Young Life - 10/02/12

1. The people in this picture are hunting for food, not sport. This is supported by the fact that they are relatively lower class in appearance.
2. The artist a Southerner. This is evidenced by the fact that the subject is handled with a rather personal tone that an artist who didn't live with people like those in the painting could not handle.
3. The man and woman are a couple. This is evidenced by their loving pose.

Soma - 11/15/12

In Brave New World, the characters take a drug called Soma when they are unhappy, and it eliminates those negative feelings immediately. The theme of the song "Soma", written by Julien Casablancas, is that conformity causes feelings of confusion within oneself. This is seen in the line of the song that states "I am stop and go." These lyrics show that the speaker is so unsure of himself that he uses two complete opposites as means to describe himself. It is also seen in the line preceding that line, which states "He was trying too hard to be like them." This obviously relates to conformity, as it's practically a definition of the word. The fact that it directly precedes the line "I am stop and go," shows that conformity is a direct influence on the speaker's conflicted nature. Finally, the allusion to Brave New World in the title and lyrics add to the theme. Like I stated in the first sentence, Soma is a drug that equalizes everyone's mood, thus eliminating individuality and forcing conformity. It also, however, causes the novel's characters to lose track of who they really are. Thus, it shows how "Soma", or in the context of the song, conformity causes inner conflict. The theme of this song is that conformity causes feeling of confusion within oneself.

1-Introduces idea of Soma that will be brought up later.
2-Topic Sentence.
3- Gives example
4-Explains example.
5-States second example.
6-Explains second example.
7-Explains connection between first two examples.
8,9-Introduces final example
10-Explains final example through connection to introduction
11-Finalizes final example, ties ideas together.
12-Restates theme.

2+2=5 - 11/9/12

The subject of this song is the ignorance of the human race. The tone is rebellious. The theme is that we should question authority.

Loss Of Innocence - 10/25/12

Innocence can mean many things. One of these is simply "not guilty." Another meaning, however, is a sense of childlike wonder and worldview. One can lose something intangible as they grow older and experience more of what the world has to offer, both positive and negative. One cannot maintain innocence for their whole life, and eventually, all people will be forced to grow old and lose their former optimism and care-free view of the world. Loss of innocence, among other intangible ideas, is merely unavoidable. One sign pointing towards loss of innocence in this painting is the woman attempting to cover herself. As a child, nudity is no big deal, and we are even born in the nude. As we get older, though, nudity becomes taboo and sexualized, and we are taught to cover ourselves at all cost. It also could be an allusion to Adam and Eve, who suddenly felt shame of their nudity after eating the forbidden fruit, a classic symbol of loss of innocence. Another example is the attempted covering of the woman by the other woman to the right. This shows that loss of innocence is rarely a choice, but brought upon us by society and other external factors. A final symbol is the flower pedals falling. The flower could represent innocence and purity, and the loss of pedals could represent the gradual loss of innocence as we are further exposed to the woes of the outside world.

Don't You Want Me - 10/22/12

     She was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, as is agreed upon by both parties. He met her there, and they embarked on a relationship that unfortunately came to an end. The man sees it as a big loss for the woman, as he doesn't think she can go on without him. She, however, thinks her life will be better and she will be able to accomplish more without him. People can have very different viewpoints on things based purely on natural bias and differing culture. One will always have a natural slant towards whatever side favors them in a conflict. For example, if I slipped and fell on a curb, it may be hilarious to a bystander, but it wouldn't be so funny to me, as I would be injured.

Blackbird - 9/27

The blackbird represents a person living an unfortunate life. One can assume this from the description of the bird as having "broken wings" and "sunken eyes". The blackbird flying "into the light of the dark black night", as well as the "fixing" of the aforementioned broken wings and sunken eyes, represent this person fighting their way out of this situation, showing that anyone can live a full life, regardless of their situation. The blackbird could also represent minorities in society at the time, who were repressed and in low spirits. The flight into the light represents the civil rights movement, and increased freedom for these minorities.

Shame

The song "Shame" by The Avett Brothers is about a man looking back on a past relationship with a regretful and apologetic tone. In the chorus, the narrator repeats the word "Shame" twice, a word that typically has connotations of embarrassment and negativity, showing his regret for ending the relationship. The narrator also uses words like "Blame" and "Second Start", showing that he blames himself for the relationship problems, and wants to give his partner another try.

Journal - 9/6/12

S-Two men working in a field.
N-Diego Rivera, a very pro-worker Mexican artist.
A- Upper-Class and Middle-Class people
P- To show all of the hard work laborers do for us, and to garner more respect and appreciation towards them.

Journal - 9/4/12

S- A family affected by poverty.
N-A British artist in the 1800s. They have a mostly negative view of poverty, as the people's faces are very somber-looking.
A- Upper-Class people.
P- To portray a typical poor family, and garner sympathy towards them.

