AMER LIT PAPER

Jack London's Call of the Wild the family dog Buck is taken from his rural home in the country and thrust into a life where he is forced to recover his primal, wild instincts in order to survive first in a dog sled team and then in the wild. London's purpose with the Call of the Wild was to be a response to a new form of animal story that had become highly popular. These stories were meant to call the reader to pay attention to the plight of animals, and many authors of this genre would use first person and describe how the animals saw things as either how science understood animals to see things, or blatantly treating the animals exactly like human characters in order to get us to identify with the animals more easily.

However, London was accused of being a 'Nature-faker' by John Burroughs and the president at the time, Teddy Roosevelt. They claimed that London's characters were too sentimental and anthropomorphic (Atlantic Monthly 298-310).  London argued with these accusations and said in his answering essay that he'd written Call of the Wild in protest to the humanization of animals he said that his story was written as a protest to the 'humanizing' of animals and wrote that he wanted to show that his dog characters were not directed by abstract reasoning, but by instinct, sensation, emotion, but by simple reasoning. He also sought to  make his story's go in line with evolution (London.)

I believe that London failed in his goals and ended up doing the same thing that he was protesting about though Buck at time is ruled by instinct his feelings while he acts out these instincts are put and shown in a very human life such as when he is describe to be 'laughing' when he was determined to take over the lead position  after he killed the previous lead dog (Call of the wild 28.)

London, Jack. Call of the Wild. Stamford. Longmeadow Press, 1876-1916. Works Collection Book.

London, Jack. "The Other Animals"

"Real and Sham Natural History," Atlantic Monthly 91, 545 [March 1903]: 298-310.

As an artist though drawing is not my specialty I like a few aspects of it. I use alot of heavy lines and prefer to work with patterns which was why I prefers mark making, ink and stick, and the ink wash techniques that we learned in class. Over the course of the class I believe that as I became more focused I was able to work and improve my style over the semester in order to find a balance that worked for me.

Adra Maner

Bibbs

Writing II

First Draft

04/25/12

The World of Imagination, built from disaster.

            At the beginning of my research paper my goal was to determine the differences between art before and after the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. As I began to research the idea that quite a lot of work had been made as a direct result of the disaster this idea was quickly proven as untrue. Though artwork is continuing to be made there are few pieces made in direct response to the earthquake. Works that were made depicting actual scenes of the disaster are the exception and not the rule.

Instead of finding a gritty and hard look at reality that was brought about by the earthquake. I found instead a portal that had been opened into the world of child-like imagination. Contemporary artists in Japan have channeled a certain child-like naivety along with references to pop culture, traditional myths. Using these themes they create artwork that allows their audiences to escape to a different and less cruel world.[1]

It seems that rather then depict what their audience already sees in their daily lives the artists seek to portray a way to escape from reality while at the same time showing allusions to things happening in the real world.

Other artists have taken a more stylistic approach and have returned to their roots. One example of this is the works of Yoshitomo Nara who described himself as being ‘heartsick’ after the quake. Living only an hour from the ground zero of Fukushima, Nara fled his studio, and started to help with recovery efforts. He wondered whether he could make artwork again. After searching for a solution he decided to return to his roots and asked to be able to use the studios at his alma mater the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts. Nara worked among the students and as he talked to them and learned from them his style changed[2]

Surrounded by these students whose views on art he has described as ‘strict’ but pure’ Nara has begun to experiment by creating 6-foot tall clay sculptures of children’s heads which have a more texture focused approach then his previous sculptures. Even his drawing style has also begun to change. His characteristic drawings of young girls sport feathered swirls on their cheeks and cross hatching marks through out the compositions. Despite the new found textures the figures sport softer and more chubby cheeked feathers as opposed to the figures in his art pre-disaster who’s faces are tough and in a way seemed hardened like masks[3]

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[1] “Section 2: Imaginary world/Phantasms,” Moscow museum of modern art, accessed April 23, 2012, http://www.mmoma.ru/en/exhibitions/gogolevsky/fantasii/

[2] Crow, Kelly, March 11,2012 (2:24 pm), “A Japanese Artist Finds New Life A Year After the Quake,” The Wall Street Journal Arts and Entertainment Blog, April 25, 2012, http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/11/a-japanese-artist-finds-new-life-a-year-after-the-quake/

