Week 6 Literature

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet May Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming of age that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Arkansas to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. Maya transforms from a victim with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman. The book consists of a theme, plot, tone, symbols, and emotions. I found this book to be very inspirational. The words that she uses to describe her experience invoke a sense of beauty on an unbeautiful situation.

Week 4 Architecture

The Petronas Towers are an iconic landmark in Malaysia's capital city Kuala Lumpur.  Standing at 170 meters above ground, the Petronas Towers are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The buildings, which held the titled of tallest in the world between 1998-2004, are an iconic landmark of the capital city. The distinctive postmodern style was created by architects Cesar Pelli and Achmad Murdijat, engineer Deejay Cerico and designer Dominic Saibo under the consultancy of JC Guinto. The technical elements are line, repetition, and scale. The twin buildings are made of steel and greatly tower over the surrounding buildings. I am impressed by the large scale of the buildings and the way that they seem to touch the sky line. They portray a feeling of dominance but surely that was the message that the engineers wanted to convey with it being in the capital city.