I usually don’t visit a lot of museums, since the one’s i had visited before weren’t very interesting to me. I have always heard a lot of people discussing MOMA so i’m glad that this class assignment helped push me to go. As i looked through the different exhibits and paintings, i was fascinated by much of the art that stood out to me. One particular piece that i really enjoyed analyzing was by Bela Kolarova called “five by four”. This piece of art consisted of three separate paintings which all combined together to create one central idea. When I saw the first of these three pieces of art, i felt as if i was staring into a tunnel that led to a different dimension. The contrast between the light and the dark is highly signified in this piece. The outer shaded area is surrounded by light and with a softer shading of darkness, but as it goes closer into the center the observer can view that the shading gets darker and darker and the lighter areas are beginning to come out of view. This painting helped me compare this piece with the actual world. In my point of view i was able to see how just like the painting, when looking at the world from the outside, everything seems to be peaceful and calm and full of “light” but when analyzing the world in a deeper sense it is clear that theres no peace. Just like the darkness there is chaos and issues that are not seen by everyone, it is chosen to be ignored.

The second part of this art exhibit allows the contrast between light and dark to take a higher effect. In this part i am able to see what i had analyzed in the first painting, but this time there is splotches of light that attempt to hide the background of dark colors. In my opinion i was able to see this part of the painting as a kind of “cover up”. The pieces of light colors used in this section of the painting were made to cover up or hide the chaos that lies behind the light. Lastly, in the third painting, which i saw as being the most powerful, looked to me as a giant circle of darkness. This section of the painting described the world for what it really is. The dark colors represent the true darkness that covers our world. The distractions or the “covers up” presented in the second painting is not enough to color the truth since the truth is always revealed in the end.

The SCUM Manifesto and The Black Panther Party use diction in their writing to help others understand their point of view when explaining their desires and mindsets to society and attempting to defeat the the norms. The radical use of language helps the  reader understand the tone and the intensity of the writer’s thoughts. Since the audience cannot physically hear the tone that the writer is expressing, the language is used to express it instead. The main points the writer is trying to get across are now more enforced by the tone of the passage.  Manifestos are written for the intent to spread a point across and to relate back to an audience. A manifesto is usually described as something used to persuade a group of people to believe in a certain idea or point of view but manifestos usually assist in relating back to an audience that has similar mindsets. They help to create a comfortable atmosphere for people who believe in things outside of society’s norms and to help them understand they are not alone.Inflicting change can be difficult however, and that is why radical language is so necessary. Manifestos aren’t very common but they are a stepping stone of creating change and radical language is a necessity to begin that change.

