The Utopia Project

I thought The Utopia Project was the most meaningful project to me.  I am a person that loves simplicity, and their project was simple yet very effective.  You can tell that the group put in a lot of time, because while the design of the city was simple, the design of their entire powerpoint was quite detailed.  Now regarding the design of the city;  I loved the way they set up the city layout.  They had the right amount of each building, and the fact that they have castle walls, a moat, and a ditch, really shows that the people living there have pride for the city and would want it to be safe.  The one thing I like most about their city is the large number of schools.  I value education greatly and seeing so many schools in such a small area really makes appreciate what they stand for in the city.  I thought that their presentation was exceptional.

All of the projects were very well thought out and I planed. It was evident that all the groups spent time to think through and relate their projects to the stories. However the one project that stood out the most to me was The Utopia Project. The four guys from that group took a lot of time and detail to create the architectural renderings that they did. They thought through a lot of detail that I wouldn’t have. I liked the renderings of the bastions and the way they showed the gardens and green houses. The city was laid out very well to funnel all of the townspeople to the center of town to the head government buildings. Also by merging all of the people to the center of the town it helps create the communal, helpful society Thomas More was trying to get across through the story. The text does not explicitly say how the city was laid out so I thought the guys did a good job creating their own ideas using some clues from the text. The time this group must have spent on making the drawings makes the project even better. It was evident this was not a thrown together project and a great amount of dedication was put into making this a superb project.

The project that was the most meaningful to me was the Utopia Project. I liked this project the best because I am interested in architecture and this was a make-believe architecture project. The idea of the project was to try and create a perfect society like Utopia was described in our class text. The architecture project displays a city split into four districts facing toward the central government. This shows the importance of government. Each town is surrounded by a thick wall, and a ditch for safety. There are 13 churches (three per district and one in the center). Each district has a hospital, a market place, 4 schools, and unbroken rows of houses that face one another from across the street. Behind these houses there are communal gardens to promote sharing and friendship among neighbors.

My favorite thing about this idea was the sense of community. The utopians were not greedy people. For example, they didn’t treasure gold the way we do. They used it for toilets! I think the fact that they were not possessive allowed for the perfect community. This architecture plan would lead toward a similar lifestyle because people are expected to share, and help one another within their small districts. With my own life experience I have found that I am happier when I feel I have a sense of community and people to help me. I loved this project and the ideas that the group presented.

In my opinion, the Utopia City Plan project was the most meaningful and effective presentation on Thursday. I enjoyed this group’s project the most because of its effective use of visuals. The group presented a city plan of a Utopian city as described in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. By using quotes from the book, the group was able to create an accurate depiction of what one of the Utopian cities may have looked like. This group conveyed their information clearly with the use of quotes and images of the city plan. The presentation made it easier to understand what a Utopian may look like if it were to be built. I liked how the group showed where each section of the town would be arranged in each district. As a visual learner, I found it very helpful to have a visual representation of the city. I liked how the group used a two-dimensional city plan while supplementing it with three-dimensional renderings of the fortifications and certain other buildings. I liked how this group clearly put a lot of effort into creating the three-dimensional images in order to better convey their information. I also liked how the group went over each aspect of the city and then visually showed how each fits together with the rest of the city. By watching this group’s presentation, I now better understand what Sir Thomas More’s ideal city may have looked like. Overall, this presentation was very insightful and helped me to better understand the layout of a Utopian city.

In the Utopia Project, It was really nice to get a project with suck a literal and visual aspect to it.  When reading Utopia, I was a little confuses on the actual look of the cities, and as a visual person, this bothered me.  But this project done very well and the visual aids were done beautifully, and looked like a real architectural plan of a city.  I liked how the city plain mirrored the Utopian ideals outlined in the text.  For example, all the houses looked the same, and the layout of where the churches were really reflected the ideals of religious tolerance and the government was the center of the city.  They included the fact about mercenaries would fight on their walls.  I don’t know if i agree with the hospital being outside the walls, because I don't believe it was for the greater good.  I like how they didn’t just copy the design form the book, they made it their own.  the garden was a nice touch to give the city a more comfortable touch that reflected the Utopian's love of gardens.  Overall the architect's perspective on the project wasn’t just a nice visual representation of the city, but it was a great manifestation of the rest of Book 2.

The presentation that was most interesting and informative was the Utopian City Plan. I loved how they incorporated techniques they use in their architecture classes for this English class. The plan seemed near perfection to me. It was to scale and realistic. Most importantly it followed the description in the book precisely. By visualizing the setting of the book, I was able to understand some of the interactions better. Realistic and creative, this project was my favorite

I enjoyed the presentation titled Utopia Project. I thought the group stayed very true to the text as they described the layout of each city in detail. I thought the diagrams were very representations of what cities in Utopia might actually look like. The 3-D building designs also added a good visual element to the presentation. I was impressed with how real looking and colorful the buildings were. The color coding of each type of building in the city was also very helpful in seeing how the city was well planned. This also showed how certain types of buildings (schools for example), were distributed perfectly about in each of the city’s quadrants. When I was reading Utopia I imagined how the buildings looked aesthetically and painted a picture of the surrounding countryside in my mind. I liked seeing the actual plans for the cities and farmland because it gave me a different perspective. The drawings gave me an appreciation for all the thought and planning that goes into laying out a city.  The presentation was also well done, and all of the presenters were well rehearsed in each of their speaking roles.

The presentation that was most intriguing to me was the Utopia presentation.  This speech started out by separating the town into four distinct districts.  The government and church are tied together in the sense that they converse in important decision processes.  Through the center of the town flows a stream.  The reason for this has to do with the easy accessibility to the citizens.  Located in the center of the city is a 500 foot bridge made of stone.  This bridge was built 100 feet in width for transportation purposes allowing large trucks to cross the bridge.  The Utopian town has implemented several fortifications in for security purposes.  This includes a thick wall that surrounds the town, around the border of this wall lies 3 ditches along with a mote on the remaining side.  Every district has its own hospital which resembles a small village.  The reason for this is every patient had their own little hut, the space between patients helped reduce the spread of disease and germs.  Each district contains one market.  This is where citizens would buy the spices and commodities necessary to survive.  Considering they have a cycle of farmers, they will never run out of food.  The residence houses consist of 3 story, 20 foot wide that accommodates 30 people per household.  Each house has a backyard connected to the beautiful utopian gardens.  The gardens have no personal belongings in hopes to promote friendship within their society.  People are able to choose their education besides the mandatory 2 years of agriculture. This promotes freedom of choice within their community creating a peaceful environment.  The government buildings were placed in the center so they would be close to the church and serve as a focal point.  This speech was very graphic and interesting to follow on how this city was mapped out.

I thought Group #7 The Utopia Project did an amazing job at depicting the Utopian Society. They blew me away with the design and layout of the city. Everything was placed in a manner that corresponded to the Utopian Society displayed in the readings. The group didn’t just make up a society they deliberately thought out the layout of the buildings in relation to what the text depicts. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Utopian Project come alive and grasp the idea of the Utopian society presented in the text. I liked the design of the central government, hospitals, schools, river, and the equality of the houses. I also liked how they pulled quotes from the reading to explain and justify their reasoning for designing or putting something where they did. They did a great job keeping my attention and clarifying the way Utopia is designed. I was amazed at the creativity and innovation the group displayed. The presentation was one of my favorites; I was able to clearly understand the Utopia society that More presents through a creative and interesting presentation.

I really enjoyed the first presentation that was the powerpoint on The Utopia Project City Plan. I thought what the boys did was super detailed and very accurate to the descriptions in the original text. The illustrations that they had were so intricate and well executed. It helped to have such a great drawing in order to picture exactly what More was describing in Utopia. I really liked all the details they incorporated into the sketches themselves, it really appeared as though they put a lot of care into their presentation! Overall, really well done job and very detail oriented!

The presentation I enjoyed the most was done by Group 7, which was called The UTOPIA Project. This group did a very good job of correctly portraying the utopian society. I really enjoyed the powerpoint for the fact that it went over each aspect of the city plan, followed by an explanation of how it would work. I like how they talked about the town being surrounded by high, thick walls along with a ditch to keep the town safe from enemies. I found all of the diagrams to be very helpful in giving me a good picture of what the town layout would actually look like. I also liked how there were churches placed periodically throughout the town acting as a common theme throughout the city. I think it was good to place four individual hospitals in each town and emphasize the utopian value of health being available for everyone. I really enjoyed the housing layout where the architecture is all basically the same providing limited choices in order to prevent jealousy and competition. Along with the housing provided for each individual, were gardens that belong to everyone in order for people to grow food and have something to enjoy. A really good point of the plan was the government building being placed in the center of the city. I think this was a great idea because it really symbolizes the utopian centralization of government. Altogether i really enjoyed this presentation and found it to be a very accurate portrayal of utopian society.

