Bloomability

SAT writing practice

2011-12-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

Prompt: Is creativity needed in the world today?

It is the 21^st century, and the world is relatively stable due to the increased standard of living. So now, due to this stability, the masses scream for new, innovative ideas, products, anything. That is to say, creativity is an asset that makes a person or product stand out and survive in the world of competition and create something of value.

To begin with, consider Steve Jobs, the CEO of the renowned company of Apple. Steve Jobs was a person not afraid to take risks and was innovative and creative with his ideas and put those creative thoughts into action, creating the company Apple that produces many revolutionary products that is well-accepted by the masses. Steve Jobs was not the inventor of the computer or laptop or an operative system…but he was creative. He saw where the pre-existing Microsoft Inc. lacked and decided to make it better using his creativity. Steve Jobs has always placed a great importance of creativity, saying that in this world creativity, or the lack thereof, can make you or break you. Therefore, due to Steve Jobs’ philosophy and ideas, Apple is currently dominating the consumer sentiment and is leading the way for other similar innovations to come. Therefore, the example of Steve Jobs shows that perseverance, hard-work, talent, while important, is not enough and that creativity makes the difference.

Moreover, consider the example of Pixar, a computer animation film studio that clearly shows that creativity is an important factor to success in today’s world. Pixar fosters creativity within their company to create a world of imagination, fantasy, and wonder for their audiences. For example, Pixar creates an environment where everyone is free to express their ideas and incorporate all those ideas into creating something of value. The people of Pixar work by the philosophy that a single idea means very little and that it takes thousands of good ideas in order to produce anything of importance. Therefore, everyone is safe to say what they think and there are no barriers between different statuses within the company. As a result of this free and idea-centered environment, Pixar produces a great story that appeals to many and stands at one of the world’s top animation studios, with the recent movie Toy Story 3 becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide. Thus, I believe that it is safe to say that creativity is needed in this world, for it leads to a creation of value.

Thus, the example of Steve Jobs and Pixar substantiate the notion that creativity is much- needed in today’s society. In this world, creativity is the deciding factor to create success as well as a better world for all.

July 14th, 2013...Dear Diary,

2011-11-29T06:02:00.000-08:00

Dear Diary,

I’m in New York, doing some hardcore shopping. If you think the new H&M is insane at Myeong-dong, try New York’s 5^th avenue. It kills. These mind-blowing shopping sprees, Broadway musical watching, clubbing are a more than welcome break after freshman year at college. Don’t get me wrong, college is awesome. But like, you know that annoying feeling when you’re angry at the fact that you have so many things to do, but you know you shouldn’t be and really have no legitimate reason to be but you are anyway so then you feel bad for being angry, which adds to your already high stress level, thereby sending you to that pit of guilt until you can’t decide whether you want to continue writing your paper or throw your laptop at the wall? Hahaha, yeah, quite the drama queen, aren’t I? No, it isn’t that bad. I’m too used to this kind of life. I’ve reached a point where I think challenges are invigorating. And even when life gets tough, I can always paint a picture in the art department. Yale’s art department is the best. Anyway, for now, I’m enjoying my 3 weeks of freedom before I head for an internship in France. No, maybe enjoy isn’t the right word. I’m thoroughly basking in the thrills of the early 20s. My friend’s visiting from Korea. Se Yoon. It’s been too long since we've had a girls’ night out together, and it’s so amazing that we can still talk so freely about everything without any awkwardness. Best friends go a long way. We’ve been saving up all year for these three weeks, and it’s heavenly. I purchased my first Chanel bag, I am just about dying. I also bought tickets for Rent. Se Yoon and I cried while watching it. In middle school, we watched the movie version of Rent like 50 times, memorizing all the lines and songs, having heated discussions about our favorite character, and we've always dreamed of seeing it live on Broadway. Wave of nostalgia. Those were the days. I also remember when we planned to be incarnations of Serena and Blair. It's hilarious. Anyhow, I probably need to get some sleep. It’s three in the morning. I’ve been staying up talking with Se Yoon again. But I have to get up early tomorrow. There’s this big sale up on 5^th avenue where I saw these really cute pair of shoes that I MUST HAVE, and I need to grab them before it’s gone. Oh, and Se Yoon wanted to eye the wedding dress shops, just for the fun of it. I think she wants to get married. I don’t care for marriage at the moment, but before I die, I really, really want to have worn a Mori Lee wedding dress. End of story, it must be that designer. Ah, it feels good to be writing some personal thoughts rather than to-do-lists and professor meeting appointments in my diary. But for now, I must get some sleep.

Back-and-forth Game -Mr. Moon Assignment

2011-11-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

I was crying uncontrollably. I was surrounded by aliens. There were creatures with blue and green eyes, and red and blonde hair, completely different from the brown-eyed and black-haired people I was so used to. They were calling out to me in a strange language that I could not understand and I wanted desperately to go home and back to safety…That was my view of American preschool. As a four-year-old starting preschool in America, I was petrified. Unfortunately, this situation occurred quite often in my lifetime. I moved back and forth between Korea and America, constantly forced to face two completely different environments and adapt accordingly. For me, it was a nightmare. Just as I was feeling like I belonged, our family moved back either to Korea or America. Life has always been like this – back and forth, back and forth, never staying in one place for too long. I longed for a sense of belonging, and I guess that was the game of my life – to live a life in two countries and find somewhere I belong.

I hated my back-and-forth life. It was like a rocking horse, moving from here to there, here to there. I had to go through the same routine every time. I am plunged into a completely new environment in a different country. I try my hardest to fit in. I study twice as hard to receive better grades than my peers and boldly approach strangers to make friends. However, just as I am getting used to life, I move and am faced with another completely different environment in a new country. As hard as I tried, I always felt like an outsider. I felt different from the rest my peers. It was a feeling deep inside that I could not easily explain. I was too Korean to be American and too American to be Korean. I did not know who I was or where I belonged. I resented this life that was making me an outsider and harbored a grudge against my father’s job that caused our family to move from country to country. I moved back and forth into two completely different cultures of America and Korea, starting my life over and over again. It was a tiring and difficult game with many obstacles, but I had to play it nevertheless.

I decided to change my strategy of playing the game. I soon realized that it was futile to lament something that was never going to change just like the steady rocking of the rocking horse is never going to change. Therefore, although it was difficult at times, I tried to look at my life in a more positive light, and suddenly, my life was not so bad anymore. I could see myself beginning to adapt to both worlds at a rapider pace and, little by little, gained confidence in myself. Then, as subtly as a bruise appears, I was a changed person. I became a person that does not give up easily during hardships, a person that fluently speaks both Korean and English, and a person who could understand both Korean and American culture. All of my merits are results of the back-and-forth game I played. I realized that I could belong in both worlds as a Korean in America and an Americanized Korean in Korea. Right now, I am setting my roots in Korea in Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, so I can present myself as a proud Korean when I become someone who will have, not only Korea, but the world as her stage. I now know that playing this difficult game subtly and elegantly shaped me into the character I am today.

I did not choose to play this game of life, but in the end, I found what I wanted. I found that, with my roots in Korean nationality, I could belong anywhere. I now do not think myself as an outsider, but a person who was lucky enough to experience two countries to a great extent. This game was as unchanging and steady as a child’s rocking horse and was subtle as a bruise in shaping who I am. Now, knowing what I know, if I was back at that preschool as a little four-year-old girl, instead of crying uncontrollably, I would probably have a bright sunny smile on my face.

Review of Pranav Mistry's TED video

2011-11-20T06:59:00.001-08:00

Frankly speaking, I’m a technophobe. Machinery, gadgets, digital-anything, i-anything are really not my area of expertise. A girl that’s so bold and zealous at everything becomes so small and tentative when it comes to any techy-device. I know what you’re probably thinking: caveman, out-of-date, incongruous. Yeah, I’m still learning. I guess I haven’t opened my eyes to the prodigious and auspicious aspects of technology yet. However, there was one video that I saw recently that instigated my fascination for technology – a TED video of Pranav Mistry’s “The thrilling potential of the SixthSense technology.”

Basically, what the speaker Pranav Mistry is aiming for is the assimilation of the digital and real world. It was indeed jaw-dropping. Mistry was the kind of person who put his abstract thoughts into tangible actions, which I revere highly. He was skeptical of the status quo of the world and thought in a novel perspective, reaping eccentric and unprecedented ideas and devices. According to his presentation, he asked himself, “Rather than using a keyboard and mouse, why can I not use my computer in the same way that I interact in the physical world?” and he goes on to explain about his exploration of this question and the resulting gesture-interface device made out of his mouse with his own diligent labor. Mistry continued experimenting and making other devices in the same process of questioning “Why not this?” then investing his time to satiate this question, and he made a sticky-note integration system, a pen that can draw in three dimensions, and a cool device where you can find information on an object by putting the object on an interface rather than just typing in a keyword.
Until this point, Mistry put his objective into taking a part of the world into the digital world. But he reversed his thinking and again asked himself, "Why can I not take the approach in a reverse way?" and the resulting SixthSense device is laudable. If you think of it, the digital world is confined into a gadget that fits in our pockets. Minstry's device removed this confine and released the digital world into our real, physical world. To borrow some of his own words explaining the device, "The most interesting thing about this particular technology is that you can carry your digital world with you wherever you go. You can start using any surface, any wall around you, as an interface. The camera is actually tracking all your gestures. Whatever you're doing with your hands, it is understanding that gesture." Now the applications of the resulting SixthSense device is not having to get out your camera in order to take pictures, but just make a gesture of taking a picture with your hands and there you have it. Also, you can make a phonecall using your palm as an interface, you can see reviews of a book just by holding it in your hand, you can extract information about people just by looking at them...the applications are incessant and engenders amazement and wonder.

