Skip to content

Topic 1 Form Analysis

I chose to do a map for my guide, like a museum map or something similar. There are metaphors around what is considered to be an attraction and also in terms of what is highlighted on the map vs what isn’t. Usually this is used for the showcasing of art or laying out a space for a functional understanding and as an accurate depiction of what an area will look like. I’m going to subvert it by taking the actual map of the Korean DMZ and creating a rigid box structure (like a museum map) with general areas highlighting an aspect of the DMZ. It will resemble the actual map of the DMZ in terms of orientation and general geography, but is a huge oversimplification adding structure to an area that is quite fluid. If I were to do a different form I might need to highlight the history of the DMZ, but I’m much more interested in the present and how the DMZ shapes the modern landscape.

Metaphors We Live By

• Lakoff + Johnson give several examples throughout the text of linguistic metaphorical systems. Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere? For instance, do you speak about conversation as battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?
I think most of the examples that Lakoff + Johnson clicked with me. I may not use all of them or be aware of them, but after reading them I could definitely see the connections between the different concepts described. There were a few that I thought were dated like “I’m feeling up today.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that, but the reverse is obviously very widely used (“I’m feeling down”).
•Can you identify a metaphorical system that you commonly use? What do you think is the motivating rationale (“experiential basis”) behind that system – or is there one? Have you ever intentionally (or unintentionally) changed the metaphorical system that you use to speak about a certain subject, to reflect a different experience or worldview?
This question is really tough. I feel like I was not aware of any of the ones presented by Lakoff + Johnson until they put them into words. One might be Right is right and Left is wrong. I think this comes from culture biases (being right handed is far more common) as well as the fact that right (direction) and right (correct) are homonyms. Examples would be “You’re right!” vs “That’s way out of left field.” It probably doesn’t work as well because of the whole homonym thing but it’s the only one I could think of.
•What metaphors/systems of metaphor are commonly used when discussing your topic? If “the essence of a metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (5), what other kinds of metaphors might be useful for discussing your topic, or an aspect of your topic?
I’m not quite sure. Borders are kind of like containers, so maybe I can use that in some way to illustrate the ways in which DMZs create a contained space for certain things to happen (like wildlife returning and thriving). Borders can also be separations, so that’s another way I might be able to use metaphor to get the theme across.

Topic 1 Interviews

(Q1) Have you ever heard of a DMZ?
(A1) Yes.

(Q2) Great! Would you be able to explain what it is?
(A2) It’s some line in Korea that keeps the North part and the South part divided. It cuts the country in half so that the North one can’t attack the South one. You can’t keep your military in there.

(Q3) Did you know there are other DMZs in the world?
(A3) I only heard about that one.

(Q4) Would it surprise you that space is a DMZ?
(A4) Yeah, that does make sense. But they have satellites in space that they can use to attack with. So does that really mean that there is no military in space.

(Q5) Why do you think DMZs need to exist?
(A5) Because when two countries fight each other a lot of people will get hurt. People will die. Also people’s living situation can get really bad. It’s really sad. So when you make a DMZ you can stop them from attacking each other and it makes things more safe.

(Q6) Did you know that a lot of animals come back to live in DMZs?
(A6) No, I did not.

(Q7) Why do you think they would go to the DMZ?
(A7) Probably because there are not as many people. So they can live there and not be disturbed.

(Q8) Do you think DMZs are effective?
(A8) I think it depends. It helps create some space, so people need to talk. I think that aspect is definitely very good. But if two countries hate each other they will still find ways to attack each other even with an are that is no military allowed.

What I learned:

So, I interviewed my mom (who is not an expert in DMZs at all) to see what people know about the topic of DMZs in general. Like me, she didn’t seem to know much beyond the basics. It just shows how niche some of these issues can be on a global scale but how vital on the local scale. I’m sure if I interviewed anyone in Korea about the DMZ they would have strong opinions and know a lot more about it’s structure and history.

