The Anatomy Lesson

‘The Anatomy Lesson’ was painted on the 16^th of January, 1632. Rembrandt Harmenszoon created it on an oil canvas. This piece of art demonstrates one of many discoveries made during the Renaissance. ‘The Anatomy Lesson’ shows how people were willing to go out and experiment new ideas and concepts. This expresses how the Renaissance, was a time of inquiry where people were trying to seek the answers to their questions. Dr. Nicolaes Tulp performed the dissection of the human body and it was a first because the Catholic Church forbade dissection because they feared the discovery of the souls location. This exhibits how the Church was losing power and their ability to control the citizens therefore causing them to break away and reform themselves. In the painting you can see that the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons are intrigued by the anatomy and are taking notes, studying the human’s arm and its muscles and tendons inside. Their curiosity lead to the realization of the human body and from this discovery new medicines were able to be made. This painting is a reflection of the Renaissance because it shows how it was an era of logical discoveries and also how they weren’t relying on the church as much to provide the answers for them.

Driving Forces of The Renaissance

Because of The Rediscovery of Ancient Knowledge, the Italians were able to better understand their surroundings such as their bodies, architecture and literature and understand how their knowledge was able to develop and sound more realistic because some of the knowledge that was brought up from the fallen Roman Empire and the Middle Ages.

http://www.historyking.com/images/Renaissance-Drawings-Vs-Art-Today.jpg

The Battle of Hastings

In class, we started the topic of Medieval Times. We started learning about the battle of Hastings, which occurred in England during 1066. The battle was between King Harold, Edwards’s successor, and Duke William of Normandy. It was a bloodthirsty and savage battle, though in the end Duke William of Normandy victoriously won and claimed the throne of England.

The game that I chose:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/games/hastings/index_embed.shtml

Briefly, this game was shown through Williams and Harold’s pointsn of view during the battle. Its straight forward because, all you really need is to know your facts, and its nothing to complicated. It also shows the main points of the battle, and what happened. What I enjoyed about this game is that it gives a visual image of the battle. And that way, I could get a better understanding of how the battle somewhat looked like. And I also liked how they gave Williams and Harold’s point of view because that way, there’s two sides of the story. Whilst playing the game, I learned that Harold was quiet exhausted by the time he had to fight William, because he had marched 190 miles to fight and defeat his brother Tostig and his ally Harald Hardrada, then he had to travel back south to fight William. Harold also had peasant soldiers who weren’t as strong. So basically, Harold had no chance against William in the battle. There were a lot of events that happened during the Battle of Hastings. First of, Harold was worn-out before the battle with Duke William of Normandy. That was because he had to travel up north to fight with Harald Hardrada, then march back down south to fight with William, and along the way he had lost many soldiers due to the fact that there wasn’t much food, and that some where just much too weak to carry on. So therefore Harold grabbed untrained peasants from the fields to fight along side him. Harold and his army had created a strong shield wall, to try and block off from the cavalry and the archers of the Normans. But the Normans had a strategy to unbalance the Brits from their shield wall. They did this by pretending that William had fallen and fleeting, then quickly turning back when their shields were down. King Harold had died with an arrow through the eye, and the throne as well as England belonged to William. This game is a valuable learning experience because like I said before, it gives a visual of the battle as well as information to add to your understanding. As well its not too hard, and it can be a great tool to help before quizzes and tests.

Medieval Times: "Catherine Called Birdy"

"Catherine Called Birdy" by Karen Cushman

The historical fiction based novel “Catherine Called Birdy” is written by Karen Cushman, which is set in Medieval times, when life was hard and frustrating. Where a teenage girl tries to be free of marriage, and is powerless within her family and has major lack of fine medicine. Catherine wished she were a villager, for she despised getting married. Especially to some pig chosen by her father, the beast. She always made up some kind of scheme to scare them off. For example, trying to act all rude and less lady-like so the men would just turn their heads and head elsewhere. Most of the time, it worked on them, but it certainly did not work towards the pig, Shaggy Beard. Catherine yearned to be a villager, for they had all the freedom towards their marriage. They could marry whomever they desired for. This shows how she was powerless within her family. Although Catherine tried to stand up and be courageous and use her massive powerful mouth, it always ended with her locked up in her chamber and getting a slap in the face. Catherine could do nothing. She couldn’t speak up. She was a prisoner. Her mouth was taped up, and it couldn’t be ripped off. Catherine was also forced to sew embroidery. Which she loathed most of all. She couldn’t escape it, for it was her job to do so. Yet again, impotent. The medieval times were also powerless with their medicines. Back then, medicine was just a cluster of ingredients mixed together. They probably didn’t even know what they were doing. Who knows whether the medicine really cured illness and pains. For example Catherine’s mother lost 5 babies (it could have related to the fact that she drank way to much ale) and with one she spent 3 days in labour, and as a results she could have died showing that medical care was ever so distant. So life in medieval times was very challenging. Especially for Catherine, for she was a noble girl who couldn’t escape marriage, and was forced to be traded off to some pig, and was powerless against it for she couldn’t speck out, and medicine was unsatisfying.

