When visiting the Museum of Modern Art the piece of art that stood out the most was titled The City Rises (1910) by Umber Boccioni. When first looking at this piece I was amazed at how massive it was, along with how there was so much going on in this one piece of art. At the top of this piece we see large structural developments. These developments seem to represent modern developments, and industrialization. Under these developments there is a clash of people and horses. The clash seems to represent unity, considering that the people of the village and the horses are bonding together. In addition, it appears that this clash takes up the majority of this piece.
I questioned myself as to why it is that this messy clash is taking up the majority of the piece, and how this clash connects to the structural developments above. In order for us to succeed, and make progress in society we must understand the importance of uniting together. Furthermore, the reason these clashes are overwhelming the majority of this piece is representative as to how important unity is for our modern developments. 

One aspect of Virginia Woolf’s novel, Mrs. Dalloway, which makes its difficult to comprehend is the 2 story lines that are going on at this same time. The following two charts distinguish the main characters that are associated with the 2 different parts of the novel. Note that some characters are found in both story lines.

Mrs. Dalloway – Story 1

• Richard Dalloway (Mrs. Dalloway’s Husband)
  • Lady Bruton (Husband’s Lover)
• Peter Walsh (Mrs. Dalloway’s Lover)
• Sally Secton (Friend)
• Elizabeth (Mrs. Dalloway’s Daughter)
  • Doris Kilman (Daughters Tutor)
• Septimus (Veteran)
  • Lucrezia (Veterans Wife)

Mrs. Dalloway – Story 2 

• Peter Walsh (Mrs. Dalloway’s Lover)
• Septimus (Veteran)
  • Lucrezia (Veterans Wife)

Roaring sounds from his alarm clock spontaneously wake him from his much needed sleep. Contemplating whether or not he should buy himself a few more minutes of sleep with the snooze button, but Daniel decides otherwise and jolts out from his bed. He yawns then expresses aloud, “Let’s do this!” Daniel is determined that he will conquer all obstacles the day has to offer him, despite the many challenges he will have to overcome. Walking down the staircase that leads to the train platform, he looks down at the ground with baseball cap onto disguise his presents.  Daniel is too tired to interact with fellow commuters that he is friendly with. Melissa, who is one individual that Daniel normally interacts with, acknowledges that Daniel is attempting to disguise his presence. Melissa is angered, thinking that Daniel is trying to ignore her. She thinks to herself, “What have I done wrong, why is Daniel ignoring me today.” Once Daniel secures his privacy on the train, he decides to take out his book assigned to him in English class, Mrs. Dalloway. Daniel uses his opportunity to get ahead on some reading.  

Feud connects the liberation of an individual to being a norm in society that is achieved by someone in a normal state. This liberation occurs when this individual is no longer under the authority of their parents. The conflict, in which their is a disagreement / argument, occurs when the individual begins to compare his own parents with other parents. As a result of this the child begins to doubt the parents love and affection, and begins to become dissatisfied with certain things. This is because the the other parents may have a certain characteristic that may be superior the characteristic of the child’s parents. The idea of individuality comes into play when this individual decides that he or she needs a certain quality in order to be unique. Freud backs this idea when he says “…the whole progress of society rests upon the opposition between successive generations.” This essentially means that each generation has the urge to be unique in their own ways. In both examples of conflict and individuality we see that the individual is looking for better qualities from both society and the peers that surround them.

In the poem “Discourse on the Logic of Language” we are introduced to the idea of language, and how it relates to idea of slavery. The relation is made by comparing the mother tongue to the father tongue. The mother tongue is essentially non existent because the child was not taught his native language. The father tongue is English because the slaves were forced to speak english. Slave owners felt that if the slaves were to know their native language then it would be easier for them to revolt against their owners. The idea of educating slaves was highly forbidden and unlawful. With this in mind slaves were given the least amount of knowledge needed to obey their masters. In Frederick Douglass’s narrative we see a similar scenario when Mr. Auld finds out that Mrs. Auld was teaching Douglass how to read and write. “Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further…” (20). Mr. Auld thought process was that the ability for a slave to read and write would make them unmanageable, and in return less valuable.

