Anthony Stevens argues that "the symbolism of great art [...] leads us into the archetypal realm so as to reveal the eternal in the transitory, the universal in the particular" and quotes Anthony Storr as claiming that "The greatest artists are able to plumb their own depths, and bring to the surface aspects of those basic emotions which are common to all mankind" (p. 65).
Based on this definition of artistic "greatness," describe a work of art (visual, literary, or auditory) that meets this standard and allows you (as the viewer, reader, or listener) to experience the eternal and universal or vicariously experience "those basic emotions which are common to all mankind."
For example, one of my favorite books of photography is called On This Site by Joel Sternfeld. Sternfeld revisits scenes of tragedy years after the events occured and photographs these sites that to the everyday eye look sedate and mundane. However, when we know the history, these photographs take on a much more haunted aspect and remind me of the mystery (and tragedy) that permeates every place (and everything) and of which we are so often unaware. If you're curious as to what these photographs look like, here's a link: http://documentaryworks.org/punctum/onthissite.htm
One of my favorite novels is "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath. In my opinion, the novel shows the positive and negative aspects of human ambition, a trait that has become more common in our current society.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, the main character has been successful in elevating her status in life and leaving her humble home for New York City. However, she continues to pressure herself to be more and do better. Without a balance between ambition and general happiness, the protagonist spirals into depression-- a distinctly human trait.
--Kristen Perez
For Final Fantasy VII, Nobuo Uematsu composed "Aerith's Theme." The insturmental song has a sense of purity and beauty, and yet it is filled with a sense of sorrow, as it is heard at the reminince of the heroine's struggles in being hunted since her youth (for her special abilities) and her being orphaned. It is especially tradgic, yet inspired, as it is played during the battle following her murder. She sacrficed herself to protect the hero from the manipulations of the antigonist, and do a pre-emptive attack to hinder the antagonist's master plan.
ReplyDeleteI love reading poetry. My favorite and most inspiration writer is Maya Angelou. My favorite poem is "Still I Rise". This poem is a great poem. It goes into how no matter what she will rise and be successful. In this poem, Ms. Angelou uses herself as a tower or strength to do anything. I think I relate to this poem a lot because life is a constant battle but reading about people who have accomplish many things despite opposition and extreme persecution. It is very encouraging.
ReplyDeleteTimeshia Womack
Brittany Stevens
ReplyDeleteAs in high school we all had to read the Great Gatsby, and we know that it holds symbolic meaning through out the novel. For me though, when I read the novel just the story line brought great meaning to me. Daisy, one of the characters, was obsessed with the material things in life, to the point that she would not be with her true love, Gatsby, because he was poor. I found this very interesting because I find myself caring about the material things more then what I should. In the way that the novel ends, it showed how the material things in life don't necessarily make you happy or give you what you want. Daisy ended the novel without her true love and in an unstable relationship. The novel shows "money" isn't everything (especially can't always get you what you want, as Gatsby figures out)and made me think twice of what I really wanted in life.
As an example I will be using the poem “If You Forget Me,” by Pablo Neruda. This poem could be interpreted in many different ways. When I read the poem I interpreted as a declaration of a man’s love feelings and emotions to the woman of his life. The poem is like lyrics to a love song that could be sung by those who experience the feeling or emotion of love. The poem explains how if one loves someone and is not loved back one must move on with life that the pain will eventually go away. I like the poem because it reminds and encourages one to move on no matter how unbearable the pain might be after a love disappointment. The poem contains a mixture of feelings that deal with the consequences that love might bring along and can be seen as advice for everyone.
ReplyDeleteNancy Sanchez
My favorite book is The child Called "It". The author writes about his abusive childhood and the torment his mother put him through. The story is full or sorrow and causes the reader to feel sympathy for the child and anger towards his mother. As a reader you feel the anger, sadness, and depression that the boy feels. I say this is my favorite book because when reading it it gives you a sense of appreciation. I appreciate my life and that I have never had to go through the terrors this man faced. I can never imagine my mom locking me in the basement for weeks or burning my arms on the stove. The purpose of the book is to inform people of child abuse but to me its purpose was to show me how lucky I am to have never experienced such horror.
ReplyDeleteKari-Lyn Doria
A few years ago, I read Sideways by Rex Pickett. The novel was about two best friends who embark on their last trip together before one of them gets married. This novel deals with love, loss, infidelity, and other emotional temptations that men face. What made this novel important to me was that I could associate with both of the protagonists. One is a shy, reserved man who has lost faith in society. He has had some bad experiences with women but is still a charming guy when he isn't depressed. The other character is cocky and brash. He knows exactly what to say to get what he wants. He is charming, funny, and irresistible to women. I possess some traits (both good and bad) from both men, and the novel forced me to look into a mirror and reassess myself.
