Week 3 Reflection

How does the author's culture bias affect her argument?

In Shakespeare in the Bush, the author's culture bias affects her argument in the way that she cannot successfully convey the meaning of her story to the African people.  She just assumes they know everything and that they will see everything the same way she sees it.  However, because of the different cultures, the African people see it very differently than the author, so she cannot fully convey the meaning of the story to them because they do not see the story the same way she does.

Breughel's Icarus:

1.      Subject: The Old Masters

2.      Found: Second line of poem

3.      Order: Incorrect

4.      Trying to say: The Old Masters were never wrong about suffering.

5.      Auden’s argument: “The Old Masters were never wrong about suffering.”

6.      How he makes the argument: He begins very general and he moves more and more specific until he is pointing to very specific examples within the painting.

7.      Does he provide evidence: Yes, The Old Masters knew how to paint pain and suffering, meaning they “understood it’s human position.”

8.      Title meaning: Museum of the Beautiful Arts

9.      Who are the “Old Masters”: Davincci, Michael Angelo, etc.

10.  Why is it capitalized: Because  it is a specific group of people.

11.  How you can find out more: by doing research and going to art museums to dig deeper on those artists and their paintings.

12.  How Auden moves through his argument: He goes from very general to very specific and ends up using the painting in his poem and using it as a detailed example.

13.  Breughel’s Icarus: a painting that depicts how the world still goes on even through the suffering of others.

14.  Thesis: I agree with some parts of the thesis and disagree with it in other aspects.  I agree because a lot of the time, people around the world simply turn their heads or try and stay “blissfully ignorant” about other suffering.  For instance, all Americans know there is a war going on in Iraq, but little actually know the full impact it is having on the troops and their families.  Many don’t know just how bad it is and what our soldiers are going through, simply because it is easier to turn our heads and act like everything is fine.  On the other hand, I disagree with his thesis because there have been many times in the world where some type of natural disaster has occurred and America and various other countries with the proper resources have come to help the country that has been affected by whatever disaster has occurred.  Therefore, I agree and disagree with his thesis because people can be very willing to help others, but people can also be willing to stay ignorant of the suffering of the rest of the world.

15.  Auden could come from a different country and therefore would have many different experiences than the rest of us, thus causing his opinion to be the way it is.

16.  His living in Europe in the 1930’s definitely affected his views about human suffering and how people responded to it.  This was during WWII and many people in Europe turned their heads to what was going on with the Jews.  He noticed that no one, except for very few, that would actually help those in need at the time.

17.  I think Auden feels like The Old Masters knew how to display their pain and suffering in the world around them through their paintings.

18.  The Old Masters were looked very highly upon by not only Auden, but other writers, painters, and various artists as well.

19.  The Old Masters were looked very highly upon because people can relate to them through their suffering and The Old Masters paintings.

20.  Auden is affected by being in a museum because he feels more inspired there by being around all those other paintings.

21.  Because the boy is drowning in the water and everyone is going on with their business like absolutely nothing is wrong.

22.  Yes, there are similarities that were going on in history that could make the Old Masters and Auden see things similarly.  Wars were going on at both these times, making the artists see things similarly.

23.  The wars were about very different things, and each artist might have had a different view point about the war specifically.

24.  Each painting has a distinct story that can be “read” by anyone, but everyone has very different interpretations of each painting.

25.  We’re expected to see a “museum of beautiful arts” from the title.

26.  We see a painting that depicts physical and emotional human suffering that can either be ignored or helped by others.

27.  The painting wants you to see happiness, sunshine, and contentedness.  What is hard to notice however, is the legs flailing in the water right by the ship.  The painting wants to make it hard for you to notice the suffering of the little boy drowning.

28.  Icarus is the boy drowning in the water by the ship.

29.  He is so small because the world tries to make it seem like one little person is so unnoticeable when it comes to suffering.  One person is nothing compared to the rest of the world.

30.  The people in the painting are ignoring him and going about their business and trying not to notice him.

31.  He said that people do not respond to human suffering. They ignore it, which is what is going on in the painting.

32.  Auden’s interpretation is a good one. It makes sense and there is evidence to back it up.

33.  Breughel’s historical and cultural context informed his art because off the myths and stories that were a big part of the culture at the time.

34.  I think Breughel’s interpretation of the story is correct.

35.  We would need to find the original source.

36.  The story makes it seem like everyone cared and was sad about the boy dying, rather than in the painting, Auden makes it seem like absolutely no one cares.

37.  Ovid’s point of view is so different because of the time period he came from.

38.  What was happening in the first century was that there were a lot of different emperors reigning over Rome.

39.  That might have affected his story telling because maybe every time Rome lost an emperor, the whole country was sad about it.  Maybe Ovid thought that whenever any one individual person died, everyone was sad about that one person.

40.  I think that the painting is more correct by the way of saying people are ignorant when it comes to the loss of the life of others.

41.  I feel sad and frustrated that so many people are blissfully ignorant of the lives of others, especially when they are fighting for our country, but even if they’re not, they are still a human being and every life is valuable.

42.  It confuses me and angers me why people act the way they do.  I know I act like that sometimes, but most people like it that way and don’t want to change and become aware of the lives of others around them.

43.  I would respond to Auden and tell him that he was correct in his assumptions then and still is today.

44.  I assume that both the writer and painter know what they are talking about and have specific reasons and evidence for believing the things they do and for having the opinions they have.