Storge Art History Essay Essay Example for Free

Storge Art History Essay Essay Storge, the Greek word for familial love, is the title of the art exhibition. Consisting of six works of art, of varying mediums, all but one from the modern era, this art show is meant to project love of family, and the feelings it may bring, whether they are joy or anguish. All the pieces in the show are meant to evoke maternal or paternal feelings in the viewers, and when combined, the pieces are meant to show the journey of parenthood. The duality of the show should be clear with the contrast between some of the happier pieces, such as The Bath, by Cassat, or The Cradle, by Morisot, and some of the darker works, like Migrant Mother, by Lange, and the very famous Pieta, by Michelangelo. The exhibition is also supposed to demonstrate the timelessness of storge, that no matter what century it is, feelings of parenthood are always powerful. Each piece will be placed on its own in a large plain room, and the viewers will walk from one room the next in a sort of chronological order, illustrating the journey of a child’s growth, and how it may affect their parents. The first work shown is The Cradle, and was painted in 1872 using oil on canvas, by Impressionist artist, Berthe Morisot. The piece is of Morisot’s sister Edma gazing at her sleeping baby daughter, and is a beautiful depiction of true motherly love. Morisot used her sister Edma as a model in several other works, like Young Woman Seated at a Window, however, the most powerful works, I found, were the depictions of motherhood, of Edma with her children, such as Hide-and-Seek or On the Grass. The Cradle instills a maternal sense in most viewers, which, after closer inspection seems to be due to the way Morisot had positioned her sister. Edma’s hand drawing the curtain over the cradle, partially obscuring the baby from view creates a feeling of intimacy, and shows the traditional protectiveness a mother has for her child. While the colours that Morisot chose create a somewhat somber feeling, the piece isn’t quite sad. It projects a sense of contentment and serenity, especially coming from the mother’s expression. Some have detected a slight sense of longing in the mother’s eyes, possibly wishing to be able to keep her child safe like this forever, but overall, Morisot creates a peaceful atmosphere evoking motherly sensations in the viewers. The Bath (1892), by Mary Cassat, is another oil on canvas Impressionist painting, also depicting a mother and child. The child in this piece is a few years older than the baby in Morisot’s The Cradle, demonstrating the show’s idea of a child’s growth. Some have described Cassat’s series of pieces showing mother and child as â€Å"largely unsentimental†, however, there is an undeniable feeling of closeness between the two figures, a mother and a daughter. The body language of the mother shows tender care for her daughter, as she gently washes her child’s toes during bathtime. The child, mostly naked, sitting on her mother’s lap is a picture of innocence and vulnerability. The mother cradling her child, holding the girl on her lap with an arm around her hip, creates an image of quiet protectiveness similar to The Cradle. The effect of putting The Bath after Morisot’s piece symbolizes the strong love that mother’s have for their children, because they are both pieces that show the strong bond between parent and child. The painting in the next room after The Bath, is The Banjo Lesson, painted using oil on canvas in 1893, by Henry Ossawa Tanner, a prominent African-American Impressionist painter. This piece shows a black father or grandfather with a young boy on his lap, teaching the boy to play the banjo. Compared with the two works that came before it, The Banjo Lesson shows an even closer bond between parent and child. The closeness of the two figures shows a strong familiarity between them, and again, a feeling of intimacy and protectiveness. The child stands between the man’s legs, leaning against his knee and torso, studiously trying to play a banjo, that’s too big for him, emphasizing his youth and frailty. The man, old and weather, intently watches the child’s delicate fingers, while supporting the neck of the instrument. This painting symbolizes the sharing of knowledge between parent and child, which is a big part of the parental journey. Though there are heavy shadows on the figures’ faces, the concentrated expressions are obvious, and despite that Tanner used mostly darker colours for the foreground, the lighter background, suggesting a fireplace off to the side, creates a feeling of physical warmth, combined with the heartwarming feeling the piece brings. The next three pieces of the Storge show shift the feeling from maternal or paternal warmth, to a slightly sadder sort of feeling. Coming after The Banjo Lesson, is a series of black and white photographs, taken in 1936, Nipomo, California, by Dorothea Lange, called Migrant Mother. The photos all show a poor pea picker, Florence Owens Thompson, the mother of seven children, wearing looks of worry and extreme sadness. All the photos in the set are extremely powerful, because of the feeling of desperation and heartache they generate in viewers of the pictures. At the time, Thompson and her kids had been existing off of frozen vegetables from the field and any birds that her children could kill. The children are positioned differently from photograph to photograph, but the expression on the mother’s face remains the same. It is a mixture of different emotions: disappointment, that she was unable to give her children a proper home; deep concentration, trying to find a way to make a better life for her family; serious concern, about how to make ends meet, where their next meal would come from; and tiredness, physically and mentally exhausted. In most pictures, she cradles her infant, while her other children lean on her. The body language of all the figures represents how a parent is a support system for the child, no matter how exhausted they are. The next work in the Storge exhibition is Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother, painted by James McNeill Whistler, in 1871. The oil on canvas, Impressionist piece shows, as the title dictates, the artist’s mother. At first glance, I had assumed, as did many others, that the mother was at her child’s funeral. It is a very somber picture, the woman wearing all black, clearly old, seeming vulnerable and sad. With some research, I learned that is definitely not what happened. Whistler’s mother had, apparently, sat in on for the portrait when the model became sick. It’s interesting how this piece shows a different sort of familial love. Rather than parent to child, it’s child to parent. Whistler managed to really evoke his mother’s Protestant character with the pose, expression, and colours that he used. There is exceptional attention to detail when it comes to his mother’s face, which kind of symbolizes their relationship. He would have to be very close to her to capture her character in his art, and even to physically recreate her face. I also detected a slight feeling of worry on Whistler’s part, with his mother aging. She had been standing at the start of the portrait, but she had to sit down due to her frailty. So while I did detect, after learning of Whistler’s intentions, a feeling of peace and contentment in the painting, I also felt the feeling of sadness that a child has when the realize they don’t have very much time left with their parent. The last piece, though it breaks from the vaguely chronological order of the show, is arguably the most powerful depiction of mother and son, not just in the show, but ever. Michelangelo’s Pieta, carved from Carrara marble, completed in 1499, depicts every parent’s worst nightmare, the death of a child. Mary holds Jesus’ lifeless body on her lap after the Crucifixion, cradling him in the same way she has been shown cradling Jesus as an infant. Her palms are turned upward as if asking why God would take her son from her, especially in such a violent way. Her face, a picture of numbness and vulnerability, combined with the body language of the two figures creates a sense of a very natural relationship, and shows the bond that was shared between Mary and her son. This piece evokes a very strong reaction in all viewers, of despair and empathy. Regardless of religious background, people have been known to break down into tears at the sight of Pieta, struck by what it would feel like to lose a child. Storge is meant to elicit a strong reaction in all viewers, not just parents. The pieces chosen for this exhibit were meant to show the best and worst events that could occur during parenthood, from cradling your toddler, to cradling your slain child. Viewers should go from craving the bond of parent and child at the beginning of the show, to feeling the loss of a child by the end of it. The artists chosen for this were mostly Impressionist, but I find the most powerful pieces, Migrant Mother by Lange and Pieta by Michelangelo, came from opposite ends of the time spectrum. This shows the timelessness of the journey of parenthood.

