seem like less than a complete escape?
ReplyDeleteHi CJ - OK - now can you write a short paragraph summarizing the chapter?
ReplyDeleteHi Joanna -
ReplyDeleteGood working through of the definitions in context - now look at and complete the second part: write a short paragraph describing the chapter as a whole and its vision of Coney Island.
Here are the two words i looked up 1) ULTRAVIOLET. meaning,Of or designating rays that are just beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum. 2nd meaning (light that cannot be seen by the human eye. it is given off by the sun and causes the skin to get darker.
ReplyDeleteThe sentence taken from the paragraph The sun sets this melting pot to furious boil, brings it all to the surface, the ancient liaisons, the hidden complexions. That extra seasoning. the struggles of everyone's ancient tribes are reduced to how their descendant fare against ULTRAVIOLET.
FEALTY my next word. meaning (As owed to a feudal lord.
sentence taken.( The direction of their final stroke this day is an oath of FEALTY.
The sentences from which these words came i now understand clearly what the the writer means.
The two vocabulary words I found difficult to understand was loathe and ditties. These words actually come from one sentence on page 93. The sentence "Loathe neighbors and their boorish talk and unfortunate ditties." The word loathe is defined to feel strong hatred or disgust for. In the sentence he describes his neighbors as "Loathe" neighbors basically saying he dislikes them. The word ditties is defined as a short simple song or poem. So the author refer's to their ditties as "unfortunate" meaning like he would prefer not to hear them ditty. Overall the author does not like his neighbors as he finds them annoying and rude.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn - Good job with the vocabulary and putting it in context. Now look at the second half: how would you summarize the view of Coney Island in the essay?
ReplyDeleteDarrel - Good job with vocabulary: can you expand your last sentence into a pargarph that summarizes the piece? What is his overall view of the place and how does his annoyance fit in with that?
ReplyDeleteThe two vocabulary words I chose are cherish and queue which are both on page 95. Queue is a line of people waiting their turn. Cherish means to hold or treat as dear, or to feel love for. I think queue in the sentence refers to the people lined up nervously waiting to go on the rides. Cherish, in the sentence, means to enjoy or to hold on to the fear and excitement of being on the ride. In summary of this passage, the author shows us a detailed description of Coney Island with all of its variety and contradictions. Its a place to get a way from the city and to enjoy nature, but its right next to an amusement park. The author talks about this contradiction in the last paragraph, where he mentions the differences between the ocean and the rollercoaster. He tries to show us that this is a lot like life, how two forces are constantly trying to pull us in different directions, but our minds are at battle trying to keep us together.
ReplyDeleteGood - I think you're right that he's using the rollercoaster as a metaphor for the place. What specific conflict do you think the chapter is describing?
ReplyDelete