Now, I guess this novel technology provokes the question, "Is this assimilation necessary?" Many might think that for a technophobe like me, this integration of the digital and physical world will scare me. In a way it does. The side effects of an innovation like this will be huge, far-reaching, and long-lasting, and thus cannot be ignored. Pragmatically speaking, I do not think that this device will ever reach the hands of the public in fear of misuse. Nevertheless, regardless of whether the public can use it or not, the capacity of human imagination and actually converting that imagination into reality is to be extolled. This innovation is amazing and opens countless possibilities. Even for a technophobe, I believe that this invention is worth knowing more about. The reason why I am not good with machines is that I have to learn the language of the digital world to work these things. I have to be familiar with the gadgets, all those buttons, the icons, etc, but if the digital world was removed of its "gadget-confine" I would be able to use it with less hindrance. I won't have to switch back and forth with the two worlds. Humans invented technology to enhance the physical world. But at the present stage, the technology is replacing physical interactions and artifacts with digital ones, such as e-book, MSN, social networks etc. In his innovation, Mistry is striving to make connections between the digital and physical world. It is a step forward.
I saw wonders and perhaps a glimpse of the future in Mistry's TED video. Just browsing through TED videos makes me content to see that there is not a paucity of human imagination, inspiration, and creation in the world today. Mistry clearly showed viewers his intentions of integrating the digital and physical world by presenting his various experiments with everyday objects. At first, it was to satiate his curiosity, but now he has intentions of sharing it with others to make the world a better place - a place "where people don't end up being machines sitting in front of other machines." But until then, I monotonously hit the buttons of my keyboard to write this review...and I probably have to ask someone how to embed a TED video in a blog post!

Reference:
John Miedema, Seamless integration of digital and physical spaces http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/seamless-integration-of-digital-and-physical-spaces-by-john-miedema/
Paul Biba, Marketers begin integrating physical and digital worlds http://blog.joelrubinson.net/2011/07/marketers-begin-integrating-digital-and-physical-worlds/
Pranav Mistry, The thrilling potential of the SixthSense technology http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

Ola Restaurant Review

2011-11-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

It’s just around dinnertime. The sky hints at darkness and the nighttime chill of the lakeside is carried in the wind. The road weaves and turns along the lakeshore, and the car finally takes a turn into a car-filled driveway. The plank card marking the driveway reads “Italian Restaurant Ola!” but doesn’t scream at passersby “Come eat at our restaurant! Come buy our food!” like most other restaurants around the Baekun Lake. In fact, a modest glow is all it takes for cars to fill the parking space in front of the humble Italian restaurant, Ola.

The history of Italian food in Korea is not particularly distinguished. Frankly speaking, I think it’s despicable. Yes, there are a lot of restaurants that offer dishes that are both innovative and delectable within the scope of Asian cooking, but go across a few more seas, and the Korean chefs just don’t seem to get it right. However, in this peaceful lakeside on the small city of Anyang, a pleasant surprise awaits spaghetti lovers who believe that Korean chefs can’t manage Italian or any European cuisine.

There’s a sort of formal ambience to this restaurant. The typical sweater and sneakers seems out of place and semi-formal attire seems most suitable. If you get over the fact that the overall atmosphere is more France than Italy, the décor and service complement each other quite nicely. From the valet parkers outside the restaurant to the penguin-suited waiters, everyone’s very formal about the whole occasion. But the one thing that seems to distract the overall ambience of the restaurant is the view from the tables. The building’s walls are covered with glass to reveal the outside landscape. A lake view would be stunning and add the finishing touches to creating the formal and classy atmosphere of Ola, but all the glass-covered walls reveal are the trees lining the road outside. While it isn’t hideous (actually in the spring the cherry blossoms are quite lovely), a lake view while dining is tempting.

What is more interesting is the food. I admit, Ola is not the kind of restaurant that innovates and experiments with different types of food, but the taste is unparalleled. Like most Korean restaurants, the preliminary course is bread. Not those mass-produced ones they give out at Outback, but real bread. Garlic bread, just out of the oven, crispy, soft, and warm. Maybe a little too big to be the wee little food before the actual meal, but I consume them with no complaint. The appetizer I recommend is the Zucca soup, pumpkin soup served in a pumpkin. Dulcet, mellow, nectarous, sapid would all be words describing this soup. The rich saffron color implies the richness of its taste. A thick soup with a full yet soft taste that spreads into my mouth much to the joy of my taste buds. The sweetness of the soft chunks of pumpkin harmonizes beautifully with the creamy taste of the soup, and the little bowl is scraped clean.

Perhaps the best dish is the C-cucina, a seafood cream spaghetti with pizza bread on top. The waiter cuts the bread open and the inside is revealed. The fresh, various seafood steams inside a soup of creamy whiteness. The cream sauce is the deciding factor of the excellence of the dish. An aroma of sesame seeds being roasted fills the air, and the cream augmented with melted mozzarella slides through my tongue leaving a trail of sleek and clean taste, not too greasy and not too strong. A nice dish to go with the C-cucina is the Crossante, a fusion dish of Korea and Italy. The flavorful tomato sauce has a hint of pepper, creating a spicy taste, which is an unexpectedly delicious mix, in my opinion. On the bottom of the dish, there's a floor of brownly cooked rice made juicy by the spicy tomato sauce. The combination is heavenly, a successful case of fusion.

Ola, with its increased popularity, opened in 5 other places in Korea. I've been to some, such as Ola2 and 3, but I find myself heading toward the original Ola. The other branches may have a better atmosphere, but the food itself is at its best in the original Ola. Ola has its eccentricities such as the fusion Crossante dish, but it mostly has its pleasures. After I ate Ola's spaghetti, it's pain to eat spaghetti at another restaurant.
★★★☆☆

Morning glory, purple, smile

2011-11-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

A morning glory does not surpass a rose in beauty or a rosemary in its fragrance, but it possesses this simple beauty that only few can see. The color is purple, an enigmatic, yet warm color. It grows as its vine wraps around a stick, but if you unwind the vine, the morning glory subtly perseveres and wraps itself back up. The world may be full of vileness and hardships, but it constantly looks up at the sun without ever losing its smile.

The Body - Memoir of childhood

2011-11-08T06:48:00.000-08:00

Stephen King's The Body begins with a narrative, sometime in the future, that describes how the most important things are the hardest things to say. It’s painfully true. Most of the time, words are just not enough to convey the intensity and value of the emotions felt. As this story is, in essence, a memoir of one of the characters in the story, this introduction is very appropriate. So it’s basically saying, “Okay, listen. I’m going to describe memories that are precious to me beyond compare. But know that the words and sentences you read here aren’t everything, merely a small part of what I felt.” And with that said, 'Gordie', or a fictional representation of Stephen King, begins his story.
I would like to begin my little memory. I thought about my own childhood when I read this, and what kind of friends I had. There were four of us - me, Na-young, my brother, and Byung-woo. We weren't the same age or gender, me and Na-young being girls and three years older than my brother and Byung-woo, but we managed to grow close just the same. We were pairs of siblings, my brother and I, and Na-young and Byung-Woo. And we had some adventures of our own. We spent our days racing each other on sidewalks, finding a beehive and coming up with plans to throw rocks at it without dying, endeavoring to stay quiet in our rooms so as to not provoke our parents to saying that its time to leave, and when we ran out of things to do there was always the hide-and-go-seek which was usable anytime and anywhere. However, our ultimate dream was to find a clubhouse all to ourselves, kind of like the treehouse in The Body. We always dreamed about what our clubhouse would look like. A place where no parents could find us, a hide-out sort of a place to share secrets and hang out, somewhere where there were lots of trees and that looked both cozy and magical. But, where can you find a place like that in Korea, so our clubhouse prospered in our imagination. We would go to some apartment-property playground and pretend that a random slide was our clubhouse. We would go collect flowers, clovers, grass to match the place to the clubhouse of our imagination until the sun went down and our parents told us that it was time to go.
It's amazing how much you learn from these childhood friends. Na-young, my brother, and Byung-woo, they opened my eyes to a whole new world, and I hope I opened theirs. I found out that I was brave (perhaps stupid), daring to do things that they would be too timid or scared to do, such as climbing up the swings and attempting to walk on the bar or eating an unknown berry from a tree. Yes, as we grew older, our roles in each others lives became smaller and smaller and we each went on our separate ways. Na-young and Byung-woo became just a memory and my brother became more of just a related being rather than a friend. But, memory is a word that retains great power. It is capable of making one smile, chuckle, laugh, cry, ache, but to all these there's an element of pain, knowing that it's just a memory. In my mind, I still see us as little ten-year-olds and seven-year-olds searching for that clubhouse of our dreams and someday, I hope we find it.

Encountering Death - a Reflection on Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring

2011-11-04T17:39:00.001-07:00

I was in the fifth grade when I saw a living thing die before my eyes. Although I did not exactly cause the death, it was a hard blow just the same.

“Joyce! Come out quick! There’s a sparrow outside…and…and…I think it’s dying,” I was in the study, tackling some of my assignments, when my brother suddenly came into the house. He was in second grade, and his wide bunny eyes seemed distraught and were shaking, somehow. I stood up as fast as I could, sending a few papers flying down my desk, and I ran out of the door, holding my brother’s hand.

