The period of Modernism represented a time of transforming the idea of what was considered the societal norm. Artists implemented styles such as cubism to respond to the changes in the world around them. Cubism challenged the traditional ways of representing art. Cubism especially challenged ideas of perspective. Artists yearned for people to see art from their very own unique perspective rather than from the artist’s  view. The impending industrial era especially gave artists more of a reason to transform art in ways that people had never imagined before.

As I walked around the room entitled, “Cubism Revolution,” I came across many Picasso paintings. One that especially stood out to me was Picasso’s, “Ma Jolie.” (1911-1912) Ma Jolie means “my pretty girl” in Italian, referring to the subject of the painting. However, what interested me was that Picasso did not take on the normal painting of an artists’ beloved. As you can see from the painting, there is no clear image of a “pretty girl.” Instead, Picasso used various mechanisms of representation to describe his beloved. According to the description next to the painting, “Ma Jolie” was the refrain of a popular song at the time. This idea explains the treble clef and music staff situated by the stenciled letters. All of the bold, stenciled letters may represent the idea of language. Picasso simultaneously used these aspects to illustrate his lover in a way that no artist would think to. Picasso was very abstract in the way he depicted his lover. From a certain angle, it kind of appears that there is a lady holding a guitar in the painting. This perspective of mine, however, may not be the same as someone else’s. Some may not see the woman holding the guitar, and instead may see something else in the painting. This idea just goes to show that everyone will interpret “Ma Jolie” in a different way and this was Picasso’s very intention. All in all, I really enjoyed how all of these paintings required a lot of critical thinking, analyzing and perspective.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5coatrnzde8a50c/ENG2850%20WEB%20OF%20CHARACTERS.docx?dl=0

Attached is the link to my character connections web.

It was a tiring morning for her. Hannah arose from her bed and slumped her way over to the bathroom. She thought about how she wanted to go back to bed, and stay there until 12 in the afternoon. Traffic was moving slow on the Whitestone Expressway that morning as she drove forty minutes to Astoria from Whitestone. She thought again about sleeping as she drove in. Hannah passed by several accidents on the way in and thought to herself about the feelings of the drivers at that moment in time. They probably felt frustrated. Finally, she arrives in Astoria and starts her five minute walk to the train up 23rd avenue. She passes by a lot of young people with backpacks. They’re all probably going to school too, she thinks. She stops in her favorite coffee shop in Astoria- the coffee pot. The owner greets her with a smile as he is probably grateful for all of the business she does at the coffee pot. On the N train now and she gets a seat. Score! She looks around for elderly people and secretly hopes there aren’t any so she doesn’t have to give up her seat. No elderly people in sight.  She falls asleep on the train and wakes up just in time to transfer to the 6 at Lexington Avenue. Five minutes until a 6 train comes- not too bad. The same MTA employee is here this morning that is here every morning. He always looks unhappy. She gets on a 6 and makes it to 23rd street. Walks down to Baruch college and enter through the Newman campus, just making her 9:05 class. Still exhausted.

In his essay “Family Romances,” Freud presents the relationship between a child and his/her parents. Freud says that young children tend to see their parents as their only source of knowledge and their only authoritative figure. This ties into the idea of nature vs. nurture. Children are nurtured into their parent’s way of thinking until they became wise and mature enough to see beyond their parent’s ways. Young children lack true individuality because all of their beliefs are based on those of their parent’s. The child’s only true identity is his parents and the child’s only role model is his parents. As children become exposed to all of what life has to offer, they become conflicted. As Freud explains, “But as intellectual growth increases, the child cannot help discovering by degrees the category to which his parents belong. He gets to know other parents and compares them with his own, and so acquires the right to doubt the incomparable and unique quality which he had attributed to them…” Thus, as the child progresses and matures, he/she will doubt the perfection of his/her parents. The child will see all of the flaws in his/her parents in relation to other parents and other adult figures. The child’s lack of individuality provokes conflict within the child. The child then has to fend for his/her self to discover true sources of knowledge and wisdom. It is only appropriate for the child to undergo conflict and confusion in many ways, especially skepticism, sexual rivalry and fantasies. All of these are necessary for the child to learn and develop a sense of true individuality.

