Your blog
this week should do several tasks. First, as always, provide an
evaluation of the presentation titled "Make it New" - how does that
title reflect the authors/poets and material that was read and
discussed? Besides the art that was discussed during the presentation,
can you find another piece of art work that reflects the American writer
at this time? What about music of the time period? Offer whatever
connections you can discover from doing some research. Be sure to cite
your sources. You might want to consider the discussion on the Symbolists and Imagists that I covered on Wednesday too.
Second,find
a poem by any of the poets in Collection 16 - you can choose one we
discussed or another one from that chapter - in your own words,
paraphrase the poem and then offer your analysis of the poem - adding
whatever insights you have that relate to the time period we've discuss.
PEER
FEEDBACK: I expect to see a better job done on this part. There are
too many simplified statements being made as to how much you agree with
your peer - that is fine but you are expected to add to their comments,
or to challenge something that they discussed by offering your own
comments that are also well supported.
I thought that Tori and I did a really good job getting out point across about the theme and time period. We had a few simple errors that are pretty simple like eye contact and reading too much off the slides but other then those simple presentations errors, I feel that we did very well. The class seemed to participate often and really understand our topic. They did really good relating the paintings to the poems. In that time era, the poems were made to describe the certain paintings. The class had a lot of similar views on the poems as Tori and I did, and sometimes they even ought of something that I hadn't considered and made very good points. Overall I think that Tori and I did our job of helping the class learn more a out poems and the 1910's.
ReplyDelete"Make it New" was about all of the new things happening to America after the war. Many changes in social lives and working lives. The music was very romantic and offered the same vibe as the poems did in this time period. The poems and music really used a lot of Imagery which had a lot to do with picturing in your head what the author is saying. Imagery in poems is very powerful depending on the poem, it was involving using your imagination to picture these poems in your head.
Works Cited: "1910's The Arts." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.
My favorite poem in Collection 16 was the poem called, "somewhere I have never travelled,gladly beyond" by E.E Cummings. Tori and I discussed this in our presentation and it was definitely the most interesting to me. In this poem, the poet uses bad grammar. I was thinking maybe he did it to focus attention to his poem and to be a different type of poet that stand out. The poem is about about a man who will do anything for his wife. The place that he discusses isn't even a place, it's in his imagination. This poem shows his love for his wife and he praises his features that he loves so much. The picture relates to his love for his wife and his passion. In this time period, romanticism was big and so was Imagism, which is used in this poem.
Leah, first I wanted to say that overall you did a good job during your presentation this week. Both you and Tori seemed to know what you were talking about. One thing that i really enjoyed was learning about all the different types of art work that artist came up with during this time period. Everything was so different. I know i mentioned this in my own blog but I learned about those styles of art this year in art class. I thought it was cool that I could relate the two classes. Another thing that really interested me during your presentation was the one poem. I thought it was very interesting. One thing that i thought needed improvement was on how both f you split up the work. I feel like it was not very even. I also feel like both of you used your hands a little to much and read off the slides. However, these problems can easily be fixed! other then these few things i thought you both did great. The poem that you picked is a very good poem. I just did not have the same views on it as you did. I thought it was just another poem about a husband and wife. I get bored with the same old poems that are not different. Just because im not a big fan of this poem, EE Cummings is one of the best poets to live. You did a good job in your blog this week!
DeleteLeah, you and Tori did a great job presenting this week. You were very aware of what you were talking about which I really enjoyed. I like how you related the art work and artists to the background and stories. Sometimes though I felt like too much background was used and not enough was said about the actual stories and poetry. The video was very effective in allowing me to see into the time period. I liked the music in it it was upbeat and really made me interested in the presentation. The poem I thought was very interesting was the one by E.E. Cummings. He didn't use any kind of capitalization or punctuation. This bothered me when I was reading it at first. I just was thinking how could anyone not want to use punctuation or capitalization. I think however this showed emphasis on different parts in the story. My mind automatically is drawn to places where there are mistakes so this could be a reason why he wanted to do this.
DeleteTori and Leah, I though that you guys did a good job on your presentation this week. You guys really know what you guys were talking about. Also the first day I thought was really interesting. I like learning about the time period. Also not only learning about the time period but about how the authors fit into the time period. One thing that I thought was very interesting was the art of the time period. Learning about the different types of art makes me think of how in the beginning of the year Mr.Winklebaure talked about these types of art. Cubism is an art form that is not being used that much anymore. However back during this time period many people didn't appreciate the style of art. My favorite poem during this was "The River Merchants Wife". I thought it was interesting because it related to the life cycle of the people that are in the story and their struggles during their life time. The videos that were used had a combination of both music and pictures from the time period. I thought that it was cool to see the pictures and have the background music. It really connected everything together. Another price of art work that reflects the time period is Arnold Schonebergs "Vision". This painting was made during this time. However it was very different from anything that people had seen before. It is something different that a lot of painters back during this time period. Another thing that changed with the music was that it was more upbeat. The music before had never gotten people up to want to dance. However this is what the music did. I though that the presentation was very good and very thought out.
