Class 9.1

Paragraph 1 (draft):

Immediately, my eyes catch onto the lone shopping cart. It’s the only shopping cart in the entire parking lot. There aren’t any cars crowding around the shopping cart and there aren’t any individuals walking around either. The place is entirely empty, except for the single shopping cart.  It’s extremely foggy; I can’t see past the fog and it only makes me wonder what else is around. I can only assume it’s cold as well, because the fog is so strong it must mean it might’ve rained or it will rain. There are bright lights, which are clearly street lights to show some sort of light within the picture. There are multiple streetlights, maybe around ten, and there are some that are rather close to the shopping cart and some that seem about half a mile away from the main object of the picture.

Paragraph 2 (revision):

            Given that I now know where the photograph is taken, it makes me curious as to why there is nothing else around, people or cars or even a wondering animal, considering it’s at an outlet center. Outlets are usually packed with people, even if the weather is glum. The entire picture is depressing to see because there’s only one shopping cart surrounded by streetlights. The lights remind me of spotlights, large and bright, like on a stage with singers and actors. But the imagery of a stage gives off a delighted feel because most actors and singers love doing the things they do; they bring joy to other people with forms of entertainment. This lone shopping cart, gray and motionless, depicts how loneliness can be so dull and gloomy. It’s showing that even if the light is so close, it’s always so hard to get to. I see that the shopping cart is facing away from the bright, LED fluorescent beams. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the light when one doesn’t want to see it. The weather plays a large part within the image. Assuming that it’s a brisk winter day or maybe the beginning of spring, the shopping cart must be chilly and damp to touch due to the coming perspiration. It is so entirely foggy that seeing past the dense murkiness is almost impossible, except for the lights. They are burning bright. The lights are the one positive structure in the image, almost like they embody hope – it’s not always going to be dark and cold.

Paragraph 3 (reflection):

Describing the picture wasn’t hard for me, it’s the ‘in depth’ part that always seems to get me. There’s always so many interpretations and you want to think that you made this great discovery, but it barely scratches the surface. There’s so much more going on and the more you look, the more you want to read into it. I would say the revision was challenging, given that it’s always hard to understand the deeper meaning within pictures and literary texts but it’s also fun to see how far one’s mind can go. I chose to revise my description by portraying the hidden isolation within the image. It felt clear to me that the shopping cart was alone, and the photographer wanted us to see how lonely it was and how cold it must’ve felt. I felt like I could relate to it, the shopping cart, because I remember times where I felt cold and alone, and the feeling was horrendous. But just as the light depict on the picture, there’s a brighter side to everything.

Before: An eerie foggy parking lot, with a grey shopping cart being the subject of the photograph. The shopping cart defies two of society’s norms of parking between the white lines of the parking lot and returning your shopping cart to the coral. In the distance lamps light up small patches of the sky only to be muffled by the dense fog, except for one rebellious lamp, which refused to light up, ironically drawing the most attention to itself. In the foreground you can really see the lack of uniformity within the asphalt, due to the discoloration and cracks.

Revision: An eerie foggy parking lot, with a grey shopping cart being the subject of the photograph. The lack of color and mixing of many shades of black and white adds to the feeling of eeriness and chaos erupting from pollution. The shopping cart defies two of society’s norms of parking between the white lines of the parking lot and returning your shopping cart to the coral, which furthers the idea of chaos. In the distance lamps light up small patches of the sky only to be muffled by the dense fog, except for one rebellious lamp, which refused to light up, ironically drawing the most attention to itself. The lamp accomplished the exact opposite of what it intended, which can be considered chaotic. In the foreground you can really see the lack of uniformity within the asphalt, due to the discoloration and cracks. Chaos can also be consider to be a lack of uniformity.

Broken Street Lamp DRAFT

No people – except photographer

No cars

Fog – cool air

Early morning hours

Store closed or open 

Broken street light

Cool breeze

Buzzing noise from working street lamps

No food left, no humans left to shop, end of life?

But who is taking the pic, who is turning on the lights

Apocalypse, end of humanity

Broken Street Lamp REVISION

In the wee hours of the morning, before crowds of panicked Brooklyn shoppers arrive, a young supermarket employee snaps a quick picture on his phone of a lonely abandoned shopping cart in the parking lot.  As a amateur photographer, he thinks it’s an artsy picture that he can cleverly caption for his Instagram account with joking hashtag of #COVID19 or #Apocalypse. He is acutely aware he’s alone and actually inhales the dense March fog.  He’s not scared at this moment that he’s inhaling a havoc-wreaking virus. Within one hour he’ll put on a cheap mask and have hundreds of fellow New Yorkers breathing on him as he bags their quarantine groceries. But for now, he’s relaxed, at peace and calm.  His attention turns towards the upwards buzzing of the halogen street lamps. He looks up to the lamps and notices one is broken. He thinks to himself that won’t be fixed anytime soon. Usually he has to report an outage like this to his manager. In that instant, he is snatched out of his calmed state and back to reality.  This scared young employee goes down a deeper darker hole and thinks what if this street lamp never gets fixed, What if in two weeks time no maintenance crew is present to fix it because we are on full lockdown. What if no one ever returns? Will all the streetlights go dark one morning? Is this really the #Apocalypse???