Out of all five groups that presented on April 19th, Group 7 was my favorite.  It was very clear right from the start that these people put quite a lot of work and pride into their project.  In my opinion the best thing about the presentation was how real it felt; they came up with the idea of a city planning presentation and went with it.  From the very start they were in character, delivering their plans for Utopia.  Each person had a specific role that they were playing (manager, etc.) which brought the audience that much more into the sort of story they were telling.  Every one of them did a fine job delivering their portion of the presentation.  I also thought that the power point was outstanding.  The city plan for Utopia was so cool!  Having the key and coloring in the specific section they were talking about was a brilliant idea.  And to accompany the bird’s eye view they had a “street view” which was also very professionally done.  The quality of graphics was very impressive and made me wonder how they had the time to figure all that out.  The material they presented from the text was spot on and offered more than what was just right there on the paper.  Group 7 did a fantastic job and inspired me to be creative and work hard on my project as well as any other project no matter how big or small it is.  It will be very hard for any other group to top them.

My favorite project from today was from group 7.  For starters, I really enjoyed how they presented, acting as if they were real world city planners of Utopia who had been working for over eight months on the design.  The actual content of the slide show was nothing short of amazing, as they clearly put in a lot of time and effort on the design.  When I first saw their overall map of utopia, I was very impressed with how precise and detailed it was.  They had some figures where distances were actually measured out, and that was a nice addition to the project.  Once they began talking specifics, I was really blown away by how they really covered all aspects of the city.  They mentioned everything from the ditch to the markets to the churches, etc.  As if including them on the map wasn't enough, I really admired how they quoted the book for each particular detail of the city.  I think they really captured the essence of the Utopia described in the book by mentioning significant details like the gardens as well as minor details such as the houses having three stories.  One final detail that I really enjoyed was the graphically designed drawings of certain things like the bridge, fortifications and residences.  There is no doubt in my mind that whoever created the drawings spent a lot of time working on them, and their hard work certainly showed in the presentation.  Group 7 did a great job of making their own map of the Utopia, and I really enjoyed every slide of their presentation.

I really enjoyed all of the projects this week, but the group that really has stuck out in my mind was Group 7, the architecture of Utopia.  This project seemed like a lot of time was put into it.  The pictures really depicted what I think this Utopian society described in the book would actually look like.  They were able to incorporate all of the aspects of Utopia into their presentation, such as the fortifications, the farmland around the city, the hospitals around Utopia, the market plan, and the churches.  I loved how when they would describe each architectural part of Utopia, they would give more information about why they practiced this ways.  For example, when the group talked about the churches, they pulled in the whole aspect of religion into their project.  They talked about how each church only has one priest and there are a limited amount of churches.  This is not because they do not promote religion, however, but it is so that the power of a priest is not diminished.  I thought the graphics were so cool for describing each aspect of the city.  I loved the gardens, and how most of the pictures were black and white, but how the color popped in certain areas of the image.  I know that I am able to better understand a story if I can put images to the text, so being able to see the land of Utopia laid out really brought the whole concept of the book together.

The Utopian project most meaningful to me was group 7 powerpoint presentation. By creating an overall city plan of Utopia, this group acted as architects in hope to be hired to structure and design the great Utopia itself. This group presentation was thoroughly thought out and well designed with its original architectural computer work, which I felt added creative detail to their project. With its grand layout, the aesthetics of this project gave the audience a great incite to what Utopia would actually look like. Intensive detail by explaining every part of Utopia from its rivers and streams that accommodate its geographical features, to its grand fortification, walls and ditches to protect the cite from invading armies, this project gave me a better sense of what Utopia than simply reading the book and allowed my imagination to wander if it were an actually island. With farm land outside of the ditch to provide the city with food, grain, and fire wood, the ‘architects’ explained that as a citizen of Utopia you were to devote two years of your life in order for the betterment of Utopian society and learn agricultural. With few churches in the city, this tactic was strategically planned to dilute the power of each church and lessen the competition between priests. Each district had its own hospital and market places with commodities and there centrally located around the main church of each district. The residential areas were well thought out as well, with a ‘suburban’ like atmosphere, and beautiful backyard gardens to increase pleasure and interaction with the community. Their schools were segregated by trade, and focused on education to better society by individuals learning a skill. The group touched on every area that the book spoke of and overall I enjoyed watching their powerpoint presentation.

The Utopia Project by Group 7 had the most appeal to me, engineer that I am. They effectively examined the descriptions of the layout of the town in More's Utopia and presented it layer by layer. It had the look and feel of a civil engineering or city and regional planning document. They laid out the general blueprint which had four main quadrants within the town. In each quadrant, they placed three churches, four schools, and one market in the middle. The rest of the area in each quadrant was filled in with residential lots on the streets that could house 30 people with gardens in the back. Outside the surrounding wall of each quadrant, they placed a hospital for the ill. In the center intersection of all the quadrants, they placed one more church and the main government center. A stream also ran through the heart of the town. Outside the wall of the town and the hospitals on three of the boundaries, they showed where the ditch belongs, and the fields for crops beyond that. The fourth boundary lay adjacent to the river, which had a bridge upstream. It was easy to grasp what the fictional land could look like. Other groups presented well, too. I didn't know that Donne had "them moves like Jagger".

The presentation by Nic Pappas, TJ Kelley, Jimmy Sipes, and Brad Jackman was interesting and insightful.  Their project, The Utopia Project, gave a unique view of their opinion of an ideal utopia.  The group started with the fact that they were given the job to create a utopia.  They said that the city would be divided into 4 equal districts.  I believe that this could potentially create a problem of segregation by having “separate but equal” districts.  However, they do not seem to think that this is a problem.  That was the only flaw that I saw with their ideal Utopia. The group said that a stream comes from the north and flows through the city center into the south.  In general, the group said that cities would be planned based on geographical constraints.  This is a great structure because it utilizes the region’s natural resources rather than trying to change a region to conform to a structured model.  The Stream flowing from the North to south shows this use of geography in action. “For added security, 3 large walls and a mote will protect the 4 sides.”  This will help protect the city.  “Country houses will be located on the outside.”   “Everyone will be required to serve 2 years and help provide food for the city in these homes.”  13 Churches total will reside in the city.  “Only 13 churches reside in the city to give power to the leader of the church.”  “Hospitals will be large.”  “They will be large so they can fit many and isolate any contagious disease.”  “Markets will be located around the main church.”  These aspects show that the utopia is well equipped to meet the needs of the people.  In addition, the group stated that, “private houses will face each other on either side of the street.”  They said that the Architecture will all be the same style to promote equality.  The gardens in the city are beautiful with fruit spices and flowers.  This shows that the utopia is well thought out and ready to be implemented.  Overall, this was a wonderful presentation.

The project that I liked the best on April 19th was group seven who did the hypothetical city planning for the country of Utopia. It isn't surprising to see a project like this from architecture majors, but it was something I admit I wouldn't have thought of myself so I was impressed by the originality of it. I thought it was very interesting how they took the descriptions of Utopia from the text of the book and managed to make an accurate map of how the cities would actually be structured. I also thought they did a good job of filling in information about the country that wasn't explicitly stated in the book, such as how they made city halls to be the centers of each city, which I think would make sense for a place like Utopia.  The details in the presentation were very well done too, such as talking about how each city would be the same other than accommodations for geography, and all the intricate details about where each kinds of buildings would go, the street planning, and the city's protective walls. Although the presentation was mostly focused on the architecture and organization of the physical elements of the town, it also did a good job of covering most of the topics of the book as well. All the social, political, and religious policies talked about in the book were covered in a clear and concise manner. Overall, I thought this project presentation was very thoughtful, creative, and accurate to the book.

All though I enjoyed all of the presentations, I thoroughly enjoyed the Utopia Project presentation. I really liked how they used direct quotes from the book to discuss the different architecture throughout the four districts. Everything from the rivers, ditches, farmlands, churches, gardens, schools, and much more was shown. I especially liked how although the book did not mention where the government center was, the group thought hard and logically about where Moore would have put it, and then placed it in the center of the city. I thought that showed excellent knowledge of the book and shared a similar thought process of what Moore wanted to book to entail. The hospitals were slightly bigger than other structures, as in the book, because they wanted everyone to have a place to stay as well as quarantine the sick. The fact that little details like that was thought about and incorporated was very interesting to see. I thought it was well done as the group had a project manager, architect, and city planners that an actual architectural company would have. I really liked how the blueprint of the city was shown, and when one structure was discussed, it would be highlighted on the screen. The drawings were very well done and looked like a lot of time and effort was put into the project. It was very unique, and I really liked how an entire major came together to create a really great project to present to the class.

I liked the first group’s (group 7 I believe) presentation the best because I thought it was the most interesting. The planning of the cities of a Utopia is a complex and essentially impossible task. No matter how many aspects of the Utopian society are taken into account in the planning of a city, there will always be things that were not thought of. This is what makes it interesting to me. I liked to hear about the various things they thought of, and how they addressed each of them. For example, they planned the churches in a way so that they were evenly distributed throughout the city. They also made the churches large and dimly lit so as to accommodate the masses and help them concentrate on their worship. I also liked the way they focused on the lack of privacy and processions. They took these into account when designing both the housing for the public and the market places. The housing has large outdoor gardens in the center so that all the homes back up to them. This ensures a large public atmosphere with little privacy. The markets are also centrally located as to allow easy access for all people. As there are no processions, each person may take what they need from the markets. This is why it is so important that they are centrally located. They made many other interesting points, many of which I never would have thought of. I greatly enjoyed their presentation because it made me think about the logistics in planning the perfect city.