[3] Crow, Kelly, “A Japanese Artist Finds New Life A Year After the Quake”

Managed to fix the colors!! on my 5 sec clip~

Adra Maner
Art History Survery II
Cardon
Essay II
04/30/2012


              For my museum work paper I decided that I would like to focus on Canaletto's The Grand Canal from campo di san vio, 1730-1735. Canaletto is know for altering the landscapes in order to properly showcase several of venices' top sights. These paintings were then sold to people visiting on grand tours from other countries and used as a sort of post card. I would like to focus on this aspect of  his use artistic license to present more popular works to his buyers in my paper.

Canaletto is renouned for being one of the most well known landscape painters also known as 'veduta' painters. Veduta is an italian word which means 'view' this tradition was thought to have been started by northern european artists working in italy. These first vedutisti artists painted marine views and scenes of Rome which were sold to tourists as a sort of 'post card' that would usually be sent home.



              


      http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/624498/veduta
~http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=d6660687-c557-4981-b51d-6d234ea164de%40sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aft&AN=505190804
~ http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=158c4954-83a4-4878-af53-850170366379%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aft&AN=505358408

japan

Art is something that is effected by the people and the conditions of the people that make it and it has always been this way. Some of the biggest things that can affect art and people are war, death, and natural dissasters. I would like to focus my paper on Japan and the art of japan before and after the earth quake and tsunami that effected not just the areas hit but the whole country, and even the whole world.

Before the earthquake many people had complaints but those had never been brought to the forefront and people had begun to settle for the fact that they could not change anything about their own country. However, after the earthquake and the chaos it cause people began to realize that one voice can turn into millions of voices and change things forever.

In this Japan over one year after ther dissaster no ideas and ways of thought are beginning to take hold. The japanese people continue to cherish and hold on to some of their old was, and the feelings to continue growing stubbornly despite living in an earthquake ridden zone contines also. However new ideas among the young people of the nations are beginning to take hold. Views on everything from how to live life, music, art, and how people are treated are being looked at in a whole new light.

I would like to focus on the aspect of how the new views of young adults and 20-30 somethings are effecting the japanese art scene. Comparing and contrast art two years before the earthquake and a year after.

      A day at the museum. For most adult this wouldn't be a fun prospect so why on earth would a teacher pick a museum for a field trip? Especially a museum holding a exhibiton on ancient weaponry. However the 'Armed and Dangerous' exhibit is an exhibit that is valuable to any middle or highschool  history class.

Though this is not to say that violence should be encouraged in schools. It is very true that most teenagers have and intrest in things they have never seen before. They search the internet continuously for unique things they have never seen or heard of before. An art museum holding and exhibit of weaponry is deffinitely one of them.

It is important for students in todays history classes to learn about the weapons used during a certain period. Students who would not normally find the subject of history intresting at all would be drawn in by this intresting topic which captures the imaginations of boys and girl who may have used similar weapons in video games or seen them in movies.

With their intrests sparked students become more willing to learn and will more easily take in the information learned in a class when their minds recall a certain weapon used during that time period. Such as the collection of samurai sword and the samurai armor on display when talking about fuedal japan.

This exhibit would also appeal to the art students even though the common artist was probably not the main focus of this exhibit. Artists in every field can gain inspiration from the the decoration and design of these weapons. Unlike todays weapons which are built solely to get the job done, weapons of past era were not only used for the purpose of killing but were used in cermony, and festivals. Because of these uses these weapons were at times highly decorated as well as useful.

Designers can take inspiration from the designs on the hilt of the tanto to the fringe on the cerimonial spears. Taking these old world examples and using them to formulate new designs. Metalsmiths can gain inspiration to bring their craftmanship to a higher level. Also these works can be used as refrences for illustrators and animators who can use them to bring a new sense of realism to a piece that may not normally have possessed and realism at all if not for a refrence.

