The three museum exhibits explored by the class were all vastly different in their own way. My group’s presentation was based on the work of Kerry James Marshall at the Met Breuer. The Mastry exhibit focused on Marshall’s large scale paintings of black history, beauty, love, and culture opened my eyes to fully analyze every detail of each piece. The focus of the presentation on certain paintings did not do justice to the exhibit as a whole, for each painting told a story when looking at it, and always required serious time and interpretation. This could be overwhelming at times, but worth the insight gained from Marshall’s work. I would definitely revisit the exhibit, and possibly inquire with a worker to further develop my understanding of the pieces. Based on the feedback of the other two exhibits by my peers, I am unsure if I would enjoy the Whitney Museum’s exhibit because the idea of walking out with a headache makes me hesitant, but would definitely venture to see the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum.
Author: kaseyannebrowne
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jane Jacobs’ “From the Death and Life of Great American Cities” caught my attention with its detailed description of everyday life on just one street in New York City, one that I myself have probably passed a time or two. The author gives a detailed account of the “dance” of people that the experiences every day. This comparison of the everyday hustle and bustle of people through the city as a dance gives it elegance, and makes you ponder how a city could be seen as something so harmonious. It is even taken far enough to call it a ballet, one of the most graceful and sophisticated dances, highlighting that each dancer has their own individual part. She also repeats the words ritual, quick, and hurry throughout the article, referring to the fast paced routine of the city, but instead of focusing on this, she keys in on the types of people that race by day in and day out. It is this use of detail of the events of every part of the day that pulled me into the article, and made me think of the street that I live in. Her view on the city makes the reader question their own, and see the busy streets of New York City, and many other great and busy cities, in a new light.
Phantasmagoria
The theatrical performance “Phantasmagoria” came up short in producing a clear story for the viewer to follow. I found myself confused from the shifts in story, to the character doubling, to the beginning of the story in general. Without having prior knowledge of Mary Shelley’s life, I honestly didn’t know until half way through the first part of the play that she was the Mary they were talking about. The sudden shifts from Mary Shelley’s reality world to her world of Frankenstein were not always smooth transitions, and although Victor Frankenstein and Percy were played by the same actor for a reason, this made the transition harder. The connection of Percy and Victor sharing the same actor showed their connection throughout Shelley’s writing process, keeping Percy in mind when writing of the selfish Victor. It gave the true personality of Percy’s character, allowing the audience to connect Mary Shelley’s pain with her writing, a spirit not captured in the novel. One last thing that confused me was the feminist aspect to the play, which I did not expect at all. I think that the playwright may have been trying to shine light upon some of Mary Shelley’s feelings, and connect it to today’s world, but I did not find it necessary or appropriate to include in the play.
Overall, I was not entirely impressed with the play. The puppetry did not give the image that most people picture of when thinking of the monster, and I found myself confused more than anything. This adaptation was not my style of theatre, and I feel as if the playwright’s choices may have been more appealing in reconsidered.
The True Horror in Frankenstein
Mary Shelley created a horror fiction unlike the ghost stories of the time when writing Frankenstein. The creation of the monster within the story is not the scare factor, and in reality, the work is not scary in the same fashion as most horror fiction pieces. The real scare factor is the creator of the monster, and his ability to “play God” in creating a life. He does not think twice in his pursuit to create life, nor does he explore the idea of consequences. This is the real haunting aspect of the literature- that human beings can be so invested in their own success and power that they ignore the idea that something can go wrong. It is this aspect that makes Shelley’s work unique, ad relative, exposing a real-life fear of one’s loss of morality. Along with raising this fear, Shelley looks at the consequences of Victor’s loss of morality, and his failure to take ownership of the monster, like many fail to take ownership of their mistakes. The consequences of creating the monster continue to grow throughout the novel as progresses and Victor continues to deny responsibility. This denial of responsibility, and failure to see the consequences of one’s actions make the novel relative to humankind, exploring the haunting truth that people can be just as dangerous as monsters.