I first became familiar with Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in my American Political Thought class last semester. Something I noticed especially surprising and extraordinary about his narrative was the eloquence and fluency of Douglass’ words as a speaker of his own narrative. As a slave, Douglass was deprived of language, reading and writing skills- skills that a white person took advantage of. However, his narrative proved otherwise. Douglass wrote with more articulation and expression than any individual of his time. In a similar way, M. NourbeSe Philips performs her poem “Discourse on the Logic of Language,” which is comparable in many ways to Douglass’ slave narrative in terms of language. Her poem stresses the importance of the “mother tongue,” or language, we see throughout Douglass’ narrative. Both writers use language to assess their status as an individual and as a medium to integrate themselves into society. They tend to stray away from using words in their most basic sense. They take words and add complexity by means of literary devices and figurative language. Douglass especially does so to prove his intelligence as a slave. For example, in chapter one, Douglass writes, “By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs…” In this sentence, Douglass uses a simile to show that slaves are perceived as having the intellectual of a horse. Douglass also uses irony, alliteration, personification and rhetoric devices to underline the significance and power of language. In addition, Philips emphasizes, “Every owner of slaves shall wherever possible shall ensure that the slaves belong to as many ethno-linguistic groups as possible. If they cannot speak to each other, they cannot then ferment rebellion and revolution. ” Thus, language is the most powerful form of expression which is necessary to liberate slaves from the bondage that constrains them to their slaveholders.

The Tiger- Beatrice Margolin

I would argue that the Creature is much more representative of William Blake’s “The Tyger” than “The Lamb.” The Creature, like the Tyger, is set up as fearful being, especially considering the circumstances around his birth and the murders he later commits. The first two lines, reading, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright / In the forests of the night,” set up the Tyger as a fascinating and awe-inspiring being, which I believe the Creature to be. The Creature is a man-made human, who resembles a monster but develops a personality through observing its surroundings, which sets him up as an interesting figure. The following lines read, “What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” which shows the duality behind the Creature’s existence: his creation is a marvel, but there is also a frightening aspect to the implications that life could be artificially created by man. After the first stanza, the poem turns much darker, especially with the lines, “On what wings dare he aspire? / What the hand, dare seize the fire?” In the context of the novel, this evokes the image of Frankenstein as God, which follows the narrative since Frankenstein is trying to create life through science instead of letting nature create it. It raises questions about his intentions and alludes to the fact that they were not good or pure. This allusion is continued with the lines, “And what shoulder, & what art / Could twist the sinews of thy heart?” These lines ask once again about the intent behind the Creature’s birth and apply negative connotations to it, questioning what kind of being Frankenstein is to create something like the Creature. Frankenstein is someone who appreciates the beauty of nature, so the question posed by the poem, “Did he smile his work to see? / Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” asks how Frankenstein can enjoy nature but try to defy it with the Creature. As the novel progresses, we see the much darker sides of the Creature appear, from his anger to his violence, and it is all spurred on by Frankenstein and his rejection of the Creature, which is why I believe “The Tyger” better embodies the Creature throughout the story.

The Lamb-Hannah McQuaid

After reading the two poems by William Blake, I believe that the Lamb most resembles the Creature from Mary Shelley’s, Frankenstein. I believe this for the following reasons. Although at first the Creature is portrayed as this “grotesque,” “horrid,” and “disgusting” being, he is given these names solely due to his physical appearance. Frankenstein had different expectations for his creation, and once he saw his finished product, he was mortified. In a way, this idea makes a monster of Frankenstein for being prejudice based on appearance. Frankenstein’s intolerance for his own creation based on its appearance makes me, as the reader, sympathize and feel compassion for the creature. Blake repeats, “Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou know who made thee…” This sense of abandonment is depicted within Frankenstein through the Creature. The Creature is not loved by his own creator, instead he is condemned by his creator. In a similar way, Blake asserts, “For he calls himself a Lamb: He is meek & he is mild, He became a little child…,” in regards to the creator of the lamb. In this way, a parallel can be drawn between the creator of the lamb and Victor Frankenstein. Although Victor Frankenstein is ambitious, he is deeply flawed and a coward for not being able to meet the responsibilities that a creator has to its creation. All Frankenstein had to do was feel a sense of pride and compassion for his creation. He fails to do this on every ground, therefore the reader tends to feel sorry for the Creature, or the mistreated “Lamb.” There is innocence somewhere deeply rooted within the Creature for he is only “vengeful” because he is not loved by his own maker. Victor’s cruelty towards the Creature is the only aspect that drives the innocence of out of the Creature. For these reasons, I believe that the “Lamb” is more illustrative of the Creature’s nature based on the context of the novel.

