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November 30, 2005

No Kinda Sense - Chapter 3 Comments + Questions

Comments -I think it is interesting how Delpit considers "standard English" a dialect; I had never considered it in this light before. It is perceived as "the" language, not a dialect.

-I disagree with Delpit's statement "Teachers seldom know much about the children's lives and communities outside of the classroom..." I think there are many teachers who are genuinely concerned with a student's cultural and family background.

-It was really nice to see the Oakland Standard English Proficiency Project had a positive impact on at least one person--the white school teacher.

-I didn't know ethnomathematics even existed; very fascinating combining anthropology and math!

-I realized slavery is the main focus of African-American history taught in school, not their intellectual achievemnets and contributions. It's true!

Questions -Would/Do African-American teachers correct their students Ebonics into "Standard English" as well?

-Why wouldn't the black community want to embrace, or see through their pride for, the Oakland Standard English Proficiency Project if it meant a better understanding of their culture from the white schoolteachers?

-"Afterall, isn't school about what kids need to know, not what interests them?" Is Delpit's main point to disseminate this idea with the following examples of teaching the chemistry of hair products and history of braiding or does she really mean this question? I cannot detect sarcasm or sincereity.

-Is Delpit's final prophecy of reconnecting African-American children with their brilliance (last page) beginning to take root in America?

-Does Delpit hope African-American children will acquire "standard English" for a means of survival or just for the sake of intellectualism and knowing another dialect?

Posted by lcisfreya at 10:05 PM | Comments (913)

Some Basic Sociolinguistic Concepts; Chapter 5 Comments + Questions

Comments -I know I make judgements about people after hearing the way they speak, though now after these readings and this course I believe my judgements will be more carefully thought over now because no language or dialect is more or less superior than another.

-I found it amusing that the 14 year-old girl contradicts herself by speaking nearly exactly as the recording she thinks to be ungrammatical.

-I was amazed at the judgement of skinhead from the kids.

-I think this piece/article is outdated in that it refers to 1970s publications and the re-integration of Welsh into British schools. This leads me to wonder whether Stubb's prediction as it becoming a future (though now present) is true.

-I am finding a lot of opinions from Stubbs are similar to Fromkin's book.

Questions -What does "pseudolinguistic" mean, more specifically the prefix "pseudo"?

-Where would the children ever get the vision of a skinhead from someone's voice?

-When was this piece/article published (curious because of citations are all in 1970's)?

-Why do we need the adjective "standard" for describing English if it seems we are always contradicting ourselves about language having the quality of being standard?

-(after reading chapter 3) Do African-Americans in Britain speak Ebonics with a British accent? (I feel a little naïve asking this question..)

Posted by lcisfreya at 09:26 PM | Comments (88)

My Thanksgiving

I hope everybody had as nice a Thanksgiving as I did. After dinner last Thursday, my cousin Andrea and I were talking with out grandmother about the history of all her jewelry (I don't really remember why we were having this conversation but I'm sure there must have been some reason...) and I love my grandmother to death, she really is the sweetest lady, but neither my cousin or I could get a word in during the conversation. When my grandmother calls, my mom is usually on the phone with her for hours, literally. My grandmother LOVES to talk and it can be very hard to say something to her while she is talking. I suspect she finds the shortest pauses between sentences to be awkward and so she tends to keep talking in order to fill in what she considers to be awkward pauses. I think this is weird because my greandmother used to babysit me all the time when I was growing up, yet somehow I developed a very different conversational style than her. I tend to leave longer pauses than she does and I talk less than half the amount she does at family gathering. But I love her none the less!

Posted by lcismardin at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)

Chapters 2&6

Barbara Kreuger's images filled chapters 2 and 6 so I decided to learn more about her form of artwork. This is here for all of you to enjoy..

Barbara Kreuger is one of the most influential artists of the last three decades. Her technique incorporates the use of pictures and words through a wide variety of media and sites to raise issues of power, sexuality, and representation. Her works include photographic prints on paper and vinyl, etched metal plates, sculpture, video, installations, billboards, posters, magazine and book covers, T-shirts, shopping bags, postcards, and newspaper op-ed pieces.

Here are some websites where you can see more of her work... if you are interested..

http://mitpress.mit.edu/images/products/books/0262112507-f30.jpg http://www.maryboonegallery.com/exhibitions/2004-2005/kruger/gfx/MBG8952.jpg http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~artarch/womenartists/Contemporary/Kruger/1990.15.jpg http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/uploads/Kruger2001176.jpg http://www.artistsnetwork.org/artists/barbarakruger/barbkrugerflag.gif http://fusionanomaly.net/feminismbarbarakruger.jpg

Posted by lcissearls at 03:29 PM | Comments (1)

The Talented Mr. Ripley

For those of you who want to watch the entire movie, the movie has been returned to the media center at Palace Road. Watching the movie might help to make more sense of the many facets of Tom Ripley. It is a very interesting psychological movie...

Posted by lcissearls at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2005

first drafts for final project: some thoughts

Welcome back, everyone. In response to a student who was asking me about what possible kind of first draft could she do, if she had planned to do a collage for her final project, I sent the following email:

If you are going to do a collage, then I'd like to see a "draft" --in the collage world that would mean thinking about your format: what size and shape will it be? What is the facet of identity you are illustrating and how? If it will include words what will they say? How will the words and images work together to illustrate your concept? Where will you get the words? Will they be your words and thoughts? a poem? song lyrics? Will you type them on the computer? will you write them? Will the collage be picture specific, word specific, additive? How will you adhere your images to the surface and what kind of surface will you use? what kind of images will you use? Your own photos? Documentary photos? will you be creating them? How will you choose them? You can do all this without gluing them down for a "draft."

I hope you are understanding that this is a final project for the course. It requires thinking and work. It will not be acceptable to just slap some magazine pictures together in the kind of collage you might do for a scrap book. This project needs to reflect your learning for the semester and therefore must be carefully planned and executed. That is why you do a draft, so that you can get the feedback of your peers in order to do the best, most interesting, original work possible.

These suggestions and guidelines apply to any word and image project that you may undertake...

Hope this helps clarify what is expected.

can't wait to see you all tomorrow...

Ellen

Posted by lcisEllen at 07:19 AM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2005

Crazy...

I have this Blog Address on my favorites and it tells you how many times you have gone to each website. And I have been to this blog website 437 TIMES!!! That's doesn't even count the times I went to the website when I wasn't on my laptop, like when I went on on my parent's desktop at home, at the library or in class. I just wanted to share this with everyone because I was absolutely stunned. I know I post an awful lot and have no life...but...

Posted by lciscotis at 02:14 PM | Comments (2)

Linguistic Profiling URL's

Definition and evolution of the term

Profile your own dialect

Issues affecting African Americans

ABC News guessing ethnicity and race

Housing issues

Stanford & Baugh – Media Mentions article: housing & profiling

Baugh expanding research on linguistic profiling through new website, article

Racial identification of speech, John Baugh article

NPR Morning Edition

Roger W. Shuy, Distinguished Research Professor of Linguistics, Emeritus, from Georgetown University. PBS article about program / documentary

PDF of an article by Shuy in Georgetown newsletter

Online conversation about linguistic profiling

Color Lines – naming your child

~ Brenna, Brenna, Katie, Rachel, Nanette

Posted by lcissavides at 12:18 PM | Comments (4)

Ebonics Controversy Websites

www.jadeworks.com

http://www.stanford.edu/~rickford/ebonics/

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jmw22/1stOaklandRes.html

http://www.cal.org/ebonics/ebfillmo.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonics

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_speech/v075/75.3weldon.html

http://fsweb.berry.edu/academic/hass/ejohnson/ebonics.htm

http://www.questia.com -search for "ebonics controversy" -gives lists of books

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/miqa3626/is1299801/ai_n8792373

-Emily, Jessica, Lauren, Yasmin & Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

Thesis Statement

I have chosen three poems from two different centuries and compared them on a syntactic, semantic, and phonetic level.

Posted by lcisfreya at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

My Thesis Statement

This paper supports the idea that gesticulation is an important part of communication.

Posted by lcisowens at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

My thesis

Like any other language, American Sign Language consists of both lexical and syntactical variations caused by many different factors including linguistic and social constraints.

Posted by lcissearls at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

Thesis Statement

Syntax is a primary element through which we understand the intention and mood of speech.

~ Nanette

Posted by lcissavides at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

My Thesis Statement

Not all language has the same syntax, but rather syntax depends on the genre of the language as well as the person or people using the language.

Posted by lcissullivan at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

Thesis statement

This paper is a brief paper on gesture and its supporting role in speech.

Posted by lcisbold at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

thesis statement

There seem to be a number of problems with both of these papers as well as the credibility of the disorder.

Posted by lcismardin at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

my thesis... :)

The social environment and the targeted audience of news casters and radio anchors influence the way they speak and the topics they discuss.

Posted by lcisnelson at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)

Thesis

My thesis for the Linguistics paper:

Although Adam Kendon's research is a step in the right direction to understanding the origins and organization of gesticulation, his research and reasoning is flawed.

Posted by lcishagan at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)

Thesis Statement

My thesis statement was that the differences of the syntax in songs among different genres of music, produces different meanings in songs which classify the genre.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)

Christina's Thesis Statement!

Williams' poem, "Talk to Strangers", Ginsberg's poem, "Message", and Dickinson's poem, "A slash of Blue", all combine morphology and syntax to creat distinct connotations, each specific to the poet's own style.

Posted by lcisgancarz at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)

Thesis

In my opinion, the research papers I read on gestures and thier role in the learning process jumped too fast to their conclusions based on minimal concrete information.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)

Thesis!!

My thesis was: "This research proves that nonverbal communication is an integral part of language acquistion and that society is quickly learning the importance of gesture and , consequently, sign language, in language acquistion."

Posted by lciscotis at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving break!!! I know I did, and I ate wayyy too much! But it was soo good. I was fortunate to go home for the holidays, considering I only live 45 minutes north of here. I remembered to try longer pauses and whatnot, on the car ride back to school, so I didn't get the chance to test it out. But, I went shopping Friday morning, at 4:00 in the morning (Yes, I am a nut..but I got really good deals!) There were sooo many people, my first stop was Best Buy, and there were people that had RV's and ate Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot on Thursday! While I was standing outside waiting to get into Sears (my next stop) there was someone from South Carolina in front of me and we were talking. I noticed her dialect and how different it was from mine and from what I'm so used to hearing. She was very, very loud as well.