Sense and Sensibility in Manhattan
In seeing the play Sense and Sensibility, the performance brought the book and Jane Austen’s characters to life in a modern adaptation, as well as turning 600 pages of a novel into a more dramatic and comical interpretation. The writer’s take on the text preserved the genius of Austen, while still giving it her own style, allowing me to see the work in a new light. This style made it easier to follow along with the story than the book did, which I sometimes had to reread to understand what was happening.
The differences between Elinor and Marianne were highlighted in not only the script, but the facial expressions and mannerisms of the actors. I could sense Elinor’s emotions, and her will to withhold them from everyone around her in every facial expression. In direct contrast, Marianne had no problem showing her emotions through not only facial expressions, but exaggerated outbursts. This exaggeration was seen throughout the performance, adding drama to the characters, as well as important turning parts of the play. I also truly enjoyed the choice to have actors engage with the audience, such as the gossip throughout the play, and Mrs. Jennings direct contact with individuals in the crowd. This gave the classic a fun and interactive twist. The mood of the play was also captured with the use of the lighting and moving props. These aspects added a theatrical aspect to some of the major scenes, such as Elinor’s discovery of Edward’s engagement, and Marianne’s discovery of Willoughby’s. The dark lighting, and flickering (and at one-point swinging) of the lights as well as the fast movement of the chairs displayed the true stress of the moment. It made you sit up in your seat to watch the girls’ worlds crumble before them. The intensity of the play of the whole caught my attention, and I can say I truly enjoyed the performance as a whole.
Sense and Sensibility Blog 2
The news of Marianne’s illness prompted the unexpected visit of Willoughby, and his intention to repair his relationship not only with Marianne, but also her sisters and mother. His visit shines light upon his departure, and gives reasoning behind it. In explaining to Elinor that his Aunt Smith threatened his inheritance after finding out about Eliza if he did not marry her, it is revealed that he chose his inheritance over Marianne. At first, he came off as greedy to me, only concerned with his inheritance and being wealthy. However, in comparing Willoughby’s character as the work progresses, the difference is evident. In his first appearance in the novel, he comes off as ignorant, but during this scene, his sincere and apologetic side is revealed when he owns up to his wrongdoings and takes the blame for leading Marianne on. By giving Elinor the full story of his love for Marianne, how he never intended to fall for her, and how he was set on marrying her before his aunt’s threats, his pain and guilt is shown. This wins over Elinor’s sympathy and forgiveness, as well as mine as a reader. This softer, more in-touch side to Willoughby’s character gives him a better appeal, changing my view on his character. This change of view is also supported by his choice to speak to Elinor on the subject, and not bother the ill Marianne. His concern for the opinion of not only Marianne, but also her family shows his respect for the Dashwood’s which was questionable after his sudden departure. Elinor’s sympathetic response, and inability to remain angry with him, as well as his sincere hope for Marianne to recover allow the reader to believe in Willoughby’s good heart, and judge him in a far less criticizing light.
Sense and Sensibility Post 1
In Jane Austen’s work Sense and Sensibility, she shows distinct contrasts between the two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, by showing both sides of the argument and staying impartial. Elinor, the eldest sister, represents sense, which is displayed by her rational outlook on life. Marianne, the middle sister, represents sensibility and emotion. This contrast is evident in Volume I, Chapter 12, when Marianne is given the gift of a horse by her suitor, Willoughby, and excitably accepts the gift with no hesitation, despite the fact that her family has no stable to hold the horse, servant to tend to it, or money for any of these things. She is more excited for the daily rides than she is rational in thinking of caring for the horse. It takes Elinor’s sense, logical thinking, and reminder of the well-being of their mother to convince Marianne to turn down the gift. In addition, Elinor overhears the interaction between the couple when Marianne informs Willoughby that she cannot accept the gift. His response leads to Elinor’s assumption of a secret engagement of the two, along with Margaret’s (the youngest sister) news of the exchange of a lock of Marianne’s hair. This chapter expresses the idea that Marianne acts on emotion, while Elinor acts on her knowledge.
By staying impartial, Austen gives the reader a chance to perceive the situation as each of the young ladies do, and allows the reader to choose sides, or even stay impartial themselves. I believe that both girls need to “learn from one another”, and act according to both reason and emotion. In reading the work, we see that Marianne is often overemotional, and worries more about her love life than the well-being of the family, while Elinor in a way brushes off her love like with Edward Ferrars to worry about her family. This is what leads to the arguments, and make their characters so contrasting to one another.