Out of yesterday's presentations, there were many who were extremely good. Two stood out the most for me, and were too difficult for me to determine which I liked the most. The first one was the Utopia project. I liked this one a lot because they were able to use their architectural skills to produce 3D imagery of the city walls and buildings. This gave a really interesting perspective on how the city may have looked if it were real, and kept my attention caught wondering what the next example was going to look like. Seeing the shape of the city streets and market place was very cool. The other that caught my attention was the video about the island of Utopia. The way they created this video was close to professionally done. It had the appearance of an infomercial that was designed to encourage people to travel to certain places. The use of Google maps was a plus as well. The use of symbols and pictures added to the overall feel of the video, giving it a dramatic element. I think that the common thread between both of these groups is that they both presented the idea of Utopia actually existing or having the possibility of existing. The reality element added to their presentation made both of them equally ring home for me, thus sticking in my mind the most.

As entertaining as all the presentations were, Group 7s presentation is the one that has stuck with me. Though they were not the most engaging presenters, not something I could say of some of the other groups, Group 7 had the most innovative idea which enabled them to incorporate many of Utopia's top societal practices. They definitely did a great job explaining the nature of Utopia's cities and their plan for the lay out of the city, which of course was just like the one's Mr. More described in his story. Their interesting ideas and designs of the city on the projector was the most engaging and entertaining part of the presentation. My primary reservation with their project was presentation was that the structure of the city was too heavily focused. They should have spent a little more time explaining their behavior and beliefs. But other than that I thought it was a thoroughly interesting presentation and I applaud the thought and effort that went into group 7s presentation.

I thought that the first project presented, done by group 7, was extremely well thought out and executed.  They obviously put a lot of time and effort into their presentation, and played to their strengths, architecture.  The image presented by the group really helped to bring Utopia to life for me.  It is one thing to read about a city, hear it described, and try to imagine it in your head.  It is completely different to form that description into an actual picture and put it down on paper, or in this case up on a screen.  I also thought it was extremely helpful that they highlighted each component of the city individually.  Looking at the complete picture was impressive, but without the eye and understanding of an architect it can be confusing and convoluted.  Breaking each component down, highlighting them with different colors, and explaining the purpose and placement of each helped me more completely understand the layout of Utopia.  I still do not agree that Utopia would be a great place to live.  The monotony and symmetry of everything is enough to drive creative people who think out of the box insane, but examining it’s layout does make it understand why it might appeal to some people.  There are no curves in Utopia.  Everything is done in strait lines.  It is all precise and to the point, which is great architecturally speaking, but someone would have a hard time convincing me to live there.  I think I appreciated the presentation given by group 7 so much because it emphasized the one part of Utopia I actually liked, the beauty of the landscape.

Every single project was very impressive and well executed. I enjoyed each one thoroughly and they all managed to hold my attention for the entire length of the presentation. Group 7 was my favorite group, the level of artistry and professionalism they were able to portray through their powerpoint presentation left me in awe. Their unique ability to render the architectural scenes of every type of building described in Thomas Moore's Utopia was nothing short of amazing. Everything from the houses to the gardens were beautifully rendered in an ethereal watercolor-esque style. Their artistic ability allowed me to truly grasp Thomas Moore's vision of Utopia. Their architectural renderings were so good, they could have been included in an illustrated edition of Utopia. The one fault that I found with their presentation was that as a group, they were not very dynamic.  A little bit of wit or humor would have went a long way as their presentation was dry and rather monotonous.  Not to downgrade from their speaking abilities, but their renderings were so good that they were almost self explanatory. Also, it was unclear what their intentions were when they began the presentation because they did not explain that they were doing an architectural rendering of every building described in Utopia. Overall, the sheer amount of hours that they put into their amazing powerpoint presentation made them my favorite group. It is obvious that they are very talented architects and that their skills were a perfect fit for a presentation on Thomas Moore's Utopia.

really enjoyed group sevens presentation. Choosing to act as if they had just come back from a three-year voyage touring around the Island of Utopia was a very creative idea. I could tell that they had put a lot of effort, thought, and creativity into their topic. The video was so professionally done that I actually thought it could have been done by a professional film company. Something that I found really interesting was how they were able to do all of the graphics. The video skills were pretty awesome and whoever did that has a really good talent. The photos they chose went along with what was being spoken about very well and on spot! The pictures and music definitely caught my attention and never clashed. The speaker for most of the video was able to include the entire class by giving the reason for coming back was to recruit new members for their next voyage. The only thing that I thought could have been down better was to split up the amount of talking each person did. Having a main narrator is a good idea, but it left me with the impression that the other members of the group did not do as much or were just behind the scenes. 

Nu’topia

All of the presentations on Utopia today were very well put together and creative.  The project that stood out to me was group #6 with Nu'topia.  The idea of the career fair was a very creative way to introduce and talk about their topic of Utopia.  I liked how they began with an extensive background on on the island of Utopia.  There were multiple slides that presented different areas of the town of Nu'topia.  They covered housing that they stated was for everyone, with each house came a garden.  They also talked about family life including freedom of religion and low divorce rates.  Education was also a topic they covered, they explained how everyone had an equal opportunity for an education.  Recreation was a main topic in their presentation that explained the different options for all the free time.  Some of their other slides included traveling opportunities, unlimited resources, career choices, and benefits such as free health.  They focused on the career choices considering their presentation was based off a career fair.  They mentioned that change is easy and there is a variety of options to chose from when it comes to jobs.  At the end of their presentation they creatively included a picture of Beowulf from another groups previous presentation.  They also chose to show a picture of the "fresh prince" which was very humorous.  Overall all of the members of this group equally contributed to their well put together presentation.  The slides were a very helpful visual as well.

   Project presentation #8: Nu'topia was the most meaningful presentation for me.  It was simple, yet packed with visuals that made you start to wonder how their pictures differed from the true representation in Utopia.  By showing the futuristic Utopia I feel like a lot of people were able to deeply connect with the presentation.  Nu'topia started with an overview of the location/geography of this perfect place.  The visual was what I pictured while reading the story which was helpful.  With the brief background they moved on to talking about the housing.  The very modern photo they chose made you question the literal construction of the houses from the book.  Then they went in to the gardens and how they were world renown for these gardens.  The next step was talking about education in which they showed modern photos like the Apple "Think Different" photo, and I started to questioned how differently Utopia thinks.  The pictures make a meaningful juxtaposition between modern and olden day Utopia.  Then they discussed topics such as studying abroad and island time.  Since they were on an island you could surf all the time, who wouldn't want to do that these days?  They also showed the appeal as they had chefs!  Then they threw in some humor as career day was the same day as the presentation.  In Nu'topia there is no unemployment which I am sure a lot of people about to graduate would thoroughly enjoy!  The presentation was well made.  It meshed the values of Utopia with how it would be run in modern society.  It showed the appeal of a Utopian society now-a-days.

All of the presentations yesterday were very informative and I thought all of the groups did a great job with their topics.  The presentation that stood out to me the most though was group six, NU’Topia.  A few things I liked about their presentation in general were the PowerPoint presentation, their humor, and that they were upbeat.  I liked their PowerPoint because it had pictures to further get their point across and the slides were well organized.  I also enjoyed the humor they added with the Fresh Prince of Bellaire and the election of Obama or Beowulf.  The humor kept me interested and engaged in the presentation.  I also thought that their whole idea was very creative by relating it to the career fair and inviting us to go live in NU’Topia.  The group explained all of the background information first, such as that it is 200 miles wide and how there are 54 cities, and housing for everyone who chooses to live there.  This information engaged the audience in the topic, and then they explained the benefits of living in NU’Topia and why it is better than other places to live.  For example you only have to work six hours a day and get leisure time the rest of the day. I learned a lot from their presentation and all in all they did a really nice job presenting their information.

n my opinion, the presentation that was the most interesting and meaningful to me was Group 6: Nu’topia. This group explained the city of Utopia, but with a modern twist, naming the city, Nu’topia. The goal of their presentation was to persuade the audience to come to Nu’topia. Some of the information that this group discussed was accurate concerning the book Utopia, however with the modern take that they took, the introduced the city as a high class and elegant city. They discussed various things such as housing, family life, gardens, politics, recreation, and travel opportunities. This group was successful in persuading the audience that Nu’topia is the place to be. They discussed how the city has low divorce rates, full time service, and unlimited food supply. They informed us that the city pays for all expenses for going abroad. They discussed fun recreational activities including surfing and canoeing. This group presented images to the audience through the use of a power point, which allowed the audience to visualize what is would be like to live in Nu’topia. One thing that made this presentation stand out to me was their use of humor. At one point one group member interacted with someone with the audience asking the student what his major was. In response, the group member said that they have that field of study in Nu’topia. They discussed how with the use of GMO’s they are able to have an unlimited food supply. Another humorous aspect of this presentation was the fact that they including the image of Beowulf from Group Two’s presentation.  Overall, this group’s presentation was thought out, informative, funny, and interesting to listen to.

