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Observation Assignment at a Park Essay

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Observation Assignment at a Park

Hayden Park was an interesting place for a Freeze-Frame assignment. For those who have not heard of a Freeze-Frame, it is simply sitting in one spot for 15 to 20 minutes observing ones surroundings. So to continue, at first glance, Hayden Park is a typical Valley of the Sun type park. Most of these typical parks have grass, picnic tables, some trees, and usually some sort of sports availability such as a basketball court or soccer field, or both. In addition, the parks also have pleasant surroundings. But Hayden Park is located in South Phoenix, so automatically the typical standard for parks is altered.

The surroundings around Hayden Park are far from what most people would consider to …show more content…

There was one peculiar individual, a young Hispanic male, who I observed riding a bicycle in circles around the only building in the park for approximately ten minutes. Nothing but circles, and then he rode off down the road. There was another Hispanic male who was pushing a young child on a swing. After a short time they left the park on foot. The last person I saw during the Freeze-Frame, besides the ice-cream man who drove by and the trailer park resident who passed through the park and walked on down the road, was a city worker who was doing routine maintenance in the park; checking sprinklers, emptying garbage, and doing whatever in the building.

As far as structures go, there was the one small square one-story building with graffiti and the brick and cement graffiti riddled canopy structures that covered approximately ten picnic tables. Graffiti was basically everywhere, yet I noticed that the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Saint of Mexico, painted on the side of the building was untouched. Not even gang sign graffiti was anywhere near it. This in itself shows respect; which makes me wonder why the youth and various residents of South Phoenix would disrespect the rest of their neighborhood by polluting it in so many ways. Perhaps it is like Tricia Rose stated, “graffiti writers…claim turf and gain local status by developing new styles” (1)

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