GROUP ASSIGNMENT: RISE OF THE CITY
Directions: Explore the assigned resources on your topic and try to imagine life before and after the key moments in history. List at least five (5) adjectives to describe how life must have been within the context of your topic and answer the following questions. Consider your topic with the context of how an individual would respond to these social, cultural, technological, and historical changes. Be prepared to share your information with the class.
Answer the following questions:
Directions: Explore the assigned resources on your topic and try to imagine life before and after the key moments in history. List at least five (5) adjectives to describe how life must have been within the context of your topic and answer the following questions. Consider your topic with the context of how an individual would respond to these social, cultural, technological, and historical changes. Be prepared to share your information with the class.
- Compare and contrast rural and urban life. Discuss the rise of the city that occurred with the influx of immigration, continued industrialization of the United States (especially the North), and the rise of now commonplace features like major department stores and their window displays.
- Watch the following early videos of New York, available via the EDSITEment-reviewedAmerican Memory website, and pay attention to people, traffic, and crowds.
- Lower Broadway, 1903
- Panorama of Flatiron Building, 1903
- Panorama from Times Building, 1905 (notice the people/cars on the street from the 20-story height of the Times Building)
- 104th Street curve, New York, elevated railway, 1899
- Interior, New York Subway, 1905
See also: - Overview of the first skyscraper (Home Insurance Building), from EDSITEment-reviewed PBS “Building Big” series
- New Brooklyn to New York via Brooklyn Bridge, no. 2
Answer the following questions:
- How would you feel if you were an individual navigating these city scenes?
- What elements of each city scene video stand out to you and why?
- Imagine first riding on an elevated railroad through a city or in a city subway? What would this ride feel like if you never had experienced it before?
- How might these changes affect how people responded to the city? To each other? Consider how the layout of the school building or the way you move between classes influences your relationships with other people.