Photography Blog
In being asked to choose any photograph, rather than searching the web, I scrolled through the camera roll of my phone to find a picture I had taken at a concert. This picture was photographed on March 18th, 2016 at the Paramount Theatre in Huntington, NY, and displays the lead singer of my favorite band, Mayday Parade, during the performance along with some of the crowd. Although it was not captured by a famous photographer, and probably can’t be found anywhere but my Instagram, it has a personal value to me. It makes the night almost “immortal” as Susan Sontag would say, and gives the phrase “a night I won’t forget” literal meaning, because I can just scroll through my camera and find multiple pictures and videos. However, it wasn’t until halfway through the concert, when the band asked us to put all phones and cameras away, that I had realized that I was seeing it all through the screen of my phone rather than truly experiencing the concert first hand. I could hear the pounding of the drums and sing-a-long of the crowd, but it seemed to have lost its personal affect through the screen. It felt almost as if I were just watching another YouTube video, rather than jumping along with the crowd, or truly engaging in the moment. As Susan Sontag mentions, taking pictures and videos of the concert was “a way of certifying the experience” and “converting experience into image, a souvenir”. I was so busy posting on snapchat so that everyone could see, and worrying about being able to “relive” it all tomorrow, that the actual moment had lost its value. I was missing out on seeing my favorite band play live, because it was so important to capture the moment. Photography has always been a huge part of my life, with photographs and scrapbooks covering my room. But it was in this moment, standing in a crowd of people trying to capture and keep this same moment, that I realized the accessibility of photography and overuse may possibly be causing us to miss out on important parts of our lives. We are so busy posing for pictures and trying to save the memory forever, that we don’t truly appreciate what is going on around us. Photography can be a beautiful and magical thing, a way of capturing a moment, and making a memory permanent, but when overused, you can find yourself missing out of what is truly beautiful: life.
Sharon Olds- “First Thanksgiving” Blog
Sharon Olds often uses personal experience as a poet to express the focus on family, such as a mother letting go of her daughter in the poem “First Thanksgiving”. The poem depicts a daughter coming home from college for her first holiday, and a mother’s joy as the result. She mentions things such as the feel of her hug, smelling her hair, and having her sleep in the same apartment. Giving mention to these everyday interactions of a mother and her daughter shows the significance of such small moments. When living in the same house, you don’t always think to hug your mother, or take in the scent of your daughter’s hair, but the separation between mother and daughter shows the importance in one another’s lives. Olds uses a flashback of her daughter as a baby in her first few months, and the constant need of care and attention to transition from past to present. She depicts these months as a “slow blur”, but in reality life keeps moving fast, until your baby is all grown up and no longer depends on you. She uses imagery of her young self, holding a bee captive by its wing, like her daughter was kept under her wing until this moment, then tossing them into their departure. This symbolizes a mother letting go of her child to create a life of her own. I relate to this poem, as I think of my own mother, who is experiencing this poem firsthand in letting me grow and become independent, just as Olds’ daughter and the bee in their departure.
Reflection on Langston Hughes poem “Theme for English B”
The poem “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes portrays the Harlem Renaissance, and eventually, the Civil Rights Movement. The speaker is a young African American man attending University, a primarily white college. The beginning of the poem gives instructions for a homework assignment, and the rest of the poem is the theme response. This response shows the culture of New York City, and the primarily colored area known as Harlem. Despite this time of discrimination against colored people, the speaker takes pride in his home, and his color which is shown through the repetition in the poem. It also shows the process of finding oneself, in a country that was also at the time trying to find itself, and would go through a war to accomplish this. He uses his love for things such as food, sleep, learning, etc, that most people have a common love for, to show small but significant similarities in humanity. The United States, and especially New York are known for the experience of discovering oneself, and a chance at a better life. This “better life” had only begun to start for people of color through Hughes poetic words and contribution to the Harlem Renaissance, and essentially his contribution to American, and New York City culture. This poem shows the connection between the speaker and his older –and white- teacher in a time that this connection was not accepted by all. This connection is his idea of the “truth” the instructor asked for.