Romanticism

     I think I am a product of Romanticism.  Looking back on my life I can see some things that lean towards enlightenment but overall I have more romantic qualities.  One of the main romantic qualities that I feel I have is that if individuality.  The earliest I remember seeing this in myself is when I was in middle school.  I hated gym class, not because I disliked exercise but because I have never been good at sports and I didn't like being picked nearly last.  I also had a tendency to be very shy and quite but in 7^th grade it began to change.  I remember telling myself, who cares if you suck at soccer and softball, just get out there and have a positive attitude and have fun!  I attempted to do just that.  I would wear my hair down and when it was time for gym I would throw my head upside down, gather all my hair on top of my head and put an elastic in it.  My hair was literally on top of my head. As I began to express an attitude of, “I don’t care what others think of me, I am going to play hard and have fun,” I was not last to be picked for a team.  I was much closer to the top and I know this is because I was myself.  I laughed at myself if I missed the ball and told me team I would do better next time.  I was expressing my true self and I loved it. 

     Since then, I have always tried to just be myself and if others did not like the way I was, I did not care.  I do tend to comply with social norms such as getting married in a white dress.  But if I could do it over again, I would not have a traditional wedding reception and I would get married in whatever color dress I wanted! Who made the rule about wearing a white dress? Sure it represents purity but white looks horrible on me and you should feel beautiful on your wedding day! Looking at pictures of that day,  I look very washed out and I don't feel that pretty and that is why I would wear a different colored dress.  

     Also, I have a grown a love for nature.  My husband’s family is a very outdoor family and so I have experienced a lot of nature with them.  Some credit must also go to my general education art class.  Since I have taken that class, I notice the colors and shading of landscapes.  I love to be the passenger on road trips so that I can watch the mountains as we drive along.  Then, I can pay attention to the shadows and how it looks when the sun hits the scenery from different angles.  The world we live in is beautiful. 

     Finally, I relate to romanticism because I want to get away from commercial life.  I would love to live in a cabin in a small town away from the hustle and bustle of city life.  I feel like it would be less stressful and it would make life simple.  I am a product of the Romantic time period because I love that I am my own unique person and I am not afraid to express it, and I love nature. Along with my love of nature, there is a strong desire within me to live in a rural area. 

The Enlightenment

            The public sphere is defined in the Enlightenment reading as, “an arena of discussion and debate not affiliated with the government or any other form of authority. Gatherings were designed to be egalitarian discussions where minds from all social strata could come together and talk equally together about scientific, literary, political and academic topics”.  I feel that the public sphere became an essential part of society during the age of Enlightenment.  Before this age, people were suppressed and if they were out spoken or shared a different opinion, they were driven out or killed.  Take Galileo for example.  During the Renaissance, the Catholic Church had a lot of power and they controlled what people learned.  When Galileo tried to use Copernicans book to prove to the church that the universe was centered around the sun the book was banned for approximately 200 years.  The church also condemned Galileo for his scientific research and did not revoke that condemnation until 1992.  Before the age of Enlightenment, people were not encouraged to learn for themselves and have an opinion.  As the church lost their power and learning became available to all men, the world became more accepting of new opinions.  The public sphere that developed during the enlightenment became a very important part of society and it continues to be important today. 

            In today’s society we do not see as many physical gatherings in the public sphere, but we do have them.  One example of a public sphere could be a book club because people gather to discuss their opinions on literature that they have all read.  As a result of technology, most of our society’s public sphere takes place on the internet.  I would say chat rooms, social media sites and blogs are all part of our sphere today.  People share their thoughts in all of those settings and people can comment them and share their personal view as well.  On the internet there is no authority present and since it is not face to face conversation people are not afraid to share their true opinions. Online people debate and discuss any matter they choose.  In today’s society, people love that they have the freedom of speech and they will say whatever they want to say when they want to say it.  With freedom of speech being such a huge part of our society, I feel that having a public sphere today means that our society as a whole is educated.  I am aware that not everyone is educated and they do not share information based opinions but I do believe that our society today is more educated than it has ever been.  People have the desire to engage in intellectual conversations and debates.  Sharing opinions shows that people care about that topic.  Having a public sphere is a good thing for society because it allows people to communicate and express themselves freely.

Baroque or Renaissance?

                I feel like our society is definitely more Baroque than Renaissance.  I believe that the Renaissance was a purer time in the history of the world.  During that time people were just beginning to learn for themselves. Up to this point, the church controlled everything so in a sense they controlled how people thought.  Look at the art forms of that day and take a look at the Sistine Chapel celling.  It is beautiful but it is so pure at true.  The art during the Renaissance was so realistic and it focused on man and the beauty man contained.  The statues were so life-like and when people did things differently they were shunned.  Take Galileo for instance, he discovered that the universe rotated around the sun and the Catholic Church condemned him for saying that until 1992! People today have different views and opinions and we just deal with it and let them think what they want to think. 