Just randomness.

Posted by lcisnelson at 10:03 AM | Comments (1)

November 27, 2005

Thanksgiving

I had an interesting thanksgiving. This year was my first thanksgiving away from home, and it was very difficult for me. First I was stuck in the La Guardia Airport in New York for a while. I got there at 5 pm and my plane was delayed until 11 pm. That was the down part of my thanksgiving. I was also missing my family back home in California, so that made me feel down a little as well.

The highlight of my thanksgiving was eating. I spent time with my boyfriends mom, and she made this scrumptous homemade maccoroni and cheese. It was the best dish that I had that day. Also going shopping for those great after thanksgiving day sales was great. People did go a little crazy at the mall though, because of the holiday rush and didn't show much consideration for other shoppers when they were shopping. It was actually kind of scary, because people were acting like animals in some stores. But in all it was fun.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 09:11 PM | Comments (2)

Chapter 2 Practices of Looking

It is interesting how people can create subcultures from cultures that have already been defined by society. This shows how creativity is continuous and continues to produce new standards of social images. At the high school that I attended in San Diego, California, had many social "cliques", which are commonly shown in movies that involve high schools. There were cliques consisting of goths, punks, popular cheerleaders, jocks, homosexuals, and not so popular people.

I never really tried to fit into any social clique that was at my school, and I just decided to be myself. I got along with people from all different cliques and didn't feel like I was isolated from anyone. I think that by some people trying to fit into a clique to be unique from a standard image, or to be rebellious usually ends up placing them into another standard determined by the clique that they become a part of.

In different ways everyone is a part of a certain image, whether they want to be or not. However, there is always room to be unique.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

POL Chapter 2

The concept that really interested me in this chapter was kitsch , defined as "art or literature defined to have no or little aesthetic value, yet which has value precisely because of its status in evoking the class standards of bad taste,". This concept truly intrigued me. Last year we had to do a report on a piece of art of our choosing and one of my classmates chose a "smashed-up" car that had been displayed in a museum. A fight ensued in my classroom over whether this was truly art. In the end, we decided it was. But, it is interesting to think that something may be given more acknowledgement and value because at first glance it has no value.

Posted by lciscotis at 12:07 AM | Comments (1)

November 26, 2005

My Thanksgiving...

I observed alot in terms of conversational styles over the course of this "vacation" from Simmons. One of the most prevalent things that I noticed is that everyone loves to tell stories about their family and the crazy things they do on Thanksgiving. For example, the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, I went to the orthodontist. (Yes, I do still have braces, and at the rate things are going, I will probably have them for the rest of my life!!) The hygentist spent my entire appointment talking about her family who she would be attending Thanksgiving with. She tried to emlate the conversations they would have, with hysterical results. Similarily, when I visited a few of my friends on Wednesday, they could predict what their Thanksgiving would be like: Uncle Jimmy would make fun of everything Uncle Bob said, Aunt Mindy would tell Cousin Sally she had gained weight, and so on. I think this has a lot to do with language and conversational styles because they are so much a part of who we are.

My grandmother is hearing impaired, but has never felt motivated enough to "improve" her situation. One of my other grandmothers is seeing impaired, and when the two get together, the results are comical. The one who can see, but cannot hear, will yell to communicate something that she sees to the other, while the one who can hear but cannot see will recount the stories that are being told to the one who cannot hear them. Of course, the results are very comical, and leave me and my cousins laughing until until our sides hurt. Still, it is very interesting to observe how we communicate with others, especially those who are very close to us, and how we always seem to fit into predetermined stereotypes.

In terms of my "relationship" with family and friends, things were different, I am not going to lie, but not completely different. As far as my family, things were completely the same, I fought with my sister ten minutes after I arrived home, my little brother and I followed our usual rituals, and conversation ensued as normal.

In high school, I had three people I would call best friends and two I would call very good friends. (Although I have difficulty defining them as such!) Four out of the five go to the same school (along with approximately a quarter of my high school class), and three of them live together. The other lives a floor above them, so she is constantly in their room. Thus, it was difficult for me to see how they have grown even closer while my relationship with them has become weaker. Of course, I talk to all of them all the time, particularly online, but it was difficult to see them laughing at things that I did not understand. I was used to being inside of the jokes, not having them explained to me.

But, we seemed to accept that things were different, that they would never be the same as they were the past few years. We accepted the silences in our conversations and simply celebrated the fact that we were together. Of course, we did talk ALOT. On Tuesday night I slept over in their dorm room, with eight other people and it was so much fun. We were able to catch up and laugh and just have a great time being together, even if our relationship will never be the same.

Although I am having trouble melding my "two lives" together, I know that my friends will always be there for me, even if we're not as strong as we used to be.

Posted by lciscotis at 11:27 PM | Comments (2)

November 25, 2005

Cultural and Language Differences Over Break

I was fortunate enough to be able to come home for Thanksgiving and to visit one of my neighbors. She is one of my best friends. She is from Serbia and was forced from her home in Serbia when she was young and traveled to the United States, without any knowledge of the English language. Her time here has been very difficult, especially in terms of cultural differences. She still does not understand the American way of life, even after living here for seven years. She has this thick accent. You can barely understand her, but she is so intelligent, it almost scares me. When she speaks, she says some profound statements, but she says them with about 200 words instead of just one since she still does not have a complete grasp on the English language. I just remember listening to her this past vacation and thinking, “o my goodness..I know the word for what she is trying to say”, but yet, I couldn’t stop her because her message was so powerful. When I did say the word for what she was trying to explain, it didn’t really matter. She preferred explaining the concept, or her idea to me. I just thought that this was such an incredible difference in language or difference in personality. In the end, though, when I don’t know a specific word in French, I try to beat around the bush and explain it from any other way possible, but my French does not sound as profound as her English. Lastly, I can never repeat any American phrases or quote anyone really with her because she does not understand. This has occurred many times when I had to back off from my American expressions and fully explain what I was trying to say. I am intrigued when I see my friend because I learn something new about language and culture every time we meet.  -Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 05:18 PM | Comments (2)

Chapter 2: Taste

In Chapter 2 of Practices of Looking, taste is defined as being “informed by experiences relating to one’s class, cultural background, education, and other aspects of identity”. The book goes on to explain that taste is usually associated with a certain class, a certain culture, or a certain group of people. Taste has a +high class or +wealthy connotation. If a person has taste it usually means that he or she knows how to wear, buy, or arrange something to make it look expensive or show off its value. Interesting how that word has evolved. Now, in an age of thrift stores and bargains, taste no longer holds that connotation as much as it used to. Someone can have good taste, even if they are not wealthy. Then again, when I think of the word “connoisseurship”, I immediately think of a wealthy higher class person. A connoisseur judges what is good and bad. Being a connoisseur is something that can only be attained through study and most likely travel. When I think of a connoisseur, I think of a wine connoisseur who has tried hundreds of wines and has the right frame of mind and tongue to be able to detect good wine when he or she tastes it. But again, in order to be an excellent wine connoisseur, one needs to have tasted many wines, been to many regions, especially in France, and experienced wine tasting. So again, I do not think of a connoisseur as a poor person, but a very rich and worldly one. I just have never thought about this particular word before, and now I realize that it is truly specific to a certain class and group of people. -Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

MFA Ansel Adams Assignment

The museum is cavernous but warm, active and alive. I feel like it’s a huge creature poised above and over me, its belly littered with the treasures it has swallowed over the eons. Inside the belly of the museum the world is shut out, forgotten. The air smells still and hangs – either just cool or warm enough to be felt as you move through it. Sounds echo as if across time as well as space, in some cases seeming to come from deep within the world caught on canvas. In the corner of my eye a statue stirs and a woman stops; granite rolls to life and flesh solidifies.

I bring my personal and societal assumptions about art as an entity, about museums, about the people in the museum (the staff and the patrons who frequent it), about the artist and artwork, subject matter, medium and the manner in which it is displayed. And of course I bring myself, so I bring my perception of self, which further affects how I perceive and interact with the things I mentioned above and more.

I believe that texture and light were important to Ansel Adams in Moonrise Hernandez, New Mexico (1941). He has used the fading light of day and the rising moon to heighten ones sense of the feel of the landscape through texture. The white headstones and crosses in the graveyard stand out in sharp contrast to the darkened landscape and seem connected to the white clouds and moon that stand out against the dark sky. I believe that by abstraction, Adams is using the symbolism of the headstones and crosses to represent our continued connectedness with the natural world, in life and beyond.

In Maynard Dixon (1945 about) the subject, of the same name, sits behind a screen, like that of a porch. The photograph was taken approximately a year before his death and I believe it was important to Ansel Adams that he capture the essence of both who Dixon was at the time and who he had been during his life as an artist. The sun was shining when Adams took the photograph and he uses this with the screen to create a superb effect – Dixon’s face is only visible behind the screen because it is in shadow, the screen itself visible where the sun hits it directly, therefore obscuring what is behind it. The result is that Dixon is portrayed, by what we can see of his face, as a strong man, a man who has seen many years and who has seen them as part of the natural world. However he is also – by what we can’t see behind the screen, bleached out by the sun’s rays – not completely visible to us as if not entirely present or of this world. This sense is heightened by the expression in his face. Whether Adams captured this purposefully – using this abstraction through light and screen because he knew Dixon was soon to die and already passing from this world or because he believed Dixon, a landscape artist in his own right, to be so connected to the earth that he was not entirely separate from it – we do not know. But the effect affects the mood of the photograph greatly and seems to speak an ethereal quality to its otherwise earthy, organic and unpretentious tone.

Ansel Adams was invited to a detention camp at Manzanar for Japanese Americans during the Second World War. He visited and took photographs of the Sierra Navada there between 1943 and 1945. In 1944 he took a photograph entitled Mount Williamson from Manzanar. Although this photograph is a landscape, I also think it serves as an abstract because of its subject matter and location. I don’t believe the two are in any way coincidental. The rocks in the foreground are, I believe, used in symbolic contrast to Mount Williamson in the background. Adams “believed the Japanese-Americans, a nature-loving people, must have been inspired and strengthened by the setting, which gave the people ‘a certain respite from their mood of isolation and concern for the future.’ Adams was impressed by the efforts of the inhabitants to make the camp more livable and functional by creating a Japanese garden, farms, schools, churches (Buddhist, Christian, and Shinto), a playground, and small industries.” (http://www.hctc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/anseladams/details/mtwilliamson.html, accessed on November 25, 2005). I believe that in this photograph Adams is capturing and highlighting by abstraction, the mood, not only of the natural formations but of the detainees in the camp. I think the photograph represents an amazing symbolism in the rocks of strength and fortitude notwithstanding that the large boulders are dwarfed by the massive mountain in front of which they are strewn but which is softened by a heavenly stream of light symbolizing, it would seem, some hope or cessation of harshness.

