Urban Studies 252 – Urban Environment – Wakefield – Fall 2013 – Midterm

Directions: Answer 4 of the following 5 questions in the space provided below. Short Essay. Email your responses to me by Friday November 1.

1. What is “Mannahatta”? What does the word itself mean? Why does that meaning seem confusing to us today?
2. Explain the Anthropocene. What does the word itself mean? When and why did the Anthropocene begin? What characterizes the Anthropocene?
4. Who were the “witches” persecuted and executed during the Great Witch Hunts? Why do you think they were burned?
5. Explain, to the best of your ability, the following excerpt from Stephen Collis’s “Every day brings some new alarm”:

“It’s as though these two moments – of despair and hope, of impending doom and instant mind- and soul-numbing gratification – were artfully planned for us, carefully coordinated or scripted, like a film taking us through emotional highs, lows, and highs again as it progresses through its three acts, our hearts in the director’s hands throughout.”
(You can read the rest of the piece here: https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/105/every-day-brings-some-new-alarm.html)