ReplyDeleteA poem that I want to talk about it called the "The River Merchants Wife". I really enjoyed reading this poem. The poem was about a girl and a boy that lived during the time of the early China Dynasty. They got married at the age of 14. this is something that was very common for the time period. The girl was bashful and shy towards the by. I think that this shows how the young age affected her during her marriage. She acted like a 14 year old girl would act around boys. As she aged the feelings that she was having tarted to become real. the line that shows that their feelings grew strong was " my dust to be mingled with yours" this showed how they got closer at a more sexual level. The last part of the poem tells all about how he had to leave and how they were both sad to see each other go. The last line " And I will come to meet you.." shows that no matter how long he is away that she will wait for him. I thought this poem had a very deep meaning. Sometimes in life we may be to nervous to try new things but once we do we fall in love with them. I know some people may read the poem with a different meaning , however this is how I relate to the poem.
Works Cited
Robbison, Ola. "Artwork of the Day: Arnold Schoenberg's "Vision," 1910 | Quailhollow365 Arts & Crafts." Artwork of the Day: Arnold Schoenberg's "Vision," 1910 | Quailhollow365 Arts & Crafts. Artwork, 1 Aug. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. .
Hayley, I agree Tori and Leah did a great job presenting. I really liked how they talked about the different types of art. This was important to go along with the presentation because the art of the 1930's was extremely different than art of previous times. This art was a huge change in the rise of new ideas in this time, which goes along with the name of the collection Making it New. The art was abstract and it really evoked a lot of feeling. The person looking at the art had to really think about what the artist was trying to say, or what the art means to that person.
DeleteI like the poem that you chose to discuss. We talked about it in class but I think we could have gone farther discussing it so I am glad you brought it up. In China it was pretty much customary to marry at such a young age. This is because people didn't live as king as they do today. A fourteen year old to me is way too young to get married. As a fourteen year old know I wasn't as mature as I am today, and even at 17 I am too young to get married. I feel like as a fourteen year old you don't know what you want in a relationship. As a fourteen year old I was just starting to date and I feel like if I met someone and liked them at fourteen I may to even like them now. It's crazy to think how different society was in the old dynasty compared to today's society. Nice job Hayley!
Hayley, I thought Tori and Leah did a dine job, but needed some minor adjustments. I too was very interested in their presentations background. The music of that time period was really fun and interesting. The rag time beat really kept me into the mood of their presentation on the first day after watching their youtube video on the background.
DeleteThe poem that you picked is also very interesting to read. When I first read it, I did fully understand it, but as I read it a few times I saw that it talked bout a girl and boy that lived their lives as good friends and e
Eventually married at a very young age. This in my opinion, showed how people in those times wanted their children to get married vy the age of 18 because life was short and needed to be lived at a faster pace.
Thanks Hayley! I think it's interesting how Mr. Winklebauer taught you about cubism already in art class this year, it's good that you already understood it well! I really enjoyed the poem that you picked, it was very interesting. Tori and I used this one in our presentation because I was a very good poem. It was about young kids who started out as friend, and later got married at a young age. This was common back in this time period. The piece of art that went along with the poem was a sort of calm and dull Chinese painting. These poems all had some sort of way with going along with the paintings next to them!
DeleteLeah and Tori did a great job presenting this week. They had a lot of valuable information presented. I liked how their worksheet coincided with their presentation very well. They would present on a topic and the questions would be in order along with their presentation. After they discussed a certain topic they stopped to discuss the questions that went along with the topic. I liked this because it was easy for me to get my ideas out and listen to everyone else's ideas as well. I also liked how the handout was split up into two days. This helped me prepare for what they were going to say on each day. This way I could think about what I wanted to say before they actually started presenting. They said a lot of things in their presentation that I was not previously aware of. They also stated some things that were really good for topics of conversation. Sometimes however I felt the information was not evenly distributed between each person and it took a while for some things to be said. Overall however they had a lot of good information and I learned a lot.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of artwork that relates to the time period is The Radiator Building on page 769. It depicts a sky scraper in a city but not in the way that most people see a sky scraper. It is very abstract and the colors aren't something that I would see if I actually saw this building in person. A lot of the art at this times was very similar to this. It was very abstract and you had to think a lot while looking at it. During this time period Bing Crosby was very popular. One of my favorite songs by him was Pennies from Heaven. It had a good beat and Bing Crosby's voice was fantastic! Every time I hear it it reminds me of the Christmas movie Elf.
The poem from Collection 16 I want to discuss is "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams on page 779. First of all I would like to say I found it very odd that his name was William Williams. I don't understand why you would want your first and last name to practically be identical. This poem was very short. In total there was only 16 words and four lines. I thought it was interesting that on each stanza the first line had three words and the second line only had one word. The first stanza really confused me. So much depends upon. Depends upon what? I had to read it a few times. After I read it I started to think that maybe so much depended on the chickens, but then I realized it was the red wheelbarrow. Without the red wheelbarrow, the farm could not properly be taken care of. Also there would be no way of bringing food to the chickens. There is also one line where I can visualize happening. It was the line that said glazed with rainwater. I can see the rain washing down and glazing the wheelbarrow with water. This poem was hard to analyze because of how short it is. But after it is read a few times it is easier to understand.
Rachel, your blog was very good this week. I did enjoy how the worksheet went right along with the presentation. It was very easy to follow and helpful. However, they did not go over one or two questions of the worksheet. They skipped over them. I did enjoy how the class was very involved during the time. One thing that needed to be worked on was sometimes the presenters talked to long and didn't let the class give their full say. I agree with your last line. I do not think the work was spread out among the two very well. As i look at the piece of art work that you mentioned I could see how you brought they two together. The art work really went with the time period. The music you picked was also a good choice. I do think of the movie Elf when I hear that song. The poem you picked was very interesting. It was a very short poem. I was a little confused when I read it the first time. To be honest i really didn't like it that much. I felt as if it really had no meaning to it. I think that you did a good job picking out art, music, and a poem for this blog. Good Job!
