When tasked with the readings from Ovid's Metamorphoses or Paradise Lost, I was certainly lost in the hope that I would understand it, but most importantly a fear that I would not make connections to other topics we had previously talked about. I was surely mistaken. When reading Ovid, I instantly became immersed in the philosophical elements about nature and mankind. I circled back to Greenblat where he talked about autonomy and the governing power upon yourself in society. I see the innate connections about the different governing systems of order within a society. Almost like the relationships between the alien, authority, and self. This was surprising for me as there were relationships like this during B.C. and these translated to the quality of life that inhibited the Earth. Because we worked so intimately on Greenblat, I was able to grasp the idea he presented about the Other and how that was portrayed in Metamorphoses. That was pretty cool. The idea that a fear of something perceived as foreign or in other words mundane shocks me because societies function off of this belief. Someone or a group of people see something as savage or heretic because it fits something outside the norm. These distinctions are also important in the telling of Paradise Lost. One must see the organization between entities and how that contributes to our knowledge of the creation stories. One thing that helps me constantly tuned with the reading is the ability to identify the main component of authority. Asking myself, who is doing this? how does their power work? what does this contribute to the story itself? how does the role of the authority add to the text at hand? I look forward to conversations in class that breakdown details about theme, purpose, and basically big picture questions. There are parts that I do not understand but my ability as a reader is so seek out answers to my questions, and ultimately apply them to the overall text.
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When thinking about the work that has been done in the past three months, I begin to stumble upon the hours spent analyzing, observing, and thinking about the various readings we have studied. We started the year with A.O. Scott and looked at the correlation between art and criticism. We looked at the subjectivity with art and how something like Abramovic's woman in chair could evoke unknown emotions. This emotion, in essence is the art of practicing criticism. It can feel so normal too us but yet we do not fully understand how are lives are shaped based off of art. Taste can be subjective which is why no person is the same as another, but occasions of pure delight that arise from art are aesthetic experiences. We can arrive at certain arguments/opinions based off of our exploration of art. These moments which Scott describes help shape our identity and will therefore help us live better through criticism. Because of the work I read I was able to arrive at the argument similar to Scott's "you must change your life based on the exhortations of art" (72).
Recently, the Galloway School produced a wonderful production of Metamorphosis based off of Ovid's Greek myths (rearranged by Mary Zimmerman). This production was very insightful as it encompassed topics that we have been discussing in AP Lit.
In Renaissance Self-Fashioning, Stephan Greenblat explores the theme of self-fashioning from the 16th century to the 21st century and the greater social impact on the human identity . The work here raises questions of self-doubt but ultimately gets to the idea that "I am the principal matter of my own identity" (257). It is interesting that Greenblat starts the novel in a place where life would later be described as "nasty, brutish, and short" (Hobbes). The Renaissance or "rebirth" signified a place where new ideas could flourish but not without judgement from the surrounding world.
Self-fashioning can be defined as caring for an appearance that is structured around socially acceptable norms. In the sixteenth century there was an "increased self-consciousness" (2) that was evident in the artwork and society. Countries were divided, lead by tyrants who cared only for themselves. For example, King Henry VIII was heavily concerned with his self consciousness as he married 6 different women, and broke off relations from the Roman Catholic Church as a result of his self consciousness. Another example is the various paintings centered around stories in the Bible. These intimate scenes were painted in a way that reflected the raw emotion of each figure. This self-consciousness goes hand in hand with mobility as many great writers from this time "embody, in one form or another, a profound mobility" (7). Writers like Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Wyatt are all intertwined from their background of a middle-class non educated family. They are the prime example of self-fashioning Renaissance men, but as Greenblat points out later in the book "there is no such thing as a single 'history of the self' " (7). Although all these great writers contributed to the self-fashioning attitude, they did not do it all on their own. It was a collective group of people who contributed to the great Renaissance. I can honestly say I have never read anything so confusing and complex as Renaissance Self-Fashioning. As much of the summer reading has been challenging and impactful, this work demanded a higher attention to detail. The introduction was vivid and complex which tested my abilities as a reader and writer. The Epilogue, however, was pretty straight forward and diverted from the previous reading. The personal anecdote made it relatable but also reiterated the point of self-fashioning. It connected to something much more familiar to me than the Renaissance. The biggest takeaway I had was you get one life and you are who you are. The man on the plane had lived a number of years, but yet he was still dealing with the inescapable fear of language and identity. Today, especially with teenagers we forget that we dictate our identity not our parents, teachers, friends, etc . . . I think we read this so we can ask questions and try to find the correlation between language and identity. A More Beautiful Question has to be one of the most profound and challenging pieces of writing I have ever encountered. Warren Berger writes with such passion that it evokes emotions of fear, doubt, and utter shock. It is filled with thought provoking language that goes beyond the 17-year-old mind or even the greatest minds of all time. Chapter II simply starts by raising an important question which ultimately sets the tone for the piece: Why We Stop Questioning?
In "Better Living Through Criticism" , A.O. Scott explores themes of beauty, success, and art while commenting on how the basis of criticism controls our deepest desires. Chapter Two's title is "The Eye of the Beholder". This eye refers to something much deeper than looks it refers to passion, love, and even criticism. Taste is subjective which puts into question how our basis of criticism is founded. As Scott writes, the foundation of criticism is "an activity that is split at the root between the antithetical answers each question implies" (46).
As a 17 year old, this feels hard to grasp because we are constantly driven by specific needs and wants. Most importantly beauty. When hearing the phrase "Eye of the Beholder", we most commonly tend to think about beauty. For as long as I can remember 'looks' has been a constant theme in my life. I care about the natural aesthetic. This chapter has made me think about what is beauty and what defines beauty.I think the reason people want to beautiful is because we crave something under the surface that no one can understand. As David Hume writes "Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty" (An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding). Today, what I find beautiful may be totally different to people hundreds of years ago. For example, "The Birth of Venus" is known all around the world because it depicts one the most beautiful Goddesses Venus. It shows her birth but most notably it symbolizes how the goddess of love and beauty was created. She is portrayed with pale naked skin and long hair. Today, most teenagers would not think about her being the most beautiful figures of all time. This all goes back to the idea that taste is subjective. I still try to figure out where criticism comes from. Is it something I inherited from my parents? Is it something based off of what my friends think? I don't know. I have come to understand that judgement is always in reference to an object and its characteristics. This makes sense as most critiques are made for something visible to the eye. There are movie critics that comment on films. There are food critics that write about meals and give their opinion. This is all something physical. So, why do we listen to other people's criticisms when our opinion should be the only one that matters. It is just an opinion that can be detrimental to the mind and body. |
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