Looking back, I don’t know why I stood up and sped out of the house so fast, or why I held my brother’s hand. But I think it was my brother’s look that made me feel a sense of urgency and seriousness. He looked so insecure, so distressed, so pained. Anyway, my brother led me to the corner of the parking lot, and there was the bird, and I could see why my brother looked so distraught.

Its head was set out at a weird angle and there was dark red blood coming out of his neck. The brown feathers had lost their sheen and were caked, in some parts, with blood. Its beak was opening and closing, opening and closing, as if it were trying to catch the last gulps of air of the world before it left. Its small beady eyes were crazed, flailing here and there and filled with pain.

“Come on, Joyce! Save it! Do something!” My brother was crying now, uncontrollably, and pleading me to do something, anything, to help the bird.

I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there watching the bird, feeling helpless. Then, I reached out to the bird, which was probably a stupid thing to do but was the only thing I could think of. I lay the dying little bird in my cupped hands, and tried to go to the neighbor, Michael’s house. But just as I put him in my hands, the bird’s eyes stopped flailing and looked straight at me. I never knew that a bird could look at something with such solemnity. But it looked at me, holding me in its cold gaze, and then, its body went limp, and its beak stopped moving, and the light gave out of his eyes. And it died, just like that, right in my hands.

I could hear my brother screaming somewhere next to me, I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks, and a cold shiver went through me. That gaze. That ice cold gaze. I was the last thing the bird saw before it died, and it made me guilty like crazy.

It was supposed to be looking at the green trees, the royal blue sky, something other than me. It was supposed to be in its nest, in nature, other than my dirty hands. I felt like I committed a crime. And I never ever forgot that gaze the bird gave me.

So, I know how that little monk felt when he saw those fish and snake die. It was probably devastating for him and he must have felt so much guilt and shame. Encountering a death is hard, and it leaves a permanent mark in your life, even if you didn’t directly cause it. I remember that bird to this day and how it looked at me. I still feel regret and remorse and keep on thinking that if I hadn’t reached out and just brought the neighbor, Michael, the animal guy, to the bird, it might have lived to see a new day. I could hear the bitterness, shame, sadness, pain, and utter guilt I felt that day and continue to feel whenever I think of the bird in the little monk’s crying. I know he learned his lesson and that he will never harm another creature on purpose again.

Metafiction - The girl with gray eyes

2011-11-04T07:11:00.000-07:00

“Did you write in that notepad I gave you, Roger?”

“Yeah, yeah. Why do you want me to do this anyway?”

“Just do it, will you. It won’t kill you to write a little bit of something every day. Just pour out your emotions, Roger. Really, it’s not that hard.”

People ask me why a guy like me started to write. It was because of her. She told me to write. Every day. She said to relax, to feel, to love. She had gray eyes. Not the stormy kind, but the kind that is transparent and lucid, you know? Kind of like the color of the creek at dawn, only brighter. It was those eyes, I think, that dazzled me into agreeing. Dang.That girl.

“What are you running from?”

We were outside by the creek, and I was writing. She was looking over my shoulder, and a cascade of auburn hair shrouded my view. A fragrance of wildflowers filled in the air…or was it the smell of her hair?

“Hey, you told me to write, not to explain.”

She put on a face, making the bridge of her nose crinkle. Then she smiled. A smile that could make your heart shatter into a thousand pieces.

“At least you’re writing something. I like your descriptions.”

Her hair moved from my face and she walked in the direction of the oak tree. Her light, airy figure looked so small and weak in the presence of the great oak. My cheeks were tingling from her hair’s touch and a tint of wildflower lingered in the air.

Its speed grew faster and faster. I tumbled, rolled, and fell flat on my stomach, but I got up and ran faster. The whole place was closing in on me or was it just my imagination?

She was giggling, her gray eyes sparkling all over the place.

“Are you going through some kind of trauma, Roger?”

I started to give her a little punch in the arm, but stopped myself. Her arms were so skinny, so white, so fragile…

“That’s it. I’m never going to show my writing to you again.”

Her eyes widened and she stopped giggling. She reached out and touched my arm, so different from hers – muscular, tanned, and strong.

“I’m sorry.”

My heart skipped a beat. I looked away from her.

It grabbed my heart and tried to pull it apart. The harder I tried to get free, the harder it grabbed me.

We were sitting on top of our favorite tree. She looked at what I wrote, and then looked at me.

“I hope your heart’s okay, Roger.”

Dang it, those eyes again. It was clutching me in its gray gaze. No. I can’t let them mesmerize me… No. This can’t happen. I won’t…but it was such a pretty gray. She was leaning in, closer, and closer. Her eyes were beginning to close. A curtain of auburn lashes was slowly coming down to cover silver gray diamonds. I could see a speck of dust caught in her lashes, the exact contours of that dimple in her chin, all the strands of auburn hair on her pale and smooth forehead, and oh my god, why the hell were my eyes closing as well.

I pulled back.

“No. You’re just a girl who has a weird disease! I know all about it! That’s why your eyes are gray!”

She opened her eyes, and the gray diamonds were drowned in water.

I pushed the thing away…but my heart ripped out with it.

She was moving to Ohio, where there was a specialist doctor to help her get the right treatment for the disease. She knew that she was moving, and was trying to get me to write, so that she could take it with her as a memory of me when she moved.

"I wanted a piece of your soul, Roger. Your writing. But I saw the soul that was within you, and it's not something I want to take with me."

My heart hurt. It hurt real bad.

“Yikes!” I shouted. Then it was quiet. Then I realized I had been dreaming. But the pain was real. It was still lingering. I have often encountered this kind of dream since I last spring, when cancer cells were first discovered in my heart.

I've decided to start writing this again. I have been having nightmares about her since she left last spring. It’s already been a year. What if she never forgives me? What if she died during the surgery? Maybe, if I start writing in her notepad again, I might be able to find peace.

Since then, this room in the hospital has been my home and I was hiding from the world outside. From deep inside, I was deeply missing the world outside instead of the world inside the hospital.

I was still hiding from the truth. I was justifying my actions, telling myself that she was only a girl with a disease. Just a girl, just a plain, typical girl. But…there was nothing plain about that smell of wildflower in her hair. There was nothing typical about that clear, gray color.

I decided to sneak out of the hospital. I slowly crept down the stairs and out of the hospital. The outside air was not as cold as I expected it to be. In fact, I noticed that there was no air at all. I was suffocating. The medicine that was injected into me by my various tubes and chords was absent, and my body was feeling it. I could feel a bubbly foam coming out of my gaping mouth searching for air. I was pounding on my heart crazily and then, I died. With no one to help me, with no one that loves me, with no one that cares for me, with no one standing by me.

I wanted be able to smell that tint of wildflower again. I wanted to see that color of clear and untainted gray again. I loved her. I loved her. I loved her! I accepted my emotions, and I finally accepted how important that girl was to me. But…it was too late. She left…not with my soul, but with a scar I have given her. And it just about kills me.

The thing I was running away from was the love I felt for her.

It was overwhelming me, and I pushed it away.

The resulting pain in my heart was a cancer, multiplying uncontrollably.

And now I died because she is gone.

Sometimes, when spring comes, I go back to that creek again, the place where I used to meet her. I sit in our favorite tree, and I write for her. The wind brings memories as well as a hint of wildflower smell and the image of that pure, unclouded gray.

She closed the bestselling novel of Roger Contento, one of the most popular writers in this day.
The back cover of the book read:
The bestselling author Roger Contento's memoir featuring his very first piece of writing and his remorseful emotions about his first love. An evocative story within a story to please readers of all ages.
"A nice chunk of Contento's soul that anyone would want to have" The New York Times
"Contento evokes emotions like no other" USA Today
"A glowing novel" The Washington Post Book World
She finished reading the book. She smiled ...a smile that could make your heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
And her eyes were gray.

Book vs. Film – Portrayal of Themes

2011-11-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

I. Introduction

The Shawshank Redemption was actually the first movie in which I felt that the film adaptation was as good if not better than the novel itself. The film in general was faithful to the original novella, following the general plot and incorporating significant amounts of the diction and narratives from the novella. However, being that novellas and films are two totally different modes of expression, there obviously exist discrepancies between the two. In this essay, I would like to explore the portrayal of important scenes in the movie and how it differed from the book and its role in delivering the theme of the Shawshank Redemption.

II. Brooks and Jake - institutionalism

The movie reorganized the characters to make the story more coherent. In the book, it was not Brooks, mentioned without much gravity as a former librarian, but Sherwood Bolton who owned a pigeon (a crow in the movie) named Jake in his cell. This little scene does not take a large part of the story, but is rather mentioned quite briefly in the beginning of the novel as a kind of digression from the story of Andy’s trial and does not hold a prominent place in the story. The scene starts out with a quote also mentioned in the movie in a similar way, “they give you life, and that’s what they take – all of it that counts, anyway” and describes the process of Sherwood Bolton setting Jake free the day before Sherwood Bolton was to be freed from Shawshank and finding Jake dead a week later in the corner of the exercise yard where Sherwood used to hang out. So, in the book, it is a little scene that delivers the theme of being institutionalized by the death of Jake the bird after Sherwood had been paroled.