Wall Writing, Hornitos, California (1960 about) is fascinating. I believe the image challenges some of our assumptions and ideas about what art is. The image is of graffiti, the writing is layered and so the different names and marks interweave and link to form a pattern. The image appeals to me because I see it as the coincidental art of many different people. I see the whole in Adams’ photograph and can see how he used light, lens and film, framed the subject matter and developed the film in a way that captures the whole and makes it art. I can also see how each individual scrawl is a piece of art in itself and how together they form an artistic whole on a wall in Hornitos that without Adams’ capturing would still be art for those who observed it.

~ Nanette

Posted by lcissavides at 05:14 PM | Comments (2)

Chapter 11 Language Evolution

In spoken language I believe, relatively speaking, lexicon would be changing fastest. We adapt words and create new ones constantly to describe newly created inventions and procedures, new generations coin new words to give voice to their experience of the world and the connotations of words change constantly, albeit subtly.

Changes in pronunciation may take longer and only be obvious to us, Fromkin says (504), as dialect differences. Fromkin also points out that a speaker’s pronunciation may change without their grammar changing. In other words, while in our lifetime our common use of language may change in the manner that we speak it, our formal understanding of the language does not necessarily alter.

I believe that syntax would take the longest to change because, like our formal understanding of language, it is linked to prescribed grammar and therefore follows certain rules.

Like adults babies learn words and not sentences. They are first able to comprehend the meaning of words and then they begin to try to use these words to communicate. Baby talk is the result of their struggle to correctly pronounce these words. Once they are able to use words they are able to begin stringing them together to form sentences, their use of syntax will be encouraged and regulated informally as they copy the manner in which adults use word order to convey meaning and formally through correction from adults and teachers.

~ Nanette

Posted by lcissavides at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2005

What is in name Pygmalion...

Ovid was a Roman poet who lived during 43 BC and wrote on topic of love, abandoned woman, and mythological transformations. The story of Pygmalion in Ovid’s Metamorphosis inspired many writers and artists through out the centuries. George Bernard Shaw named one of his play “Pygmalion” after Ovid’s Metamorphosis.

In Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Pygmalion is a sculptor who doesn’t have interest in women. However, he is rewarded by his “hatred” of women when he is granted his wish by the gods. He falls in love with the sculpture that he makes out of ivory, a figure of a woman. Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty realizes Pygmalion’s love for Galatea and transforms her into a real woman.

The romantic myth of Pygmalion and Galatea had affected minds of artists and their works such as George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”. A similar idea of romance and love take place in the play when the character Henry Higgins, a rich and educated man tries to create that ideal woman out of an uneducated, wild, and vulgar woman Eliza. Ideally speaking both Ovid’s Pygmalion and Shaw’s Henry Higgins are keen sculptors and creators of the women they love.

Lastly, I think that both Shaw and Ovid illustrate the historical idea of supreme power of males over females. In other words, with the helps from Pygmalion and Higgins the females are able to find their true and “improved” faces/identities and even come to life as Galatea. Their works show the state of interdependentce of men and women and most stories have endings like this and this is the “happily ever after” finale. As if Elize and Higgins it is true because Eliza still takes care of the bachelors and has desire for Higgins even though she knows that it will never be that way.

Posted by lcisbold at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)

Chapter 11 and Baby Talk

Changes in pronunciation, lexicon, and syntax occur throughout the time. As we read materials from hundreds and hundreds years ago we instantly notice differences in “our” language and “theirs”. In my opinion the pronunciation changes take the least amount of time due to many factors such as change in locations of speakers of certain languages and when they settle in their new location they may start to spread the “new” way of saying and pronouncing words.

Change in lexicon comes next in line. There are new words being added and some words getting illuminated in languages daily or monthly. You learn new word and you forget the old word. Also meanings of words change along time and people start using them differently under various circumstances. Such as before the inventions of magnificent calculators, the word calculate would have meant to do a calculation using slide rules. Nowadays, when you want to calculate something, the first thing that comes into your mind is a calculator.

The change in syntax comes last in line. Because it takes long time for speakers to learn and really start using it, the rules of sentence formation and words orders don’t change overnight but rather takes long time to build up in one’s mind.

I would assume that babies learn in order such as pronunciation, lexicon, and syntax. They start making sounds and eventually they learn pronunciation. Even though they don’t know the exact meaning of the word they imitate what people around them say. Next they start connecting the meanings of words with the pronunciations. Afterwards they learn to express themselves by using complete and understandable sentences.

Posted by lcisbold at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2005

What is the "Pygmalion Effect"?

What Is the “Pygmalion Effect?”

The “Pygmalion Effect” is basically how a person can successfully fulfill an expectation that they may have for themselves or that someone else has for them. It also concentrates on the fact that people mostly give away their expectations through body language, so that someone else has a hint of someone else's expectations.

An example of the “Pygmalion Effect” is shown by a study conducted by Jacobson and Rosenthal in 1968 where children from ages six to twelve years old, all taken from the same school, were told to take an IQ test, which was given to them by the experimenters. The children were assigned to the control or experimental group. The teachers were told that the children in the experimental group were the "high achievers", and when they found this out there was a significant increase in the children’s IQ gains in the group over the course of a year. This occurred even though the allocation was a random one. This experiment shows the fulfillment of prior expectations.

The “Pygmalion Effect” can also be applied to the workforce. It can be important for leaders or managers, because the performance of a group or a team or employees depends on how they are lead. It directly related to the performance of the person in charge. According to Goethe "treat a man as he is he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be." This is a principle that anyone in a leadership position can follow to develop a proactive and successful team.

There is even a program that focuses on the “Pygmalion Effect” in order to develop successful business people. It is successful in helping people improve their overall morale and productivity when it comes to work. This program is conducted through videos, real-life examples, and scenes from the "Pygmalion" movie where people are transformed because of either positive or negative expectations of each other. This type of learning program has been used by occupational trainers for over twenty years, and has been the result of many success stories. People can now use this method to their advantage.

--Yasmin

Sources http://www.accel-team.com/pygmalion/ http://www.psybox.com/web_dictionary/pygm.htm http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Pygmalion-Effect&id=86460 http://www.crmlearning.com/pygmalion-effect-the-power-of-expectations-program

Posted by lcisperez at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2005

Pygmalion Effect

“The Pygmalion effect (also known as Rosenthal effect) is a finding that people tend to behave as you expect they will” (“Pygmalion effect”).

Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson conducted experiments concerning children in schools. They used psychology in order to trick the teachers into working a small percentage of students to their full potential. Twenty percent of the students were selected and the teachers were told that these students showed great intellectual potential. By the end of eight months, these students possessed a higher IQ that the other children who were not singled out. This indicates that the teachers must have given these students more attention, knowing that they could be mentally advanced. One educational reformed concluded that “labeling matters, and the younger the person getting the label is, the more it matters”. In addition, James Rhem said something interesting : “when teachers expect students to do well and show intellectual growth, they do; when teachers do not have such expectations, performance and growth are not so encouraged and may in fact be discouraged in a variety of ways”. Essentially, he is suggesting that, if teachers do not have high standards for learning, neither will their students, so ultimately, a student’s performance is governed by their teacher. This occurs in everyday life too; in the workforce or at home. If my parents have high expectations for me, I will have high expectations for myself and therefore will continue to push and work myself harder.

The Pygmalion Effect also seems to have to deal with a person’s body image and view of him or herself. Like in My Fair Lady, Eliza only becomes of high status when she looks the part (clothes, hair, makeup), and acts the part (speech, manners, poise). Only then is she considered an upstanding citizen of society.

I used www.wikipedia.org for my research. When I went to do my blog, this source was already used, but as I searched around online for another credible site, there were mostly dot com sources that did not look credible because of advertisements. Wikipedia is a credible source because it is a dot org, meaning, it has to do with an organization, and for most of my research papers, teachers have listed Wikipedia as an informative and good source of information.

-Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)

Baby Talk

I think for baby talk the first thing that changes is pronunciation. Infants learn to make noises before they apply those noises into words. Then lexicon, when the child expands his/her vocabulary, is learned. Last and the most difficult is syntax. It takes a long time for children to learn the proper form of negation and possession. I think this differs for adults because once we learn pronunciation and syntax it does not change much. However, words are constantly changing or being invented.

Posted by lcisowens at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

chapter 11

I think the easiest one of these things to change is lexicon. We have already experienced changes in lexicon in our lifetimes, as we saw with the homwork on slang. Our vocabulary is changing all the time and it seems to spread much faster then pronunciation or syntax. I think that pronunciation is the next easiest thing to change. We have seen differences in pronunciation with respect to dialect and even though it probably takes awhile to change from region to region, I think it is easier than trying to change syntax, the actual rules of a language. People are going to be much more likely to go along with a change in pronunciation then they are with a change in ther rules of how we speak. It seems a child's lexicon will change first. They will learn "real" words after they have begun to communicate with "baby talk". A baby's babble stems from real words, but they must babble first before they can learn the words themselves. Young children often pronounce words incorrectly, one of the most common seems to be "spaghetti". However, their pronunciation changes as the get older and learn what they real way to pronounce words is, in respect to their specific dialect. Syntax seems to be the last thing children learn. They can say single words or simple sentences that we can undertsand but that are not grammatically correct before they can speak in grammatical sentences.

Posted by lcismardin at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2005

Chapter 11 Hypothesis

In my opinion it takes the least amount of time for the pronunciation of words to change, a little bit longer for the lexicon to change, and the longest for syntax to change. I think that the amount of time it takes for each of these things to change is based on whether or not they exist as rules. In forming words we never learn a set of rules(where to put our tongues, whether a vowel should be long or short, etc), but rather we just naturally pick up on how words should sound. This flexibility with which people learn words allows there to be a lot of variation, and as a result different pronunciations form. The same idea goes for words. There are no rules as to what can be a word and what can't be a word (it's not like certain letters cannot follow others), therefore there is always room for variation, and that's why new words are created and put into use. However, syntax is more structured. There are rules as to what order words must be put in a sentence, and we usually don't understand why things must go in this order, but we just accept it as the only way to do things. Therefore there is no room for variation...we learn the rule and stick to it.

