Response to Ian's blog #7
Ian, I really enjoyed reading your post on murals and I have also done a project on Michelangleo as well, although it was a little longer ago than junior year for me. In particular, I like the mural that you chose to show on your blog as I believe that it does have a significant amount of symbolism in it. I agree with your interpretations about the right and the left side and how the left-most edge has leaves and rocks while the right-most part is barren. That is one thing I appreciate about the classical/renassaince painters is that they always made their works portray images with a lot of hidden symbolism. Great post!
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Blog #7
Over the past week we have read the book "The Underdogs", and I have really liked this piece of writing. Our most recent discussion questions over the book included a question on which scene would be the most interesting to dramatize. For me, the scene that stood out most prominently, in general, was the analogy with the stone falling down the canyon. Already, this scene is full of drama and unseen tension between Macías' need to continue fighting and his wife's wish that he would stop. As Demetrio picks up the stone and tosses it down the canyon, the drama is pushed to the brink as Demetrio turns to his wife and speaks. He says, 'I cannot stop fighting anymore than that stone can stop falling', or something of the sort. I just found this scene so full of dramatic tension that I couldn't help but write about it. And the interesting thing, is that the stone will stop falling at one point or another when it finally hits the bottom of the canyon. Similarly, Demetrio does encounter his end at the bottom of a canyon like structure. So, just like the falling stone, whose fate was inevitable, Demetrio saw his future in the same way, unchangeable. This scene is so powerful that I believe it could be one of the most important parts of the novel. It can relate to just about everyone, some people view their future as "pre-destined", while others believe they are in control of what will happen to them. Obviously Demetrio Macías saw his fate as already being decided for him. In any case, this scene was very motivational to me. Whether you believe life has an unchanging path, or that you make your future, this scene inspires a sense of man versus destiny, and you can't help but feel like challenging whatever pre-destined designs life has for you. Well, those are my thoughts at least, until next time!
Over the past week we have read the book "The Underdogs", and I have really liked this piece of writing. Our most recent discussion questions over the book included a question on which scene would be the most interesting to dramatize. For me, the scene that stood out most prominently, in general, was the analogy with the stone falling down the canyon. Already, this scene is full of drama and unseen tension between Macías' need to continue fighting and his wife's wish that he would stop. As Demetrio picks up the stone and tosses it down the canyon, the drama is pushed to the brink as Demetrio turns to his wife and speaks. He says, 'I cannot stop fighting anymore than that stone can stop falling', or something of the sort. I just found this scene so full of dramatic tension that I couldn't help but write about it. And the interesting thing, is that the stone will stop falling at one point or another when it finally hits the bottom of the canyon. Similarly, Demetrio does encounter his end at the bottom of a canyon like structure. So, just like the falling stone, whose fate was inevitable, Demetrio saw his future in the same way, unchangeable. This scene is so powerful that I believe it could be one of the most important parts of the novel. It can relate to just about everyone, some people view their future as "pre-destined", while others believe they are in control of what will happen to them. Obviously Demetrio Macías saw his fate as already being decided for him. In any case, this scene was very motivational to me. Whether you believe life has an unchanging path, or that you make your future, this scene inspires a sense of man versus destiny, and you can't help but feel like challenging whatever pre-destined designs life has for you. Well, those are my thoughts at least, until next time!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Response to Lauren's Sixth Blog:
Lauren, I really like the connection you made here between the survival of the Mexican Revolution and Palmares. It makes a lot of sense, both movies represent the fact that an ideal is stronger than just one person, and once you have enough people who believe in this ideal, a single death cannot kill it. Like in Viva Zapata, they may have been able to kill the man behind the revolution, but they couldn't kill the idea, or in this case his horse. Implying that the driving ideals still live on and are stronger than ever.
Lauren, I really like the connection you made here between the survival of the Mexican Revolution and Palmares. It makes a lot of sense, both movies represent the fact that an ideal is stronger than just one person, and once you have enough people who believe in this ideal, a single death cannot kill it. Like in Viva Zapata, they may have been able to kill the man behind the revolution, but they couldn't kill the idea, or in this case his horse. Implying that the driving ideals still live on and are stronger than ever.
Blog Number Six:
Last week I really liked our discussion on whether or not the movie "Viva Zapata" was a revolutionary film or not. I was very excited about how the way we looked at this question and the ideas that we came up with. Through discussion we realized that this movie, when it came down to it, was about the "uncivilized" versus the "civilized". The interesting thing about it was that in the film Zapata, was characterized as the "uncivilized" person, however Steinbeck and the producers, still portrayed him in a positive light. Whereas the "civilized" person, in this case Gomez, was seen in a rather negative, or untrustworthy point of view. This relates to the question as to whether or not the film is revolutionary, is because most films portray uncivilized characters as being evil and the civilized people as being the "good" influence.
