“Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid, is an article that describes socially constructed norms that women have to follow to fit into the society. The author also writes about the role women are expected to take on during their journey of growing up. In the “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid, is an article that describes socially constructed norms that women have to follow to fit into the society. The author also writes about the role women are expected to take on during their journey of growing up. In the beginning, the author writes. “Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry.” Most individuals are most influenced by their environment. Growing up, most girls are likely to see their mothers doing the majority of chores and it makes an impression on them that women ought to do what their mothers do. Women are not only encouraged to do most of the chores, but also expected to take care of their family. In the essay, Kincaid writes how to take care of their children and their husbands: making medicine, and making pudding etc. They are also expected to do all the other things learning how to behave in the presence of men, and always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach. It restricts women ability to focus on matters that are really important for their future. They ought to be more comfortable doing things that they enjoy instead of focusing on what the society tell them to.
beginning, the author writes. “Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry.” Most individuals are most influenced by their environment. Growing up, most girls are likely to see their mothers doing the majority of chores and it makes an impression on them that women ought to do what their mothers do. Women are not only encouraged to do most of the chores, but also expected to take care of their family. In the essay, Kincaid writes how to take care of their children and their husbands: making medicine, and making pudding etc. They are also expected to do all the other things learning how to behave in the presence of men, and always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach. It restricts women ability to focus on matters that are really important for their future. They ought to be more comfortable doing things that they enjoy instead of focusing on what the society tell them to.

Helen Oliver Adelson is a contemporary artist who has created several prominent works and large scale portraits. “Her paintings are as much about the figures and places they portray as they are about the negative space, the void surrounding them. HOA’s landscapes are places looking back at us whilst her portraits express a person’s inner landscape, questioning what’s behind the mask/façade.(http://staging.artslant.com/9/events/show/401439-ghosts)”
Helen Oliver Adelson’s paintings are portraits that express inner lives of the subjects by magnifying the aspects of the subjects such as emotion and their facial expression. In most of her paintings, the artist attempts to put less emphasis on subjects’ appearances and attires. Instead, she attempts to project the pore inner lives of the subjects by focusing on the facial expression and body language. When I first saw the painting, it struck me how simple the painting is painted but shows all the emotional aspects of the subject. I first noticed the way the subject holds her hand as it signals fear and obedience. In this particular painting, we can conclude that the subject express negative emotions such as fear and sadness by analyzing her body language. The hand gesture of the subject projects that the subject is fearful and her eyes portrays the sadness. The artist put minimal detail for the other part of the painting such as the body of the subject and the background. As she uses large stroke to paint the background and body, its effect allows viewers to focus on the subject’s inner landscapes.

Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf, is a novel written in a narrative form. In the novel, Woolf attempts to narrates the conscious stream of her main character, Clarissa, using third person narrative. Others characters who are fairly related to Clarissa are Septimus, Sally, Richard, and Peter. In A Sketch of the Past, Virginia Woolf states, “Behind the cotton wool [of daily life] is hidden a pattern; that we—I mean all human beings—are connected with this…” Although the novel might appear as simply narrating the random events and Ms. Dalloway’s conscious stream of thought, we can understand the character’s identity conflict and complicated relationships with other characters. Septimus and Clarissa have the most common because they both suffer from severe depression, having difficulty construct their own identities, and being misunderstood by others. Peter Walsh whose marriage proposal had been refused by Clarissa suddenly paid a visit to her house and tempted to ask her if she was happy with her current marriage. It shows that he still obsesses with Clarissa and has not gotten over the refusal yet. Moreover, her relationship with current husband, Richard Dalloway, has becoming shallow and she feels that they have no emotional connection with each other. It becomes clear to Richard as well when he is unable to say he loves her as he cannot even remember the last time he said it. Sally is the female character in the story whom Clarissa was sexually attracted to but was not able to move their relationship longer as their relationship would be badly criticized by society at that time.

This morning Thet left his house, walked toward the 44 bus station on Main Street. He noticed the Chase bank was empty. When he was on the 7 train, he noticed a man with two identical twins. Then, thoughts about mid-terms and the recent memory about some of the mistakes he made came to his mind. He got out of the 7 train and transfer to 6 train at Grand Central station. On the way to transfer to 6 train, he noticed that there were some people handing out flyers related to Christianity. Once he got on the 6 train, he saw a woman wearing a very interesting who was focusing on playing game on her cell home. Thought about the mid-terms came back again, while walking to the Newman Vertical Campus at Baruch.