These timing correlates to the acquisition of language in babies in that the things that take less time to change, take less time to be learned. For example, pronunciation of words, which can change the quickest, is always learnt the quickest by babies. Usually babies, once they learn a word, learn the phonetics of that word and don't mess up saying it. Although babies have limitted lexicons, the words that they do know they usually are able to use in the right context (for example a child usually doesn't say "I see a dog" when they mean "I see a car"). It is the forming of sentences, syntax, that children usually have the most difficult time learning. Often times they use all of the correct words and pronounce those words correctly, but they do not string them together in a way that forms a coherent sentence.

Posted by lcissullivan at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

The Title "Pygmalion"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion%28play%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion%28mythology%29

Through my research on the title “Pygmalion,” I have learned a lot about why Bernard Shaw chose to name his play as such. The name comes from an old Roman myth by Ovid in his book Metamorphoses. The character Pygmalion was a lonely sculptor who ends up carving a woman out of ivory. The statue comes to life after he prays to Venus, who is the goddess of beauty and love.

Bernard Shaw’s play, “Pygmalion” is about a linguistics professor who takes in a lower-class girl and tries to teach her proper language to pass her off as upper class. Professor Higgins “molds” Eliza and tries to change her. He wants to make her “perfect” just as Pygmalion creates the “perfect” woman out of ivory. Therefore the title “Pygmalion” refers to the character of Professor Higgins.

I think these articles are reliable because it’s a “.org” website, which are usually pretty good. Also, Wikipedia is a common, free encyclopedia so I would think that since it is so popular, it must have some good information on it. The site has also been updated recently, which is a good thing.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

The Pygmalion Effect

The Pygmalion Effect is a phenomenon in which one's expectations of another person actually cause that person to act in ways that conform to the expectations. It basically suggests that if a person holds a certain view towards another person, then that person is likely to live up to that view. The idea comes from an Ancient Greek myth, in which a man idolized a statue of a woman so much that a goddess agreed to turn the statue into an actual person, and the man and the newly formed woman fell in love. However, this idea can be seen in modern entertainment as it is the underlying plot in many movies, including "My Fair Lady," of course, "She's All That," and "Pretty Woman."

The Pygmalion Effect is not just explored in film, it has been studied in various places, such as the work place and in schools, to see if it really has a significant effect on performance. In 1966, Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson did a study on teacher expectations in which they administers I.Q. tests to students at the beginning of a school year. Before the teachers received the results on these tests, they randomnly selected certain students to be labelled as academic acheivers, and other to be labeled as academically challenged.

At the end of the year when they administered the I.Q. test once again they found that each student's score correlated to his or her label. For example, students labelled as academic acheivers scored higher, while students labelled as challenged scored lower. Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded that a teacher's expectations of his or her students could affect the students' ability to excel. This finding gained a lot attention because it suggested the possibility that the wrong teacher could inhibit a student's learning.

This Pygmalion Effect is similar to the idea in pychology known as the self-fulfilling prophecy. This theory states that an individual usually acts to fulfill an expectation held about him or her, ultimately making this expectation reality. Psychologists believe that the self-fulfilling prophecy has more to do with self-image and determination, therefore suggesting that students who scored high on the test did so because they were confident in themselves.

The Pygmalion Effect seems like a reasonable theory, especially in the classroom. It seems feasable that when a teacher believes in his or her students, the students believe in themselves, and as a result they perform better. Films that suggest that this theory extends into real world experiences, are somewhat ungrounded in that there is no research done to prove this correct.

http://www.users.muohio.edu/shermalw/edp603_group2-f00.html"

I believe that the source from which I got this information is credible because it is an essay written for a college course. The authors, date, and professor for which it was written are all included. At the end of the paper there is a rather long list of references cited. Also, the fact that the URL is muohio.edu is an indicator that it is a credible site.

Posted by lcissullivan at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

"Baby Talk"

The pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary of an individual child evolves extraordinarily fast. It's difficult to put those three aspects in order because they are quite simultaneous. As a baby repeatedly hears and recognizes basic vocabulary words, he will learn to prounce them, as well as learn the meaning behind the words. Sometimes pronunciation continues to be a struggle, as children will make errors such as pronouncing an "s" as "th". After learning basic pronunciation and vocab, the child will go on to use these words in sentences. However, syntax is not entirely last because children are always learning new vocabulary, as we will still are now.

Posted by lcishagan at 08:54 PM | Comments (2)

Chapter 11

I believe that phonetic change is focused the most in this chapter because it is the most readily apparent and accessible subject for an introductory level of linguistics. Though making generalizations is dangerous, nearly everyone knows how spoken language has changed over the past centuries. I suppose it could be stated as becoming "less formal", and new words have entered our vocabulary as others have been lost. Also, language change begins with phonetic change before it changes syntactically or in the lexicon. We are constantly learning new words from other languages and integrating them or pronouncing already known words a different way. Both our spelling and sentence structuring reflect our speech which make it only natural that those two components of language should change after the phonetics. It would be impossible for language change to occur in reverse. I think that baby talk is similar to language change because a baby first learns pronouncing spoken language, then how to put words together to make meaning, and then continually adds new words to its vocabulary. The pronounciation is learned through hearing others speak and the repetition of those spoken words. Syntax is also learned through hearing others form sentences.

Posted by lcisfreya at 07:20 PM | Comments (0)

Advertisements

Advertisements are so influential today and can convey so many different meanings. When we were watching the video in Ellen's class about advertisements and how women are either overexposed or degraded, more than men. I thought that this was a very interesting topic, because I had never really put much thought into how that could happen. When I look at magazines or billboards that have women on them to sell beer or clothing, most of the time I don't even really think twice about what the advertisement is really saying about women.

What was really disturbing that I learned from the video was that women are most often defined as objects in advertisements. They usually have their hands or something over their mouths, which that women do not have anything important to say and that they are just supposed to be looked at and admired. This is typically seen in models who are known for their bodies. There are even some images that just display women's body, which shows that women can be used for pleasure and that who they reallly are is not important. I was very shocked when I realized that most of this is true and I never saw how advertisment used women to their advantage to simply sell a product. I thought that this showed how material and superficial our society has become. The quality of the person selling a product in an advertisement is not even taken into account, so long as people continue to buy that product.

I think that this video has opened me up to things that I did not realize at first about advertisements. Now I think that I will be more aware of these images.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 05:19 PM | Comments (1)

Chapter Eleven Hypothesis

Languages over time definitely do change, there isnt a doubt about the fact. However, the impact of change in the three catagories (Pronunciation, Syntax, and Lexicon) is dependent on time. These changes can be predicted by observing the first language acquisition of a child. How a child develops speech is usually the same in all children. Most awaiting parents wait for a child's first word (lexicon). These typically are words like "mama" or "dada" because of their easy ability. These words are closest to mumbles "baby talk" as they can get. Next, a child learns pronunciation. With practice, a child will say "mum" or "d-ae-d" For example, my brother could not pronounce Kathy and called my aunt "Aunt Fluffy." After awhile of observing how others said "Kathy" my brother was able to say "Katty" and then "Kathy." This of course happened before he could form sentences. Sentence formation or syntax is vital in communication. It occurs last because of the rules we have in any language. Simple sentences form first such as "Give me" or "me go." Though the correct word isn't used in some cases, the general communication ability at this point is clear and parents can understand what their children want.

From this, we can see that lexicon is the easiest to change over time. New words, like different and "new" words to a child, are introduced everyday. Words change for many reasons such as combination words, (an example for this would be from tv show "the Colbert Report." In his commercial, Colbert says the show is trustegious, a combination of prestegious and trustworthy. My friends even use this term now.) jokes (words such as splendiferous and other silly words that are repeated to reminisce about the joke and then used out of habit.) and for variety purposes (people have been trying to find a new word for "neat" for decades. Words like "groovy," "cool," "awesome," and "hot" are used to replace it. In New England, "wicked" is used.).

Next, pronunciation is changed over a little longer period of time such as the greater part of a century. Pronunciation takes a little longer because in order for it to catch on it needs global coverage. English pronunciation is different in different parts of our country is mainly due to groups that founded the area and immigrants. To change this, we would need a new group to come in or a group to move to another area.

Lastly, syntax takes the most to change. In many cases, it took multiple centuries to change. This is due to the fact that rapid syntax change would make it hard or almost impossible to communicate with others of the same language. This would defeat the purpose of speaking the same language in the first place. Also, syntax change would go against the typical rules we have and these rules are ingrained from birth.

-Jess Y

Posted by lcisyeich at 01:18 PM | Comments (2)

My Fair Lady v. Pygmalion

I would say that My Fair Lady is almost identical to Pygmalion. Because Pygmalion was written as a play, the movie, My Fair Lady, was able to use almost exact phrasing as the play. Even the sound effects of Eliza are pronounced as Shaw wrote them. I found the movie strict to the confines of the play and one of the best movies to represent a play in full honesty.

-Jess Yeich

Posted by lcisyeich at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

Origins of Pygmalion

George Bernard Shaw most definitely picked the title "Pygmalion" as a reference to the Greek romance of a sculptor falling in love with his own sculpture. As the story goes, the sculptor, finding human women "immoral and frivolous," spent his life consumed with this craft. One day he found a "large, flawless piece of ivory" and decided to carve a woman's figure into the material. He was so pleased with his work that he became obsessed with the figure and adorned it with jewels and clothing. He even went as far as to name it Galatea, which means sleeping love. He begged the greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, for forgiveness for ignoring her for so long and he pleaded for a woman as ideal as his statue. Aphrodite, interested in and curious about his constant pleas, visited the statue. She was so pleased with it, because it was the image of herself, that she made the figure come to life. Pygmalion then returned to find his love alive and they were soon wed. Of course, they never forgot about Aphrodite and like all Greeks that had wonderful things happen to them, they brought gifts to Aphrodite's temple as a thank you.

