Brianne Snyder's History 3993 final exam
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Title
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Brianne Snyder's History 3993 final exam
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Description
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Brianne Snyder's final exam for History 3993 taught by Dr. Helen Dixon.
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Creator
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Snyder, Brianne
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Date
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2020-05-04
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extracted text
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Brianne Snyder
Hist 3993 – 001
Dr. Dixon
4 May. 2020
Final Exam: Part 2
1.) Pictures of Experiences
A.
B.
C.
D.
QUESTION 1 EXPLANATIONS
A.) This photograph depicts a ton of cardboard boxes stacked inside a living room. It was
“made” by my cousins and I as we went through stuff we ordered. Since things are very bad
where I am, we do not go out often. Even though we order the things we need, the boxes and
items inside must sit so we can sanitize everything, go through, and sanitize again before
bringing it into the rest of the house. This tells a bigger picture because it shows just how much
we order online to avoid going out to the store.
B.) This second photograph depicts a drawn calendar with a quote and tracker of where everyone
is. It is dry erase marker on a white board made by me. It is significant to my and my cousins’
lives right now because we feel like we are losing track of times and days. This is one of the
many ways we have tried to stay organized and give each day meaning when we feel like we are
living in a worse version of “Groundhog Day”. It tells the bigger picture because it shows the
time and what we are doing.
C.) This third picture is me wearing a mask when going out to a grocery store. Currently in New
York State, it is mandated that all citizens wear masks while out in public, and it is now being
enforced by law enforcement. We don’t go grocery shopping often, but it is a big deal when we
do. We have to wear masks and gloves when we go out, not touch anything unless we are buying
it, sanitize everything before bringing it into the house, strip down before going into the house,
and immediately shower. It tells a bigger picture because we can’t just go out and do things
without meticulous planning anymore.
D.) This fourth photograph depicts a few journals. They have been specific to my experience
because I feel as though I’ve had a lot of time to journal about my experiences through the
pandemic, as well as my experiences before the pandemic. I have time now to sit down and
reflect on a lot of things. It tells the story of the pandemic because it is my literal recorded
experience and explains how I am feeling through this.
2.) Objects to Collect
A. I think ECU should try to collect masks and gloves that students wore through the
pandemic. This would be a wide variety of masks and gloves, from medical grade to food
safety grade. I think this would show the access to resources that students have, as well as
how safe they truly were. I have access to medical grade masks and gloves because I am
living with two doctors right now, but not everyone has the same materials that I do. This
would tell the audience in the future how cautious, or uncautious, people truly were.
B. I think another object that ECU should try to collect is journals or copies of journals that
students kept through this experience. Students come from all over and have vastly
different experiences through this. The experience I have living in the middle of New
York City is different than the experience that someone has living in Statesville, North
Carolina. It would tell the story of the pandemic through multiple perspectives and
lenses.
C. I think the third object that ECU should collect is arrows and signs from supermarkets
and other places warning people to stay home or wear masks and such, and signs from
protestors. This will tell the story because it will show the warnings we were given, as
well as the backlash from small minded selfish people who only care about themselves
(tangent). The warnings we are given vary by state, so it would be a wide selection.
3.) Collections Care Plan
I think most of the objects I selected from part A would be fairly easy to preserve if kept in
the right conditions now. Even if they were not kept in the right conditions, the boxes and
journals would most likely have a standard restoration approach as we have seen in this class
thus far. The journals would need to be kept in a low moisture environment with lower lighting
to not bleach the ink from the pages. The binding on the journals are all different, so they would
require different levels of care as far as binding goes. The metal spiral bound journal would
require different care and have different needs than the faux leather-bound black book.
The boxes would have a similar approach to the journals, most likely. A low moisture
environment would help them maintain their shape. A low light intensity environment would
allow the shipping labels and tape to maintain their colors and adhesive.
The masks would require different levels of care depending on what they are made of. There
are quite a few all cloth masks that people have made. To preserve these, the cloth would most
likely be pressed into a low acid frame with glass to keep foreign objects out. Paper based masks
would probably have a similar process but would most likely require acid free paper rather than a
frame with glass.
The one object I would perceive to be a challenge would be the calendar drawn onto the
white board with dry erase markers. This object by nature is not intended to be permanent, so it
would take extra care to preserve it to be used in displays in the future. This object would
require a low acid low moisture environment as all the others require, but it would go further. As
old gel photo proofs, the dry erase marker can be erased and messed up if something moves on
the surface of the white board. This would require something light weight to cover the ink, but
not move around to erase it.
I think a lot of the context of the objects would unfortunately be lost along the way. The
accounts in the journals would stand true, the masks would be a physical reminder, but things
like the boxes and white board would probably not be as interesting to people. Someone might
look at it and not realize that the boxes aren’t trash and the calendar isn’t just any old calendar.
