A parasite is an organism that grows and takes shelter in a host organism while contributing nothing to its survival. Many types of parasites roam the earth in a desperate search for a host to leech onto, but perhaps the most common type of parasite, that has at one time or another affected even the healthiest of souls, is the love parasite. Everyday someone is afflicted with the crippling, parasitic disease of love. Endearment grows and feeds mercilessly on two people but does not provide any real sustenance. Ardor is not a basic need, such as food and shelter. Nonetheless, love wiggles its way into the blood stream and affects people in a way strikingly similar to another parasitic disease; malaria.
Both malaria and love are caused by a single bite. The mosquito carries plasmodium falciparum nestled in its belly, and when it bites into the tender flesh of a person the parasite is transferred into the host’s blood stream. The love bug acts in a similar fashion, picking out victims indiscriminately. The symptoms of malaria and love are evident about the same times. The symptoms of malaria begin from eight days to four weeks and love, behaves similarly. Boy meets girl, and in as little as eight days for the romantics on earth, love is burning. For the more conservative, reserved at heart, love’s sharp kiss can be stayed for a whole month. Still, just as malaria cannot be curbed, neither can love once a person has been bit. Read more…
Discuss the themes and techniques of fauvism. Support your arguments with reference to specific examples.
Between 1904-7, Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Maurice Vlaminck evolved a style of painting that earned them the name Les Fauves. The Fauve movement was given it’s name when the art critic Louis Vauxcelles was reviewing the Gils Blas at the Salon d’Automne exhibition in 1905. He saw a classical sculpture in the centre of an exhibition room filled with fauve paintings by artists such as Derain, Vlaminck and Matisse. The bright arbitrary colours and distorted lines of the Fauvists paintings looked at the time like art by savages. He referred to these paintings as ‘wild beast’ in comparison to the classical sculpture. As a result of the French meaning for wild beast being ‘fauves’ the style was called fauvism. Although there was no common program such as the Impressionist Société anonyme des peintres, sculpteur et graveur, the Fauves were all loosely joined by a shared rebellion against academicism. For the Fauves the simple act of painting and the joy of painting is at the heart of the paintings.
The Pointillists had a large influence on the Fauves. In the freeing of line and colour from the bonds of realistic description the Fauves looked back to the juxtapositions used by the Pointillists. They incorporated these juxtapositions into the emotionalism that they adopted from the styles of painters such as Vincent van Gogh . Comparing van Gogh’s Self-portrait with shaven head to Matisse’s Portrait of André Derain one can easily observe the similarities. Both have broken brush strokes, the paint having been applied thickly and in directional patterns. This pattern plays a key part in the creation of a structure in the figures. Van Gogh has highlighted his face by lightening the green background palette close to the face. By contrast Matisse has used two colours, green and blue, in the background. However this has been coarsely applied with vigorous brushstrokes and no attempt to even try to finish it. Amongst other artists that influenced the Fauves Gauguin stands out. Read more…
The first time I stepped into San Sebastian, I felt no special connection towards it. I only recall mama pointing out its special beauty. This comment, not empirical observation, created a subconscious regard that this church equaled beauty.
When I reached second year high school, I developed a deeper love for the Catholic faith, and with it came a reverential regard for Churches. It was at this time that my regard for San Sebastian’s beauty moved beyond architecture into personal attachment. It became part of me because it was an expression of what was most important to me: my faith. This personal attachment drew me to visit this church with more attention and reflection.
The high ceilings and cold, as if air-conditioned, interior are primarily the two aspects that made an impact on me. This is possibly because it is how the body feels that strikes a human person first. The high arched ceilings were produced in the Gothic style. These structures were built using steel and stone. Belgian Steel and Stone were also the main materials used in building the church. These materials most probably are responsible for the cold climate within San Sebastian.
The high arched gothic ceilings create a prayer space that is solemn and quiet, making it easier for internal recollection. The cool interiors allow for a more intense concentration, by eradicating the distraction caused by tropical heat.
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The Ragpicker is a motionless, single subject portrait painted by Edouard Manet. This work took Manet four years to complete, he started The Ragpicker in 1865 and completed it 1869. I personally viewed The Ragpicker at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. It proved to be an overwhelming piece of art because of its size and sprung curiosity to all the viewers.
My personal interpretation of The Ragpicker is one of unstability and lacks warmth. The painting brings compassion to the viewer that sparks a curious desire to know more about the old man in the painting. The painting lacks a background and the stillness of the subject allows the viewer to take in the painting in a short time, which I like about the painting. The old man is lost and dazed but not completely undignified. It makes the viewer want to know about the painter’s life and political or spiritual beliefs. Manet lived in France where he completed a large collection of paintings. During his latter years Manet began to veer toward the styles of an “Old Master”, Velazguez. I somehow believe that this kind of “disappearing background with motionless subjects” was a challenge to Manet. He was quoted to say “…how difficult it is to place a figure alone on a canvas, and to concentrate all the interest on this single and unique figure and still keep it living and real.” These paintings seemed to challenge Manet and maybe that was the main purpose for the change in his style. The painting is perfectly centered and focuses on the cloth bag The Ragpicker carries.
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For this assignment, I chose to read the modern Canadian fiction book, Unless by Carol Shields. I first noticed this book was when reading BC BookWorld for assignment 1. However, I did not have much interest in this book at first, not until I was doing research on the internet. When I was trying to find a Canadian fiction book on the internet, I found out Unless by Carol Shields appeared almost everywhere. Therefore, it started to grab my attention. Then, I found out that the book, Unless, will be Carol Shields¡¦ last novel due to her illness in breast cancer and it may be her most despairing book. Therefore, I decided to read this book for my assignment. In this paper, I will briefly summarize the book and talk about my reaction to it. Also, I will discuss what seems to be distinctly Canadian about this book.
In Carol Shields¡ Unless, the main character, Reta Winters, is a forty-four years old writer living in a suburb of Toronto. She has a loving husband who is a successful family doctor and is faithful to her. Although they were never legally married, but they have lived happily together for twenty-six years and have three teenage daughters. Also, Reta is an author of a successful novel and a translator. It seems that Reta¡¦s life is happy and almost perfect, but under many reasons, her life is not so wonderful at all. Her oldest daughter, Norah, is a 19 years old girl who suddenly abandons her normal life and starts to beg on a street corner in Toronto. Reta and her family do not quite understand why their lovely daughter suddenly changed. It seems that Norah is searching for something, searching for goodness for her life in this world. Even though Reta wants to live normally and pretends nothing has happened, but deep inside, the whole thing is just killing her. Still, Reta is searching for the reasons which drove her Norah into such a state. During the searching, Reta notices that the women are considered as weak and powerless in this society, even in a fiction story created by male. She seems to blame the whole society since she thinks it is the reason for her daughter¡¦s sudden changes. In the end of the book, Norah ends up in a city hospital with pneumonia. After knowing the reasons for Norah¡¦s changes and after the whole family is again reunited as one, Reta starts to realize the meaning and hope for her ordinary life. Read more…