This story is unmistakenably used as a reference for Shaw's "Pygmalion". Pygmalion and Higgins are almost one in the same. Pygmalion finds himself consumed with his work and enjoys the ability to transform "waste material" into beautiful beings. Higgins, like Pygmalion, is consumed with his phonetics and also enjoys his ability to transform useless beings into people of society. Like Pygmalion does with Galatea, Higgins soon falls in love with the increasingly beautiful Eliza. Both characters are stubborn and treat the outside world as if it is to be used and not bothered with humanly.

In the same way, Galatea and Eliza are similar in that Eliza is an almost inhuman creature with inhuman sounds and Galatea is made of ivory (thus, inhuman). Both are the subjects of work and both are the subjects of love.

Shaw undoubtedly chose this title for these reasons and in my opinion, it shows a lot about his own character. If Pygmalion and Higgins are synonymous, Shaw says that Higgins deserves Eliza in the end, like Pygmalion deserved his statue. But, even in the first two acts of "Pygmalion" it is seen that Higgins is rude and undeserving of life because of this.

Sources: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/pygmalion.html and http://www.pygmalion.ws/stories/greek2.htm. I think they are worthy of being called correct in that the two sources are almost identical. The first source is even copyrighted. Plus, that souce has a .org ending and that represents that it is an organization putting out the information. The second is correct because of the first and because the hyperlink is very clear (Pygmalion is the only word in it).

Posted by lcisyeich at 12:29 PM | Comments (2)

November 19, 2005

Chapter 11 comparisons

Lexicon, or vocabulary is ever changing. Some words are used often or not at all. New terms are introduced daily and added to our expanding vocabulary. This vocabulary evolves just as society evolves because language reflects such a society. At the same time, some words become displaced, and are not used as often. Nevertheless, the consistent adding of lexicon is the shortest change of all. Secondly, change in pronunciation takes slightly more time than the implementation of new vocabulary. Pronunciation of specific words is usually uniform in the majority of areas in our country. Since most words have already changed in pronunciation from old English I do not expect there to be much room for a change in pronunciation with the majority of words we use in our language. Additionally, pronunciation is auditory based and would have to be widespread for a change to occur, and would have to be from a source availiable to all (television .. etc.). Lastly, syntax, or the ordering of words would take the longest of all because there are certain rules and regulations for language to exist. One cannot put sentences together and rearrange words because not only would it change the meaning or make no meaning, it would not be familiar to the mass society.

Posted by lcissearls at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

Chapter 11

Pronunciation: Average I think it doesn’t take too long necessarily to change the pronunciations of words. It seems like a few people will start it and then it will spread to more and more people and each generation will begin to use it and then it will become generally accepted.

Syntax (order): Longest I think the syntax takes longer to change because it is a more significant change than pronunciation. I feel that this would be much harder to change as many of these rules are pretty much set in stone and when you first try to change something, people would question it and might not understand it as much.

Lexicon (Vocabulary): Shortest I think lexicon is the simplest to change because new words are always being created to accommodate the ever-changing world. However, words changing their meaning I think takes a little longer, relatively speaking.

First language acquisition relates to this chart because it the magnitudes I decided upon also show the order in which you acquire your first language. A lexicon of your language is first developed as you learn the words for the simple things, like “mama” and “dada.” However, it takes some practice in order to be able to pronounce the words correctly, instead of the babbling. Lastly, a child learns the rules of syntax and begins to put simple sentences or phrases together. Finally everything begins to come together and grammar begins to show up and the sentences soon become grammatically correct.

-Jessica F.

Posted by lcisfaria at 05:41 PM | Comments (1)

The Story of My Body

The Story of My Body by Judith Ortiz Cofer, a short story in Chapter 4 of Seeing and Writing, was a descriptive story about a Puerto Rican woman's attempt to identify with American Culture, but not leave her Puerto Rican heritage behind. She was proud of where she came from, but yet she wanted to erase the traces of being ethnic and just "belong" with everyone else. I thought that this story was very empowering, because it embraced the idea of how people try to fit in or subject themselves to a standard that they think they have to match up to.

I think that a lot of people are in this same situation no matter what race, age, or gender they pertain to. It is natural for people to want to belong to something and not feel like they are lost or alone. Race is one of the biggest factors of fitting in for most people. For example in this story Judith was a Puerto Rican woman trying to fit in with white and Italian races. Even though she was intelligent and did well in school, she was not respected, because of her race. I think that it's pretty sad how these type of situations are still prominent in certain areas and people have to be subjected to racial criticism, and not respected as a human being. We are still a long way from escaping these type of situations.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)

Time and Baby Talk

I think that the time of the three categories of pronunciation, syntax and lexicon vary within certain cultures. They also depend on what type of dialect a person may have or the language that they speak. I think that the time horizon for these categories within a particular language goes from lexicon, which takes the longest period of time so that the language has enough vocabulary for people to communicate with. Then would come pronunciation where the people speaking that language would develop a dialect for their particular lexicon, which would differ from another language. Then finally syntax would take place. However between pronunciation and syntax, syntax would take a longer period of time, because the development of word order occurs gradually in language.

Particularly in baby talk these categories would occur in the order of pronunciation, lexicon and then syntax. Babies usually learn words in any language by trying to pronounce them and forming words with their mouths by the example of other speakers around them. Secondly a lexicon is developed where the baby will use certain words in his/her vocabulary in order to be understood. Then finally the baby would learn the syntax of a language. At first the baby might say words out of order while learning syntax, but will then eventually develop their speech according to the rules of grammar in their language.

--Yasmin

Posted by lcisperez at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)

Pygmalion Effect

The pygmalion effect is perhaps best known in management and education circles as the self-fulfilling prophecy. This "phenomenon occurs when a false definition of the situation evokes a new behavior which makes the original false conception comne true." Specifically, once a certain measure is established, we tend to act in ways that are consistent with the measure even if it is not accurate. The basis of this idea is from Pygmalion, of course. The story of Pygmalion is that the prince of Cyprus wanted a sculptor to make an ivory statue of the ideal woman. As the story goes, the sculptor Pygmalion fell in love with his own sculpture and prayed to Venus, the god of love to bring her to life.

The Pygmalion effect particularly addresses the idea that beliefs and expectations, whether correct or not affect the outcome of a situation. For instance, labeling someone as a criminal, and treating the person as such may foster criminal behavior in such a person. The Pygmalion effect is indeed in play as it governs much of how we live. If a teacher expects her students to perform lousy on a test, the Pygmalion effect states that that expectation will be reflected in the low scores of her studnts.

http://www.accel-team.com/pygmalion/ *Seemed credible and reliable because it was a network for companies to improve their employee productivity, and alal the information corresponded with what I read on other websites.

Posted by lcissearls at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)

Pygmalion

1.Although I have seen My Fair Lady performed numerous times, I did not find it any different than Pygmalion based on the first two acts. I think that the two plays are very similar, maybe even identical.

2.The Pygmalion Effect was recognized and studied by psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, and, thus is also appropriately known as the Rosenthal Effect. In short, the Pygmalion Effect is a theory which says that if instructors of any medium have expectations for their students; the students will grow and learn according to these expectations. Rosenthal and Jacobson tested their hypothesis on a class of elementary school students. The two randomly selected twenty percent of the student body and told teachers that these students showed enormous potential for intellectual achievement. At the conclusion of the study this group of children showed a significant gain in IQ versus those who were not expected to do as well. Thus, this study shows that students who receive attention and expectations by their teachers perform to these expectations.

The Pygmalion Effect was named after a Roman myth about Pygmalion and a statue he falls in love with, which is consequently the subject for George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, and the popular musical, My Fair Lady. The myth of Pygmalion says that Pygmalion so adored a statue he had made that it came to life as a result of his constant hopes for and attentions on it. Similarly, both Pygmalion and My Fair Lady tell the story of a young, low-class woman who quickly rose to the top of society under the attention of a high-class, wealthy man. The connection between these stories and the Pygmalion Effect is that in all three cases an individual grows under the attention of someone else.

Of course, this theory is tested almost daily as society sees the outcome of teaching on students who are given attention and expectations versus those who do not.

Source: “Pygmalion Effect” Wikipedia. 19 November 2005. Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_effect

I think that source is very credible. First of all, the website is a .org, which means that what is contained in the website has been approved. Secondly, Wikipedia is a well known online encyclopedia and I definitely trust the information that they put on the Internet about various subjects, as I have used it before their website for research before.

Posted by lciscotis at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Language Changes & Language Acquistion!

Here are my thoughts about how language changes over time...

Pronunciation--Needs Average Amount of Time To Change--I think that pronunciation takes an average amount of time to change. My reasoning for this is that while it is easy to pronounce a word in a new, different way, it is difficult to adopt this into language. This is because society is accustomed to saying a certain word in a certain way, and adopting a new pronunciation and using it automatically (without thinking about it) is difficult to do. However, if a mispronunciation is used long often enough, it can be adopted by enough people to become commonplace.

Syntax (Order)--Needs Longest Amount of Time To Change--I think that syntax takes the longest amount of time to change because altering syntax requires an integral change in the way we use and construct sentences. Syntax rules are so ingrained in our language that it is difficult to even acknowledge their existence. Thus, changing syntax would be a huge change for society and require society to alter the way the deep-rooted way we think about language.

Lexicon (Vocabulary)--Needs Shortest Amount of Time To Change--I think that vocabulary is the 1st to change out of these three aspects of language because it is very easy to adopt a new word into our language. People make up words for certain things daily, and these words are often embraced by society. Similarly, it is much easier to use a new word then a new pronunciation or set of syntax rules.

This analysis is very reminiscent of the way that infants learn a new language. First, an infant probably picks up certain words, like “mom” and “dad”. However, their pronunciation is not really developed because they are still becoming accustomed to way that their mouths, tongues, and throats function in terms of language. Next, an infant will pick up pronunciation because they have heard the way that their parents and caregivers say certain words in reference to certain objects or actions. Also, they will become more familiar with and more controlling of their ability to speak certain sounds. Lastly, an infant will acquire knowledge of syntax. The reason for this is that, for the most part, order of words is not necessary to convey meaning. For example, if an infant says, “Blankie me,” it is evident that the child is looking for his blanket. Thus, syntax is not really an important part of language acquisition. Also, syntax in certain languages can often be very haphazard, random and difficult to learn. Thus, it takes a longer time to learn syntax than other aspects of language.