DeleteRachel, I also felt that Leah and Tori both did well, but I think that they needed some work with splitting up talking points between eachother. Also, I thought that the chickens were the main point for the poem you selected as your favorite, but I feel that the rain that glazed the wheelbarrow was most important because it was this rain the watered the chickens. Thats just my opinion on it.
DeleteSorry I didnt finish. I looked at the picture of the skyscraper was very interesting. I actually disagree with you on the picture looking more abstract. I feel that this building really relates to what people in the 1900s thought of these large buildings, especially in the dark of the night. The lights in the building really helped with how the building must be very popular and ravishing.
DeleteRachel, the first thing I noticed about your blog was the William Williams. Personally, I would probably change my name if my parents did that to me. It reminds me of Phillip Phillips!
DeleteI agree with you about the handouts, I really liked how they had two different ones for each day. I wish I had thought of that. I feel like we had a lot of good conversations during their presentation.
When you were analyzing "The Red Wheelbarrow" I thought many of the same things. The poem really didn't make much sense to me until I reached the part about the rain glazing the wheelbarrow. For some reason after that line I understood. Maybe it was the imagery that allowed me to think a little deeper.
In Collection 16, the poems and short stories had much to do with the war ending and life in the United States changing. Which was very relatable to the title, "Make It New!" As men came home from war, women had changed in their style and jobs. The music and art had changed also. Leah and Tori had a song on one of their videos that was a lot like rag time music which became very popular during that time period. Also art was being brought up that never was in the past. With new immigrants and African Americans coming to the United States because of war in Europe in harsh laws in the south, they all brought their ethnicity with them in their ideas. A new form of art known as cubism was very popular, but many people did not appreciate it until later in the 1900s. Many people thought of it as graffiti and garbage. The artist changed how people thought of life through impressionism, which was a form of art in which people look at something and make it into their point of view through art. Another piece of art work that could be very relatable to this time frame would be Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night Over the Rhone". It has an impressionist view on the lights that reflect off of the water in the painting. It has almost an abstract view on it. It is a very beautiful painting.
ReplyDelete"Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée D'Orsay." Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée D'Orsay. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. .
Music of that time was very old fashioned. It had pianos in it and rag time beats to it. Another song that goes a long with this time period was called, The Entertainer. This is a very popular music piece that was and still is a catchy toon that is used in piano today. A famous ragtime musician of that time who wrote many music works of ragtime was Scott Joplin.
"Ragtime Piano : SCOTT JOPLIN . " The Entertainer " (1902) - YouTube." Ragtime Piano : SCOTT JOPLIN . " The Entertainer " (1902) - YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
During Tori and Leah's presentation, I thought it was very well put together. I just felt that they both should have made better adjustments from the first to the second day because there was room for improvement. Of the poems described, my favorite was "Chicago". I really thought that the lines really showed how one man can look at the bad things in a city and make it like its a beautiful place to live. Carl Sandburg really showed that a terrible place like Chicago is full of gangs and prostitutes, but he always looked on the brighter side of those things and stood up for his city.
Emma, I had just got done writing my reply to Carli and I had noticed something very similar to her's. You both mentioned cubism as the type of art style that was present during that time period and how it was under apprecitated. I agree with what you said about the African Ameicans and how they had to adjust to society. I wrote about this in my blog and found it as a very important part of Leah and Tori's presentation. I also liked the painting that you picked to talk about. It seems to fit the type of description as the collection talks about. The music reminds me of very happy go lucky music. You described that in your blog and I felt the same way. I think that "Chicago" was a very good picture to choose because of how bright it was. It fit the poem well and helped to give the reader a sense of how great of a city Chicago is. Great Job this week Emma.
DeleteEmma, while I was reading your blog, it made me really think about the concepts of many of the African Americans and minorities moving up north while the soldiers are away. This is a big deal because they needed jobs and the north needed these workers. It seems weird to think about how badly they were overlooked and unaccepted when we see how global and talented colored people are today. War will offer new opportunities to almost everybody who is not over there since the war needed American support in order to receive weapons, food, etc. When you talked about the paintings, I recognized your Van Gough right away. It is such a famous and recognizable picture. I think that the song you found also describes the time period as well. I have heard the Entertainer many times on piano and I can recognize it is an upbeat, pleasant song, which fits the positive time period. Good job Emma!
DeleteI think Tori and Leah were very original with the setup of their presentation that they gave in some aspects. I think it is very neat to see the presentations and presenters have different setups and ways of presenting the material from one presentation to another. I found it very interesting to learn about the background information from the 1910's before actually diving into the works of the authors from Collection 16. We were able to place these stories in a setting after receiving such in depth background following your first day. I also found it very neat how the handouts corresponded with the days and also how there were two different handouts. My favorite poem was "The River Merchant's Wife". When thinking about a time of making it new, this poem reminded me of olden days China. It made me think about how different worlds and countries can be from each other. I also found "Chicago" as more of an interesting picture. It is such a change from the picture of China with all of the modernized buildings that would more likely be present today. The artwork that was chosen with the pictures really made connections with the stories. Some more artwork that I found appealing was The Localization of Graphic Motifs II. This painting showcased the opinionated version of art that we see more today and the new use of cubism. I also found the music very different from what we listen to today. Their music had such joy and pleasantness.