They opened with a clever title: Nu’topia.  They spun it to make it look like it is some brand new  housing development. They first opened with the island that it is on and how many cool people have been there. Then they went and talked about what the houses would look like. They really got into the story of “Utopia” when they talked about how they are accepting of all religions and that they have low divorce rates.  It was cool how it wasn’t completely about Utopia, verbatim. They talked about ideas that would actually apply to real life like how the economy is bad and how sweet it would be to live on an island. They talked about free health care which was interesting because that is an actual issue that exists in “real life” and also in Utopia. They also talked about how if you lived in Nu’topia you would only have to work 6 hours a day so we would have time for other recreational activites. They are open to all majors, professions and religions. Sounds like a pretty good plan to me! I enjoyed their presentation, especially the part at the end where they included a part from a previous Beowulf presentation. They kept the key theme going while not straying off too far what the book is about.

All of the groups did an excellent job on their presentations today. They were all so entertaining and presented their information so well. Group number six really stood out to me. Their pitch on selling the information was well thought out. The group did a great job trying to persuade the class to go to Nu’Topia. They presented the class with many points from the book such as the way they handled the food supply, foreign policy, work, vacation, leisure time, housing, career choices, and even politics. Each topic was organized well and had a great visualize to go along with it. The images on the architecture and the city plans were so detailed it made their sales pitch even more realistic. The graphs were a good addition to their presentation. Graphs are very helpful when trying to get a point across and they worked well when the group was presenting on the divorce rate in Nu’Topia compared to the divorce rate in other countries today. The last part of the presentation was very humorous. I especially enjoyed that the group used the picture from the Beowulf 2012 presentation, when presenting on Nu’Topia’s politics. It was a clever idea. The last image of the fresh prince of bel air, was a good way to end their presentation. Everyone knew who Will Smith was and it was a good person to compare the prince to. Overall the group had a good presence in front of the class, they made good eye contact and had strong voices throughout their presentation.

After the second round of presentations I found that Nu'Topia was the most engaging and meaningful to me. They captivated the audience from the first slide and kept us laughing and entertained throughout the entire presentation. By advertising Nu'Topia as a modern or cool place to live, it got me hoping that there really could be a place just like that. Their in-depth descriptions about each of the different aspects of Nu'Topia went above and beyond my expectations. Much research and comprehension must have gone into preparing this presentation because there were multiple facts about each part of the island. From housing and gardens to medical needs and politics, they provided a well-rounded presentation. By including pictures of modern shows, places and activities, the audience was able to relate to the presentation and put themselves into their own Nu'Topia while watching the presentation. By providing graphs that compare Nu'Topia to other countries like the U.S., China and India, we were able to see more clearly the benefits of Nu'Topian life. They even provided a comical comparison of Nu'Topian politics and our politics in the U.S. By keeping the presentation comical and entertaining we were able to relate to their facts. Overall this presentation was very well put together.

Group Seven had a very thought out presentation where they made their own Utopia. They all assumed apart in the city construction with being city planners and managers with the basic people who would be involved in creating a city. What was really great about this project is that they didn’t just plop things where they felt like but they actually thought what a city need and thought how a Utopian city would place them. They had things be very conformed and centralized such as the government building being in the middle of the town and all the roads leading into to it. They also had many schools, farm land, four hospitals, a ditch for defense, and a wall for defense among many other things. And everything that was in the city had a purpose and was set up in a specific way which was explained very well there was no added fluff. Every speaker knew what they had to say and there was no stumbling around which was very professional. This was spot on with the material we were coving in class and had many references to the book “Utopia” such as the six hours of work a day and the option to be educated or not. As they presented their version of the town I couldn’t help think that is was a very “1984” type of town with a big brother is watching you kind of feel to it. I thought this only because of how centralized it was and how the hospitals where separated from the town to contain diseases. But overall I enjoyed the project very much and the group did a great job.

The presentation on the second presentation day was the presentation on Nu’topia by group 6. This presentation was most meaningful to me because it was able to capture me and was of great interest due to the benefits and attractiveness that Nu’topia presented. A modern version of Utopia, although probably unrealistic in my mind would look much like the version that was presented. Within this new society a few things that I found most interesting and attractive were the leisure activities. The many activities that were available to the citizens captured my attention and would be a great pull to attract new citizens. Another portion that was highlighted and caused me to like Nu’topia was the career opportunities. In Nu’topia the presentation mentioned that there was no trouble finding a job and there were plenty to go around. This to me would be an ideal situation coming out of college. By knowing there are jobs waiting for me in every field the transition into the working life would be much less overwhelming. As well as the multiple job opportunities, it is also easy to switch careers which would be a nice benefit in real society and as a result would create a lot more happiness and less stress due to working. This presentation had many neat aspects and I think did a good job at showing a modern day Utopia. And if there really was a place such as Nu’topia in todays world I would love to check it out and see what life would be like in such an idea society.

Of the presentations on Thur. 4/19/2012, Group 6’s NU’topia presentation remained one of the most memorable for me. After reading Utopia, I had imagined the Utopians to be a bit of an elitist group, looking down on other peoples. Therefore, I was interested when I heard that [Group 6] was looking to recruit new residents to Utopia. They began with some background/historical information about Utopia (from the book), but when they reached the “present” information about Utopia’s quality of life, they presented it in a way that was more to us than at us (ex. “You can do x, y, and z activities here.” as opposed to “People usually spend their time by doing x, y, and z.”), which made the whole presentation more engaging. One of the things that I especially liked was the representation of Utopia as the general opinion of “utopia”: paradise, complete with sunsets on the beach and resort-like service (free cooked and served meals). Another part that I enjoyed was the answer to the “how are we going to get all that food?” question; why, by genetically modifying our crops and livestock, of course! The photo comparison of the two salmon gave a nice indication of just how much more food there would be. During the reading of the book, I was constantly reminded that Utopia could not exist, due to the large disparities between Utopia’s culture/time and our culture/time. However, with the addition of modern technological advances (and photographs) and an informal style of speech used in the presentation, I was able to suspend disbelief for a while and pretend that Utopia actually existed (and that I would be able to visit). But at the end I’m still wondering; what’s the significance of the “NU” in the title? Is it short for “No Utopia?” “New Utopia?” In other words, “not a ‘no’ place?”

Group 6 did a presentation on  the Island Nutopia, similar to Utopia but newer in a since. The island was describe as a 200 mile wide peninsula . The island had 54 cities, they described the islands location south of Australia. In the land of Nutopia everyone house access to housing, large community homes and large, gardens. In the utopia you have a good family life, full times service, meal prepared for you by chefs, and good education opportunities. They described the place as a paradise of a place to live compared to all other places. In your free time you could kayak or surf, or relax. Finally, in this utopia like place would had unlimited supply for food b described the place as a paradise of a place to live compared to all other places. In your free time you could kayak or surf, or relax. Finally, in this utopia like place would had unlimited supply for food by GMOs, The presentation well smoothly but was not very exciting. I thought the group did a god job of describing what life you be like in Utopia.

I was very extremely with the second round of presentations on April 19, 2012. It was very evident that all of the groups put in a lot of effort into their presentations. After listing to all of the groups I found the Nu'topia presentation to be the most meaningful in relation to the novel Utopia. I was interested in their creativity in how they related the different geographical elements described in Utopia. I felt that this was the most crucial aspect making their project successful. I feel this way because the description of the island of Utopia is one of the main elements in book II. By approaching their project as a tourism agency and describing what the Island of Nu'topia,  the group did an excellent job in summarizing the majority of the book as well as adding many elements that complimented the original story. As for how I felt as a listener I was very entertained. The group projected and spoke very clearly. Although many people think that the content is the only important part of a project, the flow and public speaking qualities are also very vital for the success and enjoyment of a presentation. Overall this was an excellent presentation.Thanks.

Utopia video

I thought many of the presentations delivered on April 19 were well-done, however, in my memory the one that stands out the most is group 8's Utopia video project. Upon my initial viewing, I was immediately struck by the professionalism of the project: the sophistication of the video, the inherent creativity, and its adherence to More's source text. The presentation was essentially a video infomercial advertising a new utopia, free of many of the problems that plague contemporary societies all over the world. They presented their utopia as an island, with the video serving as an education tool as well as an advertising device for this fictional community-group. The choice for the presentation was creative, presenting the utopia as almost a type of time-share kind of thing, but supplemented with the politics and structures necessary for the safeguarding of the utopian society, like Thomas More's work. I particularly loved, perhaps on a purely superficial aesthetic level, the Google Earth zooming in and out effect, showcasing where San Luis Obispo was in comparison with where this utopia was located. It lent to the professionalism of the project as a whole, while underscoring a tone of futuristic benevolence: allowing the audience to be fooled into believing that people who could produce such an astounding video may indeed have a near-perfect society somewhere. The voice-over work, especially when showing the clip show of earth's hardships and failings worldwide, was expertly done: the solemn tone was engaging and made me, as your audience, seek the hope your utopia offered to provide. Well put together and a joy to watch, great job group 8!

