Analysing "The School of Athens"

Art can be a mirror of society because artists draw society as it is when they are living so when an artist draws a picture they are actually mirroring society. The School of Athens is a fresco started in 1510 and finished in 1511 by Raphael Sanzio da Urbino. The painting consists of a Greco Roman building filled with some of the greatest thinkers of the time such as: Plato, Aristotle, diogenes, Xenophon, Eschines, Alcibiades, Socrates, Parmenides, Xenocrates, Aristoxenes, Pythagoras, Averroës, Zeno and Epicurus. I know that the building is built using Greco Roman architecture because there are many examples of Greek and Roman architecture i.e: you can clearly see roman arches spanning the length of the painting and in between the main chamber where these loquacious philosophers are depicted and the next chamber further back you can barely make out a dome supported by columns. I know for a fact that the greeks were polytheists because they had a god for everything Ares was the god of war and Zeus was the god of the sky and thunder; there are multiple statues of greek gods and goddesses such as Hera. The nature of this painting is in my opinion a very learned congregation of people from different time period and different cities; there is lots of learning and teaching going on in this painting by some very intelligent philosophers. However in order to make these famous philosophers recognizable the artist of this painting had to use many artistic techniques, in this painting Raphael uses lines of perspective to give the painting depth and lead us to the vanishing and focal point. However just making the background seem realistic is not enough to make a masterpiece, Raphael also used foreshortening as well as light and shade to make the figures look realistic and lifelike. All artwork can be traced back to a few elements: color, value, form, line, space, shape and texture. The colors in this painting are extremely vivid especially in the togas. The difference between light and dark in this masterpiece are as clear as polished glass, they stick out like sore thumbs and make the picture "come alive". The form of the objects in this painting were very meticulously painted with unerring accuracy by Raphael. All shapes are made by lines, lines create the form in this picture. Space is another element crucial to producing a "perfect" painting, the space filled by objects is important but the negative space matters as well. There are also many shapes in this picture that make up the building, the people and also the background. It is very easy to tell if a picture was masterfully painted or not, if the picture appears to have texture or makes you think that the painting feels a certain way then the picture has been painted by a pro, if not, you decide. When i first looked at this painting one of the first things i noticed was the togas that the people in this painting were wearing; togas are a distinctive garb from ancient Rome. Like i said earlier art mirrors society because the artist paints the society as it is in the painting, thanks to this painting we have a good idea of what greece looked like in Raphael's time.

If I was part of this painting I would be Plato. Plato was a famous greek philospher and mathematician who taught many brilliant people such as Aristotle. I like to be in the foreground at the center of the piece. In this painting Plato is the focal point and he is having a heated discussion with his pupil Aristotle. Plato is a very intelligent and charismatic individual who idolized Socrates. The reason I would choose to be Plato over all the other famous philosophers in this painting is because Plato just looks like a stereotypical philosopher, Plato also bears a startling resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci. Plato thinks on a scale above most humans, I would like to have this ability and I envy Plato's good fortune of having such a high level of intelligence. I am unlike Plato because I am not as intelligent and I do not care so much for philosophy but I feel that I am similar to Plato in my goal of understanding how things work. Unlike Plato I am not intelligent enough to answer half of my own questions. Plato is a brilliant human being who should be a role model to everybody. like Plato I enjoy publishing and sharing my ideas but most of the time my ideas are no good whereas Plato's ideas are paragons that everybody accepts as the truth.

Da Vinci

1. Da Vinci was a true renaissance man because he was one of the notable individuals who made the renaissance what it was. It is brilliant men like Da Vinci that helped us get where we are today technologically. Back in the day Da Vinci was already thinking about flying machines, tanks, canals, giant guns and bringing the simpler, more testable ones to life. Back in Da Vinci's day he could only build a few of the miracles he thought up but today, when his machines are brought to life, they actually work. Many of the models in the museum shocked me with their usefulness and many of them looked really intimidating. Da vinci did a good job of making weapons even though he was a pacifist. Da Vinci was a very secretive man and rightly so because if he hadn't been secretive he wouldn't have gotten all the credit for his work but the bad thing about his secrecy is that the world was robbed of lots of his brilliant ideas when he died because nobody understood him and he was truly one of a kind. Da Vinci was the master of making marvels and is in my opinion a true renaissance man.

