Geography 185 Reaction Paper 4

Cultural geographers study the ways that people define and mark their territory and how that reflects the values of the population. Murals are one of the ways that people can not only define their geographic space, but also communicate their values to a greater audience. You will be reading “”Mexican American Exterior Murals” by Daniel Arreola and completing a reaction paper.

About the author Daniel D. Arreola received the Ph. D. in Cultural Geography from the University of California at Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and he has lived and taught in three of the four American states that line the U.S.-Mexico border. He has published extensively in scholarly journals and in book chapters on topics relating to the cultural geography of the Mexican-American borderlands. He is the author of The Mexican Border: Landscape Anatomy and Place Personality (University of Arizona Press, 1993), Tejano South Texas: A Mexican American Cultural Province (University of Texas Press, 2002) and Hispanic Spaces, Latino Places: A Geography of Regional and Cultural Diversity (forthcoming, University of Texas Press). He is also a Senior Consultant for World Geography, a new high school textbook (McDougal Littell, 2003). He is currently a professor of geography at Arizona State University.

Reading Geography Journal Articles This article is a classic example of cultural landscape research. You will notice that the article is divided into three main sections:  Literature Review & Background What other research has been done on murals? What is the history of murals?  Murals in the Barrio Landscape – Methodology and Data Analysis How were study sites selected? How was the data gathered? How was the data classified? What were the results?  Murals as Cultural Mirrors – Landscape Analysis How are murals interpreted to provide additional insights?

Discussion Questions

1. What types of scenes did early murals depict? 2. What does the geography of murals in El Paso & Tucson illustrate? 3. Besides decoration, what other functions do the murals provide for the community? 4. What types of images or themes are depicted in the murals? 5. How has the message of the murals changed over time? 6. Compare the images, themes and messages of the murals in El Paso and Tucson to the themes presented in the guest lecture. What are the similarities and differences?