Freebie

My brain is off. Sorry! Can I take a freebie for this awesome Netflix Blog Post? I think I'll just go watch The Office!

Wait...Can you Wash Away the Blood on your Hands if it's Fated to be There?

3. Do you believe events in your life have been guided by fate or chance? Why or why not? Based on the text, what do you think Shakespeare's attitude was towards fate? Does Macbeth have any choice in his actions or was everything predetermined? Use examples from the text as your support.

I believe that the events in my life have been guided by chance. I think that most events are the result of "cause and effect." If one event happens, then there will be a result to said event. Nothing is set in stone and everything is guided by the choices you make in life. For example, if I believe that it is fate that I'll get into Harvard, but I don't apply myself and I don't meet the requirements, then there is no way that I'll make it. Fate is merely an ideal that we set in order to make sense of our chaotic world. Especially in our society, we tend to use fate as an excuse quite often. Everything may happen for a reason, but that reason is not based upon fate, but upon your previous actions.

I think Shakespeare's attitude was that fate isn't real but people believe in it so much that they feel that they have to make their "fate" come true and speed up/slow down the process. I believe that Macbeth definitely had choices in this situation; especially over whether or not to murder anyone.

"He’s here in double trust:

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Who should against his murderer shut the door,

Not bear the knife myself. " (Act 1, Scene 7, page 21, Shakespeare, lines 12-16).

Macbeth did not initially want to kill Duncan, but he was greatly influenced by the power of persuasion, (who can blame him?) and therefore made decisions based on the opinions of his wife and not necessarily his own. In my perspective, this is not what fate is defined as; fate just happens and has no outside forces that are able to reckon with it because in the end it will happen. If he had not killed Duncan, I would go as far as to say that he would have still became King of Cawdor, and my idea of Shakespeare's attitude towards fate would be altered. One may argue, though, that since Macbeth still became king that it was truly fate. But because he tampered with the process it became less of an act of "fate" and more of an act of "choice." 

Once his "fate" was fulfilled and Macbeth was king he did not stop there; he continued to choose to protect his fate by killing Banquo and Banquo's son Fleance. If it was truly fate, then why did he feel the need to protect it?

"They hail'd him father to a line of kings:

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,

Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,

No son of mine succeeding." (Act 3, Scene 1, Shakespeare, 65-69).

Macbeth's drive to remain king was based initially on the prophecy given by the weird sisters and influenced by his wife, and continued by his power-hungry ego. The prophecy given was the idea of fate and that idea led to choices of evil in order to fulfil the prophecy. Everything starts with a choice.

The "Earth" without "Art" is just "Eh"

My Drawing:

Sorry, I couldn't flip it to landscape!

Introduction

Artist: Agustina Woodgate

Title: The Times Atlas of the World (Book)

Date: 2012

Medium: Sanded World Atlas

Size: 515 pages; Large book

Stylistic period/culture/context

When: 2012

Where: Argentina

Subject/Iconography

A World Atlas with borders sanded out is represented in this work; the idea/concept is that even though we as humans tend to create borders and separate ourselves from one another, in the grand scheme of things, the world does not actually have real lines that define "borders." Borders are just concepts formulated by humans that allow us to "own" land and "property."

Style/technique

The artist used sandpaper in order to "scrub" away the borders in between states and countries. The art is arranged as is; there is nothing else to draw your attention other than the art itself. As you flip through the pages you can feel the smooth texture of the paper in comparison to the other parts of the paper that weren't sanded down; paper itself seems smooth until you compare it with something softer and easier to tear. This, in and of itself, may be a metaphor of how the world was softer and gentler before borders - before it became rough and harsh. But, we can't tell it's rough and harsh because we haven't experienced it when it was smooth and gentle.

Significance/function/purpose

The purpose of this piece is to show how the world would look if there were no borders. When drawing this picture, I realised how vast our world is; it tends to get lost in the all the sections and bordering. Drawing blobs of land made me feel more connected to the other blobs of land in the world (oops, we can't have that, now can we? We might start thinking of people in third world countries as our equals). I never left the state of North Carolina until I was about 10 years old. When I was younger, I never doubted that if I did cross a border into, say, Virginia, there would be a big bold line right where the border was. To my disappointment, there was merely a sign that read, "Welcome to Virginia!" and that was all. I believe that at a young age we are taught that there are borders not only between states and countries ideologically, but mental borders, as well, between each other. There are borders between races, gender, and sexual orientation; if one tries to cross such borders or speak to someone outside of their border, then there are rules and regulations in place, just as there are rules and regulations that I must follow if I cross the border from America to Canada. And, just because I might be ignorant to the laws in place, that doesn't give me a free pass; I will be punished just the same for whatever actions of which I partake. The main idea is that we as humans feel the need to set up these completely platonic borders in order to ensure that everyone has a place and to ensure that everyone stays in their place. The value of this piece of art in today's society is that it is a metaphor of the borders between different "classes" of people as well as showing that borders can easily be scrubbed away over time.