The set up of the exhibit to me was a little strange that main area of the exhibit waswell layed out but there was a certain part of the exhibit that lead to a door that lead to a flight of stairs, these stairs were not marked with any sort of sign that signaled wether the exhibit continued this way. It was also not marked to say wether it was an exit or not. Not sure wether to go up or not I turned around and was forced to back track a little which in some cases can be fine but I wasn't really intrested in. The stair case felt kind of like a tease and left me wishing their was more to the exhibit.

Otherwise I believe this exhibit was quite successful in accomplishing the goal of the museum which was to draw people who may not normally come to the art museum in. At the opening night there were many types of people including knights in full armor sword fighting and the excitement remained in the exhibit even after the open house was over. Near the end of the exhibition a metal smith held a tour of the exhibit and gave his opinion on the pieces. I hope that Armed and Dangerous has paved the way for the Brooks Museum, and we will be able to continue to see exhibits which may not have normally been held in an art museum.

Adra Maner

Writing II

Bibbs

03/05/12

Hyper-feminization, and the changing roles of Women.

In our culture today I believe there is a gross over usage of the hyper-feminine character however the hyper-feminine is presented in my opinion in a negative light. Usually the most 'girly' members of any TV show or movies live a very posh life and tend to have a rather bitchy attitude. Take for example the show Glee where the posh cheerleaders who are some of the more feminine members of the club have rather foul attitudes and loose morals at times.

This stereotype is played out over and over again in many different TV shows. But it wasn't always that way, the more feminine characters were seen as wholesome girls next door or the gentle home-maker wives of the 1950's, 60's, and 70's. Though unconventional Lucy from I love lucy was an example she was mostly a very feminine character who was scatter brained but still preformed the tasks expected for women of that time. Such as raising, the children, cooking (though she might have burned quiet a few things), and cleaning.

Now In todays culture there alot more examples of non-feminine characters then there were in the past. Tom-boyish girls or nerdy girls who care little about wearing makeup or heels. Sometimes these girls may jsut be less feminine then their counter-parts on the shows and they are lost in the crowd because they tend to have more lax personalities compared to those of the hyper-feminine bitchy characters on a show.

 

In 'The Lesson' the hyper feminine character is judged to be a bitch by the younger less feminine girls they talk about how they were forced to dress well because of her "And our parents would yank our heads into some kinda shape and crisp up our clothes so we'd be presentable for travel with Miss Moore, who always looked like she was going to church, though she never did "(Bambara 265). This may have been the start of this tend of hyper-feminine women being pigeon holed into the role of the bitch. In the past women however it was assumed that if you did not dress properly you were not a good woman such as when the girl in the poem 'Girl" is scolded by her mother "This is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like a slut" (Kincaid 525). Women who dressed well were seen to a higher standard and considered to be good women unlike in todays culture.

 

We have a lack of Female role models in our culture. There are very few characters that represent Femininity well so it cause girls to see these woman and begin to rebel becoming the typical character who is seen in a tomboyish or lazy light on tv; thus continuing the cycle. Maybe it is because of the posh nature of a culture today, which of course causes a reflection in todays tv program but I'm sure though we need more positive role models we may be waiting for quite awhile.

 

 

In our culture today I believe there is a gross over usage of the hyper-feminine character however the hyper-feminine is presented in my opinion in a negative light. Usually the most 'girly' members of any tv show or movie lives a very posh life and tend to have a rather bitchy attitude. Take for example the show Glee where the posh cheerleaders who are some of the more feminine members of the club have rather foul attitudes and loose morals at times.

This stereotype is played out over and over again in many diffrent tv shows. But it wasn't always that way, the more feminine characters were seen as wholesome girls next door or the home making wife

The descent of men

What is manliness? It seems that this is a question alot of me nare asking themselves according to 'The descentof men' by Dan Kindlon. Kindlon has done studies on the attitudes of adolescent girls and boys in today society and one thing is very clear. A boy's view on what is 'manly' will be drastically changing in the next decades. A higher emphasis will be placed on being a good and attentive father, spending more or almost all their thime with their children by becoming stay at home dads (Kindlon 624-625).

Because educated women have began to hold and be placed in jobs that were formerly mostly taken  by men in the past many men are finding new ways to go through life, some take the easy way out and others egarly welcome the role of care-taker to their home and children when in the past this may have meant 'failure' in everyday life or loss of manly pride.

