Student Responses to ON LONGING Reading

Marcus Chan

"Nostalgia can not be sustained without loss."

The image on the left is a picture of my sister and I when we were three. The image on the right is a picture, same location, of my sister and I when we were seventeen. I never knew how much I missed my sister until she moved into college.

Ana Garcia

"THE SOUVENIR REDUCES THE PUBLIC, THE MONUMENTAL, AND THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL INTO THE MINIATURE, THAT WHICH CAN BE ENVELOPED BY THE BODY."

When I used to smoke box cigarettes, American Spirits was my brand of choice. A few months or maybe years into me smoking the brand, they started coming out with these little slips that had an interesting photograph on one side and some sort of information or statistic about their brand. i absolutely loved them. To this day, I keep them in my visor and they've outlived my previous car. It's not so much that they represent smoking for me, although they do, but it was a lovely extra.

Madison Williams

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."

This picture is of me and my best friend, Danielle, standing in front of the Fremont Troll in Seattle, Washington. I chose this image to represent this particular quote because without us standing in front of the sculpture, it would be difficult to determine exactly how large it is. While the surrounding bridge may direct one to some sense of scale, the presence of a human body in front of the structure allows one to be certain this is a piece of grand stature.

Mason Mushinski

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."

When looking for a picture that related most to this quote, this one took the cake. I took this picture on Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh, which is a large mountain that overlooks the entire city. By holding a clear crystal ball I was not only able to flip the entire city upside down but I was also able to hold the entire city in my hand. The body is a primary mode of perceiving scale because on top of the mountain the city looks rather tiny whereas when in the heart of the city you feel as though you're the smallest in sight.

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Student Examples for On Longing Assignment

"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy." 

- from the book On Longing by Susan Stewart

Student's explanation for selecting a personal image as a response to the statement from On Longing:

One of my friends worked for the museum of natural history and one day he got permission to bring me back to the private collection of minerals, rocks and gems that are just for academic purpose and wouldn't ever make it out on display. Some of the items were so absolutely gorgeous and I wished I could have taken home even a small souvenir of these amazing formations.

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale." 

- from the book On Longing by Susan Stewart

I chose this image to fit this quote because I have never felt as small as I did when I spent time in the canyons of Southern Utah. The scale of the canyon, vast amount of stars at night and the long straight roads all gave this feeling of being so small.

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