ReplyDeleteThe poem that I would like to take a further analysis on would be "The River Merchant's Wife." This is a story all about how two children growing up together eventually end up together as husband and wife. However, like all other marriages, there is some sort of complication that is involved since no relationship is perfect. The couple were thrown together at the young age of fourteen, planned out by their parents for many years of the pair spending so much time together as friends. The relationship appears to be normal until the speaker's husband has to leave for a period that has reached five months. Nothing is the same anymore and the weather is changing into more gloom than she can recognize from previous years. She says she will greet him whenever he decides to return, because that is how strong their love really is. I think we should cover more on this time period with the customs that are appearing from the area. I find it very odd compared to the innovations that are happening with marriages, but I also recognize a familiar lifetime love that is still present today.
Works Cited
Museum of Modern Art. "Inventing Abstraction : 1910-1925." Www.moma.org. The Museum of Modern Art, 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. .
Carli, I really like you analysis of Tori and Leah's presentation. I felt the same way as you about the way the handouts were done. I really allowed us to concentrate on more specific details. I also thought that you did a good job of talking about the poem that you liked. You mentioned what it made you think of and how the story can almost take you to a different place. Your description of the art is very accurate. It seems very modern art, but with an olden days twist. I liked that you used cubism in your blog and you remembered that we had talked about that style of art. I found it interesting that you picked the same poem to talk about in the second part of the blog that you did for the first part of the blog. It seemed to me that you had some sort of connection to the poem and wanted to know more about the love that took place. I think that you could have criticted Leah and Tori a little bit more, but other wise great job this week Carli!
DeleteCarli, I liked all of the positive comments you had about about Leah and Victoria's presentation, but a tad more detail would have painted a better picture. I agree that all of the presentations have been uniquely presented, but how does this one stand out from all the others? I do agree with you about how this collection, Making it New, really fit with its title; from the older, oriental scene, to a modern picture of Chicago, the different realities were put together in this selection in order to collide with each other. Also, you did a very well job describing the Sea Merchant's Wife, but it would have been better if you analyzed the presentation better. Good job!
DeleteLeah and Tori, I thought that overall your presentation was very good. Both of you provided a plethora of information to the class and it was very easy to understand. I liked the way that your presentation opened. The video provided pictures of the time period that we were talking about and I think the music went right along with the theme. I still have that “Hello my lady” part stuck in my head. I also liked the way the handouts were divided up. They were split up by what material was being covered and it made it easier to understand what was going on. Something that I think that could have been different though would have to be the amount of time talking. I thought that there were a lot of discussion points, but I think we might have stayed on one subject a little bit too long. I think that Tori and Leah could have split up the amount of slides that each person did and that might have been a little easier for discussion to occur with the class. I feel that there also might have been just a little bit of lack of communication at some points in the presentation. They might have helped it to flow better. I think that the stories that they picked were very easy to understand and the background of the authors helped to explain the story.
ReplyDeleteThe art piece that I think relates to this collection is the picture on page 769. It is “The Radiator Building-Night, New York.” It is a picture of the Empire State Building and it reminds me of the poem “Chicago because it is highlighting a city. This picture is set at night, but it is still able to show some colors and bring the picture to life. It fits the title of the collection because it makes New York look like you can go there and start a fresh part of your life. The type of music that was common back then was jazz. African Americas were starting to be integrated into society and they were very good musicians. Americans had just returned from World War II and the music reflected that cheerful mood.
The poem that I picked to ready was “Spring and All” by William Carolos Williams. It starts off by talking about a depressing scene of driving past a contagious hospital with very cloudy skies. As the poem continues on, it begins to give the reader a picture of dead leaves and leafless vines that are scattered all along the road. It later goes on to explain how they entered the world cold, but eventually learned how to deal with what they were given. They eventually figured out how to become rooted and then grew into something beautiful. I think that this relates to the title of the collection perfectly because it takes something old and dead, and it is now something new. I think that this poem adds some explanation to the collection and it really helps to get what the collection is trying to get a crossed to the readers.
I forgot to put my works cited:
Delete"Popular Music of the 1920's." Angelfire.com. Angelfire.com, 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. .
I personally do not think there is anything wrong with staying on a specific subject for a long amount of time. If anything it helps to spread the information that is contained in the subject. Since it was not just the presenters prolonging the duration of a subject, I think it is fine. I do like the poem you described, it sounds very interesting if it really does paint a depressing picture of disease and dead plants. I can never figure out why I like scenes or stories that are darker or more depressing in nature.
DeleteCamille, you made some very good points in your blog this week. However, in the beginning of your blog, it sounded as if you were criticizing the group rather than analyzing their presentation. As for the length of covering any specific topic, it is the decision of the presenters, and how important they feel the information is. If the topic is something that they feel needs more coverage compared to other topics, then it is the duty of the presenters to present what they feel is necessary for as long as they feel necessary. I also enjoy and appreciate that you took the extra step to analyze and discuss a poem that we have not already gone over. Good job!