I thought that out of all the presentations that we had in class today, group 8 delivered the most meaningful project. They kept the attention of everyone in the audience with their video that was both informative and entertaining. The visuals used were pleasing and went along well with the topic being discussed. The video was unique, no other group ventured to make a video, so I commend them for their initiative. It also ensured that no one in the group would fumble over their words or have awkward pauses in the presentation. They did not go overboard with video editing either. Many times when students make videos they can over saturate the content with flashy transitions and other unnecessary additions. This video was simple and to the point while still maintaining its originality and informative qualities. Each member of the group seemed to contribute and the overall effect was nice. The use of Google Maps made the location of Utopia seem real and concrete. The video was well put together and made use of the groups skill in video editing, without overwhelming the audience with flashy transitions. Rather, the video editing gave the project a professional feel. The images the group used were great, sticking into the heads of the audience, which is the point of a project. The group seemed to have put a lot of work into their project and this showed. The only criticism I could give would be that the project only seemed to discuss Utopian ideals covered in the book and did not offer many of their own. However, this could have been their point. Overall the project was very informative as well as visually appealing. They project was well put together as a whole, was professionally made, and left an impression on the audience.

This video and its special effects really held my attention at first, and as it went on it really had some substance to it too.  It detailed all of the benefits of Utopia and the way that the people lived their lives there.  Freedom to do almost whatever they please as long as they do not break the laws is allowed and smiled upon, this allows the people to be themselves.  No campaigning in Utopia, this is because it tries to show that some people are better than others.  Utopia could be a great place to live, that is if every person in the country followed all of its laws and did their part of the work for Utopia. The real attention grabber in this presentation though was its visual and audio effects.  The pictures that the group used to match the Utopian society really portrayed the emotion and the feeling that the Utopian way of life would bring.  The background music also really helped to make Utopia sound like the one of the best places to live in the world.  All of those different things worked together to make this a very impressive presentation.  It really took some time and effort to make this project run as smoothly as it did and to sound as good as it did.

I really enjoyed all of the presentations given in class about Utopias on Thursday. Each group creatively presented similar information but was able to put their own spin on the material to keep the audience entertained. The group that I especially enjoyed watching was group 8. The group made a YouTube video about their “Three year voyage”. I especially liked the presentation because of the professionalism of their video. The music that was complementing the voices that were explaining their utopia was a nice add on. It was almost like a commercial the way the group presented it. They described their utopia and explained that the could only bring a certain number of people back with them and cleverly ended their presentation by inviting the class to come back with them and live on their island. What made their presentation different from the other presentations was that they were really able to sell their pitch and present the info about the island in a way that you wouldn’t realize you were being persuaded.

First, I thought all of yesterday's projects were very well done; they were all well-organized and full of creativity. It was hard to choose a favorite, but the project that I enjoyed the most was Group 8's video presentation, which was really impressive. Not only was their choice to make a video presentation unique in comparison to the other methods, the video that they presented was professionally done, entertaining to watch, and adequately highlighted all of the major ideas in Thomas More's Utopia. I was really impressed by all of the technical features, i.e. traversing the globe from San Luis Obispo to "Utopia", and zooming in on the satellite image of Cal Poly, which were my two favorites. The dialogue was clear, transitions were smooth, and the information flowed well from one idea to the next. I liked that each group member each had their own piece of dialogue in the movie; there was obviously a significant amount of collaboration that went into making this video. Again, all of the really pertinent information describing the Utopia that Thomas More creates in his novel was all highlighted well in the video, with appropriate images added to visually represent those points. I liked how the group chose some older, historical pieces of artwork to use as their images of Utopia; since the novel was written so long ago, the old images made it seem that much more realistic. The video was short and to the point without feeling too rushed. Also, this group was the only one, I think, that discussed the Utopian view of pleasure and happiness, which both played an integral role in Utopian society and thus were two important points to mention. All in all, I couldn't really find any faults with this presentation and I really enjoyed it, but I thought everyone did a really good job overall. 

I was really impressed with Group 8’s presentation, “3 year voyage.” The video thoroughly explained Utopia, the lifestyle and its philosophy, so much so that those who have never read More’s book would probably have a good grasp on the story. I really enjoyed the overall video presentation with the music, the images, and the voice overs. It was all very complimentary, making the video enjoyable to watch as well as very informative. I liked the modern spin on it, especially in the first minute with all of the pictures from today’s world and its struggles. It made me much more engaged and curious to see how that would be countered in the discussion of “Utopia.” I really loved the way the video was almost three dimensional, connecting our world to Utopia and then focusing on different aspects of each world. Seeing how our world differs made it easier to imagine Utopia being a reality. The explanations offered even more clarity. I struggled to grasp some of the ideas in Utopia, but this video helped piece together the puzzle. I have an easier time understanding concepts when they are explained in a way other than simply in the text. This video was a different outlet for learning, one much easier to grasp than More’s text. The music was also a great addition to the video, adding drama and spiking the interest of the viewer. If I wasn’t in this English class, I wouldn’t know this video was about a book at first. That’s another great element of this presentation!

Group 8 had the most meaningful presentation. Their video was extremely well done and provided a thorough account of Utopia. The beginning scene grabbed my attention immediately, comparing Utopia’s ideal features to the horrific truths of our world. It identified negative situations -- including starvation and homelessness -- and provided a solution to these problems. This made the idea of Utopia seem even better, as it became an escape from the tragic issues our world experiences. I appreciated all the work that went into the creation of this video. The content flowed well; the group went deeper into each aspect of the city, including physical and cultural aspects. All of the information went along perfectly with the pictures displayed, and the narration clearly outlined the multiple dimensions of Utopia. All of the images they used made Utopia seem more realistic, and enhanced my mental image of the city from that which I got from the text.  The content was organized in such a way that I could gain a better understanding of what Utopia looked like, and of what the Utopian culture and beliefs were. This made the imaginary city come to life, rather than just being a detailed account by Hythloday. While the other groups were creative and did a superb job at presenting Utopia, I feel that Group 8 described the city most in depth. They focused on all the features described in the text, and covered the information in a manner that was easy to follow and understand. I have a better understanding of Utopia after watching their video.

All of the presentations yesterday were really good and unique but my favorite presentation yesterday would have to be the video presented by Gabrielle, Scott, Adam, and Stephanie (Group 8).  I liked that they decided to make a video, which was different from any of the other presentations before them.  The video was easily seen and heard by the whole audience where as other presentations have been hard to hear or visuals were too small to see or read.  From the start, their video captured the audience both visually and emotionally.  It showed current world problems and led into their perfect world of Utopia.  They did an amazing job creating the video with smooth transitions and music to match each topic they covered.  I liked how they each narrated specific parts of the video and timed their pictures and graphics to exactly what they were talking about.  I also liked their approach of taking the audience through their journey and explorations of Utopia.  They presented the information in a clear and concise manner, not overwhelming or confusing the audience at all.  They were able to conclude their presentation in an effective way, relating their findings back to the audience at Cal Poly.  Their presentation made the audience, or at least me, want to visit this perfect world known as Utopia.  Overall this was a very good presentation, which covered all aspects of Utopia in a fun and interesting way.  The video was wonderful; the editing was amazing as well as all of the transitions, music, and pictures.

Of all the presentations the one that struck my attention the most and gave me a lasting impression was from group 8. The video immediately appealed to my emotional senses. The images of the "world" we are living in added a lot to the presentation. Seeing hungry and dying people would make any human with any sort of compassion feel sad and a little bit angry. It is not such a crazy idea that people would consider living in a place like Utopia after seeing such footage. Also, the way the speakers presented all the high points of a Utopian society made it seem like a possibility that this sort of social structure could work. Good intentions were at work when trying to come up with a fair society, just like the theory of communism looks good on paper. It doesn't surprise me that someone is history gave it a fair shot. This group did a great job in doing what most catchy advertisement companies do; "selling" a product. I almost want to move to Utopia right now just to give another way of living a try.

Utopia was a pretty fascinating subject in itself; who wouldn't want to live in a so called perfect world? Every group that presented on this topic did a great job of not only demonstrating each aspect of Utopia but also the virtues. However, I especially enjoyed Group 8's video presentation about Utopia. The video reminded me of an infomercial about an island resort; it looked very professional and the pictures and music fit very well in the video. The video clearly divided up the different policies of Utopia: this includes city layout, marriage, education, employment, government, and pleasure. The city would be divided into 4 equal parts, there would be no pre-marital relations, everyone would have jobs and take turns farming, and people took pleasure as happiness not wealth. Everything was done equally and people seemed to be satisfied and happy. Everyone had a purpose in Utopia. The group also compared and contrasted Utopia to the current world. In contrast to the chaotic world, Utopia was organized and in order. Whereas there was a large unemployment rate around the world, everyone had jobs in Utopia. There were also fewer divorces in Utopia; no one likes it when a family is torn apart. By presenting the topic in a visual and audio way, it was easier to pay attention and absorb the information. The various pictures also provided interesting sights and were aesthetically appealing making Utopia seem even more like paradise. The video really drew me in and attracted my attention; it made me want to go to Utopia and experience and share in their happiness.