Even in our own college we are 70% female. Women are taking up most spaces in college education and complete these educations with higher degrees then their male counterparts. Girls in todays society are encouraged to be vibrant and well educated. It remains to see if Kindlon's predictions will be true, but all I can say is Kindlon's future doesn't seem to bad.

In "the Lesson" It is pointed out that though we are born into poor or lower middle class families there is always a way that we can better inprove ourselves if we decide to. Sometimes we as people find it easier to stay or become more ignorant to the better paths around us because they may take more work. As a society we are very lazy; education, and opportunity for a better life are regularly offered or forced into our hands. Yet because of either our own ignorance or laziness we forcefully throw these opportunities away.

In "Learning to read" Malcolm X took int upon himself in prisonv to teach himself how to better read and write in order to be able to have a more influencial place in society (Malcolm X 211). Most of us in today's society would not even think of teaching our selves to read because we have been taught to read since a young age. We don't even spare a thought to learning to read better once we have the basic skill under our belts.

Often when reading during class people will give up on pronouncing certain long or complicated words and leave it to their peers to fill in the words for them. These pronounciations are readily available in a dictory, but because of our belief that if we have the basic skills most of us do not even know where theirs is, or don't even have one, and have never picked on up in their lives. This is what Malcolm X did automatically seeking this helpful resource copying and reading it aloud to himself in order to learn proper pronounciations (Malcolm X 211).

School also do not push the importance of proper pronounciation after the ages when most learn to read. It seems that most teacher except that some students read well and others just do not and there is no helping them. They do not offer any help for these students, and if a student does desire help they must seek an outside learning center. These centers can be expensive and because of a stigma relating to being seen as 'slow' if you get help for a lack of skills in not only reading but many other subjects reading falls to the side. Most students will even say they 'hate' to read, or dread reading.

To summarize there needs to be a renaissance in todays culture, this movement needs to lead to a resurgence of the want of learning. Schools need to put a renewed focus on reading even in high school. So that the lazy students of todays america will no longer have a social stigma against being too 'stupid' to attend college.

Truthfully In reading the story becoming members of society as soon as I began reading I began to dissagree with things that were said, it's probably because of my conservative values, which though I have started to become more open minded still remain. Eighteen years of being taught something and having it enforced and reiterated by attending church regularly have lead me to strongly dissagree with the thoughts of this article.

By the end of the fist section I had put the book down. Because of this and because I know my opinions will be looked down upon in class I will probably not talk alot. As a person my personality is one that prefers not to start fights intentionally. I'd like to be able to argue my point strongly but I feel like my biggest source for my arguement would be the bible and to most people that would automatically make my arguement false since they believe that the things that I believe in are just stories.

I don't really believe that there can be such a thing third gender or that people can switch back and forth between genders as easily as changing their attitudes and clothes. It is really times like this that make me wish I owned and apologetics bible which I could read in order to gain information to form a proper argument. As a person i've always thought of myself as female and don't really have any experience with people like the ones mentioned in the first part so maybe I am being close minded but this is just my opinion on the subject and it always subject to change.

Malcom x summary

In the story Malcolm x talks about his time in prison and how if it were not for those seven year he would have no learned to read at all. He started a rigorous regimine of copying the whole dictionary in order to improve his writing then would read the words to himself in order to learn their menaings and how to read them.

He did this purely out of the envy of another inmates ability to draw everyones attention due to his speaking ability and his ability to understand. Though Malcolm x had been a big shot on the streets in this prison that seemed to prize learning over everything else he was a low man on the totem pole therefore when he taught himself to read and write properly he began to climb the ladder of success.

He also talks about how the library opened a whole new world for him and opened his eyes to the true strugggle of african americans of that time. Having formerly been a hustler his had probably been rough before and in the racially charged air of the 70's these books forstered his concern for his and other african americans lives.

 As a white person and as someone who has always had proper education, Malcolm x's story on learning to read to me seems to be a huge thing, though he explained it just saying 'i'm going to learn to read and write so people can understand what I write' seems easier said then done, without previous knowledge of these things having the will to sit down and copy the complete dictionary then reading it back allowed to be able to understand the word's meanings takes quite alot in my opinion.