The movie further developed this particular scene into a separate little story taking a large part of the movie. It is the story of the librarian Brooks, an insignificant character in the book animated by the movie into one of the main characters. In the movie, it is not the bird that dies, but Brooks. Brooks is shown as a respected friend of Red's and Andy's, portrayed as an old man with a generous heart who has been in the Shank for a long time. This portrayal of Brooks in the movie sets up a very likable character and the viewers warm up to Brooks. However, Brooks is finally paroled after at least 50 years of prison life and he is unable to take it. At first, he tries to kill one of the inmates trying to commit a crime so he won’t have to get out of the Shank, and he eventually commits suicide, unable to adapt to the society. He says in a letter to Andy and Red, “I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense any more. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.” And Jake is the being that is insignificant in the movie. He shows up a few times in the movie and is set free, but the viewers are not informed of his fate. Thus, the theme of institutionalism was delivered more bluntly and straightforwardly in the movie because the movie developed Brooks as a likable character throughout, then after Brooks’ parole, effectively depicted the irony of the whole prison “giving you life and taking it away” in Brooks’ letter to Andy and Red, and showed the scene of Brooks actually committing suicide.

III. Music Scene - freedom

The music scene, the scene where Andy decides to play “Canzonetta sull’aria” (“Letter Duet”) from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro on the loudspeakers for everyone in the prison to hear, is completely absent from the book. However, this is a central scene in the movie that exemplifies the auditory technique, usable in only films and not novellas, applied to give deeper meaning into a scenario. It is well established in both the book and the movie that Andy did not want to lose the sense of freedom. In the book, Andy is described as holding himself differently than the other inmates, with a sense of dignity and the making of the rock-sculptures were a pastime of the free life and he continued practicing it behind bars. The movie incorporated this and took the theme of freedom a step further by adding a different subject matter – music. "It was as if a beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest moments everyman at Shawshank felt free.” Music is a widely accepted symbol of therapy of the troubles of life. As such, music symbolizes freedom and hope for Andy and he wishes to share the freedom with his fellow inmates, which is why he put the music on for everyone to hear on the loudspeakers. Therefore, I believed that the movie’s auditory techniques gave a more strong impression of the theme of freedom than the subtlety of the book.

IV. The Reunion of Andy and Red - hope

As the subtitle “Hope Springs Eternal” implies, the central theme in the novella is the theme of hope. Both the book and movie puts emphasis on this theme nearing the end. In the book, Red finds the place in Buxton where he finds a letter from Andy. It reads, “hope is a good thing, red. Maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” (also mentioned in the movie) and Red ends his narrative saying, “I hope Andy is down there. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.” The book ends there, and leaving the readers to use their imagination to decide the two friends’ fate. However, the movie gives a solid ending by inserting a scene where Red and Andy meet, smiling, on the beach of the Pacific. There are no words between them, they just look at one another, smile from ear to ear, and they run toward each other as the credits begin to show.

I believe that this final scene in the movie gives weight to the actual fruit of hope – the reunion, and thus gives the movie a happy ending and leaves the viewers satisfied. However, in the book, the act of Red hoping retains great significance in itself. The last sentences “I hope, I hope, I hope…” leaves a trailing note and leaves readers to mull over the idea of hope and its value. So if the movie summed the story up with the insertion of the reward of hope, the book had a more attenuated ending that posed meaningful questions.

V. Conclusion

There are many more scenes with significance, but I wanted to focus on the scenes that portray the main themes of institutionalism, freedom, and hope. In general, the movie delivered the themes in a straightforward manner, while the book delivered the themes subtly, requiring the readers to read between the lines and to formulate their own thoughts.

How I Died - In-Class Chainwriting

2011-10-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

I was running, running, and running. I could feel the wind whistling in my ears, the sharp pangs of pain running through my legs like electric shocks, and the stray branches and tall weeds around me whipping at my face. My heart felt like it was going to explode and I was gasping desperately for breath. And yet I kept running without ever looking back.
I felt something chasing me and its speed grew faster and faster. I tumbled, rolled, and fell flat on my stomach, but I got up and ran faster. The whole place was closing in on me or was it just my imagination? Now I could feel the thing right next to me, but I didn't dare turn to look at it and just kept running. I was panting like a dog, but nothing seemed to stop my legs. Ouch! It grabbed my right arm and tried to pull it apart. The harder I tried to get free, the harder it grabbed me.
"Yikes!" I shouted. Then it was quiet. Then I realized I had been dreaming. But the pain was real; it was still lingering on my right arm. I have often encountered this kind of dream since last winter, when cancer cells were first discovered in my limb. Since then, this room in the hospital has been my home and my laptop my best friend. From deep inside, I was deeply missing the world outside instead of the world inside the computer.
I decided to sneak out of the hospital. I felt like all of the people were waiting for me to die. I was afraid I would disappear someday, having no memories or people to adore. I pulled out all the strings and cords that were attached to my body. I silently went through the half-closed door, and succeeded in reaching the stairs without being spotted by the nurses.
I slowly crept down the stairs and out of the hospital. The outside air was not as cold as I expected it to be. In fact, I noticed that there was no air at all. I was suffocating. The medicine that was injected into me by my various tubes and chords was absent, and my body was feeling it. I could feel a bubbly foam coming out of my gaping mouth searching for air. I was pounding on my heart and then, I died. With no one to help me, with no one that loves me, with no one that cares for me, with no one standing by me.

My Opinions on the Tiger Mother

2011-10-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

I recently saw my mother reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chau. She told me, "I try to be your friend...and you know how much I try to understand you. I let you make your own decisions and don't intervene much in you life, do I? And I do believe that I brought you up just fine. This woman, Amy Chau, is interesting. Google her in your spare time, will you? And tell me what you think of her education philosophy." So, I googled her up and found an article, "Why et Mothers are Superior" in the Wall Street Journal. Amy Chau provides readers with extreme views on child education in her article. In general, I do not agree that the extreme Asian way of raising children is superior in all cases.

Amy Chau believes that the parents should have complete control of a child’s life. This, I believe, is actually detrimental to children in the long run. If parents continue to override children’s preferences, children will become overly dependent on their parents and will not be able to make decisions for themselves. For example, my middle school was a dormitory school so students were separated from their parents. Some of my peers’ mothers previously always supervised them and made them study continuously. This was effective in the short-run because my peers received good grades and got accepted into the school. However, in the dormitory school, the mothers who observed every action of their children were not there anymore. As a result, my classmates with parents who controlled their lives reveled in the freedom of choice and chose to play computer games, and sleep in class - indulging themselves to the luxuries they were deprived of. This led to mediocre grades. The shocked mothers made the children drop out of the dormitory school so they could supervise their children again. If this cycle continues, children will not be able to choose the right path when they eventually go to college and then out into society...and parents will be not be able to do anything about it.

So, in my opinion, controlling children is actually harmful in the long run. If children are to survive without the help of their parents, they should be able to make their own decisions and discover the joy of learning. Of course, I am not saying that parents should make kids do whatever they want. Parents should just be their guides and not their dictators. Parents should not be leading the way of their children's paths to the future, but rather be walking a few steps behind them, always there to give their children a gentle nudge here and there when they stray too far from the pathway. So, thanks, Mom for being my friend and not my dictator...and I must say, you did bring your daughter up just fine.:)

In Search of a Selfless Good Deed

2011-09-24T18:21:00.001-07:00

Is it possible for mankind to be completely selfless? I watched an episode of the American sitcom ‘Friends’ where the characters made a bet about the existence of a selfless good deed. After watching this, I mulled over this question. Although ‘Friends’ portrayed this topic in a light and humorous way, I believe that it is something worth thinking seriously about. A cynic may say that a selfless good deed does not exist. I thought so myself at first. However, after thinking about it for a long time, I came to the conclusion that such thing does exist, although most people do not put it into action.

As soon as I thought about selflessness, the first person that came to my mind was my mother. Whatever she does, she does it not for herself, but me. She always tells me that her sole purpose of living is to make me happy, and I believe that. However, after inquiring into the roots of my mom’s actions, I realized that sacrificing everything for me is not completely selfless. She receives some kind of personal satisfaction by giving everything to me because she loves me and because I am her daughter. Then, what is a selfless good deed? Is there such thing?

Perhaps the best of a selfless good deed is found in random acts of kindness, when no one but the person who did it knows that they gave without any sense or need of receiving something back. I once saw a movie called ‘Pay It Forward’ in religion class when I was in 7^th grade. It was about a boy who believed in goodness of human nature and wanted to make the world into a better place. As a result, he created an idea of ‘paying it forward’. He helped three random people at a huge scale like giving a homeless person a place to stay in his house or giving poor people a large amount of money, etc. In return, he asks the people he helped to help three people. Don’t pay him back, but pay it forward. I believe that this act is selfless. Although the boy asks the people to do something, it is not paying him back, so he does not benefit from it at all. Well, clearly speaking, the boy in the movie created this idea for an assignment. However, if a person in real life just helped three random people without asking for anything back, I believe that it could be selfless. I love this concept of ‘paying it forward’ because it implies that a person will help somebody just because!

