Category Archives: Uncategorized

What does Wollstonecraft have to say about marriage? In her view, what would allow a woman to be a good wife and mother?

Mary Wollstonecraft talks largely about the role of women in society, and mocks the view of the men in her era. Society in the 18th century believed that a women’s only role was to please. But if someone cannot derive happiness through anything but pleasing others and not herself she will never really be able to please anyone to her fullest capabilities because she herself is not happy.

For Rousseau, what is the relationship between feeling and thinking?

Rousseau clearly states is ability to feel before think. He developed these feelings at a young age, essentially thinking with his heart and not his mind.  He said that feelings come more naturally than thinking. I personally think that thinking and feelings go hand in hand. How could you feel something without thinking about that feeling?

What would it mean to believe that “whatever is, is right?”  How would that affect one’s outlook or behavior?

To believe that “whatever is, is right” implies that you think that whatever happens is happening for a reason, and that reason is out of your control. Implying there is a higher power determining your faith, which is highlighted in this story. Pope talks about how God is determining your faith. On one hand I agree with what he is saying, that everything does happen for a reason. On the other hand if you lived your whole life like that, that can be a great excuse for laziness and failure to live the life you truly desire.

Why do you think people (both in the 18th century, when Akinari was writing, and in our own day) are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural?

I think people like ghost stories and tales of the supernatural because there’s a little bit of uncertainty involved in the topic and I think that sparks an interest in some people. I also think it also lets people escape the repetitive nature of reality, and discover the more creative side of their imagination. They also used it to pass time because they didn’t have the things we have today to keep ourselves entertained.

–What do you think the significance of Allende’s title is? What does it mean to be made of clay? –

-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?

–Why do you think Azucena becomes a symbol of the tragedy that is unfolding in the story?

–What did you make of the President’s visit to the site of the disaster? What kind of commentary is Allende making here?

–How can you connect this story with your own experiences of natural or other disasters? Are there elements of the story that you can relate to? How?

–How is the theme of maternity explored in the story? Give at least two examples.
–Morrison adds issues of class to what is already a complicated story about race. Why? Where in the story do you see evidence of this?
–What is the meaning of Morrison’s title, Recitatif? How does it work as a title for this story?
–What are Twyla and Roberta fighting about in the section about school busing? What’s going on between them?
–Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
–Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?

–Why does the narrator address his listener as “my son”?

–The narrator tells us that “every new generation finds the doum tree as though it had been born at the time of their birth and would grow up with them.” What do you make of this?

–What seems to be the story’s perspective on the government in newly independent Sudan? What’s the relationship between the government and the villagers?

–Explain the shift in narratorial perspective in the final passages of the story? How does it change our own view of the text

Andre Derain was born in the suburbs in Paris and grew up in a middle-class family. Derain studied engineering as he grew older but found it miserable, causing him to leave the program and pursue drawing. Andre ended up excelling creatively in painting and drawing from age 15. He was known throughout his youth and early adulthood for his rebellious attitude. Derain was pulled away from his creative career when he was forced into the military for 3 years or so. Afterward, he spent time with now famous artists such as Matisse and Ambrose Vollard. Derain was convinced that Fauvism was the perfect form of art for him until after spending an awful lot of time with Picasso, he changed his style to a more gothic approach. (Fauvism is the use of vibrancy and unrealistic tones.) Toward the later years of his life Derain served in the military yet again for 5 years and upon leaving, began to work as a designer for theater sets at many ballets. In 1928 he was awarded the Carnegie Prize. After this he began to denounced modern art and return to classics. He had a huge effect on cubism, fauvism as well as many famous artists throughout his life. A famous quote from Andre Derain is, “Over-indulgence in reality spells death.” I believe this speaks additionally to his love of thinking outside the box by painting in unrealistic ways. 

