Five Points: An Intertextual Analysis

Most big colleges have their own version of Five Points; UGA has Clayton Street, UF has Midtown, and UNC has Franklin Street. Here in Columbia, we have Five Points, a cultural center located at the triple intersection of Harden Street, Devine Street, and Santee Avenue. The area that actually constitutes “Five Points” extends several blocks in every direction and is just a short walk from the University of South Carolina. As such, Five Points is closely tied with the University and its students as a place to shop, eat, and drink. While it is a relatively upscale restaurant and shopping district during the day, hundreds of students flock to Five Points at night to drink, dance, and party. As such, Five Points itself constitutes a large portion of “university culture” here at the University
A local business owner, Terri Murphy, 51, has owned her own barber shop in Five Points for over a decade. According to her, college students make up over half of her clientele, and she loves to chat as she cuts their hair to “pick up what the students are talking about these days”. Since I needed both a haircut and relevant interview, Terri (as she insists to be called) was the perfect person for me to talk to. When I asked about her perception of the difference between Five Points during the day and night she laughed. Without even a break in the haircut she responded: “It’s definitely a case of business in the light, party in the night.” “So sorta like a mullet?” I asked, hoping she would appreciate my bad joke considering her profession. “Like a mullet,” she agreed, still chuckling about her own rhyme. During the day, you can expect to see both college students and business professionals grabbing lunch at one of the many restaurants. Both sorority girls and moms flick through clothes at one of the many boutique clothiers – though admittedly most stores cater to either one demographic or the