So there is something that can be called a selfless good deed, but I do not think that anyone would do it at a large scale, which is somewhat depressing. Thinking of an unselfish good deed took a ridiculous amount of time, and it saddens me to think of human beings as selfish creatures. Many of my friends are saying that something selfless cannot exist! So maybe, just maybe, I should take the first small steps to unselfishness. Not at a huge scale like ‘paying it forward’, but little deeds. I could hold a door open for a stranger, or donate a few hundred wons for some poor people in the streets and subway stations. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Books as Building Blocks of Creativity

2011-09-23T07:39:00.001-07:00

The idea of children being sacred in terms of their pure innocence and wild imagination, and adults being deprived of these qualities is widely accepted by many. In fact, the theme of children losing their innocence and creativity as they grow up appears continuously in works such as Jim Barry’s Peter Pan, P. L. Travers’s Mary Poppins, and Jay D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Ken Robinson, in his speech, reiterates this commonly known process of audacious, imaginative children becoming closed, conventional adults and pinpoints the current education system as the culprit of this process. In my opinion, I believe that the most costless yet effective way to prevent this process that is such a commonplace nowadays is to establish an education system that fosters and encourages reading and discussion.

Ken Robinson mostly focuses on the responsibilities of the educators in fostering and maintaining creativity in children, sharply criticizing people who do not realize the richness of human capacity and suppress children from releasing their creative self, such as the numerous teachers that diagnose ADHD for their fidgety students. Yes, of course, the educators play a very significant role in determining whether the children grow up to be dull and banal or creative and bright. However, I believe that sustaining creativity is not a one-way process, and students, too, must be able to accept and fully make use of the environments created by the educators, such is the case with the reading-then-discussion education model that I am proposing.

First of all, just reading itself is a fundamental building block of maintaining and fostering creativity. Fiction books give a chance for students to use their imagination by being in the characters’ shoes, creating characters in their heads, and reading the emotions of the characters. They inspire children to keep on dreaming. Nonfiction books provide actual facts that children can apply in different situations. The combination of the two types of books help children have “original ideas that have value,” the definition of creativity according to Ken Robinson. Therefore, educators must arouse a love for learning in children. They can do so by scheduling weekly trips to the library in which librarians can introduce new books worth reading and a list of recommended books. Kindergartens can have a story time at the end of the day, where children can all sit around in a circle listening to the voice of the teacher reading to them from inspiring books. Classes can also undergo an activity called “the Battle of the Books,” an entertaining activity in which students are given a list of books to read and the team who answers the most questions about the books wins. There are countless ways of encouraging the love of reading, without investing much money or effort.

Then, after creating a much-reading environment, discussion of the reading material should be encouraged. Creativity requires the exercise of the mind, and discussions requiring critical thinking will provide the prefect workout of the mind, training it to be ready to produce sparks of brilliant ideas. This is the part when the individuals’ role kicks in. Individuals must be willing to share their opinions without the fear of being wrong. They should actively participate in discussions and not be shy to share their own feelings, thoughts, and opinions about the material they have read with others. These repeated discussions will get students in the habit of thinking in an out-of-the-box way and presenting in front of a group of people. The supervisor of the discussion does not have to do anything. In fact, intervention is not recommended. Let the students freely express themselves. Just observe the discussion and admire the “richness of human capacity” as shown in the ideas exchanging among numerous students.

The problem of the current system is that children are finding less and less time to read as they grow older. When I was young, I used to get my nose stuck in a book and read through the whole night. However, now, as a high-school student, I am pressured by the due-dates of various assignments, the dates of various quizzes and tests, and do not find the time to read anything. This is a problem that needs to be fixed. Of course, one may argue that the mere reading and discussion of books will not bring any significant change in the creativity of the future generations. However, I stand firm in my belief that books inspire individuals to let their imaginations soar and discussions aid in expression of the imagination.

Richness of Human Capacity

2011-09-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

The idea of children being sacred in terms of their pure innocence and wild imagination and adults being deprived of these qualities is widely accepted among people. In fact, the theme of children losing their innocence and creativity as they grow up appears continuously in works such as Jim Barry’s Peter Pan, P. L. Travers’s Mary Poppins, and Jay D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Ken Robinson, in his speech reiterates this commonly known process of audacious and imaginative children becoming closed and conventional adults and pinpoints the current education system as the culprit…without suggesting a specific solution.

Ken Robinson focuses on the current situation of the education system and how it suppresses children’s creativity, and although I agree with a large portion of what he says, just stating what is does not do anything to change the world. He briefly mentions near the end of the speech that humans should “reconstitute their conception of the richness of human capacity,” but this seems too vague to address the whole of the education system. From my experience, the most fundamental building blocks of creativity and intelligence is reading. Yes, as un-brilliant as it seems, I really believe that an education system that encourages reading fosters and maintains creativity.

I remember in kindergarten when there was story time and the teacher went over to the rocking chair and we all sat around in a circle on an alphabet-inscribed rug. The teacher would open up a different picture book everyday and read to us, showing us the pictures after reading each page. I used to love these story times, and my passion for reading sprouted from an early age. I lived in my dreams, being a princess in a magical world I created. I continued to read as I got older, and I went on adventures with a friend named Tom, I traveled around the world in 80 days, I became a dragon-rider and ruled the sky, and I fought the Dark Lord with a flick of my wand. As a result, I was inspired to keep on dreaming and take risks like my favorite characters in the books. Schools could schedule a trip to the school library once a week, a time in which the librarians introduce new books worth reading or give out lists of recommended books. Classes could hold a contest like “the Battle of the Books” where students are given a list of books to read and the team who answers the most questions about the books wins. There are numerous possibilities.

Ken Robinson defined creativity as the process of having an original idea that has value. This requires out-of-the-box thinking and with the current education providing the knowledge and with books providing inspiration, we just might be able to see the richness of human capacity in its full bloom.

2011-09-01T09:21:00.001-07:00

Joyce Lee as a writer

2011-09-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

I love to write. Fitting together all the right words and sentences to create my own writing piece is a process I enjoy. As a writer, I am a perfectionist, and I take a long time to formulate a piece that I am satisfied with. I constantly revise my work, deleting countless words and reorganizing paragraphs, so I do not meet my full potential when I write in a limited time period or when I handwrite on paper. This is why I do not like SAT or TOEFL writing for I come out sounding too dry and mechanical when writing those kinds of standardized essays. Of course, there is an occasional epiphany, and sentences to my liking flow out like liquid, but that is a rare case.

I have many voices when it comes to writing - whether it is an effusion of my innermost thoughts with absolutely no consideration of grammar or organization as in my diary entry, or an in-depth analysis accommodated with all the appropriate footnotes, references and the likes. Actually, prior to coming to KMLA, I usually wrote a lot of emotional works full of imagery and vivid description. In middle school, I wrote semi-formal papers and academic writings for assignments, but it was only when I attended KMLA that I learned the skills of writing a formal paper, thanks to my European History and English Literature course. In Ms. Choi's class, my peers and I solidified the skill of writing very conventional and structured paragraphs and five-paragraph-essays. However, this semester, I wish to break from this fixed structure and write in a more free and creative style.

I have always considered my descriptive essays my best pieces because I was told by quite a few people that I have a flair for creating clear images in my writing. However, looking back at my old essays, I feel I have gone overboard with all the descriptions, similes, and metaphors and I want to be descriptive and inspiring without the over usage of flashy and descriptive words. My research papers are satisfactory, considering that I am new to this kind of writing. I have learned to come up with my own analysis of historical events or works of literature and organize it into a formal paper, but I have much to improve on. The flow of my paper seems rather choppy and my analysis is not as deep or as innovative as I want it to be. At the end my life in KMLA, I hope to write a more cohesive paper and form a more creative and deeper analysis covering many aspects of the subject. Fortunately, in all my works, I do not have many problems with grammar due to my long stay in the United States and Microsoft Word’s proofreading. Ultimately, I want to become a writer who is able to evoke all kinds of emotions inside readers. I want to inspire them with my words.

I love to write and I hope that love keeps going. I look forward to participating in the writing workshop activities so I can hear others' ideas and look into other styles of writing while sharing my own.

This is a picture of my diary - an example of a jumble of emotions transformed into an unorganized jumble of words.

This is my descriptive writing piece about my backyard that was chosen for my school magazine in 6^th grade. I recently revised it:

In the hectic and busy life of people of the present society, there is little room for nature to find its place. People leave the little gifts of nature unnoticed, blinded by their egocentricity and pursuit of their own profit. However, as I look out the window and see the majestic trees and mountains, I can’t help feeling pity for those who do not fully understand the wonders of nature. It is times like these when I remember my backyard of my childhood home and bask in the reminiscence of my carefree years as a child.

I burst out the door. My beautiful backyard is calling me. I sprint to my backyard and feel the warm sunshine on my face, the trees rustling playfully, and the sound of the wind harmonizing gracefully with the bird’s sweet song. The warm summer breeze brings the lovely fragrance of the wildflowers. I can see the first crocuses and buttercups of spring peeping out from the earth and raising their lovely heads towards the sun. I smile blissfully thinking that there is no happier moment than when witnessing the first flowers of early spring. Now I notice another flower, a tiny one no larger than my pinkie. I kneel down to examine the intricate patterns of purple and white and revel in the power of Mother Nature. Nature has the strength to topple that great tree that is rotting by that bench and has the delicacy to imprint this complex but beautiful pattern on a flower almost too tiny to see. Everywhere I look I see the marvelous creations of nature. I take a deep breath and joy flushes my cheeks. I run up to the creek and sit on the fallen tree that makes a bridge over the playfully gurgling stream. I throw my shoes and socks on the bank and dunk my bare feet in the rushing water. The cool water trickles down my toes and I laugh. I see the shining pebbles and the little fish through the clear, clear water. I get off of my log and skip a few pebbles, counting how many times it dances along the creek. After a while, I’m splashing my way to the bank and put my shoes on. Then, I go to my favorite tree and climb up to the top. A squirrel is scampering up the tree next to mine and a smile touches the corners of my lips as he chatters away in his place on the tree. I swing on the branch and hang upside down from it, pretending to be as light and agile as a squirrel. Growing tired, I slide down from the tree. Humming to myself, I pick some flowers for my mother’s vase. I also pick a few mulberries and pop them into my mouth, savoring the sweet pang of flavor seeping into my taste buds. With my belly full of mulberries, I lie in the sweet green grass and bask in the sunlight. I close my eyes and doze peacefully until I hear a distant voice calling my name,

“Joyce! Time for supper!”