Da Vinci's tank: http://images.google.com/imgresimgurl=http://henk.fox3000.com/retrokit/retro/RPT001.jpg&imgrefurl=http://henk.fox3000.com/retrokit.htm&usg=__40CLOg95mBwXn-eVCYfCFp-ZVQ0=&h=500&w=658&sz=20&hl=en&start=6&sig2=bh5q5yCmTcu5NDU9UKa9GA&tbnid=to9tSvIBXHB0tM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=138&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dda%2Bvinci%2Btank%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den&ei=rPXNSrT7MpOVkAXno538Aw

What Transcends Time and Culture? Racism & Stereotypes

Picture from:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xQRsYhanvI/SZ18gu865pI/AAAAAAAAAA40/E76nJtkHU7o/s400/racism.jpg

Colors

I give you a set of colours
Red, blue, green, yellow, pink, brown, black and white
And you would say red and blue are complement complimentary,
and that contemporary brown and green are supplementary
And white is elementary,
and that black is voluntary
I would say its the adjective of racism
For racism is a game of colour
For racism is trauma of complexion

You argue black is obscurity,
white is dazzling and brown poverty
with yellow as footling
But i withstand your considerations
I would say they are the adjectives of racism
For racism is a game of colour
For racism is shame humanitarian

Tired! wanna defend?
Well, i give you some more parameters:
Demography, shape, education, economy, gender
You would say demography is fortune
And shape is good trait
That economy is brained brawn power
While gender supporting the theory of magnetism-'Unlike poles attract each other'
I would say they suffice for adjectives of racism
For racism is a game of colour
For racism is as despicable as a heinous odour

Hither and thither,
helter skeleter,
far and near,
thereover, hereunder,
I find, you see, we have colours blaming each other
Some colours say they are souvenirs
And that rest are samaritans
Some colours say they are absolute riches
And that others are dumped ditches

Hypothetically colours have some limitations
Like the dimensions in a piece of paper
And once it is replete
There is no need for scribbling black and blue
Like in reality some job agencies tag some skilled candidates to be obsolete-
Only coz' they don't match a colour of their tape-the bureaucratic red tape,
Or, they do not have blue references for a lush green outcome as future
Here ironically, one should really ponder
The world around us would have been a sheer monotony
Bereft of all hues considered as under

Casts, creeds, race and religion,
Culture, scripture, pictorial mother nature are all the very similar
They are phonetics like alpha and a we caricature
That we are all the same red when scratched or when required:
They are all in the same plane of earth
Only dimensions and appearences differ
So that human life becomes a snapper

Do colours really speak?
I asked the whole world
And you know?
People quote as white monarchs;
People smote as brown oligarchs;
People wrote as black democrats;
People vote as yellow technocrats;
And colours all making them beautiful
Like the significant black nightfall,
white day,
yellow sunshine,
green leaves to blossom and enshrine
Same as the burlesque bounties of bespoke bespectacled nature
who is incomparably incredible with all her attributes

I sat sniggering and contemplative
As racism walks in tandem with all virtues vying them
It stings like a ratatouille
where people, gets, getting, shall be getting stewed hours forever
As racism seems like a schizoid daydream
As racism is - a pharmakone.
I am a thinking victim of such maelstrom
Searching for ancillary stores in its claustrophobic confines;
Like a fly staggering in a spider spun web
I then scooped at this child,
A child drawing on a white paper the colour of imaginations
I derived a cryogenic satisfaction
For this child is not superseded,
and it deracinated the hedonistic outlaws,
the picture of nature- a reality
with its barbling waterways, the labyrinths having rich impacto of sherbert colours and, and
having a honeymoon,
And no sign of bacchanal pride,
no symbol of banal pejorative prejudice,

I derived that colours are always distinguishing
And not meant for any pugnacious ensuing
As it is horribly prescient,
more than the floundering earth beneath melting ice-caps
~Amit Ray

Everywhere you go you will see racism. Whether it is a little child repeating what they have heard or a customer being treated differently everyone expresses racism in some way or another. Every race has certain sterotypes associated with it and no race is free from stereotypes (unless they are an unknown race). Stereotypes have been around as long as humans. as long as there are different people there will be stereotypes for all different groups. The message of this poem is that all people are equal and no matter what race you are everybody is equal. The worst display of racism is slavery, slavery makes people feel unequal and make them have low self esteem. The color of your skin doesn't matter in this world, the only thing that matters is how much you are willing to work for and how much you know. This author seems to detest racism, Amit Ray is determined to stop it and not let future generations be exposed to it. Amit Ray compares racism to a fly trapped in a web and a confined person. Racism is a cage that nobody can escape from.