i Felt A Funeral, In My Brain :: essays research papers

In my opinion, Emily Dickinson as a transcendentalist used her poetry to describe the process of transcendental meditation, particularly the meditation of death. In this poem she tries to allow us to expierience our true nature by entering directly into our conscious. The poem is a deep seeking of the nature of death, the death that is a process of expansion and transformation from solidarity to a spaciousness. When she says: "I felt a funeral in my brain, and mourners to and fro, kept treading, treading till it seemed that sense was breaking through... " She focuses on the sensation of being in the body, feeling the body's substantiality and solidity, and the heaviness caused by gravity pulling on its very substance. When she says ..."And then I heard them lift a box and creak across my soul, With those same boots of lead, again the space began to toll..." I believe this to be an expression of the awareness a "Light Body" expieriences, seeing , tasting, touching, and the like. The body that is within the heavy or outer body. "As all the heavens were a bell, and being but an ear, and I, and silence, some strange race, wrecked, solitary here" I believe is a reference to the phase where the "Light Body" becomes seperated from the "Heavy Body" and everything floats free. "And then a plank in reason broke, and I dropped down, and down, and hit a world at every plunge, and finished knowing then-" I believe this to be gently and gradually dying and into the light and free of knowing. Thinking that all that comes to mind is old and are just old thoughts, and we do not have to hold to them. Giving a new birth to ourselves, to observe peace, mercy, kindness, and healing the pain we suffer from.