Topic 1 Form Analysis

I’m going to do a “How-to” guide in the form of a “Landfills for Dummies”. I think its a way to poke fun at a serious and pressing topics – overconsumption, waste, ecology, environmental impact – which still providing some of the facts about landfills and how they are constructed. 

If I tried a different form, I would probably do something similar to an infomercial advertising landfills. I could go a lot of different ways with it like a satirical sales infomercial marketing the landfill or I could do a serious PSA style announcement. 

I think the “How-to” is well-suited because there is a step-by-step to making a landfill and so using that as a foundation makes sense. 

Topic 1 Interview

I interviewed a sanitation worker who operates a garbage truck in my area and works for the New York Department of Sanitation. He wanted to be anonymous, so for the purpose of this write-up I’ll call him “Steve”. 

Q. How long have you been a sanitation worker?

A. 14 years.

Q. Why did you decide to take on sanitation as a profession?

A. I’ve always been a clean dude. But nobody wakes up and says “I want to pick up trash for my whole life”, you know? It really came down to pay and benefits. The city takes good care of us, and the guys I work with are like family now.

Q. Would you consider yourself a garbage expert?

A. Well, shit. I guess so, yeah.

Q. How many trash bags would you say you collect in a day?

A. Way too many to count. You’ve seen some of these building, right? They have hundreds of people up in there. Sometimes we can get 600 hundred bags from a single building. Shits unreal.

Q. Do you know how many tons of trash you collect?

A. This truck can hold like 10 tons. Maybe 12. Depends on how it gets crushed. 

 

Q. Would you say most of it is recycling or landfill waste?

A. Most of it is black bag landfill trash. And to be honest, the clear bag recycling is worthless. Half of that shit ends up in a landfill anyway because people don’t know how to recycle proper. They mix all their shit together and yeah it gets sorted, but usually that shit goes straight in the ground. But that’s not really my department.

Q. Do you feel like your work is rewarding?

A. I guess so, yeah. You know, I definitely feel like I’m doing a good thing. It’s not a nice job like a doctor or lawyer or something. But I definitely feel like it matters, right? Like if I’m not gonna come by and pick this shit up think about how nasty these streets would be. And shit, even with me here they’re nasty.

At this point Steve needed to get back to work, but I enjoyed hearing his perspective. 

What I learned:

I think this provided some real world context for the scale of the waste management problem. The sheer amount of trash a single building can produce was crazy to me. Also the fact that most of the recycling ends up in a landfill anyways was disheartening. 

Metaphors We Live By

  • Lakoff + Johnson give several examples throughout the text of linguistic metaphorical systems. Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere? For instance, do you speak about conversation as battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?

To me, the most outdated example was “Rational is up; Emotional is down”. I don’t think people really talk in those terms as much, and as a society, we are becoming increasingly receptive to and accepting of people’s emotions and emotional wellbeing. Rational is up implies that being rational is somehow better, and I’m not sure that that is always the accepted case anymore. 

I definitely do unconsciously think of most thinks in the same metaphorical systems shown by Lakoff and Johnson. The arguments as battle one is especially resonates with me since I grew up in a household of lawyers and arguments were definitely seen as battles. I think it’s a flawed approach though since (ideally) the goal of an argument is to come to a mutual understanding, having different opinions is okay.

 

  • Can you identify a metaphorical system that you commonly use? What do you think is the motivating rationale (“experiential basis”) behind that system – or is there one? Have you ever intentionally (or unintentionally) changed the metaphorical system that you use to speak about a certain subject, to reflect a different experience or worldview?

Maybe one is like solid is down airy/floaty (can’t think of another word) is up. “She’s light on her feet” vs “Sink like a stone”. Or “Head in the clouds” vs “Head in the ground”. This would probably derive from he fact that the solid things drop to the ground and light things float. 

 

  • What metaphors/systems of metaphor are commonly used when discussing your topic? If “the essence of a metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (5), what other kinds of metaphors might be useful for discussing your topic, or an aspect of your topic?