DeleteCamille, I thank you for letting us know what we did wrong! It's good to know these things so we can change it for future presentations. I'm glad to hear that the videos helped you understand the time period better, I've been seeing it often in the blogs this week that the videos helped which is really awesome! I'm impressed that you discussed a poem that we didn't even go over. That is much more difficult because it wasn't completely broken down for you and described yet. Good job this week and again thanks for letting me know what I did wrong.
DeleteLeah and Tori perform excellently with their presentation. The information on the poets was well researched and presented. The collections was filled with many poets that I found interesting. Personally, I found E. E. Cumming to be the most interesting of the poets covered. His syntax in his writing is what makes him stand out so much. Normally grammatical errors such as not using capitals or lack of punctuation would be a reason for mockery. However, since he did this on purpose it was something he became renowned for. I suppose there are weirder quirks that could have been done, like capitalizing every word. I found his work to be a little difficult to read, but it can still be managed. I guess that his style of writing was a brand new thing at the time. One thing I did like about the poems was how diverse they were. In "The River Merchant's Wife," the picture painted was to be an older Chinese style. While the poem Chicago captured more of a Chicago atmosphere. In the presentation, there was also showcasing of older culture in the music. The "Hello My Lady" song reminded me of the frog in Looney Toons that either does the actual song or one really similar to it. For the actual presentation, Leah and Tori made great preparations. There was ample time for discussion for what we thought about the poems and poets. The worksheet was also used as a good source for in class discussion. My only real complaint was that the handout was rather redundant. The powerpoint and the handout had the same information pretty much word for word. Although it was helpful for the information, it was rather pointless.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I like how E. E. Cummings writes his poems, I still prefer Ezra Pound's "The River Merchant's Wife" as a poem. Not really sure why must be the Chinese atmosphere that is painted in it. Although the poem is short it still tells a simple story. The poem is about a girl and a boy that meet and end up marrying. The girl was 14 when she got married, which was not to far out of the ordinary in the time period. Although now this is a rare event if it ever even happens anymore. As a sort of gauge for this most of us would have their 2 or 3-year anniversary coming within the year. After a year, the girl stopped scowling. Took a year to stop being angry, great marriage. Also after the first year the girl wanted to be with her husband for eternity. Unfortunately for her, a year later the boy left rather reluctantly. In the boys absence, the girl started the miss his company. She even hit the point of being envious of butterflies flying in pairs. I think its hard to believe that someone could become jealous of insects. The poem shows how people's feelings can change rather quickly.
I found E.E. Cummings rather interesting too. I think he was brave to stand out from the other poets and write how he chose to write. By putting in random punctuation and not using capitalization, he stressed certain parts of the poem that he wanted people to focus on. I think that the handout should have been different from the PowerPoint too, because as you said, it was kind of pointless with the same information. I like how you brought up that you don't know how someone could be jealous of insects. I feel like most females could relate to that though. Seeing the butterflies flying in pairs would be rather upsetting if you are already missing your husband. I think the poem fits in with this collection because Pound added many descriptive words that helped us paint a picture in our minds.
DeleteE. E. Cummings was for sure the most interesting writer in this collection. He did not seem to be quite as crazy as Ezra, and used less imagery. I enjoyed the way he wrote because of how he did what he wanted to when it came to writing the poems. This made him stand out from the other writers. The handout gave some good overall information on the presentation, but I think it was meant to be able to be looked over, and not used to add more information. They covered the information well in class. The poem with being jealous of insects was interesting, and a good decision. It was a classic example of description to paint a picture.
DeleteI felt like the presentation was done very well. Leah and Tori did a good job teaching the class. This was a new time for people during this age. The title, "Make it New" fits the collection very well. New ideas and a different way of viewing art and poems came about. I find the art very interesting because it is different than previous work and the artists put all of their emotion into it to make it abstract. The painting on page 769 by Georgia O'Keeffe is very interesting. It is a painting of the Radiator Building in New York. The picture uses calm colors; it gives it a feel that it is very welcoming and somewhat happy. It is painted during the night time, but the building still looks very alive. The poets entered a time of the Imagists. They tried to paint a picture for us in their writings so we could see what they really mean by the words in it. Ragtime Gal, by Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson, was a popular song during this time period. It is very upbeat and lifting. Women were making their lives new and doing more out of the box things.
ReplyDeleteI really like the poem, "The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter" by Ezra Pound. He was a spectacular writer during this time period. A young girl had an arranged marriage at just 14. She was not very happy with the idea at first. However, when she turned 15 she accepted it more and was happy with it. When she turned 16, her husband left. She missed him and many things remind her of him; she will await his return to her. Ezra uses many images in this. The first line helps to show that she is a young girl because her hair is still cut straight across her forehead. In the last stanza we see that the leaves are falling and it is August. This gives a sad feeling because fall is the time when many things die and winter comes.
Larissa, I also picked "The River Merchants Wife" as my poem. TO be honest, I really don't like Ezra Pound that much. I think that it's his history with the United States that made me not like him as well as the things he did for Italy during the second world war. Of course we talked about how he was crazy, but I don't know if that's an excuse. I think I would have to know exactly what his illness was before I would write off what he did. Anyway, I agree with your ideas and especially your choice of Ragtime Gal as your song. I think that that song is a very strong symbol of the 1910's.
