This piece by Lee Bontecou was created in the mid-1900s truly fascinated me. It had me thinking of the past present and even the future. Looking at this piece, I started to reflect back on the country we live in. They say the President speaks behalf of the people but we did not pick Trump. So how can he speak behalf of us? This art makes me think of Trump as the black hole and our country as the structure going inside the black hole. The country has no idea what will happen to it because it is in the hands of people who are let us just say unpredictable.

The art also seemed like a tornado to me or something a similar kind. I felt like I was flying above and looking right down at it, looking at the eye and then how it becomes bigger and bigger as it comes towards me.

I will not lie when we looked at Picasso’s paintings in class; I had no clue what I was looking at. To be honest to me it was not even art but I understood what it was because we talked about it as a whole class. I enjoyed Bontecou’s art; perhaps I did not understand the point view of Bontecou’s. But I did enjoy how it made me think, unlike Picasso’s painting where I could not even think of much to figure it out. It was a very humbling experiencing because I knew before that art is something very powerful but I forgot how it feels when it touches your soul.

I thought the novel Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys was really interesting because the novel tells and illustrates the life of a character that is only shown as crazy and insane named Bertha. In Jane Eyre, Bertha who is also known as Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea is only shown from the perspectives of Jane but mostly from the perspective of Rochester. In Jane Eyre, Bertha is a character who is hidden from everyone. But when Jane Eyre finds about Bertha, Jane and others only see her as crazy and a threat. In Wide Sargasso Sea, the authors show the readers how difficult Antoinette’s life really was. Antoinette was a Creole girl in the estates of Jamaica but throughout the book, she has neither been accepted in the Whites nor the blacks. She was neglected by her own mother who was known as a lunatic by others. The only friend Antoinette made named Tia betrayed her for the pennies that Antoinette received from her nurse. When Antoinette finally liked her school, her stepfather decides to use her for profit. She gets married to Rochester who only married her for the real estate she obtained from her other. Rochester started to see that Antoinette by the day is happy and enjoying her surrounding but by night she shares her fears and nightmares she has when she sleeps. Instead of understanding Rochester only uses her for his own sexual pleasure. I think it is very unfair of the way Antoinette is shown in Jane Eyre. She has been through so much in life since she was a young girl. Instead of being kind and helping her, almost everyone used her and never shown compassion towards her. Yes later she gets worse, but anyone would go crazy after going through Antoinette has gone through.

It was Monday morning around seven in the morning, the alarm ringing loud disturbing all peace and quiet in the room. Hearing the loud noise, Sim, woke up from a deep sleep. With only two hours of sleep he got out of bed in order to get ready for college. Walking out of the door to outside world, it was raining and the wind blowing. At that very moment I thought you grabbing an umbrella. For once listening to himself Sim, toke the umbrella and opened it above himself. On his regular route to Baruch College, first taking the bus to Kew Gardens then take the E train to the 6 train. In that 6 train, it was hot and wet because of all the rain and wet umbrellas. As Sim looked up to fix his headphones, he saw a friend he did not see for very long time. He walked towards that friend, Aman, to say hi. On this train ride I thought Wow Sim has grown up and matured a lot from the last time we met. Cutting the conversion and promising to hang out and catch up next week Aman got off the train. Sim after thinking about all the good times they both shared missed his station of 23^rd street. Unfortunately, he was already late due to train delays possibly because of the rain and train traffic. He eventually came to his train station, grabbed coffee to stay awake. He finally reached his destination, his class, only ten minutes late.

To Walk Invisible is about two sisters who love to write but due to society’s norm, they are not given the same as man novelists. In the beginning of the movie, the two sisters are walking somewhere one of them talks about what the sisters will do after their father passes away. They have no identity or any rights to do anything except being governess or something that society seems right. She talks about her brother who is useless and does not care about anyone except himself. He loses his job after having an affair with his boss’s wife. Charlotte goes through Emily’s book of poetry which Emily keeps to herself instead the sister tells her that her poetry are incredible and needs to out there. Sisters knew if they published their novels under their real names it was either was not going to be seen or society would give them a bad name. Instead they use names of men to publish their books. Charlotte’s Jane Eyre becomes very popular in Europe. Eventually the sisters tell their father about their books. The father does not believe Charlotte when she tells him she is Currer Bell author of Jane Eyre but eventually she convinces him. The sisters go on with their work and in the end they receive the credit they deserve as authors. To tell the truth, I thought it was going to be a boring film which is based on the 17^th century but I was completely wrong. I also thought many of Charlotte’s life experiences were relatable to Jane Eyre.

