Jacob Steinberg-Otter

Jacob Steinberg-Otter

Although I’m biased, after comparing my map to a Google Maps image of the area, I would say my illustration was decently accurate. I have accounted relatively well for the positions of Harvard Yard relative to the law school, as well as the undergraduate houses on the river and Cambridge Common. My map’s scale is a bit off in certain areas, particularly Garden Street leading up to the Harvard Quad, and I did not accurately portray the edge of land to water by the Charles River. I don’t quite know why that’s true, but I imagine that the fact I drew Harvard Yard first and felt constrained by the edge of the paper played a role. In general, it appears as though my memory was much more accurate regarding placement of streets than other things like placement of buildings, etc. I’ve found this true in other parts of my life as well – I’ve always had a bad sense of direction, and that may be because I have a hard time remembering “landmarks” and their placement in space. At the same time, I’ve always been good with a map – If I have one, I can navigate my way around quite well. Indeed, I could picture a map in my brain relatively well once I’ve seen it a few times. The fact that my depiction of streets was more accurate than other objects may be a reflection of these.