Art Blog

"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp"  is a oil on canvas art painted by Rembrandt in 1632. This painting shows about what was going on in the Renaissance: studying the human body, and the change in art. First of all, the dissected body shows that this painting is about studying the human body. Specifically, the facial expressions of the people looks interested as if there is a new discovery, and the man wearing the hat is teaching about the anatomy of the arm. Second, on the bottom right corner, there is a open book which is a symbol of knowledge and studying. As a result, the painting tell us that the Renaissance people were interested in studying the world around them. Moreover, the presence of the book shows the increased production of books which it contained scientific information. Most importantly, the painting shows the loss of Church's power. Dissecting is against God's word, but since the people is studying and dissecting freely, it proves that the church had lost power and people were interested in science. In addition, usually the monk produced books, but because the book represents knowledge and information of science, it shows that the monk of the church is no longer in charge of producing books. In other words, the church lost power. The painting also show that change in art was happening in the Renaissance.The skills used to create this painting differs from the middle ages, the art changed by adding more details and painting more realistically. For example, this painting shows shading, facial expressions, and anatomical accuracy. Different facial expressions are shown in the people; interested expression, a "questioning" expression and neutral expression. Also, the dead body has the correct proportions which proves anatomical accuracy. As you can see, "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" shows that studying the human body and the change in art was happening in the Renaissance.

Driving Forces of the Renaissance

('Siege of Florence in 1530' painted by Vasari)

The most crucial driving force of the renaissance was the rivalry between city states, because rivalry made city states stronger and richer which they could find new ideas and knowledge by exploring.

This I believe

I believe one day everyone will accept any kind of differences

People who believed the world was round got killed in the old days. People thought the ones who believed that flying is possible crazy. Nowadays, people treat others differently when they are “different”
I wish all of the people in the world to now realize that there are some things that seem impossible can be possible. And do not think it weird for people to have differences.
In this rapidly developing world, more and more people accept differences; differences in culture, country, looks and beliefs. So this I believe, that one day soon the whole world will accept differences.

Even this site, “This I believe” is using the Internet to give people the chance to talk about their different thoughts and ideas. The Internet is a program where many people can publish their thoughts into it. This program gives us chance to connect to different people with different beliefs. The phone also gives us chance to speak to each other and share ideas. But, even with these supreme chances, why are racism, sexual unevenness, KKK and bullying?


I am or once a Christian, but it came shocking for me is when the priest told me to only believe in god or you will go to hell. I saw many Christians when I was young, looking down on other religions and fighting with them. And when I watched a documentaries, there were holy crusades and fights for land. If there is a god, will god like about what is happening? People killing lives he made, didn’t he say to love each other?
One day, I heard someone saying “there are some crazy people that believe in some weird religion, those guys are psychos" he was saying that the religion isn’t real. But, nobody even knows if god really exists too. Why only Christians or a big religious group be accepted? It is not fair for others when people criticize you about their belief. Won’t it hurt when somebody teases you what you believe in about your future? I wish and believe that one day everyone will come together in piece where all beliefs and religions can be accepted.

The Earth is really incredible. There is infinite number of living organisms that are all different. It is amazing every time I think about it, the fact that I am the only existing being that is “me” That is why I always love myself and think I am a really special person; differences make everything special. That is why I love to play sports or play music, where many different style and unique people get to be more outstanding, where difference can be accepted. When the time comes where everyone accepts differences, the world will be much more special. Because I believe that it is each individual with a different something that makes the world special.

I chose the picture above because it shows difference between people, regarding boy or girl, black or white. Where everybody is 1 face and difference are accepted.

Questions

The Boy In Striped Pyjamas was set in the past. Why should you care about the issues raised in the book? Should we continue to study this book in Grade 7?
6million Jews, sent to concentration camps and killed. What would it be like when I am one of those people in the past? History is really important in this world, nobody knows whether this historical fact might be really important in the future. We should care about the issues raised in the book because of several important reasons.
First, it is important to study this fact so that it cannot happen again. Interestingly, I was really shocked that there is some mass kills going on these days. We should care about the issues like this even though it is smaller than the Nazi death camps because it can get bigger and bigger. Also, in my opinion, I think it is really important to learn this issue as early as possible. Since, as people get more older they would not care to learn about these issues and would not find it more shocking as younger kids since they are more mature.
Second, what do we do when we are in that situation? Will we know what to do or what is going on in this situation when we did not learn about it? Eduacation is the way to block these issues from happening. Just like preventing hunger of your children by sending them to school, we must learn to prevent these things to happen once more. 7th grade, I think it is the perfect timing to keep on learning about these issues, because we are mature enough to understand these issues and is in a learning stage when we can absorb lots of information.
There are many people who think that it is not appropriate and too shocking for young kids like us, and think we will gradually learn about it in the future. However, even though I had and still have interest in history, if nobody gave specific education about this issue I would not have learned this. Even in the history book series, where there are lots of specific details about WW2, there were no sign of death camps.
I think it is really important to care about this issue, and to learn it quick as we can in a young age.

