Reflection

I found creating an electronic portfolio to honestly be a great experience.  At first I thought I was not going to like the process at all, but then once I started working on it I found it to be a great experience.  I thought it taught me more about myself and about my ability as a writer and a student.  When adding new pages and blogs I put much time and effort into writing, re-reading and editing them to make sure my words were conveyed thoroughly and what I wanting to say would be expressed in the best way possible.  Overall, I thought creating an electronic portfolio was a great challenge and a great way for us as students to express ourselves and our work. 

Sculptures

“Zion” Grant Standard

The sculpture “Zion” is very interesting but also very beautiful and sophisticated at the same time.  “Zion” has an interesting shape; it is a circle but not completely round or a full circle.  There are shapes cut out from the circle which gives it more depth.  The colors are very simple but make it look elegant.  I enjoyed viewing this sculpture and am even using it as a focal point in one of my drawings. 

“Comedy/Tragedy" Dee Clements

“Comedy/Tragedy” is one of those sculptures where you have mixed feelings when observing it.  My first feeling was that it is somewhat of a creepy sculpture.  The faces are so intense and the eyes pierce right through you.  This sculpture to me expresses complete sadness which falls in with the tragedy part of the title.  I would not like to see this sculpture every day because it just puts a bad/eerie feeling inside me.  On the other hand, however, it could be taken as comical because of the faces looking like mimes which mimes are supposed to make people laugh.

“Aplomb” Luke Achterberg

“Aplomb” happens to be the sculpture I like the most.  Every time I walk by it I can’t help but stare.  The colors go so well together and really accent each other well.  The shape is quite interesting which makes the sculpture stand out even more among others.  It’s placed in such a central location which I feel is a perfect location for it to be placed.  I would most definitely display this sculpture in my home or yard because it is so eye catching and different.

Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech

1.      The man standing up speaking is the only one dressed in working-class clothes.  He is probably a farmer or a laborer, whereas, the other man in the room are dressed in suits and ties.  This suggests that they are business men with well-paid jobs and high salaries.  The men in suits are all turned around facing the working-class man giving him their full attention and respecting what he has to say. 

2.      The booklet bearing the title “An Annual Report of the town” suggests that these men are all present at a town meeting.  They then are most likely talking about issues within the town or how to make the town better for everyone.  They are all there to talk about the community which they live in, making the discussion an important one for all present and within the town.

3.      The man speaking seems to have bigger ears then all the rest of the men in the room which may suggest his willingness to listen to others opinion as well as others listening to his opinion.  This painting is all about freedom of speech and when someone is speaking it is other people’s job to listen.  The big ears on the speaker represent the willingness to listen and with him being the focal point of the painting Rockwell placed the big ears on the speaker.    

4.      I do not agree with critics that Rockwell’s paintings lack the depth and emotional complexity required of serious art.  I believe Freedom of Speech to be a work of art because it portrays what freedom of speech is and what it can do.  Rockwell uses his skill of painting to get his message across.  He uses facial expression to move the people viewing the painting and allow them to relate it to their own personal lives as well as the lives of others.

Edward Wilson's The Fitness of Human Nature

1.      When Wilson talks about kin selection he means that people are more likely to help those who are blood related such as parents, siblings, children, cousins and others because it will increase the odds of gene transmission to future generations.  People feel altruistic towards members of their family because they want to ensure the continuation of shared genes.  People are more likely to help the relatives that are the most closely related to them. 

2.      Wilson says that the difference in matting strategies between men and woman have to do with women having more at stake because of their limited age span in which they can reproduce and the heavy investment required of them with each child conceived.  Men on the other hand have the physical capacity to inseminate another woman almost immediately.  Wilsons says that these matting strategies have led to men being assertive and ruttish, while woman are to be coy and selective.  Men are predicted to stress exclusive sexual access and guarantees of paternity, while women consistently emphasize commitment of resources and maternal security.   

3.      According to Wilson humans are territorial because limited resources have become a matter of life and death.  Also because people want to survive and reproduce offspring of their own gene to keep their families going.  Wilson says that territory defense usually does not evolve as a hereditary response, meaning it is not in our genes to be territorial; we more or less learn from witnessing it from our parents or other family members. 

4.      Wilson says that humans desire to make agreements because social life is a contrivance to enhance personal survival.  He says, “It is our human trait as characteristic of our species as language and abstract thought, having been constructed from both instinct and high intelligence.”  Wilson sates that we act altruistically towards people who are not closely related to us because humans have evolved and loosened this constraint and improved social organization by extending kinshiplike ties to others through long term contracts.    

"Emperor's Club Reflection"

1.      When Mr. Hundert quotes Aristophanes: “Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever” I feel in a sense he is correct but also in a sense he is not.  Youth does age, drunkenness can be sobered, but with the rest it is not always true.  Immaturity is not always outgrown, ignorance cannot always be educated, and stupidity does not last forever in many cases. I do however believe he got his point across at that moment.

2.      Mr. Hundert is so shaken by Sedgewick Bell because he has never had a student that doesn’t care about his education as much as Sedgewick.  Sedgewick was more worried about being the class clown and pulling pranks, than he is about his education along with his future.  Mr. Hundert wanted to believe in Sedgewick and he wants to believe in him because no one else did.  Mr. Hundert believed Sedgewick could do the work and believed with a little push Sedgewick would change for the better.

