Extra Credit Lab – Make A Map And Conduct Spatial Analysis
Extra Credit Lab – Make a Map and Conduct Spatial Analysis This lab is
Originate from the instructions for an extra credit assignment involving mapping and spatial analysis using ArcGIS online. The task includes creating maps with specific layers, styles, and data classifications, exporting images, and answering analytical questions based on visualized spatial data. The assignment covers mapping income levels in Philadelphia and Manhattan, analyzing education attainment in North Philadelphia, comparing national commute times and occupations, and understanding the thematic significance of angels in literature, art, and media.
Paper For Above instruction
The assignment focuses on leveraging ArcGIS online tools to conduct detailed spatial analyses across various geographic scales, emphasizing the visualization of social and economic data. This task encourages students to develop skills in map creation, interpretation, and contextual analysis by working with different data layers such as median household income, educational attainment, and national employment patterns.
First, students are asked to map median household incomes in Philadelphia, employing three classes with specific shading: dark green for incomes over $100,000, dark grey for below $50,000, and intermediate shades for in-between values. The map highlights the census tract with the highest proportion of high-income households and posits a reasoning on regional economic disparities, likely influenced by factors such as proximity to business centers and socioeconomic history. The map over Manhattan replicates this process, designed to facilitate a comparative analysis of income distribution across two major urban centers known for their economic contrasts.
The subsequent map of North Philadelphia, centered around Temple University, involves educational attainment data, specifically the percentage of residents with a high school diploma. Using quatile classification into five classes, the map helps visualize educational disparities in the northern parts of Philadelphia and invites explanations about the spatial patterning of education, which might be associated with historical zoning, economic opportunity, and demographic shifts.
Further, national-scale maps reveal broader social trends. One map displays the proportion of workers with lengthy commute times, highlighting regional differences typically associated with urban sprawl, transportation infrastructure, and economic activity centers. Another map demonstrates the spatial distribution of employment in manufacturing, correlated with states known historically for industrial activity. These visualizations are complemented by questions about electoral outcomes, fostering an understanding of how economic and social patterns relate to voting behavior.
Beyond the technical mapping, the assignment explores thematic representations of angels across different media, integrating literature, visual art, music, and film. The narrative of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” exemplifies societal reactions—fear, misunderstanding, exploitation—towards angelic or divine figures embedded among humans. The story showcases how ignorance and suspicion lead to the mistreatment and commodification of the angel, reflecting broader themes of human degradation of the sacred.
Similarly, biblical accounts such as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah illustrate humans’ hostile responses to divine messengers, often driven by fear or sexual violence, underscoring a recurring motif of angelic figures as objects of human misunderstanding and fear. Artistic interpretations, like the life-like “Angel” installation by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, challenge viewers’ perceptions of fallen angels and raise questions about captivity, neglect, and the nature of divine beings when confronted by human curiosity and cruelty.
The cultural content extends to music, with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’s “Your Guardian Angel” portraying angels as sacrificial protectors, embodying themes of love, devotion, and self-sacrifice. The song’s lyrics evoke the image of the angel as a guardian figure, emphasizing human vulnerability and the desire for divine protection.
The discussion also encompasses the cinematic portrayal of angels, with the X-Men character Angel exemplifying the societal fear and exploitation of those who appear different due to their angelic mutations. The narrative highlights how mutants—like angels—are feared, misunderstood, and used for personal gain until they reclaim their autonomy, symbolizing themes of liberation and societal acceptance.
Overall, this multi-layered assignment underscores how angels—whether divine, mythological, or metaphorical—are depicted across cultural mediums as beings misunderstood, exploited, or revered, reflecting complex human attitudes towards the sacred, the other, and the unknown. It demonstrates how spatial analysis and thematic interpretation can illuminate societal values, fears, and aspirations through visual and literary representations of angelic figures across history and media.
References
- Marquez, G. G. (2007). A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale For Children. Translated by Gregory Rabassa. North Dakota State University Web.
- Genesis 13:13; Genesis 19:5, 24. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/
- Sun Yuan & Peng Yu. (2008). Angel. Artwork. Web source.
- Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. (2007). “Your Guardian Angel”. On Don’t You Fake It. CD.
- Kinberg, S. (2006). X-Men: The Last Stand. 20th Century Fox DVD.
- Porter, T. (n.d.). “The Grave”. Literary analysis source.
- Tagore, R. (n.d.). “Punishment”. Literary publication.
- Higuchi, I. (n.d.). “Separate Ways”. Literary journal.
- Kafka, F. (n.d.). “The Metamorphosis”. Literary collection.
- T. S. Eliot. (n.d.). “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. Literary journal.