Obesity speech

Overweight and obesity cause the development of diabetes, and contribute to high blood pressure, Infertility, birth complications and amplify asthma and a poor health status. This Is very serious and It has to be taken way more serious by the people living here. Obesity Is largely preventable through changes In lifestyle, especially diet or daily exercise. There are many diseases that are so hard to cure, so why is it that, when we actually have a disease that you can cure yourself, we don't do anything about it?By some changes in your lifestyles, you could actually get a lot healthier than you were before. I am not saying that it is easy. I know that it can be hard to turn things around especially if it's become a habit to eat unhealthy and by eating unhealthy you don't get energy, and that is also a reason why many don't exercise as much as they should do. Younger people have largely grown up in a world, where a greater variety of food than ever before has become available and at a relatively low cost, and so are more prone to develop obesity at a younger age.Obesity is a major cause of death and 1 out of 3 adults and 1 out of 6 children is obese. Obesity costs the US, almost 150 million dollars a year, where almost 10 % of he national medical budgets. The way you eat has changed over the last 50 years. A lot more food is available than before and opportunities for physical activities are lacking. It is a known fact that physical activity improves overall health. Not only does it improve circulation, increase blood flow to the brain, and raise endorphin levels, which all helps to reduce stress, improve mood and attitude, and calm children.Physically active students also achieve more in school, they are less likely to miss school and participate more in class. Michelle Obama speaks about obesity In her beech and tells that because of the support of huge American businesses, Like Disney and Walter etc. Now more than half a million In undeserved communities now have the access to fresh, healthy food. Military leaders are serving healthier menus and products. Nearly two and a half million kids have enrolled In recreational sport classes.And they launched Let's Move Active schools, an unprecedented effort to Invest more than $70 million to promote actively and bring physical education back to your schools. So something Is done, yes. But could more be done? Walt for audience response I think – yes! Guys! I know that I may not Influence you to do something about It, but I may as well try, because this is serious. After I told you all these consequences, it must do outside the restaurant is looking so tasty and the candy in the candy stores can be so tempting, and its okay to eat it once in a while, but it can't be an everyday food or an everyday habit.That's Just too unhealthy for your body and health. I know that it tastes so good when you're eating it, but how do you feel about yourself when you finished the meal? Do you feel good or do you feel insecure about your body? Wait for audience response I can tell you, that I sure don't feel especially good after an unhealthy meal like that. So you got to ask yourself – Is this worth it? Do I want to be healthy? Do I want to be fit? Do I want to look good?I'm not saying that it's wrong to have curves, it isn't at all. But it's wrong, when it's dangerous for your own life. You are the young generation. You can still do something about this and with one step at a time it will help. Even if it's baby steps, you still got to try. I know that after an exhausting day at school it is very tempting to lie down in the bed and watch television, go on your ‘phone and hat with your friends on backbone, go on Mainstream and post a picture, whatever you like to do.

Rhetorical Analysis Mlk Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay

Martin Luther King’s inspiration for writing his, â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† was mainly to appeal to an undeniable injustice that occurred during his time. His letter was in response tos eight white clergymen, who objected to King protesting in Birmingham. Dr. King effectively crafted his counterargument after analyzing the clergymen’s unjust proposals and then he was able to present his rebuttal. Dr. King effectively formed his counterargument by first directly addressing his audience, the clergymen and then using logos, pathos and egos to present his own perspective on his opponent’s statements. The majority of the sentences in King’s letter can be connected to logos, pathos or ethos and his incorporation of appeals is masterful.†¦show more content†¦Some of his examples are well known such as Hitler while others were not as popular. This appeals to ethos because it demonstrates King’s palate for quality education, proving his credibility. â€Å"I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible ‘devil’†. In this passage, King’s presentation of logos is genius. He effectively shows the clergymen two sides of the community, the one of complacency and the other of hatred and cynicism. In this excerpt he does not attemptShow MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther Kings Letter From A Birmingham Jail1488 Words   |  6 Pages Obviously, again my primary motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail† is that this is a requirement for my English Composition Class. My heartfelt motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis is the respect I have for Martin Luther King’s intelligence and commitment that he displayed for the equality of the African American population. In analyzing â€Å"Letter from a Birmingham Jail†, I developed an even stronger understa nding of the dedicationRead MoreMlk Rhetorical Analysis Essay example1178 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis on Martin Luther King Junior’s Letter from Birmingham Jail In Martin Luther King Junior’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, MLK uses ethos, logos, and pathos powerfully and effectively to present his argument that the discrimination of African Americans all over the country is unbearable and should be outlawed forever. King wrote the letter in Birmingham, Alabama after a peaceful protest against segregation which was King’s way of reinforcing his belief that without forceful, directRead MoreRhetorical Analysis of Letter from Birmingham Jail W/ Focus on Ethos1587 Words   |  7 PagesMLK Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis- w/ focus on Ethos â€Å"...we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this quote, from the third paragraph of the letter written by eight Alabama clergymen, the term outsiders is used. Early on, this creates a label for Martin Luther King, outsider. Throughout his Letter From Birmingham Jail, King is able appeal to ethos in order to refute his title of â€Å"outsider†Read MoreMartin Luther King s Letter From Birmingham Jail1509 Words   |  7 Pagesfists. Martin Luther King Jr. used the power of rhetoric during the civil rights movement to gain equality for the black community. MLK was a master of rhetoric and used his knowledge of proper arguments to sway the opinions of people in power to get what he wanted. Even though Martin Luther King includes an abundance of rhetorical devices in the â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail,† he most effectively utilizes ethos and logos, elevating hi s perceived status to the level of the white clergymen and exposing