The Practice of Everyday Life by Michel de Certau was philosophical and intriguing. The concept that are actions influence others is something commonly known; but this thought process still takes on a passive tone. Certau is asserting that we, as consumers, actively manipulate. I’m a Growth and Structure of Cities major, so I found that Walking in the City chapter to be particularly interesting. I’ve also enjoyed critically thinking about cities, how people operate in a city, what makes it the way it is (culturally), and how its physical space affects people (and vice versa).

The “What Writing Does and How It Does It” reading felt somewhat familiar but still helpful in regards to context, rhetorical analysis/criticism, logos/ethos/pathos. I appreciated that the author used examples to further illustrate their point, like EB White’s “Education.” It gave the topic of discussion more substance. I’ve always thought about this kind of rhetorical analysis in the context of essay/academic writing. Not to say that Travel Writing is not that, but my brain did not immediately connect the two. I feel that we all unconsciously/loosely apply these things when writing about something we’re passionated about, but I’d like to try deliberately applying these concepts to my writing style and see how it goes.

I found “The Tourist Gaze” reading to be interesting because it made me reflect on my time as a tourist/the experiences I have had/things I have bought. We are heavily influence about what we should see and do online, and those that create that content are influenced by others/the tourism industry. So, while each tourists experience may be individually different, it is still curated. And on top of that curated experience and image, this can ignore other amazing opportunities and cover up injustices in the place being visited.