Incognita Assignment Topography And Identity

Entry 1
In this first portfolio entry I will be using the critical skill Play: Creative Spinning Together of Ideas (using different ideas to analyze one concept or theme) to explore themes and texts that relate and connect to the course. I will be demonstrating this critical skill through the themes Topography and Identity which are exemplified in the texts “Incognita Inc.”, by Ellison and “Excerpts from The Lure of the Local” by Lippard. The purpose of the critical skill Play: Creative Spinning Together of Ideas is to use your creativity into spinning together ideas in a very specific sort of way.
In the short story “Incognita Inc.” by Ellison, we explore the theme of topography. Topographies serve as maps. In this specific case, the map
In his work Lippard talks about something called the “local” which represents the idea of a place. Through this text I will be using the notion of the “local” to explore the theme of identity. Furthermore, a local can be a place that holds personal memories, known or unknown histories, or marks made in the land. These are some aspects of a location that define one’s identity. Who we are can be established through where we come from, where we live or lived, or a place we might have a deep connection to. For example, in a multicultural country like Canada people identify one another through their language or ethnicity, a place of origin. For instance, when I meet someone new to learn something about me they would as me where do you come from and my response would be Pakistan. I use Pakistan to identify myself because I was born there and my parents were born and raised there as well. My parents were taught their life style according to Pakistani traditions which they passed onto me. These are traditions that I practice and this is how the world defines me. Locations are unique in ways that they contain something that can be used to identify them. As a result, just as people use locations to identify themselves, locations have features that are used to identify them as well. Furthermore, a location can influence a person in many ways good and bad. Another example is in summer of 2011 I spent the night at the hospital for having pain in my chest. All night the doctors ran tests on me, put needles in me and had me on medication. That was the first time in my life I had ever gone to the hospital in Canada. It was the worst experience of my life and now I hate hospitals. Overall, in this situation the location influences my experience and allowed me to develop an opinion on a certain matter. Having this experience allowed me to create a memory