The presentation I enjoyed the most was the documentary about Utopia, presented by group 8. Overall I felt as though the group had spent a lot of time and effort putting together a solid 10 minute movie. It was well edited with transitions and music to keep the audience engaged yet not overpower the purpose of the presentation. The imagery was well chosen to match the narrators speaking point and each speaker was clear and concise with their lines. The group was able to cover a number of topics throughout the text and convey a large amount of information. I found it clever to use Tasmania as Utopia, both having the same type of shape and relative size. The main topics the group focused on where that of the geography, social aspects, and politics. For geography the group presented lots of photos advertising the large bay and rugged mountain terrain that make up the two sides of Utopia. To address the social structure of Utopians the group described how Utopians live and work as a community with shared housing and gardens. They also discussed the marriage and divorces of Utopians and how outlandish the processes are in comparison to our traditional methods. Also discussed where the education system in Utopia and how growing children fall into different job roles and keep the society in motion. The video also addressed the irony of the government being both open to people’s ideas yet being oppressive in slavery and laws punishable by death. They also discussed how government officials were elected and how the government was run. Overall group 8 had the most meaningful and captivating presentation in explaining Utopia.  

I really enjoyed the 3rd group presentation on Utopia. I'm somebody who learns visually, and their video was SO well done. I really liked all the pictures they found because they were so different yet used to all explain Utopia. They discussed the role of jobs for males and females, equality, intellect, and government. In addition to these concepts, they clearly described philosophical, religious, and social aspects as well. There was some humor but mostly straight forward ideas about "their trip" to Utopia. I liked how they basically took us through a memory of their "vacation" to Utopia. They timed the pictures with the music and voiceovers so well that I would have guessed that was a professional video. Overall I felt like it kept the audience's attention while still getting all the facts in about the story. Props to whoever edited that video! Great job guys!

Group 8 had the most effective presentation. Their presentation instantly got everyone's attention, because they started out by saying that they had gone on a 3 year voyage to lands unknown, and that they had brought back a video of their times spent on the voyage. The video started off with a google maps zoom-in of a small island off of the south east coast of Australia. This made the video more enjoyable, because I could actually imagine that Utopia might be a real place in the world with a real location. They had a very well put together voice over of the video. In this voice over they went over how many of the aspects of the land worked. They covered the political philosophy of Utopia, and how if anyone spoke of politics outside of the political arena, it was punishable by death. They covered the reasons why it was somewhat okay for the people of Utopia to be keeping slaves, and that the slaves were not treated as bad as one might think. One of the aspects of this Utopia that I really liked was the lush gardens that each person owns. I thought it was kind of contradictory however that they said all land is owned by everyone and no one has any private property, but each person has their own private garden. The bright visuals of the video kept my attention throughout the whole presentation, and I thought that the video very well encompassed the feeling of Utopia. Group 8 had the most captivating presentation because they actually made the audience feel like they could imagine a real Utopia, a place that everyone would want to live.

Though I think all of the groups that presented today did well, the most meaningful project I saw was from the group that made the mock video documentary about Utopia. I had not expected anyone to actually make a video for their project so it was a nice surprise. The video was very well put together and it really looks like they spent a decent amount of time making it. The group managed to clearly present all the details about the Utopians and their land in a way that really grabbed my attention. The way it was presented really made you feel that they had actually went to Utopia and had come back to spread the word about this wonderful far-off land. The video accurately covered many aspects of the Utopian society including the geography of the land, their societal structure, their beliefs, and more. I think what really made this presentation stand out from the others was the addition of music to the video. It brings you out from the “Oh, I’m watching some guys present a project about Utopia” mindset and make you believe “Oh, I’m watching a documentary about Utopia”. They almost made me believe for a second that this magical land they were talking about actually existed. One minor criticism I wanted to make was that the volume of the voice for the second male speaker seemed to be way louder than the rest of the speakers and it was a bit jarring when it came on. That seems to be something that should have been easily caught and fixed. Overall though, it was a great project and I really liked the fact that they did something more than just a simple presentation.

There were so many great presentations this round, however group 3 made the biggest personal indent. When the video first started, I was skeptical about the quality, being that they only had a week or two to work on it. But after only a few moments, I realized that this was a very well directed and produced student piece. The music and the graphics flowed perfectly, captivating the entire audience. The most interesting part had to be the contrast between the brutal nature of our society and the perfect escape that is Utopia. Since the book itself is set in 16^th century England, comparisons between Utopia and modern societies are not as obvious. By showing video and images of today's world, however, one had an immediate sense of how we need change. This offset by the epic introduction of Utopia resulted in a very dramatic effect. Especially when the narrator added that Utopia had not always been perfect, and that it became that way over time. This made the entire idea much more tangible. Also, the modern comparison of pleasures between our society and Utopia presented a very interesting spin on the original novel. In the book, More compares the pleasure of Utopia to the pleasure of his society, which included hunting rabbits with dogs. In today's society, at least in cities, this hobby is rarely seen and thus the comparison never hits hard with young audiences. In the video, they contrasted our love of money, pride, and power with Utopian's passion for the pleasures of eating well and contemplating on true knowledge. The pictures that accompanied our pleasures depicted modern celebrities and the like. I felt this provided a strong connection with the audience.

Out of yesterday's presentations, there were many who were extremely good. Two stood out the most for me, and were too difficult for me to determine which I liked the most. The first one was the Utopia project. I liked this one a lot because they were able to use their architectural skills to produce 3D imagery of the city walls and buildings. This gave a really interesting perspective on how the city may have looked if it were real, and kept my attention caught wondering what the next example was going to look like. Seeing the shape of the city streets and market place was very cool. The other that caught my attention was the video about the island of Utopia. The way they created this video was close to professionally done. It had the appearance of an infomercial that was designed to encourage people to travel to certain places. The use of Google maps was a plus as well. The use of symbols and pictures added to the overall feel of the video, giving it a dramatic element. I think that the common thread between both of these groups is that they both presented the idea of Utopia actually existing or having the possibility of existing. The reality element added to their presentation made both of them equally ring home for me, thus sticking in my mind the most.

Polyopia

The five groups that presented yesterday all did a great job. There was such a great diversity and I really enjoyed all of them. I think my favorite would have to be the Utopia vs. Polyopia presentation. This group did a great job coming up with a unique way to present the concepts and ideas of Utopia and then recreate these ideas into one we could even better relate to. The fantasy of it all is what makes this presentation so great. I think the group members did a great job dressing to match their presentation idea and also seemed very prepared. 

Group #9 had the most creative and insightful presentation with their descriptions of Utopia and Polyopia.  They did a good job of describing the actual text and applying those concepts to a college student's life which in this case was Cal Poly.  The other groups presented as travel agencies attempting to encourage tourists to visit Utopia which was a unique approach.  I felt like group #9 was the most persuasive in convincing me to visit and attend Polyopia.  Not only did this group create a new "utopian" community but they also applied many aspects of Utopia.  School weeks would only be 4 days with the best on campus food and convenient travel across campus.  There would be no discrimination in the application process for prospective students.  These are all, in some ways, qualities of Utopia that this group cleverly integrated into their own fictional college campus.  This allows viewers and readers to easily imagine a utopian lifestyle on the Cal Poly campus and ultimately helps to fully comprehend the descriptions in the text of Utopia.  They approached a world that is so unrealistic in Utopia and applied it to a college campus in ways that really made me feel Polyopia was eventually possible to create.  Each person in group #9 also carried a positive and cheerful demeanor while presenting Polyopia.  This helped me to focus on the great attributes in Polyopia and made me momentarily forget that I was listening to a presentation.

It was a lot of fun hearing Group 9’s presentation on Utopia and Polytopia. While their description of Utopia was excellent with details on things such as their etiquette, it was their idea for a college utopia that truly grabbed my attention. As college students, we all dream of what it would be like to live in an efficient town and maximize fun. What college student doesn’t want more time? It was clear that they really thought it out. Just like Utopia, there is no private property in Polytopia, including cars. However; making up for it was the many modes of transportation, including teleportation. Polytopia consists of a 500 acre island with 16,000 undergraduates as habitants. Like Utopia, each land was divided into districts with Academics in the North, Housing in the East, Dining/Shopping in the West, and Recreation in the South. Every student is required to study six hours but of course, just like Utopia with work hours, students can exceed those hours if desired. Unfortunately, instead of having students temporarily exported to neighboring Universities to control over population, students are only admitted by a random lottery. Traveling is really simple in Polytopia however. The swipe of your PolyCard replaces the use of a passport and going “abroad” has never been easier. The beach theme for a college university made use of it differently than Utopia. Instead of the use of the surrounding ocean as a defense (with hidden shallow rocks), the beach for Polytopia is the center of the recreation scene. Group 9’s effort to match in Cal Poly and Hawaiian clothes exemplified their point and brought their project together very nicely.