Posted by lciscotis at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)

Baby Talk

It is intriguing how the chart that Nanette wanted us to fill out, comparing the length of time that a particular part of language would need to be changed like among lexicon, syntax, and pronunciation ties in directly with first language acquisition or baby talk. If you think about it, babies first learn words. They try to pronounce them, but more often than not, their pronunciation is inaccurate and sloppy. I find it hard, when I am babysitting a younger child, that I cannot understand what they are saying because of the jumbling of sounds that they are using to produce a certain word. The key here is that though they do not know how to articulate the word, they are still trying to do so. Then, when they master the pronunciation as they grow older, they can form sentences using syntax. In order to be a master of syntax, though, one has to learn and study it. This is exactly why changing syntax is so difficult. Everyone knows and uses the simple syntax because it is both innate and learned. Syntax rules allow people to speak to each other and understand. If English syntax is changed, the ability of everyone to communicate is destroyed. We need to keep consistency. From the example of babies, it is obvious that words can be changed easier because they are absorbed easier, and then pronunciation is the second aspect of language that these babies learn, which is a little harder to absorb. So, essentially, much of how language can be changed can be determined by first language acquisition, especially in babies. Very interesting! -Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 12:25 AM | Comments (1)

November 18, 2005

Today's Class

I really enjoyed today's class, I though we had a lot of good discussions about idealogies and how deeply they are engrained into our society as well as our personal beings. I guess I have never really thought about it before, but there are so many stories and movies that portray women who seem to have great lives with a great job and a good salary, a nice house, ect., but who are not happy because they do not have a husband or a boyfriend. It is sad to realize that many single women are not happy because they believe they need a man and to find love in order to be complete and happy. I know it is hard, but I think people need to realize that this is not true and that we can be just as sucessful in life (or perhaps even more so) without a man as we can be with one.

Posted by lcismardin at 02:56 PM | Comments (0)

Cultural Myths

I am troubled by the cultural myth played out in both My Fair Lady and Pretty Woman. Both movies are, for their respective eras, heart stoppingly romantic and I know I often get caught up in this and forget to "read" the text and subtext of the movie in the way that our class is teaching us to do. On Wed when we watched excerpts I was struck by the signs, icons, representation etc contained in the movies and what they said about women, women's innate abilities and intelligence, the sex trade, rich men, poor people and love.

I believe and hope that through this class and our whole Simmons education we'll learn to challenge these stereotypes and see not only the truth in the myth but also the untruth.

~ Nanette

P.S. I was thinking on the train that what bother me is that we're able to "read" overt forms of racism, sexism, classism, ageism and act against them. But it's the forms that are subtle and wrapped up in things like romantisism, like these movies, that are hardest to "read." These are often the ones that we as woman perpetuate and that troubles me.

Posted by lcissavides at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)

Guns vs. Dolls

Is it possible for girls to be attracted to ‘boy’ toys and boys to ‘girl’ toys? The articles “Snakes and Snails” by Ellen, and “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls” by Katha Pollit seemed to be supporting a similar notion that no matter how hard the parents try to change the fact of boys preferring guns and girls Barbie dolls might as well won’t change in the near future. Those of you are who have younger or older brother would agree that you find it uninteresting and boring to be playing with boy toys. More than that, if you even tried to play with their toys and got caught by your parents or others members in your family or friends might have experienced the embarrassment from them; the society.

Have you ever wondered why they liked ‘war’ toys and games so much? Many of us fall into a stereotype: girls who like to play with dolls and will stay that way. There is nothing wrong with this and this is the way how it has been for centuries. I wonder whether it is possible to reverse the attraction towards toys change, that boys might find it more interesting to be braiding the Barbie’s hair than ‘fighting’ in the war games with their toys.

In the country side in Mongolia, children used to play with various shaped stones as they were not supplied with ‘normal’ toys such as Barbie dolls or gun those modern children, they still have the same ability to play their “appropriate” roles in their games. Girls play the roles of mothers and boys play as fathers when they play as a family, usually imitating their own family style. It is not only about the toys children play with, but these toys create the border line in their minds what women and men’s role should be in the society.

Posted by lcisbold at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

Average Attraction

I found one of the articles very interesting in Chapter 4 of POL. Written by Bruce Bower, "Average Attraction" points out and shows proofs on what characterizes "attractiveness". He writes that if the person is closer to being an average and have more characters of common features then people find that person as being the most attractive. The test results generated by number of college students prove his conclusion. In my opinion, every one of us has unique parts and elements on our faces and that is what distinguishes us from one another. I used to think that the more “not common” the person’s features are the more unique and attractive they are. After reading this article I realized that either way, whether you have common face or unique face you are beautiful in each sense.

Posted by lcisbold at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)

MFA Assignment

1. When I first walked in I decided to focus on this question because I knew I would be distracted by the Ansel Adams exhibit once we were upstairs. To be honest, I didn't really get a feeling. If anything, I felt comfortable, free to explore, independent although Ellen's lack of rules and restrictions probably added to that. It was a big building. For the most part it is well a kept up building, very modern and very bland (although Jess Y. and I saw peeling paint on the inside of the dome later on after carefully selecting our Ansel Adams' photos). At first I wondered was such a famous museum would have such dull architectural feelings, but after thinking about it, I realized how helpful the lack of architectural detail was in emphasizing the artwork displayed.

2. I think I definitely fall victim to what Berger said in this quote. When I go to a MFA, I expect to see extraordinary works of art. I think a lot of the art, especially modern art (e.g. minimalism), I would not recognize as the ingenious masterpieces they are if I didn't have that expectation. I know that other people see something in it, so I look very hard and eventually see it too.

3. The Tetons and Snake River, 1942 is an Ansel Adams photo that I would definitely describe as a landscape. What I found very interesting was how the river, the sky, and the top of the mountains in the background were all light and the rest of the nature scene was dark and unclear. Though he was representing the actual landscape, Adams used abstraction by altering the amount of light and darkness in specific areas of the photo. There are many different interpretations that can be made from looking at the winding river and light in the far background. One can presume that Adam’s attempts to symbolize life itself, the twist and turns of life (the river), and the supposed “light at the end of the tunnel” (light on mountains in background).

4. Woman Behind Screen Door, Independence, 1944 is a portrait that communicates the emotions of regret, sadness, and helplessness to the viewer. The subject represents and elderly woman. Adams abstracts the photo by emphasizing the winkles on the woman’s face that express her tiredness. I think this photo symbolized the lack of freedom humans have in the course of their lives. Even the title refers to independence, and obstacle blocking her from the outside world (freedom).

5. Rose and Driftwood, 1932 is an abstract photo that displays the beauty and intricacy of a single rose lying on wood. Though the viewer can easily understand that this is a photo of a rose, the angle that allows the viewer to look into the rose and the closeness of the shot symbolizes opens the viewer eyes and allows them to see detail in the simplest of objects. This relates to his landscape work because it is still nature, but an abstract, close-up photo instead of an overview.

6. I loved looking at Ansel Adam’s Trailer Camp Children, 1944. In this photo, Adams is able to capture the reality of three young children struggling to survive. The children show so much emotion with innocence and lack of awareness as to why they are struggling. It is interesting that the youngest child stares directly at the camera seeming both engaged and puzzled. The older of the toddlers, being held by his big brother, has the same puzzled look on his but stares away from the camera, disconnected from the viewer. The oldest, and the only visible caretaker, seems both aware of their helpless financial instability and disengaged at the same time. I think this photograph should be considered a work of art because Adams accomplished his goal in creating awareness of this matter. I believe that it is a work of art because it successfully connected the viewer to the subject matter and goal of the artist.

Posted by lcisowens at 01:18 AM | Comments (4)

November 17, 2005

Conversational Style

I had an interesting conversation with my neighbor recently. Normally I'm not much of a pauser and half way through the conversation I remembered our assignment and so started pausing and stopped interjecting. The effects were immediate - he started taking his time and talked much more slowly. He paused for long intervals in the middle of a sentence seeming to ponder the very air around him. I think my neighbor enjoyed my not talking! And it definitely changed the nature of the interaction but I was just jumping up and down inside after about 2 minutes and had to excuse myself. I did enjoy the experiment though.

Nanette asked us another question awhile back that I also had the opportunity to explore recently. She asked if people of different cultures use different gestures. And shortly after that a woman, of Indian decent, approached me at the T stop to ask for directions. As she spoke she bobbed her head from side to side in a characteristically Indian fashion and I realized that we do gesture differently based on our cultural norms and that these must indeed lead to some of the stereotypes about different cultures that Nanette was discussing.

~ Nanette

Posted by lcissavides at 06:13 PM | Comments (0)

MFA assignment

1. The museum feels like a lonely old man. Containing bits and pieces of old information and beauty. The one room for modern art seems forced like computers on an older generation. The museum is despair. The walls blank and even alone it seems stuffy. The air is old and the ceilings cobwebbed. The architecture is a poor mind trick; its elements do not give justice to the beauty beheld. The floors are cold and harsh with dabs of carpet to amuse the stray children. It seemed the entire museum was unwelcoming with its harsh corners. There were an abundance of elder people reminiscing as they walked by and for a moment, I felt happy but then consumed with sadness because of the impending end to their lives. The hall felt troubling as if something was missing. I felt panicked and hurried to move onto the next exhibit.

2. The assumption that I brought to the work I saw in the museum was that they would be something I would see everyday. I thought that Adam’s work consisted of mostly landscapes and I see that everyday wherever I am. I was ready to be disappointed yet excited and hopeful for something refreshing. To my surprise, Adam’s work overwhelmed me with exhilaration. I circled the exhibit several times trying to find my favorite work but I couldn’t. I decided to choose his later pieces as my favorite set. I assumed that there would be less meaning to the photos because they were “only” photographs, especially since they are in black and white. I assumed that you could not impose meaning on something that is just there. I thought I could do the same exact thing and be just as popular. And, to my surprise, I was incorrect.

3. Surf Sequence- 1940 (printed in 1973) Adam’s paid special attention to having both the sand and waves present in the photo. He wanted to see not only the waves coming in but also how different each of them are. From my point of view, Adam’s point was to create a symbol for time. The waves in each photo impressed upon the sand a different shape. Each wave was different and unexpected. Adam’s cared little for the sequencing of the photos but more for the fact that eventually each did happen. I believe Adam’s tried to show that time eventually corrodes away at humans and this is inevitable because it is the process of life. Adam’s tried to make the picture smooth and not intrusive. He wanted to show us that life is a in and out of time waves that is calming and welcoming at each stage.