In his article Family Romance, Freud states “For a small child his parents are at first the only authority and the source of all belief.” is something I completely agree with. Parents are the most important pillars to their child’s foundation. The child starts looking at how the parents act and how they talk which the child starts to mimics. The child adapts to his or her surroundings and acts according to it. Freud then goes on to say that the child follows more of its own sex such as the son follows the father’s steps and daughter follows more of mom’s actions. Which is true at some extent but it is also other factors of which plays a big roles in what the child goes on to follow. It is society who sets what a man and woman is supposed to act like. A man is supposed to act a certain way where he is seemed as a strong who shows no vulnerability. A woman is supposed to be a Barbie doll who is supposed to look pretty and be a diligent flower. But many points Freud made in his piece are accurate and informative.

Simarjit Singh

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman is a very beautiful piece of writing. In his piece he talks about how this person is so connected to nature. He sees everything as a part of rather than how we are know so detached and lost. In his writing, he talks about grass as a human being as if it is one of us. It is true that everything around us such animals and plants are just like us. With our busy lives, we sometimes become very selfish. Where we think it is all about us and get trapped in our bubble. While reading Whitman’s piece I felt some type of freedom where I am too connected to nature. Whiteman talks about a Hawk being untamed like him in which I think he is trying to say that we are like the hawk that is hard to train. For some reason his piece reminded me of a video I watched on YouTube. His guy was talking about when we get detached from nature we started to be depressed ass if we lost ourselves. But it is all about perspective, he said you may go to a park and sitting on bench where you are doing but watch the animals play, birds sing, the green in the grass and trees. He said this act will help you feel better about yourself. He also said it is important to maintain that type of mindset in your life because the more you stick with nature the better you will be.

Simarjit Singh

After reading all of the poems by Emily Dickinson, in my opinion, the poem Hope best compare to Jane Eyre. The poem talks about Hope as a bird who is beautiful in its own ways. It goes through so many difficulties in order to survive. Just like Jane Eyre, she is a smart and beautiful in her own ways. She goes through situations that are difficult and caused by others which she cannot control. But what she can do is depend on herself and her morals she lives by in order to keep going and find her happiness. Jane had finally found herself a man she could truly love but he was already married to someone else. Jane found herself going away from this situation because she thought if she stayed she would lose herself and the things she stands for being Mrs. Rochester.

After reading through chapter 12 of Jane Eyre and Lorde’s two article, one can find many comparisons. Jane Eyre clearly has been oppressed the whole time she lived in Gateshead with her aunt and her cousins. In a part of the book, Jane was locked in the red room by her aunt where this little girl thought she saw a ghost of her uncle and was terrified. When she called out for help instead of helping Jane, her aunt accused her of lying and extended her punishment. But just like Lorde, Jane lets go of her fear and says everything she wants to say to her aunt. Jane understood that she had enough of what she was going through and wanted to make a change instead of staying oppressed her whole life. Both Jane a little girl and Lorde, a lesbian black woman, have lived a life oppression and did not speak of it in the beginning when it started because they were doing exactly what everyone expects a female to do according to how society sees them and that is to be a ” GOOD WOMAN.” But they both saw that if they live their lives in silence it will only lead them to be oppressed their whole lives. Both Jane and Lorde are both strong human being who only wants what they deserve which is their human rights and to be treated well.

In the beginning of the book, Jane Eyre, a little girl of ten years old girl lives with her aunt and her cousins. Where she is constantly is abused and oppressed. She is seen as someone who has done something wrong when she fights back with her cousin John who struck her and injured her at that moment. Rather than her aunt caring for Jane, she order her servants to lock Jane in a red room. Not holding anything back, Jane confronts her aunt for all the wrong her aunt has done to her and she will never forgive her. After that, the aunt sends Jane to a charity school where Jane sees all the harsh environment her fellow classmates are living through. The head of Jane’s school accuses alerts and orders that no one should even interact with her because she is a liar. Soon the school finds out Jane is innocent and the head is not capable of running the school properly which leads into bringing a new crew to take over. Through all the nagtivity, oppression, and poor environment Jane manages to get through many years of school. In chapter 12, Jane goes to Thornfield for a new beginning where she is a tutor of a young girl Adele and helps Mr. Rochester who owns the house Jane is staying in.

-Simarjit Singh

Sublime is “of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe” defined by google. My sublime is The Golden Temple back in India, Punjab. I use to go there when I was a little boy very often. We, Sikhs, call this our holy place also call it Shri Harmander Sahib. This place is amazingly built from its architecture to its rich history. Golden Temple was attacked in 1984, killing many innocent men, women, and children. This attacked destroyed many parts of this holy place. But through all the struggles, Sikhs managed to fix it back to into this incredible place made half out of real gold. I have not been back to the Golden Temple ever since I was about eight years old. But I still remember this peaceful feeling I would get when I used to visit there. I do not know what it is about that place but this place brings peace to my mind and also my soul. People go to this holy place to start something such as a business, had children, or just starting a new life, Sikhs and many other people come here to get the blessing and spiritually be cleansed. Another thing that amazes me about the Golden Temple, is that it has four doors indicating that anyone from any religion, culture, or any person can come without being judged or being stopped for practicing another religion. Sikhism believes all beings are created equal.

-Simarjit Singh