Of the presentations today, I think that the one that affected me the most was Group 9’s Polyopia. I think that their whole concept was really good for putting how Raphael Hythloday felt about Utopia into perspective for me. When Hythloday talks about all the aspects of society it is clear to see that they are pretty close to ideal. However, I felt as though I couldn’t really connect to what he was saying because I haven’t really been part of the “adult” world for very long and I have not yet been involved in the professional world. Therefore I didn’t really connect to all the things that he talks about with work, government, currency, et cetera. When Group 9 took the main idea behind Utopia and put it into the perspective of a college campus, I understood why Hythloday was so excited about this wonderful nation. This college campus that they described is a very ideal place. With all of the students and colleges treated equally and funded equally, everyone has an equal opportunity for a great education as well as receiving it in a timely manner. The set up with the beach living and district of shops is another ideal proposal. It seems as though it would create a very relaxed and laid back environment for all of the students. And lastly, the recreation area seems like it would be a great place to go and have fun with your friends when you needed a break. Therefore, Polyopia is an ideal campus in my opinion and I now fully recognize the value of Utopia.

This week, I found the presentation from Group 9 to have the biggest impact on me. It was very clever to use the topic of an ideal society and apply it to an ideal college campus, which was completely relatable for everyone in the class. Just as Thomas More’s idea of Utopia reflected his own values and beliefs, Group 9 presented their own collegiate values through Polyopia. Furthermore, the features of Polyopia seemed to be typical things most students would want in a college campus. I particularly enjoyed the idea of a segmented island, with each of the four parts pertaining to a particular aspect of life. The division of school, places to live, dining as well as shopping, and extracurricular activities creates a united atmosphere, allowing students to congregate at desirable destinations at their leisure. It was also an interesting idea for everyone to wear as much Cal Poly gear as possible; it further unifies everyone on the island and promotes school spirit. Perhaps such unity and involvement in campus life would encourage more creativity and interest in school-related activities. Thus, if students are more productive in academics, they will be more equipped to assimilate into society with the willingness to be productive in their respective professions. This is much like More’s Utopia, where work and production were highly praised and expected by all members of society. Lastly, I liked how the group members all dressed up in Cal Poly shirts, making a particular aspect of their ideal college campus relatable to the class.

For this round of projects, I found group 9 to be the most interesting to me. I thought it was very clever to compare Utopia, this perfect society, to our own school and the surrounding area of San Luis Obispo. While Utopia was very interesting to read about, being college students, that life of monotony and quiet lifestyle doesn't necessarily appeal to us at this time in our lives. Therefore, it was very smart of the girls to adapt Utopia to our current location. Cal Poly itself is already a sort of paradise. We are very fortune for this beautiful campus and town. I found it interesting and smart that they separated the “island” of Polytopia up into separate districts solely for one type of activity as opposed to Utopia, which was divided into many towns, containing all of their activities within the city walls. A northern section for school and studies, a section for our houses, a section for shopping and food, and finally a section geared solely to entertainment and fun. As college students, this last section is very appealing to all of us. It would be the perfect college island; having everything we need and want. It would be truly impossible to leave!

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the presentations today, and found it was hard for me to pick a favorite. After going through each of them, I feel it was easiest for me to relate to group 9's Polytopia. In the beginning they spoke of Thomas Moore's Utopia and gave the class a brief overview of the story, which was helpful. But the part that stood out most to me was when they made Cal Poly into a Utopia. As they described distinctive parts of the campus in terms of islands, and certain activities we are designated to do in each district, the more intrigued i became. The food part of the island, which contained actual restaurants in San Luis Obispo was my favorite part because food really interests me, and i like how they used actual restaurants because it seemed real. The Recreation aspect of the presentation was another feature that sold Polytopia because that is what catches student's attention. All of the pictures in the slides also gave me good imagery of how Polytopia would look and made me better understand Moore's Utopia because it was presented to me in a personal way. The lays that the presenters wore also gave their presentation a laid back vibe, that alluded to their paradise, Polytopia.

The fourth presentation on Utopia, titled Utopia vs. Polyopia compares and contrasts these two ideal city lives. The prior based entirely on the book Utopia. The group described the many facets of utopian life, and focused on many of the more negative aspects. After quickly running through this portion of the presentation, they proceeded to describe the ideal college island “Polyopia.” This magical land is much the same as Cal Poly, however with some very notable differences.  The food quality, and the hours of class were very different. It seemed as though it were a statement about some of the current issues going on at Cal Poly, and ways to improve life here. The primary differences between Polyopia and Cal Poly are all things that I would gladly change. Better food would be nice, as well as fewer people. Creating a program that limits enrollment would be helpful in creating a less crowded living environment as well as making it easier to find classes that aren’t already full bringing an end to the inefficient waitlist system. Although these ideals are probably not going to come to be in the near future, Cal Poly definitely comes pretty close to being a utopia. It’s nice to know that other’s see facets of the campus that could use improvement. Hopefully we start taking a step toward a Polyopia in the near future.

I found group nine’s presentation of Utopia and their fictional Polyopia to be the most effective presentation today. I found it interesting that they essentially took the concept that was Utopia, but spun it to apply to us as college students. Although they didn’t describe the exact details of the “ideal college campus,” as students at Cal Poly, we understood many of the places and ideas they talked about. And the details they did cover were the ones likely to be most important to college aged students. Like Utopian cities, college campuses are oftentimes quite all encompassing, allowing students to live entirely on campus. The other interesting thing they incorporated into their presentation was the idea of teleportation. We know this is physically impossible in our present society, similar to the idea of the mutually beneficial society that Utopia was supposed to be. I was also impressed that the group all dressed alike, with their Cal Poly t-shirts, further enforcing the idea that their partially fictional Polyopia is a place they would want to go to school. I could tell the group members all put a significant amount of thought into what they thought the ideal college campus would be like, and I believe they came up with a very thoroughly planned out campus. Like Utopian cities however, I don’t think their campus is likely to be implemented or see any kind of success, but the idea behind it is a good one.

I found group 9 Polyopia brought up some very interesting points with their proposal. First off, I thought the idea of being a campus on an island was an excellent idea (except maybe for my grades). I mean we already have excellent weather, but the picture of the huts over the water in Tahiti would be absolutely amazing. On the idea that the university would have equal divisions of budget for each major sounds like a good idea, though I wonder about the feasibility. I made me think of the current system of allocating money and how many holds and constraints there is on any budget for public institutions or government projects. The constraints on the budget related to earmarking funds and policies made by outside legislature really hampers the ability of the policy makers who know all of the details and can better decide the use of funding. On the other idea of breaking up the university into four different sections, that could have a lot of potential benefits. Keeping all the academics together would hopefully decrease distractions (as much as possible when the whole university is right by the beach). The biggest issue probably would come from so many students wanting to come to the university that the university would have to be extremely selective for which students to let in. So it would have to be decided if the students admitted would be judged more on grades or their ability to fit in with the utopian ideas that govern the place.

The presentation that I enjoyed the most was executed by Group 9, which laid down the foundations of Polyopia, the Utopian college campus. In my opinion, the presentation gave a strong representation of the life style desired by modern college students. According to the presentation, the Polyopia campus is divided up into North/South/East/West sectors for living, dining, recreation, and education. What I really liked about the presentation is that there was little emphasis on education in a Utopian college campus. Whether this is ideal or not, I feel that this is an accurate depiction of what the majority of college students want in a college experience. I think it is fair to say that a lot of college students are more focused on having an awesome social life compared to a top notch educational experience. This is not to say that modern students don't take their education serious and make the most of their college educational experiences, but that their minds could be focused elsewhere. In Polyopia, three quarters of the campus is devoted to fun and recreation, dining (5 star dining at that), and tropic living conditions. Im all for it, but if this is actually an accurate depiction of the generic college student desires, then maybe the "college education system" is not running at, or close, to its optimum performance. This begs the question: Is the system trying to develop the intellectual minds of college students at the wrong time?

Of the groups that presented on April 19th, I enjoyed the Polyopia presentation the most.  This is perhaps because I felt that it was interesting to imagine an alternate reality in which the university, Cal Poly, exists as an intended utopian society in which every student at the university would be treated fairly and no one could look down on another.  The concept was interesting and there were some similarities between the group’s utopian university and More’s utopian society.  For example the division of cities correlated with the division of the university.  Each section had its own specific function.  Also both societies include a concept in which money does not matter—however the group does not explain how Polytopia would fund this.  I felt as though both ideal societies seem to encourage socialization by discouraging eating alone in your living quarters.