Choice

Choice screams in both ears.
It blankets you in ambivalence.
It screams, "make a decision!"
~Henry

from: Swapmeetdave.com

Choice is a constant in everybody's life. No matter what you do you can't escape from choice, on his journey Santiago had to make decisions that would effect him and his destiny. If he had chosen not to trust the boy in the market place he would still have his money, but would not have learned about Mak'tub or have met the crystal merchant. Choice is something faced by all cultures, all religions and has been around since the beginning of time. Choice transends time and culture. If somebody is a different religion or culture than you it doesn't mean that they don't have to make decisions, to choose a religion you have been given a choice and made a decision. Many people fear a dog's bark more than it's bite, the same goes for choice, many people fear making the wrong choice and having to suffer the consequences then actually making the choice. When i was still a little kid I made a decision to eat candy for dinner instead of actual nutritious food. This was a very bad mistake because i also made the bad decision of not brushing my teeth. As expected the next morning i had 2 cavities on my back teeth. If i had chosen to eat regular food i would have gone without my sweets, but if i had brushed my teeth i could have made a good choice and forgotten about the bad decision i made previously. but when you make 1 bad decision you seem to set off a chain reaction that keeps going and going until you stop it.

The Omens

‘Finally, the boy screamed at the men, “I’m digging for treasure!” and although his mouth was bleeding and swollen, he told his attackers of a treasure hidden near the pyramids of Egypt.’ (Coelho 154) A gang of thugs is beating up Santiago, he is determined to find his treasure and he confidently tells them what he is searching for, when he can’t find his treasure the thugs start beating him. Eventually the thugs tire of beating Santiago and leave him alone, the leader of the gang tells Santiago about a recurrent dream that he had, with resilience Santiago gets over this degrading experience, follows the thug leader’s dream, finds his treasure and achieves his destiny. Santiago is a shepherd boy from Andalusia, Spain who leaves his home in an attempt to achieve his destiny and is hoping to find treasure along the way. When Santiago dreams of the Egyptian pyramids his heart tells him to go there, so he follows his heart. On his long and perilous journey Santiago is given 2 magical stones, he is robbed, he makes his money back, he is robbed again, turns into the wind, was robbed again and nearly beaten to death. Santiago could not have done all this alone, on his miraculous journey he makes many powerful allies such as the King of Salem, and an alchemist and also he finds the lady of his dreams. Santiago, the protagonist, possesses qualities such as determination, confidence and resilience, which help him achieve his destiny.

The most important quality Santiago possesses is determination. Santiago wants to travel so badly he gives up the comforts of having a permanent place to live and digresses from the life his dad wanted him to have. “Amongst us, the only ones who travel are the shepherds. Well, then I’ll be a shepherd!” (Coelho 9) Santiago is a determined individual who will do anything to receive what he wants. When he finds out the only people in his village that traveled were shepherds he gave up on becoming a priest and became a shepherd instead. During his travels Santiago keeps having a recurring dream. He is determined to find out what it means so he goes and asks a gypsy for an interpretation. He sells his flock of sheep in order to get enough money to leave Andalusia and travel to Egypt. Santiago made a decision and he is determined not to back out on it. Determination helped Santiago on his journey because if he wasn’t so determined he would have gone back to Andalusia after being robbed and he wouldn’t have gone to the gypsy for the interpretation after having his recurring dream. Santiago is determined but he is not so determined to the point of being obstinate. Determination helps Santiago participate in his destiny because if he didn’t have determination he would have ditched his journey long ago and gone back to herding sheep. Santiago is determined and he is confident his decisions are the correct ones.