Knocking down ten things at once with her giant bag, Jyoti tried to look for her umbrella in the heaping mess of clothes and books scattered all over her room. Finally she pulled out her giant yellow umbrella from underneath a pile of laundry she never folded or put away and gave a quick final glance at her dresser to make sure she hadn’t left anything she needed. As she created a mental note in her head to clean up her room when she came back from school, she jumped over her mess and ran down the stairs. Her dad honked the car horn as she quickly grabbed her granola bar and slipped into the easiest shoes to put on. As she opened the door she shivered as a gust of wind blew her hair out of her eyes and left goosebumps down her arms. She walked down the porch and felt the soft drizzle of rain tickling her nose and landing softly on her jacket, she hated gloomy rainy days; oh how she wished there was a sun shower or any ray of light that could make her not want to crawl back into her bed and spend the rest of the day underneath her covers sleeping. “Will you hurry up, you’re not the only person who has places to go.” Jyoti’s dad wasn’t a very patient man but then again neither was she. She laughed and sarcastically walked even slower to the car as her dad shook his head. He thought of how he ended up with a daughter as silly as her who never found a moment of seriousness even as she was getting late for school. As she settled into the passenger seat, she fumbled with her earphones to cancel out the sound of her dad listening to the weather on the radio. She rolled her eyes as she though of the amount of times she tried to convince him he could just go on the weather app on his iPhone. She closed her eyes as the voice of Roy Woods swam across her eardrums. Minutes passed before she opened her eyes and realized she was already at the 169th F train station. She waved a quick goodbye to her father and ran down the steps of the subway station and swiftly walked by the crowd of people headed the same way as her. Just as disorganized as her room, was her bag. She dug through the piles of notes and gum wrappers to find her wallet squeezed in between her laptop and textbook. She quickly swiped her metro card and sighed to see that she had to refill it again after this ride. Luckily the F train was already there as she climbed down the steps and quickly found a seat big enough to put down her bag beside her. She sighed a breath of relief and closed her eyes to catch a quick nap; she had a long ride of 16 stops ahead of her. 20 Minutes had barely passed by before she fluttered her eyes open as she felt a sharp tug on her arm to find that someone had accidentally brushed against her side when sitting down beside her. She scanned the train to find that by now it was clustered with a faces of all different people of different ages and backgrounds. A particular woman stood out to her, she had dark skin and tired eyes, she was grasping on to two large bags in one hand as the other held on to the railing as the train jerked softly. The tired woman looked down at Jyoti and sent a soft smile as her lips curled up in the slightest way to send off a warm gesture.To the left of the woman stood a little girl, not much older than 6 or 7, she held on to the woman’s dress and stared off into the void of blur through the subway train windows, only breaking her gaze to glance back at Jyoti. Suddenly a wave of nostalgia lifted Jyoti up and brought her back to the age of 8 when she took the train for the first time with her mom and remembered thinking of how much older it made her feel. She would see the faces of grown ups all around her, all of which were headed somewhere, holding on to their bags and waiting for their stops patiently, all of which she assumed were either going to work or headed home from work; as she came back to reality she realized she wasn’t so little anymore. She wondered if she appeared as grown up to the little girl as well although she didn’t feel like one. Jyoti smiled back at the woman and her daughter as she got up to let her sit down. With her two heavy bags and the responsibility of her daughter, she needed the seat more than her anyways.

In Frued’s family romance the writer discusses child development and the impacts of family towards the nature of an individual and his/her mindset. In my opinion, I feel as if the general idea of the influence of a mother and father on a child does apply pressure upon the thoughts and actions that the child will later follow upon. However, when Frued digs deeper into his analysis i find no relation to his words, i cannot help but disagree upon his ideas toward the family structure and effect. I do agree with the idea that children often deem to attempt to be reflections of their parents, and pursue on becoming images of what their parents were perceived as in their adult years due to the experiences they lived through as children. However, I can’t relate to the idea that I resented my parents when I was younger, or wished for a different means of upbringing. Frued’s ideas are not those that he can force upon an entire population, however, there are a chosen amount of people that may agree with his mindset and have experienced the same feelings of resent and urge for change.

Another idea of Frued’s that I don’t quit relate to is when he states “a child with siblings feels regrets at having to share parental love” (Freud 237). I have two siblings and I had never felt the need to be held at a level of  more importance than them. In a family with strict parents i’ve found myself wanting the opposite at times. In my culture females are more heavily protected and parents have stricter rules and regulations toward the women rather than the men. As a child I wasn’t allowed to go outdoors and explore as much as my brother or male cousins were, which led me to wish that my parents would care about what I do less than what my brother does. However, I never resented the parents I have as Frued implies. I am able to understand where Frued is coming from and why he believes in his theories but i am not able to relate them to my own childhood.

-Jyoti Bali

In the poem “Song to Myself” Whitman introduces the idea of being “untranslatable”. This term touches upon the notion that self identity and the concept of selfhood and individualism can never truly be revealed. Self individuality is a construct that can be defined as never ending or interminable. Whitman is trying to discuss the fact that our souls and our mindsets are always changing based on external and internal factors. The experiences that an individual undergoes is just one of the factors that assists in altering self identity, one can never truly reach self expression. Whitman describes the effect of this idea in his poem when he was unable to answer the question of the child when asked what grass is, “How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.” Whitman was in a state of confusion when answering this question because all he could have been able to describe about the grass was its physical features, but he believed that there was more to it than just that. Therefore, if he was unable to describe the nature of grass although it was a part of nature as he is himself, then he will also be unable to explain what he is as well, due to the fact that human nature is always in a state of adaptation and amendment. “Untranslatable self” centers around the idea of identity and the importance of building up your character and finding yourself throughout the journey of your altering self individuality.