                My first thought in comparing our society to being more baroque, is that in class, you said artist coined the term baroque to refer to art as grotesque and distorted.  Some art that is made today is focused on pure beauty but a lot of today’s art screams individualism.  During the Renaissance time period, individualism was looked down upon and people were unlearned so they were more close minded.  Today, people are more educated than they ever have been and so many people are tolerant and accepting of others and their opinions.  In my opinion the spread of different cultures has also had an impact on people accepting new and different things.  Back in the day travel occurred but it was slower and mainly for business and today we can fly almost anywhere for fun.  People move to different countries and learn about all kinds of cultures.  This has influenced our society because we constantly interact with different types of people and during the renaissance it was less common.

                  I also feel that many of the art forms today are degrading.  There are many types of art that focus on nude subjects and because of the way our society has developed the pleasure found in these art forms is sexual pleasure not pleasure in the natural beauty of man.  Our society is more baroque today because of the high level of individualism in art and because of how open we are to new things.

The Renaissance

            I chose to respond to question one.  The two statues are different but they are telling different parts of the same story.  Michelangelo’s David is very humanistic.  He resembles what the perfect man would look like. He is tall, broad and muscular which makes him appear perfect.  David also has a strong stance and this makes him look courageous and ready to fight.  This David, has his sling shot in his hand and over his shoulder and it is hard to notice when you first see the statue.  The look on David’s face is one of thought and concentration.  His brow is furrowed and the audience can see that he is in deep thought trying to figure out how to defeat Goliath.  It may even express concern that he may not succeed.  I agree with the statement that Michelangelo’s David is Apollonian classicism. Based on the observations I have previously stated, he fits this description.  I like the fact that the two statues represent different parts of the story, which makes their expressions and attitudes easier to understand.  

            Donatello’s David is clearly passionate individualism. This David’s pose comes across as cocky as he leans into the sword of Goliath.  He does not have the same masculinity as Michelangelo’s David because he is not as muscular and the shape of his form is almost feminine.  The long hair and the hat aid in the feminine look. Aside from the shape of his body the audience sees that underneath David’s left foot is the head of Goliath, which helps explain his cocky stance.  David, who is an untrained farm boy, has just faced the greatest Palestinian warrior.  David shot him with a sling shot and then used Goliath’s sword to cut off his head.  The Palestinian army agreed to stop fighting with the Israelites if their greatest warrior was defeated.  In this instance, David has a right to be cocky.  He can be prideful because he just saved his nation by using whit, not strength and skill.  Understanding the background of Donatello's statue helped me to see why he created David the way he did.  His attitude is appropriate for what he has just accomplished and he deserves glory for what he has done. 

            Although both of the statues are very different, they express the world view of the renaissance.  The statues portray unique emotions and ideas to the viewer but they both resemble man.  Humanism is expressed through both renditions of David.  During the renaissance, the focus shifted from a negative view on human kind to a positive outlook.  This reason can explain why artists of this time period spent so much time re-creating art that was centered on man.  Creativity came into play because man had no bounds and near the end of the renaissance artists realized that art had no limits and they could create whatever they wanted to create. 

3b. In a children’s game of musical chairs, one child is clearly the winner.  Should the organizers of the game give each child the same prize in order to not hurt anyone’s feelings?  Or should the children be taught at an early age how the world usually works? Which of these two approaches is likely to produce the happier child?

                When is musical chairs usually played? It is most often played at celebrations, mainly birthday parties.  Children know when they are at a party they are not celebrating themselves.  It is an unwritten rule that children give presents on those occasions, not receive them.  In my opinion, all of the children do not need to receive the same prize as the winner because they simply played the game.  The pleasure of winning should be enough reward.   When children are constantly given prizes or rewards only for putting in the effort they become reward driven.  As they grow up, they will always want to know what they will get from any situation.  Take little league or any childhood sport for example.  All the players used to get a trophy at the end of every season for merely playing.  Why? Only one team wins and even if awards are given to 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place that is only three teams not all 10. 

          Children do not need to constantly be rewarded simply for effort.  I think if children are always rewarded that will shape their minds for the hedonistic approach to happiness.  They will always expect some level of pleasure to follow any type of work.  As mentioned earlier they will constantly seek reward and praise, which is exactly what hedonists do.  They can never have too much pleasure in life they will over indulge because they deserve it.  If children win or greatly excel then they should earn a reward.  Children should learn at a young age that the world is not fair but in moderation.  By all means, I do not think children should have to fend for themselves or never receive a small reward but they should be prepared for the real world and the real world does not cater to the hedonistic approach to life.