Confidence is having complete trust in something. Santiago has complete trust in his recurrent dreams and what other people tell him. When Santiago is told about the omens and the great pyramids of Egypt he confidently sells his sheep and boards a boat to Africa. Santiago was confident the omens would guide him to his destiny. Santiago was in disbelief at first when he met Melchizadek but after the old priest proves himself Santiago begins to listen to him. Some of Melchizadek’s words helped Santiago on his journey. For example, “When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.” This means when you really want something everything will help you try to get it. Santiago has just spent the past year making enough money to return to Spain with pride, but as soon as the thought of going home comes into his head, so do the omens. Santiago is confident even though Melchizadek had not warned him about getting robbed. If I was Santiago I would be scared and go home immediately to the comfort of my hometown. Santiago is made of sterner stuff and confidently follows Melchizadek’s advice. He picks up his journey where it ended a year ago. At the climax of the story, a complete stranger who had beaten Santiago half to death tells him about a recurrent dream he had and Santiago staunchly follows this lead. Santiago shows unwavering confidence in Melchizadek’s advice. Confidence helped Santiago achieve his destiny because if he wasn’t confident he would not have followed the stranger’s recurrent dream and found his treasure. Santiago is incredibly resilient, being able to come back from even the toughest of situations.

Resilience is an object’s ability to recover from change. Santiago is amazing at recovering from change; some change is beneficial while other change is lamentable. Santiago suffers from a great deal of lamentable change, but he is tough and gets through all of it. The first time Santiago was robbed, “He was so ashamed he wanted to cry. He had never even wept in front of his own sheep.” (Coelho 37) Santiago was resilient, however, and bounced back to make even more money than he lost. Being betrayed by someone you trust is one of the most demoralizing things that can happen to anyone. Santiago had this happen to him, “seizing the boy’s bag the alchemist gave the gold coins to the chief” (Coelho 133). After having his life savings given away by someone he trusted Santiago used his determination to turn himself into the wind. After turning himself into the wind he realized that he could perform miracles. When Santiago was released from his sandy prison he went to the pyramids of Egypt. He dug, dug and dug but did not find anything. Soon some refugees came by, beat him up and stole his gold. This must have been a crushing blow, knowing he could perform miracles but then getting beaten up by some refugees passing by. Santiago resiliently comes back from this blow, follows the refugee’s recurring dream and finds his treasure. If Santiago had not been resilient he would have called it quits and gone home the first time he was swindled out of his life savings. If he had gone home the first time then he would not have found his treasure or achieved his destiny. Everybody has their own unique qualities and I think these three: Determination, confidence and resilience define Santiago the best.

‘Finally, the boy screamed at the men, “I’m digging for treasure!” and although his mouth was bleeding and swollen, he told his attackers of treasure hidden near the pyramids of Egypt.’ (Coelho 154), At the end of his journey Santiago became a more determined, confident and resilient individual. These qualities make Santiago unique; everybody’s qualities are centered on helping them achieve their destiny. Of course nobody could hope to achieve their destiny alone, of course Santiago had help from: Melchizadek, The Alchemist and the women of his dreams. Santiago showed determination by pursuing his destiny after repeated failures. Furthermore he showed confidence by following the omens wherever they led him, and no matter how long it took Santiago followed them to the end. Most important of all Santiago showed resilience, he came back from being robbed 3 times, being beaten up after performing a miracle and being betrayed by somebody he trusted. Santiago is an individual who never lost faith in himself or his god. Everyone can achieve their destiny, they just have to follow their heart, and the omens.

Confidence, Helping Henry Achieve his Destiny

Larry Elmore: D&D air attack

Throughout my life I have had to make many decisions, making decisions is not always easy but my confidence has helped me not look back. Once I make a decision I consider it irreversible, I am always confident that my decision is the one that is most beneficial to helping me achieve my destiny and I stick with it. Confidence helps me achieve my destiny by giving me the strength I need to make and finalize my decisions. Like Santiago my confidence has come in handy immeasurable times and will continue to help me on my journey to achieve my destiny. Confidence has helped me to try new foods, attempt new obstacles and do many things I have never tried before. However there are times when having confidence is bad, i.e. trying to slay a dragon that is 10 times your size and has fiery breath. Confidence is a very useful trait to have but if you have too much of it confidence is deadly.