I open my eyes and shout and answer, “Coming, Mom!”

I run up to my tree and promise to be back the next day. I gather my flowers and skip all the way home, laughing a pure note of happiness.

Nowadays, people, even children, don’t seem to feel the happiness I felt when I interacted with nature. People are oblivious to each tiny flower with a hidden mysterious pattern, to each little ant that perseveres in carrying food to his clan, to each piece of life that has great meaning if one looks into them. People are busy living their own lives and do not pay attention to the lessons that nature can teach them. I learned them as a child and continue to search for the lessons that nature can give me. Now I retain a little hope in my heart that others will take a look around them and realize that they are a part of a much greater and meaningful world of Mother Nature.

This is a paper I wrote for Mr. Ganse in the first semester:

Urbanization of Europe in the 19^th Century

Eun Ji Lee

I. Introduction

People today live in a highly urbanized era as can be seen from the large portion of the population residing in cities, and thus take large cities for granted. However, looking back, the history of cities is fairly short and the history of the city’s cultural, social, and economic dominance is even shorter. Only 200 years ago, the society was highly rural and the magnificent cities of the past were merely islands among an overwhelmingly rural sea. It was only in the 19th century when the most rapid urbanization process took place and cities prospered and were elevated to a higher status. This paper will look into this specific time period and examine the urbanization that took place in 19^th century Europe.

II. Definition

II.1. Terminology

Urbanization, in anthropology, refers to the development of towns and cities, and more specifically to a growth in the proportion of a country's population living in urban centers (1). A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth (2).

III. Method of Study

III.1. Objective of Study

The objectives of this paper are to examine the main issues of urban growth during the 19^th century and to examine the growth and stagnation of cities during the 19^th century using case studies.

III.2. Approach

First, the paper will give an overview of the general process of urbanization and illustrate the characteristics of the typical city during the 19^th century as generalized in most overview textbooks of European history. However, as there existed differentiations based on the initial function, geography, political situation, or country of each city, the paper will explore the situations of specific cities by dividing cities into three different types based on the differing development of cities in relation to the urbanization process. The three groupings are a) already existing cities with profound development b) cities that emerged or boomtowns c) cities that had little to no growth. For city selection, the traditional capitals of London, Paris, and Vienna were selected for the first category; Manchester was selected as a representative case for the various boomtowns in England and another boomtown from another region (Germany) Essen was selected for the second category; and the southern Italian cities were chosen for the third category. After doing case studies of these selected cities under each group, the writer will attempt to find significance and meaning in the differentiations and come to a conclusion.

IV. General Urban Trend in Europe

IV.1 Urbanization of Europe

The most obvious and most prominent element of 19^th century European cities is the massive urban growth. The 19^th century is marked by a period of industrialization and modernization, which led to the rise of the number, importance, and growth of cities. The process of the Industrial Revolution, a combination of population and industrial production increase and mechanization of productive systems, began in England in the mid-eighteenth century and spread at varying speeds to other European states. This process became a basis for change in the European urban system (3). Although cities have existed for thousands of years, in most cases, they have maintained rather stable population growth. In the 17^th and 18^th century, urbanization was beginning to make its way into Europe, but the urbanization was selective and the best data suggest little or no overall increase in the urban percentage. However, in the periods approximately between 1800 and 1900, increases in the population size of individual cities amounting to 400 or 500 percent or even more were not at all uncommon. (4). Likewise, people living in cities began to take up a larger and larger proportion of the total population of Europe. From 1800 until 1870, the proportion of the urban population compared to the total number of inhabitants of the continent almost doubled, when referring to centers with over 10,000 inhabitants and rose by little less than 60 percent when referring to the centers with over 5,000 as shown in the figure below (5). This shows that it was not just that cities grew, but the whole European society itself was becoming urbanized (ix, Lees).

(6)

Note: the thick curve refers to the whole of Europe. N. (North), S. (South), C. (Center), E. (East).

IV.2. Reasons for Urbanization

For the most part, in the 19^th century, urbanization was fed by rural migrants. This chapter deals with the push factors that led rural inhabitants out of the rural areas and the pull factors that attracted rural inhabitants into the cities.

IV.2.1. Push Factors

In rural areas it is difficult to improve one's standard of living beyond basic sustenance. Farm living is dependent on unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times of drought, flood or pestilence, survival becomes problematic (7). In the case of England, the enclosure movement was a major push factor that disintegrated the rural society and forced rural inhabitants into poverty. Therefore, many turned to cities in search of a new source of income.

IV.2.2. Pull Factors

A major stimulus to urban migration was the prospect of personal economic advancement. Men and women migrated to cities because it was in cities that they could find the best-paid employment. The introduction of larger and more complex industrial machinery gradually resulted in the construction of factories in cities. This meant that most of the economic production was being done in cities and thus many jobs were created. This attracted migrants in search of work.

IV.3. Result of Urbanization

IV.3.1 Problems Arising in Cities

The rapid expansion of population and national economic expansion during the 19^th century did not translate into healthful living conditions in the bulging cities of Europe (8). Cities were unable to support the massive inflow of people into the city, and the existing infrastructure was proving to be unsuitable. The cities were overcrowding and there was lack of adequate housing, sanitation, and recreational facilities (9). In the exploding cities, housing was in short supply so it was not uncommon for two or more families to live together in a single room. These congested housing was unsanitary and led to the emergence of filthy slums. These unsanitary conditions elicited epidemics, such as cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis. Yet there were no natural scenery or recreation facilities to offset the unpleasant despite these scenes of urban squalor. Therefore, ordinary people living in the cities, including factory workers and peasants, experienced squalid living conditions.

IV.3.2. Reform of Cities

The problems arising in cities created demand for improvement and reform among city workers. Working-class community leaders and middle-class reformers pressured governments to implement changes. (10) The reforms implemented included improved water supplies, expanded sewage systems, introduction of building and housing codes to ensure a minimal level of housing safety, improvements to safer sanitation to eliminate epidemics, building parks and recreational facilities, mass transportation to facilitate the movement of workers to and from factories, and gas and electric lighting along main streets. (11) Some cities underwent total reform in urban structure, a movement following the model set by Haussmann’s renovation of Paris between 1852 and 1870.

V. A brief look into the leading cities in European history

Virtually all of the cities in the 19th century underwent urbanization and followed the aforementioned trend. However, this trend was not the same in every aspect for each city and showed differentiations. The general trend was similar, but took different forms in different types of cities.

Looking at the figures of the leading cities of 1500, 1800, and 1900, in 1500, it can be seen that the number and size of cities are increasing well throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries. However, other aspects can be noticed. In 1500, the leading cities are mainly concentrated in the Mediterranean area with Milan, Venice, and Naples’ population consisting of over 100,000 inhabitants. Then, moving on to the beginning of the 19^th century, some cities in Western Europe are beginning to appear among the leading cities and cities in the Mediterranean, with the exception of Naples, lost their place among the leading cities. And some cities, usually traditional capitals, remain in the figure of leading cities throughout.

With these observations, the writer categorized cities in to three types, a) traditional cities that continued to develop, b) boomtowns, and c) cities with little to no development.

VI. Different Trends within Europe

VI.1. Traditional cities that continued to develop

VI.1.1. London

Widely known as humanity’s first ‘world city’, London, founded by Romans in 43 AD, is among the oldest of Europe's capital cities. London maintained its status of Great Britain’s largest city and most important trading center for the most part of the country’s history, and from the late 17^th century onwards, London upheld a prominent place among the cities in all of Europe. Since 1650, London was Europe's largest urban community and by 1700 London was Europe’s greatest international seaport and commercial center (15). London was also an administrative and political center, being the capital of Great Britain, the British Empire, and the British Commonwealth of Nations (16). Thus, London was historically a market place for trade and wealth generation as well as a political entity.

With its foundation as a city set from earlier periods of history, London continued its growth well into the 19^th century. Population growth in the first half of the 19th century was spectacular, probably due to a combination of migration and a high birth rate, although scholars are unable to agree on the matter. Between 1800 and 1810, in the County of London the population rose by 23%; between 1840 and 1850, it rose by 21% and at no time did the rate fall below 17% (17). In the second half of the century, growth was less dramatic, but nonetheless above the national average. Population in 1810 was 1,000,000; in 1851: 2,500,000; and in 1901, 4,500,000 (18). In short, London's population increase was remarkable and unprecedented. London grew faster than any other city in Europe. This massive population growth gave way to various urban problems, previously mentioned in IV.3.1. Thus, London underwent reform with the Metropolitan Board of Works overseeing infrastructure expansion until the board was replaced in 1899 by the London County Council, London’s first-elected city-wide administration (19).

