Author Archives: k.li13

— Discuss the theme of appearances or masks in Tartuffe? How does the issue of appearances vs. reality connect with the central concerns of the play?

The idea of hiding behind another identity or putting on a false persona is one of the main focuses in Tartuffe. We have Tartuffe, the religious hypocrite, abusing religion for person gain in front of those are gullible. He hides behind a “mask” in front of Orgon, to win over his favor with the intent of taking over his household and stealing his wife. The issue of appearances and reality comes into play when eventually, Orgon is so obsessed with the idea of going to heaven, he neglects present reality because of so. This also ties back into the central concerns of the play being how religion can be used to deceive people and control their lives.

The Lovers 1928

René Magritte – The Lovers 1928

René François Ghislain Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium on November 21, 1898. His childhood consisted of growing up facing harsh realities such as bearing with his mother’s suicide, and frequent traveling because of his father’s business. Painting started as an experiment while he worked in commercial advertising to support himself. He was known for being a surrealist artist because his art was a take on objects and imagery in daily life. Pablo Picasso was also one of his inspirations for his art in the 1920’s.

The Lovers 1928 is an oil on canvas printing. From the printing, it evokes a sense of mystery as to the two lovers faces being covered. The color palette is quite neutral but heavily focused on greys. These colors set of a depressing mood and atmosphere surrounding the setting of the painting but also a sense of mystery. The cloth can be seen as a barrier between the two and contributes to surrealism interests such as the act of concealing, disguising, thinking outside the box.  Magritte intended for the painting to be open ended, to remain as a mystery.

This work also reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism such as expression. Rather than being told what to think,  Magritte wanted his art to bring out the creativity of expression from others when viewing his work. By having his art open ended, it allowed endless interpretations as to what the painting is about. Some thought that the cloth wrapped around the lovers was referencing his mother’s suicide since he witnessed her drown with a towel over her, and others viewed it as forbidden love. Being able to think for yourself, rather than following traditional beliefs was a major part of Modernism.

There were many pieces in the museum that were abstract but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where it was leading towards. However, The Lovers 1928 was a piece that didn’t exactly have a single answer but that was what got me interested. Many works of art have multiple meanings or interpretations of them but I think the surrealism drew me towards this piece. As someone who enjoys the romance genre, the art reminded me of it, but also a sense of tragedy.

A question I have about this work is if the artist purposely covered both the man and the woman’s face to promote equality by chance? Women’s rights were limited at the time, but men had power, yet the man is still covered in the photo.

Source: https://www.biography.com/people/ren%C3%A9-magritte-9395363

The topic assigned to my group was William Wordsworth’s Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 and The World Is Too Much with Us. My focus on this group project was introducing who he was and the inspiration behind his writings.

Wordsworth had a rough start early on in his childhood having to lose his mother at the young age of 8, along with having 3 other siblings. He was attending Hawkshead Grammar School at that time pursuing his passion of literature. While he was studying, his father was often abroad working and eventually passed away, leaving Wordsworth and his 3 siblings as orphans. Despite the difficult circumstances he had to face, he continued for higher education at St. Johns in Cambridge.

Around 1795, he met a fellow young radical poet who shared common interests with him, as well going through a rough time because of the French Revolution. Together, they wrote Lyrical Ballads in 1798. “Tintern Abbey” from Lyrical Ballads became a huge hit and opened the path for romanticism into the poetry world.

For Wordsworth, poetry was a primary mode of expression. He wanted to express his beliefs in his writing and sometimes used prose express them while working on his poetry. Prose helped him improve on his structure for his poetic beliefs and political enthusiasm. He was a strong believer in spirituality and human relationship with nature, which was evident in both Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 and The World Is Too Much with Us.

I can see the point of view at which Wordsworth believes that humans are too obsessed with the materialistic features of the world but neglect the beauty within nature. Playing devils advocate in this argument because I am one of those people that would fit into the profile of those Wordsworth were addressing. It’s true that money can blind people and completely shift their focus and goals to solely making money. We slave away for self satisfaction, rather than appreciating what we have and whats around us.

Hello Class!

My name is Kathy and I am currently a sophomore here at Baruch planning to major in entrepreneurship. The idea of doing the “9-5” is definitely not in my field on interest, especially now that I live in Queens where transportation is rather inconvenient compared to when I lived in Brooklyn. I came to Baruch thinking that it would be my ideal choice of a college since many of my older friends haven’t had any negative comments about their experiences but I was wrong. College life here is definitely a let down but in the end, it’s not too big of a deal for me as I don’t consider myself a very social person.

My hobbies include working with e-commerce, video games and collecting luxury goods. I know it may seem strange as all three are in completely different fields from one another but these are probably the only things I find interest in and can stay in focus with. In my free time, i’m probably binging a series i’ve already seen or playing games, sometimes even both. It’s a bad habit I hope to break eventually but being the procrastinator that I am, it may take a while.

I definitely want to improve on myself throughout the course of this semester since i’m well aware of the fact that writing isn’t my specialty, as you can probably tell from this post but i’m hoping to get through this semester along with the rest of you all.