I feel as though watching something happen versus reading about something happening provokes two different kinds of feelings. This is especially true for the two video clips and Shelley’s novel. As I watched the two clips, both sets of actors, involved in the creation of the Creature, were very excited, passionate and animated towards the birth of the Creature. It was clear in the first clip that the one actor had worked endless hours to create this complex and intense means of creating the Creature. In a similar way, in the second clip, the actor frantically shouts, “It’s alive!” when he sees that the Creature’s hand is moving. The actor feels a sense of achievement and pride knowing that he produced a living creature, noted as he compares himself to God. Both actors in the clips praise and glorify the birth of their creation. On the other hand, the novel portrays the birth of the Creature as a horrific experience for the maker, Victor Frankenstein. Victor emphasizes, “How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?” (P. 58) Victor is beyond frightened of his creation because of its atrocious appearance. He even hurries to the next room to sleep and he only manages to have terrible nightmares. He does not even want to look at the so- called “monster” and “catastrophe” he created. All he wants is for his creature to disappear, so he does not have to see its atrocity. All of Victor’s hard work and labor becomes meaningless once he realizes that this “horrid” creature is not at all what he had anticipated it to be.

Hannah McQuaid

As humans, we are empowered with five senses- to feel, hear, see, touch and taste. Along with these five senses, we are the only beings on earth with the power of thought, contemplation and self-reflection. We can give thought to anything and we have the autonomy to question anything. With the awareness of this, Descartes builds on his distinguished phrase, “I think, therefore I am” in his book Discourse on the Method. Descartes chooses to dispose of all his sensory knowledge because he claims that our senses can be deceitful. Instead, he concludes that all of our thoughts and imaginations are of greater significance because they are what connects our mind to the external world. The fact that we are capable of thought is what authenticates our existence. Descartes states, “For reason doesn’t insist that what we thus •see or •imagine is true. But it does insist that all our ideas or notions must have some foundation of truth…” (18) Through this, Descartes establishes that if we are able to reflect on an idea, then that idea must have some truth in it, otherwise we would not be capable of giving it thought. This does not mean that everything we think is undoubtedly true, it just means that there must be some truth within.

Towards the end of the reading, Descartes compares the existence of God to that of geometric proof, which is something that perplexed me. Religion has always played a powerful role in my life and never before have I thought of the existence of God as something even remotely similar to geometric proof. I feel as though the belief in the existence of God can only be achieved spiritually and through devotion. In a similar way, he describes God as a “perfect” being with no imperfections. However, as we all understand as humans, it is ultimately impossible to be perfect and we all have our equal share of flaws that make us who we are.

In his poem “Song of Myself,” Walt Whitman presents an appreciation for his life and all the activities that make up his day. He describes the “celebration” of his life and his journey to get to where he stands in the world. He understands that this journey cannot and should not be questioned or challenged. We all have a unique journey that brought us to where we are in life. Without this journey, we would not have the mentality and aspirations that is ingrained in us today. We should always be conscious and grateful for where we came from in the sense of our journeys. Walt Whitman feels that everything in the world is good and for something to be considered “bad,” it must contribute to some greater good.

Similar to Walt Whitman’s journey, I too have a journey that influenced where I stand today. Since I was a sophomore in high school, I knew I wanted to attend Baruch College as a finance major. I was fond of the idea that Baruch was located in Manhattan, which is the heart of most, if not all, distinguished business opportunities. After years of hard work and drive, I received academic scholarship to Baruch and greatly looked forward to my future there. Everyday I am conscious of my journey at Baruch because I feel that the choices I make now will be of great significance to my adulthood. Whitman sums up the meaning of his journey with, “The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them, And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.” Through this, he encapsulates that we cannot worry about the past and present as it is already fulfilled. We must look to the future with high hopes and enormous ambitions as we continue and perfect our journey.