Broken Street Lamp REFLECTION

This was a little difficult because I took this pic and went towards a creative writing piece.  Not sure if that was the intent of the exercise. Even knowing the title of the picture, it was hard for me in these uncertain times to not relate this picture to our current health pandemic we are facing.  I was happy how this turned out though I’m not sure I hit the mark in terms of the assignment. Very hard to concentrate these days on tasks…

In her article: “Petro-masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire” Cara Daggett claims that: “Taking petro-masculinity seriously means paying attention to the thwarted desires of privileged patriarchies as they lose their fossil fantasies” (44).

Daggett gives us her self-coined term “petro-masculinity” which rises from the convergence of threatened hypermasculinity, socio-economic roots of white West patriarchy, and the desire for authoritarianism combined with fossil fuel systems. The author presents to us detailed “psycho-political catalysts”(42) which trigger the actions of individuals fitting this description, trying to defend their “endangered status quo” solidly situated in “petrocultures” created by “Anglo-European fossil-burning men”(34). According to her arguments we shouldn’t take it lightly, because endangered “fossil fantasies” may lead to authoritarianism and “reconceptualized” mysogyny (43). However, if we remember that her article was a response to 2016 election, her claim with “thwarted desires” and “fossil fantasies” being “lost” may sound a little confusing. After all she calls Trump Administration and the Republican Party actions “A nascent fossil fascism”(27) and gives us examples of their substantial actions, which are securing fossil fuel systems’ well-being. In that light Daggett’s stating that these people are “losing their fossil fantasies” may contradict her claim of taking petro-masculinity seriously.

Whew! I really enjoy these course readings because they give me the opportunity to look at something I study as a geology student but from a completely different perspective. It is worth saying again– completely different perspective! And the phrase ‘fossil-soaked lifestyles’ is so good. 

From our weekly reading, I chose to dig into the quote from page 32 of “Petro-masculinity” by Cara Dagget. Daggett writes, and I agree that for a long time, American culture has revolved around whiteness and masculinity. From there, she digs into how fossil fuels and car culture are part of this structure. She continues with the claim: “For many, extracting and burning fuel was a practice of white masculinity, and American sovereignty, such that the explosive power of combustion could be crudely equated with virility.” Her citations around this quote are from a book on how American oil companies operated in foreign nations, so I thought we could come up with some arguments to support or contradict the quote. 

To build additional support into the piece, Daggett could cite reviews of relevant studies of ad practices of car companies for the previous century. Advertisements for cars and “fossil-soaked lifestyles are going to give solid support of incorporation of fossil fuels and white masculinity of zeitgeists past. Daggett could also post a fun anecdote about combustion and virility. Something like:

 A quick google search of “Combustion + Virility” will send you to a link to the next book on your summer reading list, Combustion by Denis Agnew. How does it link these two unique ideas? Just read the synopsis: “Former Smoke jumper Autumn MacAllister returns to Montana after tragedy almost takes her life. She doesn’t expect the chubby insecure boy she once knew to have turned into a virile man with a mind-blowing smile.” Former Smoke jumper Autumn MacAllister returns to Montana after tragedy almost takes her life. She doesn’t expect the chubby insecure boy she once knew to have turned into a virile man with a mind-blowing smile.” Virile combustion… 

 How to contradict the idea of linking whiteness and petroleum and co. together? You only need to provide a few contradicting images. I can think of a few: Black migration to work for car manufacturers in northern cities within the US; studies of national petroleum companies in non-European nations like Venezuela, Mexico, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, and Nigeria. Undeniable examples of the power of petroleum in the global south, for the benefit of nations in the global south. 

Daggett writes many strong claims and paints with a broad brush. The benefits of which are that you can find many examples to support your claims, but contradicting evidence can be found just as swiftly.    

Cara Dagget wrote in her article “Petro-masculinity” about fossil fuel. One of her many claims is “Fossil fuels built the modern world. There remains an appreciation for fossil fuels – or, at least, for the high energy consumption they provided – as a catalyst of mass liberal democracy” (29-30). This shows us how she believes that the use of fossil fuels are taking us towards a positive direction. We know this is her claim because she does not use examples or supporting evidence, rather it’s an introductory statement. She supports this claim when she says, “After all, while industrialization wreaks planetary destruction, its spread was coterminous with humanist victories like the abolition of slavery, increased literacy rates, gender equality and poverty reduction” (30). She provides examples of how fossil fuel usage sparked positive changes. This is an example of supporting evidence. Dagget however contradicts herself when she says, “However, in addition to the ecological harms caused by oil and coal, fossil fuels have also done serious political harm” (30). This claims shows a negative effect of fossil fuel usage and it harms the support for her initial claim. 

Daggets Claim

“ In turn, any threat to energy sup- ply appears simultaneously as a threat to the American dream and, in turn, the dominant position of the US in the world.

In passage 32 Dagget brings us (the reader) back in time to the post Great Depression era . “The states” or United States government feared Communism and fascism would effect the American Public. So the state came up with a plan, by capitalizing  on the 1970 oil crisis the state helped to secure an artificial oil scarcity that ensured profits for oil companies. On the demand side, the state helped to cultivate oil desires, making the American public as crack is to a crackhead, “Oil craving Addicts”. Which living a life without, doesn’t  support the popular ideal for living the “American Dream”. Any threat to the energy supply is a threat to this “American dream” because without one, the idea by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, would cease to exist. An American Motto, which morale into the hearts of millions of immigrants to come seek and improve living standards.