Shmuels Point of View

Shmuels Point of View

I trundled along the empty, lonely, bitter ground, dragging my exhausted skinny bare feet along, heading towards THEIR fence. Heading towards the place where I just like to sit to be alone. To get away from all the fear, and the hunger of wanting to be free. But something, I’m not sure what, was already there. Invading my space of comfort. My heart started to pound, as my fears crept in. What is that thing? Sitting on THEIR side of the fence? Sitting in my place? I inched closer and my worries faded as I thought of the positives. Maybe that blob would be a new friend. Maybe I wont be so alone anymore. That blob turned into a figure of a boy, sitting cross-legged and staring at the dusty ground. I sat down in the same position as him. He looked up, and his eyes grew wide, and his mouth made a shape of an O. We just started at each other. Awkwardness started to fill the atmosphere. I needed to break the ice, so I tried my best and coughed up a sincere “hello” and said my name was Shmuel. His face loosened, and he gave a pleasant crooked smile, and said his name was Bruno.

"The Black Spot"

I would call this story ‘The Black Spot’. I would call it this, because when I heard about the black spot, at the lottery, it made me really wonder why the black spot was so bad. Why everyone seemed surprised that Mrs. Hutchinson got it. When the ending was not given, I felt the tension building up. I was really eager to see what was going to happen to happen to her. When I was given the ‘mystery paper’ I was keen to see what was in it. I knew something had to relate to the story, because the void had to be broken sometime. To be honest I didn’t really follow the instructions, because the letter was just so tempting. What made it tempting was the words on the front. “Do not open until 5pm, and follow the instructions”. The black box, and the black/black spot, was what gave the tension When I read the ending of the story, I was surprised because, I didn’t know that it was going to the end that way. My prediction, that it had to do with the ending was right. I felt happy about that, because then it kind of didn’t put so much tension in me, because I kind of knew what it was going to be about. The author left those voids in the story because, if the author didn’t add them then the story would not have been that interesting because, then it would not have cause us to ask questions about it.

The Power of the Void

Power of the Void

Part 1:

The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides (silence) an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitude, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

The place I think, creates the most tension is after the word “provides”. This was my diction because, you wonder what does ‘ The International School of Kuala Lumpur’ provide. And it creates that void because, it makes you ask questions about it. Like, does it provide good education, opportunities, sports, challenges and so on.

Part 2:

Composers create tension by adding in a void. And when they create that void, they make the listeners ask questions. For example, in the piece Eine Kleine Nachmusik, in measure 43- 44, the composer added in a sort of scale, which gradually went up, without a dynamic, and as it gradually went up, it got stronger, which probably made the listener more eager to hear what’s going to come next. But the composer added in a little twist, he added in a rest to have that silence, then continued. Which released the tension from the silence.

"But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling."

-Cambodia, 1999

"What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling." – Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry, born in Philadelphia in 1950, travels the world searching for breath taking photo scenes, as he says the “unexpected, the moment of serendipity.” He positions a classical balance in his photos, which makes them delighting, and sometimes discomforting, expressing true emotions. Making a deeper understanding. Making you “look beneath the surface.” But McCurry didn’t at first pursue the dream of being a photographer. He aspired to be a documentary filmmaker. His career began when he passed the Pakistan border into Afghanistan, and shot the civil struggle. One of his famous pictures is of the Afghan girl, with the scorching green eyes. McCurry has a taste for letting the soul drift up into view.

“If you wait, people would forget your camera and the soul would drift up into view,” – Steve McCurry. This quote shows how he likes to let the picture come on its own. Let the feeling of it grow and fit where it needs to be.

McCurry explores the themes of war and its effect on humanity in this picture. And so that’s why this photo puts me in such a gaze, because of its heart-warming connection. The handprints are so boldly outlined, that it’s the first thing I catch a glimpse of. The hands look as if they are trying to break free. As if they are screaming. Trying to get out of the agony. I have a feeling that many people can relate to this sense of desire to shout and come out of the bars they’ve been hiding behind. And I’m wondering what’s going on behind those white sheets. What is that person trying to scream away from? What kind of conflict is happening? The flames behind the hands give me an assumption that fire might have broken out and everyone including this person is suffering and fighting for their lives. The flames are important because with out the fire, then there isn’t a point for the hands to be there in the first place. As well, Steve McCurry used excellent positioning. With the hands being press up in the front, and the flames an orange blur at the back. There’s a clear and concise connection between the hands and the fire. And with that connection, you can see that sometimes fighting fire with fire just creates an even enormous and more intense fire, in my opinion. And I think this because, usually people who are causing the conflict, only think short-term. Never long-term. They desire to win. They think about the victory, and how good it’s going to taste. They don’t think about the people who they’ve caused pain too. Just like the hands in the picture. Which shows that war does have a huge effect on the humanity.

His photos are excellent because they have made my understanding of photography even greater. I learned that sometimes you have to look beneath the surface, to truly understand what’s going on, to find the more significant meaning of the picture. To look between those nooks and crannies. And if you do look beneath and between, it can make a change because; you feel the emotion and have the feeling, to make your heart feel different. It’s touching. And that’s what Steve McCurry is great at doing. McCurry’s photos can endue and last for a long time, because there’s always another story unfolding when you look at it for a second, or even a third time. His photos tell a story, because they show the journey of daily life. They’re not some kind of fantasy land, (although he can make you feel like your in one.) they’re the real thing. There’re reality. And when he does that, it makes every picture of his a gift to gaze at.

"What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling." - Steve McCurry