The above painting, “The Starry Night,” was painted by prominent painter, Vincent van Gough, when he was in Saint Rémy seeking treatment in a mental asylum, in 1889. Gough is one of the “well-know post-impressionist artist, and was born in Groot Zundert, Holland on March 30, 1853” (http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/biography.html). Gough thought to himself that his calling was to preach to gospel and took him many years to discover his true calling was an artist. He was not a very self-confidence man and often struggled with self identity and direction. Gough tried to learn to imitate the impressionist painters after meeting his brother and fellow impressionists in Paris. Although he failed to imitate the impressionist style, he managed to develop his own style that is unique and more emotional. During his career, he did not produce and sell many printing but “The Starry Night” is said to be his best work. The painting is well known for his unique style, which is different from other post-impressionists. This painting particularly gains attention of art community because it is drawn from his memory of the night sky.
When I first encounter the painting, the first thing that I notice is the blue night sky filled with almost fireballs-like yellow stars that takes up most of the background. At the bottom right corner of the painting, there is a town that blends really well with the forest, without light, and encompasses little houses, giving the impression of silence and that everyone seems to be asleep. The cypress bush in the foreground with it dark green color stands out from the blue sky. The flowing lines appear to be in in motion due to the fluid brushstrokes that gives the impression of the movement. Many critics have said the painting reflects the emotions, loneliness and distorted perception of Gough at that moment as he reproduced it from his mental image. The thick brushstrokes certainly give the illusion that the painting is in constant motion. Moreover, in the middle of the painting, the heavy white brushstrokes seem to portray the flowing of the wind. In the top right corner of the painting, the biggest of the stars appear to be the moon as the shape of the moon is surrounded by the yellow light. Overall, the painting almost magically presents the blue night sky that filled with stars and moon that shines brightly upon the mountains and the quiet small town.
The post-impressionists believe that art doesn’t always necessarily have to resemblance the actual object in the real world. Therefore, in contrast to impressionism, which tries to imitate the actual object, they tend to rely on heavy brushstrokes to paint portraits that are imaginative and somewhat surreal. Moreover, the painting has been said to be the best work of his artist career and gained popularity in artist communities and general audience.

Major theme of both “Narrative Of the Life Of Frederick Douglas” and “Discourse on Logic of Language” is the power of language that allows us to communicate with each other, learn by reading, and have your thoughts written down. They both explore the idea that illiteracy can rob away human’s ability to make human connection, broaden our perspective, and articulate our ideas and thoughts in written form. In the “Narrative Of the Life Of Frederick Douglas,” his master tells his wife not to teach Frederick to read and write because he asserts that illiterate salves have lesser values and literacy makes slaves become miserable. He writes,“if you give a n***** an inch, he will take an ell… Learning will spoil the best n***** in the world.” He further states “he (the slave) would at once become unmanageable and be of no value to his master”(Narrative of The Life of Fredrick Douglass 20) In addition, according to Frederick’s account, he mentions that slaves who attempt to learn to read and write are severely punished. It’s very clear that the slave owners desire to keep their slaves ignorant so they are unable to learn knowledge and necessary tools to fight for their freedom. Similarly, Phillip points out how language can be misused to oppress less privileged by labeling them as less worthy. Therefore, both authors point out how language can be the most basic and powerful tool.

Times Square

Quote #1:“My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,

Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same.” (Song of Myself, 6-7)

I would use this quote from Whitman’s “Song of Myself” poem to describe my experience of Times Square because it is a place, in New York City, where we can actually meet different individuals from all over the world. Thus, It is a place to have a true experience of diversity and interconnectivity just by simply observing and interacting with individuals from different countries. Furthermore, it also reminds me of the theory “replacement hypothesis,” coined by paleoanthropology in 1980s, which explains the human evolution and claims that we all came from the same origin.

Baruch College

Quote #2: “The monkeys said, to each other, ‘we didn’t know where this water comes from. Since we have nothing to do today, let us follow the stream up to its source to have some fun.’ ‘Reaching its source, they found a great waterfall.’ (Journey to the West)

The quote from “Journey to the West” describes how a group of monkey discovered a great place where they can reside without having to worry about the immediate danger and attack from other animals. It can be used to describe my journey that ultimately brought me to New York and prompted my decision to pursue Finance major at Baruch College. My decision to follow my inquisitiveness not only led me to discover my true passion but also opened more doors for opportunities.

Empire State Building

Quote #3: “‘You will hence be given the religious name ‘Wake-to-Vacuity’, all right?’, ‘Splendid! Splendid!’, said the monkey. (Journey to the West, 436)

This quote is a perfect description of my “eureka” moment that I had when I was on the top floor of Empire State Building. That panoramic view from the top of the building gave me a sense that how large the entire city was and encouraged me to get outside of my head more often to enjoy the presence.

Click on the link below to view picture

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1dmhx9schxhdr8c/Screenshot%202015-09-10%2016.13.04.png?dl=0