4. Mr. Shepard at his home, Independence, California- circa 1936 In this portrait, Adam’s deliberately included the old fence and the older man. The man is more in the background of the photo making him appear mysterious and aggravated. His facial expression is squinted and he is looking directly at the camera from a distance. This makes the camera look intrusive. Both the fence and the old man symbolize how everything on earth begins to decay. The fence, though weathered by time, will most likely remain for years, but the old man will soon wither. The shadow over the man symbolizes this death and the fact that the fence is white symbolizes survival, or life.

5. Saguaro Cactus, Sunrise, Arizona- 1942 Adam’s deliberately took the photo of the cactus from a bug’s eye view. This view creates a giant-like status for the cactus. For the viewer, the cactus is overbearing and seemingly dangerous. On the other hand, most of the cactus is covered in sunlight, making the cactus holy symbolically. The cactus is ordered with rows of thorns. This could symbolize the fact that the viewer knows that in life we must keep in a certain social line or else we will be pricked by unpleasant and (in this case) giant thorns.

6. Lager by Sigmar Polke- 1982 I like this painting because to me, I see urban decay when I look at it. I see the riots and the shootings and the weathered faces of concerned families. To me it all is like a pit of despair. The black, shapeless blotch in the center combines all of this in one. I see streetlights and electric cords taking up the rest of the painting. There is barbed wire across the top of the painting symbolizing more violence and even the oppression city children face when they try to break out of their bad habits and leave the area. There aren’t any normal colors for the background. By normal, I mean there aren’t any colors like blue in the sky. The colors are ugly neutrals, which to me, symbolizes the way the rest of the world views the situation. It is a work of art because it uses symbolism to represent the way we live and our mentality to an ongoing problem. The texture and the colors also create a disturbed mood in the viewer that furthers the meaning.

Posted by lcisyeich at 05:12 PM | Comments (19)

The Three Faces of Eve

When Zaya, Jessica, and I watched this movie to do our character analyzation, we were surprised at how easy it was to see the differences between the three "characters". Even though the three different personalities were all played by the same woman, we could almost always tell by the first movement or sound she made which personality she was switching into. The music that was used in the film also played a big part in differentiating between the three different personalities because each time a new personality came out, the music changed to fit that personality's characteristics. The actress also displayed her body in very different ways depending on which personality she was at the time...she wore different clothes, she held herself differently, she walked differently, she spoke in a different voice, she wore her hair differently, and she even talked about different things. I think the actress did a really great job because it was so easy to tell which personality she was trying to play without hearing the name of the personality.

Posted by lcismardin at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)

"The Skin Game" By Joe Queenan

Chapter Four of Seeing and Writing talks about how people identify themselves. It mentions that clothing, hairstyle, and body type all say something about who we are. Tattoos bring an interesting twist to this idea of identity in that they are permanent. Once you get a tattoo, you can't change it, and since tatoos identify who you are, in a sense you can't change that part of your identity. So I guess a person's opinion of tattoos really boils down to whether or not they feel comfortable enough with their identity to do something that will forever freeze it in time. People who don't like tattoos must not be sure enough about their identity to commit to something that will stay with them forever.

This essay also brought up a good point about the evolution of tattoos. They used to be much more common in males than in females, and they had an edgy or "bad boy" feel. Today it seems the opposite. Out of the people I know, I hear of more girls getting tattoos than guys, and these tattoos are usually anything but edgy. Most of the tattoos that girls get are butterflies or hearts. It's amazing how quickly the tattoo has evolved and I wonder if it will continue to evolve past its current state.

Posted by lcissullivan at 03:44 PM | Comments (1)

Seeing and Writing: "Average Attractions" by Bruce Bower

When I came across this essay in Chapter Four of Seeing and Writing I was completely absorbed in the reading. I think the questions "What is beauty?" is so interesting. I have seen shows before that talk about a magic ratio, I forget what the exact ratio is, that determines whether or not a body is considered beautiful.

This essay also suggests that beauty is based on how close we come to looking "normal." Perhaps "normal" is proportional according to the magic ratio? Regardless, when the article talked about how babies are more likely to play with attractive people, it made me think about a young girl that I babysit for. I have been babysitting for this family for years, and I have known this girl, Chandley, since she was 2 or 3-years-old and she is now 6 or 7. She has always loved to dance and one year she started ballet. She enjoyed the class and when it was finished she planned on enrolling for the next class. One day when I was babysitting I asked her how this second ballet class was going and she told me that she quit. I was really shocked to hear this so I asked her why and she wouldn't answer me. It was then that he little sister, Lauren, who was about 4 at the time, told me that she quit because he teacher was ugly. Chandley tried to defend herself by explaining that her teacher was overweight and she didn't like to watch her dance. I remember not really knowing what to say to her. I just thought it was really sad to see a young girl hold prejudices against other people because of their appearance.

Having read this essay and having had this experience I completely agree that no matter how young you are, you already favor people who are attractive, who look "normal," over people who look different. There is no way that Chandley acquired this prejudice from her parents. It's sad to think that we all come into this world already judging others, but I guess when you think about it, it's true.

Another interesting point that this article brought up was that if beauty relies on someone looking normal, then why are certain celebrities who possess unique traits considered beautiful because of this uniqueness? The celebrity that came to my mind was Angelina Jolie. She is considered beautiful mainly because of her lips, but I tried to figure out if she was not a celebrity and I just happened to see her walking down the street one day, whether or not I would consider her beautiful. I honestly don't have the answer for this because I know that she's a big star and it's hard to imagine her as an average person, but I'm guessing that I wouldn't find her as beautiful as I think she is now. I think this idea of fame contributing to beauty is interesting, and it makes me wonder that if given enough wealth and glamour, can anyone become beautiful?

Posted by lcissullivan at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

Gender Roles

After reading "Why Boys Don't Play With Dolls," by Katha Pollitt, and "Snakes and Snails," by Ellen, I've realized that determining what makes a girl "girly" and what makes a boy "macho" is so much more complicated than the toys they play with.

Both essays have left me feeling defeated in regards to raising children. It seems that you can either go with the flow and let your girls play with Barbies and your boy with toy guns, or you can desert these conventions and raise your children as you see fit. Both paths seems to have their advantages and disadvantages, leaving me to believe that there really is no perfect way to raise a child. No matter what you tell them, what beliefs you impose on them, you will be doing them both good and harm. In letting them do the typical kid stuff they might never learn that girls can play in the mud and boys can do ballet, but in holding them back from the typical kid stuff, you will only create feelings of lonliness and hostility as they feel different than their friends. How do you raise a child who is able to think outside of the box and not conform to stereotypes, but at the same time doesn't feel like he or she has missed out on a normal childhood? I don't think anyone really has the answer to this, and perhaps this is why when you look at adults, you see that everyone has their issues, most of which stem from their childhood experiences.

One confusing aspect of gender roles is whether or not they are determined by Biology or society. The cartoon at the end of "Why Boys Don't Play With Dolls" displays the idea that girls are the way they are because of Biology. How else could you explain the fact that a 3 or 4-year-old tends to nurture everything she comes in contact with? It seems that she is too young and hopefully too unexposed to society to have learnt this kind of behavior. Another idea is that society determines why boys and girls act certain ways. In the case of Ellen's son, one could say that he would never have felt the desire to have a toy weapon had he not had experiences such as the one at the circus, where he was surrounded by other boys with laser swords. Was his desire for that sword really innate, or was it merely a result of our society?

The roles of males and females are probably due to a mix of Biology and society. Biology may determine up to a point whether or not a young girl would rather play indoors with dolls or outside in the dirt, but these roles are more clearly defined by society.

Posted by lcissullivan at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

Conversational Style

My roommates are such great sports. Ever since we started learning about gestures, pauses, and so forth, I've been conducting all sorts of ‘conversational style’ experiments on them. A couple hours ago my roommate was talking to me about the A she got on this really hard exam and I sat and listened. Every time she paused, expecting immediate praise or questions I waited five very long seconds until I responded (or at least it felt long!!!). She asked me "is everything okay?" and after five awkward sentences I responded, "Yeah, everything’s fine." She gave me a look and then said with an appropriate amount of concern she said, “Okay, well if you wanted to talk about it you know I'm here for you." She's so sweet! I felt really bad so I told her. I don't think she likes being the victim of all of my 'conversational style' experiments! Oh, well!!

Posted by lcisowens at 02:36 AM | Comments (0)

Posted by lcisowens at 02:34 AM | Comments (14)

Homework 8: Question 2

I definitely agree that social groups are a large part of dialects. I think that geography forms the basis of a dialect, and social groups are subdivisions within those general categories. People change their social dialect depending on who their speaking to, but their geographical dialect is not easily altered. If a person from Georgia, a person from Minnesota, and a person from Boston were all speaking to their friends for example, they would have the same social dialect but would sound very different because of their origin.

Posted by lcisowens at 01:57 AM | Comments (0)

Museum Assignment

Sorry that this is so long! :)

1

My favorite room in the MFA is the American Impressionist Gallery, not only because of the paintings, but also because of the ambiance. Architecturally, it is rectangular with simple trim along the edges. There are stained oak floors with wide boards that are similar to those found in an old American home. A dark chestnut-gray paint covers the walls, but the ceiling is left white so that I don’t feel confined. What is also interesting about the ceiling is that it is very low compared to most of the towering ceilings in the rest of the museum. This makes it feel more comfortable so that I can observe the art more intimately. This makes my imagination run wild as to how and where the paintings were created.

In the center of the room sits a circular, cushioned gray seat covered in gray velvet, adding to the luxuriousness of the atmosphere. Because the rest of the room is so simplistic (besides the gold-leafed frames that surround the artwork), my attention is automatically drawn to the richness of the paintings. The dim lighting, spotlighting the work also adds to the luxuriousness of the artwork.

There are two vases in two corners of the room, which are the same vases that are in the painting discussed in Question Six. Their height is easily at least half of the height of the entire room. Temperature is also notable in this gallery. The coldness may be to preserve the artwork, or to add to the mood. To me, the low temperature makes it feel like the paintings are in what may have been their original setting, an old and drafty New England home. A low fan sound can be heard in the background, while visitors’ footsteps and voices echo throughout the room. This is the sound of timelessness. When trying to compare this feeling with that of something else, the only other place that comes to mind is that of an old church that possesses the great energy of eternity, just as the artist is living on eternally through his legacy and work.