Rebecca Vicente:

The Lamb (Rebecca Vicente)- The term “Frankenstein’s Monster” is the common way to refer to the creation of Dr. Frankenstein. But that connotes something far more intrinsically malicious that what the creature actually is. The creature’s actions are such due to the neglect and utter rejection from humankind. In many ways the creature retains innocence in the same way that a child with a neglected upbringing can be sympathized with after acting out. It is in these ways that the creature serves to resemble the lamb from William Blake’s poem. This poem has an obvious light tone to it and almost seems to speak from the perspective of a child. In the opening line it asks the lamb, “Little Lamb who made thee, Dost thou know who made thee”. In the case of the creature, the answer is Frankenstein. From Dr. Frankenstein’s perspective the birth of the creature terrified and disgusted him as well as haunted him for ages. But to think of it from the monster’s perspective can completely change the feeling. Imagine waking up in a lab, with a body sewn together, and you are alone. You have the capacity of a child and the body of a man, and nothing known of the world yet. In this moment, the creature is as innocent as the lamb, and as harmless as a child. It is not until the cruelties of the world are exposed to him that a change begins to occur. The poem also references God as the creator of the lamb. God is representative of heaven, and in heaven the angels which God casts out become “fallen angels”, yet they were still angels to begin with. In the same sense, the creature begins its life in innocence and if Dr. Frankenstein is the God figure then the creature is arguable an angel figure in creation. The casting out of the creature begins it’s fall into what becomes an attempt to understand the world alone. Before that, the creature is vulnerable with not harmful intentions to speak of. As the lamb is vulnerable, so is Frankenstein’s creature.

Daniel:

In William Blake’s poem, “The Tyger”, we see a creature (Tiger) being portrayed similar to the monster Frankenstein creates. The first stanza of the poem reads “…burning bright, In the forests of the night…” bringing us to the understanding that this creature stands out from the average being. Frankenstein’s monster like appearance stands out so much to the point that he is unfairly judged, and considered an evil creature only because of his looks. The poem then refers to the creature as “…fearful symmetry…” implying that it is not too happy looking. Much like the Tiger, the monster is also not too happy considering that he is neglected by everyone he confronts. In summary, we see how Frankenstein’s creature and the the tiger in Mary Shelley’s novel share characteristics such as being unique and scary.    

In section 4 of Descartes “Discourse on Method” we are introduced to the idea that “I am thinking, therefore I exist” (15). As I try to comprehend the complexness of the text religion keeps coming to mind. The “I am thinking…” part of the idea seems to relate to how we are always questioning and doubting our fundamental ideals. This can relate to many things such as religion, social structure. Much of the religion we see in the US deals with the idea relating to why we exist, and our purpose in this life. So the “I am thinking..” is most probably relating to this idea we have in religion. The “…therefore I exist” most likely pertains to to the idea that the reason we think is to constantly dought ourselves and to judge what is right from what is wrong. This is my thought on this idea, despite possibly being completely off from what Descartes intentions where.

At first glance of of Walt Whitman notorious poem, “Song of Myself”, I couldn’t fully grasp the true meaning behind the work. There did not seem to be a firm plott, nor any sort of concrete meaning behind the text. Regardless, I truly believed the poem had to have some sort deeper meaning. I decided to do some research on Whitman to get some background on his work. It seemed as if everyone had their own perspective as to how bring meaning to the poem. Personally I feel as if the poem was intentionally written in a way so that the reader can derive their own meaning. Whitman is essentially focuses on describing himself throughout the poem. He doesn’t base his ideas on a specific plot nor does he try and relate to one specific meaning.

Much like Whitman spoke about himself, I will speak about my personal journey to Baruch. Interestingly enough I come from Long Island just like Whitman. The only major difference is he did not attend school so he prob doesn’t have a story like mine. The time I wake usually depends on when my classes begin that day. My commute from the doorstep of my house to Baruch is an hour and a half. 15 min car ride from my house the the LIRR train station. 45 min train ride on the LIRR. Once in the city I spend 15 min a small coffee shop by penn station. And a 15 min bike ride to Baruch.

What makes this commute so interesting is how structured everything is. Once I do the same routine a few times I start picking up on some interesting things. From the train conductor getting to know me my name to seeing the same people on the bike ride to school. I find that being organized and structuring my day properly is the key the staying productive throughout the day. Whitman says, “There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now, And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.” From this we learn that although there is so much challenges out there we must learn to remain productive in hopes to achieve our goals.