I wouldn’t say that my topic necissarily has an apparent metaphoric system, but certainly a landfill can be a metaphor for a lot of things. Examples: “This place is a dump”, “They were dumping all of their problems onto me”, “I dumped them”.

Reading response – Metaphor

  • Lakoff + Johnson give several examples throughout the text of linguistic metaphorical systems. Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere? For instance, do you speak about conversation as battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?

 

One example I found different from the metaphorical system I use is argument. To a certain extent, argument can be related to war, but in Chinese, the concept of argument emphasizes more on the idea of “exchange”. Winning is the goal of an argument, but the process is not the same as war. In a war, you kill people. The more powerful you are, more people you kill, and in the end, winning the war. But that not the same with argument. When you argue with others, you are exchanging thoughts and ideas, instead of killing ideas. You win an argument not by eliminating other’s ideas with power, but by convincing others to understand and agree with your point.

 

  • Can you identify a metaphorical system that you commonly use? What do you think is the motivating rationale (“experiential basis”) behind that system – or is there one? Have you ever intentionally (or unintentionally) changed the metaphorical system that you use to speak about a certain subject, to reflect a different experience or worldview?

 

In Chinese, there is a type of phrase called “Chengyu”, a kind of idiom that all made up of four characters. Each of these idioms has an apparent meaning and a metaphoric meaning, which relates to a story in the history. As time passes, the meanings of some idioms are understood and used differently from its origin. For example, there is a phrase “kong xue lai feng” (空穴来风), the apparent meaning is “wind blowing from an empty cave”. Its original metaphorical explanation is that for wind to blow through, there needs to be a cave or a hole, meaning that there needs to be reasons for rumors to get spread. In nowadays, this idiom is used in a different way, meaning information that has no basis, since the wind is coming from an “empty” cave. in this idiom, information is compared with wind, they both flow from place to place. However, our understanding of this idiom changes. Before people believed that there is always a reason for information to be passed on. But nowadays, with internet and social media, too much information is transferred every day, too much information coming from nowhere. Under this situation, people started to change the use and understanding of this idiom.

 

  • What metaphors/systems of metaphor are commonly used when discussing your topic? If “the essence of a metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (5), what other kinds of metaphors might be useful for discussing your topic, or an aspect of your topic?

 

I would use the metaphor “planation is colony” to discuss my topic. In fact, colony is a actual metaphoric meaning of planation in the dictionary. I think the word colony is a good representation of plantation, they have a lot in common. In a colony, people occupy an area of land that are not owned by them; while in planation, people occupy a land that originally belongs to other animals and living things. People gain profit in a colony by gathering things and resources; in planation, people also gain profits by harvesting fruits from the cash crops. I think that’s a useful metaphor for describing planation.

Form for Gardens Project

I will be making a map of sorts for exploring my topic, and an accompanying exploration kit.

I will be focusing on the plant life — wildflowers, trees, etc — that are found in and around Chicago. A map helps people navigate, explore, find things, locate themselves and other things, orient oneself, and capture a moment in time. Some maps include transportation routes, trade routes, and points of interest. Mappe mundi, a form of medieval map, also include history, mythology, different animals/species/peoples, and are not terribly focused on literal locating of things.

I will be leaning into the navigating, exploration, and orientation aspect. I want to make a map that might help someone orient themselves in the world of the diverse plant species that surround them. I’d like to help them explore these plants, become interested in them in order to build appreciation, and ultimately care enough to help protect them.

In making this map, I will be  subverting the focus on precise location and finding things. I don’t want people to be able to use it to specifically locate anything, I would like them to be exploring instead. Instead of focusing on the more typical built environment or on humans’ points of interest, I want to focus on non-human elements. I am not sure yet what metaphors I will be employing.

In making this map, I will need to do some exploring myself. I will put together a “kit” for this exploration and will document that as part of my project.