To further elaborate on London’s prominence in the 19^th century, it was the 19^th century that London received its title as first ‘world city’. According to notes on London in the 19^th century by professor Robert Brown at University of North Carolina, “It had a large population distributed over a very large geographical area, this dispersion of the population to suburbs made possible by the mechanization of transportation. The railroads were built beginning in the 1830s, the Underground was begun in 1865 and finished by the end of the 19^th century, and there were horse-drawn trams by the 1880s. And as a world city houses people from various areas, London attracted the dispossessed and ambitious from the British Isles and the poor and the politically oppressed from southern and eastern Europe. London also had international connections with the world by its expansive trade. In 1880, the Port of London received 8,000,000 tons of goods.” (20). London’s great warehouses, which could store more than 200,000 tons of goods, were picked out by Baedeker as one of the sights of the city: “Nothing will convey to the stranger a better idea of the vast activity and stupendous wealth of London than a visit to the warehouses, filled to overflowing with interminable stores of every kind of foreign and colonial product” (21).

VI.1.2. Paris

The earliest archaeological signs of permanent settlements in the Paris area date from around 4200 BC. (22) During the Middle Ages, Paris grew to be the largest city in France, decorated with majestic palaces, affluent abbeys and cathedrals with excellent artistic engravings. Then, within a couple of centuries, the 13^th century to be exact, Paris, along with Naples, became the largest city in Europe having 200,000 inhabitants. The stagnation suffered by many large towns during the 14^th century does not seem to have inhibited the development of Paris, obviously depending on its growing importance as a capital city (23). Paris emerged as a flourishing hub of learning and arts in Western Europe, attracting renowned artists, philosophers, and writers from all over the world, and more or less retaining its prominence throughout the history of Europe (24).

However, the greatest development in Paris’s history began with the Industrial Revolution (25). Paris (within the 1785 walls) in 1800 had a population of 547,756 and in 1851, 1,170,000. 50% of the city's population in the years 1815-1851 was not native to the city, and during the years of 1821-1851, 78.6% of Parisian growth accounted for by in-migration (26). The creation of a network of railways brought an unprecedented flow of migrants to the capital from the 1840s. (27). However, although there was a major influx of people coming into Paris, the street network in the center was still medieval and of a very poor standard. Much of the building in the center was undeniably slummy; the high narrow houses were badly maintained and dreadfully overcrowded. Almost all areas were densely built. Water was of poor quality and also very short in supply. The most important source was the Seine, into which sewage also ran. And all these conditions were aggravated by the constantly rising pressure of a growing population. Therefore, the discontented Parisians were ripe for an uprising. (28) With the revolution of 1848, Napoleon III came into power, and the city’s largest transformation and population growth came with the 1852 Second Empire under Napoleon III (29).

To deal with these problems of Paris, the government of Napoleon III launched a policy of public works headed by Baron Haussmann. Haussmann decided the creation of a public service of water distribution. He also decided to add a sewer network in Asnières which grew from 150 to 500 km, and which purpose was to carry the used waters in the Seine. Then he worked on the development of green spaces that reached 1800 hectares with, at the east part of Paris, the Bois de Vincennes and at the west part of the city, the Bois de Boulogne, plus the squares and gardens scattered throughout Paris (30). In essence, Haussmann leveled entire districts of Paris' narrow, winding medieval streets to create the network of wide avenues and neo-classical façades that still make up much of modern Paris. The result for this transformation was twofold, as not only did the creation of wide boulevards beautify and sanitize the capital, it also facilitated the effectiveness of troops and artillery against any further uprisings and barricades for which Paris was so famous. (31)

Paris, in this second half of the 19^th century, experienced moments of glory. The renovation undertaken provided work to the construction workers, the population nearly doubled between 1851 and 1871, the fastest historical growth Paris underwent, the middle class grew, the bank and credits were prosperous, the industrial production expanded through the emergence of department stores and universal exhibitions, etc. (32)

VI.1.3. Vienna

Vienna was founded by the Celts. It became a Roman military station in the 1^st century BC. Vienna was an important trade center during the Crusades. (33) It was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire from 1558 to 1806, the Austrian Empire from 1806 to 1867, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. As far back as the twelfth century, Vienna was the seat of the Babenberg dynasty. Towards the end of the thirteenth century the ruling power switched to the Habsburgs, and the town soon became the leading center of the Habsburg lands. From the fifteenth century onwards Vienna was almost uninterruptedly the seat of the German Emperors and eventually grew to become the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural center for arts, science, music and fine cuisine (34).

In 1806, during the Napoleonic wars, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European politics, including hosting the 1814 Congress of Vienna. However, during the Napoleonic wars, there was little progress in Vienna’s urbanization. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Vienna remained the capital of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (35)

In the first half of the 19^th century, Vienna went through industrialization, with Vienna being attached to the railway network in 1837 (36). The latter half of the 19th century brought the beginning of the most splendid period in the history of Vienna (the period since 1867 when Vienna was the principal capital of Austria-Hungary) and the city underwent expansion and reconstruction. During the latter of the 19^th century, the population of Vienna increased dramatically, but the population had been growing apace even before the middle of the century. The population from 271,000 in 1800 had risen to 551,300 by 1850 (37), and the population pressure on the fortified heart of the city was thus increasing. So in 1850 the city launched its first expansion drive by incorporating the suburban zone within the Linienwall and organizing it into city districts (37). In 1858, the city’s fortifications were demolished and developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstrasse, a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and a major prestige project. (Wikipedia, Vienna) Even today, Vienna is associated with the splendid boulevard of Ringstrasse. So, due to the industrialization and migration from other parts of the Empire, the population of Vienna increased sharply during its time as the capital of Austria-Hunagry, reaching an all-time high population of 2,031,000, and becoming one of the six largest cities in the world at the beginning of the 20^th century (1910). (38)

VI.1.4. Interpretation

Already established traditional capitals were undoubtedly a source of further urbanization as it already established the basic fundamentals of a city from the past. Therefore, the traditional capitals resisted decline and experienced profound development during the 19^th century.

Because these cities were national capitals and political centers, large firms, banks, entrepreneurs, purveyors of high and popular culture were attracted to the big capital cities, so the elites of wealth and culture resided in the capitals. This contributed to the splendor and further growth of the traditional capitals. Furthermore, because political unrest also resided in the capitals, national governments paid a good deal more attention to the capital and implemented reforms, as can be easily seen with the case of Paris and Vienna.

Industry in these cities also developed to an extent, though it tended not to be as dominant or visible as in the industrial cities that well be mentioned later in the paper. Heavy industry tended to be located on the outskirts or in satellite towns.

VI.2.Boomtowns

VI.2.1. Manchester (39)

The city of Manchester was of Roman origins. By the middle ages, Manchester had begun to develop a cotton and textile industry, its commerce during this time based largely on local climate, topography, and surrounding soil. By 1292, a trade had been established in linen and wool laying the groundwork for the later development of the city as a “cottonopolis” and the center of the cotton industry in England. While Manchester was a continued place of trade and commerce and saw population growth, it remained a small center until the late 18^th century.

The first full-scale cotton mill was opened in 1776 by a Mr. N. Hall on the banks of the river Tame and soon after many similar mills began opening in the areas north and East of the city. These mills largely benefited from local sheep stock, access to natural waterpower, and large coal reserves. The invention of the flying shuttle, the spinning Jenny, and the spinning mule, added to the growth of industry in the area. The machine based manufacture of cotton and the emergence of these cotton mills led to a demand for space for factories, warehouses, and mills. As a result of this demand, fringe valleys and existing residential areas of the city were transformed into commercial quarters.

In 1830, Manchester saw the opening of the Manchester - Liverpool railway which was the first passenger rail service in the world and preceded the introduction of the railway in London by 6 years. By the mid 19^th century, Manchester had become a central terminal for rail lines crossing between most of the manufacturing towns and cities of the North of England. The city became connected up with other centers of industry and population and Manchester served as a major regional and national center of transportation. Manchester emerged at this time as the heart of an industrial region and became known as "the first industrial city."

Manchester was known as the 'shock city' of the 1840's. During this time it grew at a very fast pace, rapidly putting up a new landscape of mills, warehouses, and commercial offices. During the mid- nineteenth century, while cotton remained the major economic good, Manchester's manufacturing base began to diversify and other markets were stimulated including metals, engineering, transport, and chemicals. The urban core became specialized and by the 1880's spinning and weaving moved from the city of Manchester to its surrounding towns. Physically the towns grew closer together as well. As industry grew, the space between Manchester and the surrounding towns shrank. The conurbation emerged as a result of this with Manchester at the center. This resulted in an expansion of the city's financial and commercial services and the area became the largest manufacturing center in the world

VI.2.2. Essen (40)

Essen, a prominent city in the Ruhr region of Germany, was one of the Hanseatic cities in the fourteenth and fifteenth century. It was one of the commercial cities that developed along the Hellweg in the Middle Ages. It had made no further progress than remaining almost medieval until 1800, when it had population of only 4,000.
            From the beginning of the nineteenth century, basis for industrialization began to be set up in Essen. Prussia annexed Essen in 1802 and organized the small existent mining industry more effectively than before. Franz Dinnendahl devised the first conveyor steam engine in 1809, which played a very significant role in stimulating deep-cast coal mining in the near future.
           Coking coal of high economic value was abundant in the Essen basin. The Haniel family, who had been coal traders, started to participate in mining industry with financial support from the wealth they acquired from coal transportation business along the Ruhr and the Rhine by barge. The first shaft Zeche Kronprinz (Coalmine Crown Prince) was sunk through the thick cover of rocks near Essen to obtain coal hidden below it.
           In 1811, Friedrich Krupp founded Germany's first cast-steel factory in Essen and laid the cornerstone for what was to be the largest enterprise in Europe for a couple of decades. Then, in 1826, Alfred Krupp inherited the cast steel works from his father, who found out how to produce a cast steel, but who had financial failure. Alfred Krupp invented the seamless wheel flange for the railways in 1852, which aided the firm in growing into the giant company in the nineteenth century. Moving parts of machines, axles of railway locomotives, heavy guns and armor-plate were other major products of the company.
          In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Essen expanded even to absorb villages and farmsteads in the surrounding countries into its suburbs. It was a center of steelmaking and steel-using, rather than that of iron-smelting. Iron ore supply on its own stayed insignificant relative to ore supplies from the Siegerland and England during the nineteenth century. Numerous steel works, machine shops, and factory buildings were established.
          Essen's population reached 100,000 in 1896. Essen was at the center of the railway network, which endowed it with access to various Westphalian iron and coal fields. The large iron and coal fields of the Essen basin contributed to Essen's great prosperity. Krupp's company was also vital to the city's development because it expended much in building and supporting different local facilities. Woolen goods and cigars were also produced, and dyeing works and breweries also existed.

