Harris
EN110
Essay #2: Synthesis
For your last formal essay, you compared and contrasted a description that you wrote to
the work of another writer. In this essay, you will critically analyze the representation of
New York City in a film (either Manhattan or Do the Right Thing) through the critical
insights of either George Simmel in his essay “The Metropolis and Modern Life” or
Elijah Anderson in his essay “The Cosmopolitan Canopy.”
2/27: Connect a scene in Manhattan to a key concept introduced in Simmel’s “The
Metropolis and Modern Life.” Describe and analyze what is happening in the scene. Then
explain how it shows or contradicts one of Simmel’s key ideas. (2 page typed or 4 pages
handwritten)
3/6: Connect a scene in Do the Right Thing to a key concept introduced in Anderson’s
“The Cosmopolitan Canopy.” Describe and analyze what is happening in the scene. Then
explain how it shows or contradicts one of Anderson’s key ideas. (2 page typed or 4
pages handwritten)
3/13: First draft of synthesis essay due developing one of the above in-class writing
assignments (incorporating one or two additional scenes).
3/18: Final draft of essay due (4-5 pages typed in standard formatting).
Harris
EN110
Prompts for 2/27 Writing Assignment
1) In “The Metropolis and Modern Life,” Georg Simmel claims that the city
promotes individuality and freedom. At the same time, living in the city makes
one dependent on others who live in the city and on the city itself. Describe a
scene in which Woody Allen represents this individualism in Manhattan and a
scene that shows a character’s dependence on the city or on others (this might be
the same scene).
2) Describe one or two scenes in Manhattan in which the city itself is shown
influencing character reactions or interactions. How do these scenes represent the
city? Do they show the city influencing the “blasé” or rational attitude in people
that Simmel describes? Explain your response.
3) Simmel notes that “people of the city become more specialized and divided” (1718). How would you describe the population of New Yorkers Allen shows us in
Manhattan? Focus on a specific scene to support your point. What aspects of New
York City do you think he leaves out of his film in concentrating on this group?
Guide to Simmel, “The Metropolis and Modern Life”
Below are listed Georg Simmel’s key ideas in “The Metropolis and Modern Life.”
1) The city-dweller is more intellectual and rational than someone in a small
town (11-13). As Simmel writes, “Instead of reacting emotionally, the
metropolitan type reacts primarily in a rational manner . . . . Thus the reaction of a
metropolitan person to these events is moved to a sphere of mental activity which
is least sensitive and which is furthest removed from the depths of the
personality” (12).
2) The city-dweller has a “blasé” attitude (14-15). “This incapacity to react to new
stimulations with the required amount of energy constitutes in fact that blasé
attitude which every child of a large city evinces when compared with the
products of a more peaceful and more stable milieu” (14).
3) The city-dweller is reserved in public (15). “The mental attitude of the people of
the metropolis to one another may be designated formally as reserve” (15).
4) The city-dweller has more freedom than someone in a small town (16). “It is
obviously only the obverse of this freedom that one never feels as lonely and as
deserted as in this metropolitan crush of persons” (16).
5) The city goes beyond its own limits. It becomes global, not just local (17).
“For in the metropolis it is decisive that its inner life is extended in a wave-like
motion over a broader national or international area” (17).
6) At the same time, the people of the city become more specialized and divided
(17-18). “Exactly in the measure of its extension, the city offers to an increasing
degree the conditions for the division of labor” (17).
7) In response to the conformity of the city, the city-dweller becomes more
individualistic than someone who lives in a small town (18-19). “As a result, in
order that this most personal element be saved, extremities and peculiarities and
individualizations must be produced and they must be over-exagerrated merely
to be brought into the awareness even of the individual himself” (19).
Hints for Writing about Film:
First, make sure you are describing the scene correctly. If possible, watch it several times.
Write down key points of dialogue, what you see in the scene (the mise-en-scene) and
how the shots fit together. Note how this scene relates to other scenes in the film. What
patterns does it follow? Where does it differ? Make sure you are writing the characters’
and actors’ names correctly. You can double check this online at IMDB
(http://www.imdb.com).
Prompts for 3/6 Writing Assignment
1) In “The Cosmopolitan Canopy,” Elijah Anderson focuses on specific areas of
Philadelphia—Reading Terminal Market, a jazz club—that he calls
“cosmopolitan canopies,” places “which no one group expressly owns but all
encouraged to share, situated under this kind of protective umbrella” (22). Are the
streets of Bed-Stuy as shown in Do the Right Thing a “cosmopolitan canopy” as
defined by Anderson? Why or why not? Defend your response by referring to a
specific scene or scenes.
2) While it caters to a diverse community, Sal’s pizza place is not a “neutral social
setting” as described by Anderson in “The Cosmopolitan Canopy.” What tensions
in the community make it non-neutral? Why do you think Mookie smashes Sal’s
window in the conclusion?
3) Elijah Anderson begins his essay by complicating Simmel’s ideas of the
metropolis, showing how the city is “more racially, ethnically, and socially
diverse than ever, with profound cleavages dividing one element from another and
one social group from another” (15). Give a specific example from Do the Right
Thing that supports Anderson’s point. How does this make the film different from
a film that focuses on one group of New Yorkers like Manhattan?