A Kiss May be Grand/But it Won't Pay the Rental -Marilyn Monroe

The picture I will be analysing in this advertisement is the one on the right, Gluttony. 

Author: Lily Jewels 

Date: 2005

Place of Publication: New York City

Denotative Examination

Upon first examination, we find a woman with jewels coming from her mouth. We can infer that it is a woman based on her bone structure and her long hair. On the right side we see the word Gluttony in all caps and we assume she is gluttonous for jewelry.We also see that there is a 30% off sale on all diamond necklaces. 

Connotative Examination

Through a psychoanalytic lens, we can perceive the jewels as food, almost like spaghetti, and because this is an advertisement, the jewels are in the center, which is where our eyes travel to first. In our society, because she is a woman, she automatically will like jewelry, while a man may not care for it as much, which is why there is not a man in the advertisement. This perpetuates the idea that "diamonds are a girls best friend" therefore she wants an abundance of them. Also, there is nothing particularly special about this girl. Her hair, her skin, and her lips and overtly plain; nothing else is supposed to grab your attention other than the jewels hanging from her mouth. She has pale skin and pale lips and dark hair which may make her more relatable to the intended audience. This plays into the stereotype that all rich people are white and can afford jewelry of this sort. There is also an absence of her eyes and she has no facial expression which makes her seem very mysterious. The idea is to take away as much of her personality and to make the audience completely focus on the jewelry and the sale. When we think of someone who is gluttonous, we associate them with wanting more and more of one thing and we don't think about their personality or why they want so much of one thing, which may be another reason why her personality is removed from this piece.The placement of the sale sign is almost secondary to the advertisement as a whole. Like in most advertisements, the amount of sale price is the largest and the small details and exclusions are in finer print. But what is almost peculiar about this advertisement is that the sale sign is in the far left corner where the audience is less likely to pay a lot of attention to it-- they will see the word "Gluttony" before they'll see the sale sign.  I think that the reasoning for this is that they advertisers just want you to come and buy the product regardless of the fact that a sale is going on.  Although, since the words "sale" and "all diamonds and necklaces" are in green and are the only things with bright coloring in this advertisement, it makes it seem as though the sale is the only "good" thing to come out of being gluttonous. It's almost like it's saying hey, even though you're being really gluttonous by buying a whole shelf worth of diamond necklaces, at least they're on sale! 

Audience

The audience for this advertisement includes both men and women. The socioeconomic background of these people are going to be upper middle class and upper class people who drive fancy cars and live in large houses in nice neighborhoods.The cultural knowledge that they will most likely have is that jewels are important to defining your class and status and that in order to "fit in" you must have certain types of jewelry or other luxuries.

Men

Men would assume that all woman want (and are gluttonous for) are jewels because, to them, it seems as though the advertisement is directed at women. This would make the man think that just by buying jewelry he can make a woman happy because that's all women need to be happy, right? 

Women

Women who see the ad will want all the jewels they can get because it is on sale. This would allow for women who were not before gluttonous for jewelry to become gluttonous for jewelry thus increasing the sales of the company. That would be an example of deliberate manipulation of the audience.

Even for Me Life Had its Gleams of Sunshine -Jane Eyre

2. How would you best describe the central idea of this chapter? Which phrase from the chapter best helps develop the central idea? 

I would describe the central idea of this chapter as characterizing Mr. Brocklehurst. This chapter explains Mr. Brocklehurst as a hypocritical superior who makes the girls suffer for their religion by forcing them to live by strict rules. The main point that the author wants you to understand is that Mr. Brocklehurst is the antagonist who is the reason for the administration of the strict rules the girls have to follow.  Mr. Brocklehurst shows hypocritical nature by saying the girls shouldn't wear expensive clothing, but in the same token, people in his family are wearing expensive clothing and showing it off for all to see. This chapter also reveals the character of Jane- it shows that she is the new girl who is punished for even the slightest mistake. Although, this punishment makes her seem glorified amongst the other girls, which may foreshadow to Jane breaking the rules more often in order to impress the other girls. 