Now, not to change topics too fast but I would like to comment on something that I have thought of throughout this whole lesson over the Mexican Revolution. From watching "Viva Zapata" to reading, The Underdogs, I keep picturing the movie "Zorro", as this film is also about the Mexican Independence. For example, Zorro can relate to The Underdogs, because the main character, Alejandro, comes up from the bottom to take revenge on those who murdered his brother. Anyways, I can't help but think we should convince Professor Stark and Professor Serrata to assign us a Zorro movie for homework! Haha. But here is a clip that kind of represents how low Alejandro starts in the movie, and the kind of attitude he has. And at the very end of the clip I picture how Demetrio's men brandish their weapons similarly as if they are more talented than they really are as well!
Last week I really liked our discussion on whether or not the movie "Viva Zapata" was a revolutionary film or not. I was very excited about how the way we looked at this question and the ideas that we came up with. Through discussion we realized that this movie, when it came down to it, was about the "uncivilized" versus the "civilized". The interesting thing about it was that in the film Zapata, was characterized as the "uncivilized" person, however Steinbeck and the producers, still portrayed him in a positive light. Whereas the "civilized" person, in this case Gomez, was seen in a rather negative, or untrustworthy point of view. This relates to the question as to whether or not the film is revolutionary, is because most films portray uncivilized characters as being evil and the civilized people as being the "good" influence.
Now, not to change topics too fast but I would like to comment on something that I have thought of throughout this whole lesson over the Mexican Revolution. From watching "Viva Zapata" to reading, The Underdogs, I keep picturing the movie "Zorro", as this film is also about the Mexican Independence. For example, Zorro can relate to The Underdogs, because the main character, Alejandro, comes up from the bottom to take revenge on those who murdered his brother. Anyways, I can't help but think we should convince Professor Stark and Professor Serrata to assign us a Zorro movie for homework! Haha. But here is a clip that kind of represents how low Alejandro starts in the movie, and the kind of attitude he has. And at the very end of the clip I picture how Demetrio's men brandish their weapons similarly as if they are more talented than they really are as well!
Friday, February 14, 2014
Blog #5: The Strenuous Life
Out of all the readings we have done this semester, maybe even the whole year, I found this reading the most interesting. With this speech being full of inspirational quotes and phrases, I couldn't help but feel empowered. After reading this I can see why so many people like Theodore Roosevelt. However, there is no point in his speech where he mentions to dare these mighty deeds with well thought out plans. The foremost attitude I got from this reading was something like "go off half-cocked and hope for the best..." This strategy, while when successful is very impressive, is extremely ineffective and not the best way to live one's life. For example, if we relate this to the movie "Viva Zapata", we will see where Emiliano Zapata's downfall occurred. Right at the end, when Zapata had all he needed in his life, he decided to take an uncalculated risk, which was to collect ammo from a, supposedly, turned national soldier. This situation was clearly a trap, and even though they would have benefited from the ammo they would receive, it still wasn't worth Emiliano dieing over it, and that's exactly what happened. The point here is that, yes, it is much better to live a life full of triumphs, speckled with dots of failure, than it is to "live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat". This, however, does not mean one should forsake common sense and reason and act solely on impulse. And as we saw in Zapata's case, his failure resulted in his death. Now I'm not saying that Roosevelt was wrong here, I mean his goal was to motivate the American people, which this speech should have done that quite well. The strenuous life sounds hard, but full of great successes, so why wouldn't anyone want to live like that?! All I'm saying is if one is going to live a life on the edge, remember to have a safety net below in case you fall!
Out of all the readings we have done this semester, maybe even the whole year, I found this reading the most interesting. With this speech being full of inspirational quotes and phrases, I couldn't help but feel empowered. After reading this I can see why so many people like Theodore Roosevelt. However, there is no point in his speech where he mentions to dare these mighty deeds with well thought out plans. The foremost attitude I got from this reading was something like "go off half-cocked and hope for the best..." This strategy, while when successful is very impressive, is extremely ineffective and not the best way to live one's life. For example, if we relate this to the movie "Viva Zapata", we will see where Emiliano Zapata's downfall occurred. Right at the end, when Zapata had all he needed in his life, he decided to take an uncalculated risk, which was to collect ammo from a, supposedly, turned national soldier. This situation was clearly a trap, and even though they would have benefited from the ammo they would receive, it still wasn't worth Emiliano dieing over it, and that's exactly what happened. The point here is that, yes, it is much better to live a life full of triumphs, speckled with dots of failure, than it is to "live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat". This, however, does not mean one should forsake common sense and reason and act solely on impulse. And as we saw in Zapata's case, his failure resulted in his death. Now I'm not saying that Roosevelt was wrong here, I mean his goal was to motivate the American people, which this speech should have done that quite well. The strenuous life sounds hard, but full of great successes, so why wouldn't anyone want to live like that?! All I'm saying is if one is going to live a life on the edge, remember to have a safety net below in case you fall!
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