VI.2.3. Interpretation

The rise of these boomtowns was greatly affected by the Industrial Revolution and the industrialization process. Manchester’s and Essen’s natural resource base, large reserves of coal, made the rapid industrialization growth possible. The explosive rise of these industrial settlements coalesced into great conurbations, Lancashire in the case of Manchester and the Ruhr region in Essen. The introduction of the cotton industry in Manchester and the Krupp steel in Essen was the main source of wealth and growth. Furthermore, technological advancements led to the set-up of modern cotton mills in Manchester and steel factories in Essen, which further facilitated production and the creation of jobs, attracting migrants into the cities.

VI.3.Cities with little to no development

VI.3.1. Naples

Once a magnificent city, being southern Italy’s important economic and cultural center, Naples underwent decline in the mid-nineteenth century and was not able to recover since. As the Kingdom of Sicily gave way and merged in with the Italian Kingdom, the city of Naples was deprived of its power as a capital of a kingdom, and experienced little growth. Although, there were railroads and factories that were set up in Naples in the 19^th century, it amounted to little in terms of Naples’s growth as a whole. For example, the first steel mill opened at the end of the 19^th century, but the industry did not add significantly to national production until the 1970s (41). The population of the city of Naples numbered 427,000 in 1800, 449,000 in 1850 - an insignificant increase if compared to Milan, Turin, Paris (42). The population of the countryside rose at a faster rate than that of the city of Naples, an odd phenomenon in a time when much of Europe experienced the Industrial Revolution and urbanization (43).

VI.3.2. Venice

Venice was founded in the fifth century and became one of the richest and most powerful cities in medieval Europe. Its wealth was based on trade with the Orient and benefited from the city's geopolitical location as Venice's fleets brought silks, spices, exotic and luxury goods imported from the Near and Far East to Italy and the rest of Europe (44).
Venice maintained this important role as the mediator between the East and West for several centuries. However, Venice gradually began its decline from the end of the fifteenth century. The new trading importance of the Atlantic, the result of Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India, the gradual loss of Venice's possessions and the economic and financial rise of other European powers led to the decline of the previous maritime supremacy and trading monopoly of Venice and the Venetian Republic (45).

Then, the Venetian Republic came to an end in 1797, when Napoleon’s French army forced the city to agree to a new, pro-French, ‘democratic’ government (46). Further decline set in, although 1846 saw Venice linked to the mainland for the first time, by a railway, and the number of tourists began to exceed the local population (47). In the 1860s Venice became part of the new Kingdom of Italy, and can be described only as a live museum of its past glory.

VI.3.3. Interpretation

Not every city gained in the general trend of urbanization. The southern Italian cities of Naples and Venice did not have a basis in industry because their main source of wealth in the past was trade and commerce, which could be a factor in their little growth in the 19^th century. In Naples’ case, it lost its function as a capital of the Kingdom of two Sicilies when the kingdom came to an end as a result of Italian unification. Thus, it can be said that the political instability coming from the Napoleonic wars and later Italian unification resulted in the loss of its function as a capital and hindered rapid growth of Naples. Venice started its gradual decline in the 15^th century and never recovered its past glory of the medieval times due to the shift of power from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and experienced similar consequences of the Napoleonic Wars and the Italian unification as Naples. However, both cities did go through the process of urbanization and grew somewhat, although not as prominently as most other cities of the 19^th century.

VII. Conclusion

The 19^th century in a nutshell can be characterized by rapid urbanization unheard of in any other time periods of history. The 19^th century is the beginning of the city’s development and rise as a dominating center of human inhabitance. However, although the words ‘development’ and ‘rise’ have a positive connotation, a deeper look in the city life of the 19^th century reveals the darker shades of urbanization, such as the various urban problems incorporated into the urban landscape. The city inhabitants reacted and responded to the problems and implemented the much-needed reforms and renovations to the city, improving city life to some extent.

However, it is interesting to note that this general trend of urbanization took different forms in different types of cities. Traditional capitals’ role as a political and administrative center greatly affected its profound development during the 19^th century. Furthermore, the explosive growth of cities that emerged as new industrial cities was closely tied to industrialization. That is to say, introduction to a new industry combined with advanced technology contributed greatly to the growth of the industrial boomtowns of the era. Lastly, the cities that had little growth in the midst of this urban trend were cities of Southern Italy, largely due to the shift of power, lack of industry, and political and social instability.

Although virtually all cities went through urbanization during the19th century, each city had its own story, all of which adds up in conveying the whole of the wave that spread in 19^th century Europe.

Endnotes

(1) Encyclopedia69.com

(2) Wikipedia article: ‘Boomtowns’

(3) Benevolo, 1993 pg. 160

(4) Lees, 1973 pg. vii

(5) Urbanisation 1700-1870, Volckart pg. 9

(6) ibid. Figure 3 pg. 9

(7) Wikipedia article: ‘Urbanization’

(8) Urban History

(9) Perry, 1987 pg. 111

(10) Context: European History

(11) ibid.

(12) Clark, 2009 pg. 38

(13) ibid. pg. 130

(14) ibid. pg. 231

(15) The City of European History: London in the Nineteenth Century

(16) ibid.

(17) ibid.

(18) ibid.

(19) Wikipedia Article: ‘London’

(20) The City of European History: London in the Nineteenth Century

(21) Briggs, 1993 pg. 318

(22) Wikipedia article: ‘Paris’

(23) Hall, 1993 pg. 55

(24) Paris in France

(25) Wikipedia article: ‘Paris’

(26) The City of European History: Paris in the Nineteenth Century

(27) Wikipedia article: ‘Paris’

(28) ibid.

(29) ibid.

(30) Paris, the city of Haussmann’s

(31) Wikipedia article: ‘Paris’

(32) Paris, the city of Haussmann’s

(33) Encyclopedia Britannica Article: ‘Vienna’

(34) Wikipedia article: ‘Vienna’

(35) ibid.

(36) ibid.

(37) ibid.

(38) The “Ringstrasse” Period – the History of Vienna

(39) This chapter is largely based upon ‘The History of Manchester’

(40) This chapter is largely based upon ‘The Rise of the Ruhr Area, Germany’s Industrial Heartland, in the 19^th Century’ by Roh, Yong Ho

(41) Encyclopedia Britannica Article: ‘Naples (Italy) – the Economy’

(42) ‘The Kingdom of Two Sicilies 1815-1848’ Posted on World History at KMLA

(43) ibid.

(44) The Republic of Venice – from Splendor to Decline

(45) ibid.

(46) The History of Venice, Italy

(47) ibid.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

English Britannica 11^th edition, 1911 Article: ‘London’

English Britannica 11^th edition, 1911 Article: ‘Paris’

English Britannica 11^th edition, 1911 Article: ‘Vienna’

English Britannica 11^th edition, 1911 Article: ‘Manchester’

English Britannica 11^th edition, 1911 Article: ‘Naples’

English Britannica 11^th edition, 1911 Article: ‘Venice’

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<http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/Paris_Nineteenth%20Century.htm>

16. Paris, the city of Haussmann’s <http://www.europatreffen2011.fr/en/community/paris-blog/33-le-paris-dhaussmann>

17. The “Ringstrasse” Period – the History of Vienna

<http://www.wien.gv.at/english/history/overview/ringstrasse.html>

18. ‘The History of Manchester’

<http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/manchester/history.html>

19. ‘The Rise of the Ruhr Area, Germany’s Industrial Heartland, in the 19^th Century’ by Roh, Yong Ho Posted on World History at KMLA <http://www.zum.de/whkmla/sp/0708/yongho/yongho2.html>

20. Wikipedia Article: ‘London’

21. Paris, the city of Haussmann’s

22. Encyclopedia Britannica Article: ‘Vienna’

23. Wikipedia article: ‘Vienna’

24. Encyclopedia Britannica Article: ‘Naples (Italy) – the Economy’

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<http://www.museu.gulbenkian.pt/exposicoes/gaudi/4_i.asp>

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28. Hall, Thomas Planning Europe’s Capital Cities Routledge, 1993

29. The History of Venice, Italy

<http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/italyandthecitystates/a/venice.htm>

Note: although number 29 is from about.com, an amateur source, the article I looked into was by Robert Wilde who is said to have a BA in History and an MA in the interdisciplinary Medieval Studies from Sheffield University