          In real life, no one gets rewarded for small accomplishments like winning a game.  There are times in life when people work extremely hard and still they do not receive a reward.  Back to musical chairs, in the moment, the children who all received the same prize for playing would be happier.  They would feel so blissful because they would all be equal receiving the same reward for essentially the same effort.  Children who received no prize could possibly feel sad or jipped because they did not win and another child did, which resulted in no prize for them.  As the temporarily sad children grow up, they will understand that they do not always “get” something for every task they complete, while the children who are constantly rewarded will be seeking pleasure for everything. 

Into the Woods Post II

Prompt #2. "Wishes may bring problems such that you regret them.  Better that though, than to never get them."
     Many of the characters have experienced this with their wishes.  Cinderella is a prime example.  She was a servant girl stuck cleaning all of the time and she wished to go to the festival.  Her wish was granted and she went.  As a result of her attending, the Prince searched for her and she married him!  Her dreams came true.  Then, she found out that the Prince cheated on her and she realized that maybe this wasn't what she wanted.  None of it would have happened if she hadn't gone to the festival. Cinderella's wish brought her marital problems, and that may have left her regretting her original wish.  On the other hand, if Cinderella had never gone to the festival, would she still be wishing to go?  In other words, she got her wish and dealt with the problems that came but she was better off for having her wish come true.

      In real life people deal with this problem.  It makes me think of the saying, "Be careful what you wish for". Often times people think, why be careful?  When you get what you wanted it might not be all you thought it would be.  I can't think of any real life examples right now but I can think of another character in a different musical.  Glinda from the musical Wicked, gets everything she wanted.  She gets to work with the Wizard and she gets the best looking guy in the show, but is she happy?  She says that, "happy is what happens when all your dreams come true," but she also sings a verse about how getting your dreams is complicated and you have to do things that you did not know you would do to get them.  In my opinion, people wish for something and while they are working towards their wish, they change.  Once they get what they thought they wanted its not as amazing as they thought it would be and they are never satisfied.  They always want something more.  All of your dreams will never come true because you will always create new dreams once old ones are achieved.  The key is to learn from wishes coming true and to accept the things you have to find true happiness.

I chose prompt #2.  I will be writing about "No knot unties itself" and "Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor."
"No knot unties itself"
When a person ties a knot, they are intentionally attempting to tie the strings together to make a bow or a certain type of knot.  String is lifeless and will not magically untie itself.  In life, I relate this to problems.  To create a life problem, choices must be made or actions completed.  Maybe the person says something they did not mean to say or they touched a hot stove.  Although those examples are very different, both will result from the actions of the individual.  Essentially, if a person creates a problem, they have to get themselves out of it.  If the person says something they did not want to say to another, they must confront that person and apologize or do all they can to fix what damage has been done.  With the example of touching a hot stove, the person cannot undo it or untie the knot.  The only way to fix it is to tend to the wound until it is healed.  There is no magical way to fix problems once they are created.   From the show, Into the Woods, the father of the baker steals the witches magic beans.  What happened then? The witch cursed the home of the baker and no one who lived in the home of the baker could have children and he had to give his first born child to the witch.  I say those are some consequences to his actions! The father of the baker works incognito to help the baker lift the curse in order to have children.  With the baker, his wife and the father all working together they are able to make right what was once made wrong and the curse is lifted. 

"Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor"
Opportunities sometimes require hard work, other times they are presented by chance but either way they come about, they are there for a short time.  A person may work extremely hard for a certain job and luckily, they receive a job offer.  The job offer will not be there forever, it must be acted upon immediately and the person will choose to accept or reject the job offer. An opportunity will be accepted or lost.  It will not be there if they reject it and then change their minds. At times in life, something may be presented that the person did not see coming.  No matter what it is, time and life will not stand still until they decide they want to take the opportunity.  That is why opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.  Technically, the individual must decide if they want to take take the opportunity or not and once time has moved on, there is no going back.  People need to know what they want and go for it.  Take chances that may lead to great opportunities, if they do not they will never know what they missed!  Rapunzel is faced with the opportunity in the woods to go with the prince or to stay with her controlling witch mother.  The viewer can tell that she thinks for a moment about going with her mother but then she remembers what is was like and she takes the opportunity to try something new! She decides to stay with the prince.  Rapunzel will be starting a new life with him, the twins and she will be experiencing a new sense of freedom that she has never felt.