DeleteLarissa, I liked the poem you picked to analyze. Ezra pound uses a little too much imagery for my taste. He seems to be too descriptive and does not allow the reader to imagine as much as some other writers. He is interesting, and that is why I chose him for my poem to look at. I liked the song Ragtime Gal, it was a good example of how everything worked during this time period around the early 1900s. Ezra was crazy, but he did write some interesting poems.
DeleteLeah and Tori, first of all I would like to congratulate you two on a wonderful presentation. I think that you had one of the harder collections to do along with Hayley and Jess. Nicole and I were very lucky with ours! Like Leah said earlier there were some simple presentation errors such as hand movements and the like, but we all do those things and I think you spoke very well to the class. My favorite part of Leah and Tori’s presentation was the beginning video. I give them a lot of credit for making their own! I thought that the song they chose along with the pictures really emphasized the time period. If I were the presenter the only thing I would have changed was the amount of text on the presentation and the size of the font. Other than small little details I think that you both did very well.
ReplyDeleteAs for art of the time period I was most interested in the ragtime that Leah discussed. I did a little background research and found out that there was a Broadway show with the title, “Ragtime”. The play takes place in the 1910’s and follows three families lives, an upper-class WASP family, an African American family and a Jewish immigrant family. I think that this play would be interesting to see to really understand the struggles of that time period for these three very different peoples. Although it was not opened in 1910’s it still would hold significant historical value.
The poem that I found the most interesting in the collection was “The River Merchant’s Wife”. What I liked about this poem is that it was written from the wife’s point of view and expressed all her emotions throughout her life and her feelings toward the man she marries. To paraphrase this poem I would say that although things seem difficult or bad at first they can end in a way that you least expect them too-often times a good way. I think that the poem is a trans-generational one. When paired with the painting in the book it immediately made me think of ancient China. However, when I read the poem without looking at the painting I think of a more modern time.
"Ragtime." The Broadway Musical Home. Music Theater International, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
I kind of forgot that Leah and Tori made their own video at the beginning. This was a good idea. They didn't try to take the easy way out, but they put time into the video to actually make it. I like your critique of the presentation. Also, how you brought up the hand movements. They were kind of distracting, but we all make these mistakes. I also chose to analyze "The River Merchant's Wife." This poem showed everything that the wife was thinking and painted a picture in our minds to go along with it. I also thought it was a more modern poem, but arranged marriages were common in earlier years. Good blog, Maddie!
DeleteI will be honest, I never noticed hand movements. I do agree that some of the slides were rather crammed and probably could have spread over 2 slides. I did not find this discrepancy a huge issue since I could still read the slide from the back of the class. Ragtime sounds interesting to see how different groups of people live their lives. I also liked "The River Merchant's Wife." I have to agree with what you said about the poem, the girl was a scowling at her husband for a year, then decided that she wanted to be with him forever. I personally think of it as a Chinese sort of era, mainly due to the mentioning of bamboo early in the poem.
DeleteLeah and Tori, your presentation this week was great! I enjoyed the video you made at the beginning, and it had a lot of different things in it that were helpful in understanding the time period. I found learning about the time period to be interesting and more fun than a normal literature only discussion. This presentation was well put together in the ways of organization. The way it was separated exactly into the two days was well done. This “make it new” theme was really reflected in the arts you chose to discuss. The music, poems, and even the art all reflected that one simple theme of making everything better than what it is now. After reading through our book’s collection and seeing some other pieces that others wrote, I see that the entire collection was well represented. You covered some of the art, and music, along with what I feel was the more important pieces of literature in the collection. You both did great!
ReplyDeleteI looked at more poems that were written by Ezra Pound. I found one that really works with this collection. It is the “Song of the Bowmen of Shu.” This poem is about the soldiers hoping to return to their country and to start again. They are starting to despair, but they do not give up. This reflects the theme of “make it new.” This also goes along with describing the type of poems that Ezra wrote. This has a type of “oriental” feeling about it, just like his other work that we covered in class.
“Internal.org Poets.” Song of the Bowmen of Shu. N.P., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.
Jess I agree that the art presented was very interesting and neat. Both Tori and Leah were confident in their part of the presentation. It was also evident that they each worked together as a great team to create a decent presentation. I also found your research of Ezra Pound. The poem you found talking of the soldiers wanting to come home to create a better life fit in perfectly with the theme of "make it new. "
DeleteJess, I agree with you in some aspects. The presentation was good despite a couple of minor flaws that really caught my attention. I think that you should have talked about the presenters in general so that they know what to fix in the future. They did have a couple of minor issues that are able to be fixed however. The material they covered was top-notch material though. Much like you I agree that the art forms they covered were very intriguing. I am glad that they introduced that to us. I also agree that it was a good presentation.
DeleteThe collection presented by Leah and Tori was very interesting. I especially found the art pieces presented intriguing. This "Little Renaissance" included many new styles of art. These art styles came about by the use of Impressionism. Art during this time period evolved into abstract art pieces such as cubism. I thought your worksheets went perfectly with the lesson presented. I also enjoyed your videos. The background upbeat music set the stage for the presentation. The presentation itself was great. Each subject covered flowed nicely into the next topic.
ReplyDeleteAlso I found Carl Sandberg an interesting author. As presented, Carl Sandberg is known for his homely, flamboyant speech(s). This successful author received two Pulitzer Prizes in his life span. In the poem "Chicago" Sandberg reveals the rough side of the city to the point where the city becomes personified. Sandberg also studied President Lincoln within in his works. Sandberg spent thirty years researching this president's legacy. Sandberg put together a six volume biography of Lincoln. Sandberg came from a poor family from Northern Sweden, and he also had to work at the age of thirteen.