2

“Yet when an image is presented as a work of art, the way people look at it is affected by a whole series of learnt assumptions about art.” –John Berger

When we enter an art museum, we expect the art to be of high caliber. The wealthy almost single-handedly support these institutions, so we expect the art to be nothing but the best. If we saw the same watercolor in a restaurant or in a hospital, we may not take notice, but if it is hanging on a wall within the museum surrounded by a gold-leafed frame, than it must be valuable and worthy of our praise. Monet, for example, is one of the most famous artists, so when we see one of his paintings, we take note. If we were to purchase one of these paintings, we’d know that it would be “worth” millions of dollars because Monet is famous, and therefore his artwork must be good. “Good”, however, is a matter of taste, and thus the tastes of society shape our individual opinions about art as well.

3

Landscape: “The Tetons and the Snake River”, Ansel Adams, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 1942.

This photograph speaks to me because I visited Grand Teton National Park last summer and had the privilege of seeing these magnificent features in person. In this photo, Adams found the perfect angle from which to view these mountains. He is literally representing the sky, mountains, tree-covered land, and the winding river. But, I think that when he photographs mountains, he is most concerned with making them seem as large and magnificent as possible, almost like a cathedral. The river is a sharp contrast with that of the land. That is what separates a professional photographer from an amateur—contrast and the range of values. Contrast is always very important to Adams.

Because I have visited this particular place, I know that this is not, in fact, precisely what it looks like. The land is not so dark, and does not contrast so greatly with the water, no matter what type of weather there is. In this type of flat, open land, everything is bright because you can see for miles. Adams chose to make it seem darker to emphasize the contrast of the brightness of the sky, snow, and water with the dark, shadowy land, exaggerating all of these features.

4

Portrait: “Charis Weston”, Ansel Adams, Sierra Nevada, California 1937.

What is important to Ansel Adams in this photograph is the composition, and filling the whole space that he is given. It is a portrait of a woman named Charis Weston, though we know little about who she was. This is shot from her hips upward, with the pale gray sky behind her. Another major concern of Adams in this photo is whom, exactly, he is representing, and how to use the light to his advantage in accomplishing this goal. The woman is wearing a wool sweater and black pants with a scarf tied around her face. According to the description, this is because the mosquitoes were virtually intolerable to her. The abstraction elements are the making of Adams. He chose what to include and what to leave out of his photo. There could have been many people around Weston as her photo was taken, and yet, Adams chose to leave out all external activities, focusing directly on her.

What kind of person was she? Her slight smile is mysterious, and although she is young, the shadows on her face make her seem wise and confident. Her face looks like that of a movie star without makeup, a very natural beauty. The clothes she is wearing are masculine, and the headscarf would make most women of such age feel foolish, especially in a photo. But somehow, she wears it well. She may symbolize a natural woman, the kind Adams admires himself. The fact that the camera is directed upward, and the sky is behind her rather than the ground is an indication that in this representation of Weston, we are admiring her, gazing up at her.

5

Abstract: “Grass, Water and Sun”, Ansel Adams, Alaska 1948.

Strands of thin, apparently white grass are stark against a black background. Beads of dew rest, clustered on the grass, signifying early morning. The sun is reflected off of the dew, creating the brightest diamonds glistening in the grass. This is what is actually represented in the photo. At first glance, however, this was not as obvious.

What this photo looks like is a piece of black etching paper with many scratches throughout. These are the blades of grass. The etched lines move in waves, flowing into each other like that of an ocean current, changing direction with the wind. On top of this, metallic paint appears to be splattered, shining in the gallery lighting. These are the drops of dew. Because of this confusion in what the viewer is seeing, it is very abstract.

While this is true, once we are familiar with the title of photo, the meaning changes and we realize what the actual subject is; we see what the lines and splatters represent. Adams was trying to capture the essence of early morning, and it is fascinating that he has done this by taking a photo of nothing but the ground itself. In this patch of grass, he has captured the energizing light of the morning that illuminates the dew, as well as the curiosity of man, who wonders what exactly is represented in Adams’ photo.

6

Favorite Painting: “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit”, John Singer Sargent, 1882, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, American Impressionist Gallery.

“Daughters” is a painting that has “spoken” to me since I first saw it a few years ago. I like the painter’s style, his brushstrokes, his use of contrast, and the feelings that it evokes. What is interesting as well is that the painting is almost a perfect square, rather than a rectangle which makes it easier to become immersed in.

Sargent’s painting shows four girls who are the daughters of Edward Darley. The youngest is in the front, looking directly at the painter, seemingly unaware of what is happening. She has a doll in her arms. The second eldest is in a red dress with a white pinafore, standing in a proper pose, doing what she is asked. The two oldest daughters are in the background, less sharp and in the shadows. One is leaning against a large vase.

Without knowing that Darley did actually have four daughters, the viewer might think that this painting illustrates the evolution of one particular girl. The youngest, being curious and playful with her doll; the second daughter solemn and reserved; the third still looking at the painter and less interested; and the eldest turned away from the painter but less in focus and detached, uninvolved and uninterested in what is going on.

Why makes this a work of art? The brushstrokes are beautifully visible, especially in the daughters’ pinafores, creating a creamy, white with shadows. The manner and personality of each person expertly comes through in Sargent’s portrayal. The mysterious feeling of the room is also well represented in the way the shadows are cast across the canvas. The viewer subconsciously wants to know more. The artist’s talent also shines through in the vases that are in the back of the room that he has painted. These same vases are in the gallery, very detailed and ornate, yet in the painting, Sargent has carefully chosen which details to imply with his brushstrokes. Knowing what to include, and what to leave to the imagination is part of his extraordinary talent.

Posted by lcishagan at 12:23 AM | Comments (2399)

Lone Girl --> Brighten up!

What immediately struck me at the conclusion of Chapter 4 in Seeing and Writing, was the picture of the lone girl on the stool, staring off into space. This picture shows such innocence, but also such a lack of confidence. Interesting how this photograph is placed in the book. On one side of the layout is a beautiful, very stylish and sexy woman, while this picture is of a young girl, very much outdated and "frumpy". It looks as though she is sitting, waiting to get her class picture taken. One of those embarrassing moments where you have to smile, readjust a million times, and say "cheese" (or "fromage" -- I like to say that), knowing that your picture is still going to turn out horrible. I just wish that this girl would have had more confidence, would have taken pride in herself. Her eyes wander and she slouches, indicating to me that she doesn't care and that she is lost, either literally, or figuratively (in terms of life). Unfortunately, she seems to be around the age where most girls feel insecure about themselves and their own body images. No matter how much we are taught in school to respect ourselves and accept ourselves, we always seem to keep putting OURSELVES down. I wished the picture carried this connotation instead, "Here I am! This is ME! I am ready to conquer the world!" I know, it's cheesy, but its true. Sometimes I have to say that to myself just to keep positive.

-Christina

Posted by lcisgancarz at 12:15 AM | Comments (3)

November 16, 2005

Seeing & Writing Chapter 4

I really enjoyed the combination of pieces that this chapter contained. There were a couple of things that particularly struck me:

1. The introduction said "...more and more Americans--and young Americans in particular--see their self-identity through the lenses of popular images of the body. I found this quotation really interesting because it is so true!! I think we always see ourselves through the eyes of society, we really have no true, unbiased position. I think that this is one of the most prevalent things I learned in this course. Our brain is so full of preconceptions that it is difficult to see anything purely and blankly.

2. I really enjoyed the portraits drawn by Peter Rostovsky. They are really interesting because he draws portraits based on descriptions. And, they are so true to life. This just goes to show how everyone has stereotypes that hold true throughout society. Very interesting!!

3. I also really enjoyed the essay "The Skin Game", and I don't know why. I simply found it fascinating!

Posted by lciscotis at 11:39 PM | Comments (1)

MFA Reflection

1. To me, the MFA feels like an escape because when you're inside, you don't really think about any of the work you have to do that week, or any tests you may have coming up, or what your plans are for the weekend. It's really just a time to appreciate the art and relax your mind. The architecture of the museum really helps to create this feel. The high ceilings, large rooms, and general silence give me room to think because my mind doesn't feel very cluttered. I like how the architecture of each room, mirrors the style of the exhibit in that particular room. For example, when you go into the room with the mummies, the lighting is dim and the air is warm and almost stuffy, giving it the feel of a tomb.

2. I brought virtually no assumptions to the Ansel Adams exhibit. All I knew about Adams as an artist was that he worked in black and white. I did not know that he was a photographer, rather than a painter, not did I know that the main focus of his work was in nature. I really had no clue what to expect when going in there.

"Lake Near Muir Pass, Kings River Canyon, Sierra Nevada" -1933

Since he works in only black and white, many of Adams's photographs have dramatic color contrasts. In this photo, the snowy white mountain meets with the black lake creating a distinct barrier between the two and really separating the two elements. Adams uses shading to create texture in the mountain. He also uses focus to differentiate between the real mountain, and the fake mountain that is only a reflection in the lake. The real mountain has roughness to it and it is sharply defined, whereas the reflection is a little blurrier and everything looks smooth and glossed over

Adams presented this photograph to a comittee when proposing that the Kings River Canyon be transfered to the National Park Service in order to ensure its preservation. At first glance, the photograph appears to contain two mountains, but when you look closer you see that one is merely the reflection of the other and it is not real. I think Adams's message is that there is only one real Kings River Canyon; it cannot be replicated, therefore we must act to save it.

Since this is a photograph, it definitely contains representative visual data. We see the mountain as it would be seen with our own two eyes if we were to stand in front of it and see it in person. Adams does not distort the image, he merely presents it to us as it appears in reality. I think that Adams's use of water is symbolic of purity. The pristine lake has not been polluted or harmed by society, and Adams is suggesting that it stay that way. The abstraction of this piece is in the reflection of the mountain in the lake. This image gives meaning to the piece because it suggests that there is no way to replicate nature exactly, and it would be a shame to not preserve such a one-of-a-kind mountain.

1. "Maynard Dixon, Artist, Tucsen, Arizone" -1945

Adams's use of shading is prominent in this photograph. There are dark shadows cast over the old man so that half of his face c