-Jyoti Bali

“I dwell in possibility” automatically reminded me of the excerpt from Jane Eyre we went over in class. At first glance when reading this poem i had a completely different interpretation of it from what i gathered after reading it over a few times. In my opinion from the way i see this poem i have interpreted that Dickinson is discussing her feelings of being locked or feeling like a bird in a cage, or in this case, in a house. She speaks of her experiences of feeling trapped inside the closed doors and windows of this “house”. As the poem comes to an end she describes herself spreading her hands to gather paradise. What is this paradise? Emily dickinson had her own idea of what her paradise to break through her feelings of being trapped was. I believe that in a way this poem allows you to reach out inside you to find your own paradise or what helps you escape from your cage.

Jane had her own sense of escape as well. Thornfield was her paradise. All her life she was tied down into one place, she didn’t have a sense of belonging. The only places she had resided in were locations where she was sent to, such as Mrs. Reed’s residence after her family died, and then Lowood. For once she was breaking out of her own “cage” and chasing a new experience, the pleasure of finding her own place in the world. When Jane first reaches Thornfield and looks around she immediately realizes that this is the place where she wants to be. When looking at the view she overcame feelings of sublime as she came to realize all the desires and wants that she looked over her whole life. She wanted to chase experiences, power, capability. Thornfield was her way out of being trapped in her own mind for so long, she was finally able to let her desires go free.

-Jyoti Bali

Jane is introduced in the book as an orphan who is taken under the care of Mrs. Reed. Clearly it seems as if the act of bringing an orphan to live with you in your home seems like a honorable act, but there is nothing honorable about Mrs. Reed. Jane is often tormented and physically abused by Mrs. Reed’s son, John Reed, who gets away with abusing his step sister since John is Mrs. Reed’s own kin while Jane is an outsider to this family. Along with the cruelty expressed through the character of her step brother, her guardian herself also puts Jane up to mental abuse by keeping Jane in a room where her husband, Mr. Reed had passed away. This causes Jane, who is also just a child, to hallucinate and imagine Mr. Reed’s ghost in the room with her, she begs to be let out but all attempts to escape fail since Mrs. Reed isn’t a very understanding woman. She believes that punishing Jane is her idea of discipline although Jane does nothing to deserve this type of treatment. Everyday in the Reed household is a challenge against oppression for Jane. Jane realizes that living this way will not help her, she needs to use the greatest power that she possess, her voice. I believe that in the beginning of the book Jane longed for companionship or a family. She never got the simple pleasures of having someone to look after her. Throughout the book the changes in Jane’s attitude begin to show, she is no longer in need for someone to help her out of her situations since she is learning to find herself instead of finding dependency. Jane learns that her voice is more important that she gives credit for and find the significance in standing up for herself and justifies her actions. This attitude will help her throughout the time she spends at Lowood.

A sense of inspiration or state of awe does not occur to me very often when seeing a certain place or being in a specific moment. However, my idea of sublime is associated with people, the highest form of admiration and excellence i have experienced is through the way i have seen and heard stories of different people. Reading biographies and hearing the news about certain people such as Malala Yousafzai, Bernie Sanders, or even when seeing the hundreds of women fighting for their rights against the recent acts on abortion give me a sense of sublime.

People don’t know the power that they hold and when i encounter those that use their voices to spread change through out the world it inspires me to find my voice as well. The individuals that come together to fight for something they believe in unifies the world in a way and allows humans to feel closer to one another over the shared interest of the rights that they deserve. When witnessing the drive and motivation that people hold inside them it allows me to find my ambitions and induces me to act upon my goals with a sense of determination.

Even people like my friends and my family have made me experience a sense of sublime towards them. I believe that any individual has the power to inspire somebody and that this advantage should be acted upon whenever felt necessary. The world requires change everyday especially since 1/20/17 and its important for everyone to come together and create a sensation of sublime for others who need yet to be inspired.