Overall I found this presentation interesting and culturally diverse in the changes made to art forms. Great job girls, I enjoyed your presentation.
"Carl Sandberg." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 2013. Web. 21 April 2013. .
Marla, despite a couple of minor flaws the presentation was great. Much like you, I also found the art forms to be very intriguing. There were many different kinds of art that they discussed to us and they were interesting to learn about. I also agree with you that Carl Sandberg was a great author. You have to be a great author to win one Pulitzer Prize let alone two. That is a major accomplishment that he should be very proud of. The presentation was also culturally diverse like you said.
DeleteMarla, thank you for your kind comments on our presentation, but we did make quite a few mistakes. Also, I wouldn't quite call Carl Sandberg's poems flamboyant. I believe that they are more masculine and strong than anything else. Also, his speech is very humble, which is what I believe made him so popular to the majority of people. It was easier for the regular population to understand what he was trying to say through his average speech as compared to the over the top speech of many other authors.
DeleteThe presentation that Leah and Tori gave was a very good one. It provided me with great insights on the authors and their works, along with learning about different forms of artwork. The poet whom I had enjoyed most in the presentation was E. E. Cummings. He was different than any other poet or writer because he did not use capitalization or punctuation at all, even when necessary. I also liked the author Ezra Pound. He was the author of "The River Merchants Wife." The story was very interesting because it seemed to discuss the ideas of the dynasties in China. The story is not that hard to understand. It is about a young boy and a young girl that end up starting a relationship and getting married. The boy would eventually leave and the young girl felt alone without him. Ezra Pound, in my opinion, was a better poet than E. E. Cummings. I personally felt that Cummings writing was difficult to understand. I just find it weird if a poet does not use capitalization or punctuation. Ezra Pound was right down to the point and was very easy to understand. All of the authors in this collection all related to the title of the collection Make It New.
ReplyDeleteNow to talk more about the presentation and presenters in general. The volume was appropriate throughout the whole presentation and I had no trouble in understanding what they were saying. I did not notice any distracting habits that the presenters had. However, I could not read the slides very well from where I was sitting. I don't think that Leah and Tori should have clumped together a couple sentences on their slide. They should have used a short phrase or maybe even a word to get their point across. It did look like though that Leah read the notes straight from the slide instead of using her own words. It would have been a better presentation if she would have maintained eye contact with the class for the whole presentation. I also thought that Tori did most of the talking. It was not distributed evenly between the two presenters, and this is what I noticed the most. The material that was covered however was very good and does deserve two thumbs up. Overall, a good job on the presentation despite a couple of minor flaws.
Andrew I agree that the presentation went well overall. The art work in this section is very interesting and fun to learn about. You also brought up some minor flaws that took away from their presentation. The one thing that this group did well with was their discussions and worksheets. Overall the presentation was great and the works covered fit the title make it new.
DeleteAndrew, you made several good points in your blog. I agree with the fact that the presenters and their volume was consistently audible. I like the way you stated they had a few minor flaws. As with any presentation, nerves can take over and cause your mind to not function as well as you wish it would. Their authors as well as artists were spoken of very well, and their handout helped a lot.
DeleteI feel that Leah and Victoria did a very good job in presenting our class with Collection 16: Making It New. I enjoyed the way they provided background on the time period, but also, I wish there was a bit more depth in this. Victoria and Leah covered a variety of events in their time period, but I feel it could have been better if they just went with a few key events that coincided with the material and authors they chose to cover. While they did reach quite a few different key points in background, I feel that a little more discussion could have been put into it. However, I enjoyed the video they started with, which put the presentation in the time period also. I felt the handouts were very well organized and very easy to follow, and the worksheet went along with the notes. In the handouts, I feel that there was some good, pertinent information, but also there were topics that were skipped over. But overall, Leah and Tori did a good job.
ReplyDeleteOn Wednesday, we covered additional notes on Collection 16. In this, we discussed symbolism, where world appearances are “violently” rearranged to seek the truth in reality. It was a revival of Romanticism, beginning in Britain in 1797, and lasted through the nineteenth century. Symbolists stressed the necessity to trust the irrational, and tried to bring to surface the importance of self-discovery and truth in humans that the rational mind denies. They stressed the importance of the individual, compared to the rationalist opinion of a mechanical, uniform society. With additional research, I chose to study Fernand Khnopff. Living from 1858-1921, Khnopff was symbolist and painter. He was well known for believing that there is mystery within the facts, and for that, he was to be one of the most well-known symbolist painters. He is famous for his painting, The Caress, where he tells his own story of Oedipus and Sphinx.
While Tori and Leah discussed this poem in class, I found the River Merchant’s Wife to be one of my favorite poems this entire year. From the first stanza, we could see it was written from an imagist’s point of view; we could see a young oriental girl being friends with a young boy by mutual agreement, and then being arranged in marriage. Through vivid descriptions and imagery, we find the girl at first regrets her arranged marriage, but when he leaves, she realizes how much she really does love her husband, and hates being apart from him. Different images used in this poem include the description of autumn, representing sadness and a coming to an end, along with paired butterflies, which could symbolize how the women feels a loss of her husband being gone, since butterflies are commonly associated with the death or loss of a loved one.