ReplyDeleteAlso, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin and "Tuesday's Gone" by Lynyrd Skynyrd are musical masterpieces. If someone has claimed to have NEVER had a religious experience, they must have never heard either of those two songs.
I forgot to put my name. The post involving Sideways, Zeppelin, and Skynyrd was by Sergio Espain
ReplyDeleteThe song El Error de Un Padre (A father’s mistake) interpreted by Pedro Rivera, contains a powerful lyrics. When I first listen to this song, I started crying. This song talks about how this father grounded her five year old child for scratching his truck, which he took very well care of, with a nail she had founded. The father got really upset and tied his daughter’s small hands and then, tied her up to a tree. Three hours later, the father realized the mistake he had committed, and rushed her daughter to the ER. But, it was too late; the five year old hand’s had to be amputated. Six years later, the father is fixing his truck as usual, and his daughter tells his dad that she is sorry for what she did and that his truck looks better than ever. Then, the innocent girl asks his father when she is going to get her little hands back. The father couldn’t take it, so he got inside his truck and shot himself in the head. This song meets the definition and allows us to experience the eternal and universal or vicariously experience "those basic emotions which are common to all mankind." Being a mother myself, I think of this song every time my child misbehaves or damages something I take care of very well. I do not want to make the same mistake as this father, so I control myself. I personally, believe many people relate to this in one way or another. **Edith Bejar**
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books is Poisionwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. The story is about a family who moves to the Congo in order to spread their religious beliefs with all the people there. The reason I love the book so much is it reminds me about the different cultures around the world. It makes me see the importance of family, and culture. Also teamwork and being able to work together to survive. The Price family has to learn the customs of the people in the Congo as well as the tribe learns the Price's customs. Some of the main symbols that stick out in the book are the parrot, the garden, and the poisonwood tree.
ReplyDelete--Rachel Sterling
One of my favorite books is Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. This story is about three sisters; the youngest cannot marry because she is forced to take care of her mother until she dies. The reason being, this is an old family tradition that Tita's mother will not break. This book has a recipe that correlates with each chapter. I was able to relate to it because my mother has cooked many of the recipes as well. Because Tita is not allowed to marry, as a reader I felt her sorrow and pain. She was madly in love with Pedro, but their love could never thrive because of the tradition. The author provides great details that allow the reader to sympathize with Tita, this in turn allows for a more realistic feeling.
ReplyDelete~Cindy Astorga
I recently saw the movie "My Sister's Keeper" starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, and Sofia Vasilieva. Since Kate Fitzgerald (Sofia Vassilieva) was diagnosed with leukemia, her mother Sara (Cameron Diaz) gave up her job to look after her ill daughter at home. Kate's parents made the decision to give birth to a "designer baby" who’s DNA was medically manipulated in order to ensure she was a perfect donor match for Kate. From the day she arrived, Anna (Abigail Breslin) has been subjected to a battery of medical procedures in which blood and bone marrow have been culled to prolong her sister’s life. Now as a young teen, Kate’s condition is worsening and she needs a kidney transplant. But 11-year-old Anna throws the family a curve ball when she refuses to donate one of hers. She also hires a pompous city lawyer (Alec Baldwin) to help her sue her parents for control of her own body.
ReplyDeleteThis movie hit close to home because I have a 14 year old cousin who was diagnosed with leukemia last year. Although her sibilings aren't being used as her donors, I feel that the two other sibilings are being neglected for the fact that they have an ill sister that is in and out of the hospital for treatments.
Seeing this movie you see the point of view of the sibilings living in the shadows of their ill sibiling, not necessarily as being jealous of them, but feeling the lack of attention they need from their parents. I felt the lonelines of the sibilings, along as the desessperation of a parent, having an ill child, and not being able to control what will happen in their lifetime.
Above all this movie gave me appriciation for the life I have, I may not be set on life financial yet, but I'm healthy and I currently have no fears of not being so.
One of my always favorite books that I have read was Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit. I read this book when I was freshman in High School and it made me think and learn different things about life. This book is about how a family will drink a special water in which it will make them live forever. After reading this book I learned that life is a good thing and I shouldn't spend time thinking in dying. This made me realized the importance of life and developing of new things. I also realized that I wouldn't be really happy living forever because all my surroundings would change and I will see them but I wouldn't change.
ReplyDeleteElvira Alvarez
One novel that depicts the dark and disturbing side of humankind is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Capote's account of the murders of four members of a small farming family in Kansas is tragic and sobering. Capote delved into the personal lives of the two murderer.He depicts the endearing qualities as well as the heartless motives behind the murders committed by the men. He shows them to be victims by telling of their unfortunate pasts, their pent up anger toward people who have let them down, and their inability to fit in. One almost feels sympathy for them. But one can't ignore the fact that they committed four grusome and haneus murders for no reason. The moral conflict between being purely evil or being a product of a desructive environment is what makes this book so fasinating and riveting.What it means to be good and what it means to be evil is brought into question.It makes you think about ones own perception of what good and evil is defined as and forces one to reevaluate that perception.