The phrase from this chapter that best helps develop the central idea is "Should any little accidental disappointment of the appetite occur, such as the spoiling of a meal, the under or the over dressing of a dish, the incident ought not to be neutralised by replacing with something more delicate the comfort lost, thus pampering the body and obviating the aim of this institution; it ought to be improved to the spiritual edification of the pupils, by encouraging them to evince fortitude under temporary privation." This best develops the central idea because it reveals Mr. Brocklehurst's character as a demanding superior who wants the girls to live by a certain code set forth by his interpretation of the bible.

What's in a Name? That Which we Call a Rose/ By Any Other Name would Smell as Sweet

Obviously, I couldn't find an exact definition for my name. But, the name Shaunaci (spelled Shaughnessy) might be Irish for peaceful. My mother did not intend for this; she works for a daycare and so she named me after a girl who is about two to three years older than me. I like to believe, though, that my name means peaceful in Irish, even though it is spelled differently. I think of myself as quite a peaceful person; I am surely the definition of a pacifist. I do not like the thought of something defining me because it's much too definite, (get it?) but if anything, I can accept being defined as peaceful. Relatively, my first middle name -- Alexis -- means "defender of the people," and the other -- Annette -- means "gracious, merciful." Those meanings have positive connotations and are parts of my personality. Stevens, on the other hand, means "crown," which I do not relate to very much, but I suppose it defines the more egotistical side of me. My full name describes my personality and characteristics more that I first assumed, and on further examination, it shows exactly who I am in a nutshell. Although it is very difficult to achieve because you are named as a baby, I believe that your name should be something that shows who you are as a person.

When my mother married my older brother's father, she kept her last name for various reasons. Mostly, because she was forced to marry him and she knew she would eventually divorce him. So, my mother and my brother have a different last name than I do, which inevitably made me feel separate from them on a superficial level. Whenever we would go to "Smith Family Reunions" I would always feel as though one day my mother would tell me that I wasn't allowed to attend. When I went to family reunions on my biological father's side, my mother nor my brother would attend, because they were not Stevens'. It took me a long time to understand why this was and what was happening in my life. It was quite confusing, and it left me feeling like an outsider. Through this, though, I was able to find myself and who I am as an individual. This internal struggle affected me as an individual in my family as a whole; I am just Shaunaci in the eyes of my mother and brother, but to my father, I am Shaunaci Stevens, who is an entirely different person. Now that I don't spend nearly as much time with my family on my father's side, I have become less aware of the differences between my mother, brother, and I; I feel more united with my immediate family. What is in a name, anyway? Names should simply describe you or give insight to your personality, so I do not feel the same as Quindlen; by any other name, I would still be the person that I am today, because I do not let simple names define the complexity of my personality.    

Analysis on Wing Young Huie's Photograph

Author: Walter

Date: 2 years ago

Place of Publication: 38th & Chicago Bus Stop, South Minneapolis, MN

On first examination, we see a young man sitting on a bench possibly at a bus stop. He looks sad or depressed while holding a sign that says "Equality for the Undocumented," leading the reader to believe that he may be an undocumented immigrant who wishes for equality.

Under a psychoanalytic lense with a connotative examination, we see that the boy is tapping his foot, as if he is waiting for a "bus to freedom." We can assume that the young man is undocumented by his sign and because of the lack of equality for undocumented immigrants, he is upset because of that reason. The area behind him seems to be an urban area based on all the cars, and we can assume that he is either lower or at middle class because of the way he is dressed.

Othering is represented in this photograph in that this young man is being seen as unequal solely because he is undocumented. In The Handmaid's Tale and in this photograph, othering is portrayed through forcing groups of people into social classes. This concept of being forced into a class of which a person did not choose to go to willfully is something that is touched on in both mediums; Offred is forced to be a Handmaid and this young man is forced under the title of "undocumented."Othering is a means of alienation of a group of people; pushing people into categories is a common human attribute, but most people don’t see the negative effects of othering. Stereotyping is an obtrude form of othering in a way that puts people into categories so that a person is immediately able to judge the personality and characteristics of another. This photo and Margaret Attwood's The Handmaid's Tale are perfect examples of how othering can have a negative effect on the people that are othered.