I thought that group 9’s presentation of Utopia versus Polyopia was the most meaningful to me because going to Cal Poly and being a student, Polyopia related to me the most. It was very clever how they integrated parts about Polyopia that are here at Cal Poly as well, such as the “polycards.” I also like how they said there are no cars in Polyopia, similar to the way there are no drive thrus here in San Luis Obispo, but that everyone either walked, rode their bike, or teleported. They based the make-believe Polyopia off of the written work of Thomas Moore’s Utopia. They combined certain elements of Utopia with elements of Cal Poly to come up with Polyopia. Utopia is supposed to be the perfect place to live with an ideal society in which everyone is happy and does the same amount of work and everything is fair. Polyopia is supposed to be the perfect college campus with all the same ideals as Utopia except it would only be for college students rather than the whole population. They go so far as to make even the admissions fair in that they draw everyone’s name from a lottery to see who gets in or not, that way everyone has an equal chance of getting in. Also, the same way Utopians could not travel without written release, Polyopians cannot travel without their polycards. All in all, Polyopia sounds like a great place to go to school in theory, and I would definitely be interested if they every opened it.

Out of all of the group projects presented this past Thursday, I believe that Group 9, Utopia versus Polytopia, had the most creative and entertaining presentation.  I liked how the group presented the structure, economics, morals and religion of Utopian society by coming up with their own dream college: Polytopia. It was entertaining to hear what they thought a Utopian-like college campus would be structured, and how it would be operated. I liked their idea for theme parks, bars and other attractions on one side of campus, however, I do not think that I would enjoy going to class for 6 hours every single day!  I also enjoyed how they stated that every person would have an equal opportunity to be accepted to Polytopia through random draw for acceptance.  I believe that this way of accepting students holds true to the Utopian society’s emphasis on freedom and equality.  The power point presentation was very well done.  Every single slide was colorful and eye catching, with pictures that were relevant to what the group was explaining to the class. Finally, the fact that the 4 girls in the group all wore matching shirts and leis during their presentation added visual amusement as well; costumes always add a nice touch! Overall, I thought that all of the presentations presented during Thursday’s lecture were very well done, but Group 9 thought outside of the box, and decided to create the ideal college campus, instead of just giving a history lesson on Utopia. 

I thought all the groups who presented on Thursday, April 19, did aN excellent job of portraying the readings from class while adding their own touch to it.  In my opinion, the presentation on the comparison of Utopia vs. Polyopia was the most meaningful.  The first part of this presentation was about the Utopian society and was very consistent with the description provided by Sir Thomas More in his novel.  In depicting the Utopian society, this group did an excellent job of portraying the Utopian etiquette and meal traditions.  Another aspect of Utopian society this group depicted well was the rules for travel, both into and out of Utopia.  The second half of this presentation, which was my favorite part, consisted of the group describing their perfect college lifestyle in “Polyopia”.  I thought this was an extremely creative idea and a place where I would really like live and to go to school.  One aspect in the description of “Polyopia” that was consistent with the Utopian city was the separation of the college paradise into four parts, just as the cities in Utopia were divided into four sections.  Another similarity between “Polyopia” and Utopia was that all the food was free.  I enjoyed how this group took the novel of Utopia and turned it into something that everyone in the class could relate to.  It seemed obvious to me that everyone would like to go to school in “Polyopia” just as everyone would like to live in a Utopian society.

Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

I found the presentation on Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll to be very compelling in its analysis of eccentric individuals, and specifically the quotes from Mick Jagger the professor's question about whether not we could see Mick Jagger ever converting to Christianity as did John Donne. The funny thing is that when first pondering this question, my gut reaction was "no, Mick Jagger is a wild and crazy person who would never settle down in that way". After class though I continued to think about this question and came to the conclusion that some sort of spiritual enlightenment for someone like Mick Jagger probably WILL happen, much as it did for John Donne. When I looked at peers of Mick Jagger such as Ozzy Osbourne of the band Black Sabbath(the pinnacle of rebellion and antagonistic towards society) or Jon Anderson of the band Yes, I realized that many of these guys do settle down and become more enlightened as to what really matters in the world. In the same way that John Donne wrote "The Ecstasy" early on in his life and later settled down and became a devout Christian, Mick Jagger realized that the obvious worldly pleasures of sex and drugs were no longer fulfilling for him. It makes me wonder whether this journey is an inevitable part of aging, or more unique to artistic minds such as these- as I sit here typing this, housemates drink beer and invite women over, not unlike a young Mick Jagger or a young John Donne. Are these just passing interests for this phase in my life, as they were for men in the past? Only time will tell.

Of all of the groups that presented, I think that group 11 meant the most to me. I like how they connected classic writing with modern music. I for on love rock and roll so it was fun to think of Donne in that same context. I don't necessarily agree with some of the connections made, but it was great idea. I think Mick Jagger was a bit more cavalier in his youth than Donne. That may not b fair to say though. Taken in the context of their respective time periods, this may be a reasonable connection. I will say that the group excelled at representing to work of Donne. They also did a good job finding relevant quotes by Mick Jagger discussing the connections they were trying make. 

The group presentation that I appreciated the most in terms of creativity was Group 10’s “Sex, Drug’s and Rock and Roll in the 17^th century”. My reason for this decision is not just for the obvious “sex sells” theory, which we can all agree is true and worked here as well, but mostly I felt that the connection between 17^th century culture and 21^st century culture helps to make John Donne and his poems real. I think that as our present culture develops and has less and less resemblance to past cultures and lifestyles, it is hard to think of those past cultures as a legitimate part of our history. It becomes almost fictional. We can have a hard time convincing ourselves that “people really wore those clothes”, or “people really thought that was sexy”, or “people really found that entertaining”. Because it is all so different from the world as we know it today, it is difficult to accept it as something real. By Drawing out connections between quotes, poems and lyrics done by John Donne and Mic Jagger, we are able to make comparisons and understand the culture on a different level. These connections allow us to put ourselves in the 17^th century and imagine a world where John Donne was the Mic Jagger of his time. I felt that Group 10 succeeded in making these connections, and in the end convinced us that the differences between the 17^th century and the 21^st century really aren’t as drastic as we may have thought.

Group 10’s presentation was the most meaningful to me. The first four presentations all used somewhat predictable formats to present Utopia but the 17th century sex, drugs, and rock and roll presentation was a fresh idea. Choosing to compare Mick Jagger and Donne was a clever concept which was highlighted by Donne’s witty prose. The slide show presentation was very clear, concise and easy to follow, allowing me to focus on the presenters to glean information. Of the potential musicians to compare Donne with, Mick Jagger was a great choice. He is a very famous and respected musician with a long history of passion and excellence. I never would have thought that our current brand of artist could be linked so closely to someone who lived over 300 years ago. The first comparison topic of sex was fairly straightforward but I found the most interesting part to be how plainly explicit Donne was in his poem. We think of modern times to be so "vulgar" but it didn’t appear to me to be much better back in the 1600’s. The second topic of drugs was a great use of the word play that Donne was so excellent at himself. The poem was not explicitly about drugs but the title of Ecstasy was more than enough to display the point. The last topic of Rock and Roll was my personal favorite. The Youtube video was really funny and gave the presentation a great boost. Overall, the slideshow, presenters, and topic were all outstanding.

Of the projects presented on April nineteenth, Group 10’s project, “Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll of the Seventeenth Century,” was the most meaningful project to me. The title alone got me thinking about how people throughout the ages have always had similar attitudes. There have always been the rebellious types who insist on doing things that are considered taboo, and there have always been the righteous types who condemn them. At first glance, John Donne’s ideas and writing seemed foreign to me, because the diction he uses and his use of conceits are things that are not common in our time. But when Group 10 compared the content of his ideas to the content of a contemporary artist’s ideas, it made me realize that the subject matter of Donne’s seemingly esoteric writings is actually not foreign or outdated at all. This helped me to appreciate Donne’s writing more, instead of passing it off as a mere erudite oddity without any impact on modern life. Finding evidence of John Donne’s opinion on rock and roll (or music in general) was no doubt difficult, and Group 10’s use of The Flea bore some semblance to rock and roll in that it involved extramarital sex, much like rock and roll does. Looking at Mick Jagger’s opinion of rock and roll being all the same, yet comforting, it makes me wonder if perhaps poetry and these established genre’s and forms of writing were the same way: everyone knew they were just recycling of old concepts, but people still liked them and found comfort in them. In that way, maybe we’re still doing the same thing with our entertainment today.

The Group presentations on Thursday were more creative than I expected.  Each group did an excellent job relating the text we read to their project.  I felt that I gained a much better understanding of the text listening to each presentation.  The group presentation that caught my eye the most was Group ten.  Their presentation on three of Donne’s poems was very creative.  When I had originally read them I found them somewhat boring and didn’t get much out of the flea, or ecstasy.  Their idea for likening each poem to sex, drugs, and rock and roll was not only creative but also informative.  I would have never made such a creative connection to compare Donne to Mick Jagger.  By incorporating a present day figure, Mick Jagger, it made the power point more realistic and allowed the audience to relate.  One of the challenges in presenting on old English literature is to somehow relate the topic to modern day in order to make the audience listen.  I felt Group ten did a good job of this and there comparisons intrigued my interest and even had me go back and read the poems they had presented on.  Though Donne is a love poet the group did an excellent job of seeing each poem in a more creative light and referring them to a modern reference, (sex, drugs, and rock and roll).  I enjoyed the presentation and even laughed at the creativity the group showed in comparing Donne, a poet of love, to Mick Jagger, a rock figure.