Interview: Wonderland Project

** Due to scheduling gymnastics, I will be conducting my interview on Tuesday, September 27th at 7pm, and will update this post with a summary when it is complete **

Interview subject: Natalie Evans, who is working on the Wonderland Community Project near Woodstock, IL

Stated goals of Wonderland:

  • Building a large scale mutual aid food supply where we can feed 100 families, hopefully in 5 years time.
  • Land restoration: removing invasive species, replanting native spices and reestablishing lost ecosystems.
  • Creating ecological wealth for future generations.
  • Exploring ways to give land back to local Indigenous people.
  • Helping people feel connected to the land and providing a space for people to be outdoors, especially people that don’t have easy or safe access to being in “nature”.
  • Moving slowly, working in collaboration with each other and the land.
Questions for Natalie:
What led you to starting Wonderland? What drew you down this path?
What were some of the ways that you prepared for this project? Some of the hurdles?
How did you choose the location for Wonderland?
I love all of the goals that you shared for your project. Do you consider any to be more important than any others? How do you balance them?
If someone else was interested in starting down this path, what advice would you give them? What would their first steps be?
What are ways that people could serve similar goals if they don’t have access to large tracts of land?
Natalie’s journey toward her project began in earnest roughly a decade ago when she turned to the outdoors for comfort during some stressful moments for her family. At that time, she took many nature walks and started to study urban foraging — looking for edible food in and around Chicago. After finding a community of like-minded individuals, she joined a group of 6 families, 9 adults and 16 kids, to purchase a large chunk of land about an hour from downtown Chicago. The group’s plan is to work with the land to provide food for local families, and safe space for humans of all types (with an explicit focus on people in the queer community) to enjoy being outdoors. They are also focusing on sustainable growing — removing invasive species and replanting native species.
The practical details are not terribly glamorous, but it was clear how much Natalie loved the work. From a human side, they are hoping to build a comfortable composting bathroom facility in the next year. From a plant side, they are hard at work removing honeysuckle, buckthorn, and oriental bittersweet. They are planting oaks, milkweed, onions, bee balm, bundle flowers, ramps, sunflowers, and wood nettles.
She also pointed me toward a few people to do more research into, surrounding the controversy of rewilding: Farmer Rishi, Daniel Vitalis, and Peter Michael Bauer, as well as the blog CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt.com.

Interview: Salt

I talked about salt with an endocrinologist.

She said the recommended salt intake in China’s dietary guidelines had been reduced from 6g to 5g. Then I asked her if she would be worried if the dish was too salty. She replied with a smile: “No, the excess salt will be excreted by the body.” We started the conversation casually, but it still gave me a lot of interesting knowledge.

 

In a doctor’s view, salt is not only sodium chloride but also potassium chloride. Sodium and potassium ions maintain the osmotic pressure of cells. Some juices, such as orange juice and coconut water, are rich in potassium. Usually, eating too much salt will not be a problem because the kidneys excrete excess sodium and potassium. But overeating salt every day can cause cardiovascular disease.

 

A too bland diet can also cause problems. Some elderly diabetics eat too lightly. Without enough salt, as a result, they feel weak and have to go to the hospital. The doctor will adjust the saline composition and concentration according to the patient’s condition. (I didn’t expect a light diet causes issues too.)

 

Foods that are not salty are not necessarily low in salt. A sweet cake may contain more salt than you think. To determine salt content, we can read the NRV (Nutrient Reference Value) on the packaging bag. (I didn’t know 100% on the NRV label means 100g of such food’s nutrient is sufficient.)

 

She mentioned a group of indigenous people named Yanomami in the Amazon rainforest. When she talked about the marker of a condition called Primary Aldosteronism that is not suitable for these indigenous people. (She even showed me a diagram to explain the mechanism, but the only thing I remember is Yanomami.) Their diet is different from modern people’s diet. We intake much more sodium than potassium, but they, on the contrary, intake more potassium. For they live by hunting and don’t eat industry salt. As a result, although the marker is high, they are healthy as the sodium content in their body is low.

 

The relationship between salt and border is not very direct. Maybe the Yanomami part is a little closer. However, the conversation is fun.