Rose Blanche

Rose Blanche

In ‘Rose Blanche’ by Ian McKewan & Robert Innocenti, It is interesting that the theme: ‘curiosity and innocence’ of the child is used to build up the story. The discoveries the child makes are used to illustrate the setting and what is going on. For example, the discovery of the truck loaded with kids, which leads to a discovery of the fence, and the discovery of suffering, hunger of the people on the other side of the fence. Also, motifs: the weather, the color of the sky is used to illustrate the mood.
More interestingly, there are many similarities between ‘Rose Blanche’ and ‘The boy in the striped Pyjamas.’ There were forest, fence, and soldiers. The people in the other side of the fence are skinny, and the story begins with a view outside the window. This also has the theme "curiosity and innonce'. Especially the boy named Bruno. The adventure he takes to meet his friend Shmuel has been possible because of his innonce, his willigness to explore, and his curiosity to find out what is going on. However, I think the more deeper theme in this book is friendship. A friendship between two boys whos fortunes are really different from each other. Overall, I think the best words that represents these two books are 'courage'. 'Courage' is the key point how the story works. The courage to explore, and the courage to go to a restricted place. I find it really difficult to understand because I do not really hace courage to help others that are really different from me, or go to an restricted place. But, this is why I think these books are really important that makes me wonder about randam acts of kindness and courage, for instance standing out for people who are bullied, racism etc.

Steve McCurry Essay

In many of McCurry’s photos we see works related to people harmed, related or affected by civil and international conflicts and crisis. “Most of my images are grounded in people, and I try to convey what it is like to be that person, a person caught in a broader landscape, that I guess what you call the human condition” –Steve McCurry.Steve McCurry, was born in 1950, a photojournalist who travels around the word to take pictures. He is famous for the picture known as ‘the Afghan Girl’. He explores themes of humanity, human spirit, and love of parent and child.
One photo in particular that stands out to me is a picture of a father and his daughter at home. My eye is drawn towards the gun placed in middle of the picture. It has surprised me having a gun in home. Our life is so different from them. The father, positioned at the left side, and the girl wearing pink cloth, positioned on the right side both have a worried look. It seems like the two are waiting for something or thinking deeply, by looking at their posture, the man has his hand on his beard, and the girl has her finger on her mouth. When we look the picture closely the light is coming from the left hand side. Both of them are looking towards it, making me think that they are seeking for hope and peace. The most striking element of this photo is that the father is staying next to his daughter during a fight. Our circumstances are so different from them yet we both share the same love towards parent and child.
Another picture that I find interesting is a person positioned in the middle, covered with blood all over his head. The red blood outstand the most from the background color. It clearly represents that the Afghan people too are suffering and has difficulty because of war. No matter how dire the situation, how dangerous the environment, children need to play. The last picture shows children playing on tanks. The use of color was by shadows. The light was cast on the children, that make me wonder that children are the hope of Afghanistan and playing is important to them. Again, we are different from the lifestyle yet we both share them same will for playing as a child. We are all the same.
His photos stay in the memory because the photos are very different from my lifestyle, and we can clearly understand what he wants us to think about the photo. The position and the use of color, we can read the photo. More and more people will start to help people in difficult situation by viewing at his photos; it will also stay in their memory. His photo reflects on a journey by traveling around and spotting different cultures very different from us. I feel admiration for the people in Afghanistan and even other countries in al similar situation like Afghanistan. If I were the person in the picture, I wouldn’t have survived a day, war, poverty, and death. It is surprising that the human spirit is still alive there… Even though she had nothing, she invited us for tea… she had a wonderful sense of humor and made us feel at home. – Vrindavan the city of Widows.