ReplyDeleteTracy S.
On of my favorite books is Cajas de Carton (The Circuit). This book chronicles the life of the author, Francisco Jimenez. Francisco's family crossed the border from Mexico into California for a better life. They became migrant farm workers, and in each chapter we see the family in a different place, doing a different type of farm work. Francisco struggles in school, as he never stays in one place long enough to really "settle in". After reading this book, I realized that I should be fortunate with the things and the life I'm living, because many out there work very hard to get what I have and sometimes that isn't the case.
ReplyDeleteRosio Sanchez
My favorite movie which I feel transforms the characters to life is "Doctor Schivago". I have read part of the book but have seen the whole movie. I believe that this movie is fantastic, the story is not just about a love story, but the story about the Russian revolutionary war, and what these people had to indulge in such a horrible time in history. The book transforms the love story so realistic that it takes you to that place and time, just like the ,movie. Its a great book, I suggest for everyone to see, though the movie and the book are a little long.
ReplyDeletesarahi a veloz
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeletei find The Little Prince book very interesting. i saw this book as one of my friends favorite, she is a pre-school teacher. i was expecting it to be realted to child development and sth related to her job, and it was, but little different than i tought. the book is about The Little Prince makes several profound and idealistic observations about life and human nature. For example, Saint-Exupéry tells of a fox meeting the young prince as he exits the Sahara desert. The story's essence is contained in the lines uttered by the fox to the little prince: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." ("It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.") Other key thematic messages are articulated by the fox, such as: "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" and "It is the time you have spent with your rose that makes your rose so important." this book made me realized that when i get older, i started to perceive things more complicated than it is, i probably make my life more challenginging than it is because of this. this book made me say ' i wish i could see the world in 5 years old eyes sometimes'.
---Mustafa----
"CAN I LIVE," A SONG WRITTEN BY MUSIC ARTIST NICK CANNON GIVES OFF "AN EMOTION COMMON TO ALL MANKIND." THE SONG TOUCHED MY HEART THE FIRST TIME I HEARD IT AND BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES; SOMETHING NO SONG HAS EVER MADE ME DO. THE SONG IS SUNG IN FIRST PERSON BY A CHILD IN A YOUNG MOTHER'S WOMB ASKING TO LET HIM LIVE AS THE MOTHER CONTEMPLATES ABORTION. ABORTION HAS A HUGE IMPACT ON SOCIETY TODAY. I DO NOT WISH TO GIVE MY PERSONAL VIEWS ON THIS ISSUE; NOR WOULD I LIKE TO OFFEND ANYONE; HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT HOW THANKFUL I AM TO GET A CHANCE TO LIVE MY LIFE. MOST OF US, INCLUDING MYSELF TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED AT TIMES, BUT WE NEED TO STOP AND BE THAKFUL WE ARE HERE TODAY.
ReplyDelete-JENNA-
One of my favorite books is called The Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding. This novel is not only filled with symbolism but it shows an alternate reality and the capacity of human destruction in the absence of society. Through the point of view of one of the boys who are shipwrecked, the author perfectly describes the emotions, suspense, and horrors that the boys go through. The symbolism such as the pig's head or the character of Piggy as being innocent is very detailed and intricate.
ReplyDeleteThe character of Piggy reminds me of humanity and society. I relate more to this character because he has more common sense yet he does not give in to the pressures of the boys. However, his innocence ultimately kills him.
Other books that fascinate me and I am intrigued by books that mention a utopian world and its consequences. Books such as The Giver, The Bar Code Tattoo, Brave New World, 1984, etc, describe a world that is perfect, too perfect. These societies look perfect on the outside, but on the inside, there is oppression and naitivete.
Fatima Lucio
The Kingdom of Heaven is considered to be an epic film in which history was put forth of a Hollywood screen. Many argue that the movie may not be a full actual representation of what truly occurred during this 12th century period. But lets look at the bigger picture and that is the majority of plot was very close to what students are taught in history classes and what is read in history books. For once, Hollywood decided not to tell one side of the story or represent Muslims and their armies as the stereotypical terrorist personification. The message of this movie was clear, and that is there was a period in time where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived peacefully together and their rulers were the key to such a peace. Although there were some additions to the story, like the romantic relationship between Princess Sibylla and Balian, the Kingdom of Heaven is a fair and excellent production for the audience to give a brief summary of historical events on a big screen. As a Muslim, I have researched Saladin and that period of time and was very happy with what Monahan wrote. The characters in the movie did a phenomenal job representing their actual lifestyles during that time period. All in all, I would highly recommend that if you have not seen the Kingdom of Heaven, to go and see it.