The painting Fishing Boats, Collioure, was completed in 1905 and is an excellent example of Derain’s use of drama through perspective. At first glance the viewer can see two men looking out at what is going on. From a panoramic view one can see people occupied by different occupations on the shore gathering fishing tools, sailboats floating on the water and vibrantly colored mountains in the background below pink fluffy clouds. 

In this work, a multitude of attributes of modernism are utilized. To start, Andre Derain’s widespread use of fauvism is one of the prime examples of modernism in this piece. Through his use of very bright and vibrant colors, an unrealistic atmosphere is created for the viewer. The strokes in this work also develop an abstract motif in the way that the colors blend through the ocean, grass and mountains. Abstract art and fauvism are some of the key characteristics of modern art.  When I first entered the Metropolitan Museum, I went to the second floor and passed through the nineteenth century paintings and then encountered the Henry J. Heintz galleries where the Fishing Boats painting was.

What drew me to this piece was all ofthe different things going on at once in the painting. For example the small town in the far distance on the right, the mountains and blue skies on the left and the fishermen and sailors near the water closest to the viewer. 

One of the questions I have about this piece is what original inspiration for this piece was, whether it was a city that Derain visited or one he wished to, or if it was completely imagination that created the work.

As a child I always found museums boring and not interesting. However, when I visited the Museum of Modern Art, my experience was different. I found that I actually became very interested in the environment and in the paintings there, and I am glad I took the experience. I went to the exhibition on the 5th floor, and I was fascinated. I’ve taken a couple of art classes throughout my years in school, and it was surreal seeing famous paintings by artists like Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock. I have studied many of their famous paintings in the past, and it is certainly one thing to learn about them… but to see them in person is a completely different experience.

One artist who I’ve always had an interest in is Salvador Dali. Salvador Dali was a spanish artist whose presence lived in the 20th century. Perhaps the most famous and recognized piece he has is his painting “The Persistence of Memory.” I’ve always recognized this painting as the one with the melting clocks, but analyzing this painting deeper, there are definitely meanings behind it.

An aspect of modernism is to critique existing ideas and Salvador Dali did this with the concept of time. By the bent/melting clocks, he ridicules the concept of time. I believe the purpose of this is to convey that time does not really exist structurally and it is whatever you want it to be or make of it. He emphasizes this by painting not just one, but three melting clocks.

This was the first time I ever Visited the Museum of Modern Art and it was an amazing experience. I took my time going through all the floors and when I finally arrived at the 5th floor I saw incredible work all around, however, there was one piece that caught my attention the most.  The name of the artwork was called “Man with a Guitar” by Georges Braque which was made in 1912. George Braques was the leading face of cubism and most of his work consisted of still life and other images that can be viewed through different perspectives, whether it is the color, texture, or the type of lines. According to TheArtStory.org, Georges Braque glued ads to his work which paved and foreshadowed another movement called Pop Art. This was surprising because last semester I actually wrote a speech about Pop Art and Andy Warhol, so reading this information was very interesting. Going back to the painting, the mode the artwork was made in is called Analytic Cubism which involves basic principle shapes that overlap to create different ideas in the art piece. According to Moma.org Georges Braque created a 3D illusion to make people try and understand the concept of a man playing the guitar that is broken down into “Geometrical shapes”.  Since this art piece is analytic cubism it is a stream of modernism. When walking around the Museum everyone was attracted to the starry night, which was nice to look at, but I wanted to focus my attention on all these other beautiful pieces. When I arrived at this particular art piece I was really interested in it because it reminded me of a concept that a music artist used in his music video in which the picture was distorted just like this image. Therefore, I stayed and tried to analyze this particular art piece to figure out what it was. My impatience prevailed and I eventually looked up on the internet to get more details on this art piece. Some question I have for this art piece is why a man playing the guitar? I like to know what inspires an artist. Was George Braques walking down the street and saw a man playing the guitar? Everyone gets their inspiration from different things and I personally like to know what an artist thinks of. It’s like stepping into the artist’s shoes for a brief second.