Week 8 Drama

When I re-learned the elements of tragedy, I got to write a paper about the movie "Fargo" from a perspective of Aristotle's tragedy. It was an interesting way to look at the movie. Think of a play you've seen, modern or classical, and supply a character you think is tragic. Tell how and why this character measures up to Aristotle's idea of a noble character.

For example, who, in the movie "Fargo," is the noble character? Is it Jerry's father in law? Is it Jerry? If anyone is, the rich father in law is probably the closest, but are we sad when he dies? What's the catharsis?

You can look in your books on page 219 in the section about Genres of Drama to get more of an idea of what I'm asking if this isn't clear.

Week 7 Literature

Tell the class your favorite novel, listing the title, author, and, most importantly, why and what you like about it.

To be honest, I have three favorite novels. The first is 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. This is a noble prize winner's finest work before the critics named it magical realism. I reconnect to the reality of the spirit world when I read this book. The next is Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and lastly, Even Cowgirls get the Blues by Tom Robbins.

I like these books for some of the same reasons. From each I learn something new about life and myself each time I read them. The first two are complicated and difficult enough that I can open them anywhere and read for a while and decipher new literary thoughts about the text, life, and my imagination. I like to think that I become more creative after reading these texts. Gravity's Rainbow is funny in a high-brow intellectual way that many times I have to read the text seven or eight times to get the joke. Pynchon is a master of ambiguity so many times I feel lost and unsure. Better to feel that way in a book than in real life.

Even Cowgirls is my favorite because it makes me laugh. How can anyone not like a book whose one hundredth chapter is called a bottle of champagne and the narrator proceeds to get drunk on his words. And the fact that Tom Robbins is completely irreverent about almost everything. Yes, he's a smart aleck, a funny one.

So, tell us your favorite(s)! They don't have to be a classic or high toned literature. All they have to be is your favorite.

Week 6--Architecture

This week, using what you've learned from painting, sculpture, and architecture, describe your dream house. How many rooms, floors, what it's made of, where it's located, etc.

I actually owned my dream home. It was a 16 x 20 cabin on a lake in Oklahoma. It had two rooms, a kitchen with a wood burning cookstove, table, hoosier cabinet, fridge, and sink with only cold running water. There was a bathroom with a sink and toilet, no shower. The front porch was a combination bedroom/living room. It had old shag carpet (not a good idea).

The interior was all knotty pine paneling on the walls and ceiling. There was electricity for the air conditioner and lights. We also used a small space heater until the cookstove warmed up the room.

It was cozy and simple. There wasn't really enough room to live there, unless I wanted to get rid of 99.9% of my possessions, which has been tempting more than once, but my quest for simplicity, as usual, fails. I still have my toys though.

Please feel free to make your descriptions more detailed. I forgot to mention the cabin was painted red and had cedar shingles on the roof, at least the part you could see. Most of it was covered with moss.

It's your dream, dream well.

Week 5 Sculpture

This week, I'd like y'all to write about a sculpture you have seen, not in a picture, but real life. Describe it using the terms we've learned so far.
When I lived close to Washington, D.C. several years ago, there was a Rodin exhibit at the National Gallery of Arts. I knew that he had created the "thinker," and I wanted to see it. I did. Several versions of it. Along with the smooth sensuousness of the sculpture, I saw "The Gates of Hell." This was a huge bronze casting and was around 20 feet tall. It was astounding. All I could do was stare. I also walked through the gates. The rope to keep people away was only 6 inches off the ground, so I stepped over it and walked through.
I turned around a looked up at the top of the gate and the open doors. It wasn't scary or eerie. I was conscious of being in a well-lighted museum. But I had still walked through the gates of hell. I cataloged it with being struck by ball lightening and wrestling a 300 lb. black bear (I lost). I thought of terrors of the unknown and the glories of an imagined paradise. I felt the weight of the suffering souls that were locked into the gates. The greenish cast of the bronze reminded me of something coming out of a primeval ocean covered with seaweed and moss.

Week 4

For your post this week, choose a painting (you may like the painting or dislike it) and describe it using the terms describing the media and elements of painting. Tell the title of the painting and the artist. It needs to be a painting and not photograph or sculpture. If you have seen the work in real life, great. If not, do your best to describe what the media should do for the painting.