ReplyDelete~Ali Zanial
A painting title “The Birthday” by Marc Chagall is a painting that Chagall painted for his wife because on his birthday she surprised him with a cake, card and flowers. In painting is dose not realistic however this really allows the author to paint his feelings. For example it shows a man floating with love and giving a woman a kiss, also the colors are very cheerful.
ReplyDeleteCamila Ramirez
In the song "Hero of war" by Rise Against it talks about how a young man is recruited to go off to war. At the beginning of the song it talks about how they make you believe it will be a good experience and you will be a hero. By the end it talks about the negative parts that go along and he realizes he wont really be a hero. I can feel the pain the artist puts off. I have never been to war but i can relate because i have had people tell me things would be better than they really were.
ReplyDelete...Cory Brown
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book is "World and Peace" by Tolstoy. The book may seem boring at the beginning, but as went on reading it, it just sucked my soul in itself. The book describes life in Russia during a war with France. The parts about the war are not that interesting, but the complicated drama behind the curtains of the was is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe book describes that even during the war there are still love, passion and dramas.
_Nigina Boltaeva
When watching a movie i feel the music and visual immages has so much control over our emotions. For example, 'a woman walking through the woods'. Music can either persuade us to believe something bad will happen by using scary music, or maybe the movie wants its audience to feel the the womans sadness by using depressing music. On the other hand, a movie such as No Country for Old Men, which has No background music at all,may use the weather, (sunlight for a positive, thunderstorm for negative)to create a certain emotion
ReplyDeleteSarina Flores
For some reason, when asked to remember a work of art that speaks to me on all levels, the first thing that came to my mind is a painting I remember seeing as a child at church. The painting consists of a battered down man on his knees with his hands covering his face as if in shame or confusion. But standing beside him is another man, Jesus, in a white robe with scars of piercings in his wrists, firmly and gently all in one, holding the man's shoulders. This image spoke peace and assurance to me. Through all of the struggles in life, I could remember that picture and know that God is watching over me and helping me through, no matter what I did or what happened.
ReplyDelete~Cassie Marchman
I could empathize with the movie seven pounds with Will Smith. This is about a couple who have everything luxury in life imaginable. Until one day they were driving home and the husband receives a call, he loses his attention trying to answer the phone when he swerves off the road. Tragically, He survives and his beautiful wife dies. The husband (Will Smith) not being able to will with the guilt of his wife’s death decides he will donate everything he has including his body to people who are in desperate and even dying need of those things. This man was so desperate to end his life because he could live another moment without his wife and also live another moment with the guilt that seemed to be eating him alive. I cried throughout the movie because he was lonely, grieving, and at a great loss for his wife. Sometimes we make mistakes we wish we could take back and instead have to live with the pain, guilt and shame as consequences. Not everyone will take the extremes this man took to feel blameless but still we exercise every avenue to make it right again. Priscilla C. Caraballo
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite movie is "Debajo de la misma luna." It is based on a mother who is forced to leave her son in Mexico and who migrates to the United States to give her son a better life. During her time away she faces many obstacles but still keeps her determination to keep going and not to give up. This movie hits me emotionally because my parents also went through many obstacles after immigrating to this country. I also feel like this movie shows its audience how different we all are and the different situations people go through in life. It brings me a form a confidence and strength to keep going in life and that everything is possible.
ReplyDelete-Maritza Ayala
One of my favorite movies is Avatar. Although very recent I believe the visual effects and graphics were of the best artistic quality. Though the graphics are computer generated I believe it takes a lot of talent to get the visual just right. I really appreciate the people who are able to create an entire language and world from nothing. The entire picture was of artistic quality and my visual senses were thoroughly moved.
ReplyDelete-Joel P.
One of my favorite movies is "The Count of Monte Cristo." It is quite old but it has some scenes in it that I will never forget. The main idea of the movie is basically revenge. James Caviezel plays the role of Edmond Dantes who is wrongly accused of a crime and throne into prison, the Château d'If. Basically this guy doesn't rot in prison, he learns everything he can about everything while in prison for 10+ years and gets revenge on everyone who has wrongly accused him. This movie shows me that no matter how terrible your life is, keep going at it and it will turn around. The movie ends with him winning and getting the love of his life back in his arms, which I think is the best movie I have ever seen.
ReplyDelete***Sean Collier
A song that reaches out to me is "Dear Momma" by 2 Pac. The song is about all thing sweet thing that his mom did for him with a very low budget. This song reminds me of my mom and all the things that she sacrificed for me.
ReplyDelete