Works Cited:
"Symbolism - 19th Century Art." Symbolism - 19th Century Art. Ivan Krstić and Krcky Design, 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. .
Maria, I enjoyed reading your blog because I had many of the same thoughts. I feel as though the time period could have been discussed a little more, because it almost feels as though Tori tried to over-discuss. I applaud her for doing such a great job in speaking, but I also feel that some topics could have been touched more upon. I enjoy that you brought up the word "violently" in which we discussed on Wednesday with Dr. Pam. I would have never thought to bring that point up in the blog. Good job.
DeleteMaria, I like your point of view on the presentation on how they should have further discussions on certain topics from the time period, but I personally liked how we were able to learn about such a wide variety of topics from this time. Yes, these topics could have been covered a little more clearly, but I thought that the range was pretty good for the amount of time that was allotted for the presentation. I also agree with your views on the River merchant's Wife. This is one of my favorites so far as well! It seems like an old story with timeless views of life within the text. Good job!
DeleteThanks Maria! I feel as though Leah and I could have done a better job of covering more in our collection, but we can't change it now! I do appreciate all of your positive comments. I also really enjoyed Ezra Pound's work. He is a very skilled poet in his ability to use imagery so well as to make me completely envision this woman's life as he described it. You could almost see her growing up throughout the poem and seeing her mature relates to what people go through today even though this poem was written around one hundred years ago and is about people who might have lived even longer ago.
DeleteI think that Leah and I did pretty well with our presentation. However, I do not think that we did as well as other groups, but there's really no way to change that now! We made small mistakes like most other groups, like using my hands to much or reading off of the slides. I do think that we covered the general time period well and that we went into good detail of the art and mindset that occurred during this time in literature. I think we did well in showing all of the areas of the arts that were occurring at that time. Our collection had to do with all of the changes that were occurring during this time period in everything from everyday life to literature, hence the title "Make It New." A great piece of art, 'Suprematism', shows what was going on in this time period. It's different, highly abstract, and colorful, everything that these writers were. They used colorful ways to express themselves, and I really feel as though they were all very different from all of the writers that came before them.
ReplyDeleteKAZIMIR MALEVICH (1879-1935) 'Suprematism', 1915 (oil on canvas)
The most interesting poet to me in this section was e. e. cummings. His poem "somewhere i have never traveled,gladly beyond" was actually very good and interesting once you look past the obviously odd grammar and capitalizations. It's theme of love and adoration way not be totally apparent, but it is there. If you were not thinking analytically, it might actually be thought of as a place where he had gone for the first time, but if any time is spent on looking into the poem, it is easy to see that the place the narrator is going is a place of new love.
I thought that Victoria and Leah did a good job with their presentation on “Make It New.” I feel as though a few topics were over-discussed, leaving some things with not too much information. What was discussed, as well as the handout, was very thorough and enjoyable. The volume of the speakers was consistent throughout, and it was nice to see Tori smile a lot, because it made everyone feel a little more comfortable. The only comments I have for any future presentations would be for Tori to limit her hand movements, just because it got distracting at times; for the slides to contain less information, because it caused the speaker to read from the slide because it had all of the talking points right on the slide; and finally, for there to just be equal amount of talk for each subject, unless there happens to be a more important topic, of course. Overall, I feel that Tori and Leah did a good job on their presentation. There was a huge connection between the title of the collection and the works it contained. All of the poems and art had symbolism and imagery, which had never been seen before the way it was used in this time period. The art became more of “what do you see,” which is really cool because each person could see a different view of the artwork. Authors used many other descriptive words, as well as E.E. Cummings using a totally different way of language arts, not using correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in some cases. This is a totally different aspect of writing than what was seen in previous collections. The music is very jazzy and soulful, as well as inspiring. This is a time period that may not be recognized totally in its music, the way the collection Maddie and I presented had been very recognizable. Art is very colorful and abstract, and can be seen in many ways. Some parts of the painting stand out to certain people, while other parts are almost looked over. The painting of Chicago that went along with the poem we read really stood out to me, because of the bright colors. Some paintings in previous collections, even in the painting that went along with the River Merchant’s Wife was more drab, while Chicago’s painting was very bold. The stadium in the background was my main focal point.
ReplyDeleteOn page 779, The Red Wheelbarrow by William Williams, was my favorite poem. It is very odd to me, which made me have to read it about five times to even grasp some of the ideas from it. When I see the name William Williams, I think of the singer Phillip Phillips. I never understand why a man would have a first name that was the exact same minus the ‘s’ as the last name. Being a boy, the parents are the people who choose the name, and that name will stick with them forever, unlike a woman who may get married and receive her husband’s last name. The poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” is simply about a red wheelbarrow and is “glazed with rain.” The descriptive words in this short poem really help the mind picture what is being read. It states that so much depends on the wheelbarrow, and then it says that the white chickens rely on it as well. First, I thought they were using it as shelter during the rain. After reading the poem a few more times, I connected it a little bit. Since there are chickens, this wheelbarrow may belong on a farm. With the wheelbarrow, the farmer can carry dirt, food, and many other necessities for the animals and farmland. The first time I read the poem, I was thoroughly confused. After reading it a few times, it is actually quite neat to see how such a short poem can give the mind a huge mental picture as well as a story, because the mind almost plays out the scene when it is trying to figure out what the wheelbarrow is so important for.