3.      At first the other boys did not know what to think of Sedgewick.  They seemed intimidated and almost afraid of him and what he would do.  After being around him the boys started to do things to impress him and started to follow his lead. When Mr. Hundert says that Sedgewick’s actions are “hypnotic” he is saying that they boys seem under his spell, they do whatever he tells them to do.  They are always following along with him, his pranks and his plans.

4.      When the Mr. Julius Caesar contest roles around Mr. Hundert is faced with a dilemma, which will determines the fate of the third candidate.  He is grading the boys’ final test/reports and is stuck with the decision, should he give Sedgewick and “A” and then Martin is the third candidate or should he give Sedgewick and “A+” to bump his points up so he can be the third candidate.  He gives Sedgewick the “A+” because he believes in him and believes that this will help him want to achieve greatness.  Martin should have been third based on overall performance and his grade point.

5.      Mr. Hundert is faced with another dilemma at the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.  He has caught Sedgewick cheating.  He tells the head master what he has witnessed and the head master says to let it slide.  Mr. Hundert is faced with a tough decision, to announce to the crowd that Sedgewick has been cheating all along or to not say anything and potentially let Sedgewick win.  Mr. Hundert does not announce it to the crowd but gives Sedgewick a different question which ultimately seals Sedgewick’s fate in the contest.  When Mr. Hundert confronts Sedgewick about his behavior at the contest Sedgewick says, to sum it up, “I know you saw me cheating, why didn’t you turn me in?” Mr. Hundert simply asks “why did you do it” and Sedgewick was not fazed and for the most part says you should have expected it, this is who I am.

6.      Mr. Hundert agrees to host the Mr. Julius Caesar contest twenty-five years later for three reasons: to see his former students, to see if Sedgewick has changed and ultimately to apologize to Martin and tell him the truth from all those years back.  When meeting up with his students again he hopes that they have taken some of his life lesson and his teaching away with them and put them to use in their lives as grown men.  He also hopes that Sedgewick is a changed man and that he has grown out of his old ways.  Mr. Hundert’s hopes are squashed when Sedgewick cheats for the second time in the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.  He feels he has failed Sedgewick as both a teacher and a mentor.  His hopes are later renewed when his students surprise him with their kindness and really show him how much he has impacted all of their lives.

7.      The film shows that we want to live a good life and examined life, not a life where we strive to be successful at any cost.  This is shown during Mr. Hundert and Sedgewick’s conversation in the men’s bathroom at the end of the film.  Sedgewick says he will do anything to get what he wants out of life and if that involves lying and cheating so be it.  Right after Sedgewick makes this statement his son emerges from the bathroom stall with a disappointed and disproving look on his face.  He is disappointed that his father would lie and cheat to get ahead in life; he wants a father who is and honest and trustworthy man.

8.      Mr. Hundert returns to teaching because after the reunion with his students he realized the impact he made on them and in return the impact they made on him.  He realized how important teaching truly is to him and that his life is not fulfilled without it.  When he returned to school, a much appreciated and heartwarming surprise was waiting for him.  Martin decided to send his son to the school where Mr. Hundert was teaching so that his son could be in Mr. Hundert’s class.  This was a much needed surprise for Mr. Hundert because it told him that he did not fail Martin as a teacher like he thought he did.

9.      Mr. Hundert was a very respectable man and teacher.  He would communicate with his students and involve them in his teachings.  He treated them as equals; he did not put himself on a higher pedestal.  He did not just teach his students but his students also taught him.  This is the way that a teacher should teach.  They should learn from Mr. Hundert what it means to be a good teacher.  His teaching skills are ones that keeps the students involved and keep the students feeling like the are able to communicate with him whenever need be. 

10.  Mr. Hundert taught classics in his class.  He felt that this would help his students become better men and also help them be able to contribute to society in various ways.  Teaching classics helped his students better understand the past along with the present.  His teaching made them become more well-rounded individuals and made them realize to make an impact on society it is better to be an honest man than it is to be a man who lies and cheats his way to the top.  They also learned that hard work and a good education can make a great impact on your life and society as a whole.

My First Reading Experiences

     The first books I remember from my childhood are Love You Forever, Dr. Seuss: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Goodnight Moon, and Ckicka Ckicka Boom Boom.  These books all hold a special place in my heart, for they are the first books I remember being read to me as a child and they all hold a significant place in my growth and development as a person.  Through these books I learned how to read and learned the meaning of a story.  These books all have a message or an important story line that allows children to connect and follow along.

     I love the book Love You Forever; it is by far my favorite children’s book.  I can recall my mom reading me this book and me being able to follow along with the main line “I love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.”  I adore this line and I feel it to be such a meaningful and powerful line, especially when a parent is reciting it.  This is by far my favorite memory of my first encounter with literacy.  Dr. Seuss: One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Goodnight Moon, and Ckicka Ckicka Boom Boom are also books that impacted me in my learning to read and also play an important role in my childhood.  When I read or see one of these four books I am taken back to the first time they were read to me and the memories that go with them.