1. The atmosphere and lighting is very dark and gloomy, creating an aura of sadness.
2. The stark contrast between the brightly-colored flowers and the dark background creates a feeling of hope among all the gloom.

Culture 8/20

• Culture is one's way of life. It encompasses beliefs, traditions, recreation, and many other things. It's what makes each person different from another.
• Some things that make up culture are music, food, religion, sports, clothes, and language. Really, almost anything can be classified as part of culture.
• Culture is extrinsic. Culture is learned from family and peers as one grows up. No one comes from the wound with certain tastes and beliefs. 

Journal - 8/17

Facts - 1) This is a painting.
2) The police officer is wearing a hat.
3) The boy and police officer are sitting down.

Claims - 1) The boy is running away from home.
2) The man at the counter leads an unhealthy lifestyle.
3) This painting is simply meant to be pleasing to look at it, not to invoke any deep feeling or make one really think. (Analytical)

The Pearl Entry 2

Overall, I found this book to be very enjoyable. I am a fan of allegorical novels, and this was a good example of one. As the novel went on, I got the feeling that the pearl is representative of all the greed and darkness that Steinbeck feels that humanity is capable of. Kino at first thought that the pearl would finally bring joy and prosperity to his family, but it only destroyed it, as Kino's selfishness took over. I especially found the shooting of Coyotito at the end to be showing of this, as it showed a literal destruction of the family and Kino's dreams.

One thing I didn't like, though, was that the message of the novel seemed to be a bit odd when I really looked at it. it seems to be preaching that attempting to step out of your normal place in society is bad, and will lead to nothing but misfortune. If this is what Steinbeck is trying to say, and not a misunderstanding on my part, then I can't help but feel that this message is false, as people are not always born into the positions they belong in. The millions of real life rags-to-riches stories demonstrate this. Despite this, I still found the primary point of the book, which I believe is mostly just an examination of greed and corruption in the human race, to be very well thought-out and effective.

The Pearl Entry 1

Only 40 pages into the book, and Kino's selfishness and greed is already starting to take over. I was very shocked by his savage attack on Juana, as he had seemed like a pretty good partner up to that point. I felt that, although this showed his obsession and selfishness surrounding the pearl, it was a little too extreme to happen so early in the book. I know it would be difficult to do in a novella, but I think his degeneration should have happened a little more gradually. This is just my opinion though, and John Steinbeck knows more about writing than me, so it's far from a major complaint.

One thing I really did not understand about the book was why people still lusted after the pearl so much even after it was declared as pretty much worthless by the appraisers. Did they not know of the pearl's worthlessness, or did they want it for it's beauty instead of the money? I'm starting to think the pearl may be cursed, and the dark figures that are haunting Kino are not thieves, but demonic entities. It would make sense, as the book seems very inspired by folklore.

Pygmalion Entry 2

Well, my prediction that Higgins would fall for Liza did not come true, but the second half of this play still managed to craft a good story. I liked the ending quite a lot, even though it didn't really clear anything up or give any of the characters conclusions. I like open endings, as they let me imagine what happened to the characters after the story ended, one of the best things about reading stories or watching movies, in my opinion. One thing I did not understand, however, was what the real point of the play was. Perhaps it would be more obvious if I saw it performed, but I never really saw a real message, other than perhaps a bit of a criticism of the class system and some veiled feminism. Both of these seemed like vague themes, but not enough to be a true meaning of the play.

Pygmalion Entry #1

After reading about half of this play, only one thing really confused me, and that was the title. Despite my limited knowledge of ancient fiction, I was somewhat familiar with the character of Pygmalion, a man who fell madly in love with a statue he sculpted, and I could not see any reason why this would be the title for this play. Suddenly, though, it hit me: Higgins is, in a way, "sculpting" Liza to his expectations, like Pygmalion sculpting his perfect woman. This leads me to wonder if later in the play, Higgins, like Pygmalion, will develop a love for Liza. I think it would make for quite a shocking twist in the play, and also would help to make it even more of a bit of a modern retelling of the story of Pygmalion.

     One thing I've really liked about this play so far is the usage of different dialects. Having Higgins speak very properly, as he is a phoneticist, and Liza speak in a stereotypical Cockney accent really helps to show how different these two characters really are, and what a challenge Higgins will be facing by attempting to turn Liza into a classy lady. I also like that Bernard Shaw didn't overdo the dialects, like some authors tend to do. Although I am a fan of Mark Twain, some of Jim's lines in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are nearly impossible to make any sense of. Shaw does a good job of avoiding this. His use of dialect is rather subtle, but still obvious enough to show you a bit of each character's personality.